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ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Be Your Real Self!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Be Your Real Self!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Exploring the Field of All Possibilities
When we feel stuck in our progress, whether it be on a specific project or task or we are stuck in a bigger way, not knowing our purpose in life or not knowing how to shift or eliminate a particular situation or relationship, we tend to drop into a sort of tunnel vision about it.
Have you ever found yourself thinking only of your problem? Nothing else seems to get onto your radar screen. Solutions seem ‘out of sight’ and, maybe, not even available at all. There’s nothing beyond what you can see.
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 often get stuck in tunnel vision because our belief structure, at the unconscious level, restricts us from moving into the exploratory experience of curiosity about what else might be possible. We know what our problems are and we keep looking at them as if they will suddenly jump up and tell us how to solve them. If only that were true!
What we must learn to do instead is to seek the solutions beyond the point where the problem lies.
When I worked on the Hubble Space Telescope some of the astronomers decided to point the telescope at dark places in the sky that looked empty when viewed through earth-based telescopes. No one knew if there would be anything there since nothing had ever been seen in that particular area before.
What emerged were huge fields of never-before-seen stars and galaxies! What had looked empty for all the years of humans looking at the sky from Earth were now filled with exciting stars and galaxies and other celestial presences. How exciting it was!
Where is the parallel to this in your life? What have you been looking at through your ‘old eyes,’ that is, through the lens of your old beliefs? Do you wonder if there is anything that you haven’t seen yet? Do you hope that there IS something there?
This is the pursuit of solutions that can lead you to exploring the field of all possibilities. When you tie yourself to what is known already, you limit your own field of view to see just what you expect to see. When, however, you open yourself, with curiosity, to whatever might be waiting for you, ALL possibilities can reveal themselves to you!
Examine the beliefs, those inner decisions that reside at the unconscious level, that might be holding you hostage and limiting you to tunnel vision. Discard and clear those limiting beliefs.
Then turn yourself toward an exploration of what might be there, waiting just beyond what you can see. There are always possibilities beyond the one you see with tunnel vision.
How exciting this exploration can be!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: The Possibilities Playshop is Saturday; Let’s Play!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: The Possibilities Playshop is Saturday; Let’s Play!
PS: As a personal note I have been using my Playbook I created during Rosemary’s January Playshop every new moon, full moon and in-between. It is a great way for this male to get in touch with my feminine side and my intuitive powers.
Here’s the link for more information and registration: Playshop
5 Steps to the First Step – Richard’s Commentary
You know that old expression – “watch that first step; it’s a doozy”? Well, Rosemary assures us not to worry too much about it because that step can be divided up into five! And I know how well this works.
A few years ago, we were still in Colorado, when Rosemary offered a weekend seminar in her program, The Intuition Edge. Across two days of a workshop setting (more like a playshop!) we learned her system to determine that next, first step. It included these five lead-up steps Rosemary outlined in her post which I reposted here yesterday. As a quick reference here they are again:
- Breathe
- Connect to Your Vision
- Clear the Blocks
- Commit to Forward Motion
- Connect with Your Intuition, Your Inner Guidance and Ask for the First Step to be Unveiled to You
As you might guess I really like that first step. I do a lot of breathing; it’s part of my Qigong practice, my Yoga practice, my meditation practice. When awareness needs centering, breathing is the best approach.
It is the breath that helps us connect with anything, and everything. It is essential to connect within. And where does that vision of where we want to go next reside? Within!
How do you “see” your vision? I think we in the west call this direction we are headed a “vision” because we are such a visual culture. But can you sense your vision in other ways? Can you taste it, smell it, hear it, touch it? If you truly want to activate your vision apply all of your senses; begin to experience the vision in your whole body, as if it is real. It is real!
What blocks stand between you and your vision? Do you fear attaining that vision? Do you hesitate because you are unsure if it is the “right” vision? Are you confident you have the resources needed? There are many ways we sabotage ourselves. This may be the most important and the most difficult step of the five. Do the inner work here, whether it’s to dispel limiting beliefs, move through inner-child fears or gain trust in yourself and the Universe.
Commitment is a requirement. If you are not truly committed to your vision then no “first step” will appear. If the commitment is weak, go back to step 2 and connect or re-connect to that vision. This is a process. It is likely not a linear one but circular; view it as a spiral as you get closer and clearer about your vision.
When you are committed go for the guidance. Once again this is inner guidance and once again we get there, seek it through the breath. See why I like this process so much? We get to breathe!
