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Newsletter No. 3 |
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"Let the beauty we love be what we do." - Rumi
- What's my message? Have fun! Can I say it any plainer than that? This for me was a wake-up call. As adults how much fun do we really have on a day-to-day basis? When we where children we had fun all the time. Like in the movie Hackers, the only thing that mattered was whether something was FUN or BORING. But as we get older we have to work harder and harder to have fun. Assuming we don't forget what it feels like altogether. Then I went through this thing where I thought I had to have money to have fun. (Don't get me wrong money is just fine, it's what we DO for money that's sometimes the problem.) One day I had a revelation that I had it all backwards. Instead of waiting to accumulate enough money to have fun, I needed to have fun to make money. Wow, what a concept! And it's true, I have proven it several times. See as a society we don't really understand what fun really is. As Adults we think too much fun is a waste of time. I mean if we're off having fun then who's going to do all the serious and boring things that need to be done? So what happens? We do more and more work and have less and less fun. See, I believe fun is creative love energy in the form of joy coming from God through us. If this is true then there is a lot more to having fun than just having fun. This energy lubricates not just our lives but everything around us, even the whole world. When this happens everything happens easier, better and faster. Why because the spiritual vibration has been raised. Lynn Grabhorn explains this whole idea in her book 'Excuse Me Your Life is waiting' You can read an excerpt at: http://65.69.208.180/webpub/storeofdreams/excerpts/excuse_me.htm Our ego/logic-mind/inner-critic would have us believe that we don't have time to have fun, that we need to do something else first. Fun and joy are always delayed till we get something later. And then if we get that thing, like a donkey following a carrot, we get a quick happiness hit and then look away for something else. We forget to just have fun now. That day I suddenly realized that I could go home right then and play with my kids. And that's what I did. Kids are incredible joy generators. I played with my kids, the neighborhood kids, my spouse, I went to the park, we played tag, hide and seek, soccer, Frisbee, capture the flag. We didn't spend a dime. Well.. maybe ten cents on gas. We drank water and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Soon I was a kid again. Problems…all gone. There was so much joy energy being generated that when we returned the whole house seemed to be in another dimension. Ideas flowed in, money flowed in. people just showed up. The whole world just flowed. And it is still flowing today. I had been writing about this dream stuff but somehow I got all wrapped up in intellectual ideas of joy and inspiration and forgot to just go outside and have some real fun. Boy I hope I don't make that mistake again.
Dream On! Will Drake ******* My Story ******* I just added a new page to the website called My Story.
I was watching tech TV today and they mentioned a cool site called
Blogger.com. ******* Understanding Inspiration Series *******
What does God feel like? What does the flow of pure creative energy feel like? How can you identify and know inspiration when it strikes? Why Dorothy, you feel it all the time you just haven't been paying attention! First you get a feeling, a feeling of potential. Usually you have a feeling that you just have to do something. You just have to write this song, cook this recipe, quit your job, start a business, call this person, try this color, go down that road, listen to that CD. You get the idea. Inspiration is an inner intuition, a feeling that must be expressed. The trick is not to deny that feeling. Too many times I walked past the door of inspiration, I mean, right on past it! The door of inspiration sometimes is very small, very easy to write off, especially in a dead serious society, such as ours. Too many times we mistake our inspiration as goofing off or frivolous exploration, not realizing that it is this very playful exploration that will lead us to where we need to be. We are too busy listening to our heads instead of our hearts. When inspiration really starts to flow. Usually it flows so fast that
you can't keep up. You will feel pulled or compelled to do several things
at once. You will feel excited and energized, an 'I can't wait to.."
