Category Archives: Inspirational Posts

AWAKENING THROUGH SPIRITUAL REFLECTION: WHAT DO YOU MIRROR?

Posted on August 24, 2011 | 4 comments

“Do you ever wonder if the guy in the puddle is real, and if you’re just a reflection of him?” Calvin and Hobbs

Seeing Who We Really Are

Do you ever find yourself observing someone’s behavior, being irritated by it, then suddenly realize the reason it irritates you is because it’s a reflection of your behavior?  The idea that we are mirrors for each other is a powerful one, but whether or not we learn from these experiences depends on what we are willing to see.

Sometimes reflections are so clear, exact replicas of our faces, words or behavior that we cannot miss the message.  Other times, like the picture above, the reflection seems cloudy with undefined edges and unclear images.

Sharing Our Awakening

Last night, I listened to a presentation on Human Design with several people, many of whom are friends.  We discovered that most of us belonged to the same design type.  As the characteristics of our type were revealed, we mirrored one another with startled stares, exclamations, and laughter, amazed by our similarities. We were told that the strategy for centering our energy was “to wait and respond.”  To use our will power to force things to happen would create frustration.  Considering the fact that several of us are self-employed, we also mirrored our shock at this revelation.  How could that be?

Awakening Through Reflection

As I attempted to integrate our similarities, I also became aware that some of my companions, in the past, have reflected my behavior in ways I don’t particularly like.  I was looking at both sides of the mirror at one time.  Flashes of memories came flooding back:  the times I wanted to control something that was uncontrollable, the times I responded insensitively to another because I was frustrated (ouch), the times when I held back information for fear I would reveal too much of myself, and most of all, the ways I criticized the person mirroring this to me.  Each person in that room was my teacher.

Reflecting Who We Really Are

Along with getting a glimpse of the way others mirror who I am, I became aware that the strategy for my design type, wait and respond, was basically the same as the major spiritual lesson I had been learning.  About a year ago, unhappy with the direction of my life, I meditated on how to create a less stressful life where I could put my writing at the center.  I felt I needed a master plan.  Then, the awareness came to me that all I needed to do was to take the first step.

Wait and Respond

I was tired.  Tired of trying so hard.  Tired of planning.  I decided to try a different way.  So I took the first step.  I began writing my memoir every day, decided to set up a blog and learn to use social media for marketing.  Okay, I did have sort of a plan, but what should I do first other than work on the memoir?

I waited.  Before long, what I needed showed up.  The community college offered courses on social media and blogging, and a woman I knew understood this new technology.  I took the courses and my friend became my mentor.  Waiting, something I hate to do, led me to the next step; then I responded.  The human design strategy simply reflected back to me what I already knew: when I wait, what I need shows up, then I respond.

I have much to reflect upon as I look deeper into the experience I had last night.  Some of edges in these reflections are crystal clear, while others are blurred and mysterious.  The latter will require that I go deeper.  In next week’s blog, I will explore the way we may use reflection to do that.

When you look at those close to you, what do they reflect back to you?  What are you willing to see?

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© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:

I See You, Now See Me – Neale Donald Walsh

How God Tells You It’s Time To Change – Wayne Dyer

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AWAKENING TO THE DANCE OF THE HEART

Posted on August 17, 2011 | 1 comment

“Out beyond right-thinking and wrong-thinking there is a field.  I’ll meet you there.” Rumi

Dancing As One

Today let’s talk from the heart, for only the heart can take us to that place beyond the rational mind where we can let go of ego’s need to be right.  When we live and dance from the heart, we are not limited to dancing with one partner; we dance the circle dance that includes us all.  The man doesn’t always lead, nor does the woman, because there is no leader.  There is room for all in the circle, for we dance as One.

As we dance, we may pull and stumble, but after a while, the movement begins to flow, all individuals moving in harmony as if the circle were only one body.  It’s not hard to see why circle dances have been a part of spiritual ritual since the beginning of humanity. They were powerful dances of community where all came together for the good of the whole.

