Capturing Joy

“Follow your bliss.” ~ Joseph Campbell

One of the creatures of nature that conjure up the idea of joy is the hummingbird. They seem to be emissaries of light because each time we encounter one, a tingly delight instantly fills our very being. It seems as if all of life stops momentarily to bow in awe and watch in wonder as these enchanting little birds come zooming by to investigate any flower that may offer up life’s nectar.

Hummingbird’s tiny feathers are like precious gems, able to reflect sunlight in dazzling arrays of rich luminescent color, while they appear to effortlessly zip about, flapping tiny wings so fast, we can barely see but a blur. They fly in any direction – up, down, forward and backward and can hover better than a helicopter. Who couldn’t possibly smile at these amazing acrobats of nature?

Hummingbirds therefore, bring the magic of joy.

Indigenous people around the world have always known that every aspect of nature is also a teacher for spiritual growth. Every animal for example, offers its own “medicine” simply by its way of being that can teach us wisdom about living in harmony with nature and balancing our own lives. Hummingbird teaches us to seek out the sweet nectar in daily life.

The message of Hummingbird is the invitation to laugh, enjoy the gifts of life, and attend to beauty. Notice how these little creatures will come near us out of innocent curiosity and trust as if inviting us to participate in the splendor of life, but quickly fly away the second any form of harshness is present – loud noise or forced movement. We won’t see these birds hanging around landfills. Hummingbird searches for, and settles for nothing less than the sweetness of life. And where sweetness is found, beauty abounds.

On a mid-summer morning in Port Townsend, Washington in 2001, I was outside in the front yard of my house directing the fine mist of a watering hose over some bushes. It was one of those meditative, peaceful moments where all my attention was simply directed on the act of watering plants, when I noticed a rainbow in the spray of water from the reflection and angle of the sunlight. It was a beautiful sight. Suddenly out of nowhere a hummingbird appeared facing me, hovering in the mist with the rainbow. It’s as if the bird knew that the water was there for its pleasure, joined in, and without apprehension immersed itself in the delight of a fine mist, mid-air bath. We both watched each other. I quietly stood mesmerized.

I was so happy to have the gift of both a rainbow and an emerald green ruby throated hummer as a part of my watering experience, that I could barely contain my good fortune. I told everyone I knew, and a few I didn’t…

Those were moments of pure joy I’ll never forget and a message from hummingbird that to share joy with another is double the joy factor!

Eating ice cream is a simple joy for me, as I eat it just occasionally, so the only way to have it as far as I’m concerned is pure all natural, organic ingredients in an ice cream experience. (Our GI tract only loves natural) Sit down with a bowl of ice cream? Bah! Any kid would tell us that if they had a choice between eating ice cream out of a bowl or from an ice cream cone, the cone wins ever time. I mean, really… So, when I have my ice cream treat, I joyfully enjoy it from a cone, and usually go with a friend. The joy factor experience is completely different. What joy it is to lick the ice cream, twirling the cone ‘round, and feeling the yummy creamy coldness on my lips as it goes into my mouth.

If we’ve sadly forgotten the art of eating ice cream, watch a child. It’ll come back like riding a bicycle, and it’s even better being outside with nature instead of mindlessly eating it in front of the television where we’re not talking and looking at one another. It’s fun to watch people eat ice cream cones.

Always look for the greatest joy opportunity in any situation.

I’ve also come to learn that we cannot know the true value of joy without also knowing despair.

We live in a world of duality: up/down, positive/negative, light/dark, and masculine/feminine, for example. Crossing the bridge of adversity not only provides an invaluable lesson in strength and faith, but always gives the gift of joy! That’s a promise.

Oprah Winfrey is one of our modern day heroines and spiritual teachers. She came from an early life of emotional turmoil and dysfunction, having also been raped as a young girl. She had a difficult road ahead of her as a woman of color who would be challenged to hold her dreams in a society of patriarchal and race discrimination. She not only climbed the mountain to reach her vision, she showed all of us that we can attain our deepest heart’s desire through holding true to our values. Oprah gives back through her philanthropic efforts in education and equality for children and women around the world.

She said, “What I know for sure is that you feel real joy in direct proportion to how connected you are to living your truth.”

Oprah is an example of a person who follows her bliss. She lives authentically to the compass of her spiritual truth, sharing her talents and abilities with the world in fulfilling the meaning and purpose of her life. She lives on top of a joyful life despite whatever clouds may drift her way.

