Once In A Blue Moon: A Potent New Year's Blessing

On December 31, 2009, we'll experience a blue moon lunar eclipse. A blue moon typically refers to the second full moon in a given month, which only happens once every few years, making it unusual enough to generate a sense of expectancy. However, the original definition referred to the 13th full moon in a "tropical year", or growing season, traditionally measured from one winter solstice to the next.

So while the full moon and blue moon already herald a potent completion to 2009 and entry into 2010, there's even more power inherent in this passage. Gillian Macbeth-Louthan of The Quantum Awakening writes, "This is the most important New Year's Eve we have been gifted in a long time. It asks us to 'flash forward' into the next two years to see what we can see. No matter how much you do not believe prophecy from time and earth, it will still affect your energy field and your choices. READ THE REST!

Mercury Rx: A Healing New Year's Gift

On December 26th, the planet Mercury will appear to move backwards in the sky until January 15, 2010 — a dance it typically does three times each year. Because Mercury rules communication, transportation and technology, many people have an instinctive aversion to these retrograde cycles. But as with all shadows, Mercury retrogrades contain hidden gifts. READ THE REST!

Season of Stories

"The universe is made of stories, not atoms."

~ Muriel Rukeyser

As we enter the year's prime shopping season, stores tend to replace stories as the gift source of choice. I grew up in Paramus, New Jersey, the shopping capital of the known universe, so I understand just how seductive — and soul diminishing — the material mindset can be.

Emerson said: "Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself." How do we put the "I" back in "stores", supplant material-eyes with empath-eyes? How do we create the new story of Now? READ THE REST!

The Magdalene Awakening: Reclaiming the Divine Feminine

For me, the Great Remembering began in illness. On a descent to the depths of my being, I found myself throwing my arms around trees and sobbing, feeling their loving embrace. I began talking to crows, paying tribute to their visceral wisdom in a poem that concluded, "A coded conversation/In guttural cries/Opens my eyes/And lifts me higher." Stunned from exhaustion, I'd never lived in such clarity. With my brain on an extended vacation, I was forced to access a more primitive part of my being, to participate in the instinctual world, not merely watch.

I devoured books such as The Feminine Face of God by Sherry Ruth Anderson and Patricia Hopkins, and The Moon Under Her Feet by Clysta Kinstler, rapt with recognition. I became Inanna, the ancient Sumerian Goddess who symbolizes death and rebirth, with wisdom gained.

These are just a few examples of the myriad ways the Divine Feminine began showing up in my life, as she is now showing up for women (and many men) everywhere. Shannon Andersen, author of The Magdalene Awakening, is a powerful voice in service to this remembering, sharing the essence of the journey she's lived, decoding the sacred symbols and synchronicities that herald the re-emergence of the Divine Feminine on Earth, as reflected in the archetype of Mary Magdalene. READ THE REST!

Reaching Your Boyle-ing Point

At an age when most performers have hit their peak and may already be on a downward spiral, one rising star has captivated the world — not only with her phenomenal voice, but with her story. Susan Boyle shot to stardom just before turning 48.

We generally groom our superstars as youth: usually a new name enters our consciousness when the performer is between 18-22, sometimes much younger. I love Leona Lewis, for example, who is divinely talented — and became a household name at 22, less than half Boyle's age.

The idea that someone could emerge as an overnight sensation in midlife fires the imagination: what might we still be able to achieve, create, become, if a star is born at 48? READ THE REST!

Dec. newsletter: From Resistance to Resilience

Years ago a popular television commercial featured a maternal manicurist who would soften her customers' hands in Palmolive dishwashing liquid. The theme was both arresting and funny. The patron, upon learning the contents of the cuticle-softening dish, would jerk her hand away and gasp: "Dishwashing liquid?" Madge would calmly pat her hand back down, reassuring, "It's Palmolive!"

I was ruminating on how such a commercial might play in the metaphysical realm: "Resistance? You're soaking in it!" And it doesn't soften the journey, but cooks us to a crisp - even when we think we're coming from an enlightened perspective. READ THE REST!

How to Become a Magnificent Manifester

"Start a huge foolish project, like Noah."

~ Rumi
What do a purple sweatshirt hanging from a tree branch, a loaf of freshly baked bread, a dead car engine on a stormy night, and a magical forest cabin have in common? They're just a few of the inspiring stories I frequently share about the role of synchronicity in our lives, and how learning to recognize it, embrace it, and nurture it can be the key to changing the way we live.

