The Pillow of Love

Imagine the feeling when your head first touches your pillow and you sink into that beautiful serenity, calmness and ease. At that moment, when you allow yourself to embrace the support and blessing of this gift all seems right with the world.


Besides the joy of relaxing our bodies and our minds, this pillow also holds the promise of even more sustenance. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could make all of our decisions and choices from that beautiful place of peace!


Instead of feeling the stresses of the day, the unfinished business we are carrying with us, the bone tiredness from perhaps pushing our bodies beyond the boundaries of balance…we would feel AT EASE.

And when we are at ease we are much more connected to our heart center and can act from that intuition. We can observe the world around us and ourselves with loving, compassionate eyes. We can enjoy the sprinkling of moonbeams that falls gently on every moment, helping us to see with our soul eyes what is really happening.


The moonbeams are ALWAYS there… if we only choose to access them.

And the reality is that our pillow waits patiently for us. It may be manifesting as a gorgeous down filled object waiting with anticipation for us to access its pleasures, but the pillow is really LOVE.

And, if during our day, we made all of our choices as if our heads were resting on that pillow, that place of welcome and peace, what would our decisions look like?

Would we be able to see the bigger picture? The pain behind someone’s angry words? The choices we clearly have in front of us that would nurture our bodies and souls and also the choices which would distract us from that loving path? Would we view ourselves and others with caring and compassion? And act on that compassion with our words and actions?

Seems like it would be so much easier to choose a higher path when we feel rested and comfortable and at peace.

This pillow feels like a priceless gift to us...and we already have the opportunity to access it every moment of the day.

We CAN recognize that LOVE is our pillow and let its wisdom and discernment soften our hearts and ease our souls in this life journey we have so ambitiously embarked upon.

Beams of Love

And we are put on Earth a little space
That we may learn to bear the beams of love.

William Blake

LOVE is the gift of the Divine Universe. It patiently waits to be acknowledged and enjoyed.

It is the exquisite experience of being cared for, cherished, honored.

It is so MAGNIFICENT and BREATHTAKING that we may feel the angst of fear on some level and draw back from it...without even recognizing this shift. And, after having created this space, we may fill it with words and distractions which serve to separate us from this astonishing experience, to keep us protected by ego from the perceived possibility of being hurt or the disquieting sense that something this wonderful cannot be…or the feeling that we are not worthy or deserving of it.

But this magnificent gift IS the ENERGY of the universe…and we are worthy of it by reason of our existence. And we cannot escape it anyway for LOVE follows us everywhere, tapping us gently on the shoulder, awaiting our recognition and response…awaiting our SURRENDER.

We are here to find our way to LOVE…the receiving of it and the giving.

And it is the GIVING of LOVE that provides us with the courage to make the leap to RECEIVING it for when we give LOVE, we join with the universe in wanting and wishing only the best for each other.

If we look to the example of a person very dear to us whom we love and care for…we can recognize that we want this person to do what is best for himself…even if it is not what we prefer. LOVE prompts that understanding, that acceptance, that behavior in us. And the giving of that unconditional, unselfish LOVE brings us happiness and peace.

If we view this loved one as a microcosm of the world, it is clear that loving everyone is wanting everyone to do what feels best to him…as each individual navigates his life lessons and journey.

Ram Dass says LOVE is “your deeper heart, your intuitive heart. It is the place where the higher mind, pure awareness, the subtler emotions, and your soul identity all come together and connect you to the universe.”

And we are put on Earth a little space
That we may learn to bear the beams of love.

William Blake

Assumptions and Agreements

It is so easy to assume that others see the world the way we do. Things seems so clear to us...what has happened...what it means...how we feel. I mean, it's all so real to us. How could others not get what we see so clearly?

Buzzer here for wrong answer.

And buzzer again for big mistake.

And the reason that this is so is that each of us has a unique history.

I know…that’s truly a duh statement. We all know it.

But somehow we forget to remember it. We forget because we are so entrenched in our world and the lessons we have learned and, even more importantly, the lessons we have not. We operate from our own set of expectations, hopes and dreams, including the pain and hurt we have endured and we know what we like and want in a response and when we do not receive it and when it isn’t expressed in the language or tone that we prefer, we make assumptions and we suffer.

But the world is actually a more interesting place when we are open to these wildly varying interpretations of reality and accompanying feelings than it would be if everyone could and world see the world the way we do.

And we would make much greater progress in our relationships if we allowed for new (and different) insights and interpretations.

