Who are you?

Better yet, who do you want to be?

I think as we enter 2011 there is no bigger question for each individual to answer. I believe we are gifted with something we are destined to do, to accomplish, during these turbulent times. You are very special, or you would not be here right now. You have something the world needs, and deep in your heart you know that. If you are not living your light, then 2011 is the time to start.

Start by asking yourself what makes you happy? What makes you feel full of energy and hope? What brings you a sense that time has stood still and you are in the midst of something greater than yourself?

For each person it is different. But you are unique and incredibly powerful. That is what 2011 is going to be about - finding your destiny through positive intention to do so. Living from the heart. When in doubt about how to act or respond to a challenge - ask yourself - what would love do? You will automatically be in the right frame of mind to make the right choice or decision. Living from the heart is what we are destined to do, and 2011 is the time to start.

White Orbs

What the heck are they?

I've been fascinated by stories of "white orbs" lately. They seem to be popping up everywhere, including over a California mall over Christmas, where the person taking a picture of a double rainbow said they floated by in tandem, with one looking as though it held some kind of creature. They have been photographed around newly created crop circles, coming out of a Japanese volcano, and are the focus of many photographers. They appear to show up at night on digital cameras, which leaves me wondering if they may be floating around all of the time - we just can't see them.

Naturally I had to visit U-Tube, that bastion of all things weird, wonderful, and just plain dumb. I thought this film of the white orbs especially interesting:



So what do you think they are?

Mercury Retrograde and Hawaii

As soon I found out our plans for the holidays also included a Mercury Retrograde, I will admit to feeling a bit uneasy. Since I'm new to this phenomenon, let me bring you up to date: A Mercury Retrograde happens three to four times a year when the planet Mercury slows down and appears to stop and move backward. It's an illusion of course, as there is forward movement, but it appears to go backward. I'm told all sorts of things can go wrong - especially electronics, computers, emails get deleted, phone lines go down. 

It is also not a time to make financial decisions, big purchases, or travel. The current retrograde started on December 10th and will end on December 29th - the day after we get home from traveling with our whole family. 

So did I experience anything going wrong?

Where to begin? We were waiting for our luggage at the turnstile at the airport when I got a call that said our phone, internet and cable had been shut off for lack of payment. It appears they sent the bill to the actual unit where people do not live, thus the bill had not been paid. The person who pays the bills didn't notice it had not come in the mail. After considerable time on the phone with the phone company, I was assured it would be partially up and running immediately - the phone would have to wait a few days or a week. 

Next we were supposed to have our "ah ha" moment when we entered the unit as the partial remodel was supposed to be finished. Not. The contractor was still there with all of his equipment. He thought we were arriving the next day, despite being told for months it would be the 16th. His wife still needed to clean. Our partners were also pretty confused by this as they had told him at least a dozen times what day we would arrive. Okay, time for a drink....

My family all arrived and I gave a big thanks to the airplane Gods, but two days later I came down with a terrible chest cold and had to watch as everyone went to the beach and snorkeling. Remaining in bed in Hawaii is not what I had planned. I can do that at home. Luckily my husband took plenty of pictures.

I did have a beautiful view of the water, and was enjoying watching the blue waves - until a big storm came through and turned it a very deep shade of brown. It appears this phenomenon happens about every ten years or so. Runoff from the cane fields swamp the culverts and rush into the ocean. It's brown for about a half mile out - we canceled paddle board and surfing lessons because of murky water. It's not good to be in murky water with predators...

We all fly home tomorrow. I'm praying all goes well. We'll return to rain and snow, gone will be warm breezes. No one will even know I've been gone as I look the same as when I left.

Lest I leave you with the idea I had a terrible time - let me assure you I had a great time. It's how you frame things, after all. I don't have a tiny little voice ask from the side of my bed if I'm still sick first thing in the morning at home. My grandson and family are the best, and I'm so glad we had this time together. My older daughter and son-in-law cooked wonderful, imaginative, meals. My youngest keeps everyone on their toes, and 30th wedding anniversaries only come once in a lifetime.

So you tell me - is this Mercury Retrograde thing really something to consider - or was it all just bad luck? What about you - any lost emails, broken computers, or travel glitches? Any bad colds?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I've been enjoying your posts, I love hearing about your families and your traditions. It will take me more time than I have right now to catch up individually, so please know that I'm thinking of all of you on this very special holiday. May all of your wishes and dreams come true. Bless you all, dear friends.

Best Laid Plans

I was so caught up in a recent post I did on not eating fish here in Hawaii that I was sure it would not be difficult. Not! I have used my Monterey Aquarium app to tell me which fish to avoid because of overfishing, fishing methods, or high mercury content,  but I've totally failed in not eating fish at all.

Sometimes we want to do the right thing, but the flesh is weak. Living in the desert, fish is something that is easy to avoid. But here, where it is so fresh, it's much harder. Not to mention most restaurants serve an abundance of many different varieties, all cooked beautifully, with nothing that I could find that was farm-raised. You would think an island would have at least a few varieties raised locally.

