The Care and Feeding of Your Soul

We all know, in theory at least, how important it is to eat right, to exercise, and to take good care of "yourself". (I put that word in quotes because in this physical world, we think of "ourself" as our body.) But just as important as feeding and caring for your body is the idea that we should feed and care for our soul, for this is the real "self". What does this mean though, to "feed" your soul? The answer is different for every person, I can only tell you what works for me. Spending time in nature has always been soul-nourishing for me, preferably being quiet and reflective. When I was a child away at summer camp in the Texas hill-country, or the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, I felt more in the presence of "God" than in any church on Sunday morning. In the midst of all that natural magnificence I could not question the existence of a Supreme Being/Power, or my connection to it.

Reading books that stimulate my thought processes regarding my own spiritual growth, and my place in the Universe is also very important to me. Finding friends who are on the same path to discuss our discoveries and beliefs is essential, as hearing their experiences and viewpoints often stimulate my own soul-and-mind expansion. Writing this blog has become a weekly "exercise" session for my soul, strengthening my beliefs and my ability to express them to myself clearly. (It's lovely that others, all over the globe are reading my words, and getting something from them, but ultimately I am pouring my soul out on this "paper" for myself to see and understand on a deep level.) But more than anything, meditation has become my "gateway" into the world of Spirit. This daily practice allows me to find that still place inside myself, where my true "self" resides, and to tap into that deep connection to All-That-Is. This is the "food" that keeps my soul in control of my daily thoughts and my actions and keeps me "in the flow", connected with the fear-less part of me that is pure love and light.

Now I live in Hawaii, and like my 7 years spent previously in Santa Fe, I am discovering what a huge community of like-minded people there are here! So many are drawn here, for the natural beauty of course, but also for the deeper spiritual connection to Source that occurs naturally in such a place. In addition, so many of the local people are very rooted in the spirituality of their native culture. I am so happy to be finding so many possibilities to expand my growth; classes, channeling events, talks given on ancient Hawaiian spirituality by "kupuna" or elders. And so many beautiful souls to have these deeper conversations with! I love that I have so many friends here who, when we get together for dinner or coffee, the talk turns to sharing our most recent learnings and discoveries about ourselves. It is truly such a nurturing environment for my soul to grow and expand in, I feel so blessed, and know that moving here at this particular time in my life, was the quite possibly the best thing I have ever done for my true "self", my soul.

I have spent much of my life pursuing what I can see now has been a "spiritual path." I think more and more people around the world are currently "waking up", realizing that their soul is HUNGRY!! I think that's why people in all over the world, but especially Russia, Estonia, and China are reading my blog. We are a world community of souls now, we are now connected by technology the way we are connected as ONE, spiritually. It's 2012, governments are being overthrown, violence in the streets, things are getting crazy. We are a global-community now, these events create a ripple-effect that reach us all, no matter where you live. It's clear that more and more people are coming to understand that the world as we know it is broken, and only by feeding our souls will we be able to fix it.

Last night I had the good fortune to attend a dual-channeling event, to hear the words and enlightenment shared by the "Light Counsel" and "The One", light beings from far outside our Universe who are watching our growth from afar. They gave us some beautiful words and ideas, but the most important advice was this: Our world is in crisis, right now. No one is coming to save the day, it's up to US. And that the most important thing you can do, as an individual to prepare for this, and to help with this is to FEED YOUR SOUL....whatever that means to YOU. If you are not feeding your soul daily, it's time to start. If you are already doing this, it's time to do it more. Just as you set aside time for physical exercise, it's time to go within. For only by going within can we return to love.

Peace, love and light to all.
Namaste'

Becoming the Eye of the Storm

Last week I wrote about my current stage of emotional and spiritual growth, recognizing that I had allowed someone else's fearful thinking to drag me into an unloving state of mind, and about the challenges of staying grounded and rooted in love when others around us are choosing fear. In order to learn to hold yourself open in love, no matter what anyone else says or does, you must look within and see where it is that you "hit the wall". What causes you to close up and shut down? Where is your boundary that once crossed, causes you to forget love and choose fear, disguised as guilt, shame, anger, jealousy, or bitterness? This is your wall, and your wall protects your wounds, places you've been hurt and have come to believe something negative about yourself. We've all had events in our lives, usually in childhood, that taught us to tell ourselves false stories about our worthlessness, our imperfection, our unlovable-ness.

When someone else points out my flaws or mistakes, for instance, it is my own deep belief that I am "not good enough" that causes me to react, and to feel miserable. This kind of reaction is an indicator that on some level I believe these things to be true about myself. This is the wound that must be found, and healed within me, with self-love and forgiveness. Once this is accomplished, I will be able to stand strong and not be sucked into the delusion they are creating. I can stand strong because I know the truth about myself. I am a beautiful being of light and love. I am loving, I am lovable, I AM love! Once I understand this I can see that yes, I am human, I do have flaws, but this doesn't make me a "bad" person, or worthless, or unlovable. The reason we get sucked into other people's fearful delusions is that we are taking whatever is going on personally, when it's not really about us at all.