The Dance of Cooperation

In many aspects of modern life we have forgotten what our ancestors knew.  We cannot survive without cooperating.  I’ve lived all around the country and been exposed to many cultures.  In some places, community is about conforming.  Everyone has to think and act alike. New solutions to problems are not welcome. In those places, I felt I was suffocating.   But now I live in a community that embraces individuality and revels in new ideas and innovative businesses.  Here we have found a way to cooperate and honor what is unique about each of us while we find solutions to meet the needs of the community.

Dancing from the heart as we live life takes us to that field to which Rumi refers.  There is no competition there, only cooperation, a field where we can act from the heart, a place where we come together and release our need to be right and feed our egos, a place where love of humanity is sincere.

In all aspects of our lives, we need to shift our focus from competition to cooperation.  Competition teaches us that someone always has to lose, but in reality, the only time we really win is when we cooperate.  Then we all win.  Working together creates healthy, wholesome bonds.  In this atmosphere, we are not afraid to think creatively and to consider the possibility of solving problems in a totally different way.  With this thinking, we move beyond what is a right or wrong idea and focus only on what works and enhances our lives.

Finding “The Field”

What would the world look like if we all lived from our hearts, our seat of wisdom?  What if our leaders created coalitions instead of blocks?  What if we embraced our differences instead of fearing them?  What if we could accept and love our partner’s eccentricities.

Where there is love there is peace.  With our hearts open, let us find “the field.”

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Links:

Young@Heart, Heart-Centered Leadership

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AWAKENING SPIRIT TO THE COMEDY OF LIFE

Posted on August 9, 2011 | 2 comments
Jumping Over the 3rd Largest Pyramid in the World by Anirudh Koul

“What a wonderful life I’ve had! – I only wish I’d realized it sooner.”  Colette

I used to think that happiness was created “out there” by other people, food or music, or things going my way.  Now I know it comes from within and that I can choose my experience.  I can write my own spiritual script.

“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” Shakespeare 

Playing the Enlightened Fool

Our lives are the most important story we will ever write and this physical existence is the stage where we have chosen to play out our stories.  Is yours a comedy, tragedy or melodrama?  Although mine often feels like a tragedy or a melodrama, I try at least to give it comic overtones.  Sometimes I enjoy playing the fool, who, if you remember from Shakespeare’s plays, was often wiser than the hero.  The fool was often the means by which the power of the time was encouraged to laugh at itself.

When my ego begins to think it’s going to run the show, I try to play the fool and laugh at myself.  There was a time when I couldn’t do this at all.  I was a very insecure young person and very self-conscious, always afraid of someone’s criticism or of being rejected.  I was very serious about everything and considered too much laughter trivial.  I couldn’t stand to be laughed at.  Now I revel in it.

Laughing for Spiritual Well-Being

One aspect of happiness is being able to laugh at ourselves.  This is such a gift.  If we can laugh at our shortcomings and mistakes and accept our humanity, we can avoid the kind of self-criticism that tears us down.  It’s always wise to take a good look at our mistakes and understand how to avoid them or correct a problem we’ve created.  But it’s not spiritually healthy to become attached to our negative thinking.

Laughing at our foibles lifts up our energy vibration.  When we’re happy, we’re more likely to make positive decisions and find positive solutions to problems.  Playing the fool once in a while helps keep us from taking ourselves too seriously, for taking ourselves too seriously often sets up a resistance that creates more problems.

Releasing Resistance Frees Us

The most important resistance we need to avoid and release is the need to be right.  This is often the flaw we see in Shakespeare’s tragic characters.  Unable to view their challenges with a more flexible mind set, they follow a path that eventually destroys all they value.  Like these characters, we may become so attached to a particular point of view that we are unable to see the weaknesses in our thinking and plunge headlong into a disaster.  Laughing at ourselves or being laughed at can often break this unhealthy attachment and release the resistance.

Choosing the Gift of Happiness

I love this quote by Colette:  “What a wonderful life I’ve had! – I only wish I’d realized it sooner.”   What are you focusing on in your life?  Are you making the time to enjoy Nature, your friends and family or creative outlets? Are you finding something to be grateful for each day?

In order to experience happiness, we have to be thankful for what we have and willing to let go of our need to control life.  The best laughter usually comes from the unexpected.  Caught by surprise by a spontaneous comment or response, we let go and enjoy the foolishness of the moment.

