INTERMEZZO

Speaking of Happiness...

2012-01-02T23:12:00.001-05:00

I ran into Abraham the other day on the bus.
I wondered if I would see him again before I left town.

I had thought about him a lot since I had changed jobs and had not bumped into him like I used to.

Abraham is a small, stout man of Guatemalan heritage. He walks with a slight limp and uses a cane He is in his...60's. No, maybe 70's? He's one of those ageless wonders with one of those raspy, melodic voices that make you smile just to hear him speak.

He would come into the shop for odd jobs which one of my bosses would gladly give him and he was always a joy to work with. Some days he would come in to buy a new harmonica. He sits on the benches in front of businesses or on the corners of the busy streets and plays for hours. In all kids of weather...daytime or night. He plays well. And sometimes even gets some decent contributions thrown into his hat that he sets by his feet.

Abraham never has a bad thing to say about anyone. He never complains about the weather. He's always smiling. He always is happy to see you and eager to engage in conversation. And he has all his faculties, as they say.

He has been homeless. He has been sick. He has been jobless. He often lives way below the poverty level. He has an adult son who is mentally challenged. (His son's name is Isaac. No, really)

So there he was...with his big smile flashing at me.
"Long time no see!"

We looked at the Christmas lights from the bus and he told me about the Christmas dinner he and his son planned to have in their relatively newly claimed apartment. A real apartment.
During a momentarily lull...I wondered if I should actually say goodbye to him.
"Well, I'll know...", I thought.

In a flash he turned to me and said..."We are taking the same bus...where abouts do you live?"

"Well, funny you should ask because I live....." explaining the area where my duplex is and then I said..."...but, I will be moving soon. So, actually I am really glad to run into you tonight.". He listened attentively as I told him my plan and then shared with me HIS plan that he may be moving too. His son, he said, was missing his old friends that still live in their hometown in Northern Indiana.

We chatted more and admired more of the sparkling lights. When we were approaching my bus stop...I said..."Abraham, it was such a pleasure to know you and I wish you the best of everything...have a wonderful life".

I began to get up and he said..."Thank you...and I ALREADY have a good life...and the best of everything:
"I KNOW", I said.
He continued..."You know...even when I was homeless....I still would say I have a good life".
Looking right into his sparkly eyes..."I KNOW", I replied." I've been listening."

He smiled.
I got off the bus.

And that is Abraham.

2011-12-18T19:36:00.005-05:00

Happy Hanukkah, Good Yule, Joyous Solstice & Merry Christmas!

2011-10-25T01:05:00.000-04:00

UPDATE and EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?
Can't really say...
My creative life has not been dormant, exactly...but contained if you will, within the confines of my own little head. My writing activity was replaced with "talking to myself" and embedding stories into my brain...over and over. My Artistic endeavors that you can see HERE...have not been UPDATED in a while, but the 'gallery' at Parallel Visions still exists.

I have had some time now, since I removed myself from 'the life'...to observe the Light-Worker community from a different perspective. And I must say...it's really poppin' out there. I see a lot of enthusiastic healers that are obviously bringing in the golden age through commitment and sincerity. It's breath taking to know for myself, that so long ago I had flowed with the First Wave of LightWorkers...and that NOT so long ago I was one of the very few who were speaking the ASCENSION language and teaching the reality of the LightBody and the Great Shift. The information was so newly communicated, it was fresh, awe-inspiring and pure.
I am hoping that the REALITY, as well as the AWE continues to be the impetus for the MANY, who have in the last few years, come out of the dark...into the LIGHT :-) to play their part in the Golden Age. To bring forth their divine roles with humility and with the constant knowing that our lessons never end...no matter how highly regarded they may be as a teacher, channel, communicator.
I am hoping that the New Wavers know that being in the Light and taking their part in this shift does not necessarily mean that it is the limelight that will be shining on them and that the platform from which they express their teaching, findings, experiences may not be a stage, exactly.
I am hoping that the language and modalities of Healing and working the LIGHT evolves as does the HEALER & LightWorker themselves. Because when those things remain congruent...there is no chance of the beauty that IS the Ascension Process being watered down by overzealous broadcasters that do not understand how their personal INTERNAL journey must continue. And that it can, for a time (soul-respective), seem darker and darker...as more of the Light is being transmitted.
I am hoping that the extreme commitment of "NO MATTER WHAT", when one embarks on the Spiritual Path, as I did... will be apparent when I observe, communicate with healers and LightWorkers either personally or across cyberspace, and that those encounters will not have me shaking my head sadly... because what I sense is a 'list' of shortcuts to enable one to skip steps and an egoistic desire to invoke a CURE instead of assisting in True HEALING.
~~~~~

So, I'm back in the swing of things with a plan.
And I am hoping.....that you can see how cool it's going to be.
I am offering an inspiring e-mail experience...wait......I am offering a daily metaphysical reminder...no that's not it either...it's more of an e-course.....but no....it's more than that......
JEEEEEZ..................What is it, that I am offering?
OK...here we go......................
I am offering an opportunity for you to receive in your inbox everyday an inspiring, informative, fun, creative, thought provoking , tear-jerking , creativity-nudging, eye-candy treat E-mail from ME.
The possibilities are endless....READ ON:

GRACE~NOTES

What is: "GRACE~NOTES"?

It's an E-course, daily inspiration, break from the grindstone. One email will reach you daily to evoke creativity, promote deep thought, to teach and to inspire. With each "Grace~Note" you will receive a glorious combination of several of the following: (It will be different each time.)

~Suggestions, lessons on how to embrace your spiritual moment.

~Inspirational artwork/photography.

~Moving poetry~Book titles of interest ~Lessons for and of the Spirit

~Music to feed you~ New Book titles and excerpts

~Prompts for creativity~Thought provoking questions

~Fun exercises to expand your mind

~Seasonal inspirations~Links to websites, blogs, articles, interesting people, current events and magical places

~Also you will receive an alert each time I update my BLOG, "Intermezzo". And SO much more...because the possibilities are endless.

It will be as if you are taking a class/doing a workshop without having to "go anywhere". Who knows, in the future this could become a more interactive forum and...eventually, I would like to expand this platform where I can communicate via the Internet...Using SKYPE and video. (Don't be surprised if you get a link to a video of ME sooner than later)

The cost is 20.00 for one month of surprises... paid through Pal Pal.

NOVEMBER "GRACE~NOTES" will begin on the first of the month .
Deadline to subscribe is October 30.

If you are having an issue with Pay-Pal just E-mail me at the new address I created JUST for this project or leave a comment on this post. You must renew monthly, if you so desire.

 For Instance, to continue to receive "Grace~Notes", you must subscribe by sending in payment by the 30th of November...to start receiving Grace Notes for December.


Don't worry, I will send reminders.

Click Below to purchase 30 days of  November  Grace~Notes

$20.00!

2011-10-24T12:40:00.001-04:00

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BIG GIANT PAUSE...............................
But...you can still read OLD posts by clicking on "Older Posts" OR by using the Blog Archive on the right sidebar.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2011-08-10T17:11:00.002-04:00

NEW POSTS and STUFF...COMING SOON!!!

2010-12-20T22:48:00.012-05:00

Bon Hiver ;-)

It's been a long time since I have posted, so you would THINK that I would have a lot to write.

It has been quite eventful. Lots of changes. I DO have a new sense of what it's all about here on the old floating rock...we call earth. Some of it is not so pretty.
But I do not necessarily want to talk about it.

I have many stories about why there has been big change in...friendships, jobs, and eventually a place to live.
I have some opinions and a massive amount of observations regarding integrity of actions, loyalty in relationships and the responsibilities of being creative, being intuitive and being...simply a human being.
But, so what.

I have learned much about who people really are...and what humans are willing and/or capable of allowing in their lives. And what they are able to give...when it comes right down to it.
I have a new insight into the ability of remaining level headed, balanced and open-hearted while in the midst of turmoil.
I have a new respect for those of us...who truly have done our homework, "no matter what that may entail', as my guides used to say.
And I still feel some disdain for the weakness in denial.
But...that hardly matters.

I have a more sensitive compass for the dysfunction that I witness in everyday clumsy and UN-filtered actions of others. And have created even wider boundaries...or "margins", again as my guides would say......so I can create a clearer environment for compassion.

I cannot tolerate bullyness, narcissism or phony-ness.

But honestly, I really don't want to talk about it.

The learning continues.......

So...having said all that.... Since it is the Holidays...I wanted to provide some exceptional music for those of you who come to my blog and leave it up just to listen to the playlist. I love to hear that!
So...here you have it.

Oh yes, my art page is somewhat updated. Please take a look....http://parellelvisions.blogspot.com/
and if you open that page in a new browser or tab, you can listen while you look!

If you are NEW to this blog, and I know there are a few of you out there...
please look at some older posts. (You can scroll down to the bottom of this page and see some and/or click on the archive menu on the far left.) I am beginning to believe, that there's some good stuff there.

Shall we.......?

See you next year.......................

2010-01-31T17:25:00.004-05:00

~~~~

A Simply profound Sunday...

Hey kids, don't try this home...

...do you have any idea what could happen to a cookie recipe when you replace granulated sugar (that you forgot to get at the store)...with powdered sugar?

Well, I'm here to tell you.

The FIRST batch were not at all what they were supposed to be...but, we felt like we stumbled upon something that was actually quite tasty. They were pretty too...like flat anise snowflakes that were great dippers. ~~Unfortunately, we were too busy eating them to take pictures.~~ Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of those. :-)

As for the second batch...(which we just KNEW would be better, because we learned from our first mistake)...

Can you say...Giant chocolate Matzo? Or...a lacy roof shingle?

How about... disaster? Yep, it was an adventure in cookie-land which allowed for an evening of hysterical laughter. And probably will be comic material for many evenings to come. Thanks for making the pics possible Laura. You may want to consider a hand-modeling career. :-)

~~~~

I feel like the cookie incident was symbolic of how things are going lately. One small, missing ingredient can make all the difference in the world. But even more than that..ALL the "right" ingredients...and NOT the right timing...can alter the whole recipe, as well. "It" just does not look like what you expected. How many times can we alter, replace, shift the temperature until we get what we're hoping for? And what if it feels like you exhausted ALL the possibilities...and yet, what you keep creating is a flattened out, burnt around the edges...hard as a rock version of the "desired outcome." Do you keep mixing it up...baking it...shifting the perspective of how it is SUPPOSED to look...and then opening the oven door...breaking into laughter, or tears...

"Oh, @*&#%!, it happened again!!!!"

When do you, finally say..."You know, maybe I am not a baker at all!!!" How much time/energy do you devote ...until you finally say..."OK, ONTO SOMETHING ELSE!?"

Or DO you?

And with that...I smoothly move on to my next thought...

which is: FEBRUARY.

You have heard this before, but again I say... in my mind there is NO real purpose for the month of February and it is only good for one thing:

Watching THIS movie:

See you again, soon-ish...when the shock of February has softened a bit.

2010-01-17T20:06:00.001-05:00

"Judge Not, That Ye be Not Judged"

Matt, 7:1

Please see HAITI link to the right of this post>>>

The weary weekend began on Friday evening as I attended a memorial service for a beloved member of the community. Standing room only as we listened to Coltrane being played in the background...waiting to hear words that would break our hearts and hoping to hear a word to lift our spirits, from people who knew him much better than I did. A slight wave of relief reverberated through the air as certain speakers spoke of grief being a different experience for everyone and the difficulty in letting go when death is of a violent nature. Slight relief.

My thoughts...

Certain people live on this earth, some for shorter a period than others...to make an impact with their lives and through their death. And when they go, they leave us with a longing to become more like them. Wanting to be a better person for knowing them and in losing them. I left the memorial with only a tiny sense of relief...and some hope that I might use my heart wisely and fulfill some of my heart's desires by using my brain...and the gifts bestowed upon me that need both to manifest. Heart & Mind. "Write, write, write", he said.

"I am...I am...I am."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paralleling this Memorial event, I was met with an odd challenge of the heart & brain. As I was reminded of another Memorial. This time it was the knowledge, that a memorial structure that was built 5 years ago to commemorate a dear, dear friend...was being dismantled. {Inside info: A few weeks ago I had a dream that I walked into the room at the church where this memorial was installed...and as I turned to see it...it was not there. I exclaimed in my dream..."It's gone, the heart is gone...they took it away. WHY?"
I woke up hearing "The heart is gone. The heart is gone."

The words were layered with so many different meanings that my head was spinning "OK...this is apparently symbolic"}

Ha. So much for trying to ride the wave of denial on the "symbolic' surfboard. Because indeed the HEART structure that went missing...was removed by somebody or several somebody's that were "advised" that it needed to go. Perhaps...because this certain church was in the process of electing a new minister and thus...the memory of a past minister was just too much. Maybe it took up too much space...(on this one wall, in this one room of a rather large complex), Too intimidating, maybe? Maybe in their ALL-KNOWING-ness they concluded that it did not inspire people anymore. OK...it's all dried up...time is up!!!

WHAT?

IT WAS A MEMORIAL FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!!!!!!

OK...apparently, I am the one that is amiss here...because I just DO NOT GET IT. Hey, sure...he was a DEAR friend...but honestly I rarely visit that place anymore...except for an occasional event...so it is not actually affecting ME in that way...and yet, I wonder if there may be some parishioners who DID occasionally need that heart-reminder so they could continue to be a better person. And THAT was the original intent of this HEART...it was indeed VERY symbolic and carefully created and implemented to remember AND inspire. Did those in power come to the conclusion that a clean sweep was needed? Did it seem like a progressive move to obliterate anything that might tweak some inspiration from the past. Do pesky memories like this just clog the pipeline to the future? Yes, that's the ticket (!)...to making "a success" of this 'church business' !!!!

(please feel free to insert major sarcasm).

So...I guess this is how you UN-memorialize someone. I cannot say that I have been able to come up with any profound revelations regarding this event.

He doesn't care. He laughs. (And obviously knew that I would find this odd...and sent me 'heads up' via the dream. Symbolic & literal).

And all I can do is simply roll my eyes and shake my head.

"What is wrong with them"?

Better yet....

What is wrong with me?

OK, I'll tell you what's wrong with me. In MY opinion, often...my thought process, my ideas, my insights & observations... seem to make sense.

"Whoa..".~one blog reader says to another.."She IS getting full of herself, isn't she"?~

Well, think what you will. Because honestly... "making sense", in my opinion... is a flaw. It hasn't much of a place in the workings of the world right now. Even in my small corner of the world, sense seems...well, senseless.

It's a heavy burden.

God, please have mercy on my wretched little soul.

Moving right along....

I sit. I think. I pray that I may become a better person.

2010-01-10T23:30:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to write a new post today. But I got so distracted...

First I was captured by vintage artsy Italian liqueur ads...as I drank my nutmeg cappuccino.

Then...I decided that the guest bathroom needed cleaning and realized that SHE had not put away along with the other Holiday decor:

I then wandered into the living room and pondered the idea that my plants are STILL alive. It's a miracle. Although my Rosemary Tree could use some help..I better look up the "care & maintenance of..." quick!

Then I noticed that I am not the only one in the house who thinks this is the coziest, 'snuggle-up-on-the-sofa' blanket...

Speaking of cozy...even after I had a couple cups of hot cappy,

I was pretty chilly. So decided I need a HOT bath and some moisturizing was in order...

After which I put on my favorite:

Ah, it IS the simple things in life.

THEN...

I came back upstairs just in time to enjoy the gloaming....

what a pretty sight from my kitchen window. I wish the camera would have captured the smoke coming out the chimney of that little, snow covered house......

When I came out of the spell of the twilight...I spotted a recent vintage gift that came to me this winter...and decided it has not been used enough. Oh the possibilities... I will put it to good use...but not today...

Because the BLANKET is free!!

and now it's time for this:

Yeah, I really wanted to post today. But what a full day it was...

Oh well...there's always tomorrow.

2010-01-07T15:31:00.001-05:00

SNOW DAY !

It's hard to believe, but by January 4, I had all my Christmas decorations put away. Of course, the lights stay all year long as their purpose changes from Holiday Cheer to "mood lighting". Anyway, doing away with the rest may be a bit shocking to those who have known me from my Chicago days. Not only had it been tradition to leave Christmas up, at least until Little Christmas, (January 6th...ANY Italian family knows that!)...but I have been known to keep my little trees up until April..replacing the glittery ornaments with little pastel egg decorations! Anyway, this year, I had a need to "get back to normal"...whatever that means. So last night I enjoyed a clearer space...

Today, I am looking out from my clear space...unto this:

White space!!

It's beautiful, really. And it's still coming down as I type. I apologize for my 'adoring' spin on this White Space to those of you who have to drive in it...I am saved from that drama. Heck, I am even saved today from walking or busing it...since it is an official: SNOW DAY! So here I am, in my own cozy little paradise. With everything I need at my fingertips, tranquil and soft...like the snow.

Who could want for anything else?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was thrilled to get many responses to my last post...some of which you can read on the comment form...MANY came to me as personal emails.(it's not too late, if you haven't yet) I like stirring up the brain molecules...to get people thinking. Not thinking LIKE ME. Just thinking. After all...no one of us wants to get "SNOWED". (Sorry, couldn't help myself)

More to come, soon. As I am making a sincere effort to WRITE more, (in whatever form, Blog, manuscript, gripes, shopping lists ;-) It's a 2010 desire.No, Not EXACTLY a resolution...because I very much relate to this quote by Anais Nin:

“I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my Life, is already too much of a daily event for me.”

See ya' in a few days.
Enjoy the latest music additions.

2010-01-03T16:36:00.026-05:00

So much to say...
A Trilogy including Recipe.
~~~~~~~~~~~

