The intent of the workshop is to clarify what individual participants desire, and to plant the suggestion in the unconscious so that it can go about gathering the elements it needs to manifest what’s desired. We’ll create a symbol of the desired intention, and give it power and punch with guided imagery and Reiki healing energy.

The mind does not distinguish between what you think of others from what you think of yourself. In the vast pool of thoughts and feelings, there is only ONE. There is no “I” only, “they,” “them,” “you.” Only ONE, or only “One I.” Therefore, we must take caution in any thoughts we have. Period. Whatever thoughts we have of others, the subconscious takes it literally and thinks you are talking about yourself. It has no sense of humor, either. It takes you seriously on everything you say and think. Trust is very important. For, if we fear something in someone else, we hold the same fear in our body.  Daily practice of Yoga helps in letting go; exercise helps, walking, fresh air, running along the beach. Have a program and work on it every day as part of your spiritual practice.

Spirituality is where Truth Resides. In order to go beyond the mundane, we need a relationship with Spirit, and input from something bigger, beyond our own thinking. Therefore, whatever you learned from your family, take what you like and leave the rest. But, find something that resonates for you about spiritual values and beliefs about Spirit. There is tremendous healing in sharing our thoughts with someone or in a group.

We become what we believe. It takes time, it’s subtle. Our mind is like a garden, if we don’t want to have a tremendous overgrown mess, we must work on it every day. Clear out resentments, fears, rage, chronic negative thought patterns that weaken our resolve toward the things we aspire, such as being a source for healing in the community, family, work place. This requires belief in the unity of the Universe; Doing a Creative Expression that requires concentration and daily practice is also very helpful, art, music, dance; Spiritual Direction-trust in at least one other person who can help us hold to our values and Integrity; Psychotherapy can help us develop the willingness to look at our weaknesses and become the person we’d like to be; Trust is a vital component in Spirituality–the willingness at least.

Creative Expression. This is what people see and form beliefs about you. Create a platform and develop your Sacred Gifts on which you can stand and share with the world.

Career: Licenses, Certificates, Associations matter. Be congruent with your values. Don’t worry about competition. But, stand firm on what you have to offer.

Love: We need to be surrounded by people who love and trust us and who we love and trust. Today, this moment, it begins with Self Love. If we can have patience and tenderness toward those little annoying nit-picking thoughts that plague us throughout the day, then we can extend love to those that depend on us for steady support and encouragement.

It’s best to do this in a committed, open group.

These are precepts I have come to believe in matter in life. I haven’t lived them in a straight line. I’ve made tons of mistakes, of course. I’ve gathered these beliefs and values over the years from studying and reading about religions around the world and my Mexican culture. They have been tried and trusted ingredients throughout the ages.

As you think of your goals, wants, and needs list for 2012, remember that we can always tell Spirit what we would like, we can clear out the debris that stands in the way of attaining our goals, and wait for the results from Spirit. Visit the events page and call me to reserve a spot for you. Space is somewhat limited. I know there’s a lot of money laying around the house after the Holidays . Invest in yourself–you deserve it, and you are worth it. Let’s have fun, and play with serious matters.

The water was agitated with white caps and short choppy waves beating against the rocks, but there was a calm with light still reflecting the blue sky into the bay. At the tip of the peninsula in Tiburon, California, there’s a rock a short distance from shore around which a platform was built and a foot bridge connects it to land; this is Elephant Rock. I like to go there to let the wind clean my aura, and get a new perspective on things. Sky, and the setting sun behind Mt. Tamalpais create a stunning serene atmosphere at that time of day. As I approached the bridge, I was puzzled by a persistent worried sound of a bird, and thought perhaps a baby was waiting for its mother to return to the nest with food. When I got to the platform, I looked for the source of concern. My own desperation and helplessness mounted as I saw the waves toss about a poor little creature furiously. I’m not sure what type of bird it was, but it could have been a black heron, birds I’ve seen in the area. He was out of his element under the deck of a three-story house that extended over the water, definitely not accessible if there could be any help. Twice he tried to lift himself out, but he kept falling back. As I darted my eyes around looking for a solution, the thought came to mind: Give it Reiki. I began with the first symbol. My efforts seemed so futile standing on that platform. So, I said to it, “Come on. Fly, you can do it.” To my amazement, he began to rise out of the water, wobbly, looking surprised himself. With mouth agape, I observed as his feeble attempts to rise seemed about to fail, and gradually, he got the wind under his wings. He began to rise. He flew toward me, tenuously rising higher, wavering, still squawking with alarm. He turned his direction and flew above the house, and out of sight. Soon his peep faded, and he was gone.

