Life

All posts in the Life category

Faith in the Process

Published December 1, 2021 by tindertender

No matter how powerful we are, how much courage and strength we have, there are times when we can’t quite move ourselves along to the next phase of life or creative exploration. At such times we need some divine intervention – a little help in pulling our trolley along, so to speak. When we are at the edge of our own limits and have no more personal resources, we might be left with only one spiritual power, that of faith. Fortunately that is enough.

As unlikely as it may seem, the invisible help from the universe is often more powerful than the physical efforts of a thousand men. That is because the invisible help is not limited by physical laws. It can shift, bend and move in ways that defy limitation. It can affect, evoke and influence situations through invisible, but undeniably persuasive means.

You are in a situation where you cannot ‘set right’ the course of events all by yourself. This is not an indication that you have done something wrong, nor does this suggest that you are not strong enough. It is a sign that there is something bigger unfolding in your life and your willpower will be supplemented by the power of life itself. Sometimes a bigger plan needs to manifest for the benefit of humanity and the earth. You need to shift your perspective to realize that you are part of the greater unfoldment of life, that your individual life serves the greater plan and that you are not separate from its genius. This is what is happening now. You happen to be instrumental to the greater plan and as such, you need to accept your position and be moved, while also being empowered and protected as you make personal progress through your role in that grander scheme.

This is a time for humility and trust. You need complete faith in the processes and events that are happening. There is nothing to worry about, you will be moved most fully and easily, and with the most grace and assistance, through your faithful surrender. Ironically, it is through complete surrender, in total faith, that we become the most empowered. When we are no longer trying to impede the perfection of the greater plan, we can be aligned with and moved by the process. Having faith in the benevolence of life – rather than harboring the suspicion that life is seeking to catch us out, have a joke at our expense or carelessly toss us about as though we mean nothing – then we can relax a little. Having faith in the process gives you space to be curious about what is taking place and to relax enough to be open to what we are most in need of, even if we aren’t exactly sure what that is or how it can happen.

There is now an opportunity for you to be moved from the situation you are currently in, to the next chapter in your life story. You can’t do it on your own. It is too big a shift. It needs the grace of life to intervene on your behalf.

You will need faith though. You may feel as though the wheels of your trolley are coming off or that they are a bit rickety, but you must also understand that the voice of life is now coming straight to your heart with this message:

“I have resources you know not of. It is safe to trust in my ways and in my wisdom, for I love you and am guiding you into all that is rightfully yours. Know that what is rightfully yours is what your heart truly desires and you need not fear loss. Nothing that is meant to come to you will be denied and it is safe for you to let go and allow me to move you.”

Through faith, peace is restored and you are able to know this, and perhaps have some fun in the process.

Healing process ::
Say aloud, “I now ask that all disappointing experiences of the past that have led me to believe that life is not trustworthy or that faith is a silly or immature way to deal with life, be released from my mind, body and heart. I ask for help to accept that I can and will attract all that is needed into my life, at the perfect time and in the perfect way. I ask to be empowered to absolutely receive all that can assist me with gratitude and without shame or guilt. In doing so, I dedicate myself to be a clear, loving, open channel for the flow of life. I know the benefit in doing so is not limited to me, but will flow so that life can benefit others through me. I trust in this now, through unconditional love, so be it.”

You have completed your healing process. If needed, repeat the above prayer each day to help you boost your confidence that everything can and will sort itself out, whether you feel in control or not. In fact, it can do so more easily when you don’t feel in control.

Artwork by Autumn Skye Morrison

Sacred Rebels oracle by Alana Fairchild

Heaven Sent

Published November 28, 2021 by tindertender

Just as we receive gifts in the physical world, through the thoughtfulness of others, to acknowledge how much we mean to them, so too we receive gifts on other levels – including the spiritual level.

A spiritual gift is something that happens through grace. We can ask for help and it may be given in response to that request. All requests for help are answered. A spiritual gift can also be given without us asking for anything at all – at least not consciously. Sometimes it is our hearts that cry out for help. While we are busy getting on with our to-do-lists, we don’t often stop to think about what our hearts might need. If we do, and an immediate solution is not obvious, we just get on with life either letting the issue be or taking the more painful option of dwelling on it without seeing how it might be resolved.

However, there is a loving benevolence in life that knows exactly what we need and how it can best come to us, even when we are not quite so clear. This force actively seeks to assist us in walking our life path. That loving sweetness is being offered to you now, or soon will be, in the form of a spiritual gift.

