Loving Everything About Everything
by JoAnne Dodgson
When I moved recently, life felt turned inside out and upside down. A whirlwind of packing and unpacking, reorienting to a new place and time in my life. 
And nothing in the house seemed to quite work as it should. Much cleaning and repair were needed to create a healthy and comfortable living space. Exhausted and not feeling at home, I kept wondering if I could stay.
And then there was Jasmine, my four-legged friend, who simply loved everything about everything from the minute she jumped out of the car. She joyfully followed trails of invisible scents, gathering up stories along the way. She barked with coyotes and befriended neighbors' dogs. She walked out on the ice along the riverbank to find open water to drink. She curled up to rest in sun-warmed piles of dried cottonwood leaves. Not a momentary pause in her passionate presence in her self, in her life, in her newfound place on the land.
I was spending my days washing walls and floors and fixtures. Cleaning up years of accumulated grime and dust. Clearing trash from the land. Clearing disharmonious energies from the house. Waiting for the repairman to finally show up. Sometimes I could laugh about the wild circumstances. Other times I got tripped up by discouragement and doubts.
Side by side with Jasmine's boundless love of everything about everything, my complaints and distress became harder to justify. Jasmine's enchantment with life so naturally flowed from somewhere inside her, shaping her relationship with the world all around her. Such big love is not blind. Jasmine doesn't allow just anyone or anything to step too far into her space.
She intently investigates things close up - looking and smelling, listening, tasting and feeling everything going on. Then she chooses what to engage with, what to move away from, what to tenaciously pursue, what to simply let move on. Not a hint of judgment. Not a thread of self-doubt or fear. Just keen awareness. Acceptance. Purposeful choices. Freedom, passion and contentment. Boundless curiosity. A wide-open, all-encompassing embrace.
In the presence of such expansive love, it became clear how frustration and stress are imprisoning, only serving to shut things down. Things like Joy. Creativity. Clear vision.
Gratitude. The sensing of the magic. The awareness of all the gifts. The tasting and touching, seeing and connecting with what actually exists within and all around.
Like the river, just steps from my door.
The eagles and elder cottonwood trees.
The welcoming from the Land Spirits.
The generous giving from friends.
The extraordinary mesa on tribal lands guiding my walks downstream.
All the spaciousness, the peacefulness, the quiet.
Loving everything about everything, Jasmine guided me back home. To my heart. To my joy. To passionate enchantment with life. To my newfound place on the land.
Honoring everything about everything.
Respecting everything about everything.
Accepting everything about everything.
Loving Everything About Everything.
It's a dance.
It's the Song.
Our co-creation.
A natural rhythm.
A beautiful way of life.
Copyright © 2011 JoAnne Dodgson
About JoAnne Dodgson
JoAnne Dodgson, Ed.D, is a healer, teacher, medicine storyteller and weaver of webs of balance in ancient Peruvian medicine ways Ka Ta See, ‘living in balance from the heart.’ She has a doctorate in counseling psychology and over twenty years experience offering transformational counseling, ceremonial gatherings, holistic healing, workshops and community outreach. She teaches at Southwestern College in Santa Fe. JoAnne lives in the enchanted desert mesas of New Mexico.
Online Courses by JOANNE DODGSON
new Shaman's Circle: Earth Spirits and Guides
taught by Mentor: JoAnne Dodgson
'Shaman's Circle' offers opportunities to deepen your understandings of the path of the shaman and to integrate these ancient ways into your everyday life. 
Each lesson offers discussion of unique aspects of the shaman's path such as bridging the varied dimensions of reality, living in balance with natural cycles and creating sacred ceremony. Each lesson guides you in opportunities to discover and enrich your innate connection with the web of life on the mother earth and in the world of the spirits.
Price: $49.95
Sign up for Shaman's Circle
Manifesting with the Moon
taught by Mentor: JoAnne Dodgson
'Manifesting with the Moon' invites you to explore the unique energies and opportunities in each moon phase during one complete lunar cycle, one mo(o)nth. With the moon as a guide, you will engage in an organic manifestation process which begins with claiming your intent, giving voice to your visions and dreams.
Price: $49.95
Sign up for Manifesting with the Moon
BOOKS by JoAnne Dodgson
MoonDance Journal
Paperback with comb binding by Joanne Dodgson. Each copy of Moondance Journal is handmade, lovingly printed and bound by JoAnne Dodgson.
Price:$19.95
Walking the Spiral Path:
Awakening Power and Passion
Paperback with comb binding by Joane Dodgson. 113 pp. A collection of medicine stories.
Price:$14.95
