Monday, November 8, 2010

Transmutation

While on vacation in North Carolina my husband and I spent a morning bicycling one of our favorite routes. It takes you along a rolling valley dotted with aging barns and vegetable gardens ending just across the border in Tennessee. We stop to refuel at a fireworks store which sits on the crest of a hill and has a convenient stoop for pausing. Gulping Gatorade, we rest our Floridian legs, unaccustomed to the hilly terrain. While standing by the stoop I happened to look down at the wooden newel post and there sat the most stunning, sparkling, furry moth.  She was spectacular in color and at least 4 inches long. After admiring her golden brown and speckled beauty I began thinking about the process butterflies and moths go through in order to become the glorious animals they are. They experience a transmutation.

Webster defines transmuting: to change or alter in form, appearance, or nature and especially to a higher form.

Transmutation is change from the inside out and each of us are in this very process changing and altering in order to express a higher form of consciousness and a higher form of love. We are all moving toward becoming the expression of pure and infinite love and the process begins in the same place most of our changes do--with our thoughts.

Transmuting develops wisdom which in turn releases fear. Releasing fear can be a conscious decision. Today our minds do not fret over the monster in the closet as it may have when we were five years old. As adults we experience anxiety and trepidation through other thoughts that often spring from the same imaginative thinking. Can you remember a time in your life when you dreaded the future because you "knew" how it would unfold? Do you recall that as you focused on the fear-based thoughts you experienced their negativity viscerally? Our bodies respond to thoughts of  dread and worry physiologically supporting our minds in believing the "truth" of our fearful interpretations.

Attaching yourself to thoughts of love and devotion, understanding and patience alters you. When you think loving thoughts you simply do your body and soul good. As we become more aware of the thoughts we empower we give ourselves the glorious option to choose an alternative.  We can opt to cultivate thoughts that allow for love and confidence to emerge and peace and happiness to flourish. In doing so we are transmuting and ultimately will emanate the changes outward.

Ted Andrews describes butterfly energy in his book Animal Speak as "transmutation and the dance of joy." Next time your mind grips you with negativity and you feel yourself collapsing into fear stop for a moment. Look for a different mind map to follow, an alternative path to a new conclusion. Even better, seek no conclusion at all and stand confidently in "not knowing" allowing life to present you with dozens more brilliant options empowered by love and infused with the Divine. Let your butterfly wings unfold and  joy spring from your heart creating the world you seek from the thoughts you think, changing and altering from inside out.

Love and Light,
Nora

I consciously nurture loving thoughts.

A Little Life Lesson


A few weeks ago I was sitting in the airport waiting to board a plane to New Hampshire to attend my niece's wedding. I sat casually observing the hubub of travelers as an elderly couple approached and eased themselves into the row of seats beside me. I watched as the old man leaned past his wife toward a man sporting a Boston Red Sox cap and causally remarked, "How about those Sox?"  The other man said nothing. He completely ignored this offer of camaraderie and left the elderly gentleman to simply lean back and contemplate the back of his hands.

I felt so bad for the old fellow. I wondered if he felt snubbed. My mind raced into stories about the snobby man hiding behind his newspaper, so smug that he wouldn't even give an old man a few seconds of his time. My heart felt so sad for the old man who I considered to be at least 88. He was vigorous once! People used to listen to him once! Or so I imagined.

We began to be called to board the plane and I glanced up as the snobby man gathered his belongings to start toward the check-in.

Oops... humbled again!

Suddenly I saw something that I did not notice before. The man was wearing two big hearing aids. He had not heard the old man and his offer of support for the Red Sox over the din of announcements and bad acoustics. He had not heard a sound. As he stood he nodded toward the elderly couple and smiled sweetly.

Sometimes even what we think we see with our own two eyes is not the reality of a situation. Next time I am jumping to conclusions I promise to give myself an opportunity to observe life through a kinder, less judgmental lens so that I may develop the ability to truly wait in order to really see.

