nature
Dream Big This Summer!
Summer is a perfect season for welcoming happiness. It brings out a spirit of joy in everyone. Invitations arrive in the mail for outdoor parties with friends, beaches officially open, and outdoor markets beckon with fresh produce, conversations, laughter, and music. Summer is also the culmination of the seeds planted during the early spring. It is the season when connections are made with friends and loved ones and a time for renewal and self-love.
As we witness certain events unfold these days in our cities and towns, some positive, some troublesome, and some with more profound lessons that stir our souls, we must hold fast to the joy that summer promises. We must not be discouraged. The world’s weight can be a heavy load to carry, but the burden does not belong to us as individuals. It is time to change the station on your internal radio, and replace the gloom and doom with a deep resonance of peace.
In choosing light over darkness, we signal to the universe that a shift has occurred in our minds and spirits. The universe will respond with similar energy and usher in our lives more love, joy, forgiveness, peace, solitude, and all we desire.
Each of us can live a life free of heavy anchors that only serve to weigh us down. Each of us can soar high above the mundane world that challenges our hopes and dreams and sometimes sends a message that our most important goals do not matter. Do not allow anyone or anything to stand in the way of manifesting your heart’s desires!
This summer, I invite you to create a vision board with your most precious dreams, boldly outlined from border to border. Place a photograph of yourself in the middle of your vision board and connect your desired outcomes to your photo, like tree branches.
Finding The Light Within
When we rely on codependent, toxic relationships, materialism and possessions, and other superficial sources of ‘fulfillment,’ it creates a weariness within us. It weighs down the soul. It drowns out the inner light.
Material things and human beings by nature cannot be perfectly reliable all of the time. Material items deteriorate and lose their luster. Friendships and relationships come and go. All that ever truly remains is spirit, and what we do to take care of ourselves. As the world is in dismay in the wake of a pandemic, we can choose to turn to spirit and to take better care of ourselves instead.
While others may choose to descend into lack consciousness, greed or an attitude of entitlement, we can choose an attitude of gratitude, inner peace and joyful living instead.
We have a tremendous opportunity right now to expand our spiritual growth and to empower ourselves with self-care. Many folks don’t realize how useful taking just a few minutes out of their busy day can be!
Adopting a new daily spiritual practice, or simply reading an inspiring book, taking a soothing bath, or buying an aromatherapy diffuser can be uplift the spirit and heal the soul.
There is also crystal energy work, nature walks, prayer, and meditation by a body of water to enhance our joy and connect with the Creator who envisioned all this and brought it all into being.
What we can’t control, we can simply turn over to a Higher Power of our understanding. We can surrender to hope and joy, and let go of our fears. We can say, “This does not have to happen on my timeline, let Your will be done in my life.”
The Transformative Power Of The Moon
Does your energy change for better or worse when there is a Full Moon? Every person has some notion of what a Full Moon means to them.
When the Moon is full, it has an energy pull and charging capability that is unlike the new or quarter moons. During a Full Moon, I usually find it difficult to sleep – no matter how hard I try. The energetic pull is powerful. This is when my mind is most active.
A Full Moon is in fact the best time to open yourself to receive healing or spirit messages, to recharge your energy, or set intentions for manifestation to transform your life for the better. Crystals can also be put out under the Full Moon to charge them up and bring new life to them.
The Full Moon is a time to breathe in the good, release what does not serve you, and allow the Moon’s energy to take lighten your worries and lessen your burdens. A simple clearing ceremony becomes ‘super-charged’ under a Full Moon. Write down what does not serve you: your hurts, your disappointments, your anger and so on. Then burn this list outside, under the Full Moon, while asking the Universe, Source, God, Spirit, the Divine to cleanse the energy from your being.
I live close to a lake and when the Moon is full, no matter what time of year, it reflects off the lake in its various hues and colors. I always take a walk to the lake to allow this energy to feed my soul. It uplifts my spirit and makes me smile. Gazing at the beauty of the Full Moon brings new energy to you if you do it properly.
The next time there is a Full Moon, venture outdoors, look up and contemplate her beauty and power. Ask yourself, how do you feel standing there under the Full Moon? Ask yourself what you want to accomplish or change in your life? You need not do anything further. The manifesting and healing powers of the Moon will carry your intentions forward.
The Importance Of Self-Investment
When I was younger, I thought of self-investment as ‘self-indulgence.’ However, as I grew spiritually, my guides made me aware that this was far from the case. In fact, I have learned that self-investment is a necessity – particularly in today’s world!
What can self-investment do for you? Well, it helps to calm your emotions and ground your energy. You feel more in control of your overall situation – whatever that may be.
It can also help prevent burnout by reducing stress, inducing a sense of calm, and minimizing anger, frustration, and depression, while boosting self-esteem! It may further help increase your sense of focus, aid concentration and thus help you deal with any current tasks.