And then there are many tools to use to stimulate and listen to the inner guidance, that intuitive side of our consciousness, our intuition edge. Use as many as you need and are comfortable with. Use divination tools like a pendulum, oracle cards, Tarot cards, astrology, numerology. Test your vision using these tools and ask for the next step toward that vision. Remember, you only need the NEXT step.
Then TAKE it…”step out in innocence and trust.”
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: 5 Steps to the First Step
Have you ever felt ready to step out, to move toward a vision, a dream, a goal and been paralyzed or unable to move forward?
We all have, at some point. We can see where we want to go. We can feel what it will feel like to be there. We can almost taste that space. And, for some reason, we are stuck. We can’t seem to put one foot in front of the other and move.
What does it take to get to that destination?
It takes the First Step.
Once you have taken that First Step, the second, third and fourth are much easier to take. And they seem to be evident, with a lot less confusion or trepidation, than the first one.
But what will keep you from taking that First Step? A lot of things. Fear. Doubt. A sense of unworthiness. Confusion about what the First Step is. A Concern that you don’t have the entire route mapped out and you don’t want to take the First Step until you know for certain what every subsequent step looks like. A lack of confidence in yourself. A lack of commitment to actually moving toward that dream.
So what can you do when you are stuck in the Paralysis of Step Zero?
Here are the 5 Steps to the First Step:
- Breathe. Now this might seem a simplistic approach but this really is the first action to take in any process. Take a deep breath. Repeat. This sets the stage for the rest of the process.
- Connect to Your Vision. Get the dream/vision/goal into clear focus in your mind’s eye. Feel it. Sense it. See it. Taste it. Make it real to your unconscious mind
- Clear the Blocks. Identify what is or has been holding you back. What beliefs are in the way? What negative self-talk are you putting in your mind that convinces you to stay stuck? This is a very important step! Get help with this because you can be blind to your blocks.
- Commit to Forward Motion. All the dreams in your head will remain there unless you make an honest and whole-hearted commitment to moving forward. Do you really want that dream or vision? HOW MUCH do you want it? Enough to commit yourself and your energy and your time to it? If you can’t commit, then go back to Step 1 and Breathe before revisiting Step 2 to decide if you need to tweak that Vision.
- Connect with Your Intuition, Your Inner Guidance and Ask for the First Step to be Unveiled to You. Ask only for the First Step! If you try to control the whole journey your Controller takes over. You really want the curious Explorer within you to take the First Step!
Then, step out in innocence and trust.
The First Step will reveal the Second which will reveal the Third. If you can’t see where to step next, then pause and Breathe. Repeat Steps 1 through 5 for the Next Step.
You can do this!
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!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Be Your Brightest Self!
…And shine like the star that you are!
It is time. No more hiding your light under the proverbial basket. You were formed from the stardust of the Big Bang. You were meant to SHINE!
What’s holding you back? Are you shining your light brightly in the world? Are you bringing light to everything that you do by being the light that you really are?
Here is what this can look like in your everyday life.
When you are in conversation with another person, you can really open your heart and listen, not just with your ears, but with your heart as well. You can hold the thought in your own mind that, ‘You are a being of light and I hold you in my heart with love.’ Hear what they are saying and hold them, as a person, in your heart in the light of love. How different would your response be if this is what was happening on your side of the conversation no matter what happened on their side?
A friend of mine posted on Facebook recently that someone called him an idiot. He just thought about the person with love. Do you think you could do that?
Remember that having healthy boundaries allows you to be who you really are no matter what is going on around you. Is someone having a bad day? Can you still hold them in your heart in the light of love and allow them to have the space to have a bad day on their own? Or do you feel as if you need to rush in and fix things or get them to get out of their bad mood? What is yours to do in this situation?
Sometimes being the light that you are means giving someone else space to be wherever they are in the moment. You remain the light no matter what they are doing on their side of that healthy boundary, even if they try to drag you across the fence into their own territory. Resist this and hold the light.
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?
The light is always shining within you even when you forget that it is there. When your day appears to be all darkness, the challenge is to find the light that lives within you like an eternal flame, your very own pilot light. Sometimes you need to ask for help in being reminded that you have that light inside you. Ask for that help.
Your light is meant to shine. Your life is meant to be filled with light. On the dark days there is still some light to be found. No matter how dark things might look to you now, as Annie the orphan sings, ‘The sun’ll come out tomorrow’!
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?
Be your brightest self. Shine that light. Thank you!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Be Your Brighest Self!
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Be Your Brighest Self!
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!
Men and The Goddess 