I was reading an interview with Wayne Dyer about his new book, Wisdom of the Ages: 60 Days to Enlightenment. The interviewer expressed amazement at Dr. Dyer’s description of the fast process he used in writing this book. He explained it by using Patanjali’s thoughts on inspiration”–how when you’re inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds…your mind transcends limitations and your consciousness expands in every direction. Dormant forces, faculties and talents come alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. And I was inspired. I was literally in the world of spirit.”

I worked all morning to complete a door protector for a client. I had started it before but had been unable to move forward. This morning I felt different. I felt as if the painting had a bigger purpose. As I was painting I felt enveloped by all kinds of contradictory emotions. I felt turmoil, some sadness, sweaty palms…I also felt elation, excitement, a rush of adrenaline, like extreme joyousness. I knew I was connecting with my client’s pain and I wanted to help her ease the pain. I kept praying that what I was creating would help her…and others. I felt strong, powerful and with a stronger purpose than I ever had with my work….”And I was inspired. I was literally in the world of spirit.”

I later found out that her father was near death far away and she was rushing to be with him and her mother. Instinctively I took the painting and started again chanting the prayer I had written on the canvas; OM PADMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT, the Wish Fulfilling Mantra. This is a very powerful mantra, which is said to grant the blessing of receiving the things that we wish for. In fact, the mantra itself is so powerful that simply knowing it is already a blessing. I feel blessed, as in the Ksitigarbha Dasacakra Sutra it is written that whoever sees, hears, remembers or touches this mantra, will be purified of all negativity and gain freedom from rebirth in the lower realms. By now, my “thoughts were breaking their bonds…[my] mind transcending limitations and [my] consciousness expanding in every direction. Dormant forces, faculties and talents came alive and [I saw myself] to be a greater person by far than [I] ever dreamed [myself] to be.”

I sat quietly and Patanjali’s words about inspiration, read long ago were dancing in my head. I felt empowered, mixing colors, glueing beads, picking feathers,adding glitter; to help as many people as I can to learn to heal themselves and the world we share.I want everyone to learn to love, forgive themselves and unite in forgiveness of everyone. Then, I stumbled upon the interview with Dr. Dyer!

The most amazing part is that just before I sat down to journal, I found the words to the OM HANU PHASA BHARA HE YE SVAHA mantra, said to have the power to purify negative karma, just by seeing it. I feverishly copied the words and incorporated it on a new painting I started. I feel great, powerful, beautiful, loving, whole, and I am determined to move forward with my dreams. I know what I have to do. CLEARLY. I am inspired. I am with Spirit.

Here I present to you the chance to be blessed by seeing the Mantra.

Knowing the final shape of what I am about to create is so contrary to what I am about to do. In  A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle writes that the optimal stages of being are acceptance, joy, and enthusiasm.Living in any other state tends to cause suffering for oneself and/or others. He emphasizes that enthusiasm is not the most constant state, but that is necessary for the birth of ideas, projects, new pathways. Once that is underway, generally joy takes over and, depending on the circumstances, acceptance is most likely a state we may be in as we continue to nourish the “project”, modify it, move away for a while to gain perspective, or even decide to abandon it. In my experience, I have never even consider how I will finish any of my pieces. In fact, I generally cannot judge the merits of what I finished until I gain the “morning-after” perspective.

As I look around for other examples of birthing, the first one that comes to mind is my most physical experience with it. I knew I wanted a child. I had no idea what he would look like when finished! From conception to the most beautiful rainy day in May, when he was finally out of my womb, my husband and I planned many things, including a warm bath to immitate the feeling of the womb. As he lay on top of my chest and looked at me, neither him nor I wanted to be separated. It was like..so,..that is what you look like! He is not even finished, he continues to grow and change. Now at nearly 33 and a father himself, he looks and acts like nothing I could have considered.The only thing I needed to consider is that I would be able to support him as he was starting out in the world. I had a job, a partner, and the enthusiasm for forecasting the best of circumstances.

