Nora Hooper

Worry

2011-08-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy."
Leo F. Buscaglia

The stock market has fallen again. The U.S. has dropped a grade on the S&P and timid stockholders are pulling their money out of the market. Fear and worry are flexing their powerful muscles while wreaking havoc with the emotions of investors. Once again worriers are having a field day.

Worry emerges from the deepest of places within us, a vulnerable place devoid of trust and full of skepticism, a place where the world is ugly and mean and the good always finish last.

Worry takes many forms and one of the most acute is the worry about our well-being. Will we have enough? Will we be taken care of? Will we lose it all? Another extremely powerful worry focuses on those we love and care for. We worry that they won't make the right decisions, that life will be too hard for them, that they will be hurt or miss out on an opportunity. Sometimes our worry reflects a deeper fear that a client once put so well; "I worry that what I have given them will not be enough."

Then there is the worry that we won't get what we want. This worry stems from a belief that we actually know what is best for us to begin with. Many times a client has sat with me wanting reassurance that life will work out the way he or she wants. They want a "prediction" of the future that guarantees a positive result. What would happen if we began to believe in our ability to excel in life precisely because the unexpected happened? What if we began to turn the act of worrying on its head by trusting in our own ability to cope with the ups and downs of life and find ways to create a world we love while doing so.

Worry lives in yesterday and tomorrow. Worry takes our minds onto the hamster wheel of mistrust and fear. Worry robs us of our health and our spirit if we let it. Haven't you seen in your own life that when times get hard and people we love are hurting or needing or we are feeling lost or broken the result is often that people rise to the occasion and find ways to love and heal in heroic proportions? Pain and suffering can open the door for some of the noblest of actions.

I am not suggesting that you invite tragedy into your life but what I might ask is to turn worry into action. By being in action we feel empowered. Some actions are the simple act of meditation or prayer. Another may be to go for a walk, a run or ride, or to reach out and help another. Through these means worry may abate.

Over the past years of economic stress and loss I have had sessions with many people who have had plenty of changes thrust upon them. The ones who have not only survived but thrived are the people who have focused on what really matters to them; the people who have been able to see what is truly valuable in their day-to-day life. A question to ask yourself when worry is spinning out of control is "Can I do anything about this issue at this time?" You have the power to choose how you react to life, to the stockmarket, to a loss or a fear, to disappointment and to the ever-present unexpected challenges this earthly life is fraught with.

Claim that power and use it, as you have so well in the not so distant past and free your mind from a vision of a sad and scary tomorrow and relish the potential of today.

Love and light,
Nora

I expand my thoughts and free my mind releasing fear and worry with every breath.

What Have I Done?

2011-06-07T04:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever made a choice and then watched helplessly while a myriad of problems arose from the simple act of opting for one direction rather than another? The sense of loss of control, and the roller coaster ride of emotions can be overwhelming.

I am wiping my brow and taking a deep breath after just such an experience and I want to share with you the lessons I have been reacquainted with through the chain reaction of a choice gone awry.

When life seems to be spinning out of control:
First:
Get a grip on your emotions. I did not say bury your feelings or deny them, I did say don't let them rule you. In my case if I had fueled my initial burst of anger and frustration, I doubt I would be able to speak of the positive outcome which eventually ensued. Letting anger take over isolates and can blind us to alternative solutions to our challenge.

Second:
Remember "No man is an island." Ask for help. My error in choice lead to a number of people opting to help rectify the problem. Some people embraced helping with gusto and concern. I found compassionate listening at the other end of the phone. I found people doing more than just their jobs to educate me on various options which might solve my problem.

Request that someone go the extra mile -- but ask with love. When speaking with a representative I asked her to "Put on her halo and make a miracle." Suggesting that she go beyond the norm triggered something in her that engaged her in my issue in a more personal way. And help me she did.

Third
Don't give up; follow your gut. If something is not working and you really feel there "has to be a way" don't stop asking for what you want. As I hit one wall and then another I momentarily lost momentum and almost gave up my quest for a solution to my problem, but after a restless night's sleep a voice in my head said "Give it another try." So I did.

