Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center!

Life is so good, and full and rich!

This week I wrap up summer quarter in my studies with the completion of Mind in the Cosmos (philosophy) and Wisdom of Islam (religion).  The new quarter brings Wisdom of the Kabbalah, as well as Ethics in the Ministry, First Ministry and Music Ministry.  For those of you just tuning in, I am enrolled in a Masters Degree program called Consciousness Studies at Holmes Institute.  I periodically report on my studies under the same title as today’s post, so if you are interested, you can search the blog using the terms “consciousness studies” and you will get a complete story of the journey.

For the first time since I began school two years ago, I am seeing myself as a minister.  I’m beginning to see the possibilities of a career change.  I’m beginning to see that it might be possible that I could be a minister at either my own Center, or an assistant minister at another Center.  When I began school, I couldn’t even consider this possibility.  I enrolled in this program because I felt an unexplainable and very strong call to do so, and I’ve learned to honor those inner tugs.  I was, and still am, very happy as owner of a photography studio, and can’t, at this point, ever see myself not doing professional photography on some level.  But  there are the outlines of some new doors beginning to emerge, far off down the hallway, and I have a bit of a clue now as to what lies behind those doors.

But in the meantime, I am two years into this journey, and have recently discovered that I am also two years out, with graduation date now set for June of 2014.  In the last two  years, I have learned much both academically and in my own inner journey.  School continues to change me from the inside out, and I am beginning to notice outer manifestations of those changes.  For example, I am now being invited to speak at other Centers and I’m good at it…very good.  I’ve been trained by the best and there seems to be an innate talent that was just waiting for some training to do this work.  There is more training to come too, which I’m excited about.  I’ve also noticed that the people who come to me for help are now coming for different reasons.  They used to come for help with outer stuff.  Once they learned that the change needed to come from the inside out, they were either willing to work on that level and stuck around, or they were unwilling and left.  But now they are coming to me already knowing that they want to change the insides.  We can now hit the ground running with almost immediate outer manifestations reflecting the inner change that happens when one knows that is where the change needs to take place.

Speaking of inner changes, I’ve already mentioned that school continues to change me from the inside out, and it does.  But the changes I am seeing in myself are deep and different than I thought they would be.  What a ride this has been!  There is a blooming of compassion and a more deep felt empathy for others, as well as an acknowledgement of myself and my own self worth, on a level that wasn’t there before.  And I seem to be wearing my “minister’s hat” more often than not these days, and that hat is becoming more and more comfortable.   I can envision the day when wearing the minister’s hat will simply be a way of being for me, no matter what I am doing on the outside.

I am excited for the long term effects of this course of study, and while I don’t know what exactly those will be, I know about some short term things that are coming up that I am very excited about.  I’m going to put them in list form, because if you are interested, I think it will be easier for you to save the dates in your calendar!

1.  First and most exciting of all:  Third Tuesdays.  I’ve put out a couple of teasers about this.  Beginning the third Tuesday in October, at 6 pm, at the Lakefront Wedding Chapels and Events, we will be holding a midweek service.  Once a month, beginning in October.  I will be giving a talk each month (and will not rule out the possibility of guest speakers!), I have a Practitioner on board, as well as the possibility of live music!  I promise:  you will leave inspired.  At our first Third Tuesday (October 16), we will also have a list of other activities at the Center for Spiritual Living Lake Tahoe.

2.  Following the first Third Tuesday, we will present two classes.  One I will be teaching.  It is a non-certificated class called “Living the Serenity Prayer”  It will begin Monday, October 22, at 6 pm.  It’s a six week class, held for two hours each week, cost is $120 plus your cost for the book.  This class will be held at the Center on Tamarack Avenue in South Lake Tahoe.

3.  Also following the first Third Tuesday, Practitioner Brenda Heldoorn will be teaching a certificated class.  This will be a beginner’s class, a prerequisite to all other classes taught.  Time and days to be set, but I can tell you that most certificated classes are ten weeks and cost $220 plus books.  This class will be held at the Center on Tamarack Avenue in South Lake Tahoe.

