Awesome!

Sedona, Arizona.  Oh, my!  I was in “awe” the whole week I was there.  It was breathtaking, relaxing,   My eyes feasted and every cell in my body memorized the view as well as the feeling. And I remembered…

rejuvenating, peaceful, inspiring, calming – the mountains, the mesas, the red rock.

I remembered that this feeling always happens when I’m in mountains and water at the same time, this rejuvenation.  I also remembered that I can bring this feeling back, through visualization.

Sedona may be the most beautiful place I’ve seen so far, but I do remember other beautiful, awe-inspiring places I’ve seen in my lifetime.  These mind-pictures are in me forever, as well as the feeling, deep in my subconscious, in my soul.

There is a reason Law of Attraction teachers/authors advise you to create vision boards, to go sit in the car you desire, to stamp that bill “paid” and put it where you can see it.  The “visual” helps ingrain it into your subconscious, and your subconscious remembers everything.  More importantly, the subconscious remembers how you feel about what you are looking at, touching, listening.

That feeling of awe is mine to experience anytime I want.  I just have to remember with my head that it is there, inside me, always.

As I thought about this blog I also thought about the word “awesome”, derived from the word, awe, of course.  Many of us are so used to hearing this word, hearing it overused, in different tonalities, with different emotions behind the speaking of it – well, it’s lost its “awe.”  I, for one, an determined to quit misusing this “awe”some word!

Some of you are wondering when I’m going to get to the part about experiencing the vortexes in Sedona.  There are many, and yes, they are real.  It was Awesome!  I highly recommend you go if you get the chance.  In the meantime, find some pictures, sit quietly, and visualize – with feeling!

The Baking Meditation

As a fundraiser for Kafi, our Tarot Reader Extraordinaire, I decided to have a bake sale.  I don't know how
to do a spaghetti dinner or pancake breakfast, but I do bake and know how to follow a recipe.  The Village Market in Elk Rapids donated ingredients, and my baking "meditation" started last Saturday.

Now, I can meditate sitting, being quiet, and I like it very much.  But I often find that a "doing" meditation gets me the best results when I am looking for answers.  Walking, washing dishes, cleaning house, knitting - the routine lets me be in the present moment and allows my mind to be still.  I must be intentional with this, otherwise I'd just be thinking, thinking, thinking...

I did get some insights as I continued to bake for six days straight - whenever I wasn't at the Higher Self Bookstore.  One that, to me, was huge had to do with my weight-loss hitting a plateau.  I realized that I was holding a belief that if I lost any more weight I'd have nothing to wear! Aha!

So I changed that belief, because it wasn't true - number one.  I also had to give myself permission to shop and spend some money on clothes.  It's okay!  Along with a little hypnosis tweaking, the scale is on the move down once again. I'm a firm believer that what one believes is what one experiences in their reality.  Identify the belief - if it is not working in getting what you want, change it.  If you need help with this, let me know.

The Bake Sale starts today, August 2, and goes until it's all gone.  If you happen to miss it, I have some ingredients left and would be happy to fill an order.  Kafi should be back to the store soon - until she does we are also selling gift certificates for sessions with her at a discounted price.

Meditation doesn't have to be hard, and less thinking gives you a chance to hear what the heart, and Source, has to say. 

Who Stole My Chi!

The Art of Bliss by Tess Whitehurst is a new book we're carrying at the Higher Self Bookstore and my manager, Rodasi, recommended I read it. She also recommended we do some of the things suggested in the book in the store.  Okay, so, I'm reading this book and it's based on the I Ching and reminds me a lot of feng shui, only different.  Sidenote:  A lot of people use the phrase "same difference" and I never could understand it, although it does seem to fit in this case.

The nine keys of life (kinda like the feng shui bagua) represent invisible dynamics that affect the visible manifestations.  First step is to get these key life areas cleaned up to allow "Chi" (life energy) to flow so that the visible manifestations we'd prefer, well - manifest!  Now isn't it funny that almost every book about "Creating the Life You Desire" tells you to de-clutter?  So much evidence - it must be true!

