Celebrating Freedom from limiting thoughts and openness to new ideas

We recently celebrated July 4th, which is about how we fought for our freedom as a country by choosing to free ourselves from the British Empire and create our own country where we would have the freedom to live as we like and elect leaders who would represent our interests, first and foremost.

In some ways, we do this every day when we wake up and begin another day. Each day, we are given another opportunity to make new choices and explore new ideas.

What kind of new ideas? Within recent years we have chosen to explore new spiritual paths and practices, many very different from the ones we knew earlier in our lives.

Energy healing is another practice that many people are opening up to, and as we open to these practices, we experience how well they work.

Ideas about positive thinking and the Law of Attraction give us a different perspective on life, which encourage us to choose more consciously to create our lives.

When we look at life from a fresh perspective, we change the way we eat and the ways we relate to food. We change the way we think about voting and who we choose to represent us.

New ideas also lead us to choose different forms of entertainment. Growing numbers of people have now disconnected from cable and satellite dishes and get their news and entertainment through the internet, independent radio stations, watching documentaries and independent films and reading different books or joining discussion groups, book clubs and meetings which support their new exploration of ideas.

Many people have been forced by changes in the economy to figure out new ways to make a living, and although the changes can be wrenching and traumatic at first, many have found more satisfactory ways to make their living.

One of the things I do most often is help people see other possibilities and support them in their transitions. Often at times like this, we need people who will support and encourage our choices and our new thinking because in our explorations some of our old friends may think that we are off track, so it takes someone else who has an objective vision to help us see more clearly and encourages us to continue our explorations to have a happier new phase of life.

Given the changes in our world, we need new friends and helpers who will support our new visions for our lives and are traveling down these new roads themselves to create a better life for themselves. Opening our minds to new thoughts will lead us to explore new territories and these new worlds we are living in may bear little resemblance to our earlier lives.

As we enjoy the fireworks, what are the ways that we are freeing our minds to live in new states of independence? What new ways of thinking will help us enjoy our new freedoms? What will our next step be? Even though changes can be kind of scary and upend our old status quo, the rewards on the other side are exciting.

Remember that courage means proceeding even in the face of doubt. Doing a sure thing requires no courage. As we call upon our courage, we can feel the physical sensations in our body when we rise to meet new challenges. New thoughts may encourage us to act swiftly and decisively, and as we make progress, there will be new waves of joy that confirm our choices.

Creating a new country and creating a new life have these things in common. Countries can be pieces of geography and they can also be states of mind. What will you choose next?

In a few days we will be celebrating July 4th, which is about how we fought for our freedom as a country by choosing to free ourselves from the British Empire and create our own country where we would have the freedom to live as we like and elect leaders who would represent our interests, first and foremost.

In some ways, we do this every day when we wake up and begin another day. Each day, we are given another opportunity to make new choices and explore new ideas. 

What kind of new ideas? Within recent years we have chosen to explore new spiritual paths and practices, many very different from the ones we knew earlier in our lives. 

Energy healing is another practice that many people are opening up to, and as we open to these practices, we experience how well they work. 

Ideas about positive thinking and the Law of Attraction give us a different perspective on life, which encourage us to choose more consciously to create our lives.

When we look at life from a fresh perspective, we change the way we eat and the ways we relate to food. We change the way we think about voting and who we choose to represent us. 

New ideas also lead us to choose different forms of entertainment. Growing numbers of people have now disconnected from cable and satellite dishes and get their news and entertainment through the internet, independent radio stations, watching documentaries and independent films and reading different books or joining discussion groups, book clubs and meetings which support their new exploration of ideas. 

Many people have been forced by changes in the economy to figure out new ways to make a living, and although the changes can be wrenching and traumatic at first, many have found more satisfactory ways to make their living. 

One of the things I do most often is help people see other possibilities and support them in their transitions. Often at times like this, we need people who will support and encourage our choices and our new thinking because in our explorations some of our old friends may think that we are off track, so it takes someone else who has an objective vision to help us see more clearly and encourages us to continue our explorations to have a happier new phase of life. 

Given th

Mentoring Your Manifestations

I have been thinking about how we can continue our relationship in the most flexible and useful way.

