Thursday, October 31, 2013

Blogs I Love This Week!!

You may have noticed that the past couple of months I have been somewhat absent from the blogging scene. Oh I have posted a few here and there, but for the most part, I was out there, performing weddings, teaching classes, and seeing clients. All good things!! However, I realized that my devoted readers were missing out.

I have decided that maybe once a week, or whenever I feel inspired, that I will share some of the blogs that inspire me. Because, guess what: sometimes I do not just wake up this wonderful, blissful, completely connected and totally inspired goddess that gets these wonderful messages from Spirit. Yes, that is right!! Sometimes I am busy writing weddings, babysitting, working at my "other" job, the Post Office, cleaning (hubby says HA HA to this one lately), or any number of other every day activities. I have to get inspired myself, sometimes! I have to shake myself and say, "Joy, get with it!!"

This week I was inspired by a number of blogs. Check these wonderful babes out!! I have shared a few of these on facebook, but I wanted to put links to them in one place for all of us to have them to refer back to now and again. Because, guess what!! Sometimes we forget and need to be reminded!!

Here they are! I am sure you will love these beautiful goddesses just like I do!!

The first one is for all of my brides to be.. by Leonie Dawson
http://leoniedawson.com/how-to-not-freak-the-eff-out-about-weddings/?inf_contact_key=5268ac0e606eefca829d58d1a40f98f02b62474b4ed83adfe7689e2ebebc9dce

This one is wonderful!! A lot of great information in one spectacular blog! All about connecting with angels, some great meditations, etc.
http://yourlifeexpression.com/2013/10/22/how-to-step-into-your-sensual-playfulness-divine-feminine-power/

This one gives us some good remedies for the now in progress Mercury Retrograde
http://www.danielledove.com/mercury-retrograde/

This one is all about dispelling myths we tell ourselves about our creativity. love this!!
http://mckellasawyer.com/lies-that-clog-your-creative-channels/

The title of this one says it all: You Are Worth It
http://thespiritualityseeker.com/you-are-worth-it/

And this last one is an interview with author Sera Beak. I was unfamiliar with her but the book sounds wonderful. (I ordered it!!) (the title is what got me hooked!!)
http://transformationgoddess.com/a-red-hot-holy-interview-with-sera-beak/

Last but not least, this blog is not from my blogger circle, but it is one that I feel really worth adding. It gives us some energy tips for the next couple of days (Nov 1-3) on how to best navigate the energies that are coming at us!!
http://spiritlibrary.com/selacia/tips-for-november-1-3-gateway

And there it is!! My choices for blogs to check out this week! I am going to attempt to do this every week. I think it is a wonderful idea that we should all share one another's wisdom and inspiration. We all need each other and can reach wonderful new heights just by supporting one another in our spiritual quests!!



Tuesday, October 29, 2013

No Ordinary Moments

If you are a spiritual seeker like I am, you may find yourself at times compartmentalizing your time.

This is my spiritual time..
This is my work time
This is my (children, husband, wife, partner, family) time
This is my sleep time
This is my exercise time
etc etc

The temptation here is to deem some of your moments more important than other ones.

Example.

A few days ago I spent the day babysitting my new two month old grandchild. Being the doting grandmother that I am, I could not stand to put her down and do anything else.  Although I was loving it for the most part, that little voice inside of me kept taunting me:

You have two weddings to write.
You have a class to  prepare for
You have not meditated today.
You have not exercised today.
There is just not enough time to get all of these things done.

Here is temptation number one:

To deem the "spiritual" things we do more important than the "other" things.

What if we lived every moment completely aware that every moment was precious and extraordinary?

Yes, even those moments we spend washing the dishes. And taking out the trash. Even the ones we spend at work, or sleeping.

This is a profound statement:

There are no ordinary moments.

What if, just for today, you realized that every moment is sacred?

Instead of going to work on Monday morning, wishing it was the weekend, and essentially wishing away most of your week, why not try treasuring the time you are at work? Or washing the dishes? Or even sleeping?

I have begun each morning using my short drive to work to send love to each person I am to meet and interact with that day. Sometimes I send love to people who I will not necessarily interact with, such as the example in my previous blog about sending love to the President, or the neighbors, or anyone else who comes across my mind.

Yes I am completely aware that the moments I spend rocking my grandbaby are important. But somehow, somewhere, deep inside, there is that compulsion that I should be "doing" something. I should be more productive. I should be I should be

No I should be rocking my grandbaby.

Yes I think last year I may have posted a similar blog when taking my grandkids to the park. That old productivity demon seems to poke his head out at me frequently.


