Let's change the world with LOVE!

I was having a discussion with a co-worker earlier this week about politics and how all of it is just so screwed up. I was about to say “especially in America,” but I am pretty sure it is screwed up all over the place. I just FEEL like it is extremely screwed up here since I live here and these things affect me.

I am a pretty liberal, left-wing person. I believe in human rights for everyone; I believe that if you get knocked up, you deserve to have the right to do what YOU feel is right for YOURSELF; I believe that foods should be labeled on whether or not they have GMOs; I believe we have the right to stand up for what we believe in and not get in trouble; and most importantly, I believe in LOVE.

If we were to remove all the political parties, all the huge corporations who run the country (because if you didn’t know this already, the President doesn’t really run the country—the huge corporations with all their money do), and just have a society based on love, I think it would fix all of our problems.

Love is an extremely powerful thing! When you send love out to the Universe, you get love in return. When you send hate out to the Universe, you get hate in return. Our vibrational energies, our thoughts, and our feelings are what we send out there and if we are having negative experiences, we are going to experience more negativity.

Reading Don Miguel Ruiz books have helped me in this more loving journey. There are other books that have helped too, and the people I have in my life have helped, meditation has helped. There are so many things that have made me turn into a more loving and caring person over the past couple of years. I am happy, exceedingly so, and that happiness is shared with people that I hold dear to my heart. And by being happy, by being filled with love, I get it all back in return because that’s what I am sending the Universe.

Going back to the discussion with my co-worker, he essentially told me that I am living in the wrong era—that I need to be back in the 60’s when love was what everyone had and experienced. I am sure politics were still pretty shitty then (women’s rights, voting, etc.), but it does seem to be more fitting for me and my belief on if we just loved one another, we would fix all our problems.

But think about it, how many times are we angry or frustrated or irritated? And we usually get MORE angry, frustrated, or irritated because that is the vibrational energy we are sending to the Universe, so the Universe gives us more. I am not saying I don’t get angry, frustrated, or irritated—I do, quite regularly, but I pay more attention to when it happens now. I find ways to quickly stop feeling that way by going for a walk, meditating, baking, doing something that makes me return to happiness.

Now, if we stopped letting these negative emotions have so much influence over our lives, and instead realized we can switch what is happening to a more positive experience, we could change everything. If people who may think that gay people are wrong based on religious factors realized that they were created by the God they believed in, they should love them. God loves all creatures, right? That includes gays, transgendered, republicans (hehe), and everyone and everything on this planet. While I don’t believe in “God,” but instead a Divine somewhere up there, I understand this concept perfectly. We were all created by something, and while we all have our own opinions, ideas, lives, and the like, we are all part of each other. We are all connected because we came from the same thing.

I am not saying it’s easy or that it is even going to happen, but it is a nice thought. And maybe if I continue to think it and send it to the Universe it will happen one day. I have 100% belief in the Universe delivering what we want (and what we don’t want) because the Universe delivers things to me all the time! It may come a couple years later, but it always comes. Maybe we can just all send some love to everyone, even people we don’t like, so that we can start changing this country, this world, into a more loving one.

Starting tomorrow, I am off for a two-day meditation retreat, and I plan on sending a lot of love and kindness out to the world. I know we can change the world if we all try.

Have a great weekend. And remember to take a minute or two to say thank you to someone, to the Universe, to mother nature, and to yourself, for whatever it is that has been given to you or experienced by you.

If we want to change the world to be more loving, let's spread some love today!

Like I said in an earlier post about getting rid of people who have nothing but negativity or are not necessarily healthy for me, I should mention all the lovely people I have in my life NOW. It seems that getting rid of the bad/old/negative/whatever you want to call it, it has made room for some pretty amazing people.