Healing these old wounds requires going back to the root, and changing the mindset you established in the past. Then you can stand strong when the storm blows in, seeing clearly that what is going on is about someone else acting out of fear. You'll be able to see that it is their own deep-seated fears and insecurities causing them to act out. It's much easier to continue to love them, when you know that what is happening has nothing to do with you.  If you are able to remain calm, loving and unaffected, you actually become a mirror for the person who is temporarily fear-crazed. By not reacting you provide them an opportunity to witness their own self-defeating behavior. This is the best way to help them return to "sanity", a state of love. You don't need to point out their fearful behavior, this only adds fuel to the fire by making them defensive. They will "get it" much faster if you remain in love and allow them to wake up on their own.

Last weekend as I reflected back over the previous week, I realized that I had allowed myself to be dragged into someone else's fear-storm. I had allowed their fearful thinking to activate my old fears and false beliefs about myself, and it was a really rough week as a result. So my last blog post was written about this, and helped me to realize what was happening. I went into the new week after the Labor Day holiday determined to hold my ground if similar events transpired, set on not getting swept up in the emotional tides of others. (This can definitely be a challenge, especially when it's coming from someone close to you like a lover, a best friend, or a boss.) Sure enough, the moment came when the other person's fear-storm started to wind up, but I was able to see it coming and to say to myself "This is not about me!" I didn't allow my ego to start with it's fearful thinking, I was able to stay in a place of love and acceptance, and my week was busy but calm and peaceful. I was able to watch the other person take their ride on their emotional roller coaster, without having to go along. Miraculously, without me feeding my own fearful energy into it, the storm passed quickly, and without reaching it's peak. It's very hard for someone to stay on the attack when you don't react. As it says in A Course In Miracles: "It is in our defenselessness that our power lies." My focus on loving and accepting myself gave me the strength to stay in love and to not join them in their fearful delusion. What a contrast to the week before! It felt like such a victory, and a great reminder that in the struggle between love and fear, love always wins!

Sending you much light and love. May you too find the peace and serenity of becoming the eye of the storm.

Moving Towards the Light

By getting out of my comfort zone in the past 8 months, I have opened myself up to many incredible experiences and received many teachings. I feel as though I have made more progress on my spiritual journey in this time than in many previous years. I feel like I am on the path to becoming my most authentic self, to matching my thoughts and actions with the light-and-love-filled being on the inside. In my mind, this is the ultimate goal of this particular lifetime.

I have reached a point in my growth where I consciously feel tremendous love for everyone. I've reconnected with the essence of my soul that feels only love and joy. I've begun to see and focus on the light that is within myself, and the result is that I'm starting to see the light in everything and everyone. When seen in this way, the world becomes a beautiful place. Instead of being absorbed by self-centered thoughts, I am working on focusing light and love outward. I'm practicing walking or driving down the street, blessing and sending light to each person I pass. The result of this exercise is that I become that much happier, as the light boomerangs back to me, I feel a kind of "love-high".

The challenge is to remain in this state when others close their hearts and choose fear. These situations "push my buttons", causing me to react in kind. This is where I hit the wall, and what I am working on now, trying to not get dragged into the fearful thinking. I am trying to become more aware, to remain in love when others are acting crazy, or lashing out at me, or pushing me away. I am learning through direct experience that when I manage to keep my heart open, to not judge someone's behavior, and to keep pouring love on them, miracles happen! A Course In Miracles says that when one person in a relationship is having "fear-induced hallucinations", the other must stay "sane", stay in love, and to refuse to get dragged along. By doing this you are holding a space for that person to return to, when the hallucination has passed. You are holding the higher vibration, making it virtually impossible for the other person to stay in that fearful state.

This is the ultimate challenge for a light-worker, I think, to stay in that place of love no matter what is going on around you. Something I definitely need more practice in doing, but I think that's exactly what the purpose of living is; loving and learning!

Love and light to you.

My Dream of Lemuria

Through my life I have dreamt of other times, and other places, both while sleeping and awake. In my early 20's I began having occasional sleep-dreams that felt and seemed more like memories of previous lifetimes. These dreams were always much more vivid than my regular dreams, and also events occurred in normal, rational order, rather than the random-jump-cut-bizarre-happenings of my usual subconscious-downloading type dreams. The other common factor of these dreams is that I occupy other bodies than my current one. Last night I experienced one of those dreams, and I felt inspired on waking to write it down. It may seem like fiction now, but as it was happening it felt more real that where I am at this very moment.

