1. LOVE YOURSELF

It never ceases to amaze me when I become aware of how self critical we all can be.  Have you ever caught yourself saying things like “I am too this”, “I am too that”, “I can’t do this”, “I can’t do that” or “I should do that”?  Do you feel uncomfortable when someone compliments you?  It is as if most of us, somewhere along the line, have had the idea branded into our beings that we just aren’t good enough.  I cannot stress this enough, it’s a lie and that lie is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to achieving the peace, love and happiness that are intended for each of us.  I am not saying that there aren’t things that we would like to improve upon, but before any of that can really happen, we have to learn to love and appreciate ourselves for the wonderful beings we are right now. You are good enough just because you are you, you are lovable just because you are you and you are deserving enough just because you are you!

Action

Sit down and write ten things that you like about yourself. Go ahead and toot your own horn. When you have finished, go into the bathroom and shut the door. Look at yourself in the mirror and say aloud “I your name love myself because item on the list. It may feel awkward and downright corny to do this but it will work wonders. Next time that you catch yourself speaking critically of yourself, pause and say or think “NO that just is not true”.

2. LOVE YOUR LIFE

There are times in each of our lives when things seem far from perfect. We can be over or underwhelmed by the present, fearful of the future or just want a big positive change in some area of our lives. All of these feelings are quite normal and human. When we sometimes get stuck in these periods the best thing that I have found to do is to make a gratitude list. This simple action produces a shift in perspective that opens the way for good to come and it makes the waiting time much more endurable.

Action

Sit down and write at least fifteen things, people and circumstances that you are grateful to have in your life. You can start with the basics like food, shelter and a friend. There were times in my life when I didn’t think that I could muster up one thing to be grateful for and ended up with a list topping thirty. Keep this list so that you can re-read it if you start feeling low or you can begin a new list each day.

3. FORGIVE, BLESS AND RELEASE

By the time that most of us have reached adulthood we have experienced our fair share of hurts and disappointments. All of these accumulate and leave a residue on our spirits, preventing us from fully living the life we want for ourselves now. This can manifest itself as repeating negative patterns, fear and depression and, in the most extreme cases, even chronic illness. This is perhaps the most difficult of these suggested actions as it requires us to be truly thorough, honest and willing. If you do this with all sincerity you will experience a tremendous true freedom and well being. You may have old feelings stirred up while you do this process but that is O.K. because they need to get out and will pass quickly.

Action

Sit down and write a list of every person, event or situation that has hurt you as far back as you can recall to this present time. Once this list is complete, take every name on it and rewrite it in this format. “I your name fully forgive person, event or situation. I bless and release you to the highest good. You are free and I am free in peace and goodwill”. Now say each one aloud. When you are done dispose of this list in whatever manner you wish. Tear it up, burn it or whatever, just know that you are now clear. I have done this with people I would rather have chewed glass than to forgive but this is a spiritual biggie so go ahead. It will bring a dramatic blessing to your life experience.

4. GIVE YOURSELF ABSOLUTION

While we are in forgiveness mode, why not forgive ourselves too?  Each of us has said and done things that we regret. These can be terrible burdens to bear that reinforce feelings of guilt and low self opinion.  Remember “to err is human, to forgive divine”.  Set yourself free now by knowing that you have already been forgiven.

Action

Sit down and write a list of everything you have regret having said and done from your earliest recollection to this present moment.  Take the list and rewrite it in this format “I your name am sorry that I whatever it is.  I your name forgive myself for whatever it is. I am fully forgiven for whatever it is”.  As with the last action, say them aloud and then get rid the list.

When you have completed these four actions, pause for a moment to pat yourself on the back. Congratulations! You have just broken the bonds of past ideas, feelings and circumstances. You are now ready to move forward and to create every good desire of your heart.

5. HOPES, WISHES AND DREAMS

Do you know that we live in an abundant universe with an endless supply of love, health, prosperity, peace and well being that can and will easily meet all of our needs?  Did you also know that it is part of each of our destinies to have those needs met with ease and joy?  The only problem is that we often forget to ask or we feel unworthy of receiving.  Well here is your chance at bat, so go ahead and hit a couple of home runs!

Action

Sit down and write a list of everything you would like to see manifest in your life.  Anything and everything should be placed on this list because anything and everything is possible. Would you like more peace of mind?  More confidence?  A new relationship or job?  A more prosperous business?  Release from pain or illness?  More creativity?  A new car or house? You get the gist. The sky is the limit so shoot for the stars. Take your time with this and have fun. When you are finished, keep this list someplace special and then move on to the next.

