by Lori | May 31, 2015 | Blog
On this lovely Sunday morning, the last day of May, I watched CBS Face the Nation for the last time as hosted by Bob Schieffer. Known as a reporter that most people seem to trust for news and his seemingly non-judgmental attitude, Schieffer is just one of some highly recognized names that have signed off their television programs or are going to sign off over the course of 2014 and 2015. Others who have signed off are David Letterman after 23 years, Stephen Colbert after 9 years, Jay Leno after 22 years (slightly interrupted) and soon, Jon Stewart after 17 years. Besides, Colbert who will be taking over Letterman’s slot on NBC, they all seemed to be going into different directions, not necessarily just going into retirement.
I was trying to figure out energetically why all these long-time running hosts were leaving their shows and did it have an energetic meaning (or was a sign of our times) that we could all look at for our own lives. I will allow the media and entertainment pundits to determine the link for our television viewing audience. But, for the energetics of it, well, this is what came to me.
We all need to be prepared for change and the next steps on our path of evolution and self-growth, regardless of what we are leaving behind or moving toward.
What most of these television people have in common when asked why they are / were leaving was that “it was time”. All were still at the top of their game, not in fear of being canceled by the networks, and yet they were feeling like it was time for a change for themselves and for the next generation of reporters and/or comedians to take up the mantel. Again, Colbert may be the exception here, but even he is probably ready for a change from his “fake” entertainment persona to his “real” entertainment persona.
None of these people seem to be worried that they are leaving their audiences without capable replacements. That may be the biggest lesson we can all take from what they are modeling for us. Evolve yourself and be willing to allow others to evolve and grow into their next position. I heard one commentator said that the comedian set to take over the Daily Show from Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah, would not be able to fill Stewart’s shoes. The commentator’s partner said that 17 years ago, Jon Stewart would not have been able to fill Jon Stewart’s shoes. That may be the whole point to this conversation; the need to trust and surrender when it is time to make a change even when the success of that change and the success of what is left behind is not guaranteed.
For the rest of us, is it time to look at what we have been doing for 10, 20, 30 years to see if it is working for us? Are we at the top of our game, and yet, it is time for our game to change? If we aren’t at the top of our game, what has been working for us and what hasn’t been working for us? Have we been kidding ourselves that we have been working our plan, but we haven’t really. Maybe we are more stuck then we realized and need to “phone a friend” for help. Or is everything in good order, and our only need is to allow and detach that those people ready to fill the gap in the path when we change our focus are really ready, even if they aren’t at the place we are now.
Regardless, taking the next step in our own evolution may come at a time when there is or isn’t someone ready to take our place. That should only be our concern, until we are guided that it is no longer our concern. If others are unwilling to take up the mantel, it does no more good for us to mourn that then it does to stay holding the mantel far too long after it is no longer ours to hold.
Since it seems like the energies all around us are helping us take the opportunity to determine what needs to be changed, what we need to leave or what we need to take on as our next challenge, let us all be willing to perform the proper introspection and then be willing to take the appropriate action steps to say “farewell”, if necessary, and say “hello” to the next chapter or book in our lives. In the words of another great reporter, Edward R Murrow, “Good Night and Good Luck”.
by Lori | Mar 30, 2015 | Blog
I was using some great hand lotion the other day – Everyone Lotion – and I just happened to notice the directions. It said, “Use Freely and Enjoy”.
How do you think our current world vision would look if one of the Ten Commandments was – Use Freely and Enjoy?
What a wonderful outlook for life that would be. No – “thou shall nots”, No – “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain”, But instead – Use Freely and Enjoy.
Regardless of which version of the Ten Commandments you look at, the majority of them have a “shall not” in it. In the Catholic Version, which is the one I was originally taught, only two don’t have the word “not” in them. (Keep holy the Sabbath and Honor your father and mother.)
Would it be easier to take the underlying message and good ideas of how to live in a society and how to have self-growth if the suggestions were written in a positive way? That way the focus would be on the positive actions instead of restricting negative actions.
If the commandment of “Thou Shall Not Kill” was instead “Love All” how would we react when faced with the situation where we were debating an action that might seem like killing someone was justified. If you are in the situation where you are trying to justify killing someone, would you be less likely in that situation if the other person also had as her commandment “Love All”. Can we change the dynamic and change the energy if we focus on the things we want to create instead of restricting the things we don’t want to create? It goes to the old saying of it is easier to get bees with honey than with vinegar.