4.  I will be teaching a certificated class down in Carson City at the Center there, beginning on Wednesday, September 12, for ten weeks, from 6 to 9 pm.  It is called From Whence we Came, and is an exciting journey into the history of New Thought.  Not just our own history at Centers for Spiritual Living, but all New Thought history.  If you are a Practitioner and need CEUs, this class will qualify.  If you are involved in any kind of New Thought organization, ours or Unity or some other one, you may be interested in this wonderful class.  This one is coming up quick, so if you are interested, we need your $50 registration fee (which goes toward the $220 tuition) ASAP!  And if you live in Lake Tahoe and want to car pool down with me, contact me at 530-906-9336.

5.  I am offering a coaching special!  Now that summer has calmed down a bit, you may be finding  yourself a bit unsettled.  Change is in the air, and it is not only the change in the seasons I am speaking to.  You may be feeling a tug to be something different, but aren’t quite sure what that looks like, or you may have just experienced a loss and need to work through it, or you may want to make an outer change in your life.  Call me to learn about how I can help you with your journey:  530-906-9336.

This has been a long post I know, but I’m so excited about all the goings on!  I hope you enjoyed reading about all the news!

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.

What is this Consciousness Studies stuff anyway?

I get that a lot.   I’ll be having a “what are you up to these days?” conversation with someone, and it will go something like this:

Me:  “I’m back in school!”

Them:  “Oh really, for what?”

Me:  “I’m in a Masters Degree program in Consciousness Studies.”

Them:  (here’s where it gets a bit tricky)  “Oh, how nice, what’s that mean?”

Me:  (even trickier still)  “I am studying spirituality, but not religion.”  Or, “When I graduate, I’ll  have a degree in Divinity but not in any particular religion.”  Makes me think about white chocolate every time.  Or, “I take classes like Science and Spirituality, Psychology and Spirituality, Spiritual Leadership.”  Or, “when I graduate they will call me Reverend Karen.”  Which brings us back to the question of how I could be studying spirituality but not religion.   I just don’t feel like I’m getting the message across.

From this point the responses range from a glazed look in their eyes and a change of subject, or more questions.  I’m trying to figure out a way to better describe what I am studying.  I need an elevator speech!  You know, describe what you do in the length of time it takes for an elevator ride to a stranger who would ask, “What do you do for a living?”  And describe it in such a way as to create interest and possibly gain a new client.  Only in this case, I’d just like to be able to describe quickly and easily about my schooling so that people would be able to share in my excitement and gratitude for this journey.

And then there’s the “where do you go to school?” question.  It goes something like this:

Them:  “What’s the name of the school?”

Me…very proudly, with some puffing out of chest, if I were a peacock I’d be spreading my tail feathers about now….”Holmes Institute.”

Them, politely, but I can see that glazed look returning, “Where is that?”

And then I describe how there are four campuses nationwide, mine is in Santa Rosa, and I take a combination of distance and regional classes, and the regional classes require that I go to Santa Rosa a couple times a quarter and the distance classes are all online with a couple tele-conferences and the regional classes also have a video conference for the days I’m not physically present…..and by this time my conversational companion is showing signs of bolting.  I need a second elevator speech.

Or maybe I don’t.

Here’s what I know about what I am studying:  They are teaching me to be a spiritual leader.  They are teaching me to help people on very deep and powerful levels.  Every class effects a fundamental change within me that allows me to be a more effective teacher, speaker, coach and mentor.  They are teaching me about unconditional love and acceptance. I think I just got my elevator speech.

So there you have it, what I am studying.  If you want to learn more, just ask. Or you can do a search on this blog using the terms Consciousness Studies. I post about my studies ever so often, because there are folks out there who really are interested in what I am studying, so I’ve been giving progress reports periodically.

Oh, and by the way, this term I am taking Buddhism and Physics of the Soul.  Buddhism:  cool stuff.  Physics of the Soul:  more of that Quantum Physics and God stuff, more cool stuff.  A physicist will tell you that consciousness is that common energy that is everywhere present, and that we can manipulate that energy simply by placing our attention on it.  Hmmm..sounds like how we describe God around these parts.  I think I may have another elevator speech.

