HeartfulLivingAndDying
  • About
  • Memento Mori
  • Blog
  • Stone & Star
  • Interfaith
  • Maya Massar
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • OPENHOUSE!
  • About
  • Memento Mori
  • Blog
  • Stone & Star
  • Interfaith
  • Maya Massar
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • OPENHOUSE!
Welcome to the Blog page of Heartful Living and Dying.
Maya makes every effort to properly and respectfully credit any sources referenced in her blog posts, her Hospice IDT offerings, or Resources page; please report corrections or additions via the contact page.   If you wish to use material from this or any of Maya's websites, please email [email protected] for permission.  Maya lovingly requests that you credit her by sharing her name, website and contact links in written material,
and verbally as well if using material in live presentations.
Thank you so much, and May Your Living and Dying be Heartful, Friends!

And now, here is the Blog. . .

A RE-POST of an Earlier Entry. . . DO YOU WANT TO WRITE A LETTER?  Would you want to receive one?

8/21/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
This post originally appeared in this blog on May 10th, 2024.
Are you an ORGAN DONOR? 

And whether you are or are not, I have a question for you to consider. . . 

IF YOU WERE THE RECIPIENT OF A DONATED ORGAN, WOULD YOU WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR NEW ORGAN'S ORIGINAL OWNER? 

If your donor had left a letter for their recipient (you), about their life and views, would you wish to read this?  Why or why not? 

This was a topic of our discussions in one of the Memento Mori Conversations.  Some people expressed that they would indeed love to know and would read such a letter. Some shared that they would like to have the letter, but would wait a while to "get to know" or "feel the energy of" their new organ before learning more. Some shared that they would prefer not to know anything - either feeling that this knowledge would be irrelevant to their own life, or fearing they might learn something they did not want to know. . .

What if you learned your donor had lived a life you disapproved of?
What if you learned your donor was someone who's standards you might not "live up to"?

In fact, most donors are like the rest of us; having lived lives with both things to be proud of and things they might have wished they did differently. 

And if you feel you WOULD be curious to read such a letter, and you ARE an organ donor, WOULD YOU CONSIDER WRITING SUCH A LETTER FOR A POTENTIAL RECIPIENT OF YOUR ORGANS?

If yes, what might you write about yourself?

Some people in our discussion group shared that they worried that opening up such a vulnerable thing as this letter, could subject them to misunderstanding or even judgement of those who read that letter. The idea of being misunderstood when they were no longer alive to defend themselves felt too open, too risky. . . 

And I would agree - IF one is concerned with how one is perceived, this letter may not be a good plan for you.  It is my opinion (with which you are welcome to agree or disagree) that IF I am to write such a letter, it must be free from any desired outcome for myself.  The reason to write the letter must be as altruistic as I am able to let it be; that is, if I write such a letter, I must write it in the same way I gift my organs - as AN OFFERING TO THE RECIPIENT.  No more, no less. 

And in fact, this is what I decided to do, some years back.

Another concern one participant had was that "I might change my values or views from when I write the letter to when I die".  To this I say, yes, we do grow and change, and our values may change with us. However, at the core of my being I have always been "me". If I go back to my earliest memories (and those who know me know that for whatever weird reason, I have memories that go back ridiculously far), at the very CORE of "me", I have always been the same soul. How I describe things has changed - I have become better at articulating my core self, but that core itself remains as it arrived.  I believe (again, you are welcome to share other viewpoints) that we are as we are at our deepest essence.  Yes, life offers us opportunities to refine and re-define that essence, as we stalk ever more authentic ways to live. But we are who we are. . .

Because this is my belief, and because I myself would want to know my donor, I have written such a letter.  Inspired by one of the wonderful participants in the Memento Mori Conversations group, I share it with you now (yes, this is a very vulnerable thing to share) in the hopes that reading it might help YOU:

A). Clarify for yourself whether you, too might (or might not) wish to write such a thing

B). Maybe take the risk to write a letter even if you decide NOT to share it - or even if you are NOT an organ donor;  Writing a letter encapsulating one's take on living and dying gives one pause to know one's self more deeply, and to consider what one might still wish to grow, change or become in  the remaining years, months, days or moments one still has on Earth.  As a hospice chaplain and death support person, I can share that some of the most powerful and dramatically life-shifting moments people experience can often be at the very end of life; we can ALWAYS grow into our better selves.

Below, I welcome you to read my letter (I have written it in the past tense, assuming it will be read when I am no longer living in my human body); please be gentle on me for it, as you might want others to be gentle upon reading yours.  Think of it simply as "food for thought".  It is my wish that your reading of it my be a part of your own discernment process and/or that of your own path of self-awareness. (Whether reading it guides you to what you may wish - or not wish - to do yourself.)

