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My husband and I took a little drive the other day. My birthday plus Father’s Day plus a day off from work equals time for an adventure. We started out with a coffee and brunch at our favourite coffee spot. I pleaded for a close parking spot, as my foot was so sore I could hardly walk. I was literally limping. It probably happened from wearing too-tight shoes to work once too often, but I developed a corn or something equally uncomfortable and undignified between two toes. I bought some medicated pads and used them until my skin literally fell off (sorry if you are squeamish) and by then I was in such pain that I could barely put my foot on the ground. After coffee, we went for our drive, which was supposed to be a surprise, but hubby’s Gemini wife quizzed and guessed until the destination was revealed. We were going to the Centre of the Universe. No metallic suits or spaceships were involved. We were going to a quiet little spot down a country road that the Buddhists have declared the Centre of the Universe, about 100 ks from my home. If you don’t believe me, Google it. The drive was amazing. This area is so gorgeous and diverse. We passed the meadows with its meandering creek, then hit the sandy hoodoos that towered over us like castles. After that, volcanic rock and the good red road. Then lake country, tiny lake after tiny lake like a string of emeralds. We finally arrived at a spot that had a couple of cars on the side of the road. We asked if we had arrived at the waterfall that we’d heard about, and we were told it was up the road a bit. “Centre of the Universe?” was our next tentative query. Yes, we had indeed arrived. A blue-eyed mountain man finished up with his last group, then took us on our journey. Journey to the Centre of the Universe. It sounds like a great Jules Verne novel! Our guide, whose name was Ray, took off his boots and told us most people do the walk barefoot. I told him I had such pain in my foot and he said, here, put some yarrow on it, so I took the leafy green plant and wedged it between my toes. Ray said, “It will be all healed up by tomorrow.” The first point of interest was a healing tree. It had the unfortunate name of “Larry” which didn’t sit right with me. No offence to all the Larrys out there, but the tree needed a name like Mother Healing Tree or something like that. As I approached it, I was overcome with emotion. I got tears in my eyes. There was no reason for this; it was just the powerful energy of the tree. I placed my toe up against the tree and just allowed the energy to pour into me. I prayed for healing to my damaged toe. I cannot even tell you what kind of tree it was; it just made me feel and that’s all I noticed. We continued up the path to the east rock and entrance to the Centre. Ray told us that the entrance was between a juniper tree and a large protruding rock, and that the Buddhists circled the rock three times before entering. We followed that example. The view was breathtaking. I thought I was looking at a river, but it was a narrow lake down and to the left. The mountains around us were so lush and green, and there was a slight breeze blowing. We stood for several minutes, breathing and noticing. I saw that Ray had seated himself on the grass so we followed suit. I lay down with my arms outstretched and breathed deeply. I felt a tingling up through the back of my scalp. During this time I was given a vision of a photograph/collage that I am to make. I also received a slogan to put on it. I felt quite excited. My husband whispered to me that he heard a faint, high-pitched choral singing. This is something others have experienced in this area, but I couldn’t hear it. After a while, we stood up and it was then I noticed an intricate altar. How come I didn’t see it when we first arrived? It was on the ground, maybe the size of a garbage can lid, and had wild grasses growing all around it. The altar was made of things people had left here on past visits: earrings, bracelets, keys, crystals, stones, flags, small tins, animal carvings. It touched me to see two small Norwegian flags, as that is my heritage, and it seemed somehow significant. We unwound our way between the rock and juniper, which I now noticed had a string of Buddhist prayer flags on it, and continued back down the path. Soon we were back to our shoes, and I decided to remain barefoot. Our next stop was the aforementioned waterfall, and the path to it was muddy and mushy. It felt so good on my bare feet! I squished it through my toes and committed to experiencing the earth with bare feet more often, as I really didn’t go out without shoes any more. The waterfall was breathtaking! How could such a majestic rush of water be so unknown? At day’s end, I cleaned the mud off my feet, put a fresh stalk of yarrow between my toes and went to sleep. And what do you know? When I woke up, the pain was gone. I promised myself to get rid of the too-tight shoes and wore my sensible shoes to work. After a day of being on my feet with sweaty socks and shoes, I came home and still felt no pain, and have had none since. Magic? A miracle healing? I know what I believe. What do you think? http://www.videttelake.com/pages/1HomeCenter.html 
