Author: Marjorie

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Who Do You Think You Are? – Right Now?

“Reality is a projection of your thoughts or the things you habitually think about. Your entire life and everything in it is a result of your belief system coupled with your thoughts. The feelings and emotions you have cement this in your mind, and the illusion of all of this combined is what you see as your reality on a moment-to-moment and day-to-day basis.”

― Stephen Richards, How to Get Everything You Can Imagine

That person I think I am – I am that. I’m not who I wish I was or even what I’m working toward. I am exactly who I conceive myself to be today. That – Absolutely.

To BE more I must believe I AM more. My imagination will take me there, in increments. Increments so small that when my goal is reached, I stand amazed.

It means I push past the uncomfortable edges of my fear. Step outside my comfort zone and sit in the awkwardness. It happens when I stop telling myself I’m “NOT” something. When I state that “I AM” who I want to be – eventually my heart feels this truth.

Last week, the guide taking a handful of us rookies rappelling off a cliff said – “Who’s first?”

My feet started moving in his direction – like they had a mind of their own! Intriguing . . . I guess it would be me! That’s how I found myself the first of us to step off the cliff backwards.

Ivins, Utah

I AM bold. I AM gutsy. I AM adventurous. I AM that.

Each step I take toward a goal or desire – leads me where I want to be. That want I can’t shake reveals where to go. What is the next small step in that direction? Listening to my quiet self tells me. Each tweak builds my discipline muscle. Mastery doesn’t magically appear, it emerges.

If I think I can’t – I can’t. But I will when I know I can.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ― Lao Tzu

Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
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Rituals – Reminding Me of the Wisdom of My Life

Honoring an intention with ritual helps me persevere when a new habit meets tired me, sad me, or angry me. Rituals are useful, gentle ways to let go or receive.

Ceremonies help me hear my quiet inner voice; and provide practical support to release resentments.

A practice I learned long ago is writing down the thing that weighs me down – acknowledge it. Then slip it in my God Box; turn it over to the Universe. When the nattering committee in my head inevitably circles back to hijack my serenity, I remind myself . . . this is in the hands of the Universe. It’s no longer my burden.

In May I held my first Full Moon Fire Ceremony. It was a Super Moon and a total lunar eclipse. I burned things from my God Box going back 30 years; and enjoyed a sense of release and excitement. New seeds were planted for my next period of growth.

Full Moon – May 2022

June’s Full Strawberry Moon is around the corner. It’s another Super Moon and will be my second fire ceremony. More release – more new seeds. Recognizing the ending of one personal chapter and the movement into new learning, including more on rituals is exciting and energizing.

Knowing what and when to let go can be unnerving. Rituals help clear the mind and set the heart at ease. The joyful introduction of new seeds – oh so welcome.

Labyrinth; Kayenta, UT

“A ritual is the enactment of a myth. And, by participating in the ritual, you are participating in the myth. And since myth is a projection of the depth wisdom of the psyche, by participating in a ritual, participating in the myth, you are being, as it were, put in accord with that wisdom, which is the wisdom that is inherent within you anyhow. Your consciousness is being re-minded of the wisdom of your own life. I think ritual is terribly important.”

― Joseph Campbell
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Choose Life – Own It, Have No Regrets

It’s easy to say I’d do something different “knowing what I know now.” But I make choices with the information I have. This is my life to own; regret is futile. Choose to live.

Being paralyzed and doing nothing is worse than regret. Sylvia Plath writes in “The Bell Jar,” when I don’t choose, I starve and watch my options wither and die.

Fig Tree

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.

“One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and the pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out.

“I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.” – The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Every decision, each choice – no matter how big or small creates my life. When I look around how can I regret any of it? How do I know which choice if not made, would take away what I love?

A life not chosen is lived somewhere else in the multiverse. Let her/him enjoy those figs.

“Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, “It might have been.”

― Kurt Vonnegut
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This Race is Already Run … Welcome to the Real World

When I watch and pay attention the universe reveals connections. I especially enjoy seeing random, unrelated topics dovetail elegantly.