So is with anything I want to birth. It starts witht enthusiasm. I want to create something. The feelings are not foreign to wanting to mother. In my paintings, I want to say something without speaking. I am not sure how it will grow. I can feel the seed of something new deep within me and I have a deep desire to play with visual objects, with the texture and feel of the paint and the surface or the space. All I need to consider is time and space. It is irrelevant if it will be finished. It is a primal desire to create. The hows simply show up. I go to the art store, or I take a walk, or I read something, or a heard someone speak a random sentence. Back in the studio, somehow it all gets incorporated. In the end, the piece gets seen, someone wants it, or sees something in it and commissions a more personal one. If not, it stays in my basement waiting to be seen another time. I accept for was born and abide in joy. The experience was deeply rewarding.

For those of you practicing the Law of Attraction, birthing anything is a wonderful teaching tool to make your dreams come true. Start with a deep desire to manifest your dream, but only focus on what you want to say with the dream. This is the birth of enthusiasm. Brainstorm, chat, read, meditate, go window shopping or actual shopping that will contribute to the manifestation. Stay in that enthusiasm and consider what time you will dedicate to the necessary tasks, the doing part. Never disregard the BEING part. Let joy take over and do not worry how is to be finished. Accept when it is not working. Step aside, allow time to review, re-group and again let new enthusiasm take over. I promise that the morning after will reward you with the success you need, even though it may not look like what you thougth it would!

Good thing that I have Adam (my son)!

For example, you may be feeling more frustrated in your career and seek help in understanding why you are always hitting blocks in your progress with people in general and in finding new love. You may feel confused regarding your life path. Your sexual life is unsatisfactory. Looking at the floor plan shown on yesterday’s chapter you will find that it mirrors these problems. If this was your home, you will always face a split view and a long narrow corridor upon entering this apartment. Because this area holds the energy of career, life path, kidneys, bladder and ears, and sexual energy, a Feng Shui consultant may suggest creating a mural with depth on that long narrow corridor to draw attention away from the corner and expand the view upon entering the space. The expanded view you now face on a daily basis, will encourage you to be less narrow in your thinking and enable you to make more centered decisions. These suggestions are called adjustments or “cures” because they bring the environment into energetic balance with itself. This allows you the opportunity to bring balance into that life situation. Following these energetically based adjustments, you may find that opportunities begin showing up, including attracting possible partners. You experience more clarity about your life purpose and your sex life may improve! You are more likely to “hear” and find the root causes of the imbalance and decide to finally tackle it. It is all about our stuff…always.

The same floor layout suggests many life imbalances for the occupants. The bedroom is in the fame area, indicating inability to be recognized for one’s endeavors, as the bedroom is not open to the public. But maybe these people get to be known for their sexuality or intimate relationships! Mmmm….

The center of the house holds the conflicting energies of fire and water, indicating possibility of serious health and financial set-backs. The garage is in the benefactors gua and it represents metal energy. It relates to men, helpers, fathers, power, light, clarity, persistence, head, skin and lungs. It houses constantly moving objects. It portends a man always on the move. He may be unstable emotionally or simply find love elsewhere, as the energy of women is missing. It also indicates difficulties getting helpful people to commit. All kinds of relationships may be at risk here.

Lest you think you are doomed with your L-shaped house, or any other poorly designed home, Feng Shui offers a myriad of adjustments, some simple as the mural mentioned earlier, some a little more involved, to help you overcome a difficult floor plan and work on your life situations. Particular adjustments or good Feng Shui cures will be the subject of other articles. But not to be missed is the premise of this one. The issues that guided people to select these places to dwell on a given time in their lives must be addressed jointly. You simply cannot put live plants-a good Feng Shui adjustment for the family gua, and expect that you will now enjoy a peachy relationship with your difficult grandparents. Plants will make things easier because you placed a symbol of new growth in this area and you placed it with your intention to focus on family issues. Your grandfather may be less cantankerous when you see him next, but the root cause that placed you in this relationship will still need to be addressed by you as you sit quietly near the plant. Adding a room in the relationship gua may bring you more partners as now you have brought this energy within your life, but you still have to address what belief is keeping you from attracting the right relationship. As construction goes on, or as you add particular adjustments, you will find it easier to contemplate these deeply buried issues.

