Right now I am not quite myself. You see I have bronchitis and am on antibiotics which always throw me off kilter. Being inactive as I must be these days sends my mind wandering to places--some places I do not like and others where flights of fancy occur.
I was talking with a good friend today. Of course very important topics come up in such conversations. For example I simply HAD to talk about the movie, The Age of Innocence with Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day Lewis. Now this movie has got to be the most boring, self important feeling movies next to Dangerous Liaisons. Yet, I was compelled to watch it after only seeing it once several years ago.
The story is very soap opera-ish and Michelle and Daniel painfully walk around being tormented about their privileged although society-controlled lives. I think I just like the movie because it is a beautiful photo essay about that period of time in New York although strictly about the wealthy class.
I pointed out that perhaps I would have liked to have lived during that time although I was sure my life would have been on the under belly of society with a job most probably plucking chickens. So we began to talk about what lives we might have liked to have lived if those lives did not have sorrows. She said she would have loved the 20's-minus the depression. I said I thought I would have loved the Gay Nineties-a backlash to the Victorian Era but my deepest fantasy would be living in old Vienna during the time of great composers draped in a magnificent gown dancing the Viennese Waltz in a marbled palace. In my fantasy, this goes on forever, much like the joys of the Grecian Elysian Fields.
Escapism is part of the human psyche from time to time, especially when one is under the weather and the aimless mind becomes aimless. For example, I had another conversation with my husband today about the meaning of life. Bless his soul he is very optimistic so his interpretation of the question described the purpose of life which to him is to love, be lucky enough to be loved and to help people that need help.
In my antibiotic state I commented what if life has no purpose at all? What if we are reincarnated for different reasons? Reason one could be we chose to come back to master a lesson (which is the usual case). Reason two could be a good life as a reward for good deeds in another life. Of course if suffering, this life could be a punishment for evil deeds of the past. Then again it could simply be that we don't know enough to leave well enough alone and to simply choose to not come back!
An undisciplined day leaves me with an undisciplined and aimless mind-from meanderings about the purpose of life to Elysian Fields. Ah, the antibiotics are making me tired again so perhaps I will withdraw and daydream about Vienna Waltzes. Even good witches have days when they only see the twisters...
Showing posts with label book Trailer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book Trailer. Show all posts
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Elements of change
The young character in my book, HER GODMOTHER, is blessed with having the opportunity to begin learning how to think and react in a healthy way with regard to her special challenges. Most of us are not as fortunate and only after years of carrying burdens well into our adulthood do we reach a point of wanting to experience major changes in our lives.
Most of us have heard the old adage of how some people see the cup half full and others, half-empty. I have taken it a step further: some of us have to make our own cup. There is a way to look at life or how life treats you. One person can be an optimist- life has treated them well or at least fairly. Then there are others (pessimists) that life seems to have passed by or worse yet, dumped on. There are some people who, other than the grief from the inevitable loss of a loved one, live uncompromised lives. Yet, we all know people who, no matter how hard they try, have a rough ride just getting through life with their heads held high. For these people, life is difficult indeed.
Some people seem to gain opportunity just by being in the right place at the right time. Others must work hard, plan strategic moves and learn to know when to take that leap, leave the familiar and expand into a new area. The problem is, we often fall short somewhere between planning and knowing when to take that ‘leap’. Most of us prefer the comfortable. The comfortable does not have to be pleasant. It is what is known and familiar. Why else is it so hard for people to decide to move or relocate for a job? It is because change is difficult and frightening.
It is when life holds nothing exciting or enchanting, when we are in a rut we cannot climb out of that it becomes time to make a new cup. Making a new cup is not easy. We only know the cup we had and what was in it. If we truly do not like the old cup or what we were drinking from it, we have to look at ourselves and see how did we brew that drink that made it so bitter? We need to think about the kind of cup do we want now? What kind of new drink could we possibly make and how the heck do we start making a cup? Do we pour out the old drink altogether, do we throw out the cup? They both had their purpose for a long time. Do we want to really part with them?
