Tag: Spirituality

Connecting to the wonder we are

A Butterfly’s Unexpected Surprises

Erin Keane

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here in the Northeast. The birds were singing, plants were growing, children were playing, dogs were running, and butterflies were dancing. I’ve never had the opportunity to photograph a butterfly up-close, but yesterday I did. It was a wonderful, unexpected surprise and completely brightened my day. 

The wonder of the experience wasn’t just that I saw a butterfly, but that the butterfly ( A Red Admiral) stayed around my yard for a good 25 minutes and let me come up close to photograph him (most likely a male).  In fact at one point he landed on my arm and sat there for a good minute. It was like he was saying to me, “I’m happy to see you. It’s my pleasure to be photographed by you.”

Butterflies are known for symbolism:

  • Resurrection
  • Transition
  • Celebration
  • Lightness
  • Time
  • Soul

While I was outside with the butterfly, I definitely felt a sense of “lightness;” it was as if my soul/the deeper part of me was feeling better and lighter just by being in the presence of this magnificent creature. I felt so utterly honored that this butterfly felt safe and comfortable around me, and my camera.  Have you ever been near an animal in the natural world, who just seemed to welcome your presence? What was that like for you?

As I watched this butterfly open his wings to the sun—soaking up the warmth and the light– it reminded me of how I too need to soak up the sunlight, and be renewed. It was as though this butterfly was affirming my human experience of needing light…and at the same time he was inspiring renewal/resurrection within my heart and my soul by being so welcoming of me.

As I was enjoying these moments, unexpectedly another Red Admiral Butterfly appeared, and I was blessed with the invitation to watch them dance around my yard, until they came to a place of rest upon the bark of a tree.

The butterfly left me with a wonderful gift: Because the butterfly welcomed me, I felt like someone knew I needed this. And it reminded me yesterday, today and always, that when we seek with our heart, our longings will be answered…maybe not always in the ways we expect, but in ways that we NEED. I needed this butterfly to come into my life: I needed to be reminded that I am never alone…and that when I really need an experience of grace it will be provided for me.

How about you, have you ever had something wonderful happen to you, that filled you with an unexpected experience of Grace?

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™

Healing

Sunlight Transforms Our Mind, Body and Spirit

Erin Keane

Light warms the Heart

and Brightens the Soul.

Light energizes the Body

and Inspires the Mind.

It truly is amazing how much the gift of sunlight awakens hope and inspiration in our lives. Light is a source of healing and renewal. Have you ever noticed that the flowers that do not receive as much sunlight take longer to bloom? This seems true for most of us too. When our bodies are not being touched by sunlight, even light that just comes in through the window, we may become less motivated or less hopeful. But when the sunlight is present, it awakens us both literally and metaphorically. We awaken feeling better; we feel like new possibilities can become reality. Just as sunlight is an energy source bringing forth life in nature, sunlight is also an energy source bringing forth healing, & inspiration within our bodies.

The last few days it has rained, and been cloudy daily. This weather has challenged my spirit: My soul, the deeper part within me, has been struggling to be hopeful. Today though the sun came out, and I honestly feel better. Does this ever happen to you?

The gift of light is essential to my well-being. I notice that I become more down in consistently dreary days; they become a metaphor for how I feel. However, in the presence of light I awaken and feel more grounded. I am able to reconnect to the wonder that I am rather, than losing sight of it. I also think this happens because at our core, we do need to be connected to the natural world—and when the sun is out, it invites us to come out too, and become a part of nature.

Other good things happen when we are touched by light like:

  • Taking a walk with the dog—exercising my body
  • Playing at the park with my son—provides a place for me to interact with other adults
  • Listening to the birds chirping—beautiful songs for my ears
  • Opening the windows—feeling the breeze upon my skin
  • Smiling—feeling better within myself—hopeful!

How about you? What happens when you are touched by sunlight? Share your wisdom…

Blessings, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™

Inspiration, Life

A Deep Longing, Fulfilled.

Erin Keane

Deep within us all is a longing to be connected, to be loved, to belong. Sometimes this yearning is more intense than at other times. Each of us discovers how to function in the world and how to be connected to this deeper part of who we are.  What do you do when you need to fulfill this longing within you, and have no one to really be there to help you fulfill these needs?

