MAKING ROOM ON PLANET EARTH!

I've been writing for a while about the phenomenon of people leaving Planet Earth (i.e. - "dying," in 3D language) at increasingly accelerated rates (See the post below, and the related links, for more details.) Well, recently came even more confirmation, right from someone on the front lines: an undertaker!

I participated in the farewell ceremonies for someone who lived on Earth for almost 87 years, someone who was a "big" soul, albeit a young one. During the process, I noticed something interesting - on the journey back and forth from New York City, and driving around the suburbs of Long Island, I kept seeing hearses and funeral processions with unusually high frequency.

In addition, in the days before the funeral I was to attend, I'd heard from other individuals about people in their work or personal lives who were reporting in unusually high numbers some occurrence of death in their circle of friends, family or colleagues.

I understood at a more in-depth level, expanding on what I wrote a few weeks ago (below), what was happening - we're making room. 

Many souls want to enter the sphere of Earth right now, and so, many who have been here for a while, and weren't ready developmentally as souls to live in 5D ongoing, were fulfilling their agreements to leave the planet at this time to make room. I recently posted this quote from Dolores Cannon, one of the foremost writers on the matter of the great transition we are in:

"We are living in the most important time in the history of the Universe, and it’s very important to be here now. There are thousands of souls who want to be here to experience this – even if they can just be here for a few hours. For some, even if they’re born and die right away, they can say, 'I was there when this occurred."

And I would add something to what Dolores is saying, and also to the reality of needing more room for souls wanting to enter the Earth plane. We also need more room for those who are already here and who are prepared to live in 5D for the long haul. Those human beings who are becoming self-actualized during this new era have expanded and are expanding their energy fields, and that literally requires more room, more space-time, as it were, and more possibilities for solitude when needed. A highly crowded planet won't do for those needs.

So, back to the undertaker. After the funeral was over, I asked him straight up if he was finding his business to be very busy lately.

"Oh, yes, very busy." He said."There's a lot going on out there."

I laughed to myself, wondering about the boat or country house the undertaker was fantasizing about. Then someone young, but very astute, asked: "Do undertakers get their funerals for free?"

Hmmm.

Here's the post from a few weeks ago:

5D MEANS LESS PEOPLE, PEOPLE!

That's right. 

I've written and talked a lot about the "Whatever happened to..." phenomenon in 5D in which people whose vibration is significantly lower than yours, and who have no conscious intention of changing, will disappear from your life, either through death, moving away, getting too busy, etc. 

I wrote last year about a statistical report that there were more deaths recorded on Planet Earth in 2012 than in any previous year. A piece in the Huffington Post business section this week reports: "U.S. Population Grows At Slowest Rate Since The Great Depression"

While the business minded might want to see this as an economic cause and effect, and part of some kind of historical cycle, the truth is that in the 5D era, there will organically be less people on Earth, at least on the 5D version of the planet. As some people I work with have experienced this reality in their lives, they are at first a bit disconcerted and fearful:

"Who am I going to talk to?" 

"Everyone seems asleep or crazy."

"I'm going to end up being alone."

Not at all. When you clean out a closet of old belongings that no longer suit or fit you, you don't imagine that you will never own anything to go in that closet again, do you? Likewise, while many people you have known and interacted with in 3D may be disappearing, new people that you have "spiritual contracts" with will be appearing. In fact, as you awaken and lift the veil of 3D un-consciousness, you will be amazed at how not alone you are.

Indeed, as the physical population on Earth declines, your awareness of beings not entirely physical or even human will be increasing.

Ready or not (and if you're reading this, you're ready), here we go!

LOVE AS THE MAJOR CREATIVE FORCE!

When I concluded the final class of the first round of the Full Permission Living program I was teaching in 2001, I asked my students what they had learned after three years, what did it all come down to? I summarized their answers, and my own understanding, in three statements:

1. We create our own reality
2. We are all one
3. Love is the essence of All That Is

Many people I've had the pleasure of guiding since 2001 have worked diligently on numbers 1 and 2. Understanding how we create our own reality from our beliefs, conscious and not, and from our higher and lower selves, is a challenging endeavor, and ultimately a rewarding one. Likewise, connecting to our oneness with all others and with all things, witnessing our own reflection in all that we see, is a great and worthy challenge. That a growing number of human beings have taken up these tasks with such dedication and sincerity has and continues to be a joy to watch and share in.

Now, we are ready for the next, and highest, level of creation: love.

But what does it mean to speak of love as a "level of creation?" What does it mean that "Love is the essence of All That Is?"

