I am grateful every day, not just today; but since today is Thanksgiving and people tend to focus their gratitude on this day, today is appropriate for this email where I'd you to consider what you are grateful for.
Living live in gratitude and abundance is not something you do once a year or just on a certain day of the week when you can schedule it in; living in gratitude and abundance is something we should do every second of every day. We all have our maladies, our trials, our tribulations, that which binds us in many ways can also be the catalyst to setting ourselves free. These challenges vary between each person, some are much harder than others, and some people can handle some things that others simply could not, but in every case, there is an opportunity to learn to give, to show and to share our gratitude and abundance.
When we accept these things as tools for us to use so that we may grow inside and become a better person, we not only change our perceptions, we change ourselves, our own world and the world-at-large. Accepting these as tools in and of itself is a lesson and can be rather challenging for some people to overcome and see it in this way; but trust me when I say it makes all the difference in the world.
The difficulties in life, (and we all have them), are blessings whether we realize it or not. Life without challenges would be rather boring, and we all have these in our lives for good reason... so that we as spiritual beings may grow and learn who we are and to help us become who we wish to be.
When we actively live our life in gratitude and abundance, with the flowing positive energy we focus, we attract that which we give, that which we are, and thus we not only receive within, but we have even more to give from within to the service of others.
I am grateful for the love of my life, my soul mate Vicki, as well as that of my family and friends.
I am grateful to be cancer-free since April 2001.
I am grateful for my wonderful job and all of the opportunities it has presented me.
I am grateful for being laid off from both of my last two jobs because I have become better because it it.
I am grateful for being able to earn my IT certifications.
I am grateful for all that I am, all that I have, all that I have been blessed with, all that I will be blessed with, and most importantly of all, all that I will be able to bless others with.
May you know your blessings on this and on every day.
I've had a blog for awhile, but never really promoted or did much with it, but that's all changing. I'm recently (as of November 2009)revised it and will use this blog as my primary place for posting my writings, whether they are articles, personal thoughts of day to day happenings, or even snippets of excerpts from one of the books I'm always working on.
In the past, I've pursued the music business as well as the IT world; and while I had passion for those things; it isn't even close to my love of writing. That's a large part of who I am and what I do. I'm a writer, so I write. My other (and even greater passion) is my wife, my immediate and extended family; and I believe that this blog will be a wonderful outlet for me to share and serve others through words, ideas, concepts and goals. Writers are an odd lot, like many creative people are. The writing is the art form, but the art is in the creation of the art form, and it's there that the joy of creation exists. Like any creative person, we wish to not only create, but to share our creations with the World at large in the hope of making the World a better place. I hope to use this blog to be a venue in with which I may do that with my writings.
I'm going to be taking some of my selected past writings and putting them online in their complete form; while others I may only take mere snippets from to entice people to wait for the full article or book. I look forward to your comments, suggestions, ideas, stories, whatever you wish to share with me to help improve the blog, and ultimately, our World.
I ask that you read the articles and if you like them and my blog, to please let others know by sharing my blog's address with people you know, visiting it often, comment on posts, link to it from your own blog, toss it out on social networking sites, and so forth. Thanks in advance.
The longer explanation takes a bit more time; so please read on…
The vampires of which I write are not the romantic, Hollywood type; nor are they based on Dracula and out prowling the night in search of your blood either. Real vampires are everywhere. Most of the vampires you’ll encounter belong to the more common kind of the two types of vampires. This first type of vampire is rather unaware of their vampiric nature; yet hey are still vampires and still dangerous nonetheless. It’s just that they’re not really aware of what they are doing, how or why they are doing it. It’s other type of vampire, the ones who are consciously aware of their nature and knowingly act upon it; that are the more dangerous type of vampire to contend with. While both kinds of vampires exist, thankfully this second type is quite rare in comparison to the first.
These vampires do not steal your blood, they steal your energy. These vampires are known as “Psychic Vampires”, or Psy-Vamps” for short; and their existence is acknowledged by many people. Most of the vampire’s victims are those who are unaware and/or unprotected. Hanging garlic around your neck, carrying holy water and wooden stakes isn’t going to do the trick I’m afraid; but Grounding, Centering, Shielding and being aware of you own energy field, will. It’s here that we get into the areas of offense vs. self-defense, which methods to use, when, where and why; as well as personal morals and ethics. I leave such things to each person to judge for themselves and to inspire each person to have cause to investigate such things on their own. My task and point of this article is simply to bring the vampire’s existence out of the darkness and into the light of your awareness.
