Whispers and shouts from the universe

Are you one of those people who talks to God? I’m not referring to formal prayer but rather to those times when you glance at the sky and pose a question to the universe. We all do. But when you pose a question to God (or the universe, or whatever term you’d like to use), are you really ready to hear the answer?

Most of us aren’t even aware of our frequent requests to the universe. How many times a day do you find yourself making statements like this: “Please, God, let me make this light,” “Okay universe, I could really use some help winning the lottery,” or my personal favorite, “What the hell do I do now?”

For many people, these questions are simply an expressive form of inner communication. We pose questions out loud in an effort to clarify our own thoughts and sometimes we earnestly ask for direction or help with a challenge. Usually we don’t expect an answer.

But what if you get a response?

In actuality, the universe is always responding to you, answering your deepest questions, giving you clues on your next direction and guiding you on your personal spiritual path. The universe speaks through many avenues and it’s up to you to listen for the advice you so humbly asked for. This is a brave process. It requires attention and a willingness to act upon the information you receive.

Frequently, when we ask a question of God or the universe, we are not ready for the answer. Sometimes we’re scared of the answer because it would mean moving out of our own comfort zones. Other times, we receive answers from the universe but we don’t understand it as such and therefore discount what we’ve just heard or experienced.

Learning the language of the universe is extremely important and may feel like a lifelong process. Taking the time to understand and then recognize this language helps you understand that you’re not alone in this world. It helps you feel connected to spirit and helps you make decisions and determine next steps when you need them most.

How the universe speaks to us

Through shouts

On rare occasions, the universe hands you an answer to your question with such authority, it’s hard not to take notice. That was certainly true for me last week when I received news that a publisher rejected my book proposal. I was, to say the least, disappointed. After spending six months working on the proposal, I was disheartened and started questioning my future. Should I look for an agent to market the book? Should I give up writing altogether? Should I start another project?

After earnestly asking for direction from the universe, my first step was to forget the whole matter. Too often we want immediate answers to our questions and then get mad at the universe when it doesn’t materialize an answer in thin air. I posed the question out loud and resolved to let the matter settle a bit while I allowed my emotions to flow about the proposal.

Two days later I was talking to my sister about the proposal. I told her my disappointment and outlined my options, including the idea for a new book that was rolling around in my mind. About an hour later, I retrieved the mail. In the stack of bills and circulars was an envelope addressed to my father who’s been deceased for 15 years. It’s not unusual for him to get mail still and I usually just throw it away. But this envelope caught my eye and for some reason I opened it. Inside was the guidance I was looking for.

In big bold letters was a book cover with the title, “Write your book…NOW!” The flyer was for a book advising others how to write and publish their own book. Although I wasn’t interested in the book itself, the message was hard to miss. The universe was shouting at me and it was time to get started writing.

Through whispers

Deciding on a job or career change can be difficult. For me, I was aware of only my growing dissatisfaction with my first marketing job after college. I had grown significantly in the position, but was starting to get in regular disagreements with coworkers and was becoming intolerant of my new boss. Still, leaving the job didn’t seem like the thing to do.

Over the course of the next several months, I began to get colds and strep throat frequently–very frequently. These bouts of illness would require me to stay at home for several days. Once I healed, I would return to work and get frustrated all over again. I asked for help from God. But when no clear answer came, I returned to my familiar, if not uncomfortable, life.

I had been expecting some sort of clear revelation from the skies above. I wanted a job to fall into my lap or a winning lottery ticket to take me away from it all. It felt like no body was listening.

The universe had been talking to me…in a whisper. Yes, illness can seem more like a shout (especially if you’ve ever experienced strep throat), but since the colds and strep were treatable, I didn’t get the message. On my fifth bout of strep in several months, the universe spoke to me again, this time in the form of a book about the psychological reasons for illness. It had been on my shelf for several months but I never bothered to pick it up.

Reading that book helped me understand that I created the illness myself (in cooperation with the universe) and that I’m responsible for my own happiness. Honoring myself was clearly the path I needed to take and God was showing me the way. I decided then and there that I would leave the job within several months.

Through symbolism

When my friend Liz got engaged, a nagging sense of doubt kept creeping into her consciousness as she began planning the wedding. Although the wedding planning was easy and a lot of things fell into place, she still couldn’t shake the sense that something wasn’t right with the whole engagement. The only glitch was finding a place to hold the event. Things looked up when her future mother-in-law agreed to hold the wedding at her house and even volunteered to paint and wallpaper the living room for the occasion.

The day of the wedding, Liz arrived in her gown and makeup through the back of the house so as not to see her fiancé. Before walking into the house, she offered up a quiet prayer to guide her toward her burning question: “Is this wedding a good idea?”

As the wedding processional started, she descended the stairs into her mother-in-law’s living room, freshly wallpapered with four-inch stop signs in a repeating pattern. She thought it a strange design for wallpaper but brushed off the thought as the wedding began.

Needless to say, Liz’s marriage didn’t last long. And after her separation, it became clear to her how the universe was giving her a message, this time through symbols on wallpaper. “It’s so obvious when I think about it now. If only I had stopped to process it at the time,” she told me.

Through impulses

On a road trip through Colorado one summer, I became hopelessly lost. I dislike maps and so wasn’t using one to get me from town to town. But as the skies grew dark and with no civilization in sight, all I could see was a vast outstretch of land and a gas tank that was headed toward empty.

I tried to quell my sense of panic by reminding myself that everything was OK and that I would find someplace to refuel and stop for the night. But an hour later, there was only darkness ahead. I asked the universe for help.

About 20 minutes later, I had the strangest impulse to turn back onto a dirt road I had passed a few miles back. I’m not sure why the impulse was there and tried to talk myself out of honoring it; but before I knew it, I had turned the car around and headed toward that dark dirt road. There were no signs indicating what road it was or where it was headed, but my gut told me to keep driving.

After less than two miles of winding dirt road, the darkness ahead of me opened up and I could see city lights. I could clearly make out the signs for a gas station, hotel and McDonalds. I had unknowingly been driving around the back of a small mountain range and had found a small connecting road that led right into town.

My impulse—a direct form of communication from my inner self—had guided me right to safety. Had I ignored my impulse and kept driving forward, I may have run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.

Once you hear it, act on it

If you’re lucky enough to recognize and understand when you’re being given advice from the universe, act upon it. If you ignore it, you’re in essence telling the universe, “hey, I asked for your advice but I’m not going to take it now, so don’t bother helping me in the future.” That’s a little over the top, I know, but being grateful for the advice you receive starts by taking action on it.

Acting on advice from All That Is helps sharpen your connection to spirit. It helps you develop a sense of trust within yourself and it helps you strengthen your intuitive and psychic muscles—something that will serve you well in every area of your life.

Ask powerfully; listen powerfully

Finally, it’s important to understand that when you ask a question of the universe, the universe will respond in kind. If you ask a question without much enthusiasm, the universe will give you little feedback. When your desire to know and to understand is strong, you’ll receive more definitive answers to your questions.

Please, be relaxed about this process. Anxious energy thwarts the process and keeps you from hearing the whispers and shouts of the universe. Approach your “question and answer” session with God with a curious, and somewhat playful, attitude. You can be serious in your questioning, but a relaxed approach will help you hear and feel the results you seek.

 

 

 

Stop feeding the bears (metaphysically speaking)

Stop putting energy into things that can harm your spirit

Some things seem like a good idea until we have more time, distance and understanding behind us. As in nature, we must stop feeding the things that unknowingly harm us so that we can grow and develop.

The photo above is one of my favorites from my dad. In the late 50s and early 60s, this was a common occurrence in Yellowstone National Park. Visitors would often stop along the road to gawk at the local brown bears and be amused at the way they begged for food. Not wanting to disappoint them, visitors would feed the bears anything handy: sandwiches, potato chips, cookies—you name it.

While this practice seems innocuous, it’s actually rather harmful to both the bears and to humans. The bears became dependent on the handouts from park visitors. They developed a hankering for human food and would flock to the roadways to wait for their next meal. They would go into campgrounds, searching for food left in coolers and on tables. In time, bears were getting killed on the roadways. Cars were broken into and destroyed. Some campers were even injured because of overzealous bears looking for food.

So what does all this have to do with spirituality and self-development?

We all have symbolic bears that we feed. Sometimes the bears are entertaining; sometimes they’re a little more ferocious. In either case, it’s important to recognize when we’re feeding something that doesn’t serve our higher purpose. It’s critical to withdraw the food source to help set us (and the bears) free.

I became sensitive to this topic recently by watching activity on Facebook. Since this is an election year, Facebook is often full of comments, links and commentary from both sides of the political fence. I’m happy to have friends who are passionate about politics; I feel we need activists to help advance certain causes and people. Make no mistake, it’s not my thing, but I’m glad they’re around nonetheless.

A number of friends and acquaintances, however, are feeding the political bears. Rather than promoting a favorite candidate or cause, they spend all of their time bashing the other side. They’re feeding the negativity around the other person or the other side of the issue and they’re causing it to come back again and again.

It’s not just my friends who do this; our media are to blame as well. All too often the media spend a disproportionate amount of time covering the negative characteristics of a candidate or issue rather than all of the glorious supporting evidence. The media—and my friends—are handing over their sandwiches to the bears and the bears are getting bigger and hungrier.

Some of these energy bears hide under the guise of entertainment. For example, a friend of mine likes to point out every news article highlighting the foibles of a particular political candidate. His comments to each story seem innocent enough: “Can you believe this guy?” “Wow, and I thought he couldn’t get any more stupid!” or “This has now become entertaining!” My friend thinks he’s sharing information that makes his chosen candidate look better by disparaging the opposition. But in reality, he’s giving energy to exactly what he does not want. His attention is locked on the opposing candidate and he’ll quickly find that there will be more irritating stories to post and laugh at.

When we feed anything with our thoughts, attention and energy, we’re giving life to it. The more we think about an issue, the bigger it becomes. The more we obsess about a person, the closer we draw them to us. The more we focus on the negative aspects of something, the more we create of those same annoying aspects.

Too many times, we’re purposely stopping the car on the roadway to gawk at the bears and give them something to eat. It’s time for a different approach.

Don’t stop the car

As amusing as those little energy bears can be, it’s best to keep on driving. The bears (opposing issues, candidates, causes) will continue to exist whether you stop the car or not. When you detach your attention to these things, they lessen their impact on you. By purposely deciding to keep moving forward, you acknowledge that the issues or people exist but you don’t need to give them your undivided attention. You are consciously withdrawing energy from them.

No sending postcards, either

Just because you don’t see the bear in person doesn’t mean you can’t feed it. Every time you see a story that you find amusing and want to send to your friends, think about what kind of energy you’re sending out into the world (and back to yourself). If your motivation is to pick out the stupidity of the story or attack the subject, you’re feeding the bears. Every time you find yourself relaying a story at the water cooler about these issues or people, you’re feeding the bears.

Becoming vigilant about your attention will help you realize when you’re venturing into bear feeding country. If you can catch yourself in time, don’t forward the story or continue to tell it. Or, look for something that glorifies the person or issue you support. Tell that story instead. Keep your focus on what you want rather than on what you don’t want.

Find something else to amuse you

If you’ve ever driven through Yellowstone, you know there is an abundance of beauty to hold your attention. The bears aren’t the only interesting things on the side of the road. Buffalo, Elk, wildflowers, majestic mountains, open meadows all vie for your attention. The same is true in life. When you open your eyes to the magic of the world, you’ll find plenty to smile about. You’ll find new things to ponder.

As you turn your attention toward these beautiful new things, those pesky energy bears will fade away into the background. You might catch a glimpse of them in the rearview mirror. Smile at them, release them from your attention and turn your head back to the road ahead. It’s glorious from the driver’s seat.

 

 

 

Of moths and men

In the dream world, we create our world symbolically. Our dream symbols are as varied and individualistic as we are. An airplane may signal your desire to change direction or get out of town. A prison may indicate feeling trapped in a tough situation…the list goes on and on. Dreams allow you to test probable outcomes that you’ll experience in waking reality and are a wonderful tool for analyzing thoughts, emotions and beliefs. But what if you had some of that same symbolic awareness in your waking life? You do.

Through our conditioning, we don’t see waking-life events and objects the same way we do our dream creations. Our waking life is full of the same kind of symbolic clues that we find in our dreams but we view them differently. We don’t realize we created those events and objects in the first place and now find ourselves in the position of reacting to them. This process is so seamless, so practiced, that we find it difficult to spot the very visible signposts we need to change our lives or continue doing what we do best.

So many symbols, so little time

Because we create everything in our lives whether we know it or not, it’s tough to know what symbols we should pay attention to. For most of us, it’s the self-labeled “negative” aspects that we experience that cause us to sit up and pay attention to what we are creating. So-called negative events don’t feel right and therefore get our attention in a more direct way. Recently I had a big reminder of this. Or, more appropriately, I had a lot of small reminders.

If you’ve never seen textile moths, be thankful. I’m not taking about standard Miller moths—the kind most people associate flying around light bulbs in the summer. Textile moths are very small, about a quarter inch, and are not attracted to light like others. They are extremely destructive and are the moths that prefer to dine on wool and animal-based textiles. If you’ve ever had a sweater eaten in the closet, it’s the result of these little creatures.

My own personal symbolism

A year ago, I discovered an infestation of textile moths in some family heirlooms in the closet. I was devastated. In just a few months time, they had eaten through many of my family’s treasured wool rugs and threatened to destroy more. We reacted quickly and salvaged what we could. I went on a house-cleaning terror and vowed that they wouldn’t harm anything again. At the time, I used the experience to remind myself of the benefits of the destruction, realizing they were helping me take action on some family issues I was working on.

Since then, I occasionally see a lone moth flying around at night. I check the traps I set out and double check anything valuable. So you can imagine my dismay last weekend when I moved a box in my office and found a nest of the little buggers infesting a chair. Sure enough, there were dead moths in some of the traps and I worked fast to mitigate the problem as soon as I could.

While I was cleaning everything in the house—again—I had time to think about the personal symbolism of the moths. Since they hadn’t destroyed anything this go-around, I was able to see them in a different light. In reality, they are small, annoying little creatures that prefer to stay hidden from sight. They start out small in number and quickly multiply if the conditions are right for their survival and growth. Left unchecked, they can unknowingly cause lots of damage and heartache.

Understanding your symbols

I realized that the moths were symbolic of my beliefs—beliefs that needed to be brought into the open, investigated and then changed or discarded. I had ignored the little glimpses I received here and there over the past year and was now facing an opportunity to address those beliefs before they cause any destruction in my life. At this point, the moths (and my beliefs) were in the process of changing from a nuisance to a destructive force and I needed to be awake enough, alert enough, and courageous enough to do something about them.

Now comes the fun part in identifying the actual beliefs I need and want to change. They are there waiting to be discovered. Like shining a flashlight into a dim room to find the moths, it takes the light of consciousness shining at exactly the right angle to illuminate hidden beliefs. For me, part of that process involves looking at things like the symbolism of the room I found them in (my office), where I found them nesting (my father’s chair) and what I fear will happen if they go unchecked.

Interestingly, once I became aware of the personal symbolism of the moths, they then also began to appear in my dreams. The exciting part for me was dreaming that I quickly and easily eliminated the moths. Upon waking, I realized that the same would be true in waking life and that with conscious creation, I can change my beliefs just as easily.

Discovering your own daily symbolism is an extremely personal process. It takes commitment and focus to realize when something is vying for your attention and then taking the time to decipher the clues. In the conscious creation model, nothing is left to chance; you create events in your life for very specific, personal reasons. Uncovering those reasons gives you the opportunity and the flexibility to change them and honor your spirit in the process.