What is Consciousness?

Consciousness is about looking deeply into the nature of things. Consciousness is about exploring who you are beyond the social conditioning and the ego. About finding your own truth. As a conscious being you listen to your higher self, to the limitless inner wisdom that resides in your cellular history and collective mind. In conscious awareness you see beyond the surface into the underlying forces of all of life. You sense the innate connection with all things.

I have been so fortunate to be open to moments of clarity and knowing beyond myself. I have walked in silence in the desert, the mountains, along the ocean and I have known the connection and feeling of unity with all things. In my objective viewing of myself I have seen the ego and personality as simply the surface of who I am. Under the surface I have found an endless river of potential, knowing, possibilities, compassion and more. Sitting with enlightened ones I have enjoyed their light and got closer to mine. I have felt the passion of my heart open wide and hold the entire planet in its love. I have breathed in the vastness of all there is and felt such wonder. I have been on the earth with awareness and extended myself into the infinite beyond the stars. In my search to go beyond myself I have come upon an interesting insight. There is in me all the beauty and wisdom of creation. I am made up from the same stuff that is the ocean, the mountains, all living things and even the stars. I am from the same infinite intelligence that guides the forces of the universe.

Now that is a good bunch of stuff to hang out with, isn’t it? All of this is in you too. Find out for yourself. Here are a few ideas to explore consciousness. 1. Take some time to sit or walk in silence and open to the experiences that come from that. 2. Ask yourself “who am I” and then spend some time listening. 3. Get to know your inner dialogue and find out what beliefs limit you.

Along the way I will share with you a variety of questions, viewpoints and practices that can assist you to fully discover yourself. If you are interested, see you again.

This Moment is Amazing

The morning walk was noisy with the sound of birds chirping, geese squawking and my mind restless with thoughts. The first signs of a warming trend were welcome even to the geese who found a small pond to play in even though the lake across the street is still frozen solid. These guys were having fun splashing each other and honking up a storm. I watched and was reminded that in the moment there is always the possibility for fun, an opportunity to enjoy life. Too often my occupied mind is so busy thinking about the past or planning for the future that I miss out on enjoying what is happening right in the present. I am working on changing that to bring even more joy into my daily life.

Here are some ideas I am exploring to assist me to be more present to all the wonderful moments of living. There is in fact only this moment. Everything happens in the now. Nothing ever happens in the past, that would be called memory. Nothing ever happens tomorrow because when tomorrow comes it is in the moment. Does that make sense? So in each moment we have the opportunity to experience the gift (present) that it is or we can miss out by being in the memory of the past or the longing for the future. Obviously planning for the future has great benefits, as does remembering what was wonderful about the past. The brief encounters with planning and memory actually only can happen in the now. This moment is all we have. When we live in the awareness of this moment as the time when all things are possible then we empower ourselves to create the life we want.

Like the geese playing in the pond, we can take what this moment gives us and shape our experience. Living this moment to moment existence fills us with endless possibilities to shape our reality. Try this interesting experiment: Take a day and live it as fully as you can each moment. Make enjoyment a goal. It would best be a day that is not too busy because being present takes focus. It will be helpful to have a notebook to write and explore your experiences. You will learn much about yourself and how your mind works. Then take what you have learned from this exploration and use it to enrich your daily life.

When you learn to live fully in the moment you will open doorways to the infinite possibilities of the universe. Now if that isn’t a great benefit then I don’t know what it. Go have fun, be present and make your life what you want it to be.

Stirred Up - How about You?

I feel such a charge of aliveness these days. Maybe it has to do with so much being stirred up in the world. It could also be that I have decided to move beyond my small concerns and instead look at what, in the big picture, needs to be addressed? As I look at the big issues, I see keeping the planet livable, finding peaceful ways to resolve conflicts, and the full care and feeding of all people on the planet as important. These issues are worth all my effort and challenge me to be bigger then I have yet been in this life.

