“Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.”
~ Robert Ingersoll, Political Orator

I believe that we as humans are born hopeful. That we have an inherent light within us that lives in positivity, no matter what the circumstance. This is borne out by the repeated words and advice of the spirit guides.

It may not always be easy to remember and have faith in this inner light and, when looking outside of ourselves, to the Earth and the human community, we may more easily see evidence of darkness and despair. But the truth is that we are all creations of the infinite light, that hope is always with us waiting to shine upon our path.

This is true for both individuals and for the planet upon which we live.

Based on my own experience and the wisdom of the guides, here are some valuable actions that you can take to ensure the growth of hope, within your own life and the life of the Earth:

• 1. Incorporate a practice of daily meditation into your life. This helps to empower your thinking, balance your energy and de-stress your life. It also helps you see the positive in more things, when the negative would seem to be more obvious. Meditation is a great regulator of stress, fear, high-blood pressure and depression. Take 15 minutes for connecting with yourself every day.
• 2. Switch to a diet that supports the natural processes of the planet, one incorporating organic, seasonal foods. A vegetarian or vegan diet is even more beneficial for the pressure that it takes off of the environment (commercial meat farming uses an inordinate amount of natural resources.) If you buy local, seasonal, organic produce it will benefit your immune systems like you can only imagine, and will support a local farmer who is doing things the right way for our long-term planetary survival.
• 3. Learn about how to grow and preserve your own foods, look into permaculture gardening and then practice these things. The amount of work needed to create good food will help you readjust your view on food and the ease with which we now get it. You may realize how unnatural our chemical-laden supermarket shelves really are. You will also greatly lessen your footprint on this Earth by growing food the old-fashioned way as well as greatly lessening your likelihood of developing diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
• 4. Walk more. To school, to work, to the grocery store or just to a friend’s house. Walking is such an aerobic, calming and connecting meditative experience. And what you save in finite fossil fuels will benefit not only you but the environment as well.
• 5. Volunteer your time. Giving is the surest way of receiving, and spending time with those less fortunate than yourself will certainly give you food for thought about what is valuable in life and how blessed you are by your creator. Everyone is too worried about money and acquiring things to give of themselves these days. You can begin reversing that trend, in your own life.
• 6. Smile and say hello. Strangers don’t generally bite, despite common belief to the contrary, and your moment of kindness and connection could very well change the amount of light that another person finds in their day. If you pass someone on the road, say hi, and see how it also makes you feel high.
• 7. Turn off the tv. Turn off the radio. Media is not a free medium, the commercials, news reports, political messages, offensive images and lyrics all take a very costly toll on your energy and your thinking. The amount of pain in your life may truly be nil, and yet the mental anguish and emotional upset brought to you every day in the form of “information” from the media can send any individual into a real and deep depression. Spend time in silence, share conversation with your loved ones. Let the media spin for their bread, but don’t let them spin your head.
• 8. Teach your children about physical exercise by setting an example of fitness. You can be as spiritual as you want, and it will benefit you to no end. But, if you combine that with lethargy and immobility, you will suffer constant malaise and illness, which does not benefit spiritual awareness. Sick people are a much bigger drain on planetary resources and what good is it to be great a meditator and astral-projector, if you also end up in a wheelchair or needing regular treatment for degenerative disease? Walk, run, dance, do yoga and just throw a ball around, you and your kids will be glad that you did.
• 9. Refuse to accept chemical and synthetic replacements for natural things in your life. People once stored their foods in wooden barrels and earthen jars. Clothes were once made from plant and animals fibres. Medicines once came from nature, without the chemical removal of their balancing “non-active” ingredients. Cleaning products were once homemade and non-estrogen mimicking. Building materials once came without chemical impregnation and manufacturing. It can be that way again, but only if you are willing to demand, and pay for, real value in the products that you use.
• 10. Breath before speaking. When you let words, which are energy and just as real as a seed in the ground or a slap across the face, escape your mouth in a moment of passion, without thinking, they can add more of what we don’t need to this world. Do not let your life breath be the vehicle by which more hurt, anger, violence and despair enter into our environment. Instead allow yourself to find the eternal spiritual source within you before attempting to express your feelings, let this divine spark be your guide to communicating your thoughts in a balanced way.
• 11. Allow yourself to believe that there is more beyond this world and more beyond this life. Know that you are always a part of that divine energy from which you came. Know that you have been sent here to learn and grow and that the opportunity is a gift. Have respect for yourself, your planet and the others in your life, for they are all essential to your ability to grow while you are here.

