Monday, April 28, 2008
Ebay readings
My daughter is selling me on Ebay again! Yes! It's true. A 30 minute psychic reading on Ebay. Bidding starts at $19.99. That's a deal. I charge $150 an hour in the real world. So, for those of you who have been waiting for your penny bank to fill up, here's your chance. You can go to Ebay and search for "Elizabeth, 30 minute psychic reading" or look over to the bottom right side of my blog page under Links and click on Ebay link. Good luck!
"Imagine the implications of discovering that the God of our prayers--the Allah of Islam, the Lord of Judeo-Christian beliefs, the Supreme God of Hindu traditions, and the Great Spirit of the Native Americans--is precisely the same God. Consider the ancient wounds that could be healed knowing that the persecutions, ethnic cleansings, religious wars, and inquisitions in the name of God over the last 2,000 years have arisen from a misunderstanding of the same timeless message!"
~Gregg Braden, "The God Code"
~Gregg Braden, "The God Code"
Triple Bottom Line from Wikipedia
I had requested, in a previous post, information from my readers. I was asking for contact information for businesses or corporation who have adopted the TBL. Here is what that means.
Triple bottom line
The triple bottom line (or "TBL", "3BL", or "People, Planet, Profit") captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success; economic, environmental and social. With the ratification of the UN ICLEI TBL standard for urban and community accounting in early 2007, this became the dominant approach to public sector full cost accounting. Similar UN standards apply to natural capital and human capital measurement to assist in measurements required by TBL, e.g. the ecoBudget standard for reporting ecological footprint.
In the private sector, a commitment to corporate social responsibility implies a commitment to some form of TBL reporting. This is distinct from the more limited changes required to deal only with ecological issues.
Definition
In practical terms, triple bottom line accounting means expanding the traditional reporting framework to take into account environmental and social performance in addition to financial performance.
The phrase was coined by John Elkington in 1994.[1] It was later expanded and articulated in his 1998 book Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business.[2][3] Sustainability, itself, was first defined by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations in 1987.
The concept of TBL demands that a company's responsibility be to 'stakeholders' rather than shareholders. In this case, 'stakeholders' refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm. According to the stakeholder theory, the business entity should be used as a vehicle for coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of maximising shareholder(owner) profit.
The Bottom Lines
"People, Planet and Profit" are used to succinctly describe the triple bottom lines and the goal of sustainability.
"People" (Human Capital) pertains to fair and beneficial business practices toward labor and the community and region in which a corporation conducts its business. A TBL company conceives a reciprocal social structure in which the well being of corporate, labor and other stakeholder interests are interdependent. A triple bottom line enterprise seeks to benefit many constituencies, not exploit or endanger any group of them. The "upstreaming" of a portion of profit from the marketing of finished goods back to the original producer of raw materials, i.e., a farmer in fair trade agricultural practice, is a not unusual feature. In concrete terms, a TBL business would not knowingly use child labor, would pay fair salaries to its workers, would maintain a safe work environment and tolerable working hours, and would not otherwise exploit a community or its labor force. A TBL business also typically seeks to "give back" by contributing to the strength and growth of its community with such things as health care and education. Quantifying this bottom line is relatively new, problematic and often subjective. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has developed guidelines to enable corporations and NGO's alike to comparably report on the social impact of a business.
"Planet" (Natural Capital) refers to sustainable environmental practices. A TBL company endeavors to benefit the natural order as much as possible or at the least do no harm and curtail environmental impact. A TBL endeavor reduces its ecological footprint by, among other things, carefully managing its consumption of energy and non-renewables and reducing manufacturing waste as well as rendering waste less toxic before disposing of it in a safe and legal manner. "Cradle to grave" is uppermost in the thoughts of TBL manufacturing businesses which typically conduct a life cycle assessment of products to determine what the true environmental cost is from the growth and harvesting of raw materials to manufacture to distribution to eventual disposal by the end user. A triple bottom line company does not produce harmful or destructive products such as weapons, toxic chemicals or batteries containing dangerous heavy metals for example. Currently, the cost of disposing of non-degradable or toxic products is borne financially by governments and environmentally by the residents near the disposal site and elsewhere. In TBL thinking, an enterprise which produces and markets a product which will create a waste problem should not be given a free ride by society. It would be more equitable for the business which manufactures and sells a problematic product to bear part of the cost of its ultimate disposal. Ecologically destructive practices, such as overfishing or other endangering depletions of resources are avoided by TBL companies. Often environmental sustainability is the more profitable course for a business in the long run. Arguments that it costs more to be environmentally sound are often specious when the course of the business is analyzed over a period of time. Generally, sustainability reporting metrics are better quantified and standardized for environmental issues than for social ones. A number of respected reporting institutes and registries exist including the Global Reporting Initiative, CERES, Institute 4 Sustainability and others.
"Profit" is the bottom line shared by all commerce, conscientious or not. In the original concept, within a sustainability framework, the "profit" aspect needs to be seen as the economic benefit enjoyed by the host society. It is the lasting economic impact the organization has on its economic environment. This is often confused to be limited to the internal profit made by a company or organization. Therefore, a TBL approach cannot be interpreted as traditional corporate accounting plus social and environmental impact.
Several books are available on the topic. Among them, Harvard Business Review on Corporate Responsibility by Harvard Business School Press; The Soul of a Business: Managing for Profit and the Common Good by Tom Chappell; Capitalism at the Crossroads: The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems by Professor Stuart L. Hart; The Triple Bottom Line: How Today's Best-Run Companies Are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success -- and How You Can Too by Andrew W. Savitz and Karl Weber; The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line (Conscientious Commerce) by Bob Willard.
Triple bottom line
The triple bottom line (or "TBL", "3BL", or "People, Planet, Profit") captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success; economic, environmental and social. With the ratification of the UN ICLEI TBL standard for urban and community accounting in early 2007, this became the dominant approach to public sector full cost accounting. Similar UN standards apply to natural capital and human capital measurement to assist in measurements required by TBL, e.g. the ecoBudget standard for reporting ecological footprint.
In the private sector, a commitment to corporate social responsibility implies a commitment to some form of TBL reporting. This is distinct from the more limited changes required to deal only with ecological issues.
Definition
In practical terms, triple bottom line accounting means expanding the traditional reporting framework to take into account environmental and social performance in addition to financial performance.
The phrase was coined by John Elkington in 1994.[1] It was later expanded and articulated in his 1998 book Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business.[2][3] Sustainability, itself, was first defined by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations in 1987.
The concept of TBL demands that a company's responsibility be to 'stakeholders' rather than shareholders. In this case, 'stakeholders' refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm. According to the stakeholder theory, the business entity should be used as a vehicle for coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of maximising shareholder(owner) profit.
The Bottom Lines
"People, Planet and Profit" are used to succinctly describe the triple bottom lines and the goal of sustainability.
"People" (Human Capital) pertains to fair and beneficial business practices toward labor and the community and region in which a corporation conducts its business. A TBL company conceives a reciprocal social structure in which the well being of corporate, labor and other stakeholder interests are interdependent. A triple bottom line enterprise seeks to benefit many constituencies, not exploit or endanger any group of them. The "upstreaming" of a portion of profit from the marketing of finished goods back to the original producer of raw materials, i.e., a farmer in fair trade agricultural practice, is a not unusual feature. In concrete terms, a TBL business would not knowingly use child labor, would pay fair salaries to its workers, would maintain a safe work environment and tolerable working hours, and would not otherwise exploit a community or its labor force. A TBL business also typically seeks to "give back" by contributing to the strength and growth of its community with such things as health care and education. Quantifying this bottom line is relatively new, problematic and often subjective. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has developed guidelines to enable corporations and NGO's alike to comparably report on the social impact of a business.
"Planet" (Natural Capital) refers to sustainable environmental practices. A TBL company endeavors to benefit the natural order as much as possible or at the least do no harm and curtail environmental impact. A TBL endeavor reduces its ecological footprint by, among other things, carefully managing its consumption of energy and non-renewables and reducing manufacturing waste as well as rendering waste less toxic before disposing of it in a safe and legal manner. "Cradle to grave" is uppermost in the thoughts of TBL manufacturing businesses which typically conduct a life cycle assessment of products to determine what the true environmental cost is from the growth and harvesting of raw materials to manufacture to distribution to eventual disposal by the end user. A triple bottom line company does not produce harmful or destructive products such as weapons, toxic chemicals or batteries containing dangerous heavy metals for example. Currently, the cost of disposing of non-degradable or toxic products is borne financially by governments and environmentally by the residents near the disposal site and elsewhere. In TBL thinking, an enterprise which produces and markets a product which will create a waste problem should not be given a free ride by society. It would be more equitable for the business which manufactures and sells a problematic product to bear part of the cost of its ultimate disposal. Ecologically destructive practices, such as overfishing or other endangering depletions of resources are avoided by TBL companies. Often environmental sustainability is the more profitable course for a business in the long run. Arguments that it costs more to be environmentally sound are often specious when the course of the business is analyzed over a period of time. Generally, sustainability reporting metrics are better quantified and standardized for environmental issues than for social ones. A number of respected reporting institutes and registries exist including the Global Reporting Initiative, CERES, Institute 4 Sustainability and others.
"Profit" is the bottom line shared by all commerce, conscientious or not. In the original concept, within a sustainability framework, the "profit" aspect needs to be seen as the economic benefit enjoyed by the host society. It is the lasting economic impact the organization has on its economic environment. This is often confused to be limited to the internal profit made by a company or organization. Therefore, a TBL approach cannot be interpreted as traditional corporate accounting plus social and environmental impact.
Several books are available on the topic. Among them, Harvard Business Review on Corporate Responsibility by Harvard Business School Press; The Soul of a Business: Managing for Profit and the Common Good by Tom Chappell; Capitalism at the Crossroads: The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems by Professor Stuart L. Hart; The Triple Bottom Line: How Today's Best-Run Companies Are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success -- and How You Can Too by Andrew W. Savitz and Karl Weber; The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line (Conscientious Commerce) by Bob Willard.
So, you wanna change things?
So, you want to save the earth and her residents from destruction and extinction? You could Google info on saving the planet. You could go to HGTV.com and find entire programing about the changes you can make to your home that are helping us lower our consumption of fossil fuels, and how to make your home a toxin free zone. You can call your local government and ask them what they are doing to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. There are programs you can learn and then volunteer to teach at your local elementary, middle and high schools. The obvious and most impactful is to use canvas bags when you go shopping. PBS just aired, "Strange Days On Planet Earth" a National Geographic production. They showed how we have polluted our oceans so badly with plastics that birds and fish are are dying in record numbers and developing very strange mutations and diseases. And, not only that, global warming is causing the bleaching of coral reefs that heat up the ocean even further. It was very informative and eye opening to say the least. You can order a copy of it and have a "Enlighten-Up" evening in your home with friends and neighbors to bring the situation into the light. When we shine light on a dark subject, we can alter the outcome. You can write letters to your government officials requesting restrictions on plastics, pesticides, fertilizers and for more money for research and development of alternative waste management. Using plastic bags to toss your trash away is, quite frankly, sinful. Plastic never, ever, ever decomposes. You already know this but we are so programmed to ignore these things. We throw things 'away'....but there is no such place as 'away'. Away, ends up in our oceans, our food supply our waterways.
Here is a good place to start....
Close your eyes and receive a deep, cleansing breath from the universe. Connect with the higher vibrations of your oversoul, your team and your inner coach. If you are new to this process, you may not feel the connection as easily as the advanced students, but trust that your intention is all you need to make the connection. You'll feel it more profoundly as you continue to practice. Simply say to yourself, "I trust in my connection and I trust that my communication is being received. I am opening myself up to receive the solutions I want to help my brothers and sisters and our children to live happy and healthy lives. I am open to receive the intuitive messages that will guide me to the right actions to clean up my part and encourage others by my example. I see the earth's rejuvenation and her oceans being cleaned. The fish are returning, the animal population is growing all over the world to it's natural and balanced numbers. Our forests are now protected and growing in huge numbers. Humans have awakened. I am awake. My love for this planet heals her. My love for humanity is healing and uniting us all. Bless this planet with health."
Here is a good place to start....
Close your eyes and receive a deep, cleansing breath from the universe. Connect with the higher vibrations of your oversoul, your team and your inner coach. If you are new to this process, you may not feel the connection as easily as the advanced students, but trust that your intention is all you need to make the connection. You'll feel it more profoundly as you continue to practice. Simply say to yourself, "I trust in my connection and I trust that my communication is being received. I am opening myself up to receive the solutions I want to help my brothers and sisters and our children to live happy and healthy lives. I am open to receive the intuitive messages that will guide me to the right actions to clean up my part and encourage others by my example. I see the earth's rejuvenation and her oceans being cleaned. The fish are returning, the animal population is growing all over the world to it's natural and balanced numbers. Our forests are now protected and growing in huge numbers. Humans have awakened. I am awake. My love for this planet heals her. My love for humanity is healing and uniting us all. Bless this planet with health."
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Having trouble with your ego?
Here are the five c's your ego struggles with.
The five c's are:
Commitment
Communication
Completion
Change
Confrontation
Find yourself resisting something? Ask yourself if any of these are the culprits.
