Needs and Wants

She did not need much,

wanted very little.

A kind word, sincerity, fresh air

clean water, a garden, kisses

books to read, sheltering arms

a cosy bed, and to love

and be loved in return.

Starra Neely Blade 

It doesn't seem to matter how old we are, where we live, or what we do.    Our wants and needs tend to be similar and quite simple ... to love and be loved.   These needs and wants are met in various ways and rather inconsistently throughout our lives.

As a child, we may be so eager to please others, we may not be aware of our own wants and needs.  We may use all of our energy in pleasing others, hoping to be loved in return.  On occasion, we may have the opportunity to express what we want or what we need, but in our eagerness to understand others, we have not understood ourselves. 

There comes a time and place where we come to realize our own exhaustion from giving too much and receiving not nearly enough in return.  At this point, we begin to learn how to nurture ourselves, and how to best meet our needs or wants.

When we have a sense of who we are, we can have faith and hope that our desires and dreams will unfold.  In the meantime, however, we must begin to build a life of support and honor.  If we do not tenderly care for ourselves, then why should anyone else? 

LIfe Gets in the Way

It is never too late

to become the person

you might have been.

George Elliot

We can have the most excellent plan, everything nailed down

to the last task of the to do list, when life saunters in changing everything.  We can have created the most beautiful dream job or built a dream come true home, when life manages to interrupt wisking dreams away.  Life gets in the way.

At the thundersous moment when life shakes our world as we have known it, we may feel crushed and unwilling to pick up the pieces to begin once again.  In time, however, we all seem to brush our selves off and begin life's journey best that we can.

We are like the boulder by the ocean.  Lessons of life wash over us continuously smoothing our edges and minutely changing our form.  Lesson by lesson we become washed and cleansed by the on going waves of life.

If passion remains to accomplish your heart's desire, find a way to bring it into reality.  Even though life gets in the way, it doesn't mean that desire needs to be squashed.  Life might be saying the time is not right, or the approach is all wrong or more information is needed. 

Life intends to create change or a different outcome.  When our hopes are dashed, it doesn't necessarily mean forever.  As time passses, when we carefully examine what went awry, we will intuit on our own, that the result we had planned would never have materialized for a now obvious reason.  A reason we might not have ever seen at the past moment of unraveling.

Life gets in the way as the natural course of living.  We are not being punished or judged, we are simply being groomed through the lessons presented.  Life is not trying to beat us down, but rather present multiple ways for us to experience the necessary lessons which with resilience, we become the person we had wanted to become.  It is never too late!



To Dream of Change

 Dream

and give your self permission

to envision a "YOU"

that you choose to be.

Joy Page

When you are snuggled in the safety of your own bed, you need to give your self a hug of acceptance and love.  You need to stop the words of criticism flowing through your brain and you know exactly the ones I mean.

"You are not good enough!"

"You never do anything right!"

"No one is ever going to love you!"

"If any one ever really knew you ... "

Original words of criticism are words usually spoken to you prior to the age of three.  They are held captive, creating deeper and deeper groves while being played over and over again and collecting other degrading words along the way.  Those words no longer serve you and you need to gently let them go.

Quietly in your bed, you need to focus on a bright light of love, letting it cover us entirely inside and out.  This bright light can be associated with any thing or any one you hold with respect and love.  It can be as simple as a moon beam, sunshine, angels, the light of Christ, or Divine Spirit.  Let this light wash over you, cleansing you of all negative thoughts. 

Allow this light to be unconditional love, bathing you in healing energy, and empowering you to dream of a positive life waiting for you.  Feel that you are surrounded by love and the Universe is encouraging you to move forward into the light.

As you dream, see your self dancing in the light, laughing and being happy while surrounded by loved ones.  Let the sense of worthiness fill your being.  Know with all of your heart that you are perfectly capable of accomplishing your dreams.

As your head rests on your pillow, begin to explore what changes are needed for you to proceed.  Imagine what you might want to do that will trigger the beginning of your dream. Start small with your plans, but visualize the entire dream come true.

You must be willing to change, and to be able to over come your resistance.  Know in your heart that everyone deserves happiness and everyone, including yourself, is deeply loved.  Open your heart to possibilities and dream a little dream.  Relax into it.  Give your self permission to think big.  What truly is your desire.

