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Lessons from a Blimp.

Many years ago, I was invited to take a ride in the Blockbuster blimp for my birthday. 

Yup.  That many years ago.  When renting video tapes was a thing. Arriving at a small airport in Northeast Philadelphia, I was startled by the size of the huge bullet-shaped “balloon.” Six strong men struggled to hold the blimp steady via long ropes. My friend yelled out, “This is going to be a hell of a ride!”

I saw an inconceivably small oval cockpit hanging beneath this floating behemoth.

I decided the butterflies in my stomach were from excitement as we squeezed into our seats.  Since it was my birthday, I had the front seat next to the pilot.  Lucky me. In a flash, those strong men were waving as our little engine chugged us forward.  It was surreal.

I thought of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie while watching neighborhoods glide beneath us.

My husband’s seatbelt wasn’t secure and our gracious host in the miniature back seat wasn’t much help.  “No worries” said the pilot as he reached back to adjust the belt.  No worries?  The nose of the blimp moved rapidly toward the ground, giving me a full appreciation for the term, “nosedive.” 

Those butterflies weren’t only in my stomach anymore.

The pilot turned back and casually righted the blimp.  “See, nothing to worry about.”  Funny guy.  I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Immediately that familiar sensation of nausea came over me.  It never crossed my mind that a lifetime of motion sickness within all moving vehicles might extend to a blimp ride. I immediately got into management mode as I relaxed my body, set my gaze forward, and began breathing deeply.  Placing myself in an aware trance state, I focused the delight of flying.

“Kathy! Take a look. Your husband is turning green.”

Apparently we shared an affinity for blimp sickness.  Well, that man was on his own.  The pilot suggested they open a window. In a blimp? Good grief.  The backseat duo couldn’t get the damned window open, so the pilot reached back and battled with the sticky window. 

Another nosedive while moving through rough wind currents.

Happy birthday to me. I quietly scanned for an airsick bag.  Nothing.  As fresh air blew through our tiny capsule, I made a quick decision. I was gonna totally enjoy this novel experience. I decided my butterflies found it thrilling. After all, how often do you float over neighborhoods, rivers, and highways? I even snapped a photo of Philadelphia before we were turned away from the restricted city air space.

I gratefully realized I was halfway through my birthday adventure without losing my cookies.

My celebration was interrupted when the pilot asked if we were interested in heading to Willow Grove to see if we could fly in the air show.  Since I didn’t think I’d be flying fighter jets in the future, might as well try to show up in a blimp.  When else would I get a chance to be in an air show? 

Choosing to focus on the wonder of this otherworldly journey helped manage my discomfort.

I was hanging on by a thread when we got the message to “stay put” in case we could fit in the lineup. We’d been in the friendly skies nearing two hours and still had to make it back.  By the way, the back seat was doing just fine with their breezy window.  Enjoying some history and a tour of the grand estates in a ritzy area of town.

I’d love to tell you that we were the star of the show, but the Blockbuster Airship didn’t make the cut. 

All that extra travel for nothing!  Or was it? Reflecting on this gift of flight, I’m grateful I hadn’t recalled my motion sickness before we arrived. Or knew what a long, uncomfortable experience I’d have. I’m certainly glad I didn’t know anything about hanging in a mini cocoon under a gas filled balloon. Nor about nosedives and open windows.

All that knowledge would have definitely led me to worry and hesitation.

Which would have been an absolute waste of time and disrupted my birthday excitement. I learned motion sickness exists in the air and on the ground. And so does delight. As above, so below.  It all depends what you chose to focus upon.  Truth be told, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

In hindsight, the blimp was a walk in the park compared to the time I jumped out of an airplane. 

But, that’s another story entirely.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Your attitude toward stress is important.  One study showed that interpreting anxiety as feelings of excitement may actually help your mood and performance. Even more than trying to calm down.  You can adopt a mind set which focuses on the positive outcomes of stressful experiences so that feeling stressed is less of a barrier. Performance research suggests you need just enough stress to get brain chemicals to give you some juice, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed or can’t think straight.

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Talking to Angels

Have you been talking to Angels?

Yeah, me too.  How’s that going? 

(That’s a real question.)

I really wonder what it’s like for you when you chat with the Angels.  I’d love to know the details. The Who, What About, When, How, How often and What happens type of details.  I’d love to know how they respond and how you know it’s them.    

I want to know what doesn’t happen.  Where it doesn’t work, when you doubt (them, you), when you forget them, when they remind you. When they disappoint you.  Or you them.

(Spoiler alert. That last option just isn’t a possibility.  Ever.)  

I want to know all of it.  So, email me.  I’ll read it. I’ll send you a guided meditation as a thank you.  Which one.  Don’t know.  I’m sure “they” will tell me.  

You know how you get so used to your way of doing things, you forget there are other ways?  That’s me.  Hence, my (real) question.

It’s a big world out there.  Lots of humans.  The cosmos is even bigger.  Lots of celestial conversationalists available for a (snap) chat. I wonder if you’re the chatty kind – talking all day to humans and light beings.  Or if you spend most of your time with one group over another.  Maybe you only talk (to humans or angels) when you really need something.  I wonder what it’s like for you.

I don’t read books about how to connect with Angels anymore. 

Not for years.  I read a bunch in the beginning.  They opened a new world to me and I’m deeply grateful for them. I liked having information about the Angels: names, roles, descriptions and ways to translate Angelic guidance.  This initial structure gave me the foundational knowledge and ideas about how I figure it all worked.  

I didn’t realize how these books also kept me bound within limited ideas about the Angelic Presence.  

I do remember the exact moment that door opened.  

I was offering an Angel reading as part of my practicum to become an Angel Healing Practitioner  You can just picture me.  My face and insides all screwed up in concentration as I “tried” to translate something that sounded like Angelic guidance.  Lots of tension. Lots of effort.

Until something akin to a tap on my right shoulder was followed by a question.  

“Do you mind if We take it from here?”

“Have at it!”  My relief was palpable. My knowing clear. My trust complete. 

From that day on, talking to Angels has become as natural as breathing. So has listening to Angels, streaming Angelic Conversations for others, consulting with them on all my life decisions, and helping you find your own way into this ongoing conversation. 

