Here are excerpts from selected posts from 2013. May they guide you into a happy and prosperous 2014!
From April 12, 2013
Each of us has a responsibility to ourselves and to others to learn how to live in community with the people around us. We are not private islands with ‘No Trespassing’ signs on our foreheads! The most important lesson to learn about living in a civilized society is to learn what healthy boundaries are. Learn what to let in and what belongs to the other person.
From February 22 2013
Reach out beyond what you can see to the possibilities that are there. Keep your mind open to optimism. Maybe things aren’t as bleak as they seem. Maybe the glass really is half-full and not half-empty. Take charge of how you think, speak, feel about something and it just might change around you.
From December 6 2013
A crystalized belief feels like an energy block. It is not negative or bad; it is merely a block where the energy feels stuck. It is important, though, because stuck energy prevents us from moving forward into our highest potential. And the longer energy stays stuck the more problems that block can cause us.
From August 30 2013
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.
From January 11 2013
It’s okay to consider yourself and your own needs. Sometimes we need permission to do that. You have that permission now. Focusing on what you need is vital to supporting your efforts to help others in need. Fill up your cup so you can serve from the overflow in the saucer.
From July 5 2013
When you put your attention on being instead of doing, your energy flows into being the you you were meant to be. Doing, taking action in your life, then follows being yourself.
Where are there energy blocks in you, in your life? Identify the stuck places and take action to move the energy through the blocks. Free up any stuck energy so that you can truly be free. Focus your attention on manifesting your dreams and watch how much energy can then flow into that manifestation.
From March 22 2013
When you demand control of your environment, you limit the ways in which the Universe answers your requests. Your thoughts are projecting an often unconscious request to keep things just the way they are. And, yet, there are laws of the Universe about change being ever present.
For today, remember this equation:
EVENT leads to your REACTION and then you choose a RESPONSE.
While you might not control all the events that happen [Surprise!] and your reaction is your immediate ‘knee jerk’ feeling, you DO control how you respond. Put your energies into practicing Conscious Response – choosing the response that demonstrates your personal growth. Then you can relax into making peace with the ‘not knowing’ and enjoy the ‘Surprise!’
From May 24 2013
This message is from The Divine Feminine for us:
“Dear Ones,
The flames are licking at the Doors of Change. Those who fear change are trying to engulf the opportunities in flames so that you and others will not walk through them. Do not let these fear-mongers paralyze you.
Change and Opportunity are two sides of the same coin, of the same door. Opportunity is the invitation to Change. Every time you say ‘no’ to Change you are leaving a Doorway to Opportunity closed. Every time you ignore or say ‘no’ to Opportunity you are saying ‘yes’ to everything staying the same.
Is there something in your life that you wish to Change? Then you must walk through a Door of Opportunity or there will be no Change.
Are you seeking Opportunities in your life? Then you must Change something.
Those who prevent change also prevent opportunities from being realized. If you are one who wishes to preserve the status quo then you are not ready for increased Prosperity and Abundance in your life.
Think about the energy it takes to resist Change. The evolutionary forces of the Universe are not static. They are always and forever moving forward, taking with them those who are connected to growth and leaving behind those who wish to go backward, which is the same as attempting to stand still. There is no standing still. There is only moving forward or being swamped by the Tides of Change.
In every moment cells in your body are changing. With every thought your brain is changing. Energetically, your field is changing with every thought, feeling, heartbeat. What vibration are you emanating as these changes take place? You are changing and you are constantly generating an energy field around you. Your choices create the energy vibrational frequency of your field. What energy field are you choosing to present to the world?
Think about the people you have attracted to your energy field. Do they emanate the vibrational frequency that you wish to share? Think about the situations in your life right now. Are they what you wish to manifest in your world?
Now is the time for you to consciously choose the Opportunities you wish to pursue. What do you desire to Change? Which Doorway of Opportunity will bring about that Change? And what must you Change to take advantage of that Opportunity.
Opportunity and Change.
The only way forward is to walk through the Doorway.
And so it is.”

Happy New Year! For even more guidance for 2014 you may want to listen to a message I channeled from The Divine Feminine on the Winter Solstice; they offered guidance and advice on what we might expect in 2014, and how to approach the year’s upcoming energy. Expect more change! The transformation continues! The message it is available as an MP3 recording for a modest price; check out the details here: Winter Solstice Message
Dreaming BIG!!! – Richard’s Commentary
January 9, 2014 — RichardHow are you doing with those New Year’s Resolutions? Did you make a few, a lot? If you are anyone like me you have given up on trying to change your life that way. No, I made no resolutions, but that doesn’t mean I have no big dreams!
The Divine Feminine are spot on when they address this issue of resolutions, dreams, transformation and how to manifest the changes you want to see:
Where are you looking for your resources? Are you waiting to win the lottery? If so, are you buying tickets? Are you using the word ‘someday’ in your vocabulary of dreams, always placing that dream in the far distant future? Do you know what you actually need to take a step in the direction of your dreams?
You need Clarity, Commitment and Consciousness.
For me, clarity means “clear intention.” If we are muddled in our thinking, unsure of what it is we want to change, hesitant about reaching for the big goal, then the Universe can’t support us. Clear intention lets the Universe know our direction and can then offer the resources to help us realize our goals. This is the first component of manifestation.
Over the past few months I have become very clear in the direction I want the rest of my life to take. And the Universe is responding! Just as a trivial example of this, I received a book as a gift from a dear friend; it is Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo. My friend had no idea when she picked this up for me that I have moved firmly back onto my Buddhist path. She had no idea that I am planning my own journey this year to return to my roots. Merullo’s novel and his characters have so much in common with my own life that it’s almost silly. My friend was moved by the Universe to place this book in my hands! (I’ll have more to say on Breakfast with Buddha in a future post.)
Now, I have studied, practiced, sat Zazen, read and explored in most ways possible this notion of Buddhism for many years. But I have never really committed to this path. This is the second component of manifestation. The Universe needs to know we are serious about our clear intentions. All of my past studies and practices, while I took them very seriously, were not true commitments to the path. They were exploratory, forays into the fascinating world, but with no real committed intention of remaining there.
This has changed. I am committed. My living habits are changing to support the commitment: diet, drink, sleep, dream-time, meditation are all much more focused, real, and supporting my commitment. Again, the Universe is responding to my commitment with the resources I need to continue.
And it’s really all about changing our mind, isn’t it? One of Rosemary’s expressions I’m fond of is: If you want to change your life, change your mind. Reality is after all nothing more than consciousness, the third component of transformation. We all encounter blocks along our way. Most of these stumbling blocks, scattered across our paths, are mental blocks, maybe old beliefs planted in us from childhood. Much like the main character in Merullo’s book, Otto Ringling, I was raised as a Lutheran in the Midwest. “Lutherans don’t become Buddhists!” We don’t even think about Buddhists, unless they are setting themselves on fire in Viet Nam when we are burning our draft cards at a safe distance at the University! I’ve been changing my mind about a lot of things over the past 60 years; it’s time for this once-upon-a-time Lutheran to admit his true colors. Through many cycles of birth, old age, sickness and death, I’ve traveled the road as a Buddhist! I think I’ll finish this one the same way!
The Divine Feminine conclude: Dream BIG!!! With Clarity, Commitment and Consciousness you can live that dream!
And I do have Big Dreams for 2014. I hope you do too!