Magical November Blues

Doesn't it feel like all that was good and rich and connected about October continues right into November? To get into the groove for the month ahead I checked the Shamanic Forecast, and man, do they have news for us!

The main theme for November is De-stabilization.

It's not as bad as it might seem on first sight. I have no time for specifics right now, gotta go, prepare food, take a walk with the kids and my man, take some first November Blues pictures… just wanted to open this November thread to get things started. Back for more later.

Here's the outlook on the next seven days:

November 1-7: A radical time of turbulence and instability. You may experience a non-specific anxiety that make it difficult for some to get restful sleep. There may be global events also at this time that point to de-stabilization and unrest. Go with the flow. Get into the middle of the rapid and enjoy the ride. Resistance and fear will only put you into the eddy where you will get stuck. Watch the tendency to align yourself with someone else's drama as a way to ignore what is knocking at your own door. Pay attention to all the signs from spirit and let them be your guide.

Re: Magical November Blues

I love this Gabriele… This would be a good thing for the NaNO people
to consider when their inner critic comes slamming through the mind.

 “Resistance and fear will only put you into the eddy where you will 
get stuck.  Watch the tendency to align yourself with someone else's 
drama as a way to ingnore what is knocking
at your own door.”

and paying attention to spirit… letting the spirit be your guide… aaaaaaahhhh.. think I'll make
little post-its for that one and put it around the house, in my car,
on my computer.
Peace to you all…

Re: Magical November Blues

oh, very cool. I couldn't get the forecast earlier today… some instability in virtual land !
but now it's here. I like the 'sub themes':

• Dissolving old foundations
• Accessing the void
• Re-defining essentials
• Creativity and resourcefulness as security
• New platforms of stability
and oh, hah hah hah,  given what I wrote earlier on the DAY ONE thread about facing a black hole:

“Accessing the void
The void is the place where form does not yet exist. It is the experience of nothing. It is the collapse of particles that have taken some kind of physical form back into the quantum field and the vast soup of infinite potential. It is also a very frightening place to be. Most people who have been heavily imprinted to identify with productivity, action and seeing physical results as their measure of success, resist the void at all costs. It feels like depression, failure, and a black hole.”

(italics mine)

hmmmmmmmmm.

Re: Magical November Blues

Void, aaah, that is heaven. I want to go there and stay there.



I changed tires to my car and now I will take some nice afternoon cofee with a piece of cake and then I will go meet with a demon for an hour perhaps. I'm all so done for today but feeling really good.

Re: Magical November Blues

I've been groundhog daying this outlook for 2 months.  Getting used to it. 

Re: Magical November Blues

aaah and neato little MICROSOFT icone too…

Re: Magical November Blues

A radical time of turbulence and instability.
oh good grief.. I hope not but given how things have been for me lately, I know its coming probably. I am trying to surrender to it, to all of it, because there is nothing else to do. This is what happens when the entire tower collapses and needs to be rebuilt. Have dig up the old foundation and make a better one right?

I'll be the one with my head down writing ;-)

xo
la

Re: Magical November Blues

Oh boy, this is spooky. I haven't gotten to reading the full forecast yet. Sandra, this especially sounds EXACTLY like how shitty I felt when we went on our walk.

It feels like depression, failure, and a black hole.

Yes, that's right, this is how it feels! Just horrible, kind of hollow and like wanting to cry forever. I would have preferred to dig myself into a hole and be left at peace. Then we started taking pictures, me and the kids, and somehow things softly moved on.

Breathh, now I know what the resistance and getting stuck part was all about!  ;)

Phil, what does that mean, groundhog daying your outlook? It does look like there's some stuckness going on right there, doesn't it? Anything we can help you with?

Anyway, here's one of the photos I took earlier.