I know you have the skill to do the same.  I have zero doubt on that belief.  

Why so sure? I’ve sat with thousands of people throughout the years.  Heard so many Angel connection stories. Witnessed so many beautiful partnerships, heartfelt wisdom translations, and bodyfelt receptivity to the Angelic Presence.  Too many to count.  So, I know you absolutely have the skill to enter the conversation more fully.  

I just wonder where you’re bound. 

By your limited beliefs. By your doubt in yourself. By your experience (evidence) of not being responded to.  By your disappointments. By your perception that others can do this, but not you.  

I lived all of that.  Fully embodied disempowerment all the while I was having marginal success “talking with Angels.”

Those days are gone. These days I’m clear: the only time I’m not engaged with these lovely messengers is when I’ve left the conversation.  When I’ve narrowed my perception, my thinking, my awareness.  When I’ve gotten lost in one of my countless human stories that lead me to believe I’m separate from this ongoing flowing dialogue. 

These days I know the Angels are always Live Streaming.  

And, unbeknownst to most, you are always engaged in some level at that conversation.   

I wonder what your myths are about how this flowing, streaming beautiful conversation is “suppose to” happen.  

Myths.  Plural.  They are like locked doors – keeping you outside looking in at those who can talk to Angels, easily translate celestial wisdom, access deep Truth. These myths are keeping you separate from someone like me.  Just like my myths kept me in the “I’m not intuitive like you” camp for way too long.

This myth is not true. Just a distorted story which disempowers.  

 

There are lots of myths about how the Angelic conversation is supposed to happen.  If you’ve witnessed me live streaming – which is most typical when I teach, guide a meditation, offer an Angel Healing session, or an Angel Card Reading – you’ve witnessed one way of flow.   

I’d love to also talk about how damn awkward these conversations with Angels can be. 

To help you understand their nonlinear nature. How conversations unfold over time, across various messengers, and skip around topics. How the information is often cryptic, symbolic, and multisensory. How they show up at the most inopportune times.

How they pick up the conversation with abrupt questions, laughter when things aren’t funny, and challenges to act when it makes no sense.

About how to open to their rants about how much you are loved, cherished, and enjoyed. To let yourself feel the feels and experience the otherworldly even when it is physically disorienting or confusing.

I’d love to help you open to this Angelic live stream. 

I’m really invested in the other Angelic Invitation I received those many years ago.  “Teach them what they are already capable of.”  That’s what I’ve been doing for years now.  

Empowering you to discover how you (already) work.

Every workshop, retreat, and service I offer will help you discover more of your innate capacity to communicate with the Angels.  With every higher level of Wisdom regardless of what it is called.  This is what you are capable of. 

I invite you to WholeHeartedly, consciously, and freely enter the conversation. 

If you’re wanting personal instruction, hit me up for an Angelic Healing Journey.  It’s all about you as the Angels and other Wise Guides show up to answer your questions, invite themselves to hang out with you on a daily basis, and give you some hints for elevating your life.

Above all, remember this: You really don’t need me, or anyone, to show you the way.

You already know how to talk and listen.  You’ve already had beautiful and awkward conversations with all kinds of beings. Relax and have at it. If you want a guide, pick up a book, grab an Angel Card Deck, or find a teacher/mentor. 

All lead to the same place: your own Awesomeness.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Kindness: the gift that keeps on giving. University of California researchers found an increase in positive feelings and life satisfaction, and a decrease in negative feelings, when participants performed acts of kindness, recalled acts of kindness, or did both. Next time you feel down or stressed, pull up a memory of when you were kind to someone to improve your own well-being.

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Something New

I’m ready for something new.
Time to shed a skin or two.
Habits and thought patterns are stale.
Begging me to begin a new tale. 

I am mired in the same old dance,
Convincing myself of its importance.
Yet feeling an invitation in the breeze,
Which tickles me and makes me sneeze.

What grand dreams were just inhaled?
What new walls here to be scaled?
Glimpses of new vistas that I see,
Sent back in time by a future me.

I ask, “What is there?
How do I prepare?”
I answer, “Throw away the map
And climb on my lap.”

Carried away by an unseen dream.
Across uncharted territory.
Upside down and topsy turvy.
No time to rhyme.

Bump, I land back where I began,
Steadied by a Divine hand.
The invitation is crystal clear.
Thus invoking lots of fear.

With child’s mind, I venture out.

 

With child’s mind, I venture out.
To play, to risk, to sometimes pout.
If new is what I’m called to do,
I guess I’ll try a thing or two.

Tickled by this unseen dream,
The path is clear, just can’t be seen.
Who knows where I may land?
Or who will come to hold my hand?

Emboldened by the memory
of a brave kindergardener me.
I venture forth to this new game.
Trusting I will not remain the same.

Hoping for playmates along the way.
I trust you’ll venture out to play.
I’m ready for something new.
Are you?

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

There’s a lot of benefit to writing, reading, and listening to poetry.  Research shows it benefits the brain, developmental learning, creative expression, and opening to new perspectives. I like this quote from Phyllis Klein (Women’s Therapy Services.) “…poetry gives rhythm to silence, light to darkness. In poetry we find the magic of metaphor, compactness of expression, use of the five senses, and simplicity or complexity of meaning in a few lines.” Why not try it out? Let your creative juices flow. Perfection be damned!  Express yourself.

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Gone Fishin’

I hope you’re enjoying midsummer even in the midst of uncertainty in the world. 

I took a month away from social media, including writing this blog, in order to step away from the opinions and happenings of the world. This reprieve allowed me to enjoy the sweetness of my work, watch Hamilton (twice), read, and rest.  I enjoyed a relaxed pace during my days. Spent time with loved ones, watched Netflix, stayed home, and slept longer.

I found the restoration had a surprising impact. 

I wanted more. So did my body and my mind. So, I’m following this inner invitation to do less and engage the world slowly. I’m curious about what is unfolding within and around me. And I’m watching as the creative impulse is waking up.  Wondering what will come of this change of pace. But certainly not rushing it.  

