Friday, February 26, 2016

It's Friday!

When we got in the car this morning, my son took over the radio. Pop music started playing and kept playing along the way. By the time we got to his school, I was pumped for the day. The playlist kept us moving in traffic.

Music makes us move, physically and emotionally, releasing stuck energy. It also releases negativity, anger, aggravation, and blocks to our imagination and creativity. It pumps us for endurance and readjusts our focus. Today is a good day to start with whatever style of music recalibrates our energy, whatever will uplift and upbeat our moods. After all, it's Friday!


Image found at behance.net.
Below I've listed some of the songs that got me going this morning. I share them with you. Maybe they will get you going too:

Adventure of a Lifetime ~ Coldplay
Cake by the Ocean ~ DNCE
Sugar ~ Robin Schultz
Focus ~ Ariana Grande
Downtown ~ Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Good to be Alive ~ Andy Grammer
How Deep is Your Love ~ Calvin Harris
Prayer in C ~ Robin Schulz
Ain't Nobody (Loves me Better) ~ Feliz Jaehn

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Showing up

During my morning meditation, I had this feeling that my body was tilting to the left. I kept trying to come back to center, but then I would feel the sway again. Oh boy, I thought, today I'm leaning. I am feeling left-brained and I have so much creative work to finish. My left brain is fantastic. It organizes me and keeps me on track. But today I needed my creative brain to kick in. Then I reminded myself that creativity is as much about inspiration, muses, and the right feeling as it is about showing up to do the work. That is the invitation. Showing up is a call to the muses. It is a summoning to our creative spirit. Showing up means we are willing. So I did. I showed up.

Time and again I am humbled by what happens when I show up to the page. Ink flows. I don't judge, edit, correct, or censor. That comes later. For the moment, it pours out. It is a counteraction to the act of willingness. Inspiration comes out of us. It does so because we cooperate and allow. This is especially helpful when we are overwhelmed with work, creative or otherwise.

Today is a good day to show up to the page, the computer screen, the canvas, the chords, the barre, the empty room, the work to be done. In showing up we call insight, intuition, imagination, ingenuity,  inspiration, artistic expression, energy and radiance to come out and play. In showing up, in being willing, the work is done.

Image found at relatossorprendentes.blogspot.com.
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Peace – a meditation

Our minds give meaning to our experiences, to our reality, to our world. We can see things one way, or a thousand other ways. The way we see, the way we perceive, will have an effect on how we feel, cope, interact with others, perform, excel, sleep, do anything, do everything. Because there are so many ways to see the world and our place in it, it is hard to know which way is better, which point of view is best, in the many circumstances we encounter the moment we encounter them. There is one way, though, that can help us in any circumstance no matter how difficult or confusing. It is the way of peace. Peace is found in our minds. Peace tends to ensure the best outcome for all.

Below is a meditation that can help us recalibrate our energy and can help change our experiences, our reality, our world.

Get comfortable. Loosen up a bit, and breathe.

Take a moment to settle.

Intend for peace. Allow it to come through.

Take three cleansing breaths: close your eyes softly and breathe in deeply then exhale slowly. Breathe in again, deep. Exhale slowly. One more time. Relax your shoulders, relax your jaw, relax the muscles in your face.

Breathe normally for a few moments. Keep your eyes softly closed.

Breathe in deeply.  Feel the breath reach in to your pelvis. Breathe out slowly.

Take a long breath into your pelvis. Breathe out, slowly.

Once more. Breathe into your pelvis. Breathe out slowly.

Now, breathe normally, with your eyes closed, for the rest of this meditation. When your mind wanders away, bring it back gently to the phrase I am peace.

As you breathe, mentally recite the meditation:

Peace in my heart. 
Peace in my mind. 
Peace in my body. 

Breathe.

Peace in my home, in all my spaces. 
Peace where I work.
Peace in my community.

Breathe.

Peace when I travel. 
Peace on my return. 
Each step is peace. 

Breathe.