Corollary

Take a good look at your relationship blueprint and note areas of consistent conflict or stress for you. Embrace the difficulties by taking responsibility for them. Examine your beliefs and your thoughts. Look at your home and see what is in disarray there. Where is the clutter? What are the rooms that just don’t feel right? Fix, organize, clean, clear up, vacuum, spruce them up. You will see that the difficulties without, mirror the ones within. As you clear up the guas, you feel clarity within you as well. Start where you are and don’t underestimate the power to change yourself and therefore your circumstances. At least do a thorough cleaning job and remove old stuff in your bedroom, change the sheets—I suggest you buy pink ones! You may change your partnership luck!

Finally…there is no other who will bring us happiness. That is why our dwellings are so important.Our home mirrors our life. Love yourself enough to explore this very primary relationship and see what happens…

The ancient principles of Feng Shui are best suited to understand vibrational energy in our environment and how this energy interacts with our personal vibrational field. The art and science of Feng shui teaches that we are not separate from anything, least of all the houses we choose to dwell in.

Feng Shui has been used for thousands of years in the Orient to arrange the best spaces for living, working and burial siting. It is now widely used throughout the world and my company uses these principles in all the environments we create, with enormous success. A prominent tool used in applying Feng Shui is the energetic grid called the Bagua. This grid is used as a guideline to study how energy enters a space, how it travels through it and where specific vibrational areas are located that are stand-ins for nine life situations such as relationships, wealth, fame, family, creativity and children, career, benefactors and knowledge and spirituality. The center is where all the areas converge and it provides stability to the structure and its occupants. The center holds the balance and health of the occupants.

The Bagua grid is applied over the floor plan and aligned with the front door like a clock that can be stretched to match your shape-see picture, above. Your front door will always be located at the 7:00 o’clock, 6:00 o’clock or 5:00 o’clock quadrants. The 1:00 o’clock quadrant will always represent relationship energy. The other areas are arranged as drawn on the grid.

When a floor plan is irregular, or L-shape as shown in the picture, we say that it has a missing area or “gua”, its Chinese name. A floor plan missing a gua is lacking the energy represented by that gua. If  in your personal exploration you found out that you had trouble attracting relationships, or keeping them, you may be missing the relationship gua just like the example shown. Your relationship with your mother may be strained, she may have died unhappy or you were crossed with her, and it may be difficult to have a good connection with your sisters. If you are a woman, you may feel unfulfilled, empty and unlovable. If you are a man, you are lacking balanced female energy.  You may not be able to hold on to relationships, and your relationship to women-mother, sister, friend, wife maybe unsatisfactory.

If that gua sticks out of the grid’s foot print, it may create an enhancement for the energy and life situation of that area. If it is in the relationship gua, you are likely to find fulfillment in most of your relationships.  When that enhancement is too large, then the energy is overpowering and it creates imbalances. Then the female has too much power, and men tend to be intimidated by it. If the Benefactors area sticks out, then the men will be too powerful and females will feel unrealized and unable to contribute.

Feng Shui principles correlate with all Asian healing systems. The relationship energy represents the energy of earth and it relates to women, mothers, nurturing, receptiveness, diversity, stability, cooperativeness and marriage, among other things. It also has to do with the abdomen, the stomach, digestive disorders and the upper spine. An imbalance in this area mirrors the same imbalance in the life of the home dweller.  You may be saving yourselves years of psychotherapy by uncovering these connections. It is worth noting that not all the occupants of the home will be experiencing the issues that the house presents to the same degree. Yet when the house is a vibrational match to one or more of the people’s personal energies, the effects are swiftly felt.