What I mean is this. One of the main types of service I offer at metaphysical fairs is tarot card readings.

However, for steady growth and development, you probably could use other of my services, beyond tarot readings.

As a mentor, there could be a number of things I can help you with. For example, perhaps you would like to spend some time looking into your past lives to see what you can learn in this way.

Then again, maybe you would like to spend time doing some energy work, learning about your chakras, learning ways to clear, strengthen and heal your energy fields.

Another beneficial thing would be to spend some time doing meditation with light percussion or visualization.

Maybe you would like to do some dream work.

Mentoring can also include sessions where you simply want to explore possible paths and life choices that are presenting themselves. A combination of discussion, accessing my clairvoyant abilities and insights based on experience. During major life changes in career, relationships, spiritual development and more, this flexible mentoring approach can be most helpful.
 
I am offering a special bundles of sessions at a significant discount as a way of expressing my gratitude to you and to be able to offer you a variety of ways to help.

There is a maximum amount of freedom here. You are buying some of my time and energy, but how you use it is totally flexible.

Package of 3 half hour sessions for $129 (my normal rate for these would be $150)

Package of 3 one hour sessions for only $199 (my normal rate for these would be $300)

Package of 3  90 minute sessions for $299 (my normal rate for these  would be $450)

If you would like to engage in a mentoring program that encompasses a larger view and a longer term of development, consider this:

A series of 24 one hour sessions, consisting of 
2 hour life assessment session to clarify your life purpose
2 sessions on your vision for your directions, your goals
2 sessions to explore pathways to achieve your dreams
2 sessions focusing on your spiritual gifts
5 sessions on personal energy development
5 sessions of developing intuitive skills
4 sessions on self healing practices specific to you

This is a total of 21 sessions, and 2+1 = 3, the number of manifestation, the power of change in your life. The initial session would be 2 hours, and all the other sessions 1.5 hours each, or 32 hours of my time, for a total of $1899. This same amount of time, purchased one session at a time, would normally be priced at $3200.

If you would prefer to make all of your sessions one hour each (after the initial 2 hour session) for a total of 22 hours, the tuition would be $1299, compared to the normal price of $2200.
 
Because of the huge discount I am offering to mentoring clients, I am requesting payment for these bundles of sessions in advance.

Are you ready to manifest your dreams?

If you have any questions, please ask.

Summer Magic and Spiritual Refreshment

It is summer and the time when many of us break from our routines to enjoy entertainments that refresh our spirits. Summer vacations and activities are meant to lighten us up and let the joy of the season bring a lighthearted break from work. 

One of the most popular plays of all time is Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, which is about the characters slipping in and out of different versions of reality, traveling in alternate universes to the delight and amusement of audiences.  

 Do you think that is worth a few moments of consideration?

For example, we often ask ourselves questions about our life's purpose and why we have taken on some of the patterns we have in our work and our love life. Many of us have changed our religious and spiritual practices. Some of us have also included new activities in our lives, especially creative activities that we had put off and now decided to finally use to express ourselves and give ourselves a creative outlet. New joy and energy come into us when we finally decide to quit thinking about something and do it. When we dance, make music, art, start writing or just go for more walks, we suddenly feel the flow of joy and healing.

What are these other dimensions? They could be parallel worlds where things seem to operate differently.

Consider the distance or closeness you have in various aspects of your life. Do you feel sometimes that you are an observer here? That your point of view is fluid? This often happens when we are in a major transition, and has everything to do with our progress in adjusting, changing or verifying the path that we are on.

We are spirits having a human experience rather than humans having a spiritual experience. Have you given any thought to the ramifications of this concept? How do you view your life? 

If you would like to talk about this, give me a call. 

Dreams do come true and the experience of fluidly moving between dimensions can be as magical for us as it is for Shakespeare's characters.  

Different Kinds of Oneness

In metaphysical circles, you often hear it espoused that a goal of enlightened people is to bring about unity and oneness among people.

In the best of ways, what we see that demonstrated when a catastrophe strikes and people spontaneously contribute to help those who are suffering. That kind of oneness displays compassion and a sense of empathy with other people.

