What I'm Working On

Just a short note.  I’ve been busy and will likely remain busy with working on my resource and links pages at Talking to Spirit.  I’ve done about 15 of them and have at least another 60 to go.  What I’m doing is writing a little piece to go on each page so that it isn’t just the links and resources.  I’m commenting on this stuff too.  

I thought it might bring some more people into the site.  Then, I will work on my book.  I promise.  Today was Web Rings and Writers.  

I’ve also been consciously relaxing.  I felt it was important for me to do psychically.  One of my problems is that I forget the stuff I’m seeing.  When I come out of it I remember the highlights.  So, today while watching Psychic Detectives one of the psychics said that she takes a tape recorder with her when she goes into trance and just talks into it.  Smack me in the head real good.  What a fantastic idea!  

Anyway, I have this faint memory of watching 2 people doing something.  Going somewhere.  I just don’t remember.  I do know it wasn’t ordinary day dreaming.  It was some sort of psychic hit.  But, I don’t remember.  So, I need to work on that aspect of all of this.

Yakkity Yak

I have to confess that I think it’s a blast to be able to channel.  I just have a ball with it.  I’m 51 years old.  I don’t act like I’m 51.  As I’ve gotten older I think I may even be regressing.  But, do you think I need to wear hose and high heels to talk to the guides?  No.  I can be in the most reflective room of the house (our bathroom) perched upon the throne and yakking away with somebody in Spirit.  (Somebody just said, “Not me.  You won’t catch me in there.”)  Anyway, before we were interrupted…I was talking about how you can be anywhere talking to Spirit.  

I was having a rather interesting conversation today with 2 people who don’t know that I channel.  Anyway, here we are having this really interesting conversation about God and how God is perceived by folks of different religions.  Somebody started talking about Hell and that’s when they started muttering things in my head.  I almost choked when I tried to stop a laugh.  You don’t want people to think you’re laughing at them.  The conversation just rolled along smartly so I didn’t have to explain myself.  But, it was funny and had I been around folks who know that I channel I would have relayed on the message that they were keeping a spot warm for them…Just like they do with me on occasion.

I know the guides are teasing.  They’ve told me before the only Hell is the Hell people think they deserve to go to after they die.  After being there for awhile somebody in Spirit comes to sort of wake the person up and gets them to realize it’s all Heaven after all.  Don’t get me wrong.  The Guides have said that everybody is held accountable for what they do in their lives and judgment is passed, but they figure that by the time you are back at source you’re also smart enough to figure stuff out mostly on your own.  They’ve also said that you get to experience everything you ever did to anybody, including animals, fish and plant life, up close and personal.  You, now, are on the receiving end.  If I were a bad guy that would be enough for me to mend my evil ways.  Anyway, that’s where you decide you need to work more on this, or that, or the other thing.  To my way of thinking it’s an incentive to do good works in this lifetime.  Also, to live your life to the fullest.  Basic things.  Don’t hurt others.  Treat others as you’d like to be treated.  One of the guides just said to me, “Not so many bad words anymore.”  Okay, I’ll try.

Computer Guts

I’ve had a second computer tucked under my desk for some time.  There was also a second monitor beside the one I generally use for all my computing needs and a second keyboard and mouse that occasionally hit the floor when things got too busy.  It was pretty crowded.  A couple of weeks ago a friend gifted me with a Belkin switcher thingie that would allow me to use one monitor, one keyboard and one mouse with my two computers.  That would be a great space saver.  

I held off until this weekend to hook everything up.  And, it was a mess.  Lots of cables snaking all over the place.  But, I eventually got it all sorted out.  I went to turn on the computer and it was deader than a door nail.  I hauled it out to the kitchen where we have another grounded plug and more room on the counter where I could take the whole thing apart and look at it.  Deader than a door nail.  I gave it the old whack.  A light came on inside.  I gave it several more whacks, but nothing else happened.  

I pondered what to do.  I could take it into my computer guy and spend $100 (at least) while he fixed it.  Or, it might be the power supply.  I looked online.  They weren’t that expensive.  But, it could also be the switch.  Too complicated and getting more complicated by the minute.  

Too bad.  I had a lot of programs on that hard drive.  And, it was a relatively big hard drive, too.  Another light came on, this time in my head.  Why not install the hard drive to use as a second hard drive in the computer I use all the time?  Ah….so, I removed it and read about installing hard drives online.  I need to get a split ribbon.  I think.  Otherwise, it ought to work.  The master and slave arrangement is already set up.  I would still want my present hard drive to be the controller, so that is the master.  Anything I add in would be a slave by default, so I don’t have to fiddle with that stuff.

So, another project is launched.

300th Post

In honor of my 300th post at The Spirit Moved Me and Look What Happened I thought I'd post one of those Magic Eye pictures. This particular one comes from a Google search and the website is: http://iyi.yi.org/junoi/grafix/stereograms/index.html

They've got quite a few of them there. Why I'm particularly interested now is that my eyes need exercising and one of the exercises that was recommended as being useful was to refocus my eyes to see the "hidden" picture. Hopefully this will help me not to see double anymore. It's gotten to be a drag.

Well, That's Crappy

I have spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening reading some of the stories and the comments at The Poop Report. If you’re a regular reader of this column you will have noticed I have no fear at all of talking about farting and normal stuff people do all the time. Why this is, I really don’t know, though, the family I grew up with had a real barnyard sense of humor and the man I married was no different. Anyway, I was googling information on why my butt is sore. It comes and goes and actually isn’t anything I really want to talk about right now, though, it doesn’t hurt anymore. Butt, I happened upon The Poop Report.

I’ve now registered at the site and will henceforth be known as Psychic Pooper. Everybody selects a name that somehow reflects their interest in poopy matters. Some names that caught my eye were Bunga Din, The Dumpster, GottaGoGirl, PooperScooper, C Everett Poop, MasterCrapper, The Holy Shitter, Mega Dump, HairyPooter…it’s just hilarious. The stories are well written. Concerns people write in about are valid and many times are things you just can’t talk to other people about.

