Adventures In Density And Effort

Having & Wanting

2012-02-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

(c) 2012 Joan M. Newcomb
We are very creative Beings. We're attracted to books, CDs & DVDs on abundance and manifestation, as it's our inherent nature to create.

There are lots of techniques for attracting what you want, for bringing dreams into form. Our success with that varies, I find, depending on our level of focus.

It's possible to live this life from a purely superficial and materialistic level. There are very successful people out there who haven't had an introspective thought in their life. It's really okay, and it really doesn't matter.

This world is a playground that encompasses every game. What you create lines up with where your inner and outer focus align.

Sometimes we create things from our inner Being, which doesn't look very fun from an external perspective. Pain, hardship, loss and lack, are some examples. But we don't have to be unhappy when these things occur.

Sometime we create something externally that looks absolutely fantastic. Wealth, status, perfect body, perfect mate, are some examples. And yet for some reason we're miserable.

Whatever you have in your life is a reflection on your spiritual creativity. From our Infinite Self, it's all good. It's all creative. It's all juicy and wonderful and ripe with possibilities.

The more capable actor goes for the most difficult parts and the most challenging storyline. If we're complaining about our life, from Essence, we are spiritually boasting.

If you're spending most of your energy wanting things, focusing on what you don't have, what you need, it's an indication of what level you're viewing things from.

It's unlikely you'll create your desires from this level. Or, if you do, you won't be happy with them.
Or you'll create things that seem successful, but they'll include some painful subplot. Because You'd be dissatisfied with an easy life.

Our happiness doesn't come from checking off everything on our wish list. You can be happy in any moment, regardless of circumstances. True happiness comes when we, our body/personalites are aligned with our Essence. When our little will is in agreement with our higher Will.

It takes acceptance of what is, and ownership of what you currently have, to feel real happiness.

It's not giving up trying to make things better, it's letting go of trying to make things perfect.

Start by taking stock of all you've created in your life, and recognize that it all is a reflection of You, your essential creativity. Validate how capable you are. Focus on what you have rather than what you want, and everything will fall into place.

Try this for the next week and see what happens!

What's Your Problem?

2012-02-03T12:08:00.001-08:00

This week has been a big one for transitions. Don Cornelius died, and I know of a couple people who jumped on the Soul Train with him. And a couple more who were surprised with serious health challenges. And a few who have been hit with unexpected financial problems.

It's been an emotional week, with so many people in my field having such direct, in-your-face painful experiences.

I realized I need to break things down, because all the trauma in my world is really happening to other people, not to me. I feel impaired from being able to spontaneously travel to a funeral, but it wasn't my relative who died.

I can feel compassion for the people with serious health challenges, but it's their body, not mine, that are having them.

When I take on other people's problems, it doesn't solve their dilemma, and distorts my own.

As I write that, I can see it's a tricky issue. If you have young children or special needs children, you *are* responsible for their well being. You have to care for them, advocate for them, they can't do it for themselves.

But if you're emotionally in that wheel chair or hospital bed with them, you can't be a clear-headed supporter for them.

You have to be aware of what *your* problem is, first.

With everyone else's problems on your mind, it could feel like the end of the world. Separating it out, you discover your problem may simply be not enough sleep, and the solution could be to figure out how to take a nap.

Some (many) people's problems are not your concern at all. Your adult child being unemployed, your teenager being unhappy in love, your sister going through a divorce - these aren't your issues. They need to figure those things out.

When you untangle from everyone else's "stuff", your own stuff becomes more manageable.

If you have a problem, inherently you have the solution. What isn't yours is overwhelming and more than you can handle.

Your problem can be broken down, as well. You can handle whatever needs to be handled in the moment. You can't handle what the future has in store. For one thing, it hasn't happened yet. It hasn't even come into form. Your present actions set things in motion to manifest the future.

Future tripping can paralyze you. Most of the time the thing you dread never comes to pass anyway, and you wasted a lot of emotional energy instead of enjoying what's in front of you.

Life is a series of moments, one flows into the other, sometimes one thing builds upon the other.

When you're in the present moment, your problem isn't a problem any more. In the present moment, often problems cease to exist, as the perfect solution appears.

Today it's nearly 60 degrees, in Washington DC, in February. That alone is a miracle. That's something to appreciate and enjoy. If I'd stayed tied up in knots about things I can't control, I would have missed the opportunity.

So today, this week, if you choose to, ask yourself 'what's my problem'?

Break it down, what's theirs, what's yours. Drop other's "stuff". Bring yours into present focus, leave the future for when it unfolds. Do what you can immediately, and leave the rest.

And watch how things transform!

Separations

2012-01-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

(c) 2012 Joan M Newcomb

Last week I questioned 'Are We All One?', and concluded that, although as Essence we are, as form we are not (this planet is delicious with dichotomy)!

There are wonderful reasons for merging. As infants, our bodies have just come from our mothers' wombs, we remain energetically merged so as best to communicate our needs (beyond crying, that is). "Mother's intuition" is simply being attuned to our little one.

When I had my first child, I'd find myself being immediately hungry again, right after eating lunch. It took me a while to realize that it was *his* hunger I was feeling (time to nurse, to feed him *his* lunch)!

After a while that kind of merging naturally fades, which is a good thing. One can imagine how many extra meals would I have eaten, if it hadn't!

Falling in love is another good reason for merging. One can't really love without being able to merge. On the other hand, for a long-term, loving relationship, it helps to have 'spaces in your togetherness' (to paraphrase Khalil Gibran).

Most of us don't have a problem with merging. We're not taught energetic techniques growing up. As adults we bumble around with the energetic agility of a toddler. We move into people's heads, match people's emotions, throw energy ("whack") instead of communicating disagreement. There's no etiquette for energy behavior, since it's invisible.

People who are naturally sensitive deal with this onslaught by becoming isolated. I call myself a 'learned extravert' when really I'm a natural empath (rather than an introvert). I feel other's emotions, and occasionally have other people's thoughts (that is, I'll think something and moments later it comes out of someone else's mouth... which maybe could mean *they're* telepathic).

Although I learned techniques for separations in my early 20's, it's taken decades to actually begin to implement them. I've remained open for messages from my children, and others get in on those communication lines.

In my experience, energy emanating from males has a lower vibration, and to a female feels like grief. It's not always communicating sadness, it's just how a female body inteprets it. Energy emanating from a female feels like guilt. It's a higher vibration. Male bodies are usually irritated by it. Females often don't notice other female energy in their space, because it matches their own. Plus, our own female body can make us feel guilty at least once a month (unless it's pregnant, when it's happy humming).

I have two sons, so I've gotten inundated with grief on a regular basis for 24 years. However, I have three brothers, a father, an ex-husband and a present husband, so there have been some days I'm just a big, sodden sponge, without a clue as to which one is doing the communicating!

Recently I've realized that it's more effective to respond to the energy, rather than spend time figuring out who it is and what they are asking. A simple way is to send whoever it is a healing. Bless them, imagine shimmery gold energy coming down and surrounding them. Connect them to whatever it is they want. You can also imaging connecting them to the earth (reassuring for bodies) and connecting them to the sun (reassuring for Essence, and creates balance).

When we're in a group of people, we'll match the collective energy. It's more noticiable if it's a temporary gathering, such as going home for the holidays or a family reunion. If we've been a part of the group for a while, it's harder to define, such as working for a corporation or being part of a religious community.

If you like your family, if you enjoy your work place, then merging feels good. If the holidays are stressful because of dysfunctional family patterns, or the company is undergoing a reorganization and layoffs are looming, it's a different story.

How can you be yourself, maintain your space, when surrounded by others? Here are a few ideas:

If you're visual, imagine what color the group's main vibration looks like. For instance, when I read people who work for Boeing, it's energy is a grayish green. Corporations and the military often emanate shades of grey. Imagine yourself surrounded in a bubble of your favorite color, or a lighter, brighter or clearer color. It steps you up and out of the collective energy.

If you're empathic, that is you feel things emotionally, Amusement is a higher vibration which helps you separate from an uncomfortable group. Something I do for weddings or temporary visits, is reframe the event as a movie (a comedy, specifically). This works if you're going home for a funeral, just try not to laugh during the service.

An exception to the above is if the collective energy itself is ungrounded and chaotic. Amusement can still help, but you may want to imagine your feet magnetically connected to the Earth. It brings your personal space into focus when everyone else is scattered.

Matrix-Quantum energy techniques are fun ways to instantly change your experience. Step into a parallel universe that looks the same but is completely different. I've done this to change the outcome of talking to a front desk manager when checking out of a hotel. I stepped to one side, into a parallel Universe where the results were going to be successful. You can step back and forth in one place and each movement shifts you to a different Universe.

You can do this walking to a meeting (or to work from the parking lot or Metro stop). Imagine walking through a series of opening & closing doors (like the beginning of the old '60's faux spy show, "Get Smart"). Each doorway opens to new universes of possibility.

Try any of these techniques whenever it occurs to you throughout this week, and see what happens!

Are We All One?

2012-01-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

(c)2012 Joan M. Newcomb

Imagine if you were watching a classic Star Trek rerun. How interesting would it be if Leonard Nimoy played all the parts? Spock, Captain Kirk, Sulu, Uhura(!), Bones, Scotty... Or if William Shatner were Checkov and Nurse Chapel and a Romulan...

Yeah, pretty boring. Not the same.

It takes individuality to make things interesting. Every person on this planet emits their own unique personality which adds to the storyline, making a really interesting intertwining of plots, a fascinating repertoire of plays and players, a cast of 7 billion on 192 channels around the planet.

People following a spiritual path will hear "we are all One", and then interpret it to mean you are me, I created you, or even that person isn't real because this is all my illusion. It's a pretty one dimensional
way to view things.

"But it's a hologram, that's why it looks 3 dimensional!" They will say.

Not exactly. A hologram is a 3-D image scattered and reconstructed in 2-D. It's the same as saying, this world is our projection.

Within our physical form, we have a picture-making machine that we can create "slides" to view the world through, which is viewing the world through our projections. And, operating on a thought-level, we can create our reality by focusing enough energy on a particular idea (that's the premise behind The Secret).

This physical creation is much more complex than that. Break everything down to pure energy, you can sense there are denser configurations than others. Some of these configurations vibrate quickly, some slowly. Some configurations move, some remain still. If you move your consciousness out of your form, you can travel through all these vibrations. And the vibration is evolving and cycling as well.

But we're trying to explain it from the limitations of form. We're trying to understand it from the limitations of personality. And we're kinda missing the point.

It's all manifested by a creative Source, and We are that bright energy, that appears to be individual sparks within individual form. If you look within each form, whether it's a blade of grass, a person, or a chair, it contains that spark. Chairs don't have personality or a measurable lifespan, but it's made up of a vibratory structure we currently call cells, molecules, etc.

And we're still missing the point. As Essence (or Source) we created the physical because it has all these wonderful differences. We created a linear timeline, dichotomies, differences, because it is fun and interesting.

We try to become "more" spiritual by dismantling our ego or transcending our emotions. We can't be more spiritual because we *are* Spirit. As Spirit, we don't need improvement, we don't need to learn anything. In the storyline, our bodies need to grow and learn, our personalities develop and mature. We don't expand, because we're already Expansiveness. It feels like expanding when we align with Who We Are.

So, I am not you, you are not your friend, you didn't make them up, your mother isn't your creation, although the storyline is Your storyline, You cast everyone in it. The focus, however, is on you within the story line. And it helps to be as clear about your own vibration as possible.

If you feel every emotion that flows through your body, or every thought that flows through your head, is yours alone, you can become one big, messy blob of humanity.

For instance, I'm not here to merge with my mother. I'm not here to create her storyline for her. It doesn't help if we match emotions and thoughts, because then I'm 85 with Alzheimer's and Lung Cancer - except I don't remember either, and am bewildered about what's going on.

It helps to discern what's your feelings from others, what are your ideas or impressions from others. That way, You can step away from dysfunctional family patterns, religious programming, cultural conditioning.

All those are vibrational threads running through this energetic game, and when we're playing along those lines you can say there's no Free Will. You can say we're all made up of so much pre-programmed information we have no choice in the matter.

Again, that's a personality seeing things through the limitation of the body level.

All through this topic I've been wanting to shift from the theatre analogy to music. We're all different instruments, we're playing different melodies. If you simply read the music and play along, it will come out into one harmonious symphony. If you 'get' the musical thread, you can go jazz on the tune and improvise (that's your Free Will). You can even choose to be dissonant (although sometimes that's part of the bigger pattern as well).

Bottom line, have fun with it all. Focus on yourself, enjoy merging with others if you love them, enjoy not feeling their realities if their's suck.

We're not here to evolve back to the All That Is, it happens instantaneously when we die (and then we realize we were never separate after all). We here to enjoy and savor every delicious moment, even the painful, dark and difficult.

Which is easier to enjoy when you notice what is you and what's not you.

So that's all you have to do this week, notice what's you, what's not you. If you're feeling a feeling, notice if it's yours or someone else's. You may have a matching experience, they may be grieving someone who's died, you may be helping someone die. Your is managable, theirs is not.

Keep it simple, and your world will transform!

Free Will and Improv Life.

2012-01-07T07:10:00.000-08:00

(c) 2012 Joan M. Newcomb

How can there be no free will? If we're Infinite Beings, the Power & Presence of God, then of course we have free will.

People who tell you otherwise are operating from the perspective of their body personalities. Body Personality is an organic interweaving of social and family programming, moving through a sea of external programs. Making a decision what to wear or what to eat flows through a complex web of influences.

If you try to impose your individual will on any circumstance, you'll get caught in that web.

As Essence, your energy is above and beyond all that. It's the electricity flowing in and through those currents, but at any moment you can be a Tesla reaction, running without definition or form.

Operating as Essence, you can break out of those patterns and choose something new. You can interrupt a habit or addiction, you can say no at the last minute, swerve to avoid a disaster, change lanes into a different experience.

When you choose to operate as Essence, your reality changes. Things become random and unpredictable. People in your storyline change as well. Not because you're changing them, not because you're manipulating or controlling the storyline. But because you're moving as a more expanded energy through this software program.

As Essence you can navigate the game differently. You can be in this world but not of this world. You can play the game but not be a player. You can be fully immersed or fully detached.

Aligning your little will with the greater Will, You're in agreement with all that happens in Your hologram. You don't fight the river, you enjoy the ride.

That isn't giving up Free Will (or negating it's existence). It's exercising Free Will in every moment, every movement, every breath. Life becomes Improv. Each scene may have an overarching intention, but you're not restricted by the script or other players.

Don't fight the programming, don't fight the river. But it's not You. You always have choice. And that's Free Will.

New Death Experiences

2012-01-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

(c) 2012 Joan M Newcomb
I've written about my experience with a friend who died, what I've learned from him since he passed. He's still very present, just more diffuse. He shows up when I think of him, but also pops up at unexpected times (usually symbolized by a silver PT Cruiser, the vehicle that hit him).

This last week, I did a Matrix/Reading session for someone who is dying. It was very interesting, and I wanted to share some of what I learned.

I've always thought that the energy of death is identical to the energy of birth. I had both my kids at home, without medication, and can attest to how powerful the energy is, as an Infinite Being comes into form. It's Love embodied. When you have kids, it opens your heart and you feel Love so purely, a way not possible without them.

When my friend died, I remember feeling that love; it felt like the essence of what anyone wants in a relationship, and it's possible because of all the twists and turns of personality and history.

With the person who was dying, I looked at their process of leaving. It is birthing back into the Infinite. Rather than squeezing into form, they're expanding into the All-That-Is. It looks ecstatic!

Intellectually, I already knew that, but before seeing it in last week's session, I never quite realized or understood it before.

The other thing I saw was that their remaining time gave them an opportunity to hang out with friends and loved ones in body. But it was for the friends and loved ones' sake... they're the ones that are going to feel loss, they're going to think this person is gone when their body dies. In actuality, they're expanding, getting bigger, they're not going to feel any loss, they're going to feel EVERYTHING. Not just a part of everything, but become EVERYTHING.

Which doesn't mean they're a drop of water disappeared into the ocean. My sense with my dead friend is they're still there, but it's my awareness that concentrates them into moments (usually).

Communication is still possible, it's just different. I like to say it's like a bad cell phone connection. They're easier to talk to (because the personality barriers are gone) but harder to hear (because of our expectations). We think we should hear their voice, or receive full sentences. Without a body, you impart (and receive) feelings and impressions.

I also looked at someone with Alzheimer's (farther along than my mother's). Energetically, the body personality was collapsed over them, like the empty shell a catapiller leaves behind. It's organic matter, but the light is gone. The dying person had their own body personality collapsing, but their light was concentrated deep within it. It helped me understand my mother's process (whose light is still very present, but the body personality programs are running strongly at times without her at the controls). It helped me understand our death process, our Light birthing back to source.

Anyone who's ever birthed and raised an infant knows that it's not all coos and cuddles. Creating a body, and then learning to roll over, crawl and walk, causes sleepless nights and frustration. Leaving a body, the body breaking down so it can't walk and eventually can't roll over, also sleepless nights and frustration. Leaving is a painful process on the physical level.

From the perspective of Essence, it's as exciting as birth. Rather than Infinite squeezing into a little infant form, it's the opposite. It expansion times infinity equals JOY. You can't see that without being awed. People dying, people who've died, should be celebrated, they've moved into something WonderFull. And if we could only understand that they're not gone, they're more HERE than ever, we'd be happy for them. Our hearts can be filled with Love.

Quality vs. Quantity

2011-12-30T14:25:00.000-08:00

(c) 2011 Joan M Newcomb

I have a tendency to wolf down my food and gulp my drinks. I think it comes from growing up with 3 brothers, a feeling that they'd eat all the dessert if I didn't finish dinner in time.

A sure way for me to lose a few pounds is to slow down and taste what I'm eating!

There are some people who are Human Goings (rather than Human Beings, or even Human Doings, since doing implies a result). Their idea of a good time is a jam packed itinerary. On one hand I can understand the desire to suck every last drop out of life, but do they really savor the experience?

More is not always better.

Evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar says our brains can't maintain stable relationships with more than 150 people (which makes you think about how many Facebook & Twitter connections you have).

Interesting to notice that sometimes attempts at intimacy are actually running away from it

Mankind is always trying to replicate Spirit, or try to get back to the core feeling of Being. As Essence, we can be everywhere at once. Frenzied activity is our trying to make our bodies be everywhere at once. As Essence we are connected with everyone and everything. Those with thousands of friends and followers may be trying to reclaim that feeling of connection with All that Is - or- how We Feel when we're Being, being ALL that Is.

Our bodies are limited - through them we only experience one lifetime at a time, one day at a time. In order to go to Sri Lanka (beyond web surfing), we have to put our body on a plane and fly many hours.

Why fly there when you can web surf? Because it feels different physically standing there.

Why have a body when as Essence you are Infinite? Everywhere at once? All knowing? Perfect Unity and Joy?

We create manifesting through the physical because it's fun. It requires slowing Our vibration down and narrowing Our focus.

And it seems the moment we come in through a body, we spend the rest of our time trying to regain the expansive feel of Source.

We don't really need to run around trying to have Cosmic experiences, when We *are* Cosmos. We're not going to miss anything if we slow down to smell the roses. That's why we created noses. And roses.

It's as if we've been served the most delicious dish at a gourmet restaurant and we spend the entire meal looking at the plates on the next table. Savor what's in front of you because that's what You created.

You're not missing anything because You are Everything.

The moment we die, We're Source Energy again. That's not entirely accurate. We're Source Energy while our bodies are alive, too. But the moment we die, We remember it. We regain the feeling of Unity and the ability to be everywhere at once, everything at once.

What stays with us from this life is Love, and our connection with those we love.

Knowing this, how would this change your choices and actions?

What would you prioritize? What would your "Bucket List" be like?

This week, go about your life focusing on quality - the quality of your interactions with friends and family. Savor life experiences. See what transforms when you do!

Be Bigger Than

2011-12-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

(c) 2011 Joan M Newcomb

We're going into Christmas, which brings up all sorts of childhood "stuff". Family dynamics arise and suddenly you're viewing things through memories, as if you were a little kid again.

There's a card in the Transformation Game® that poses "What if you were bigger than [your problem]"? It's a helpful inquiry.

Asking yourself this when facing something overwhelming, accesses your Expanded self, the Essence of Who You Are. Suddenly You *are* bigger than the dilemma in front of you. Other choices and responses become apparent. Your body calms down, because You are there.

Then there's the saying "be the bigger man", for when You choose the high road, or are the more magnanimous party in a disagreement. You have to step above the need to be right, your own struggle and emotion and victimstance - you have to be the grown up.

I hate that. I'd really like someone else to be bigger than right now. I'd like someone to cut *me* some slack, give *me* a break, step up to the plate for me, be my grown up.

And it ain't happening. They are in their own story, their own stress, their own reasons.

In truth, no one can be bigger than You, unless you make yourself very, very small.

This is different than being ill or incapacitated, and having someone help you, or allowing someone to give you a hand. It's pretty neat to notice who shows up in such circumstances. The greater You created challenges, and created support as well. It's just not always the support you expected.

You can't make others the grown up even if they're older than you. You, at any moment, are at choice, to be bigger, or smaller, or greater, or lesser. Even around your parents!

Believe me, it's a lot less painful to be the bigger person. Being the grown up is far more empowering than the other way around.

It doesn't mean you don't feel the injustice, or that you have to numb out. You as Essence can parent yourself. You can let the part of you that is hurting be that way, and You can step forward to respond to whatever is going on.

It's comforting for your inner child, your smaller self, your wounded one, to know You are in charge. Put your smaller self in the back seat (where car seats are legally supposed to be), and let your Adult Self do the driving.

Remember this as you go into this weekend's events, and you'll have a much more enjoyable time!

Be Gentle With Yourself

2011-12-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

There's a lot going on in the world today, and a lot going on in everyone's individual lives. Every day I talk with people, friends, clients, readers of this blog, facing really hard things.   You're unemployed, with no job possibilities in sight. You're having marital problems, communication conflicts. You're having health challenges. The future is scary and uncertain.

Just as you have one thing handled, got one situation stabilized, the Universe goes "but wait! There's MORE!" and piles on something else.

The quote "the Universe doesn't give you anything you can't handle" is only partially true. As Essence, you can handle anything. As Essence you are greater than your body, your personality, and anything in your story line. "If you have a problem, within you there is a solution," is mostly true. As Essence you are part of the Cosmic Internet, endlessly resourceful, with access to all the information in the Universe.

As Essence Your energy is infinite.   You're in the Flow, an energizer bunny, You can keep going and going!

You, as your body/personality can only handle so much at once.   (Which is why it seems the Universe doles it out a portion at a time). Your body/personality needs help. (Which is why it seems the Universe speaks through the mouths of others, or shows up in the form of friends and good Samaritans).

"On the 7th day He rested" is a metaphor for manifesting through the physical. Your body needs rest, your personality needs a break.

Don't beat yourself up if you're not handling everything perfectly. Allow yourself ten mistakes a day. Give yourself quiet time. A half-hour of meditation in the morning often saves thirty minutes of frustration later on! Allow people to help you. It's okay to avoid people who don't!

You don't have to manage everything right at this moment or at once. Take things in baby steps, doing one thing at a time. Wait until the next day to make a decision or respond to someone.

Let the Truth reveal itself. Allow the answer to become clear.

Be gentle with yourself. It's a hard holiday time for everyone. Give yourself some comfort and joy.

Changing Universes

2011-12-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Ever had times in your life when you had to stop going in the direction you were heading and go somewhere else? Or circumstances descended on you and shifted your reality significantly.

Things like that happen, and suddening you're in a different Universe. The outer world may or may not look the same, but inside everything is completely different.

A beloved parent drops dead from a heart attack. Your company goes bankrupt. You discover your husband is cheating on you. Major impacts on your road through life.

When things that happen to you like the examples above, it's like changing lanes or routes due to an accident. You react, respond, but the initial force feels outside of your control.

Then there are situations where you deliberately choose the change. You decide to quit graduate school. You adopt a child. You switch careers.

Sometimes there's a catalyst for the redirection. The mistress. The drugs. The fire.

Looking back, often you thank the catalysts or final straws because otherwise you would have stayed stuck for years. They are gifts or divine interventions.

We all have infinite parallel universes available to us, and infinite parallel selves existing simultaneous. So there are no mistakes, there's another You who took that risk and succeeded. There's a parallel Self who kept the house in the divorce.

Each action takes us through a portal to a different experience. Some feel better than others. However bad it is, it's all good. Your Essence (the part that's tracking *all* of your Selves) is thoroughly enjoying every story line, savoring the bitter-sweetness of every loss, sipping the deliciousness of every creation.

As you move forward from now, know that you are At Choice in all your actions (even the ones where you cannot imagine any other way) and that your Essence creates your reality (even the things or people that seem to happen to you).

Shifting to the bigger perspective eases the pain and diminishes the drama. Navigating as Essence (making choices as your Expanded Self) leads you to greater inner peace.

Try this for the next week and see what happens!

Pictoral History

2011-11-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

I've been sorting through hundreds (or more) of family photographs. They're from the 1920's onwards. Sifting through them you gain a feeling of the people in these photos as they grow from chubby infants and grinning toddlers to smiling but tired adults and seniors. This one was taken when they got their first tooth. That one happened when his wife was dying.

Energetically, we're made up of pictures. As we come into physical form, we are creating and absorbing pictures. We view the world through our perceptions, but they're organically a part of us as well. "Stuck" impressions can create physical discomfort that can lead to manifestations of painful ailments over time.

I'm fortunate that my mother still remembers most of the people in the pictures (although neither of us can recall the name of the cat we had in 1974). As my mother's Alzheimer's continues , it's as if those picture files are being erased from her brain's harddrive. She's either in the present moment or instantly in 1946, depending on the memory that's jogged.

What's interesting to realize is that some of the details are distorted. One of her stories is that my father gave away a bunch of important children's books, and yesterday I remember that it was my mother who gave them to a friend of mine in high school. We rewrite our personal history and sometimes even delete or add characters to the scene.

Emotions color our mental image pictures. We hold on to resentments and pain and it distorts the storyline. We can embellish our childhoods or marriages, making them happier than they really were as well.

Releasing the untruths about our past we're left with what is. What is, is.

After we die, that's what we're left with. The Essence of who we are. The pure energy that flowed through our lives is what is retained, and the distortions disintergrate.

In physical form, we're frightened to see What Is without our story. We're afraid that if we do that, we'll see all that it is not. Our Essence *loves* What Is, because we see all it is Everything.

Acceptance of What Is leads us to embracing the All. In becoming neutral to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, in letting go of the drama of our past, we can open up to the greatness of it all. It opens us up to infinite possibilities of Now.

This is a great time of year to start doing this. Every person you come into contact with is a walking gallery of pictures and emotions. Holidays are especially charged times because gatherings with families bring in entire libraries of matching (or mis-matching) pictures and impressions.

Start by deciding not to react dramatically to anything that is said or done, even if it seems dramatic. At parties or meals, choose to be a half step above the set energy level (or imagine watching it from a director's chair). You can be involved but not engaged. Or you can dive into it with the gusto of a seasoned actor, fully aware of the part they're playing. It can be fun.

Try this for the next week (or month) and see what happens!

Dead People Portals

2011-11-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Today's the 8th anniversary of a friend of mind's death. It's not the exact date, but it's the Friday before Thanksgiving. I'd become more and more aware of his energy around over the last month, leading up to today.

People's entrance and exit points (birth and death days) are important portals for them, and you'll feel their energy more strongly at those times. Anniversaries and holidays also are times when 'the veil' is thinner between dimensions so communication is easier during this time of year.

I've been looking through lots of family photos as I prepare to move my 85 year old mother from her home. I collected a few to share with my dad, and when I showed them to him, I was surprised to get a sense of history as he looked at them. To him, his parents died 15 and 30 years ago, and the photos were taken in 1969. To me, I see the beings in the pictures and sense their Presence, so they're still alive. I forget that when you believe someone is dead, it creates interference with them.

If you don't believe in phones, you won't ever call anyone. But phones work, even if you can't see the phone lines or comprehend how our voices can travel around the world yet sound like we're in the same room together.

Dead people are easier to talk to - there's less Ego distortion (on their side) but harder to hear (due to distortions in perception on our side).

You have to hear dead people with all your senses, not just your ears. Most people aren't clairaudient, so it's less likely you'll hear their voice. But they show up are feelings, thoughts, impressions, and revelations. Or quirky (or poignant) coincidences. I've mentioned before that my dead friend keeps showing up as Silver PT Cruisers, because that's the color and make of the car that hit him as he rode his bicycle. It used to really freak me out, but now I understand it's his way of showing Instant Joy, since death feels ecstatically joyous.

