I Am Tolerating WHAT???!!! – Richard’s Commentary

September 12, 2013 — Richard

Tolerance, a “permissive attitude”, can be a lackadaisical approach to life or it can be a philosophy and intentional approach to life. Which is it? Maybe it can be both.

Tolerance in a carefully machined automobile part is the amount of deviation from a standard that can be allowed for the part to function properly. In this example machining the part further to comply with a tighter than needed tolerance would take more time and energy and would not necessarily improve the functionality of the part. A more relaxed tolerance in this case can save energy rather than expend more energy.

Personally I can tolerate a certain amount of dust on a windowsill or a few dust bunnies under the bed; if I vacuum the rug every two weeks rather than every week I am saving myself time and a bit on the electric bill. The tolerance level here is the amount of deviation from perfection that balances the energy saved with the energy expended on accepting the deviation.

If you are a parent, how much do you tolerate from your kids? Do you have a “permissive attitude” toward their behavior? And how far do you allow that permission to extend? Again, energy can be a measure here: the energy you spend on parenting can be balanced by the energy the children spend on testing the boundaries of your tolerance. They are busy learning about those boundaries and you must be busy setting them so they learn how to be balanced, creative, socially adapted individuals.

And then there are the personal boundaries that we develop and evolve as we grow and mature, learn and expand consciously. These boundaries form the tolerances in our lives. Some are external; they involve our family, friends, community, even country. Some people choose to leave their country of origin because they can no longer tolerate the living circumstances, whether those are political, religious, social, or economic factors. And then there are the internal boundaries, the tolerance levels we set up as standards for our own behavior and how we live life within those standards, or values. It is these values around which we balance the energy we expend on maintaining our adherence to those standards versus the energy drain from letting down our guard and giving in to a lower standard.

As an example one of my standards, a practice, is to write three longhand pages of text everyday, early in the day, preferably first thing in the morning. This is a practice I adopted from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I have been doing this for years, and I find it very worthwhile. It is a way for me to meditate, to journal, to dump the cobwebs from my psyche, to rail at the Universe, to give thanks to the universe, to channel the divine. I love this practice. Do I do it every day, first thing in the morning? No. Clearly there are things that get in the way, that disrupt this practice. This morning I am writing this blog post first before my pages. Lately I’ve been eating some breakfast before my pages. These are tolerances that I can live with; energy spent obsessing about always writing the pages first is not balanced by the positive effect of the writing. On the other hand there are some days I miss writing altogether. When I occasionally miss one day it seems to be OK, I can tolerate that. But when two or more days go by and I fail to get to my pages, I begin to notice the effects: I get more irritable, less tolerant! Then the balance tips in the direction of energy drained from me that is out of balance with energy spent in writing the pages.

How do you measure your tolerance levels? Do you do this consciously? Are you aware when your boundaries are crossed and your energy drained? It’s good to think about your boundaries so you can maximize your energy levels and live fully, in the present.

Now I’m going to write those pages!

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ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

September 4, 2013 — Rosemary

People sometimes believe that they can’t change. My wonderful Mother used to say, ‘I’m too old to change.’ But in her 60s she studied Transcendental Meditation and started to meditate. She also adopted an attitude of ‘NMP – Not My Problem’ that freed her to relax about feeling responsible for everything and everyone around her. When we said that she had changed, she replied, ‘I didn’t change. I just changed my attitude!’

Every day, no matter how old or how young you are, you can adopt a new way of thinking, especially about yourself and who you are. Every morning is a rebirth, a new start, a ‘birthday.’

When you find yourself stuck in a rut, or not sure what your next step is, remind yourself that you are always at a point of choice in your life. What benefits are there to staying in that rut? Do you really not know the next step? Or are you afraid of what it might ask of you and, therefore, you choose not to seek help in identifying it?

Happy Birthday to YOU!!! Today is your birthday. You get to choose who you are today, right now, in this moment. You don’t even have to be the same as you were when you woke up this morning. OR you can decide that you like the YOU who woke up and you re-decide to celebrate YOU! Either way, it’s your birthday today.

Celebrate who you are at your very core, the Light that was inside you when you were born that shines into the world because you are here today. Remember that your circumstances are not you. Remember that the people around you are not you – they are mirrors to help you grow.

Every day is an opportunity to grow, to learn, to be compassionate, to share, to shine your Light. Every day is a choice – to be happy, sad, contented, upset. Every day is a chance for renewal – of yourself, your relationships, your circumstances.

