How Sensitive People can Survive in a Cold, Hard Corporate World
This Is for the Quiet Women
This is for the quiet women.
The women whose hearts are as large as any other, yet their soft voices fall on deaf ears tuned in only to noise.
The women who inwardly scream with passion for all they hold dear, yet outwardly present themselves more discreetly than others.
The women who are overlooked and ignored by those who may speak louder, though not necessarily with more substance.
This is for us.
~
READ MORE:
https://www.elephantjournal.com/2017/09/this-is-for-the-quiet-women/
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Meditation Has a Secret: 5 Questions to Consider
Meditation has a secret.
It doesn’t work for everyone (GASP!).
Of course, this isn’t what we’re told about this powerful, ancient practice. The list of amazing meditation benefits for mind, body, and spirit are practically endless (and easy to Google). Need to get more grounded and focused? Stressed out? Experiencing pain? Want to connect to your inner guidance? Meditation is the cure for all your ills.
But if you ask the average person, they’ll tell you (likely in great detail) the TRUTH about meditation; how they can’t sit still or quiet their mind, they can’t fit it into their day, or they tried it and didn’t like it or didn’t get any effect.
It could even be said that meditation benefits all people, but not all people benefit from meditation.
The true dirty secret of meditation involves the pressure we feel to always be doing something, and to do it as a means to an end, which creates for us a meditation practice that is more like a checklist than personal development. In turn, this can lead to some pretty undesirable outcomes.
READ THE REST HERE: http://blog.thewellnessuniverse.com/meditation-has-a-secret5-questions-to-consider/
The Power of a Blank Page
I always have the urge to write. It’s almost the same as breathing for me. I don’t always have the follow through to do it, however, even when I feel the desire burning.
Aren’t we all like this in many ways?
We all have these passions that drive us at a deep level, and yet we so often don’t follow through on the call. We feel the desire toward something new and different – maybe it’s still unspecified and unintelligible but it still burns deep inside with an urgency that reminds us that there is indeed something tangible behind the longing.
Yet we and sit and stare at the blank page.
Not all of us are writers, of course. Life-breath comes in all forms of unique and varied activities, most often of a creative nature. And by creative, I mean activities that are soul-fulfilling and result in something new (physically or energetically) where nothing previously existed.
For example, a painting or a poem that just has to come out. Or perhaps a newly sculpted body from healthy and active choices. Possibly a newfound joy brought forth by helping to make someone else’s day a little brighter. Maybe even the simple act of choosing to be happy in the face of great challenges. The opportunities for creating something new are endless, and not relegated to conventional “art.”
But we tell ourselves, “I’m not creative.” Or, “I don’t have the stamina.” Or, “I’ll text her later.” Or, “I’m not worthy of being happy.” And we put ourselves off another day, another week, another year.
Truth is, I’ve never liked starting anything from scratch. I need a recipe, a guide, an established starting point. I don’t like to reinvent the wheel.
However, our creative nature isn’t very forgiving of us when we don’t flex our “ambiguity” muscles; that is, our ability to work and be at least moderately successful in a place of ambiguity and uncertainty. Yes, we can chug along through life starting only with the help of someone else’s previously-forged cues. But our creative spark suffers in this mindset, one driven mostly by fear and a sense of unworthiness.
“I’m not good enough.” “What if I fail?” “What if someone doesn’t like what I produce?” These thoughts keep us avoiding that blank page.
However, this inability to start from a blank slate, to restart after a habit has been broken, to reach out to someone who might not understand our true intentions, or to step out in service for fear of failure or rejection doesn’t only hurt us. What we’re not doing now hurts those who would be helped by us. Uplifted by us. Inspired by us. Healed by us.
As I sat here this week, feeling the urge to write and also feeling the familiar panic upon staring at my blank page, I ran through a list of possible topics in my head, mentally discarding each one. I sidetracked myself with other legitimate work tasks. I decided writing could wait a day, or a week. I ate lunch.
And then, I remembered my book writing path. I truly had no plan for writing a book. I avoided it for nearly two years until I finally decided I’d just start each day with a blank page and write what comes to mind – no matter how unintelligible, ridiculous, silly, or embarrassing it might be. And so The Angel Inside was birthed.
And I remembered the many times I’ve started writing a poem and I penned the first words that came to me until I got into a flow. And later when I went to edit, I realized the first line or two didn’t make any sense, so I simply cut it out. And the rest was a nice poem. Or at least decent.
And that’s all we’re really being asked for anyway. Nice. Decent. Our best efforts consistently applied.
Today, I opened an empty document for the second or third time with no thoughts at the ready. And within a few deep breaths, I heard “blank page.” And I remembered that for me, the action of writing is the catalyst that opens the floodgate of more words.
In other words, taking even small action action in a forward direction – simply doing SOMETHING – is often the catalyst for the more in-depth work that follows.
And so I started typing. One word led to the next and to the next. Eventually, through a hazy, forward and back approach, and with lots of editing, the words on the page started to take shape on their own, without much conscious thought to structure, form, or outline, a process not unlike the quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
In my early adulthood, I never saw the value of a blank page. I was so fearful of not knowing where I was going that I rarely allowed myself to know or grow in any way that didn’t follow a prescriptive path or that seemed absolutely prudent.