When I say things that really make people laugh, they are always unplanned and leap from my mouth before I even know what I intend to say.  From some place of inner joy or mischief, the idea leaps forth into being.  I’m always delighted when I can make others laugh, even when I embarrass myself.  No matter what is happening with the stock market, world economy, or the Turkeys on The Hill (as in D. C.), we all need some comedic interludes.  We need to remember that childhood joy is still alive in us and if we can’t solve our problems today or even tomorrow, we can celebrate our humanity and laugh it up.

Feel free to share a comment, a funny joke, or absurd thought.  Let’s laugh it up today.  We probably all need it.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Link:  Seven Secrets of a Joyful Life – Wayne Dyer

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INTUITION – THE VOICE OF OUR SPIRITUAL CORE

Posted on August 3, 2011 | 2 comments

“It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it. It’s my partner.”  Jonas Salk

Listening for Intuition’s Wisdom

 The longer I live, the more I rely on my intuition.  My journals are full of entries describing how I ignored it and the unfortunate consequences I experienced as a result.  The most difficult times to follow it are when it advises me to do what I don’t want to do.

In February 2011, writing and working intensely on the computer to set up a blog and learn to use Facebook, I foolishly ignored the warning my intuition was sending me verbally and through the tension building up in my back.  I woke up one morning with sciatica down the right side of my body. It was the most intense pain I’d ever experienced. It took about six months to recover with acupuncture to relieve the pain and physical therapy to correct my posture and strengthen my core.

In this case and in an accident four years earlier, my physical core was weak and out of balance despite the regular exercises I did.  The key to my physical recovery was building strength in the core muscles of the abdomen with daily exercises, and taking the stress off the lower back where the latest injury originated.

Strengthening Our Spiritual Core

 But more importantly, I needed to correct my spiritual core.  In both instances, I had allowed ego’s fears and needs to override my intuition’s advice.  In January, I had set a goal to have certain things done by the end of the month, no matter what! My ego, so much noisier than my intuition kept reminding me of this.

We have to remember that ego loves to feed off of what is negative.  It demands our attention.  So how can we develop the discipline and awareness to stay in touch with our core intuition?

 Ways to Stay in Touch With Intuition

Sitting in the silence is an important first step.  When we are centered in silence, we are most likely to hear Spirit speaking to us through intuition.  In those moments we are connected to Source, our loving partner, and its words are gentle.  When something starts pushing, it is ego.  When we feel fear, it is ego.  When we are being pushed toward an extreme or to the edge of endurance, that is ego.  The practice of listening in the silence teaches us to discern if the voice we hear or the physical response we feel is ego or intuition.

Secondly, we have to release our fear for it only feeds ego.  We can sit quietly and direct our minds to release whatever fearful thought has arisen.  As we make the statement, “I release this fear,” it is helpful to take a deep breath and in the body feel the tension of the fear release.  With the fear gone, there is space for our spiritual guidance to come through and for us to hear it.

I also believe intuition speaks to us in other ways: through the words of others, the ideas we encounter through reading spiritual books, through experiences in workshops and spiritual gatherings.  When we feel that “Ah, ha,” intuition is saying, “Listen, this is for you.”

So, during this next week, let’s find moments to listen to that partner inside that loves us enough to say, “This is for you.”  And let’s have the good sense to follow its advice.  Like Jonas Salk, let’s remember that what our intuition brings to us is a gift that is always good.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Readings:

What is Spiritual Guidance?

What is Intuition? Eckhart Tolle

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THE SPIRITUAL QUILT OF LIFE

Posted on July 27, 2011 | 1 comment

Designing Our Life Quilts

When I look at the quilt my grandmother left me, I see a patchwork design.  Each piece represents a fragment of her life story and contributes to the overall pattern.  Like the pattern created on a quilt, the patterns of our lives and spiritual journeys may include remnants of varied experiences coming together to create unique designs.

Each of us, with our individual talents, ideas, and perspectives creates a patchwork that we call life.  Some people form designs and patterns that are static, others that are whimsical and constantly changing.  As we grow through the years, we incorporate the lessons we learn from experience, reworking and adapting the design of our lives to accommodate our new needs.