I stood there for several minutes unable to take in what I had just witnessed. A part of me wanted to deny this little wonder of nature had just happened, but the memory of my emotional response to the heron’s cry for help was testament in itself to me that something extraordinary had indeed just occurred. I looked in the direction of the setting sun, the blue was darker and deeper, the evening stars were slowly appearing, and the quiet of the area was marked by the absence of the sound of a black heron in distress.

Above the Abyss

Let’s continue to plummet to the depths, where we make conscious decisions and fly in the face of beauty without regard to danger or annihilation. This week, continuing our discussion of the Meeting the Feminine Within Dream Circle, we’re examining the work of Artist Gary Politzer, who blogs at Dream Departure. Gary has been keeping a dream journal for over forty years. As an artist, he has the distinction of being able to visually represent what he sees in his nightly adventures into the Unknown, and his dreams are rich in pictorial imagery. Gary designed and developed the Chicana Dreamer website and has been webmaster since the beginning in 2001. Gary’s website, also designed by him, has a dreamy quality to the background in which he presents his dreams. You can visit his website to have the added perspective of his work.

In the previous post discussion centered on Diana Marto’s dream Ashaia Speaks that wove in and out of her creative life over the years. This week, we examine a theme that resounds throughout Gary’s dreamscape. An aspect that strikes me about Gary’s spiritual/dream life is that of “being carried.” I’m referring to his blog entries for Hanging Crow (January, 2009), An Heroic Rescue (September, 2009), and I Will Carry You (June, 2010). This discussion addresses the theme of being guided compassionately in our dreams.

Hanging Crow

I’ll begin with Gary’s dream Hanging Crow, (January 25, 2009). The entry refers to a dream of November, 1996, during a time when his father was in the early stages of transitioning from this life to the next. During this time, Father and Son were finally becoming true friends, and Gary was on the brink of the deepest depression of his life. Gary shows a sketch of a dog carrying a crow hanging from a hook. It’s very easy to get lost in imagery, so I will just adhere to the “concrete” image Dog carrying Crow on a hook. In the Dream Circle, we would talk about the symbolism of Dog who carries the hook and Crow, Crow, and the hook. In Native traditions, our four-legged relatives play a vital role in our spiritual lives, and in our dreams, we witness them as aspects of the Creator.

An Heroic Rescue

The second image of Gary’s “being carried,” is seen in the dream An Heroic Rescue, (September 28, 2009) which surfaces in the king’s delicate descent into the abyss in his hazardous rescue of the Feminine. Even Gary is uncertain of the origins of the carrier of the box going into danger. But, there is something that is carrying the king in this treacherous mission. He succeeds, lives to tell the saga of the great rescue, and celebrates his success. This dream is rich with imagery of a greater consciousness in operation.

The third example of the theme shows up in the spontaneous vision Gary has the following morning after a late-night Photoshop session on the Eagle (I Will Carry You, June 30, 2010). While driving through the green hills of Marin County on his way to Petaluma. Gary finds himself on the Eagle’s shoulder.
The Eagle looks Gary in the eye and tells him, “Don’t be afraid. I will carry you across the abyss.” In Native Dream Traditions, the Eagle can grant Gifts of Power to the seeker. I also see this as a promise of protection and and guidance. The message is very direct and to the point: “I will carry you across the abyss.”