Fourth:
Pray for guidance. I found myself asking; "What am I to learn from this? What do I need to know?" Instead of staying in the impotence of victim energy I searched within for what knowledge I could gain from the experience.

Fifth:
Be in gratitude. After the mess was cleaned up I took the time to call and thank the people who had helped me. I think we all felt a great sense of victory.

My issue was minor in the scheme of life but the lessons brought back to me are not. My initial choice caused a domino effect of "Murphy's Law" my second and third and fourth choices created a pathway of connectivity and flow, reminding me that life is an adventure and that I am part of a vibrant community populated by people who will go the extra mile and embrace an extraordinary challenge in order to lend a hand to another and by doing so feel a sense of connection and perhaps a little glow in their heart.

Love and light,
Nora

As I bend and stretch to accommodate life's ebbs and flows I connect with my world in a life altering way.

Contact

Nora Hooper - Intuitive

For an appointment
norahooper@gmail.com

Helpers -- April, 2011

2011-05-07T06:26:00.000-07:00

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers was an amazing man and I have quoted him before in my writing. I turned to him once again over these past several weeks to reflect on the meaning of the above quote. Its message gives me hope and helps me focus on positive action rather than fear and helplessness. I have thought about the viewpoint of "looking for helpers" when a catastrophe occurs and found great comfort in the perspective. I have speculated on how impacting being a helper is. Helping is not only being at the site of a disaster it is also doing whatever you can from right were you are.

Helping can constitute many actions. The first and very powerful action to help is immediate prayer and mediation. Pray for understanding, pray for healing and pray for enlightenment. Another obvious action is to contribute money and time. Yet another way to be a "helper" is to elevate your own expectations of how you interact with your immediate world. Be kinder, laugh more, give more and expect less. Give in whatever way you can. Learn from your mistakes. As we each begin to do so we will create a conscious vibration of leaving behind the past errors and creating a new world where we grow in wisdom through experience rather than just repeating the same old thing over and over again. A gentler, kinder world could begin to flourish.

When I first read the quote by Fred Rogers I remembered my early childhood Catholic upbringing. In the Roman Catholic catechism, the theological booklet given to all young Catholics, we were asked: "Where is God?" The answer: "God is everywhere." I struggled with that answer as I matured and began to question the rote response. How can that be? How could God be in ugly places like war zones and death camps and earth disasters. In reading Fred Roger's recollection of solace from his mother I saw the answer to "Where is God?" in a novel way. God is in the helpers rushing to bring aid when the unexplained, the devastating and the horrible occur. And they are everywhere even in the most awful places and awful times.

We live in a world of Ying and Yang. Nothing exists without its opposite. So just as the world seems to be shearing apart it is also being put back together. Just as life seems to be spinning out of control people are joining together to bring healing and repair.

Acting as a helper takes the courage to remain centered in the belief that love will triumph over evil, that good will win over bad. But rather than spending time in that philosophical debate I prefer to focus on my world and what I can shift and alter. I aspire to stretch farther than I have ever thought possible in order to claim the role as "helper."

Love and light,
Nora

I reach out to others with love and kindness, what I do matters.

The Train Ride

2011-02-09T17:47:00.001-08:00

I am traveling north from NYC on the noon train and if we keep to schedule in just a little over 2 hours I will arrive in my hometown. Looking out the window there are times when it seems that just the tiniest sliver of land separates the train car from the ice laden river alongside me. It thrills me. I have prepared for this, dashing onto the train to ensure a seat on the left hand side, the window seat with the Hudson River view.

A Canadian goose, frightened into flight, flies parallel to my window slowly losing ground falling back, back and away but not before I watch it's wings gracefully beat against the winter wind.

I contemplate the river. The January ice is multicolored, patches of wavy aqua marine stretch into navy and mushy gray. I imagine walking across the ice to reach the opposite riverbank but notice places where channels have been cut by river barges. The water is choppy and a steely black.

