November is a month of heritage, gratitude, and grief. Here is a picture taken in 2005 during a helicopter tour of Mesa Verde National Park. The ancestral Pueblo people, that built these cliff dwellings, lived in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. They made their homes here long before Europeans explored North America. They moved on for unknown reasons. They left behind these weather worn structures and no written record of explanation.
History is full of rising and falling that builds layers all around us. We live in the moment of working to survive our place in the world. Each moment of reaching out and connecting to our families,friends, and even strangers is what breathes life and meaning into our world. Life, death, decay, and renewal are all around us. The constant cycling moves the world forward through time. We seek to understand our place in all these life changing events. My journey through grief taught me that we must make peace with this cycling process. The holiday of Thanksgiving is celebrated or mourned depending on one's personal perspective. Giving thanks to God and having gratitude helps me to see the blessings in my life, and make peace with the inequities of life. Focusing in on the food helps to shift my mind away from the chaos beyond my control. I cannot bring world peace, and yet I can make a divine dinner and give thanks for my blessings.
movingforwardslowly 