Soul & Spirit

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Friedrich Nietzsche

     Someone once asked me if I thought there was a difference between the soul and the spirit. To me, the spirit can be "broken" but the soul lives on forever. The soul is something that is eternal, ever-connected, always intact. Spirit, on the other hand, is a state of of mind, a way of being. And that again, for me, seems to come and go like the wind, with the mood, with the seasons.
     I believe the question was really about the Self; who am I really, and what part of me is constant? What label do I give to that part of me that never changes in the midst of this ever dynamic, always changing multi-verse? And how do I grasp that in a way that can bring me peace?
     Carl Jung said "Whatever you fail to bring to the conscious mind will later emerge as fate." I believe this process of creating that to which we do not aspire allows the soul to progress in that we create opportunities to learn. In doing so we find our way to our own true heart's desire.

Sometimes the best teachers show us what not to do.

Let Go & Hang On!

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.
Henry Ellis

     I can see why our elders chose water as the symbol of emotion. The reflective nature of water creates an illusion of reality that appears "real" but is not solid. Emotion and water are both twin-forces of creativy and destruction. Both desire to flow through the path of least resistence until a quell comes that's so large it jumps the banks of its preiously forged channels. But this destruction usually creates new pathways that will allow relief when the waters rises again.
      Biology tells us that emotion is really a molecule. Every time we have a new experience our bodies create a molecule that contains a chemical recipe and an electro-magnetic signature. This electro-chemical cocktail creates the physical manifestation in the body we have come to know as emotion. And these molecules are all strung together to create our neural net, a warehouse of our memories, experiences and percpetions.
      This system creates an instantaneous connection between our present-moment perception of reality and our past experiences. Over the coarse of our lives these memories and connections become very intertwined making it difficult to discern whether the emotions we are experiencing today are the result of experiences today or if they are just memories of past experiences.
      As it turns out, the majority of the emotions we experience throughout the day are really just memories. For many it is memories of past wounds, injustices or regrets that fill their present days with feelings of loss, anger or inadequacy. But for more and more it's becoming the freedom to live in joy and gratitude right here, in the present moment. All you have to do to get there is Let Go & Hang On!!

Choose to live in joy today and joy will be waiting for you tomorrow!

    
    

Information Universe

Every man dies. Not every man really lives.     William Wallace

     The universe is an endless flow of energy which means it's an endless flow of information. J.A. Wheeler even called the universe "an expression of idea which is information made manifest." How we take in this infomation has everything to do with our beliefs and past experiences, which act as filters to this universal information. Our filtered perceptions then drive our behaviors which untimatley create the fates to which many of us feel a victim.
     The only thing we are victim to is our lack of information. The information is always available to us but by the time it gets through our filters of past experience, fear, jujdgment, desire, control etc, we have a very limited view that seems to offer very few options.
     If we want to find new information we are forced to address the filters: pain from the past, old belief systems, illusions about Self and fears that take the form of self-imposed limitations. We need to set aside the 2000 bits of information that we do see to open the door to the 400 trillion bits that we do not. Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone. Beyond that, FREEDOM!

The things we try to avoid the most are the very things that hold the key to our own personal freedom.

Conversation with a Dragonfly

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.               Mark Twain

     I was sitting on my deck the other day, enjoying the autumn sun, when a bright green dragonfly came whizzing by my ear. "Hello, Grandfather Dragonfly!" I said gleefully (I love dragonflies!). "How are you doing on this beautiful day?". "I am well" he replied, "Hunting bugs. That's what I do".  It seemed I was not enough of a distraction to keep him from his task so continued on with my questioning.
     "What illusion am I under?" I asked as he scooped up a mosquito that was hovering around my head. "You (humans) are under so many- always under so many illusions" he answered as he continued his hunt.  Then he flew up from the grass and I lost sight of him in the trees.
     A moment later he "re-appeared" and said "Here I am!" Then he laughed as he flew back and forth, from the grass to the trees, from the flowers to the sky. "Now, I'm gone! No! Here I am! Oh, now I'm gone! But here I am! Silly humans!" he said as he zipped over the house in hot pursuit of a ladybug.
     I enjoyed the sun for a few moments longer then I turned to go inside. A small part of me wished he would have returned and I said to myself "Goodbye Grandfather Dragonfly". His tiny voice boomed with laughter in my head "And what makes you think I'm not here?!"

Gratitude helps me see the true meaning of life and love is what makes life "Real"

Capture the Moment

A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.                                                                                   Charles Darwin

     The weather here, in Minnesota, the past two weeks has been glorious. The 80 degree sun against the backdrop of fall colors has been interrupted only by a strong, steady wind; the winds of change. We feel it coming, winter, but the beauty of the moment allows us to forget the driving snows and freezing winds that could capture us, will capture us, any day.    
     When we are able to capture the moment and still accept the inevitable change is when we learn to allow ourselves to live. It seems so difficult, at first glance, but it is really very simple. The energy of the universe, of life, is constantly moving forward and the only moment we have to affect it, to experience it, is this one; the Present Moment.
      Don't let a single moment slip away, unnoticed, untapped because you're worried about the future or stuck in the past. Each moment contains the power to change your life, change the world! It's the only moment that is real and truly, the only moment that IS. Capture it, and you will hold the secrets of the universe.

Natural Healing

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.
Henry David Thoreau

      Healing is a Natural State of Being. If I cut my hand with a knife, my body immediately moves to heal the wound. How is this so? How does the body know what to do? Both science and the ancient mysteries teach us that there is an underlying intelligence that governs all things. This conscious force is constantly moving us towards balance, peace and abundance. Healing, whether it's healing or bodies, our relationships or our bank accounts, is simply getting out of the way of this Life-Force and allowing IT to bring us to our naturally balanced Self.

Flash of Genius

I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it.                                 Charles M. Schulz

   Imagine standing in a 1 million acre warehouse and all the lights are out. You stand there in the darkness with no way to navigate your way and then, FLASH! The lights turn on for half a second and turn back off again.You become alert, aware and you begin to rely on all your senses to interpret these flashes of insight. After spending some time here, in the cosmic consciousness, you will realize that these flashes of genius happen, available to us, always. We just have to be quiet enough to listen, patient enough to wait and determined enough to understand.

Fear & Grief: The Chicken & The Egg

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.
Marcus Aurelius

     I had a client once ask me "If God loves me, why don't I have what I want?"  Because I understand that relationships are reflections of me, I found this very interesting because I had a father who showed his love by giving me money. Did I believe "love equals money or to have"? Or did I believe they were at odds; love or money?
     After years of introspection I realized that I had many emotional tethers to money, love and family. What the experience taught me was that grief, sadness, feelings of inadequacy etc are really what's at the center of our sorrow. I first believed it was fear that drove our behaviors and created limitations in our lives but I now know its the grief. The fear of experiencing it, or in some cases even remembering, it, is what stands in our way.
     Example: It's not failure that we fear. We fear feeling like a failure. We feel like a failure if we don't try but we won't try because the thought of failing is too much to bear. You see how we entrap ourselves? Silly humans!

CHOOSE TO FREE YOURSELF!