Memories & Memorials

We create memories with others all through life. Sometimes, they are devised in collaboration for the interest and good of all involved: marriage, schooling, highway systems, advanced healthcare directives. Other times, memories are directed upon us: traffic accidents, surprise parties, stolen TVs, inheritance, murder.

Memories leave us changed: experienced, scarred, rewarded, improved, bitter, broken, evolved.

When lived up close and personal, memories can range from intoxicating and creative to tragic and paralysing. In the drama and excitement of experiences that endure, we are directly touched by the moment and formed by its impact.

Memorials are tributes to the memories of others. They serve to keep the impact of others' experiences alive in order to educate future generations and contribute to positive evolution, growth and connectivity. Memorials live to tell the stories of those who can no longer speak for themselves.

As a psychic medium, I get to hear or feel the memorial that lives after a person has crossed over. They aren't built of steel or concrete but remain the work of art that was one human life. I get the privilege of mending families, resolving issues and clarifying questions, fears and doubts through my work and the gift of spirit.

Of course, there are times when the energy of spirits show up outside the course of client sessions. I am fortunate to be able turn on and off my receptors most of the time but there are occasions when interaction with the spirits of a place is purely unavoidable.

Thus was the case with my visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial this week. I was not sure just what I would feel, hear or see on the visit but knew I wanted to experience the camp as a tribute to all who were sacrificed during this annihilation of humanity - a remembering so that history can never be repeated.

As I write this, my whole body feels a posture of resistance to sharing the sensations I experienced on the camp tour. Some of them I have no words to describe, smells in the air & tastes in my mouth that I can't recognize, deep nausea, disorientation, sounds of screaming and quiet sobbing, blood, so much blood, thoughts of determination and pressing forward, one breath at a time, private memories of family and friends, prayers to God, requests for forgiveness.

A natural reaction to this fierce intensity & heaviness is to pull away or close down. And I know I cannot serve from a closed position. Making it about me does not honor those whose story is here to tell. So I stayed with them, walked with them, listened, cried and invited them to complete their transition.

I have no way of making sense of the events that transpired at Dachau and across Germany during this slaughter. We can't always understand death and its repercussions. We can honor the memories and build memorials in our minds and hearts to acknowledge, honor, love and release the dead into peace. We can choose LIFE to honor those who no longer have that option. And their wish for us it to live it fully.

Ho'oponopono: I Love You, Please forgive me, I am sorry, Thank you

Out of Here

I was recently asked to explore the idea of when a person's soul leaves their body and how we can know that they have moved on.
Fred's been watching a good friend, who we'll call Joe, for weeks move through one health crisis after another, the most recent of which was a debilitating stroke which has rendered him functionless. Joe's family is going to great lengths and expense to keep him on life support in the hopes of recovery. Joe however is no longer in control of any of his faculties with no sign of interaction or response. So, is Joe still with us, since he is breathing and his heart is beating, albeit on command of a machine, or has he passed and is just his shell left lying in the hospital bed?
There isn't yet a science to the transition of a soul from the body although there is research that implies a change in physical state when a person's spirit crosses over. And there are plenty of us who have seen an energetic presence above or around a body at the time of physical death. Yet how do we explain and understand the transition when there is brain death and the heart continues to beat? Loved ones cling to the concept of recovery and healing through life support, yet the body has almost always given over to death. Sometimes we are so close to believing in recovery, we are unable to see that life (the spirit) has abandoned the fight and is ready to move on.
Because of the closeness of the human bond and the entanglement of grief, the newly freed spirit will hang around the body until the body too is freed from the bond of artificial life. They stay close because they feel the pull of loved ones. They want to ease the pain of separation. They want to transition completely when life fully leaves their body.
Our souls have a life beyond the time they spend in the body. And they have connections to the other souls with whom they have shared their physical life. Because of this, they remain bound to the grieving until there is enough acceptance to allow the body to die. Turning off life support is the first step in the acceptance of death.
So, brain death begins the departure of the soul. It creates a path out of the body and on to the hereafter. However, the soul is not free to leave the human dimension until their body is fully released to death. Our departing loved ones understand our grief, our struggle to let go and our hope for recovery. They are not on a timeline to the hereafter and will remain patient until we are able to take a step in separation.
They only wish us love and peace and acceptance of the continuity of life. They are always with us and will always love us.

Blessed Travels~

The life you lived was yours, and we were fortunate if we got to be a part of it ~ to see your enthusiasm about new opportunities, successes and the threshold of big life changes.

And now that you've chosen to travel on a different path, it's still your life that we get to honor and your wishes that we get to respect.

In the wake of knowing I will never hear you laugh at me again, never ask you for help with my messes, never excite in plotting escape from the cruelty of high school or never toss a log of freedom onto the solstice fires, I feel the seduction of loss, grief, guilt and what I don't get now that you're gone.

