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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Thursday, June 1st is my birthday 
and I am a Birthday Junkie!

At the tender age of five, when I was in kindergarten, my mother gave me five invitations to give to my favorite friends for a birthday celebration.

The day of my party my mother was shopping for food and ran into the mother of one of the children in my class. She asked my mother what I would like for my birthday. Surprised, my mother exclaimed, “But David (her son) wasn’t invited to Marie’s party.” David’s mother just smiled and said, “Oh, yes, he was.”

This was my mother’s first indication that something had gone astray. When the time for the party arrived, my mother was truly surprised to find the whole class showing up for the glorious event. I had given out the five invitations and then proceeded to invite everyone else by word of mouth.


Over the top? Ya think?


This has been the story of my life.

Somehow my birthday has become the most important day of the year to me. I want to CELEBRATE everything on that day…and then some.


You can imagine, then, the sadness that falls on me when that very special day is done. Another whole year of waiting!!!

Not this time. I have come up with the fabulous idea of celebrating my birthday not on one day…but for the whole year. And I have a theme for the year which is delighting me:


Cultivating Radiant Health!

I am the writer, director and producer of this event. Oh, yes. How cool is that!

Yesterday I set about to decide what things would bring me Radiant Health and the answers I came up with are not just the obvious ones you would imagine.

Here is the list so far and it's a Work in Progress:


Ground each moment.

Walk often during the day.

Enjoy the beauty of nature.

Connect with the rain.

Adore the sun.

Enjoy every different color in the sky.

Drink generous amounts of water.

Meditate.

Stand tall.

View each person as a mystery... unraveling...
and bless my role as witness to that.

Experience the day in vignettes.
When one is complete, release and move on.

Celebrate my efforts.

Study others to find their beautiful character.

Choose foods from nature’s bounty.

Hug my favorite tree.

Completely feel my emotions.

Clear out a little clutter each day.

Be authentic.

Speak my truth and listen to others' truth.

Get up and move around every twenty minutes.

Write my blog.

Give thanks.

Embrace the Present Moment.

Embrace the pain body and gain the wisdom of each lesson.

Dance.

Sing.

Be silly.

Simply be.

Invite a sprinkling of moonbeams to help me see the soul view of what is happening.

Do Over difficult moments guided by Higher Self.

Vibrate at a high frequency using Conscious Intent.

Listen to water.

Embrace my intuition.

Appreciate life for the amazing gift that it is.

Read uplifting thoughts.

Acknowledge every wonderful thing I see.

Hold space for those in distress (as my energy permits)

Watch the birds and squirrels outside my window.



I'm still adding to this list and I'm wondering what YOUR Directory of Delights might look like!


Writing this blog post has put me in an even more joyous space. I hope you won't mind if I excuse myself to sing Happy Birthday to Me!


                                                     Marie Helena



Friday, May 26, 2017

Spiritual Warriors







Earth School is not for the faint of heart.

Everyone who has chosen this path has, on some level, accepted a huge challenge: experiencing the density and duality of the third dimension including navigating the many obstacles placed in the path of learning our soul lessons.

Yes, we are - all of us - Spiritual Warriors.


Now for the good news. We are not being left alone in the dark.

We have all been gifted with a spiritual compass which helps us find our true north. That compass is the deep, abiding joy we feel when we act in alignment with our Higher Self.

Another way of saying this is we have chosen to respond from the perspective of Love.

Even if we do not reach the full expression of love...if we can clearly identify the behavior to which we aspire, we are poised to move with great power in that direction.


When we are out of sorts, or irritable or impatient, this is an indicator to us that we are not in that spiritual alignment.

But when we choose to act from a place of peace and acceptance and compassion...it doesn't matter how difficult the circumstances are for we transcend the darkness and difficulty by introducing the Light of Love. In this way we need not fear what challenges we find in our path for our only concern is the energy we choose to bring to the occasion.



