Seattle Girl on Cape Cod: Nothing to Fear

"Storms don't come teach us painful lessons rather they were meant to wash us clean."—Sharon L. Alder

 

Dear fellow Earthlings, 

So much is going on in the world and I have recently received a strong call to go off Facebook and get off social media. I don't watch news, I don't interact with what is going on in current events. I follow my intuition and my intuition told me to go 'offline.' The only thing I keep here is my blog. 

The Earth and the beings living upon the Earth are going through a massive transformation. The way we do things is changing. The old systems are crumbling and as this happens, my guides have let me know that SELF CARE is of UTMOST importance right now. Being very aware of how I spend my time and how I spend my energy is going to be important in the coming months. 

At night, I know I am doing work. I can't explain exactly. When I wake up, I usually can't remember much, but I know I am working on the astral plane for the good of others.

Sometimes this work is heavy and it leaves me feeling tired or overwhelmed and even lethargic on the physical plane. I get irritated easy and find there is no time for things anymore. It feels like there is so much to do in the material world, but I can't get a grasp on all of it.

This tells me that my mind is occupied with more things than I know. Perhaps my storage is full and I need to delete some files. 

I channel and get messages. I am an intuit and I do psychic readings for people. I have done this work for a long time. The veil between this world and the non-physical world is very thin and if you are tuned in, you are aware of how close it is.

Humans fear death, but life and death are really the same thing: one is physical and one is non-physical. The reason it is frightening is because we give so much value to the material world. If humans gave more value to the non-physical world, or the spirit/spiritual world, they would realize that there really is NOTHING to fear. 

Nature is the bridge between the physical and non-physical worlds. Nature has its own language that is not made of words. It speaks all the time and gives messages and signs and answers in every single moment that you tune yourself to her.

When you go out in nature, slow down.

Walk slow and witness each thing you see, hear, taste, touch and smell. Really sink in!

On Saturday, I woke up rather early. Scott wanted to sleep in because he had just returned from a ski trip to Vermont with the company he works for and was tired.

I got a strong feeling to get outside and head to Wing Island in Brewster, Cape Cod. It's a small, sandy island behind the Natural History Museum that is accessible by a boardwalk. I was the only car in the parking lot when I got there at 9am.

Nature responded to me immediately. Just near the parking lot was another trail I had not ventured down yet. I decided to explore it a little. As I walked through the morning sun, hundreds of birds with various calls sang their songs. It was so enchanting. Each one an integral part of Nature's choir. There were chickadees, red cardinals, blue jays, morning doves and birds I could not identify. 

I stood there letting the sun soak through me from head to toe and listened to this music.

I must have stood there for a good 10 minutes. I wanted to venture further, but snow and ice covered the trail further down and I had slightly re-sprained my ankle and was recovering again and didn't want to chance it. I walked back to the parking lot and headed to Wing Island.

I walked over a two-plank boardwalk through the marsh. Tall common reeds flanked my path. I felt a kind of ecstasy as I walked across the open marsh. Eventually the path opened to Cape Cod Bay at low tide. I walked far out on the sand flats. I stopped often and basked in the sun and let it fill me up, like drinking from a tall glass of clean water. It was a reminder to return to Nature for sustenance whenever I felt overwhelmed.

Fast forward 6 days and it's now March 12th. I started this post on March 6th. So much has happened in that short span of time. I got SUCKED into the physical plane and all the drama there. The condo where I live is in a battle with board members (seems appropriate since the rest of the world is in a battle too. It's like the macro and micro have lined up). Anyway, a certain board member insists on bulldozing over anyone who steps up or speaks up. I have had trouble with bullies in my life. I don't often stand up to them and over the past 6 days or so, I've decided to stand up. This has caused one of our condo members to become aggressive. There are several unit owners who have recognized and experienced that this is NOT good energy, so we've stood up together. I had a confrontation with that board member on Thursday that sucked all the energy right out of me. She was relentless. 

I'm kinda done with narcissists and bullies. We are in a world where I feel they are all rearing their heads and insisting on their ways, but the world is changing at an intense speed and there is no room for that kind of energy anymore. Anyway, I got a strong sign to get out of my condo for awhile and go on a STAY CATION. It's the end of my college quarter and I needed a quiet place to tune in, finish my work and just rest. 

I asked myself where I was meant to be and I got Eastham, on the lower Cape. This is my old stomping grounds. It's where I lived with Scott for 8 months when we first came to Cape Cod. I didn't have any friends here then nor a car. Although I desperately wanted a friend, I was able to tune in very deeply to nature and now I view that time as a sort of 'awakening' for myself on a deep level. The lower Cape is WILD. I'd often walk to First Encounter Beach and foxes would walk along side me. Once a coyote stood in the middle of the road. Hawks and osprey fly overhead and the birds are in abundance.

I rented a small cottage on Minister Pond. 

When I arrived to this oasis, there was a goodie bag on the table that read "Welcome back to Eastham Katherine!" It was like a warm hug. My entire body began to RELAX. I had stopped by the store and gotten food for the weekend. I had planned to stay here alone to get all my college work done, but Scott will come on Sunday to enjoy,

Right now the wind is HOWLING outside. It's Nature's way of clearing the air. When I drove out here on Friday at around 4, the sun was high in the sky and Tom Petty was playing on the radio singing "I'm FREE....FREE FALLING!" And I remembered that feeling again. I remembered that girl who likes to MOVE and flow and listen. The one who talks to red cardinals and every cat she sees and looks for crocuses and signs of spring. 

Yes, when I go inside, when I step back into Nature and pull myself away from the drama on the physical plane, I realize that it is all just WIND. Right now that wind is shaking the door in its frame. It sounds like someone is trying to open the door, but it is all just a bunch of AIR. If I can think of things in this way, I feel okay.

 I realize that while the wind seems fierce and relentless, there is always a calm after the storm and maybe that storm is necessary to shake things out of their stagnation. Maybe we all need a little shaking up! Maybe this storm is calling me to not run and hide, but to face what's in front of me, be it wind at my door or a menacing woman at my door. Maybe they are both the same and have just taken on a different forms?

Anyway, I've taken a break from my college grading to finish this post. I have to believe that it will all work out. That all things eventually do work out as they are supposed to. 

For now, I crave that quiet, introspective time alone. Here I am during a HUGE STORM out in the woods of Cape Cod alone and there's absolutely nothing to fear.

.

Reflections of 2020: Following Nature's Pulse

 

For me personally, when I tune into nature and let it be my teacher and guide, I find most of the answers I seek. Nature is highly intuitive, so it makes sense that my own intuition would be heightened in nature and my own personal vibration would be higher by merely tuning into my environment. Reflecting on 2020, I chose nature over news. Some may think this is crazy. How could I have possibly avoided the news?  It was everywhere. The truth is, I got it all without needing to watch it all. I was and am aware of what is going on. I found that when I watched news images, it put me in a place of fear and helplessness and I did not feel empowered. I chose to focus inward more and it helped me immensely during a time that was and is difficult for many. Instead of getting battered by the waves on the ocean, I chose to dive deep down where things were quiet. And not so surprisingly, I was able to help others during this tumultuous time from this place of balance and peace.

