Yearly Archives: 2013

Reconnecting the neurons and regulating brain chemistry naturally

I’ve been sketching, which I haven’t done in months, letting the neurons reconnect, releasing my fave neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin, the feel good chemicals released in the brain as I get those synapses firing again.  I always have several projects going on at one time, always starting something new to keep my brain firing on all cylinders, so to speak. Lately, calculating math does that for me as well but sketching is so much more fun.

The brain, if kept in good shape, can continue to build pathways.  The trick is finding ways to keep brain connections in good condition and to grow more of them.  The brain is plastic and continues to change, not in getting bigger but allowing for greater complexity and deeper understanding.  One way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions we’ve have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should jiggle their synapses by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own, doing new things and finding a variety of new ways to express themselves creatively.

 

“Remember where you came from, where you are going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place. Remember. It’s all good training, and you’ll enjoy it more if you keep the facts in mind.”  Richard Bach, Illusions

Astrologically, a friend has the planet Uranus in her 12th house, with challenging aspects

A galpal is going through some confusing times and I did her astrological transits for her.  The transits are a predictive astrology report showing where the planets are now and how they are  aspecting the birth planets.  Right now she has the planet Uranus in her 12th house, wherein we are invited to face the evolutionary limitations created by attachment to our individuality and circumstances begin to arise, helping us let go.  It can be an intense and confusing time, but it can also be a real impetus to put hand to the plow and do what needs to be done, in surrender. Her interpretations read: Continue reading

A brother on the Path is a sacred relationship

It was good to connect with an old friend today and have a long, deep talk again on things that really matter.  Things that very few others are interested in to any depth.  That very few other friends really grok.  I like having friends who can dive deep when needed, who stimulate my mind, with whom I can share synchronistic moments of realization during separate times of contemplation.  Having a brother on the Path is a sacred relationship to me. They act as teacher and student, as muse and artist, as we lift each other to higher levels of realization, along this shared journey of evolution of consciousness.

“Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt – marvelous error! – that I had a beehive here inside my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my past mistakes.”  ~ Antonio Machado

4:08am and… rushing to meditation??

“OMG 4:08am I must rush to meditation. I cannot be late!” When I have thoughts like these, attached to ideas that somehow success depends on me meeting specific goals in specific time frames, that is when meditation serves me well. I can observe my attachment if emotion arises as I choose to decide I am late.

RELATED: Meditation links

Elizabeth Gilbert: A soul mate’s purpose is to shake you up so much that you have to transform your life

“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.   A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.   A soul mate’s purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life. Whatever they fired up in you needed to be fired up, but then they needed to go.
Elizabeth Gilbert

RELATED:  Thank you to one of my soul mates

Keeping a secret, I get to watch the spin in action

In an “emergency” reading last night with a long standing client, he handed the phone to a friend of his who had a very exciting story to tell.  The story will hit the national news any day now.  It will be interesting to observe who has what spin on the matter, who will be promoting what viewpoint, and for what gain.  Sadly, I won’t write about it again until maybe years later when everything is public record.  Ah, yes, the waiting game.  Until then, the secret is safe with me. There is something very delicious about having a secret, knowing something that no one knows, and no one knows you know. Especially if it’s something that would give you a little edge up, some social cachet if it were known. I love secrets like that.  Continue reading

I pull out the acrylic paints for the first time in years. Izzy watercolored as a tiger.

Why in the middle of final layout week I felt the urge to take the paints out into the yard in this wind for several hours, I have no idea. And not the watercolors, mind you, no, the acrylics. I’ll share that one later, maybe.  Here’s a watercolor I did of Izzy in 2001, I made him a tiger.  This was the year after my hands got dinged in the car accident and my drawing/painting style became… um, simpler and more child like 🙂  I see here I had to use every color I had…  I haven’t had the acrylics out for over 2 years.  I need to set up the back office as the studio so I can keep the easels and supplies all set up.  It’s got the good light in there also.  Even more so if I knocked out that wall…