Joy | Live What You Know

April 9, 2014

Resistance

Somewhere along the path, we come to the moment. We realize that life can only be lived in the exact moment we are in. We figure out that our head is full of chattering nonsense that distracts us from the moment and we embark on the work of clearing the mind and embracing the moment. We want to wake up. There are many paths and many wonderful souls to help us see our path and live our moments fully. We only need to listen and we are on our way. As we begin clearing the field of the mind, we realize right away that we must hack away at the thoughts of the past and all our reactions to it. Then, it is clear that we must chop down the thoughts about future worry. All this makes perfect sense. Get rid of past and future thoughts to clear the mind and come fully into the moment. Of course in the case of the mind, one cannot simply plow the field, we dance with the mind and attempt various ways of allowing the thoughts to pass through until they barely get our attention anymore. We don’t try to get rid of the thoughts, that would only make them bigger, we simply learn to put our attention elsewhere. We learn to awaken to alert presence and reserve our attention for the thoughts that come from our higher selves and actually mean something. That all makes perfect sense and will keep us busy for as long as it takes, but it is not the whole picture. Accessing the moment is made up of much more. Next up, resistance. It comes in many forms and we must learn what it does to the moment in both subtle and obvious ways.

It is easy to “be in the moment” when things are going our way or we like the circumstances. What happens when it is all going “wrong”? As soon as we are resisting anything the present moment has to offer, we have slipped back into sleep. Our mind will become busy wishing things were different or planning ways to make change. We must embrace whatever the moment brings. We won’t lose our way or become numb to life. Life will show us how to flow and live in a much more alert and awakened state. We will be one with life. For me, learning about perception has helped a lot. We must be willing to look at all our programmed perceptions on life. We must open to the idea that we really don’t know what is good or bad. We can evolve out of labeling everything and arranging things to fit into one category or another. Watching our resistance to things and letting go of our attachments to what “should” be is a wonderful practice. Not and easy one. But, a wonderful one. Peace replaces resistance, one moment at a time.

“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them – while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.” ― Eckhart Tolle

These are wonderfully comforting words from Eckhart Tolle. Also ambitious. We can do it! It’s not too ambitious if it is grounded in letting go and letting life live us. We can set our intentions to observe and allow resistance to pass through or to teach us something. Let’s look at a few forms of resistance and its antidotes.

General Resistance – When we first begin watching our resistance to things in the moment, it may be surprising how much we resist one thing or another. We have a lot of ideas about good/bad and right/wrong. We spend a lot of wasted energy resisting what already is and wishing for something else. We live in distraction rather than actually living what the moment is trying to show us. We must be willing to accept that we don’t really know what is ultimately good/bad or right/wrong. We don’t have to roll over and accept everything, but we must really look at what is just a programmed reaction and what really deserves our energy and attention. It is exhausting to label everything and try to make it all go our way. Our resistance plays a part in this. Acceptance doesn’t bring more of what we think we don’t want, it actually opens up a place to receive more or what we are meant to have. We can know we are meant to experience certain things because we already are experiencing them; we don’t have to wonder if this experience is meant for us because it is already happening. With acceptance of what already is, no experience is wasted. It is a delicate dance. As we let go of all the little resistances we have in general, we can flow more deeply with our true being that allows us to know when something really is or is not right for us. Our general resistance to life can dissolve and then we can learn to trust true resistance in a more meaningful way.

Subtle Resistance – I noticed this one more recently. As our awareness of resistance helps us release it along the way, we can get better at accepting things and letting go of our resistance habits. Even just acknowledging that we are resisting is helpful in the process and will move us along in our practice. Then, we can hopefully open our eyes wider and see the ripples of resistance that are still playing a part in our interactions with life. Sometimes we have this little voice that continues to subtly resist things as we go along. A little nagging thing that says, “that is not right” or “that won’t happen to me” or “I can’t believe they did that.” One particular example springs to mind where I noticed my subtle resistance ripples. Many parents of older children seem to love to compliment my children on their choices/manners/habits and then proceed to tell me, “Just wait until they are older….” and then describe how horrible they will inevitably be when they become teenagers. I noticed myself having this little, “that won’t be us” reaction inside. Silly to give my energy towards resisting what someone else is experiencing or sharing. Who knows what will happen when my kids are older? Why give my energy and peaceful power away in the moment of someone else describing their situation? Resistance shows up in many subtle ways. After I noticed this particular recurring one, I consciously made an effort to allow people’s comments to just flow through me. I chose to truly be there to really hear them and listen with my heart about their situation rather than making it about me and what may or may not happen to my family. I can have an open heart rather than a reaction full of resistance. It is helpful to notice even the subtle ripple of this waste of time and energy response called resistance. We all have these subtle resistance patters happening to show us how to grow further into detachment and acceptance of all that is.

Providing Resistance – You know the saying, “Whatever you resist persists.” Well, it’s true. No exception. If you are resisting something in any situation, it grows in power and presses harder. You literally give the thing you are resisting something to butt up against and push on. If you let things pass through you and have detached acceptance working for you then things can flow through. Parenting offers a lot of opportunities to practice this one. It is always interesting to balance when to let things be and when to step in and handle the thing I think I can’t allow or tolerate. I have seen the magic of not providing that resistance anymore and the situation completely diffusing itself. All of our relationships allow places to practice no longer providing that resistance. Life opens up for us when we no longer resist it.

