(•_•)
\) (>
/ \ It's that time again, disconnect from internet...and reconnect with Nature, good people, good times, and the present moment.
Until then, much love, light, healing, and blessings to one and all, the big and small, the seen and unseen, everything, everyone, everywhere xoxox heart emoticon

So it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTIfLTbKhhM

THE FASTEST WAY TO GET THERE?

You can't get 'there' from here. You are always here. It is always Now.

Even when you get 'there', even when you reach your 'future destination', you stop, and take a look, and realize that you are here, and it is Now. The sense of 'being here' follows you wherever you go. In fact, in your deepest essence, you ARE that sense of 'being here'.

Even when you get 'there', your own presence shines more brightly than anything.

We become so focused on 'getting there', on reaching the destination, that we actually disconnect from where we are. 'Getting there', feeling that we are 'there', becomes way more important, or special, or sacred, or desired, than being here, feeling that we are here.

We believe that when we 'get there', we will finally be able to rest, relax, feel at home, at peace, content, complete, whole, in our right place. When we get 'there' we can finally stop striving to get 'there', and just be here!

Ironically, we only want to get 'there' to end the struggle of trying to get 'there'. We just want to feel 'here'.

It gets so exhausting, doesn't it, running away from where we are.

The secret? Feel here now.

When you're present, you'll feel that you are already 'there', wherever you are. Because you're here at last! You've dropped into your own presence, your true home. You're awake and alive to the Now; undivided from Source. And from this place, anything is possible, and the journey seems more effortless.

Travel without moving, friend. The fastest way to there, is here.

jf/ps/smoh

Between 'what was' and 'what will be' there is a vast space called Now. It is your true home.

Stop waiting for others to make you happy. 
They’re too busy waiting for happiness themselves. 
You’ll be waiting forever. 
Stop waiting for the external world – 
objects, 
events, 
substances, 
circumstances – to bring you joy. 

Find a self-generating inner joy that is not dependent, a love that is undiminished by time or loss…

THE SPACE OF LOVE

Love is not the answer.

Love is the space 
in which we can ask
the questions.

And find the answers.
Or not find the answers at all.

But love the asking anyway.

And see each other,
really see each other,
as we truly are.

Let us meet
In the space of love.

Unimpeded by fantasy.

ps/smoh/jf

Be the observer...allow whatever is there, to be there.

Death and life have become two sides of the same coin, they are one, inextricably woven into the fabric of living. 
Death grounds us in life's rhythms. 
The moment is precious, rich, heartfelt longing fulfilled as both these concepts of life and death recede, so all encompassing that only gratitude remains. 
An ease and harmonious flow awaken within, like a mirror reflecting all that I Am.

Now dancing with these inseparable partners, life and death intertwined in this ineffable embrace.
Death is coming, so dedicate your life now to that which never dies - love, compassion, and a gentle presence. 
Expand into the vastness of love; take a universe into your heart. 

Turn towards the moment; attention makes it sacred.
You walked your path, and sometimes you stumbled, and you didn't resolve everything you expected to resolve before the end. 
There are tasks left undone, questions left unanswered, words that were never spoken, final scenes left unseen. 
But perhaps total resolution was the lie, and your days were only there to be lived, not wrapped up neatly.
Focus on what was given, not what was taken away, nor what will never be.

You loved, you tried, you did more than your best, you touched others and were touched deeply in return, you inhabited your days, the days that were given, you laughed and you cried, and none of it is any less meaningful now because it is ending.

The light of attention is brighter now, the curiosity stronger, the presence warmer, the intimacy deeper. It was only ever about the journey, friend, it was never about reaching the destination, getting to the finish line. 
You are too courageous for destinations, too alive for resolution.

The meaning of your life is your life, inhabited.

ps/smoh

Hope is a traveller...

On the healing journey, it's always good to ask- 

Am I healing my wounds, or attaching to them? 

Am I letting go or grabbing on? 

Am I committed to healing my way to a new way of being, or am I simply hiding in my process?

Therapy is not a place to hide from happiness. It's a place to clear the obstacles to happiness. 

It's a place to come alive.

It is one thing to work hard to own and clear our emotional debris. If we don't, the wounds eat us alive. We must acknowledge we have been a victim and work through our memories so that they don't continue to plague us. 

But it is another thing to make our wounds our identity. 