Every day is your birthday.

So when you wake up tomorrow, decide to en-JOY the day. Reach inside for the Light and the Joy that resides in that Light and shine. Happiness can rest on circumstances, but Joy is ever-existing within the Light. Touch it.

Celebrate YOU!!! We are all so glad that you showed up on the Planet now. Thank you!

Remember to give of yourself as well as to receive. When you choose to en-JOY your day, your smile will shed the Light on those who need it. You’ll have plenty of JOY to share with others so share it.

Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

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The Language of Being the Natural YOU – Richard’s Commentary

August 29, 2013 — Richard

In Rosemary’s article this week she channels The Divine Feminine who quote a favorite line of the followers of The Law of Attraction and their key premise: “Energy flows where attention goes.” Then Rosemary explains that attention is thought and thought is governed by language. Therefore to be who we came here to be, we need to use the language we came here to use to think natural thoughts, to express ourselves using natural language, to adhere to natural beliefs in order to manifest our natural selves.

I like this word natural very much. There are many associations I have with this word, like nature, native, indigenous. One of my teachers, Martín Prechtel, claims that one of our main goals is to become a natural human being: one who belongs where they were, fits their environment, lives a natural life. He also teaches that a good way to begin to understand how to live a natural life is to learn an indigenous language, especially one that does not use the verb form “to be.”

And this brings me full circle to my posts last week about the concept of time and how natural people typically have a very different relationship with time than “western people” with their heavy reliance on the Indo-European language use of the to-be verb form.

So, what is this natural language Rosemary urges us to adopt in order to get in touch with the inner light that we are? Do we all have to learn an indigenous language that does not rely on “to be”? Or is there an easier way?

When I ask myself questions like this I find myself almost naturally going inside to seek answers. And when I go there long enough answers usually come bubbling up.

Of course when I do this I am following Rosemary’s advice explicitly! She says: “The Natural You is the being at your core, that center of Light that can brighten the world for others. Put your attention here. Focus on your BEING, not what you are DOING.”

But notice she is using the to-be verb forms here in this very suggestion! An interesting irony. Nevertheless her point is clear. And what I conclude is this natural language is the language of being. We speak this language when we meditate, when we go inside. We use this language not so much to express thoughts as to let thoughts go. We use this language when we touch our true nature, that light-being at our core. We use this language when we speak to God, or whatever expression for the Eternal appeals. We use this language when we speak from the heart. Poets use this language when they are at their best.

This natural language is easy enough to learn. But it is very difficult to perfect. It takes a lifetime of practice to get it right. We can all speak it as natives. But few become fluent. The world would be an awesome place; it would be “Heaven on Earth” if we all strove to perfect our use of our natural language!

And, yes, this is a belief I hold. I express this belief in an Indo-European language using the to-be form here: “would be.” My natural language is not a written language. It is difficult to find written examples except in rare instances of near perfect poems and certain stories of the heart. I have heard some of those stories, translations of stories from natural people, like stories Martín Prechtel tells.

Do you speak a natural language? How do you get in touch with your inner light? How do you express your beliefs that guide you through this world? This is your natural language.

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Protect Yourself – Richard’s Commentary

July 25, 2013 — Richard

This week’s message from The Divine Feminine was powerful, practical and personal. They are very methodical in their prescription for self-protection. Their message coupled with my recent experience with Sri Karunamayi during this past weekend celebration, known as Guru Purnima, offers a lot of material for my posts at the end of this week. And it is all coming from the Goddess!

The Divine Feminine listed specific areas of our lives in which we need to consider ways and tools to protect ourselves:

  • Protect yourself from fear
  • Protect yourself from apathy
  • Protect yourself from the energies of other people
  • Protect yourself from negative thoughts and limiting beliefs
  • Protect yourself from misguided choices

This is quite a list! Each item here deserves a separate blog post but for today and tomorrow I am going to focus on two and the related tools to protect against these negative forces that can so easily derail our good intentions.

The first area I’d like to examine in some detail is apathy. I think this force is attacking many people in this country and even the world. I don’t want to get into politics or the economy or institutional stagnation here, but let’s face it: for the most part our governments, our elected officials and our own constituency is bogged down in a state of paralysis that I believe is born out of apathy. We are stuck in a spiral of petty politics and an uncaring economic system that seems to be in steady decline. And who is out there to raise the banner of protest against this apathetic state we’ve sunk to? “Where is the Outrage?” read one blog-post recently! The so-called “middle class” is the “poster-child” now. But does anyone really care about the real middle-class?