Spiritual Warriors need only the desire and commitment to follow the promptings of their soul and they will surely be shown whatever they need to know.



                                                                        Marie Helena

Friday, May 19, 2017

A Cheap Date




We all like to smile at the thought of having a beautiful experience on a shoestring. Some of us even consider the ability to enjoy this one of our finest qualities. Here is one of the best “cheap date” ideas I have ever heard of or experienced – GROUNDING.


I
am a newbie at this one but I have just engaged in this adventure and totally love it.

The fascinating thing is I was not consciously trying to do this.

I have been learning about it (and apparently soaking it up through entrainment) but I didn’t purposely go there. Apparently, I have been rewarded for the time and attention I have given to the concept for it just "Happened".
And I recognized it later when I felt its effects.


So much in life feels fleeting. We have a joyful experience and totally love the moment but then…it is gone. Of course, we always get more moments with the potential for more wonderfulness but just imagine if we could anchor or ground a moment which feels completely breathtaking.


And we can. By our awareness and invitation.

One of these moments for me was a leisurely stroll last evening (the Italians call it a passeggiata).

I had a great yearning to connect with nature in the country. It had been raining lightly yesterday and the ground was damp with wetness, the grass with dew. The frogs were croaking their spring mating ritual. The earth was perfumed with clouds of
lilacs.

The night was magical. I so loved it…and, without even being aware, I
grounded it for myself.Another way of putting this, I think, is to say I moved it into my heart and gave it space there, sharing my residence of  love.  Even now that passeggiata holds me in its enchanting spell.


We have so many opportunities to ground our beautiful moments and, when we do, we feel satiated…satisfied….in sync with the grace of the world.


To do this we need to be engaged in the present moment and moving with
conscious intention.

This can occur throughout the day…even in the most simple of tasks – in the breaking of bread, in the sipping of wine, and especially in the pleasure of knowing you are loved.


Consider this divine experience of GROUNDING and consciously invest in your treasury of beautiful moments…truly one of the greatest gifts of our human experience.


                                                                                       Marie Helena

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Lemons, Lemonade and Quantum Physics





Everyone's heard the famous saying encouraging us to  
MAKE LEMONADE 
OUT OF LEMONS. . 

And we often take that sage advice to heart, taking a difficult situation and making improvements for ourselves. 
And we are very proud of our work and rightly so, taking ownership of the lemonade.
 
 

BUT WHAT IF WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LEMONS, TOO?


Quantum physics tells us that we create our "world"... and that sounds wonderful to us and we often view that statement as referring to the great things we want to bring into it.

But what if we are creating those wonderful things...the things that really bring us joy  by starting with the lemons first.

 

Let me back up for a minute and explain what I mean.

The thing that really brings us joy, I feel, is the lemonade that comes from the lemons.  


That lemonade is no easy concoction.  it requires acceptance, surrender, faith, trust, perseverance and, often, tenacity.  (Ever see that recipe In a cookbook?  I'm sure it appears in a celestial version.)

And now let's get to the lemons.  The pesky, annoying, difficult and sometimes devastating things that rock our world...and not in a good way.  The things that sometimes make us feel like a victim and give rise to the feeling of "Why me?".

 

What if the force behind the lemon eight ball is really us...throwing those lemons at ourselves with vigor and even delight because we know what we are capable of...the heights we can reach?

 

What if the lemons are a masterfully creative way of inspiring us to reach for a new insight, a wisdom that will totally transform our lives? 


And what if WE dreamed them up...and those lemons weren't coming AT US but rather to us and for us?
 

Now the "lemons" of our lives look different.  They're our creation...our compatriots...our partners in the glorious experiment we call Life in earth school.

 

Wow...aren't we the clever ones? 

 
While we are busy making that lemonade, let's bring some real appreciation to our sense of invention and creativity. 

 
And, when we recognize the details of our master plan and transcend the mystery, we can actually ENJOY the art of creating that divine drink from the mysterious and powerful lemons we bring into our lives.