Much Love to All,
Rev. Maya


Note: You are more than welcome to share this blog post, but no portion of the letter below is to be copied or shared outside of this blog post without written permission. ( See © note at end of letter). THANK YOU!!



Letter to Recipient(s) of my Organ(s) 


 
The letter to follow should be offered to any recipient, or legal guardian of any recipient, of a transplant of any of my body parts: 


 
Dear (Name), 


 
It is my wish that you receive this letter along with the transplant of a part of my body. I want to share a few things with you, because it is my belief and experience that physical matter – in this case a body part – holds a sort of ‘memory’ of things that have taken place near or within that matter in the past. Since a part of what was once me has now become a part of you, I thought you might like to know some of the things that ‘part’ has experienced; in essence, I want to share a bit about me, my life, my points of view. These things may be irrelevant to you, but in case I am right, and some of the ‘energy’ of me begins to influence you, I thought you might be curious to know your new body part’s origin! 

 
First of all, know that however my death may have come to pass, my basic belief is that there is nothing terrible about death itself; I, like my mother before me, see death as a natural and even possibly exciting passage; no more, no less. This means that I have left you my body part/s in a good way – full of the hope, love, excitement, and peace that comes with transitions one does not fear. Think of it like this: Your new body part is fully yours; I have released it and I am delighted to gift it to you! 


 
I am someone who did face a lot of things in my life – scary things, sad things, delightful things, magical things, powerful things, sweet things. . . I think – hope – I met each challenge and each grace with some semblance of courage and openness. I value INTEGRITY above pretty much everything else, though my message and motto was always to LIVE AS LOVE. I worked with Angels and stones, crystal and bones; I did my best to find art in everything I encountered. I saw my purpose and life as being a catalyst for the growth, transformation and healing of all I encountered, most especially myself. I mostly saw my life path as (whenever I could manage to make it so) an offering of my love, creativity, passion; all these in service of the betterment of life on our beautiful and precious Earth. 


 
I strived always to live (in thought and word and deed, to the best of my ability) in alignment with Highest Good and Deepest Love for All That Is. . . and with a wish that every moment of my life in some way be a contribution to the lessening of the suffering of all beings. Of course I am as human as the next person, and thus, to be sure, I often fell short of my mark; I did not always succeed, but I always tried. 

 
It is my experience that everything & everyone, every circumstance that we encounter – is some kind of mirror of what lies within us; thus I worked tirelessly to own my experiences and dig deeply within to change MYSELF any time I saw a need for change in the world around me; the more difficult a person or experience was for me, the deeper within myself I would look for answers. Usually, I found them. 


 
I see conflict – as my Angels and Stone & Plant friends suggested – as an invitation to CREATE; if a situation arises in which I am involved in a conflict, I do my best to see it as a gift – a moment in which I have been invited to create something new – conflict implying that neither my idea nor yours is right; thus let us invent some new idea, as yet unborn. . . this view, to my way of thinking, could make a world full of creative ideas, rather than wars. . . so . . . perhaps, the body part that is now yours holds the energy of all this.  May all your conflicts be blessings of opportunity. 


 
I loved very, very deeply in my life. I loved my parents and siblings, my children and their fathers, my lovers and friends, people I worked with, strangers I met every day; I loved those who misunderstood me too. I loved stones, plants, animals and the solar system. I loved the so-called unseen realms; Goddesses and Gods, Jesus and Allah, the fairies and elves, Angels and all manner of helping spirits. And as I sit here and type, I can say that I love you too, as you are a part of All That Is. Maybe you will ‘feel’ me sending you Light from some Otherworld (what ever you may call it or think the land of death to be). . . and maybe you will not. But know this: if I can will it so, you will live a long and healthy life, so full of love and wealth and abundance of every sort that you, too, will be happy when it is your turn to let go of the physical matter that is your body, some long time from now.
 
In September of 2009, my mother, Petie W. Grillo, was a day or so away from her impending death when she turned away from the wall, where she had been ‘talking’ to her dead mother, Peggy, our ancestor Uncle Waldo (among other bright ones long since passed on), towards those of us in the room still living, and said:
 
“What I wouldn’t give for just ONE MORE day, EVEN THE WORST DAY of my life”
 
I knew the concept here, but to be faced with someone who was really at that gateway, and was saying this so genuinely, touched the core of my being. Since then I remember this message every day (and I imagine I did until the day I died). It is small and simple, and yet it has the power to transform my universe when I recall it, especially when I am unhappy or in unhappy circumstances. I share it with you now, in case you could use the reminder that I myself needed so very often. It is so easy to get lost in comparing our moments to what we imagine they could or should be; but, at least for me, when I compare most of my rough moments to not having any more at all, my pain is transformed to a mysteriously shining gem within a treasured gift: presence and awareness of this time on Earth - My Life, whatever I am experiencing.
 
