Fear - a philosophical perspective

Ok, my philosophy roots are coming back as I was reading Emerson and the following came to mind.

We've become fearful as a society. Fearful of 'living' our lives. In living, we have the entire vibration of life. Not just what feels good or looks right to the societal standards. In living we get to actually try things out, play with them and find our way through practice but somewhere along the way practice got lost and the demand for perfection became a prerequisite and it's scary to think you aren't allowed to learn something unless you are in school. There is no way we can know everything without trying things out. To say you do means you are actually simply taking something for granted, either you are taking anothers words as truth or you are guessing because the only way you can know something is real is to experience it and in experiencing something for the first time, while you can estimate, you cannot KNOW the outcome until AFTER the experience. Allowing yourself to experience this process of experience allows you to LIVE instead of trying to control life.

In living a life there isn't fear because what is there to be fearful of if you allow yourself the time to experience something and THEN make a decision. When that occurs even challenges become opportunities. Each challenge becoming a learning.

When we try to stop things to make sure everything is perfect we end up in stress because life is moving whether we want it to or not. Like water, life will flow and if we try to hold it tight in our hands, while at times we may be able to create a damn to temporarily hold it up, eventually it will overflow and then we will be faced with all that pressure that has built up when we could have chosen to swim in the river of life and allow it to lead us. It's so much less pressure.

Also, when we allow life to be lived, we realize that we are not beings in one time, but beings in all times. What I mean is we are not our past, our present or our future. We are in fact all of these and when we realize that, we get to see the multi-dimensional life. We get to see how our present is affected by how we experienced our past and choose whether that works for us or not. We also get to craft our future and change it when we see our view isn't what we really want, or what we want anymore as we get to be flexible in our lives and stop holding to one way. As life flows, we can change as well. What I liked yesterday may not be what I like today and instead of fearing that, I get to explore it like a scientist endeavoring on new behaviors that I get to choose.

So lets learn to release the fear. The fear that searches for control in an uncontrollable world. The fear that leads to the insatiable cravings for an unerred existence when life IS learning, therefore, there will be times when things aren't perfect. Actually, perfection in itself can become imperfect :). The clutching to a perfect life means pushing away illness and emotions as only controlled passions can allow for a sense of control and sickness is scary as well. Where is the LIFE in that? And what happens when things fall apart? Where is the existence in that?

This month I challenge you to choose to LIVE!

Instead of trying to hold it all together, what if you let things happen and watched your life unfold? What if you enjoyed the experience of choosing each day a new and releasing the need to make sense of life, or of yourself. You just might find some new aspects of YOU that you find interesting to explore. Explore away!

I wish you freedom. The freedom to laugh, freedom to embrace the Self and all it's quirks and temperments, the freedom to be human - and enjoy the ride.

Blessings, Jenifer

Energy and the Mind

I was working with a holistic practitioner last week who reminded me of the power of the bodymind. We were doing an exercise for releasing a held limited belief structure and suddenly her body shuddered. It was a rather violent shudder and afterwards, she said she felt like she'd released a part of herself. She was standing straighter, feeling and looking brighter, and moving with greater energy and power. The process itself was an NLP mind process that connects deeply with feelings. Going in through the mind, we reached her body's awareness and the release was very physical.

We are amazing bodymindsoul beings and our bodies amazing power to transform our emotions.

See http://www.theempowermentcentre.com/Workshops%20and%20Classes%20for%20Individuals%20and%20Teens.htm for upcoming classes for those interested in learning how this works for yourself!

***For those on snowy regions today, I hope you get time to play:)

The Real Laws of Attraction

Good morning. Another gym idea this morning.

On the TV at the gym this morning was a woman telling other women how to dress appropriately over age 35. I had to laugh. She was telling 'older' women over 35 to cover themselves more and wear clothing that hides areas of the body because they have to 'compete' with women for 'the same men' in their 20's-early 30's. Wow, if that isn't a limited view on life, and one that I'm hoping those reading this post aren't agreeing with.

Two main points here:

1) I think these comments don't give enough credit to the good men out there who DO want REAL relationships with REAL people and HAVE THEM.

2) It also demonstrates a view of women that I completely disagree with. I believe women get even more attractive as they get older (and 35 is quite young) due to the fact that they get wiser, more solid in their own skin, and more grounded in who they are. A truly attractive woman is one who knows who she is and has a passion for her life.

