I’m making the patio area outside my bedroom more private with latticework and 4×4′s. So far, so good. What do you think? I’m standing in the bamboo shooting directly toward the main suite entryway, which is behind the plants.  I made a cool screen of last season’s cut bamboo “bones”, fastening them horizontal on the vertical growing living bamboo. It’s pretty nifty. I just stuck a bunch of newly cut palmetto fronds in there, too. When ya live close, it’s nice to give everyone as much privacy as you can.

Yesterday was a busy day of administrative work and catching up on phone calls and emails.  I took a few breaks to walk through the property, picking up fallen branches and moving the sprinkler.  Earlier in the week, I’d cut a lot of the older, lower fronds off my sabal minor palmettos.  I also have some sabal minor Mccurtains that I leave untrimmed.  I picked up the trimmed fronds (with gloves this time!) and wove them into the driveway wall, filling in the empty spaces.  I have to leave the structure very airy so the wind can blow freely, and not knock it down.  Until the freeze in February 2000 something, a five feet tall ficus hedge lined the driveway.  It just last year began coming back.   I love that the plants have a cycle, that all of Nature has a cycle.  It lets me know that nothing dies, everything is reborn in another form, ever changing.  That keeps me hopeful for the future.  Not just about my yard, but about my life.   Continue reading →

Now that I am down to one kitty and it’s just Yinnie and I, yesterday I thought about her eating habits.  She likes the dry food, which I know is not best for her. She eats very little canned food, maybe 1/2 can a day.  I don’t know how much natural diet she eats since when I see her outside, she is lounging in the sun and rarely hunting.  I thought, as little as she eats (altho she’s plump – must be the kibble) I will just cook her food when I cook my own.  We began last night with some rotisserie chicken breast with cooked spinach.  She looked amused and ate some kibble and split out the cat door.  Ok, cans and kibble it is.

Interesting how the Universe arranges it so that someone we’ve known for years can suddenly appear before us in an entirely new way, giving glimpses of depths and dimensions never before noticed. It’s all in perfect timing, that “not connecting before now” part.  The chalice had to be in place to receive the elixir.  It’s nice when both can recognize that. A friend commented on Facebook, “Make sure no fool’s gold this time.”  I responded, “It’s never fool’s gold, it’s ALL valuable. There is magic to letting yourself live in the dream for as long as you can.”

I like working in the dark.  When I’m doing my writing or session work, the low light allows me to stay inwardly focused.  I have red bulbs I use for nighttime keyboard work without impairing my night vision.  I have two huge windows but keep privacy curtains drawn to keep the room dim.  Then there are days like today, when I want to see every inch of everything on my desks.  I moved my one big standing halogen lamp out of the bedroom and into the office and now it’s like daylight in here!  So now there’s no excuse but to get the work done, now that I can see it, huh?

Izzy DaBig Giant Kitty

My big kitty Izzy passed away yesterday morning. I’m happy he’s free from discomfort and is on to his next evolutionary stage. The first thing I do when there’s a change in the household is to clean and rearrange everything, and do a smudging of the space.  As I opened the first can of food for my YinYang, I realized she prefers the dry (and the outside buffet) so she eats only about 1/3 can twice a day.  I wondered if she would miss Izzy, always hissing as he went by. Like me, she prefers to stay off by herself.  As humans, we imagine our pets have the same emotions and thoughts about

YinYang, my Minicow Yinnie

things as we do.  Silly, they adapt, they go with the flow. Last night, she followed me as I did my nightly walk around the hood.  Later, in the recliner, she jumped in my lap and let me pet her.  When I dozed and awoke 3 hours later, she was sleeping across my chest.  After an hour’s sitting meditation, I called her as I went into bed.  As I was drifting back off to sleep, I felt her jump up and snuggle onto the pillow around my head.  Kitties know.

