Independence Day

Independent:

"freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others."

Being independent

"means being able to take care of your own needs and to make and assume responsibility for your decisions while considering both the people around you and your environment.”

I felt stuck when I attempted to write of late. The words “me” or “we” were bouncing around in my head but I kept hitting a wall. I began thinking about the upcoming holiday, Independence Day, and the characteristic Americans are especially proud of—our right to live as we choose. As I looked up the definition of independent I discovered that I could not relate to it as a interpretation of how we live in the 21st century. Being independent seemed a much better fit. I sat with the words, “assume responsibility for your decisions while considering both the people around you and your environment.”

In this unique time in our history we are called to think, not only of ourselves, but of our place in and our impact on community. Selfish actions are not only thoughtless, they are life threatening. In this escalation of the philosophical idea of “independence” we have forgotten that in truth we are all interdependent.

A community and the people who inhabit it thrive when the population works together for common goals. It is destroyed when people forget that we are linked together by all that we do and how we live in our villages, towns and cities.

Have you ever played this game? Look around your environment and take note of how many invisible and nameless people have provided goods and services to furnish your world. From the person who dyed the wool in your carpet, the carpenter who cut the boards for your floor, the farmer and laborer who harvested your food, and the trucker who delivered it, there is nothing in your world that you can claim sole credit for. You may move independently through your day but each move has been supported by millions of others working and living on this planet.

As we celebrate Independence Day my hope is that we also celebrate our fundamental connection with each other. And that we all focus on bringing more love, more healing and more light into our individual and common world. Let’s celebrate our interdependence with renewed respect and love for one another.

Catc A Wave

"Catch a wave and your sittin' on top of the world."

Beach Boys "Catch a Wave"

Are you feeling afraid? Are you worried about everything? Do you feel helpless and depressed, anxious and distracted?  There is something you can do to alleviate the stress that appears to be drowning you. Catch a wave. We are surrounded by waves of energy. Sound, radio and electromagnetic waves constantly bounce around us. There are waves of negativity, fear and hate and then there is the wave of love. With a loving thought or a simple act of kindness you magnetize its power to you. When you choose love you commune with a force of healing that permeates the planet. Riding a wave of love lifts your spirit, shifts your perspective and expands your own vibratory field. You live in the moment. Believe in it's power and engage with it.

Some of us perpetually flail about among currents of negativity riding the peaks and valleys of fear. Love negates powerlessness. You cannot feel like a victim when love is your focus. Create your own bandwidth of love by choosing to think, speak and act in loving ways. Your efforts will help our planet heal.  

If you are burdened by negativity check in with your thoughts. Are they harsh and judgmental? Minor changes in perspective can create major shifts in attitude. Notice how even the smallest act of kindness alters your emotional mood. Try it! You have nothing to lose but suffering and much gain. Catch a wave, the wave of love.

"I think the world is going to be saved by millions of small things."

Pete Seeger 

Love and light,

Nora

You Matter

You Matter 

Self esteem from the Inside Out

Self Esteem: A confidence and satisfaction in oneself. Self-respect. 

Another definition: Confidence in one's own worth or ability.  Webster's 

What yardstick do you use to calculate your worth? If you assess your value through societal standards you may be setting yourself up for heartache and suffering. Our culture measures worth and value through one's financial success, beauty, and brains. These standards are a surefire path to low self esteem and unhappiness. Over and over in my work I am shown that money truly does not buy happiness, beauty does not guarantee a charmed life and intelligence does not insulate one from chaos and pain. 

In my readings there is only love. A person's value shines through as their "inner core". This core is the essence of who they are, what spark of light they bring into the world and the vibrational energy they were born to share. Core energy can be defined by the qualities of  joy, delight, playfulness, enthusiasm, kindness and compassion.  What would happen if we began to use these intangible qualities as the benchmark for our value and worth?

Self esteem begins to flourish as you accept who you are with your shortcomings and struggles. And it will grow as you encourage the expression of love and joy in all that you strive to create. When you foster unconditional love you will begin to be a gentler and kinder judge. The twists and turns of your life have given you wisdom and compassion. Life's trials have softened your edges and deepened your ability to forgive and let go. You are valuable. You matter. You have the power to help, heal, to create and discover. You have a voice that counts. 

To develop self esteem one must begin with the concept that we are all valuable, we are all worthy. We can then open pathways to forgiving. We abandon self-righteousness.  And we forge a path of appreciation and respect not only of our voyage but of the journey of each and everyone of us.

"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection" _Siddhartha Gautama

Love and light,

Nora

The Homeless Healer

While on our Sunday bicycle ride Rick and I stopped at a public beach pavilion. Picnic tables sat in rows waiting for the weekend onslaught of beach goers.  As we headed toward our favorite spot we noticed a woman at a table with a dingy bed roll, a bag of clothing and a cup of coffee. It was 8 am and she was barely awake. Giving her some privacy, we seated ourselves to rest, refuel and regroup.

We were having a conversation about some discomfort I was experiencing during the ride when I heard a voice coming from her direction. 

“Sleep with a pillow between your legs.”  she said.

“Oh, right,” I replied, “I had forgotten about that! Thanks!”

With little encouragement she began to suggest several exercises to alleviate the pain. She had information to share that would help me heal. She wanted to contribute. As we mounted our bicycles to continue our ride I thanked her profusely for pointing me in a proactive direction of healing.

She advised me to sleep with a pillow between my legs. But she had no pillow and she had no bed. Her kindness touched me and I realized that on the surface she could be judged as lazy, mentally ill or an addict. For all I knew she might be all of those things. But she was something else as well. She was a healer, a fallen angel gone off track for whatever reason, but her knowledge was just as helpful as any doctor could offer.

This generous healer reminded me that I should not judge a person by her or his appearance. We are all more than we appear to be.

Holding you in love and light,

Nora

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.