Anyway, one of these days after I’ve read a little more and learned the etiquette of the site I will probably write about how Jeannie and I created a masterfully authentic counterfeit turd and took it to school. We were in the 10th grade in Hagerstown, Maryland at St. Maria Goretti. We left it in a stall in the downstairs bathroom. This was between classes and the bathroom was crowded with girls. We left just as Sister Phyllis went into the stall where we had positioned the turd, stuck artfully on the seat and trailing down into the water. We were almost dying of laughter as we left. The only thing missing was an odor. As I recall it was mainly constructed of mashed potatoes. We’d added cocoa for color and some corn for visual effect.

And, now, she’s your psychic.

Well, will wonders never cease.

Changing Habits

Somehow I think we are always trying to find the most comfortable place for us to be in. At the one extreme would be somebody who just passed their hand too close to an open flame. That’s hot. That hurt. They drew away from the fire to a place where it’s not going to hurt them. So, too, does somebody who is hooked on cigarettes crave that next cigarette that will calm them down and allow them to continue on their day easily. A person who overeats will reach for something to eat more to comfort them than to ease their hunger. These practices are mostly unconscious with us. If we were to think about what we were doing as we did them we might not derive the same sense of satisfaction from them.

Maybe that’s a first step toward changing a bad habit.

Not actually doing anything drastic. Not actually making a commitment to lose weight, quit smoking or stop drinking. Just sort of noticing what you’re doing.

Notice the times you develop cravings to eat. Is it right after you’ve had a difficult conversation with somebody? Is it during a lull in activity? Is it right before a class or a meeting? When do you want to smoke? It’s like every 25 minutes, isn’t it? It’s when you can’t smoke. I remember I could not go to movies for years because that was where I could not smoke and it was almost a guarantee that I was going to be crazy for a cigarette. And, how about a drink? Can you go days between having one or do you need to have one every day?

I don’t think that’s too much to ask a person to do, just to notice something. It’s interesting that I already quit smoking and stopped drinking, so I know I can do it. Those were real hard to do. I developed (I hope) strength of character. I can’t quit eating, but I do need to become more conscious of what I eat. I need to make every bite count, so maybe I need to count every bite? Something like that. Just for now. Just to ease me into the idea that losing weight is a comfortable proposition.

My husband has lost 25 pounds in the last few months. He’s using Weight Watchers, which is a terrific system. He’s always asking how many points something is. “Okay, that’s only 3 points. I can have that.” He’s very, very aware of what the points are now. That’s all. There’s a system to figure out the points. We’ve got a couple of books. We’ve got a slide rule gizmo. We also signed up for Weight Watchers On-Line where they’ve got lots of foods already pointed out and you can even put your favorite recipes in to figure out what they’re going to be.

Maybe I should just swallow my resistance for a few months and lose some of this weight. I’ve managed to lose 10 pounds since January. It’s not a whole lot, but at least I don’t honk the horn anymore with my belly when I’m in the car. I think I can find something else to aspire to if I think about it.

Bread

As we speak I am making bread. Well, I put all the ingredients into the bread making machine (it’s a Bread Man) and it did its stuff. I took it all out after the first rise and dumped it all into a bread pan. When you complete the entire process in the bread machine and dump out the loaf after it has finished baking it always tears a hole in the bottom and those couple of slices, once you get that far in the loaf, don’t look so hot. But, I absolutely love my bread machine. It’s terrific for kneading and my shoulders just aren’t up to the job anymore. Most of the time I just deal with the holes, but tonight I wanted a special loaf. This one is going to a friend.

Anyway, here’s the recipe for tonight.

Put into the bread machine for a 1 and a half pound loaf

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
Half a cup of milk, warmed for a minute in the microwave
Add a quarter of a cup of water
Half a cup of sourdough starter (I just help myself to the starter. It’s not much and I’ll feed it this weekend)
Swish this all together until the honey is mixed into the liquid.

Add 2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
3 tablespoons of wheat bran flakes (not wheat germ, though that would probably be good)
Add 2 teaspoons of dry yeast to the top of the pile.

Start your dough machine or plunge in up to your elbows if you’re not using a machine. As with kneading by hand you will want to monitor the progress of the knead. You might need to add a little bit of water tablespoon by tablespoon, or it might go the other way and you’ll need to add a little more flour. Knead for 10 to 15 minutes by hand until the surface of the dough is smooth, put it into an oiled bowl and cover with a towel (or just walk away for awhile if you’re using the machine). I think it rises about 45 minutes for the first rise just until it is doubled in size. Punch it down and remove from the bread machine. You’ll probably need a sprinkle of flour across your counter so it won’t stick to everything. Knead it a little bit and form into a loaf. You can get creative and braid it if you feel like it. Scatter a little bit of corn meal into the bottom of a loaf pan.

I fired up the oven just enough to take the edge off and heat it up a little tiny bit about 4 or 5 minutes if that. Then, I turned the oven off, put a kitchen towel over the pan and set it into the oven to rise the rest of the way. I suppose I could have left it all out on the counter to rise, but it’s not that warm there. Better to rise in the oven. About 45 minutes. I spritzed some water onto the floor of the oven to make it just a wee bit humid. It’s the water I have to squirt at the cats when Fluffy Drawers has gone across the divide between the houses to bedevil poor little Sheba on Phil’s patio. Or, you could always mist your plants with it too.

The plan is that after 45 minutes if it has risen enough I’ll fire up the oven to about 350 degrees and bake it 40 minutes. I’ve tried this twice before and the oven was too hot and the time in it was too long, so, I’m figuring this time it ought to be okay. If I do anything different I’ll adjust this recipe. And, if Blogger will finally cooperate and act right I'll be able to upload a picture. For whatever reason I have not had a whole lot of success uploading pictures to this blog lately. More often than not it won't work at all. Every once in a while it does. I guess you can say, "What do you want for free anyway?"

I began experimenting with my recipes when it happened that my loaves were coming out all wonky. I didn’t know if it was the yeast or the other ingredients. Now, I believe that it just wasn’t rising enough for all the “extra” stuff I have been adding to the loaves. This particular loaf, in lieu of a picture, came out pretty dark.

Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve

I saw this on the Groovy Green Blog. Green burial. Simple, inexpensive, kinder to the earth. Truly a very simple way to do it. There's a list of eco-cemeteries in the US at the end of the Groovy Green article.

Black Listed

Well, I’ve been black listed by Blog Explosion. They said I was too commercial. I don’t even sell anything. Figure I’ll re-apply a few months down the road and see if whoever put the jinx on my blog dried up and went away for awhile. Maybe I should start dabbling in spells. That would be an interesting sideline….some guide in the background is rubbing their hands together. I wonder what that means?