The five c's are:
Commitment
Communication
Completion
Change
Confrontation
Find yourself resisting something? Ask yourself if any of these are the culprits.
Intuitive Coaching Class
The next teleconference "Intuitive Coaching Class" will begin on June 3rd. We will meet every Tuesday at 5 PM Pacific time for 24 weeks. Each class will be recorded if you should have to miss a session and you will have access to the recording to download for your permanent records. We will meet for approximately one hour and may occasionally go to 90 minutes. Class notes will be provided via email and the course includes 6 private, one-on-one coaching sessions with me plus ongoing email support for direction and mentoring.
This empowering course will provide you with the following.
* You will activate your connection to your over soul, your inner intuitive coach, or your higher-self. This will lead you to self realization. "Know thyself."
* You will activate your spiritual team for the support of your journey to enlightenment. Your team will pre-pave your journey according to your primary intentions.
* You will learn how to create your outer sacred space and your inner sacred temple for the purpose of communicating with your inner intuitive coach and spiritual team.
* You will learn how your emotional energy (vibration) affects the experience of your outer and inner world.
* You will receive the tools, processes and procedures to manage your emotional energy (vibration) which will allow you the freedom to choose how you want to feel, such as choosing to feel peace no matter what is going on around you.
* You will learn, not so much by the word lessons I teach, but by experiencing the processes, that you are indeed the source of your experiences. "To believe it, is to be living it."
* You will activate an energetic connection to Mother Earth energies. The seasons, cycles and rhythms of the planet effect your seasons and cycles and rhythms and vice verse. As you move up the tone scale to the higher vibrating energies and emotions you will shift from fear, anger, and resentment, to hope, happiness, and peace. This shift will allow you see and experience the positive evidence that you are indeed effecting the global conscious energy patterns. (see, "Power vs. Force")
* You will activate your sixth sense to feel the vibrational differences of truth vs. falsehoods. You will be able to 'read' the vibrations of 'yes' and 'no', 'right' and 'wrong'. This aspect will turn you into your very own lie detector, including the lies your unconscious mind is speaking. Those are the previously created beliefs that are preventing you from shifting your reality. 95% of your mind is your unconscious mind playing programs that may or may not be serving your highest good or the highest good of humanity and the planet.
* You will learn to dis-create the beliefs that no longer serve your highest good and the highest good of other people, the planet and your experience of prosperity.
* You will learn to define what prosperity means to you therefore allowing you the space to conceive your intention, perceive your vision, achieve your desires. It is the universal law in action.
This empowering course will provide you with the following.
* You will activate your connection to your over soul, your inner intuitive coach, or your higher-self. This will lead you to self realization. "Know thyself."
* You will activate your spiritual team for the support of your journey to enlightenment. Your team will pre-pave your journey according to your primary intentions.
* You will learn how to create your outer sacred space and your inner sacred temple for the purpose of communicating with your inner intuitive coach and spiritual team.
* You will learn how your emotional energy (vibration) affects the experience of your outer and inner world.
* You will receive the tools, processes and procedures to manage your emotional energy (vibration) which will allow you the freedom to choose how you want to feel, such as choosing to feel peace no matter what is going on around you.
* You will learn, not so much by the word lessons I teach, but by experiencing the processes, that you are indeed the source of your experiences. "To believe it, is to be living it."
* You will activate an energetic connection to Mother Earth energies. The seasons, cycles and rhythms of the planet effect your seasons and cycles and rhythms and vice verse. As you move up the tone scale to the higher vibrating energies and emotions you will shift from fear, anger, and resentment, to hope, happiness, and peace. This shift will allow you see and experience the positive evidence that you are indeed effecting the global conscious energy patterns. (see, "Power vs. Force")
* You will activate your sixth sense to feel the vibrational differences of truth vs. falsehoods. You will be able to 'read' the vibrations of 'yes' and 'no', 'right' and 'wrong'. This aspect will turn you into your very own lie detector, including the lies your unconscious mind is speaking. Those are the previously created beliefs that are preventing you from shifting your reality. 95% of your mind is your unconscious mind playing programs that may or may not be serving your highest good or the highest good of humanity and the planet.
* You will learn to dis-create the beliefs that no longer serve your highest good and the highest good of other people, the planet and your experience of prosperity.
* You will learn to define what prosperity means to you therefore allowing you the space to conceive your intention, perceive your vision, achieve your desires. It is the universal law in action.
Bittersweet Transitions
During one's lifetime there are many transitional periods. When I look back at my own life I can see those specific memories and periods when I turned from one direction to another, from one experience to another. I transitioned from high school to college easily and from my single, fun-seeker life to my married lady life and then onto my single-mother life. But none so bittersweet as the transition I am facing this year.
My bodywork business is coming to an end, as this year comes to an end. On November 15th I am closing the doors to that aspect of my practice Nearly thirty years ago I graduated from The Massage School of Santa Monica. I added to my Swedish Massage training; Reiki, acupressure, reflexology, MLD, metaphysical meditation, hypnosis, and perhaps a few other trainings escaping my memory at the moment. My practice afforded me a wonderful life. My hours were mine to choose, my business was my own, and I lived a life-style I enjoyed immensely. I love this aspect of my work, connecting with clients, healing them, in the quiet, candle-lit environment of my office. It has been a peaceful, stress-free career that allowed me many heart connections with hundreds, if not thousands of people.
However, the other aspect of my practice, the intuitive part, the spiritual part has been so energizing and exciting these past two or three years and has taken on a new dimension. I have more requests now for readings, coaching, teaching, trainings, workshops, and the six month intuitive coaching classes than the bodywork. My spiritual teachers and guides have opened the flood gates for this part of my work. This part of my business is taking me to cities all over the country and probably the world. No longer do I have the time to keep a consistent schedule to provide the regular weekly and monthly bodywork my clients have grown to depend on.
Here is my letter to my dear clients:
As of November 15, 2008 I will no longer be providing the service of spiritual bodywork. I have loved each and everyone of you and do appreciate your loyalty to me and my work over the many years of our relationships. I will continue to honor your standing appointments until that date at which time I will provide to you, the names and phone numbers of body workers I highly recommend.
To Judy, Margie, Amy, Candy and Kent, Paula and Steve, Jesse, Nati, Eileen, Andrea and every one of you....I will give you the best I have to give until we come to the celebration of this change. Let us enjoy these next six months and appreciate our connection.
I thank you from the center of my heart.
This is a year of hard work, transition, change and evolution. The hard work is writing my book. The transition is letting go, the change may include a new resisidence and the evolution is beyond the physical. This is my life's mission. Welcome to my new life.
Digging for Facts and Figures
The triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. When you put people and the planet first, profit follows.
I'm knee deep in finding all of the Fortune 500 companies that have adopted the triple bottom line successfully. I'm on a mission. Anybody know of a company or business near you in the flow of this new idea? Big companies and small businesses are changing the way they do business and changing how people shop. Please tell me all about them. I will interview them for my article. It will be good exposure for them. People are getting hip to buying from companies that are going Green and putting people first, adopting spiritual values and practices for humanity, mother earth and the flow of prosperity. We are no longer willing to continue the old ways of doing things. I'm so pleased.
I'm knee deep in finding all of the Fortune 500 companies that have adopted the triple bottom line successfully. I'm on a mission. Anybody know of a company or business near you in the flow of this new idea? Big companies and small businesses are changing the way they do business and changing how people shop. Please tell me all about them. I will interview them for my article. It will be good exposure for them. People are getting hip to buying from companies that are going Green and putting people first, adopting spiritual values and practices for humanity, mother earth and the flow of prosperity. We are no longer willing to continue the old ways of doing things. I'm so pleased.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I received this thank you today....how lovely.
Dear Elizabeth:
Thank you sooooo…… much for seeing me today and inviting me to have an in person meeting with you. Wow, what a wonderful experience!! Immediately upon entering your sacred space, delightful, cool chills were running down my spine.
The beings you connected with touched upon the issues at hand and the answers to the questions you gave me, resonated at a very deep level. You have such a kind, warm, loving supportive spirit, and a great sense of humor.
I have been searching for the answers outside of myself, for guarantees that everything will be alright. But you made me remember that by standing in my own place of power everything else will fall into place.
Thank you for connecting me with my spirit guide and abundant support team, giving me a glimpse of what lies ahead, setting some powerful intentions for personal transformation, giving me some simple tools to reprogram my neurological pathways to make me happy and whole again.
By the end of the meeting my entire energy had shifted. I arrived with a lot of fear, anxiety, and all of my energy centers, heart, throat and stomach felt heavy and blocked. When I left, this burden has lifted, replaced with light and happiness. Now, there is a feeling that no matter what lives presents me with, I’ll be safe. I feel peaceful and want to hug the whole world. There is an abundance of gratitude in me, right this moment, where there was little before. When I left I started to be thankful for everything and in return I got so much love back from the universe –in my heart.
There were so many useful tools you gave me, and I am not sure how much of that I was ready fully hear and absorb right now. I hope to sign up for your intuitive live course in the future. If one meeting can be so uplifting, imaging what a change such a course would make.
I will recollect our meeting again tonight before I go to bed and recall some of the techniques and advice given.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Elizabeth and be blessed, blessed, blessed, so very much blessed every second of every day.
Namaste,
Gabriela
Thank you sooooo…… much for seeing me today and inviting me to have an in person meeting with you. Wow, what a wonderful experience!! Immediately upon entering your sacred space, delightful, cool chills were running down my spine.
The beings you connected with touched upon the issues at hand and the answers to the questions you gave me, resonated at a very deep level. You have such a kind, warm, loving supportive spirit, and a great sense of humor.
I have been searching for the answers outside of myself, for guarantees that everything will be alright. But you made me remember that by standing in my own place of power everything else will fall into place.
Thank you for connecting me with my spirit guide and abundant support team, giving me a glimpse of what lies ahead, setting some powerful intentions for personal transformation, giving me some simple tools to reprogram my neurological pathways to make me happy and whole again.
By the end of the meeting my entire energy had shifted. I arrived with a lot of fear, anxiety, and all of my energy centers, heart, throat and stomach felt heavy and blocked. When I left, this burden has lifted, replaced with light and happiness. Now, there is a feeling that no matter what lives presents me with, I’ll be safe. I feel peaceful and want to hug the whole world. There is an abundance of gratitude in me, right this moment, where there was little before. When I left I started to be thankful for everything and in return I got so much love back from the universe –in my heart.
There were so many useful tools you gave me, and I am not sure how much of that I was ready fully hear and absorb right now. I hope to sign up for your intuitive live course in the future. If one meeting can be so uplifting, imaging what a change such a course would make.
I will recollect our meeting again tonight before I go to bed and recall some of the techniques and advice given.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you Elizabeth and be blessed, blessed, blessed, so very much blessed every second of every day.
Namaste,
Gabriela
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Reading Energies
The first time I 'plugged in' to the Universal Energy Field or UEF, I was four years old. I don't remember getting a jolt, but I do remember leaving my body and expanding my conscious awareness into the expanded mind of the field. When I returned to my body I was full of questions. "Why am I here?" "What am I supposed to be doing?" I remember it as if it happened a moment ago.
Later, when I became a massage therapist at 29 years old, I began to notice that I could feel energy in my clients bodies. I could feel where it was light and open and where it was closed and dense. I became interested in playing with the energy and getting it to move or change. I read books about healing with touch, like, "Joy's Way" and I signed up for a metaphysical meditation class with Royce Morales.
After a few years of playing with the human energy field, or HEF, I began to ask the energy questions. "What are you saying?" "What memory are you?" "What emotion are you?" I got answers back. My intuitive message center that I learned to trust gave me all the information I needed to assist my clients to heal.
The natural development of this 'gift' lead to the visual aspect. I would ask to see the truth about something and an image would appear. I asked to speak to a clients over-soul, higher-self, or guides and I would see them and communicate with them. Over the years of daily practice with clients the 'gift' became more and more powerful, until I could ask any question and get the answer.
My daughter called crying because her wedding rings were missing. "Mom, do your thing, please. Where are they? Did someone steal them?" I plugged into the Universal Energy Field and looked for them. I saw them in a dark place. There was no light shining on them. They were in a box, in a garage. I assumed, her garage.
It was true. They were in a box in her father-in-laws garage, shipped to Phoenix by accident during their move from Simi Valley.
When I plug into the energy field, I now get a jolt. My body jumps and I sometimes let out a bit of a squeal. It's instantaneous and the answers come quickly.
I'm sharing this now because so many people think this thing that I do is unique, unusual and for the 'gifted'. It is not. It is an ability we all possess. Because of my many years of daily practice, my sixth sense is more acute. However, everyone possesses a sixth sense. Some have allowed it to atrophy, but if you exercise it, it will be your greatest assest.
Later, when I became a massage therapist at 29 years old, I began to notice that I could feel energy in my clients bodies. I could feel where it was light and open and where it was closed and dense. I became interested in playing with the energy and getting it to move or change. I read books about healing with touch, like, "Joy's Way" and I signed up for a metaphysical meditation class with Royce Morales.
After a few years of playing with the human energy field, or HEF, I began to ask the energy questions. "What are you saying?" "What memory are you?" "What emotion are you?" I got answers back. My intuitive message center that I learned to trust gave me all the information I needed to assist my clients to heal.