Creating Our Own Belief System

Some quilts are based on traditional designs passed down through generations, while others are designed as individual artistic expressions based on the quilter’s personal choices.  Much like traditional quilters, some of us choose the traditional spiritual path to follow the dogma of an organized religion, a pattern created long ago by others as a beneficial path.  Others of us choose to follow an eclectic journey, searching many spiritual disciplines for insight on how to live a better life, thereby creating a highly individual spiritual belief system.

I have chosen an eclectic journey, collecting spiritual remnants from a wide variety of disciplines and shaping them into the design for a spiritual quilt that reflects who I truly am.  As each new idea enters my life, I study it, practice it and observe the result.  Did it help me move toward peace or wholeness or joy?  Did it add to the fabric of my life a dynamic new element?  Did it expand my spiritual views?  Did it awaken and warm my soul?  If the answer is yes, the idea becomes a part of the design.

A Turning Point In My Spiritual Awakening

About twenty-five years ago, I reached a major turning point.  I had explored Buddhism and learned to meditate.  I had learned that the source of my negative thoughts and emotions was fear, and I learned a mental technique to release it, but something was still missing.  Being a very emotional person, I still needed to learn how to manage my emotions more effectively.

I joined a Unity Church of Practical Christianity and one day I heard, “Your thoughts create your emotions.”  I thought, “That can’t be right.  My emotions are what cause me to think positively or negatively.”  I’m sure I had been exposed to this idea before, but somehow I had never really heard the words.

For days, “Your thoughts create your emotions” echoed in my mind.  What if that were really true?  About the same time, I began to learn about affirmations as a way of manifesting positive people and experiences into my life.  Slowly, I began to put it all together.  I would have a negative thought and anger or sadness would immediately appear.  I would use the technique I knew to release the fear beneath the emotion, and a moment of peace would appear.

With time, I added another useful piece to this pattern.  I felt peaceful for a moment, and then I filled the space with a positive statement, such as “I am a peaceful person.  Only good comes to me and only good flows from me.”  As time went by, I used more specific affirmations and created positive feelings to support my positive words.  The channel Abraham would say I raised my vibration.

Adapting Our Spirituality to Life

By this time, the basic design of my spiritual quilt had taken form:  meditation, releasing fear, affirmations, and focusing on positive emotions.  Over the years, I’ve added more color and width to the design, adding intricate stitches that connect all the pieces or that give it a flair that is uniquely mine.  Although the design of my spiritual quilt will never be complete, I share it with friends and readers.  In case I find another spiritual truth to expand its design, I always keep some open space around the edges

There is no right or wrong design, no better or worse design for our spiritual quilt.  Whatever warms your soul and the souls around you is the blessed path.  Only you know what that is.

What are the pieces that create your spiritual quilt and how does it warm you?

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Sources: Resources for Spiritual Journeys 

Oprah’s Best Week of Your Life: Finding Your Spiritual Path

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PRACTICING THE SPIRITUAL DANCE – FLEXIBILITY

Posted on July 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

“We learn by practice.  Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same.  One becomes in some area an athlete of God.”  Martha Graham

Flexibility In The Dance Of Life

In life and dance, flexibility is an essential quality.  As we watch a modern or ballet dancer, we are amazed by the infinite variety of shapes through which she or he moves.  For dance, the body must be stretched beyond comfortable limits.  For life, our minds must be stretched as well.

Physical flexibility allows us to move with ease, letting the momentum of the movement carry us through space like a bird in flight riding the updrafts.  But spiritual and mental flexibility helps us to trust that what unfolds is good, even when it is challenging.

Flexibility Raises Conscious

An inflexible mind limits our lives as much as an inflexible body limits the dancer.  Oneness states, “There are no right and wrong choices.  There is simply action and reaction.  And both are intertwined in the eternal dance of life.” (p. 320)  Flexibility allows us to be more conscious, to be able to see what the possible consequences of certain actions may be and then to choose wisely the action we wish to take.

For example, I grew up with the notion that friends were forever.  At least that was the way it was supposed to be.  I still think this is a wonderful idea whenever it is possible to stay connected to the same friends for years.  But I came to realize that in our mobile society this is difficult.  If we are also growing and changing, it is inevitable that we will outgrow the value of some relationships and that they may become so diminished that we each need to move on.