Peace in the way I eat.
Peace in the decisions I make. 
Peace when I see others. 

Breathe.

Peace in the way I breathe.
Peace in the way I see and the way I speak. 
Peace in the way I hug. 

Breathe.

Peace in the way I look at the clock.
Peace in the way I look at the calendar. 
Peace when I sleep and when I awake. 

Breathe.

Energy flows from the thoughts of peace in my mind, from my Inner Self, outward. I am creating peace. 

Breathe.

Peace is warmly flowing through me.

Breathe.

I feel easy.

I feel calm.

I feel peace.

I feel peaceful. 

Breathe in peace.

Breathe for a few more minutes. Watch the breath in. Watch the breath out.

Breathe easy.

Relax for a moment or two before becoming fully alert to your surroundings.

Then go.

Be peace.
Image found at exoticindianart.com.
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Celerity Spell

I have magic powers. I create spells, recite them, and magic happens. My favorite one is my Celerity Spell. It allows me to do many things in a short amount of time, faster than anyone I know. I cast this spell most mornings and by mid-day, my list of things done is an amazing display of check-offs.

I am kidding, of course. But my boys are serious about this. I can start and finish something in a surprising amount of time. For this, they have come up with an explanation: I have put a charm on time.

But there is no charm on time. There are pragmatic issues at play here.

I begin each morning with a moment to my Self. I start with finding center. It is there that I find equanimity, clarity and equilibrium. I ground myself. After communion with Silence, I pray, I envision, and I set intentions. Prayer as a spell. I then carry this steadiness with me. I am able to sort things out with a feeling of ease, keep my composure in times of stress, be creative without struggle, prioritize, and flow. I have found it easier to stay on task and to work productively. What they call my celerity spell is an ability born out of my meditation practice. I can see what I have to do, know what I need to do it, and focus my concentration in order to finish what I have intended.

Today is a good day to work on our powers – our powers of concentration. Multi-tasking will not help us. Focusing mindfully on the task at hand will. Something mystical happens when we turn our heart over to what we need to do, when we pay attention to what is before us. Let us center ourselves in silence with no petitions and no requests, only a willingness to do, to serve, and a reverence for what we intend to do. In meditation, we allow for guidance and wisdom. This is practical. No incantation is needed to achieve a higher level of productivity, with presence of mind and tranquility. All we need is a regular practice of meditation, in whatever form suits us, to achieve clarity and our highest capacity to create the lives we want.

Image licensed through graphicstock.com.
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved  

Friday, February 12, 2016

A toast

Here's to the little things! Between here and there, let's celebrate "smaller" accomplishments. 

I was reviewing my planner, taking stock in what I have already planned for the month. I found a note I made to myself at the beginning of the year on February 15th's page. This day marks the midpoint of one of my goal's deadlines. Oh boy. I have some catching up to do, but when I do, I will celebrate. When setting our goals, it's important to set markers of progress that when we reach them, we may be encouraged by our process to continue, that we may inspire others, that our higher vibration may be sustained. These celebrations recharge our passion, refuel our resolve, and refresh our commitment to our goals. These "smaller" accomplishments are not small at all. They are what we need in the moment to rekindle our energy.

Today is a good day to see where we are in relation to our goals and dreams. Let us set dates in our calendars to mark certain points on our way to reaching a goal. Not only will it help us to stay on course, it will also be an achievement on its own. Let's include what type of honoring we will have in recognition of our accomplishment. Will we have dinner with friends, go on a special outing, catch a show that we have been waiting to see, spend a quiet day in contemplation, or buy ourselves a special treat? Any celebration can be toast our victory. What's important is that we keep at it, recognize it, experience gratitude and stay encouraged to continue. Here's to our goals!