Carl Jung described synchronicity as "meaningful coincidence." One teammate defines it as, "Your file is open and on God's desk." It's about transforming the "efforting" in our lives into ease. Synchronicity happens when we're living in flow rather than in force. And its literal manifestation can be quite humorous. Once, when I was deeply into my own spiritual awakening, I had been imploring the universe, "I want to serve, show me how to serve!" Soon afterward, I received a summons for jury duty.

As we learn how to listen to the "still, small voice" inside us, wondrous events begin to transpire in our lives. One of my best manifestation stories involves finding a secluded mountain cabin to rent when I lived in New Mexico, by following a tapestry of meaningful messages leading me, literally, to the door. The string of synchronicities was so strong that, had I written the story as fiction, I imagine an editor would have rejected it as "too coincidental for readers to believe." But real life is always more amazing — and amusing — than anything we can invent. READ THE REST!

Gratitude Guide: Six Simple Ways to Give Thanks

Allow yourself to be renewed by gratitude, both that you give and that you receive. Here's a handy Gratitude Guide for these tumultuous holiday moments. May it serve you well.

Is Your Life a Banquet?

Thanksgiving is about food the way Christmas is about presents. In modern life, neither expresses the true spirit of the holiday — although the potential is there. Because at core level, the real issue is always love.

Is there enough love to go around? The answer is yes, and — we must awaken to this truth on our own. We become "the Light of the world" first within our own beings; then we're able to shine this radiance outward. It's like any other learning process: we can only serve others from a well that runs full and deep. READ THE REST!

Going Wireless: Taking the Risk You Fear Most

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

~ Helen Keller

Though we live in an increasingly wireless world, most of us are hardwired to feel an impending sense of doom when a "deadline" looms: when we experience ourselves as being down to the wire.

The irony is that there is no wire. In the shapeshifting movie, The Matrix, one of the magical children mentally manipulates a spoon in midair. When the film's protagonist, Neo, questions what he's seeing, the child responds, "There is no spoon."

Later in the film, when Neo and Trinity need to ascend an elevator shaft minus the actual elevator, Neo grasps the cable, intones, "There is no spoon!" and up they fly. This image burns in my memory as a perennial reminder: you can never be down to the wire, because the wire doesn't exist. READ THE REST!

Enough

It's almost that time again in the U.S.: Thanksgiving. We celebrate the Pilgrims' gratitude for the kindness of their Native American neighbors, who taught them how to plant and harvest enough food to survive in a new world. It's an appropriate moment to reflect on what "enough" truly means. READ THE REST!

A 100-Word Formula for a Soul-Inspired Life

In the current issue of my e-newsletter, What Shines, I write about how surrendering to Love, with a capital L, leads to the experience of oneness we simultaneously seek and fear. I quote from Neale Donald Walsch's final book in his Conversations With God series, Home With God.

Synchronistically ~ because synchronicity is one huge sign we're living in the flow and in the know (and in the now!) ~ a few days later I discovered EverydayOasis.com, and another pivotal passage from Home With God that I'd forgotten ~ a 100-word prescription for living a soul-filled life. READ THE REST!

11:11 = Eleven a-lovin'

I walk in stride with people much taller than me
And partly it's the boots but mostly it's my chi
And I'm becoming transfixed with nature and my part in it
Which I believe just signifies I'm finally waking up.

~ Ani DiFranco, lyrics from Evolve
November 11th always signals a transformational gateway. Eleven is the master number reflecting the transmutation of physical to divine. You may have begun noticing 11:11 on digital clocks. This is an encoding that activates our cellular memory of the ascension process that's well underway. Gillian MacBeth-Louthan says, "The energy of 2009 comes to one of its many peaks through the valley of change, as we enter a placement of time and light that has disguised itself as a date."

This year, November 11th is especially powerful, because it's 11:11:11 (2009 = 2+0+0+9 = 11). Archangel Michael through channel Celia Fenn describes the opening of the Sacred Rose Stargate, and Mary Magdalene offers a meditation to allow us to open to the new consciousness and receive the Love that will be streaming through. READ THE REST!

The Sky is Falling — NOT! The Truth About 2012

On November 8th, we enter the next phase of our global evolutionary upgrade, known as the Sixth Night of the Galactic Wave Movement, according to Mayan scholar Carl Johan Calleman. It's a demanding time, and a bit messy, as planetary birth processes tend to be. But is it cause for alarm?


