Archive
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Go Natural!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” video for the week: Go Natural!
PS: Do you want to simplify your life? Are you ready to live a more natural way? You can get guidance from the other side to help you with this! There are only a few days remaining for Rosemary’s very special price on a Reading with Rosemary! This special ends with August. Purchase Here
MONDAY’S POEM: Time is a Spiral Dance
I wrote this poem two years ago. As you can see my thoughts and concerns with Time are not recent. And my efforts to turn time into spirals rather than a straight line are not new!
Time is a Spiral Dance
The passage of time is a spiral dance:
It weaves
It floats
It rises
It falls
It is a multi-dimensional wave.
And like a wave it remains in one place:
It moves
It calms
It comes
It goes
It is a mystery beyond space.
The passage of time is music for the dance:
It sings
It plays
It beats
It rhymes
It is the rhythm of my heart,
The song of my soul,
The symphony of my Spirit.
©2011 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Letting Go of My Obsession with Time
In my post yesterday I wrote: “I am learning to let go of this constant obsession with time.” This is not easy. As many of you readers know, one of my practices is “Daily Pages” as recommended by Julia Cameron in her Artist’s Way. Almost every day I begin those pages with some reference to time: the date, of course, how late in the week/month/year it is, how late in the morning I am writing, or how I had to skip pages yesterday because I was too busy. It truly is an obsession. And I wonder if it is getting worse as I get older.
So, I am working on this obsession. Yesterday I wrote in my pages on how I was going to let go. I was writing in the context of settling in to our new home and how it was going to take – TIME – of course! Here’s an excerpt:
It is clear that my relationship with time needs to change. I am very serious about this. I don’t know if I have to learn an indigenous language without the “to be” verb. I’m sure it would help. But this seems to be an intellectual exercise. What I need is to experience time as a native. I need to sink into time and live in it rather than through it.
Time is like a lake or a pond. It extends out in all directions. Events are like pebbles tossed into the pond. They ripple out, like echo rings. They may even bounce back when they reach the shore. And the pond returns to its serene state after a bit, smoothly available to the next event. I am the pond and I am the pebble. I am the ripple and the echo.
All this is inside, an internal vibration of consciousness. There is no beginning nor end to it. It is simply there as a phenomenon of awareness. It is all inside. It is nowhere else. It is a single note or an entire symphony, a cacophony of noise or a harmonious orchestration of experience.. It is up to the mind to filter and sort, to decode all the signals into a stream of intelligence.
But it’s all there, right now in this moment, to translate into meaning. Time is but one mechanism by which we translate the signal. It doesn’t have to follow in a linear fashion. It can spiral, it can circle or vibrate to and fro. It can echo and bounce. It is a matter of tuning the translator so we can grasp meaning from the noise.
My tendency is to stretch the noise into a straight line; I can look along this line and see a beginning and end. I take some comfort in this view. But I am uncomfortable with this notion of “end”! This limits time for me. It creates this notion of commodity that can become scarce and run out! This is precisely what I want to change.
I need to retune my translator. I need to view time as a spiral that circles and climbs. Everything circles! From spinning subatomic particles to the spin of galaxies and the Universe, the circle is eternal. “what goes around comes around” – Karma! Does the spiral have a linear motion? Or is it an ever-widening series of circles? This returns me to the question of direction. Does time have one?
The Buddha would say there is no getting off the wheel of Samsara until all desire is eliminated. Surely the desire for more time is one of the first desires to go! And when it is released the notion of all time is here, right now in this moment, gives me all the time I ever need!
As with everything in life, this retuning of my translator through which I view this human conception, time, requires practice. It is an inner practice. I am fortunate to have a guide in this who sets an example of a different way to view time. Rosemary’s article, The Karma of Time addressed this subject this past Wednesday.
How do you view time? Is it straight or does it circle or spiral? Does it have a direction? Does it go anywhere or is it more like a pond, resting quietly, waiting for events?
The Karma of Time – Richard’s Commentary
I have had a life-long struggle with Time. No, not the news magazine! I am emphasizing the word to indicate the importance of this phenomenon in modern life, at least this modern life.
Do you have enough time? Do you “spend time” like coinage? Do you catch yourself wasting time? Or even worse, do you “kill time” when you are waiting for something to happen? How many ways do you look at time? It sometimes seems almost alive. Often it seems like a commodity. Sometimes it’s the rarest of possessions. Other times it slips through our fingers like sand.