~~2009 ended with some unexpected drama and grief and I know, that too, shall pass. And I will get through it with more insight and truth as before. Although...I am not a believer in "seeing beyond the illusion" as means of railroading one's true feelings.
Meaning...if I feel like shit about something..I FEEL like shit. And that is the only way, that we CAN truly get through anything in this life. Feeling through it.

I am grateful for my experiences. I am also grateful that everything that I have experienced so far has led me to the understanding of what being HUMAN really means.
And so I feel what I need to feel for as long as it takes me to truly see beyond...not only to pretend to.

The above refers to a recent death. Not of a close "friend", but an acquaintance. And one I believed to be a brilliant glowing light in the community. It feels very personal, never-the-less. And I had looked forward to knowing him better. He will be missed by many.
I want to remind you of the experiences and gifts that I have and can utilize...and how long my experience has been working with those on the other side. I am only bringing that up to re-affirm that even though I KNOW a lot... can do many, many things that many OTHER people have not the ability...I STILL FEEL pain, loss and disappointment.
All that...to let you know I am being honest with you...in my human-being-ness.
(Please see RED link for DonBelton on sidebar)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~This has been on my mind for awhile now......
One of my biggest gripes about the NEW AGErs is how they can use the TRUTH of "Everything Happens for a REASON"...as an excuse for NOT feeling to the depth of their humanity. Unfortunately for them, surrounding yourself with positive energies does not mean...avoiding the reality of the 3rd dimension. How can we sincerely walk any Spiritual path...and delve into other dimensions (which, meta-physically, we are supposedly, being asked to do)... if the one dimension in which our bodies reside in order to experience, is filled with unresolved issues, dis-honesty (with one's self & others) and denial?

~Seeing beyond the illusion.
~CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY!
~Living in the moment.
~YOU CAN MANIFEST ANYTHING!!!!!!

Blah, blah, blah.

Frankly...as an UN-New Ager...I choose to NOT surround myself with people who throw around those over-used, abused and misunderstood statements. Founded in truth, as they may be.
I wonder how the makers of THE SECRET would feel about THAT statement? Well, it's certainly no worry of mine. My immediate distaste , no...DISGUST for the superficial, and severely promoted film was confirmed when recently, one of the movies head-perpetrators allowed his EGO to get in the way (again...), of COMMON SENSE and COMPASSION and therefore, several people LOST their human lives for the sake of his "mis"-guidance. Did they SACRIFICE their lives for the greater good? Did they on some invisible realm...say to the universe..."HEY, lets have so and so...screw up in a big way and cause us to die...then, HE...and others who will read about the incident will get a grip on what this whole "spiritual" thing is really about and how the EGO is a subtle, dangerous culprit?
Therefore: Everything DOES indeed happen for a reason?"

Well, honestly, THAT could be the case.
I don't know, for sure.
But that's what I am saying.

When someone says THEY DO KNOW FOR SURE...start running the other way & take cover. Because it WILL not turn out well. That is only one story that happened to make the news. That is just one example of the dangerous mis-guidance I see happening all around. In large and small circles, effecting and perhaps harming people on many different levels. And frankly, I am appalled. They truly are coming out the woodwork...approach with caution. And if there is one of them...among YOU, the readers out there...around the world...although it is unlikely you will recognize it in yourself....I'll say it anyway...Stop, Look & Listen before you open your mouth...maybe we can 'save some lives'.
More on that another time, but for now:

A little bit of information + a lot of ego = DANGER.

***RECIPE (servings: enough for a life time)

~1 cup of Information

~1/2 cup of Mis-information

~1 lb of EGO (amounts of first 2 ingredients may be adjusted, depending on the amount of EGO you are using)

~2 teaspoons of Denial (You may substitute with *Avoiding The Obvious)

~4 tablespoons of Distractions (often found on shelf next to: *Seemingly Important & *Moving As fast As I Can)

~A pinch of motivation (usually combined with *The need for Attention, Fame or Money,  a 'Guru' complex...or just plain Narcissism)

Quickly mix together in a small mind

Grease your preferred shaped form for baking...(buttering it up & coating it with sugar usually works well)

Pour it into chosen form

Bake at 98.6 degrees for as many years as it takes to start believing your own lies, (so therefore it will actually be only HALF-baked....)

When you start smelling it, it's done.

VOILA:

One big, fat: DANGER-cake.

Remove for consumption by carefully repeating affirmations for "letting it all go", by chanting simply allowing it to manifest where-ever you want it to land (on plate, etc)...or just zap it with some good vibes and see what happens. BTW...'serving plate', if used... must be carved from the highest quality quartz crystal and enhanced with Selenite. (Selenite for self-cleaning, of course)

Icing:

Act as if you have all the answers.

Filling: (for optional 2-layer)

TALK constantly about how free-spirited, in the moment and how much you just love everyone, because..."we are all one".

Note:

Avoid emotional-healing 3-D practices such as therapy or any form of serious counseling, don't fall for those nasty honest-intimate- relationship/friendship scams,  don't give into the lure of solitude, stillness or Genuine self-reflection.  For all of those ingredients are guaranteed to throw off the recipe completely...and your end result will never hold true to form.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Any comments?  Go for it.

2010-01-03T16:15:00.001-05:00

UNDER RE-CONSTRUCTION for 2010...

2009-12-27T22:04:00.008-05:00

BLUE MOON EVE When I was a kid the days between Christmas and the New year felt so BLAH. And then...after New Years Eve...even Blah-er. The Chicago Winter Gray got really old by January 2nd...as the Christmas lights and holiday excitement disappeared. That's probably why, now... if you pay me a visit...anytime of year...there are Christmas lights...somewhere in my home. They make me happy. One day you might see a gentle glow of pink shining between the pottery on a high kitchen shelf or bookshelf... some bright, white shining stars through a lace tablecloth or curtain. Lights make me smile. And I have noticed...visitors smile, too...at the sight of light. New Years Resolution: Do more of what makes me smile. Smile about everything I do. (the second part could be a real challenge, but I'm game) Hey... I wanted to send you my personal musical New Year's message. I could only find this version in this form...of THE song I just HAD to share with you. So, if you would like to hear my heart message for the NewYear, (at least I feel this way MOST of the time...) just turn off the PLAYLIST for a few minutes and click the arrow below. Don't worry about watching anything there...after the first picture of a certain queen of song...(SHE happens to be my favorite version)...there's nothing else to see. By the way, it tickles me so...to hear from so many of you...how you put the BLOG on just to listen to the music I add. :-) More coming soon...in 2010. (Jeeesh....2010). And....Here's to YOU... HAPPY NEW YEAR.

2009-12-11T21:59:00.027-05:00

DO YOU NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS, TOO? (this post is dedicated to my two sisters, Joanne & Carol...who love to peek into my humble little sanctuary, from far-away lands :-) I love this little folded and somewhat mutilated Angel. She has been in the family since the 80's. That is just one of the memories that crawled out and grabbed me as I unpacked the Christmas box es. It came early this year. Traditionally, I do not feel the Christmas Spirit hit me until after my birthday (Dec. 13), but THIS year, I needed a little Christmas to perk things up. So even before I celebrated my 54th Christmas...I opened up the two treasure boxes of Christmas delights. After a few days strewn over the table top...

...I began to feel the Spirit. I started by throwing together a humble, yet good size wreath for the door. There she is...

As I continued over the next days to decorate.... meaning... gently tossing items in the general direction of where I THOUGHT they should be...they began to re-tell their stories....

A couple things stand out.... Here is my "Too lazy to be a real druid" Santa figure.

Here is "The Wizard' Santa... OK, I name my Christmas Tchotchkes...so sue me. :-)

A plate that Matthew made in first grade AND do you see those two beady eyes in the background...peeking out from what appears to be fluffy-globs of cotton stuck to a...a...toilet paper roll? Yeah...Matthew. Kindergarten.

I do not actually remember a Christmas...without this tablecloth So that means, it might be older than me...or very close! Although, I think it's in much better condition. :-/

Here's an interesting little group... far left...Matthew's first ornament...back: vintage tin angel...middle...little ceramic angel from MY childhood...(certainly vintage :-)...and on the right: Matthew's FROSTY bell ornament that I got him when he was sick with a terrible ear infection over his 4th Christmas. Yeah...all that stored information and yet, I lose track of my eyeglasses...several times a day. Jeeesh!

Here's a cute one. He plays Jingle bells..or was it Here comes Santa Claus? I am not sure... even though I love this vintage Santa...the continual music playing when the kids were younger...well, let's just say I NEVER got around to getting new batteries for it...in the last 15 years. :-)

This has only been lighting up our Christmas for only a few years now...but has definitely lost some of it's fiber-optic magic... Charlie Brown certainly can still one up (or would that be a one-down?) me on sad little trees...but this one might be a runner up.

But HEY...when the lights are down... not TOO sad at all!!

As I said...things have found homes, Christmas IS beginning to form around here... but honestly...I am still decorating and rearranging...tonight!

Well, that's it for the Almost-Christmas blog. Not earth moving in any profound way...but memories ARE very powerful & comforting. I am wishing you many fond memories. See you again...in a few days! Oh yeah...enjoy the music. ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

2009-12-03T01:29:00.009-05:00

SAGE & CHANEL Oh...how bourgeois of me to include the above picture on this post. Hey...wait a minute...look closer. What the *****? Well...here's the story. I firmly believe that there are some rituals and tools that can be helpful in our every day lives. I do not have much need for tools any more. But I do know believe that ritual is an intention to create a sacred space where energy can be transmuted...thoughts can be raised to attain a new clarity and fresh ideas can be ushered in...because an inviting environment has been created with a specific purpose in mind. Burning sage or smudging is something that I still do when I moved to clear a space because I feel there is some kind of stagnation or energy that is not quite comfortable. Just the act itself of using the sage for purifying can help lift MY perception of what feels less than perfect, as well. Such practices have been used by many cultures and I do not take lightly the implications...using them with the highest respect. I have a problem with those of us who take some spiritual practices casually...not acknowledging how they are deeply rooted in a generations of commitment and faith and serious dedication to specific Spiritual practices & perhaps even specific deities. This realization was truly ignited when Mother Mary first began to 'talk' to me and instruct me on my channeling path. One of the first things she said was..."Please let them know I am more than just an ornament" Seems to be there are a lot of ORNAMENTS hanging around...and also a lot of ornamental practices. Meaning not only is it the Heart of the matter that may be missing...but the MIND, too. So the other day when I was having to spend several hours in a space that felt was not quite up to par...for whatever reason, I found some sage in my hand. Honestly, without much thought I lit the smudge stick with a clay dish beneath it to catch any falling embers and walked around to each corner and nook and cranny and waving the wand around...so the smoke of the sage would gently drift into any area that may need a lift. As I performed the 'ritual' I, walking behind the drifting smoke was being enveloped in the heady, dense smoke...and I wondered....... "Hmmm, I wonder how sage will mix with Chanel". I wore my Chanel #5 that day...because when I wear it...I feel uplifted. It creates a mood, whether it is in my head, in my energy field, whether or not others can feel it (not just smell it)...or it is just me. I find it exhilarating. Peaceful, really. I found humor in the fact that Chanel has become a a daily ritual for pretty much the same reason...I was using the sage for my surroundings. Ancient clearing practice merges with Elegance & style??? Mindful non-thinking, heartfelt congruency. Too much. Earth and heaven. D'uh. Heaven on Earth? Yeah. Integration. OK... DECOMPARTMENTALIZATION! So...? Well...it also explains why I cannot easily answer the question, "So, what did you do this week"? ~~~~~~~~~~~~

2009-11-26T04:23:00.005-05:00

An UNpost. I'm still working on perfecting this template and updating my blog lists and links, etc. And even though I have not been motivated to write a post...I thought I would at least show you the picture that goes with current missing post anyway! So...that might whet your appetite...and in the meantime maybe you can catch up with some old articles and some NEW Seasonal music that I have recently added to the Autumn play list. Hoping you are all having a wonderful week... more soon.