The houses that we inhabit do not create these life situations. We gravitate to these structures because of our personal energetic blueprint, or karmic path. Our dwellings simply reflect our vibrational map. When we select where to live, we make a choice that may very well be unconscious, but a choice nonetheless. Knowing how to read the energetic blueprint in our personal spaces allows us to focus on what does not function well in our lives and rejoice where all is well.

In the concluding entry I will be uncovering more of the issues presented by this floor plan and suggesting powerful adjustments to help you heal the imbalances in your life.

For tomorrow, I suggest you create a floor plan of your home and divide the space by superimposing a bagua grid over it, or nine equal areas. You may have a rectangle of a square. Label each nine guas and study what is going on in each of the corresponding areas of your home. You may be quite surprised at the findings!

So…what is your relationship with yourself? Do you like yourself? Do you feel vulnerable? Do you feel unimportant? Or do you feel vibrant, alive and useful? Is your life meaningful? How do you see yourself in a relationship? Are you waiting for the love of your life so you can be whole and happy?

What do you have to offer your partner? What are your gifts? These questions form your relationship blueprint and affect all the relationships in your life, not just the intimate ones.

The difficult relationships tug on our heartstrings because through each relationship we replay information we collected since birth while role-playing. We were brothers, sisters, cousins, best friends, lesser friends. We were boyfriends, girlfriends, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandchildren, neighbors, vendors, buyers, dependents, independents. Each role became a filter that we use now to relate to others. Some relationships we experienced up close and personal and at other times we were observers.  In all instances, we assessed love and made decisions about loving and being loved. This filter, Eckhart Tolle calls our “pain body”. Most of us, unwittingly, use it to relate to our world and it is our relationship vibration or what I call: our relationship blueprint. When we enter into an intimate relationship, our “being loved” filter takes command. If our love filter matches the other person’s love filter, then there is a match. So, these questions beckon us to accept responsibility for whom and what shows up in our life and when events and circumstances keep on repeating over and over, the common denominator is us!

In the process of measuring our love quotient we also created dualities. This person is nice. That person hurt me. I am good, others are not. He didn’t love me. She did not pay enough attention to me. Eckhart Tolle writes in A New Earth, that “what you react in another you strengthen in yourself”. When you blame others or complain about others not behaving properly, not caring for you, or not loving you enough, you create separations. In creating relational hierarchies you also deny yourself the benefit of learning from the circumstances by accepting responsibility for your role in it. When you feel unloved, you feel is the operative phrase. You have nothing to give and you want something or someone to give to you. Do question the validity of your feelings because they may not be real. As I mentioned, these feelings are most likely based on how you perceived the event many years/days/months/lifetimes ago. Above all, when you feel unloved, you see yourself as separate from Source, God, the Universe…Yes, many of us have suffered deeply while being in relationship with others, yet when we dismiss our role in the relationship we are holding on to a misperception of reality. You don’t condone someone who has hurt you deeply. You simply forgive yourself for allowing others to hurt you and release the other from perpetuating the role in the entanglement. It is about energy and our consciousness is energy at its finest and most dynamic form. You can change your reality at any moment by deciding to do it. When your vibration is one of self-love and deep self-respect, others’ negative actions or thoughts cannot break the energetic barrier it creates. These are your gifts. Remember Santa Claus? Others are eager to receive your gifts. Become Santa Claus when you are looking for good relationships.

Without self-love you look for the ideal partner to complete you. A friend mentioned the other day that she looked for partners to bring her out of her shell. So she continued to look for relationships with powerful men and bold risk takers, only to find out that they were actually untrustworthy, rather shallow, but good for the excitement. She did not trust herself to take risks on her own! When you feel powerful and whole, you have gifts for others and others have greater gifts for you. You are one with God, as Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye whole, even as your Father in Heaven is whole”.

