Sunday, November 23, 2014

Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

If you've been around New Age or New Thought teaching much at all, you've probably already encountered the saying, "Energy flows where attention goes" or similarly, "what you focus on expands." It's the same principle and it is found in many schools of thought. In Huna, the former of these two sayings is referred to as Makia. I believe in this principle and I've seen it in action in my life. Without meaning to prove it in three-dimensional life, I did just that when I happened to notice that there was a puny little rose bush in the yard of a cottage I rented for six months on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington. It was so small and spindly that I must have walked by it dozens of times before I ever even noticed it. When I did notice it, I was a bit shocked by it. I love roses, and I've tended a lot of rose bushes over the years in various places where I've lived, so to find this one looking so pathetic was startling to me. All I did to set this principle in motion was to stop what I was doing and pay attention to this pathetic excuse for a rose bush, which in the beginning consisted of a few sticks and a small leaf or two. I simply looked at it and studied it for a few seconds to convince myself that it truly was a rose bush. It was nearly invisible it was so non-impressive. 

Within a day or two, I walked by it again and simply looked at it and noticed that there was the tiniest little bud on one of the meager branches. I smiled at this little marvel and walked away, happy to know that I had a little hopeful rose bud trying for all its worth to come into being right in front of my cottage. It was like a little miracle. I wondered how my landlady had kept from mowing over it with her riding lawn mower when I had barely been able to see it in passing. I said nothing to my landlady about it, even though I ran into her a lot out in the mutual yard that stretched between our two dwelling places. I simply became a witness to the budding and blossoming of this beautiful rose. 

Miracle Rose
When it finally bloomed into the lovely flower you see above, my landlady  asked with great astonishment, "What on earth are you doing to that rose bush over there?" I laughed and said, "Nothing except noticing that it is there. It did all the rest. I just paid attention to it when I finally noticed it." She shook her head in wonder and said, "That thing hasn't bloomed in years." Then it was my turn to be astonished. I also started paying even more attention to it. I didn't have anything to feed it, so I fed it my attention and that is all. The rain watered it, and it started budding like crazy. It was not able to fill out again to any great fullness though because of the amount of deer traffic in the yard. Apparently roses are yummy to deer taste buds. The deer wound up demonstrating to me what had happened to the rose bush in the first place. It had been a victim of a hit and run deer foraging. But for the couple of months it lasted, I got to enjoy probably a half dozen blooms before it was added to the deer menu again. 




Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Honesty is Good for the Memory

There is so much less information to retain when you tell the truth. You don't have to keep track of all the lies you've told and to whom. Free up brain cells by deleting all the dishonest files.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

I Tripped Rick Steves the Ultimate Tripper

If you've ever turned on PBS, you've probably stumbled upon Rick Steves and one of his many travel videos around the world. Or you may have encountered one of his many "Through the Back Door" travel guide books. Rick is the quintessential travel guru, always trying to experience the culture from an insider's perspective. His home in the USA is in Edmonds, just north of Seattle. I used to hang out in Edmonds sometimes while I was residing in and around the Seattle area and have been to his travel center several times. There used to be a great Indian restaurant down by the ferry and the railroad tracks in Edmonds, so I used to make special trips there just to eat at this restaurant. It was called Sahib. I used to go there as often as I could, particularly for the Saturday or Sunday brunches. I don't know if it's still there. When the economy was being weird a few years ago, I cut back on my day tripping because gas had gotten so high, and I was already doing a really long work commute from the Kitsap Peninsula to Seattle four days a week. Even my Honda Civic, which sipped gas, was costing me a lot to fuel.

Anyway, years ago when they were having a travel expo in downtown Seattle, I attended that event with my then partner. We made sure to set aside time to see Rick Steves at one of his talks. Just before time to go into the room for his talk, my partner and I were hanging out in the hallway waiting for the doors to open so we could enter. I was leaning with my back against the wall and my feet stuck out in front of me. Rick came barreling around the corner in a hurry to get to the room where he was the featured speaker and tripped spectacularly over my feet. He managed to regain his balance and continue on without further calamity, but it was a moment that should have been caught on one of his outtakes from his travel videos. It was such a classic Dick Van Dyke style trip, and if you aren't old enough to get that reference, I feel sorry for you because Dick Van Dyke was a master of physical comedy in his day, and Rick Steves could be his stunt double.

Once he got his body back under control, he opened the doors and let those of us waiting to get inside to get a seat. I don't remember now what his topic was for the day, but I will always remember the trip I sent him on accidentally. Some day I'd like to go on a real trip with him, or at least with one of his books to guide me. In the meantime, I was delighted to see that he has connected with Bread for the World to help end hunger. Apparently Rick's travels around the globe have made him acutely aware of the worldwide problem of hunger. I think it's great that he is doing this and offering to match funds and send gifts to those who donate to this organization. To learn more, please click the link below.

©  | Dreamstime Stock Photos


This is one of many organizations making a difference in the world. Anyone who would like for me to share one of your favorite organizations who are making a difference, please contact me at mysticangelhealing@gmail.com.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Some Laws are Begging to Be Broken

http://www.local10.com/news/police-charge-90yearold-man-2-pastors-with-feeding-the-homeless/29510268

If you aren't outraged by the contents of this article, you should be. When governments refuse to help the poor, it needs at least to get out of the way of citizens whose hearts won't allow the hungry to starve. As I noted on my Facebook posting of this article, I can imagine Mother Teresa banging on the gates of heaven to get out so she can come back and do something about this. I suppose if Jesus were walking the earth these days in Florida, he'd be spending most of his time in jail. Remember the feeding of the 5000? I'm not sure what exactly I can do to stop this. I'm not completely ambulatory right now, but I can still type and access the world through the internet. So I'll start by using my voice.