feeling will come over you. Joy is truly the door to inspiration. Unfortunately, in our society Joy is frowned upon as frivolous and not serious enough to warrant our attention. But inspiration cannot happen outside of a state of Joy. Therefore joy and inspirations are inseparable. Joy really is the key. By joy I mean that fun, alive, totally free feeling where we feel protected and like a child again. That feeling of falling down in the snow and laughing your heart out as you roll down a hill. Whenever we can experience true joy, our hearts open up and the love
and light of God can begin to move though us unimpeded. When we are
experiencing joy we are in the best condition to be inspired. The key to inspiration is joy and the purest form of joy is pure play! We get so serious as adults that we forget how to really play anymore and then our creative spark dies. To best illustrate the relationship between joy and play I want to relate a story to you that happen to me one Saturday afternoon when my family and I went to see a fireworks display in downtown Houston. while we waited for the show to start on this grassy hill, the kids becoming impatient tore up the cardboard trash cans and started sliding down the grass hills on pieces of cardboard. I thought wow that looks like fun and started doing it with them! It was just too much fun! I felt just like a kid again falling down and rolling down and laughing as I fell. After sliding down that hill with those kids life seemed so fresh and new and ever so clear! There is a certain magic energy that was there in that place. I was
so happy with the kids rolling and laughing and sliding down that hill
as music played and stars shot overhead. It was a perfect moment. In
that moment all was well and perfect in the world, all was happy and
joyous. Heaven had come to Earth just for a few moments. This is the
joy and happiness that we are all searching for and that is what life
can be like every day if only we would allow it. If you don't understand what I am talking about, then take your kid (and if you don't have a kid then take yourself or just grab some kids.) Go to a park with a hill and run down that hill and fall and roll and laugh. I guarantee that within 5 minutes you will feel alive and happy again. You may think it is just a fleeting thing, this feeling, but cherish this feeling for this feeling is life! This is the key to happiness. If you can feel this feeling, understand it, and internalize it, then you will know what I mean by true joy and happiness. Then understand that this feeling is normal and the feelings you have that aren't like this are the abnormal ones. This feeling means you have awakened to your true being, if only but for just one moment. But having awakened to it, a door has now been opened that you can choose to walk through to a brighter and better world, a door that leads to none other than heaven on earth! No matter how bad life is, no matter how bad the situation is, remember joy is just a play away. Again, if you think this is silly, if you don't know what I mean, then just go to a hill… And roll!
Unconditional Money: A Magical Journey into the Heart of Abundance by David Cates I just love this book and it has to go down as one of my all time favorites. Why? Because this guy has been where we all are going, at least on the dream path that is. When I first started on this path I was very insecure about it. But God sent me this book and when I read that the author had already been where I was about to go it gave me much encouragement. Basically the book is about a guy who worked at these $3500 dollar-a-nite bungalows in Hawaii that only billionaires and millionaires hung out at. At first he just wanted to learn the money secrets of these super wealthy people but soon he realized there was something more spiritual going on. He eventually moves to Oregon and tries to put into practice what he has learned. Eventually he fines that coveted space that we would all like to experience, called 'The flow.' His experience as well as the experience of others whom I've met since I first read the book, proved to me that this state is real. There are many journal entries in the book and it taught me how to really open my heart to myself in my journal instead of just reciting the events of the day ( a very easy thing for a logical mind to do.) I would highly recommend the book to anyone worried about money and doing their dream. When you do finally take that leap to pursue your dream, it helps to know that there is a graceful, magical power that will help you along the way. This may be hard to believe at first. But, for me all I had to do was pick up David's book and read about his adventures to be reminded that it was all very much possible. To learn more about his fascinating story and ideas read an excerpt from his book in the next section.
- GOING OFF THE MONEY DRUG - J. F. came home early one evening. I'd been writing; my desk lamp was the only light on in the living room. He sank down into the shadows of the couch, exhaling in defeat. "I just can't do it anymore," he said. "When I'm making bucks, I can put up with all the bullshit. When there's no money, I can't get my heart into the work." "Money is a drug," I replied, turning my chair. "I've noticed that since I've stop making it. Cold-turkey withdrawal clears your vision something fierce. Even a month ago, I craved it everyday, believing if I only had another fix, I could survive." "It's all that I can think about. When the bills get paid, and there's food in my belly, I'm still obsessed with the next fix." He looked up, miserably shaking his head. "We're addicted. Welcome to America. Money is our God, and finance the state religion. We visit our banks and shopping malls more often then we go to church. We worship the rich and famous as though they were divine. We hand our offerings to the financial priesthood, the bankers and brokers, and hope that they will intercede for us, in their infinite wisdom, with the Almighty Dollar." "Money sucks." "Money is a drug," I repeated. It felt good to have a handle on something again. I stood up from the desk and started pacing; my hands became more animated. "Without money, there's no reason left to work. Sometimes money fuels and motivates us, like cocaine or coffee, stimulating us to new peaks of performance. Sometimes we use money, like alcohol or opium, to numb ourselves to pain and repetition. Money makes the