The appearance of this theme has at least a fifteen year span. In the depths of his being, there is a Power that has been showing Gary the way, guiding, prompting, encouraging and supporting. I don’t dare begin speculating what the internal work has been for Gary, but he has managed to clear out emotional and psychological debris that has resulted in his being able to gather his resources, restructure his view of life, recommit to his art and return to life a new man in mind, body, and spirit. Naturally, the “voice” or “carrier,” continues to bring him closer to his destiny. Imagine the power offered by this depth of experience. He’s ready to bring his deepest messages from the soul for everyone to witness and be witnessed by.

Navigating the depths is no easy feat, but one can do it in the company of others on this vast and heroic journey called Life. Slowly and cautiously, we accept that we have been privy to the secrets of the Universe and quietly bless the world with our Sacred Gifts. In our Meeting the Feminine Within Dream Circle, we seek Freedom.

Ashaia Speaks Dream: I am walking through an airport with a roll of paper on my shoulder.–

As we worked through this dream a couple of days later, Diana and I sat in my apartment at the corner of California and Laguna in San Francisco facing each other sitting on the tan suede sectional. I asked her, “What does the roll of paper feel like?” Sometimes we just have short snippets of a dream to work with, but that can be enough. She went back in time and thought about the work she had begun in 1981.

For this article, I spoke with Diana by telephone to refresh our memories, and she gave more background about her life related to the dream: “In 1981, I was traveling between Hong Kong, Kyoto, and San Francisco, when my work with paper was just beginning.” She said. “At the time I was living in Japan, and was greatly influenced by the culture, particularly, Shinto Ceremonies I’d seen in mountainside villages above Kyoto.”

Upheaval, End Game

“The actual roll of paper was literally eight feet high, a powerful symbol in my hands. I created performances unraveling huge rolls of paper. “Be the Bird that Soars in Your Dreams, is my first Canto in the epic ‘Spirit Plays with Paper and Dance,’ which I performed in Kyoto, Hong Kong, Big Sur, and Duxbury Beach in Massachusetts.

“In Hong Kong on a mountainside I danced all over the paper, which then took on the impressions of the early morning dew of wild flowers, soft pinks, yellows, and pale grasses before the rainy season arrived. It looked like a Chinese landscape brush painting.” Later works of papermaking show the influence of these impressions.

“I would make immense sculptural shapes like magical birds which I arranged in gardens. I then became part of the garden dancing in light white silk fabrics that gracefully waved in the breeze, caressing the sculptures. In one performance piece, I carried a huge piece of paper that the wind ripped, which then came to symbolize the wing of the ‘Soaring Bird.’

“The roll of paper in the 1986 dream conveyed a vibrant message about continuation, and hope. At the time, I had just moved back to the Bay Area. My husband John had died of Lou Gehrig’s disease. My life was in ashes, but this dream brought a new light to my work and my life. I felt an acknowledgment and affirmation of my art. I felt that it was telling me, ‘Don’t give up; Don’t stop.’”

Diana took the dream to heart. Since the first Canto, She has presented sacred ceremonies in Capetown, Catal Hoyuck, Turkey, a neolithic archeological site where the Mother Goddess was worshipped, and locations in the United States. Now, some twenty-five years later, she has completed Canto XXI.

“Today, when I begin new projects or prepare for performances, the message still lingers and the Spirit World continues to whisper to me, supporting, and enlivening my creative expressions. Not having children, the dream has helped me stave off mortality and find a way to be remembered. Over the years, the dream has woven in and out of my awareness assuring me I’m on the right path; that I’m not just a consumer, but that I am giving back to life; it has given me a gift to leave future generations, an important way to contribute to human awareness.”

The image of Diana’s walking through an airport with a roll of paper could easily have been overlooked. At the time, she thought it was simply a replay of her life before her husband passed on. But, as time has shown, with the attention she paid to the dream, it continues to guide her art, providing a container of safety for her life–I’d say this dream was a life saver for her.

