Dearest readers,
We’ve all heard the catch phrase (book title): Do what you love; the money will follow. Yet how many of us put what we love, what excites us, what makes our heart race with passion and anticipation before our duties, responsibilities, what society expects of us?
You might say that a responsible adult will take his or her responsibilities seriously. And from a certain perspective, this is very true. However, it is only because we live in a dualistic world based on separation of the mind and heart, where even our brains are separated into two lobes, one primarily male and duty/action oriented, and one female and emotion/bigger picture oriented, that we get off track.
A life well-lived is a balanced life, where we meet our goals but where we also love and enjoy ourselves and are grateful for the many gifts that are here on the planet for us to enjoy. The air we breathe, the plants, the water that is in our bodies, in the air and clouds, in the plants, the trees, the animals, from the smallest creek underground or above ground, to the grandest ocean…there is so much for which we can be grateful. We live on an amazing and diverse planet. The flora and fauna are magnificent, as is the planet herself.
And yet, we humans often struggle to laugh, to follow our excitement, to live joyfully with self and others. Our countries, cities, neighborhoods are filled with violence, conflict, depression, war, solitude, poverty, hunger, strife. Our society has been carefully and intentionally designed to keep us out of the present moment, where life truly resides, and this is the true source of our unhappiness and stress.
Animals, children, and plants are beings who know how to live in the moment. They are our teachers, helping us to remember what it felt like to be healthy, spontaneous, and full of life. The truth is, we have been giving our life force and our power away to systems of thought, to projections into the future, to dwelling on the past. What would it be like to wake up each morning and think: “What do I feel like creating with my time and energy today?” Without any consideration for paying bills, going to work at a job we don’t really enjoy, or needing to impress people, be successful, or achieve anything other than the privilege to be alive right now.
This is how we were each meant to live our lives. We receive constant guidance from the Earth and from spiritual realms, helping us to live more fully and more authentically in each moment, using our innate gifts and abilities.
I am so grateful to children, to plants, to animals, to the Earth, to spirit, to all artists and creators. Sometimes it is really challenging to be human, to be living this human experience. It feels lonely at times, but I, for one, am thankful to be working to help people to wake up and to remember how wonderful it is to be alive right now.
Cats help me to remember how to be more spontaneous and intuitive. Dogs help me to remember how to give and receive unconditional love first and foremost, even if I need to turn off my house alarm or go to the bathroom when I first open my front door after coming home. My dog stays at home alone all day, for up to twelve hours at a time, yet when I open that front door, she is all love, jumps, and smiles. She can wait to go outside. Love comes first.
I went to a Bible study class last weekend. I’m not a Christian, and my spiritual beliefs diverge significantly from those of traditional Abrahamic religions in many ways. The main difference is that nearly all religions on the planet today declare that God is outside of us and that we cannot trust our hearts or our intuition. We are disconnected from Source and from our own power to create, and this promotes a victim/savior mentality, where we are weak, confused, easily manipulated, and essentially powerless. I believe that God is inside of each of us, and that we are all connected to everyone and everything. We, human beings, are very powerful. I believe that all of life is energy and consciousness. However, an important point was brought up in this meeting.
This nugget of truth – to set priorities, and to always put God first- makes perfect sense to me. Instead of writing up a checklist of things that need to get done and to hope that there will be time left over to do what I love, to spend time with people I love, I need to reverse that pattern. To set the intention to do what I love and to honor the creative source inside of me before anything else is a change worth making.
Putting God first (all religion aside) means being a creator before being a dutiful person slogging through life. The challenge: to toss the checklist! Following my joy means trusting that if I put God first and do what I love (because God is inside me and I am a creator of realities), then the entire Universe, to which I am always connected, will support me and bring me grace or synchronicities (flow) to support me. Like the animals and the flowers, we are always given what we need right now. We simply need to set our priorities and remember who we truly are as human beings: powerful creators who are here to create a magnificent experience of unconditional love, joy, and excitement here on Earth.
Anima Portraits 