Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

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Meet Beyond Our Differences

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Meet Beyond Our Differences

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.  – Rumi

We’re all one energy.  There’s only one of us. That’s the field where we meet – that place where we’re only one essence. It’s our mutual home, our collective energy. When we come across a viewpoint that seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum from ours, look for the light within both of you. Find our mutual original energy and begin there. Build from that united one-ness.  

Can you do that?  Can you rise above the rhetoric, the differences and see each of us, all of us, every one of us, as a light being and then in your heart, hold the highest good for each of us?

When one plucks at a thread in one place, it’s connected to many others; and when one piece is moved, an unraveling begins to occur. It makes one pause before picking a thread to pull! 

But we’re all one energy.  We’re all interconnected. 

When you feel as one with others, you’ve arrived at the field beyond. 

Go there. 

To Sing a Deeper Song, consider:

Do You have the Willingness to find Common Ground?

Discover Your Spiritual Heart 

Join the Circle of Light Beings

Are You a Ripple of Hope?

Do Things from the Soul

How to Embrace our Differences

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celebration

It takes a lot of looking into the heart of the other person in order to understand how alike we are. Rather than be put off by how different we are, how can we learn to feel more connected because of our similarities?

We are all one

A human is a human regardless of his or her size, shape, color, beliefs, accent, personal choices, spiritual practices or beliefs. That’s really all that matters. We are all made of the same stuff. We are all expressions of the same Great Mystery. Start there.

We can learn from our diversity

There are lovely customs and ceremonies and celebrations that what each culture offers. Take what resonates and add it to your own spiritual practice and leave behind anything that does not resonate.

Accept the uniqueness of different versions of life. Each generation has their own take on what they have been taught. I’m 84 and have been influenced by the civil rights movement, the women’s liberation movement and men landing on the moon. There are ideas and beliefs I was taught as a child that no longer apply. Age alone can set you apart.

Children today have been born with a much greater capacity for technology. It’s demanding their attention. They will be affected by it in ways we have yet to uncover.

It’s not wrong to be old. It’s not wrong to be drawn to the technical. It’s just different. A different calling. A different approach. And probably a different outcome.

You way is not right for everyone

I’ve been a vegan for four years and a vegetarian for 40. We are a small part of the population. That doesn’t make us bad or stupid or undesirable. It simply means we have made a choice that resonates with us and that’s different from the majority of the population. I don’t try to talk anyone else into my lifestyle. I simply live it and exemplify it.

I’ve been intellectually curious all my life. Only a small percentage of people are. That doesn’t make us right, or smarter, it just makes us different. Each of us is honoring our own being-ness. That’s a very good thing. We get to honor and respect and appreciate our diversity.

Allow your being-ness to attract

What I can do is live my truth and let it draw to it the people who feel the same way. In my case, I have to go online to find those people and they are usually a lot younger than I am. The more deeply you become involved in a concept or idea, the fewer people there are to talk with about it. You may have to go searching for like-minded people.

Don’t preach. Don’t enroll. Simply be.

Be an example of the idea you embrace. For instance, my enthusiasm is contagious. It helps people take a deeper look at what I’m sharing. My clarity of explanation helps people examine an idea from a different direction. What conclusions they draw and what they do with it are totally their own to do. I’m just being me.

What is your line in the sand?

I walk away from anger. I walk away form hatred. I walk away from judgmentalness. People with that energy are not people I want to interact with. And I watch in dismay as some people try to force other people to do it their way.

Take the actions you need to take in your own life and leave others to make their own decisions. You do not need to approve or believe in what others do. You can draw your own line in the sand.

You can protect yourself by walking away from a situation, by sending your healing energy into a tense situation and if appropriate and the other person is receptive, have a conversation that allows you to explore each other’s understanding, beliefs, fears, and viewpoints.

Look for the beauty in others

Take what you need and adapt it to your own beliefs. For instance, I’ve taken one course on shamanism and listened to 14 people speak on the topic. I have learned about the rituals and beliefs held by centuries of indigenous people about the earth energy. I learned, I took what resonated with me and my current life focus. My purpose was to feel more deeply my connection with nature. And now I do. I am free to take what I need and want and resonate with and be grateful that someone is preserving all that earth wisdom.

I’m grateful for the people who are using group energy to help bring peace to the planet and I’ve enthusiastically joined group meditations for peace. I can choose the methods that resonate with me and simply be grateful that so many people are looking within themselves for ways they can encourage and maintain peace.

I’m grateful for the people who create restaurants that specialize in their native food, otherwise there are eating experiences I would never have. When people bring their unique cultural viewpoint into a situation, there’s learning available for everyone.

How do I change my communication in order to work with this person from another community, from another country? What is their belief system that I need to know about in order to not unconsciously offend them? Honor each person’s cultural background and belief system. Look for our one-ness.

Eliminate your judgmentalness

I don’t like killing animals and I have relatives that hunt. It is so ingrained in them that all I can do is avoid conversations about hunting.

I don’t have the same beliefs about the aging process as anyone else in my senior community. As a metaphysician, I have chosen to look for examples of life and living in people who are much younger than I am.

I’m teaching myself not to say judgmental or critical things about others, so I carefully avoid people who do. They, of course, can do what they want; but I choose not to be around that negative and judgmental energy.

Where else do I need to eliminate my own judgmental-ness? Being judgmental can sneak up on you, so keep a look out for those moments when you move into looking at the negative instead of the positive.

What do you have in common?

You may have to look closely for what you have in common, other than being part of the same web of life. How are you alike? What are your shared attitudes and expectations? What are your common goals? Look for how the other person or people contribute to the higher good. And look at how you do.

We are all one. We are interpretations of the same humanness We are all united in the web of life.

Look for what we have in common, and build on that.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:
I Am You
We Are Part of a Larger Spiritual Order
The Core Value of Inclusion
How To keep Negativity Out of Your Life
Everyone Walks the Same Path
How Labels Dehumanize Us
How to Use our Interconnection to Heal the World

Why Is There Hatred In Religion?

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Why Is There Hatred In Religion?

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
 The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

I began to write this on the day the Gaza Strip was attacked by Hamas. It is another religious battle on our planet. I watch other nations rally to take sides. In the US, we have the Conservative Christians ready to destroy democracy and replace it with fascism. Fascist groups have come out against the Jews. Why does all this hatred exist and where does it come from?

I knew that researchers and academics generally categorize the world’s religions into five major groups: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism, but I was totally surprise to learn that there were over 4,000 religions, faith groups, and denomination that exist around the world today and a huge number of people who simply consider themselves deeply spiritual (like me). Why aren’t we just grateful that so many people are spiritual.

Google says: “Religion is a set of organized beliefs, practices, and systems that most often relate to the belief and worship of a controlling force, such as a personal god or another supernatural being.”

What causes conflict between religions?

“Although not necessarily so, there are some aspects of religion that make it susceptible to being a latent source of conflict. All religions have their accepted dogma, or articles of belief, that followers must accept without question. This can lead to inflexibility and intolerance in the face of other beliefs.”

The idea of “Dogma, or articles of belief, that followers must accept without question” is interesting. It was in a Comparative Religion class my senior year in college that I first became aware of so many different religions and wondered how we knew ours was “right”.

