Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

Our Luminous Legacy

What Are Your Weaving into Your Reality?

By

What Are Your Weaving into Your Reality?
An Inner-World Exploration

We create the world we experience through our thoughts and words and actions.  If we don’t like what we are experiencing, we need to make changes within ourselves.  That’s both a huge responsibility and a great power.

What kind of reality are you weaving for yourself?

Because I’m retired, I can control what I do and who I see and how I spend my time.  As negativity and destructive action expand on our planet, I spend a lot of time alone.  To change my life experience, I must go within and start weaving the reality that I want to live in.

Begin with your inner work

My spiritual practice continues to expand.  That’s one way I know to shift my reality. I add and subtract and explore. My spiritual practice is alive and fluid.  

I do meditative shamanic journeying every day.  I set an intention for guidance or insight or healing or…whatever calls to me…and I go within to my Sacred Garden and talk to the helping spirits who show up as metaphors for me to interpret.  Sometimes I talk to an element like water or air; other times it’s an animal form, or wee folk, or angels, or teachers in human form.  I’ve been doing shamanic journeying for several years and always find the answers and guidance I seek. 

I work with stones, the energy of the over 150 rocks and crystals I have collected over the years that fill most surfaces in my home. I hold them and listen to their messages and accept their healing energy. 

I use sound to assist me in the weaving of my new reality –  instrumental, vocal, chanting, mantras.  I have a wonderful flute, a ceremonial rattle, a singing bowl, a handbell, my voice.  I select what calls to me in the moment. Sound sets up a vibration that resounds and reaches your innermost places.

I develop new mindful breathing practices to align my chakras and balance the flow of energy in my body. 

And I try to move through my day with gratitude and awareness.  

There are many paths we can take to weave our new reality. 

Monitor how we interact with others

I watch my reactions to my world and strive to balance them and keep them in a space of unconditional love.

I am working to recognize the sameness I hold with others, rather than our differences.  Some people are easier to do that with than others.  Our disagreements may simply stem from the difference between those who are willing to experiment and go adventuring, and those who are not.  

I seek out the few people who are on a path similar to mine.  And I walk beside them for a while.  I find those spiritual friends through courses I take and events I attend that are focused on my own passion. (See The Shift Network and Sound True)

Find a like-minded person who allows you both to grow and enrich each other as you walk in parallel paths as for long as you are going in a similar direction.

Self-responsibility is the cornerstone of weaving your own path of stewardship

You create/attract/accept/encourage/reject everything that comes your way.  Good and bad.  The obstacles you perceive are there to help you learn something – what you really want, how to move ahead in the face of adversity. We constantly learn. Life is about one lesson after another, one choice that leads to another and guides the direction you take and where you end up.  

You. Your awareness. Your choices.  Your decisions. Your ignoring of signals. Your exploration of new options.  You.  You are the weaver of your path. You are the weaver of your reality. 

Visualize what is possible

What would it look like to live in a community where everyone was thoughtful and kind and supportive?  

I’ve been trying to visualize a compassionate world, where one is for all and all for one.  And then the imbalance of reality steps in and I struggle to hold an image of cooperation and equality and well-being for all. That’s not what seems to be here on this planet at the present time. So I have to go live beyond the planet in the invisible realms, the inner realms and learn to live in unconditional love there.  Then I can bring that love into the earth reality to share it with others.

Does that mean I stay unconscious of the world around me?  No, but I’m distancing myself from negative news and looking for the creative innovations and kind deeds people are doing. I watch creative people find innovative solutions to the problems of the earth.  I focus on the ideas that hold promise rather than feeling overwhelmed by the unconsciousness surrounding the harm being done to our planet.  If I didn’t, I would feel very, very helpless.  

There seems to be more of them than there are of us transformational thinkers, light beings, consciousness raisers. But we have great power, and the collective consciousness is changing, one enlightened light-worker at a time.

Consensus energy is powerful energy, positive energy is powerful energy.  Those of us who are aware of our connection with one source energy, our integration as a unified light body, are coming together in that consciousness to weave a new reality for those who want to join us.

Some can see the light within themselves. Many cannot.  

We weave this new reality for those who can see it 

When we undertake to increase the power and reach of our light, others see us and begin to recognize that same light within themselves. People simply have to look for the light within themselves to find our common light and when they do, all they have to do to change their life is to allow it to be their driving force.  