Have you found what matters most for the bigger you? Is there purpose and passion in what you do? Have you been able to go beyond survival and stretch yourself to be more? What makes you feel most alive? What is your mission now and what will it be later? Have you full signed up for all you feel you are here to do? What consciousness and awareness needs to grow in you before you can take yourself to the next level of your expression?

Human nature offers a spectrum of possibilities from survival, protection and meeting the basic needs to creative potential, compassionate action, and purposeful expression. Where on this continuum are you now? Have you been able to avoid falling into the trance of life? If you aren’t excited and feeling alive then it is time to stick your head out of the deep groove of habit you live in. It is time to listen to your heart, your desires, the fire in your belly, the callings of your spirit. You have a very important part to play in the evolutionary progress of this planet. If you express your part the light will shine on all of us. If you don’t then something gets lost and progress dwindles. Don’t doubt for a second that who you are is needed. Are you ready, set, ok be you in full aliveness now.

Keep Asking Questions

I was sitting appreciating this cold, beautiful, freshly white morning when my mind started thinking about how important it is to ask questions. I had some recent conversations that left me wondering if people really thought about what they belief in and if they searched inward to find their own truth. There sure are a lot of people out there who want to tell us what the truth is.

This is what came to me as sat down in front of my computer to write. How do we sort out what our truth is? Where is the truth in us? Is truth something each of us must find for ourselves? I am not sure of the answers but I can share my own path and invite you to discover yours.

Most of my adult life I have been fascinating by human nature and our unique capacities. I have come to respect that each person has his or her own journey. So I don’t know what is best for anyone else. What I have learned for me is that I must ask questions and listen inward. My mind, body, heart and spirit all have wisdom to share with me and I have learned to hear what they have to say. There is such a vast knowing in us even at the cellular level. The more I ask questions inward, the more I feel I tap into something that is much greater then me.

I was raised in a very defined belief system that served me growing up. As a young adult I began to question that belief system because things were incongruent and didn’t make sense to me. So I went searching and asking questions much of which was through college and grad school and my readings. That questioning and searching still continues today. Maybe it has been this hunger to know that has kept me such a student of life?

The questions you ask are incredibly important. The growing in your own truth is part of being a more conscious human being. You and I live in a time when conscious human beings are truly needed. So keep asking inwardly, searching and finding your own way and world will be richer through your knowing.

We All Deserve Love

Today is the first official day of my Explore Life Blog. It is very fitting that it is Valentines Day because the blog is about expanding the human heart and its positive influence on the world; it also about consciousness and the benefit of us all being fully awake to who we are. Check out the other two journal entries to get a flavor for what this blog is about. Remember most of all that you deserve love.

Well it is Valentines Day and something tells me I need to write about love. I guess I am psychic or something. I am very blessed to have such wonderful love in my life. I hope love blesses your life richly too.

Love is something we all want. Love feels good when we have it and it feels bad when we don’t. We have all been hurt by love. When in love, we have all felt this amazing joy. So why don’t we have love all the time if it feels so good? Good question and it’s worth exploring.

We get in the way of love, when we try to control another. When we judge. When we have expectations. When we let our ego get in the way of our heart. When we can’t forgive. When we are insecure and jealous. When we become dependent. When we stop listening. When we can’t trust. When we hold in our feelings. When we loose track of what is important. All of these and more chase love away.

So how do we keep love around? Love is glad to stay when we appreciate who our lover is. When we are accepting. When we listen and care. When we enjoy their company. When we tell them how we feel. When we take responsibility for who we are. When are supportive and encouraging. When we share are hopes and dreams with them. When we explore life together. When we have fun with each other. Love responds very well to love.

So on this day for celebrating love, make a commitment to loving as freely and completely as we can. Let the whole world in on our love. Feel love in every cell of our being. Imagine the whole planet in your heart being filled with love. If we all glowed with love, the world would shine brightly. In each of us is an infinite capacity to love. So tap in and let love spread because we all deserve love.