“Right” is not a measurement – how you live your life is. Do your religious beliefs lead you to be a kind, compassionate person and can you embrace all fellow humans whatever their spiritual practice?

What is the common thread in all religions?

“All religions explain that all humans come from the same Creator or Source into this world. In addition, all people will return to the same Source after life. This Source is absolute and inexplicable in nature, being beyond the scope of human comprehension. Religion serves to aid people in connecting with Source”

So are we arguing about what to call Source?

What do all major religions have in common?

“The thing is that all major religions have the Golden Rule in common. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ Not always the same words but the same meaning.”

So what happens? You don’t go to war if your core belief is love. You do not harm others if your core belief is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” 

We’re back to dogma which we are taught to accept without question. Perhaps we need to examine that dogma and decide for ourselves.

“Primordialist or essentialist theories argue that the differences between the various religious and cultural traditions are among the main authentic reasons for the outbreak of conflicts between states or groups of individuals.”

“Conflicts, according to these theories, would be triggered by economic and social reasons or by territorial tensions. In these cases, the religious factor would be used by certain leaders to take advantage of popular support and direct it against an enemy in the name of a religious / sectarian opposition.”

“In the name of…” is that what has happened in the US as our democracy is threatened by ultra conservative religions? How do we change that in our world?

I call it Source, The Universe. All That Is, the Web of Life. 

We must not fight each other. We Are One………

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I look deeply within myself to make certain I love others as I do myself.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

  • Do you love yourself? Begin there. Can you love others as you do yourself?
  • If you choose, explore the premise and concepts of another religion. Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet has deeply resonated with me for fifty years. Although brought up as a Maronite Christian, Gibran, as an Arab, was influenced not only by his own religion but also by Islam, and especially by the mysticism of the Sufis.
  • I am drawn to Shamanism. I use the shamanic journey to gain guidance and insights from my inner work. I am drawn to Taoism which is a Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-tzu ( fl. 6th century BC) and The Tao Te Ching guides my path. The Tao (or Dao) is sometimes understood as the way of the universe. Taoism teaches that all living creatures ought to live in a state of harmony with the universe, and the energy found in it. Ch’i, or qi, is the energy present in and guiding everything in the universe. Taoism is mainly concerned with the spiritual elements of life, including the nature of the universe.
  • Twenty-five years ago I moved deeply into The Center For Spiritual Living and became a practitioner, a member of the clergy. It is based on the work of Thomas Troward who studied all the world religions and was taught as Science Of Mind by Ernest Holmes. A core concept is “We Are One.”
  • Perhaps explore some other religions and focus on the similarities rather than the differences. We are One.

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

How Do You Stay Flexible?

“To be rugged is to be tough, determined, and durable. To be flexible is to consciously respond to altered circumstances or conditions, to adapt and bend easily without breaking. Put those together and the result is a gritty endurance, an anti-fragility that not only withstands change, but thrives in its midst.”

How flexible are you in your beliefs and actions?  How do you stay flexible?

What Is Your Philosophy of Death?

There are a variety of beliefs about death. Shamans teach us that our spirit and soul depart through the crown of our heads on a journey back to the stars, where we have eight days to revisit places of unfinished business and release accumulated hucha – the uncooperative energy of discontent, energy that is not coherent with our intention – from our lives. In the end, we merge with the ONE—the living energy field.

I am very drawn to the books of Michael Newton who used hypnosis to examine what happens in our lives between lives. 

What is your philosophy of death?

How Big Are Your Dreams?

You know that if you can imagine it, it can happen. So exactly how big are your dreams and expectations? 

It has been a huge step for me to decide that I want to go for 204 since I will be 91 next month. That’s a bunch of years in which to get a whole lot of stuff done. So I’ve got to get to work. I just know that I have recently entered what is my deepest place of service so far. I have work to do. I have a difference to make. Look closely to see if your dreams and expectations are limiting your possibilities.

Are you allowing your vision to close you in – to limit the possibilities? Are you thinking small? Or are you thinking of future goals and achievements and possibilities that stretch out over the next 30 years? Do you expect enough of yourself?

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Use Visualization To Change Your Life

One of the most powerful tools we have to change our lives is visualization. It is an amazing way to try on a new situation to see how it resonates.

If you are considering a change, take time to visualize yourself in that new situation. See what new awareness you have. Use your imagination to explore the possibilities. Use visualization to change your life.

Alone Time

I’ve lived alone for most of my life and I value my ability to go deep within through meditation, to be free to follow my creative calling, to do what I want to when I want to.

How much time do you choose to be alone? And do you make space for those in your life to have their own alone time?

I have been sitting alone in nature to play my flute. I meditate in the morning when the sun comes in to warm my shoulders.  I have a centering Qigong sequence I do before bed and I use triggers like getting up from my desk to prompt me to center myself.

How do you take time to be alone in silence?

===OUTER  WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

How Do You Adapt And Thrive In Your Current Circumstances?

My counselor friend wrote

“You continually challenge yourself, not only with learning and curiosity, but also with opening yourself to adapt and thrive in your current circumstances.” 

My big lesson is that I have to show up.

I moved into long-term care a year ago in October. I have found friends among the staff and now finally among the residents. I just needed to show up.

How do you find your circle of friends? Where do you go to meet you like-minded people? And when you find someone you like, do you follow through to know them better?

Looking back over my years of friendships, I realize that I found friends in activities in which we shared an interest. I met one of my oldest friends in a woman’s group in California thirty years ago. I met another when we were in the online membership group of one of Chis Brogan’s classes twenty years ago. I was paired with another friend in one of Sandra Ingerman’s shamanic classes. We have spoken almost every week for eight years. Another friend found me because of an excerpt from one of my books on the websites of some of the Centers For Spiritual Living. All of those connections came about because we were interested in the same thing.

Be pro-active in seeking out new friends. Know what you need in your life and find that through friendships. How do you adapt to and thrive in your current circumstances?

Rethink Your Life

My friend’s husband died recently and she is having to rethink this next phase of her life. Another friend retired a few years ago and is still in the process of defining her                               next 30 years. 

There are many turning points in our life that ask us to stand at a crossroad and make a new decision. Sometimes that means we have to explore new pathways. Sometimes it means we have to explore new ways of doing what we love. One friend walks three miles a day. Perhaps she will start a small walking group of friends to encourage them to walk.  She loves to garden, perhaps she could go help people in the community garden increase their skills.

When you get to a turning point in your life, take time to reflect on where you are and in particular remember the things you have left by the wayside. That includes gifts or interests or things you never got around to doing.

You can explore the new ideas or gifts that you’ve neglected or you can let things unfold, but you have to stay aware that new ideas and situations are constantly unfolding and nudging you to explore in a new direction.

What do people ask of you, need from you? What do you need to deepen your life? What gift and talent can you bring forward to add new dimensions to your life? Go exploring and throw open some new doors. 

Approach It From A New Angle

This new way to deliver my newsletter cuts out a whole lot of work I had been doing that I didn’t need to do and I didn’t even realize it. Often we just keep going with the familiar. It took a move to a new environment to get me to rethink and revise big portions of my life. We can miss a lot of opportunities for growth and change when we do not move beyond the familiar.

How do you make change? How do you approach your life from a new angle?