Some people find it validating to write a letter to their deceased loved one, and then write down their response. When you read it later, you'll discover you couldn't possibly have made it up.
Holding onto grief blocks communication, so let yourself mourn when you feel like it. It clears your telepathic lines.

It also helps to be in stillness or silence, because the physical realm is filled with distractions. Walking in nature is a great way to tune into higher dimensions.

This time of year can really suck if you've lost someone important to you. Realize that no one is ever really gone. Just because you can't see them any more, doesn't mean they're not there.

Besides being comforting to you, dead people really love it when you communicate with them as it validates their existence.

If you want to connect with someone who's passed, try journaling, walking in nature, taking time to be still, or just let yourself be highly aware of quirky coincidences. Practice increases confidence.

Try this for the next week and see what happens!

Abundance Manfestations

2011-11-11T18:39:00.000-08:00

With the world economy falling like dominoes, and the Occupy movement spreading throughout the globe, it seems timely to talk about abundance and manifestations.

There's a collective dissatisfaction about lack of prosperity, with 99% pointing fingers at 1%. The unifying belief is "They" did this to "Us".

It's hard not to see things this way. It's hard not to take the foreclosures and layoffs personally, especially if you're unemployed and behind on your mortgage payments.

If you just look at the "facts", it looks like years of abuse by corporations and governments. It looks like people's and countries' financial futures are being wiped out, forcing them into many years of austerity as a result.

If you look at it "historically", there's patterns of economic booms and busts going back centuries (mellenia?) - we've had many recessions, depressions and prosperity, "gold rushes".

Looking at it through the eyes of Spirit/Source or Essence, it's Expansion and contraction. Breathing in, breathing out. To Consciousness, it's equally creative. There is no good or bad. Poverty is an equal manifestation to plenty.

It's all an adventure in density and effort. To an actor, it's more exciting to take on a role filled with pain and anguish. (Although comedy is more difficult than drama)!

Many years ago, I lost everything I thought was important to me. A home where I'd given birth to my children, where I'd lived longer than anywhere else in my life, and five acres where I'd grown a co-creative garden with Nature and buried many pets. I felt I was a Steward of that land. As I mourned the loss, Nature informed me that I'm a Steward of the *planet*. Every tree and beach and ocean is My creation.

Specific details such as jobs and houses are temporary, but the overarching energy of creation is forever. Align with Essence and step into the flow and you realize nothing is lost. It's *all* abundance.

Whatever you're manifesting in your life, it's evidence of Your creativity as Spirit/Source/Essence. You may have an abundance of problems! It's still abundance!

Notice if you're matching the prevalent energy of the job market or economy. What you match, you create in your life. To make a shift, step up and out of the energy level.

Try this, whenever you think of it, for this week. And see what happens!

Freedom in Restriction

2011-11-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

I think there's a quote by Nelson Mandela, who spent most of his adult life imprisoned in South Africa, that you are only as free as your mind.

You can be under enormous physical restrictions, but you as Spirit are always free.

This morning, someone on Facebook who lives in Israel, posted a link for 25 ways to tie a scarf.* I was giving myself some down time. It led me to looking for boots and then discovering an older post on a protest at the White House next weekend. I'm currently 10 miles from the White House! I could go there in my fashionably tied scarf and my yet-to-be-purchased boots!

Except that I couldn't leave my mother unattended for that amount of time. She'll go scampering around her kitchen without her walker, fall and break her hip, and we'll end up back in the hospital, this time with something operable on top of recovering from radiation treatment for lung cancer. Shoot me now.

This reminds me of when I was a new mother at 27. I was used to dogs, but having a small person dependent on me was a tough adjustment. Many times I wished I could have left the baby on the kitchen floor on newspaper with a bowl of water.

But as many people know, new motherhood is more than the lack of sleep and dirty diapers. Elder care is, too. There's a deeper, spiritual experience going on, whether you're ushering in a new life and helping that Being inhabit a new body and incorporate into the physical, or ushering them our as they're slowly (or quickly) dis-incorporating.

I'm only as free as my thoughts. Maybe I *can* leave my mother for a few hours on Sunday and she'll be okay. Or maybe being in LaFayette Square isn't as important as looking through family photos that afternoon.

Whatever your restrictions are, they don't define you. If you're unemployed, if you'rer divorcing, if you're grieving, that isn't who You are, it's the rich and juicy experience you're going through.

No matter how small or constricted you feel you are, you are always INFINITE. --I just wrote that sentence while sitting at Starbucks on Connecticut Ave. in the District, and a little toddler in bright pink stopped slurping her apple juice and stared intently at me. Yup. INFINITE.

When you remember You are Infinite, then you no longer struggle against you're restrictions, since You created them. Nothing is happening to you. "They" aren't doing it deliberately... although it is deliberately happening insomuch as you've popped it into your reality.

Your freedom is how to react or respond. You're freedom is your inner repose.

Many years ago, going through my divorce, I stood on a beach and intensely grieved the loss of my house and land, where I'd given birth to my children and buried my pets. I'd felt like I was a Steward of the land, I'd grown a co-creative garden with Nature there. Instantly I flashed on the realization that I'm a Steward of the whole *world*, every tree and park is Mine.

I'd lost my property and gained the world.

What restrictions are you bumping up against? What impositions are you resisting?

This week, turn it around and turn within. The conflict out there isn't Real. Those that seem so powerful are actually powerless. As Essence you are creating it all.

Give yourself moments, mental mini-breaks. There is infinite freedom in a moment staring out the window or enjoying sunlight filtered through autumn leaves.

Try this, whenever you think of it, for this week. And see what happens!

*BTW, nothing is ever what it seems on the surface. After watching the scarf-tying video this morning, I looked at a 'tutorial' given, and imagined that Wendy was raised by people who recognized her specialness, she reflected such joy and ease in her videos. Nothing was further than the truth - Wendy was a foster-care kid, carrying her belongings in a plastic bag and fearing she'd be homeless on leaving the system when she reached 18. Freedom comes out of restriction, too.

Do You Need A Mirror?

2011-10-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

I had coffee (chai) this afternoon with a friend visit from Seattle. It's rare I get to talk to anyone who isn't a caregiver or nurse, I've been so immersed in my mother's life. She shared about how she lost herself during a short stint caring for her mother when she was ill. "You need a mirror." She said, which I took to mean that we need others to reflect to us who we are.

Do we?

It is strange to be spending most of my time caring for this elderly woman, who is so different from me in many ways. It's very much like new motherhood, where you have to give over your time and attention to someone who needs you to survive. The difference is, you can't pick them up and put them down for a nap when you need a break (like my kids ever took regular naps anyway).

New motherhood often separates you from your old life. Your childless friends cannot relate. Your work associates (unless they're parents themselves) don't understand your not stopping for drinks before going home, taking sick leave because your kid has chicken pox, or passing up the promotion because it required too much travel.

These people aren't your mirrors any more. That's why new mothers join play groups and, eventually PTA. Only other parents can validate where you are at, what you're going through, the choices you're making.

So I go to caregiver meetings, and listen to other adult children (and elderly spouses) going through similar experiences. I learn from others who've been doing this longer than I have. I feel reassured by women making similar choices (when the men in their family are not).

However they're not complete mirrors. Just as the moms whose kids went to my kids preschool weren't my mirrors, either. When my kids were little, I was teaching psychic meditation and spiritual healing and working for a spiritual Church. I saw my kids as Infinite Beings creating their reality, creating me as their mom, their dad as their dad, the circumstances of their lives. Never found other Moms doing the same thing.

Fellow caregivers are only partial mirrors. I do readings and Matrix at night, and my radio show ever other week. It's hard to answer the question 'what do you do', when I'm asked.

This is not a bad thing. It gives me permission to do this in my own, unique way. It allows me to open doors of possibility, to doing things differently. I don't have to be limited by other people's choices. At caregiver meetings, I can take what I like and leave the rest.

Peer group reality can be supportive to a point. And it can limit you from moving beyond their level if you don't allow yourself to see a bigger picture.

You don't have to hang out with people just because they've been friends forever, you've worked with them, you're related to them, or they're in the same twelve step program. It's okay *not* to match the group when the group is holding you back.

This week notice the mirrors you have in your life. Are they accurate, or distorted? Are they reflecting validation and encouragement, or are they subtly (or not so subtly) telling you to toe the line with the rest of them?

Take a break from anything that doesn't support your growth and change. Try this for a week and see what happens!

iPhone vs. Dialup

2011-10-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan Newcomb

A couple weeks ago I got a haircut. It was a big deal for me in the storyline for many reasons. Because I'm taking care of my mother in DC, I hadn't even gotten a bangs' trim since I left Seattle in June.

Things have been so busy, and as I am so deep in Dorothyland, resurfacing to the 'real world' to go into a salon in Georgetown disorienting.

Knowing that my energy could affect my hairstyle, I stood outside for a few minutes and tried to ground myself. It really didn't improve things. Then I realized I'd been using my 'old techniques' and instead started to 2-point from my 1st chakra to the center of the earth.

All I did was the 1st point, my 1st chakra and my entire awareness shifted. I became focused and clear. It was the difference between Steamboat Willie and Puss In Boots.

Old energy techniques, using a grounding cord to release energy, actually increases discomfort. It's sinking deeper into the mud. It invalidates spiritual awareness.

Old energy techniques are old physics. Really, it's like using a dialup vs. iPhone. Dialup you could connect to the Cosmic Internet, but you needed to be 'plugged in' It was slow and took forever to download information.

New techniques, such as Matrix, are like Quantum Physics.With an iPhone, you can be anywhere and instantly connect. The beginning step in Matrix was to touch or connect to a point that was stuck, fixed or not moving (point 1) and then touch or connect to a point that was different, a new possibility, that's fluid (point 2).

What I discovered on the street in Georgetown is that I didn't even have to do that. I just '1-pointed' the center of my first chakra and everything changed. (Even chakras are old technology. Who knows what I was 1 pointing).

I stepped into the salon, and into a different reality. I created a stylist whose father currently has lung cancer and both grandmothers had Alzheimer's. Threads of connection to my "reality"!

And I got a great 'do, too (thanks Meghan)!

1-pointed into my new awareness doesn't change or fix or manipulate anything. You don't go to Disneyland not to ride the rides. But you go to *enjoy* them. If you get in line for Splash Mountain, you expect to get wet. I haven't miraculously won the lottery, my mother's Alzheimer's hasn't gone away, if anything other subplots are developing more dramatically in the storyline (what *have* those Cosmic scriptwriters been smoking)?!?

However, *I* navigate differently through it all.

The planet (hologram) is energetically changing (accelerating). Consciousness is evolving, and individually we're being required to operate off Our own information. It's a step up in respons-ability. It's an expansion of power (energetic power, inner spiritual power not ego's 'power over').

Notice for yourself if anything in your life needs updating (or an upgrade, if you will). Are you still using the same techniques you learned in that self help workshop in college? Are you imitating your teacher or guru, rather than owning the information for yourself?

Try this for a week and see what happens!

Occupy Earth

2011-10-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Earlier this year I remember an astrologer saying that we were in a period similar to the late 1960's. Back then, there was a great uprising against the restrictive Establishment, with peaceful and violent protests. The Peace and Love movement swept over most of the world, transforming consciousness.

This year, starting with the regime changes in the Middle East, we've seen a series of uprisings and transformations. Dictators that have ruled for decades have fallen.  People are speaking up and finding their voice.

So it's interesting to watch Occupy Wall street catch on, occupying most major cities in the US and Canada and at this time starting in the UK as well.

We've had a couple decades of increasing restrictions. I felt the previous US presidential administration make changes that took us back to the 1950's and even, with Homeland Security, the TSA, and Guantanamo start to feel scarily like 1930's Germany.

Things often have to get worse before they get better. Breakdown has to happen before breakthrough. And breakthrough is happening.

The people who are showing up to Occupy may seem like flakes, they have so many divergent focal points. However the unifying force is that they are showing up and speaking their Truth. They are expressing their dissatisfaction with the limitations placed on us. Each individual is contributing to the energy of freedom, creating a ripple effect throughout the world.

What is going on externally is a reflection of what is going on with each of us internally.

What is coming up for you? What is breaking down, what is breaking through? Where are you experiencing restriction or limitation?  It may seem to be coming from the outside, in the creation of a boss at work, a bank, a friend or relative. But it's illuminating your own internal beliefs and pictures.

Where are you giving away your power? Who do you feel controls your reality?

You don't have to go to Wall Street or Chicago to speak your Truth. You don't even have to protest. All you have to do is Occupy your life, Occupy your body, Occupy your storyline.

When you do, you become the lead in your own movie.   Difficult people are there because you cast them. You've chosen the role because it's Oscar material.

It simply takes a shift of perspective, and everything shifts.

Try this for a week and see what happens!

Life Is Unfair (?)

2011-10-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

The TV Show "Malcolm In The Middle"'s theme song lyrics went something like this:

You're not the boss of me, now
You're not the boss of me, now
You're not the boss of me, now
And you're not so big
-- Life is unfair!

Life is unfair. Life is unjust. Bad things happen to good people. What's up with that?

I can tell versions of my life story that paint me as the victim. If I'm caught up in my story of 'so-and-so did this to me, or cheated me out of that' I can get really pissed off.

However, in order to buy those versions, I have to see life as happening to me. In order to think of life being unfair, or unjust, I have to view things through the ethics of good and bad, right and wrong. Little babies should not die, be abused, go hungry, fill in the blank.

There have been times I've been furious at God for giving me "too much" to deal with.

When we get caught up with issues of fairness, or justice, we're viewing the world through limited lenses. We believe that we are powerless over circumstances, that children are helpless, that either we're not in control of our lives, or that something bigger than us sits in judgement over our actions.

Or we have ethics or expectations that life should be fair. Everyone "should be" alloted with equal amounts of good looks, good luck, and money. Nice people should win, every time.

Because it's bad to die young, to be poor, to be sick, to be uncomfortable.

When I'm identifying as my body/personality, the physical form that is x years old, weighs so many pounds, and isn't going to make it out of this lifetime alive, I tend to take things *very* seriously! It's better to live a long life, because bodies don't like to die! Bodies don't like to feel uncomfortable, either.

Bodies are physically separate from other bodies, so comparisons can be made. Differences can be threatening.

But we aren't our bodies. We're not our personalities, either (however unique and special they may be). We are Essence.

Essence is all of this. And it's bigger than all of this. As Essence, we created everything. We created form, our vehicle, and our storyline. We dove into our bodies and our lives with the enthusiasm and excitement of an expert thespian, raring for the role on this worldly stage.

As one level, you can look around at others and realize, they're Essence, too. They are powerful creators. The more complicated the storyline, the more capable they are. You created being born, and every aspect of it from parents to location. An infant is a very Powerful Being.

Essence Perspective is neutral, expansive and amused. It's easy to be amused when You never die, and all you feel is pure Joy.

From Essence Perspective, unfairness doesn't make any sense. Injustice doesn't exist. Everything just is, things happen or don't happen. You experience this, or you experience that. In fact, *everything* is happening, in all posible combinations and outcomes.

If you can imagine the most complex on-line Wii game in which every plot is already anticipated, that's what life is. An aspect of you is experiencing this version and in a parallel universe, you're experiencing the opposite. In another, something completely different.

We make things more painful and difficult for ourselves when we color our lenses with ethics and expectations. If it shouldn't be the way it is, then it wouldn't be. It would be something else.

However unhappy your body/personality is with the current state of affairs, You as Essence is gleeful. It is really, really fun to roll in the mud of existence. Feelings are delicious, even the most dense ones.

Life isn't fair. Nor is it unfair. Neither is it unjust. Life just is.

What Success Really Looks Like

2011-09-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

If you look at anyone you deem successful, their path to success was not a straight, meteoric rise upwards. They had detours and failures and sidetracks. All of which were very valuable; great learning's to be had achieving undesirable results. You learn how *not* to do it that way!

We're always looking for the quick fix, the easy method, the least painful way. We judge ourselves (and others) who are going too slow, spinning their wheels, not doing it "right".

If we actually get success the easy way, we often find that it's not what we wanted in the first place. The right job, the right spouse, the right material things, feel hollow. We're supposed to be happy having these things and we're miserable instead.

It makes you wonder, what *is* success, anyway?

Dictionary.com defines it as "The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts." An obsolete meaning is simply "outcome". In which case, any result is successful!

I look at the illustration at the beginning of this post, and it reminds me of a journey through life. What is considered a successful life? The length? The legacy? The amount of places someone's visited, the amount of toys accumulated, or the amount of money left behind?

Life isn't a result, it's a journey. To me, there is great value in experiences. We're here in physical form to feel emotions and sensations, every delicious moment of it. But there's great value in human interaction. As non-physical we're Unity, it's all joyous, ecstatic Love. There's no separation outside of the physical realm. However in form we experience loneliness and distance. Individuation. So interacting with others, we get to really appreciate differences that we don't have outside of Form.

Life is messy. It's complicated. It's not summed up in one story but a myriad of subplots.

So a successful life is a messy life. It matters not what's on your resume, it's wringing every drop of deliciousness out of the experience being here. It's staying in integrity with your Essence. Or not (because you learn what if feels like when you're out of alignment).

Just realize that when you're on the other side, you will love and appreciate everything, absolutely everything that you did, said, or felt while you were here. There's no judgment, no right or wrong, no record of sins. Perhaps the only desire is the wish to jump in the pool and do it all again.

Notice Feelings

2011-09-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

Notice Feelings ©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Today as I was driving, I was wanting inspiration for today's Ezine Essay.

I headed down Reservoir Road, and there was a big traffic sign NOTICE and underneath someone had put a big cardboard sheet saying FEELINGS.

Guess I'm supposed to notice a reservoir of feelings...

What have I noticed about feelings? I notice that it's not productive to wallow in them when having to get through tough situations
.
I've noticed that feelings are communication, either from my body, my inner child, or empathically from others.

Feelings aren't the Truth. Feelings are often attached to memories, which can color the present. When you're triggered, you suddenly feel ten years old again. In reality you're an adult and you're able to drive! Body's feelings are attached to it's own survival, which can distort the situation's accuracy. It's just a relationship or job that is ending, you're not dying!

It's normal to grieve loss. Yet often one is grieving the loss of something never had.

Reality is like a wonderful ocean of feelings. There are different levels of currents and temperatures. The deeper you go into physical form, the more dense and dark it is.

Our bodies are Our creations to swim in this sea. Our bodies experience feelings, manifest feelings and receive feelings. As Creators, We enjoy feelings and love Our bodies. We create storylines to make everything more interesting!

But We're not attached to them. As Essence, We're greater, We encompass *all* realities.

When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I dove into "her" storyline. I created connecting more with almost all my other family members, so I get to empathically experience their emotions, too. The great thing about Alzheimer's, my mother doesn't remember she has it, so she wasn't depressed.

Then she fell and broke her pelvis and the Physical Therapist pointed out she was recovering better than someone with normal memory because she wasn't dwelling on everything she couldn't do. But she needs continuous reminders so she doesn't try to cross her legs when sitting or walk without a cane or walker!

Now she's been diagnosed with lung cancer. I can just hear the Cosmic Scriptwriters "But wait - there's more!". It must be Sweeps Week for them. But the blessing of Alzheimer's, the information hasn't stuck.

As Essence, my mother is *very* creative! And, as Essence, since I'm swimming in this sea with her, I'm *very* creative, too. I can appreciate this as Essence, but my body is *very* uncomfortable.

Even though feelings aren't the Truth, they're my body's language to communicate with Me. I can let my body have it's feelings, but stay in the driver's seat by remembering I'm Essence. I can parent my Inner Child by not dissing it's emotions but I can stay in the driver's seat by staying in present time.

As Essence I can go with the flow of this storyline, not swimming against the current (dutifully taking my mother to doctor's, etc.) but changing what I can (feeding her super healthy foods, doing Matrix, etc.).

There's a wonderful harmony to be had between body, personality, and Essence. Body resonates the bass tones, personality resonates the tenor/alto, and Essence is soaring soprano.

When I'm out of harmony, it's because I'm expecting or resisting. I'm expecting What Is to be different, I'm resisting my body or inner child or personality's feelings. When I allow the expression of discomfort, it blends in with my Essence, which is always resonating joy or amusement.

Notice the song that your chorus is singing. Allow every note, however quiet or stringent. Even dissonance can be harmonious.

Try this for a week and see what happens!

Expectations

2011-09-09T16:26:00.001-07:00

Expectations
©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

The moment I came up with today's Ezine Essay, a mischievous side of me emerged. Like, don't send an Ezine out at all! Write something outrageous. Do something unexpected!

I think it's my Expanded Self giving me the antidote to Expectations.

I've been writing about the roller coaster ride with my Mom that I've been on since April. First she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Then it became necessary to drop everything to be with her. I can't really say that I've moved, since I've been living out of 2 suitcases since June 29th.

A month ago she fell and fractured part of her pelvis. We ended up in the hospital for 18 days. I say "we" because, with Alzheimer's, she couldn't be alone. A cancer patient knows where they are and why they're there.

An Alzheimer's person is constantly surprised by everything. Why can't she roll out of bed in the middle of the night and pee in her "chamber pot"? An Alz. person won't know to ring the call button & wait for a nurse to show up to help her to the commode.

In the hospital they discovered 'a spot on her lung', and did a biopsy. (Actually, they did many CT Scans, Xrays, an MRI and then a biopsy. They love their machines)!

The results weren't in before we were discharged and I decided not to find out right away. I didn't want to get on the cancer roller coaster until after she'd recovered a bit from the fracture.

Soooo. I discover I do okay as long as I don't have expectations. When I've gotten REALLY pissed off with siblings, it's because I expect them to "get it" and "come through for me". However, they're not here so how could they really know or understand?

Expectations make things more difficult. I'll get upset with myself for being upset. ?? Just because I'm psychic, just because I've had decades of personal growth, just because I've lived through challenging times before, I should breeze through this?

Expectations are perfect pictures. It's viewing the experience through lenses of perfection, and then judging the hell of it because it doesn't match.

I'm not a natural nurturer (like my mother was). I was always more of a trail blazer mom. I'd spend money taking my kids on trips, giving them adventures and life experiences, rather than on material things. I'd encourage their independence and let them go on their 'road trip of life' (while their dad would bake them cookies for care packages and phone every day).

So here I am being my mother's care taker and I still want to charge ahead and take her with me. Ironic, since Alzheimer's makes one's world smaller and smaller.

But I'm the right person for the job. It was interesting bumping up against the hospital's expectations. They were used to injured and medicated patients, not someone who would walk out to the nurses station, question every medication and protest unnecessary interruptions. (jezus why don't they let patients sleep?? Isn't it necessary for their recovery?)

Dorothy's going to need an advocate and defender as much as a healer.

But who knows? We'll find out the biopsy results next week. Could be nothing, could be something. The next steps will unfold from there.

This week, catch your own expectations. Turn them upside down and inside out. See what happens when you do!

Anger, Acceptance, Acceptability

2011-09-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Today, I saw two different blogs posts touching on anger and acceptance. One was aimed at Alzheimers' Caregivers, the other was a spiritual post.

There's too much written about not being angry, or how distructive anger is. It just prevents people from experiencing the release and healing that anger can be. If you feel victimized, anger can empower you. If you feel trapped, anger can give you the energy to break free. Distruction isn't necessarily bad; sometimes limitations need to be destroyed.

Acceptance doesn't mean you like, approve, or agree with something. Years ago I read an Dear Abby or Ann Landers' column that talked about having a baby was like taking a trip to France. In preparation, you learn to speak French, you buy a beret, you study maps of Paris etc. If your baby is born with Downes Syndrome, it's like suddenly going to Holland. Dutch is totally different than French. You toss the beret, and slip on clogs. It's not the trip you dreamed of, but you accept the different destination. You don't like it, but you love your baby just as much.

Acceptability is full of shit. You have to repress your anger to be acceptable. You have to have perfect children to be acceptable. People do unacceptable things in order to be acceptable.

Spiritual growth isn't acceptable. It isn't neat and clean and tidy. It's about breaking through patterns and limitations. It's about doing things differently. It's going to make acceptable people very uncomfortable. But, truthfully, being acceptable is way more painful. It's just delivered with a perfectly white smile.

This is a time when everything we identify with is breaking down. Aspects of ourselves are disintegrating before our eyes. Things we've believed in, relied upon, assumed and expected are evaporating. It doesn't look pretty.

But, as you break through into expanded awareness, as you step fully into your Full Light -
it feels great.

It may not happen quickly but know you're on the way there.

There's nothing for you to do this week. Transformation happens anyway.

Earthquakes, Hurricanes & Cancer, Oh My!

2011-08-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

It continues to be a pretty exciting time, for lots of folks. The U. S. has a hurricane the size of Europe moving up the East Coast. Just a few days ago, there was an earthquake in Virginia, wimpy by California/West Coast size, but the largest *ever* in the region. It was felt up to Canada and Midwest to Ohio. Here in DC there seemed to be little damage, but it cracked the Washington Monument, so it may never reopen.

In the midst of this, my mother fell and fractured her pelvis. It wasn't serious enough for an operation but still required 18 days in hospital. Hospitals are amazing places, they're like giant, corporate autoshops for bodies. Because Western Medicine is all about finding out what's wrong, she got a lot more tests than she ever would have normally, and after Xrays and CT scans, they finally found a spot on her lung.

The assigned oncologist went to Disney World before the results came through, so we were able to get discharged and go home to focus on physical therapy (apparently that's all you can do with this kind of fractured pelvis - practice walking around on it).

We came home yesterday and tonight Hurricane Irene is passing by. It's only going to spit in our direction, but family from Delaware had to evacuate. Other family, in Queens, is just riding it out (but they've lived through Asian Typhoons before; I'm guessing their apartment in Flushing is better built than the one they had in Taipei).

There are just *so* many disasters to react to, I just don't know where to begin!

In times like these, I fall back on several key things I've learned:

1) Don't react dramatically, even if things seem dramatic. Drama indicates what's happening isn't real. It's a magnified story, a distorted interpretation of what is really going on. It is a waste of energy to react to other's being that way, and it's a drain on your own energy to act that way. Once in a while it's okay to let off steam, but going postal doesn't create real change.

2) Earthquakes are a physical manifestation when the collective is stuck. When I look at my own life and the lives of those around me, whenever there's an earthquake, it indicates a breakthrough. If I, and those around me, are dealing with our own inner earthquakes, we're spared the geological one. Last week's earthquake in DC came after spending two weeks with my mother in hospital. After it happened, we were able to move towards discharge.

I can hear people ask - What about New Zealand? They've been having monthly aftershocks for a year. When I look at Christchurch, I'm actually seeing it as a focal point for a disintegrating global pattern, which is why it keeps continuing.

3) Disasters are an opportunity to bring out the best in humanity. Often you read of great acts of compassion, heroism, etc. after a disaster. There were amazing stories coming out of Japan after the recent Tsunami, how communities pulled together, shared resources, helped others. The greater the devastation, it seems, the greater the heart-opening.

4) Choose your roller coaster. As best you can, choose your roller coaster. If 100 mile an hour winds are coming towards your house, fretting about something else may distract you from battening down the hatches. The spot on my mother's lung was revealed after a guelling fortnight recovering from a fractured pelvis. The stay in the hospital was challenging enough; with Alzheimer's she had to be continually reminded where she was and why she was there. We'll deal with the test results and follow up procedures after we've had a couple weeks or more to physically recover from her injury.

Give yourself a break and just focus on the next indicated thing.

5) There's light at the end of the tunnel; it does get better. Whatever is going on, no matter how difficult, no matter how never-ending it seems, from the perspective of Consciousness, it's just a blink of an eye. Life in physical reality is a dip in the pool. Enjoy your splashing around until swim time is over.

Spiritual Midwifery

2011-08-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

(c)2011 Joan M. Newcomb

It's interesting to see who shows up for births. There are people who come into the mother's life during her pregnancy, and people who are around when she's in labor. They are all energetically participating in the entrance of the baby Being into the world.

My first child was a home birth who ended up being air lifted to the hospital. I'd planned something intimate and quiet, with just my husband, the midwife and her assistant, and a couple who was going to film the event. Instead, the couple & the assistant missed the ferry. Instead, there was my (then) husband, the midwife, the ambulance crew, the lifeflight crew, the ER at University hospital, and the neonatal intensive care unit staff.