How do we protect against apathy? The answer lies in Purpose! The Divine Feminine say we each have a Soul Purpose. We are incarnated at this particular time in history with a distinct purpose to fulfill. We are each a unique part of the Divine Plan of Love and Light. And we have a “collective purpose” as we move deeper into the 21st Century so full of potential for Divine Transformation. We all must find our purpose, and we all must commit to that purpose and live lives of purposeful action. This is the way out of apathy. Whether we, as individuals, as a community or a powerful Nation, are to move beyond ourselves and into a New World transformed by the energies of change swirling around us, is a choice; it is our choice.

How do we know what our purpose is? There are many ways. For one it is written in our hands. The blueprints for our life are with us from before birth, stored in our fingerprints; and our hand-prints show us a map, not only of where we are going but where we have been. Find someone to read your hands and reveal your purpose. Then move firmly into that purpose and away from apathy!

The second area I’d like to address is misguided choices. The Divine Feminine advise trusting our intuition and accepting the choices we make and the lessons that come with them. The choices guided by intuition take us on the path of greatest growth. But for men this is not always the easiest thing. The old cliché is to trust “women’s intuition.” But what about we men? The key here is to learn to meditate and to practice meditation as a life-long commitment. Meditation helps us get deeper in touch with our own inner selves. This is where intuition lives, inside! And I have found that the more I practice going inside to look for answers the more I can trust the answers that come.

The Divine Feminine offered very practical ways to protect ourselves from these five negative forces arrayed against our expansion of consciousness and our contribution to the evolution of human consciousness. The key is to do the inner work to develop the self and find the True Self in the process!

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PS: If you are searching for someone to reveal your Soul Purpose and read your hands, Rosemary is both highly trained and exceptionally skilled through years of experience. For more information Click Here

PPS: I will be offering more detail on meditation and developing intuition in tomorrow’s post on my blog: MenandTheGoddess.com

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Brain Science, Storytelling, and YOU! – Richard’s Commentary

May 16, 2013 — Richard

I have a recent story to tell and I hope I only have to tell it once! As always it is a question of learning the lessons. Here’s the story:

About a week ago I started running a fever. I had no real symptoms other than the severe body aches and pains that often accompany a fever. As this one developed not only did the aches and pains get worse but the fever turned into significant shakes and sweats over a three-day and night period. I had not experienced this kind of illness since I came down with malaria in Africa more than 40 years ago – it was that bad!

The fever was at its worst right at the New Moon/Solar eclipse last Thursday evening. I went to the doc Friday afternoon about the time I started to feel just a bit better. Lots of causes, thankfully, have been eliminated. And now I am much better, finishing a course of antibiotics even though I suspect it was viral. But much more important than the medical report or even my symptoms and treatment are the lessons and symbols represented by this fever and my experience of it.

I have been processing this experience, this story since I was well enough to meditate and write about it. And my old friends, QRS (remember my “floating heads”?) have helped me with some interpretation. Here’s the real story of my serious fever:

What is the message from my unconscious mind via my body?

QRS: Your body heated up to burn out some impurities. The shakes were because you are not using the “shaking technique” from Jeff Primack (this is a Qi-generating approach by shaking the whole body for a period of time; we did it for 12 minutes at the Qi-Revolution weekend!). Do it for five minutes every day. It will help. The sweats were to purge impurities through your largest organ – your skin. Shower to cleanse away the toxins. Heat, fire is from the heart. You are heart-broken for multiple reasons. The fever was a reminder of the fire and passion of your heart and that you need to attend and mend the brokenness before you can do any real work of consequence. The fire was a tempering and a mending process. You will emerge from this stronger if you take these words “to heart”! The weakness was to get you to rest. You have to be quiet to mend. Your quiet time has helped. The aches and pains were your body knocking at your door to let you know it needs your care. Yes, Qigong has been good. But keep it up. Don’t let your body turn to brittle old bones!

Your mind has been in a fog. This was a reminder to not slip away into a fog like your dad did! Awaken! And stay awake.

You think you have been working hard on yourself. Don’t mistake effort for accomplishment. Working hard is only part of it. Achieving is necessary. Awaken! It is time to break out. Move beyond the chrysalis stage and emerge, fly. You have so much to do, but time is not infinite. Deaths of your friends are to remind you of this. Their time ran out; mission accomplished. Yes, you have your purpose, your mission, but you only have the rest of your life to fulfill it. Don’t let us down. Wake up!