It’s important to Ground, Center and Shield as often as you can, especially whenever you are around crowds of people, in public, or anywhere that may contaminate your energy field or attract others who wish to take from or harm it (and you) in some way either knowingly or unknowingly. It’s always important as well to be aware of your surroundings, on all levels, at all times. Like a Boy Scout, the motto stands here as well: “Be Prepared”.
What really motivates me from within to be the best that I can be?
The answer is simple: True love for my wife and the life she has lived.
I first met Vicki in 2001 at an event held by a social group my then-girlfriend Heidi and I belonged to. (Heidi actually introduced us.) At first sight of Vicki, I felt some sort of connection at a very deep level that I just couldn’t place my finger on at the time. After awhile I stopped trying to figure it out. Maybe it was from a past life? Maybe I saw her somewhere once before? I figured “who knows.”, and I let it rest at that. I just couldn’t figure it out, so I let it go.
I became friends with Vicki and we talked on and off over the years, but it was sporadic at best – especially after Heidi at I broke up in 2003. During the time I was dating Heidi, Vicki would often tell her how badly she was treating me. (and Heidi did. Not all the time, but she had a bad case of OCD, other mental health issues, etc.) Vicki defended me quite a bit. (Some of this I saw, most of it I did not find out until years later when Vicki and I got together and started on our path together as a couple.)
In September of 2005, my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I sent out an email to various people asking for good energy, prayers, call it what you will, I needed the support, as did my family. My father was losing his wife of 56 years, I was 38 and losing my first parent, my dad has 2 forms of cancer, I had cancer at 34 years old, my mom had had breast cancer years earlier, so cancer has ravaged my family for years, but now it was terminal in my immediate family. One of the people I emailed was Vicki. Having lost her own father to cancer and her mother to long illness and heart attack years earlier, she knew what I was going through and wanted to be there for me. We emailed back and forth a few times, writing, talking, and making plans to get together.
Now something strange happened….
In my last email before we were to meet, I told her that I was “all in”. Something inside of me, more than a feeling, call it “a knowing”, told me to fully commit to her. At the time I didn’t know why I did such a thing, especially for a casual friend that I was just meeting to visit with, but I trusted in my choice and went with it. Upon meeting her in her drive, after talking a bit, I gave her a kiss; and it is a magical kiss I will never forget. Description of it is beyond words, but it was all the verification I needed that my choice to go “all in”, was the right one to make.
We sat and talked, learned a lot about each other in a very short period of time. After I’d left that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about her, so the next night I went back, proposed to her, and except for 2 days, we’ve not been apart one day since November of 2005. (as of this article’s writing, it is January 2008.) The entire beginning of Vicki and I’s relationship inspires me. In that one kiss, I knew I found my soulmate.
Over the next year, we learned a lot about each other and went through many trials and tribulations. She lost her business of 25 years and her house of almost as long, which I will explain more in-depth in a bit. I had slowly started moving out of the music business, had to get my first day job in 7 years, moved in with her, and we had to find a new place to live together, along with a few other things we went through as well together. We went through things that would have torn many an established relationship apart, let alone a fledgling new one. We were baptized in fire, so to speak. Our lives were one big 5 alarm of constant emergencies and major upheaval, but our life together was also one of strong bliss. The foundation of our relationship cannot be shaken. It is solid beyond words.
