Living Inside a Disco Ball

Here is a somewhat brief summary of a concept to visualize our relationships to others, why they matter so much, why relationships are our primary purpose here on/at Earth School - because it is through these relationships we re-gain and demonstrate our wholeness aka complete unconditional love of self and all. (Why is there a hole in wholeness??? When we are whole, there is no hole!)

Summarized Concept 

• Each of our souls is surrounded by a disco ball made of two-way mirrors
• In each mirrored facet of the ball we see a different people in our life
• How we see (judge) each person is actually a reflection of an element of ourselves- for better or for worse. Regardless, we must unconditionally accept and Love each aspect in order to fill the voids that Ego has created. 
• If we can only see our own perspective and judgements of the Earth personality (other person’s that is actually our own) reflecting back, life is a dull, warped, confusing perception of the world - like a hall of mirrors. 
• If we can love that person for who they actually are (their soul, beyond the two-way mirror and our own issues, then we are connecting to their Light/Soul which is making our light stronger - like a network lighting up. 
• As we see the Light in more and souls around us (beyond the tow-way mirror facade) our Lights get brighter and brighter. Our Vibrations/Frequencies get higher and higher, which is ultimately our purpose here: to increase the frequency of our Light (soul growth) to get closer to the highest frequency aka Source/God/etc. We are drawn to this higher frequency like capillary action. 
• We can feel the higher frequency through and in our hearts when we are inspired (with spirit) and connected to Source. This is how we know something is True - heart vibration. For instance, as I am composing this article, I can feel my heart vibrating non a way that is not present when I’m analyzing a work situation. I want to live in this vibrational frequency connected to my Heart/Source for 100% of my existence, and am ramping up focus and capacity for this level of connection.  
• When we have heart inspirations aka downloads from Source, we must not only listen but take action in “real life” aka Earth school. Many times this action is out of our comfort zone and takes courage, but Spirit/Source is calling us and ignoring it is a missed opportunity. If we do follow-up and it doesn’t pan out; that’s perfectly fine because it’s laying the groundwork for something else down the road. The feeling of doing something courageous and something aligned with spirit is the key because it raises our vibration/ frequency and demonstrates the Faith we have in Source, as does offering our intensions and actions to this process and Source. Focus on this purpose as often as possible through the day and work to increase that time/capacity. 
• If we can see and connect to the light in Everyone around us, that’s essentially EnLIGHTenment where we are getting so much pure light focused on us, we break open the disco ball. No more illusions! We are fully connected to the network, and have increased our vibration. With this strong, consistent connection, we have clear downloads and direction from Soul to accomplish soul contract and whatever else is needed by our Soul in this lifetime to continue to rise in frequency- upward spiral! 

Priya’s Fri Nite Life Class 2019-1101

11/2/19

From yoga last night: 

• Ego is forbidden  / can not enter heart so good reason to rely on it. Feel as Resistance to move towards what we love

• When u have a drive to pursue to your “love/heart” (may not be romantic or your spouse, can be career, Priya yoga studio, hobby, kids, enlightenment); u will drop all else - including key Ego ties (identity, protection, attachments) - like Romeo & Juliet - nothing not even death  will keep u from that pursuit. We may experience Grief randomly as Ego loses parts of it’s domain as we return to the Soul. 

• We feel Alive in Life when our heart is Open.

• We can work thru our Karmas faster with an Open Heart 

• Need Strong Nervous System to have Open Heart because Pain of to keep Ego at Bay

• Story of Buddha - he was aggressively seeking his love for seven years- saught teachers - austerity measures - finally he sat under the Banyan tree and said come and find me - and enlightenment did!!!

• Jesus on cross says in moment of desperation “why have u forsaken me?” And answers himself in a 180 realization “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayings_of_Jesus_on_the_cross Great example the extreme flip sides of True Love - exhilaration to Despair

• We r in Relationship with what we seek (not just people). Joy, Sorrow, pain, suffering, and love are all experiences of Lovel

• But sometimes we get tired, at the end of our rope from the long pursuit, and have to call our love and ask for help

• Our love has equal attraction and love for us and will help us upon asking “I won’t be a beggar as u must find me” - must have self worth to see how much our love also loves us and we r worthy!!!

