The Acceptance of Grief

Whenever we experience a loss...and, especially, a significant loss...we are thrust with great impact into the work of GRIEVING.

The process of grief can occur quite naturally for us if we have a clear channel open to our emotions.  

Hopefully, we have been fortunate enough to learn by instruction, example or experience the importance of letting ourselves feel and express our emotions...such a significant lesson to learn for our happiness and health.  

And, because we have learned this lesson, we are able to allow ourselves to experience the natural expression of our pain and distress.

This reflection is not about that process. 

 It is about what happens AFTER  we grieve.  

We may be able to express our emotions freely whether it is through words or tears or sensory experiences of the body.  But where that grief takes us NEXT is worth pondering.

The grieving process can leave us with a heaviness and sadness...permeating our day as we carry it through our every thought, word or action.

The process can color our day so strongly that it seems impossible to get out from under this storm.

Or...

This process can free our spirit 

 as the rain opens the sky to the sun...

as Mother Earth nurtures the seeds which have been planted on her terrain...

as the crying baby responds to having its needs met and now sees the world with eyes of beauty and wonder.

The process of grieving is truly beautiful...

representing our connection with another,
our treasuring of the gifts of that connection  

and, because we enter directly into feeling the experience, it represents our ACCEPTANCE of the natural unfolding of the Divine Universe.  

This unfolding carries the truths of the universe, some easy to embrace, some more challenging. 

There is nothing for us to do but BE in this moment.

Like the underside of a work of embroidery, our lives can appear to have many loose, chaotic strands, but when we turn the fabric over the beauty that is intended emerges.

In our earth journey we mostly see the haphazard strands with no clear pattern emerging...but our spirit knows the beauty of the work of art that is our lives and the way in which that art is unfolding.

An awareness of and a faith in this process help us to know on a soul level that the acceptance of our expression of grief is an affirmation of our humanity.

It is a gift...a cleansing...ultimately nurturing and preparing us for whatever work lies ahead in our journey. 

It is an important part of the rhythm and music and pace of LIFE itself.

                                 Marie Helena 

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 experiencethe 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.

                                    Marie Helena 

Arrivo! The Moment of Joy!

In honor of those who have lost a loved one 

to Covid...💗💗💗

Arrivo! The Moment of Joy!

I’ve been watching and waiting at the stage door for what feels like forever. And you have been my companion there.


We’ve heard the muted strains of the most beautiful violins dancing and weaving their magic…thecalming, soothing saxophones lending a peaceful embrace…the majestic drums building over and over to the climax of each moment.  


Through it all…through the waiting and the work…the challenging, bone wearying work... through the lightness and the joy…you have been at my side.


But now... you have managed to slip through the boundary separating us from the glorious music.


You have arrived
and are sitting center stage, front row...
in the presence of...THE SYMPHONY.


I watch with joy as you take in this magnificent giftyour soul has longed for.

How breathtakingly beautiful!

                              Marie Helena

The RETURN

In honor of those who have lost a loved one 

to Covid...💜

Making it through earth school requires holding two distinct perspectives about life.

One is the human adventure. 

This experience is filled with excitement and discovery but also includes difficult moments of frustration as we try to make sense of our placement here on earth and the way the world operates.

It is filled with emotion of every kind...joy, delight, anxiety, fear...and, ultimately, the supreme sadness of loss of those close to us whom we have come to know and love

From this perspective we can easily feel bereft and alone.


The second and more important perspective is the adventure of our Spirit...and this one is very different.  Clarity about this changes EVERYTHING!


Quantum physics now recognizes that everything we see and touch that feels so real to us is pure energy in manifestation.  

This is also true of our bodies.

There is an etheric energy field that exists around our bodies and it can be seen by the human eye with practice and clear intention.

It extends approximately an inch or two beyond the body and is clear in color. When we view this etheric field it is impossible to fail to grasp that we are made up of pure energy.

Walking around viewing people in this light is like starring in your own Star Trek episode. It feels surreal. But it IS our life.


Scientists tell us that energy cannot be destroyed. It can only be transformed.

Ergo...since we are an energy field, WE cannot be destroyed by death. Our outer wrappings (earth clothes) can and do change. They self-destruct when we no longer need them.

We move to a different, more glorious vibration because when we undertook our earthly experiment we were already perfect (that is why we bravely accepted the challenge of moving to a lower density).

And that is why what we call "the ending" is really THE RETURN to our beautiful, already perfect selves...but now we are armed with the knowledge and experience we have so bravely gathered on earth.


We truly are SPIRITUAL WARRIORS on a mission of supreme importance. We are here to experience the darkness and the light. We are here to make choices and feel their consequences. We are here to learn lessons and, when we do, that learning is telepathically communicated to the world.  We become teachers to each other.

How very courageous we are to accept (and design) our earth assignment and when we do make the vibrational shift back we will undoubtedly be overjoyed to return to the perfection of our Spirit Self.