Your spiritual gift may be symbolic. It may be something that seems ordinary but holds a lot of meaning to you. You might think you are appreciating how lovely it looks, but it is the underlying energy that captures you. Something in the appearance, color or shape speaks to you and is, perhaps, answering an unspoken prayer. It is not the object that is the gift. That is just the wrapping. The actual gift is subtle, yet effective empowerment. It is like a spiritual booster shot that helps you move foreword in life with additional zing, extra strength and greater peace.

You will be empowered to accomplish tasks that you may have nearly, but not quite, been able to manage on your own through the bestowal of a spiritual gift.

The spiritual gift may or may not be recognizable to you. It may be very obvious – an offer, a windfall, a trip, a friendship, a new lover or a remarkable healing in a current relationship. It might be far more subtle and even more powerful such as a jolt of energy that allows you to perceive things differently all of a sudden and perhaps solve a problem that has been plaguing you. It will be bestowed as and when it is needed, in the form that will best serve the love in you.

Let yourself be helped. Assistance is coming your way so act on it and say yes. It is very significant as the assistance is coming from the hand of life itself. Trust it.

Trust in the things that you feel and say to others without knowing why. It moves them. You might not understand, but through trust you are allowing yourself not to over-think and censor yourself. As such you are able to become a vessel through which the spiritual gift can be passed onto others. Don’t block yourself. Let life happen through you. Only benefit can come from this.

Look, love is speaking to you directly here – so pay attention. Really feel the truth of what is being said and trust it! You are being helped!

It is simple to receive the gift that is headed your way. The healing process below will activate that for you.

Healing process ::
Say, “Through unconditional love, I now accept the spiritual gifts that are bestowed upon me, with complete trust and gratitude. So be it.”

Artwork by Autumn Skye Morrison

Sacred Rebels oracle by Alana Fairchild

Shock Of The New

Published November 15, 2021 by tindertender

What wild unconventional voice is calling to you? Can you hear it? It is so different and so unusual, it might be hard to decipher – like hearing an unfamiliar language for the first time. It might be hard to discern with great clarity now but there is an affinity between you and this strangely beautiful newness seeking to manifest.

There is a stirring at the deepest level within you. Something new will break through and the process of this birth may shock you. The shock will transform into great joy and a sense of tremendous liberation, but you must bear the strangeness first. That strangeness might be something that rattles your beliefs about yourself and your world, daring you to become more of yourself, more open the where life is leading you and more willing to be the unique sacred art being crafted by the hand of the universal creator.

Nature never shies away from strange beauty. She allows for endless diversity and her sacred works are often peculiar and stunning. You live within her field of creative grace, as a specially created work that also creates! Surrender any fear you may have of being seen as exotic, unusual, eccentric or bizarre. Make peace with strange beauty, let it happen through you in creative flow. Perhaps you need to allow your conventional ideas of beauty to become even more inspired and open. Perhaps you can allow your need for the world to behave according to your fixed ideas to fall away. You will receive so much more in its place.

There are rumblings and stirrings of the creative life force happening now – deep in the undercurrents of your being. If you are very attuned or sensitive, you may have consciously felt this already – with excitement, discomfort or both. If you have not yet sensed these inner stirrings, they are happening all the same. So be on the lookout for the big shift of new birth, the shock of the new, the unconventional, the strangely beautiful and the disturbing liberation of that which is foreign stepping into your life. This is life creating the stage upon which you will experience greater fulfillment.

Don’t be nervous if the rumble of change turns into a mighty roar that rocks boats, bursts forth of novel ideas and changes things in a way that is out of your control. This is life happening. Free fall into it. The old way is on its way out. You are being invited, dragged, nurtured and coerced into the new. You can handle it!

You are about to encounter something new and different in your life. This is helpful! Don’t reject it, no matter how small or insignificant, or how powerful and life-changing it may seem to be. Dispense with your reliance on the past and what have been your tools to navigate life. You have outgrown your old methods. You will have to fly by the seat of your pants, so to speak, as you experiment with new ways to be. Let life show you the way.

Mantra ::
I am supported through the shock of the new, I accept the beauty in all that is foreign or strange to me as I know it is bringing me new gifts, wisdom, life experiences and creative inspiration. Through unconditional love, so be it.

