Down the Rabbit Hole: Turnabout Day

Alice awoke extra early that morning.  She felt excited and happy but couldn't remember why this was so.  She took her index fingers and gently massaged her ear lobes, a trick that helped her wake up more easily she had learned from her dear sister Penelope.

After a few seconds, she remembered the source of her pleasure.  It was Turnabout Day (or, as it is commonly called on the earth's surface, Monday)!

 
The "Mondays" Alice remembered from BEFORE the rabbit hole had held all kinds of unsettling vibes for people.  Everyone was always unhappy that the weekend had ended and it was time to go back to work or school.  There was always lots of growling around the subject of Mondays whether you could hear it with your ears or not.  Alice instinctively KNEW that some sounds were LODGED straight in the heart and it was difficult for them to escape even if they wanted to.

Now, Turnabout Day...THAT was another story.  Everybody down the rabbit hole waited for THAT day because it meant there would be much gaiety and laughter and, surely, there would be surprises.



Alice hopped out of bed with anticipation and tried to remember what she had planned for her debut in the village square.  "Oh, yes," she exclaimed.  "That's right.  I will need to go down to the pantry before I leave."


Before long Alice was dressed and ready to depart, now carrying a satchel filled with special ingredients.  As she stepped out onto the road she was joined by several vibrant birds, their feathers fluffing and refluffing themselves as they twittered away in excitement.  Though Alice could not decipher the special code of the birds' twittering, she was certainly able to translate their emotional state.  Obviously. Alice was not the only one expecting to have an exciting day.


Alice and the birds soon reached the gathering assemblage in the village square where all of the villagers were busily inspecting everyone else's personage for evidence of creativity.  Frederick the Owl was wearing his spectacles perched upside down on his beak which made his line of vision quite cumbersome, inducing a massive amount of swaying and stumbling about.

 
Priscilla the Pig wore her frothy white apron backwards, Alice noticed, smiling at the delicate, giant bow tied so prettily over Priscilla's tummy.

 
George the Otter had cut holes in his rain cape...big gaping, raggedy holes, a clear indication that George had slept in (yet again) and had clumsily fashioned the costume just minutes before.

 

As more and more of the villagers arrived, Alice decided she had better ready herself and dug into her satchel, producing a small kitchen knife and a cob of corn which she then smeared with peanut butter from a tiny jar.  "That should do it," she exclaimed to herself.  "I will be OK as long as I stay far away from Priscilla."


As silly as this entire scene might appear to a visitor wandering by, Turnabout Day was, in actuality, a day of grave significance down the rabbit hole (even if it WAS accompanied by great fun).  It represented an effort by ALL of the villagers to consciously change their default buttons.  The proclamation declaring Turnabout Day had occurred only after much discussion in the village hall, hours of problem solving rhetoric from the Owl Triumvirate who always took matters of personal growth VERY seriously and the resulting consensus of the villagers that SOMETHING had to be done if things were to ever have a chance of changing.

 
It seemed that every creature to be found in the rabbit hole harbored a mysterious default button that, when activated, inspired behavior that was "less than courteous and civil".  For example, Frederick the Owl became enraged whenever he was interrupted and started slinging accusations at everyone in his line of vision about their poor communication skills and disregard for others.  Priscilla the Pig was extremely sensitive and felt dishonored when others did not notice her reactions and sensitivities and try to console her.  George the Otter had an insecurity complex...he always arrived late to events and tried to sneak in.  If someone noticed George's lateness and got in his otter face about it, well, to put it simply,
it was "ON" and George had an anger issue and was NOT insecure about batting his tail around.

 
The fact is, EVERYBODY in the rabbit hole displayed some kind of unconscious behavior that did not serve them well and the entire community had decided to do something about their bad behavior and replace it with gentleness and consideration for others.  And so Turnabout Day was born, one day each week when every resident of the rabbit hole decided to do something  "different" to consciously remind himself about the behavior change he aspired to.

 
And it was really working...most of the time.  The village citizens were becoming more aware of when their default buttons were being activated,  especially on the several occasions (which shall go down in history) when several default buttons had gone off at the same time!  Oh, my, thought Alice, remembering some episodes.  I don't even want to go THERE.


 
It had all been too much to deal with and so the decision was made that ALL citizens would take responsibility for reminding  themselves to be present to what was transpiring IN THAT MOMENT..to be consciously aware of what was happening NOW and simply deal with that issue and not act out from the past hurts or unhealed pain that could spring up and surprise them. This was not an easy assignment for ANYONE but Alice was very proud of the efforts the villagers were making to bring a measure of peace to the bustling community.