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Every parent who has more than one child will relate to being accused of favouring one child over another. I am the mother of three sons who were born in a five-year span, and I may have heard this plaintive moan a time or two. Now that my boys have all grown into young men in their twenties, I will finally reveal who my favourite child actually is. Firstborn son, it is you. You were a miracle from the moment I knew of your existence. I anticipated your birth, your breath. You were the first grandchild on both sides of the family. You were the “community baby” in the small town in which you spent your first three months. You were so loved and wanted, not only by your parents, but by everyone! As you grew and I got to know you, I admired your intelligence, wit, your way with words, and confidence. You were such a social being and yet such a homebody at the same time. For all of these things and more, you are my favourite child. Secondborn son, it is you. You were the little brother we were all waiting for. Do you remember your big brother, not even two, kissing your little blond head and declaring it “hot”? You were shy and hid behind my leg, and followed your brother around as though he were your hero. As you grew and I got to know you, I admired your amazing musical talent, your ability to easily make male and female friends, and your strength of character that made me know you were going to do it your way. And yet with that strength came a vulnerability too. For all of these things and more, you are my favourite child. Thirdborn son, it is you. Three boys; who knew? We never hoped you’d be a girl. We just prayed for another beautiful, healthy child, boy or girl. You were like a little wildcat, a spitfire, a diamond in the rough whose beauty and light came through more and more with each passing year. As you grew and I got to know you, I admired your wisdom, the strength of your convictions, even as they differed from mine, your spiritual expression and your unstoppable joy. For all of these things and more, you are my favourite child. So you see, you are all my favourite. You are each so different, and hold a unique place in my heart. Maybe you are private and secretive; maybe you tell me everything! Maybe you are so like me it’s almost scary sometimes, or maybe we are so different that it is surprising we are related! But I have always loved you deeply and completely every day of your life. I love you differently as you are so different from each other, we have different relationships with each other, but it’s never about “more” or “less” love. And nothing brings me more joy than when I see you all together, the three muskateers, talking in tongues as though you have a secret language (part English, part video gamespeak and part movie dialogue!) like twins do. Nothing brings me more joy than your love for each other. If you enjoy this blog, please feel free to share it! :)   What would you do if you were suddenly diagnosed with diabetes? Would you easily accept the diagnosis? Would you change your lifestyle? Would you take insulin shots if the condition had progressed to that level? Would you share your diagnosis with your friends and family? I am thinking that most people would answer yes to most of these questions. Now change the word “diabetes” to “mental illness” and “insulin shots” to “psychiatric medication”. Does anything change for you? February has been designated Mental Health Awareness Month by the NHL and its seven Canadian hockey teams. Those of you who know me or have followed this website and blog know I am a hockey fan (Vancouver Canucks) and I am proud that my team is advancing the cause of increasing education on mental health issues. About 20% of us will experience mental health challenges at some point. That is seven million Canadians and sixty million Americans. These are significant numbers! Yet we are afraid and ashamed to have an open dialogue about this topic. It’s as though it’s a crime or personal deficiency to have brain chemicals out of balance! There are many, many approaches to improving mental health, from dietary and lifestyle changes, curbing substance use, getting counselling, taking medication and vitamins, to having Angel Therapy, energy healing, aromatherapy and the myriad natural and alternative healing techniques available to us. As you can surmise by the name of my website, I am all for natural healing. Yet I also believe that traditional and non-traditional methods are complementary and there is a place for both. By all means, pray and ask for angelic help, but do that alongside a good check-up from a trusted physician. Are we an over-medicated society? I think so, but that doesn’t mean there is no place for pharmaceuticals. Years ago, I knew a natural practitioner whose specialty was iridology, and his wife got breast cancer. Together, they explored many natural options. It was with