The idea of a “Gone Fishing” sign hung on my door feels deeply appealing. 

And I don’t fish. I do appreciate the natural world and have been basking in long walks in the woods, watching rainstorms, and sitting by a mountain lake. Watching bald eagles fly, ducks dive for food, fawns scamper, and a bear eat our trash. All magnificent, my favorite was the bear climbing into our trash enclosure. He was nimble and enjoyed the early morning for his exploration.

Until we got wise and locked our trash in the garage. I kinda miss that furry gymnast.  

Another hot topic filling my conversations is the approach of the school year.  Big decisions across the board as I listen to administrators, teachers, students, and parents. Every level of education, from preschool through graduate school, is being upended. The choices are varied. The opinions are strong. The reactions are vulnerable. The solutions are creative. The disappointments are endless.

And it could all change tomorrow.  Such is the world we live in.    

More and more, I’m dropping into the precious moment. The Now Moment. Into the report of sweet encounters between people. Into relaxation and my resting body. Into memories of good times.  Into the practice of breathing deeply. Everything seems precious. 

My retreat from the world is reminding me how precious this life really is.

 

While it doesn’t seem like rocket science, it makes a lot of sense.

In one of my quieter moments, I was thinking about SisterHood families.  And those in neighborhoods who have been deeply affected by the loss of jobs and the higher cost of food. Thinking about how Burlington City kids would be returning to school.  Or not.  Exploring what I could do to help.

When the phone rang.

My friend, Rev Hilda, was calling to let me know of the sudden death of a long time SisterHood volunteer.  Nothing COVID related.  Just a precious life ended suddenly.  With the broad reaching impact on loved ones, friends, and community that loss always brings.  I worked a lot with Evelyn.  Saw her live through some troubles and courageously come through them.  She was happy.  Proud of herself.  Connected with her family.  The future looked bright.   

You just never know what this precious life will bring. Nor what it takes away.

I wondered how I could pay my respects to a family who didn’t know me.  And then I realized that I could pay my respect of Evelyn by paying it forward. To take an action that was aligned with her daily volunteer work.  Giving back to the SisterHood community.  Taking care of the vulnerable kids. Something Evelyn did with enthusiasm in a community that welcomed her into their lives.

You don’t have to know Evelyn to help me act like her. 

Worlds apart, I imagine you share something in common with her. The desire to give of yourself. To share. To make the world a little easier for kids and their parents. If you’re interested in supporting the SisterHood School Supply Drive, scroll down for the flyer. Any NEW school supplies for K – 12 will be useful.  It doesn’t make a difference if the kids are heading to school, choosing a hybrid option, or going the virtual option.  As my daughter recently reminded me, kids still need school supplies. 

I’ll be at Soul Sanctuary for the Sidewalk School Supply Drive on Saturday, August 22nd from 9 – 11am.    

Free free to drive by and drop off some supplies. Bring a mask and have a lovely outdoor distance visit.  If you’d rather I shop for you, that works.  Reach out to me via email and let me know what serves you.  If that day doesn’t fit in your schedule, I’ll let you know what day you can drop supplies on my front door step at Soul Sanctuary.  Thanks for your help here or wherever you offer it in the world. 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

We can get overwhelmed when thinking about the inequity in homes and schools. The reality that many kids don’t get back to school shopping nor show up with basic supplies, such as a notebook or pencil, is heartbreaking. Yet stories of teachers, neighbors, volunteers, and kind people abound.  Remember to focus on the good!  And the potential to do good.  It not only primes your brain for good health, resilience, and emotional wellbeing. It might lead you to be the one who makes the difference for someone in need!  Win.  Win.  

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I Am With You. Free Meditation.

 

I am often jolted by what occurs in these Divided States of America.

Jolted by those little indicators, the in your face reminders, and an occasional gut punch. All of these experiences point to the deep seeded, historical inequity between people.  They remind you of the polarization between people, groups, parties, and communities.  Not just in our country, nor only in this time. 

You just can’t miss it. Unless you do.  

And we have.  For centuries.  That’s why it’s so important to stay awake to the societal injustice at every level of interaction.  To understand why racism is a huge public health issues. And how being a minority creates risk for disease due to disparity in every system: environmental, food, medical care, safety, education, financial, gender equality, mental health, and the list goes on. 

The haves and the have nots.  The battles between groups for power, survival, rights, recognition, life. 

I hope we don’t go back to sleep. We’ve been unconscious long enough.  I pray we stay alert to the subtle ways we harm one another. And the small to big steps we may take toward reparation and healing. Every day. 

I hope we remain aware, become educated, and learn to have meaningful conversations.  Open and willing to stop when we become defensive or assaultive. To take a breather and find the space within us that just got activated.  To clean that up. And try that conversation one more time. 

Sometimes it is so overwhelming that you just gotta hit the pause button.

Here’s the thing about my blindness. I grew up in white suburbia.  With liberal, compassionate parents. In the Northeast region of the US. Exposed to different cultures and friends in different neighborhoods and different countries. Once I graduated college and throughout my adult life, I was entrenched in communities with people who faced all of the disadvantages and struggles to survive that we are hearing about. 

Systemic racism was the way of life and affected them on every level.

My work, professional relationships, and friendships invited me to participate in many meaningful, uncomfortable conversations. My travels led me to places on the planet that would break me in sorrow.  All this led to tiny actions with the intent to support, respect, join, and empower.  In all of these experiences, I was aware of what was most primary.

I saw them as people. Different than me in ways.  Similar to me in ways.

So I was prepared to be uncomfortable, disturbed even, when my husband and I recently watched the movie, Just Mercy.  I just didn’t expect so many sucker punches or to have my blinders ripped off so violently. 

I needed to hit the Pause button just to breathe. A few times.

Haunted by what happened when an attorney first went to the jail to see his clients, my sleep and mind was disrupted.  A simple sentence. Pause. The collusion of individuals in a racist system. Pause. The way a life could be discarded on a whim. Pause. I was shocked when I recognized that in these Divided States of America people think and act the way they did in that movie. Not just back then. Now.  In lots of places. 