Joy is a type of fulfillment. Whether joy comes to us in little or big ways, it’s always renewing and delightful. It comes unexpectedly and it also comes as the result of effort. From enjoying the moments of eating ice cream or participating in nature’s magic, joy rewards and renews us.

What do you do to create joy in your life? What gives you joy?

Making Space For Joy

A few suggestions:

• Spend moments in nature every day
• Visit botanical gardens and museums
• Grow a garden or houseplants
• Hang bird feeders
• Write down your dreams and steps you can take to fulfill them
• Celebrate milestones of accomplishment
• Dance (even by yourself)
• Celebrate birthdays
• Hug someone – kiss someone
• Share with others – especially your gifts and talents
• Give what you don’t need to others
• Help a neighbor or friend (the simplest things bring joy!)
• Read to a child
• Learn something new often
• Laugh often (find the humorous side of life)
• Cultivate the positive – eliminate the negative (follow your truth)

Capture joy! Embrace it. Dance with it. Linger in it. Relish the moments you make space for joy. Joy loves to be shared. One can never experience too much joy. As the beloved poet Rumi once said, “…keep knocking and the joy inside will eventually open a window and look out to see who’s there.”

Resources:
Books
“Why Is God Laughing?: The Path To Joy And Spiritual Optimism” by Deepak Chopra
“Joy: The Happiness That Comes From Within” by Osho
“Your Heart’s Desire: Instructions For Creating The Life You Really Want” by Sonia Choquette
“A Life At Work: The Joy Of Discovering What You Were Born To Do” by Thomas Moore

Affirmation for this month – Joy
Today, I am filled with shimmers of merriment. I smile with delight because the beauty and goodness of nature is just waiting to be caught and reeled into my heart.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2012 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only.

Signs of Synchronicity in Daily Life

“Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those

who have eyes to see." ~ Carl Jung, 1875-1961

For me, synchronicity is the universal helping hand – an inherit part of our intuitive resources that directly links us to the spiritual universe of cyclical giving and receiving information precisely when we need it. When we’re connected with synchronicity, we respond to it and use it. If we aren’t, we don’t see the gift and lose the opportunity.

Most people slough synchronicity off as some strange coincidence that doesn’t match up with the logical mind, minimizing its power and denying the presence of an intangible mysterious force that moves within the physical world – it doesn’t complement our mechanically technical mode of living. We’ve taken the word coincidence to mean the denial of separate, yet related spiritual/physical events that occur all the time.

Many of us think of ourselves as islands floating along out there by ourselves, thinking the only reality is our physical world. Fortunately, this is simply not true except in the minds of those who choose to live that way. We are co-creators of our realities, after all… We do live within the limits of our belief systems. And that is everyone’s right.

The term synchronicity and its underlying concept was first described, deeply explored, and written about by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist who also pioneered the integration of metaphysics within the study of psychology. “Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner” he stated.

I view synchronicity as a form of universal harmonic grace – a powerful alliance we can all connect with. And it’s a mystery I can’t completely define, thank goodness, because that would render this awesome phenomenon to fenced-in boundaries and laboratory test tubes. I do know that I’m an active, meaningful, creative, and communicating part of it.

Every time I discover another synchronicity in my life, it never loses its ability to both delight and surprise me. Its impact never grows old. It’s always life affirming and reminds me that in fact, we aren't ever alone.

I’ve come to realize that while we’re thinking, feeling, wishing for and dreaming, and communicating and creating, the Universe is listening! By that I mean a non-judgmental universal energy where like attracts like, where positive thought energy that we affirm and create brings the same right back again into our lives as does negative draws negative energies as well.

The License Plate

One of my favorite synchronicity stories is a simple one. It was the presence of love that gave it meaning. In 2003, my friend and traveling buddy, Carlos and I, had taken a late summer road trip from Denver, Colorado to Sedona, Arizona. When we arrived in Sedona, I began recounting happy memories aloud to Carlos of the places I used to go as a young girl with my family who then lived in Phoenix. I described the picnics we’d have in Oak Creek Canyon by the river and how my maternal grandparents, Nan (grandmother) and Tat (grandfather), would bring little cucumber and butter sandwiches along with the fried chicken and potato salad. I described how Sedona was a quaint place with one downtown street where we’d stop to buy cold sodas in the only family owned grocery market at that time.

