
What Will You Place On Your Altar of Infinite Potential?
Living Our Deeper Song
Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!
The idea of an Altar of Infinite Potential greatly expanded my thinking. What kind of ideas and conscious desires will I place on such an altar? How do I work with it? Where will I place it? And how will an Altar of Infinite Potential change my life?
I begin with the inner work that I want to do. I have begun to do Qigong again because my body needs it and it’s a very centered spiritual practice.
I’m going to increase my work on the physical plane by expanding my intention and my expectation for my edema to heal. I intend for my body to stand up straight and walk easily. I intend for my eyesight to improve. I’m going to expand my work with sound healing by exploring, experimenting and adding to what I know to do now. Restoring my health will go on my Altar of Infinite Potential.
I choose to touch more lives with my writing and my personal interaction. That has been happening organically since I moved to Evergreen Long Term Care.
I choose to develop and expand my spiritual practice to focus on raising the vibration of the planet and expanding my own spiritual exploration to communicate more deeply with the Unseen World.
Will I make an actual Altar of Infinite Potential? As I look around, I see that I have gradually and organically turned the entire end of my small room into an Altar of Infinite Potential.
My desk and computer sit right by three very tall windows overlooking the garden that is maintained by volunteer master gardeners. I have created a wall of flowers to nurture and support me in this part of my journey.
As I organically change this small corner of my room, I can feel the energy change. It is calming and centering and protective.
On a small table by the wall with the flowers, I have placed a large statue of Quan Yin in royal pose. In front of her I have a brass candle stick holder in the shape of the phoenix, an immortal symbol associated with cycles of regeneration. Rather than a candle I placed on it a miniature planet earth and Quan Yin is now watching over the world.
My entire wall of flowers has gradually filled up with lovely plants that are deepening my connection with nature and symbolizing my ever-deepening and expanding spirituality. The energy in this small portion of my room has changed noticeably with the addition of the plants and intentions. This whole space is an Altar of Infinite Potential and I am aware of its energy and blessings that help make my own intentions a reality. This noticeable change in energy has already begun to change my life. What will you put on your Altar of Infinite Potential?
DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION
I allow my imagination to soar as I create my Altar of Infinite Potential
DEEPER SONG PROCESS
- Your Altar of Infinite Potential can be a physical space, a list on a piece of paper, or an image in your imagination.
- Nothing is impossible on this Altar Of Infinite Potential. Let your imagination soar and dream really big dreams.
- Once you have placed the items on your Altar of Infinite Potential perhaps arrange them and bring to the forefront one or two that you want to work on right now to manifest, to bring to life.
- Create a ceremony of high expectations for the potential that you have chosen. Perhaps journal the signs and circumstances that show up to let you know that you are on the path that you have chosen.
- Allow time for things to unfold and keep adding to your Altar of Infinite Potential.
===INNER WORK===
Deepen Your Inner Awareness
Never Stop Dreaming
Our imagination makes things happen, our dreams make things happen, our expectations make things happen. Never stop dreaming and imagining and expecting.
A friend of mine recently lost her husband and what she will get to do now is to reimagine her life based on standing alone in the world and following her own desires. Not only is this a time for grieving, it is the time for repurposing her life.
Another friend is moving and this is a time for giving thought to what she wants her new space to feel like and look like.
Another friend is about to retire and is busy exploring and creating her next place of service and source of income. It is important to be aware of when it is time to change your room or your whole space and even your work so that you can make this next portion of your life exactly what you need it to be.
My friend Chris Brogan rattled my cage a number of years ago when I was my late 70’s. He asked me what I wanted to do for the next 30 years! I started thinking and doing. At 90 I am still exploring and listening and growing.
How do you want to make a difference in the world? How do you want to spend the next 30 years? What do you want to learn? Who do you want to serve? What do you want to accomplish?
Take some contemplative time to identify the things that make your spirits soar. Was it when you were helping someone? Was it when you were learning something? Was it when you were creating something? Identify what you love to do and figure out how to do more of it. Never stop dreaming.
How Do You Figure Things Out?
I keep getting a zillion new ideas for topics for this newsletter simply by writing to figure things out. Something I read suggests a new approach, or a new concept, or a new option and I take time to write down what that looks like and feels like and see if is for me to do.
How do you figure things out? Do you simply jump in and start doing it? Do you contemplate before you act? Do you try a portion of it to see how it feels? When offered a new approach or a new idea, how do you explore? How do you choose the parts and pieces that fit your life and begin to work with them?
