Where Have I Been?

I've been offline for weeks - somewhat voluntarily. My son moved out (Hello Empty Nest!) and took the cable account with him. I pretended that I would be more productive if I wasn't plugged in for hours every day so I stayed offline for several weeks to see - I am now a master at Mahjong. I did spend more time journaling and reading which was nice - but my online projects have withered.

So I am back with a renewed sense of what I am doing - and now I'm at Pat O'Bryan's UnSeminar 5 on the San Antonio Riverwalk to learn about creating a Portable Empire. I'll post some more when I get back to Asheville next week.

Yes We Did!

Yeah North Carolina! Congratulations Asheville! This is the first time I can remember our primary mattering & one of the few times I voted for the winner. I'm still up waiting for Gary, Indiana to be counted - but it looks like Obama netted several delegates tonight. I took a few minutes off work to go to the party at Asheville Pizza Company - it was overflowing with volunteers and supporters watching the victory speech. I'm really proud of how so many people from all different backgrounds came together to work on this campaign - Asheville is such a great community. I didn't think to take any photos, but I found the paper has a few up - This one is for Mr. Savage, who has all sorts of stereotypes about Obama supporters and North Carolina.

For those of you who haven't tried the Koolaid yet, here are a couple of articles that compare and contrast the two candidates:

NYT - "Combat and Composure"

Sunday's Charlotte Observor Endorsement

I had to give a little plug, even though things will calm down for a while now. Well - I'm going to sleep now - I will get back on a normal blogging schedule now that the primary is over. Good Night

More Words to Think About

I know - I'm slack .... But I ran across this quote while taking a cryptogram break from doing taxes ....

"Happiness is not a reward -- it is a consequence.
Suffering is not a punishment -- it is a result. "
— Robert Green Ingersoll

Straight Science of Mind - It's everywhere!

Words Worth Remembering

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
- Dr. King

Something to Think About

I haven't posted lately because I am torn - I didn't intend for this blog to be political at all - but that's where most of my thoughts have been recently. I have tried to keep my political views separate from my spiritual life, but being a student of the law of attraction I have to ask:

Do you really think that a person that uses the word "fight" in almost every paragraph can ever bring about peace?

New Books

I've been on a spending diet for the last few months and have tried to avoid bookstores, but yesterday I had a few minutes to spare and couldn't resist. I came home with The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year - it seems to be mainly guided meditations with a calendar format and lots of questions about how we choose to spend our time. This is something I am really working on this year - learning to say no to tasks that aren't part of my path.

I also am reading Fat, Broke & Lonely No More: Your Personal Solution to Overeating, Overspending, and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places - I couldn't resist this title - it sums up several of my goals for 2008.

Both of these books are a mix of the spiritual and the practical and use the law of attraction extensively. I will post more details when I finish them.

Yes We Can!

I live in a state that did not choose to participate in Super Tuesday - but I have to show you why I strongly support Barack Obama:



Remember - We are one people and we can build the lives
and the country of our dreams. Hope is stronger than fear.

I'm Back!

I've been lost in techy land for the last couple of weeks. I have been working to set up this domain and also Google Apps. I followed the directions over and over and nothing would take. I finally gave up and transfered my domain from Yahoo to Godaddy and everything I had been working on for weeks only took a couple of hours. Hmmmm - sounds like Yahoo and Microsoft are made for each other.

Also - my law of attraction confession - I went swimming in a very cold pool of self-pity on New Year's Eve and did not shake it off for a few weeks - and I managed to attract more viruses in January than I have in the last 5 years combined. Think there's a connection?

So, I'm back - rested and healthy and healed. I will be spending alot of February working on the technical side of this blog and website - hopefully there will be some goodies on the site by March.

The Happy Day Campaign

My Minister, Barbara Waterhouse, has been on a campaign for over a year to get all of us to begin each day by claiming that "Today is a Happy Day!" Every Sunday morning over 200 people in Asheville follow her lead and yell this out - sometimes more than once. I think it worked - in his new book, The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner has declared Asheville the happiest city in the US.

There's another person who lifts Ashevillians up on a regular basis - Elder John Hayes - whose radio station WRES must be the Soul of Asheville. He especially cranks up the Positivity around rush hour - it's impossible to have road rage while singing along.