Diana’s Dream is an exquisite example of how we will examine our dreams in our upcoming Dream Circle. It doesn’t have to be a Big Dream; it may be, on further examination, but what’s important is to examine these images and glean from them the subtle or quiet promptings from within. We are all artists of our life, and we all dream. We bring the dream out from behind the curtain, and the Feminine does the rest.

“Is that all?” She asked. “Why didn’t you pray? You should have prayed, and asked for God’s help!” She insisted.

“I was paralyzed; I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t think,” he repeated.

He just laughed at her, and she exaggerated her dismay at his ignorance with a nudge on his shoulder.

Of course, now, fifty or sixty years later, we are learning the invaluable lessons of focused concentration. Thanks to the movie, “What the ..(Bleep).. Do We Know?” it’s fairly common knowledge that even water has the capacity to respond to positive or negative thought forms. This suggests that in dreams it’s even more important to exercise choice on what messages we will respond to from the subconscious mind.

In our Dream Circle starting September 9, 2011, we will direct our attention to the symbols and Dream Guides that smooth the progress of manifesting our heart’s yearning. In the coming weeks in this blog, I will be discussing in greater detail how our dreams influence our creativity and how we can take steps to engage the Muse within to benefit our goals and visions for our lives. The popular ‘law of attraction’ works when we align our subconscious with our desires.

Some preliminary steps need to be taken before we navigate the depths: First let’s address the separation between sleeping and waking that interferes with our ability to communicate with the Feminine, the Divine, that are at the deeper levels of our consciousness. In my book Corn Woman Sings . . . I often liken this separation to a curtain that needs to be intentionally pulled back, or worn out to such a frazzle that the threadbare remains literally crumble and fall.

My definition of Awakening, so that you can understand what this upcoming Dream Circle holds at its central core, is that we be so focused there is no curtain. With our eyes open or shut, we are aware of the Truth; the Truth that runs like a laser beam throughout our consciousness is the fire that alights our activities with the splendor and wonder of our true Likeness of the Feminine and power of creativity. This is the lamp we want to guide our paths. Our minds must be as direct as the rays of the sun that light our world.

We need the consciousness that banishes the thought of sacrifice or punishment or sin from our minds to bring us to the altar of Strength, Wisdom, and Innocence; Where our consciousness and awareness of the Divine travel on the same beam of light, as opposed to being static and stagnant in darkness waiting for the spark from a beam of light that may or may not ever arrive. We need our efforts to be in communion with the Divine, where we are ever present in the Moment; where Power is at our fingertips, the tip of our tongue, and instant healing is the norm.

To have such power of discernment and creativity, we must labor at traveling between dimensions so that the curtain finally drops. We provide this all-important task the single mindedness it merits when we choose to become awake in our dreams. When Destiny calls, we must be prepared.

However in the past I have shrunk from Awareness, I now commit to being present and letting the Divine be the lantern for my life. I step aside and let Its Light shine upon my mind, to be used for Its intents and purposes.

Next week, we’ll talk more about the ways that Dream Awareness helps us garner power and clarity for our creative and spiritual aspirations.

Three accidents in three consecutive years. I couldn’t help but ask the obvious question, what am I doing that’s producing the same result, a push directly into the center of my back. It’s been a month since the last swift kick in the rear of my car. At first it appeared that my body was fine, but as time has passed, I’ve become aware of the crushing blow to my energy field and its impact on my muscular structure. For me, my body does not end at the outer layer of skin. Rather, I see my body as porous matter with an energy field around it that connects it to other energy fields, including all of nature, the sky, other planets.

In the early 1980’s, I studied some of the research that was coming out of U.C. San Francisco Medical Center on the connection between mind and body, and have since discovered that if you want to know about the condition of a patient’s body, study the energy field (often called the aura) of the patient. Oriental medicine has this down to a fine science/art when it comes to understanding the external magnetic field and the health of a patient, but it goes far beyond the body and connects to all that is natural and alive with consciousness. So, I chose to do acupuncture to examine what in my thought structure is causing this drama in my waking experience.

