“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” but do make sure to ask him a few questions before you continue down the yellow brick road or stop to smell the poppies! :) Call it whatever you’d like, God, Universe, Unlimited Potentiality or The Wizard it is imperative that after surrendering, that you ask questions of the Source of all creative energy!  Know that when you do this, you are tapping into the unlimited wealth of knowledge and wisdom that expands before the beginning of time and long after this planet ours returns to dust…stardust that is! :)

Agreed upon now by religious mystics and many quantum scientists, the space-time continuum only exists in our heads!  I knew there was a reason I never wore a watch!  But, practically, and yes, I said practically (in a way that is useful and sensible), this means we can access the wisdom of the ages and beyond!!!  So in order to begin doing this, you need to sit down, shut up and start asking questions (ah, er I mean…place your bum on a soft meditation cushion, quiet your mind and mouth, take a deep breath and) START ASKING QUESTIONS!

Okay, there are a few things you need to know before sitting at the foot of your Inner Wizard:

 1) A little bit about how your mind works to access the information

 2) The type of questions you should ask

3) What to do after you’ve asked the question

Most of us, from the time we wake up to the time our head hits the pillow, are using our Waking Mind (or Conscious Mind).  But did you know we have three other Minds working all the time?  Imagine a totem pole…okay, got it…your Waking Mind is somewhere in the middle, your Automatic/Programmed Mind (Subconscious Mind) is underneath it, your Awakening Mind is above it and at the top is the Universal Mind! Here’s the not-so-god news…our Automatic or Programmed Mind is controlling the majority of our Waking Mind (daily interactions, decisions, choices, etc.) and unless you’ve had a completely blissful, peaceful, joyful existence up to this point or learned techniques to reprogram your brain (I have references if you need them :)), your Programmed Mind is doing everything in it’s power to make sure you act in a way that keeps you safe and secure based on your limited past experiences.  So if you’re completely blissful with your current life situation then you can stop here, but if you’re like the rest of us and think there might be more love, light and truth to access out there, then read on.

So say you have trouble controlling your food intake.  Your Waking Mind asks in desperation in the middle of a box of Oreos, why do I continue to eat and eat and eat even when I know it is not serving my highest interest?  Your Programmed Mind is like, “hey sista, life is stressful and we all need a little something to comfort us once in a while…remember that’s what mom used to do and when you were upset.. she would feed you to keep you comfortable and feeling loved!”  Thus continues the cycle…eat….comfort….love!  Fixed, right?  Remember how you surrendered to that power bigger and wiser than yourself.  You now know you have complete access to the wisdom of that Power so try this....NOW…okay when you’re done reading this…but  today for sure!  Sit, get quiet, breathe….breathe….breathe…now imagine your Awakening Mind (Your Intuition) just waiting for you to ask the right question so it can filter wisdom from the Universal Mind so that you can begin acting in a way that serves your highest self and that of those around you.  So you breathe…”I am frustrated.  I continue to eat when I know it is hurting my body and my mind.  Why do I continue to do this to myself?” Try it…and see if you can FEEL a difference in your body when you have the intention of tapping into your inner wisdom…your Awakening Mind…Your Intuition. See what filters through….stay open and know that you have access to the Universal Mind because you are a part of it!  I know, out there for some of you, but true! :)   Do you feel lighter?  More hopeful?  Just try it and see…

2) It is important to ask questions that are MEANINGFUL to YOU!  This seems obvious, but let’s stick with the food example above to see how easily we betray ourselves.  If I’m happy and feeling good about myself but I think I’m supposed to be eating better or look a different way based on what my friends say, who’s on the cover of the newest fashion magazine or for God’s sake even what Dr. Oz has to say (and I love the man), then it’s not going to work because you’re not being true to you.  A better question then might be, “why do I feel like I have to ask questions of my higher self that I really don’t give a sh*t about?”  Get it? Good.  Now we’re getting somewhere! :)

3) And finally, you’ve breathed…and breathed….and breathed…. you’ve tapped into or even just thought about accessing your Awakening Mind (all it takes is the awareness and the intention to “tap in” which you’ve gained just by reading this blog…sweet!). You’ve asked a question that is meaningful to YOU!  Good.  Great.  Now this is the hard part…take another deep breathe and dun, dun, dun….Listen!  Coming Soon to a Blog Near You! :)

I found this little excerpt in a notebook I keep in my purse for "homemaking" things like grocery lists.  I have no recollection of writing it.  It spoke to me this morning...I hope someone else may find solace in it as well.  Have a beautiful Sunday!

"When you receive sparks of truth or enlightenment on this journey, do not think of them as absolutes or finalities; stop...breathe...fill your heart with love and gratitude...for you are evolving and we are fortunate to be in a time where we are able to witness many stages of our own evolution AS it is happening!  So say thank you to the spark and be ever patient and vigilant waiting for the next."

Cheers to our evolution!