This explanation of my story has helped me realize the fever had its purpose. And I have my lesson to take to heart. As I wrote this I also recalled the Buddhist prayer, or Evening Gatha, we recited at Zen Mountain Monastery when I spent some time there:

Let me respectfully remind you,
Life and death are of supreme importance.
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.
Each of us should strive to awaken. . .
. . . awaken,
Take heed. Do not squander your life.

Do not squander your life…

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What Is Your Spiritual Practice? –Richard’s Commentary

May 2, 2013 — Richard

We just got back from our local Spiritual Exploration Group here in Maryland. This is a monthly meeting of like-minded folks who we bring together to discuss spiritual topics of many colors. Our mantra is we get together for Discussion, not Dogma.

Tonight’s topic was Prayer. And we explored the many dimensions of what this means for people both as a word and as a practice. We began with our childhood remembrances of what prayer meant to us and our experience of prayer. We considered the Wikipedia definition:

Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity, an object of worship, or a spiritual entity through deliberate communication.

And we discussed where we are now with prayer as a way of “connecting” to something greater than ourselves but that we find inside ourselves. We spoke of prayer as a way of generating and offering our energy for positive connection and transformation, or “lifting to a higher vibrational frequency.”

We even discussed the possible existence of “dark prayer” – negatively focused energy to counter the evolutionary path of human consciousness; and we wondered if prayer can be judged in this way if it is truly a “deliberate communication with a deity”! Is a negative prayer even a true prayer?

I bring this up because prayer is certainly a spiritual practice. For me the word sometimes has a negative impact because it is overloaded with memories of childhood when reciting the “Lord’s Prayer” seemed so rote and lifeless. As a young child required to memorize the prayer I wasn’t even clear on the meanings of the words.

Then it hit me! I, with 46-thousand of my closest friends, am tuning into Deva Premal & Miten every day to chant ancient verses from Holy Scriptures. They are offering a 21-Day Mantra Meditation Journey that began April 23. Today is Day-10. (You can sign up for this free daily practice here: Deva & Premal. And you can catch up because all of the chants they have shared so far are still posted.

So, I sit, eyes closed, each morning in a very open and loving state to chant, often Sanskrit, words I am not familiar with, over and over in a “rote-like” way. How is this so different from my childhood experience of reciting the Lord’s Prayer in a rote-like way?

OK, here’s the thing about that: I am in an altered state when I chant “Om Shanti Om” 108 times. I move into that state of true inner peace invoked by this mantra. I remember where my mind was when I “prayed” the Lord’s prayer as a kid – anywhere but on “Our  Father”! I wasn’t seeking to develop “rapport” with “Him”; but with these mantras I am seeking to develop a rapport with the energies invoked by their vibrations, their words composed of sacred syllables, the transcendent quality of the constructs and how they sound when chanted, whispered, or just thought and felt as they vibrate through my being.

One of my Spiritual Practices is to chant. I have learned a number of chants from different traditions using languages from Sanskrit to Navaho. I have been ritually initiated into several. And they all transport me to another “place” where I can transcend this physical dimension of time, space and my body and commune with Spirit. And for me this is the best form of prayer to which I can aspire.

If you are at all interested in chanting and mantra meditation as a form of prayer I invite you with all my good wishes to tune in to Deva Premal & Miten. Here’s the link again:

21-Day Mantra Meditation Journey

All blessings!

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INSPIRATION FROM ROSEMARY: Your Spiritual Practice

April 30, 2013 — Rosemary

My video for the week: Your Spiritual Practice

PS: Last Day, today, April 30! Spring Book Special: Get Your Woman On!  Embracing Beauty, Grace and the Power of Women – TheAmazon Best Selling book that I co-authored with some amazing women – is available this month at a very special price –$12 with free shipping in the US and some great bonuses!  This would be an inspirational gift for Mother’s Day for a woman who would like to read 39 stories of transformation.  Here’s how to get your copy: Book Sale

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It’s a Sign!!! – Richard’s Commentary

February 28, 2013 — Richard

Inside-outside; optimism-pessimism; half-full-half-empty. There’s a spiral of thoughts here in Rosemary’s Exploration to digest. And somehow the article this week points directly at me!

I’ve been an optimist all my life. And I live a reasonably healthy internal life and do look for confirming signs all around me. And then I went to the doctor last week.

