Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song
Sing a Deeper Song
Your Duty is to Be
Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that.
–Sri Ramana Maharishi
Simply “being” takes practice. It takes stillness. It takes mindful focus. Without doing anything, you simply are.
Can you simply “be” today?
To Sing a Deeper Song, consider:
Abide at the Center of Your Being
Call on Your Sacred Space Within
What are the Foundation Stones Upon Which You Build Your Life
Live In Your Center
OUR LUMINOUS LEGACY
“Stay at the center of the circle and let all things take their course.”
-Tao Te Ching, tr. Stephen Mitchell
There’s only one safe place to be in the midst of chaos – at the center of your being. When you stand steady in the light that is your core self, the world can go crazy around you and you will simply stand there and be – be source, be light, be serene, know that you are integrated in the One Energy.
How do I stay in my center?
First, you have to realize that your safe center exists. You have to know that your center is the safest, most supportive place you can be. It is not a place in your body suit, it is a place in your invisible world.
It is your center and it is filled with unconditional love for you and your process in life. You can go to your this spiritual place for shelter – easily and often.
Change begins from within
You have control over what you think and say and do. And what you think and say or do affects your life experience. What you focus on you get more of.
What are you focusing on? The good news or the bad? The harmony or the disharmony?
Your choice. Your life.
What to do when you feel helpless
There are some things you can do nothing about on the physical plane, but you can make great changes on the inner plane. Rather than feel helpless or hopeless, go where you can do a great deal to make changes in your inner self, the place within where we’re all one light and where we can join with others who are working to increase their light so we may affect the collective consciousness. Working with our light within, we have power to create change. Working with other light beings, we have even greater power.
Don’t get pulled off center
I watch people continue to make choices out of concern only for their own well-being, rather than the broader good. It’s tempting to become dismayed or discouraged because we’re so connected.
But I’m not helpless – I have total control over my thoughts, my beliefs, my actions. My job is to stay open and aware and flexible. And make certain my choices are inclusive and for the highest good of the most people.
Let your feelings guide you
Notice how you feel. Use your emotions and feelings as a barometer. If you feel distressed, let go of what you’re focused on, move within and find that place of peace, that place of oneness where all of us are serene. Stay there for a while.
Replenish yourself in this center of peace and light and unconditional love until you feel ready to go back into the world.
Let your feelings and emotions guide you. Turn off the negative news, the violent television shows, walk away from the angry person, do not continue a competitive conversation.
You always have a choice. Reside in the center of your being, that place of peace and serenity that you can get to in the intake of a single breath.
Move within, calm your mind, feel the lightness of the energy you have within you and let that permeate your entire being until the activity on the surface of your life no longer has any effect.
Breathe – let go. Shift your gaze to focus only on the positive. That’s how you stay in your center.
To Sing a Deeper Song, consider:
Do You See and Hear in a Sacred Manner?
How You See Yourself, You Are
We create our life experience through our beliefs – in what’s possible – in what we deserve. If you want to change your life, the only place to begin is within. What do you think is possible? What do you think you deserve?
We each need to identify and get rid of our limiting beliefs.
Society helps dictate our views
We’re conditioned to see ourselves the way society sees us. When I was young, females did not go to college and were expected to get married and care for families. (I was born in 1932.) Out of my freshman class at Hollins University, only two of us went on to have careers and mine was only after I had married, had children and been divorced. The rest got married and managed their families as they were conditioned to do.
My mother saw to it that I went to college and got my Bachelor’s degree. And as a young mother of four in her forties, I went back to college and got my Master’s degree. We need to follow our calling and do what we need to do rather than adhere to any pre-existing mold.
What’s expected of us influences how we see ourselves. And only we can change that.
As a young married woman, I happened to find myself in charge of running a tennis tournament at our Country Club. A friend, a man, a business person, complimented me profusely on how well run it was. He was truly impressed. I don’t know whether it was because I proved myself to be a good organizer or because I was a woman who was capable of organizing that surprised him. Perhaps a bit of both. Men didn’t expect much of women in those days.
