MANIFESTING: INERTIA DOESN’T FACTOR

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Well, that’s the last time I give myself the weekend off.  Espresso and a number of playlists were slow to help me get going this morning.

Beyond slow.  It was painful.

As I was listening to Dio’s Holy Diver I put a name to the problem and in doing so found my writing rhythm.

Intertia.

Newton’s  1st Law of Motion.

An object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

Music’s unbalanced?

While I considered the effort I had to exert to overcome this morning’s inertia it occurred to me that when it comes to manifesting, inertia doesn’t factor in.

I came to this conclusion after reviewing a number of manifesting successes and seeing that in many cases, after putting out the initial desire, I did nothing – consciously – to create the success.

Yet I was successful.

2 examples to illustrate.

Some 20 years ago I was walking through a model home in a new subdivision in Ohio.  I knew that eventually I wanted to own a home but at that point I was in no position to do so.  A friend encourged me to look so I could get an idea what I may want in that future home.

Setting me up for visualization, something I wasn’t big on at that time.

Of all the features the one I was most intrigued by was a type of fireplace.  Contemporary in design I remember falling in love with it and thinking “Wow, that would be cool to have in a house…”

That was it.  I didn’t do anything to bring that feature to be in any place I’ve lived.  And yet for all that nonwork I can glance across the room and see that very style of fireplace.

I enjoy the contemporary style as much now as I would have had I had it years earlier.

Example 2.

Ideal Scene

A couple of years after touring the model home I found myself flipping through Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization Workbook at a Borders Bookstore.

All these years later and I’ve never found a bookstore like Borders.

Deciding to give it a go I chose 2 goals and went to work.  Though I used most of the techniques for manifesting a writing career, I used the Ideal Scene exercise to outline my ideal relationship.

I was very careful to follow the guidelines which advised to be specific but cautioned against being too specific, as in don’t limit to a brunette with green eyes since the ideal person may be a red-head with blue eyes.  

You get the idea.

I then did what the author suggested and put the workbook away.  Well, I did do one other action.

I did nothing.

I didn’t do one conscious thing to find this relationship person and I didn’t quit my day job to pursue writing full-time.  

I just went about my daily life.**

I still wanted the goals but I didn’t do anything specific to bring them about.

A little over a year later without my having done anything, I met Aaron.

And the Writing?

Though it was years before I quit my day job to pursue writing full-time, while working in tech I spent a good part of my career as a tech writer, moving on to become a technical consultant. While I was a tech writer I was surrounded by other creatives, two of whom were authors. In one case, the colleague left after getting a contract to pursue writing full-time.

Talk about good energy to feed a goal!

In neither case, nor in many others did inertia come into play.  After putting the energy out I went about my life as usual.  I did not do any specific thing to bring about either goal and yet got both.

The key? 

Apparently desire is an unbalanced force because that’s pretty much what did it.  

Of course an argument could be made that I unconsciously took actions that led to this point.

  • I could have married earlier but the guys that I might have considered were at odds – for one reason or another – with my dream of being a writer full-time.

Whereas on our first date Aaron told me all the actions he would take to support me in attaining my dream.

  • I generally have a fireplace on my list of have’s when looking for places to live, whether I rent or own.

I wasn’t expecting one in San Diego since we were looking at a high rise and yet we had an electric one!

I suppose this is where trust comes in.  If you put the energy of desire out there, trust that if it’s for the greatest good of all involved, you’ll find your way to that goal.

I’ll be writing in the future about trying to manifest something you aren’t meant to have.

**A friend once asked how I found Aaron.  He was ready for his ideal mate.  I told him to put the energy out there then go about his life doing what he liked to do.  Not long after, he met the woman he married.  

Years later he told me he believes it was following my advice that did the trick. He said after getting his mind off of it he enjoyed life more and within a short time met his future wife at a wedding.

Desire.

The unbalanced force.

MEDITATION: NOT ALL MENTAL MOVIES DO THE TRICK

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In my early – mid 20s I dated a guy who was big into meditation.  When stress hit my life like a tsunami he suggested I give it a try. Unfortunately, I could never manage to quiet what various meditation teachers refer to as the monkey mind.

All the chatter that rears its head when you try to experience a moment of stillness.

I read up on and researched various techniques but nothing ever worked consistently.

That monkey mind never stopped chattering away.

He eventually suggested I just give up since it was frustrating me to no end.  Though disappointed I agreed it was the path of least resistence.

I was stressing myself out about it which more or less defeats the purpose of meditating to relax.

I did have a bit of success in what I call walking meditation but it is kind of cheating since I did not quiet my mind during those winter walks.

I used the time walking those winter nights to sift through my life and see where changes needed to be made.

A break-thru came when I bought Dr. Taub’s Seven Steps to Self-Healing Pack.

I’d never heard of guided meditation but listening to those tapes showed me that even those with chatty minds can meditate.

Silva Icing.

In 2000 I took the Silva Basic Lecture Series from a lovely woman in Akron, OH.

Aaron, who used to listen to the Dr. Taub tapes alongside me at night agreed to go with me.

For years I did a kluged version of guided meditation based on imagery from the tapes as well as whatever I produced on my mental screen during Silva.

Creative Visualization – Not

Starting in 2017 I switched from the scripted meditation I had been using for years to reviewing my novels before bed.  

I had become proficient in creating vivid images while picturing characters, locations, scenes, so it seemed like a good idea.

For the next several years I spent evenings reviewing scenes from various books in my mind and though it generally helped me fall asleep it hid a problem.

It wasn’t having the same beneficial effects as guided meditation!

This might have gone on indefinitely were it not for a series of emails between a friend in Florida and myself.  Rereading my words a few days after I sent them made me see I needed some serious change in my life.