Alice looked cautiously around to make sure that Priscilla was not nearby and gingerly licked the peanut butter off of the front of the cob of corn.

 

She became very pensive.  Peanut butter always induced this state in her.  If everyone can become a better version of himself by becoming aware of his default button, Alice pondered, and...if everyone can find a more gentle way of consciously expressing himself, then the rabbit hole was destined to become more harmonious, she decided.  And, working together,  maybe they could solve whatever problems presented themselves.

...and maybe even then they could solve the problems that existed ABOVE the rabbit hole!!!

 
With that, Alice decided to join the flock of birds that were twittering their way home and, though she did not know the word/notes to the songs they were singing as they winged their way down the road, she felt a certain happiness enter her heart.
                         

                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                     Marie Helena

                                                                                         



top image from DragoArt.com.   
how to draw Alice in wonderland  characters


bottom image from www.sensoryinterventions.com

The Magical Playground

Though it often masquerades as a series of difficult challenges,

all Life is made up of Pure Consciousness…

and this beautiful, majestic, mysterious resource is our PLAYGROUND and it is WE who decide how to experience it.



We do this by the stories we choose to write for ourselves.  And there is a never ending supply to choose from because WE keep creating whatever we wish to believe about ourselves.

 
And, by this process, we cast OURSELVES in the role of our choosing though it FEELS like someone else did this to us...especially, if we are unhappy in the role...or feel victimized.  


We FORGET that we are Spiritual Beings having a human experience... that we are already perfect...already PURE LOVE. 

We FORGET that we have chosen to experience life in earth school and that we can PLAY with pure consciousness and create whatever story will help us on our journey.

 

If fear or anxiety is casting gloom in our life...if we are mired in depression or hopelessness,  

we can use Alberto Villoldo's suggestion in his book COURAGEOUS DREAMING to fly to the level of eagle and write A NEW STORY for ourselves...

one in which we are the Spiritual Hero who sees the soul view of what is happening, swings HIGH and chooses to act from PURE LOVE, our heavenly heritage.

 

It's easy to forget that we have this wondrous ability, especially because we accepted the veil of forgetfulness as a condition of our experience in earth school. 

 But ALL of this is ours for the asking.  We are the architects of our journey and we choose how this journey will transpire.



Never lose sight of the magical playground of pure consciousness.   Choose the best and brightest version of yourself. Live your dreams with passion and pleasure!

                                                                                         Marie Helena


image from alisonkolesar.blogspot.com


originally published November 17, 2012

Breakthrough!

Here’s a steppingstone that will move us forward when we feel locked in a place of negative emotion.


We know what we feel in a given situation and we don’t like it. But it’s difficult to move past it. At the same time we can clearly see where we would like to be and it’s a Higher Self position. But we are   
not there yet.


Take a breath, center ourselves and make this simple comment: 
This is what I aspire to:


Use whatever words fit the moment:

I aspire to be loving and compassionate.
I aspire to forgive the hurt.
I aspire to see where my ego is entering into this situation.
I aspire to be centered and peaceful.
I aspire to take beautiful care of myself.
I aspire to speak my truth.
I aspire to listen to yours.


Just the mere utterance to ourselves and to others of these powerful words:
This is what I aspire to will be a personal and public declaration of where we intend to go with our reaction and what we intend to do about it.


We are giving notice to the lower vibrations circling around us that they are on their way out of this picture. We have declared our intention to let the sunshine in and act from a foundation of LOVE.


This beautiful message helps us relieve our suffering and also assists others to see what we are intending to accomplish.


There is a softening that occurs when these words are uttered…in our hearts and in the hearts of those around us.


I have never seen these words fail to make a difference. They’re a form of alchemy…making gold out of base metal.

One step forward…but a very important one…in bringing in the
Light!
                                                              
                                                                     
                                                                                

                                                                 Marie Helena

                                                                            

                                               

originally published April 3, 2011

Down the Rabbit Hole: The Mayor, Betsy and a White Dove

One morning Alice was feeling especially tired because she had eaten too many sweet peas the previous night and had stayed up late frolicking with the caterpillars who insisted on dancing "The Locomotion" in never ending circles around the garden.  As she made her way through the village commons, she noticed several other rabbit hole creatures looking weary and out-of-sorts; some were even complaining crabbily about the butterflies winging good naturedly over their heads.


Oh, this is going to be a loooong and very tiresome day, Alice thought, feeling the vibes of disgruntlement all around her.
  

