Easter Blessings

i am unplugged for the weekend to put my faith into action by serving Him and others...i wish each of you a blessed and meaningful Holy weekend...

all artwork is by Rebecca E. Parsons...

thank you kelly rae...i am soaring

i wrote this to kelly rae roberts this morning in response to her inspirational e-course Flying Lessons

you have so inspired me to soar above the clouds...i have been in a giant reinvention process over the past two years...i wrote the following on my blog 1/13/2010

During this past 26 months, God forced me to slow down by removing ALL obstacles (a job and income) and presenting me with TIME! Time to reflect. Time to mourn. Time to refresh. Time to repurpose. Time to realign. Time to reframe. Time to release. During this gift of time, I found #1-ME and #2-crystal clarity of purpose and #3-this is the time for me to soar...

"To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders" -Chuang Tzu

It has been a Two Year Retreat, mostly silent. I had no choice but to reconnect with myself…find strength to look at what brought me to this place, find fortitude to survive, find courage to move forward, find hope to rebuild, find bits of my soul that had been scattered about the universe over the years and bring them home.

there is more on my blog here: http://cre8tiva.blogspot.com/2010/01/reflective.html

"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." -Vernon Sanders Law, 1960 Cy Young Award Winner

this class has finally allowed me to move on with the soaring...as i was ready, just afraid to jump into the air. i jumped somewhere in the second week, it was uncomfortable and i was afraid to open my eyes at first...when i finally did, i saw my one blessed beautiful precious life before me and felt the wind beneath my wings lifting me to new heights that i never even allowed myself to dream of before...and it feels amazing.

i have made some subtle and some not so subtle changes to my blogs...i have written some really inspired posts...i have sold some of my purses to a boutique using your wholesale advice...and i have almost finished my new book for people who color outside the lines!!!

i am waving at you from the heights because i cannot seem to get enough of this soaring!!

taking wing...soaring

this week i started taking flying lessons...no, not those normal one involving aircraft, control panels, maps, auto pilot and fuel...special flying lessons of the sort where i am learning to soar...my heart open and my own uniqueness on display...

let me back up for a minute...i suppose that this could very well involve aircraft, control panels, maps, auto pilot and fuel...for who but myself is at the controls of my life and business? who but i charts the course of my daily life and business? who but the world around me fuels my creativity?

you may believe that i already know how to fly...and, at times, i may even have reached my dreams here in Cre8Topia...but one can always dream bigger...right?

so i find myself heading into the wind with hundreds of other would-be flyers...here...with kelly rae roberts as flying instructor extraordinaire...

Cre8Tiva & i will be sharing our experiences as i go through flight school the next 5 weeks...my expectations are really big:

1. increase awareness of Cre8tive Compass Magazine, Blog & Radio Show 1 & 2
2. learn to monetize my blog & etsy
3. establish new and meaningful connections

all photos by Rebecca E. Parsons taken on Amelia Island, FL

reflective...

 "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." -- Vernon Sanders Law, 1960 Cy Young Award Winner

As we move headlong into a new decade...I have taken time to reflect about the past decade, the circumstances of my journey, and the enormous blessings that have been given to me...I share today with an open heart filled with joy as this has been time of growing into the ME I was Born to be!!! (see the previous post also)

Wow...oh wow is all I can say about the first weeks of 2010!!! I was up early this morning to receive...and I did!

What stood out above all for me at this time of my journey is:

• You can come to understand your purpose in life by slowing down, feeling your heart’s desires, and demanding to know.

During this past 20 months, God forced me to slow down by removing ALL obstacles (a job and income) and presenting me with TIME! Time to reflect. Time to mourn. Time to refresh. Time to repurpose. Time to realign. Time to reframe. Time to release. During this gift of time, I found #1-ME and #2-crystal clarity of purpose and #3-this is the time for me to soar...

"To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders" - Chuang Tzu

It has been a Two Year Retreat, mostly silent. You have followed my story here and on my other blog, Down, But Not Out (Living Beneath No Means). I had no choice but to reconnect with myself…find strength to look at what brought me to this place, find fortitude to survive, find courage to move forward, find hope to rebuild, find bits of my soul that had been scattered about the universe over the years and bring them home.

And by walking and stumbling and, sometimes even crawling my path the last two years of the decade I was able to learn my deepest passion is to communicate in a major way. A gift revealed itself at the tender age of five when I started my first newspaper. The first headline read: “Young Gril (Girl) Finds $50”…. okay, I still cannot spell, but you get the point. If I had listened then….

• If you are going to ask the questions, be sure to listen for the answers.

How many times in my life was I presented with the answers, but I did not listen? Then, a hurried life is brought completely to a halt...so I could do nothing else but listen!

During this time I have been blessed to be able to walk along the beach in my beloved island sanctuary...and capture the moments of my retreat in such magnificience...i step into my purpose, my future, my path with great peace and the completeness of knowing I am who I was born to be....

the me that i am is...

be your natural, wonderful self...