When this happens to me I turn to my “spiritual” side and take the time to pray or meditate. Opening myself to that which is beyond me, and inviting it to become a part of me seems to create that sense of connection that I need at any given moment. In other words, connecting to the Divine is something I need sometimes, well maybe lots of the time.

When I open myself in prayer I just allow myself to talk freely about what I feel. God is my journal buddy—-I can share whatever I need to from my heart, without writing it down, and yet it feels like I’ve got my pen in my hand. I find that when I have this deep longing for connection I need to release what I feel somehow somewhere, to someone. And why not give myself the gift of some quiet, where I can speak clearly, and know that the one on the other end of the phone-line wants to do nothing but listen to me?

Sometimes this longing for connection, love and belonging, is most fulfilled when I am able to share what’s in my heat & mind freely without hesitation. Or it happens when I just let go of my needs and send them out into the benevolent universe and into the hands of the Divine.

What happens to you when you meditate or pray? Do you feel the connection you need, or does the experience do something else for you? Do you have to be in a certain place or posture to achieve the connection or can it be spontaneous?

I find I need the spontaneity of sharing what’s on my heart and mind at any moment. But for the deeper sharing of my heart I need to take the time and be intentional, so that I can really allow myself to share what I feel.

If you haven’t already discovered a way to feel connected, I invite you to open yourself to all the energy in this beautiful world we have, and ask it to receive you. Do  it over and over again, until it becomes a part of who you are.

We are all connected to each other, the earth and all the creatures. So when you don’t feel connected, loved or like you belong. Just walk out your door step, and see the world…and thus you are, never alone.

And when I pray, I pray for your happiness too.

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

Inspiration, Life

Share Yourself with the World

Erin Keane

May you be blessed today with the realization that you are an awesome, beautiful & amazing creation for the world!

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

Healing, Health, Life

“I’m Not Tired. I’m Just Really Good at Not Falling-Asleep!”

Erin Keane

My 2 1/2 year old son, runs around the house yelling, “I’m not tired!” as he loses total control and has a meltdown. Sure, he’s not tired…”Mamma, I’m not tired at all!”

I realize my son, speaks with great wisdom and honesty. I know oh too well, how to stay up way past my tired place, and then discover the next day I am completely wore-out. Yet, I’ll go through my day, and do it all over again. “I’m not tired!” But the truth is I’m exhausted…emotionally and physically at times… But of course, I just won’t let myself fall asleep.

Does this ever happen to you?

I find in this day and age I’m always feeling the need to be connected.  Connected to all this stuff in the World Wide Web. I need to be fed by it, and nourished by it. And because I’ve become so involved in it, my mind at times finds it so hard to just be calm…and thus to just close my eyes and fall asleep.  I need to be better about disengaging!

Other times I feel like I just need to be alone, to discover something, to just relax. And then I end up busying myself with something and staying up too late at night—Like listening to music that energizes me rather than relaxes me…

My eyes are tired.

My mind is tired.

My body is tired.

“So just go to bed, Why don’t you?!”

But, “I’m not tired!”

Stop lying to myself, I say.

I realize that as I have become intentional about caring for myself by listening to my own breath better & getting to know myself deeper I have become happier and healthier. But I need to rest more.  I need to be intentional about taking the time to let myself deeply sleep.

So I am going to work on

  1. Washing my face and being intentional about imagining that I am washing away all the stresses of the day and leaving them behind.
  2. Drying my face and freeing myself of tomorrow’s worries—my face is refreshed and calm.
  3. Walking myself up to bed earlier—allowing myself to be done with the day, and leaving it downstairs–making my bedroom a place to truly relax.
  4. Taking the time to listen to my husband’s meditation music before falling asleep—creating a sense of bodily-felt calm.
  5. Taking the time to pray and be connected to the Divine or to Meditate—It helps me let go of my worries that might be left too deep to be washed away, and placing them in hands of the Sacred who can carry all things that I cannot.

What about you? What do you do to help yourself rest and fall asleep?  Are you intentional about allowing yourself to go to bed when you need to?

May you discover a sense of peace within yourself…

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

Inspiration, Life

EarthSong: Happy Earth Day!

Erin Keane

The Earth Sings a Song of Beauty
The music it plays echos through the voices of Birds
Tu-La
Life is beautiful today…
Do you see the newness all around?
Mother Nature gives birth to bursts of colour
And the earth smiles at the breaths of Life
that the green leaves of the trees
Sing
Woosh…Swoosh…







Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

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Life

Maybe it’s Beyond My Control, But I Will Find a Way To Conquer!