I absorbed and cherished that compliment because at the time I thought he knew more than I did just because he was a man and he was in business. It was only years later that I figured out that being a man in business doesn’t make you smarter or more capable than a woman who is not in business. How influenced we are by the prevailing belief systems of our times!
As my life progressed, I understood that I am a naturally outstanding organizer. But back then, I didn’t know that about myself. I didn’t believe that about myself.
Look carefully at the gifts you’ve been given. Look carefully at what you believe you’re capable of accomplishing. Raise that expectation. It’ll change your life.
A barrier has been broken
We had the woman’s movement in the late 60’s. We’ve had the slow but gradual rise of women to leadership positions formerly held only by men. We now have more women going into the technical world. We have a movement for equal pay for equal work. And we have a very strong movement with serious consequences for sexual harassment. Things are changing. The bar has been raised and we are meeting it.
Years ago, I worked for a small company and we had a flood that impacted me and others. My boss commented on how hard it was on one of the drivers, “because he has a family to support.” I was standing before him, a woman in her forties who was raising her grandchild by herself. He was so blind to the value of women he couldn’t see that I was affected for the same reason.
You see what you look for. You see what you believe.
The rise of the feminine is in progress and it’s changing the world. It has only just begun. The more we believe in ourselves, men or women, the more doors will be flung open to welcome us.
What do you think is possible?
How do you see your life unfolding? What vision do you hold for your future? Do you see yourself as a CEO if you want to be one? Can you see yourself as a creative entrepreneur who changes the world? Do you see yourself earning the same as the male who holds your same position? Do you see yourself with an equal opportunity to gain a promotion? Do you see yourself as a deserving person who is effective and powerful?
It’s possible that all of those images you hold of yourself need some work because they haven’t yet been part of your experience. And deep down, you don’t believe they can happen. We need to change our expectations – for ourselves, and for others.
Work around the limitations
Life changes and we need to continuously make adjustments. There are things I can no longer do physically because I’m old, and there are also things I no longer want to do because I’m old.
For instance, as my eyesight is changing, I now read digital books with enlarged print. I’ve yet to explore audiobooks. I no longer travel but I watch PBS and the Nature Channel and Nova and Ancient Aliens and Mysteries at the Museum.
I take courses online. I actively deepen my study of shamanism and have a fellow shamanistic practitioner with whom I speak weekly on Skype. Those exchanges keep us both moving forward on our shared path. I write daily to figure things out and share a lot of what I discover. I send wholing energy to the well-being of the world.
And I sit here in my apartment to do it all. But from this vantage point, I can learn anything I want to and exchange ideas with anyone in the world.
There are no longer limitations – except in what we believe is possible for us to accomplish. We can create an alternate version of everything and anything in order to accommodate our changing lives.
Honor and believe in your own gifts
I have a vision of a woman president and women holding the majority of seats in both houses of Congress. And I’ve given thought to how that will change the interactions in our government. The timing and extent of the emergence of that vision will depend on how women continue to see themselves. And what actions we take. This transition also has a great deal to do with our age. Young women of today expect more of themselves. Nothing is beyond their reach.
But older women are different.
I have a conservative friend who simply votes the way her husband tells her to. And she’s half my age.
There are older women, who because of their upbringing, don’t think women are capable of running things, like our government. They won’t vote for women because of that. They don’t see themselves as capable, so how can other women be?
But that’s changing with the new generations.
Our opportunities come from how we see ourselves
Part of the repositioning process for each of us is simply one of gradually and organically being replaced by younger people with different experiences and expectations. As the older generation leaves the planet, their male-dominated, woman-demeaning ideas will also leave with them.
And life as we know it will begin to change – again. Still. More.
It already has changed. The younger generations are defining themselves very differently than we did/do.
What can you do now?
While we wait for natural evolution to take place, we can make powerful changes within ourselves. How do you see yourself? As a woman, what do you think is possible for you? As a man, what do you think is possible for you, your daughters and your wife?