In the worst of ways, we see a different kind of oneness expressed when corporate execs dump thousands of employees while rewarding themselves with multimillion dollar bonuses. There is something wrong with this picture. What is it? It is that in one situation, the oneness is expanding and in the other oneness is contracting.

But what if those execs who profited hugely from these changes in the corporate structures were to contribute to making the world a better place by creating new businesses in the US? What could be a better use of millions and billions of newly acquired wealth than helping to create new businesses? Rather than expect those people to start all the new businesses themselves, fund organizations to provide seed money for entrepreneurs.

We have seen banks in countries like India and other countries provide micro loans for people starting new businesses. How much is that practiced in the US? Maybe in a less developed country, a few hundred dollars can launch a new business, but here it might take a few thousand.

Years ago in this country, people got together to form labor unions to create better working conditions for people who worked in factories. That was another expression of oneness, and it lifted our standard of living.

Now it is a different time, and perhaps what is needed now is for more people to be encouraged to create a job rather than focusing on finding a job.

So if we are to encourage this kind of thinking, what well known, wealthy exec will step forward to set such an initiative in motion?

After all, doesn't the difference between having a good idea and starting a new business often come down to funding?

And aren't the people most likely to start a new business the motivated individuals who are trying to create a better life for themselves and others?

Isn't it time to emphasize a new kind of oneness?

How Else Can Tarot Heal?

In the same way that looking at beautiful art calms and soothes while at the same time getting the mind working, tarot can be used as a pocket sized gallery.

How is that healing? Just take it out and look at it for a little while every day. Maybe pull one card a day, or a few. Whatever you feel like. Looking at a picture intensely, meditating on the image and what it might mean, and next thing you know you have an uplifted spirit, or at least an inquiring mind. Either way, you are now entered into a heightened state of awareness.

How can it be healing to meditate on profound thoughts? How can it be healing to gaze on pictures of beauty and clever composition? Can shuffling through a deck and looking at the cards help put the world back in order? Does that calm the nerves and help lower the blood pressure?

When you have a busy schedule and you are feeling like you need to catch up, taking a deck out and looking at it can be like taking a mini-vacation to a great art museum or gallery. Nothing like fantastic art to help create a higher awareness of our present state, is there?

The Healing Energy of Readings

There is an energy in every reading that is unique. It is always a combination of the energy of the reader meeting the energy of the querant. When the energy of the querant is engaged and open, more pathways open up and the reading accelerates, covering the territory more deeply.

Readings can help heal a person. Remember that thoughts can influence feelings and energies, and if a person comes away from a reading with inspiration, hope, or a more robust and vibrant outlook, a healing has begun, and will be continued by the application of free will on the querant's part.

Neutrality gives the reader a bird's eye view of what is going on. Many times I have seen the enlivening effect that comes when a person gets validation in a reading. That can also be healing given that a person gains peace of mind when they know that there is some agreement with their point of view even though everyone else seemed to share a different point of view.

Because of empathic powers, some readers are more adept at transferring healing energy during the course of a reading.

Reading energies can also stimulate a person to look at their situation in novel ways and other perspectives, thus opening them to creative solutions to their predicaments.

Readings can also be unique tools for helping view a situation clearly, because the art is both abstract and has a bearing on what is real.

Healing must sometimes begin with a different perspective before the new energies are allowed to enter and welcomed in.

Healing comes in many ways. A reading is one good way to experience it.

All Kinds of Ghost Towns

Recently, I had to catch a flight at 6:30 am at Denver Airport. Rather than try and wake up early, I thought it might be better to just head over there in the middle of the night when there would be no rush hour traffic and I could just get the do it yourself boarding pass and breeze through security. I figured I could just nap by my gate and I would be all set.

I was quite surprised to discover that the airport was basically closed during the early morning hours. Even the do it yourself boarding pass computers displayed signs that said that they would not be available until after 4 am. The security gate did not open until 4:30 am. There was only the Burger King open at that time of day, and other than the other lost traveler like myself, the only other people there were the cleaning crew.