I watch from the window as we chug past a cookie-cutter park with a jogging trail snaking along the river side. A parka-clad woman throws a frisbee into the air. Her border collie leaps capturing the spinning disk with sheer joy oblivious to wind or temperature. Their breath makes little clouds of moist air. A walker walks, heaving himself into the wind with great strides on the charcoal path of concrete slicing through the still-white snow.

I pass gingerbread houses from Victorian times with puffing chimneys and streets bathed in winter sunshine. Giant maples reach their bare branched fingertips up to touch the sky in what seems to me like praise. Or are they pleading for something? I wonder.

West Point sits on the edge of a cliff like a fortress impenetrable in sand-blasted stone holding the secrets of lost decades.

We follow the river as ancient mountain ranges rise up in their wintry majesty. The Catskills home of lore and legend and in the distance the Adirondacks soar misty blue and mysterious.

Croton on the Hudson, Garrison, towns fly by with names plucked out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We blink past Wappingers and Poughkeepsie, towns christened after the native Indian tribes who for so long held a peaceful pact with the land they roamed.

Even though I now live among palm trees and gulf breezes the Hudson River landscape resides within me. It stirs my heart with something much deeper than nostalgia. I still believe that something magic lies hidden in the foggy mist that rises from the river in early morning, that the steepled, old graying towns, the winding roads and the arching railroad trestles hold secrets yet undiscovered. It seems to me that something mysterious and altering resides there waiting for me to discover it. These visions and vistas whisper that I am not alone; that I belong, that I am a part of something ancient and holy and that it is a part of me.

As the train slides into the depot I watch a hawk soar into the slanting afternoon light. I breathe a sigh from deep within. I am home.

Nora Hooper

Transmutation

2010-11-08T04:43:00.000-08:00

While on vacation in North Carolina my husband and I spent a morning bicycling one of our favorite routes. It takes you along a rolling valley dotted with aging barns and vegetable gardens ending just across the border in Tennessee. We stop to refuel at a fireworks store which sits on the crest of a hill and has a convenient stoop for pausing. Gulping Gatorade, we rest our Floridian legs, unaccustomed to the hilly terrain. While standing by the stoop I happened to look down at the wooden newel post and there sat the most stunning, sparkling, furry moth. She was spectacular in color and at least 4 inches long. After admiring her golden brown and speckled beauty I began thinking about the process butterflies and moths go through in order to become the glorious animals they are. They experience a transmutation.

Webster defines transmuting: to change or alter in form, appearance, or nature and especially to a higher form.

Transmutation is change from the inside out and each of us are in this very process changing and altering in order to express a higher form of consciousness and a higher form of love. We are all moving toward becoming the expression of pure and infinite love and the process begins in the same place most of our changes do--with our thoughts.

Transmuting develops wisdom which in turn releases fear. Releasing fear can be a conscious decision. Today our minds do not fret over the monster in the closet as it may have when we were five years old. As adults we experience anxiety and trepidation through other thoughts that often spring from the same imaginative thinking. Can you remember a time in your life when you dreaded the future because you "knew" how it would unfold? Do you recall that as you focused on the fear-based thoughts you experienced their negativity viscerally? Our bodies respond to thoughts of dread and worry physiologically supporting our minds in believing the "truth" of our fearful interpretations.

Attaching yourself to thoughts of love and devotion, understanding and patience alters you. When you think loving thoughts you simply do your body and soul good. As we become more aware of the thoughts we empower we give ourselves the glorious option to choose an alternative. We can opt to cultivate thoughts that allow for love and confidence to emerge and peace and happiness to flourish. In doing so we are transmuting and ultimately will emanate the changes outward.

Ted Andrews describes butterfly energy in his book Animal Speak as "transmutation and the dance of joy." Next time your mind grips you with negativity and you feel yourself collapsing into fear stop for a moment. Look for a different mind map to follow, an alternative path to a new conclusion. Even better, seek no conclusion at all and stand confidently in "not knowing" allowing life to present you with dozens more brilliant options empowered by love and infused with the Divine. Let your butterfly wings unfold and joy spring from your heart creating the world you seek from the thoughts you think, changing and altering from inside out.