We all have to question our view of the role of women in the world. And men also need to question how they see their own potential and possibilities.
Change begins within yourself
Look closely at how you view yourself if you are female, at how you view females if you’re a man. Question the roles you think males and females should hold. Question the vision you hold for yourself. Is it big enough? Broad enough? Deep enough? Question everything you think. Where did that belief come from? Is it truly what you want to believe today?
As we watch women become racing-car drivers and boxers and soldiers, our worldview of the feminine changes. For the most part, we see women following a masculine image. What does it look like when women are in charge? How will their approach to problem solving and leadership change our world?
Women are learning to be in charge and have some adjustments to make.
As women become more prominent in the governing of the world, in business and politics, the arts, we have to learn to do it our way, and not do a “feminine version” of the masculine way.
I have no real idea of what that would look like but there would be a more inclusive approach to decision making. There would be a gender-neutral way to look at skills and talents and there would be mutual support – when we stop trying to emulate the male view of needing to compete.
It’s not my generation that will do this. And perhaps not yours. But if you know of a young woman who is testing her wings, be the air of support for her. Encourage her, help her believe in herself. Make certain she knows she can do whatever she wants to do and make a huge difference in our world with the unique gifts she has to give.
Can you and I, at our age, do that too? Fly higher? Any shift we make will have an impact on our own lives and in the lives of those around us. I’m trying to stay self-sufficient in my eighties. I’m defying the accepted view of an old person by studying and learning and writing and participating, and am loving every minute of it.
Look closely at what you think is possible
No, I’m not going to run any races or even travel, but I sure can use Skype to interact with and learn from people all around the world.
I also have the conceit to feel that after all these years of living my life and accumulating lessons and wisdom, it’s my responsibility, my calling, my duty, to serve as a wise elder and teach what I know to whoever wants/needs to learn from me.
I am to pass on my wisdom but in a manner that allows others to take what they need from it and freely adapt it to the circumstances they find themselves in. It’s not “do it this way.” It’s “here’s what I’ve learned, take what works best for you.”
And know that the young people of today have a different set of challenges than we did and some of their lessons will be quite different.
What you believe you deserve and what you believe is possible determine your life experience.
Question your beliefs, particularly about what’s possible for you. Know that you deserve the very best. Don’t settle for second best. Expect more of yourself. Work until you achieve it!
How do you see yourself?
A check in my mirror might reflect an old woman who stoops a bit. But her hair is still brown with only random strands of grey and her eyes are intelligent and inquisitive.
From here inside myself, I see and feel an intelligent, curious, creative, deeply spiritual explorer who connives to be excited about what she learns and discovers.
Are you looking at your external reflection or are you looking at what’s inside?
How do you see yourself? Pay attention to your inner image and live up to all you know you can be.
Related explorations from Our Luminous Legacy
Live in the Center of Your Being
What are the Foundation Stones Upon Which You Build Your Life?
by Cara Lumen
Everyone wants to create income. And multiple streams of income are an important goal particularly when some of it is passive income. So it makes sense that we all want to monetize our blogs.
One blogger loves bicycling so besides blogging about cycling he began reviewing bicycle products on his blog. Some were affiliate links some were not. His blog became so influential that manufacturers now send him products to review. The monetization was a natural extension of his desire to share his knowledge with others who share his passion. His blog came out of his passion. He simply loves to bike.
Another person did s similar thing with cameras. On his blog he kept providing how to tips to create better photographs. Organically he became a resource for product reviews and product sales and gradually his blog became monetize
You get the picture. How can you organically create money with your blog while staying in the spirit and integrity of your passion?
I’ve had a few affiliate offers that I’ve promoted for years. When I help people develop a web site I set them up on Blue Host because it has great service and great bandwidth. I suggest Easy Web Automation for the shopping cart because it can grow as big as your business and has everything you could possibly need. Practice Pay Solutions is the merchant account I use and recommend. And for recording audio and video I love Audio Acrobat. I use all of these myself and have for years.
