On the spiritual path, we’re often told that we are light, that we are love, that this light and love are always here and available to us. And yet often we don’t experience that!
In March of 2020, just as the entire world was going into lockdown because of Covid-19, I was getting ready to move in with Tom Carpenter and his wife Linda, who had been Course in Miracles teachers and mentors for decades. They needed support and my husband and I had volunteered.
A few years ago, my daughter turned me onto the idea that there's a Major Arcana Tarot card that informs the overarching energy for the year on a global scale. She now has a business offering astrology and Tarot card readings! (click here to learn more)
One way to think about this is that the card sets a tone for the year on a world-wide level.
To determine which card is being activated is simple. Add the numbers of the year together. So, for this year it would be: 2+0+2+5=9
Ready for a New Year’s exercise?
It’s to make a vison board – but with a twist.
I’m sure you know that I LOVE making vision boards. Perhaps you’ve even made one with me in the past!
**If you’re new to vision boards, click here to get my how-to download.**
Making a traditional vision board is fun, inspiring, & a wonderful exercise in intentionality. It gets you thinking about every aspect of your life – from your health, wealth, learning, fun…
Have you noticed that certain times of year evoke different feelings or orientations?
For me, it’s about LIGHT, about opening to it and receiving it.
How do you define light?
Perhaps you think about it as: inspiration, healing, divinity, truth, love- or something else.
Whatever your definition of light, the dark days of December seem to call for a kindling of that spark, a nourishing of our inner light.
Here’s a simple one: How would you complete this sentence?
Last week I began an online class focused on the arc known as the Hero’s Journey. If you’re at all familiar with the mythologist, Joseph Campbell and his work, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about!
Essentially, the idea is that we are all the hero of our own story, and within our lifetimes are invited, encouraged, urged, and sometimes dragged onto a journey of self-transformation.
For over a year, my daughter bugged me to listen to a podcast. The problem was, I didn’t have Spotify! I know, I know. I can see you rolling your eyes at me… the good news is once I did sign up, I immediately listened, and it was incredible!
Here are the specifics. It was an episode of Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us in which she interviews Sonya Renee Taylor about her book, The Body Is Not an Apology and they talk about this concept:
Have you been feeling like you’ve forgotten how to have fun?
It happens especially when the world seems extra chaotic and crazy. Almost like we feel like we have to be more serious and somber. But here’s the truth, we NEED to hold the beauty, the joy, happiness and fun to remind the world of what is really here.
To help me with this, I’ve set an intention for myself this year to really step into joy in a playful way. To rekindle feeling free, goofy, silly, and act like a child again!
How about you?
One of my first “real” jobs was at a non-profit called the Institute for Peace & International Security. It just so happened that my time there overlapped with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since the organization was founded to end nuclear proliferation, that was considered a pivotal event!
I was the assistant to the assistant (if you can imagine that!) doing lots of data entry and other tedious office tasks. One morning my boss came to work ranting about the idiocy of Boston drivers, and people in general. She was fuming mad, and I could palpably feel her fury. While experiencing her in that state, I had a curious thought - that on a professional level she was working to end war and violence, but on a personal level was filled with rage.
Two years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, Govinda (my husband) and I spent three weeks looking after an elderly couple, Tom & Linda Carpenter, who were both Course in Miracles teachers.
Despite the fact that Linda was experiencing dementia, every time we discussed the Course, she tuned right in, and offered valuable insight!
One of her constant reminders was that, “love is the answer regardless of the question.”
The forces that are churning right now – be they planetary, societal, energetic – are clearly telling us that it is time to change.
On a personal level, the invitation is to shed old stories or beliefs we’ve held about ourselves. For we know when we change ourselves, the world changes.
Over the holidays, I had the opportunity to bring an unconscious story/belief into my awareness. It came tumbling into the moment when I unexpectedly blurted out a most surprising phrase!
At the time, I had a house full of family mostly trapped indoors because of inclement weather. One morning, a minor incident occurred, only I experienced it as an overstep of my personal boundaries.
Have you ever thought about the difference between perception and vision?
According to A Course in Miracles, perception is defined as what we see with our senses, and how we view the world from the ego perspective. While vision is what we see with God/love/spirit.
The invitation for this January (as in right NOW) is to envision your year. One way I like to think about this, is to dream into the future and imagine how you want it to be.
To support you in this inquiry, I have a few tools.
Recently I read an article about a Bennington College professor, Claude Fredericks, who daily journaled. His diary is considered the longest ever at approximately 75,000 pages! He began when he was 8 and continued until his death at 89.
Fredericks wasn’t alone (although likely the most prolific.) People write all kinds of things for all sorts of reasons. Think little poems, observations, musings, even funny quips they’ve heard. Sound intriguing?
As the days get darker and the weather cooler, why not curl up with a cup of tea and a blank notebook?
Have you ever thought about patience as a super power?
It sounds kind of weird, I know, but I’ve been thinking about patience a lot lately.
Maybe it’s because I tore a tendon in my ankle and everything takes so much longer…although admittedly, I’ve never felt particularly patient.
What I've come to see recently, though, is that patience is a quality we have to hone.
The most obvious way we do that is with our willingness to wait, to forego immediate gratification.
We exhibit patience when we actively go against the desire to have/achieve/do something right away.
A few weeks ago I really messed up!
I promised my neighbor I’d pick up her mail while she was out of town but then completely forgot!
When she came back, she popped over to get it and that’s when I remembered!
Ugh.
I was SO embarrassed. I couldn’t believe that it had totally slipped my mind.
Rather than giving her an excuse, that we had house guests, I was exercising when she asked and not near my calendar, she didn’t remind me… I simply apologized.
Have you been using your God Box lately?
No? Are you not even sure what I'm talking about?
No problem!
A God Box is essentially a container of some sort. It can be made from anything already have such as a mason jar, basket or even a cardboard box.
Mine is a little wooden bowl with a lid that I received as a gift.
Take a minute to scrounge around. I'm sure you have an unused container lying about. If not, save the next cardboard box you get. You can even decorate it if you want!