I wrote about this in the Tune the Dial post.

To marry action to intention I began doing my old meditation routine in place of general mental movies.  Immediately, my life began to change.

Especially my health which needed tweaking.

My energy levels went up within days and that led to reguarly engaging in exercise which led to more energy which led to…

You get the idea.

In addition to physical benefits the universe began putting in a helping hand in the form of books coming into my possession at the right time.

I think it was seeing I was serious about improving my life – not just talking about it.

I’ll admit it was tough to get back into the routine of guided meditation, not because I had trouble quitting the review of novel plots before bed but because I was so rusty at the routine I’d done for years.

Persistance Pays Off.

Knowing it would all fall into place if I kept at it I kept at it.

And life continued to improve.

The plan is to keep up routines that help me achieve various health and well-being goals.

Routines that begin with the nightly guided meditation, one that includes prayers of thanksgiving.

The Take-Away?

I learned the hard way not all mental movies achieve a state of relaxation and that guided meditation is as beneficial as TM.

Especially for those of us with chattier minds.

Note:  That Monkey Mind

I long ago earned the distinction of always thinking but there was, I now realize, something else going on; something that interfered with my ability to still my chatty multi-tasking mind.

Birth Control Pills and Copper

Birth control pills have been linked to a buildup of copper.  Excess copper can cause chatty racy mind.

Taking zinc and potassium can help but until and unless there is nutritional balance, it may continue to be a challenge to quiet the mind.

I’m sure other medications can have this as a side effect.

MANIFESTING: ACKNOWLEDGE THE WOWS

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Note: Long

But worth it!

When it came to manifesting I was not a believer.

I associated manifesting with prayers and that led to all sorts of conflicts along the lines of why do some prayers get answered and others not.

It’s a Miracle!

I began to accept the possibility of answered prayers after the brain surgery.  

After all, over and over I heard it was a miracle I was alive!

Many people including the neursurgeon who saved my life shared personal stories, some of which defied explanation.

Including the fact after a feather from Fr. Solanus Casey’s pillow was placed in my paralyzed left hand I curled my fingers around it.

Please Stop!

By the time I was sixteen I was sick of hearing everyone else’s miraculous take on my trauma, and in spite of the stories, was no closer to believing the whole manifesting thing – for me.

Yes, I was alive but there were a number of circumstances that left me in a bad spot – attitude wise – for manifesting belief.

It Starts Small

One of my aunts picked up on my frustration.

Probably through the family gossip – I mean grapevine.

We were at her house for a post-Thanksgiving meal of spaghetti when she drew me aside and asked straight out if I believed in miracles.  

You can imagine my reaction.

Without waiting for an answer she told me she was an atheist turned agnostic until …

A miracle?

Ha ha – kind of.

Prayer Revisited

She asked if I’d ever heard of Novinas.

Nope.

She then shared someone gave her the Novena to St. Therese of the Little Flower when she was going through a particularly rough patch and that, desperate, she performed it in good faith.  

It isn’t that it worked so much as what it did to her and how that led to a conversation that changed things for me that is at hand here.

She said, “I don’t know what to think.  Was it a coincidence?  Did my belief factor into it?  My desperation?”

All questions that could be voiced with manifestation successes.

We had a really good analytical [read logical] discussion about it wherein I told her she needed to make up her own mind about what took place.

What Are The Chances?

I related the story to a couple of colleagues at work the following week.  

All techies and most engineers though not necessarily atheists or agnostics.

Of Note: This was the first time I had more than a passing interest in the possibility a desire could come to be by wishing/wanting/praying and believing it was possible.

Ahhh, that sticking point.  Was it possible or was it a coincidence?

A Rose is a rose is…

One of the aspects of the discussion was the sighting of a rose as a sign the prayer had been granted.

Roses in Michigan, especially at that time of year, were pretty common given they were in yards, flower shops, even grocery store sections.

This led to the role of belief in bringing a desire to be since the likelihood of seeing a rose was high enough to put the manifestation in the unrelated to St. Therese’s intervention category.

A type of placebo effect made it happen.

What I gained from this conversation was a way to measure the miraculous.

What are the Chances?

It helps to be friends with a guy who understands statistics so well.

My partner in EMF and other incredible life-changing “crimes,” Aaron.

If I experience a manifesting I think incredible, I will ask him “What are the chances?”

Statistically.

It helps me put it all into the miracle perspective jar.

Because perspective is everything.

I think life got tired of me trying to trip it up that way because it began peppering things in that were so amazing I didn’t even bother asking Aaron the likelihood.

To Receive, Believe

If I look backward I can say with a fair amount of confidence it started when I acknowledged the wow.

Not everything that manifests is miraculous but a lot is wow!

The more I acknowledged the wows the more wows showed up in my life.

The Image of Proof

To give proper context to this particular example I need to explain that due to an argument between me and the celestial entity standing in my kitchen in 2016, I learned what many experts in the field of manifesting and visualization already understood

If you desire something, hold a picture of it in your mind.

Close But…

We were living in a house that was perfect for us at the time but change was coming and that meant we needed to change where we lived.

That’s related to another Metatron-image story I will be publishing on metatronsuniverse.com.

I love fireplaces and I live in a part of the country where – climate change aside – fireplaces make things comfortable in the winter.

Hauling wood from a face cord in snow (in your pajamas) in the middle of the night because the power is out and it’s your only heat source isn’t fun but damn you’re glad it’s available.

The wood burning stove we had was perfect for heating the house but lacked the ambiance I was after.

What Do You Think of This?

Around this time I was beta testing the Event Horizon App.  To my surprise it opened a channel of communication to the Psi Side.