I know many who do this- hiding in their therapeutic process, delaying their happiness until they work through 'one more issue', perpetually focusing on what is missing from their lives while ignoring the beauty before them. 

When we affix to our wounds, when we wear them like a habitual cloak, we prevent them from moving through to the transformation at their core.

The more we clear our emotional debris, the less likely we are to project.

My own life' s journey; the years of dissatisfaction with myself, even at times self-hatred, learned from a society that doesn't let us simply be just the way we find ourselves but always wants us to be somehow different it s all so poignantly reflected here.

My decades in religion, then later spirituality, all of them an attempt to address my perceived inadequacy my days of stormy, darkened clouds, watering down and dampening my dreams, as I fought the fight my upbringing taught me against living like a cornflower somewhere in a morning field, far away from singing out to the sky's vermillion sunrise, with not a care in the world. 

Until, at last, I began to awaken to the central insight of me, which my being isn’t something to be endlessly apologized for, but that God's divinity and me are the same.

Safe pity is a stagnant emotion look for resolution to a more stable peaceful being.

The real benchmark of resolution is whether we have gone through our emotional process authentically and have arrived at a place where the negative charge around the experience has dissipated. Perhaps we learned some lesson, or perhaps we just feel liberated from the memories- the important thing is that we feel at peace again. 

ps/smoh

I was asked; "Is every Human Being in your religion absolutely Equal in every way?

First; I don't believe in the word 'religion' nor religion for that matter... 

My belief that there is a higher power than us and most of us call IT 'god'. No matter what name you have given to IT, there's only ONE and that is my take.

People with religion are divided into many sects. Each sect thinks they are higher to other in status of being close to Creator. 

I would like to add that no religion in this world grants equal status to its follower. After all religion is a political doctrine of mass control.

Second; What do you mean by 'Equal'? There are many ways in which two people are obviously not equal.
"equal does not mean the same" or
Doesn't it?
What does it mean, then? That is the definition I know.

When you're talking about people and not objects, yes it’s different. When talking about people and equality it’s more of everyone has the same opportunities and isn't prejudiced or discriminated against because of who they are all humans are equal in human dignity.
I think it wrong to start going to some sameness definition with the intention of interchanging one for the other
We are all unique individually but our human dignity is always equal.
People are individuals, how can they possibly be equal?
We have equal rights, and we should be respected always, but people are not equal in every way.
That communist idea is ludicrous.

Equality is a slippery term like Democracy or Liberalism. Political equality is vague enough and equality is even more vague. Have to get a little less nebulous then we can talk.
People are unique and individual with varied talents....how we live our lives and even live our religion is kind of up to us as humans.

The main teaching about dignity is there whether you like it or not.

Here is a weird thought every single person holds a unique set of beliefs. I seriously doubt anyone agrees with another person on literally everything.
Every person thinks their opinions at the current moment are right otherwise they wouldn't hold that opinion.
In such a situation at most one person in the world has all the correct opinions and it is likely that no one is right is about everything.
Either you won the opinion lottery or maybe some of your opinions might be wrong. We should keep an open mind.
We should be always open to criticism of our ideas and should be open minded to amend them if really needed.
No person in this world can have all the correct opinion. 

It’s just our perspective to things. 

We can never compare two people perspectives for given circumstances.

ps/smoh

Don't worry about those who talk behind your back. They're behind you for a reason...DUDE, YOU'RE A FAN!

People will lie, gossip, and talk behind your back. Humans have always done this and probably always will; that is part of human nature. 
Only those who have disciplined themselves to be self-controlled and honorable can be trusted not to talk behind your back; with others, you should expect it.

When this happens to you, and it will happen to you, don't worry about it. They are talking about you behind your back because they are behind you. 
They are jealous of where you are, 
and either want to be you or want to bring you down to their level, 
which is much, much lower than you want to be, I can assure you. 

People like this give no thought to honor or to what's right; they simply take pleasure in malice and have nothing better to do with their small lives.

Just keep on doing your thing and living life your way. You don't have time to waste with people like that. If they are supposed to be your friends, remove them from your life. 

If they are family, have little to do with them. 

If they are strangers, ignore them completely.

They are talking behind your back because they do not have the courage, character, or the honor to say what they are saying to your face. 

These are not the kind of people you want to spend your time with, just move on, knowing that they will probably always be behind you, and will probably always be talking from back there where their ilk resides. 

