It's Raining Violets

Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
So, if it's raining, have no regrets
Because it isn't raining rain, you know, 
     it's rainingVIOLETS.

April Showers* 




The lyrics from the enchanting song April Showers are a beautiful commentary about a profound truth of life as expressed by don Miguel Ruiz:
Everything will change. 

In this case, of course, we see condensation evolving into rain.  But these lovely lyrics promise so much more than the principle of evolution.  They promise the joy of transformation and higher expression, positing that growth and change always equal a blossoming, a new gift, an endowment...a promise of something extraordinary to come.

Change...growth...evolution: 
the mantra for existence in this cutting-edge global venue we all share.

But it’s not always easy to embrace change.  Sometimes we find ourselves tethered to the past...profoundly sad about its loss.  And what happens if we do not yield to the energy of the universe?

We are meant to evolve.  We are meant to experience challenging, adventurous circumstances.  We are meant to use our creativity and tenacity and resilience to find our true north.  To embrace the unfolding of circumstances surrounding us...circumstances meant to catapult us forward in growth and evolution.  We are meant to become even greater versions of ourselves.


Resistance to this primary principle of operation produces pain and suffering.  Joyful acceptance ensures transformation.  Though change may feel bewildering and unsettling, it is how life proceeds.  Surrendering to What Is makes EXPANSION possible. 

This is the Great Experiment we have all agreed to and intrinsic to it is the promise that we are all creatures of love and are constantly moving in that direction.  As we find our way to a loving response to life, we more clearly see Who We Truly Are.

There Is Love and there is that which is on its way to Love.  We can all be found somewhere in the midst of this journey.


                                                                                                   Marie Helena




And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils.
So keep on looking for a blue bird 
And list'ning for his song...
Whenever April showers come along.




*Songwriters: Louis Silvers / B.G. Desylva
  April Showers lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group



image: Violets original watercolor painting 
www.pinterest.com

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 Cart Before the Horse

 Ev-er-y-bod-y has heard the old adage..."Don't put the cart before the horse". 

And it makes good sense (as all cliches tend to do).  

However,

The Divine Universe doesn't follow ordinary rules.  

It's  so original...and creative.  

What I've discovered in my life (and I'm sure it's tucked into yours somewhere, too) is that the fabulous, infinitely wise, infinitely powerful Universe LOVES to put the cart before the horse...and by this I mean it provides the solutions BEFORE the problems appear.


Let me explain how this plays out in my life.  


Whenever something is troubling me and I am feeling stuck...not sure how to proceed or lacking the energy or motivation to go to work on the issue...as soon as I take a moment to breathe...to relax...a soundless bell goes off (it's something I just feel) and I gently recall something I had read the day before or a comment someone had made to me recently or, even more frequently, I remember a blog post I have written that reminds me of something important I had grasped and understood earlier but have since forgotten.  And that something I have forgotten is ALWAYS exactly what I need to remember now...today...IN THIS MOMENT.


Sometimes the "direct-tions" are even more direct.


Each day I check my blog's list of the ten most popular posts.  This list is changing moment by moment.  It is based on what posts people are reading and the information is coming from around the world as I know that 110 countries have accessed my blog.  I look to see what is being read each morning and, without fail, it's something I need to be reminded of THAT DAY.


How BEAUTIFUL is that!  Individuals around the world are choosing my posts to read and, in so doing, they are ministering TO ME.  They are helping me become the next, grandest version of myself.


Talk about Love circling back to us!  I send out my thoughts and they come back to me EXACTLYwhen I need them.   


Wow!  What a system!  And that's just one example of how this beautiful dynamic works.


I KNOW...I am SURE...
that YOU have a heavenly guidance system in place. ..the CART before the horse.  


Maybe  you haven't discovered it yet.  Maybe it's hiding in plain sight...a little heavenly merrymaking and mischief.  PLEASE look around and tap into this awesome, original and brilliant celestial stratagem.  


We are all so very loved.   : )

        
                                                                                      Marie Helena

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

The Lotus

 

“If you can see yourself as an artist, and you can see your life as your own creation, then why not create the most beautiful story for yourself?”

don Miguel Ruiz

Take a quiet journey back in time and ponder the artist palette of your childhood.  In those moments you painted the picture of your life with bold, splashy colors and magical dreams.  Everything seemed possible, just awaiting your attention.  Even though the constraints of time have moved you into more grown up circumstances, the vibrancy and joy of your innocence still see so clearly the beautiful spirit you are.

Perhaps your image has been dusted with weariness or tarnished with unresolved pain.  But the child/spirit/artist in you knows your beauty and worth. 

So bring that sense of adventure and vibrancy into your story.  Make something beautiful in your imagination.  Visualize the exquisite LOTUS, a symbol of rebirth and transformation which blooms perfectly pristine even from the murkiest of waters.