And we might actually gain new perspectives if we stepped outside ourselves, observing our reactions and responses.

And it could be intriguing to imagine the energy emanating from the other person as he expresses his feelings.

And it would be loving to remember that anything negative coming at us is coming from pain.

And if we are going to assume at all, it is always wise to assume the highest and most understandable motivation for the other's actions.

And if we meet every dissonance with Love and Compassion (for ourselves and others), we will surely find our way to some peace and harmony.

Lots of reasons to move beyond our initial and automatic default reactions.


Now, I am not suggesting that we be less than real about how we feel because being authentic is ESSENTIAL in this undertaking.

I speak my truth
So I can keep my heart free to fly.
I listen to your truth
So you can join me.

Mystic Marks: Bookmarks for the Soul

It is in this joining together of our truths that we can find a very beautiful and very practical solution to our dilemma, the Agreement.

When both parties can listen to each other with an open heart and the singular goal of understanding the other (Help me understand…is a beautiful way to express it), undoubtedly an Agreement can be reached.

If each person tells the other what feels comfortable and satisfying to him, somehow a solution always appears. Probably because the actions are coming from a loving intention to find a way to navigate what has previously been a cause of suffering and to meet the needs of both persons involved in the conflict.

Without this very conscious intention to find a meeting place, tempers flare, feelings are hurt. Things do not end well.

But, with it, they always do and the agreements can always be changed or renegotiated whenever necessary.

It’s such a simple but profound way to take loving care of ourselves and others. And so very powerful and effective. Paying attention to others along with ourselves, understanding their vulnerabilities and honoring their dreams seems a rather small price to pay for that wonderful feeling of consonance and connection.

Changing the Locus of Control

On January 3rd I wrote a blog entry entitled A New Year’s Light Show in which I proposed the following:

As we go through the day and encounter many moments…some relaxing and some difficult and challenging …take a moment and imagine how our Higher Self would respond to what is happening (not to place any pressure on ourselves to do what Higher Self would do but only to imagine it and take note).

Surprisingly and wonderfully, it seems that the powerful principle of Conscious Intention (even more powerful than I knew) is working its magic again.

I have found a new natural high without placing any pressure on myself. My intention to consciously consider what Higher Self would do has opened the doorway to a new perspective on life for me and this new view has begun to take me out of the realm of ego directed decisions. I find myself wanting to embrace the flow of life and meet its difficult moments in the way that my Higher Self would choose to do.

A few weeks ago I had a dream during a time that I was very upset about something and unable to release it. In the dream I was in Galway harbor (where my daughter Rachel now lives). The entire harbor was filled with boats which were carrying only the cargo of Love and Compassion. The feeling of the dream was that Love and Compassion are all that are needed...for everything.

This dream was very powerful for me and it felt like a Higher Self message on how to deal with the difficulties of life. I have thought about it often and follow its direction whenever I choose the path of Higher Self, always extending Love and Compassion to myself and others.

My adventure with all of this began with one or two opportunities (difficulties) occurring and my experiencing myself (actually, observing myself)…from the vantage point of Higher Self . In choosing the Higher Self path I found myself feeling very happy about my response and discovering that somehow I seemed to have whatever energy I needed to make the leap to the Higher choice. Amazingly, this was energy that was not there before.

I am finding all of this very exciting but also very comforting, too. And it is replacing other ways that I have comforted myself during difficult times which have not always been the best choices for health and well-being.

Best of all, I feel and know that I have the power in me to make my day the beautiful one I want it to be. And that it makes no difference what comes into my space, what anyone says or does…the only thing that is important is my choice of response. And when that choice comes from Higher Self, there is always a deep and satisfying feeling accompanying it for me.


It seems I am beginning to shift the locus of control regarding how my day will go and how I will feel about it. Ultimately, I am no longer upset by someone else's behavior. And all of this just by my conscious intention to consider what Higher Self would do. Somehow the consideration of this question has presented the promise of such magnificent payoffs that I have naturally shifted my focus and conscious intention to it. What fascinating potential there is here for life transformation!

This seems as magical as anything I can imagine. Ours just for the asking. And it’s as easy as designing it into our day!

What would your Higher Self do today?

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.

The Third Identity

We all want to have the most beautiful relationships…kindred souls sharing our thoughts and feelings, listening to each other with perfect engagement, affirming the amazing gifts we see in each other, sharing the joy and pain of our adventures.

