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.

Rhythms to Magically Shift Our Spirits

The rhythms of our days vary. Some days we get up and feel eager to get going. Other days we wake up slowly and we welcome the slow pace of a day with no urgent appointments on the agenda.

Rather than force ourselves to be one or the other, we can either increase our pace and speed things up or we can slow things down.

When we match the pace of our feelings, we are in sync with our spirit.

Have you noticed how some days it seems to take a while to get in sync? How the rhythms of our day may take a while to catch up with our feelings? Or how are feelings seem to be brought into line with our pace?

It is always a matter of fine tuning. After all, we do not just have one pace all the time. It fluctuates, just as our mood does.

Sometimes when we are down, we can play directly into it to lift ourselves out, singing blues, dancing slowly with ourselves, maybe drumming a little or reading a good book until we move into another rhythm.

So the rhythms we work with can alter our moods. We could be feeling out of sorts, but then by simply taking a walk, we can come back refreshed and come up with fresh ideas.

We could even be discouraged or disillusioned, but after going out to dance for a few hours, come back with a whole new attitude.

We can use rhythms in our life to lift our spirits, improve our health, find inspiration, grab a hold of the joy of life and clasp it to our chest, so that we are heart to heart with our aliveness.

Consider the ways in which we establish and shift the rhythms in our days. It is a magical energy that is always at our fingertips, at our feet, the sparkle in our eyes and the sweetness of discovery. Every day has new things to discover, if we just open our senses and engage with them.

We always have the power to bring things into alignment with movement, and rhythm is the tuning fork for what drives us.

Enlightenment Can Be a Tricky Process

Enlightenment can be a tricky process. You make some progress forward and you slip back a bit, then go forward again, then maybe sideways some.

Several years ago, voters in Colorado decided that legalizing marijuana for medical use was a good thing.

So then lots of people invested time and money and went to work and started growing, some put their savings together to open shops where marijuana products would be legally sold.

New jobs were created in towns all over the state. Green jobs. Local jobs. Sales taxes were generated.

Then some towns decided that they didn't want any of those businesses in their town. Last night, Longmont became one of them. Conservative city council members decided that if people need to go to dispensaries, "they can just drive over to Boulder."

Some people got relief from health problems jobs were created, taxes were paid, local people were employed and yet, the council members just decided that they didn't want these kinds of businesses here.

Win some battles, lose some battles. I predict that eventually the laws will change and we will just have legal marijuana period, not just medical.

It is just foolish that it has taken this long. The experiment with banning beer and liquor didn't last for 80 years. After about 10 years, they admitted it was a mistake and repealed the law, let businesses open legally again and then taxed them.

I think that some people know that the enlightened approach would be to just do it that way, it's just that they have been stuck in their anti-drug position for so long that they choke on the idea of saying "oops, we made a mistake, so let's correct it."

But one of these days, the tide of public opinion and votes will sweep them aside. Too bad we wasted so much time haggling over it, and they will finally come out and admit that they know it is a beneficial plant and people want it, so let's just go ahead and sell it and tax it.

It will be like the day when naysayers in the field of green energy finally get up and say "yes, let's just go ahead and build more solar, wind and geothermal energy generators and run more power lines to them so that we are not so dependent on fossil fuels. It takes time for stubborn people to come around, but one of these days you will see the turn of the tide.

They will get up and say "yes, it will work. Let's do it." I am hoping this agreement comes sooner than later. I keep holding that thought.

What Will the World Look Like in the Morning?

How will the world look in the morning? It all depends on what you were thinking about today.

As we all work to make our dreams into realities, there is a pattern that eludes our vision because the final pattern is the result of so many different individuals with so many different visions who are all acting independently. So when we see the final product there is some of our handiwork in there, plus bits of what everyone else is doing.

Visions of the future are rarely unanimous because everyone looks at it from different angles.

Look at how the Internet has evolved. It went from being a way for academic and military researchers to share information to being a place for everyone.

We use it to exchange personal messages with friends, to set up a place to shop for products we want, a place to look for work or create our own work. It is a place for artists, writers and musicians to show their work to the world without going through an agent, gallery or corporation. It is a place to research anything.

Its immense popularity then created new problems. Once these avenues were opened up that let anybody create any kind of website and put it out there, the next thing that happened was that the person searching has to wade through all kinds of stuff to find what they want. And the person posting has to learn all kinds of tricks to get people to come to their website.