Most of my efforts to figure things out end up in this newsletter. It is how I explore the options and see what resonates for me and decide what future action to take. I may not take any action after I have given it more thought and explore the possibilities and that’s a good thing.
How do you figure things out?
===SELF-HEALING===
Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself
Space Cleaning
Two of my friends need space clearing. One because she is moving into a new space and the other because her husband died and she has to reclaim the space as her own. Anytime the energy of a space changes it is very powerful to create your own space clearing ceremony.
First you want to clear the space of any residual energy. You can do that by clearing with sage or incense or even a flower essence. You can do it by creating a ceremony of intention.
First ask the space to release its past. Talk to the walls and make a gesture of releasing past energy. It could be by smudging, it could be by holding an intention in your palm and blowing it into the corners. Help the space release its past. Notice what you feel, the insights that come into your imagination and do whatever your inner voice tells you to do that releases any negative energy of the past. Notice the energy around the windows and the energy in the corners and ceiling and doorways. Keep working until the energy of your space changes and feels clear to you.
If you are moving to a new property begin by clearing the land to see what kind of messages from the past speak to you. You may feel the need to ask the ancients for permission to move there. You may need to release stuck energy from past events that took place on the land.
My friend who is moving into an empty space can clear the space before she moves in. The other friend is gradually changing the energy of her home so her main objective is to create one cleared room at a time so she can rest and restore and heal as she begins to clear the other rooms and make the energy totally her own.
You might decide to use Bach Flower Essences in the space. As you replace or rearrange furnishings and notice how the flow of the energy changes and continue to clear and rearrange until the energy feels supportive of your new direction that is unfolding. Keep making changes in the space that nurture you. If it is a space that you will be inviting other people into like an office, consider adding a Blessing Bowl to the arrangement that holds your intentions for a positive exchange.
Intention is a major part of clearing a space. Create a ceremony that allows you to release past energy so there is a fresh new welcoming space for you to move into. Bring your positive energy in with consciousness and care.
Recognize Your Gifts
I’ve had occasion recently to look back over some of the small books I wrote 30 years ago and I realize they are very good and I have been a good writer for very long time. Sometimes it is reassuring to go back and notice what you accomplished earlier in life and acknowledge yourself for it and possibly build upon it now.
Writing has been a part of my life since I began contributing to my high school paper. It has taken many forms – poetry, plays, books, commercials, newsletters.
I have always been a fluid communicator – from conversation to public speaking to television spokesperson.
Some gifts are more evident than others. I’m a good organizer. I am a good logical thinker. I am curious and impulsive.
Take some time to recognize and examine your gifts and look for new ways to express them in your life. Who knows what new doors will open.
===OUTER WORK===
Explore New Potential and Possibilities
How To Transform Negative Beliefs
Negative beliefs creep into our consciousness and we barely notice them. They come in one at a time until we are sitting in a pool of negativity and self-doubt.
If you want to change your thinking, what do you do? Do you focus on the things that don’t work or do you focus on the things that do work?
We have a choice here – look for the good – or look for the bad. Whatever you look for, you see more of. To change your experience, raise your gaze.
What do you expect? Do you expect the good, the positive, an optimistic outcome? What you look for is what you get.
Monitor your thoughts and make certain you are focusing on the positive because that is then what you will get.
The Choice To Change
I want to make some changes but I have yet to decide exactly which ones and how to do them. I like the idea that people are dropping out of their complete immersion on the internet in order to pursue deeper, more personal, interactive experiences with others. How do I do that?
I will begin by expanding and deepening my conversations with others. This primarily means the caring and caregiving staff around me. I have friends I talk with on Zoom on a regular basis and that is very nurturing for me.
I am not very mobile so I can no longer get in my car and go someplace for a new experience. That’s probably why I rely so heavily on the Internet for those adventures. How do I change my experiential environment in those areas?
I may hunt for some podcasts that talk with people who are exploring new ways of living on the planet. I have no idea how to find those but when I do, I’ll share them with you. That would be a good place for me to start. I will search for people who are exploring and thinking about how to live differently and more consciously on our planet. Here I go adventuring!
What Skills Have You Not Been Using?
As I sat here looking at the Chinese brush painting I did years ago that now hangs above my computer desk, I realized I have not been using my artistic ability in the form of drawing for quite some time. I have some oil paintings I did in a class a long time ago hanging on my wall. I have a notebook full of sketches from my shamanic journeys but I do not have art in my life right now other than in the form of writing.
Since I’ve been here at Evergreen, I have used many of the communication skills that I have not used for a really long time like giving talks and making a video. It feels good to stretch those muscles again. What skills do you have that you have not been using and how will you put them back into play?