Until recently, comparatively few people were interested in Mayan culture or ancient prophecies. The Mayan Calendar, popularized in the West by authors such as Jose Arguelles (The Mayan Factor), Barbara Hand Clow (The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind) and Carl Calleman (The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness) touched a relatively small audience.

With the release of the doomsday movie 2012, however, that's changing dramatically. Now that the end date of the Mayan Calendar — December 21, 2012, on our Gregorian calendar — is a scant three years away, people are beginning to panic. Is the world going to end? Is this like Y2K, only infinitely worse?

It depends where we choose to place our focus. Our culture thrives on fear, READ THE REST

Haunted by the Need to Change?

In the U.S., Halloween is all about costumes, trick-or-treating, candy and, occasionally, mischief. Few people realize the date also marks a sacred day on the Celtic calendar, Samhain, ushering in the dark half of the year. October 31st precedes Day of the Dead/All Soul's Day, which takes place November 1-2, honoring those who have crossed over.

This year, in the USA, November 1st also coincides with the return to standard time from daylight savings. Clearly, the dark side — what remains hidden from view — is calling. LEARN WHY HALLOWEEN IS JUST A SPECTER OF SAMHAIN

How to put a giraffe in the refrigerator

Speaking of fun ... this is hilarious. See how well you do, and enjoy!

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down.



The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put the giraffe in, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.


2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?



Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.


3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend .... except one. Which animal does not attend?



Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?



Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Conference. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.


According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

Send this out to frustrate all of your smart friends.

Is Fun the Key to Positive Change?

Would you take the stairs versus an escalator if the former were somehow enticing? How about if the staircase turned you into an instant pianist?

This brilliant concept originated in Stockholm, where a normal staircase was transformed into a giant piano keyboard. Each stair played a corresponding note on the musical scale, so you could literally step to the beat! The idea fired people's imaginations — so much so that two-thirds more people used the stairs than on a typical day. READ MORE

Oneness in Wholeness Ray: A Cosmic Reconnect

The intense 09-09-09 energies that reconfigured our DNA are still reverberating through our beings, and this beautiful rendering of the Oneness in Wholeness Ray by Saleena Ki helps activate the crown chakra to facilitate cosmic reconnection:


I've known Saleena for many years as a dear virtual friend and very talented artist, whose ability to bring through the energies we need in the form of VibraKeys is a gift. I used a number of Keys in rotation for months, and still keep WaterAlive near my kitchen faucet. Everything is energy, and we are 80% water ~ yes, it makes a difference!

Blessings on your journey, as Mercury is now direct and we are through another difficult doorway ...

Scared to Sacred: A Subtle Shift

I'm a great fan of subtle shifts: scared to sacred, nowhere to now here, density to destiny, accumulate to appreciate (OK, maybe that last one's not that subtle!) The point is, when we take a second, objective look at what we may have unconsciously pushed away out of fear, the results can be quite surprising.

Take the number 13. Conventional wisdom says, "Bad luck! Steer clear!" Yet if we explore 13 in depth, we access the sacred.

I've posted 50 articles to my Practical Spiritual Examiner page in the last month. There's a lot to explore. Please visit often (I'm posting new content daily, or nearly so) and leave your comments directly on the articles themselves. I look forward to your feedback, and promise to respond.

∞ Blessings ∞

Menopause or Memorex?

I've written about menopause symptoms before, but with the combination of Saturn vs. Uranus energy (structure and form/old ways directly opposing the quirky, rebellious, bolt-from-the-blue-into-the-new), huge energetic downloads amping our circuits, and the latest Mercury Rx ~ well, it seems an auspicious moment to post some healing tips that, while created for menopausal women, can assist any of us in moving with more grace and ease through this passage:

How toxicity in the body can mimic menopause:
Hot Flash: Hormone Mimics Wreak Havoc on Women's Health (my personal journey)

How to detoxify your body and home (series of 4 articles):
Allergic ~ Or Toxic?

The challenges and joys of turning 50:
Life in the Middle Ages

Simple steps you can take today to help ground and release:

(1) Go to the woods or ocean, depending on where you live, and get the rage and frustration out by shouting, running, doing ritual, etc.
(2) Write down all of what's bothering you, then delete the message! Or print it out and burn it.
(3) Get an herbal or homeopathic formula from your local health food store.
(4) invest/indulge in acupuncture, massage, or another form of bodywork to help your body balance some of the symptoms and reduce stress.
(5) Remember to breathe! When you feel angry or imbalanced, just taking some really slow, deep breaths outside can make a huge difference.

