by Lori | Sep 7, 2022 | Blog
Baseball: America’s pastime. Or is it – Baseball: Past time, America?
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Major League Baseball has seen its attendance and television ratings steadily drop amid concerns about sluggish play. Changes, including a pitch clock and automated strike zone, could be on the way.”
Enter The Savannah Bananas, a college summer team, encouraging splits instead of slides and caring for the fan “a-peel” more than the score. The Bananas Team is the brainchild of owner, Jesse Cole.
Again, from the Los Angeles Times:
Jesse Cole serves as ringmaster, darting around in a yellow tuxedo and top hat, leading sing-alongs — Woah, livin’ on a prayer — and judging toddler races between innings. Lanky and frenetic, Cole is equal parts P.T. Barnum and Walt Disney, with a bit of “Saturday Night Live.”
“We’ve always been very clear about our goal,” he says. “We exist to make baseball fun.”
His team looks like another Harlem Globetrotters at first glance, but the competition is genuine and there is something potentially important at work.
The Bananas are a step ahead, packing ballparks throughout the South and Midwest, transforming themselves into a national brand with highlights on ESPN and 2.5 million TikTok followers. MLB executives say they are watching for any ideas that might make their game more “fan-friendly.”
The team dresses in bright yellow. Fans can buy banana costumes to wear during the game. Some baseball rules have been changed, like if a fan catches a foul ball, the player is out. Base coaches dance. One pitcher throws the ball while wearing stilts and another twerks before throwing a strike. Everyone is having fun. Even the opposing teams start to ripen to the idea, getting into the scripted parts of the team introductions before settling down to playing the game. The emphasis is on having fun and entertaining everyone. Meet the Savannah Bananas, who wow fans and have MLB’s attention – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
If you read my last blog post, you will know it was about the Air Guitar World Championship in Finland earlier in August. It started with this quote.
“It is ridiculous. It is as silly and absurd as it sounds. In fact, that’s why I wanted to start being an air guitarist to begin with, because I saw that this thing existed and I’m like, ‘That is the stupidest thing ever. I want to be the best in the world at that.’” So says, Justin “Nordic Thunder” Howard, the World Champion Air Guitarist in 2012. Make Air Not War – Standing in the Light (iamstandinginthelight.com)
We have a theme here. Cultivating and living in the energy of “more fun.” Besides the sheer joy of these activities, there is science behind living a more fun filled and joyful life.
NPR Life Kit has a podcast called: How to have fun – even when life’s got you down. How to have fun : Life Kit : NPR
This podcast, hosted by Julia Furlan, interviews Catherine Price who authored the book The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.
In her book, Price defines true fun as “a time when you are able to embody a mix of three things: playfulness, connection and flow.”
Price goes on to explain playfulness, connection and flow.
Playfulness:
“Playfulness is when you embrace a spirit of lightheartedness and freedom. It means letting go of the idea that you have to be perfect or to achieve something.”
Connection:
“You feel a sense of connection with the activity that you’re doing. You feel a sense of connection with your physical body. Or, most likely, you feel a sense of connection with another person or group of people through a shared experience.”
Flow:
“You know that thing where you’re totally immersed in something and can even lose track of time? That.”
All of these energies are going to raise our vibration, and that is what Spirit encourages us to do daily.
SPARK:
Finally, Price has an acronym to help us remember how to find and focus on fun.
S — Make space for fun! Put your phone down, or even set aside some time on your calendar to make sure you are really dedicating yourself to looking for fun.
P — Pursue passions. “You don’t need to put pressure on yourself and think ‘I’m going to become a professional snowboarder,'” Price says. Set the bar low! Look for things that interest you and let those guide you.
A — A is for attracting fun, which means having an open mind about when and where fun might appear. Price recommends an improv-style “yes, and” approach to having fun, where you look for fun as well as jump into other folks’ fun.
R — Rebellion! Price found in her research that a little bit of gentle rebellion was a good way to make fun happen. So, jump in a pool with your clothes on! Stepping out of what is expected of you can be a great way to seek out fun moments.
K — Keep at it! Like any new practice, the only way to really incorporate it into your life is to try it many times. So don’t give up if basket weaving doesn’t work for you — maybe it’ll be guitar or making zines or working in the community garden that becomes your next fun magnet!
Whether you try your hand at air guitar, join the crowd at a Savannah Bananas game or watch a favorite sitcom, take stock in what you are doing. Try not to multitask away the joy of one activity by sandwiching it in with another thing on your to-due list. Try to see the beauty and fun of being present with each of your experiences. Marsha’s latest blog entry addresses this idea as well. How Are You Drinking Your Tea? – Marsha Hankins
Being present will help us remember the joy and fun of being alive, and the joy and fun of being human. That is the greatest show on earth.
Gratitude to S Hermann with Pixabay.com for the image.
by Lori | Aug 30, 2022 | Blog
“It is ridiculous. It is as silly and absurd as it sounds. In fact, that’s why I wanted to start being an air guitarist to begin with, because I saw that this thing existed and I’m like, ‘That is the stupidest thing ever. I want to be the best in the world at that.'” So says, Justin “Nordic Thunder” Howard, the World Champion Air Guitarist in 2012.
