The Power of Our Undivided Attention

To be in the presence of another person is a gift. When we give them our undivided attention, we are showing our respect and appreciation for them. This is one of the ways that love becomes present in our lives every day. We make the most of every moment when we give it our undivided attention. And so it is with each day we live. It is one of the reasons why I love doing private sessions with people, to be able to give them my undivided attention, to appreciate every moment of our interaction, and to be able to know that that focus has made a difference. When I work at parties and events, one of the things I have trained myself to do is to keep my attention focused on the person who is sitting with me, and filter out the sound and the traffic from elsewhere in the room. Some people have great difficulty doing that, so they do not work events and parties. In order to shift your focus, you must simply be able to give one hundred percent of your attention to the other person. In turn, they will engage at that level to hear what is being said. When we are able to do this, we can achieve a clearer level of communication and a better understanding between us. Now consider focusing on every day in the same way. Each day, we get the most out of it by appreciating every moment and every thing we do. If we are working we focus on what we are doing while we are doing it. And when we are going out to do something fun, we focus our intention on being with who we are with and doing what we are doing. I carry that same intention into my awareness of every day. There is something beautiful and special about all of the holidays during this time of year. Halloween is beautiful and special and laden with meaning as well as entertainment and so we savor the pleasure of all the joy of the costumes and pageantry and honor the spiritual aspects of this holiday, for those of us who do enjoy Day of the Dead or Samhain spiritual celebrations which are ways to honor those people who were close to us who died during the past year. Then, as we progress into November, we are enjoying the fullness of autumn and the holiday of Thanksgiving. I have always loved this holiday because it is so pure and simple. It is about expressing appreciation and gratitude for our lives and what good things that have happened to us. That joy can also encourage us to enjoy the fresh start we may be working our way through after then end of a relationship that was not working out well or a new career change or health challenge we are navigating. How beautiful Thanksgiving is, being focused around having dinner with people we enjoy being with, the family and friends who are part of our lives. After dinner we turn our attention to games, conversation, music or other ways that we enjoy each other's company. In the years when my work was transferring me to different cities where I had no friends or relatives, we would often organize "orphan parties" which meant that those of us who worked together and did not have family or close friends in the area would get together for a potluck dinner and social time. Those were some wonderful days too, when we all pooled our resources to make a good day of it. Instead of spending the day alone and feeling melancholy because of our situation, we got together and found a new level of communication and appreciation with those who were there. Once again, paying attention to the present moment. That is why many of us have a visceral reaction when merchants skew the natural order of things and try to make Thanksgiving itself into just another day to have a retail sale. Or when it is Labor Day weekend or before Halloween when we are confronted with Christmas sale displays. The reaction is visceral because we sense that doing this rips away at the natural order of things. Enjoy Thanksgiving just for being Thanksgiving, and then when it is time, enjoy Christmas/Winter Solstice/Yule for what it offers us, and savor that time for what it is. So today, give some thought to appreciating what this day has to offer and give your attention to whoever is part of this day with you. By doing so, we appreciate our own life more fully, and we appreciate those who are part of our lives more fully. By giving our full attention to whoever is with us at the moment, we bring light and clarity to each and every encounter. Celebrate the focus of each moment, and enjoy the presence of each person, and each thing we are doing and do it the best we can. So remember that where your thoughts go, your energy goes. Are your thoughts in the present moment with you? Any time any one of you contacts me, it really helps make my day whether you want to make an appointment or just to keep in touch and let me know how you are doing. I like hearing your stories of what has been happening since the last time we met. And of course, I am always ready to help with what is next. Let this note help make your day. I love you.

The Nature of Our Hunt

The full moon of October, whose light has been shining on us these last few days, is known as the Hunter's Moon or Blood Moon. For some of us, hunting in the same spirit of our ancestors who would go hunting every year before the onset of deep winter so that there would be meat to eat was an important preparation for the change of season.

For most of us now though, the hunt is metaphorical. We still hunt to feed ourselves, although our hunt now may be focused on finding work that suits us best, so that we can make a good living by doing something that we enjoy doing.