Today marked the end of my sixth quarter with Holmes Institute.  I have now officially been in this Masters Degree program for a year and  a half.

Classes continue to be rewarding and challenging.  Rewarding because with each class comes new skills, new tools, new revelations and new ways of being and thinking.  I feel as if I’m a present which has been wrapped and wrapped and wrapped, with so many layers of wrapping paper and boxes that the real person underneath never had a chance of showing through, until now.  Each class removes another layer of wrapping.

Classes are also challenging for the same reasons they are rewarding.  They are pushing me to new ways of being and thinking, ways that I never thought possible before.  In addition, it’s challenging simply to be a student. There is homework, reading, listening to lectures.  There are bureaucratic requirements that test my patience, especially since I am not fond of bureaucracy even when I know it is necessary.

I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.  While becoming the leader of a spiritual community still is not on my list of things to do, I now know that I am qualified for it; it is a big part of what they are teaching me to be.   I am enjoying learning how to teach others and suspect that teaching will be high up on the list, especially since I’m doing that already and have learned I am quite good at it.

Last quarter I took Peacemaking and Mind/Body Medicine, as well as a class called Teaching Adults Science of Mind and another spiritual leadership class.  The Peacemaking class was taught by Gary Simmons, of “Nothing and No One is Against You” fame.  This class was based on his I of the Storm work as well as his work on integral ministry, which was based on Ken Wilber’s integral theory.  All very interesting stuff.  Mind/Body medicine is more of guided imagery and inner dialogue, and I continue to be fascinated by this material.  I am incorporating it, little by little, on a highly selective basis, into my work with some of my clients. These techniques are powerful and profound and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn about them.  Mind/Body medicine taught me about more about a complimentary modality of healing that can be used in conjunction with more traditional modes of medical treatment.

Tomorrow starts a new quarter, and I am taking Buddhism and Physics of the Soul.  I’m excited about the Buddhism class, I’ve always been curious about it, especially since a friend once told me that he thought I Buddhist without even knowing it.  Physics of the Soul is more of that quantum physics and God stuff, and if I can get past the language barrier of my Indian instructor I know I will enjoy this class.  Quantum physics is almost as fascinating to me as guided imagery and inner dialogue, simply because I know the field is opening up vast new territory in the field of science and allowing for the possibility of spirituality and science to merge.  Quantum physics is proving what New Thought has been saying for decades, and what has been said by wisdom teachers for thousands of years.  It’s very exciting!

I’m a little less than halfway through my training, and I continue to feel different.  I spend a lot of time studying and thus, less time than I used to in social situations.  Sometimes I feel as if I am becoming a hermit!  But I know myself enough to realize when it is time to put the books down and get out and be with people for a while.  And I have an understanding and supportive group of friends who still love me even if I don’t see them as much as I used to.

I can’t wait to see what it looks like in my life when all is said and done and the package is completely unwrapped!

Thanks for reading about the latest installment of my journey through school.  If you are curious about past posts on this topic, here they are:

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1916

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1795

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1667

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1557

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1511

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1451

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1387

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1247

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1233

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1104

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=1093

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=952

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=918

http://www.laketahoespirituallivingcenter.com/blog2/?p=867

I’ve just completed my fifth quarter.  For those of you just tuning in, I am in a Master’s Degree program called Consciousness Studies at Holmes Institute.  They call it ministerial training but wow…..it’s really life training I think.

School continues to change me from the inside out.  Each class is a revelation and creates a shift within me.  Right now the shift is about seeing things in a different way, and perhaps about changing a story I have carried with me my entire life.  It’s a story that says that I am independent and do much better living on my own in my own little world, I don’t need your help, thank you very much.   That story saved my life at one point, but it might not be serving me very well anymore.  I’m still independent, but living in my own little world, oblivious of what is going on with the people around me, is not working so well.  Because in living that story, I had not realized that there is a world of wounded souls out there.  I ignore their suffering, and in that ignorance, I am unable to help them.  Not a very good place to be for a person who claims that helping people is her mission in life.  I know the people who come to me and come right out and ask for help  are wounded.  I pay attention to them.  But I’m learning that EVERYONE is wounded!  Even Practitioners and Ministers!  My expectations were that by the time we had all the training that a Practitioner gets we would have healed our wounds.  I was unpleasantly surprised when I realized that wasn’t entirely true.  But even then I thought it was an anomaly.    But now I see that even Practitioners, Ministers and all the rest of us still have wounds.  What I am grateful for is that amongst my group of ministerial students, we express our woundedness lovingly and gently.  Things can be heard this way, and I can listen without feeling abused.  My fellow students are teaching me a lot.

