Category Archives: Insight & Wisdom

Solstice and Beyond

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The moment of Solstice arrives in Montana this afternoon and brings with it a promise of things to come, not only longer days but also a brighter future.

For just these few days in our corner of the lower 48, it’s also the coldest day so far this year. All the blankets have been put into use, the candles are burning like tiny fireplaces and a few remembrances of Christmas are gracing the bookshelf.

The angel and baby Jesus were painted by my grandmother, a fine china painter who sold her works in the hospital gift shop and spent her later years blessing and praying for others. So the promise of the incoming Christic light holds all the more meaning for me.

I’ve determined to use this precious and holy time to simplify and look inward (for which below zero temperatures are quite appropriate). The focus is the celebration of the divine flame within each of us and how we use it, how we listen to its messages, how we realize its gifts. Moments of inspiration often come and go but sometimes get lost in the shuffle of daily commitments. At this time of multiple celebrations, I choose to shift priorities and prepare for a year not only new on the calendar, but new in understanding and an increased ability to love.

May your Solstice help you change gears. May your Christmas be merry and bright. May your New Year bring you overcoming, opportunity and openhearted joy.

Messages from Spirit

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20170527_160233The art of listening to Spirit is a delightful practice. Sometimes patience is required, and often discrimination. And you never know where or how the angels are going to conspire to make sure you have gotten the message.

There are pennies in the parking lot, and feathers on the pathway. There are overheard conversations in the grocery store or airport that are clearly meant for you. There are bumper stickers, license plates and birds on your windowsill.

A few days ago I was doing an oracle card reading for myself with an interesting new set of cards. When oracle cards have the right spiritual messages and inspired artwork, they often bring deeper meaning to the questions you are asking. I was asking what I needed to know about my current work doing coaching, card readings, writing and blogging, vision workshops, studying healing with crystals and the power of energy work.

One of the cards that was drawn was titled The Master Artisan. It pictured a light-filled artisan’s workshop rich with beautiful pottery, paintings, gemstones and other artifacts, tended to by both master and apprentices. The message spoke of offering my talents and gifts to the world, and to not hold back from sharing. Gulp. I always find this such a fine line to walk, and I found myself hesitating a bit about the message.

Later that same day I was driving on the highway. I was passing a van which had a business name on the side, and I glanced to my right briefly. I don’t even remember what kind of business it was (painting? renovating?), but the business named began with “Artisan…” No coincidence here! I thought back to the card I had drawn and was sure I was being reminded.

And a few days before I had even posted a mini-vision board for myself of an artist’s studio with paints and brushes and flowers and a window looking into the future. The caption below read, “Your creativity has no limits.” In this case, it was time to listen to myself.

Thanks for listening and I am always delighted to hear your stories of messages from heaven.

More about me on other pages of the site: www.livelifevibrant.com

Dreams in Progress

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20170808_120628I am creating something new – and I’m calling it a DreamBook. It’s an interactive version of a vision board, making space for progressive revelation.

I’ve started with heavy weight sketch/art paper and am creating pages in the categories of life, like the Circle of Life exercise I use in my coaching or perhaps like the Feng Shui Bagua. So it’s areas like Home, Health, Abundance and Love but then you take it from there to suit your needs. For example, I’m combining Work/Career with Creativity and including many emotional issues in the Health Department and calling it Wellbeing. The categories are flexible – they are your categories.

And because life is moving as fast as it is, and transforms in the blink of an eye, I’m putting it all together with a ring that opens and closes. You can expand the sections, insert or remove pages, change your mind, add and subtract. You can use magazine pictures and words, add drawings, stickers, your own photographs, quotes and comments. You can take out a category and hang it up to focus on or write a new chapter of your book anytime.

And you can include your wildest dreams, not just your current vision. Maybe it’s more like a 5 or 10-year plan. Or a forever future. It’s based on the belief that if we take action and create, we can move in the direction of making our dreams come true. There will surely be changes along the way – re-calculating as they say. It has much more to do with the process than the eventual outcome. Three cheers for creativity!

Create

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20170731_063146Bunnies have been coming my way for quite some time and in numerous ways. When I was about 4 or 5 I got baby rabbits for Easter. They soon got very big and my Dad built a big hutch out back. I dutifully served my bunnies lettuce and water every day. Now I see them on my morning walks. This little guy was frozen in position as rabbits are want to do, but made a great photo shot.

