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Imagine a World Without Mirrors

What would that be like? Some things would surely change. Like:

  • Getting ready to go out for the day, your judgement on how you look would vastly change
  • If you like a garment and it feels good on you, you would just wear it. No worry what it looks like in a full-length mirror.
  • You may evaluate your readiness to go out into the world more by how you feel.
  • You may judge how you’re doing physically by your feelings of vitality, energy, nimbleness, comfort and wellbeing.

We may want to challenge ourselves to go a weekend without looking in a mirror. Would be interesting for many. Cover those mirrors with material.

But your REAL mirror is your LIFE—in truth your life is revealed not by a mirror reflection, but by what you see reflected back as you move through your days, weeks and months. How you react to what you see and hear; what you notice among a myriad of stimuli, what you are attracted to or repelled by, is all mirroring your inner state. We all experience the same events differently. Our memories change over time, and we feel different emotions from the same stimuli. That is because our perception is forming our experience and our perception is a manifestation of our consciousness.

By observing your life, stepping back and witnessing from your inner-self or inner-guidance, you can learn how to change what is reflecting back to you. For instance:

  • Are you getting caught up in other’s dramas?
  • Are your thoughts about another causing you to suffer?
  • Are you judging yourself without compassion?
  • Are you mentally fusing over things you have no control over?

By questioning our thoughts, we become aware of what we notice, what we out-picture, and how it is affecting us and thus change our lives.

A happy person lives in a pleasant world. An unhappy person lives in a world of struggle.

The world becomes the mirror of our internal conversation.

Photo on Unsplash by Taylor Smith

Civility

Courtesy, thoughtfulness and kindness go a very long way in our lives to reach our goals, from getting what we need from other people to our inner growth.  These characteristics are valued in all the religious traditions I’ve read about; adored leaders use them, and hopefully our parents taught them.

I believe most people are kind and considerate when they are content. It is when our patience is strained, our stress level is high, and ‘our last nerve is plucked’ to quote a friend of mine, that our politeness can easily vacate our manner.

What I try to remember at these times is something I learned raising my sons and dealing with customers for the last 18 years.  Make a conscious decision how you will react ahead of time. Letting the emotions dictate our behavior makes us lose validity.  When we are angry because a product doesn’t work and we’re returning it, assume the merchant will correct the problem. If I stop to think, I realize the clerk probably wants to help. That gives me the calmness to explain my situation slowly, with the attitude that they want to help me when they understand the problem.

The same works with children. We can tell a child that she can’t go to the concert in a way that she is still respected, with the attitude that she will understand, even though she may not like it and be angry.  For example, “I understand you really want to go to the concert, it sounds like fun. Our rules in this family are that you must reach 18 before you will be allowed to go without an adult. We made this rule to keep you safe because we love you so much.”

When someone is angry with us, it is even harder to maintain politeness yet it can be done.  Make a decision not to react emotionally.  Take the other persons side for a moment, listen without voicing your defense. If we listen long enough the other person may, just by being heard, feel so much better that he is willing to compromise.  The release of his anger may help him see our side.  We can then explain our side without attacking the other person.  We can start the sentences with ‘I feel,’ or ‘I want’ instead of ‘You…..’

I am going to make it a priority in my work and private life to give each person the dignity all deserve. And treat my family with the respect that an honored guest would elicit of me.  Of course, it isn’t easy.  With stresses so high these days, it’s harder than ever, but at the same time more important than ever.

(I actually wrote this for our local newspaper back in the 1990s for Civility Week. It’s needed even more now.  Let’s start a kind-demic!)

Photo by Ditto Bowo on Unsplash

Once Again

Once again, a horrific school shooting and everyone in the media is clambering to blame ‘the others’, lamenting along with their positions, angering one side or the other. We, ultimately, are all at fault.

Our culture has a sickness to put it simply. It out-pictures in the vulnerable among us. Those lost souls with so much lack of meaning in their lives, that they act out in the worst ways to relieve their pain.

And we allow this to happen. It is a spiritual crisis.

