Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center!

I have a wedding ceremony I sometimes perform called Magic, Mystery and Miracles.  I didn’t write it by the way, I have to give credit where credit is due, my dad and step-mom, co-owners of Chapel of the Pines, wrote it.  I’ve always loved the title, and it occurred to me that today is one of those Magic, Mystery and Miracles sort of days.

I got up to experience the magic of seeing an unexpected layer of new snow outside my bedroom window.  We’ve been woefully short on snow this winter, and this was a pleasant surprise.  Then the mystery of the day set in:  why am I doing this?  Why am I getting up to an alarm earlier than I normally would to meet a bunch of people for a MasterMind group when I have term papers to write, and jobs to complete, and things to do and places to go and people to see….and not only that but my dog Zeke is whining big time because he didn’t get his walk yesterday and he has GOT to have it today and not only that but he has GOT to have it EARLY!

To say I was feeling overwhelmed is a bit of an understatement.

So I went to my MasterMind group and talked about it and felt a bit better.  Then I got some work done and felt yet a bit better.  Then I bundled up and off Zeke and I went for our almost daily mile and a half walk.  And as I was walking I felt a bit better,  but I was still questioning why I’m doing what I’m doing.  Why am I in a Masters degree program with the ultimate goal of a career change when my current career is uplifting and fulfilling?  Sort of like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, I’ve never seen the sense in that but people tell me it’s fun to do.  Sometimes this doesn’t seem so fun.  Why am I spending all this time studying, and making time for groups that people don’t come to, and offering services that people don’t take advantage of?  Why does no one seem to want to improve their life?

I think I’ll go in the back yard and eat worms when I get home.  That’s called self pity and it never got anyone anywhere, so I continue my walk and enjoy watching Zeke smell every little bump in the path, marking his way along our route.

So I finish my little pity party and am beginning to get into gratitude and my cell phone rings and it’s a dear friend with whom, in the course of our conversation, I find myself telling her what my vision is for the Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe.  It’s the first time I’ve put it into words, and it feels good.  And I know why I’m doing what I’m doing.  And the mystery of the day turns to magic.

Our conversation concludes, and I am still walking along with Zeke, marveling at the contrast between the warmth of the sun and cold of the snow, enjoying the fresh air, and I see an acquaintance walking towards me.  Tahoe is a small town, I can rarely go anywhere without running into someone I know, even on a walk with Zeke.  It’s one of the things I love about it.  My friend looks a bit rough around the edges, so I ask him what is happening in his life, and his eyes begin to leak as he tells me his story.  And my heart goes out to him, because I know the pain he is feeling and I just want to make it all better, but I can’t do that for him, he has to do it for himself.  I can only offer a pathway for him to walk, so I do that, and h is eyes stop leaking, and he smiles, and thanks me, and tells me God sent me to him today.

And I walk away, and I cry a bit for him, and for all the people hurting in the world.   And I know.  Once again I know.  I know why I am doing what I’m doing.  It’s because I have a calling and a gift, and my gift is that I can help people.  My gift is that I can hold the space for them to heal. My gift is that I can hold the light and show them where to dig, and keep them safe while they are digging.

And the magic and the mystery has once again turned into a miracle.

If you are hurting in any way, I hope you can also find the magic and the miracles in the mystery.  They are there.  Sometimes you have to work for them, sometimes you have to have help to find them, but they are there.

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Join our meditation/discussion group on Monday nights from 5 to 7 pm. Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

Private coaching packages are available, call 530-906-9336 for more information.

“Circumstances do not make the man. They reveal him.” James Allen

Do you have circumstances in your life that seem to be “making” you….in other words, it seems as if they are in control of your life and you are just the victim? It doesn’t have to be that way. Victim hood is a habit, and like any other habit it can be changed. Wouldn’t it be a better way to live to have circumstances reveal you instead of make you?

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Join our meditation/discussion group on Monday nights from 5 to 7 pm. Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

Private coaching packages are available, call 530-906-9336 for more information

In  our Monday night discussion group, we are talking about transformation and it occurred to me that some people might not want to transform.  If that’s the case, then don’t waste your time by showing up on Monday nights.  I guarantee that if you show up, participate and do the work,  you will have at least one transformation in your life!

