 Welcome to Living Mosaic. My name is Martha Holden. I am a member of the Spark of Humanity Network, which is the—this is a project. Living Mosaic is a project of the Spark of Humanity Network. Living Mosaic is an exploration of the concept that there is a solution to the heartbreak, the pain, the distress, all the stuff you see on the—you know, the horrors that we all are too painfully aware of or are denying or are uncomfortable with, at the very least, when you believe there is a solution. We're exploring the possibility that there's a solution. And the idea is that each one of us—each one of us—is a unique and essential piece of that solution. We envision the solution as being like a living mosaic, a living, evolving mosaic. And so what we're hoping through these conversations is to allow ourselves to ground ourselves in who we are and to allow ourselves to be drawn into our niche in the living mosaic. However, since the mosaic is living, the niche is living and evolving. So we can't just say, oh, good, I found my niche. I'm settled for life. Not so. We will need to be alert, attentive, and live along with the setting in which we find ourselves, our niche. We are—today, the general topic that I'll be talking about is grounding. There is the Zoom potential. There is the phone-in potential. And if you Zoom or phone-in, we'll see where we go, until that happens, or maybe while that happens, we'll be focusing on grounding. Now, the ideas for the topics of these shows sort of rise up like steam off a pond in the fall, sometime after the most recent show. And so there it is. So, okay, grounding comes up, comes to mind. We'll do—we'll be about grounding. And I think, well, grounding—am I feeling grounded? I'd better practice this if I'm going to be talking about it. And slowing it down and being aware where I am and centering—those are all parts of it. This morning, I asked a friend, I said, so what does grounding mean to you? She said, oh, it's a very negative word, negative connotations. And I said, really? I said, my generation said, okay, grounding was when you've been off misbehaving as a teenager or pre, and your parents ground you, and you have to stay at home. You can't be out riding the roads and hanging out at the hotspots with your buddies. So that's an interesting take on it. The idea that grounding is a form of containment, a drawing together, and including in the truth of where we come from, our family home—we're talking archetypal good deal family homes here—that it's drawing us back to the place that nourishes us, the place that sustains us, the place that feeds us so that we can grow into who we are needed to be in this world as part of the solution. So it's bringing us away from the distractions of out there to our home place within ourselves, sort of our core. The true place in us that is not corrupted, cannot be corrupted, is always available. In where we begin to find our deepest comfort, and it is at that place when we are grounded within ourselves, probably physically grounded too, right? It's hard to be deeply within, although I've heard of people who could do it, you know, be grounded within themselves as they are skateboarding down an icy bumpy slope because you're more likely to be focusing in the body, which is not a bad thing, the body is good, but better that than fantasy land, projections, screens, you know, you can turn me off and go ground yourself, come back if you want, but that idea that to be grounded within our true selves, our unique selves, our authentic selves, because that is where we become available to that which draws us away from the distractions toward where we are needed in the mosaic. That's where we find where we are truly for our purposes, for our two purposes. So that's it in a nutshell and let's see whether any, that area to expand comes to mind here. Hold on a sec. The process by which we are drawn to our niche in the mosaic is a mystery to me, at least, maybe not to you, but I don't know, I don't have language for it, which is one of the reasons I wave my hands around so much because for much of this I don't have language, but if I move my hands around enough, I'll figure you'll get the idea and that's okay. You don't need to have words as far as I'm concerned if you sort of get the sense of it. So grounding, I know that for instance physically working in the garden for many people is grounding, looking at some beautiful scenery is grounding, playing with the dog is grounding, patting the cat, if she'll let you, is grounding. So there are ways to become present where we are, fully present, or as much as we can. I'm not good at this, which is probably one of the reasons I am called to talk about it because my attention tends to shatter and go all over the place, but at least I'm aware that grounded is where I not only need to be if I want to experience the fullness of life, which in my experience is only available when I'm approaching, I don't know if I've ever been in my niche in the mosaic, but the closer I get to my place in the mosaic of solution, the more I begin to find that life is rich, it's a good thing. I want more of it. There were decades in my life when I just wanted less of it, or I certainly wanted it only as I could control it. So to find that, what I've found is that in those brief, brief moments when I can have my mind in my heart, that's for me, that's the essential return to practice for the grounding. It's getting my mind out of wherever it is all over the place and into my heart. And there's a distinct sensation there I've found, and it feels very, I like it, and I think that's home. In case you want to try that, I say go ahead, I will tell you it took me about ten years or more to find my heart with my mind because I had it so well defended, but you may be in much better shape than I was, but to have my mind in my heart, when I am there in that texture, it's like there's this magnet that pulls me along to where it's optimal for me to go, and I know, is drawing me toward my niche in Mosaic, which was over here a couple minutes ago, but never mind, so that, and there are people who pray, some people pray, some people don't pray because they don't know what they're praying to, and they don't want to pray unless they know what they're praying to. To find a phrase or some words to help support the mind in the heart, keeping it there, encouraging it to be there, that can be helpful. That's a traditional practice in some areas of spiritual life. So that's perhaps for me, so far, the deepest grounding, the truest grounding where I'm present with my mind in my heart and present to what is, and my mind is not scattered all over the place. It's not judging, it's not comparing, it's not analyzing, it's not projecting, it's not wishing. I got a postcard from a friend, it was in German, it took me a while to figure out what it said, but the idea was those who want to be happy need to give up wishing, because I think happiness is available only when we are grounded, when we are present to the process within which we are, when we are moving towards, when we are feeling that flow of, you know, when we are moving