Clearly, we are not speaking of love in just the romantic sense, or in the parent-child sense, or in the way that brothers, sisters or friends may love each other. And we are not just speaking of the love of beauty or song or delicious food or a sunny day. Additionally, we are not speaking of love as action, as doing "good deeds," nor acts of kindness or generosity.

We are speaking of love as the essential energy that our Universe is composed of, that all of creation and existence springs from. That is why all love is unconditional, as I wrote in my "Truth About Everything, Part Two..." HERE. It cannot be conditional if it infuses everything. In the truest sense, then, neither can love be "given." It can only be channeled, allowed to flow through us to the degree that the channels within our emotional and physical bodies are cleared and open. 

Can we have the experience of directing love? Yes, though the more powerful the flow, such as when we "fall in love," it seems to happen to us, which is why we call it "falling" in love. Can we have the experience of blocking its expression? Yes, though the more we keep our inner channels congested or closed, the more we create what we experience as illness and unhappiness. 

All of the above has always been true. So, what is different about this time? I'm glad you asked.

As just mentioned above, love can be directed to the degree that our channels are open, and now, during this great awakening that is taking place in our time on Planet Earth, more so than ever before. We are engaged in the process of becoming conscious creators of our reality, but no longer from our beliefs, positive or negative, nor from our lower selves and egos. 

As mentioned in "Rule Number 2" in the FPL post at the beginning of last year, "IT'S 2013! WHICH EARTH ARE YOU ONE?!" - "Creating your reality and its experiences from your emotions and your ego is obsolete. Creating your reality from the vibrations of your Higher Self, supported by and in collaboration with the human and universal collective, is the 5D way of living." 

The "vibrations of our Higher Selves" are love, wisdom, and will, the highest of which is the all-encompassing energy of love.

So, here's a simple little story from my journey: 

There's a round, metal end table that had been next to "my side" of the living room couch for years. The top of it was very brown and spotty, and basically, I hated it, and looked forward to getting rid of it one day. In fact, I would have gotten rid of it already, except that my partner on the couch insisted that it was a worthy piece of furniture. 

Anyway, we recently decided to do some refurbishing, which included buying some new end tables. This was my chance, I thought, to trash the old table. But my partner protested, telling me something I didn't know - that the table top was made of copper. "Really?" I said, rummaging for some metal cleaner under our sink. "Let me check that out."

Well, as I started coating and rubbing the copper top in earnest, it began to shine and glow a beautiful, reddish color. I realized, to my surprise, that I was falling in love! So much so, that by the time I was done, I'd transplanted it to the sacred space of my cherished therapy office. First chance I had, I went online to order a special buffing kit that I could use to make the table really shine. 

The table now sits proudly next to me as I conduct sessions. And it hit me with a wonderful and great force that I had just learned a universal lesson for my life - Whatever we direct love towards, including something that we might have previously hated, it transforms into something we love. And it might mean that the thing (or person) in question remains in our life as beloved, or if preferred or meant to be, that which is loved can leave our life, infused with love. Simple, but yet profound. It's a win-win. Or as John Lennon said: 

"It's easy. All you need is love!"

Check it out!

STILL MORE ON: BEANS, NAPS, BOOZE, SEX and IKIGAI!

Here we go again! Another in the series...

Emma Morano, the world’s oldest person at 117, died at her home in northern Italy on Saturday afternoon. Morano’s doctor confirmed the news to the Associated Press, saying Morano’s caretaker informed him she had died peacefully while sitting in an armchair at her home in Verbania. Morano was also believed to be the last person alive who was born in the 1800s, with a birthday in November 1899. Morano, who outlived all eight of her siblings, had attributed her long life to a diet of three eggs a day, two of them raw, the BBC reported. She survived two World Wars, more than 90 Italian governments and a tough personal life, with the loss of her only son at six months old and an abusive marriage.

So, why do we do it? What makes it all worthwhile?

In the American remake of the movie "City Of Angels," Nicolas Cage's character, an angel, asks Dennis Franz' character, an angel who incarnated as a human being, why he did it, didn't he miss being able to hear the sunrise over the ocean the way he could in angelic form? Franz says "Yes, I do miss it sometimes, but... I can do this!" as he strips off his clothes and runs naked into the ocean.

So, it's time for a check-in, an update on your "Ikigai,"the Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being,” or as they think of it on Okinawa, “a reason to get up in the morning.” What does it for you? Love, Eros and Sex? Fine food? Music? Painting? Cooking? Playing tennis? Building a house? Watching the final episode of "Mad Men?" (I'm really glad I was here for that!)

