Ask and it is Given

If it is true, and it is, that when I, meaning, any point of Consciousness, asks, it is given, then can you not feel the perfection of the selfish ego? Every vantage point gets to ask, and every vantage point is answered. And when everyone is individually choosing and Source is answering--then what could be a more balanced world?

Excerpted from a workshop in Sedona, AZ on Saturday, August 31st, 2002

All Is Well

Photo: Rocky Mountains near Ridgway, Colorado

Morning Sunrise

Morning Solitude by artist Roderick Maciver

"I wish Pooh were here. It’s so much more friendly with two."
Piglet (A.A. Milne)

Are you willing to be alone?

Ingrid Bacci says, "If you are afraid of being alone, you are dependent on others for your sense of self, and if you are dependent on others, you block your receptivity to inner guidance. Being willing to be alone involves being willing to be different, to have commitments and values that don’t blend with any crowd."

"Man’s loneliness is but his fear of life." Eugene O'Neill

"I celebrate myself, and sing myself."
Walt Whitman

A Clear Current

Maintaining The Flow

The essence of all being is energy. Our physical and ethereal selves depend on the unrestricted flow of life energy that is the source of wholeness and wellness. Though the channels through which this energy flows are open systems and influenced by factors outside of our control, we ultimately choose what impact these will have in our lives. It is up to us to identify and clear blockages in the energy field to ensure that flow is maintained. A healthy, grounded individual absorbs some portion of the energy emitted by other people and the environment, but this does not interrupt the continuous stream of balanced energy sustaining them. The same individual copes constructively with stress and upset, and they are not subject to the stagnation that frequently goes hand in hand with negativity. When we keep the energy in and around our bodies flowing harmoniously, we are naturally healthy, vibrant, and peaceful.

Life energy flows through us like a swift stream when there is nothing to obstruct it, but various forces such as trauma, downbeat vibrations, and disappointments act like stones that impede the current. If we allow these to pile up, our life energy is thrown off its course or blocked entirely, causing illness, restlessness, and a lack of vigor. If, however, we take the time to clear these forces away, we rob them of the power to impact our lives. When we cultivate simple yet affirmative habits such as taking regular cleansing baths, practicing meditation and breathing exercises, smudging, and self-shielding, we protect ourselves from outside influences that might otherwise impede our energy flow. Likewise, we lessen the impact of inner influences when we clear our auras of unwanted attachments and divest ourselves of blocked emotions.

A strong and fluid energy field is the key that unlocks the doors of self-healing and peace of mind. Your awareness of the flow of energy sustaining you empowers you to take charge of your own well-being by taking steps to unblock, correct, and enhance that flow. Fear will likely be the culprit when you cannot identify the source of stagnation—you may simply be afraid to let go of what is obstructing the flow. Letting go can be challenging, but the exuberance you will feel when the flow is restored will be a welcome and blessed reward.

What do you think?

Calvin & Hobbs

Calvin & Hobbs

A Little Story

I’m thinking of a lovely little story about Thomas Moore, the 19^th century Irish Poet, and the story behind the song that he wrote. Moore was married to a beautiful young woman. Shortly after they were married, Moore was called away on a business trip and he was gone for some time. His beautiful wife, to whom he was completely devoted to, had contracted smallpox in his absence and the disease had left her scarred. She commanded that the shutters be drawn and that her husband was never to see her again. Moore was thankful that his bride was still alive and he rushed to her room. His wife pleaded and begged him to leave and Moore was crushed. He left the room and went to his study and began to write a song. The next morning he mounted the stairs, opened the door to his wife’s room and began to sing to her:

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms

Which I gaze so fondly today,

Were to change by tomorrow and flee from my arms,

Like fairy gifts fading away,

Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art,

let thy loveliness fade as it will,

And round the dear ruin each wish of my heart,

Would entwine itself verdantly still.

As Moore finished his song, there was a brief pause, then he heard his bride get out of bed. Slowly she crossed the room to the windows and opened the shutters.

Encouragement, affirmations, ad love works miracles. The world needs encouragers, those who inspire with courage, confidence, love, and spirit. This week with gratitude, give thanks to Spirit for those who help you see your beauty and worth

Riding the Wave~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week brought an end to 15 years of working for a leading construction company that has been hit by the bubble burst of home construction industry in Minnesota. It was not unexpected as the company has been in challenging times for the last 18 months, even though a lot of good people and friends work there, even though a lot of them work diligently and long hours, even though they are committed to riding the wave to the end if need be, even though I had agreed to ride the wave to the end if needed, it was decided to jettison more people as an effort to eliminate and slash expenses further.

