Friday, February 24, 2017

Whisper

The drilling starts early in the morning. The remodeling is a few floors up, but, in this concrete building, the drilling and the hammering reverberate through the walls in an awful staccato. I can't concentrate. I can't talk on the phone. My thinking is disjointed. I feel disconnected. The sound is louder than any sound around me. It has been so every morning for the past few weeks. Yesterday he suggested that we play music. How could I hear the music with all this noise around me? It made no sense to me, but I did.  And it did make a difference. My ear tipped to the native flutes coming out of Spotify on the bluetooth speaker. It not only eased my mood, it helped me concentrate. It is such a metaphor for life.

What do we pay attention to? Is it the loudest sounds around us? What and who is screaming? What demands our attention so immediately and so loudly? Other peoples' problems, worries about the future, gossip, disinformation, rumors, mass confusion, negativity, pessimism, unsound controversy. Whatever we pay attention to grows before us. We move to the rhythm of what we listen to. We react in the same tone and vibration. The loudest sounds can be disorganized, seemingly urgent and in constant competition for our attention. This noise creates a commotion that distracts us, creates dissonance, disrupts harmony, and consumes our energy.

We can cultivate a richer, more peaceful and tranquil life. A few minutes each day focused on our breath will help us create that space within us where we can go to when the world gets too noisy. A few minutes each day in meditation will help us be more centered, balanced and able to listen to ourselves even in the midsts of chaos. The silence delivers clarity, direction, and strength to respond to life rather than react to the ruckus around us.

Today is a good day to listen to the whispers of our heart. Let's know that there will be noise, but that we can tip our ear to the silence within ourselves. Let's listen to our purpose, our plans, our dreams. This is the sound of our highest and best good, which leads us to where we can serve, grow, and resonate with our dreams. Let's listen to a higher vibration, the whispers of our soul.

Image found at creativityforthesoul.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 17, 2017

Pain and sorrow

Somedays are so tough. Right from the start, we wake up in pain. Physical pain, emotional pain, psychic pain, collective pain, or heartache. And then we go. We go to work, to school, or to run errands carrying our pain with us. Many of us have no choice but to go with our pain.

Yesterday I went to a memorial event to remember the life of a young graduate student who passed away recently. Her parents were there, along with her professors, friends and fellow students. It was so painful to hear the tearful words from those who spoke, especially those words to and from her parents. All the while, pictures of her, full of life and joy, projected from above on to a screen, framing every word. Our hearts crushed when we heard the news of her passing. Our hearts were wrenching as we celebrated her life after her death. It was very difficult to witness her parents' sorrow. There was so much pain in the room. And then we went. Back to work, back to school, back to errands, carrying our pain with us. We had no choice.

Today is a good day to hold on to something that makes us smile, that brings us the smallest kindling of hope, to transcend our pain in small ways by using it to nurture empathy and understanding, to appreciate others, to be thankful for our blessings, grateful for the people and the gifts in our lives. May the pain serve us to overcome the little things, to rise above, to grow, to gain new perspectives, to love more, to love deeper.

Image found on pinterest.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 10, 2017

Light steps

Twice, recently, the topic of stepping lightly has come up. The conversations were about stepping lightly into existing groups we are new to or when meeting new people. I gave it some thought.

It makes a difference how we enter into both situations–entering into existing groups or meeting new people. Do we enter big and bold to make an impression and make ourselves known? Or do we enter quietly and observant to know and understand who we are meeting and what they are about? It depends on our intention. There are instances in which coming in like a firecracker is best, like when revving up an audience at a sports game or cheering up a group of corporate employees at a company retreat. But there are many times we come into an existing culture or group or meet people individually in which knowing and understanding the other is best. How we come in affects what we interpret and the ensuing relationship.

When we come in forcefully, we bring with us an energy that can be perceived as aggressive, intrusive, and egotistical. It can put up a wall between us and them. Stepping lightly, however, allows us to perceive the other with clarity, to start to know what the other is going through. It also let's us break forces of habit in thought and action, in how we react automatically. It can break down prejudice and intolerance. Stepping lightly also allows us to become aware of patterns in our relationships by letting us think and feel before we react or make decisions. It is that pause that creates space for empathy and compassion.

Today is a good day to take light steps wherever we go. Let's feel the ground we are walking on and the energy in the room we step into. We will then know how to relate to others in that space or to that situation. Let's create a different experience. It's not about me and it's not about them, it's about the us we make up together and how much better it can be if we just step lightly.

Image found at beforeitsnews.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 3, 2017

Desperate times are calling

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We don't have to answer with desperate measures, though. Not at all.

Responding with desperate measures to desperate times has brought us to this precise moment in which the world, politically, socially and economically, seems so chaotic and frenzied. On a more personal level, responding with desperate measures brings us desperate results.

Desperate measures are emotional responses, attacks and counterattacks, overreactions, retribution, exaggerated plans, unsound schemes, and acting from hopelessness and hysterics. We lose our personal and collective power when we react desperately. What desperate times call for are not desperate measures, but stillness, love, centering, connection, spiritual alignment, prayer, meditation, clarity and a remembrance of our Inner-being, our Higher Selves. What we want can get lost in the confusion and emotionalism. We need to go within in order to come out with our full power.

We need to act when times become desperate, but we don't need to act in desperation. We need right action and that will only come after discernment. We need to build inspired movement. We need to call on our inspiration that we may use our power in energized, motivated and clearheaded ways.

Energy that we spend desperately leaves us drained and angry. Today is a good day to walk away from the grapevine, the fear discourses, the gossip, the hysteria, and mainstream media. Let's take ourselves out for a walk in fresh air, or let's go to a place in which we can be quiet and still. Let's clear our heads. Let's ask our questions and be willing to listen. Answers will come when they will. When they do, we will know what to do and when to do it. We will respond from a place of hope rather than a place of desperation.

Image found at pinterest.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.