Research What You Need

I researched and found exercises I can do for the circulation needs I have. Now I will figure out where to put them in my life and on what triggers I need to remember them.

What changes do you want to make that will enhance your life experience? Do that.

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness

The Seed Mantra Om (AUM)

The word Om is defined by Hindu scripture as being the original vibration of the universe, which all other vibrations are able to manifest. By chanting Om, we can align our frequency with that of the original universal frequency, which is essential in spiritual practice. It is expressed by this symbol –  🕉  

It is a symbol of oneness.  

This sacred syllable is not just one sound, it is actually three.  Ah, ooh. mmm. Utter Om as you breathe out. You should spend 80 percent of your breath chanting “A-U,” and only 20 percent should be devoted to the syllable, “M.” The chanting of Om should initially be done for three times. Slowly, you can work your way up to nine times.

Use AUM to center yourself and to begin your meditation.

The Power Of Gratitude

Stop for a moment and notice how much you have to be grateful for – your life, your talents, your family, your pets, your friends, your mind, your health, your spiritual life and the way your life is unfolding.

How conscious are you of your many blessings? How do you express your gratitude? Do you turn and offer what you have/know/learn to others?

The form of experiencing and expressing your gratitude will vary. It’s pretty easy to hug a loved one in gratitude.  Sometimes we remember to be grateful for our food and those who grew it and harvested it and delivered it. Maybe we remember to thank our bodies for all it helps us do. Periodically we remember to be grateful for our talents and gifts and our spiritual awareness.

You might offer gratitude to your day – at the beginning, the middle, the end. You might offer gratitude to the Universe for – well, everything. 

Gratitude has great power to deepen our awareness. What form does your gratitude take? Do more of it.

Create a Ceremony For The Moon Cycles

Full moons, new moons, eclipses of the moon – there are many opportunities to connect with the energy of the moon.

Moon rituals create a sacred space for you to focus inward, set intentions, spread love, and feel empowered. You can practice a moon ritual on the days leading up to, the day of, or the days following the new moon and the full moon. For me it is a time to reflect, release, re-choose and recommit.

Reflect And Offer Gratitude

You might keep a journal that contains your intentions and your results that shows your progress and achievements and reminds you of your goals. Acknowledge yourself for the successes and offer gratitude to the Universe for its help. 

Release

What is not working? What do you want to change? What do you need to release? Create an aspect of the moon ceremony in which you release, let go and move forward. Design a physical act that simulates releasing – tearing up or burning a paper with the intention written on it or blowing soap bubbles to release it. 

Re-choose 

In the space in your life that you have created by releasing what you no longer need or want, there is room to place what you do want. This can be in the form of imagining new possibilities or commitments or simply opening yourself up to new adventures.

Re-commit

After you release and make room for the new, commit to what you want to experience, expand, strengthen or create next.

Close with gratitude

Look over your life and offer gratitude or the support of the Universe and the many good things you have created together.

What kind of ceremony will you create for the moon cycles?

===MUDRAS OF POWER===

Surya Mudra (Mudra of the Sun) – vision, weight

Typically, our bodies have an ideal balance of the elements – Fire, Air, Space, Earth, Water. But when one of them is out of proportion or an imbalance occurs, it may harm the body. Mudras in yoga may help in the removal of imbalance in the body. Mudras are made with your fingers.

The Mudra of the Sun helps to control weight and obesity. Surya mudra is associated with earth and fire elements. It increases the fire element in the body that helps to maintain the temperature and improve the vision.

How to do it:

Surya mudra is performed by bending both ring fingers and placing the tips of them on the bases of the thumbs. Keep the other fingers straight or relaxed. 

30 minutes of this practice at early hours of the morning is sufficient for getting the results. The Surya mudra yields more benefits when practiced early in the day.

Elements: Space+ Water

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

How Supportive Are The People You Spend Time With?

Why do you spend time with the people that you do? What do you gain from it? How do they support you? How do you support them? It’s important to pay attention to the input of the people you choose to spend time with. Are they supportive? Or do they lead you down a path that’s not right for you? 

We have to take care of ourselves. We have to be self-sufficient and self-determining. That means we must stay true to ourselves and our path and goals.  

Don’t be a people pleaser. You don’t have to be a leader but you do have to stand on your own feet on your own ground. Do you do that?

I have plenty of people who are supporting me physically since I am in long-term care. I have friends that I speak with regularly on Zoom who support my life. I am developing friendships among staff with whom I exchange ideas. I have always chosen to be only with people from whom I can learn.

Do you at least have a good balance between those who nurture you and those you nurture? How supportive are the people you spend time with

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===

Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations 

Do You Believe In Your Own Value?

How much do you value yourself? Do you appreciate and value your gifts and talents? Do you value your inner wisdom? Are you aware of the depth of your service in the world and do you value it?

How can you up your game?

I am contributing more deeply here than where I lived before but I did not plan it – it evolved – the Universe promoted me to move here and my impact greatly expanded.

We always have new opportunities to enter into deeper service than we may realize. Our very presence impacts those around us and a casual comment may open a door for another person, just as interactions with others may offer you insight into your role on your path. 

Be more aware of how your presence impacts others, not so much to monitor it but to recognize how far-reaching your presence is. Value your gifts and your impact on the world around you.

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Support and Encouragement for our Unfolding Role in the Future

Do You Resist Change?

Change is constant. Every aspect of our life is in constant change. Which means we must be aware of our gifts and goals, stay flexible and keep choosing and changing.

Do you know what you value? Are you aware of the myriad of gifts you possess? Are you aware of how your presence affects others? Is your life going in the direction that is the most impactful for you? What do you need to change?

I’m experiencing major change because my current environment is triggering responses in me that have not been activated in a while. I am keeping aware of how I feel. Recent a stimulating conversation set me soaring and I realized how much I missed that kind of interchange. I’m not sure how to correct that but the need is very strong.

We have to create change for ourselves. If I need more stimulating conversation, I have to go figure out how to get it and where to get it. I have to decide to explore new ways to strengthen the right side of my body while I wait to get the left hip replaced. 

The universe is always knocking on our door with new opportunities, new pathways and new gifts to expand. Embrace the opportunities that ignite you to change. 

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===

The Two Vital Sides of Your Spiritual Practice

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===

Self Responsibility

Doctor J took my hand, looked me in the eye and said, “We will do the surgery.  It is not safe to have an open sore because bacteria can get in and go to the metal parts and they cannot fight it off.”

I had what I needed, my edema was holding me back and I was the only one keeping the hip replacement surgery from happening. I accepted that it is all up to me to do the work to self-heal. I took responsibility – no more salty snacks – which I knew was mine to do but couldn’t seem to do it. Now that I understand why – to prevent infection – I will zealously do my part.

What does it take for you to take responsibility and do the work?

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

It Is Mine To Do

I am responsible for all of me – my life, my choices, my results. 

I am responsible for all of me – my life, my choices, my results. I am the only one who can do the work and create the life I want.

I am responsible for all of me – my life, my choices, my results. I am the only one who can do the work and create the life I want. I go to work.

– Cara Lumen, October 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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Join the Deeper Song Community

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My Books

What Do You Want To Learn Next?

By

What Do You Want To Learn Next?

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
 The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

I’m beginning to think about the year ahead. What do I want to learn next? 

