Rainbow Connection

Posted on May 26, 2025 by admin

The beloved “Muppet Movie” was released in June 1979, debuting the classic song, “Rainbow Connection.” Kermit the Frog (aka Jim Henson) sang this melody full of simple, yet profound questions. They are questions to open up the imagination about rainbows, and about life.

Why are there so many songs about rainbows,
And what’s on the other side?


Folklore speaks of imaginative pots of gold at the end of rainbows. But for Kermit and the
Muppets, they sing of a world where they imagine lovers, dreamers and themselves living in peace, safety and tranquility. Rainbows capture peoples’ imaginations, some seeing them as a promise from the divine. Rainbows also represent the diversity of people around the world. Our differences make us stand out, but can also join us together when we embrace those characteristics.

What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing
And what do we think we might see…
Someday we’ll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me…


This song is ultimately about hope for a better future. We may not seem to be there
now, especially when everything seems lost. But we can use our imagination to create a
better future with our skills, our compassion, and our virtues. We just have to hold onto
the hope that things will get better when we connect with the rainbow within all of us.

~Jen Garrison

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Space for the Wind

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Bob Patrick

Years ago, I was taught a breathing practice. Recently in a friend’s blog, I was reminded of that same practice. Since then, I’ve been experimenting with it. The practice is very simple, and I think, transformative. It also gives space for us to engage it with our imaginations. 

First, the practice. Sitting in a calm place where you won’t be interrupted for a few minutes, it goes like this.

1. Breathe in a full deep breath.
2. Pause for a moment at the top of the breath.
3. Breathe out a full deep breath. 
4. Pause for a moment at the bottom of the breath.

None of this should be forced, and each of the four parts should fit your body’s readiness to breath like this. Here are shortened instructions:

1. Breathe in.
2. Pause.
3. Breathe out.
4. Pause


We can repeat this as many times as we want or have the space for. 

We can also add our imaginations to it. This is one way that I have done it.

  1. Breathe in and think to oneself: Open to healing.
  2. Pause and think to oneself: Receive the healing.
  3. Breathe out and think to oneself: Release all dis-ease.
  4. Pause and think to oneself: allow for balance. 

We can craft any number of images and phrases to go with each of the four parts of the breathing practice. It can also be done completely in silence with no words to think at all.  This can be a simple, powerful way to harness our imagination to the power of our breathing to address what we face each day. If we have health issues, we can bring healing into our bodies. If we face difficult decisions, we can breathe wisdom and guidance into our lives. If we are troubled over events in the world (!!!) we can breathe justice, guidance and balance into the world. 

It’s all about what space we give to the wind that is our breath, today.

~Bob Patrick

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By Degrees

Posted on May 20, 2025 by admin

I don’t believe we think things into existence.
Not completely. And not reliably.

But I do think we steer.
Intentionally, or not.

Some people plan it out.
Others drift and still arrive somewhere.

And over time,
what we imagine
and what we dwell on
starts to shape us.

Not always for the better.
Not always on purpose.

But now and then,
it’s probably worth asking ourselves:

Where have I been?
Where am I headed?
And who am I choosing to become?

~Ryan Peterson

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Healing Anxiety

Posted on May 19, 2025 by admin

This month’s theme of Living Love Through the Practice of Imagination can be fun-filled and enjoyable to reflect upon. However, sometimes imagination can be problematic, turning into anxiety and worry; causing obsessions and compulsions to take over. Many people who know me are aware that I live with bipolar disorder, yet most do not know that I also live with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Basically, the way I experience OCD is when my imagination runs wild, causing me crushing anxiety and worry, ruminating, and disturbing images that flash across my mind’s eye. I am scared of the other shoe dropping; I await yet another disaster to ruin my day.

I understand logically that these thoughts and feelings are a result of unresolved grief, anger, and trauma. I have been using my journal to express my emotions, especially when they become intense, to cope. I tell myself to breathe, that my mind is telling a “story” at the moment. When I can catch what my mind is up to, I can practice breathing techniques and other coping skills to lessen the impact of my obsessive thinking. When I can do that, the compulsion to relieve the thoughts with certain behaviors diminishes too.

I have recently learned from a friend not to place too much value on my ruminating thoughts and images. The more energy I put into how the images are scaring me, the bigger and more disturbing they become. If instead I soothe my mind and heart by breathing and naming what I am feeling out loud or on paper, I can feel safe again. Feeling safe and reducing doubt are how anxiety and OCD are quelled. I hope that by talking about this, I can help peers with mental health challenges feel seen and heard. I encourage you to take some slow, deep breaths today for your mental wellbeing.