It also occurred to me that some might be wondering:  why transform?  Or:  is transformation even possible?  Or: maybe others can transform, but I’m trapped.

Let’s tackle the first question:  why transform?  If your life is perfect, if you have enough money, wonderful relationships, perfect physical health, and feel whole and complete and joyful, then there is no reason for transformation in your life.  And I want to talk with you and see how  you did it.  But if there is lack or limitation in any area of your life, the way to reverse that is through an inner transformation.

The second question:   Is transformation even possible?  The book we are currently studying proves scientifically that it is possible, and it goes through ways in which to effect transformation.  But I think it might be a good idea to define transformation.  As we are using it, it is an inner shift in perception that allows one to react to and perceive life differently.  One book I quite frequently refer to calls transformation, “huge emotional displacements and rearrangements.”  I love that phrase!  Transformation is usually of the educational variety that occurs over time.  And I bet if you think about it, you will be able to come up with some times in  your life when you were transformed, when  you realized that you were no longer thinking the same way, or perceiving the same way.  That’s transformation.

The third question:  Possible for others, but not for me.  If that is the case for you, then I submit that you are not reading this blog because you have nothing better to do.  Something in you is seeking, and that something will continue to nudge you until you take action, and the nudges will not always be gentle.  Sit with that feeling for a while.  What directed you to read this blog?  Why are you here?  In what other areas have you found  yourself reading, or investigating?  Or perhaps you’ve jumped from spiritual fad to spiritual fad, like an athlete, hoping that this one will fix you.  Transformation is possible for everyone, but it does not happen from the outside in.  It won’t happen with immersion in a spiritual fad, or with a move, or a new job, or a new relationship.  The kind of transformation I”m talking about is the kind that allows you to feel joyful and complete, no matter what is going on in your outside world.  This kind of transformation happens from within.

So, if you want to transform, there is good news and bad news:  the good news is that it is possible, the bad news is you have some work to do.  You might consider beginning by showing up on Monday nights.  And if you can’t show up on Monday nights, get the book, read it, do the exercises at the back of each chapter.  And if you need support through the transformation, call me!

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Weekly meditation/discussion group, Mondays from 5-7. Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

Need a nudge, want some support? Coaching will help you move into the gloriousness that is you! Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

This is the January image and quote for a calendar I publish each year. The quote says, “The thing about creativity is, people are gong to laugh at it. Get over it.” Twyla Thorp

You don’t have to be an artist to be creative. You create every day. In fact, you create with each thought you have. Our thoughts are very creative, and very powerful. If you are not liking your creations, in other words, if you aren’t happy with what is happening in your life right now, you may want to consider changing your thinking. Creativity isn’t just related to artistic endeavors. Creativity is part and parcel of who and what we are, in all areas of our lives.

*another  quote!  This one is by Patti Digh, it’s the tag line for  her book, “Creative is a Verb.”

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Weekly meditation/discussion group, Mondays from 5-7. Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

Need a nudge, want some support? Coaching will help you move into the gloriousness that is you! Call 530-906-9336 for more information.

karen@laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com

I’m going to be a minister when I grow up.

Not only that, but I’m going to be a great minister, an awesome minister, one of the special ones that stands out.

That may seem a bit…well….over the top, but hey….the definition of humility is knowing your place and your true worth in the world, and not denying it.  Whatever we call ourselves, we are calling God, and if we deny our own goodness, we are denying that God-part of ourselves as well.  So be humble and know that what calls in your soul to be great IS great, it wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this blog post is going to be all over the place in terms of topic.  (it’s also a long post, I hope you hang with me) Do not expect a logical thread here.  Think more “morning pages,”  that stream of consciousness exercise recommended by Julia Cameron in the Artist’s Way.  Only slightly edited for reader ease.

Back to the minister thing.  I just finished my second year of ministerial school. Up till now, if you’ve been reading my adventures about school, you know that I’ve been calling it “Consciousness Studies.”  Because, really, that’s what it’s called.  It’s a fully accredited Masters Degree program called Consciousness Studies.  But it’s also the most difficult ministerial school in the country, and according to one of the muckymucks in the leadership of our educational system, my education was designed to put me on a par with any graduate of any theological seminary in the world.