Among other things, rabbits represent creativity. Reminders to express ourselves. If you don’t like something about your life, create something new. If you have a story to tell, a picture to share or a song to sing….go for it. As Wayne Dyer said, “Don’t die with your music still in you.”

I pulled into a parking space the other day and the license plate on the car in front of me said, CREATE. When the universe wants to get its message across, it spares no effort. I am creating photo cards, a renewed sense of wellbeing and an interactive vision for my own future.

What are you creating?

 

Dimes

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20170508_103735For many years, I have been finding pennies – sidewalks, parking lots, shiny, not so shiny, in the dirt, among the rocks, etc. Twice I have found folded dollar bills (https://www.livelifevibrant.com/getting-a-raise). Those were special occasions involving direct angelic intervention ‎and I knew the message was extra important. In all cases, I have felt that I was being reminded that I was on the right track.

During the last 3 or 4 weeks I have been finding dimes. This strikes me as quite unusual. I pick out a parking place in a large lot, get out of my car and right there next to my foot is the third dime in a row. Something is going on here! A friend sent me some information about the symbolic meaning. Dimes represent fresh starts, coming full circle and returning to our center. More importantly to me, dimes have come to mean shiny opportunities once thought lost, and are considered beacons of promise.

As a child, I was a reader. When so many others were out playing sports and doing all the after school activities, I was in my room reading. When I left home and began to travel to New York and London, my goal was to be a writer. Destiny, of course, took me in lots of different directions and required some tough spiritual lessons along the way. I never gave up on the idea, but I had numerous roads to travel first and the goal became a distant dream.

And so I realize the message of the dimes… after so many years, I can place my focus back on writing. An opportunity once thought lost has come full circle. Whether it be blog or story, coaching article or novel, I love to share my thoughts and stories through writing. The universe, as always, through dimes or dollars, kindly reminds us of our purpose, our direction and that we are being watched over and blessed.

Fleurs pop up

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purple fleurs

And then all of a sudden, things change. I passed by the place where the crocuses were pushing up and somewhat bedraggled. Right next to them these brilliant little purple flowers had popped up, fresh and full of vitality. Passing snowstorms notwithstanding, they are courageously taking their stand. There is a lesson here.

Plants are full of energy and certainly respond to their environment, our loving attention and certain vibrations. However, I don’t think they are distracted by memories, passing emotions or feelings of inadequacy. They are unmoved, perhaps in a very Buddhic way, by all but their firm dedication to their purpose. Although perhaps not as purposeful, it reminds me of this tale titled “Maybe.”

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “Maybe,” the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Maybe,” replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

The farmer is not indifferent, and at least in my imagination, remains aware that he is in reality the creator his life. He is also keenly aware, or should we be so, that we are participating with the universe/God/the angels and that intercession/detour/distraction is part of the game. Sometimes the wind blows east, sometimes west. Can we remain unmoved, centered and peacefully secure ‘under our own vine and fig tree’?

I’m delighted, or perhaps amazed, that I am receiving these unspoken messages from these little flowers, whose name I don’t even know. The movements of spring are fearless in the face of it all. Lesson learned.

Pushing upward

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Despite snow and rain, spring is pushing upward. Little crocuses are doing their best. I feel much the same. Moving forward, making connections, watching miracles. The next cloud rolls in and I’m a bit battered, needing to gathering more steam, waiting while snow falls, eager and hesitant at the same time. Yet every year spring re-appears and we are hopeful.

Crocuses are happy to come right back up, same color as last year, doing their job. They have no need to reach ‘the next level.’ But most of us feel a little differently. I’m encouraged by the consistency of the flowers, but I’m yearning for more insight, more openness of heart, more self-understanding, more empathy and inspiration. Diving deep internally and hoping to resurface to find myself clear-eyed and ready for the next chapter, not quite content with yesterday’s modus operandi or last year’s color.

It requires a little more energy, like shedding winter’s heavy clothes. It might even be courage, but it’s at least determination to push up from beneath the soil into the spring air. And to say, Here I am, bright and ready to greet the day. Thank you little crocuses!