Instinctively, I chose to move away from Seattle in December 2019 and move to Sequim, Washington, to my parents' house. They were in Arizona for the winter and spring. This was a few months before the pandemic hit. I also arranged to teach online at my college for winter quarter without intellectually understanding that I'd be the first in my college department to be teaching a mostly online class several months before we'd all have to be online. Spring quarter, after the pandemic hit, I'd be asked to assist teachers in navigating online classes. I felt happy to serve in this way and to serve students from many different countries, some who found themselves alone in a country that was not theirs in the midst of a pandemic.

It wasn't a surprise that during this difficult time, I was surrounded by the incredible and nurturing beauty of Nature. I sensed what was coming and there were clear markers along the way and in my dreams that I've written about on this blog that perhaps prepared me in some way to be where I was.

There was a lot of work I was meant to do out there. I connected to the Native energy and frequently meditated, played my elk drum, met with other like-minded individuals online.

 On this blog in March, I wrote a Healing for the Earth series for one full month and guest healers/psychics also wrote posts. Down the street from my parents' house is Jamestown beach and the grave of Chief James Balch, a Native of the S'Klallam tribe. I frequently walked on that beach and played my elk drum down there by the Eagle Totem Pole. I made a medicine wheel on the beach made of shells and branches. Eagles frequently flew over me while I sat there on a log. Something unexplainable was happening. Healing on a level that I didn't fully understand with my limited human brain was taking place. I wasn't the only one doing this work. There were millions doing the work in both the physical and spiritual realms. There were people chanting, meditating and praying. Things were SHIFTING RAPIDLY. Many Earthlings were going through crises of all kinds. Some that I know are no longer on this Earth plane. Some worked the front lines in hospitals. Some barely made it through day to day living. I chose to hold steadfast to Nature. One morning I woke up and decided to hike the entire 11 miles of Dungeness Spit to the lighthouse. I got there at low tide mid-afternoon and did not return until the sun went down and the moon rose. I was the last soul on the beach that night and trekked through the last stretch of forest alone in the dark. I still remember the sea lion that emerged from the water at sunset, as if to say, "Hello!"

 There's a rhythm in nature that soothes me. There's a life force that follows an order so high that nothing can mimic or duplicate it. Through technology, humans have somehow lost touch with this pulse that has so much wisdom. Our ancestors knew of this wisdom. They understood the wind, the stars, the moons cycles. They knew how to find food and how to create shelter. They respected the land and even respected the animals they killed and ate. There was reverence for everything in Nature. Now, Nature is there to serve us, not teach us. 

In May 2020, my family returned to Sequim and I tried to move into my boyfriend's house in the city, but the city was too harsh for me with its traffic and noise and excess of human consumption. I think perhaps I'd gotten rather sensitive to being close to nature and it felt like quite an assault to the system to try to go back. So in June, I rented a cottage on Whidbey Island and in July I rented a tiny house in Port Townsend. I was back on the other side of the pond close to beaches and old growth forests. There, I continued to do the work I had done in Sequim. I swam in Discovery Bay and biked the Discovery Trail all the way to Port Angeles. I ate wild berries and picked wild flowers and sat outside in the grass staring at millions of stars. I communed with herons and eagles and hawks. The deer made frequent appearances. I wasn't off-grid, but I might as well have been. I continued to teach online through my college. My boyfriend would come on weekends from the city and he'd always feel so energized from the Nature in each place I stayed. Because I chose to live in smaller towns, I did not encounter as many people as I would in the city. I could hike freely sometimes without meeting a soul. This was a luxury, I realize now. 

As August was fast approaching, I knew I needed a change. I didn't want to settle into my boyfriend's place in the city AND his place was going to be torn down anyway to widen the road for, guess what??  MORE CARS! So we made a big decision. We decided to pack up his truck and I sold my car and we drove across country on September 2nd to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, his home town.

 We rented a house in the off-season on the Lower Cape. It's wild and more primitive out here. We are literally living on a sand bar with only 3 miles of land between the bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Nature is not to be messed with out here. This is where the pilgrims landed. This is where many shipwrecks have occurred. The wind and the waves ask you to move with them, not against them. I've seen the wind have its way with birds that lay dead on the shore. I've seen red foxes in my yard and sea turtles in the dunes. Recently a dead dolphin washed ashore on our beach. Most likely it was hunting fish and got caught in low tide. I've seen waves freeze from air so cold it bites right through your skin. I've experienced 70-mile-an-hour gusts of wind out here that shook my windows so strongly I was sure they'd break. I've also seen the ocean like glass, soft and welcoming even in early November, when I kicked off my sandals and sank into its smooth folds, letting it envelop me in its deliciousness. I've biked and walked and kayaked my way around this spit of sand. I don't have a car out here, so those are my modes of transportation, unless I drive my boyfriend to work in his truck so I can have the car for a day. He's working for his college friend as a carpenter out here. He repairs beach steps and builds decks and fixes trim for people with summer homes that are no longer here. I'm still teaching online for my college back in Washington. I feel blessed to be able to do that and be able to live in such a wild nature place. It's the best of both worlds.

For me 2020 has been all about Nature. I can't really sum up all that I've tuned into. From the ladybugs that are found crawling into the house to escape the cold to the sunsets that burn the sky red and orange to freezing waves and whipping winds. This place calls me outside constantly, no matter what the weather is doing. It calls me to tune more into IT and less into what is happening in the news on the BOXES THAT WE WATCH—TVs, computers, cell phones. That's not where my attention has been this year.  Maybe I've missed out? Maybe I don't know what's really going on?

But when I turn to Nature, I feel more informed than I ever have been. I feel at peace and at ease and I feel guided. I see signs and symbols everywhere and my intuition is strong. I wait for my next move like an eagle waiting high in a tree to swoop down and catch a fish. From up there, the view is WIDE. I'm able to sense and see more. I come from Nature after all, so it makes sense to me to follow Nature's pulse.

The Bridge Between the Earth Realm and the Spirit Realm is Nature

 When I step outside my door here on Cape Cod, I often feel a rapture or an ecstasy with the wild nature here. It invites me in, and, often times I lose track of time when I enter through nature's door. I become keenly aware and my senses are elevated. Today I felt I would meet a guide on my path. I felt it before I met it. And there he was. Standing on the beach steps I frequently use to go down to the sand. We locked eyes for a minute. I felt this gentle, wild animal inside myself. His eyes stared directly into my soul, his fast, little heartbeat met with the sound of mine inside my chest. I didn't want to move. I just wanted to stay there on the edge with him.

Foxes are known for walking in both the earth and spirit realms. They are signs to tune deeper into intuition and less into the noise of the material world. This fox stayed with me and then disappeared down the steps and over the rocks. The tide was high, so I turned back towards the sandy path and noticed crows on a wire screeching loudly. My intuition told me to look down. And there the fox was again coming straight towards me. He had walked over the rocks near the beach and met me back on the street. As he got closer to where I was standing, he turned and walked across the road right in front of me. What a magical creature!

He disappeared behind some trees and then came out again with his back towards me and then turned and stared right at me again before turning to leave. Why did he come back? What was his message?

