31 Things: #14 Study a Course in Miracles and Attend a Workshop

"Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. They are performed by those who temporarily have more for those who temporarily have less"

"Love will immediately enter into any mind that truly wants it."

"When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself ... for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself."

"What is healing but the removal of all that stands in the way of knowledge"

"Heaven is not a place or a condition. It is merely an awareness of perfect oneness"

"Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world"

"Let forgiveness be the substitute for fear. This is the only rule for happy dreams"


One of my goals is to study the Course in Miracles. This past Spring my Mother and I both invested in the book, a massive volume that contains quotes, 365 lessons, a teachers guide, and little extra guidebook summary at the end. This book came out originally in the 70's and it's teachings have spread across the world. The verbage used is Christian, but it is NOT a Christian book. You can replace any mention of God with Universe, Buddha, Goddess, whatever floats your boat. It is the word of Jesus, and the general lesson is everything is love and fear is not real. Simple, but we humans have a way of complicating things. So the quotes and lessons give us something to grab onto. There are groups all over the world that get together and discuss the lessons, as it is a long complex work. We attend a group at Unity Village; however they were just getting ready to wrap for the summer, so we probably made 4-5 visits before they took their break. The meetings we did go to were extremely inspiring. You had "recovering Catholics", a former Baptist minister; we also had some guests that were from India one night that had come to Unity for a special event. I really enjoyed it and hope to go back at some point. The group has restarted and my Mom goes to the Tuesday mid-morning group. They also have an evening one later in the week. There is also an online group at Her Future that I plan on joining. One of my goals for the new year is to restart the lessons and start really going through it. Lessons that really touch me will be blogged about. 


So, this may be ongoing, but as I have done what my original goal is, I'm checking it off the list! Check out my 31 Things: Where I'm At So Far post from November to see the rest of the list. 


 


If you are doing this project, how is it going for you?

 

The Unmistakable Touch of Grace: Embark on a Spiritual Journey

I am now open and receptive to the power of grace in my life. I ask to be shown clear examples of how I can face this challenge with courage, wisdom, and strength.

A few weeks ago I began reading Cheryl Richardson's "The Unmistakable Touch of Grace." In this book Richardson shares her experience opening herself to the Universe, moving from depression and an abusive relationship to a place of inner peace, guidance, and love. Each chapter she shares her progression, and provides assignments to the reader to encourage our own exploration of grace. In the second chapter she encourages us to share our Spiritual Journey, thus far, with someone else. This is my story.

From Hinduism to Atheism and Back Again: Or, My Journey to Spiritual Love
My family never went to church, discussed God, faith, or prayed. As a little kid, I attended various church camps or Sunday schools with friends. I always thought it odd that the children never questioned anything and took it all on faith, a concept I struggle with to this day. In third grade some kids on the playground asked me if I believed in God. Eh? I had no idea. I told them I needed to ask my Mom and I'd let them know the next day. My wonderful Mom took it  all in stride, sat me down, and told me that when I was older I would be able to determine what path was right for me. She shared some basics of various world religions and I decided I liked Hinduism. Cow worshipping vegetarians who believe in reincarnation, why not? The next day at school I proudly told the kids I was Hindu. Satisfied that I had a "religion" we ran off to play tether ball. 

 In high school I declared myself an Atheist. I even volunteered to participate in a Q&A for my Sociology class. Classmates asked me ridiculous questions, like, "what will you tell your kids on Easter?". Hello, we're 14, really? Basically I decided that there were a million available religions and how the heck would anyone really know which one was right, so I'd just find out when I died. Atheist and proud, I even wrote a special column for the school paper, just in time for Christmas. Hey, I found it amusing. As I moved into college I realized Agnostic was a more accurate term, because I didn't really know, and atheists are firm that there is no life after death. Satisfied, I really didn't think about it again until a few years ago, when I realized that Spirituality is more than the "life after death question" and doesn't involve following a specific doctrine. It's a connectedness to our inner self and a believe that all life is connected and sharing in this experience. I related my Spiritual beliefs to the "Force" in Star Wars. 

I still don't have all the answers, but I am coming to terms with the fact that I am a physical, emotional and spiritual being, and being healthy involves creating balance in all areas. I am more open to connecting with my spirit guides, reading Oracle Cards, meditation, and recognizing signs that all are all around us. A Course of Miracles states, "When you believe something, you have made it true for you." I believe my journey is just beginning, and that journey is heading towards Universal Love. 

What's your Spiritual Journey story? 