Love and Light,
Nora

I consciously nurture loving thoughts.

A Little Life Lesson

2010-11-08T04:37:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was sitting in the airport waiting to board a plane to New Hampshire to attend my niece's wedding. I sat casually observing the hubub of travelers as an elderly couple approached and eased themselves into the row of seats beside me. I watched as the old man leaned past his wife toward a man sporting a Boston Red Sox cap and causally remarked, "How about those Sox?" The other man said nothing. He completely ignored this offer of camaraderie and left the elderly gentleman to simply lean back and contemplate the back of his hands.

I felt so bad for the old fellow. I wondered if he felt snubbed. My mind raced into stories about the snobby man hiding behind his newspaper, so smug that he wouldn't even give an old man a few seconds of his time. My heart felt so sad for the old man who I considered to be at least 88. He was vigorous once! People used to listen to him once! Or so I imagined.

We began to be called to board the plane and I glanced up as the snobby man gathered his belongings to start toward the check-in.

Oops... humbled again!

Suddenly I saw something that I did not notice before. The man was wearing two big hearing aids. He had not heard the old man and his offer of support for the Red Sox over the din of announcements and bad acoustics. He had not heard a sound. As he stood he nodded toward the elderly couple and smiled sweetly.

Sometimes even what we think we see with our own two eyes is not the reality of a situation. Next time I am jumping to conclusions I promise to give myself an opportunity to observe life through a kinder, less judgmental lens so that I may develop the ability to truly wait in order to really see.

I release myself from the need to interpret my world from the vantage point of its lack and failings. I embrace a new vision of life which is generous, loving and focused on the good.

BP Oil Spill

2010-06-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

I have been moved to tears. My heart is breaking. I have been in mourning, sickened by the images I see reflecting the utter confusion and ineptitude of the handling of the BP oil spill.
The disaster has left me dreaming dreams of suffocation and death.

I am not writing to sway your opinion on drilling in the gulf. I writing to request that every one of us take responsibility for the disaster. We have all contributed to the "holocaust", as one newspaper reporter called it, in the Gulf waters. For years we have heard that we must change. For years we have watched our world being diminished in subtle ways. For years we have consumed as though there is a limitless supply of all we deem we need and can't live without.

We bury our consciousness in technology, texting and emailing, facebooking and twittering in order to receive bite-sized portions of life while huge chunks of our planet are driven to extinction. I am not sure we can stop the spiral of loss completely but we can begin to shift our own impact on our mother Earth and I know we can change our habits and expectations. Living with less needs to be seen as creating abundance.

There are a million ways to take less and use less. Research them and employ the ones that make the most sense for you. Start living differently. Send me the ways you are changing lifestyle and conserving and I will post them in the next newsletter. No action is too small or insignificant. And please, write, call, picket, vote and let your opinions be heard. This is one time that I do not recommend silence.
Love and Light,
Nora

We raise our conscious vibration through action. We honor our mother Earth and live with thoughtfulness and gentle care. Our steps are light and our hearts are loving.

Celebrate Spring

2010-04-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

I love the this time of year. With the onset of spring the world around us seems to be celebrating life, change and renewal. Growing up it would mean that my mother tackled the yearly ritual of spring cleaning. Windows, screens and doors would gleam with a sparkle of light and transparency after a winter of sludge and gray were expertly removed. The scent of Niagara Spray Starch would waft through the air as the curtains, crisp and bright white once again, moved in the sweet spring air flowing through the newly released windows. We cleaned the house from top to bottom inviting in the season of spring.

For thousands of years people have been celebrating the shift of energy brought on by springtime. Just as we celebrate and honor the birth of a child, we have celebrated the rebirth of our land by dancing in forests and in castles, feudal villages and family farms. I feel the joy of renewal rising from the depths of my soul when I hear the rustle of the bushes alongside the house as song birds build their nests in preparation for the cycle of life to once again revolve.

