self-realization
Stay Away From Those ‘Basket Thieves’
Your hopes, your dreams, your wishes and aspirations, all of your visions for your life are stacked together in your own little basket of hope. I have one. So does my neighbor, and my best friend too. Be it in our minds, or on paper, we all have that little basket of hope. Or one could even go so far as to call it a “bucket list”. I call it my “basket of hope”. Same difference.
Recently I had the misfortune of coming across a “basket thief” – kind of like a horse whisperer or a dog whisperer, except not nearly the positive experience either one of the above can bring. A basket thief doesn’t come to you to whisper in your ear about your hopes and your dreams. They don’t even really care about your hopes and dreams. What they do care about is you putting aside said hopes and dreams in order to help them achieve theirs. Continue reading
Begin By Loving Yourself Unconditionally
The first person any of us learns to love is ourself. And that’s how it should be, even if many of us forget how to do that somewhere along the way. Yet, how can we expect to show love for anyone else if we do not first love ourselves?
So many of us think of love as an abstract “thing.” Love is not a thing; it’s an action! We need to make it a part of our conscious thought.
Also, we live in a culture which is harsh, judgmental, and narrow-minded, which causes so many of us to stop loving ourselves. Everyone has had a time when he or she felt less than, or imperfect. This becomes a snowball effect where we gradually put ourselves down all the time. But it doesn’t have to be this way, and unconditional love of self is the basis of all healthy relationships. Continue reading
Solitary Bliss
I like to do many things by myself – alone. I can concentrate better when I’m left to my own devices. I feel centered and complete when I’m in my own little retreat; my energy is my own and I don’t have to be disrupted in any way, shape or form.
When I am out in nature taking walks, or wanting to spend time with God in prayer, I am at my most peaceful. I like to meditate alone. I get more out of whatever I’m doing when I am doing it with just me, myself and I.
I respect those who need others to feel connected. I feel we are all on our own journeys and that is what makes us all unique. Continue reading
Surround Yourself With Positive People
Some people have a smile, warmth and depth to them that is out of this world. These are the people you want to stay connected with.
Some people never evolve, but that is okay. Visualize them being away from you and being “great” somewhere else.
Some people think they are in kindergarten and, although they are adults now, they still play the game of “grapevine.” These people you can also wish away, to be “great” somewhere else.
Sometimes you’re lucky enough to find someone on the same frequency as yourself. Cherish and keep in touch with these lovely kindred folks. Continue reading
The Shaman’s Schmetterling In Gottsdorf
In my previous blog I shared the story of the sign I received from the ancient oracle during my visit to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Well, the magical presence of the butterfly totem did not end with my visit to Greece. In all of the other countries I was to visit on this particular European tour, I would encounter butterflies at every sacred site, and during special moments I shared with significant others.
The miracle continued when I arrived at a country inn in Gottsdorf, outside Berlin, Germany. This was to be the venue for a four day meditation seminar I was attending. The event was set to take place in a cozy Yoga studio attached to the small hotel.
The moment I entered this room, I noticed a small altar the seminar organizer had set up for the time we would be working in this space. The display was charming and colorful, but that was not what drew my attention. No, what struck me instantaneously was the large, vibrant butterfly hanging on the brick wall behind the altar.
Yes, indeed. I had received yet another mystical route marker along this personal odyssey into self-realization. This time the butterfly was not black and white, like the one who came to whisper in my ear at Delphi. Instead a brightly colored paper butterfly waved hello to me from above! It was like a psychedelic kaleidoscope reminiscent of the shapes one sometimes sees in sacred geometry art… or tie-died T-shirts from the 60s. Continue reading
Let It Be, Let it Go…
I know a few friends who feel they have to control everything. They are seldom happy. Always frazzled. They seem to have this constant air of uptightness and anxiousness about them.
Do you know anyone like this? Often times, when doing readings for people who have control issues, there is a song that usually comes to mind for me: Let It Be by John Lennon and The Beatles. It is a wonderful song that talks about letting things just be and go where they are supposed to.
I have found that people that feel they have to have everything a certain way, who try to dominate how things are going to be, have so much unnecessary distress in their lives. People who instead just go with the flow, and allow life happen as it will, generally are more serene and often even seem to be in a state of bliss. Continue reading
Nobody Deserves To Be Happy!
Many self-help gurus will espouse the virtues, the sheer righteousness if you will, of deserving to be happy. You deserve to be happy? What does this truly even mean? (meant to be read in a most sarcastic tone of voice with a slight touch of incredulity thrown in for good measure).
I take umbrage, I cry foul to this so called deservedness. What makes you so special? For that matter, what makes me so special? None of us deserve to be happy any more so than the next guy or girl.
People, living breathing people, are being subjected to atrocities all over our planet in ways that some of us cannot even bear to think about, because we’d never sleep cozy in our beds at night if we did. Aren’t these people deserving of this ‘happiness’ also? They often times don’t experience it, because of someone else’s pursuit of happiness. Continue reading