Don't let these bored, malcontented, small people change who you are or cause you to lose sight of your overall objectives;
live your life, you way - period.

ps/smoh

BE GENTLE WITH FEAR...

I just love this poem>>>>>>

It is a child of the unknown.
It has travelled light years to find you.

Do not be afraid to feel it fully.
It will not harm you.
Let it come closer, let it penetrate you if it must.
Feel its aliveness, its pounding heart, its vibrations and tingles in the body.
Until there is no division between 'self' and 'fear'.
Until you cannot call it 'fear' at all.
Until there is only life, raw and immediate, and nameless, and benevolent.

Fear is a breaking open into the unknown,
a shattering of certainties.
It is the forging of a new path into the vastness of night.
It is the thrill of being awake.

Fear reminds you
That you live on the edge of mystery.
That you drink from the fountain of possibility.
That your being is vast.
That only the false can die.

Do not push your fear away, or label it 'negative' or 'unspiritual'.
Do not pretend it is not there.
Do not rush to delete it, or transform it, or even heal it.
It is not an enemy, and not a mistake.
It holds great intelligence and healing power.
It is ancient and wise.
Bow before it.

Let fear be fear, fully itself.
But do not be afraid.
Let the body shake, let the heart quake.
And know that you are present.
And opening, and opening.

Let fear, so misunderstood,
Come to rest in your vast heart.

Standing on the threshold,
You take those first steps into the void.

You are shaking but you are so damn alive.

- Jeff F

Fear has always been triggered by the unknown, so I feverishly worked to create a known predictable reality which I felt in control of, 

until life managed to surprise me with all manner of experiences that I could not control, 

that seemed totally unpredictable, even overwhelming. 

It finally dawned that this strategy was not working, created even more fear and anxiety, and kept me boxed into a prison of my own making, living a very small life. 

Now fear has become an ally instead of an enemy, learning, to befriend fear, give it voice and space to be, it becomes a portal into presence, 

the terror of the unknown transforms into wonder, 

a childlike curiosity, 

a passion and aliveness that is pervasive, 

not knowing lightens my heavy load allowing lightness of being, 

the wisdom of my heart to guide me, 

to accept the fullness of this moment, 

to rejoice in beauty, 

the bountiful blessings bestowed with each breath, 

I am no longer the doer as life is effortlessly flowing through me, love unabashedly living me.

jb/ps/smoh

An open mind is what you need for inspiration, though not for taking conclusions.

So does 3 x 3 = 9 and some need 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1=9 ... then there are smaller and smaller increments still.

We do not actually know other people, we ONLY know our judgement.

The good and the evil in the world, there are many complications behind them which are hard to understand which is why we should never only focus on the surface and judge others without understanding them first.

The terrible reality of humanity is everyone's emotions are caused by what each privately thinks and not by any public truth. 

No one has ever made anyone happy or unhappy. 

It's terrible only because it looks like "taking credit for their experience" is taken seriously. All alone with expectation and mystery, no one a catalyst.

Everything goes full spiral, from victim of circumstances, to controller, to acceptor of circumstances. The external influence is recognized and released.

Yes, you are completely entitled to your opinion and you absolutely do have the right to voice it. 

But, do you have no kindness? 

Spewing hate is straight up ugly, and ignorant, not to mention detrimental to humanity.

So what's the point of knowing this? 

We still have social knowledge of what's cool and what isn't. It's just intelligent to think of a certain way when someone says "I want to kill you." 

The words you hear/read give you clues to what is going on, and what you can do about it. 

Language is about social landmarks, helping you navigate in the who-wants-to-do-what-and-to-or-with-whom.

So, yes, it seems like my thoughts affect my emotions. But it also seems language affects my thoughts and actions affect my emotions.

Trying to connect with other living beings, sometimes being nurtured and sometimes being hurt by the feedback, not really knowing the reason why, it does terribly seem like we are in the same explicable loop.

ps/smoh

Getting with the emotions of the individuality of our self nature is a higher calling than mere spirituality of the type. Why? Because it's greater.

Assertiveness is more about finding your own voice, your own truth, and speaking it. It's also about communicating one's needs and wants in a non-violent, compassionate way, it gets you in touch with your inner strength. 