Avoidance and Numbing Resistance – Sometimes we just don’t want to feel something, don’t want to face something and/or don’t want to deal with something. We use all kinds of distraction methods to avoid actually experiencing the things we are meant to. If we are honest with ourselves, we know what methods we are using and we can see how it would feel to just drop the distractions and experience what is waiting for us in the magic of the moment. Maybe we don’t need the television on, maybe we don’t need to surf the internet or waste time on our smart phones, maybe we don’t need that cocktail to relax us, maybe we’re not really hungry and don’t need that snack, maybe we don’t need all those busy plans that keep us from going deeper inside to open to more of life. We know when we are avoiding and numbing out rather than pushing through and fearlessly experiencing life found in the precious present moment. The moment is Life. We can handle whatever form it comes in by grounding ourselves in the moment rather than in distraction and avoidance.

Past and Future Resistance – Often, we see someone or experience something through the veil of the past or worry about the future. We may see someone we have not had a “good” experience with in the past, and we only interact with them from the perception of the past. The person in front of us is completely different from the last time we saw them and so are we. If we remain stuck in past experience of them, we are not in the moment and we are using past experiences to resist what may be available to us in the present moment. Instead of living with an open heart in the moment, we are closing the door to the experience that was meant for us. The encounter with the very same person may be quite lovely if we can see them with fresh loving eyes that have only the present moment in mind. The same thing goes for future worry. We may be resisting what is happening in the moment because we fear what it will cause in the future. But, we are not really experiencing the moment if we are caught up in the future. We must stay right where we are at and allow all that is meant to happen in the exact moment we are in. The “future” will only come in the form of another moment. We can handle all of them as they come.

Creative Resistance – As we continue our practice of letting go of our resistance to life and opening up to the moment, we can observe and understand our resistance in a more meaningful way. We are all here to do something and we are all co-creators in this life. The more we get in touch with our truest purpose, the more we must be willing to push through our resistance. We are sure to encounter much resistance as we approach that which we are meant to do. The stakes get higher and fear can take a stronger hold on us as we muster our courage to try. Here are a few favorite quotes on this type of resistance.

“Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” ― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That’s why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there’d be no Resistance.” ― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

There is only ever love or fear. Resistance is just another form of fear. Sometimes it’s just general stuff from programmed labels we resist, sometimes subtle ripples persist as we learn to gain more presence, sometimes we let resistance nurture bad habits and sometimes we listen to resistance and realize it is the strongest around things we are truly meant to do. As we become better masters of our own various types of resistance, we will be able to let the waves of fear pass through and turn to love and even push through the important resistance that came to show us we are on the right track. We can listen to the fear and resistance and act from our soul to overcome and pass through to our life’s purpose. We can live each moment in love.

Wishing us all the courage and wisdom to listen to life and let go of resistance. Wishing us the ability to know when to let resistance pass through without giving it our attention and when we should take note and push through it to our higher calling. There is so much waiting for us in the moment. Learning to listen and open with acceptance of with already is is a great way to open the door to the life we are meant to have with all the love we are meant to feel.

Sending you love and joy!

8 Comments

April 1, 2014

Self Trust = Faith In All

“Self-trust is the first secret of success.” ―Ralph Waldo Emerson

The true self is much more than words can express. I’ll continue attempting to express it anyway. 🙂

We are meant to evolve to completely trust ourselves. Our true self. The One that is connected to All. When we trust our truest self, rather than our ego, we can be sure of how we will handle any situation and circumstance that may arise. This kind of trust in ourselves isn’t about trusting our little personality that shows up in the world or our bodies and programmed logical perspective on things, it is about much much more. Self-trust is about knowing who and what we truly are in our deepest essence. It is Being. A deep self-trust can take hold and we can shift how we live in the world. There are many parts to this, of course, but, we can do it. We can know and live in our being so much that we can be sure and steady in knowing we are rooted in something deeper than the sway of daily events. This trust in something deeper is an important step in our evolution. Once we can trust completely in our higher self we open the door to all that we are meant to experience.

Self-trust is the only trust their really is. Placing your trust in and on others is a precarious endeavor. It adds expectations and burdens to them. People are out there doing the best they can and that is all we can truly expect. We are all evolving along our own path and pace and it is all fine. We don’t need to go around expecting people to pick up the pace or wait for us. We can accept and love people just as they are. We don’t need to trust them. We only need to love them. We can support the growth in each other and be authentic in our interactions with them. This may include helping others see themselves as they truly are or it may be a complete and utter acceptance of where they are at. We will know what authentic interaction is called for in each moment. This comes with the self-trust we can cultivate and share with the world. This self-trust blesses everything we do and everyone we meet. It is not a selfish endeavor, it brings peace, love and consciousness to All.

When we no longer feel the need to surround ourselves with people we can “trust” we allow people to simply be who they are and we know deeply that we can handle whatever that may look like. When we no longer need to have people behave in a certain way that works for us or makes us feel safe, then we can experience more of what life has to offer us and we can give back to life what we are meant to bring to the world. When we no longer need to control and manipulate situations and circumstances to fit our desires we can just be in the world in whatever way we are meant to. We open up to life and we open up to more of everything. We no longer need to limit life to the parts we have labeled as trustworthy or desirable. We are open-hearted beings. We have faith in All.

Years ago I was seeking a path to this shift — perhaps even a shortcut. Over time, moment by moment, I can feel that in my case it is a slow and gradual shift in being that gradually envelops our choices and state of mind so that it feels like a warm embrace from a peace that has been there all along just waiting to welcome us home. Love is home. Trusting our higher selves and radiating a light that helps others do the same is the divine glow that lights the path home.