LOVE is the unifying principle of the Divine Universe. It is Love that has prompted us to accept our earth challenge and it is Love that has inspired us to learn lessons for one another. And it is ultimately Love we will truly feel in all of its greatness and full glory when we finally return to our original vibration!

                                Marie Helena

In honor of those who have lost a loved one to Covid...💗💗💗

The Other Side of the Veil

It has often been suggested that when we leave our earth life we have access to “The Other Side of the Veil” where we are able to know our Spirit Selves in their full glory.

In this picture life on earth feels concrete and real, replete with strong sensory experiences and intense energies.

The other side of the veil seems a hazy vision.

But what if we have it BACKWARDS?

If our authentic and essential essence is in our SPIRITUAL PRESENCE,

what if WE...living our earth journeys...are what is on the other side of the veil?

What if WE are the hazy vision being observed by our SPIRIT SELVES?

Our sojourn here is just one small part of our story, one small part of who we are...actually just a Moment in Time...a moment that is being viewed by our SPIRIT SELVES with caring, love and compassion.

Because of the nature of duality and the difficult challenges of earth life this moment feels so very real that it is difficult to fathom its place in the sweeping, pandemic, NEVER ending story of our true existence.

Our time here on earth may be the dusky, hazy dream we have envisioned for ourselves so that we can experience and learn life’s true lessons on what is really the other side of the veil. 

                                           Marie Helena

image from latinalista.com.

The Birth of an Addiction

Addiction is an attempt to relive the past.

               Ken Porter


Some of the moments we experience in our lives are breathless in their reach.  They satisfy a core longing, mask a painful pictureor fill a pressing need and they can be intoxicating to the soul.  Often we see them as a pinnacle...an epic event in our lives and we refuse to emotionally separate ourselves from them.  We become attached to the feelings we have experienced and, because of that attachment, we consign ourselves to their remembrance. And our emotional memory of the event becomes a default during times of stress...and, eventually, births an addiction.

But it is impossible...and unwise...to continue to  try to re-experience events exactly as they occurred because we are NOT the same individuals who experienced those original moments.  We are constantly reinventing ourselves, reacting and responding to new stimuli, developing new perceptions and insights...and, hopefully, growing stronger and wiser.  We are encountering opportunity after opportunity...blocks building one upon the other…all available to us for our consideration.

If we persist in our attachment to past moments and become addicted to reliving their significance, we pass by magnificent opportunities appearing in our lives, offering us new adventures and experiences designed to help us grow even more.

What could becthe source of this addictive behavior?  What is it that might prevent us from experiencing each moment in our lives as an original scenario...one in which we are focused, alert, centered, willing and eager to address each new issue or question with clarity and compassion for ourselves and others? 


The ability to effectively deal with what is presenting itself to us in this moment depends upon whether we have steadily and consistently aspired to become the next, grandest version ofourselves and have matured through our encounters, eventually remembering the nature of Who We Truly Are.  Once we have reached that remembrance, we naturally move toward expressing our loving response within every circumstance we encounter.


This is a worthy and amazing challenge...to respond originally and authentically and lovingly to every "invitation" that crosses our path.  The spiritual growth we achieve would be amazing and exponential, contributing not only to our evolution but to the evolution of all earth dwellers for everything that we do adds to the collective unconscious and becomes accessible to all.


Are you in?  Are you content to constantly replay your back story, reliving that moment of comfort or contentment...or ARE YOU READY for the starring role you have been given to be a creator and light the way for others with your original thought, tenacious exploration and curious and loving heart?


                                                          Marie Helena

image from Pinterest
The history of Bohn S Printing Pictures

The Courage of the Lion

There are so many lessons we can learn from watching the beautiful creatures of the earth. They operate purely from instinct and are not hampered by judgment or conditioning.  They only do what feels natural to them.

 
And herein lies one of their most beautiful gifts to us.

When faced with a threat they contract and protect themselves; afterwards, they expand and return to their native physical expression and presence.


Our problem may be that we also contract when we perceive a threat but then choose to STAY IN CONTRACTION...never allowing the healing of expansion to occur because we refuse to fully experience our feelings.

 

Raphael Cushnir has written extensively on this critical subject.  A few days ago I finished reading his book, The One Thing Holding You Back.

I found it mesmerizing...powerful.   

It was easy to understand what he was saying and to see the steps he outlined for mastering the full expression of our feelings.  

Simple...but very, very challenging...because our lives are full of obstacles to this free, full expression of feelings (possibly because it is one of the greatest barriers we face in earth school).

And the price tag for staying contracted (in fear, judgment, anger, anxiety, resentment, etc.) is a deterioration of our health and well-being.

 

Like all of God's creatures we are exquisitely designed to experience...and that means experience fully...bravely and boldly.   Cushnir instructs us:  "You don't just feel the moment but lean into it, let it ROAR right through you, and meet it with equal intensity."

Truly not for the faint of heart.  But the cost of shutting down...of staying in contraction,  Cushnir says, is becoming  "unavailable to love".

