Thursday of this past week was a day that was a life marker - a notable event in my life. We moved my oldest grandchild from Toronto to Peterborough to attend her first year at Trent University. It's hard to believe that eighteen, almost nineteen, years have gone by since her birth. Time seems to pass so quickly. I've been told that, as one gets older, in comparison time goes by faster. Somehow, i don't think that is the only explaination. I think that the pace of life today really is faster than it used to be. There have been a lot of changes in the world since I was a child.

Communication has seen perhaps the most drastic change, and there is more to come. Personal computers were not yet invented. Now I can chat with anyone living anywhere in the world. Email has become an integral part of our lives. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are changing the way people meet and interact with each other. Today, war is brought right into our livingrooms. The world has become much smaller and I think the future will bring much more change.

There have been wonderful advancements in technology and medicine, but I sometimes wonder at what cost? Society does not seem to be a kinder, gentler place these days. People often don't have the time for simple politness, let alone real caring The focus is much more on the individual rather than the betterment of society as a whole.

We live in interesting times for sure, but I can't help but remember that "May you live in interesting times" is a Chinese curse!

 

 

The recent blogs have been very interesting. I have come to believe that there are as many paths to a Higher Power (whatever you may conceive that power to be) as there are individuals. Spiritality seems to be a part of our basic makeup, so each personl needs to find the path that works for them. I have been doing a lot of investigative reading over the last little while and this has lead to some major changes in my belief system.

 

I was brought up in a traditional Christian religion. Then, as an adult, I joined a religious group that has many of the characteristics of a cult. As a child, I was led to believe that God was very vengeful, severly punishing wrongdoing even to the point of torturing people forever in a burning hell. Is it any wonder that I had trouble believing that "God  is Love"? I couldn't understand how an loving God could possible torture people forever. I would never be capable of such cruelity,and I was just a child. How could you ever hurt someone you loved.I found that God to be a fearsome entity. I found it difficult to build a bond with somethig I was afraid of.

My second set of religious beliefs were extremely strict, with many rules, requirements, and obligations to be met. They also insisted that  only those who followed all these obligations would survive  "Armaggedon" (God's war which would "cleanse" the earth). Association with persons not of the same faith was strongly discouraged and all other faiths were condemned and believed to originate with Satan. In this religion I felt that I was not, and never could be, good enough to survive Armaggedon and be part of God's "New Order of Things". Again my religeous beliefs did not foster a love of God, only feelings of inadequacy.  Eventually, a long time after I was "kicked out" of that organization, I was able to discard that belief system. It was difficult to overcome the indoctrination that I had undergone for 20 years.

 

At this point in my life, I don't have all the answers. I can't define God other than to know that there is an Intelligece in the universe that knows more than I do. It is a Force for good and embodies love. It does not foster fear and is not exclusive. I will never again belong to any group that believes that it has all the answers and the only answers.The name that I might attach to this Power does not matter - It is known by 1000 names and more. I accept that, at this moment, this Power is beyond my personal ability to define - and that's OK. Acceptance that this power exists is enough. 

 

 

 

 

       We live in a very fast-paced world. It's often hard to find the time to develope those moments of inner peace we need. Pressures of work, family, friends, etc. often leave us with little or no time for ourselves. To make matters more difficult, many of us were brought up to put others before ourselves. We were taught that thinking of ourselves is selfish.

        Is it really selfish to fill our own needs before looking after the needs of others? At first glance we might think that is true, but look at it more deeply. Imagine you have a container of water with an inflow valve and three outflow valves. When all the valves are working properly. there is always enough water for the three different outflows. But let the inflow valve become partially clogged and suddenly the amount of water available for use is diminished. If the inflow valve becomes completely blocked, there is no water available for the outflow valves. It doesn't matter how great the need for the water is, there simply is none available.

        What we give to others puts a drain on our resources and our reserves of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy. If we don't replenish these energies, in effect clear our intake valves, we will have less and less to give to others.  As a result, we find our days full of stress. Keeping up with all that needs to be done becomes difficult. It gets harder and harder to be nice to people. Sometimes we get to the point where there is nothing left to give.Total draining of our own reserves cqn even lead to our own breakdown.

        While most of us stop giving before we reach a total breakdown stage, we allow ourselves to be drained by  substantial amounts on a daily basis. In order to give to others, we need sufficient inflow to keep our own energy reseves full. When you look at it this way, it really is not selfish to look after ourselves first, it's a necessity.