Those feelings are about me, my expectations for your life, my ego driven desire to have caused a different outcome, the "shoulds" that would assure me I did all I could have for you and the void of possibility that I don't know how to fill. When engulfed with these feelings, I don't get to honor you or respect you or hear the voice that tells me you're well in your new home. I only get to hear about me.

I cried, I wondered, I wished, I talked to you, I lit a candle and I sent you a prayer. And I released you from my needs and expectations to your new post in the universal collective.

Last night I saw you in the light, iridescent, luminous, angelic, and most of all peaceful; free from the torment of external and internal voices that suggested you were anything other than a bright light of hope and love and grace.

While your time to stand beside me in flesh is over, you will walk with me for a long way and when I think of you, I will see you in the new light and know that you're at peace, bathed in love and ready for the next big adventure.

~ namaste, little sis ~

Weirdness Abounds!

Happy Halloween!

BOO!

WTF?!

Whatever your exclamation is for today, there's bound to be one.

I got an email today in response to my Tarot post on Facebook, "Someone's stuck in a "head trip." Is it you??" She asked "what's going on out there.... seriously, weirdness abounds." Yes, it does! For many of us who are teachers, guides and healers, we sometimes forget that we are still on a human journey and there are times when we need guidance and healing too. We are a catalyst for clarity, sage advice or open pathways. And still, the "weirdness" gets in as openings for growth make themselves available. Because our sensitivities are heightened and our connections are broadened, what catches our attention can certainly be defined as weird. Moments of vulnerability or sadness show up in a void of the wisdom we are so able to provide for others. The world is reflected in strange occurrances and unusual behavior in others.

This week has been an up and down WOW. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, my relationships are beautiful and amazing, I feel a deep abundance of love, creativity is flowing and my business is doing better than ever. All of this is growing with more ease than I've ever experienced. Yet I got hit with a load of sadness and fear this week that really didn't seem in alignment with all that I know my life to be. I engaged in the dance of disapointment, thinking maybe someone else was responsible for either the sadness or fixing what I thought was wrong. Then I looked at my own seeming failures, thinking my past was a fatal prediction of my future. Both of these are ways that my head will take me out of the feelings. The effort to tag my feelings onto a person or event doesn't tell me what the lesson is in the feeling.

Like the guides and ancestors who so faithfully assist my intuitive work, my feelings are a clue to where I am and, often in contrast, the direction I'm headed. The uncomfortable feelings are not a place in which to drown or to morph into anger, but a new springboard. The pain of sadness, grief and reflection are like the g-force pressure of changing speeds or atmospheres. Energetically, I am on the threshold of a shift in life experience. Because this shift will alter my reality, there is pressure from my vibrational history to maintain the familiar. The attraction and velocity of my destiny is forcing me through the feelings so I can experience more of my potential. Intense feelings can be a place where I stop and retreat to what was comfortable, or where I move through the uneasy force (and resistance) to experience myself and the world around me as increasingly alive and vital.

So, yes, weirdness abounds! It is here to wake us up, sever attachments, align new relationships and to get us unstuck from living in less than our purpose. Weirdness is our teacher. It will show us how far we have come, what we can release, who to embrace and what will choose us next in this amazing adventure together.

~Engage & see where the ride takes You ~

"One day, I'll hold you like the sun holds the moon"

My favorite song lately is Letters from the Sky by Civil Twilight - my youtube.com search is not working or I would post a link to the song.
In the song, there is a line "One day soon, I‘ll hold you like the sun holds the moon… and we won’t have to be scared..." This got me thinking about the perfection of the Universe and how this is such lovely inspiration for our choice to Love each other.
In this world where we can write our own script, create any relationship we desire and manifest a future of our own design, we write/speak/intend very specific conditions for our perfect partners and associations. Often, the focus is on behavior, interests, attitudes, money, affection, location, physical qualities or status to name a few conditions.
What if, we could trust gravity, electricity, balance and polarity like in the relationship between the sun and the moon? What if, we didn't have a list for comparison, or conditions to be met in order to surrender to a partnership as powerful as this? What if, the only business we had to attend to, whether in partnership with another or not, was to be sure we are where we are supposed to be, when we are supposed to be there, in contribution to the greater good?
I'd bet that neither the sun nor the moon had/has criteria for entering into the dance they do each day to create this beautiful world in which we live. I'd also suggest that the sun doesn't wait to see what the moon is going to do before setting course on his purpose, and that the moon doesn't divert her path on a day when the sun's shine is not visible on her face. There exists a tremendous amount of trust, balance, intention and vision in this genius of nature. The collective focus is always forward, with singular attention to knowing self, ones abilities and living in that truth. Human life thrives in the gravitational balance of these entities. Perhaps we could take a hint and charge up our emotional connections through their example as well.

