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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!
FRIDAY’S POEM FROM “RHYTHMS AND CYCLES” – The Future is Now
Today’s poem is a reprise from a few months ago. It comes to mind as we look toward Rosemary’s Possibilities Playshop next week. In this event we use our intuitive skills to “plan forward” toward our “bodacious wish” for the future. How does the future and all our planning (we in the west or so good about planning!) relate to the practice of being present, living now? This poem gets at that cycle and enigma of time.
The Future is Now
If the future is now
Dreams are now.
This is Dream Time.
And is the past now?
Forgiveness is now.
This is the lesson.
Now is only now,
Past time, Dream Time,
All one now.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
PS: If you are in the vicinity of Annapolis, Maryland, check out the Playshop opportunity: Here’s the Link
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!
Know Thyself – Tools for Self-Knowledge – Richard’s Commentary
As I was writing my “morning pages” today I realized after a couple of paragraphs that I was writing today’s post and commentary on Rosemary’s Exploration article. I began my pages, as I often do, writing about the passage of time; here’s my entry:
We are running out of Leo fast; and then August. Everyone seems to be noting how fast time is now passing.
Of course it is all perception – as everything is. One effect on our perception is the amount of information we are bombarded with moment to moment. 24-hour news, FaceBook, email, the never ending stream of websites and blogs is literally overwhelming. When we are overwhelmed we can go into a spin, a dive that seems endless, frightening and high-speed. Time melts away in the dive – it almost feels like a death-defying dive!
And it is all perception! The only reality is of our own making, our own perceiving. To change our reality all we need to do is change our perspective. And this is a matter of intention and attention.
It begins with intention: what is going on inside. If we feel we are in free-fall, take a breath, maybe two, deep cleansing breaths, and then put the brakes on. Stop the fall. Sink into the dantien (the lower abdomen area) and breathe there. It is possible to float here. And as we float we can get a sense of flow, of going with the flow. The current doesn’t have to be a raging rapids; it can be a slow, lazy summer river taking its time in search of the sea. It can take on any speed we give it because this is our reality. We can imagine it to be any rate of flow we desire!
It’s good to take time out of a busy life to slow the pace. There really is no place to go. There’s nothing to do. Oh, OK, there are chores of life, tasks we set for ourselves, responsibilities we sign up for and lessons to learn. But we can be and breathe through all of these.
The “being part” is the witness who rides above all of the rapid pace, the wild passage of time, the endless stream of information. Rise up to that level and watch it all. How serious does it all appear to be – how real? How important?
From that vantage the passage of time seems almost irrelevant. Yes, we have our lessons to work out, our karmic Lesson Plan. Here’s where attention comes in. There are external influences that come to play in our lives. We have other people’s perceptions to take into account and to process. When we pay attention we can see and learn the lessons these interactions hold for us. This is a matter of shifting our perspective from “encounter” to “classroom.” We shift from “other” to “mirror” – how is this person mirroring me, my interactions and my behavior?
Inner perspective, intention, and outer perspective, attention, are always relative, which means they are adaptable, transmutable. The simple technique of using breath to do the adapting is all that’s needed. One breath can stop the fall, gain a fresh perspective and shift reality.
I have moved now well into my birthday month, working on my 70th year! To many, and sometimes me, this sounds old! And from this perspective that time is speeding up, I may not have much time left! So, I take a breath and try this on: “70 is the new 50”! Ah, that’s better and about how I feel! And soon enough 100 will be the new 70!
Rosemary asks: Have you explored tools to help you understand where you are coming from? What about where others are coming from? Do you value the differences in how people approach learning, or life, or do you expect everyone to see things as you see them? To listen and to hear exactly what you hear? To feel the way you feel?
My answer, as it is for many things these days, is “I practice Qigong.” Breathe deeply and gain a new perspective on your “reality.”
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Trim It Up!
You can trim your hair. You can trim your waistline. You can trim the bushes by the front door. But do you ever think about trimming what is surrounding you in your life?
Sometimes we assume that something, some person, or some situation, must stay with us simply because it is already in our life. The truth is that you can eliminate whatever does not serve your personal growth or your highest good.