2009-10-06T21:57:00.019-04:00

(Hey, I am still working on this cool new template...but did add some AUTUMN music to the Harvest Moon list... enjoy.) HARVESTING It's been a very energetically magnified time.... August 'til now. Extremes. Fluctuations. If you are trying to keep yourself steady, like a tiny boat on a stormy sea....ask yourself why. If you do not feel any tidal waves of emotions...ask yourself why. If feelings and thoughts seem overwhelming...ask why. And if you are "perfectly fine"...ask why. No, it's not about analytical or skeptical. It's about being sure...in the moment. Being real. Being. Mixed messages? Watch. Listen. Things may not be as they seem..so what do you seem to be? Or not. The facades are fading, tumbling down. Illumination. TRANSPARENCY. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's some snaps.....a little peek into what I have been watching and listening to these last weeks:

Early fall ... Bored with yet another night of PBS, Mischief considers the Autumn leaves rustling on the other side of the window.

The last of the summer blooms casting their shadows....

Some outdoor cafe-ing before the weather gets too cold...

A little (electrified) night music..... (see Shamaniaq's link on sidebar)

A strange creature that walked the streets at Lotus fest...

And... just how fast DOES time fly?! (Olivia's 4th birthday)

More soon to come............

2009-09-02T20:30:00.011-04:00

Oh well, guess I will celebrate twice!!!!
 EarthSky: Is the Sept. 4 Full Moon the 'Harvest Moon?'Thursday, Sep 3rd, 2009 by Bruce McClure
                                                                                                                                                  