When a dream takes form, hold it in a sacred space in your heart.  Use all of your senses ... feel it, see it, hear it, touch it, and speak of it out loud.  Be aware of Divine Spirit supporting you and wanting you to succeed.  Ask for support and guidance.  Believe that anything, in time, can happen.

You must begin, however.  You must initiate the first steps and then follow through.  You must see your dream every morning and every night.  It is vitally important to think of it at meal times, mid-morning, and afternoon.  The more you can breathe it into being, the stronger it will become, attracting what you need.  

Be steadfast, disallowing 'ney sayers' but listening to solid advice that will perpetuate your dream.  Believe change will come.  Stand before a mirror and really, (I mean REALLY), look at yourself.  Love the new you before you.  Imagine with all your heart that the light shining through you is a reflection of love you deserve.

Carry your dream wherever you go, noticing the changes going on around you.  As long as you are working towards goodness without any harm to an other, the light will kindle change within you.

I loved to swim ...

With the gift of listening

comes the gift of healing.

Catherine de Hueck

We can learn a lot about our selves when we pay attention to the words we use and the facts we share.  We may even surprise our selves by what unexpectedly comes out. 

Many years ago, while attending a meeting, I was seated by a gentleman I did not know.  He asked me about myself and what I most liked to do.  I immediately responded, "Oh, I love to swim!"  Then I sat with those words for a long time.

As a youngster, I loved the water and I became a life guard when I was a young adult.  I grew up on Lake Michigan, but also had access to a pool on a regular basis.  In college I was a good strong swimmer, but lacked style and grace.   So, yes, I loved to swim ... past tense.

Facing this unknown gentleman, he immediately picked up on the pensive look on my face.  Being a good listener, he encouraged me to explain.  As we often bare our souls to total strangers, I proceeded to tell him I had just realized how disconnected I apparently was with my self.  Yes, I had loved to swim, but had not been in a bathing suit for years.  The very thought of being in a bathing suit gave me the willies!

Sorting out my feelings while I talked, I soon realized that it was the water I always loved and still loved.  It doesn't matter if it is an ocean, lake, pond, stream or bath tub, I am calmed just by being by the water.  The water some how relaxes and comforts me.  It is also cleansing.

After my meeting and the nice man departed, I continued to ponder his original question, "What do I like to do?"  This innocent question sent me on a quest to rediscover myself and to determine what no longer suited me.  What did I want to bring more of into my life?  There was so much to choose from:  painting, writing, reading, and collecting antique dishes, spoons, boxes, napkins, etc ...

Eventually, I updated the activities in my life and found more creative ways to express who I was.  I began listening to others about their own passions and what how these interests played out in their lives.  I listened more attentively to community announcements finding classes and workshops to expand my skills.

So the art of listening works both ways.  We must first listen to our inner voice to really connect with our heart's desire.  It helps to monitor our own conversations for authentic reflection.  Then as we listen to others we can enhance our understanding and skill.  We can creatively act upon our dreams and desires, but if we don't first listen, how will we ever know?

Beautiful and Brave

Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only

waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.

Rainer Maria Rilke

This morning I opened my eyes becoming happy with sun

shining through the bedroom window.  I listened to the birds in

the bush chirping away with some deliberate clip, repeating it

over and over.  Did the birds think I would understand what 

they were saying if they repeated it enough?  Trudy, our Tuxedo cat jumped up on my bed, looking at me as though she

were wondering why I was still lounging in my pajamas.  She too was curious with the birds so she sat at the head of the bed, 

nose pressed to the window trying to see them.  She looked at me and began her cat language which I didn't understand either.  She became very insistent in her 'meow' as though surely I was not so stupid as to to not understand.

 I closed my eyes again, and visualized a lovely brook with crystal clear water rippling over marbled pebbles.  I listened to the gurgling water and the sounds communicated a peaceful feeling within.  Freely I breathed in life and easily breathed out what was troubling me.

We are bombarded by messages all day long and actually all night long.  The information comes to us from the media, our jobs, family and friends, plus everything surrounding us.  Our dreams bring us information as well as our thoughts.  In science there is discovery of telepathic communication between animals and we know there is telepathy between humans.  Is much of our thinking just rethinking acquired thought and how much of it is is obtained through the concept of collective thinking?  What percentage is original thought?

