Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

positve change

How to Find Someone Who Understands You 

By

friends Chimp and tigers

Who do you have to talk with that understands what you’re talking about and what feedback you need to get?  You may have to go searching for such a person.

Who knows what you are talking about?

The deeper I delve into my spiritual realms, the fewer people I know that I can talk to about it. Yes, it’s a personal experience but there are people on similar journeys and it would enrich my own experience to talk with them. But finding those similarly aligned people can be tricky.

I have a few people in my life right now I share with on a regular basis, and with each person I talk about different aspects of my journey. That adds both dimension and clarity to my work.

Who do you learn from?

Learning is a process. It’s about consciously selecting what you need and want to know and bringing it into your life in a way that supports your own journey. The spark make come in a few words you hear or read. It could come from a new way of seeing and arranging what you already do. Teachers are everywhere, in every form, and in every situation. Be receptive and selective. Choose to learn what resonates with you.

Do you have a support community?

According to a book I was reading on shamanic practices, indigenous people usually brought a support community with them to a healing ceremony. Anglos did not bring community and the difference was noticeable. The sentence was “by having a client bring a support person to the session, the effect of the healing is long-lasting, for the client then has someone who was present during the healing ritual who they can continue to talk to about the experience.”  – Sandra Ingerman and Hank Wesselman, Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation. 

We need close-up and similar-thinking people in our lives 

We need a support community. It’s important to find, connect with and cultivate like-minded friends so you can continue to talk about your experiences. My support community is mostly online

Who are your support people for your subtle inner journey?

Who can hear you?

I am a metaphysician living in the Midwest. I’m also vegan. My expansive and eclectic personal spiritual beliefs were cultivated in the liberal, explorational, intellectually inquisitive atmosphere of both coasts. My interests and spiritual pursuits deepen and enrich me but they also isolate me as they’re are a bit uncommon in this part of the country.

There’s absolutely no one in my senior community who believes spiritually the way I do. This is cow country, so a vegan is really out of place. My online connections and activities are vital to my personal expansion.

I’m doing some healing work on myself and I’m seeing results. The only people I can share that with are my Skype friends. Not only do they understand what I’m doing but they often have both support and suggestions to offer.

But most of all they understand what I’m saying and doing.

You may have to look far afield for your support community.

What support do you need?

Look for the people with shared experiences. I can only share my current spiritual journey with people who believe in some of the inner work I’m doing, who perhaps have had similar experiences, or at the very least have room for the idea of them in their own spiritual acceptance.

If I get an insightful message from meditating with a rock I can only share that with someone who also talks to rocks and to nature and holds room in their thoughts for my experiences. I want a safe, supportive understanding, empathetic and insightful listener who can be a valuable reflection for my experience.

The more individualized your journey, the fewer people can hear you. Who can hear you without judgment?  Who can hear you with acceptance, support, and love? Who will you listen to?  Who do you need in your life right now?

Find them and begin a dialogue.

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider

How To Write a New Life Story  

What Seeds Do You Allow to Grow in Your Garden

 What to Do When You Don’t Know What You Need 

Accept Yourself as You Are 

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song 

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song 

Abracadabra! I Will Create As I Speak

By

wand 2

Did you know that our childhood magic word “abracadabra” is from the Aramaic  abruq ad babra, which literally means “I will create as I speak?”  The idea was to give voice to a desire, say the magic word, and it would appear.

Apparently that’s how it works. What we say creates our reality. I guess we’d better monitor both our words and our thoughts.

Everything is energy 

In our human form we experience and understand very little of the Great Mystery. In many of the world’s spiritual philosophies each person is thought to be collectively dreaming. Therefore each person can, with awareness and an act of will, change the dream.

What kind of dream are you creating with your thoughts and words?

I can. I can’t. I deserve. I don’t deserve. It’s hard. It’s easy. Whatever you tell yourself, that’s what you‘ll get. So a major step to begin to change your life is to become aware of what you’re thinking and saying.

Change your thinking, change your life!

Phrase your affirmation in the present tense

Begin to speak in affirmations. Not “I’m going to…” but rather “I now….”

I learned this practice as I studied to become a practitioner in the Center for Spiritual Living. One time, when I was first learning to speak positively all the time, I was asked my opinion about a carpet that I really didn’t like very much. I knew the owner was pleased with it, but it was far removed from my taste. It took me a long time to offer a comment because I had to sort out all the negatives that were my first response in order to find one positive thing I could say.

As I practice speaking more positively, the positive observations are now the first ones that showed up. And I’ve become sensitive to what people actually want to hear rather than what they ask.

Modify your vocabulary 

I don’t like to use the word “compassion” because it makes me feel “pity”. I prefer “empathy”, which means we are equals on a similar plane of understanding.

“Inclusion” is more common in my present vocabulary as the need for it grows more prevalent. What does it mean? How do I practice it?  What do I need to change within me to become more inclusive?

Be aware of how your choice of words will be received. The more unusual my exploration into various forms of spiritual philosophy, the more cautious I am about who I share them with. “Metaphysics”, “Shamanism”, “transpersonal” are not part of everyone’s vocabulary or realm of understanding.