Children are growing up in a sea of violence, meanness, incivility, and lack of respect. Problems are cast off as someone else’s responsibility. Every issue is torn into opposing camps throwing endless barbs.

The government cannot fix the sickness in our society.

We, the people have to mature, take responsibility, admit we have a crisis of meaning with no solutions. The next evolution of our species must be in our consciousness. And all of us need to work together and use all the solutions. It starts with kindness, care, and understanding.

 

Rut Thinking

Much of our thinking is habitual, stemming from our beliefs and assumptions. I call this rut thinking. Years ago, I had a client who, after losing her husband, had to re-learn to drive, since for years after they retired, he always drove. Therefore, in her mind, driving had become a dangerous and treacherous feat, the worst of which was turning left onto a two-way road, crossing the oncoming traffic—so she refused to do that. For the rest of her life, she only went where she could turn right, making a small or a large circle back home. She only went to stores and businesses that fell on this pattern. I called her once to ask her if she could come down to the office and she explained that was impossible because she would have to make a left turn. Not only was her accessible world limited, but her thinking was in the same rut as her driving. Believing left turns were impossible for her limited her experience.
In this same way, we each limit our experience with thinking that is based on the belief that we can’t. But that, again, is only in our heads, (ego)
because we are really not restricted. Our inner-selves are waiting for us to fully express our abundant, joyful nature, and we easily will when we learn to transcend the ego. The paradox is that we operate through the ego to rid ourselves of its grip on our reality!
Your thoughts are most often manifested from your patterns of beliefs and attitudes. We are all familiar with this idea, yet one of our core beliefs could be that this is very difficult to change! You can learn additional tools to replace old thinking with new thoughts in harmony with health, happiness, and abundance.
So, the first step is to become aware of those thoughts that lead to lack. You are glorious, incredible, beautiful, vibrant, miraculous, clever and genius! All those things that are not you are labeled by your ego, which so convincingly rambles on and on in your mind telling you what you must do to become nicer, stronger, better looking, more successful, richer, smarter, etc. All of these qualities are yours already.

Magic, Miracles and Bewilderment

We need imagination, a sense of magic, and belief in more than we can see.

In my twenties I read The Autobiography of a Yogi by Parmahansa Yogananda. In this autobiography he wrote about a woman living in South America, a homemaker, who exuded the scent of roses. Parmahansa searched for saints of all kinds, from all traditions, everywhere, and he decided to visit her after hearing her story. He, among many others, arrived at her humble home and sure enough, the beautiful fragrance of roses was present where ever this gentle woman went.

That story, among several that he wrote about, stuck with me, as I have always been drawn to evidence of the divine, stories of saints, and spiritual quests. That book was one of the pivotal books in my young life.

Fast forward to my forties, my husband and I were in his parent’s living room in the middle of winter in Indiana. It was such a nice change to me, a Florida girl, to be where snow blanketed the ground with snowflakes gently dancing through the crisp air. I had fallen in love with my in-laws as soon as I met them. I felt a special bond with my father-in-law, in part because he was such a loving and funny man, and in part because of his deep devotion to his faith. It is innate in human nature to search for meaning, and it often becomes a passion to seek God in whatever form we follow. His faith filled him with love and goodness, so of course I was attracted to that.

We were sitting in the family room, the parents in their lounge chairs, with my husband, Bill on one end of the couch and I on the other end, closest to the TV. I was gazing out the sliding glass doors at the snow when Pop got up and went to the cabinet full of old VHS tapes by the TV and pulled out a worn tape box that is literally falling apart from use. His hands had handled the cardboard so much the seams were splitting open.

Then he began telling us this tape was special—this one was about a woman in South America whose presence gave off the smell of roses where ever she went—and people came from all over the world to see her and see if it was true; to be near her and breathe in that heavenly scent.

The four of us watched with interest, especially me, as I was remembering the trip that the yogi had taken to see her too.

Near the end, I began to smell roses! The scent was so strong I searched the room to see if there was a bouquet of roses near us. But no, there were no roses. Then I told the others that I smelled roses! Tentatively, I asked if anyone else smelled them. I wondered if they would believe me. Pop jumped and up walked over to me and sat down. Then Mom did too. No one else could smell it. I, of course, was disappointed, and soon it was gone for me too. But it was one of those experiences that I made sure to note in my memory. It had meaning to me. But I wasn’t sure what the meaning was.