Who am I to believe that any one particular moment of my life is any less precious than any other moment? Is the moments I spend brushing my teeth less valuable than the ones I spend meditating?

Years ago I realized that every thought that went through my mind was a prayer.  Essentially, when I think a thought, no matter what it is, I am praying for something. If I am worrying about something or mad about something, I am basically praying for something that I don't necessarily want. However, I believe that our thoughts create our reality. If we change our perspective just a bit, believing that every moment is a precious gift, how differently might our lives become?

 Why not look at every moment in your life as a gift? The wonderful life changing moments, the extremely productive moments, the profound sacred connecting with Spirit moments, and the not so wonderful, perhaps mundane, every day, scrubbing the floor moments. All of them are precious. Take the time to thank each moment for the gift it offers you: one more breath of life, one more chance to experience life with all its ups and downs, challenges and triumphs, sunny days and rainy days.

Just wait. Soon you will be looking at life through different eyes. Eyes of wonder and amazement. The sky will look bluer. The grass will look greener. It will not be such a chore to wash the dishes anymore.

Just for today, stop whatever you are doing, and say: "this moment is important. It is not more or less important than any other moment when I might be doing something more or less exciting, productive, spiritual, etc. The moments I spend washing the windows, rocking grandchildren, taking out the trash, or communicating with loved ones of clients on the other side are all equally important. No one moment is more sacred than any other one moment.

So if you will excuse me, I think I hear my granddaughter fussing in the other room.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Citizens of the Earth

Most of us have been made aware in recent days of the inability of the members of Congress and the President to agree on a budget and come to any sort of amicable relationship with one another. We all have our opinions on who is right and who is wrong. There are a myriad of other global and local governmental issues with which we may be focusing our attention upon as well. If we watch any sort of television or engage in any social media, these issues evoke a tremendous emotional response from most of us.

Years ago I attended a fundamentalist Christian church. Although politics should not have been our focus, it was a well established fact that we were all expected to side with the Republicans. At the time, Bill Clinton was president and most of the members of the church with whom I was affiliated had no good emotional response to him.

 I found myself at the time aforementioned, in the precarious position of receiving a message from Spirit that did not align with the predominant emotions or position of the members or leaders of the church. Those up front who were preaching to the church attendees made no apologies for their opinion of the President and how he was governing the country or what his personal decisions and actions were at the time.

I am not, nor have I ever been, very versed in politics. I listen to the media, and what those with whom I am in contact have to say, and in the past have just voted for whichever party for whom those around me affiliated themselves. So I am in no position to post any political opinions.

However, this is what occurred years ago and today for some reason Spirit chose me to pose this challenge to those of you who are spiritually minded, in whatever belief system for whom you have chosen to affiliate yourself.

Instead of sending the President and the members of Congress the energy of your opinions on what should or should not happen, your emotions over the health care system, the budget, or the myriad of other issues with which we find ourselves engrossed in, why don't we send them the energy of love and light? Send them our thoughts or prayers, if you will, that they will make decisions that will best benefit the majority of us in the best way possible.

Imagine the response I got the last time I got this message! I was in a fundamental Christian church and my suggestion was that we cease our endless verbal attacks on Bill Clinton and instead pray for him and send him love! Oh it did not go over well.

I am hoping that we as humans have evolved a bit since then.

It is my firm belief that anytime we engage in emotionally charged conversations, that the energy  from our words go directly to whom those words are directed. Why not change the emotion of our words to that of love? No, we may not love all of the decisions our government officials make. We may not agree with the choices they make. Loving them, or anyone for that matter, does not mean that we agree with their actions. But love sends a message out into the Universe, and to those individuals, that empowers them to make better decisions.

My challenge to you is this. I can send love to the President and all the members of our government all I want, but it is the love from one individual. I am sure it has some effect, but what if multitudes of us sent this energy to them? Stop our endless word daggers that we launch every day towards them or the "opposition."

Energy has power. Words are energy.

Whether this hits home to you about the members of our government or maybe toward an ex or a boss or a neighbor, this challenge is for you! We are all guilty of sending out word and thought daggers to someone. I have mentioned this message before.

Think of someone you really don't like. Now imagine their face in your mind's eye. Imagine they are looking directly at you and you at them. Now imagine the feeling of love arising in your heart toward them. No you are not saying that you agree with all of their choices. But you are saying that love is the best solution.

I do this every morning before I go to work. I send love to my bosses and coworkers. I send love to whomever comes to my mind, be it the President, Congress, the other drivers on the road, my customers, the grocery store clerk, or the mentally challenged man who talks to his imaginary friends outside in the lobby of the Post Office. Everyone needs love.

