Rebirth... part 1

Renaissance means rebirth... 

A rebirth is a revival of the beginning, a bringing back of that time before, of that being when  we were in that child-like state, where all things were possible. It makes me think of the allegory of the movie, "the Neverending Story."

The tale's big underlying theme is about regaining or in the main character's position, retaining that child-like innocence. Saving the child-like empress in the ivory tower of pure unbridled spirit in each of us from the terror that is the nothing. This nothing being the loss of imagination or open ended awareness. It represents the complacency and loss of our ability to be aware and awake to the possibilities of the infinite.  

The nothing creeps into so many of our lives early on and robs us of our innate wonder of our pure connection to the divine and to the potential to be anything. It keeps us from pondering our personal dimensionality and if we are truly a 3 dimensional being living in a four dimensional universe or are we more than that?

So has "The Nothing" conquered your life presently?  Here are some easy signs: (but don't worry, it's not too late!)

1.You are complacent with where you are in your life.  Complacent here doesn't mean happy, it means content enough not to change things you know you could, and it kind of means you have given up on your potential, things are good enough.

2. Does television or the internet occupy most of your time, distracting you from what is really happening in your life? 

3. Do you avoid difficult situations often because you are afraid of change or what might happen so you endure misery?

4. Do you often feel bored and listless where things just don't have that same luster or excitement?

5. Do you feel stuck in your path, but can't think of a new way to solve it?

Just as we feel like things can't be changed and that we are powerless, so it is.  Think of the famous Ford quote, "whether you think you can or you can't, you're right."  if we accept our fates to be tied to complacency and mediocrity then that is all we can be.  If this is all you accept as being your reality, then your cutting yourself off at your own knees. 

The box you have created from your beliefs is the one you can't get out of...

Our limits are those which we have learned to accept.  It reminds me of the old gorilla from the film Instinct, which is based off the wonderful novel, "Ishmael,"where they offer the gorilla his freedom and he doesn't bother to go.  He has accepted his fate, he has been broken. "The nothing" has consumed his wild, untamed soul.  So it is with us. 

This experience of being consumed by our cages leaves us in a listless droll state of fearful perception.  Some of us are able to retain some of our power and potential, but unfortunately those are among the very few.  Many people let it reconstruct their psyche in such a way that they lose that feeling of joy and even the simpler form of happiness. 

Leonardo DaVinci, who, oddly synchronous enough, is considered the first and most prominent person associated with the renaissance time period, was a major advocate for maintaining the child-like empress in our lives.  He reveled in his child-like wonder.  He fought against his loss of innocence with creativity and innovation as his guides.  One of my most favorite quotes by him is where he describes using the imagination to find pictures in the cracks and imperfections of a wall.  He kept himself sharp intellectually by exercising the most important mental muscle we have and that is our imagination.  To draw in another epically famous mind, this time from the 20th century, 

Albert Einstein emphasized the fact that the imagination is more important than knowledge.  He understood that the freedom of the mind to wander and explore was something we needed to grow so that even further innovations and advancements in our society and thereby consciousness are able to come to fruition.

So how do we rediscover our old core being, our essence we showed up on Earth with?  How can we defeat our "Nothings?"

Having our own renaissance may not be as hard as it sounds.  All it takes is reflection and some reteaching so we can unlearn the programming we have been force fed by societal structures.  Call back into your mind that time of your innocence if you still can,those feelings of gentle building excitement where things are boundless. 

If this proves too difficult try this, stare at a spot that looks broken and cluttered or find a spot in the sky on a cloudy day.  Now just gently look at this spot and just for a moment try to connect what is there into something.  Make it into an object you are familiar with in your mind. Can that cloud look like a bee if you turn your head, or can those cracks or splotch of paint on the wall or in the sidewalk look like the body of a dragon? 

Take a brief moment here or there throughout your day to reconnect with your own wonderment and see where it takes you! 

We are as young or as old or as open or closed off as we accept.  Don't be afraid of the mystery of the unknown you enjoyed as a child.  Conquer your nothing, climb on Falcor and become the something you truly know you are!!!  

Light for your path...