30 Things: #19 and #28 Send Love Letters to Family/Friends/Mentors

"Love is your safety. Fear does not exist. Identify with love, and you are safe. Identify with love, and you are home. Identify with love, and find your Self. Love is your power. " A Course in Miracles


This past week I've written nearly a dozen Love Letters, with a few more to go. What an enchanting, moving, and uplifting experience! There is so much love in this world and inside each one of us. When was the last time you really told someone you loved them. Do you share that love as deeply with your friends, as with your lover? Love is all encompassing and should be shared openly, not hidden away. Writing these letters this week has been a cathartic release for me. I have never done well expressing emotions, except in words. This is a beautiful method to show someone you care. Forget email and text, get out some paper or a card, buy a stamp, and drop that baby in the mail! Remember how good it felt to get something other than bills and junk in the mail. Send your love the old fashioned way! 

Not sure what to say? Think with your heart. What do you admire about this person? How has this person enhanced your life? What special/funny memories do you share? 

Have you ever written someone a Love Letter? 

Stretch~ing

There comes a point where we start to really feel good.  All the tools and tricks to suppress the Ego and get in touch with our ~ing or inner guidance system are working and life is grand.  So what generally happens? We feel so good that we stop doing our daily gratitude, we don't think to check in with our feelings, offer forgiveness, use EFT to release blockages, make our love lists, because hey, we're happy, who needs to do that. Unfortunately, that's using when the Ego finds a way to creep back in and start filling us with fear and doubt again.

It's during this time that we need to Stretch our self-help muscles and really focus on not only staying in this positive state, but stretching ourselves beyond imagining, to an even more enlightened state. This is the time to rev up your practice. Start by re-evaluating your feelings, make a new forgiveness list, get in balance, do some mirroring exercises, release those romantic illusions, climb to higher thoughts, break out your journal and use it as a tool to process. So plump up that meditation mat, get out the rebounder, shout out your affirmations, write love notes to yourself in bright red lipstick in the mirror, laugh out loud, give yourself a hug, and pray.

Releasing Romantic Illusions

I've discussed Gabrielle Bernstein's book Add More ~Ing to Your Life: A Hip Guide to Happiness in previous posts. She has a social networking site for women called Her Future, where each month we have been focusing on a different chapter in her book. I've posted previously on Feel~ings, Forgiveness, Balancing and Mirroring, and this month's chapter focuses on relationships.

First, you need to honor your relationship with self. If you are not truly in love with yourself, you cannot possibly share love with another. A Course in Miracles (preface) states "...We seek in others what is wanting in ourselves. We 'love' another in order to get something ourselves. That, in fact, is what passes for love in the dream world. There can be no greater mistake than that, for love is incapable of asking for anything. Only minds can really join, and whom God has joined no man can put asunder." Essentially you must be love, otherwise, you will constantly be seeking people to fill your gaps, and that is not healthy or truly spiritual love. This is true of all relationships, not just romantic relationships. Spend time loving yourself, you are worth it.

Gabrielle also discusses "special relationships" in this chapter. Often times we place more importance on romantic relationships, than we do on friendships or even family. This imbalance can cause challenges in our romantic relationship because we are not in balance. By making that relationship more "special" than the others, we are essentially putting pressure on that person to fill our needs in a way that no one person can. Our relationship with self, friends, and family are equally important, and we need to release the need to make one person or relationship more special or important than another. Take time to find the love in all your relationships, and see how each and every person is special to you in their own way. You will strengthen all your relationships by experiencing them equally.

Releasing Exercises:
1. Make a list of your meaningful relationships, past and present. Write the story of each one, how it started/ended/the experience/etc. Release any nastiness that your ego is holding onto.
2. Make a list of how your partner makes you feel joy; or if single, how you would want a partner to make you feel joy.
3. Make a Love List and focus on the areas in your life where love shines. Focus on at least one thing that allows love to shine in your life each day.

The more you release the fears of the ego, the more love you will feel and the more you will attract loving healthy relationships into your life. When you feel ready to add a romantic relationship to your life, make a list of qualities you are looking for in a partner. Be specific, what is his personality like? His hobbies, skills, interests? His Spiritual beliefs? Does he love to travel and in what fashion? Write the story of your perfect partner, but keep in mind that creating a clone of you does not leave room for personal growth and will likely be boring very quickly.  Write your perfect partner story, and read it to yourself each day. Then share it with everyone you can. People have manifested beautiful relationships using this method. Write the story as if he is already there, for example, "My partner is full of gratitude, loves to garden, and is an expect on roses." Write in present tense, the Universe only understands NOW! I believe you could use this technique to attract friendships as well. Love yourself and the rest will follow.

Love and Gratitude


Shanna