That’s some pretty heavy duty stuff.  That means I will have had the same level of education as the local Catholic priest, the Rabbi, the Presbyterian minister and the Episcopal minister.

Did I mention that part of my training is all the world’s religions?  (Just as an aside, I am seeing much beauty and wisdom in those religions, all of them.)  In addition to psychology, spiritual leadership, body mind medicine and quantum physics.  Yep, I be getting edumacated….big time.  And very well trained to help people spiritually, emotionally, physically and psychologically.

I’m going to be a minister when I grow up.

I traveled a rather…um…colorful road to get here.  I’ve been told my childhood was not normal (I still question by whose standards normality is defined), but I was blessed with a black sheep mother who not only journeyed the road less traveled, she paved her own road most of the time with colorful characters and lots of substances and a scorn for anything resembling normal or legal in the 1960s.  She broke the law with great relish whenever she could.  She taught me things like how to race sports cars and make them do cool things like jump over deep valleys in the road and hold corners at a hundred miles an hour, all without spilling a drop of vodka.  And I was also blessed with a father who was touring during most of my childhood with various jazz greats of the era, except when he was stationary with the stepmother du jour.  During his stationary times I had the opportunity to be exposed to this movement I am now a part of, because he became part it in 1960.  Anyway, back on topic:  I had no less than three complete sets of siblings come and go in my life, and never met two or three of my stepmothers.  And I am grateful for every minute of it, and I loved my mother when she was alive and I love and appreciate my father.  And I loved most of my stepmothers too.  But needless to say, I’m pretty colorful myself as a result.  And proud of it.  I look at my life today and I know without a doubt that there is a reason why I’m here.  There were times in my life when I should have died, literally, and I’m still here to share the stories when I think sharing them will help someone.  I think I’m in a position to help when someone else couldn’t, not only because of my history, but now also because of my education and training.

I’m going to be a minister when I grow up.

I may be in my fifties, but I hear 50 is the new 30 and I do things lots of 30 year olds I know wouldn’t even contemplate.  Did you tell you about learning to ride horses…and learning to jump with them?   All in my fifties.  Racing cars doesn’t hold a candle to flying through the air on the back of a horse.  And I haven’t really even flown yet…my jumps are still very short!  But it still feels like flying.  Anyway, I’ve had a great 30 year career as a photographer.  I have to tell you, the thought of a career change when I began ministerial school was not a welcome thought.  I love photography, I love what I do for a living.  I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing it, but its place in my life is changing.  It is no longer my identity.  My identity now is as a minister.  Photography is what I do, minister is what I am.  And that feels pretty good.  Scary sometimes, but good.

Which leads me to something totally and completely weird:  I’m not religious.  I don’t appreciate what religion has done to our world, or to the people in it.  But I think there is hope.  There is much beauty in religion, but it is covered up with judgment and literalism and fundamentalism and shame.  As a minister, I can pull those covers to expose the beauty.  Not only that, but I’ve created the Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe (CSLLT).  It’s what is called a Teaching Chapter, which means I will be teaching, not preaching.  It’s the first time in about 25 years there has been a CSL presence in South Lake Tahoe, and because this is a new work, I get to have a say in how I want it to look and function.  Not only that, but I have a fancy new title with the creation of this work:  I’m the Spiritual Director of CSLLT.  Time for some new business cards!

Last weekend in class we had a visit from a guy who is running for president of our newly merged organization (United and International Centers for Spiritual Living into Centers for Spiritual Living).  He mentioned something that I’ve noticed: church membership is decreasing.  According to him, there is an Episcopal church closing its doors everyday in the United States.  Yet the Centers for Spiritual Living is growing.  We are starting new works all over the world:  new ways of being in community with others of like mind, people who know that spirituality has everything to do with experience and a connection to that which means something to you, and nothing to do with what someone else says God is.

This is where my vision for CSLLT comes in.  I want something big and great and awesome and powerful for the people of South Lake Tahoe who currently are lost, adrift in a sea of disconnectedness from that which makes everything rich and wonderful.  I want a community that people will want to be a part of, and that people will claim with pride, and bring all their friends to. I envision a place where there is something cool going on every day and night:  classes, workshops, Satsang,  guest speakers and teachers, learning, teaching, sharing and profound experiences.