A lot of what I write during a session is what I see in my Mind’s Eye and as images are the language in common – no need for translation – it makes sense he tapped into this to communicate with me.

The image he projected into my Mind’s Eye, one I described in great detail in the session, was the epitome of a writer’s cozy space.

This writer, at any point.

Among other amenities, it boasted a fireplace with a design that was right out of a scene for a book I was working on.

The Dude didn’t come straight out and ask, “Is this what you want?”  He only wanted to know what I thought of it.  As our conversations are generally in the language of metaphor I told him it was way cool in terms of coziness, then put it out of my mind.

It wasn’t something I was wishing for per se.  In fact I had never once imagined/visualized anything like it.

Life went on and we moved and though I tried a few different locations in the new digs, I chose a room that – energetically – was my Goldilocks spot for writing.

Laptop on lap.

I was working on a book in the same series when I realized the fireplace The Dude showed me years earlier was in my cozy writer space.

And yes, we definitely use it for heat when the power goes out in the winter!

The Miraculous?

It isn’t that an image seen in an EV Session years ago ended up in my new digs.  It’s that The Dude used our new communication skills – solved equation – to test the waters.

We proved that just as he taught me, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Manifesting gold!

Note: There are times we try for something that isn’t meant to be ours. This will be the subject of a future post.

NOT THAT I WANT THIS BUT WOULDN’T IT BE COOL?

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Finally getting around to another piece dealing with manifesting.

I’ve got a lot of writing andirons in the fire these days.

It has to do with manifesting by proxy.

You get to enjoy something but you don’t have to live it.

Let me explain…

Especially since prevailing theory is you have to work for something.

A theory that, a Midwesterner by birth, I am more than familiar with.

It all started with the phrase Wouldn’t It Be Cool…?

Come on, you can’t be that surprised.

However, there is a bit of a twist.  

I didn’t actually want what I considered would be cool.

The Scene

I’m 7 and watching Jacques Cousteau on some docu-show on TV.  I was actually bored until my dad pointed out that the people he was working with were raising their kids not in a traditional sense like I was living but on the ocean.

“You mean that boat is their home?”

That boat was a gorgeous sailing yacht.

“But what about school?”

That led to an in-depth discussion about homeschooling and what living a nontraditional life can teach.

Wow

No boring school?  No nuns?  No stinky classroom that was ungodly hot in the late spring/early summer?  Cool!

Where do I sign up?

I can see why my dad was good in sales.  He has a way of presenting a vision that really draws you in.  However, he didn’t like to deal with the devil.  

You  know – the details?

Knowing this I wasn’t too keen on his version of how we’d make it work.  

Living on a rusted out abandoned oil tanker in the Louisiana bayou doesn’t compare with what I saw on TV.

My vision was – living space wise – a bit more traditional.

My dad subscribed to Yachting magazine for years and I would lay on my stomach in the living room listening to Rubber Soul or Emerson Lake and Palmer Works I and flipping through the pages.

I also frequently listened to Queen’s Night at the Opera.

I was fascinated by the images in the magazines.

I loved the creative utilization of space – even as I was confused.

“Where do they put the toys?”

My dad explained – by way of answer – the dramatic differences in lifestyle between someone living in a post World War II tract home in a Detroit blue-collar neighborhood and someone following a dream by living it.

He pointed out things I believed sacrifices – no room for toys – were not considered such by those living the dream.

That night I stared up in the dark and thought about the kind of people who raised their kids living on the sea with a boat for a home.  The more I thought about it the more I decided it was cool.

Very cool.

They weren’t afraid to do what it took to live their dream.

I decided such people were brave.

I admired them for not worrying about what the neighbors thought about what they were doing since it was different.

Something I heard endlessly at school, in the community, and in my family.  

That circled back to courage because it takes courage to go against the grain.

Think Jonathon Livingston Seagull, a story my dad used to read to me.

Though I loved the idea of traveling the world and I didn’t mind going against the grain, I didn’t want to live on the ocean.  That didn’t stop me from watching documentaries or reading sailing and yachting magazines or befriending people who owned boats.

We had a Criss-Craft for awhile and used to take it out regularly on various Michigan lakes, fishing and water skiing.

Fast Forward

I’ve done my share of traveling – and boating.

Have a few friends who own sailboats.

Wouldn’t It Be Cool – By Proxy

Not only do I have friends who own various boats including sailboats, I know some who live on their boats.

One couple I know lives part of the year on a houseboat up in Alaska tagging ocean critters for research and conservation purposes.

Most incredible is that I know a family living the Jacques Cousteau way.

They make their living a little differently but they are living their dream in the way I always thought would be cool.

Even as I didn’t want it for myself.

When I first met them I felt an immediate rapport.  So many of our views about living a nontraditional lifestyle were in sync.

I like to say we did on land what they do on the ocean.

I told them I felt as if in meeting them I’d met celebrities from a childhood dream.

They are the most wonderful upbeat people living a wonderful dream.

A dream they built together.

Tune the Dial

I’ve mentioned the first line on my white board is Tune the Dial to remind me to start my day thinking about something or someone positive.  I also have a little drawing of a sailboat as a symbol of this family who followed their dream.

A dream more than a few people thought they were nuts for pursuing.

Thinking of them puts a smile on my face because thinking of them is thinking of what I admire.

Following their hearts and living their dream courageously.

They are the perfect inspiration but more, they are a manifestation from my youth.

One I can enjoy even though I didn’t do the work – living on the water.

Now isn’t that cool?

VISUALIZATION: IF YOU CAN’T PICTURE, DESCRIBE

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Finally getting around to a post about an aspect of Visualization for manifesting an outcome.  I don’t know that it was what I planned to do this morning but after an email I got last night I decided to go ahead with it.

