Happy Birthday to Me!

Wednesday, June 1st is my birthday and I am a
Birthday Junkie!

At the tender age of five, when I was in kindergarten, my mother gave me five invitations to give to my favorite friends for a birthday celebration.

The day of my party my mother was shopping for food and ran into the mother of one of the children in my class. She asked my mother what I would like for my birthday. Surprised, my mother exclaimed, “But David (her son) wasn’t invited to Marie’s party.” David’s mother just smiled and said, “Oh, yes, he was.”

This was my mother’s first indication that something had gone astray. When the time for the party arrived, my mother was truly surprised to find the whole class showing up for the glorious event. I had given out the five invitations and then proceeded to invite everyone else by word of mouth.

Over the top? Ya think?

This has been the story of my life.

Somehow my birthday has become the most important day of the year to me. I want to CELEBRATE everything on that day…and then some.


You can imagine, then, the sadness that falls on me when that very special day is done. Another whole year of waiting!!!

Not this time. I have come up with the fabulous idea of celebrating my birthday not on one day…but for the whole year. And I have a theme for the year which is delighting me:


Cultivating Radiant Health!

I am the writer, director and producer of this event. Oh, yes. How cool is that!

Yesterday I set about to decide what things would bring me Radiant Health and the answers I came up with are not just the obvious ones you would imagine.

Here is the list so far and it's a Work in Progress:


Ground each moment.

Walk often during the day.

Enjoy the beauty of nature.

Connect with the rain.

Adore the sun.

Enjoy every different color in the sky.

Drink generous amounts of water.

Meditate.

Stand tall.

View each person as a mystery... unraveling...
and bless my role as witness to that.

Experience the day in vignettes.
When one is complete, release and move on.

Celebrate my efforts.

Study others to find their beautiful character.

Choose foods from nature’s bounty.

Hug my favorite tree.

Completely feel my emotions.

Clear out a little clutter each day.

Be authentic.

Speak my truth and listen to others' truth.

Get up and move around every twenty minutes.

Write my blog.

Give thanks.

Embrace the Present Moment.

Embrace the pain body and gain the wisdom of each lesson.

Dance.

Sing.

Be silly.

Simply be.

Invite a sprinkling of moonbeams to help me see the soul view of what is happening.

Do Over difficult moments guided by Higher Self.

Vibrate at a high frequency using Conscious Intent.

Listen to water.

Embrace my intuition.

Appreciate life for the amazing gift that it is.

Read uplifting thoughts.

Acknowledge every wonderful thing I see.

Hold space for those in distress (as my energy permits).

Watch the birds and squirrels outside my window.



I'm still adding to this list and I'm wondering what YOUR Directory of Delights might look like!


Writing this blog post has put me in an even more joyous space. I hope you won't mind if I excuse myself to sing Happy Birthday to Me!

Proof Positive

Earth Life is such an interesting combination of the fascinating and the mundane.

And, often, we place our consciousness on those everyday tasks and responsibilities…cleaning, cooking, earning a paycheck, paying our bills (and our taxes), keeping up with the news and the neighbors.


What we often take for granted is the fascinating, the miraculous, the wondrous phenomena that surrounds us and quietly anchors our everyday life.


I am talking about the body…that same body that can get tired and feel aches and get a cold. We can become so caught up with these body sensations that we miss the message right in front of us.


And that message is:

The body is a work of art...a masterpiece.
This wonderful body that can process emotions…sadness, for example, that permeates our every cell and take that sadness and change it into chemicals that move through the body and release themselves through the shedding of tears.

This wonderful body that can harbor an embryo and nurture it so carefully on a beautiful heavenly timetable so that a fully developed infant is born with all of the chemistry and growth patterns intact to help it become a mature adult.

This wonderful body that can produce super-human strength through its resource of adrenalin, aiding a grief-stricken mother to lift machinery that weighs many times her weight to save the life of her child.


This wonderful body that can do all of this and much, more more has the capacity to heal itself...IF we don’t get in the way.

But it’s so easy to do that…and so human to get lost in the duality of our life and the problems we have taken on.

It is our work to see beyond the mundane and our suffering and to trust in the sacredness, the gift of life.

It is our work to keep our hearts and emotions clear by acknowledging our feelings, accepting them, valuing and not judging them and speaking them in a loving way to ourselves and to others.

It is our work to clear the way for the body to do what it has been designed for…to provide radiant health.


