Question of the Day

Do you believe in the concept of past lives?

I did not really give it much thought until 5 or 6 years ago. At that time my reiki teacher (I’m a reiki master) offered a class in past life regression. My initial reaction was not to go. While I did not NOT believe in past lives, I did not want to know about them, if I’d had them. I did not want to know if I’d been violently killed, or been the Queen of Sheba. I had enough to do dealing with this life!

But, I told a friend about the class, and she wanted to go, badly, so finally I agreed to go. The teacher prepared us by having us write down questions we had about ourselves. Like why we had an attraction to certain things, or felt a certain way that we could not explain. For example, another friend at the class said she had always been attracted to Japanese art and did not know why. I wrote down the question, “Why am I so attracted to the ocean? To be on it, not just at the beach?”

She then guided us into a deep meditation. Since this was a class of about 10 reiki practitioners, we all get into that state pretty easily and the energy in the room was pretty conducive to meditation. She guided us down a set of stairs and told us at the bottom of the stairs would be a person. She instructed us to pay attention to the persons clothing, starting at the feet. I met a young boy 10 or 12 years old, dressed in boots, and pants and a loose shirt that you might see on a child in the 1700’s. He was looking out to sea for his father, on the widows walk of an old New England house. His father turned out to be a sea captain, and who eventually took me onto his father’s boat. When we were brought out of the meditation about an hour later, I understood that the young boy had been me in a past life, and it pretty much explained to me in a way that I felt was true on a very deep level, why I loved the ocean.

Immediately after, I read Dr. Brian Weiss’s book, Many Lives, Many Masters. Dr. Weiss is a psychiatrist and hypnotherapist, educated at Yale and Columbia, and I believe head of the psychology department at the University of Miami. I have seen him interviewed a couple of times on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday. His work cemented my new-found belief and understanding of past lives. I believe that my one time past life regression has helped me to understand myself better, and given me a larger perspective on this life I’m living now. It is somehow consistent with my core spiritual beliefs.

So…..tell me. Are past lives a concept you can believe in, or do believe in past lives? Have you ever had a regression, or would you be willing to? Join the discussion in the comments, please, or write a blog and link it back to this one in a comment, so others can read your thoughts on it.

As always, love and light to all.

Question of the Day

Sunrise or Sunset? Which do you prefer?

I always considered myself a morning person, because I used to be up around 5:30 every day. I wanted to have at least an hour to myself before I began getting ready for work, and leaving the house at 8. As such, I became enamored of sunrise. From May through mid-September, that meant I was up for the sunrise, usually on my deck. I loved watching and listening to the world wake up. When I moved to Florida, where the sun comes up a bit later than up north, I was still in the habit of waking early, and so would take walks down along the water and see the sunrise over the bay. It’s so quiet, the light is so intimate. Sunsets are beautiful but one is rarely the only person at the end of the pier watching it. In the evening there is the noise of traffic and music and loud voices at the bars on the waterfront. Nothing like the peace of the morning.

Now, even though I still prefer sunrise to sunset, I rarely see it. Sitting out on my deck early is an invitation to the mosquitoes and “no-see-ums” to have breakfast. But occasionally, we do see the sunrise, and I still get the same peace. I guess that even though I’m not as productive as I used to be in the morning, I would still consider myself a morning person. I see sunsets more often now, since the Gulf of Mexico has some of the most beautiful sunsets ever, and it’s only about 5 or 6 miles from my house, making it easy to drive there on the spur of the moment, get a glass of wine and stand at water’s edge, waiting from the mythical “green flash.”

So which do you enjoy the most? Tell me in a comment, or write your own blog, and link it back here so others can read about it.

Love and light, as always.

Question of the Day

What personality trait is do you most value in others?

For me, it is trust. I cannot be friends with anyone I cannot trust. There are a million ways to earn trust, and a million ways to break it. I think it is way easier to break it than to earn it. There was a time that I gave people too many chances to regain my trust if they broke it, but as I’ve aged, I’ve gained some wisdom around trust, and realize that someone who is willing to break your trust once, will be willing to do it again. If people don’t honor themselves enough to tell the truth, chances are they won’t honor you.

The fact is you can never really get to know someone who doesn’t earn your trust. You can never be safe. You can never let down your guard. While other traits are important to me, such as kindness, generosity, being considerate, none of those matter if someone is not trustworthy. As I get older, the less I can tolerate untrustworthy people.

So tell me what trait has the most value to you. Or write a blog and link it back here so others can read your thoughts.