Re: Magical November Blues

Wow, that's a neat photo gg.  I lose myself in idiom sometimes.  Groundhog Day is a movie where Phil (played by Bill Murray) finds himself waking up to the same day over and over again.  He finds himself saying “Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.”
I'll muddle through.  Remember, change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.  ;-]

Re: Magical November Blues

I remember Groundhog Day. Thanks for the reminder around some of the specifics—kinda hilarious in light of some stuff that is going 'round in my life, again. What is it about the October-November transition? What is it about my so-called family? I'm beginning to believe it's no accident that the dang word begins with an 'f'.

“Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.”

I shall keep that for my motto. I shall muddle through.

You, Phil, I love the little hilarities you toss out on these threads. I can always use a good laugh. A good brother, for that matter.

Thanks, bro'.

Re: Magical November Blues

Wow, Gabriele. I love the photo. Sometimes the simplest actions can move us beyond where we were with such ease. That's what I get from this photo - it's a sort of magical transport out of the blues. Such colors! Here, we have mostly green, yellow and brown. I guess if you go North, there might be more fall colors.

the vast soup of infinite potential - in the quote posted by Sandra. I'm actually on my way to the grocery store. I will have to check for that flavor. Actually, I have never thought of infinite potential as soup before so it's conjuring some pretty cool ideas in my head.

There are actually some fascinating themes in the forecast, especially creativity and resourcefulness as stability. That speaks to me right now, as well as re-defining essentials.

No matter what November brings, I guess we will be jumping into that void all month, trying to reemerge with meaningful words all arranged in a row. We will be fishing the void, mining it, so hopefully it won't feel like an empty and depressing place, but more of a place of opportunity.

Re: Magical November Blues

Awesome photo, Gabriele! I agree with Andrea about the sense one gets of a sort of magical transport out of the blues.

It's been absolutely gorgeous here—kinda hard to be blue when the sun is shining and the temperatures soar to the mid teens (Celcius) and above and the huge red and gold and yellow oak and maple leaves crunch so beautifully underfoot and you look at them and half expect them to rise floating up against gravity to reattach themselves to the trees from whence they came. Wouldn't it be cool for once to forgo winter? Hmm, but I expect we along with nature need the hibernation period… The mini-dark night.

Ah well, time enough to think of that… the good weather's supposed to continue for a while yet.

Re: Magical November Blues

Things change over night. Magical red-orange-wild wine-kitten November Sunday Magic has turned into cold-wet-dripping-drained-greyish November Monday magic… the magic being experienced more on the inside this morning.  ;)

It's noon already. I have been very focussed and slow and patient this morning. I did my writing first. And even some yoga before that! Not much, but it makes a difference. I can no longer ignore the pain in my body that comes from sitting on my butt all day, from writing and surfing the internet. I need to move and to excercise, and today I was a good girl and did it all and now it's only noon and I still have the rest of the day.

From the Shamanic Forecast for November 2:

Full Moon. Reflect on what is essential in your life. Focus on the opportunities spirit has given you. If there is something new that has dropped into your experience recently, acknowledge it as something you created powerfully for yourself. In this way you focus on your ability to create instead of what you may perceive as not happening.

Focus on your ability to create… yes, definitely.

Here's another one of the November Blues photos I took yesterday. I called it 'Remember the Light”.

Re: Magical November Blues

Oh, G.G. I loved your November blue pictures from last year and you are getting some more absitively lovelies this year.  Can I copy you and take some too? 

Re: Magical November Blues

Gabriele, I love your November light picture. Important to 'Remember the Light' during these shorter, darker days. And there is light, always there is light, as you show so marvelously. I fully expect someday to find a book chock full of beautiful photos/collages with insightful words to accompany them: November Blues by Gabriele Stehle. I see it on my coffee table…

Ayla, would love to see your pictures here too, I'm sure GG would be the first to say, this is everybody's space. And have I mentioned? It's soooo good to see you here!

Re: Magical November Blues

Oh my! gg - but it is kinda comforting to read that forecast and the notes here cause it helps me get a little better perspective on recent going ons in my de-stabilizing life.

