Consciousness Concierge Volume 3

This collection of goodness, in honor of the autumn equinox, is an invitation to take stock at this seasonal transition - to "harvest" all the good with gratitude for what we've experienced over the past several months and "compost" what no longer serves by letting go of attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors we have outgrown or wish to change. I've included go-to favorites and something that landed in my inbox just yesterday. Hope you enjoy!

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"Kinder" ​by Copper Wimmin

This is a gorgeous acapella invitation to gratitude and letting go.

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Who Are the Friends of Your Soul? ​by Lissa Rankin, MD

I love this perspective on friendship, or what often passes for friendship in the culture. Reading this recently, I thought, if a community could be a soul friend, then that's what I hope ALTAR is - a place where you are at once fully accepted as you are and lovingly pushed in the direction of your highest self.

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A Spell for the Fall Equinox ​by adrienne maree brown

Among the prolific and varied treasures writer and activist adrienne maree brown regularly shares is Murmurations, her column for yes! magazine. More of her magic in future installments, but for now, yesterday's offering, A Spell for the Fall Equinox:

the nights stretch themselves over our harried hearts there’s no differentiation now each day we come apart in new ways at old seams we age on the edge of crises we thought were hyperbolic til they knocked upon our door

one answer to the chaos is hibernation one answer to the fire is snow

let us carve out caverns

for our rest now

howl down the dust and let

no harm come as we sleep

lay naked

and huddled

the truth is forever muddled

the fools took the future hostage

but we are seed and spore

one answer to death

is a haunting

one gift of each harvest

is more

let your leaves fall down

and sing to your ghosts

nourish life with everything

you release

ours is not the only life on earth

nor the only death

let your altars hold the earth

and the sky, and sea

it is time to gather and grieve

time to listen and pray

time to find the cave that

curves against our spines

shorten every work day

to catch the brief sun

be bare under softest blanket

dream of pumpkin, root and pine

the half earth grows dark

inviting you to rest

the hungry earth needs the dreams

that only come with depth.

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The Word ​By Tony Hoagland

This week was filled with urgency and over-doing. At some point, the phrase, "among your duties, pleasure is a thing that also needs accomplishing," from Tony Hoagland's poem floated into my mind. Like the gift of sunlight in the poem, it shifted everything, so I decided to record it in case you needed to hear it too.

​The Word​

​by Tony Hoagland

Down near the bottom

of the crossed-out list

of things you have to do today,

between "green thread"

and "broccoli," you find

that you have penciled "sunlight."

Resting on the page, the word

is beautiful. It touches you

as if you had a friend

and sunlight were a present

he had sent from someplace distant

as this morning—to cheer you up,

and to remind you that,

among your duties, pleasure

is a thing

that also needs accomplishing.

Do you remember?

that time and light are kinds

of love, and love

is no less practical

than a coffee grinder

or a safe spare tire?

Tomorrow you may be utterly

without a clue,

but today you get a telegram

from the heart in exile,

proclaiming that the kingdom

still exists,

the king and queen alive,

still speaking to their children,

—to any one among them

who can find the time

to sit out in the sun and listen.