The other day a friend was sharing some information she had written in her younger years.  She was laughing as the same material was now published by a different author and identical to her own.  Do we all have access to the same information stored within and we simply don't excavate it? 

Sometimes I visualize Universal Intelligence or Divine shaking a formless head as I once again don't get the message.  I see this All Knowing Spirit communicating to surrounding angels saying, "No, we need to try something else.  She didn't get that either!"  Then they devise a new way of once again presenting the information to me.

How many messages do we miss?  How many opportunities float by us without us giving them the smallest glimpse?  How much inspiration falls by the way side as we fear our dragons rather than embracing the sweet voices of princesses waiting to ignite our passion?  

At what point in life are we willing 

to become beautiful and brave?

Dreams and Desires

What we can do and want to do is projected in our imagination, quite outside ourselves, and into the future. We are attracted to what is already ours in secret. Thus passionate anticipation transforms what is indeed possible into dreamt-for reality.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

                (1749 - 1832)


Many believe that God has a plan for us before we feel the desire.  Once we become aware of a desire, we begin to visualize how this dream might come true.  The crisp image supported by positive thinking, projects out into the Universe where things very well may begin to draw together.

There are words like synchronicity, fate, destiny, chance or accidental meetings reflecting the unseen networking provided by Divine.  We take our seat on an airplane and discover the person sitting next to us is looking to fill a position in his office ... the very kind of employment you are dreaming about.  You casually mention to a friend a particular need, and she excitedly tells you how her neighbor is capable of the very solution.  An associate mentions a book of poems and your interest is piqued.  You begin searching for the old collection of poems but cannot find it anywhere.  While talking with your grandfather your eyes wander to his desk and there sits the very book of poems you have been searching for.

Divine Spirit is like a great Amazon.com out in the Universe.  Perhaps there are some angels sit and google all day, looking for the exact connections we need.  Then other angels appear linking us to their discovered resources. (This is my sense of humor.)

So be careful what you wish for, where you place your focus, and what degree you pay attention to the world around you.  Explore possibilities to begin to connect the dots so you will not be the 'missing link' to your own future.



Unseen Grid

"Your need is connected to someone else's;

at this very moment someone wants to offer the very thing you seek.  Know that the divine connection system is always operating."

~Hilda

My dear friend Bonnie always points out that God has a plan before we even have the desire.  So once again, as human beings, we require patience for the plan to come together.

Every night we may fall to our bed, heavy laden with unfulfilled desires, but every morning we awaken with a clean slate.  With each sunrise, we get to start anew.

We can begin again in each and every moment, hour, day, month, year, while waiting to connect the dots for our intention.  Often times, we must repeat or regroup or redesign until the appropriate networking is complete.

We forget the divine network that supports our efforts and some are unaware of the unseen grid surrounding us.  We are like molecules bumping into each other.  We do not become aware of the connectedness until we are aligned with what is necessary for our plan. 

This unseen grid intrigues me.  I met a woman one time who I had heard many good things about.  I was certain that our paths had never crossed before. Once I met her, however, I realized we had been attending the same meetings and trainings on a regular basis.  We laughed and wondered how many years our paths had been crossing, but we just didn't know it. 

My daughter, living in Tennessee, mentioned to a fellow Nashville colleague that she was born and raised in a small Illinois town.  The colleague mentioned attending college in a small Illinois town and it turned out to be located in my daughter's birth place.

Last July I attended a meeting at a location I had never previously visited.  I walked into the room and knew no one there.  Being new to the community, I sat down next to a woman and through conversation learned that she had grown up 30 minutes from where I used to live.

There are endless stories like the ones above.  None of them may be earth shattering, but joined together we discover these synchronicities, coincidental or accidental meetings, or flukes bring desires together in an almost magical way.   

We walk amongst strangers every day, but I feel certain that if and when we take the time to be friendly, we would discover some sort of shared link in this unseen grid.  If we took the time to greet those around us in the manner we greet babies in a grocery store, the world would be a more friendly place.  We would realize our similarities and no longer see each other as strangers. 

So we don't need to give up on our dreams and desires just because they have not taken form.  It does not mean that they are wrong, but rather we have not yet met the person who offers the need we seek!