Wishing us all the courage to forgive ourselves when we forget what we are. Wishing us all the courage to forgive others for everything as we realize there is nothing to forgive. It is All well. Sending you love and joy!

8 Comments

March 28, 2014

The Soul – Let’s Face It!

“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” —Oscar Wilde

We are much more than our bodies and personalities. We have infinite depth to us that is always there. We are all souls. We are growing, sharing, learning and becoming more of ourselves all the time. Even if we are stuck in a distracted existence that isn’t aware of this, it is still happening. We will not remain stuck forever. Life moves us along with every single experience. Moment by moment, we evolve. Joy begins when we experience our soul. Joy occurs more frequently when we listen and allow ourselves to be guided in our choices by the soul. Joy becomes constant when we live from our Being on a regular basis. There are many parts to figuring out how to do this, and even more to remembering to let it happen in each moment. We are meant to let the soul shine through and see it in others.

Where should we look for the soul? The face. It’s in the face. It’s not the eyes, or certain features found in the faces we see. It’s in the whole of the face. It’s in every face. We can learn to really see each other and our seeing helps others see themselves and live from their higher self. In return we see ourselves in their faces as well. We can shift reality to a higher perspective. My soul has always known this deeply. I have intuitively done this on countless occasions. I just didn’t know exactly what I was doing. I had it spelled out to me recently in my reading and my heart soared at the description.

I’ve been reading through the Celestine Prophecy Insights again. I read the original book (The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield) about seven years ago and loved it. A fellow blogger reminded me of it recently and I dug it out of a drawer, dusted it off and picked it up again, only to discover that I am now able to understand it on a much deeper level. I am so grateful the Universe brought it to me years ago and picked now to remind me of it again. There are three other books in the adventure series and I am enjoying them immensely for the first time. Here is the excerpt from second book, The Tenth Insight, with the description I am talking about regarding the face:

“If we look closely at another person’s face, we can cut through any facades, or ego defenses, that may be present, and find the individual’s authentic expression, his or her real self. Ordinarily most people don’t know what to focus on when talking to another. Should it be the eyes? It’s hard to focus on both. So which one? Or should it be on the feature that most stands out, such as the nose or mouth?”

“In truth, we are called upon to focus on the whole of the face, which with its uniqueness of light and shadow and alignment of features is much like an inkblot. But within this collection of features, one can find an authentic expression, the soul shining forth. When we focus in love, love energy is sent to this higher-self aspect of the person, and the person will seem to change before our eyes as his or her greater capabilities shift into place.”

This lovely excerpt is part of a dialogue as insights are being explained along an adventure. It is a lovely way to digest spiritual truths in a thrilling story as a picture of what living what we know would look like. It goes on to explain more about sharing energy with people, it is a wonderfully exciting and spiritual read. This particular part about the face touched me deeply. I have seen people change before my eyes. I imagine we all have.

Faces have always meant a lot to me. The change in people when you really see them and send them loving energy is true to my spirit and deeply meaningful to me. My soul delights at authentic interaction with others souls. So does yours! Over the years I used to get somewhat impatient or irritated with people who wouldn’t look me in the eye. I understand and have a bit more patience with it these days, but eye contact has always meant a lot to me. Now I know it is more than just simple good manners or even eye contact in general I was seeking; the face holds the possibility for authentic connection and a window to the soul. Often, you can feel others’ discomfort with full focused energy. People look away or down. Sometimes they can pause and enjoy it and it always leaves both sides feeling more authentically joyful — more of their true selves. I feel it is so rare that people receive full attention with a complete focus of loving energy that they may even mistake it for other things. It would be nice if it wasn’t so rare. I am deeply interested in faces and seeing the real person rather than the representative they often present to the world. I know that with every interaction I have I can bring more loving energy to everyone around me and increase mine at the same time. We all can!

As a mom, I have experienced many amazing moments where I look at my child’s face and really see them for the first time in the day. I wake up from day-to-day stuff and look directly at the soul of my child. For that moment, I am not the mom and they are not the child, we are just two souls looking deeply at each other. They really feel seen and they shine. It can miraculously transform any situation or moment to utter joy. They usually beam back and giggle with delight. They aren’t uncomfortable with it yet, they still feel comfortable functioning from the soul because they haven’t been in their body so long that the ego has taken hold completely. Their willingness to show their soul to me has been the gift of motherhood, it has taught me a lot.

It is great to snap out of our day-to-day roles for brief moments and see the divine being in each other. We have all felt glimpses of this. How delightful it would be to function this way more frequently. We can appreciate the faces of the souls around us and really see them to allow more authentic interaction between souls growing and learning together. Every moment is an opportunity to allow more of our soul to shine through. Every moment is an opportunity to remember that all things come from love or fear and we can see past the fear and allow the love to shine through. We can see more than the personality, we can see the soul.

As we go out into the world today, let’s face the soul in each other and share our soul with the world. Let’s not look away, let’s send love and awaken the soul in others as we feel more of our own divine being. Let’s love every face and see the miracle that each of us are. Each of us is a soul. Each of us is a miracle. We are all the same miracle and we can feel and see this on the face of everyone we see.

Thought for the day — What are you reading? The Universe has something picked out for you now — be open to the signs. 🙂 Happy reading!

Sending you joy and love!

