BREATHE – DEEPLY – ALL THE TIME

If one looks at the purest origins of the word “spirit” (spiritus in Latin), it simply means “breath.”  So, really – the name of my company, Spirit Inspired Life, could theoretically be called Breath Inspired Life.  I’ve found in my own life that when I become busy, or anxious, or nervous, or angry, I hold my breath. Even when I go about the course of my usual day, when I don’t feel particularly busy, or anxious, or nervous, or angry – I still find that I’m sometimes not breathing fully and deeply.

And when I do actually breathe fully and deeply – consciously – my world literally changes.  I find that I am more calm, that I think more clearly – and I have even found that the more consistently I breath deeply & fully, the more new & wonderful things come into my life. Breath IS life.  It sustains us.  All we have to do, is get as much of it as we possibly can.  And that’s easy, because it’s free!

Furthermore, I personally believe that because breath is life, the amount of success in anything we do is proportionate to the amount of breath we bring into our bodies.  In other words, if we only breathe deeply & fully 70% the time, then anything we do will only be 70% of what it could have been.

I challenge you to observe yourself in this way over the next few days.  Find the moments when you’re automatically holding your breath.  Find the moments when your breathing is shallow.  Then BREATHE. 

When you BREATHE deeply and consistently, transformation will take place.

Namaste,

Roger

Some things I’ve learned…

I turned 41 a couple of days ago…and I started to ponder what I’ve actually learned about myself and life during those 41 years. Anyone that has read my previous blog posts knows that I have been keeping a journal for over a year now.  I even read back through past journal entries from time to time -  which has, without question, always been more powerful than the act of actually writing an entry in the journal the first time.

Last night I came across a page where I had actually written what I had learned up to that point.  Now this journal entry was written 7 months ago, but I found it relevant, and inspirationally appropriate last night, given the question I had been pondering a few days earlier.

So, for my current blog post, I will reproduce directly from that journal entry:

November 19, 2009

What started as a weekend retreat, ended up putting me on this incredible journey of self-discovery – finding out, not only about the deepest part of me, but also how I relate to the greater whole of humanity…and beyond – about the difference between soul and body – the difference between soul and personality – the difference between mind and consciousness – about the different realities that exist here, there, and everywhere – the differences between right brain and left brain, and the portal to dimensions beyond that what we call our “universe” that exists in the right brain.

I’ve learned the peace that just “is” when one is truly still.

I’ve learned the difference between love & affection, love & respect, love & need, love & romance, love & sentiment, love & nostalgia.  I’ve learned that love is the only “emotion,” (although it really isn’t an emotion) that is experienced by the soul.  All other emotions – jealousy, hatred, fear…especially fear…and anything that isn’t love, really…all those emotions are unique to the mind/body and our human experience.

I’ve learned that when questions are answered, more questions arise – endlessly – and that most answers one can find by going within, if they are able to seek from a place absent of ego.  But even then, the endless cycle of questions will continue.  And when one can’t seem to find the answer  -even by going within – choose an answer that is truly based in LOVE. An answer that is loving towards the fellow human beings around you and humanity as a whole. An answer that IS love.    With that answer, you cannot go wrong – for you have surely found the best answer.

I’ve learned the power of intention and the endless possibilities of manifestation – of creating – that come with that intention.

I’ve learned that the only way to a personal relationship with God/Creator/Source of Everything,  is through intentional time alone with the above named.  One cannot depend on what they read or what they hear, for all humans, and all things made by humans have the potential to be fallible or misinterpreted from the original intent.

This is where the journal entry ended.  Now, seven months later, I have learned even more, but I need to spend time alone and write it in my journal…and create more material for a subsequent blog entry.  Stay tuned…

Choose love,

Roger

http://www.spiritinspiredlife.com

Thought & Sound – The Power to Create

I was corresponding with a dear friend about manifestation last week.  She mentioned that she had been asking the Universe for abundance.  And, suddenly, a multitude of information collected over the past year, came flooding into my head: You can’t “ask” for abundance.  Well, I guess, technically, you can…..but it’s ultimately much more productive to expect abundance.

I remembered from personal experience, however, that at the very time when you feel you most need abundance, it is awfully hard to expect it – much less feel it. It seems like the worst sort of “Catch – 22” situation.

Eager to pass on helpful words to my friend, as opposed to simply saying something “nice,” I tried to remember exactly how I had handled this sort of situation in the past.

Then it dawned on me….that whilst it can be a real challenge to control how you feel, it is very easy to control what you say and what you write. If you say something enough, or write it enough, then you will eventually have authentic feelings surrounding the very things that you have written or said. This is the act of creation.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

Whilst the inner feeling and belief of abundance (expecting it) is most powerful, speaking or writing it in the form of the word, can be the first creative step in achieving the feeling or belief that can sometimes seem so elusive.

At times when I have felt least abundant, I have literally made a list (and subsequently read that list aloud) of the things that I would – or maybe “should” is the better word – classify as things of abundance. Sometimes, it takes looking at the rest of the world to get that list started.

I am grateful for food.

I am grateful for clean water.

I am grateful for shelter.

And then the list progresses to the not-so-basic….

I am grateful for my health.

I am grateful for parents who love me unconditionally.

I am grateful for musical ability.

I’m not feeling so abundant-less now, and the list expands…

I am grateful for the opportunity to have traveled.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have taken the past year to devote to a time of self-inquiry.

I am grateful for my new awareness of my connection to the Spirit world.

And with an increased feeling of abundance, I expand even further to that which I desire….

I am grateful for the successful completion of my CD.

I am grateful for the successful completion of my book.

I am grateful for my successful and expanding career as a Spiritual Counsellor, Psychic Artist, Musician, & Writer.

Asking for abundance implies a lack of abundance.  Speaking or writing about your abundance, implies that you already have it, thus attracting more abundance your way.

We all have the ability to create unlimited amounts of abundance – or whatever else we wish for our lives – simply by thinking it, writing it, and then speaking it.

think it – write it – say it (repeatedly) – believe it – create it

We’re all familiar with the famous Descartes quote, “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes, of course, is referring to his own existence.  Because he thinks at all, provides proof that he exists.

But I think we can take that one step further.

I think it, therefore it is.

I think abundance, therefore it is abundance.

I think abundance for myself, therefore I am abundant.

Choose love,

Roger

http://www.spiritinspiredlife.com

P.S.  I am thankful for my friend, who – besides being a good friend – provided inspiration for this week’s blog.

Mr. Ryan

Yesterday, I spent a significant amount of time looking for spiritual text about inner divinity.

I’m in the process of recording an album of songs which express some of my “spiritual truths,”  and I’m having a challenge finding just the right words to express this truth surrounding inner divinity.

Through my internet searches yesterday, however, I kept getting directed back to a website called, “Spirituality & Mysticism: Quotes for Those that Love Gardens, Gardening, and the Green Way.”  And whilst I didn’t immediately find anything that would serve my purposes, I did find some really beautiful text.

We awoke this morning to an email informing us that Mr. Ryan, the elderly gentleman who lived on the ground floor – and who was the unofficial caretaker of our community garden – passed away yesterday.

No one knows exactly what happened yet, but just as sure as I saw him a day or so ago, carefully attending to a chorus of brightly coloured flowers, today he is gone.

I still don’t think I’ve found the text I need which fully embraces this concept of inner divinity, but it does seem as though Mr. Ryan had a lesson to teach me – probably as he was leaving.

If divine energy is not exclusively externalized to that which we call God, or Creator – and if that same divine energy can be found within each and every person (inner divinity), then surely the divine can also be found in literally everything – including the garden.

And maybe that is the bigger truth.

Thank you, Mr. Ryan.

In honour of Mr. Ryan’s life – and because I will now see the divine each time I look out my window and gaze upon his garden – I’d like to share some of my favourite poems and quotes from the website I found myself visiting yesterday.

http://www.gardendigest.com/spirit.htm

Choose love,

Roger

http://www.spiritinspiredlife.com

Mr. Ryan's Garden

It is only when you start a garden – probably after age fifty -
that you realize something important happens every day.
-    Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

There is more pleasure in making a garden than in contemplating a paradise.
- Anne Scott-James

Connection with gardens, even small ones, even potted plants, can
become windows to the inner life.  The simple act of stopping and
looking at the beauty around us can be prayer.
-   Patricia R. Barrett, The Sacred Garden

Your garden will reveal yourself.
-   Henry Mitchell

A person who cares about the earth will resonate with its purity.
-  Sally Fox

Go to a garden
And just stand in it.
Breathe in the air, the fragrances,
the light, the temperature,
the music of the different plants, insects, birds, worms,
caterpillars, grasshoppers, and butterflies.
Inhale the prana (cosmic energy) of all the abundantly
growing things.
Recharge your inner batteries.
This is the joy of natural meditation.”
-  Lama Surya Das, “Awakening to the Sacred,” 1999

In this light, my spirit saw through all things and into all
creatures, and I recognized God in grass and plants.
-   Jacob Boehme

When I see
Heaven and earth as
My own garden,
I live that moment
Outside the Universe.
-  A Zen Harvest: Japanese Folk Zen Sayings, p. 53

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.  Share the
botanical bliss of gardeners through the ages, who have cultivated philosophies
to apply to their own – and our own – lives:
Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.
-   Alfred Austin, 1835-1913

I think this is what hooks one to gardening:
it is the closest one can come to being present at creation.
-  Phyllis Theroux

If not ignored, nature will cultivate in the gardener a sense of
well-being and peace.  The gardener may find deeper meaning
in life by paying attention to the parables of the garden.  Nature
teaches quiet lessons to the gardener who chooses
to live within the paradigm of the garden.
-   Norman H. Hansen, The Worth of Gardening

There are points of time, of distant memory, when the soul
unites within the pattern of the universe.  That union brings
forth the understanding of life’s harmony. So it should be
within the garden …
-   Author Unknown

“Even before I could speak, I remember crawling through blueberry patches in the wild meadows on our hillsides.
I quickly discovered Nature was filled with Spirit; I never saw any separation between Spirit and Nature.
Much later I discovered our culture taught there was supposed to be some kind of separation -
that God, Spirit and Nature were supposed to be divided and different.  However, at my early age it
seemed absolutely obvious that the church of the Earth was the greatest church of all; that the temple
of the forest was the supreme temple.  When I went to the sanctuary of the mountain, I found Earth’s
natural altar – Great Spirit’s real shrine.  Years later I discovered that this path of going into Nature,
bonding deeply with it, and seeing Spirit within Nature – God, Goddess, and Great Spirit – was
humanity’s most ancient, most primordial path of spiritual cultivation and realization.”
-  John P. Milton, Sky Above, Earth Below

Inspiration from a Year of Journaling

I have been keeping a daily journal (well, almost daily) for just over a year now.  I started the journal as a tool for use during what I would now describe as time of self-inquiry.  This journaling exercise has been one of the most insightful things I have ever done.  It has made me understand, on a literal level, how everything – and I truly mean, everything – is connected.  How all the details of my life are connected within the larger framework of my life.  And how everything in my life is connected to the universe at large.

So, for this week’s Blog, I have just decided to let Spirit inspiration guide me through the pages of my journal, stopping on one page, as inspired, without physically looking to see what is actually on the page. I will then use that text as the basis for today’s Blog material.

Here we go…..and the winner is….. 09 September 2009. This is interesting on two levels.

Firstly, I had just assumed that  I would land on a page with text – thoughts written about a particular day, event, or subject.  I forgot that there were a few initial pen & ink sketches of some of my very first spirit portraiture work – which is exactly what is on this page (The actual picture found on the journal page is posted in this Blog).  I was tempted to continue flipping for a page that had some text, but that wouldn’t be very inspired, would it?  There’s always a reason.

Secondly, the date is 09.09.09.  Three nines in a row. I guess there’s only one day each year , of the first twelve years in the cycle of a thousand, where something similar would happen. I hadn’t even noticed this before when I actually drew the portrait for the first time. The date the portrait was drawn could hold special significance in relation to the Spirit person represented.

When I first started my Psychic Art class, I was so enthusiastic about what I was doing that I would spend a lot of my travel time on the tube, just drawing. Unlike now, I did not make any specific intentions prior to drawing.  I didn’t even really know then that I was making any sort of connection to Spirit.  I just drew. Only later, did I realise that I was actually making a connection.  So, I’ve often wondered about the identity of the spirit persons drawn unintentionally whilst traveling on the tube. Perhaps, through the wonders of the internet, and the inspired events of today, I might just find out.

With the understanding I now have about the synchronicity of the universe – and given the intent I gave at the beginning of this Blog session – I can only believe that this early Spirit Portrait will eventually be seen by someone, who needs to see it, whilst they are reading this Blog.

My Spirit Portraiture work has changed dramatically in the four and a half months which have passed since I drew this particular portrait.  Quality and style may have changed, but relevance, I feel, remains equal.

If you look at the portrait closely, you’ll see that the letters F, R, E, and T appeared through the automatic sketching. I’ve often felt that her name might be Freta, Freda, or something similar.  If you look at the picture’s right side from a sideways point of view, you’ll see the letters, A, C, T – which makes me think either actress, or accountant.  Additionally, the lady’s coat has always stood out to me – perhaps a raincoat of some sort that would hold special significance. And finally, there’s the date, September 9.

If you’ve read this Blog and the portrait holds meaning for you, I’d love to hear about it.

More detailed information about Spirit Portraiture work – and more current example of my work – can be found at  http://www.spiritinspiredlife.com on the Psychic Art page.

Choose love,

Roger

Trying Something New – Channelled Words

Immediately after my daily meditation is when I “converse” with Spirit.  Spirit, to me, is a universal word for any being that is not in physical form and is somehow connected to me – either through a former familial/friend relationship in the physical form, or through a Guiding relationship which has always been in the spiritual form, during the course of this lifetime.

Having a conversation with Spirit is something I never imagined doing until about a year ago – and even then, it was more like something I hoped for, as opposed to something I thought I could actually do.  Only through the validations of other people (during the course of intuitive counselling sessions or psychic art sessions), have I come to believe, myself, that what I hear from Spirit is accurate.

During my time with Spirit yesterday, I decided to ask for a series of words which I could then use as “talking points” for my BLOG – trusting that through inspiration I would somehow be able to tie them together into something meaningful.

So, here we go….

strength, pauper, theocracy, charmed, hindrance, soul, purpose, helium, and “this is it.”

I must admit, the word “helium” has me a little intrigued, and a little perplexed, but trusting in Spirit, I proceed, only pausing for dictionary and wikipedia references…

Whilst STRENGTH, synonymous with power, is a vitally important quality for one to have, too often, humanity focuses on being able to say that they are strong, as opposed to being strong.  Because validation of that strength is seemingly equally important as the fact that one actually is strong, we are forced to get validation from someone else that we are, indeed, strong.  And, many times, we feel the only way we can get someone else to say that we are strong, is by some outward and physical activity…in the worst cases, taking away someone else’s power in order to prove our own.  Why can’t we prove our strength, by empowering ourselves, as opposed to disempowering others.

Consider the strength it must take for the PAUPER – the poorest of the poor, born into that situation – to change their personal circumstances and climb out of poverty.

Consider the daily strength required of a child in Africa, born with the same disease in their body that killed their parent – and who lives under the tyranny of violent rebels.

Now compare that to the strength required of a politician who in one vote, on one day, changes the lives of millions because they took away power from someone else. It’s worth asking the question, “Which circumstance actually required the most strength?”

For much of the world’s history, politics and religion mixed in THEOCRACIES – where religious leaders ruled in the name of God.  Their strength was only found when they took away power from the people.

True strength, is one that emerges from within, and doesn’t require that anyone else lose power in the process.

One can live a CHARMED life, one which is unusually happy, when they look to this inner strength as their source of power.  One can fool themselves for a period of time by thinking they are powerful through the taking of power from someone else, but that illusion never lasts. The truth always sets in at some point – most often when someone else has tried to take away their power, which they then had to negate by finding the inner strength which had previously eluded them.

In most cases, I’m not one for political or religious activism.  Because the more attention you give something, the more power you give it.  For every possible political or religious argument that exists, pretty much all sides have been heard.  An argument only creates another argument. And any sort of one-sided affiliation only serves as a HINDRANCE to realising one of the SOUL’S PURPOSES, which can be compared to the qualities found in HELIUM.

Stay with me…

Helium is one of the lightest, and most abundant elements in our universe. It has the ability to lift massive structures right into the air. It is also a critical component of the super fluidity property found in quantum mechanics.  Super Fluidity is essentially the property of “flowing without friction.”  All of this considered, and yet helium is one of the most “simple” atoms.

In conclusion, may we find the strength of a pauper from the power within, as opposed to finding it by taking power away from someone else. May we live a charmed life, full of unusual happiness and not become so affiliated with any one group that it serves as a hindrance to our realisation of one of the soul’s primary purposes. Like helium, may we be light, yet powerful – may we rejoice in life’s flow, without causing friction for others – may we be extremely abundant. It’s simple, really.

THIS IS IT.

Choose love,

Roger

http://www.spiritinspiredlife.com

What is Spirituality?

Isn’t it odd how we use words – all the time – without ever looking up the actual definition in the dictionary?  I use words every day, the definition of which lies only in my own mind – a product of my subconscious’s analysis of data from my 40 years of life experience.

This issue came to light upon moving from the United States to the United Kingdom – when I quickly realized (realised) that “pants” does not mean the same thing in both countries.

Now clearly, this has more to do with cultural difference, as opposed to my own ignorance (note: look ignorance up in the dictionary – I bet its definition is much less harsh than the one that resides in your mind).  But it was this experience that made me think about how, many times, two people may have different definitions of the same word – even when they live in the same country, or state, or simply down the road.

And thus, my new relationship with the dictionary began….

So, just what is the official definition of spirituality?

Not until today, have I looked up a dictionary-based definition of this word which I use almost daily, and the root of which holds a prominent place in the title of my website.

“Spirituality,” (the noun), is a derivative of “spiritual,” (the adjective), and The New Oxford American dictionary on my Mac gives it TWO definitions…

spiritual |ˈspiri ch oōəl|

adjective

1 of, relating to, or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things : I’m responsible for his spiritual welfare | the spiritual values of life.

• (of a person) not concerned with material values or pursuits.

2 of or relating to religion or religious belief : Iran’s spiritual leader.

And then – if one looks up the definition of the root word, “Spirit,” there are THREE definitions – ranging from the “non-physical part of a person” all the way to “strong distilled liquor.”

After all that, the dictionary hasn’t absolutely defined anything, has it?

Spirituality is a conveniently nebulous (just looked that one up) word.  I suppose I’ve actually been inadvertently taking advantage of the fact that many people have their own definitions for the word.  When I use the word “spirituality,” it just as  easily brings a smile to the face of the little old blue-haired ladies at my hometown church as it does to my dread-headed yoga instructor – even though their definitions of the word are miles apart.

And isn’t that the way it should be?

I especially like the dictionary’s use of the word in a phrase:

one’s spiritual home a place in which one feels a profound sense of belonging

Choose love,

Roger

http://www.spiritinspiredlife.com