I do want mention the prayer success rate I mention from Grace Cathedral – 100% – was measured by success in prayers I said not only for myself but for others.

People who were trying to deal with/recover from an illness or trying to conceive, looking for a house, a job, etc. 

When I do meditation/prayer I do say things for myself but more often than not I’m praying for someone else.

Which leads to…

A friend informed me several weeks back she was facing a health challenge.  I replied with a promise to do Silva healing techniques and then explained what it was about and encouraged her to take the BLS so she, too, could learn the techniques and have others work on her case.

I also gave her the website to put her info in so others could work on her case.

I have my own version of healing that like my meditation/prayer style is a kluge of various techniques I’ve learned or absorbed throughout my life.  I do, however, frequently integrate the Mirror of the Mind technique when doing a healing.

I’ve had incredible luck with it for healing.

The technique involves visualizing the problem in great detail then sliding a frame over – in the mind’s eye – and visualizing the solution whereafter you only visualize the solution.  Since I do a kluge, rather than visualizing my friend and the specific image of an outcome, I visualized an email in which she communicated a very specific sentence.  Last night I got that email.

Two months or so after I began working her case.

This ties to the original post idea which is why I led with it as an example.  Now, I’ll elaborate.

I’ve written of having luck with Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization Workbook.

 Within it there are a number of techniques to try when trying to manifest an outcome.

One of the more successful techniques I’ve used is the Ideal Scene technique in which you describe your ideal scene/outcome as if it’s already happened in detail.

Though not too much detail.

ie., If you want a house, describe the neighborhood and the number of rooms, etc but don’t choose a specific address because the house may belong to someone else or is meant to belong to someone else.  Same with a relationship. Describe what you want in a relationship rather than a specific person as they may belong to someone else or are meant to belong to someone else. Same with a job.

The universe will have something ideal for you.

As I was considering how often I’ve had success with this technique I recalled a fellow Silva student who had difficulty visualizing.  No matter how many helpful suggestsions he got he just couldn’t bring to mind an image.  Knowing there are others out there with such a challenge I thought to share an alternate approach.

Describe

In my recent situation I visualized the email.

A bit of imagery involved but most people have received an email so I think it’s easier to imagine getting an email with specific information/news than creating a more complex image from scratch.

I imagined in my white framed mirror getting an email from my friend in which she wrote a very specific sentence to do with a test result she would be getting.

I also did other healing techniques for her.

Yesterday I got a nudge to ping her and see how things were going.  Last night I received a reply.  When I read the exact sentence I’d imagined receiving from her?  

Success!

I felt wonderful and excited.

I have consistently had good luck with Mirror of the Mind but this was a twist on a typical healing technique.  

Rather than visualize an image with the outcome I visualized the words/the message.  

It worked!

This morning I sent back an email in which I shared this success story.

In Silva we are advised to recall a recent success when working a case as it boosts future success rates!

I’m taking the opportunity to share the twist on the visualization technique with readers since I know some have difficulty picturing a specific outcome.

When you can’t visualize?  Describe.

Note:  If you don’t get what you are working on it may be that you are not meant to have it.  Popular philosophy on this is the reason is the universe has something else in store for you.

The universe has you covered.

Be well!

MANIFESTING GOALS: WHAT YOU DON’T IS IMPORTANT TOO

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This is my third attempt at writing about an aspect of manifesting goals that came to mind while I was in the liquid think tank this morning.

The shower.

I was thinking of an email exchange with a friend who has recently attained a major goal.  

One he’d been working toward for years!

During that time in which we traveled parallel lanes as we went for goals we did what we could to support each other’s efforts.

Sometimes acting as a cheering coach, other times a sympathetic ear.

I recently suggested he read Neville Goddard’s Be What You Wish and while it may seem an odd suggestion if he’s achieved his goal, it’s actually a critical piece of the puzzle if he doesn’t want to lose what he’s achived.

Most people, myself included, think of the action items they need to do to achieve the goals.  What about what you need to avoid?

Whether you are on the path toward the goal, you have recently achieved it, or you’ve had it for awhile what you don’t do is as important as what you do if you want to attain and/or maintain it.  

Fortunately, you can use Neville’s approach for either.

Let’s say your goal is to be a successful consultant.  Depending on the industry some of the tasks you’d need to do would be take specialized training, subscribe to an industry publication.

Perhaps join a professional association.  

But what shouldn’t you do?

In a nutshell, you’d need to avoid actions, situations, and individuals that would negatively impact your efforts.

You’d do well to avoid activities that would distract you from what you should be doing as well as avoiding people who aren’t supportive of your efforts.

The last one can be trickier than you might imagine because it may not be obvious at certain points along the path to your goal.

As I thought about strategies that might help my friend in determining next steps I considered the importance – now that he’s achieved his goal – of finding people who can help him sustain it.  Not just people like me who are happy for him, but peers with whom he can share ideas and embrace this new place in his life.

People who would understand the enormous effort that went into it.

Since it may not be obvious where and how to find these people – outside professional organizations – it makes sense to go back to Neville’s strategy.

What would a person who achieved this do?  How would they spend their time and with who?

I’m not suggesting turning your back on friends but it is critical to be around people who can support who you are and where you want to go next.  

Who can help you maintain this new phase of your life.

If it’s related to a specific goal, it’s likely you’d want to narrow your search.

You recently passed the bar. What is the next most important thing to do?

If it’s related to a lifestyle goal, you would also want to narrow your search.

You moved to a new state.  What unique activities do the locals do that would help you feel the place home and feel like a local?

Perhaps most importantly, what do you need to let go of?