6 Comments

March 6, 2014

Living The Questions of Your Life

‘Instead of asking, “What do I want from life?”, a more powerful question is, “What does life want from me?’ —Eckhart Tolle

It is a miracle to be here. We are all here to do something. We are all shaped by our experiences. Every experience is meaningful. We become who we are meant to be so we may bring what we are meant to bring to this world. We are connected to Everything; there is no-one and no-thing we are not connected to. Our choices, intentions, interactions and energies ripple out to others and come back to us. Once we are aware of all this happening, synchronicities abound that connect us to more of ourselves while enhancing others’ ability to do the same. The Universe/God works perfectly in assisting all of this, but once we are aware of it, we co-create with Life. This all happens, not by figuring out the answers to life, but by asking and living the right questions. We all have specific questions we are working with at any given time to assist us along the way.

To live a question, we must acknowledge and accept that we don’t know the answer. We are then in the unknown. The unknown is where we can experience more of life. We must open to the present and live each experience fully to get from it what we are meant to. In this way, we embrace the art of not labeling situations and accepting that all things are unfolding as they should no matter what the details appear to be. We widen our perspective. We no longer need to declare if things are good or bad. We just flow with the circumstances and try to hear what life is saying to us and what question it is presenting for us. We let go of seeking the answers as we flow with the questions. Seeking answers requires future and creates the illusion that we will be somehow better or more complete once we have them. This can only create suffering as we long for a moment other than the one we are in. We receive only the answers we are ready for and they change over time and circumstance. The Divine joy and love is in the questions and allowing them to flow through you at the perfect time for you.

Once we know how to live the questions, we can dwell in peace that has tinges of fearless excitement within. We won’t sit idly by and simply watch everything, we will live authentically with clarity and purpose as we ground our actions in our true essence. Life will show us how to do this if we can only listen.

Watch the synchronicity in your life. Watch the dots connect. Notice what you are meant to receive from each person you come into contact with. Notice what you can give back in return. Be with nature in a way that fills your energy to assist your higher frequency vibration. Watch your conversations. Notice the books that appear at just the right time. Notice Divine energy assisting you. Be kind to yourself. Forget trying to know and embrace living the unknown. See the beauty all around. BE nature instead of in nature. Listen with all your heart. You can function this way always, you don’t have to return to surviving and struggling all the time. Peace can envelope you as you live your questions and evolve to the next, never rushing or resisting, just living in the present.

Lean back and look at the whole of your life. See how it has all connected in meaningful ways to shape you into who you are now. See all the ways that Life has provided for you. Let that feeling embrace you. I call it a Universe hug and I believe that the more you can feel those hugs, the more frequently you receive them. We all need hugs. Feel that hug from the Universe and love and embrace who you are now without judging how you got here or where you should be instead. Just love you now and connect to everything around you as you expand and fill up with peace.

Living the unknown and loving the questions, the “little me” in us quiets down and the larger “I” that is connected to all things Lives. It is a Divine paradox to realize that the only true knowing is found in living peacefully in the Unknown. The question IS the knowing. Living the question is living what you know.

Today I pray to be still and live the question of my heart. I pray to gratefully and peacefully abide in the joy of connectedness to All. I pray to remember this message as I live the moments of my day.

I am sending you love! May you hear your question and feel the joy of living authentically with it.

12 Comments

February 28, 2014

Fresh Eyes

Whatever we look at today, may we see it with fresh eyes.

All too often, we look with the eyes of yesterday. We allow our past experiences and judgments to drag us through our life and relive themselves again and again. This isn’t living. We can’t fully come to the present moment and live our soul’s purpose and essence until we can put down our veil of perception grown in the past and grounded in fear and future.

We can practice looking at the world and everything in it with fresh, clear, new eyes. When we do, we will experience the flow of life in miraculous ways. We can shift how we experience everything. Everything that passes through our vision has our thoughts attached to it as we take it in. We look and attach a label, draw on past experiences as we assume they will repeat themselves and then react accordingly. Living this way, we miss the actual moment and what may be possible within it entirely. We can change the thoughts we attach and open up to the Life we already have waiting for us to experience it fully.

I arrive again and again at the miraculous truth that the unknown is all there really is and it is much better than knowing everything…or at least thinking we do. We really don’t know what the future holds and we would have much more peace if we didn’t feel the need to know. As we shift our perceptions and feel what is really going on in the Divine Universe, we can begin to trust that whatever lies in the unknown is far better than anything we can conjure up with our little ideas about how things should go. Even when things seem to be against us, we usually see the reason it was the perfect for us later. We can trust it all. It is so much more meaningful and, in fact, fun, to just go with the flow and see what happens. My favorite saying lately is simply, “I don’t know, let’s see what happens.” It is a joyful relief that comforts me so…much better than gripping life too tight and continuously striving for some semblance of control. That “control” only blocks Life and all its miracles.

We never really know what we are looking at…even the most familiar things. Once things become familiar to us we no longer see them. We must make the effort to see them fresh. It will awaken our soul and we will come alive to Life simply by seeing what is really there in front of us rather than seeing our thoughts attached to it.

Yesterday at the grocery story, I saw my kids beside me with absolutely fresh eyes. The magical love I felt gave me chills all over. They looked like little miracles standing there near me. I felt like the luckiest person alive just to have them hanging out with me. I watched them for a few moments, one intently looking through items at the counter and one surveying the people all around…it was as if I had never seen them before. I saw them so clearly and I knew throughout my being that I have been blessed in the most amazing way. I could have been distractedly handling that grocery line moment that we have been through what seems like millions of times…instead I was there with fresh eyes and filled with the tingle of Life running through my senses.