I release myself from the need to interpret my world from the vantage point of its lack and failings. I embrace a new vision of life which is generous, loving and focused on the good.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

BP Oil Spill

I have been moved to tears. My heart is breaking. I have been in mourning, sickened by the images I see reflecting the utter confusion and ineptitude of the handling of the BP oil spill.
The disaster has left me dreaming dreams of suffocation and death.

I am not writing to sway your opinion on drilling in the gulf. I writing to request that every one of us take responsibility for the disaster. We have all contributed to the "holocaust", as one newspaper reporter called it, in the Gulf waters. For years we have heard that we must change. For years we have watched our world being diminished in subtle ways. For years we have consumed as though there is a limitless supply of all we deem we need and can't live without.

We bury our consciousness in technology, texting and emailing, facebooking and twittering in order to receive bite-sized portions of life while huge chunks of our planet are driven to extinction. I am not sure we can stop the spiral of loss completely but we can begin to shift our own impact on our mother Earth and I know we can change our habits and expectations. Living with less needs to be seen as creating abundance.

There are a million ways to take less and use less. Research them and employ the ones that make the most sense for you. Start living differently. Send me the ways you are changing lifestyle and conserving and I will post them in the next newsletter. No action is too small or insignificant. And please, write, call, picket, vote and let your opinions be heard. This is one time that I do not recommend silence.
Love and Light,
Nora

We raise our conscious vibration through action. We honor our mother Earth and live with thoughtfulness and gentle care. Our steps are light and our hearts are loving.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Celebrate Spring

I love the this time of year. With the onset of spring the world around us seems to be celebrating life, change and renewal.  Growing up it would mean that my mother tackled the yearly ritual of spring cleaning. Windows, screens and doors would gleam with a sparkle of light and transparency after a winter of sludge and gray were expertly removed. The scent of Niagara Spray Starch would waft through the air as the curtains, crisp and bright white once again, moved in the sweet spring air flowing through the newly released windows. We cleaned the house from top to bottom inviting in the season of spring.

For thousands of years people have been celebrating the shift of energy brought on by springtime. Just as we celebrate and honor the birth of a child, we have celebrated the rebirth of our land by dancing in forests and in castles, feudal villages and family farms. I feel the joy of renewal rising from the depths of my soul when I hear the rustle of the bushes alongside the house as song birds build their nests in preparation for the cycle of life to once again revolve.

This year in particular I am rebirthing a love that I have long held and often ignored. I am painting. Finding the courage to allow myself the time to do so has not been easy, but greatly encouraged by my husband and family. I do not paint every day but I think about painting every day. I also have found that by thinking about light, color and form I have begun, once again to "see" the world around me in lights and shadows, burnt siennas and cadmium reds. To paint and not judge my rusty hand has been a challenge. To paint for the sake of the experience and not for the outcome has been something I must constantly remind myself of. But when the day is done I find that my mind focuses on dreaming of painting and color, rather than a worry about something I cannot control.

What do you love that you have allowed let lie dormant? What have you promised yourself you will find time for but have not? Is there a musuem you keep saying you will visit or a friend that you think of but never manage to call? Where in your life is there a part of you that needs to be encouraged to step forward and be reborn or renewed?

Let the season of spring release the child within and start to create in your world, daily, weekly or monthly an action that ignites creativity, curiosity and play. Find even the smallest sliver of time to nurture your most inner self. Please hold as a truth that you are loved beyond the limits of your imagination, and that the most important request of your soul is that on this journey in life you access the power of love within you in the best way you can. Starting with yourself is wonderful way to celebrate spring.

Each day I create new avenues to love, express and explore.


Love and light,
Nora

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Hate or Love?

Recently my husband and I watched the movie "Ikiur"  or "To Live" by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a story about a man who has been informed that he has a terminal illness and his awakening to a new awareness of life. As the film progresses the protagonist finds a deeper meaning to his seemingly mundane and predictable life. During one scene he is descending a staircase after an unsuccessful meeting with a city bureaucrat in which his specific requests have been denied, with him is another official who is livid that they have been turned down.
As they walk down the staircase the official asks, "Don't you hate him?" Our hero turns looking up the steps and matter-of-factly answers. "I don't have time for hate."

