Fog, Life and Willie Nelson

In the mornings during the week it is my blessing and privilege to prepare my grandson for school.  It was a beautiful sunny morning in his neighborhood this morning, the children frolicked in the dew kissed grass while waiting for the school bus to arrive.  After our ritual hug and kiss goodbye he boarded the bus and  I took my usual route back home, a straight 6 mile shot down the road.  About halfway there I noticed ahead the sky was dark and grey with approaching fog.  As I proceeded, the sunny day I had previously experienced seemed to slip away into the damp, dismal darkness of the fog.  Any indication of the sunny, blue sky I had just moments before been basking under was lost.

As I drove through the thick fog, I marveled at how similar this experience is to the trials and tribulations of everyday life.  In an instant, life can go from easy breezy to crazy chaotic.  Sometimes there are signs or indications of the turbulence ahead, other times it comes out of nowhere.  And when we are in the midst of it, it can seem overwhelming and unending.  But just like this morning’s fog, the sun is only a moment away.  As a matter of fact, it was there all along, just obscured by the passing fog drifting through. 

Remember during those times of hardship and strife, better times await.  Whether it’s a breath or a blink away, it is on the horizon.  Keeping that belief firmly in your mind will bring you there swiftly and surely.  Take this tidbit of wisdom from Willie Nelson; Blue skies smiling  at me, nothing but blue skies do I see.  

Today's post by David Reed

Today I am featuring a post made on Facebook by a very special and dear person, David Reed

Do you know that feeling when everything seems to continually go bad for you, no matter how hard you try to get yourself back up things seems to keep weighing you down more and more? I do and I am speaking from solid experience, I experience it daily.

That's called spiritually dying.... your soul is calling out to you to do something the stop it, its like the sensation of drowning!! your souls defense is to scream out loud to please stop what you are doing and save it!!

You and I need to be healed, I don't care what you call it, what form you give it or name but you and I need it and so badly right now. We need to be healed and we need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to it and become our higher selves through it.

Our species is so on the verge of either evolving or collapsing and let me tell you I am terrified of the latter, and oddly at the same time I find a bit of solace in it as well. I don't want to be afraid and I don't want to be feared, I want to love and be loved.

We are very much spiritual beings that have become lost in industrial consumerism and celebrity bullshit designed by power blind spiritually dead souls to divide us and rip us away from who we truly are and they have done a damned good job at it.

I have never felt it so strongly, and the more I become consciously aware the more I feel it and the more it makes me tremble.

I just had to put something down, had to express it how I could in this moment.

I am taking my kids to Galveston this weekend along with some of my tribe and I am gonna love them with all I have.

Couldn't have said it better, David.  Much Love!  NAMASTE!

Upon us all a little rain must fall...

What is it about a rainy day that makes us want to just curl up with a good book?  Perhaps the muted tones of the sky inspire that snuggle instinct where the bed is just too comfortable to leave, and the book just happens to be right there on the bedside table.  Or maybe getting lost in the written words of the page is a natural occupation of a mind that can't go outside and play.  Or it could be that the mind desires to soak up information as the earth soaks up the moisture of the deluge outside. Whatever the reason, today is a perfect day to cuddle up with a good read.

If you're looking for some inspirational reading material you'll be happy to know that the Cottage has an excellent selection of books available to lend. Want to know more about manifesting positivity in your life?  We've got it. Need some good advice on how to plant an organic garden?  It's here, too. And it doesn't even have to be raining out.  Just another reason for you to come out and give us a visit.  There's a hammock waiting with your name on it!  NAMASTE! 

‘Skeeters and hornets and ants! Oh my!

This has been such a busy week for me, so many projects on the go at one time.  I had so much work to do on the computer that I began to feel lethargic from being inside.  I found that being focused on getting the mundane stuff done really stifled my creative flow, and I felt lazy and ineffective.  So today, when the Universe presented me with a dry, sunny morning I decided it was time to tackle some outdoor stuff.  After our ritual weekend mid-morning breakfast, Marc and I both got to it, he on the John Deere and me removing some extraneous wire and post fencing.  It only took about half an hour being outside in nature for me to begin feeling energized.  Any notion I had of being lazy was out the window, and I felt once again like the hoss that I am.  I removed barbed posts from the earth, holding them triumphantly over my head once they would yield from their grip deep in the soil.  Feeling invincible, I tackled each task with gusto.  I pruned shrubs, pulled weeds, gathered fallen branches, moved patio furniture and hoisted load after load into the burn pile.  I was stung, bitten, poisoned and pierced, but not deterred.   We worked long and hard, and at the conclusion were rewarded with a brief but ever so lovely rain shower and accompanying cool wind, as if nature were congratulating us for a job well done.   Nothing beats that feeling of accomplishment after a day working out in nature!  Let’s hope I feel that way tomorrow when my muscles speak up.  Hope you are enjoying this wonderful weekend! NAMASTE!