There are some physical things I want to accomplish. I will have both hips replaced and that will certainly affect my mobility which I then need to cultivate and improve upon. I am now on restorative physical therapy and get to ride a recumbent bike three times a week and do some stretching exercises at a counter. I love it and it is making many encouraging differences. What circumstance is improving for you that will open new doorways of opportunity?

I have to get creative about working around the dry macular degeneration which is affecting my eyes. That means cultivating the use of more podcasts as a major learning tool for one. What doorway seems to be closing for you that you have to seek out new avenues of opportunity to explore?

What new in-service goals are you setting for yourself? I have this entire population of very kind supportive staff that I wish to support in return. The form that will take seems to be unfolding over time. My sense is that it will be in one-on-one interactions. Even as I write that I know it is so much more than that. I am already setting a new tone, a new expectation for myself. My role is unfolding and making itself known.

What do I want to learn? I want to keep practicing Qigong. As my body improves, I want to establish that as a thoughtfully done daily practice standing up the way it should be done. The hip surgery will make that possible. 

I’m not sure what my spiritual goals are yet but I want to both expand and deepen them. I have choosen to leave the door to the hall open during the day and there is a lot of traffic going in and out between vitamins and temperature and other things so I’m still working on how I am to be in service. I’m really working out learning everyone’s name and have certainly established some friendships already. I have not met any other residents except my suite mate. 

It’s not like it was when I was alone in my own living room. But I do get to sit by a big window and observe the seasons and the movement of the morning sun. That’s a good place to begin one’s spiritual practice each day.

What changes will you make in your spiritual life? You might consider a new form of meditation or ceremony or move your spiritual practice to a different time of the day. Perhaps you experiment for a month to see what resonates. 

Spend some time looking closely for what needs have emerged and how you can creatively meet them. Explore and experiment and make some creative plans to meet your needs in the coming year.  

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I am willing and ready to make the changes that will deepen my daily life experience.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

  • Identify the areas of your life that need improvement.
  • Look at the areas of your life that are working and see what elements make them successful. 
  • Look for any new needs. Examine what you are doing now, explore different ways to explore new avenues and create a new plan for the coming year. 

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

What Is Missing From Your Life?

Ask yourself, “What is missing from my life and what step will I take to correct that.”

Now that I have spent nearly six weeks here in long-term care I can look more closely at the rhythm of my life and identify what is missing, what I want to add, and how I will do that.

One thing I have learned is that I had grown more and more isolated before I moved and having this much daily interaction with really kind people is making a huge difference in my emotional well-being. Notice how your life changes when you redirect your attention. 

I already have plans for after my hip replacements to walk in the garden here and sit out in the gazebo in the sunshine. I also know that the staff is going to be a source of personal growth and mental stimulation for me. It will not come from other residents. That helps me plan and focus my attention and my activities. 

I love to learn and I’m going to explore more podcasts as one of my resources. And I have yet to try audiobooks.

What new venues will you explore in order to expand your life experience? Do you need to join a group that shares your interests? Are there some causes that you care about? Do you need a friend who shares your interests? Are there classes that you want to take, a new activity to undertake? It’s good to always keep learning. At least I find that to be so.

Notice how you spend your time and be more selective. For instance, I was watching way too many television reruns and playing way too much Spider Solitaire. With this new environment and these new friends, I have stopped that and there’s a very large space left to rethink how I want to experience those hours, not simply make them pass by. So far it’s taken the form of a gradual increase in my writing. 

Rethink your choices, go exploring, and expand your experiences. Life will be more fun that way. 

Celebrate Your Uniqueness

There is only one you and that’s a good thing. One you to be in the world, only one you to be a friend to your friends, and only one you to do the work you do. There are certain things only you can do so do them with love and pleasure and skill. Celebrate your uniqueness every moment of your life. Be the best “you” you can be. It will make the world a better place.  

How will you be a better you today? 

How Do You View Change?

I’ve been in my new home in long-term care for six weeks and I realized that the experience of change stems directly from how you view the opportunities that open up because of that change. 

For instance, there are a whole lot of physical things I no longer have to be concerned about. I am well fed. I am well cared for. I am well nursed. My laundry is done and my vitamins are brought to me. And I have nursing available 24/7.  I have new opportunities and access to things like physical therapy that I did not have before. I have a whole lot of new friends among the staff, for that is the group that I identify with. They are the movers and shakers here and I am still a mover and shaker.  

If you focus in the wrong direction, you can make yourself pretty miserable. Instead of the smallness of my space I focus on the feeling of being tucked in. I sit in the morning sun by my nearly floor-to-ceiling windows to watch the birds at the feeder start their day. And I am safe. 

I really do celebrate this return to socialization with people who are interesting to know. I was spending huge amounts of time alone at Ridgeview and relied only on my wonderful friends online who are all in the vicinity of age 60 and are actively pursuing the next unfolding phase of their lives. I had very few in-person interactions. Now I have daily interactions with caring people and that has lifted my spirits tremendously.

When you find yourself in a new situation, don’t mourn what you left, celebrate what you are in the process of discovering. 

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Degrees of Discomfort

The nursing aides will give me a Tylenol when I ask but they always ask what degree of pain it is. I’ve been having some discomfort after I do the recumbent bike. So I have created a new level of so-called pain. A whimpering one. A cranky one. And a whiny one. Got to find your chuckles where you will. 

What Is Missing From Your Life and What Steps Will You Take To Correct That?

Several times a year it is really important to pause to see what is missing from your life and what steps you are willing to take to correct that. Maybe one big correction is staring you in the face or maybe you see a series of more subtle changes that need to be made. It’s a good idea to contemplate what changes you want to make and create plans around how to do that.

The hip replacements are going to change things for me for the better so that is a major focus for my year. This new environment has offered me a new service project and I have to figure out other ways to enrich my time. Each one of those is a really big project and the physical change will show me the most apparent steps to take. 

My new place of service has been identified and has a lot of unfolding to do. 

I don’t know where my love of learning will take me. I will just let that one unfold. I don’t have money for online classes anymore but there are many free ways to learn online. 

Leave room for the unexpected and be willing to go exploring.  What is missing from your life and what steps will you take to create that? 

Take Time For Self-Healing and Regeneration

Everything we are experiencing outside of ourselves is a reflection of our inner state. How are you doing? How is your life unfolding? You are the one who gets to make the changes. You are the one who will cause the shift. As within, so without. Do the work.

We are like a tree. We are in one place, this planet, with everything we need. 

Trees can’t receive help from outside sources for healing since they stand in one place. So they have everything within they need to heal while they are standing. A plant can grow a stem longer reaching for the sun or send its roots deeper into the earth. All kinds of inner movements are done to survive and thrive. We have all we need within us. We just have to do the work. 

As this world goes through such traumatic changes this will be a good time to spend some time in solitude and go within for answers. We need silence and inner work to do this. It is time to go within to repair and replace and strengthen on all levels.

What steps will you take to renew yourself? On the physical plane, the emotional plane, the mental plane and the spiritual plane? Or is it an interesting eclectic mix?

Work with the powerful vibration of colors and see where it leads you. Imagining feeling the space around you changing slowly and see how it affects your inner experience.

How will you set about meeting your current needs? 

Do the inner work, keep it simple it and pay attention to the guidance you are given both within and without.