What relationships in your life are you holding onto because they are long-term and familiar, even though they no longer serve your growth? Are you in a job that feels as if it robs you of joy but you feel that you need to go there every day anyway? What possessions do you surround yourself with that steal your energy because they require so much care or space or attention or money to maintain?
The list of questions to ask yourself goes on and on. Maybe it’s time for a trim.
Do you ever find yourself indulging in negative self-talk, the kind where you put yourself down or tell yourself that you are not good enough for something? Self-talk is another candidate for a trim.
What about beliefs that are holding you back? If you have unconscious beliefs that you made as a child they may be keeping you from the forward momentum in your growth that you desire for yourself. You can clear limiting beliefs and trim the ropes that hold you back.
When a client tells me a story, I am listening not just for the content but also for the way they are telling the story. The language gives me a lot of information about the meaning behind the story they are telling. Often the ‘trimming’ occurs when I suggest a different way to language the story. You can trim away the old energies and move beyond the way you habitually interacted with those facts. This is a huge benefit to someone who wants to leap forward in their life but feels their story is holding them back.
Just as Spring Cleaning is a way to clear the clutter – in the house, the closet and the mind – this Summer Trimming is called for when subtle or insidious forces are acting on us and our growth depends upon our trimming away what is holding us back or keeping us stuck.
Look around at what is in your life and make a conscious choice to keep it or discard it. Sometimes this requires a painful choice, but your personal growth depends on it.
The guidance I am receiving is that we have no time now to pussyfoot around. We are focusing on growth, on expansion, on moving into deeper territories where we live the examined life, not an unconscious one. If you have relationships, situations, ‘stuff’ that doesn’t support you, that you feel holds you back or, worse, is toxic for you, then it is time to trim that out of your life.
Think of the big tree that has all those dead branches trimmed off so that now all of its energy is focused on new growth. Think of how freely you’ll breathe when you’ve trimmed away the weight of the dead branches that are hanging on you!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: What Needs Trimming in Your Life?
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: What Needs Trimming in Your Life?
MONDAY’S POEM: Transparency
I have several ways I reach inside myself to gain insight (inner sight) into energies around me, intuitive knowing within me. One way is to use cards of various kinds: everything from a number of Tarot decks, to spirit and goddess cards by several authors and artists. I recently picked up a new set of cards that has been in our collection for some time but had remained untouched – The Mayan Oracle deck by Ariel Spilsbury and Michael Bryner. There is deep wisdom in these cards and the writing describing them. I am enjoying the study and the guidance they are bringing to me. I particularly like the subtitle: Return Path to the Stars!
Yesterday I drew a “lens” card, Transparency. I am challenged by it to become more open, clear-minded – like a canvas on which to paint a new self! Today’s poem came from considering this challenge!
Transparency
An open book, a sheet of white paper
Waiting for words, reaching for wisdom.
A gateless gate, the clear sky beyond
Flowing to then, leading to lessons.
A faceless face, the makeup in jars
Tempting the soul, offering a mask.
Five empty lines, a staff with no strokes
Begging for notes, listening for music.
It all begins somewhere, nowhere, now
In the emptiness and purity of light.
This is transparency!
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
A FRIDAY POEM FROM RHYTHMS AND CYCLES – “The Future is Now”
Rosemary’s Exploration, posted today on her blog (look for it here next Wednesday), is about choice, about choosing our family, our life, our Truth. It’s about rewriting our stories the way we want them to be lived and told.
I came across this poem before I read her article; they seem to go together. All time is NOW. When we live in the present every moment is a moment of our choosing. Dream into your own reality!
The Future is Now
If the future is now
Dreams are now.
This is Dream Time.
And is the past now?
Forgiveness is now.
This is the lesson.
Now is only now,
Past time, Dream Time,
All one now.
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Problems? Be a Solver! – Richard’s Commentary
Rosemary posted her “Exploration” on this subject the night of the New Moon in Cancer. As I do on the New Moons I cast an I Ching Gua – a six-line hexagram consisting of open, yin, and closed, yang lines. I posted my results and my interpretation of this I Ching divination on Monday this week (Link). The initial Gua I obtained was “Hardship” – it appeared that I may be in for some “problems” during the month (I use the I Ching to give me a sense of the incoming energies for the month ahead from New Moon to New Moon).
