The saying, “curiosity killed the cat”, certainly does not apply to me. I am a spiritual warrior. Wanting, desiring more, more information, diving deep and expanding. Breathing. Pondering and wondering, for the answers to what else is there for me to know. For this curiosity, at times, very ferocious, I search out books and love to read. For this I am eternally grateful.
Books have been a love of mine since very young. My Mom would take us to the library, remember those? And, I would love walking through the aisles, reading the titles, the cataloging label, and breathing in the smell of words upon paper. As I got older, I would ride my bike and bring home mostly fiction. It was one of several sanctuary’s for me.
As a Certified Spiritual Life Coach, the momentum of my reading has expanded exponentially. There are not enough minutes in a day for all the books I want to read. As I share my passion to those who are curious, I offer a reading list. Why? Because sometimes that is the best way to teach. So, I’ve attached my Suggested Reading list. Please take a moment to ponder the list. Breathe. And, see what comes up. If one or more titles resonate to you, get the book and read. There is something in the book that you have called out to for an answer. The answer is in the book, or, at least the next step on your path.
Also, on the list are meditation CD suggestions. All of these I have and still use. Another “toy” in my toy box. Enjoy!
Be Ferociously Curious
Or at least curious in trying new genres of books. Fiction, non-fiction, science, cosmology, metaphysics, just to name a few. Rereading some of the ones on my list also teach me something I didn’t catch the first or second time around.
Please feel free to add your favorite book(s). I love sharing! Post them in comments and also let me know what you think of this post. Blessings
Cre8tive Connections Suggested Resources
Angel Cards – Doreen Virtue
Angels of Abundance: Heaven’s 11 Messages to Help You Manifest Support, Supply, and Every Form of Abundance ~ Doreen virtue and Grant Virtue
The Art and Science of Raja Yoga ~ Swami Kriyananda
Autobiography of a Yogi ~ Parmahansa Yogananda
The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have ~ Mark Nepo
Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Co-creating at its Best: A Conversation Between Master Teachers ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer and Esther Hicks
Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself ~ Melody Beattie
Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
Gift of Change: Spiritual Guidance for Living Your Best Life ~ Marianne Williamson
The Four Agreements ~ Don Miguel Ruiz
The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness ~ Gary Zukav and Linda Francis
The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the Teaching of Abraham ~ Ester Hicks and Jerry Hicks
The Law of Science: Using the Power of Spirit to Create Health, Prosperity, and Happiness ~ Parmahansa Yogananda
The Little Book of Bleeps: “Ponder These for Awhile!” Quotations from the Movie, “What the Bleep Do We Know!?” ~ William Arntz and Betsy Chasse (Editors)
Real World Lessons
Think and Grow Rich ~ Napoleon Hill
Love Without Conditions ~ Paul Ferrini
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey ~ Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? ~ Rick Warren
A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles” ~ Marianne Williamson
The Four Agreements ~ Don Miguel Ruiz
The Science of Mind: A Philosophy, A Faith, A Way to Live ~ Ernest Holmes
The Secret of Letting Go ~ Guy Finlay
The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire ~ Deepok Chopra
The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself ~ Michael S. Singer
What You Think of Me is None of My Business ~ Dr. Terry Cole-Whittaker
Wishes Fulfilled: Mastering the Art of Manifesting ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
It Works: The Famous Little Red Book That Makes Your Dreams Come True! ~ R. H. Jarrett
You Can Heal Your Life ~ Louise Hay
Your Inner Awakening: The Work of Byron Katie: Four Questions that Will Transform Your Life ~ Byron Katie
Meditation CD’s:
Getting into the Vortex: Guided Meditations CD and User Guide ~ Esther Hicks and Jerry Hicks
Namaste ~ by Namaste
Relax, Soothing Sounds for Mind & Spirit ~ Bath & Body Works
A very dear friend of mine suggested that I blog. So, here I go. Not knowing what to blog about, I thought I would start out with what “being happy” is for me. Take from it what you will, try it on, see if it fits, if not, don’t use it or maybe if something remotely resonates, then make it your own. There are no rules. I do not have to do anything. Truly, if you think about it, the only rules that I live by are the ones I created. These rules are also called beliefs.
