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11/7/2016 0 Comments Discovering Your Life Path
Does any of this describe your current situation? “I’ve lost my job, and can’t imagine what to do next!” “I’m so unhappy in my career, but I’m afraid to make a change.” “I would love to wake up every morning looking forward to how I spend my day.” Are you searching for a new focus, a more rewarding career, or something you can be passionate about doing? I’m always amazed at how often it happens that I encounter people dealing with similar issues at the same time. Currently it’s all about altering – or finding – one’s “life path.” So many of my friends and family members, clients, and fleeting acquaintances are in the midst of changing their vocations, discovering or maximizing avocations (things we do for enjoyment outside of work), or trying to find a new passion. They are looking for a new job because they’ve lost the previous one, often due to no fault of their own. They are searching for a new career because the current one leaves them feeling unrewarded, either financially or psychologically. They are hoping to discover something they absolutely love to do because they’re feeling unfulfilled personally or spiritually. I’m listening to the frustrations of young adults who have still have no idea what they’d like to do to earn a living after leaving school. I’m speaking to empty-nesters whose children are leaving home. I’m commiserating with older adults who are looking for something worthwhile to give new meaning to their lives. I can so easily relate to everyone who is searching for a new path. It seems that fate, past-life karma and spiritual guidance have joined forces at different times to help me discover my own life path.... Capitalizing on early interests. From earliest memory, I always expected to be a school teacher. I did well in school as a child, and my parents thought teaching would be the perfect career to fit in with my dreams of raising a family. I was devastated to discover in my early twenties that I just didn’t enjoy teaching! I hated the minutiae, the record-keeping and the lesson plans. I was upset with the students who didn’t make any effort, and angry with the parents who didn’t nurture their children’s development. And I was frustrated by an educational system that seemed to be taking all the joy out of learning. I left teaching with absolutely no idea what I could do to earn a living, bouncing from job to job, and finally winding up apprenticing to a typesetter/graphic artist and opening a little studio of my own. The breakthrough came when a client needed a brochure, but was unable to explain his company’s offerings in writing. Reaching into my past, I resurrected my early love of writing poetry and prose and my skills as the editor of my school paper, and rescued the client by putting everything he had told me about his business into very respectable text overnight. I had finally found a direction for my career as the chief copywriter and creative director in my design studio. Repurposing past skills and training. Satisfied that I had successfully developed and maintained a business, I turned my attention to getting married and having a baby. Owning my own company gave me the time and the freedom to homeschool our son. In fact, homeschooling took priority over copywriting, and I found new joy in teaching a very willing student. I used the training I had abandoned long before to explore and implement new ways to keep Ben excited about learning, developing his strengths rather than focusing on his weaknesses. I had finally discovered a true avocation in my forties! Teaching Ben was so rewarding, that I let my business dwindle and atrophy while I focused on developing new theories about education and child development, and helping my husband Lou grow his music conservatory. Unfortunately, homeschooling was a job with an expiration date. At the ripe old age of 58, I was effectively fired from the only job I had ever truly loved as Ben left home for college. Fate immediately stepped in and provided what seemed like the perfect way to fill my empty days. I combined my expertise in business, my skills as a graphic designer and copywriter, and my experience as an educator and moved full-time into managing our conservatory. Apparently I did my job too well. As the conservatory grew, so did my responsibilities. Once again, I found myself dealing with minutiae, record-keeping and parents who didn’t nurture their children’s development. The stress of doing a job for which I was ill-suited was weighing heavily on me, compounded by long hours and little downtime. I was becoming physically exhausted, psychologically depressed, and spiritually depleted. The final wakeup call came when I developed cancer, which my doctors attributed in large part to stress. Somebody up there (I had the overwhelming feeling it was my dad!) was telling me to step off the treadmill and change my life. Discovering new passions (or rediscovering old ones). So here I was in my early sixties, recovering from cancer, with absolutely no idea of how I wanted to spend the last third of my life. Something was whispering to me, but I just couldn’t make out the message. In desperation, I sought out a psychic advisor I had met years earlier. Together, we went on a search for a new direction for my life, exploring my past lives to uncover my talents as a teacher, a writer and a metaphysician, introducing me to heretofore unknown spirit guides to reacquaint me