During the following week those words echoed in my head.  "I don't have time for hate."  I began to think about all the wasted time spent hating. All the wasted energy and emotion wrapped up in the action of hate. Hate takes effort and time. Hate takes a lot of physical energy as well. Think about it. When we hate our heart beats faster, our blood pressure rises, we  feel our chest constrict and our bellies churn.

Hate can isolate us but it also bonds. Hate is a powerful and masterful motivator. People connect through mutually shared hatred and through that connection form whole societal communities based on hate. We can see hate in action in all levels of society from the bully on the playground demanding others follow his actions to a leader of a nation ordering  the "ethnic cleansing" of a certain tribe or type of people.

When someone tells me that I should feel a certain way I am usually resistant. As most people who know me realize I do not like to be told what to do. And I like it it a lot less when someone tells me what to think. When a person suggests to me that I embrace a belief based on fear translated into hate I stop and examine what they are really asking me. What the message often is commanding is this. "Think like me, hate like me."

Thinking about hate naturally lead me to think about love. Looking at the life around me I see so much love and caring. I see people doing good things and trying to make their part of the world better. My clients and friends are all reaching to create more love in their worlds. I want to not only make time for love in my life but I seek to be the action of love in life. Sometimes it is a very tall order as my ego and inner child rebel and cry out for different agendas. But the intention to be the energy of love in action remains. My question is: Will you join me? Join me in making love the focus of your intentions. Next time you are speaking in a manner that kills love and grows hate stop and think. Next time you are judging without consciousness stop and be silent. Think twice and three times before you join the band wagon of hate and haters in this world. Think with an intellect and a heart turned toward peace and healing not destruction and violence. It may seem to some of us that we have little influence over events in our lives but we do have one extremely powerful influence—over our thoughts and our choices. We can choose to think small, scared and hating or we can choose to think infinite, empowering and loving.

My heart leads me to create thought energy that envelopes my world with love. I disappear fear by choosing the thoughts and actions of love. Love is my core. Love is my essence.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Will You Be My Valentine?

Tis the season to show our love and this is the month we have dedicated to do so. As you know, February 14th is Valentine's Day. The word valentine stems from the Latin valen or "worthy".   What a beautiful concept to see ourselves as worthy, thereby loveable. Self love asks us to accept the idea that we are worthy and deserving of love. Somehow we have warped the idea of being worthy into an idea of needing to prove our worthiness. There are many multi-billion dollar businesses counting on people believing in the premise that you gain worthiness by being a certain weight, height, look, age and income level.

What would happen if we began to believe that just by being here on earth we were worthy of love? What if we lived by the idea that there is no barometer with which to measure this love and that we are on a life-long journey to uncover it, release it, discover it and yes, receive it? What if we began to see that living our lives from a place of love for our Self was the catalyst to grow more and more love and that by loving our Self our love of others would be a natural outcome? I see Self love as the single cell amoeba in the petri dish and as that single cell —"single thought" — multiplies all life and love grows. Self love is the ultimate liberator. As we choose to love we free our innate creativity, playfulness and joy thereby allowing and making way for new avenues of their expression.

This year I am taking the love message of February into my year with devotion. I ask you join me by starting with a little bit of love for yourself. Celebrate your talents and stop obsessing over your faults. Lighten up on the criticism and increase the admiration. You deserve it—you lovable you!

I close my critical eye and open my loving heart. Love generates from deep within. I connect with the divine source that flows from me and I love, simply, clearly and infinitely.
Happy Valentines!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Haiti-A Call to Giving

I woke up at three a.m. last night unable to sleep. I could not stop thinking about Haiti and the people suffering there.  I needed a better understanding of what was occurring but to do so I needed some facts. Early in the morning I began posing some questions to my favorite search engine. First question: "How many people live in poverty?" Answer: Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. That adds up to $912.50 a year. 80% live on less than $10 dollars a day.  If you are reading this you can assume that you are numbered among the wealthiest people on earth. But I wanted to zero in on Haiti so I asked my search engine "What about Haiti?" Answer: More than 78% percent of people living in Haiti are living in poverty. While watching the TV coverage of the earthquake in Haiti I had heard the newscasters reporting over and over "These people have nothing." I struggled with the concept of "nothing".