Letting Go With Love

Is it wrong to walk away from people and circumstances that no longer support what is best for us?  If we are to be healthy, whatever and whoever is in our lives must be compatible with our spiritual path or else that energy will be depleting.  Learning to let go with love is just as valuable as being able to welcome what is new with love.  Sometimes letting go simply means thinking differently about a situation. We need the flexibility to make whatever choice is appropriate.

So in life, flexibility allows us to change our mind, see other points of view, and experiment in order to find healthy solutions to problems.  Life becomes an improvisation so that we are open to new possibilities.  It teaches the ego that it doesn’t always need to be right. This is why meditation is so helpful. In the silence, we are able to sense our oneness with all creation.  In this space we are in the flow and we surrender to life, just as the dancer surrenders to the dance, and we become “an athlete of God.”

When has changing your perspective helped you make a better choice? Please comment.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Readings:  Practicing the Spiritual Dance – Strength

Practicing the Spiritual Dance – Balancing

How Simple Thinking Leads to a Brilliant Mind

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PRACTICING THE SPIRITUAL DANCE – BALANCING

Posted on July 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

“We learn by practice.  Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same.  One becomes in some area an athlete of God.”  Martha Graham

Awakening To Balance the Mind And Body

Finding balance was one of the great gifts I received from studying modern dance for many years.  Imagine, balancing on the toes of one foot, your spine stretching to its full length, your energy flowing from your pelvis, reaching down into the earth and upward to the sky, a perfectly balanced tension. 

Surry Celebration Team Dance, Flickr.com

To find balance requires strength, practicing pliés (knee bends) and relevés(balancing on the ball of the foot) daily for years until one day, it is easy and one rises miraculously into a moment of perfect balance.

I learned early that in order to perform a movement well, my mind and body had to work together.  This was long before I learned to meditate, so I didn’t’ have the advantage of knowing how to center my mind.  At first, when I tried to balance, I concentrated on contracting the right muscles in order to balance on my toes or one foot.  Then one day, I heard a teacher say, “Stretch, stretch your spine, stretch toward the ceiling, stretch out of the floor.”  I got it – balance was about expansion, not contraction.

We Need A Strong Spiritual Core For Life

Balancing requires stretching and strengthening.  In traditional modern dance, all movement is motivated from the center of the body, the pelvis.  Dancers need a strong core or else we find ourselves foundering, too weak to control leg and arm movement or unable to control our movement as we move out into space.  The same is true in life.  We need a strong, core spiritual belief that guides us.  We may believe that we are all One or we live from a spirit of Love that connects us to others in a meaningful way.  Whatever this belief is, when it resides at the center of our lives, it comforts and guides our actions and choices, acting as the core that holds the rest of our lives together.

Balance Opens Us To Wisdom

We also need a balance between the mind, body, emotions and soul.  If we can see the world only in emotional or rational terms, we have a limited awareness and may not be able to see the whole picture in a situation.  As we stretch, we allow the mind to open, expand, and move into new space.  We consider the possibility that ideas we have previously rejected may have value.  We learn to listen to another’s truth considering the possibility we may learn from them.  We learn to corral the part of our unruly ego that wants to reject whatever is not known and comfortable.

With balance comes wisdom, for balance teaches us to sit in the midst of chaos and remain centered.  When we feel balanced, we may choose not to respond to conflict.  We may choose to take a few deep breaths rather than honk our horn at the slowly moving person in front of us in traffic.  We may be able to stop ourselves from rushing out the door to a meeting when our child needs us to sit and listen.  When we are balanced, we are more aware.  We are living in that perfect tension between earth and sky.  We are an “athlete of God.”

 View the first in this series on “Practicing the Spiritual Dance – Developing Strength.”  

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Readings:

Is Balance Possible in This Lifetime

How to Find That Elusive Balance Between Work and Life

 

 

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PRACTICING THE SPIRITUAL DANCE – DEVELOPING STRENGTH

Posted on July 6, 2011 | 3 comments

“We learn by practice.  Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same.  One becomes in some area an athlete of God.”  Martha Graham

Dance As A Physical And Spiritual Practice

The practice of dance is one of the most rigorous and spiritual disciplines that exists.  Like all practices, the more one learns, the more expansive are the results.  Each step along the way yields riches of the physical and spiritual kind that not only strengthen one’s dance skills, but which enhance all aspects of life.  Beginning with this post, I want to use the practice of dance as an analogy to the practices that can enhance our lives spiritually.