6. THANKSGIVING

There is an old saying that “before you can receive you must believe”.  This step is designed to open all of the channels for you to be receptive to your good.  A great way to do this is to give thanks as though you have already been granted your wishes.

Action

Take the list that you made in the last step and re-write it in this format.  “I your name give thanks that I have received whatever your desire. Now say each one aloud.  Keep these two lists and move on to the next and final step.

7. LET GO IN FAITH AND TRUST

Faith and trust are two of the greatest gifts that we as human beings have been given.  They are key elements in most all belief systems. Once we ask for something, magic wheels are set in motion to bring us what we need.  We don’t have to do anything to make these things happen. In fact, holding tightly to them can slow the process down, so don’t fret and worry. Simply relax in the knowledge that they shall come to pass and keep yourself open as opportunities present themselves. Remember that divine timing and our timing may not coincide but know that they will come, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. They may also come in ways and forms that are even better than we imagined so stay open, aware and receptive.

Action

Take both your wish and thanksgiving lists in your hands and infuse them with all of the love and joy that you can.  Envision them coming true for you and imagine how happy you will feel when they come to pass.  Then tuck them away in a special and secret place and know that they are in good hands.

Many years ago it was suggested to me, by a mentor and guide that I sit down and write a gratitude list. I was going through a particularly rough time and had lost my inner compass. My perception was askew and this gratitude list was supposed to change that. I was to write down all of the things in my life that I had to be thankful for and this was to cause a major psychic shift to occur in my inner and outer worlds. Little did I know when beginning this exercise that it was to truly be one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

At first I struggled to find things to be grateful for. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and to find gratitude was tough. I persevered and began just writing the basics. I am glad I woke up that morning was sometimes the best I could do but I was diligent about this until my list grew long. Each day I would sit and write these blessings that were all around me. I have distilled it down to thirteen reasons and I will share these with you in hopes that you will connect these to the blessings in your world and incorporate an attitude of gratitude in living each day.

1. Grateful for being alive – each of us is a unique creation who has been granted life to experience on the physical plane. Life is good!
2. Grateful for good health – every breath that flows through my body and every beat of my heart sustains my life force. If I am alive I can be thankful for health.
3. Grateful for family here and in the here-after – I love, respect and honor my ancestry. Each one gave me a gift. Their triumphs are mine. I sit upon their shoulders to continue to victory.
4. Grateful for friends here and in the here-after – God created friends to help us share our burdens. Friends keep us wonderful company and help keep things real.
5. Grateful for pets – How fortunate we are to have the unconditional love and attention of our little furry friends. The bond between pets and humans is one of the deepest and kindest bonds possible.
6. Grateful for community – I love my city, neighbors and neighborhood. I feel connected to my space. Participate with those around us.
7. Grateful for the planet – The planet sustains me and allows me to live. I am thankful that it supports our existence. Nature is a gift.
8. Grateful for comfort – My beautiful home protects me. I feel comforted in my surrounds. I have food to eat and a wonderful place to rest my head. I have nice clothes. All of my basic needs are met.
9. Grateful for career / life purpose – I am working doing something that I love. I am paid well and my talents are recognized. I am using my abilities in a productive way for myself and others.
10. Grateful for prosperity – I live in an abundant world and partake in the process of giving and receiving. I am open to receiving my highest good. There is plenty for all.
11. Grateful for intelligence / intuition – I am always learning. I am alert and aware and I pay attention to my intuition.
12. Grateful for personal growth – I am wise. I am learning my life lessons with grace and maturity. I learn to embrace change.
13. Grateful for spirituality – I am connected to the universe. I am growing in the image of God. With prayer and meditation I live a full and meaningful life.

These thirteen gratitudes can be expounded upon to include the many blessings in your life. My list is to serve as a guide to awakening the thankful heart within. You may have been able to identify with many things. You may feel that some of these gifts are missing from your life and you have a long way to go. Don’t be discouraged, even if you aren’t working doing what you love, say thank you in advance that you will. Even if you do not yet feel prosperous, affirm that you are and be definite about it. One of the ancillary benefits of a gratitude list is that the very act of gratitude causes you to be magnetized to your good. Each time you sit down and do this exercise you are creating a future filled with these gifts.