YOU are the radiant lotus emerging so brilliantly from the complications and adversity of the world.  

                                     Marie Helena

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.”

                           Henry Ward Beecher

Painting the Big Picture

As we create our lives, one of our most important tasks is to paint pictures. As the artist, we determine whether the view we hold is a bull’s eye, clear cut, precise interpretation of the moment we are experiencing or whether it is sweeping, global, pandemic, universal.

To put it more simply, are we looking at the minute details or the big picture?

And, while there are substance and validity to both views, one may perhaps be a better collaborator in fulfilling our Divine contract to traverse the human landscape we inhabit.

When we react to something or someone that distresses us, it is so very natural to shift into the magnitude of the feelings that arise…our pulse may quicken, our muscles become tight, our mouths dry as we become the emotion we are experiencing.  And, from this vantage point, it is very difficult and challenging to see or even sense the broad view of what is happening.

But, when we engage our artist’s brush to paint the big picture, everything rearranges itself, presenting us with a wider, more sweeping view of what has just occurred.

We see not just the person’s words or behavior of the moment, we discern the totality of the mysterious, complicated creature in front of us, including his hopes and dreams (realized or unfulfilled), attempts to negotiate life (successful or not), and, perhaps most importantly, aspirations for what he truly would like to be. And we are then privileged to see not just what is being expressed in that moment…which may come from hurt or a sense of rejection or failure... but the beauty of the whole person who is, alongside us, traveling through the challenges of our earthly home.

And this bigger picture can also help us view the distressing circumstances of our lives with the knowingness that we are receiving guidance and protection of our spirit.  (Can you paint the picture of your spiritual guides watching over you with love and compassion?) 

And if you can view this bigger picture as a steppingstoneto the magnificent understanding that is to come about how the circumstances of our lives have taken us so beautifully, so perfectly to the place we have wanted to be…then, the bigger picture becomes one of our greatest guides in moving through the experiment we call life in this dimension.

The good news:

We have the power to change our artist default button to this position…to lift the intensity of the suffering we sometimes endure and help us gain a new mastery of our personal and global universe.

Game Changer

Accept that what other people do or say has absolutely nothing to do with you...absolutely nothing.

                                    Ken Lauher

Hmmmmmmmm.  That's really a major GAME CHANGER, isn't it?

 Here's the logic behind this statement. 

What a  person says or does is a really an authentic expression of how he is being affected in this moment by the circumstances, influences and events of his life...and that is exactly what his message tells us. 

It's a state of the union kind of message.  And his reaction or response to these circumstances, influences and events is determining   

IF, WHEN, WHAT AND HOW  

his message will be delivered and how the events in which we interact with him will unfold.

This is a VERY important piece of information for us to have because this awareness can alter what his message FEELS LIKE to us.

 

WHAT IF every time someone spoke to us we viewed the encounter as a fascinating checkpoint of what is transpiring in this person's life?

 

The information we receive from the interaction would still be FOR us but in a much different way than we had expected. 

It would be information ABOUT the other person and that information (intellectual, emotional, etc.) would help us choose how we might wish to respond...what we say and in what manner we say it.   It would surely be signaling very clearly  whether the person has a need for compassion, support, understanding or assistance.

This would be a MAJOR SHIFT for us 

               from 

"what just happened to me" and "how that made me feel" 

                to 

"what can I observe about you and what you might need from me". 

 

And while this process is going on we would still  be able to learn what we need to know...what is going to happen, is happening ...or not...BUT we would be learning it from a different perspective.  

It would be other directed...and possibly action oriented.  

Not only would it give us an opportunity to pay generous attention to someone else, the fact is that when we sense the emotional need of another and respond in a way that supports that need, our dialogue and conversations play out more smoothly and the other party feels gratitude for our caring and may even choose to respond to us in kind.

Being open to observing a person and learning about the space he is in would serve everyone well.  

In particular, we would no longer SUFFER from feeling hurt by the message itself or the way the message is delivered because we would know that the message is not an attack on us but rather  a behavioral transcript in this moment about the messenger himself.

 

Here is a place where Higher Self can offer us some BEAUTIFUL GUIDANCE as we exercise patience and show support, love and caring.

The question is:

Can we make this leap and view each person as a mystery...unfolding...

and bless our role as witness to and supporter for that revelation?

                                            Marie Helena

 image from stushieart.com

Masquerade

Deepak Chopra,world renowned mind-body connection guru, tells us that "All great changes are preceded by chaos."

It is only when our usual, predictable methods of handling our life problems FAIL and we are feeling LOST that we step outside the box and search for new inspiration regarding how to reframe the issues and, thereby, change our perspective, our beliefs and ultimately our feelings.  

 

This point in time is extremely valuable to usbecause without the turmoil and tumult...without the agitation and frustration of the chaos... we would keep doing what has always worked for us...

we would ride the high...

but we would stop growing.