On the way to doing this, some of us may have work that supports us but does not deeply satisfy us and we satisfy that other part of our soul by hunting for the methods and activities that bring us joy, fulfillment and offer us a deep insight into who we are and what we are doing here in this life.

We see evidence of this in the fact that there is a never ending river of self help books and recordings to help us in this respect, plus many different healers, coaches, teachers, and others who are now a part of daily life helping us to find more joy, creativity, vibrant health and good relationships. All of this is part of our evolution.

How so? During our lifetime, we have seen people living longer, doing yoga, tai chi, water exercises, working out and enjoying physical activities like hiking, bicycling or dancing at advanced ages. And it was not that long ago that going to a workshop, taking a metaphyiscal class or going to see an alternative healer was considered an odd thing to do. But today we see massage therapists everywhere, and nurses in hospitals and caregivers in people's homes now are doing reiki with their patients and people in these professions are learning more about energy healing as a way to augment their other skills. Hospitals and doctors now advise people to try meditation as a way to improve health. Not too long ago, these developments would have been seen as far outside the norms.

How far has this evolution extended? One way is to look at the consciousness of younger people as well. Today, it is common that young people have a working knowledge of these things such as chakras, auras, positive thinking, affirmations, vision boards, soulmate relationships, visualization, meditation, connections to spirit guides and more. To put it in perspective, I never heard of any of this when I was in my late teens or 20s. It fills my heart with joy to see this because it means that these young people who are aware at these levels have great potential for their lives.

Hunting implies that we are focusing on achieving a goal. We are seeking that which will serve us well and assist us in our journey in life. So just like hunters who trek through the woods to find a deer or other big animal that will help feed their family, we trek through the great landscape of the mind, looking for those people and methods that will help feed our spirit. Our connections to spirit and our connections to other people are intimately related.

Our hunt is about partners, teachers, peers, mentors, friends, associates. And this is the root of why we make changes in the course of a lifetime. It is now normal that most of us will have more than one career during our life, we will live in more than one place, change religious beliefs, change political beliefs, change our ideas of fitness and fun, and these changes are as common as changing the ways we arrange our homes or the clothes we wear.

In this post industrial age, computers have changed a great deal about the way we do things. We are served best when we learn how to use this new technology and balance that with the down to earth things that we can do and love to do and do not require advanced computer technology.

So, in this respect, our hunts have changed. Hunting for just the right career path, the best partner, the most beneficial habits and activities are targets which we will reset a number of times during our life. What are you on the hunt for now? If you are sensing that the time is right for a change, you are simply going with the flow. Each time we reach a new stage of development, we reset our goals and begin the new hunt.

Once we have mastered the arts of survival, we can turn our attention to those things which have been tweaking our curiosity, those developments that increase our joy and explorations of possibilities. There is a wealth of experience just ahead. Once we identify those of greatest interest to us, our joy of living is multiplied. You see, when we find different ways to feed ourselves, we enjoy the walk as much as we do the hunt.

In the spirit of the season, as Halloween approaches, the photo above is one that I took at the Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild Park located on the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana. It is titled "Tree Circus" by American artist Patrick Dougherty. From a distance, it looks like a circle of witches dancing in the woods, and it has windows and doors built in so that you can get inside it and examine it from all angles. It is all made out of branches woven together. A structure in the woods made out of wood. I loved the experience of walking in this sculpture garden. It is just one of those things that presents us with metaphorical questions. What do we think we know about witches? Is there anything about that that we can use? Is that something we want to learn about or is that just a whimsical image that is solely used for seasonal entertainment? What do we know about sculpture? How do we experience it? Twisted tree branches are just as much an art form as carved marble statues. Does that have anything to do with our lives? When we are on the hunt, all kinds of things pop up. Notice what affects our focus.

Spirit always brings things to our attention, then it is up to us to act on it. Or at least consider it before making our next move. The more we progress, the more mysteries we encounter. Within mysteries are secrets, and within those mysteries are the codes of our soul.

Any time any one of you contacts me, it really helps make my day whether you want to make an appointment or just to keep in touch and let me know how you are doing. I like hearing your stories of what has been happening since the last time we met. And of course, I am always ready to help with what is next. Let this note help make your day. I love you.