                                 
EarthSky Communications
Friday, Sept. 4, 2009
All around the world tonight, a great big, round moon rises in the east around sunset, and sets in the west tomorrow around sunrise. More often than not, the September full moon wins the title of Harvest Moon in the northern hemisphere. But not this year.
~The next equinox comes on Sept. 22. By common practice, the September equinox marks the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere, and the start of spring in the southern hemisphere. According to northern hemisphere sky lore, the Harvest Moon is the closest full moon to the autumn equinox. Usually, the Harvest Moon comes in September. But, in years where the October full moon occurs in early October, the October full moon can actually fall more closely to the autumn equinox than the September full moon does.
~And so it is in 2009. The October full moon enjoys the Harvest Moon designation, because it comes 12 calendar days after the Sept. 22 equinox. Meanwhile, tonight’s moon isn’t the official Harvest Moon, although many will call it by that name.
~Tonight’s September full moon –– which takes place 18 days before the equinox –– has other names. The September full moon goes by the name Fruit Moon, Corn Moon or Barley Moon. For the northern hemisphere, this September full moon is the last full moon of summer. For the southern hemisphere, it is the last full moon of the winter season.
~Like any full moon, tonight’s moon lights up the nighttime from dusk until dawn. Like any full moon, tonight’s moon climbs highest in the sky around midnight. Watch it shine from dusk till dawn!
~More online at www.EarthSky.org.

~~~UNTIL NEXT TIME...............ENJOY THE MUSIC, MAYBE CATCH UP ON SOME LINKS OR PAST POSTS WHILE I SPRUCE UP THIS NEW LOOK.  More soon..........

2009-08-24T14:43:00.008-04:00

Truth or Consequences What a beautiful, relaxed Sunday...Monday, I am having. I can even ALMOST ignore the tree pollen induced sniffles and earth shaking sneezing...that has been sneaking up on me. The snap in the air brings me closer to my Autumn-self...and THAT self is more prone to organizing and creativity than the Summer self is... even though I DO enjoy the sun and humidity for other reasons. Sunday morning I created my table-scape to take me through the last days of August and finished some projects that I have procrastinating about for weeks. 10 minutes with this...another 20 with that...a half an hour here...another 10 over there...why DID I put this stuff off for so long? Even what I decided to make as a special treat SHOULD have/COULD have been a perfect remedy for A HOT Sunday afternoon...but no.......I am just making it today even though it has been on my mind all summer: Home made Sangria. Well, OK..I did NOT crush the grapes and ferment the wine in wooden barrels hidden in my bedroom closet......but you know...it's as 'home-made' as a bottle of wine and a liter of soda and fresh fruit can make it. :-) As usual...I have been using my radar to find the least expected best movies ever at the library. Sometimes they have been just plain feel good films...like a recent find: THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY, Adorable!!!!. Or astounding biographies like LILY LANGTRY, which includes great little scenes with Oscar Wilde and Whistler! Or deeply profound, mind boggling artsy stuff like one all-time favorite: BEE SEASON. I particularly like those movies that pull on a heart-string or "mind-string' of my own...that perhaps I can relate to it in some way. A recent unexpected treat was a movie called DAKOTA SKYE. I almost passed it up because it appeared to be a teen movie...but I am glad I took the time to read the cover. It is indeed about a teenage girl... who posses a "super power". She can tell when someone is lying. The movie was entertaining, moving. There is a welcome "twist of truth" at the end of the movie...that leaves one on an up note. And leaves Dakota in a good place. Worth watching, I say! But...can you imagine how difficult that might be... to have that ability? What is one supposed to do with information...that does not actually 'belong to them'...but for some unknown reason is on loan to them for a period of time. Do you think it may be alarming or tiring at times...for a person to know/feel when an untruth is being projected... ~Does the "liar" know they are sharing half-truths? ~Are they telling tales on purpose, with intent to deceive? ~ Maybe the part of the story that does not "fit quite right"...is all the speaker knows...it's their sincere version of the truth. Does that make it an UN-lie? ~Or maybe they have been telling the story for so long...withholding or 'embellishing' with such determination, that now, THEY even believe their own fabrications. Do you see what an annoying phenomenon this could be for the gifted listener? ~First to detect the tiniest incongruencies that may mean no harm at all... less than a white lie. ~Then, watching as words fade into darker shades in other instances, becoming more blurry. ~And a different day/conversation/person...when the blur, now a fuzzy static, creeps in like a gray fog... making it deeply irritating. ~Then...infuriating when tuned into--(without trying, mind you...all this is without trying.......) the dark, dense facades constructed to cover up what one does not want to look at themselves. Perhaps the speaker thinks that with practice...it (whatever the lie is...or the truth isn't) will just disappear if distorted enough times. A device of self defense perhaps, or self-preservation. Maybe it feels as though the whole TRUTH would kill them...because it is too much, too real. But the gifted listener cannot actually be fooled. Give or take a detail or two. A seasoned listener may even be fine-tuned enough to categorize & fit the above round and square pegs into their proper holes...but how does the proper organization of a lie, really matter? And do levels of truth exist... round or square, fitting into their respective holes according to......according to what? This seemingly unfair, reoccurring scenario, whether judged as right or wrong...or not judged at all, but simply 'witnessed'... can even push the most patient listener to seclusion. Just as the young Dakota was pushed, needing a wide margin between the speaking world and the sanctuary of her own wordless living space...for undetermined, indefinite periods of time. Yes, very difficult indeed. ~~~Well, this post is 'sans' visuals, because there is a glitch with the camera I used to take pics of my "table-scape"! Maybe next time. See you in September!

2009-06-21T06:14:00.000-04:00

A Dream within a Dream: The movie of our lives. I had NO IDEA, when I wrote the memorial day post...(following this one)...that in the meantime, I would have re-connected with a friend from elementary school! Maybe it's my age...my chronological, human age that acts as a catapult into memories of the past. I'm not sure. But certainly...the memory manifested in real time. What a surprising treat. These days so many of us are trying to make sense of our histories...and discerning how, exactly why we are... WHO we are NOW. Is it a sign of the times...as many of us are talking about Past/Present/Future happening ALL NOW...that being 12 years old seems SO far away...and yet...'it seems like just yesterday'? THEORY: we might feel that ... we came here to this world with a CORE reality, already set in place...and our life experience is just a tool to help us unfold what IS already. The CORE has many layers like an onion... and as we...live in linear time......what peels away are made up of our choices. What falls away is what we decide to do and not to do. The marriages we have or do not have. The people we meet and those who we walk past, without a glance. But in the midst of all those seemingly random acts of living... does the core of who we are ever really change? Do we come in with a PLOT...with the script being totally up to us? Is Free Will relevant only to a .......point? (some of you might remember my writing on "Destiny Points". Destiny points, my phrase to describe those moments in time, some call DEJA-VU that I suggested may be tiny dots in a maze of occurrences that jolt us.. to let us know that we are touching upon something that we are SO meant to do...see..participate in. Reminders that we are in the right place at the right time...for whatever reason, we may NEVER know...but it's like a Past/Present/Future GPS system for our own personal use. It gets our attention...alerting us: "You're on the right track.") If you really want to be confused, I suggest seeing a movie, written and directed by Anthony Hopkins called "SLIPSTREAM". He also stars in this 'stream of consciousness' endeavor...that will take you for a wild ride, if you dare. One of the SPECIAL FEATURES on the DVD is an interview with him. When asked why he wrote/planned/expressed the ideas in the movie in this creative/non-linear/non-traditional way...he answered more than once: "Just to annoy them (the actors/audience)..." and when comparing real LIFE to the movie he mentioned a Poe line that is used in the script..."It's a dream within a dream" Appropriately...it's MID-SUMMER. The mundane world says this is the Beginning of summer. But, listen......Shakespeare knew what he was talking about...MIDSUMMER Night's DREAM is based on the Summer Solstice celebration, when all the veils are very thin and communication between the dimensions becomes easier. Personally, for me... the veils have always been thin :-), and more people are understanding that moving in and out of realities is NOT such a crazy and difficult endeavor. After all, what IS a memory...anyway? After he passed, my good Friend Sam told me not to be so upset that he was not HERE on earth anymore..."It's all just a dream", he said. He and Anthony Hopkins would get along well, I think. When asked about the reactions from the public and professionals regarding "Slipstream", A.H. said with conviction..."What are they getting so upset about...it's just a movie". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Post-Memorial Day POST: (5/25/09) The week of Memorial day, 1966, my 6th grade class performed a skit to commemorate all the men and women who had served our country. Nothing unusual in that...except, it became a day I would remember for a long time...for a entirely different reason. I had hoped by the time my 6th grade tour was to start...that the rumors about the 6th grade teacher would be old news. And that we would experience the new and improved Miss Skyler, who had a history......magically transformed simply by the sacrament of marriage that she had participated that summer. Her name was Mrs. Kaestner now. Unfortunately...that was the only thing that changed. She was plain and quite unattractive...and even though she would wear bright colors and "cool" patterns...she always looked dowdy. She wore her hair in ringlets...the kind that just 'happen' when you take your out of the rollers or pincurls...before you style it. Which she didn't...and I wondered why she chose to never put a comb through it. I had always been a good student...and was always liked by my teachers...so I stayed optimistic and open minded...but soon lost all hope and each day I sat in class I wondered why on earth she became a teacher since she apparently detested children. ( I had the same feeling about a couple of nuns that I attended "catechism" with as well. But that's another story) I don't remember ever hearing her say one uplifting thing to anyone...and each comment she made was filled with a very adult-like sarcasm. So anyway...the skit. Just as of one of my classmates was reading from a script...about the fallen soldiers....Mrs. Kaestner broke into tears. We were dumbfounded. All we could do was sit for the minute or two she tried to pull herself together while she sobbed. Finally she said...all broken up and childlike, "I'm sorry, but I had a very nice cousin that I miss very much". She then ran out of the classroom to gather herself. And when she returned...sat through the rest of the skit...and then dismissed us for recess. Of course...the playground was a'buzzin. Most of the kids gossiped with glee about how our mean, old (she was in her thirties...jeesh), hard ball teacher broke into hysterical tears. A couple of the kids went off and played a game of some kind.....did not talk about the incident at all. I walked around watching and listening. I wondered when she lost her cousin and in which war. We were in the throes of Vietnam. This could have been a new wound...oozing with grief. Or maybe it was an old Korean scar...covered up with bright paisley dresses and sarcasm. "Had she been a casualty of war since she was our age?", I wondered. I would never find out. She never explained anything further. And who was I to ask? That would have been too scary, anyway, to ask I mean. Even though she never did change...at least not during the remaining 2 months MY 6th grade class, I did see her in a different light after the incident. I would even say that in my 11 year old mind...I had an understanding on some level, that if she holds this sadness so deep inside, that it bursts out when you least expect it...while all the rest of time she is a merciless militant...then... what else in there? But..I was glad as HELL to get out of that class... I may have felt some compassion, but I was not crazy. I had had enough. We were released into 7th grade and I think we all took a sigh of relief. The following February my father died. When I returned to the funeral home...after a break I took with a member of my family...I heard from my sister that two of my old teachers had come pay their respects. One was Miss Schultz, my favorite teacher of all time. Every second grader in the school prayed and hoped that she would be their 3rd grade teacher. She was bright and had a smile on her face all the time. Mrs. Kaestner was with her...and she was crying. 'Crying a lot', I heard from my mother who had talked to them for a few minutes. And I missed it. I felt like I missed another opportunity to see her in human/civilian form. Even in the midst of my own grief...I found the idea fascinating. When I returned to school some weeks later...she would pass me in the hallway at school, never saying a word ...or even looking my way. I have wondered what happened to her after I left that school only a few months later. 'Did she ever style her hair...did her taste in fashion change with the times... did she have children of her own... does she still cry on memorial day?' Well. that was then. And thank goodness, I gave up trying to figure people out a long time ago. Yeeeaaaaahhhh........riiight. ***************************************

2009-03-11T19:08:00.027-04:00

I assume that you are all familiar with my "disappearing acts" by now...so I will not even attempt to explain why it has been so long...:-) "What's Wrong With This Picture...?" x 3 Spring appears to be springing, although not quite sprung yet. Even though Equinox has passed. And on the Winds of March, I sense many new thought-forms 'blowing in' ...to accommodate the redesigning and redefining of our lives. Yes, it's not simply the Spring renewal/rebirth we witness every year...it seems to go beyond the realm of the usual. Yes, what some would call "The New Paradigm" is clearly showing its self. Many people seem to be afraid of change. Even those who appear to invite all sorts of new experiences into their lives...don't necessarily want to engage in "real change". At least not when it comes to change within themselves. Maybe that is why they look for so many diverse circumstances....that they can participate in...without really engaging. I am not judging...just observing. What I sense, see, experience is that change often does not come all at once, though, it can. Some things CAN change overnight...but giant, life-altering events aside...change is more often... a slow transition that one hardly notices occurring until one day...everything is different. Like.."all of a sudden..out of nowhere..." there it is! But, not really. It probably has been "percolating" for awhile. I recently took part in a research project at the Department of Neuroscience at Indiana University. The qualities they were looking for in participants was somewhat specific...and interesting. Just to give you an idea...the list included the following: ~experiences of altered states (with or without the help of drugs) ~ ability to engage in supernatural phenomenon ~Possesses special Psychic Skills I wanted to be involved NOT only because there was a $10.00/hour bonus for participants :-), but because I thought it would be fun. Although I was told that the actual "final results" or "diagnosis" would not be revealed to me, personally...I felt that simply doing the 'interviews'...filling out the questionnaires and taking the tests that measured the memory, left-brain-right brain function and other sneaky ways of calculating how a human that possessed certain abilities solved problems, behaved in social arenas and made long or short term choices...could be enlightening. Oh, I forgot to mention that was some inference to "schizophrenic tendencies" in the research as well. :-) (I do have such an interest in how the brain works...and how as individuals we use our minds/brains...and the thin line between a "being a willing channel assisting in the Spiritual evolution of one's self and others..." Vs "being an open door to a plethora of tangled up energies...without discernment".) Well anyway.... One thing I realized after the 'testing' is how much I have changed through the years and how the lifestyle/mission that I had taken on quite early effected my life as a whole. What I also realized is what had NOT changed...that who I am has been who I AM...from the beginning...(before the beginning?) and that at my very core there is a constant, yet evolving essence. This is something that rarely can be noticed...from the outside. Now I have a deeper understanding of what 'redefining'... really means. It is not about actually doing anything NEW... although NEW things may a part of the experience. For instance, one NEW thing is that I now make Cannoli on a regular basis instead of Channeling Spirit for groups of people! (Oh, I still have ongoing communication with the other side...but not 'formally'...and often it occurs while I am making Cannoli :-) That is just one example of the kind of change that may look very odd or surprising from the outside looking in. But from the inside...(where I AM)...it is what has always been there and now it's time has come to pass. Redefining, clarity, truth. A better fit...like the perfect jeans...(I do not wear jeans...but I can imagine:-) For the last couple of years I have used the words...Congruency and Vibrational Coherence quite a bit. Knowing what I meant...but not quite knowing how to explain it to others. I still do not know how to explain it... and now after my experience with the wonderful Psych students at the University, I realize it doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be explained. It is an experiential "event" if you will...that is gradual and evident in non-verbal expression only. "Don't ask questions...just watch me". In Ascension language...the idea of Vibrational levels and how some writers explain them... can sometimes be taken the wrong way. Higher vibration=good. Lower=bad, Good vibes, Bad vibes. NOT actually TRUE. It's all about different levels of experiencing. And as we all are...(and we are..ALL sensing the VIBES these days more than ever...), feeling our way into this new age of living...what a good fit really entails will be apparent. We may find ourselves in a situation that does not seem like the perfect fit...a bit uncomfortable or not quite congruent with what we are emanating from within. Instead of trying to CHANGE THE PICTURE....that we find ourselves in...instead of trying to change something that is not in our power...or not our business to judge or control... we will hopefully, without judgement... gently detach or temporarily separate from that situation... so we can learn more about ourselves...and possibly others. On occasion it will be a permanent break. Who knows. It is hard to say. Moment to moment. We can live & learn gracefully and practice compassion with boundaries...moment to moment, when we are unafraid to admit...that the right fit...is always about ourSELVES. So.. "What's wrong with this picture...?" "Oh I know....I am in it." Shall we get bumper stickers made? :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The interesting correlation for this post is that I am reading this book:

You can click on it to read one of my favorite reviews about it.

My review, so far? "What's wrong with THIS picture?" "Nothing." "But for some reason, I don't want it hanging on my wall" (You may get the meaning...if you read the review) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is exactly how I saw her...in my 'dreams' on March 14-15, 2009. She was dressed in white and glowing. We hugged, I told her how lovely she was...she smiled shyly and then I left her there... in a large waiting room. When I 'came back'...(woke up)...I had no idea who I had just spoken to. On March 16th...I read about an 'accident'. Natasha Jane Richardson May 11, 1963 - March 18, 2009

2009-02-01T17:30:00.028-05:00

Just Passing Through...a rambling. Just because I have not posted recently does not mean that I have not been doing anything. I have! And even though I am not boiling over with words that must be typed.... I have been simmering with ideas and perusing the many...someone else's BLOGS! I am truly amazed at the creativity and stories that are shared on the Internet. Communication via the WWW has it's pitfalls, I suppose. But the Truth as I see it is that this particular form of technology is a subtly spirited way of connecting people, that was unimaginable just a few years ago. Although it does not actually replace face to face encounters...it is an amazing tool allowing humans to share themselves with other humans that in any other way would not ever have the opportunity to come into contact with each other. What a gift. Interesting also...and obtusely related :-) was my recent trip to St. Louis via Greyhound. The journey was to take 4-1/2 hours, which included one road-side stop. I stood in line at the station...wondering why I had been SO stressed all week in regard to this trip. When I arrived to the station in Indianapolis it was practically empty...I purchased my ticket from the friendliest ticket agent ever and there I was third in line...as the long line of interestingly eclectic people lined up behind me. To make a long...(and I do mean LONG...) story short......... I arrived in St. Louis exactly 24 hours later. Why? Ice, accidents, 8 hour traffic jam on the highway, stuck in McDonald's parking lot for another 2-1/2 hours, returning to the original departure point in Indy 12 hours after leaving, then... boarding a bus that would ensure the best way to get to our destination...which entailed going through Louisville, KY and Nashville, TN. So...what does this have to with communication and non-traditional ways of connecting? Well....... The 25+ people on the first bus...which doubled as we boarded the second bus to accommodate another 1/2bus load of dismayed Holiday travelers, became family. I watched people that would have NEVER been in the same spot at the same time, take care of each other, make each other laugh and share their concerns. I saw several instances of a certain loud, arrogant young man (as I judged him so... standing in line. but at the same time wondered how the gentlest blue eyes seemed so in congruent with his arrogant manic-ness)...make sure the children were taken care of with or without parental accompaniment and saw a very young girl ask him if he would get her a can of soda at one of the stops since she ran out of money...as if he was the favorite Uncle that could not refuse her. I observed people who did not speak the same language communicate in the highest form...in the language of respect and care and concern. Strangers shared cell-phones in order to report back to worried and waiting family and friends at the other end. And people shared their last little treasures of Oreos and Tylenol. :-) And I observed myself...who had quite a time shaking the stress even after I realized the higher purpose for this whole "fiasco". In the dark, as the day had come and gone while immobile on a large patch of black ice..I sat secretly wiping my tears with my shawl...tears that were a strange mixture of feeling lost in the arctic wilderness and being found in a winter wonderland. As I found comfort and solace in brief but deeply heartfelt conversations with a couple of travelers that I knew I would never see again. We were all just passing through. And as it is, when we tap on our keyboards and share our lives in a momentary flash on the computer screen and so it is also....every day we walk this earth. Sometimes passing through takes more time...weeks, months, years...a lifetime. Sometimes it is not more than a few minutes. And what I learned is that the amount of time does not matter at all. But how we engage in that time-less frame does. And so each moment is of value, one not being more important than another, but perhaps more memorable. Both ideas I am writing about here...the INTERNET MIRACLE and the GREYHOUND INCIDENT has prompted me also to see that we cannot judge a book by it's cover...but on the other hand...we often get signs and signals, that go beyond any psychical/rational explanation, when we allow to move with the heart. Vibrational Coherency can be a sneaky phenomenon. It brings us together and sets us apart. One thing I know for sure is that we get what we need in a divinely timed plan that we cannot even begin to measure or decipher with our human brains.We cannot MAKE things happen. We cannot "manifest" anything worthy and beautiful from only our intellect...but we must walk with our hearts leading the way and have our vision continually upgraded, our perception regularly tweaked, just as anyone of us who understands the importance of maintaining a smoothly working computer must do. And along with that...in our oh, so humanness...we must want what we get to have what we want...to be at peace and to be in the NOW, which is all we really have anyway. So anyway...back to the journey... I was not alone in my observations. We all saw it happen. Some of us spoke of it. A hug here. A wish of lifelong happiness there. And many knowing glances...silently confirming that indeed, something profound had kept us together for 24 hours. A part of me wishes that some member of my Greyhound family would see this post and write....."Hey, remember me? I was there!" Unlikely? Who knows. Things move quickly in this moment that we are alive...people come and go, Circumstantial Evidence that builds our inner lives evolves with our own evolving of Spirit and level of involution. :-0 Anything can happen. Anything DOES happen. Here's a story about being in the NOW...that always brings me to my knees, when I recall it...at the times I really THINK I am IN THE NOW. :-) When my daughter was about 8 or so...we along with a friend of mine and her son of the same age, to the Chicago Jazz fest at Grant Park. It was crowded as usual. the field was carpeted with picnickers ready to socialize, eat enormous amounts of food while some of the best musicians played from the band shell. As we settled down with all our paraphernalia feeling lucky to even find enough space, we noticed a man sitting a few yards away from us. he was obviously homeless. And he sat....alone, not drinking or eating, just sitting and listening to the first notes coming from the world renowned Chicago Band shell.. We felt compelled to send out two little kids over with a couple paper plates filled with some of everything we had...not knowing his tastes :-)...hoping to do a good deed and also teach the kids to share. We had SO much. They took on the task willingly and ready to approach this stranger. We watched as they approached him and then having what seemed to be a friendly but short exchange. They then began walking back to us with the paper plates, still piled with food. what went wrong, hope we did not insult him...why did he not take it... we both spoke simultaneously. "What happened" ? The little boy replied with a curious look on his face..."He said Thank you very much, but I 'm not hungry now". D'uh. ~~~~~~~~~ Hey...it's that time of year again! Ready for my yearly ritual...(speaking of NOW)...that I do over and over and over again. :-) here's a sample:

2009-01-01T22:38:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year! Blog is getting updated...come back in a few days!

2008-12-21T03:52:00.011-05:00

SILENT NIGHT...NOT! OK...I DID get carried away with the music list this week. ( count 'em...21?) But once I started looking for Christmas Songs, I could not quit. Christmas is all about MUSIC, in my opinion. You have heard some of this before, but...Oh well...what the heck.........

Alert!!!!!!

Childhood Christmas Memory:

I was 5 years old when we got our first high tech music system :-). My parents KNEW that this would be a BIG deal for me. Apparently, I DID display an interest in all kinds of music at a very early age and I am still not sure why I was not "persuaded" to play an instrument. Anyway...on my 5th Christmas Morning...there it was in the enclosed hallway by the stairs that led up to our second story apartment. They did not bring inside because they didn't want to take the chance of it being seen before Morning. (I was a sneaky little kid). It was a MAGNAVOX HI-FI console...shiny cherry wood with gold trim....very cool for 1960. On the top, where the sliding door was, opening up to the turntable...the PERRY COMO ALBUM that you see at the beginning of this ...memory. I LOVED HIM. We watched his Christmas Special every year. And...he reminded me of my favorite Uncle. I was thrilled. The next year..one of my BIG surprises was an ANDY WILLIAMS Christmas Album. Oh sure, I got toys and clothes just as I did the previous year and every year thereafter. But MUSIC...was magical. And as our record collection grew, so did my love of music and my tastes. There was Frank, Dean, Doris... (I was on first name basis with ALL of them) and Classical, Jazz, showtunes. (You may remember my POST about how Music effects us and how I memorized all the lyrics of the "My Fair Lady, West Side Story and The Sound of Music" soundtracks by the time I was ten years old.) I loved it all. I played it all...on my own. Then as I got older...there was the Beatles and the Monkees....and whatever singing heartthrob of the week got my attention. But that 'new' music did not replace what I was brought up with....it was added to my personal repertoire. It was not unusual for me to buy some McCartney and Sinatra on the same day. I can still SMELL the Vinyl Records and the electrical/woodsy scent of the " Hi-Fi set", as my father called it. You know, even though I love technology and high quality recording, I do miss LP's, don't you? Is it just nostalgia or is there something more to it? But...I must admit that the swiftness in which we can now in this day and age look up songs and listen to music on our home computers is kind of like...heaven. I hope you enjoy listening to the playlist as much as I enjoyed creating it. And I am hoping that my daughter will not mind when I log on to my BLOG at her house In St. Louis, where I will be spending Christmas this year...just so I can listen to MY music. :-) See you after Christmas! Hey...Click HERE for my Christmas Greeting for all of YOU.

2008-12-13T22:14:00.010-05:00

"OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE, YOUR BRANCHES GREEN DELIGHT US..." Well, I must say...I expected more comments/guesses in re: the IT of my last posting! I had a revelation, though. Next time I give a pop quiz...I will offer a prize for the right answer! That might get you into the Spirit. :-) If you have not already checked out the comments from the PREVIOUS POST please do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ So...Today officially begins the Holiday season for me. Why? Because since childhood... it is NOT really Christmas-time until after Santa Lucia day on Dec. 13th. In order to avoid redundancy...I will refrain from expounding on this personal Holiday issue. But you can click here: 12/10/2007, if you want to know more. And let me just add that I am only including the link because one of my big sisters told me to! :-) ~~~Moving right along... The only Trees I will be trimming this season will be the trees you see above on the Blog Header. Art imitates life, they say. In my case it often replaces it. :-) But that doesn't mean that my home will not be sufficiently decorated. There will be the perfect mixture of vintage & modern kitsch (which includes a 2-1/2 foot, fiber optic tree), reds and greens in various shapes peeking out from the corners and strategically placed bursts of glitter. Surely enough to satisfy most any sugar plum fairy...or to nauseate the common Grinch. Speaking of trees... My most memorable Christmas Tree story goes back to a Christmas in Green Bay...where I spent at least 2 hours in Menard's parking lot...amongst hundreds of freshly kidnapped trees...in the freezing cold (waaaaay below zero...it WAS Wisconsin!). Of course, I was looking for the perfect one. Finally...a patient friend with a car and more muscle than I, helped me to get the winner...a beautiful, perfectly shaped White Spruce into my living room. I laid the tree down on the carpet, it was stiff and cold & frosty...much like my toes. Then leaving the tree to defrost, I decided to go to bed ...and deal with it in the morning. But I couldn't get to sleep. I could not get my mind off the tree in the next room. I had visions of it in my head...laying there. I felt as if it was beckoning me to the living room. I walked down the short hallway ...my eyes fixed on the tree in the shadows....I felt LIFE. I touched the branches still cold and seemingly 'in-shock'. It was breathing. I needed distraction...so I tried pitter-pattering around the apartment...but to no avail. I could not focus on anything else....because there was a dying body on my living room floor. So, I sat on the floor directly across from the tree and just watched it for awhile. I can't say I was deliberately 'tuning into it'...it was just happening...against my will. I kept saying..."I'm sorry"...I am SO sorry". After what seemed to be hours...but was probably only about 30 minutes, I decided that perhaps if got it upright...and into the tree stand, my living room might lose that "pesky morgue ambiance". So, I lifted it up and set it in the stand...not an easy task. It was heavy and as some of you may know...placing a Christmas tree in those #*$^&@* stands are usually a four handed deal. After I got it to stay straight and stable in the stand I stood back...watching the branches begin to relax a bit. Now...it was looking at me 'FACE TO FACE'. I began to wonder..."what if I feel so much life in it, because there is some little half- frozen being stuck between the branches...like a mouse or a mole or something?"...What if I wake up in the morning and see a furry body that has fallen out of it's little green tree house?".... I stood there...wondering what to do. Gently stroking the still cold, yet softening branches, I shook the tree a little...branch by branch...but not too rough. Nothing appeared. For some reason my hand was magnetized to a specific area and I know it was not a CONSCIOUS decision to do this...(my rational, freaked out mind was too afraid that I would discover something...I would rather NOT.)..but all of a sudden I was reaching INTO the tree...up to my shoulder....and my fingers, now having a mind of their own quickly wrapped themselves around... ...something....I pulled my arm back.........It was a.......it was a.....a piece of bread!!?!!?!!!?!!! I stood there...looking at a slice of frozen white bread. A mole's last supper? Christmas Manna? "Now this is what I call Wonder Bread", I thought! The humor I saw in this was enough to ease my heart for only a minute or two...realizing that perhaps it WAS someones tree-house at some point. And apparently they had vacated quickly, having to leave behind their stash, hopefully finding another shelter where they would not be evicted... without a 30 day notice. The tree just stared at me. I stayed up all night. Gave it water. I talked to it. More water. Pet it's little needles. Apologized some more...and felt it slowly 'warming up' to me. Maybe it figured that it was already taken away from where ever it came from...and at least it landed in MY house...where it would be taken care of and appreciated. By now... That was obvious, I mean... after all...I was apologizing for all of mankind. The sun came up. I crumbled the bread and scattered it out on the ledge of the deck. And I fell asleep. We decorated my tree friend the next day and I told the kids the story. I don't know if they remember, you kinda' 'had to be there'. I will have to ask them. After the holiday, I kept it healthy for quite a long time, it seemed happy. And when the time felt right...and it was losing it's glow, I performed careful surgery on it , finding different uses for the needles and bark and spread some of it on the grounds around my apartment complex. For weeks after Christmas...while walking down the neighborhood streets...I saw rows and rows of the Forgotten and Left For Dead. Some leaning against or halfway shoved into trash cans...some lying in the gutters...some in big black body bags. I looked away...when I could. That was the last 'live' tree I ever had. As you can see...even the digital evergreens on the header...are sitting in their natural habitat.

Gee, I'm glad I am not that sensitive anymore. (she said, with her usual flair for sarcasm)

Ho............... Ho................ Ho................