This all came about from a conversation on diversity at the latest student retreat.   I am proud to be a part of a group of people that is breaking ground in the diversity conversation within the New Thought movement.  We came together last weekend as a family, all 25 of us, and talked about the elephant in the middle of the living room.  There will be more talks, and we will affect policy and how things are done at the world level at the Centers for Spiritual Living.  But for now, I am in a place of an opening heart, and it is a bit uncomfortable.  But I’ve been here before, and I know the beauty of being in such a place, and I know the beauty of the results of allowing it to be.

Last quarter was all about leadership.  Every class I took was on leadership.  I started feeling like a leader before I took all these classes, but now I feel qualified to be one and have begun to step into that role.  As ministers, whether we have a pulpit or some other form of ministry, we are, almost by default, leaders.  People look to us for guidance, for comfort and for healing.  They look at us as an example.   I never used to be comfortable in the role of leader.  I remember spending 2o some odd years as a board member of a local non profit.  Folks tried to make me out as a leader during my tenure there, but I did not feel like one and did not want the title nor the responsibility.  I simply wanted to serve.  Odd how things change sometimes.  I still want to serve, but now I want to serve in a leadership role (dare I say I DESERVE to serve in a leadership role?  YES!) and I am grateful that there are plenty of opportunities to do that.

This quarter I’m taking Peacekeeping (guess what?  This has leadership components too!) and Mind-Body Medicine.  I’ve already been exposed to material by the professor of our Peacekeeping class.  You might recognize Gary Simmons, author of Nothing and No One Against You.  Time for me to dig a bit deeper into this material than I’ve already dug!  And I am very excited about Mind-Body Medicine.  In the very first lecture the professor quoted a statistic that I have known to be true for a long time:  about 85% of all physical illness has an emotional or spiritual cause.  This class will expose me to more guided imagery, which I have loved in the other classes that have taught it. I am envisioning a specialty in my own practice, adding an alternative healing modality to the treatment of physical illness for my clients.

I’m also taking “Teaching Adults Science of Mind” and am a bit curious about this class, as one of the books we have been assigned is called, “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”  I have a feeling that more diversity conversation will be coming.

The work continues.  I read, I do research, I write papers.  I give workshops, I attend classes and retreats, I participate at any level in which I am called.  This is exciting work and I am grateful to be able to have it.

I hope you have enjoyed my latest report on my Ministerial training!

I have just finished sending off the finals for the classes in my last term of my first year of study.  I can’t believe it’s been a whole year in this Master’s Degree program called Consciousness Studies.  This year has been challenging, rewarding and life altering.

The challenge has been in the changes.  My outside world changed quite a bit when I started school:  a two year relationship ended, my dog died (leaving me dogless for the first time in over 20 years), a restructuring of my business was indicated, and I started a new business.  Whew!  I now know that all that outside change was to make room for a lot of new stuff coming my way.  I’ve been in a grieving process this past year, grieving the losses of what was.  Being in a grieving process is not fun, but the grief and the process must be allowed, or it simply keeps looping, like a video or a slide show set to “loop.”  It never stops, just repeats over and over again.  So I’ve allowed myself to cry when I needed to (a bit of a pain in the ass that is, but, like I said, necessary), and been gentle with myself, and just allowed the process to unfold.

This past week has been a week of celebrations as well as the ending of another term of classes.  Not only did I celebrate a birthday this last week, but also an anniversary that I consider to be more important than my birthday,  for I would not be alive if that anniversary did not exist.  And in the middle of all that was Thanksgiving.   And with finishing up another term and registering for a new one today, I am feeling as if those doors lining my hallway are about to open.  I am feeling as if things are about to break loose in a very good way.