But no more. I’m still fearful of course. I don’t know an honest person who isn’t. However, now that I’ve experienced the mysteries and miracles that a hazy, faith-filled path can bring, I can’t go back. I won’t go back.
And my wish for you is that you will take out that blank page that’s calling you, breathe into your heart, and create what needs to come from within.
Because that is the power of a blank page.
XOXO
Ashley
P.S. If you can relate to this, let me know! Leave a comment below or on my Facebook page. And please share with your friends!
Whatever You Do, Don’t Do THIS!
Something is going on with me and the animal kingdom lately. In the past week, I’ve crossed a stray cat that looked like a little fluffy lion, a wild tom turkey pursuing two females with his body puffed up and tail feathers completely spread, a large black snake which played dead despite my efforts to make it move from my path, rescued not one but TWO frogs from certain death in a parking lot and a neighborhood street, and encountered a huge snapping turtle right on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. Then a wolf appeared to me during meditation.
Nature is literally coming at me from EVERY angle!
Now, everyone around me is asking, “What’s up?! Are you an animal whisperer?” It’s true that I’ve always had a strong connection with animals. This is nothing new. And that hasn’t dimmed with age. In fact, it’s only become magnified, especially with having children who also have a fierce heart for animals and their welfare (just last night my daughter sent me a link from the Humane Society to donate in support of stopping puppy mills).
I’ve also recently taken two animal communication classes and belong to an AC group online. I’ve even had some success giving messages in the online community. But I haven’t done much with it since before Christmas, at least in part because I’ve been energetically overwhelmed (I’m a chronic over-scheduler), and I’ve been trying to give myself a rest. I’ve also been putting more focus into the future of A Spirit Led Life, especially around my goals of writing more, publishing more, launching the Awakening Angels Circle, and reaching more people. It doesn’t leave much time for work with animals, virtually or in person.
Yet, in my experience, when it’s time to put more focus on another area, Spirit lets me know. Like running across a cat, a snake, three wild turkeys, two frogs, a turtle, and a meditation wolf, all in a matter of days!
But still, what does it all MEAN?
While I do generally look for subtle messages and meaning in most everything around me, I also realize that not everything means something. Some events are just events. However, when I get this much coming at me at once, and all around the same basic theme, I can’t help but wonder what significance it might hold for me.
My question is a familiar struggle for many who are making their way through the spiritual jungle, so to speak. We’re often given the impression that if we’re really in touch with our inner guidance that it will be clear and obvious to us when messages come and what they mean. For some people this might be true some of the time, but I feel safe saying that even the most skilled and connected person feels unclear from time to time. And a lot of us feel unclear most of the time, which can be frustrating.
If you’re like me and are terribly impatient with the process and easily distracted by not knowing the answers RIGHT NOW, it’s especially frustrating.
Clearly, this is an area where I STILL struggle. As a result, I usually follow a predictable pattern:
- I get totally overwhelmed because I don’t know what anything means.I switch directions, spend all my time thinking about what it might mean, and end up in a funk when I can’t figure it out.If you’re one who tries to tackle everything with your head instead of your heart (like me), then it’s a strong wake-up call to slow down, because too much of this can seriously cloud our intuition.
WHAT TO DO INSTEAD: Do some mediation, stat. We have to make ourselves take some down time. The more we feel resistance (you know that voice that says, “You’ll never get this done if you don’t stay up until midnight every night slaving away until it’s perfect.”), the more we need a break. Recognize that thinking all the time only wears out our minds and, in the end, we’re still not sure our answers are correct because our hearts haven’t had a chance to give their stamp of approval. We have to trust that what needs to get done will be and allow ourselves to let something go. We can always come back to it later if necessary. The reward is more calm, which leads to greater clarity.
2. I look for someone to talk me down from the ledge. I reach out to my energy worker and intuitive friends and my husband and anyone else who I think might be helpful, asking them to clear my energy, give me insights, or just plain tell me what to do.
WHAT TO DO INSTEAD: Trust our inner guidance. It takes more strength to be honest with ourselves and be willing to slow down and support our own needs than it does to frantically ask someone else to do for us what we already have the power to do for ourselves. And once we’ve taken a break, if we still feel like we need help, then we can seek it out from a place of more authenticity and awareness.
3. I flip all the way to the other side, wipe my slate clean, and do nothing I don’t absolutely have to do until I feel better.True, I get more time with my family and I’m rested because I’m in bed early every night.But my writing and other passions take a hit.
WHAT TO DO INSTEAD: Find some balance! We’re not meant to be teeter-totters! When we swing from one extreme to the other, we’re really not solving the true problem, which goes back to slowing down and trusting our inner guidance. And all our energy is used up on the swinging. We can slow down, but we don’t have to stop completely (because it takes a lot more energy to start up again). We can sit right smack in the middle of that teeter totter, open up, and let our inner guidance lead us in the right direction (and then have the courage to follow it, because it otherwise, what’s the point?).
Long story short, I don’t know yet what all these animals mean for me. Maybe it’s just springtime and I’m really observant. Or maybe it’s the next step on my personal journey. It’s not clear to me yet. And that’s okay. What I DO know is that doing nothing or overthinking is not going to bring me the answers I seek.
And maybe that’s really the lesson anyway.
XOXO
Ashley
P.S. If this resonated with you, let me know! Leave a comment below or on my Facebook page. And please share with your friends!
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