great disappointment and a sense of failure that they finally opted for the unpopular treatments of radiology and chemotherapy. My opinion is that the natural treatments were not working, and the traditional treatments worked. To my knowledge, this lady is alive and continuing to live a happy and productive life. Why feel guilty about turning to traditional treatment if it gives you the desired result? It’s the same with mental illness. For mild depression, yes, talking about it to someone, listening to positive affirmations, getting a relaxing massage, asking for angelic help, cutting out sugar or having long-distance energy treatments might be enough to turn it around. But to someone who has debilitating clinical depression or schizophrenia, those are empty words. I have experimented with anti-depressants periodically over the last twenty years. They had never worked for me. Then I experienced a significant trauma last year that sent me into a tailspin. I was so disappointed in myself, judging that I of all people should have enough tools to get myself out of it. I felt guilty and felt I had failed. Finally, I asked for a referral to a psychiatrist to help find the right answers for me. For me. I was already doing all the natural healing methods I knew and I still was having a hard time coping. With the doctor’s help, I found a low-dose medication that has minimal side effects and yet makes me feel like myself. It took away over thirty years of constant exhaustion, which helped my work life and my productivity at home. It has been - and I mean this literally – a Godsend. I have people in my life with diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar and they are completely dysfunctional without psychiatric medication. They are also among the most spiritual people I have ever known. I believe that mental illness and spirituality are related in a way I do not yet understand. One friend had visions of future events that actually occurred (when she was not suicidal). Another could work with energy in amazing ways and spoke of the wing chakra (when he was not psychotic), which was something I’d never even heard of until then. I have searched the internet and my favourite spiritual teachers’ work and have yet to find anything that addresses mental illness and spirituality. I think this is a huge area that may bring amazing insights and wisdom when the right people explore it. So let me sum up my ideas by saying I am not a proponent of randomly medicating oneself. I prefer to use my thoughts, energy work and aromatherapy to deal with a headache, rather than an aspirin. But what I feel strongly about is not feeling guilty or being condemning or judgmental when you or someone else comes to the decision to take psychiatric medication. Many have fought it and thought it through long and hard before “giving in”. Imagine how hard it is to receive a diagnosis with a stigma, such as mental illness, and then experience more stigma for taking medication for it. Double whammy! I am finally at the place where I do not care what people might think about my disclosure, and I am hoping it might help others. An added bonus for me is that my Angel Readings have come much easier, and I am a happier and more confident person in all areas. As I said, the medication makes me feel like my true self. Let’s use every tool and technique available across the whole spectrum of healing, from allopathic to naturopathic and everything in between, to give each of us access to the life we were born to live. In closing, please check out the websites below, courtesy of the NHL and the Vancouver Canucks:  http://mindcheck.ca/
http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=653282 This blog is dedicated to my father Gerard, who died on this day in 1979 from mental health and addiction-related causes. Please share this message! Please share your comments!  Hearts, cherubs and flowers. Cards, chocolates. Romance at its peak. We all have symbols that come to mind when we think of Valentine’s Day. The history of this lovey-dovey day goes back two millennia, with a number of saints with this namesake who are now associated as one with this date. The historical link continues through the romantic musings of Geoffrey Chaucer in medieval times. Today, we know that Valentine’s Day has the highest sales of fresh flowers, second highest sales of cards and among the top special days for chocolate sales. Ka-ching! So let’s get away from the consumer madness for a moment, and go back to the romance. Here is a reading from Doreen Virtue’s Romance Cards: a message for couples, a message for singles, and a self-care message for everyone!  