The web is the biggest single example in the world of people all over the planet with competing and conflicting visions all working together without really working together.

Old myths often speak of order being created out of chaos, and here we have right in front of us a perfect example of that. And of course, it is not done yet. It is still order emerging from chaos.

There is something goofily ironic about the fact that at a time when some politicians are proposing to do away with Medicare that the topic most searched for was Charlie Sheen's drunken buffoonery. And now while there is still much confusion in the world about the uprisings in Arab countries and more jabbering instead of decisive leadership in the field of increasing our ability to develop and use solar, wind and geothermal energy to replace fossil fuels, among the most researched topics today were Chastity Bono's sex change operation, Schwarzenegger's divorce and the trial of a mother who murdered her daughter.

Perhaps the explanation is simply that people love a good story, and as tragic as it sounds, what all this may tell us is that people who tell stories about developing better sources of energy are not telling stories nearly as well as the people telling these other stories. I think that in order to make real progress in the world, we need better storytellers.

What will the world look like in the morning?

Shadows Don't Make a Sound

Shadows are silent partners that witness everything we do. The light that shines on us allows the shadow to mirror all our actions, sometimes in larger than life images.

Our shadow follows us. We are the ones who make decisions, take the actions, and lead the way. Our shadow simply repeats and reaffirms our movements. A shadow can provide an outline that emphasizes our movements.

Now some people use the term shadow in an entirely different context, meaning the dark side of a person's personality, their bad behaviors or wrong choices. But I am not a fan of this theory.

You see, I think that everything we do, we consciously choose. If we choose to engage in a behavior that others think of as dark, it may simply be that our reason for choosing was formed in a way that others may not agree with or understand.

There is no "Devil" that made me do anything. Or you. We make us do things. We choose. We always have free will.

This shadow, you see, is simply the space in which our actions are seen. Shadows are one dimensional. The light we are facing lets a phantom image of us linger. The shadow is not an image of us in living color. It is not the person explaining why they did what they did, or why they thought this was a good idea. The shadow is simply trailing after the fact. If you see a shadow, it is not the same as seeing the person.

Have you ever noticed that even though we might be singing, our shadows don't make a sound?

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?

There Is No "Right Number"

When planning ahead, many of us are trying to save enough money to start a business or for some other major change. But when circumstances beyond our control change quickly, we find ourselves needing to launch that next phase without the "right number" we were hoping for.

So if we have to act now, then we just have to go with what we've got. We may wish we had more, but suddenly we find ourselves hustling to make things work with what we have. Even in a well thought out plan, opportunities or difficulties can present us with costs we had not planned on.

We might find it a bit scary, but not having the "right number" can make us more creative. Having plenty can make a person complacent. Why hurry up and do something if you don't have to?

Every person who starts a new business has some touch and go moments when tight budgeting sharpens focus and causes a person to check out all kinds of wild and off the wall ideas, and can put a person in the position of needing to borrow to meet obligations. It is an invigorating challenge.

Truth is, I think that we are rarely as fully prepared as we would like to be, and so we find ourselves having to launch without our right number, doing our best to make a go of it with what we've got.

The right number may be out of reach when we find ourselves pressed into action, so we proceed with the clear objective in mind of making a profit. And if we did wait until we had plenty to more than offset any difficulty, we may delay getting started forever.

When the world throws us a challenge and we hit the ground running, there is no right number, just working numbers. There are ideals and then there are pragmatic choices. In the absence of the "right numbers" we look at the picture from every angle and look for ways to make it work with whatever numbers we've got.

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.

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 Do You Hear?

Can you hear the music in the sounds all around us every day? There are rhythms in the wind, the sounds of birds and animals. There are rhythms to the traffic whether we are driving in it, or letting it pass us by.

Of course, we will never hear that unless we turn the music players off for a while.

There are things people say that we will never hear, unless we listen closely. It is in the tone as much as the words. It is in the inflection, the rhythm.

What do you hear when you listen to the rhythm of the world?

How do you hear the world when you turn of the talk radio?

How do you hear the world when you turn off the news?

What does the world sound like when you are just in conversation with other people?

What do you hear when it is just the sound of your own breath, whether in a brisk walk, or sitting quietly?

