Conscious Creation

The First Moments Of The Day

The moment during the day when we very first open our eyes and come into consciousness is a precious opportunity.
It sets the tone for all that comes after it, like the opening scene in a film or novel.
At this moment, our ability to create the day is at its most powerful, and we can offer ourselves fully to the creative process by filling this moment with whatever inspires us most.
It may be that we want to be more generous, or it may be that we want to be more open to beauty in our daily lives.
Whatever the case, if we bring this vision into our minds at this very fertile moment, we empower it to be the guiding principle of our day.

Sometimes we wake up with a mood already seemingly in place, and it’s important to give this feeling its due.
It can inform us and deepen our awareness to what’s going on inside us, as well as around us.
As long as we are conscious, we can honor this feeling and also introduce our new affirmation or vision, our conscious offering to the day.
We may want to decide before we go to sleep what we want to bring to the next day of our lives.
It could be that we simply want to be more open to whatever comes our way.
Or we may want to summon a particular quality such as confidence.
Then again, we may simply call up a feeling that perfectly captures the texture we want our day to have.

We can reaffirm our vision or affirmation as we shower and eat breakfast, as well as recalling it at various times throughout the day.
We can write it down and carry it with us on a little slip of paper if this helps.
Simply by being aware of those first moments, we set the stage for a more conscious, enlivened experience, and we become active participants in the creation of our lives.

DailyOM

Being Sisters and Brothers of Nature

When we think of oceans and mountains, forests and deserts, trees, plants and animals, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the galaxies, as God's creation, waiting eagerly to be "brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God" (Roman 8:21), we can only stand in awe of God's majesty and God's all- embracing plan of salvation.
It is not just we, human beings, who wait for salvation in the midst of our suffering; all of creation groans and moans with us longing to reach its full freedom.
In this way we are indeed brothers and sisters not only of all other men and women in the world but also of all that surrounds us.
Yes, we have to love the fields full of wheat, the snowcapped mountains, the roaring seas, the wild and tame animals, the huge redwoods, and the little daisies.
Everything in creation belongs, with us, to the large family of God.

--Henri Nouwen