Intellectually I know this. Yet, my blindness and sleepiness lulled me back into my tiny world. 

Where people see each other as people. And, as long as you don’t venture too far out of your neighborhood, you don’t witness the subtle – overt ways people are mistreated. Every day.  In our time. It’s easy to stay in this little bubble. I’ve certainly been living in mine.

So you don't see, nor look for, the harsh, shameful, and deeply dehumanizing way "we the people" are treating "you the other people."

 

If I’m overwhelmed and need a pause to recalibrate, I wonder what it must be like for you. You who are similar to me and different from me.  You who are in the mainstream and you who are on the fringes. 

I hope you use the Pause button to find the places in you that contributes to the problem. I hope you cure your blindness. I hope you enter the uncomfortable conversations and take the perpetual tiny-big actions that lead to change. I hope you are shocked into recognition that we have a lot to answer for. I hope you enter into a commitment to stay awake.

I am with you. 

To truly change a system, you must change your own system.  All of your “training” as a human is encoded in your subtle energy system which supports the habits and beliefs of your subconscious mind. And this combination drives your behavior, decisions, point of view, and reactions. So, blindness is a natural human experience that “we the people” share. Knowing that your tendency to be blind to what is happening around you (and through you) is part of your foundation gives you the power to change this.  

Change on the surface is good.  Change in your influential energy structure and subconscious belief system is even better.

This is how the “be the change you want to see in the world” really gets some traction.  To shift from the inside out.  At the purest levels of influence – the subtle energy system and the subconscious mind. Where you don’t think, you just act.  And when you do attempt change and find you drift back into an old habit – let’s say blindness or apathy – it’s because these energetic and belief habits have a strong gravitational pull. 

I’ve got a gift for you that just might help effect some change.

I’m sharing a meditation I just offered to the community of The Center for Conscious Living.  (I love that name and the intent behind it.  Seems especially germane to what I’m writing.)  Scroll down for the link.

I never know what will emerge when I “live stream” a meditation for a group.  I’ve been guided by the higher wisdom to realize that this streaming message is a beautiful offering from the combined intent of the group I am meditating with.  I need only open and allow the energy, message, and healing light flow through me.  With a receptive group, the power of the healing potential amplifies.    

I’ve also learned how inclusive this streaming, healing wisdom truly is.

There is never an us and them. Unlike human conversations which identifies difference between species, people, communities, countries, haves/have nots, this Divine Wisdom reminds you of one thing and one thing only.   

How precious and essential you are. As an aspect of Wholeness, you are wanted, cherished, and critically important.

(Just not so special in the “I’m more special or less special than you” way of disempowering yourself or the other).

I hope you enjoy this gift which offers a way to harmonize a divided system so you can be a stronger unifying force.  It’s all about you here. I hope you let the energy, the light, and the message have it’s way with you.  I hope this mantra becomes your own and reverberates throughout the planet.  Empowering safety, inclusion, empowerment, and healing for all essential, precious aspects of Wholeness. 

I am with you.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions.

HeartWarming

 News

Silent Book Club.  It’s a thing.  With 40 chapters across the US, there are monthly meet ups in parks, coffee shops, and other public spaces.  You bring the book, a desire to socialize, and an intent to read. Some love to read. Some want to read but can’t do it on their own. It’s a way to connect socially while reading. It’s been shown to lower stress, improve efficiency of information processing, and building empathy.  It may not be the same over ZOOM or social distancing in a park. Here’s hoping the creativity which started Silent Book Club will keep it going.

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Uprooted. Vulnerable. Willing. Open.

 

Walking with a friend last week on a gorgeous morning, we came upon the most magnificent tree.

It was different than the rest of the sentinels along the path. And so it attracted attention. Not only ours. Lots of people got off their bikes or veered from the path. To look at it.  Touch it.  Marvel at it. Talk about it.  Record it. 

This tree was a conversation starter. It brought us together. It demanded our attention.  

Toppled by the violent wind in the recent storms, this massive tree stretched out prone on the open grassy lawn. Leaving a great hole in the earth. Roots torn asunder – some still deep within the earth and many dangling.  After years of growing to a great height, rooting deeply and owning its place, the tree’s established foundation had broken.

My friend, interestingly enough, was reading a new book: The Hidden Lives of Trees. 

As she shared some insights, I learned about the interdependency of trees. Communicating, supporting, and sometimes harming one another. Providing a home for the lichen growing on the bark and small greenery planting itself by the base.

Such a massive tree required years of growth, dropping roots deep into the earth to sustain its ability to become a giant. Stable and steady, even in the face of great storms. I was reminded that no tree exists alone. That nothing within the ecosystem is independent in and of itself. Everything contributes to everything.

Unearthed, this tree invited a closer look. Forcing a new perspective.

I stood upon the massive horizontal trunk and put my nose into the vertical lawn. I found a spider, an ant, and a bee buzzing on the clover. I examined the lichen and marveled at the trunk.  

This was a wonder to me, all this activity normally left unnoticed.  I wondered why it took such a dramatic movement for me to reflect upon the importance of each aspect of the system.

I stared into the gaping wound in the earth. It was massive and spoke of the force and violence necessary to create it.   

Looking around, I noticed another tree with split earth around its foundation. It would topple in the next wind storm. Prepared to fall. Willing to let go or forced to surrender its dominant position, I didn’t know.  I didn’t ask. Instead I finished my exploration and wandered away into new conversations.

It is easy to veer off in another direction. Dismissing the importance of a structural change in the system.

Yet, something had me coming back to this scene and the perspective shift it offered. I spoke of this tree to others and shared my photos. It touched something within me that needed to be revealed. 

I felt this tree had something to teach me if I was open and willing to be taught.

The symbology hasn’t escaped noticing as I’ve entered deeply into conversation and self-reflection about the recent murders of Ahmaud Abery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. And the powerful reaction across our nation revealing our gaping wound, our divided nature, and the overlooked disparity that infiltrates every aspect of life for people of color. 

The violence and power has broken open the prevailing structure to reveal deep, deep roots and a gaping wound.

