That sentence is so small that you’d never imagine the kind of impact crater it leaves. It’s also hard to fathom just how much can be gained by eliminating it from your parenting language.

One of the first things I ever remember the Other Side telling me was that I was born into a World where people had forgotten how to “think”. That was a child’s interpretation of the information given to me at the time. Today I would translate it differently. It’s really about a society of people who were no longer taught how to think. They are mostly taught to follow. They are also taught not to feel, and though the two are often intermingled, the “feeling teachings” are a story for another day.

As a teenager I worked as a server in a family-style restaurant. I loved my job and as part of making sure that I was taking care of my customers needs before they even knew they needed something, I paid very close attention to them. Having the benefit of seeing their energy was indeed a boon to my success at this endeavor…but more than that, I learned how parental interactions with their children REALLY shape the minds and hearts of those children. I was sometimes incredibly touched…and sometimes incredibly sad. Thank Heaven for the constant commentary I get from the Other Side explaining the nature of such events and how they might turn out. Otherwise I might have cried myself to sleep every night or resigned myself to never having children of my own.      Thank Heaven.

I myself had amazing parents but being the fourth of five children, and my younger sister being so close to me in age, I wasn’t really paying attention to these same interactions as they were happening. I had constant commentary back then too….but mostly it was about explaining the actions of adults to me. I rarely recall explanations about other children. Children, it seems, do often need much explanation, as they generally have not yet succumbed to the false behaviors that adults have adapted to for survival. At least most of them hadn’t. With children…what you see is truly where they are.  They don’t yet know to laugh as a cover up for some other emotion, nor will they laugh at a joke that they don’t see as funny just to please you. They haven’t mastered smiling through pain and sorrow…so they weep. They have no polite and mild-mannered way to express their distress in moments of complete and total meltdown at the loss of a possession. Nor have they any concept or care of the judgments being doled out upon them and their parents as they emote their angst at having to go in yet another store at the mall. They throw themselves in the floor and let it all out! They are also constantly attempting to interpret this new home called Earth and everything in it. They did not come downloaded with physics principals on airplanes and flying. They do not have manuals on WHY people act the way they do. (Heck, WE STILL don’t have manuals for that!). They don’t know why the grass is green or why it itches, how an ant can carry a giant moth, why your hair color is different every month, where people go when they leave the house. or why they leave at all. They don’t come pre-programmed with concepts of money and value, a sense of linear time, an awareness that out of sight is not “gone forever”, or the intricacies of why Mommy might be crying…even at a funeral. So they ASK. How does it work? Why does it work? Will it always work? Can I make it work? Do you do it that way? Does everyone do it that way? Why do I need to do it that way? Will I always have to do it this way? Why? Why? Why?

Why, indeed. How this question is typically answered IS the tool that shapes the person.

“Because I SAID so!”

A perfect retort if you’re trying to raise a person to be blindly obedient, mindlessly dutiful and completely incompetent in the skills of seeing CHOICES and POTENTIALS.

A complete and total cop-out from the action of rearing a free-thinking human that can accept possibilities and allow others to be something other than mirror images of those around them.

And so it was, that by the time I was 17 I had witnessed enough stifling and hushing of this natural process that I vowed to never use that term when and if I ever had children. Ever. I was determined. Fast forward twelve years and three children later and you would find that I was fighting hard to keep my vow…even if I cursed it’s very concept under my breath as I answered yet another “why?” to every answer that I gave.  I was tired. I was stressed out. I was often at a loss for the answer to “why?”. As part of my decision to raise children who can think, I made it a habit to give as many possible answers to every question as I could think of..or muster up…usually ending with the wide sweeping…”or it could be something we’ve never even thought of!  Who knows! What do YOU think?”. This became my standard way of both serving the needs of a child’s desire to explore everything AND give me a minute to come up with enough energy to withstand the next round of interrogation. And that’s generally what it felt like. But it MATTERED! It really, really mattered. At least to me. I never wanted to watch the light in them dim like I had watched in those children back in the restaurant who were crushed, frustrated and unbearably LOST when they didn’t get something to feed the burning questions in their little minds. I didn’t want to feel in my children the heartache that I’d felt in those other children, when they get the brush-off by someone who is the closest thing to Wikipedia that they yet know. I wanted to FEED my children, not starve them. I wanted to broaden their minds, not squish them into a neat and tidy little box of thinking that was really only serving to give me five more minutes of quiet. If I’d wanted quiet, well, I guess I should have chosen something other than parenting. I didn’t….and so I answered questions…and questions to those questions…and more questions still.

The funny thing is, while trying be a gift to my children and the World as a whole, I found that I was really gifting myself! Make no mistake, I had fabulous parents. I suspect though, that by the time I was born, the fourth of five girls, my Mother had decided that most things were a phase that a child would grow out of. For this reason, I was allowed many things that I’m told, were not afforded my older siblings. I asked “why” a lot…but most of the time, it was answered by my Guides before the question ever came out of my mouth. So in my Mother’s defense, she never really had a chance to be a part of this issue one way or the other. The Guides would often tell me to do what she was telling me…but they usually corrected her reasoning for me. I don’t think my Mother knew that until I was in my 30′s. This must have been an act of compassion from the Other Side for both my Mother and myself, as it prevented many an argument, I’m sure. But I digress.

I found that I, like most people, tended to tell my children the same sort of things I was told. Normal everyday things. “Clean up your room”, “Make your bed.”, “Come inside., “Stop doing that.”, “Apologize!”, and so forth. This, like every sentence that a parent utters, begs for a “why?” from the child. Hmm. Clearly, I wasn’t counting on THAT many “Why’s”. And so the unwinding of even the smallest acts began. “Why clean your room and make your bed? Because….um, it looks better.” I felt relieved. Relief didn’t last. “Why does it look better?”, they would ask. “Because an unmade bed makes the room look messy and if someone comes over and sees all your toys all over, your room will look bad”.  ”Why does THAT look bad?…and who ever sees our rooms anyway? You won’t let anyone upstairs.” My mind would begin to scramble in an attempt to find a reason good enough to enlist room cleanliness. The children kept speaking, “We will be playing with them soon anyway so why clean the toys up?” Children are Masters of the Obvious. They generally speak the truth…at the most inopportune time. “Inopportune” being defined as any time it doesn’t fit neatly into our wishes, of course. My children were right. I didn’t allow people upstairs just in case a room wasn’t perfect. No one. Ever. Yet I still felt this deep seeded need for a made bed and a tidy room. What I learned was that I had a program running that said those bedrooms had to look a certain way. If they didn’t, someone might think that I was lazy or that I didn’t care. They might judge my children as hellions who didn’t mind. That was IT! They might JUDGE! And so it was that parenting became a way for me to clearly see every little “how-to-be-accepted-by-the-masses” program that I had. Since I didn’t want to be raising children whose actions were determined simply by the approval of others, but more for the approval of themselves, I had to start looking very deeply into my own structure. The children, of course, were more than fond of this process…as it meant they had permission to argue their case. I had to start digging deeply into myself for the reasoning behind my actions and expectations of them.

I wanted to raise children who knew what society thought was right. I also wanted them to know that there were other options. All had consequences. Some we’d like, and some we didn’t. Either way though, it was a CHOICE. If they asked me why they had to do something, and I didn’t have a reasonable reason…well, that rule was abandoned until I came up with a reasonable reason…and most of the time, that reasonable reason never appeared. I freed myself from countless activities and stresses that I wasn’t even aware were effecting me, while allowing my children a broader playing field for thought. More importantly, I learned how to speak what was really going on inside of me. A lesson I first remember encountering when I was about 5 years old, in reversal. I was often found walking the split-rail fence in our yard. My Mother would say to me “Get off of there Julie before you fall and split your head open!”. Before I could retort, my Guides would say “You’re not going to crack your head open….but you’re making her nervous about it, so get down”. And I would get down. Without that commentary, I would have surely said “No I’m NOT!”, attempting to continue my tight-rope dare-devil antics on a less than stable fence. Because walking that fence was not more important to me than her stress level, even though she was wrong about the fall, I relented and moved on to some less nerve-wracking activity. This was my childhood. Mother telling me to do something or not do something, and the Guides clarifying what was really going on. Clarity about the REAL reason for doing something made ALL the difference to me. It made a difference to my children too. It’s hard to make a decision when you don’t understand the dynamics. This meant that I chose to honor every why question. Sometimes the answer to the “why?” had to be “Ask me after we get home”, or “We can discuss it later”, since sometimes the timing was less than ideal for me. Sometimes I delayed the answer by simply telling them the truth. “I’m super tired of answering questions right now and I’d really just like to watch this show. Can you ask me later?”. I just had to train myself to actually follow through and get back to them. They also had to learn that if it really mattered to them, they had to come back to me later. Because it mattered to all of us, it usually got answered. Truth. Amazing what can happen when you speak it. “I don’t know” is a truth too. Making up excuses or settling for the easiest answer is a disservice to everyone. I didn’t want to contribute to that. ” I don’t know” had to be followed by a listing of every possible way we could think of in order to find the answer.