Being happy for me is about being in completely joy anywhere with anyone under any circumstance. We all have lives to lead and inevitably we have to relate, be with others. Some make us very happy while others, well, don’t. It is just that.
I have been researching my whole life through experiences, although I did not know it at the time, but I was creating a manual if you will, of what my likes and dislikes are. I also created within that what and who I want to play with. Why? Because when I make life a game, then everything that I experience I can much easily choose whether I like it or not. Do I want to research it more? Is it a keeper or maybe I’ll hang around the belief or the person for a specific need that needs fulfilling.
Thoughts, Beliefs and Actions
My beliefs initially were created from a thought. Thoughts become things if we create the momentum. The momentum of a thought is created within 17 seconds. What?!!! 17 seconds, yes, just try it out. Create a thought and count along with it. Like a car getting into first gear after awhile, it builds momentum, then after 68 seconds the car, me, has built momentum into a belief. For example, It’s a beautiful day, I could wash the car, I really don’t want to wash the car, maybe I’ll take a walk, yes I’ll take a walk, wonder what I’ll see, don’t know and will appreciate whatever it is I do see, I love my life.
So, that was pretty easy, do you think? Try the other avenue, It’s a beautiful day, I could wash the car, I really don’t want to wash the car, maybe I’ll take it somewhere and pay someone, then I’ll spend money and I don’t want to spend money, why can’t my husband know that I want the car washed and he just do it. I do not like my car, I’m mad at my husband and I need more money.
Try it out and see. While doing this, take a body scan and see where the feelings that arise come up. Do you feel exhilaration and joy? Where? Your heart or head. How about the feeling of anger and upset? Do you feel it in the same place but maybe just a tightening of the chest and now you have a headache. Good to know, is that all of this whether good or not so good is that it is just feedback. No one is wrong.
Rediscover Joy
When we become aware of these feelings then we are on the right path of enlightenment and pure joy most of the time. In time with deep breathing and meditation and just being aware, you will find as I did that life can be incredibly beautiful, happy, joyous, creative, bountiful and the list goes on.
Everyone finds immediate joy in something. Think of one thing right now that brings you immediate joy. Mine is being outside in nature. When I think of nature I am at ease, calm and very happy. There are no attachments or condition on nature, for me, that requires me to be happy. In other words, I live life unconditionally more and more in love with everything because I go to my Happy Place, nature, most if not all of the time. Whether I am home creating quilts, at work, driving, in a city with all the hustle and bustle; I find joy in everything.
When this happens I see more beauty, my vibration and energy are high and so I am attracting the same energy level. People, things, abundance, joy are coming my way because that is what I am putting out vibrationally. Like attracts like.
Letting Go of Attachments
It is when we put conditions and attachments on people and things that gets us off of our path and unhappy and cranky. Think of something in the past where this happened to you. Could have even been unconscious at a dinner or meeting or with the family and out of the blue something was said, not said or done or not done and then you get on that hamster wheel of fear.
Yes, that is what negative emotion is is it is all based on some fear created by our belief system. And, our belief system was created by our thoughts. These thoughts and belief systems were started when we were very young and then there were other incidences that occurred later in life that validated those beliefs. Now they are pretty permanent in our cellular structure.
Are You Using Meditation?
First and foremost is to breathe, deep gut breaths, then just be with the feeling, whether good or not so good. If you have the time, try to figure out where it came from. If not, no worries. Really. Just go to your happy place.
I have found that daily meditation, walks in nature are my source of immediate joy. Just because I am considered an adult by my age I love being a child, acting like one and really getting into imagination and creativity. My favorite sport is laughing and it is risk-free, I don’t need special insurance for it, and most importantly, is that it is contagious.
One of my recent favorite sources of inspiration besides the above is Abraham-Hicks. Check her out on the internet, YouTube and Pinterest. Oh, and Pinterest is another source of fun and joy for me too! Actually I have lots. Lots and lots of joy and happy people, places and things.