Artwork by Autumn Skye Morrison

Sacred Rebels oracle by Alana Fairchild

The Return

Published November 11, 2021 by tindertender

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So, you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there you see differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. ~ Terry Pratchett

It’s no longer just about you, but about all who will benefit from your story. In your minds eye, imagine you are delivering a passionate graduation speech to a sea of eager students who are hanging on your every word. You stand at the podium, confidently sharing your story, reflecting upon your journey. You reminisce about lessons and blessings learned and earned along the way. Your words become seeds, planted in fertile soil in the minds and hearts of all those who are destined to be changed by your wisdom. At some point, you notice you are no longer telling a story about how you found the elixir but have embodied it. Between words, when you pause for breath, you continue to radiate a life-affirming message that alchemically alters all who are blessed to be in your sphere of influence.

Mantra ::
I’ve graduated from having a story worth telling to embodying the potency of my story, and it emanates through every cell of my being.

Artwork by Rassouli

The Hero’s Journey dream oracle, by Kelly Sullivan Walden

New Birth, Guarded Vigilantly

Published November 8, 2021 by tindertender

In every creative process, in every birth, in every opening of a new cycle of life, there is a time of vulnerability. This vulnerability is natural and appropriate. It is the foal learning to become steady on its legs. Those legs will become remarkably powerful in time, but the process of growth and maturity has to take place, and that requires some wobbly first attempts. It cannot be any other way.

Within you, perhaps even below the level of your conscious awareness, there is a fresh new life emerging like a vibrant green shoot rising up from the earth. This new life is in need of your attention and your care. This could be a new relationship that needs tending with interest and kindness. It could be a new idea that you need to nurture into fulness, because it is going to hold special purpose for your life path. It might be something within you – a new behavior, a new way of looking at yourself or a new way of being in the world – that you need to tend to until it becomes more natural for you to embody.

The idea that you are currently nurturing, or soon will, is of great importance to your life path.

You must pay attention to the new life emerging for you now, or that you will soon sense. You must not be careless and think it doesn’t matter. It matters greatly. Being careless now is akin to killing off the idea before it has a chance to grow strong enough to withstand the criticism, jealousy or sabotage by dark consciousness in others or yourself. We don’t have to be frightened of destructive energy – it exists in nature and in us, and is part of life. We do however need to be intelligent to its potential power and stay centered in our heart and in our wisdom to avoid its ill effect upon that which we are nurturing into life.

You will not always need to cloak that which is young. Soon enough it will be able to stand up for itself, but for now, your vigilance and care is most certainly required. Hug your ideas to yourself as though they were a new lover you cannot bear to share with another. In time the world will be the lover receiving the love of your idea. For now, it is for you to love, for you to hold and for you to observe. Only allow those proven trustworthy to support you in this – those who can handle the frequency or vibration of what you are seeking to nurture. Some may love you but be frightened of what you are creating. Stay true to yourself and your creative power and be wise as to whom you invite into your inner sanctum to witness this new life emerging.

Keep your inner sanctuary pure. This may be your room, a sacred place you visit, or your own body, into which you retreat in relaxation or meditation. Sometimes you will find that others have taken up residence in your sanctuary. Perhaps an argument that you cannot let go of, has another living in your head. A suffering that has not been acknowledged and released can feel like a big, old dirty suitcase of emotional baggage cluttering up the temple space of your heart. It is time to focus on the purity, light, love and compassion that dwells within you. Everything else will come and go, and that is just fine. But the purity within your sanctuary is eternal. You can come back to it to refresh your spirit and gain resources to help you deal with the rest of the world and even your own darker moments, anew. It will give you the peace and spaciousness of mind you need to recognize the new life, and to compassionately, but firmly, denounce any intrusion upon that new life by doubt, fear or sabotage.

Healing process ::

Close your eyes and relax. Focus on your breath for several moments. Imagine the external world fading away and allow yourself to step into your heart, as though within you there is a silent, vast, open space. That space within is peaceful.

Sense, see or feel that deep within that space, a tender young shoot is rising out of the earth. With tremendous courage and focus, it has summoned the energy to crack through the seed that once contained its life force, and it is reaching directly up towards the light, boldly determined to become a full, mature plant.

Imagine that you are joyfully, lovingly and consciously standing guard over that shoot. From a loving, aware, and strong space you firmly move on any big muddy boots that would step on it, or any devouring insects that look rather interested in that tasty young morsel. You do this easily and effectively, whilst remaining centered in your heart.