===OUTER WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

How We Interpret Things

We make decisions in many moments in our lives based or how we interpret what has shown up. We may interpret based on a mood we are in. We may interpret from partial information. We may interpret from incorrect information. We may interpret from our feelings and needs in that particular moment. And all of those places and interpretations will change from day to day and even from moment to moment. So when you make a decision also look at where you’re coming from in order to make that decision. What beliefs? What information? What limitations and who is involved in the project itself? And be aware of those as influencing factors in your choice. Your mood will change, your circumstances will change, the opportunities to be flexible will change as you make decisions and move through your life. Be aware of the basis for the interpretations you make and adjust accordingly. 

In Pursuit of Peace

“Power is influence over external events.

Peace is influence over internal events.”

–James Clear

Cultivating inner peace is one of the most important and impactful things we can learn to do. We do it through introspection and we do it through listening to the multitude of messages from the universe. You attain peace by cultivating an awareness of the impact of your choices and the results that you are having and adjust accordingly. From that inner perspective comes great power over the external aspects of your life.

Actively cultivate inner peace through your meditation and spiritual practice. Live your life with an ever-deepening awareness of your inner resources. 

The View From The Other Person’s Side

Why is the other person responding the way she/he is? What is going on with their lives and their beliefs that creates that particular response? This is a particularly helpful awareness when someone is doing something that is totally opposite from what you choose to do. It doesn’t mean that you have to agree with them but if you can extend your awareness and even your empathy to the person with whom you are in conflict, it helps you understand them from a different viewpoint. Take time to understand where the other person is coming from and begin to build your relationship from there.

Keep Doing The Work

Use it or lose it, particularly as you get older and a little less agile. This no-doing on any plane sneaks up on you. 

There is so much encouragement and so much help in this long-term care facility and I have to be certain to do the work.

No one is going to do the work except you. No one is going to challenge you but yourself. No one is going to create the change accept you. 

Yes, there is lots of help here. All I have to do is follow their advice. That’s my role. That’s my responsibility. Do the work.

I had given up while living alone in my apartment. If it was hard, I stopped doing it. My life really changed as my walking capacity diminished. I couldn’t take out my trash. I couldn’t walk to do my laundry and I did not like walking the halls for exercise because it hurt my body and was not particularly fun to do. I had no encouragement or support. I was on my own to provide my motivation and I was not doing a very good job of it.

So what changed? I got access to help. I now have a restorative physical therapy person who comes to get me three times a week. I have access to a recumbent bike that I love to use as well as loving the results I am getting. And I have encouragement.

If you are stuck in a downward spiral, whether it’s physical or emotional, get some support to move through that and change directions so that you are motivated to help yourself again. It can be professional help, it can be help from a friend, it can be a change to a whole new venue. Perhaps you can be the friend offering encouragement and support to another. 

Here’s another thing I noticed. The more help I got in my independent living apartment, the less I began to do for myself. And that may be the trap that we all need to look out for. It became easier and easier to leave things for my homemaker to do.  And I kept doing less and less.  

My spirits have lifted by being around these incredibly loving and supportive people who encourage me at every turn and help me with the things that are no longer possible for me to do. 

So what is the difference here? I had help in my apartment and I did less.  I have a lot more help here and I’m doing more and want to keep doing more. What shifted within to make me want to do the work to get myself back on track?

I think the answer is hope. The recumbent bike helped me turn the corner. I love doing it, I can do it and it’s making a tangible difference. The prospect of the hip replacements opens up a whole new world of possibilities for change for me – and hope.  So is part of this shift about hope? The whole idea that I may be able to walk in the garden again is a very stimulating prospect and goal. We can plant things in a garden here but my goal is to simply walk in it.

I have gone from subconsciously giving up, to actively pursuing change with great positive expectations. In one sense I had given up because I didn’t know how to create the change for myself. I needed the insights and encouragement and skill that I have found here.

My hopes were raised with access to physical therapy and they have skyrocketed with a prospect of hip replacement.

What kind of spiral are you in regarding the circumstance in which you find yourself? Look for answers and find the ones that simulate and motivate you into action. And do that. 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness

How Well Does Your Spiritual Practice Nurture You?

Is your spiritual practice designed in the best possible way to deeply nurture you in body, mind and spirit? Perhaps you would like to rearrange some of the elements you have placed in your spiritual practice and add new ones.

Your spiritual practice is meant to nurture you in all aspects of your life. It should be a source of serenity and comfort, a source of well-being and ever-expanding spiritual awareness. 

Our spiritual practice should nurture our body.  Physical practices like Qigong and Yoga have a spiritual base as they nurture and strengthen your body temple, but all exercise when done mindfully is spiritual.

A balanced spiritual practice both strengthens and calms your mind so that you move through your life with clarity of purpose and awareness of the nudges and insights the universe is constantly offering you.

And of course, a spiritual practice is designed to deepen your awareness of your oneness with all – your far-reaching interconnectedness in the Web of Life. It teaches you to listen to the voice within. It teaches you to become aware of the support and insights the universe constantly provides. It feeds your soul so that all you can be always comes from that place of oneness. 

Perhaps take time to examine the gifts your spiritual practice gives and see how you would like to alter it. Perhaps strengthen the physical element you pursue in order to quiet your mind and body to prepare to move into the deeper levels. Perhaps add drumming or singing to honor nature, the directions and the unfolding day. There might be some words of wisdom that you choose to contemplate. I have a box full of quotes that I like and I can pull one out each day to contemplate. Of course there is meditation. There are rattles. There are bells. There are crystals. How are you expanding and deepening your spiritual practice to nurture yourself on all levels – body, mind, and spirit? Do that. 

On Being Different

Although I am the only vegetarian resident here in Evergreen Long Term Care, I have met at least one vegetarian on staff.  My suite mate has crosses hanging all over her walls and her daughter brought her a small Christmas tree. I celebrate Winter Solstice and am trying to figure out where to get a pine cone for decoration. I’m the only resident who has dream catchers and sun catchers in the window. But then I have been joyfully a tad different all my life.  

When you find yourself in a situation in which you find you are quite different, what do you do?

I just do my own thing in my own space. I already know my friends are all going to be staff members. Follow your own path and encourage others to follow theirs.

We can learn from different cultural traditions. I remember a Jewish friend of mine in New York City who prepared a Passover supper for a few of her non-Jewish friends and explained its meaning and symbolism. 

Celebrating Winter Solstice is perhaps a time to strengthen some facets of your spiritual practice. 

Perhaps add a few simple elements that you use to celebrate. I have added paper that is dissolvable in water to help me release things. Experiment and thoughtfully add a few elements to your ceremony and find new ways to celebrate your own spiritual version of Winter Solstice. 

===GUIDANCE FROM OUR COSMIC COUNSELORS ===

Listen Beyond the Voice Within 

Releasing

Speak to me of releasing.

I go to my Secret Garden and am invited to cross the reflecting pond to join the three Cosmic Counselors in a circle. In the center of our circle is a fire. “Speak to me of releasing,” I say.

