Baseball vs. Football

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I remembered this ditty by George Carlin and was thrilled to find it on YouTube!  I hope you enjoy this funny take on the differences between baseball and football.  I thought with the up and coming Super Bowl, you might enjoy hearing his take on this sport. 

Roots for Your Dreams - A Good Addiction!

As the time for me to begin a new journal for 2010 rolled round a few weeks ago, I went thru the pockets of my 2009 journal.  Tucked in the back of it are articles, quotes and lists I found throughout  the year that I really liked and wanted to keep.  This is just one of them.  It is a list I tore out of a Body and Soul magazine.  It's fitting for anytime, but I thought I would share it now.  I put in caps the words they put in italics to emphasize a bit more - call it my flavor enhancement!  

TEN THOUGHTS ON WHOLE LIVING

1.  When you COMMIT your dreams to paper, you give them a place to take root.

2.  Be mindful of where you put your ATTENTION.  The Shape of your life will follow.

3.  When you view your health as nonnegotiable, your PRIORITIES naturally shift.

4.  Positive change starts with TRUTH, and no one knows it better than you.

5.  You're MORE than just what you do for others.

6.  Before you react to an emotion, first consider its SOURCE.

7.  Learning to LET GO begins with understanding why you've been hanging on.

8.  Do more than understand stress reduction; put it into PRACTICE.

9.  There's no way to GROW without taking a few risks.

10.Setting boundaries doesn't kep others out.  It DEFINES where your life begins.

I'd like to do a commercial for the first one on the list. If you don't write in a journal, or have but infrequently, I encourage you to begin.  Really I do!  From the inside of my very bones!

I am a journal junkie and the journey I've had doing this for forty some odd years is amazing!  If I don't know myself by NOW, somebody shoot me.  And of course I know by writing all these years, the me that I am today will change and grow too!   I've seemed to have made a career out of reinventing myself.  Oh yes, I've been a busy one!   I can track my dreams, hopes, fears (shhh, yes it's that "f" word) I can see my depression and what got me out of it "last" time, I can see the worry - volumes of it really - that was such useless crap and a waste of my writing time.  When I questioned endlessly "What is my purpose?"  I actually bored myself to death re-reading what I'd written.  It's not ALWAYS glorious profound insight page after page, but oh wow, when those little kernels of wisdom spit out of my pen - well, it's a wow, I can't believe I said that!

And speaking of wow, there is the anger!  I read some of that stuff now and think, wow, I'm glad I'm over THAT!  Good grief, was that ME writing?  I swear if I didn't read it, I wouldn't have remembered it, and THAT my friends, is part of the point here.  Dump it and forget it - don't carry it!  Where better to do that than in a journal?

Oh don't give me that hooey about being afraid someone will read it!  When I taught journaling, I had the classes come up with the best hiding places - how creative they were! - but honestly I can tell you, I've never worried a bit about it.  (Women, I ask you now, do you really think your husband WANTS to know what's in your head???  I think my hubs is relieved he doesn't have to listen to it because I dump in the journal and not on him!)  If there is still a lingering paranoia here, then burn them, shred them or otherwise destroy them.  I confess I burned a few of mine, not the WHOLE one (great writing ideas spill out of my pen sometimes, or characters) but most of what I burned was actually pages and pages of whiney woman stuff - pointless, dreary stuff.

There are some wonderfully healing things you can do.  One is the un-sent letter.  To get needed closure, I have the class do this. It can be to anyone, living or dead, that you need to tell something to - either you loved them, hated them, miss them, forgive them - your choice, your healing moment.  We would have a campfire class to bring these letters to and burn them all together.  We let the smoke take the emotion where it needed to go.  For some it was the most tearful of experiences but oh so healing!

Some, wrestling with their spiritual concerns, had the "assignment" of writing about the God of their childhood - then contrasting with the God of their Now.  When you actually sit down and write a LIST with each sentence beginning with "I believe....." it might help you in unexpected ways.

I could go on and on about the benefits of keeping a journal.  To me, it's like breathing, I just do it.  I write about everything and anything.  Writing about my dreams/goals,  as this list above says, I give them a place to take root!  I really believe that.

If you are tentative or tempted to begin and need more encouragement or a recommended reading list, just email me!  This could be one addiction that is actually GOOD for you!  Don't be afraid of who will come out of pen and on to the page - it's your best friend - it's YOU!

Love and Friendship

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This video is soooo sweet - it's about love and friendship and I think you'll love the singers too!  I value each one of you for visiting my blog and commenting.  This is my Thank You!

Oh, plus a hug!
suZen

The Magic of Giving - Healing 101

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I don't usually put videos on during the week but this came my way and I want to share it for the whole week!   We all seem to blog in our own ways about change, challenges, purpose, and in general how to Be, and being authentic.   I know I've written a lot about energy, energy fields, and how our thoughts affect our lives.