What do you hear in the sound of people working?

What do you hear in the sound of people playing?

What do you hear when there is nothing to hear?

Some of Us Are Slow Learners

If you sometimes feel like you are a slow learner, don't be disappointed. Why do you think that we are given more than one lifetime to get the important lessons?

Lessons can look different if we regard them as totally new, but when we look through a longer perspective we see the patterns and that helps us get clarity and recognize where we are at a faster pace and see the things that we repeat.

In this way, past life recall can accelerate our movement forward, ironic as that may seem.

As we review stories from our past, we are offered the opportunity to recognize how or why we may have chosen the work we have in this lifetime, our lovers and spouses in this lifetime. Viewing past life stories can also explain aspects of difficult family relationships.

Remember, however, that we always have free will, so we can choose to be stubborn and not learn lessons as well as the possibility of learning them faster.

Nobody said we had to be fast learners.

Here But Not Here, Gone But Not Gone

At times of transition, our minds sometimes let us fade in and out of consciousness. Not that we are blacking out, or anything like that. For example, I have moved a number of times in my life, but lived in Atlanta longer than anywhere before I moved to Colorado, and every once in a while I find myself saying that I have to drive into Atlanta for an event tonight.

Of course, Denver looks nothing like Atlanta, and I know I am here, not there. But when I am in that in between state, what is connecting is that I am going in town, and for a long time, that's what it felt like and looked like. Before I get in the car and actually go there, I might actually think I am going there. But then once I am out in the car, the familiar sights remind me that the Atlanta part of my life is gone, but not gone.

It happens like that with people in our life too. Sometimes after the death of someone we knew for a long time, we find ourselves thinking that we will be going over to see them one day soon and then we remember that they have already gone.

When we are used to getting up to go to work at the same time every morning, and then that changes, we find ourselves getting out of bed thinking we need to hurry up and make coffee and get dressed, and then we remember that we don't have to leave or go anywhere right now, and then we can think about what we want or need to do today.

People who have recently ended a relationship can also experience these feelings when they think about going somewhere, and for a moment their memory slips and they picture themselves going with their old partner or being with their old partner.

It is as if our bodies have memories of their own and they remember certain experiences so well that they can still recall a presence that is now gone. It is as if our bodies hold on to these old memories until they are replaced by not just newer, but more powerful, memories that occupy more of our consciousness.

Even then, the lingering memories of what used to be still have a powerful grip, whether we call it nostalgia or sentimentality or romanticism, those powerful memories will never be completely gone as long as we live in those bodies that experienced them.

I have a theory that medical experts may not agree with, and it is this. Although I know that Alzheimers is a degenerative disease that affects the mind, I also know, in the psychic way of knowing that sometimes people will choose to slip in and out of consciousness, and sometimes allow themselves to feel here, but not here, as they recall some more pleasant moment of their past.

I think people sometimes choose that blissful state of here but not here, gone but not gone.

Let me be clear that I am not saying that people can just will themselves out of Alzheimers. I am just saying that even those of us in good health can sometimes allow ourselves the pleasure of slipping in and out of different states of consciousness.

When our energy ebbs and flows in those in between times we may be walking between the worlds, as it is often said of shamans. We are simply enjoying a feeling whether or not it is actually accurate, it may be feeling accurate. When we have a pleasant thought, our body experiences that as if it were happening.

That between the worlds state seems to exist between the highs and lows. There are times when that level of consciousness feels as delightful as anything we might have deliberately cultivated, but it is even more enjoyable because it just comes, without being summoned. There is a flow to it.

Without trying too hard, in fact I will say because we do not try too hard, we find ourselves in a euphoric state that feels effortless. We can be walking between two worlds when we practice being here, but not here, gone but not gone.

Love, Heat and Passion

It has been said that the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. Upon first hearing this, many people think that this cannot be correct. After all, love and hate would seem to be the two opposites. But there is a lot of energy in these two. Ray Bradbury, the great science fiction author, notes in Zen and the Art of Writing that there is as much zest in what you hate as in what you love, and either can produce enough energy to inspire great stories and great writing. Deep feelings from any perspective can breathe life into a point of view. Powerful reserves of feelings can animate and illuminate.

