What’s Your Story?

Jane BurnsUncategorized

Recently, I was talking to a psychologist friend of mine about the burden he felt from carrying the sad stories of the people who came to him for help.  “People do such terrible things to one another,” he said.  “Yes, that’s true,” I said.  “But what I think about most when someone leaves my office is the stunning dignity with …

A More Flattering Light

Jane BurnsUncategorized

 I have a new daily practice.  This one is about acknowledging the right of others to make the choices they do.  Each night as I “lay me down to sleep,” I ask my guides: whose free will have I made conditional?  The face of someone I know will float up into my consciousness, and I will take a moment or …

Wise Choices

Jane BurnsUncategorized

 I find that I have entered a period in my life when a lot of choices and opportunities are being presented to me.  The challenge has been to not leap forward at each new thing but to stand back and choose with discernment, weighing carefully whether the choice seems to reflect who I am becoming or who I have been. …

Flying Far

Jane BurnsUncategorized

My oldest son has left home to study abroad for the next year and a half.  It was time for him to go, to leave the nest, and he was well prepared to do so.  I have not been without my fears for this boy over the years—I am a mother after all.  But the good news is, he has …

Marking the Winter Solstice, Honoring the Earth

Jane BurnsUncategorized

Last evening, I participated in a celebration and ceremony to mark this winter’s longest night of the year and the lunar eclipse that fell concurrently on the solstice.  To prepare for the gathering, I took a preliminary journey to see how I could shape our honoring of this momentous occasion.  When I set out on my shamanic journey just hours …

The Things I Cannot Change

Jane BurnsUncategorized

Each morning, I recite the serenity prayer as part of my spiritual practice:         God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,         the courage to change the things I can,         and the wisdom to know the difference.”  I have always loved this beautiful prayer. Today, I am thinking about the serenity to accept the things I cannot …

Zing! Went the Strings

Jane BurnsUncategorized

 This morning while doing a quick journey for a friend of mine, I was struck—as I often am—by the universality of some of the guidance that was being given to her.  This friend had just ended a romance and wanted some understanding of what had transpired.    The faeries—who quite honestly love to talk about human relationship  (seriously, I think they’re …

The Trip to Backwards World

Jane BurnsUncategorized

  The world is sometimes “too much with us.”  Ever feel that way?  Personally, I live a rather cloistered existence, quietly balancing my client work with my own spiritual practice.  Many days, I am floating back and forth between ordinary and non-ordinary reality, traveling on the wings of my drum and prayers, my songs, poems, and simple rituals.  The house …

Hold Harmless Agreement

Jane BurnsUncategorized

Last night, I awoke with a very clear insight into the arrogance of holding grievances.  I mean, it was odd.  It was a perception I could both see and feel—what we might call a knowing.  Or an epiphany. I think it was provoked by a discussion I had yesterday with a friend.  This friend told me he was embittered about …

Holding Still with All my Might

JonUncategorized

I am feeling these days like I need to be brave.  So much seems to be hanging in the balance.  Here I am in this new home, needing to expand my work and revise my book and create workshops and devise new ways of reaching people.  Here I am finished with an old relationship and waiting for something to fill …