Sharpening Our Focus

What lets our soul shine brightest? How often do we do that?

When we are consciously creating our lives, then we are enjoying doing what we do every day, not just on weekends.

Evolution is our path and we can see it when we consider the different careers we have had or relationships, or residences or major change of focus, and then look at where we are now. It is essential that we create our map to guide us toward our goal.

Take a look at what is ahead in the way of things we want to do more of. Take a look ahead at the people we want to spend more time with. What do you see? In your map of what your future looks like, is there alignment?

The illustration is Six of Swords from Tarot of the Old Path. I chose this one because it is about choosing our path to get to our goal with the assistance of our spirit guides.

Vision boards are one way to create a map that brings about that alignment. And there is another, invisible guide that we work on daily with our spirit guides. Interestingly, another term that is used for vision boards is treasure maps. Not a bad variation, because we will be rewarded when we stay on track.

For example, when looking at our current schedule, are we doing the things that we feel are most important to do? Are they right up front where we can address them or are they still on a back burner somewhere?

Dedication is one important factor that makes a difference. I made a vow to my spirit guides that I would take good care of whoever they send me. So that is why I keep my schedule open 7 days a week for those who need to see me. Some people may think that is too much and they would never do it that way. But some people need those weekend or evening appointments because of their schedule and other commitments. Dedication to me then, means that I make taking care of clients my first priority and after I take care of each of you every day, then I go to the gym, go to the store or go out or do whatever else I am doing. So I have time for everything, and I have simply clarified my order of progress.

Why do I do things this way? I am doing what my spirit guides signify is best for me to do. I feel good knowing that I have done my work well. It brings a smile to my face every time someone leaves my office feeling better than they did when they arrived. That is exactly why I feel good about my day's work every day.

Extending the mapping process into our consciousness , personal growth and development is also a challenging task. Moving often prompts us to look closely at what we are packing up to continue on our journey with us. When we look at our book collection and only keep those which we use a lot plus those we are certain we will read in the immediate future, we are sharpening our focus, and we lighten our load as we let go of those books that we never get around to reading or that were given to us as gifts or found on sale, but somehow ended up taking space on the shelf and getting bumped back in the order of priority. Face it, some subjects will always be higher and lower priorities. So thinning out our collections helps us focus.

The full moon in October is called the Hunter's Moon. And this time of year is traditionally hunting season. So for those of us who are not actually going out hunting game, our hunt is metaphorical. What are the things we want to set our sights on that are important to us to accomplish?

For our ancestors, it was important to have a successful hunt in order to feed our selves and our families. However, today's hunt may be about learning some subject or technique that keeps coming to mind. Today's hunt may be for just the right work situation, better relationships and improved health habits as well as new ideas, new activities and developments. Remember that those things that keep coming to mind are things that spirit wants us to focus on. When we are sorting through our book shelves, which are the ones that we feel are important for us to read next? Our spirit guides gives us clues. We will get a strong yes feeling in our gut when we are making choices and that helps us keep on track when we pay attention.

Think about this process as the same as cleaning out our clothes closets. Which are the things that fit us well and look good on us, and which are the things that have simply been hanging there for a year that are frayed because we have worn them until they are worn out, which are the things that do not fit us, which are the things we just never choose to wear? These are the things we let go of and give away so that someone else can use them. Same thing for our daily practices and the things that we read, the music that we listen to, the art we want to surround ourselves with, and the things that are useful to us now.

So you see, in mapping our way through this intense fall social season, we pay attention to the events we really want to go to, spend time with people whose company we appreciate, and meeting people who will play a part in our future.

So back to the question of what lets our soul shine brightest? That answer will vary for each of us. However, we can make our hunting season productive by mapping out where we want to go and using that as a way of staying on track so that we peel off the layers that cloud our light until we reach those destinations where we will shine brightest. Being of service to our selves and others illuminates our path.

Try the exercises I have illustrated above and see if your journey does not in fact feel even more productive and satisfactory.

Any time any one of you contacts me, it really helps make my day whether you want to make an appointment or just to keep in touch and let me know how you are doing. I like hearing your stories of what has been happening since the last time we met. And of course, I am always ready to help with what is next. Let this note help make your day. I love you.