Intuitively I knew why he was there. I knew. I have been feeling the pull of the material world and all the noise. I can get pulled into it, but I'm being called to step away from it and step more into my spirit. I'm being called to be like the fox, in the world but not of it.

And this might sound strange and a little out there, but I'm not going to make excuses for who I am anymore. If there's any time to BE WHO I AM, it's now. I often walk this bridge between earth and spirit. Nature is THAT bridge. I have a foot firmly in both realms. I have had dreams of going into the spirit realm and filling up with light and then coming back to earth again and repeating this over and over. I'm not the only one doing this. When I go into the spirit realm in my dreams, I see many more among me doing the same. They fill with light and then return. Again and again. I often think, "What am I DOING here?" I know I'm being guided by my higher self, but it doesn't always make sense on this plane of existence.

I've thought to go off radar for a bit so I can tune more inward, but there's an equal need to share this information, not hide it. The fox affirmed for me today that I was on the right path.

"Foxes have powerful spiritual energy that can give you deep insight into your own spiritual gifts, how to manage them, and what to look out for when protecting your own energetic space. Foxes are intricately linked to intuition, the psychic gift of claircognizance (clear knowing), and being aware of energetic boundaries. they can appear in your life to awaken these gifts within you or to encourage you to trust your inner voice." (crystalclearintuition.com)

I know what I am here to do, or more precisely, what I am here to BE. I'm a teacher, healer, light worker, psychic, mystic, shaman practitioner, documenter, writer, intuit and seeker. I am grounded on the Earth to help people connect completely to who they are which is connected to who we ALL are: beings of love and light. I'm here to be a conduit of light on the planet (every earthling is, whether they realize it or not). I'm here to tell you that the bridge between the earth realm and the spirit realm is nature. There are important messages and signs everywhere, but you won't find them in mass media or on the news. You will find ALL of the answers inside you. It's your choice.

Healing for the Earth, Day 27: Life in Isolation by Guest Blogger Kirk Harris

Hello fellow Earthlings!

We have a special guest, Kirk Harris, here on my blog all the way from the woods of Breitenbush, where he has been living and working for 6 plus years. He shares his experience of isolation and what that means to him and how he is navigating these strange times we are in. Thanks for being here Kirk!

Greetings from the woods: Life in isolation at Breitenbush

Life at Breitenbush is an experience unlike anything I have had in my life so far. I moved up here in the summer of 2014 and was immediately taken by how much different it was from where I had lived the majority of my life this time around. I primarily lived in a more urban type of environment. I was, and still am, amazed at how quiet and peaceful it can be living in the middle of the forest here in Oregon. To be able to see all the stars at night and the moon shining over the Breitenbush River as it roars along day and night is an amazing experience for the senses. It is one that I have not had the opportunity to enjoy or be mesmerized by before.

Having said that, the last 3 weeks here has been an eye opening, as well as a heart opening, experience as well. Nearly 4 weeks ago we decided to close to the public at what is the beginning of our busiest time of the year and to prepare for being closed for a period of time and we were not sure how long it would be. We were not sure how long we would be closed, if we would be able to open back and if so when that might be. We are still unsure and not exactly clear if and when that might be happening. Needless to say it has brought with it a sense of fear, anxiety and dread over some of us and that was only the beginning of what was to come, and is still coming.

Along with the fear, anxiety and dread of what might happen has also come a vastly different experience for me and some of the other folks who live here and call Breitenbush home and have called the land here home for some years. There are many aspects to this adventure for us here. For me Breitenbush and living and working here comprises 3 areas...The business of running a hot springs retreat center, the community of people here who steward and manage the land and the business and last, but certainly not least, the Land itself.

The circumstances and situations that are playing out lately here and around the world have brought most of the business aspects to a halt...there are no guests here these days which makes for a very quiet place to live and be. Not only people wise but energetically as well...it is a different Breitenbush and experience for sure. It has been an amazing experience to be here without the day to day business obligations of being at work and being of service to the guests...it has been profoundly different to be unplugged from that world and at first was very surreal and I found myself in a kind of shock that I had not experienced before and that has been expressed by others who live here.

This leads me to the second part of the experience here: The community here at Breitenbush. It would not be a surprise to some if the community, when isolated like we have been, physically as well as other ways, might fall apart in some ways. But much to my happiness and joy that has not been the case, in fact I have noticed and witnessed a kind of opposite effect...I have seen and experienced people pulling together instead of apart and this adventure we are all on has strengthened the community in many ways and it has been a joy to see people coming together to volunteer their time and effort to aid and help out the community to remain together. We are still here, still a community and still learning and growing from this experience...it has not been easy and without problems, challenges and other hard times and yet I think this has made all of us look at what is important and what are the priorities in our lives.

This brings me to the last part of the equation that I call Breitenbush. The Land! It has been my experience that I have grown closer to this Land that I fell in love with many years ago, the first time I came here. I have had the opportunity and time these last 3+weeks to see beyond what I had seen before and to dive deeper into what this Land really means, not just to me but to others who live here. It is interesting, and I am very grateful, that this adventure is occurring during spring when all is coming back to life after the winter.

The winters here can be kinda hard and difficult with all the rain, snow and greyness that winter brings with it, so being isolated like this in the winter might be very heavy. With the spring it is as if the Land is coming back to life and and telling us how important it is and how connected we all are and that we all need a breather and a chance to step back from the "busyness" and how it is important to take a deep breath and just be at one with where we are. Sometimes people will tell me "it must be really great to live and work in paradise" and while it is an amazing thing to live and work here...it is still work and there are hard challenges about living and working here.

This is a time for all of us around the world to look at life and where we are at and make decisions about how we want to live and the choices we have the freedom to make in regards to living that life. What are our priorities? What do we want "normal" to be? Do we want to go back to what we thought of as "normal" before this all started? Someone once told me that "normal is a setting on the washing machine". And I have taken that and looked at it recently and had the time to delve into that and dive deep to feel it and what it means. It has brought up a great many questions, thoughts, feelings, and desires about what I would like to see "normal" as in this world.

What do you want "normal" to be?

Kirk Harris has lived and worked at Breitenbush Hot Springs for almost 6 years as a member of the kitchen team. He also teaches Shamanic Journeying as part of the daily well being programs at Breitenbush. Kirk has been in the cooking field for over 25 years and also has been a counselor for over 10 years. Since moving to Breitenbush, Kirk has become more interested and involved in the area of Spiritual explorations and self discovery through many types of spiritual practices based in different schools of thought such as Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism and Shamanism. His interests include reading, writing, hiking, spiritual practices, being close to the natural world and interacting with his fellow cohabitants at Breitenbush...oh yes, and music. Since moving to Breitenbush, Kirk has been learning how to play several musical instruments including Ukulele, Drums, and Native American Flute.

Healing for the Earth, Day 20: Finding Moments of Exquisite Beauty

Hello fellow Earthlings!

How are you doing???  Hanging in there?

I can't believe today marks 20 days straight of writing Healing for the Earth posts on this here blog. I can tell you that writing these posts have helped me immensely.

Healing for the earth (including all beings on the Earth) has become my mantra for the past 20 days and I can feel a shift.