My second child, also a home birth, came out so quickly that the only people there were the (then) husband, a different midwife (the assistant stopped for gas and missed the event). And he didn't leave the bedroom for the first 48 hrs.

Each group of people contributed to each child's arrival. In some way each held the space for the being to come into this world.

It's the same when people pass. People come into your life, people miss the boat, and unexpected support staff arrive.

All are participating in the transition from physical to Spirit.

I've shared in previous Musings about the death of my first love. I'd only reconnected with him two months before he died from a bicycle accident. It was clear to me that I was the only one he knew with the level of spiritual awareness that I had. When he passed, I felt it (days before the family was notified and a week before I and his friends were notified).

At the memorial I'd realized that I was there as his eyes and sometimes voice. And to continually validate that he still exists. And he, by sending me endless numbers of silver PT Cruisers (the make and color of the vehicle that struck him) reminds me of the instant joy that awaits us upon passing.

I'm currently holding space for two people in the process of passing. Just like births, there's no telling how long their labors will be. It's not necessary for me to have heart to hearts with them about what happens when you die (although I'm open to it when/if the subject comes up). I can quietly add my
energetic awareness, my certainty, and my love and compassion.

Someone once said ' we are born alone and we die alone', but nothing can be further from the Truth. At births, there's a host of unseen energetic beings (angelic beings and familial beings) helping the baby come into form. At deaths there's an equal number waiting to catch on the other side. We who show up "in-body" are the anchors in this physical plane.

If we only knew the immense Joy and Love that awaits us when we pass, we'd treat deaths with the same excitement and happiness that we treat births.

This week, be aware of how, where and for whom you are Holding Space. Who are you midwifing to a new state of being? And who is midwifing you?

Crisis Management

2011-08-12T20:08:00.001-07:00

Crisis Management ©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Crisis management is an oxymoron. You can't manage a crisis; you can only manage response to it. And sometimes not even that.

There is no perfect way to respond to a crisis. You can go into action mode as focused and efficient as a M*A*S*H unit with incoming wounded. You can close your eyes, hold your breath and jump off the Titanic.

The major thing is seems nowadays is to respond differently than your usual way of doing so. If you're used to being super competent, maybe it's time to break down and cry. If you're used to running for the hills, maybe it's time to draw out your saber and charge. If you usually tough it out alone, it's time to ask for help.

If you've had a series of mini-crises prior to the current one, then this could be 'final exams' time when you put what you've learned into action.

It's important not to resist a crisis, it only immobilizes you. Nor can you avoid it, or it intensifies. However don't make something a crisis that isn't, or take on someone else's. False crises are a waste of energy and provide no real growth.

You can try relaxing into the crisis. You can reframe it (what a great Hollywood movie/TV series it is)!

And remember that crises don't last forever (they just feel that way).

Try this for a week with whatever crisis (big or small) and see what happens!

Controlling vs. Creating

2011-08-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb
"You create your reality" leads people to think they can control their reality, too. Why are bad things happening to you if you create your reality?

Then you try all these manifestation techniques, visualizations, rituals, etc. You focus intensity, you try real hard, and nothing works. WTF?

What is wrong with you? Why aren't you creating a perfect world? Why aren't more good things happening to you? If you create your reality, and this is what it's like, you must be seriously disturbed.

We're told we're Infinite Beings, the Power and Presence of God, Consciousness. Then why are we feeling so friggin' powerless?

I'm mean, I definitely didn't create a GOP congress, a global economic meltdown, and the Catholic Church. Someone else must have snuck them into my reality when I was sleeping.

Why the heck would someone create getting divorced or unemployed or sick?

Controlling your reality and creating your reality are two entirely different things. Controlling your reality is in reaction to things happening to you. It comes from a premise of things being out of your control, from a feeling of powerlessness.

When you want to control your reality, you want to change, fix, improve or manipulate things outside of yourself so you feel better inside.

Creating reality comes from being in agreement with Source, in acceptance with All That Is, it comes from feeling empowered within, so there's no need to change what's happening without. When you are in alignment with your Essence (or seeing things as Spirit, *as* your Essence) then you're at peace with everything that shows up in your reality.

There's no need to change, fix, control or manipulate other people or outer circumstances. You can actually be amused by things people say or do, feel detached about what is happening around you. You can actually feel serene when everyone else is freaking out.

And, in that space, from being centered within yourself and in love with all that is, things often start falling into place. The perfect partner or job shows up when you no longer feel so intensely about them.

Creating reality comes from within, from being centered. Your first response to anything is an inner response. You shift your perspective, view things differently, instead of changing the scenery.

When you are relaxed into Creation, there's no need to control.

Try this for a week and see what happens!

Allowing Help

2011-07-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Wednesday I was racing to an appointment (that I was already late for) when the car started billowing smoke. I pulled off to a side street and called the garage. After hearing that it was going to take an hour for the tow truck to arrive, I realized my schedule for the day was shot. There was nothing to do but wait.

Message from the Universe: slow down.

As I was waiting, two young men (who knew nothing about cars) stopped by to help. They kept me company until the tow truck showed up. On it's side was 1-800-AAA-HELP

Message from the Universe: allow help.

I asked the driver what he thought might be the problem, and he guessed the alternator (from where the smoke had come from). Then he folded his hands in prayer over the engine! He was only joking, but my message was to pray.

Earlier this week I'd made a huge shift by reconnecting with old healing guides (in updated form). And I'm trying an experiment by doing a novena to St. Anthony. I'm not Catholic, but Saints embody energy qualities. Whether the actual being had them, or they've been collectively created by everyone believing in them, they're powerful entities to connect to.

I asked the driver (who *was* Catholic) whether I should pray to St. Jude (patron saint of Lost Causes) or St. Anthony (patron of miracles) and his eyes opened wide. "Don't make it a lost cause - then you'll have to buy a new car!"

So I had a little chat with St. Anthony on the way to the garage. Turned out it was just something minor and the garage didn't charge me. The only fee was the tow - *much* cheaper than a new alternator!

Today I've received a couple emails from astrologers warning about Mercury Retrograde and also Mars squaring Uranus opposing Pluto. Mercury's going retrograde for most of August, causing things to slow down, affecting communications, travel, electronics, legal contracts and more. Mars/Uranus/Pluto calls for aggressive or even explosive surprises.

The warnings have been about potential earthquakes or fires, or serious, even tragic accidents.

Even though the world is a hologram, I see the energy of the planets as part of the vibrational programming of a 'full immersion video game'. As Players, we have the Free Will to navigate through this to have a different experience.

If we deal with our Inner Earthquakes, we're less likely to collectively create one. If we slow down and consciously walk through what's happening in front of us, we're less likely to create slamming into a roadblock of an external kind.

What's happened for me as I let go of the struggle to make things happen, things have started changing. As I let go of trying to do it all myself, people show up to connect with. Showing me I'm not alone in what I'm going through.

Notice what your Inner Earthquake is at this time. Don't avoid or run from it - it only makes it bigger! If you ignore it, you're in for one doozy of a shakeup!

Acknowledging it often makes it more manageable. If it's not something easily walked through, break it down into baby steps. Doing the next indicated thing is all you have to do at the moment.

Try this for the next 7 days and see what happens!

Lies & Untruths

2011-07-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

The other day I had lunch with someone who is charming and loquacious, and in the midst of telling a story, told a lie. It was a simple choice of words that altered the truth slightly, gave them the entire credit for an action and made them seem magnanimous and kind. Someone else I'd been with earlier in the week had talked about the same incident from my past, which I mostly remember myself, and I knew it had been entirely their idea.

It was really an interesting revelation for me. I sat through the rest of the conversation viewing things in a new light. I mean, I always knew this about this person, but I hadn't been caught up in the wonderful, warm feeling they projected where you most willingly believed what they said.

Did they believe their own story? I think so. They've told themselves this version of their history that it is now their Truth.

And here I am in Washington, DC, where the Big News is this Crisis about the Debt Ceiling. The thing is, it isn't one. They'll raise the debt ceiling, as they always have. It's a manufactured cause for alarm, detracting from the employment situation. But it illustrates on a grander scale the distortions projected into the world.

I've shared that I'm here with my mother who has Alzheimer's, which affects the brain in multiple ways. Sometimes the information or the exerience evaporates. It's no longer there. Sometimes facts are joined together with a distorted story. I'll watch her make stuff up, to try to understand why something has happened, because she doesn't remember what she was told or what really occurred.

Alzheimers people aren't lying; they really believe what they're saying.

On the other hand, in order to get her to do something or go somewhere, I've had to lie to her. In a caregiver's meeting, they called this 'fibology'. Because she doesn't remember the diagnosis, she doesn't retain the information that she has Alzheimer's. It just pisses her off to remind her, so now I'll soften things by saying we're doing such and such to prevent it.

We tell ourselves lies all the time, and view the world through our distortions. We can perceive the same situation as a victim, a hero, an innocent bystander, all depending on the lens we're viewing it through. In order to program someone else, tell them truth with a slight distortion; it sticks in their reality that way. In order to recover from trauma, you have to drain the emotion from the memory ...or another way is to rewrite the story about it.

"The world is an illusion" doesn't mean the world isn't real. The world is energy, made up of layers of illusions.

The greater the lie, the greater the discomfort. The more illusions you believe, the more disconnected from reality you are.

When you can look the distortion directly in it's face and tell the truth about it, it disintegrates.

We're afraid to do that, because we believe that we'll die when all the illusions collapse. And that's a lie.

In reality, the more we de-energize lies, the clearer we feel. As we peel away the layers of illusion, we can get to the core. And the core of the world is Love.

This week, notice the pictures you're viewing the world through. Tell the truth about them (or at least question them). Instead of running away from what is, stand and take a good look at it. Brick walls will become the flimsy viels that they are. Conflicts will become meaningless.

Try this for a week and see what happens!

It Gets Better

2011-07-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

(c)2011 Joan M. Newcomb

There's a video campaign on YouTube aimed at gay teens called 'It Gets Better'. There's a high number of GLBTQ adolescents who end up committing suicide because it seems the world does not accept them. On YouTube, there's a wonderful amount of videos by GLBTQ & straight people, celebrities and regular folk, reassuring them that 'It Gets Better'.

From 12 to 21 we undergo such transformation, our bodies mature, our personalities develop, and we change from children to young adults that can drive and vote and get married. Everyone experiences traumatic growing pains, everyone feels at some time their world is ending as they know it and they can't imagine life beyond the excruciating now. They need to know 'It Gets Better', as well!

With all the economic challenges and natural disasters, it seems like the entire planet needs to know that 'It Gets Better', too.

It actually gets better the instant you realize that it will. Shifting perspective in the moment can alleviate a lot of discomfort. If you realize this moment is temporary, it can be easier to get through. Whether you're stuck in a traffic jam or visiting your in-laws, at some point things will change.

From Spirit's viewpoint, this lifetime happens in the blink of an eye. There is no separation from loved ones, because we're all still connected on the non-physical level. Even while we're experiencing illness or loss, there's an aspect of us that is pure Joy and Unity. There is no lack or poverty, because our Higher Self is Creative Energy and Abundance. It's possible to know that, even when not feeling it.

So no matter what it is in your life that is disintegrating, no matter how strongly you identified with it, know that it is giving away to greater emotional depth and greater connection with Consciousness.

Lean into your Expanded Self, and this will become clear.

Collectively we are all growing towards the Light. We are all tipping over into expanded Awareness. On this level, it not only gets better, it already IS better.

Divine Timing

2011-07-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

I was going to call this Perfect Timing but I already wrote an essay with the title back in 2009. And I realized that the topic is more than perfect timing, because in it there's an implication that if you do things perfectly, you can get the timing right.

Divine timing is when things happen you could not have foreseen or even guessed at. It's when things unfold outside of your expectations. Circumstances intersect to create things happening perfectly, in a way no individual human could have orchestrated.

Consciousness is a cosmic air traffic controller. It's seeing the bigger picture beyond the single persona sitting within the physical body. Consciousness sees beyond the present storyline and the cast of characters engaged in whatever drama is going on now.

I was going to liken it to the director of a particular play, who has to keep track of not only the actors, the script and the stage directions, but also the lights, the costumes, the props, and music. However it's more like the director of a Festival, with multiple venues playing a repertoire of shows. Except Consciousness is tracking it all multidimentionally and over eons, and beyond time and space.

When I was delayed 13 hours in Denver last week, I had no idea that I would end up sitting next to an elderly man just released from a Houston hospital to go back to his wife in New York who was in final stages of cancer. My original flight was Seattle-Denver-Baltimore. His was Houston-Baltimore-New York. 70 mile an hour winds in Denver changed my course so that I would be the one beside him to help open his packages of nuts and pretzels, and listen to him tell his story, in between breaks of silent weeping.

Another example - I am not the world's greatest driver, and I don't like to drive when out of town. Two years ago I came to DC and had my Mom do all the driving (which meant I didn't go anywhere beyond a 5 mile radius). Last year I rented a car for the first time to go from DC to NY to see my son in college. It took 9 hours (instead of 5 1/2) because I avoided highways.

In April I bopped up to Poughkeepsie in record time, because the Beltway and 95 was no big deal, just like driving I-5 in Seattle.

And now I'm in DC for the duration, so it's a good thing I'm no longer daunted by driving!

When I came here in April, I had the intuitive hit that something big was going to happen. I'd thought maybe an earthquake or something political. And that was somewhat true - tornados hit close by, and Osama bin Laden was killed. And my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. What I couldn't have known at the time was that I'd reconnect with my father at a family wedding in June, and that his cancer has come back, with a 10-13 month prognosis.

So I'm here in DC for the duration, being an energetic midwife or doula for souls transformation.

It's bigger than "me", but not bigger than I.

As Consciousness, I AM in agreement with everything that is happening. I AM totally accepting of all that is unfolding. I AM willing and able to be in the moment and do the next indicated thing.

Little "me" hits moments of 'I can't do this'. Except I already AM doing it.

One thing that helps to think of the bigger perspective, of our being one car on the freeway or one plane in the sky, amongst all the other vehicles weaving in and out, in a great transcontinental/universal transporation system. It also helps to know that our individual energy contributes to the whole. You are there in that moment for a reason - your Presence is needed where you are.

Are you a grounded person? You are there as a stabilizer. Are you a light bringer? You are there to illuminate and shine light. Your Essence enhances whatever is happening.

When you relax into your Essence, you are aligned with your Purpose, and things unfold effortlessly. Your Essence is whatever your natural tendency is, whoever you truly are. It's deceptively easy to be YourSelf. It's only hard when you're resisting what is.

This week I invite you to stop trying to make things happen. I invite you to stop focusing on manifesting your dreams, on self-imPROVEment, on pushing the river. I invite you to stop fighting all the things you don't want in your life.

Let the river carry you a while. You are going in the right direction, you will end up where You want to be, and it will all happen in Divine Timing.

Excess Baggage!

2011-07-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

On Wednesday I went to the airport and got in line to check luggage. I usually only take carry-on, but because this trip is for an indefinite length of time, I packed everything I'd need between now and November.

There was curbside check-in, but I thought the line was too long. When I got inside, the line was even longer, but I thought I needed a boarding pass. I stayed in the inside line, which took forever. Early on, I thought, why not bop over to the kiosk, grab a boarding pass, and haul my luggage out to the curb? But I didn't do it. Instead, I joined the mass of humanity and waited my turn.

This is totally unlike me. I'm a swift and savvy traveler, and not one to stay in the crowd. I can ascertain what are rules and what are suggested guidelines, and usually operate on the periphery.

When I got on the plane, they announced it would be delayed due to high winds in Denver and an option was given to disembark and rebook for the next day. But, they wouldn't unload the checked-in luggage. I was uncomfortable imagining my luggage going on without me, and figured that my connection would also be delayed, so stayed on the plane.

My flight landed 90 minutes late, missing my connection by seconds. I had to spend the night at the airport. The next morning I could have tried standing by for a direct flight, but thought my luggage would be on my plane where I had a confirmed ticket.

Turned out, my bags arrived several hours before I did.

My lesson? Excess Baggage Slows You Down!

When I was standing in line to check my bags, it felt like an analogy for care taking for Alzheimer's. Most of the caretakers at the support groups I've been to, have been caring for their loved ones for a long time. They've settled into the decline for the long term.

I'm not there yet with my mom. And, I'm not here to help her decline, I'm here to initiate change. I'm here to improve her quality of life, get her social stimulation and physical exercise. I will dance with where she is in the moment, because Alzheimer's people can shift in capability from day to day.

And, if I can stem or even reverse it's progress, I will. Besides diet and nutrition, we're looking at a clinical trial of a drug that does just that.

The energy I felt when standing in line at the airport was heavy, like swimming in molasses. The morphic field of Alzheimer's feels the same way. However, just because you have a diagnosis, doesn't mean you have to play out the entire pattern of the disease.

People have received diagnoses of HIV, or cancer, or other life threatening illnesses and defied the odds. And the first step in doing that is to not match the collective energy, so you can have a different experience.

What holds you to the group experience is your excess baggage, or your 'matching pictures' (perceptions and energy). In letting them go, you shift to a different reality.

In your life, notice where you are standing in line with the rest of the crowd. Notice what holds you there. Fear of being left behind? Fear of being punished? You can remain connected with others without sharing their viewpoints (or their maladies).

Let yourself step out of line once in a while, and have a completely different journey.

Try this for a week and see what happens!

It's Never About You

2011-06-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

I remember years ago coming to the revelation that most people are so preoccupied with their own stuff that they aren't even noticing yours. Later I realized that even when they're reacting to you, it's never about you. It's still their own stuff.

This is a good thing to remember as today I'm going to a family wedding.

It's been different for me, because I've gone to thousands of weddings, but only about five as a guest. As a wedding officiant, I get to show up for the rehearsal, and perform the ceremony, get fed a nice meal, and usually leave before they cut the cake.

Weddings are usually a chick thing, but I've never gotten carried away by them. My focus is as a minister, a professional. I think about the ceremony, the vows, the relationship and the blending of family.

Many women, I notice, go a little nuts about weddings. They all want to be involved, they all have strong opinions, and the focus is on all the external details. The invitations, the colors, the flowers, the food, the music, the decorations... I've forgotten something... oh, the dress.

I've been surprised at the things that have triggered me. Deep rooted family patterns are being played out unconsciously by everyone. I have my 85 year old mother staying with me, who's newly diagnosed with Alzheimer's (which she doesn't remember), and even she's noticed how others are acting.

Yesterday was the rehearsal dinner, and I got to see some family members for the first time many years. When seeing someone who I haven't been on speaking terms with in nearly a decade, I spontaneously gave them a hug.

Later on, I said to myself, 'well, I didn't expect I'd do that!'

And for the rest of the evening, I felt curiously devoid of story. None of 'they did this, I'm right about that' stuff floated through my head. I noticed others with their own stories, towards me, towards my mother. And it wasn't about us.

From the moment we're conceived, we start absorbing and creating pictures about ourselves and the world. We are constantly viewing things through these perceptions. It's never entirely accurate. There's always a distortion somewhere. The stronger the conflicting feeling, the greater the untruth you are looking through.

There isn't anything you can do about other people's impressions. If a number of people believe a rumor about you, it's like a wildfire of lies. You'll go crazy trying to put them all out. The best you can do is stand in your own Truth, and clear your own viewscreen.

Because it's never about them, either!

Achieving Coherence

2011-06-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb

This last week I caught parts of several movies on TV - a 1920's black and white silent film with Buster Keaton, a 1950's B movie, and the 1969 classic "2001: A Space Odyssey ".

The 1920's film had scenes of a train going through the woods, and the 1950's movie had a scene of a big Buick driving along a country road. Both of those scenes could have come from any century, if you hadn't had the train or the car in them. I think about this as I walk my dogs along our wooded, country road. There are places where you can stand and feel like you are timeless.

Trees, especially, have a timeless quality. A redwood quietly observes its surroundings for over 100 years.

Earth, itself, is quietly observing what's happening on it. It's growth phases are measured in eons.

So the planet has a long, slow rate of growth. Nature changes by evolution, slightly faster than the planet, but at a snail's pace compared to humans.

And then humans create technology, which is like taking a movie and fast-forwarding it.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" is remarkably modern. If you remove (or replace) the scenes where they're video-calling home, it could indeed have been made within this decade.

Human beings created technology to replicate Spirit. As non-physical beings, we experience change instantaneously. There is no time or space, so we can be anywhere or everywhere at once. From creating the airplane to the telephone to the IPad, our unconscious motivation is to bring our bodies up to speed with our energetic Selves.

So what is happening now? Some believe that what's going wrong with the planet is that humans are out of sync with natural time. We created a 24 hour day, 12 month year, that is incongruent with the actual rise and set of the sun and the phases of the moon. They say we're creating imbalance on the planet by being vibrationally 'off' with Earth's natural rhythm.

Some believe the vibration on the planet is accelerating, which is causing all the changes. And some believe it's Consciousness evolving.

However, what happens you shift perspective to this being a holographic creation of Consciousness?

Suddenly, I get the feeling of the Consciousness of the Earth, and can see that the planet is experiencing it's own expansion at this time. The vibration is raising, gravity feels different, things are becoming less dense.

I see humans experiencing their own acceleration, and creating technology to mimic this. However technology still has an artificial vibration in comparison to our Essense, a bit like having an artificial limb - it can do most everything, but isn't one's real arm or leg.

Coherence is when you are aligned internally with your Essense or Expanded self. When you do, it heightens your extra sensory perception. You become more telepathic, more clairvoyant, clairsentient and telekinetic.

We try to use technology or substances to heighten our awareness, when all we need to do is turn within (and center within our thalamus) to make it happen.

We long to experience coherence because it links us with Us, Consciousness. Consciousness feels *great* - there's no pain, there's this wonderful, expansive feeling, there's this high level of ecstatic joy, and there's infinite peace.

I believe we're all moving towards Conscious Coherence anyway. All the discomfort we are feeling, the distasters showing up in our lives, or things we're attached to and identify with that are disintegrating, are symbolic of what is falling away as we expand to this new awareness.

How to help this acceleration? As with many spiritual things, do the opposite. Slow down. Get intouch with your Self. Take a walk. Meditate. Take a bath, go for a swim.

Ironically, as you let go of trying to achieve something externally, it comes to you effortlessly.

This week, try letting go of effort, of achieving, of trying to grow spiritually, or making things manifest through sheer will. Take moments do NOT do anything. And see what happens!

Change What You Can

2011-06-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Change What You Can©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

I've been reflecting on how I've gotten through difficult times before, as I'm facing the new challenge of going to DC to assist my mother, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Most of my Mystic Musings have been more spiritually focused. How to hover above a crisis in order to navigate through it. It can work for many situations, like being in a dysfunctional workplace or visiting family at the holidays (!). Sometimes, though, whatever's come up is right-in-your-face personal, and the only way past it is to dive through. Here are some basics that can help:

Slow Down
Hardly anything needs to happen right away. Whether you're given a diagnosis of cancer, or an ultimatum in a relationship, you can always take time to get clarity. My rule of thumb is to sleep on it. Give yourself time to reflect and research. Many possibilities open up in the space of 24 hours.

Reframe
It's amazing how a situation transforms when you look at it differently. "This isn't a crisis, it's an event," was a mantra that got me through my dog being poisoned the weekend I was moving, just before I had to go in for an MRI.

Do The Next Indicated Thing
When things are totally crazy, it's impossible to try to control what's going on around you. When in the midst of chaos, just do the next indicated thing. Focus on a complete the task in front of you, and eventually everything falls into place.

Ask For Help
It's funny how this can be the last thing one thinks about. We're all trying to be SuperWoman or WonderMom. The phrase "God Doesn't Give You Anything You Can't Handle" doesn't mean you have to handle it by yourself.

An Intelligence Greater Than Yourself
My best thinking often gets me into the pickle I'm in. It's comforting to realize that there's an Intelligence Greater than my own brain. This goes hand in hand with asking for help. Sometimes that Greater Intelligence speaks through the mouth of a friend or advisor.

Give It Time
This goes hand in hand with Slowing Down. Sometimes the truth needs to be revealed. Sometimes the solution needs to evolve. Sometimes you have to sit in the 'not-knowing' of the situation to let what needs to happen become evident.

All of these things are tough to do if you are racing around madly trying to solve, fix, or control something happening outside of you. You can't actively change people, places or things. But people, places and things *can* change when you change yourself!

Your Perspective
My firstborn child is totally unlike me. He recharges by being with people, I renew my energy by being alone. When I recognized we were different, neither he nor I were bad or wrong, it transformed our relationship. He got easier to deal with, simply because I saw things differently!

Your Attitude
Sometimes we make things harder on ourselves through resistance. By resisting what it, we stay stuck in it. Accepting the things we cannot change, often changes *our* experience of it! We make relationships more difficult through resentment. When we resent someone for what they did or didn't do, the atmosphere in the relationship can be downright deadly! Letting go of resentment (and judgment, as well) clears the air. Behaving differently towards someone else often creates them behaving differently towards us!

Take Nothing Personally *or Seriously*
People's reaction to us usually has very little to do with us and everything to do with them. Give people the benefit of the doubt when encounting bad behavior. What we think is going on rarely is. Think of being laid off, or dumped as a Divine Intervention - the Universe was giving an opportunity to expand and grow!

Apply any of these suggestions to what is happening in your life today, and see how your life transforms!

In The Blink of An Eye

2011-06-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

This has been a particularly exciting year so far. We've had earthquakes, tsunamis and tornados (oh, my). There's been a domino toppling of dictatorships in the Middle East. And Obama done shot Osama. Just to name a few things.

Astrologically we had powerful eclipses at the end of December and beginning of January, and are in a month with *three* eclipses right now. Eclipses bring sudden, powerful changes, dramatic endings and beginnings, and reveberate with the power of three full moons, each. And Uranus moved into Aries in March, to stay for seven years. Uranus is the planet of surprises, and Aries is a forceful, forward moving influence. How can any of us not feel the effects?

I discovered this morning that, even though I live on an island near Seattle, theorectically, I could be at my mother's doorstep in Washington DC before either of my brothers - who live near Philadephia and New York City. (That's if I didn't stop to take a shower).

That's because my mother, who's just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's but doesn't remember it, decided not to answer the phone today. (She ignored 20+ minutes of continuous calling). Caregivers were on the way over for their scheduled visit at that time (I was calling to remind her they were coming), so were able to call me to say she was okay, but not before I'd gotten my suitcase half packed and checked out all the direct flights to the DC area.

Things can change in the blink of an eye.

Now, I'm psychic, so I should have known my mother was just ignoring me. And I kind of did, but it rang inner alarm bells anyway. And that's because my mother's *not* okay. I'm tuned into where she is in the progress of this illness. Systems are breaking down. It's not a crisis yet, but this was an early warning. A tornado watch, if you will.

The Boy Scouts' motto is a good one. It helps to Be Prepared. Not in fear of something happening, but just in case something does. Just as it's always a good idea to have a spare tire and a jack in your car, it's probably good to have extra water and canned goods in your pantry. In my case, I probably should leave that suitcase packed.

Energetically, it helps to Be Prepared. In navigating life, it's useful to be flexible. Change happens all the time; it goes easier if you don't resist it. You can stay grounded, respond rather than overreact, wait a few minutes or even over night before making a choice or a decision to take action. It helps emotionally when you're prepared like that.

Years ago, when my friend died, I realized that this lifetime happens in the blink of an eye. To Spirit, which is eternal, life on Earth is fleeting. As Essence you want to enjoy every moment of it, as it is happening. It's your chance in the pool; why leave before swim time is over? Splash and paddle until the life guard blows his whistle.

(And be prepared with sunscreen on your nose and shoulders while you're in).

This week take a look around your life and notice where you *are* Prepared. Notice where you aren't. You don't need to dismantle the scaffolding of your life, but notice where you're clinging to old structures that are no longer working. What would it be like if you could gently let these go?

For the next seven days, practice being flexible. And notice what happens when you do!

Every Day's A New Adventure

2011-05-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Every Day's A New Adventure is a song written for (and reflecting the teachings of) Abraham-Hicks. It's especially pertinent to me as my mother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

"Meet strange new people in strange new places, every day in the comfort of your own home!" is the joke about Alheimer's.

Dealing with someone who has it is a great exercise for dancing in the moment.

It reminds me of the same alertness required when parenting young children. Children are Infinite Beings in little bodies that can't fully take care of themselves. You need to be tuned into their awareness level, and able to shift when their cognitive functions increase. In the case of Alzheimer's, it's shifting when their cognitive functions wane.