One person in particular sticks out in mind. And this quote fits how I feel perfectly:

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle our inner spirit" ~Albert Schweitzer

I see her probably more than I see any other person besides my partner. I see her Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 7.30 in the morning. Now, we met because she started to work at my chiropractor a couple of months ago. And can I just say how much I love getting hooked up to my torture devises now that she’s there? She is so upbeat, positive, loving, and just an incredible human being. I am really so blessed to have her in my life. Every morning I walk in that office, and even if I am having a crappy morning, her smiles, laughter, hugs, and just overall loveliness makes me forget about my problems. She’s a healer of all sorts, and I can’t help but feel this deep connection with her. I think the two of us are learning so much from each other, or at least I hope so. We don’t hang out too much, but I am hoping that changes soon. And it will. Monday we are going to the Tegan and Sara concert, and I can’t wait to dance and sing with her. Really, I am just excited that it seems like I have a true friend.

I always believed that I was one of those people who lit up the room, made the room a little happier or positive when I walked in. Not to be self-involved, but it's true. I like to think of my personality, energy, and presence as something uplifting. Sam is the same way, which may be why I am so excited to have her in my life.

Since my person—my best, best, best, best friend—moved away last year, it has been extremely hard for me to have friends. I have had them, sure, but I have also lost touch with most of them for various reason. Having Sam around has helped me realize that there are some really awesome people out in the world, and luckily I have her and my person.

I also started a bookclub a few months ago, and the ladies in it all seem to be so lovely! I am looking forward to getting to know them a little bit more, because I think that we will all get along smashingly well.

I really just wanted to write this to say thank you to my new friend, Sam, and show her how much she means to me in these few short months. I think it is so important to have people in your life that you look forward to seeing, hearing from, or just hanging out. She has become one of those people for me.

Take the time today to say thank you or send a little text message saying a person is in your life. We need to all love if we want to see the world change into a more loving place. And I think that sending love to someone is a good way to start. And hopefully they get inspired and repeat the process—like a pay it forward, but with love.

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do or don’t do. I am hoping to get out for a hike and some fly fishing.

xx

The New Moon

A friend of mine does Lunar Lady Nights every month on the new moon. This is the first time I am actually going, but I receive emails every month giving a little teaser of what this new moon will be bringing the month. April seems like a pretty intense month. It is also really exciting because she slightly mentions a big event that's happening on my exact birthday this year. I would love to get a reading from her in the near future, maybe for my birthday, because the many friends that have seen her say that they are totally blown away by her readings. Plus, when I told her when my birthday was the last time I saw her, she said that this year was going to extremely interesting for me since the 11th square falls exactly on my birthday.

Anyway, below is the brief description she sent all of us on Monday. Hopefully this will help explain things for people, like me, who have been struggling with some things this past month with Mercury being retrograde. I will give an update to this after tonight when we meet.

Happy Wednesday. And remember, if you're struggling, this too will pass. :)

From Donna:Spring has sprung and the Aries New Moon, the first new moon of the natural year, occurs on Wednesday, April 10th at 2:35 am MST.  This New Moon carries a lot of exciting, dynamic and even explosive energy with Uranus, Venus, Mars and the newly discovered planet Eris joining the Sun and Moon in Aries, the sign of instinctive, impulsive action and new beginnings.  So after months and months and months of what has seemed like 'celestial brakes' on efforts to move forward with various projects and ideas both individually and collectively, the time is finally ripe to be able to implement and initiate new plans and really begin to make things happen.  So Ladies, its time to start your engines!  But remember, Aries teaches us to be assertive -- not aggressive, courageous -- not impetuous, and above all, to consider the impact our personal decisions and actions will have upon others -- not just ourselves.

All this volatile energy comes with the following cautionary disclaimer:  Beware of angry or reactionary tendencies that are not at all well thought out (can you say North Korea?!).  We're nearing eclipse season once again, as well as an upcoming Pluto retrograde.  All of the Aries planets except Uranus are still in a wide square aspect (conflict/choices) to Pluto in Capricorn which is coming to a powerful standstill coinciding with its annual station retrograde on the 12th just two days after the Aries New Moon!  Uranus and Pluto are also closing in on their next exact square at 11 degrees Aries/Capricorn which will happen on May 20th. What's begun under this New Moon's ambitious influence will have long-term, far-reaching and consequential effects -- perhaps much more so than originally intended or bargained for!

