There was a lot of ministry in Quaker meeting this Sunday about areas of massive disaster… areas of war… areas in deep suffering.

When I hear of the suffering in Haiti, in Iraq, in Chile, in Poland… I feel a desperate desire, I mother’s desire to make it all well, to make it better. I physically crave to touch those in pain, to sooth the soul, to hold and hum away the hurt. I think I could leave… I could just get on a plane and go there… I could serve those in such great need, recovering from such destruction, devastation, loss… I think of the connections and commitments I have here. What trail of destruction would I leave behind by walking out the door, going to the airport, getting on a plane and being gone for months, years… I can go and sooth the child who has lost a mom by orphaning my own children, support a parent who has lost a spouse by denying my husband his own partner, I could work to rebuild by leaving a hole in my own company. Yes, there are ways and those who co go, who do balance, who do give so much to put the world back in the place for those who have been rocked to their very core. And it is a choice… I could go. I choose today to stay… and still I am left with the physical longing to do… something.

I sit in the silence of Quaker meeting and wander through my choices. I could and do send money… the great American way of doing… feels like handing a Scooby-Doo band-aid to a Haitian who has just lost everything… everything, every person, every item, everything.

I could simply pray.

The simplicity of it at first makes my scoff. Prayer… I could just sit here on this bench, not move, not give, not anything… and pray. That’s not doing anything my mind battles with itself.

Love. Send love. Love is always the answer, not matter the question. Find it inside, connect to it and send it out on a prayer.

I connect to the Great Connection. The force of Love that connects us all and I know, know in every cell of my being that a prayer is the most powerful thing I could do. I pray for those in suffering and in sorrow. I pray for those who are leaving home and country and loved ones to go and render aid. I pray that they will all find the strength they need to keep moving forward. I pray that they will all feel some sense of peace, if only for a moment. I pray they will feel a mother’s love, the touch of the Great Mother Spirit, watching over them. I send love out on the wire… and I know it will make a difference. It will help to make it all better.

(Thanx! for the pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/revdave/459210631/)

I had the pleasure of getting to hear Gretchen Rudin, of the Happiness Project, and Heloise of Hints from Heloise speak at the Mom 2.0 Summit this past week. One of the biggest take aways for me was in regards to clutter.

Gretchen shared that 2 very important contributors to happiness is getting enough sleep and getting rid of clutter. Heloise added to choose the top 3 most important parts of our home to keep clutter free and focus on those.

I am no stranger to top 3 rule. A very wise friend of mine talked down from the ledge in one my early mommy on the verge moments with the top 3 rule. I had taken my spiritual serenity and my emotional well being and tossed them out the window over what my child care was feeding my first born. I had this very rigid idea and a long list of do’s and don’t's when it came to what my kiddos were going to put in their bodies… let me tell ya… fruit loops and white bread where on the serious don’t list. My girlfriend (who had raised 4 boys mostly on her own) suggested I make a list of the top 10 most important things. Prioritize them… demand the first… ask for number 2 & 3… then let everything else go. My sanity and the peace of my soul were worth more than anguishing over what my kids eat.

So I liked Heloise’s hints for picking 3… as I made my bed this morning I took it to a deeper level. Yes, in the beginning simply going through the motions is the beginning to shifting the way we do things. However, I believe at certain point intention needs to factor in. I may make the bed… but what is it I intend to get out of making the bed. I choose to be present and in the moment… actually using all of my senses to be in the moment making the bed. What I want to get out of making the bed is a feeling of peace and sanctuary  when I come into my room. I ask The Universe to bring this into my life as I make the bed. Simple Abundance introduced me to the idea that any action in my life can be a prayer if I do in connection to Spirit.

I intentionally leave my closet messy sometimes… it’s a conscious choice – to allow my inner rebel something to say “NO! I won’t do it” about. I like the living room to be tidy, so when I walk in from work and the day… it says out there is chaos and whirling energy – in here is a space of calm. My cook books in the corner of my kitchen however are stacked, dog-eared, open, etc… seeing them in use  – inspires me to use them. But the mail always gets opened, sorted, and filed the moment it comes into the house. In this way I say to The Universe I am responsible and accountable around the money commitments I have made… when you give me more money I will treat it with the same honor and love. Call me nutty – but this has made a huge shift in the energy I have around money and money maintenance.

These are just a few of the areas in my life where I act to “de-clutter” or stay tidy… or not… depending on what it is. The biggest thing I would invite you to think about is if you are taking on the act of de-cluttering… think about what it is you want to get out of the act… rather than just completing the act alone.