Taking a Break

It's been some time since I have posted anything here.  Every time I sat down to write something, I thought that it sounded a bit preachy, and that was never my intent - so, as you can see, I never hit the publish key.

Although I haven't been writing much lately - I have been reading.  I've been enjoying other people's blogs - especially cooking/recipe blogs - and have seriously thought about a change in topic.  That being said, for now I've decided to continue on slowly but surely and just see what type of content comes out.

Hope to post something of interest soon.

What Type of Chatty Cathy Lives in Your Head?

I have a Chatty Cathy living inside my head - that's how I refer to the constant internal mind chatter that goes on there.

She never seems to stop, and often, in the past, I have totally ignored her. I just let her run loose in the background, not paying much conscious attention to her ramblings. It wasn't till I became more mindful of our conversations that I recognized that this was an effective form of subliminal programming - only I was doing it to myself. Basically, I was allowing her to program my subconscious mind without censorship. Now, if she was only saying nice things about me, that wouldn't be so bad - but my Chatty Cathy seems to be somewhat neurotic, a bit of a worry-wart, and an out-and-out nay-sayer - so you can just imagine what my subconscious mind has been programmed with for years.

Today, I am more aware of her chatterings. In fact, I have found that being mindful of our internal mind chatter is one of the greatest tools we have for creating the life we truly want for ourselves.

So, what does it mean to be mindful of our internal mind chatter?

I think we all know what "internal mind chatter" refers to - it's that voice in our heads that is constantly commenting on our lives. It sometimes comes across as a repeat of things our parents drilled into us; other times it's commentary on something we just did or said.

For example, have you ever just stammered a hello to someone you really liked and then walked away scolding yourself with, "What was I thinking? He must think I'm an absolute idiot. He doesn't even know I exist." and on and on. That's Chatty Cathy.

Actually, her intentions are good. She worries about me and doesn't want me to get hurt emotionally. However, in the past, her way of protecting me was to discourage me from putting my best foot forward. If I didn't expect too much out of life, or too much from myself, I would stay safe. But it's a complex web we weave. Instead, over time, Chatty Cathy had a negative impact on my self-esteem.

Today, by paying attention to my internal conversations, or, in other words, being mindful of what she is saying, I have developed a better relationship with her. Instead of blindly accepting all of her little snipes and cautionary comments, I challenge her or joke with her. When she tells me that I'm dreaming in technicolour, I respond by letting her know that even if I don't choose to act on this particular dream, vibrant colours make for more interesting daydreams. My intent is to question whether I believe what she is saying and to focus on examples from my life to prove her wrong when she is being negative or not supportive.

You might say, that in the form of Chatty Cathy, I am my own worst enemy. It is, however, my intention to transform this relationship.  One day, I hope to say, that she sounds like my number one fan and feels like my very best friend.

So what did your Chatty Cathy have to say to you today?

Intuition vs. Instinct

I've been doing a lot of reading about intuition and ran across something that caught my interest the other day.  It made me think about whether instinct is different from intuition or whether intuition is just another form of instinct.

The writer was expressing their feeling that intuition is expressed firstly and clearly in their body.  For example, it would occur when you get that upset stomach feeling or gut feeling before anything specific has occurred in your presence to explain it.

For me, I sometimes get that feeling when someone is angry around me.  It's like my body recognizes the energy of anger and a warning bell goes off.  The anger doesn't have to be directed at me for this to happen.  Now, can this be explained as instinctive behaviour - preparing me to run or fight?  Or as intuition - a connection with a nearby subtle energy field?

I'm thinking that our connection with energy fields is a part of our instinctual behaviours.  If intuition is actually different from instinct than I'd have to say that it is a more evolved form of it.  Where instinct helped to protect us in the past when the lives of the human race were about eat or be eaten; similarly, I think that intuition protects us by incorporating more complicated, yet subtle, information that needs to be interpreted by us for a proper response to the circumstance.  Our choices are more varied now - far beyond the original two of fight or flight.

So, what do you think?  Is intuition an evolved form of instinct?

I welcome your comments on this topic.  Please share your experiences of intuitive moments.

My Interest in Einstein

I've always had a fascination with Albert Einstein and I'm not really sure why.

I still remember, reasonably clearly, a speech I wrote and delivered featuring Einstein as my subject matter.  It was when I was in grade 7 or 8.  And when I say "reasonably clearly", I don't remember the speech, but I do remember doing the research and being attracted to the simple act of learning about the man.  It had an impact on me, although I can't really clarify in what way.

To this day, I still research Einstein - mostly by looking up various quotes that are attributed to him.  They are some of my favourites.  Of course, since my research is mostly done on the web, I can never be 100% certain that everything I find is accurate but most of what I find seems to be substantiated with other things I know or have learned from other sources.

Recently I have had an interest in researching a theory that incorporates some of my thinking about how the non-physical part of our lives might work.  It suggests that our experiences are all a form of energy patterns that are attracted to us by the vibrational resonance we are offering to the world at a specific moment in time.   My task for today was to google the phrase "einstein on everything is energy".

As you might imagine, I got tons of stuff - some really out there - but mostly, it was interesting.  I even ran across a video on the subject by Deepak Chropra.  But what I would like to offer up for your interest and entertainment is a 15 page story/article I ran across.

Just a brief disclaimer... I haven't validated the source or its content.  I just found the story-like presentation easy to read and a large part of the information and concepts found within the article overlap with some of my own theories.  As always, I encourage you to continually test your beliefs and open yourself up to new, and potentially different, possibilities.