The natural development of this 'gift' lead to the visual aspect. I would ask to see the truth about something and an image would appear. I asked to speak to a clients over-soul, higher-self, or guides and I would see them and communicate with them. Over the years of daily practice with clients the 'gift' became more and more powerful, until I could ask any question and get the answer.
My daughter called crying because her wedding rings were missing. "Mom, do your thing, please. Where are they? Did someone steal them?" I plugged into the Universal Energy Field and looked for them. I saw them in a dark place. There was no light shining on them. They were in a box, in a garage. I assumed, her garage.
It was true. They were in a box in her father-in-laws garage, shipped to Phoenix by accident during their move from Simi Valley.
When I plug into the energy field, I now get a jolt. My body jumps and I sometimes let out a bit of a squeal. It's instantaneous and the answers come quickly.
I'm sharing this now because so many people think this thing that I do is unique, unusual and for the 'gifted'. It is not. It is an ability we all possess. Because of my many years of daily practice, my sixth sense is more acute. However, everyone possesses a sixth sense. Some have allowed it to atrophy, but if you exercise it, it will be your greatest assest.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Power of Mantras and Affirmations
In 1982 I learned the process of creating from a wonderful teacher named Royce Morales. I set out to test her class lesson. I went to the beach at sunset, (a powerful time for me) and I sat on the sand and closed my eyes. I took a few deep, cleansing, relaxing and releasing breaths and began to repeat, over and over, "He loves me. He wants me. He needs me. It's easy. I love him. I want him. I need him. It's easy." I don't know how long I focused on that intention for a relationship. I may have repeated it hundreds of times, but at some point, perhaps 20 minutes into it, I felt a strong energetic shift in my body. The intention was then "activated" on a cellular level. It felt like a gentle shock throughout my body. I had never felt anything like it. I opened my eyes and looked around. The beach was nearly empty of visitors. A few people heading towards the pier and one or two surfers drying off. I got up, brushed the sand from my pants and began to walk back across the beach towards my car. I felt wonderully happy and energized with the process and curious about the sensation of the activation. I took a few steps and noticed, that coming from the parking lot was a tall, blonde man walking towards the water, towards me. As we stayed on our path I felt a bit uneasy. Normally when people are few and far between on the beach, we give each other plenty of space. But he kept walking towards me. I looked behind me to see if, perhaps, he was heading to someone else. Nobody behind me. He continued and I continued across the beach, nearer and nearer to each other. He came right up to me and said, "Hi." I'd never seen this man before. My heart was racing. Could it really be that easy to create? Frankly, I freaked out. I said, "Hi." but continued walking. He said, "Wait! I just got here." Then I was really freaked out. I put my head down and muttered something like, "I've gotta go I've gotta go get my daughter...um." and I scurried away, whispering in my mind, "I'm not ready. I'm not ready."
I got into my car and drove from the parking lot onto the street. There he was. He smiled and waved at me and I waved back. I never saw him again and I never tried that again. Well, not until I was ready.
I got into my car and drove from the parking lot onto the street. There he was. He smiled and waved at me and I waved back. I never saw him again and I never tried that again. Well, not until I was ready.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
"Evil (ignorance) is like a shadow--it has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it."
~Shakti Gawain.
One of my teachers said, "Evil spelled backwards is Live. Devil spelled backwards is Lived. All they are is when you aren't. When you aren't consciously living in the light."
~Shakti Gawain.
One of my teachers said, "Evil spelled backwards is Live. Devil spelled backwards is Lived. All they are is when you aren't. When you aren't consciously living in the light."
8 tools for shifting your vibes....
1. Start with gratitude. Being GREAT-FULL is a powerful experience. The most powerful prayer for gratitude is simply, "Thank you." Say and repeat it until you feel it. This daily practice, alone, will shift your vibration to the higher, lighter energies of health and happiness.
2. Pray for another. Spread loving kindness to the people you see throughout your day. Bring them to your mind and say, "May you be well". "May you be blessed with prosperity". "May you be blessed with happiness". "May you be blessed with radiant health". "May you be blessed with joy". "May you be infused with grace." Or, simply "Namaste." Say it everyday to as many people as you can. Do it deliberately, consciously and with clear intent. This is a very powerful practice that can transform your experience of life.
3. Turn off your television and play music that vibrates with the higher frequencies of peace and light. Allow the vibration of the sounds into your bones. I recommend music by Steven Halprin.
4. Avoid contact with negative people and negative vibrations. Emotional vibrations are contagious. If you put a group of five people in a room and don't let them talk, after a bit of time they will be feeling the same vibration which is usually an average tone of the combination of the five. Those who were feeling down will often raise up and those who were feeling up will come down to meet the group conscious average point. If you have been trained or studied the practice of energy management you will know how to protect yourself from the lower tones, if not, simply avoid it.
5. Dance. Dance. Dance. Free flowing Sacred Dance shifts your energy and activates chemicals for happiness. Open up your arms and body. There are basically only two true emotions, love and fear. Fear is constricting and love is expanding. When you dance openly, free of judgement, you allow love to expand and fear to retreat. Dance as if no one is watching. Be creative with your movements. Gentle, flowing movements that you see in the movements of tai-chi.
6. Create an Inner Sacred Temple and an outer Sacred Space or "Workshop". Our greatest intuitive communications happen when we are relaxed. Our greatest ideas, insights, ah-ha moments and inspirations occur when we are relaxed and open; on a walk, meditating, in the shower...etc.
In creating an outer sacred space choose a location in your home that feels the most peaceful. Set it up by clearing out any clutter or objects that hold lower vibrations. Some people have pictures of people of their family and extended family that don't always hold high vibrations. For example, they may hold or activate sadness, regret, guilt,or anger. Get them out of your sacred space. You can bring to your space, natural, aroma-therapy candles, incense or oils, clean crystals, fountains and glass objects that make you feel good. Rocks, wood and green plants will help ground the space. The only measuring tool you'll need to gauge the vibration of objects is the question, "How does this make me feel?" Choose a comfortable chair, and perhaps a fan for hotter days and a natural fabric blanket for the cooler ones. Keeping a notepad and pen or pencil handy for your inspirations and inspired communication is recommended.
Creating an Inner Sacred Temple is the most fun. Use your creative imagination and visualization to imagine the most peaceful place you've ever seen or known or heard about. Is is a meadow? A beach? A cloud in the sky? Is it a mountain top or a temple or church? Is it a library or inside a cave? You get to choose and when you do,........ bring it to your minds eye in detail and anchor it there. You get to take it with you wherever you go. It is a place where you can call on your higher vibrations, your higher teachers, guides, masters and your higher self. This is the space were you can call on God, Jesus, Buddha, Mother Mary, any Saints or Angels with whom you wish to speak.
7. Scripting your day is simple. While you are in your sacred space or sacred temple, write to yourself an intention of how you want to feel during your day. Example: "Today is a new beginning and I want to feel happy today. I want to feel excited about life. I want to feel connected to my divine purpose and I want to believe that I am in alignment with my higher, primary intention for this life. I want to feel humor and laughter today. I want to go about my day looking for the positive evidence that I am in alignment with health, happiness and joy."
8. Create a theme word for your day. Let it be different everyday. Perhaps your word is 'flower'. Every time you see a flower it will remind you to pause and connect to your heart. Agape means unconditional love. It's the word I choose to say when I am connecting to Spirit. I would see a flower and it would remind me to pause and say, "Agape". Feel it. It's a prayer. Sweet and simple. "Water" might be your theme word for the day. You'll be served a glass of water in a restaurant and it will remind you to pause and connect to your higher awareness.
Creating habits that support you merely takes the intention to do so. Decide to be happy for no reason. Decide to be grateful for no reason.
People who are happy are healthier and more prosperous. They live longer. They love more easily.
Something to consider...a Chinese Proverb:
If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
2. Pray for another. Spread loving kindness to the people you see throughout your day. Bring them to your mind and say, "May you be well". "May you be blessed with prosperity". "May you be blessed with happiness". "May you be blessed with radiant health". "May you be blessed with joy". "May you be infused with grace." Or, simply "Namaste." Say it everyday to as many people as you can. Do it deliberately, consciously and with clear intent. This is a very powerful practice that can transform your experience of life.
3. Turn off your television and play music that vibrates with the higher frequencies of peace and light. Allow the vibration of the sounds into your bones. I recommend music by Steven Halprin.
4. Avoid contact with negative people and negative vibrations. Emotional vibrations are contagious. If you put a group of five people in a room and don't let them talk, after a bit of time they will be feeling the same vibration which is usually an average tone of the combination of the five. Those who were feeling down will often raise up and those who were feeling up will come down to meet the group conscious average point. If you have been trained or studied the practice of energy management you will know how to protect yourself from the lower tones, if not, simply avoid it.
5. Dance. Dance. Dance. Free flowing Sacred Dance shifts your energy and activates chemicals for happiness. Open up your arms and body. There are basically only two true emotions, love and fear. Fear is constricting and love is expanding. When you dance openly, free of judgement, you allow love to expand and fear to retreat. Dance as if no one is watching. Be creative with your movements. Gentle, flowing movements that you see in the movements of tai-chi.
6. Create an Inner Sacred Temple and an outer Sacred Space or "Workshop". Our greatest intuitive communications happen when we are relaxed. Our greatest ideas, insights, ah-ha moments and inspirations occur when we are relaxed and open; on a walk, meditating, in the shower...etc.
In creating an outer sacred space choose a location in your home that feels the most peaceful. Set it up by clearing out any clutter or objects that hold lower vibrations. Some people have pictures of people of their family and extended family that don't always hold high vibrations. For example, they may hold or activate sadness, regret, guilt,or anger. Get them out of your sacred space. You can bring to your space, natural, aroma-therapy candles, incense or oils, clean crystals, fountains and glass objects that make you feel good. Rocks, wood and green plants will help ground the space. The only measuring tool you'll need to gauge the vibration of objects is the question, "How does this make me feel?" Choose a comfortable chair, and perhaps a fan for hotter days and a natural fabric blanket for the cooler ones. Keeping a notepad and pen or pencil handy for your inspirations and inspired communication is recommended.
Creating an Inner Sacred Temple is the most fun. Use your creative imagination and visualization to imagine the most peaceful place you've ever seen or known or heard about. Is is a meadow? A beach? A cloud in the sky? Is it a mountain top or a temple or church? Is it a library or inside a cave? You get to choose and when you do,........ bring it to your minds eye in detail and anchor it there. You get to take it with you wherever you go. It is a place where you can call on your higher vibrations, your higher teachers, guides, masters and your higher self. This is the space were you can call on God, Jesus, Buddha, Mother Mary, any Saints or Angels with whom you wish to speak.
7. Scripting your day is simple. While you are in your sacred space or sacred temple, write to yourself an intention of how you want to feel during your day. Example: "Today is a new beginning and I want to feel happy today. I want to feel excited about life. I want to feel connected to my divine purpose and I want to believe that I am in alignment with my higher, primary intention for this life. I want to feel humor and laughter today. I want to go about my day looking for the positive evidence that I am in alignment with health, happiness and joy."
8. Create a theme word for your day. Let it be different everyday. Perhaps your word is 'flower'. Every time you see a flower it will remind you to pause and connect to your heart. Agape means unconditional love. It's the word I choose to say when I am connecting to Spirit. I would see a flower and it would remind me to pause and say, "Agape". Feel it. It's a prayer. Sweet and simple. "Water" might be your theme word for the day. You'll be served a glass of water in a restaurant and it will remind you to pause and connect to your higher awareness.
Creating habits that support you merely takes the intention to do so. Decide to be happy for no reason. Decide to be grateful for no reason.
People who are happy are healthier and more prosperous. They live longer. They love more easily.
Something to consider...a Chinese Proverb:
If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Spiritualism
Modern Spiritualism is a religion that embraces religion, science, philosophy and natural law. Spiritualists believe in the following:
1. Infinite Intelligence, Or God, to some.
2. That Infinite Intelligence is expressed through nature, both physically and spiritually.
3. That "true religion" is living in obedience to the laws of nature. (Hence the saying, "The Earth is my church, my body its alter.")
4. That there is no death; that death is merely a change and the personal identity of the individual continues after physical death.
5. That communication with the dead is possible.
6. That the highest morality is attained by following "The Golden Rule."
7. That individuals are responsible for their fate; whether it be happiness or unhappiness, depending on whether or not we obey nature's laws.
8. That every day is a new beginning. That there is always a chance for redemption of one's soul, either on this plane of being, or in the hereafter.
9. That Prophecy and healing are gifts from the Infinite Intelligence; gifts from God.
"A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge."
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot (1994)
1. Infinite Intelligence, Or God, to some.
2. That Infinite Intelligence is expressed through nature, both physically and spiritually.
3. That "true religion" is living in obedience to the laws of nature. (Hence the saying, "The Earth is my church, my body its alter.")
4. That there is no death; that death is merely a change and the personal identity of the individual continues after physical death.
5. That communication with the dead is possible.
6. That the highest morality is attained by following "The Golden Rule."
7. That individuals are responsible for their fate; whether it be happiness or unhappiness, depending on whether or not we obey nature's laws.
8. That every day is a new beginning. That there is always a chance for redemption of one's soul, either on this plane of being, or in the hereafter.
9. That Prophecy and healing are gifts from the Infinite Intelligence; gifts from God.
"A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge."
