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ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Are You the Director or the Actor in the Play that is Your Life?
It is really easy to convince ourselves that we are always directing the activities in our lives. We think that we are in charge. And, yet, we often find ourselves acting against our plans, our choices, our mental outlines for our lives.
Have you ever planned to diet/exercise/be more productive/call a friend, etc., and then found that you didn’t follow through? Was it because you didn’t want to do what you thought or was it because something ‘came up’ and you didn’t get to it?
What do you believe about what ‘comes up’ in your life?
The Director of a stage play is the one who determines how a scene will look, who will stand where when, when and where entrances and exits will occur. The Actors look the way the Director wants them to look, stands where they are told to stand, moves where and when they are told to move.
When you look at your own life, how many times have you intended to go in one direction and something happens to shift that plan?
Of course, many times unforeseen situations arise and we must be in flow, be adaptable. And your unconscious mind can bring those so-called ‘unforeseen situations’ into the scenario for an unconscious reason because your conscious plan conflicts with a belief held at the unconscious level.
I see this in clients all the time. The intention is there. Everything seems to be lined up. And then something happens.
I’ve seen it in my own life. It’s called ‘self-sabotage’ and it doesn’t go away because the conscious mind makes a decision to change things.
On January 1 every year millions of people make New Year’s resolutions and, by February 1, most of those resolutions have been broken. I stopped that dance a long time ago!
It is in your unconscious mind that the programs and habits of a lifetime reside. If you were told as a child that you ‘don’t deserve X, Y or Z’ then your unconscious mind continues to believe that event if you are decades beyond hearing that phrase. If you told yourself when you were a teenager going through puberty and wishing for a date that you were too ugly to be asked out/to ask out that girl you liked, then that inner teenager might still believe that about you even if the mirror in today’s reality doesn’t confirm that truth.
What did you used to believe about yourself, life, the world around you that might be holding you back today? Is it your unconscious mind that is the Director while you and your conscious mind are merely the Actors on the stage?
You can’t just decide to do things differently and have your unconscious mind let go of those old beliefs. They are programs that are running all the time. They are beliefs that trump conscious decisions many times.
The work is to go inside and uncover the programs and reprogram your mind.
Ask yourself if you are really the Director or if there is something unconscious at work today that you would like to reprogram. Then do the work and get the appropriate help to do that reprogramming.
Decide to be the Director AND the Actor in the play of your life!
New Moon in Libra I Ching Divination
For each new moon I cast an I Ching Gua – a six line hexagram of solid and broken lines (Yang and Yin) lines. I use the yarrow stalk method to derive the Gua. And I use The Complete I Ching by Taoist Master Alfred Huang as my main source to interpret the Gua.
The new moon in the sign of Libra occurred last Wednesday, September 24, at 2:14 am EDT. I cast the Gua on that day to get an idea of the energies coming in for the month. The initial Gua is pictured here. It is Huan which means “dispersing.” Huan is composed of two trigrams, Wind over Water (Xun over Kun). Wind can also mean Wood. The picture I get is of a wooden bridge spanning a large river. It is favorable to proceed, to cross the river.
Notice there are two changing lines in this initial Gua. The second line (from the bottom) is a 9 (a weak yang line) and the third line is a 6 (a weak yin line). Master Huang suggests reading the yin line so the 6 changes to a nine yielding a new, accomplished Gua pictured here.
The accomplished Gua is a double trigram, Wind over Wind, Xun, which means Proceeding Humbly. This means proceeding like a gentle breeze, which can go everywhere. It suggests using caution as we move forward.
Proceeding with humility does not mean moving forward from a position of weakness, but from one of balance. There is no need to feel superior, nor is there a need to feel weak.
Overall there is good movement forward after a period of dispersing of some energy. The changing line at the third position signifies a release of self-centeredness, selfish pursuits. When this third line changes to a nine it signifies it is auspicious to proceed from a position of both humility and strength.
Now that we are moving beyond the Autumnal Equinox and into the sign of Libra, a time of balance, it is good to keep this balance in mind. Move into autumn gently, like a fall breeze blowing through the trees.
And remember, there is nothing static about balance!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Be Your Real Self!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Be Your Real Self!
Exploring the Field of All Possibilities – Richard’s Commentary
Rosemary’s exploration this week is a great lead-in to her Possibilities Playshop scheduled for this Saturday. It is not only the Playshop but the Playbook, the product of the Playshop, that is an amazing tool to help with “exploring the field of all possibilities.” Let me explain:
During Rosemary’s Playshop we play at several activities designed specifically to get us out of our heads, out of the problem space, so we can move into the field of possibilities where solutions lie. And one of the first steps is to clear the way to get there, clear the limiting beliefs that tend to hold us in “tunnel vision.”
Here’s how Rosemary describes the “problem”:
This is the way that we can hold ourselves back from showing our greatness to the world. Tunnel vision is the very block that prevents us from seeing the possibilities that are in front of us because our focus is so narrowed. And we feel as if there is no roadmap out of our situation.
We do this clearing, opening up beyond the tunnel vision, through visualizations. This is necessary to begin to believe that there may actually BE a “roadmap” to the field.