And I’m going to be the minister.

So here’s where you come in.  In order to be a minister, I need a flock.  I want to serve, to help, to minister.  That’s what I’ve been trained to do and I am ready to do it.  I know you are out there….wondering what it is that is missing in your life.  I know you are out there, contemplating going to church because you don’t know where else to go, but feeling like it just isn’t for you.  I know you are out there, living an alternative lifestyle and deeply wanting that spiritual connection, but not going to any churches because of the rejection factor.  I know you are out there, seeking…seeking….seeking something, you aren’t sure what.  I know you are out there.

And I am here to tell you that there is now a place for you.  Come and join me in making CSLLT a place for peace in South Lake Tahoe.  Come and learn to meditate.  Come and take a class. Come and participate in some exciting programs I have planned for community outreach.  Come and be a part of the most progressive and spiritual movement in the world today.

I’ve begun things with a gathering on Monday evenings.  It starts at 5 pm. The CSLLT is at 3665 Tamarack.  We are meeting in my very nice photography gallery, it’s quite nice to be surrounded by all those beautiful photos!  Anyway, I’ll see you on Monday!  Oh, and if you have any questions, call me at 530-906-9336.

I’m not a minister yet… in the eyes of the leadership at CSL.  I must finish my education (another year and a half) and pass a whole bunch of tests and interviews and all sorts of stuff before I accomplish that particular goal.  But in my consciousness, where it counts, I’m a minister.

What are you going to be when you grow up?  And what are you doing to get there?  If you don’t know, membership in CSLLT will help you figure it out.

I just hung up the phone.  I got to listen in on a conference call set up to hear candidates for the Centers for Spiritual Living respond to a series of questions.  I am so jazzed about this movement that I am a part of!  We have a slate of completely well qualified candidates, any one of them is capable of doing a great job of ushering in our merger (United Centers for Spiritual Living with International Centers for Spiritual Living).  We are a world wide movement that is only going to get bigger and noisier as time goes along and I am proud to be a Practitioner, proud to be a ministerial student, and proud to be the founder and Spiritual Director of the Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe.

Listening to  this call reminded me that I have a call to action right here at home.  We teach that in order to change the world, we must change ourselves first.  With the birth of CSLLT at the beginning of 2012, there is now a place where you can come to effect transformation in your own life.  My call to action is to provide the space for you, which I have done, and to let you know it is there, which I am doing, and to help facilitate your transformation, which I will do when you show up.

I think of all the people in South Lake Tahoe who would benefit from these teachings.

The religiously disenfranchised.  That’s my term for folks who don’t feel a connection with the religion of their childhood.  The truth is that what we teach does not conflict with any religion, and could provide a doorway to a reconciliation, or at least a peace, with the religion of one’s childhood.  Here in the West, our culture suggests that we need to go to church.  And there is a certain amount of shame that is dispensed, mostly from ourselves, when we don’t.  The churches would love it if their attendance was overflowing every Sunday.  But I think there’s a change in the world, and that church per se is not what works for a lot of folks.  I do think that spiritually we need that connection, we need that knowing that comes from the connection.  Church doesn’t necessarily do it.  But meditation does, and studying spiritual literature like “Living Deeply, the Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life” does.  We are currently studying that book on Monday nights, and each meeting begins with a different type of meditation.  I teach the meditation first, then we do it.  Then we discuss the book.  Not only can this be a doorway for transformation for you in your own life, but it will allow you to feel a part of something bigger than you are.

The seekers.  We are all seeking at some point in our lives.  We seek peace and  happiness and joy, and many times we seek it from places like relationships or jobs or possessions.  But the reality is that outside things like jobs, relationships and possessions will only provide a temporary sense of peace and happiness and joy.  Long lasting peace comes from a connection with that Force that is within each and every one of us.  All of the techniques, classes, workshops and sessions that I do are designed to facilitate that connection.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be content?  Wouldn’t it be nice to be at peace, no matter what happens on the outside?