A few years later we got the call that Pop had passed away. We’d recently been on a trip up to Indiana to see him, knowing his time was near, so this wasn’t unexpected.

We made arrangements to fly up for the funeral later in the week. The next morning, as I was driving to my office to tie up some things before the trip, I reminisced about my father-in-law and how much I would miss him. As the tears formed in my eyes the air in the car changed. It felt warmer and softer and then the scent came. The scent of roses permeated the interior of my car! It was so strong I could barely catch my breath. I was stunned, and so filled with love at the same time. The tears just fell and I knew without a doubt it was Pop. How marvelous and magical! Pop knew that I would know immediately it was him, with his message of love.

My experience was bewildering and wonderous. Even in the normal every day, there are wonderous things happening around us. We need to stop and notice. Turn off the chatter in your mind, turn off your devices, feel deeply the presence of those around you. Be still. Life is full of wonder.

 

After I wrote this, on the same day, synchronistically, a friend gave me a rose.

 

A Prosperity Project for January!

Many people find me and my site because they’ve googled money quizzes or money health, or something along the order of improving their financial life. I realize this and yet find myself going back to wellbeing over and over again. I have to pull myself back from that because I understand how important this is to people.
People think having lots of money will solve their problems; it will ease stress, make their lives more attractive, and make them happier.
A healthy approach to money is imperative to making peace with the subject of money. It is the feelings of lack, the wishing, the grasping, the neediness that makes us suffer. Not our bank account balance. After all, most of us will eat today and tomorrow. Most of us have a dry, warm place to sleep. Therefore, the angst and despair over the idea of not having enough is where our suffering originates.
Some of the happiest people in the world have very little in the way of possessions and luxuries. It isn’t money that creates happiness and wellbeing.
The grasping and angst could be just what is wrong.
Or:
Avoiding learning about money
Holding a belief money is really hard to attain
Thinking wealthy people must be shady
Or, we don’t deserve it
Etc.
We all know these concepts.
But what about this. Money is just a game. Some people know how to play the game better than others. They don’t take it so seriously. It could be their hobby. Challenging themselves to up their game to find a better paying job, or have a hobby that enables them to sell a product or a service, saving the extra cash.
It can feel like a game to see how much can be put away each month in a savings or investment account.
It feels like a game to figure out what kind of trip you really want to go on and make a vision board about it, save toward it, and revisit imagining it often.
It feels like a game creating crafts around your vision, like the ‘Fun Account’ check book cover project below. I drew places I wanted to visit and words like, “unlimited” on it.
What are other ways you can make creating money playful? Asking the question will begin the movement of change.
Our project for this January:
One of my checkbooks is a money market account that I designated “FUN”. I deposit money in it for home items, massages, trips, etc. FUN stuff!
I looked at the checkbook cover that I had marked in white paint with the fading name, Fun Trust and I thought, “Why isn’t all of the checkbooks labeled something ‘fun’? And so, it began!
I bought some paints and went to work.
I’d like to share this idea with you, so you can create your own special checkbook cover. It’s invaluable in creating a positive experience with saving and spending. You could write your favorite quotes, prosperity messages like debt reducing affirmations, growth of assets, expanding, building and abundance!
(And, of course, when paying those bills, fill yourself with gratitude.)

ALAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON!

 

As a financial planner and advisor, Kasey has assisted people with their estate planning for well over 30 years, explaining how our possessions and financial assets can pass easily to our loved ones and charities, but what about our intangibles? Our knowledge? What is in our hearts? When she learned of this, she found it so intriguing she decided not only would she put down her own most cherished beliefs and insights, but would also make this available to everyone by creating a workbook; a gentle guide to go through the process of creating one’s own spiritual legacy.