Your ability to charm others may be heightened today, and you may wonder if this developing allure is the result of some modification you have made to your physical appearance or a trait that has emerged within you. More likely than not, the enchantment others feel while in your presence is the result of your having revealed your true self. If this idea leaves you feeling vulnerable today, consider that your openness can be a valuable tool in your quest to surround yourself with positive, sincere people. Your honesty coupled with your natural charisma will likely serve you well whenever you are called upon to mingle with others.

Winning over others is easy when we make a real effort to be ourselves no matter our circumstances. Though we may feel that society asks us to wear masks in our many outer-world roles, we can only find out who are true friends and trusted colleagues are by letting our guard down socially. As we interact with others without masks, allowing our natural charm to show through, the people around us are given a bird's-eye view into our souls. Those who truly care about us and respect us appreciate this new honesty and will honor it by standing by us even when others choose to distance themselves from us. We then know definitively who our real allies are and who we will be able to count on. When you choose to be yourself today, you will discover that your natural allure is enough to help you win friends and bond with associates.  -my horoscope from daily ohm

as i step more fully into my authentic self and embrace the path i have been led to follow, i find there is grace and ease to the former confusion and chaos...i have been open, or shall i say opened, during the past two years...layer after layer of protective coating has been peeled back and has slipped away...and, gradually, the me that i am is...

this week at sunrise by the ocean

the following post from September 2007 talks about the beginning of this two years transitioning period...and how my life, every event and every day, is stacked on each other like alter stones...


Fellow My Sacred Life journeyer Milton Brasher-Cuningham here wrote Saturday of author Madeleine L’Engle's thoughts about "being every age you’ve been at the same time, life stacking itself up like altar stones, our experiences singing out in chorus rather than speaking one at a time." It so touched my soul at this moment...

Do you feel every age that you have been? I deeply feel that stacking of my life...layer upon glorious layer...day upon day...year upon year...age upon age...growing...joining...fusing into the blessed woman I am today.

It is amazing how one statement can touch our heart...Milton, and Madeleine through him, reached out and touched my soul so completely...IT MAKES SENSE...so much sense that I feel enriched and wise and blissfully stacked...like the metaphor of the alter stones of my life...one resting upon another...stacked purposefully and lovingly by my creator...not straightly stacked...or even neatly stacked...how ever they are stacked, they form me...just as I am...strong yet, fragile...ME!!!

read the entire post

Lord, help us find our way back...

My Sabbath Song today is about our world and the economic path we have taken the past few decades... and i pray...Lord, help us find our way back...

as i pursue my dreams i have often asked the Lord to guide me to my deeper purpose...and He has responded by leading, and sometimes dragging me kicking and screaming, into my deeper purpose...

"Most of the companies I admire in the world I think have a deeper purpose. I've met a lot of successful entrepreneurs. They all started their businesses not to maximize shareholder value but to pursue a dream." -John Mackey, CEO and founder of Whole Foods Market, Inc. in a Wall Street Journal interview

looking to increase shareholders gains seems to have enabled a few blinded by greed people to bring our economy and our very lifestyles to the brink of collapse...

"Over the past few years, there clearly has been an erosion in the country's financial values. This erosion has happened at a time when the country's cultural monitors were busy with other things. They were off fighting a cultural war about prayer in schools and the theory of evolution. They were arguing about sex and the separation of church and state, oblivious to the large erosion of economic values happening under their feet." -David Brooks, The New York Times

we can no longer do business as usual..nor should we look to the past to repair the present and the future...we must look for new ideas and new people to be the visionary leaders who will accompany us on our journey out of this darkness and despair...

"Select capable men from all the people...men/women who fear God, trustworthy men/women who hate dishonest gain." -Exodus 18:21

if we had not been trying so hard to negate and devalue our "one country under God" founding principle...perhaps we could have elected/followed/believed those capable, trustworthy individuals who hate dishonest gain and not have been led to this place we find ourselves in today...

yet i stand firm in belief that we will find those visionary leaders who are out there for everyone to see...

"My deepest vocation is to be a witness of the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch." -Henri J.M. Nouwen

and we can catch a glimpse of them if we are open to the possibilities...

"There are people among us who are ethical, responsible and diligent. I hope your story encourages those who toil in obscurity to know that their reward is simple-- they will be ready when the test comes. We need to try to do the right thing every time, to perform our best because we never know what moment in our lives we'll be judged on." -US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger from a Wall Street Journal article by Jeffrey Zaslow

so i make a call to those of you who read my musings...to be open...and aware of those visionaries who touch your life and whose words resonate within your heart...

"In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teachings show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about you." -Titus 2:7-8

as i follow my path on this journey of my life i struggle to live by the words above...and of an old Irish prayer my Irish grandparents taught me...

"Three wishes I ask of the King when I part from my body: May I have nothing to confess, may I have no enemy, may I own nothing! Three wishes I ask this day of the King, ruler of suns: May I have no dignity or honours that lead me into torment! May I not work without reward before Christ! May God take my soul when it is most pure!"

all photography copyright rebecca e. parsons 2009

the best party of the Universe: LIFE

my friend, Juan Reyes Florido, write this on facebook today...