Today's post is about finding exquisite beauty in things we might overlook or finding beauty in usual things. I'm in a drum circle and my friend River leads the circle. She always talks about finding moments of exquisite beauty and I realize they are everywhere and in every moment. The Earth is full of breathtaking moments.

Lately, with all that is going on in the world, I'm finding it even more important to show up on the planet full of gratitude and I'm also finding it more important than ever to see the beauty that is all around me. Even though the state of the world is in a flux and things are uncertain, what is certain is the fact that BEAUTY IS STILL HERE! It's in a flower, tree, our breath, the wind, the sun, the stars, the moon, the grass....wow!

What you tune into is what you will have more of. I find this to be true.

The other day I was walking down the beach and I saw a man and his dog way in the distance. He was singing and throwing a ball to his dog and they were both so blissful. I could feel their bliss and it made me happy. On that same beach, a woman was walking, flailing her arms and shouting about the state of the world to her friend on her cell phone. It was a gorgeous day out and she was walking on a beach with white puffy clouds above her and warm sun all around her and waves gently lapping at the shore. Sand dollars and seashells were scattered across the rocky beach, but she didn't notice any of it. She was not aware of where she was at all. She missed the beauty all around her.

Every moment of our lives is a tremendous gift. There is beauty here if we can just open to it. How often do you really tune into beauty? Do you see it around you? Do you feel it? We are so lucky to walk on this Earth. We are so lucky to be here. Don't take any moment of it for granted. Nothing is promised. Tomorrow is not promised.

Recently I repaired my bicycle and I've enjoyed taking it on bike rides around the mostly deserted streets of Sequim. I've had the same bicycle since college. I think I got it in 1989! It's a Cannondale mountain bike. I've thought about getting a new one, but this bike is perfectly fine and served me well all these years. I'm going to keep it for as long as I can.  I love riding it to the beach at sunset. I also love riding my bike up on the bluff above Cline Spit and seeing all the eagles and hawks. Sometimes I'll see a herd of deer munching on greenery in a nearby farm. Or I'll see a bumblebee or a butterfly or cherry blossom trees or pine trees. All of these things make me happy. All of them hold such beautiful energy.

If I'm able to hold those moments in me, I believe there will be many more of them. If I'm able to see exquisite beauty all around me, particularly in times of chaos and stress, then perhaps it's an indication that hope and love still exist. You create the reality that you see around you. What are you tuning into? Have you been aware of any moments of exquisite beauty lately?

Healing for the Earth, Day 18: Meditation for Anxiety by Guest Blogger Scott Walsh

My partner, Scott Walsh, is here to share his insights on meditation for anxiety which is really important, particularly in these uncertain times. I'm lucky to have a partner who I meditate with and share a business with. We both offer classes at Seattle Psychic Institute along with many other wonderful teachers. We are also in a shaman drum circle together. Having a partner who understands and gets the inner realm has been such an important support in my life. Here's Scott with a few words on meditation for anxiety. Sorry if the video gets cut off. I had to shorten it a bit, but you get the gist.

I thought I’d write something that would be helpful right now.  I know a lot of people are freaking out.

In the midst of fear, in the midst of overwhelm, there’s one thing that works.  It works because a saving grace of humanity is the ability to focus on only one thing at a time.

Take some time.  Find a space by yourself, a place where you can just BE.  What happens when you just STOP?  Notice your body.  Your heart beating, your breath.  What happens when you start thinking about all the uncertainty, all the what ifs?  Just try it.  Pretend you’re a scientist observing YOURSELF.  You’re both the scientist and the subject.  When you focus on things that are scary, what happens to your heart rate and your breathing?  For a minute, rather than being carried away by your thinking, your worrying, your wondering, just notice what the effects are in your body.

Now take some time and gently pull your awareness so that it rests only on what is happening right now to your body - what you’re hearing, feeling; the sound and sensation of your breath, the feeling of your weight in your chair if you are seated.  NOTICE your thoughts.  Try to OBSERVE them.  It’s easy to go from observing thoughts to becoming completely carried away by them.  That’s just the way it is.  Our thoughts are SO interesting.  If you find that five minutes have gone by and you’ve been thinking about one thing or another, one person or situation or another, then gently come back to being the scientist, the observer.

Don’t beat yourself up if your mind wanders.  Believe me, it’s part of the process.

Notice if it’s comfortable, uncomfortable, or extremely uncomfortable to stop and just observe yourself.  If it’s uncomfortable then, do you feel like doing something to escape?  And notice what things come to mind as escape routes.  It’s all really good information.  It’s REALLY HELPFUL if you can just notice that it feels uncomfortable to just BE, in the sense of observing what you’re feeling etc., and nevertheless you can just hang out with that anyway; hang out with that feeling of discomfort.  Notice it.  It can’t hurt you; not if you’re just WATCHING it.  Look at the discomfort up close, open the jaws and look at the sharp teeth.  Ask: where does this come from?  What voice inside of you is shouting/screaming/lecturing?  Who does it sound like and what is it saying?

This is called defusing the bomb.  “The bomb” is a metaphor for what is the scariest, most horrendous thing of all for most of us, and that is our own inner criticism, judgment, fears.

If you can learn to just sit and observe all the parts of yourself - even when it’s uncomfortable - then that is an incredible accomplishment.  If you practice meditation regularly then you will get to the point where no matter what the upset you’ll know that if you take some time to tune in and OBSERVE what’s happening, it won’t overwhelm you.

The meditative state - the state of tuning in, observing, ACCEPTING what’s going on without judging it, of just continuing to be aware of what’s happening in and outside of you in the moment, is a way of being you always have access to.  If you do it regularly then it will change your appreciation of everything.  And perhaps more important than anything, it’ll help you right now.


Scott Walsh is a teacher of meditation and and psychic techniques and is the co-founder of Seattle Psychic Institute.  He has been practicing meditation most of his life, has been a psychic for 18 years and a teacher for 7 years.  The sense of connection, purpose and joy that practicing these techniques have brought him can’t be over emphasized.

Healing for the Earth Day 9, Every Word You Say Creates. What Are You Creating?

Dear Earthlings,

How you all doing out there on the big blue marble? It's still spinning isn't it?  And it's beautiful!

It's Day 9 of Healing for the Earth. I ended my evening tonight with a meditation in silence with 8 people on Zoom and then a drumming session with my amazing Hawaiian healer friend Kau'i Auwae and her son Elijah. Kau'i played the deer drum, I played the elk drum and Elijah played the singing bowl. We played online for about an hour.

We didn't use words, we used instruments to speak for us. Instruments carry a vibration, just as words do. The vibration of music or chanting is so powerful. It can lift the spirit. That's what we were doing tonight. We were lifting the Spirit.

There are so many words flying around these days. Not all of them carry a high vibration. Many of the collective words these days carry a low tone or low vibration. There is an atmosphere of fear and fear for the whole is not helpful and can be very destructive to a person and the world. Fear has its place, but unless you are running from wolves in this very moment, it's not helpful.

Today, after our drumming session, Kau'i drew a card from her Hawaiian card deck and shared it with me. Here's what it said in both Hawaiian and English:

Aia i ka 'olelo no ke ola,
Aia i ka 'olelo no ka make.

In the word there is life,
In the word there is death.