After Carlos and I had spent half a day climbing Bell Rock, we headed off to the market on Sedona’s main street to refresh ourselves with a cold drink. Having parked close to the old store, it would be only a few steps to the entrance. Childhood memories came alive again as I re-lived looking for an ice cold grape soda. Without knowing why, I looked to my left at a car parked in front of the market, and I saw a license plate that said “Nan & Tat.”

I stood there dumbfounded, momentarily frozen in place. Then joy overcame me as I pointed out the license plate to Carlos. I had no idea what type of car it was. It was the license plate I was supposed to see, and so I saw it as a hello and that I had been heard that day – a greeting from my Nan and Tat on the Other Side. They have a sly sense of humor. The fact that Carlos experienced the synchronicity with me made it even more special.

Albert Einstein described an aspect of synchronicity in his no nonsense style: “The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or whatever you will, the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.”

A California Apartment

In the summer of 2005, I was at the threshold of years of both holistic and western medicine treatment having been finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. My independent single life in New Mexico would go in a direction I had yet to comprehend. I did know that I would have to depend upon someone for help and decisions had to be made. By that time I was mainly bed bound and couldn’t walk.

One night I dreamt of seeing a group of quaint cottage like apartments. Each apartment had two big front windows and a trimmed green leafy hedge in the front beneath each window. There was a lovely grass courtyard. I felt good about the place. It felt familiar to me. When I awoke the next morning, I wrote the dream in my journal. I was curious about the strong feeling and couldn’t recall seeing the apartments before, wondering if it was important for future reference. The vision somehow gave me hope.

By the last half of 2007 I’d been living in a nursing home facility for two years in a remote area of central Utah called Ferron. I’d survived and was planning my escape for 2008. I wanted to live on the central coast of California and began looking for housing on the Internet.

I found an organization that owned housing along the central coast and began to search through the towns. There were colorful photos and descriptions of the condos and apartments. I browsed through the towns and stopped when I saw the picture of the cottage apartments that I had seen in my 2005 dream. I’m sure my eyes were bulging and my mouth was agape.

Having filled out three applications for different locations, the offer I received was for the apartments in my dream. I accepted and moved to California on May 17, 2008. The positive feeling I had in the dream is the feeling I’ve had since I moved in.

My life experiences have taught me that the Universe – the Divine – whatever we wish to call It, completely supports our needs. Not ALL our ego wants and desires, but surely our deepest heart’s desires connected to living our lives according to our true identity, and our talents and abilities in creating the most joyfully harmonious life we can co-create and share with others.

Author, storyteller, musician and writer of the syndicated weekly column, Free Will Astrology, Rob Breznsy expresses his optimistic view about synchronicity: “Factual information alone isn’t sufficient enough to guide you through life’s labyrinthine tests. You need and deserve regular deliveries of uncanny revelation. One of your inalienable rights as a human being should therefore be to receive a mysteriously useful omen every day of your life.”

How do we connect with synchronicity in our daily lives?

Begin to believe! Ask for signs. Journal important dreams. Become aware. Symbols are everywhere. Look for them – not obsessively, but just naturally be open. Then see how the Universe flows in the most amazing ways. There will be stories to tell…

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2012 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only



Friendships – Source Of Soul Growth

The people we surround ourselves with should not only be reflections of who we are,

 but reflect different qualities and experiences that inspire us

to grow in the most unexpected and beautiful ways.

Think about this: All of our greatest spiritual challenges and growth occur within the realm of relationship. We start out primarily learning and experiencing relationship with our biological or primary care family. We experience an ongoing relationship with ourselves that’s reflected in our feelings of safety, self-esteem, self-worth, satisfaction, and our sense of abilities and capabilities in the world.

We experience relationship within our cultures and rules of societies, communities, schools, various organizations and our diverse, yet personal spiritual pathways with the Divine.

We continually have a relationship with Nature because we’re an intrinsic part of all that is of the earth.

There isn’t anything that we don’t have a relationship with!  Many of the types of relationships I mentioned are ones we are born or directed into. Then there are those we personally find our way to or they find their way to us. This is where friendship comes in. Among the most important and influential people we have in life are those we call our friends. We choose our friends.

Initially as parents, we keep an eagle eye out for who our kid’s friends are, because we know that can be a gauge of how children feel about themselves, the strength of their developing personality, and admittedly, a reflection in part, of how our guidance and lifestyle influence their self-esteem and outlook in the world.