Once we clear the old beliefs, a process to re-vision the problems and re-create a new vision forward, we are then in a great space to create the roadmap. And this is no ordinary roadmap, but one created and guided by our intuition. This is where the “play” begins in earnest.
Briefly, we pull pictures and words from old magazines, images and phrases that appeal to us. We do this fast without much thought about why they appeal. This is somewhat similar to creating vision boards (have you ever done one of those?) but with less intention, suspending the rational left-brain activity and relying on our child-like unconscious minds to direct the play.
Pictures are put in an envelope, words in another; pictures can even be sorted by size and put in different envelopes. Then the “roadmap” or Playbook is created by pulling pictures and words blindly from the envelopes for each of the months going forward. We actually align our calendars with the phases of the moon to bring an even deeper intuitive, feminine connection to the Playbook.
The resulting Playbook is an intuitively created “solution space” to use as a guide for the months/year ahead. The pictures and words can be interpreted as the moon cycles through her phases. I frequently consult my Playbook for a number of reasons, including when I am stuck or catch myself in tunnel vision.
I use my Playbook as a journal to record events. It is always curious to review the pictures and words I chose months ago to see how they inform my current situation. I also record my I Ching Gua that I cast at each new moon; there is always an alignment with the reading and my Playbook entries for that moon!
The point here is not to “sell” you on the power of Rosemary’s Possibilities Playshop event but to suggest there are tools you can use to move easily, even with a lot of fun, from tunnel vision around a problem to a new vision of expanded possibilities where solutions live. Inner work, access to our intuitive powers, even play serves to offer a way forward!
And remember, problems are lessons waiting to be learned in the field of all possibilities!
MONDAY’S POEM: Breaking Free
The theme of the week is “possibilities.” This is the week of Rosemary’s Possibilities Playshop scheduled for Saturday, September 20, 2014. To pursue possibilities requires change. Change requires breaks. I wrote today’s poem almost 5 years ago but it seems to pertain well to the theme of the week!
Breaking Free
Who of us knows
how to break free
with grace, with ease,
with a light heart?
Break; the very word
has a jolt to it.
There’s a stopping to brake,
but an ending to break.
Yet, there’s an essential
to breaking which can’t
be ignored. Without it
there is nothing new, nothing free.
Every movement requires a break.
Every freedom requires an ending.
There is a grace to the slow dance
And a leap of heart in the advance.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
PS: If you are in the Annapolis, Maryland area join us for the Possibilities Playshop!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Take a Step!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Take a Step!
Be Your Brightest Self! – Richard’s Commentary
Rosemary’s article and post this week continues this conversation about “being the light.” I have heard her and the multiple “sources” she channels say many times “you are the light of the world.” This is an easy phrase. Many of us have heard it most of our lives as quotes from the New Testament of Christian Bibles. Jesus frequently said this about both himself and his followers.
But when that simple phrase is closely considered it is not necessarily the easiest concept to embrace! In particular here is one challenge Rosemary throws out:
And when you are having a bad day, do you seek the light within yourself or do you try to pull others into your bad mood to commiserate with you?
OK, I don’t think I try to pull others into my bad moods. But I do have them. And when I am in a mood that is not necessarily of the lightest variety, do I seek the light within? Not always! Do you know what I mean? Are there moods you experience that are dark but you want to stay there, to feel them, to wallow for just a bit? There’s a soothing quality to these moods sometimes.
But consider others around you. I have to pull this notion toward me first when I am in one of my moods. Now that I’m retired I “work” at home. And, yes, it is actual work to keep two businesses going. The point is I am home, with Rosemary, a lot. We do have a big enough house to spread out and go to separate rooms. However we are frequently and often together; our moods rub against each other. It is much easier and more pleasant to reach for the light, even when I am in the darkest of moods – it’s only fair!
How do I do this? As I’ve written many times I have lots of practices to move my moods around: body practices include Yoga and Qigong and I do one or both almost daily. My mental practices include reading, research and my “morning pages.” My “pages” are the quickest way to shift my mood. I enjoy writing anyway; to write about my moods is a sure way to dig in to them, sift through them and finally shift them. Some of my page writing begins quite negatively. But by the end of the third page they always end on high notes! I don’t even know how this works, but it is true. It’s a wonderful practice, for me, and the reason I’ve been doing it for years now.
My spiritual practices include several forms of meditation. But it is difficult, for me, to meditate when I am in a mood. The mood needs to be shifted first. I need to “seek the light within” first and be in that space of light in order to still my mind. But there is one Koan meditation practice that does work; I’ve written about it here before. It is to simply ask the question “what is this?” when the mood insinuates itself enough to be recognized as “a mood.” The question is answered and then repeated several times until the root cause is revealed. It works. You might wonder at first if this is more like a mental practice, but as the questioning and answers move deeper the process does become meditative.
You may ask “why go through all this; moods change eventually.” Hopefully for most of us this is true enough. But here’s what Rosemary says about the “why”:
Your purpose on Planet Earth is to be your own Sun, to shine your light. Those around you are looking to you to shine. They need the light of your love and warmth as much as they need the Sun’s. Who are you to withhold that light from them?
