Gobsmacked!!!

When I was a young girl I was nicknamed “the lawyer“ by my family.  I so loved to consider, explore, analyze, debate and articulate my exciting conclusions.  In those days, I had earned quite a reputation for the delight I took in presenting my case of the moment.

I was inexhaustible in this passionate pursuit.  Mental  exercises were a daily practice for me.  They seemed to satisfy a compelling need I had to  understand the world and how we operate within it.

As I grew older I was drawn to the work of spiritual writers who seemed to be wrestling with the greatest issues of the cosmos.  I noticed they seemed calm and peaceful in their introspection as if they had discovered profound revelations about the universe.

I wanted some of that for myself and that stirring desire began a journey of many years of spiritual investigation and reflection in various subjects of interest to me:    transcendental meditation, energy medicine,  past lives, Kirlian photography, Lifeline, spiritual healing, Hakomi Therapy.     

As I considered the beautiful concepts I was learning about, I began to design spiritual bookmarks reflecting my thoughts and enlisted a web designer to create a website for my work.  

As we co-created together on this enterprise, my web designer recommended I write a blog so that readers could learn about my philosophy (a tempting invitation)  and, almost overnight, my Mystic Marks blog became a feature of the website.  Now, over 600  musings later, I continue to write about what has inspired me.

Most interestingly, the writings in the blog have not been sourced through the mental gymnastics of my earlier years.  Rather, they flow from a lovely wellspring in my heart emanating from moments of stillness and silence I have been influenced to practice.  

Those moments have become a treasured part of my life.  And they have provided the substance of what I have to say.

The  perceptions that reveal themselves to me are incredibly dazzling and original.  And they seem to appear in unheralded moments.  I do not know where they come from but I always feel Gobsmacked when they occur!

By the way, the word Gobsmacked Is actually British slang which means “astounded” or “astonished” and this is what I have been feeling...and it is Glorious!!!  

Additionally, the messages arising from the stillness are also always a blessed harbinger of what will evolve from this “opening act” for I begin to write without  knowing how I will present my thoughts, how they will be connected or even what those thoughts are.  I have learned to trust and to thoroughly enjoy the process of writing without knowing what will come next.  It has become my favorite way to create.

What am I tapping into?

What has Gobsmacked my heart?

I leave this question for you to ponder and I invite you to gently enter into this mysteriously beautiful place of inspiration where  apparently there is no limitation...only the infinite intelligence our hearts are seeking.

We have for so long sought action and accomplishment, logic and reason as the pathway to navigating our lives.  Perhaps our real connection to that pathway lies in the incredible experience of stillness where we find respite from our unending  lists and agendas for it is there that the Divine Universe  can speak so exquisitely to us and we can be Gobsmacked by the gift of its tenderness and love.

       

                                            Marie Helena

image from pinterest

Identity Crisis

One of the important journeys we all eventually undertake is the challenge of trying to make sense of our lives.

We become very intrigued with this consideration, viewing ourselves as  the main character in OUR story…

wondering about who we are and what we are doing here.   About our many “adventures”…the choices we make and their consequences.  

We find ourselves deeply involved and fascinated with this main character.  

 It’s WHO we believe we are.

What’s so interesting about this approach is that we expend so much energy invested in understanding this soubrette but fail to recognize the role we are REALLY playing.  And it is not the main character in our story. 

We are something far more interesting and far more powerful.  We are the ENERGY that is ANIMATING the lead character.  And that energy is our Higher Self.

This changes things in a very important way.

As we play this main character in our story, we no longer need to feel alone with our confusion, our sadness or disappointment, our frustration or our suffering.  We are ONLY the “character” experiencing these things.  We have given ourselves the opportunity to experience life’s  challenges as this character.  And while we (as this character) take these challenges on, the beautiful animating energy that WE REALLY ARE is there to offer support end guidance in moments of grief or confusion or frustration. And it is also there to celebrate with us when we find our way back to the LOVE that sources the universe.