We should never forget however, that all people are individual souls, separate from each other, who are born with their own lessons, personalities, and talents, so if one of our kids walks deep into the borders of the dark side of humanity and eventually joins up with a crime gang, while the rest of the family is loving and never got so bad as a parking ticket, or the family hallmark of professors has an offspring that is completely content with wandering and doing odd jobs, take heart! We see karmic lessons at work and both the light and the dark sides of us have something to learn from each other, or those seemingly conflicting relationships wouldn’t have been initially born.

Looking back, we can easily see how our friends were a supporting backbone for our growth and joy or how they might have become the ole ball and chain if we hadn’t realized they’d served their purpose and it was time to move on because the spirit of the relationship ran dry.

Who hasn’t seen the child that grew up in degrees of poverty, abuse, and ignorance with little moral family support, and went on to forge an education and career with service to humanity! We see that out of dark places, comes a light that will not be diminished under harsh odds.

Our greatest spiritual and heartfelt challenges are derived from unlikely connections that appear for a specific purpose, usually destined to become detachments when the lessons of attachment and control are learned. In other words, we hopefully move on with grace.

It’s a darn bumpy road sculpting a strong foundation of an awakened human being, and truly, we all have chips in our foundations that we’ll spend life cycles polishing out if we’re serious about our personal evolution. Friends play a significant role in our soul growth because they help reflect and challenge our identity as we do simultaneously for them – mirroring each other in so many ways like a prism that reflects rainbows of color.

With all this in mind, what do we want from our friendships? What characteristics and values are important for us to maintain satisfying, healthy relationships?

Gathered from personal experience, observation and input from friends, here are the top requirements for maintaining lasting, joyful friendships:

• Friends are honest, kind, trustworthy
• Friends do not compete with or “outdo” friends
• Friends make us feel safe and comfortable – we can peacefully be ourselves
• Friends listen to us
• Friends cheer our successes without jealousy or resentment
• Friends are the sacred keepers of our most intimate secrets
• Friends never bully or gossip badly about other people
• Friends support and understand our creative interests and work
• Friends respect our personal spiritual values and experiences
• Friends help us grow and expand through their diverse cultural and spiritual practices
• Friends don’t try to change us
• Friends energize us – never deplete us
• Friends don’t always agree or go along with us – (that honesty thing)

Naturally, we must equally be able to be all of these same things as someone else’s friend. That’s what soul growth in relationship is all about.

I wanted to talk further about the last bullet in more detail. I think one of the qualities of a truly mature and great friend is the ability to openly disagree with us about something, as well as have the strength to compassionately tell us the truth about a weakness or unpleasant behavior we have a hard time acknowledging for ourselves.

For example, we have a pattern of showing up for lunch or an event 30 minutes late. We blow in with a rumpled smile on our face and sigh, “Whew! So much going on! Time just slipped away…” How many times did our friend sit around feeling stood up and perturbed?

The moment we see a pattern of repeated unacceptable behavior form, it’s prime time to kindly, yet firmly, express how we feel, and state the facts – in this case, having been late five times in a row at various events, etc. We all get the picture, right? A brief conversation needs to help clear the air and we must come to a mutual agreement about the resolution which would be to be on time going forward.

Within this great diverse global mix in the 21st century of spiritual, cultural, and sexual orientation, we have never before had such wonderful opportunities to grow in an expanded awareness and understanding by cultivating a varied group of friends. Embracing diversity eliminates superstition and fear, and unifies our evolving structure of humanity.

Even though as friends, we are mirrors for each other, it’s not always in the same way. There are times a friend will reflect a quality we admire, like patience. If we tend to have a lack of patience, we may want to strengthen that characteristic within ourselves. Think of a quality we particularly admire in one of our friends, and we can be sure that it is one we desire soul growth experience in. Our patient friend can help guide us.

The people we surround ourselves with should not only be reflections of who we are, but reflect different qualities and experiences that inspire us to grow in the most unexpected and beautiful ways. Friendship is the basis of every good relationship and the source of our soul growth. Our dearest friendships are gifts of Divine gold.


Affirmation for this month – Friendship
The gift of friendship is a sacred bond. I hold true friendship in the space of joy, integrity, gratitude, and love, knowing that whatever I give to relationship, I receive in soul growth.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz


Copyright © 2012 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

2012 - A New Vantage Point

Welcome 2012 –looking at the world from a new vantage point as we continue to align ourselves within our awakening! We are no doubt earning the rewards from the lessons of discovery, staking our personal claim on the practice of balance and harmony inside our individual lives.

It’s a bitter-sweet process to let go of so much and take up residence within more space of the heart.