Have you sworn something off, only to find you couldn't stick to it?

Mamas And Their Babies

I know I've been remiss in reading all of your blogs lately, but I've been busy watching this off of our lanai in Maui:



So far my daughter and grandson have arrived, and we look forward to the other daughter and our son-in-law on Tuesday. Then things should really be hopping. For us, one of the very best parts is that the whales have arrived to calve,  and we've enjoyed watching a mama and her baby most of the afternoon. She is very close to shore, probably nursing in shallow waters.

I've enjoyed all of your comments from my last post! Wishing you lots of fun and new traditions this holiday season.

New Traditions

It's not easy giving up old traditions. Christmas is not so much a religious holiday for us, but more of a celebration of giving and being grateful for our many blessings. (We tend to tilt more toward spiritual beliefs, as opposed to purely Christian.) It has always included decorating, Santa's Breakfasts for the local Children's Cabinet, Christmas Eve services, cookie decorating with friends, making cream puffs for our neighbors. Now my daughters are grown, and have their own ideas about the holidays, and they don't always gel with mine. Norman Rockwell? Not.

My hairdresser was lamenting the loss of tradition earlier this week. Her children no longer foster the same excitement they once did, her oldest has moved out of the home and doesn't plan on being back for Christmas Day. The others have requested gift cards. She's sad. So she has decided to trail along with a friend, dressed as Santa, to visit disadvantaged children. 

I know how she feels. I guess for some reason I thought things would always stay the same - my daughters would want to carry on the same traditions they always seemed to enjoy while growing up. I would sit back and watch them do all the things I did to make the season special. But now I wonder - what was I thinking? Why would they want to do the same things as adults that they did as children? Of course things need to change! It's time for new traditions, new memories. It's time to either do it their way, or do my own thing. Which isn't so bad once you get used to the idea. 

So this year we'll create something new for ourselves. Change is the only constant in this world, so I may as well hop on board and enjoy the ride. Lucy is happily ensconced in her own home with dog and house sitters, so we feel better about leaving her. The kennel is not a good place for a little black princess on Christmas Day.

This is a year that finds most of us embracing some kind of change. For many, hardship is the guest, and/or life as they have known it will not ever be the same. My heart goes out to each and every one of them. But for some of us - new customs are not all bad. Life is full of surprises, and some of them are really wonderful. We never know what is right around the corner.

Has your holiday traditions changed this year? What are you doing different?

Things Coming Out Of Alaska

There is more than beauty queens turned politicos coming out of Alaska these days:

For Those That Cannot Speak

I was thinking about a topic for my blog. Sitting quietly, I had the "thought" that I needed to take some time to read what others had written. My inspiration is often from what I read, especially blogs. And I've learned to listen to my intuition.

We are about to leave for our beloved Maui for the holidays, when I read this post. Leilani speaks for the oceans, and I have never heard a more powerful voice for those who cannot speak. And because of what she had to say, I will not eat fish caught in the ocean while in Hawaii. Thank you Leilani, for standing up for what you know is the right thing to do. It's time to eat farm-raised fish, leaving the oceans to try to recover from the massive amount of wanton abuse and destruction from many nations, especially Japan.
We must quit eating the big fish of the sea before there is nothing left but jellyfish.

We are living in very energetic times. Things are happening very quickly, and it's time to make changes  to accommodate our new environment. It is each person's responsibility to do the right thing. We change the world - one decision at a time.

Christmas Entertaining

We had our one and only Christmas dinner/entertaining last night. Our one and only pull out the china and silver, "time to be festive". From now on it will be casual, easy, and low on the formal scale.

What are you doing this year? Anything different?

A Grateful Year

As some of you may have known, my husband went two years without working. Like so many of you, we were not sure he would work again in this economy. Lucky for us a job came around. But during that time we learned a few things:

1. Take nothing in this world for granted, especially not jobs or income.
2. It is the little things in life that make it worthwhile.
3. People are what is important.
4. You don't need much money to be happy. Having enough is just fine.
5. Never owe anyone anything - ever again.
6. Less is best.
7. When you've got it - share it. 

This is not to say you shouldn't save for a rainy day. We should all try to be in a place where we can survive in a downturn, or be secure in retirement. But with that being said, one of the best lessons to come out of those two years was the recognition that money in the bank doesn't work for anyone. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and all of the other gazillionaires that are giving away their money realize that simple fact. Putting money out into the world changes things.

This year we are not exchanging gifts in my family, we are fortunate enough to be able to share an experience instead. We are very grateful to have our children and grandchild with us to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, and the beautiful whales of Hawaii.

So with that thought in mind, I thought I would share a few of my favorite opportunities to share this season:

Library in Nepal - Fellow blogger, goddessoftheconfluence, has a business that often takes her to Nepal. She has done wonderful things for the residents on more than one occasion, using her own money. She is now spearheading a library high in the mountains for the people of a small village. She has a wish list, breaking down all the components of the building and books. Volunteers from the community will build the building. It is a fascinating and worthwhile project.