But…

The “instant snapshot” of this idyllic picture reigns mostly in our hopes and dreams and in our imaginations…for real relationships take a great amount of work…and patience…and nurturing… and, often, our egos join in and cause even more complications.


Recently, I heard a podcast by Meredith Murphy of Expect Wonderful in which she discusses “whole relationships” and how to achieve them. In this presentation she says that every relationship between two people has a third identity, too…and, that is, the energy of the relationship that is created between them. And, this, according to Meredith, is an important place to put our attention, especially when there is discord and strife.


As I reflect on this thought, I feel drawn to the invitation to leave self and move beyond to this energy vortex. Tuning in to this energy field seems to change the picture for me. It releases my personal reactions and, instead, focuses on what is going on in this energetic exchange and, especially, it focuses on the question of where/what is the energy of the other person in the relationship at this time.


This conscious choice naturally (and immediately) introduces caring and compassion directly back into the picture for me. It shifts the focus to a loving place. And this is what I aspire to.


It is so wonderful to find a way to get to love so directly during a time of dissonance and unrest.

The Magic of Flow

People are seldom happier, says psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, than when they’re in…flow. You know the feeling…you are blithely unaware of time passing…or the knee that’s been acting up…or even the sound of a dog barking in the background. You aren’t noticing anything but what is directly in front of you. There is no To-Do list hammering at your brain nor any worries or concerns. Only the joy and bliss of doing something you love.

Perhaps your flow comes from getting lost in the paradise of nature…or from teaching a child how to pass the ball…or from tinkering with a recipe…or creating a painting…or dancing Zorba style. Whatever it is that brings you to that fascinating place is a Divine gift that you have recognized and received.

We are beginning to find out how very important it is to regularly put ourselves into the entrancing and magical splendor of flow. When we are there, our highest selves are shining. We work tirelessly. Our creativity abounds. We are indulging in one of the greatest states we can access as humans.

What fires our desire to move into flow? Joy…and…Love. The Joy we feel and the love we give to ourselves by indulging in something that is so wonderful and satisfying to us.

When we love ourselves enough to make time for flow, we are building a supply of love that overflows to others. What a beautiful gateway to opening our hearts and sharing the bounty of the talents and gifts we have so joyfully cultivated!

Holding Space

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

Thomas Merton

It seems so perfectly reasonable to want others to be like we are…to treat us the way we treat them, to see the world through our eyes, to react and respond in the ways we find most fitting. How comfortable that would be…How perfectly relaxing…How delightful not to ever have to deal with comments or with behavior that makes us feel uneasy.

The reason we interact with the world in the way we do is because our behavior is the product of our experiences. We have done some suffering and some learning and have come to some conclusions about the way we choose to live. And we are weary from the battle and desire to coexist peacefully with others in this very personal world we have created for ourselves.

The problem is that the same work we are doing for ourselves…that same task of making sense out of our lives and experiences and making mistakes and finding new ways of responding is also the work of every other human being. And we are, all of us, on our own journeys about how we learn the lessons and what directions the path we choose will take us. Thus, the great variety in human behavior.

It is so easy to question why someone can’t see what we see or do what we do…and to be annoyed and irritated by this. But if we expand our vision past the feeling of the moment, we can see the maze of life journeys unfolding and intersecting each other…each in its own rhythm and pace which may very well not be a match for ours.

If we look to the example of a person very dear to us whom we love and care for…we can probably recognize that we want this person to do what is best for him/herself…even if it is not what we prefer. Love prompts that understanding, that acceptance, that behavior in us. And, if we view this loved one as a microcosm of the world, it is clear that loving everyone is wanting everyone to do what feels best to them…as each individual navigates their life lessons and journeys…not on our time line and schedule but on theirs.

We HOLD SPACE for them while they do this and send our blessings. And when we hold space for another person, we support them but do not interfere with the work of their journey. We respect and honor others as they find their way and do not force them to behave as we would like them to. If we use the beautiful example of the way we, hopefully, treat someone we care for as a microcosm and extend it to the macrocosm of the world, we will be emitting a powerful and transforming message of LOVE as we send our blessings to every fellow inhabitant of this glorious universe.


Just as I choose to bring into my life
the experiences I desire,
I also practice
the Art of Allowing
and
HONOR THE PATHS of others.

Mystic Marks: Bookmarks for the Soul

What If?

Come along with me for a moment on a lovely sojourn into What If Land. Imagine yourself in the midst of heavenly moments that soothe and silken your soul. Hear and see and intuit the many love messages coming to you from EVERYWHERE.