I always saw parenting as the biggest contribution I could possibly make to both the Soul of that child who chose me, as well as to the World in which we all would live. Yes, we had rules. We just didn’t have ones that made no sense to any of us simply because that was the way it had always been done. We learned to adapt things as life changed. We learned to question everything, feel everything and be truthful about it. My children learned that they don’t have to share every toy and that sometimes their friends will understand, and sometimes they won’t…but they had choices too and we honored them. When you learn to honor yourself, you learn to honor others. When you allow yourself choices, you can grasp someone else has choices too. They learned that the World they lived in was very confining for most people and I still field questions about why a person would do this or that. I’m still answering questions because they’re still allowed to ask! They’ve grown up some and they understand now that out in the World of “Because I said so” there are many people who perceive a question as disrespectful or argumentative. This is the sad reality of teaching people that the only acceptable thing to do is adhere to whatever you’ve said and accept it as the one and only truth. The World out there has learned to shrug it’s shoulders in sadness and never once utter a “why?”. For most of those people, the question of “why” doesn’t even cross their minds anymore. That was hushed long ago. Their lives have become a series of trying to deal with what the “rule makers” have dished out to them. They follow without questions, and expect the same of everyone else. For better or for worse, and it’s usually for the better, my children were not taught to follow. They were taught to be a part of the guidelines we lived. They choose their rules based on understanding those rules…whatever they were. We didn’t get to make every rule….so we examined all the why’s that someone else made those rules for. It was the best we could do, being that it was a rule based World, and we were the minority…for now.

The concept of doing what you were told simply because and adult told you to do it is foreign to them. They were not taught to automatically respect and adult. They were taught to respect everyone.…and that respect had NOTHING to do with how well they followed orders.

I’ve often questioned myself about the way I raised these children. They are often at such odds with the way in which the majority of the World operates. They question, debate and keeping digging. I watch them struggle inside and out. I watch adults struggle with the thinking processes that my children often demonstrate in context to something that adult has said. I feel empathy for all of them. The adult often feels that they’re being attacked and ridiculed when all my child is doing is opening up the conversation to understand WHY. When you are not taught to question, you are also not taught how to answer questions. And if you haven’t asked those questions, digging deeply into yourself to dissect your philosophy about the “Right” way…my children are bound to ask you about it. They are paying attention.  They wish to understand more possibilities. They think. They feel. They believe that paying attention to you enough to be able to dig into the conversation with you IS respectful….or were you really just talking to yourself? I’ve wondered if I’ve made it impossible for my children to find a life and relationship that fulfills their needs because when you question everything…you’re bound to find the weak spots. For all the trouble free-thinking seems to bring to them, I’m truly not sorry for the way they were raised. I know it’s tough but it’s worth it. I know they’re not the only ones. I have faith that somewhere out there they will find other free-thinkers they can become a tribe with, supporting the right to choices and differences. I revel in the fantastical hope that they will be part of the solution to this world of unhappy following.     I pray.

The World taught them how to follow, and I taught them how to question and choose.

Now at least they have a choice in that too.

     If 2011 was the year of Illumination, then 2012 is surely the year of ACTION.

     Looking back, wiping our brow, 2011 was the year that most people came to reality shifting new perspectives. A year that shook people to their very core on just about every imaginable level…revealing all that was not resonant within their Being and their World. This last year has turned us around and around, forcing us to look deep into our lives from every imaginable perspective.

     This has NOT been the casual, careless glancing that we’ve given to ourselves in the previous years…oh no. 2011 has been intense scrutiny of our Being on every level. Lights have been shone into every crack and crevice of what makes us WHO we were….or at least who we THOUGHT we were. Lights peering into the material items with which we identified ourselves with. Spot-lights into our “go-to” reactions and emotions. Super Novas shining into the dark cobweb-filled areas that pain our hearts.  This illumination caused much distress for most people…even those who would normally pride themselves on having already “done” their internal personal work as well as those who would say that they are “their own person”, “a free thinker”, or a “free” anything. EVERYONE has been effected, whether they’ll admit it or not…and if they couldn’t admit it…well, that was probably brought to light as well. Proverbial house cleaning was in order!

     Denial, hiding and ignorance simply were not allowed this last year…and there’s a good reason for that.

     If the intention is to grow, and let’s face it, the intention is ALWAYS to grow, then auto-pilot must be disengaged…whether you consciously choose it, or the Universe gives you a nudge (sometimes felt like a wallop in the side of your head). Removing the designated path to some predetermined goal forces you to open your eyes and look around. Where am I? and Where am I going? Most of us tried to get the auto-pilot reengaged in a desperate attempt to create familiar “calm” and “stability”. We pulled the usual levers that operate life’s auto-pilot; a series of trained behavior rules like “This is what good people do.”, “This is what a nice person says.”, “Spiritual people don’t do that.”, “Those emotions make no sense so get over it.”, “This is what a person is SUPPOSED to do.”…and the list goes on. Darn that Universe though, it simply wasn’t giving in! Jobs in our fields couldn’t be found, houses that were beyond our need were “lost”, relationships ended, security measures we’d so carefully put in place simply didn’t offer that sense of security any longer. Every knee-jerk and hard-wired response has been challenged. Every “software program” your Being has been running has had glitches and/or crashed. The “standard” no longer stood on it’s own two feet.  The World around us mirrored our internal uncertainty and emotional chaos in every imaginable way. Many looked at their life and grieving said…”I’ve lost my home.” “I’ve lost my friends.” “I’ve lost my job.” “I’ve lost my family and loved ones.” “I’ve lost my money.” “I’ve lost my health.” “I’ve lost my WAY!” But losing your way has been an integral part of this process, for the “way” many of you were traveling was not YOUR way. Left to your own devices, what would be your way? What would you have chosen without the influence of others telling your for years what was right and wrong for you, what was good and bad for you, what was moral or not, what was spiritual or not? As painful as “loss” may be, GROWTH, CLARITY, INDEPENDENCE, STRENGTH, and FREEDOM all can come from such things. I’m not really a fan of the term “lost” , conceding that it is what we sometimes FEEL when something goes away. It feels like a void. It IS a void! Something is definitely no longer there, material or not. The foundation of who were had been shaken, stirred, tossed sky high and fallen mercilessly (or so it seems) to the ground…and it’s been up to YOU to sort it all out.

     Tough, tough times.

     Painful.

     Beautiful.

    The beauty lies in the effects though. Choices emerged, or rather, we were forced to start looking at alternative solutions. Careers fed by the fear and guilt of “wasting” the money spent on the education for them, were abandoned in lieu of what really inspired us. If we couldn’t do our “job”, then what really, do we WANT to do? Rules about following the rules were tossed aside as it became grotesquely apparent how corrupt and unstable a foundation they had built. Relationships that were unhealthy for our forward movement and newly opened eyes gave way to elbow room to find ourselves and who we really were. New tribes were forming. Finally.

          So the question became…

“How do I CHOOSE to heal this void?”  HEAL vs. FILL. I did not say “fill this void” for “fill” is only one way of healing. Sometimes, the void does not need re-filling. Sometimes we need to lighten the load. Especially if what was filling that void was JUST something we had been taught was  SUPPOSED to be there. Think of it like surgery if you will. A growth is in your Being or life. This growth is something that may have been there for a long time. It started out as “the goal”…maybe a goal that you were taught to have…like owning a big house as part of a measure of success or accomplishment or self-valuation. You started dreaming of the goal..because that’s what good, successful, valuable people do…they grow up to own a big house. You begin mentally making space for it to come in. You went to college for years and accumulated debt to pay for the college so that you could “earn” this goal house. Maybe your education isn’t even about what you love, but will make you the money you “need” to achieve these goals. By having this Goal house you’d be a valuable and successful person. You’d matter. You begin spending the majority of your time attending to an education that doesn’t feel passionate…but it serves the goal, right? You graduate, take a job with who-ever offers you the most money…because now you have to pay off school debt AND get that goal house. You’re now spending most of your time every day doing things you do not love, to serve the goal….a goal you were TAUGHT to love as a measure of your worth. After all, THIS is what good, smart, contributing, responsible people do, right?  Maybe along the way you entered into a relationship. Maybe it’s because that’s what you’re supposed to do, or maybe you really loved that person. Maybe your relationship became stale, stagnant or confining because you were taught that nice, caring, spiritual, people don’t hurt other people’s feelings by addressing the issues at hand. Maybe you were taught that other people’s emotions are more important than yours and so you stuff your truth and pain down for “the sake” of the relationship…and the dream. You buy a house….and maybe a bigger house later…constantly attempting to demonstrate the RULE that you were taught…the rule that says Achievement makes you VALUABLE and WORTHY and you need to demonstrate your achievement through things like bigger, nicer, more expensive houses. So now you have a career, a relationship and a house. All the things that a person should have, right? That’s what you’re taught. That’s what people do….right? They grow up, go to school, get a job, buy a house.  That’s it. No one taught you how to CHOOSE because those life choices were already planted FOR YOU.  SO in the vein of our example of surgery, let’s say that your “Growth” is removed. What do you do? Do you stuff another growth in there  to fill the void or do you suture it up, healthy tissue to healthy tissue, and allow it to come together in the best way it can?