 

And that is why we need to BLESS these moments.  The Divine Universe is sensing we are READY for the next cutting-edge change in our life.  It has upped the ante, sizing us up as capable of dealing with the distress and, even more importantly,  capable of making it work in our favor.

 

In Alberto Villoldo's COURAGEOUS DREAMING he gives us an inspired suggestion regarding how to change the story we are telling ourselves about the chaos.

 

Villoldo says we tend to see ourselves in one of three roles:  victim, rescuer or perpetrator. 

If, however, we can vacate these roles and fly instead to the spiritual level of eagle in our version of the story...we can successfully REFRAME its significance...how it affects us...and what we are able to learn about ourselves.

 

If the chaos we are experiencing makes us feel victimized...

if the fallout of the crisis feels personal...

know that it IS personal but it is not meant as an attack on us...

it is a personal, unique-to-us  OPPORTUNITY to reach deep inside and find the strength and resilience to transcend the experience and find within ourselves the courage...the creativity...and the conviction to see the bigger picture and to nurture a character trait that we have not yet developed.

What brings  us angst, fear, distress, frustration... ALSO brings us the very  powerful occasion for transcendence and release from that suffering.

Chaos is the ultimate MASQUERADE.  What looks like pandemonium  is, in reality, a perfect strategy.

An always-brilliant plan to help us evolve  into the Next, Grandest Version of Ourselves...from the highest state-of-the-art personal development bureau, The Divine Universe!

                                                Marie Helena

                                                                                  

image from ayrerabbitry.webs.com

The Ides of March

Let go of the need to defend your position.

       don Miguel Ruiz



It happens so easily to all of us.  We suddenly find ourselves in the middle of a highly spirited discussion and discover that we are face to face with an opposing or alternate perspective and so we automatically step into the role of “defender” of our position, digging in our heels...gently at first and then with increased vigor...as we set out to convince others of our point of view.  

What is it that encourages and even entices us to go for the “win”?  What is it that is driving this behavior that is so prevalent...and even predictable in the human psyche?

And, while we ponder that, imagine how disarming it would be to encounter an individual who has no need to convince everyone of the validity of his position, no need to be recognized by everyone as holding the "right" answer.


I had my own personal encounter with a situation like this a few years ago during a holiday gathering at our home.  It was a very subtle experience but later I strongly felt the significance of the moment.

Several people had been invited over for the holidays and we were chatting happily and enjoying the interchange.  I am not sure how we landed on this topic, but someone introduced the subject of 
The Ides of March.

At that point, I enthusiastically interjected myself into the conversation, remarking that I happened to know that The Ides of March fell on March 12th and that I knew this because The Ides of March was the birthday of a good friend of mine with whom I had worked.  One of our guests commented that The Ides of March was actually on March 15th.   At this observation, I strongly asserted that I was certain it was the 12th and that I had a memory of holding a very specific intention to recall that particular date.  After my interjection our guest declined to assert his belief that March 15 was the date in question and the group moved on past the consideration of the event’s date to its actual meaning.

By the way, Wikipedia describes The Ides of March as "a day in the calendar notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts."


This little incident was long forgotten by me until  a few months later on March 15 when I happened to hear a commentator announce that it was The Ides of March.

Oooooops!  I thought and looked online to verify this unexpected piece of information.  As I absorbed the correction, two thoughts circled in my brain.  The first was:  How did I ever confuse this date and become so convinced that I had it right?  The second was:  What a considerate 
guest we had hosted at our home that evening during the holidays.  The visitor had obviously known his information was right and yet he chose not to make a point of debating this with me in front of the others.

This gesture of his felt important to me.  I saw this behavior as evidence of his generosity and thoughtfulness and I made a point of telling him so the next time we spoke.


How refreshing it had been to engage with someone who was not harboring a strong competitive need to prove his point.  And, on the fifteenth of March, the point was made for itself quietly and with no aggressive fanfare.


This choice of action of our guest that night most certainly revealed his honoring and understanding of human emotions.  Giving me the opportunity to learn for myself what I did not know was actually very profound.  He clearly saw that the date itself was not the primary issue and neither was emerging as the person who had all of the answers.  

He had no need to engage in a battle of rightness; he just wanted the opportunity to plant the seed of what he knew to be true.

This individual was obviously able to enter into a moment and quietly leave his gentle signature on it, inviting others to engage with the information in the perfect moment for them.  No need to defend...just a subtle awareness and affirmation of how we learn best when we are in the most relaxed and curious frame of mind.

What a splendid idea!  No “debt settling” of The Ides of March...rather just an eloquent exploration.


                                                                                                     Marie Helena

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 lemonsfirst.
 

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 lemonsweren'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

DANCING in the Rain

STORMS are mysterious things. 