All of these particular companies are core services that people who are building a web presence need. So it was very simple for me to join their affiliate programs and begin to recommend them. I use them myself; I think they are great, so I share those resources with others.
Now that I have added Magnetic Blog Builders to my services I recommend Word Press Thesis Styles which is a highly optimized theme , Thesis Styles because they are elegant and powerful and Scribe SEO which helps you optimize every posts.
And I have two learning opportunities that I love Teaching Sells which opens only occasionally and Third Tribe Marketing which is a great community of bloggers helping bloggers.
Only recommend products and services that you use or have thoroughly investigated so you know they are high quality and meet the needs of your target community.
What products and services do you use right now? Do they have affiliate links? Sign up and list them on your resource page. Write how you use them in a blog post. If they fit your client base, make them part of your recommendations.
Look at other sites in your niche. What are people selling that fit your target community? Check out the biggest sites first. They may run advertising (if so, what sort), what affiliate promotions do they have? I’m not going to talk about advertising here because I don’t know much about it. Affiliate links are an easy way to start monetizing your blog. As you look at these sites start making a list of things that your community would appreciate knowing about.
Another way to find appropriate affiliate products and services is to type in Google “keyword affiliate product” and see what shows up. And you can also check out Commission Junction or PepperJam or e-junkie to see if there are relevant products listed for your niche. These sites want to know how you are going to promote the products – through blog, web content, email, etc.
When you find a product or service that is a match for your target community and sign up as an affiliate, within their documentation you will find simple e-mail links to use in your blog posts and emagazines and emails. And you will find banner links, usually with a variety of sizes you can put in your side bar or resource page. Just copy and paste the code and you’re in business.
There are people who create landing pages designed to simply sell a product they think they can easily monetize. They give affiliate marketing a bad name. I’m not talking about those people. I’m talking about the kind of referrals you would give to anyone in your community – something you know is good, gets results, and you have had personal experience with. Affiliate marketing for me is about passing along great recourses you believe in.
Just as you would share your resources with a friend in person, you talk about the products as you blog. Or you may write a specific article on the topic. For instance, it’s easy for me to talk about shopping carts and merchants accounts when I am writing about blogging – those are things people need to along the line. I can write a post on choosing the right WordPress theme and mention both Word Press Thesis Styles and Thesis Styles. It’s important that you use and like what you are promoting so they can be organically and authentically mentioned.
My affiliate products are all listed on the resource page of both my blogs Passionately on Purpose and Magnetic Blog Builders along with other valuable resources that are not affiliate links.
Some of the products or services my readers will need most often are promoted on my sidebar.
I have a list of resources for my web presence clients. I write articles about them like What’s in Your shopping Cart, and How a Thesis Theme for WordPress can set you free and “Scribe is a Built In SEO Optimizer that Effortlessly Uplevels Your Game!”
I write content that gives my experience and then sends them to the site where the product is offered. Those sites are well structured to do the selling.
I’m very careful about what I send in my Passionately on Purpose emagazine I don’t want it to be a sale pitch, but I do want to give value. So as I find new resources, both free and affiliate, I include a one-time mention of them and then put them on my resource page. I could do more. I could mention it several times but I’d prefer to set up my editorial calendar to mention some of them in a planned cycle. People will be ready for them at different times.
If you want to set up separate web sites to promote a particular product, make the site as compelling and conversion optimized and as authentic as possible. Y At this point, I’d rather send them to a site that is focused on making the conversion than writing a new one myself. It’s a matter of my focus and time.
Here’s a simple trick for adding affiliate links to your blog post. I have all my affiliate links listed in a Word document labeled Affiliate Links in alphabetical order and I just copy and paste them into the blog post. That’s the same technique I use to fill my posts with links to past posts.
Oh yes, another way to promote your affiliate links is to write a post like this one!
You’ll get emails from people saying they are making big bucks which is certainly something to aim for. But I think a lot of those are heavy duty promoters – which I am not. I’m in service so I am quite content to keep recommending products and services that I really like and use. However, once you decide to add affiliate links to your marketing strategy, you’ll be on the lookout and will keep discovering new ones to add.