1. Couples. Let your friends help you. Often when we pair up, we go off into our own little world with our new-found love. This cards reminds us that it is healthy to keep our friends around us, whether we are single or couples. A girls’ or guys’ night out gives us a bonding experience with our friends, so we can go back to our loved one with a new energy and something to talk about. It keeps our primary relationship from going stale. It also keeps the pressure off of one person having to meet all our needs, which is a pretty tall order, don’t you think? How nice to have different people for different needs, so we don’t need to rely on one person. Although today is sort of designed for couples, count the blessings of your other friendships, and plan a day to honour them very soon.  2. Singles. Some singles are completely satisfied and at ease with their status and others feel incomplete and especially left out today. The card for you today, dear loves, is True Love. Don’t get caught up in the world’s definitions and expectations. Your love for self transcends all those, and is the most important relationship you will ever have. Get to know yourself deeply and truly love the being you see in the mirror. There are a million or more ways to express that love and appreciation of self. Explore some today. Maybe you’d like some flowers or chocolate today; by all means, buy some! Or light some candles, cook a fancier-than-usual dinner or treat yourself to a sumptuous dessert. If you are your own true love, what could you do today to express that sentiment? (By the way, all this is true for you couples as well!)  3. Everyone. Regardless of your age, sex, beliefs or other statuses in life, this message is for you. Forgive and learn from your past. True freedom only comes with total forgiveness of self and others, of all events and situations. As you release and heal the past, you experience more love in your present moments. This means in your relationships with everyone around you, with the situations in your life, with your view of the world and your relationship with the universe. As you grow and learn, you will begin to see that love is truly everywhere. You will never again seek love; instead you will experience love in every moment. There is wisdom in the old saying that looking for love is like a fish looking for water: we are immersed in it, it flows through us, it is all there is.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you, your loved ones and your beloved inner child. Celebrate! I'd love to hear what you did for yourself or others this Valentine's Day! I recently received a pink heart-shaped dish as a gift when I did an angel reading for someone. I was surprised and appreciative of its beauty, as it was the colour of rose quartz. I had a little vision of taking a picture of it being held in front of my heart, so I followed through and had my husband take several shots until I got the one I wanted. Then I went to work at one of my favourite hobbies, photo editing, and added some effects to the picture. I ended up changing the colour of the bowl to a striking coral-pink and was very happy with the results. In the back of my mind was the Grinch-phrase about his heart growing three sizes that day, and I thought that was a nice sentiment.  The day after I made my photo, I went in for a routine mammogram. Women know that this procedure is slightly preferable to a PAP test and not quite as much fun as a dental appointment. After I had my “pictures” taken, the technician stepped out to show them to the radiologist. I waited. I waited a little more. Finally she came back and said there was something on my left breast and I was to go for a sonogram. Okay.
Soon I was having this second procedure done. I noticed the “Please don’t ask the technician for results” sign shortly after I’d asked the technician if she was able to see the results. I was told that a report would be at my doctor’s office within two days and that I could go home. I left feeling reflective and curious. So apparently I had a cyst on my left side. Hmmm. Interesting. As I walked to my car, I wondered which angel I should call on. Immediately I thought about the photo I had just taken. Was it a coincidence that I portrayed myself with a deep pink heart over my left breast only the day before? Jophiel, the angel of beauty, had guided my hand and my mind in an experience of foreshadowing. The ultrasound technician had said to me, “There is a lump there but don’t freak out.” I said, “Oh, it would take more than that to freak me out.” And that was true to my core. I felt no fear at all, just peace, calm and acceptance. I asked Archangel Jophiel to put her brilliant pink hands of light on me and I knew on a very deep level that no matter what happened, I was going to be okay. I allowed my mind to wander, and imagined for a moment that I received a diagnosis of cancer. Many women do, including some of my closest friends. If I were to join that group, I decided, I would be okay. I imagined that I would continue to live my life, trust in the divine plan, and watch things unfold in front of me. I went home that evening and told no one about my day, not even my husband. I didn’t see any point in causing concern to my loved ones when I had no idea of the state of the cyst. I was in a very good mood and I remember laughing a lot. In the morning, I called my doctor’s office and soon learned that the lump or cyst or whatever it was, was “benign”. I was told not to worry, but to schedule another mammogram in one year’s