Spend today considering and reviewing your relationship blueprint. Do you like it? If so, continue as you have been. If you did not like some parts of the “layout”, then decide to improve it and have faith that you can do it. You deserve the best as you are a gift. You are your best Valentine!

 Are you ready to see how the existing relationship blueprint shows up in your home? See you tomorrow and Happy Self Valentine’s Day!

The correlation between relationships and the environment in which they unfold is perhaps more easily understood if we take time to understand our relationship blueprint. Once that is accomplished, we can take a look at the home environment’s floor plan and examine how we arranged our personal space. An educated eye will notice this correlation. Making  the necessary adjustments to the environment will enhance our ability to correct  the thinking patterns and outmoded beliefs that fostered unsuccessful connections and will yield more happiness, the possibilities of meeting the perfect love match or enhancing  an existing relationship. This shift will occur not only with mates, but with family as well, no matter how far apart things have become. Best of all, we will all be more loving toward ourselves.

The message is, if you want more love, or a new love; first look within. I intend to examine this premise in four entries. Starting with a pre-Valentine’s gift; our relationship with “others”.

 Exploring Your Relationship Blueprint-Part I

Take out a pad and pen and begin to write any and all issues related to relationships. Explore your relationships with others, and linger on the intimate ones. Are/were these nurturing, loving, and supportive? Are you happy? What kind of partner do you/did you have? What kind of partner do you want? Are you married? Dating? Lonely? How is your sex life?

Focus on your parents. What is/was your relationship with your mother? What was your parents’ relationship like? How do you perceive their marriage? What things are left unresolved? What about past family members? Your grandparents? How do you now perceive their relationship?

 Explore your relationship with your siblings, especially sisters. Any unresolved hurts? Any consistent differences? How do you see relationships in your life? Are other people difficult to deal with? Do you encounter people who are uncaring and bothersome? Do you envy others’ relationships? What are the losses you have experienced in your life? Are you still carrying them?

Have fun, be brave, be honest and be prepared to grow and be happier. Comments of course, are always welcome! Tomorrow’s entry is about our love relationship with ourselves. Until then…

I believe we all have dreams that we want to manifest. My coach has a tag line that says “dare to dream”! That is what I like about her philosophy; and what we dream, why we dream and remembering and interpreting our dreams has been the subject of mystics and scientists.  The problem is precisely in our use of what we dream.

When we night-dream we are experiencing situations that we then subject to interpretation when awake; when our rational mind is active. If we remember the dreams, most of us are not controlling them. They just are. When we day-dream, we are consciously desiring to create a reality that is different from the one we are experiencing. While the merits of future- tripping are debatable,  we do like to wish, to play with what-ifs, to grow and like butterflies, transform. That is the natural way. The problem is our frame of reference.

In discussing the properties of a certain crystal, Robert Simmons writes in The Book of Stones that “we are educated to believe that the future will tend to resemble the past. This self-fulfilling prophecy keeps us chained to dreary predictability and kills imagination”. If you doubt this statement just listen to the political banter about “going back to the old values”, and other past-tripping  jargon designed to convince us that our country is on the wrong track. Indeed we are! We cling to the past; to the known and more dangerously, we cling to the romantic remembrance of what the past actually was. We refuse to be in the present moment accepting and loving what is or was, for the learning and growth it afforded us. The Buddhist translation of this is suffering. We suffer, or rather we are unhappy and create suffering by negating the present moment and proceed to visualizing a reality we are not able to see because of our frame of reference. We create a cupful of cravings and our dreams are fake.

In nature and in reality, everything is always moving and changing. That is the constant. Yet, we are too busy holding on. We hold to existing ideas and beliefs, no matter how obsolete they may be. We hold on to people, relationships and jobs that no longer fit. We cling to houses that are too big, too small, or in a certain neighborhood because of how they define us, and so it is with our dreams…We are busy defining exactly what the future ought to be while our frame of reference is the past!