Right now my affiliate income covers the cost of doing business – my shopping cart, my web host, my merchant account fees, and a couple of other business product and learning subscriptions that I use. But I’m upping my game around affiliate marketing. I’m going to keep looking for and letting people know about the products and services that will make a difference in their life and business. Authentically, from my own experience, from my own enthusiasm. That’s my version of monetizing my blog.
©2010 Cara Lumen
Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!
In stillness you will hear it. In nature, you will be aware of it. Your intuition is one of its voices. We each have harmonies within us, and we are each to play our own tune to those harmonies.
But first we listen.
Wha is the rhythm of your day? If you have control over the rhythm, what do you want it to be – how fast, how slow, how stimulating, how restful? We get to choose our rhythm and we use our inner voice to hear the harmonies within us and respond to them.
There is structure in the harmonies we hear within. There is a beginning, a middle and an end. There is a crescendo and a decrescendo. There is phasing with alternating soft notes and bright notes, fast notes and slow notes. We have but to listen and we will be able to dance to our inner harmony.
We are to find our own balance. We cannot dance jigs all day, and we need to cultivate moments of stillness, of awareness, of inner peace. We need balance in our inner rhythms.
We are to write our own composition each day. We are to compose our own score and we are to perform our unique composition.
How do you choose the tone for tour day? Do you wake up with time to luxuriate in preparing your body for its day, time to meditate, or move your body in gratitude for its strength? Perhaps you put those experiences later in your day. Where you put them is not as important as that you do indeed find time for these rhythms of self-care – the inner and the outer.
Breath sets the tone, the rhythm, the mood. It is a way to find stillness and centeredness in a given moment. Get in the habit of taking several conscious, centering breaths after completing a task and before tuning to a new one. Perhaps identify specific times during your day when you tun and look out the window at be with nature, even if all you can see is a little sky and a wandering cloud. Take a moment to be that cloud, floating carefree in space. Perhaps pause for a mindful stretching of your body to remind it of its strength and power and flexibility. We get to sprinkle these moments of centering throughout your day. Where are you putting your moments of serenity, your moments of awareness, a pause to honor your body? Each moment spent on self-centering creates more balance in all other areas of your day. Begin with breathing. Use mindful breathing to find stillness. Then see what is suggested from that quiet place.
Pay attention to what you are to leave out, what you need to add, and notice how replenishing the steps you do take are. Adjust as desired.
It takes only a moment of stillness to open the door to the new awareness. Choose those moments often and see how differently your day unfolds.
We begin with our senses in mindful stillness. What do you want your day to feel like, to look like? What are those experiences for you? I want today to be a series of flowing and southing energies that leave in their wake great productivity of enormously unique quality. You know, start with the simple stuff.
Move into stillness. After I capture that first draft I can move into stillness. After reading my email I can pause to breathe and center myself for my day. I can pause and tune into my inner self and see what calls to me to do next. When I leave my desk for a break I thank my inner self for its creativity and guidance and for encouraging me to be ready for the next cycle of movement and choice.
Listen to what you are given, what thoughts, what ideas what new circumstances. Contemplate them, observe them, adjust them, and see where and how and if you want to add any of them to your day.
I am going to add more still points in m day, each time I sit at my desk I will pause to ask my inner voice what I am to do next. Each time I stop what I am doing, I offer gratitude for what has unfolded so far. I just sit and listen and receive and then I act. That’s how I listen to my inner voice. That’s how I listen to the Harmonies within. That’s how I dance my inner calling. I move to my still point and listen.
In a shamanic journey, my guide said, “ Listen within. Listen to the harmonies within, the structure within, the balance within. And write your own musical score. Rehearse it, strengthen it Perform it.”
DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION
I consciously take moments to move within during my day and make choices from the wisdom and insights it offers.
