Category: Legacy

Breathing More Deeply

DeAnne WolfgramLeave a comment
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After two weeks of Brian being retired from firefighting, I’ve realized that I am literally breathing more deeply.

I knew I was always subconsciously aware of what he faced at his job and what could happen. Those possibilities and realities always loomed, quietly ~ pondered in a moment and then tucked away inside me.

Truly, the unknowns of life are present for us all regardless of occupation, but we know that some take on another level of challenge. Our firefighters and other first responders most certainly do.

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I knew I was always aware of this in the back of my mind and heart….

 

I now know that it was far more than I ever knew.

 

This has been part of our relationship since the moment we met, since we joined our lives, since I gave him my heart.  Now my heart beats more calmly.

 

Ahhhhhh……. Another deeper breath…..

 

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Profound divine thanks that my man came through his 32+ years of firefighting as he has and is the man he is.
Thank you
that I am now breathing far easier than I ever knew I could.
Our journey continues with many adventures
and that feeling of TOGETHERness
is BEYOND even what we had known before this.
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Life is good, and I am so truly, deeply Thankful.

We Can Find a Better Way

DeAnne WolfgramLeave a comment
“Come and Stand Beside Us…. We Can Find a Better Way.” 

I created this video in 2011 in honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  I still vividly recall the moment that this song came on my car stereo just days after that tragic world changing event…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7oeTFzHEsc&list=FLRIGlJyYgLx1tBbla80zOIA&index=12

On that day in September 2001, I was contemplating the fear we were all struggling with in the wake of this horrific event. I was in the midst of driving home from a Montessori teachers workshop and recognizing the resonance of Dr. Maria Montessori‘s visionary belief that “Hope Lies Within the Child.” All of That was on my mind and heart as John Denver’s “Rhymes and Reasons” began singing out over my car stereo. His voice of optimism gave me hope and filled my heart in that moment…. And then, I was flooded with chills as the line “Though the cities start to crumble.. And the towers fall around us” called out…. That very event had just shockingly happened in our world and John Denver wrote and sang of it in 1969!

It still sings so strongly….

May we continue learning that The Power of Love can overcome the fears in this world. Hope does lie in the children and we can come together. “Come and stand beside us. We can find a better way” 

~ DeAnne, Conscious Connections NOW
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Rhymes and Reasons ~ John Denver

So you speak to me of sadness
And the coming of the winter
Fear that is within you now
It seems to never end
And the dreams that have escaped you
And the hope that youve forgotten
You tell me that you need me now
You want to be my friend

And you wonder where were going
Wheres the rhyme and wheres the reason
And its you cannot accept
It is here we must begin
To seek the wisdom of the children
And the graceful way of flowers in the wind

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

Like the music of the mountains
And the colours of the rainbow
Theyre a promise of the future
And a blessing for today
Though the cities start to crumble
And the towers fall around us
The sun is slowly fading
And its colder than the sea

It is written from the desert
To the mountains they shall lead us
By the hand and by the heart
They will comfort you and me
In their innocence and trusting
They will teach us to be free

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

And the song that I am singing
Is a prayer to non believers
Come and stand beside us
We can find a better way

Words and music by John Denver

 

Our Entire Landscape

DeAnne WolfgramLeave a comment

Let us not access ourselves, or anyone else, by the low valleys, plateaus or epic mountain heights we have journeyed.

The entire landscape has value.

The entire landscape of who we are has infinite value.
Drink in all the scenery and the journey that You Are.

~ DeAnne Wolfgram
January 17, 2014

As bright as the light on the Luxor

DeAnne Wolfgram2 Comments

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I woke up this morning on the final 13th of 2013, or more precisely the final Friday the 13th of 2013, with a very insistent image in my mind. Again and again as I tried to doze, I kept seeing the bright spotlight of the Luxor Hotel in my mind’s eye.

And then, I was reminded of something I hadn’t thought of in quite a while, one of the best compliments of my life.

In 1994 at the conclusion of a personal growth seminar, an aquaintance came up to me and gave me that gift. He was a fireman I knew of from my husband’s fire department, but we did not know one another well. As everyone was exchanging expressions of gratitude and goodbyes, this man looked me in the eyes with an immense expression of awe.

He took my hand and with a wonder and emphasis to his voice said,

“YOU are as bright as the light on the Luxor!”

Needless to say, I was stunned and humbled at his remark. It has stayed with me ever since. I saw him again this year, twenty years later and told him that he had given me the best compliment of my life. He blushed and smiled. I gave him a huge hug.

I’ve lived in the Las Vegas/Henderson Valley for 36 of my 43 years of life.  For the past twenty years, I have had various moments of driving at night and finding myself captivated by the luminous light of our landmark Luxor.  Those words speak to me yet again, “You are as bright as the light on the Luxor.”