These may all seem like rhetorical questions but they are not. You see to bring about change takes conscious effort. After all, we lived in our rut, with our rut and perpetuated our rut probably for a long time. We probably had all the reason in world to be in our rut to begin with. Our life path may have been extremely difficult or deprived, giving us every reason to be justified in having the fears we have and remaining with the familiar, even if it is uncomfortable. But, you know what? Changing is even more uncomfortable, especially if you begin from the standing point of no faith or trust. If you are starting at this standing point, you have to decide whether or not you are going to take a "leap" of the faith you do not yet have. You’re not sure what you believe in anymore, you just hope there is something to believe in because you surely do not believe in yourself. You reflect on your life and decide you really cannot stand another year, week or day of the same old routine so, you decide to work on changing. The beauty of this first decision is that you do not have to change anything about your environment. You don’t have to quit your job, you don’t have to relocate. You simply have to begin with your own package. You are the cup that is to be. You are going to fashion it and decide the stuff that will go into this new vessel.
It takes courage to decide to change because when you decide to work on change, you embark on an unsure majickal journey of thought transformation. In order to begin it is important that you do not want to harm anyone as you strive to meet goals. It is also important to accept you are a work in progress and will battle old habits along the way. It doesn't matter how graciously you begin your change. The important thing is a commitment to it for patience and time will bring changes in your life and in all things around you.
Enter basic majickal thought 101 upon which I base my school, Quantum spirituality, The Science of Change. The beauty of this is that you do not have to be a Wiccan or Witch. You can use the thought principles that go into casting spells and apply them to yourself on a very personal level. As you think, see what it is you want, taste what it is you want and wait. Some people sit quietly and imagine VIVIDLY their desire. Others people will write it down and send their dreams into the fire by burning the paper because it is an effective way to send energies into the Universe! But, there’s more. The flame of the match creates energy, the burning of the paper and the subsequent smoke is all energy. This practice is so successful, anonymous groups use this exercise very successfully to purge anger, rage or sorrow. But, you can use this tool to create change by writing down the things you need, want or desire without belonging to a coven or annonymous group. You can use this tool as a solitary worker working on self improvement. Acceptance is very important. We must all be willing to accept that not all difficulties are karmic. It is thinking inside of an empowerment arena within which you envision yourself the winner in your bout with the by nemesis, disenchantment. Since I do believe all things are fixed I see no reason why timetables can't be pushed up either once we decide we need and want change more quickly. Since we do not know, for the most part, what is and is not fixed, should we sit on the sidelines deciding this is karma and that is karma? Too many people fritter precious away contemplating what is karma and forget that can make and even change our karma with the right mind set.
The next time you go to a party and look around. Invariably the person having the most fun will be the person who is dressed neatly, appears to have made an effort in the area of grooming, smiles easily and in general emits an openness to meeting people. Now look for the ‘wallflower’. Wallflowers are not born. They are made. The wallflower will stand to the side and appear as if, not expecting to have a good time, no effort was made into appearance. This goes for men or women. Does a wallflower seem approachable? Probably not. Insecurity is projected as loudly as a scream. So wallflowers in actuality, bring about their own anticipated outcome. When it comes to your life are you still wallowing? Are you the wallflower at the your own party?
Jewish wisdom teaches that each life is a blank slate, that no soul has a recollection of its previous knowledge. I say if we allow ourselves to be touched by our own spirit power that is programmed to get us going rather than rationalizing such effort away. We can gain or regain previous knowledge provided we are open minded enough to watch, listen and feel!
Keep in mind that meeting the challenge of redefining ourselves as wonderful, loving, courageous and deserving of joy, can bring about change. How quickly something is achieved depends on our focusing skills but also on how many years we contributed to the circumstance we wish to change. We may have to unravel our own psychological problems first but we must decide we want to change ourselves. How many times and for how long did we tell ourselves it could not be done, hence closing ourselves off to opportunities by not just being blind to them but actually preventing them from coming our way because we fed our negativity. So the next step is wanting to change. More to the point are you ready to change?