     You DO get a choice here. You’ve always had a choice….many of you just didn’t realize it. Maybe you didn’t know what the options were. The removal of the growth leaves us feeling forsaken somehow. A failure in some way. Naked. Less-than. Unworthy and Un-valuable. Maybe you can not yet see the reason for the “loss” but rest assured there is a reason for everything, even if you never find out the reason….there is one. Your awareness of it does not determine it’s validity.

     Auto pilot must give way to an internal navigation of the heart. So I implore you, weary and tired friends, to look carefully at ALL the choices the World is offering up to you. Move, Shake & Change your Life! Make it YOURS. Make it passionate. Make it about what you FEEL and not what you own. Forge ahead into this uncharted territory with your newly forming tribe and create the NEW FOUNDATION FOR LIFE…a choice based structure designed to support EVERYONE’S ability to be who they truly are! Start with YOU. Set yourself free and in turn free the World.

I wasn’t angry or mad. I was simply surprised and saddened that someone felt they couldn’t ask me for it. That was the end of it for me. I didn’t lament over it or go any further with it. I KNOW on every level that everything happens for a reason and that it’s all in the greatest good. I forgot about it.

Yesterday, I recieved a package in the mail from an unknown person in Gary, Indiana. I opened the package to find a beautiful Rose Quartz heart inside!! I was so touched and surprised that I immediately took a picture of it with my cell phone and posted it to Facebook! As usual, my house was busy with children and guests of mine. It wasn’t until later in the evening that I went back to my desk and realized that there was a letter in with that Rose Quartz Heart. I read it….and read it again…and then read it to the guests that were here…and read it to my children….then read it again to someone on the phone….it’s a FABULOUS STORY. I’ve debated about sharing the letter here, and I hope whomever wrote it is not offended in any way…but this person’s story is one we ALL could get in touch with and see the beauty in. I certainly did. I’ve copied it below, exactly as it was written to me. May we ALL be as Blessed with opportunities to move forward as the person in this letter was….and as the recipient of the letter was. Many Many Thanks for the stone…and most importantly for a tangible affirmation of how the Universe works in mysterious ways!!

The Letter

Dear Julie

I am sending this to you because a very strong “coincindence” happened. Many moons ago, when I was in about 5th or 6th grade, a classmate of mine was doing a science project using stones. When I saw the rose quartz, I just fell in love with it. I had never seen anything like it and on impulse I took it. I was never a thief, not usually really attached to “things” and never took things that didn’t belong to me. So it was really out-of-character. I didn’t think it was very expensive and didn’t know where I could get one, so in that instant I justified it. Needless to say, I never felt good about it or having it. So as an adult I got rid of it because I knew I didn’t deserve to have it because I stole it.

Fast forward decades later to a week or two ago. I was visiting a friend and looking for nontraditional souveniers when I happened upon a rock shop. There was the rose quartz in the shape of a heart, my favorite shape. I thought, could I buy this for myself – would it be okay now? I allowed myself to, under the condition that I forgive myself for stealinf that, learning from it, and never doing it again.

I told my friend the whole story because she is a close friend. The next morning, I asked to quickly use her computer and her homepage is her Facebook page. You were on there saying someone stole your rose quartz and if they would have just asked you probably would have just given it to them and couldn’t understand why they would do that. The same scenario. WOW! I didn’t know what to make of this “coincidence”. I decided I would like you to have the one I just bought. It is a horrible feeling to have someone steal something from you. It is definitely not personal toward you, definitely about them feeling some lack. Nonetheless, it feels personal and invasive when it happens; I’ve been on the receiving endtoo and it makes me feel mistrustful, just bad feeling when someone has stolen from me.

Thank you and love

(No signature – end of letter)

What a beautiful story and gift…for all of us. MUCH LOVE to whomever you are and know that I am eternally grateful for the healing we BOTH received through this “coincidence”.  The Universe IS ALWAYS in balance and there is always a divine plan, even when we don’t know what it is.

11-11-11 has many different meaning to various people. For me, it was important to embody the energies within us that we WANT to see in our World, both inner and outer. For this reason, I decided to host a meditation aligned with that meaning as well as a double screening of the movie THRIVE. Over the course of the day, there were about 80 people coming together, sharing space and energy for the path ahead of them. It was a beautiful way to step into the new energies. The Juicer was running, making carrot/apple/ginger juices for everyone. (Special thanks to all of you who brought extra to share with everyone else!) Hugs were plentiful, the fire was fabulously beautiful and warm for those who ventured outside, and the sense of community in the day was profound! I witnessed several small groups of people get to surprisingly “run-into” each other here after long time periods apart, and close companions hug each other as though they’d not seen each other for years! Laughter and smiles were all around! THIS IS WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT!

The meditation began with the need for everyone to get super cozy together on the floor as we’d had more people attend for this than we could seat in chairs. Everyone hopped right in there together and adjusted themselves as best they could….yet another example of the kind of energy moving forward that I’d like to see more of in my World. We dimmed the lights and began by relaxing and re-aligning our physical vibration to the resonance of our Energetic Body, vibrating at the level that was in our highest and greatest good. Once aligned, we took our very lit-up physical/energy combined Being down the path of our Greatest Good. Along the way we began taking ALL those energies, emotions, actions, pieces of history and baggage THAT WOULD NO LONGER SERVE US ON THE PATH OF OUR GREATEST GOOD, and placing them into a Universal Recycling Bag that we carried. Nothing is EVER wasted in the Universe, it is simply transformed and applied where it can best serve. We thanked each piece that we released for the the role it played in our expansion, continuing to walk toward a gate on our path as we filled the bag. At the gate, we handed over our bag to a Being who would ensure the recycling of our no-longer-needed-or-wanted energies and stepped through into our new co-creative World. We acclimated to this World by seeing and feeling how our World behaved in this new energy. (In other words…we watched and felt how balanced communication took place, What understanding felt like, etc.) We saw endless tiny threads of light emerge from our Being and connect into every particle of this World while every particle also connected to US…endless co-operation, connection and co-creative status. We did not “Come Back” from this meditation as one normally would, as THIS IS OUR WORLD NOW. We simply relaxed and opened our eyes in the space we now were in…carrying these things forward into our current space. Everyone was welcomed home.
I was blessed to be able to hear little tales from some of the people about their profound experience through this meditation and decided to share the recording of it with everyone. It’s not the best recording…but you’re welcome to use it if you like. (The link to download the file is at the bottom of this post.)

The THRIVE movie brought up serious connections and events of our current time frame but also brought opportunities for solutions to move forward. This, for me, is always a critical point since I believe that issues presented without solutions just create distress. I’ve noticed that the Thrive website has been inaccessible periodically…but hopefully it will be fixed soon. There is a new audio interview with Foster Gamble (maker of THRIVE) available to listen to or download by clicking here. During the intermission that we took (the movie is long), as well as at the end, I vocalized a few things that those in attendance asked if I would post on the Blog so they could reference them. Here they are:

First, I feel compelled to encourage each and every one of you to have ACTIONS towards your STATED GOAL….the goal of living in the World YOU WANT, as well as creating the future you WANT. Action is key! This is a physical World. It’s wonderful to have great ideals, beliefs, harmonious feelings….but if it all stays only inside of you it doesn’t materialize into your World! Make sure your thoughts, beliefs and feelings are synchronized and centered within you…and then ACT. This is where is can go off-path for many though. It’s of the utmost importance that your ACTIONS ARE FUELED BY THE EMOTIONS AND ENERGIES THAT YOU WANT TO LIVE IN!!! In other words, it doesn’t make much sense to try and create peace, balance and compassion with actions fueled by fear, anger, frustrations, bitterness, resentment etc. Harmonize inside of yourself and work FROM the energies you WANT the World to be in. Please.

Secondly, there were a few mentions in the movie of health care related issues and persons throughout history who have tried to offer healthy solutions to personal well Being. To that subject I shared a few documentaries that might be of interest to those wishing to know more about options for their own health care. As of today, these movies are available on Netflix as well as being free on hulu.com
The Gerson Miracle (and old-school style documentary, but worth watching)
Dying to Know (made in 2006 and VERY interesting…take note of the difference in the healthy appearance of those following Gerson vs. those in the establishment against Gerson)
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (a documentary about juicing and how it changes the lives of those it’s following, including the ability to get off of their medications for “incurable” diseases)
Forks over Knives (based off of the recent NY Times Best selling book)

For those that want to re-create the juice they had here, or make the “V8″ version that I talked about:
Carrot/Apple/Ginger: 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, 1/2 large apple (or whole small one), and carrots until the glass is full

“My V8″: Tomatoes, 1 red radish, 1/2 inch jalapeno slice, small wadded up handful of parsley, 1/2 bell pepper any color), carrots, 1/2 onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 leaf kale, few strands of cilantro; if I add 1/3 beet, I skip the kale. I always wad up my greens into a ball and run them through 1st without much pressure to extract the most juice and I use the lowest setting, I follow with everything else. This helps push the green juice through better.