I must admit that I have become rather addicted to writing my gratitude list. I began it on faith the same way I am asking you to try it. After just a few short days I began to feel a bit more hopeful and positive about myself and my circumstances. As more time passed others noticed a glow about me. This was enough to have me continue the practice but there was even more. I discovered that the things that I was being grateful for improved. It was as if my writing was watering the garden of my dreams and all the good stuff started to grow. Even though it felt like fiction when I began it has become fact for me. My gratitude list has come true for me and I know that it will for you. The power of a thankful heart can make all dreams real.

Dear Miss Roy:

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you so much for taking the time to fit us in what I know has to be your very busy schedule by seeing us on a Saturday evening, as well as spending so much time with the ladies, for their readings.

First of all, you were fantastic; and I was completely blown away by your abilities. Personally, I have been quite the skeptic about psychic matters all of my life.  I was convinced that logic and science were the only motivating forces in our world.  I just had never had anything dramatic and irrefutable happen in my life which convinced me that there could be such a thing as psychics in our world that could actually be the real thing.  Now, after what you knew, and revealed during the psychic readings, I have to acknowledge that you are the real McCoy and that sure was that a revelation for me (as well as a shock)!

As you know, there is absolutely no way that you could have known (or discovered or learned) the things about my wife, our friends, and especially me, other than in some way that the rest of the world calls a supernatural way.  I had never met you, other than briefly shaking your hand when we met before you took my wife into your office, but you knew about my history, myself and especially my late wife. And that you uncovered and revealed all of this to my wife, without me even being present, is even more baffling and unexplainable in any scientific manner.  Sure, there will always be critics and nay-sayers who will claim that they can’t see or measure or witness whatever it is that you do, and they may well be right, but I absolutely have to confirm that you did it, and knew these things somehow, things that it would have been impossible for you to know about my late wife, me, and our relationship. Although I may have to  accept that you can do it (simply because you did it),  I will always wonder how it is possible for you to do what it is that you do.  But for now, I have to truly accept, deep in my soul, that there are things that exist beyond mere mortals understanding. Whether or not you realize it or not, this is a truly wonderful gift that you have given to me — and I thank you for it.

I have no choice now but to acknowledge that you had to have some source or means beyond what we scientifically oriented people accept as our real and known universe (which I have to now accept is obviously a limited perspective) in order to know what you knew and revealed about me and my life and relationship with my late wife. Not to mention the other things that you told, revealed, and discussed during your session.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a totally different perspective on the world, the universe, and for making me realize that I am not anywhere near as smart as I thought I was, or that I know nearly as much as I thought I did.  And especially in reaffirming my belief in the fact that our world, our universe, and even our very existence is an amazingly more complicated, mysterious, convoluted, and exciting one than anyone can ever conceive.  You have left me invigorated, challenged, and mentally and emotionally stimulated in ways that I never thought possible. Although it may sound trite, I am so looking forward to the rest of my life and being able to explore what it is that you do and how you do it. It is real, whatever it is, and you have the gift. Even I could tell that much from our brief meeting and just being in your presence.  You simply radiate power.  Call it your “aura” or your “chi” or whatever — it is there and it is manifestly obvious to anyone who meets you unless they are totally closed off from what is around them.  (Here I am rattling on like a new wave, neo-spiritualistic convert or something — and that is so not me).

I am sorry that these “few words” turned out to be an epistle.  My  words are just simply inadequate to do you and you justice but I had to try to let you know how much your abilities have done for me to give me a new perspective on life and the wonderful world around us.  Simply amazing!  And thank you for allowing me to release some of my energy by writing this to you.  I can only hope that you get the chance to read it and to know how much I appreciate what you did not only for me, but also to thank you for what you did for my wife and friends.  I went to your office thinking that it would be a pleasant entertainment, and came away in absolute awe of what you do, and the gift that you share so professionally, delicately, and responsibly. Not to mention ethically.  You truly are a gifted person. I just wish that everyone could know it and about what you can do.  continue the good work and, until we meet again in person, I remain…

A devoted fan and follower,

Jon Searcy

Pensacola, Florida

Regarding patience, being reminded that “To everything there is a season” helps me to understand that things take time to be planted, nurtured and to grow. Many, many times I have forgotten this truth and frustrated myself by trying to do these things and expecting results at once. I have also, metaphorically, planted crops at the wrong time and season and have watched them wither and die because I could not wait – I wanted it now. I’ve come to understand that there is much wisdom in heeding time and giving it it’s due respect by learning when to act and when to pause and, also to be patient in my expectations of outcomes. For me it took a whole lot of trial and error, literally and figuratively banging my head against walls, but I did finally learn that quite often the time the fates deem best for things to happen differs slightly from when I think things should happen and that the best thing I could do with the between times was learn to chill. You don’t see leaves having anxiety attacks because they have to wait to change color? We can learn much from them!