Now it is easy for us to recognize the passion in a relationship expressed as energetic lovemaking, romantic interludes and excited playfulness, but there is another side to that same source of energy. It is the dark side of romantic love that often finds expression in words that lead to regret, and the regret, in turn, becomes surrender.

Doesn't that often seem the case with couples who have mercurial relationships but stay together? They still have a lot of energy and they still care deeply. They care enough about each other to express deeply felt emotions. On the surface that may seem contradictory, but think about it for a moment. Two people may have very different opinions on a subject or very different concerns over an issue, but they still care enough to get excited, frustrated or angry and that forms the basic energy from which they argue. And isn't it true that often after a heated disagreement that the couple makes up, forgives each other and reconciles with passionate lovemaking?

So I am not saying that anger, arguing, and heated disagreements are desirable states, or things to be admired. What I am saying is that in a deeply felt relationship, there will be disagreements, heated discussions and flare ups. People in passionate relationships feel emotions deeply and they express them. And both parties in a relationship can take turns being right and being wrong.

Energy can be transmuted. Anger can become affection and affection can become anger. And the shifting between them can melt opposition. These change when a person is able to shift their frame of reference to view their emotions through a different perspective and they can feel the emotions expressing differently. How else do people calm down when they are expressing too much energy and going off on wild tangents?

Although the idealist in us would advocate for the peaceful discussion and resolution of all differences, with couples easily agreeing on solutions, the rise and fall of passions will preclude that from always being the case.

Strange as it may seem, it is the cool end of the spectrum that finally signals the end of a relationship. When one or both of the parties no longer cares enough to even disagree, they are indifferent to making love, and they can just walk away, then they are withdrawing their energy so completely from the relationship that there is nothing left. Nothing left to fight over, nothing left to debate or discuss, nothing left to love, no care, no compassion, no kindness, no tenderness, no excitement. Just nothing.

When one partner can actually say to the other partner that they do not care what happens to them, then the relationship has been drained of all life.

Just as the presence or absence of our body heat is a sign of life, when the body of love cools below the level of warmth, it is a sure sign that life is gone and that the love, heat and passion that once electrified the space between the two people has lost all of its vitality, that is indifference, the opposite of love. When nothing is left to flare up, nothing is left to heal, no excitement is left in the loving, and neither cares to even discuss it, then the body of love has cooled below the temperature necessary for life.

The passion, heat, and love in a relationship are its breath, pulse, and heartbeat. Without them, there is nothing.

Priest and Priestess

In traditions where ceremonies and rituals are performed by a priest and priestess, there is a unique relationship that goes beyond the bounds of lovers or friends. The relationship begins as student and teacher, but then once the second person learns how to work together to perform their roles, the energies of the two people become very finely attuned at every level, to where they are able to tune into each other and read signals that are communicated psychically.

Although in older traditions, the two are often lovers, husband and wife, or a long term couple, the spiritual connection that is interwoven with it connects them in ways that even long time couples do not achieve, because these connections are formed through conscious effort and consistent practice.

Being part of such a practice opens doors of perception that allow us to appreciate life in subtle ways. Many of these are subtle and can only be known by those who practice.

Working together as priest and priestess, significant life passages are experienced through the container of ritual, allowing participants to process emotionally challenging situations with perspective, understanding and profound assimilation.

I am grateful for being part of such a priest and priestess tradition and for being blessed with incredible women as priestesses in my life, and know that this will always be part of my way, my path in life.

Reading Within, Reading Without

Today, I was thinking of a situation and was going to draw some cards to read on the matter, but then I remembered I did not have my cards with me. So I did what came to me automatically, and just focused on the subject and let the answer come.

Of course, I have done this before, and it is always part of my readings that what comes through is not always what exactly is on the cards. Many people understand that the cards are gateways through which messages can come. Some people see them as visual prompts, focal points for the person requesting the reading to focus on and let their mind start to work on their issues even before the reader speaks.

There are times when I tell a person something, they ask me what cards told me that, and sometimes the answer is that it was not coming from any card, but rather from one of my spirit guides who told me to give you this message. Of course, there are also times when the literal interpretations of the cards do convey exactly the right message for this person at this time.

I have noticed recently that more people are asking me questions that do not require the cards, and in fact, for some answers, the cards are not needed at all.