DEEPER SONG PROCESS
***
MY DEEPER SONG THIS WEEK
How to Direct Energy Outside of Time and Space
An Exploration of the Unseen World
If you have ever felt powerless, you need to understand how to send energy outside of time and space – to the past – to the future – to the present – to pave the way or heal the wounds or simply gain clarity in the moment.
In this episode we explore
How to Direct Energy Outside of Time and Space
(20 minutes)
(TRANSCRIPT)
Listen to
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify /Google
***
Inner Work
DEEPEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD
I’ve been a vegetarian for 40 years and a vegan for 8. I know to give thanks for the people who grow the food and the people who brought it to me, but I’m going to add another ritual to my meal preparation – a ritual of asking permission.
The Indian cultures know to bless the spirit of the animal that gives its life for their food and shelter. I don’t know for certain, but I imagine they blessed a tree before they cut it down for a fire or a structure. They are very attuned to the voices of nature. I have often thought about the spirit of a plant. I know they heal us. I know they are willing to be made into other things like a tree becomes a house and a branch becomes a native flute. But I have never created a ritual around consuming a living plant in order to simply nourish myself.
I’m not even certain what it wold look like, but I like the idea.
It is about transforming energy so I might thank my carrot or my tomato for its willingness to transform its energy into my energy and perhaps share with it what we will do together. Food wants to be useful too.
I’m going to make some potato soup today. I will thank the potato and the onions and whatever else I put into it and perhaps even tell them the plans I have for the energy we create together.
How will you honor the food you eat?
***
Outer Work
CHOOSE TO CHANGE
We have an outstanding opportunity in this changing environment to reposition ourselves. Who do you want to serve? What do they need that you can offer? How effective is this choice?
Who do you want to serve?
Do you want beginner or advanced? That’s a huge first choice. I want to move pro-active, curious, evolved people forward so we both travel together. Do you want to work with people who are struggling, or people at a timing point to success, or help successful people fly higher? What do you want to help people do?
What do they need that you can offer?
I personally want to keep exploring the Unseen World so that’s what I want to share. I have written a lot of posts and podcasts on personal growth concepts so I have begun a curation segment in this newsletter to support that part of our journey. And I have to keep an eye on the changing world and see what I need to address there.
How can you help? What do they need what do you want to provide?
How effective is this choice?
We also want to earn money in all this. So part of our decision for the kind of change we will make, is how it provides the basics we need. How has your idea of “basics” changed right now?
Go exploring
As we deal with this evolving change, new businesses are goiter to appear. Some businesses are going to no longer exist. As New York Governor Andrew Como said, “Think outside the box. There is no box.”
What would your like your world to look like? How do you see your role?
But most of all, who do you want to serve? Begin there.
***
TRAVELER
By Antonio Machado
TRAVELER – Video
Traveler, your footsteps are the road
There is nothing more.
Traveler there is no road
The road is made by walking.
Walking makes the road.
And if you turn around you only see the path you can never walk again.
Traveler, there is no road, only a trace of foam upon the sea.
Shared by Deeper Song Community Member Mary Elaine Kiener, RN, PhD
As a person with a lot of footsteps behind her, this poem made me cry. We have only this moment and this one. This is where we live, not back there, or in what’s ahead. The past is dissolving behind us and we have only to choose our next step.
Step with awarenss. Step with purity of choice. That next step is what matters most. It becomes your path.
***
WHEN THE TIMING IS RIGHT
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Trust that. Look around at what is showing up and see if it is for you. If it is the right time for you to explore that particular direction.
Exploring is a key step to moving forwards and it has to go hand in hand with discernment. Does this really call to you? Does this call deeply enough to you? DO I already have enough knowledge on that particular subject?
I mentioned that last year I thought sound healing was going to be an emphasis for me. It’s not, it is only a part of what I do now. Trust the evolution of your interest. Study what calls to you and periodically pause to see where that path has led you and see if it is still going the dire ion you want to go.
And look for your next teacher. She/he is ready when you are ready.