This year in particular I am rebirthing a love that I have long held and often ignored. I am painting. Finding the courage to allow myself the time to do so has not been easy, but greatly encouraged by my husband and family. I do not paint every day but I think about painting every day. I also have found that by thinking about light, color and form I have begun, once again to "see" the world around me in lights and shadows, burnt siennas and cadmium reds. To paint and not judge my rusty hand has been a challenge. To paint for the sake of the experience and not for the outcome has been something I must constantly remind myself of. But when the day is done I find that my mind focuses on dreaming of painting and color, rather than a worry about something I cannot control.

What do you love that you have allowed let lie dormant? What have you promised yourself you will find time for but have not? Is there a musuem you keep saying you will visit or a friend that you think of but never manage to call? Where in your life is there a part of you that needs to be encouraged to step forward and be reborn or renewed?

Let the season of spring release the child within and start to create in your world, daily, weekly or monthly an action that ignites creativity, curiosity and play. Find even the smallest sliver of time to nurture your most inner self. Please hold as a truth that you are loved beyond the limits of your imagination, and that the most important request of your soul is that on this journey in life you access the power of love within you in the best way you can. Starting with yourself is wonderful way to celebrate spring.

Each day I create new avenues to love, express and explore.

Love and light,
Nora

Hate or Love?

2010-04-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Recently my husband and I watched the movie "Ikiur" or "To Live" by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a story about a man who has been informed that he has a terminal illness and his awakening to a new awareness of life. As the film progresses the protagonist finds a deeper meaning to his seemingly mundane and predictable life. During one scene he is descending a staircase after an unsuccessful meeting with a city bureaucrat in which his specific requests have been denied, with him is another official who is livid that they have been turned down.
As they walk down the staircase the official asks, "Don't you hate him?" Our hero turns looking up the steps and matter-of-factly answers. "I don't have time for hate."

During the following week those words echoed in my head. "I don't have time for hate." I began to think about all the wasted time spent hating. All the wasted energy and emotion wrapped up in the action of hate. Hate takes effort and time. Hate takes a lot of physical energy as well. Think about it. When we hate our heart beats faster, our blood pressure rises, we feel our chest constrict and our bellies churn.

Hate can isolate us but it also bonds. Hate is a powerful and masterful motivator. People connect through mutually shared hatred and through that connection form whole societal communities based on hate. We can see hate in action in all levels of society from the bully on the playground demanding others follow his actions to a leader of a nation ordering the "ethnic cleansing" of a certain tribe or type of people.

When someone tells me that I should feel a certain way I am usually resistant. As most people who know me realize I do not like to be told what to do. And I like it it a lot less when someone tells me what to think. When a person suggests to me that I embrace a belief based on fear translated into hate I stop and examine what they are really asking me. What the message often is commanding is this. "Think like me, hate like me."

Thinking about hate naturally lead me to think about love. Looking at the life around me I see so much love and caring. I see people doing good things and trying to make their part of the world better. My clients and friends are all reaching to create more love in their worlds. I want to not only make time for love in my life but I seek to be the action of love in life. Sometimes it is a very tall order as my ego and inner child rebel and cry out for different agendas. But the intention to be the energy of love in action remains. My question is: Will you join me? Join me in making love the focus of your intentions. Next time you are speaking in a manner that kills love and grows hate stop and think. Next time you are judging without consciousness stop and be silent. Think twice and three times before you join the band wagon of hate and haters in this world. Think with an intellect and a heart turned toward peace and healing not destruction and violence. It may seem to some of us that we have little influence over events in our lives but we do have one extremely powerful influence—over our thoughts and our choices. We can choose to think small, scared and hating or we can choose to think infinite, empowering and loving.

My heart leads me to create thought energy that envelopes my world with love. I disappear fear by choosing the thoughts and actions of love. Love is my core. Love is my essence.

Will You Be My Valentine?

2010-02-03T05:39:00.000-08:00

Tis the season to show our love and this is the month we have dedicated to do so. As you know, February 14th is Valentine's Day. The word valentine stems from the Latin valen or "worthy". What a beautiful concept to see ourselves as worthy, thereby loveable. Self love asks us to accept the idea that we are worthy and deserving of love. Somehow we have warped the idea of being worthy into an idea of needing to prove our worthiness. There are many multi-billion dollar businesses counting on people believing in the premise that you gain worthiness by being a certain weight, height, look, age and income level.