Getting Out of the Way of Success

A warm breeze sweeps from the West over the snow covered mountains and presses itself against my window as I sit here writing today. I have been exploring the theme of love lately. Through this exploration I have been gaining insight and understanding about the inner aspects of love.

I have discovered some old messages inside that frankly surprise me. I have worked extensively over the years to be aware of my inner dialogue and to shrink the inner critic. I felt my self-talk had become supportive and my critic has shrunk to a whisper. Recently, however, I have heard some old messages that until now lurked in the unconscious. These messages included questions about me not deserving what I want and about me not being enough. They came into my awareness as I have been writing about what I want in my life in 2007 and a small book on love.

As I write this I find it interesting that my writing about what I want to create in my life and about love has stirred the unconscious so much. Quick limiting messages/images lately have been popping into my awareness. I may be writing about the love I have and then a thought or image arises about how I, in some way, don’t deserve love. I might have quick thought of a lost love, or of me doing something that was less then loving in my past. While writing about having prosperity and abundance I got inner messages of doubt and even anger that I was asking for what I wanted. It was like, how dare I think I have the right; don’t you know no one gets to have what they want?

I found myself asking, where do these messages come from with such an emotional charge behind them? I have felt unsettling by the realization that these unconscious parts of me are still shaping the results in my life.

What I understand without feeling blame is that these limiting messages come from my interpretations of life as I grew up. There were also limited beliefs past on to me by others as if they were real and valid. As I became an adult I began to explore and question the ways I wanted to look at life. That exploration continues today. I have come to realize that through my thinking, feeling and interpretation of the world I shape my experience of it. I create my own reality. If my life isn’t working out they way I want it to, then I look at how am I getting in the way. What I see is I have more to explore in my unconscious. I need to shed more light on how somewhere inside I limit myself. I suspect this may be a life long process?

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Were you raised with limiting messages? Are you run by old beliefs that need to be questioned? Are there unconscious parts of you in control and keeping you from creating the life you desire? Asking these questions and many more are very helpful.

You can create the life you want. Get clear how that life would look and feel to you. Have the intention to make this ideal life reality for you. Take the step necessary to make it happen. Then watch for the results. There is no such thing as failure, there is just feedback as to how things are going. If you are not creating the results you desire then tune in and listen to your inner messages. The more you listen and explore the more the unconscious becomes conscious. When you have awarenss then you can make other choices. You can change the limits into possibilities and one day you will find yourself living just the life you always wanted.

Come Explore Life

Come Explore Life

The warm afternoon was a surprise after seven cold weeks. I felt ready to go. My body ached to jump into my running shoes and charge toward the mountains I could see out my window. Sitting in front of my PowerBook ,the outdoors called, but the mind insisted that I must write. So I sat down and began.

I am writing this blog because I know this is what I am to do. I feel a great passion for making a difference in the world. My destiny and my passion for understanding have at this point in my life crossed paths. I now must share what I understand about what makes our lives work and what limits the possibilities in us. Are you interesting in exploring consciousness, love, inner peace, success, joy and the realization of your highest expression? Are you ready to journey inward and manifest outward? Are you ready to explore what is important to you and find your own truth. If so then you are going to look forward to my ideas, questions, awareness, encouragement and inspiration. Come explore life with me and let’s see where we end up.

I want to share a few tips for along the way:
1. Remember at all times that you are an incredible being in the process of self-discovery.
2. There is within you everything you need to know at all times; all you have to do is listen.
3. Take time to be quiet each day and to really tune inward.
4. Always question the ideas shared until you know what your own truth is.
5. Having a notebook to write about what you are thinking and feeling will be very valuable.
6. Have fun exploring, be creative in how you look at things and please as often as possible step out of your comfort zone.

All right, I will be back tomorrow to shed some light on something you may or may not know. Come explore life together.