towards, when we are feeling that flow of, that draws us, is drawing us, wants to draw us into our place within the mosaic where we can become the solution, where we become part of the solution, unique, so we don't need to look at the people around us saying, I want to be like him. They've got so much, you know, I have, so I think I've said before, I've been very competitive in my life, so I'm aware of that, and they're doing it better than I am, or I could do it better than that, but maybe that's not where I'm meant to be. So being present to who we are, being willing to discover, discover, willing to discover who we truly are, who we uniquely are, next time two weeks from now is February 15th is willingness, that's the topic, we already have that one on the docket. So to be willing to be that, to be drawn into this process, because the process, this, the life of the mosaic, which is all creation, we can limit it to, visually I limit it to a relatively small piece of global experience, but it really comprises all of creation, and it has a life or consciousness that moves towards, I would say desire, but that is way too anthropocentric, it has a tropism, its nature is to move towards wholeness, and so it wants, sorry anthropocentrism again, its nature is to draw us because we're part of it. We cannot be separate from it, the only place we're separate from it is up here, and that's not doing anybody any good, I mean it's supporting an economy, but it's not working towards the solution, the separation, it's only function is to support the economy, so we can choose to withdraw our support from the economy to the extent of knowing that we are part of the wholeness, or we're part of the mosaic, and the mosaic is inevitably wanting to move towards wanting again, sorry, it's moving towards fulfillment, towards its fulfillment, just like you and I hope to be moving towards our fulfillment, we may have very clear ideas about what our fulfillment is, one young friend of mine once said, I'm going to make lots of money, and I said well how about you decide you want to be happy, he said no, no, if I make lots of money I'll be happy, well you know that doesn't work, whatever external thing we're after other than the integrity that's not, which is not external, the integrity of our own life, the integrity of our own process, our willingness to become the unique creatures we are, our willingness to become part of the solution, to be drawn into it, because I don't know what my place in the mosaic is, and I certainly don't know what yours is, although unfortunately I may have some ideas about that, but hopefully I just support you in finding your place in the mosaic, as I hope you support me in finding my place in the mosaic, and that's the only place that joy can be true, it's where our fulfillment is, it's the way the mosaic is developing, the mosaic which is alive, and therefore evolving, so you know it's bigger than we are, so I figure I've experienced, it works best when I try to, when I cooperate with it, when I get with the program, when I decide to cooperate with the life of the mosaic, that which is moving towards solution, and I give up my ideas about they should do this, he should do that, they shouldn't do that, they should be, this should happen to them, they should, you know, when I give up all those ideas, and say okay how do I, how do I best serve the life, how do I best serve the development, the coming into full being of the mosaic, that's where I begin to find comfort, and others have said this to me that that when they start doing something no matter how small, towards the solution, rather than living in the agony, distress, discomfort of the heartbreak in this world, when they do something no matter how small, towards being part of the solution, towards choosing being part of the solution, rather than being the great critic that understands everything that everybody else should be doing, when they put their effort into being part of the solution, then they begin to experience hope, and that's powerful, and even if they doesn't feel powerful at the moment, it's helpful, because they're moving in the direction towards the wholeness, towards the solution, towards the fulfillment, so we've got five more minutes, and I'm going to be silent for a moment or two, and you can telepath me back in time, or forward in time, where I should go next. In a few weeks, maybe four weeks, maybe later, we'll be talking about gratitude. There's some things that, you know, I feel anyway, bear repetition, the concept of the Living Mosaic as a solution, I think bear's repetition, which is why I had the good idea of asking Orca if they'd be up for hosting this series, grounding, bear's repetition, healing, as we talked about last time, bear's repetition, these concepts, willingness, as we'll talk about on February 15th, being aware of that, augmenting, growing our willingness, but gratitude is another one, and I just, because I just want to be, express my gratitude, my thanks to Orca Media and all the folks here, Coleman, Zach, Jin, Crickett, the dog, Chris, and the others that, around supporting this enterprise, Pat, Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose, others, don't need to name them all, but it's just, I'm the tip of an iceberg, you need to understand that, that's important for you to know, and it's important for me to express that I sit here and you may say, boy, that Martha, she knows stuff, or she doesn't know stuff, or, you know, isn't she a silly old lady waving her hands? I'm the tip of an iceberg here of the Spark of Humanity project, and those who are involved in the Spark of Humanity Network, and the Living Mosaic project, so it's just, it's not, I'm just up here in front of the camera being a tip of an iceberg, I'm not, this is not my show, this is not, it's a privilege, it's an honor, it's a treat, and it's also fun, because these are lovely people, and the bulk of the iceberg is very cool, if I may say so, so thanks to it all, and thanks to all you who are ever watching this, because as you know, time is an illusion that intention, intention and consciousness are not bounded by time and space, so you are supporting me now, and my intention to support you in your journey toward your niche in the Mosaic, even though who knows what time and space you're in as you're watching this, but it's there, in some traditions we say I'm praying for you, however you want to understand prayer, we may talk about that one of these times, because it's a, different people have different understandings of that, but there's an intentionality, and I see a phone, does that mean there's a phone on? Hello? Living Mosaic? Martha, there isn't a caller. There isn't, isn't a caller? There is not a caller. Okay, well at least I've had fun. Thanks, Jen. Okay, misread that cue, but it takes care of the last moment, and lets you know that if you call in, you get to see me in the earphones, and that's a treat, isn't it? Okay, so that's it, next time, willingness, maybe after that gratitude, and thank you for showing up, and thank you for art or commedia. Thank you very much. Blessings.