Image found randomly online.
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The tally

In a time when divorce is common, this one came as a surprise. They had been married for six years and, to all who knew them, had a great marriage. As couples do, they argued. As couples do, they reconciled. But one issue kept creeping up. Regardless of what the argument was about, he would bring up the time she forgot an event that was important to him that they had to attend, or the times she forgot to pick up the dry-cleaning on the way home, the times she drifted away in a phone conversation with an old friend, the times she went to the mall with her mother and took too long, the time she redecorated the house as a surprise, without consulting him, or the times she made dinner with the sauce he hates. He kept a tally of everything she did that made him angry. He couldn't forgive these small issues and it eventually destroyed the relationship. It was later that, during a cathartic aha moment, he began a new tally. He started to remember the times she made him laugh, the times she went along with his crazy ideas, the times she ignored his bad moods, the times she tiptoed to keep silence and outfitted the house with food and supplies so that he could meet a deadline, the times she believed in him when no one else seemed to, the times she comforted and supported him after his plans failed, the time she took her vacation time to take care of his dad who was in the hospital, the times she hosted his friends, or the times she didn't fuss when he made a mistake or went back on his word. This tally was longer, but he didn't add it up in time.

Today is a good day to stop keeping score of grievances and start tallying up the goodness, the blessings, and the joys in our days, in our relationships, in our work, and in our homes. Thankfulness begins with a list of what does go well, what people do put up with about us, what we already have, the comedy in our days, the extra chances we get, the many gestures of love.

Image found at flickr.com.
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Numb eyes

Don't ask me how I did this because I don't know, but, a few weeks ago I cut my right eyeball. On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain was a solid 13. At that point, I didn't know I had cut it. I didn't know what was happening. All I knew is that I couldn't see and that I had some sort of injury so I went to an ophthalmologist. He discovered the cut...and the ulcer that formed over it...and the infection now spreading to the other eye. Yikes.

The first few days were terrible. I could not keep my eyes open because I could not bear the light. But closing them was even more painful. And there was nothing I could take for the pain. There was nothing I could do either. I couldn't read. I couldn't write. I couldn't drive. I couldn't stand myself. Everything hurt. Every thought, every interaction, every conversation. 

On my follow-up visit, the doctor put anesthetic drops in my eyes so that he could examine them. That was the best I had felt in days! I left the doctor's office with a little skip in my step. I had no pain. Not until the effect of the anesthesia wore off. 

I enjoyed seeing the world for a while without feeling it. I enjoyed it very much. I said that out loud and realized that there is another way we can enjoy the world without pain, without self-created suffering. It is that pain that we tend to suffer because we assign a certain meaning to people, circumstances and things. But what if every once in a while we looked around without feeling anything? What if we didn't judge what we were looking at? What if we didn't label what we see, hear or experience? Even if for a moment, we could enjoy life without labeling anything as good or bad. Today is a good day to do just that. Take one moment today and look, just look. It is what it is. Let it be what it is without judgment. How does it feel? 

Image found at otherworldmystery.com. 
© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Art kit

I didn't get a coloring book for Christmas. No, not when I was a little girl. I mean this Christmas. So I didn't color. I wanted to, but I didn't get the book. That was my excuse.

Many times we want to make art, but we won't until we get the kit. The kit can be the place, the silence, the tools, the time. We wait for the perfect circumstances to create. This is true of art, business ideas, travel plans, our dreams. And though we may need a few basic supplies or materials, what we mostly need is willingness. Willingness comes packed with faith, trust and courage.

Our art kits are our perfect conditions. They include supplies, materials, space, finances, the right light, available time, for the kids to grow up, for a commission, permission and approval from others, encouragement, a friendly atmosphere. Yet, we don't need perfect conditions to create our art, or anything else for that matter. We just need willingness. Go write, go paint, go weld, go dance, go slam poetry, go play, go catch through a lens, go sing, go mold, go shape, go strum. Just go. Just start. Magic will happen. Release the obstacles and the excuses. Soon you will find the perfect conditions for your creation. You are calling them with your willingness. In the meantime you will have created, you will have shifted the energy to one of possibility, you will have enjoyed making art. The creative process starts with a movement, not with a kit. Make a move. Create.

Image found at art-is-fun.com

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.