I work with David Kitts, an acupuncturist whose work is based on Soul Structure Healing.™ After weeks of treatments loosening the muscles, particularly around my spine, we made time to explore the psychic elements that are contributing to the accidents themselves. (What happened in the session is very complicated to attempt to describe, so I will keep the story short and to the point. But, you can visit his website for more information and an in-depth explanation of his philosophy and training.) The problem, it turned out, resides in a past life that ties in with an experience of a distorted spine and power as a healer. Somehow I got stuck in the dynamic of power I had in my community and the belief that I needed the disfigurement to maintain the power. But, it went deeper than that—I was seeing the disfigurement as part of my destiny, which caused confusion. As he worked with my energy field, I focused on relaxing muscles. I heard popping, and felt a remarkable letting go on the right side of my spine. The day after treatment, I had a sense that chunks of debris were psychically falling off a protective invisible oval bubble which was also re-shaping itself around my body. I rested most of the day, and late in the afternoon met clients, and held our dream circle. By the end of the evening, I felt like the processes had slowed down. The third day with a certainty and faith I hadn’t noticed before I saw clearly that there is only one real challenge I have in this lifetime.. My life feels so simple; I’ve been scattering my energy in areas that didn’t feel right, and they weren’t even that important to me—I was doing them because I thought I should.

Click here for his website:

To translate what all this implies—the trauma of the impact of the accident, the past life, the confusion with destiny—whether we see a multidimensional universe, believe in reincarnation, or experience the past as a thought form lurking in the depths of our subconscious, there is another way of exploring our health and reaching for wholeness that goes beyond our common beliefs. Science does need to catch up with indigenous cultures to incorporate a more expansive, complex universe, as Global Shift also suggests. Mystics, artists, healers and traditional religions have known this other reality from time immemorial. It’s nice to see how we can live our beliefs and be healed by trusting what we know beyond the physical senses. People may poke fun because they don’t see what we see. The truth is, we live in a mysterious universe.

Thanks for stopping by.
Peace,
Ellie

I continue to be awed by the levels of loss, the influence of the waking world, and our adjustment to changes in the heart. Here is a dream about Cheryl (mentioned in Mictlantecuhtli Visits Twice) and Dale (mentioned in A Life Passing), and my notes on the dream that made me realize how loss of loved ones can be intertwined with many aspects of our lives. It also made me ask the question, what consciousness am I courting?

“I’m driving down a street and see that a woman is removing photographs from a fireplace mantle. She realizes I’ve caught her in the act of stealing, but she’s waiting for me to take my eyes off her, as though her stopping would camouflage the deed—sort of like a deer freezing its movement to blend with the environment. I’m wondering what she’s doing and keep watching her, but traffic moves and soon she’s out of sight. Details are hazy, because when I go around a corner, it’s as though I’ve only walked into a part of my house. I am waiting for a friend I haven’t seen for some time. Cheryl arrives and Dale is waiting for us in the living room. I haven’t recognized them as departed from this earth; I’m glad to be talking to them and hearing about their travels, because it’s been some time since I’ve seen them. In her playfulness she shows me her new life: a joyful radiant state of mind that is dazzling to the senses. I get the sensations in my being and we laugh uproariously at how delightful these feelings are. It’s as though she’s given me a taste of chocolate malt that she loves, and takes it back with a mischievous glint in her eyes. As much as I miss her, I can’t but rejoice in her freedom and know what awaits me when I’m ready to leave this world. I prepare a room for her with a comfortable bed and white linens and comforter. She can come back to visit whenever she wants.”