Those who have a spiritual foundation but want to enlarge it.  Spiritual growth doesn’t just happen.  It takes consistent and persistent practice, plus regular reminders.  I don’t know that we are hard wired to forget what is really important in life, but I do think that sometimes the outside stuff makes it seem that way.  What is really important is the inside job, and what is really important is practice, and coming to a CSL regularly, attending classes and book studies and workshops, is part of what will provide you with a good foundation that will allow for spiritual growth.

Fellowship:  I’ve been facilitating a book study down in Carson City for about three years.  This group has bonded, big time.  The people in the group get together for celebrations and holidays, and help out when needed.  This group  has taken field trips and gone to dinners and talks in Reno and panels in Carson City and to hear me talk at the Center in Tahoe City.  Lately there has been some talk of going to a yoga retreat together.  This kind of fellowship is invaluable, and I have no doubt that this kind of fellowship will grow at CSLLT as well. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to share and mingle and learn and grow with folks who are like minded?  You are not alone in this world.  There are others who think just like you do.  Think about it:  you attend CSLLT regularly, along with a bunch of other people.  We get a great snowfall, and you want to go snowshoeing. Who better to do it with than your CSLLT group?  Or you want to be involved with helping others.  Did you know that the opportunities for service in any CSL abound?  How about hospice work?  Visiting sick people?  Helping with a fund raiser for the community?  Helping to set up an interfaith question and answer panel?  Service is huge, and the friendships and connections we develop while doing service is huge.  Won’t you join us on this incredible journey?

It takes a commitment to practice regularly and persistently.  Right now I’m doing a weekly group, on Monday nights, from 5 to 7 pm.  Last night I took a lady through a guided meditation and as I was doing that, I was mourning all the people who weren’t there benefiting from the service.   When the meditation was over, she said the same thing.  She was so grateful for the meditation, and so grateful for the time there.  And then we proceeded to discuss some of the material in the book called, “Living Deeply, the Art and Science of Transformation.”  This book is about transforming your life, and it draws from all the religions in the world, as well as from science.  It is filled with stories of personal transformations, and it is filled with good practical advice about how to achieve transformation in your own life.  But in order to show up and reap the benefit of this stuff, you need to make a commitment.  The commitment is to yourself.  Are you worthy of transformation?  Do you deserve to be happier, more peaceful?  Only you can answer that question, but if the answer is yes, then I suggest you do whatever you need to do to show at the Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe on Monday night at 5 pm.

Ever so often I get to give a talk.  And just in case you are wondering what on earth that means, well, it’s sort of like what ministers do on Sunday mornings from behind their podiums, except around these parts we don’t preach much, but many of us do give great talks.  I like to think I’m pretty good at it, and that thought has been affirmed many times over by many different people.

Here’s the link to the talk:

http://www.cslcc.org/images/stories/media/audio/KAL_Jump_In_010112.mp3

I gave this talk on New Year’s Day, and when I was asked to do it I jumped at the chance.  Normally I do a workshop on New Year’s Eve, sort of a cleansing/opening fun and positive way to bring in the New Year, and it is a very popular workshop.  But this year, my heart wasn’t in it, and I didn’t begin marketing for it, and blahblahblah, lo and behold, I’m so glad I didn’t do it because I got to do the talk instead!

My first idea was that I would take what I normally do in the workshop and convert it to a talk.  That didn’t work so well.  So I fumbled around a bit and started several different mind maps for this talk.  A mind map is really cool.  Sort of a computerized version of brain storming.  I’m a bit of a geek, so anything I can do on a computer or my Ipad is very fun for me.  Anyway, nothing was falling into place until I found this very cool poem online, and then the magic happened, and my talk was born.

That’s all I’m going to say about it, I don’t want to spoil the surprise.  Don’t wait for the next time you have 20 extra  minutes to listen to the talk, click the link now and take the time for yourself.  I think you will be inspired!

First of all, notice the logo?  You may have seen something similar, for there are Centers with this logo all over the world, except instead of saying Lake Tahoe underneath “Center for Spiritual Living” it says whatever city the Center is located in, so you might have Center for Spiritual Living Carson City, or Center for Spiritual Living Santa Rosa, for example.