New Blog Template - Purple Tulips by Caz

I thought I should make mention about the new template I’m using.  I’ve been tweaking it for a week or so, ever since the last one gave up the ghost.  I’m pleased with Purple Tulips by Caz.  For the most part I’ve been able to resurrect most of the doo-dads I had on the previous blog, though some have slipped by the wayside.  It’s sort of like cleaning house.  You find some things that just don’t work anymore and decide to get rid of them.

The only thing I would very much like to do about this blog is to center it on the screen.  If anybody knows how to do that, would you let me know?  I have a feeling I’d need to alter some of the jpg’s involved, which might present a problem.  I don’t know.  Anyway, for now, it’s a change and, I hope, a good one.

Max Magnus

I ran across this blog some time ago.  Beyond being just plain fascinating as an artist’s blog this blog has English on one side and Swedish on the other.  It’s Max Magnus – Artist Blog.  In the interest of learning a foreign language this is a terrific resource.  I lived in Norway for 3 years when I was a little girl.  That was my first exposure to another language and I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for things Scandinavian.  Interesting, too, that as I moved through school and took up other foreign languages my teachers always said I had a Norwegian accent.  The art is great and you’ll have fun here.

Well, That Was Sort of Interesting

An interesting interchange between my guide and me this morning.  I was wondering about future lifetimes for myself.  I wondered if it was going to be hundreds of years before I come back again or if it was going to be shorter than that.  A guide said to me, “Pay attention to what the young people are interested in now.  It will be of interest to you.”  Which sort of meant, I think, that turn-around time for me next time around isn’t going to be that long.  Either that, or I’ll be an historian interested in the 21st century.

Psychic Readings

Okay, here’s the really mysterious part about somebody reading your fortune. They’re using tea leaves or looking into a crystal ball, or peering into the innards of a chicken. It just doesn’t make any sense to you, but to them it makes perfect sense. How are they doing this? How can they look at something as ordinary as dirt or sand and come up with anything other than, “This is a pile of dirt”?

Here’s what I think. Or, at least, this is something that crossed my mind this morning. When you’re going to do a psychic reading you tap into another or a wider stream of consciousness than you normally operate in. Your normal stream of consciousness has a familiarity to it that allows you to take advantage of “gut” instinct or a “feeling” every so often. It’s not scary. You’re used to it. You’ve had it all your life. Also, there are known conditions that you apply to your decisions to do things. We all know it just isn’t always safe to go wandering the streets at 3:00 am. So, we don’t do it. Unless we are looking for trouble or what we feel might be excitement. If at 3:00 am you are awake and cannot go back to sleep you either lay there in bed, you get up and have some hot chocolate and watch television, or you fire up your computer and do something there. But, you don’t go pacing around outside in your bathrobe and slippers. Like I said certain no-brainer sorts of rules.

So, what if this stream of consciousness that you normally are aware of and are comfortable with was larger than usual? What if you were able to be so aware of your usual stream of consciousness than in being aware of it you realize that you’ve been going around really focused in on a particularly small aspect of it and that there is actually a whole lot more available for you to look at?

And, just to make it more familiar to us what if we were able to come up with a set of rules or guidelines to use as we move around this expanded stream of consciousness? Okay, here’s a rule that we are all aware of. Go outside and look at the sun directly for a long period of time and you’re going to hurt your eyes. Or, it’s raining and you go outside without a raincoat or an umbrella and you’re going to get wet. It’s not anything that we think of consciously. You either make the decision to stare at the sun or you don’t but you know what’s going to happen if you do.

What if just because we’re generally comfortable having rules and conditions in our lives we can extend that practice to when we are in an expanded stream of consciousness? We might pick up the new rules from somebody who is already dancing there and has figured out what to do to get certain returns on their inquiries. If it’s one thing we like I’m thinking we generally like to know where we are and what we are doing. So, a proven method of divination. And, you either learn from a book or from a person. When it looks like “this” it means one thing. When it looks like “that” it means another thing.

In the beginning it’s probably going to be sort of rote. It’s like dancing. You look at your feet for awhile before you really get into it and are ready to have fun. So, you have these “rules” that underlie the reading, but once you’re really familiar with it all you also begin to trust information that comes at you from no discernable source and doesn’t really fit into the “rules” you normally work with.

Part of this is to make a very conscious and obvious decision not to be afraid of the unknown. In the beginning weird stuff might come your way. It takes patience waiting for something interesting to “show” up. It takes trust on your part to “believe” the information that comes to you. Like, as I’m writing this I’ve slowed down considerably and am waiting for the “interesting” stuff to start happen. What I’m “getting” right now has nothing to do with what I’m writing, but rather with an example of the stuff that shows up. It’s a puppy. A crying puppy. I don’t know whose puppy it is. It’s not in distress so much as it’s just a crying puppy.

Okay, now I’m going to dip back in again. I take a deep breath and quiet myself. If I were doing a reading I’d be focusing in on the person I’m doing the reading for. Right now I’m just jumping into the wide river of consciousness to play. I sense snow now. A large expanse of white snow. Flat. Not snowing. It already snowed. It’s like a desert of snow. And, it’s cold.

It’s how you do when you pray at night for somebody who is hurting. You want to comfort them and you lay in bed praying for them. What you’re also doing is sending them loving energy, you’re sending healing energy to them. It’s their decision to accept that energy. You can’t make somebody feel better or heal. They have to do that. They go to the doctor. They take pills or talk to a therapist. But, you can offer your love to them. You do that via this stream of consciousness. Passing on the healing energy that’s out there for everybody, just passing it on to them.

There’s always something you can learn from somebody else whether they are a acknowledged psychic or not. Some have more rules than others. They’re all teachers. If you happen to go to a psychic don’t be afraid to ask them to describe what they are “seeing” for you. It’s how you learn this stuff.

Grieving Sometimes Lasts a Long Time

My mother died on September 14, 1994.  Twelve years ago.  It doesn’t seem that long.  I still miss her.  I can talk to her anytime I want because I’m a channel.  But, I still miss her.  I know that she’s in a better place.  Well, a different place.  I know that she likes it.  I know that she’s fine.  I know it’s okay.  But, I still miss her.