I Am Not A Robot
I went to sign on to a Zoom recording and they gave me that picture test that proves you’re not a robot. But I can no longer see well enough to pass the I’m not a robot test. That means I have to get help with one more thing and that is discouraging. Fortunately, I do have Care Partners to help but it’s a bit discouraging and it’s probably only the beginning of the adjustments I will have to make because of my dry macular degeneration. Do you have a physical challenge that you need to overcome? How creative are you in doing that?
===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===
Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness
Immerse Yourself In Nature
I am going to go outside more. We have a lovely garden maintained by volunteer master gardeners and a waterfall and a koi fish pond. The spreading trees offer nurturing shade.
So far I’ve only gone out there with a Care Partner who stays with me. I now have a portable call button and I’m going to go outside and sit by myself in nature and have a meaningful conversation with a tree..…
How will you spend more time in the shelter of nature?
Set An Intention For Each Room
As two of my friends are making major moves, I remembered that 30 years ago I wrote a book called Bless This House that was a description of what I did for my first house blessing as a practitioner in the Center for Spiritual Living.
One of the steps is to set an intention for each room of the house and I realized that although I’ve had my holistic recharging station going in my room since I moved in and a dream catcher on the entry door and dream catchers and crystals and stained glass on the window at the opposite end of the room, I have not formally set an intention for this room.
Now that I have constructed my flowers wall and made my work corner particularly safe and nurturing, I realize that I should expand my expectations and intentions for the entire space.
I have a roommate and I keep putting up and energetically reinforcing my Transformative Shield.
For instance, the qualities of the space I sleep in could be
“healing, restoration and insights.” For my computer area it could be “insights, wisdom and expanded role”.
In facing my wall of flowers my intention could be “centered growth and any awareness of my room in the web of life”.
I don’t have a separate space for meditation. In my case it’s about sitting in my chair by the window and simply turning in a different direction – but that simple act of facing a different direction can change my intention and my experience.
Be aware of the intention you set for each room and reminder yourself of those intentions each time you enter the space. It will help you keep the energy clear, focused and positive.
====RELEVANT AGING ====
The Phases of Our Journey
Our lives are a series of phases and what we do with each one of them weaves the fabric of our life. Our childhood becomes how we see our world. Our adolescence is how we respond or react to our surroundings, our young adulthood is full of decisions, choices that direct our path. Our middle years are the reaping of our talents. Our senior years give us time to see how else we can contribute to future generation.
The Senior Viewpoint
I am someone who has put off the idea of aging so it has been slow to overtake me. Suddenly the reality check says it’s here. So what am I going to do about it? What am I going to do with this particular phase of my journey? What is it that I want to do now? A friend recently mentioned that if she could earn more for speaking, she’d speak twice a month and spend the rest of the time writing. I now have more time to write.
What am I to do with this phase of my life?
Each phase of your life is a great opportunity to rethink what you want to do and how you want to do it. It is a time to examine what you have achieved and what you still want to accomplish.
===DEEPER SONG DISCOVERIES===
Resources to Explore
Speak From Your Heart
I was asked to participate in a video promotion for Evergreen Long-Term Care Facility. When Shauna asked me to do it, I knew immediately what I would say. As I shared it with her, she wiped tears from her eyes.
Speak from your heart and touch lives.
===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===
Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe
An Individual Harp
I have not written about being an Individual Harp in the Circle of Light Beings for quite a while, but I have a small harp on my altar that I have placed in a circle of seated meditating figures. It reminds me that I must sing my song clearly and at the same time harmonize with the work of others.
There are times when we are the solo instrument and times we are part of the orchestra. Both places of service are important, valuable, and rewarding.
My individual song continues to change and I get better at being an individual harp. Periodically I might find someone with whom to play a duet or form a small group in order to create something new and vital.
What kind of music are you playing on your individual harp?
===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===
Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations
Be Choosy
Are you good at saying no? How do you set boundaries for yourself that allow you to structure your day and your time and your thoughts and your work in a manner that supports you and advances your goals? Are you one of these people who allows yourself to get pulled hither and yon as people express their needs to you?
Our first responsibility is to ourselves. We must care for our bodies and our imagination, our spiritual life and our souls.
Disengage. Stay balanced in how you spend your time and energy and resources. If you find yourself needing to change, do what is necessary to bring yourself back into alignment – not too much of one thing or another so that you create a balanced life and express all the facets of who you are.
Life is about choices. Are you aware of your needs? How discriminating in your choices? How choosy do you need to be?