There was an eerie feeling to being in the middle of what is normally a very busy public space with all the stores, bars and restaurants closed, no ticket agents at the desks, no throngs of travelers milling about trying to find their gates, or checking the boards to see if their flight will be on time.

A place like this is never really empty. There is always a residual energy from all of the people who have used the place. It can never really be empty because all of those energies and emotions leave a residue that still flows through the place even in the middle of the night when there are no flights taking off and no one appears to be there besides the cleaning and maintenance people.

It is a different sort of ghost town, sort of like one of those old mining towns that went bust a hundred years ago, except that this one comes back to life every 24 hours.

Or maybe it is just a result of the 24/7 world that we live in that we think of certain places as never shutting down. Of course, when the silver mines and gold mines were booming and everybody seemed to be heading for the mountains with a pick, a shovel, a pack mule and a gun, the little towns that outfitted them looked busy all the time too.

Amazing the things that come to you when you simply arrive in a place at an odd time and you sleep in short bursts awakened by energies that seem both familiar and strange before dozing off again. There are all kinds of ghost towns.

Past Lives Are Our Whales

Have you ever gone on a whale watching trip? You rarely see the whole whale come above the surface because their mass is just below the surface, so when they dive, you see just a little bit of the top of their back and their tail. Of course it is there, you just can't see it all, unless you want to snorkel or scuba.

Past lives are our whales. Long ago connections tweak our consciousness and surface offering just glimpses, but the glimpses break the surface and hint at what is below.

When do we need to know more? When do we want to know more? Is this fragment of memory adding to our connection, to our pleasure?

What is it that is signaling to us, breaking through the surface of our awareness, calling to us to look?

If there is this elusive bit that is tantalizing us with bits of memory that are just out of reach, we can not grab it. We have to swim around with it. We have to snorkel or scuba and dive beneath the surface to see the big picture.

Dreaming, Breathing, Quickly, Deeply

What is it that you want now more than anything? What would you do if you if this moment could be exactly as you wish?

Would you turn to see the face that goes with the voice you have been hearing? Would the touch you desire be soft? Would the comfort of the touch open to a whispered sound only audible between the two of us?

Do you know what I was dreaming? I had a feeling that your dream overlapped with mine. That is why when we talk, there is a similarity in our visions, and the things you want to say I say, and the things I want to say, you say.

When we dream and then it comes true, it is precognitive, and these dreams can become stunning in their intensity as we breathe deep and digest the idea that we are here now and we swim toward each other in this liquid atmosphere that surrounds us when we are engulfed in a feeling we savor. It totally surrounds us, this feeling, and we swim in it, and we breathe without effort, quickly, quickly as we look all around to see if we are really swimming, then deeply as we know we are here, and the waters part and we walk through them together, feeling the lifting of water, the lifting away of whatever we were thinking of a moment before we were here.

Drawing Our Own Map

As we take action on what we need to do next, we may draw on things we have done before, but in a different way. We may recall people we have known, and suddenly realize different lessons they have taught us, lessons we may not have realized we were getting at the time.

Retrospect offers different lessons than the present. Perspective adds to what we know. There are things we have learned that we didn't know we learned. It is cumulative.

That is why we might feel that a choice or a decision is familiar. We may have visited this choice in our thoughts many times in dreams or in real life experiences, and now we are perceiving them in a whole new way.

Perhaps I am a good reader because many jobs I have done in my life required that I be able to read people, but in different contexts and different settings.

Our ancestors had some guidance on what plants were good to eat by watching the birds and the animals. We get some lessons by observing what other people are doing that works. We have developed some skills by hard lessons, and some by easy lessons.

As we sense the flow of energy, we make our way. We choose to abandon efforts where we feel thwarted, and go with the flow that takes us forward.

Staying open to guidance and picking up clues from our guides, we notice fresh opportunities. We will usually have attachments to things we have done before and things that are comfortable. Survival means being willing to leave some of that behind, even clear it out, so that our path ahead is open.

Watch how you feel, and watch what happens when we draw our own map. You may be surprised at which way you are heading.

Stellar Connections

I wonder what prompted the first people to look at the stars and see constellations. There are millions of lights in the sky and they have always been stimulating to our imaginations. Is that because we have some ancient memory out there? Or is it because the sheer immensity and beauty that extends wider than our field of vision and suggests the limitless possibilities of the universe?