For most of my life I have the courage to speak and stand up for me, the journey is always finding my voice and working on the art of compassionate assertiveness. Anything that encourages me to look deeper within myself is a true blessing.

I am not another you. You are not another me. Let's not throw out our uniqueness with the bathwater. Each of us is here with a very specific sacred purpose.

Whether we chose or were chosen, we were clearly blessed to walk this path. We were carriers of a divine seedling of possibility, two adventurers who had been granted a glimpse of the new earth that awaits humanity. 

Not a new earth riddled but one characterized by heartfelt connection as the path home. 

With our love as vehicle, God rose up to meet us, each time with a more expansive and heartfelt countenance.

What the heart cares about is resonance.....resonance that opens it, resonance that enlivens it, resonance that calls it home. And when it finds it, the transformation begins.

Many of us seek that which we will flee if we find it. I have seen this time and again, both in myself and in others. 

We seek, we search, and then we find a calling or a relationship that is a perfect reflection of our yearning and we turn away and go back to seeking, almost as though the light of our true-path was too bright for us, too vulnerable for us, too real for us. 

This is a pattern that we have to recognize and heal or else we will never stop looking for what is already there. 

True-path is not always around the next corner. 

Sometimes it's right under our feet.

ps/smoh

I gain very little by forming opinions about people I am not. It seems, even, I lose a bit of something I am.

The personality? 

That changes with every frame? 

How can we keep up? 

Can you be anything other than yourself?

Forming opinions about people is a basic survival mechanism that none of us can avoid. Humans do it automatically and often unconsciously. 

Casting our natural tendencies in a negative light only serves to shame the gullible.

Yes, there's a diminishment that seems to accompany these kinds of judgement, feeling like we first have to shrink ourselves to a mean and narrow point of view in order to believe them.

Forming opinions is the only way of showing how limited we are...

I don't have the option to escape being human and still be alive. Forming opinions is so natural we barely even notice that we're doing it all the time.

I try to limit opinions to things and people I have repeated experience with. I try to let the world tell me what it wants to tell me. 

It works alright most of the time.

The root of ‘opinion’ comes from think, or believes. Over time, the word usage has grown to be more about judgment and the merit of the same, rather than simply having random thoughts. 

People can suspend judgment/opinion even if they have experienced certain kinds of thoughts. 

Who are you without your opinions? 

Without opinions we are a lot less boring and annoying. It takes a lot more guts to say, "I don't know" than to pretend you do. 

It's also very liberating to accept that you don't know and never really will.

Some people's minds are so dark and gloomy the light chases these dull minds away.

ps/smoh

In order for an action to truly be good or right, the thought behind it must be right.

In essence, things have to be right on the inside for them to truly be right on the outside. You can’t do wrong right, but you can do right wrong. 

The intention behind your action makes all the difference in the world. People may judge you on the outcome, but your honor does not depend on the outcome, it depends on the intention behind your action.

If your mind is right and your intentions are honorable, you can rest easy knowing that you have acted honorably, no matter what happens. 

A conscience free from guilt leads to tranquility of the mind, and only a tranquil mind can see things as they truly are. 

This is one of the benefits of meditation. By quieting the mind through meditation, you are better able to think rationally and clear the fog that can sometimes cloud the mind. 

Not only one should learn to meditate as part of one's quest to learn to control the mind, but one should also meditate on what one wants to manifest in one life through thought processes.

The important thing to understand from this chapter is that your thoughts are extremely important. They play a major part in either the success or the failure of everything that you do. 

You can literally change your world by changing your thoughts. Napoleon Hill wrote, 

“We are the master of our fate, the captains of our souls, because we have the power to control our thoughts.” 

There are many things outside of the realm of your control, but your thoughts are one thing that you have total control over. 

You dictate your path by controlling your thoughts. 

ps.smoh

Don't look for a princess in need of saving. Search for a queen willing to fight by your side.

Many men search for a woman who needs to be saved for one reason or another, instead of searching for a strong woman who can stand on her own. 

It makes them feel needed and in control of things. But, constantly having to baby someone can, and will, get old after a while.

The wise man will look for a woman who is strong, someone who will stand by your side instead of standing behind you. 

Search for the queen who has enough self-esteem to fight by your side instead of always hoping that you will save her.

Of course, the gentleman will do his best to save her, period, no matter what type of woman she is. But, in the long run, having someone in your life that you can depend on when you are weak, is better than having all of the responsibility, all of the time. 