Believe it can happen

You need to believe that change/healing/opportunity can happen. I’m working with an age-related eye degeneration for which the world says there’s no cure. Every day I have to work on my belief. With each wholing work I do on myself I also have to send energy to my belief. The spiritual world says it’s all energy and energy can be shifted. So in order to make my “abracadabra” process work, I have to believe what I say with my whole being. “My eyes are perfect and whole. I see clearly, especially on the physical plane”.

Look for any doubt that lies behind your abracadabra “I create as a speak” and rephrase it so you believe is. “My eyes are healing.” “My eyes are healed.”  Better still “I see clearly.” Remember to word your affirmation in the present tense. Then believe what you say.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS

– “I create as I speak.”  Choose something you want to change, something you’ll notice when it does change.

– Create an affirmative statement in the present tense as if it has already happened around what you want to change. “I am whole.”

– Say this affirmation out loud seven times each day.

– In seven days, notice what changes have occurred.

– In 21 days, notice what changes have occurred.

– Repeat as desired.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:

How Choosing the Right Word will Clarify your Choices

Be the Story you Want to Tell

How do You Put your Spiritual Insights to Work?

How to Manage Your Subtle Energy  

How to Pull Forth Your Strength From Within 

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song 

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song 

What Do you Need to Leave Behind? 

By

feather

In order to bring something new into our life, we have to let something we’re holding on to go. If things are not flowing into your life as easily and rapidly as you desire, perhaps you should look at what you need to leave behind?

Explorers travel lightly

Backpackers pack efficiently because they know they have to carry the full weight of whatever they take with them. They make things do double duty. They re-use things. They choose the few vital things like a compass and a knife and a canteen and a sleeping bag and carefully select and add one thing at a time, noticing the weight and the time it takes to put it into action. They leave a lot of things behind.

Since life is constantly changing and we are on a continuous adventure of exploration, we should learn to travel lightly.

Chuck the outmoded beliefs

Begin by looking closely at what you think can happen. If those beliefs are not big enough they can keep you from seeking, considering, choosing and expanding the new choices.

For instance, as I grow older, some physical things look and feel a little harder. So I simply make physical adjustments in how I participate. However, I never let physical restrictions stop me from taking part in some manner. I can participate, but I have to make room to explore the possibilities of how.

What do you need to leave behind to have time for the new vision?

Life is a series of choices. If I want to do one thing, I may have to do less of some other thing.

We change and our needs and desires change. Look closely at what is calling to you and make time for what resonates the most.

Honor your own process. I like to immerse myself in a project, so setting aside ten days to focus on one aspect or one project suits my personal rhythm and my learning style. I also like to create more than complete, so I have added a “Completion Day” in which I get things out the door.

How do you like to work?  And what do you need to make that happen?  Take only those actions on your journey forward.

Who do you need to leave behind?

Take stock of the energy exchanges between you and your friends. Is it balanced? Has a friend grown too needy, too demanding?  You always have a choice. Make room for supportive, nurturing empowering people in your life. Let the others go.

I love to learn but I’m realistic about how much I can absorb at one time and how much time I’m willing to spend on a specific class. I choose the best and most productive and most enjoyable use of my time and leave other opportunities behind.

Be prepared to cross a new threshold

Where are you going next and what do you need to take with you? What do you need to leave behind?  You don’t pack snow boots when you are going to the tropics. You may need to leave some habits behind. You may need to find new, more streamlined versions of something that nurtures. Where are you going, and what are the most supportive ideas and relationships you need to take with you?

As I explore subtle group energy work in many forms, I have to make some choices. I take parts of what I’m learning and creatively adapt what I keep into practices that fit my personal purpose, my physical energy and my time. I don’t know exactly where I’m going or what will be required but I’m definitely leaving space to explore what shows up.

As new doorways open, new opportunities appear

What happens if you lay every thing down that you’re carrying around and step through the new door with just you and an open mind?  Trust that whatever is needed will be provided. When you leave the “old” behind, you have room to embrace and explore the new. You are free and open to the new experience. You let the experience shape you.

As you end each day, lay down all your burdens, beliefs, and expectations.

As you begin each day, pick up only the tools you need for that day. You will become more productive and more joyous in moving through the opportunities you’re now free to explore.

What do you need to leave behind?  Will you let go so you can move on?

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

Find and Use Your Power Within 

What Seeds Do You Allow to Grow in Your Garden?  

How do You Put your Spiritual Insights to Work

What is Self-transformation?  

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song 

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song 

Your Gift to the Future

By

future planet

I was on a webinar in which we took a shamanic journey to 200 years into the future. We were to see what descendants were there and to ask what our purpose is in this lifetime.

What does 200 years in the future look like?

In my inner journey to 200 years in the future I found that we were gathered around a fire. Not because it was all there was but because it was a connection with nature. The guide that was there for me is the guide from my past and present. Her name is Sage and she is a wise woman.

What do your descendants look like?