I recall driving across the country in a little two seater with both a chihuahua and a kitty lying on my lap between my legs and the steering wheel. The rest of the car was filled with luggage and we were in the Deep South pushing through a rain storm. All of a sudden my windshield wipers stopped, forcing me to pull off to the side of the road. There I was in the middle of nowhere on a long stretch of empty highway in Alabama. I could swear I started hearing the theme song from the film Deliverance – da,da,dung, dung, dung, dung, dung, dung, dung The last thing that I wanted was to be stuck in that downpour in a car to full to breath. I was ticked. This even happens when you’re spiritual by the way but when your spiritual you learn to relax a bit quicker and I did. I just waited out the rain singing along to my favorite CDs and when skies cleared I got back on the road. After driving a ways I came upon traffic. There was an accident up ahead that, according to my calculations, I missed joining by having had to stop for awhile. Now some may cry coincidence and you may be right but for me it was an example of “and a time to every purpose under the heaven”. Often we can’t put the pieces together as to why something happened without hindsight. The trick is to endure until more of the story is revealed. We each travel our own roads, with twists and turns that are leading us to destinations yet not known. Relaxing into what life hands us also makes it more endurable.

I conclude with one last verse from Ecclesiastes to further illustrate my points; “a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted”. I wish you all the patience to wait for the best season for your plantings and the endurance to stay to pluck that which was planted. When you possess both of these skills, time will work kindly for you.

As a professional psychic I am what some might call a linear time jumper. I use my psychic abilities to hop from present – to past – to future. Most of my clients come to me to learn what time portends for them…what the future holds. In fact, most of us humans have questions about our futures and are feeling trapped in our nows. However, I really feel that before tomorrow can be revealed, a true understanding of the moment must be experienced and many of us have grown uncomfortable simply being where we are at in this moment in time. It personally took me years of practicing meditation to be able to sit in my own skin for more than a few minutes without wanting my mind to escape to what had been or what will be, any where else but where I was. But, there does seem to be some drive within us to connect to being present or Buddhism and Ekhardt Tolle wouldn’t be so popular.  There was a simpler time that we must be primally harkening back to before we became so uncomfortable with being blissfully aware, again, dancing in the moment.

Have you ever tried to simply sit still for five minutes and do nothing except pay attention to your own breathing? Any of you all who have, I’m sure, will confess that it’s difficult to make it through your first minute. There are other times though when you are with complete attention doing something that you truly love that you can so easily lose track of time because you are rapt in the now of what you’re doing. The latter instance of concentration is a perfect example of real now moments, when all of our being just is doing its thing right there and then. Putting all of one’s concentration into the present can bring much reward as it is where we are – period. Blink an eye and this moment is past. Many moments will pass in our lives that will go by us unnoticed because we were too busy lingering in the past or projecting into the future. All of these gurus: Ram Dass, Krishnamurti, Chodren and other sages expound on the virtue of being currently aware. Even the Buddha tells us “Do not dwell in the past; do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment”.

Sometimes no sooner do I settle into being present then a hundred little thoughts come marching through my brain trying to distract me…yesterdays, tomorrows, imaginary conversations – yikes. Being present isn’t easy in our franticly paced world. We are being asked to continually be a step ahead of the game which is the antithesis of being here now. I know that there are always calls that need to be made and lists that need to be followed. Plan for retirement, plan for the future are ideas that are continuously slammed on us. Focusing on the present is very difficult in modern times but if you can manage it a little you will find that the future begins taking care of itself. By being clearer about where you are at the moment, you can see the next right step appear because you see where your own feet are now. Being here now also gives us the opportunity to enjoy using one’s entire sensing skills. Take a moment to feel, smell, see and taste. Imagine taking a bite of something extra yummy when each taste is so delicious that you don’t want it to end. If you can transfer that same openness to experiencing ordinary moments you can get closer to what many consider the state of enlightenment, being at one with it all.

Another benefit of being present is that you are available to recognize and receive inspiration. Many a great inventor, artist, scientist and philosopher credit their most brilliant discoveries, creations and ideas as occurring while in meditative states. The term being “in the zone” is just another way of saying in the now. When we dance in the moment we open up to and allow ourselves to become vessels for the universal energy that fueled the big bang. Cool, huh?