The 11-11-11 Meditation for Alignment & Co-Creative Reality can be found by clicking the link and typing in the password of “peace” without the quotations and un-capitalized. Make sure you check mark the box next to the file and then click “download selected file” the the upper left bar. You will then be able to download directly to your computer as an MP3. Once downloaded, you can listen directly on your computer, burn to a CD or to add to your Ipod/MP3 player. I’d love to hear about your experience with it if you feel free to share in the comment section below!
Once again, THANK YOU for playing a co-creative role in your World, my World, OUR World. Make it exactly what you wish it to be! Blessings! Julie

♥ all works ©Julie L. North 2011 – present and may not be used without express written consent of Julie L. North

>>CLICK HERE to download the meditation

Thanks to “Galactic Hearts” for the picture used!

This wave-set’s intention is directed at the Earth itself.

Remember that the Earth has a sentient consciousness and a path, just like other entities do. The Earth could even be viewed as having “past lives” if you take into account the three previous Shifts it has undergone that create the four Earth dimensions we currently have. What we are heading for is the fourth Shift and Fifth incarnation or plane. The Earth must also shake off energies and baggage that does not serve it’s greatest good. THIS is what the current wave is doing. This is a “baggage clearing” for the planet itself.

The Earth has long recycled energies for it’s inhabitants, always trying to serve the “greatest good” and a sense of balance for all. If you think about it, many of us have done the same for each other. We call it “empathic”. We take on the energies of those around us in an attempt to create harmony and balance. Much like any sentient conscious Being though, the Earth can get out of balance. It accumulates energies that eventually must be shed in order to transform into the next incarnation of itself. It must make room for the NEW Vibrations by clearing out those that do not serve it’s greatest good now. THAT is the point of the current wave…clearing the Earth’s deep sorrow, distress and irritation. The irritation is mostly towards people. It doesn’t mean the Earth doesn’t Love it’s people…it simply means it has accumulated irritating energies towards them on some level as part of it’s own expansion and growth. We do the same thing…and we usually end up shedding those as well…sometimes in ways that are less than “easy” for those around us.

As the Earth tries to move these energies through itself, it must process them very much like you and I would. Because the Earth is our current “home”, everything upon the Earth is affected by whatever the Earth does. The Earth may process baggage through earthquakes, weather, volcanoes, …and YOU. It seems that our current role is to help the Earth process it’s energies and baggage, as it has often helped us. This means that since this new wave-set began on September 2nd, most people have been feeling waves of deep sorrow, distress and irritation at other people.

For those that are highly sensitive, they will have notices this wave coming for several weeks prior to it’s actual arrival. It called for them to connect with nature and the Earth anew..restoring their strong bond and compassionate connection to the Planet. There was (and is) a strong desire to run at two ends of the spectrum….both by “rooting” ourselves as well as “flying”. The “rooting” part has been the strongest so far (as of September 13th. 2011), and the “Flying” part is yet to really kick in. We are inherently connected to our Earth, and this means that what we go through, the Earth goes through, and vice-versa. It is simply OUR TURN to assist.

“Highly Sensitive” people are growing in numbers though…so more and more people are feeling the changes coming and moving through. They are affected at deeper levels. The good news is that this means that greater clearing has taken place for them. It also means that processing the remaining energies takes less time and “moods” and “events” will suddenly come upon us and them disappear just as quickly…occasionally leaving us reeling in the “What the heck just happened??” state. THIS IS BETTER than being stuck in the mire of energies, unable to wade through…which is where many people started. Just look at how FAR you’ve come in the last year! Pat yourself on the back. Thank Yourself. THANK THE EARTH for helping you. The HELP the Earth by assisting It.

Of course, you’re not required in any way to assist. The Earth didn’t “Give-to-get”. The simple fact is that there aren’t nearly enough people helping to process these energies which means that those that are…are getting drained pretty quickly. Many of the “helpers” have managed to acquire bladder infections, UTI infections, kidney infections or kidney distress, adrenal issues, temporary liver, spleen and pancreas swelling…and for the females…mild to severe (mostly severe) shifts in Menstrual cycles. The menstrual cycles have been all over the calendar and intensity scale. Men have dealt with temporary prostate swelling as well. BOTH sexes have been experiencing intermittent increases and decreases in sex drive, beyond the normal for them. Rest assured that all of these are temporary. I’m also sure that if more people were helping to process in assistance for the Earth, holding space for it’s transition and healing, the “symptoms” would be seriously less traumatic. Please do not let the list of “symptoms” dissuade you from helping out. If EVERYONE just did a LITTLE the results would be dramatic. Acts of compassion without expectation of reward or retribution are what is called for. DO for the sake of DOING….not for the sake of saving yourself…even if that ends up being what you get in the end. It is helpful to remember the concept of processing energies and baggage as “through me, not TO me”.

In addition, sleep patterns are REALLY disrupted at this time. This is due to the surges in the Earth grid as it processes out it’s baggage. Melatonin can be helpful to SOME people. Remember to always check with your Health Care provider before changing your supplements or diet. These surges do indeed cause some of the Earth-oriented disruptions that we have seen already and will continue to see. The more we can ease the processing of the Earth, the less “physical” shifting will need to occur in the Earth to dislodge the baggage. These surges are also part of what is causing the current anxiety. (The other part is still the changes in our own wiring from Root chakra into the High Heart Chakra discussed in an earlier post). There is a homeopathic remedy that assists somewhat with the anxiety pretty quickly. It’s made by Boiron and it’s called Argentum Nitricum. When dissolved under the tongue according to the directions, it effectively relieves most all anxiety within minutes. It’s handy to carry around with you. The directions say to take it several times a day, but that is basically unnecessary since the anxiety isn’t constant. Use as needed, but not more than the directions call for.

The purely human aspect of this wave-set is affecting the “dreams” we have been holding onto. Most people have had some form of a “dream” in their mind and heart as to what they want to achieve or accomplish opr where they think they’d like to be. Once established, the dream became the “thing” to work towards…2 years, 10 years, 20+ years of working towards it. The issue is that SO MUCH has changed recently, and so quickly, that most people don’t realize that the dream they’re working towards isn’t really their dream anymore. It’s an outdated goal or ideal. If you’re feeling stressed out about how difficult it seems to get to your goal, this is the time to seriously re-evaluate if you actually WANT that goal still…and WHY you want it. REALLY WHY. Not the surface glossed-over simple answer. Deep reasons. You’ll most likely find that you really don’t want that particular goal anymore, or at the very least, need to let go of the “plan” you had to get there. This release allows room for the new dreams to come in, or expands the options for moving towards the goal if it indeed remained the same.

Attending to the body’s need for higher vibrational foods is a big plus right now….especially for those of you who are feeling the symptoms of the Earth adjustments. Local foods are incredibly helpful as it helps with keeping you and the Earth is a better resonance with each other. If you travel, try and eat something locally grown as soon as you feasibly can upon arrival at the location. Remember to ALWAYS express gratitude for your food and bring the food to the vibration that is in your greatest good at that time before consuming! (This includes your water or beverage) Making a conscious effort to put down temporary roots into the area through the Hara line as well as both feet Chakras will help prevent greater anxiety and general disorientation and dizziness. Natural soled shoes or barefoot makes this easier. One can also connect into the Earth energies of the area through a tree or other plant that offers it’s services.

The Earth is just beginning it’s real shifting. You ARE a part of it all. Honor yourself. Honor your Planet. Honor the Processes. Assist where you can, when you can. Maintain YOUR balance and that will help to maintain the overall balance. Hold a compassion for all things, including self, even when you choose not to assist, or simply cannot assist in the ways you might “think you should”. Holding space and Love is JUST AS IMPORTANT!

Many Blessings! Julie

♥ all works ©Julie L. North 2011 – present and may not be used without express written consent of Julie L. North

Monday, August 29th, 2011

So it’s been a while since I posted an update to the Shifting Energies. In short, the summer has been quite a ride of waves, each pushing us further into the unknown territories of our limitlessness as well as the awareness of our co-creative skills.

As before, the waves are tending to come in sets. Each set having an agenda to it. June and July’s wave-sets were mostly dealing with INTEGRATION of various aspects of the self. Not just merely your conscious aspects…but ALL of the aspects of self, in every plane of your experience. This is why the summer might have felt like a constant roller coaster ride. Parts of it thrilling, other parts terrifying, and occasionally just wondering when the heck it will be over. The need to stay in a constant state of center has never been higher than it has been of late. Center, however, is a bending reed in the wind. If you’ve been trying to hold your center as though it were a solid unmovable thing, you’ve obviously felt the battering and breaking of you from the inside out. Those of you who tried to hold onto material things or aspects of your identity that you can lay your hands on in the tangible World will have felt them being pulled on and sometimes ripped away. This goes beyond things such as a home, a car, clothing, jobs…and reaches down into the more hidden things we identify ourselves with…relationships, family ties, friendships, connections to religions, certain behaviors as well as beliefs and perspectives. Those things that we have subtly used to tell ourselves who we are have been moving in ways we’d not expected and often not enjoyed. The more you’ve tried to hold onto them the more difficult your life became. The integration was on a very deep level..at the very core of our Being.