I wish you every experience and shining moment your soul could dream of – from the fabulous to the mundane – and that you cherish every one of these during your precious time on Earth. 


 
Love Always,
 
Maya Andrea York Grillo Massar*

©MayaMassar2024 email [email protected] for permission to use material in my letter.  (You are welcome to share links to this post!)
0 Comments

The Last Bits

8/10/2025

0 Comments

 
I Think of You
08/09/2025
 
I think of you
your heart bigger than all the worlds
your mind infinitely woven in color, movement and the 
refracted light of precious metals
your body falling away from you
spirit widening every moment now like the fan of a peacock goddess's 
luminous tail feathers 
 
And I wonder:
If these were the last bits
and you had perfect magic with which to make it so
What would you choose?
 
Maybe an answer for You in The World
and one for You in Your family
One for You with your lover
but most of all, 
a singular one for You
in the quiet, still cave 
of your own heart
 
A last place and space to feel into the remains of Self-on-Earth
(This is a thing, of course, though not the whole thing, the larger thing we are all becoming/remembering/innately OF. Yet still a thing we get to mourn the loss of; Self-on-Earth.)
 
The Last Bits. . .
 
Where?
How?
With whom?
How many different answers might there be?
 
As I type, I recognize that it is less that I actually want these answers -
Rather, 
It is that I want to know if - and that - 
YOU know them, have them, to treasure for your unbreakable Inner-Whom
 
Maybe not purposed so you can
make them manifest
but so that you might simply have them, even solely in some secret inner sanctuary, for
your bright spirit
for your mind
for your heart
for your moment-by-moment remaining body
 
for
 
Yourself.

Picture

What do you
What do you envision for your last years, months, weeks, hours, and moments on Earth?


Join us for our August Memento Mori online gathering.
Everyone is Welcome. Groups are usually small and intimate, but you are welcome to remain a quiet listener. Click the MemMori link above for more details - or email Maya:
[email protected]
Wednesday, August 13th
12noon EST
Click to Join:

ZOOM


0 Comments

HELLO! It has been a while. . .

7/28/2025

0 Comments

 
Dearest Friends,
Yes, it has been quite a while since I posted here; like many of you, I have been deeply engaged in the many human crises around this world of ours, and these remain where my energy is being directed.  More on this to come.  But today, I want to share a link to Hospice Nurse Julie's most recent blog post. I get a lot of inquiries regarding the cost of hospice; Julie's article explains how Medicare Benefit works for those in the USA who are given a diagnosis of 6 months or less to live.  (In Canada, most Provincial heath care plans cover hospice.)

You can read Julie's post here:  
Hospice Nurse Julie's Blog

Picture
Buy Julie's book HERE.
0 Comments

June 01st, 2025

6/1/2025

0 Comments

 
YES!  Both gatherings will be held in June; I very much hope to see you there!
Love,
Maya

Picture
June Memento Mori Meeting; Open, Honest Conversations About Death & Dying
Next gathering will be at our usual time:
2nd Wednesday of the month, June 11th, at 9am West Coast/12noon, East Coast North America
  (time converter: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter )
 
ZOOM LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88247254767?pwd=b712bgGudloGE1lDqLaYoIb6eBanXh.1
 
Memento Mori is Latin for “Remember you will die”, “Remember that you must die” or “Remember to die”.  The phrase may sound ghoulish, however its purpose is not to depress, but rather to befriend the truth: We Will All Die.  It is a reminder of the presence of death which follows us all and to allow our growing comfort with this fact to
uplift and highlight the preciousness of our living moments.
 
The Memento Mori conversations are lightly facilitated, gentle, open discussions on many subjects about and around Death & Dying, grief and celebration, and all things related.
 
Come with your thoughts, your questions, your concerns, your creativity, your grief, your fear, your love. . . your SELF, exactly as you are.  Come to share or come to sit in your own silence among us. 
 
You are always welcome to invite others to the gatherings, post or share the invitations and links, or bring folks with you when you attend.  Anyone interested or even just curious is invited.  We no longer have a social media presence, so your word of mouth is what allows others to join us. (Thank you.)
 
