Shake Well

This week,  I purchased a bottle of homeopathic medicine to give to my husband and as I read the instructions on the bottle to "shake well", I paused to think.

Engaging in my lifelong pursuit of fun and free amusement,  I began to allow my body to shake, quiver and jiggle.

When I stopped moving I began to wonder if I had shaken well.

And who would be arbiter of my efforts?

Would the  Secret Shake Patrol come knocking at my door in a few moments to notify me that my gyrations were insufficient and they did not appreciate my mocking behavior?

I began to think about how many bottles containing liquid ingredients advise( or admonish) us "to shake well before serving or using."  And were there other such day-to-day, ordinary instructions that I was ignoring or taking for granted?

Perhaps any sense of low self-esteem I have dealt with in my lifetime could be traced back to my cavalier or inept shaking skills.

I had better become more mindful of Life's  plentiful and ubiquitous little instructions to see what and where else I might be missing an important opportunity for self-fulfillment.

Till then, join me now in a shake, rattle and rolllllllll.

Occupy Spirit

(This is from a daily guide I submitted to Agape's Inner Visions Magazine for January 5th)

OCCUPY SPIRIT

January, 2012

“Though you may not have any real results at first, simply continue; you will reach your goal. When you begin to become conscious of your interior life and begin to live more or less in touch with the world beautiful that is within you, you will find that you can live in this high, peaceful state the greater part of the time...” Christian Larson, The Ideal Made Real

In New York on September 17, 2011, the Canadian activist group AdBusters launched the now famous “Occupy Wall Street” event that has replicated itself across our nation.

Washington Post, writer Cornel West described this as a "democratic awakening", citizens feeling out of control of their lives take matters into their own hands and occupy different places making a political statement calling for change. This form of civil unrest and civil disobedience is to me, reminiscent of what our New Thought forefathers, Emerson and Thoreau wrote.

I see all this as an opportunity for another call:  a spiritual awakening. Therefore, I am asking you to join me in the Occupy Spirit Movement.  What makes my campaign so advantageous is that it requires no physical movement or geographical locale other than your own mind and heart; and it has immediate and lasting results.

By choosing to occupy our own minds --taking control of our thoughts by means of our spiritual practice -- we begin to occupy Spirit (and thereby fully allowing Spirit to occupy us); and move our lives and the world into the ideal made real.

Affirm with me: This year, this day, this moment, I choose to occupy my place in Spirit. As I affirm that God lives, moves and has Its being in me, I take active residence in this heavenly state of well-being, love and joy. And so it is.

1 January, 2012

It's finally here-- the New Year, 2012.
2012 doesn't even rhyme with anything. Which is a good thing so that goofy NewAgers can't make an easy affirmation out of it.
"Hey it's 2005, time to come alive" Or, "2008 is going to be great!" You get my drift.
This year, 2012, will have to stand on its own merits as will I.


As I sit here and listen to firecrackers going off in the neighborhood, I wonder if that happened when 2011 arrived. I don't think so. I think it is because so many of us are truly celebrating and welcoming these new 365.  No wonder the Samoans wanted to skip a whole day just to get to 2012 faster.


Since I didn't get some of my loftier projects done today as I had hoped--neither the closet nor the desk got any cleaning or organizing attention --I felt even more compelled to be awake for midnight.  I did manage to run errands, tend to my flu-felled husband, go shopping, get the dog groomed and do five loads of laundry.


So it is all the more important that I began/begin the new year very mindfully.


At 11:45 p.m. I got into a very hot Epsom salt bath with lavender and began to recite the Hoʻoponopono prayer (ho-o-pono-pono) the ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness until midnight. Then I washed it all away and entered the new year with self love and peace of mind. Ah.


Now I can climb into my clean sheets and sweet slumber. It may be New Years Day (off) for most. But for me, it's a work day.  


Bring on those black eyed peas!