It is so very clear. There is  Proof Positive  that our body has the capacity to do this if we look at the miracles that already happen.


All that we have to do is get out of our own way,
enter into the flow of life
and connect with the LOVE that governs the universe!

Surf's Up!

There is not one thing in life that comes to us by any means other than from the magnetic vibrations of the FEELINGS that we send out all day long. Not one, ever!

Cosmic Physics
Lynn Grabhorn



It is so easy to go through life assigning responsibility for what happens to us to other people or circumstances. We've all done it.

"Look what you did!"
"Why did you have to say that?"
"Everything happens to me."
"Great. Now what?"

And when we view our life through this lens, we are very much the victim...at the mercy of what we might label fate, unseen forces, punishment, someone else's problems...totally missing the critical point that we attract things to us by the way we feel.

Now THERE'S a very good reason to get in touch with our feelings, observe them and decide which wave we want to ride and which wave we will pass over.

We can jump onto the good feeling surfboard...noticing what cool things are going on around us, feeling gratitude for our blessings, loving ourselves for the beautiful beings we already are, affirming others whenever we see something wonderful...or, even better, supporting others when they are in need of reassurance and caring.

Or,

We can ride the "Why Me?" surfboard which has Victim painted all over it...complaining about how things are not going our way, wondering why everything bad happens to us.

The interesting thing here is wherever we park ourselves for the ride...whichever surfboard we choose, by the sheer fact of being there, by choosing that location to vibrate at...we are going to get more of the same.


Ever hear someone say, "Everything's going wrong today" or "I can't do anything right"? Yep, it's the surfboard they're riding that's the problem.

And, when you have a day in which everything goes beautifully, you are riding the surfboard of good feeling.

Now here's the important part. It doesn't matter if you don't start out in the good feeling place...the only thing that counts is that you choose to go there.


Yesterday morning as I reflected on the day ahead I felt a strong nudge to take an affirming leap in my intention. I was not in a positive place and I could see that I had to trade in the wave runner I was stuck under for a new model. So I chose the mantra EXPECT WONDERFUL. I typed it on a piece of paper and placed it in my pocket. I also placed the same note under the bottle of water I was drinking.

Guess what? My "expectations" were fulfilled. It truly was a WONDERFUL day. I intended it. I asked for it and I got it.

Conscious intention can totally change the direction in which we are traveling. The deliberate choice to aspire to a higher vibrational place and the willingness to make the leap will take us to the beautiful places we want to go

The universe mirrors our feelings. And we can choose what that echo will be!

Energy Audits

We’ve all heard the very practical advice of putting our toe into the water before we jump in. And very often we do. But, occasionally, our “enthusiasm” gets the better of us and we leap first.


And sometimes with unfortunate results.

One place the foolhardiness of this is most evident is in interpersonal relationships.

And here’s how it goes.
WE are ready to roll and off we go…with whatever emotion has sprung up for us.

This could be the excitement of a new idea for something to try (which might mean some work for everyone involved). It could be the expression of our displeasure at something that has just occurred. It could be our wild, crazy side rocking an impulse to “seize the day”.

However, we could be jumping into some turbulent waters if we ASSUME that someone is ready to be in the same space with us. So much could be transpiring emotionally with another person that we are not aware of.

There could be some sadness or anxiety we don't know about or, possibly, exhaustion...and our jumping into our “dance” could feel strange to them and, possibly, even unwelcome.


There is a very gentle way to navigate these waters and that is with an ENERGY AUDIT.

This is a very important information exchange that needs to occur before we ASSUME that someone is ready for us. It can come through words or non-verbal behavior but it is always a very wise move to test the waters of someone else’s emotional altitude before we zoom in for a landing.

And, it’s important for us to share where we are on the emotional map, too.

This gentle checkpoint approach will help make both people aware of each other’s inside story and will give good direction on how to proceed at this point or not.


So many misunderstandings and awkward moments can be avoided if we appraise someone’s store of emotional energy before we bring our own to the mix.

Energy audit…a prelude to a very successful communication experience!

A Cheap Date

We all like to smile at the thought of having a beautiful experience on a shoestring. Some of us even consider the ability to enjoy this one of our finest qualities. Here is one of the best “cheap date” ideas I have ever heard of or experienced – GROUNDING.


I am a newbie at this one but I have just engaged in this adventure and totally love it.

The fascinating thing is I was not consciously trying to do this.