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot (1994)
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Perspectives
Once, a very long time ago, when I was in the restaurant business, I had a mentor. His name was George Triplehorn. He was the general manager of The Proud Bird Restaurant on runway 25R at LAX. It was a beautiful place, built in 1967. At the time it was the largest restaurant in all of Los Angeles. It had a huge Grand Ballroom with 12 brilliant crystal chandeliers hanging from an ornate ceiling above an enormous expanse of red carpet. The room could accommodate as many as 1200 guests. There was a smaller ballroom that seated 800 and several, more intimate rooms for parties of 100 or less. The entryway had a Koi pond and with waterfalls and a wooden bridge that lead to the massive wooden front doors. There were gas lit torches lighting every corner.
George taught me how to be a gracious hostess. He taught me how to read people and how to look for and solve problems before they became apparent to any guests. From the moment I stepped out of my car in the back parking lot I began to look for what was wrong. Was there any trash in the parking lot? Were any lights out? Were the fish fed and were the fountains working? Were all the gas lights turned on and was the rock fireplace in the lobby burning? Was there ample toilet paper and were the restrooms cleaned the night before? I trained my eyes to look for what was wrong. I became the problem solver. I became the person to look for missing name tags and wrinkles in the waiter's shirts. I looked for scuff marks on their shoes and fingernails untrimmed. I had a room behind the front desk where I kept a sewing kit for missing buttons and black shoe polish for the shoes that were more brown than black. I checked each and every menu for dirt, spills or tears. Every plant was inspected for dust or brown spots that needed trimming. I was a machine. Nothing passed my scrutiny. Every detail of every aspect of the operation was examined constantly. I never let up. The place was immaculate when I was on duty.
The problem with that kind of training was that I was unable to relax in any restaurant. I would go out to dinner with friends and family and most of the time I was looking for what was wrong. What needed to be fixed or refined? The service? Did our server act friendly? Did they make eye contact? Did they serve from the left or from the right? Was the table clean? Was the silver polished? Was the music too loud or was the hostess too slow? It wasn't a pleasant experience for me or for anyone near me.
It also carried over into my private life. I scrutinized every facial expression. What did he mean by that? I was reading energies before I knew that I was doing it. I had to read the needs and wants and expectation of others to create an experience that would be pleasing. Holy crap! Pretty soon everything looked like a problem that needed to be solved and solved by the problem solver, me. I drove myself nuts. Because, as I know now, "What we put our attention on we create more of." I needed problems to solve so I created more problems to solve. What a nightmare I was living!
My focused attention was on problems of every kind. World problems, human problems, social problems, political problems! It's not a wonder I found myself overwhelmed with depression. By the time I was 27 I was burned out.
It was divine guidance that led me to the teachers, healers and masters who taught me how to shift my perspective to begin looking for what is the positive evidence around me. Now, instead of focusing my attention on what is lacking, I look for what is abundant.
My friend, Anthony had such an experience recently. His perspective and opinion of the younger generation was skewed by the media and their hot pursuit of the private lives of people like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica 'whatever' and "Girls Gone Wild". He saw and heard about gang violence and kids who murder and vandalize. He believed our educational system was turning out ignorant, lazy, apathetic and spoiled individuals. He looked for them everywhere and saw them everywhere he looked...until.....
He went to spend a week with his cousin and his cousin's teenaged children. He dreaded the idea of what it would be like to spend so much time with three 'selfish, spoiled, self involved, and ignorant' teenagers. He was resistant and had an escape plan in place if needed. But, much to his surprise, these teenagers were smart, well-behaved, grounded, ambitious, eager, connected, evolved young beings. Anthony was blown away. He enjoyed having intelligent conversations with them and he relished in their innocent humor. Steven's perspective shifted. When he returned home he stopped looking for the teenagers with gang offiliations and over-sized egos and began seeing young people in his neighorhood spending their Saturdays cleaning up their campus. Some even began showing up for his spiritual classes. He began finding them in restaurants and in the dog park. He began finding articles about the young teenager who invented a project for school that ended up solving a production problem that wasted too much water.
When we shift our perspective we change our view. I began looking for what was and is the positive evidence in my life, in my neighborhood and in my world. It's a practice I must continually employ. I'm not always good at it but, man-o-man, when I turn on that positive view finder, my life feels grand.
So, I ask you to try on these questions. "What's good about my life?" "What's good about my job?" "What's good about my situation?" "What is good about me?"
What is positive in your life right now? Look for it, feel it, and expand that feeling. The daily practice of shifting your view point will heal your life in ways you cannot imagine.
George taught me how to be a gracious hostess. He taught me how to read people and how to look for and solve problems before they became apparent to any guests. From the moment I stepped out of my car in the back parking lot I began to look for what was wrong. Was there any trash in the parking lot? Were any lights out? Were the fish fed and were the fountains working? Were all the gas lights turned on and was the rock fireplace in the lobby burning? Was there ample toilet paper and were the restrooms cleaned the night before? I trained my eyes to look for what was wrong. I became the problem solver. I became the person to look for missing name tags and wrinkles in the waiter's shirts. I looked for scuff marks on their shoes and fingernails untrimmed. I had a room behind the front desk where I kept a sewing kit for missing buttons and black shoe polish for the shoes that were more brown than black. I checked each and every menu for dirt, spills or tears. Every plant was inspected for dust or brown spots that needed trimming. I was a machine. Nothing passed my scrutiny. Every detail of every aspect of the operation was examined constantly. I never let up. The place was immaculate when I was on duty.
The problem with that kind of training was that I was unable to relax in any restaurant. I would go out to dinner with friends and family and most of the time I was looking for what was wrong. What needed to be fixed or refined? The service? Did our server act friendly? Did they make eye contact? Did they serve from the left or from the right? Was the table clean? Was the silver polished? Was the music too loud or was the hostess too slow? It wasn't a pleasant experience for me or for anyone near me.
It also carried over into my private life. I scrutinized every facial expression. What did he mean by that? I was reading energies before I knew that I was doing it. I had to read the needs and wants and expectation of others to create an experience that would be pleasing. Holy crap! Pretty soon everything looked like a problem that needed to be solved and solved by the problem solver, me. I drove myself nuts. Because, as I know now, "What we put our attention on we create more of." I needed problems to solve so I created more problems to solve. What a nightmare I was living!
My focused attention was on problems of every kind. World problems, human problems, social problems, political problems! It's not a wonder I found myself overwhelmed with depression. By the time I was 27 I was burned out.
It was divine guidance that led me to the teachers, healers and masters who taught me how to shift my perspective to begin looking for what is the positive evidence around me. Now, instead of focusing my attention on what is lacking, I look for what is abundant.
My friend, Anthony had such an experience recently. His perspective and opinion of the younger generation was skewed by the media and their hot pursuit of the private lives of people like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica 'whatever' and "Girls Gone Wild". He saw and heard about gang violence and kids who murder and vandalize. He believed our educational system was turning out ignorant, lazy, apathetic and spoiled individuals. He looked for them everywhere and saw them everywhere he looked...until.....
He went to spend a week with his cousin and his cousin's teenaged children. He dreaded the idea of what it would be like to spend so much time with three 'selfish, spoiled, self involved, and ignorant' teenagers. He was resistant and had an escape plan in place if needed. But, much to his surprise, these teenagers were smart, well-behaved, grounded, ambitious, eager, connected, evolved young beings. Anthony was blown away. He enjoyed having intelligent conversations with them and he relished in their innocent humor. Steven's perspective shifted. When he returned home he stopped looking for the teenagers with gang offiliations and over-sized egos and began seeing young people in his neighorhood spending their Saturdays cleaning up their campus. Some even began showing up for his spiritual classes. He began finding them in restaurants and in the dog park. He began finding articles about the young teenager who invented a project for school that ended up solving a production problem that wasted too much water.
When we shift our perspective we change our view. I began looking for what was and is the positive evidence in my life, in my neighborhood and in my world. It's a practice I must continually employ. I'm not always good at it but, man-o-man, when I turn on that positive view finder, my life feels grand.
So, I ask you to try on these questions. "What's good about my life?" "What's good about my job?" "What's good about my situation?" "What is good about me?"
What is positive in your life right now? Look for it, feel it, and expand that feeling. The daily practice of shifting your view point will heal your life in ways you cannot imagine.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Keeping a Dream Journal.
In my Spiritual Coaching Class I recommend my clients reserve a section of their notebooks for a dream journal. Learning to communicate with your expanded awareness is more of a practice than a word lesson. Interpreting the messages from our dreams can be very enlightening. It takes a bit of practice and a simple nightime intention to begin to get in the groove of it.
I was in my twenties when I found myself separated from my husband, jobless, penniless, with a baby and feeling quite like a victim. A depression swept over me that paralyzed me from taking any action to turn things around. My future looked very dim and my past was too painful to confront. After several months of barely surviving I began to read self-help books. I learned from the books, how to meditate, how to use visualization and affirmations to lift my energy. Soon thereafter, I began a dream journal. During this process of recovery the doors and walls to my unconscious mind began to open up.
I put my daughter to bed one night and went to the couch to watch some television. I started to drift off to sleep when it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the back door lock. Still, I let it go and fell asleep. But my dream began with me laying on the couch, watching television, just as I was. It didn't feel like a dream at all. In my dream I realized someone was standing at the sliding glass door. Fear gripped me and I felt adrenaline surge through me. I was paralysed with fear. I couldn't move a muscle. My heart began to race and I woke with a terrible fright. I literally had to catch my breathe. I realized it was just a dream as soon as I awoke. I calmed myself down and soon found myself drifting back to sleep.
Again, the same dream appeared. There I was, laying on the couch, watching television when I realized a man was at the glass door. I had to force myself to get up, in my dream. I had to overcome the overwhelming fear to move past the paralysis and go to the door. I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds. Still dreaming, I walked to the door and saw a tall blonde man with light colored eyes. He had the most evil look on his face. I knew he was there to rape me, kill me and cut me up in pieces. I reached for the door and the lock was broken. Panic filled me with adrenaline and I awoke. Whew!
Again, I fell back asleep without checking the door. This time, in my dream, as soon as I realized someone was at the back door, I got right up, not at all paralysed. I strode to the door ready to confront my intruder. There was a man standing outside the glass door though, this time he was shorter, darker and wearing black leather gloves. The look in his eyes told me that he meant only to steal from me, not to physically harm me. I reached for the door and could see that it was open a few inches. His gloved hand slid through the crack and I slammed the door on his wrist. I screamed, "Who are you?!" "What do you want?" In my rage I felt the energy move through me and, again, I awoke, this time thinking......"What the hell?"
Back to sleep I went. Yes, I know. Why in the hell didn't I check the door? Because I was gooshy. That is a word I've used since a very small child, meaning...."I'm very cozy and comfy" or "Let's get gooshy." Anyway,this time, there I was, laying on the couch, watching television when I realized there was something or someone outside that same glass door. I was furious! I threw back the covers, stomped to the door and threw it wide open! "Who's there?" I yelled. A small, dark boy came running in. He ran past me and through my living room to the front door. He fell against it and dropped to the floor. I walked over to him and I could see that he had been tortured. He had marks all over his naked, little body. I lifted him up and cared for him....then I awoke.
It was very clear to me what my unconscious mind was communicating to me. From paralysing fear and being a complete victim, to the intruder being the victim. I was no longer afraid. I was ready to confront my past and heal my wounds. I was ready to become the healer. A short time later I enrolled in a course for massage therapy and energy work.
I will never forget that night and the message that surfaced in my dreams.
Every night for many years I would sit on the side of my bed and repeat, "Tonight, I want to remember a dream and I will remember a dream. As soon as I awaken I will write it down." Then I would go to sleep with a pad and a pencil beside my bed, expecting to remember and write down my dream as soon as I opened my eyes. I even got a small recorder to so I could just describe my dream without opening my eyes.
At first I just wrote down the first impressions and images that surfaced. I payed close attention to the surroundings of any rooms or buildings I was in. What colors came to me or numbers. Was I driving in a car? If so, what was the condition of the car? Did the brakes work? Was I going too fast? What kind f car was it?
There are many books on dream symbols and interpretions. My favorite is, Betty Bethards, "The Dream Book: Symbols for Self-Understanding." She has over 1000 dream symbols in it. Not all symbols mean the same thing to everyone but once you start figuring our the language of your unconscious mind, you'll learn quickly the messages presented.
I used to ask for a healing or a solution to a problem before I went to sleep. Often I would wake up with the answer to my problem. In my class I call it, "Divinely Inspired Next Action"
The significance of the large building in the dream I shared in the earlier post was this. "A large building is a tremendous energy source; suggests you have great opportunities, tremendous potential and a big destiny to fulfill.
I often dream of babies. "Baby~ "New birth within self; new aspects coming into being, new beginnings. Openness, uptapped potential for growth."
It's fun to remember your dreams. It's fun to figure out the messages.
I was in my twenties when I found myself separated from my husband, jobless, penniless, with a baby and feeling quite like a victim. A depression swept over me that paralyzed me from taking any action to turn things around. My future looked very dim and my past was too painful to confront. After several months of barely surviving I began to read self-help books. I learned from the books, how to meditate, how to use visualization and affirmations to lift my energy. Soon thereafter, I began a dream journal. During this process of recovery the doors and walls to my unconscious mind began to open up.