Here is an interview with Cami Walker (book link below) who is, to me at least, a perfect example of what happens, or can happen, when we reach out and help others instead of crumbling in a heap when given a challenge.  Talk about sending out good energy!!!  This begs the question, well, many questions, but one in particular:  Do we realize what healing power we are capable of if we get our minds off of our own "story"? 

Some Thoughts on Thoughts

Have a lovely weekend!  Here is a video that reinforces all that can be said about the Power of our Minds!

2012 Curious

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For many years before the calendar flipped to 2010,  I have been fascinated by all the schools of thought about the significance of 2012 - if any.  I have a whole shelf of books, each one with it's own "spin" on what will happen.  It reminds me of the 2000 event on one level - on another there is some fairly compelling evidence that "something" is coming.  Here are some ditties I've yet to share with you.

The original Mayan calendar with the perennial wisdom it embodies is ending in Dec. 2012

There is scientific evidence  for a shift in the Earth's magnetic field which will surely affect all life.

Many say it heralds a new consciousness - isn't this The Age of Aquarius too?

Some real doomsayers (and Hollywood cashed in with that awful 2012 movie) say that we are having cataclysmic events that will destroy most of the planet and US.

Barbara Marx Hubbard and Peter Russell have researched and explored the accelerating pace of evolution - and think we may be transforming into a new species. (Really??)

Some say this is the dawning of the Wisdom Age.  (We could use some, eh?)

I have an obsession with researching things that I am curious about - so my last read on this subject is not just the most recent  but the BEST, due its sheer diversity of material presented.  A book called "The Mystery of 2012 - Predictions, Prophecies and Possibilities" wherein 26 people contributed, in long essays, their own "school of thought".  I'd highly recommend this to anyone - skeptics or whoever might enjoy some thought provoking views.  Whatever comes to pass in 2012, we're all in it.  As much as I love a good surprise party, I also love researching all the views/possibilities - and there sure are a lot of them.

There is an interesting parallel among the Mayan Calendar, the I Ching and The Book of Revelations - an actual convergence of the galactic code.  (Still not sure what this is, but I don't think my understanding this is important - somebody does!)   The reason given for this is almost spooky.  We are ALL operating in the same field.  Be it ancient China, ancient Egypt, ancient Israel or ancient Mexico, the human receivers picked up the same infomation beams, translating them into particular languages conditioned by already developed beliefs in those areas.  The mathematical code of the I Ching is exactly the same as the mathematical code of DNA and exactly the same as the mathematical code of the harmonic number progression of the Mayan code, a binary progression.  The mathematical code of the Book of Revelations is the same number code as the Mayan code.

Well, go figure!  Some kind of global "knowing" in ancient times!   I personally hate math but I'm so intrigued by codes!  Do you think there is a viable connection with these codes? I know last week's blog was a lot about this too.  I hope if anyone out there reads or is reading anything about this topic you'll give me a holler - not sure if anyone but me finds all this fascinating and thought provoking.  The comments you left last week were great though - everyone seems to want to be hopeful about the future rather than dreary fearful.

I'm open - to possibilities, to change, and to galactic beams.  Have you read anything about 2012?  If there are galactic beams coming, I want one! 

Relax - Be the Water

It's so darn easy to get caught up in all of our "doing" so I thought it would be nice to offer a three-minute relaxing break so you could just breathe, relax and go with the flow of the water - be the water!

Have a look at a small piece of our beeeeeeautiful planet - I LOVE this Earth!  It is worth saving and savoring!

Namaste

and Hugs Unlimited

The Down Side of Being Good?

Weird title, eh?  I don't know that there really IS a down side, per se, of good but I've been reading a book that has had me in wonderment, and thinking - uh oh, watch out!  The book is a collection of 26 "essays" called "The Mystery of 2012 - Predictions, Prophecies and Possibilities" - the writers as diverse as can be, the essays all very different in content but for one common thread - there is a strong belief that a MAJOR awakening is in the works, and it is gaining momentum.

One of the authors, Gill Edwards, writes about wild love setting us free.  (Not orgies for heavens sake - stay with me here!)  Edwards says this is a time all about love.  It is about expanding our consciousness beyond the old creation myths and realizing the cosmos is based upon unconditional love, from which we are inseparable.  Love is what we are!  We are not victims of fate or chance or karma, but divine cocreators of everything (without exception) that happens to us.  We are creative fragments or sparks of Source/God/Love. 

Ewards goes on to write about how many of us are stradling two different worlds: the commonsense world of fear, struggle, blame, and victimhood that is mirrored in the media, and the emerging world of love, joy, healing, and spiritual awareness that is bubbling up behind the scenes, within the ever-expanding group of "cultural creatives" who are holding a new consciousness.  And once we step fully into this new reality, everyday life takes on a numinous quality and we feel more and more alive.  We begin to realize that the outer world is a mirror of the inner world.  There is no real separation between inner and outer world and as more cultural creatives LIVE from this expanded perspective and join together, the world will be transformed. (This sounds heavenly doesn't it?)