So I start in the basement of my home.  After about four hours and much progress, I decide it's time to take a break.  As I walk into my bedroom, I notice the half-finished needlework projects growing in the corner.  I recall reading somewhere that unfinished projects can also block "Chi", so I decide to dig in.  I found two baby hats that only needed trimming to finish, a scarf that needed about another four inches knitted, two blankets more than half done, a couple pair of slippers waiting to just be sewn up, a sweater that needed the pieces sewn together, and a poncho that only needed the fringe added.  There's more, I'm sure, at the bottom of the pile.

The truth is, I like to knit and crochet.  I don't enjoy the sewing and trimming.  That's how the pile got started.  If I'd had a deadline, if I was working on a gift for a specific occasion, it would have been done, wrapped, and delivered. Without a deadline, I tend to do the fun part and leave the not-fun part waiting for - a deadline?  Hm, how's that like my life?

I never seem to get past step one (de-cluttering).  As I physically move the stuff around or finish the project, the "clutter" in my head comes into focus. Damn, more issues to address. Like this one:

As I'm working on how to make this blanket bigger, I'm thinking about who I will give it to.  This is usually my goal, to make a gift for someone else.  Aside from the cost of the yarn, on sale or not, I put hours into the creation.  It has become valuable!  Someone else will truly appreciate this gift, value this gift, and know that I value them by presenting them with this gift.  As I petted this extremely soft, furry wonder, it occurs to me (not the first time) that it would look great on my bed.  Oh, no - I must give it away!  Why? Good question.

Did I not deserve it?  Was it more than I was worthy of?  Don't I love myself enough to give myself this gift? I laid it on my bed and snuggled underneath it. So warm, so soft. I felt guilt.  Oh, come on!  So you see what I mean?  My head and heart needed attention and a cleaning out as well.  This issue, anyway, did get tossed and the blanket is still on my bed and I enjoy it with gratitude and appreciation every night.

It's a constant process.  Being aware is key, and taking action is critical. Even if the action is just having a heart-to-heart with yourself, asking yourself the hard questions (not just doing the fun stuff), or meditating. It is all so worth it!  Ah, Chi!  Welcome back!

Have You Ever Been Mellow...On A Treadmill?

The song has been playing in my head the past few days.  When I anticipate writing this blog at this time of the month, I pay closer attention to the voices in my head - thanks, Olivia!  I'm thinking this song is here because for the past few months, I've been wanting to write about being stuck on a treadmill - that's the word that keeps coming up for me, sad to say.

Have I Ever Been Mellow?  Well, of course!  From time to time, here and there, fleetingly, and, it's been a while.  Hmm.  Mellow for me means, calm and peaceful, quietly joyous. What stops me?  I don't even think I hold that as an intention these days.  I'm going to have to write Olivia Newton John a thank you card for reminding me what's been missing.

Now, I haven't been totally clueless.  Feeling stuck in the midst of an seemingly endless to-do list has brought about the vision of a hamster on a treadmill.  The thing is, I know better.  I just can't get off of it!  Maybe I'm afraid that if I do, the wheel would stop spinning and I wouldn't have fulfilled my promises to you, and you, and me.  You have expectations of me - keep the doors open, the shelves stocked, the floors clean, the events promoted, etc., etc. - and I love meeting those expectations!  I really do!

You've never been in this place, right?  You have?!?  Tell me, how did you get to be mellow on the treadmill?  Oh, I see.  You made time.  You made it important to be mellow, to meditate, to sit and breath, to have fun, to make the doing of the to-do list fascinating, a game.  It is all a game, isn't it?

Okay, I'm going to do it!  I'm going to change the channel on my "reality TV" and schedule only programs that lift my spirit, make me laugh, feed my soul, and air according to my own time schedule!  Thanks for the awesome advice!  I knew I could count on you!

Wake Up - I'm Dreaming!

A few mornings ago, I was attempting to sleep in since I didn't have to open the Higher Self Bookstore that day. Kafi was scheduled to work all day and I actually had the option of going in or working at home. Or playing - now there's a concept!