I’m still humbled by that, yet many, many times it has empowered me.
It’s beam is brilliant, radiant, powerful and can be seen throughout the valley, and at times even from space. I hope that I may say at the end of my life that I managed to shine my light as brightly as that.

Waking to this very insistent image and hearing these words again this morning, more began to stir within me. Scenes of synchronous moments in my life came to the forefront and inspiring visions I’ve had over the years. I feel them beginning to align, to clarify and to point the way for me, much like that glorious beam of light.

Today, I’m reminded to shine my own light brightly without hiding or dulling it and to encourage others to do the same.

Afterall, we are all truly luminous, “as bright as the light on the Luxor.”

SHINE ON!

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Message and Luxor images (via iPhone)  by DeAnne Wolfgram

Love Wisdom

DeAnne Wolfgram4 Comments
The Love Wisdom  ~ of Mother Teresa & Princess DianaImage
 “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
~ Mother Teresa

“I knew what my job was; it was to go out and meet the people and love them.”
~ Princess Diana

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
~ Mother Teresa”

I think the biggest disease the world suffers from in this day and age is the disease of people feeling unloved. I know that I can give love for a minute, for half an hour, for a day, for a month, but I can give. I am very happy to do that, I want to do that.”
~ Princess Diana

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” ~ Mother Teresa

“Every one of us needs to show how much we care for each other and, in the process, care for ourselves.” ~ Princess Diana

“…do small things with great love.” ~ Mother Teresa

“I touch people. I think everyone needs that. Placing a hand on a friend’s face means making contact.” ~ Princess Diana

“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” ~ Mother Teresa

“Helping people in need is a good and essential part of my life, a kind of destiny.”
~ Princess Diana

“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” ~ Mother Teresa

This heart wisdom is shared in honor of these two divinely mothering souls and in remembrance of their passings so close together in 1997 ~ Diana, August 31st and Mother Teresa, September 5th 1997.

May their wisdom and example remind us how TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD. 
~ DeAnne Wolfgram, Conscious Connections NOW

At the time that Princess Diana and Mother Teresa passed from this world, I was living with cancer of the womb. I was aware of the legacy of love and the empowerment of mothering that these women represented at the very time that I was letting go of birthing more children.  There was a soulful feeling of significance for me then.  I continue to feel it. To this very day, I feel a calling to “spread love” everywhere I can. ~ DeAnne

A Broken OPEN Moment

DeAnne WolfgramLeave a comment

“Let love guide you into the next broken open moment.”

One of my dearest friends, soul sisters and collaborators at Sacred Circle Retreats wrote this message this morning:

“We are all being nurtured and guided by Divine Feminine energy to expand our heart space. Let go of the idea we need protection from heartbreak…as the continual expansion cannot be contained.  Welcome the coming changes without expectations. Let love guide you into the next broken open moment. M*”

I am experiencing this today…Thank you for this message and guidance Melynnda, Edgy Mystic.

As I slowly take my time to place lights on our holiday tree and allow my entire body its healing assimilation from an extended cold, I was listening to a Super Soul Sunday episode. It features Mark Nepo. I had watched another with him yesterday, and I marveled at the timing of Jackie sharing her gorgeous Prayer post by him at Sacred Circle Retreats today. Oh how our lives so often parallel with our dearest ones. We all know that well.

Moments ago listening to Mark discuss his journey through cancer and how we have all experienced loss in some way my heart broke open even further. He said, “What opens us is never as important as what it opens….” I was awash in tears as the rain continues to cascade outside. For me, memories of the trials of cancer, the loss of bearing children and all those other seemingly overwhelming moments of challenge in my life just melted into right now. I AM HERE BEING.  I am here being more of who I always wished to be, accepting the constancy of change and flow, of uncertainty and fresh awareness, of it All. I looked down at all the colorful Christmas tree lights in my hand and felt that Christ that lies within us all. The blessed tears still flow… There are those moments when we truly bless the journey and where we are in the moment, and we feel the PRESENCE residing within and through it all. This was one of those moments.

“What opens us is never as important as what it opens….” ~ Mark Nepo

Yes, truly ~ “Let love guide you into the next broken open moment.” M*

Eternal Flame

DeAnne Wolfgram1 Comment

May the eternal flame burn brightly.

May it spark more souls to Peace.

May it ignite more hearts to live their own “Profiles in Courage.”

May it forever remind us to honor and live our own legacy.

We honor this today, on this day, November 22, 2013 ~ the 50th anniversary of the passing of the torch, as visionary President John F. Kennedy left this world. May his eternal flame burn brightly forever….

.JFK's Eternal Flame ~ Arlington

~ DeAnne Wolfgram, Conscious Connections NOW

photograph: “Eternal Flame”, DeAnne Wolfgram 2008

Note: This blog post and message were shared at 11:11 AM PT, November 22, 2013.