Michael Jackson's untimely death made me think about these issues more deeply this week.  As a public figure, the pressures on him were clearly enormous.  That alone can create imbalance.  Performing and all it entails disrupt sleep patterns, and can ultimately lead to very tragic results.  At a minimum, the spirit and the body separate and physical discomfort and disharmony can result.  Taking drugs to sleep or calm down is very common in these times.  People resort to external things to bring harmony to their systems.   In the end, these approaches will never truly work because the underlying issues are not addressed.  The stresses and pains and problems of daily life can be more than we feel we can bear.  In our quest to "feel better" and perhaps escape the pain we may do and overdo things that really do not serve us when we use them without being mindful of what their purpose is: A brief respite, not a complete resolution or substitute for resolution.

It takes attention and time to keep our bodies and our spirits in alignment.  There aren't any quick fixes.  Sometimes we have to experience a great deal of pain and unpleasantness before we reach a place of balance and harmony, no matter what we do. Perhaps this is simply the way it is, here, on earth.  That being said, I still believe that a spirit of honesty and inquiry, combined with patience, can bring us to healing.  Plants and energy medicine are powerful tools for all beings on this earth to use in their search for balance and unity of being.  While none of us really knows where we're headed in life in the bigger scheme of things, we can pay attention and keep doing the small things that keep body and soul together.  If we do that, we can ultimately see wholeness in ourselves and around us, and that is a light-filled experience.  I intend to continue working with my be-furred client, not because I want to create a dependency on my work or cover up her distress with external products and things, but because I know that using the energy of life will eventually bring her to the best state in which she can be.  This is true for all of us.  We must never give up, and healing can be found in very small things.  Whatever your thoughts are about "the meaning of life" or "religion" or "spirituality", it never hurts to commune with that thing we all recognize, that thing that is bigger than we can conceive and sometimes seems terrifyingly impersonal, but which in the end is full of love.  One word for this is prayer.  One of my favorites is: May all things work for the highest good of all beings.  So, Bless You All!