A Buddhist saying sums it up: “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

Even though there are battles raging in places around the world for the liberty to exist as free diverse individuals, these battles come from deep within each heart and residence of the soul. These battles are born from a spiritual and humane awakening when people step outside their homes and join together for a higher symbolic purpose.

As we reflect, we find we’ve discovered what we’re truly made of, and we move forward empowered with a visible understanding from past experience that we create each day. And no matter what enters our lives from the outside, we can choose how to respond to it.

We are compassionately removing that which does not serve nor support us, more whole within ourselves, and ever more united and free within our humanity as a global family. Welcome our deeper awakening! Welcome our continued transformation into peace out of chaos. It’s not easy.

I haven’t heard anyone say that 2011 was the best year ever. 2011 was a pivotal year in the continued struggle for balance and harmony in every aspect of life, pouring across the globe with a spiritual awareness that’s been blossoming inside each of us individually for years – where it all begins in the first place. We’ve witnessed and participated in a greater understanding of what freedom means to us socially and personally.

Humanity is focusing on the exploration of who we are as spiritual beings, and questioning how our diversity doesn’t separate us, but instead blend to compassionately unite us as a whole going forward. One of the most compelling episodes of human history!

We are no longer settling for generations of negative behavior programs or classifications from someone else’s agendas because our internal discomfort is no longer appeased by scraps of denial. In order to be free to the truest ounce, those dark caves within each one of us have been continuously receiving infusions of light as we do our healing work.

No wonder I felt so adamant that 2011 was a transitional year where one of the best ingredients in the midst of our evolution was to consciously practice acts of loving kindness for ourselves and others to help us navigate through overwhelming times of change.

It’s refreshing to realize that apathy is exhausting and gets us nowhere. We’re figuring it out that change doesn’t come from the couch shaking our fists at the TV, fighting, complaining, and always blaming someone else.

Active Positive Change

Active positive change: Three words taking us through the door into 2012 is our inner angel’s trumpet call. Action can be a change in thinking and beliefs, a positive change in health with food nutrition, to a change in how we work, or our active place in the community.

One of the broader questions we can ask of ourselves now is, “How can I see this diverse world from a new vantage point?” Let this question seriously infuse the mind for a while. Don’t be hasty to answer. Let the answers come as that quiet voice of internal knowing through the heart of intuition.

Because we are literally changing from the inside out, it’s time to practice bringing it all together by consciously expanding our new reality.

Two Questions and Suggestions

Two more questions that keep sounding out are ones that can help free us up to be true to ourselves and include our development for a wider foundation of harmony as a community:

The first question is: “What do I (secretly) want to remove from my life?”

Consider the people, places and things that unduly strap us down – especially those where we’ve spent so much time “trying” (many try for years!) to make something work for us. The truth is that it’s NOT working and it will NEVER work because we know it doesn’t, so kindly give ourselves permission to compassionately, and if applicable, forgivingly, let go. Stop twisting ourselves in a pretzel! Allow the gift of freedom to move on in life with the priceless reward of peace that follows.

The second question is: “What do I want to include in my life to achieve collective harmony?"

Here’s an adventure of exploration with the opportunity to gain knowledge while eliminating ignorance and instead, generate that fusion of community harmony: Visit or tour different places of faith. It’s no fallacy that diverse spiritual traditions and practices lead to the same destination – the desire for spiritual connection is universal, rich, and beautiful.

Everyone admires the student of life who genuinely seeks knowledge to better themselves and their place in the community. No door is ever shut on the guest who lovingly enters in search of knowledge. All are welcome. Some of the most beautiful architecture, spiritual and cultural art, and gardens and landscape on the planet are found at cathedrals, temples, synagogues, and ashrams. Call and attend a service or meditation, take a tour, ask questions, gather literature, and become a student and member of the universal community of life!

Volunteer work plays a critical role in bringing community together. The reward of giving time to help and support others nourishes the soul and educates us on the needs of our community. The ideas for helping are endless.



Our personal internal world and our external collective world continue to rapidly change. As we align within the safety of our inner truth, we find the strength in internal harmony and can then reach out to the world. Students of life, get out there and find sweet bliss in unity and support others in doing the same. Celebrate our diverse world!