I'm posting daily additions to my Practical Spirituality Examiner page and welcome your comments and questions ~ will respond to all!

And finally, this may be an ideal time to hire a personal coach to help you Get Unstuck!

∞ Blessings and Light ∞

Remembering 9-1-1

When the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, I was galvanized to action. The following poured through me that morning:

This IS a Test!

Several days later, I sent out the next message:

Radical Evolution

Intriguingly, this poem/chant came through me 5 weeks prior to the event ~ a clarion call for these times:

Spiraling Home

Wishing you all much peace, love and breathing room in our over-full lives as the energy continues to amp up ∞

The Shift in Human Consciousness

Unless you've been inhabiting one of Jupiter's moons lately, it won't likely be news that humanity is in the midst of a massive evolutionary upgrade. In a brilliant 2-part article that is also available as a radio interview, Sol Luckman discusses the manifold aspects of this shift, from the implications of the Mayan Calendar 2012 end date to the significance of spirals to the Law of One. I highly recommend reading both articles (or listening to the show), slowly, allowing the information to seep into your cellular awareness.

Here's an excerpt:

"The spiral is the sign of the eternal, creative, unifying and organizing force or principle at work in the universe, and especially of the ongoing creation of consciousness. It is a divine mark on nature, what may be termed God's personal signature on the cosmos, the Great Architect's own autograph—from the cradles of stars and planets in the awesome spiral arms of galaxies to the beautiful double helix structure of the DNA molecule [...] As the spiral seems to be integral to physical growth, so it is also the symbolic pattern of human spiritual growth ... [T]he spiral is as much part of our 'cultural' DNA as it is part of our biological DNA [...] Indeed, I have come to realize that 'spirality'—the condition of being spiral—and 'reality' are almost interchangeable terms.

"Recalling the aether theories of Kozyrev, fellow Russian scientist Sergey Smelyakov's research demonstrates that the harmonic vibrations of Phi, also referred to as the Golden Mean and Fibonacci sequence, inform the very fabric of space-time. Mathematically, the Photon Band appears to be structured on Phi, producing set cosmic intervals the Maya apparently were aware of when constructing their uncannily accurate calendar. Smelyakov's The Auric Time Scale and the Mayan Factor compellingly suggests that Earth connects to Galactic Center via our solar system in a harmonic, fractal fashion he calls 'Solar-planetary Synchronism,' a vibratory relationship based on the Golden Mean.

"In an article entitled The Ultimate Secret of the Mayan Calendar, Wilcock analyzes Smelyakov's research, writing that it helps explain the end of the Mayan calendar in geometric terms as an 'infinitely-converging end point' in which time appears to 'collapse.' This is because time as we experience it follows the imploding spirals of Phi much like a finger tracing the cyclical involutions of a conch shell to its centerpoint.

"A salient point in the evolutionary model I am elaborating here is that evolution of species ultimately is driven not by material, but by metaphysical energy, or consciousness, of a spiraling, 'meta-genetic' nature.

"Swedish Biologist Carl Johan Calleman reaches precisely the same conclusion in The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness, cautioning 'against a narrow interpretation of the term cyclical. The Mayan calendar describes evolutionary rather than strictly cyclical processes, so history is more like a spiral of evolution, in which similar types of events are favored at certain points in the cycle.'"

Our Need for A Scapegoat

Michael Jackson was an icon, and his "untimely" death (because, really, how can we know another's soul contract, and when they've completed their Earth assignment ~ no matter how terrible a departure may appear from a 3D perspective?) has led to a feeding frenzy in every respect ~ most notably, in our apparently consuming need to find someone to blame.

His personal physician, with him at the end, has been a likely target from the first. No matter that Dr. Conrad Murray has cooperated fully with the authorities from the beginning of the investigation. No matter that MJ had numerous health issues and was under duress at the time of his death on a number of fronts. The media wants a scapegoat. The public wants a scapegoat. So Dr. Murray is about to be officially charged with manslaughter.