A year ago I was laid off, no real job since, I wrote out a synopsis a month ago chronicling the losses of the past 30 years which had me connected to a deep pool of sadness that almost sunk me; then 5 days after completing that essay, my car’s engine exploded in a blaze of fire inside my garage due to a shade tree mechanic’s negligence.  I loved that car which I got one week after my son's death in 2004 so it stung a bit; then 13 days after that, my 12 year old son asked me to get him to a doctor as soon as possible because he is losing control of his anger in a way that scares him. I consoled him with love, knowing that (but not mentioning to him) I have no insurance or money to pay for that.and than two days ago my cell phone fell in a cup of old coffee and hasn't worked since (That's the number I use on resumes btw)

Talk about…
• Dissolving old foundations
• Accessing the void
• Re-defining essentials
• Creativity and resourcefulness as security
• New platforms of stability

Yeah, I get that on a very visceral level today. So you can only imagine how relevant and useful I find this post today.

I'm seriously trying to lean into it all, the void, the possibilities, the no resistance,  but trust me ~ I ain't having no fun at'all

Thanks for listening to me whine for a second. Pray I get it together soon.
Luvs

Re: Magical November Blues

God/Karma/Faith (or whatever you call it) strikes and it strikes hard. What I read in this is that you are a strong woman. The worst part may be the lost of your son - oh honey - heartbreaking. As a mother i cry inside.

And the all these $ $ $ $ $ $ $ passing by the inner eye. Mental struggles of another son. God, is there God?

My daughter cut herself with a razorblade (hundreds of cuts all in one dark day of her life) couple of years ago. That almost made me go nuts of worry. She still have social anxiety/fobia and I don't know when she will be a functional citizen of this world. So I get you Syn.

I try to see it in a perspective that it will make me stronger or should I say more flexible. I am not allowed to be attached to things and that gives me an unexpected freedom of some kind.

Love you and love to you xoxoxo

Re: Magical November Blues

Oh, how lovely to have you dear ones dropping in! Since NaNo madness took over it has become quiet on this thread. It's nice, more like a cozy room to come and rest, be together and take a deep breath.

Ayla, absolutely come and bring whatever you have to share! As Ruth already said, this is everybodies space to come and share.

Ruth, thank you, now that's a thought, a November Blues coffee table book…!  :)  When I look at that picture today it seems ages ago. We had shades of dark grey and darker grey today, lots of rain and puddles and wet leaves. I took a long walk after a very long writing session anyway. There is beauty everywhere, even in this weather. I saw few some last unbelievable red leaves floating on an almost naked scrub…

Syn, holy font, I'll join you in your prayers - that DOES sound like things dissolving alright! You know, there is nothing really I can offer you but my deepest sympathy, my hard earned certainty that this, too, shall pass, and maybe another posting of the Gayatri mantra. It's supposed to do lots of good, but most of all I find it lovely to listen to. Just beautiful. Soothing, calming, connecting.

I had an amazing writing experience today, won't go into detail now and not here anyway. Came to post a pic of my notebook that played an important role in my writing preparation today. (I decorated it with a  collage when I got it new). I'm on overload. But thrilled and happy.

So good to meet you three here! Much love.

Re: Magical November Blues

The Gayatri Mantra

Re: Magical November Blues

Feels nice to be here.
I'm not going to say much, did a lot of that just now over at the NaNo Day 3 thread.


~


~



~



bit of quiet silence.

xo

Sandra

Re: Magical November Blues

Hi you guys.
I just read all of the posts. I find that I have to really concentrate and read slowly. I tend to lose patience and rush but I know that each thing I read will bring something special to me, so it is always worth it.
The pictures are so beautiful Gabriele. what are they of exactly? the colors are amazing.
I wanted to share a collage  I did one of fall and a picture.
The void. I was confused. I thought by saying access the void that it is good thing. And it sounds like it is supposed to be unless you are focusing on productivity. 
I loved Ground Hog day. I could watch that movie over and over again.
So here is my picture and I will do the collage too.
thanks 
love, jenni