So then what was it that showed people the constellations? Were they simply looking for their gods and goddesses in the sky? What made those ancient seers relate those alignments to people and their personalities?

Now that we have had how many generations of people working with this model of thinking, and we see how the planets relate to our personalities and the constellations represent archetypes in people. Today it is common conversation for peoples to talk about the personalities of Leo, Scorpio, Pisces, Virgo, Aries, Aquarius and all the rest.

What was the thought process that led early people to look up at the sky and make these connections? Where else might we find connections?

Creative Thoughts

Did you ever stop to think about how amazing certain aspects of evolution came to be? Have you thought about how or why it might matter to you right now?

Imagine the early days of history when the first people thought of making holes in a reed to make the first flutes. Or when the first people thought to make a drum. Imagine the progress, or process they went through making the first music with their inventions. From all indications, these instruments first had ritual uses, and making music just for fun came later. Who was the first person to make this transition? No one knows the answer to that, of course, but try and imagine what that process might have been like.

Seems like we might need to reimagine how various aspects of our evolution happened. Why? For one, it is interesting to think that we did not evolve all that slowly from people who could just manage to kill a wild animal with a spear and roast it over a fire to being people who could create complex architecture and understood complex concepts, or at least approached them if they did not understand them.

Consider, for example that Newgrange in Ireland, which was build thousands of years before the pyramids, is made from stones fitted together, and the roof of the inner chamber, which is vaulted, and has no mortar, has never had a roof leak. Can any builder today claim such success? Another feature that was built in was an opening over the front entry that allows the inner chamber to be illuminated by the rising sun only and exactly on the Winter Solstice every year.

Or how about all the various ancient people, all the way back to caveman days, who somehow just knew that when a person dies that the invisible part of them that kept them alive has left the body that the person was going on to some other level of reality, and so they developed rituals to recognize the death and somehow through their symbolic acts help the person transition into whatever is next. Imagine the thought processes of the first people who began to grasp this.

If we can begin to grasp these concepts, among others, it may offer us other ways to see our own evolution. It is often the far out thoughts that can create results close to home.

Walking Between the Worlds

One of the old expressions that is used for a shaman is one who walks between the worlds.

Picture yourself as one who is completely conversant in one world and learning to navigate others.

The shamanic reference is to the worlds of spirit and matter. We also find ourselves balancing between worlds when we are trying to reorganize aspects of ourselves, whether it is starting a new business, changing careers, beginning new relationships, starting a new workout schedule and eating habits.

Any of these tasks can have us balancing between two worlds as we set our course.

That path between the material and spirit worlds is pretty thin. We get glimpses over the fence when people close to us are dying. And as we periodically peek over the fence on either side, we can also see the other places where there are connections between the two worlds.

Walking that path between the worlds gets easier when you know that it is there, and when you know that you are walking it. How many things change, how many decisions get easier, when you know you are on the road?

Second Wind

How many times have you been nearly exhausted, and then got your second wind? Where does it come from? Can you summon it any time you want?

Maybe it is not a mysterious force. Maybe the second wind comes from our determination to complete the task before us. It's what happen when you press on after your initial burst of energy has been used up. It's what happens when you get tired and then remember all the reasons you want to succeed.

Suddenly that burst of strength and fresh energy fills your body and we resume our task with renewed vigor.

Perhaps that first wind that nearly exhausted us was necessary to test our will. The second wind is the universe sending us what we need to keep going.

After all, if we have decided that our task is important, we find the courage to keep going. Second wind is the breath that courage summons.

Guidance to Grab a lead and Go for It

When we need to make changes, we frequently alternate between moving as fast as we can and taking time to look everything over.

As we tune into our spirit guides who are intimately connected to our survival instinct, and they serve us well, and that is where we get that inkling that this path would be better for us than that one. Or that spending time on this is better than that.

It is where that voice comes from that says it is time to get back in shape. So even though we might feel like being laid back again, we decide it is time to get up anyway and get a move on.

When once again choosing our next move along the career path, spirit guides are the voices that suggest this or that is our best choice.