Recently I heard Neville Goddard truisms in the pop-rock song “Elemental” by Tears for Fears: “.. this race is already run ..”

Neville continues with: “Creativeness is only a deeper receptiveness, for the entire contents of all time and all space, while experienced in a time sequence, actually coexist in an infinite and eternal now.” He recommends:

“Live your life in a sublime spirit of confidence and determination; disregard appearances, conditions, in fact all evidence of your senses that deny the fulfillment of your desire.”

“Ignore the present state and assume the wish fulfilled. Claim it; it will respond.”

So, is the world finished – deterministic? What of Free Will – these desires and wishes? Or is creation done and Free Will still exist?

The compatibility of Free Will and Determinism is a topic debated by scholars and philosophers for centuries.

Physical reality, the mechanics of cause and effect and our linear experience of time don’t allow for Free Will. Perceptions of destiny are be found here; “if it’s meant to be, it will be.” Deterministic.

Yet I perceive my personal experience as real, genuine and intuitive; my choices independent.  Free Will feels fundamental.

Holding these two contradictory positions as true is challenging: but worth pursuing. When I consider the principles introduced by quantum physics – the paradox becomes plausible. For the curious and analytical, check out this YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2UE7tp7oSw

CrackingTheNutshell.com

Things don’t happen in a vacuum. We’re interconnected parts of a whole; a whole that feels tangible and certain. This can be helpful or harmful.

The damage is seen when too many people operate on autopilot. Habit, society and family conditioning create an unnecessary deterministic way to live. The cliché “same shit, different day” is thought normal and acceptable. Consistency is called reliability. Being capricious is fickle. Consider instead that consistency may be tedious and dry; and that whimsey and fancy enhance and enrich our spirit.

It seems people flip flop between the contractions depending on what suits them in the moment. The idea of destiny may alleviate my sense of responsibility for what’s in front of my face. A rote life is safe; until it’s not.

“Man is condemned to be free. Condemned because he did not create himself, yet is nevertheless at liberty, and from the moment he is thrown into this world he is responsible for everything he does.”

Jean-Paul Sartre

Without conscious intent to examine my perception of reality; convention and routine create a deterministic life absent of free will. This is a choice. And as a good friend reminds me – no choice is a choice.

Thoreau observed that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” My responsibility is to step outside my comfort zone. Push past the fear and discomfort about what other people think or believe.

The desires of my consciousness exist – here in the infinite, eternal now. I AM that. This is my real world.

“Ignore the present state and assume the wish fulfilled. Claim it; it will respond.” – Neville Goddard

“For the first time, she did want more. She did not know what she wanted, knew that it was dangerous and that she should rest content with what she had, but she knew an emptiness deep inside her, which began to ache.” ― Iain Pears, The Dream of Scipio

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Purpose is More than We Can See

Infinity ∞
– the numberless number; magnitude
– the Absolute; God
– Zeno’s Paradox; Infinite Regression

The human brain isn’t big enough to truly hold this concept. Meditating on the idea can open channels to see a glimpse on the horizon; or feel it in stillness; get lost in it.

Still, the meaning and significance of infinity continues to be explored and studied by scholars of math, religion and philosophy.

How and where I fit into the boundless is what captivates me. I used to say we’re each a sliver of the universe. That early view of mine contained only my human life as I am here today. That premise is too small. I’m more than a personality and body; my spirit, my soul – my essence is infinite.

Practically speaking NOW is what I have. However, my thoughts and actions contribute not just to this life, but my soul’s growth and wisdom. This can be a calling or a burden. For me, knowing I’m an endless, everlasting consciousness opens the door for variety and freedom.

This personality is a sliver of my spirit, which is a sliver of the universe. Probably too small still – but something I can continue to reflect on.

In her song, Carol King imagined life as a tapestry. Building on this, imagine the masterpiece being formed at a grand scale – for me, by me. The choices I make in this thread of life contribute to the overall tenor of my being.

Purpose is more than we can see.

“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”

― Paulo Coelho