I don't know whether the doctor did in fact in some way contribute to Michael's death. But whether he is culpable or not, what's clear to me is our frothing desire to participate in a stoning ~ maybe not in the literal sense, but certainly virtually. Once we flocked to public hangings. We all possess a primal instinct for savagery ~ it's what helped our ancestors survive in the wild. This is powerful energy ~ and we're no longer battling woolly mammoths.

How can we use this energy for the highest good, now?

In the two posts I penned following 9-1-1 in the US, I posited some ideas. I'll happily email them to you: please put "9-1-1 posts" in the subject line: amara@liveyourlight.com. For now, I leave you with this excerpt:

"Reclaiming is a key word for now. We can choose to compost our violence into the rich soil of compassion (literally, 'to suffer with') as a new way of reclaiming our Earth body, and our relationships with one another. Soul/sole/soil are related in meaning, as are whole/holy/heal. Touching the Earth, our collective and only home, with compassion, we live into our soul's purpose more deeply. As we get the 'whole' picture, we become more whole, holy, healed; more One with the All. From this soil teeming with understanding, forgiveness and love, we may cultivate a culture in which we are all welcomed home. Atonement is at-one-ment.

This is radical evolution."

We Are the Sleeper Cells ...

The ones we've been waiting for are NOW HERE: Us! You can't help but feel Divine, drinking in these declarations from The Star Elders through Aluna Joy:

∞ You are the living bridges between all the cultures of the Earth.

∞ You are the unification of all the religions.

∞ You are the harmony between all social, economic, and spiritual classes.

∞ You are the ones that shift the negative projections of the collective consciousness into a positive reality.

∞ You are the ones that have held firm to the dreams and visions of a different future.

∞ You are the ones that choose to counterbalance the fear-based prophecies running amok throughout the unconsciousness of so many people.

∞ You are the ones that write our future based on love, unity and oneness, and most of all planetary brother & sisterhood.

∞ You have held strong to the vision that Earth will be a beautiful garden and shining star of our galaxy.

∞ That future is beginning to manifest right before our eyes.

∞ You are the ones that we have been waiting for.

∞ You are your own ancestors returned.


It's a Spiritual Conspiracy (which literally means, "to breathe together")! Let your Light shine!

"You who have the light, what are you doing with it?" ~ Paul Claudel

God's Pharmacy

You are what you eat ... so check out these foods that mirror our body organs ~ way to eat for maximum health and well-being!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye ... and science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopene and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neocortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other citrus fruits look just like female mammary glands and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears, which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

The Weather of Our Hearts

With all the love energy streaming onto the planet now ~ and all the concomitant chaos we're experiencing as we release everything unlike Love from our beings ~ I wanted to share a poem that emerged about 7 years ago.

While it references the standard male-female relationship, I invite you to apply the poem's message to the larger arena in which we're cavorting:

The Weather of Our Hearts

Now you know how to predict the weather!

Love,
Amara

Is the Medium the Message?

How can bandwidth make or break your success? Ubermarketer Seth Godin (founder of Squidoo and author of 11 books, and counting) developed a brilliant map for syncing message and medium:

He clarifies, "Movies take a long time to make, but they’re high impact. Twitter takes a second to do, but there’s not a lot of info there. One on one coaching is high enough bandwidth that it can change your life and make you cry, in real time, and the Mona Lisa, while less bits per second than a TV show, has enough emotional bandwidth to matter, even if it’s 400 years old.

"If you had seen this chart three years ago, you obviously would have invented Twitter. Now that you see it today, what will you create?"

Pennies From Heaven

The day after my Twitter post about finding a dime and 3 pennies on the sidewalk, Tweetheart and What Shines subscriber Jacqui Hoag sent me this anecdote:

"You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live ... The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely...

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.


Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

'Look at it.' He said. 'Read what it says.' She read the words, 'United States of America'.

'No, not that; read further.'

'One cent?' 'No, keep reading.'

'In God We Trust?' 'Yes!' 'And?'

'And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!'

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, 'In God We Trust,' and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient..."

~∞~∞~∞~∞~∞

Thought for the Day:

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

If S/he had a wallet, your photo would be in it...

S/he sends you flowers every spring.

S/he sends you a sunrise every morning Face it, friend - S/he is crazy about you!

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow,sun without rain, but S/he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Read this line very slowly and let it sink in ...

"If God brings you to it, S/he will bring you through it."

You will receive a miracle tomorrow.