Each day I devote time to various exercises in spiritual growth but, hands down, I have reaped most result from mindful meditation. In the past I pushed myself to meditate for days and nights on end. I am not suggesting that you go that far, for me it is part of my job and I need to be in that state of consciousness more than most. I do advocate spending five minutes in silence paying attention to your breath, heart and mind. You will be shocked at the magnification of keen thought and perception you will discover by doing this for only a few days in a row.  By welcoming and staying in the now you can make the most of each second and be clear about yourself and your way. Truly tune in to your world and you will receive the full benefit of this precious time on earth.

Just set aside a few minutes a day from 7/6 till 7/16 and visualize the smiling face of the Dalai Lama. Picture yourself sitting with him, in meditation, and concentrate on compassion within the hearts of all human kind. It is amazing what the group power of thought and prayer can do to save our world.

All of us learn to monitor the behavior of others to learn what acceptable societal behavior is. We currently live in a very “keep up with the Jones” world that says that one must do or say or work or live in a particular style or you have little value at all. We as a collective really do not congratulate originality unless it makes a fortune. From the moment that we are born we are being programmed to fit into our particular societal norm and in some ways that’s good. There are certain laws of the land that must be agreed to by us all but after that, too much structure dulls the sense of individuality we are born with and should be celebrated for being authentic individuals. I see so much sadness in the faces of those around me, folks are lost because they have forgotten who they really are. So many people come to me to find their mission because they are feeling empty; they are not connected to their core…they have lost the authentic self they were born with. Let’s look at some ways that you can help to rebuild it by taking a few moments to practice the steps below.

The first step to helping to reclaim one’s core being is to acknowledge that you’re feeling lack of personal direction. ‘Seek and ye shall find” has always been one of my favorite Biblical quotes and means to me that what we wish to find starts to find us with the curiosity of a question. So take a moment and look within and ask “What is my purpose?”. Ask that question with an honest desire and you will soon begin feeling the stirring of your soul to answer and the journey to your self begin.

The next step is to tune into your truth. When you have a connection with another human being ask yourself if you are really being yourself or are you being who the other wants you to be. We often tense in the solar plexus when we are betraying ourselves. Something nags within that lets us know that we are or are not being authentic. Listen to yourself and pay attention to your feelings. That is the greatest clue to self discovery. If you catch yourself being at all false to your true self, try a bit of honesty. Check in and see how it feels to be honestly you.

Another step for connecting with your authentic self, perhaps most important, is to give outlet to your creativity. Now this doesn’t mean that you have to go out and repaint the Sistine Chapel or compose another Madame Butterfly, it could simply be listening or dancing to your favorite music or how you decorate your house or your wardrobe. The most important thing is to express you, which is true creativity. Try to do something fun along these lines once a week. Take an art or dance class too if you’re up to it. As with most of life, there isn’t a right or wrong way to do this. Simply follow your vibrant creative spirit and let your spirit shine.

It never amazes me how working with the above suggestions seems to flip a switch that allows us to begin a dialogue with our special purposes. By taking a few moments each day on one of the above ideas, I have seen so many folks awaken a drive within to express their authentic selves and find greater meaning in their lives. I personally know of the rewards of being me and I have no doubt that you will enjoy your own life’s vibrant expression.

A few months after Katrina hit, when all of us New Orleanians were in states of complete PTSD, I became obsessed with the end of the world. I had just experienced what was like an end of my world with the storm and it must have kicked off some chemical reaction that caused my thinking to go down the road to oblivion. I was terrorized by thoughts of our socio-economic systems crashing down around us and all of the chaos and mayhem that would create. I had so many worst case scenarios vying for attention in my head that I barely had time to figure out a plan. I jumped from prophecy to prophecy, from the Hopi to the Mayan to Nostradamus, Cayce and Pinchbeck and, damn it, if each one wasn’t mimicking the next. There must be something to this End Time stuff or all these folks wouldn’t be coming to these eerily similar conclusions. What had I been missing all these many years in the Oracular Sciences that I never jumped on the doomsday wagon before? There it was! All this compelling evidence!!  I got scared and everywhere I looked I could see indicators pointing to disaster; 9-11,  Iraq, the Tsunami and Katrina all became signs to me of our teetering on the edge of extinction and for a few moments it got me…it really got me. I even looked into survivalist schools and other off the grid outposts for primal living as a means of preparation for what was surely eminent doom, but then I remembered, I had never bought into this way of thinking before and I grew up in a nuclear childhood where this was always a way it could go, but it never had gone that way as so oft throughout history it had been predicted.  I was born right around the Cuban Missile Crisis when for thirteen long days all bets were off. Surely if anyone was ready for this warrior’s type of existence it was me! I was shaped by A-Bombs and Bruce Lee!!

