by Ginger | Mar 31, 2023 | Blog
“What we believe is a new movement, a new understanding as to how valuable community is… It’s an understanding that we have to move from the transactional side of thinking that we can solve these giant human problems to a relational side that says it takes relationships, you and I, one on one, human to human, heart to heart in order to really begin to move that needle.” -Alan Graham, Founder and CEO of Mobile Loaves and Fishes
What an elegant and down-to-earth way to describe the essential elements of true and lasting healing for everyone everywhere. We cannot solve our current issues just by finding that perfect action step, new system or outer world solution. This is daunting at first because true change takes time and consistent attention. The crisis of displaced persons will not be solved by simply building cheap housing. Hunger will not be solved by simply handing out food. Creating lasting change to systemic racism, sexism, agism, etc. takes more than carefully worded legislation. The outer world changes must support inner world shifts, and those inner shifts can only come from connection, mutual respect, and a deeper understanding of our true selves. Change must be inclusive and wholistic.
The opening quote in this blog came from a documentary called “Community First: A Home for the Homeless” which featured interviews with residents and staff at a community in Austin, Texas created to serve and support those who had been living long-term without a permanent dwelling. The founder’s vision was to create more than just structures to house people but a whole community to build relationships, trust, security, self-confidence and a genuine sense of purpose. Most residents were formerly chronically homeless while a few residents voluntarily left large houses to downsize and live in community and service. Residents needing help to become self-supporting are assisted with setting up cottage industries to earn a living and pay rent. Mental health and social services are provided to help some residents transition from insecure, and often traumatic, situations to a more stable environment. Residents collectively elect their peers to serve on a community council. It is a whole, integrated system for the entire community to both receive and give service.
The root word “whole” in “holistic” reminds us that we are so inter-connected and our systems so integrated that we cannot truly heal individually until we experience all healing as part of a greater whole. All healing creates ripples across the same lake, no matter where those ripples originate. If that lake becomes unbalanced and diseased, we cannot scoop out the diseased parts of the water, try to heal it and then pour it back into the same lake where it became diseased in the first place. The entire lake functions as a whole system and healing must happen as a whole. From this consciousness, even the simplest action can create whole-world healing.
image courtesy of GDJ on Pixabay
by Lori | Mar 28, 2023 | Blog
My husband and I were recently watching the movie Paul, the 2011 movie starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Seth Rogan. Rogan voices the animated alien, Paul, and Pegg and Frost are Sci-Fi geeks touring America’s famous UFO sighting areas. Paul asks the two humans to drive him from the UFO landing sites in the Southwestern states to Wyoming in order for him to be picked up by his fellow planet inhabitants. My husband was willing to suspend his critical thinking regarding the possibility of an alien living in the United States for 50 years, helping Steven Spielberg to write movies, create the characters for the X-Files and advise the government on a host of topics. However, Pat had to step up his willingness to suspend his logical thinking regarding how fast the characters were able to drive from the Southwest to Devil’s Tower in the Northeast corner of Wyoming. I love when it is the practical aspects of movies and stories that are the hardest for us to suspend our disbelief.
“Suspension of disbelief” is the term used to describe when story tellers use the audience’s willingness to overlook improbable situations in order for the audience to enjoy the narrative of the story being told.
While we were watching Paul, I realized that our relationship with the Experiment in Duality is actually very similar to novels and movies where we have to buy-in to the facts and circumstances presented in order to participate and believe the narrative being told. But, unlike with novels and movies where we suspend our disbelief, when we joined the Experiment in Duality, we needed to suspend our BELIEF. We suspended our belief in ourselves as limitless, as love, as powerful, as forgiving and compassionate. We suspended our belief in our oneness with all beings. We suspended our belief in ourselves as Source.
Like a favorite movie, we need to allow ourselves to enjoy while we are here in the Experiment in Duality and just like in movies, we need to remember this is just an illusion. We need to step out of the narrative whether we are enjoying it or not and remember what is really true. We need to remember and believe that we are Source.
by Lori | Mar 1, 2023 | Blog
“When I stumble, I make it part of the dance.” A friend of mine recently said this. What a fabulous life philosophy. I believe it should be all of our intentions for ridding ourselves of self-judgment. This philosophy turns something that we judge to be a mistake into something new and creative. This turns a lifestyle from ridged and fear based into a willingness to try something out of our comfort level even if we might not be perfect from the very first moment.
Consider this. Break dancing (or breaking) started as street dancing in New York in the 1970s and went hand in hand with Hip Hop Music. I like to think that someone was trying something they had never tried before and they stumbled onto this creative dance movement which has become an art form. To that end, breaking will have its debut as an Olympic Sport in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
Just image what else we could evolve into an art form in such a short timeframe if we simply lived by the philosophy of “When I stumble, I make it part of the dance.”