 

And so I pose this question to you:

If you wish to live your life filled with love, can you open yourself courageously to a FULL EXPRESSION OF YOUR FEELINGS...accepting and embracing them without judgment...thereby inviting the inevitable and highly treasured EXPANSION that leads to LOVE?

                                                                                  

                                                                                                              Marie Helena

image from grandmaideas.com

Remembrance: Why We Should Forgive Ourselves

FORGIVE YOURSELF. 

The supreme act of forgiveness is when you can forgive yourself for all the 
 wounds you've created in your own life. Forgiveness is an act of self-love.   
      When you forgive yourself, self-acceptance begins and self-love grows,
 
     Don Miguel Ruiz

As we write the story of our life, our learning occurs in a myriad of ways.  Sometimes the path is straight and clear.  We take action that feels instinctively right...it works beautifully...we benefit and all is well.


Sometimes our learning takes a different path.

Sometimes we are influenced by unhealed pain, hurt, unmet needs, etc. and we choose a path that is not in our best interest.  But, at that time, the choice we made felt like the only way we could go.
.

And so we went there.  And it was not what we expected.

All was not well.  And we ultimately JUDGEDourselves for the choice and stayed mired in sadness and regret.

Writing the story of our life is not usually a black and white endeavor.  Sometimes we are drawn to what SEEMS like a solution but ultimately does not deliver on that (false) promise. 

 

However, our learning can occur quite brilliantlywhen we can view our actions with some objectivity...

perhaps uncover what has moved us in that direction...

love ourselves through the pain of self-confrontation,,,

and emerge with a stronger, braver view of what we want to do with our lives.

Judging ourselves (or anyone or anything) is not productive. 

It delays our process of learning.

What is needed is an open, accepting heart that understands we were trying to navigate some difficulty...a heart which knows that LOVE is always expressing itself the best way it knows how.

What we did is what we knew.  When we know better, we do better.
  

And, as we reflect on our choices and their consequences, we begin to know better and we do better.  We pass by judgment, embracing instead our humanity and moving forward with new wisdom and insight.

 

Perhaps the forgiveness which Don Miguel Ruiz is talking about can really be called the simple act of KNOWING that we are on a journey with some distracting side paths which ultimately can lead us to our true destination...a REMEMBERING of the glorious perfection of  Who We Truly Are and an acceptance of how learning can occur in a dualistic world.

                                                                                         Marie Helena

image from salliesart.blogspot.com

The Stage of Our Soul's Making

My sister remarked to me the other day that I was so fortunate in having GUIDANCE...from the Divine Universe.  And she meant...to help me get through the moments in life which feel so difficult and heavy.   Like when you're wearing  the lead apron you get when you're having an X-Ray at the dentist's office, only this one is full-body and there are three or four of them stacked up on you.  I'm sure you know what I mean...the times when you feel blindsided and without the resources to "get up offa that thing" as James Brown sings it.

 
My sister and l talk about this Guidance a lot and we both KNOW that EVERYONE has it from all kinds of sources, BUT many are not aware it is there moving through our thoughts and inspirations and circulating all around us, offering loving support, grace and direction.  This seems to be a well-kept secret and it shouldn't be for it is the BEST NEWS out there.  

 
All it takes is having the INTENTION to receive and opening your heart channel which will alert you when these beautiful messages are coming in.  And they come in from the strangest places...an email message, a random comment, the lyrics of a song, a new thought that seems to spring from nowhere, a horn honking outside exactly when you are contemplating taking action.  It's a glorious, on going celebration of the Ultimate Help Desk...your Divine CONNECTION to the Love that rocks the Universe.


This morning I got one of these wonderful messages and it has showed up before for me as a soft whisper but today it is drum-rolling itself so I won't miss it.  And here it is:

When life feels H E A V Y and it seems so difficult to get through it, make the simple switch from Living the "HEAVY" to Watching Yourself do the "DANCE".  In this moment, consciously be Who You Truly Are...and that is your Soul.  Ranjna Sharma, coach, trainer and Soul Guide from Delhi, India, says "It is not the Soul that is Living in the Body... it is the Body that is living in the Soul."  It is your SOUL who is the executive spiritual administrator of the show you are living. 

 
Can you see the drama of your life through the Soul's Vision?  Can you see that YOU are playing the scene your soul has written?  This life which seems SO vibrant, SO real and, sometimes, SO very difficult is the product of your soul's intention to experience, grow and learn.  So while you live the "play" your soul has created, do not fail to appreciate your skill and art and complete immersion in the "production" for the YOU of today is a GLORIOUS present expression of your soul's longing to "DANCE" in the Universe.  

 
It's a magnificent expansion, a blossoming of Life itself.

 
THAT is what all of this heaviness is about...the opportunity to step up and step into our soul script and bring in our exquisite creativity to choose how it all plays out,

 
We are not alone on this Stage of Our Soul's Making.  We have the Guidance ofLove in its many forms and the joy (and appreciation) of  Observing Ourselves  address the many adventures of life in this dimension.


                                                             Marie Helena


image from www.dragoart.com