And here is the message from the card deck:

"This is an ancient Hawaiian saying. It encompasses the understanding that we are powerful creators. As spirit beings living here in the material plane, we bring the creative energy of Spirit to life in the linear world. And we do that through words.

Every word you say, everything you think—creates. The thoughts you hold inside, and the words you put out, are life giving or death dealing.There's no in between. All your words either feed the pono and create a life of connection, or they feed the pilikia and create disconnection from Spirit."

So with all that's swirling around out there in the world, what are you choosing to collectively create? Love or Fear?

With each word, feel how it vibrates in your body. When you speak, do you feel anxious, nervous, judgmental or scared? How can you tune into the vibration of love?

Today, connecting to my body and spirit helped me tune into the vibration of love. I have been staying away from the news. I'm aware of it, but I can feel that it has the tone of fear. I'm consciously choosing to tune into a different vibration.

Every word creates. What your read, what you think, what you hear. It creates. What are you choosing to tune into? What are you choosing to create?

Mahalo Kau'i and Elijah for your gifts today. They are very precious, just like both of you!

Healing for the Earth, Day Three: Grounding

Hello fellow Earthlings,

Here's a little video on GROUNDING that I created for you all to help you release all that's in your space that doesn't need to be there. Much like deleting files on your computer that may be overloaded. Sometimes it's good to clear all of that out. The volume's a little low on this one, but you get the gist.

How y'all doing out there on our BIG BLUE MARBLE? Have you been able to get outside and breathe some fresh air? Have you taken a break from technology? Have you been able to take a few minutes to tune in? Today, I woke up late and didn't get much done. It's easy for all kinds of emotions to swirl around in my head and not have anywhere to go if I don't get outside! I don't know what it is about being outdoors. Perhaps there's a different language out there.

One that makes you stop and smell the roses.
One that makes you stare at new leaves on trees for several moments.
One that makes you notice a butterfly.
A BUTTERFLY!

Some say that there's no time to smell the roses. We've got a crisis here. People are dying. Our Earth is ailing. We don't have time. We need to keep ourselves active and informed and busy and on top of it and well-stocked and checked in with everyone and, and, and...there are a million things to do and find out and know and help with and do, do, do.

.Nature wants you to stop and notice.
 Nature wants you to be part of it!

Of course it's important to care and be informed about what is going on and to help others in any way that you see fit. Each person will have there own way.

As long as it is kind and compassionate and useful, it's all good.

One thing that helps me is to drop in and see how I'm feeling. That gives me a lot of information right away.

When I'm on my computer all day doing work or if I get on Facebook, while it's nice to connect, I don't feel connected to my body and spirit a lot of the time. Something in me and in nature longs for a connection. And when I'm able to do this, it's amazing medicine for the spirit.

Today I felt the need to GROUND OUT all the energy that is swirling out there. There are so many different news stories, posts, emails, thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns, worries, laughter (laughter is good), sharing, sadness, grief, anger. All of these are fine and GOOD, but if you are an empath like me, that stuff gets stockpiled in the system. Time to put it all on a disk drive or into the TRASH BUCKET just like on my Mac down at the bottom right of the screen.

Do you ever take time to empty out the trash or clean house? I can't operate unless I do this. Otherwise I'm a walking collection of every single thing I've picked up throughout the day.

One of the most marvelous things I learned in Psychic School was GROUNDING! We are on the EARTH and yet sometimes we float around on top of it never really sinking in to it. The EARTH is our home, without it we would not be here.

Grounding helps me to release that stockpile of all that I accumulated throughout my day so that I rest very soundly at night and am able to wake up refreshed the next day.

Out on Dungeness Spit, I found a little spot in the sand amongst the logs and stone altars created by fellow Earthlings down on the beach.

 I nestled in and created a little video on grounding for you all. The stones and sand really help me feel connected to the EARTH. They give me permission to let go of all that is not needed in my space so that I can be a receiver of what is needed. If I'm filled up with gunk, I can't operate very well. Kind of like a vacuum cleaner that needs the lint basket cleared out.

I walked down the beach to the natural totem pole that stood tall. No one knows exactly how it stood straight up like that. Some say a root ball from the tree dug deep into the sand making it a permanent feature on the beach. I felt my boots sink in the sand and really felt a connection. Just then an eagle landed on the top of nature's totem pole and looked me in the eyes.

I am a Scorpio and eagle is a symbol of my sign. I felt that the eagle was really witnessing me. We had a moment together and I felt very seen. Somehow I got the message that the work I'm doing here is good work for the Earth and I should keep going. This is what the eagle gave to me. Had I not stepped outside and walked down Dungeness Spit, I would not have met this eagle who is still in my heart reminding me that I too am part of this Earth and I can let go, tune in and ground at any time.

Peace to you my fellow journeyers. May you take a moment to ground each day and feel yourself on this EARTH! The Earth loves it when we recognize her and the animals definitely feel it!

Peace + Love + Light,
Katherine

Healing for the Earth, DAY TWO: Drumming for Peace

Hello fellow Earthlings,

I offer you my drumming this evening for PEACE. So get comfortable for a few minutes and put this on speaker and lay down and just let it enter you....the beat of the EARTH and our own hearts on it. This is my prayer for peace. This is my offering of PEACE, love and healing to all of you and the planet on which we live.

Today and all days are gifts. I really feel this. Each moment is precious and has always been precious. Today I took a long walk down Jamestown Beach. The sun was high and the tide was out. Hundreds of birds used the opportunity of the high tide to find shellfish. I found a sand dollar today. A whole one!

 When I walk, I really feel in tune with all living things. I know, in these difficult times, it may be difficult to walk or go outside. Even just a few steps outside to look at flowers or see a tree is important. You can call nature and the beauty of the Earth into your heart space. I have a friend who is quarantined in Europe and on lockdown and can't go on walks, but she finds creative ways to get outside. She walks to a grocery store that is far away so that she can be outside. We are not meant to be locked inside as a species. The Earth is our home, but it's ailing. I really feel this. This is not a human dilemma that we are going through. It's an Earth dilemma. It affects all beings and most of all, the being that we are living on. If we separate ourselves from the Earth and nature, we won't be able to go on. For the next 30 days, I'm dedicating my blog to healing for the Earth. This evening I decided to share with you the elk drum I made in my Vision Circle. I play it every evening in ceremony. A herd of elk live in Sequim and it makes me feel more connected to them when I play it. The animals are in tune with the Earth so if you listen, you can hear them and understand their wordless language. They are calling all beings to LISTEN.

Today's message and healing is about listening to the beat of the Earth. It's about putting down our human agendas to TUNE IN to the larger picture. It's about the HEART BEAT of the planet, this big BLUE marble we live on. There's a tendency to ask, "What can I DO? What can I DO?" There's a flurry of people out there wanting answers and wanting to DO something.

If you are able to just stop for a few moments and breath and go inward or walk and feel each step, you will find the answers. Just two minutes, five minutes, a half hour, one hour. It doesn't matter, but it is so important.


Much love,
Katherine

Healing for the Earth, DAY ONE: Walk Gently on the Earth

Hello fellow Earthlings,

Here is a message from my walk today through the woods towards Dungeness Spit in Sequim, Washington.