When Vicki’s first husband went crazy (literally, - and not because of her), they had owned 2 business, a tax accounting firm, and a video store business; so naturally the tax accounting business did the financial stuff for the video store business as well. By the end of it all, he had gambled away $125,000 and was living inside of a feces covered car in the casino’s parking lot. It wasn’t until she threatened media attention that the casino evicted him. To make matters worse, a good part of their relationship was troubled by domestic violence that resulted in physical abuse of her and her 3 daughters. Eventually she escaped from the marriage after trying for years to save it, to no avail. The IRS ended up shutting down her video store, and she managed to get it re-opened again, which made the local newspapers. So now without a husband and no child support or family to rely upon, she raised 3 daughters by herself, paid a mortgage on the house and maintained a business (the video store), for 25 years. She ended up mortgaging the house over and over after paying off each one, so that she could use the money to finance her business. The last time she did this, she had attempted to open a 2nd video store, a first for her, and the location and business was so bad that she had to let all of the employees go at the 2nd store and run it by herself. She’d work 12-15 hour days with hardly a customer. Eventually, the 2nd store’s financial loss killed it and took the 1st store down with it as well. For 10 months she survived just on Internet sales of inventory, eventually buying one last video store in November 2005. 10 months earlier, her 2 stores had closed, and this was one last valiant effort in the video business. Of course things have continued downward in the entire video industry. Here was a woman who innovated the video business by adding tanning to video stores. A 10 years in office ex-president of the Video and Software Dealers Association (VSDA), someone well known within the industry, and she was barely hanging on.
She inspires me.
In August 2006 when my mother died from her cancer, my father, my 2 brothers and 2 of my 3 sisters were there in the room. Some of my siblings have been married for over 20 years, yet their spouses were not there. Beside me, my soulmate, Vicki, a woman I’d been with only 10 months, was by my side as my mother passed beyond the veil. The bond formed by Vicki and my mother is a strong one. My only regret is that they didn’t have more time together, that Vicki didn’t know my mom when she was well, before she was sick, but they did get to know each other, which is important to me. The fact that they bonded like they did, that is a miracle and a very precious thing to me as well. So, Vicki and I faced death together with a close loved one. Vicki also faces death everyday because she has some major health conditions. The doctors told her in 1995 when she was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus (SLE), that she had 5-7 years to live. Add onto all of this the fact that this is not her only major health issue, (another one is connective tissue disease) and you can compound the degree to which I am inspired by her. All of the things of which I wrote above, she has done while in not so great of health.
She is one of the strongest people I know. She lives life with a passion that inspires me. She fights when others would have long given up, having walked that road in life alone for so many years. She’s alone no more, because she has me and I have her.
She is not only the love of my life, she is my life.
Each morning I wake up next to her, I am inspired.
Each day I go through life out in the World, I represent her, and I am inspired.
Each time I look into her eyes, I am inspired.
Each time I hold her hand, I am inspired.
Each time I kiss her, I am inspired.
Each time I touch her, I am inspired.
Each time I think of her, I am inspired.
In our love, I am inspired, and in inspiration, I love.
Update: 11/21/09 - October 7th, 1009, Vicki and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary and in early 2010, we'll be moving into our new, custom-buolt house.
One day in the summer of 2009, I was walking in one of my favorite places to visit; a stone and brick labyrinth that’s nestled in the small back lot of a wonderful shop in Minneapolis, Eye of Horus. As I meditated as I made my way through the labyrinth, weaving around its path to the center and out again. My body in motion, my mind calm, in the stillness of the silence of my mind, the following words came to me:
May love guide us,
May fear leave us,
May peace be with us all.
This could be called a prayer, a spell, a mantra, a poem, or any other host of names by whatever each person prefers to identify it as; it is a simple and yet powerful message that I leave up to each individual to determine what it means for themselves. What I offer below is what this message of the labyrinth means to me.
We are born out of love from The Source; but once we are here, we learn fear and we spend the rest of our lives trying to get back into that place of unconditional love without fear; to get back in that place of peace, and to come full circle. As I walk full circle in the labyrinth, so does my soul journey towards doing the same in life. I am not without fear, though I have lessened it while on my journey in this lifetime, it is an ongoing process my own spiritual evolution. Like the flowers that grow around the labyrinth and change with the seasons of nature; so it is within our own nature to we grow and change as well. We are not above nature, but part of it. The more we not only intellectually realize this, but the more we feel it within our soul and the interconnectedness of all; then the more we can move from those places of fear back into the places of love, moving ever towards inner peace.
The labyrinth teaches us a powerful message; but it isn’t anything new. Many voices, many messengers, one message; but sometimes those messengers aren’t always human. In this case, the labyrinth spoke to my soul and my human mind formulated the words from the wisdom of my silent mediation while walking its pathways.
What messengers are in your own life?
Do you hear them or do you let the cacophony of society’s noise of the mundane world drown out what your soul seeks?