Re: Magical November Blues

Lovely pics Jens.  I always love your pics and blogs to go along with them. 
Thanx for the Mantra G.G.  I am listening to it now and when I am done typing this am going to listen to it again with Syn in mind.
Syn - Where do you live and who is your internet provider?  Maybe one of us has an old phone lying around that we could pop in the mail to you.  Like, Nono, as a parent I cannot imagine the loss of a child.  I cannot fathom it and I am so, so sorry.  As for your young son, can you call Health Services and see if you can find some help.  Also access your library if possible.  So many wonderful books on parenting out these days.  Sorry for trying to “fix” things when maybe all you need is some listening and some loving.  I send you even more love than suggestions. 

Re: Magical November Blues

ayla your fast paced, hurry up and fix it tone matches the energy I picked up in your spectacular photo slideshow ~ you are dripping with good ol' fashion mama love, which authentically morphs into fix it mode sometimes (*me too) and I needed the smile I received from your caring and quite brilliant note. I love you to pieces.

Great idea ~ ask ~ put it all out there and see what happens. I never even thought folks might wanna help (my self sufficiency bone is aching real bad right now but maybe cause I've worn it out. ya know?)

So yeah… I have T-mobile service and my addy is 6623 Marty Mission, KS 66202
I'm open to receiving but I'm not that good at yet ~ so be gentle ~ teehehe

Re: Magical November Blues

thank you ayla!
I have missed you. I hope you have recovered and are doing okay. It has been a long time. good to have you back.

Re: Magical November Blues

jenni.. I think what it's saying is that accessing the void IS a good thing.. and we avoid it by doing doing doing etc. That we think achievement (doing 'well' in the way society says we 'should' do well” is the way to go, and all the while we miss that void, avoid it, shy away from it, when in fact out of the void arises all, only when 'doing nothing' do creative ideas flourish…

I stunned myself actually re-reading that bit about the void just now. Twig brain that I am I completely forgot about it, about the stuff about doing doing doing and yet this is EXACTLY what I came to yesterday/today about my writing process. Sheeesh. I'm going to copy it again so I remember!

“Most people who have been heavily imprinted to identify with productivity, action and seeing physical results as their measure of success, resist the void at all costs. It feels like depression, failure, and a black hole.”

Re: Magical November Blues

thanks for the clarification and writing more about it sandra.

Re: Magical November Blues

~

~

peace

plenty
peace

luvs

big
huge
luvs

thxs

true
feeling
of
thxs

in
nov

Re: Magical November Blues

Syn,. I'm visualising a cell phone flying it's way right over to you. I have one but I'm sure it's broken too. I'll happily mail it if another one doesn't come to you, just in case for some miraculous reason it works there for you. It's an unlocked phone.

And,wow. I only just made the connection now with my freefall piece and what you wrote above.
hugs, dearest.

Re: Magical November Blues

This morning I spent in a state that felt pretty close to what one might call a 'void'. Either that, or I was brain dead. There was exhaustion, grief, a sense of emptyness. I remember times when I needed to create some kind of drama in order to justify feeling this way. It was kind of nice to simply feel it and give it the space it needed instead.

I started a very simple collage on this, it's almost finished. Not sure yet what is missing, but something definitely seems to be. Gotta sleep on it.

Jenni, what a lovely autumn collage! Did you use real leaves? How do you get them to keep their color? It speaks of the abundance of autumn, doesn't it? I wish I could bath in those colors, breathe them and indulge myself in them in unspeakable ways. :) The lake picture makes me envious. What a beautiful walk that must be!

My photos were taken on a walk by the canal. 'Remember the Light' is a look on some left over leaves on a very chaotic mixture of plants by the bank of the canal. The first one, the red wild wine, was taken at a belly high wall, from above, looking down to a parking space, onto the wine that was growing down that wall. I had to lean over it for the unusual angle. (Does this make sense? It's even harder to explain in English then it is anyway! ;) 

About the colors. I have a very simple picture program (IrfanView, free download) where I work on contrast and all the things that need working on in order to get the picture across the way I saw it.