I didn’t really become aware of Armageddon until my early teens. At that time there were an immense amount of movies and TV specials that depicted the end game as being nuclear war. You could run home gleefully and watch an after-school special about the horrible effects of radiation. What a way to raise a generation! I had never much thought about the sweeping hands of time and fate till then. I had just been a good student who looked to the future with optimism.  That all changed. There were the last days of the Vietnam War, Three Mile Island and then the gas shortages and things were looking pretty bleak back then but time kept marching on. I had a little bout with teenage angst but time marched on. A few decades later we had the Y2K scenario, when that was when things would fall apart. The next day time marched on. Waco went up in flames but time marched on. The polar ice caps melting but time just kept marching on. I couldn’t believe that I had let myself get snared, again, in one of the greatest cons on earth – The Apocalypse. After realizing that I had gone down this path I really began to wonder what in the human psyche needed to believe that the finish line is always near and then I got it – it’s our fear of death. By projecting outwardly, our fear of death, to some external situation, like the Apocalypse, we think we might be able to fend it off and control it rather than it being one of the most uncontrollable of human experiences.

By wandering around the bad neighborhoods of my post Katrina mind, I stumbled upon that most personal epiphany, one’s mortality. Once I met my own mortality I ran like hell. It’s no fun when you hear your life start ticking, but it happens to us, each and all. As an old psychic friend liked to put it “None of us knows when our thread is going to run out.”  Our own death, quite thankfully, is pretty much a mystery. I found it more comfortable to focus on the end of the world in general than on mine specifically. I could perhaps control it by being armed and dangerous, ready to kick some zombie ass! Or I could meet it by having the most stuff and creating my own empire out of supply and demand. Either way it seemed more interesting to plot that stuff out than to come to terms with my own demise. Death is the price of admission; I just don’t tend to feel particularly sacrificial. So that is what I think all of this 2012, May 21^st hoopla is about, just another vain human attempt at trying to control everything. Below are just some of the recent failures to predict the end of the world. Take a read and I’ll continue after it’s made its point.

Baptist Minister William Miller predicted Jesus Christ would return in 1844. When Jesus didn’t come, the year was dubbed “The Great Disappointment.” He kept predicting end dates until his death five years later.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses first anticipated the end of times in 1914, now noting on their official Web site “not all that was expected to happen in 1914 did happen, but it did mark the end of the Gentile Times and was a year of special significance.”

The Pastor John Hinkle, Christ Church Los Angeles, predicted that God would “rip the evil out of the world.” on June 9, 1994.  He insists the event happened, but people may not have noticed it.

Herbert W Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, predicted that the Day of the Lord would happen sometime in 1936. When the prediction failed, he made a new estimate: 1975.

Leonard Sale-Harrison, a bible teacher from Australia, held a series of prophecy conferences across North America in the 1930’s. He predicted that the end of the world would happen in 1940 or 1941.

Can anyone see what thing is exactly like the other with these examples? None of them ever happened. As I gaze into our near future, 2012 and beyond, I keep seeing things continuing on, sometimes better, sometimes worse. I don’t see annihilation coming in a nice and tidy manner like at 6pm on May 21^st – kaboom! I really don’t care anymore that so many prophesies point to circumstances like floods, earthquakes and wars as being the signs of the End Times. Looking back, historically, these things have been going on for many generations and every one of those generations had an end of the world date in mind. I am not saying that there isn’t an end to the world for us humans. I’ve looked pretty far into the future and I didn’t like what I found. The end of the world is always at hand but much more presently and personally than we care to imagine. Our own grains of sand are falling in the hourglass from the moment we arrive.

A while back, I was asked to look several hundred years into our future and was quite disturbed by what I saw…nothing. After I analyzed my readings, I realized that I had only been looking at the surface of the earth and it was pretty bleak. What I hadn’t seen, until recently, is a vision of human beings living underground, underwater or even on other planets. I see these now and feel glad. Thinking back to some of my favorite authors in my youth, Verne, Asimov and Roddenberry, I see how much of what they fancied for our future has come to pass and I think I would rather align my sight with theirs. In their futures, we live on. We have to follow the laws of adaptation, but we do live on. The real survivalists are all of us folks who just keep waking up in the morning and,no matter what, put one foot in front of the other and live on.