What’s cool about this is that until last month I didn’t have the proper okee dokees to fly that particular logo, but now I am happy and proud to say that the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center is now a formally approved Teaching Chapter with Centers for Spiritual Living!

This is exciting news for me, and for you it means more classes, plus now your donations are tax deductible!

As a Teaching Chapter with the Centers for Spiritual Living, we meet once weekly.  I’ve decided to hold our once weekly meeting on Monday Evenings.

You may  not be able to read the fine print, so here’s what we are doing:  Each Monday night, from now until we see fit to change it (which could be years), we will meet.  The first part of each meeting will have meditation instruction, a different type of meditation each week.  The second part of the meeting will be discussion, and currently the topic is based on the book, “Living Deeply, the Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life.”  This is an awesome book that will allow you to do just what it says:  transform your life.  This particular book has written exercises at the end of each chapter, so the last part of the meeting, at least for now, will be spent doing the written exercises.

So, gather you meditation cushion if you have one, bring your journal if you have one (I have journals for sale), and show up on Monday night at 5 pm (until 7 pm).

Cost is a tax deductible suggested Love Offering of $10.  I will also have books available for purchase.  Want more information?  Call 530-906-9336.

See you there!

Now that Christmas is over, I’m beginning to take action on my to do list.  There’s a lot going on in this ministerial student/Practitioner/Spiritual Director of a Teaching Chapter’s world!

You ever have a to do list that is a bit overwhelming?  You ever get stuck because your to do list is so big you don’t think  you’ll ever get it done, so you get stuck?  I don’t think I’m the only one.  But I do know that when I break the list down into smaller pieces and just do what is in front of me to do, things seem to get done quickly, efficiently and easily.  So what I’m going to do in this blog is present to you my to do list, and then tell you how I’m going to get it all done.  I’ve got ulterior motives of course.  Those of you who know me know that I love multitasking, and if I can help you with your to do list while also publicizing everything I’ve got going on over here, so much the better!  So just know, there’s gonna be some PR language in this post, but there will also be some practical things to help you accomplish what’s on your list.

Ok, here’s my list:

Finish preparing new web site now that Teaching Chapter is formally approved.  This is a big deal guys.  A Teaching Chapter!  What it means to you is a once weekly gathering for profound discussion and meditation.  The first gathering is scheduled for Monday, January 2 from 5 to 7 pm.  This will be an ongoing group facilitated on a love offering basis.  The topics for discussion for the next few months will be based on the book “Living Deeply, the Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday life.”  You will be able to purchase a book from me ($15), or from www.amazon.com.  Paperback is $11.53 plus shipping, e-reader is $10.38.  Our discussions will be held at Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center at 3665 Tamarack in South Lake Tahoe (it’s off of Ski Run Blvd.)   This is also one of those ongoing things.  The Teaching Chapter will always be here, I’ll always be doing something in connection with it, so Teaching Chapter stuff will always be on my to do list.

If you’ve  got something ongoing like this, break it down into separate tasks.  You’ll see another entry further on in this blog that has to do with the Teaching Chapter.  Usually ongoing stuff has many different tasks, don’t put them all in one item on the list, or if you do, itemize them in sections.  The key is to break things down into smaller manageable parts.

Write a talk.  Another big deal.  Since I’m giving this talk at the Sunday service at the Center for Spiritual  Living in Carson City on New Year’s Day, this item needs to be done first.  I’ve already got a few ideas, but now I need to put them on paper and do some research and get a few quotes.  I’m a good speaker guys!  If you are anywhere close to Carson City at 10 am on New Year’s Day, come on by!  This talk will be inspirational and uplifting, designed to not only allow you to begin your new year right, but to keep up the momentum.  If you’ve got a problem  keeping your New Year’s Resolutions, you might want to check this out.