Bubble Tea

We went to China Town in Oakland yesterday. It was bustling and so many old folks were there. We were terrifically lucky to find a parking place right in the middle of everything. Right away I hauled DeeDude into tiny little grocery stores. We marveled at all the stuff for sale. Lots of different sorts of vegetables that I’d never seen before.

I’d been wanting to try some Bubble Tea for the longest time. We spied a tiny little place and were the only customers there. They must have had 100 different flavors offered. I let the guy choose for me when I said I wanted something red and sweet. DeeDude had Strawberry and I got Taro Root. Mine actually ended up to be purple, but it was fantastic. DeeDude liked his too. The hilarious thing about this drink are the huge pearl tapiocas at the bottom of the cup. You have this huge straw and the tapiocas pop up into your mouth so that you’re eating and drinking from the same cup. It’s absolutely hilarious.

After we were done we went to another grocery store and I bought us some tapioca and a package of the straws. They had white and black ones…we’d had the black in our drinks, but DeeDude got turned off from the description on the package which was “starch balls”. He said, “What is this stuff?” I said, “It’s tapioca. It’s what I use to make pudding except this is bigger.” But, no starch balls so we bought the white version. Fine. I looked it up in Google and they said tapioca is the starch from the root of the cassava plant.

When we got back on the street and in the crowd of folks waiting to cross at a streetlight noticed a bunch of young folks and they all had a plastic cup of the Bubble Tea. I’m not sure what we’ll use for the tea part. I don’t think it really matters, but there are powders available on the internet. We couldn’t seem to find anything yesterday in the stores, so I’m wondering if it’s a mostly no-brainer. Tea. And, Milk. That’s it. The attraction is the bubbles at the bottom of the drink. I looked it up on Wikipedia to get more information.

Killed Blog - Deader Than a Door Nail

Well, all I can say is that was interesting. I killed my blog. Now, I’m making a new one. Yikes. Anyway, slowly we’re coming back again. Luckily I’d saved all the interesting doo-dads I’d managed to collect and will slowly be putting them back on again. At least, I’ve got the blog roll and the daily channeling back up again. Sheesh.

And, on a funnier note. I was being pissy about something on the way home. I can’t even remember what it was. Oh, right, now I remember. I had been thinking about how we’re subjected to negative vibrations via the things we hear people say and from stuff on television and how that can really drag you down. Except, I was in a pissy mood. And, I was shouting out bad words all over the place. I mean really bad words. And, then I proceeded to try to bait my guide…and said something along the lines of, “Well, if I called him a *#@$#@ in a really loving way, how about that?” To which he responded, “We’re keeping a place real warm for you.”

I told you that you don’t get away with anything. See what I mean?

Sow Love - Channeled Info

When a person lives in fear they will much of the time act in a purely self defensive manner.  This means that the people around them better watch out.  Charity has no meaning other than a self serving way for a person who lives in fear.  How can you truly give if you feel in need yourself?  

What is the difference between a person who lives in fear and a person who does not?  Part of it is obvious in that a person who lives in a war torn land is necessarily self serving.  There is a sense of self preservation that exceeds all other expectations in their life.  But, for people who do not live in times of war, what of them?  Well, there is crime and crime is certainly rampant.  There is hardly a place on the face of the earth that has not seen the evidence of one crime or another.  What about people who live there?  Self serving, all of them.  Always look out for Number one.  It is a complaint made of much of society.  Me first is what is said of the various generations that come along.

But, you know that you have met people who are not self serving all the time.  You know of generous people.  You know of those who would allow harm to come to them rather than to allow someone they feel needs to be protected to be hurt.  

It starts with love.  You can only boss yourself.  You can’t change anybody else.  If there are times you do your own personal soul searching and find yourself wanting because you ignored the pain of another, or perhaps you looked the other way when you saw an injustice occur knowing full well that someone would be harmed somewhere along the way, perhaps you can allow bygones to be bygones and resolve that you will mend your ways.  Now.

If you need help pray for it.  If you have an addiction stop buying drugs, or alcohol, or indulging in harmful behaviors.  Seek help.  And, don’t ask for the sympathy from those who do not know how to help you.  You know who can help.  Your family has put up with your behavior for years.  They are, in a sense, likely encouraging it or at least enabling you toward your addiction.  So, you get help from whoever you know will help you and pay for it if need be.  

Put yourself on the right road.

If you are mean of spirit seek the reason why.  Again, ask for help.  There are wounds deep inside you that only you can uncover and allow to heal in the light.  You, not anybody else.

As you heal resolve to be charitable toward those who are in need.  It might seem odd when you first begin, but with practice it will become easier and then likely become second nature to you.  

You don’t need to reek of goodness.  You need only turn your face to the sun and ask that you serve.

Ask yourself what one thing you can do that would improve the lot of others.  

As you move toward a life of serving you will slowly begin to notice that you do not live in fear as you did before.  It is a natural offshoot of generosity.  The energy you emanate will touch those you help and they will come to a time when they are able to help others as well.  It is through the support of those around you that we will all be healthier in the generations to come.  The seeds of our future good survival begin with you.  Sow peace where you can.  Sow love and we will all reap the rewards hundreds of years from now.  

Thank you and our blessings to you.

Old Tired Eyes

I enjoy reading blogs, but sometimes the things people complain about puzzle me. I mean, get a life. If you figure how much energy a person has to expend during the course of a day, especially if that day is on the weekend and you’re trying to jam as much as you can into it, complaining about something like the width of space between the lines in a book hits about rock bottom on the list of valid things to complain about I can think of.

Hey, the older you get the more grateful you are for things like more space between the lines you young whipper snapper.

Psychics

What is the difference between normal people and psychic people?  I really don’t think there is much difference.  I think that psychic people have just come to realize that there are quirky parts of how they are and they honor those things.  They seek out to encourage it rather than to repress it.

I think psychics are generally fearless people.  Normal people sometimes are immediately fearful of certain things.  I’ve met people who will immediately say that they would never in a million years touch a Ouija board.  I am puzzled.  The Ouija board is how I broke through to the other side.  The Ouija board was the tool I used to talk to Spirit.  The Ouija board is my friend.  Well.  Whatever.  I don’t use the Ouija board anymore because it’s too slow and I talk faster in my head.  