So now I ride a different wave, and that is one of possibilities and doors to open. The reality is the work environment had become very negatively charged as good folks wondered and feared about more cuts. “Would I be one of them? How can I protect my job?” I know that with this door now closed, I can now start an active pursuit of possibilities for a new place to use my craft and put to use my abilities. I can decide if I want a new career, or stick with my current career path as a seasoned cost estimator. The world is my oyster and the possibilities are endless.

When I was givin the news, my 1^st reaction was rejection lasting almost an hour, and then the idea hit me, that all I was free, “free at last!” to leave all of the negative energy behind and make new choices and decide for myself what would show up in my life. I have 4 weeks paid vacation coming, and the need to make any quick decisions is not paramount. My 1^st decision is to be like the tortoise, proceeding slowly and surely as the Universe reveals its possibilities for me to choose from. I shall be riding the wave as the days and weeks unfold. Life is GREAT!!!

Riding the Wave

Let Yourself Be Carried
The Flow Of The Universe

The flow of the universe moves through everything. It's in the rocks that form, get pounded into dust, and are blown away. It is the blossoming of a flower born from a seed planted in the spring. The growth cycle that every human being goes through is part of this natural flow. The current that takes us down life's paths is this flow. When we move with it, rather than resisting, we are riding on the universal current that allows us to flow with life.

Many people live their lives struggling against this current. They try to use force or resistance to will their lives into happening the way they think it should. Others move with this flow like a sailor using the wind, trusting that the universe is taking them exactly where they need to be at all times. This flow is accessible to everyone because it moves through and around us. We are always riding this flow. It's just a matter of whether we are willing to go with it or resist it. Choosing to go with the flow is often a matter of letting go of the notion that we need to be in control at all times. The flow is always taking you where you need to go. It's just a matter of deciding whether you plan on taking the ride or having it take you there with you dragging your feet.

Learning to step into the flow can help you feel a connection to a force that is greater than you and is always there to support you. The decision to go with the flow can take courage because you are surrendering the notion that you need to do everything by yourself. Riding the flow of the universe can be effortless, exhilarating, and not like anything you ever expected. When you are open to being in this flow, you open yourself to possibilities that exist beyond the grasp of your control. As a child, you were naturally swept by the flow. Tears of sadness falling down your face could just as quickly turn to tears of laughter. Just the tiniest wave carrying you forward off the shores of the ocean could carry you into peals of delight. Our souls feel good when we go with the flow of the universe. All we have to do is make the choice to ride its currents.

If you don't live your dreams.....who will?

Your greatest detriment to your powerful ability to create
positively in your world is the negative influence from those
that surround you. And when you allow it, you are creating
by default.

Follow your bliss and remember that unless you
feel good about yourself, you have nothing of value to offer
to any other. Choose your surroundings wisely -- this is
your own life. You have that option. In reality, you have that
obligation. If you don't live your dreams.....who will?

~ Abraham-Hicks

Once the Soul Awakens

Once the soul awakens, the search begins and you can never go back. From then on, you are inflamed with a special longing that will never again let you linger in the lowlands of complacency and partial fulfillment. The eternal makes you urgent. You are loathe to let compromise or the threat of danger hold you back from striving toward the summit of fulfillment. When this spiritual path opens, you can bring an incredible generosity to the world and to the lives of others. Sometimes, it is easy to be generous outward, to give and give and yet remain ungenerous to yourself. You lose the balance of your soul if you do not learn to take care of yourself. You need to be generous to yourself in order to receive the love that surrounds you. You can suffer from a desperate hunger to be loved. You can search for long years in lonely places, far outside yourself. Yet, the whole time, this love is but a few inches away from you. It is at the edge of your soul, but you have been blind to its presence. Through some hurt, a door has slammed shut within the heart, and you are powerless to unlock it and receive the love. We must remain attentive in order to be able to receive. Boris Pasternak said, "When a great moment knocks on the door of your life, it is often no louder than the beating of your heart, and it is very easy to miss it."

~ John O'Donohue, from Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

What is Your Truth?

What is your truth? Ask your heart, your back, your bones, and your dreams. Listen to that truth with your whole body. Understand that this truth will destroy no one and that you're too old to be sent to your room.

Move into your truth as though it were an old house. Walk through each room. See, hear, and feel what it is to live there. Try to love what you find, and remember the words that come to you as you explore.

If you embrace it, if you are faithful to it, your truth will reward you with unimaginable freedom and intimacy with yourself and others. You won't land in a world made to order; some people in your life may not like what you write. But those who remain will be allies, people who breathe deeply and listen. It will feel good to be seen completely and loved as you are. As Natalie Goldberg said after her friend found and read a piece of work-in-progress that she had left out from the day's writing, "I feel good because I don't care that she sees how I really am. I'm glad. I want someone to know me."

~ John Lee, from Writing from the Body, excerpted from Art as a Way of Life.