Prepare for a life transition ceremony on Wednesday. Yep, that’s in two days.  Actually, I’ve already got most of the work done on this one.  What’s a life transition you ask?  Well, there are the biggies:  death, marriage and birth.  But there’s also moving, getting a new job, coming of age, divorce (or loss of any kind), any of the big changes in life qualify for status as life transition, and there are rituals and ceremonies that can be done to help with the transition.  Turns out I’m pretty good at this too…who knew? (don’t take my word for  this…I’m basing this on feedback I’ve received from folks for whom I have performed these services)  In addition to weddings, I’ve also done Celebrations of Life and house blessings.  This particular ceremony will be for a lady with dementia and her daughter.  It is to help the lady with dementia let go and move into her final transition (as she is showing signs of doing so anyway) and for the daughter, who is her primary care giver.  It will be a moving ceremony and I’m honored that I was asked to do it.  If you have any transitions coming up, please consider me for the job and please pass the word!

Marketing for the new Teaching Chapter.  I’m already doing quite a bit in this area, but the Teaching Chapter will be called Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe (CSLLT) instead of Lake Tahoe Spiritual  Living Center, and once the new web site is completed I will need to start spreading the word about the…ahem….transition.  And yes, I’ve already done my own little transition ceremony for this one, it was very nice!  Included in this list is to explore Constant Contact and see if it will work for us.  I also need to send out a newsletter to people on the current mailing list, as I have a new package of private coaching sessions to tell them about, in addition to the news about the Teaching Chapter and the Monday night group.  By the way, if you are interested in private coaching, contact me for details about the package!

Prepare for new quarter of studies, which begins next week.  I’ve already accomplished a lot of this list:  I’ve registered and ordered and received my books, but I need to make hotel reservations for the classes I will be taking in Santa Rosa, and make arrangements for dog sitting, plus download and transfer my lectures to my Ipod.  Then it’s time to start studying!

Take time to rest and play. This one is always on my list.  I learned the hard way that if I do not take time to rest and play on a regular basis I lose stuff, mostly my mind, but I also lose efficiency and relationships get strained because I’m a grouch.  I’m pretty good at taking regular time off now.  I’ve loved what I do for a living since 1987, and I’ve been self employed since 1987, so I’ve had some time to perfect this taking time off thing.  But once in a while I still have to remind myself that it’s time to go outside and play.  By the way, these two topics (doing what you love for a living and balance) are what a high percentage of my private clients contact me for.  Both are possible, but usually our own limitations get in the way of this. I can and have helped quite a few people remove those limitations, so if you have something like this on you list of things to do in the New Year, contact me if  you need help!

Prepare flyer and distribute it for the new discussion group beginning next week. I’ve purposely waited till after Christmas to do this one.  Spreading the word about the group while people are scurrying about preparing for Christmas  would have just been like spinning my wheels in the mud.  Now is the time to do this.

You may have noticed that there is some prioritizing going on with my list.  Prioritizing is essential.  Some things can wait, some can’t.  Some have to be done regularly, some only once.  And while I’m pretty good at prioritizing now, it took some practice and some coaching to learn the skill.  This is another thing that private clients hire me for.  You can begin prioritizing your list by putting deadline dates on your items, and rearranging the list according to the dates they need to be done.

Last but not least, this item is always  on my list:  Do spiritual practices.  I don’t care what is on the list, or how long or short it is, it’s still a list of outside stuff, and when it comes right down to it, all that outside stuff will not get done unless you first do the inside stuff.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in the outside world until and unless the insides are properly nourished and cared for.  Working from the outside in does not work.  It’s more spinning of wheels.  In fact, if you are a long time reader of this blog you’ve heard me say this before, “if you don’t go within you’ll go without.”  The inside work HAS to be done.  Our outside world is a direct manifestation of what is going on inside, and if you have thoughts or beliefs which are negative or limiting, that’s what you will experience in the outside world.  All of my private client work, all of my workshops, all of my classes, all of my discussion groups, are based on this one simple thing, and all of them are designed to help you do the inside stuff that needs to be done in order to accomplish that which is on your list of things to do.  This is where spiritual practices comes in. I’m not talking about praying here folks, although some people do include this in their spiritual  practices.  I’m talking about connection, and the knowingness that comes from being connected.  I’m talking about inner personal experiences that come from a connection to something that is profound and undefinable.  And spiritual practices will establish and maintain that connection.  For me, my spiritual practices are meditation and quiet time.  Others read daily meditation books, some journal, some walk.  There are many different forms of spiritual practice.  The key is to realize that if  you are doing at the expense of being, you will eventually cease to be happy or effective at what you are doing.  You must BE first.