From 1960 to the mid-1980’s, I trained, performed for four years, and taught modern dance.  Its gifts were abundant!  Dance taught me about inner and outer strength, how to balance and center my body and mind, and the value of flexibility.  Learning the value of daily dance practice and seeing that it could result in my accomplishing something I thought I couldn’t do taught me why it is so important not to give up when life becomes difficult.

Learning modern dance was enormously challenging for me.  As a child, stricken by rheumatic fever and a heart murmur at four years of age, I was not allowed normal physical exercise, nor was I able to study ballet, which was my dream.  Fortunately, I out grew the heart murmur and at sixteen, my high school offered a modern dance class which I quickly embraced.  It was tough for a weakling like me, but with time I developed muscles that gave me strength and some shape to my skinny body. This was the time of Marilyn Monroe and years before Twiggy’s shape became the ideal.

Choosing Physical and Spiritual Health

Without physical strength, we cannot enjoy the activity of life, but we also need inner strength.  A few years ago when I fell on the ice and sustained a broken elbow and two pelvic fractures, I went through months of physical therapy determined to return to my former state of activity.  What I found shocking was that, according to my physical therapist, most people stop doing their exercises as soon as they leave the rehab facility.  As a result, they never fully recover, choosing to remain disabled rather than be disciplined and committed to their healing.

Empowering Ourselves

With any injury or challenge, we need the inner strength to persevere and take responsibility for doing all we can do to overcome the challenge.  This is how we grow in confidence.  What dance taught me was that even when a new dance phrase was difficult and I struggled to perform it smoothly, if I kept going, it would eventually get easier, and one day it would flow effortlessly.  There is always some challenge in learning something new.  If we avoid everything that is difficult in life, we miss wonderful opportunities that, through our perseverance, will empower us. We all feel more confident when we have successfully overcome a daunting obstacle. 

Both inner and outer strength require practice in life as in dance.  By practicing, we develop experience, find new ways to solve problems, feel more confident, and grow in awareness.  We can’t learn to dance without dancing.  When we choose to develop strength, we are choosing to become an “athlete of God.”

 When have you been an “athlete of God” lately?  How do you practice?

 In 1960 Martha Graham, choreographed a dance called “Acrobats of God” in which she celebrated and made fun of dancers and choreographers.   Look here if you’d like to see a video.   

 © 2011 Georganne Spruce

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MYSTICAL MUSIC FROM SPIRIT

Posted on June 29, 2011 | 1 comment

Sunday morning I awoke with the words of a James Taylor song ringing in my head.  “Just shower the people you love with love/Show them the way that you feel/Things are gonna work out fine if you only will….”

Listening For Spiritual Answers

This happens fairly often.  It has probably been happening all my life, but it was only a few years ago that I realized I needed to pay attention to it.  At a spiritual retreat on how to create the life you want, the facilitator told us to notice what song was in our heads when we awakened the next morning.  I don’t remember what song I heard, but it was one that spoke to me.

Sometimes the song in my head is one that I recently sang at a gathering, but sometimes it’s one I haven’t heard for a long time.   Either way it always answers a question that has been gnawing at me.  Regardless of the question, the advice given in Sunday’s song was good advice.  In this case, some anxiety about a couple of people had surfaced, but so slightly that I had not turned inward to ask for guidance.  Despite that, the answer arrived before the question.

I also occasionally hear an answer before I finish asking the question.  Before I noticed this happening and started paying more attention to my inner life, I probably missed many answers. I was negligent about taking the time to listen to my inner guidance.  I was told many times by spiritual counselors or by my own guides that I wasn’t listening.  As I became more aware and consciously tried to slow down, I occasionally asked my inner guidance, “Guides, am I listening better?”  For much too long, the answer was usually “no!”

Staying Connected With Our Inner Life

Functioning in the world at a job or just dealing with daily chores like changing the oil in the car, cooking supper for the family, or taking care of health issues can easily consume our energy and fill our minds.  But what I’ve realized is that I get messages all day to slow down.  When I drop three things in a row, start tripping over furniture or spill a glass of water, perhaps I need to slow down.