I’ve met people who frown upon meditation.  They say it’s too weird.  I am puzzled.  I can hardly do it enough.  Meditation is my friend.  Meditation is the tool I use to move to a centered place.  Meditation helps me to calm down.  Meditation helps me to pray.  Meditation is a good practice.

I’ve met people who didn’t want to have the Tarot read for them because they were afraid of what would be revealed.  I am puzzled.  They’re just cards.  They don’t cause the future.  They show you options.  You ask the advice of your friends readily enough.  You either discount that advice or you heed it.  Do the same with a Tarot reading.  They’re pretty complicated as it is.  The nuances of how each card is with the other are difficult to explain.  Nobody expects you to be expert at it right out of the bag.  Get a deck of cards.  Get a book.  And, pick ONE card.  That’s all.  Just one silly little card.  Read the definition in your book.  

I move with Spirit now.  Spirit is with me at work, at home, at play, in the grocery store, in line at the bank.  I am not alone ever.  Buds.  Best buddies.  I can’t see Spirit.  I hear Spirit.  Like the other day when I was watching an interview Johnny Depp gave to the Actor’s Studio.  He said having a child allowed him to suddenly see everything in focus.  He saw it then, the meaning of life.  And, my heart broke.  I don’t have children.  I’m 51 years old right now and I’ve never had children.  And, it hurt me again to hear his words.  I think I will always grieve for not having had children in this lifetime.  But, right then Ben came to me in Spirit.  Ben is my son from another lifetime.  He will comfort me when I feel like this, when I grieve not having had children.  Of course there are other children in Spirit, but Ben is the one who comes and who comforts me.  

Now, before I recognized that I was psychic I would not have had Ben to comfort me.  I would have been alone in my pain.  Having somebody in Spirit to talk to when you’re hurting doesn’t make the hurt go away, it just makes it easier to deal with.

If you aren’t willing to go that extra step to say that you’re psychic you can still have that same comfort by pretending that there’s somebody in Spirit who listens to you.  Just pretend.  I know you’re grown up.  I know only children pretend things, but pretending this one thing, whether it is God you are thinking of, or Jesus or Mohammed or Whoever, just pretend.  Pretend it’s your grandmother who passed on when you were 8 years old.  Pretend it’s Elvis.  Pretend it’s President Regan.  I don’t care who it is.  Just pretend somebody in Spirit cares for you.  I know in my heart that it is true.  Until you actually feel comforted you can pretend in your heart that it is true too.

Hey, Did You Hear? It's Free

I’d like to talk about the word, “Free” for a little bit.  This is one of those words that has a powerful, magnetic property.  The attraction of the word, “Free” crosses all sorts of age and cultural barriers.  For the one thing it means free to do as you please.  In countries where personal freedom is limited or not encouraged the worth of the word, “Free” is great.  How much is it worth to you to be able to speak your mind?  In some countries you can’t do that.  And, if you do speak your mind you’ve just endangered yourself,  your family and your associates.  So, being free to speak your mind is real important.

Another meaning of the word, “Free” is free of charge.  No cost to you.  Even people who have a lot of money like the word free.  Face it, they got a lot of money probably by thinking about it a lot.  And, people on a budget like the word free because they didn’t have to save for whatever they got for free.  So, free in this instance is also important.  And, it’s important for two groups of people.  It’s important to the people who are receiving the free-of-charge product or service and it’s important to the people who are providing the free-of-charge product or service.  Now, it’s interesting, too, to compare something for free to something that cost something.  With the free thing no money exchanged hands.  No barter.  No strings.  No obligations.  No nothing.  It was free.  For the thing that cost something money exchanged hands.  Or there was barter involved, or an obligation incurred.  Something exchanged hands.

What I am proposing is that in both the free and the cost-you-something version there was something of value that exchanged hands.  

In the exchange that involved money, currency exchanged hands.  It was worth it to the person buying the thing or service to shell out money for it.  They got that money by going to work every day.  They earned that money by having the responsibility to hold a job.  They had it as extra income or they’d saved it and the money they paid for the service was a form of energy that went to the person selling the thing.  That person might not have gotten rich from the transaction, but the exchange keeps the ball rolling.  Enough of it and we can meet the payroll or buy the supplies necessary to make some more product…whatever.

In the instance where, “Free” was the operative word the energy exchanged was just as important as that of money exchanging hands.  I believe the word, “Free” has just as much power as, “Money”.  People remember, “Free”.  People will talk about the experience they had where they got something of value for nothing.  That’s the energy.  That’s the exchange.  That they talk about it later on to other people.  And, they spread the word about your company or your services.  Word of mouth is how many people end up getting jobs.  Also, the person getting the free thing is likely to return to your business again to see if you aren’t offering more free things.  Maybe later on you are, but you are also offering something for sale.  Because you didn’t trick them the first time and the free thing you offered was really something of value and not something to embarrass them or make them feel foolish they are likely to feel that they would be in a good position to spend money on your thing that you now have for sale.

It’s just a theory.  Something I was thinking about this morning.

Chocolate

I want to talk about teasers. They irritate me. I suppose they are a terrific marketing ploy, but once I start clicking and find myself needing to read just why somebody wants me to spend $39.95 to finish the story or find out why this is the best recipe my bile backs up.

Maybe I’m old fashioned. I don’t know. Maybe I’m cheap. But, I feel like I’ve just wasted my time. To my way of thinking, if you’re going to use a teaser to sell something you should at least give the folks more than just a whiff of the product. You need to extend something substantial. Like a recipe. A real recipe. Or, a story. Or something.

I realize that with a product you’d eat the shipping and handling costs for the first 50 thingies you give away, but hey, for 50 people they did get something for nothing. And, that is the real attraction. I think. Something for nothing. Or, you could give away your free sample product if they paid the shipping and handling. That would at least get some people interested. And, even if they didn’t bite, the word “Free” floated past their eyes. They spent time at your site.

How many times does it take for a person to be exposed to a product before they actually go out there and buy the ding donged thing? I’m sure it’s more than once.

Which raises the next question. How do you get them to come back to your site? In my own surfing experience once I get on a roll I could not tell you where I came from or how I got there. It’s just a wonderful clicking experience where I land like a bird every once in awhile and high tail it out of there when I see a cat watching me. Or, when I see another tree to go to.