I cherish John O’Donohue’s words on the unfamiliar…with gratitude I keep his lessons on seeing the unfamiliar in the most familiar things close to my heart. I love what A Course In Miracles taught me and continues to teach me about perception. I try to remember these lessons as I go through my days…sometimes with fresh eyes, often a bit blurry with flashes of clarity. Recently in my reading, Mark Nepo spoke of these ideas as “love at first sight”… it opened up a new understanding in me. I like the term “love at first sight” used in this way. That was what happened to me at the grocery store. I looked at two of the most familiar people in the world to me and my eyes were so fresh that it was indeed Love At First Sight! Perhaps that is why they say love is all that matters and love is all there is…because when you get your eyes right…love is all you can see and all you can Be.

These ideas are not reserved for easy situations and circumstances. We can apply them to Everything. These fresh new eyes are the ones to use even if we have people in our lives that we feel have wronged us or our loved ones or are in conflict with us in some way, we can look at them with fresh eyes and live only what is in the actual moment in our meetings with them. We don’t have to bring our past experiences with tough people to every interaction with them and we don’t have to replay old movies in our head of how we already know them and what they are all about. We are never exactly the same in any two moments, we can meet everyone fresh in the moment we are actually in. If we can do that, we will surely see that things are always much better in the actual moment without brining all the thoughts about it to keep us distracted or reliving past moments.

Everything around us can feel how we are using our eyes and other senses. Our eyes can bring love or fear. When we’re fresh and present, everything expands to be more fully and authentically alive…even the flower can stand taller. We open life up and we live authentically. The simple choice to use our senses to see things fresh brings the frequency of love that is all there really is to see.

Wishing you countless moments filled with the true and infinite “Love At First Sight” that is always available to us. May we all have the courage to look at it all anew. Let’s see it all fresh!

Sending you love and joy! May the tingle of Life run through your senses!

7 Comments

January 30, 2014

Love Everything…It Makes Everything Loveable

Meet Mouska The Duck!

Mouska has taught our family many lessons about love. I want to share some of what we have learned here. The picture above shows what Mouska looked like the day he came into our lives. We were on a family vacation and we told the kids they could pick out a souvenir in the hotel gift shop. George spotted a little duck on the top shelf in the back corner beyond our reach, we had to ask for assistance to get him down. Once in Georgie’s sweet little hands, he was immediately hugged and named Mouska.

George changed the day he got Mouska and the little duck changed as well. George tapped into his loving and nurturing side as he showered this little duck with so much love that continued expanding toward many more things in his life. Mouska ceased being a little ducky made of terry cloth and stuffed with cotton…he came to life for George, and soon after, for our whole family and even many friends. The love Georgie felt for him made him so lovable to the rest of us. We all love this little ducky dearly. He isn’t just a stuffed animal, he is love. He became lovable because he was loved so much. Georgie became more of his natural loving self by having the sweet relationship with his beloved Mouska.

George and Mouska have been together for over four years now. They have been through many things together. That sweet little duck has been all over with us. He even survived being left behind at a Disneyland hotel and getting a “makeover”… George fully understood what it meant that Mouska had gotten a makeover…he felt the loss and embraced the solution. When the new Mouska arrived in the mail all fresh and fluffy again, the love was no less. Mouska’s spirit and all the love and precious memories had moved on and inhabited the “refurbished” version. What a lucky duck and what a lucky ducky family we are. We all love Mouska so much.

Mouska and George’s little family has expanded over the years; they have plenty of love to share. Meet Coco and James. They are a loving little bunch. At first I resisted more and more animals coming to live and sleep in George’s bed…but Mouska and George live the lesson that there is plenty of love to go around…there is no limit. George does a great job sharing the love, leaving no one out, making everyone feel special and creating joyful moments with all his little buddies, no matter how many in number.

The family has continued to grow and much love is always beaming out of the room and lingering around the house. The current gang that lives and sleeps on George’s bed are Mouska the duck, James the Monkey, Coco the big bear, Ben the little bear, Dan the big giraffe, Bob the little giraffe, Snoopy the dog, Eagie the eagle and Jones the jellybean duck.

There are stories of love behind each animal. Many were precious gifts from loved ones, one was George’s first purchase with his own money. I have watched these little love stories and felt more of my own heart along the way. It truly is amazing to see these little spirits come to life just by being loved.

The lessons of Mouska and friends makes me think…What else could be changed just by being loved? The real question is…what wouldn’t be changed by being loved? I love this Emerson quote…

Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

If Mouska had been treated like terry cloth and cotton, none of this love would have been felt. He was treated like family and filled with love and he gave it back to us. More Mouska lessons show just how much we benefit from giving love. The more love you give, the more love you have to give. We all know all these things of course, but I am so grateful for our little ducky friend and Georgie who live them so clearly for us to witness, allowing us to expand our own love from having seen them.

Some things are easy to love and some are more difficult. We must learn to love it all and spread love wherever we go so there can be more love for everything and everyone to feel. Love is always the answer. No matter what we are going through or who is appearing before us, we can always step back and put some space between the thing or person and our reaction to it. If we can add space and stillness, very soon, we can feel our heart soften and our willingness to act from love expand and fill us. It is always possible and with more and more practice, it becomes much more automatic…we can more easily embrace what we are truly capable of…pure love. We truly can love everything and make everything more lovable. It is a practice, but it is worth it. I pray to get better and better at it each and every day…just a breath, or a moment can help us be our truest self, with plenty of love to give to every circumstance. Some things take a few more breaths or a bit more time, but watching the process can shorten the time between our little reaction and the true one that comes from our heart to add love to the world.