  • Unless there’s a valid reason you may not want to hang around college after you’ve graduated and passed the bar.
  • It wouldn’t make sense to tell everyone in your new state how much you miss your old state or why a certain store or brand or activity in your old state is superior to anything available in your new state.

While taking this step can happen at any point along the journey to your goal, starting early would be helpful.  

  • If you are studying to be a lawyer, subscribe to legal journals, join a professional organization, find and hang out with other attorneys
  • Visit the new state before moving if possible so that by the time you move it already feels like home.  If you can’t?  Read up as much as you can about it and/or subscribe to a magazine dedicated to a major city there.

No Time Like the Present

Sooner is better.

We go through a number of transitions along the path to our goal.  We grow and become.  If we embrace these changes up front by realizing ahead of time who we need to be, we bring the goal to life that much sooner.

Be sure to include what you won’t do or who you won’t be in your planning.

Letting go of that which no longer serves.

Don’t forget to celebrate your victory, but equally as important, hold on to what you’ve achieved.

Honor yourself.

TO FIND YOUR FREQUENCY TUNE THE DIAL

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For a day following one that ended on such a high note, today is filled with sobering thoughts.

Good stuff, but sobering.

I’ve mentioned I utilize a white board to track various tasks.

I mentioned in a post yesterday the task list is rather lengthy now.

This morning I added a new task to the very top

Tune the Dial

What does this mean?  Unlike the t-shirt in my store it is not about avoiding negativity.

Though that is wise.  

Rather, it’s about the opposite.  Focus on the positive.

Specifically a person or a situation that will put a smile in your heart when you think on it.

The idea to take such deliberate action came as part of a post-mortem analysis of the previous winter.  It was, due to a variety of circumstances, a low point in my life.  

Fortunately, months of introspection revealed it is unlikely the stars will line up in such a way again.

Lessons

That isn’t to say I can be heedless of the fact some of my own vulnerabilities make it so if I’m not careful I could wind up in a smiliar place.

It was one of those where stress led to a behavior to address the stress but ended up bringing different stress which led to…

It was for this reason I spent months dissecting everything that took place including my role in any of it.

How did my actions contribute to my own suffering?

Once I finished that I identified actions I could take to avoid getting sucked into such a place again. I further considered how I might raise my energy vibration back to what it was prior to the chaos.  One idea I toyed with was starting every morning by thinking of someone or something that put a smile in my heart.

To achieve the higher vibration I needed to refocus my attention.

I had to Tune the Dial.

What gave me the idea was that I’d noted whenever I composed an email to a certain friend I felt absolutely fantastic.

Energized and ready to face the day!

I decided to test and see if I felt that way even if I didn’t write to this friend but simply thought of them.  

It worked!

I went through other evaluations in order to gauge how various events affected me.

Including interactions with other people.

I periodically tried the morning email thought to see if it consistently got me smiling.

It does.

Wanting to be thorough in my efforts to see how various events affect me I spent the past few days doing a number of tests, including reading headlines.

I discovered that my interactions with people affect me far more than what I read in the headlines, regardless of whether or not those headlines are negative and/or upsetting.

I alluded to this in Under Siege: Tools and Strategies for Dealing with the Pillars of EMF Sensitivity in the section on Esoteric EMFs.

I considered activities that bring joy.

  • Conversations with Family
  • Philosophical conversations with others who love to stretch their minds
  • Conversations with people pursuing their dreams or who have achieved them
  • Writing
  • Thinking of Fans**
  • Music
  • Walking

I considered there are some activities I haven’t done in a long time but knowing they brought happiness determined I would reengage.

Specifically a workout routine I did for decades, a combination of stretches and weight lifting.

I determined I got the best response by making a point each morning to think of someone or something that makes me smile.

I may write a message to them I don’t intend to send just to get that frequency tuned correctly.

I also determined it is in my best interest to make changes in how I handle situations that bring me down.

Especially interactions with people who drain me rather than juice me up.

I decided that each time I think of individual(s) who have caused grief or in some way drained me I will automatically send them thoughts of love and happiness.

I used a modified Silva technique to program myself to do as much.

I am getting good results.

Felt as if the weight of the world tumbled from my shoulders.

I am determined to make Tuning the Dial to bring in positive energy a habit.

Lifelong.

**Thinking of the people who stop by to visit my websites and who subscribe brings such a smile to my heart!  Thinking how people are enjoying the stories I write brings joy.

WHITEBOARD? MY INK AND KEYSTROKES RUNNETH OVER

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Note: Longer post.

I don’t know if I should love my work-away-from-home place or hate it.

I’m guessing love is the better option.

How Did I Land Here?

About 6 years ago, as I was writing into the home stretch for the Metatron’s Army Series, I began setup tasks for what would become Dragon Core, a series originally begun when I was a sophomore in high school.

I wrote 3 full-length novels for the series.

I began writing Dragon Core’s story not long after conceiving the idea for Metatron’s Army.

About seven months after.

I was 15.

Note:  I never typed out a book for the MA series the way I did for Dragon Core.

Until The Dude demanded I do so that is.

In 2014.

By the time I decided to follow the prodding of The Dude and publish Dragon Core I knew it had to be totally ripped apart from the original.

Yep, flushed 3 novels down the drain.

Between Thanksgiving 2016 and when the 1st in the Series was published I redesigned the story.

Even as I kept the original plot in place.

One of the initial tasks I needed to do for Cauldron of the Gods, was find a visual location for Lages’ bar in Seattle.  

Aesop’s Cove.

I originally thought of using J & M.

It was the first place I had lunch while staying in a hotel before we moved to Seattle.

I loved the gritty vibe, the history of the place.

