Oprah's Incredible Gift of Inspiration!

My dvr is set to record Oprah every day so that later I may pick and choose which episodes I want to watch by reading the episode description. Recently I was baffled... an entire show dedicated to YouTube.com celebrities. It seemed pretty off the wall to me. So, of course, I decided to check it out and I am once again amazed by Oprah's vision, understanding and powers of inspiration. A topic that seemed at first to be trite and a little bizarre turned out to be incredibly moving and inspirational. Several people on the show were simply following their bliss and through the magic of YouTube.com their dreams and beyond became their reality in no time at all. It was a beautiful affirmation of the Law of Attraction. Self effort and grace will bring us more than we could ever hope for when we learn; how to truly allow ourselves to dream, how to ask for our dreams, and finally, how to love ourselves enough to allow our dreams to come true. It sounds easy but it does require a good deal of love for one's self, a plethora of faith, and a wee bit of motivation. Mix 'em up in your tummy and dreams will come true folks! And if at first you don't succeed keep on tryin' and I promise that when you get the recipe just right it really does work.

Love from Above and Below

I had a glorious day today. As I sat to write in my Gratitude Journal my itty bitty kittie, Little Buddy, came to my feet and let out a tiny mew. I picked him up and held him like a baby in my arms. His little body offered no resistance. He flopped back and proceeded to fall into a deep sleep in the crook of my arm. Gratitude poured out of my soul and I felt a couple of joy filled tears running down my cheek. I was moved by his complete trust and I felt totally loved.

A little later on I was walking by the lake with my Beagle, Duda, and listening to a really beautiful Coldplay song, "The Speed Of Sound". The lyrics I was listening to go a little something like this:

"Birds came flying at the speed of sound to show you how it all began. Birds came flying from the underground if you could see it you would understand. When you see it you will understand."

The song and particularly these lyrics really move me. I stopped to admire the beautiful scenery with the perfect soundtrack and Duda sat at my feet. As we gazed at the beauty of the far end of the lake, where it meets the trees and sky, I felt a deep quiet joy. I imagined the birds flying out of the lake at the speed of sound to enlighten the world! I looked up at the sky where these birds would be soaring and lo and behold there was a huge cloud in the shape of a soaring bird spanning almost the entire sky. I had to step back. I felt so incredibly loved and I felt so much gratitude that I full on cried tears of utter bliss. I'm not makin' this up gang it happened.

My friends, That is one pretty fantastic day in my book. As if that was not enough, for the next couple of weeks everywhere I looked were heart shapes. The first one was a piece of old wood emerging from the melting snow. I wish I had taken a photo of that, it was stunning. Then my friend Tina was over and she pointed out a piece of stuffing from one of Duda's toys that she had unceremoniously pulled out. It was a perfect heart shape. (The photo you see above.) I only got photos of four or five of these hearts but you get the point. The heart cloud photo doesn't even capture the perfection of the heart shape when I first saw it! The funniest was the dog pee heart you see here.
Although I must say that the fried calamari heart that came to my friend Mario and I, in the marinara sauce, was also pretty stellar! I ate that heart, of course, but not before taking a photo with my phone... Crazy? Perhaps... but there is never a dull moment in this girl's life. And you can take that to the bank folks!


http://www.amazon.com/X-Y-Coldplay/

http://www.templegreen.com

Gratitude Revisited

You might think this topic would be more appropriate at Thanksgiving time... I beg to differ. This is a year round topic, it is a New Years Resolution topic. I don't generally do New Years Resolutions but this year will be my first really genuine one.

Many years ago I was living in an ashram in India. One sunny day I was sitting in a beautiful marble courtyard listening to my teacher who was giving a talk on the subject of gratitude. I became increasingly intrigued as she spoke about the joy that true gratitude offers. She told us that this was a spiritual experience that could be cultivated over time. I really wanted the experience that she described. So, I decided to attempt to cultivate the experience of gratitude. Every day I would approach my teacher and as I placed my head on the floor in front of her I said silently to myself, "Thank you!". It was no stretch to feel grateful to my teacher, I already felt that, but that feeling was not exactly what she had described in her talk. Still it made my chosen task pretty easy. About two weeks after I'd begun my silent gratitude I went and placed my head at the feet of my teacher and I said my silent "thank you" as always. This time, however, I received a burst of joy that would melt any heart, perhaps every heart on the planet!

After I got up and moved myself along I went to a chant that I attended every day at that time. I was giddy with joy as I looked around the room. Every person I saw glowed with golden light, I am not joking, golden light! I swear to God that for the next few weeks I was completely filled with love and joy. It was such a wonderful and powerful experience that when I contemplate it, even all these years later, I start to feel the joy again. It really gave me insight into the whole count your blessings thing. And yet oddly enough I somehow forgot about it again for quite a few years.

Then I bought the dvd "The Secret" and it re-opened the subject. I watched it every day for over a month. It completely changed my outlook which at the time was not fantastic. It was exactly the spiritual boost I had been looking for. Phew! Out of that experience came my gratitude journal. I decided that the only way that I would be able to maintain the practice of counting my blessings every day would be to write them down. I took direction from my past experience and of course from "The Secret" teachers and I started writing "Thank You for..." in a journal. I have been doing it every day since. Not because I feel obligated but because I feel freakin' amazing! On days when I do not feel 'juiced' I read what I have written on previous days and boy does that juice start flowing! Then I write a few pages and you cannot believe what a powerful and fantastic practice this is.

If you don't know what I am talking about then try it. Get a journal and just start writing about the things that you are grateful for every day. See what happens! You will be truly amazed. Also check out "The Secret" if by some remarkable chance you haven't already. I was so inspired that I started a new business designing t-shirts.(TempleGreen.Com) I have never been more joyful and at ease, for this extended a period of time, in my entire life. I take "Follow Your Bliss" very seriously these days. Well... seriously may not be the best word, I try not to take anything too seriously. I'll just say that I definitely follow my bliss now and it feels pretty darn fantastic!

http://www.thesecret.tv/

http://www.jcf.org/bliss.php

http://www.todoinstitute.org/gratitude.htm

http://www.templegreen.com