Feeling a bit insular tonight, not quite connected. Sorry. What ya gonna do.

:)

Re: Magical November Blues

your colors are really pretty.  so do you add color to it?
My picture was kind of drab but it didn't look drab while I was there. I was also by a canal. It looks like a lake because it is quite wide there. It is the old unused Erie Canal.
The collage is made with real leaves. I think it was the matte that I painted on them that helped them to retain their color. I am worried that they will dry up and flake but so far so good.
I felt  little out of it today as well. Started out good but lost my way somewhere.
The thing that I am writing. sometimes I feel good about it and other times it makes me nauseous. I am not just saying that. It makes me physically ill. Maybe those are the times when the writing is forced or not spontaneous and I can feel it in my gut and it makes me feel bad.

I walked by the river today and said hi to all of the trees I have named down there. As the leaves fall off I have trouble recognizing them. I always know yours because it is the last tree in a bunch before we turn around. Gabriele I am talking to  here. It is tall and thin. 
Most of you are there. I am naming new ones all of the time.

Re: Magical November Blues

i
love your collage by the way with the little angle card.

Re: Magical November Blues

Hello again, Jens, no, I don't really add color. You could say I freshen up the ones that got lost in the transfer from camera to screen… or from nature to camera to screen. I use contrast mostly and something called gamma control. I have no idea what that means. I only know I can change the overall brightness or darkness of a picture. It's a very simple tool.

I walked by the river today and said hi to all of the trees I have named down there. As the leaves fall off I have trouble recognizing them. I always know yours because it is the last tree in a bunch before we turn around.

You are so sweet. When I grow up I want to become just like you.

:)

Re: Magical November Blues

you make me smile.
thank you

oh that was supposed to be angel not angle.

Re: Magical November Blues

Sweet ladies.  Don't you just want to cuddle up with her, G.G.?  Jens I mean. 
Syn, I am Verizon Wireless but still visualizing that cell phone for you.  Sign up for Freecycle.com in your area.  I see people posting for phones all the time here and quite often getting good response.  (and yes, the free means free)
xo all!  Going to get in the shower, really, now.  I'm sick of this bed.  I'm going to venture into the Madding Crowd

Re: Magical November Blues

Todays tarot card on the NaNo board is about seeing the totality, knowing what is out of balance, having clear insight for an all encompassing critical power of discrimination and discernment. Thought I'd have a look at my Innerlinks Angel Card newsletter while I'm at it and guess what the Angel for November is?

Discernment
“Discernment is the recognition of the soul's impulse within our lives. It builds our intuitive ability to act with an awareness of the power that is concealed within the present moment. Discernment requires that we regularly take a personal inventory of our values, beliefs, past actions, present hopes, and future dreams.” More here.

I'm going out this morning, I have a date for a treatment (osteopathic) for my neck and shoulder pain. Can't wait to get on that couch, close my eyes and let the magic happen. Then to the library, some groceries, and back home, listening in for my muse to whisper todays writing into my ear. Back later, dear ones.

“May your heart and mind discern and embrace the presence of your soul.”

Re: Magical November Blues

wow, Gabriele! (the Angel card/NaNo card synchronicity!). Hoping you get sorted at the osteopath.. sending love to your shoulder and your neck.

And yes, me too about jenni. I think we all need to go to her place for a cuddle.
Do I have a tree? Oh I hope I have a tree. (and jenni you can be honest if I don't, I'll won't cry. Well maybe just a bit.)

So. Today I'm alone. Dearest David is away, gone for 11 days. I'm hoping this will help me focus, or at least mean I can whine to myself and not burden him.

I”m still feeling punk, but it's okay.