I have been learning about it (and apparently soaking it up through entrainment) but I didn’t purposely go there. Apparently, I have been rewarded for the time and attention I have given to the concept for it just "Happened". And I recognized it later when I felt its effects.


So much in life feels fleeting. We have a joyful experience and totally love the moment but then…it is gone. Of course, we always get more moments with the potential for more wonderfulness but just imagine if we could anchor or ground a moment which feels completely breathtaking.


And we can. By our awareness and invitation.


One of these moments for me was a leisurely stroll last evening (the Italians call it a passeggiata).

I had a great yearning to connect with nature in the country. It had been raining lightly yesterday and the ground was damp with wetness, the grass with dew. The frogs were croaking their spring mating ritual. The earth was perfumed with clouds of lilacs.

The night was magical. I so loved it…and, without even being aware, I grounded it for myself.


Another way of putting this, I think, is to say I moved it into my heart and gave it space there, sharing my residence of love.

Even now that passeggiata holds me in its enchanting spell.


We have so many opportunities to ground our beautiful moments and, when we do, we feel satiated…satisfied….in sync with the grace of the world.


To do this we need to be engaged in the present moment and moving with conscious intention.


This can occur throughout the day…even in the most simple of tasks – in the breaking of bread, in the sipping of wine, and especially in the pleasure of knowing you are loved.

Consider this divine experience of GROUNDING and consciously invest in your treasury of beautiful moments…truly one of the greatest gifts of our human experience.

The Music of Life

Let it be.

Whoosh!

.

Balloon Blowers of the World:
(and that would be all of us at one time or another)




It seems we all have our own supply of pulsating old air circling in our emotional aura ready to help inflate an issue that's been triggered by a comment or circumstance which landed in our emotional gunnysack.


That heavy gust of emotion can make a problem look very big very fast. Once we add our emotional baggage to the issue that has just occurred (and it happens automatically), we've cooked up quite a concoction ready to explode at a second's notice.


We all carry these gunnysacks around...even if they are not visible to the naked eye. They're probably the cause of all the physical backaches we have and, for sure, they're the cause of the emotional ones.

These are our unhealed hurts...the things we just sucked up...or decided to take care of "tomorrow".

Those tomorrow's and the sucking up over the years add up to a burdensome load and, unfortunately, we get more and more used to carrying them around and don't even notice they are there anymore... except for the fact that they drain our energy and lessen our life force and erode the joy from our lives.


So here's the question I'm thinking about.

What would it take for the emoto-balloon to go "Whoosh" and lighten those gunnysacks we are dragging around?


Here are some of my observations.

One thing I've noticed about my gunnysack is that in one particular case I had taken a very simple issue and had made it very complicated. That did it. Into the gunnysack it went and I'm not sure why. I recall at one point having a conscious intention to deal with the problem and one day the resolution suddenly seemed so simple. Guess I have to credit my celestial helpers for responding (and probably with great relief) to my determination to finally get the work done.

Another time the answer was equally simple...a shift in perspective. However, I first experienced several days of assuming the worst (truly delaying the resolution) before the shift occurred. I wonder now why I hadn't assumed the best instead.

One other practice that is totally non-productive is reliving old hurts instead of dealing with the present moment . Dwelling on “old stuff" ups the ante on distress. If there is something for us to learn from the past and I mean the role we played in the issue (for that is the only thing we are responsible for)...then we need to learn it…and move on.

One last observation. The pain WILL go away and our hurt along with it IF we first listen to the body and fully consent to experiencing the message it is physically giving us...if we don't run away but let ourselves completely feel the distress that was backlogged long ago when the initial problem first occurred and we didn't address it. At that time we were lacking the tools to deal with the issue. (The body and spirit deserve a boatload of love and gratitude for protecting us until we could do the work.)


Now, however...Look how SMART we're getting!


So, let's recap what's worked for me:

Have a conscious intention to deal
Assume the best
Learn from the past and release
Honor the body's physical messages.


Are you wishing for a "Whoosh" to lighten the load?
Go get it. It's on your radar now just waiting for you to put the pedal to the metal.

Wow! Are you getting lighter or what!

Tattoo for the Soul

This website/blog is not the only Mystic Marks existing on the internet.

A Google search will reveal that there is also a Mystic Marks Tattoo Company in San Marcos, Texas.

The irony of this does not escape me.


A tattoo is a marking with an indelible pattern.

If someone searches his soul long and hard enough and with full and conscious intent to discover the answers to life’s questions… the answers to that search may well produce an indelible pattern. One that will govern and inform and direct all of his actions.