They are gray and dark and  feel uncomfortable as if something is off kilter and is trying to right itself.  

They can make us feel apprehensive or fearfulwhile we are waiting for them to pass. 

But even though storms can feel threatening to us,  they carry a beautiful message...crackling and  sparking, twisting and  turning in tumult and turbulence but eventually finding their way to clarity and ease.

And when they do, there is a glorious release on mother earth, the resonant rhythm of  RAIN.
 
 
So dance,  dance in the rain...the beautiful shower of  GRACEwhich illuminates your life, inevitably pointing you to the next highest path of your journey.   

But dance, dance also in and through the storm, too, for that storm is your readiness to acknowledge, confront, feel and release what you have previously placed aside.   


And this process...this journey...though challenging isBEAUTIFUL and sings your courage to leave the old, familiar, unconscious habits that have shortchanged your joy and brought you suffering...and move instead to embrace new paths that will bring you to freedom and peace.


All of LIFE is a dance.  Don't miss ONE  BAR of the beautiful music.

                          Marie Helena

image from marliina.blogspot.com

originally published September 21, 2012

Altering the Chemistry of the Moment

One of the major causes of disappointment we experience in our lives is the unrealized expectation we may hold about what we want to occur. When we are feeling anxious about what is about to happen, it is so easy to, hopefully, imagine things playing out in a way that feels comfortable and even soothing to us. Just contemplating this possibility softens our anxiety so much that we become emotionally invested in the outcome we prefer and then we become attached to it occurring in reality. And, if life intervenes (as it inevitably does) and things do not occur in the way we imagined, we feel sad, bereft, abandoned, unworthy.

It feels like our life is collapsing around us.  Everything is going wrong. There appears to be no emotional support.  But it is only the illusion we are holding that has collapsed. 

This can feel like a major upset and, sadly, we have brought it upon ourselves.  

Why do we become so attached to these expectationsregarding what we want to happen in our lives? Why do we rely so intensely on a "picture" we have painted by ourselves when that picture will always be created by everyone included in the encounter?


I believe we attach to our expectation because we do not feel safe or secure enough to reveal the longings of our heart for affirmation, acceptance, validation and that is because we have experienced the pain of not having those longings filled in the past.   And now we carry the baggage of this sadness and cannot bring ourselves to trust that these longings will ever be realized.  And, lacking that trust, we do not reveal our authentic emotions, consoling ourselves instead by imagining circumstances in our ideal world that would perfectly meet our needs.  As if everyone would automatically know what would bring us joy and peace and have the energy to bring them into our lives.

The problem here is that we become obsessed with the expectation from our imagining, holding fast to this "fix" we feel we so desperately need, crowding out any possible concern for others who are involved in the drama of the moment.  

In real life we are not the only ones with needs.  All of the players in our lives also have needs but the scenario we imagine in which our longings are realized does not take those needs into account.  We are entirely focused on our pain.  We walk into the theater of our imagining expecting to see the play we "bought a ticket for" and, lo and behold, another production is playing.

We miss the vital information of how each player is being affected in this moment because our hurt, our unmet need, has clearly overridden this important aspect of the encounter.  When we find ourselves becoming attached to an expectation, it is important to extend some beautiful compassion to ourselves.  We are carrying pain and it is pain"ful”.  As we relax into the love we are showing ourselves, a new sense of empowerment begins to grow within us and we begin to experience the energy we need to help ourselves heal from the emotional pain we are suffering.  We do this by sharing the longings of our heart.  


This is a wonderful and important opportunity for us to beBRAVE and COURAGEOUS and consciously vulnerable, to change the default pattern of how we respond to the sadness of not having our needs met. When others hear us authentically express what is in our heart, 
the chemistry of the moment alters in a profound way.


There is a beautiful gift embedded in this undertaking.  When we take responsibility for finding a way to meet the longings of our heart, we feel EMPOWERED and in control of our lives.  And, from that place of power, our heart is open to hearing the needs of others and then co-creating together with them the very best way to take care of all persons involved in this moment.

To do this is to walk out of the stance of victimhood and, simultaneously, to free ourselves from the suffering we have inadvertently brought upon ourselves because we had not yet found a way to move beyond our sadness. But the answer to relieving the sadness IS in our reach. And it will take a STRONG DESIRE to heal ourselves and the BELIEF that WE ARE WORTHY of love and that others want to love us in whatever way they can based on the energy that is available to them in that moment of their lives.

There is so much we can do to move beyond the painful default reactions we carry.  Our usual go-to places.  As Alberto Villoldo suggests in his book Courageous Dreaming, become the hero of your life, daring to speak from the depths of your heart revealing your human vulnerability. You will access a loving generosity, a power beyond measure that will alter the trajectory of your life and everyone who moves within it.


                   
                                               Marie Helena


image from pinterest