A deck of tarot cards can be very useful in these rapid fire situations that we find ourselves in. The cards can react rapidly and point us in the right direction. Once again, of course, it is our choice what direction we want to take.

We see the energies moving in the areas around us. There is that swirling energy that
suggest to us wonderful choices are available if we will just stop and make use of them.As these options get straightened out,

So we find out parth again and settle into a groove,then we tade note and act, and once we have moved in the direction where we seeour greatest opportunity and we start gettig traction with them, we feee more assured, Our instincts will guide ups to our most productive opportunity. This can mean utilizing an approach we had not seriously considered before.

And yes, these new approaches are revealing ssuccess or at lest promise of success.

Now the immediate need is to take it our for a road test. How well does the idea fly. It can get to a point where we don'r recognize it as our own, but still it works, and we carry on with it and it gets better, Once we think it over, take a lead and jump on it. This shifting around and chaos will shift our next success into great.

Right now it is messy. People restless. they are hunting, Soon will come openings staffed by performers who really want it to happen. Necessity is the mother of invention once again.

Gathering Energy on the Yin Side

It is a luxury to be off for a few days and not have to get up at any particular time. To be able to just read books and watch movies, to listen to music and just let new ideas percolate through my system. To enjoy a leisurely bath. And a cup of tea.

Just cooking some simple, healthy meals and getting plenty of rest is a good enough way to spend the day. When I feel like getting active again, I will be ready to get moving again.

Sometimes you just need to recharge your battery. During my busy seasons, I can sometimes work for weeks without getting a day off, and since I enjoy doing my reading and healing work, I am happy to work as much as possible.

There are some things I need to schedule right after New Year's, and then get everything off to a high energy start.

I am enjoying the yin side of the equation right now, staying in with the heat keeping everything cozy, nestled in with a book on the history of cards, some music for a winter evening and snacking on some delicious home made bread that a client just dropped off.

What else would make this an even better evening? Only one thing. If you think you know what that is, call or email, and you could be the winner of..........................I will tell you when you call.

The Quiet in the MIddle of the Noise

During the holidays what I enjoy most is to sleep late, go dancing or work out in the evenings, and in between, just read, watch movies, listen to music and be able to enjoy a cup of tea without worrying about having to finish it and rush off.

A perfect time for cleaning out closets and doing a deep cleaning. Maybe try cooking something differently today.

Little things prompt reflection for me, like the fact that the busy street now only has a car on it every once in a while. It is so quiet, compared to normal.

I like the way lights twinkle from quite a distance over the snow and fog against the mountains. The lights give it the sense of the skyline being personally painted for you as shimmering lights continue to define the profile of the buildings and mountains.

Where the quiet settles in, you can see the audience sitting down waiting for the next story. These are the invisible audience that is always waiting to see what you do next. They are just as ready to applaud for us as someone else.

Capture the essence of the lights, capture the inspiration and hope they transmit. A quiet moment provides time for a new idea to germinate, then for dreams to come into sharper focus.

Every touch now is a memory. Every touch now is a light. It is the light in the middle of winter, soft, distant, creative and sweet. Like the embers that glow and have enough power to get the fire roaring. The quiet in the middle.

The Ying and Yang of the Solstices

On the Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year, we make the turn into the lighter part of the year. Even thought it will not be immediately visible to our naked eye, the light is growing as the orbit of the earth changes again and our energies shift.

What an appropriate time then, to let go of whatever old fears, habits or behaviors that are holding us back from having the kind of life we want. As we let go of these and give more attention to the thoughts and actions that will lighten up our life, we find our path clearly laid out before us, with opportunities coming to light, and people who will be good for us to be with, clearly illuminated.

Moving from the dark into light is not about good vs evil. In the context of the solstices, it is the balancing between yin and yang, with the yin being the rich fertile place that enfolds the seeds of our dreams and gives the future a place to take root. The yang is the projective energy that sends the shoots above ground to reach up and absorb the light. It is both of these energies together that produce our future growth. We cannot have one without the other.