Are you primarily living out of a place of love our a place of fear?
The next time you’re in Minneapolis, I suggest talking your own walk in meditative silence with an open-heart around the labyrinth, listening with your own soul. You may receive some insight and your own message as well. When you’re done there, take a walk upstairs and partake of the art gallery they have as well. Eye of Horus is an excellent store that provides great products and services to the communities of the greater Minneapolis-Saint Paul/Twin Cities area; but perhaps the best thing about them is that labyrinth of love in that back lot, the former neighborhood dumping ground that is now not only a shining example of urban renewal; but a place in which one may renew their own soul.
Disclaimer: I am not paid to post this about Eye of Horus or the labyrinth; as I do so of my own free will and accord. This posting on my blog is not a paid advertisement, but rather a supportive statement for something I strongly believe in…. hope and love.
In this moment, I am; but am I fully in this moment?
If you’re like most people, your mind is divided into a sea of thoughts about your past, your present, and an array of infinite possibilities; but are you missing out on the present? While it’s good to revisit the past sometimes and relive some memories, to reacquaint ourselves with the lessons learned lest we soon forget; the past isn’t a place in which we shouldn’t dwell too long, but merely acknowledge as a path we’ve travelled. When we look back down that path, we can see our footprints, where we walked, stumbled, and where we ran; we can see our triumphs and our failures, but these things helped us to be who we are today….and Today is what it’s all about. We do not want to diminish our past, because to do so would diminish who we are; but we instead want to let the past remind us without the need to embrace it in the Present. If we constantly embrace our past, then we live in it instead of acknowledging it. In doing so, we lose out in this moment, this very moment.
Did you feel it?
There goes another one.
Another moment passed.
Again.
As these moments pass as you read these words, do you focus on the words you’ve just read individually? My guess is probably not. If you’re like most people, you’ll focus on the words you are currently reading while remembering the collective whole of words past read; so if we can focus our minds like that to words on paper, why can’t we focus our minds like that to our own lives?
WE CAN!! Yes, that’s right!! WE CAN!!
It’s simply a matter of changing our focus, living in the moment as if we are reading a book; focusing on the current moment we’re currently living, while remembering the collective experiences of our life past lived. Isn’t that wonderful? It’s so beautiful and elegantly simple in its beauty; so simple in just being that it’s glorious. To breathe in each moment with focus, is to live each moment with focus; and do live that, is a wonderful blessing. Be blessed. Bless yourself by choosing to live in the glory of the moment.
Think of your Past as your personal reference section in the library of your mind. It can be a great place to look for some source material, but if you want any sort of quality on a given subject vs. just mere reference points; you’ll need to move into another section of the library where books of more substance are; and that section is the Present. It’s here in the Now of the Present that you not only read the current book of your life, but it’s also here that you’re writing it as the soul author of your own story. As we write our daily lives, time passes and our mind forgets the details of our life lived, so the books we write become additions to the editions of our reference library. Details become lost into tidbits of reference material; memories are merely parts of the collective whole of our incarnate experience which is part of the divine dance between the human and the eternal life force which we all are.
We are always creating and writing the story of our lives on a second by second basis, reading our own book and the works of others; but when we’re In that creative moment in the process of our life, I must ask if we are we fully in that moment, or are we looking in the reference section or thinking about possible future chapters we’ve yet to write? How ambiguous and vague our future is!! Affected by our own choices, the choices of others, and all in a sea of universal energy that ebbs and flows with the consciousness and connectedness of All. How wonderful it all is and the infinite possibilities we have!!
The future is unwritten because by the time it is written, it has become our Present. To try and have a pinpoint focus and grasp on the future is akin to staring into the Sun while trying to nail Jello to a wall. Not only is it blinding, but it’s an exercise it futility as well. So what of these possible futures, these unwritten chapters of our lives? What do we concern ourselves with and why? The answer is simple. If we focus on the moment of the Now, the very thing in which we not only live and breathe but simply are; then the future will take care of itself. This is not to dismiss planning, but as the saying goes…”the best laid plans of mice and men…” The universe is a dynamic trickster who will always circumvent our static-laid plans. No matter how dynamically we incorporate variables into the equation of our planning, does it ever go exactly as planned for us in the exact way we imagined it? Not really. (..and sometimes that’s actually for the best too, if you think about it.)