The layer of light thickens

My journey to the invisible realms often begins by experiencing myself in a black void as a single white light floating in the Great Nothingness. There is often a Helping Spirit with me. Gradually other lights appear and we flow together until we become a huge mass of unconditional love and healing light covering the planet.  

Anyone who looks within at their own light can see us and join us. Anyone, anywhere.  Their choice.  Their experience.  Their shift. 

So the light deepens and broadens and thickens as it covers our planet.  The energy is powerful and reaches many hearts.  But not all.  So we, we transformational thinkers, we change makers, we work on our inner worlds to strengthen our own light vibration and then we spend a lot of time radiating out unconditional love to the world and its people and all of nature.  

And that makes a difference 

What are you weaving into your reality?

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

How to Use Sound for Self Healing

How You See Yourself – You Are

How Effective Is Your Spiritual Practice?

What are the Foundations Stones Upon Which Your Build Your Life?

The Power of Being Different

 Our Defense of Non-Existent Boundaries

By

 Our Defense of Non-Existent Boundaries
An Inner-World Exploration

There is no separation.  Therefore, there are no boundaries.  

Let me repeat that.  We are all one energy, therefore, there is no separation and no boundaries.  We are not separate selves, we are One Self.  So who are we arguing with?  What are we defending, and from whom?

Erase the idea of separation

There is no “me.”  That’s a hard one for many of us.  As humans in body suits, we are set up with an ego that we think defines us.  Instead, the ego separates us, from each other, and it even separates us from our true inner self.  

We get to work on that. 

Explore the Emptiness that Holds Everything

Call it what you will, All That Is, One, Universal Mind, Void, whatever metaphor you choose to lift yourself up from the limitations of your body suit and go exploring in the Web of Life, the Cosmic Ocean, the One Light.  

When you find your way there, you will dissolve your body suit ego and know your true self. 

If there is only one, what am I defending and from whom?

Since we are not separate, who am I arguing with?  Who am I fighting?  Why do I think I am one tribe or another when there is only one tribe – humanity!

Place yourself on the side of the more encompassing concepts. If I develop a relationship with our Earth Home, there are actions I will and will not support in myself and others.  But that comes from my awareness that I am the same energy as our earth home.  Would you harm your own home?  

Shift how you see what you are “defending” and who you are defending it from.  But most of all turn and deepen your own relationship with the place of disagreement.

Journey to the Void

I take shamanic journeys to the Void all the time.  Your experience will be different, but in my journeys, I have a helping spirit with me, and usually, as I hang out in the Void, other points of light gradually appear, and together we begin to form a layer of light that encompasses the earth.  I feel a connection with my fellow lights, and I also feel support in our common goal, to heal our earth home.  

Erase any perceived boundaries

Free yourself up to go exploring in the unseen realms. Go more deeply into nature, talk to the moon and the sun, open your heart to the essence of others, rather than their physical form.  Seek the oneness that erases any perceived boundaries. 

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

Light and Darkness Cannot Exist Together

Do You See and Hear and Walk in a Sacred Manner?

What Core Beliefs are Guiding You Today?

Come Out of the Protective Darkness of the Unconscious

Unleash the Power of your Sacred Garden 

Does Your Work Stir Your Heart?

By

Does Your Work Stir Your Heart?
OUR LUMINOUS LEGACY

At the end of your day, do you feel a deep glow of satisfaction at what you got to do and how well you did it?  Did you get to stretch yourself a bit, offer your best self in service, change a few lives?  

If you did, you’re doing work that stirs your heart.  Keep doing more of that. 

I’m lucky. There’s nothing more awesome in life than having the freedom to do exactly what you want to do every day.  As a retired old person, my days lie open with an invitation to soar. And I do.  It’s only now that I no longer have to make a living that I realize how vitally important it is to do what you love to do.  

What’s your passion?

What do you love to do more than anything else in the world?  Forget about its financial potential.  What calls to you in the moment?  What makes your heart sing?

Follow your gifts

My passion is learning new philosophical things.  I read, I take courses, and I write to clarify and figure out how to apply it to my life. Then I share what I learn with others. As long as I can keep learning and exploring and sharing, I’m fulfilled and joyously satisfied.  I don’t like to repeat things. I prefer to keep building and expanding.