Perhaps we should all be lined up at the cosmic mall to search for some version of a tattoo parlor for the soul…asking the big questions which life presents us with…


Who created this amazing universe?

What role do I play here?

What is the best way to live out that role?

What truly brings me joy?

What causes suffering?


An indelible marking is one which has been accomplished with great effort and desire. Have you found your soul tattoo?

Elegance in Action - The Do Over

Have you ever felt regret about the way you have handled something and later found your way and wished you could recapture the moment and relive it? Have you ever felt it was too late to make things better?

Do not lose heart over this small misstep for there is a distinct and clear path of recovery and reconciliation....but it requires courage and character - the DO OVER.



Visualize the tension felt by you and another when awkward or uncomfortable comments somehow slip into the conversation. Both of you are unsettled and uneasy. You both feel stuck in the emotional mire. However, things do not have to remain this way.


If your companion is agreeable, what a wonderful thing it would be for you to REDO the moment…to (re)tread lightly and with grace over the highway of ill considered words and actions...to leave footprints of love over the mismanaged issue...to choose a Higher way of acting and put right what has been left in frustration and distress.


The gentle nudging of a door...a respectful and reverent entrance…an honoring of the guest within...a window thrust confidently open to let in the beautiful air of caring and concern.

And an inspiration... to everyone watching.


That's you...asking for the opportunity to bring light to the issue at hand...that's you looking at the big picture and, in particular, the other person's position...that's you DOing things OVER with beauty and grace.

Balloon Prints

The funny little balloons we see above the heads of characters in the comics are the place we look to see what words the personalities are speaking.



They appear to contain the "message"...the information we are meant to have. And, it is true, they do contain a message...just not ALL of it.



In the same way, the words we speak in real life contain a message but they actually do much more than that...they emit energy, sending a vibration out into the immediate vicinity and even much further on...to the universe.


It's interesting to imagine our words hanging above our heads in a balloon and wonder what kind of impression they would make.

If we could view them objectively, would they appear to be direct, friendly, well-considered, kind?

Would they be slapped together without much thought or consideration for the impression they would create?

Would they notice the beautiful things in life and express gratitude?

Most of all, would they enhance someone's life?

Would it make a difference to someone that WE were there...that the words we spoke felt affirming....showing the warmth of our hearts?


When we make the choice of which words to speak we are also determining what kind of energy we send out. Is it loving energy? Is it truth? Does it take into account the person to whom we are speaking and how that person will be able to receive the message?


Do our words affect someone's life in a positive way? Does the environment feel lighter and more beautiful because of what we have said?


What kind of balloon prints do we really leave in our wake? Are they skirting the air with ease... bouncing and bowing in pleasure and joy?

The effect of what we say lingers long after we have left…to delight or disorient someone's heart.

Resistance

Resistance
to the disturbance
is
the disturbance.

Vernon Howard






The only way out of anything is through.


Whenever we try to find ways to sidestep the lessons of life we place them deeper inside us…ensuring their resurrection at a later time. And most probably, a resurrection which will be more dramatic and more painful.


We have entered into our earthlife so that we can learn the lessons we have chosen. The learning calls for courage and strength and truth. Interestingly, the more deeply we embrace the lessons, the more courage and strength and truth we have.


There is beauty in the SURRENDER.

And wisdom awaits on the other side.


Bless your life by fully engaging in it.

Rose-Colored Glasses

Wearing color tinted glasses is a very popular choice of many people today and they come in many varying hues.

The shading affects the way we see the world...whether we find ourselves peering through a dark (gloomy) lens, for example, or an upbeat blue (adventurous) lens or the (love washed) tint of ROSE-colored glasses.


But we really don't need to wear tinted lenses to affect our VISION of life. We can do that all by ourselves, courtesy of how we choose among the alternate ways we can navigate our day.


The very same objective facts that gave rise to elation could drop to despair if we ponder them while we are questioning our self-worth. The dream of ours to accomplish something wonderful and that feels so promising might seem totally unworkable at a disturbing time.


The deciding factor of what COLOR we are viewing life with is whether or not we are experiencing harmony between our physical self and our non-physical being.


According to Esther Hicks, author of The Vortex, this is because our non-physical self (which is always with us) knows and recognizes what is a good choice for us and when our physical self decides to do something that is NOT in harmony with that choice, we experience upset, distress...in effect...the "dark" tinted glasses.