One way I’ve got for folks to return to my site are my newsletters. I offer them in an archived collection at Talking to Spirit, but I also pound one out new each month. This weekend is my weekend for cranking out three articles. And, I’ve sort of been mulling over what to write about. I trust inspiration to hit me when I’m ready to do it, but I also like to be semi-prepared and to that end it occurred to me that maybe I was going to be writing about something I’d already written about and shouldn’t I go culling through my archives to refresh my memory? That’s when the guides stepped in with a, “Nope” for me. They said people write about things they’d already written about all the time. Maybe I’d come up with a new angle on something I’d already explored a while ago. And, if I didn’t remember I’d written it what are the chances somebody else would too? So, I thought that was good advice and I wouldn’t worry about it.

Something else I want to begin work on is the rest of my book. I’ve got all the archived readings sorted into groups and all they were waiting for was for me to make a pdf file and send it off to http://www.lulu.com/ for publication. Except I kept dragging my feet. And, I didn’t know why. Hey, this would actually allow me to offer something for sale at my site. Seeing as how I don’t do readings anymore (except in dire circumstances and only in real quick answers for folks…and for free). I believe I need to offer the public something of substance. Who needs to go blind at their computers reading all my stuff? Books are much nicer. Anyway, last weekend I finally realized what I needed to do. Each of the chapters needs an intro. Or, more than an intro. I need to just sit there and see what the guides can come up with. Or, the both of us. Anyway, the way the project sits now is it’s just random chocolate chips sprinkled around. We need some cookie dough to bind it all together. Then I’ll bake it in a pdf file.

Stuff and Nonsense

I’m going to have to start writing notes to myself on my arms.  I’ll refer to them at the end of the day and either wash it all off then or do it with my shower in the morning.  Then, I can start fresh again.  I swear I can’t remember stuff.  And, it’s aggravating to have to spend the energy trying to remember something I can’t remember.  You really don’t have a clue.  It’s just this nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten something.  Maybe all you know is that it’s work related.  Maybe it’s something to remember on a grocery list.  Actually, the particular thing forgotten is probably no big deal.  So what?  The next time you notice that you’re out of lettuce you’ll put it on the shopping list.  Or, whoever it was who called will call back again.  It’s the loss of control that’s irritating.  It’s that nagging feeling that takes precedence over all the other things you should be concerned with.  

Not a good feeling.

Last week I made reference to a number of rather cool notebooks I have collected over the years.  Additionally, those who are of a crafty bent could individualize notebooks for themselves (it’s on my list of things to do).  And, I could make a rule that whenever I want to remember to do something I will write it in one of those notebooks.  At present there are only 5 of them.  I’ve also scoured the house and corralled them all together now on the same bookshelf.  That way I’m not looking all over the place for them not remembering where I’d put them.

Also, energy spent on wanting to write something down but not doing it is also wasteful.  So, another resolution.  Write it down right away and write it down in any of 5 wonderful special only for my use notebooks.  

Doesn’t seem hard.  Actually, it’s easier than resolving to use the sonic care toothbrush every day.  I hate it when I aim funny with that and my entire head goes BUZZZZZ as the edge of the ding dong thing hits my teeth funny.  It’s easier than resolving to do the Denise Austin Walk Aerobics for 15 minutes every day where I always, without fail, manage to hurt myself and need 3 weeks to recover.

Hey, this will be a piece of cake.  Already I feel better.  

Now, what to do on the go?  My 5 notebooks are at home.  What if I’m in the car and something occurs to me?  It’s not going to be much longer and we’ll be needing to get hand’s free phones in California.  Maybe they’ll require people to always have both hands on the wheel at all times.  What if your car wouldn’t operate unless you had both hands on the wheel?  How would you pick your nose if it really needed picking?  You certainly couldn’t drink coffee.

Okay, a contraption, a hat that you wear in the car.  It drops down like oxygen masks in airplanes.  You put it on, strap it securely under your chin and voila, you are ready to go.  Sticking out of the side of it is an adjustable microphone.  That’s for your phone.  You control it with your tongue.  It’ll have 3 bumps on it.  Braille for the tongue.  The upper bump will be for when you’re wanting to make a call.  It turns on the phone and you speak the number you want to dial into the mic.  The middle bump turns off the phone.  The lower bump is when you want to take a personal memo to yourself for something you want to note and not forget.  When you get to the office you dial in your secret number and retrieve your message to yourself.

Also, attached to the hat is a supply of coffee.  You have to load it in when you get into the car.  It’ll come in this enclosed capsule sort of thing that wraps around the brim of the hat.  It’s hot, so be careful as you handle it.  It won’t make your head hot, though, because there will be a special insulated hat band that cools your head.  Anyway, the drinking part releases and falls down when you wiggle your left eyebrow.  The hat band also has sensors in it.  So, this tube descends and you can sip away.

No help for nose picking though.  That’ll have to wait.  It’s not real polite anyway.  I don’t know why people think that they can pick with impunity in the car.  It’s like they think nobody can see them.  Okay, I’ve got to go to work.

Night Vision

I had an interesting thing happen this morning.  I’d awakened close to 4am.  Then, I couldn’t seem to fall back to sleep.  I kept tossing and turning and every half an hour or so I found myself rolling over to peer at the clock to see if it was time to get up yet.  Normally, in the not so distant past, I would have gotten up and gone to play on the computer, either writing something or to surf the internet.  But, lately I haven’t been feeling all that great and I figured that if I wasn’t getting my full quota of sleep at least I could be resting and that might just be the next best thing.  

So, there I lay, sort of drifting but not going completely back to sleep in this sort of semi-wakeful state.  Shortly before 6 am when I did finally get out of bed my interesting thing happened.  I believe that I was remote viewing.  I found myself looking over the edge of a tabletop.  I can’t remember what was on the tabletop, nor did I recognize any of the other people there.  I believe there was more than one other person.  But, it was the strangest, clearest vision I’ve had in awhile.  It wasn’t a dream.  I was awake, but I believe my eyes were closed and I was seeing with my psychic/vision eyes.  My eyes were level with the top of the table and I was peering over the edge toward the people on the other side.  If I were a kid I would have been just that high and that’s what I sort of thought about it afterward.  Now, what’s interesting is that the table wasn’t my table and the people were not my people.  My eyes were not my eyes.  I was sort of seeing something through somebody else’s eyes.  At least, that’s what it felt like to me.  As it was happening I was aware that it was very odd.  I squeezed my eyes shut three times and each time I opened them again I saw the table and I was still peering over it.  Were my physical eyes open and I was actually squeezing them shut or were my vision eyes open and I squeezed them shut?  Anyway, it was all very odd and very interesting.  