In watching that show, I was reminded as well how television focuses on exploiting animal desires, not relationships. If you ask me, relationships are a lot more satisfying.

Blessings and Joy,

Jenifer

Power of Perception

(I received the request to place this on my blog by my client as long as I didn't state her name. I would NEVER offer this much information otherwise but she really felt compelled that it might help others and I of course believe in the power of stories to heal.)

I was working with a 14 year old girl a few months ago who was engaging in unhealthy activities that were putting her life in danger. I asked her why, she said - rather flippantly, why not, it doesn't matter and everyone does it.

I took her into a space within herself (using NLP and hypnotherapy) where everyone DIDN'T do it. I asked her to look at how she would feel engaging in those behaviors if NO ONE ELSE DID. I watched her sit before me, horrified. She said watching herself do that showed her what she was actually doing and changed her way of seeing it. When I asked her if she could see herself engaging in those behaviors again, she said she couldn't even imagine it. It made her feel sick to think about it. She said she didn't even realize she was doing it, that it had been like she was watching someone else during those times.

Since that session, we have worked on developing her sense of self and she has let me know how becoming herself has changed her life. She also tells me stories of what her old friends are doing now and how she can't believe she ever did those things. She struggles at times with the difference, and she said one of the most dramatic changes has been that she feels like when someone says her name now, she actually hear's the call and responds whereas before, she really didn't hear it.

On Being Clear

I had an interesting conversation today with someone I didn't know. He called me asking for information on my services. I said I'd be happy to discuss this with him and asked if there were specific services he was interested in that I could offer more information on as I offer many services. He said no so I gave him overall information. He stopped me several times as I was talking and kept saying, 'no, not that, what else'. We finally got to what he was interested in and, after several minutes of my attempting to answer a question he didn't quite feel comfortable asking, we figured out what he really wanted and I told him that wasn't something I offer but I'd be happy to refer him to another practitioner. He got very frustrated when I told him I didn't offer what he was asking for and hung up on me.

I sat with that for a while, both to release the energy of it as it wasn't a particularly pleasant conversation, and also for him as he seemed in quite a bit of distress. I prayed for him for various things, mostly, I prayed that he could find within himself the courage to ask for what he wanted. It seemed to me he was so ashamed of what he was asking for that he refused to actually find it. I hope he does.

Thought for the Day

We all have needs and sometimes, asking for what we need is much harder than actually attaining it.

A different way of dealing with differences

I was reading today about a village in South Africa where, when someone in the community does something out of line, the village gets together, puts the person in the center, and each one tells him something wonderful about him. It could be something the person in the center did, or something they are, something positive in some way. Then, the person is told to stay there and think about it for the rest of the day before being welcomed back as a member of the community.

Thought for the day

What if, rather than focusing on the things we want to change in someone, we focused on what we admire - and let them know.

Link I like

I love that there are different kinds of smiles...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile

Astro points for Jan 2007

As promised, a few astro-points for what is going on these days. With Sag energy high, and a few other shifts that occurred the past few weeks, this is a great new year surge for manifesting something new and completing all of the shifts that are needed to get there. It also feels like a quickening of energy for most signs. You may have even felt the past few days like a new person. Some even forgot about 2006 already ;).

So how to use this energy, sit down and get clear on how you want 2007 to look and start sending out good vibes to those around you. Manifesting this year will be on a grander scale for most and those of you who began something in 1995 or thereabouts, note a shift that will feel like that's done and the next phase is on.

Enjoy and have fun! Jenifer

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy new year to all of you!

As many of you know, part of what I do is web design and marketing for holistic businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profits, etc.

Well, this morning I was doing some investigating on top search terms for a client and I found out that for today on a search engine the top search so far was for terrorist names. Now that means that more people are searching for that information today, on the day that is so powerful to set intentions for the new year.

Once again, what are people focusing on.

For today, PLEASE, set your intentions for the new year. You have nothing but possibility ahead of you. Let's stop focusing on fear and start focusing on what matters to you and what you want to see in your life!!! Miracles happen every moment. Let's give them a fighting chance and set the intention for some in your own life!

Blessings! Jenifer