My struggle with time is I don’t seem to have enough of it. And knowing that time is nothing but a state of mind doesn’t necessarily help me reconcile the need for “more time.” I have had many teachers help me with this concept of time and my sense of it as a commodity that I need more of. I’ll get to Rosemary’s article in a moment but first I want to examine time from an indigenous world-view.
One of my teachers about time is Martín Prechtel. Growing up in an indigenous culture and then working and healing as a shaman in Mayan society in Guatemala, Martín has a very different understanding of time. And he works very hard to impart this indigenous understanding to his students. There are many native (Martín would say “natural”) languages that aren’t based on the verb “to be.” Entire languages developed without this sense of past, present, future as a central theme, understanding, and therefore, world-view. For me this has been a concept I’ve wrestled with. Martín suggests the best way to grasp it is to learn a language which has no “to be” verbs. I have, as yet, not taken on this assignment. And maybe that needs to be my next step to better understand, and more importantly, to let go of my obsession with time.
For Martín and his indigenous family time is more like ripples in a pond, echoes on the breeze, a spiral dance of moments that swirl and evolve gently. It is most definitely not linear. Past and future both are echoes of now. It’s a beautiful way to look at time. And it is certainly more relaxing than never having enough, running out, spending it foolishly!
My other teacher about time is Rosemary. We have always had a different take on time and I have always both wondered about this and admired her understanding. She always seems to have enough time, just enough. She seems able to take the time she has, all of it. She doesn’t waste it or spend it foolishly. And she doesn’t seem to hold on to it or grasp for more. Rosemary’s NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Psychology) teachers, whom I studied with as well, described two types of people: “in-timers” and “through-timers.” The in-timers are people who seem to float along as if they have plenty of it; this describes Rosemary. I am a through-timer who seems to be constantly running to catch up, to be on-time, to maximize the use of time.
I am learning to let go of this constant obsession with time. Rosemary’s view certainly helps; her article helps. But I think there is more to my “learning” about her concept of time, of the indigenous concept of time than an intellectual pursuit. Time, after all, is nothing more than a human invention, a concept. So we can imbue this concept with attributes that are more to our liking. But we also have to experience it with those attributes we would choose. Experience must support the change, the learning, the growth.
“All time is in this present moment.” Do you get this? Is this easy for you to understand? I’m working on it because I think there is a vital key here to unlock a very precious piece of knowledge. And all I need to do is fit that key to the lock and turn it!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: The Karma of Time
When you understand the concept that ‘All time is in this present moment,’ then you start to get an appreciation for the ‘karma’ of your present life.
Time is not really the linear construct that we use to schedule what we will be doing tomorrow or next week. We THINK it is, but time is a human construction so that we know when to meet a friend for lunch. Time is really a dimension, the Fourth Dimension, and we live within this dimension always.
All time is in this present moment. Your Past, your Future – all lives right here, right now, with you in this present moment.
We usually speak of karma as some seed that we sowed in the past that is coming to fruition now to haunt or uplift us. In actuality, we are constantly putting out into the Universe the energies that attract like energies into the sphere of our life. What we think in this moment creates our next moment and the one after that. We live with the decisions, beliefs and thoughts of all of the moments of our life. And we create what we call ‘the Future’ with the energies we attract in this present moment.
As you move forward during your day today, notice how your thoughts jump from one idea to another. Notice the connections between thoughts. Now notice if one thought that uplifts you leads to another uplifting thought and then another. Also notice if a disturbing thought leads to another disturbing thought and then another.
It is very easy to get drawn into a spiral because the energy of one thought attracts like energy. This is why it is so important to live a conscious life wherein you are catching yourself thinking the thoughts you have and choosing what to think next.
For example, have you had the experience of seeing someone you admire and then finding yourself moving into envy? That leads to listing all the things that are ‘wrong’ with you and why you don’t measure up to that standard. Then you might start finding someone/thing to blame for that. It becomes a downward spiral.
You have a choice. When you see someone you admire, you can admire them and choose to bless them with your thoughts and then think about someone else you admire. You can bring to consciousness things about yourself that you admire, too. You have a choice to catch yourself thinking ‘good thoughts’ about yourself!
Life is about being conscious of the energies you are transmitting to the Universe. Take charge of what you think and do in this moment so that you are transmitting what you want more of in your life. BE the person you want to be in your Future. BE that person in this present moment.
There is no ‘there.’ Just BE. It is all ‘HERE’!
