I've used this blog to share about my family for years. This past year, I began to expand it to more about my thoughts and ideas. I've talked about learning to adapt to transitioning motherhood, coping with an aging parent, my exercise & eating issues, and most recently, death.
I don't really do well with establishing any kind of routine with my blog. Every time I try to do something like Wordless Wednesdays or Friday Family Updates, I never seem to keep it up. Lack of discipline? Probably. I would rationalize it by saying I just didn't have much to say, and why bother people with it. But... who knows what the truth is?
So, I'm going to try it again. We'll call these
Walk With Me Wednesdays. It will be my one day to share what I've been learning, reading, doing, from a spiritual perspective. I know, this is really personal stuff. But maybe others are looking at The Big Questions too. Maybe it's because the kids are leaving and I have more time on my hands. Maybe it's being Over 50 and knowing my time is limited. :::shrug::::
This week....
Toci offered a
Spoonbending class and Katie & I went. HeatherAsh talked a lot about energy and feeling other people's energy. In the past, I've always been skeptical. But we've all walked into a room where you can FEEL the energy. How is that possible? We don't learn about it or even talk much about it. But it's there. And having a degree in science, I understand that energy exists in ways we don't even know yet. So... I'm listening more about the part of us that is Energy. This workshop was about our own personal energy awareness.
Sunday was
International Forgiveness Day... just sayin'.
Although when I looked it up to give a link here, lots of organizations and religions hold their Day of Forgiveness (and even WEEK of forgiveness) in August & September. So, don't worry. You didn't miss it! There's still time to forgive people! One of these people I listened to this week, maybe Marianne, suggested that you pray for your enemies or those who have hurt you for 5 minutes, every day, for 30 days. She said that when you do that, either their heart will change and things will resolve, or you won't care anymore. And isn't it our own anger and upset-ness that is really hurting us?
So, I've made a list... hope you're not on it! But if you are, things will get better.
Deepak Chopra offered a
21 Day Meditation Challenge that ended this week. The Chopra Center will keep the meditations up for 7 days after they were originally posted. That means I have time to get to the ones I missed! I have to admit that I didn't do too well with the regular meditation concept. They're only 15 minutes, so I don't know what the problem was. Maybe you'll do better. I shared it with several friends through
Facebook and I think they had more success than me. Yay!
Oprah's Super Soul Sunday - I record this every week, but I don't always get to it! So this week, I watched 2 episodes. The first one I watched was with
Marianne Williamson. I've been watching her and reading her books for years. Its funny how you don't realize who have been major influencers over your life. Marianne has been that for me. They talked about the Morning Prayer from
Illuminata. And I agree that "Please enter where You already abide" and "Make me the person You would have me be" are my favorites.
Morning Prayer
Dear God,
I give this day to You.
May my mind stay centered on the things of spirit.
May I not be tempted to stray from love.
As I begin this day, I open to receive You.
Please enter where You already abide.
May my mind and heart be pure and true, and may I not deviate from the things of goodness.
May I see the love and innocence in all mankind, behind the masks we all wear and the illusions of this worldly plane.
I surrender to You my doings this day.
I ask only that they serve You and the healing of the world.
May I bring Your love and goodness with me, to give unto others wherever I go.
Make me the person You would have me be.
Direct my footsteps, and show me what You would have me do.
Make the world a safer, more beautiful place.
Bless all Your creatures.
Heal us all, and use me, dear Lord, that I might know the joy of being used by You.
Amen.
- from Illuminata
And then I watched the episode with
Michael Singer, author of
The Untethered Soul. I liked so much of what he had to say. I liked the concept of when you are faced with something difficult or someone difficult, lean away from what I think of as "the story" of it. Lean back and let the drama and the emotion and the story pass on through you. It's the "leaning toward" part that gives us the grief - and it's of our own choosing! It's in the video, so watch!
And I liked his explanation of the Angel of Death. Probably because I was watching this episode at about the same time I was writing about
my brother Eddie's life/death. He talks about the Angel of Death being the greatest teacher. It certainly has been for me.
Here is some of what he has to say, and the link to a
larger book excerpt.
It is truly a great cosmic paradox that one of the best teachers in all of life turns out to be death. No person or situation could ever teach you as much as death has to teach you. While someone could tell you that you are not your body, death shows you. While someone could remind you of the insignificance of the things that you cling to, death takes them all away in a second. While people can teach you that men and women of all races are equal and that there is no difference between the rich and the poor, death instantly makes us all the same.
The question is, are you going to wait until that last moment to let death be your teacher?
If you get the chance, I hope you'll click the links and watch the videos.
That's it for this week's spiritual searching. I'll let you know what I find in the week ahead and hopefully you'll Walk with Me on Wednesdays!