As ever, love and light

Do you play any card games? If so what game, and why that game?

We started playing cards a while ago. We play gin, and whoever gets to 100 points first wins. I suppose you could play it to any number you wanted, but 100 works for us. We have found it a nice way to unwind the day, in the evening with a glass of ice water or a glass of wine. We have been known to get up in the middle of the night and play when neither of us can sleep. We’ll play one game, til we are ready to face plant on the table, and then go back to bed and actually fall asleep. (Note, we have done the same thing with the hot tub, but when the temp out is in the 40’s we’re not so keen to walk over there in our bathing suits.)

I was terrible at first, because I was learning, but now I win quite often, although Dan is the more skilled player. He seems to know when to hold out for gin better than I. I like playing though because we sit and talk, undistracted by the TV, and we have a few laughs. It’s not something I ever imagined I’d do on a regular basis, but I do, and I enjoy it. I only know how to play gin and 31, but 31 you need more than 2 people for it to be a good game. We play that when we’re at my sister and brother-in-laws house.

So, I’m just wondering if you play at all, and if so is it for relaxation, or entertainment, or even money. Tell me what game, and maybe I’ll be able to expand my repertoire beyond gin and 31.

Love and light to all.

I have always called the ocean my second home, because it is where I feel the most peace. I love to be on it more than beside it, but these days beside it is where I find myself, and am happy to be. I love the motion, the big broad unfettered horizons, and the beauty of dropping anchor in some small harbor, letting the water rock me to sleep.

So my question is, where is your spot to breathe, to find peace, to leave the noise behind, and regroup?

I never understood why I am so attracted to the ocean, because I grew up in Iowa, three blocks from the Mississippi River.  (I got an answerr a few years ago, but that’s too long a story for now.)  I remember in school, when kids would come back to school in September and tell you they’d been to the ocean that summer on vacation, we would look at them in awe, and tell them how lucky they were. When I moved to CT, and got married, it wasn’t long until we had a boat we could take out on the ocean. We moved up in size of boat, so we could go farther, stay longer and be more comfortable. I often have said that the boat made me stay married much longer than I should have been, because I just didn’t want to give up that life.

Then I realized that even the boating life could get tainted by a bad marriage. Which may lead to another question, for another day.

Please tell me where your place is, and why it is. Or, write your own blog about it, and link it back here in a comment, so others can find it.

As always, love and light to all.

At Dan’s suggestion, I’m going to try to post a question of the day every day, and hope I can get some conversations going. These may range from the very serious to the very absurd, but all comments are welcome! I think it might be fun, at any rate. If you might have any suggestions for a question, just ask in the comments and I’ll post it, unless it is inappropriate. You know, not fit for public discussion….

So, today’s question is: Have you ever manifested a dream into reality?

I have. I was going to say “I think I have” but I don’t think it, I know it. Some people think the fact that my dreams became reality is a coincidences. I think when they so closely resemble the picture I had in my head there is something more at work there. The law of attraction, and/or the universe working in my behalf.

Briefly, these are my successful manifestations.

1. My house in CT. During my 4 year divorce, I did not wish ill on my ex, as a rule. Of course there were times I prayed for his demise but they were short lived, lol, and not sincere. But the house I dreamed of in detail. And I got exactly what I dreamed of.

2. That my son would be with me, in that house. It was his doing, but it was my dream and so, I have to say the universe conspired in both our behalves.

3. My move to Florida, and finding a home exactly as I dreamed of. Small, bright, happy, close to the water.

4. As I’ve said many times, Dan. A good-looking, sexy, thoughtful, kind, considerate man who knows who he is and has a strong sense of right and wrong. And he loves me back, lol.

But there have been good arguments against believing I manifested these dreams as well, and while I acknowledge their validity, I still choose to believe we are the makers of our reality by focusing our thoughts on what we want, not on what we don’t want, or what we want others to say, do, or feel. (Just an aside, but during that 4 year divorce, my ex focused on ruining me financially, and ruining my relationship with my son. Both things are exactly what happened to him, proving, to me at least, that what you think about and focus on is what you will bring to yourself.) I think it takes practice, and focus, but that eventually we learn to duck when we say “Oh shit!” Start with manifesting a parking place at the grocery store. I’m pretty good now, at manifesting a good spot, if I remember to give it a few minutes thought on the way there. Really.

Anyway, tell me your thoughts! I’d love to hear! Or, write a blog and link it back here, if you have too much to say for a comment. And, love and light to all.