With that as the idea, I believe we would have a much different world if our Ten Commandments were more like life suggestions on the ways to improve ourselves and improve our world. I would rather use the name “Ten Suggestions” to take away the judgment and punishment aspect of the energy associated with “Commandment”. Again, I believe this “lighter touch” will pay dividends in the execution of the suggestion.
So let’s try these alternatives on for size.
The Ten Suggestions
- You are part of a wonderful loving and powerful universe. Use freely and enjoy.
- Know yourself as peace and joy.
- Know all intelligence and all beings as wondrous and abundant. Speak of all of creation well.
- Every day is beautiful and wonderful. Be in gratitude for it and keep it holy.
- Honor your father and your mother, in whatever form they take.
- Honor and love all humans. Hold them in the highest regard just as you view yourself. (Yes, this is a paraphrase of what Jesus taught. He is right. We should live this more!)
- Create what you need from the abundance of the universe.
- Know yourself as Love, Loved and Loving.
- “Be impeccable with your word.” (To quote don Miguel Ruiz from his book The Four Agreements. He is right. We should live this more, too!)
- Be abundant and compassionate with all you meet.
Try these Ten Suggestions for a while. Use them freely and enjoy!
by Lori | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog
Do you ever wonder, like me, about the sound-bites you hear in the media, from politicians or even from your own guidance? Sound-bites like “we need to do something about income inequality” from our politicians on both sides of the aisle. And from our own guidance, “hold more serenity and release judgment of self and others?” You usually don’t hear anyone arguing that the sound-bite is invalid. You also don’t hear the next 10 sentences beyond the sound-bites that might actually give you some ideas or some action steps to work on these “universal good ideas.” When I heard from my guidance that I needed to have and hold more “serenity” and to “release judgment of self and others” in 2015, I was thinking, “tell me something I don’t already know!” So – my guidance told me more! Here are some excerpts from our conversation.
Our Lower-self looks out at the world and judges a situation. Is the situation good or bad? Does it affect me or my loved ones? Does it affect my livelihood and my way of life? Does it challenge the way I look at myself or the world? Whereas, Our Souls look inward and discern, “what is my truth? What is the universal truth regarding this situation? What is in the highest good of all in this situation?” These are the type of questions that concern us at the Soul Level.
Next, the Lower-self looks out at the outer world situation and judges who is to blame for the situation. Can I be viewed as the victim and therefore, blameless? If it isn’t my fault or “they” started it, can I be viewed blameless or justified, if I retaliate? Again, Our Souls look inward and discern, “what do I need to do to raise my vibration and the vibration of all to heal the situation?” Our Souls aren’t concerned about keeping a scorecard, who may or may not have started it, who may or may not have dirt on their hands. The Souls are concerned about returning to when all we felt was love. There is no scorecard. We aren’t playing for keeps. We are just playing. Life on earth is a grand experiment and illusion.
Finally, the lower-self looks out and asks, “How can I save face?” The Soul isn’t concerned about saving face, it is ONLY concerned about learning all that can be learned in the experiment zone, wrapping up the experiment and recognizing the Love and the Light in Everyone and Everything.
I remember visiting a resort town in West Virginia. My husband and I were eating lunch next to three families who had been skiing. One table had all the kids and one dad at it. The second table had the rest of the adults. The kids were playing a board game where the goal was to get to the center of the board first and then, the game would be over. The first girl to get to the center of the board said, “Let’s play until we all win.” That is how our Souls feel about this grand experiment and the board game we call Life on Earth. There is no loser, there is no scorecard, we play until we all win. No one is left behind.
If we can start to look at everything from the perspective of Our Souls and The Spiritual Hierarchy with discernment about what we can learn from the situation instead of looking with judgment as to who is to blame, we can start to tailor our actions and beliefs to be more in alignment with universal truths and hold less judgment. That is how you hold more serenity. Eliminate judgment of self and others and what is left is serenity.
by Lori | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog
Of all the New Year’s resolutions we can set for ourselves, what would be the one underlying quality that would help all of them? What one factor would help you achieve a better diet, a more appropriate exercise regime and more joy in daily life? Being more aligned with Your Self, being more aligned with Source.