~~~THANKS FOR READING. I have added some really cool links to the sidebar...take a look. And I hope you enjoy the evolving Holiday Music. More soon.

2008-12-05T22:56:00.017-05:00

'FALLING SLOWLY' The last time I got snowed.........wait a minute....THAT is not what I mean....

Starting over...

A few weeks ago...I was out and about during a nice, hearty snow fall. :-) That day, I didn't have IT with me. Since then...the snow has not been so cooperative...and the most recent flurries lasted only minutes...as I watched it from indoors, not being able to get out in time...with IT in hand. Or, I was at work...where there was not an IT to be found. Huh? You say? When I was in third grade...we had a "playground field trip", during our Science period. We all had one these in our hands...and each one of us used IT to experience the snow in a different way. Apparently, I was changed forever...being that now, as an adult... I still find IT fascinating. (But then we all know I am a BIG kid at heart.) So..what do you think the IT is...that I am referring to? Send me a comment...tell me what you think IT is. C'mon...let's play! Don't forget you can comment anonymously...if you are shy. I am impatient. When I put a movie on, if I am not INTO the movie within the first 20 minutes...I get antsy. I might start doing something else while the movie is on...turn it off and come back to it later...or turn it off completely. The other night I watched a movie that I briefly read about on line. Anyway...I found the first twenty minutes...quirky, which is always good, but not not enough to say I was INTO it. EXCEPT...there was the music. Odd, off the wall, and at times, haunting. That is what kept me watching. When the script was pushing me away...some odd little piece of a melody would draw me closer. By the middle of the movie I loved the characters. I couldn't wait to see what happened to them. And by the end of the movie...I was SO happy that I stayed with it. Later, I read that it won an academy award for best song. Who knew? I just watch and listen to what feels good to me...NOT what critics think I should like! It is not your usual romance. It is much deeper than that. And...It IS a LOVE story. It is about friendship, music as healer and other REAL stuff. :-) If you are so inclined, read about how the movie was made and how the director chose the 'actors'. It only adds to the sweetness of the film. Or just watch the DVD and then get the scoop from the special features, like I did. I have included the link below...because the music 'greets' you there. MY LATEST FAVORITE MUSICAL P.S. We had a great snowfall today. I was out in the flurry. And I forgot IT...again!

2008-11-29T23:01:00.004-05:00

T-M-e-I Hi. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope you all enjoyed yourselves. I felt so fortunate. I still do. Although... As I redecorated the header and posted the upbeat, seasonally correct song that I love so much... I realized I was not able to climb out of the 'energetic vortex' that I had been swept into. T-M-e-I= Too Much energetic Info. One of the events that I felt so overwhelmed with, was being considered for this post's topic today. But, my good friend Laura wrote about it on her blog. We had not even talked/written about it...and I was glad to see she already did the writing. Please check it out at LittleOrangeKitchen The other thing that seemed to be on my top 10 list of TMeI for me is this: MUMBAI Sorry...I do not mean to throw all kinds of nightmarish headlines at you...I am just sharing this in light of the last post...regarding "picking up energies" etc. My views and beliefs about Divine Timing and *Synchronicity are...either being challenged or confirmed and I am not sure which. The latter is especially & sadly ironic.You will understand what I mean if you read about the father and his 13 year old daughter in the article. Also... I had planned on sharing with you my take on 'Mirror Neurons'. But...since I am just not in the mood to actually write more than this little tiny post...I have included links below. Understanding what they are, according to the Scientists AND others...may be of interest to you. It is all very fascinating. Particularly in light of my little rant today. Will be writing again...sometime soon. Until then... listen to the music you love...(even if it NOT Dean Martin:-), be gentle to yourselves & to others and don't forget to BREATHE. VIDEO on MIRROR NEURONS: NOVA/Mirror Neurons & Mirror Neurons- Articles of interest: 1. Clear, simple, accurate explanation: Understanding Empathy 2. Brilliantly written, in depth! "...Dissolving the Barrier Between Self & others..." Also see...DEEPKCHOPRAonMUMBAI

2008-11-23T03:18:00.024-05:00

SIMPLY BLESSED Happy warm and cozy Sunday... Hopefully that statement rings true for all of you reading this...that you are experiencing joy and appreciating comfort. I saw through the myth of Thanksgiving at an early age. (Although I was not as young as I was when I outed Santa Claus...!) So...this week I will be celebrating the last harvest of the year and many of us will be pondering what we are thankful for and what things or qualities in our lives we might count as blessings. Of course, this could be a daily exercise...but if some of us need a "holiday" to remind us...well then, what the heck. Speaking for myself, I am happy as a yam :-), because on Saturday I purchased everything I needed to make a perfect Thanksgiving Feast. On a very short shoestring...I glided through the grocery store and made perfect choices...not extravagant choices...but perfect. And I feel SO blessed. It's the simple things. Willingly & gladly I will get up early on Thursday morning (early is not my usual M.O.!), and prepare the turkey and other delectables. Music will be playing while I cook as it often is. I will have fun carefully choosing what plates to use... taking out my favorite 1960's glasses and making sure I use as much of my Italian Pottery as possible. I'll set the table, light some candles...and then like a little kid, anticipate the knocks on the door. Later, I will have several friends and and a son around that table. We will eat too much, laugh and have interesting conversation. We will play more music...get lazy... and eat a little more. Embracing the company, the food, the mood. Simple elegance. Then when the Tryptophan really begins to have us under it's spell, I will clean up...and say our good nights. I will then...be alone once again in the post-Thanksgiving decor...with a feeling of deep contentment. Simply speaking...we need to create the environment, in which we can thrive. We do not have control over what is outside of ourselves beyond the tiny corner that we call HOME in this world. But when we are simply in tune with WHO we are...the 'reality out there'...may seem less irritating and perhaps we may, in ways we do not even see or understand... effect the whole just from our own self-reflection and genuine acts. Living and doing simply and with care, that is my blessing this year. Now...it's apparent that many people will not be feeling very thankful this week, whether they celebrate the same Holiday or not. Some of us are in too much pain and lack and depression and confusion to feel any gratitude. In many cases it is totally understandable. All you have to do is read or listen to the news for just 5 minutes and you would know what I am talking about. I am moved to tears by stories that I hear...some right in my own back yard, some across the nation, others across the planet. I am deeply touched by what I am witnessing as a somewhat distant bystander. And yet...having a deep awareness of the oneness of it all...it sometimes feels like it is all happening to me. And it is. But it isn't. Evidently, many of you are also experiencing this challenge, according to conversations I have had recently. At this point in our Human Evolution, (as I have mentioned before) we are picking up on the vibrations of others so easily...and sometimes it is difficult to detach from what may not actually "belong to us". I assume that those of you reading this understand the phenomenon of 'being tuned in'...as not always a conscious choice or intentional act. We all handle it differently and we personally feel it in unique ways at specific times. Sometimes it feels like a curse. Other times, a blessing. Please join me this week in the awareness that the oneness of our human beingnessas a WHOLE is a blessing. That the good, the bad and the ugly are only our attached views of perception and that we may all feel the warmth, joy and blessings that as a planet we are really intended to experience. Let us remember that the the only way we can truly uplift humanity is to start by uplifting one human...our self. We are our brothers keeper...but you see, lifting our own personal veils of perception and deception is truly the way of compassion towards others. We will always need activists...those fearless humans who are not afraid to stand up for what is seemingly NOT right. Not all of us are meant to be that. But we are all intended to be "activators"...by simply being real, feeling our feelings, honest and heartfelt responses...continually 'upgrading our energetic/emotional programs, while learning to place gentle boundaries around us, is the way to be able to help...without getting caught up in the pain and confusion that we see with our human eyes. It may not all be taken as as a compassionate act...this 'activating' VS the more accepted...'Activism' :-) But I feel that is the path necessary...allowing this empathetic, energetic surge in our Evolution to become a blessing and not a curse....and I truly believe it is more than just the first step to healing the earth & humanity...but that it is the Healing itself. Simple? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While I was perusing the web for new music I came across THIS SITE and then this really cool article. And then found THIS . Perhaps all you Musicians out there... sound healers and music aficionados like myself will find it as fascinating as I do. Enjoy. ~Be gracious. ~Keep it simple. ~Thank the Turkey. :-)

An UN-update!

2008-11-15T23:08:00.007-05:00

I am not actually "posting" on Intermezzo tonight... but you CAN read my November 13 "guest-post" on Laura's blog. Thanks Laura, for the opportunity while you were out of town! It was fun. You can read it here: MYLITTLEORANGE KITCHEN Also, I found a news video yesterday that I want to share with you. As you may know, I am fascinated with how the brain works and I find this story "mind-boggling" :-) So...if you are curious click here: ForeignAccentSyndrome Please, if you have any ideas/revelations about the video, I would love to hear them. I feel there is more to it then the "ordinary news" can report. So do not be shy...leave a comment. Of course that goes for anything on this blog... I get many emails with comments, but not so many on the actual blog comment form. You can do it anonymously if you must! If you are in the perusing mind set...don't forget that I have added more interesting links to the sidebar...and a couple new BLOGS to check out. So...happy web surfing. I will post more soon. I want to continue the Vibrational Coherence talk and I have a couple 'book reports' for you too. (Oooooh, I just hated doing those in school...but now I love it!) Until then... Keep it light.