Soon after, Alice noticed that a new visitor to the rabbit hole had entered the square...a pretty brown mole wearing a blue and white checked apron with the name Betsy embroidered on it and a smile that could melt the coldest heart.  Immediately, a low level buzzing could be heard as all the creatures wondered to each other who this surprising stranger could be.  

Just then the rabbit hole's mayor, an officious looking, giant rooster, burst on the scene.  His burly chest huffed and puffed with a feeling of FRENZY, so much so that the air around him began to turn cloudy and thick.  It was clear that the mayor (who was often found to be greatly agitated) was in a dither of the highest intensity about some transaction that had just occurred and he sputtered and mumbled continually, barely pausing to take a breath.


All the creatures witnessing this scene began to back away from the rambling rooster, hoping to avoid being drawn into a conversation with him.  When nearly everyone had backed away from the mayor, Alice suddenly noticed that Betsy, the new visitor, had stepped forward and was advancing toward the disconsolate figure.  Alice took a deep breath and hoped that this would not cause even more drama in the moment.


From the vantage point where she stood, Alice could only see a partial view of what was happening.  She could tell that the mayor was distraught from the way his shoulders shook but all she could see of Betsy was the calm silhouette of her back and her head which was nodding gently every so often.  


Then, after a few moments, Alice suddenly saw a bustle of energy move in the air.  She drew in closer to the scene to see what was happening and could not fathom what could have possessed  Betsy to make such a dangerous move. Betsy was HUGGING the mayor!  

And, after a few, very long seconds, HE WAS HUGGING HER BACK!


Alice was not the only person shocked at this turn of events.  Everyone ALWAYS avoided getting too close to the mayor and had learned to step wayyyyyy  back when he entered the scene.  This default behavior of everyone had existed to protect them from the mayor's unpredictable and erratic blasts of emotion.  Betsy was BREAKING the unspoken Rule!   What was going to happen now, everyone wondered and hoped that Betsy would be OK.


Betsy and the Mayor stood hugging for a REALLY long time. Watching the scene, Alice felt that, as strange as might sound, maybe the mayor had NEVER been hugged before...at least, not the way Betsy was hugging him as if the hug had welled up from deep within her very heart.


All of the creatures in the rabbit hole had obviously been mesmerized by Betsy's show of courage and began to murmur among themselves.  Now the mayor and Betsy moved over to a nearby log and sat themselves down and everyone could see that his freshly starched shirt was wet with tears.  From her vantage point Alice could see the mayor smiling at Betsy and wiping his flooding eyes with a handsome linen handkerchief.


Instead of the frenzied posture he always carried, the mayor now seemed calm and even approachable.  Something about him seemed inviting, though no one could explain why that was so.  Unable to help themselves, the creatures crept closer to the mayor and found themselves smiling at him.  Soon, he noticed this and began smiling back at them.  What had produced this transformation, everyone wondered.  Why, it seemed a miracle had occurred!


Nearly all of the creatures were now circling the mayor, their hearts mysteriously opened at this unexpected show of vulnerability.  Betsy moved slowly away from the mayor and found herself approached by a gentle, white dove who drew in close to where she stood.  "It's always beautiful...every time," he whispered to her.


No one but Alice saw the two talking.  Alice smiled to herself.  Obviously, 
a great secret had just been shared.  Alice did not know what the secret was, but she could see the luminous results of what had just occurred.


That night Alice went to sleep with a special prayer of gratitude on her lips.  Maybe the rabbit hole is where all of the wonderful things in life happen, she thought.


                                                                                                    

                                                                    Marie Helena

                                                                                                 

mage from hellaheaven-ana.blogspot.com

Codependency, the White Horse Syndrome and True Love

  Let's face it.  Most of us have some degree of codependency (we are mega-affected by the feelings of people around us, and, especially, by their feelings toward us).  

If we bring up an idea or express an emotion that does not sit well with someone and that person seems unsettled or disapproving, we are NOT OK.  Our state of well-being DEPENDS on what someone else thinks about us and our actions.  This state of affairs can produce in us a feeling of disappointment, of sadness and, most importantly, of powerlessness.  


And the fact is we have unknowingly GIVEN our power away. 

We do this by placing every person in our lives on a white horse...in our imagination, that is (and we all know how powerful our imaginations can be).  Everyone knows what people on white horses do...they are the heroes who say and do all the "right" things.  They are busy prancing around on their masterful white steeds bringing happiness and peace to everyone around them.

That's in our version of a "perfect world".  But what happens if the figure on the white horse does or says something that is not what we would like to hear...what we think will make us feel better about ourselves?


