Glass Slippers

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.  Or, maybe not.

I have recently drawn what I consider to be some brilliant conclusions about my life but they were MANY years in the making. They have to do with the Divine Universe and, of course, with the way I perceive things and THAT has been mightily shaped by my upbringing and enculturation.  As has yours.  And also by the very human impulse to draw a conclusion about what is happening and attach ourselves to this belief.

For example, within my limited (very human) perception of things, I had decided that life unfolds in a very straight path.  And that path is often strewn with challenges and obstacles and also rewards. Pursuing it becomes a test in itself and becoming attached to the end result becomes a common default reaction.  And, when things do not progress in the way we desire, we draw the conclusion that we have failed… or have not tried hard enough, COMPLETELY missing the grand and even MORE glorious dreams the universe has for us and the complicated, complex stages of growth we must pass through to attain those dreams.

We can literally spend years in frustration and anxiety about how things did not roll out the way we had hoped.  Like Cinderella, we sadly mourn the loss of our glass slipper, missing the truth that the glass slipper’s trajectory is there to LEAD us to the most beautiful, most wonderful realization of what we hoped to have happen.

When we do experience these precious moments of realization, it is amazing to see how every step was there to help us become a grander version of ourselves and to also see that what we thought was transpiring was not even the true story of what was being  accomplished . Sometimes, we are focusing steadily on our projected goals.  But, sometimes, we are assisting others in their evolution which, ultimately, also helps us blossom and become more ready for what we hope to achieve.

Perhaps our life is a series of what looks like ducks endlessly following each other, steadfastly focused on the careful plans we have laid out for ourselves.  In doing so and by becoming so attached to those plans, we may miss the Glass Slippers which mysteriously seem to lose their way but most assuredly and with great artistry and grace ALWAYS bring us home.


                                                                                  Marie Helena



image from Hey Cinderella by RC DeWinter
fineartamerica.com

The Best Christmas List of All

It's almost December and time for our Christmas to-do lists.. 

Some especially ambitious individuals have started on their lists many moons ago.  But for those of us who kick into high gear after Thanksgiving...it's time to get down.

And I bet you have LOADS OF ITEMS on your list: 

 buy a Christmas tree (and decorate it), 

 shop for presents,

 plan a holiday party, 

 balance that budget so finances will work smoothly,

 try some new holiday recipes...

oh, and clean the house (including those jobs you've left undone but now have to do because out-of-towners will be staying with you).

I'm guessing you might be exhausted just thinking about these tasks and that's nothing compared to the EXHAUSTION you feel when you start trying to complete the tasks and keep on trying...even when you are stressed and tired...and in need of sleep and relaxation and nourishment. 

In other words, when the concept of BALANCE has gone completely out of your life.

 

Just yesterday I got   a wonderful idea  about this whole conundrum of how do you get the work done and avoid feeling STRESSED to the max.

 

And here it is.

This is probably going to sound radical to you, but after some reflection I am convinced it's the answer to this problem.

The first premise of this idea is:  Christmas (and all of the preparations that go into the holiday) should be fun.  

Easy enough to say.  But, you may wonder, how can we have fun doing the Christmas to-do list when we are bone-tired...weary...dragging ourselves around?

The answer is not to do it.  DO NOT make yourself do the things on that list when you are not  IN YOUR POWER and have good energy, a  positive disposition and are ready to be in-the-flow.  

Just DO NOT do that list of tasks when your chin is on the floor.

Instead (and here comes the next premise) do WHATEVER IT TAKES  to get you  back to your place of power.  This might mean taking a  nap, relaxing, having a lovely conversation, enjoying  nourishing food for your tired body (and eating it slowly and tasting and enjoying every bite).  WHATEVER IT TAKES.

Then...when you have reclaimed your power (whenever that is)...do something on the Christmas prep list.

 

You are probably thinking THIS WILL NEVER WORK.  There won't be enough time. 

But here's my thought: 

If you've ever pushed yourself to do things when you DID NOT have the energy (physical, mental or emotional) to do them, then I am sure you know there is a hefty price tag on that delightful maneuver.  

And I bet this is when you develop that cold or catch that flu or get so totally out-of-sorts that nobody wants to be around you.  

Then...what good did it do to have the things on your list completed and you can't even appreciate what you have accomplished?