Whatever it is that gets you up in the morning, folks, appreciate it. Remind yourself to indulge whatever your greatest pleasures and preferences are. It's why you're here... and there's nowhere else like here!




Below are two previous posts that ran under the heading on FPL:

"MORE ON: 'BEANS, NAPS, BOOZE, SEX and IKIGAI - ARE YOU IN THE BLUE ZONE? (OH, AND PASS THE BACON!)"

Okay, here's the headline: Susannah Mushatt Jones, World's Oldest Person, Eats Bacon Every Day!

Susannah Mushatt Jones turned 116 over the summer and is the oldest person in the world.

So what's her secret? It just might be plenty of bacon. Jones has bacon, eggs and grits for breakfast every morning.

Along with a daily dose of bacon, Jones spends plenty of time snoozing. Her niece, Lois Judge, told The Huffington Post in June that she sleeps about 10 hours a night and also takes regular naps.

And what about Ikigai? "I surround myself with love and positive energy. That’s the key to long life and happiness."

Jones, who was born in Alabama on July 6, 1899, is one of only two known living people who were alive in the 19th century.



[NOTE: Jones is not alone among centenarians in her love for bacon. Pearl Cantrell, who died in 2013 at the age of 105, enjoyed bacon so much that Oscar Meyer sent one of its Wienermobiles to her home to deliver some. Cantrell: "I love bacon. I eat it everyday."]




Here's the earlier post on longevity and Ikigai -

Saw a very interesting interview the other night on Bill Maher with author, Dan Buettner, who wrote the bestseller, “The Blue Zones.” What are the Blue Zones? They are 5 places in the world – from Okinawa, Japan to Loma Linda, California – where people regularly live to 100 years old. (The other 3 Blue Zones are Sardinia in Italy, Ikaria in Greece, and Nicoya in Costa Rica)

Buettner found that: "Blue Zone centenarians have somehow managed to avoid the chronic diseases – heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes – that kill the majority of people in industrialized countries around the world, and especially, in the United States.” 

Buettner sought to discover what the people in these 5 places had in common.

You ready? Here it is – every population group had beans as a regular part of their diet, took daily naps, had 2 or 3 drinks of alcohol per day, walked a lot (but no gym) and had sex at least twice a week!

Beans, naps, booze and sex!

Oh, and one more thing, perhaps the most important – they all had “ikigai,” along with some kind of spiritual practice. What is ikigai? It is a Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being,” or as they think of it on Okinawa, “a reason to get up in the morning.”

"Everyone," according to the Japanese, "has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self."

In a TED Talk, Dan Buettner referenced ikigai as one of the reasons people in the area had such long lives. This ties in with the entire concept of Full Permission Living, of course, and with many posts on FPL, including the recent quote from Lee Carroll channeling "Kryon," that asks the question: "What did you come here for?"

So, folks, find your ikigai. You have one. You do. And the great secret to finding it through your dedicated self-work is this: as much as possible, do what you feel passionate about doing in every moment.

And don't forget the bourbon and beans!

YOU CANNOT BE A MASTER AND A VICTIM!

From "BEYOND THE KNOWN," channelled by Paul Selig:

"Too many of you like to think that things happen at you. 'He did this thing to me.' 'She took away my will.' 'I wasn’t consulted.' 'I didn’t confirm.' 'I certainly didn’t agree.' In some ways, this may be so. But until you understand that you are authoring your experiences here for the purpose of learning and evolution, you are going to conceive of the self as a victim of experience. And, as we have stated prior, you cannot be a master and a victim at the same time."

GET ROASTED FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

When I was growing up, I loved watching "roasts," gatherings of famous comedians, at a place called the "Friars Club," where the guest of honor, also famous, would get made fun of relentlessly by the panel of sarcasm "experts." (Presidential Candidates nowadays also get roasted - or used to - at the annual  Alfred E. Smith Dinner in a similar way, though definitely less expertly.) 

These roasts were really funny, and I always noted two things about them - the roastee always seemed to be having so much fun being humiliated, and the roasters seemed to have so much genuine affection for the person they were lambasting with their perfected barbs.

Well, at a gathering of friends at a Winter Solstice celebration not long ago, I got roasted! Yep. The idea spoke through one of our guests that I could use a good roasting, and so, on the fly at the end of dinner, I became the guest of honor and my friends roasted me. By the time it was over, my gut ached and tears were coming down because I was laughing so hard. 

Why was/is it so funny to be made fun of?