This dreams seems to be mixed up with the accident I had on 3-17-11, where I slow down in traffic on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. near Cheryl’s house and I look in the rearview mirror. The car is coming at a fairly high speed. I am at a traffic light (the same spot where I see the woman in the dream) and pull into the intersection to avoid the hit. But the point of the dream is the message Cheryl imparts to help me accept the deaths of my loved ones. Cheryl and I had talked about her coming back to tell me what it was like, and here she is!

Grief was overwhelming me, my attachment to them, the attachment to my car; add to this, transition into my senior years and the assessment of my life at this stage. I couldn’t help but recognize the consciousness I’d been courting: Regret over some of my efforts, sadness, longing, depression, gratitude, relief, up one minute, down the next. I missed the car as well. So, I asked myself, what god am I serving; in what world am I? The visceral experience of their new consciousness changes my view of what’s true: They are happy where they are. That’s good reason to celebrate. I can rejoice with them, be magnanimous, and let go.

Love,
Ellie

The first theme that comes to mind is the potential for getting lost in time and space. Di Caprio carried a totem to check his reality. He’d set it a spin, if it didn’t stop, he knew he was dreaming. Being the master of dreamers, he’d remember to pose the question. This group of dreamers could put each other to sleep in the middle of a sentence and finish the thought in another dimension. Checking for reality was crucial. And so it is for us who are trying to awaken. For one thing, you need a very strong desire to remember to even remotely question yourself. But they did it, and came back with full memory of the dream.

More frequently than not, I go into a dream and fail to challenge myself to even bring my hand up to my face to remind myself that I’m in another dimension. What my practice of dreaming has provided for me, however, is the realization that life itself is fragile, and suffering abounds. Luckily, each moment, waking or dreaming, we have the opportunity to choose a new alternative; a new place initiated by a brand new thought. Usually, we have our constructs, the props of our lives in place. We’re also very protective of keeping our mental environment exactly the way that keeps us just slightly tilted and in subtle chaos. Not too much–just enough to make us think that we’ve come up with a new idea and that things are changing. All the while, there is a place, deep underground, below the basement, where we come back to time and time again just to make sure no one has touched or moved anything. Where we keep the people we love and adore suspended in time and space with a single idea that serves to keeping in tact what we believe makes our world safe.

We keep these constructs as our little totems to assure ourselves that yes, indeed, my life is going as it should. Fortunately, we don’t have to live the perfect spiritual life, as long as we keep asking for the Truth. The dream “Going to Tlalocan” in my book, Corn Woman Sings suggests the identical point by the Ancestors “Know which god you are serving, and which world you are in. Click here for the Dream.

What I liked most about “Inception” is that it actually embeds the thought that makes one wonder, where is reality? Have I gotten stuck somewhere thinking I’m awake? In the end, the old man is simply what the Asian entrepreneur has become in his quest for power. The gift for us is that we, the viewers of the film, have actually fallen “victims” to the shape shifter/dreamer and must now live with the challenge burning within ourselves, “Know which god you are serving, and which world you are in.” It’s official: It’s time to wake up. Now.

Sweet Dreams, write when you can.
Ellie

The past weeks have been intense. I descended into hell as the cycle of grief gripped my soul for the second time since late November. My mind grabbed at something it thought was real–the past that appears to have been a travesty upon the native cultures, but as I felt the anguish of loss, I realized that my feelings were merely looking for a source at which to point the finger. When I examined the feelings under the microscope of meditation, I realized I could find anything to blame for the fire within. I had to just sit with it and invite the pain of loss and be with it until it burned itself out.

I’ve written about my brother-in-law’s death, but I haven’t mentioned my friend of twenty-five years with whom I spent many an hour in the past year as her scope of life narrowed toward a wheel chair and finally her final rest. In my dream, Going to Tlalocan (1995), which is featured in my website, my friend is mentioned as “CS.”