I haven’t come to any conclusions about it so far.  I don’t know that I really want to.  It happened.  Why it happened I don’t know.  I do know that it was important that I not be aggravated or in any way upset about not having been able to go back to sleep earlier.  I feel that if I had expended energy on a snit that I couldn’t get back to sleep I wouldn’t have had the energy to engage in this little bit of remote viewing.  I also find it interesting that it just happened.  I hadn’t set out to have a remote viewing experience.  In other words, I wasn’t in control.  Which means a lot to me.  Not being in control is not a desirable condition.  And, yet, it happened.  And, I was okay with it.  So, that was interesting too.  

I’d like it to happen again.  I don’t necessarily want to see what somebody who was murdered saw right before they died.  It would be interesting to see through the eyes of a child again. Some guide just laid their finger on their nose…a good sign that I’m pursuing something of interest.

God

So, I’m surfing. And, I’m interested in what sorts of lists of psychic abilities people have come up with. And, I come to this site that has listed individuals and what sorts of psychics or healers they are. And, there are some heavy duty names on this list. Jesus is there too. And, I’m reading it. And, this voice in my head says, “This is God.”….I started laughing…I don’t know what God wanted to say I was laughing so hard. This is a particular brand of Guide Humor I experience every once in awhile.

Here they go again. “This is still God speaking.” Okay, I’m game. Hi. Hello. Did you realize that Hello is Hell in reverse? As you leave Hell you say, Oh. So, they came up with Hello. No, I didn’t know that. Is this really God? Are you questioning me? Well, yes. I just don’t believe it’s really you. See I talk to a lot of guides and every once in awhile somebody gets a wild guide hair or something and starts doing what you’re doing. What am I doing? You said you were God. Well, yes, so I did. Don’t you believe me? Well, I sort of have my reservations. Do you believe in God? Yes. But, not so’s you’d be there to sort of chew the fat with. Ah, so you believe in one sided conversations with God then? Well, I like it better when you don’t start talking back to me. I think a lot of people are like that. Moses didn’t like it when I talked to him. No, I don’t suppose I’d have liked to have been holding a conversation with a burning bush either. You’re lucky I’m not telling you to go do things. Like what? You don’t want to know. No? No, it’s the weekend and you’ve got all your activities lined up. Well, that’s thoughtful. Thank you.

Are you still God? Last time I looked. Okay, I have a question for you. What is it? Why can’t I lose weight? If you did you’d float away. No anchors. You’re already not rooted in reality. If you were to lose weight you’d float right off the surface of the earth. So, it’s not safe? Right. Okaaaay.

You know, this is sort of one of those parables, if you don’t mind. The shoe being on the other foot and all. You’re really, really wanting me to prove that I’m God and I really don’t feel like proving it to you. How many questions do you get from people who say they don’t believe you can talk to the dead? Or even the animals? Or the saints? Or Superman? Or Elivs? See what I mean? Yeah, I do. Sorry. Why? Why what? Why are you sorry? Because I doubted you. I’m not sorry. Why should you be sorry? It’s no skin off my nose if you don’t believe in Me. I believe in you. That’s enough.

If I Was a Writer

I’m not a real writer. I have a job during the week that I go to. So, I’m not a real writer. I’d be scared to be a real writer. If I was a real writer I think I’d need to be able to write something interesting every time I sat down. If I was a real writer I’d be making money with my writing. I’d be talking to publishers and asking about contracts. I’d be able to point to the collection of books on my book shelf with my name on the spine. I’d be able to say, “Those are the books I wrote”. If I was a real writer.

If I was a real writer I think I’d think of the books I wrote as my offspring. They’d represent little pieces of me that I’d released onto paper. Sort of a photograph of me. Not really of me, and yet of me. Sort of like children.

If I was a real writer I’d be more caring of the time I spend writing. I’d be pissed off if somebody rang the doorbell or called me on the telephone and wanted to talk during the time that I spend writing. “Oh, well I saw your light was on and knew you were home, so I called.” I’d turn the phone off and put a sign on the door that said, “I’m working. Come back at 5:30 pm.” Or, maybe the sign could say, “Writer at work. Please do not disturb. Leave a note and I will call you when I’m done.” That’s nicer. That’s what I’d do if I was a real writer.

If I was a real writer I’d have a special coffee cup that I could use. In fact, I think I would have several special coffee cups. Just to sort of lend an atmosphere to the idea of writing. I only drink one cup of coffee every day and if the cup were special somehow I think that would lend power or oomph to the whole idea of being a writer.

If I was a writer I’d have special notebooks all over the house. I’d have one with beads on it. I’d have one with cats on it. I’d have special notebooks, notebooks that were fancy on the outside with lined paper on the inside that I could use to pen in notes as I think of them. Better than post-it notes that get stuck to other things and eventually go missing. “Oh, shoot. What was it I thought of last month? Where did I write it down?” If you only have 5 special notebooks it’s got to be in one of them. Easy. Five places to look.

If I was a writer I’d do most of my writing on a computer. Thoughts flow easy there. Thoughts and fingers move in sync. There is a rhythm. It flows. Sometimes I would go back to pen and paper, but if I was a writer my tool of choice would be a computer to compose the words that move sometimes like water or like music across the screen.

If I was a writer sometimes I would close my eyes and be more private with my writing. I’d cut off the distraction of screen and only have my thoughts and the tools of my fingers moving on the keys to record what it is I am trying to say.

If I was a writer I’d keep digging. I wouldn’t stop. I’d touch the first thought that comes up, but I’d keep worrying it. I’d be like a terrier with a favorite squeaky toy. I’d push it with my nose. I’d go put it under the couch and sit there with my nose to the flap of the slipcover knowing my toy was just behind it. I’d be the only one who would know and I’d sit there until the boy comes in. Then, I’d quick push underneath to grab it and bring it out and maybe the boy would chase me. That would be fun.

If I was a writer I wouldn’t discount the oddball thoughts that come my way. I’d look at what I’d written and think for a minute, “Well, that was weird. I wonder where that came from?” And, if I was a writer I’d think maybe, just maybe I was able to connect to that great unconscious stream of life that flows around us and picked up on the thoughts of a real terrier and what that terrier was thinking about. Weird, hub? No, I don’t think so. If I was a real writer I think stuff like that would happen more often.