Well, for me personally, it's been a consistent message from mentors over the years that I take myself too seriously. Whatever my gifts may be, being able to laugh at myself is one of the highest among them. And as a person who knows that one key to happiness and self-actualization is to dismantle one's ego, I have welcomed people into my life (including my best friends of 30-40 years) who are willing to make fun of me. Relentlessly. With love. Inevitably, when I get roasted, I end of rolling on the floor in gut-clenching laughter. It's a great tonic.

As John Travolta's version of Michael the Archangel said in the movie, "Michael": 

"You gotta laugh; it's the key to loving."

So, the year end holidays are here, folks. Get roasted!   

ARE YOU THE CRAZY VERSION OF YOURSELF SOMEONE ASKED YOU TO BE?!

"Everyone in your life is a version of themselves that you've created."

Thus says "Bashar," channeled by Darryl Anka. (That quote from THIS CLIP.)

This is similar in its import to a quote from Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, the practitioner of the Hawaiian healing art, Ho'oponopono, on how he healed people without interacting with them at all physically:

"I was simply healing the part of me that created them."

These two quote express, in a more expanded way, the Universal Truth put forth often on this blog that we create our reality from our beliefs.

Bashar and Dr. Len are basically saying that not just the events and material things in your life are your creation, but so, too, the very people you encounter and interact with in your life are your creation. That's some serious creating!

Now, understand, the individuals you create in your life are also independent beings in and of themselves, continually creating versions of themselves - and of you - to have their experiences through and with. "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together." (Thank you, John!)

In other words, since we are truly all one, meaning not just connected, but ultimately and literally one unified being manifesting Itself in an infinite variety of seemingly separate selves, then if I want to create a version of you to have a particular experience with, you will co-create that version with me, even as I will do the same for you, as me. See?

So, the key practical question here is if there are people in your life you experience to be threatening, annoying, unpleasant to interact with and/or downright crazy, why are you creating that version of them to interact with? Why are you asking the person in question to create of version of him-or-herself that will be a problem for you?

This question is quite worth the time and effort to explore, because as long as you continue to feel victimized by the random, hostile, thwarting behavior of others, you will be unable to change your reality with said persons. Once you realize that you are creating the negative version of the person in question harassing you, you can uncreate that version. That might mean that the person changes their persona in your life, or more commonly, the person will exit your life stage left.

Remember Shakespeare?

"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."

Well, thank you for being the antagonist in my play, but I'm writing out that role forthwith.

Likewise, if you find that a dysfunctional role you are playing in someone else's life no longer suits you, you can decide to leave that play for a better role, and indeed the other person will gladly replace you with someone else willing to be cast as the martyr, enabler, or narcissistic source of supply for their narcissistic lead character.

So, cast and crew members, take a look at the roles you are writing for yourself and the actors in your drama, and if you're not enjoying yourself fully, do a rewrite!

THIS S%&T WORKS!!

READ MORE HERE.

YESTERDAY!

Saw “Yesterday” yesterday, a film whose core idea is so compelling it had to be made, had to create soaring expectations, and ultimately had to disappoint.

What if The Beatles, as a band, never existed, but one man only, an unsuccessful, mediocre singer-songwriter, knew their catalogue of songs (“One Man Only” is the tongue in cheek title of his ultimate album of pilfered Beatles tunes that he records), and as a result becomes the most famous singer songwriter on the planet? Amazing idea, right?

Yet, the very idea is challenged, unintentionally it seems, by the musical performances themselves, and by the unequivocal reality that The Beatles’ catalogue of 200+ tunes are nowhere near as remarkable and timeless without The Beatles themselves. (Think “Something,” as sung by Frank Sinatra! Ugh!) Classics like “Let It Be,” without Paul’s plaintive, angelic vocals, or “In My Life,” without John’s sonorous, yet tender nostalgia pouring through him, or “Nowhere Man,” “Because,” or even “This Boy” without the perfect blend of stratospheric harmonies that transcend anything in pop music, or any genre of music, for that matter, these would be merely good-to-really-good compositions. Add to the mix, The Beatles’ continuously explorative and experimental arrangements and ever-changing productions, their insistence on not having “a sound,” but rather to reinvent themselves on every album.

I mean, it does happen, occasionally, that someone’s cover of another’s hit song is equal to or even better than the original (Perhaps, “I Shot the Sheriff” by Eric Clapton, originally by Bob Marley, for example), but really, has anyone ever covered a Beatles song that tops the vibrancy and synergy and crackling originality of the Fab Four’s rendition? Elton John’s “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from My friends,” U2’s “Helter Skelter,” all good, worthy as recordings, but...