Erin Keane

Oh, that unfortunate feeling of anxiety, filled me up with so much worry! But once I got my bearings, took a breath…well actually a few. Sat back, reflected. Talked it out, and of course Wrote about it…it slowly began to lose it’s power. As it lost its power, I was able to see more clearly and react in a proactive and positive way. Seeing more clearly, I actually took the time to read my emails–the enjoyable ones I don’t usually make enough time for… It seems like for whatever reason, when you put your trust in the energy of the world as benevolent towards you, the answers you need fall right in your lap.

I read,

I bet you don’t always feel like a conqueror-there is often so much to deal with in life that is beyond our control.
–Spirit of Life Community/Ministry

The minister mentions in reply, that she is reading a book by John O’Donohue called, Beauty:the Invisible Embrace:Rediscovering the true sources of compassion, serenity and hope.
O’Donohue writes,

We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul. For a while the strains of struggle and endurance are relieved and our frailty is illuminated by a different light in which we come to glimpse behind the shudder of appearances in the sure form of things. In the experience of Beauty we awaken and surrender in the same act. Beauty brings a sense of completion and sureness. Without any of the usual calculation, we can slip into the Beautiful with the same ease as we slip into the seamless embrace of water; something ancient within us already trusts that this embrace will hold us…”

Okay, I thought, somehow beauty is going to help me conquer today. I’m not sure how, but it is. I went out in my yard with my son and stood there and listened to the birds sing while he played in the sandbox.

I really listened. And somehow my heart began to ease even more.

I looked up at the beautiful buds, and the little baby leaves, blowing in the wind.
And I was profoundly aware that I was a part of something greater than myself…Something Beautiful…something loving, something telling me, it’s going to be okay…

I took a deep breath and soaked this in.

And last night before I went to bed, I took pictures of the flowers I brought inside to keep the sense of sureness & completion that the Beautiful was providing me with earlier that day.

So I did conquer! I don’t feel like life is beyond my control any longer…well at least for today! Because I’m connected to something greater than me…and I know I’m not the only one who gets anxious. We all do. And knowing that makes the feeling much more bearable. We all know what it’s like. We’ve all been there… And we WILL CONQUER if we just give ourselves the chance!

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

Healing, Inspiration, Life

This is a New Day!

Erin Keane

Today is a new day!
It is another day of life.
It is another day for you to feel.
It is new day for your body, mind and spirit.  
It is a new day:
You are evolving,
You are changing,
You are deepening,
You are surfacing.

It is a day of resurrection.
A day where new life can begin in you.
It may not be a huge moment,
Or a burst of enlightenment,
It may be something as simple, and huge as,
I’m a bit better today,
I feel a bit more like me,
I discovered I’m not alone at this moment.

Whatever it may be,
Today is a new day.
Resurrection comes when you are transformed
in a moment,
to believe even more deeply in the miracle you are.
It’s that moment where you are struck with the awe
that there is no one like you
not now,
not ever.

It’s a new day!

I believe you are enough!
I believe that you are a living miracle!
I believe that you are here for a reason!
I believe that there is an incredible Spirit of Love
that lives within you,
and for you!

It is a new day for you to begin to believe and live this as your truth!

This is a new day!

I have faith in you,
and I have faith in the Gift of your Life.

I believe.

In you.

I believe.

In me.

Do you?

A very blessed day of New Life to you today and always!

A wonderful and inspiring blog post that also speaks of New Life, and Resurrection: http://barefootbarn.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/everyday-resurrection-2/

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue
©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™ All rights reserved.

Bella Bleue Quotes, Healing

A Message of Healing and Love

Erin Keane

It is a time to celebrate the gift of New Life.
When you share love you give others the gifts of healing, happiness and fulfillment, and in return you receive these same gifts.
Your feeling of bodily emptiness also becomes less because you become connected to the *Beloved, who is both beyond you and within you-
We are in deep relationship with the Beloved when we Love each other, and when we love ourselves.
This is when deep healing is possible and happening!
And New Life begins within you and for those who come in contact with you.

Blessings, Erin, Bella Bleue

©Bella Bleue Healing, Health & Inspiration for Your Life™

*Allow the Beloved to evoke whatever meaning you understand and need in your life.