Powerful Women Create Miracles!

A few months ago I wrote about attending my first "women's circle," and how moved I was by the experience. (http://livelaughloveinla.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-power-of-circle.html) Since then I have attended many more circles, and have now become a facilitator for one that gathers once a month near the full moon. We chose that time to come together to honor the influence the moon has on women and the connection we feel to it. This community is composed of women of all ages, ethnicities, and from all walks of life who come together to support each other in our spiritual growth, and to share our life-wisdom gained from experience. We gather in a circle of unconditional love and acceptance for each other, which is teaching us unconditional love and acceptance for ourselves. We are not there to judge, to fix each other, to give advice, or to tell what to do, for doing so would imply that we don't believe she is capable of doing it for herself. We are there simply to listen and to witness so that each knows that she has been truly seen and heard. We provide a mirror for each other, to see our own experiences and life-lessons through those of our sister's. No one is above, no one is below, in a circle we are all equal, and while beautifully different, at our core we are all the same; souls striving to learn and grow. We've been coming together for six months now, and miracles are happening! Healing is taking place, deep bonds are being formed, dreams recently rediscovered are coming true, old negative self-beliefs are being released. What an incredible gift!

After attending my first circle I wrote about the power I felt in it. Now I am seeing how lives are changed and transformed. Coming together in a circle of light-minded, open-hearted women encourages and enables us to step into our highest version of ourselves. In an environment of unconditional love, we blossom and grow. We bask in all that love, soaking it up and filling our hearts to take back to our beloveds and our families, and as a result our relationships improve! As we speak our deepest truths, and see ourselves truly heard by others we are empowered to listen to our hearts and to create the life of our dreams.

I believe this is a hugely valuable message that needs to be shared with women everywhere. I've become involved in helping to make a documentary about the power of women when we come together in love. If you are curious, and would like to see inside a woman's circle, please watch the trailer for our upcoming movie. If it inspires you, please consider donating to help us finish the project and spread the love to women around the world!

http://www.gofundme.com/CatchYourDreamsTheMovie

Infinite light, blessings, and aloha,
Hokulani

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Rise and Shine!

"You've got to get up every morning

with a smile on your face and show the world

all the love in your heart,

people gonna treat you better

you're gonna find, yes you will

that you're beautiful...
you're beautiful as you feel."

~Carole King~

There's a saying that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and maybe that is true. What one person finds beautiful may not be the same as another. But I believe that a more radiant beauty is found in the heart and soul. When you are happy and loving, your face lights up and softens. Everyone is more beautiful when they are joyful, everyone is more attractive when they are smiling.

Your soul is made of pure love and joy. When your heart is open, the entire world will find you beautiful. 

Finding the Love of Your Life- YOU!

I've been noticing lately that in today’s world there is so much emphasis on finding your "soul-mate." There are books, television shows, workshops, and newsletters that give mountains of advice on the subject. Even girls in their teens dream about growing up and meeting their soul mate. I do believe in soul-mates, but it just feels like there is way too much focus on filling yourself up with love from external sources. It feels like as a society we are all "on the hunt" for something, "the ONE" whose love is going to solve all our problems and fulfill all our needs. This almost-feverish obsession feels a little (ok, a LOT) unhealthy to me.

Here's the thing though, relationships can only be as healthy as the two people in them. Which means that even when you meet your soul-mate, if YOU are not healthy, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, the relationship will not be what you've dreamed of. In truth, the only person who knows exactly how you feel and what you need, and who will always be there for you, is YOU. So by expecting this from another person, we are really setting the relationship up to fail from the beginning. Our relationship with ourselves is the most important one, and where we should be focusing our energy. I truly believe that if we do this, the "soul-mate" relationship will naturally follow, and it will be so much better!

“Self-love is the magic key that unlocks the chains of the past and frees us to experience the present in a state of deep happiness, peace, and joy.” 

When we learn to love and accept ourselves completely, we can love and accept our beloved more fully, and create with them the deep intimacy we all seek. In order to do this, we have to understand what barriers we might have against love. I saw Tony Robbins (the life coach/motivational speaker) on TV recently and he said that of all the people he's coached, including Presidents, CEO's, professional athletes, and movie stars, the most common deep-rooted, self-belief is some version of "I'm not good enough." This usually comes from spoken or unspoken messages received in childhood, and it usually turns into "I'm not good enough, therefore I'm not lovable." Having this belief about yourself creates so much fear and anxiety, which we carry into our life experiences. It colors how we perceive ourselves, our relationships, and how we feel about ourselves. This seems to be the biggest obstacle that we all have in common when it comes to love.

Children come into the world as beings of pure light, love and joy. That’s who we all are at our deepest core. But then we have experiences that teach us guilt and shame, and these become our “stories” that we tell ourselves over and over again. In some instances, we even create experiences that will reinforce them! It’s important to understand where these negative self-beliefs came from, so we can release them and return to our original state of love. Usually these childhood experiences were things that happened that actually had nothing to do with us, or our worth, but our still-developing minds interpreted as being about us, or our fault. We can go back and change our "stories." We can make new decisions about who we are and what we are worth, and when we do, everything changes.