I think that “no more faking it” may mean that I begin to love who I am, what I have, and what I do now, and proceed to use my dreams and visualizations to explore. First I contemplate the seed of my desires and next, engage in playing with possibility from what I know. I start by recalling feelings of joy, of love and enthusiasm in the face of new experiences. I put out my wishes and listen to my heart, and if the “dream” resonates with the feelings, then I dwell and these feelings. Hop on my imaginary bike and pedal to explore and visualize myself feeling more of the feelings of joy, love, openness, daring to feel what I am yet to really know. Now I am  grateful for my present “equipment” and take “trips” just for the enjoyment of the trip and for the opportunity to explore. This is how I can use my good old “frame of reference”.

Our frame of reference, is that new knowledge or ideas are discovered while doing something else. We know from Einstein to John Lennon that the greatest ideas did not materialize while seeking them. They came up in the shower, while putting a child to sleep, while looking at an event that had nothing to do with what they were looking for.

We don’t wait for our dreams to manifest. We expect that they will. It is inevitable. In the mean time, we re fully present. We appreciate that we may not be where we dare to be. We live in the present moment at all times and we are alert and open to what shows up, seize the moment and see the difficult encounters as nuggets of precious learnings. What is in front of us, what we are experiencing is unique to us. With presence and alertness, we can recognize in what we do not like, aspects or traits we have yet to accept and lovingly embrace them. It is not by focusing on the future, but by integrating the learning; the jewels that are present now and allowing these circumstances to dare us to transform that we manifest not only what we dared to dream, but the best possible dream for us.

I dare us to release our grip on being a certain person, or display a certain label to define us. Let us open our hearts and our minds, hop on the imaginary, or maybe the actual bike and pedal. Expect adventures and relish the feelings of discovery. That is how the caterpillar transforms. That is how we manifest our best dreams in the best form in the present we are. We drink from the cupful of the here and now!

One of the greatest gifts I received is the permission I gave myself to paint for the sheer beauty of the experience. I learned to Play with Fear. Along the way, my world re-arranged itself to reward my enjoyment. I am happy, I am grateful for my work, my family, my friends, my clients, my colleagues, my neighbors, my vendors, my home, my garden, my indoor plants, the weather changes, the music I hear, the television I do not have, the choices I make, the diets I have embraced and my fluctuating weight. I am thankful for those I often spend time with and the people I no longer do. Because I learned to accept and play with Fear, today I stand at the doors of the Temple of Light.

I accept that all that I have been and done it is and has been just perfect. I have done my very best given my understandings at the time; whatever I saw as truth. I know that it was and is just right, because all of it has served me to be who I am today. And while I may have inadvertently hurt some and I am regretful, I have nothing to forgive myself for. I have seen that there was deep learning in all of it. I accept full responsibility for feeling needy, demanding, loving, caring, boastful, wanting, experimenting, pushy and remorseful, brilliant and stupid, kind and blind. Above all, I am aware that I am always riding my bicycle.

In control of my handlebars, I don’t always understand who crosses my path at the moment, or the full import of what I am experiencing within and without, but I know that it is happening in the “movie script” I created with my thoughts, my beliefs and therefore my behavior. I pay attention and make connections. I search for the nuggets of learning. I sincerely apologize to others and myself for my incorrect perceptions and see that I embrace that I am here to learn and create and that this is my adventure, my journey. I accept that “perfection” is an unnecessary ego-driven desire and that the only way to engage in learning and growing is playing with a full deck of cards and diverse company at the table. I fumble, I put out my cards, I see what others put out and I Play With Fear.

Playing with Fear is accepting that I may not be right, that the game I am in may not be what I am ready for now or ever; that the partners I am with may not be the ones I will complete the journey with and at all times, honor my feelings. I have the power and responsibility to change course, to put out a new card, to be on the next ship and to reflect and re-assess directions. I drive my vehicle and like on the road, I need to mind my manners and drive with presence or I may cause harm for myself and others.