The first Cosmic Counselor says, “Releasing is about letting go and you can do that in many ways.” The fire in the center of our circle flares up and smoke rises to the sky. The smoke escapes and disappears in the darkness. The second Cosmic Counselor drops a piece of dissolvable paper with writing on it into water of the reflecting pool. She watches her words dissolve and disappear. The third Cosmic Counselor joins her at the reflecting pool and thoughtfully tosses a small pebble into the pond and watches the ripples disappear against the opposite shore.

“Find a form that seems to resonate with your feelings about releasing and create your own ceremonial words and manner of releasing.” 

Maybe you find a different form for what needs to be released. When you prepare to let something go, pay attention to the images that you release and the feelings they evoke and any messages that come in. It can be a simple ceremony or a complex one. Set an intention to release whatever you want to release and set about doing just that. Look to be sure you release it all.  Experiment with another form for the ceremony or repeat the one you did. 

Create your own ceremony for different purposes. Clear yourself with a Releasing Ceremony. Bless your day. Offer gratitude in general or for something specific. Create a ceremony of Blessing.  

Be conscious of what needs to be released. See if you can find a core belief that is stuck. Or an underlying fear that is holding you back. You may want to experiment in order to create the most effective releasing ceremony for you.

Once you feel you have released whatever you have chosen, notice how you feel. Is it lighter? Is it clear of pain? You might be tired from finally letting it go. And all of those responses might change with each releasing ceremony. It depends on you. And how often you do a releasing ceremony depends on you and what you have allowed to build up and how completely released you feel around whatever it is you have chosen to release. You might use a cycle of the moon as a time to have a releasing ceremony or the ending of a month. You decide when to create a releasing ceremony. If you choose to do one on a regular basis, that allows you to look over your life to see what needs to be released and create a ceremony that allows you to do so.”

I find myself across the reflecting pond sitting on the bench into my Secret Garden. Ancestor rabbit is there holding a bottle of soap bubbles and I sit in the shade of my worries and blow them away.

End of journey.

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

What Is A Light Bearer?

What is a Light Bearer and what do we do? I believe we are a group of humans with Guides from the Unseen World who are here to not only hold High Watch for the planet but to be its protectors. That means we are to live our best lives in service to the highest good for all. We do that with our focused energy and our mindful actions. It will take new forms but being a Light Bearer means that our heart is focused on the well-being of the whole earth and all that it encompasses.

As Individual Harps we must play our sweetest song and at the same time stay in harmony with this grand diverse orchestra of Light Bearers. Stay aware in your own heart that you are being called and continue to elevate your role and perform with your participation.  As Light Bearers we play a higher role in the evolution and well-being of our planet. You will be led to the work you are to further, the work you are to lead. That work is evolving as is your role. As an individual light bearer, make sure your daily light falls softly on the world around you and is uplifted and nurturing to whomever see it. Because a Light Bearer is an adventurer, it is our obligation to continue to expand our knowledge and our beliefs and our role and bring that awareness into our daily life expression. Have an open heart and focus on the highest good for all. That is the role of a Light Bearer. 

We are each individual harps in this Orchestra of Light Bearers. We must play our individual instruments well. And at the same time, we must keep our individual harp in harmony with the whole. We can do that. Raise your light and see where and how you are to expand your role in the world. 

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===

Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations 

The People You Are Around

I am finding very interesting, intelligent people to talk to among the staff. I talked to the head of maintenance about the 3-D printing of homes, recharging solar cars and artificial intelligence. Can you see why I love the mental stimulation here?

I have met a fellow writer and a fellow metaphysician and fellow vegetarian and the only other Cara I have met to date. This is the most in-person mental simulation I’ve had in the 13 years I’ve been in Kansas. I’m loving it. 

People are good at their jobs.  They like their work, and they like helping people and it shows.

Does your joy and appreciation for life show in how you express yourself?  I bet it does. 

=== OLD WOMAN HUMOR ===

I was getting ready for my shower.  We are wheeled down in a wheelchair to the shower room, helped to undress, hang on to grab bar and are positioned in a shower stool with a back and are given a shower by a Med Aide. I mentioned to my 82-year-old wheelchair-bound suite-mate that I had only been given showers by men so far and she said, “Aren’t you lucky!”

Who says we’re too old.

=== DEEPER SONG PHILOSOPHIES ===

Be a spot of ground where nothing is growing,
where something might be planted,
a seed, possibly, from the Absolute.

-Rumi 

Imagine you are an open field. You can plant whatever crop you choose in this field. It is as a spot of ground from the Absolute. What do you plant? What do you grow? What do you harvest? Keep cultivating the space where you are planted and make sure you are living your best life and are offering your best gifts to the world. Plant your field of life carefully and harvest it with love. 

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===

Expanding Awareness

Journey to Our Ancestors to Expand Our Consciousness 

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===

An Unexpected Kindness

I received an unexpected gift. Unexpected Blooms is a company that takes flowers from weddings and other occasions and recycles them into lovely bouquets to give away. Mine is a lovely arrangement of mauve roses and white snapdragons among other beautiful flowers. It was totally unexpected.  I wrote a thank-you note on my computer to be sent to them. Not only because I was happy and surprised to receive it but I want to encourage them to keep doing this really thoughtful act of kindness. What perfectly good something can you re-purpose to give to those who have less than you do? We have a place called Savers that is a thrift store that supports the Boys and Girls Club. I used to like to shop there a lot too but my kids gave away a whole lot of my stuff when I moved to the smaller place. 

Look around and notice how much you have that you really don’t need to see how you can pass it forward and put it in a box and give some of it away. Maybe in the summertime pass along a few extra vegetables or flowers from your garden. But most of all look at the possessions that you have that you don’t need anymore and don’t care about anymore and see what you can pass forward to grace someone else’s home. Share the wealth.

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

Letting Go

I let go of things. I let go of worries. I let go of what is not working. I clear my space and I make room for new insights and understanding.

I let go of things .I let go of worries. I let go of what is not working. I clear my space and I make room for new insights and understanding. What do I want to invite in? What do I want to learn? What experiences do I want to have? What deepening understanding? 

I let go of things. I let go of worries. I let go of what is not working. I clear my space and I make room for new insights and understanding. What do I want to invite in? What do I want to learn? What experiences do I want to have? What deepening understanding? I clear my space. I declutter my life and throw open the doors to new adventures. 

-Cara Lumen, December 2022

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 adventurers who are ready to explore the new possibilities in the emerging energy of the Divine Feminine to align their dreams and choices with what is emerging as possible today so that they go beyond their own expectations.

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The Nature of Spiritual Power

By

The Nature of Spiritual Power

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

As I look for my role in helping to balance and heal this chaotic world, I understand that those of us who are aware must use our consciousness to change the world. 

To do that, when we speak, we must become deeply aware of the originating source within us so we can become a constant conscious expression of the wholeness of the web of life. 

It begins with our conscious contemplation of the state of the planet and the energy expressed by its inhabitants. We can begin to identify the eruptions on the planet that we personally want to help soothe. This impactful change begins with constant conscious contemplation of what is showing up, what imbalance is making itself known and how it is making itself known. Based on what we find, our calling can begin to move into conscious choices. Everyday choices, little choices, big impactful choices based on this awareness of the state of our planet and the depths of our consciousness. 

Based on this thoughtful, conscious contemplation we redefine our role, our place of impact, our form of service and we begin to move into deep and open-hearted action. 