suffering endurable." "Whenever we use money as a drug, I think it masks an underlying problem." "What problem is that?" J. F. asked, half-heartedly. He was following my argument, but seemed unsure where it was leading. "The problem isn't the money; that's just a distraction." The hardwood floor creaked as I spun around to face him. "The real, true, original problem is work. Why do we need such a powerful drug to keep us working? Because working is unnatural." "Yeah, right. So why does everyone do it?" I stood before the window, lost in thought, gazing out across the city lights. When I spoke again, my voice was softer. "Because we've lost touch with the sources of abundance. We've sold away our power for some shiny golden promises. Once we've bought into the system, it's not hard to keep us strung along: car payments, families, mortgages, fancy new toys. Once we get started, the push is immense to keep doing what were doing, for the money. We forgot how to work for the joy of the working." "There's joy in working?" He leaned forward, disbelieving. The light hit his face. "Yes, if you're creating something that you value, if you're alive and playful." I sat down beside him. "Here's how I look at it: if you're a money addict, you consume; if you're a money magician, you create. "Money addicts have to lie and cheat and steal to get another fix, because they can't create the resource on their own. All the power is outside of them." "Money magicians travel inward to find their own source, their own power. It's a messy journey, to untangle all the lies, but once you do, you hold the keys to limitless creation." He turned to face me. "So if you're a money magician, you don't make the money working." "That right. You make it playing." "And if you're a money addict, the working itself is unimportant. It's only a means to an end." "A boring, draining, self-defeating means." "So why do we keep drudging along, and forgetting how to play?" "Because the money's an addiction, and covers up a deeper addiction." "Which is..." "The fear that we're unlovable. The false belief that we're imposters, and we might get caught. Leilani tought me how we all wear masks, pretending to be good and deserving, while we cover-up our faults and guilt and doubts." J. F.'s breath was very shallow, as he sank back in the shadows. I continued. "We perform our lives away, Playing a roll in someone else's script, because we're afraid to be ourselves. We work for other people, in jobs that don't suit us, so we won't have to take off our masks." "Now that I am poor again, I see clearly how I've sold myself for money in the past. Every time I've been paid, in every job I've had, it's been because I've played a role successfully. At best, that means I've always been an actor; it also means I've been a whore. I've sold myself as a commodity." "No matter how much money I've earned, what's valued isn't me, it's my performance. The underlying problem here is something money doesn't touch, and cannot heal." "And so the money's never enough. Like any drug, it does the job, but always at a price, and always for a limited time. The more we use, the more we need. The approval is always conditional." J. F. asked, "How could it be different?" "You've heard of unconditional love?" "Vaguely." "It's a love that doesn't lay down laws or expectations. When I love you unconditionally, that means I love you always, under every circumstance, no matter what you do or don't do. I see past you're mask, into your heart. I accept the contradictions and the ugliness inside you; I embrace the whole package. You don't have to dress it up for me." "Unconditional love is like the love a parent feels for a child, eternal, open-ended. No matter what you put your parents through, no matter what you say or do with you're life, you'll always have a direct line to their hearts. The bottom line, come hell or high water, is that you're ultimately loved." J. F., like most of us, still had some issues with his parents. "Sounds rare," he commented." "Not so rare as you might think. It's often muddied by the ups and downs of daily life, by human fears and pettiness. But it will come out in a crisis, when there's been an accident or a loss, when we come face-to-face with what's truly important." "I get it." He was engaged again. He pulled his feet up on the couch, and sat sideways. "So what does this half to do with work and money?" "Let me go back to relationships for a minute. That might explain it better. Do you remember me talking about Mr. Pharup, that Indian insurance guy at the Bungalows?" "A little bit. What did he tell you?" "He taught me about synergy. All of our relationships -- with parents, spouses, bosses, money, God -- are at heart the same. We're working out the same issues and needs, in 1000 different ways. So whatever we learn in one part of our lives may be of value in another area..." "Yes, I remember now. He said to apply your successes in one arena to your failures in another." "Right. So I've been wondering about unconditional love, and money, and work. I don't have a mask to hide behind right now. Like it or not, I've been exposed. Now that the fog has lifted from my money addiction, and I am once again broke, I've had to think about going back to work." "I've been wanting to talk to you about that." "Not yet. Listen first. Now that my mask has been shattered, I've no desire to go back into that game. I'm willing to be exposed. In fact, I kind of like it. I feel relieved." "You have been awfully chirpy lately." "When you not performing and pretending, life is rather fun. I have a lot more energy, now that I'm not always holding up that heavy mask. I can do what I please, now that I'm not trying to please someone else. And the scary part, the deliciously scary part, is that I'm improvising life, instead of following someone else's directions." "I'm not interested in working for money anymore. Oh, I want to have it, lots of it, but I'm not going to work for it again. Working people don't get rich." "Then how will you make money?" "By loving myself unconditionally, and learning to love money in exactly the same way. I know that real love can't be earned. If we have to work for it, then it's conditional. And when conditions change, that kind of love will disappear." "Unconditional love is a gift that we don't have to earn, that we can't earn. It's a deep respect for who we really are, beneath the games and masks." I shrugged and open