~Jen Garrison

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Whispers

Posted on May 16, 2025 by Bob Patrick

I shuffle my Tarot deck and lay my cards out in my favorite spread: The Sword of Truth. I love this five card spread. It resonates with both the analytical and intuitive sides of my brain. Thinking of the spread’s name, I imagine the cards cutting through confusion and revealing a new or possibly old truth. Each position of the spread asks a question: 

What is the Basis for my question? 

What is the Desire I hold? 

What can Help me?

What can Harm me?

What will the Outcome be? 

As I stare at the cards on the table before me, I imagine the artist imagining how to artistically interpret each card. There are many, many different imaginings of the Tarot. Every artist brings their own perspective to their artwork, their own focus, their own style. Shuffling through these cards is like shuffling through someone else’s imagination. 

I still feel “new” at this practice, though the cards, showing signs of wear, feel familiar in my hands. From my first Tarot experience, I found myself drawn to Tarot’s rich history, beautiful art, symbolism and hidden meanings. It took time to let go of judgmental thinking and allow myself to simply wander among the cards, slowly acquainting myself with their names and meanings as if mingling at a party.

Many people imagine, or perhaps hope, that Tarot is about foretelling the future. They envision fortune tellers in carnival tents predicting the meeting of a tall and dark, handsome stranger, as if our lives are predestined. To me, Tarot invites us into a world of what can be, not a world of what must be. It awakens in us the sometimes repressed ability to imagine beyond limitations. It speaks to truths we carry deep within us and whispers, what if?

~Lisa Kiel

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Rest of My Life

Posted on May 15, 2025 by admin

In recent weeks, there has been a sister duo named Flo & Joan singing a song called “Rest of My Life” posted on FB, as well as on YouTube. The song is a laugh-out-loud story about meeting someone you are interested in while feeling socially awkward. Greeting a crush with “mice to neet you” and worrying about all the silly mistakes that all of us make when we are nervous.

I myself have had experiences with feeling socially awkward, and I am someone who is known for being friendly. My imagination can run wild sometimes when I am meeting someone new or someone I am excited to meet. Often when my anxiety is running amuck, my imagination does too. That can be problematic. The greatest thing about this song “Rest of My Life” is that it takes situations like this and makes a point to not let you take yourself so seriously. The most
beautiful lyrics say, “80 years of worrying about what others think of me, just melted away…”

This song helps me realize that imagination can be quite powerful and painful, if I let it do that to me. But I can also use it to uplift my sense of humor. I can overcome anxiety if I can imagine myself succeeding despite any discomfort I am feeling. I won’t spoil the end of the song for you; it’s a funny surprise. Check it out when you get a chance!

~Jen Garrison

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Active Imagination

Posted on May 14, 2025 by Bob Patrick

There is a psycho-spiritual practice developed by Carl Jung known as “active imagination”. The more I learn about and practice it, the more convinced I am of the transformative effects it may offer us. It works like this.

  1. Take any image that has caught your attention. The image could be a scene from a dream that won’t leave you alone; a symbol that you keep finding over and over again; a photograph of someone important to you; a painting from any time and place, from cave wall paintings to a canvas still wet with the paint; a tarot card; a postcard; a photo from today’s news; an image that suddenly came to mind. Hopefully, you get the idea. The requirement is an image that really seems to want your attention. It doesn’t have to be beautiful by any measure. It needs to be an image that is already, on a nonverbal level, is speaking to you or from which you want to hear more.
  1. Find a quiet place to sit where you won’t be disturbed, with a journal and pen nearby.
  1. Sit with the image in front of you (or called to mind if that’s where it exists). Be still and calm. Ground or center yourself by observing your breath and allowing muscles to let go and release–until you find yourself calm and at ease.
  1. Look at the image, and speak to it as a living being: hello (image). What message do you have for me?
  1. And listen. Listen with your imagination. What do you imagine the image saying back to you as the message it holds for you? The message may come in short phrases; or longer sentences with pauses; or in flowing narrative or even poetry. Keep listening until the message seems to be finished.
  1. Repeat the message back to the image. Ask it if you understand it correctly. Ask if there is anything more. Listen until the message you imagine coming from the image is finished.
  1. Gently, take up your journal and pen, and write down the message you received. Mark it with a description of the image and the date. Write until you feel within yourself that you have captured the message. 

My own experience with active imagination is that when I do it, two things always are true. I start out the practice somewhat doubtful if anything significant is going to happen, and I am always surprised by the depth and importance of the message that I imagine coming from the image. 

For me, the practice of active imagination opens up the powers of my imagination that are always there, always inside of me. Images in my life, world and dreams reach into me and tap something waiting to be seen, heard and activated in my life. If I understand Jung correctly, we are all individual expressions of Life who can tap into the collective world of meaning. It’s always there, waiting for us to open the door or window or portal. Our imaginations are powerful aspects of Being Human, of Being Life and Love.

~Bob Patrick

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