The rewards are coming from what I am learning.  These classes are changing me from the inside out.  There is a huge emotional rearrangement going on, and it feels good.  In addition, I love what I am studying and learning.  I feel as if I was meant to be here, doing what I am doing right now.

All of this lends itself to alterations of life.  I still don’t have a complete vision of what I want to do when I grow up, but now I know it will involve teaching.

It’s been quiet this year.  I’ve spent a lot of time at home alone, studying.  I’ve not sought out a new relationship, as I believe it important and healthy to go through the grieving process before beginning a new one.  Rebound relationships are no fun and I’ve never known one to work.  And I made the decision not to get another dog, mostly because of the time necessary to make sure the dog gets enough exercise.  However, in both cases, if a prospective partner or the right dog comes along, I will not refuse either one.  I believe I’ve learned what I was meant to with the last relationship, and am ready for the next, and I also believe I am ready for a new pet in my life, when the right one comes.   In the meantime, I will continue my studies.

This last term I took Consciousness and Creative Communications.  This was another Psychology class, and I have to say that I think I have found my niche.  With every Psychology class I take I feel as if I am better able to help my clients.  These classes also give me great insight into myself, and the mysterious ways of my mind, and I’ve had some awakenings.

I also took World Religions this term, and it has been a nice journey through all the religions of the world, starting with the first one, Shamanism, and concluding with what is happening today in the world of religion.

In addition, I am taking a Youth and Family Ministry class, which has opened up a whole new world for me.

Next term I’ve signed up for Church Financial Management, Spiritual Leadership, Fostering a Noble Purpose, and Philosophy.  Two of them are leadership classes, and I suspect the spiritual truth of everything starting within will hold true here, with me learning more about leadership of my own life first, then it spreading outward.

In this last year I have solidified my desire to teach, and thus am planning several workshops in the near future.  I’ve been having a ball researching and designing curriculum.

In this program we also have to do what are called Internships, there are 12 of them, and I have been working my way through them.  We also have to visit places of worship:  temples, mosques and churches, and write a report on each visit.  Since my organization is not really a religious one, but a spiritual one, we incorporate practices and beliefs from all the religions of the world, so it helps to be familiar with them all.

That’s my report on my studies!  If  you are just tuning in and are interested in reading more about this journey, do a search on this blog on Conscious Studies.  I’ve titled every report on my school journey the same to make it easier to find them.  Thanks for reading!

I’ve been experiencing a bit of writer’s block lately, and I’ve used up all my “back up” posts.  But I’ve made a commitment to post regularly here and a few people have asked about why they haven’t been getting the posts in their email box (did you know that you can subscribe to get these posts emailed to you?  If you are interested let me know) so I thought I would just sit down and start writing.

It occurs to me that I haven’t given an update on my studies recently.  I am about a month away from finishing up my first year as a Ministerial Student at Holmes Institute.  This journey is incredible.  It’s sort of like Spirit:  indefinable, and yet I try, because I am human and I seem to need definitions.  Being a Masters degree student in a spiritual course of study is deep.  Yes, we do outside stuff like attend classes and write papers and read books.  But the most profound stuff happens inside (at least for me) while I am busy doing all that other stuff.  One of my instructors told me that the class work is just busywork to keep us busy while we grow into the consciousness of being ministers, and I believe that.  I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, but I have a better idea now.  I have no plans  to give up my day job as photographer, but I think the emphasis will be changing a bit.  I know teaching will be a  huge part of what I do for a living in the very near future, both teaching other photographers as well as folks from all walks of life.

I am especially excited about a class I am working on which is centered around creativity and spirituality, and doing what you love for a living.  This new economy has allowed many to turn to entrepreneurial enterprises, and I have many skills in that area that I can pass along to folks that will allow them to do what they love, and make a good living at it!