Of course, you know that there are many psychics who do not use cards, runes, pendulums, I Ching, crystal balls or any other kinds of tools to connect with spirit and relay messages to clients. Mediums, channelers and straight psychics are other names for working this way. When messages come through touch, it is called clairsentient, when it comes through hearing, it is called clairaudient, and when it comes through seeing it is called clairvoyant.

Our comfort with using tools is both for the comfort of the client who might like to think that there is a logic and methodology to what we do. And there is to a degree, but there is also a lot coming through that psychic connection, which is not about logic, and is more deeply rooted in an ability to feel or sense.

The more we attune ourselves to be the tools, the more reliable our connections to our sources. For the reader, the tools are often familiar props that serve to set the stage until the senses connect and take over.

We go within in order to go without. I always affirm before a reading that I will bring through something that is useful for this person at this time.

For readers, learning to work within and without is part of the necessary development of really being a reader. It takes practice and it is not always easy to learn, but if you truly want to be able to do good readings, it is essential to learn. Like every other talent or skill, some will be born with more than others, but for the most part, it is the refinement of the skill through practice that brings the readings to life.

You have to read within in order to read without.

Drinking in the Music with Your Body

Music is the world. All of the world around us is sound. All of it forms a music, although we may not hear it unless we tap into it. It is in the quiet rhythm of a rainstorm. It is in the wind that moves through the trees and rocks. It is in the crackling of a fire as it reaches through the wood and builds to a roar, then settles into the glow of embers. It is the water that runs in a stream. The relaxing, enchanting sound of these elements moving through a natural course, drawing our ears into the patterns, be they subtle, and soothing or loud and exciting.

That is why sometimes I can feel comfortable just listening with no sound system on. It is also why sometimes a recording that establishes gentle rhythms and sweet sounds creates an environment conducive to a peaceful evening or a graceful awakening, where another music might bring forth an edgy feeling, or a nervousness, an anxiousness, while others simply make you feel like dancing or singing.

There is a kind of music for every kind of feeling. As our tastes change over the years, we come to prefer one or another, even though in the past we may have chosen differently.

When we are doing something that establishes its own rhythm, a task we are doing, music can help create a harmonious groove that supports that work and makes everything feel efficient. Work becomes a dance with the right choice in music.

When preparing for something that requires concentration or enhances a mood, the choice in sound makes all the difference. It can help create a good mood or destroy it.

When you notice the rhythms of your body, can you hear the music you make? When you notice your choices in music, do you notice what that is reflecting back to you? If you make your own music, or if you play a drum, can you feel what is coming through besides the beats or notes?

Can you hear what you are creating? Every breath is orchestrated, every movement is synchronized with something. Are you aware of what that something is? When you choose to drink in a sound and savor it, are you aware of how it is affecting you?

Listen. There is magic in the air. Can you hear it?

Validation, Not Fortune Telling

People sometimes come to me for a reading to get validation about something going on in their life, rather than revealing something they do not know. That may sound simple, but it is very valuable. Why?

Many years ago, when I started reading at fairs and festivals, I would often wonder why a total stranger would come to me and ask if they should marry the person they are thinking about marrying.

Consider the situation. Maybe all of her friends are telling her to go ahead with it because the guy is good looking, has money and a big house. But something inside her might be warning her off. And perhaps I am the only person who tells her that the match might not be a good one.

Of course, her free will makes the decision whether to marry this person or not.

There are other situations in which this is valuable as well. Sometimes people want a validation about a career change and when a reader simply uses their abilities to identify something that would agree with the querant's own research and decisions, once again, the validation feels real good. A neutral source just confirmed that you are on track.

Other times it may even be in the area of an activity a person enjoys just because it lifts their spirits, such as music, writing or some form of art. If a person gets validation that this really could be a good way for them to express themselves, whether or not it is about making money, that also validates their feelings about what works for them.

The important thing is that sometimes we feel like we might be crazy, especially if someone else is telling us we are because we know something we cannot prove. That validation tells us that we are not crazy. And that feels good.

Especially if the reader is neutral and does not know all the people involved or have any inside information, then the reading simply draws on the reader's abilities and the help of their tools, such as their cards.

I have seen many occasions when simply receiving that validation let the person feel supported in going ahead with what they were going to do anyway. And there is value in that.