These days Mouska isn’t as fluffy as he used to be. He has lost his hair twice and he is quite worn by love now. Each year at his birthday party (yes, the kids throw him a birthday party each year), it is easy to see he is changing over time and his experiences are showing. But, no matter how flat he becomes or how much fluff he loses, the love for him is still growing. I love to think that all of us aren’t aging, we’re simply showing our experiences and being worn in with love.

Wishing you the space to live from the place of love for all things that transforms how you see the world and how you can BE in the world. Lets leave nothing on the top shelf unloved, lets pull it all down and fill it with love. No matter what it appears to be…love can change it!

Sending you so much love and joy today and always. Happy love spreading!

January 15, 2014

You Are Already There

Time is a bully! Let’s stand up to it!

In our culture, our days are split into segments of time and our moments are given varying degrees of importance. It is kind of crazy how we have allowed time to push us around. We watch the clock, waiting for things to happen…”When will they arrive?”, What time do we need to be there?”, “When should we get ready?”, “How long will the drive take?”, “When will this line get moving?”, “I can’t wait until…”, “I will be so happy when…”, etc. We constantly think the next thing is what we are waiting for. The truth is, we are already there; but, unless we can really feel that, we stay stuck in the world of being pushed around and bullied by time.

We are all at our own perfect place on our path toward self-realization and awareness. We each have varying degrees of presence we are able to access throughout the day. No matter where you are on your path, you can observe how you are treating the moments in your life and find ways to honor them and experience them more fully. Are you using parts of the day that are your least favorite or that you dread as a means to an end? Do you rush through things to get to the next? Do you allow yourself to feel that things will be better when this chore or task is complete? Is there constantly some future moment that seems like it will be a better one that will bring you happiness? Is there some change that would make things much better? Are you distracting yourself from your real life? Are you truly present to the Life you already are (we don’t have life, we are Life)?

Many people live in the state of waiting for the next thing much of the time and don’t even know that they are not present in their life and much of their experiences are passing them by. It is like sleep-walking without knowing it. Your real life is there waiting for you to join in and you’re busy wishing something else was happening and resisting what already is. Our life is made up of a bunch of moments and the one we are in is the only one we can ever actually live; life only comes in the form of now. This crazy relationship we have developed with time is truly a dreadful way to live and sure to bring suffering as we dwell in resisting what is. If we have a certain number of moments while here on Earth in this form, why should standing in line at the pharmacy be any less meaningful and present than attending a party or celebration? Why is the drive to the event something to hurry and get over with? How do we treat any moment as something to throw away? We don’t have to; we can treat all of our moments the same and enjoy Life the way we are meant to.

Here are a few ideas that may help us do this no matter where we are on our path; they should apply in every situation (easy to say, harder to actually do…wishing us all the ability to live these things…with practice, we can do it!):

Accept Everything – Yesterday, for example, I woke up with excruciating back pain that was making it hard to breathe and a sore throat that felt like swallowing cement. As I groaned in pain at every move I made, I also felt this wonderful sense of peace in the background. I knew I had all these reasons mounting that would prevent me from doing what I needed to do for the day (or thought I needed to do)…but it really didn’t matter. It slowed my day down and gave me many joyous moments I may not have experienced otherwise. I resisted nothing, adjusted with the details, and in doing so, my throat pain eased up and my back improved dramatically. I had a really peaceful day filled with a lot of sweet moments (even the kids and I cleaning up our third plumbing issue in the past few weeks…we just made it fun). I could have resisted and been frustrated and stayed in all kinds of pain and misery, but in going with the flow, I accessed my inner peace and it was quite lovely. I know from past experience that resistance and worry over things helps them hang around longer. My day didn’t improve because I started feeling better…I was already there in the peace found in the moment and the details came to match the real me…rather than me allowing my circumstances to pretend to be me. The truth is that everything happens as it should and everything passes. So, why resist anything? Just accept it all. Sometimes we face little things like the examples above and sometimes we must face major difficulties and tragedies…practicing on the little things will help us when things really get tough. Accepting every little thing as if you chose it will prepare you for anything and lead you to true inner peace that won’t depend on your outer circumstances.
Label Nothing – Part of accepting everything is learning to label nothing. We have a tendency to label every single thing that happens as good or bad. Truth is, we don’t really know which it is and we’re just guessing or reliving past experiences and assuming they will be the same…the experience is really neither good, nor bad, it just is. By not labeling, we don’t have to draw on the past or take ourselves to the future to project how it will work out. We get to truly experience each thing and each moment and use the energy we would have wasted on labeling it for actually living it. We open ourselves up to all that Life is and expand to more of ourselves and the world around us. We truly grow.
Get Comfortable With Not Knowing – If we already know how this is going to go, then we aren’t really present to it. If we are playing things out in our minds by reliving things and projecting futures that may never happen, we aren’t there, we’re lost in some other experience. Not knowing means we really open up our senses and awareness and see what happens. It is magical. I actually think this is an entire post on its own, so I will try to keep this short. The not knowing is so much better than the knowing…it is amazing. You know how the more you learn, the more you realize that you have so much more to learn…well, it’s kind of like that. It’s like, the more you don’t already know, the more you have to live. I love it!
Slow Down – Just try it. Nothing bad will happen, you can add more space around things, take more breaths before you talk, more quiet before you react, more opportunities to just be. You can build your life to support slowing down, even in today’s world. You can choose your pace and make it stick. You can make little choices and little changes slowly that point you in the direction of taking all the time you need to enjoy all the life you are. You can do it! On time is when you get there because you are already there.
Ritual – Anything can be a ritual. We recently started a tea-time ritual at our home. It’s a work in progress, but we’re trying to have a midpoint in the day that reminds us to slow down and enjoy where we are. We are assigning duties to each family member to put it together and we are formally sitting down to sip tea, talk, enjoy silence together and eat our crudités, fruit and tea cookies in presence. As we prepare it, enjoy it and clean it up, we can bring honor to it by making it a true ritual. This ritual is a new one we are adding midday, we have our morning meditation and prayer, then we have poetry at night. This added reminder in the middle of the day is quite helpful. You could pick anything and make it a ritual worth honoring and as a tool to bring more presence into your life. We recently added meditation bracelets to our morning practice; we put them on to remember the peace we felt on our mat and bring it to whatever moment we are in throughout the day. Pick anything and make it sacred…even sorting the laundry, sweeping the floor or brushing your teeth…it really can be done. Taking the time to honor things and make them sacred is so healing and can add so much peace to your life.
Listen — To everything and everyone. Rush no person and no experience. We are not in this world, we are of this world…everything is speaking to us and telling us something. Manage your relationship with time so that you can hear Everything.
Love — Just had to put it here because it is always the answer and of course, all we ever need. Spread it and receive it well.