Meanwhile, right now I am taking a World Religions class.   Seems humankind has been doing religious stuff since we became what the scientists call homo sapiens, and I am getting to learn all about the history of religions, how they formed, why they formed, how they have impacted the world and continue to do so.   I’m also loving all the psychology classes.  This is nothing new, I minored in psychology in college and loved it then too, but back then the emphasis on the scientific discouraged me.  The emphasis now is on psychology from a spiritual point of view and I am in my element!  I’ve begun to integrate what I am learning into the things I offer my Life Coaching clients.   Looking over my transcript for this first year I see a lot of words like “teaching, learning, understanding, craftsmanship.”  And also words like “spiritual” and “consciousness.”  My favorite words!

It’s all a process, and I am smack dab in the middle of it!  It’s challenging, but I enjoy every minute of it!

I hope that you are finding life an enjoyable challenge as well, at least enjoyable (the challenge may or may not be on your list of things to do!).  If life is not enjoyable to you, then perhaps it’s time to start thinking a bit differently?  After all, it’s all about changing your thinking to change your life!

If you have a topic you would like me to write about in the blog, let me know!

I just finished writing the final term paper for my summer classes.  Fall term begins next week  and marks the end of my first year as a ministerial student at Holmes Institute.

In less than a year, I’ve experienced some dismantling of my life, some profound inner spiritual changes, joy, serenity, stress unlike anything I’ve experienced in a long time, insecurity, doubt, and finally, peace, confidence that I am doing the right thing, much changed perspective, and a knowingness about myself and my abilities that I did not have before.
My lifestyle has changed, because I am spending more time at home studying I am cooking more instead of eating out, and spending more time alone and less with my gang of friends.  They are understanding and supportive.

And, last but not least, I have come to believe that the curriculum at Holmes Institute is designed to create those profound inner changes I spoke of, and that the learning is incidental.  I had validation of this when I voiced my opinion to one of my instructors, who replied that they talk about this in their meetings a lot, that the classes are just to keep us busy while we develop the consciousness of being a Minister.

This last term I took Spiritual Psychology and have decided that when I grow up, that is what I want to be: a spiritual psychologist (however, I have no plans to give up my day job as owner and operator of a photography studio!  I suspect that things will balance out a bit, that I will spend fewer hours as a photographer and more as a Spiritual Coach/teacher/minister as time goes on).  I also took Teaching and Learning Online and LOVED it!  I also want to be a teacher when I grow up, but I’m not gonna wait to grow up, I’ve got some cool classes lined up for you to take, stay tuned!

Next term I have signed up for Consciousness and Creative Communication (another psychology class, love em!) and World Religions.  In addition, I am taking Contemporary Applications of Science of Mind as well as Youth and Family Ministry.  Whew!  A full load this time.

I am loving this.  No doubt about it, it is challenging.  But also life affirming and life enhancing.  I would not have it any other way.

If you are curious about my other posts about my studies, just do a search on this blog on Consciousness Studies.  I’ve titled all the posts about my studies the same so they will be easy to find should anyone be curious.

As promised, I’m taking a break today from the regularly scheduled programming to give you an update on my goings on with school.  If you wish to read more, all my posts about my studies are titled Consciousness Studies, so if you type those words into the search box in this blog, you’ll get all the other posts I’ve written about this!

Last weekend I went to Santa Rosa again for another class, this one called a Special Topics Class, Visioning.  We apparently have a Special Topics Class every summer.

Summers are like this explosion of activity:  I really think that Mother Nature has much more of an effect on us humans than we give her credit for.  Everyone, myself included, is scurrying around, doing things, enjoying summer life, fixing stuff, working in the garden.  Lots of things happen in the summer that don’t happen in the winter.  I am no different, I always have more business in the summer than in the winter.  This is the first summer with the added component of studies and I am grateful for the organizational tools I’ve learned that allow me to pack just one more thing in.

Going out of town, even though I do it frequently, is always stressful at the beginning of the trip.  I don’t know why.  Perhaps it’s the equivalent of “did I turn off the oven?”  I just feel this stress about leaving.  But once I get on the road, and it’s literally as soon as I pull out of my driveway, my consciousness changes and I am in “travel” mode.  I love taking these trips.  Going to Santa Rosa is always an adventure, I’m getting to know people there and feeling like it’s my home away from  home.