 Domino still has issues with her father that bleed over into her relationships now with men (surprise!)  She asked me how she could do Forgiveness Work on him when he’s been dead for many years.  I told her it doesn’t matter if someone is alive or dead, where the issue lives is in our consciousness, and we are the ones who control our perceptions there.  My process is this. It’s pretty standard and very freeing.

1 — Place a chair across from you. In your mind’s eye, imagine sitting across from you anyone with whom you do not feel total alignment or support.

2 — Imagine an infinite source of Love and healing flowing into the top of your head (from your Higher Self or the Creator/God/whatever of your understanding), and let the source of love and healing flow down inside your body, fill up the body, and overflow out your heart to heal the person in the chair before you.

3 — Have a discussion with the person.  Tell them anything you want them to know.  Remember they did the best they could under the conditions at that time.  You don’t know what struggles they were going through.  Imagine them responding to you as you would like to be responded to and understood.

4 — Forgive them.  Tell them you’re sorry for your part in whatever happened, and ask them to forgive you.  Thank them for their part in your life.  Tell them you love them and mean it. “I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me, I forgive you, thank you.”

5 — Imagine standing up with the person before you.  With a hand swipe motion, cut the cords between you.  All past issues are now dissolved.  Imagine the person walking away as you feel love and forgiveness for them.

Related: Hawaiian Forgiveness Ho’oponopono Process 

Hard as it is, get used to death
Her perception upon dying
A Friend and I Talk About Dying and Easy Transitions
Remember “we” survive after death of the body
How to forgive and find closure if the other is unwilling, absent or dead  
Why pretend loved ones aren’t going to die? Let’s get over the fear

The End of Death As We Know It: What The Crossing Over Experience Was Like, As Reported By Those Who Made The Transition

Izzy DaBig Giant Kitty

My big kitty Izzy passed away this morning.  What a blessing, he’s now out of discomfort and on to better times. What a caterpillar calls death, we call a butterfly.  The friend I got him from said, “His mother passed away at 7 from a heart defect common to mainecoons. I’m glad you had almost double the time with him. He was a beautiful, gentle giant and will be missed.”  Aho, my big kitty, until we meet again.

Her Perception Upon Dying
As you watched my body lapse and fail,
I watched Creation unfold in all its Glory;

As my body contorted as though in pain,
all I felt was joyful bliss at glimpsing what lie beyond.

My final tears were not in frustration of incapacity,
they sprang forth in welcome relief and freedom

My lack of response concerned you so
yet I heard every word and felt every kiss

While my tongue was quiet, my mind’s eye was filled
with sights and sensations of such Loving immersion
that no words could begin to describe it; so I didn’t even try.

Rather, perhaps selfishly, I chose to slip my grateful shell of a body
and merge myself in the brilliant Light and Radiance
of that overwhelmingly loving and comforting Presence
that so benevolently graced my final days.

Copyright 1999 Andrea deMichaelis. A channelled message from the nonphysical perspective of one who recently made their transition. This came to me during a telephone reading in response to a daughter inquiring about a beloved parent who had recently passed.

RELATED:  The End of Death As We Know It

My beloved YinYand died June 2015

As you make your bed, so shall you lie in it.  Make sure no worries or past baggage come into bed with you each night.  I do a nightly review to clear away any concerns of the day, and do any forgiveness work, etc. at that time too. It’s like a cleansing, so I’m not marinating in toxic concerns all night.

Just when I began to think how fortunate I was to have lucked upon another brother on the path, I saw him as the chameleon.  He was distracted for a time, immersed himself obsessively, but the fruit is the evidence of the inner work being done.   His interests lie elsewhere. A brother on the Path is a sacred relationship to me.  I have been blessed with several in my time.  They act as teacher and student, as muse and artist, as we walk along side each other on the path to awakening and upliftment of consciousness.  This is not a romantic/sexual relationship.  I find this work is easier done with a man who lives a monastic lifestyle, or who has a partner of many years who understands the work we are doing together. One such brother passed several years ago.  I will by my dedication to my practice attract another if that is what is best meant for me, otherwise I shall happily travel my path alone.