~

My blessings on finding your own ways to add value and hope to your life, and to this great planet Earth.

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
~ George Washington Carver, American Scientist, Inventor and Educator

It is certain that we all have our bad days. Even the most enlightened of people can sometimes feel a lack of energy and be overwhelmed by the external reality of this world.

In these times we, as individuals, often wish for just one soothing moment, just an hour or two of peace and quiet.

Seeking outside of ourselves for security or happiness is, of course, not going to help us find it.

We certainly can only find lasting security, happiness and peace within our own spirits.

But the environment that we find ourselves in can often make it either easier, or more difficult, to achieve connection with our spirit.

When we strip away all the flash, the lights, the mechanical noises, the social pressures and the workload, what truth are we left with? The truth that we are all natural beings.

In this truth can be found the answer to that unknown longing which we, as seekers on a spiritual path, can feel tugging from within us, but cannot seem to put into words.

We miss our daily connection with nature.

It seems so simple, and may not immediately appear to be at all helpful. But in our moments of stress, illness, doubt, sadness and lethargy, we can indeed once again be filled with simple goodness. And the prescription is not a chemical one at all.

Get yourself out amongst nature.

I kid you not, it works! Even if you have to get in the car, or on the bus, and drive to nature. Do it!

Go alone or take your dog, but don’t bring another person with you all the time. Other people talk, other people enable us to keep our masks on. What we are going for is silence, room to think, complete freedom of self.

It doesn’t matter if you go for a hike in the mountains, a stroll in the park, a slow meander along the lake shore or a bike ride across the mesa. The location isn’t the point.

The breeze, the birds, the cool air, the tickling grass and the tallest tree…these are the point. Feeling the slow, beautiful and seemingly purposeless rhythm of nature is what helps reconnect you.

The air that you breath will seem more energizing, and the worries that you carry will seem less heavy, less real.

Being silent, in nature, is a meditation. I would argue that it is often the most powerful kind, for it feeds both your body and your spirit. Now that is a lovely balance.

Everyday I feel extremely blessed that my current home is so close to open fields and tall hills, that there is a bike trail nearby and mild weather most days. This has not always been the case, and yet I was always willing to drive far afield to reach somewhere natural and beautiful. No matter the weather, our true place as creatures of the planet Earth is out in nature.

Today, if you do nothing else for yourself, take a walk under that tree or up that hill. You’ll be glad that you did.

Blessings!

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
~Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish Painter and Sculptor

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This article is a repost from our old blog – originally dated May 2008.
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Recently I wrote about my experience with shamanic healing and how it made me feel. I knew at the end of it that something had changed in me, in my energy field.

It took a few days to understand what that thing was and for the advice that the healer gave me to be really processed.

But, once I had settled a bit and could see and feel the whole thing objectively, it became apparent that the shift in me was the return of my inner child. Or rather the acceptance of that piece of energy in conjunction with the rest of my energy.

We do not ever deliberately release or deny our inner child, it is something that simply happens. It is gradual, the loss of our innocence and our playful side. This is the part of us which is most like spirit, for the child is not very far removed from the raw soul, having only been in flesh for a few short years.

This innocence and optimistic playful side is what many people search for in their daily lives, that hidden something that they feel is missing. Some people even perpetrate awful things against children in order to try and reconnect with, or get close to, that lost part of themselves.

What each of us really wishes for is the feeling of being complete, whole and perfect, just as we are. I now feel that the reintegration and acceptance of our child-like nature is a key step in achieving this feeling of wholeness, and thus freedom and joy.