Self-investment also helps you feel much more optimistic and increases your sense of happiness, thus attracting more of the good that the abundant universe has to offer you. It aids you in tapping into your higher self, connecting with the Divine, and utilizing your fullest potential in life.
Sounds great, right? But how does one go about implementing self-investment in a modern, busy life? Consider the following strategies:
Manage Your Time
Most people feel that they cannot self-invest as they never have the time to do so. However, why not draw up a timetable for your week and schedule some me-time? Taking time to do so will pay many dividends for your overall well-being, and what is more important than that?
Drawing up such a schedule will allow you to incorporate healthy habits, and it is the correct kind of habits when it comes to self-nurture that have the most impact. Schedule it: whether you like singing in the bath, cooking delicious healthy food, taking a brisk walk before bedtime, or planning for an early night!
Our Totems And Spirit Animals
It is my belief that we all have animal spirit guides that guide and support us along our life journey.
Each spirit animal represents a different aspect of life. Some show up when we need their particular energy or receive their symbolic message, while others show up consistently throughout our lifetime. These animals, birds, mammals, reptiles, and even fish, are like our personal totems.
I have three main spirit totems: the eagle, the red tail hawk, and the owl. Each has shown up consistently in my life, especially when there is a time of adversity, grief, or crisis occurring.
I was made of aware of these three totems early in my life, when I consulted with an indigenous elder. He gave me my spiritual name: Soaring Free. I instantly loved my name. It represents the proud eagle that soars on high, the red tail hawk that soars in broad circles high in the air, and the owl that is wise and roams free.
The Eagle
After my parents passed away, I was cleaning their house. Not only was I grieving at the time, I was also very distraught, having to decide whether to sell their home or not. I was not at all sure if it would be the right thing to do.
Then, I asked my angels to give me a sign. Moments later, as I looked down towards the lake, there were two beautiful bald eagles sitting on the edge of a tree branch.
The Spiritual Tidings Of The Ladybug
If you enjoy gardening or spend a lot of time outdoors, you are probably well-acquainted with ladybugs. These brave little members of the beetle insect family come in thousands of varieties and colors and are found all over the world.
In medieval Europe, these little beetles were associated with the Virgin Mary, because they helped protect farmers’ crops from pests. The ladybug eats aphids and other garden pests, while keeping flowers and plants healthy.
In other cultures, including Scandinavia, Japan, and India, ladybugs are associated with divine feminine energy, as well as forgiving ourselves and others, spiritual grace, and empathy. The cycle of death and rebirth, along with the ability to heal, are also symbolic trademarks of the humble ladybug.
But they are not just useful as nature’s pest controllers. They are also spiritual messengers.
It is said good fortune isn’t far away when a ladybug lands on you, and for good reason: their hard outer shells and bright colors make them among the toughest survivors in the insect world. And they do not only bring tidings of good luck, they are also good omens of protection and healing.
Next time you encounter a ladybug, count the number of spots you see on its shell. If there are a total of seven spots, or another prime number, it is considered especially lucky. Likewise, note the color. Ladybugs are often depicted as red with black spots, but they also come in various shades of yellow (joy, optimism, the sun) and orange (health, prosperity). Just like our fingerprints, no two ladybugs are the same.
Unlike some other insects, the ladybug can live comparatively long, up to two to three years, and they also hibernate like mammals. For this reason, ladybugs often show up in our lives when it is time for us to engage in greater self-care, or recover our physical and spiritual strength when life becomes overwhelming. When they fly on a warm summer breeze, imagine them taking some of your cares away.
Transitioning With Grace
Autumn always awakens my awareness of transitions. Not only does the entire scenery change color, but each individual leaf on every tree is in a constant shift of shades of greens, golds, yellows, oranges, and reds. With every shifting shade and combination of them, the pattern of the palette continuously alters too.
Then, of course, there is the falling of the leaves – the gradual transition from tree to ground, from full foliage to bareness in various new measures day by day. The rise and set of the sun, and the length of the night and light incrementally inch through their own thresholds as well.
Like the changing season, life is full of transitions. From the moment the soul enters the womb, an endless sequence of them begins. The body develops in a rapid succession of changes, then carries the soul from womb to world.
In the world, the embodied soul then undergoes transition through various ages and stages, growing from infant to toddler to child to adolescent to adult, until gradually winding down to leave the body behind and proceed to the next one or world.
In between, you and I – the embodied souls – may face a multitude of additional transitions in relationships, careers, residences, levels of consciousness, and more. Such transitions – even the best of them – are not easy. They naturally incorporate intervals of instability in the liminal spaces between here and there. Transitions entail shedding, releasing, letting go of the old that was, and then birthing and rebirthing the next and new phase that will be. They empty us out and fill us up, again and again. Transitions are not easy; they may even make us feel queasy!
So, how can we move through the endless array of life’s transitions gracefully? As with all things, there are probably as many ways as there is individuality among people. What I share are simply some of the ones I have found especially helpful.