Reverberating around our country, our history, and our world. This isn’t a new issue.  Yet, today this invitation is loud, large, and powerful.  For each one of us to examine our own contribution to this interdependent ecosystem of society. To see where we have been blind. To hear where we have been deaf. To act where we have been passive.  To learn when we have been unable or unwilling to explore. 

The inequity of structural racism is wide spread and mutually reinforcing in our society.

We live in a societal ecosystem that promotes ongoing discrimination and disadvantage through inequities in all areas of life.  Creating trauma, a public mental and physical health crisis, economic disparity, and race influenced interactions for people of color. Ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges.  This mostly goes unnoticed by those of us who haven’t grown up with black or brown skin. Who haven’t faced the subtle, overt, small, and large insults, obstacles, and lack of responsiveness by the rest of society. 

I felt this gaping wound had something to teach me if I was open and willing to be taught.

 

I’ve been in conversation about race, inequity, and the need for restorative justice, respect, and systemic change since I was a young woman. It was natural for me given my life experience. Yet, I often veer off into other conversations and the habit of living my life. Forgetting that all parts of the system affect all parts of the system.  Forgoing my responsibility to see, hear, and act in a way that honors my neighbors, supports well being, and contributes to repair of our relations.

Like most of you, I’ve been listening.  Heart and mind open.  Sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent. 

Allowing vulnerability and discomfort to be my companions as I’ve explored the heartbreak, fear, rage, trauma, and hopelessness that is being experienced and expressed. Sitting with the hope, the momentum, and the anguish in the request to not turn away once this storm has passed. Encouraging the call for true inquiry into the issue so that societal change may occur. So that racism in all forms may be uprooted and a healthier system put in place.

I’ve sat within the breaking as people have confronted places within themselves they haven’t been willing to see before. 

I’ve found myself up against strong opinions and deeply rooted foundations of separation and misunderstanding. Like many of you, I’ve read, talked, marched, and listened.  All the while allowing my emotions, thoughts, and conditioned beliefs to freely enter the storm. In all of it, I recognize the intergenerational trauma of a society mired in racism and inequity across its systems. And I ask a simple question, “How may I contribute to the healing …. of an individual, community, country, system, world?”

These conversations have revealed that people are paying attention. They want to learn more and own personal responsibility for the ways they have contributed to the problem.

I don’t know the big answer. I’m not that expert. I do know a place to begin. I believe we must start with the person in the mirror. Recognizing that if we want to change the outer world, we must first shift the inner world. And to do this important inner work – the excavation of the societal conditioning living as our beliefs, values, and biases – we must be able to soothe ourselves. So we can remain open even when vulnerable or wanting to turn away.  So we may allow the possibility to look, listen, accept, process, and release that which harms. So that we may develop a new way of being with our human family.

Society is a living system. When one part of the system is disrupted, it has far reaching consequences. 

Our country has been disrupted since its inception and we must dig deep if we are to explore an alternate path forward. Buckminster Fuller said “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that mades the existing model obsolete.” 

The erupting crisis, rooted in centuries of structural racism, has caught our attention and demanded our personal response. 

Calling us not to fix the old model, but to dream a new future. As painful as this is, it is a wound that has something to teach us. So we can learn how to be present and open during challenging, uncomfortable conversations. So we take responsibility, make amends, and shift behavior. So we don’t walk away from the issue once the national outcry dies down.

So we don’t once again leave people of color to fend for themselves in an unjust society.

The experts know that a systems based, integrative view is essential if we are to create change across all aspects of society. With a focus upon restorative justice, the healing of trauma, the engagement of meaningful conversation across all groups of people, institutions, and policy makers.

It takes more than experts. It takes everyone to build a just world. 

Deep listening. Respectful action. Let’s not walk away. Let’s be that change.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Want to improve your communication skills?  Focus on nonverbal skills, listen for the essence of what is being said, and offer “support responses” that allows more self expression. Brain research reveals that staying open to the possibility you are wrong reduces activity in the amygdala, where you react to perceived threats. Neuroscientists at UCLA found when participants with firm political opinions had their beliefs challenged, their brain activity resembled that of someone being chased by a bear. At this level of arousal, a difference in beliefs may be interpreted as being evicted from the tribe. Threatening survival, belonging, and connection. Knowing this changes things. 

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Emerging Wise Women

 

I’ve been dreaming a lot.  

Receiving instructions about how to live a more beautiful life.  This is new for me – the tenacity in which this information is streaming through my dreaming.  And I’m grateful for the variety of focus.  Seems like it is touching on all areas of my life.

So much room for improvement.  Without concern for having misunderstood so much. 

The more I open, the more I receive. I kinda like dropping into the sleepy state at the end of the day.  With delightful anticipation, I share my gratitude for the day and ask a Beautiful Question.   

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows.  

More like roses with thorns.  I don’t mind the thorns, even when they stir up my vulnerability.  I’m interested in blossoming.  I’m dedicated to living an empowered, meaningful life.  So, I’m pretty much being shown the rocks, weeds, and thorns that have been hidden within me.  And those that have been glaring, but I hadn’t wanted to look at them.  I’m willing now.

I’m not the only one diving into the Shadow Self.  

Seems like this global crisis has stirred up a lot of muck for all of us.  Revealing the places within us that are out of balance.  Revealing those aspects of self that have been disowned and are now wanting shelter from the storm.  

I’ve been helping many women listen to the parts of themselves they’ve abandoned along the path to adulthood.  

It’s never intentional. When you understand it is a complex protective system that sends aspects of your younger self running for the hills in times of overwhelming challenge, things shift.  Potential for reintegration emerges.  Including the potential to listen deeply and finally hear what these abandoned aspects are trying to tell you.

It’s hard to listen when someone is belittling you, punishing you, and reminding you of your inadequacies or unlovability.  

Yet, you listen to these inner voices all the time.  We all have them.  Formed when we were young, often overwhelmed by the circumstances of our lives, and internalizing the critical messages offered when others and society were in tension and imbalanced.  Which was often.

So when you are in tension and out of balance, these voices emerge. All thorns. No rainbows.