Affirmation for this month – Knowledge
Today, I open the lens of my mind to see new information and different perspectives. I am a seeker of knowledge and delighted to recognize that learning has no boundaries, wisdom is endless, and I align with the heart of my inner truth.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz


Copyright © 2012 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only



Secrets To A Balanced Life - Part II

Part II – Exploring Balance Between Our Feminine-Masculine Self

The Lovers, 1923 - Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

“What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.” ~ Susan Sontag (1933-2004)

Observe for a moment the painting, The Lovers, by Pablo Picasso. I specifically chose this for Part II of Secrets To A Balanced Life as a visually revealing example of the combined feminine-masculine aspects that reside within us all. When we look at the woman, we can see that she emanates a solidity and strength. The curves of her body and her grounded posture reveal her outer strength – nothing fragile about her. Her face not only emanates a beauty and gentleness, her eyes seem to also speak of the force of inner strength and intelligence. The woman of course, is not just feminine, she carries aspects of masculine qualities that we could say, appear to balance her out quite well!

Now gaze upon the man in the painting. Look at how gently and lovingly he looks upon the woman. He reveals a strong male presence, and he also openly expresses his nurturing and tender qualities as he looks upon his lover and gently cups her hand. His face emanates an abiding compassion as well as the strength of his convictions. The man is not just masculine; he also contains those feminine aspects that seem to equally balance him out. Surprising?

Was Picasso thinking of rendering a clear illustration of balance within the combined feminine-masculine powers that reside in both men and women in The Lovers? If so, he succeeded brilliantly.

In Part I – Exploring Balance Between Our Spiritual-Physical Self, I asked, “If we were to explore the concept of balance for humanity, what would it contain?” I said striving for balance is a constant evolving dance between the duel, yet matching combinations of the feminine-masculine and the spiritual-physical. When we think of balance, we can examine these four aspects as the blueprints to our personal roadmap for how we shape ourselves – referring to the two combinations as the ‘four pillars.” When something is out of balance within the four pillars of humanity, that friction culminates in forms of inequality.

It also bears repeating that living a balanced life is an evolving process. There’s no destination of perfection or perpetual state of bliss and the process isn’t the same for each individual. Within the concept of balance we must include the vast richness of diversity.

So, whether we’re physically a woman or a man, we are born with the combined gifts of both the feminine and masculine powers. I continually observe and experience the truth that every one of us play out behaviors through belief systems and behaviors through the pure nature of who we are as the basis for which our lessons in life are derived, guided by the choices we make.

I’ve come to know life always leads us to ultimately discovering love and the true essence of who we really are. We mainly discover this greater truth after we’ve gone bumping and brawling around in the dark of our own ignorance and fears. How else do we learn our deepest lessons?

Let’s explore the feminine-masculine path combination.

Feminine-Masculine

Within the feminine, we find the powers of nurturing, intuition and heart, giving/sharing and the creative energies where visions and the powers of creative imagination are gestated and birthed from the dark or unseen place within our spiritual/intuitive mind.

Within the masculine, we find the powers of internal strength in assertiveness or fire of will power, the intellect and rational/logical mind, and the obvious external physical strength and power.

Nature has always been considered an expression of the Divine. Since antiquity, our ancestors have understood the symbolic expressions of the feminine and masculine powers in nature. One cannot exist exclusively without the other. The earth, known as Gaia or Great Mother is the symbol of fertile soil where all of nature’s diversity is birthed and grown. The sun is also known as Sol and Grandfather Sun. Without the heat and light from this great star, all the diverse potential could not transform from the soil.

The masculine essence has no greater worth than the feminine essence. Opposites as we regard them to be, they are equals in necessity in every conceivable way.

We refer to the Divine as united aspects of the highest feminine-masculine powers when we refer to this combination as god-goddess energies, called by many names the world over.

In the struggle for power over others on earth, humanity’s great error was to force a belief system that the Divine was primarily masculine – reducing and limiting this mysterious Source to suite our purposes.

Separating the feminine-masculine combination into categories of weaker or stronger or limiting their boundaries into categories of black and white, we create damage and chaos in nature and the nature of who we are. The true harmony of nature thrives only in the fluid combined space of infinite vibrant color where all of creation is free to continue building in the most joyful and wondrous fashion.

We see imbalances in the world in the excess masculine use of will, rationale, and physical aggressiveness in wars for money-power, and under the illusion that aggression is a positive form of masculinity and acceptable power, having lost the aspect of compassion, the intuitive-heart self, true service and sharing with others.

We see the imbalances of the feminine in continued suppression through forms of imposed and self-created servitude – nurturing or serving others exclusively, having given up and lost the aspect of personal power, assertive free will, and strength of personal identity.

