FREE ebook on Amazon 11/27 -12/1
Hi! I'm Chris. How do you do? Soon after Mom and Andrew published "Fumbling through the Light", Andrew suggested that it would be a good idea for me to write a book. We had a think about it, and Andrew pointed out that I how much I love mythical/legendary/magical/fantastical creatures. So we decided I would channel their voices, and write down what they had to say. Well, I finished about a week ago, and with the help of Mom and Andrew I got it published in paperback and e-book. It is called "Unheard Voices from the Silent Realms". It is a book full of channelings and messages from legendary creatures such as mermaids, and a few "real" animals too,like wolves. It is my belief that all life has something to say, but we just have to listen. They all have something they want to tell us, and some even have good advice to give.
Writing Unheard Voices was something new for me, and it was fun and relatively easy. And I don't think it is the end. It is like a starting point for other books, like "Fumbling through the light" was for Mom and Andrew. I have actually started on another book already, though I have to say it is not quite so easy as the last. I am even vaguely considering the possibility of writing fiction at some point, but I am not certain about that by any means. I just need to take one step at a time. And I hope that Unheard Voices opens up some doors for me, and I'm certain it will. As I said, it is just a starting point. For what exactly, I do not know, but that is what is exciting. What will it lead to?
~ Christopher
PS ~ Check out my FB page! :) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unheard-Voices-from-the-Silent-Realms/863948933639755
And here is my book for those interested! :)
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Monday, 24 November 2014
Surrender = Grace in Letting Go
If you were to say the word "Surrender" to most people on the street, their instinctive response may be to throw their hands up in the air. The conditioned link to the word in today's lexicon is simply to "give up". But let's consider this a bit further. There are many ways we can experience this surrender, and few have to do with the actual situation itself.
If we take the popular view of Surrender as a giving up, it feels defeatist. It feels as though we are the victims of someone or something's plot to undermine our dreams or goals. We feel disempowered, down, beaten, and sometimes broken. We feel as if we have no other choice but to give up. It is a depressing place to be. I know I have been there too!!
In the book, I discussed a moment where I just felt I had nothing left to lose. I remember being in my backyard on my knees sobbing... "I GIVE UP!!"; knowing in that moment that truly there was just nowhere left to go. I had done all I could. My approach to trouble in the old days was well.. stubborn. Whenever I found myself in a hole, I would dig a little deeper... just to make sure it was a hole and not a tunnel. Hey! You never know right? But I was well and truly at the bottom of a pit.
But what is it we are really being asked to "give up" in the spiritual concept of Surrender. Simple... control. ok ok... so I say "simple" but it is anything BUT!!
Our ego prides itself in knowing what will keep it happy and alive. Mainly alive. As creatures of habitual behavior honed over the years of our lives... through belief, action, response.... we have narrowed down things that may hurt us, will hurt us, and other stuff that just looks like it may or may not be safe.. SO we have formed an action plan. If we can control our EXTERNAL situation... we will be safe. We may even be happy! There is only one tiny problem with that plan... it will NEVER work... but... but... but... you say! Let's think about it... where do our external circumstances begin and end? We say... well... the right job, the right house, the right spouse, the right school, the right degree, the right kids, the right opportunities, the right finances, the right friends, the right parents.... when we believe that it is our external circumstances that will make us feel secure and happy, we place a hell of a lot of demands on everyone around us to be a certain way, and do certain things.
If for example, we don't get into the "right" school to get the best education to secure the perfect job, to buy the best house, in the best neighborhood, with the best car in the driveway... we HAVE to look around for someone/something to blame. We point to our parents, the high school, the test, the temperature in the room where you took your placement exams, the lack of sufficient time for preparation... anything will do!! Either that, or we resign ourselves to the situation and speak doom and gloom... life sucks, I am such a failure, my life is RUINED! Etc... either way... we begin to build our future on those beliefs of resignation... we may dress that up and call it surrender, but it isnt... there is no empowerment there... no goal... no positive self belief... no letting go... in fact quite the opposite... There is a blatant determination to drag our past into the future every step of the way. Our ego is determined that our past is the best determinant to our future, and as we have been disappointed at least once... we should expect and be prepared for ENDLESS disappointment.
What if!? What if we worked from the premise that all things are working towards our blessing and favor. What if we believed that when things are falling apart they are actually creating a space for things to fall together... all we are being asked to do is let go of trying to exert our ideas of how things SHOULD be and embrace the opportunity for something BETTER to come along. The BEST is yet to come... just on the other side of our ideas...