Embracing the Shadow, Healing the Past

Maybe the only thing each of us can see is our own shadow. Carl Jung called this his shadow work. He said we never see others. Instead we see only aspects of ourselves that fall over them, shadows, projections, our associations. The same way old painters would sit in a tiny dark room and trace the image of what stood outside a tiny window, in the bright sunlight, the camera obscura. Not the exact image, but everything reversed or upside down.                                                                                                                                   ―Chuck Palahniuk

Embracing the Shadow,

Healing the                         Past

          In this Saturday afternoon workshop on June 20^th, led by Rev. Brien

 Egan CHt, CRM, CKRM, you will be a part of a powerful group healing and 

releasing workshop using EFT, hypnotherapy, visualizations, the Sedona 

method, and pranic breathwork.

You will learn to identify the aspects of your shadow self and the fears of your subconscious to embrace and release the held past trauma and stressors of your life keeping you from your full potential. 

         Exploring your shadow self and how to relieve the past by being present 

and aware in the now, you will discover how to affect lasting change in your life 

journey.

Join us June 20^th from 1pm-4pm!

www.beoneherenow.webs.com

nowherebe8@gmail.com

Can we illumine our shadows?

So what is our shadow self? 

What definition does science give for the natural phenomenon of shadows?

Science tells us that a shadow is created where light is hidden from a space or blocked.  This creates a darker area where it is more difficult to see.  It is perceived as being shaded and less bright.  If an area is completely enveloped in shadow it may be an area of total pitch black darkness.  It will be an area without color or form. 

Light is what gives these objects in the dark their shape and definition.  It illumines those hidden things and gives a meaning and purpose to reality.  As science tells us at the core level, we are all just packets of light quanta reflecting the hologram of the universe back giving consciousness to the matter created in the interconnection of the subatomic realms as space connects with time in all directions at once.  The blocking of the sun from what is being perceived almost makes it disappear in a way.  A shadow will conceal or distort what is truly there.  It will keep what is real masked and in the dark.  And so it is with us...

Carl Jung focused a great deal of his work on revealing and working with one's shadow self.  He was very interested in tearing away at those hidden constructs in our psyche which form negative aspects of the ego self.  The ego being that face which is put on for the public to see and judge with its masks and filters.  These efforts were made to study and know how the subconscious and unconscious mind work were so that he could learn and understand how to free our personality and persona from those negative behaviors and actions which have defined us and caused our reactions to the world. 
His early work with Freud helped him to see how those aspects of ourselves that are imprinted on our subconscious mind at a very early age are able to dictate how we will act and be for our entire lives if attention and work is not done to adjust our behaviors and destinies.  He wanted to help show us how we can free our experience from the difficulties we create for ourselves in our life by becoming more conscious and aware.
His work looked at through the scope of Buddhism or Hindu perspective has us viewing the release of our attachments as a first step to breaking down our ego self to get to the deeper parts of our experience, those parts which are hidden, a.k.a. our shadow selves.  It is those parts which we either can't even see ourselves, or those parts which we desperately try to look away from that form our ego mind and shape the way we interact with and view the world around us. 

Jung recognized, just as the Buddhist, Sufi, Essene and Hindu monks have understood for thousands of years now, that in order to reach those higher states of being and consciousness (some call samadhi, moksha, nirvana, enlightenment, being in the christ-like or buddha state) we must illuminate our shadows in all aspects of the self.  Every great master in history has had to rise above turmoil to achieve their enlightened state.

So how on earth could we possibly do that?

This daunting task which most people shy away from or vehemently fight against will shake a person to the very core of their existence.  That is precisely the process though, to strip away all aspects of the self until we can see what is truly there.  We need to shine a spotlight on every aspect of our selves from the simple flaws we might not see all the way to the deep dark skeletons some keep tucked away from the world.  It is only by examining and revealing all aspects of ourselves that we can work through those difficult shadows. 

The first and most important step though in working through something difficult, as explained by any effective major psychological teaching is to recognize what is there, and owning it.  Embracing our shadows, losing the fears we drown our lives in, will help us to overcome those aspects we can't seem to rise out of.  Admitting and owning ones flaws and struggles us a task for the courageous, for we must have resolve and strength if we are to endure our undoing to be able to give our consciousness the reboot it deserves. Just as Bill W. tells the world with AA, the first step is admitting that there is something to improve.  It is acknowledging that we are imperfect.

Can you see your imperfections?

The hardest part of our journey is recognizing where we are and taking steps to move beyond what we are and what situation we came into on this earthly plane.

Let's work together to rediscover our true selves...

Let's follow Peter Pan's lead as he found his shadow and reattached it to himself, just as he made himself whole again by embracing his shadow, so too can we!

Light for your path...