• We can complain and say I can’t do another thing. I need ur help if this is meant to be 

• Be discerning about what u let in ur heart (no garbage). Cool story of kitchen is heart of kitchen and some cultures men not allowed in without full blown cleansing ceremony and showering because it’s sacred around our FOOD!!!

• Coupling of Joy and Pleasure permanently coupled with Pain. Must also have pain since it’s an open heart and no ego to protect But when we Truly love this person or cause or whatever- we r more than willing to endure the pain cuz the joy so immense. (Reminds me of Joe Rogan talking about stand up and doing well vs bombing- it’s one of his true loves)

• True Love will drive us out of Ego to Soul… across a dangerous and scary bridge that Ego tries to talk us out of because Ego can go with. But we go to Seek our Love and will Surrender Everything for it. 

• Pay attention to which chakra people r speaking from via vibration of words … genuine love or otherwise??? Ego vs Soul - 1-3 chakras of ego vs Soul Heart chakra

• Makes me wonder - what do I Love and Pursue at this level??? What am I that devoted to?

• Once u really see Joy / God (truly) - u will see in Everything!!! 

  
  

  Moment by Moment... "can I feel my heart?"

  
  

  Reminded in Weds in Energy class... not only sending love from heart but also Receiving! Knowing how to receive and be brave enough to allow it! 

  
  

  Love this quote that Dawn sent:  "What is meant for you can never be taken away. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Grief Ritual / Ceremony - December 8, 2018 Ladies Mini-Retreat

Grief Ritual / Ceremony 
December 8, 2018 Ladies Mini-Retreat

Purpose: Get in touch with (as deep as possible) grief/feelings using image of vulnerable child inside and allow the feelings to surface and then surrender them to ocean for healing. This is a trial run at a "do it yourself" retreat. If all goes well, we can continue to experiment with different approaches.

Background

• Winter is a time of retreating to our roots as the trees do. Letting go of the fruits and focusing on healing and building our core foundation. 
• Grief was traditionally processed through the "container" of ritual/ceremony, which we have mostly lost in our culture today. We are too busy to slow down and feel, and when we do feel, we run to food, drink, shopping, TV, internet, etc. to "anesthetize" / numb out the feelings. This leaves us flatlined because without feeling the depth of our sorrows, we won't be able to feel the soaring highs of our joy. I know for me personally, this really resonated as I'm soooo flatlined, it is hard to feel any excitement or joy for anything in life. And what is the point of life if we can't experience the joys it has to offer - if we walk around with our head buried in our worries and not even noticing all the miracles. However, without allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and opening up to experience and process the "negative" feelings, we can't gain access to the pure joys of life. Charles Eisenstein relays a story of meeting a woman (I think she was an older woman activist in South America). He was impressed by the pure joy she conveyed despite the massive environmental and societal damage to her people that she was fighting for. He asked her how she could be so joyful with so many worries swirling about her, and she said "I cry everyday." Tears - water - are the healing force for our hearts. We must let these rivers flow and not dam them. Let them flow mighty like the Colorado, Amazon, Nile, Ganges, Yellow, Rhine, Thames, etc. 
• Our inner wounded child or Shadow can show up in times and in ways that are less than desirable. We walk around trying to protect our "thorns"that can trigger us at any time causing us to lash out or react in a way that we later regret or is somehow less than ideal.  
• We will call this Shadow/ Inner wounded child to sit and have a conversation. By giving ourselves permission to call this "baggage" to the surface to be addressed - to meet the needs of that inner child in a loving way - we can move towards resolving and setting free this baggage and thereby moving a step closer to Wholeness.

Preparation

• Please try to journal ahead of time or have in mind an intention for healing/release/grieving/acceptance/surrender and try to begin calling to mind (pre-processing) what is needed. 
• Be ready with an intention or quote reflecting your intention. 