I put my daughter to bed one night and went to the couch to watch some television. I started to drift off to sleep when it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the back door lock. Still, I let it go and fell asleep. But my dream began with me laying on the couch, watching television, just as I was. It didn't feel like a dream at all. In my dream I realized someone was standing at the sliding glass door. Fear gripped me and I felt adrenaline surge through me. I was paralysed with fear. I couldn't move a muscle. My heart began to race and I woke with a terrible fright. I literally had to catch my breathe. I realized it was just a dream as soon as I awoke. I calmed myself down and soon found myself drifting back to sleep.
Again, the same dream appeared. There I was, laying on the couch, watching television when I realized a man was at the glass door. I had to force myself to get up, in my dream. I had to overcome the overwhelming fear to move past the paralysis and go to the door. I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds. Still dreaming, I walked to the door and saw a tall blonde man with light colored eyes. He had the most evil look on his face. I knew he was there to rape me, kill me and cut me up in pieces. I reached for the door and the lock was broken. Panic filled me with adrenaline and I awoke. Whew!
Again, I fell back asleep without checking the door. This time, in my dream, as soon as I realized someone was at the back door, I got right up, not at all paralysed. I strode to the door ready to confront my intruder. There was a man standing outside the glass door though, this time he was shorter, darker and wearing black leather gloves. The look in his eyes told me that he meant only to steal from me, not to physically harm me. I reached for the door and could see that it was open a few inches. His gloved hand slid through the crack and I slammed the door on his wrist. I screamed, "Who are you?!" "What do you want?" In my rage I felt the energy move through me and, again, I awoke, this time thinking......"What the hell?"
Back to sleep I went. Yes, I know. Why in the hell didn't I check the door? Because I was gooshy. That is a word I've used since a very small child, meaning...."I'm very cozy and comfy" or "Let's get gooshy." Anyway,this time, there I was, laying on the couch, watching television when I realized there was something or someone outside that same glass door. I was furious! I threw back the covers, stomped to the door and threw it wide open! "Who's there?" I yelled. A small, dark boy came running in. He ran past me and through my living room to the front door. He fell against it and dropped to the floor. I walked over to him and I could see that he had been tortured. He had marks all over his naked, little body. I lifted him up and cared for him....then I awoke.
It was very clear to me what my unconscious mind was communicating to me. From paralysing fear and being a complete victim, to the intruder being the victim. I was no longer afraid. I was ready to confront my past and heal my wounds. I was ready to become the healer. A short time later I enrolled in a course for massage therapy and energy work.
I will never forget that night and the message that surfaced in my dreams.
Every night for many years I would sit on the side of my bed and repeat, "Tonight, I want to remember a dream and I will remember a dream. As soon as I awaken I will write it down." Then I would go to sleep with a pad and a pencil beside my bed, expecting to remember and write down my dream as soon as I opened my eyes. I even got a small recorder to so I could just describe my dream without opening my eyes.
At first I just wrote down the first impressions and images that surfaced. I payed close attention to the surroundings of any rooms or buildings I was in. What colors came to me or numbers. Was I driving in a car? If so, what was the condition of the car? Did the brakes work? Was I going too fast? What kind f car was it?
There are many books on dream symbols and interpretions. My favorite is, Betty Bethards, "The Dream Book: Symbols for Self-Understanding." She has over 1000 dream symbols in it. Not all symbols mean the same thing to everyone but once you start figuring our the language of your unconscious mind, you'll learn quickly the messages presented.
I used to ask for a healing or a solution to a problem before I went to sleep. Often I would wake up with the answer to my problem. In my class I call it, "Divinely Inspired Next Action"
The significance of the large building in the dream I shared in the earlier post was this. "A large building is a tremendous energy source; suggests you have great opportunities, tremendous potential and a big destiny to fulfill.
I often dream of babies. "Baby~ "New birth within self; new aspects coming into being, new beginnings. Openness, uptapped potential for growth."
It's fun to remember your dreams. It's fun to figure out the messages.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Dream Images and Messages
My dreams have always been very vivid and lucid. I used to write them down every morning and pay close attention to the messages my unconscious mind might have to share. I have several books on dreams and symbols and when a I notice numbers, colors, animals, buildings, surroundings or people of significance, I spend some time processing those images and messages.
For the past year my dreams have taken on a new dimension. In fact, the other night I dreamt that I was living in a beautiful hotel penthouse. I had been living there for quite some time and was very comfortable there. It was very familiar. At one point I was looking around to see if I needed to straighten up things because I was having a special dinner for a couple of friends. I walked into the hallway and saw a set of double doors I had forgotten about. I said to myself, "I forgot all about this part of my house." I opened the doors and there was another wing to my penthouse. There were several more rooms including a beautiful hearth room, family room with more bedrooms and other spaces beyond it. That is very symbolic for me. My work is taking on new dimensions and I am expanding spiritually in new ways and stretching my healing abilities with the work I am doing with my grandchildren and with my mother. She is beginning to fade and I am healing energies around her. Her eyes are failing and her memory is not holding well. I will be with her, of course, as she continues her journey into the next dimension, whenever that may be.
This week I had a dream with a Badger. I looked up Badger in my Animal Medicine Book. Here is what it said:
Badger----------AGGRESSIVENESS
Badger is vicious, and attacks with powerful aggression. Badger is quick to anger and guicker to pounce. The power of Badger's medicine is aggressiveness and the willingness to fight for what it wants.
The very thought of facing Badger makes other animals run for cover. Like Skunk, Badger's reputation precedes it. Its hissing fangs will tear less aggressive opponents to shreds.
Badger is the medicine of many powerful medicine women, for Badger is also the keeper of the medicine roots. Badger sees all the roots of Mother Earth's healing herbs hanging in its burrow home. These roots are a key to aggressive healing.
Roots can ground negative energy into the Earth by allowing illness to pass through a body into the ground as neutral energy. Badger medicine people are quick to act in a crisis, and they do not panic.
If Badger is a part of your medicine, hyou are quick to express your feelings, and you do not care what the consequences are. Badger people oftentimes insist on carrying the ball for the touchdown. This attitude, however, does not endear them to their teammates.
Badger medicine may also point to the aggressive healer who will have the courage to use unconventional means to exact a cure. Like the mother who sits for days nursing a child with high fever, Badger is willing to persist.
Badger people can be vicious gossips, or may exhibit a "chip on the shoulder" syndrome if they are out of balance. You can be sure that people with Badger medicine will be aggressive enough to make it to the tops of their chosen fields, because they do not give up. They are also the finest healers, because they will use any and all methods to ensure healing, and will not give up on the critically ill.
A Badger person is often the "boss" and the one that everyone fears. That same boss will surely keep any company afloat. Badger gets the job accomplished. Badger's certainty is a source of strength.
If Badger pushed its way into your cards today, it may be telling you that you have been too meek in trying to reach some goal. Badger asks you how long you are willing to sit and wait for the world to deliver your silver spoon.
In this medicine, the key is to become aggressive enough to do something about your present state of affairs. Badger is teaching you to get angry in a creative way and say, "I won't take it anymore." You must follow-upby keeping your eye on the goal. Honor the healing process as your express those inner feelings.
Be aggressive, but don't cut others to ribbons on the way - that is too much aggression. Use your anger to stop your lolling around, so that your doldrums of apathy are a thing of the past. Badger is a powerful medicine when properly used for self-improvement.
Remember that Badger may be signalling a time when you can use your healing abilities to push ahead in life. Heal yourself by aggressively removing the barriers that don't "grow corn". Cut away the dead wood and use Badger's aggression to seek new levels of expression. Use Badger's medicine roots to keep grounded and centered in the process.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Healing with Energy
I am teaching a class next week on using visualization, energetic vibrations and emotional clearing to heal. It's more than Reiki, but certainly Reiki will be used. I've taught my grandson to do it and he's only 4 years old. Anyone can learn it and practice it. If you care to join us, just drop me an email. This is going to be fun!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Back to Phoenix
I wasn't planning on coming to Phoenix this week but Shanon called and told me that Carlos and Veronica (her in-laws) have pneumonia and have been unable to help her with the kids. It's spring break and Michael is without neighborhood kids to play with. He's missing Grandma so.....I'm now here. I'm such a sucker for little boys.
Happy Easter..
Happy Easter..
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Reiki
Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and techniques such as this have been practiced for thousands of years. Reiki is a very simple yet powerful technique that can be easily learned by anyone.
The word Reiki comes from two Japanese words - Rei and Ki. The word Rei means universal and this is the definition most have accepted. However, this interpretation is a very general one. Rei as it is used in Reiki is more accurately interpreted to mean higher knowledge or spiritual consciousness. This is the wisdom that comes from God or the Higher Self and is the God-Consciousness which is all-knowing. It understands each person completely. It knows the cause of all problems and difficulties and knows how to heal them.
Ki is life energy. It is also known as the vital life force or the universal life force. This is the non-physical energy that animates all living things. As long as something is alive, it has life energy circulating through it and surrounding it; when it dies, the life energy departs. If your life energy is low, or if there is a restriction in its flow, you are more vulnerable to illness. when it is high, and flowing freely, you are less likely to get sick. Life energy plays an important role in everything we do. It animates the body and has higher levels of expression. Ki is also the primary energy of our emotions, thoughts and spiritual life.
Monday, March 10, 2008
I love, love, love being a saint...
I had a friend here Saturday who had an opportunity to sit in my living room and watch basketball with my mother while I worked in my office downstairs. He loves basketball and played it in his long ago youth. My mother, being the gracious hostess that she is felt obligated to entertain him in my absense. Heheheheh. Yeah. You know how much jocks love to be interupted during a game? She asked him if he ever played basketball and when. She asked him who he was cheering for. She asked him if he wanted something to drink or eat, then followed it up with two or three, "Are you sure?"'s She asked him if the sun was too warm or in his eyes and she asked him to repeat himself, as her hearing is failing. She told him that she played basketball when she was in high school and how hard it was. She told him she likes football so much more. She punctuated the game with "wow's and ooh's and yeah's" inappropriately timed. She ran the garbage disposal in the last few minutes of the game, unconscious of the importance of the two points that carried his team to victory. He was more than just a little bit annoyed. The veins in his forehead were rather enlarged when he finally came downstairs.
When he left that afternoon, he looked me in the eyes and said, "You are a saint!", referring to my patience with Mom. I had to laugh because I recall people calling my mother a saint for the patience she practiced with me when I was 17 and 24 and 29 and 32....
Is patience contagious or is it a practice? Is it learned or earned? I don't know, but I thank all that is responsible for bringing me to this experience of patience. I've prayed for it, affirmed for it, practiced it and often fell short of it. At least this weekend, I managed to experience it. For a brief period of time, I really felt like a saint.
When he left that afternoon, he looked me in the eyes and said, "You are a saint!", referring to my patience with Mom. I had to laugh because I recall people calling my mother a saint for the patience she practiced with me when I was 17 and 24 and 29 and 32....
Is patience contagious or is it a practice? Is it learned or earned? I don't know, but I thank all that is responsible for bringing me to this experience of patience. I've prayed for it, affirmed for it, practiced it and often fell short of it. At least this weekend, I managed to experience it. For a brief period of time, I really felt like a saint.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Andrea Sent This To Me.....
Written by Sam Levenson
For attractive lips , speak words of kindness...
For lovely eyes , seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure , share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair , let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise , walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone...
People, even more than things, have to be restored,
renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand,
you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands ;
one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.
For attractive lips , speak words of kindness...
For lovely eyes , seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure , share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair , let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise , walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone...
People, even more than things, have to be restored,
renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand,
you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands ;
one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.
Carmelita sent this to me........
By Pamela Redmond Satran
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a youth she's content to leave behind....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a feeling of control over her destiny....
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing....
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .
a youth she's content to leave behind....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a feeling of control over her destiny....
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing....
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...
In The Darkness of a Massage Room, She Said....
"I've had fifteen abortions." She said it matter-of-factly, without a smidgen of embarrassment or guilt. She could have just as easily been saying, "I washed my car fifteen times."
I don't know if she noticed my hands stopped massaging her back and, in fact, they almost left her body completely. I felt like I had been hit with a blast of sound and heat. I never would have expected the story I heard that day from a woman who looked like she came from one of Manhattan Beach's mansions. She was a tall, blond, blue-eyed beauty queen. But her story was more like a crack whore from a "Law and Order" episode.
Her childhood wasn't easy. Her father ran off early but not after leaving a few scars, both emotional and physical. He liked touching his beautiful baby when he was drunk. He sometimes liked throwing her around. He left the house when she was eight years old. She managed to get through high school and soon there after, she caught the eye of a successful doctor. He gave her everything money could buy, she was that beautiful. But, she met a woman, a fun friend, who took her to a bar one day for her first drink and a little fun. Over a very short period of time she was drinking regularly, partying often and sleeping around. Drugs appeared on the scene and she became an addict. Her husband tried to help her with some of the fanciest recovery programs but she was damaged and couldn't keep it together. By the time she was 36, she was divorced, had one child, 15 abortions, and a liver disease that eventually took her life before her 40th birthday.