Personal Politics

2008-11-09T03:00:00.012-05:00

Hi, I have added a couple of things to the sidebar...so please take a look. I will be posting some more book titles soon, too. I continue to enjoy my expanded reading options and hope to get some feedback from you at some point point, as to what YOU are reading. So now...here is this week's version of the Sunday Morning Post: It has been a crazy two weeks. I have been trying to update this blog for days. I am not sure what the problem is...maybe writers block. But I know for sure it is not THINKERS BLOCK! Round and round they go...all the ideas in my head. A few days prior to the Election... I found myself becoming emotionally involved. Not like me, normally. I may get intellectually involved with these things...but not so 'attached'. I caught myself walking around the house screaming..."You are SO stupid!!!", while listening to certain political speakers, news anchors and talk show hosts. Oh, I did not only get irritated with speakers on the TV or airwaves that were not agreeing with me....I even rolled my eyes (discretely) while listening-into live conversations between people... who were supposedly playing in the 'same court'! (whatever that means) "Why isn't there one single intelligent word or fresh idea coming out of his/her mouth..."? "AIRHEAD"!!!!!!!!! Nice, unconditional non-judgemental attitude, huh? Was anyone else out there generally irritated the last couple of weeks? Anyway, THAT part is over now...and I am somewhat relieved and inspired at this point. Although...not naively so. Also this week I worked on an article/post/chapter (?)...regarding "Vibrational Coherence". I was not familiar with the expression ...my guides 'sent' that phrase to me when I was beating my head against the wall...trying to translate the ideas going round and round in my head. So...I looked it up...and once again they knew what they are talking about. Go figure. Once I got that...I began to write with a bit more clarity on the whole subject. What was more helpful... the vocabulary intervention from THEM...or the actual banging of my head ? I am really not sure! And then..along with all the ideas...there's also all the visions of cranberries dancing in my head as well...as I look forward to my favorite holiday approaching. So, here's the thing...... the above three issues ARE related. I know it. And I am working on how to explain it. So...this week, with hopefully, a minimal amount of head banging...I will get it written. When I do...I will share at least parts of it.... with you. In the meantime...this is a tune I have been trying to identify for a very long time...again...it was in my head (sigh)...but I did not remember what/when/where it came from. I finally found it! That made me happy. I hope you enjoy listening to it. I am going for the ice pack now. :-) :-) :-)

John Williams/ 1979, playing his composition CAVATINA, (Theme from THE DEER HUNTER)

Casper's gone...

2008-11-03T02:26:00.004-05:00

Thanks to those of you who have emailed and asked where my SUNDAY MORNING POST was!!?? As my header mutates...you can see that Casper's gone...and the pumpkin has been kicked to the side. There are a few tweaks on the sidebar...so take a look. I will be back posting by next Sunday...or before!

"Not a Ghost of a Chance" OR "Don't be afraid of the dark...you might find something that you forgot you lost."

2008-10-25T16:37:00.016-04:00

First of all.... I had numerous corny music selections to choose from... you know..."Witchcraft", "Witchy Woman", "Black Magic Woman"," That Ol Black Magic", etc...etc. But...I decided to TREAT you to "EL FAROL", which I believe loosely means "the Lantern". You may remember it, I have posted it before...since it is one of my FAVORITES from Carlos Santana. Enjoy the music while you read. Oh yeah, by the way.....it's from his "SUPERNATURAL" CD.

Tricky huh?

El Farol.mp3

I thought I might be crossing the "corny" :-) line when I put a Candy Corn on my header last week. Now, with this weeks update... I am sure of it. But when I saw "Casper" on the Internet this morning, I jushaddadoit! It brought back memories of myself at the age of 5 or 6...cutting out the images from my "CASPER-the Friendly Ghost" Coloring books... putting them in a box, so I could take them out at anytime and.... talk to him. Jeeeeeeeeeeeeez, I had NO idea what I was setting myself up for!? Or did I? Well, soon after I found that the real live SPIRITs do not resemble Casper, but fortunately all my encounters were relatively friendly! I don't think that was by chance either, that my 'other worldly' experiences have been friendly. Through the years my guides have kept me 'on task'. Very specific and efficient the lessons and duties have been! I was also reminiscing about the Halloween when I decided to dress up as a "Secret Agent". ( I can give credit for that to "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.) For some reason, that Trick or Treating day stands out above the rest. A little ME in a Fedora, a make-shift briefcase... a way too big trench coat for a 9 year old and a SHOPPING BAG full of candy. Aaaaahhhhhh, those were the days. :-) Anyway...not only has the definition/various meanings of the word GHOST always intrigued me...( I was relieved when in 3rd grade Catechism class, the Nun decided to use the term HOLY SPIRIT instead. I think, but am not sure...that the 2nd Vatican Council of the 1960's had influenced that change)...but also the wide spread, casual... celebration of Halloween. Well, casual... for the MOST part...anyway, because there are those who refuse to acknowledge this 'Pagan ritual.' Of course you can find the real meaning of HALLOWEEN just about anywhere now...so no need to write about it here. I do want to mention though...the most important significance for me. I LOVE this time of year. Some say they don't care for it because everything is dying. I say..everything is as alive as ever. When you walk outside try feeling the energy that is now more active BENEATH your feet than above ground. The flowers are disappearing but the LIFE is still there...just in a different form. Like a...ghost? This is the time when the dark of the year begins. A time when we feel the need to nest and retreat into our warm, cozy homes. It is the perfect time for inner work...meditating and writing, such as daily journaling or starting a dream journal. On Oct 31/Nov 1, (Halloween & All Soul's Day) remember the loved ones that have passed on...talk to them. Write to them...and when you are done writing...don't put your pen down. Hold it to the paper and THEY may write back. This is a good time for any of the Intuitive Arts. True connection as well communication with your guides, your God...with Spirit. It matters NOT how you choose to label it...it only matters that you choose it...from the heart. Artwork, cooking, reading. It is a time for deep appreciation of the self...and how one can be in the world...but not necessarily 'of the world'. How comfortable are you being alone with YOU. No, really...think about it. Do you find many distractions to pull you away from any kind of "quality time" with YOUrself that only CAN exist in the quiet and solitude of your home? Of your room? In the depths of your Psyche? If you really want it...you will find a way. And wild horses or screaming banshees :-) could not distract you. IF you REALLY want it...you can tune out ANYTHING...to stay centered. ANYTHING. Don't miss the beauty of this opportunity. This season will come again...but not quite in the same way. You know? NOW is the time. THAT is the HEART and SOUL of it. Well..that's it for this Pre- Halloween Sunday Morning Post. More updated ART on Parallel Visions? NEXT TIME!!!

Hey...Treat me...leave a comment!!!!!!!

The Cat's Pajamas!

2008-10-19T00:47:00.013-04:00

Mischief & Neo, November 2007

Good Sunday to all. I have been preoccupied this weekend with nursing my 2 kitties back to flea-less health. And in the process there has been yet another renovating my Sanctuary...on a VERY deep level. I have washed too many loads to count, vacuumed too many times to recall and swept, scrubbed and obsessed over the tiniest things...too many times to admit, comfortably. :-) Boy, am I ever tired. I am beginning to see it as my Holiday cleaning...early by default. And yes, the feline duo seems to be doing better. Although, it might take some time for 14 year old "Mischief"...(appropriately named when he was young and spry)...to come back full force. Right now at this late hour...I KNOW how he feels. Anyway...the multi-media extravaganza I had planned...but unfortunately not finished .... has been put on hold for a while. But in the meantime, since I have CATS on the brain...I have a story for you. Animal lovers or not...this may strike a chord with you. Last year when the cats had their very first bout EVER with fleas...I shut them out of my room. In fact, I closed the door at the top of the stairs so they would not come downstairs at all. I hated to do it. But I could not handle the idea of fleas in bed with me. The younger cat was not happy with the arrangement...but 'Gramps' was very saddened by it. He and I have been through a lot together, the little "healing fur ball' that he is! The duration of recovery was not all that long...and soon enough they were back downstairs with me or my son at bedtime. So...a few weeks ago, my son moved out and forgot to tell me. :-) Well, not exactly...but let's just say that he has not been sleeping home for awhile...even though most of his stuff is still here. Around the same time, the cats stopped coming downstairs. Their behavior DID change a bit with Matt not here so much...but even when Matt would come home late or spend the night out...I had at least one cat with me at sleep time. So I was not really sure why they so abruptly decided that the downstairs...(not just our bedrooms)...but the entire downstairs area was off limits. Then, it dawned on me. About the same time Matt's living arrangement changed...was when the fleas began to enter the picture! Now...I am NOT a "CAT Whisperer", so I will not venture to say that they had a little chat over a shot of catnip, griping about how I shut them out the last time! But...really...I think that 'something in them remembered'. Just like with us...(the stubborn humans we are, that think we are in control of every move)...there is some mechanism deep within us that directs us without conscious knowing. As an Ascension teacher, I would call it "Cellular Memory". You can call it what you want. And you can call me crazy, too...if you wish! But...I think there's something to it. As we know, we can learn a lot from the Animals we live amongst on this planet. And when it comes to the little animals with which we cohabitate ...in our private havens, well...who's to say? All we can do is watch in awe. And we can watch in awe the following videos, too! Sorry, but I could not resist looking for the first video... in light of the post topic.....and THEN I came across the second one. And I just HAD to include it. Although...after watching that one, I now feel tired...AND very old. But I'll snap out of it.

And...I want to dedicate the first video to my sister Joanne & my niece Rosie. Joanne, correct me if I am mistaken...but I Do believe I feel a tiny cell tweaking a memory in regard to YOU being a fan of this guy. And also...to Rosie, with whom I have shared many "swooning adventures" during our very imaginative childhood. Have fun!

Circumstantial Evidence

2008-10-12T09:17:00.017-04:00

It's Sunday! Where did the week go...? What is it about Sundays? Since I was a little kid I felt that Sundays are 'much more fun than Mondays but not as cool as Saturdays'. I still feel that way. Funny how some things never change...while so much else in the world is spinning around and around just like the autumn leaves this mid October...(or the digital leaves in my Page Header :-)..it's nice to know that that my 'little kid mind' is still here. And I wonder how that could possibly be. Through life's turbulence and shifts, revolving circumstances and 'Passages'...as one feminist author of the seventies would call it...here I am. Different, but not changed. I may have been temporarily preoccupied, or distracted or spinning around at certain points in my life...but I never left. I am still the same at the core...at the deepest heart. Some people do leave. Some, I think get swept up with what is spinning around them not really intending to get caught up in the turbulence...but they do. They get so drawn into & involved with the illusions of who the world thinks they SHOULD be...that they keep revolving and not evolving. Involution, Revolution, Evolution. Hmmmm. This reminds me of The World card in the Tarot! I stopped reading the cards a long time ago...for the most part...but continued to teach their multi-layered significance for years. It is fascinating, and I will not go into the ENTIRE meaning of this card, because it would take up my whole Sunday!!!!!!!! So, how about just a little tid-bit? In the Rider-Waite Tarot, which to me is the ONLY teaching Deck there is... The zoftig woman depicted is holding two wands. The one in the left hand I have been taught represents the process of INVOLUTION, the right...the process of EVOLUTION. What makes her WHOLE...and, hmmm.... let's say.."on top of the world", is that she has equally processed both the INVOLVING /EVOLVING aspects of herself. Her inner growth is congruent with her outer growth. Balanced. And...furthermore...(and this is really important)...she knows the process is ongoing and never really ends. She would not say..."I have done it!" or "I'm finished!". She might say instead.." I am doing it"..or better yet..." I am it". Or even better yet............."IT IS being done". Because you see, as balanced and whole as she is...there is not much need for her to use the "I" in her statements. Her empowerment is natural. She does not need to prove anything...she knows that the process itself is humbling...and realizes/actualizes the INVOLUTION and EVOLUTION...which brings her right back to where she humanly started. A pure soul, with the simplicity and clarity of a child. She dances naked, in a sense...through life...perfect steps, perfect timing...never thrown completely off balance. Even when her life-circumstances seem unstable...the condition of her life remains intact. As she continues the game with humility and gratitude...then even the circumstances of life itself...become more level. She's my role model. I'm working on it...oops, I mean to say.."It is in the works..." :-) OK, so....how did I get on that tangent? Oh, now I remember... Sunday. Where DID the week go?

Here is a musical masterpiece for ya! I played and sang this a lot on Sunday mornings...(for some reason)...when I was thrown (gently invited) into what was then the seemingly, never-ending abyss of Lightbody Awareness. (When I often felt...'a little peculiar' ) Now... I can listen to it with a SMILE. And that's really saying something... if "I" must say-so myself!!! Click between the arrows & Enjoy. Oh, by the way.... yep... Parallel Visions is STILL under construction. You could peek...but it might give you a headache. :-)

(click below & open in new window for the lyrics,

if you wanna' sing along)

LYRICS

4 Non Blondes - Wh...

Journeys forward, Journeys backward and NOW.

2008-10-05T03:07:00.003-04:00

Canon-George Winst...

Click in-between arrows for music while you read. FORWARD. Movies have been my great escape and reverie for years...and now of course, books again, too. So...I decided I would write a little blurb regarding a MOVIE that's about BOOKS! I cannot fully explain why this film had such an impact on me. I watched it for the first time about 3 years ago..and have watched it at least 4 times since. There is always a little something new...a phrase, statement...some small nuance that I notice each time. Sometimes, I pop it in the player while I am doing other things around the house. It's crazy, but I like to have it on in the background. The true story indeed was a fascinating adventure that began with a more or less 'intellectual curiosity' that soon transformed into an emotional journey for one documentary film maker, who was literally :-) obsessed with finding a long lost, one time author of a book that played a great role in the film makers life. Although this film is considered a documentary...it plays like a mystery, an ascetically pleasing art film and an intellectual dive into the literary world...all at the same time. The dreamy, heart-chakra drenched background music helps with the mood too. I will not give anything away here...but there is scene where the film maker (therefore... WE), finally hear something we have waited many minutes to hear...that if it doesn't provoke you to cheer and/or cry...then......turn it off. NO...on second thought, do not turn it off...it only gets better after that! You may be able to find it at your library...and if you are as enthralled with it as I was you might HAVE TO get your own copy for your 'favorites shelf'...just like those special books you just NEED to know are right there at home with you...it's comforting. (click on the image of the film at the top of this post if you want to see/read more about it.) ~~~~~ BACK. In between Italian Pastry making, trying to write a book :-) writing a book... and doing all the other things I have a brand new fresh take on... I have also acquired a new ADDICTION. I am not a TV watcher, I don't even HAVE Cable!!! In fact I only have 1- 1/2 channels..(which includes PBS, thank goodness since that is mostly all I watch)...but thanks to certain technological breakthroughs..I can keep up with this series that is now in it's second season:

If you like all things '60's like I do...this is a winner. It is a dramatic, retro soap opera of sorts. It does have some lighthearted moments but mostly is jam packed with some sometimes subtle, but more often blatant examples of the 60's slowly changing attitudes towards racism, sexism, classism and so many other ism's that I lost count. And...the vintage clothes are GREAT!!!. (How's that for a quick shot of superficiality?) Again, click on the MAD MEN picture if you want to know more. ~~~~~~ NOW... Uh, well..........