Three eclipses occur during April and May:  two Lunar (Full Moons) and one Solar (New Moon).  The first Lunar Eclipse is on April 25th at 5 degrees Scorpio.  Next a Solar Eclipse occurs on May 9th at 19 degrees Taurus (conjunct the Moon's South Node and coinciding with next month's Taurus New Moon).  This Solar Eclipse includes occultations (eclipse like events) of Mars and Mercury which will only intensify the natural 'reboot' energy of this eclipse relative to desires and ideas.  Finally, a second Lunar Eclipse in this series happens on May 24th at 4 degrees Sagittarius.  It opposes the Lunar Eclipse that occurred last November 28th at 6 degrees Gemini.  Whatever came to an end last November is now ready to be reborn and birthed anew.  But I'm getting ahead of myself here...  More on these two upcoming eclipse events at May's Lunar Ladies Night.  Suffice it to say this Aries New Moon kick-starts a LOT of pent up celestial energy that's ready to breakthrough and bust out over the next several months!

storm clouds and moving on

Dark clouds surround this little city, taunting us with a storm. As I was driving in this morning, I was staring at them at a stop light. They were moving so fast—faster than I’d ever seen clouds move before. And as I was sitting there, staring into the clouds, I was thinking, LIFE is moving faster than I’d ever realized before. It is already April of 2013! It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that I was celebrating the New Year with my beloved. And then I got to thinking, why can’t we move on just as quickly as these clouds, or just as quickly as life? Why do you get stuck in a rut and let our emotions rule us, our feelings take over, and not simply acknowledge it and then let it move on? Most of the time, we want things to move quickly; hurt feelings, anger, irritation, and the like, because they are the most unpleasant feelings. But, for some reason, we always choose to hold on to something.

I am sitting here writing, and my ear is ringing extremely loud—hopefully whoever it is talking about me are saying only positive things.

I have been extremely irritable lately. I don’t know if it is because of Mercury Retrograde, or perhaps this extremely powerful New Moon coming up Wednesday morning… but it’s been so unlike me. I have been getting so irritated about the smallest things, things I would usually just brush aside and not let get to me. But for the past week or so, I am just plain old irritated. Maybe it’s because people don’t listen. There is always a distraction happening, that when you start talking, sure the other persons realizes this, but when they ask you something that you’d already described, you know they weren’t truly listen.  I think that’s one of the biggest annoyances I have, and it makes me highly irritated. And unfortunately, this irritation hasn’t been moving on as quickly as I would like it to. It just lingers, and then more irritation occurs, and then I am just this giant ball of energetic irritation! It’s awful!

So as I am staring into the clouds, and am in awe of them moving so fast, I try to release the irritation. I try and release the anger and hurt I feel. I try and just move quickly through all the negative feelings so I can get to the positive ones. It helped to pretend I was one of those clouds and just move right on past those feelings. It only took the amount of time for the light to change green on my way to work. Now, if we could just get everyone to do that same thing, the world would be a healthier and happier place.

The hail is coming down quite hard now. It sounds like someone is stomping on the roof, banging on the windows. Flagstaff has such unpredictable weather throughout the entire year. Of course I should have known we would get weather in April, and probably May. It happens every year. But I was so excited to look outside yesterday and realize that the lilac tree has lilacs on it. That there is this beautiful green and purple right outside in our back yard. And my daisies! They are green on the bottom, starting to come back from hiding, and looking forward to warmth and the sun. I don’t take it as a negative thing. I know that they will survive and be fine, that they can survive the harshness of hail and chilling temperatures. I know they will bloom soon and continue to do so throughout the rest of the year. It is amazing that they come back each year, regardless of the torture of winter they’ve been through. If only we were so easily able to come back from the harshness of life. Some of us do, some of take the time to mourn and think about what has happened, and some of us, unfortunately, always get stuck in the rut of harshness.

