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

Forgiveness or Understanding?

One of the strongest messages we grow up with and continue to hear throughout our lives from all sources of authority is the importance of forgiveness.

 Forgive yourself!  Forgive everyone!
 
But what if there is nothing to forgive?

What if everything everyone does is merely a forward or backward move or perhaps even a filibuster in the dance of their life, all depending on the stage of their evolution?


What if everything they do has NOTHING to do with us and everything to do with their journey?  A journey which is based on their experiences, their personal growth, their unresolved issues, their unhealed pain.  Given all of these variables, it is truly impossible for us to judge or evaluate the choices they are making.  But, for some strange reason, we seem to think we can interpret their actions and that is our ONLY point of reference...ourselves.

It's pretty easy to do this...we all do it most of the time...It's our 
habitual response but it causes SO MUCH TROUBLE!  We can end up feeling hurt or angry or sad and depressed and what they are doing is NOT ABOUT US!  We are the subject of the scenario because we happen to be in the picture at this time; we are the scenery and setting for the playing out of someone's latest life challenge.  What if we really GOT that and, therefore, NOTHING felt personal?

 
There would be nothing to forgive.  For ourselves or others.  We are merely the playing field where someone works out the latest step in his evolution with any accompanying banging and clatter and others do the same for us when we are engaged in one of our "adventures". 

 
I know it's pretty radical to expect everyone to see this...especially when our emotions are embroiled and our egos feel challenged.  But how wonderful it would be if we could navigate our lives from this trekking star:  Nothing to forgive.
 
We are ALL doing what we came here to do:  use the resources of earth school to finally get the Big Picture of our lives.

                                  
                                                           Marie Helena


image from wallpaperswide.com

The Grace of an "Angel"

The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it.

D. L. Moody


I love this quote from Dwight Moody and I want to carry its wisdom to a new and beautiful dimension. One of the most profound sources of inspiration we can experience in life is having someone show us THE WAY to what we desire.  Not with judgment, dissatisfaction or even evaluation of our efforts but rather with gentleness, calm and mastery and with no need to receive accolades or even be outwardly recognized.  

The spirit which moves the WAYshower has no need for applause. Instead, it loves to gently share what it has, fortunately, already learned.  Quietly, in a barely noticeable way, it provides what is still needed in our offering with sprezzatura (effortless elegance).  It carries the grace of an angel arriving on the scene, assessing the elements that are missing and then unobtrusively introducing them into the picture by “laying the straight stick”, reflecting back what we hoped for and imagined with all the missing parts now in place.

No words are needed by the “angel” to convey a message to us.  Just a gentle presentation in the perfect moment, a joining with us into the excitement of the enterprise and a soft and sweet contributing of the angel’s perception, illustrating by its very presence what needs to be noticed and assimilated.

Truly, we should keep watch for these angels among us.  They illuminate the role we can also play as WAYshowers, making something beautiful  out of every situation we encounter by infusing it with gentleness and grace.  “Laying a straight stick” can truly be a magnificent moment ofLOVE.

                                                      
                                                  Marie Helena

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

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 concreteand real, replete with strong sensoryexperiences and intense energies.


The other side of the veil seems a hazy vision.


But what if we have it backwards? 


What if our authentic and essential essence is not in our earth life but rather 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 we perhaps cannot 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 

A Quantum Leap

The Universal Mind is perfection. It perfectly creates what you think about.
How can you best use your connection to this vast, all-powerful force?
You can create miracles by doing ENERGY WORK.

Sanaya Roman
Spiritual Growth: Being Your Higher Self

Much has been written in the last several years about the power of manifestation, bringing into physicality that which we have imagined...and felt strong emotional desire for. Usually, the formula for this process instructs that we imagine the object, relationship or situation in vivid, colorful hues and let ourselves feel our intense yearning for it.  

Currently, I am reading a fascinating book entitled Spiritual Growth by Sanaya Roman which gives a new and different perspective on manifestation.

Roman talks about the immense power of working first with the energy of what we want to manifest before we even envision its physical appearance. Roman asks us to IMAGINE a grid work of light around our heads, connecting upward to the Universal Mind. The higher the grid work extends, the more beautiful and delicate it becomes. (At this point we are moving our awareness into the world of essence.)  

Next, Roman suggests we meet the unmanifested energy and use our imagination to picture it. He recommends considering what this energy would look like…how it would move…its rhythm…its dance…its musicality…its nuances…its strength…its power…its beauty…its texture…its appeal to our senses. Then he suggests we make the energy vision even more flowing, open and harmonious, adding sounds and fragrance, picturing the unmanifested energy as alive and interacting with us. Roman tells us to luxuriate in this vision and bathe in its magic  

Now we are ready to bring this breathtaking energy into physical form. We transform the vision into subatomic particles of light, with as high a vibration as possible. We see the particles becoming form. We bring them together into a shape and mass. Then we open our hearts to receive this very personal energy we have designed from our desire. We greet it with LOVE. We let it next move into our DNA, then our cells and then, finally, into our emotions and mind.

Now we give thanks for this gift and make a place for it in our lives. We are ready to recognize and receive it when it appears. We feel the CONNECTION to it. It is becoming part of us.  

A quantum leap? Acceleration of our spiritual growth? More joy, harmony, peace and love?

You decide.

                             Marie Helena