A princess will not give an opinion, but a strong woman will give you her opinion, and it will be full of knowledge and wisdom.

Don't be scared away by a strong woman. 

She will be there when you need her. 

She will support you when you are weak. 

She will add to your life instead of always expecting you to add to hers only. 

She will make you more confident, stronger, and less stressed. 

And, in the end, you will be glad that you picked someone who has a backbone, spirit, and intelligence, instead of someone who is weak and depends on you all the time for everything. 

ps/smoh

to 

AOH

Men, your sons will grow up to be like YOU. Your daughters will marry a man like YOU. Will that be a good thing or a bad thing?

When you make the decision to have children, you have a responsibility to raise those children to the best of your abilities. 

But many times, we think that we can tell our children to do one thing, while at the same time, we don't model that behavior ourselves. 

This doesn't work!

Your sons and daughters are constantly watching your actions. 

What you do speaks louder than what you say. If you want your children to grow up to be better than you, then you have to improve yourself first. 

This is part of being a good parent.

When your children look at your actions, and those actions become ingrained into their psyche to the point that your son grows up to be like you, and your daughter grows up subconsciously looking for a man like you, will that be a good thing or a bad thing? 

The answer to that question is up to YOU. 

ps/smoh

Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Let there be light and let it always find a way to find me.

ps/smoh

It is such a masked world! There is such healing in being able to speak our truth.

"A depressed, messed up pilot takes his issues out on a plane load of innocents, and people express surprise that the company he works for didn't know. 

I understand the need to point fingers, but I don't know what anyone who walks past me on the street is thinking or feeling. It is such a masked world! 

What surprises me is that it doesn't happen more often, given the society wide prohibition against owning and admitting our personal issues, our shadow, our emotional pain and confusion. 

There is no one answer to the madness of the world, but I am certain that developing a practice of inviting- rather than shunning- people to share their pain with each other would go a long way to easing the suffering on this planet. 

There is so much misplaced aggression, much of it because we are conditioned to repress our anger, our grief, and our confusion, in the name of social acceptability. 

For God's sake>>>>>

When are we going to give others permission to take off their masks, disguises and adaptations and share their truths with their fellow humans? 

When are we going to realize that we are all in this together, that we are all hiding something fundamentally human below a needless bushel of shame? 

When are we going to sit down together and share our shadow freely, like friends on a confusing journey through time? 

It's like this giant avoid-fest that does little more than perpetuate suffering and insane behaviour. I assure you- there are no thoughts, feelings or issues that someone else hasn't experienced. 

We are all travelling down similar roads. It's time for a new paradigm that begins by throwing our masks in the garbage and inviting one another to share our truths, warts and all. 

Invited Self-Revealing and Lovingly Supported Release would be a wonderful place to begin a truly authentic new earth." - Jeff B

Sadly it is worsening when now we have psychologists saying "creative people are mentally ill." 

The study gets generalized and then a cloud is thrown over creative people, when once it used to be seen as "artistic and open."

When we push the envelope further and SHOW people these so-called "demons" the world can relate. The world can understand. 

If they don't, it's because they deny their very selves and the shadow. The shadow self is something to be understood if it is to be accepted and expressed. 

Expressing it can be a very creative process, though not always easy.

I'm not saying this man could have been saved at his point. But had he a healthy outlet for his depression earlier on I think it may had been avoided ultimately and the irony is that it was creative thinkers that developed the models they work from.

They now also say that being an introvert and liking a more reclusive lifestyle means you are mentally ill. I'm not downsizing mental illness but come on, just because I'd rather be at home than out in public all the time should not qualify me as a possible person with mental issues...

I don't think that everything should be a disorder, every person is different and feels differently about life, the bigger problem is a society that labels those that do not fall into what that society deems acceptable conformed is more like what they want. 

Controlling the masses is a big business to be in these days!

And eliminating the reliance on psychotropic’s as a first line of defence. As far as I can tell the common denominator in these cases is not uncomfortable states of being so much as it is the pills or maybe it’s probably both.  

The emphasis on psychographics is a tremendous contributor.

The mental illness spectrum is broad. 

As those who suffer from depression know, it's difficult enough to deal with on its own; making it the poster condition for anyone who acts outside "the norm" only makes it harder for us to be open and accepting of our own condition.