I've heard some dramatic stories in the 30 years of practice. The details, of which, I try not to think about. One such case was a man, a divorced father of a teen aged girl. He was so stressed out he could hardly lay still. He found out his 15 year old girl was pregnant but she had waited until she was six months along before she told him. He forced her to have an abortion. He forced her. Well, he said he 'convinced' her. He told her that having a baby at her age would ruin her life. He was a yeller. Where did he find a doctor who would perform an abortion at six months? It wasn't an abortion to save the life of the mother. It wasn't because the fetus was unable to survive to full term, but, simply because the grandfather insisted. Whether it was legal or not, this father would have found a way, found a doctor, found a coat hanger if he had to do it himself.
I felt sick to my stomach listening to him, feeling his body. I tried very hard not to be judgmental. I tried very hard to be a higher-self healer. I'm not so sure I succeeded. I never saw him again after that confession.
I used to volunteer in a shelter for victims of domestic violence. I was also a Big Sister for an inner city girl. I studied child psychology and for one of my term papers I wrote about McLaren Hall, an institution that was more of a warehouse for unwanted, throw away children. They were treated worse than animals. Thousands of them. Tens of thousands of them over the years.
Between the teenage runaways, throw aways, and foster kids and orphans, we're talking about a million kids without homes or permanent parents.
It's like being between a hard place and a rock. Our system can't take care of the children being born yet our conservative inclination is to prevent any alternatives.
My friend wants to pass a law requiring all 13 year old girls to get an IUD and all 13 year old boys to get a reversible vasectomy. In order to have the IUD removed or the surgery reversed they would have to take a two year course on parenting and financial planning. She and I read, "Walden Two", by B.F. Skinner, in college. We thought it made perfect sense in this senseless situation.
Abortions, as awful as they are, need to remain legal, safe, and accessible. The alternative is unimaginable.
I don't know if she noticed my hands stopped massaging her back and, in fact, they almost left her body completely. I felt like I had been hit with a blast of sound and heat. I never would have expected the story I heard that day from a woman who looked like she came from one of Manhattan Beach's mansions. She was a tall, blond, blue-eyed beauty queen. But her story was more like a crack whore from a "Law and Order" episode.
Her childhood wasn't easy. Her father ran off early but not after leaving a few scars, both emotional and physical. He liked touching his beautiful baby when he was drunk. He sometimes liked throwing her around. He left the house when she was eight years old. She managed to get through high school and soon there after, she caught the eye of a successful doctor. He gave her everything money could buy, she was that beautiful. But, she met a woman, a fun friend, who took her to a bar one day for her first drink and a little fun. Over a very short period of time she was drinking regularly, partying often and sleeping around. Drugs appeared on the scene and she became an addict. Her husband tried to help her with some of the fanciest recovery programs but she was damaged and couldn't keep it together. By the time she was 36, she was divorced, had one child, 15 abortions, and a liver disease that eventually took her life before her 40th birthday.
I've heard some dramatic stories in the 30 years of practice. The details, of which, I try not to think about. One such case was a man, a divorced father of a teen aged girl. He was so stressed out he could hardly lay still. He found out his 15 year old girl was pregnant but she had waited until she was six months along before she told him. He forced her to have an abortion. He forced her. Well, he said he 'convinced' her. He told her that having a baby at her age would ruin her life. He was a yeller. Where did he find a doctor who would perform an abortion at six months? It wasn't an abortion to save the life of the mother. It wasn't because the fetus was unable to survive to full term, but, simply because the grandfather insisted. Whether it was legal or not, this father would have found a way, found a doctor, found a coat hanger if he had to do it himself.
I felt sick to my stomach listening to him, feeling his body. I tried very hard not to be judgmental. I tried very hard to be a higher-self healer. I'm not so sure I succeeded. I never saw him again after that confession.
I used to volunteer in a shelter for victims of domestic violence. I was also a Big Sister for an inner city girl. I studied child psychology and for one of my term papers I wrote about McLaren Hall, an institution that was more of a warehouse for unwanted, throw away children. They were treated worse than animals. Thousands of them. Tens of thousands of them over the years.
Between the teenage runaways, throw aways, and foster kids and orphans, we're talking about a million kids without homes or permanent parents.
It's like being between a hard place and a rock. Our system can't take care of the children being born yet our conservative inclination is to prevent any alternatives.
My friend wants to pass a law requiring all 13 year old girls to get an IUD and all 13 year old boys to get a reversible vasectomy. In order to have the IUD removed or the surgery reversed they would have to take a two year course on parenting and financial planning. She and I read, "Walden Two", by B.F. Skinner, in college. We thought it made perfect sense in this senseless situation.
Abortions, as awful as they are, need to remain legal, safe, and accessible. The alternative is unimaginable.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Do You Unknowingly Spread Lies?
I received an email today that has been forwarded and forwarded and forwarded for two years. Who knows how many thousands if not millions of people have seen it, read it and passed it along. It has photos captured during a demonstration. The photos are real, not photo shopped, not tampered with, not enhanced in any way. The text, however, is not at all accurate. It is slanted to portray a certain perspective and to illicit outrage. It is quite successful in that regard. It is racist, it is politically biased, and it is motivated by hatred and fear. If anyone had bothered to Google it to check some facts, they would have learned very quickly that the story attached to the photos was more than inaccurate. It is an urban legend.
Beliefs can be blinders. Beliefs vibrate at a frequency that draws to you more of the same. If you believe a certain thing you will draw to you evidence (true or false evidence) to validate your position. If you are a bigot, a racist, a fearful patriot, you will be drawn to newscasts that amplify your position so you can feel right.
Here's a hint: Bill O'Reilly is an entertainer, not an unbiased journalist. Rush Limbaugh is not a journalist, he is an entertainer. Randi Rhodes is not a journalist, she is an entertainer. If you want to know facts, don't rely on the media. Our current media just reiterates and regurgitates whatever comes across their desks. There are no true journalist anymore. A real journalist gets facts, checks them, double checks them and reports them without personal bias. Today it's about sound bites, graphics and ratings.
Please people, check your facts before forwarding emails that will illicit more fear and hatred. What we need now is hope and change and a fierce determination to differentiate the truth from the lies.
Beliefs can be blinders. Beliefs vibrate at a frequency that draws to you more of the same. If you believe a certain thing you will draw to you evidence (true or false evidence) to validate your position. If you are a bigot, a racist, a fearful patriot, you will be drawn to newscasts that amplify your position so you can feel right.
Here's a hint: Bill O'Reilly is an entertainer, not an unbiased journalist. Rush Limbaugh is not a journalist, he is an entertainer. Randi Rhodes is not a journalist, she is an entertainer. If you want to know facts, don't rely on the media. Our current media just reiterates and regurgitates whatever comes across their desks. There are no true journalist anymore. A real journalist gets facts, checks them, double checks them and reports them without personal bias. Today it's about sound bites, graphics and ratings.
Please people, check your facts before forwarding emails that will illicit more fear and hatred. What we need now is hope and change and a fierce determination to differentiate the truth from the lies.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Education in Anthem Arizona
Ah, it's good to be back. I feel like myself again. It's Saturday night and I've just returned from an informative evening presentation for a new private school opening in Anthem, Arizona. The name of the school is The Caepe and I'm very happy to say that my grandson Michael is attending the preschool. The new K through 8th grade school is opening in the fall. I love the teachers, the philosophy, the atmosphere, the mission statement and everything about this school, except the tuition. It is $8,000.00 a year plus many other expenses. Marlie will be ready for pre-school next year and when both kids are in school full time it will require Shanon to work a fulltime job just to pay for them to get the best education money can buy. Certainly the public schools here are failing miserably, as they are in many areas across the country. Private education is the only recourse. My daughter doesn't want to home school, for which I am grateful.
So, my scripting for the next few months will include feeling so very proud of the education my grandchildren are receiving. I feel open to receiving the many new ideas of ways to assist them in their education. I am feeling very open to receive and give my grandchildren the best education. So it is.
So, my scripting for the next few months will include feeling so very proud of the education my grandchildren are receiving. I feel open to receiving the many new ideas of ways to assist them in their education. I am feeling very open to receive and give my grandchildren the best education. So it is.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
My apologies to my loyal readers. I've been preoccupied with family issues and illnesses. As you know, Shanon and the kids arrived a week and a half ago, bringing with them the dreaded flu virus. They had just gotten over it and thought they were free of any bugs but soon after their arrival my 88 year old mother came down with it. This flu, if you haven't heard by now, is a violent, thoroughly painful bug. The vomiting is intense and rib breaking, the diarrhea is explosive and constant, the nausea is unrelenting and sleep depriving, the bone pains are piercing and tear inducing and the weakness is overwhelming. It lasts for several days but feels like several weeks. Shanon arrived on Monday, mother got sick on Thursday, the big party was Saturday and Sunday I had the beginning symptoms. I've nicknamed the flu, "Just Put A Bullet In My Head Flu". I've never, ever, ever been so sick in my life.
It's Thursday and I, or I should say, "we" were supposed to be in Phoenix today. I had to postpone the drive by an extra day just to get my land legs back.
I feel like my whole life was put on hold this week. I feel like I'm rising up from the depths of a dark swamp. Is there still life on this planet? Did anything happen in my absence? Did aliens invade or did the war end? I guess not.
It's Thursday and I, or I should say, "we" were supposed to be in Phoenix today. I had to postpone the drive by an extra day just to get my land legs back.
I feel like my whole life was put on hold this week. I feel like I'm rising up from the depths of a dark swamp. Is there still life on this planet? Did anything happen in my absence? Did aliens invade or did the war end? I guess not.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
From my Friend Steven
I find that listening to non-physical masters is a delightful way to be reminded of that part of us that is spiritual being and in 2008 on planet Earth, there is no shortage of ways to do this. I find the clarity of thought, the directness of a particular message, and the loving manner in which it is given are all hallmarks of genuine communication from the other side. In that light, I offer you this message from Kuan Yin, a Chinese goddess of mercy, compassion, and protection, which I have taken from Doreen Virtue’s book Archangels & Ascended Masters: A Guide to Working and Healing with Divinities and Deities:
“Here are my sacred instructions: First, have mercy upon yourselves. You have endured much in your land, and you have eons of lessons before you. Only through a gentle touch is Nirvana revealed. Stretch and reach for greatness, but always with a gentle approach. See not opportunities, but allow them to gently come to you as a lotus flower floats upon the currents of water amidst a gentle breeze. Strive, but not with hurry — enjoy the process upon which you embark. Know that each step along the way is akin to a party — a celebration of movement, which is itself a miracle.
“Appreciate the godliness within yourself, within each of you. Do not chide yourself for your errors and mistakes, but laugh, grow, and learn from them instead. You, my gentle child, are doing just fine — in fact, very well indeed.
“If I were to give you any word of wisdom, it would be the word that best embodies love upon this Earth plane to me: compassion. Growing past all shame and embarrassment, and moving toward appreciation, not just for the ‘good’ parts of yourself and others, but for all along the way — it’s all good, believe me. And if you can know that as the eternal truth sooner rather than later, your happiness will come galloping toward you at the speed of mustangs with winged hooves. Believe that as truth. Now.”
* * *
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening and/or out and about.
P E A C E ,
Steven
“Here are my sacred instructions: First, have mercy upon yourselves. You have endured much in your land, and you have eons of lessons before you. Only through a gentle touch is Nirvana revealed. Stretch and reach for greatness, but always with a gentle approach. See not opportunities, but allow them to gently come to you as a lotus flower floats upon the currents of water amidst a gentle breeze. Strive, but not with hurry — enjoy the process upon which you embark. Know that each step along the way is akin to a party — a celebration of movement, which is itself a miracle.
“Appreciate the godliness within yourself, within each of you. Do not chide yourself for your errors and mistakes, but laugh, grow, and learn from them instead. You, my gentle child, are doing just fine — in fact, very well indeed.
“If I were to give you any word of wisdom, it would be the word that best embodies love upon this Earth plane to me: compassion. Growing past all shame and embarrassment, and moving toward appreciation, not just for the ‘good’ parts of yourself and others, but for all along the way — it’s all good, believe me. And if you can know that as the eternal truth sooner rather than later, your happiness will come galloping toward you at the speed of mustangs with winged hooves. Believe that as truth. Now.”
* * *
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow evening and/or out and about.
P E A C E ,
Steven
Friday, February 22, 2008
Michael
Michael's headaches are less frequent and less intense. Is it the Reiki? Hmmmm....I believe so.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Today is My Birthday!
I've decided to be 47 today. I liked 47. My family is here from Phoenix and will be staying for a week or so. We're having a party on Saturday and I'm going to continue the celebration for the rest of the month....as it should be.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
I received this email today...I'm sharing it with all mothers....
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response,
the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the
phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't
you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on
the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my
head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible;
"The Invisible Mom."
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this?
Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being.
I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer,
'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right
around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the
eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude
- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
seen again. She's going, she's going, and she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return
of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a
fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed
in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put
together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for
myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only
thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in
a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in
it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a
beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was
a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why
she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte,
with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no
one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after
which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great
cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave
their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They
made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their
building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw
everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit
the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving
a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the
man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam
that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever se e it.' And
the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was
almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte.
I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you
does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no
cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over.
You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what
it will become.'