We are this stellar coach and cheering section, encouraging our “character” to grow and stretch beyond our usual boundaries, to expand our awareness and to make new connections for ourselves and other earth travelers. 

We exist on the leading edge of evolution.

Though our story may be intense and unpredictable, we are never in any danger.  

And we are never alone.

         

                                              Marie Helena

image from      SmallBusinessify.com

Standing By

 

When someone is telling us of his pain or distress, what is the most POWERFUL way we can respond?

First, we truly know that this experience is a part of the person's sacred journey and wehonor it.

We do this by NOT presuming to know what is the best thing for this person to do. 

We trust that this vital and important information is available to him  as and when he chooses to access it.

Most importantly, we respond to the emotion he is expressing with the present moment gift of beautiful, mindful  listening and compassion.

 

When a person is feeling physical/emotional pain, he responds in a heart-centered way to being comforted and soothed by someone who is truly attempting to understand his feelings.  

Once a person feels heard and understood and cared about (soothed), he is ready to move forward on his own journey toward learning and understanding what the situation is trying to teach him.  

Now, the individual feels strong enough to begin to envision a way of helping himself that reflects strength and creativity (and that is inspired by his Higher Self ).

 

Standing by the person (by expressing caring and compassion) as he navigates his issue gives the STRONG message that he already has access to all of the strength and Divine wisdom he needs.

Standing in the way (by trying to solve the issue) gives a strong message, too...and that message tells him that he needs someone else to fix things for him.

 

It is not easy to remember the best way to offer help and support to someone in pain or distress.   We tend to feel the very human impulse to make things better for someone we care about. 

But the very best way we can help is to offer our listening and caring and compassion and to show by our intention and actions that we know the person can find all of the wisdom he needs within his own heart.

                                    Marie Helena

Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer.
                                                        Rachel Joy Scott

image from freshrawlife.wordpress.com

Unspeakable Kindness

 

Bestselling American author Geneen Roth tells us that whenever we feel an upsetting explosion of emotion that arrives unexpectedly and without invitation, it is a holy moment.  Sacred information is being revealed to us and it is our being triggered that opens this fascinating door to our awareness.

This triggering is not an easy moment for any of us.  It is messy and confusing and unpredictable...but it is real.  We can feel it in our bodies and now we can no longer pretend that nothing is wrong.  It is here and it is running the show.

Yikes, we think.  This is not how I want to express myself.  But the intensity of the moment has revealed our truth... something is very wrong and disturbing us and it wants to...it demands...to be heard.

How do we deal with this maelstrom

of emotional turbulence?

We WELCOME the messengers.

But who are these strangers who have burst into the middle of our lives?

Geneen Roth has chosen a mysterious and compelling image to describe these characters who are presenting the epiphanies  to us.  She calls them Ghost Children.  And we all have a cache of them waiting in line to be recognized and heard.

I think Roth calls these characters ghosts because they are the couriers of unresolved pain and she calls them children because they represent our innocence as we enter the world and also because they are persistent as all children are in wanting to be heard and acknowledged.

And what are we to do with these internuncios...these  emissaries of the soul longing for acknowledgment and release?  Roth has a remedy to suggest.  She instructs us to welcome, love and question our ghost children.

Further, she passionately advises us to be unspeakably kind to them 

for they represent our unhealed hearts and, left unattended, they will affect the way we view life and ourselves and how we interact with others.

This may seem a very challenging way to deal with our own storm surges  and the emotional explosions of others because the very act of being triggered or of triggering others is fraught with grave tension and anxiety and the survival protection of defensiveness.

But, when a triggering occurs,  it is unhealed hurt that has gathered the courage to speak and it needs to be honored.  Hence, the unspeakable kindness Roth proposes for when our tears, metaphorical or otherwise, are attempting to show themselves for release and resolution, we will always do this more easily when we have been met with loving kindness.  When an open heart responds to our pain, we are gently encouraged to examine the circumstances that have inspired it.