Materials (I will supply all)

• Drums, bells, speaker - (if anyone has one that you can play with your hands), please bring
• Rocks, chalk
• Journal (I have one for each of us)
• Paper, crayons, pencils, pens
• Beach, ocean

Procedure

1. Remember this is a safe place to feel any and ALL feelings. No one is looking at you, nor judging you. This is a confidential space and anything that happens in the Sacred Circle, remains in the Sacred Circle of participants. Anyone can chose to share their own experience with others, but we won't share others' experiences. 
2. We will begin by relaxing. Taking deep breathes. Feeling the cool breeze and the warm sun, hearing the ocean and the life surrounding us, focusing on our breath. (5-10 min)
3. Music has a mystical impact on the human psyche. Drums or similar musical instruments are found in most cultures throughout the world. Music opens us up to connect to one another and will prime us to get in touch with our deeper self. I'm going to play some drum music and we can get playful and play along with the music. (5-10 min)
4. We will then take turns briefly sharing our intention for the day.
5. A few more deep breathes, and we will begin to relax again and start tuning into our Shadow and /or inner hurt child. Tune ourselves into that young, innocent, vulnerable child within us. Today our child is feeling sad, grieving. For what is our child grieving? Ask yourself, "Why are you sad/or insert a better description for the feeling?" Perhaps there are expectations our young child had that didn't work out the way she wanted in life (e.g., family life, career, children, politics); perhaps the damage to the environment weighs on this child that loves the Earth and it pains to see the Earth hurting; perhaps we miss our parents or we wanted our parents to be more than they were capable of being; perhaps someone has mistreated us; perhaps WE have mistreated ourselves and not set boundaries and not loved ourselves unconditionally. There is so much available to mourn that we probably aren't even aware of how much pain and sorrow we have locked away deep, deep down. We need to try as best we can to pull it up, up, up to the surface from the deepest depths where it has rested for so long. 
6. We will spend a few quiet minutes with our eyes closed and as we get in touch with these feelings. When we are ready and as the thoughts and feelings surface, we can open our eyes and our journals and jot down whatever we feel as notes, pictures, etc. We will have colorful crayons, pencils, and pens available to use. As these feelings come up, tell the child it's ok to feel this way, ask her if she needs anything? Is there an unspoken need that hasn't been met? Is there a Truth that needs to be spoken or a boundary that needs to be set?  (~ 15-20 min., but really should take our time because this is critical to the process) 
7. When we are ready, we will take our rocks and speak a summary of our experience in the previous step to the rocks, thereby transferring these feelings to the rocks. We can also  color the rocks with chalk as a reflection of those feelings. (~5 min)
8. We will take turns again sharing a brief summary of what our rocks heard (only what we feel safe to share - no pressure). This step ties us together. (~5 min)
9. We will then walk down to the ocean with our hearts and rocks carrying our grief/sadness/disappointments. We will then ask the Ocean to accept our sorrows (on the rocks), to wash these sorrows from our hearts, to free us of these heavy burdens that weigh us down, to use her healing power to help us be whole. With mighty thrust of intention, we hurl the rocks out into the ocean, feeling the release of our burdens and the freedom and joy welling up. 
10. We then close the ceremony by rubbing our palms together rapidly, thanking our Inner Child for sharing with us, asking her not to be a stranger. We bless our child by holding our head in our hands, telling her everything will be okay, confirming she is Loved Unconditionally, we will be treating her better in the future, and giving her/you a big Hug!  
11. Back to the house to eat & chat! :-) 