Key to all of this is being congruent with my source, my spiritual guidance is always showing up especially in nature, smiling giggling children, quilting and life experiences.
Check out my website, www.cre8tiveconnections.com, go outside, find your happy place and keep that energy that vibration of pure joy within you and ride the path, your path of joy, enlightenment and happiness.
Happy Spring… What a beautiful day it is and, once I finish writing this for the Better Life Blog, I am not going to miss being outside and enjoying Spring.
Behind our house is an abundance of flora and fauna. There is so much to see that in every moment I see something new and exciting. Every day I have the same or pretty close to it at least, routine. I greet the day with appreciation of me (I know that may sound silly, but really, it is true), meditate and then move on to having a cup of tea, breakfast and my daily spiritual readings. Then I get my walking shoes on and head outside. I absolutely love it, no matter the weather (unless it is really storming bad, but then again, that is what raincoats are for). Who said I had to be 6 to jump in a puddle. Really!
My roses are blooming, the trumpet vine is coating the back fence and our Star Jasmine is just itching to explode with white star flowers and a fragrance that only my allergies will cause me upset, if I let it. Yes, I have allergies. This year was a bad one. What did I do about it, dealt with it. Yep, tried a handful of natural, homeopathic remedies and found one that works. It has been my remedy for the itchy watery eyes and runny nose. I bring this up because some of us are “allergic” to something. Mine is pollen. I love the great outdoors and beauty that surrounds me when I am outside that I will put my bodies “reactions” just so I can be outside, enjoying, taking in, experiencing the beauty and energy that coats me when I am in the outside.
Appreciate Re-birth & Take Part
Springtime is when everything is blooming, or birthing. The ducklings are so cute, the little bunnies are even cuter. The flora and fauna are telling us to bloom where we have been planted, to shine our light so that others can shine theirs. The energy that I receive when outside is limitless and I want to keep that feeling and retain that energy always and then share it. Yes, energy. Everything is expanding and extending itself, reaching for more expansion, more light. We have all rested and have been hibernating these past few months, storing up, so we can go out and enjoy, have fun and expand who we are and where we are going.
For others, they might have an “allergic reaction” to food or certain people. The same thing applies. How you respond to anything, whether pollen, food or people or places, it is what you do with that “reaction” that is key. I dealt with mine with a homeopathic treatment. I also meditate and do deep breathing. This helps me to calm the mind and receive a “download” for my remedy. Some things take time. And, for those types of “allergic reactions” I give myself the attention I need to just BE. Be who I am, breathe and know that “this too shall pass”. Just as my allergic reaction to pollen will pass. For there is another season that I will bloom and grow and enjoy.
Appreciate Nature’s Beauty
Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you, even if you are still experiencing rain or even snow and darkness. Expand your heart and mind to the Sun that is always shining, just beyond those clouds. The Sun shines on us all which creates the abundance of the beauty that is before you in the blooming springtime and within you.
“Appreciate what is, be eager for what is coming and know that there is great love for you here.” Abraham-Hicks
What the heck! Although I find myself believing I’m on the forefront of my awakening, enlightenment and moving forward on my path, I’ve found that I still have repeat performances of habits and beliefs that I thought were put to rest. Why is that? Mmmm. Not sure though I believe that a lot of these repeat performances have become more profound because I see them happening and I see myself having them, in them, more aware of how I am responding in the moment. Is this such a bad thing? I think not, although I do get a little peeved with myself for not just BEing with whatever comes up.
Is it a good thing? Yes… And no!
Yes, because I am “disassociating” with my ego as it is taking me on a tug of war with whatever It is happening. And, I am able to sit, breath, assess and watch myself, feel myself BEing with it all. Knowing that I can manage my energy during the process is key. Why would I want to activate a negative energy is truly beyond me.