Energy, Bob

One of my favorite movie scenes of all time is from the movie Phenomenom, the 1996 movie starring John Travolta.  Simpleton George Malley begins to demonstrate extraordinary abilities and intelligence which eventually come under the scrutiny of the US Government.  He is sequestered and taken for study, where his examiner, Dr. Bob Niedorf (played by Brent Spiner) is consistently flummoxed by George’s astonishing yet unpretentious demonstrations of super power.  Nearing the end of the examination, George absently rolls a pencil back and forth across the examination table without the aid of touching it.  Amazed, Dr. Niedorf asks incredulously how George makes the pencil move without touching it.  George explains it as a partnership, to which Dr. Niedorf inquires “A partnership?  With a pencil?”  George replies “Energy, Bob.”

So much is available to us in the Universe that remains untapped and unused because we simply will not open our minds to allow it.  How many times have we seen the effects of energy around us, yet we are so resistant to accepting it exists, not to mention having the ability to harness and utilize it?  Energy is the fundamental core of Reiki healing, and the transference and direction of life energy can be of enormous benefit to both body and soul.  Energy, Bob.

This simple movie made 20 years ago is full of messages of inspiration and is so revealing of the depths of our potential.  I was moved by Phenomenon when I first saw it, and anyone who knows me well is aware I have watched it hundreds of times since.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend giving it a look.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll see the tip of the iceberg of what is available to you if you only believe.  NAMASTE!

FDR said it best...

Today while I reviewed inspirational stories of healing and faith on YouTube, I found several accounts of miraculous healing which left many people, including the recipients of the healing, befuddled.  Most of the people directly involved in the healings were inspired, made aware of a higher existence within them that they did not recognize before.  But one of the most remarkable things I noticed was the level of fear, anger and even hatred in some of the comments of the people who had viewed the videos. 

So much blind faith is placed in science and yet new discoveries are made daily in the fields of technology and medicine.  Some beliefs of centuries ago have been shown to be baseless, yet people every day refuse to open their minds to look beyond their physical senses and allow their minds to open to all possibilities.  It is disheartening to read about feelings of hatred and condemnation directed towards individuals and practices that are bringing so much healing and love into other’s lives.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated in his inaugural address, "..the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."  I urge you to keep an open mind.  Do not condemn what you fear, face it.  Explore it.  All fear is false, it is baseless and can be overcome.  Your mind is a powerful tool.  Put it to work in your favor, for GOOD!  NAMASTE!

Equal love...is it possible?

As a part of my spiritual quest, I have read an enormous amount of literature on the importance of learning to love each individual I encounter in my life, without prejudice.   I interpret that to mean that I should care for the person who cut in front of me in traffic as much as my own children, grandchildren and spouse.  For me, this has been the most difficult striving of my development, in spite of my extreme desire to achieve it. 

Any parent of more than one child knows that, on certain occasions, your love for one can swell a bit.  Ask just about anyone with siblings if their parents had a favorite.  But could it be that we can actually love a stranger like our own flesh and blood?  That’s the crux of the dilemma right there.   We’re thinking with our human egos.

The first step is to realize we are all one…and that’s a huge concept for some to grasp.  But if you can come to the understanding that in spirit, we are all related and emanate from the same source, you’ll look at the people you meet every day in a different light.  In one of the meditations from his book Three Magic Words, U.S. Anderson writes “In my brother’s eyes, there is my own soul.  In my friend’s smile, there is my own humor.  In my neighbor’s sorrow, there is my own loss.”  Profound words.

Opening my heart has been the most difficult achievement I have attempted to date, yet it is the most rewarding and emotionally fulfilling of all.  I find that when I look at someone with love and acceptance in my heart, it truly does expand.   What a wonderful feeling that is!  NAMASTE!

Some laws can't be broken

I want to talk just a little bit about Reiki.  More accurately, the effectiveness of Reiki on those who just really don't believe in it.  The good news is...it doesn't matter!  Reiki energy works whether you believe it or not.  It's a Universal law that takes place regardless of doubt, or religious beliefs, or skepticism.  That being said, you do have to allow it in order to receive it.  Reiki can't be given when it is not accepted.  So if you can keep an open mind and allow the energy to "come on board", Reiki will take care of the rest!

Now I will add that, as in any other aspect of life, your mindset is paramount to your health.  If you hold negative thoughts and feelings inside they are bound to manifest in physical illness.  This too is a Universal law, and the only way to make it work in your favor is to release negativity and raise your energy level to a higher state.  Meditation is the best way to put you on the path of positive thinking.  There are also several mind exercises you can do on a daily basis to improve your ability to stay positive, even in the worst of circumstances.  Here's to happy thoughts!  NAMASTE!

A thought for your morning...

What's on your mind as you rush out the door in the morning?  Are you preoccupied with a million thoughts of all the things you have on your plate?  Are you hours, days or even months down the road in your mind?  Are you driving to work on autopilot, barely aware of the automated responses you make at traffic lights?  Does this sound like your daily ritual?  If so, I urge you to SNAP OUT of it!

When you step out the door to begin the day, open your eyes!  Look around at the beauty that surrounds you…notice the colors nature offers that are so frequently taken for granted.  Smell the air and give gratitude that it flows in and out of your lungs, keeping you vital and alive.  Use your senses to appreciate the gift of another day on this marvelous planet.  Try to live in the moment, if only for a moment.  And always send your gratitude to the universe for the wonder of your life.  Embrace now.  NAMASTE!