The great awakening that I received, after I climbed out of the pit of fear that meditating continually on Armageddon can place one in, is that I was spinning my wheels imagining a frightening future instead of enjoying the pleasure in the beautiful moments now. I just stopped going to that mad future I’d created and started to commune more with present world around me and if I can do it, so can you. Here is a link to a site that lists more failed attempts to nail down the inevitable, www.religioustolerance.org. I find that after reading how many times they have been wrong, I am less afraid that they may be right. See if it makes you feel better. Not that I am tempting fate but I also like to recall what an astronomer friend told me and that is, to paraphrase, that if something were hurling through space towards us that was going to hit us at the end of 2012, they would have seen it by now. As for an economic crash that sets the world scrambling for goods, I don’t know, perhaps. After Katrina’s initial looting, our humanity returned and we began to take care of each other, breaking bread and sharing what food we all had, we came together in communities. I would imagine that would be the case should disaster strike again and I now prefer to see the good rather than project the bad. I find not thinking about Armageddon quite refreshing. As the world will, no doubt, continue spin along, I’ll spin with her and send forth thoughts of an Utopian rather than Apocalyptic future for all beings.

A few weeks back, I had occasion to be really stopped in my tracks by one of lifes more extreme forms of heart ache – loss. I have had it happen before, that some event just knocks me to my knees and left uttering the eternal question, why? We all experience these times. It’s part of the human condition. Loss is the cost of living if you are doing it well.  Even psychics have to experience some shockers, as strange as that seems. We are tried like everyone else and given the opportunity to grow through adversity. Perhaps it’s because empathy is an acquired skill and we in the healing arts must know pain, as deep as it gets, in order to truly help others.

Loss comes in many guises, like a thief in the night, robbing us of our sense of security and justice in the world. Be the loss emotional, financial or physical, one is never truly prepared but there are some things that I can suggest to help to facilitate the way to strength and wholeness again.  I call it “Growing Through Grief” and it’s a series of actions that assists in turning loss into a positive and meaningful evolutionary process that you will come to appreciate as vital to true spiritual development. Inspired by Dr. Elisabeth Kubler – Ross’s monumental work “The Five Stages Of Grief”, widely accepted model of emotional and psychological responses that many people experience when faced with a life-changing situation, I have created a few suggested ways to get from A to Z after any event rocks your world.  You can take one step or all and pop it into your life skill toolbox. If we are lucky enough to stay here in our beautiful existence, each of us will be touched in our sore spots and know the pain inherent in life on earth, a pain that takes away with one hand but gives back much in return if we move through it and transcend. So here they are…

1. DON’T PANIC! -Take a couple of deep breaths. The first response to loss is shock, so expect to feel pretty screwed up at the start. Life has turned the tables on you and that never feels nice. You may feel sleepless…at the very least you’ll have restlessness and discontent. On the other hand, you may just want to sleep all the time to escape and that’s ok too. Be really kind to yourself now because you have been dealt a blow. Drink some chamomile tea and take some aspirins and just stare at the heavens in disbelief. I call this first stage “WTF!”. You will be asking yourself all kinds of questions to try to make sense out of what feels senseless. This is the prelude to a time of tears.  The amount of time that you spend on this step, and those to come, is entirely dependent on the nature of the loss. Some take days, some years but hang in there because this stage, and again those to come, will pass into the next and you’ll be one step closer to breaking through to the other side.

2. CRY, CRY AND CRY SOME MORE – According to William H. Frey, a biochemist at the University of Minnesota, crying gets rid of the stress hormones and that makes us feel better.  The sage advice to “go and have a good cry” does have its basis in fact. I have always felt worlds better after a good wailing cry. It is the body’s release mechanism and we should just let it work to cleanse us. I have walked around on the brink of tears for ages. I was always ready to shed tears at a moment’s notice because of loss. Tears are loss’s language so open up and gush. Cry it out as often as is necessary…till the well runs dry. This purging activity can go on for years and be the only lingering symptom of loss, tears, because sometime the heart just cries out. You are being gently led to the next stage which is verbal.

3. TALK IT OUT –  This is when your friends are most welcomed. Once through  steps one and two, you are more inclined to open up and reach out to tell your story. Most often this will be in the search for validation and understanding, “Did this really happen to me and why?”. At this juncture we may be talking in circles, repeating the same words again and again as we try to connect the dots of our heartache. It is of utmost importance that we speak with others at this time. If we don’t have a ready audience of support then seek out support groups. It is the bridge that will help carry you to happiness again. It also helps us to know that we are never truly alone.