3 Levels of Power

Here again is the method for discovering where imbalances originate – a tool to maximize awareness and take responsibility for creating and monitoring our own balance. This is a method of interpreting our life situations through the 3 Levels of Power as created by Carolyn Myss, spiritual teacher and medical intuitive. I refer to them as the three levels of conscious awareness.

The 3 Levels are:

1. Tribal Power – Lowest level of power – The follower who follows the group who makes the choices for us based on their experiences, rules, and beliefs.
2. Individual Power – High level of power – Our personal beliefs, judgments that come from experience, but also the place we turn inward for personal inquiry about what we believe.
3. Symbolic Power – Highest level of power – Where we step outside of ourselves and look at situations from an overall transcendent point of view. We observe and ask what the situation represents in the higher spiritual order of things for the highest good.

Looking Within For Answers

Once we understand the 3 Levels of Power and filter a situation through each level to determine where it originates or what level of power it represents to us, we continue by applying the tool of personal inquiry – asking ourselves questions to uncover truths and determine right actions we desire to take to heal and empower the feminine-masculine imbalance. For example:

What belief system(s) do we live “under” that split our feminine-masculine aspects into weaker and stronger, or good and evil?

How do our current belief systems work for or against us in creating our true heart’s desire in the world?

Which aspects of the combined feminine-masculine powers are out of balance? Which one is most dominant? Which one is weak? Describe what the imbalances are.

How can we positively strengthen the feminine or masculine aspects within us now?

What fears (worry, anxiety, superstitions, prejudice, hate) block us from actively creating balance?


Resources:
Anatomy of the Spirit – CD or Book by Carolyn Myss
Seeing in the Dark: Myths and Stories to Reclaim the Buried, Knowing Woman – CD by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
A Pathway To Union: The Marriage of the Feminine (Heart) and the Masculine (Mind) in the Twenty-First Century – Book by Ariana Khent
Three Levels of Power and How to Use Them – CD by Carolyn Myss

Affirmation for this month – Balance of Feminine-Masculine Nature
Today I call forth my positive feminine creative, intuitive, and nurturing aspects and my masculine intellectual, assertive, and strong aspects equally, to help me create this day in balance and harmony.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only



Secrets To A Balanced Life - Part I

Part I – Exploring Balance Between Our Spiritual-Physical Self

Painting by Sharique Farooqi

True balance of our physical and spiritual self requires

that we dance equally between both worlds.

On the first day of November, as the sun burned away the morning fog, I glanced out the window into the woodland area behind my home, and spotted four magnificent spider webs suspended in open space between two bushes. Nature's tapestries glistened with dew like threads of diamonds and became a silent message, reminding me that we are the weavers of our day to day lives where the spiritual-physical and feminine-masculine aspects in each one of us continually interlace, searching for patterns of balance in life.

The word balance is so commonly used. If we were to explore the concept of balance for humanity, what would it contain? We can view the striving for balance as a constant evolving dance between the duel, yet matching combinations of the feminine-masculine and the spiritual-physical. When we think of balance, we can examine these four positions as the blueprints or foundation to our personal roadmap for how we can shape ourselves. Let’s refer to these two combinations as the ‘four pillars.”

When something is out of balance within the four pillars of humanity, the friction that’s created over time culminates in many forms of agitation.

As we look back through 2011 so far, we can see the striving for a higher level of awareness the world over intensifying and taking place at grass roots levels everywhere.

Living a balanced life is a continual process. It isn’t a destination of perfection or perpetual state of bliss and it isn’t exactly the same for each individual. Within the concept of balance we must always include the richness of diversity. Wouldn’t life be just awful if we were all the same and lived exactly the same way? We didn’t sign up for that!

So now, how have we been weaving our lives this year? How can we maximize our awareness in taking responsibility for creating and monitoring our own balance? In order to do so, we need to learn how to understand and work with these four pillars that make up every human being, and perhaps everything on earth.

For this article, we’ll first explore the spiritual-physical path combination.

Spiritual-Physical

In the simplest terms spiritual represents the intangible or unseen and physical represents what we can physically see and touch.

We place our greater attention in the physical realm, and practically so, as we’re here to express, manifest, and hopefully master creating in the physical world based on our talents and abilities – those spiritual gifts we are born with.

All inventions we create on earth, all forms of art which include writing and music, the culinary arts, clothing and jewelry design, technology, sports, agriculture, transportation, architecture, medicine and the physical sciences, originate from that higher spiritual place of imagination. Once we’ve created something, we can physically see it and interact with it. But the creation process begins first in the unseen spiritual realm where imagination and vision become the designs of our attention. We manifest those visions into the physical world as objects. Infinite objects!