So relax. Breathe deeply and know within your soul the moment in which you live and are. Know the moment and be the moment. Living fully in the Present moment is the ultimate present of all to All.
Much has been written about ethics and morals, but they are only factors, not the subject of this article. For brevity’s sake, I will say that ethics and morals are unique to each of us, but when people live together in a village, city, or otherwise have a societal community at large; those individual morals and ethics contribute to the collective whole. The individuals that make up these communities and society may have some commonalities between them as far as ethics and morals go; but every one affects the All, and therefore the actions of one affect each of us even though we may not feel or recognize them, there are still effects.
All that being said, we as a society run quite the gamut of individuals of both sexes; some good, some not so good, and some, downright evil. (for common understanding I use these terms of “good” “bad” “evil”, etc, but I do not subscribe to the absolute meanings of them).
Now, all THAT being said, it’s time to get the point since I’ve laid down the preliminaries of where I’m coming from for the purpose of common understanding…
I had a best friend once, although the relationship was a bit lopsided in many ways for both of us. I relied on him to work on my cars, help move me, hang out (and in our younger days), get into trouble with, etc. For most of the 27 years (since I was 13) that we were friends; a lot of it was good and some bad. There was a time (1987-1997) when we didn’t talk for because of his drug use years ago, and I had to get away from his decline. I couldn’t be around to watch it, and I didn’t want the drama, the negative energy, etc. In 1997, after much caution on my part, to make sure that the bullshit was done and over with, we got back on speaking terms, hanging out, etc.
A few years down the road, he got married and then one night, he beat his wife and I had to call the cops on him. It happened so fast, I was in shock. Unless your life is in immediate danger, you do not hit a woman. Clearly, this was not the case. He went off on here because he was drunk and stupid. After things settled down and he got out of jail, we had a talk. I told him, “Never do that again. Ever.”
Fast-forward a few years, as that happened in the early 2000s. He now has a girlfriend who just gave birth to his 6t kid and his 1st with her. One night and drunk again, he strangled her so hard that he left fingerprint bruises on her neck. He really did a number on here from what I hear from a friend of mine that was living with them at the time. He threatened to kill her, to kill him, and I don’t even want to know whatever else. Again, I was not there, and it’s probably a very good thing I wasn’t. All of this took place on October 12th, 2007, the night before my wedding reception on the 13th. (He was my best friend at the time as well as the best man at my wedding on the October 7th). Needless to say, he didn’t make the reception because he was in jail. Did that upset me? A bit, but not really at all compared to the fact that he did it again – He hit a woman and he’s probably been doing it all along. By my own ethics and morals, I cannot abide by this, nor associate with someone, even a best friend of 27 years, who does this. There is quite simply, NO excuse for domestic violence – ever. Obviously he has never changed and probably never will. He will always be a drunkard, a liar, and a woman beater.
His boss and his boss’s wife were at my wedding reception the night after all of this went down. I told him in no uncertain terms that he (meaning my now ex-best friend), are done. I made it perfectly clear; and I guess his boss must have given him the message because I haven’t heard from or talked to my ex-best friend since the day before it happened on the 12th. Apparently his boss now has him living with him and allowed him to keep his job. While that is his choice, it’s mine to not associate with either of them. I cannot condone such actions, associate with those who beat women or those who help the abusers continue their self-destructive patterns, It will not be a matter of IF, but WHEN he does it again. Maybe this time he will kill someone, and I pray that he, his boss, and all those who support them can live with their choices and consequences thereof. Unfortunately for them, I cannot abide by such things and because of this, friendships have been broken and people have been banished without prejudice from my life.
I am not angry over this whole ordeal, or even at my friend. Anger is a choice I will not make; and anger is a choice he does much, which is why he is the way he is. Since July 2005, I’ve been on a different path than I was before. It was a time of major change in my life and my spiritual beliefs. I have evolved and become a much more peaceful person who seeks enlightenment, lives in the moment, and has become free of many bonds.