4. WRITE IT OUT – Many of my audience know that I prize writing as the number one way to get to know oneself. It helps to bring control of an experience back into your hands. It is also a great tool to mine the rich fields of lifes lessons and puts you in touch with exactly what you need to learn. In loss, I recommend writing letters to all involved. These letters will never be sent so you can vent all of your feelings. Write letters that are a combination of blame and forgiveness, always ending with forgiveness. Write down your feelings good and bad, pretty and ugly. Writing it out, like the previous two steps, is an act of catharsis that assists you in working through loss.

5. GETTING ON – I have never like the term “Getting Over” when applied to loss. In my experience we never really get over losses, each one becomes part of our personal story. I do very much believe in getting on with ones life. After the necessary steps of grief, it is important to stake your claim back in the world of the living. Even if you find yourself not wanting to do a thing, make an attempt to get back to things that you once enjoyed. There is an old saying about getting back on your bicycle after you have fallen off. Loss feels like falling of your bicycle mutliplied by however deep the loss. You will be able to pick yourself up and start living again no matter how impossible it seems at first.

By the time we have reached adulthood most of us will have experienced loss of some kind. If you are reading this, you have come out the otherend of, at least, one of lifes disappointments. Time is a terrific ally in helping to feel better and more normal again. With each passing day, you will begin to feel that life is becoming manageable again. Even if only a minute at a time, it is essential to acknowledge the time that you do feel better because this will help you to recognize it again. Moments begin to add up and then before you know it, you have triumphed over the consequenses of loss.

The first records of Mardi Gras in New Orleans are from the mid-seventeen hundreds. Depictions of fancy dress balls and costumed street reveling give glimpse of the origins of traditions adhered to with pride. Revelers with hidden faces allowed for aristocrat and servant to celebrate side by side. This is a day when class rules are abandoned and every man can be king and every woman queen. The entire city is dancing, drinking and carousing without care and living the motto “Laissez Bon Ton Rouler” or, “Let the Good Times Roll”. One can feel the psychic pulse of the masses as they pay homage to Lord Bacchus and can’t help but be lifted by the spirit of pure joie de vivre. We march along paths etched with the energy of the ancestors that paved the way and this only adds to the commitment to make this one of the most fun days of one’s life.

It will begin for me at 7 AM when a band of mischief makers dressed as skeletons run through the neighborhood knocking on doors and banging pots and pans. This heralds my awakening to the wonderful childlike world of make believe where I can and will transform myself into a creature of my imagination. Putting on wigs and makeup, friends stop by and we start the party early. By 10am everyone is dressed and lubricated and we spill into the street in song and dance meeting fellow wildly clad celebrants as we go to march in one of the oldest marching Krewes in the city, the Krewe of St. Anne. Hundreds of exquisitely costumed paraders congregate to walk to and through the French Quarter, each of us playing the role of our chosen characters, stepping outside of ourselves to express an alien aspect of our nature. A day devoted to being able to be anything that you want to be utterly and completely swallowed in the moment. Tourists ask for poses as the clicking of hundreds of cameras fills the air. All the bells and whistles go off as one basks in their own celebrity. Everybody is a star shining brightly in the crescent city walking along their own red carpet which is Royal or Bourbon Street or both as the day wears on. Rejoice and be free while you can because at the stroke of midnight the sweepers and mounted police come barreling down the street to officially put end to the festivities. A reality check is served and everyone scurries home before they turn into a pumpkin. Tomorrow brings normalcy and no matter if you were Marie Antoinette today, tomorrow is back to the mundane until the next festival rolls around.

One of my favorite sights to see is the line outside of St. Louis Cathedral on Ash Wednesday. Going as far back as the entrance to Jackson Square, the devout of the city, barely able to stand straight due to the previous days indulgences, wait patiently to be absolved. Now is time many relinquish the joys of the flesh and practice the art of moderation. For many New Orleanians this is their second chance at a New Year resolution but as with many such resolutions, the success rate is iffy. One thing is for sure, everyone’s mind begins ticking immediately to decide the theme of their next year’s costume. You see there are only two real times of year in New Orleans. One is Fat Tuesday and the other is the 364 days that lead up to it. The magic of Mardi Gras is part of each of us and continues to thrive as long as we dare to dream.

Kitty Girl from Space