"The Shift" by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

shift ~ to change the place, position or direction: to assume responsibility: dodge: change in judgement or attitude: transfer: to go through a change: verb and noun
                                                                      Webster's Dictionary

    I was a newlywed when I first saw Dr. Dyer on the Johnny Carson show talking about his erroneous zones, clueless to what he was saying so I tuned him out but thought he was funny and had a great laugh. Years later he was someone I spoke of  frequently to anyone who would listen. Small change from the first time, but still a change. Dr. Dyer had a series of self help tapes I just knew hard headed Charlie could use and they were manifested for me at a garage sale for a dollar. A dollar! Molding Charlie was a little harder than I expected. The day I quit trying was around the time he started sending me emails about the stuff I tried teaching him and I had to wonder what he was thinking all the years I was talking.

    My book "The Shift" by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=4672&utm_id=3313) came in the mail last month. It's a thin book with 112 pages so I assumed it would be a fast read. I carried it in my purse and at first, read from whatever page I opened the book. Page 41: The truth is that we don't have to do a thing in order to validate ourselves as worthy and valuable. Had we done nothing except be godlike, we'd fulfill our own dharma. Ironically, we would most likely have created a larger and more impressive resume. I have nothing to prove, it said, so I took a day off from reading. I tossed and turned at night worrying about my review and as I read The Shift, it  helped explain the ego's need to control. Let go and let God it said. I have lived much of my life in this way when it came to raising children, being a wife and daughter, but this is my first writer's ego moment. Page 44 was a sigh of relief! "I'm not my work. I'm not my accomplishments. I live, breathe and work from my authentic self. I do not do writing, I am writing and writing is me."

   This is a book you will enjoy reading over and over, I will use its pages like flash cards for a more fulfilled life. Ambition that has meaning and purpose coming from a place of oneness sure feels better than making it to the finish line alone. Charlie might like reading this after he finds it in his Easter basket, but I have a feeling he's putting one in my basket as well!

                  http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=4672&utm_id=3313
                 
                  http://www.search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Shift/Wayne-W-Dyer/e/97

Blogging for Hayhouse

 Don't tell my dad but his prediction came true. When I was in the fourth grade, I absolutely hated book reports! Hated them. It seemed like such a waste of time to read a book and then have to tell about it on a Sunday night when I had wasted the entire day playing. Books were my escape and I loved them, I just didn't want to write about them. Dad said maybe it was life getting me prepared to write book reports when I was big. "Nobody has that kind of a job!" I would argue. That was a long time ago and much has changed. I can type letters on a keyboard and within seconds it's delivered to my cousin in Mexico...from my phone! I remember my grandparents calling us long distance on the phone and the bill would be thirty dollars for ten minutes, never guessing years later we would be emailing all over the world for...free!
  Blogging and facebook are words that weren't said in the late sixties so how was I to know years later they're in my vocabulary. Especially that I would actually be doing those things, which leads me to my father's prediction. I was accepted by Hay House Publishing to be one of their book review bloggers. My first book will be "The Shift" by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer and I can't tell you how delighted I am to write book reports! The bloggers won't get paid with cash but we get a free book and who can beat that?

    When I tried to tell dad that I would be blogging for Hayhouse, he thought I was jogging to Henhouse. Nevermind, he wouldn't believe me anyway and he doesn't have a computer.
     http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=4672&utm_id=3313