I've been called to write a daily month-long series called "Healing for the Earth," which includes ALL Earthlings and other beings on it. Here's my DAY ONE message for YOU!

Last night, I came back to Sequim after a few days in the Seattle area. Right away, I felt a pull to get very quiet and meditate. The energy out here is so strong and I'd like to share it with all of you. I am in a monthly Vision Circle with other like-minded souls who come together to drum for peace, love and harmony for each other and the planet. I created my own elk drum with River, who leads that group. It's interesting that my drum is made from elk hide as Sequim is the home of a large herd of elk.

I am a psychic and I'm able to channel. These are two things I haven't fully been able to own in public, but I've decided to own them here. I'm extremely sensitive to energy and I often pick up on very subtle vibrations. I often know when deer are near when I'm inside the house and I can feel sea animals, like seals, sea lions and whales, under the water out on Dungeness Spit. I know they are there and they often come up to the surface when I face the water and we have a few moments together. I'm aware of a very strong Native American energy here and feel the ancestors of Jamestown nearby. When I drum, they gather and I receive messages.

Last night I drummed for about 1 hour. I could feel the animals of the Earth and feel a Native American presence. I could feel that, as many have predicted, the Earth is going through a shift. It can not carry on as it has been. This shift is happening on a very deep level. It's asking each Earthling to drop inward and listen. It's calling Earthlings to experience and find answers within nature and in silence. It's calling for Earthlings to reduce or let go of technology. The answers are in nature and the natural elements of nature. It's calling us to RAISE the vibration by dropping inward.

Last night, I was instructed to burn sage and also to gather salt, particularly Himalayan salt, which is actually a crystal called Pink Halite and has similar properties to Rose Quartz. It's known to release negative ions in your environment which purify the air. I grounded this salt last night and mixed it with hot water and drank it. I felt energy and clarity in my lungs and throat. I turned on my salt lamp in the evening and I also have a night light with Himalayan salt pieces in it that has an immediate calming affect on me.

This morning I felt a pull to Dungeness Spit. The mountains and deer were out and the sun was so bright. Here's a picture from my walk on The Spit today:

 Before I left, I drew a card from my Earth Magic Oracle deck the I got at Breitenbush Hotsprings in Oregon. Each card displays beautiful art connected to the Earth and a message with each picture. I drew GREEN MAN which I found so appropriate because tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day and also because the message on the card is so pertinent to our times. Here's the photo and here's what the literature says about the card:

Green Man reminds us of the incredible synergy required for Gaia to maintain her delicate and dynamic balance among the various beings on the planet....We witness this (synergy) in the complex and cooperative interaction between plants, humans and animals.

And here is the message:

A flow of life is guiding you, where things seem to fall into place as you move about your business. You are in a mutually cooperative interaction with Spirit, as your will is aligned with the will of Spirit, and your mission in congruent with your sense of purpose. When this is happening, there is a synergy, a way that your life force is continually coming into balance with the forces of Nature.

Yes, I feel this. Nature is guiding me out here and is available at any time for anyone. I feel like the messages are everywhere! On the beach in the sun lying against a log, I picked up a handful of sand and let it sift through my fingers, fall and become part of the many grains that were already there. I feel we are in a time of letting go of FEAR and expanding and being more part of this Earth which we inhabit by being loving and walking gently upon her. She is such a gift to us.

Peace + Love + and Harmony to all of you, my fellow Earthlings. Until tomorrow.....

The Lucky One

Hello fellow Earthlings,

I'm cut off from most social media out in Sequim. In fact, it's hard for me to get phone service where I am.

 I went into the city early on Wednesday for my class at the college and spent the night at a friend's in Greenwood. It was nice being in my old, familiar stomping grounds of Seattle, but the pace was also intense. Everything in the city has been created to make humans comfortable. I walk into Whole Foods and it's like walking into Las Vegas, only with food. In fact, I swear I heard some sort of electronic sound that seemed to mimic a winning on a slot machine.

The day after my class, the creature comforts were actually welcome. I didn't have much to do that day and I found myself browsing in East West Bookshop above Whole Foods. I walked around and looked at native jewelry and picked up tarot card decks and sat in the back with a book from the Used Book section of the store.

Then, I wandered back down to Whole Foods and drank a Kombucha and filled out a Valentine's Day Card for my boyfriend. He just got a new place in the city. Originally, the plan was for him to move to Sequim with me, but all his work is in the Seattle area, so it made more sense for him to be there. It's strange, we are in a relationship, but I hardly see him. I will see him tomorrow. I bought him a housewarming gift for his new place. It's good that he has a place in the city, because it makes it easier for me when I'm in town and need a place to stay.

Whenever I come back to Sequim, out here on the Peninsula of Washington State, everything slows way down. It's hard for me to move at a fast pace. I feel like there is a lot of healing going on here. I haven't written as much as I've wanted to. I feel I will write more, but I've been called to pay deep attention to each moment.

Today the sun outside pulled me towards The Spit and I walked way down the beach late in the afternoon. The waves were calm and the tide was out. It was pleasant and warm. My heart loves the ocean. It comes alive there. I like looking at the vastness of it. It's like looking at emptiness.

I took a stick I found on the beach and began to draw words in the sand: book, house, love. After I wrote these words, I enjoyed watching the gentle waves roll up on to the beach and erase them. Just like that they were gone, out to sea.

And I feel like the lucky one to have this time. Somehow in this life I'm living I have created time for inner work. It's so valuable to me. In fact, it's the most important work I'm doing. It's very subtle. Sometimes it feels I'm doing nothing at all and wasting time, but when I slow down, I can actually feel so much happening on the inside.

I move as slow as the animals move out here. Did you know that when you slow down and feel each movement, wild animals will come very close? You are moving at their speed. They can sense your gentleness. You are speaking their language.

I want to speak the language of the Earth.

I'm in a comfortable house out here that protects me from the outside. Today I received a text from a friend who I hadn't heard from in a very long time. He didn't write any words, he just sent me a link to Alison Krauss's song "The Lucky One." And when I listen to the words, I can really feel that this is my life.

You're the lucky one so I've been told
As free as the wind blowing down the road
Loved by many, hated by none
I'd say you are lucky 'cause 
You know what you've done
Not a care in the world, not a worry in sight
Everything is gonna be alright 'cause 
You're the lucky one....

It's not that life is easy or without problems. There are problems. The world can be fierce and crazy sometimes and, like the waves out on The Spit which can take everything in their wake, it can toss and turn us and leave us flat on our asses, pardon my French.

But deep under that ocean is a calm. It's available at any time. All the dramas in the world are the waves. They just keep coming.

Instead of letting these dramas, or waves, get stuck in me, I'm experimenting with letting them wash over me and not suck me out to sea.

I want to ride the waves, not fight them.

I'm working with boundaries and what feels right to me in any given moment and I'm not afraid anymore of the uncomfortableness that it creates to speak my truth.