Until you listen below the negativity to the pain and longing that is being expressed.  The sadness and isolation.  The fear of never being good enough, wanted, or loved.  The orphaned aspects of yourself lie beneath the judgments toward self and others. They lay beneath the envy or longing to be like another whom you admire.  So many ways these parts of yourself are expressing their desire to come home to rest within you. 

I found security in the ability to enter into another's world without defense.

 

When the world stays at home, there are fewer distractions.  Offering you a delicious opportunity to rejuvenate and reevaluate. To see what emerges in the open space. And to explore what lies beneath these strident inner voices so you can welcome your disowned parts home.

Becoming more. Becoming whole.

I’m grateful for this time to witness the parts of me I have dismissed. To dive below the surface to discover there is so much more waiting for me. And be shown the benefit – practical and magical – for integrating these young parts into my adult self.  I’m grateful to witness the work women are doing to call themselves home.  To offer a trustworthy, nurturing, and compassionate space for their own precious nature. 

In the midst of this, I woke up dreaming a new class.  It was unexpected.  A weaving of different traditions.

Supporting the intent to become more, become whole in the midst of this turmoil. To allow wisdom, creativity, beauty, and vulnerability to awaken. I was intrigued as this class unpacked itself over 2 days.

Exploring the 4 Directions of the Medicine Wheel.   Guided and supported by 4 Goddesses, 4 Spirit Animals, and 4 Rays of Divine Light.

To explore the strong medicine of the Soul which is coaxing forth your recognition of the Wise Woman within.  To bring Her more to forefront, it is also essential to invite home the wondrous and vulnerable aspects of yourself.  To welcome the roses and thorns in the same way you welcome rainbows and unicorns.  This is an essential Journey and you’ll have plenty of help along the way.  Especially when encircled by other women who are keen to participate in their Soul’s evolution. 

The Art of Becoming: Evolving as a Wise Woman in Uncertain Times begins June 2nd (new date!). 

This 4 week class is for women only.  Please join me if you’re interested in a deep inner dive to discover what wants to grow and what wants to go.  To nourish the luminous seeds of your wholeness that are waiting for you. This class will empower you to strengthen your commitment and discover the map markers, wise guides, and beautiful practices which will support and sustain you on your journey.

Do pop over and explore my workshop page if you’re ready to dream with us.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

One secret of happiness? Research says people. 
Large scale surveys at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center found that people with five or more close friends are 50% more likely to say they are “very happy” than those with smaller circles.  Now, if you don’t have 5 best buds, don’t freak out.  Just know that investing in friendships matters. Even casual social interactions on a regular basis empowers wellbeing.

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What’s your Medicine?

 

A powerful question for these uncertain times.  How would you answer it? 

I’ve been hearing a lot about medicine. 

For allergies, spring colds, headaches, and body aches.  The pharmaceutical kind of medicine that is in most medicine cabinets and advertised relentlessly through every media channel.   Chemotherapy, radiation, anti-anxiety and depression medications.

And natural supplements like Vitamins C and D, zinc, Airborne, and essential oils.  Boosting immune systems and treating symptoms naturally in a time of global illness. I’m listening to people speak about medication most days.  It’s a part of life.

Energy medicine also sprinkles through all my conversations. 

That isn’t so surprising since I’m using Energy Medicine and Energy Psychology techniques in most interactions with people.  Heart Assisted Therapy.  Emotional Freedom Technique.  The Body Code. The Emotion Code.  All the Light work with the Angels and beyond.  Giving you access to your own natural power. 

Awakening your inner healer.  So you can treat yourself.  

Easy to learn. Practical in application. Yet, often forgotten or underutilized. Even though I offer sessions every week, I often forget to use these techniques myself.  Such is human nature and the power of the conditioned mind. Good to remember and drop back into creating the new habit of using these techniques more frequently.

I’ve been hearing a lot about self-medicating these days.

Emotional eating.  Stress eating.  Drinking too much. Laying around binging Netflix series you don’t even like. Overworking.  Letting go normal activities like exercise, chores, or showering.  Too much caretaking at the expense of your own wellness. These are all understandable activities during a pandemic while self-quarantined. 

There’s no judgment here. 

I’m just noticing that I’m eating ice cream again and not working out with weights.  That’s fine here and there, yet ultimately not the best medicine to keep my body vital and strong.  Taking a look at yourself without judgment, you may notice the ways you are attempting to soothe your stress, loneliness, boredom, fear, and loss.  Awareness precedes choice precedes change. 

Compassionate awareness leads to a potential to chose a different medicine.

There’s some yummy, feel good medicine going on here.  Generously helping others. Planting gardens. Walking in nature. Creating art. Reading books. Connecting via phone, email, video, and drive by visits.  Playing games. Praying for those near and far. Learning something new.  Sending Thank You notes. Singing together. Dancing.

Within the indigenous traditions, a shaman or medicine healer may evaluate your dis-ease with four powerful questions.

 

When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?

 

Diagnostic in nature. Insightful in contemplation. Prescriptive in action.

I believe these questions speak for themselves. Make use of them with one caveat. Good medicine requires a compassionate view toward yourself and your life. No judgment here. That won’t help you discover the healing which is awaiting you.  Some of you may dive within these questions – grateful for the structure and capacity to explore every crevice.  Others may find it more helpful to touch the edge of a question. To notice what wants to be gently explored or practiced. 

There’s a hint in every question. An answer. A map marker. To guide your way home to yourself. 

I love the potential of diving deep.  Grateful also for the benefit of walking gently into these questions. I’m a fan of “not knowing” what may arise.  And for taking the shortest route to discovery.  So, I’m taking the “hint” to awaken some good medicine to see me through.

I’m sitting in silence.  Dancing a lot to different kinds of music. Singing softly and loudly. Alone and with others (albeit via recording). Enjoying stories. 

Seems we are in this topsy turvy world for the long haul. Together. Every day you may notice yet another thing that is gone, different, or unknown. You are in the midst the great upheaval. We all are. 

Knowing that you are responsible for your own wellbeing, this seems like a good time to become more aware. Asking yourself what is helping you steady your light, boost your immune system, strengthen your mind-body-energy system, awaken your soul connection, and empower your own evolution. 