Dont get me wrong, it is so important to hold goals, and take steps towards them, but when we are attached to exactly how each step should unfold and exactly what road we should take to get there and exactly how we should feel when we get there and an utter refusal to be happy until we are there.... we are cutting off our blessings before we even get started!
You see, in an active state of surrender, we allow. We take steps that we can take, when we can take them. We are not attached to each step as being the only step forwards towards our goals. We hold a space open for the unexpected and the miraculous... we let go of doing it OUR way, and allow the universe to move in its way through us...
Let me give an example... these last few weeks have been one moment after another of letting go and surrender. As we are house sitting now, we depend on our house sits to move us along from place to stay to place to stay. A few weeks ago, we were waiting for someone we will call Sally to get back in touch with us in regards to December. We really wanted to make sure we were taken care of for the month, and her sit looked perfect, but despite our numerous attempts to contact her, we heard nothing. Out of nowhere, a lady we will call Angel contacted us and asked if we would be interested in a long term sit. WOULD WE??? OF COURSE!!!! Except... we were waiting for Sally to contact us, AND the sit started when we were scheduled to be at another assignment for Jane. So I declined her generous offer and it left us still with nothing for December in hand. As we were out driving one day, suddenly I turned to Andrew and said, "What if we could split our sit between Jane and Angel, they are only an hour's drive a part and it would only be a few days. So we contacted her still having heard nothing from Sally. Angel was THRILLED with our idea and we arranged a call. Meanwhile, Sally contacted us saying she had decided to go with us.... DOH! Now we had to just step back and feel... what did the universe want us saying "yes" to. Sally would be a SURE thing for a month, but there was this opportunity with Angel that was more than we could have dreamed of even if it would be tricky at the start. SO I wrote a very difficult email to Sally declining and explaining our situation. Even though she was REALLY upset, I knew we had made the right decision for us. So ahead we forged... a few days before we were to begin our sit with Jane, she called with devastating news. Her husband had taken ill and their trip was off. We were staying at the flat in Scotland and my FIL was scheduled to be up on the following weekend. BUT... we were not being shown any next steps, we didnt feel to apply for another sit, nor did we feel to apply for a holiday let to see us through until our long term sit at Angel's started... we were completely surrendered to the situation. We had a knowing that things would work out... but couldnt begin to imagine how.
And as the universe would have it, a few days before my FIL was scheduled to come up... he text to say he wouldnt be coming after all and we were free to stay until our next sit began. HA! And so here we are... perfectly poised to move in whatever direction the universe asks of us at a moments notice... and in that lies peace...
Yes it is a peace that comes with a lot of uncertainty, but there is a recognition that ALL of life is uncertain. The only certainty in life is that there is no certainty. So why fight the flow with fear? It is kind of like trying to plug a hole in a dam with salt or sugar... pointless at best. All of our efforting in a direction that isnt intended to bless us only serves to exhaust us. Sometimes it is best to just surrender but in the sense of trusting all is well... and you know what... if all is well in this moment then all is really well. And so it goes...
No matter how challenging things have gotten, we are still here... and better than that... we are thriving. Life is taking us in a direction we never dreamed of... but it is so much bigger and bolder and brighter than we ever could have imagined...
Where will you allow the flow of love... the flow of life... to carry you? Do you dare pull your anchor up and see where the adventure leads you? How much better will you allow life to get?
Thursday, 20 November 2014
NEXT!!!!
The time between finishing the writing of 'Fumbling Through the Light' and its release wasn't long, probably only about a couple of weeks, but even during that time, the movement to continue writing was strong. I think there had been a little part of me hoping that the writing was done and I could go back to music, Facebook and spiritual forums, but it wasn't to be, and trying to avoid more writing became uncomfortable. Fine. The only problem was what to write....I knew I was done with the autobiography style, so I began by just picking a subject. 'Love'....okay, yeah, I can write about that. 'Joy'....yup, I got something to say about that. 'Freedom'...yes indeed, I can find something to say. And that's how it went for a while, just picking topics that I thought I could say a few words on.
While all this was going on, we were busy moving from house to house looking after pets. The dogs and cats seem to make it so easy for me to write. I sit in a chair with a dog or cat next to me.....and I write. Something about their energy makes it possible. I also felt moved to invite Chris and Analis to write something, which Chris was all over, Analis somewhat less enthusiastic, but still wanting to join in with the writing party.
After a couple of weeks I began to see a book taking shape, and I was enjoying the writing. Totally different to 'Fumbling', I wanted to stretch myself in a different way. I like taking somewhat abstract ideas that relate to spirituality and translating them into concise terms that can be understood fairly easily, and I also wanted to lay out our dream, our vision and explain WHY it is possible. So what began as just talking about some stuff that I felt I could say something about began to take shape into 'A New Consciousness: A New World'.