 

The act of writing it benefits the author—you—too. The writing of an ethical will can bind you more to your heritage, understanding more of your own cultural history, and define your ethical and spiritual values. Thus, you create an intangible, but very meaningful, legacy. Through the project you may begin to understand how your life made a difference, and can continue to do so through your efforts in the Ethical or Spiritual Will workbook, (name it what you want).

Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

What if you had the writings of your great or great-great grandparents? Writing you could read, keep and share about what they believed, what they learned from life, and what life was like for them? Information that they found important and personally wanted their heirs to know, a sort of love letter to their living decedents and those not yet born. Wouldn’t that be exciting? To glimpse into their mind and heart? To get a feel for who they were intimately?

Now, what about you? All that you have gone through, all that you have learned, your successes, failures, losses and triumphs, your hard-earned wisdom and deeply held beliefs, can be captured and passed down as a spiritual or ethical will. What a treasure it would be!

There is an old tradition in the Jewish faith called tzevaot, and today it has become thought of as a letter from the grave, (though some were given while the person was alive too). When I learned of this, I found it so intriguing I decided not only would I put down my most cherished beliefs and insights, but I would also make this available to everyone by creating a workbook; a gentle guide to go through the process of creating one’s own spiritual legacy.

BUY THE BOOK NOW

 

What is an Ethical or Spiritual Will?

Some news~

Kasey has been working on a pet project that you just might be interested in! She’s writing a workbook that is a guide to making your own spiritual or ethical will. It’s a fascinating topic.

 

As a financial planner and advisor, Kasey has assisted people with their estate planning for well over 30 years, explaining how our possessions and financial assets can pass easily to our loved ones and charities, but what about our intangibles? Our knowledge? What is in our hearts? When she learned of this, she found it so intriguing she decided not only would she put down her own most cherished beliefs and insights, but would also make this available to everyone by creating a workbook; a gentle guide to go through the process of creating one’s own spiritual legacy.

 

The act of writing it benefits the author—you—too. The writing of an ethical will can bind you more to your heritage, understanding more of your own cultural history, and define your ethical and spiritual values. Thus, you create an intangible, but very meaningful, legacy. Through the project you may begin to understand how your life made a difference, and can continue to do so through your efforts in the Ethical or Spiritual Will workbook, (name it what you want).

Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

What if you had the writings of your great or great-great grandparents? Writing you could read, keep and share about what they believed, what they learned from life, and what life was like for them? Information that they found important and personally wanted their heirs to know, a sort of love letter to their living decedents and those not yet born. Wouldn’t that be exciting? To glimpse into their mind and heart? To get a feel for who they were intimately?

Now, what about you? All that you have gone through, all that you have learned, your successes, failures, losses and triumphs, your hard-earned wisdom and deeply held beliefs, can be captured and passed down as a spiritual or ethical will. What a treasure it would be!

There is an old tradition in the Jewish faith called tzevaot, and today it has become thought of as a letter from the grave, (though some were given while the person was alive too). When I learned of this, I found it so intriguing I decided not only would I put down my most cherished beliefs and insights, but I would also make this available to everyone by creating a workbook; a gentle guide to go through the process of creating one’s own spiritual legacy.

We will keep you posted on when it will be available, hopefully by October.

Photo by Christian Bowen on Unsplash

What stories are you consuming?

 If you want to believe in Antifa, QAnon, military coup, alien DNA—go ahead, but check in with what it is doing to your life

If you’re attracted to the theories emerging on the edges of our society, reading, watching and studying them, you will live in that world you have chosen.
    Your mind will behave according to your beliefs in these ideas. There is stress inherit in most of these. Whatever choices and information you consume with belief becomes your reality. No one can control your mind but you.
    If you want to believe in Antifa, QAnon, military coup, alien DNA—go ahead, but check in with what it is doing to your life. Once you begin entertaining a story like the COVID vaccine will hurt you, you are stepping into and reinforcing a scary, stress inducing state.
    I recommend following the path that gives you optimal wellbeing; the choice of love, compassion, forgiveness and peace.
    I’m sharing this below from a Facebook post, I have no idea who wrote it, but it’s so good, I’m adding it here.
“Sometimes I just want it to stop. Talk of Covid, protests, looting, brutality; I lose my way, becoming convinced that this “new normal” is real life.
    But then, I meet this 87-year-old man who talked of living through polio, diphtheria, Vietnam, protests, and yet, is still enchanted with life. He seemed surprised when I said that these times must be especially challenging for him. “No,” he said slowly looking me straight in the eyes, “I learned a long time ago to not see the world through the printed headlines. I see the world through the people that surround me. I see the world with the realization that we love big.
Therefore, I just choose to write my own headlines. “Husband loves wife today.” “Family drops everything to come to Grandma’s bedside.” He patted my hand, “Old man makes new friend.”
    His words collide with my worries, freeing them from the tether I had been holding tight. They float away. I am left with a renewed spirit. My headline now reads, “Woman overwhelmed by the spirit of kindness and the reminder that our capacity to love is never-ending.””