time. What this experience taught me, or should I say confirmed for me is: there is no point in worrying and projecting, there is no need to create drama, there is always angelic assistance, and most important of all, I am okay. I am always okay. If you study AA Jophiel, you will not find it written anywhere that she is there for women’s health issues, but for me, I know that is exactly what her purpose is. When I see the photo of my pink heart, I am reminded to ask Jophiel to continue to surround me with her warm beauty and feminine energy. Making personal connections and relationships with the angels is one of the most magical and fascinating experiences of all. I feel confident that next year, when I go for my mammogram, there will be no trace of the cyst. If I am mistaken, then I will deal with things moment by moment, in love and trust. I will remember how Jophiel offered her help before I even knew I needed it! For a more typical view of AA Jophiel’s gifts, see my November 2011 blog. If you like this blog, please leave me a comment below! There is an energy that is fresh and invigorating with each new year. We draw on this inspirational energy to reflect on the past, set new goals and make plans for the upcoming months. We usually call these our resolutions, or as my husband recently said (with Freudian undertones), New Year’s Revelations. There are many approaches to this, and I would like to lay out some pragmatic ideas for achieving personal goals. The first is the SMART technique, which is very effective in defining exactly what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it. Let’s say you want to lose weight, as this is a common NYR. Grab a pen and paper, and start writing! SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. A good clear goal encompasses all five of these elements. Your overall objective is likely to feel healthier and look better and you believe that losing weight is a key. This is fine but it is a little vague. A specific amount, such as 10 pounds, is a clearer goal which will lead to your overall objective. This is also measurable, simply by standing on a scale every week or month and noting any changes. Your progress can be clearly measured over time. Next, make sure your goal is achievable. This is where it is usually unhelpful to go overboard and state that your goal is to lose 100 pounds. That is overwhelming and can make you discouraged before you even start. Use small achievable mini-goals so you can celebrate your progress rather than stare helplessly at an impossible uphill climb. Is your goal relevant? Are you thinking that you “should” lose weight rather than know it is in your best interests? Is your body image distorted (and chances are that it is if you are a woman)? This is another issue altogether! Last of all, is it timely? If you are just leaving a relationship, got laid off and are going back to school after twenty-five years, you have a full plate and likely some stress and anxiety. This may not be the best time to focus on yet another thing. Make sure your goals work within the structure of your life. Most of us don’t seem to do as well with a drastic overhaul. Instead, make minor and doable changes. I would like to add a couple of things to this basic model of goal-setting. First, build in rewards and positive reinforcement for your journey. This involves getting to know yourself well enough to know what motivates you and makes you feel nurtured and loved. I don’t recommend “having a hot fudge sundae” to celebrate the first five-pound loss, but “buy a new book” or “have a facial” might work. The second thing is to set a timeline with built-in review dates. For instance, you may give yourself two months to lose the weight, but maybe a weekly weigh-in, journalling or some other way to check in with yourself will keep you in touch with your goal. Lastly, you must reflect on the question: How? Once again, write it out using the SMART guidelines. You might lose weight by cutting out pop, eating more salad, more exercise, stopping junk food snacks. You have lots of ideas, right? Just make sure they meet the guidelines, by changing “eating more salad” to “eating salad for lunch four days a week”. Change “more exercise” to “walking to work three times a week”. These are specific, realistic, measurable activities. You should be easily able to answer whether you met the “how” part of the goal. You either did it, or you didn’t. If you cannot answer that, re-word it until you can. And now for something completely different. I want to tell you about a little exercise I’ve been doing for about fifteen years. Once again, you need a piece of paper and a pen. Fold the paper in half, then half again and continue until it’s too hard to fold. Unfold, and you will see 32 creased boxes (or 16 if you are not as persistent!).  In each box, write something you want for the new year. It might be “lose ten pounds”, and then you can go back to the above method to plan out that goal. Or it might be “go to Vegas”, “knit a scarf”, “clean out garage”. This list can be just about anything you think of.