Today I am “poised for greatness”, as Mike Dooley puts it. I am standing in my greatest accomplishment; being the best student  of  Life. I know I can only work on myself and cannot change anyone or keep them from making my mistakes. These are after all, my mistakes. I also know that I do not have the right to interfere in another’s learning path for I do not know what is best for them. I can help by accepting those in my life just as they are in their journey, offer love and presence within the relationship. I can help and not enable. I can love and not expect love back. I can share Light and not wait for another to keep it bright and shining. No attachments and no aversions, the Buddha taught. Play with Fear and dare to enjoy this moment because it is the only one I have!

What wonderful gifts I received this year. Patiently I await the blossoms of the seeds I planted this year. Enter the Temple of Light, Play With Fear and have Happy Holy-Days now and forever!

The white Victorian wicker furniture is well-worn and graceful. The chair cushions are softly rounded and invitingly cozy. Lush greenery abounds. Cascading geraniums burst from the hanging baskets. Trailing flowers wrap themselves on the columns. The water is brightly lit and serene. Blue-gray mountains majestically preside in the distance.  In front of the railing, a tall table sets the tone, sporting a basket of mouth-watering breakfast pastries bursting with color.  A glass of orange juice sits expectantly next to a muffin on small plate. A bird house and a potted plant keep the sun from warming the cool drink. Fresh fruits are scattered next to a colorful teapot, two dainty tea cups and an elaborate pitcher. All are set on a low center table. Food and drinks are kept ready by the fiery kiss of the morning light. It is the start of a new day for the occupants of this fabulous place. My eyes scan the scene and I see little things I never before noticed. There is a narrow thin metal strip nailed to the floor depicting alert maintenance. Care is made obvious by the fresh paint on the wood and wicker. The center table is an elaborately forged metal table, updated and well maintained by a white coat of paint. There are yellow blossoms and orange ones and pinks, purples and reds ones. There are hundreds of shades of green. Oh, the peace and the aliveness expectancy of a new day! Fittingly I am having my first morning cup of tea.

This picture has been in my bedroom for over 10 years, yet I am seeing it for the first time…now…in the present. No stories, no visualizations, just what is.

As a good Feng Shui expert, I placed this picture across my bed so I would look at a beautiful scene when I first awoke and went to sleep. Dear Professor Lin Yun taught us the importance of first impressions, especially upon waking and to close the day, to notice the blessings surrounding us. I picked this print and lovingly selected the perfect complementing frame. Over the years it has served as my “vision board”. I imagined myself magically transported there, drinking the juice, flavoring the round coconut pastry, sipping the tea. At times I was in the south of France and other times I was in Savannah. I made it a retreat I owned for my spiritual gatherings in Tuscany. I looked at it as the view from my art studio. I pictured myself towelling from a morning dip and feeling abundant, joyous and surely successful. It was always in the future… until today!

As I opened my eyes after this morning’s meditation I felt the sun rays shining directly on the picture and today I looked at it anew. I was here in my bedroom. No stories, no visualizations, no chanting. This morning as I looked at the scene depicted, I felt joyous. I was just looking at a sunshiny morning. I saw peace. I felt the welcoming juice and the warmth of the tea and the softness of the cushions. I noticed more things. I saw new lines on the furniture. I observed the way the sun touched the prints on the pillows, and the skilled and detailed way in which the artist depicted comfort, fluidity yet solidity; flow and groundedness; abundance and classic restraint. I sensed peace and the calmness of being here and in this moment. My body filled with tingling sensations, I felt grateful that I can see this beautiful picture and discover newness every time I see it from the comfort of my beautiful bed. There was background happiness surrounding me as I noticed the beauty of my comforter and the softness and richness of my silky pillows. I experienced the wonderment of the still green landscape outside my window and felt the sun warming my body just like the one in the picture. As I got up and showered and wrapped myself on the thick towel I felt the goodness of the here and now.  I felt abundant, joyous and surely successful!