The Art of Becoming. Evolving into a luminous human during this time of great uncertainty.  

I’m curious. Enchanted by Life’s invitation to evolve. Aware that I’m at choice. Interested in becoming more while doing less. So, I’ll be diving into some beautiful questions and open space. By myself as an investment in my wellbeing and creative ability to serve others.

Choose your medicine wisely. 

Are you noticing who is prescribing your medicine?  Is it the media, western medicine, subconscious habits, or your live streaming inner wisdom? There’s a hint of an answer in that question as well.  Remember that everything is waiting for you as you dance, sing, pray, create, and engage stories.  A cornucopia of natural healing awaits as you commune with nature, stillness, and your own Soul. 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

When you smile, they smile. At least their brains fire off the neurons as if they were smiling.  A smile comes your way. Your brain fires off neurons ‘as if’ you were smiling. Mirror neurons are thought to be the physiological foundation for empathy. Helping you read people and interpret how they may be feeling. One thing about trauma, shock, chronic helplessness, or depression. It robs you of your natural smile. With the presence of mirror neurons, another person’s smile can activate your neural pathways even when your face doesn’t match up. Smile more. At yourself. At everyone. The world needs your smile.

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Balancing Loss and Gain

 

I’ve been contemplating loss.

It seems to be a shared experience within this worldly crisis.  You know that loss is a natural part of the ebb and flow of life, yet it seems to be starring in a show of its own these days. Perhaps because your attention upon what you have lost (or may lose) is heightened as so many areas of life are altered. 

I’ve been made aware of so many deaths this past week: worldwide and personal from the virus and from illness. 

Too young, mid life, and quite old.  The sudden death of a beloved pet. The inability to be with loved ones in the hospital or mourn together at a funeral. I’ve learned of loss of income, of businesses and careers, and access to health care. The loss of freedom of movement, in person connection, and physical touch. The absence of creature comforts like entertainment, hair salons, and public parks. The challenge of obtaining basics like food, especially for vulnerable populations. The loss of innocence or a sense of stability.

It feels heavy – this processing of so much loss.  Sitting with so much grief, distress, fear, and uncertainty. 

And yet it feels perfectly natural given my experience as a psychologist and as a human.  The gratitude to “be with” another as they share their losses warms my heart, even while sorrow arises. This is what it means to be human. To come together to share in the sadness that life inevitably brings. To open the space for grief and celebration.  To allow an uncertain future and doubt in one’s capacity to navigate new terrain. This is a privilege – a grace that I am to share in this moment of someone’s life. 

If dealing with loss is so familiar, what’s the difference now?

Sheer quantity and variety.  Worldwide shared tragedy.  Entering a time of true uncertainty.  Most of you haven’t been lived through wartime, famine, or plague. I haven’t. So it’s hard to grasp the magnitude of this worldwide crisis. And if you try, by exploring every news story, you ultimately escalate your stress and thus diminish your capacity to process the layers of loss that you will inevitably face.

It may help to view this unprecedented crisis as a rite of passage.

 

Rites of passage are part of life in the normal developmental process of growing up. They also occur when life shocks you by its unexpected twists and turns. They involve moving from one state of being to the next. They happen when the ground beneath you seems to dissolve or radically shift.  When you are left asking “What happened to my life?”  And this question propels you forward, often without your knowing it.

The first stage of this transformative experience is a focus is upon what you have lost. 

How you have been separated from the life that which was your normal experience.  In our now time, as the world trembles together, you may discover something new each day, each week, where you are facing yet again the absence of something you may have taken for granted.  The losses are obvious and subtle.  Sometimes not considered until you reach for something that is no longer available. 

This is a good time to stop and breathe.  To be still with the noticing of this loss.  

To not rush forward.  To just “be with” yourself for a moment.  Allowing any response to arise.  And if that feels too difficult and there is someone to reach for, then lean into that other who can share this space with you.  Sometimes this other is not a person – it may be a pet, the comfort of a cup of tea in your favorite room, or a Divine being who brings you solace.  

The next stage within a rite of passage is the liminal time, where you dwell within a place of uncertainty.  

Alone and together, you face what’s lost and the “not knowing how” to traverse a future that is no longer predictable. To be with what arises as purely as you can.  To tell the truth about how you are shaking and how the world doesn’t make sense like it used to.  In a time like this, you travel back and forth between these stages as new areas of loss reveal themselves.  As questions arise that can’t be answered. 

Most humans need others to travel these paths of loss, grief, uncertainty, and fear.

Rites of passage naturally involve others.  Those that may guide you.  Those with whom you are traveling. Those who hold space and witness your movement. Looking for these partners at this time is essential.  Reaching out to those who help guide, encourage, and steady you as you point to the next place of being.  Falling into a sense of belonging, even peripherally, to a community that resonates with you.    

Be open with this definition of community. 

It does not have to be a tight knit group.  You can feel a part of a community when you, and thousands of others, join over the internet with a teacher or leader.  It can be provided by a book and the teachings within it – tuning into wisdom within the written page and within yourself.  It may be a ZOOM class, church service, or a chat with family and friends.  

When you recognize that you share this experience with all of humanity, you may have found the largest community of all. 

In all things, life seeks balance.

When you recognize loss in this time, you may also recognize gain.  These are two sides of the coin in human experience.  The buddhist tradition speaks of 8 worldly winds or 8 worldly concerns, represented by two contrasting experiences:  pleasure and pain, gain and loss, praise and blame, fame and insignificance. 

The middle way of dealing with stressful events is to recognize both sides of the coin.  

Just as you contemplate loss, you may notice how much is gained in these days. What has been offered to you by way of others: help, kindness, shared material goods, or service.  Noticing time with children home from school or returned from college. Connections with friends, family, and coworkers across various platforms.  A gain of free time, creativity, new ways of working, or projects to help one another.  New skills developed and knowledge gained.  Even the capacity to make peace with boredom, isolation, and life turning upside down.

Discovering places within – some unsteady, some resilient – which want to be known.    

Allowing you to develop further into a better human being.  Laying down some old patterns of behavior and thinking, while learning new ways of relating to yourself and this world. 