with my spiritual leanings, and listening to the advice and counsel of my loved ones from the other side helping me find my new path. (I was right! It was dad who was sending most of those messages.) All of the exploration and study I had done earlier in this life, from yoga and transcendental meditation through parapsychology and spiritualism, came back in full force. I embarked upon intensive study of clairvoyance, intuitive healing, and past life regression with my new mentor. Most important, she helped me to realize that I have always been “claircognizant” (clear-knowing) – knowing and saying specific things without any prior thought or reference. I so often have information, perceptions and insights about people and circumstances I encounter that I simply “know” to be true, but I never really understood that this was a talent I could harness and utilize to help others. It turns out that, at least for the time being, I’m most effective as a claircognizant when I’m helping someone recall past life memories. Apparently, focusing on the regression enables me to silence the chatter in my brain and allow the messages to come through. Finally, I’m doing something I love: helping others gain insight into the issues affecting their lives today! We all have taken risks at times, and we’ve chosen the easy way out at other times. We’ve utilized our skills and we’ve ignored our gifts. We’ve tried and failed, and we’ve gotten back up and succeeded. In the end, though, we all hope to be involved in doing something that makes use of our special talents, feeds our soul and nurtures our spirit. I believe that the first step in discovering your life path is setting your intention to find out what makes you happiest. Look for the vocation, avocation or passion that will help you to grow and to evolve. Think back to your early years for the activities that brought you joy, and explore beyond that to past lifetimes where you were happy and fulfilled. Meditate and pray for guidance. Find that which makes every day worth living. Then live the life you were always meant to have.
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10/26/2016 0 Comments Love Life: Dates, Mates & Soulmates Can you relate to any of these laments on love?
"How is it possible that I’ve fallen in love with someone ‘at first sight’? " "I have a great relationship, so why can’t I make a commitment?" "Why do I choose partners who are inappropriate or emotionally unavailable?" "Why do so many of the people I date have problems with drugs or alcohol?" "Why do I continue to put up with abuse from my mate?" Whether you are young or old, married or single, male or female, your love life has probably given you cause to question your choices. You fall head over heels in love with someone you just met and don’t know why. You find that you’re anxious to make a commitment to someone special, but something is holding you back. You make terrible choices in love, choosing people who don’t fit, can’t show love or affection, or who are ruled by addiction. Or you start off thinking you’ve made a great choice, and later discover that your mate is too controlling or physically, verbally or emotionally abusive. If you believe in reincarnation, you already know that your dates, mates, and even your soulmates, are most probably people with whom you’ve had a relationship in the past. Just as the same souls reappear in life after life, the issues you face in your love life today may well be the result of events, good or bad, that you’ve experienced in a past life. I believe that so much of the time our love lives are ruled by circumstances we don’t remember. Lifetimes of serenity and conflict, contentment and drama, great loves and great losses. Here’s a case-study (names changed to protect the lovelorn) that I hope might explain the forces that lie behind our choice of mates … Ellen is a well-respected, highly intelligent businesswoman. Married for 40 years, she and her husband David seem to have a true partnership. They’ve raised a lovely family, run a successful business, and share the same interests. Ellen was hoping to find out why she could never achieve the level of mutual intimacy and commitment she had hoped to have with David. In a recent past life regression, Ellen remembered a lifetime in which she was a young man living on an island in the South Seas. He pursued, and eventually won, the hand of a lovely young woman. Totally enamored of the woman, he tried his best to make her happy, but felt that he hadn’t really won her heart. Moving ahead in time, Ellen reported that the couple had become leaders in their community. Ellen remembered that the entire village came to the man she had been for advice and counsel, and his wife was very much involved in her activities with the other women. At home, though, he lamented the fact that his wife was oblivious to his need for a stronger emotional bond. Ellen said that the wife was “a good woman who was dedicated to their home and family, but she doesn’t understand what he wants from her. She thinks she’s done everything she was supposed to do to be a good wife.” Witnessing the time of death as an old man, Ellen’s heart broke as she realized that the man was truly bereft – never having been able to make his wife understand his need for a deeper, more profound connection. As she came out of the regression, Ellen was certain that David was the wife she saw in the past life, and that their marriage was much the same today as it had been then. She remarked that she had “recognized” David the moment she met him, and immediately knew they were meant to make a life together. Ellen wondered if she chose to incarnate in this lifetime with reversed roles in hopes that David would finally be able to recognize the love she was offering. Although sad that nothing had really changed in their relationship in this lifetime, Ellen was relieved to know that the issues in their life today had deep-seeded roots she hadn’t recognized until then. It appears that while she brought her hopes and dreams of a deep love connection with her into this incarnation, David was still unable to see beyond fulfilling their more superficial roles as husband and wife. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare wrote the famous line “The course of true love never did run smooth.” It’s often repeated, mostly because it’s so true! Our love life may allow us to continue a relationship with someone we’ve once loved, or it might offer the opportunity to resolve the issues of the past. As you’ve most likely guessed, I believe that we often choose to date, mate or live as soulmates with those we’ve known before. We repeat patterns, helpful or harmful, in hopes that we’ll move toward greater love and greater good in the end. (For more information about the three most common types of soulmates, check out my first blog post “Loving Soulmates.”) 10/14/2016 0 Comments Understanding Your Relationships Does any of this sound familiar?
“I love my children equally – but I can’t understand why my daughter and I can’t get along!” “Try as I might, my in-laws just won’t accept me!” “My sister is jealous of everything I do!” “My best friend is spreading gossip about me!” Relationships can be difficult, and we’re often hard-pressed to figure out why. Your adult children seem to have never outgrown their rebellious stage, your in-laws are trying their best to turn your spouse against you, someone you thought was your friend betrays you, or your parents and siblings aren’t supportive of your lifestyle. The key to understanding the issues you might be facing in your important relationships today may very well lie in the past. We come into this lifetime with many of the souls we’ve met before. While it’s true that we might have a common goal in reincarnating with a past friend or relative, it’s also true that we incarnate with the hope of resolving past issues or conflicts. Your child might have been your oppressed servant, your in-laws could have been your business rivals, your friend may have been a scorned lover, and your parents or siblings might have been political enemies. I’d like to share a case study (with names changed) from my own practice that I hope will demonstrate how exploring the past may shed some light on relationship issues today … Billie is a warm, loving woman with adult children. She has a strong religious, moral and ethical base, and is immersed in the care and well-being of her family. Billie came to me hoping to gain some insight into why her now estranged daughter-in-law Sarah had continually rejected any overture Billie made to include her in the family. In her past life regression, Billie saw herself as an older Roman soldier, long past his prime. As the soldier, Billie spotted a woman doing laundry by the stream, and described the woman by saying “she’s young, early 20’s … a slave girl who belongs to my son. I feel sorry for her, and don’t want her to be harmed. She has already been harmed.” He asked the woman “Is there any way I can help you?” – but realized that he had “no power over freeing her because she’s not mine. I’m just a weak old man.” At the time of death, Billie was in a cold, damp bedroom, dying of old age, and the slave was there. Billie said the soldier could not forgive himself because his job kept him away from home and he hadn’t been able to help the slave woman, but he did feel that he had since been able to keep the woman safe. “She’s bitter and angry about the treatment she’s received before I came home; long before I showed up.” In our discussion after the regression, Billie was quite convinced that the slave was her daughter-in-law Sarah in this lifetime, who was still angry because of the treatment she had received by Billie’s son Matthew in the past life. Billie commented that her daughter-in-law was fiercely independent, and was sad that the young woman couldn’t let herself accept the love Billie had offered her. As an added insight, Billie felt that she now understood why Sarah ultimately destroyed her marriage to Matthew as she attempted to balance the karmic relationship from the past lifetime as master and slave. So many of our personal relationships with family members, friends and coworkers are fraught with the unresolved issues we carry forward from past lifetimes. Some theologians teach that we incarnate without past life memories to give us the opportunity to “test” ourselves to see if we can balance our karma unwittingly. I’m a firm believer that when we learn about our karmic relationships through past life regression, we can better understand (and perhaps even resolve!) the karmic issues that affect our relationships today. 8/15/2016 'Loving' Soulmates So many people seem to have fallen prey to the belief that we have one and only one “soulmate” in our lives. Romance novels, plays, movies and television have convinced them that their “one and only love” will manifest as a perfect mating of souls. Filled with sizzling passion and free of conflict. A true meeting of mind and heart.
It's my belief that we may actually love more than one soulmate in each lifetime, and that there are basically three types of “loving soulmates” – each important to our growth and development in their own way…. Karmic Soulmates are those with whom you’ve come into this lifetime to resolve the issues from the past. The attraction to a karmic soulmate is usually strong, and is often fraught with struggle. They aren’t meant to be easy relationships. If we’re lucky (or wise), we may learn important lessons from loving a karmic soulmate and, hopefully, end any conflicts or pay back past debts. It’s been my experience that the attraction to a karmic soulmate dies out when the issues are laid to rest. I’ve personally had more than my share of karmic soulmates in my life. The one that stands out most clearly was a brilliant (albeit complicated) older man. Arthur served as both a surrogate father figure and a mentor who fell in love with me when I was still an unsophisticated twenty-year-old and introduced me to the world of art, music, motorcycles and, thankfully, to a woman who would become one of my closest friends for the rest of my life. We shared passion, arguments and many painful breakups as I struggled to earn my independence and get my footing as an adult. We hurt each other in untold ways, and parted as friends when the karmic mayhem finally dissolved into acceptance. Companion Soulmates are here to work with you to achieve a common goal. Although you might be strongly attracted to a companion soulmate, the relationship doesn’t generate the extreme passion found with a karmic soulmate. Companionship is the key element here.. Your mutual goals may be as basic as guiding a child into adulthood, or as lofty as ending world hunger. Companion soulmates might pass fondly from your life when your shared goals are reached, or they might stay with you for a lifetime. My husband, Lou, is a wonderful example of a companion soulmate. I recognized him the second he walked into my life, and have loved him since. We have shared many common goals, starting with a renewed study of metaphysics in new modalities, through building a conservatory that has brought music into the lives of thousands of children, and finally raising a phenomenal son who has changed our lives in more ways than we could have ever imagined. I have had a clear mission to support Lou’s incredible gift of music; he has never wavered in his encouragement of my gift of claircognizant insights. (That’s not to say we haven’t had some karmic issues to resolve! We have fought like tigers, argued until we’re both blue in the face, and worked hard to keep our marriage together through tough times over the past 30 years.) Romantic Soulmates are more than life-long relationships. They are souls whom you’ve loved in the past, and have made a vow to love again. These relationships may defy convention by crossing cultural norms of class, race or religion – but are so powerful that we often feel helpless to ignore them. These men and women are frequently described as our “one true love” or the “love of our life.” Romantic soulmates remain in our hearts even when the relationship has ended. As it turns out, I met my romantic soulmate, Jeff, at the back door of our high-school bus. We fell hopelessly in love, and spent every minute together. Although we were both certain we were meant to be together, the intensity of our relationship was too strong for a dating relationship to withstand. We parted (the first time) at twenty when I wanted to get married, but he knew we were too young. The relationship, though, wasn’t over. We got back together numerous times over the course of fifteen years but, ultimately, we had grown in very different and disparate ways. Meeting my companion soulmate in my early thirties finally put an end to the push and pull of my relationship with Jeff. If I ever write a romance novel, though, I’d use that relationship as the model for young love! Although elements of the karmic, companion and romantic might be present in each loving soulmate relationship, one of the three types is generally clearly dominant. I truly believe that we choose our soulmates in each lifetime to help us progress on our path toward enlightenment. The key is to appreciate each love you may encounter, for each and every one – for better or for worse – was meant to be. |
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