We have been invited to the best party of the Universe: LIFE. Enjoy it and Help others to enjoy it...

my morning meditation...

i wish to share with each of you the peace and the comfort i receive on my morning walk by the sea...it begins very early, sometimes it is still dark...at other times the sky is beginning to show the promise of a new day....as i continue to walk, prayerfully...meditatively the first glimpse of the sun is often as the top edges of the clouds above the horizon become tipped with the flames of the sun...this morning i was not alone as a beautiful, 4-foot tall great blue heron was feeding at the edge of the sea...
sometimes she poses for me..today she was skittish and flew south after a few photos...
i watched as her wings spread wide and she glided down the coast...i am blessed to have her near for even a short time...when i turned to walk again the sun was beginning it ascent preceded by rays reaching into the heavens...this is my favorite moment...just before the sun appears...
the the sky turns sienna and golden as the sun climbs above the clouds...and then...
it bursts forth...a brilliant white light in the golden sky...and her rays seek me over the ocean...
and i stand in silence as i feel the warmth touch me cheek...and thank God for the gift of a new day...
i soak in the scene so as to remember everything...i breathe in slowly the salty scents of the sea...and i am truly captivated...mesmerized...
it rises higher above the ocean...and the rays become more intense...and i smile...
the water covers my feet as i stand in awe at the beauty...the majesty of this special moment in time when i am alone with the sun and the sea...and my life is full of meaning and i understand why i am here...

for today is going to offer me a perfect chance to seek, then to study and experience the grandest answers...as i watch...listen, and before the end of this day, i will have a chance to be Divine...for someone is counting on me to be.

"When we settle in our hearts and minds that God's Word can be trusted, we solve a lot of problems in our lives." -Tony Evans, God Can Not be Trusted (and Five Other Lies of Satan)

the heron left behind a feather for me this morning...someday soon i will share the meaning of the feather...

making peace with my today will improve my future…

vultures after my spirit

for some time now i have felt as if vultures were after my spirit...it seems that they are coming from every direction...yes, it seems that way....

Making Peace with My Today Will Improve My Future... It may sound odd, but the fastest way to get to a new-and-improved situation is to make peace with your current situation. By making lists of the most positive aspects you can find about your current situation, you then release your resistance to the improvements that are waiting for you. But if you rail against the injustices of your current situation, you hold yourself in Vibrational alignment with what you do not want, and you cannot then move in the direction of improvement. It defies Law. In every particle of the Universe, there is that which is wanted - and the lack of it. - Abraham

Excerpt from from Abraham Hicks, The Vortex Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships

so i make peace with my today...and i will do it again tomorrow if necessary...and each day that follows for my spirit still shines...it cannot help but shine as i choose to live fearlessly and consciously...and love...

may our collective lights shine brightly today....

"Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." -Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"

unrest...thoughts on living your purpose

storm clouds gather

"You can always tell when a man is not living in the purpose for which God created him. You sense his unrest. You get a feeling something is not quite right, even if you can't put your finger on what it is. When you are around a man who is fulfilling his calling and doing what he was created to do, you're aware of his inner direction, confidence and deep security." -Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Wife

stormy seas

there are always storms in our lives...times when storm clouds gather and times when there are rough, stormy seas...when we feel lost, alone, afraid, unsure...times of unrest...unrest of the spirit, the mind and the soul...unrest about of purpose and direction...

soaring thru the storm

how you choose to deal with these storms is a view into your strength of character...you can let the storm engulf you where the undertow will pull you down or way off course...or you can soar above the storm where you are lifted up...and propelled along your journey as if on wings...

break in the clouds

and eventually there is a break in the clouds and the sun comes shining thru...and a remarkable calm embraces you...you realize that you have weathered the storm...learned its lessons...and, with deep gratitude, have grown...

sun comes shining thru

and if you are conscious enough you may even find a diamond in the stormy sky...the life lesson that was hidden within the chaos...one that strengthen you and sustains you and brings lasting gift...

diamond in the stormy sky

a simple treasure...an inner direction and confidence to set sail in the direction of your purpose...and follow that path wherever it leads because you know...you BeLiEvE that it is your destiny...

head into the sun

are you going to finish strong...

Nick Vujicic...courage every day...

it really only matters that you finish...not how...

Yehudit...

dawn's early light

this is a continuation of the story from last post about a special woman from Jerusalem i met on the beach this week...her name is Yehudit (pronounced yeah-who-deet) Hebrew for Judith...of Hebrew origin meaning "from Judea"...have you ever had an experience where, during it, you knew you life had been touched in such a way that you would never be the same again....that is what happened to me this morning...

Yehudit walks on beach

Yehudit walked with me this morning...slowly as my foot is healing...she is very tiny with a gigantic spirit...she told me of her life and her mission...she is a Jew who believes in Christ...and her mission is to dispel hatred from the hearts of people all over the world...i believe in my heart of hearts i took a walk with Jesus this morning...

Yehudit's sky

she said, "one word spoken in anger can place hate in someone's heart...you may not even know that the seed has been planted...and this tiny seed thought causes damage to the world...."

has anyone planted a tiny seed in your heart?