As you can see, it’s a lot less formal than the SMART method. It is a simple and fun way to manifest more of what you want in your life. The challenge is to fill all the squares, and then to review it periodically, crossing off the ones you’ve done or adjusting others that no longer seem relevant or important. The key once again is to look at it once in a while and see how you are doing. This is a fun, low-key way to “get stuff done”. And do have fun with your goals and changes. Have a broad umbrella objective of “Loving and Taking Good Care of Myself” or “Getting to Know What is Important to Me” and go from there. Let me know how you do! If you enjoyed this article, please Share it on Facebook or leave a comment! It was only a few years ago that I heard the term “volunteer” with regards to plants. When a flower or tree shows up in your garden and you didn’t plant it, it is called a volunteer. I have never been much of a gardener. I tend to have a lot of gardening energy in April and May and into June when it’s time to pull out all the weeds that have accumulated and perhaps move a few plants around. Then comes the planting: brightening up the space with colourful annuals and splurging on a couple of perennials. Everything looks so beautiful and fresh. Then the heat of the northern desert descends upon us, and with that, the sapping of my energy. It gets too hot to go outside. I’m not a morning person and if I wait until dusk, I am eaten by mosquitoes. The early spring flowers start to wane and my beautiful Zen garden begins to look dry and neglected. In the early fall, when the blazing heat has passed, I get a secondary wave of energy to spruce my garden up, and it looks wonderfully mature. After a good weeding, it is no longer hard to keep it up, as the growing has slowed. And so goes the cycle. Back to spring. This is a magical time of discovery. Where will the violets spread this year? What should I do with the gap created by a plant that did not weather the winter? What is this little sprout? a weed or a flower? I let it grow and observe it until I know. I have a couple of volunteer cedars in my back yard. I think they have come from the neighbour’s yard but I am not sure. Maybe they’ve come from a bird dropping, like the Mountain Ash seedling I found. I will not be able to keep these trees where they have volunteered to grow, but how wonderful that they have magically appeared for now. Last year I planted some Cosmos along my brick wall. They are so tall and delicately lacy with gorgeous violet-pink daisy-like blossoms. I have loved these flowers since I first saw them, well after I moved to this beautiful desert city. This year, I didn’t plant any. I ended up with tomatoes and basil instead, a gift from my sister and brother-in-law. But during my fall weeding, I noticed a lovely delicate plant, only as tall as my finger, springing up throughout my garden. My husband asked if it was a weed and I said, no, leave it. Week by week he kept asking if he should pull these green things out, and I said, trust me, leave them alone. He forgot about the garden after the major fall weeding was done, but I checked on them once in a while, saw the buds form, and waited, waited. One day, I told my husband I had something to show him. The ‘weeds’ that he wanted to pull had blossomed into stunning October beauties. My Cosmos had bloomed. I love that it grew ‘from scratch’. I love that it picked its own patch of soil for its home. I love the unexpected colour and loveliness that it has given me and my little garden. It has volunteered to gift me with these things and I am very grateful. Did you know that the word Cosmos means ‘harmonious system’ and is the opposite of chaos? Cosmos planted itself where it wanted, where it fit into the system of my garden and created its own harmony. I couldn’t have picked a better spot for it myself! Cosmos is also used interchangeably with ‘universe’, and I see that aspect as well. I have a little piece of the universe in my garden, mysteriously appearing in its perfection, guided by an unseen hand through its cycles. Take a moment to thank all the beauty that ‘volunteers’ to show up in your life. Thank everything and know deeply that it has its purpose whether you recognize it or not. See the Cosmos running through your life and breathe easily, knowing that everything is part of a harmonious system and is being guided without any fretting or worrying on your part. You, too, are a volunteer. Where in the Cosmos will you show up today? If you enjoyed this post, please LIKE and SHARE!  