We study the global consciousness. We try to understand the sources of impact and perhaps even its healing. Perhaps what we identify might actually make for a change in an area that we are focusing on.

But we have to go deeper than that. We have to go to the core consciousness, the all-encompassing consciousness at the center of the continuing evolution of the planet. We are an impactful participant and change is chaotic and sometimes scary. But if we, as Light Bearers, can move into our collective soul consciousness, that is where we will find our next course of action.

What steps do we take to tap into and utilize this all-encompassing spiritual power? It will be individual. We may work with groups. We may do our own personal inner work. We may work with one or two other people. 

We must experiment. We must explore. We must observe the results of our choices and judge its impact on the overarching changes we wish to make.

There are Light Workers everywhere, including you. Notice them. Be inspired by them. Perhaps join them in service. 

What form is your participation in the changing world beginning to take? You are filled with spiritual power. You are an integral part of the web of life. Do you have a thoughtful, impactful, profound gift to offer as we make this intense, organic, change?

Stay open. Listen closely to those soft internal prompts that suggest you change directions even a little. Learn to trust that inner voice. Let it open up new doors of possibility. The new dawn is here and we have deep, impactful work to do.

Conscious contemplation that leads to conscious choices will guide our path and open doors. Listen to the global consciousness to see how it wants you to help create this impactful shift. Listen to your soul consciousness to understand your role in this profound universal change. Come, let’s help heal the world together. 

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I move into contemplation, immerse myself in spiritual power and move into deeper service.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS

  • Experiment with ways to listen to your inner voice. It could be shamanic journeys, automatic writing, or a simple knowing. Listen for and respond to those nudges from the universe.
  • Pay attention to the insights and opportunities that show up and give thoughtful consideration to how or what is calling you.
  • Pick one and go exploring. Together we will create positive changes for our planet. 

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

Use Your Imagination To Explore Possibilities

It’s like trying on an outfit and looking in the mirror to see how it fits.  That’s one way to use your imagination to explore possibilities.  Imagine different scenarios and see how they feel, see where they lead you, see what new possibilities open up.  Use your imagination to explore your choice and its potential more deeply.

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility For Healing Yourself

Sometimes You Need Help

I sure am glad that Doctor J knows how to do hip replacements because I didn’t even know I needed them. Sometimes you need help to get yourself well. He’s already done a ton of them in his own professional career and I have no clue how it even works. Aren’t we glad that people specialize in things we need to have help with? 

As I settle into the care of this long-term facility, I am eating better than I was eating before and being offered nursing and tests that I didn’t know I needed. And if there’s something I can’t do physically, there’s always someone here to help do it for me. 

I haven’t stepped out of my room to meet many of the residents here but I sure have met a lot of wonderful staff. I do see people going down the hall pushing wheelchairs and even a couple of really big machines that will lift people out of bed who can’t get out otherwise. I have not been to a meal in the dining room but there sure are a lot of people in wheelchairs here. It makes sense. 

I plan to find a way to get stronger. I love physical therapy and I will keep doing that recumbent bike machine forever. After my hip replacement, my plan is to do a lot more walking and be ready to go outside in the spring. And in the meantime, there are a lot of people here that I can ask for help.

Don’t let yourself fall into dependency on other people helping. Keep up the good fight. Keep doing your part. For me it’s much more fun to go to physical therapy and be encouraged to get on the bike and do other things than it was to motivate myself in my live-alone apartment. I think that being surrounded by all these supportive people will help me make this important shift to more activity. 

Even when we have to ask for help, we still have to do the work.

Do The Work

I have just begun a new Qigong class with Deng Ming-Dao at The Shift Network and it is a lovely class. 10 years ago, I could have done everything easily. Today I can’t. I’ve got the top part of me doing some of the work but the leg part is very behind. I have to do the work and there is quite a bit of it to do.  

I’m behind because I didn’t do the work but also because some of my body needs fixing. I just found out I’m going to have both hips replaced in the near future. So it’s not only me and laziness, it is that some body parts need upgrades. But I have to do the work and it makes a difference that I have the supportive people in physical therapy here to come get me and put me on a recumbent bike several times a week and help me work certain other body parts and help me find new ways to get in and out of bed.  So it’s important do the work and it’s also important to find the help you need in order to be able to do the work. Go take a Qigong class or a yoga class or some classes that help you keep moving. Maybe you need some physical therapy to get your body going in the right direction. Keep your body in shape by honoring its needs and taking care of it and helping it heal when it needs help. You can get help to do the work but you do need to do the work. Keep moving. It’s more fun that way. 

===OUTER  WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

Say “Yes” To The Universe

It has taken a great deal of trust on my part to move through this major unfolding change in my life. I felt that I did not have much control over what I saw as timing and details and I had to trust. I had to trust the move was the right thing to do. I had to trust that the space would be the perfect one for me. That it would happen in its perfect time. And it did.

It’s scary to trust. It means you feel you are no longer completely in control. It means you have to be flexible and fluid and respond to what is presented to you by the universe as opportunities, new roads, unexpected detours, pathways, insights and supportive people. 

The universe is very busy giving us opportunities. We have to learn to recognize them. We need to actively explore them. We need to make our choices and we have to learn from them. Where are you going to explore today and what do you think you might learn? Go exploring. Create your own adventure. 

Do The Work

I was not doing the work before I moved. Now I’m getting help with physical therapy and my body is doing some shifting. It’s hard when you’re old to decide to move your body on a regular basis. Sometimes it is not comfortable. We are absolutely, totally, singularly responsible for how our body ages. Our response to our choices and our beliefs creates the pattern of process.

Physical therapy has given me a couple of very simple movements to do and since I get up a lot during the middle of the night, that’s when I’ve chosen to add them to my life. My body is rested and relaxed and flexible and responsive to the exercises. And my posture is improving. What small physical pattern can you create and add to your life that will make a difference in how your body responds to life in general?

Give Your Best Gifts

We each have gifts that we offer the world. What are yours? And are you using them? 

Some of our gifts are more noticeable than others. I can identify gifts like being able to identify the overview and writing about it with clarity for others. But a gift I may not be aware of is my enthusiasm and how contagious it is for others. And my curiosity. 

What gifts do you bring to the world and how are you expressing them? How are they being received? What lives are you touching? How are you changing them? Look closely at the impact your very presence is having on others and know that you are a gift simply by being. Spread the joy – by your very presence! 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness

Commune With Clouds

I was a young housewife with four children and a husband who were all asleep in the house. It was Sunday and I went out to my backyard and lay on my back in the grass and watched the shape-shifting clouds and felt the heartbeat of the earth beneath my back. I listened to the stillness of my neighborhood on this Sunday morning. And I talked to the clouds.

It was a long time ago but I will never forget that moment of being one with nature.  

Do you take time to connect with nature, to listen to her? To learn from her? Do you simply stop outside and listen to the sounds and feeling of nature? Do you take time to stop and watch the clouds shifting? Or a drop of rain dripping from a leaf? Or simply be present with a rainbow? Do you listen to the wind rattling the branches above your head? How do you take time to be with nature and how often do you do it?