You can learn more about the Memento Mori group here: https://www.heartfullivinganddying.com/memento-mori.html  and you are always welcome to reach out by email between meetings if you wish.
Join the mailing list for updates. [email protected]
 
 
Picture
June Monthly Moon Meditation – The Balance of Light & Dark
We meet this month on our usual eve:
3rd Saturday of the month, June 21st, 5pm West Coast/8pm East Coast North America
 (time converter: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter )
 
ZOOM LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83629693981?pwd=re9QlftAb8Y1fyT8QzyeMgb7iCG8Wt.1
 
Our Monthly Moon Meditation falls this month on a fascinating night; as the moon finalizes her waning it is the perfect time to allow that which we have been releasing to put itself to bed. . . meanwhile, this day is also smack amidst the most light-filled days of the year - Summer Solstice (June 20th), and so (whether you enjoy these things as mythical storylines or actionable intergalactic wisdom), while we dive into the darkening moon and the act of letting go, we also rise up in celebration of the Sun, and his longest days - and the power of ancient rituals like jumping over the fire for cleansing and blessing, the receiving of the abundance of Summer’s wealth, and honoring the Nature Spirits for all they bestow upon us . . .
 
This month, join us in exploring your own inner and outer balance in an unbalanced world; In such times of discord all around us, accessing and maintaining regenerative resilience is more needed than ever.
THIS IS WITHIN YOU TO HAVE – JOIN US IN THE REKINDLING of RESILIENCE!
 
As usual, I suggest preparing a comfy space, with pillows and a covering as the body temperature can drop during deeply relaxed states.  Having drinking water, a pen and paper (or whatever your preferred method of notetaking is) nearby. Please have noise-making devices on silent.  We will request that your zoom microphone be muted during the meditation until open discussion period at the end.
 
 
This is by no means a requirement for this gathering, but if you wish, I always suggest setting out an offering of some sort before we meet – this month as an offering, I invite you to an ancient Celtic Pagan (and also children’s) practice: Leaving treats out for the nature spirits!  Traditionally, the Fae (Fairy world that watches over growing things) prefer farm-foods; milk, honey, bread, cakes, other baked goods. . . but you know your home and area – choose treats you feel will be appreciated.  Prepare these with intent and gratitude for all the Fae forgive us for, and place on tiny dishes (you can make these out of aluminum foil  or use any small vessels you have) by your door or on a windowsill, or, if you have such a thing, at the edge of your garden, before sunset.  Wait until after sunrise the following day to remove the dishes.  You may later or in days to come, be surprised by some unexpected magickal surprise returned to you!
As our ritualists know, making offerings often deepens the work we do to follow.

 

 
As always, there are NO PREREQUISITES to this gathering; Come exactly as you are! With your joy or sorrow, peace or rage, excitement or indifference, energy or fatigue. . . Whether we are three, thirty or
three-hundred matters not – all are most welcome, and I will be so delighted to see you there!
Much Love,
Maya
 
Join the mailing list for updates. [email protected]
0 Comments

DEATH AS A LIFE-ENHANCING PARTNER

4/9/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
Beautiful Memento Mori artwork by Jessica Behance  https://www.harkenback.com.au/#/memento-mori-2/

 A huge thank you to all our participants in April's Memento Mori Conversations - your beautifully courageous and authentic sharing and support of one another was/is so gorgeous and hope-making in thee times of so much world-wide nd personal trauma.  I am honored to be present with each and all of you.

Today, our jump-off topic was Death as a Life Enhancing Partner.  I shared some of my own experience companioning people at end-of-life and some science around the concept that mortality salience (or, consciousness around one's mortality - awareness of death) can actually be of more value than simply reducing fear of death and dying, but might offer us a doorway through which we can live more fully as our authentic self/selves (I allow this to be both a comment to a collective of human beings OR aspects of self). 

I referenced an article in Scientific American on the topic, by Michael W. Weiderman, in Scientific American,
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-about-death-can-make-life-better/
which described the outcomes of studies on adults who had been faced with their own or others' impending death. The studies showed that deep awareness of one's mortality shifted people's life-focus from extrinsic (such as material success and power) to intrinsic values (such as cultivating  relationships, doing creative work and developing as a person.

Further, we discussed that self development that includes discovering and LIVING BY one's CORE VALUES can raise our sense of fulfillment in life - whether we are actually fulfilling our values or simply working towards living them fully.  What makes life fulfilling, it seems, is knowing those values, aiming for them - AND being free to be authentically ourselves.

I shared a list of some potential "core Values" with the group, and individuals discovered their own not on the list.  Are yours here?