What would happen if we began to believe that just by being here on earth we were worthy of love? What if we lived by the idea that there is no barometer with which to measure this love and that we are on a life-long journey to uncover it, release it, discover it and yes, receive it? What if we began to see that living our lives from a place of love for our Self was the catalyst to grow more and more love and that by loving our Self our love of others would be a natural outcome? I see Self love as the single cell amoeba in the petri dish and as that single cell —"single thought" — multiplies all life and love grows. Self love is the ultimate liberator. As we choose to love we free our innate creativity, playfulness and joy thereby allowing and making way for new avenues of their expression.

This year I am taking the love message of February into my year with devotion. I ask you join me by starting with a little bit of love for yourself. Celebrate your talents and stop obsessing over your faults. Lighten up on the criticism and increase the admiration. You deserve it—you lovable you!

I close my critical eye and open my loving heart. Love generates from deep within. I connect with the divine source that flows from me and I love, simply, clearly and infinitely.
Happy Valentines!

Haiti-A Call to Giving

2010-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

I woke up at three a.m. last night unable to sleep. I could not stop thinking about Haiti and the people suffering there. I needed a better understanding of what was occurring but to do so I needed some facts. Early in the morning I began posing some questions to my favorite search engine. First question: "How many people live in poverty?" Answer: Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. That adds up to $912.50 a year. 80% live on less than $10 dollars a day. If you are reading this you can assume that you are numbered among the wealthiest people on earth. But I wanted to zero in on Haiti so I asked my search engine "What about Haiti?" Answer: More than 78% percent of people living in Haiti are living in poverty. While watching the TV coverage of the earthquake in Haiti I had heard the newscasters reporting over and over "These people have nothing." I struggled with the concept of "nothing".

Not one thing. The idea shook me as I saw the faces of children stunned into silence trying to cope with the aftermath of chaos and fear sweeping the island. My next question sprang out, "How many children die in poverty every day?" I found the answer from www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats :

"According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death."

I pondered the question, "How numb have we let ourselves become?" Then I started hearing the reports of charitable giving. Over 8 million dollars were donated by people texting a contribution on their cell phones alone. This was extremely exciting news. It was apparent that we want to give—we want to help. Clothes began to pile up creating mountains in donation centers, grocery stores offered opportunities to give through their check out lines, avenues to giving were being created so that anyone anywhere could contribute whatever amount they chose.

There is nothing more satisfying to me than to give to another human being, especially in time of need. Crisis and catastrophes shine the spotlight on the needs of others with glaring clarity. But what about the rest of the time? What struck me was the extent to which we leapt to the aid of the Haitians and what also struck me was the extent to which I had become insulated from the needs of my fellow human beings on a daily basis. We are enmeshed in our world of everyday issues we deem important and while wrapped up in the minutia of our lives 80 percent of the earth's population lives on less than $10 dollars a day. The enthusiasm with which the more fortunate contributed to Haiti's disaster relief leads me to believe that as a group we crave more opportunities to give and serve on a daily basis.

Now is the time to begin to assess not only how we give to our planet but to take it to a more personal level and ask, "How do we give to our community?" I started to wonder what would happen if each person took an oath to give back something everyday. Give of yourself generously. Give of your knowledge, your humor, your experiences, your skills and mostly give of your heart. Create avenues to express love and kindness for your family and neighbors. Encourage tolerance and celebrate diversity and join in movements that embrace your beliefs and use their power in numbers to make a difference in the lives of others. Contribute time, money, talents, intelligence, whatever you decide, through giving you will help make a difference.

See your your world, your income, your life for what it is — abundance beyond most people's imagination. Catch yourself when you are thinking and living in lack and scarcity. Celebrate your life and reflect from your inner-most heart compassion and love.

I reflect compassion and love to my world. I give with magnitude of my gifts, my abundance and my spirit for there is infinite room in the world for love.