Reading "My Thoughts on Karma" by Chris has made me think.The belief in reincarnation and karma are quite recent for me, so it's very helpful to see the viewpoint of others. I have heard that our current earthly life is affected by or determined by actions in our past lives. I have also heard that, as spiritual beings on the astral plain, we choose the events that we will experience in our current earthly life. I suspect that the actual sistuation is a combination of the two and includes a good measure of Free Will in how we react to these life events. Rosie brings out a good point in her comment. The literature I have been reading lately also makes the point that guilt over our own actions or resentment over the actions of others, either now or in past lives, can greatly impede our spiritual progess in this current life. Learning to be guilt and resentment free is a very difficult thing to do, but well worth the effort.

 

When it comes to resentment, one useful tool that I have found is "an attitude of gratitude". Before going to sleep at night, I try to think of three to five specific things thoughout the day that I am gratelful for. It may be as simple as feeling the warm rays of the sun, or as complicated as keeping my temper when irritated.When one looks for it, there really are many things in life that we can appreciate.

 

Another tool is living in the minute. By living in the Now and not dwelling on the past, we distance ourselves from past events. This makes it easier to give up resentment. Since I am quite empathic, I can often get past resentments toward others by putting myself in their place. It becomes more difficult to resent something or someone when you understand where it's coming from. When it comes to things done to us or by us in past lives, we will probably need some outside help to deal with it effectively.

 

Getting past guilt for something I've done is much more difficult. We all tend to be harder and expect more from ourselves that from others. Recently, I was told to "Do unto myself as I would do unto others". This has given me much food for thought as I try to put it into practice. Since I am at the beginning of many new things in my life, all your thoughts and comments are very welcome. 

 

Today it is raining. It rained yesteday as well. Personally, I feel better when the sun is shining. I have come to my first choice of the day. I can choose to be happy inspite of the rain, or miserable because of the rain. The fact that it is raining is not the thing that determines my mood. The fact that it is raining is just that - a fact. What I do with that fact determines how I will feel today.

I have a choice. I can think about the benefits of the rain to my garden, the beautiful flowers it will help produce, or I can dwell on the fact that the rain is cold and miserable and I can't go outdoors without getting wet.What I choose will set the mood for my whole day.

Learning that I had choices was a real eye-opener for me. I often felt trapped by my life. I was often depressed. Like many people, I felt I had no control over my life let alone my feelings. It was a surprise to learn that I had coices in all the situations I happened to face. The choices were not always compatible with my belief systems, but they were always there.  Knowing this was very freeing. I felt less like a victim of circumstance and more in control of my life. I began to act, not just react.I  could actually infuence the way I felt. I could choose to be happy.

This does not negate feelings of sadness, fear, anger, etc. There are times when feelings other than happiness are appropriate. Never the less, we always have a choice.We can choose to dwell on the positive aspects of a situation rather than the negative ones. This will influence how we feel. Today. I choose to be happy .

I read the blog "Do You Think You Are a Psychic" with great interest. I am at the beginning of my psychic journey and can use all the advice and help I can get. At present my psychic ability consists of sometimes getting feelings about things. These feelings are sometimes accompanied by the thought that I should tell a particular person something. I hope that I will come to be clairaudient as I really want to be able to communicate with my brother who passed over in March of this year. We became very close while he was in the hospital and I miss him. I have been told that he is around me and have received messages from him through another psychic, But it would be nice to have some direct comminication with him. I have had a couple of clairaudient experiences, but only a few.

One of the clearest occurances was about twelve years ago, and it was a life-changing event. At that time, I was a practising alcholic as was my boyfriend. He had just entered a recovery program and was encouraging me to go to Alanon, a recovery program for spouses and families of alcoholics. You see, at that time I did not realize I was an alcoholic.

So, one day I phoned Alcoholics Anonymous to get the address and meeting time of the nearest Alanon group. I got the information and also the address and time of the nearest AA group. When the time arrived to leave for the meeting, I hopped in my car and left, thinking nothing of the five beers I had consumed. I was definately over the legal limit for drinking and driving.

As I neared the meeting place, I heard a voice say "What's wrong with this picture, girl!" I pulled over to the side of the road, shaking and crying. As it happened, the AA meeting started half an hour later than the Alanon meeting. I turned around and went to the AA meeting instead.

On my arrival, I was given a pamphlet that discussed the ten signs of a drinking problem. I had seven out of the ten. This was the first step in my recovery process. Both my boyfriend (now my husband) and myself have been clean and sober (non-drinkers) for twelve years. Life is infinately better. I am truly blessed.