Likewise, Himesh Patel’s covers, while sincere and sometimes passionate, fall way short of making it believable that the songs alone could create a globe-changing cultural phenomenon, similar to that created when The Beatles thrust those indelible tunes into the collective consciousness in just 10 mind-blowing years, 5 decades ago.

The Beatles were unique. Uniquely unique. For me, from age 9 on until today, they were and still are the soundtrack to this lifetime’s journey. And oh, the movie is worth seeing!

                                                     

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER! (PEAK EXPERIENCES! FREE SAMPLES! GOT YOURS?)

During the 1950's, Psychologist Abraham Maslow, who developed the concept of "peak human potential," did years of research on what he called "peak experiences."  

"Almost all people have or can have peak experiences," Maslow said. (These are what I have referred to as "free samples from the Universe.")

Psychologist Stella Resnik, in her book, The Pleasure Zone, wrote: "Peak experiences are intensely pleasurable times that can last for just a minute or for several weeks or more. They are periods of complete happiness and fulfillment. . . perceived as great moments, as very fine times in a person's life."

Maslow found that certain individuals - people he called "self-actualized", enjoyed a much higher frequency of peak experiences than did individuals in the general population. They felt fulfilled in their lives, motivated "not by need, but by the desire to grow."

Maslow's findings may not surprise most FPL readers who've actually done some serious self-work. The free sample I often speak of isn't meant to be a tease, folks, but an enticement to move oneself, whatever it takes, towards self-actualization, the place where peak experiences become part of everyday life i.e. - Full Permission Living!

Summer is here, and soon... If you're doing your self-work, it's gonna be a great summer! Get your peak experiences planned in!

REPOST: TODAY'S FIRST DAY OF SUMMER QUOTES

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."
Russel Baker

“In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer”
Albert Camus

“Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language”
Henry James

“Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world.”
Ada Louise Huxtable

"FULL PERMISSION LIVING: The Journey from 3rd to 5th Dimensional Consciousness" Book Now Available!

Follow this LINK to buy the book!

From the Preface of Full Permission Living: 

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that linear time, impenetrable matter, separation, limitation, aging, illness and death are all illusions, that there are no coincidences, only synchronicities, that you create your own reality from your beliefs, that you exist, you always have and you always will, we are all one, all aspects and reflections of each other and of All That Is, that love is the essence of All That Is, that consciousness directs energy into form, and that every line of reality that you can imagine exists.”

FULL PERMISSION LIVING: The Journey from 3rd to 5th Dimensional Consciousness

PERFECT!

MORE ON "WE'RE ALL GOING!"

THIS is a quote from the Book of Freedom, channeled by Paul Seelig: 

"Once the new field is established or agreed to by enough of you, it is available to all. It exists concurrently with the old until the new assumes it."

See also Chapter 37, "A Word About The Hundredth Monkey," in FULL PERMISSION LIVING!

REPOST: IT'S IN THE BLOOD!

"The day may yet arise when one may take a drop of blood and diagnose the condition of the entire human body."
Edgar Cayce

I was shown an amazing video yesterday of an interview with one Harvey Bigelson, MD, on the "Conscious Media Network," part of Gaiam TV. Dr. Bigelson, a pioneer in homeopathic medicine, discovered that if you examine live blood cells under what is called a "dark field microscope," you will see holographic images relevant to the current health condition of the person.

OK. What are you talking about, PL?

I will try and explain this as simply as possible.

First of all, it turns out that blood tests, as they are usually done, are not of live blood cells. Huh? That's right. The blood cells in samples taken from patients in traditional blood tests are dead when they are examined. This is so for two reasons: 1. the cells are not viewed immediately; and 2. the cells are injected with stains and dyes before they are viewed. So, what you get back from a common blood test is similar to an autopsy. You get chemical composition and cell counts, but no live picture of how the blood and body are functioning in real time.

What Dr. B discovered by immediately looking at blood samples under a dark field microscope with a special lens that doesn't require any staining process, the pictures in our blood show very different results... to say the least! In fact, there are actually pictures, or more accurately, "crystalized holographic images."

In other words, contained in our blood cells are 3-dimensional images of what's going on in our bodies that we need to know. So, for example, a live blood sample of a pregnant women contains a holographic image of the growing fetus that exactly matches the images taken through a sonogram. Likewise, everything from a broken bone or a tape worm to a dental implant will show up in these images if they are creating an imbalance in the body.

Take a breath. Now, think about it. This is one of those game-changers.

Everything is composed of energy and energy is directed by consciousness. And just as the whole contains everything, every little bit of everything also contains the whole. This has been known and demonstrated for a number of years through holography, which is a type of photography that uses lasers to create a holographic image, or hologram. What has been remarkably demonstrated through this method is that you can cut off any corner or bit of a hologram and using lasers, or a dark field microscope, see the entire image.