The New Year

2010-01-04T04:56:00.000-08:00

The dawning of a new year is an opportune time to realign, reawaken and redesign. I am not talking about resolutions, I am talking about soul care. Lately I am compelled to look within and observe what I am feeling. I take time to quietly listen. I ask, " What do I need?" I wonder, "What parts of me are calling for nourishment? What have I pushed aside or silenced that longs for expression once again? What parts of my soul most need nurturing? And what actions can I take to reconnect with them in order to more fully express my Self?"

When I ask myself these questions words spring into my consciousness. Play, creativity, delight and joy are the first to emerge. I know in the deepest part of me that in order to nourish my soul I must have play and creativity as an integral part of my world. Drawing, painting and playing with art nurtures me. I promise my Soul that I will not deny that aspect of my Self this coming year. I promise my Self that I will make more art. Playing out of doors liberates the child within. Riding bicycles and being with friends stimulates my delight and joy. I promise my Self that creating new avenues for play will be an adventure I embark upon. Kayaking will be added to my list of pastimes. Time with family and friends soothes and stimulates me. There will be more time for friends with whom I can laugh out loud and explore the beauty of this world with.

Nuturing and honoring my work with my clients gives me a deep sense of satisfaction and joy. I promise my Self that I will continually implement new ways to playfully expand the energy of the divine we create together.

What parts of your Self need nurturing? Where are you denying a "soul" need? What simple actions can you take to express and free them? This is an opportune time of year to explore reawakening all the parts of you that bring you joy or connect you with your world in a deep and meaningful way. Take some time to stop and listen to your inner most parts. What are they asking you for and how can you begin the journey to fully living your life through liberating your most beautiful and expressive Self?

Each day I ignite the light within to illuminate and reawaken my deepest joy and creativity. My love shines brightly.

Gratitude

2009-11-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year where we are especially inundated with unrealistic images of perfection. Families are depicted gathered around the Thanksgiving table with gleaming smiles, adolescents are without acne or attitudes and Grandpa, sharp as ever, carves the golden brown turkey. Life is portrayed as a Norman Rockwell magazine cover. No one is hungry, no one is tired, love and thankfulness abound.

As I approached writing this entry I thought about my readers and concluded that most were the thoughtful and introspective kind who do not need to be reminded to be thankful during the holiday season. They were in tune with thankfulness even as they braced themselves for the Madison Avenue version. I ditched gratitude as a topic for my blog and focused my thoughts elsewhere. But all that changed last Saturday when a woman driving an SUV ran a stop sign.

It happened in an instant. In an instant our car was totaled, airbags deployed and seat belts put to the test. All functioned as expected and we miraculously walked away with minor bruises and scrapes.

Suddenly writing about thankfulness and gratitude seemed exactly what I needed to do. I now find myself in a celebration of gratitude for my body, my mind, my spirit. I am filled with thankfulness for my family and the love I feel for them, for my husband and the children he brought into my life. I am grateful for my legs, my arms, my brain and for the sky above and the eyes to see it. I am rejoicing in happiness for my business and my clients. I am eternally thankful that "What could have happened" did not. I am thankful that I walked away from the accident and that the people I love so dearly did as well. Thankful that all immediate logistical problems could be solved with a little creativity and a bit of cash.

This Thanksgiving take some time to be grateful for what you have and be in appreciation of how precious this fragile life really is. Skip the sap if you will but spend some time with the message. Carve out some time to celebrate some aspect of life daily, I am.

I am deeply thankful for all that I have in this world, all that I share and all that has been given me. I rejoice in the abundance of life.

It's All Good?

2009-10-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. There is a phrase people are using that is causing the hair to stand up on the back of my neck. I realize that by confessing this it may mean that I am not cool or even, God forbid, "evolved." But to tell you the honest truth, I rankle when I hear the expression "It's all good."