Most of us have heard the old adage of how some people see the cup half full and others, half-empty. I have taken it a step further: some of us have to make our own cup. There is a way to look at life or how life treats you. One person can be an optimist- life has treated them well or at least fairly. Then there are others (pessimists) that life seems to have passed by or worse yet, dumped on. There are some people who, other than the grief from the inevitable loss of a loved one, live uncompromised lives. Yet, we all know people who, no matter how hard they try, have a rough ride just getting through life with their heads held high. For these people, life is difficult indeed.
Some people seem to gain opportunity just by being in the right place at the right time. Others must work hard, plan strategic moves and learn to know when to take that leap, leave the familiar and expand into a new area. The problem is, we often fall short somewhere between planning and knowing when to take that ‘leap’. Most of us prefer the comfortable. The comfortable does not have to be pleasant. It is what is known and familiar. Why else is it so hard for people to decide to move or relocate for a job? It is because change is difficult and frightening.
It is when life holds nothing exciting or enchanting, when we are in a rut we cannot climb out of that it becomes time to make a new cup. Making a new cup is not easy. We only know the cup we had and what was in it. If we truly do not like the old cup or what we were drinking from it, we have to look at ourselves and see how did we brew that drink that made it so bitter? We need to think about the kind of cup do we want now? What kind of new drink could we possibly make and how the heck do we start making a cup? Do we pour out the old drink altogether, do we throw out the cup? They both had their purpose for a long time. Do we want to really part with them?
These may all seem like rhetorical questions but they are not. You see to bring about change takes conscious effort. After all, we lived in our rut, with our rut and perpetuated our rut probably for a long time. We probably had all the reason in world to be in our rut to begin with. Our life path may have been extremely difficult or deprived, giving us every reason to be justified in having the fears we have and remaining with the familiar, even if it is uncomfortable. But, you know what? Changing is even more uncomfortable, especially if you begin from the standing point of no faith or trust. If you are starting at this standing point, you have to decide whether or not you are going to take a "leap" of the faith you do not yet have. You’re not sure what you believe in anymore, you just hope there is something to believe in because you surely do not believe in yourself. You reflect on your life and decide you really cannot stand another year, week or day of the same old routine so, you decide to work on changing. The beauty of this first decision is that you do not have to change anything about your environment. You don’t have to quit your job, you don’t have to relocate. You simply have to begin with your own package. You are the cup that is to be. You are going to fashion it and decide the stuff that will go into this new vessel.
It takes courage to decide to change because when you decide to work on change, you embark on an unsure majickal journey of thought transformation. In order to begin it is important that you do not want to harm anyone as you strive to meet goals. It is also important to accept you are a work in progress and will battle old habits along the way. It doesn't matter how graciously you begin your change. The important thing is a commitment to it for patience and time will bring changes in your life and in all things around you.
Enter basic majickal thought 101 upon which I base my school, Quantum spirituality, The Science of Change. The beauty of this is that you do not have to be a Wiccan or Witch. You can use the thought principles that go into casting spells and apply them to yourself on a very personal level. As you think, see what it is you want, taste what it is you want and wait. Some people sit quietly and imagine VIVIDLY their desire. Others people will write it down and send their dreams into the fire by burning the paper because it is an effective way to send energies into the Universe! But, there’s more. The flame of the match creates energy, the burning of the paper and the subsequent smoke is all energy. This practice is so successful, anonymous groups use this exercise very successfully to purge anger, rage or sorrow. But, you can use this tool to create change by writing down the things you need, want or desire without belonging to a coven or annonymous group. You can use this tool as a solitary worker working on self improvement. Acceptance is very important. We must all be willing to accept that not all difficulties are karmic. It is thinking inside of an empowerment arena within which you envision yourself the winner in your bout with the by nemesis, disenchantment. Since I do believe all things are fixed I see no reason why timetables can't be pushed up either once we decide we need and want change more quickly. Since we do not know, for the most part, what is and is not fixed, should we sit on the sidelines deciding this is karma and that is karma? Too many people fritter precious away contemplating what is karma and forget that can make and even change our karma with the right mind set.