I know this. I am a certified spiritual life coach and have the tools to deactivate the negativity. The hard part for me now is the fact that I see it with others. The hard part being that I see it within them which is within me. With that said, it means that I have to clean up my negative, pointing the finger of blame and shame, in order to heal and find joy in every moment. It also means, that the joy is in the knowingness of this simple awareness.
Letting Go of Negativity
Now the “No” aspect of this is what I just stated, that I know I need to not be in the negativity and BE in the joy for the majority of the day…no matter what is going on outside of me. Then I will be constantly in joy and there won’t be anything other then unconditional love wherever I go.
The negativity, blame and shame pointing finger is also a resistance to allowing my truth show up. How do I know this? Because I have the tools, such as, affirmations, breath work, intention, meditation just to name a few. When I use these tools I allow myself to see that these “things” are not me, they are not who I AM. I just have kept an attachment to them because they had served a purpose long ago.
It is this attachment to, clinging to some “thing” that defined who I WAS and it got me through some thing so I kept it in my baggage. You know, that, “just in case”, I needed it to help me through something in the future.Well, I am here to say that it is time to let that go.
Stay in the Moment
Let the unfolding of my truth be the I AM in the moment, whatever happens, whatever is happening or whatever will happen. Because, as some of you may know, the only moment is in the now. Being present in the now allows me to remove myself from whatever is happening, while it is happening, and let the “whatever happening”, to just unfold, let my life unfold as it should be, could be, will be.
What this does, is to let happen happen with or without my involvement other than just BEing there, in it. When this happens I am not attaching myself to something or someone else AND, whatever that something is or someone else’s stuff is, will stay that way. Some thing, someone else’s stuff. I get to keep my energy and happy state intact and whatever be will be with or without my involvement.
When I sit for a bit with this awareness, I realize that I did forget for just a brief moment. Then I remind myself that I AM an amazing light energy in a physical body having physical experiences that is my human truth. My REAL truth is that I AM light, love and connected to the greatest source, God! God knows my truth to be the co creative light and that wherever I go I spread that to everyone that I meet and everything I see. For that is my truth.
Letting go of the habits that do not serve me any longer and allow new greater more expanding habits to enter in my life. Some may not care for the term habit, but it works for me. Some may prefer to use a term that is easier for them to use, in order to, reach their desired dreams. It is all good, all for the greater good.
Took a sabbatical. Some time off and observed life. Looked at what I saw and how I responded to my life and others, and just let life be whatever.
It felt good to let certain things go and just sit in the back seat.
Growing up there were five of us kids and I remember as a child traveling in the station wagon (remember those) and my mom would sometimes take all of us to visit our grandparents or travel (not too far). She would drive pretty fast, I thought, and now I know why. From the back seats she wold hear relentlessly, “She touched me. He’s bothering me. I’m hungry. When are we going to get there. I have to go to the bathroom. Can I change places?” There were no cell phones or iPod’s in those days to entertain us.
So, my mom would make up games, basically to distract us, to quiet her world no doubt. There was the alphabet license plate game and another one was where we had to come up with words from the 3 letters on a license plate.
A Playful Life is a Better Life
I loved it. Because I loved playing games. I still play that game today as I drive. I think it keeps my brain in good working order.
My husband says I’m competitive. I say I love to play games because I love to play, especially games. Winning is secondary. The main reason is that it usually involves others and it is fun.
It gives me an excitement about the “what’s next”, the mystery of my existence or purpose. Loving the not knowing and anticipating and being enthusiastic about the next step is a great feeling, especially when it is about what is next on my path. Letting go and allowing is so freeing.
The observer is stepping back, though involved, and sensing, seeing the movie that is playing before the self. Seeing, sensing action or reaction for me and others.
Being an observer allows me to really and truthfully see my true self, sometimes humbly, learning and hopefully growing from that awakening.
My Mom was fun and a classy lady but being driven by her with the five of us in the back seats we knew we would get wherever we needed to be and fast!
I’m in the driver’s seat now and ready to experience and express those observations from a participant’s point of view. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride, it may get a little bumpy for some of you and we may go fast, but it will definitely be fun!