Oh, the peace and the aliveness expectancy of a new day! Fittingly I am having my second morning cup of tea. It is the start of the day for the occupant of my fabulous place. Top of the morning to you…Here and Now!!!

What were they thinking? I struggled to remember that Bob Oakes was only reading the news, but since his deep and often convincing voice was the only one I heard, I felt very sad. I found myself questioning his lack of discernment. Why did he not choose the story about houses sold to lead and then, if he needed to, report on the downer poll?  I also wondered how many of us felt as I did and if the pledges did not decrease following the segment.

Last night during our meditation & spirituality class, we touched upon complaining, either aloud or in our heads. We agreed that complaining has no real purpose and it incites ego-driven actions. One of the members spoke about “letting it out” in her own home to release energy as a positive action. She felt better and did not hurt anyone. Really?

Another member reminded us to be aware of what we are letting out in order to feel better. Our thoughts are real forces. They carry lots of energy. She asked what kinds of “seeds” we are planting, not only within our environments but outside in the world? Did she say…outside the safety of our homes? Indeed.

Those seeds-thoughts and words that are planted in our homes bear fruit in our furniture and accessories. They latch onto the dust, ride on the air we breathe, nest in our clothes, settle in our aura and take root in our psyche. We are thinking machines; we have about 60,000 thoughts a day. Most of the thoughts tend to be self-referenced yet random and porous. Unless we become aware of our thoughts and consciously filter the thoughts of the other trillions of people on the planet, we include these in our psyche, our aura, our clothes, our breath and bring them home to our dust, accessories, furniture, walls and windows.  We grow beliefs and vibrate with them. We attract others like ourselves. We affect others and our behavior is affected by our vibrational field.

This morning I became aware of what I was thinking and how quickly Bob Oakes words affected my thoughts, my feelings and therefore my actions. I did not pledge. I also became keenly aware of my complaining thoughts. I accepted that I was complaining and pondered about what within me was awakened by the radio stories. I will discuss that part of my internal search on another entry. Today I was certain that I had to find ways of transforming the negative seeds I was about to plant in my environment into beautiful blossoms. I know that what I decide to think affects me and those around me.

From gardening, I know that I need to pull the weeds as soon as they appear or they will invade the more beautiful plantings. I could also plant more flowers where the weeds were pulled and they would naturally keep the annoying ones from coming up. I acted as a gardener and first I shut off the “water”; I turned off the radio. Then I focused back on what I first heard; the story on Cindy Lauper. Pretty soon, her song buzzed in my head. I could sing all the words. Then I remembered that many more houses had been sold this past month and what a good thing it was for my business–I said that most of our thoughts tend to be self-referenced.  I could reach out to those new homeowners to help them clear the former owner’s energy, arrange their environment to facilitate growth and harmony and I could even sell them door protectors! Next was transforming my complaining to positive action.

Offering my experience as a learning tool for others seemed to fit the bill. I am grateful that through writing this piece, I transformed my complaining voice in the head. I accepted that I did not know why the radio station chose what they did, but that in general, I am enriched by the programming they offer. I made a pledge. I also patted myself on the back for having had the presence to turn off the sound when I did and for taking charge of my thinking. I have the power to insert a new thought at any time. I am not my thoughts and I decide what to think as long as I practice being present as much as possible.

Finally, I know that I create my reality by my thinking and my beliefs. I present to you a commissioned painting I did several years ago in where I entice the viewer to question what they see and think about what they see. Is it a picture of a sunrise? Could it be a fiery sunset as I witnessed this past summer on Block Island? Is it possibly a raging forest fire? Can it be a beautiful afternoon becoming cloudy and ominous on a late summer day? Maybe it is a gorgeous Fall Foliage day in New Hampshire? Or is it a self-healing piece about complaining and transforming thoughts? You decide. You are in charge of your own thoughts!

You can name the painting. Have a great day!!!