When moments of Intense and disturbing gravitas are met with beautiful  tenderness, love and “unspeakable kindness” we move together through an incredible 

transmutation and healing. 

This vision of Geneen Roth is beautiful and  inspiring.  We have the ability to dream it and, having dreamt it, we can more easily manage to make this a hallmark of our lives.

                            Marie Helena

Image from pinterest

Aperto Alla Luce!

Yesterday I held a Gerber daisy in my hand, gently touching the velvety softness of the petals, enchanted by their gorgeous color which seemed as if an artist had mixed his most precious and beautiful oils together to achieve the vibrant hue.  My eyes were drawn to the center of the flower where I found delicate concentric circles of vivid accent colors.  The effect was stunning. 

How beautiful, I thought.  I felt I was holding an exquisite objet d’art.  And then I realized that this daisy...and everyrose, each droplet of water, the bark on my sycamore tree...EVERY manifestation in nature IS amasterpiece.  All we need do is notice its design, its symmetry, its vibrancy.  How could we not be aware that there is an exquisite and loving Source of all of this beauty! 


These natural masterpieces are profound and loving gifts for us.  They are here not only to illuminate our planet for our awareness and delight;  they are also way showers for us.  They are symbols of OUR beauty.  We are as lovely and vibrant and captivating as our counterparts in nature except that we are in the process of courageously divesting ourselves of our earthly limitations.  We are essentially as translucent as the exquisite Gerber daisy and lovely rose.


Underneath our earthly cares WE are luminous and eternal.  Our paths are laden with these lovely gifts to remind us of OUR beautiful, joyous nature and guide us through our journeys.


As we successfully navigate our earthly challenges, our masquerade of stress, burdens and anxiety drops away, revealing our profound beauty through the simplicity of our now free and naturally loving hearts.


In the wise and wonderful words of actor and artist Jim Carrey:
Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom.  They just open up and turn toward the  light and that makes them beautiful.

 Aperto Alla Luce!



                                                  Marie Helena



If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.

                                                                   Buddha

Deconstructing Anger

 

Rough edges...
gruff sounds...
a voice growing in intensity  

  
Oh, dear....Where can we hide?

Most of us feel like "leaving the building" when the vibration of anger explodes in our midst.  Whether it is our own fiery voice we hear or someone else's, this is not a fun place to find ourselves and we wonder what happened to bring this on?  How did things escalate so fast?  

And, in the face of this growing tension, it is so very difficult to get our bearings, to take that deep breath, to step away from the fray and summon a glimpse of the bigger picture.  But this is exactly what is needed in the heat of that moment for what is transpiring has many possible layers to it and it takes a clear head, a centered consciousness and a calm, compassionate heart to embrace the significance of the event.

Psychologist Phillip McGraw tells us that anger is a masking defense, called out to front the troops which are harboring hurt, fear or frustration.  Where anger feels hot and aggressive, the emotions "behind the scene" are actually full of pain...and vulnerability but they are lacking the courage to directly speak what has caused their siren call.  And that is because the angry person (whether it is ourself or another) has not experienced the trust that it is safe and it is important to name the feelings that are flooding his soul.  

And so anger, instead, emerges as the front guy and anger takes the hit, eventually encountering a counterattack, distressing emotions or even remorse at a later moment.   And all of this drama is not productive because it isn't even the real issue.  But what it does do is bring  our awareness to the fact that there is someone needing love and attention...and, most of all, needing understanding that their heart is unprotected.

The most powerful elixir in this moment is to have someone bravely dance right through the emotional maelstrom of the anger and lovingly embrace the tender heart which is longing  to be heard.  Unconditional acceptance in a safe environment as this soul speaks its truth the best way it knows how.  


Deconstructing anger...cutting edge.


          

                                        Marie Helena                                                                                                         




image from Pinterest.com