Seeing through

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The orchid is almost weighted down with blossoms, heralding spring and all things lively and bright. There is a little space between the blossoms where clouds pass through and where reality, whether peaceful or violent, interjects to distract from the glory.

Peaceful I really appreciate. Yesterday I stayed in bed beyond awakening, served myself coffee and toast and dove into one of my favorite books for a re-read. It’s The Forty Rules of Love, A Novel of Rumi (Elif Shafak), one of those stories that will always stay on my bookshelf. Quiet morning moments like these are delicious, to be remembered and treasured. Often they don’t last very long.

Our larger community has also been stopped in its tracks by recent suicides and murders. Even the sheriff was in tears. How do we see through to a place where our hearts can embrace even the violence? Is there a gap we need to fill? Have we forgotten to stop and look at something? Are we paying attention? Is someone else’s pain our problem? Have we prayed deeply enough?

The only answers I have rely on peeking through between the blossoms and remembering how strong our hearts really are, the light we can emanate, the healing we can radiate. Perhaps we are being called upon to strengthen in the face of tragedy. Not to harden or erect barriers, but to reach into the place where we understand deeply and find the capacity to give more. It’s seeing through another lens, where reality becomes stark and clear. Then we have an opportunity to re-create and re-weave from a place of love large enough to fill in all the spaces.

The real and the unreal

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reality-illusion

I found this photo a few years ago to represent a state of illusion where it is hard to determine what is real. The planet Neptune can have this effect if you’ve studied astrology. I had to go back and find this photo again recently. And now I’m realizing it represents a feeling that is very prevalent in many corners of life.

Whether it be politics, where what is being reported is only the tip of the iceberg, where rumors and secret deals are taking place, where money or personal reward is really the goal, and where a government ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’ has become a rather whisper of reality….what are we really to believe? Whether it be religion, where belief in higher principles often inspires and uplifts us but where dogma and judgment clouds our connection with reality and with one another….what are we to believe? Whether it be gluten-free or the original ancient wheat or natural ingredients which are not natural, then what are we to believe? Can we not just eat with joy and be grateful for the fresh food before us?

I’m beginning to suspect that the key to all of this, the secret to dividing the real from the unreal, lies in our hearts and with the use of our intuitive gifts. It is almost as if we need to consciously lift the veil and see beyond the headlines, read between the words, study the feelings we get and go much deeper within to discern the truth. What once was determined and predictable seems to be rapidly slipping away. Technology has become our constant companion and depended upon so heavily. But I still keep my little black book of addresses and phone numbers. There’s a world of reality before our eyes but it can’t match up with the smell of rain or the sprouting of a daffodil.

Peoples faces are before us on the computer screen and stories are told about their lives. But there is still an incomprehensible space between our hearts and theirs when they pass from this earthly plane and begin traveling ‘on the other side.’ May our ability to divide the real from the unreal become a mastered skill by listening deeply to ourselves and those we trust, and may our vision not be clouded but clear of all but our inner wisdom and the love of our hearts.

Forgiveness

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It’s almost Valentine’s Day. There are roses and chocolates everywhere. There are thoughts of love, who we love, what love means, how to put love into action.

I’m meditating on Forgiveness. Sometimes I like to break words apart and think about what those pieces mean to me. We’ll start with FOR and when it’s in this word, I understand it to mean moving forward. In order to move past an incident or negative feeling or even self-imposed stagnant energy, it is necessary to take action. Just taking a step moves us closer to courage and the fullness of who we really are.

The second piece is GIVE. Not only are we giving freedom to the other person or the situation, we are at the same time letting go. We are giving without expectation of return. We are giving to that more compassionate bigger version of our self. We are answering, what can I offer?, what gift can I give? We are moving towards peacefulness. We fully understand that in giving, we become willing to receive. Energetically we are breathing out and breathing in. Our spirit is refreshed.
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And NESS to me means this is a practice and a process. Perhaps the moment of forgiving needs to be repeated over and over. Perhaps one act of forgiveness leads to another and another. Most likely one step in this brave direction opens doors we had not even seen before. The universe may rush in to congratulate us. We become one with the inbreath and the outbreath. We inhale freedom. We live in love.

May deeper love invade your heart and home this Valentine’s Day.