I ran out this morning forgetting I had soup on the stove although I’d set two timers. I remembered 10 miles down the road. He stopped everything in the midst of doing a giant work project, went to my place and broke in under my instruction and turned down the stove.  My hero!  This was a real test for me. I resist ever asking anyone help me do anything.  I’d typically never ask when I know they are in the midst of something else.  It was a good lesson in surrender for me.

Keep silent or tell a truth that may save unknowing friends from heartache? Is that interference with their karmic lessons? Or do friends give friends the heads up? WWYD?  We may be judging someone prematurely. It could be they have returned to the area to make amends to those they’ve harmed in the past, to wipe the slate clean, to acknowledge their past actions and make it right with everyone involved. It could be they just didn’t get around to that part yet. It’s never too late. Our current relationships are only as conscious as how we left our previous ones, all of them, professional, personal, friends, lovers, family.  And to anyone I’ve ever knowingly or unknowingly disrespected, my only excuse was acting out of ignorance and I’m sorry. Feel free to ask for a public apology.  A friend remarked, “Forgive yes, for ourselves… but still use discernment. If someone truly has changed, their heart will not let them NOT apologize and
open the channels of communication so that all involved are able to heal. You can’t pretend nothing ever happened and sweep it under a rug. Think of the 12 step program. In apologizing the person who did the wrong is set free and gets the true healing.“

Michael Bradford is back on the Space Coast! The theme for readings this weekend has been “It’s deja vu all over again!” Twenty years ago, a self-proclaimed healer strolled into town, actively seeking a divinely inspired partner and soul mate. After many simultaneous secret relationships and taking financial advantage in the name of “healing,” he left a stormy wake in his path. Now he’s back. A friend let me know he has an ad on the local Cragislist seeking a best friend and fun mate, and he’s been to the POD, Creative Energy, Aquarian Dreams, What You Love To Do and the Thai Buddhist Temple. To anyone having that karma to clear up, consider it a blessing and let the healing begin.  Living in the same town for 30 years and getting to hear so many personal stories behind the scenes, I have more chance than most to recognize the patterns and the cycles when they come around. It’s like living many lifetimes at once, witnessing karma in action as an observer. It’s not my job to police what anyone else is doing nor determine what their karma with anyone might be. I know how tempting it can be to have a handsome, engaging man in front of you spouting spiritual truths and telling you they can heal you. I see it happen from time to time and I wrote about it here –> Guru or soulmate?  Continue reading →

I’m loving my new Rachael Ray anodized aluminum grill pan.  For lunch yesterday I made turmeric cinnamon jasmine rice and grilled zucchini and yellow squash in the grill pan. Maybe it was the grill marks distracting me, but it seemed to carmelize up quickly and taste better than simply sauteed.  I sliced them into thin planks for maximum grilling surface. A spritz of olive oil onto the grill, then onto the planks themselves.  Sprinkle crushed or dried rosemary, basil, tarragon, salt and pepper. Who knew a couple of squash could be so yummy and satisfying?  Then I created the perfect dessert, also in the grill pan: I sliced a banana into planks and lightly grilled it, then tossed in a half handful of fresh raspberries and raisins. I added a little water to plump up the raisins. It was delicious, much better than a bowl of ice cream. And zero fat or added sugar.

Spiritualist Chapel of Melbourne’s long time President, Paul Mattfeld crossed into spirit at 1 AM on Friday, January 2, 2015. There will be a Memorial Service for Paul on January 11, 2015, at 10:00 AM at The Spiritualist Chapel of Melbourne, 1924 Melody Lane, Melbourne, 32901 (this is the Easternmost small band practice building behind the Melbourne Auditorium). Open to all who wish to attend.

Writing relaxes me.  I don’t know the mechanics of why that is, but writing relaxes me.  At People who write “One study found that blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to the effect from running or listening to music.”  I do get a high of sorts when I write.  Blogging gives me a focus that helps organize my thoughts.   When I sit to write, I look at what I’ve been energetically taking in and I decide what I want to keep, what to write about and what to discard.  These moments of quiet reflection allow me to cutivate my thought field, to keep it freshly plowed and ready for new seeding.  I find if I am not mindful, if I don’t reflect and write about what is happening and how I feel about what is happening, it is easy for that thought field to become hard and crusted over with the thoughts, beliefs, angers and resentments of yesterday.   That’s when I find myself being close minded.  The act of writing lulls me into that mind space of feeling expanded and open, of dropping away concerns and seeing more clearly any outstanding issues.  Continue reading →

Do you keep going back and forth with one who deceives you?  A short and excellent article at the link .  And they are not all assh*les. Some are just so self centered they can’t take anyone else into account. But you stay despite how he treats you because you’re the only friend he has?? You might ask yourself “what does everyone else know that I don’t?”  Full article here –> http://elitedaily.com/dating/wakeup-call-good-girls-cant-end-things-bad-guys/625872/

The act of writing leads to strong physical and mental health benefits, like long-term improvements in mood, stress levels and depressive symptoms. Researchers found that just 15 to 20 minutes of writing three to five times over the course of the four-month study was enough to make a difference. By writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events, participants were significantly more likely to have fewer illnesses and be less affected by trauma. Participants spent less time in the hospital, had lower blood pressure and better liver function. Writing can make physical wounds heal faster as well. Even blogging or journaling is enough to see results. One study found that blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to the effect from running or listening to music.  Full article at http://mic.com/articles/98348/science-shows-writers-have-a-serious-advantage-over-the-rest-of-us

Do you know what I learned from writing?  The more personal you are willing to be and the more intimate you are willing to be about the details of your own life, the more universal you are.  When you recognize that pain — and response to pain — is a universal thing, it helps explain so many things about others, just as it explains so much about yourself. It teaches you forbearance. It teaches you a moderation in your responses to other people’s behavior. It teaches you a sort of understanding. If someone truly feels that you understand them, an awful lot of neurotic behavior just disappears — disappears on your part, disappears on their part. So if you’re talking about what motivates this world to continue existing as a community, you’ve got to talk about love… It comes out of your biology because on some level we understand all of this.  Full article at –> http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/01/02/sherwin-nuland-what-everybody-needs/

Benny’s sacred space is the couch. It’s the only place YinYang won’t go for him. I fell asleep on the couch today with Benny at my feet. I woke up with Ben gone and YinYang on my pillow. In two years she’s never jumped up there. Sorry, Yinnie, you can’t be trusted not to rip off my face or his. I set her in the recliner.

As I was dozing off earlier I had the thought, “Someone new is going to write me a check for $660.” I woke up to an email, someone new asking for a price for her ad for two months (not a typical sized ad.) The price? You guessed it.