According to the server that first time, Nirvana played one of its signature early performances there.

I love Pioneer Square!

Note: As I write in Psychic Hangover, historical places can be – ghosts notwithstanding – a psychic’s best friend.

I always had a good experience at J & M in terms of food and service and, most importantly, ambiance. 

The perfect vibe for me even if I wasn’t thinking of using it for a novel.

On the day I went to evaluate

It was in contention with a gritty Irish place further up 1st

and after telling Aaron it was perfect I found out from the server they were going out of business.  

I had just told her I’d chosen their location and would give them PR in my series when she dropped that bomb on me.

Wouldn’t you know the owner was in the restaurant that day?  She brought him over so I could explain what I was doing there and how much I loved that place.  

Bittersweet.

Theoretically I could have kept the location but my heart – after hearing they were going out of business – was just no longer in it.

And the other place didn’t fit with the overall vibe I needed though it IS the inspiration for the fake address for the bad guy!

Back to the Drawing Board

For months I traveled a big circle in an effort to find the ideal place to use as inspiration.

Remember I was still finishing the MA series and that includes Metatron’s Legacy.

and found none of them a good fit.

Too touristy, too trashy, too something.

Frustrated, I went back to a local pub I sometimes worked at to not only think over what to do next but to evaluate one last time.

To see if I could use it as a visual anchor for the pub in the story.  

The problem?  

The original problem. Get the right vibe.

It was too upscale for what I was looking for in terms of gritty vibe.

From Cauldron of the Gods

1st in the series:

Determined to reserve judgment, thirty-year-old Clare   Edwards stepped into the darkened interior and looked around.

“It’s just the right balance of gritty and sophistication.”

“I don’t want a dive bar.”

“I didn’t say -.”

“Gritty?”

“Sophistication?  Have you ever been in a dive bar that could be described as sophisticated?  You’ll love it.  Trust me.”

She did trust Lucas Drake, and not just because he was a cop.  The detective was a straight shooter something not necessarily synonymous with a badge.

The Vibe So Needed

Obviously vibe is subjective but as it’s my story and I have to put myself in Lage’s bar – mentally – when writing, I knew what I was looking for.  

But…

Could my local place fit the bill?

Gritty is not a word I would use when describing it.

Hmmmm…

For a variety of reasons including blinders on eyes 

Like those that keep a horse looking straight ahead

I decided to run with it

I have to layer gritty as an imaginative element on top of it but it works…

Wait!  There’s More!

There always is…

In addition to being a visual anchor for a series, it’s a place I’ve been coming to – periodically – when I need to solve a problem.

When I need to get out of my environment because the walls are closing in on me.

As problem solving goes, I have a consistent track record.

Coming here to get out of my space and my head. 

But…

This past week I came to see solving a problem isn’t always the funnest thing.  

At least in my case.

I came to see that as one problem is fixed another if not several more are right behind it.

Waiting for my attention.

For Instance…

When I finished my sandwich this afternoon, satisfied I’d accomplished what I set out to do I saw that I had a rather significant pile of tasks.

The problem(s)/work behind what I came to solve.

Setting the empty plate aside I pulled the laptop close and began a bit of a deep dive into the issue at hand.  

Organizing the task list and assigning owners.

Next thing I knew my fingers were flying across the keyboard with solutions.

And my mind was writing this blog post!

I quickly noted the solutions required additional tasks be completed!

And I needed to start this blog post because it was front and center in mind!

Less than ten minutes later I had a laundry list of tasks to complete

And 1/2 the post written in a file.

While all will bear luscious fruit I can’t help but wince at the additional work I now have on my plate.

Work I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t come up to solve a problem only to find myself hyper inspired by the ambiance!

It isn’t like I’m going to blame anyone at the pub for this quagmire but I can’t help appreciating the irony.

Be careful what you wish for

What Else Did I Learn?

I will try to determine what elements I can transplant to my normal work environment

Home

To achieve balance.

Yin and Yang

This place is obviously an opposite extreme for a variety of reasons.

Elements I know do not factor into the equation:  Food and Alcohol.

In addition to a variety of foods I have wine and champagne along with a nice bottle of tequila that was a recent gift.

I’m saving it for an upcoming occasion:  My birthday!

I’ve never had tequila outside margaritas so I’m looking forward to expanding my horizons!

The Vibe?

A great part of it is the fact it’s a sports pub.

I love watching ESPN and sports!

Sports TV deals with passion and dreams fulfilled

Athletes who started out in a crib like the rest of us

Those interviewing are equally passionate.

There’s also vibrant color and movement and all things helpful for the business side of being a writer.

Read: Inspiring!

Note: It wouldn’t work to just turn ESPN on on my laptop or the TV.

It’s kind of a yin/yang thing.

Music is – I’ll admit – a crapshoot.

I think it depends who’s working the bar.

At the moment Steppenwolf’s Magic Carpet Ride is on.

Thumbs’ up!

“…before the thing could answer me – well, someone came and took the lamp away…”

Been there, done that.

What I know is that I solved one problem and wound up with a laundry list of to-do’s as well as the challenge of figuring out what of the energy here I can transfer to my home work space to inject a bit of that yang energy.

There has to be a balance. 

All I have to do is find it…

SIGNS: ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?

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I was recently having a back and forth with a friend about manifesting.  

Specifically, timing.

Time

One of my favorite concepts.

She reminded me that we are not necessarily in charge of the when of something.

Ironically, I was afraid what I was visualizing would manifest before I was ready!

She went on to share a method she employs when working on manifesting.

Show me a Sign

After telling me she is a fan of using signs as a way of validating whether or not she is on the right path she shared a personal take on the method.