Recently, my husband and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It had been a beautiful autumn equinox, and we had some of our wedding pictures taken at our city park. On our anniversary, we went for a nostalgic walk through the park. We saw another couple having their wedding pictures taken. As my husband and I reminisced, I began to miss my mother. I remembered how she’d been at our wedding, how she had stayed well into the evening despite being in poor health and using a wheelchair because she didn’t have the stamina to stand or walk. I looked up to the sky and asked for a sign from my mother. I waited and nothing happened, so in my mind, I shrugged and moved on. Next on the agenda for our anniversary was a hike along the river. The weather this fall was unseasonably warm, so it was a perfect opportunity to enjoy nature and all its colours. I bring my camera along on most hikes to capture odd images and beauty. At the end of the hike, I noticed an unusual amount of berries, in various colour combinations. Blue berries with green leaves. White berries with red leaves. Red with green. I turned to my husband and said, “Why are there so many berries?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew. And I laughed. I asked for a sign from my mother, and it came through the berries. My much-married mother had many names in her lifetime, but for the last three decades it was Berry. More precisely, she was Grandma Berry. And when I missed her, she came to me in all the glory of nature. It’s that easy. I asked, and the answer came naturally. I love when that happens. Sometimes we make things complicated and we lose touch with being in the flow of life. Other times, we ask, then listen, because we trust that we’ve been heard.
I was thinking about the evidence of aging, as I often do these days, and what lines, wrinkles and crow’s feet mean. When I catch a glimpse of my face, I am sometimes taken by surprise by the changes I see. I know that my face reflects the life I’ve lived and I am okay with that. I know when I was a young, single mother raising three boys, I was often stressed out. In fact, that was my default state of being in my twenties and thirties. I remember when I first noticed a line above my lip. I was young and I wondered how I got that. I made faces until I realized that the line was a result of pursed lips. Every time I frowned or showed signs of disapproval, that line deepened. I now release that part of the past, and release all stress, disapproval and judgment. To my wonderful sons, those emotions I felt and expressed were about me and not you, and I want each of you to know that I love and approve of you wholeheartedly! But I wear the line as a reminder. I may not be able to erase or eradicate it, but I can remember how it got there and make sure I don’t continue to feed it. I have discovered that awareness is changing my face. Whenever I think of it, I deliberately relax my facial muscles. I release any tension I hold around my mouth, and allow myself to relax into a smile-ready face. This has an amazing and powerful result. When I have the corners of my mouth slightly raised, it has an effect on how I feel! I feel myself open up emotionally and feel warmer toward the world. I feel ready to smile at the next person I see rather than frown or remain neutral or indifferent. It helps me to feel connected, and to increase my awareness of the flow of life. Another thing I notice is that this awareness also affects my eyes. This simple uplifting of the mouth changes the shape of my eyes and gives them a little twinkle. I am not sure what happens to the rest of me, but I will bet that my entire body language changes, and expresses openness, acceptance and happiness. In fact, these facial changes invite the shoulders to relax and with that, the chest (and heart) opens. When I see pictures of myself these days, I notice that my eyes are shaped like joyful little crescent moons, and this has not always been the case. I have been coming to the realization that the next level of healing is to be done through our eyes. When we make real eye contact, when we shine love through our own eyes, when we hold the intention that every person who looks into our eyes will experience even a small shift, then we are making a difference. I had a conversation recently with a friend that led me to understand that I am not the only one who believes that our eyes are the instrument of the next phase of powerful healing of ourselves and others. I invite everyone reading this to take a few moments to gaze into a mirror and really see yourself. What are you wearing on your face today? Can you accept the lines and scars? Can you forgive yourself for your past, and decide to make changes today? Can you look at yourself in a mirror and see the love? Can you feel it? While you are there at the mirror, soften your face. Allow a faint smile to start to form at the corners of your lips and watch a sparkle appear in your eyes. Look deeply at this person in front of you and say your name aloud. Then say, “I love and approve of you.” Do this every day until you really mean it, look forward to it and accept it. Then turn your beautiful face to the world and allow this love and beauty to shine outward. If you like this blog, please share it with your friends! 