 

This isn't so much a lesson as it is a reminder of that old adage "the more things change, the more they stay the same". While we were in NY, we went to see the musical "South Pacific". This was absolutely the best theater production I have ever seen!

For those of you who don't know the story, it is a double loved story taking place on a South Pacific island during wartime. Briefly, The fmale lead falls in love with a French planter on the island. The second love story was between a lieutenant and a native girl. This version of the play was kept very close to the original written in 1948. The surprising thing was the secondary theme which was prejudice. The lieutenant felt he could not marry the native girl he loved because she was not white. The female lead felt she could not marry the planter because his first wife, who died, had been a native and he had 2 half-native children.

While struggling with his feelings, the lieutenant sang a song the really made me think. the first verse went like this.

You've got to be taught to hate and fear,

You've got to be taught from year to year,

It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear -

You've got to be carefully taught!

Prejudice is an attitude that I really do not understand, but I was surprised to find it so clearly presented in 1948. The thought of this much hatred sickens me. It's true that we have made progress in this area -even to a black president in the U.S.A.- but prejudice is still alive and well in North America. Some of the focus may have changed, but, if anything,prejudice is growing with the ongoing difficulties with the Arabic countries; and it always will until we all learn to overcome our fear and look at the person, not the surface differences. Just imagine a world where children were not taught to hate!

 

 

After a 2-day visit and a day to recover, I am back, caught up in reading the blogs posted while I was away and answering my emails. It was wonderful seeing so many participate in the site.

New York is a very exciting place to visit, but personnaly, I would find it difficult to live there. It is a place of so much everyhing - people, traffic, signs, buildings, noise, etc. A quiet corner is hard to find. The pace of life is hectic - people are always in a rush, crowding onto the street while waiting for the traffic light to change, some even dodging traffic to cross on a red. People are everwhere and very few people looked happy.

Traffic is a nightmare. It's rush hour twenty four hours a day. Cars drive so close to each other, both front to back and side by side, that there is litrally only a few inches between them. Never the less, I did not see any accidents. Taxi drivers are both plentiful and skilled so that is how we chose to get around the city For us, my husband and myself, two days seemed more like a week. I really did need a day to recover. My first lesson was a reminder of how valuable peace, quiet and serenity are in one's life.

Lesson 2 pointed out the necessity of comparing what we imagine things to be and what they really are. I had never been to New York, so I had invisioned Times Square to be a large open area either square or rectangular in shape. Imagine my surprise to see that it is actually trianglular in shape and quite small. I practically collapsed with laughter at the differance! This is an instantance where the gap between what I expected and reality was merely humourous, but this gap has the potential to have much more serious effects.

As I said, New York is a great place to visit. We had a wonderful, exciting time there, but there really is no place like home.

 

 

First, I'd like to thank everyone for the warm welcome. It makes me feel I'm really part of the group. I've been reading the blogs for a couple of weeks now, and two (actually,there were several) that really spoke to me were Annm59's blogs on trust and courage.

We often associate courage with risking one's life or some other major feat, but I am realizing that our lives are made up of small acts of courage performed daily. Every time we put ourselves in a new situation we show courage Entering a room full of people we don't know takes courage. Trying new things takes courage. Telling the truth often takes courage especially if the truth is an unpleasant or unpopular one. It takes courage to think well of ourselves because many of us were taught not to put ourselves forward.

Trust is something that most of us have had to learn, especially self-trust. This also takes courage. Like many of you, this has not been easy been an easy thing for me to learn. Signing on as The Artist was both a step forward and very difficult step for me. Painting came into my life  only about six years ago. It is a gift that I did not know I had. When asked what I do in life, I usually replied "I'm learning to paint, not "I am an artist".

When I was considering joining this group, I asked a friend what I should call myself. We discussed several alternatives, and decided on the Seeker. A few minutes later, I received an email saying "Spirit has said call yourself The Artist". This left me with very mixed feelings. It felt arrogant to me. It felt pretentious. It made me really think about who and what I am. It also meant that I would have a position in this world to live up to - a frightening thought.

We know that angels and spirits have our best interests at heart, therefore this title must be something I would benifit from. It is forcing me to identify myself and live up to that identity. It is forcing me to take my gift seriously. It is forcing me to have faith in my artistic abilities, and trust in myself. It is forcing me to have the courage to share my art with others - I hope to soon have links up to my webpage. It is forcing me to grow as a person.

Courage and trust are traits that play a major role in our everyday lives. We are blessed that we have spirits to strengthen us and guide our way.