Your Heart Contains The Map To The Universe!

This lovely artwork was created by my beautiful friend Jennifer Thompson. I saw it this morning and knew I needed to share it with you! (For more on the talented Jennifer, you can connect with her at: Jillyhop.)

The world can be a confusing place! Normally we rely on our brains to plot our course in the Universe. Mistakes are common as we depend on the information we have learned through society and our environment by engaging our five senses--extremely limited information at best. Solutions that come from this place only take into account those perspectives you are actually able to see and will not address the bigger picture.

Enter the guidance and wisdom of the heart! The heart is what binds and connects us to Oneness--the place where everything is present and nothing is judged. This is the place of all truth, all knowledge, all understanding. When we learn to connect with our hearts, we learn to connect with our inner knowing--to the knowledge of all that IS. It is in this way that our hearts act as our internal guidance system!

There is a map to the Universe contained within your heart! Learn to focus on this inner knowing and your life will begin to flow much more easily with less problems and effort.

~CSE

Taming The Christmas Beast

I have a part time job working retail in a department store. While I enjoy getting out of the house and interacting with people, the energies I encounter at Christmas time can be difficult to handle. While many shoppers understand the need for patience with the holiday crowds, there are others who are in such a hurry they think only of themselves. As an empath, I find grounding myself becomes more time consuming and difficult as I navigate the holiday storms. Here's a little bit of insight on how an empath with a very public job tames the Christmas beast.

Understand the jumble of emotions you will encounter!
Many people get excited at the thought of holidays. In my own personal experience, Christmas is a good time for me as I anticipate gift giving, holiday food, and family time. That said, there are also much more negative emotions that can come into play. Holiday time can be very stressful because of the extra demands placed on peoples' normal routines. Decorating, shopping, food prep, parties and religious or school programs all come together, making the regular stress of work or school more intense. On top of all that, there are those people who cannot afford the sort of Christmas they want as well as those who have recently lost family members. All this adds up to a lot more worry and hassle than most times of the year, and the stress energy will often release as anger, sadness and upset. Understanding you and others have these feelings is the first step in coping with and managing them.

Know there is an energy harvest underway!
Here in the United States, the frenzy has been programmed and planned by the beings who run the planet. Those in power are energy vampires who thrive on harmful and negative energies! The low vibrating energies (anger, sadness, greed) that can accompany the holidays power up the spiritual side of things. The massive urges we feel to buy, Buy, BUY rids us of our hard-earned money and powers up the physical aspects of the world. We do not need to incorporate these feelings into ourselves. Realize these thoughts and feelings do not originate in the heart and consciously choose to keep them from infesting your mind.

Consciously take time for recovery!
When life becomes extra chaotic and tense, it is vital to take the time you need to heal, recover and re-energize. Meditate. Take a warm, relaxing bath. Read or watch a movie just for pleasure. Allow yourself to let go of your holiday to-do list. (Ask yourself if the world is going to fall apart if you fail to make those cookies or don't make it to your work holiday party!) The bottom line is, if your heart tells you it will feel good, do it!!! Your heart knows what you need to do to take care of yourself.

The beast that is Christmas (or any other holiday or event you participate in) can be tamed! Awareness is key as you look to your heart to guide you through the chaos that is the holidays!

~CSE

  

Home Is Where The Heart Is!

I've lived in quite a few different places over the years. I began life in Ohio and lived in that state until the summer I turned fifteen. At that point, my father's job took us to South Carolina, where I spent the next three years making friends and absorbing a whole new unexpected culture. During the next phase of my journey, I ended up in Iowa. I went there for school and pretty much stayed there most of the next twelve years after marrying someone who also had family there. My life changed again when that marriage fell apart and I moved to Georgia to be close to my parents.

While I've made friends everywhere I've lived and enjoyed various things about each place, Georgia is the only place I've never wanted to move away from. I'm not saying Georgia is the best place I've ever lived. It's just that this is the place my heart tells me I should be.

When I was growing up in Ohio, I was always curious about new places. I enjoyed going on cross country trips with my family. I loved meeting people from new places. I always wanted to explore and I was definitely open to the idea of moving someplace different.