Most people have felt some level of “I am alone” as they move through this shedding of old attachments. Friendships that have lasted through the years fell apart or distanced themselves. Marriages struggled and some ended. That which we felt would “always be there” somehow evaporated. Our trusted foundations crumbled as we adjusted away from that which was learned and moved into that which we choose. The usual social situations became less available to you or felt so terrible to you that you no longer wanted to be there. People have felt unloved, unwelcome and lost. Everyone must go through this process of letting go of those things outside of them that they THINK identify who they are and their place and value in the World. Some may have been able to gain harmony while retaining their material items and relationships if they were able to let go of the reasoning that “this makes me worthy” and find their own sense of self-love.

The new High Heart Chakra is more active now and is taking on a greater role as our new foundation chakra, replacing the role once held by the Root Chakra. All “rule” wiring that once ran into the Root Chakra continues to disengage and new wiring through the Heart and High Heart continues. Old knee-jerk reactions for how to “handle” a given situation just do not seem to work anymore. New skills must be learned for how to work from this unfamiliar emotion-based way of being. Everyone is learning at the same time, though we’re not all learning at the same rate for various topics. We might have one aspect assimilated but stumble in another. We are also sloughing off the boundaries that once defined our way of being, particularly those which came originated from logic and control of others.

Those of you who fought the shedding because it tore away at your sense of self-worth and value had the hardest time and may still be dealing with this releasing and reorganizing. You might be hanging onto relationships that are obviously not working or causing you distress. You’ll likely be feeling that if you let these relationships go…release them…you’ll be left with no one. You’ll benefit from allowing yourself to FEEL your intrinsic value regardless of whether anyone else is aware of it or not. Do not allow other people’s perspectives and opinions of you to effect your internal feelings about yourself in ANY way. You don’t want to under value yourself because someone said you are “bad” any more than you want to value yourself better because someone said you were “good”. BOTH perspectives put you in a position of being dependent upon another person’s view of you! Come to an internal knowing, belief and feeling that YOU ARE FABULOUS in every way for the mere fact that you are present. Find a way in you to move from a space of allowing everyone their freedom…including you. You cannot find yourself when you’re hidden within the cloaks of other people’s perspectives of you.

For all that allowed the integration to flow, you’ll have experienced the changes for certain, but you also have been experiencing NEW friendships starting to emerge. NEW TRIBES ARE FORMING and you KNOW it on every level. You’ll have found a glimmer of the shiny beautiful you that’s been buried for quite some time. You’re drawing to you the people that currently resonate with the core of you in the most balanced way. These “new” people may not stick around long, as you are in a super-fast evolution of who you REALLY are. You’re allowing yourself to bend in the winds of change, and this puts you resonating to different things at different times. It may seem that you’re developing some “odd” friendships with types of people you’d have not normally considered. You’ll be finding that these “new” people bring you to a deeper understanding of yourself and the freedoms that you have. You’ll likely have been involved with at least one person along the way who tried to hold on to you as you’ve moved along your path. Have compassion for them as they are afraid that the loss or change of the relationship they had with you is going to negatively impact them at their own core. They don’t yet understand their own value and need someone else’s want of them to make it tangible to them. This does not mean that you need to stay in ANY relationship that isn’t serving you. It is very important that you continue to be flexible in the every changing tides of what’s working for you.

Most people are falling somewhere between the two extremes listed above…a little bit of both. ALL people need to remember that energy is in constant motion. YOU are made of energy. Attempting to “hold tight” to a solid, unyielding core will result in distress that is greater than the emotions felt when allowing movement. You are ALWAYS connected as all things are. The nature of the connections you have to others may shift as the reasons behind those connections get blasted away in an attempt to allow you to BE who you truly are. The illusions of what creates value in ourselves must go.

Rest assured that NO ONE is going to be alone. Despite what your tangible thought processes may have told you…you’ve also never BEEN alone. Just because you’ve felt that way doesn’t make it a Universal Truth. Also have faith in the fact that some of the relationships from your past may again arise to start anew. They will NOT be like they used to be unless you both fall back into the old attachment of codependency for self-worth. ALL BEINGS are being given the opportunity to rid themselves of the need to have anyone or anything else validate them. It’s likely that some of your “old” friends, lovers and family members will also be reaching this state and you’ll be able to reconnect with them in a much more “free-to-be” manner. Any attempt to reconnect with someone who isn’t in that space yet will result in feelings of confinement, obligation and oppression. If someone’s trying to create guilt in you for who you are or the actions you’re taking, they likely are not completely through their own shedding process yet. If you’re the one placing blame and guilt…you might want to let that go now, as it keeps you tied to the “old way” of being.

Starting on Monday August 22nd, I noticed that the “potentials” for our future started changing. There began a series of more devastating possibilities as we continue through this evolutionary process…options that hadn’t been likely for more than 13 years…now appearing again. I was perplexed at this turn of events. I know already that the collective conscious of all Beings creates our reality…so what was changing that was affecting people enough to cause a more cataclysmic future. It took a few days to pin it all down, but to the best of my awareness it seems that mounting fears, fueled by media attention and sensationalism were partly to blame. The EXTRA hype given to the impending hurricane was nearly impossible to avoid if you live ANYWHERE that there might be a radio, newspaper, television or internet access. Now add to that the unusual earthquakes in Virginia and Colorado and the upheaval in many countries and regimes…and some viral video’s depicting the imminent “end of the world”, portrayed as a vehicle for understanding and peace, but laying down a firm foundation for fear…and Voila! the collective conscious gets a super-charged dose of fear and cataclysm right in the arm! The earth-shattering options died off considerably by Thursday evening, but are not entirely off the menu. It’s STILL the most likely that this Shift will be much smoother than the “total melt-down” that many fear. There are still enough people emanating peaceful transition on a consistent basis to keep it that way. Which brings us to the second part of the equation responsible for these “new” potentials growing in possibility….YOU. Take note that YOU are part of that collective consciousness that is creating. YOU are helping to shape the way in which our evolution happens. What ingredients are YOU adding? Are you feeding through fear or panic?

FEAR is what creates that iron grip of holding on. There are many natural occurrences as well as man-made events going on (or alluded to) that tend to generate fear as you move forward. There IS a difference between being prepared for any possibility and being in FEAR of it. Take a look at WHY you are doing something and you’ll likely see where you ARE with it. Are you doing something “just in case” or can you dig down in there and find that you are actually AFRAID? It’s a fine line sometimes…and as humans we have a real tendency to tell ourselves we are not afraid. So look deep within yourselves. WHEN YOU FEAR SOMETHING, YOU FEED IT! Pay attention to what’s going on underneath the surface of you. You are co-creating your reality. Information about any hurricane, earthquake, volcano, war and so on is JUST INFORMATION. Being informed is not the issue. It’s what YOU DO with that information that matters. Being AFRAID is the issue. It’s important to move from a LOVE of something instead. Move from a space of compassion that brings about change. All things naturally multiply themselves. Joy brings more joy. Peace brings more peace. Fear brings more fear. Give energy to that which YOU DREAM ABOUT, not what you fear. Be aware of what “trivial small-talk” you are a party to when you’re in line at the store or hanging out around the water cooler at work. What exactly are you promoting through those conversations. They are NOT TRIVIAL. The “small things” make up the bulk of every existence. Do not underestimate the power you have to create and shape your World. Your “small” part gets coupled with the “small parts” of others…and THAT is what creates.

The energies waves that have been felt over the last week or so have been directly related to trying to help everyone become aware of exactly how much impact they can have on their internal and external World. They’ve also been at strengths meant to impact things with greater intensity to make this whole process more obvious to you. Emotional states are in the extremes but they tend to pass fairly quickly as well. Everything is happening stronger and faster than it ever has. Instant Manifestation, Instant Clearing and Instant Karma take on a whole new meaning. Bend and be flexible like a reed. Allow yourself to move with the waves as they come through, but don’t forget that those waves are changed BY coming into contact with YOU and what’s resonating in YOUR FIELD. It will only feel like they’re ripping you from your foundation if you fail to flow or allow the flow. Allow yourself some moving room while keeping your intentions, thoughts, hearts and actions in alignment with that which you wish to be true. This is extremely important NOW, as this is a major factor in what you are creating forward.

Again, black tourmaline will assist you in both alignment as well as adjusting to the shifting energies from both outside of you and from INSIDE of you. The Universe is magnifying your changes as well. Water, as always, is important to assist in allowing the new resonances to flow within your structure of body. The need for truly restful SLEEP is of greatest importance now. The amount of sleep isn’t as important as the QUALITY of that sleep. You may find a need these days for some “white noise” to help you get into the state that best serves you. Be extremely careful of playing radio stations, televisions or internet programs while you sleep due to the inability to control what “input” you’d be receiving at that time. Your energetic bodies are very open these days and what you allow into your Being is a CHOICE not to be taken lightly. Look at it like a subconscious download that has gained greater access to your field…because it has. Part of your current processes involve learning how to navigate being open. It’s not about closing down, as this is where you’ve come from. Remain open, just conscientious of what you’re allowing to integrate into your field. Remember to work from the “only that which is in my greatest good” concept for yourself and others. Try not to judge things as “bad” or “good”…but rather what you choose to be a part of and that which you choose NOT to be a part of.