In November 2005, a friend of mine turned wife, got together. She was abused by her ex-husband many years ago. Divorced since 1995, she has healed in many ways, not so much in others. She still has some fear, some scars, some wounds that have mostly healed; and whether they ever will, I don’t know. Not only would I lose her respect, her daughter’s respect (as they look up to me as their father), my family and friend’s respect, but also I would compromise my own ethics, morals and self-respect. The cost would be too high and one I choose not to pay. He’s not worth it.
I wrote this article not out of anger, not out of fear, not out of judgment, but out of choice. Those things are not an issue, as I have purged him and all around him from my life, forever banished.
The purpose of this article is hope.
Hope that maybe one day he will change, but somehow I doubt it. He hasn’t changed much in 27 years. I tried to warn his boss, but sadly, he didn’t listen to me. One would think when a friend ends a 27 year friendship; people would listen to the reasons why.
Hope that others will see not all men are bad or will stand by those who hurt others, especially women.
Hope that maybe this will inspire others to act if they have a similar situation in their own life, be it themselves or their friend who hits women.
Hope that there IS hope.
Ladies, trust me. If your man abuses you mentally, physically, and or emotionally, he lies, he cheats, he steals part of your soul, and he will do it again and again and again and again and…..
If you are in such a situation, it is not a matter of IF, but WHEN it happens again…and the next time, might be the LAST time. The choice is yours to stay or go.
May you choose well.
I have healed and do not hold harm nor anger. My message has been said to all who know me, and now to the World at large. It is done.
One day when I was alone, broke and feeling down, I prayed, "Lord, if I was wealthy all my problems would be gone".
The Lord replied, "You shall have wealth greater than you can imagine".
I struggled daily with life's problems, some of them harder than most people ever have. Every time I had money, it went to bills, drugs, and booze with very little, if any left over for savings or anything else. "If I could just save a little bit" I thought, "maybe it'd add up over time." but I never got rich or saved much. I wasn't greedy or looking for tons of money, I just wanted to get ahead, to have a little better life than the one I was living, that's all I ever wanted.
I simply couldn't do it alone.
Not my finances, Not my bills, Not my habits, Not my life.
One day I asked again. "Lord" I prayed; "Where is the wealth you promised me?"
The Lord replied, "You shall have wealth greater than you can imagine".
For years I fought, eventually with the help of my family, friends and faith, I got my feet back on the ground. I got a job, paid my bills, got clean of drugs and booze, and my life generally improved. One day I realized all I had in life and how things were coming together nicely. I was happy, made everyone around me smile, had my health, family, friends, etc. Still, I was confused. The Lord had promised me wealth, and yet I wasn't rich.
I prayed again, "Lord, thank you for all I have in life. What of my wealth though?"
The Lord replied, "You shall have wealth greater than you can imagine".
Life went on until one day, it happened. I died and went before the Lord. "Lord" I said; "I don't understand. I never attained the wealth you said I would"
"When you asked me about the wealth, what did I tell you?" said the Lord.
"You told me that I would have wealth greater than I can imagine". I said.
Then the Lord pointed down to Earth and said, "See your wealth".
I looked and before my eyes:
I saw every person I ever made laugh and smile.
I saw every person I ever made tell me how they were really feeling - and then made them feel better.
I saw every person I ever helped in my support group meetings.
I saw every person I ever met and their life better in some way because of me.
I saw every person I ever made their day better and they in turn did the same for someone else.
I saw every person I ever loved and who loved me.
I saw every person that touched my life in some way and helped me, even when I was helping them.
I saw every family member.
I saw every friend.
I saw how I made the World a little better place because I was in it.
I saw everyone, everywhere, every time, and everything before my eyes all at once. I then realized how truly wealthy I really was.
My "savings" was in people, in love, in family, in friends, not in material things or money. I had attained true wealth and indeed the best life of all.
I realized how I had been so wrong in my thinking on wealth. In a tone begging forgiveness in my voice, I said, "Lord...." but he put up his hand to stop my words.
Then the Lord simply smiled, pointed to Heaven's Gates as they opened and said, "You shall have rewards greater than you can imagine".
Ground, Center and Shield. What do these things mean and why should you do them?