Here is the link if you would like to see it or read it again. In life she was one of the greatest sources of comfort to thousands, myself included. In the dream I stop at a cafeteria on my way down the East side of the pyramid, and come upon my friends from the Center for Attitudinal Healing. My mentor JJ hears my voice and comes over to see me and says, “I heard you were having trouble sleeping and I found something gentle to help you rest.” I take the seeds and continue on my way. Fifteen years later, the scene played itself out with a slight twist–I give my friend the seeds to help her rest. In the weeks leading up to her death, she experienced tremendous pain from cancer of the bone. I was one of the last people to be with her while she was still conscious. Her husband, son, JJ and friends from the Center gathered around her in her final hours.

As I write, I pause a moment to remember her and think how much I miss her. In my last moments with her, I sat very early in the morning of November 21, 2010, a day very much like today, in her home at the foot of Mt. Tamalpais, holding her hand in meditation as she lay in bed, exchanging blessings with her.

Parting is sweet sorrow.
Ellie

By Natalie Hinahara (2011)

My husband and I just returned from a memorial service for a brother on the Druckrey side of the family, Dale Melvin Druckrey. Loss will always bring me to my knees, but being with family was comforting and allowed for the cleansing that only tears and love can bring.

Loss puts things in perspective. I had been asking myself if there is truth to the saying “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” I’ve been in a process of transformation, but loss cuts through the noise of the mind. For me, loss doesn’t let me kid myself; I either love or I don’t exist. Family brought that to the surface, and even though I felt restless and lost, I saw that there can be no other emotion.

Also, I’ve continued my research, and it’s been pretty intense. Trying to integrate what happened in our history, and how it affects us today. In the 1500′s most of the countries of Europe went into a frenzy trying to get to the riches of the Americas. The effects linger to this day. They benefited, we lost a way of life. Potosi, a city in Peru had a huge silver mine, which the Spanish crown pilfered for 300 years by enslaving the Natives. 300 years. That’s intense. Then I see the incarceration rates and that our young men of color are over-represented in that population, it’s heartbreaking. Something is wrong. Very wrong.

So, I keep looking for the possibilities open to us. What way of life, philosophy, approach can save us as a culture, as a race? And, here’s what I found: We have two nieces just graduating, Gabrielle Hinahara, from college, and Natalie Hinahara from high school. I see them striving to create what’s real for them: Love, Community, caring for Mother Earth, making a difference. The portrait of Dale was done by Natalie, a creative spirit that enjoys doing art with her fingers, pens, pencils, brushes. At this stage in her life, she has a remarkable volume of work. Gabrielle is waiting to hear from a project on sustainable farming.

They are the next generation. Our generation may leave its footprints, but the next generation needs a new way of being in the world. So, it’s up to us to support and encourage their endeavors. One way of doing this is by example. Going inward, digging, and finding the true vein of gold. My (Course in Miracles) lesson today is “I can change all thoughts that hurt.” I can? This is the crux of my dilemma–hating what happened, how the devastation has continued through the centuries, and finding a way of living in harmony and peace.

How do I find peace? How do I plant seeds of peace instead of restlessness, disturbance and dissatisfaction?

“Loss is not loss when properly perceived. Pain is impossible. There is no grief with any cause at all. And suffering of any kind is nothing but a dream. This is the truth, at first to be but said and then repeated many times, and next to be accepted as but partly true, with many reservations. Then to be considered seriously more and more, and finally accepted as the truth. I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. And I would go beyond these words today, and past all reservations, and arrive at full acceptance of the truth in them.” (#284, p. 439)

Dale made some interesting choices at various points in his life, and in the end that’s what his life reflected: A simple life of living in harmony with nature, a loving marriage, friends and family that love him. And lots of beautiful sweet memories doing what he loved in the outdoors.

The pursuit of consciousness is an ancient practice of all religions. Dreams helped the Ancient Ones find deeper meaning in daily life. They recognized nothing earthly brings satisfaction; But, Truth does. Love does. I believe that’s where the authentic life is found. Isn’t it happiness and peace that we seek?

May you be happy, may we be happy, may all beings be happy, may I be happy.
Ellie