So, yes, Asheville is a happy place and a blessed place. We have things to work on like all towns, but most of us truly love this town and are willing to work together to get even better. We have a diversity here that makes us truly rich and most of the people that live here really respect each other as individuals.

It's easy to get busy and stressed out and forget how lucky we are. That's the secret to the Happy Day Campaign - remember to be happy - claim it now!

The Law of Attraction and World Events

There is a misconception that in order to have happy, fulfilled lives we should ignore problems or lie to ourselves about events going on in the world in order not to give more energy to the problems. I do believe that focusing solely on problems just increases them, but I don't believe that we have to put our fingers in our ears every time the news comes on. I just believe that we do more good by focusing on solutions.

I personally don't watch or listen to the news - there seems to be too strong of an emotional hook on most commercial broadcasts - but I do read a few newspapers. I'm very political and I like to form my own opinions about what's happening in my community and around the world. I'm not comfortable totally ignoring the news as some people advise, but I also know that there's a huge amount of good news that never makes the front page.

If there is something in our world that is tugging on your heart - then by all means do something. Just pay attention - is the world hunger group you joined actually sending food or technology into the world or do they just complain that other people should change? Is your environmental group involved in real solutions (actually doing something) or are they just another PAC? I think that if we really want to change the world our time is better spent reading to a child or planting a community garden than writing letters calling for someone else to change.

Governments Rarely Change the World - Individuals Do

Proud of Iowa

Yes! I'm so proud that a mostly white, fairly conservative state can see past race and labels into a man's heart and choose a leader based on where we want to go as a country. Our country really has come a long way in the last half century. We still have lots of work to do - but that's one of the things I really like about Obama - he says let's all roll up our sleeves and work together to improve everyone's life. I think that his vision of what our country can be comes closer to mine than any of the other candidates.

“We are one people, and our time for change has come.”
- Barack Obama

My Daily Prayer

I am reclaiming my time and space with this new year. While cleaning and purging I rediscovered this prayer that I wrote when I first started studying The Science of Mind:

My Daily Prayer

I now have everything I need
I am surrounded by Love & Joy,
Beauty & Harmony, Order & Abundance
My Path unfolds easily before me
I Give & Receive Freely & Joyfully
I am Strong & Powerful, Healthy & Safe
I am Loved and Valued for all that I am
I am One with the Universe
All my Loved Ones are Healthy, Happy & Safe
We are all Blessed
Life is Sweet
And So It Is!

So for 2008 I am making this prayer - staking a claim for what this new year will be. Even the word resolution seems to reek of compromise and settling. Let us all aim higher than resolve - Let's go for Joy and Glory and Love and Laughter - Let's go for our deepest desires.

Happy New Year - May all your dreams come true

Merry Christmas!

I've been very slack with my postings - My birthday week (7^2!) ran into the pre-holiday rush. Last night was our Annual Christmas Eve Candlelighting Service at CfCL - It's the most traditional and beautiful event we do all year. Before we light everyone's candle, Practitioners light candles for the seven attributes of God - I was Wisdom.

I learned something while I was researching for my part - Wisdom was a woman in the Bible - WOW! I'm going to read more about this soon. My reading and research list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I claim for all of you a holiday full of light and love and joy - and I know that 2008 will be the best year yet. And So It Is!

Simpleology

I signed up for Simpleology a long time ago - but I never got passed the first day for over a year. Once I committed and really tried it, I got alot of value from it and I'm still using some of the components. I especially like the way it makes you focus on specific targets. Now there's something new ...

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

Letting Go or Thinking Too Much?

I finally finished reading the Secret of Letting Goand I did get some useful reminders from it - but the whole premise seemed to be that we are here in physical form to live in our heads. I'm not sure about that. I think I already spend too much time in my head and not enough time really living. I read at bedtime, so I might have totally missed something - I have a friend that said this book was life-changing, so I will try to reread it later and see if I feel differently.

What I'm Working On Now

A new idea in the no-complaining and no-whining movement is to take charge of the second thought. So my goal thru the holidays is to grab my second thoughts and redirect them into positive directions. Barbara Waterhouse introduced us to this idea yesterday - you can listen in to our celebration here. Yesterday's talk will be up in a couple of days.

I'm also reading and rereading the Secret of Letting Go - that is similar work - the two combined should be really powerful.

The Gas-Up

This is where I almost live 6 days/week - on Sundays you can find me at The Center for Creative Living