Keep working to clear your energetic structure, opening your pathways to greater energy and faster, cleaner flow in your greatest good. Allow old patterns of thought and behavior to make room for more possibilities so that you may CHOOSE, rather than react. Breathe deeply, exhaling whatever is in your greatest good to release. Inhale that which is in your greatest good to intake at this time. Be grateful for the constant opportunity to co-create. Many Blessings on your path! Julie

♥ all works ©Julie L. North 2011 – present and may not be used without express written consent of Julie L. North

For most of my life I have watched as people try and fit themselves into a Spiritual Path that doesn’t necessarily match them. I’ve witnessed them go through pain, guilt, suffering and shame as they struggle with trying to “fit in” or adhere to rules, customs, ceremonies and sermons of various religions and beliefs. It’s been a sad and heartbreaking thing to observe. Comfort for me, was found in knowing that these trials were part of their path to expansion and self awareness on some level. When I was much younger, I thought that if I could “Just explain the truth to them” they’d miraculously emerge from this dark and confusing wandering….but of course, this didn’t work. Their path was THEIR PATH…not mine, and they apparently needed this experience…if for nothing more than to overcome it. Coming to a full understanding that EVERY religion and practice is serving someone’s path relieved tremendous stress and responsibility from my daily life. I learned to find the beauty in allowing them THEIR paths.

Today I find the beauty in the fact that I see so many people actually finding what they’ve been searching for…themselves. Yes, they still try on various hats, cultures, religions, practices, ceremonies and so forth….but they’re genuinely finding themselves through it. They are more self-aware. More and more often, they can FEEL what resonates with them and what doesn’t. They feel free to pick and choose from the myriad of options and craft their own personal “practices” that work best for them. NOTHING could be more gorgeous than that! Spirituality is, after all, very personal. It’s about YOUR relationship to ALL THAT IS. How you term that, is entirely up to you…”God, Buddha, Creator, Great Spirit, Gaia, Allah, Higher Self, Higher Power, Pachamama, the Father, the Mother, Holiness,…and so on). The term is irrelevant. The feeling, belief and knowing, that you are connected…THAT is what matters…and each person honors that in their own way.

Personally, I find this awakening magical and divine. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way. The actions of those who feel a need to honor their personal way, by bashing someone else’s use of their practice (or part of it) is like an undercurrent…a low rumble that is undermining the beauty of freedom…and that’s what has prompted me to write this article.

I recently read a deluge of posts assaulting a photographer and someone in the photos, for what some considered DISRESPECTFUL. To give a little background, a young man was wearing a headdress resembling that of some Native American chiefs, while he danced at a festival. The photographer posted the pictures of this, along with thousands of other photographs from the festival. Somewhere along the way, AIM (the American Indian Movement) became aware of the photos and began requesting ( and some people demanding) their removal due to the “disrespectful” nature of them. They claimed that this not only showed disrespect to their people, but also harmed Native young people on their path. The headdress is sacred to them and each feather is earned and denotes a certain Spiritual significance. I cannot speak to the validity of whether it was truly disrespectful, nor to the claim that it “harmed” their young people…because RESPECT is subjective. Some of you may argue this point…but hear me out.

Respect is something that is FELT. It lives inside of you or it doesn’t. It’s a FEELING and there are no rules for feelings. Feeling simply ARE. They are not intended to be logical…no matter how hard you may try and make them fit into the logical box…it just doesn’t truthfully work. By the nature of Human Beings, we try and demonstrate whatever we are feeling. This is the way we are wired. The feeling is ORGANIC, the way in which we demonstrate is LEARNED. That’s not to say that all learned behaviors are bad….it’s just that the nature of the emotional wiring is to express…and the nature of the logical mind is to control and organize. Two very different things. It is obvious that the people speaking on behalf of AIM, and their followers, felt very strongly about the issue. This was their FEELING. It’s also very obvious that the ACTIONS that they took to maintain RESPECT for “their way”, were in and of themselves, DISRESPECTFUL to most everyone else’s rights and perspectives. You have multiple parties involved, each with their own version of what was “Right”, “Honorable”, and “Respectful”. Again, differences of perspective. The young man felt very called to some traditional Native ways and had had some experiences with them, and had found the headdress at another festival. He felt that it would be a great way for him to honor his awakening self and interest. He had no idea that it would be considered so poorly by those who held it’s meaning sacred. He assured the readers through his written apology and response, that had he known, he would not have been so disrespectful…and I believe him.

The thing that stood out to me was that ANYONE would be chastised for NOT holding sacred what ANOTHER PERSON felt was sacred, or expect them to censor themselves or their work! This is like saying that each person must behave in the same way as whatever YOU believe, and have actions and emotions and perspectives JUST LIKE YOU THINK THEY SHOULD. This of course, is not a balanced and Spiritual perspective. This concept does not allow for freedom or expansion. Everyone in the Universe would there-by hold the same thoughts, emotions, ceremonies, actions and so forth….for EVERYTHING! We’d all eat the same, pray the same, honor the same things in the same ways and react to everything the same way as everyone else. To me, this sounds very much like another form of control. “Honor what I honor or you’re WRONG.” “Do it my way or you’re BAD.” “You must behave as I SEE ACCEPTABLE.”

Sad. Confining. Judgmental. Stagnant.

I read the harsh commentary and harassment on those pages and felt the tension building for everyone involved. I felt my own heart aching for the people who felt disrespected…on BOTH sides. Some attacked, some attacked back, some tried to balance, some apologized…and only a small few truly tried to educate. Educating for the sake of furthering someone’s options and possibilities is great idea. Educating another with the intention of getting them to see that YOUR WAY is RIGHT…well..that usually leads to disappointment…and this was no exception. Some people will automatically erase an option for behavior, once they realize that you’d disapprove. These people are the ones who find themselves living VERY narrow lives at some point. Wanting to break free from the small box they find themselves in, but unable to broaden their boundaries because they might get judged by others. These people are not honoring themselves because they limit themselves by the reactions of others. Others will automatically and intentionally push up against whatever someone says NOT to do…arguing for the sake of arguing. The “disrespectful actions in question” don’t really matter to them one way or the other. What matters to them is that they SHOW YOU that “they are free to do as they please”. These people find themselves frequently angry and feel oppressed much of the time. They WANT freedom and peace, yet they often create unnecessary pain for themselves and feel constantly at “war” with something. They are indeed oppressed…but by their own unwillingness to look at their choices of actions. They are not honoring their true self by limiting themselves to automatic anger and habitual behavior. They jump into battle before they find out the truth of the situation. The peace they seek inside of them has no availability to them until AFTER the fight…and sometimes not even then.

There is nothing wrong with choosing to change your behavior of expression after you’ve learned new information. Sometimes the FEELING you’re trying to express can be expressed another way that suits your needs just as well. It’s when we par down or mitigate our expressions ONLY to suit the comfort level of another that we tend to get into trouble. We ‘stuff” the emotion and it now has no way to move through us. Often, this “stuffed” emotion gains additional emotional baggage by adding to it the issues of judgment, oppression, being unheard, lack of self-confidence and fear. For our head-dressed dancer, he MIGHT feel that he can no longer use the tools that Universe presents him for expression, for fear of offending someone. He MIGHT pass up opportunities to BE. It’s possible the feeling of freedom will never again be truly fully expressed. Sound like any of you?? Are you fearful of what others will think or how they might judge your actions? How many options for expression have been limited for you by the beliefs and rules of others? “Crying is weak.” “Grown people don’t do THAT.” “Grow up!”…and the list goes on and on…a lifetime of telling you how you CAN’T demonstrate your emotions. Everyone has an opinion. They have a right to that. That doesn’t mean it has to be YOUR opinion or dictate your actions. You choose.

There is also nothing wrong with anger. It’s an emotion just like the others. Organic and necessary sometimes in the Universal picture of balance and movement. (At least for now, in this plane). The anger isn’t the issue here though. It’s the means of expression in the name of “honor” and “respect”. So you’re angry. You’re ALLOWED to be angry. By having a human experience, and there-by having free will, you get to CHOOSE what to do with that anger in the same way you get to choose how to express love and compassion. You can choose to berate, belittle and humiliate, or you can choose something else….just about anything else. There truly is no limit of options. Unless of course you’re also suffering from the above mentioned “Oppression from judgment”..and then you’ll THINK you have no choices….but you do. You will ALWAYS have choices. ALWAYS. You may not see them. You may not believe they are there. You may not like them. But they are options none-the-less. When you open up and are interested in having a different experience than the one you’ve been creating, they will be there. People might have TOLD you how to choose, but only you can actually make the choice and carry out the action. Your culture, society, religion, family or friends might ALL say to choose a certain way…but that doesn’t mean you have to. One of your choices to honor yourself might be to begin to create what you REALLY want by exploring why you’re so angry in the first place. Stop trying to get other people to “fix” your emotion by changing their behavior…and address your own. This only works for people who DO NOT WANT TO BE ANGRY. For those that LIKE being angry there would be no need to address anything, right? This also holds true for any other emotion you’re having. Either way, do it for YOU.