Now, take another breath because the next piece of information from Dr. B might seem off the charts.

In some cases, Bigelson found images in the blood of an event in the patients body that hadn't happened yet! In the Gaiam video, Dr. B showed a female patient's live blood sample that had an image of a fractured femur bone, exactly matching the X-Ray of the broken femur in the patient from an accident which happened subsequent to the examination. So, not only does the smallest part of us know what is happening to us, what we are creating, each cell of our body even registers what we are intending for ourselves.

I have been saying to people for a while now that intention is everything. Everything that we create, everything that occurs within us and around us starts with an intention. And guess what? The body knows it. I have had the experience, for example, of deciding to start a cleanse on a Sunday, and beginning to show the effects of the cleanse on Saturday! A day ahead of the physical action.

As I wrote in my Truth About Everything post, "The Placebo Effect is Real," when you understand that consciousness directs everything, it changes everything. Or at least it should.

Thank you Dr. Harvey Bigelson, and thank you to my partner, who in her tireless quest for higher knowledge, brought me this information.

WHEN IN ROME (OR ANYWHERE ELSE)...WRITE!

I've been a regular advocate of journal writing for many years. I included a section about it in my FPL book (Chapter 10, Part IV: "The Pen (Keyboard) is Mightier than the Sword (Pathology)."

From FPL:

Going all the way back to what we think of as prehistoric times, human beings have found meaning in drawing and writing, along with other forms of expressive art, such as painting, sculpting and creating music through crafted instruments and, of course, the human voice. These modes of self-expression, however, are much more than just recreational, not that recreating through creating (or creating through recreating) isn’t a worthy endeavor.
As an adjunctive practice to other bottom up processes in the tool box, I’ll often prescribe journal writing to those I see for therapy. Sometimes, this prescription is in the free-form style of the “morning pages” regimen, made famous by Julia Cameron, author of “The Writer’s Way;” I will also suggest journaling in a way that serves as a kind of follow-up to therapy sessions, particularly the chronicling of surfacing memories, dreams, thoughts and feelings stimulated by the sessions, and occasionally, I’ll propose take-home exercises.

This is from an article in today's Daily Beast: How the Ancient Romans Dealt with Anxiety

UPDATE: "HAPPY NEW YEAR! DON'T BE A SALMON IN 2019!!"

Okay, here we are, the beginning of a new year. Heart-attack season is finally over - yes, I actually heard yet another story of someone having a surprise heart attack on Christmas Eve - and so, some of us will get back to the business of hunkering back down into the distractions of our lives, not looking behind or ahead for wisdom or guidance, just being glad or sad or both that "THE HOLIDAYS" are over. Some of us will attempt to review and gain wisdom from the events of the past year, and set new intentions for the coming year. That's a viable approach, as well.

But I must admit, I love the fact that so many people have heart attacks on Christmas Eve. It's so specific and unambiguous in its message. It shows us that energy matters, that love is a real force, and if your emotional heart isn't open to that energy, when a surge of it arrives, as it often does at this time of year, your physical heart can break as well, along with your emotional heart.

The heart attacks also show that we're not alone. The Universe/our own Higher Selves/All That Is - however you identify that force - let's us know through our crises that we are being guided, that we are on a path. When we veer off that path, or resist moving forward on it, we get slammed. Sometimes hard. It can seem almost that the Universe is ruthless, or that the "wrath of God" is, in fact, wrath. But while that's a judgment of pain and suffering that may be common, it actually isn't natural. Animals in nature, without any egos in the way, accept pain and suffering as guidance, and alter their behavior accordingly. Only humans tend to see a crisis as "punishment" or "bad luck," or something to wring our hands about, but not necessarily use for change.

The fact that we are guided, though, doesn't mean that our lives are being manipulated or that our fate is predetermined in some rigid way. That's the age old "mystery" some religions talk about - how God's will is always being done, yet we simultaneously have free will to do anything we choose. It seems like a paradox or a Zen riddle.

Well, here's how I picture it for myself: if the force of life, my soul force, the Will of All That Is, is a powerful river that I'm in, I, the swimmer, can choose to swim against the current or with the current at any given moment, exerting my free will. But an observer on the bank of the river will plainly see that regardless of my efforts, the current is carrying me downstream. If I insist on resisting the flow, and keep swimming against the current, I will certainly become exhausted, and maybe even die like many spawning salmon do. On the other hand, if I join with the current, surrender to the flow, I will move much more easily and faster on my path.