Why Focus on Wellbeing when I want to be Rich? What has consciousness got to do with it?

Many of you find my site through your interest in money and not necessarily on the consciousness information, mind/body stuff, or even my books! Often, those with the desire to attain financial success get perhaps a bit impatient with the other topics! Let’s look at the relationship between them, and why there is a good reason to include them when understanding financial success. After all we want to be happy, fulfilled, satisfied and healthy, not only well off financially!
           As we move through life, we all look through our own unique filters, which creates our perspective of ourselves and the world. Just as there is a vast range of perspectives among us, there is a corresponding level of consciousness for each and every one of us.
           Consciousness is the basis of our existence. Before anything there is the unmanifest, as it moves it becomes consciousness. It not only permeates everything, it creates everything and yes, most of us call this God, but we are just looking at one attribute here, the levels of awareness. They ripple up from the underlying energetic field and its vibration.
           Basically, everything has consciousness, and as we look on the higher ascending levels, we find sentient beings becoming ‘aware’.
           Of course, now we are talking about humans. Eckhart Tolle says we have been at a level up to this point of being mostly unaware of our ability to manifest reality, (we may be on the verge of consciously manifesting in our evolution, but that is another conversation).
           What does all this have to do with money? We are each operating at a level of consciousness. At the lower levels there is no personal integrity, a lack of empathy and compassion, and there is not even the honoring of handshakes or a promise. If we use Dr. David Hawkins scale, this would be at a 1-3, with 10 representing a completely enlightened, evolved being; Jesus in his example. Most of us today are grouped in low to middle.
           Someone with relatively low consciousness can create wealth. We all know of people like Madoff or Harvey Weinstein. There is no exact correlation with how financially successful you are and on what level of consciousness you are operating.
           But, having what I call financial health is tied to your level of consciousness. When you have financial health, you aren’t stressed about money, (Do you think Madoff wasn’t stressed about how he was making his money? Keeping all those balls in the air? He must have been.). When you have financial health, your money is organized in accounts with purposes: savings, retirement, investments, insurance, etc. You have confidence in your financial plan; you have the discipline to protect your assets and not irresponsibly spending or losing it. You are able to delay gratification, and at the highest levels of money consciousness, you are provided for by an income stream without struggling or working long hours that you don’t enjoy. It also involves trust or faith that your future needs will be met.
           I’ve been a financial advisor and planner since 1983. I have seen all types of people and their money consciousness displayed before me in a steady stream through my office and, for the most part, the clients with faith in their future do quite well. They have enough of a grasp on how money and securities work to feel comfortable with their plans.
           Those who are lower on the scale may look upon the wealthy with envy, projecting negative attributes on them. This reinforces their own distrust of the financial world and supports a belief that truly good people are not rich.
          Let’s do something fun. Let’s combine these individual manifestations of money consciousness with Ayurvedic mind/body principles. Ayurveda is the 5000-year-old health system of yoga from India. There are three main mind/body types called doshas. In Ayurveda mental and physical diseases are the result from imbalances in these doshas. If we use this to determine an Ayurvedic-based money consciousness, it would look like these examples below.
Doshas at Lower Levels of Money Consciousness, unbalanced:
1)     VATA Anxious. The anxiety of investing causes poor decisions—buying and selling based on emotions, the worry of uncertainty causing delayed planning, often changing their mind, the fear of what ifs creating so much stress that they cannot follow good advice, and perhaps some impulsive spending. Job insecurity, perhaps too many job changes, flighty.
2)     PITTA Distrustful. Viewing the financial community as corrupt, difficulty putting trust in others, desiring to do it all on their own, moving from one financial professional to another, always blaming downturns on some conspiracy or groups with nefarious motivations. They don’t see themselves as responsible for their situation. Can be overbearing, controlling, irritable, which may affect their ability to do their work. Makes it more difficult to find financial wellbeing.
3)     KAPHA Procrastinator. Always putting off getting their affairs in order. They will do it someday, it’s nobody’s fault, they just don’t want to think about it. Money stagnates in low to no interest-bearing accounts, or ‘orphaned’ accounts, those not paid attention to. They rarely get around to making a good financial plan, and just might go take a nap instead. Could easily miss opportunities to advance in their career by a lack of motivation or lethargy.
Doshas at Higher Levels of Money Consciousness, Balanced:
           1) VATA Inventive. Uses creativity and ingenuity to solve financial problems. Is in touch with their intuition and inner guidance to make better decisions. Vivid imagination to follow each choice to its probable result. Finds a career path that fills their need for expressiveness, communication, creativity, passions and service. Work is more like play, and their ‘play’ is fulfilling and monetarily rewarded.
           2) PITTA Leadership. Excellent organizer, charismatic, disciplined, ambitious, colorful, and self-determined. Good ability to formulate goals, financial plans, assessing problems and mapping out logical solutions. Natural entrepreneur. Their estate plan is in order, retirement plan enacted, insurance and investment needs are covered, and periodically reviewed. Mapped out their career, knows the trajectory, and is confident they are on target. They are admired and listened to. Life is good.
           3) KAPHA Stable. Dependable, consistent, loyal, caring, nurturing, the glue that holds families and companies together. Ability to stick with a good financial plan, understands long-term strategies, patient with market volatility, good ability to save, thoughtful through career, money and relationships. Good employee and a favorite beloved family member.
           All of these higher consciousness types have an underlying confidence that their financial life with be in line with the fulfillment and success in their personal lives, mind, body and spirit. From an Ayurvedic perspective, this is accomplished much easier when we have our mind/body in balance; when we have vitality, sound sleep, physical and emotional comfort, passion, and depth of awareness along with financial health. This is wellbeing and this is the goal.
You made it to the end of the essay!!! You are awesome.
Kids & Money

