Friday’s Focus—Signs, Signs, Everywhere Are Signs

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs….the clocks moved ahead, the flowers are budding, Easter candy has been on sale since February….all signs indicating that Spring is around the corner (at least after the next predicted snowfall). There are always signs around us, guiding us, informing us, playing with us. How often do you notice them?

If you’re on the road, notice license plates and slogans on trucks. Listening to the radio, notice if a song or a chorus resonates with you. When you’re watching TV, talking to people, or reading a book, become aware of any word, phrase, or idea that keeps popping up (“That’s the third time I’ve heard that today!”).

Make it a game! Sometimes the Universe uses what’s around us to reveal answers to a particular question or something that may be on your mind, while other times, what we see is just a fascinating reveal of simple patterns. One of my favorite authors, Robert Moss, talks about this regularly and it is the focus of his book Sidewalk Oracles: Playing with Signs, Symbols and Synchronicity in Everyday Life. He calls these reveals, sidewalk tarot. Be aware of your thoughts and aware of your surroundings as you go about your day and see if the Universe doesn’t have a word or two to offer you.

Last September, I wrote a post called “Don’t Stop Believing,” about keeping the faith and hope alive even when you can’t clearly see the path in front of you. What inspired me to write that piece was my going through a difficult time where it seemed that every area of my life—from job to health to family was being squeezed. You name it, and there was an issue or at least a concern with it.

During that time, the song of the same name, by the group Journey, kept popping up during some of the deepest experiences I’ve ever had in playing sidewalk tarot. I started to notice that moments when I’d get lost in thought of “How am I…?” “Where are we…?” Journey’s song, “Don’t Stop Believing” would come on the radio—sometimes from the beginning, sometimes the middle, and sometimes the tail end, but just enough of the notes for me to recognize the song. I heard it so often during these times of personal questions, I couldn’t help but notice it had long crossed the line from coincidence to message.

One particular afternoon I’ll never forget, my husband and I were people-watching from a bench in the center of the town we’ve been talking about moving to. We dreamed and schemed about how we can arrange things and make this our new home. At that time, there was no clear way that we could see it happening, so we kept pleading our cause to the Universe.

As we continued to sit and talk about the house we would have and what we would do once we moved there, a blue pick-up truck came into the local traffic queue and in the most perfectly-timed sidewalk tarot orchestration I’ve ever seen, the truck drove past us, and through it’s open windows we heard the undeniable voice of Steve Perry belt out those three words— “Don’t Stop Believing.” That was it for me. Not only was it the appearance of that song, but what stunned us was of all the lyrics, it was those specific three words that we heard as the truck passed directly in front of us as if in answer to our questions. I didn’t know how but I knew  from that day things would work. Six months later,  we’re now in the process of moving to the town we’ve always talked about.

There were other moments  when those three specific words showed up for me, and now looking back, I can see that it was always during the times I needed to hear them most. Because I had become aware of the message, each time I heard them or read them, I was able to take a moment and just close my eyes and say ok. I wasn’t alone.

Signs can come from anywhere and everywhere, from an image in the clouds to a phrase in a commercial. Sometimes you’ll see the signs when you least expect it and other times when you’ve specifically asked for them.  I hope you use today’s Focus to go out and play and see what the Universe has to say to you today—Is it an answer? Is it a new opportunity? Is it a new pattern? Whatever it is, just Don’t Stop Believing!

#takingitdeeper

Advertisement

Friday’s Focus—It’s More Than Just Making a Wish

As children, we are often asked what we want to be when we grow up and as we grow older, the question broadens into What do we want out of life? For some, the answer comes easier than others and sometimes the answer changes depending on what stage we’re in with our life.

We’re so busy thinking about the end result of who we want to be and where we want to be and what we’re going to do or buy or have once we reach our goal that oftentimes we overlook the path it takes to get us there.

For example, if you what you want is to be wealthy and have abundant amounts of money, you may end up in a business or banking career where you’ll have the money but you’re working all the time and don’t have the freedom to enjoy your wealth. You got the money you wanted but you’re not happy and you spend each day with the nagging feeling that there’s got to be more than this. The energy that was behind that end desire created a path that wasn’t exactly what you envisioned. There are many paths to get what you want out of life. The Universe has a funny way of giving us exactly what we ask for but not so much in the way we imagined it sometimes.

Right now, take a moment and think of the path you want to take to get what want out of life.  Taste it, smell it, hear it, feel it; envision each day down to the mundane tasks of the everyday minutiae down to what bank will you have your accounts in? How does your day begin and end? What kind of food will be in your refrigerator? What type of friends will you have? What does your home look like? Your office/studio?

Really put yourself into the life you want and feel yourself going through the activities. Shakti Gawain talks about creative visualization and using all of your senses to picture what it is you want, putting it into a pink bubble and releasing it into the Universe. There is energy behind our thoughts and intentions that are powerful enough to  create what we desire. Even our fears can draw what we don’t want to us by the sheer energy of the emotions behind them.

With today’s Focus, I want you to really picture what you want your path to look like. Sitting quietly or in mediation will free up your imagination and intuition and you may even discover paths you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. It’s important to sit quietly and put real energy into how you want to get to what you want out of life. Don’t just picture where you want to live but feel what’s like to walk across the room—is there carpet or hard flooring? What kind of couch are you sitting on?

You don’t need to know exactly how each step will unfold but steep yourself in the intention and the emotions behind the steps on the path and the energies will find their way to provide you with what you want. Practice already putting yourself into the life you want rather than just making a wish.

If if helps, use tools such as scrapbooking, Pinterest, or even creating a vision board and keeping it someplace where you’ll see it often. Let yourself step out of your own way and be open to possibilities you might not even be aware of yet that can turn up in a moment’s notice.

Envisioning what we wish for just a little but deeper.

I Want…

I’ve been quiet for a while so I thought it was time to post some things I’ve been thinking about….

I want my breath taken away by something beautiful, not knocked out of me by anxiety.

I want my heart to ache from loving so much it hurts, not aching from hurt love.

I want my eyes to see beauty and hope in all corners of nature and humanity; even ugliness and hard lines have a duality that embrace some good.

I want my mind to come up with possibilities and solutions where thinking out of the box is the norm rather than staying boxed in.

I want my soul to create opportunities of inspiration, aspiration, and celebration not just for myself but for whomever the magic touches.

I want to dream of ideas and worlds that change the questions of “What if” and “When” to the sentences, “Yes,” and “Right now.”

I want to walk out of the shadows of my ancestors and add my own colors and stories for my descendants.

Finally, I want to thank all those who are or have been in my life even if for a moment or a day, and for helping me choreograph my dance, add colors to my canvas, and for being an audience to my stories.

Peace.