Gratitude to Pete Linforth for the image.
by Ginger | Feb 28, 2023 | Blog
Each year, I check with my Soul for overall themes and areas of focus in my healing. One of the things I’ve been guided to work on this year is letting go of attachments to the past: past events and situations, past actions or words, past beliefs about who I thought I was supposed to be or how I was supposed to act. The key is to allow ourselves to integrate the wisdom from these experiences while letting go of the specific story rooted in the third dimension.
While in meditation, I was reviewing past events where I felt regret and asking for clarity about the roots of that regret. What I heard was that I wasn’t being true to my divine self in each of those examples and I was still feeling responsible for the ripple effects, however small, of not having been able to act from a higher frequency in those moments. I was resistant to letting go of what the lower self still saw as a history that made me into “me”.
I heard to start with looking at these past events not as my stories but as stories from the collective, belonging to all. I began to see these events with myself as an actor in a much larger ensemble cast so the details of my “character” became integral parts of the greater storyline in the Experiment in Duality. The potential wisdom from these events is available to all who tap into their higher wisdom and see the unfoldment from the perspective of the observing audience, what some call the silent witness. When we remember ourselves as aspects of Source, we have all of the wisdom and understanding of all aspects of Source. When we surrender the details and take responsibility for our own part in the healing, we can offer the wisdom and growth gained from those experiences to the collective consciousness.
We don’t need to have every possible experience in this lifetime, or even in all of our lifetimes, in order to benefit from the collective healing that each Source aspect experiences. We have each chosen to highlight certain experiences and work on certain themes of healing in our unique evolution but we still benefit and learn from the unique spiritual path of all beings. The more we release our personal stories to the collective wisdom, the more we open ourselves to understand more deeply from that same collective wisdom. In this way, we can continue to play our unique part while honoring our role as part of a much greater whole.
Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay
by Lori | Jan 29, 2023 | Blog
I am reading a novel by Sarah Addison Allen called “Other Birds”. The lead character, Zoey, is an 18-year-old woman who lives with an invisible bird. The bird has a huge personality, sits on the Zoey’s head and pecks at the door when she wants to be let out in the morning. Zoey says that just because something is invisible doesn’t mean it is imaginary.
This is a great reminder for all of us regarding the power of the unseen. There are many things that we see the effects of the force without seeing the force. Wind and gravity are usually the first two forces that come to mind. But, what about the more subtle forces and energies that we don’t see that have big impact on our lives and our evolution.
Most of you reading this post probably have some training in a healing modality that is not visible to the human eye. We work with Reiki, Light, Resonances and Life Force Energy. We know that others don’t see what we feel but that doesn’t make it imaginary. And we have all seen the effects of the energy we work with, even if it is within ourselves and the result is as simple as our sense of peace.
As February rolls around with its celebration of Valentine’s Day, we also may not see the energy of love, but we definitely can feel the effects of it and the effects when it is withheld. How many of the world’s issues right now would be healed with more true love – healed love – swirling around us? Probably all of them. That isn’t a Pollyanna view. It is the view that what ails us as individuals, as communities and nations is a lack of understanding, a lack of acceptance, a lack of compassion and a lack of love.
This February, allow your love energy to shine. Allow Healed Masculine Love Energy and Healed Feminine Love Energy into your being – into your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual beings. Allow the Healed Balanced Love Energy into your life and allow yourself to send Healed Balanced Love Energy to all around you, your communities and to all the world, as well.
Be the beacon of love. Be the beacon of energy that is invisible but is very real. Be the truth of your love.
Gratitude to Anja with Pixabay.com for the image above.
by Ginger | Jan 29, 2023 | Blog
I recently pulled my copy of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz off my shelf to re-connect with its energy. It’s a beautifully poetic story teaching us about the illusion of separation we’ve created. In the book, Ruiz offers four simple statements as a daily guide for reminding ourselves of the truth of who we are. Universal truth may be simple, but it’s incredibly powerful. I share them here with you:
Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Don’t Make Assumptions. Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
For myself, I’ve found that what these four principles boil down to is helping me to stay fully present in the moment with love and openness. When I commit to asking myself these questions about my thoughts, words and actions, I am reminding myself to be as aware and conscious of my underlying intentions as I am able in that moment. What we intend becomes our reality. It may not be the reality, the truth of the universe, because we are still in the illusion, but it becomes our reality and experience. Our intentions are powerful and they come from all aspects of our being, especially the subconscious parts of ourselves that are not fully in our awareness. These four statements are tools to help bring those hidden intentions to the conscious level so that we can heal what is out of alignment with our divine truth. Use these along with the other healing tools in your spiritual toolbelt and enjoy your creations!
Image by 0fjd125gk87 from Pixabay