My "Kumu" or teacher of Hawaiian spirituality says that there once was a continent in the Pacific Ocean called Lemuria. It existed at the same time as Atlantis, and they were both wiped out in the same natural disaster. She says that the Hawaiian Islands are all that is left of Lemuria, the tops of the mountains that sank beneath the sea. She believes (as do I) that many of us feel drawn to be here, the "heart chakra of the world" because we had lives in that place, long ago. Last night in my dream, I was again in that place, in a time long past. Here is what I "knew" about myself in this dream:

~My people were a race who came from the stars. We settled in a place that is known in your history books as the Garden of Eden, a lush, tropical paradise with green mountains and beautiful waterfalls. We were advanced spiritually and scientifically, building crystal towers and pyramids for living and meditation. We were very tall, with golden brown skin and hair, and slanted turquoise eyes. Swimming in the ocean daily was very important to us, for cleansing and restoring our powers. We had the ability to stay under water for long periods of time, and played with the dolphins, turtles and whales. We were able to communicate telepathically, with each other as well as with the spirits of the animals, plants and trees. We were also able to levitate, and to float through the air, using our minds. We were a gentle race of peace and love, there was no fear, no anger, no war. We were so love-filled that the animals were not fearful, and sometimes would decide to come and live with us, not as a pet, but as an equal, a friend and also a guide. A white tiger lived with me and my family, the same spirit that currently lives with me, as my dog in this lifetime. Healing techniques were performed with crystals, and this was my job in this place. We healed not just the body, but also the mind and heart, as they must be healed together. Healing was needed when the mind would begin to have fearful thoughts of separation and lack. We would treat this condition with the large crystals that we brought with us from the stars. There came a time of darkness, and then the continent vanished under the sea. Many of us chose to reincarnate in ancient Egypt, as that civilization was very advanced for its time. ~

Whether this is a memory of a previous life or merely a beautiful dream doesn't really matter to me. It's the underlying message that is important. I saw many people in this dream of Lemuria that I know in my current lifetime. I believe we are coming together now to use our deeply encoded spiritual knowledge from those times to help the world find love and peace. This dream is a reminder to me that we are so much more powerful than we realize and that what we are experiencing now is only a tiny part of our eternal soul's existence.

Sending you love and light, and sweet dreams of a peaceful world.

You are a Spiritual Warrior

You are reading this, felt drawn to read this because you are a miracle worker. You came here on a divine contract, to live a human life, to help the human race. You were sent to bring love and light to a darkening world. As Marianne Williamson writes: "You have a mission-to save the world through the power of love. The world needs healing desperately, like a bird with a broken wing. People know this, and millions have prayed. God heard us. He sent help. He sent you."

The energy of the world is becoming more intense, "thicker" as the Light Counsel puts it. Can you feel it? The tipping point has been reached. All the hoopla about 2012 is not just hoopla, it's truth. The time has come. The time is now. Like Neo in the Matrix, you are the One. Things are getting worse, but things are also getting better, because more people have woken up. More people understand now that the battle is on. And if you are reading this, you have been Called. You are a Spiritual Warrior. It's time to take up arms. It's time to fight fear with love. It can be done, see "Gandhi", see "Jesus".

The financial principles that our world is currently founded on are crumbling. Governments are being over-thrown. We stand on a precipice, and it is time to decide whether to jump and make a leap of faith, or to cling in fear to the falling rocks. We are the only species that systematically destroys our own habitat. People are starving, going without clean water, dying of AIDS, not because God wills it, but because we are allowing it. It's time for us to see that we are ONE, and if I allow these things to happen, I am allowing a piece of my own soul to be eaten away. If your children were threatened by these things, you would do anything in your power, fight anyone, beg, borrow, or steal to do what you needed to do. It's time for us to realize that they are ALL our children.

You are a being of light. You have woken up. You know the truth. You are a Spiritual Warrior. The time has come to step into your power.

Spiritual Reminders for Modern Times

I recently attended a channeling event where 12 light beings who call themselves the "Light Counsel" came through a medium to share many excellent insights for us earthlings living in these crazy modern times. Where these statements came from does not concern me, what interests me is that they resonated very strongly with my higher self as "truths", and I am inspired to write about them. 

I have written before about my belief that "life" as we know it is actually a classroom, a course in "Being A Human 101" that we beings of light signed up for, before we were born. I think the ultimate purpose of this "class" is to teach us to return to our natural state of pure love and joy, but while in a human body. The Light Counsel put it this way "Life is an experiment...of light beings. The purpose of humanity is to come to One consciousness." They went on to give advice on how to accomplish this One Consciousness: "Be quiet and just listen. Get out of the mind...too much thinking, not enough feeling. Move to the heart. Quiet the mind, go within. 'Feeling' comes from the soul....take action on that." They went on to talk about the "outer world" that we live in, and how so much of it is merely "entertainment" as they put it, distracting us from looking within. "Everything lies within, and this is the opposite of your culture."