FEAR - Undoing - Summary of Priya’s Kundalini Life Class

11/7/18

• What is AGENCY & How much do you have?
• Knowing where you stand; knowing you have a Say in what Happens to you; knowing you have some ability to shape your life; knowing what your Attaching to and Why? 
• What we hold on to; how we see; how we feel = Consciousness Experience 
• Events meant to be Experienced by Soul, by the Soul’s contract/destiny (“lessons” on Soul’s agenda to be experienced on Eath School). Soul Not impacted by Events. Ego is, but Soul remains untouched and pristine. Soul doesn’t care about right or wrong- Unattached. Surrendered state with no preference. 
• But sometimes the Body stores the Event / Energy. 
• Ego job is to Protect us from danger. Only wants “good” experiences. Tries to Protect from whole slew of “threats” like social anxiety, criticism, feelings, etc. that are Far from Saber-tooth tigers and puts us in a small comfort zone / boundaries of preferences and everything upsets us. Ego tells us to numb out with distractions to take us away from appropriately processing these Events / feelings and allowing the Energy to Move through instead of getting stuck and causing “DIS-ease.”
• Attachment is an extension of Self. When we attach to something we see it as a piece of us and protect it as such. 
• When we Attach or have a Preference, we LOSE OUR AGENCY. Whatever own us owns our Agency. 
• FEAR - Ego thinks Everything is unsafe / over-reacts because it can’t tell difference between an actual Saber toothed tiger (fear of death) and Road Rage in Traffic or a “what will people think of me” panic attack (fear of not belonging, rejection) or party planning worry. Modern day stress amounts to constant berrage of stress hormones, cortisol, and the Ego in constant high alert protection mode leading to many of modern day diseases. Fears are also registered internally and passed on through generations. War and trauma exist in our DNA that allows the Ego to continue to tap into this negative well of boundaries even if no longer rational.
• FREEDOM is opposite of Fear of Death
• INTROSPECTION- Agency begins with QUESTIONING the Ego. Awareness of subtle senses and control there of. Ego won’t like questions- like a mafia boss / bodyguard. Sick feeling, Ego will use Shame as a weapon!! 
• Because of our Fear of Rejection, which Attachments do we latch on to? Social setting: party, can’t sit without numbing with Alcohol and/or Food. ANY feelings rising cause us to run for TV, alcohol, food, video games, news, any intellectual distraction, shopping, clinging/neediness, or any other Unconscious response. 
• ASK EGO: WHAT/WHY?? Is it true?? What would happen if  (opposite of Ego preference) and I stayed in my own feelings? 
• Our IDENTITY is built up based on Ego’s preferences and protection. MASKS.  Make us feel Alone because we are so FAR from HOME (Soul). 
• TAKE BACK OUR AGENCY by QUESTIONING the EGO (edges God out according to Wayne Dyer). 
• First part of brain to develop is the Reptilian brain including functions for Sleep, eating, drink, excretion, Exactly what a NEWBORN baby can do. Subsequent layers developed Evolutionaryily the same as Infants’ development. Prefrontal cortex is last and finalized by about 25 years old. 
• Note issues with SLEEP point to Ego feeling endangered and keeping watch. 
• Talk to your mind - who is coming to get you? Is this Real or FAKE news. Release Fake news. “You are safe, you are ok, no Fear.” Repeating Mantra. 
• Be AWARE OF THOUGHTS - UNATTACHED 
• When Ego finally lets go, we feel exposed/vulnerable. Mourning/grief - empty - feel missing Ego (but before ego let’s go, doubles down, doesn’t like being questioned) 
• Letting go of Ego is like having to go through the Beast in the Cave. But must to gain FREEDOM & AGENCY. 
• Need strong nervous system to process these changes and Yoga helps build it 

Part 1: Michael Pollan's Change Your Mind Examines Science and Mysticism

I have been discovering a wealth of deep, thought-provoking material through Charles Eisenstein. I was about to download and start listening to his book The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible, when I saw this book as something that people also bought and someone recently mentioned as "life changing," and so this new adventure began. And what a fun adventure it is so far as I'm about a third of the way through it. These are notes on just two areas of the book that have peaked my interest so far! I intend to continue to share all the exciting tidbits since it is a rather large undertaking. :-)