Del *.*

Usually, I approach the blank screen of a word processing document like a piece of paper and a box of new crayons.  Or, armed with one of those fancy, most likely turquoise colored gel pens, I am poised above this pristine sheet of paper about to say something.  What am I going to say, though?  Well, it depends.  I might be thinking about making an entry to my blog about channeling.  Actually, I’ve been wanting to make an entry in that blog for over a week now and haven’t settled upon what it is I want to talk about, so that particular creative effort hasn’t resulted in anything worth printing.  

Or, like tonight I just find myself at the edge of the forest and really don’t know which path I’m going to take.  I don’t really have any particular destination tonight other than just sort of cracking my creative knuckles.  Maybe this will end up in The Spirit Moved Me Blog.  Maybe it will end up in my journal.  It also could also just as easily get deleted.  The last three or four things I’ve written have been consigned to the depths of the trash can, though with a word processor all you have to do is a ctrl A and then hit your delete key and it is gone.  

So, this sounds sort of interesting.  Deleting.  Destroying.  Writing and then deleting it.  You wrote it.  Nobody read it.  You didn’t even read it again.  You just deleted it.  But, did the 30 minutes you spent writing something count for anything when you just got rid of it?  I think it did.  I think the stuff you write and then either file away forever never to be read by anybody again or the stuff you write and then ball up and toss or delete is important stuff.  These thoughts that you’ve taken from your head and laid out on paper are the beginnings of something of worth.  You think it’s important enough to talk about it, whatever “it” is.  You take the time to mull it over in your head and begin the process of putting “it” on paper.  And, either somebody, someday is going to read it and be entertained, or enlightened or not.  But, you will have reached out and touched the essence of somebody else for the moment in time it took them to read something you had written.  It was a connection of sorts.  It’s like catching somebody’s eye, a stranger’s eye, smiling at them and having them smile back at you.  You’ll never talk.  You’ll never see this person again.  But, you connected for a few seconds.  And, that was important.

The thoughts you think, the feelings you feel and want to express go onto paper (or screen).  And, you decide, “No.  This is not right.”  And you delete it all.  It’s gone.  Did it never happen?  No, I think you are changed because you wrote it in the first place.  Somehow you have connected with what you are feeling and translated into words.  But, you deleted it.  Fine.  So what?  It was 3,000 words.  So what?  You’ll do it again and the next time you’ll do it you’ll be able to do it faster and be clearer about the whole thing.  But, the first bout was absolutely necessary.  You needed to try your wings here.  You needed the opportunity to see what it felt like to try to describe whatever it was you were feeling right then.

This sounds picky.  This sounds like you need to be on medication.  

No, it’s just one aspect of the creative effort that involves deleting things.  It’s how a writer can write a book and then go back and edit it without getting hung up on thinking they are destroying their book.  So, save the pieces you are deleting.  Maybe you can use them somewhere else in a different project.  Maybe you can rework it all into a separate essay.  

And, sometimes more than just connecting with another person the time you spend writing something could be for you alone.  Maybe you’ve been puzzling over something for awhile.  Something has been bothering you and you just want to sort of explore why it is you’re acting the way you have been acting.  Or, maybe you want to discover why you seem to be attracting every asshole this side of the Mississippi River into your life.  All I can say is you’re a magnet.  Or, like attracts like.  Maybe writing about this you’ll get that old lightbulb floating above your head to go on and say, “Oh, shoot.  I’ve been afraid about x and taking it out on y.”

I Forgot

Being right, knowing what I am doing, knowing where I am, looking intelligent, looking like I know what I am doing is important for me.  When I find myself in a place where I am confused I tend to get irritated.  

Unfortunately, this state of being confused is happening to me more and more often these days.  I’m not sure why this is.  It might be age related.  It might be something that’s happening because of my diabetes or because of menopause.  Whatever the reason I sense this confusion and forgetfulness at times and it frustrates and frightens me.

One of the guides just said, “Shit happens”.  Well, yes.  That too.  Anyway, my point here is to try and look on the bright side and find something positive to focus in on from a psychic or from a spiritual standpoint or, at least, from a practical normal standpoint.  Yeah, I guess I should start with that first.  

Okay, to deal with it taking the frustration and fright away I think it would be manageable.  I can write notes to myself more often than I used to do.  Post it notes is what my father opted for.  My sister said he’d covered the kitchen cabinets with them.  So, that’s an option.  I could journal more often which would sort of be an emotional release and that would be helpful.  I could get one of those medic alert bracelets.  My husband has one on a necklace he wears all the time.  We pay a yearly subscription for it and if anything were to happen to him paramedics can key in the number on the medallion and find out all about him, name, address, doctor, condition and medications.  

But, I think getting better organized both at home and at work would do a great deal to settle my butt down.  I’ve got these big piles of partially finished projects all over the place that I should just devote 10 minutes a day to sorting through.  I can handle 10 minutes.  Ten minutes isn’t onerous.  Ten minutes isn’t even all the commercials added up from a half an hour television show.  I can handle 10 minutes.  So, if I were to spend the first 10 minutes of every day when I’m fresh to go through the piles I would be happier.

What’s going on here is a sort of mini resolution day.  It’s my birthday and I think of fresh starts and things like that.  So, I’m making a pact with myself.  This coming year I’m going to:

Floss every day
Use the Sonic Toothbrush everyday
Tend to my piles everyday for 10 minutes
Write in my journal once a day, even if it’s only for 5 minutes
Write down my dreams
Meditate every day
Do my exercises for eyes and body
Channel something everyday.

And, to that end we might wish you a happy birthday.  When a person who does not channel yearns to speak to a loved one who has passed on they might imagine in their hearts that person could hear them.  They might say, “Oh, if only Mother could hear me.  I’d tell her all about her grandson who has grown so in the years since she died.  I would tell her how I’m so much more confident in the work place.  I would tell her of all the things I used to when we talked on the telephone once a day.  I miss her so very much and want to talk to my mother again.”  So, we would say to that person that they should just imagine that they are speaking to their mother who is long gone these past nine years.  And, we would say to that person they can be assured their mother heard them.  Our blessings to all this day.