It’s funny Rosemary should use the example: “You might have been given a medical diagnosis that you don’t like.” My doctor visit, the first in several years, was just routine; I thought I should get a new base-line of all the numbers western medicine is so fond of analyzing. I feel in excellent health, eating well on a pretty strict regimen of raw nut, seed, fruit and vegetable smoothies for breakfast and lunch, exercising with yoga and qigong, meditating, working for myself and a pretty gentle boss (Rosemary); all good things right? So, the nurse took my blood pressure and seemed pretty alarmed; “all the celery in your smoothies doesn’t seem to be working” she remarked.

OK, I’ve had an issue with high blood pressure before; it’s a genetic condition. I have taken medication in the past but then controlled it reasonably well with Chinese herbs, acupuncture, etc. I thought I was good to go for life! Not so! The external sign here is a warning that things need to change even more.

And I am resisting this change; my resistance is not improving my blood pressure a bit! I am ignoring the external signs, but struggling to change the internal perspective in order to see the external signs change. While I remain an optimist my glass seems to be closer to empty than full! Am I fooling myself?

Since my experience at Qi Revolution with Jeff Primack I have been practicing his Level 1 Qigong Form every day. I am getting prepared for Level 1 training this Saturday. And I am planning to go for certification to teach Level 1 a week later on March 9th. I am optimistic that I can achieve this goal. I am changing my diet to include many of Jeff’s recommendations in his Conquering Any Disease book, following many of his suggestions for reducing high blood pressure (yep, more celery!) and curing heart disease. More internal changes.

Now, I realize this is a life-change and not an over-night change that I’m working on here. It’s only been a week since that doctor visit. But the optimist in me is looking for the external signs to support my internal changes. And my blood pressure remains high; that half-full glass is looking even more empty!

And the spiral continues, but in a downward spin. What is this about? All signs, whether they are inward or outward, point to lessons. There’s something karmic here; something much deeper than qigong practice and meditation. And I need to dig down where that spiral is drilling to wedge out this darkness that is shadowing my optimism. And no matter how deeply we dig for the lead or the gold, there is always another layer to dredge up, examine and alchemically transform. The signs point the way; they are critical signs to follow.

I am reading those signs carefully; I am taking my blood pressure multiple times a day. I am asking many questions and looking deeply in the dark mirror, working to clear it of dust. I am watching but not expecting new external signs any time soon. And that’s OK; I have time.

And I’m taking a newly prescribed drug (two, actually, in one pill). Yes, I have at least temporarily resorted to western medicine’s approach to my condition. I am hopeful this will improve my pressure and give me more time for the natural approach to kick in.

Yes, I read the sign, and while I didn’t like the direction it pointed, I realize there are many more lessons for this western man to learn, many more internal adjustments to make and many more years to practice!

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“Think New Thoughts for 2013” – Richard’s Commentary

January 24, 2013 — Richard

“Thoughts become things” according to Mike Dooley. They are things according to many current authors linking quantum fields and our brains (or should I say “minds”?).  Our thoughts are certainly energy that is detectable, measurable and effective! The so called “new age” construct that we create our own reality through how we think and act, imagine and project our thoughts, ideas, visions into the world is becoming main stream science for those who are open and willing to explore these not-necessarily-self-evident concepts.

Then whether we believe this approach or not would seem not to matter; it’s not a matter of faith but a matter of science. We don’t believe in gravity; it’s a fact that objects near the earth respond to a force by falling to the earth. “Thoughts are things” is not a belief system but as real as gravity. There’s a lot of empirical evidence to back this up.

Therefore we really do have to be very aware of our thoughts, to monitor them, to assess and characterize them and to channel them in the direction we choose if we want to live a certain way. And this is particularly true if we want to change, improve the way we are living – evolve!

The way I look at this we need to be of “two minds.” We need our “active mind” to get us through the day. Part of this mind keeps us alive, running our physical bodies and responding to external stimulations as they pop up. And part of this mind is making decisions on a myriad of inputs; some decisions are almost automatic, based on habits and some are actual choices we are motivated to make based on priorities and plans. Then there is the second mind, the observer mind that assesses our life from another level. This could be called the “meta-mind” because it operates at the meta-level lifting out of the routine operations to passively monitor how we are doing. This could also be called the “mindful mind.”