All it takes to stir your heart is a passionate interest and identifying how you want to express that interest.  What’s calling you?  How do you express it? How do you explore it?  What are your unique gifts?  How do you use them?  What do people ask you to do for them?  What is an over-arching pull that takes you on life’s adventures? Go do more of that!

Your gifts will call throughout your life

I began using writing as a way to express myself in my teens. I remember writing poems for my high-school newspaper. I still write poems – odd ones – but I call them poems. My senior year, I was tapped as Managing Editor – not Literary Editor – because someone recognized organizational skills I had no clue I had. I’m still a fabulous organizer.

My first job out of college was as a radio continuity editor at a major station in Kansas City.  I have no idea how I qualified for that right out of college but that was another call to develop my writing and organizational skills.  I have written for print, radio and television, served as on-air talent for both radio and television and worked as a copywriter in advertising agencies.  I have produced small books and blog posts and podcasts and a few videos. I’ve always been called to be a communicator.  

You have a similar thread, something you have done throughout your life. Look back and identify the most joyous and satisfying times until you see signs of the path you have taken that shows your passion, your calling, and your place of illumined service. 

Let your heart guide you 

What calls to you so deeply you cannot resist the pull?  What makes you tear up in anticipation of sharing it?  There is some way that you participate in the world that deeply nourishes you.  Go do more of that. 

This calling, this deep urge to share in a particular manner, needs to be a part of what you offer, an integral element in the work you do.  That doesn’t mean you have to start your own business around that gift or even do it as a major part of your work. It simply means you need to know your own passion, your own gifts, your own heart and use them regularly throughout your life.

Begin with that call, that deep yearning, that undeniable need to explore, discover, and share. 

Follow that. It’s your heart calling you. Share it with the world.

Do those things which stir your heart and change the lives of others.  What you set out to accomplish has to consume you with the need to express it. Then you find ways to make it valuable to others.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider

Make Work Your Offering

Live in the Center of Your Being

What are the Foundations Stones Upon Which Your Build Your Life

One Powerful Way to Change Our Future

The Path of Supportive Service

Live In Your Center 

By

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:

Are You Sacred Space

Do You See and Hear in a Sacred Manner?

What Core Beliefs are Guiding You Today

You Are Never Separate 

Where Did You Come From?

Your Duty is to Be

Light and Darkness Cannot Exist Together

By

Light and Darkness Cannot Exist Together
Our Luminous Legacy

When you light a candle, the dark recedes.  Light and darkness cannot exist together.  If you don’t like the darkness showing up in the world, get busy brightening your light. 

You cannot think negative thoughts with a smile on your face. It is impossible to think a hostile thought and a friendly thought at the same time. Light and darkness cannot exist together, and that makes it simple to make the changes we need and want to see in the world today.  We simply shift our gaze from the dark to the light – not to ignore the darkness, but to empower the positive to become stronger. 

What are you focusing on?

Each time I start to despair over something going on in the world, I can find a real-life example of someone making a profound difference by a positive action they’re taking.  I shift my attention to what is working and I immediately feel encouraged and hopeful, simply because I focused on what’s making a positive impact rather than what’s causing harm. 

Your power lies in controlling your focus every moment

Notice what you’re focusing on, what you’re thinking about the most. If you feel less than joyous and serene, shift your gaze.  Shift your focus.  Look for and find the positive, the good, the successes in our world and simply be aware of how you feel when you look at the positive. 

Stop now and notice how you feel in this moment.  Are you tense discouraged, upset, angry?   Now close your eyes and take a slow, deep-to-your-core breath and slowly and mindfully release it. 

Notice how your body has let go and relaxed.  All you have done it to take a slow, deep breath and stepped inside yourself for a moment. 

Take another deep breath and let go even more.  

You have the power to shift how you feel in any given moment

You can make this profound inner shift from negative to positive any time you choose.  Simply shift your focus toward the positive, and feel its effect. 

To Sing a Deeper Song, consider:

What Does Spiritual Friendship Look Like? 

How to Weave the Sacred into the Ordinary

Do You See and Hear in a Sacred Manner?

What Core Beliefs are Guiding You Today?

Where Do You Find Your Inner Circle of Light Beings?