 

I know...I know...this concept will take some reframing of the way we usually tackle our tasks but consider this:  

How wonderful would it be to actually enjoy all of the holiday preparations...to be in such a lovely space that  it felt like you were constantly accessing the joy of Christmas and what it represents?  

How lovely also for all of those around you to engage with the happy, positive person you know you can be!

 

Wouldn't it be worth taking the leap to give this a try and then see how everything plays out?  

And, by the way, this isn't just a wonderful plan for Christmas...I think it's the best way to engage life all year round.

So start making that special list of all of the wonderful things that will rejuvenate you and move you back into that DELIGHTFUL place of joy and power and make that one THE LIST you always remember!

                                                                                Marie Helena

image from vickiblackwell.com

Dreaming You

  

  Whatever is happening in your life is coming from an image you hold about yourself.
  The images you send out attract situations to you.  These pictures are absolutely
  available to your conscious awareness.  You can change any situation by looking at
  and changing your vision of yourself.

                                 Sanaya Roman
                                            Personal Power through Awareness

I'm always so clumsy.
I can't cook.
I am never comfortable telling people what I really feel.

 
The descriptions we give ourselves are the source of our behavior.  Whatever we believe to be true determines the course of our actions. 
It's the biology of belief. 

And it belongs to us.  

Granted, we were influenced by our families, society and the world around us.  They all helped by providing us with some predispositions to these images but guess who made the final purchase?  Oh yes, we bought in.  And when we did that, we set a course for ourselves that would play out in a hundred different ways.

Here's the good news. 

We are NOT stuck on those checkpoints.  Even though we may think we are and give up on ourselves ever becoming anything different.

The fact is we have INDISPUTABLE CONTROL over these images and just need to choose their replacements. 

OK, maybe not JUST choose...because there is some work involved.  It includes conscious awareness, creativity, focus and follow through.  But we can handle that...we earth dwellers are constantly reinventing ourselves...we just need to reinvent in the right direction.

Instead of whining about how we are losing our touch...what if we were to SEE ourselves as bright, alert, tuned in. 

Instead of feeling we lack the motivation to realize our dream, we can begin to see ourselves full of joy and satisfaction, creating something beautiful for the world in physical form or in the beautiful love and compassion we send out.  

We already have the resource we need for this exercise...it's  our IMAGINATION.

 
What if...just for tomorrow...we hold this amazing image of ourselves living each moment with attention and awareness and appreciation and gratitude? And what if our new fabulous image is totally feeling JOY and having FUN exploring the glorious moments we can create for ourselves?

 
Sounds like a winner to me.  High vibration.  Open, aware, connecting with life...someone we would so love to be around.

Ooops....that's already WHO we are and we got there by dreaming ourselves.  Now watch  how THIS  delightful person attracts the most fabulous scenarios into her life.

                                                                                    Marie Helena                                                    

website for the image

1891455-2-dreaming « The New Writers

The Password

One autumn day in Firenze, Italy an enthusiastic traveler noticed a sign posted on the Duomo, the imposing cathedral which holds a watchful eye on the beautiful city of Florence, announcing that Vespers would be held in the evening.  Excited to participate in this service, he returned at the appointed time and attempted to enter the Vespers area of the Church but was abruptly stopped by a guard who firmly announced the word CLOSED.  

Surpised, the traveler turned back but moments later decided to try once more to enter the Vespers area.  Again, the guard curtly articulated the word CLOSED.  As he glanced behind the guard, the traveler noticed that several people had already gained entrance to the area and were gathering there waiting for the service to begin. Encouraged by this observation, he attempted a third time to gain admittance...with the same results.   

Now the traveler moved aside and began to calmly assess the situation.  He theorized that the guard could tell he was obviously not Italian and, of course, did not recognize him as a member of the congregation and that this could possibly be the reason why he was barred from entering.  He pondered further and came to the conclusion that there must be a password that needed to be used to gain admittance.  Persevering once more, the traveler then approached the guard a fourth time and, when he heard the word CLOSED loudly proclaimed, he quietly said “Vespers”  and was immediately admitted to the area. 

I so LOVE this story because I adore metaphors and there is a magical mega-metaphor here:  the PASSWORD which helped the traveler gain entrance to the Duomo’s Vespers.  After I heard the story of the traveler’s adventure, I immediately started pondering situations in my life that felt stuck and unsatisfactory and...dare I say with the curt and dogmatic voice of the Duomo guard...CLOSED.  I wondered if perhaps the problem with these stuck situations was that I had been using the wrong “password” in response to them and, when we don’t have the right password, 
we  don’t get in.   