When these things start happening, they usually continue until I do stop.  For example, I use two water filters that sit one on top of the other so that I get a result similar to remote osmosis.  One day just before I was expecting a house full of people, I hurriedly filled the top one and quickly placed it on top of the other.  As I rushed from the room to do the next task, a crash and the sound of water flooding the kitchen stopped me.  The top filter had slipped off and fallen to the floor.  Luckily my friend and her husband had arrived early and helped me stem the deluge and mop the floor before other guests arrived.

Being in the Moment

It all comes back to being in the moment.  Only then are we really conscious so that our energy flows in a way that allows us to easily direct it to the task at hand and to open that space where we can actually hear our inner voice advising us.  And sometimes that inner voice may reach us singing in that holy moment each morning just before we realize we’re conscious and our mind presents us with its list of things to do.

I love that moment and always try to sing along.  It’s always good to start the day with a little mystic music, even if you have to make it up.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

How do you stay in the moment?

Related Readings: Expand Into the Place of Inspired Mind

How Meditation May Change the Mind

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RECEIVING LOVE

Posted on June 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Looking for Love

Remember the old song “Looking for love in all the wrong places?”  I heard it again a few days ago and thought how drastically my idea of where to find love had changed in the last few years.  In conversations with other women, the topic of where to find a mate usually touches on Match.com, activities they enjoy, church, work – the list is endless.  The idea seems to be if we are in the right place at the right time, we will meet the right person.  It’s all just timing and luck.

 The Law of Attraction

Au contraire.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled across the same idea twice in the same day.  This kind of synchronicity always gets my attention.  During meditation time, I read from The Vortex by Esther and Jerry Hicks, a book about the Law of Attraction and relationships.  In a number of places in the book, Abraham, who is the source of the teachings, points out that in order to receive anything we want, we must imagine what it feels like to have it, rather than focusing on what it feels like not to have what we want.

Later, while reading Harville Hendricks’ book Receiving Love: Transform Your Relationship by Letting Yourself Be Loved, I came across the following idea: If we are looking for love, we’re unlikely to receive it because we are in the looking mode rather than the receiving mode. (p.123) Immediately, I thought of all the times I’ve heard the longing in the voices of women and men as they talked about looking for a mate or a friend.  I’ve known what that longing feels like too.

The second thought that came to mind was “this is the law of attraction.”  Hendricks is pointing out that in order to receive what we want we must be a vibrational match to that desire.  When we are looking for something, we are emphasizing the fact that we don’t have it.  This is scarcity, emptiness.  When we see ourselves as receiving it, we know that it exists.  We can see and feel it.  We feel excited and confident knowing the relationship will manifest at exactly the right moment.

 In Order To Love Others, We Must Love Ourselves

I believe there is also another important element at work here.  To have a healthy relationship with anyone, we must have a healthy relationship with ourselves.  How can we feel we are receiving love, if we don’t love ourselves?  We have to believe we are worthy in order to feel we will receive friends and lovers who are positive and supportive.

When I am longing for something in my life, I feel sad.  There is a lack that needs to be filled in order for me to feel better.  When I find myself in this frame of mind, I often stop and meditate, seeing the white light of the Creator surrounding me and enveloping me in love.  From deep inside that eternal love wells up, filling me.  Not only am I loved by the Creator and worthy of receiving all good things, I love and accept myself.  In loving myself, I empower myself, radiating out into the Universe loving energy that will attract like energy.

Loving From Our Spiritual Centers, Not From The Ego

When I love myself from my spiritual center and not from the ego, it is not surprising that new people and new opportunities show up in my life.  They are always positive.  Like attracts like.  When we feel good about ourselves, we will attract others who feel good about themselves, and this offers us the best opportunity for a happy and healthy relationship.  It’s the lover within us that really counts.  © 2011 Georganne Spruce

 How have you manifested the relationships that are meaningful in your life?

 If you want to learn more or are having difficulty manifesting positive relationships, I highly recommend The Vortex and any of Harville Hendricks books on love as well as the Imago Relationship work that he and Helen Hunt created.

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