With little kids, you want them to feel empowered, so you let them do things within the range of their capabilities. They feel invalidated if you treat them as younger *or* older. With Alzheimer's, it's being attuned to how much the person can do at the moment, and giving them the illusion of independence when it's outside their capability.

My mother hasn't been barred from driving but it's not recommended. She hasn't driven since March, and she talks about getting her car tuned up (it's gone 120 miles since it's oil change last October). Since she's not up to arranging driving herself to her service station and getting a taxi back, it's a safe bet she won't do it. But she can talk about it.

And she's constantly surprised. By people coming to the door (that I called and reminded her they'd be coming 15 minutes before they arrived). Surprised she's 3 years younger than she thought she was (she turned 85 yesterday but is convinced she's 88). Every day is a new adventure.

And for me, it's a new adventure, too. I'm going back to DC in July for anywhere from 3-6 months to 2 years. I have no idea. It's like discovering you're pregnant and having to give up your skydiving business. It's not a bad thing, just a different direction.

Viewing it as an adventure takes it away from the tragedy or the ordeal, and puts it into the realm of Creating Your Reality. As Spirit, I create my reality. I created this curve ball coming at me.

As Spirit, my mother creates her reality. She created Alzheimer's. And yet, she's not depressed because she doesn't remember the diagnosis. I think that's pretty sweet. She's creating me to show up for her, and other family members to show up or call. After years of being 'needless and wantless' in the guise of independence, it's pretty nice to discover people care about you.

Whenever something shocking happens to you, whether it's a parent getting diagnosed with a degenerative, fatal disease or a spouse announcing they're leaving or your company laying you off, it's a sudden re-direct on your path. It is never the end of the world, just the end of the world as you previously knew it. It is almost always a doorway to expansion. Such things always lead to greater emotional depth and spiritual expansion.

And, no matter how you might say you had *no idea* this was coming, when you look back, there were often clues you probably overlooked. The Universe, or You, usually gives you hints about the detour coming up.

So, this week, if you choose to - reframe what ever is happening in your life as a New Adventure. View it as a new beginning. Be open to all possibilities. Keep your eyes out for unseen support (it often shows up in unexpected ways).

And watch how your life transforms!

Vulnerability

2011-05-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Many years ago I saw Shakti Gawain at East West Bookshop in Seattle. She mentioned that there is strength in vulnerability. I didn't know what she meant then.

If you grew up in a family, or had relationships that were abusive or alcoholic, the world was not a supportive place. Being vulnerable meant you'd be attacked; it wasn't safe to be vulnerable.

When you have a perspective that the Universe doesn't have your best interest at heart, then you see situations as being against you. God is not benevolent; there is no one to lean on.

For me, these perceptions were walls (and floors) in the structure of my persona. I've created throughout my life experiences that have broken them down.

For a while it seems that every couple of years something would occur that would drop me down into the 'basement'; showing me my foundation was faulty.

Now the experience isn't as linear as floors and foundation. Portions have disintegrated while other areas have strengthened. It's become safe to be vulnerable while facing one of the most difficult challenges I ever have had.

Vulnerability is a softening into oneself and not resisting what is. Vulnerability is accepting what is breaking away, what is being lost. It is feeling the feelings as they come up. It is letting yourself go through them.

I'm starting to get what Shakti Gawain meant. Vulnerability is spiritual strength. You're not fighting the illusion and you're not controlling or fixing it. It's not denying the pain your body and persona feel as what they believed was real is going away.

In reality it's transforming into something different, which will probably feel better. It will probably be something you can later say you were grateful to have happen. But vulnerability is staying in the present moment, not trying to leap beyond the discomfort to when it's all resolved.

It's an interesting place to navigate (and sometimes it can't be navigated; you just have to cling to the raft as it hits white water). For me, when I can remember I'm Essence, then I can guide myself or hold my hand through the experience. When I can't, I can lean on another concept, of Consciousness bigger than the current circumstances.

What I'm noticing is that the awarenesses are coming multiple times a day; ones I would have missed if I were trying to tough it out. Although I don't quite know where this is going to end up, I can see to the next bend in the river.

Vulnerability isn't helplessness or self-pity. Even when you feel most alone, you are being supported. You have air to breathe. People and things show up.

The force of the river. The "solidity" of the raft. The frigid water. The warm sun on my back. Even in sadness or pain, we can love what is.

This week, notice where you are in relation to all this. Vulnerability is transparency, being open, being right in the present moment. If it resonates with you, let yourself breathe through it.

And that's all you have to do. See what transforms when you do it!

Sympathy, Empathy

2011-05-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Last week I shared about my Mother being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I've learned a couple of great lessons about Sympathy and Empathy since then.

When you go into sympathy with someone, you feel sorry for them, you acknowledge the things happening to them as painful, tragic or overwhelming.

When you feel empathy for someone, you feel compassion for them, you acknowledge that their feelings of pain or frustration are understandable.

My final days of my visit were filled with finding caregivers, getting legal documents created, setting things up so my mother could be taken care of while I was gone. At the same time I was dealing with shock and grief, and needing to stay efficient and productive.

Someone said to me, "we're worried about YOU!" They lovingly dumped me with a big bucket of sympathy.

And I never felt more incapable in my entire life.

Sympathy is invalidating. Sympathy says you can't do or handle whatever you are doing and handling.

Then I would go into sympathy with MYSELF and find myself saying, "I can't do this." Immediately, I would say, "Yes, you can. You're doing it." Because I was.

And I created support from all sorts of places. "The Universe doesn't give you anything you can't handle" (or a different POV is "You don't Create more than You can handle") but that doesn't mean handling it by yourself (or without creating others to show up to help)!

Helpful advice I received in dealing with someone with Alzheimer's is to express empathy. When they're upset they can't drive anymore, they can be told, "yes, it's frustrating not being able to drive. You loved driving."

With my mother, I emphasize that we're trying to keep her independent and in her home for as long as possible. The extra help coming in is because the neurologist suggested it (but I don't go into *why* the neurologist suggested it).

Fifteen years ago she came down with macular degeneration in her left eye, and successfully kept it from spreading to her right by eating right and taking special vitamins.

I remind her of that, and tell her she can do the same for 'keeping her brain healthy' and 'staying independent'. That it requires eating right, taking special vitamins, AND being more social (she'd stopped going out except for 1x a week when a companion aide would take her shopping).

So she's allowing for volunteers to take her to Church regularly, and accepting the care managers finding a Senior Activity Center for her (what I'm calling it instead of an Early Memory Loss Day Care).

If I were in sympathy with her, 'the poor dear has Alzheimer's and is just going to turn into a vegetable', I would be carting her off to Assisted Living in no time.

My mother, as an Infinite Being, is actually creating a pretty amazing experience with this disease. I learned not to keep reminder her that she has Alzheimer's (because she genuinely doesn't remember the diagnosis).

Because she doesn't remember, she's not depressed that she has it.

Everybody has a different journey with Alzheimer's. There's no predictable path of decline. Ronald Reagan stayed his same warm and loving presence until the end, even when he couldn't speak. Others retreat in fear into the shell of their former selves.

Because (and whether or not) there's no predictable path, my mother can experience it in her own unique way.

After years of being alone, she created me to show up and shine light on things.

Right now she's created a break from me, and a bunch of new people in her life. She's never had so much attention!

In July she'll have me back again for an undetermined period of time, as we explore what clinical trials are available. It'll be interested to see what She creates then!

So, look at your own life, and look at how you're looking at other's lives. Are you viewing through the lens of Sympathy, or Empathy? Are you validating your (and their) capable creativity?

This week, take the fuzzy sympathy glasses off and don the clear glasses of empathy. And see how your life changes!

Adventures In Dementia and Effort

2011-05-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

Adventures In Dementia and Effort ©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

I've talked a lot about how everything anyone has felt was solid and real is now disintegrating. Solid investments like the stock market and real estate really aren't any more. People who have identified with, such as their jobs or their marriages find themselves laid off or divorced. People with strong spiritual beliefs are finding them called into question, and energetically aware people are finding their techniques are working any more.

This is forcing everyone to be in a new place, expand and evolve.

I've been visiting my mother in DC and I had felt something big would happen while I was here. I had assumed it would be something created by Mother Nature (as other places have had earthquakes and tsunamis) and, while there were tornado watches here, we're quite a ways from Alabama. We did have a couple of political earthquakes - the most recent was the killing of Usama Bin Laden.

What I couldn't have imagined was that my 85 year old mother would be diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Wow. She has more in common with Ronald Reagan than just being Republican!

Her personality is disintergrating. Her memory is evaporating. She's still mostly here, but not all there.

For someone who survived most of her adult life being in denial, what a way to go. And at this moment it's pretty painless for her. She doesn't remember the diagnosis, and I've given up reminding her. Why bother, when she can't do anything about it?

For me, it's a wonderful spiritual exercise. If I'm in the present moment with her, I can dance with where she's at. I can phrase things in a way she'll accept, and I drop expectations of her being any other way.

It feels similar to having a toddler, because with a toddler you just give your life over to caring for them until they're old enough to go to school (yeah, it doesn't really stop there but you do have a bit more space for yourself by then)! With dementia, it's in reverse as they will grow less capable rather than more.

But at three they are somewhat capable, but not as capable as *they* think they are. So you let them make pretend cookies on a toy range, or scribble in crayon on a check register. You step in to do the real thing for them.

At 85 and still early-onset, you can trust her to microwave dinner or boil water for coffee, but she's not up to steaming her vegetables or broiling salmon any more. She writes all her checks in her check register, but she doesn't carry an accurate balance, and sometimes repeats entries on the following page. And makes actual double payments or misses payments. So it's time to step in.

Unlike most toddlers, who you can trust to be toilet trained and ready to go to preschool by a certain age, you don't know the progression (or regression, really) of Alzheimers.

So you don't predict, you stay in the moment, you make plans for the future, and remain realistic and open.

What a great way to approach life in general during these tumultuous times! Is the economy turning around? When will a new career or a new relationship happen? When will things start to get better?

In the present moment, it already is better. It is exactly as it is. And a wonderful opportunity to open, to embrace, and to grow.

How can you come into acceptance if something extraordinarily shitty or painful is happening to you? Scream, cry, yell, dive into and through it. It's a storm front passing through. It's labor pains - a contraction. Let yourself be pushed into new Awareness. You are being birthed into the new Consciousness.

Your identity needs is expanding so rapidly, your aura has stretch marks! Breath, relax, suck on ice chips and blow raspberries with your lips.

Life is an Adventure in Density and Effort (and for me, currently, Dementia and Alzheimer's). We created this for the fun of it. Sometimes muddy, sweaty, painful fun. But as Expanded Beings we are bigger than any problem, we are more than our current knowing.

So, for the next week, let your self Be Here Now, Love What Is, Chop Wood, Carry Water, Do The Next Indicated Thing.

And see how your life transforms!

The Power (& Limits) of Groups

2011-04-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

(c) 2011 Joan M. Newcomb, CPC

Today I tuned into CNN's live feed, hours after the Royal Wedding. Their cameras were following the crowds in London, making their way to Buckingham Palace. There was no narration, just the unending sound of people cheering.

What struck me was the collective energy emanating from them out into the world. The energy of celebration, of happiness, of joy. If you were above the planet, you could probably *see* the vibration radiating into space. Also being broadcast over the airwaves and on the internet into cyberspace.

How powerful it is when groups come together and radiate united energy! What a collective healing it is. Regardless of what else was happening in the news today in any other country, this event raised the vibration to some degree for everyone.

We join groups to raise our vibration, to move ourselves forward, to get a "boost" on our path or a "lift" towards our Spirit.

Last week I took my mother to Church. I've come to believe that Churches, Temples, Mosques and Synagogues, are phone booths to God. However we each have an inner Modem/Cell to connect directly ourselves.

As Consciousness develops in physical form, there are individuals on the leading edge who are Trail Blazers. They're the single light out there in the darkness, showing the way for us to follow. Then there are the Pioneers, who pave the path that was blazed in the wilderness. They form groups and bring them to the new level of awareness. And then come the Settlers, who settle into what's come before, to make it solid and real.

Initially there is movement forward, helping individuals in their personal evolution. However, there's a tendency to keep looking to the past, to the original Trail Blazers. It's like driving your car only looking in the rear view mirror, it slows you down.

Settlers make things solid and real, and that can be comforting and a source of security. It can aid with manifestation into form. But the foundation needs to be organic to allow for growth. If the focus is too much on the 'letter of the law' it becomes inflexible like concrete. Concrete disintergrates during an earthquake. It's not supportive for human evolution.

A truly powerful group is empowering. It encourages everyone to acknowledge their own Light, to become their own Trail Blazer. It holds space for you in your emergence.

We become part of a group because if fits where we are at the time. It may not fit us years later. It's okay to release your affliation with groups that no longer supports your expansion. This includes groups you're related to, work for, studied with, voted for, or prayed with.

This week notice what groups lift you up and give you joy. Notice which ones don't. You don't have to ditch all the non-functioning ones at once (although you can). Just choose to spend more time with the ones that make you feel good. Hang with the homies that make you happy!

Try this for the next seven days and see what happens!

In The Bardo

2011-04-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

From Wikipedia (trimmed for brevity):
     The Tibetan word Bardo means literally "intermediate state" - also translated as "transitional state" or "in-between state" or "liminal state"... It is a concept which arose soon after the Buddha's passing...
     Used loosely, the term "bardo" refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth. According to Tibetan tradition, after death and before one's next birth, when one's consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena... from the clearest experiences of reality... up to terrifying hallucinations... the bardo offers a state of great opportunity for liberation, since transcendental insight may arise with the direct experience of reality, while for others... the karmically created hallucinations can impel one into a less than desirable rebirth.
     In the West, the term bardo may also refer to times when our usual way of life becomes suspended, as, for example, when we are on retreat. Such times can prove fruitful for spiritual progress, as external constraints diminish, although they offer challenges because our unskillful impulses can come to the fore...

To me, the after death Bardo is a time of releasing all the impressions created during physical life. Everything You identified with (or yourself as) falls away. The part of you that identified itself as personality is terrified at its demise. But what is underneath is greater, more brilliant than the little part of you can imagine!

It seems to me we're all in the Bardo right now. Everything anyone has believed is solid and real has been disintegrating. The economy, stock market and real estate are some examples.  People are getting laid off from their careers and long term marriages are ending.   Things like this have been going on in individual lives forever, but we're in one of those times when it's happening with collective intensity.

It's not just material or emotional security that is evaporating. Spiritual and energetic realities are shifting as well. You may be a follower of one type of meditation or identified with a religious group, and find it's no longer working for you.

Sometimes this is a gradual change, that creeps up on you. One day you realize that it's been weeks since you went to Church, or sat down to practice, and it doesn't even matter.

Sometimes it's a sudden shift in circumstances. Your child goes into the hospital and the rest of your life is suspended. You go to work on Friday and told that you and a dozen coworkers are laid off. It's shocking, and disorienting.

Often these "surprises" aren't really surprises. You knew something was up, you had been hesitant on making future plans, so when reality presented itself, you rolled with it. Or you 'knew' something was coming and you hunkered down and clung to the present state, so when it started falling apart the pain was unbearable.

As with the non-physical bardo, these times can be incredibly freeing, an opportunity for joyous expansion. Or they can be times of enormous suffering, if you try to hold onto the illusion of what was.

If you can just let drop what's no longer there, you can open yourself to something bigger and better than you can possibly imagine.

This week, let go of whatever is gone (your regular schedule, that missed appointment, the old way of life, the last relationship, etc.) and open yourself to Your next Big Adventure in life!

Catastrophy/Create & Destroy

2011-04-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

There seems to have been an awful lot of natural disasters recently. I read about a Swedish couple that went on a four month honeymoon, starting in Munich, Germany during Europes worst snowstorms in history. They left and went to sunny Australia only to get caught in the torrential rains and cyclone in the South East. So they fled to Perth, which had wild fires. Their next stop was Christchurch, New Zealand in the midst of their earthquake and the final part of their trip was in Japan, which had an earthquake, tsunami *and* a volcanic eruption!

Blizzards, Cyclones, 'quakes and Tsunamis, oh my.

What does this mean? Is it the end of the Earth? Is the 2012 disaster movie a predictor of things to come?

Hardly. From the planet's POV, it's no big deal. It's been rumbling and shaking, belching lava and changing temperature since the beginning of time.

It seems excessive to us, because every human being has a camera on their phone and can immediately share with the world what's happening in their little part of the planet. We see it and it feels like it's happening to *us*, as well.

Like a house under constant remodel, creating and destroying is Earth's main activity. It spews lava and creates new land masses. It ignites wildfires, clearing hectares of land and releasing seedlings that otherwise would never grow. Certain insects, plants and animals need frozen winters as dormancy and hibernation are part of their natural cycles.

Our bodies/personalities view things with a narrow focus directly related to our survival. As a species we seem driven to change, fix and improve our circumstances. Using our creation of airplanes, we've learned to seed clouds to create rain, and release retardents to quench fires. We add dirt onto oceans to extend areas to build on. We see temperatures changing and take it personally, as if it's something we've done rather than the Earth's own gradual growth out of yet another ice age.

A monarch butterfly doesn't sink into depression because it's lost some of it's natural habitat in Mexico. Nature adapts to changes.

We, on the other hand, resist it. How's that working for us?

Actually, it's spuring us to create alternative fuels and come up with ways not to contribute to the destructive aspect of the planet.

But in other ways, resistance is futile.

It's helpful for us to realize that we, as Consciousness, create this reality series of Life on Planet Earth. It's important for us to know that we can handle big changes. Destroying can be as creative as creating.

When you can view Earth's changes from Divinity's loving neutrality, it's easier to go with the flow. When you can "Love What Is" and appreciate the immense power of Creation, you can shift into a place of agreement. When you agree with what's going on, it feels a lot better and the birth into newness happens a lot more quickly and effortlessly.

Although I've focused on nature and the weather, you can apply this to the emotional storms and circumstantial disruptions in your everyday life as well. It may seem that your world is collapsing because you've lost your job or your marriage or your car or your home, but You, like the Earth are simply expanding into something New.

This week, take a Cosmic Conscious viewpoint on your life. If you were viewing things from the Moon, what would it be like? If you were looking back on the point in time from a hundred years in the future, how important is it?

Make choices, take action, from a Greater perspective and see what happens!

Are YOU the 100th Monkey?

2011-04-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

The following is from "The 100th Monkey A story about social change." by Ken Keyes, jr."

The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkey liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.
     In 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too.
     This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.
     Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes -- the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.
     THEN IT HAPPENED! By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!
     But notice: A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea...Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes.
     Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.
     Although the exact number may vary, this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of these people.
     But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone!

I've used the 100th Monkey as an example of what is happening with human evolution, or the "2012 Consciousness Shift" we're all experiencing. There have been enough of us 'on the leading edge' to create this tipping over into everyone's awareness. Pretty soon, everyone's going to 'get it'.

Like a pebble dropped into a pond, we each create a ripple effect of energy out into our friends, family and community. When we change, it is shared with others. When our vibration raises, it gives permission for those around us to evolve as well.

We don't have to go out and make others see our point of view. We don't even have to engage with them (to show them how "wrong" they are). We just need to stand in our own Truth, and be in integrity with our values. In so doing, we're aligned with our Expanded Self/Highest Self, Source or Consciousness. We're in agreement with what is.

This emits a wave of transformation into the rest of the world. When enough of us do that, there will be seemingly instantaneous change. It's already happened before - when the Berlin wall came down, when the Soviet Union dismantled, and it is happening now in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East.

Are YOU the 100th Monkey in your world?

Get clear within yourself what is essentially True for you. You will find it very simple and profound. It may be a 'but of course' feeling. When you step into that space, others will react. There's no need to go back to what may make them comfortable but is out of alignment for you. The wave will pass through them and is their opportunity to evolve as well.

Come up with five or so core values, that feel essential to you. Perhaps things such as Compassion, Transparancy, Trust, Reliability, Honesty... and use them as guides to live by and make decisions. You will see if your workplace or your relationship reflects them - if they don't, it might explain your dissatisfaction in those areas.

Become your own 100th Monkey and you will see others who are doing the same. New friends and opportunties will open to you. Even old situations may resolve themselves or become what you've always wanted, simply because *you* have shifted!

Try this for the next 7 days and see what happens!

Collective Consciousness

2011-04-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

On You Tube on April 7th, Eric Whitacre will post his newest 'virtual choir', made up of over 2,000 individuals from around the world, all singing the harmonies to one of his compositions. Here is "Lux Aurumque" (Light and Gold) that he pieced together with 180+ singers.

It's very moving to watch all these different people, sitting by themselves in front of their computers, their voices joining together on cyberspace. It makes you think, this is what God hears, when He looks down at the world.

To take that a step further (and out of a male theistic perspective), it's the sound of the Collective Consciousness. All our individual vibrations blend together into an energetic symphony of Spirit.

At any time we are broadcasting our signals into the morphic field and it joins the chorus of the Universe. There is no good or bad to what we send out. Discordant chords are as beautiful as harmonies. Sharps and flats are really the same notes, just used in different ways.

Looking at the individual auditions for Lux Aurumque, not all the voices were perfect, nor always precisely pitched. Blended together covered up individual flaws and generated a sound that brings you to tears.

And that is what the combined energies of creation does to us, it overwhelms us with appreciation for Life.

Technology is man's way of replicating Spirit, of the greater aspect of ourselves that we can't express in our human form. We can't fly, so we invented airplanes. We don't think we're telepathic, so we invented phones. The internet as an information source is the Akashic Records on the physical realm.

We are Unity, separated into individuals for the fun of experiencing different aspects of ourselves. But as Oneness, we long to reconnect our essential selves.

The "Where The Hell Is Matt" videos of nerdy, white, Matt Harding 'dancing badly around the world' evokes the same emotions. Whether dancing amongst Huli Wigman in New Guinea, a crowd at Gasworks Park in Seattle or in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we feel heartbreaking joy.

When we leave our physical bodies and return to Source, there are no more tears, only Ecstacy. In form, however, it feels kinda painful and we place ethics on pain.

Important things to know: we ARE Consciousness. We are also individuals (collective). There is no good or bad to the vibration we put out - it is ALL music to the 'ears' of Consciousness.

So instead of trying to make your instrument pure, just focus on the joy of playing. Enjoy every moment of it, every breath, every tinge, every tummy rumble. That is how you 'make a joyous noise unto the Lord', that is how you contribute your individual vibration into the collective.

This week, go all out and LIVE, no holds barred. Savor every second. Watch how discomfort falls away when you step right into the cold rain without resistance. Taste every morsel. Laugh with gusto.

And see how your life transforms when you do!

It Does Get Better/ Being Different

2011-03-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Today I watched a video by Oral Roberts' adult grandson, who is gay. He wrote a letter to his Uncle Ronnie, who was also gay, and committed suicide in 2003. Their evangelical Christian family overtly condemns homosexuality and is convinced they'll go to Hell.

I think it stayed with me because there's a thread of 'hellfire and brimstone' Christianity in my family and, although not gay, I'm quite different from the rest of them.

However, I thought being different was a good thing. I couldn't help but be different. I'm the only girl (I have three brothers). I was born overseas in Berlin (they were all born in DC, in the same hospital, delivered by the same doctors). And I'm the only one in the family with hazel brown eyes (they all have blue). And, from the time I was five, we lived in different countries, moving every two to five years. So I got used to being the American, the foreigner.

The advantage of being different is that you're not swayed by your peer group, since you don't feel you have one. When you're not trying to be like anyone else, you get to be uniquely yourself.

I think the video also triggered me because for many years I was suicidally depressed. When I was sixteen and heartbroken from the end of my first relationship, I took a massive overdose, and was in a coma for three days. My father berated me in front of my psychiatrist that 'they had no hope for me, I was never going to finish high school, never go to college, and was going to end up in a brothel.'

This resulted in the psychiatrist recommended that I not live at home, so I finished 11th grade living at the Y. As it turned out, I didn't finish high school because my family was stationed to Sweden and I went to college early. Then I didn't finish college because I went to London to go to drama school instead.

Fast forward to my late 30's as a single parent on food stamps. I struggled with being suicidal and made choices that wouldn't 'tip me over the edge'. I didn't work full time and I didn't commute to the city, which impinged my earning ability.

Things did not turn around until I was 44 and in the midst of mourning the death of a loved one, which I've written about before. I was grieving and at the same time in communication with his Spirit. I got the distinct impression how, as Essence, we are all connected. This lifetime happens in the blink of an eye to Spirit. On Earth we may have another five or ten or fifty years before we get to experience a reconnection with our loved ones. But to Essence, it's instantaneous.

When someone dies, we are still connected with them on this level. And that life on Earth is a place to *play*. It's like being in a big swimming pool. Committing suicide is like getting out of the pool before swim time is over. So why not fully enjoy everything about life while we're here?

Then I began to apply the teachings of Abraham-Hicks. I started noticing my thoughts. I realized that all day long I'd imagine conversations with people where I'd be telling them all the terrible things that were happening to me. I literally had to grab myself by the ears and redirect my thinking to more positive things. After just two or three weeks of consciously 'changing the subject', I found myself lifting out of this depression that I'd been in for years.

(On a neurological level, negative thoughts create neural pathways in your brain, and your thinking goes along these "ruts". When you change your thinking, it changes the neural pathways so your thinking can go along more positive lines. This changes your brain chemistry as well).

Today I make choices that direct me towards the light, towards the positive. I don't hang around in negative or crazy-making situations. My work focuses on empowering people to do the same.

Nowadays many of us are going through challenging and painful times. Things we've identified with are falling away and our true Selves are emerging. We no longer fit in old careers or old relationships, we're being called to be the Essence of who we are, and our work and relationships must align with our values.

Some people are plagued with suicidal thoughts, because their body/personality cannot imagine life beyond the limitations it is currently living. When everything it identifies with disintegrates, it believes it is dying. It only know what has been and barely understands what is. Your Essence, however, fully comprehends, embraces and enjoys these changes.

We are being called to be different. There is no body exactly like you. As Source we are One, but through the physical, your Essence is Unique. Your vibration is an important melody contributing to the orchestral composition of Life. When you align with your Essence, your note sounds strong and clear.

How do you do this? Tune into yourSelf. Turn towards what makes you happy. What pleases You?

Sometimes you do need space from others who aren't happy themselves, or who want you to stay the way you were. As you separate from them, supportive people will come into your life.

As you turn away from invalidation, the invalidators will squawk. Let them. The most important thing to remember is that Light is greater than darkness. Truth resonates more potently than lies. Bullies, dictators, fundamentalists may be loud but they do not last. They end up self-destructing.

When you stand in your Light and Truth, you will feel Joy. And that Joy will ripple out to others. And gives permission to others to do the same. You will be a blessing and a healing to all around you.

So this week, take baby steps. Start by noticing and redirecting your thoughts. Or if your done with baby steps and cannot hold back any longer, leap. You will be supported. You will be leaping into a life better than you have even dreamed.

It does get better.

Letting Go of Others

2011-03-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

There's two parts to today's essay - 1) letting go of loved ones, family members, children, and friends, and 2) not matching the majority, collective, or group.

First off, it's important to realize that we are all Spirit (Infinite, Expanded). That means we're bigger than our stories, our personalities, our bodies, and our individual lifetime. An infant is as capable at creating it's reality as an adult. Before we are born, we create our basic story plot, including our parents, our birth circumstances, and our childhood.

I no longer believe that life is a school in that there aren't specific lessons for us to learn. We're Infinite; we ARE the 'Cosmic Internet'. Life is a road trip to be enjoyed. *And* there's always fun experiences with inhabiting into a body and navigating through the density & effort of a physical plane.

We are ALL infinite Beings. Including your children. *They* created their basic story plot, including *you* are their parent(s), their birth circumstances and their childhood. Your body may have manufactured (or contributed to manufacturing) their body, you may have given them rudimentary driving lessons, but ultimately, the keys are theirs and their choices of routes and stops along the way is entirely their own.

My firstborn was a home birth that ended up being helicoptered to intensive care for the first week of his life. It should have given me a clue that he was going to go a 'scenic route' through life that I would not have planned for him. In stepping back, letting go of his itinerary (which I had no power in creating, as much as I'd like to blame or take credit for), he's been able to achieve things I could never have imagined. And experienced heartache I would have given anything to avoid.