Cutting Cords
They are like tentacles reaching out to keep us from progressing and it is hard to get them to let go.
What emotion or physical ties do you need to release in order to move forward?
Perhaps it’s hard to let go of a grown son or daughter who is struggling and yet it is their path to walk. Let go.
Or your job has become less and less satisfying but you seem unable to let go and move forward.
Or a relationship has moved into negativity so gradually that you have learned to tolerate it. You need to cut the cord and free yourself to fulfill your own calling.
Look for the gifts and talents that have been lying dormant that need nurturing. Look for the dreams that have been put aside.
What cords do you need to cut out to fulfill your destiny. Snip. Snip.
===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===
Support and Encouragement for our Unfolding Role in the Future
Generations Of The Future
We sat in the sun with a cool breeze moving the tall reeds in the garden, a black dragonfly was exploring nearby and a tree waved its dark wine leaves in the summer air. We talked and I touched a life. The Care Partner who accompanied me on my trip to the orthopedic shoe provider wants to be a nurse working with children. We were waiting for the van that takes me back-and-forth in my wheelchair and we talked – or at least I talked and she asked questions. I shared some of the facets of my holistic background and in retrospect I know that I opened some doors for her. And I realized part of my current role is to expand the awareness of some of these kind people working into the health care field. I told her about sound healing and intention and reiki and shamanism and expanded her awareness of the holistic forms that helping others can take. I do not know which, if any of those ideas will call to her but she was interested and I opened a few doors for her to look through. It took about 40 minutes for the transport van to arrive and I realized the Universe had arranged our time together.
Begin to notice the lives you affect in small ways by your example, your actions, or the ideas you express. We are both educators and guides for future generations. Do your job well.
How To Have Your Mac Read Text To You
I’m on a Mac and this new tool is going to be a life-changing technique I need to know how to use as my eyes change. If you have a Mac you might want to subscribe to the Mac-Most feed.
“You can easily have your Mac read selected text out loud. You can select the voice and speed. With some more work you can add a keyboard shortcut or have it export the audio into a file to use later.”
===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===
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==== DEEPER SONG EXPLORATION ===
Past issues of this newsletter are found at Insights Of A Deeper Song. Past Podcasts are found at Deeper Song Podcasts
===CARA’S CORNER===
The Importance Of A Good Connection
I could not get online. I could not get my email. I could not talk with my friends on Zoom. I could not take a class. I could not listen to music. I could not shop online. I could not share this newsletter. Three different staff members tried to troubleshoot the cause of the disconnect but could not fix it. It was not until a friend hooked me up with a different internet provider that everything worked again.
And I begin to think about the importance of connection. I want to creating a reliable connection – with people, with ideas, with the world.
Increasing our level of connection may not be as easy as changing internet providers but I wondered exactly how we would set out to do that.
“Be more present” comes to mind. “Be open to change, be flexible, be aware of what is possible.”
How well do I listen in a conversation? It was a huge shock for me recently when I was told that I was not a good listener. Since then I have been working on keeping my mouth closed and my mind open.
How do I deepen my experience of the universe? How do I deepen my experience of the inner world? I will take more shamanic journeys. I may practice doing some automatic writing. I’m already good at capturing the thoughts I have into writing. I will expand and deepen that skill.
I’m going to start listening more deeply, to become more aware of the signs and signals offered at the time by their posture, their words and the tone of their voice. I will become more observant of the signs and signals that are coming in as well as the signs and signals my responses are putting out.
I will take time to listen and explore and build a relationship because I understand the importance of a good connection.
===SING A DEEPER SONG ===
The Connection
I have to stay steady, and silent, connected and open within in order to make the connection.
I have to stay steady, and silent, connected and open within in order to make the connection. I must open my mind and my heart to receive.
I have to stay steady, and silent, connected and open within in order to make the connection. I must open my mind and my heart and my senses to receive. Then I will know how to feel and respond and connect.
– Cara Lumen, August 2023
We create our future with every thought we think, every action we take. Move forward mindfully as you sing your Deeper Song.
Namaste,
Cara
Come Sing a Deeper Song
I help Transformational Leaders
deepen our relationship with the Unseen World
and expand our role in the New Consciousness
Cara Lumen, explorer, spiritual philosopher, teacher, guide, leads us on a journey of self-awareness, spiritual expansion and impactful service. She helps us believe in our value, trust in our gifts, express our passion in a unique manner and build something meaningful around our wisdom and expertise. She helps us sing a deeper song.
Live in the nowhere that you came from,
even though you have an address here – Rumi
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