As it turns out, I'm happy with the result. I covered all the ground I wanted to cover, I look at it and don't feel I could have done it better, or that I missed something out that I wanted to put in.....and that's good enough. I'm not going to say I'm 'ecstatic', but it's not my way to be ecstatic about something like this, but it feels right all the same. I look at Jenn's new book and Chris' new book and actually feel more excited about theirs than I do mine, not because I think mine is 'worse' necessarily, but because it's so good to see them shining their light through their books. It feels like a really cool door is opening for them both. And Analis too...she is doing good at 4000 words in...and she has a tough task....she has to talk about herself! I've got a feeling though that when it's done, it will be an amazing thing.
So, I wonder if I have anything more to say. At this point, I suspect that even if I don't, then something will be written anyway, because I sense the movement to express through the form of writing is still there. Plus it's looking strongly like our winter is going to spent with four gorgeous cats, and I don't think they are going to let me hide from it. These are exciting times for us as a family, it feels like something good is happening with all this, its not easy by any means, but there is a positivity there even amidst the stress of trying to work out how on earth to do margins, headers and page numbers. Roll on 2015.....
~ Andrew
Sunday, 9 November 2014
Travelling Light
We have often been asked how did we manage with all of our luggage for 4 people travelling around the world... and the answer has often been met with a bit of a confused queried look in return. "We didn't."
You see, here is the thing we learned in our early days living in NC ~ when Andrew first arrived on our doorstep, blown in by the benevolent winds of change... Radical life shifts, demand radical shifts in our lives. One does not come without the other. When we commit to change, we have to change to fit our commitment.
I had committed to myself that I would do whatever it took to see my life unfold in an easier, more gentle, joyful, passionate manner... I wanted a life of freedom, abundance and simplicity. I was done with the drama, and the day to day grind of work, home, feed the kids, put them to bed, tv, bed... repeat. I didn't feel as if I was living. Rather it felt life was living me.
I have noticed that though it is a generalization, it is quite accurate, our external landscape mirrors our internal one. When we live or work in a cluttered physical space it is usually the case that our thoughts and spirit are quite cluttered or muddled as well. When our lives are busy and chaotic, our thoughts and spirit generally reflect that too.
I wanted to live a life of ease and lightness... my home and my head did not in any way shape or form mirror that goal. I had to make some radical shifts... which meant essentially shovelling through the shit I had collected over the years. Now at the time it wasn't shit to me. There were so many practical reasons I had saved hundreds of plastic cups from fast food drive-thrus. I needed every single cookbook I had. I had bought the kid clothes on sale to prepare for the coming YEARS not months... I needed all the pictures and photo albums to remind me of who I was. And the dvds and the cds and the books... good grief... the books... every single one was essential to my well-being... it didn't matter that I hadn't read it yet.. I might do. My stuff was important to me... it protected me from feeling like I was poor.
Poverty can take many different forms. We have obvious financial poverty, but there is intellectual (education), physical (health), emotional (depression), and spiritual poverty as well. We tend to attach to "things" that represent what we feel poorest in. Amazing how it is so clear when we step back... that we ARE what we seek... our path is internal... but sometimes we need a radical external shift to see the truth.
Initially, I tried to get rid of obvious things I would no longer need, baby clothes, Christmas decorations... I only had a 2 bedroom duplex apartment.. in theory it wasn't a whole lot to get rid of. But the emotional toll was very charged... when it was time to move out, I couldn't do it any more... I just could not physically take things to the charity shop. It felt like I was leaving ME behind. And that was the truth.
I left me... so much that had defined me... there in that duplex... I just walked away... I didn't know what else to do. There was so much shame and fear tied up in walking away... but the reality was, I could not bring who I had been with me any further. The drama had to be left there... all of it.
You see I lived my life moving from fear to fear... when I packed for vacation it was more about packing for eventualities. Well we rarely went on vacation before Andrew came along because it was too important to try and get by... surviving was more of a priority. But when we did go, I packed everything... just in case. I didn't have the concept that the universe would provide. I didn't trust life. Life was not trustable.