All the characteristics that we would like to improve about ourselves, all the projects we would like to manifest and all the ways we would like to serve Mother Earth and Humanity have at their core the need to know what our part in the Divine Plan is and the passion and perseverance to take the steps to achieve that Plan for ourselves, individually and collectively. The Divine Plan is the interconnected puzzle that We have developed for Ourselves in order to play out our experiences as humans here and now. It may sometimes feel like someone outside of ourselves developed this puzzle as a cruel joke or an elaborate party trick. But, Mother Earth and Humanity have always been involved in this plan as a fully volunteer army. There was no ambush, no draft and it isn’t a punishment for some egregious behavior toward a superior being. We are inter-related and One with the entire universe. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can feel the joy of no longer viewing ourselves as victims.
This is why it is imperative to feel and know the connection and alignment with Our God-Self, with Source, in order to be able to sift through cultural and systemic influences and, instead, realize the inner wisdom and guidance that will help us heal the daily struggles and rise above the distractions that hold us back from being the higher version of ourselves that we know we can be.
Before I started on this particular path, I knew there was an interconnectedness between what I saw as my reality and the Universe. But, I didn’t realize or comprehend the extent of the possibilities and the power to change my reality by tapping into those Universal Truths and Energies available to us all. The Universal Truths are that we are not alone, we are loved and we have the wisdom and power to act with the love to bring more joy to ourselves, our world and our universe. Anything other than this full and complete recognition of Our True Selves is the illusion from which we need to awaken.
We need to eliminate any false belief that only a chosen few are capable of navigating the truth and wisdom available to us all. We also need to eliminate any feelings of unworthiness or lack of self-confidence that keeps us from seeing the Divine Power and Divine Love that is the real truth of who we are. The awakening can be done gently, step by step, as part of the Divine Plan. We can start that awakening, now. Are you ready?
by Lori | Mar 5, 2015 | Blog
I have had the good fortune of being asked to speak at the Buena Vista community’s Collegiate Peaks Form Series (CPFS) in April. The CPFS is a forum for lectures in Philosophy, Religion and Science in the Arkansas Valley area of Colorado. My topic is “Synergies in Seeking Self Consciousness: The Importance of Healing the Male and Female Archetype in us all.”
As I start to prepare for the lecture, my husband has been giving me ideas for jokes and levity to keep the audience engaged. When he suggested a few lines from the movie As Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt (both Oscar winners for their leading roles in the movie), I scoffed at the idea that I would lend credibility to the stereotypes that the funny scene invokes. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this comedic example does help further my point that we all need to balance the masculine and feminine aspects within us all.
If you aren’t familiar with the 1997 movie, Nicholson plays a famous reclusive malcontent writer and Hunt plays a single mom who is a waitress at Nicholson’s favorite restaurant. The scene that Pat suggested as levity takes place between Nicholson and a receptionist at his publishing house. The receptionist, to Nicholson’s horror, is trying to tell him what his work means to her and how well his writing understands what is in her heart and her head. The receptionist asks him: “How do you write women so well?” His response is, “I think of a man and take away all reason and accountability.”
This scene demonstrates the stereotype of women and men thinking differently as a consequence of them being different genders. The premise of my topic is that we will all be more evolved versions of ourselves when we balance the male and female aspects within ourselves to make a whole and complete healed being.
Let’s take the traditional interpretation of the left and right sides of the brain, as example. In our society, people (regardless of gender) who are tax accountants and engineers might be considered “left brained” in that their professions require a lot of logic, linear thinking, analysis, order and planning. This type of thinking is considered more masculine. Whereas, artists and actors are considered “right brained” because their professions are intuitive, creative, spontaneous and “in the flow”. These traits are traditionally considered more feminine type thinking. However, when we look at anything in its parts, we may be missing the larger points about its whole.
You do want a tax accountant who is logical with the good analysis skills and the ability to plan. But, accountants who are the most valuable to their clients are the accountants that can combine the left brain logic with the right brain creativity. Many can read the tax law, it is those that interpret the tax law who find creative solutions to their client’s needs that are using both sides of their brains. (We will leave the ethical discussion of whether creative accountants have been using both sides of their brains for “good” or for “evil” for another day!) The point is that true problem solving is a mixture of logic and intuition, analysis and creativity. Balancing the traditional aspects of masculine thinking and feminine thinking is where the true wisdom is. Using logic ONLY can be stifling in its structure. Using creativity ONLY can produce a lot of ideas but might not allow for the follow through to bring something into form. Both are required for balance.
This desire and need for balancing logic and creativity is not dependent on which physical form a person has. The idea that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus in its extremes does a disservice to both men and women who strive for balance.
As humans, we are served better by both “feminine” and “masculine” characteristics well balanced in wisdom, well balanced in power and well balanced in love. When we have balanced that within ourselves and within our societies, that is truly As Good As It Gets.
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