PS: Through the month of Rosemary’s birthday, August, she is offering a very special price on a Reading with Rosemary: $65! Get help with direction, with next steps, with living with the Karma of Time. This special expires August 31. Purchase Here
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: All Time is Now
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” video for the week: All Time is Now
PS: All time might be now, here, in the present moment, but Rosemary doesn’t want you to miss out! Her very special price on a Reading with Rosemary is available in August only. Purchase Here
MONDAY’S POEM: Community in Balance
I’ve been thinking a lot about community lately. Here’s another poem on the subject:
Community in Balance
Female and Male
Child and Teen
Hearing and telling
Common care.
Heart and Mind
Give and take
Receive and offer
Creative logic.
Moon and Sun
Winter and Summer
Sewing and harvest
Mindful work.
Death and Birth
Rest and action
Health and healing
Loving justice.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Where Is Your Community?
And maybe I should also add “who” to this question: Who Is Your Community?
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about this word community, probably since a retreat I was on this past Sunday with the leadership of “A Community of Transformation” (ACT), a local Annapolis, Maryland membership-based community of like-minded people involved in alternative healing, spiritual seeking and experiential sharing. It is a great community and we are now examining how to grow and spread our uplifting spiritual experiences to a broader audience. We are also looking to deepen our commitment to the broader community of Annapolis and expand the services our growing and vital community offers.
Beyond this recent thinking, my life purpose is wrapped up in community. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, my hand analysis and fingerprint mapping takes me in the direction of community through love. I am in the School of Love, my Life Lesson is Love and my Life Purpose is Love. Baeth Davis dubbed me “Shaman of the Heart” when she read my prints and got to know me better. But what does this really mean?
When I was in the Peace Corp in Ethiopia many years ago there was a branch of services called “community development.” While I was a teacher at the secondary school level there, some of my colleagues were engaged in this so-called “community development.” I think now this label was erroneous. These folks weren’t developing community; they were building houses, teaching about irrigation possibilities, bringing new techniques to the local economy. They were not building community.
This past Monday I published a poem on Community; it began with “safety” and ended with “love.” Humans come together as social creatures to both increase the odds of survival and to bond together as like-minded individuals in a group to support a common cause. And yet there seems to be more to this notion of community.
Is it simply survival that first creates community? Or, is even this survival need driven by love? I would like to think it is not driven by fear. The soul doesn’t fear. The spirit is content, peaceful, in a constant state of Divine Bliss. And these essential and eternal aspects of ourselves are the source of love. These are the god/goddess core elements of what it is to be human. When these immortal parts of ourselves are in our consciousness there is no fear, only the desire for community.
With these thoughts in mind and with my Life Purpose in the forefront of my consciousness I feel compelled to build community. What does this mean? In one sense it means to continue what I have already begun. In another it means expanding the vision, to grow it even more.
There are many like-minded people coming into Rosemary and my life now, and they are calling us to leadership. ACT and the leadership of ACT is just one community calling us to ACTion! We have our own community to build. The time is now to bring our community together, to grow it and to devote all our energy to this great cause.
You, as a reader of this blog, are part of this community. And I commit to continue to develop it, to bring my thoughts about “men and the goddess” into sharper focus, to expand my readership and to reach out to the greater global community to bring my sense of inner peace and deeper understanding to you.
Where is your community? Who is your community? Develop your own sense of belonging to the great human community through love.
PS: One way to join our community is to subscribe to Rosemary’s weekly newsletter. She offers incredible advice and spiritual insight every week. And it’s FREE! Join RosemarySpace: Subscribe Here
What Would You Do? Do It Now! – Richard’s Commentary
I don’t feel old! OK, I did just move through my 68th birthday. By many standards this is at least approaching “old.” My grandkids think I’m old, but even they are polite enough not to say so unless asked directly. They see us in action and know we move through life with a lot of energy, a lot of vitality; good qi drives us!
But maybe these days it doesn’t require attainment of a certain age in order to get this message: “do it now!” This past Friday in our Qigong class the teacher, who is also an acupuncture practitioner, reflected that she was seeing way too many patients coming to her with a “pre-cancerous” diagnosis. A good, younger friend was just told he had a lymphoma; another good, younger friend just completed his treatment for prostate cancer. And I just scheduled a bone marrow biopsy to determine why my red-blood cell count is diminishing.
So, the admonition in Rosemary’s message: There is an urgency about the energies around us today. We each have a reason that we were born into this time on the Planet. Have you discovered your purpose? Are you clear about what you are to be doing now? If not, then that is your work today really does ring true!