I suppose, if the intial theory presented at the start of my blog is true, I could say that I came across this story, not because it voices any truths (or untruths for that matter), but because my vibrational resonance is in alignment with that of the article.  Give that a bit of thought.   

What's in a Leap of Faith?

For me, something as simple as music can invoke a leap of faith.

Do you know the little tune This Little Light of Mine?  I love that song.  Sometimes I just hear it in my head over and over again.  It goes ... "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.  This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.  Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine."  If you don't know this song check out Odetta at the 2008 Music Has Power Awards.

I love it for two reasons.

First, when I sing it for myself, I always seem to start resonating with happiness.  A smile creeps across my face and my body bounces to the melody.  I get a feeling of being expanded in some way - hard to describe.

Secondly, I love to play with the tune and make it my own little dittie.  I play with the melody - changing parts, changing lyrics.  And as I get carried away singing it to myself, I find that that I sometimes actually lose myself within the notes.

So why is that?  How does a simple little song invoke a mental and physiological change?

I admit that I don't know all the "how's" and "why's".  I do know, however, that music, as a therapy, is greatly respected in the field of medicine and has been utilized as such for many years now.  Just take a look at what Oliver Sacks at the 2006 Music Has Power Awards had to say about music therapy at Beth Abraham Health Services.

I've noticed that we just seem to accept certain things because of how we personally respond to them.  For me, I know that music is a powerful healing force.  I don't have to look at the research.  No one has to tell me that it works.  I just know that it does.  It's my leap of faith.  I can feel it and so it is true for me.

I think that there are many things that happen to us during our daily lives that can invoke a "leap of faith" on our part.  It may come to you as a feeling, or perhaps as an inner voice - that gut reaction people talk about experiencing.  If we trust it - we take that leap of faith.

When have you taken a leap of faith?

Lemons and Lemonade

Life is full of contrasts.

As we move through our personal life experiences, I think that many of us get caught up in the ones that are like lemons - sour, distasteful and unpleasant on our pallets.

Personally, I have always thought of myself as a survivor. It would seem that the experiences that I find the most distasteful in my life are also the ones that bring out some of my best qualities. During a troubled childhood, I found that I was independent and strong. During financial hardships, I found that I was resourceful and driven by the love for my family. Yet, still, my preference would be to avoid this part of life's challenges.  How about you?

I look back to the earlier part of my life and I see that I often comforted myself with the thought that everything happens for a reason. Somewhere along the line, probably about mid-life, I changed my thinking.  I saw that the reason everything looked like it happened for a reason could also be explained by the fact that everytime I was served lemons, I worked very hard at finding the ingredients to make a tasety lemonade.

Today, I probably have a more blended view.  I believe that I buy the lemons so that I can make the lemonade - my life being my creation.

So as I make up my shopping list for tomorrow, I think I'm going to leave out the lemons (for at least awhile) and stick to something that appeals to my pallet more.  Maybe this time I'll pick something like apples for an apple pie.

Are You Paddling Upstream?

If our life experiences form the river that we flow in, which direction are you traveling in?

I have always had an insatiable interest in what the human mind is capable of.  Ever since I was a young kid, I read all kinds of books on psychic phenomena and the supernatural.  To this day, I am interested in all belief systems from the main stream religions to the ones on the edge.  I am a bit of a self-help book junkie too, because, like my interest in sci-fi, it helps me to, if only temporarily, step out of my box and look at the world through a different paradigm.

I've just finished reading a book written by Esther and Jerry Hicks entitled

The Astonishing Power of Emotions Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide

I feel that I have to mention that these authors credit the material in their books to an energy known as Abraham, an energy channeled by Esther. Alternatively, I also feel that I have to mention that I don't believe you have to accept the idea of channeling to get something of value out of reading the interesting perspectives being presented in their books. So if you don't believe in this school of thought, put aside where they say the information comes from, and I'll attempt to share with you what I got out of reading this book.

The analogy used here is one of a stream or river whereby the flow is made up of all of our life experiences.

It's simple really.

If you feel unhappy because life seems hard, you have been paddling upstream. When you are happy and everything seems to be falling into place, you are moving with the flow downstream. And, as you can imagine, you are never moving solely in one direction.

So why do so many of us use up our energies by continually paddling upstream?

For me, I believed that everything I ever wanted or needed was upstream. I come from a belief system that tells me that hard work and sacrifice is necessary to be happy in the end. The journey was not something you were intended to relish or look forward to - only the end result counted.

So what if I'm wrong? Or maybe, not so much "wrong" as, "misguided" - only seeing a small portion of the puzzle and not the big picture. Maybe, working hard is a choice. Maybe, it's my choice to work hard because it gives me a feeling of satisfaction. Maybe, I don't have to work hard for everything. Maybe, I can give up that belief if it no longer serves me.

Let's go with that thought for a moment.

So, where's the bleep, bleep map showing me the big picture!

Well, obviously we don't get a map, or a user's guide for that matter. But, think about it - if the only direction we should be taking is downstream, do we really need one?

But what if I'm not always aware that I'm paddling against the current? Wouldn't it be nice to, at least, have a compass handy?

Voila! We do have a compass - our emotional guidance system.

So where's the bleep, bleep manual you ask?

You don't need one. It's easy to navigate. When you are feeling happy you are moving downstream.

How simple is that?

If you found these ideas interesting visit my folder on SkyDrive and download a series of audio files of Abraham to listen to.

http://cid-741e2a2b5c830ef8.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/Abraham

Also, here is the website for Esther and Jerry Hicks.

http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php