My youngest is in Morocco with his college group as I write this. It did not help that I followed #Morocco on Twitter and got every on-the-street video of protesters being beaten up in Casablanca and a couple other cities. For one thing, he was in Tangiers on the other side of the country. And I suspect he had a wonderful time completely oblivious to any political rumblings going on. He is orchestrating *his* scenic route through life in a more creative way that I could have written for him.

We have to let go of others to their own creations. They are not powerless, they are not victims, and other ones are not evil or bad. We are all Infinite Beings making up our own storylines for the challenge and the fun of it. When you can shift to that perspective you can be amused (Spirit is always amused, it doesn't take anything in this playground seriously), and you can appreciate how capable everyone is.

This includes letting them go to experience joy and happiness, as well as pain and despair.

This includes letting them go to live, or to die. As Spirit, there is no death. It's just getting out of the pool when swim time is over. The only part that is gone is the body, and that's a very small portion of Who anyone is. You can still talk to people without their body, they're just harder to hear (until you develop your ability to communicate with them). As Spirit there are no ethics about how long to inhabit a body, either. Sometimes a few months in utero is all that's needed. It's not how long a life is lived that matters, it's how full (to paraphrase Seneca).

The second part of this is not matching the group or collective. You can be in an area that experiences a massive disaster, and have a different experience within it. On 9/11 there were countless numbers of people who were supposed to be in the Twin Towers or on those ill-fated airplanes that missed their flight or had their meeting canceled, or woke up with the flu. They did not join the group(s) in that creation. Joan Borysenko's neighborhood in Colorado had a wildfire burn through, and her house was left standing.

In terms of spiritual or personal growth, we often have to let go of the group because, instead of allowing for expansion, they're encouraging limitation. Family members get stuck in perpetuating patterns of dysfunction or abuse, but we don't have to play with them! It's okay not to be related to your relatives. Lola Jones says 'spiritual practices are meant to be outgrown', sometimes spiritual groups, churches and belief systems need to be left behind as well.

This is also helpful in terms of the economy; you can experience prosperity in a 'down market'. You can get a job amidst the sea of unemployed, because your energy is brighter and stands out.

On the other hand, going through tough times or emergencies can bring out the best in people. It's an opportunity to grow deeper, emotionally. It's a chance to open hearts and hands to each other. In which case, your experience is less painful, you have less suffering, because you are in the bigger awareness of it.

Just some things to keep in mind during these exciting times!

Birthing Pains

2011-03-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Yesterday was very energetically interesting. I felt like I was high - on caffeine without the jitters. The top of my head (crown and sixth chakras) were very clear and open. It was like a continuous flow of creative energy. I kept wondering who was 'in my space' - if it was a baby being or a woman who was pregnant.

My husband kept saying he felt a profound change, a deep transformation or clearing out.

Then our stovetop blew up so we went out to dinner during a wind storm and when we got home the power was out.

I had a bit of battery left on my laptop to send a few emails and as I was shutting it down I saw the first Twitter notifications of the earthquake in Japan.

Today the news has been filled with the Tsunami hitting around the Pacific, and my Facebook pages filled with postings to do with astrological predictions, Mayan calendar dates, and scientific reports. Quite a lot of excitement!

One comment said "Birthing Pains for the New Earth," and reminded us to breathe.

The birth process is a great analogy for what we're collectively going through. Birth doesn't just happen on a physical level, there's a spiritual and energetic experience at the same time.

Physically you have contractions, which aren't necessarily painful at first but hurt like an SOB when the head's coming out (I had two home births without medication). You definitely have to breathe through it! Energetically it's very powerful as the Being prepares to fully move into form (it's been there during the development of the foetus but it really 'moves in' when the baby body comes out). The energy at a birth can be chaotic or euphoric or both.

The Earth has been having powerful contractions, with major earthquakes and volcanoes over the past year. We're experienced the chaos resulting from these events and may have missed the euphoria.

Consciousness is moving more fully into form. Consciousness is the essence of who We are, all the different bodies and personalities are the manifestation of Consciousness. From Consciousness' perspective, Consciousness is integrating more into bodies. Our individual personality and body we may experience it as our Awareness is raising or we are 'waking up.

As this is happening, anything that is not in integrity with Consciousness is disintegrating and falling away. We are experiencing 'earthquakes' in our personal lives. Things we've identified with and relied upon are disintegrating. Our careers, our investments, our relationships all seem to be falling apart.

People who identify with these things are experiencing the most pain. And that which is "dying" is squawking the loudest. People and things who have been limiting people's expansions are losing power, as we're seeing in the Middle East. It's interesting to see the right wing extreme in the US attempt to impose more limitations and restrict basic rights. They may seem to be 'winning' but they cannot prevent the inevitable expansion any more than a woman in labor can cross her legs and stop her birth.

With increased Consciousness there's increased responsibility. This does not mean taking responsibility for others, nor accepting blame for events. It means responding-to rather than reacting. It means ownership of your own creations. You are not a child and God is not the parent. You are the Divine Being, senior in your own space. It means taking responsibility for your inner power and use of it.

How do you get through the birth pains? Breathe. Allow support; spiritual midwives will show up in all sorts of guises. Accept (because there's no going back when labor has started). When you are in agreement with the changes, the process goes easier for you!

View it from a Spiritual perspective and you'll find yourself excited rather than fearful. Instead of trying to control the outcome, be curious about what possibilities await you. Step up and out of your personal story and drama (and beyond the news and gossip) and see the bigger picture. Open to the expansion and you'll have a quick and joyful birth.

Remember these suggestions over the next days and weeks and you'll have a lot more fun with your transformation.

Your Inner Voice is WRONG

2011-03-03T18:41:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Sometimes your Inner Voice is wrong. I'll give a couple of personal examples - when my son flew from Seattle to Mexico at New Years, we were told at the airport that, in San Francisco, one of his two checked bags would most likely be held back to a later flight. Going to Mexico, that usually means you can kiss that luggage goodbye.

I spent the next 48 hours convinced that was what happened and being quite emotionally overwhelmed by the thought of what he'd lost. When my son finally responded to my emails, Facebook messages and texts, all was well and he was enjoying the sunshine.

Last week I was given some misinformation about a family event by my 84 year old mother. Her memory isn't good so she makes notes when she talks on the phone. When I called her, she read something off her notes that sent me into a spiral for the entire week. It turned out to be completely false.

What went wrong with my 'spidey senses'? I'm a professional psychic, I should Know these things!

My first clue, with both of them, was overwhelming emotion. One's true Inner Voice is softspoken and rational. Listening to it is calming. The information comes across and it's 'but of course' - you can feel the inner truth of it.

The second clue is the story. If the voice you are listening to is telling you dramatic details, it's probably not true. Your Inner Voice is not a soap opera screenwriter. The world isn't coming to an end, there is no conspiracy theory, and other people really don't think of you that way (they're more concerned with how others think of *them*).

Your Inner Voice is your Inner Wisdom, not your inner gossip columnist.

The thing is, your Inner Voice and that other voice both sound like you. It's just that one sounds like you when you're crazy.

Which one do you want to listen to?

One leads you in the direction of serenity, the other towards insanity. It's really not that hard a decision.

However, you need discernment. You need to start being more conscious of the narration inside your head. You need to slow down and notice what you're listening to, which part is running your life.

Just because one is loud, doesn't mean it's more powerful. It only gains energy if you listen to it. It also gains energy if you argue with it. Grab yourself by your ears and redirect your focus.

Notice what stimulates the loud voice and stop feeding it. Perhaps you need to stop listening to the news. Or start listening to the news on a foreign channel. You may find the British and Asian news reports are far less agitating. Perhaps you need to limit contact with certain friends or relatives, so you don't keep replaying conversations with them in your head.

Often the loud voice is most active in the wee hours of the night. Take charge of that time and practice meditation, or affirmations, or decide what you'll do when you win the lottery.

Do things that stimulate your real Inner Voice. Walks in nature, inspirational books, mellow music, whatever supports your soul.

The more you pay attention to your *real* Inner Voice, the stronger your connection with it becomes. Your life reflects your inner talk, and listening to your real Inner Voice brings you real inner peace. You may still be looking for work, or your soul mate, but you remain centered.

This week, notice which voice you're paying attention to inside your head. If your life is hectic and your thoughts are running in circles, that's your fake voice. Make choices to listen and respond to your *real* Inner Voice this week, and notice what happens!

Where is your nose?

2011-02-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

It's been an intense time for many people. We are collectively going through an Emergence. You can see it as our Consciousness vibration raising, or a deeper integration with our Expanded Selves.

What doesn't match this higher vibration is becoming unbearable. It is showing up differently in each of our lives. For some it is long-term relationships with friends or family as we've outgrown the patterns we used to share. For some it is their career, either feeling stuck in their job, or being laid off and unable to find another in their industry (because in reality their work is not in integrity with their Purpose). And around the globe you can see governments breaking down that are stuck in old, restrictive patterns.

There's a lot going on to distract you from your own growth.

Even if you're part of a group that is in a similar expansion - say you're among the unemployed, or you live in Egypt - you still have your own unique process. The group can be supportive, if it's moving forward or raising vibration. It can be limiting if it's representing stuckness.

It can be confusing to know what is your own information and energy amongst everyone else. Here's some clues -

Your own emotions feel clear to you. If it's your anger, it feels clear and pure. If you're joyous or happy, you're on the right path, connected with Source.

If you feel distorted, disconnected, highly dramatic or confused, you're energy is mingling with others or bumping up against external restrictions.

Energetically, there's some techniques for maintaining separation when in groups or in collective situations. Have the sense of 'owning your space', your energy bubble or aura. Just a sense of ownership can define your awareness from other's reality. You can also imagine being a 'half step above' other's vibratory levels. A fun way to do this is to imagine your aura is a different color than everyone else. (Teenagers with their IPods do this musically).

It's also helpful to know what is your business and what's not. What goes on in someone else's life is none of your business - even if you're a spouse or sibling or child. They're Infinite Beings, capable of creating their own reality. They have their own connection to Source. They have their own Guardian Angels. (This is great for dealing with ex-relationships and for young adult children. They get to have the consequences of their own actions, too).

Figure out, where is your nose? If your nose is into someone else's life, you get to experience their craziness, too. Does that benefit you? Does it help you resolve your own issues? Is it moving you forward on your path? Notice where your nose is, and turn it towards your own life.

When you're driving, you have a tendency to steer where you're looking. If you're looking towards the dark side of things, you're steering yourself there. If you're looking at your neighbor's life, you're steering into their lane. Look in the direction where you are going, you'll avoid any potholes in the road ahead.

So, this week notice if you're feeling clear or crazy. Notice if you're thinking about solutions to your own issues or about other people's Stuff. If you keep your eye on the destination you desire, you're more likely to end up there!

How Bad Does It Have To Get?

2011-02-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

About seven years ago I was watching my country play out patterns from fifty (and seventy) years before. It was astounding to me to see things regressing to a time of more limitations, seemingly less individual choice and freedom. It was amazing to see events unfold to continue the direction things were going rather than reverse them.

About the same time the Catholic Pope died, and there had been the anticipation that the next would be more liberal. Instead a more traditional one was chosen.

It showed me that things were going to have to get more "bad" before things got better. And that it was a world evolution, not just my country's.

Since then, our economy plummeted and many other countries' followed.

We've been in a turnaround time for the last couple of years, although in some cases you wouldn't know it. There are loud and shrill voices trying to continue the trend of restrictions, to perpetuate the adjustments that were made in recent years to benefit the "haves" separating them further from the "have-nots".

My feeling was that the previous downward spiral had to continue in order for us to come out of denial, to see what was happening more clearly, it had to hit our back yards so to speak. It has to increase before a push-back occurs.

It's all part of the old energy disintegrating as our vibration consciousness raises. Those that cling to the old way are experiencing the most discomfort. That which is dying is illusion, and it yells the loudest.

The Middle East is a great example of the 'push-back' that is happening. Four or five countries are uprising now. It's the area with the oldest energy, the most limitation, the least freedom, the biggest dichotomy between wealth and poverty. A miraculous transformation is evolving there.

In my country it is happening on a grass roots level as well. Individuals gathering for civil rights, protesting the attempts of the old energy to continue control. It's not done here. We on the brink of another 60's style revolution.

For the Middle East it is just beginning. As each country topples old regimes, there's a lot for them to figure out, how to do things differently. Their culture(s) run deep.

We've reached critical mass, in terms of the Light entering our conscious awareness. Like 'the wave' at a baseball stadium, we are standing up, not simultaneously but in a fluid flow around the globe. We're at the 100th monkey point, where everyone is about to get it.

How bad does it have to get? Depends on where you are and how much you resist change. What's falling apart in your life is a reflection of lies/distortion you've been clinging to as truth. If you're out of work, you're being called to reinvent yourself. If your relationship is dissolving, you're needing to learn the same thing leaving it as you needed to learn to stay in it - owning your own power, speaking your own truth, creating your own foundation, setting your own energy level are some examples there. You may have had loved ones pass over; an opportunity to realize that no one ever dies, that they're easier to talk to now if harder to hear.

If you're witnessing others being stuck (friends, family, legislators) do not judge them. Feel compassion, for they are in extreme pain. Their world is crumbling and their identities are dissolving.. They are leaning against the sandbags of their beliefs and the tsunami of transformation is just too powerful.

Let it go. Let it happen. Be different. Be new. Be yourself. Speak up, stand up, take action. Break through the illusion, but don't wrestle with it. Don't use your energies to resist, but to propel you forward. Any step is in the right direction, and the Universe will support you.

Exciting times. Have fun with it.

The Eff word

2011-02-10T16:08:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Years ago I worked for a spiritual organization. I loved my job but the schedule was challenging, a 70 hour week, 300 mile commute with one weekend off a month. Because it was spiritual, I thought I was working for God. And I had two kids, in preschool and kindergarten. I was totally fried.

As some point I woke up and realized I could serve God by volunteering in my kids' classrooms and doing weddings. I realized my relationship with my children would have a stronger impact on the world than impressing people on a Sunday morning. I quit the organization and for the last sixteen years have been doing my own spiritual growth business.

Since then, I have shied away from a full schedule. But in 2009 my youngest went to college and my energy was renewed to take on more. At the same time I increased my workload, my husband was laid off. And then in the summer my dog had surgery for cancer.

Through it all I've used my techniques and my awareness to stay on track, to have a higher perspective, to keep learning and growing. Yet I was struggling with the Eff word -- effort.

For the last several months, I've been in burnout mode. And I know better. I know that the energy of effort stops spiritual creation. I know you can 'work smarter, not harder' and be more prosperous.

In the "real world", effort is rewarded. People admire hard workers. An employee gets bonus points for showing up early and leaving late. Nobody questions what their home life must be like, much less their inner life.

People judge those who seem to have it easy, labeling them as lazy, when in reality they have figured out how to get off the hamster wheel and make real progress in life!

In the Bible it says God made the world in six days and 'on the seventh He rested'. So even the Supreme Being takes breaks! Actually, the story is a message on taking care of one's body. As Spirit we can be everywhere at once, our energy is boundless and our creativity neverending. Our phyical body needs to sleep every night and some need regular naps as well.

Kris Carr of CrazySexyLife.com shared her own coach's prescription for taking time off: 1 night a week, 1 weekend day and night each weekend, every 3-4 weeks a long weekend (Fri-Sun) and every 6-8 weeks a long weekend. (For people who are self-employed, even taking an evening off from marketing and email seems impossible!)

When you're over worked, you're disconnected from Source and running on empty. In Joan Borysenko's new book "Fried", she says the symptoms of burnout are similar to depression, but antidepressants don't work. You need to renew your zest for life (and her book contains suggestions and exercises how to do just that).

For me I haven't lost my zest for life, in fact I have a stack of ideas I'd love to take action on, I just haven't had the time or energy. It's become obvious I need change my schedule and what I'm doing.

In March I'm going to do less one-time readings and focus more on on-going client connections, through classes and coaching. I'll be developing ways for people to stay connected with me to fit different budgets.
Stay tuned for new developments!

So, where has the Eff word taken over your life? Where are you spinning your wheels? Where have you been putting in a lot of effort and showing no results? Wherever or whatever it is, this week STOP and take some time off. Sneak out to a matinee movie. Go to the local aquarium or zoo. Schedule an appointment with yourself and take a nap. And notice how much more actually gets done, with less effort!

Foundation and Freedom

2011-02-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

This is a pretty big topic, on many different levels. We have this physical world, which to all appearances, requires structure in order to create form. We have the non-physical world, the realm of Spirit or Energy, which is limitless, and yet is it what manifests form.

From the physical world perspective, manifestation requires effort. It takes work to make something. It requires time and materials to create anything, biological or technological or any other form.

From the non-physical perspective, it's instantaneous. Reality takes place in the blink of an eye (and disappears as rapidly, as well). In order to create from Spirit, it requires non-attachment, and no-effort (effortlessness).

A simplistic explanation is that 'thoughts become things'. We have an idea, we give energy to it, and it shows up in our lives. We think of something we don't want, and it shows up, too. We view the world through our thought-perspectives, so that colors what we manifest as well.

Often when you let go of trying to attract something or someone into your life, it comes to you. Why is that? Because you've let go of effort and you've allowed the Universe to bring it.

When you focus on creating something, put all your thoughts and attention on it, and it doesn't come about, it's probably because you're holding on to it energetically, which keeps it as a desire rather than a reality.

Some people flop over to the other side in terms of letting go. They release *completely* and just do whatever comes to mind. Somethings things manifest, sometimes nothing does, they don't care because they're just enjoying the ride of life. That works, too. Or not.

Sometimes you need to create *inner* space for what you want to manifest. You do all the above suggestions for creating wealth or a soul mate, but your inner life is 'a mess'. You're up to your ears in credit card debt, or you're carrying resentments about your ex, those are indicators that you don't have room in your life for something different.

The non-physical realm is limitless and joyous, and represents freedom to us. When we desire prosperity, we're really desiring freedom (freedom from worry, freedom from working at a job we don't love, etc.). But when we think of what it would take to provide a foundation for that, it feels like restriction. Why have a budget? Why keep track of a checkbook balance? If I win the lotto and am fantastically wealthy, I won't need any of that! (Which is why most lottery winners are bankrupt within five years). In actuality, structure brings freedom. Being aware of spending opens up spaces for income to flow. It's indicating to the Universe that you can handle more!

There's a difference between inner structure, where your inner life is organized, and external control. One comes from Essence, and allows the real you to flow through, and the other comes from fear, which is a body-level experience. Notice the difference as you navigate.

People feel the same way about commitment and relationships. They get scared of committing because they think they'll be trapped. In reality you are committing to *yourself*, and to being in integrity with your values. Being faithful to your inner Essence can shift all of your relationships. Those that are in alignment with you show up, those that aren't either transform or fade away.

All it takes is making a decision in the present moment, and taking the next indicated steps. Becoming aware of your spending habits, making time to meditate, to spend enjoyable time with yourself, all you need to do is the first baby step, and go from there.

Foundation leads to freedom. What can you do (shift, let go of, take action on) today to get there?

In The World, not Of The World

2011-01-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

Many years ago I heard the phrase "In the world, not of the world", and it really spoke to me. To me, being in the world but not of the world is a reminder that we are Infinite Beings, creating this planet of density and effort to play in. It's an opportunity to experience all the wonderful aspects of physical reality, which is the opposite of Who You Really Are.

You are more that your personality and your physical form. You are more than your individual soul as well. You are Consciousness, and as Consciousness you are Infinite, Unity, Joy, Love, and all that groovy stuff.

Physical reality is density and effort. It is black and white and all colors in between. It is the range of all emotions from ecstasy to despair. It is pain and pleasure, hot and cold, birth and death.

I used to see myself as in the world but not of the world, and detached from the world as well. Even though there are people and groups with similar beliefs out there, I tend to stay on the periphery.

Recently I've found myself far more focused on politics and social issues than I ever have before. I spent the previous 16 years avoiding newspapers, not being happy with the social behavior of one president and *all* behavior of the second one. Now I'm following the current president on Twitter, and everyone on Facebook posts all the latest news from around the world. And sometimes getting *really* caught up in it!

It's like going to Disneyland, where the buildings along Main Street are built at 3/4 scale on the first level, then 5/8 on the second story, and 1/2 scale on the third—reducing the scale by 1/8 each level up. You can be really excited by the thrill and adventure of it all, and at the same time know (if you're over the age of 8) that it's not real.

If you get mired into conflict and distressing situations as real, you solidify them. It makes it harder to navigate out of them. If you're struggling with an illness, you can set in place the diagnosis and prognosis that way. AIDs used to be a death sentence, now people are living for decades and even having children. Even end stage cancer doesn't have to be the end, just because a cast member in a white lab coat costume in your theme park said so.

Illusions are breaking down at this time. Everything people believed was solid and real is disintegrating. The housing market, the stock market, the job market, the economy are all collapsing into a new reality. Those who are having the most difficult time are the ones clinging to the way it was.

When you let go of the old state, it doesn't have to mean that everything you've valued in your life will disappear (although that sometimes happens). It means you step up to the new level. It's a little like the old Disney cartoons versus Pixar. Some things do change, because you're opening yourself to new creations. But it also allows for seemingly impossible situations to resolve themselves, and intransigent relationships to get better.

This week, as you go about your life, imagine Disney's Main Street. Realize that from an Expanded perspective, you're aware of the bigger perspective (even if you can't see it right now). Allow yourself to be in the world but not of the world. Feel free to step back or step to the side, to see things differently.

Try this every day for a week, and see what happens!

Clinging To Your Story?

2011-01-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Every once in a while I encounter someone who is overly attached to their condition or story. Their caught up in all the miserable details and suggestions for alleviating it are hotly argued. They may feel defined by it that they're victim of it or a survivor of it. It may be their excuse for not moving forward - it is too big to overcome.

It's especially interesting when they're seeing me for a session. I mean, they're paying me so I expect that they want light shed on the situation and they want it transformed. But often they just want to talk about it.

This week I mused on my own stories that I'm attached to, the ones from my past that contain pain or frustration. When I tell these in my head, I immediately disempower myself. I'll regress to the time when it happened, and forget that I'm older and wiser now.

Looking at it energetically, I see two things: the story appears as pictures or transparencies that, looking through them, distort reality and there are patterns in the field that you can get stuck on. The patterns are created by the collective energy of everyone with similar stories and can be a sargasso sea to try to navigate out of.

If you really want to feel better, if you really want your life to transform, you have to let go of the story and steer yourself in a different direction.

How you can tell if you're stuck (because sometimes it's so familiar to you, it doesn't seem like a story but just reality) is if it feels uncomfortable. If it's anything other than joy, serenity, happiness, or contentment, it's a distortion.

Fighting or arguing with a pattern just adds energy to it.

If you're triggered by something, you're buying that it's real. Ironically, buying into your pattern, drama, or discomfort drama makes it a problem, makes it real, and doesn't bring about a solution. Again, if it's anything other than joy, serenity, happiness, or contentment, it's a distortion.

Ironically, buying into your pattern/drama/disease/problem makes it a problem, makes it real, doesn't bring about a solution. You don't need to react dramatically to things, even if they seem dramatic. And you rarely need to react to anything immediately. You can take time to have a neutral response.

Sometimes it's choosing not to hang out with people who reinforce the old paradigm. If you can't be detached and not match their energy level, it can be better to take a break from them.

Sometimes you have to dive into the uncomfortable feelings it in order to get through it. But sometimes that just mires you in more deeply. Notice if diving in, you emerge on the other side exhilarated. If not, maybe trying another technique will be more effective.

Sometimes it's about making different choices with your thoughts, steering your attention to more positive things. You can find that your negative thinking is a bad habit which requires some vigilance to change. I've found that, once your start catching your thoughts it doesn't take long before being positive is your new set point.

Try any of these suggestions for the next 7 days, and see how your life transforms!

Dead People Aren't Gone

2011-01-14T11:16:00.000-08:00

©2011 Joan M. Newcomb

The other morning, just before I was quite awake, someone who died a few years back came into my Consciousness. I had an interaction with him (couldn't call it a conversation as no words were exchanged). I felt his energy/presence. I identified who it was. I got the impression from him that he had been pleased by a gift I had given him.

As I was just waking up, I couldn't remember how I'd given the gift to him. I could only remember that he'd directed a play I was in during a significant time for me. Much later I discovered he'd been diagnosed with cancer at the same time, which he'd struggled with for years afterwards.

I remembered the gift, and that I'd gotten it in England, but I hadn't gone to England while I was in that play. Then I recalled another play he'd directed... but it wasn't then, either. Finally I uncovered my first memory with him, a class at our local Arts Center. *That* was when I went to England and gotten him the little book of Shakespearean insults...

Then there was an impression of his house, but I hadn't ever been there. And then I realized I must have gone there for a cast party, I can't remember which one.

The interaction went on for a while, as I 'felt' him in my Consciousness. It was different than when I do readings. When I read for others, I do it visually, so it's removed from me. This had no boundaries, it moved in and out. It brought up things I hadn't remembered. It was emotional and intimate.

It's a new level of awareness for me, with people who have passed.

What I know is that the dead aren't gone. They're still There. They've just disappeared from view, but not from Consciousness. I like to say that they're easier to talk to, just harder to hear. You have to use senses other than your ears and eyes to get impressions from them.

I also know they appreciate being acknowledged and communicated with. You're not crazy if you talk with dead people. And if you write down the impressions you feel you're being given by them, when you read it later you know you couldn't have possibly made it up!

In my sphere of friends and acquaintances, several people have died recently, or are in the process of dying. I did Matrix for several of them. It didn't change their dying, but perhaps changed their experience of it.

When you shift to the other side, there are no ethics about death. There is no good or bad. It's easier to perceive with animals, but is the same for humans. There is no time on the non-physical, so how many years old you were when you passed has no significance.

There's also a release of energy when you pass. I noticed it most significantly when Princess Diana died, her light really did circle the globe. And recently, I read about a brilliant street photographer whose 100,000 photographs weren't discovered until after she died. While she was in personality, she wouldn't have shared them with anyone. Once she died, her life's work-energy-creativity was released into the world.

What interferes with communication with the other side is our own grief and preconceived notions about death. If you believe they cease to exist, it invalidates their existence!

Grieving is a natural reaction, our body's response to death. Our body is very attached to this physical reality, because *it* isn't going to make it out of this lifetime alive! Our body needs to release all that energy, emotion, mourn the loss of the physical connection. As you grieve, you clear the blocks to feeling/sensing/being aware of the Being who you love.

This is all a creation of Consciousness (who You are at your most expanded level). It's deliciously complex and simple at the same time.

I invite You to be bigger than you are, and for Reality to be vaster than you can imagine. Open your awareness to the unseen and the non-physical, and notice how much richer your life becomes!

Who Am I?

2011-01-06T17:17:00.000-08:00

©2010 Joan M. Newcomb

I participate in a group who all, in one fashion or another, follow Robert Scheinfeld's Busting Loose model. It's interesting to see different people's interpretation of the work. I've taken the last several months to reflect on what my own Truth is, what feels right and real to me based on my own life experience and learning.

Someone pronounced how we are all Players in this Human Game and as such we have no power. I didn't agree with them in the way they were saying it, although as I write this out now, I can agree with the statement.

As Players in the Human Game, we have no power. The Player self is the part that's running around, engaged in the story and drama, that believes physical reality is real. It's the part that is fully engaged in the roller coaster of life.

When you want to (and try to) change, fix or improve the Hologram it doesn't work. You're fighting with the scenery, just pushing the furniture around.

A clue is if you have a Big, Fat Opinion about your storyline, and feel really strongly that things have to change, you're probably viewing things as your Player Self. It takes things really seriously. Everything is life and death to it, since that part isn't going to make it out of the story line alive.

For those of you who are regular readers of my Ezine/Blog, you know I'm talking about the Body/Personality. It's the 'Meat Suit' you put on to play the Game. It's the physical form you manifest to play here on the planet.

However, you're also an Infinite Being. Actually, how *I* would say it, is You are an Infinite Being. As Such, You created all of this (including your Player Self). When you shift your perspective and start viewing your life *as* You, your storyline becomes amusing.

For regular readers, you know I also call this your Essence, and in the old days I'd say Spirit. Consciousness is a good word for it, too.

Abraham-Hicks calls it your Inner Being, but I don't quite agree with that (although I love the term Inner Being). It still implies that it's something other than Yourself. You *are* your Inner Being.

If you just view things as your Player Self, you can get stuck in powerlessness. I know someone who spent the better part of a year lying in bed crying when she hit the first level of Busting Loose. The story of her life dissolved around her (which She was Creating it to do). But she wasn't able to get out of it until she started identifying with her Infinite Self. It didn't mean things stopped disintergrating or the roller coaster ride ended, but she started having more fun playing here.