 
Disappointment.  That's what happens.   All because we EXPECTED white horse behavior.

 

We expected it because that's what white horse riders do...BUT we have given this assignment to others WITHOUT their knowledge or consent.  And we have assigned this task to others because we have been wounded and want and need to heal our pain.  We have experienced some dysfunction in our lives such as failing to learn to trust ourselves for the answers we seek.  We have missed the all important message that WE have the capacity to heal ourselves, that WE possess that power.  And because we have not developed that belief in ourselves, we look OUTSIDE of ourselves and expect others to heal our hurts. 


We are making a misdiagnosis here and it is something we agreed to do long ago on a soul level so that we can travel the path of discovery and find our way back to the source of our authentic power.  We may not yet believe this fact but that doesn't mean it isn't so.

 
The answer to the conundrum of the white horse syndrome lies in true love.  In the state of true love, we accept others unconditionally.  Attaining this, of course, involves a good deal of experience and learning but when we are ready and able to aspire and eventually exist in this state, we no longer expect everyone around us to take care of us by soothing us with gentle, approving, affirming statements.  We see clearly that we are all foot soldiers, embarked on our own adventures and we love all others unconditionally, regardless of their behavior toward us. 

 
And, when we give this same beautiful, unconditional caring also to ourselves, WE no longer expect to be perfectly happy, satisfied and affirmed at all times.  We accept OUR humanity, including our missteps and misperceptions and the consequences of these actions.  As fellow foot soldiers, alongside our compatriots, we know that we, too, journey through the adventure of discovering where our true power lies...in our own self-approval.  When we have done something we approve of, we do not need anyone else to affirm us.  Deep within our hearts, WE affirm ourselves.  And when we look back at something we have done that has not worked well for us, we OWN that "adventure" and learn from it as a part of everyman's (and, in this case, our) journey.

 
Let us all consider adjusting our range of view from holding an expectation about our white horse saviors and, instead, moving our loving gaze to ourselves and our fellow journeymen on foot who are all in the business of recognizing and enjoying their authentic power and, therefore, their ascendancy to their true Spirit selves.


                                                                                          

                                                 Marie Helena

                                                     

 
image from  pinterest

A New Year's "Light" Show

After the magical days of Christmas holidays…when pine-scented boughs and cranberry candles perfumed the air and glittering lights whispered their grace-filled secrets into our happy hearts…decorating our spaces with joy and celebration…

after these magnificent days have passed and things have grown so very quiet and restful the steady, sure-footed march of the New Year alights on our doorstep, enters our homes and slides into our hearts.

It’s time…to renew and redirect our energy to the wonderful life we have imagined and make the changes that were placed on hold as we made merry and felt merry and loved the "merry" of the holidays.

Now, there is a NEW JOY that awaits us and it is born of reflection and inspiration and discipline…our New Year’s Resolutions.

Much has been said and advised about NYR’s…suggestions that we examine our lives, compiling a list of every change we can imagine…suggestions that we make NO resolutions and not place ourselves under that kind of stress... even a suggestion that we only try to improve ourselves by one percent in the category we identify as “most needed” or, even better, “most desired” and, thereby, let our accumulated steady, slow progress become its own source of motivation.

This morning in the quiet moments when I found myself awakening a different thought occurred to me.

I had been searching for a simple resolution…one that would be easy to hold onto and yet would change my perspective and this is what arrived in response to my request:

As you go through the day and encounter many moments…some relaxing and some difficult and challenging…as you go through the day, just take a moment and imagine how your Higher Self would respond to what is happening. Do not put any pressure on yourself TO DO what Higher Self would do. Only IMAGINE it and TAKE NOTE.

This sounded wonderful to me…and it feels instinctively that just choosing to put myself in the place of imagining a Higher Response would do some subtle, behind-the-scene work for me even while I went busily about my day, impressing my consciousness with a more beautiful, more loving, more joyful way to navigate it…and, most importantly, a way to be my own SOURCE of happiness and satisfaction.

And it actually sounds and feels quite practical, too, to become, on a continuing basis, the ANCHOR for my joy.

So I am going to give it a pop!   This means I may pause a few seconds before I react and respond to what is going on…allowing myself the time and perspective I need to call up a Higher inspiration than what would automatically appear on my default button.

It will be very interesting to take this journey and, no doubt, it will have its own BRILLIANT  LIGHT SHOW as I enter into this universe!

                                                                                     
                                                                                            Marie Helena


originally printed January 3, 2011