Many or most have us have never thought twice about psychedelics. They have a horrible, scary history, demonized by the government when the LSD-inspired "hippies" rebelled against the Vietnam War and preached "love not war." Publicizing some bad trips was just the fuel the government needed to put the lid back on Pandora's box for decades when they listed it as a "Schedule 1 drug" with "no medical benefits and strong potential for addiction." Interestingly, this wasn't the first time Authorities were threatened by and attempted to stomp out the power of psychedelics. This has happened repeatedly over the last 5,000 years including the Catholic Church and Spanish governments performed inquisitions and suppression of their use within native Central American religious ceremonies, so they went underground until brought back to light in the 1950's.  Now, with the successful campaign of "medical marijuana" back to the mainstream, the door for psychedelics is cracking open. We are starting to see mainstream news articles such as helping Vets overcome PTSD via therapy with as little as one session with MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly). Work on bringing psychedelics back to the mainstream never really stopped. We learn that these compounds are actually NOT addictive, but rather can cure additions, and have a host of medical benefits, not the least of which is medicine for our Souls!

"Mysticism is the antidote to Fundamentalism" is one of many thought-provoking quotes in this comprehensive compilation of investigative journalism. In the 13.5 hour Audible edition, Michael is revealing the natural, cultural, research, and political history of psychedelics from so many relevant angles and explaining their stories from so many different perspectives and lens we really get a dimensional understanding. The stories are fascinating. The public has a very limited understanding of the quick rise and fall of the psychedelics in American culture. This book sheds light on the breadth and depth of a history that goes back to the dawn of man. Michael interviews so many key players to reveal the behind-the-scenes events and milestones that it would have dizzying to try to piece this clear of a picture together on our own through the internet. He has done a huge public service.

• Psilocybin Research on "Healthy Normals" 
• Incredible results as SEVENTY PERCENT of research participants report "one of/most MEANINGFUL experiences of their lives. And this meaningfulness does not diminish over time!!!  They refer to the John Hopkins lab as a "transformation factory!"
• Looking back over 5,000 of human societal development, some postulate that the beginning of most world religions started with insight from a psychedelic experience. Many cultures’ rituals used psychedelics to give lay people direct contact with God, which is why later governments like Spain and the Catholic Church  would use inquisitions in Central (and South?) America to stifle this practice from threatening their authority (using priests as middle man with God). 
• Stoned Ape Theory - McKenna's hypothesis concerning the influence of psylocibin mushrooms on human evolution. He believed that psilocybin mushrooms were the "evolutionary catalyst" from which language, projective imagination, the arts, religion, philosophy, science, and all of human culture sprang. 
• Most big human break-throughs are proposed as because the altered state of consciousness appears to be tapping into universal consciousness that gives us expanded view that very few would have access to via meditation. We can thank the LSD evangelism of this one "Johnny Appleseed" figure for the massive burst of CREATIVITY and development of early computers and circuit boards. One inventor had thought of mouse and interactive graphics and Virtual a Reality etc in the 60's. Apparently Steve Jobs said that Bill Gates didn’t do enough acid! MICRO-dosing FRIDAYS is still “a thing” at some Silicon Valley companies today!!!
• This research lays the ground work for what is precedent-setting (?) methodology of using ESTABLISHED SCIENTIFIC methodology to glimpse MYSTICAL experiences. This pushes the science of mind research on consciousness to an uncomfortable place to have to consider consciousness as likely Outside the Mind, making the mind simply a WiFi/TV/Radio-like receiver. 
• We are examining are these experiences REAL vs. Drug induced hallucinations, and the evidence points to REAL because of the long-term staying power. One argument made that effects are similar to toxicity of kidney/liver, are quickly doused by the fact that people experiencing this toxicity don't report amazing transformations of personality (also evaluated and measured in the research). 
• The experiences of participants are very much aligned with the concepts in the Grief book by Francis Weller discussed recently where the human experience in modern culture is one of Amnesia and Anesthesia. We are in a sleeping state, forgetting our true souls, but we know we are in pain because of what we can't remember (our primary satisfactions come from soul-based satisfaction), so we numb ourselves via constant distractions (TV, news, sports, drugs, alcohol, drama, shopping, etc. etc. = secondary satisfactions) that prove to be hollow and meaningless and drive us into unprecedented rates of Depression, Suicide, Anxiety, mass shootings, loneliness, addiction, culture wars, feeling of mass separation, etc. etc. 
• Definition of mystical experiences: http://www.bodysoulandspirit.net/mystical_experiences/learn/experts_define/james.shtml