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a
disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of
my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn
pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great
builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will
never see finished, to work on something that their name will never
be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no
cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so
few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend
he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at
4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.'
That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just
want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more
to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if
we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the
world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty
that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible
women. Great Job, MOM!
the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the
phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't
you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on
the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my
head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible;
"The Invisible Mom."
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this?
Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being.
I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer,
'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right
around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the
eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude
- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
seen again. She's going, she's going, and she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return
of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a
fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed
in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put
together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for
myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only
thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in
a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in
it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a
beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was
a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why
she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte,
with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no
one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after
which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great
cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave
their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They
made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their
building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw
everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit
the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving
a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the
man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam
that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever se e it.' And
the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was
almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte.
I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you
does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no
cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over.
You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what
it will become.'
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a
disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of
my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn
pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great
builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will
never see finished, to work on something that their name will never
be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no
cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so
few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend
he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at
4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.'
That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just
want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more
to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if
we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the
world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty
that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible
women. Great Job, MOM!
Higher Self Parenting
If a Child Lives With...
If a child lives with criticism
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with jealousy
He learns to feel guilty.
But if a child lives with tolerance
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement
He learns self-confidence.
If a child lives with praise
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness
He learns justice.
If a child lives with approval
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with security
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship
He learns to find love in the world.
If a child lives with criticism
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with jealousy
He learns to feel guilty.
But if a child lives with tolerance
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement
He learns self-confidence.
If a child lives with praise
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness
He learns justice.
If a child lives with approval
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with security
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship
He learns to find love in the world.
Higher Self Parenting
If A Child Lives With. . .
by Dorothy Law Nolte
If a child lives with criticism
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with fear
He learns to be apprehensive.
If a child lives with jealousy
He learns to feel guilt.
If a child lives with tolerance
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement
He learns to be confident.
If a child lives with praise
He learns to be appreciative.
If a child lives with acceptance
He learns to love.
If a child lives with approval
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with recognition
He learns that it is good to have a goal.
If a child lives with honesty
He learns what truth is.
If a child lives with fairness
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security
He learns to trust in himself and others .
If a child lives with friendliness
He learns the world is a nice place in which to live.
by Dorothy Law Nolte
If a child lives with criticism
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with fear
He learns to be apprehensive.
If a child lives with jealousy
He learns to feel guilt.
If a child lives with tolerance
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement
He learns to be confident.
If a child lives with praise
He learns to be appreciative.
If a child lives with acceptance
He learns to love.
If a child lives with approval
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with recognition
He learns that it is good to have a goal.
If a child lives with honesty
He learns what truth is.
If a child lives with fairness
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security
He learns to trust in himself and others .
If a child lives with friendliness
He learns the world is a nice place in which to live.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
A Question Has Been Posed.....
When people go off of their mood disorder medications don't they go back to their old behaviors, attitudes, and personalities that are "normal" for them? If they are depressed people, or manic people, or cycle between the two, whether they are compulsive gamblers, sexually obsessive, loud and dispruptive, angry and violent, or quiet and suicidal, isn't that "normal" for them? Isn't that who they really are? Isn't the medicated version of them, the calm, stable, polite person they are on medication, just a medicated version and not who they really are? Which one is the "real" person?
Is it simply that we want to medicate bipolar people to make it easier for polite society to deal with them? We want to make them easier to live with by not allowing them to be the self destructive, suicidal, compulsive people they are by nature? How do you know who is the "real" person? Should we just allow them to self-destruct and end up in prison, the poor house, a mental institution or an early grave? These are the people who are prone to accidents, criminal behavior, violence and suicide.
My client was diagnosed with a mood disorder. They have labeled her as bipolar. She is facing 43 felony counts. She's only 27 years old. She has totalled three cars, and stolen countless identities and thousands of dollars from hundreds of people. She has broken into dozens of homes and cars and she's been in a dozen different facilities for troubled teens. She has destroyed every relationship she has ever had. She's angry, violent, beligerent and believes she is smarter than anyone alive. Is this who she really is? When she's on medication she is calm, easier to be around, much more pleasant, and rather adorable. But, who is she really? Who is the real Sarah? Is she the violent, angry, beligerant version with a grandious self perception or the medicated, calm, funny and clear-headed version?
I have another friend who recently went off of his medication. I used to think he was a calm, easy-to-be-around, kinda guy. I liked him. I thought that was the "real" version. I've since seen the other version. Which one is real?
Can managing beliefs and emotional energy transcend a chemical imbalance or brain damage? Can a mentally ill person heal the genetic predisposition for bipolar mood disorders without pharmaceutal intervention? And even if belief managment can......still.....which personality is the real version? Do you let the mentally ill decide who they want to present themselves to be? Can we afford to allow them the identity they choose? Or do we medicate the entire population of disordered people? And if we medicate that population, do we include those with borderline disorders? Should we medicate the sex addicts? Do we medicate the criminal mind, the pornography addicts, the child molesters, the alcoholics and drug addicts, the shopaholics and the bitchy, anti-establishment, conspiracy theorists too? Some people would argue that homosexuals are in need of some mind altering pharmaceuticals. And what about the gross, trailor trash parents who leave their babies in cars while they shop at Wal-Mart? Are they mentally retarded or mentally disordered? Do we jail them all or shoot them up?
Why would anyone want to act unkind? Why would anyone choose destruction and isolation over its opposite? A logical, rational, healthy person would want to have healthy relationships and balanced lives, would they not?
I want to know...this has kept me up all night. I know many people who have littered pasts due to so called "mental illnesses." Some have mulitple divorces, some have littered the countryside with off-spring they don't know and don't seem to care about and all of whom find a convenient rationaliztion for their behaviors and decisions. The criminal exibitionist doesn't see what wrong with his behavior. "What's the big deal? It's natural to be naked."
Gwyneth Paltrow's stalker claims his has a mental disorder and doesn't belong in jail but wants to go live with his sister who will make sure he takes his meds. He committed a crime while off his meds and became obsessed with a woman he was sure wanted him.
A judge said that a man who stole two weed wackers from a Home Depot last year is facing 25 years to life because 14 years ago he was convicted of a couple of non violent felonies. He claims he couldn't afford his medication because he lost his job and blah, blah, blah.
Mentally ill or lost soul?
Have to go vote...will continue later....maybe.
.
Is it simply that we want to medicate bipolar people to make it easier for polite society to deal with them? We want to make them easier to live with by not allowing them to be the self destructive, suicidal, compulsive people they are by nature? How do you know who is the "real" person? Should we just allow them to self-destruct and end up in prison, the poor house, a mental institution or an early grave? These are the people who are prone to accidents, criminal behavior, violence and suicide.
My client was diagnosed with a mood disorder. They have labeled her as bipolar. She is facing 43 felony counts. She's only 27 years old. She has totalled three cars, and stolen countless identities and thousands of dollars from hundreds of people. She has broken into dozens of homes and cars and she's been in a dozen different facilities for troubled teens. She has destroyed every relationship she has ever had. She's angry, violent, beligerent and believes she is smarter than anyone alive. Is this who she really is? When she's on medication she is calm, easier to be around, much more pleasant, and rather adorable. But, who is she really? Who is the real Sarah? Is she the violent, angry, beligerant version with a grandious self perception or the medicated, calm, funny and clear-headed version?
I have another friend who recently went off of his medication. I used to think he was a calm, easy-to-be-around, kinda guy. I liked him. I thought that was the "real" version. I've since seen the other version. Which one is real?
Can managing beliefs and emotional energy transcend a chemical imbalance or brain damage? Can a mentally ill person heal the genetic predisposition for bipolar mood disorders without pharmaceutal intervention? And even if belief managment can......still.....which personality is the real version? Do you let the mentally ill decide who they want to present themselves to be? Can we afford to allow them the identity they choose? Or do we medicate the entire population of disordered people? And if we medicate that population, do we include those with borderline disorders? Should we medicate the sex addicts? Do we medicate the criminal mind, the pornography addicts, the child molesters, the alcoholics and drug addicts, the shopaholics and the bitchy, anti-establishment, conspiracy theorists too? Some people would argue that homosexuals are in need of some mind altering pharmaceuticals. And what about the gross, trailor trash parents who leave their babies in cars while they shop at Wal-Mart? Are they mentally retarded or mentally disordered? Do we jail them all or shoot them up?
Why would anyone want to act unkind? Why would anyone choose destruction and isolation over its opposite? A logical, rational, healthy person would want to have healthy relationships and balanced lives, would they not?
I want to know...this has kept me up all night. I know many people who have littered pasts due to so called "mental illnesses." Some have mulitple divorces, some have littered the countryside with off-spring they don't know and don't seem to care about and all of whom find a convenient rationaliztion for their behaviors and decisions. The criminal exibitionist doesn't see what wrong with his behavior. "What's the big deal? It's natural to be naked."
Gwyneth Paltrow's stalker claims his has a mental disorder and doesn't belong in jail but wants to go live with his sister who will make sure he takes his meds. He committed a crime while off his meds and became obsessed with a woman he was sure wanted him.
A judge said that a man who stole two weed wackers from a Home Depot last year is facing 25 years to life because 14 years ago he was convicted of a couple of non violent felonies. He claims he couldn't afford his medication because he lost his job and blah, blah, blah.
Mentally ill or lost soul?
Have to go vote...will continue later....maybe.
.
Monday, February 04, 2008
disposable diapers
Which is Best? Cloth diapers or disposalbe?
The debate between which type of diaper is best is not an easy question to answer. The reusable cloth diaper isn’t what it used to be. Some cloth diapers now have double or triple layers and a multiply, fiber-filled strip, making them more absorbent than older styles. Some styles of cloth diapers now come with Velcro strips, eliminating the need for those large safety pins. You can launder them at home or turn the job over to a diaper service.
There are also various types and styles of disposable diapers, ranging from simple plastic covered paper diapers to the newest high-tech, cartoon covered, absorbent gel material filled, elastic legged disposables.
With so many different choices, here are some things to take into consideration.
Skin Care & Health concerns:
The greatest concern for parents is to keep their baby’s skin dry, healthy and free from diaper rash. Many things can cause diaper rash. Prolonged wetness, lack of air circulation, soap, chemical and dye allergies, ammonia formed by bacteria that interacts with urine left sitting against the skin and the growth of microbes in the diaper area can all be irritating and cause rashes.
Some concerns about disposable diapers have been about dyes, sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper. Sodium polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions and is very harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Some dyes and dioxin according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. The (FDA) Food & Drug Administration has received reports that fragrances in disposables caused headaches, dizziness and rashes. Problems reported to the Consumer Protection Agency regarding disposables include, chemical burns, noxious chemical and insecticide odors, babies pulling disposables apart and putting pieces of plastic into their noses and mouth, choking on tab papers and linings, plastic melting onto the skin, and ink staining the skin. Plastic tabs can also tear skin if the diaper is not properly put on the baby.
According to the Journal of Pediatrics, 54 % of one-month old babies using disposable diapers had rashes, 16 % having severe rashes. A study done by a disposable diapers manufacturing company (we won’t name the company, but its one of the largest manufacturers) shows that the incidence of diaper rash increased from 7.1% to 61% with the increased use of throwaway disposable diapers.
Keep in mind that each baby is different; some parents will find their baby does perfectly fine with disposables while other parents may find their baby has some type of reaction to disposables.
On the other hand cloth diapers can cause rashes by not being changed enough or properly cleaned and sanitized after becoming soiled.
It is all a matter of personal preference, how your baby is reacting to a particular diaper and how you feel about other factors that come into play when deciding between cloth and disposables.
The best way to prevent diaper rash is to change diapers, cloth or disposable, frequently. While disposable diapers can hold large quantities of urine, this slight wetness is still against your baby’s skin, which can lead to rashes. Cloth diapers should be changed every time your baby wets and then the diaper should be properly cleaned so all bacteria that may be in the cloth is killed.
Cost:
The cost of diapers is usually a great concern for most parents. Cost estimates show that disposable diapers will run approximately $50 to $80 per month, using a diaper services will cost approximately $50 to $80 per month and laundering your own cloth diapers will cost slightly less at approximately $25 to $60 per month.
The cost of disposable diapers varies due to the wide range of disposables on the market. Some name brands are very expensive, while some store branded disposables can be half the price of name brands. The cost of a diaper service mainly varies because of two factors. One factor being the amount of competition in your area (number of diaper service companies) and the second being the quality of diapers that you choose to use. The cost of laundering your own cloth diapers also varies because of many factors. One factor is the quality of the cloth diaper. Some parents will initially purchase very high quality cloth diapers which will last several years, while other parents might buy low quality diapers which only last for a short time. Another factor is the amount of laundering that is done for each load of dirty diapers. Some parents will only do a minimal amount of cleaning and sanitizing, while other parents will go through many steps to clean a load of dirty diapers. The more cleaning and sanitizing that is performed for each load of diapers the higher the cost. Other factors are your time to launder the diapers, cost of electricity, soap, water, and wear on your washing machine and dryer.
In general, if you compare the cost of the fancier high tech disposable diapers to the cost of laundering your own cloth diapers, you will save money by using cloth diapers and laundering them yourself. If you decide to go with disposable diapers, here are a few tips on how to save money on disposable diapers.