Peace of Mind

There are many ways to get peace of mind. There is a certain feeling that comes to a person finally achieves something that was difficult for them to do. When something we have worked hard on proves out. Satisfaction.

There are also times when we feel vindicated because something we advocated or predicted came true.

We can also achieve peace of mind by simply not worrying about things so much. Sometimes what we worry about turns out alright and would have turned out alright even if we had not worried about it. Notice how the power of something that had us worried often dissipates quickly when we just quit worrying about it?

Another way to peace of mind is when we simply resign our self to a situation that is not of our liking rather than fight a tremendous uphill battle. Some battles are absolutely worth it, because a great wrong has been righted. But there are other battles that would not win us any great victory, maybe just the hard feelings of others. So maybe we get to feel vindicated, but we do not win any prize.

The wise person chooses their battles and avoids as many battles as possible if there is another solution.

Peace of mind comes through wise choices, not just sitting quietly. Meditation and reflection are good. So is conflict resolution. There are so many ways to get there that I am sure I will think of more as soon as I post this piece.

In a word I guess you could say that common sense makes peace as well as anything else. Peace of mind is not as difficutl to achieve as it might appear at times. We just have to remind ourselves to stay on track.

What Is Worth Knowing?

You know how it is some days when you log on to the Internet and there are stories everywhere about some over-hyped event or non-event or celebrity thing? Just think how much better off we would be if the media would simply focus on something else. I feel that media attention is often so ephemeral and geared toward short attention spans that it draws our attention away from things that really would benefit from more attention. Something or someone who seemed to take on proportions of incredible importance just a couple of weeks ago will not even be a footnote by the end of the year. And we see this cycle repeated over and over again.

Years ago, in one of his books Dr. Andrew Weil suggested as one of his steps to optimum health not only changing what you eat and getting regular exercise, but also fasting from the news. He did not advocate the news fast for forever, but for a period of time. The purpose of such a suggestion would be to allow a person to focus on being more conscious of what they are doing and also to reduce stress.

Knowledge can be first hand or second hand. First hand means that you actually know something to be true because you have experience with it. Second hand knowledge is when you know something is true because lots of other reliable sources agree on something and it agrees with other second hand knowledge, like knowing someone else who has been there and done that.

Most people develop a strong preference for first hand knowledge as they continue on down their path. Information that has been tempered by experience becomes far more valuable as we go on. It is one way of keeping your head on when you sometimes feel that you are drowning in a sea of information, most of it irrelevant.

Back to the Andrew Weil example. If we are paying attention to what we do, if we are changing our eating, exercise or peace of mind habits and we are noticing changes in our body, that is real knowledge that is coming to us.

If we are interested in learning more about a subject and we study or practice in that area every day, we are again acquiring first hand knowledge, experiencing breakthroughs, weaving that knowledge into our life.

If we are busy trying new ways to build our business, we are acquiring first hand knowledge of what works and what doesn't.

Acquiring knowledge is part of living. We all do it. As we follow our path and heed that which calls to us, that which makes our heart sing, discerning which knowledge is worth acquiring becomes more important. Do you find yourself increasingly aware of that? I know I do.

Information Is Not Knowledge

We get so much information that it even scanning through it takes an enormous amount of time. The only way to cope with it is to choose what parts of the information flow are really useful or interesting to you.

The Internet has changed the world profoundly, giving us access to tons of information. It is like having our own personal reference librarian at our fingertips, yet search results can be bewildering. You know that feeling when you search for something and google comes back with thousands of pages that relate to your search?

Yet, the very speed and ease of circulating information makes it easy for someone to put up information that is false or misleading, and if it circulates widely and rapidly enough some people will accept it as truth simply because they see references to it in lots of places.

So it is up to the person who is searching to survey vast amounts of data to try and determine what is actually true. It often takes a sharp eye and a perceptive mind to distinguish hype from reliable data.

In among the facts will also be some very thought provoking opinions, and there are times when these will be valuable to us.

It is tempting to confuse information with knowledge. Here is how I differentiate. If you have real life experience of how something works because you have the experience you have done it yourself, or you have used a product or gone to an event, this is knowledge. It is information that is combined with your real life experience.

There are times when information is enough, and there are times when it really is knowledge we seek. Have you ever thought about this? Are you aware of when one will suffice and when only the other will do?