These are just a few ideas to help us stand up to time. Your soul already knows which ones will help you most; sometimes we just need the reminder that the time to do it is now. Now is all there ever is. Wishing you presence, peace and freedom found in timelessness. Sending you love and joy today and always!

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December 31, 2013

Honor The Little Things and Big Things Will Happen

It is in the air right now…setting goals, making resolutions, trying to make changes. This is all fine and can be a lovely experience…until it isn’t. For this process to go well, it is important to remember, it is the little things that make success possible. All things are made up of lots and lots of little things that connect to each other in ways beyond our imagination. Honoring the little things we do brings more awareness and roots us in presence that allows us to live a conscious and authentic life. Doing little things well, with our fullest attention and awareness can keep us awake to life and bring peace to us and everyone around us. The intention we put behind each little thing comes back to us in direct proportion. Let’s talk about socks…

Little things done well is probably the greatest secret to success. –Coach John Wooden

Coach Wooden has shared many great lessons about the little things and paying attention to detail. Coach describes paying attention to detail as the difference between champions and near champions. In many of his books, he gave us the beautiful story of how he instructed his players to put on their socks. At the first squad meeting each season, he personally demonstrated with explicit detail how to start with the toes, how to run your fingers along the side to prevent wrinkles, how to handle the heel and much more (it is actually quite a long explanation). He would demonstrate and then watch each player do it. Then he would move on to the other foot and do that one, first demonstrating, then watching. Next, how to tie your shoes. He speaks passionately about preventing blisters and avoiding laces coming undone.

In various interviews with Coach’s players, they share their perspective of the sock lessons. They recall being excited and ready to have their first meeting with the greatest coach of all time. With enthusiastic anticipation, waiting to hear how they would win the championship, how he had been so successful, the secret to winning, etc., anxious to get down to those legendary practices, they would soon find themselves learning how to put on their socks. They would start the season with intense sock training and end winning the championship; quite a powerful lesson on little things.

Coach left a great gift behind by recounting his dedication to the little things for us. He planned his practices down to the second. He was all about proper preparation and attention to the smallest detail. No matter what success his team encountered, he always stayed true to his Pyramid of Success, living all of the little things explained within and doing his personal best in all things (big and small). He started every single season with the socks.

I have heard Eckhart Tolle talk at great length about noticing how it feels to pull on your pants, how to feel the fabric on your skin, how to experience every part of getting dressed in the morning, bringing presence to it all. He talks about truly experiencing our morning shower instead of not really being there because we have allowed our mind to distract us with thoughts about the day or worry about the past. He describes the difference in really being there and feeling the water hit our skin and the joy of that everyday experience we so often miss.

Thich Naht Hanh tell us, “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” I have heard him describe the experience of tea. It is lovely. When asked how long it takes him to drink a cup, he said it was about an hour. A mindful cup of tea is an hour well spent.

If you do little things well, you’ll do big ones better.

I have a plaque on my desk that says the quote above. It has no name attached to it; someone said it, someone made the plaque. I am grateful they did. It is a nice reminder.

Years ago, my son found his favorite poem. He recited it quite frequently, even in front of his preschool class. It just so happens, it is called Little Things. It is by Julia A. F. Carney. I included this image below in a previous post about Beauty. To me, this is a beautiful image because it is my boy’s sweet young writing and because the words are so powerful and contain so much wisdom. On his own, at three years old, he connected to these words and repeated them countless times throughout our days. That little thing he did for us was really a huge blessing.

Nothing big can happen without countless little things happening just as they should. We create and design our world with each and every little thing we do. This isn’t about doing things perfectly, there is no such thing. It is about bringing presence to everything we do and doing it with our fullest attention and awareness. It is also about learning how to set goals that will allow enough room to keep all the little things in sharp focus. I have noticed how awful it feels when I cannot do things to the best of my ability and with my full attention. I would rather choose not to do something than have to rush through and half-way go through the motions. My soul knows about the little things and what grounding myself in them feels like, anything less is numbing, inauthentic and brings suffering.

Doing the little things well is truly living, it’s really being where we are and honoring every little detail. All the little activities, choices, thoughts, etc., turn into how we are creating the world we live in. Treating every little thing as sacred brings more presence, more love, more peace, more joy, more miracles, more alignment with our soul’s purpose — more of everything we are meant to live. As you set your goals and resolutions this year, be sure you have enough room for honoring the little things. Those little things add up, multiply and come back to bless you in countless ways — big and small.