I stepped out onto the deck of the house at around 10pm because I heard coyotes howling. I was barefoot and the cold against my skin woke me up. Is it a full moon? I wondered. I saw the big dipper, it was straight up and down so that the dipper was pointing towards the earth as if it were pouring its sparkly brilliance onto the green grass of the golf course. I then walked out the front door in search of the moon. No moon. All was quiet in the small suburb where I am staying. There were lights shining from windows in all the little houses and I imagined people were snug and warm inside. How lucky we all are to have food, shelter, hot water, etc. Most of us have the essentials and the rest is icing on the cake.

We are not here to own and fight and worry and fear. We are passing through this place to love and to  learn lessons and then we will return to that great big ocean that we came from, all of us drops of it.

We are the lucky ones to be here and have this opportunity to be alive.

We are the lucky ones...

Maui Musings Day 45: A Message for our Planet

Good evening fellow Earthlings,

I have been living out here below Haleakala, fire chakra of the planet, for 45 days. Yes, I can't believe it, but it has been THAT long! The messages that have come through the land are so very powerful. I can't even begin to put them into words, but I will do my best. If you are here reading this now, know that there is a reason. You are here to raise the vibration of the planet. You are here to live your life at the highest possible frequency of LOVE. So many people talk about it, but there is a reason why. It is true.

I get that you may be saying, "Don't give me any of that new-age bullshit. The world is going to hell in a hand basket and there's nothing we can do about it. People are dying and our government is messed up, so go screw yourself."

Okay, okay well, you can stop reading if you want and just live there, in that state. It's up to you. I've been there. I have lived in that state of "hell on earth" where negativity was my best friend.  It was exhausting. It was like I was fighting to keep the negativity alive. It was like swimming up stream. I've lived in intense anger and pain. I've felt deep sorrow and outrage with what is happening in the world. Trust me, when someone you love is suddenly gone, you don't feel like kissing people and opening your heart. You feel OUTRAGE. This is a completely normal response. You'd be nuts if you DIDN'T feel this. When my husband walked out on me, I felt like I'd been shot in the chest. I felt unbearable anger which was really just a mask for deep, deep pain.

Right now you may feel that the world is in a state of chaos. We have shootings, we are at odds politically and spiritually with one another, there are wars, relationships are falling apart, there is darkness, death, disease, ill will. The instant access to Facebook and mass media and all the news can make us feel depressed, hopeless, useless, worried, fearful or lost.

This is all happening for a reason.

The ways in which we have existed up until now no longer serve us or the planet. 

In our human minds, it may seem impossible to wrap our heads around the solution, but the solution is right here. It has always been RIGHT HERE!

"Right where?" I hear you saying,  "I'm sitting here and I see/feel NOTHING good."

Are you breathing? Do you have food? Do you have shelter? Do you have a pet, a friend, family or a significant other? Do you have a toilet and a shower? Well, that's a start. That's all good.

Did you know that what you do RIGHT NOW, even if it seems insignificant, has tremendous power. You are an energetic being. The energy you give and receive creates your reality. What reality are you living in right now? Is it the life you want for yourself and all beings? 

If your world is covered in a state of despair, anger or hate, know that love is always there below the surface. Having the intention of tapping into that love is enough. You don't have to feel it. Just have the intention that you want to tap into it.

I could not feel any love at all when my husband left. I felt extreme pain. The pain was so intense that I had trouble breathing. Yes, you can die from a broken heart. What saved me? It was my intention to heal. THAT is it. I was completely committed to healing. I believed love was possible. I made a promise to love myself deeply. I made a promise to myself to feel everything I was feeling. I believed in love and I believed, beneath all the surface chaos, love was there.

Sometimes we have to go through states of deep negativity and despair in order to see that love. I feel like this is a shedding of the old. We are are healing in order to shift into the new. Are you open to healing and letting go of old patterns? Are you open to feeling love?

I'm living out here in the land of ALOHA. The Hawaiians and the people here believe in the power of love. It is how they live. They live aloha and even BREATHE aloha. I have learned so much from this. 

Being out here in the middle of the ocean on islands that are farthest from any land mass in a place that bases everything on this ALOHA energy is pretty transformative. 

The land SPEAKS here. The people are part of the land. 

Actually, the earth speaks everywhere, but it REALLY speaks here. 

When I walk the grounds here everyday, I automatically place my hand over my heart. I keep feeling my heart open. The love is so strong that it makes me touch this area. Whatever I am doing, the land keeps calling me to listen and love. Whenever fear crops up, I'm called again and again to lay that fear down and let love in.

Yesterday, after I dropped my boyfriend off at the airport for his flight back to Seattle, I felt a pull to get in the ocean. I drove to a beach near the airport and immediately found myself swimming with turtles. Their energy was so ancient, yet gentle. And when I put my head under the ocean, I could hear the call of humpback whales. 

I couldn't understand this language, but my heart understood it. My heart understands. So I have decided not to lead with my head anymore. I am being guided by my heart. This is the part that is opening. This is the new world we are entering.

I see a world that is lead by the passion of our hearts, not the will of our minds. I keep hearing that everything is as it is meant to be. There is nothing to do but follow our hearts deeply. If we deny our hearts and forget to listen to them, we will suffer greatly. If we get too caught up in what is going on OUTSIDE of our own beings, if we leave our heart space and get caught up in trying to solve everything "out there," we will be lost.

The heart is our compass. It knows the way and has ALWAYS known the way. Let go and listen. This is what I keep getting. LET GO. If every single one of us is tuned in and following what the heart wants, imagine the world we'd have! 

Don't fall into despair, keep opening up your heart. Open it all the way. Cry, laugh, scream, feel. Let it out! And when you think it's as opened as it can go, open it a little more! Love yourself very deeply in this process. It's a very deep opening. All of us are in it whether we choose to be or not. All of us are moving towards this love.

John Lennon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Mother Theresa and so many others lived from this love and followed deeply what their hearts called for them to do. Were they too idealistic? I believe they are no different from you or me. No different. The only difference is that they put full faith in their hearts. They were called to do something that might have seemed illogical to the rest of the world, and they did it. THAT IS THE ONLY DIFFERENCE.

So what is the message for our planet and for our lives on earth? Here's the message I get from listening for 45 days:

"Go into your heart, listen to what it calls you to do. Let go of all the other voices that mix you up or move you away from being in this space. Let go of what others might say or how you might look. If it is coming from a place of the heart, it will always be right. When you operate from your heart space, you connect with all other heart spaces. This force of love is so strong that it changes the appearance of water molecules and it will certainly shift our planet. This earth, which has sustained us all of our lives, is speaking to us every moment. It speaks the language of love. Move through the pain and unpleasantness. Sit with it. Be with it. Underneath it all is an enormous wellspring of love."

 From where I sit now, I see this clearly. I hear that it will be okay. You will be okay. We are on the path, all of us. Keep going. I promise you, love is there.

Divine Earthly Experience 11: Going Inward

"Go into the core of your being, all your answers lie there."—Katherine Jenkins

Hello fellow Earthlings,

How are you? I'm currently in hibernation. I'm in a gathering state. I thought I'd come back to Facebook and start engaging more on June 8th, but here we are a June 15th! It's been a month and a half since I pulled the plug on Facebook and I see that I'm still not quite ready to "come out."

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I feel like a lump of clay yet to be molded. I could become anything at this point, but I feel like staying here in this unformed state a little longer. There is so much potential in the unformed state. Not having to be somebody has both its challenges and rewards.