When we do not trust life, we feel we have no other option but to try and control it, by planning for and preparing for every eventuality and packing accordingly. We drag our past judgments into the present, that is to say... if we got hurt before, then we look for any inkling of a potential reoccurance so that we can avoid the possibility of pain and suffering. For example, something as innocuous as having lost a mitten in the snow when we were 5 may cause us in our adulthood to carry 3 pairs of extra gloves... just in case. We hold on to trinkets and heirlooms out of a feeling of honoring or obligation to a departed loved one... Here is a thought, if they dont need it where they are, do you really think you need it here? How is it honoring our beloved ancestor if we feel their knitted tea cozy from the 70's cant be parted with, even though we hate it and shove it in the back of the drawer? And the look our daughter gives us when we tell her "One day, this will be yours!" "Gee.... great..." We are conditioned from an era long gone that we should hold onto things "just in case" but those same things come eventually to tether us to not only the past but a present that may no longer serve us.
But what will people think if I don't hold on to this or that... honestly... well... they may throw a strop and complain, but the moment you offer it to them... do they jump at the opportunity to take it themselves? No. So, let it go. If it isn't inspiring you, encouraging you, if it isn't something that lifts you and makes you feel light it has no place in your life. We were meant to live and grow... not stagnate. Just because a ceramic poodle was precious to aunt Patty doesn't mean it needs to be be precious to us too. We can take a picture of it and still hold the memories in fondness without the object itself.
So, what did I do? I walked away from it all... I figured if I wanted a new, clean, simple life that reflected where I wanted to be internally... I had to literally walk my talk. For at least 3 years following Andrew coming into our lives all we owned fit into one suitcase and one carry on. Four people one suitcase.
When I speak of travelling light... it can be taken two ways... travelling through life without anything weighing us down.. moving with the freedom that comes from few possessions... and equally it can refer to travelling light... as in the light of love... where we are travelling in complete faith that all is provided, that our way is lit, that all is well, that all is perfect.
As much as we like to believe we can, it is impossible to prepare for all of life's eventualities. It is easy to see when we step back, that nothing that has ever come as a surprise to us or even "planned" was 100% able to have been prepared for completely. The car accident, the baby, the storm, the school exam, the marriage, the divorce. Even for those events that we saw coming a mile off... we could only be as prepared as we could be.
When we choose to release all the things that have held us back, weighed us down, defined us, blocked us... we feel the tethers and chains, the binds that were intricately woven around us to protect us begin to slip away. We have been conditioned to believe that our freedom is relative to what we have, I would argue the inverse is true. Our freedom comes from recognizing that who we are is not defined by what we have... what we have is defined by what we value. When we value life, and the living thereof through relationships we may feel little need to hold onto things... when we value things to make up for feeling like there is a lack of relationships we may look around and see our life is so crowded there is little room for those we love because the things we love dominate our space.
There is no judgment in any of it. Some people who feel so alone and afraid that their stuff gives them a false sense of safety, companionship and even love. Others are too afraid to be seen as the light they are so the fill their lives with things to distract them and those they love. But in the end it is like my Daddy always said... "You came into this life with nothing and you leave this life with nothing."
Though he isn't exactly correct... we come into this life with love pure and naked, we dont carry anything with us to push away others or protect us from them. We reach wanting for relationship and fall softly into waiting arms... I dare believe it is the same when we leave. So for me, for now, who I have around me is more than enough on my journey... and a change of clothes or two..
You see, here is the thing we learned in our early days living in NC ~ when Andrew first arrived on our doorstep, blown in by the benevolent winds of change... Radical life shifts, demand radical shifts in our lives. One does not come without the other. When we commit to change, we have to change to fit our commitment.
I had committed to myself that I would do whatever it took to see my life unfold in an easier, more gentle, joyful, passionate manner... I wanted a life of freedom, abundance and simplicity. I was done with the drama, and the day to day grind of work, home, feed the kids, put them to bed, tv, bed... repeat. I didn't feel as if I was living. Rather it felt life was living me.
I have noticed that though it is a generalization, it is quite accurate, our external landscape mirrors our internal one. When we live or work in a cluttered physical space it is usually the case that our thoughts and spirit are quite cluttered or muddled as well. When our lives are busy and chaotic, our thoughts and spirit generally reflect that too.
I wanted to live a life of ease and lightness... my home and my head did not in any way shape or form mirror that goal. I had to make some radical shifts... which meant essentially shovelling through the shit I had collected over the years. Now at the time it wasn't shit to me. There were so many practical reasons I had saved hundreds of plastic cups from fast food drive-thrus. I needed every single cookbook I had. I had bought the kid clothes on sale to prepare for the coming YEARS not months... I needed all the pictures and photo albums to remind me of who I was. And the dvds and the cds and the books... good grief... the books... every single one was essential to my well-being... it didn't matter that I hadn't read it yet.. I might do. My stuff was important to me... it protected me from feeling like I was poor.