My bladder was protesting, but I stayed in the bad, drifting in and out, tossing and turning a little. This is what I remember. A picture showed up in my dream, a scene - a vision. As a story followed, I realized that I was the one making up the story! I was directing and choreographing what came next, scene after scene. That realization is what woke me up. I believe I sat up on the bed with my mouth open, in awe and wonder.

I was creating my dream in a dream. I became aware that I was creating a dream in a dream, a story with characters and scenery and conversation. So now I ponder - how can I create my reality the way I created the dream? Is my reality one that I have directed and choreographed and I am just not aware?

Of course, I have watched The Secret, read more books, attended workshops and set up routines of meditation, visualization, journaling, and affirmations. Then life happens and I get busy handling and coping. Do I allow this because the reality I prefer just doesn't seem to appear as quickly as I want? Probably.

As I learn (by paying attention, noticing, becoming aware, mostly), missing pieces come to me, like in this dream. I recall the feeling of it, of being in a place of no interruptions, no distractions, the easy flow of it. Now I am ready to give it another go.

Exactly how to proceed is not clear, but I have a desire to meditate again. To take that meditation and visualization into my everyday wide awake life. There's a feeling of urgency about it. Once I'm aware it is easier to remember and keep it in the present moment.

Now you are aware as well. Join me in this experiment? Great, let's keep in touch. May our dreams and realities meet in peace and joy.

Rainy Days and Feeling Good

What’s so bad about feeling bad was the topic of a couple of my blogs this year. Today, I am contemplating what’s so bad about feeling good? For instance, you notice people at a funeral who are smiling and laughing – do you judge them as uncaring, uncompassionate? After a hurricane, you expect the survivors on the TV news to be morose and devastated – what would you think if they were laughing and joking?

I was thinking about what the future might hold for this earth, some of the possibilities being that the landscape and the weather may change quite significantly. Oh no, you cry, do not go there! You will attract the end of the world! But wait, I am not “feeling” the energy of judgments, such as awful, devastating, fearful, woeful, panic, anger, etc. There is no energy behind my thoughts whatsoever.

We are told by many that we attract to us what we think. I don’t believe this is entirely complete in the teaching. I think it is the energy behind the thought that activates the magnet, drawing that which we have energy on to show up in our lives. If I am in a neutral, contemplative state, then it makes sense to me that the Universe will also be in that state. Only until I add energy and emotion, and of course action, that the Universe starts to move. Does this make sense? It is becoming clearer to me, but then again, it’s my mind and my reality.

So, let’s look at feeling good and possibilities of the future and feeling good in that moment which is the next now. Definitely, I know that I want to focus on the moment of now and feeling good in the now. While in the now, I can think about the future in a very neutral place. To get clearer, I read and listen, go to classes and participate in discussions. I decide what makes sense and what doesn’t, what rings true for me and what I choose not to pay the slightest bit of attention to. Then, I assimilate that information into my now.

Now, sitting in the now and knowing in the now that I want to feel good in this now and the next now, I decide how to be and what actions I will take to be that and feel good in the now and in the next now. For instance, today I decide to BE strong. So I will focus on making my mind, body and spirit strong through exercises of meditating, reading, walking, yoga, etc. As I become stronger and stronger, I am supported in being strong in the next now, and supported in feeling good in the next now.

In the next now which becomes the present now, let’s say that the rains come. Did I create the rain? Me and millions of others, in present and past lifetimes, before we woke up, unless we didn’t, but we are talking hypothetically today. Through my present moment exercises, I am stronger, and I am grateful for that, and this supports me in feeling good in this place of a very, very rainy present now. It is okay to feel good, even though others may be adding mournful tears to the waters.

We get in our own way sometimes, over thinking, over guessing, over fearing. In my present now, as I BE strong, I also help others to BE strong…or BE compassionate, or BE wise – we can BE many ways in one present now. That is my mission and the mission of the Higher Self Bookstore – as it is the mission of many individuals, groups, and establishments. To support you in your personal and spiritual growth, to offer opportunities for knowledge and clarity.

For me, I choose to be in the present moment, focused on feeling good, and in preparation for the next now moment of feeling good, no matter what.