up my hands. "I believe that unconditional money must be the same. It can't be earned. It's a gift we give ourselves when we stop working for approval." "Money is the prize in the financial realm, and like idiots, were all working and cheating and stealing, trying to earn it, trying to win it. BUT LOVE CAN"T BE STOLEN OR EARNED! True love is not conditional, and neither is true wealth." "But love and money aren't the same, David." "How do we know that? Kim told me they were. I believe that love is energy, and money is a symbol for some kind of energy, and all energy flows by the same basic rules, like water downstream, or electricity through wires." "When energy is in its solid form, it all looks different; but when it's moving, it's just energy. And energy flows where it's directed..." "I've never really let my money flow, because I've always treated it's with fear and caution. I've never experience unconditional money, because I've never dropped the masks and put myself out on the line." "I do believe that I've stop using money as a drug. All that ranting and raving I went through in the winter may have been withdrawal symptoms. Now that I am down to the next level, the level of work and earning, I want to love myself so deeply and completely that I never need that drug again..." J. F. sighed, and leaned forward. "I want to break my money habit, too. But how can I stop working?" "Maybe you're not ready for that step yet. Why not build up your strength in a different way? Once you learn to love yourself without conditions, maybe you can transfer that experience into the working world..." I put my arms around him, and we hugged. Until we learn to do it on our own, sometimes it helps to share. *** Most of us do money backwards. We believe abundance will come if we work hard, spend wisely, plan, save, and invest. That method rarely brings abundance. At best, it brings survival. Survival focuses on not making mistakes: don't eat the poison berries, stay away from the edge of the cliff, hide when danger comes near. Those of us who follow caution may live longer, but we won't experience the thrill and power of success. We won't experience the joy of oneness, or the peace of living unconditionally. Success comes from discovering that there are greater gods than those who merely maintain life. There are the gods who make and break it, who destroy and create out of nothing... As long as we live in survival consciousness, were at the mercy of those greater gods. Our life is not ever our own. A market crash can sweep our life savings away, the earth can open underneath our feet... When we decide to align with the gods of creation, the mold breaks, and the rules change. The cast comes off, and we can take our first steps toward wholeness. This is not a book about survival. This is a book about creating money out of nothing. *** My approach to money's changing. I'm descending into something more vast and much deeper than my usual financial affairs. Where I used to Skitter on the surface -- worrying over a few bucks here or there, fretting over bills or jobs, or how to make it all work out -- now I've sunk below all that, into some strange new nether region. Things move more slowly here; it's darker; and even though it's all unknown, it feels much safer and more grounded. There's definitely more power down here: I feel the movements of thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars, almost in my guts. Must I let go of all the petty bills, in order to shift my focus on to something bigger? I can't seem to focus on both views at once: worry or safety, acceptance or fear. Which will I choose? For the past few months, each bill has been paid as it's come due. J. F.'s job has not improved, but I've begun attracting money from unusual and unexpected sources, in tiny dribbles, small amounts. New opportunities are coming up, and I'm pursuing them. I'm finding new ways to plug in. I'm on to something magical. I hate to talk about it, for fear that I might somehow interrupt the flow. I don't really know how it works, or why. Money isn't what it seems. Neither is work, or reward, or even play. When I connect with my deepest inner nature, in that place where life and I are one, I feel quite safe, even though I know a roller coaster ride is coming up. In that oneness, I let go of my personal desires and demands, surrender them to life, and they come back to me fulfilled. And so I'm moving into a suspended state of grace, slowly learning the practice of amazement and of gratitude. Worrying over money and work distracts me from appreciating what's in front of me. I've decided to release my fears, refusing to be limited by appearances. I've decided to trust life. It's time to open and unfold... The other night, I filled the tub with water, and quietly stepped in. After I'd rested in the darkness for a while, I floated three lit candles on the water's surface. The candlelight bobbed gently out over the void: that fragile bobbing was exactly how I felt inside. The candles themselves hung suspended; I watch their shadows move across the floor of the tub. This is my life, I thought. A light hanging out in the darkness, with no visible means of support. I believe that anyone can move into this state of grace, though most of us choose not to because the stakes are to high: we must forfeit our personal lives and desires. We must surrender our survival fears, our obsession with status and money. The ego cannot enter here; it is too big to fit through the door. Only the humble, who release all sense of self, can turn sideways and disappear through the door no one can see. Here in this subterranean darkness, I trust and allow. Money flows, and grace flows, and healing and love flow, wherever they are allowed to go. Only our walls and separations keep them out. Just that simple. When I let down my barriers to money, when I eliminate my fears and judgments and demands, money will flow into the space I have created, to the degree that I am willing to accept it. When I let down my barriers to grace, and healing, and love, they will also flow toward me. I move into the consciousness that all of life and I are one, and trust that we are creating something real and magical. When I let go of my own will, the world is very simple. And, to my constant surprise, that world seems to be filled with abundance and love. ************************************ |
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