We Aren’t Enemies, Let’s Stop Acting Like We Are!

 

Welcome to May everyone. Summer is just around the corner. You haven’t heard from me other than an occasional note since January! I hadn’t noticed how long it had been! For better or worse, my life has taken on more tasks, responsibilities, and focus and I have dearly missed this communication with all of you.

It is my intention this year to transform my life, (and yours if you’re game) to a brilliant expression full of prosperity, ease and wellbeing. Let’s all upgrade.

First, laying some ground rules below.

I was going to write about post pandemic PTSD, but frankly, those of you who have been following me for years know what I’d recommend, i.e. take care of yourself, limit news, meditate, eat well, get good sleep, get outside, move etc.

What is going on is so much deeper than COVID. We are in a major transition to something new. So many authors, teachers, and spiritual leaders have written about moving through these upheavals, attempting to explain how the state of chaos in the world came to be, how it is affecting all of us, and what will happen next.

We have been going through a unique period in our lifetime. Information and events have been exploding into our lives faster than we can adapt to it. Not only the health issues with the pandemic, the political storms, lack of consensus on facts (knowledge commons), and the economic issues from lock downs, but also the effects from the stress caused by it all; more divorces, eating disorders, depression, drinking, and anxiety among them.

The media chooses stories to dwell on, magnify, exaggerate and cover day after day after day, until we feel like the whole world is in some sort of hell. Depending on what source of information you tune into the stories vary widely.

In a true democratic system, there is knowledge commons and there is a base line of consensus for what we are, as a nation, attempting to create, what democracy means, and how the government works. Our disagreements have normally been on what government can do to protect that and how.