Surrendering is an act of free will, too. It is active, not passive. It is not submitting, nor a weakness to give up the stubborn clinging to habitual ways of behaving and thinking. It is an ego-less way of moving through life.

Here is an exercise, what I call a "Five Senses Meditation," to try this year: the next time your leave your house, instead of staying in your ego-mind and mapping out your moves and calculating in advance your arrival to your destination in your head, simply start walking, and only pay attention to your five senses - to what you see, hear, taste, smell and touch. You'll be amazed, I promise you, because while you're discovering a wonderful world of sights and sounds and sensory experiences, you will still get to where you're going, you will arrive at your destination, but filled up with the gift that is life when we don't try and control it.

I'm sure there is an evolutionary purpose to the salmon swimming upstream, so it must work for them. But perhaps, as we begin anew this January 1st, you might consider whether or not you want to be a salmon this year. Happy New Year!

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 2018!

Jacob Marley to Mitch McConnell on his deathbed?

Marley: "I wear the chain I forged in life! I made it link by link and yard by yard! I girded it of my own free will and by my own free will, I wore it! In life, my spirit never rose beyond the limits of my money-grabbing decisions like your Citizens United ruling! Now I am doomed to wander without rest or peace, incessant torture and remorse!

McConnell: But it was only that you were a good man of business, Jacob!

Marley: BUSINESS?! Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my legal trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!

McConnell: Why do you lament?

Marley: Because I seek to intervene for good in human matters, and have lost my power forever.

McConnell: Huh.

Marley: Ahh, you have no idea the length and breadth of the ponderous chain you yourself bear.

McConnell: Oh. Shit!

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON ON THE SPIRITUAL RENAISSANCE/REVIEW OF FPL BOOK!

This beautiful passage is from an interview in the latest issue of Spirituality & Health Magazine (Said issue is also currently hosting a review of my book, Full Permission Living here: https://spiritualityhealth.com/gift…/2018-holiday-gift-guide) 

                                                        

Here's Marianne Williamson:

"The spiritual renaissance can never be monopolized by any particular corner of the world, or any group or any religion, because it emerges from deep within the human heart. It’s the evolutionary impulse of our age. It’s a global and universal phenomenon. This Renaissance is real and it has not stopped; it’s just that it’s growth and, like all growth, it’s messy. I think it’s actually a sign of how successful and powerful it is that the forces of separateness and fear are putting up such resistance.
"Love brings up everything unlike itself, not only in our individual lives, but in the collective.
"We are living through what appears to be the death throes of an old paradigm. One world is passing away, and it’s completely up to us what world will be born now. The contest has begun, struggle has ensued, and the choice is ours: Which direction will humanity take from here?"


Here's the review of Full Permission Living:

Peter Loffredo’s book Full Permission Living is an interesting account of the journey from 3rd to 5th dimensional consciousness. From the preface: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that linear time, impenetrable matter, separation, limitation, aging, illness, and death are all illusions, that there are no coincidences, only synchronicities, that you create your own reality from your beliefs, that you exist, you always have and you always will, we are all one…” He goes on to say that love is the basis of “All That Is” and every line of reality you can imagine exists.

This play on the Declaration of Independence summarizes the book’s sentiment throughout. FPL is a guide book for self-improvement great for anybody in a therapist role working with clients, but it is also great for those individuals who are seekers. If you want to change towards happiness, this book will help you do so. But you have to work at it.

Written from the perspective of a psychotherapist, this book delves into aspects of psychology that might appeal to the individual learner. He discusses five character structures: schizoid, oral, masochistic, psychopathic, and rigid, and their psychological functions and therapeutic approaches along with more interesting information. If you like learning about psychology, and definitely different perspectives on it, give this book a read.

Among the different topics of the book is a part of the book called “The Run Up to 5D.” Loffredo gives us an analogy of a plane taking off to describe the third, fourth, and fifth dimensions. The plane sitting there before it takes off is the third dimension, but when the plane starts moving really fast just before take-off, that is the run-up to 5D or the fourth dimension. The fifth dimension is the plane flying in the air, where we will reach full consciousness.

Loffredo on 5D: “Spontaneous remission of illness? Miraculous healing of a disease overnight? Regrowth of tissue and limbs? No longer even experiencing illness or disease or dismemberment in the first place?...” He goes on: “This is not fantasy, folks. This is the way that many, many entities, races and species, humanoid and not, in physical form and not, already live throughout our galaxy and the universe.”