May the goals you set for yourself this year be blessed with the proper attention, awareness and presence for honoring the little things necessary to achieve them. Wishing you joy and presence found in putting on your socks, pulling up your pants, taking a shower and drinking a cup of tea. Sending you love!

December 25, 2013

Peace and The Golden Rule

Merry Christmas To All!

Jesus’ living example of what it looks like to live the golden rule and in peace that passes all understanding is a magnificent gift for everyone to see. It is a beautiful thing to look at how Jesus lived so that we can see all we are meant to be. We can be kind to everyone we meet, without exception. We can love everything without fear. We can cast aside all judgements as we embrace, encourage, welcome or at least accept, all things. We can be infused with peace that comes from within and isn’t shaken or changed by life’s circumstances or situations, no matter what form they come in. That spark of love in us all can make these things possible; Jesus came and showed us how.

Wishing everyone abundant peace that comes from living with a kind and open heart rooted deeply in joyful being and sacred listening to Life’s miracles. From my heart — thank you for visiting me here!

December 22, 2013

Stillness and Spaciousness – Making Room For It Throughout Our Days, Living From It…It Isn’t a Future Goal or Luxury When Time Allows…It’s Who We Truly Are

In the journey of life, all roads worth traveling point to the stillness and going within. Life cannot be lived well or peacefully focused without. It doesn’t work.

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” ―Eckhart Tolle

Spaciousness is essential to realizing who we are and where true peace comes from. As we put more space around everything — every choice, every word, every action, every emotion… we open up more room for peace and the experience of stillness to take hold. The space and stillness is who we really are, it isn’t empty space, it’s where our essential selves are. All the rest is our personality covering over the real us. We can spend a lot of time working on the personality and training it to be all kinds of things, but, underneath it lies a joy and peace that we are all meant to dwell in. This is the connectedness we share with all things.

We have all experienced how a few deep breaths can allow us to make a much better choice by cooling our temper or gathering our courage before a bad choice or reaction. That breath took us to who we really are and allowed more of our true self to emerge and make the better choice. We can work hard on our self-control, which is important; but, we must allow our self-realization to emerge so that we can live in the peace and joy as a permanent state of being.

We can put more space around each and every thing by really experiencing it, from the most challenging situation, to the sweetest gesture from a loved one and everything in between…simply being there with it in a more meaningful way, with a lot of pause and breath and attention. It is the path to joy and peace. Avoiding things or distracting ourselves from things we don’t like only keeps us stuck in the repetitive lessons of a shallow life. Judging and labeling situations and people robs us from our peace and joy by keeping us swirling in our thoughts about things instead of immersed in life and being; those thoughts keep us from the space and stillness. Accepting whatever comes our way and giving it the most of us will deliver us to our truest selves.

“Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” ― Eckhart Tolle

I haven’t yet mastered the ability, nor found the time to sit on my meditation mat for hours each day. Sometimes I wish I was better at it and could give more time to it, then I remember that there will be time for that. I am sure of it. I understand that I am in this busy time of life right now with so many different roles, goals, responsibilities and others counting on me, etc., and that is all just as it is meant to be. I don’t have to wait for more space and stillness in some future that would allow more time, I can use my life situation just as it is now to bring more space and stillness to all that I am doing. I can use all the little “doings” in my life to allow more of my essential “being” to emerge. This is my practice.

“In today’s rush we all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of just Being.” ―Eckhart Tolle

To live a life of non-reaction means to live more deeply from your essential being. It is so easy to let the personality respond to every little thing; it is also a dreadful way to live. Adding space and stillness as you accept what comes is what can allow you to skip reacting and shift to being. It amazes me how often I stumble into the truth that it is all in the little things. I have heard that lesson from countless teachers, poems, quotes, signs, etc. I tell my kids, “This family has big ideas, but we implement them with our little choices again and again.” It is a great practice to honor all the little things…

“The significance is hiding in the insignificant. Appreciate everything.” ―Eckhart Tolle

Loving all little things and honoring them with enough space to be is a great practice. Slowing down to be with each little thing. Add a breath before and after everything. Feel things more deeply. Before you do or say or think anything, just be. All the doing can become more miraculous. Life can feel more meaningful; the key is in honoring each and every little thing you do…it all connects to the next moment. Everything is sacred. Cherish everything.

“Doing is never enough if you neglect Being.” ―Eckhart Tolle

There are many practices that can help bring more stillness and spaciousness to our days. Many have gone before us and provided wonderful examples and paths for us. Our souls lead us to the best path for us. All paths lead to the same place. There is no need to wait until we can be great at our spiritual practice and fashion it after the great teachers before us. We can just BE with the truest part of ourselves right where we are at doing whatever we are doing. Yesterday, I found my space and peace (which had escaped me for a bit) by sitting in the middle of my son’s self-created game of “Airport” in which all his cars were in various lines waiting to take off on one of his planes. He was completely immersed in the joy of playing and happy to share this imaginary world he had created. He shared it with me so joyfully. His playtime was naturally in the peace and joy that we all have waiting for us; I joined him there and blessed my soul with really truly being there. He had set his game up right in front of my bedroom door; I was simply passing through. I could have walked right though that amazing moment; instead, I stopped and found my soul right in the middle of his “Airport.”

I am wishing us all the wisdom to stop and be where we’re at and cease walking through the precious moments we are meant to experience. I am wishing us spaciousness and stillness as a permanent companion so we can truly feel who and what we are and live in the peace and joy that has always been there waiting for us.

Thank YOU for visiting me here! This is an important part of my practice and your visit honors it and encourages me so very much!

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Tag: Joy

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