It’s hard sometimes to recognize when your prayers are being answered, isn’t it? That’s because we’re being answered in ways we didn’t expect.  Lotsa folks saying they want to shake up their life, they want a new beginning, just wake up and have it be a new day and start fresh. They seek a new perspective or a spiritual reboot.  It seems Hurricane Matthew has been a great catalyst for both this week for some of us.  Shaken out of our habitual routine by having no power, by having no wifi, no internet access, no running water, by water and gasoline not being readily available, we are forced to look at who we are without the overlays we’ve grown comfortable with. If we take these as the soul lessons they are and contemplate the thoughts that arise in the silence, we will be guided to thoughts and ideas that will allow us to lead happier lives, answer all our questions and gain deep fulfillment.    Continue reading →

Until my power is restored, I have an extension cord run from my neighbor’s home to mine. It’s attached to a power strip where I hook up a fan, a lamp, a phone charger. During the day when I’m in the living room, I have the cord in there. At night when I go into my bedroom, I unhook the fan and the lamp and haul the giant orange 50 foot extension cord with me to the other end of the house. When I wake up and go into my office, I pick the big cord up and I carry it all in there. Since I’ve been doing a lot of yard clean-up and raking post-hurricane, I’m aware of how heavy the power cord feels because my arms are kind of tired. But I don’t have a choice if I want power in each room as I go about my day and night.  I reflect that though sometimes I get tired of hauling the power around with me, it beats the alternative and having no power at all. So when you’re feeling worn out and worn down from having to be the one responsible for the power in your life in every single moment, remember what an honor and blessing it is to have access to it at all.
***And yes that’s a metaphor (isn’t everything?) and no I’m not just talking about electricity 🙂

Every time your world changes and you reach a new level, it presents you with new “devils” to contend with. But whenever you’re presented with new challenges, you are also in the same moment presented with guidance to overcome them. So consider that whenever you’re observing what you think is a “devil,” is simply an angel taking you to a new level.

It’s all about perception. Neighbor across the street asked what all that racket was the last 2 hours. I told him it was the neighbor behind me putting his privacy fence back up, And he’s doing it about 30 feet from where I sit. My doors and windows are wide open so I can hear every screw go in and every hammer blow yet I am not bothered by the sound as he is. To me the sound represents him getting his life back on track and that inspires me that my power will soon be on and I can do the same. In fact I’m about ready to fall asleep in my recliner and I find the sounds very soothing. Maybe that’s because my dad was a carpenter and there was always something being built so that’s a soothing sound for me. Anyway it’s all about perception we can choose to let things bother us or we can just go with the flow. Signed, a loud snorer.

Faced with inevitable change, the choice was mine. I would fight until my spirit was weary or I could release all resistance and create something new in my changed world. — Dean Jackson

I see my spiritual brother Tod McNeal has offered chainsawing of downed trees in his area in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. My first thought is to yell at him because he has a severe cut injury on one hand that was just repaired a week ago. He should be resting it for 6 weeks while it heals, not doing heavy duty work with it.  And then I remembered that I was buying into the illusion. Strength and healing comes when we keep energy in motion.  No matter what limited resources you have, no matter what little bit of strength you have left in your body, if you use it to help someone in need, that can only be healing to mind, body and soul, despite any appearance in the temporary.  Tod is a generous and gracious gentleman who always, and I mean always, goes out of his way to help those in need. May he always be blessed with those who appreciate him and show him love in return.

It’s kind of like if you’re on a hamster wheel, if all you see is the next step on the wheel

A Facebook friend asked why a particular country might have continued hardship over and over weather wise and asked if it might have to do with soul contracts and the pre-planning we do in between lifetimes. That’s a good question on the minds of many but with limited electricity and phone charge impossible to answer fully until I can get on my computer. Soul contracts and pre-planning before each birth certainly are factors but it is so much more than that.
When we realize that the physical form dies over and over while the essential self or Soul lives on, it becomes less heart-wrenching when one physical form leaves because we know it will be reborn and we will continue to know them and be part of their soul group again.  Of course most people not only don’t believe that, they’ve probably never heard the idea so it sounds egregious/fanciful/absurd.  Also factoring into it is, you ask why does any country or person for that matter who experiences hardship why does it happen again and again and again?  It’s kind of like if you’re on a hamster wheel, if all you see is the next step on the wheel and you cannot envision a future any different than what you experience right now, there’s not much chance of escaping the path you’re on right now.  It’s the path of least resistance to have the same type things happen if you are looking at the same things around you everyday and thinking the same thoughts about the same things you are seeing every day. You have to begin practicing having a different thought before you can begin having a new experience. That is why it is so important to pay attention to what thoughts you plant in someone else’s head. The thoughts we plant in people’s minds helps direct what their future experience will be. Like gravity, it works whether you believe it or not. People who are hopeful of a good outcome are far more likely to have one. People who are running scared willy-nilly not taking responsibility for their own safety are likely to have a far different outcome.

Don’t freak yourself out watching scary storm footage. Remind yourself you can attract a safe experience.  We’ll be through this soon enough and power will be restored sooner than ever before. It can happen.  Local news cast just ran a segment featuring the utility crews / rescue & recovery crews and equipment from various states that are on stand by awaiting word on where to deploy after the hurricane runs its course. Interview featured several utility crew personnel from Texas and Oklahoma standing by ready to assist in this recovery as they go forth. FEMA is already on the ground and staging areas from SC to south Florida. Obama signed emergency declaration for the entire region. The move authorizes the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts. things are in motion and moving to the right, y’all … I’m hopeful.

I’ve moved computers and financial docs into living room, which is the most inside, multi walled room. We stocked up on kitty supplies at 3am in an almost empty Walmart. Lawn furniture is in or secured, shutters look good. Coupled with the burglar bars, the windows feel protected. Roof is new as of 2005. I opted to stay at my place rather than a friend’s since (1) I’ll likely be awake all night without sleeping and (2) with all my familiar things and projects around me, even in the dark I have many choices of things to do while I’m up all night long. At his place, although his home is a newly built concrete fortress with city water on high ground a block away, I wouldn’t have my projects and Benny would be in a crate. At my place I can do familiar things like yoga in front of the meditation altar. Glance through my library and see what book I haven’t read for awhile. I like seeing familiar things around me, especially under stormy and uncertain conditions. I don’t feel at all nervous about staying. I know it will be a long night, I’ll wake up tomorrow morning with it roaring all day and into the evening or into even Saturday morning. I’ll figure out how to tune the little weather radio in case I run out of charge for the phone. Saying big prayers to FPL for their quick response to outages. I’m ready.

5:00PM NHC Advisory

Per the 8:00am NHC Advisory, Hurricane Matthew has winds of 125 mph and is moving NW 12 mph. If it makes the expected landfall near West Palm Beach after midnight tomorrow morning, it may pass over Brevard/Melbourne by noon and Daytona Beach about 8 hours later. Some reporters are saying 145 mph winds when the NHC data doesn’t say that. Listeners hear that and think it’s true when it is just someone’s speculation. Don’t foster fear. Hurricane force winds are 40 miles from center and tropical storm force winds 160 miles from center, so we’ll feel it. We’re battened down, well supplied and holding the vision of Matthew’s quick passing, preferably offshore, and rapid restoration of power. Hold the vision with us?