Picture
We also explored these questions:
Picture
The content of our group discussion is held in compassionate confidentiality, but perhaps in reading this something here will spark your own deepening into whatever your heart holds most true.  In these times in which "truth" and "authenticity" are more endangered than any time in recent history, finding your own, b4eing in community (even if only online) with others who see you for who you really are, and living by your innermost values may be one of the few keys to finding a sense of inner peace or even joy, EVEN as we pas through a gauntlet of very difficult things.  In your last moments - or any of your moments, are you not most fulfilled by shaking off masks and falsehoods and expressing your deepest self?

Most of the dying people I have worked with have shared that it was only in truly facing their end, their death, that they allowed themselves to be who and what they truly were, and that this, even if only in the last months, weeks, days or in some cases, hours, was the most joy and fulfillment that they had known in their lifetime.

The good news is that you can invite awareness of your death NOW, and - perhaps - have more years of fulfillment than you might have had if Death were not your Life-Enhancing Partner.
In closing, I once again shared Shawna Lamay's wonderful poem, in which she wishes us, in remembrance of death, to LIVE, FULLY:

In Lieu of Flowers

Although I love flowers very much, I won’t see them when I’m gone. So in lieu of flowers:  Buy a book of poetry written by someone still alive, sit outside with a cup of tea, a glass of wine, and read it out loud, by yourself or to someone, or silently.
Spend some time with a single flower. A rose maybe. Smell it, touch the petals.
Really look at it. 
Drink a nice bottle of wine with someone you love.
Or, Champagne. And think of what John Maynard Keynes said, “My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne.” Or what Dom Perignon said when he first tasted the stuff: “Come quickly! I am tasting stars!” 
Take out a paint set and lay down some colours.
Watch birds. Common sparrows are fine. Pigeons, too. Geese are nice. Robins.
In lieu of flowers, walk in the trees and watch the light fall into it. Eat an apple, a really nice big one. I hope it’s crisp. 
Have a long soak in the bathtub with candles, maybe some rose petals.
Sit on the front stoop and (really) watch the clouds. Have a dish of strawberry ice cream in my name. 
If it’s winter, have a cup of hot chocolate outside for me. If it’s summer, a big glass of ice water. 
If it’s autumn, collect some leaves and press them in a book you love. I’d like that. 
Sit and look out a window and write down what you see. Write some other things down. 
In lieu of flowers, 
I would wish for you to flower. 
I would wish for you to blossom, to open, to be beautiful.


Join Us:
Memento Mori; Open, Honest Conversations on Death & Dying
on FB:
Mem-Mori on FB

0 Comments

Temporary Crisis/Disaster Care

2/5/2025

0 Comments

 
Hello Friends,

Just a quick post to announce this temporary offering.  Many of you know this already, but in case you were not, please feel welcome to forward this info to someone you know who might benefit.

Cave of the Heart: Support for First Responders and Victims of Current Crisis/Disaster
(Natural or Human-made)

Maya (that is me) is now offering some Crisis/Disaster Relief Sessions at no cost  - This is support for persons needing immediate care or a brief rest from high stress circumstances. Simple exercises to reclaim calm; space to vent or release; a still place during chaos; Maya is a house-fire and abuse survivor, knows the city of Los Angeles, is trained in supporting victims and first responders of crisis/disaster, and hopes you will reach out, even if all you wish is to sit together in silence.
 
NO judgement; All Faiths, no faith. BLM. Indigenous and Immigrant safe zone. LGBTQIA+ All Welcome.


NOTE: This offering was originally made to benefit First Responders and Victims of the Los Angeles Fires.  It is now extended to those traumatized by ICE/Police Brutality, Medical aid withdrawal, Violence, and other Crisis or Disaster, whether natural or human-made.  Please feel welcome to inquire.

To schedule, CLICK HERE

Wishing everyone safety and a solid sense-sense-of-self as we proceed through these shared, trying times on Earth.
With Much Love as Always,
Rev. Maya

For more info on Maya's sessions (what they are, how they go, cost, scheduling etc), you can visit these pages:
Stone & Star Interfaith Spiritual Direction
Rest & Renewal Sessions
0 Comments

Deathbed Phenomenon

1/8/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
UPDATE:

THANK YOU to all who attended ​and shared so generously in our meeting today! Our group was beautiful - vulnerable, courageous, curious, sad, angry, joyful, authentic. 
I appreciate you all so very much!