Nordic Thunder was a judge at this year’s competition which was held in Oulu, Finland, this last weekend. (August 26, 2022.) You can view the live stream here, if you like. Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland
The competition started in 1996. As stated on the group’s website, “The purpose of the Air Guitar World Championships is to promote world peace. According to the ideology of the competition, wars would end, climate change stop and all bad things disappear, if all the people in the world played the Air Guitar. This is why the whole universe is invited to play the Air Guitar for world peace at the end of the competition.” Story – Air Guitar World Championships
The group’s belief is you can’t hold a gun if you are holding an air guitar. The group also states that air guitars are accessible to all without regard to gender, age, race, economic status or sexual orientation.
If you watch any of the live stream, what you will find is joy and ridiculousness. It is marvelous. It made me smile and raised my vibration. The playfulness and the joy of the alter ego inducing atmosphere is hard to deny.
If you ever need to get yourself out of a funk and allow the energy of fun into your life, consider the benefits of putting on some 80’s hard rock, big hair band song and really allow your inner Eddie Van Halen to soar. What song will inspire you to aim for new heights and new joy?
by Ginger | Aug 26, 2022 | Blog
Walking on a path through open space today, I spotted a bright yellow cluster of leaves amid a forest of deep green. I wondered, “Why those particular leaves first?” Out of all the trees lining the path and all the green still on this one tree, these few leaves volunteered to be the first to stop producing chlorophyll in preparation for Fall. In its innate wisdom, this tree knew that it was time to start shutting down, and in their innate wisdom, these leaves knew they were best place to start. They were in complete sync with the needs of the entire organism and surrendered to the transition.
What would happen if these leaves feared being the first to brown and die, so they refused to change? What would happen if these leaves believed that going first meant they were the best and decided to start changing too early, throwing off the equilibrium of the tree and threatening its health? We know what would happen because our human egos make decisions from these types of emotions and reasoning. This kind of decision making is what damages relationships, creates inequities in community resources and causes massive turmoil throughout the planetary environment.
What would happen if we could surrender fully to the flow of life, free of judgment or fear? Connect with the peace and freedom of honoring that flow. We talk about honoring each season for its natural rhythm, but we can also honor the transition of the seasons, allowing ourselves to be in sync with the temporary imbalances of seasonal change.
This month, I invite you to celebrate the transition of one season to another. There is value in the transition itself. Before you jump from the essence of summer into the energy of autumn, enjoy the uncertainty and variety in this time of change. What is this season of change teaching you? In nature, this time of year is marked by some days starting with a sharp crisp in the air while others reflect the diminishing warm days of summer. Sometimes the bustling energy of the coming harvest is called for and other times bring us back to the lazy relaxation of hot summer. Look for parallel shifts in your own life and focus on being in sync with them.
Celebrate the unique rhythm and essence of transition itself. Feel the total, absolute peace of surrender to the process of change. The nature of the universe is constant motion, and you are the essence of the universe. You are movement itself. Relish the experience. Enjoy the ride.
image courtesy of Anita Smith on Pixabay
by Ginger | Jul 30, 2022 | Blog
I was prompted to ask myself the question “What do you know for sure?” while watching Oprah Winfrey’s “Super Soul Sunday”. This is a question she frequently likes to ask her guests. Unsurprisingly, the answers are often simple and quite similar in their essence but always profound. If you ask this of yourself at different times, you may hear variations on the theme, depending on what is being highlighted in your life and what you most need to remember at that time. But, when you ask with a genuinely open heart, you will always hear Divine Truth and you will hear exactly what is perfect for that moment.
What do I know for sure? When I asked this of my Soul this time, the answer came that we are all created out of Love and that same Love is from the one Source which is the essence of who we all are. In that moment, I knew it to be absolute divine truth, but I also realized that I do not always fully experience this. I was reminded that while I do know it to be true on one level, I don’t always believe it to be true on other levels and therefore do not always see it out-pictured in my world. But that experience is my creation, not the world’s. When I allow the outer world to distract me from what I know, my mind fills the vacuum by falling back into old habits of belief in separation and judgment. The moment I quiet my mind and re-connect with my inner truth, what I know for sure, I bring my vibration back into alignment with my divine self.
Re-connect with what you know for sure and allow that truth to anchor you permanently in divine reality. Hold yourself firmly to that anchor, especially in times of stress and fear when the “false evidence appearing real” is starting to pull you out of alignment, and use that anchor as your unshakeable touchstone and guidepost for your actions and words. Your response to “What do I know for sure?” is one of the most powerful statements in the universe because to answer it is not just to believe it but to know and vibrate that truth through your whole being. That statement becomes your creation.
image courtesy of Gerd Altman on Pixabay
by Lori | Jul 28, 2022 | Blog
Recently, I thought of a line from the 2007 movie, Charlie Wilson’s War. The movie is based on a true story of United States Representative from Texas, Charlie Wilson, played by Tom Hanks, who wants to help the Afghan freedom fighters against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980’s. Wilson is able to get congressional funding for the CIA to operate covertly in Afghanistan with the help of other countries in the region against the Soviets. An unlikely ally to Wilson is a Texas socialite, Joanne Herring, played by Julia Roberts, who believes it is her Christian duty to help the Afghans. In the movie, Herring is trying to raise awareness for the Afghan plight with her wealthy friends by framing the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets as a religious issue instead of a military issue.