"In la Kesh, Ala Ken" / I am You and You are Me

"All things share the same breath~the beast, the tree,
the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports."
                ~Chief Seattle~
  Recently I was told that world war three was going to be with Mother Nature by a modern Mayan priestess. Before the earthquake in Haiti, many of my family members and friends, myself included felt agitated and nervous. Some woke during the night to pray and others cried for no reason, then we saw the devastation of a cruelty nobody could defend against. Musicians sang and raised money, the whole world ached. I especially remember the musicians from Haiti who sang and danced on the telethon in their native way. I felt happy, we all danced in the living room. Were we being disrespectful? Weren't  Haitan women singing in the streets as their form of prayer?
   There is a sacred ritual called a Hunbleceya or Vision Quest from the Blackfeet and Lakota native Americans to find inner peace when they are faced with forks in the road. This quest involves walking to a sacred mountain or a secluded outdoor space for 1-4 days without food or water.They will pray to the Creator for guidance. Volunteers are asked to eat and drink for that person. This involves being present when eating and drinking with the intent of nourishing the Vision Quester. Coincidentally, or not, I received an email from a woman who had been a volunteer. She said many times when a person comes down from the mountain, they will ask, "Who was eating strawberries? They were delicious, thankyou!"
  What a great idea! Look at the pictures of these people, look at Chile, at Japan, wherever there is pain and you feel helpless.Cry first, then enjoy your food. Enjoy your warm home, your families. Be gratitude. Become a state of being, whether it's Peace, Joy or Courage, but leave negative emotions behind. Do it for them, do it for you.
               "The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears."
  http://www.savethechildren.org/
                                                                                      




           

Correction! Par Three!

I LOVE golf! It gets the men out of my house for six hours every Saturday during spring, summer and fall  which allows me time alone to do art. So, when I write "par nine" they're going to laugh. They're going to tell me I don't know the "lingo". With my previous post about Tiger Woods, I was corrected. A par three course is the easy one many women play. My boys play 36 holes, so I actually thought a par nine was the easy way. My apologies to the golfers.

Tiger's Big Bogey

 "Shhh shhh shhh!" Tiger's going to talk. Did you see his fake crying? How about his sincerity? Well if you ask me, he had it coming and is done with golf. These are some of the comments I overheard today after Tiger Woods officially apologized to the media for having extramarital affairs. Everyone is hammering him. Is it true the bigger the sin, the bigger the stone? If we put enough secrets into a box, won't the box eventually bulge and burst open from the pressure? I really don't know why everyone is surprised that something had to give. Poor Tiger, yes, I say poor because it's obvious his ego was out of control. Poor Mrs. Woods and all the other women who were involved. The good news is that they made a mistake! Matthew and Terces Engelhart, owners of Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco (http://www.cafegratitude.com/) say that when a waiter drops a plate full of dishes, they are to shout out, "I made a mistake!" then the crew is to clap and cheer for the acknowledgement of the accident. They also teach not to leave people "fractured" and broke. We need to ask ourselves the simple question, "how can I provide more love from this situation?" for change to occur.
 When we become "unplugged" from Truth and wired into ego, it's a Duck Hook into the lake. We get labeled as Hackers and before we know it, our tee times are cancelled with friends. Personally, I'm going to light a candle for Tiger and clap my hands for him admitting his mistake. This life isn't always an easy nine par, sometimes there are sand traps and shanks, but if we address the ball and assume our stance, we often get a hole in one! Thank God we all get a mulligan! (do-over)

Becoming Juliet/Happy Valentine's Day

               " My crown is in my heart, not on my head;
                 Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones,
                 Nor to be seen. My crown is called content:
                 A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy."
                                                 ~William Shakespeare~

     The famed Erma Bombeck once wrote about how her husband didn't take her bowling, didn't eat fancy foods, didn't do this or that and I laughed and rooted with her until she ended the column with how he went to work every day, how he mowed the huge yard, how he loved his children and that was the beginning of my transformation. Moral of the story for me was to stop complaining. Stop sharing problems with my friends and love my life. We have been exchanging Valentine's for thirty three years now. When it comes to love, you absolutely must put on the rose colored glasses! Happy Valentine's Day!

In Memory of Spencer Meyer

He was the first dance, the first heart break and the reason my daughter started wearing make-up. He was her everything but he was in love with Rachel. I used to watch him walk home from school, blond and scrawny, wondering what she saw in him, but mostly wondered what he didn't see in my daughter.Love truly is in the eye of the beholder so I listened patiently to her heart woes in between dinner and homework. Just like a tornado that comes and goes, he took his charisma to another school and another state.
  Tonight I found his picture in the newspaper and we are mourning the sudden passing of his short life.
The typed words do not explain his death. I didn't recognize his twenty one year old face, only the twinkle in his smile and I clearly see what my daughter saw in him. Many tears were cried for you Spencer Meyer and many lessons learned, thankyou. Happy Heaven!