I had actually planned on writing a real article this Sunday..but fun and life got in the way...so I will have to make it up to you...maybe even before NEXT Sunday, we will see. I guess you could say I was very much in the NOW...or maybe..I just got distracted. There is a fine line there! :-) But..before you leave...take a look at the right hand column, because there are some changes/additions which include a book/author list, that you might find interesting. Parallel Visions is STILL under construction. I am "template challenged", but hope to remedy the situation SOON! Thanks for reading...and you will see me again...in just a few clicks of a mouse!

Another Autumn Rambling

2008-09-28T02:11:00.023-04:00

Did you notice my revised Header at the top of the page? I decided that it needed to change with the seasons. So, keep your eyes peeled for further morphing with each new update! And now for this weeks Sunday Morning Post:

Autumn Mosaic (click to see enlargement) ~ Winter is an etching, Spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and Autumn a mosaic of them all. Stanley Horowitz

I love that quote. And with that in mind, I might say...in fact...I WILL say that I am feeling "seasonally correct". I have noticed that many of us compare our lives to a puzzle...never quite completely put together. One or more pieces always mysteriously missing, leaving us with empty spaces. Do you sometimes feel like you are always waiting for things to be perfect? Although no one really knows what "perfect" means anyway. We only think that what we have is NOT perfect...so we wait. I certainly have had that notion time and again. And again. And again. But it is beginning to feel very different lately. I think my life is a mosaic. A Living Mosaic. Continually moving and reshaping itself, yet giving me a sense of wholeness and continuity. Even though, if one would look at each separate little life-tile , it could seem "unrelated" to the rest, not having any commonality at all. But then...when one piece is placed beside another...and then another.... this eclectic collection of textures and colors and shapes all seem to compliment one another. And such as it is...it works. There is a saying..."you cannot have what you want, until you want what you have". So what is the transformative quality that nudges one away from being "puzzled" in regard to missing pieces and seeing instead a beautiful mosaic that fits into itself...with timely perfection? Autumn IS my favorite time of the year...and so I will admit that as I have mentioned before, I DO feel more "myself" at this time. And since I have pretty much, for the most part... 'retired' from the 'Spiritual Teaching/Healing' part of my life...I am more than ever merging what I used to "do" with who I AM. Interestingly...when I stopped DOING all of that other stuff...(jeeez, seems like a lifetime ago and it is ONLY 2 years!), it did not feel like anything was missing at all.. It was refreshing. I guess the time was just right. And now I am writing my book, enjoying this BLOG thing more than ever, working outside of the home part time, doing in-home art work as well as hearing those melodies call me to the OTHER keyboard again, engaging in as many social activities as I WANT to...and oh yes... one more thing....that is giving me much contentment right now and an important part of the mosaic...I am making these for a local Italian Cafe....

(click on Pic to enlarge)

And with ALL of that...I still have many OPEN SPACES, not empty, mind you. Open.

And I am never, EVER bored.

Are there other desires that I would like to fulfill? Yes. More adventures to embark on? Yes. Some things that I want? YES. But...in wanting what I have...I WILL have what I want. It's a given. I have freedom. This Freedom is an emotional state...no need to fill in any spaces. Try it. Even if you already think you are free...try deepening & widening your perspective just a little tiny bit more...and see what happens. Want what you have...enjoy what is right in front of you. Sincerely try appreciating each and every moment. Give up all expectation ( a control issue) and embrace a lighthearted anticipation (openness, HOPE, joy) for all the possibilities. Stop trying to put the pieces together to make that 'picture perfect' puzzle complete and simply allow the funny, odd and sometimes surprising pieces to 'FALL' together, making the most lovely Mosaic you would ever want to see. Your Precious life, right now...in the moment. Yeah... Autumn is a time when things are actually...(in spite of what appearances are), FALLING TOGETHER. Thanks for reading. HEY....speaking of ARTwork. Parallel Visions is now UNDER CONSTRUCTION. So, for your own safety...DO NOT ENTER! Even if you have a hardhat on...refrain from clicking on that link until next time!

Now, click on the LARGE arrow below (sorry, it was the best I could do with the music player this time), for a SHORT Musical message.

AFTER THE FACT...

2008-09-20T23:21:00.019-04:00

There was a time when I kept track of the cycles of the moon. I remembered the names of each moon, what they represented and how that particular energy affected us. I could recite without pause each god and goddess that presided over that lunar energy, what color one should wear and what foods should be brought to feast. I still stay on top of the major seasonal shifts, such as the Equinoxes and Solstices, although I have not officiated or attended in a couple of years and ...the weekly/ monthly acknowledgment has faded. So I was taken aback this week when an acquaintance of mine reminded me that not only was it a Full Moon that may have been the reason I woke up with a 'hangover' with no substance intake to blame for it, but it was also the Harvest Moon. I thought about how The Harvest Moon has always been my favorite lunar show and I have been looking forward to Fall this year. I even briefly mentioned it on this Blog recently....but I had not one moon thought about it. 'Jeeeez'...I said in a groggy voice, hiding my puffy and now shamed eyes behind great big sunglasses."I am really slippin". And what a moon she was... The next couple of nights I belatedly worshipped her brilliant light and bathed in her waning energy, remembering that when we are more conscious of those so-called mysterious energies around us, we can work with them more 'efficiently' and not be taken by surprise by what the powerful energies of the moon are capable of magnifying. Like altering a mood for example... or seemingly out of nowhere... intensifying emotions that stop as quickly and mysteriously as they start. Or in my case... waking up with an 'unwarranted hangover"! "I" had forgotten. But my body was right in sync with the powers that be. We are surrounded continually by the natural powers of earth and sky as well as the energies of actions and events and simply the presence of other humans around us. We are always being influenced from the outside ...in some way. We are naturally intuitive...and by that, I mean to say that not only on a spiritual level, but physically, mentally & emotionally, we 'pick-up" stuff. We absorb things. We feel thoughts and hear visions (nope, NOT a typo). Sometimes it is really hard to tell the difference between what starts from within, solely initiated from "our own" inner thought process and what may be a chain reaction to something outside of ourselves. As long as we are living, breathing humans, we cannot be free of the influence of these things...but the awareness of the influence can, I believe... help keep us from being thrown off balance. Maybe then our reactions will feel more like "responses". Think about it. Any comments? Leave one!!! That is my brief SUNDAY MORNING POST this week. I will try to keep up the momentum without outside interference. :-) OH yeah... Below is a song that I play often... of course, it did not occur to me to play it last week. It may have jolted my brain into sync, if I had! And...I do not care how my son makes of fun of me when I play this song...I have always loved this guys uniquely shaky voice and guitar playing. So his opinion, I doubt... will influence me differently! Click between the arrows and... Enjoy.

Harvest Moon - Nei...

September 12, 2008

2008-09-12T23:54:00.008-04:00

As many of you know..I LOVE WORDS. Writing for me has always been a creative pursuit and a cathartic practice . Whether it has been short articles for my email lessons...writing for this BLOG, blurbs for classes I have taught or personal communication...I value the use of language. I honor our human ability to communicate with words. And now that I am actually writing my first book, I am faced with some interesting challenges. It is difficult at times to gather my thoughts in a way that would be clearly understood by just anybody.... so I don't worry too much about that. I have never tried to appeal to the 'masses"...why start now? :-) Though, I have caught myself thinking what a challenge it is to write about a certain experience in descriptive, accurate words that even the 'interested readers' may be able to 'relate' to...making the 'stories' more digestible. But, what is it that really concerns me with that thought? Perhaps... "Who in their right mind will believe any of this stuff,,,and WHO cares, anyway?" They are true stories... and while one of my fears of writing in general has been not wanting to sound egotistical or like I am tooting some kind of metaphysical horn...or trying to 'prove' something...I have decided that ....after the book is written, it is just NOT my business anymore, is it? I am simply stating facts. Relating some events that I have witnessed and/or experienced. And how people actually take in what I have tried to communicate in a (hopefully) succinct manner ...does not matter. It is then...out of my hands. I am just the messenger. Shouldn't I be used to that by now? (OK, well...putting it all on paper can seem like a horse of different color...) Also, as I mentioned to a friend recently...how I tend to be a perfectionist. And spending hours on a couple little pixels on the screen or an afternoon with a stray strand of sticky fiber from handmade paper on art board.... well, that obsessiveness could translate into spending DAYS on one sentence. "THIS BOOK COULD TAKE FOREVER", I exclaimed! I have discovered too that MEMORY is a funny thing. As I peruse the old files in the hard disk of this old brain...I am amazed to find more and more details that I had either not thought about in a long time or that may have never occurred to me, in the first place. For instance...not only did the woman that I saw sitting on a neighbor's patio have a sixties style 'house dress' on...but she also donned a very 'vintage' style hair do...that COULD have been a clue at the time...that she was not a live person. ( Oops, too much information..but you get the point.) So, because more details are coming through...and with them a deeper insight...I am taking it as a sign that it is the perfect time that I write all this stuff down...so... why not a book?! Then there are the emotions. Emotions that have crept in...even in areas where I really thought I had a grip... little niggling jots of sadness, awe, excitement, bewilderment, resentment...great joy...nudge me me when I least expect it. I suppose that to a certain point one must re-live certain events on some level, to illustrate a story clearly...even more 'artistically accurate' if you will. (Glad I have a fair amount of 'hud(z)spah' to get me through this. :-0 ) And another thing. Writing it all down does NOT mean that now... I have all the answers...that it all makes perfect sense...that there are no blanks to fill in. There is still quite the mystery surrounding much of what I am writing about. Story by story the embracing of the mystery of it all...is truly helping me to write in an honest and open way, not having to make any certain point or dissect any occurrence to find the...bottom line. There IS no bottom line. I am not writing a text book...I do not have to prove anything. I'm just talkin' on paper for goodness sake! Whew...what a relief it is as I figure (present tense). that out. Lastly...writing short articles or letters or personal communications in palatable spurts, not in 'book' form is an easier task, of course. Not having to string anything together really...not having to have some kind of OBVIOUS pattern...or chronological order of events. So, I have opted to let the book flow in the same manner. Not necessarily in a linear order....but in some kind of divine order of their own...as though the stories are "writing themselves". No order as we know it...no bottom line...words with a mind of their own swirling around in timelessness. Yet...now and then a shadowy connectedness sneaks up 'beside' me and moves through me, when I am distracted by something seemingly unrelated. Hence...the title of the book: PARALLEL LIVES. At first, it was just a chapter title...appropriately named for a specific story...but..I soon realized it pretty much sizes it up. So what are my revelations after weeks of constant internal rambling about the writing of my first book???? I just need to get over myself . All I can do is: ~Write the way I talk/communicate with people that know me. ( OK, I will try to keep my run on sentences in check :-.) ~Write the way I talk to only MYSELF. ~Write as if no one will ever read it. ~Write as though everyone in the world will read it. ~Write as if it is all very important since each and every word, action and event has helped shape my life, so.... it could change everyone else's too! ~Write as if NONE of it matters at all.....in any way....... whatsoever and will be of no benefit to anyone, at any time... for any reason...ever. ~Just write. So..at least now...I have a plan. :-) Writing is an empowering endeavor and at the same time the most humbling. It is allowing me further detachment from my most superficial perfectionist idea of myself, while diving into my deepest, truest heart. "I am writing a book"...is transmuting into..."this book is being written". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTE: MUSIC as prayer......I was moved to include the following music video on this weeks post. More than just an "oldie", for sure. Just trying to keep it light and send some good vibes through the world/universe wherever it is most needed. (Your friends are thinking about you, Kai.)