I gave a brief thought to the descendants I have in this lifetime; but 200 years down the line?  Is that four to five generations?  That could be a lot of people. It was a bit daunting to know that what I do now will influence the lives of a great many people in the future. It makes me look carefully at the actions I take today. The world has changed so fast in my own lifetime that it’s hard to imagine 200 years from now.

What gifts have you forwarded to the future?

In this internal, visioning journey, when I asked what my gift to my descendants was, the word “storytelling” leaped out. The idea touched me deeply.

Yes, I write. Yes, I figure things out and I think that helps other people, but a storyteller feeds the imagination of her people, she inspires and motivates them. The idea of passing forward ideas to people 200 years down the line is sobering. And it intensifies the focus of my work.

There are many ways we will pass our work forward. Some of our art will survive, our music or writing and videos will preserve a lot of our ideas, but it is the values and the insights that we share now that will influence, inspire and shape the choices of future generations.

So what am I doing now that will benefit future generations? What kind of impact do I have or will I have? That is a question for each of us to answer for ourselves.

In my spiritual exploration I continue to go deeper to explore, to interpret, to draw maps that others may follow. As I age, I work to figure out the meaning of life and how to be productive to the end. I offer insights and unique combinations of concepts that I hope increase self-awareness and help people achieve personal transformation.

What you do now affects future generations 

The biggest insight I received from this imaginary journey into the future was that the work we do now has the potential to touch someone and help them shine their light brighter. They, in turn, focus their brightened light toward another person and that light moves across and forward or backward to heal and balance and whole. It affects this lifetime as well as the life experience of future generations.

What gift are you leaving the future? See if you can understand what it is. Then do more of it.

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

How to Manage Your Subtle Energy

Our Work in the World

How to Hold the Space for the New Vision to Emerge

The Emergence of Collective Individual Spirituality

How do You Put your Spiritual Insights to Work?

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song

 

The Buck Stops Here

By

 

papers-3

The blame game that seems prevalent in US politics is wearing very, very thin. What happened to leaders who would say “The buck stops here” and “Whatever shows up is of my own doing”?

As I watch people in leadership positions set themselves in opposition rather than looking for a solution that will be the best for all of our country, I wonder how well I am taking responsibility for what I create around me.

We draw to us what we think

It’s a very powerful premise to know that what we focus on, we get more of. If I think bad things are going to happen, they will. If I look for the beauty in everything, that’s exactly what I’ll see.

It’s that simple. The buck stops here. I create my own reality by what I say and do, what I think about and what I expect to happen. We have great power over our own life.

What fills your world?

I’m working very hard not to be afraid. I have a tendency to feel helpless, and particularly at the effect of the beliefs and actions of people who seem to be in a position of power that are so non-aligned with mine.

It’s not a fear of change, it’s a fear of continued division and intolerance for our natural and powerful diversity. It’s a fear for the well-being of our environment. It’s a fear for the existence of our planet. Major stuff.

And I need to stop being fearful because it’s not what I want. I have to focus on inclusiveness and empathy. I can do that.

How do you change?

You change by shifting your focus. As I look for people focused on peace and oneness and environmental well-being, I find them —in droves — all over the world. And I know that by joining my energy with theirs to focus on what I want, collectively we have tremendous power to change our world.

Focus on the positive, not the negative. Don’t ignore the negative but use it to build your positive viewpoint.

As I failed to anticipate or understand the negativity that has emerged from the US political choices, I look very, very carefully, to make certain that somehow I can hold those negative and vengeful people in compassion. I’m working hard on that. It’s not easy.

I watch the bullying at Standing Rock and participate in group meditations and online activities. I read that global warming will create huge numbers of refugees in the coming years and I look at specific ways I can personally stop contributing to global warming. The next step will be to encourage others to do the same and more. Sometimes we simply do what we can and know that every bit helps.

Join energetically and mentally with others

Thanks to the internet, we can join with people all over the world in Earth Day meditations and World Peace meditations and Environmental meditations. Those of us who participate in consciously focused group energy do not make up a very large percentage of the population but we live all over the world and our collective energy has worldwide impact.

So, here I am, at 84, sitting in my apartment, sending energy in my daily practice, joining with activities on The Shift Network  and see if I can make the buck stop here. Can I take responsibility for everything in this world? Can I watch the refugees from wherever they’re fleeing, and hold their well-being in my thoughts and send them wholing energy in my daily energy work? Do I hold in my heart the belief that we, as energy workers, can see and salvage and even heal our planet?

We can’t pass it off to others. And we can’t do it all by ourselves. But we can mentally and energetically join with like-minded peace-keepers all over the world and shine our light on the path to give hope and guidance to those who are lost or less aware or even afraid.

You are a “light being.” Shine. Shine with empathy. Shine with knowledge. Shine as an example of what is possible when we each say, “The buck stops here.”

Change yourself. Change the world. Monitor your human participation and live more deeply from your inner universe of total connection with all.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:
How Choosing the Right Word will Clarify your Choices
Why We Are Afraid of Change
Why Do You Believe What You Do?
Our Work in the World
How to Hold the Space for the New Vision to Emerge

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song