The Power of Attention

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I am nursing a cold. I don't handle this the way I used to-trying to figure out who the culprit was who exposed me to nasty germs that are making me feel numbed out and awful. Okay, I have a good idea how I caught this. But the point is that it really doesn't matter about the who--what's important is the how of attracting this to myself.

I love babysitting my grandchildren. After years of living so far away from them, I now live in the same town. So when my son and daughter-in-law ask if I can help out by keeping them, it gives me great pleasure and joy to be available. Such was the case a few days ago when my youngest grandchildren came for a couple of hours. I noticed right away that both of their little noses were leaking and grabbed the tissues to keep their faces clean. Of course, I entertained the thought-why are their noses running and do they have anything contagious? Just that fleeting thought was enough less than two days later for me to start feeling the achiness, scratchy throat, and stuffy head that accompany a cold.

I knew much better than to allow this thought into my head-into my belief system. For years when I was teaching my Chakras for Beginners and Beyond class I would use the example of catching a cold when I talked about how energy follows thought. And every time I used the example, I came down with a cold that I had to nurse for the balance of the class. (I should have come up with a different, more positive example!)

I've been telling clients and students for the last five years that the energies are speeding up, to be conscious of the thoughts they are allowing into their awareness. It's almost as if humanity is taking a crash course in Manifesting Made Easy now because we are manifesting almost as fast as we can think the thoughts. As we move closer to the Great Shift next year, this will continue to speed up.

How can we stop placing our attention on what we don't want? The news is full of things we don't want. People talk about things we don't want. So how do we counteract the effects of being bombarded with the ideas of things we don't want? I don't have a solid answer for everyone. I can only say what I do. I spend each day practicing the Presence of Spirit in my life. When I feel myself slipping into fear, depression, desperation, I bring my awareness back to that essence of Spirit that is always alive in each one of us. When I am aware of the Presence, I know only joy, peace, love---ecstasy! And I know that everything I need and desire has been provided to me.

Namaste!

What Are You Attached To?

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As the last hours of 2010 ticked away, I knew that we humans were going to have our feet held to the fire. The time we'd been awaiting for so long wasn't "out there" any more, and as we entered the new year we'd better have our feet planted firmly on Gaia. It's time for us to put to practical, physical use to all the things we've been getting on our journeys to "out there."

One of the important lessons for me as 2011 began was to be honest about my own attachments. What could I possibly have left to purge and release? For the last decade it seems like all I have done is purge and release. I walked away from a job I'd had for 20 years to start a new career that was more fulfilling and resonated with me and my purpose. I released my home (such an important thing for a Cancer). I joyfully waved good-bye as my youngest child flew the nest, looking forward to the next (Crone) stage of my life. I even welcomed the changes in the course of my new career as they came. So again, I ask, what is there left that I am attached to??? Of course, I know better than to ask the question unless I want almost instant answers-and I rarely enjoy the answers!

Immediately after the first of 2011, my first husband's 93 year old mother was admitted to the hospital. Since my first husband made his transition 11 years ago this month, our three children have been diligent in their care for her, even as she continued to live independently. I can see now how carefully orchestrated this whole scenario was set up to begin the answers to my question-what are my attachments-now. I could tell that first morning when I went to the hospital that my oldest son (21 years old when his father passed) was having difficulty with the situation. His mind was going where he didn't want it to go, and he had no control of it. When he finally broke down and began to cry, I stepped right into my self-made trap! Just as I did 11 years ago, I tried to take away his fear and pain. It took me awhile back then to realize that it's not my job to take my children's pain from them. This time, although it still caused me great pain, it only took minutes for me to see what I was doing. I may be well into my Crone years, but the Mother Goddess is still a driving force for me!

Yesterday morning before I got to work both of my daughers called me-one with a possible serious health matter, the other having relationship problems. You guessed it! The Mother in me wanted to come out with the big guns to "fix" my girls' problems. The fact I could do nothing to fix things for either of them left me feeling punched out, deflated. What was I to do? What could I do?

(I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.) I heard a soft voice in my head, whispering, comforting me. (I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.) Reminding me that my children-all of my children-are grown now. They don't necessarily need me to fix their problems-never did. But there are things that I can do still. (I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.)