                                                                               Marie Helena


image from medilodge.wordpress.com

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Divine Feminine Energy




As we celebrate the beautiful occasion of
Mother's Day, my thoughts are drawn to the power and beauty and significance of Love as it is expressed in Divine feminine energy.  This beautiful Grace which streams so elegantly from the hearts of women.  Such an exquisite blessing.  It seems to be their birthright . . . their gift to the world.

Somehow, women intuitively know that when someone is experiencing pain, in that moment there is nothing more powerful, more healing than for that person to feel understood. To have someone mirror back to them an understanding of the intensity of their pain or distress and how it is affecting them.

This essential longing to be understood is a vital part of the human condition.  Without this loving kindness it is difficult for an individual to move forward into an acknowledgment of what is transpiring.  And, without that acknowledgment, that acceptance, it is impossible to move through the experience to the other side. . . . to the peace that comes through Surrender.

The feminine heart holds the key to the unfolding of this process. We are all so in need of this exquisite form of compassion. When we receive it, we find the energy to lead ourselves through the dark night of the soul.  This precious feminine offering is the antidote to loneliness, to abandonment. It promotes caring, a sense of safety, connection.

Because our world is changing and evolving it is wonderful to note that feminine energy is now being expressed by males as well. And, in return, masculine energy is leading by example the demonstration of the importance and value of steadfastness and devotion.

How wonderful that we an all minister to each other, sharing the precious and pleasing endowments of our earthly lives!


                                                                                    Marie Helena



                                                             
image on Pinterest
Joyce Hicks watercolor

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

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


mysticmarks.blogspot.com

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Messenger


There is so much we can learn from the earthly angels in our world… those endearing and generous persons who offer their warmth and caring and compassion to individuals in need.  Ministering to the physical and emotional pain these individuals are experiencing, they perform a service beyond what we can obviously see. They model for us through their devotion the answer to our own healing issues.

Here is the beauty of the lesson they give us.  Whenever we are experiencing a physical malady, it is so easy to be impatient and frustrated with our body...to be angry that it is not performing the way we would like it to.  And these emotional feelings are so counterproductive, though they are very human reactions.  They are counterproductive because they are adding layers of anxiety and frustration to an already weakened condition.


It's as if we are the parents yelling at our children.  Why are you doing this?  Why aren't you performing better?  How can you do this to me?  Our poor body, already weak and vulnerable, now has to deal with this tirade we are directing to it.  But what is really called for in this moment is the love of the "parent"… the nurturing, the affirmation, the whispering in a soft, loving tone the message that all will soon be well.


Any part of our body that is not functioning at peak performance is doing so because it is manifesting for us the effect of the behavior we have been/are demonstrating.  The condition we are experiencing is actually a "messenger" to us, the evidence that what we are doing is not in our best interest.  And,  unfortunately, in return for the performance of this very important task, we often express our displeasure and frustration, berating our body for being "less than".


This beautiful messaging system is, in reality, a Divine gift to us which should be honored, appreciated and, especially, nurtured and cared for when it has done the difficult work of expressing to us the need for a reevaluation of how we are doing things.

Not only is the need to honor and minister to our body philosophically true, it is also a fact of great practicality.  It is the quickest, most efficient way back to our normal functioning.  Like those beautiful caregivers who brighten the world with their love and compassion, we can help to heal our bodies by giving them our appreciation and gratitude and compassion for experiencing the physical difficulty… for taking the hit so we can get the message.

Whatever we can do to provide gentleness and care, thankfulness and appreciation, encouragement and gratitude to the cells of our bodies will position us as "caregivers" and, thereby, healers to ourselves.


The cells of our body are completely responsive to our conscious intention.  Let's make that intention one of thankfulness, appreciation and wonder at the power and love and intricate beauty of this exquisitely designed vessel which guides us whenever needed to a deeper awareness and understanding of ourselves.


                                                                                            Marie Helena



Image from Pinterest
Gentle Messenger.  Original Painting