"We attract what we are, not what we want." If you want love, become love. This means falling in love with yourself, and learning to love yourself the way you dream of being loved; unconditionally, faults, flaws and all. Get so happy in your life that you no longer need that "soul-mate" to show up, because that's exactly when the right one arrives. Become your own "soul-mate" and watch the magic happen!

The Dance of Following Your Dreams

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world." ~Marianne Williamson
 
In the past 24 hours, I've heard from two different friends who were both dealing with the same issue. They're both very creative, talented people with big dreams, but are currently experiencing crippling self-doubt. I think this is a very wide-spread problem that everyone experiences to some degree, whether they are aware of it or not. The fact is, we are all very creative, talented people, in our own unique ways, but we've allowed "that voice" in our heads to convince us otherwise. "That voice" is our ego. It is a built-in protective device that is part of the human package, but it takes it's function way too far. It is the part of us that wants to wall us away from everyone else so we can never be hurt, but keeps us instead alone and isolated. When it comes to creativity it is our worst critic, constantly judging, constantly comparing our work to others, and whispering "You'll never be as good, so why try?"

But here's what we must realize: when you arrived in this physical world your soul was encoded with a divine plan, your purpose for this lifetime. You were given dreams, which are visions of your destiny. You were also given special abilities and talents to help you accomplish this heavenly mission on earth.  This is what makes you, YOU. Who are we to question this divine plan and these gifts? In allowing our ego to make us doubt ourselves and turn away from our destiny, we are completely going against the laws of the Universe. Our higher purpose is one of the things that gives deeper meaning to our lives. But many of us allow these dreams and visions, and even our unique gifts and talents to slip away as we lose faith in ourselves, and "real life" demands our attention and energy. This leaves us feeling lost and empty, wondering "Is this all there is to life?" 

If this has happened to you, it's important to recover those gifts and talents, and to grow and nurture them. Rediscover your dreams, and keep them alive in your heart, trusting that the Universe is programmed to automatically support you in achieving them. Keep in mind that while not everybody reaches "the top," the journey is the real destination. It's not for you to determine how "big" of a success you will be, that's Spirit's job. Your job is to "follow your bliss," whatever that may be. Let go of the self-judgment of your talents and your success level. Thank your ego for it's opinion, and then tell it to sit down and shut up! Let your intuition guide you. It's the voice of your soul, eternal and infinitely wise, it knows the way. Take a baby step, and see how it feels. If it feels good, take another one. Listen. Trust. If you reach a point where you feel guided to make a leap of faith, trust that the Universe will rise up to meet you. Let Spirit be in charge of the eventual outcome, it's out of your control anyway!

It's important to have goals, but to stay open and allow divine guidance from Spirit and your higher self to come through. Don't let your ego persuade you that it knows the best way to your dreams, and don't be too attached to specific routes or results. Your ego wants you to focus on the material path, to pursue the money, but if you choose to follow Spirit's lead, you will always be provided for. Watch for the signs, and listen for the messages that are guiding you. Keep taking one step at a time even if you cannot see in the moment how it will lead you to your ultimate goal. Keep listening, keep trusting, keep following. Eventually you'll realize that you're not just "stepping" any more, you're dancing! It's the dance between enlightened human and Spirit, the dance of co-creating the life of your dreams.

Hold your dream in your heart, but always allow Spirit to lead!

The Magic of Going With the Flow

"You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however."  

Illusions by Richard Bach

It's important to have dreams. Our dreams are messages from our soul about our destiny in life. They lead us on our path, and help us to find our divine purpose. But sometimes we get so obsessed about making our dream come true, and trying to control everything, that we completely close the Divine out of the situation. It's important to remember that we are co-creating our lives with Spirit, and while we do have to show up every day and do our part in working towards our dreams, we also have to allow the Universe room to work. How do we do this? By releasing our expectations around the hows and whens of the situation. Dream the dream, then surrender the details of it to Spirit. Trust that the Universe is programmed to automatically assist and support you in your divine purpose on Earth.

I have a dear friend who felt very led and guided to open her own business, even though times are tough and the economy is not thriving. She has been busting her butt to get this business going, and while clients are beginning to trickle in, the numbers are not yet what she needs to help support her young family. Of course this is causing her incredible stress and heartache, worrying constantly about being able to meet their bills, while she watches her husband work double shifts trying to make ends meet. She is praying constantly for help, for guidance, for assistance but is not hearing anything. But instead of asking "show me how to support my family" she is praying for a specific result, "please show me how to bring in more clients, or one big client." What she doesn't realize is that by doing this she is narrowing the infinite possibilities of the Universe. She wants her dream so badly that she is insisting to the Universe that the help she needs must look a certain way. It appears to her that her prayers are going unanswered, when in all likelihood she is receiving guidance and messages every day that she is not seeing or hearing because they don't come in the form she is expecting. She is trying to dictate to Spirit how the help should appear. This is our ego at work, it thinks it knows best, even better than the Universe! It's often this way when we are very attached to specific outcomes.