For those who are curious, the wonderful book that was mentioned by one of our attendees:


The Inner Work of Age : Shifting from Role to Soul​ by Connie Zweig.
​You can find it here:
https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/the-inner-work-of-age-shifting-from-role-to-soul-9781644113400

You can find other resources I recommend here:

https://www.heartfullivinganddying.com/resources.html

​See you next month!
Love Always,
Maya


-------------------------------------
​Good Day All,

We will meet today on zoom at our usual time - 12noon East Coast time.  As always, ALL ARE WELCOME, please invite anyone you feel might benefit.  You are welcome to share the link:

Topic: Memento Mori; Open, Honest Conversations on Death & Dying
Time: This is a recurring​ link, we use it for all our meetings. ​
​Click to Join Zoom Meeting​:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88247254767?pwd=b712bgGudloGE1lDqLaYoIb6eBanXh.1
Meeting ID: 882 4725 4767
Passcode: 057490

​(More info on the Memento Mori page of this site)

Today, as an opening topic, I (Maya) will share briefly on what is known as "Death Bed Phenomenon".  However, as always, anything around Death & Dying that you feel moved to ask or share is welcome.  In this circle, we practice gentle respect for all views and beliefs, all spiritualities or lack thereof - this is a "come as you are" space.
 
Hope to see you there!

Love to All,
Maya



Picture
0 Comments

2025; Let Moving One Grain Be Your Goal

1/1/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
I would - and perhaps I should - be offering everyone a "HAPPY" New Year.

But this, for me, in these times, would not be quite authentic.  Yes, of course I do wish upon us all many joys and much wellness and all the Good Things.  And yet to feel these without also knowing of the pain of those around our globe who suffer so greatly, would not be my wish for any of us.  What I wish, rather, is MORE awareness, and that somehow, amidst the full and open presence with the world's suffering, we would also maintain our equanimity. 

But not through compartmentalizing, nor any form of denial; instead,

I wish you a wealth of sustenance -- of the spirit, mind, heart and body -- that you may be present and whole in your service of the mending of the world and it's inhabitants, systems and harmonization.

I wish you courage beyond what you have known so far, that you might surprise yourself with a passion to serve, to heal, to help, in whatever way makes your spirit soar.

That you may, yes, regenerate, but/and then use that regeneration to make even one moment of one person's experience BETTER. 

You do not have to move mountains, but also remember that if you move one grain of sand, and others do too, we may, in fact, be moving mountains together.

So, I wish you the strength this year to move one grain.  If that one grain is the last lifted off a child under rubble, or the grain sprinkled on an icy step that kept a grandma from falling, or the one removed from a puppy's eye, it is enough.  And it will be like a mountain moved for each of those beings who received your grain-shift.  (Even if that grain-move is invisible to the naked eye, if it's movement brings you into greater alignment with your truest self, it is an achievement, and cannot help but move us all towards a better world.)  The world needs your grain; we are all a part of this.

If you can let the movement of that one grain be your goal, your resolution for 2025, you are sure to have a good year, and so will someone else.

All Blessings of whatever sort suits you (could be the Light of The Divine igniting your Heart, or simply NOT getting hit by that heating bill as hard as you thought...),
As always, with Love,

Maya




https://bdsmovement.net/
0 Comments

TODAY. . .

12/21/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
0 Comments

Connectedness

12/4/2024

1 Comment

 
Greetings Dear Friend & Foe,

It has been a while since I posted here - I confess I have been as taken by the woes of the world as a lot of you, and have also - as some of you have shared with me you do as well - felt silenced in many ways.  I do not think remaining silent is good for anyone when noise bubbles up, and I do think that expressing - with no intent to harm - is a well-being-making process.  Here are some thoughts of mine; may you find yours.

Picture
Picture

People regularly ask when we meet - even facebook asks - what is on our minds. . .

How often do we REALLY answer this - even for ourselves, let alone to share this with our "friends" or the greater world? Today, this task grows ever more difficult, as it becomes a rare thing to trust that even our loved ones will still hold us if we share our views or trials.  We find, rather, that that holding is no longer there simply because we are humans. . . it has become conditional; we must see eye to eye, we must agree on "right" and "wrong", we must vote the same, protest the same, remain silent the same etc etc. in order to be "worthy" of compassion from our fellows.

This, to me, is not life. It is not even the relief of death. Rather it is a no-person's land, a hellish Bardo that somehow all the world has embraced as "normal". But it is not.

And so most of us do not speak what is on our minds (unless in opposition to something some "other" has espoused). Not even to our close friends or family members, as we know/assume/guess that their differences of opinion on some word usage, or global happening will render them unable to see, hear and hold us. We have lost our tribes, and thus desperately seek tribal acceptance by whatever group validates our views.  This is, of course, what is needed to create our acceptance of (and potential participation in) wars.