Yesterday I was sitting out on the patio watching my two-year-old, Louisa, splash around in her plastic swimming pool.  You know the one: blue with multi colored, bug-eyed underwater creatures staring up at you through the leaf-laden water?  It’s amazing the abandon with which such a small child slips and slides, jumps and splashes, never worrying that a little leaf may stick to her butt or that she will slip and fall too hard.  With unabashed wildness she flung her limbs as I watched the water spray up in the air and fall like fairy dust all around this beautiful iridescent skinned sprite.


Just then my wide camera focus, narrowed as my daughter honed in on a small buzzing creature flipped upside down in the wakes.  The water settled to a calm placid lake as Lou crept up on the tiny insect struggling for its life.  My instinct as a mama bear was to leap in between my little one and the deadly stinging monster, but something in that moment made me stop…and watch…and be still.

 

I looked at the amusement and absolute unbridled joy on my daughter’s face. I then looked inside my constricted, anxious self and chose to exhale…and smile.  She giggled as she pushed the water around the little helper bee and now I felt that urge to help the little guy out, but again, I inhaled …and waited …and smiled.

 

Louisa was now concerned for the struggling little exoskeleton as well.  I encouraged her to find a way to help if that is what she felt.  She pointed to an empty cinnamon container sitting in the overgrown grass outside of the pool and motioned for me to assist.  I did and she filled the shaker with water.  Sliding up on the bee, she began dowsing it as she poured water from the little holes in the top of the once spicy abode.

 

“Come on bubas,” she cheered him on with her own pet name.

 

 The anthropod gasped and struggled to breathe (I imagine) through the enormous droplets.  She had high hopes for the little guy.  She saw his infinite potential as pollinator to the greatest of flowers and wanted him to be able to live out his bee mission (or wait, was that me…hmmmm?). Lou was slightly disheartened.  I was devastated!

 

I encouraged her to try something else.  She picked up a rectangular shaped container resembling a kitty litter box (okay… it was a kitty litter box, but we got it at Goodwill and I didn’t realize it until we got home and had already spent many hours filling it up with “bubble water” to play in on our small upstairs apartment patio…pre grassy yard with big plastic pool).  So this bubble keeper quickly became a wave maker as Lou scooped and pushed the water trying to get our little hero to climb onto the rim of the poop box.  Again she was at a loss.  The bee could not seem to jump, fly or climb the thick edge to save its own life.  There was, however, forward progress made as massive waves flipped the bee over so he could now doggie paddling his six legs and seemed, even for a bee, a little more hopeful.  There was a lightness to his stroke, if I do say so myself.  The bee seemed to realize at this point that there were other things to grab hold of around him.  It’s like his tiny bee brain woke up.   Lou was determined.  She would provide the instrument for this little guy to grab on to.

 

 This time getting out of the pool herself to find a lifesaver, Lou picked up a gardening tool with three prongs for turning over dirt.  I would’ve chosen a shovel myself, but that’s beside the point. As she carried it over to what seemed would be the bee’s watery grave, she suddenly let out a huge yelp and threw the tool in the air grabbing her hand in pain.  This time I ran to my baby bear’s side (a mother can only take so much) to see what this normally tough skinned kid was crying about.

 

 In trying to help, she had coincidently got a large splinter in her hand.  Before she could even get her helpful tool to the bug itself, she had to learn a painful lesson.  The very thing she had chosen to save the poor creature’s life, who obviously needed her help, was the very thing that bit her on the…hand! (Sound familiar?)

 

Meanwhile, our little prince of a bug, paddled his way over to a small plastic ice cream cone Lou had left outside from the day before.  A perfect unwitting floatation device the winged body was able to grab a hold of to pull him from what seemed to be a dire set of circumstances.  We both looked over at this brave soul and marveled at his capacity to live, to breathe, to continue his mission to pollinate the world (I imagine)! 

 

Lou clapped and jumped up and down, thrilled for the little fella. 

 

I looked on and wished I could have done more.

 

 It seems I have much to learn from the littlest spirits among us. Maybe we need to offer to shake things up once in awhile, but mostly just stand back and allow nature to take its course.  Love it. Laugh at its obscurity and awe at the fact that we are allowed to play a small part in the cosmic plan.  I am committed to stopping…watching…and just beeing until I can breathe and smile at the natural, uncontrived unfolding of the souls and world around me.

THE BACKSTORY:
The week this mindful event took place was the same week I made a conscious decision to be absolutely present with my girls.  I vowed to stop worrying about everything else when they needed me (at 2 and 8 months that's pretty much any time they are awake:)).  I realized that all those worries will still be there and all I need to do when my babies are with me is be with them.  Enjoy them.  Be thankful that I have this time with them.  Maybe there is a reason I am not working in a conventional job right now.  Maybe the universe is providing me with an opportunity to just be with the girls and all I have to do is say "yes!"  All I have to do is trust that the universe, my co-creator, will take care of the us.  Funny enough, the next week, my dream job dropped in my inbox and another income opportunity I had planted a seed for months ago appeared!  So learn to relax and be present with those in front of you and trust you are completely taken care of.  Even the telling of this story, that would have never happened if I was checking my email while Lou played, became a blog that I can use as part of my dream job application.  So trust people, TRUST...and be!