The Art of Blessings

Take a moment to relax and unwind from your busy day, listen, watch and may your day be blessed beyond your dreams.

Brightest Blessings
Jim

Sammy & Jimmy's Home

Cozy Place to Stay

Corner Decoration

Sammy and his Wall to Wall Pad

Picosa

There is a new restaurant that has opened in Minneapolis at River Place. I have dined there several times and find the food excellent, modestly priced, and service friendly that sets the standard for other establishments. Picosa means "spicy lady" and the food lives up to the name. Stop in and enjoy yourself - when in the area - and bring Fido along, as a bowl of cold water and doggie treat awaits him on the outside covered veranda.

Here is their home page


http://www.picosarestaurant.com/home.asp

Paddling Thru O'Brien State Park

St Croix Afternoon Paddle

Shore Lunch

Our kayaking started when Caleb returned from Alaska. He asked what I wanted for Fathers Day 5 years ago and the desire was to try kayaking. The 1st year, being back from Alaska as a logger and sawyer, he left me in the dust as we kayaked the St Croix. Since then we have kayaked every Fathers Day and it has turned into a yearly Fathers Day Trip.

In our opinion, this is the way to go to get to know nature and see life as you have never seen it before. Sitting in the kayak, this is literally the closest one can get to water without getting wet. We paddled silently by egrets, muskrat and saw eagles sitting in the tops of trees as well as soaring the thermals, red tailed hawks, an osprey sitting on her nest as well as fish jumping next to the kayaks.

At one point as we paddled by a cliff we saw a fawn that had just fallen over the rocky ledge and had landed next to the river. His knees were still wobbly as well as he was dazed and confused. We could also see as we paddled closer that he was blind in one eye due to a birth deformity.

This shore lunch we had nuts, berrys, yogurt, apples and bananas. Bananas are easy to carry as they can be laced into the netting on the kayak for that easy retrieval and quick energy bite while paddling.

For glimpses into a kayaker and her passion stop on by Kayak Wendy. Her blog is worth a visit.

Kayaking the St Croix

Ready to go

Launching Point

Caleb Enjoying the Scenery

Enjoying a Nice Paddle

A Good Way to really enjoy the river

Wild at Heart

Capes and swords, camouflage, bandannas and six shooters - these are the uniforms of boyhood Little boys yearn to know they are powerful, they are dangerous, they are someone to be reckoned with. How many parents have tried in vain to prevent little Timmy from playing with guns? Give it up. If you do not supply a boy with weapons, he will make them from whatever materials are at hand. My boys chew their graham crackers into the shape of hand guns at the breakfast table. Every stick of fallen branch is a spear, or better, a bazooka. Despite what many modern educators would say, this is not a psychological disturbance brought on by violent television or chemical imbalance. Aggression is part of the masculine design, we are hardwired for it. If we believe that man is made in the image of God, then we do well to remember that "the Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name" (Ex.15:13)

Little girls do not invent games where large numbers of people die, where bloodshed is a prerequisite for having fun. Hockey, for example, was a not a feminine creation. Nor was boxing. A boy wants to attack something - and so does a man, even if it's only a little white ball on a tee. He wants to whack it into kingdom come. One the other hand, boys doe not sit down to tea parties. They do not call their friends on the phone to talk about relationships. They grow bored of games that have no element of danger or competition or bloodshed. Cooperative games based on "relational interdependence" are complete nonsense. "No one is killed?" they ask, incredulous. "No one wins? Whats the point?" The boy is a warrior, the boy is his name. And those are not boyish antics he is doing. When boys play at war they are rehearsing their part in a much larger drama. One day, you just might need that boy to defend you.

Those Union soldiers who charged the stone walls at Bloody Angle, the allied troops that hit the beaches at Normandy or the sands of Iwo Jima - what would they have done without this deep part of their heart> Life needs a man to be fierce - and fiercely devoted. The wounds he will take throughout his life will cause him to lose heart if all he has been trained to be is soft. This is especially true in the murky waters of relationships, where a man feels least prepared to advance. As Bly says, "In every relationship something fierce is needed once in a while."

Now, this longing may have submerged from years of neglect, and a man may not feel that he up to the battles he knows awaits him. Or it may have taken a very dark turn, as it has with inner-city gangs. But the desire is there. Every man wants to play the hero. Every man needs to know that he is powerful. Women didn't make Braveheart one of the best-selling films in a decade. Flying Tigers, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Magnificent Seven, Shane, High Noon, Saving Private Ryan, Top Gun, and the Die Hard films, Gladiator - the movies a man loves reveal what his heart longs for, what is set inside him from the day of his birth.

Like it or not, there is something fierce in the heart of every man.

By John Eldredge

James Oscar

I week old & Smiling
Mom & Best Friend
Dad and his new Cycle