The other end of the spectrum is when you identify with your Infinite Being but as still viewing it through the lens of personality. Wow, you are SO POWERFUL, you CREATED ALL OF THIS! And then ego runs around like a little Napolean, screaming and yelling at people (because IT CREATED ALL OF THEM). After a while it falls flat on its face and goes back to proclaiming it's powerlessness.

When you're lined up, Infinite Being and Player self, you feel amused, in balance, in agreement with everything that's happening. You don't need to change, fix or improve anything. But you do feel at choice with your actions in the game. Instead of being stuck to the script, you get to improvise.

When you're acting as an Infinite Being operating through the Player self, You don't get mad at others, because You know they're created by You. They're Other Aspects of Yourself, in Your hologram to play with.

There's only one Infinite/Essence/Spirit; You are Unity. You created others to get the experience of individuality and of diversity.

As Infinite/Essence/Spirit; You are Joy. You created your Player Self to experience a variety of emotions for the fun of it.

As Infinite, there is no good or bad, no time or space. All of those things exist in this world because... you guessed it, You wanted the fun of experiencing these things.

When you start seeing things as Infinite/Essence/Spirit, it activates your Knowingness. Player self only knows what it's experienced since it was born. As Infinite, You *are* the Cosmic Internet.

Now, Player self is a limited vehicle and there's only just so much You can cram into it. So if you're saying, "Well how come I don't know my future? How come I don't have the answer to everything? How come I'm not rich and famous'. As you expand your awareness, raise your vibration, let go of effort, You can embody it more. You choose not to know the answer to everything or everything that's coming up, because the game wouldn't be as much fun any more. How many times can you play tic-tac-toe without getting bored? On the other hand, isn't chess with all it's myriad of moves and combinations, far more fascinating?

You don't create being rich and famous because, as Infinite, You *are* Abundance. Experiencing lack is much more interesting! Even rich and famous people still experience lack. Will Smith, on the Oprah Show, confessed to waking up in the middle of the night worrying about money.

When you connect inwardly with You, money becomes a non-issue. It's about trying new and different things, taking risks, going through changes, living life to the fullest.

This week I invite you to shift perspective. Start viewing your life *as* an Infinite Being. What would it be like, thinking of all your problems, if you viewed them as the Infinite Being You Are, creating them as fun challenges? What if You were bigger than your problems? If you're struggling with another person, boss, friend, relative, partner, what if they were castmembers in Your storyline, You the Infinite Being created to interact with? You brought them into this game at the perfect time, perfect moment, playing the perfect role for You to bounce off of?

Go throughout your day and week making little shifts in perspective, and see how Your life transforms in 7 days!

Nothing Is Ever Stuck

2010-12-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

©2010 Joan M. Newcomb

About twelve years ago I took a class with David Spangler, and he said in New Age circles there is much judgement for being 'stuck', that you have to keep growing and changing in overt ways. He said 'nothing is ever stuck'. I recall he used physics or biology as examples. When something looks like it isn't moving, the atoms and molecules actually are. Even something that has physically died is undergoing change as it breaks down and transforms into something else.

This time of year (in the Northern Hemisphere) it seems like everything has gone dormant, and yet under the surface there's a lot of activity! Seeds are germinating, getting ready to generate new life, which won't be evident until Spring.

A professional author I knew once explained how hard it was to time-clock the creative process. So much writing gets done in one's imagination, prior to coming out one's fingertips and onto the keyboard. You can be mulling about your garden, seemingly doing nothing, but work is going on.

In terms of personal growth, we judge ourselves for being stuck or feeling stuck, when in actuality all our issues are coming to the surface to be worked on. Sometimes it may seem like an issue we've struggled with or thought we'd resolved before, and we feel discouraged that it's come up again. In reality we're dealing with it at a deeper level.

Often we feel most logjammed just before we experience tremendous breakthrough.

What to do when you feel this way? Sometimes nothing is the best answer. Part of feeling stuck is when we go into effort and try very hard to get unstuck! Effort blocks spiritual creativity. Taking a break, letting go, allows the Universe to bring to us the change we're trying to manifest.

Resistance is another aspect of Effort and will magnetically attract what we don't want. If we're resisting an issue, sure enough it will show up. Releasing resistance, not fighting what is, can make it have less power over us and even disappear completely.

If you're feeling stuck over achieving a positive outcome, baby steps may be the solution. We'll get overwhelmed imagining the end result and not even start. Losing weight is a great example. It involves changing eating and exercise habits and also your self image. Trying to do that all at once is too much. Breaking it down into - literally- bite sized pieces, substituting fruit for sugar, drinking only liquids with no calories, taking walks, can bring success as you grow into the new You.

Increasing prosperity and abundance has similar steps as well. It can require awareness of spending habits, being able to see or feel yourself at an increased income level, and letting go of old (sometimes family) patterns.

Usually, however, the only thing that is stuck is the voice recording in your head, telling you that you aren't or can't move forward. When you recognize and dismiss your Inner Gremlin, you'll suddenly see how productive you actually are, and have the energy to take great leaps forward. http://www.tamingyourgremlin.com/ has excellent suggestions for how to do this!

This week, should you feel motivated, try any of the above. Do nothing, or do baby steps, and see what happens!

The Power and Problem with Groups and Leaders

2010-12-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

©2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Group energy can be very helpful. Joining a group of like minded people can both validate your reality and help move you forward on your path. Groups can be supportive when dealing with life's difficulties. Groups can also help accelerate your growth, opening doors to new possibilities you may not have discovered on your own.

Leaders can be positive influences. They're boldly going where you haven't gone before, providing an example of how to do it. Leaders can be inspiring, encouraging you to bring the best out in you.

And sometimes groups and leaders just seem to be wonderful, but lead you down a garden path instead. The flowers and shrubbery look beautiful, but you're in a back yard and not on your own path.

Sometimes initially groups and leaders provide you a boost. They raise you to a new level of growth. They help you through a transition. And that's as far as they're meant to go, for you.

In the past, we had to band together in groups and follow leaders for survival. You were expected to stay with them for your entire life. In terms of countries, politics, and religions, you were expected to follow the same groups and leaders as your parents.

In terms of employment, you were expected to stay in the same career (the one you studied for) until you retired and they gave you a gold watch.

In terms of family, you were expected to stay in relationship with all your family of origin members, and stay married to your original spouse and in contact with your offspring.

Of course, society has changed. People are expected to switch jobs every few years. People who stayed loyal to one employer have been rewarded with the loss of their 401K, being laid off because the business collapsed or their position was outsourced.

In terms of family, people have woken up to not tolerating abuse (you don't have to stay in relationship with all your relatives), marriages rarely last a life time, children and parents change.

In terms of personal growth and spiritual development, groups are meant to be outgrown (if you are truly growing). You can only follow the leader so far.

We're stepping into a time of increased Consciousness. We're being expected to take more inner responsibility. We need to align with our own Inner Wisdom.

It's important to maintain your own seniority when it comes to groups and leaders. Trust your inner B.S. meter. Stay true to yourself.

I like the slogan 'take what you like and leave the rest'. You don't have to buy everything being told to you. All religious and spiritual teachings are being filtered through a human understanding. Human beings are fallible, therefore what they say can't possibly be 100% Truth. Interpret things for yourself, put it into your own words and language.

I believe we're stepping into a time where we have to blaze our own trail. We can't follow just one path, and not one made by someone else. We all benefit from multiple tools in our backpack.

At the same time, don't dis your stepping stones. Those groups that helped you transition from one experience to the next, appreciate them. Even the ones that seemed to be dead ends, they were learning experiences. Those leaders that turned out to be fallible, who were communicating through their own distortions, were sharing the reality they believed in at the time.

It can be tough knowing when to evolve to the next level. We settle into 'comfort zones' because they're familiar, not because they're comfortable! If you're feeling cramped, if you're questioning everything, if someone or something is completely against your personal values, it's okay to move on.

Staying within one group, following one leader, sticking solely with the precise teachings and not varying from them, is like taking ballet lessons from the same teacher for years and never stepping outside the classroom to dance.

You need to put the teachings into practice and make them your own. You need to embody what you've learned and have it move you to the next level.

Jesus said, 'What I do you can do also'. His disciples went forth and performed miracles, they just didn't get the same publicity He got!

Abraham-Hicks talks about your Internal Guidance System. I've talked about you being Essence, greater than your body-personality.

You don't access your Internal Guidance System by looking at someone else's. You don't align with your Essence by looking outside of yourself.

You *are* Consciousness. You not only can access the Cosmic Internet, but you *are* the Cosmic Internet.

So this week, separate the wheat from the chaff. Drop what isn't working for you. Have a lot of conversations with your Self. Take yourSelf for walks or journal/blog to yourSelf. Let your Inner Voice take prominence inside your head.

Try this for a week and notice what happens!

Insanity

2010-12-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

(c)2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Insanity is believing your own thoughts. I think Byron Katie said that. I'd expand that to Insanity is believing your mental image pictures are real. Or believing others' pictures as reality, as well.

Just before Thanksgiving, I started musing about the subject of instanity. I'd come across a 1970's documentary, Grey Gardens, about the first cousins of Jackie Onassis. The elderly mother and middle aged daughter shared the same first name, Edie, and lived together in the family's 28 room home, which once had been quite grand. The home was now falling apart due to disrepair, and the women likewise.

It was disturbing to watch. Their lives were shaped (or warped) by their own distortions and that of society's. Their distortions were the stories they told about their lives and history. Society's distortions were interwoven - women should have husbands, not careers, women of social status and background should dress and behave only in certain ways, etc., etc.

The elder woman you could understand the limitations that had closed her life in. However the younger woman had been so affected that her body had manifested alopecia (her hair had fallen out so she was completely bald) and cataracts so she was nearly blind.

And later, I read about Randy Quaid and his wife, who apparently living out of their car in Canada. They are convinced that people are out to get them, but when you look at the actual details, it's their behavior that is bizarre. He's been banned for life from the Actor's Equity Union for raging at fellow actors.

These are extreme examples, people we can clearly point at and say 'they're insane'. But what about the little (and not so little) insanities that we live and interact with all the time?

The holidays are great times for feeling insane. We have commercials on TVs and displays everywhere trying to convince us that if we buy such and such, our children will love us and everyone will be happy. We have friends and relatives on one side with their assumptions and traditions, and friends and relatives on the other side with completely different requirements.

We make ourselves miserable by trying to live up to all the different expectations and then feel like something is wrong with us, because we're not feeling the "Christmas Spirit"!

The only thing that is wrong, is thinking that something is wrong with us.

It's hard to recognize the distortions when you're fully in the midst of them. When you're wearing them as glasses to see the world through, or accepting what seems to be projected at you.

When you can step away from the craziness, you can start to see how crazy it is.

When you give yourself a moment to be still, take a deep breath, and be in touch with your Essence, inside you know that all is very, very well. Everything else is just noise.

At your Essence, you are Light, you are Infinite, you are Awareness. In touch with the Essence of You, you can be amused by all the drama in the storyline. If someone is mad at you because you aren't meeting their expectations, you can feel compassionate towards them, because they're sharing their own pain.

From Essence, it becomes clear what decisions to make, what actions to take. Instead of doing something because 'what will the neighbors think', you'll do something because it feels good to do it. You do things because it gives you joy.

It's an entirely different way to measure and act on life. What's really important? Time with friends and family (that you like; you don't have relate to people just because you're related)! Inner serenity is more important than having the right decorations on your house.

When you start to feel nutty, notice if you've crossed over into someone else's experience. Are you living out your mother's dream for you? Are you behaving in ways to avoid criticism when it's really your Inner Critic that needs duct tape?

A couple clues when it's not your Infinite Self/Essence - if it's extremely emotional or if it's black and white thinking. Black and white, life or death, all are body/personality level projections. Infinite, Essence is relaxed, amused and expansive. Extreme emotions are body reactions, usually fear based. Bodies only know this lifetime's experience and take things very seriously because they're not going to make it out of this lifetime alive!

The Greater part of You is more than this personality and this lifetime, so storyline details don't phase it. From your Essence perspective, it's all a fun game to play.

This week, try bringing this into your everyday experience. Remember to breathe, and take breaks from the busy-ness. Choose to view what's going on through a more expanded lens is helpful as well. Step up from the noise and look down on the situation as if you were flying over it, or observing it from the outside.

Try this for the next 7 days, and see what happens!

2010-12-10T09:33:00.001-08:00

Adventures In Density & Effort Blog is now a book - contains all the entries/ essays for nearly 5 years! Take a look! Would make a *great* holiday gift! (order by Dec 12 for ground shipping by Xmas)

Mystic Musings by Joan M. Newcomb | Make Your Own Book

Winter Musings (c) 2008 Joan M. Newcomb

2010-12-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

(c) 20108 Joan M. Newcomb

Just walked to town during a snow storm (wimpy by New England standards, very exciting by Seattle standards)! I'm writing this from the libary for a small break before walking home.

It was quite an adventure. I bundled myself up, taped plastic bags around the bottom of my jeans, put on earmuffs, a hat, and pulled the hood up on my stadium coat. My husband's snow gloves were a smart addition - kept my hands warm because of the extra room in the fingers!

I had a jolly time walking. My hat ended up being low on my forehead so I couldn't see very well. It was like being inside a snowglobe. Just me, my thoughts, and my Expanded Self.

I wanted to have a conversation about the issues I've been working on - fear, foundation, the need to be being taken care of (a driving force since I was 22), to name a few. The thing is, my Expanded Self responded immediately with one sentence to each issue, so it wasn't much of a talk.

Fear is a body issue, bodies are concerned about survival as life and death is very real to them. I got an immediate picture of the whole game, with bodies being a part, and the programming that holds everything together. But this is an illusion, bodies are an illusion, survival is an illusion. How can Tibetan lamas levitate or control their body tempatures in artic conditions, how can Indian gurus stop their hearts and start them again, how can there be spontaneous healing, people defying the statistics for AIDS and cancer, if this were a solid and set reality?

Foundation is within. When I asked about this I felt solid in my lower abdomen. I realized I was focused and asking this from my heart, but the response was lower. First chakra. Except chakras are an illusion, too. But this is my focusing point, this illusion of a body, so it's my foundation within the physical.

The need to be taken care of. I immediately got that all my needs *are* taken care of. Everything that unfolds is perfect, my Expanded Self is creating this all down to the smallest detail. Everything *is* being taken care of. But, but, but...

Not a satisfying response to a body that wants to feel secure and loved. (You ARE loved, I immediately hear). I want to win the lotto, so I'm financially taken care of forever (or at least for the 26 annual payouts). I don't want any more surprises or heartaches in my life. So that means my kids have to be happy and taken care of for the rest of *their* lives, too. Or at least until they're 73 and 76, since an on-line insurance quiz said I'd live to be 104. Everything has to be hearts and flowers for everyone.

Sounds like I want to live in a Disney movie, without the villians.

Even writing about this has triggered a deep, deep thread in me. It's probably a core resonance for everyone, stemming from infancy when we *needed* to be taken care of, or die. And I realize this loops back to everything I've been writing about - this is an illusion, the body is an illusion, this is part of the survival program that holds this illusion together.

I got the picture of one of those robotic babies that they given teenagers in Health Class (okay at schools with big budgets; other kids just get 5# bags of flour). The babies are programmed to cry, to need to be changed, be fed, and will stop working if these needs aren't responded to. We're all walking around in giant robotic babies. And mine takes over typing this blogpost occasionally.

What I do about this is to see myself as both the one with the need and the one able to take care of it. There's a wise, all knowing part of me, my inner Obi-Wan, and when I imagine it stepping forward, the needy part of me is comforted.

The library is closing early (no surprise), so I think Obi-Wan and C3PO are going to walk home now.

2010-12-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

Projections ©2006 Joan M Newcomb

As we’re nearing the end of this year, and this holiday season, I’ve been musing about projections. Projections are energy that’s projected through our pictures or concepts. Typically projection has a negative connotation – that it’s a limitation or misinterpretation of what’s really going on. But it occurred to me that projection can be very positive as well. Intentions are an example of a pro-active projection; sending out a positive energy for things to go successfully.

Being empathic, I’ve struggled with the effects of someone’s pessimistic projections – whether they’re thinking poorly of me (or whomever I remind them of) or they’re thinking the circumstances are going badly. But over the holidays I had a great opportunity to turn that around. I expected to have a wonderful holiday and expected to have a wonderful time with my relatives and my new in-laws, and I did. (Expectations are also an example of projections).

Recently a client of mine was expressing concern over talking with some of her business contacts. She expected that they would react negatively to what she would be saying. I asked her what it would be like if they were actually fine with the information, or even (surprisingly) pleased. Projecting a positive outcome before picking up the phone can effect what you receive from the person on the other side.

Everyone is talking about goals and goal setting as we approach January 1st. Projections are different than goals because there’s emotions attached. It’s creating a picture to view your world through that brings up feelings. It’s the energy of feelings that gets projected to the world around you. When you take charge of your projections, by consciously choosing how you view the world, you can change your reality immediately. A common term for this is ‘re-framing’, but the idea of consciously projecting gives it more of a three-dimensional perspective.

This ties in with the Law of Attraction, because you can be projecting an energy that attracts, or an energy that repels. Think about it.

One fun and effortless way to play with this is to set an intention as you fall asleep for what the next day is going to be like. What you’ve done is constructed a picture for yourself, and when you wake up you view the world through that picture. You can also decide in advance what it’s going to feel like when you do a particular activity or go to a particular event. People naturally do that when they go to parties or concerts.

What if you did that before you go to work? The night before, set an intention that the next day at work is going to be fun, the meeting is going to be full of happy people, everyone’s going to get along, etc. etc. (you can substitute the word ‘work’ with school, family gathering, or whatever applies to your particular situation). See what happens the next day!

And yes, you can do the same with an entire month or even an entire year. A slightly different twist when you’re working with a period longer than a day is to imagine a timeline in front of you. You can decide whether it’s your life in general, your career path, your relationship path, or any other path you choose. You can project along the path what you want it to be like. Some people are quite detailed -- even planting flowers along their imaginary paths! Some just fill the path with energy, gold sunlight, loving pink, vibrant red, healing blue. It projecting the energy (or emotion) you want to experience into your future.

So have a happy 2007 (or whatever you want to project it to be)!

Matrix Transformation (c) 2006 Joan M. Newcomb

2010-12-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

A year-long Clairvoyant Readers training program that I’ve been leading is coming to completion. My intention was to teach people nearly everything I know (I say ‘nearly’ as 25 years’ worth of metaphysical work can’t really be passed on in only a year)!

When I’ve studied with different spiritual communities, one thing I’ve noticed is that people were never trained to the same level as the people at the top. That may be because the founders had many years of experience they couldn’t easily pass on, but I suspect a strong reason with some upper echelons was job security – what would happen if the teachers taught their students everything they knew?

My personal discovery (to answer that question) is that you move to a next level yourself. My next level has turned out to be Matrix Energetics.

Matrix Energetics is a quantum form of transformation. It takes my belief that we live in a holographic universe, that we each exist in our own personal ‘holodeck’ (to borrow from Star Trek the Next Generation) and we’ve forgotten that we’re the one’s who program the computer, and gives us the means to *really* change our reality in astounding and often instantaneous ways.

At my first introductory seminar I got the picture that I’d been viewing spirituality from a very physical viewpoint. If you consider that the physical world is made up of density, effort, time and space, an analogy would be that, as spirit, it’s like being under water. I thought that the spiritual level then was like being above water, in oxygen. I’ve realized that it’s still seeing spirit from a physical viewpoint. Under water you experience the density of H2O; you feel gravity, currents, tides, and temperature. However, the oxygen realm also has gravity, wind currents, temperatures, etc. Spirit is outside of all of that. The nearest I could come to describing it is outer space (except we still experience gravity in relation to the Sun). Deepak Chopra refers to it as the Void, the space beyond (and even that, being a distance word, doesn’t accurately describe it) subatomic particles.

We access this area not with our intellect but with our imagination.

Matrix Energetics is a series of techniques you can use to bring whatever change you can imagine into physical form. It was developed by a chiropractor/naturopath, Dr. Richard Bartlett, so his initial focus was on physical body changes, but you can take the basic information and apply it to physical reality changes as well.

My experience with this has been sometimes exhilarating and sometimes unnerving. I’ve usually talked about spiritual transformation being like remodeling a house; the intent being to make things better but living with the sheetrock dust and plastic covering the windows can be uncomfortable. This has been more like… let’s evaporate a portion of this house and replicate something different in its place. (That sentence doesn’t make sense if you use the word ‘replicate’ as to ‘copy’ or ‘duplicate’, but if you think of STNG’s ‘replicator’, you’ll get what I mean).

It’s understandable why teachers and leaders want job security, want not to go to the next level themselves. Change like this can be *very* uncomfortable. I rather like being an expert, being skilled with my techniques, smoothly navigating my way through life. This has been a very vulnerable time, at least from my personality POV. However it’s taking me to my next area of expansion, it’s giving me a new way to create my life, as Spirit it’s been incredibly exciting. I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone (yet again) but I know that soon I’ll be comfortable but in a larger, newer awareness.

Rather than make this an infomercial for Matrix Energetics (more information can be found at http://www.matrixenergetics.com/ ), I want this to be an encouragement for each of you to go to *your* next level of transformation. Also, don’t be afraid to give away all that you know. It will open you to new possibilities, new ways of being. All you need to do is allow the notion that you create your reality and your life can be different than it is now to float out of your head and out to the Universe and all sorts of synchronicities will begin occurring. If you’re reading this, you must have already done so, and this article has been one of those synchronicities!

2010-12-04T19:30:00.001-08:00

The Bigger Picture ©2006 Joan M. McCabe

Your life is a movie, created by you. You call in the players, determine whether it’s a drama or a comedy, and continue to write the story plot as you progress through your life. I think of the people who’ve come and gone within my own life as cast members, some have non-recurring roles, some occasionally guest star in intermittent episodes.

In movies on the screen, the bad guy is just an actor whose been hired to do the role. They play the villain, terrorize the victim, get shot by the good guy, and afterwards when the filming has stopped, everyone gets up, takes off their makeup, shakes hands and goes out for drinks.

And, believe it or not, the same thing happens in real life.

In the spiritual realm, there are no ethics, no right or wrong, no good or bad, no black and white. We come from this non-physical environment of complete acceptance and neutrality, jump into the physical realm to experience such things as density, effort, emotions, dichotomies, contrast, time, and space, learn a bit about how to navigate through such things, how to manifest into form, and then when we’re done we climb back out and into the pool of light and love.

Actually, we’re already there at the same time we’re in the physical realm, it’s just that our physical parts can’t easily comprehend both states at once. Our essential selves can – our essential selves Know that we’re continuously connected in both worlds.

Think of how being aware in this larger way can completely change your view of reality! People who you don’t like are simply cast members of your own show. Situations you don’t like are simply scenarios that you’ve written into your life-script through your own thoughts and beliefs.

I’m in the midst of planning my wedding, and my intention is that it be a healing experience, a coming together of family and friends, a celebration of love and joy and all good things in life. I’ve made steps in this direction by connecting with my fiancé’s family, and by connecting him with mine, and by connecting our mothers with each other, so that even though half of us live on opposite coasts, we’ll have a sense of getting along and good feelings with each other before all meeting before the event.

When compiling the guest list, I automatically invited a family member ‘because it was the right thing to do’ even though it didn’t ‘feel’ right. This person played the role of abuser in our family, terrorizing everyone and their behavior hasn’t really changed, it’s just less frequent as we don’t all live together any more.

When I received his letter responding to the invitation, I didn’t open it for three days, because I like to time when I’m going to be upset (I had clients to meet with, a class to teach, readings to give, and I like to be in a clear emotional space when doing these things).

As it turned out, they’re choosing not to attend my wedding, which is a great relief! Stepping back, I see that my fiancé and I have set an energy of love and community that hasn’t attracted someone who lives in a different vibratory level.

Stepping back even more and viewing the Bigger Picture, this person is actually a being of light that I was really excited about interacting with when my light came into physical form within this family grouping. They, however, already had accumulated an amount of contrast and disharmony and so our lights never really connected. Some years ago I realized that they never would during this lifetime. And that it was okay, because at the end of this film, when the cameras stop rolling, we’ll all get out of costumes and makeup and go out for drinks. On some level, we are doing that already.

My experience with people who have already passed is that I connect with their essence, not their personality. They become easier to talk with (even if they’re harder to hear). So it is with anyone in now physical form with challenging issues; we can talk about it after the cameras have stopped rolling.

I no longer see this world as a school with required lessons to learn in order to progress up through spiritual grade levels or hold the belief that if you don’t learn specific lessons you have to repeat the class again. That’s a very linear perception of spiritual reality. Not every issue needs to be resolved in this life time and it doesn’t necessarily carry over to any future life.

Life is about fine-tuning one’s focus and bringing desires into form. The only purpose any of us have is to create. I’m choosing to navigate into more pleasant experiences of reality, and I’m also at choice with whom I have as cast members in my Reality Show.

2010-12-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

I’ve been having an amazing period of growth recently. A series of circumstances brought me yet again to another ‘bottom’ around New Years. It turned out to not be a ‘crashing through the floors to the basement’ bottoming-out, but instead I landed on my feet and discovered that I was actually on the third floor.

A kind of Divine Intervention happened to instantly restore my energy to myself, and my focus to my own life. And when I did that, I felt wonderful. If I spent any time looking at the previous five months, I felt like crap.

I’d gotten off track last summer when I began crossing my own boundaries, feeling there was something wrong with me if I felt bad when someone was inconsiderate or hurtful towards me. Something critical or insulting would be said, and instead of backing off, I would try really hard to gain outside approval.

All that evaporated over New Years. Focusing on my own life, I saw where I needed to roll up my sleeves and work, and also some really great things almost instantly manifested in my life. I suddenly felt connected with the Universe and flooded with affinity for myself and my world. I was almost giddy with self esteem. Thoughts like, “I’m the most wonderful person standing in these shoes”, “I’m the most adorable person inside this coat”, and “I’m the loveliest person in this bathroom” would pop into my head.

Random thoughts like these continue, and I feel restored to my Internal Guidance System in a way I haven’t felt in years.

Being in this place of clarity, it is much easier to choose where I want to direct my thoughts. For instance, instead of remembering how awful an experience was, I can appreciate how delightful the present is, or consciously set an intention for a future experience. What I focus on magnetically attracts more of the same. Sometimes it seems almost magical the positive and good-feeling experiences that keep flowing towards me!

I find I have to make choices about who I hang out with and be aware of the atmosphere of places in which I hang out. Some people have been quite upset with me that I’m not at the same level of drama or misery they are! Some environments are no longer comfortable for me, and that’s okay. This world is so big, so vast, there are endless choices of people to be with and places to go!

At the beginning of this article I mentioned that all this occurred with a Divine Intervention over New Years, but I realize that some of this was set into motion over a year ago. The previous December I made a decision to quit working in Bellevue because I wanted to facilitate spiritual classes. Back then I realized that I’d been operating ‘under the radar’ most of my life so that I wouldn’t be the target for my father’s criticism (this didn’t work, it only *invited* more). I realized that my life was really between myself and Source/God/Universe. So I made the decision to step forward and risk being entirely self-employed with my three businesses, even though my savings ran out in February.

This November I challenged myself further to examine my patterns about money, which has affected my relationships and my choices for most of my adult life. Each of these steps took me out of my stuck patterns and allowed my ‘Divine Intervention’. Each of these steps were course corrections, each time gaining back a little more connection to my Internal Guidance.

If you’re feeling ‘off course’ in your own life, you could look at how you’ve been navigating through your choices and actions. Have you been basing your decisions on outside approval or inner well being? Even one small change, one baby step, can start steering you towards a better feeling place. Tiny changes can start a ripple effect that can result in your whole Universe coming into alignment!

Shame

2010-12-04T19:25:00.000-08:00

Shame ©2008 Joan M. Newcomb

Oh, I don’t want to write this article – just the idea of it makes me uncomfortable. I publish this e-zine not only to share my ideas with the world, but also in the hopes of attracting clients. I’m afraid that people will reject me if I present what I’ve experienced about this subject. However, when the topic arises (in this case, three times in recent succession) it is obvious that the Universe is prodding me to talk about it.