It starts inside. We need ourselves to be lights for ourselves! And this radiates out to those closest to us. And it continues to radiate out to the neighborhood, the community, everyone we encounter from store clerks to friends, from family to strangers (friends we just haven’t met yet). Imagine if we all knew this purpose and became “suns” for everyone else on the planet!
For one thing we’d all have shining eyes – and that would be something to smile about!
The Light Quotient – Richard’s Commentary
I struggled with this response. Why? I was in a bit of a dark place when I faced writing this article, so Rosemary’s post aimed directly at me! And what do we often do when something is aimed directly at us? We freeze! And I sat at the keyboard a bit chilly, frozen, dark!
But I faced the fear and wrote about dark moods and “light quotients”! Here’s the key to Rosemary’s whole article:
You might never have thought about decisions and choices as a matter of assessing Light Quotient before but the time is here to bring more Light into the world. Thus, we must constantly focus on how much Light we are contributing to the energy field around us and around the Planet.
Staying in my dark mood is a choice. I realize that and have been moving this choice around in my mind – and my heart – since yesterday afternoon. As I went to sleep, and it took awhile to drop off, I worked to lift the “light quotient” all around me. And it took work! I did a “nightly review.” Do you ever do this? It’s a good exercise: before dropping off to sleep go over in your mind all the events of the day, moving in reverse order, latest event to earliest. Review the events, and especially your responses to those events from the perspective of learning lessons. Ask: did I respond appropriately? Could my reaction have been different, better in some way? How might I have done that differently, more effectively? This process is not about self-judgment but about learning and improving. Maybe another question can be Did I bring in enough light into that situation?
This process did help me drift off to sleep last night. It didn’t solve any problems and it didn’t lift my dark mood entirely, but it did bring more light into my life and my rest (dreams were good!).
Now, here, this morning there are still some clouds overshadowing the light in my day so far. But as I write I have the sense that there is a lifting to those clouds. Maybe just writing about it has helped bring in some light. I do picture myself as a “writer.” I can add this “tool” to my approach to lifting the “light quotient” in my life. In fact, this is exactly what my “Morning Pages” practice is about. Following the Julia Cameron Artist’s Way approach has helped me with the “light quotient” in my life for many years!
When I awoke this morning my first thought was about this blog article and how I was resisting it, resisting writing about this business about “light quotients.” I was still in the darkness. But I asked how I could bring in more light and that’s when I reminded myself that “I am a writer.” I need to be able to write about anything, even (especially?) about light when I am in the dark!
The sun is coming out. My day will be bright now because I am choosing to see the sun beyond the clouds. I wish for you a sunny day filled with an abundance of light. And if you are in the clouds ask what choices you are making to remain in the shadows. It’s a process and takes practice!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: The Light Quotient
Why am I making this choice? Taking this action? Making this decision? And what is the ‘Light Quotient’ of this choice?
You might never have thought about decisions and choices as a matter of assessing Light Quotient before but the time is here to bring more Light into the world. Thus, we must constantly focus on how much Light we are contributing to the energy field around us and around the Planet.
If you hear any news about what is happening around the globe then you know that there is much being reported that has a heavy energy about it. There is a lot of darkness in the world. BUT you do not have to be focused on that darkness!
You have choices to make in every moment. Choices about what you will do, what action you will take, how you will respond to challenge or to a challenging situation. At a deeper level, you also have choices about what you will think, which beliefs you will hold onto, what words you will speak. You can assess the Light Content of each thought, belief, word or action you embrace.
Do you watch the news and feel drawn down into heavy energy? Or do you avoid hearing anything about what is going on in the world so that you can avoid the dark energy? Remember, you are at choice about how you will respond to any given stimulus!
You can focus on good news, on what is going right in the world, on the Light. You can choose to speak words that uplift and support and give the gift of Light where there is darkness. In your own mind, you can choose to clear those beliefs that have you thinking dark thoughts, especially about yourself.
When you consider your current situation, in any area of your life – job/career/business, relationships, health, emotions, mental state, finances – do you dwell on what is not working the way you want it to or do you turn your thoughts to what IS working and what it is that you would like to have in your life? Do you shine the Light on the positive energies around you or do you allow yourself to be drawn down into the dark, heavy energy?
For example, the current excitement on Facebook is to watch videos of people pouring buckets of ice water over their heads as they are challenged to donate to a charitable cause. Some people are getting fancy about the way that they meet the challenge and are having fun with it. Some people are smiling and donating to the cause with or without the dunking. And others are posting comments on Facebook criticizing the activities or the people or the cause. Which energy do you think carries more Light? Which would you choose to have in your body, your energy field?
This is one example of where you can choose your response. Does it really affect you if someone dumps ice water on their head and posts a video to raise awareness about a disease? And what about other things that you see – war, crime, death, politics – do you resist and let yourself feel heavy or do you surround yourself with Light and move your thoughts into areas where you can make a difference and raise the Light Quotient?
Choose to bring more Light into the world! Let this be your ‘why.’
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Why Am I Doing This?
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Why Am I Doing This?
Men and The Goddess 