The next time you go to a party and look around. Invariably the person having the most fun will be the person who is dressed neatly, appears to have made an effort in the area of grooming, smiles easily and in general emits an openness to meeting people. Now look for the ‘wallflower’. Wallflowers are not born. They are made. The wallflower will stand to the side and appear as if, not expecting to have a good time, no effort was made into appearance. This goes for men or women. Does a wallflower seem approachable? Probably not. Insecurity is projected as loudly as a scream. So wallflowers in actuality, bring about their own anticipated outcome. When it comes to your life are you still wallowing? Are you the wallflower at the your own party?
Jewish wisdom teaches that each life is a blank slate, that no soul has a recollection of its previous knowledge. I say if we allow ourselves to be touched by our own spirit power that is programmed to get us going rather than rationalizing such effort away. We can gain or regain previous knowledge provided we are open minded enough to watch, listen and feel!
Keep in mind that meeting the challenge of redefining ourselves as wonderful, loving, courageous and deserving of joy, can bring about change. How quickly something is achieved depends on our focusing skills but also on how many years we contributed to the circumstance we wish to change. We may have to unravel our own psychological problems first but we must decide we want to change ourselves. How many times and for how long did we tell ourselves it could not be done, hence closing ourselves off to opportunities by not just being blind to them but actually preventing them from coming our way because we fed our negativity. So the next step is wanting to change. More to the point are you ready to change?
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Magic in the Midst...
Sometimes it can be very hard keeping connected with the magic in the everyday happenings. Thunderstorms and lightening can be an inconvenience-rain, sometimes hail, lights flickering and so on. Then there's getting soaked walking the dogs and having to wipe mud off the mutts that, of course, just LOVE romping through the deepest puddles they can find. It is not unusual for this to be irritating.
Today was such a possible day but the truth is there is excitement in a storm. The sound of the branches and leaves crackling in the wind, the cool sting of wet darts on the skin is invigorating and the sheer mindless glee dogs experience splashing around in the mud is like a turn table-time trip to younger days when rainy days meant soaking sneakers and water squishing in between the toes. Mom of course would always get furious but it did not matter for I knew the ire was just worth the sensation of warm, dry feet becoming wet and cool. Umbrellas? Pfft. There was nothing nicer than feeling the cold rain tapping on my dry shirt or blouse. Chances are you remember those days too. And then there is the smell of rain. Yes, for those who may have forgotten, rain has its own smell. But in the bustle of being all "growed up" we somehow lose track of the lighter side of inconvenience.
Children love inconvenience. It's all an adventure and, if we let ourselves pause just long enough, a rainy day's inconvenience can bring us full circle into our natural state of still being kids but only in adult bodies. Now...where did those dogs go? Bye for now. Going to look for them in the biggest puddle.
Today was such a possible day but the truth is there is excitement in a storm. The sound of the branches and leaves crackling in the wind, the cool sting of wet darts on the skin is invigorating and the sheer mindless glee dogs experience splashing around in the mud is like a turn table-time trip to younger days when rainy days meant soaking sneakers and water squishing in between the toes. Mom of course would always get furious but it did not matter for I knew the ire was just worth the sensation of warm, dry feet becoming wet and cool. Umbrellas? Pfft. There was nothing nicer than feeling the cold rain tapping on my dry shirt or blouse. Chances are you remember those days too. And then there is the smell of rain. Yes, for those who may have forgotten, rain has its own smell. But in the bustle of being all "growed up" we somehow lose track of the lighter side of inconvenience.
Children love inconvenience. It's all an adventure and, if we let ourselves pause just long enough, a rainy day's inconvenience can bring us full circle into our natural state of still being kids but only in adult bodies. Now...where did those dogs go? Bye for now. Going to look for them in the biggest puddle.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Nict For Ure Selfe (Not For Ourselves): Book Trailer
To see the book trailer click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jk8S7AVw5E
Alyssa attends a local Pagan festival, only become the target of the local deputy's bigotry and hatred. Unable to understand way she was singled out, she performs a ritual asking Bridget for her help. Instead of gaining wisdom, her spirit is transported back to a time before the Celtic Goddesses and Gods gave way to the Christos and when clan traditions could mean life or death.
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