I think this really hits home. Western culture is so focused on this "outer world", how much money you make, how big your house is, how much cool "stuff" you have, etc. We are completely missing the point of our existence! In addition to all those distractions, we actually try our hardest not to feel, self-medicating with food, sex, alcohol, drugs, and buying more stuff that we don't need. We need to stop, get still, go within and listen. Our higher self knows why we are here, and it will tell us, if we only take the time to listen. I believe the Light Counsel actually said something like "Close your mouth, close your eyes, and listen!"

One of the other main messages I received during this session was the affirmation that since the main point of our existence is to learn, the lessons come through both negative and positive experiences. There are no "problems" to be solved, only challenges to be learned from. Every "problem" arrives with a gift for you in it's hands, if only you are open and willing to receive. I believe that many challenges and difficulties are meant to move us closer to Spirit, closer to love. To paraphrase Marianne Williamson; "When things get hard, people hit their knees. We need to learn to stay there!"

Another interesting point was the Light Counsel's take on disease, or as they said "Disease = a body not at ease. Disease is a teacher....it allows you time, time to make peace in your life...and teaches you to live in the moment, to realize what is truly important in life." Again, what we think of as a "problem" is actually a gift, a lesson in this class we call "life."

I am so grateful to have been present for these excellent reminders about the "reality" of life, and especially about the importance of getting still and going within. Now more than ever, the world needs us to be aligned with our higher selves, and to bring forth as much love as we can.

Much love and light to all.

That Sneaky Ego!

A Course in Miracles states that every day of our lives we are constantly choosing between love and fear. It says that our natural state is love and joy, but we have "fallen asleep" and forgotten this, we have "detoured into fear." The voice of the fear is our ego. To paraphrase Marianne Williamson; "The ego is like a virus in the computer that attacks the core system....it is like a gravitational force field, built up over eons of fearful thinking. It is our mental power turned against ourselves. It is clever, smooth-talking, and manipulative. It counsels us to look out for ourselves, at the expense of others. It teaches us selfishness, greed, judgement, and small-mindedness."

The main goal of the ego is to keep us believing we are separate from everyone else, so it can keep us isolated, fearful, and powerless. It will use whatever tricks necessary to do this. It is the voice in your head that tells you that you aren't good enough, encouraging you to judge others as "less than" so that you feel better about yourself. The ego always emphasizes what someone has done wrong so that we have reasons and excuses to push them away and keep them at an arm's distance. Encouraging you to point out the faults of others is one of the ego's sneakiest tricks. It even goes so far as to tell you that you are "helping"them by doing so. When we try to change someone by "helping them see" what they could do better, or what their issues are, we are not respecting them. We are basically saying "I don't think you can figure this out on your own, I don't believe in you." The ego creates this dynamic to keep them away and you separate. To understand that there is no separation, except in our thoughts and mind is death to the ego because it takes it's power away. It rules through fear. If we are One, then there is only love, and fear ceases to exist.

In actuality, the best way to help someone else to grow and ascend is to reflect back their own magnificence. We do this by giving unconditional love, which releases blame and judgement. Holding the highest vision of someone else; their true nature as a being of pure love, their innocence, their potential, makes you both a mirror and a light. "We help another person access their highest by accessing our own. Growth comes from focusing on our own lessons, not on someone else's. When we choose to join with them, through approval and unconditional love, the miracle kicks in for both parties. The ego doesn't want us to see that our pain doesn't come from the love we weren't given in the past, but from the love we ourselves aren't giving in the present."

I am working on detecting the tricks of my sneaky ego. That voice is so strong and so deeply ingrained though, I have to really pay attention. I monitor my thoughts and continually ask myself "Am I thinking with love, or am I thinking with fear?" It never fails that when I am thinking with fear I am simultaneously experiencing negative feelings, such as depression, anger, guilt, and shame. When I am thinking with love, I am always experiencing feelings of happiness, joy, and peace. Gabrielle Bernstein writes in her book "Spirit Junkie" that laughing at your ego is " the spiritual equivalent of martial arts", it takes it's power away. I've started picturing my ego as the "Wile E Coyote" on the "Roadrunner" cartoons. It comes up with the craziest schemes to "get" me and make me think unloving thoughts! Now when I catch my sneaky ego in action, like the roadrunner I just laugh at it and go on my way, and like the Coyote, it slinks back off to it's cave to plot until the next time. It takes constant watchfulness, and hard work, but I am learning that I can change my thought patterns. I can choose love, not fear. And this is what makes miracles happen!

Love and light to all.