Around you and the shoot are many beings of unconditional love. These may be ancestors, spiritual guides, beings of light, or angelic beings.

You may sense darkness rise and fall around you and the circle of light created by your love and the beings supporting you to protect this tender young shoot. You can notice that rise and fall of darkness whilst remaining calm, centered and detached in your heart as you focus your love on the young plant. Watch it respond and grow strong. All is well. You may whisper to it, “You are safe and you will grow strong and thrive! Through unconditional love, so be it!”

In your own time, just open your eyes and you have completed your healing process. At any time you can return to repeat this process, especially if you ever feel anxiety or fear about your new life being able to sustain itself and become strong. There is no need for worry, just treat such feelings as an intuitive sign that this healing process will be helpful for you and repeat it. You can do it daily for a few weeks if you are going through a particularly vulnerable period in your life. It will never do you any harm, it will only ever support you.

~ Sacred Rebels oracle, by Alana Fairchild

The Perfection of Life

Published November 5, 2021 by tindertender

Have you ever seen a storm pictured from above? It can appear to be so beautiful and elegant. This is certainly different to the ground view which can be quite a violent experience. So too, there is great beauty in your life now. However, at this point in the natural process, you may be experiencing it as anxiety-inducing rather than beautiful. You may sense it as internal chaos. You may feel it as something that is waiting to erupt from within, as a restless anxiety that you cannot quite articulate but sense vaguely nonetheless.

Whether the chaos seems subtle, strong, internal or external, know that all is unfolding according to a perfect higher order. You are currently enduring a cosmic, spiritual storm which is having an impact on you. It is clearing things out, preparing you for that lovely, super-fresh, uplifting feeling that one experiences after the storm has finally passed.

If you cannot believe there is anything happening – even at a subtle level – because you feel stuck, denied, bored, thwarted or stale, no matter what appears to be, in truth there is only the unfolding, creative genius of the universe. You are not forgotten. You have not been looked over. You have not been denied, found wanting or rejected as unworthy.

The storm that needs to erupt is in your own heart. Do your liberating rain dance! Rage, weep, pray, dance, paint or sing. Express whatever is needed, however it is needed, to exorcise the blocked energy in your heart. Then you will call on the powerful perfection of your life path, as it aligns for the next creative turn of the spiral of life.

Mantra ::
I give thanks for the higher order of my life, which I trust implicitly, as it guides me into wholeness and love. From what appears as chaos, new order is rising. I trust this and receive the gift of higher order in my life now. Through grace and mercy, so be it!

Sacred Rebels oracle, by Alana Fairchild

Gaia’s Stories #1

Published November 1, 2021 by tindertender

Creation

Published April 26, 2021 by tindertender

Some People Fantasize …
Some People Create …

I’m beginning wonder if there is any difference.

Bald Eagle Nest

Published April 9, 2021 by tindertender

Bald eagle nests are generally 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The largest recorded bald eagle nest 9.5 feet in diameter, 20 feet deep and weighed almost 6,000 pounds!

Check out this to scale nest, at Hueston Woods.

Friendship

Published April 8, 2021 by tindertender

The highest honor of friendship isn’t getting invited to “that party” or out on a girls weekend. It’s not clinking champagne glasses at fancy brunches or wearing matching shirts on a beach in Florida. That all is nice and fun and good and special, but it’s not what it’s about, not at all.

The real honor of friendship is being invited into someone’s REAL. It’s getting an invitation into the nitty gritty, the not-so-pretty, the hard stuff, the vulnerable stuff, the weird stuff, the unpolished stuff. It’s being welcomed into a home where the sink is full of dishes and the laundry is covering the couch. It’s entering the places of heart ache and pain. It’s being invited to the hospital room when your friend is still in her mesh underwear from birth. It’s sitting crosslegged in old sweats on the floor and laughing till you cry. It’s carrying around secrets that you’ve been trusted to keep. It’s listening and hearing. It’s holding space for each other. It’s answering phone calls just to talk something through.

The highest honor of friendship isn’t found in beautifully planned events or brightly filtered photos. The highest honor of friendship is messy and dingy and real. It’s in unfiltered photos of laughing so hard your double chin is showing. It’s loving each other’s babies and holding each other while you ugly cry.

I can’t stress this enough: If you’ve been invited into even one person’s real, you are blessed.

Cherish it.

Follow @wonderoakbyjessjohnston for more real, raw, and funny.