I think we all have a personal guidance system in place to tell us whether the choice we are pondering is a good one for us. This system resides in our physical body. When we make a choice which comes from LOVE we feel joy. When our choice is in the other direction...on some subtle and sometimes non-so-subtle level we feel uneasy.


It's a matter of tuning in to the guidance and choosing JOY.


With that JOY comes the rose-colored glasses where everything seems possible and hopeful and perfectly lovely.


How delightful to see the world that way and to feel that sense of peace and serenity!


Is it time for a "vision" check?

Acknowledging a Mother's Love

With the celebration of Mother's Day so close upon us it is natural to wonder how we can let that someone special know how deeply she has touched our life.


Perhaps by noticing the way we have been affected through the very experience of being in her PRESENCE through our witnessing of
... her kindness and caring and acts of service

...her commitment to help us keep growing and discover our gifts

...her unending faith in our goodness

...her delight in learning of the adventures of our lives.

And perhaps, most importantly, by witnessing the way she moves through the challenges of her life.


Giving voice or words to these thoughts would be a beautiful acknowledgment of a life well lived...

but even just the REFLECTION alone places them into the universal consciousness

...honoring the LOVE we have received from our mothers and adding to the treasure of GRACE illuminating the world.

Pocket Treasures

The pockets in our jeans, shirts and skirts are a designer's nod to our desire to keep some very special things close to us. This might include a tissue, a comb, a key. Something we do not want to be without..just in case the need for it arises.

Recently, I have found a new thing to put in my pockets. And, yes, the need for it does arise.

It's a list of what I want to experience on that day. My conscious intention. My desire to call in various states of emotion to support me.

Somehow writing this message down always anchors my proposal for the day.



I started on a day when I could really feel what Eckhart Tolle calls the "pain body".
And this is what I wrote:

Releasing of the Pain Body with Wisdom of the Lesson.

It worked. Lots of great insights came in that day.



Here's another list I used recently:

No Expectations
Intensely Present
Creating from One Moment to the Next
Choosing Joy and Love
Making Room for the New

Again...another brilliant experience.


This morning I had to go to the dentist so I was busy at my computer. And this list was long...because I needed some extra reinforcement:

Serenity
Peacefulness
Enter into the Now
Wonder
Curiosity
Love and Joy
Synchronicity
Gratitude
Awareness
Enjoyment.

I emerged from the dentist's office with a clean bill of health (after teeth cleaning and X-rays) but, most importantly, in a wonderful state of mind.



So I ask the question: What's in your pockets?

Perhaps you might want to record a conscious intention for the day and tuck the note into your jeans, shirt or skirt pocket. Notify the Divine Universe that you want in on the positivity and delight circling the globe.

Those glorious virtues come from the beautiful way you choose to enter each moment of your day.

And your pocket companions can be a great reminder of who you aspire to be.

The Beauty of Tears

One of the most beautiful things that exists in the world is the exquisite design of our bodies: physical, spiritual, mental and emotional.

Though we often turn to medications to help us through illnesses it is a fact that our bodies are the ultimate pharmacy and have the capacity to restore vibrant health to us…giving us exactly what we need whenever we pay attention and ask to access this treasure.

Another one of our most powerful abilities is the capacity to release toxins from our body and an especially awesome way to do this is to experience the beauty of tears.

When we cry we connect with the emotions we are experiencing and allow them to BE. There is no other way for emotions than to BE but we make gargantuan attempts to force them to BE underground by pretending that we don’t have the emotions or, at least, not allowing them to be physically manifested. The reason for this is that we often equate tears with weakness and we seek to avoid weakness at all costs.

The truth is that tears are STRENGTH…the body allowing emotions (the stuff of which life is made) to move through us and find expression.

And when we express the emotion, we find relief. The body is cleansing itself. It is honoring the feelings…celebrating them.

When the blocked energy of unshed tears builds up over time we are putting a very difficult burden on the body…to carry inside all of that unexpressed emotion.

Tears have a unique chemical composition which changes depending on the reason we are crying. Tears of anger are different from tears of sadness or tears of joy. Tears can help us work through heartbreak by moving us through the process of healing and removing the toxins from our physical selves. But we have to allow them…and honor and bless them.

If you have difficulty letting your tears flow, let them come forward into your eyes…don’t block them. Welcome them and ask that your emotions be released.

Spirit will find the way to make this happen. And, if it is not through the flowing of your tears...your asking alone will probably create another kind of miracle.