From a recent email

“I have always looked for signs.  My favorite saying is…If God’s willing!  Meaning if my thoughts are to manifest He will have a hand in it!”

The other points she brought up left me feeling better about going forward with a bit of visualization without worrying my life would be turned to chaos because it manifested before I was ready.

All in Good Time

I’m aware many in the manifestation/visualization business have philosophies on the timing of things including phrases that help assure it happens in the best time for all involved.  In spite of this I have reason to be cautious.

Past experience!

I was still thinking on it the day after getting the email when I was presented with a decision.  Though I knew how I felt about the decision I wanted a bit of cosmic insight, so, I borrowed my friend’s phrase.

“God, if this would be good for our family…please give me a sign”

He did, followed by several subsequent signs, each leading forward until by the end of the day everything was resolved and all involved were happy.

In the days since I’ve thought over the concept of signs and how useful they can be, provided we don’t overly rely on them.

I had a friend long ago who used to see a sign in every shooting star and every coincidence.  This led her to make some poor life choices, then justifying it by saying “I asked God to show me a sign and right after I saw a shooting star.”  That is not what signs are about.

Someone’s Trying to Tell Me Something

Several years ago I had a rather interesting run-in with signs.  It started when I saw a bumper sticker in the parking lot of a store near our home.  It read Well behaved women rarely make history.  While I thought it catchy I didin’t do anything other than mention it to Aaron.

Told him I thought it amusing.  

By the end of the week I had seen that same phrase in several places on a variety of items including t-shirts, plaques, and other bumper stickers.  The locations were not near each other so there was no obvious connection.

Other than thinking the universe must want me to see it.

A short while after we met up with my mom and stepdad in San Diego.  My stepfather and I were in a tourist shop. Sitting on a shelf near the door was a plaque that read Well behaved women rarely make history.

I laughed and told him the phrase was haunting me.

Over the next six months I kept running into that sign no matter where I went, including other trips to other states!

What Does it All Mean?

Honestly, not much more than an amusing story.

However…

From time to time when feeling anxious about a career decision that phrase will pop into my mind. 

I can’t say I always use it as a Go! sign but I do weight the decision through that filter.

Skeptics Invited

When I was in high school I was friends with a guy who was pretty skeptical when it came to anything science couldn’t prove without a doubt.

He was a skeptic but he was also open-minded to the possibility there was more than what could be proved in a lab.

His mom and I used to have some great discussions about the coincidences and signs that had guided us along life’s path.

Neither of us was a skeptic though her husband, an atheist, was.

I was visiting him at college once when he told me a story

His mom, who’d passed away, had given him a gem as a talisman.  He was inspired one day to pick it up and state “If this stuff is real have J walk through my door.”

Less than a minute later she did.

He’d been thinking about his mom, about the gem she’d given him, wondering if it was possible what she’d been telling him about the mysteries and wonders of the universe were real.

Statistics

I recognize there are those who will maintain such an event is no more than a coincidence.  I don’t agree but it doesn’t matter because it’s about the impact it had on my friend at that moment.

Did it turn him into a believer?  I don’t know that so much as he told me it made him feel his mom was close in spirit, looking after him.

If I want to consider whether something is more likely a coincidence than a sign I talk it over with Aaron, who is a math genius.  

He and I have had wonderful discussions about statistics and how easily they are manipulated to suggest something exists when it doesn’t.

I lay out data points then ask the statistical likelihood of a specific outcome.  It’s a good method to employ

Some may feel it takes the magic out of life but it doesn’t.

Am I On the Path?

Jose Silva developed a method I’ve found to be effective when trying to verify if I’m on the right path.

Or not.

This is different than wondering if I should do something.  

I’m in the process of doing it and want to know if I should keep going.

His method, called Mental Video Technique, instructs students to go to level then think over what they are working on.  

Go to level means put your mind at the alpha level which is the daydream state.

Mentally review any actions taken in line with what you are trying to accomplish then upload the video confident it has been received and that within 3 days you will receive feedback.

Upload is the idea of turning the images reviewed mentally over to 

  • Your Higher Power
  • Your Guardian Angel
  • God
  • Universe

for review

He maintained that within 3 days there will be feedback.  

  • If we are going in the right direction we will get positive feedback

i.e., things become smoother, someone/something that can help will appear 

  • If we are going in the wrong direction we will get negative feedback

i.e., things become more difficult, roadblocks begin appearing

I used this method in 2000 when Aaron and I were trying to relocate from Michigan.

The previous winter we had 17 consecutive days with no sun and an incredible amount of snow.  So much that he and I were standing on our relatively flat roof hip-deep in snow, trying to get it off so it didn’t crash through skylights and/or leak in near the chimney and cause damage the way it was all over the Metro area.  

I broke 2 brooms and a shovel because the snow was so heavy.  

At one point I looked over to where he was shoveling snow off his side of the roof and said “We live here why?”

Initial efforts suggested God didn’t want us moving from Michigan.  Turns out it was where we were looking to move to that was the problem.

At the time we were focused on Arizona since both of us had almost transferred there prior to meeting each other though the idea was to eventually transfer to California.

After getting feedback via the Mental Video Technique – roadblocks galore – I suggested to Aaron maybe we should focus on our first choice, California.

We didn’t think we could afford it so we’d focused on Arizona.

Within two days both of us had job offers.

Two months later we moved to the Bay Area.

While I ended up getting more than I bargained for I don’t regret the transfer.

Many good things happened while we were living there.

Be well!

For more on signs I suggest Robert Moss’ The Three Only Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination.

Post Note: Listening to Reel Around the Sun from Riverdance and realizing that in writing this article I answered a dilemma I’d been dealing with for several months. What sealed it? The Mental Video Method.