• As an added bonus, his interview conducted over an actual "mushroom hunting" weekend with Paul Stamets leaves the reader with a new profound appreciation for the fascinating world of fungi. Mr. Stamets is a world-renown expert in mushrooms and his passion is exceptional, to the point he literally feels he is actually connected to their massive mycelial network (mushrooms version of the world wide web). Even more importantly, he has applied his knowledge of work to literally help save the planet with some absolutely ingenious applications of fungi including bioremediation of oil spills and a fungi pesticide for ants that literally has spores exploding from the ants brains (yikes!??!!). He goes so far to say that fungi has an intelligence of their own! 
• Paul Stamets' Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world?language=en 
• Paul Stamets' Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Stamets/e/B001JS0KV6 
• The fungal communication network is supported by new research and is also discussed in this calming and fascinating book that has given me a new appreciation for trees and forests: The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from A Secret World

Amazon Book Summary

The number one New York Times best seller

A brilliant and brave investigation by Michael Pollan, author of five New York Times best sellers, into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs - and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences

When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction, and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into the experience of various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.

A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both struggle and beauty, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.

Grief, Gratitude, and Happiness

Inspired by:
The Wild Edge of Sorrow, Francis Weller
Shawn Achor, Secrets of Happy People - SuperSoul Conversations podcast
A New and Ancient Story: the Podcast, Charles Eisenstein

In listening to Charles' podcast, Episode 4 with Francis Weller really struck a nerve, and I wanted to hear more, so I listed to his book. Here are some of the key points:

• Francis relays the story of our human history. For a vast majority of our evolution, humans lived in villages. These villages served a critical role in our mental health through social support. Francis experienced the heart-opening benefits of village life first hand in Africa. He saw everyone at dusk come out to the commons and share about their day, and all the nursing children could nurse from any mother. They were a tight community.
• Village life across the world includes rituals to process all the important facets and milestones in life. Death and grieving are not exception. Because everyone knew one another, the entire village would grieve. The rituals around grief are key to processing this emotion fully so the energy of the "e-motion" can move through us and not fester as a shadow, later to emerge in an unhealthy way.
• We don't just grieve over the death of our loved ones. We grieve for the environment, animals, climate change, extinctions, divorces, the demise of other cultures, poverty, human suffering, unfulfilled dreams, unborn children, politics, child abductions, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and one and before we realize it, it becomes very clear that YES, we do need a way to process all of this!!  How has this not occurred to us before!!?? Grief is not just sadness, it also surfaces as Anger, Shame, Invulnerability, and Coldness/disconnection. This grief is clogging our energy channels, weighing us down (grief and gravity have the same linguistic roots), and making us numb to the actual joy in life! As it turns out, when we recognize and attend to our grief, and allow ourselves to process our grief through a grief ritual, we feel lighter and happier. We must find the time to carve out space for this processing in our lives and then allow for periodic maintenance. His reference section has a few suggested rituals to try. 
• It becomes evident that soooooo much of our "modern" society leaves us at a significant disadvantage without our village. And this grief for our village is reflected by skyrocketing suicide and addiction rates. He talks about needing to have Amnesia and Anesthesia to survive today. That alone is a huge heartbreak to grieve. Anesthesia includes not just drugs and alcohol, but also TV, eating, shopping, and any other distraction to entertain us vs. living a full life. He explains "primary satisfaction" that came from life in the village and our social interactions perhaps like our core family and friends today. However, most of our time today is filled with "secondary satisfaction" that are not sustaining happiness - they are the short-term distractions listed above plus "earning a living" versus seeing our true purpose fulfilled as an integral part of the village. It's as though we have turned over our soul for money. And on the flip side it explains why the advice to find your passion and find a way to "make money doing it" would be a more sustainable way to live life. Humans need social connection and to see that their labor is of value and contributing to society as a whole.  
• Francis says that Grief and Gratitude go hand in hand, are the two sides of the same coin, are the keys to balance in life. I happened on the Oprah podcast with Shawn Achor this morning and listened closely to see if grief was mentioned. Although it was not, gratitude is key in both philosophies. Shawn, who developed and teaches Harvard's most popular class "Happiness,"  mentioned these few steps, which sounds like "tips and tricks," but are really important and have been measured scientifically to significantly increase happiness in as little as 21 days: 
• Two minutes per day list of NEW things you are grateful for
• Two minute per day, type an email to someone thanking them (even better call or in person)
• Two minutes visualize a meaningful event from the day. Focus, feel, gratitude. 
• Meditation and exercise (even for minimum periods of time) are effective at improving happiness. Mindful breathing for 2 min., exercise for 15 min. 
• He also mentions: 
• Happiness is a choice, even people who have been pessimists for 8 decades, can do these things and move to low-grade optimists. 
• Happiness is contagious 
• Happiness doesn't come as a result of success, success is more likely when we are happy first. Our society needs to redefine what we consider happiness to be. "Joy is what we feel when we are striving to fulfill our full potential."
• Francis' book has a resource section where he offers a few simple ideas for doing our own grief rituals. He mentions the importance of silencing the mind, solo reflection, but conversely the importance of being able to share our experiences, and deep listening without offering advice to validate the experiences of others. His rituals include using the earth (stones, water, land) to ground us and process our feelings. Drumming is also a common element. Interesting that when people come together to share in a deeply personal and moving ceremony such as this, they form deep bonds. Charles referenced on the podcast that he cannot do more than a few retreats a year because every time they disband, it feels like a break up. Francis mentions Pema Chodron and Buddha a few times.  
• Francis' book is poetic. Even though I summarize it here, it's still a wonderfully deep and thoughtful work of art to be experienced. I may even re-listen to it again just so it can all seek in deeper and I can add more here. As I listened to it, even though I was not actually doing any of the work, I was feeling the gravity of the process, thinking of some of my own grief, beginning to scratch the surface of that grief, and already feeling a little lighter. I even turned away from several of my normal numbing practices on Saturday night to listen more. 
• His book has inspired me 1) obviously to document the key points so I can share it, 2) figure out how to apply to myself as well as Hunter as I believe much of the anger he experiences is born from unprocessed grief including the loss of his life as he knew it when his brother was born, especially because I was so stressed, and he must have felt blamed and shamed for so much... and 3) Get my Soul Sistas together in a circle to begin to share and process some of grief. Try out a couple of the grieving rituals. Francis emphasizes that Community/Village is key. We are so blessed to have a group already forming. He also reiterates that there is a maintenance component, so periodic rejuvenation through this process is key. I've looked into his offerings, but the upcoming ones are sold out (fast) and only have capacity for about 35 people, so it could be many of the same people returning again and again. One idea that I had was to do some of the ceremony at the beach. It could also work on a hike. 

The Magic of a Full Frontal Cortex - taking interest outside ourself and valuing relationships

I believe that with the completion of the development of the frontal cortex, a whole new world opens up outside ourselves.

Technically the frontal cortex is developed around 25 years of age, hence why rental car and insurance companies love that age, but I've noticed it takes a few extra years to really start to see outside ourselves in a more profound way. In my case, this is also paired with preparing to start having children. I felt an innate need to mentally and emotionally get my own house in order before I could bring another soul into the world. This is the point at which I started trying to make peace with my parents and thanking the people that had helped me during my formative years. 