I could go on and on about spiritual  practices, but the fact is I’m approaching 2000 words here and that’s already too long for a blog post, but oh well, it’s gonna have to be ok this time.  Plus I’ve written about spiritual practices many times, do a search on spiritual practices on this blog and you’ll find a series of separate blog posts, one for each practice, that will detail each one.  This is also something that I teach privately.

My wish to you is that you are BEING, happily and peacefully, and that your  beingness shows up in to do lists that get done!

Yesterday was Winter Solstice.  The shortest day of the year.  Commencing today, the light returns to our world in small increments, with each day a couple  of minutes longer than the previous day.

If you are like me and were unable to attend any of the solstice rituals that happened yesterday, don’t fret, you can still celebrate the return of the light.  Here are some tips:

1.  Acknowledge what is happening with Mother Nature right now.  Each day that passes grows a little longer, each day brings a bit more light to our lives.  Take that acknowledgement from that global perspective and bring it into the personal.  With each day that passes, starting today, acknowledge that more light is coming into your life.  Use the extra couple of minutes of light each day as a metaphor.  How can  you bring a couple more minutes each day of metaphorical light into your life?  Is there anything that needs to be released to allow for more light in your life?  What does light signify to you anyway?  Is it joy, or peace, or good health?

2.  Celebrate!   There is a reason for the lighting of candles, the decorating of trees and the parties at this time of year.  It stems from rituals practiced by our ancestors, who not only lit lots of candles, but also brought gifts and had parties.  All of it signified and celebrated the return of the light.  Today’s holiday parties and lights decorating the trees and homes are all descendants of those ancient celebrations.  So when you go to the endless round of parties and decorate your tree, do so with a feeling of jubilation and celebration.  Enjoy it!  And if you are of the more introverted type, light some candles in the quiet sacredness of your own home, and acknowledge the joy and beauty of this season.  Celebrations do not have to be of the noisy and crowded variety.

3.  You  may not be in the mood to celebrate right now.  Perhaps, like a good friend of mine recently said, you don’t appreciate the endless commercials, the crowds or even the Christmas music.   Try and take comfort in nature’s cycle.  Mother Nature is wise, very wise.   Here where I live in Lake Tahoe, I quite frequently will stand somewhere near the lake’s edge on the east shore and watch the storms approach.  They always come over the mountains from the west and you can literally see them coming.  I’ll be standing in sunshine, but when I look west, I will see these  magnificent clouds coming toward me on the wind.  I can look at those clouds and know that it is time to prepare.   When the storms come, we fare better if we are prepared, and if we are prepared, we can ride out the storm, emerging when the storm passes to appreciate the beauty of the freshly fallen snow, the glitter and shimmer when the sun hits that snow, the crystal clear blue  sky.  That kind of light can only come after a good snow storm.  What Mother Nature does, we can use as metaphors in our own lives.  When the storms come, be prepared, ride it out, and when it passes, emerge to see what new and beautiful has come as a result of the storm.  If you don’t like the commercials, turn off the tv and radio.  Instead of shopping, make cookies to give as gifts.  You can shop ahead of time for the goodies to make cookies, you don’t have to wade through the crowds.  Find something  to be grateful for in this season.

4.  This leads me to talk about losses.  Perhaps you’ve recently encountered a huge loss.   Perhaps this is not the time to celebrate the light because you feel as if there simply is no light in your life.  Perhaps it is time to grieve instead.  If that is the case, honor it.  Grieving our losses must happen.  I can tell you from personal experience that if a loss is not properly grieved you will suffer.  The grief will manifest in some way, usually a physical illness but sometimes in emotional illness as well.  Feelings of anger and sadness will come, it is part of the process.  If they are coming  now, at a time when the rest of the world is celebrating, do not put them on hold until later.  Doing so will only strengthen those feelings and make them worse.  And I can guarantee you that if you do not grieve the loss now, then you will repeat the cycle when the anniversary comes each year, in essence dooming yourself to a holiday season filled with sadness and grief instead of joy.  Give yourself the gift of grieving now, when it is needed, and then you will be able to experience all the joy of this season, and you will be able to once again know that the light is entering your life.