Shame is the gift that keeps on giving – it permeates generations and societies. It’s also the blanket that blocks the Light – one’s own Source Energy and ability to create. Shame tells you that you are not okay, not loveable, nor worthy, that your actions and ideas are wrong, that you are less than what you truly are. Which is a big, fat lie, to put it less than poetically. You *are* Source Energy, you *are* Light, you are *Buddha*, you *are* a Christed Being, you *are* at your very essence, Love.

This playground that we call the World is a planet of possibilities and a planet of dichotomies. We come from an existence that is pure ecstatic energy to learn about manifesting through physical form, which involves density, effort, emotions (other than Joy), time and space, good and bad, all of which does not exist in the non-physical, spiritual realm. Spirit has no ethics, no good or bad, so whatever we create is a valuable learning experience. Shame included.

It occurs to me that shame is a part of our Spiritual Merit Badges. I’ve mentioned before that we have Social Merit Badges – the right house, the right spouse, the right job, the right car, etc. and we have Spiritual Merit Badges based on our life experiences, what has given us depth, has helped us to grow. Often things that give us Spiritual Merit Badges have to do with the loss of Social ones, and to those that are caught up in the pursuit of Social Merit Badges, Spiritual ones are invisible. There’s a tremendous amount of judgment attached to not having Social Merit Badges and to going through the experience of gaining Spiritual Merit Badges – and that’s where shame comes in.

I've struggled with shame a great deal over the last decade - my first marriage revealed many deceptions that led us into a great deal of debt. When I left, I lost everything (or so I thought then); most notably, the house where my children were born. We live in an affluent area and it was very difficult as a single parent struggling to make ends meet.

This shame is quite small in comparison to others on my list of Merit Badges I’ve accumulated in this lifetime. Some of it was gifted me by others – my father was abusive and adulterous and yet was the prime bestower of shame in our family. His emotional and verbal abuse was so severe that psychiatrists recommended that I not live at home when I was 16.

Some of my shame was created by my own choices and actions or non-actions. There have been times in my life where I’ve been on food stamps and have had to go to the Food Bank to feed my growing boys – poverty is steeped with shame. Shame causes one to work below the radar – which is not altogether a bad thing. Because of this inherent feeling of not knowing how to live in this world, I’ve made alternative choices in my life, which has stretched and grown me as an individual.

Shame can be quite paralyzing – one feels unable to move forward in life and career, it’s difficult to make eye contact, and makes it painful to be seen. It is so hard to talk about, and yet the only way to de-energize it is to bring it to light.

We have the ability to release shame and to completely change our reality. It starts with becoming aware that there is only Light, and resistance to Light. We can choose to be in alignment, that is standing in the stream of Well-Being, of this Light or – not. Realizing that it’s not about anyone else, just you and You, your Source, you can let go of what the rest of Society is projecting, what your government is doing, what people may be whispering. They’re Light, too, and their resistance is totally up to them.

When I bring my focus inward to my own Light Source, then it changes my vibration, which then changes what I’m emitting outward, and also what I’m attracting into my life. Suddenly I’m no longer in situations that cause shame and no longer hanging out with people who judge. I can re-frame my perception of reality; choose better-feeling thoughts, which leads to an increasing sense of serenity and even joy. This is the way to truly change the world – imagine the power of each of us emanating well-being, self acceptance, and love!

I started doing this consistently last summer and it lifted me out of not only a period of mourning for a friend’s death, but a long-standing depression as well. My recent experiences with shame (certain people coming to my house when I really wished they hadn’t seen where I lived) I’ve reframed as a gift to bring this issue to light, an opportunity to de-energize yet another deterrent to being on my path.

I invite you to try this yourself. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time or effort; it can simply be a matter of moment to moment choices. Catch yourself if your thoughts slide towards the negative and pick something slightly better feeling. Increase your spiritual practice or do anything that makes you feel better (daily walks, viewing romances instead of action movies, turning to the comedy channel instead of CNN). Realize that you *are* Light yourself, a wondrous and lovely being who has chosen this body to play in this world of dichotomies, and you are at choice every moment how much fun you're going to experience while you're here! Try this consistently for the next couple weeks and see how it changes your world!

Wealth & Poverty

2010-12-03T10:14:00.000-08:00

(c)2010 Joan M. Newcomb

A while ago I read a travel blogpost responding to a comment criticizing the blogger. The comment said you can do all this traveling because you're a rich American. Think about the people in the countries where you're staying, that redcap at the airport, the busboy at that restaurant, that desk clerk at the hotel, aren't able to travel.

The blogger responded saying, to the effect, that he'd rather hold a vision where everyone is able to travel. (And I've also read that this guy only makes $40,000 a year, which is pretty modest by US standards).

Someone posted on FB an article to "Make Affluence History", that the only way to end poverty is to end affluence. It then listed a bunch of suggestions on how you could do that, including telling your boss to cap your salary, skimp on consumption, and make a low-tech bracelet from an old bicycle tire.

The problem is, the people who would follow those suggestions aren't affluent to begin with. They've actually poverty conscious ideas. You don't raise vibration by bringing another vibration down.

And, with the current economy, it's bizarre that an article like this would come out, when so many in the US are experiencing poverty (or maybe not bizarre, just reflecting the mass poverty consciousness that's being projected right now).

The energy of poverty is contraction. It's held in tight, a constricted feeling. Everything is seen through the lens of limitation. When you're poor, it feels like being hunched down, in a squatting position, for a very long time.

Getting out of poverty can be painful. Standing up after squatting for a while, hurts.

The energy of wealth is expansion. It feels like freedom, like release. Everything is seen through the eyes of possibility. When you're truly wealthy (more on that in a moment), you feel generous and giving. You feel like anything is possible.

Now, there's an aspect of being wealthy that's the opposite of the description above. There's a level of being wealthy where you are disconnected from your feelings; you have all the 'right' material things and social status, so you must be happy. There's distorted wealth, where you can't empathize or feel compassionate towards others. The reason that person is homeless is because they're not working hard enough, or that person doesn't have health insurance because they're too lazy to get it. Distorted wealth is unconscious.

Distorted poverty is, as well. Distorted poverty wants everyone to be down at their level. They judge and feel resentful of 'rich people'. If someone they know gets a raise, or starts to do better, they assume that person is going to become a snob.

Underearning is an aspect of distorted poverty. Tolerating a low hourly wage or accepting a less-than-market level fee for one's services 'because of the economy', 'because people can't afford it', 'because I'm spiritual', is distorted thinking.

Being poor isn't noble.

Now there are people without much money who are happy. There are villages in India and Africa with few material resources, who, if measured by their openheartedness, their connection to family, their awareness of Spirit, are wealthy.

There are people with vast amounts of money who are miserable. They're concerned with having enough in their account for the entire year, and more focused on their portfolio than the actual quality of their lives.

Not all rich people are unconscious. Bill Gates is putting his Microsoft billions into smart ways of helping elimate diseases and improve infant mortality overseas. Warren Buffett is encouraging other billionaires, by example, to give most of their fortune away. Richard Branson is an example of endless fun and enthusiasm and continuous creativity.

Now, from the perspective of Source, there is no good or bad to being rich or poor. It's all an example of our Spiritual creativity. As Spirit, we created this planet of dichotomies to experience the opposite of who We are. From Spirit's viewpoint, it's fun to roll about in effort, we get excited by the challenges of limitation. Because our Essence knows it's all a game. The more challenges you creates in your life, the more spiritually creative you are! Essence doesn't take any of this very seriously because, hey, in the blink of an eye this storyline will end and poof! We'll create a whole new lifetime to act out in.

If you go back to the essential qualities of wealth and poverty, they are simply energy patterns. Wealth is expansion and freedom, poverty is contraction and limitation.

How do you break out of a limiting pattern, so you can experience more expansion? It starts by seeing a bigger picture of your life. It takes stepping out of your comfort zone, because what is familiar isn't always functional.

The energy of abundance is appreciation. Whenever you pay for something, you're expressing appreciation for it. Whenever you receive payment for something, you're receiving appreciation for it. Think about this the next time you pay your bills. Don't you really appreciate the things you purchased with that credit card? Isn't it great having a place to live, and electricity and water? Wasn't that a really delicious meal at the restaurant?

Rising out of poverty patterns takes appreciation, too. Wow, I am so capable that I created this really complex storyline so I can't afford Christmas presents this year. It is going to sound *great* when I write my memoirs! Wow, not having a job is *really* uncomfortable. I get to let go of the illusion of being (such-and-such career person). How fun to step out of the limitations of 8-5, 50 weeks a year, into a realm of new possibilities.

Appreciation is one step towards increase your own experience of wealth. I enjoy a feeling visualization as well. Abraham-Hicks says that prosperity is all around us, like Niagara Falls, but most of us are standing around with teaspoons. Think of the powerful flow of Niagara Falls, and the ionized air around it. Imagine that energy flowing into the top of your head and throughout your aura. Imagine your space filled with this energy. Let it's high vibration disintergrate any limitations.

What this is doing is raising your vibration so you can receive more in your life.

In order to have more money (or anything) you have to expand your ability to Have it.

Sometimes a technique for increasing money is to start spending it. There's a misunderstanding to that idea. On one level, expressing appreciation with money is telling the Universe that you trust more is flowing in, but some people compulsively spend everything they have and nothing comes in, because acting compulsively comes from poverty consciousness. They're spending from fear, not generosity. Tithing is more in alignment, because giving a small portion of what's coming in towards things that support you spiritually and emotionally is expressing appreciation towards Source (it's like leaving the Universe a tip for services rendered)!

Now, what happens for some people is they increase their monetary flow, and immediately their expenses increase. Because, what flows in, must flow out, right?

Instead of seeing Niagara Falls flowing in and then rushing right out again, imagine it flowing into a pool. That way your money flow can 'pool' and you can siphon out whatever you need.

You can do this visualization remotely as well. If there are relatives or communities you're concerned about, imagine Niagara Falls for them as well.

Play with these ideas this week. Notice when you're feeling contracted or limited. Allow yourself to breath in and expand. Use the Niagara Falls (and pooling) visualization, whenever you feel like it. Gift others with the visualization as well.

Try this for a week and see what happens!

Your Inner Essence

2010-11-26T07:51:00.000-08:00

(c)2010 Joan M. Newcomb

I've noticed in my readings that most people's essence color is either Yellow or Blue. Sometimes bright Green or Pink (but often that's just their growth space).

True Pink's are rare - it's the Essence color of Amma, "The Hugging Saint". She's the embodiment of Love. True Greens are, also - think of Fred Allen Wolf from 'What The Bleep'. He's a Catalyst for Change.

There are different shades of Blue or Yellow, but their core purposes are the same.

Blue's are 'healers'. They're usually empathic and very sensitive to the energy around them. They love to be of service, to make things better for others. They're good at creating a safe atmosphere for both themselves and others. They can be very grounded and have a stabilizing influence. They can get stuck codependent fixing things for others or grinding their own personal growth to a halt (in order to make things stay the same). They can also get stuck perpetuating family patterns, going into the family business, etc. all in an attempt to heal or make things better. There's a lighter shade of blue, a sky blue, that heals through words. They're communicators and they're passionate about the Truth.

Yellows are 'light bringers'. They're often naturally clairvoyant. They can light up the room, because they bring a 'brighter wattage bulb' or higher vibration into their surroundings. They often feel like they were adopted or dropped into their family by aliens, because they'd don't 'fit'. They're interested in new things, they're on the leading edge. They're about breaking family patterns. When they go into the workplace or new relationships, often darkness comes to the surface. No fault of theirs; they just turned on the lights which revealed where people haven't dusted! This can create conflict because people sitting in the dark don't like light shining in their eyes. There's a light shade, a sunlight yellow, that can be intellectually curious, because they like to look beneath the surface. They can be observers of what's going on. There's a darker shade, gold, which is very grounded and all about bringing higher vibration into form.

Yellow's purpose is to raise the vibration of Consciousness. They're about moving us forward. They're the scouts blazing the trail ahead.

Blue's purpose is to bring up the rear. They're the pioneers, loading folks onto wagon trains following the trail that's been blazed.

Yellows and Blues can be very compatible - *if* they respect each others' differences. There are less Yellows than Blues (often 1 in a 4 child family). Blues get upset at Yellows because they seem to be threatening stability. Yellows get upset at Blues because they seem to be stuck or slowing things down.

Blues can provide wonderful stability for Yellows, and Yellows can stimulate Blues to 'go with their own flow' (Blue can be a water quality, motion is necessary, even as it's a very down to earth energy.

Yellows need to appreciate Blues for their ability to create a safe and nurturing place - something Yellows aren't always able to do. Yellows inspire, enlighten but also encourage change.

Blues need to appreciate Yellows bravery for putting themselves out there, boldly going where no one has gone before, something Blues are hesitant to do. Blues nurture, comfort and hold space.

People can step into other roles - in society, it's expected that women be Blues (think of the Virgin Mary's Essence color), but there are many mothers who were only able to do that for the duration their children were young. Society expects men to be Yellows, going out there to explore and lead and make change, but there are many men who in reality are fabulous nurturers and great supporters.

There's a change happening for Blues - instead of running around saving the world, they're being called to stand still and radiate their Essence. Doing that, they stabilize themselves, and also create a ripple effect of healing throughout the world.

Yellows may be experiencing extremes right now because of the 2012 changes happening. There's going to be a 100th Monkey effect; when enough light bringers' express their true purpose, it will create a Tipping Point where everybody 'gets it'.

If you're resisting your Essence calling you may be experiencing a lot of pain and discomfort. Your world may be falling apart, in order to let go of your old (false) identifications. Your circumstances may force you to reinvent yourself.

If you're in alignment with your Essence, change may be accelerating and yet you're going with the flow. You're in agreement with everything that's happening so even disasters seem like blessings.

Notice what *your* Essence is. Did you resonate with one aspect over another? If you were confused, maybe you were programmed from a young age to be other than what you Truly are. Or you're in a space of re-inventing yourself.

Spend the week just noticing what your natural tendency is (or remembering what you were like when you were younger, before you had to 'grow up' - i.e. do what society expected). Allow yourself to steer yourself in your natural direction, make choices and actions that feel more comfortable or look more bright to you. You will find the Universe totally supporting you (even if your family, friends or coworkers squawk).

Try this for the next seven days and see how life totally changes!

Parallel Universes part deux

2010-11-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

(c)2010 Joan Newcomb

In Jean Huston's book, 'The Possible Human', she tells about a time when she knew she would die. It was a pervasive feeling, going on for several months. Then one evening she and her father were on the way to a dinner where she was to speak, and narrowly missed being in the middle of a multi-car pileup on the freeway. For the rest of the evening, and through the next day, she felt like a parallel self had actually been in the accident. She could feel the sensations from the other experience.

Every time we turn left instead of right, decide to do one thing but not the other, a parallel self splits off in the other direction. If you can imagine how many millions, even billions of times you've done that in your life, that's how many parallel universes there are behind you. And there are that many, even more, ahead of you. And that's just in this dimension.

What's comforting (and exciting) about this is that there are no mistakes. You did stay in San Franscisco instead of moving to Seattle in 1981. You pursued your dream of becoming an actress instead of giving it up. You didn't turn down that proposal of marriage (to a future founder of Microsoft). You kept the child you gave up for adoption. You had different parents. You had different siblings. There are infinite possibilities out there and an aspect of you is living every one.

I use Parallel Universes in different ways in my Matrix Energetics practice. I 'two point' a parallel universe to 'download' an experience that would be useful in present time. For instance, in healing a cat I 'two-pointed' a parallel universe where cats live to be 110. It helped the feline live to be 20 (what is that, in cat years?). Someone had an abusive childhood, we two-point to a parallel universe where it didn't happen. It doesn't invalidate the experience they had in this current reality, but it helps them not continue to be scarred by it.

I also invented a Parallel Universe technique for getting unstuck. Imagine in front of you there are numerous doors, all leading to different parallel universes. Use your hand to feel them and notice which one feels stuck or dark - it's usually the one right in front of you, indicating the direction you're currently going. Feel around for a door that opens easily, feels light or bright. Step through it, and you've changed your reality.

I came up with this at a Matrix seminar that I'd been working at. It was the end of an intense weekend and I was checking out of the hotel. I was going to have to contest a charge on my bill, and in the space I was in, there was no way they were going to take it off. I realized that there was a parallel universe where the outcome was different, so I began, as unobtrusively as I could, to step in different places. The first place didn't feel right, nor did the second, but when I stepped to the side, a new hotel employee came out from the back and immediately called me over. It turned out to be the front desk manager, who was the one person empowered to reverse the charges!

This technique reminds me of changing lanes on the freeway. If you stay in one lane the entire trip, you may get bogged down in traffic. A simple lane change or two gets you there faster (and more stress-free)!

A way I use parallel universes now, in order to shift the state I'm in, is to imagine I'm walking through a series of doors. Think of the beginning of the old TV show 'Get Smart'. I've done this when I'm working at East West. It's about a two-hour commute from where I live, by ferry and I-5, and some days after fighting traffic, I really need to shift my state. After parking my car, I imagine doors opening and closing as I walk towards the bookshop, and by the time I go in, things have completely changed! (I will also do this while driving, imagining that I'm driving through the doors, and it can change the traffic as well).

The series of doors is helpful when you need to make incremental shifts to get to where you want to be.

Even though I have a vague intention for things to shift, I don't try to get more specific than that. Otherwise you're trying to control, manipulate or fix your reality, which creates effort and stops things from happening. Just noticing which door is brighter or moves more easily, or just imaging a series of doors opening and closing, leaves room for infinite possibilities to occur.

It also doesn't work to imagine doors opening and closing for someone else (or to someone else). I mention this to all the clients who want me to help improve or change their spouses or children! However, *you* changing yourself has a ripple effect into your life, and others can transform simply because your energy has changed.

As we're going into the holidays, you may find these techniques useful to play with. You can shift your visit with your relatives by stepping into a parallel universe where everyone likes eachother. Or you may find, by shifting your state, the key people who irritate you don't show up for the family events! If you worry you'll be experiencing a less-than-abundant Christmas, step through a series of doors towards a different reality.

Try any or all of these techniques over the next week and see what happens!

We've Forgotten We're Apples

2010-11-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

(c)2010 Joan M Newcomb

I recently came across a wonderful clip of Carl Sagan explaining the 4th dimension. He does it by demonstrating on a table with using square pieces of paper to represent '2 dimensional beings', which he calls 'Flatlanders'.

These 'Flatlanders' only perceive the world in 2 dimensions. They can go forward and back, and side to side, but up and down do not exist to them.

Then he brings in an apple, representing a 4th dimensional being. The apple hovers over a little square piece of paper and says 'Hello'. The Flatlander has no way of recognizing the apple and instead feels the greeting coming from inside him!

At some point the apple tosses the piece of paper into the air, and the Flatlander has a multidimensional experience, seeing all his little paper friends below. When he returns to his Flatland world, he can't explain to them what happened, because they do not have an 'up' nor 'down'.

As I was watching this, I realize - that's very much what life on Earth is like for folks. They're in their little flat world, and all that exists is what's in front of them, where they're going, or what's behind them, where they've come from. Their only measure of reality or basis of comparison is the other little square pieces of paper on either side.

(I actually knew someone like this; he was a software programmer for Microsoft. I use to say he had the emotional depth of a piece of paper)!

They've forgotten they're apples.

Yes, we exist in this physical reality. And in this world we have time and space. We have the past, where we came from. We have the future where we're going. We have distance and how long it takes for us to get from here to there. We have our bodies and through our bodies we perceive the lighter molecules of oxygen and sunshine, and the denser molecules of the earth and water. We have emotions and we have thought, and with both of these we make up stories to color our passage through this world.

And, we are more than just our bodies. We are Apples. We're above and beyond all of the limitations of time and space, density and effort.

When you're living life as a Flatlander, you may think an apple has come along and tossed you into the air, giving you a brief glimpse of life from an 'airplane's view'. As a Flatlander you may worry about apples invading your 2 dimensional world and doing this to you. As a Flatlander you may worry about the other square pieces of paper thinking you're crazy if you have an up-down experience. Or worry they can stop you from having one!

As an apple, you're aware of being in all places at once. There's a little slice of you in Flatland, which is fun and amusing. And the greater part of you is above and beyond that. You're not worried about the other Flatlanders. And, truth be told, you're not worried about the other apples. Because if you go up, up, and up, you realize there *are* no other apple's. You're It.

You don't feel lonely as the only apple because You're so Big, You're Everything. And if you go down, down, down, you can interact with the other aspects of yourself you've created. The other personalities and square bits of paper.

As I mused on this, I wondered, but what about those other Flatlanders when they're getting in my face or giving me a hard time. At this, I had a Byron Katie moment. They're just sharing with me their limitations. They're in pain and discomfort and they're sharing with me their experience.

The more aware of myself as an Apple, the less the pieces of paper get to me. When I'm an Apple, I don't see the other pieces of papers are limitations to my reality. They're just elements in my own wonderful creation.

So, this week, I invite you to be an Apple. Whenever things seem flat, remember you can't perceive beyond this dimension with your human eyes, because they're part of your physical body which only exists in this dimension. You perceive the greater worlds with your extra-perception. You sense them, you Know them. Use this greater Knowingness to expand your experience. Try this for a week and see what happens!

Default Settings (& How To Get Unstuck)

2010-11-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

What is your default setting? When you're under stress, what do you habitually do? How effective is it?

Here are some examples - one default setting is 'do nothing'. If you just hunker down, keep your nose clean, not make any sudden moves, then maybe change will happen around you. If you're very, very good, someone will give you something.

Another is 'do everything'. If you amp up your activity, do lots of reaching out and communicating, put a lot of effort into things, maybe you can make change happen through sheer strength of will.

Here's another, slightly different: 'Get very formal'. Be ultra polite, politically correct, show people how well bred and educated you are (and therefore better and more worthy). The opposite of this is 'get very *friendly*'. Hug everyone, bake cookies, make phone calls, show everyone you are NICE and therefore not threatening.

Default settings come from our childhood. It's how we learned to get what we wanted growing up. Except they weren't very successful even back then!

In personal or professional relationships, default settings don't work. Or only work to make you more stuck.

I have people come to me whose partners are in the 'do nothing' default setting. They're frustrated because their requests for change are falling on deaf ears. It seems like their partners expect them to do all the work.

And I have people come to me who feel overwhelmed by their relationship. They need 'down time' or 'me time' and their partner is frantically trying to keep their attention or demanding communication from them.

In personal relationships, the 'very formal' default deflates intimacy and connection. In professional relationships the 'very friendly' default is unusally inappropriate.

I've observed people who've been laid off stuck in the 'do nothing' setting. (They don't come to me for a session because that would be doing something)! They send out their minimum resumes per week to receive their unemployment check and that's it. It seems as if they're just waiting for the Universe to hand them a job on a silver platter.

Job hunting in the 'do everything' mode either gets you a job you don't want, because you've applied everywhere, or gets you lots of first interviews but never seconds, because you come off as frantic and needy.

If you're engaging in your default setting, it's because you're stuck. You're operating from your programming rather than You, Your Essential Self. You're not creating you're reality, you're solidifying the illusion.

Fear and disconnection are at the core of all default settings. We learned these behaviors as children because our needs weren't being met by the adults who were supposed to be taking care of us. We were hungry, angry, lonely, tired or sad. And probably the adult caretaker was as least one of these, too (although probably not the same one).

How do you get unstuck from your default setting? It's different, depending on which one it is for you. If you're in 'do nothing', then doing *something* is a start. If you're depressed about not working and feeling like shit, figure out some baby step to take. Perhaps it's ordering free business cards from Vista Print and sticking them on bulletin boards. Maybe it's putting ads on Craigs List. Pick up the phone and call another person who's unemployed. In relationship, it's sending her flowers or a thoughtful card, or even doing one of the things your partner's asked of you.

Taking an action when you're in 'do nothing' mode indicates to the Universe/your Expanded Self that you're ready for change to happen. Filling out an application at the bank or grocery store may not be an action in the direction you'd like to go in, but the energy change may make a recruiter reviewing resumes on Monster.com call you for consulting work in the area of your actual profession. The slightest gesture to your partner could completely transform the relationship.

If you're 'doing everything', stop and take a walk. Rent a video or watch something on Hulu. The world won't come to a halt if you're not pushing it. Take a morning off and do something non-work related. Stop calling or texting your partner and take *yourself* out for a meal or a movie.

Shifting gears down from doing everything creates space for something to happen. It brings you into yourself, so you're home when the Universal Parcel Service delivers your desires.

Take a deep breath and relax. If you're too formal, your partner won't fire you if you loosen up a bit. Let yourself become approachable. If you're too friendly, those people in the office who are on diets will *thank* you when you stop bringing in cookies every day. Try sitting at your desk and see how many people stop by your cubicle instead.

It's about breaking patterns that limit you from being your True Self and creating your reality in your own unique way. It works best without effort (everything does). And baby steps are all you have to do.

So for the next 7 days, try this. Notice what your default setting is and notice when and where you're doing it. Once a day, do (or not do) something different. And notice how your life transforms by next week!

Second & Third Chances

2010-10-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Just finished listening to Michael Caine's interview on the Today Show. The topic arose about second chances, because at some point Michael Caine thought he was washed up as an actor, whereas he was really transitioning from romantic leads to (the more interesting, I think) character roles. And now he's written his second memoir, so he's a side career as an author. And he has three grandchildren, which he says his life is "really all about".

We value longevity and stability in this world, even though as a culture we are moving through rapid changes that require being able to shift at a moment's notice. It's not uncommon for someone's resume to show them transitioning jobs every two years. Marriages lasting more than 5 are considered 'long term'. If you keep an appliance or an automobile that long, it most likely will have a recall out on it for some defect! A computer? Forget about it - all your original software is no longer compatible with the rest of technology.

Even within relationships, in order to maintain one so that it proves to be long lasting, requires you to continually grow and change. Whatever brought you together as a couple initially can become a limitation as you each mature. If you keep treating your offspring as children when they're adults, they may stop talking to you!

Life requires flexibility and creativity in order to live it joyfully.

It's important to give *yourself* second, third and fourth chances, too. Any ending of any sort is an opportunity to reinvent yourself and try something new. You loved that job, you loved that house, you loved that person, wonderful. To quote Maude, from Harold & Maude, 'now go and love some more'.

Now, there's a next step to this. In which you realize that You are not just the personality with a story line, but You are the Essence of who you are, you are Infinitely capable and creative. And you're making all this up.

It's not exactly that 'this is all an illusion', implying that it's not real. But You are bigger than you. As the little you, personality with a body, you can have access to all the information in the Cosmic Internet, but it feels like it's outside of yourself. It feels like the power is somewhere else. Shifting to the You that is Infinite, that is beyond this lifetime, you can see that you created it all, your individual storyline, and everyone else in your story line. You *are* the Cosmic internet.

You 'made all this up' in that you created this physical reality. Of course it feels real - it's reality! You also created everyone who shows up in your reality. They're not fake, just because you created them. You created them to be different personalities, because You wanted the feeling of being more than U (unity-universe).

When you're walking along the street, it feels like it's you in your body, and it takes time and space to get anywhere. When you're in a car, you get there faster. When you're in a plane, you can look down and see the city, and the country side, people look like ants (if you can see them at all). When you're in a space ship, you can look at the planet... and planets, and solar system.

In the 'up above' perspective you feel disconnected from 'lower down', and it can be easy to say 'it's an illusion'. However, look at your body. It's make up of cells, molecules, atoms. Each of them are 'real'.

There's a way of being 'up there' and 'down here' at the same time. Having both perspectives is very freeing. There are no mistakes, because You're creating it exactly the way it is. When you shift into Quantum Physics and Parallel Universes, you're creating all choices at once simultaneously. So there have never been any mistakes, you chose both colleges that accepted you and a parallel self went to the other one and created a whole other storyline (parallel universe) from there. You married that guy and you didn't marry that guy. You backpacked through Europe *and* you stayed home and accepted that entry level job. Right now there's a Parallel self that lives in Paris and speaks fluent French!

This week, play with seeing yourself and your life *as* Your Infinite/Essence. Be bigger than any problems you've created. Don't just be connected to the Cosmic Internet, *be* the Cosmic Internet! What risks to you feel empowered to take (because they're no longer risks)? What patterns disintegrate in your holographic story line? The script becomes improvisational!

Try this for a week and see what happens!

Being Human

2010-10-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb
Adventures in Density and Effort (aka) Mystic Musings, is a lighthearted look at life on Playground Earth. I take topics and situations and give a 'spiritual' perspective on them. Most of our problems, it seems to me, is from viewing life, the world, others, from a 'body level' perspective. If we all looked at things from our Essence, as Spirit/Source, we would feel no conflict, only joy.