For the past few millennia, humanity has been tamed with fear and judgment, Edwards wrote.  Religion has been used as an agent for social control and conformity.  Strange and downright crazy beliefs about a wrathful, judgmental God have been ingrained into the human psyche and have convinced us that being spiritual, or WORTHY of love, means being "good".  That in part would mean doing what others want us to do - conforming to external rules and social expectations - putting others needs before our own - sacrificing ourselves - denying ourselves - all while trying to prove ourselves worthy/special to be loved.  (I can sure remember being scared of the wrath of God as a child, were you?)

"Most of us have internalized a cold, critical, repressive inner voice - the judgmental god within - which tells us how to behave, constantly criticizes us, keeps our noses to the grindstone, and squashes and denies our true feelings.  Since emotions and desires are the language of the soul, this is tantamount to soul murder.  ( OMG! ) To the extent that we give our power away to this inner judge, we are tamed and locked away.  We feel trapped and disempowered.  The shutters of our windows are closed.  The inevitable result is anxiety, depression, physical illness, dysfunctional relationships, or a pervasive joylessness that we just cannot explain." ( Doesn't this sound familiar?)

From what else Edwards wrote, I got that we are energy - love energy - so I kept reading to find out just why this isn't enough and people still struggle.  I so wanted to copy the whole multi-paged essay - it really says a lot and you can agree or disagree but it WILL make you think!

Here's the thing about judgment, according to Edwards - when we split the world into good and bad, conflict and neurosis are inevitable.  Our energy becomes split or divided.  Whenever we pride ourselves on saying no to a cream cake or working through a lunch break, or pleasing our partner at the expense of our own feelings, we are bowing to the old cosmology.  TRYING to be good stems from a dualistic way of thinking.  It is based upon judgement or conditional love.  It fuels self-righteousness, which means someone is "right" and someone else is "wrong" - or some part of us is right (the judge within) and another part of us is bad and wrong (our feelings, thoughts or desires).  This inner conflict will be mirrored in conflict with others. Splitting ourselves internally leads to projecting our shadow onto others.  Edwards says this is at the root of wars, terrorism, genocide, racism, sexism, family feuds, religious factions, scapegoating and most relationship difficulties.

All energy is interconnected so we are ALL one at an energy level.  Edwards said what we ARE has far more impact than what we say or do.  If we are loving and peaceful towards ourselves our energy radiates FAR beyond our personal lives, like ripples spreading across a huge pond.  When we are negative or critical - even in the privacy of our own minds - that energy affects the world.  (Taking some personal responsibility here - gulp - and thinking how much easier it is to LOVE than yell at myself!)

We all have "bad" days, feel negative or fearful - it's just the old cosmology according to Edwards and not worth beating ourselves up over it.  A crucial part of self-love is accepting who we are and saying "yes" to whatever is.  The paradox is that we cannot change while we are pushing against whatever is.  When we push, we are in resistance, which blocks the flow of energy.  Accept what is in order to open that door to change.  She says our love needs to be UNconditional - tolerance is NOT love - approval is not love - dependency is not love. And we cannot love while TRYING to be good.

I don't know about you, but I think energy spent trying is exhausting.  You can always sense when someone is trying - like trying to love you, trying to care, trying, trying, trying to be good.  Gill presented a lot to chew on............

What do YOU think? 

(I've just received her book "Wild Love - Discover the magical secrets of freedom, joy and unconditional love" from Amazon  - link below for both of the mentioned books - and no doubt will have a myriad of quotes from her book in the near future.  I think you all know by now I do these links strictly as a convenience for you.)

Step it Up, Suck it Up - GET UP

This month is my one year anniversary in the blogosphere!  As I celebrate this, it is with SUPREME gratitude to all of you - yes, YOU - for reading, commenting, and coming back to visit never knowing what will be here! haha!  It has been the most unbelievably joyous experience for me to get to know you all - yes, YOU!
If you have found a giggle, or hope, or anything enlightening or thought provoking here, I am THRILLED!
Special thanks to those (you know who you are!) who have given me awards!  Being technically challenged (a nice way of saying I'm an idiot) I was not able to figure out how the hell  to get the awards ON my blog.  I frankly think this is a message from the Universe about remaining humble (damn it) and so it goes - I am honored AND humbled - I know the awards are "here" somewhere!  Now don't let my inability to display hold you back from giving me more - haha!



I've put on a spunky video for your HAPPY NEW YEAR cocktail!  It says it all - powerfully simple and full of energy!  Hugs and love are unlimited here so come on back!  I wish you all good health and JOY JOY JOY!