Santa Cruz Shaman

This Thanksgiving I find myself thinking of family and friends near and far. I am missing them all, especially my niece and her family who have just moved to Austin. The table will be quieter but less fun without her, her husband and their two small children.

As we hold hands around the table I know I will feel the hands of all of you and my other family and friends clasped elsewhere but linked invisibly with my own. Shamanism has taught me to realize that time and distance are mostly illusion and not nearly as important as intention.

Please join me in holding the intentions of peace and connection this holiday. If your family disappoints you in their attitude or conversation examine how an annoying person is different from you and how s/he is similar to you. I often see myself reflected in my family members, for better or worse.

I also see how my world view has changed over the years. However much I strive, I am not always the calm center I strive to be. Shamanism has changed my reality but not freed from self-created drama, joys and sorrows. I see that I can be difficult for others to be with, just as they can be for me. As I see myself reflected in my family, I learn to accept the things in them that I dislike and perhaps even those things in myself that I dislike.

This Thanksgiving and holiday season, I offer you my current mantra. It is old and familiar but no less powerful. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”