The challenges are feelings of disconnection, loss, fear. The questions Who am I? and What is my purpose? have come up a lot. I've asked for divine intervention. I've asked for signs and symbols. I've waited. In some instances, I've grown impatient and even fearful. What if I am nobody in this world? That question is kind of scary, isn't it? Other challenges are not feeling like engaging much, keeping to myself, feeling depressed due to lack of clear direction, etc.

But floating on a vast ocean without signposts or a map has advantages too. In the unknown there is so much possibility. It's easy, in the day to day world, to make definitions of ourselves. We cling to self definitions like life preservers; without them, we feel we'd drown. Words like mom, teacher, construction worker, activist, poet, business owner, spiritual teacher give us a sense that we are somebody in this world and we are doing okay because we have that to rely on. We are part of this community or that community and within those communities is a pecking order and if we aren't in our place or we don't have a title or a role, we are lost. Just like in families, we are the middle child, the eldest, the youngest or the only child. We base our identities on how we grew up and it's true, at least in early life, we were molded by our families, particularly our parents. But clinging to what happened to us in the past is clinging to "a story" and there are many stories you can tell. What happens when you pick up that molded clay and pound it out and form something else or let it lie in a clump for awhile? What happens if you lose your map?

Here are the advantages to doing that: You get to decide who you become, by having no identity you are now open to having a new one, you get to form the rules, direction, pace. While you are sitting here as the unformed lump of clay that you are, instead of filling yourself up from the outside, you get to fill yourself up from the INSIDE and that's where all inspiration comes from. In fact, inspiration means being "in spirit" or going inward. All co-dependency with others is lost in this state of being. You aren't looking to others for your happiness. You are not relying on your place in society to make you happy.  Your sadness is yours and your happiness is yours too. It doesn't depend on other people or outside circumstances. It depends on YOU.

I've been in a Clairvoyant Awareness Program for 10 months at a place called Psychic Awakenings in Seattle. I have to say, it's really hard to hide yourself from psychics! Ha! It's very easy to pretend all is well and you are happy with your place in life, but people tuned in spiritually and psychically can see right through that veil. I have received so much healing from the training and work I've done there. But the biggest revelation I've had is that we are all in this together. None of us are immune to sadness, pain or suffering just as none of us immune to happiness and joy. Once we know how connected we are, it's such a relief. We can be open and share knowing that we all go through the same things at one point or another in life, just at different times. We can feel happy for people whose lives are going great and we can have compassion for people going through a hard time because we've all been there! 

The other big things I've learned at Psychic Awakenings are to ground and own my space. Those are HUGE! And we practice them again and again and again. After years of meditation, I wasn't aware of how important it is to ground or be grounded in life. I was always seeking the next spiritual experience and I won't lie and say that it wasn't fun to ride that wave for a very long time. So much became manifest in my life. Things I could never have imagined. But as high as you go, that far you fall. It's risky business and having a grounding cord connected to the center of the earth is always a good idea.

And it's no secret that I fell hard. My life came crashing down with the end of my marriage. And now, as I sit here in the valley of my life picking up the broken pieces of it, I see an image of myself throwing these pieces into a big pot. It's my own pot or container. I OWN my space. I get to decide how much water to add or not add. I get to decide what I put in that pot and what comes out of it and WHEN it comes out.

I'm not ready to come out yet, but soon. My teacher at Psychic Awakenings taught us to "bring in a golden sun" and fill ourselves up with our own energy. I always felt this was so grounding and validating. Whatever energy that was not mine could not stay in the space when I did this technique. But we were always "bringing in" the golden sun, which works for me, but it implies that it came from somewhere outside myself. Last Tuesday, she said, "Sit in the center of your own golden sun!" Wow! That resonated with me. We ALL have this light inside of us. We get to go inward and sit in the center of our OWN SUN or our own light. For some reason, right now, the song lyrics "this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine..." are coming out. Each one of us gets to shine our light and the package it comes in, the lump of clay we get to work with, may be different, but all of us have this light inside.

Last night, before I went to bed, I asked for guidance. All of us have different beliefs. Maybe you believe in God or Jesus or you are a Buddhist or you talk to angels. Maybe you frequently tune into Source or maybe you are an Atheist. I'm not here to judge how you make your decisions about your life or where you get your inspiration from. I believe that I'm in a human body which has its own limitations, yet I'm connected to something much greater than I can comprehend in this body. I frequently tune into that energy and I get my direction and inspiration from that place. When I tune in and connect to Source and give psychic readings to people, it's uncanny how pertinent and timely that information is to the person I'm reading even though it may not make sense to me personally as I'm reading. In the end, it's a healing for me and for them. We connected and shared on a much deeper level. I feel that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to connect and share on this level.

So what came from the guidance I asked for, you ask? I got the message, "Go into the core of your being, all your answers lie there." So that's where I am navigating from and will continue to navigate from: the inside out. Going inward is pertinent to hearing divine messages. Most messages, I believe, come from a higher version or vibration of ourselves. If we move around in life distracted and influenced by all that's going on OUTSIDE of us, we never get a clear channel to hear what is going on inside. When life comes crashing down, we can hurry to get our footing again, or we can sit in the center of our own golden sun and see what lies there.

Divine Earthly Experience 8: What it means to feel REAL

"Sometimes you have to disconnect to stay connected. Remember the old days when you had eye contact during a conversation? When everyone wasn't looking down at a device in their hands? We've become so focused on that tiny screen that we forget the big picture, the people right in front of us."—Regina Brett 

Hello fellow Earthlings,

I'm unplugging today from Facebook. I think I have a mild addiction and I want to unplug for about one month. I will post here about my experiences NOT ON IT...(it can be like a drug, right?) I hope to post weekly.

I have so much to do today and I spent a great deal of time scrolling through Facebook pages and clicking on links, etc. today.

ATTENTION EARTHLINGS!

Click
Like
Link
Scroll
Delete
Post
Status

LOL, ROFL, WTF....

Has this become our lives????

What if Facebook disappeared? What if the world wide web STOPPED WORKING?

What would happen to us all?

First, I'm sure, there would be widespread panic. "Oh, no, NO SERVICE....I can't get in touch with: my mom, sister, boyfriend, husband, mother-in-law..."

PANIC

In touch with....get in touch with? Hmmmm....are we really IN TOUCH?

Are we really tasting, smelling, hearing, feeling, seeing, LIVING our lives or is it all in this screen of ours?

Internet Connection....my internet connection is DOWN!

CONNECTION

Hmmm... when I stop connecting through this box, suddenly I can hear the birds, I see the cherry blossom tree in full bloom outside my house, I feel my bare feet on the cool wooden floor, I taste my hot tea....earthy, floral, orange....I smell the lilies on my dining room table.

I'm connected to this earth through my senses and through my senses I'm also connected to YOU and everyone.

And there is a sixth sense...intuition. When I ground and connect through all my senses, I feel what I really need to DO! It's always there and available.

This is the REAL world wide web, dear earthlings....

We are missing out on DIVINE experiences as we check out of our senses and check into technology.

Turn it off....just for awhile....and TUNE IN....what do you notice?