It's in the Air

2008-08-28T01:29:00.027-04:00

Surprised to see me back so soon? Well, I was pondering if I should write again, only DAYS after my latest post. "It might be too much for my dedicated readers to handle", I thought. And then..I got inspired from another fellow blogger. More about that in a few minutes. So keep reading........ Anyway... Can you feel it? I can. It might be a bit early...but.... it's in the air. September has a special feel, smell, light about it. It always has. I used to feel it as a kid....school starting...leaves soon to be churning (that is a combination word meaning turning and changing, by the way) ...excitement about the Holidays being only WEEKS away!! Then as a parent...the season was peppered (sorry) with ...my kids back in school...crisp mornings when I was either on my way to work in a bustling city...OR at home enjoying the quiet. Now...still a parent of course...but not of SMALL children...and the grandchildren are not close by...but I can feel their energy anyway.....it feels even more special. As I am in the AUTUMN of my life. It is still about new beginnings and fresh starts and more of a reason to celebrate than New Year's Eve. Now...the Autumn mornings invite me to a cup of coffee... but not before...opening the doors and windows to feel the crisp air. ( I have had trouble sleeping for a long time, so the morning air is often LATE morning air...but I AM working on that)...and then usually....I greet the computer with high hopes that the day COULD start out creatively. That's it!! I AM more creative in the Autumn. Well, jeeesh...I even had my babies in October and November! Now, if that is not creative, I don't know what is! A lot of people would SO not agree with me, though. I have heard many people say that this is a depressing time for them...being that it is beginning to get dark earlier...trees losing their leaves... and actually flowers and plants DYING....making space for cold, dark 'Wintry' days....that does not seem very in tune with 'creativity'. But for me it is. A bit melancholy? Well, yes. But.. It's a strange, magical 'creative melancholia', I think. Change is good. Some old things must 'fall away'...to let the new in. And a good thing, too...since my recent Renovation....(check out my previous post)... I anticipate much more Reading and wRiting in the chilly days to come. By the way..I plan on updating you on my newest, favorite authors and books on my next post. Could be sooner than later..... So tell me...how do you feel during this season of changing colors and cool evenings as the leaves begin to let go of their branches? I would really like to know. Now...about that Fellow Blogger. I met her through my friend LAURA......and she is just the sweetest. Her craftsy, artsy, heart-filled projects, in line with her personality are colorful, adorable and full of life.... & she has such a way with words. KAI started this!! (Check out HER BLOG) Here's the rules. To the first THREE Bloggers...(yes, you must have your own BLOG up and running) that leave a COMMENT on this post...and TELL ME you want to participate... will each receive a little gift. Then...They must go to their BLOG, post the "Pay It Forward" badge (just click and save it to your computer and include it on your post), explain the rules as I have done here... and continue the game. Then of course..their first three comments get a little something from them....etc...etc. So...you must really WANT to do this and be willing to send little gifts out. Small gifts...handmade perhaps or something you have shown on your BLOG. They need to fit in a small box or envelope. Nothing elaborate..but special, you know? So...who will the lucky bloggers be? I can't wait to find out. When you post your comment I will get in touch with you via your blog and get your snail mail address so I can send your surprises. What will I send???? Hint: Check out PARALLEL VISIONS...I DO make cards with prints of my original art , you know:-)

2008-08-20T19:44:00.001-04:00

I hope that all of you readers out there are finding some peace and joy ...and experiencing some calm and tranquility in your own sanctuaries, whether those 'safe havens' are places of the heart, mind or actual physical structures. At risk of sounding more 'New Agey' than I would like, I feel the the world at large is "experiencing some very intense energies" at this time. Maybe even more than usual. Follow your heart and try to keep it 'light'. Thanks for reading...and looking...and listening. Christine Marie What qualifies me for this AWARD...even though I am such an unreliable Blogger...escapes me. Although, my friend Laura at My Little Orange Kitchen, who honored me with this award.... DID mention that this just might pressure me into...oops, I mean....... entice me to posting more often. :-) Thanks Laura. And let me just say again...your friendly, honest, eclectic Blog makes my day smilier, every time I read it. You are my hero. As per award-like instructions: Here's my list of 5 things I want to do WITHIN a year. 1. Finish my first Book and start on the second! 2. Upload some of my own original music to this Blog. 3. Shower the masses with baked goods. :-) 4. Start making high quality prints for purchase...of my original artwork. 5. Enjoy an uninterrupted... congruent, healthy, simple, loving, abundant, joyous, creative life. SO BE IT...and all that jazz. So yes, I have been inspired to POST. Go figure. (BTW...please check out some of my friend's BLOGS, listed in the right hand column on this page.) Reading, wRiting & Renovating I have read, from beginning to end.... 8 entire books in the last three weeks. That might not seem so incredibly Blog-worthy to most of you. But for me...it is cause for celebration. Let me explain. Starting at the end...(as I often do...) I have been OBSESSED this summer with de-cluttering, cleaning, throwing away, giving away, rearranging and clearing space. This is not the first time I have done this...but it is the first time I have been absolutely PASSIONATE about it. Simplifying, I have come to realize, can be a very complicated effort. Anyway...during this process, I had decided that no matter how well I have learned in the past to detach and separate emotion from my possessions...that THIS TIME I was going to out-do myself. I've done well. Although, I have not 'perfected' it, yet. I've had to have long talks with myself about why I did not really need 7 Italian glass vases on my kitchen shelf. Two or three would be sufficient enough to collect the perfect amount of dust...when not in practical use. There are just SO many large serving platters anyone needs at a time,regardless of how many dinner parties you have, so perhaps...I could get rid of one or two. Even if one IS Hand painted English porcelain, circa 1899. And...just because I am blessed with an enormous walk- in closet...it does not necessarily mean that I need to keep all those skirts...dresses, bags, scarves and SHOES...especially those I have not worn in over two years. Like I Said...this is NOT the first time I have de-cluttered. I do it about twice a year! And still..I have ALL THIS STUFF. Here's the thing.... Stuff finds me. It is gifted to me. It follows me home. It lands on my doorstep with no note. It is dropped onto my back deck in large bags by the Secret Stuff Agents in black helicopters. Honestly...I do not BUY that much stuff. I don't HAVE to....because apparently, I am a stuff magnet. And...I always LOVE the STUFF that finds me. It is always..."so me". Revelation: I do not define myself by the amount of STUFF I have collected. But...I realize that I DO define myself...by the look, the beauty, the aesthetic quality of my stuff. So...that thought has helped me to let go of more. Which one or two :-) of those Italian vases do I reeeeely LOVE? Which of the thirteen hippie skirts really is the most me...comfort wise, color wise...will I actually wear it this Fall? With what will I wear it? So back to the subject at hand..I yet again...went through books with a fine tooth comb. I have released hundreds of books in the last few years...since in 1998 my guides told me to "LET GO GO OF THE BOOKS" and to stop reading. It was devastating...but understandable. They explained that since I was going through a bona fide "LIGHTBODY" transition...they did not want me to be affected by anybody's personal rendition of what that meant. I was not to be influenced by any other 'human details'...other than what I witnessed on my own. It was to be a "pure experience". As always..I listened and stopped reading Spiritual/new Age books. As time passed..I felt unable to read anything....books, newspapers, articles in magazines. My focus was not in tune...could not keep more that a few sentences in my head at a time. So I literally (no pun intended) stopped reading. When I moved from Green Bay...I gave away 1/3 of my books...Most of them New Age..spiritual, etc. When I moved to Bloomington... I began my personal relationship with the INTERNET. When on the first night of connecting I said out loud.."THE WHOLE UNIVERSE HAS OPENED UP TO ME!!!" Apparently it was OK for me to read short articles on the LightScreen...and that was all I could handle anyway. Since 2000, I have gone through my books at least 5 times...giving away more and more. Keeping some classics (my opinion of what 'classics' are for ME...anyway)...reference books and favorite Artsy books that I just "wanted" to see on my shelves. This summer...during my rigorous excavation...it was time to do it again....I have released 90% of my books..from all genres. I gave them away...had them delivered to the recycling center and packed up a LARGE box for my daughter. I now have just the books that are close to my heart...for very specific reasons. My shelves are sparse compared to what they used to look like BL (Before Lightbody) One day recently, while I was feverishly creating piles of books...separating them into...Give away, Recycle, Daughter piles...I came across "The Power of the Holy Spirit". I read it so long ago...and for some reason it has survived all the cleansing. I skimmed through it and thought..."I would like to read this again before I get rid of it". I put it back on the shelf. I then reached up to another shelve to get another stack and hit a small treasure with my hand. A lovely little porcelain Dove that a student/friend gave to me several years ago. (She gave it to me because... my energetic nick-name during my channeling years was MARYDOVE for obvious reasons...I hosted, or you might understand the word "channeled"...the energy of Mother Mary until about a year and a half ago. "Mission Accomplished", my guides informed me. And I was more than ready and willing to 'retire' from that form of service.) It was a sweet delicate little dove with wings out stretched perched with a pink rose. I have always been very careful when dusting or reorganizing those shelves...because that is where the DOVE lived. Well, she came down with bang. Hit books stacked beneath then hit the carpeted floor..and somehow.....a small piece of her hit my foot. The part that hit my foot MUST have been the sharpest little point from breakage just nicking the top of my foot..but hitting it hard & fast enough to put a little tiny gash in my skin...I began to bleed big drops. ( ...some of you readers already can see what's coming.... You might be thinking..." this kind of thing often happens to her... it always means SOMETHING... I wonder what it is this time). I did not care that much about my foot at first and started looking frantically for the pieces of the Dove...gathering all of them in a little dish. When I realized I was bleeding on my carpet... I stuck some tissue on my foot and started to put the dove back together. Then..in my own...'this stuff happens a lot and it always means something way'...I reviewed the event as I handled the little shards of wing, head, little rose that she rested on... The HOLY SPIRIT BOOK.......... WANT TO READ IT, before I let it go......... Dove in pieces.. MARYDOVE Reading de cluttering.... Retired from HOSTING... Blah, blah, blah........ Laughing at myself I went on.... I was: Hit by a falling bird? Bit by the Holy Spirit? Kissed/Attacked by a dove? Dove tailed? The DOVE is a'foot. I find myself SO entertaining sometimes. I then decided...no, I did not 'decide'..I felt....'maybe I am not supposed to even try to put HER back together again. Maybe it is time to let her go completely.' I put her little pieces aside...tended to the bloody foot...and I continued to de-clutter. I began to think about about reading that book..."I have not read a book in so long..."and remembered other authors that I have discovered on the Internet recently....or have seen being interviewed that perked up my attention. I thought how I missed reading. And even though I have wanted to read before this...I could feel that my brain was not quite right yet...making it difficult to read. My brain had not yet been re-circuited completely since my channeling days were over.. was just not clicking enough..not focused enough..not lefting and righting congruently enough for me to read. How I missed holding a book in my hands...smelling the pages...hearing the words in my head....being inspired by a sister or brother's thoughts that they had the desire and discipline to actually record on paper and then...had the blessing of someone else thinking their words were important enough, well written enough to actually publish in the form of a BOOK. Sigh. REVELATION: MAYBE I CAN READ NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could. I did. The next day..I went to the library..............The day after that I got a fresh new inspiration to continue wRiting my book. I am not sure EXACTLY what this means but: I AM BACK. I am Reading. I am wRiting. I...not just my soon to be completely de-cluttered and simplified home... but I, Christine am... Renovating. Hahaha, as I re- read what I have written here...this sounds like some specific form and updated version of being BORN AGAIN? :-) I just do not think that being cut by a falling porcelain Dove would be on any list of "signs that you are Born Again"....but then again... as I have learned...being touched by the HOLY SPIRIT is about Renewal, Rebirth and Renovation. In my case perhaps...RE circuiting, as well. So...whatever fits. I am very grateful for this door (book?) that has opened before me. And who knows? Maybe you will be hearing from me more often. ANYthing can happen now. Thanks for reading. And take a look at some new ART that I have uploaded along with some of my newest favorite pieces of music....at PARALLEL VISIONS

Where have I been?

2008-07-04T00:20:00.005-04:00

Who the @#&*@*! knows???

A lot of thinking...and not much talking (writing)!!

If you need a break today.... check out some new art work at Parallel Visions

More to come soon...
maybe...even words!

2008-04-05T01:04:00.008-04:00

Get Your Lamp I always wanted one of these...better virtual than none at all! New post coming soon, I promise. In the meantime. there is some new 'experimental' art at: http://parellelvisions.blogspot.com/

Mind over Matter....NOT!

2008-02-22T15:41:00.019-05:00

I am a little flaky today....
~~Click here so you can be flaky too!~~

Anyway...snowbound and on a possible upswing...I thought it was time to start posting again.....

It's been a while since I have posted because I have been "under the weather". I am just getting back into the swing of things...so this Post will be relatively short.
(although, you will find some new art
if you visit my new and improved PARALLELVISIONS page)
But first a few words:

I had such an energetic, sun filled and sun-tanned summer...(MY 'summer' being April through October this year...) that my plight of falling 'under the weather' took me by surprise! Around mid-September, I was totally, completely CONVINCED that I would NOT find myself in a physical slump like I had in the past...EVER AGAIN! I just KNEW...beyond doubt that my Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia that had dictated my physical well-being and UNwell being was a thing of the PAST! I JUST knew it. I felt it.

So...Mind over matter...NOT, I say!

There ARE other reasons for this seemingly unwarranted recurrence of pain and exhaustion. MIND OVER MATTER IS and isn't as easy as it sounds....because even within our deepest, most sincere feelings/thoughts/beliefs about getting "over the hurdle"... ...no matter what that hurdle might be in your personal life...there ARE other variables that are not in our control. Ugh, I know the phrase..."OUT OF OUR CONTROL" really rubs many of you readers the wrong way. But honestly, what are we really IN CONTROL of in life anyway? How insulting to our EGO that we are NOT in full control of what happens to us. But what we do not understand when our egos get in the way, is that KNOWING that the only control we actually have is to be flexible and open to WHATEVER happens and to not judge our circumstance as unfortunate

So what now?

There must be a reason beyond what I comprehend at this time for my recent 'fall under'...and it's not a BAD thing. It's just "a thing". Considering the teachings of the Kabbalah, we are made up and ruled by: 50% genetics and 50% environment. And that we have absolutely no choice in the matter...UNTIL we reach a certain stage in development when our DNA begins to override the original imprint. Free Choice is a reality ONLY when we have reached a certain 'level' of equivalence of form to the creator'. This does not happen all at once...it is PROCESS, just like everything else in life. During the process...where steps cannot be skipped....(no matter how we try to skip steps..those steps find us), we can begin to see that how we "FEEL ON THE INSIDE BEGINS TO MANIFEST ON THE OUTER'. As we progress up on this ladder with many 'steps"...we begin to notice that our outer world resembles what we feel the world IS, in it's highest Spiritual truth. That reality is invoked by a simple desire. Not a desire layered with reward or expectation or any human idea of what COULD manifest IF we reach a certain light level. But a pure desire to simply reach GOD...just because we can. Not because of what it may give to us in return...or how we might "use" such immense power to 'fix" our lives...or the world. Therefore the world screen is our gage...and our reaction/response to this world is our filter.

And so...in relevance to my little, singular Christine-life, I can be thrilled to know that I can feel consistently marvelous...for a full 7 month period! And now......I will try not to interfere...with my human negative OR positive thought...but simply let my DNA work out the rest of it. Step by step.

Doesn't sound much like a cure for what "ails me", you say?
No...it is NOT. But it is the HEALING.

~~~~~~~~~

Now, I would like to share some wondrous things with you.

First, my most recent favorite movie :-)
Keep in mind that the true Essence of the movie is not captured in any of the promos I have seen. So, if you rent it...you may be surprised.

Click for great multi-media promos.

Bee Season

Also for all you grown-up kids out there... take just 20 minutes or so to watch my all time favorite 'Shamanic Movie'.
Well, at least...I see it that way! click here: ~~FANCY STUFF