For those of us on a spiritual path, this is "easy". However there are times when we take things too far in that direction and end up being disconnected from our human side.

I just recently returned from three weeks visiting my 84 year old mother. It was an intense immersion into her life. Coming back has been challenging (partly because I left a parallel self behind to watch out for her).

Today I walked my dogs and spent the time focusing on being here and now. I enjoy my connection with nature (cedar trees seem to be the most communicative). I mused about reality, mused about my Busting Loose information and my early spiritual training. I noticed my physical sensations, body tiredness, tension, and also noticed my psychic sensations (someone was intensely in my head; I now know who and why).

Later I went to the grocery store and ran into a former client and we chatted about the dilemma of being self-employed. She rarely takes time to get out of her studio, and I only talk on the phone or see someone for tea or coffee if it's a professional meeting. As I walked the aisles putting things in my basket, I intensely missed my kids - not now, but when they were younger - and realized that I was tuning into previous times when they'd run through the story with me (an odd but matrixly familiar multi-dimensional experience).

As I'm writing this I realize the patterns that are unraveling, and the aspects of identity that are peeling away. It's uncomfortable and sometimes disorienting. It's a family pattern and it's amazing how different my individual story is while playing out the pattern!

Now, drawing from my spiritual tool kit, I could dive more deeply into the discomfort, or react to it (which could be from anger or fear). I could question the stressful thoughts creating the distortions, are they true? And deenergize them by turning them around. Or I could straight on 'blow up' the mental image pictures in order to see clearly. I could two-point to a parallel universe where things are different.

Right now I'm acknowledging that I have a body, my physical form, and it's been experiencing jet lag. I am being gentle with it by letting it go at a slower pace today (we have to gear up & go to work in Seattle again tomorrow). I don't have to change, fix, or improve anything today. I don't have to have solutions to any 'problems'. I can be here as the pattern unravels and I can watch to see what arises next.

Shakti Gawain said there is strength in vulnerability. To me that means not resisting being human, being open and allowing the growing pains associated with expansion.

This week, give yourself a break. Let yourself take it slow and be imperfect about it. And notice what happens when you do!

Shift happens

2010-10-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

(c)2010 by Joan M. Newcomb

I've been visiting my mother for the last 2 1/2 weeks, and it's been an interesting opportunity for me to use all my tools in my spiritual 'toolkit'. She's 84 years old and very resistant to change

Coming to see her is like stepping into the past. She's been in the same rental townhouse since 1987. Most of the technology here is from that era. The kitchen phone has a long cord attached to the wall. We recently got her voicemail but she doesn't use it. She does have cable but the remote consistently confounds her. She drives the same Chevy Nova that she bought the year she moved here. It's ceiling is now held up with packing tape and the air conditioning stopped working a couple years ago.

When I first started coming to see her regularly, I slowed down to match her pace. As her aging process progressed, I wanted to create change and actively tried to shift the energy in the house, as well as encourage her to move to a retirement community. I also spent a lot of time decluttering, sorting through years of accumulated junk mail mixed with important papers.

The retirement ideas were stonewalled and the junk mail/paper piles regrew themselves like sourdough starter. The only change that I've seen from my energy work is that her macular degeneration has stopped (according to her doctor) and her balance is better (she no longer falls over, but she's using a cane more often). An affect I seem to have on her in the mornings is that she mentions feeling like she's had too much coffee (she only drinks decaf). I think it's because I run at a higher vibratory level.

This time I showed up with the intention to be respond to the present moment. Not much happened the first week, other than my recovering from jet lag and trying to maintain my work schedule. I observed, I noticed, and have responded to what I've seen. I've worked on not being reactive, because that muddies my perception and doesn't really help anything.

It occurred to me that there isn't any moving her from this house any time soon, so the best thing is to get her help to maintain her quality of life. Light housekeeping, occasional errands, perhaps regular walks. She's talked about getting a cleaning lady and someone to drive her places for years but has never taken action.

Realizing it was never going to happen unless I did something, I researched elder care services and made appointments with 3 of them. She got really furious with me for about 5 minutes. And now she's adjusting to the idea. Probably because I keep emphasizing that this is about her maintaining her independence.

I have no idea how this is all going to unfold. Although I want to have someone hired before I leave next week, it may not happen. I've had to continually let go of my agenda, as well as 'trying' to create change in her life.

Sometimes change happens suddenly and sometimes it's evolutionary. Not everything has to be in the present moment, and not everything needs to be comfortable. Progress not perfection, as the saying goes. Shift happens whether you want it to or not, and it's all about going with the flow of what 'is'.

I usually end my articles with suggestions, what you can do for the next 7 days. In this case I can only share what *I'm* going to do, which is be in the present moment. Respond to what is. Stay an energetic 'half step above' (which helps with staying neutral). Discern what I can change and what I cannot. Let go of my expectations, let go of effort, let go.

And I'll see what happens when I do!

Are your problems self-generated?

2010-10-07T15:42:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

I was listening to Eckhardt Tolle this morning, and he asked the question, "are your problems self-generated, or generated by the world"?

"Well, it certainly feels like it's the world generating my problems!" You say. "I would never do this to myself!"

It's so easy to point the finger at anything outside yourself, at the government, at your spouse, your kids, your boss. They are all doing this to me. If they would only be different, I could be happy.

"If I were generating my problems, then all of this would be my fault!" You protest. "Why would I give my dog cancer? Why would I create my boss to be an asshole?"

Well, blaming yourself instead of blaming others just generates more problems, doesn't it?

Problems are self-generated because they're seen as problems. When you view the world as problematic, then it is.

We make life harder for ourselves that way.

I've been spending most of October with my 84 year old mother. When I first got here, I had jet lag, and was just going with the flow. Not resisting it, or resisting anything. After a while I realized that I wasn't paying attention to how my mother was doing. My whole reason for being here is to help improve her quality of life, get some things done that need doing, and hopefully get her some help.

It really wasn't that I was not paying attention, I just wasn't evaluating (=judging) her behavior. It was kind of nice. But after I'd been here a while, I started noticing her memory lapses and adding story to them. Is this early Alzheimer's? What if these are pre-stroke symptoms? These kinds of thoughts really don't help me help her. They just provoke me to spring into action mode and try to force her to do things according to my (not accurate) agenda.

She had a physical just before I came, with a doctor that's been seeing her for the last ten years. If a medical professional examining her didn't detect anything, then I with my absolute zero medical knowledge don't need to diagnose her, either.

I can respond instead of react. One response is to just be in the moment with her, helping with whatever I can. Another is to encourage her to connect with an elder care service, which can assist her after I'm gone.
She's been wanting a housecleaner for several years now, and could use someone to drive her places outside of her 5 mile range from home.

Responding opens up possibilities. Reacting batters against what I think is happening (which isn't).

There are many things I can't do anything about. It's not useful for me to focus on them, it takes energy from things I can change. I can't change my mother, I can't reverse the aging process (okay, I think she needs to exercise and stop eating ice cream after dinner, but I can't make her do those things).

I can change my perspective. I can change the lens through which I view things. I can step back and look at the bigger picture. If I'm overly emotional, I can wait before I respond. You can wait 24 hours before taking action on pretty much any major decision.

This week, if you choose, notice your "problems". What would they be like if they weren't problems? Is it true that they even *are* problems? What's another way to look at them? Ask yourself, 'if this weren't a problem, how would I be (or handle) it?

Try this whenever things come up over the next 7 days, and see what happens!

Generosity & the energy of Money

2010-10-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Mike Dooley says in his new book, Infinite Possibilities that whenever he's experienced a financial setback, he starts spending money. It shows the Universe that he believes in abundance, that he has confidence in the flow.

I've seen people take this concept in a distorted way, compulsively wasting money because they fear losing it. Which only creates what they fear!

Prosperity is an expansive feeling, poverty is contracted. In order to receive more, you have to expand.

Worrying about expenses or debt is contracted, and constricts the creativity needed to reverse the condition.

Busting Loose From The Money Game's Robert Scheinfeld says that money is an expression of appreciation. You express appreciation at restaurants for the food you ate, you express appreciation to your utilities company for what it provides to your home.

Generosity is an expanded aspect of appreciation. It's giving to others in an abundant way, it's expressing bountifulness. It comes from a feeling of fullness, that there's plenty to share.

Appreciation and Generosity come from Consciousness. When you are Aware of Yourself as the Conscious Creator, you experience the flow of abundance in your life.

Worry, fear of poverity, means your awareness has dropped down into the less conscious realms. Down here, life is painful and it's a struggle to get ahead. You're disconnected from Source. It's very uncomfortable!

How do you shift out of that state?

There are several ways. Robert Scheinfeld's reclaiming power has you fully feel the discomfort (I just typo'd it 'free the discomfort')! You dive into it and at the emotion's peak you claim You are the Power and Presence of God, Consciousness creating this down to the smallest detail. You reclaim the power in the emotion and the situation. And then you appreciate the illusion of limitation.

Byron Katie has you question your key thought. Is it true? How do you know it's true? How do you feel when you think it? Who would you be without it? And then you turn it around, usually to it's opposite. Which dissolves it into clarity and truth.

I created an exercise in response to Abraham-Hicks' saying that abundance and prosperity are all around us, and available to us like Niagara Falls, but most of us are standing with teaspoons. Imagine the power of Niagara Falls, which can generate enough electricity for the entire Northeast! Imagine standing by it and how the ionized air feels. Then you can either imagine Niagara Falls flowing into your through the top of your head or if that's too intense, feel the ionized air filling your aura/energy space. Sit for a little while, experiencing the energy, then let it release.

Doing that frequently raises your vibration so you can feel more abunance. It dissolves the limitations and blocks and increases your ability to receive.

Your assignment this week, should you choose to, is to do any or all of the above suggestions whenever you feel like it. And see what happens!

The Body is an Energy Generating Machine!

2010-09-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

My original training taught that the body is a radio receiver, receiving frequencies and channeling them outwards. Ideally it's receiving You as Spirit and channeling *your* energy, as your body is uniquely blueprinted for You.

Many years later, I came across a Buddhist "Boddichita" meditation tape by Pema Chodron, where you breath in the world's suffering and breathe out compassion. It was the antithesis of my training, which has you clear other's negative *out* of your space and fill in with Christforce Gold. But I tried it, and discovered that the body is an energy transmuting, and an energy generating machine!

We have energy centers, chakras, which contain all the information we need to run the body and exist in this reality. And these chakras are 'engines' that can generate energy both throughout the body and into our lives!

Even without breathing in the world's suffering, you can sit and focus on your heart chakra, feel the energy of Love build within it, and radiate through your space and then outward into the world (I know of a woman at Findhorn who would do this every morning. Imagine the world if more of us did that)!

So, within us we have all the information we need to exist. Here we are in a time of economic insecurity and huge upheaval. Our root chakra, located in the lower abodomen, has everything we need to not only survive but thrive. And it's close to our procreative center, which can contribute to and/or create life. We're all walking around with these powerful generators, how could there be any poverty or famine in the world??

Sit quietly and focus inward and see this area as an engine (or an oven). Feel it heat up and fill your whole aura with the energy of life, living, thriving, manifestation. It can go outward into aspects of your life, and to all areas needed on the planet.

You can do this with your solar plexus, our "power chakra" and area of the Will. You can 'charge it up' which empowers you, and will also shift your experience in the the outer world.

The chakra below your belly button is the area of sexuality and emotionality. Tuning in there releases blocks to feeling, and can 'rejuice' important parts of your story line!!

The throat center holds all aspects of communication, inner voice, telepathic communication, and clairaudience - the ability to hear, etc. Imagine freeing your Voice between You and your body, and You and everyone else!

In the brow there's your clairvoyance or clear seeing. You can generate the ability to see the Truth, clear your world of denial and invalidation.

And the top of your head is knowingness, your own answers, both Your wisdom and all the information of the Cosmic Internet!

Try doing this every day for a week (either focusing on one chakra/area or trying a different one each day) and see how your world transforms!

Fear and Anxiety

2010-09-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Just read a post on Facebook that CFL lights are bad for you; it produces "dirty electricity" that can affect diabetics and people with asthma. They recommended LED lights instead. And I thought, yeah, until they find something wrong with them, as well!

It's always something. If you're not ingesting mercury while eating omega-fatty-acid rich salmon, you're getting skin cancer from vitamin D producing sunlight. The world is a scary place and we're not going to make it out of here alive!

The truth is, your physical body isn't going to make it out of this lifetime alive, and it's your body that's most attached to survival. The expanded aspect of You is immortal, and doesn't take such things so seriously.

What's really hilarious is that fear and anxiety cause physical problems that can shorten your lifespan! Worry about that, why don't you?!

An acronym of fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. We perceive the world through our mental image pictures that have emotions attached to them. The body's core concern is survival and so it's first question before trying anything new is, 'is this going to kill me'? When change happens, or even considering change happening, the body can run a storyline out that can falsely conclude that it will die if such and such happens.

You lose your job or relationship. Immediately the body things that there will never be another job or relationship. You will die penniless and unloved. Body sees only limitation and the end of things.

You, the Essence of You, sees expansion. You lose your job or relationship, You know there will be a better job or relationship right around the next corner. You will be happier than you were before.

Anxiety is paralyzing. You can't think of solutions and can't take actions. And for nearly every single thing that you're anxious about, it isn't going to kill you. Even AIDS and cancer isn't necessarily going to kill you - there are people living with both for years.

If your body is your vehicle, and You as Essence is the driver, when you're experiencing fear, you're viewing life from sitting on the bumper. Bring your attention back to You, into your center (your "driver's seat"), and you can start to see clearly again.

One helpful way to regain perspective is to talk to your body as Your Expanded Self. You can reassure it and comfort it. You can be your own parent. Taking charge of the dialogue in your head can open your eyes to infinite possibilities out there. It's very empowering to do this!
This planet was created to be one of dichotomies. It's meant to be the opposite of Us, the opposite of Expanded, Infinite, Joyous, Immortal, and Unlimited. Bodies have a myriad of emotions, a limited life span, aches and pains. If it all were a total immersion virtual game (which it is), the program would have deliberate limitations built into it. Any time you bust loose from one area, another area will come up to work on. "If it ain't one thing, it's something else"!

When you shift your perspective from your body/personality to Your Essence, then the game becomes fun. Limitations don't bother you. You immensely appreciate all of it, the beautiful and the ugly. Your amused at the news and the weather reports. Someone shares with you something terrible happening with them and you congratulate them (for being so capable as to have created that in their storyline). You Love it all.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to start recognizing your fearful pictures for what they are - just pictures. And notice how much they're reinforced by advertising and news and relatives and friends. Change how you talk to yourself in your head and how you respond to your body.

Try this for the next seven days and see how quickly things change for the better!

Growing up!

2010-09-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan Newcomb

All this talk of 2012 and the expansion of Consciousness really means that we are growing up. We're no longer powerless little minions at the mercy of a jealous and vengeful God. However, we are also no longer beloved children of a benevolent Father. Both of those phases were how we as personalities with physical forms perceived our relationship with Consciousness.

This planet is a wonderful playground and Consciousness has been experimenting with it's vehicles and it's terrains for millennia. I imagine the dinosaurs as early bumpo cars, and our current bodies as computerized racers.

It's easier for Consciousness to embody our present forms, which is why we've made such strides in both technological creations and in societal awareness. More and more people are 'getting it', little sparks of light are turning on all over the world. Old interactions, wars and conflicts between nations, are giving away to a global economy, an interconnectedness between us all.

Technology is just our physical attempts to replicate Spirit. Flight, because as Spirit we can go places quickly (actually be everywhere at once), phone/email/im replicates telepathy. The internet mimics the akashic records. And social media is getting pretty close to unity consciousness.

So if God isn't throwing frogs and hurricanes at us, and our Father isn't mad at us because we're so bad and sinful, what's really going on?

We're at the new stage of awareness, where God isn't outside us, but within us. This has been talked about for centuries but now the majority of us are 'getting it'. We don't have to go down to the corner store to use their phone by cranking a handle and talking to an operator, and we don't have even stay at home to make a call. We all have an inner modem/cell phone to connect with Consciousness. God is inside us. God *is* Us.

Growing up requires us to step up in responsibility. We can't blame what's happening in our reality to outer circumstances, because We are the Creators. However, that doesn't mean blaming ourselves. That means blame isn't even in the picture.

Growing up requires a change of perspective. It's not that it's easier for Consciousness to embody us. It's easier for Us to embody form. We are Consciousness, and we created our body/personality forms to manifest through.

We're not the bumpo car nor the racer, nor the computer nor the cell phone. We're the Internet, the energy that makes them go, the information that runs them.

How does that change your reality, when you look at your life that way? You are a lot bigger than your problems, You are a lot bigger than your individual life!

One of thing things that's been happening as people lose their jobs and their life savings, is they're losing huge chunks of their identities. We're all feeling aspects of ourselves falling away, and it's really uncomfortable. But that's because we're expanding beyond our self-images to our Greater Self.

This week, start looking at your life as Consciousness instead of your small self. How does this change your perspective of your problems? How does Consciousness perceive your finances? Your relationships? Your career choices?

As Consciousness, suddenly the economy is no big deal. It's just an amusing challenge. Death and illness, pain and struggle, aren't so miserable from Consciousness point of view. It's all really quite exciting.

As Consicousness, there aren't limitations, there are options and opportunities. And there aren't other people giving you a hard time, there are actors you have cast to enhance your story!

There's tremendous freedom when you view Yourself as Consciousness. There are no mistakes, they're all experiences. You can start thinking outside the box, improvising off the script.

Try this for a week and see how your life transforms!

Truth & Emotions

2010-09-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

One of the things (if not the major thing) that makes this adventure on Playground Earth so fun & yet so challenging is - emotions!

Emotions are your body's communication to You, Essence. Your body reacts much the same way it did when it was a baby, it cries to let you know it's hungry, tired or needs changing. As an adult, there are more nuances to your emotions, but it usually drills down to some basic needs.

When You begin to play on a higher awareness level, it's tempting to ignore what your body is saying, because it may slow you down or distract you from your 'spiritual focus'. Just like a baby, an ignored body just gets louder when ignored. Listening to your body, responding to it's needs, actually furthers your progress as a cooperative body will take you where you want to go!

If you're an empath, you have an additional challenge because you can feel what others are feeling. Since none of us as children receive validation for our psychic abilities, our first impression is that all the emotions charging through our space is ours. I find that others' feelings are more overwhelming to me, and have no basis in what I'm experiencing at the moment. If you're feeling someone else's intense feelings, send them love and healing energy. They're not deliberately invading your space, they're just sharing their (albeit uncomfortable) experience with you!

Yes, you are Consciousness creating all of this, *and* You created your body/personality to experience this world through. Yes, you created everyone else in your hologram, and the hologram is an illusion *and* in your body/personality, you're experiencing it as real. Everyone else is "real" from your body/personality perspective. It's only as you shift to the Unity vibration that you can feel the Truth of our connectedness.

As your navigating through this illusion, feelings are your indicator of distortion. If something causes very intense emotion, there's a lie at work. You can tell whether an emotion you're feeling is clear or murky. If it's clear, you feel empowered, energized, awake. If it's murky, you feel depressed, anguished or even a little crazy. It's not about positive or negative emotions because they're all just communication. They're the words your body uses to speak to you, or the music You use to express yourself. Joy obviously comes from Consciousness, but very clear Anger is a spiritual transformer (it cuts through the lies and limitations). Fear is always a body level response as your body isn't going to make it out of this lifetime alive!

Stepping into an intense emotion can be a useful navigational technique *if* you pass through to the other side. It's like jumping waves at the ocean, if a really big one comes along, you can dive right through it. Some people miss the second part of this technique and get stuck in the emotional level. Wallowing in misery or foaming at the mouth with rage means you're fighting with the illusions and giving it more power rather than reclaiming power from it!

When you're on the playing field of Earth, you're in direct contact with other players. When you get tackled it feels very real. When you're high up in the stands, you can observe yourself and others and see the big picture of the whole game. It's very exciting but you're not feeling the discomfort of being face down in the mud. When you're in an airplane overhead, you can see the world and all the little tiny people as your creation.

It's not that other people aren't real, or just cardboard 'extras' in your movie. Everyone is real at the playing field level, with fascinating storylines all intersecting and playing out simultaneously. You're an Infinite Being and are capable at creating that complexity. It's not until you're up in the plane that it becomes the illusion that it is.

If you're stiving to be at 'airplane level' the entire time, you're missing the point of being here. You already *are* airplane level. You created body/personality and Planet Earth to play in for the sheer joy of feeling physical. Your point of being here is to feel everything fully, to be fully embodied. Feel the sun on your face and food in your mouth. Relish in the pleasure of a bubble bath or sleeping in. Love people, places and fluffy animals.

This week, feel your way through life. Notice what feels clear and what feels murky. Navigate towards clarity, and see what happens!

There Are No Mistakes

2010-08-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

(c)2010 Joan M. Newcomb

A while ago I was working with a client who was all wrapped up with doing things perfectly. I gave them "permission" to make 5 mistakes a day. It helped them tremendously!

In reality, there *are* no mistakes. Nothing you ever do, no matter how terrible it seems, is ever "wrong". This world is created to be imperfect, it is one of dichotomies, opposites, darkness as well as light.

The Essence of who you are is Infinite, Joyous, Omnipotent, Timeless, Eternal, and you created this realm to experience the opposite of all that, for the fun of it!

As Essence, you are Consciousness, and You, Your Creative Energy, is everything. That means, the Essence of Who You Are is in all things, animate & inanimate. Since you are Unity, Oneness, You create individual personalities to interact with, and we all feel very different from each other.

You, within your body/personality, don't need to be concerned with all the PAother storylines you've created (but you can if you want to). Just understand and appreciate that, even though it seems really complex, from your Infiniteness, it's very simple!

On top of that, within your body/personality timeline, you've also parallel universes. Every time you've made a decision to go left or right, a parallel self breaks off and goes in the other direction, creating a parallel universe of experiences. That means a parallel self *did* keep dating that guy in high school, another parallel self *did* ditch college to go backpack through Europe (and is now living in Paris, fluent in French)!

Every mistake you've made, there's a parallel self that didn't make it. So there's a parallel self who *didn't* marry your first husband, who *didn't* blow off that interview with Microsoft in the early 1980's (that you did because you thought computers wouldn't have broad usage)...

On the level of your Essential Self, it's all wonderful vibrating strings of the symphony of physical existance. It's multileveled currents of story, experience, emotion and flow. It's like flying in an aeroplane looking down at cars whizzing along intersecting freeways.

On the level of your body/personality self, it can be overwhelming if you try to tune into all those currents and threads at once. (It *is* overwhelming if you're clairvoyant, clairaudient or an empath). All you need focus on is your present experience.

It's very freeing to know there are no mistakes. You can forgive yourself for your past (your children have also had parallel lives where they had *much* better parents -or were much better offspring)! You can take risks with no regret. It gives you permission to venture forth, go for your dreams, expand your experience, embrace Life with both arms.

This week, go forward as if there are no mistakes, and see how your life transforms in 7 days!

Being Open To A Different Outcome

2010-08-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

When reading people I always explain that predicting the future is like a cross between a weather forecast and a traffic report. I'm looking at energy trends, which are subject to change. In keeping with the metaphors, I tell them that nothing is predestined, and they have the free will to 'bring an umbrella, leave the house at a different time, take a different route, or not go anywhere at all".

I believe you create your future with each step that you take, and that your future is influenced by your expectations today. And, at the same time, unexpected things can and will happen, even with the most deliberate steps upon the most predictable paths.

We're very creative beings and the more creative of us choose/attract/manifest more intense challenges.

None of us are powerless, not an infant nor an invalid. Because we're all actually immortal, and infinitely intelligent. The bodies we're living through only know what they've experienced and are aging linearly. But we're above and beyond and greater than our physical form.

None of us is ever stuck. Sometimes we're in a story on our timeline that seems slow or immovable or trapped or in a repetitive loop, but as Essence we created it that way. At any moment we can do something different (and the world won't come to an end).

When moving forward, we can either open up doors of possibility, or narrow ourselves into a single lane. We do this through our assumptions. If we assume we're going to have to struggle to get a job, or it will take forever to meet the right relationship, we've closed ourselves to seeing things any other way. Being open to a different outcome allows more opportunities, opens our eyes to what else is out there.

J. K. Rowling submitted her manuscript to 39 publishers, the first 38 rejected it. If she'd thought 'oh, I'm never going to get published' then the world would never have known Harry Potter.

So many people don't go for their dream, because their expectations get in the way. If Clara Peller had thought she was too old to act, she would never had tried out for the Wendy's "Where's The Beef?" commercial at age 80.

This week, notice how often you limit yourself by preconceiving something is or isn't going to happen. Be open to different outcomes even in the smallest activity. Practice an open mind this week and see what happens!

Growth & Expansion!

2010-08-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Life is a series of growth phases. You grow and rest, expand and recover. Just being born is a huge expansion period! Going to school, graduating, being in relationship, breaking up, starting work, being laid off, are very obvious growth times. Emotional growth and spiritual growth can be harder to validate, but are profound.

As Essence, You transcend time and space, are all Light and all Joy. Squeezing into an itty bitty body and being born is amazing and frustrating at the same time. Learning to navigate this realm of density and effort, in a physical form with a wide range of emotions but limited abilities (can't fly, can't be every where at once, etc.) is quite challenging.

Body experiences these growth periods as unexpected surprises. Circumstances happen to them. They may be happy or sad or angry or depressed. Essence Knows what's happening (as You created it to happen) and always is joyful or amused.

Essence merely has to think of potential change and it instantly happens. Body has to run to catch up, which may take months or even years.

As you get older, you as Body can get resistant to these expansions. "Nu-uh! Ain't gonna go there - gonna stay right here where it's safe (or at least familiar)!" This resistance makes expansion periods unpleasant, to say the least.

Think about it, even at your most miserable or during your most painful time, there's always a quiet part of you that knows what's going on. That is You, the Essence of who you are.

How do get through periods of growth and change? It helps to identify with Yourself as Essence, because then you can take charge and coax yourself (body) through it. Nuture yourself with baths, massage, naps, walks in nature (or chocolate). Give yourself space for your emotions and time to get through it (it takes as long as it takes). You can be your own parent, which can be quite comforting.

Another helpful way is to talk with your Future Self. That's the part of you who has already lived through your present experience. You can turn to it for suggestions or advice.

This week, notice where you are in your own growth experience. Try viewing it as Your Essence Self, and respond to your body with whatever it needs. Try this for a week and see what happens!

Stories & Consciousness

2010-08-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

(c) 2010 Joan M. Newcomb

Have you ever noticed the story you're telling yourself about the reality around you? Every day, at any moment, you are either narrating a story of what is going on around you, or fantasizing a story in your head about a different reality you'd prefer to be in.

Our inner story teller has a powerful influence on us. And we can completely transform our life and our personal history by changing the story. Or at least stopping re-telling an old story over and over again.

For instance, you may have a story about your childhood which is very painful. After acknowledging the event you lived through, and recognizing how it effects your life today and making steps to live differently, why keep re-telling it? There's a point where you're retraumatizing yourself, or keeping yourself at an early stage of recovery, by going over and over it in your mind.

Or you may have a version of your history that was given to you, told to you by adults or older siblings, that when looked at through your own eyes in present time, is completely different.

On one level, life seems to be all about the story. Even if you recognize yourself as an Expanded Being, here in physical form for the fun of it, you can get lost in the story of your life. As an Infinite Being, we *love* physical reality and enjoy the drama of it, just as we love our favorite TV shows. And when we remember we're Infinite, we realize our life theatre is as made up as a soap opera or TV series.

The challenge and the joy is to operate from Consciousness. You are not your story, you are more than your story. You begin by seeing clearly, and seeing beyond the story. You no longer have to react to immediate circumstances because they can (and will) change. You no longer have to react to personalities in your storyline, because they're just actors who may or may not be here next season. You can appreciate how creative You are to create such a reality. You can enjoy the scenery and set design. You can be amused at the cast and crew.

Stories change without our wanting them to. What happens when the story breaks down, what then?
It can be very disorienting, because we lose an aspect of our identity. It's an opportunity for us to grow and realize we're greater than our story.

Great progress can be made by being willing to give up your story. True expansion happens when you choose to live without the labels given by stories.

This week, if you want to, notice how much story telling goes on between your ears. Take charge by interrupting the narrative. Redirect your focus by reminding yourself that You are Consciousness. Do that whenever you notice it for a week, and see what happens!