With topics such as character structures, gut feelings, and the placebo effect, this will appeal to the learner. With topics devoted to consciousness and the fifth dimension, the spiritual seeker will definitely also learn from this book. In addition, the psychotherapist can learn about Loffredo’s approach to breaking character structures and finding happiness and consciousness.

Here's the link to buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Full-Permission-Living-Dimensional-Consciousness/dp/1721563326/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1531048863&sr=1-1&keywords=full+permission+living

GREAT NON-EXPECTATIONS!

Someone referred me to an article, "Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy," on a blog whose name I love: "wait but why." The piece mainly describes what the author (whose name I couldn't find) feels is the root of the problem: unrealistic expectations on the part of GenY-ers (Those born between the late 70's and mid-90's).

The theory presented basically purports that the latter day post-hippie then prosperous Baby Boom generation spawned a generation of entitled narcissists - their kids - who expect everything in their fantasy life to come true, but don't want to work for it. - at all. This is a current and very popular idea, and sociologically, holds some merit. But it is also superficial and a generalization, of course, as all 3D theories must be.

I'm sure the FPL reader who sent me the link did so because she knows that a focus of the work that I do with people includes guidance to rid oneself of not just unrealistic expectations, but of all expectations.

Here's Eckhart Tolle:

"Today I’m going to suggest a small change in mindset that could change your life. I won’t keep you in suspense. Here it is: think of nothing that happens as either good or bad. Stop judging, and stop expecting. It’s a tiny change — all you have to do is say, ‘That wasn’t good or bad, it just happened, it just is.’ It’s tiny, but it takes practice, and amazingly, it can knock you on your ass. Why? Because with this little change, you will no longer be swayed up and down depending on whether good things or bad things happen to you, whether people (and their actions) are good or bad. You will learn to accept things as they are, and move within that landscape mindfully. You will no longer expect good things to happen (or bad things), but will just take things as they come, and be content with whatever comes. This means you’ll no longer be disappointed, or unhappy. The second half of this change is just as small, but just as important: dropping expectations. Not lowering expectations, but eliminating them."

Really? No expectations, Eckhart? Wouldn't that lead to complacency? Lethargy? Boredom? If we didn't have high hopes for things, didn't have goals, a focus on outcomes, what would motivate us to do anything?

I'm glad I asked.

As a screenwriter by avocation (at least so far), I've have heard from many fellow writers, producers, actors, etc., that every good screenplay has conflict in it. In fact, I have been told, that every scene in every good screenplay must have conflict in it. There must always be "tension," the conventional wisdom goes, something for the hero to overcome, face, defeat or defy, in order for a story to be interesting. Many people feel that this is also the key to an interesting, exciting life, as well, and so, they are always creating barriers, crises and limitations to break through in their daily lives. What fun!

Nonetheless, I have wondered, what might be interesting about a story or a life that didn't have conflict as its motivating force? If there weren't obstacles to overcome, if there were no victories to be won by defeating someone or something outside or even inside of ourselves, if there were no resistance, what would make life exciting?

Ready?

Creating!

That's right. Creating.

The main thing we do from the highest levels of our being is create... and then, experience what we create... and then, create some more. Endless creation. That is essentially the main activity of All That Is. Seems pretty exciting to me.

So, back to the question of where would motivation come from?

Motivation would come from desire and inspiration. Desire and inspiration come directly from our Higher Selves. They are the initial stirrings of creation in a physical body in a linear time continuum. (In non-physical form, desire, inspiration and creation, as well as experiencing, would occur simultaneously.) And make no mistake, our desires and inspirations are not random or whimsical, but rather, they are messages about what our Higher Self would like to create through us. And folks, yes, our desires are meant to be fulfilled. Really.

The process looks like this: desire and inspiration come from our Higher Self. This stirs the imagination. Our task at that point is to play with images and visions of the fulfillment of the desires through creative expression. Then, through this playing process, we will attract opportunities and find paths for action in the physical world to actualize our desire.

So, where do expectations fit in.. or not fit in?

First of all, you can only have expectations if you are not focused in the moment. Expectations are always about a future outcome that the lower self mind and ego believes is best, and said pictured outcome is often rooted in the idea of undoing or overcoming a less-than-satisfying past. This is a constipated creative process at best.

Secondly, expectations, as a function of the lower self mind and ego, are inherently limited to what the lower self mind and ego can conceive of. And that mean no "miracles," no serendipity, no quantum leaps, just the... expected.

So, folks, whatever generation you're from, let go of your judgments and expectations, tune into your desires, use your imagination and create. No need for conflict or obstacles or antagonists in your story. Unless of course that's what you desire.

Comment Lao Tzu?

“When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good, other things become bad.”

Thanks, LT.