How well we know the importance of passwords in our contemporary culture where we must have dozens of them to gain entry to the online field of play.  And consider, too, how often we hear from our compatriots the voicing of a common lament, “I FORGOT my password!”

We need passwords for everything...passwords that WORK and that we can remember and  I am wondering if it is the low vibration of some of our “passwords” that may be keeping us mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually STUCK in situations that are uncomfortable and upsetting to us.

When we are embroiled in an argument, for instance, and tempers flare and we find it impossible to speak calmly about the issue, the password we are using may be I am right and I’m going to show you why.
.
When we try repeatedly to accomplish a goal pushing steadily forward an our self-appointed schedule but encountering roadblock after roadblock resulting in the claiming of our victimhood, our password may be  things never work out for me.

When we try to solve a problem from a very limited and ego focused perspective with VERY unsatisfactory results, our password may be nobody cares how I feel.


The way we can tell whether our “passwords” are the right vibration is by looking at the results we obtain and the way we feel about them.  If things work out comfortably for us and we have a peaceful feeling about the resolution, we have undoubtedly used a higher vibration password.  And the reason this is so is because we are designed to be Creatures of LOVE...to generously extend that love to ourselves and to others, to honor our journey and others’ journeys, too.  And when we choose to do this, we feel peaceful, satisfied and happy. When we choose otherwise, we harbor a sense of dissonance and dissatisfaction.

There is a beautiful, divine plan afoot here. Once we ascertain and embrace the “password” which is in harmony with our souls, we feel the comfort of being at home with ourselves.  If, instead, we settle into lower vibrations, things don’t feel right in our world.

If you have any issues in your life which feel stuck, unresolved, CLOSED, perhaps you might consider choosing a high vibration password and then enjoying the fun of seeing how you have so easily and gently and comfortably transcended whatever was causing you distress.  
Esso intende essere.

Touching home base can be AMAZING!


                                                                              Marie Helena





image on pinterest

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

Primal Emotions

There is a great divide in our country, the blatant truth of which has not always been completely transparent.  But there is no question now regarding the fierce, consuming passion of the opposing positions.

Whatever is fueling the contradictory views is sourced in a primal emotion that informs and directs all of our actions and reactions.  That primal emotion is the result of our experiences.  What we have lived and seen and benefitted OR suffered from plays a major role in the way we view the world.  Whether that experience was life affirming or full of hurt and pain, we are shaped and formed by how it made us feel.

The  critical questions in this moment are whether or not we replay what we have seen and lived through AND whether or not we decide if that path feels peaceful and satisfying to us and honors our soul.

Two primal emotions source the trajectory of all we do.  Will it be Love or Fear that lies at the heart of how we move through the world?

This is a question each of us must answer for ourselves.



                                                                                      Marie Helena



image from pinterest

Mum's the Word

 Halloween was last week and I am a holiday junkie.  

The front porch is filled with scarecrows, corn stalks, bales of hay, a black cat and some very big (and I mean big) pots of chrysanthemums in purple, wine, yellow and white. 

 And though I love the color and texture of everything on the porch, the really big deal for me is putting my face right into the flowers and taking in their essence… the touch and smell and coolness…in other words, their vibration!


I take breaks during the day to go out and do this. It connects me with nature’s bountiful gifts and beauty. It lifts me out of my everyday tasks and says, “We’re right here…just waiting for you to enjoy us.” Yep, those flowers are smiling. I know it. They love to have someone get right in their faces.

Which reminds me…I am also addicted to hugging trees. I have a particular tree in the neighborhood that lets me feel its roots straight down into the earth. I used to look around before I approached the tree, but, naw…I don’t look around anymore. I just see that beauty and go for it. I hug bushes, too. And have been for many years.

Although I am no gardener, I think that this is exactly the kind of  high  that gardeners feel when they do their thing. Now here’s a really interesting fact I learned recently about plants and gardeners.

If you  are raising plants that you will eat, when you tend them with personal, loving care they
produce for you whatever your DNA requires.

Now that’s mind blowing. And it sure tells you that the universe is alive and wanting to spread its goodness everywhere. 

So have at' em...pumpkins, flowers, trees...the whole works.  They're just waiting for your perceptive eyes and glowing attention.

                                                                       Marie Helena