Here is what Divine Mother Mary channeled through Rosemary had to say about problems and how they might be solved:
When people seek solutions to problems, answers to questions, they do not realize that they are seeking help in making a change in their life. They want something outside themselves to change without changing anything in their interior life, and they want that one thing in their life to change without their having to change anything else in their life.
I am fascinated by this Mary quote because here is what Taoist Master Alfred Huang, quoting early 3rd Century BC philosopher, Mencius, offered to help us understand “Hardship” –
If one loves others and they do not respond in the same way,
one should turn inward and examine one’s own love.
If one treats others politely, and they do not return politeness,
one should turn inward and examine one’s own politeness.
When one does not realize what one desires,
one must turn inward and examine oneself in every point.
The message is clear from both Mother Mary and the I Ching: if you want to solve a problem look inside yourself for the solution. How do you need to change your perspective? What do you need to change to be a solver?
One must seek a solution to a problem by asking this question FIRST: “WHO do I need to BE in order that this problem be solved?” –Mary
Turn inward and examine oneself in every point. –Mencius
And the good news for this month is the “Hardship” doesn’t last! There is volatility in the I Ching and it changes to “Union.” I like that energy much better. It also suits the Cancer energy much better!
Enjoy your month of “Union.” Enjoy your problem solving by questing inside for the changes, the appropriate responses, the new perspectives that lead through the lessons to the positive outcomes you desire and deserve!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Problems? Be a Solver!
A message from Divine Mother Mary:
“The lessons of Life are not sought; they appear in every experience. One only has to be open to them, be ever in a receptive state, to receive the lessons being presented in any given moment and in any given situation.
When a human being stops learning, they cease to grow and they stagnate in their own foggy energy. It becomes more and more difficult for the Light to penetrate the fog.
When a person believes that they cannot change, their own energy field becomes stagnant and dis-ease follows to prove that they CAN change – their state of health.
People do not realize that their very thoughts can create the dis-ease in their body. Energy can stagnate, get stuck, in places in the body where pain can build and disharmony of tissues can arise. They CAN change.
When people seek solutions to problems, answers to questions, they do not realize that they are seeking help in making a change in their life. They want something outside themselves to change without changing anything in their interior life, and they want that one thing in their life to change without their having to change anything else in their life.
Problems are not solved in this way.
One must seek a solution to a problem by asking this question FIRST:
“WHO do I need to BE in order that this problem be solved?”
This is key to being a problem solver.
“WHO do I need to BE in order that _________________ happen?”
When a person works with this question FIRST, the road to the solution becomes evident.
One can always change oneself. All change arises from within the Self. The oft-quoted guidance to ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’ attests to this.
But people often see external causes, situations and other people as needing to change while not understanding the energetics of change.
The reason one must ‘Be The Change’ is to raise the vibrational frequency of a situation. If you are the vibrational frequency of the state desired, you emanate, you broadcast that frequency into the world around you. The more you spread that vibration around, the stronger YOUR EMANATION of that frequency, the more power you exert as an influence to change the vibrations around you.
This is true no matter how small or how large the situation is. This is why such a small percentage of a population can influence the energy of a city or region.
This is also true whether the energy being emanated is having the effect of raising the vibrational frequency or lowering it. Each person has a responsibility to all those around them to focus on emanating an uplifting vibratory frequency. Would you really want to take responsibility for all the effects on those around you when you broadcast a lowering vibration? If it only takes a small percentage of the population to have an influence, do you really want to join with those who are lowering the frequency level, even depressing it, of all the surroundings?
There is also karma attached to the broadcasting of energy. Be very conscious about the energy that you emanate because the world is a mirror reflecting that energy back to you, magnified! Choose the energy you wish to receive by choosing the energy wisely that you send out.
YOU have control over your own energy vibrational level. YOU can change this. By choosing consciously the energy that you put out into the world, you choose the changes you see in yourself, in your own life, and in the world around you.
Be the change you seek.”
Mother Mary via
Men and The Goddess 