Wealth Is An Inside Job

I spent this past weekend in a San Francisco hotel room with close to 150 other holistic practitioners of every stripe: life coaches to sound healers, acupuncturists to nutritionists, business organizers to psychotherapists. The event was called, "Rejuvenate Your Practice," and the essence of the weekend was something Jesse and Sharla, the creators of the workshop, call Heartselling.

Based on the Chinese 5 Element model (Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood), they discovered and now teach what we're all awakening to in one form or another now: the Heart is our greatest natural (and renewable) resource.

When you come from the heart, from a place of truly wanting to serve, and place the focus on the other person (in this case, your potential client), asking questions that elicit their needs and desires rather than talking about yourself, and acknowledging their greatness, you'll become irresistible ~ they'll be ready to work with you in a ~ yes, heartbeat.

For me, one of the coolest experiences of the weekend (and we engaged in a lot of experiential exercises) was having 10 participants first say "no" when we asked if they were ready to start working with us ~ followed by 10 who said "Yes!" with wild enthusiasm. The demonstration imbued a visceral sense of expecting "yes's" from the Universe ~ which then, of course, is what happens, since we receive that which we hold in our thoughts.

Ready to get unstuck and move to a new level of creativity, health, wealth and joy in your life? Let's talk: amara@liveyourlight.com.

∞ Blessings and abundance to you! ∞

Manifesting from the Heart

Aluna Joy's latest transmission contains some really uplifting wisdom about how we'll manifest now ~ I'm already seeing this "impulsive" M.O. bear fruit!

"... the way you manifest is also shifting. Elaborate plans for creating something in the future are more difficult to fulfill. Planning is a state of consciousness that lies in the future. The future is not in the NOW; therefore planning will become difficult. Remember, you are entering a state of oneness, and a completely present NOW. You are learning that intentions will manifest easily if they are done with an impulse or with inspired intuition. It will be more difficult to manifest with a mind. It will be easier to manifest with the heart. Bold gestures are going to become the norm! Expect that any plans you have made will morph and change out in front if you.

"The absolute success of your future is being built as we speak. This is very demanding, yet the most exciting part of building a new world. New roots are growing in the background, and you are being planted firmly in the next dimension. Growing a hearty root system is vitally important. Remember roots grow in the dark ... Be patient, and let your roots grow. Soon you will burst forth into the light of a new day, a new world, like a perfect flower reaching for the Sun.

"You are not alone in this process. There are millions of awakened beings in all walks of life, all across the earth, that will help morph this world into the vision of a new world which we all hold close to your hearts. You may not know who these lighted ones are, but we assure you they are in place, and ready to take action."

YES!

Just Drop It!

Today is a day to drop out, literally. Allow the total solar eclipse to "eclipse" past hurts and resentments, anger and worry, so you can emerge into the new as a newborn YOU. In this informative article, intuitive Tosha Silver (who, synchronistically, served as one of my pivotal guides during my awakening in rural NY State in 1994, and now resides in the Bay Area) offers some to-the-point ritual blessings to help pacify past pain and prepare for what's ahead in your life.

Key message:

"Help me release any resentments that I harbor in my body, mind or psyche. Allow me to dissolve any toxic ties to the past so I may receive fully the good that is headed my way."

May you be showered with Grace!

Illness As a Spiritual Journey

Last week, I was honored to duet with master retreat coach Helene van Manen on a teleclass for retreat coaches. The topic I chose is one I've lived into deeply: Illness As A Spiritual Journey. You can listen to the entire call here (begins @ 6 mins in):

Illness As A Spiritual Journey

Several people on the call requested the quotes included in the talk. Here are the salient ones:

1) From The Tao of Healing:

Some prefer knowing to being
Their illness is in their heads.
Some prefer being to knowing.
Their illness is in their hearts.

She who knows her illness is in her heart
Is halfway home.

2) My spiritual credo: "If it works for you ~ and harms none ~ it works for me." Similar to the Hippocratic oath: "First, do no harm," and to the Witches' Creed: "Do as thou wilt, and harm none."

3) Goethe: "Whatever you can do/Or dream you can/Begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it./Begin it now!"

4) Poet David Whyte: "The rest of creation is holding its breath, waiting for you to take your place."

5) Author Boris Pasternak: "Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune."

6) From my CD, What You Need to Know Now: A Road Map for Personal Transformation: "You need less than you think/And you have more than you know."

