My Beautiful Daydream

A Penny for a Vase

12/29/2016

A metaphor:

A mother and father owned a priceless heirloom vase they planned to give their young son when he was old enough to appreciate it. One day, they saw the young boy had his hand stuck in the neck of the vase. They pulled and pulled, but they could not get his hand out. Finally, they realized the only way to free the boy was to break the precious vase. They were devastated as they were forced to shatter the priceless gift.

When they were able to pull the boy's hand out, they saw it was clenched in a fist around something. That was why they could not get it back through the neck of the vase. Curious, they opened the boy's hand to see what had been so important that he wouldn't let go of. They peeled back his fingers to discover a bright shiny penny. The boy had seen the penny at the bottom of the vase and had reached in to pull it out. And because he didn't want to let go of the treasure he thought he found, he lost the priceless treasure meant for him.

Question: What are you holding onto that it's time to let go of? The Universe has a priceless treasure meant just for you. What bright shiny penny have you been desperately holding onto that is preventing you from receiving it?

From Clarence the Angel

12/24/2016

A great message from this silly angel on Christmas Eve. Thank you to all my friends, old and new, who remind me every day what love feels like. ❤❤🌲🎄☃

Happy Solstice!

12/21/2016

Blessings to you all on this December 21st, the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

There is nothing as sure as the promise of sunlight at the end of your night. Whatever you're walking through right now, keep walking. The daylight will come.

Happy Solstice!

The Child Inside

12/16/2016

My daughter was recently telling me about the relationship she has with her boyfriend, that she can tell him anything, absolutely anything. She doesn't hold back. She is completely herself. I told her to treasure that. I am 38 years old and have never had that relationship with anyone. There are people that have come close to discovering all of me, but I always hold back something, some secret hidden part of me. Yesterday, I heard a woman talking about how she doesn't hide herself anymore. She lives her life totally transparently. There is a part of me that wants that. I crave that freedom terribly.

However, there is still such a big part that is hidden behind the wall I built around myself years ago. I believe it will be one of my ongoing battles, to slowly chip away at this stupid wall. It has protected me long enough, served its purpose long enough. It's time to be fully me, live transparently, not hold back, let free the hidden child that so desperately wants to come out and play. Of course discernment is important. I believe not everyone has the right to see me at my most vulnerable. Trust needs to be earned first. But I guess therein lies the struggle. Half of me wants to live transparently, while the other half hides behind the wall, evaluating if I can trust. It's a balance. Thanks for letting me get deeply personal here today. Maybe some of you can relate. How have you been able to tear down your walls to live more freely in the world?

The Tragedy of Life

12/15/2016

A friend of mine lost her daughter last night to an overdose. The day before that, another friend lost the father of her children. My sister, unfortunately, had to walk through both of those experiences a while back. The mother of a 13-year-old boy in my neighborhood is mourning the loss of her son to suicide yesterday. My heart is heavy today, thinking of death and loss. I remember, however, when my niece died, how my family pulled together. We are closer today then we ever have been. I also remember putting things in order, getting my priorities straight.

Small annoyances didn't mean anything to me. I just wanted to love people. Love them while they were here, while I was here. Put down any grudges. Forgive. I wanted to do things I'd never done before but always wanted to. I wrote a book. Time was all the sudden very important to me. I realized what a short time we all have. I realized I'd better get to living.

We all have our own beliefs about what happens after this life. But while we're here, let's live. Live fully, love fully, tell people what they mean to you, forgive someone, ask for forgiveness. Don't wait. Don't wait for any of it.

Find Your Tribe

12/1/2016

Find your people! If you are a startup entrepreneur, surround yourself with successful business minds. If you want to lose weight, surround yourself with thin people. If you are a meditating sage with a mission to raise the vibration of the world, surround yourself with other soul warriors.

Whatever your mission, find your tribe! Raise the bar. Set a new standard. If you are the wealthiest, the fittest, or the most peaceful in your tribe, the demand on you to grow won't be quite as strong. And that is the purpose of life, isn't it? To keep growing?

You are either growing or dying, after all. Jim Rohn said "'You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." Who are your five?

True Friends

11/24/2016

I've been blessed in my life to have friends (and sisters!) that have brought me back to life several times. They recognized my pain without me even having to say anything. When I said, "I'm fine," they said, "That's bullshit." They dug, they pried, they asked questions, they demanded honesty. They didn't give up. And in the process, they saved my life. They showed me what friendship is. They showed me what love is. And for that I'm truly blessed.

Tag a friend and say thank you!

The Universe is Always in Balance

11/10/2016

Find the good today. It's always there. Sometimes you've just gotta look a little harder, but in every situation, it's always there. The Universe strives always for constant balance, and we, being part of the Universe, strive for constant balance too. If you are having a tough time being in balance today, do these three things:

1) Close your eyes and breathe
2) Think of all the things you are grateful for in your life and smile, smile big! Your body chemistry responds when you smile

3) If you are struggling in a situation, brainstorm at least one good thing that might come from the situation. If you can't find one, think of some time in the past when you were in a bad situation, and remember one good thing that came out of it. It will give you hope that there will be something good to come out of this one too.

Remember! Your feelings come from what you focus on. There will always be good and bad; neither lasts forever. It's about what we focus on that creates our mood for the day. Focus on the good!

New Moon Meditation

11/3/2016

Today marks the New Moon phase of the lunar cycle. During the New Moon, the moon is invisible to us, as the sun shines on the part we typically refer to as the "dark side of the moon". As a symbol for life, we can say that it is shining on the parts of us that we don't typically show to the world - our dark side, our dreams and fears that we hide from others. Carl Jung calls this our Shadow. We can ask our higher power during this time to bring forth the dreams we have kept hidden and to shine the light on fears we have that need to be dispelled. New Moon carries an enormous amount of energy with it, and to tap into some of this energy, you can practice a New Moon meditation.

Here's how:

Sit in meditation and ask your higher power to reveal to you the shadow parts of yourself that are ready to be illuminated.
Write down a dream you've been carrying. Write down a project you want to start working on or a goal you want to achieve.
Write down any shadow parts of your character you are ready to show to the world.
Meditate again to ask your higher power to bring your dreams and shadow self into illumination over the next two weeks of the lunar cycle, as the moon becomes whole again.
Place your list into the flow of the Universe by planting it in the earth as a seed to grow, or throwing it into the ocean to be impressed upon with the lunar tide.

Happy meditating!

Apologies

10/25/2016

“It's not a person's mistakes that define them. It's the way they make amends." - Freya North. You know, I feel pretty good about my ability and willingness to forgive people. I don't hold grudges, and I believe people change. Forgiveness comes relatively easy to me. However, it's the saying I'm sorry that I seem to struggle with. I think it's because I hold myself to an incredibly high standard, and when I fail, I take it very personally. I don't feel "I failed", but rather "I'm a failure." I'm working on this, however. People have come into my life to remind me that it's okay to make mistakes. It's how we handle these mistakes after they happen that is truly important.

Today, I try to follow the three rules of a proper apology - 1) I'm sorry; 2) It's my fault; 3) What can I do to make it right? - If I can follow these three rules, I give myself a great gift: the freedom of knowing I have taken care of my part. I do what I can to make things right again. I take the lesson of my mistake and hopefully don't repeat it. Then I let it go. It is up to the other person to forgive or not forgive. I can rest, knowing I've done my part, knowing that I may have failed, but I'm not a failure. I have a long way to go on this still. But I hope that as time goes on, and I learn more and experience safe places to be sorry, I can learn that it's okay to be wrong. Being wrong doesn't mean I'm a failure.