***
CONSIDER THIS
***
FIND THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM
The copy for the class said, “Tight hamstrings and weak hip flexors are the cause of many people’s lower back problems and body stiffness, but it’s also the area that many people overlook when stretching.”
I realized that for all the fussing I’ve been doing about my posture, I had not focused on the core weakness. It changed my approach to correcting my posture.
What is out of balance in your life or your body? What is the cause of your imbalance? It is not going to be the obvious, it’s going to call for deeper exploration.
I actually know where the hip flexors and hamstrings are. They play a strong roll in the mobility of your hips. I’m not going to take this class because it calls for a mat and I can barely do bed yoga, but I will go exploring and find moves I can do.
Give change time to manifest. This course also called for 15 minutes a day fo exercise. That undoubtedly means warm-up and challenge and cool down. It’s the ask-more-of-your body part that I need to do better at doing.
Strengthen your foundation. Strengthen your core. Whether it is your body or a skill set you need for your work, get better at it. Keep learning, keep practicing, keep challenging yourself.
***
THOROUGHLY PLEASING
In Chris Brogan’s newsletter, he wrote, “Imagine thoroughly pleasing several hundred people. Or a thousand. And that being enough.”
I really like the idea of “thoroughly pleasing” a few hundred people. I feel I am doing that and that allows me to take you on an ever-deepening journey. I get to listen and respond to you and let newcomers come in as they are called to a particular aspect.
“Thoroughly pleasing.” That means shining light on your path that helps you see all the possibilities. It means offering you tools that make the journey easier. It means exploring various side roads and reporting back in case you too are interested. It means that whatever I offer enriches your life experience and offers you insights that raise your sights and their expectations.
“And let that be enough.”
That shifts my focus. Rather than focusing on the task of drawing more people in, I get to focus on where I am guiding the people who have found me. It makes me feel content and joyous that I am touching the lives I am meant to in a meaningful way.
How are you “thoroughly pleasing” the people you serve?
***
DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING
When you come up against a stuck place, stop, take a deep breath, and do the next right things.
What are your choices? What are you to do? Not what looks like will happen, but what is present, in front of you rings now. Do you leave? Do you stay? Do you let go? Do you draw it closer? Do you simply go within and wait until an answer appears?
What is the next right thing for you to do?
***
YOUR PANDEMIC HOBBY
What are you doing with all this time you now have? Or this rearranged time you now have? Do you have a new hobby? Are you following a longed-for passion?
My passion is not cooking but I am working on upgrading how I feed myself.
I am improving my mind by continuing to get better at editing in GarageBand.
I am nurturing my inner self in many ways – my flutes in particular.
I could read some of those books that await me. I could learn to use my phone better and my tablet. I could sketch my journeys more often.
What do you want to learn? It doesn’t make any difference what the outcome is, learning is the fun part.
Is there some hobby you want to share with those you live with? Build a bird house and paint it. Learn to knit. Or crochet. Or bake. Or can. It doesn’t have to be practical, it just has to be about learning something new.
I’m glad I can entertain myself with my mind. We have stellar times together.
What new skills do you want to develop? I remember watching about 20 hours of tutorial on creating a podcast by Pat Flynn. (He still offers it) I recently watched videos on editing in GarageBand and chair exercises for hip flexors. I could learn to listen to an audiobook. I’m very much a visual learner but maybe I could actually listen to a fictional story for a change. That would be novel.
I have over 150 crystals that would all love to talk to me individually. I want to create some new patterns around cleaning and exercising. And reaching my point of stillness, and connecting with nature and…
How are you entertaining yourself with this new pattern of time?
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DEEPER SONGS I HEARD THIS WEEK
How to Master the Ancient Art of Walking Meditation in Modern Life
Plant Medicine for Modern Epidemics Summit– at no charge: Augusts 24-28.
Talk about change: Stylish Tiny Homes Are Now Being 3D-Printed In 24 Hours And Shipped to Your Site
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IS YOUR WORK MEANINGFUL?
Or is it just a paycheck? Whatever your work, it needs to nurture you and nourish you and motivate you and inspire you and give you a sense of accomplishment when it is complete.