Environment:
There has been much debate over the impact of disposable diapers and cloth diapers on the environment. The pro-disposable diaper advocates say that the extra water used to wash cloth diapers is just as much of an abuse to the environment as the production and disposal of disposable diapers. But taking into consideration the following estimates you will probably agree that disposable diapers are much more harmful to the environment than cloth diapers.
It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.
The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers is also a possible danger to contaminating ground water. Pro-disposable advocates say that cleaning cloth diapers uses more energy, and contributes to the load on sanitary sewer systems and potential water pollution. This view really makes no sense if you think about it. The amount of water used per week to wash cloth diapers at home is about the same amount consumed by an adult flushing the toilet four or five times daily for a week. Also, the greater amount of water and energy being used by diaper service companies to wash large amounts of cloth diapers multiple times; the per diaper impact on energy and water supplies is actually less than home washing.
Finally, when flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine, the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill.
The debate between which type of diaper is best is not an easy question to answer. The reusable cloth diaper isn’t what it used to be. Some cloth diapers now have double or triple layers and a multiply, fiber-filled strip, making them more absorbent than older styles. Some styles of cloth diapers now come with Velcro strips, eliminating the need for those large safety pins. You can launder them at home or turn the job over to a diaper service.
There are also various types and styles of disposable diapers, ranging from simple plastic covered paper diapers to the newest high-tech, cartoon covered, absorbent gel material filled, elastic legged disposables.
With so many different choices, here are some things to take into consideration.
Skin Care & Health concerns:
The greatest concern for parents is to keep their baby’s skin dry, healthy and free from diaper rash. Many things can cause diaper rash. Prolonged wetness, lack of air circulation, soap, chemical and dye allergies, ammonia formed by bacteria that interacts with urine left sitting against the skin and the growth of microbes in the diaper area can all be irritating and cause rashes.
Some concerns about disposable diapers have been about dyes, sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper. Sodium polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions and is very harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Some dyes and dioxin according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. The (FDA) Food & Drug Administration has received reports that fragrances in disposables caused headaches, dizziness and rashes. Problems reported to the Consumer Protection Agency regarding disposables include, chemical burns, noxious chemical and insecticide odors, babies pulling disposables apart and putting pieces of plastic into their noses and mouth, choking on tab papers and linings, plastic melting onto the skin, and ink staining the skin. Plastic tabs can also tear skin if the diaper is not properly put on the baby.
According to the Journal of Pediatrics, 54 % of one-month old babies using disposable diapers had rashes, 16 % having severe rashes. A study done by a disposable diapers manufacturing company (we won’t name the company, but its one of the largest manufacturers) shows that the incidence of diaper rash increased from 7.1% to 61% with the increased use of throwaway disposable diapers.
Keep in mind that each baby is different; some parents will find their baby does perfectly fine with disposables while other parents may find their baby has some type of reaction to disposables.
On the other hand cloth diapers can cause rashes by not being changed enough or properly cleaned and sanitized after becoming soiled.
It is all a matter of personal preference, how your baby is reacting to a particular diaper and how you feel about other factors that come into play when deciding between cloth and disposables.
The best way to prevent diaper rash is to change diapers, cloth or disposable, frequently. While disposable diapers can hold large quantities of urine, this slight wetness is still against your baby’s skin, which can lead to rashes. Cloth diapers should be changed every time your baby wets and then the diaper should be properly cleaned so all bacteria that may be in the cloth is killed.
Cost:
The cost of diapers is usually a great concern for most parents. Cost estimates show that disposable diapers will run approximately $50 to $80 per month, using a diaper services will cost approximately $50 to $80 per month and laundering your own cloth diapers will cost slightly less at approximately $25 to $60 per month.
The cost of disposable diapers varies due to the wide range of disposables on the market. Some name brands are very expensive, while some store branded disposables can be half the price of name brands. The cost of a diaper service mainly varies because of two factors. One factor being the amount of competition in your area (number of diaper service companies) and the second being the quality of diapers that you choose to use. The cost of laundering your own cloth diapers also varies because of many factors. One factor is the quality of the cloth diaper. Some parents will initially purchase very high quality cloth diapers which will last several years, while other parents might buy low quality diapers which only last for a short time. Another factor is the amount of laundering that is done for each load of dirty diapers. Some parents will only do a minimal amount of cleaning and sanitizing, while other parents will go through many steps to clean a load of dirty diapers. The more cleaning and sanitizing that is performed for each load of diapers the higher the cost. Other factors are your time to launder the diapers, cost of electricity, soap, water, and wear on your washing machine and dryer.
In general, if you compare the cost of the fancier high tech disposable diapers to the cost of laundering your own cloth diapers, you will save money by using cloth diapers and laundering them yourself. If you decide to go with disposable diapers, here are a few tips on how to save money on disposable diapers.
Environment:
There has been much debate over the impact of disposable diapers and cloth diapers on the environment. The pro-disposable diaper advocates say that the extra water used to wash cloth diapers is just as much of an abuse to the environment as the production and disposal of disposable diapers. But taking into consideration the following estimates you will probably agree that disposable diapers are much more harmful to the environment than cloth diapers.
It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.
The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers is also a possible danger to contaminating ground water. Pro-disposable advocates say that cleaning cloth diapers uses more energy, and contributes to the load on sanitary sewer systems and potential water pollution. This view really makes no sense if you think about it. The amount of water used per week to wash cloth diapers at home is about the same amount consumed by an adult flushing the toilet four or five times daily for a week. Also, the greater amount of water and energy being used by diaper service companies to wash large amounts of cloth diapers multiple times; the per diaper impact on energy and water supplies is actually less than home washing.
Finally, when flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine, the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill.
Lip Service
No, Boys....not that kind of lip service. Settle down.
Lip Service of the "I'm an environmentalist." kind. It's hip to be an environmentalist. Put on a "Green Peace" bumper sticker, a "Save the Rain Forests" T-shirt, a peace sign necklace, an OM tattoo and you're doing your part, right? Well, let's see.... Have you started or stopped....
1. Using reusable shopping bags yet?
2. Stopped using Tide or Cheer or Wisk and using eco-friendly detergents?
3. Driving less and walking more?
4. Eating less meat, chicken, and dairy?
5. Wearing more fabrics like, bamboo, hemp, and naturally dyed cottons and silks?
6. Using fewer paper products like, towels, napkins, and bleached tissues?
7. Stopped using bleach altogether? (try peroxide)
8. Spot cleaning your clothes instead of tossing everything in a washer and dryer?
9. Using fans instead of air-conditioners?
10. Keeping household tempurature at 69 instead of 72?
11. Using ashtrays instead of your car window?
12. Buying locally grown foods?
13. Changed out your light bulbs?
14. Picking up after your pets?
15. Flushing your toilet on the third use? "Yellow mellows, brown goes down."
16. Recycled, Reused, Renewed?.
17 Planted a tree?
Any of the above? One or two? Something? No more lip service, folks. Be of service to Mother Earth. It will activate the rejuvenation energy of your body, mind and soul. Remember, the world is a reflection of you.
Lip Service of the "I'm an environmentalist." kind. It's hip to be an environmentalist. Put on a "Green Peace" bumper sticker, a "Save the Rain Forests" T-shirt, a peace sign necklace, an OM tattoo and you're doing your part, right? Well, let's see.... Have you started or stopped....
1. Using reusable shopping bags yet?
2. Stopped using Tide or Cheer or Wisk and using eco-friendly detergents?
3. Driving less and walking more?
4. Eating less meat, chicken, and dairy?
5. Wearing more fabrics like, bamboo, hemp, and naturally dyed cottons and silks?
6. Using fewer paper products like, towels, napkins, and bleached tissues?
7. Stopped using bleach altogether? (try peroxide)
8. Spot cleaning your clothes instead of tossing everything in a washer and dryer?
9. Using fans instead of air-conditioners?
10. Keeping household tempurature at 69 instead of 72?
11. Using ashtrays instead of your car window?
12. Buying locally grown foods?
13. Changed out your light bulbs?
14. Picking up after your pets?
15. Flushing your toilet on the third use? "Yellow mellows, brown goes down."
16. Recycled, Reused, Renewed?.
17 Planted a tree?
Any of the above? One or two? Something? No more lip service, folks. Be of service to Mother Earth. It will activate the rejuvenation energy of your body, mind and soul. Remember, the world is a reflection of you.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Medicine Card, Prairie Dog
Prairie Dog
Retreat
Prairie Dog medicine teaches that strength and inspiration can be found by retreating into the stillness that quiets the mind. The strength of this medicine is also knowing when and how to replenish your life force. Prairie Dog medicine people tend to seek self-empowerment in silence and inactivity, where they can access dreams and visions without the intrusions of worldly chaos. When they reenter the world, they are profound and powerful anchors of calm resolve amid life's storms.
The medicine of Prairie Dog is applicable to all of the Marmot Tribe, which includes the Gound Squirrel clan, the Gopher clan, the Woodchuck clan, and the Gound Hog clan. Just as Native American warriors knew when to charge forward and when to become invisible, the Marmot tribe knows how and when to retreat. The Prairie Dog runs for the tunnels when a predator is on its trail; in the winter, it conserves energy by hibernation during the scarce time of the cold moons.
If Prairie Dog has surfaced in our cards today, it may be a warning that your body's fuel gauge is running low. You might need a day of silence or retreat from regular activities before you become too exhausted to carry on. Have you put your basic needs at the bottom of the "To Do" list? Buning the candle at both ends may weaken the punch you can normally pack when tackling the tasks at hand. Take a much needed break before you crash and burn. Prairie Dog teaches you that, in order to access gifts of inspiration and renewal, you must be at peace with yourself and rested enough to recognize the blessings being offered.
If you have been battling a situation without gaining ground, Pairie Dog reminds you that pushing too hard can create a resistance that does not allow for interaction. Take a break! Give it a rest! After a comfortable and relaxed time, you can return with a fresh perspective. In the meantime, the dynamics of the situation may have changed because your retreat allows the present challenge to work itself out. there is ample strength available if you quit pushing and go with the flow. Prairie Dog says its tunnels run both ways; now it is time to choose the backdoor exit for some rest and relaxation.
Retreat
Prairie Dog medicine teaches that strength and inspiration can be found by retreating into the stillness that quiets the mind. The strength of this medicine is also knowing when and how to replenish your life force. Prairie Dog medicine people tend to seek self-empowerment in silence and inactivity, where they can access dreams and visions without the intrusions of worldly chaos. When they reenter the world, they are profound and powerful anchors of calm resolve amid life's storms.
The medicine of Prairie Dog is applicable to all of the Marmot Tribe, which includes the Gound Squirrel clan, the Gopher clan, the Woodchuck clan, and the Gound Hog clan. Just as Native American warriors knew when to charge forward and when to become invisible, the Marmot tribe knows how and when to retreat. The Prairie Dog runs for the tunnels when a predator is on its trail; in the winter, it conserves energy by hibernation during the scarce time of the cold moons.
If Prairie Dog has surfaced in our cards today, it may be a warning that your body's fuel gauge is running low. You might need a day of silence or retreat from regular activities before you become too exhausted to carry on. Have you put your basic needs at the bottom of the "To Do" list? Buning the candle at both ends may weaken the punch you can normally pack when tackling the tasks at hand. Take a much needed break before you crash and burn. Prairie Dog teaches you that, in order to access gifts of inspiration and renewal, you must be at peace with yourself and rested enough to recognize the blessings being offered.
If you have been battling a situation without gaining ground, Pairie Dog reminds you that pushing too hard can create a resistance that does not allow for interaction. Take a break! Give it a rest! After a comfortable and relaxed time, you can return with a fresh perspective. In the meantime, the dynamics of the situation may have changed because your retreat allows the present challenge to work itself out. there is ample strength available if you quit pushing and go with the flow. Prairie Dog says its tunnels run both ways; now it is time to choose the backdoor exit for some rest and relaxation.
Rune For the Magnificent Boulder Man
Thurisaz
Gateway
Place of Non-Action
The God Thor
With a gateway for its symbol, this Rune indicates that there is work to be done both inside and outside your self. The gateway is the frontier between Heaven and the mundane. Arriving here is a recognition of your readiness to contact the numinous, the Divine, to illuminate your experience so that its meaning shines through its form.
Thurisaz is a Rune of non-action. Thus, the gateway is not to be approached and passed through without contemplation. Here you are being confronted with a true reflection of what is hidden in yourself, what must be exposed and examined before successful action can be undertaken. This Rune strengthens your ability to wait. Now is not a time to make decisions. Deep transformational forces are at work in this next-to-last of the Cycle Runes.
Visualize yourself standing before a gateway on a hilltop. Your entire life lies out behind you and below. Before you step through, pause and review the past: the learning and the joys, the victories and the sorrows—everything it took to bring you here. Observe it all, bless it all, release it all. For in letting go of the past you reclaim your power.
Step through the gateway now
Beliefs
My mother has a belief that dogs can't be trusted around children, especially when they have food or bones they want to protect. A Rottweiller could take one bite out of a small child and it would be all over. My mother gets nervous and sends out warning signals whenever her dogs were around children. Her dogs had to be "put down" due to their temperment.
Maggie Mae, a beautiful large Rottie, was trained by my daughter and I. Here you can see her with her favorite bone and little Michael is right there, perfectly safe.
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