The social sciences like philosophy, psychology, the unseen spiritual intuitive arts, and metaphysical abstract thought processes where we create not so much a physical object to use, as we reach for methods of living in the highest place of positive thought and awareness and where we explore and wrestle with understanding behaviors, transcendent experiences and feelings – those mental, emotional, and spiritual parts that separate us from being robotic.

The powerful unseen spiritual aspect within us is also our moral compass that guides us for good or ill in the physical world. We express values through our emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. We can see the effects with how we communicate in all forms of relationship.

Constantly growing and expanding into a higher spiritual awareness, we are coming to recognize, empathize, and honor the value of all things in life. We are perpetual seekers of universal truths.

We’re coming to understand that all things hold an intrinsic energy force driven to fulfill its value potential. An example in human evolution is recognizing that all people should be free and not used for enslavement for any reason. Most of humanity now finds the thought of enslavement completely revolting and primeval.

We are growing up spiritually in finally recognizing that animals have emotions and feel pain, not only unconscious impulses of survival to eat, procreate, and flee.

So, here we are as humans operating through our five physical senses in the world and simultaneously using our higher spiritual psychic or intuitive resources to guide us, hopefully, for the greater good. We can only separate this combination in our mind.

What gets out of balance is when we try to split our spiritual-physical selves with a false belief. We believe the only reality and greatest worth is the physical world of things instead of the spiritual part of us that guides us, is our true moral compass to the greater meaning and purpose in life, and finally what we choose to do with all the things we create!

3 Levels of Power

Let’s take a look at a method we can use for discovering where imbalances originate. This can be used for both combinations of the four pillars. This is a method of interpreting our life situations through the 3 Levels of Power as created by Carolyn Myss, the great spiritual teacher and medical intuitive. I also refer to them as the three levels of conscious awareness.

This revealing process helps uncover our personal energy power as it relates to our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual growth.

The 3 Levels are:

1. Tribal Power – Lowest level of power – The follower who follows the group who makes the choices for us based on their experiences, rules, and beliefs.
2. Individual Power – High level of power – Our personal beliefs, judgments that come from experience, but also the place we turn inward for personal inquiry about what we believe.
3. Symbolic Power – Highest level of power – Where we step outside of ourselves and look at situations from an overall transcendent point of view. We observe and ask what the situation represents in the higher spiritual order of things for the highest good.

Looking Within For Answers

Once we understand the 3 Levels of Power and filter a situation through each level to determine where it originates or what level of power it represents to us, we continue with applying the tool of personal inquiry. We ask ourselves questions to uncover our truths and determine right actions we desire to take to heal and empower the spiritual-physical imbalance. We can ask for example:

Are we on a path of creating division and separation or are on a path of creating unity and oneness in the world? Are we individually creating and manifesting for good or for ill – in the darkness of hate, superstition, and ignorance or are we open to seeking knowledge, undoing conflict, superstitions, and breaking patterns of hate?

Are we creating in the world out of ego simply to acquire, or are we creating using the guidance of our higher spiritual resources not only for the joy of creating, but with the foremost sense that we are also being of service and sharing our talents with others for the highest good?

What fears (worry, anxiety, superstitions, prejudice, hate) block us from actively creating balance?

Next Month: Part II - Balance Between Our Feminine-Masculine Self

No matter whether we are a woman or a man, we are born with the combined aspects of both the feminine and masculine energy powers. We’ll be exploring our combined feminine-masculine aspects in Part II of December’s article.

Resources:

Three Levels of Power and How to Use Them – CD by Carolyn Myss

Anatomy of the Spirit – CD or Book by Carolyn Myss

Four Levels of Healing – A Guide to Balancing the Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, and Physical Aspects of Life – Book by Shakti Gawain

Affirmation for this month – Balance

I make adjustments today, between what my spirit desires and my body requires, in order to bring forth a peaceful equilibrium.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only



Uncovering Blockages and Finding the Path Towards Healing

You can listen to my radio interview here on uncovering blockages.  Discover where our emotional/mental, physical, and spiritual blockages originate through the path of personal inquiry and 3 levels of consciousness!  

Live in beauty and be well - Triza

Here's the link:

Uncovering Blockages and Finding the Path towards Healing 10/21 by thevioletsanctuaryspa Blog Talk Radio#.TqHXxixYjC1.facebook