Granted, I know that good comes out of the most awful things and I realize that there is good in everything somewhere. But I have to tell you that I do not FEEL the "ALL GOOD"-ness of life all the time. There are times when I feel the stab-you-in-the-heart pain of life and do you know something? It hurts. There are times when being a human "being" on this planet is hard to bear whether we are watching a loved one die, breaking up with a partner, losing a home, career, savings, health, a limb, a child, a sibling, friend or parent, or standing helplessly by as a loved one suffers.

As humans we have the capacity to experience both exquisite joy as well as acute pain. And when the experience is painful I do not connect so easily with the "all good" part. The expression "It's all good" is capable of shutting down the lines of communication that potentially offer comfort and an opportunity to share in another's challenge by extending solace and love. There are times when I feel as a culture we may need to create the space in life where crying in pain would be as acceptable as rolling with laughter. We need to be cautious not to encourage attitudes that deem inappropriate sorrow and pain. Mourning loss and expressing grief is part of what weaves the thread of connection between us. It is part of what being a human is all about. Feeling sadness and grief is normal and healing in itself. The dark and lonely journey into grief and mourning many times leads us to a crystallized understanding of what we value in our life. Grief, mourning and sadness can "unmuddy" the waters, peeling away the facades we have created to numb us to life.

Thinking about grief and mourning conjured up for me images of the past when people wore mourning bands and widows dressed in black. I recalled a scene in Frank Capra's classic film "It's a Wonderful Life" where George Bailey is reluctantly taking over the management of the Savings and Loan after his father died. He was wearing a black mourning band on his suit. There was a time when the sorrowful passing of life and the grief it generated was acknowledged and honored.

Do I think that we should walk around with signs on our bodies of what emotions we are experiencing? Maybe not. But I do think that we need to allow space for the acceptance of pain in our life and in the lives of others. Yes I do. We are on a journey of expansion and a journey of love. There will be times in our lives when we will learn to love more through grief and through the pain of life.

There I said it. I do not like the expression "It's all good." While writing this I wondered, "What would I like to say instead?" I have come up with an answer but welcome yours as well. I would say, "I am searching for the good." That frees me up to be present in my experience but also acknowledges the hope and possibility that better will come. I expect it always.

Today I value the feelings that flow through me. I see the richness in all of life and I bend with tenderness and caring toward those who are suffering and in need of love.

Pigpen

2009-10-21T13:24:00.001-07:00

Most everyone knows the character "Pigpen" from the Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz. I love his character because he is so oblivious to how he affects others and I love his laid back attitude. While I enjoyed "Pigpen" in the comic strip meeting a true "Pigpen" in life is entirely another story.

I recently ran into a female version of Pigpen while waiting to board a plane back to Florida. The flight was delayed by 20 minutes. The boarding style was cattle-like but most passengers were taking it in stride except one very vocal woman. She slammed her bottled water down on the table as she plopped in the chair beside me. She pushed her chair so hard that the table shook. She ranted that she was accustomed to being in the lounge and having a glass of wine! She would never fly THIS airline again! I watched with a detached curiosity that turned into compassion. She was a female "Pigpen". Her aura was full of negativity, yet unlike Pigpen whose aura was just filled with dirt, she was spreading and arc of anger contaminating the very air within six feet of her. As I listened I wondered what kind of a life this woman had. It seemed to me that whatever her world consisted of it was apparent that she was full of fear and exaggerated drama.
I looked around and saw people with many bigger issues in their lives quietly waiting to board the plane while the woman went about flinging her negativity all around just hoping someone would engage with her in a festival of self-righteous complaining.
I thought about the times I have been upset and self-righteous. I thought about drama and how so many of us thrive on it. I thought about inner peace and actually felt some of it as I showered this woman with detached compassion. She was so sad and so self-involved. Some days I achieve the goal of holding a loving attitude no matter how many Pigpens are around and I admit some days are better than others. I quietly thanked the woman in my heart for showing me once again the cloud of negativity that we spread when we create drama around situations that we cannot control. And I renewed my ever-present desire to bring peace to my life through my intentions rather than living my life ruled by reactions.

Today I choose to create inner peace and harmony by accepting the ups and downs of life and viewing life through eyes of compassion and love.