So as you shed whatever it is that you are ready to leave behind, replace that space in your energy field with what you want to grow into next. What do you want to happen between now and the Summer Solstice? How much can we do in six months time? How much can our life change? How much has already changed within the last six months? Are you ready to embrace your new growth and encourage it to grow robustly?

Mysteries Solved

He walked up to her while she was smoking a cigarette and he handed her his business card. All it said was Mysteries Solved and a phone number. She wondered how he knew that there was something she wanted to know. So of course she called him. "How did you know that I was looking for someone to help me figure this out?" she asked.

"Everybody has questions they want answers to, everybody is puzzled about some of the things that have happened in their life," he explained. "It's just that only some people are curious enough to really want to know the answers. Other people just push it to the corner of their mind and forget about it."

He handed these cards out to people everywhere he went, and there was a steady flow of customers, because there were always mysteries that people wanted solved.

There were mysteries that could be unraveled by sitting down and talking, and there were mysteries that required some digging around, although the Internet made the digging much easier than it used to be. And for some mysteries, he used his ability to travel mentally to find the answers.

It was an interesting business to be in, and there were stories that he came across that stuck in his mind and people were always interested to hear them.

You see, the word mystery quickly translated as crime stories and detective novels in the public mind. Then there were other popular mysteries, like UFOs, gypsies, witches, ancient civilizations and conspiracy theories.

But the mysteries that the mystery man got called for were usually more subtle, and more personal than that. Sure, there were those who had encounters with ETs, ghosts, witches or shamans, but there were many more who wondered where their life was going or why it had gone like it had already.

The Mystery Man was just as intrigued with these cases as he was with the big ones, and that is why he kept handing out his card to total strangers. He loved the mysteries they brought him.

And the people who called him loved the way he helped them unravel the mysteries and tell the stories of their lives. You see, this is how the Mystery Man also came to be known as the Storyteller. It was uncanny the way that he could find the perfect way to approach each person's request.

You could see it in their eyes, and hear the words form on their lips as he once again slipped a card into a stranger's hand without a word. "How did you know that I was looking for you? How did you know that I want to know? How did you know I have questions to ask?"

And the Mystery Man just smiled his cryptic, mischievous smile and responded, "Call me. I'd love to talk to you."

And so they did, and with each call, another mystery was unveiled, and another story was told. There was healing and humor, joy and sadness. And no two stories were ever exactly alike.

What We Thought We Would Be

The first time I ever remember someone asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up was way back when I was in grammar school. The question kind of stumped me, because at that time the farthest I was thinking ahead was to a softball game after school.

So I did what most kids did and just said whatever came to mind. I think I said that I wanted to be a lawyer because the night before I had watched a TV show with a lawyer in it and that sounded like as good a thing as any to say. Sure, I want to be a lawyer.

Of course, I forgot about that as soon as they got done asking me about it. Not once in my life did I ever think of going to law school. Heck, there were more important things to think about, like softball or basketball.

Then again in high school, they asked what I would like to be and what I wanted to major in when I went to college. At that time, I was just getting acquainted with the charms of the opposite sex. Why would I want to think about what class I would like to take in college when I wasn't even done with high school?

I have no clue what I answered then. Maybe newspaper reporter because I used to deliver newspapers, and I used to read them all the time, and the one I delivered had a great columnist by the name of Mike Royko. Back then, when you rode the subway or the bus home from work, you could tell that everybody was reading his column because they had the paper folded back so that they could read the left side of page 3, which is where Royko's column always was.

So at some point, I chose majors in college and chose jobs when I got out of college, then every so often, I chose to change jobs and change careers when something looked interesting.

There were times when I set goals and then achieved them and then moved on. Then I would choose some other career goal and achieve that.

Sometimes when we look back and reflect on what we have done and remember all those times when we said things about what we thought we would be, we notice that we still have time to choose again.

I figure I will live to be 150, so I haven't even had my midlife crisis yet, so I still have time to think about what I would like to be.

Yes, it has changed several times already. But hey, who says you only get one chance to choose in 150 years?

All these vitamins and supplements they keep coming up with keep working so well that maybe if I take enough Horny Goat Weed, vitamin C and Niacin I can live to be 250. Why not? I still have plenty of time to think about what I would like to be!