What occurred to me after this healing is that Little Vera had come home, desiring to reconnect with me on my journey towards lightness and ascension. There was a slight tingling, a glow of sorts, in my stomach near to my solar plexus.

And I remembered that Jay, my shamanic healer, had suggested that I put my hand on that region each morning upon awaking and welcome the part of me that had returned. That I should give that energy tender and loving thoughts throughout my day.

The energy was definitely a playful one, one that wanted to dance and sing like no one was watching!

These observations, along with the fact that this same part of my energy seemed to have a withdrawing reaction to any conflict, anxiety or stress, made me realize that it was a child. My inner child, the true me, who I remember being before the care for others opinions, and the need to “behave properly” in order to please the adult world, ever set in. So I call it: “Little Vera.”

I decided right then and there that I would love her and protect her, embrace her and let her play, a little bit every day. I would not judge her on her impulses or try and make her conform to my will. I would not make her promises that I cannot keep or speak harshly to her. These are things that made her shrink and run away as I grew up.

Now that I knew what I wanted to do, to keep this innocent and magical part of me alive and intact, I had to go about figuring out how to do that.

It was easier than I thought, because as I lay, with my hand on my abdomen, breathing in deeply and speaking to Little Vera, I asked her what we could do together that would be fun for her.

She answered and gave me several different clues. First we could color and draw together. The ballet fairy that she drew as a result was very fun and colorful indeed, the kind of thing that your parents would hang on the fridge when you were small. (Which is where we hung it in our flat.)

I try to take Little Vera for a walk everyday, we watch butterflies and smell flowers and listen the birds sing.

There are days when my concern for the adult world has me forget to spend time as the spiritual child within me, but I place my hand on my abdomen before bed and feel that energy fill me up, lest I lose it again. If you hold your inner child close to you, they will hold you close to them in return, reminding you of the magic and joy in this world.

There are therapies out there that involve connecting with your inner child and re-parenting it, as you should have been parented but perhaps were not. It is a way of soothing your wounded spirit and of releasing the negative patterns that effect your ability to feel happy and confident as an adult. I do feel that I may be able to benefit from this approach, but perhaps now it is not necessary.

What we should do, as responsible adults, is to remember that we are all children inside, because time is now, there is no past, or future, all occurs simultaneously. We should be mindful always that children recoil and become upset by any forms of violence, conflict, anger, stress and worry.

When we find ourselves in these situations, the most important thing that we can do is to pause for a moment, put our hands on our stomach and tell “Little Brian” or “Little Emily” that it is going to be okay, that they don’t have to worry, that we will take care of things and that they are safe.

You will find that the more consideration and comfort that you give to that spiritual inner child of yours, the more comforted your adult self will feel and the more considerate the world will become.

I do not know if this approach to spiritual wholeness can bring healing to all of our physical and emotional ailments. And I do not know if this behavior can bring a lasting world peace.

What I do know is that we can find a greater measure of inner peace for ourselves by being whole, by accepting and integrating every aspect of ourselves. This is the only true balance and peace to be found, within yourself.

We can each benefit immensely by spending a little more time in our “child mind,” from playing and not worrying about the opinions of others, from dancing to some silly music, singing “I’m a Little Teapot,” drawing a fairy or just climbing a tree.

You do not have to have inner dialog with your child self, but it helps. If this is too weird for you, here are some suggestions for active ways to reconnect with your own inner child:

- Play dress up, even if its not Halloween
– Lay in the grass and make shapes of the clouds
– Dance like no one is watching, even when they are
– Draw a frog, a rainbow or a puppy
– Eat cookies for breakfast, occasionally
– Sing a childhood song, in a child’s voice
– Color on a sidewalk with chalk
– Use a straw to blow bubbles in your drink
– Swing from a tree and make Tarzan sounds
– Make a sand castle, so what if you’re 42?

Happy Playing!!!