Poverty can take many different forms. We have obvious financial poverty, but there is intellectual (education), physical (health), emotional (depression), and spiritual poverty as well. We tend to attach to "things" that represent what we feel poorest in. Amazing how it is so clear when we step back... that we ARE what we seek... our path is internal... but sometimes we need a radical external shift to see the truth.
Initially, I tried to get rid of obvious things I would no longer need, baby clothes, Christmas decorations... I only had a 2 bedroom duplex apartment.. in theory it wasn't a whole lot to get rid of. But the emotional toll was very charged... when it was time to move out, I couldn't do it any more... I just could not physically take things to the charity shop. It felt like I was leaving ME behind. And that was the truth.
I left me... so much that had defined me... there in that duplex... I just walked away... I didn't know what else to do. There was so much shame and fear tied up in walking away... but the reality was, I could not bring who I had been with me any further. The drama had to be left there... all of it.
You see I lived my life moving from fear to fear... when I packed for vacation it was more about packing for eventualities. Well we rarely went on vacation before Andrew came along because it was too important to try and get by... surviving was more of a priority. But when we did go, I packed everything... just in case. I didn't have the concept that the universe would provide. I didn't trust life. Life was not trustable.
When we do not trust life, we feel we have no other option but to try and control it, by planning for and preparing for every eventuality and packing accordingly. We drag our past judgments into the present, that is to say... if we got hurt before, then we look for any inkling of a potential reoccurance so that we can avoid the possibility of pain and suffering. For example, something as innocuous as having lost a mitten in the snow when we were 5 may cause us in our adulthood to carry 3 pairs of extra gloves... just in case. We hold on to trinkets and heirlooms out of a feeling of honoring or obligation to a departed loved one... Here is a thought, if they dont need it where they are, do you really think you need it here? How is it honoring our beloved ancestor if we feel their knitted tea cozy from the 70's cant be parted with, even though we hate it and shove it in the back of the drawer? And the look our daughter gives us when we tell her "One day, this will be yours!" "Gee.... great..." We are conditioned from an era long gone that we should hold onto things "just in case" but those same things come eventually to tether us to not only the past but a present that may no longer serve us.
But what will people think if I don't hold on to this or that... honestly... well... they may throw a strop and complain, but the moment you offer it to them... do they jump at the opportunity to take it themselves? No. So, let it go. If it isn't inspiring you, encouraging you, if it isn't something that lifts you and makes you feel light it has no place in your life. We were meant to live and grow... not stagnate. Just because a ceramic poodle was precious to aunt Patty doesn't mean it needs to be be precious to us too. We can take a picture of it and still hold the memories in fondness without the object itself.
So, what did I do? I walked away from it all... I figured if I wanted a new, clean, simple life that reflected where I wanted to be internally... I had to literally walk my talk. For at least 3 years following Andrew coming into our lives all we owned fit into one suitcase and one carry on. Four people one suitcase.
When I speak of travelling light... it can be taken two ways... travelling through life without anything weighing us down.. moving with the freedom that comes from few possessions... and equally it can refer to travelling light... as in the light of love... where we are travelling in complete faith that all is provided, that our way is lit, that all is well, that all is perfect.
As much as we like to believe we can, it is impossible to prepare for all of life's eventualities. It is easy to see when we step back, that nothing that has ever come as a surprise to us or even "planned" was 100% able to have been prepared for completely. The car accident, the baby, the storm, the school exam, the marriage, the divorce. Even for those events that we saw coming a mile off... we could only be as prepared as we could be.
When we choose to release all the things that have held us back, weighed us down, defined us, blocked us... we feel the tethers and chains, the binds that were intricately woven around us to protect us begin to slip away. We have been conditioned to believe that our freedom is relative to what we have, I would argue the inverse is true. Our freedom comes from recognizing that who we are is not defined by what we have... what we have is defined by what we value. When we value life, and the living thereof through relationships we may feel little need to hold onto things... when we value things to make up for feeling like there is a lack of relationships we may look around and see our life is so crowded there is little room for those we love because the things we love dominate our space.
There is no judgment in any of it. Some people who feel so alone and afraid that their stuff gives them a false sense of safety, companionship and even love. Others are too afraid to be seen as the light they are so the fill their lives with things to distract them and those they love. But in the end it is like my Daddy always said... "You came into this life with nothing and you leave this life with nothing."
Though he isn't exactly correct... we come into this life with love pure and naked, we dont carry anything with us to push away others or protect us from them. We reach wanting for relationship and fall softly into waiting arms... I dare believe it is the same when we leave. So for me, for now, who I have around me is more than enough on my journey... and a change of clothes or two..
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