South Carolina met that requirement in ways I never imagined possible. I got to see the ocean for the first time. I was able to hike small mountains and appreciate the sweetness of fruit grown in red clay. Even more interesting was exploring a culture I had read about in my history books, but never really knew or understood until I found myself living in the middle of it. It was all wonderful and all worth it! Still, it wasn't really home.

Iowa was perhaps the place I had the most trouble living in. Between college, my job, and the church I attended I had lots of good, solid friends. There was a great deal of beauty in the rolling farmland and the colorful sunrises and sunsets. Still, I was never content there, never at home. I always felt like I wanted to be somewhere else the whole time I lived there without ever understanding why.

The why is that my heart was calling me elsewhere. It knew I was not meant to be in Iowa forever. It knew there was somewhere else I needed to put down roots. Consequently when I ended up in Georgia (pretty much kicking and screaming in the beginning), my life began to take on a more calm and settled quality.

I was very broken when I came to Georgia. I had been trying to keep my ten+ year marriage afloat while raising three very small children and I was literally exhausted. My parents welcomed us with open arms, and I found even more family in the church we attended. As I healed, I began to appreciate the world I had ended up in. While Georgia has many of the same geographical features South Carolina has, it also has a much more cosmopolitan approach to life and the world thanks to Atlanta and its international airport. While I am still curious about various places and peoples around the world, I find myself wanting the visit those places but see myself coming back home to Georgia.

Georgia is the first place I feel settled--the first place I truly never want to leave for more than a vacation. I love exploring the countryside. I enjoy wandering in the city. I know that mountains and beaches are easy drives away. I love the fact that Georgia still has four seasons but the winters are mild. There are many days when I look at my husband and say, "I'm so happy to be in Georgia!", and indeed I am!

Your heart knows what your adventures need to be. Your heart knows where your best interests lie. That's because your heart is your connection to God/Source/Oneness. If you are discontent with anything, understand that is the wisdom of your heart calling you to change. Trust its guidance. It will lead you home.

~CSE

  

A Date With A Heron

I had a date with a heron the other day. I didn't realize it until I actually saw him, but this was indeed a divine appointment. Somehow through the haze that is everyday life, he called to me. And I came.

I knew it was important for me to connect with nature--to tune in. With my husband in tow, I drove to a specific parking area along some local walking trails we like to use. The lot was packed, except for one spot that seemed ideal. I wasn't sure how it was open when even the street beside it was lined with parked cars.

When we got out of the car, I told my husband I wanted to go this way today. (You have your choice of two directions to walk from this parking lot.) I kept thinking I wanted to go down by the creek and see if the copperhead snakes were sunning on their usual spot on the rocks that get warmed by the sunshine. I told my husband I wanted to go just past the bridge we see the snakes at, but no farther.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was bright. Plenty of blue sky could be seen through the fluffy clouds. The vegetation in Georgia this time of year is lush and green. As I walked past wetlands and woods, I felt anxieties melt away as I absorbed all the energies in nature. My husband is the type who is also content just being out in the woods, so we walked mostly in a compatible silence.

As we approached the bridge where we see the snakes sunning themselves, I began to look through the vegetation to the running water just beyond it. There in the distance was a huge water bird. A heron. His long beak and blue/gray feathers caught my attention as they contrasted against the falling water. I have seen similar water birds, but never in this location.

It's actually something of a miracle I saw him at all. He was not easy to see. It took my husband a minute when I pointed him out. I also pointed him out to a few other fellow nature lovers who were passing by. One of them asked who had spotted it. I told him I did, and he told me I had a good eye. Ironic as I age.

I have to believe that something that morning told me I had an appointment to keep. I felt the need to hurry. Usually I am much more laid back in my nature journeys. I had a specific destination in mind, and I knew I wanted to go there, but no farther. The bird was in the spot I was looking to see some sort of wildlife.

Following your heart can bring some interesting experiences. They may not always be profound or earth-shattering, but they will always leave you content in the understanding you are part of a much larger and beautiful whole.