And yet. And yet it is this very act – the act of trusting another to be there for us – that heals the very fractured and frazzled well-being we all so desperately seek. It is the ability to trust, and be trusted to love and hold sacred one another’s whole being that puts the heart at rest enough (even inf only for a moment around some broken corner where we shield ourselves from harm) that it may send the brain a signal:  “All is well - We are not alone. Whatever the trials, we are not alone.”  This message, and the belief that we can reach an “other” who is truly there, an unconditional love or friendship or kind-strangership, is (at least one aspect of) what sustains our humanity. Without it, without a mirror of hope to remind us we are indeed human, and that others of our ilk exist, we begin to lose that humanity.  It is a rare soul (and yes, they/we DO exist, in the form of hermits of so many sorts, but percentage-wise, they/we are rare) who can maintain a fully open heart WITHOUT the presence of other two-legged beings reciprocating in some authentic form.
 
And so here we are, a society of the walking dying. .. maybe you are not dying physically just yet, but if you are like many people I know, and certainly clients I see, and definitely folks out in the public eye, you, too, are experiencing a sort of inner death on a daily basis.  This is evidenced by a deep sense of “battle fatigue”, by the need to sleep or cry more than you ever had before, by a waning of creative urge, by a sense of distance from places, activities, and people one once felt excited by.  People share with me their feelings of isolation, even among friends and family. They share anger they cannot name the roots of. They share not just sadness or even grief, but a true sense of despair, hopelessness, or maybe the opposite – an unrelenting sense of rage and hyper-activated nervous system that keeps them up at night, causes them to seek ways to “fight back”, to engage anyone who ruffles their feathers, to feel rabidly driven to act. (I am not talking about healthy resistance, but about the inability to lie down, even when ill or physically draining oneself to the point of incapacitation - I am talking about the inability to choose.)
 
And to highlight the illness, many of us feel that it is right and righteous to hate others – as long as we are on “the correct side”. . . (Yes, of course I, too, have my idea of what the “right” side of a given issue is. I, too, have my need to live in alignment with my own integrity. But so far, my experience has been that it is when I am able to hold my deeply felt understanding of the truth – and even with my full dis-agreement with the other person’s experience of the truth – but still not dumping the whole human – that there may be a shift possible.  And this possibility of a shift has never been true when I hold superiority over another.)
 
Whether named as ongoing panic, aching alone-ness, incessant rage, debilitating despair or simply, as one client put it so well, “a sense of 1000 pounds on my chest, that never leaves, no matter what I do or don’t do”, the one thing that we, as human beings have had through the centuries to mitigate such stresses was EACH OTHER.
 
And THAT is exactly what we have, slowly worsening over the past decade or so, deleted from our pantry of well-being supplies.
 
E A C H   O T H E R.
 
We have taken our presence from one another. 
By some odd new sense of righteousness, we have destroyed the threads of trust that we once had at least a hope of; the knowingness that that one friend, or lover, or family member or teacher from 8th grade would listen to and keep us even if we disagreed – that somewhere there was a someone that we could share our true selves with.  When all was lost, maybe I could at least pay a therapist to listen to me.  But now?  Now I am afraid even that therapist may be “on the wrong side” (of whatever I hold so pivotal that I cannot listen to a human who believes “THAT”). . .
 
Yes, we can blame social media or various political standings, or some other agent of decline with whom we have a beef.  But the bottom line is: We chose THE DIVIDE.  (And as I see it, BLAME itself is a major culprit.  Blame makes us victims, not righteous.  But that may be for another conversation in and of itself. . .)
 
. . . And this means, if we dare and if we can step beyond the current conditioned response, that we CAN choose something bigger than the divide.
 
I will not extrapolate on what The Bigger Thing might be – that is for each to discover for themselves – for YOU to discover for YOURSELF.  The only thing I will say is that if whatever you are seeing as The Bigger Thing does not offer room to rise above ANY human foible, it still has room to grow, and necessarily must, if we are to mend.
 
This path is – obviously – not for everyone.  And this idea will,  I am fairly certain, be in itself a divide that may not be bridgeable for all. But it is most surely open to all. And this is an invitation. Not from me – no – I am just, as they say, “another Bozo on the bus”.  But, fellow humans, it is a bus with no fare, other than the ability to stretch beyond judgement, to stretch beyond our amygdala/fight-flight-fawn-freeze brain's rule. it is a bus that invites us not to  make-exceptions-for, but rather to do-the-work-of-healing the traumas that put us in boxes.  This bus ride invites all of us to find our way out of whatever labels we have put upon ourselves (whether we like or dislike those labels), as we can never dislodge our need to label OTHERS if we do not dislodge our self-labeling addiction). 
I am aware that this concept will likely trigger a lot of my beloved fellow humans.  You need not agree, but I share that in my view, triggers are beautiful opportunities to self-investigate and heal, so we may become agents of transformation of those things that we see as disturbing, rather than victims of them.
 
