Each week, I’ll give you music + story + coaching as an inspiration, a prompt and encouragement.

As I’m working on my memoir, I’m reminded how powerful this combination is – especially when we find ourselves in situations that are full of uncertainties, stress, fear, unrest… 

Last weekend, Luna and I went on a beautiful hike. 

Nature is always so calming, grounding and comforting to me. About 45 minutes into our walk, we found a bench overlooking a small meadow overgrown with wildflowers and tall grass. I sat there wanting to soak in the peacefulness of it. 

I imagined my version of peaceful – no activity, no worry, no agenda, no planning, nothing. Just sitting there resting in life in complete stillness. 

But no matter where I placed my gaze, there was a constant and very busy activity – with a million bugs flying, buzzing, sucking on flowers, chasing each other, with cicadas competing in loudness, and birds flying from one tree canopy to another.

Luna was so excited about so many new things to smell and check out, there was no way she would lay down and rest. All of it was too much, and at the same time it was perfectly peaceful. There was no resistance to the flow of life – everything there was surrendered to it. (Well, maybe not Luna because she was on a leash, LOL)

This abundance of life without resistance was the best version
of the sacred stillness I could have hoped for.

I sat down and took a deep breath and stilled my mind. At least my version of still 😉

I saw that my brain was like the meadow in front of it. And the thoughts (memories, questions, worry, inner chatter that’s processing information from the outside experiences) like bugs and birds and life that are impossible to stop.

The moment I stopped resisting and gave up my version of ‘perfect sacred stillness’, I found myself immersed in it…

And I enjoyed it immensely.

I came home from our hike refreshed, relaxed, energized, hopeful and deeply fulfilled. (And that was good, because the week ahead was very emotional and challenging…)

So, here are three pieces of inspiration and prompts to help you reflect on thoughts, abundance, surender and resistance:

Avrai by Claudio Baglioni

This is an Italian song. I love Italian songs because they are so expressive…

I heard this song on an album from a live concert, and was blown away by the fact that the whole audience (of thousands of people) were singing along. This song is a piece of poetry, and pretty long… how did they all remember the words? (I miss singing along with thousands of people!) 

The song talks about life’s ordinary and magical details that make up a beautiful and rich life. (Just like that meadow).

If we don’t resist, we get to enjoy it all… “Avrai” means “You Will Have.” 

I heard Mary Oliver read this poem on the radio. It was Sunday and I was driving to the Church. 😉

 “I Happened To Be Standing” by Mary Oliver

I don’t know where prayers go,
or what they do.
Do cats pray, while they sleep
half-asleep in the sun?
Does the opossum pray as it
crosses the street?
The sunflowers? The old black oak
growing older every year?
I know I can walk through the world,
along the shore or under the trees,
with my mind filled with things
of little importance, in full
self-attendance.  A condition I can’t really
call being alive.
Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,
or does it matter?
The sunflowers blaze, maybe that’s their way.
Maybe the cats are sound asleep.  Maybe not.
While I was thinking this I happened to be standing
just outside my door, with my notebook open,
which is the way I begin every morning.
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,
I don’t know why.  And yet, why not.
I wouldn’t persuade you from whatever you believe
or whatever you don’t.  That’s your business.
But I thought, of the wren’s singing, what could this be
if it isn’t a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.

When I first began my spiritual journey, a Franciscan priest told me I’d hear God’s whisper in the silence of my heart. In order to do that, he said, I’d have to silence my thoughts.

It took me a few years before I learned that I could focus on my breath and let it take me into the depths of my soul – much as if I was diving into the depths of an Ocean, which is quiet and void of surface noises.

Finally, learning how to let my thoughts pass (as I’m getting still) and not attaching to them, helped me to access that place where I am surrendered, unburdened, and immersed in Love and Grace.

Tatiana “Tajci” Cameron is an award-winning music artist, published author, inspirational speaker, and certified transformational and spiritual life coach.

She has many passions and is dedicated to helping others while also creating an enriched life for herself and her three sons. 

When Tajci is not on the road performing gigs, she volunteers with local organizations dear to her heart, spends time with loved ones (often involving music!), and collaborates with other artists to bring creative projects to life.

Tajci’s most recent projects include a meditation CD, an annual retreat & sea cruise in Croatia (that she organizes and hosts), and a multimedia CD/book (Un)Broken: Songs My Father Taught Me.

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