May we be blessed with the capacity to hold our beloved like the sun holds the moon.

Bouncing Electricity

What NASA is calling a solar tsunami is gracing our skies and has expanded visibility of the Northern Lights across North America. About every 11 years a solar flare storm kicks up from the sun and a few days later the effects appear in our skies. NASA describes a solar flare as: A flare is defined as a sudden, rapid, and intense variation in brightness. A solar flare occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Radiation is emitted across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves at the long wavelength end, through optical emission to x-rays and gamma rays at the short wavelength end. (Source http://www.examiner.com/x-53781-US-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m8d4-Solar-tsunami-continues-tonight-August-4-2010-and-beautiful-colors-light-up-the-sky-photos-video)
Although it is said to be unlikely, there are several safety warnings posted on how to prepare for and respond to the impact of these surges and bursts. The advice is about electrical outages and how to survive in the event of a loss of the power and technology on which we so heavily rely.
What I haven't seen addressed is the implications on our emotions, bodies and psyches. As humans, we have our own internal electromagnetic fields that can be more sensitive than the city power grid. As I write this, I'm wishing I'd posted a few days ago as a heads up to both of us.
When our circuits are touched with a surge of electricity, it can provoke anything from emotional outbursts to checking out of this life. Issues can feel magnified, plans are derailed on the slightest twist, relationships are forged more deeply or released with great ease. Commitments that have been danced around are suddenly in deep immersion. Odd sensitivities to surroundings, personalities or situations are pushed toward both extremes. This is not a time of defining good or bad, but an opportunity to observe your personal sensitivity, polarization and to make changes as you're called to do so.
In the world where we engage the laws of attraction, this is a fabulous time to see how your signals are transmitting and receiving as the power of Neutral is minimized. Who shows up? Who triggers you? What gifts are you receiving? From where are the compliments coming? Where do you find clarity in your vision? What are you feeling deeply and what of it will you keep and what will you release?
This polarization of energy can be disorienting. Pay closer attention when you're driving - both you and your neighbor are under the effects of this energy surge. If you feel uncertain or uneasy, pause, breath, center your focus before making a decision or moving forward. Minimize distractions more than usual when you need to complete a task or reach a deadline. This is the perfect time to do just one thing at a time as you are easily distracted and the talent of multi-tasking is not a graceful dance.

I Love You!

I think about Love a lot. I intentionally cultivate Love in my Life. I tell my friends and family and even some clients and business associates that I Love them at every opportunity. Sometimes, it is work to choose love over fear or some other essence-diminishing emotion. And I always come back to Love. Love feels better than anything else I could choose. Love, left to its own devices, only brings light and blessings and peace. Love, however, gets blamed for a lot of the pain and suffering that people experience in their relationships.

In exploring this seeming duality, I decided to start with the basics. What literally does Love mean? Love, as defined by our friends at Webster, means: a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (maternal love for a child); an attraction based on sexual desire; affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests (love for his old schoolmates); warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion; unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another. And I wonder, what, in that definition, can cause all the pain that I see in relationships? Affection, attraction, devotion, concern are all acts of generosity, of caring, of "feel good" energy. So, what's the problem?

Where the confusion starts is the responsibility that we put on Love. Go back and read the definition again. Notice that there is no mention of permanence, money, a house, fidelity, cars, marriage, security, death, returned phone calls, jewelry or eternity. Love absolutely can lead to discussion and agreement around these ideas, but by no means are they defined by or required in order to deeply fulfill it's role in our lives.

Love is just pure Love and like water, creates and beautifies best when it can flow. Freedom, space, individual beauty and self-expression all bring Love to life. Demands about what Love is supposed to do, other than flow, are like boulders dropped into the stream. Expectations and demands, as in "If you loved me you'd...", create an opposing vibration in what is designed to be synergistic and easeful.

Allowing Love to flow doesn't mean that a home, marriage, investments, dinner parties or gifts aren't supposed to happen. These things, however, live beside Love and not as a consequence or evidence of Love. Commitments always remain as a sideline to the Love experience. We come together to feel Love. We make deeper agreements in order to deepen the expression and flow of Love. We leave each other when we forget that Love is the goal. Then, we find ourselves looking for Love again.

As we navigate the landscape of Love in our lives, acknowledgement and gratitude are wonderful tools for remaining present with our Beloved. Deep felt connection in the present moment is Love's only destination. So, the next time thoughts move to the future, money, a project or a vacation, let's not travel too far down that road before we come back to the present moment where we can look into our Lover's eyes, touch their hand and feel the presence of Love - the only true reason we are with them in the first place. ~