Only in my case I wasn’t uploading anything. It was simply a matter of “You know, it’s awfully interesting my life got so difficult after …”

BRINGING LIFE TO THE WRITER

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Note:  This post is lengthy.

Listening to UltraVox’s A Friend I Call Desire and working on a fiction project.

Also working on Project Happy.

Andddd….

Making my way through that basket.  

I have work to do!  I need to get some of the crap in there out.

Thanks to a series of events, one leading to the next, I had a very helpful flash of insight.

While listening to the playlist I created for the nonfiction project and staring, more or less unfocused, at a very cool image in my workspace.

I wrote previously that I no longer have Free Cell at my disposal – the MacOS doesn’t like it.

Or would that be the universe telling me to ditch it because it’s a crutch I no longer need?

Tired of having my system lock up because of it I just deinstalled the game.

That it locked up while I was working on my manuscripts?  A message I think.

I tried other Free Cell games from the app store but they all resulted in the system locking up.

Always while I was in MS Word working on a book.

I have not had one problem since de-installing the game.

Message received.

The insight was accompanied by a wonderful feeling; a feeling that immediately mapped to an image, from when I was with my dad in So Cal.

Both when I was a teen after my parents divorced (Downey, CA) and then later (Norwalk, CA) when I visited while waiting for my Sunnyvale Apartment to be ready to move into.

What each of those times have in common, along with a third non-California image, are that I was incredibly prolific in fiction.

I kicked out books in weeks while staying with him.  That second time?  I finished a book I’d been working on for years but had set aside – in a week.

Obviously, there’s something about the place.

That was the point.

Something I will be writing about in the upcoming nonfiction project.

Hint:  It has to do with geologic EMFs.

There’s a point to this.

Understanding I was being given important information I focused on that wonderful feeling.

Specifically, why had it been so long since I’ve felt it?

Fortunately, in remembering it I was able to feel it again.  

It means I’m capable still.  The potential hasn’t been ripped out – by life.

Deep diving into what happened between then and now I came to see that certain events – and the individuals behind them – put a serious dent in my dreams.

These events happened in my early 20s; some during the Corporate Black Hole era.

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.

There’s a scene in Metatron’s Legacy, one character talking with another:

“And the Iconoclast took advantage of that fear, crushed your hope by playing into it.  He crushed your dreams by exploiting your fear.  That’s what evil does, exploits your dreams, turns them against you, convinces you they can never come to be even as they lie and tell you they will help you make them happen.”

I was able to write this scene because I’m all too familiar with the elements in it, having been on the receiving end of it both in and out of the Corporate Black Hole.

I had more dreams than just being a successful fiction writer.

This issue was sitting in the basket, not too far from the bottom.  It’s an item I didn’t realize was taking up so much space though I was aware of it.

I  knew someday I’d have to address it.

Knowing the what isn’t the same as knowing how.

Though I have a couple of ideas.  More music?  Definitely.

Not Alone.

It helps that I don’t have to pull this off on my own.

The universe obviously wanted me to deal with the crap in the basket that isn’t mine. 

A number of random recent emails and/or texts have been tools to deal with the situation.

It isn’t just friends.

Readers have been in my corner as well, something I am truly grateful for.

Patience and understanding with all those web changes?  Switchbacks as I make my way forward?

Ironic – as I’m writing this? The lyrics “…but I’ll never betray your trust…” from Angel Mine by the Cowboy Junkies are coming over the headphones.  It is trust between writer and reader.

Something I’ve worked not to betray.

To give you an idea how eclectic this particular list is, I’m now listening to Army of Me by Bjork.

I also have Cracker, Blue Oyster Cult, Breaking Benjamin, Gary Numan, and Ultravox on this particular list.

This item is one of the slimier icky things in the basket.

With roots that spiderwebbed their way into other items also in the basket.

It’ll take a bit of finesse to deal with it.

The Plan.

A big part of the resolution is simply emptying the basket of what isn’t mine.  For the most part this consists of labels, judgments, and/or other items that do not properly reflect reality.

Deepak Chopra does an excellent job articulating this concept when he writes about how so many labels are put on us like so many coats on a rack. 

It directly ties into the challenge of how I organize my writing, both with genre and on the website.

How do I do justice to all the facets of me as a writer?

Where did this come from?

Well…

It was in the basket.

Why now?

Several months ago I made a Feng Shui tweak that set this all in motion.

And my head’s been spinning ever since.

And now?

The plan is to keep going forward.  I have a lot of projects in various states of completion.  My objective?  Get them completed!

Where do I put this?

That’s the question, isn’t it?

Still.

I have a couple of ideas I’m tossing around.  In order to give them context I need to reprint a nonfiction book I’d pulled.

Because I couldn’t figure out where to put it in the catalogue!

It’s a book on surviving child abuse.

I remember, all too well, the giant silence after I released it in 2013.

The Silent Ones.

I was so unnerved by the cosmic silence that Aaron made a point to use science to help out.

He explained that it was simply a case of action/reaction.  I’d sent energy into the universe.  It took time for the reaction.

He also explained that though people may not comment, it didn’t mean they had a negative reaction.

He called them the Silent Ones.

It helped me get through those early weeks when there was nothing but silence, though a few people did reach out in support, including one guy who said, “You let them off easy.”

I told him, “Yeah, well there are a lot of innocents who have nothing to do with this and I don’t want them pulled into it.”

I also didn’t want to feed the ghouls who gorge on this kind of drama.

I still don’t but I have a plan.

What Else?

I’m still working!

I wrote scripts today for videos providing insight into the writing of Dragon Core and Metatron’s Army.  They will be available soon.

Stay tuned.