Spirits: Staying Connected Beyond Life

Love - the highest energy lives on and connects people even after they pass because the love is pure spirit and that spirit passes to a different dimension, but the love is still pure and connected to their loved ones. THE INVISIBLE STRING theory is True!!!  The Invisible String https://www.amazon.com/dp/0875167349/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_E.i2ybS8PKYT4

List of Best Books & Authors

Books

• The Last Lecture - YouTube video and book - great nerdy teacher conveys life's lessons and why being a teacher can be such a great platform 
• The 5th Agreement, Ruiz - Summary here. 
• The Seat of the Soul, zukav 
• Journey of the Soul; Destiny of the Soul
• The Course in Miracles
• Choosing Happiness
• The Alchemist
• The Shift 

Authors

• Brene Brown
• Wayne Dyer 
• Pema Chodron (christened Deirdre Bloomfield-Brown)

Excerpt from The Shift - reference to Source and Spirit and understanding of  the flow of miracles is aligned with (adds evidence for in my mind) Journey/Destination of Souls,  Seat of Soul. Explanation of our limited view of energy wavelengths makes so much sense as to how there are other dimensions around us at higher energy wavelengths. 

 

"Death ends a Life, not a Relationship"

"Death ends a Life, not a Relationship" - 

Morrie Schwartz's last recorded statement in Mitch Albom's book, "Tuesdays with Morrie."

The book is a short, but amazingly moving and inspiring book about what life comes down to. Relationships. 

It was during the reading of this book that I got the idea to start a blog of all the books, knowledge, and insights I have gathered since I started looking outside myself for a greater understanding of life. 

I highly recommend this book. It really puts everything in context. 

A few other Morrie "aphorisms" (I had to look up that word an its pronunciation because I have not used it before.) that I marked in the book because they really resonated as True (meaning ultimate truth - universal and from God).  

• Central theme of the book, "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.... No one really believes they're going to die." Most of us walk around as if we're sleepwalking. We really don't experience the world fully, because we're half-asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do. Facing death changes all that. You strip away all that stuff and you focus on the essentials. When you realize you are going to die, you see everything much differently. If you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time - then you might not be as ambitious as you are. The things you spend so much time on - all this work you have to do - might not seem as important. You might have room for more spiritual things. Spiritual to many means touch-feely stuff, but we are deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don't satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted. Being able to walk around outside in the sunshine, running. When Morrie because sick, he started appreciating the window that let him watch the weather and the turning of the trees outside, like he was seeing nature for the first time.
• The most important thing that Morrie learns with his disease (ALS) is to learn how to "give out love, and to let it come in. ... Let it come in. We think we don't deserve love, we think if we let it in we'll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right He said, 'Love is the only rationale act. Love is the only rationale act.'"
• Morrie talks about "detachment" as being important for the living and the dying people. Buddhists say don't cling to things because everything is impermanent. Mitch points out that Morrie has always recommended "experiencing life, all the good and bad emotions. Morrie clarifies that detachment doesn't mean you let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate fully, so you are able to leave it. Huh??  "Take any emotion - love for a woman, or grief for a love one, or what I'm going through, fear and pain from a deadly illness. If you hold back on the emotions - if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them - you can never get to being detached, you too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails.
  
  "But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know wht pain is. You know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, 'All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need o detach from that emotion for a moment.'"
  
  Morrie repeats that when you know how to die, you know how to live and describes his fearful moments with the disease, where he loses his breath and isn't sure if the next breath will come. Horror, fear, anxiety. But once he recognized the feel of those emotions, their texture, their moisture, the shiver down the back, the quick flash of heat that crosses your brain - then he was able to say, "Okay, this is fear. Step away, step away from it. Step away."
  
  Mitch reflects on how often this is needed in everyday life. Being lonely to the point of tears, but not letting the tears flow because we are not supposed to cry. Or feeling a sure of love for a partner, but not saying anything because we are frozen with fear of what those words might do to the relationship.
  
  Morrie's approach is the opposite - turn on the faucet. Wash in the emotion. It won't hurt, it will only help. For example, "All right, it's just fear, I don't have to let it control me. I see it for what it is. "  The same for loneliness: you let go, let the tears flow, feel it completely - but eventually be able to say, "All right, that was my moment with loneliness. I'm not afraid of feeling lonely, but now I'm going to put that loneliness aside and know that there are other emotions in the world, and I'm going to experience them as well." Detachment.
  
  Morrie also states that he wants to die serenely, not in a state of fright, so he has to learn to find peace and serenity in those frightening moments. He wants to know what's happening, accept it, and get to a peaceful place, and let go.