Honorable & Respectful people would allow you to BE. Yes, they might ask you if you’d like to know further information. They might ask you if you’d like to learn the history behind a particular practice, culture or behavior…but they wouldn’t be educating to control your behavior. They’d be educating you so you’d HAVE MORE CHOICES or have more information to support your choices and they’d love you just as much no matter WHAT you choose… simply BECAUSE you honored your right to choose rather than followed blindly. Honorable and Respectful people understand balance in the Universe often LOOKS unbalanced. They understand that experience IS the vehicle for expansion on this plane. Without it, where would we be? Honorable and Respectful people have opinions and emotions….they OWN them…but they don’t expect you to live by the ones they value…they hope you will own yours and live by the ones YOU VALUE. They understand that true freedom and harmony must be experienced within the SELF. ALLOWING others starts with allowing yourself. You don’t have to exercise every choice available in order to know that they exist. Honorable people honor themselves by EXPRESSING themselves. It honors them and it honors you. The closest thing to “disrespect” that they can think of is to force one’s will upon another. The closest thing to “dishonor” that they can think of is to deny themselves or others of choices or the right to choose.

“Truly Spiritual” is a state of Being. How you get there is JUST AS IMPORTANT as getting there itself. It’s the journey of experience and expansion. Truth be told, we are ALL TRULY SPIRITUAL and we’re just trying to “find” ourselves in our many expansive states of Being. We are all on a path of expansion.

Honor your way. Honor your right to change “your way”. Honor the right of every other Being to choose their way. You can decide what is “right” for you in the moment, WITHOUT having to judge others as “bad” in some form. “I choose this but you’re allowed to choose some other way”. “That doesn’t resonate for me but if it resonates for you that’s great!” “I don’t understand what you’re choosing or why but I honor your right to choose what you want.”

My deepest wish for every Being is that you come to honor yourselves. I don’t have to wish for you to honor others as I know that honoring others is a natural consequence of honoring yourself. Start with YOU. By the time you’re done with all of your own issues, you’ll no longer have a need to judge others. Many Blessings on your path of experiences and expansion!

♥ all works ©Julie L. North 2011 – present and may not be used without express written consent of Julie L. North

Many of you have asked for a written description of the meditation mentioned in The Shift Blog Posts (also given at Rootwire & some workshops) that dealt with re-aligning the vibrations of the physical body to that of the Energetic Body. It’s a very SIMPLE and easy meditation and takes as little as five minutes. You can certainly make it last longer if you wish though.

A WORD ABOUT MEDITATIONS: A meditation is like day-dreaming. It’s about getting to a state of Being that best serves the desired intention. Don’t stress out about whether you’re “doing it right” or not. Stress and relaxation don’t play well together. When the meditation says “see” something…KNOW that you may indeed “see” it in the minds eye…or you may CREATE the vision in your imagination. The two are really the same. In addition, you may not “See” what others see, including the facilitator. Instead you may “hear” things, “feel things”, “experience things” or simply “know” that something is going on. In other words…don’t get hung-up on SEE-ING. Regardless of the terminology said or written for a meditation….just allow YOUR WAY of experiencing it to come through…and keep moving forward with the intended goal of the meditation.
ALWAYS start any practice with the statement to the Universe that “Only that which is in my Greatest Good will happen for me here”.

There are e few things to know that will help this meditation make sense your you. When you come into a human form, your energetic body has a “range” of energy within the vibratory range of the Human Plane that it will encompass. Within that “range” of available energy it has a “central Resonance” or center. For example: If your range of energy at birth covers from 420 MHz to 440 MHz, then the “central resonance” would be 430 MHz. (it’s just an example, don’t get hung up on the MHz analogy). As we move through life, experiencing and expanding, we often raise our vibratory range. This is typically done through a conscious effort to get “better” at life as a whole. Because the change in “range” was conscious, both the energetic body and the physical body know what is going on…and when the range changes, the cells in the physical body reprogram to the new range right along with the energetic body…keeping both bodies in complete awareness of what CENTER is. When you say “I have to get myself together!”, or try to “get centered”, “pull it together” etc. it’s THIS central resonance that you’re bodies are going to. The Shift has been bumping up energetic vibrations without conscious intention as everyone is getting the opportunity to achieve and maintain higher vibratory states. This means that for most people, they’ve gotten at least a little off between what their energetic body calls “center” and what the physical body calls “center”. When this happens, and you try to “get yourself together”, your bodies actually go to two totally different vibrations..thus furthering the feeling of discord. This meditation is designed to reprogram the physical cells to the resonant center that the energetic body is at so that you can be and feel “whole” again. It does not need repeating, as a single session is sufficient. If you get out of resonance again though, you can use the same meditation to achieve alignment once again.

The Meditation:
To begin, get yourself as comfortable as you can. You want to have all of your muscles as relaxed as possible. You do not want to be holding your body upright or holding your head up. Lying down flat on your back isn’t comfortable for very many people after a few minutes, so try and find a relaxed position that will keep you that way. On your side, on your stomach, in a recliner, pillows propping your knees up…whatever works for you to be COMPLETELY RELAXED. Energy does not flow as well on tense muscles so you want to be like jello on a warm day…melting into the relaxation and fluid state.
Close your eyes and take a few deep relaxing breaths. Breathe in the energy that is in YOUR Greatest Good and breathe out whatever is in YOUR Greatest Good to release at this time. Continue this breathing for a minute or two, and feel the relaxation pouring across your head, down through the neck, across the shoulders….down through the torso…easily breathing, feeling comfortable, relaxed and safe…breathing and relaxing…down through the hips and flowing down the legs into the feet. Relaxation flowing from the torso down the arms and into the fingertips….until every cell of your Being is in the relaxed state that is in your Greatest Good for this event.
Once you feel completely relaxed, I want you to envision your Hara line. The Hara line is the main energetic line coming down through your body through the Crown Chakra, down through the main Chakras and exiting through the Root Chakra. This line goes on endlessly. It connects all of your Main Chakras with each other and is the main channel in which energy moves in the body. This Hara line is encoded with the the central resonance. See, feel, hear or otherwise experience that Hara line running through the body and ask it “to come into the central resonance that is in your greatest good now”. It most likely is already at that vibration and so you may not notice any change at all. If it does change, you may notice a change in how it looks, feels etc. If it is in need of changing it will do so instantly and so there is no need to “wait and see”. Like I said, it’s most likely already vibrating where it needs to be.
You are now going to ask that vibration that the Hara line is at, to flow outward INTO every cell of the Physical Being. Not “ON TO” every cell…INTO every cell. You want your physical cells to soak up that resonance right into their very core. If you are visualizing this, it will appear as though liquid light is creeping across your physical being like watercolor on paper. See, feel or otherwise experience this flow of vibration out from your Hara line throughout the body until EVERY SINGLE CELL of your Being has soaked it up. Every fingernail, toenail, the tip of every hair, mole, taste-bud etc…EVERY SINGLE CELL. This can happen VERY quickly. You can certainly make it go slower if you wish or need. Once you are aware on some level that every cell has now soaked up this vibration, you then TELL each cell to “recognize THIS vibration as the NEW CENTRAL RESONANCE”. Continue breathing calmly, staying relaxed and allow a few minutes to pass as each cell reprograms at it’s core for the vibrational alignment with the energetic body. Once you’re cells are done (2-3 minutes), you are finished!
The meditation did not “take” you anywhere so you may not have a need to “bring yourself back”, and since the energetic body already has this program, there is no need to push the vibration out into the energetic field. You can if you wish though. No matter what you decide, make sure that you are completely “back” into the body and awareness before you attempt to get up or move around. Take your time. Breathe in the new centered-ness. You’re all set.

Pretty simple huh?
Pretty powerful though, to empower yourself to find and maintain your own center.
If you have questions or care to share your experience with this meditation (completed on your own or at a workshop I’ve given), please feel free to send me a comment below. Many Blessings to each of you on your continued journey! Julie North

** ALWAYS check with you physician before attempting ANY meditation to ensure that you are fit for such an exercise **

♥ all works ©Julie L. North 2011 – present and may not be used without express written consent of Julie L. North

Beyond the beauty of the land, the deeply stirring movements of the music, and the joy as thousands of young people flew freely about their days and nights, emerged an overwhelming emotional roller coaster, both beautiful and heart-wrenching at the same time. Both of those descriptions are such small words to describe the intense-ness of it though. I’ve seen and experienced a lot of large-crowd energies in my life as both participant and facilitator, yet I have not in this lifetime seen, heard, & felt such an open gratitude from so many people in one place…ever. Nor have I ever witnessed with my physical eyes, such a need for information, validation and support.

Several months ago I was asked by my dear friends Ehren & Renee Cruz of Solpurpose.com if I might come and speak at an upcoming festival called Rootwire. This festival was focused on a balance between live music, transformational live art, and spirituality. My love and respect for both of these people and the opportunity to speak to the very people who were at the hub of transforming our current reality prompted an immediate “Yes!” on my part. I’ve spent the last couple of years talking to people everywhere about these “differently” wired young people, but outside of the sprinklings of 20-somethings at lectures and the Teen Classes I’ve given, my opportunities to speak TO them, about themselves, have been rare. In my intellectual body, I KNEW there was a need for someone…anyone…to assist. In my spiritual body I believed it to be true. My emotional body could feel it at it’s very core….but my Physical body…well now, THAT was in for a surprise.