At one point in the movie, Wilson asks Herring to dial back the religious rhetoric because, in a covert war, the US needs to have plausible deniability that it is not funding the operation. Otherwise, a covert war becomes an overt war and that isn’t what the parties want. Herring’s rejoinder is “I can’t modulate God’s Will.” Wilson replies, “you can try.”
Remembering this got me thinking about all the times I am trying to modulate Divine Will and why I might try doing that. The answer, for me, seems to come back to the combination of fear and lack of trust.
I don’t have enough trust in the highest plan for me and my role in the highest plan for all. I want to negotiate with Source in order for the highest plan to be more acceptable to me from a 3D standpoint. I am trying to control the outcome to make it easier, more gentle, less painful, etc. It is not that I truly believe that the highest plan for me is to be in pain, but instead of surrendering to the Divine Will, I am hedging my bets. Hedging my bets is going to put me in resistance. We all know the old saying “resistance equals pain”. The resistance will prolong me being in the illusion. If I want to see through the illusion and end the experiment in duality, I need to stop negotiating with my Soul / with me as Source.
No Negotiation. Yes Creation.
As long as I am negotiating, I am in fear. (I originally typed – “as long as I am negotiating from a position of fear” – and then I realized that as long as I am negotiating, I am in fear. Full stop. No question about it. Negotiating equals fear.)
However, we need to not confuse setting intentions and creating with negotiating. The goal is to be in co-creation with our Souls – our higher frequency aspects of Source.
Remember, “It is not the what, it is the why.” If our why for trying to create something is fear and negotiating, that is not coming from a high frequency and what we manifest will take on that lower frequency energy. That is exactly the opposite of what we are trying to do.
If we are setting intentions and co-creating with our Souls to manifest the highest possible version of the plan, the highest good of all, without judgement and without hedging our bets, then “the why” is a high frequency motive.
Negotiating with our Souls – low frequency creation. Creating with our Souls – high frequency creation. Creating with our Souls requires that we be in alignment and clear communication with our Souls.
Recommendation: Five Steps to Manifesting
How do we come into alignment and clear communication with our Souls? The recommendation from the Christ is as it has always been: The five steps to manifesting.
- Connect and align with your Soul
- Receive your Soul’s vision
- Release the blocks to manifesting the vision
- Resonate the vision
- Take action steps
These are the five steps to miracles, to knowing yourself as Source, and to Ascension.
Obviously, this is a reiterative process. Lather, rinse, repeat. If you are having trouble with connecting and being aligned, then try to see what the blocks are to being connected and aligned. Maybe as part of the resonance step, before you are able to connect and align with your Soul, you are guided to perform an energy healing modality on yourself or seek help from someone else. Healing modalities are high frequency resonances. The key is to keep trying with one step or another even if you aren’t able to take the steps in the recommended order all the time.
If you need to clear first, then clear first. If you need to bring in resonances first to lower resistance, then bring in resonances.
Following the steps as listed is the most efficient way to create. However, effectiveness is all about practicing, not giving up and finding a way to raise your frequency even if it is allowing in small slivers of light until you are willing to allow in more light more often.
Don’t give up. Don’t negotiate. Clear fear. Set intentions and create. Trust as though you have never had any reason to doubt. Trust because YOU ARE SOURCE.
Gratitude to Dan Fador with Pixabay.com for the beautiful image.
by Ginger | Jul 2, 2022 | Blog
Recently, while struggling to let go of some old patterns I’ve been holding for a long time, I heard my wise self asking me, “Are you willing to allow yourself to be human?” In that moment, I realized that I had become too focused on who I wanted to be and was not honoring the brilliance of who I am now.
As Lightworkers, we may find ourselves focused so much on remembering our divinity that we forget to honor and celebrate our humanity. Humans are unique expressions of Source. Human nature is fully divine, though we may each be in different stages of living that truth. Celebrating our uniqueness as humans is part of honoring and celebrating our divinity.
To the ancient Egyptians, the word “hu” was the original creation word and “man” is the physical form of that creation. To be human is, in the universal sense that transcends gender, to be a god-man, a creator being of Source. Our divinity expresses in our human creations. While humor is divine, laughter and tears are uniquely human. Beauty may be a cosmic force but admiring the brilliant colors in a sunset is a human activity. Love is truly universal, but a soft touch or a warm hug are very human experiences.
While it is still our path to continue healing those parts of our humanity which are in separation, it is also our path to enjoy this very unique experience of being human while we’re here on this Earth. Parts of our humanity may still be rooted in the illusion but they are also our keys to remembering ourselves as Source if we can freely embrace and understand them more deeply. It may be time to take a moment and ask yourself: Am I allowing myself to be human?
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