First the “urgency”. I do feel this energy and it’s not just because I am in the midst of diagnosing a health condition and am surrounded by others going through a similar process for one ailment or another. There is a building sense that things are not right, that there is a potential building to create a shift, and not necessarily a gentle shift! Rosemary and I both have been writing in our blogs about this energy for transformation. Many of our associates are also feeling this energy. It is manifesting in many way, not just through disease. Many are feeling the dis-ease of our times, whether it is in the form of political, social, economic, or health issues. We seem to have come to a place where things our “out of kilter.”
Rosemary’s advice is to “discover your purpose.” And then “do it now!” And no, I don’t think time is necessarily running out; I don’t sense that my life is threatened by whatever malady I have that needs a diagnosis. This urgency is born of the sense that the energy of transformation needs a response. And the best response is in the direction of our purpose.
I have had my hands read by one of the best in the business, Baeth Davis, and by some of her students and others who have studied Scientific Hand Analysis. My life purpose is revealed in my fingerprints. I have lots of “loops” which means I am in the school of love, my lessons are about love and my purpose is love. (So, it’s not unreasonable that I would write a blog entitled Men and the Goddess!)
My purpose is to connect people in community with each other and with the divine. I am a builder of connections so people can experience and express both human and divine love. And over the years I have done this in many ways, through several approaches.
Since I know my purpose and I have been working at it, why this urgency? What is my lesson in the ailment I am being urged to diagnose? For me the message here is to remember my purpose and work as diligently as possible at it. It is more a positive reminder and a gentle push to keep going, keep building community, keep working on the vision Rosemary and I have for a Center of Light and Love.
Do you have this sense that the energies of change are breathing down your neck? If so, and I know many of you know exactly what I’m writing about, then what are you doing about it? Do you know your purpose for being here on the planet at this crucial time in human history? Are you going about that purpose as diligently and energetically as possible?
I second Rosemary’s admonition: “Do it now!”
PS: If you have never had your hands read, if you are struggling to know what your life purpose is, if you too have this sense of urgency that the world is changing and needs your response, then consider getting a scientific hand analysis by Rosemary. She is one of the best because she adds her talents as a Channel and a Medium to the analysis work!Click Here for more information.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: What Would You Do? Do It Now!
What would you do if you were old enough not to care what other people think? What would you do if you gave up having to succeed and just wanted to enjoy the experience? What would you do if you had no old tapes playing in your head that tell you you can’t?
What if I give you permission, right now, today, to be old enough, to enjoy, to ignore/erase those old tapes? What would you do?
Well, you do have permission. Go out and do it now!
How often do you hear yourself qualify your dreams with ‘if only’ or ‘when X happens’? Now is the time to shift that thinking into ‘HOW can I do it?’
There is an urgency about the energies around us today. We each have a reason that we were born into this time on the Planet. Have you discovered your purpose? Are you clear about what you are to be doing now? If not, then that is your work today.
If you know your purpose and have a list of reasons why you can’t be about that work right now, then lose the list. If you are alive on the Planet Earth at this moment in time then you are ready to be living your purpose. Period.
So now, what would you do if you were living your Soul Purpose, the reason your Soul incarnated into this lifetime?
The students are looking for their teachers. The folks with dis-ease are seeking the healers who can help them. The masses are waiting for the speakers who will inspire them. The weak need strong leaders. The strong need wise teachers. The sleeping ones need help in their awakening. YOU have a purpose and other souls are waiting for you to show up as the person you agreed to be before you were born. They are looking for you.
Reach inside and find that purpose. Get help if you need it. Decide who you were born to be and then, no matter what has to shift in your physical reality, commit to being that person.
Simplify your life. This message is coming through IN CAPITAL LETTERS for all of us. Do you really need all the ‘stuff’ in your life? Do you need to be entertained all the time or can you take some time to reflect, to retreat, to relax? Are the people around you supporting you or are they critical or demanding? Simplify your environment, including the people with whom you surround yourself. Simplify your work. Do you need to change jobs? Are you working to pay bills? Are you working too much or not enough?
Simplify your life. Find your tribe and learn how others are accomplishing this. Many are adjusting their finances. Some are restructuring. A lot of folks are seeking spiritually like-minded groups with whom to bond.
Become aware of your choices. Do you need to buy that thing or is there a way to trade/recycle/reuse something? Are you keeping active to avoid doing inner work? Are you seeking something outside yourself that you just might find inside if you paused and looked there?
What would you do if you were living your purpose, simplifying your life, seeking joy instead of momentary happiness?
Do it now!
PS: Through the month of Rosemary’s birthday month she is offering a very special price on a Reading: $65! Get help with direction, with waking up, with finding your purpose. This special expires August 31. Purchase Here
Men and The Goddess 