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

~Will Rogers, Cowboy, Comedian and Actor

In our hectic everyday lives it can be so easy to become complacent about things that bother us and about the things that we know we are supposed to do. A deep lethargy can set into us, and do it so slowly and subtly that we don’t even realize we have fallen asleep on our own life.

We can be sitting in a pile of junk, knowing that we would feel better if it were only clean. But yet we seek out that one clear corner and cower in it day-after-day. Or we can be feeling depressed knowing that our self-esteem would improve, if only our backside didn’t have so much cellulite, but we never get on that treadmill. Or maybe we are wanting a change in career, knowing that we should learn a new skill, but never seeming to implement that thought into action.

When we have a big task to complete or a large challenge to overcome, it can seem so overwhelming that taking it past the point of realization and thought is virtually impossible.

Well, I have been there, I have faced the place of hopelessness, daydreaming and inaction so many times in my life. After all those false starts, after living through the periods when something that could have taken me two weeks wound up taking me two years, I have finally mastered the ability to face that lethargy monster and move it out of my way quickly and efficiently.

You’ve heard the old adages: Make hay while the sun shines. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. No time like the present. Just do it.

The truth is clear, if you want to have the energy to complete something, if you ever want to manifest your desire in your life, all you have to do is start! And that is always the hard part. Whether it is something pleasant or something harrowing, the best way to move beyond it, to achieve it, to get it out of your life or whatever, is to just do it! Can’t argue with that logic.

Things which seem very difficult at first glance tend to grow into absolutely terrifying obstacles the longer that you procrastinate on them. I don’t care if it’s a paper that’s due, a room that needs painting or getting that lump in your breast checked, it is always more stressful, more frightening and more depressing when you choose to live with the knowledge of it instead of simply doing it now. Honest.

So instead of ignoring that skeleton in the cupboard until it rots away or instead of trying to swallow a whole pie at once, a great approach for making that guy seem less threatening and less daunting is to gift yourself with five minutes of action.

Here is how it works. You are watching t.v. and some hot guy (or chick) comes on the tube. You instantly look down at your not-so-svelt abs and feel a momentary dislike or discomfort about yourself. BOOM. Stop right there.

You don’t have to feel bad about yourself and then reach for the chips and turn back to the t.v. Sure, you can do that but, what will that change? Nothing at all. You will keep feeling those glimpses of derision and continue subconsciously piling them up upon yourself. All of which is in no way going to lead you to the happier result.

So you stop at that moment, when you feel dislike for your current circumstance. Now, you don’t have to turn off the t.v., throw away the bag of chips and tie on your sneakers for a ten-mile run. Just gift yourself with five minutes toward achieving your positive goal. You can just mute the t.v. and set down the chips for five minutes. Only five minutes is all that it takes!

Now, get up and use that five minute gift to jog in place, or do jumping jacks, or walk around your house, or throw a ball with your dog. Then, when you have used up your five minute gift, go back, un-mute the t.v. and unroll that bag of chips, if you choose.

There is now an elevated vibration about you. You feel better about yourself and your life. You can continue what you were doing before, without feeling guilty and bad about yourself. Whether the feeling lasts for five minutes or five hours, you know that you are taking right action on your own behalf.

Do this every time you catch yourself consciously feeling bad about something that you could be taking action on. We feel bad only when our actions are not in alignment with our own highest goals and desires. By following this simple habit, at the end of the week you may have done 30 minutes of exercise or cleaned ten square feet of that pile of junk or written half of that paper that’s due.

Marathon runners don’t just wake up one day and decide to run 26 miles, so you don’t have to either. Run the 1/4 mile that you can squeeze into your five minutes. That is a start. And, instead of the low vibration of depression, you will have the heightened vibration of knowing that you have taken some action for your own betterment.

Eventually you may find that, when your five minutes is up, you are actually not wanting to stop. Instead you may find yourself just getting up when you see something that needs doing and bringing it to instant completion. Imagine how good that would feel!

Even if you never find yourself on such a roll, at least there will be positive progress towards your goals. And, when you achieve them, you can say that you did it all in just five minutes.