Not one thing. The idea shook me as I saw the faces of children stunned into silence trying to cope with the aftermath of chaos and fear sweeping the island.  My next question sprang out, "How many children die in poverty every day?" I found the answer from www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats :
"According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death."

I pondered the question, "How numb have we let ourselves become?" Then I started hearing the reports of charitable giving.  Over 8 million dollars were donated by people texting a contribution on their cell phones alone. This was extremely exciting news. It was apparent that we want to give—we want to help. Clothes began to pile up creating mountains in donation centers, grocery stores offered opportunities to give through their check out lines, avenues to giving were being created so that anyone anywhere could contribute whatever amount they chose.

There is nothing more satisfying to me than to give to another human being, especially in time of need. Crisis and catastrophes shine the spotlight on the needs of others with glaring clarity. But what about the rest of the time? What struck me was the extent to which we leapt to the aid of the Haitians and what also struck me was the extent to which I had become insulated from the needs of my fellow human beings on a daily basis.  We are enmeshed in our world of everyday issues we deem important and while wrapped up in the minutia of our lives 80 percent of the earth's population lives on less than $10 dollars a day.  The enthusiasm with which the more fortunate contributed to Haiti's disaster relief leads me to believe that as a group we crave more opportunities to give and serve on a daily basis.

Now is the time to begin to assess not only how we give to our planet but to take it to a more personal level and ask, "How do we give to our community?" I started to wonder what would happen if each person took an oath to give back something everyday. Give of yourself generously. Give of your knowledge, your humor, your experiences, your skills and mostly give of your heart. Create avenues to express love and kindness for your family and neighbors. Encourage tolerance and celebrate diversity and join in movements that embrace your beliefs and use their power in numbers to make a difference in the lives of others. Contribute time, money, talents, intelligence, whatever you decide, through giving you will help make a difference.

 See your your world, your income, your life for what it is — abundance beyond most people's imagination.  Catch yourself when you are thinking and living in lack and scarcity. Celebrate your life and reflect from your inner-most heart compassion and love.

I reflect compassion and love to my world. I give with magnitude of  my gifts, my abundance and my spirit for there is infinite room in the world for love.

Monday, January 4, 2010

The New Year

The dawning of a new year is an opportune time to realign, reawaken and redesign. I am not talking about resolutions, I am talking about soul care. Lately I am compelled to look within and observe what I am feeling. I take time to quietly listen. I ask, " What do I need?"  I wonder, "What parts of me are calling for nourishment? What have I pushed aside or silenced that longs for expression once again?  What parts of my soul most need nurturing? And what actions can I take to reconnect with them in order to more fully express my Self?"

When I ask myself these questions words spring into my consciousness. Play, creativity, delight and joy are the first to emerge. I know in the deepest part of me that in order to nourish my soul I must have play and creativity as an integral part of my world. Drawing, painting and playing with art nurtures me. I promise my Soul that I will not deny that aspect of my Self this coming year.  I promise my Self that I will make more art. Playing out of doors liberates the child within. Riding bicycles and being with friends stimulates my delight and joy. I promise my Self that creating new avenues for play will be an adventure I embark upon. Kayaking will be added to my list of pastimes.  Time with family and friends soothes and stimulates me.  There will be more time for friends with whom I can laugh out loud and explore the beauty of this world with.

Nuturing and honoring my work with my clients gives me a deep sense of satisfaction and joy. I promise my Self that I will continually implement new ways to playfully expand the energy of the divine we create together.

What parts of your Self need nurturing? Where are you denying a "soul" need? What simple actions can you take to express and free them?  This is an opportune time of year to explore reawakening all the parts of you that bring you joy or connect you with your world in a deep and meaningful way. Take some time to stop and listen to your inner most parts. What are they asking you for and how can you begin the journey to fully living your life through liberating your most beautiful and expressive Self?

Each day I ignite the light within to illuminate and reawaken my deepest joy and creativity. My love shines brightly
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