The following articles also discuss aspects of the healing journey, and provide resources and ideas for expanding your life:

How to See Yourself As An Artist
The Renewable Resource Called Y-O-U
Hot Flash: Hormone Mimics Wreak Havoc on Women's Health

If you're in the midst of a wake-up call disguised as illness or injury, or work with people as a healer/coach, I'm offering a 20% discount through the end of July on all coaching services (Traditional coaching, Discovery Journey, or business coaching) as well as Business Alchemy services (marketing and writing support to launch, change, or expand your business).

Email or call me now to begin the shift: 800-862-0157

∞ Blessings ∞

Are You Chronologically Gifted?

If you're a card-carrying member of the 50 and better set (or just looking forward eagerly!), please enjoy my article, Life In the Middle Ages, just published on Silver Planet (only took me 2.5 years to discover this amazing resource ~ via Twitter!)

Still grappling with youthful issues? Then read 42 Forever: The Ultimate Anti-Aging Tonic, which applies regardless of whether you're long past 42, or years from reaching it chronologically.

Age is just a number, so let's have fun with it! Here's my tribute to my dear friend Ellie, now nearly 96, written when she was a mere 93: The Love You Make.

Blessings!

Don't Quit Before the Miracle

This Prosperity Tip from money coach Joan Sotkin is so powerful I'm reprinting it in its entirety:


Don't Quit Before the Miracle

Last week, I received a desperate email from a Prosperity Tips subscriber who I'll call Sam. At his wit's end, Sam stated, "I am dead emotionally. and physically soon." He went on to say that he had no job and had no way to pay his bills. "Death is best," he said in closing.

I heard Sam's hopeless cries and knew I had to contact him. I googled his name and location, which was the only information I had, and thanks to his LinkedIn profile, discovered where he had last worked. They gave me his phone number and I left a message for Sam to call me.

He did call and we spoke for almost an hour. Sam had been out of work for 18 months, despite sending out dozens of resumes. With no good news, Sam spiraled into depression.

It took a while to help Sam see that he really did have options and opportunities for gratitude, and that what he was learning about himself during this troubled time was important. Finally, he laughed a bit and felt like he could face another day. He promised to call me the next day.

It was two days later when he called. "You won't believe what happened," he said. "I had an urge to send out one more resume and follow up with a phone call. And miracle of miracles I've landed the most perfect job that will start next month. And on top of that, someone else called with work for me in the fall."

Sam was elated. We talked some more and I helped him focus on what he had to do to prepare. Then I said, "I hope you've learned not to quit before the miracle." I heard this phrase when I was active in 12-Step programs and it served me well during times of struggle when it seemed like there was no way out of my difficult situations and ongoing physical challenges.

I believe that our times of struggle are our most precious learning opportunities. Somehow, these tough times force us to reach down inside and find the inner strength and power that allows us to rise above and draw in what we need to continue. Those who are willing to let go and find that strength survive and often prosper.

If you find yourself in a tough situation or seem to be fighting a losing battle against the prevailing forces, stop, breathe, and realize that your miracle could be right around the corner. Often the solution or resolution takes much longer than we think we can bear, and we think about giving up. Don't give up. Don't quit before the miracle!

Copyright © 2009 by Joan Sotkin

Rumi's Invitation

I posted the main article in my July What Shines newsletter to the International Coaching Network on LinkedIn, and received this luscious reply from a fellow coach; a Rumi quote new to me, and revivifying for us all:


Come! Take a pickaxe
And break apart
Your stony self.
The heart’s matrix
is glutted with rubies.
Springs of laughter
are buried in your breast.
Unstop the wine jar
Batter down the door
to the treasury
of nonexistence.
The water in your jug
is brackish and low.
Smash the jug
and come to the river!

In the World But Not Of It? Yee-Ha!

And here I thought I was continually smashing my foot or banging my hands because I was still learning to maneuver in my camper van ... seems I've only upped the ante; "clumsy" is the current catchword. Aluna Joy says we're clearly walking between the worlds now, not fully present in either one, so it's necessary to repeat steps or even start a process over again until we get past the backflow.

"This yo-yo energy does not stop us from creating, but we do have to focus more intently to get a job done. The Star Elders say 50% of our intentions right now are in the past and are difficult, but not impossible, to complete. It is important that you keep living and creating. Yet it is up to you to decide if you want to take an extra effort to manifest, or finish a project. You might just want to throw in the towel. The Star Elders also say that the other 50% of our intentions are being created out in the future somewhere. Because we are only 50% present in either world. Again, we have to focus intently to get these jobs done. We also have the option to let the intent or project go until the creative flow returns. Your intents which are based in the past will be increasingly harder to complete. Whereas your intents based on the future will become increasingly easier to manifest.