We always get through the storms, even when it feels like they keep arriving. Things move quickly if you allow yourself to pay attention, acknowledge, and then move on.

Forgiveness and unconditional love

A blurb from “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz:

“We must forgive those we feel have wronged us, not because they deserve to be forgiven, but because we love ourselves so much we don’t want to keep paying for the injustice.”

Do you know how hard that is? I am currently working on this aspect in my life, and realizing that there is no need for me to be angry or upset by what others have said or done to me. Because essentially, it is themselves that they are angry with. That’s the only reason why someone could be so mean or cruel to another human—they themselves are exceedingly unhappy with their life, themselves, and their situation, that they want to make others feel the same way.

It’s powerful stuff, to realize this. But, that doesn’t mean it is EASY to forgive people who have hurt us. It’s interesting to apply this to every aspect of life: friends, family, ex-partners, partners, your dog, your cat, your whatever. We have the ability to get upset with what people do or say and it ultimately affects us and how we feel. Whether it is not being able to open up or break down the walls we have built, or the ability to be intimate with someone, or anything else.

When I first started dating my partner, I had a really large and awesome brick wall built around me. I had been burned a year before, and there was no way I was going to get burned this time. After a couple dates and 6-hour long conversations, each time a layer of that brick would come off. Slowly but surely, I had just some stepping stones—a foundation if you will—around myself that no longer blocked him or anyone else out. It was quite rewarding, and also very releasing to have this wall gone. It’s hard work to keep a wall up around yourself, and it’s extremely tiring. You focus so much on the wall that you’re unable to focus on getting to know someone or letting them get to know you.

Getting back to how we take things so personally, it is really easy to get lost in fear, anger, sadness, and any other feeling that we lose sight of who we are. It is especially hard when it is someone in our family, someone who is supposed to love us UNCONDITIONALLY.

Unconditional love… is there such a thing? I have been toying with this concept for about a week now. We all have conditions in some sort of way with people we love. Whether they hurt our feelings and we are unable to move on, or they have (or have not) done something, which we expect them to do. Can we truly love ourselves or anyone else unconditionally? I ask for you to think about that, to truly think about the people you have in your life and whether or not you love them no matter what. Can you forgive someone without having a condition of them apologizing? Can you just let it go without it being acknowledged? Can you love your child without putting the condition of punishment on them if they don’t behave? Can you love your partner without putting conditions on them to be a certain way, acknowledge what you’re wearing or what you look like? Can you not get involved in something that doesn’t involve you, but then put that person or thing in a condition because you decided to get involved?

This is what I am currently experiencing right now. The fact that people, some of my family, do not love me unconditionally. I have been given conditions without even knowing! How am I supposed to know you want an apology? Why not just move on without one? Why is that apology necessary for our relationship? Or, why did you have to butt your nose in a situation that doesn’t involve you, which ultimately makes the situation TEN TIMES WORSE?! Why is that necessary? Why is it necessary for you to put a condition on me to apologize, or acknowledge that I’ve done something wrong, when you are family and you’re supposed to love me no matter what?

Think about that. Have you done that to someone? We all have. I am doing it right now. I am not saying I am free of this ridiculous situation. I am holding a condition over someone right now. I am working on forgiving and letting it go, even though I do believe that this situation needs to be addressed and realized. And that there really should be an apology. But I know I probably won’t get any of that. And so I spend 2-5 minutes a day, sending this person love and kindness in meditation, hoping that they can start being happy with themselves, so they don’t feel the need to make other people miserable. This ties back to the quote above, about how we need to forgive the people who have wronged us, not necessarily for them, but for ourselves. Holding on to these things does us more harm than anyone else. If we all forgave and loved this world would be a much better place. If we love unconditionally, it would be a stronger place. If we just practiced love and kindness, we could change the world.