I can sit by my window and look at nature with a turn of my head. But breathing fresh air is a bit more of a project. There is a door to the outside in the physical therapy room next door to me that leads to a deck with chairs and a gently sloping walkway that leads to a garden. So I know where an outside door is in this new space and I will begin by going to open the door for a few moments to enjoy each day. I can also turn and look out my window and play my flute.  In my other apartment I could play to the setting sun but now my window faces the sunrise. I just haven’t figured out how to not disturb anyone and still do that. But I will. For now, I play my Kalimba softly, do very soft drumming on my Celtic drum, and sing to the directions softly to myself. 

Find a way to listen to and connect with nature several times throughout your day. She has many lessons and guidance for us when we listen. 

===GUIDANCE FROM OUR COSMIC COUNSELORS ===

Listen Beyond The Voice Within 

Trust The Unfolding

I journey to the Cosmic Counselors. Teach me to trust the unfolding. 

I am deep in the old growth forest. A soft light shines on the path ahead of me. It is a signal of hope. It is a symbol of guidance. “Keep your eyes open” says a voice. “Look for the guidance. Look for the opportunities. Look for the insights. Listen with your heart. Listen with your intuition,” says the voice. “From those resources choose your path. It is always your choice. Make your choices based on your increasing awareness and contemplation of the possibilities and potential and the calling of your heart. Do the work. Listen. Interpret. Act.  All is well in your world.” 

I am on my bench in my Secret Garden beside the reflecting pool. The Indigo Carillon begins to play. It sends my song through my melody. My harmonies. My voice in the world. We have work to do and we are to get very creative about how we do it. How are you playing your song? What melody are you offering the world? How are you in harmony with what is unfolding in your life? Listen carefully and stay in tune. 

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE DIVERSE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEINGS===

Expand Your Role In The Rapidly Evolving Universe

Cherish Your Differences

Each person has an individual gift and we must cherish our differences. The adventurous person shows us new paths today. The curious person opens new avenues of exploration for us. Maintain an eclectic circle of friends who will help you expand in new directions. Cherish the differences you find in your friends.

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===

Raise Your Sights And Your Expectations 

Go Exploring Every Day

What kind of an adventurer are you? Do you go exploring? Do you take the narrow path down an unexplored landscape? How daring are you as you move through life, learning from others, constantly curious? We must learn to go exploring well and often. We must knock on unopened doors and step through new thresholds and throw open windows.  

How do you do that? Do you listen to the messages and opportunities that the universe provides you every day? It could be through a new person you meet, it could be an overheard phrase that touches your heart, it could be an unexpected realization of a new possibility. Our life is constantly unfolding but we must pay attention to the many possibilities our paths can take. Where will you go exploring today? Have an adventure! 

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Support And Encouragement For Our Unfolding Role In The Future

Identify Your Cause

We only have seven or eight years to reverse the climate destruction we are doing and have a chance to save the planet at all.

You may be an advocate of the land, the ocean, a certain type of plant or animal that may be endangered. You may care about a certain group of people – children or the homeless or a certain ethnicity.

You may care more about one area of distress than another. I give money to organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the National Wildlife Federation. But you may give to programs to help educate certain groups. Choose a cause that calls to you. Turn and step into service of that cause. It may be a donation or active participation or any other way you find that you can contribute.

Finding the work that you wish to do to help others is a fair, very powerful expansion of your awareness and your feelings and your place of service. Find what calls to you and get to work. Identify your cause and support it. 

=== DEEPER SONG PHILOSOPHIES ===

The winds of grace are always blowing, but we must raise our sails.   Sri Ramakrishna

If you don’t raise your sails, you will not ever go anywhere. If you don’t row your boat in the middle of a river, it will not move forward. We have work to do to expand our life experience and nourishing food to produce. What new project of self enhancement will you undertake?

===INTENTION BLESSING===

May we hear and heed the call of the Divine Feminine. 
May we expand our hearts and our expectations.
May we walk the Path of Light with a sure foot. 
May we keep our gaze on the summit.
May we take this journey with a full heart. 
I entwine my light with yours as we move forward to guide the way.

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===

Expanding Awareness

Journey to Our Ancestors to Expand Our Consciousness

Listen to my 
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the 
Deeper Song Website

===REFLECTIONS===

On Turning 90

I was born November 19, 1932. It was shortly after the Great Depression and there were not many of us born then. My father was a civil engineer and had a good job so they felt secure enough to begin their family.

90 years is a really long time. It has been a good life, a fulfilling life, and I have vigorously marched on my own personal path. I have honored the gifts that I have been given and used them in creative ways. I continue to deepen my spiritual awareness and broaden my spiritual path. And I am still in service in the world. And that is probably the most important thing I have going for me right now.

How are you staying relevant in your life? Are you still finding ways to contribute to others, to the world? Are you still learning? Are you still exploring?

This community of seniors has various levels of continued engagement. I’m not sure there is still a desire to contribute to the world let alone a way to do it.

I’m very clear that my place of service is to this very kind staff who is deeply in service to seniors who really need a lot of help. 

How do you find purpose in your life as you get really old? Sometimes what you have to offer is positive presence, your cheerful personality and your inquisitive mind.

I am grateful that I can still do my newsletter. It keeps me inquisitive and makes me feel like I’m contributing. As my eyes continue to change. I’m not sure how that’s going to unfold but I’m trusting that it will. 

I still love to learn. I just started my sixth Qigong class. There are other things that I want to explore. I want to deepen my spiritual practice but since I have a suite-mate, its form is still evolving.

When it comes time for your birthday, take some time to see how you have contributed to our world. Examine your spiritual practice and see how it needs to be changed. Decide what you want to learn next and make those selections and get started. What new aspect will you add to your life? I’m getting more and more ideas for what I want to do about that. And I’ve only been here two weeks. My place of service is definitely about encouraging this staff.

Each year, perhaps even several times a year, pause to see how you’re doing. See what lives you are changing and see how are you connecting via new forms of service. 

Explore a bit and make new choices. Take a new path and see where it leads you. You are never too old to go exploring.

===CARA’S CORNER===

Forge A New Path

My eyesight is getting trickier. It is dry macular degeneration and it’s scaring me because I love doing this newsletter. I have proofing from my friend Noralee in Canada. Even though I dictate, it’s even trickier to write using a 37-point san serif font.

I had given away my microphone thinking I would never do the podcast again, but it has gone over to my daughter’s house so I’m getting it back. It might be easier for me to record a message and then have someone help to edit it than to keep re-writing these pieces. I’ll let it evolve and stay flexible. I just need to keep adjusting and perhaps rethink some of my choices. All is working out well in my world. 

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

FLEXIBILITY

There are many paths to choose from as I undertake this next phase of my journey. Short steps. Long steps. Skipping steps. Contemplative steps.

There are many paths to choose from as I undertake this next phase of my journey. Short steps. Long steps. Skipping steps. Contemplative steps. I need to look around me for new ways of doing the work I love and refilling my role in this next stage of my life. 

There are many paths to explore as I undertake this next phase of my journey. Short steps. Long steps. Skipping steps. Contemplative steps. I need to look around me for new ways of doing the work I love and refilling my role in this next stage of my life. The answer will appear. The universe will provide. I trust the process and let it unfold.

– Cara Lumen, November 2022

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 adventurers who are ready to explore the new possibilities in the emerging energy of the Divine Feminine to align their dreams and choices with what is emerging as possible today so that they go beyond their own expectations.

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