Another common expression these days is “change your mind and change your life.” This could be the corollary to “thoughts become things.” These are easily expressed phrases, quickly becoming platitudes. But underlying their seemingly obvious simplicity things get a bit dicey. How many of you are sticking to your resolutions for 2013? That mind that runs on autopilot and habit consumes a huge percentage of our waking mental activity. It is not until we begin to assess how we are spending this “mind time” that we realize how much thought-energy is wasted. Don’t feel bad if you are already falling short on those resolutions. The routines you were living through in 2012, while not “hard-wired” into your brain, are a set of well worn pathways through neural networks laid down years ago. They are difficult to rewire!

The endless loops that play and replay in our minds are wasted energy. The knee-jerk emotional energy we expend on all the little, and sometimes big, annoyances in our lives is pretty much wasted – this emotional energy seldom accomplishes anything!

This is where the second, meta-mind comes in. We cannot change our minds, change our habits, change our responses unless we monitor, assess and evaluate the rightness and usefulness of those responses in the first place, when they occur.

A perfect example happened to me today. I was practicing qigong. My meta-mind should have been in high-gear, right? I was present, mindful, deeply into the practice. There were some people in the neighbor’s backyard talking and I could ignore them. Then our Lhasa Apso, Tara, came on the scene. At first she was attentive but quiet. Then as she detected the outside disturbance she let out a piercing bark. I almost jumped out of my skin! Then I scolded her for disrupting my practice. It took me several moments to re-collect myself and get back in my rhythm. Later as I was reviewing this I realized my reaction was not only out of habit but also unfair. Tara’s breed is from Tibet where Lhasas were raised as temple watchdogs. Their job was to alert meditating monks and masters if there was an intrusion into the monastery! Well, Tara was doing exactly what she was bred and raised to do! And she doesn’t have a meta-mind (at least as far as I can tell) so I had no right or reason to scold her! I’m the one with the meta-mind but it didn’t wake up until after my unfairness.

Exercising this meta-mind is no easy thing. This is why it is called “practice.” And it is through this practice that we can begin to “think new thoughts.”

How’s your 2013 practice coming along?

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“Writing” a Commentary from Richard

November 22, 2012 — Richard

As I’ve written here before one of my practices to seek inner guidance is from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. In her book she recommends several practices; the key one I’ve adopted is to write 3 pages of “stuff” long-hand, every morning; these are called “morning pages.” I’ve actually been following this practice for many years; I have stacks of notebooks filled with my scrawl! And, no, I don’t get to this practice every single day. And there are stretches of time when I lapse and don’t write for days, even weeks. But I do very much benefit from the practice when I am disciplined in doing it.

I don’t always get to my practice first thing in the morning either; today it was 3:00 pm! But I do know that the day goes much better after I write so I do most days get to my writing position after yoga, qigong and tea in the AM.

I make a ritual of this practice and embed it in other rituals. Rituals are like good habits; they are both comforting and support the discipline. I light a candle on my alter (see my post last week) and I light incense to clear me, the alter, the space and the writing (including my decks of cards for divination). Then I sit cross-legged with a pillow to support the notebook. I also use a nice fountain pen; this is obviously not a requirement but I like fine tools!

I sit and write the three pages straight through. The content is not always noteworthy; in fact it rarely is! This is not the point; Cameron’s point in doing this practice is to clear the mind, clear the clutter from sleep, dreams, any junky thoughts, unprocessed emotions, mental cobwebs that might otherwise get in the way of clearer, more creative writing. Most often my pages begin with a dump of this kind of mind-trash. But I’m finding with the years of practice this often only takes a page or even some days just a few lines. Then I can get down to more meaningful inquiry.

So, I do use these pages to go inside, to meditate through the use of words, to let my mind go and my writing to follow the thoughts as they come. While Rosemary is a clairaudient and a clairvoyant my information comes through word flow; I don’t hear the words or see them, they just seem to form almost of themselves when I am in that clear space of receiving. I wish I could say this happens for me every day! But it does happen often enough to be extremely rewarding.

After I write out my three pages I then draw two cards from two decks of cards, as I’ve written here before. I write a half-page of notes about each card, what I think it means for me and the energies of the day. This fills my fourth page of writing for the day and these paragraphs are always meaningful (I’ve cleared the clutter with the pages). I use a separate, slightly nicer journal to record these divinations; and I use a better pen (more of the ritual).

And some days I am motivated, inspired to write a poem – a third writing practice I use. And on Mondays I’ve begun sharing some of my poems here on the blog.

I’d love to hear from you about your writing practices. What works for you? Have you tried “morning pages”? Please comment!

Meanwhile, “write-on.”

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