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No More Auction Block for Me
Given the state of the political world this past year, I have started thinking about protest music – songs that make a statement about the need for social change. Protest music has been around a very long time – as long as there has been music and something to protest. At times the complaint is hidden within allegorical lyrics, or the tone of the song contradicts the content – for example it can sound like a ‘happy’ song though the words betray that. In other cases, happy lyrics can be sung in a sad sounding key. Other protest songs are musical storytelling – an oral history through song. ‘No More…
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Emotional and Spiritual Hoarding
Emotional and Spiritual Hoarding While thinking about what to write about, I wanted to explore the idea of ‘starting your day over again’. A key part of being able to start your day over is being able to make an honest self appraisal and say or do whatever is necessary to stop, regroup, and change your path. In the process of writing that post (I subsequently changed the title of that post to ‘Honest Self Appraisal without Self Loathing’), I remembered the John Lennon song Just Like Starting Over, and thought that I would use that song for that post. When I saw the video though, I saw that it did…
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A Shaman in Kansas
What would Dorothy have done following her return from the land of Oz? She got back home by clicking her heels three times and repeating a mantra to herself: ‘there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home’ until she did get back home. Then, when back home, nobody believed she had been on this amazing journey in the land of Oz. The movie ends at this point but if the story were to continue, what would have happened? She would have continued her journey. She would have looked for answers to understand what happened to her, and would learn what she would need to do to get answers…
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Throat Chakra
“Chakra five is the center related to communication through sound, vibration, self-expression, and creativity. It is the realm of consciousness that controls, creates, transmits, and receives communication, both within ourselves and between each other. It is the center of dynamic creativity, of synthesizing old ideas into something new. Its attributes include listening, speaking, writing, chanting, telepathy, and any of the arts – especially those related to music and sound.” Anodea Judith Prayer and meditation : prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening for the answer. The problem is that being in our own head during meditation is like sitting in a crowded bar – you can’t carry on…
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Fourth Chakra – The heart
All you need is love – So simple, yet so hard… The heart chakra is at the center of all the chakras. The element associated with it is air. We all breathe the same air. Without air we can only survive a few minutes. Without love, are we really living? When we breathe, there is a balance between input and output. The same holds true for all matters of the heart. One cannot give without ever receiving; one cannot endlessly receive without ever giving. As with breath, sometimes we hold our love out of fear. As with breath, we sometimes may need to do 2:1 loving* in order to restore…
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It’s Inevitable – How to Save the World
I am requesting that everybody reading this post set aside 1 minute each day to contemplate on healing the world / the universe. I have my alarm set to go off every evening at 9pm. At that time, I stop what I am doing and visualize the planet earth. I visualize healing energy to geographic locations that are experiencing political unrest, natural disasters or man-made disasters. I usually visualize blue, violet, or green healing energy to a particular spot or enveloping the whole globe. I actually had started doing this a while back, but had slacked off for the past month or so. This morning in a meditation though, I…
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You Spot It, You Got It
One indirect way that fears rear their ugly head is to take the form of projection – we believe others are feeling something that we in fact are feeling, but are unable to acknowledge: ‘THEY think I’m _____’; ‘THEY are saying ______’. It is then easier to focus on angry feelings: ‘ how dare someone judge me or gossip about me.’ Projecting your own fears makes them unmanageable because it is impossible to control what someone else is thinking or doing. But if you identify and ‘own’ your feelings, then it becomes more likely that you can work through them. You can become more active in getting the necessary skills…
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Third Chakra – Solar Plexus
As we move from first and second to third chakra, we move from passive elements of earth – influenced by gravity; and water, going down the path of least resistance, to fire which burns up, destroys and transforms. First we build a sturdy house where we can get all our basic needs met and feel safe. We make a family and allow ourselves to experience joy and pleasure. Then we say to ourselves ‘is this all there is?’. There is this whole great big world out there, where do I fit in it? Part of the work of the third chakra includes our will and our sense of power; our…
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Sacral Chakra
As we work our way up the chakras, it is important to remember that energy flows downwards as well as upwards. All chakras are active and influence each other both positively and negatively depending on our history and what we have worked on as well as what we are currently acutely dealing with. As we move from the first chakra to the second, our energy expands: From earth to water, there is a liberation of energy. Once you are safe and your basic needs are met, there is now time for pleasure and joy. There is the image of a child on a beach, running towards the ocean, then running…
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creating a sacred space
In order to begin the practice of meditation one needs to create a sacred space. Sacred spaces are not just meant to be in cathedrals, churches or other special locations. A sacred space is an area that you set aside for yourself – a space where you can spend some time in prayer, that is dedicated to prayerful thinking and can have objects that are spiritual or contemplative in nature; or maybe they are simply pretty to look at. A candle, statue, rosary, sage, incense are some items that come to mind. Depending on your spiritual inclinations, you could have a cross; a Buddha statue; or prayer beads – whatever…