We’ve entered, over the last decades, a period where we act like those who have different ideas to solve problems are ignorant, enemies, or just plain evil. Groups, organizations, colleges, media sources, and social media, censor opinions they don’t want to hear; we have lost the ability to hear opposing views.  We have fractured pieces of ‘reality’ wherein extreme conspiracy theories gain millions of followers. There is an abundance of mistrust in the ‘others’. Author Charles Eisenstein noted, “How can we have a democracy if we are being incited to hate each other by the very media we depend on to tell us what is real, what is “news” and what the world is?”  The political party in power tries to repress and censor the opposing party’s views.

Our cultural blemishes have risen to the forefront and are being seized upon by different sides. We live in a story that there are good guys and bad guys, and everyone thinks they are the good guy.

And yet:

  • We are all one in the human family
  • We have all been the good guy and the bad guy
  • In our world there are opposing beliefs in which both are true
  • What we call ‘truth’ shifts with levels of consciousness

The likeliest explanation for the current state, upon the revelation of the destructive stories we’ve been hiding, covering up or ignoring, are hopefully, the last gasps of the most primitive of consciousness, as it raises its ugly head for all to see.

For example, there has always been a percentage of people who are drawn to law enforcement and military because of the sense of power and control it gives them over others. (There are ways to screen out these individuals in the application process with psych tests for social pathology.)

Yet we can’t fix what we aren’t aware of. Those of us in the spiritual community are painfully aware of all the world’s atrocities, from the horrors of war, famine, prisons, devastation of lands, all kinds of violence, to the insidious, subtle discriminations and everyday insults by all manner of journalists, bloggers and everyday people.

When I was young in the 60s and 70s, we were filled with energy and ideas for creating a new world: just, safe, environmentally healthy, with gender equality and healthier food. We saw women were treated unfairly and often as sex objects, minorities experienced deep discrimination from every level, senseless wars, and guns and violence exploded in the streets. We charged forward to change this.

We failed. There are more guns, still wars, more sexualization of young girls, still inequities, and we are less healthy.

We have to tell a new story. One not of good and evil, us versus them, but a culture of compassion, listening, patience, creative problem solving, and understanding. It is time for transformation. We know in our hearts that the way society has been isn’t working, and it’s making us sick. It’s making the Earth sick as well.

And not tell a story of what we’re against. The against position is already coming from behind, a weakened state that makes opposite forces strengthen more. Instead of pushing against opinions, beliefs or thoughts, manifest a powerful new vision that encompasses a beautiful story.

Seeing two young children fighting over a toy, rather than make one right and one wrong, an effective parent will work out a solution that reduces upsetting emotions, makes them feel understood, and invites them to help come up with a peaceful one. We are no different. If we are told we are wrong we dig in our heels, don’t we? We are more determined to prove we are right and they are wrong. What you push against grows stronger.

So, I challenge everyone to create a new story.

  • Make one up. Call it fiction. There are always truths in storytelling.
  • Think, talk, write, read, stories with beautiful answers.
  • Envision the world how you know it could be.
  • Be fierce in your determination.
  • Don’t stay silent when others try to drag someone or a group through the mud.

Ask the hard questions when they complain about the ‘other’. Ask why they think the other is that way, challenge them to go deeper.

  • Tell personal stories to exemplify your points.
  • Flood the internet with good stories.
  • You don’t need to defend or explain what your personal politics are, democrat or republican, independent or libertarian. It’s all fine. This isn’t a process for one political persuasion.

In my book, The Light of Grace, two of the characters lived in future time periods: one in mid-21st century, and one in the 26th-century. It was great fun working out how many of today’s problems were solved. So, inadvertently, I’ve already begun this process!

One of the efforts of the spiritual community is to encourage people to go inward more, study scriptures and develop practices that raise one’s consciousness and the desired effect will be the raising of mass consciousness. As the teachings go, when it reaches critical mass, this will change our culture, change society for the better. And we can see the emerging effect. You can find results all around.

But I think we need to do more. I hope you’re with me. Thank you.

Photo by Obie Fernandez on Unsplash