In my last blog, I addressed the question: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? This time around, I want to talk about this question from a different perspective. Many of us sometimes confuse the verb Be with Do. We spend a lot of time wondering what to Do with our lives, rather than defining what it means to Be in our lives. This is the meaning behind the clever saying: I am a Human Being, not a Human Doing. We are reminded that what we Are is more important than what we Do. If we emanate love, compassion, forgiveness, understanding and gratitude, that will flavour everything we do and make it meaningful in the process! When I was a young mother and had three pre-school children, I was often anxious and frantic, wanting to do something important in my life, besides raising my children. How ludicrous this seems now! What could possibly be more important than that? My main regret, if you can call it that, is that I wasn’t able to cultivate more of what I wanted to be, and surround my children with that beingness. Luckily, in mid-life when the children are grown up, I get a second chance to build my relationship with them with the love and consciousness that I lacked twenty years ago. Many of us have a deep yearning inside to do Something, to be Something, to share Something, yet we cannot quite get a handle on what that Something is. As I am in touch with many beautiful souls who are like-minded and like-spirited, I see a couple of themes emerge. One theme is: What should I be doing? This seems to mean that many are struggling with finding a satisfying career or vocation that includes and embraces their spiritual values and leanings. A second theme is: Why isn’t my healing practice materializing/growing/thriving? While many seem to have a successful practice or “business” doing readings, healings and other services, others are struggling to create this. I hear a frustration with these people, who are wondering why their dreams aren’t coming true. There also seems to be frustration building when others make comments such as: Follow your intuition, Let the job find you, Stop trying so hard, The job is already there, you just need to raise your vibration to meet it. Although this is all good advice, I suspect the person on the receiving end can be left wondering what he or she is doing wrong. Maybe I’m too pragmatic, but I think that it is great to put out the intention but the bills still have to be paid. It’s okay to take a less-than-ideal job, be grateful for what it does give you, and continue to be open to new and better opportunities that might feel closer to your desires and sense of purpose. I also wonder if, with all the wonderful words and works and teachers and cute pictures with profound sayings, we are misled to believe that every single one of us should “make a living” or at least have a lucrative sideline as a psychic, angel therapist® , writer of spiritual books or sage dispensing ancient wisdom. I admit to struggling with all of the above and what has become clear to me is this: It all comes back to the Being versus Doing thing. Even in my highest energy space, clearest mind and happiest state, a “healing practice” has never come easily for me. Am I doing something wrong? Is my vibration not high enough? Well, those are the wrong questions. The right question is: Am I emanating love each and every day in my career, vocation, personal life or any other aspect of my existence? If you have not read “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior”, I suggest you do. It was the first “spiritual” book I read when I discovered I was on a path well over fifteen years ago. The sage in this book works in at a gas station and I think we can learn a lot from this. It doesn’t matter what we Do as long as we remember who we Be. (Well, that was terrible grammar! Remember who we Are!) My current job in the tourism industry may not look very spiritual from the outside. But each interaction I have with a volunteer, every time I smile at a passenger, every piece of trash I pick up from the sidewalk, every email I send out, is an opportunity to emanate a little more love, and isn’t that the point? The more we let go of how things should look and accept how things are, the easier it is to Be our highest selves in each situation. I no longer worry about a Healing Practice. My goal now is to be a Healing Presence. Namaste.  If you enjoyed this blog, please LIKE and SHARE!
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AuthorI am a Mystic Angel with some Fairy energy whose Life Purpose is to learn, teach and share the esoteric and mysterious. Archives
June 2014
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