Don’t settle. I moved to New York with what I thought was an intention to pursue theater. That meant I did temp work so in case I got acting work, I could leave. Boy was that about settling. I could type 80 words a minute (that’s fast) but all I was doing was copying someone else’s work. No, it was not satisfying. It was not until I begin to learn energy work like Reiki that my life took on great meaning, regardless of how I brought in the income.
Follow your heart. This is an incredible, and very challenging time to find the work of your heart.
What will you do to make your work more meaningful?
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OUR EVOLVING FUTURE
Use what you have. Because this is senior housing we have access to a food bank delivery once a month. We never know what will be delivered. I get big bags of apples and potatoes and onions. I have to get creative on how I use them.
I am going to make soups and freeze them. I am going to make chop up vegetable combinations for stir-fries and freeze those. That means that I have to spend some time chopping and freezing but I will be able to use it all.
So here’s what I am learning. Applesauce can be made with three ingredients in 25 minutes and it can be frozen!!!! All I have to do is spend an hour chopping up this with bag of apples and I’m set.
The point is that when you take time to get creative and put in little time you will save a LOT of money.
Explore your seasonings and cook with what appeals to you. Chop and freeze so you have a good selection.
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KEEP PRACTICING
One thing about practicing, you get better at what you are doing. In one day, this week, I recored two podcasts and edited one. I would have edited two but I hit some button I should not have in Garage Band and had to go study some tutorials. It thankfully self-corrected when I opened up garage Band a second time. However, I have no clue what to do if it happens again beause I have no idea what I did to cause it. I’ll just be more careful when I set it up and push only the buttons I know.
The sense of accomplishment was huge. I am ahead of my scheduled. That takes some pressure off. So I will keep planing on doubling up on recording and editing.
I recored better so the editing is easier. As the speaker I have learned to make a clear pause around a mistake because as an editor, space gives me room to edit.
Be patient with yourself but keep on practicing. It does get easier – and easier.
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DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
The Yoga practice of alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana) offers instant centering and calmness.
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THE REFLECTING POOL
The Master allows things to happen.
She shapes events as they come.
She steps out of the way and
lets the Tao speak for itself.
-Tao Te Ching, Stephen Mitchell @quotes
“Shapes events as they come” is an interesting way to live. It’s about allowing life to unfold, opportunities to present themselves for options, and a deep trust that whatever shows up is exactly right. Can you step aside and let life unfold?
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CARA’S CORNER
Nurture Stillness in Your life
“Nurture” means “to care for, to encourage growth.” How do nurture stillness in our life?
How do you experience stillness?
You stop what you are doing. You quiet your mind, perhaps with long long slow breaths and you turn and look out at nature. And emerge yourself in that ebb and flow that is at the core of everything.
Stillness is about being still but it can also be a moment to change your rhythm. For instance, I often stop to play my flutes. Their vibration centers me. I look out the window and play to the branches of my birch treen dancing in the wind.
I may take a shamanic journey to listen more closely to my voice within.
Lately, I have learned to go deeper. It has come with practice and a willingness to let go of what I am doing and what I am thinking. In particular, for me, it means to quiet my mind.
I use a series of quieting conscious beaches. Focusing on my breath quiets my mind and my body.
The secret is to do a centering process often during your day. Sometimes that means a change in activities, sometimes it means the prompt is the hands on the clock. The catch is to remember to do it – to pause, to notice where you are, and to connect with our place in nature.
I plan to get better at this. I keep looking for reminders. I keep experimenting with how to achieve that inner stillness.
Stop now and breathe in to the court of 5, hold for a count of 5 and exhale for a count of five. Repeat 3-5 times until you have stilled your awareness of the world and are firmly centered in stillness.
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A DEEPER SONG
I’m a candle. Light comes out as I burn.” – Rumi
Keep singing a deeper song.
Namaste,
Cara
Come Sing a Deeper Song
I help those seeking to sing a deeper song to expand their relationship with the Unseen world.
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