For older people, the Shift has bumped up the vibrations of the energetic body to new levels, often leaving the physical body in the dust, so to speak. These younger people…they came in WIRED for these high vibrations and had to tone it down to exist in this plane until the time of awakening came. That time is now…and most of these beautiful souls haven’t had much opportunity to learn or work with their given attributes…so they’re essentially lost in an energetic soup of high vibrations, visions, clairaudience,…you name it. They just haven’t had enough opportunities to learn the skill sets to work with who they REALLY are. I have immeasurable compassion for that space, as that is a similar struggle to my own young years. At least I had my Guides to give constant commentary and assistance (though at the time, it didn’t feel like I was getting the kind of assistance I wanted). I felt for them in a way that brought my own childhood into both glaring remembrance, all the while stirring the deepest compassion I have ever experienced. I felt for them. I felt for me. I felt for the whole of the World it seemed sometimes.

The first workshop I gave was a meditation directed at getting each person’s central resonance on-line. In other words, getting their physical bodies running at the same high vibration that their energetic bodies were at these days. It’s a fairly simple meditation and it doesn’t take very long, so I decided to add on and move into a meditation designed to give them the opportunity to communication with their Higher Self. I was surprised at just how many people made their way to the meditation, given in part to the fact that it was offered just after noon…normal sleeping time at a festival. None the less, there they were, laying themselves out on the bare, damp ground, trying to ignore the endless ants…listening intently and moving energy around within themselves at lightening speed with a grace I couldn’t have imagined if I had tried. Normally I would have brought them “all the way back” from the meditation…but the Other Side said to leave the Higher-self in communication with them for as long as was in their highest good. So we set that intention in the energy, and brought the bodies back to a point where they could go about their day. 45 minutes after we’d begun, we wrapped up with a “heads-up” that they might FEEL, SENSE, SEE, HEAR & EXPERIENCE things in a greater way. I expected them to move on to the next thing on their agenda…and some of them did…but almost everyone made sure to catch my eye and say “thank you”…and much to my surprise, MANY of them stood around with me for more than an hour, patiently waiting their opportunity to genuinely hug me tight and express their deepest gratitude. For the record…it was incredibly deep gratitude! I watched them be excited beyond form-able sentences, rushing to share the details of their experience both current and life-long. Some were teary eyed and overflowing with a gratefulness capable only by those who’ve seen a glimmer of light after being lost in the dark. I was literally in total and complete awe of them. Not because of what they can do…but because I was witnessing them as they were meant to be…OPEN and moving straight from the Heart Chakra.

I spent the next few days doing the technical things that I had set out to do…but truthfully, I was literally reveling in their joy, excitement, wonder and energy. They never missed an opportunity to stop by the booth and share something that had happened to them as a result of their meditation, lecture or newly discovered centered-ness. They stopped me as I walked to the showers in the morning, went through the campground, attended some else’s lecture, went to get food, held space for someone else’s workshop…some of them even managed to find us in the throng of dancers on the fields of the main stage…in the dark…just to say share, ask a question, or express what our being there meant to them. I couldn’t begin to count the number of people that teared up while saying “thank you”.

Seriously.

People told me that their past had been so confused, that they’d been misunderstood, depressed, lost, dysfunctional…you name it. The theme of the week though, and the most common thing I heard, was “Now I know I’m not crazy”…and “I’m not the only one who’s going through this”. I KNOW that feeling. I’ve been there…more than once. But it wouldn’t have taken a Psychic Medium to pick up the sheer volume of energy in their words and hearts….or mine.

The days after Rootwire 2011 didn’t slow their reaching out either. They didn’t leave the experience behind when they packed up camp and went home…chalking it up to a good weekend. They took it into their hearts..their very core of their Being, and brought it home with them! They took time out of their busy daily schedules back in “the real world” to write emails and Facebook messages. The immense outpouring of gratefulness and the intensity of it, not only speaks to their own individual capabilities to express, it speaks volumes to me of the need…near desperation really, that there is out there for people to assist in any way possible. Simply put, they need more validation. They need more examples of people moving truly from the heart in a balanced way. They need more mentors, teachers, instigators of free thinking. I feel a desire to prompt facilitators to design workshops, retreats and lectures aimed at this awakening group…and priced for what a 20-something can typically manage. Sigh. I have had to talk a bit to the Other Side, rekindling my faith that all is in Divine order and that they WILL get what they truly need. Those that seek it will find it…I am certain of it with every particle of my Being. I intend it…and I intend to do what I can to be there whenever the opportunity arises.

MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE goes out to the members of Papadosio & the entire Rootwire staff and crew for providing the vision, space and intention for just such an event to transpire, and to all those in attendance for bringing their true self to the experience. As long as they are willing to have me, I’d be honored to assist…because for me…there has never been a more heart-swelling experience, of this magnitude, in this physical plane. Hands down. I FEEL BLESSED to have been a part of it all. I AM GRATEFUL! – Julie North

♥ all works ©Julie L. North 2011 – present and may not be used without express written consent of Julie L. North

If you’ve not caught the updates on the last wave-set, they are posted in previous blogs.

Thursday, April 28th, 2011, 8:26pm Eastern Time a new wave-set began.

Several peaks on top of peaks were recorded in the early stages of this wave-set. This is something new to me, as each wave has several peaks rather than each wave only having one peak.

There also seems to have been a significant peak Monday, May 2nd, 2011 late in the day and the early hours of Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 before dawn.

This series seems to be dealing with integrating all the aspects of One’s self from various dimensions and aspects. Though this may seem far out to some of you, please remember that you are a multi-dimensional Being and that the Earth plane is only one of those experiences. It is the one that you are conscious of in this Human form while you are here. The clearing that has been going on within you has been making room for the Greater Sense of you to come in and become a part of the Super-Conscious YOU at this time. Not every aspect is being integrated at this time, just some of it. I believe that there will be more of these “integration” sets as we continue to clear and make more room within ourselves, free from the cumbersome baggage that we’ve been carrying around.

Higher vibrations are definitely helpful at this time. Higher tones, bells, singing bowls, tuning forks and such seem to be extremely helpful in getting ourselves back together. If you don’t own one, see if you can borrow one from someone or have them “tune” or “tone” you back into wholeness. For those with bowls or forks, try using the ones for the heart chakra or higher. Each person will not necessarily need the same tones to get re-aligned. Play with what you have. If you don’t have access to tuning bowls or forks, look for high vibrational toning on youtube.com.  Make sure you do NOT have headphones in as the tones need to hit the body at large. Simply coming in through the ear drums is not enough.

As we integrate, our organs and bodily tissues are groaning, moaning and aching with adjustments. Some people will have organ pain or a feel of stretching inside of themselves, headaches, sharp pains in the abdomen and chest, often a feeling of pressure from the inside out. Your digestive tract may also me making more gurgling sounds than normal. I know I’ve said it before…but WATER WATER WATER.

Don’t be dismayed if you’re feeling particularly “off” these days, as though you’ve messed something up. The more room you’ve made by clearing, the more integration you can do. You are literally filling with higher vibrations! A few of you have gone ahead and integrated as you went along and for those of you who did this (there are very few), you’ll be feeling a new sense of fullness and calm about your Being. We will ALL be there soon! Those who are integrating right now will need to feed their body high vibration foods and might find juicing a great way to assist the body without expending too much energy in digestion.

REST IF YOU FEEL A NEED TO REST! This might sound obvious, but we need reminded. Everything is moving SO quickly now as the shifting continues onward, that we are getting caught up in the fast pace and the feeling of trying to do everything at once. We’ve been freed from old baggage and programs and now it seems there are so many options and ideas we want to partake in! BE CAREFUL with where you spend your energy. It is kind to give and share, but remember to care for the SELF.

For many of us, the lack of sunlight is really playing a role in our ability to integrate fully, at this, or ANY time. If you can get ANY sunlight onto your skin or face you’ll notice a difference. I’m not talking about getting a tan or sunburned. 10 minutes of sunlight, even through the clouds is better than none. Direct light, not through your car windshield or window glass at work or home. OUTSIDE light. Most glass now contains reflectors that stop some of the rays that natural sunlight contains…even what appears to be “clear” glass will not work for this purpose. If you must wear sunglasses, or if you glasses are tinted in any way (UV for example), sit them further down on your nose or close your eyes while absorbing the sunlight. Imagine this light nourishing your Being, as this is exactly what it will do.

Black Tourmaline is very helpful as well. Black Tourmaline protects and shields many levels of the Being (Intellectual, Spiritual, Emotional and Physical) from all EXCEPT that which is in your highest good. Carrying a piece is good (on your left side), but WEARING IT IS BETTER. Get some wire from the craft store and wrap your stone and wear it near the center of you (heart area). Other tourmalines that are helpful now are green, pink, blue and clear…though none of those cover ALL four aspects by themselves. Only black tourmaline does that.

This is a fantastic time we are in. This is yet another opportunity to be MORE FULLY YOU. Open up to receiving that which is in your Highest Good and releasing all else. Imagine yourself as flexible in every way, making room for the greatness of which you truly are! Focus on creating more of your own light from within, beaming out into your World. I will continue to update as new information comes along. Blessings!

Julie

♥ all works ©Julie L. North 2011 – present and may not be used without express written consent of Julie L. North

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