Self-discovery, self-realization, is one of the most challenging and rewarding paths for me. I learned through this. I learned that I am still and always will be a mother. The Mother Goddess will always be a part of me and will continue to give direction when I need it. She showed me while the children's grandmother was in the hospital that the most helpful and nurturing thing I could do was to cook meals and let them come here to eat them in a loving atmosphere. She helped me share with my oldest daughter the health challenges I've faced-and how I faced them-so she has the information she needs to care for herself. And She tells me not to worry about my younger daughter. Yes, she's 1,000 miles away and I have no way to communicate with her. But this is temporary and she's perfectly equipped to figure her relationship challenges out on her own.

(I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.)And what is my responsibility now? It's the attachment I have not to my children, but to my urgent desire for them to know joy all of the time. My responsibility is what I'm feeling about all of these scenarios-not fixing them.

This has been a challenging and rewarding time in my life. I'm seeing that I do still have some rather strong attachments, and I'm also working on detaching with love. Allowing my children to walk their paths, knowing that they have their own lessons to learn and staying out of the way to let them do so. Maybe-just maybe-I will eventually be able to say I have moved into the Wise Woman stage of my life.

Namaste!

Dancing with the Shadow

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The Shadow has been emerging more frequently and in more apparent ways as we move through the end of the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius. When She first appeared, we knew She was a force to be reckoned with. We started out turning our backs on Her, running from Her, thinking if we didn't acknowledge Her, She would fade away into the Void never to be seen again.

When this didn't work, we began acknowledging Her. Maybe if we admit we sometimes have mean thoughts, sometimes join in the gossip, have considered committing homicide or suicide, She will be satisfied with that acknowledgment and disappear. Of course, along with those admissions were our judgments that these darker parts of ourselves are "bad" and must be kept under control.

Regardless of how I try to hide or control Her, my own Shadow self continues to emerge on a more and more consistent basis. I give Her energy as I hate Her. Maybe I should look at her in a different way. Perhaps She isn't a broken off part of myself. Perhaps She is a fully developed entity in Her own right Who has something to teach me and Who wants the same thing I do-to love and be loved. When my Shadow appears, I know somehow I've gone back into my own BS. Lacking judgment of any kind, She refuses to co-sign it with me.

We talk a lot about merging the polar opposites, particularly the masculine and the feminine-within ourselves. This is going to be absolutely necessary for us as we move into the next great Age. I can see my own Shadow becoming less ethereal-more real. I open my arms to Her and we begin to dance. And as we dance, I become one with Her. I am aware of my oneness with myself and merging the factions within that have been warring I am one with the Universe.

Namaste!

New Year's Intentions

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New Year's Day is probably my least favorite holiday. Even as a child, to me it seemed anti-climactic after all the holiday cheer. People were so happy during the months of November and December. Then with the New Year everyone seemed to return to their humdrum, everyday selves. So was the love and joy of the Yule season just a fake or a respite from our dreary lives? Just as I checked out of organized religion because it didn't work for me 24/7, many times I've distanced myself from holiday revelry because it doesn't last 365 days a year.

Part of my problem with the New Year is the New Year's resolution. I found that there was no better way to insure failure than to make a New Year's resolution. The issue of the resolution itself was always something I didn't believe was attainable in the past. Why would it be any more attainable if I made it a resolution that I "must" accomplish? Yep-writing out a New Year's resolution has always been an exercise in futility to me.

Maybe part of the problem is that I treat New Year's Day as different from every other day of the year. Just as Sundays were different when I was a member of an organized religion. Or Christmas is different than other days of the year. I have to have a system that works 24/7, 365 days a year no matter what I'm about.

I think the difference between making a resolution and setting an intention is that when I live with intention, I live joyfully. Making a resolution is more like telling myself I "have to" do something that I don't necessarily want to do. Living with intention is about doing what I love doing when I want to do it. It's about creating the life I want to live and loving every minute of it. When I live life intentionally, there is no more struggle because I am the creator. If I don't like what I've created, I can create something else.

On this first day of 2011 I'm setting my New Year's Intention to live each day in full awareness of the Presence, acknowledging the love of the Creator, and in gratitude for the abundance given to my by the Universe.

Namaste!