We have a heron that visits our river, you can see it from my office window… she/he sits there for hours, waiting for a fish. I think a second heron came swooping down today. .but I'm not sure I wasn't just seeing things. They are so magnificent. I wish I could take a photograph but I don't have a camera (other than on my computer and if I took this outside and got close enough to take a shot I'd probably fall in the river).

Re: Magical November Blues

ok this is for all NaNoers feeling 'Flat'

I did choose the title of the 'band',( which of course is inspired by the novel ”Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions” - an “1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as “a square” , Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture.”), but the rest is as per the Album Game instructions (other than using more words of the quote than I was supposed to..)

Re: Magical November Blues

Sandra, admit it, you cheated! It's simply not possible that you got that hilarious picture and the incredibly accurate quote for your ingenius title… it's too good to be true! SO funny.

Re: Magical November Blues

I finished my collage last night. After I had realized writing was not going to happen anymore because I needed to join the club of the Flatlanders, I gave myself a break. Today, to be honest, I don't feel much different but I had a great chat with Sandra last night where the key to my problem naturally emerged, so now I have some work to do, feeling flat and all. I need to literally learn, actively practice, what I have so much trouble doing. Simple and obvious, you say? Oh yeah. But isn't it always the most simple and obvious truth that is so hard to see sometimes?

I realized I literally I need to learn the language of microscopic truthfulness, the vocabulary of sensuous detail. Patiently, slowly and precicely zooming into the details of the things I see. I totally suck at this. Always have. I'm farsighted, good at the panoramic view, too fast and pressured to bother with the small things that need slowing down, taking time, being specific.

From the amazingly accurate Tarot card Sandra pulled for Day Six,
Five of Wands: Strife:

“Saturn reminds us that all things must be taken care of step by step. Don't let yourself  be overwhelmed. Always look again at the flames beyond the wand which burn on inspite of impediments. This card is a sign that you are ready to face a situation and do something about it.

Go step by step. Take everything a little easier.”

Right. Will do.

Re: Magical November Blues

The collage, well, this is an unusual one. Lots of empty space. I started it on Day Four, Day of The Void and finished it yesterday, simply by adding all the small birds. They completely changed the atmosphere.

Re: Magical November Blues

Maybe the words aren't coming, G.G., but you cannot be in the Flatland if you can create something like this.  It is gorgeous! 
I was reading about your talk with Sandra and trust me, I could relate.  My words are coming (finally) but then I tried to read last night and found that I am at that stage I was last year when reading is almost impossible.  I find myself studying the writing instead of losing myself in the story.  I'm down to my very last library book and quite honestly it sucks.  I wouldn't even be reading it if I had anything else to read.  That said, the writing, the endless little details, impress me.  I cannot do that.  Honestly, I cannot.  I felt so jealous of the author as I read even though it's one of the most boring books I've ever read.  This woman can write a whole paragraph on how a shaft of sunlight falls through a window.  I wanta do that - wah!  ;0)
I hear ya sister but just hang in there.  I believe in you. (and there is always that November Blues coffee table book - photos (and maybe collages?) with tidbits of your beautiful writing, your mixed creativeness … a gift really.  Embrace it!
Love, Ayla

Re: Magical November Blues

I love this collage, I think it's one of your best, Gabriele.

Re: Magical November Blues

I keep coming here to read and I keep meaning to post but somehow I never quite manage it. “I'll come back to it,” seems to be my modus operandi these days. :)

I absolutely love that collage, Gabriele, lots of empty space, as you say. You mentioned 'Day of the Void' and it reminded me of an image I have on my desktop from the ESA Hubble collection, of dark matter in the universe. The image “demonstrates how normal matter - including stars, galaxies and gas - is built inside an underlying scaffolding of dark matter.” Something that we suspect is out there, that can be detected gravitationally, but we can't see it, or say with any certainty what it is.

Like the void, something we can sense intuitively, that seems to underlie or have some effect of pulling together our lives, but we can't see into it.

Re: Magical November Blues

i love the owl and the lion and all of it.