The message from Spirit for today especially, and I don't know why it is impressed upon me that today is especially important, but sometime today, send love to the President and members of Congress. If you are reading this from somewhere besides America, it will  not hurt to send love to the American President. At times I am impressed to send love to government officials in other countries. But today I am feeling like the American government needs the energy of love. It is easy. Do the exercise I mentioned. It does not have to take an hour, or even a half hour. A couple of minutes will do. Just imagine the President and members of Congress and send them some love.

And then go on with your day.

Remember that love given always comes back to you multiplied. Especially when it is given with no expected return. You can expect that you will feel good when you do this. And you can expect that the members of our government may or may not appreciate this exercise. But they will benefit anyway. And that is all that matters.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Toy Story

Recently I was connecting with a client and suddenly got the image of one of the Toy Story movies, when Woody was about to be shipped to some museum somewhere. That cute little girl toy, I don't remember her name, was in her box. She had forgotten what it felt like to be loved by someone. She had resolved herself to the assumption that this was all that was left for her.

The message that came through was that it was not too late to remember what it feels like to be loved!!  Get out of your box and go running toward love!!

I am not saying that the love that is out there waiting for us is romantic love, although it could be. It could be the feeling of family, or community. It could be the feeling of being on the right path, fulfilling your purpose, or having that job that fulfills and maintains you.

How many of us build a box around ourselves, when circumstances change our significant relationships?

We experience hurt or betrayal in one of many forms. We feel violated. In the movie, the little girl toy had experienced rejection, through no fault of her own, simply because her owner had grown up. Tossed aside for a more age appropriate focus, the little girl toy felt lost and confused. Her purpose in life, which was to be loved by one little girl, was in question.

Along the way, she was acquired by a man who saw her value only as a museum showpiece. Safe in her box, she resolved herself to the assumption that her days of love and abandon were behind her.

Then along came Woody, who convinced her that life was still out there to be experienced and that there was still plenty of love to go around! All she had to do was get out of her box and go for it!!

Have you put yourself inside of a box? Have you been left behind by love? Has a primary relationship ended, whether it be a romantic relationship, or perhaps a friendship, or even your relationship to a career or spiritual path? Did you think that love came only in one form, and without it packaged up in this neat little box, it was unavailable to you?

It is time to open up that box you put yourself in, and jump out!! Yes, you may anger or frustrate someone who only sees you in one scenario: tightly wrapped up in this neat little package, visible only through cardboard and plastic. You may have to fight your way out, against those whose lives are affected by your escape!!

The path to freedom is seldom paved before you!! It is challenging!!

If you are experiencing thoughts related to: there is something beyond this box I have put myself in, take heart! You are not the only one who has ever contemplated escape from neat little boxes! You can do it!

Now I am a total advocate for making a plan! Sometimes you have to stay in the box long enough to plan your escape! I stayed in one of my boxes for many years until I had made a plan of escape, and even then, it was wrought with roadblocks and challenges. But eventually, I made my escape, and wondered, after it was all over, what took me so long! But life is not meant to cause regret! I thank the box for the learning experience! I thank those who assisted me in building and maintaining the box for all those years of finding out what doesn't work and what makes me sad so that I would recognize pure joy when it came along!

The first step is recognizing that you are, in fact, in a cardboard box, waiting to be shipped to a museum.

The next step is realizing that you do have alternatives. I don't know how many people I talk to that don't realize that they do have options. No one is stuck unless they allow themselves to be.

Here is a BIGGIE!! Other people's happiness is not your responsibility. If you are not happy, but someone else is, it is not your responsibility to be miserable so someone else can be happy. Each of us are responsible for our own joy. We each have to learn to find the joy within ourselves first, and then we can find joy in our relationships.

Here is another "I should have had a V8" kick in the head moment:  sometimes if you do everything in your power to make sure someone else is happy, and they are not required to do any work to find that happiness themselves, they are not going to appreciate all your self sacrifice!

Okay so here is your assignment:

Look around your energetic self: are you in a box of your own making? Are you blaming someone else for putting you there? Are you convinced you have no options or that there is no life outside of this box?

It is time to sit down and make a plan. What steps can you take to open the box and get out? What obstacles can you perceive may come along that you are going to have to face, and when they do arise, how will you face them?

Sometimes someone will come along and point out the obvious to you, like Woody did for little cowgirl in the movie. Hey, there is another option! Get out of the box and go find that love, or that job, or that alternate spiritual path, or......(you fill in the blanks!)

If there is a question in your mind, is there something out there I am missing? Is there more to life than this? the answer is YES!! Now get out of that box and go find it!!