Using this time to look deeply within and ask “What is ready to go and what is ready to grow?”

Being open to what is found as you tread gently through the fields of uncertainty and bring kindness into every exchange with yourself.  After all, it is likely that you are doing the best you can given the circumstances.  Just like everyone else.  Don’t get caught in the trap of judging yourself (or others) harshly.  You’ve got enough going on without that additional stress.

I’ve been contemplating what I have gained.  

Not as an intentional exercise.  More like a natural reflection that occurred during these past many weeks.  It is interesting how life brings you naturally into rhythm with balance.  As if quietly offering you a hint about how to live well, even in the midst of calamitous times.  

I’ve gained so much. Witnessed so much of humanity’s goodness.  Been helped and given the opportunity to help.  I’ve connected in new ways to people familiar and new across the world.  And have resurrected the old styles of communication as well. Snail mail and telephone calls.  Backyard visits and dinner over a game of monopoly.  

I’m deeply grateful for all of it.  And for the sheer force of today’s stress to drop me back into my breath.  Into the stillness of my being. 

Here, I remember my essential nature.  Aware. Loving. Wise. Available.

Steadying me from this inner foundational space so that I am present to what comes in this moment. Trusting that life will show me the way through. That every resource, internal and external, will serve me.  Especially when I am centered, still, and open to whatever life brings.

I still prefer gain over loss. Yet, I am willing to be taught how to live in greater balance.   

I am willing to be a student to the great teacher – life in its entirety.  To breathe and bring myself into balance again and again.  I see this in people everywhere and am encouraged.  When I am in a community of humans who are using the current circumstances to grow into better versions of themselves, then I am in a community who will support my own desire to do the same.  Another gain.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Microcredentials influence the Job Hunt during Covid. The pandemic’s negative impact on job hunting college graduates may give a boost to the “stackable credits” approach to earning a degree.  Some universities are offering college credits as industry-recognized certificates. These “microcredentials” are allowing students to enter the job market long before they graduate. This changes the landscape as students aren’t waiting for college graduation to demonstrate skills in exchange for a salary.

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Bumping into Walls

I spent a week bumping into walls.  

Actually I was a’bumpin’ for 11 days to tell the truth.  Trying to fix a glitch that I myself had inadvertently created many years ago.  Coming back to throw a wrench in what I see as my very important plan.  I started out in my typical fashion.

Small tantrum. Own my mistake. Move on to solve it.

Except this time, I couldn’t.  It seemed beyond me.  And the 8 people I spoke to who (kindly) sent me on a wild goose chase. And the 4 hours of being on hold with constant advertisements broadcasting how helpful they were.  Every conversation ended the same way.  “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.” 

So, I laid it down.  Turned it over.  Willing to let it be unsolved.

I wanted to be teachable.  To explore what it was like to be within this wild goose chase.  To be present as doors close even though this might have ramifications for me in the future.  I wanted to trust the unfolding of the situation as part of Life’s perfection.  I surrendered. I dropped in. I trusted. 

Until 2 days passed and my tension built.  

I’m used to solving the challenging circumstances of my life.  I’m persistent in taking action. I seek creative solutions.  I’m good at asking for help.  I’m pleasant to service providers who reveal to me yet another frustrating dead end. All these ways are how I usually plod through or creatively skip around a challenge.  

Day 10 and nothing working.  So, I laid it down.

And, yes, for those inquiring minds who wondered if I checked in with my soul’s guidance, my Angels and guides, the many celestial resources to guide me.  Yup.  Nada.  Well, not exactly nada.  After a 2 1/2 hours of chasing my tail last week, I actually put my head in my hands as I sat at my desk. 

In this position of giving it up once again, I heard my own voice quietly ask a series of questions. 

The end result of that lovely conversation was that yes, I was perfectly safe and cared for in the moment. And, yes, the only problem that I could find was my own (crazy) thinking and my own (rigid) habit of trying to solve something that wasn’t within my control. (Note to self, adopt this position more often as it helps balance the energy and blood flow in the brain and frontal lobe.) 

I wanted to be teachable.  To explore what it was like to be within this wild goose chase.

 

So I gave up and took a meandering drive with my daughter. 

We’ve been doing this a lot. Taking new roads. Getting lost. Finding familiar landmarks. Telling stories. Relating through music, silence, and conversations.  It’s been lovely and free of tension.  Nothing to solve. 

We ventured upon something out of the ordinary. 

I spotted a colorful hot air balloon flattened out on the ground.  We pulled over and watched the process of blowing up the balloon.  It was thrilling.  I told her a story of chasing the hot air balloon as my parents soared over our neighborhood. And the balloon gradually lifted.

I saw the benefit of hot air. 

The balloon righted itself and the basket floated a bit off the ground.  A mini lift.  Turns out they were out for a photo shoot.  As the flame lit the air, the colors brightened against the darkening background. Even without liftoff, it was magical.  

I woke up the next day with another idea. 

Ready to try it and accept the outcome.  Regardless of which way this thing went, I was done.  So I let go of my hot air and dropped into magic of my moment.

Turns out I got lift off.  

I’m left with a doorway to the next step.  Whether I face a wild goose chase, a closed door, or an open path, I’m in for the ride.  Albeit without so much of my own hot air (aka mental tension).  

I’m left with a sense of deep gratitude for all who helped me over these 11 days.

So much kindness even when they closed the door.  I think we’re in a time where kindness is a hot commodity.  Especially as we bump into walls and wander blindly through this time of unknowing.  I hope you experience plenty of kindness everywhere you turn.  Most especially, I hope you are unfailingly kind to yourself in all of your moments of peace, worldly upsets, and self-created craziness.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Your moods shape your world because they determine whether you think obstacles are surmountable. Or not. Robert Thayer, a sociologist, recategorizes moods (good, bad, meh) into combinations of two states of arousal: tension and energy. Calm energy (high energy, low tension) are the best moods. While Tense Tiredness (low energy, high tension) match up with your worst kind of moods. Increasing awareness of your tension-energy combination may help get you out of a rut or help you maintain your pleasantness.  Thayer’s research also found that a 10 minute walk was the best way to improve your mood.