Whether you’re working with energy for a specific purpose (prayer, casting a spell, doing healing such as with Reiki, etc), or just going through daily life; you may want to ground, center and shield as a practice of habit and self-protection. This is especially true for those people who are empathic or are sensitive to energy or work with it. Large crowds, people who project harmful energies, places, things of that nature are all around us, and whether we realize it or not, it affects us. By keeping ourselves grounded, centered and shielded, we keep ourselves on a steady foundation and help to minimize these other energies influence over us. We certainly can’t block everything out, but we can keep out as much as possible.
Grounding is where you project down into the center of the Earth and up to the center of the Universe and bring those energies into the pit of your stomach to ground yourself.
Centering, (done after grounding), is staying grounded and putting your energy field into balance through energy work. This can be accomplished through mediation, working with the chakras and the Kundalini or a multitude of different ways, although those are the paths I choose to use.
Shielding is just that…shielding. It’s where you block out as much of the harmful energies that you can while still letting the harmless energies in. I suggest a multi-layered shielding so that you can add or remove layers as needed. For example, if you are too shielding, then you won’t be able to work with energy for healing, such as Reiki.
While the techniques are as varied as the stars in the sky, the fundamental purpose of them is the same. I recommend that you find and adapt your own techniques for grounding, centering and shielding. Whatever works best for you is what is right for you to use, so experiment until you find what fits. There are many fine books and websites offering a variety of techniques from which you may start your research.
You can ground, center and shield as often as needed throughout the day, and I highly recommend doing so as part a meditation session each morning and each evening. In my personal practice, I do Japa mediation in the a.m. and Om mediation in the p.m., which works for me, and it may work for you. Again, find what works and use it.
As Gandhi stated in one of his many quotes, “We must become the change that we wish to see”. This profound and clear, yet simple statement is one which is which he is advocating free will, personal-choice and personal-responsibility to choose whether or not we change ourselves as individuals and change our own worldview. Sadly, it seems that so many do not see the truly basic message within these words, so the message goes not only unheard, but it’s not acted upon by many people. Some do hear it and act upon it, from what I have seen from some of the people I have met and seen in life; while many more people I have seen choose not to.
When we choose to change ourselves and our own worldview, we change ourselves and our own World; but when a group of like-minded people get together who have all done the same inner-work towards personal change; and they join together with a larger, focused intent to continue that process on a larger scale, they do so by showing others what they have done as individuals first, and then as a group of individuals working together to inspire others by not only their actions and deeds, but more importantly, how they have changed their own lives and who they are. They are who they wish to become because they create their own reality and live in the now, the present moment, in present mind, with focus on all that they are and desire to be.
By doing this on an individual basis, they send forth that energy which will hopefully inspire others to do the same. By joining together in a group, they hope to work together to continue that process on a larger scale. In the end, it still comes down to the one. It all comes down to the individual. It all comes down to YOU.
A community is a group of individuals who gather for a variety of reasons, be in political, religious, career-based, a hobby, ethnicity, or any number of one or more reasons; but in the end, it again all comes down to each individual, regardless of community or anything else but themselves, their own free-will, choices, and personal-responsibility
There is no “out there” or “them” to change. There is no one to blame but ourselves, if we choose to affix blame at all. Personally I see blame as pointless and would rather use that energy towards change and inner work than to focus it in some non-productive way; but that is all part of the learning process. We all must choose to walk our own paths.
The things above of which I wrote are not confined to anything, any group, any community, but rather to humanity as a whole. Humankind, for whatever reason, gets sidetracked by become personally-vested in and polarized to thinking and acting in many ways, all with expectations that others do the same, or expect certain results. All of this combined with linear thinking, the ego and the illusion of individuality, along with the perceived human need to apparently file, organize, categorize and label everything and everyone, all leads to separation vs. unity of the whole. Intellectually, maybe people know they are part of one whole, yet unless they feel it, unless they live it, unless they do the inner work and not only intellectually know but also feel that they are part of the All, nothing will change because they have not changed.
We have all read many articles and had many conversations regarding what needs to happen in our community due to the many issues with it; but I ascertain that the issues are again, not “out there”, but instead are within each of us, lying within each individual; and it is there that we must affect the most change first and foremost, which will then in turn affect the larger communities and humanity as a whole. Until we are ready to face our individual selves, until we are ready to change within, nothing will change until we do.
Humankind, Never before have you wrecked such havoc on yourselves or the Mother one which we all live. It is only too late to save yourselves if you choose it to be.
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