The areas of our lives that are the most dear, the most precious (like our dreams) are the hardest to surrender, but they are exactly the ones where we need the most assistance! Instead of being open and allowing the Universe to guide us, we become like recalcitrant children wanting our way.  When you feel you are banging your head against a brick wall trying to make something happen, stop and look for a door! If you don't immediately see a door, ask Spirit to help you find the door, but then keep your eyes open for unexpected opportunities. The door may not be blue like you think it should be, it may be red instead. You may not be able to see in that moment how entering that red door will lead you to your dream. But if you step through in faith, chances are excellent that the end result will be as good or better than anything you imagined.

Often we try to put what the Universe is trying to give us in a "box" that looks a very specific way. I have found that if we can release that picture in our mind of how it's supposed to look, what actually occurs is 100 times bigger and better. As Oprah says "You dream a dream, but the dream the Universe dreams for you is so much BIGGER!" We have to surrender control, trust that all is unfolding for our highest good and greatest benefit, and ALLOW the Universe to work through and for us by being flexible and open to ALL possibilities. That's the magic of "going with the flow."

A Poem from my 13 year-old Self

When a man looks at a flower,

he sees a flower.

But when a child looks at a flower,

he sees a thing of beauty and color.

A creation of God.

When a man looks at a tree,

he sees only a tree.

But when a child looks at a tree,

he sees a thing of motion and life.

A creation of God.

When a man looks at another man

he sees merely another man.

But when a child looks at a man,

he sees the person deep inside,

warm and glowing.

A creation of God.

When a man looks at the sun and stars,

he sees just the sun and stars.

But when a child looks at the sun and stars,

he sees in each a guiding light,

always there day or night.

Creations of God.

When a man looks at God,

he sees very little, only a faint shape.

But when a child looks at God,

he sees a flower, a tree, a man,

the sun and stars, beauty, color, motion,

life, warmth, glow, a guiding light that is

always there, day or night,

and most of all

Love.

This is God.

God is His creations,

His creations are God.

The Girl's Guide to The Universe

An excerpt from my upcoming gift-book for girls.

You are a beautiful being, unlike any other.

In all the history of the world, there has never been and never will be anyone exactly like you. This makes you very special! No matter what you may think, like a snowflake you are beautiful in your own unique way. Everyone has their own beauty. It may not be traditional beauty, but it is your beauty.

Learn to celebrate and treasure the ways that you are different. These are the things that make you YOU. Do not compare yourself to others, especially not to the glossy magazine covers with air-brushed pictures of models or actresses. These are completely unrealistic representations of "beauty." Comparing yourself to others in any way is pointless and only brings unhappiness. Keep in mind that the definition of what is "beautiful" and "desirable" is subjective and varies greatly from country to country, village to village, and even person to person. "Beauty" truly is in the eye of the beholder. All that really matters is what you think, what you believe about yourself. The people who matter will see your soul, and treasure you for the unique, special being that you are! Life is not a beauty competition. It is about being the very best version of YOU that you can be.  

 It's OK not to know.

It's OK to not know who you are and what you want yet. That's what your 20's are for. Like the transformation of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly, you are still in the process of becoming who you will be. You are learning to transition to the "real world," away from the protection of your parents, learning to spread your wings and fly. This period of your life is a time to learn balance, self-discipline, and how to take care of yourself in every way. It is a time of discovering who you really are and finding out what you really believe.

During these years, you are like a piece of artwork still being "created," and you are the creator. This time is for experimenting with life, deciding what works for you and why, and what doesn't. Many lessons will be learned, including some painful ones. Do not beat yourself up about making mistakes, that's what this time is for. The important part is to learn! No experience is wasted, if something is learned in the process.

Live, love, learn! This is the purpose of life.

                                  

                                   

You are not alone.

Everyone goes through difficult times while growing up. If you have gone through painful experiences, know that you are not alone. Everyone has insecurities, some are just better at covering them up than others. Often the ones who seem the most confident, the most "well-adjusted" are actually the ones who are just the best at acting as if all is well. Science has shown that the teenage brain is still forming and at the same time is overloaded with the effects of hormonal changes. You are going through a period where you are literally not yet in your right mind! This means that everyone your age is going through exactly the same process, whether they show it or not.

If you are worried about the future, fearful about whether you can make it in the "real world," understand that this is completely normal. Going out on your own is like being at the top of the worlds' largest roller coaster, it's absolutely thrilling and completely terrifying at the same time!

Know that this time of life will pass, and you will be fine.

                                                               

Life is a classroom.

There is no instruction manual for life. We are meant to learn through trial and error. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone experiences difficult times. What counts is not how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up! Challenging times and experiences are what enable us to grow. They shape us, and make us stronger. Author Richard Bach writes "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands." When faced with a challenge, remember to always look for the gift.

Your life is a tapestry that you are weaving, made up of the decisions and choices that you make, as well as the consequences of those decisions and choices. Do not allow challenges or even failures to define who you are, or what your future will be. You don't know how strong you can be, until you have no other choice. There will be times when the world does not seem fair, but you can rise above the difficulties. By surviving the challenges, you will become smarter and stronger, more ready and able to do great things!

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