PS: I am not advocating for supporting those who do harm. However, one thing I do know is that no one ever sees more light while being dissed, dumped, dehumanized.  If you are in a situation you cannot handle, yes, you must take care of yourself in whatever way you are able. But our common default of “unfriending” is much overused. And in the bigger picture, is causing us all – both the unfriended AND the unfriend-er – harm.

SIDE NOTE: My work in hospice, and ongoingly with the grieving, requires of me that I be present with people of every walk of life.  A thing some people may not know, is that in the end, many, if not most, people become angels of a sort.  Often, they cannot express this to those closest to them - perhaps we as people trapped in our sense of personhood feel obligated to maintain our views and "stances" with those we care about, to keep fighting back against those we love so as - perhaps - to maintain our "who-ness" with them . . . but that same "belligerent old auntie", when sitting with someone who is present only with them in the current moment, holding no ideas, judgements, history upon them, may open like a book of Light; expressing things their family never heard, releasing old stories or even deeply held beliefs from life.

One family member declared, after a visit I had with her father (known to her, and those around him, his entire, life as an abusive, atheistic, hateful human being) the day before his death, "Who IS he? I have never heard him say such words in my life! He was neither loving nor spiritual - is he the same person?" 
This man had shared that day that that his description of "spirituality" was "unconditional love", that his wish was to be forgiven, and that he would like an appropriate  "spiritual" song to be sung to him. As I sang (and I am no singer, so it was not myself who precipitated his reaction, but rather, I believe, the fact that no one was judging him in that moment - we were all just making space for him to BE, free from preconceived ideas of who he had been - and open to who was at this, his deepest and most vulnerable moment) - as I sang, he closed his eyes, drifted off, with tears rolling down his cheeks and a slight smile on his face.  There was healing there, in his heart and his whole family - his sons, who had never met without a fist-fight, expressed that perhaps they had never really known their father, and that his "change" inspired them to see if they, too, might find another way of being - maybe even before they each faced their own ends-of-life.  We may each be stuck were we seem to be stuck - but often we cannot know of another's potential to change, discover or reveal an unexpected aspect of  self as long as our own behavior continues to support the friction between us.
One of the fastest ways to heal lack of trust is to Be Trustworthy. Find someone who needs assistance with something you can be present with – with anything at all – but the bigger the issue the better – and help them.  Even and especially if they believe different things than you.
 
Hearts, minds, bodies and souls heal from connection. (yes, sometimes disconnecting is an important part of healing - but once we are well, that need to disconnect becomes a smaller part of a larger overview. . . What is true for you? 
(Side hint: I love you whatever it may be. Must I LIKE your path to love your greater soul and potential for healing? Nope.)
 
People - and even facebook - ask “what’s on your mind”.
There you have it, for today, at least.
I shared it: Our daily-dying-through-lack-of-compassion-and-connection. That’s what.
 
All Blessings of Well-Being 
& Much Love
to All (and a special dose to ye who may still choose to enemize myself or others),

Rev. Maya



Picture
I discovered this lovely image that to me expresses a form of CONNECTION  - joining in an activity - from the blog of Cara Lumen.  (I do not necessarily agree with all of this blogger's content, but certainly appreciate much of it! ) You might want to take a look - it is not far from the topic of my post!
1 Comment
<<Previous

    Author:

    Rev. Maya Massar

    You Are Here:
    www.HeartfulLivingandDying.com

    You Can  Go Here:
    Stone & Star Interfaith Spiritual Direction

    Or Here:
    WindFire Ministries

    Though we don't post much, Here we are on FB:
    https://www.facebook.com/windfireministries

    There is also This:
    Community Health & Counseling Services Hospice Spiritual Advisor

    And If You Prefer Silliness, Here is Maya's Friend Noco, the 23 year old Blue and Gold Macaw on IG:
    @orinocothepirate

    Physical address:
    Please email us if you are scheduled for an in-person session with Maya.

    Snail Mail:
    Please email [email protected] for mailing address.

    East Coast Time:
    ​514-210-0338

    Scheduling Portal:
    CLICK HERE

    Archives

    August 2025
    July 2025
    June 2025
    April 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly