The Soulmate Secret/Arielle Ford

The garden must be prepared in the soul first
or else it will not flourish.
-English Gardening Proverb

There used to be a poster in Mr. Salmon's class that read, "Spring is when the boys start to notice what the girls have been waiting for all winter!" Forever and ever, I have wondered about love and the existence of a soul mate. Mom would ruin things by saying love was a state of mind. No, it was a good looking man who drove fast with a slightly bigger nose, beautiful voice and soft lips, that was love. It was getting your girlfriends together on a new moon to stare into a mirror until the image of your future husband appeared. We were too scared to wait for the results so we'd turn to herbs. Sleeping with honeysuckle and lavender was said to promote dreams of your soul mate while white rose petals brought pure love. Never were girls to try on their mother's wedding rings for fear of becoming old maids. My brother knew the tricks and chased us, trying to sweep the tops of our feet with a broom while teasing that he had a parrot in the house! Bad omens should be taken seriously with concerns of the heart.
Those friends and I are now 32 years married but Debbie still calls for matchmaking advice. "Where is he?" she asks while I cut the deck three times and choose ten cards. Her ring startles me. "Why are you wearing a ring on your left hand?" I ask. "Oh, I don't know" she says. My mom's words ring true! Love is a state of mind and Debbie's mind is still thinking about her failed marriage and the hurt it has caused her. So she wears a fake wedding ring that sends a huge message of unavailability. She had a fear of removing the ring and said she would do it later.

Now for the good news! Arielle Ford, author and Conscious Living guest (www.talkshoe.com)
has a new book called, "The Soulmate Connection" (www.soulmatesecret.com)
and she tells us to get a pen and paper. Write down what you desire in a mate, his eye color, will he or she live close, everything, just write! Sound too easy to be true? It works and age has no rule. A woman in her eighties found her second soulmate through this technique. I loved that she added some magic by placing the words in a jar and placing them outside during a new moon. If you look on her website, you will see a picture of her manifested soulmate. When they met, he said he felt as though he had known her already. Oh, love, how sweet it is.

Debbie and I are going out in a couple of days, think I'll buy her a journal with a pretty pen. I'll probably throw in a pinch of basil that encourages loving feelings and faithfulness for old times sake and good measure!

"The Universe is full of magical things
patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."

-Eden Phillpotts

Death's Curve Ball

Cliff never believed in angels. You die, you're dead, that's it. I liked him. He was a gentle giant to me in his 6 foot 6 frame who cried at my daughter's wedding, saying he had never felt so much love from a family before. There were stories inside his head that I wanted to know more about. Like when he was a musician in Chicago who got thrown out of a bar for singing Jesus loves me on the table top. Or the times he must have had when he tended bar at the lake. He and I met after his wild days were over and he was my son-in-law's dad, owner of his own business. We shared birthday cakes and two beautiful grandchildren. Then one day, cancer took hold of Cliff's body. At first, it seemed like a terrible injustice and it was, but there was also a miracle being woven into our lives through his cancer.
First came the dream. Two "beings" and I lifted him with a green sheet to The Hospital of Lights. Words cannot describe the beauty of the place with its golden glow. He was laid horizontally while many lights scanned his body in sections. Peace filled everything it touched and I wanted to be on the table too but was told, no. After the dream, I began visualizing healing light and praying for him consistently. He was stuck in between worlds, ours, Heaven's and the drug induced world but we still paid close attention to his words. He laughed when I told him I was never good at playing charades and then his gaze would shift and he spoke of the beautiful women who were in the room. Angels? Of course! he'd say. My daughter would have dreams about the two of them speaking only to be surprised the next morning when she found out he had screamed out her name twice in his sleep. This strengthened everyone's faith. The Hospice worker said in fifteen years, she has been with Catholics, Jews, Muslims, atheists, among others and all of them talk of angels. Cliff mentioned how he felt love returned for the first time in his life which has always been my idea of why we're here, to grow through love. It was starting to make sense that when life marries with death, a miracle occurs for those who have hearts to see.
Sadly, we lost Cliff on Saturday at 3:44 in the morning. Something kept whispering as I slept, trying to give a confused message so I glanced at the clock. 4:11 a.m. Somewhere I have a feeling there's a very large man teasing angels that he was just kidding about not believing in them. Somewhere too, there is a Hospital of Lights healing all cancers of the spirit.

Staycation Anniversary

"There is no "try", only DO!"
Yoda

This month marks the one year anniversary of the Conscious Living show on www.talkshoe.com with Wendy. Yesterday, someone called to ask why I haven't posted lately so I apologized and promised to get busy. Truth be told, my mind went on vacation. I need to pause and reflect on the magnitude of knowledge that has passed my ears. Buddhism teaches that we must learn something new everyday that will alter our perspective. With awareness comes validation that we had it all along. It's

easy to get lost in a world full of negativity and resentment, but when we start to focus on the beauty of a sunset or droplets of water, our brains begin to change. Blood pressure is lowered and the heart pulses with blood that begins to purify our bodies. We feel connected once again, alive with inner passion and a beauty that says, "I Am."

Two Row Sunday

There is a little white church in front of the house where my friend Debbie lives. It's located in a remote area of Kansas off a dirt road with a cemetery in the back. Some of the graves are as old as the hundred year old church that's been newly painted. It took Debbie a year or so to cave and attend the church and I tease that it's a five minute walk. Sometimes there are only a handful of people and other Sundays as many as twenty five attend. Last Sunday, the minister asked what the people were thankful for and a small boy answered, "we have a two row Sunday!" So simple were his words, packed with hope and gratitude.
Everywhere you look, you will find "two row Sunday's". Last night it was in Aaron's apartment. He had made his famous jambalaya stew, invited his siblings and cleaned up the place. There were chocolate bars for desert and cartoons on the big screen television for the younger crowd. I saw it today on the snowy hill. Two fellas padded up to their necks in layers of warm clothes, throwing snowballs at each other and belly laughing like a great father and son team. The article in today's paper talked about Terry Durham, an eleven year old ordained minister who preaches at True Gospel Deliverance Ministry for a 20 seat nondenominational storefront church that was founded by his grandmother.
"God put his spirit upon me," says Terry, "but he didn't say how old you had to be or anything like that."
We have so many talents and so many different ways to share love to others. The wave of change is here. We are the podcasters, photographers and bloggers, the hostesses to many and the hostesses to few. We answer phone calls and minister by our simple presence, we are the caregivers and the comedians. Soon it'll be a "million row Sunday"!

"..lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph.4:1-3)

Happy Valentine's Day

The entire class of girls received a standard piece of thin paper with the usual words, " be mine," placed in a small envelope that didn't stay shut with our first name written on the front. Except Becky. Beautiful Becky with the long strawberry blond hair who laughed at anything the boys would say. She was handed an envelope that was three times the size of mine, store bought from Hallmark and given with a "special" look. My first taste of jealousy, on the fourteenth day of February! What was so special about Becky, and where was my special look?
I'm not alone wondering about this riddle we call love. I saw it everywhere today. Restaurants were packed and so were stores. Men stood paralyzed in front of card isles as though their life depended on the right choice and I listened to several women complaining about their men. Last week, the new movie, "He's Not Into You" came out with advice for women to learn what makes men tick. There is also a new book written by Cerina Vincent and Jodi Lipper, titled, "How To Love Like A Hot Chick" (www.talkshoe.com
Conscious Living) They recommend it's all about confidence. Mixed message I say! Especially if you've seen the movie first. Although I agree with having confidence, I don't agree that is what will win the man. I say it's easier than that. We all want to be noticed, to be understood. Why not try to "see" the "special" in someone instead of the hyped romance the advertisers try to sell. Our confidences can only grow through love. Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey Lucky!

"Lucky's believing you're lucky."
Rod Stewart

Since gardening is the safest way to gamble and spring being far away, why not tweak your luck by entering contests? Carolyn Wilman, known to everyone as The Contest Queen has tips and links to thousands of contests. Reading her blog www.contestqueen.com/fromthe/ made me excited with the possibility of winning, so I entered the contest sponsored by www.Strutta.com (Winter Wonderland) uploaded a picture and now just wait for my prize win! It was so easy. Carolyn refers to her prizes as Christmas wins because she never knows what to expect. One of my favorite sites that I found on her blog was www.actualfreestuff.com but it requires more work answering questions. The reward could be $1,000 of free groceries, gas, makeup and art if you're willing to spend the time.
So what attracts luck? Would certain days be better for winning as numerology suggests or perhaps wearing a crystal necklace? Carolyn suggests writing five things on an index card that you would like to win and see this card every day. Say these things out loud to help create an intention with focus. Go ahead! Surprise yourself, have fun winning even if nobody understands your funny hat.

Super Bowl

Somewhere in Chicago is a landlord who still talks about it. It must have weighed an extra fifty pounds at least. Every little triangle shaped piece of tile had first been rolled out with clay then stamped with sea horses and star fish, put into a kiln, fired and hand painted. Rosie's masterpiece! Only the boys complained about it because of the dangerous lid that wouldn't stay open due to the thickness of the tile, but it flushed and was the coolest toilet on the block. Now that was a super bowl!