What if…you could find in every person and in everything you encountered a message of love coming directly to you! What if…you believed that Love is the guiding principle of the universe and that it cannot be otherwise. What if…you only had to learn to lift the green leaves and ivy (metaphorically speaking) to find the heart of each flower! What a lovely and delightful occupation!

Perhaps the love message is the knowingness that you are truly being listened to. Perhaps it is the effort put into running errands for you. Perhaps the love is the time someone takes to read what you have written and respond to it... or the effort someone makes to prepare a meal for you that you simply adore…or take you shopping…or share coffee with you…or take your hand and simply hold it…or make you laugh at the silly moments in life...or give you a friendly response in the grocery store…or even bark at you in line because you looked like someone who could safely take in someone’s pain…or give you little child hugs that last forever…or try consistently to become a better friend to you or a better partner or parent or child…or tell you exactly how they feel (no matter what that is), giving you the gift of their authenticity…or use the words…I love you so much.

What if…we could learn to find that message of love in every moment. What if?

The Website of Your Life

The wonderful Internet has bestowed upon us so many unanticipated opportunities. Recently, I have had the privilege and responsibility of helping design a website for my Mystic Marks bookmarks. I have worked diligently and excitedly with my web designer, Renee Bledsoe, of Fort Myers, Florida. Renee has a very poetic web name: She Who Weaves the Web. As I was first searching for a web designer a couple of years ago, I happened upon her website, read her philosophy, saw her web name and immediately fell into what I call Grace with her. A few weeks later I was visiting my sister who lives in Bonita Springs, Florida and went to Fort Myers to meet Renee. I knew immediately that this was the web designer for me. The moment was electric and inspiring and, at the same time, peaceful and gentle. Two years later I was ready to leap off the endgrain and share my thoughts with the larger arena of the world stage.

Renee and I worked on the website over the course of a few months. Several delays occurred. One because of a seven week illness I experienced this summer. Another came because I was asked to design bookmarks to meet a special need of several clients and everything stopped while I addressed that request. During this time, Renee intuitively knew that we needed to gently wait out the Divine messages that were coming into the picture and that they would, of course, enhance the website’s design.

When we were finally able to direct our energies full-force on the project, we were both delighted to find how beautifully our visions merged in this creation at every turn. We share the same spiritual view of life and this led us to amazing discoveries and inspirations that evolved as we talked and worked together. Renee is a masterful artist and teacher and she was determined to make sure that I would LOVE the website design and every part of it. We took great care with each choice of color and font and design and, as we worked, new and wonderful ideas kept entering the scene.

When the website was completed, I discovered that this accomplishment was exerting great power in my life. I was intrigued by the dynamics of how this was happening. I found myself waking up in the morning calmed by some aspect of the website or one of the messages on it. It was teaching me, mentoring me, soothing me and, most important of all, it was inspiring me.

One of these mornings I awoke with the words Gentle Reminder singing in my heart. I wondered where they had come from. I thought about the beautiful, calm blue green of the website design and it made me feel gentle. I realized then that the website was working its magic. Next, I found myself applying these words to my life approach, and, in particular, to the times when I would berate or judge myself for not living up to my expectations. I am a deeply sensitive, intense person and whenever I am dealing with something, it tends to pop up in bold, technicolored hues. Now, the blue green of my website was showing the concept of gentle to me and I realized that at these times I only needed to whisper the words Gentle Reminder to myself and to tell myself that I only have to make some course corrections in my life. The sky was not, indeed, falling.

(Interestingly, my daughter Valerie told me that before she had seen the blue-green backdrop of the website design she had imagined what it would look like and it was the very same color Renee had chosen!)

Over time, I realized that this website which had been labored over with such care and love by both Renee and me represented my Higher Self, the self I aspire to and that I was being treated to the joy of seeing that Higher Self in living color and design on the world-wide web! I discovered that when I needed to strongly connect with that special guidance I could go to the computer to tune in.

Which brings me to the title of this message: The Website of Your Life. I am not assuming that everyone has the inclination nor the reason to produce a website for the Internet, but I do think that everyone could IMAGINE what the website of their life would look like… what colors it would have... what design... what message... what inspiration... and be able to use that vision to find the Divine Guidance we all need.

I want to close with this suggestion to you and, hopefully, it will ignite your emotions, your dreams and your aspirations which sometimes lay hidden… and bring them beautifully into the full vision of your imagination: What would the website of your life look like?