"Just to make things a little more confusing for you all . . . The Star Elders say there is no past . . . or future.

"There is another side effect from not being completely present in either world. We get clumsy. Have you been bumping into walls, stubbing your toe, bumping her head, and feeling generally wobbly and out of it? Yeah, this is part of this shifting also. Your body's equilibrium is working hard to adapt to the new world. Your internal gyroscope is re-orienting to the new world that is emerging. This is causing you to become ungrounded. This can also cause nausea and headaches. These symptoms have been going on for quite a few months but will begin to fade by the end of the year. The Star Elders say to be careful with your body right now, as we could be accident prone.

"In a nutshell: you are not losing IT … you are getting IT! But to get IT you will have to lose IT. So you see why we are feeling like Yo-Yo's."

10 Principles of Spiritual Optimism

I've just finished reading Why Is God Laughing? by Deepak Chopra, who's certainly one of the more prolific as well as diversely talented authors on the planet today. This book is written as a parable, with The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism as a sequel/summary. Here's the essence:

1. The healthiest response to life is laughter. (Antidotes fear and sorrow)
2. There is always a reason to be grateful. (Antidotes victimization)
3. You belong to the scheme of the Universe. There's nothing to be afraid of. You are safe. (Antidotes insecurity)
4. Your soul cherishes every aspect of your life. (Antidotes feeling undervalued)
5. There is a plan. And your soul knows what it is. (Antidotes meaninglessness)
6. Ecstasy is the energy of Spirit. When life flows, ecstasy is natural. (Antidotes inertia)
7. There is a creative solution to every problem. Every responsibility holds the promise of abundance. (Antidotes failure)
8. Obstacles are opportunities in disguise. (Antidotes inflexibility)
9. Evolution leads the way through desire. (Antidotes hypocrisy)
10. Freedom is letting go. (Antidotes attachment)

Why Is God Laughing? dovetails beautifully with my July newsletter: Recess and Reassess, which I wrote prior to reading it. See how synchronicity keeps us always in flow?

Blessings and laughter to you ~ as Mike Myers says in the Foreword: "Comedy is a candle."

What Women Want (Men, Too)

My new Episcopalian priest pal calls me a "Mediatrix", a term with which I wasn't familiar, though it appears to be akin to worldbridger, shaman, healer. Father Charles wrote to me in an email:

"The mediatrix recognizes in herself aspects of the collective unconscious and attempts to give them form and expression. She mediates between the world of the unconscious and the outer world. She may even be a mystic healer. Our culture does not quite know what to do with a mediatrix, and so her path can be especially difficult."

What's more fascinating is, when we were discussing my service in the world and I mentioned that many men are drawn to what I offer as a spiritual midwife, he said, "Part of what you do is represent to them their own anima in a strong and challenging way. The male maturation process involves accepting and incorporating the anima, although there needs to be growth beyond that point as well. Yet there is much in our culture that can prevent men from accepting their anima."

He suggested I read Knights Without Armor: A Practical Guide for Men in Quest of Masculine Soul by Aaron Kipnis. On page 99, the book provides a chart of triads illustrating the path of development from the old to transitional to new masculinity, encompassing physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions.

Look at some of these triads:

Heroic — Feminized — Authentic
Hard — Soft — Flexible
Closed — Unprotected — Receptive
Cynical — Naive — Fresh/humorous
Splitting — Joining — Holds paradox
Repressed — Contained — Wild/playful
Dogma — Belief — Direct experience

Father Charles wrote, "My observation is that, on the whole, women in our society are ahead of men in these matters. The first two items in a triad may be gender-specific. But the final item tends not to be. Both women and men are meant to be authentic, flexible, fresh/humorous, wild/playful. And that sounds delicious to me."

He is so right on. This is exactly how my own journey has played out. In fact, I often use these precise words and expressions in describing my life now, such as this piece I penned right after my emergence from the womb in '98, on Embracing Paradox, or this perennially popular one, on How to See Yourself As An Artist. The more we merge into Oneness, the more we realize we're All One, never alone. As always, a subtle shift makes all the difference.