Returns

When we find ourselves wondering what happened, the answer is probably that you did ask for this, even if you didn't know it.

You see, when you decide you want something, there may be more to it that you hadn't thought about. So here it is, with all of its parts, and you are surprised.

This phenomenon turns up in many ways. Sometimes when people come to me for a reading, the reading tells them everything they wanted to know and they go on their way. Some people come back for more readings because the reading may have raised more questions in their mind and now they want to ask about that.

There are also returns when we ask one question and the answer seems to answer a different question, but that answer goes to the real root of the problem.

Often we have to return to the questions that we are asking to see what it is we are really asking. The surprise when we realize that we were asking something one thing when we thought we were asking something else might give us a jolt, one of those enlivening wake up calls to our self.

Return to the question and ask, what is it I really want to know? Validation of the choices you have already made is also a good result, because it answers your question when others who are not attached to the outcome are confirming your decisions.

When the cards are turned over, what you see is the answer to your question. You just have to look at it with different eyes.

Feeling Your Vision

When you are visualizing what you want in life, do you also feel it?

It is one thing to visualize your success, your future, your desires, but is it only a picture in your mind? That is only the first step.

Desire is a powerfully important ingredient. When you think of your vision for your future, do you feel it intensely? Like a gut level feeling? Or do you just see a picture?

Try this experiment yourself. How much more power and energy is there behind your vision if you can actually feel it? Can you sense that time and place where it is real?

Isn't it true that we know something is real when we can feel it?

If we only think we can see it, it could be a hallucination. If we can actually feel ourselves experiencing that vision, living in that vision, then we know it is real.

Test this technique on yourself to see if you can verify what I am saying.

Picture yourself having what you want in life. Now see if you can feel it.

Your vision can be about whatever it is that you want. Prosperity, business success, career change, a new relationship, vibrant good health, new friends, a satisfying spiritual path, absolutely anything you want to include.

So picture it. Now feel it.

What happens? What's the difference?

Blue Healing

The blues has a way of lifting your spirits by taking you down to the bottom and letting you bounce up. I love the blues. Something about the urgency of the music, the gut level feel of it has the power to energize and move. It's also kind of sexy, seductive and playful.

Wonder where you get that feeling when you are hearing the blues? Considering that blues inspired some creative soul to draw eerie, edgy sounds of out a guitar using a beer bottle neck, the earthy vocals fit nicely alongside it. That primal feel is what grabs your attention when the singer not only sings sweetly but mixes it with a range of sounds, growls, shots, and sensuous moans mixed in. And if at some point you don't find yourself laughing or smiling over some of the lyrics, you haven't been listening.

And some nights, that's exactly what I want to hear. The visceral feel, going straight for the emotions, and kicking it into gear with those rhythms that just call you up to dance. Dance, and let it stoke the fire of seduction. Let it bounce in those playful ways you like to do. I see that sparkle that comes with that smile. Funny that works, isn't it?

On those days and nights when you feel like you need some medicine to lift your spirits, bathe yourself in some blues. You might be having a drink while feeling funky about the way things have been going. But after you soak in that music for a little while and feel it moving you to dance, you will be feeling better.

Blues can heal. What sweet medicine.

The Old Dog

One day an old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old German Shepherd thinks, 'Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!' Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, 'Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?' '

Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, 'What am I going to do now?', but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...'Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. 'Whew!' says the panther, 'That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!'

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes, but the old German Shepherd sees him heading after the panther with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.

The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, 'Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, 'What am I going to do now?', but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...'Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!'

What Makes Us So Mysterious?

What makes us so mysterious? Why do we sometimes not know why we chose what we did? All of us have had some experience in life where we find ourselves thinking that if we had a chance to do something over, we would choose differently.

Our lives are full of moments like this. Yet, every choice we have made has altered the course of our lives. For better or for worse? Those are judgements we make. When one door closes, another opens, and we are the ones opening and closing doors. Sometimes we just want to see what is behind one of those doors. Other times we get help when someone else opens a door for us.

We are complex. All kinds of factors go into our decision making process. Why we choose what we choose is often not even known to us. We do what we like. We do what we want. We do what makes us feel good. We get feelings and we act on them. We get thoughts and we act on them. Sometimes we choose wisely. Sometimes we choose impulsively. Sometimes strange choices can turn out magnificently. We are mysterious.

We change so frequently in the course of our lives that careers, relationships and choices we are making now, we didn't even imagine years ago. We are living experiments, evolving, always evolving.

Our dreams often foretell of things to come in our lives. We also have experiences of how powerful we are when we have a strong desire and focus on something and our actions, even the little subconscious ones, lead us in that direction. Then, poof! One day we find ourselves exactly where we thought we would be.

We weave in and out of levels of consciousness, sometimes recognizing the correlation between our thoughts, desires, actions and where we find ourselves, and sometimes wondering how we got where we are.

We are mysterious because we weave in and out of these levels of consciousness and that makes life look mysterious, as well as making ourselves look mysterious to others. That is exactly what makes each one of us a work of art, a work in progress.

We all love mysteries, and that is why we are fascinated by each other.

Fortune Telling Is Not As Mysterious As We Are

We live in the present, but the future is all around us. Everywhere we look there are choices we can make that will shape what is to come next.

If we take a look all around us, we find the seeds of what is next. The choices we make each day determine what options will follow. We can track where our energy flows. Once we place our attention on something, we will either get confirmation of that choice or an omen to choose something else.

The flow of energies follows the patterns we set and we have the ability to alter that flow with every choice we make.

So in a reverse sort of way, the future has left clues all around us to what is in store for us later.

Consider that what we like to do now. There are indications of that all around us. So what happens if we pursue that course? Consider the kinds of activities we enjoy. Will we keep on doing them, or choose something else?

Are we open to adventure? Are we ready to embrace new concepts, new friends? New relationships? What are the things we are going to finally get up and do, and the things we will scratch from our list? There are clues in what is right here, right now about what is to come next. We might not always recognize them, because maybe something will happen that causes us to choose differently later today or tomorrow.

Fortune telling itself is not as mysterious as we are.

Winter A Little Further Into Spring

It can be easy to forget what season it is here. Sunday it was snowing, cold and windy. Today it is sunny and windy. The turning of the seasons from winter into spring is always kind of jerky, a sequence of shifts back and forth before finally opening up into planting weather and blossoming into the new growth.

Some of that new growth has been poking up for a while now, but the dips back down into low temperatures and snow remind us that we are still in winter.

I keep thinking that it is time to garden, but last year, it snowed until the end of May.

And this reminds me of how our own progress looks sometimes. We start moving forward and we have setbacks and speed bumps, then we get going again. Even though we may have a clear vision for ourselves, our path, our plan, our work, our pleasure, we still have to redouble our efforts at times to keep us getting to where we are going.

Our growth, just like the return of spring, is not always smooth. It goes in fits and spurts until finally the new growth gains momentum and stays up.