Oceana - Oceana is on the beaches cleaning the turtles and other poor sea creatures created by the BP debacle in the Gulf. It is an ongoing project. Their organization is focused solely on ocean conservation. This year they are giving you the pleasure of actually adopting a whale, dolphin, penguin, polar bear and more.

Animal Ark - This is a local program. I have been on more than one school field trip to visit the wild animals that have been rescued from some really sad places and situations. They have bears, eagles, coyotes, all manner of animals lucky enough to be cared for at Animal Ark.

Elephant Nature Park - My daughter had the good fortune to be able to visit this elephant rescue park while in Thailand this year. I posted about it here. For a nominal fee you can adopt a specific elephant at the park. It is really amazing how little it costs to help one of these magnificent creatures.

My husband likes to give at the grocery store, and always buys extra bags of groceries they have made up for the food shelter. But it doesn't matter where you give, or even how much you give, it is the energy and intention that goes with it that changes the world.

So do you have a favorite this year?

Mitch & Obama

Jayne, of injaynesworld posted this on her blog and it made me laugh, so of course I had to pass it along to you. She suggests we think of Mitch McConnell and President Obama as we watch the video. If you would like some snappy commentary, be sure to visit Jayne.

A Baby Humpback Story

And if you are still in awe about dolphins - head over and read this story. It's worth it, believe me.

Dolphin v Human Intelligence

Just in case you missed this:

CNN - Could dolphins be as intelligent as humans?

Hiring the Heavens

 

Conscious Media Network has the most uplifting, fun, interview this month with Jean Slatter about hiring angels to help us to do all sorts of things. If you get a minute, I can guarantee you will come away with a smile on your face. You can sign up for free for three days, so it would be free to view this video. Life should be joyful, you owe it to yourself to grab a cup of tea, put your feet up, and watch this wonderful interview. Have fun!

Visualization

In the early years of my spiritual development I decided to try visualizing what I wanted to manifest. In those early days I wanted very much to evolve spiritually, but also had desires for material things, which is a very human trait.  Things such as houses. It was during that time when many people had the same desires, or our landscapes would not be peppered with McMansions.

At any rate, I had just read Shakti Gawain's "Creative Visualization" and decided to give it a try it by visualizing myself living in big beautiful homes. More than one. (I also had a desire to live in other places.) So I set about following Shakti's advice - putting myself into a calm, relaxed state and then visualizing myself walking through these homes, enjoying how pretty they were, feeling all the feelings one associates with being in beautiful surroundings. During this time living in something of this magnitude was very far from my realm of possibility. I was a stay-at-home mom attending college, living a very middle-class lifestyle, with a husband that had no desire to move. Nonetheless, I had my dreams... shallow as they were.

Cut to today.

I now live in a very lovely home that we are renting from people who obviously had the same dreams. It is my third lovely home in six years. The other two were homes that we owned and sold, as we moved around the country for my husband's job. We are renting this home because over the course of the last few years our furnishings grew. Otherwise, we would not be here. The people who own this house have moved to smaller digs as well. Obviously, they found the same thing we did - bigger is not necessarily better. But we both had to experience the contrast to learn that lesson. I think that may be what life is all about - experiencing contrasts to understand what is truly important to us.

My point?

Creative visualization works. Whether you come at it from a very pointed, conscious manner, or are unconscious and letting your energy create willy nilly, what you think about and put your energy into becomes your eventual reality. You are the driver of your own boat. People that are highly successful are putting their life force into creating whatever it is that they feel passionate about. Science is catching up with this concept. It is now believed by many that on a subatomic level the world is possibility. That by just observing - we can change a wave into a particle, or a particle into a wave. It is the expectation of the observer that actually affects the outcome.

I tell this story because I know that my living arrangements are a product of what I purposely manifested those many years ago. It takes time for the atoms and particles to arrange themselves into what we want. We are energy. We live in a world that is made up of energy. I believe we are living our "dream" world. Making sure that dream is the one you want to live is the challenge. After all, there is a time gap. Simply directing our thoughts to being grateful, kind, nonjudgmental and loving is a step in the right direction. After all, our physical desires may change, but wanting to live in peaceful harmony rarely does.

My new visualization? It is a small house - maybe a tree house (seriously) - living in a community of like-minded people who share the same values as I do for the environment, resources, and life in general. I spend time thinking about it, reading about other similar communities, and designing the concepts from a lifespan perspective. I put myself into calm relaxed states and walk through the neighborhood where everyone smiles and waves, because they are all my friends and family. 


To be continued sometime in the future...

Swarms

Terra Galleria Photography

I guess there all kinds of swarms. Swarms of bees, swarms of ants, swarms of anchovies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, swarms of earthquakes. It appears the ground under my house has been busy. From Friday of last week until Monday there were 27 earthquakes. Luckily they were small and were eight miles deep. Still. Twenty-seven? Time to get busy on that emergency preparedness I started last month...