~CSE

Trusting Heart

Law of attraction followers spend a great deal of time talking about "flow". In a nutshell, flow is the concept of allowing yourself to go with the natural desires of your heart to the point where your life just flows from one experience to the next in a perfect and orderly dance. This topic is hitting me hard lately because I realize I have been resisting some of the key directions where my heart has been pulling me to go.

My heart has been drawing me back to my Christian roots. It isn't the ideologies that are calling me back. What is calling me back is the music I used to listen to. Much of my meditation time back then was spent listening to Christian music where I would allow myself to get so absorbed by the music and words I would get connected to God/Source. It is that connection that I crave, and the music will let me do it regardless of my views on religion.

The one thing holding me back is the thought I am committing myself to something that has the potential for darkness. Once again, I am overthinking things. My heart is guiding me there!!! Why am I resisting?

Sometimes the mind is a terrible burden. It uses lessons and observation to make judgments and decisions about where to go in life. The thing is, the information of the mind is extremely limited. Consequently, you are making decisions based on insufficient data. Limited data. Limited results!

The heart is what sees the bigger picture because it sees the whole picture!!! All the information is there. Fact of the matter is, your limited mind cannot wrap itself around the information contained in the One!!! Your heart is what does this. The heart does not think in the same linear way as the mind. The heart is timeless, spaceless, dimensionless. The heart has no limits. 

You may not be able to understand why the heart is pulling you in one direction instead of another, but trust it anyway!!! Your heart sees what your mind cannot--eternity, and that is literally everything you need!!!

~CSE

Spiritual Mentors

Almost nineteen years ago, I was in a very bad place mentally, emotionally and spiritually. My first marriage was ending, and its very last breath had literally consumed all the remaining bits of my energy. I felt empty, like everything in me had been sucked dry leaving a vacuum that could not be refilled. I didn't want to live anymore.

My husband had just told me he wanted to be separated, and I was ready to leave this world. He and the kids were sitting in the living room watching TV. I slipped out very quietly and locked myself in the bedroom. Knowing where the handgun was hidden, I got it out and held it in my hands. I knew where the safety was--knew it would be easy to pull the trigger and exit this life. I sat on the floor of the bedroom with my back against the door holding my own life in my hands.

Something alerted my husband to what I was doing. He realized I had the gun. He tried to get in the locked room. When he understood I was sitting against the door, he began talking to me. I don't remember anything he said except the one thing that made me change my mind: your kids need you. In that instant, I knew it wasn't time to leave this life. I unlocked the door and allowed him to take the gun from my hands.

A number of years later, I was reading the book "The Healing Code" by Alex Lloyd and Ben Johnson. The book details an energetic healing technique that is akin to Reiki, although it manifests in slightly different form. I began using the technique described in the book to work on myself. After repeating this process several times, I began to remember this attempted suicide, which I had long buried in my subconscious because it was just too painful for my mind to deal with. Each time I did the Healing Code process, the incident became more clear.

Then something amazing happened. I was no longer sitting on the floor with the gun in my hands, but instead was standing in the opposite corner of the room looking at myself. I noticed my guardian angels were in the room with me, standing a bit to the side as I contemplated taking my life. What truly amazed me though was who was standing directly beside me: Jesus. At the very lowest moment of my life, Jesus was the one holding my hand.

Even though my understanding of who Jesus is has changed over time, I appreciate who he is: teacher, mentor, friend. He has the ability to transcend time and space (as we all do), and he loved me enough to stand with me when I was hurting and feeling lost and alone.

I believe we all have spiritual mentors who support us along the way. They can be famous spiritual teachers like Jesus, Mohammed, or the Buddha. They can be people we have known in this life or in past ones. If you think back on your life and remember yourself talking to certain individuals over and over again (in your imagination or even seeing them and holding the actual conversation), this is probably one of your spiritual mentors.

We are all connected to Source and as such we have the power to call on the wisdom and inspiration of others in order to meet the challenges we face. Take comfort in the fact you are not alone. Trust there is always a spiritual mentor available to help you, whether you remember to ask for the help or not.

Spiritual mentors are here to assist us. Make use of these precious resources. Follow the guidance of your heart in such matters. It knows what to do.

~CSE