So, back to the Visioning class.  I learned some stuff about Visioning this class, which is nice because isn’t that what class is for?  I’m not sure why Visioning is controversial.  Some folks are really fighting it.  I’ve always seen it as another spiritual practice, to be added to our tool kits like meditation, journaling or reading spiritual literature.  I didn’t hear any of that from my fellow ministerial students, but I did hear it from some of the other Practitioners in class.  I hope they got a better sense of what a rich added component it can be as an addition to existing spiritual practices.  For me, I learned that Visioning is more about being than doing.  It’s not about getting specific answers, it’s about a state of mind, a way of being.  We are led, in Visioning, to embody attributes of Spirit so as to accomplish what we desire.  And I also learned that it is in Spiritual Discernment that we start in with the specifics.   We’ve been asked to form a Vision team for our ministries, and I have already assembled my team.  I am so grateful for the people who unhesitatingly and willingly give of their time to help me with Visioning for my ministry.

My other two classes this term are Spiritual Psychology and Teaching and Learning Online.  I am  having such a good time this term!  It’s my favorite so far!  I seem to recall saying that before, at each term, but I REALLY like Spiritual Psychology.    This is my niche, I believe.  This is the area where I shine, where I can really dig in and investigate and be of help to people.  And Teaching and Learning Online has turned out, due to the very skillful facilitation of the teacher, to be a full and rich class.  It’s a combination of chat, forum and teleconference.   We literally are learning about all the different ways to teach and learn online.  I’ve already set up my conference call number and will be conducting my Visionings via conference call.

I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: my studies are changing me from the inside out.    I sense change within me, but do not yet know where that change is headed.  I spend quite a bit of time “in the hallway” or in the question, and while it can be uncomfortable at times, I seem to be getting used to it.  It seems to allow for more possibilities and potentials, that’s for sure, because when I’m in the question I’m not limiting myself.  And, I’m in the hallway in most of the areas of my life, not just school.  The nature of my relationships is changing, the way I relate to people.   My work is also changing, probably because in both of my businesses I work with people, and if the way I relate to people is changing, it would naturally have an effect in my work.  I like the changes I am seeing!

So, that’s the latest installment in my report on my studies!  This is a rich and wonderful world we live in and I am grateful to be a part of it!

It’s the beginning of my third term as a ministerial student at Holmes Institute.  For those of you just tuning in, it’s a Masters Degree program, and I periodically report on the happenings in my studies.  If you are interested, do a search on this blog for Consciousness Studies and you will get all the other posts I’ve done about this.

I feel as if I am finally beginning to remember, or perhaps it’s not remembering, but simply settling into, what it is like to be a student.  This is not some easy class I’m taking here, but a course of study designed to enrich my life, enlarge my spirit, nourish my soul, and teach me how to provide comfort and aid to others.  More so than I already do as a Practitioner.  These classes are challenging me on all levels.  I feel as if I am in the midst of a giant mystery.  I don’t know the outcome yet, but I can feel the clues popping into my life, one class at a time.

This term I am taking Spiritual Psychology (last term it was Science and Spirituality, but I renamed it Quantum Physics and God…it made more sense to me that way), Teaching and Learning Online, and a Special Topics class on Visioning.  I got my books last week, and as soon as I started reading them, I felt more clues dropping into my mind, like little feathers drifting around to lightly settle in my brain.  I’ve always loved psychology (I know, I’m wierd that way) and to have it blended with spirituality is Oh So Wonderful!  They are talking about a new way of looking at things to blend elements from both worlds.  My Visioning class is an in person class, so off to Santa Rosa I go again next month, to attend a full day and an evening of a class taught by Rai Jordan.  I took another class from her about two years ago, when ministerial school wasn’t even a gleam in my eye, and enjoyed it thoroughly.  The book she has assigned for this class is called The Laws of Manifestation by David Spangler and I have to say, again, that there are no coincidences in this world.

Reading the assigned books for Spiritual Psychology and Visioning is amazing.  You know how they say there are no coincidences in this world?  Well, it’s not a coincidence that I have these two classes together and am reading these books at this time in my life, when I am questioning just about everything.  Again, clues are floating in, but no concrete answers yet and I am ok most of the time with living in the question and doing what I need to do. 

I’m spending more time alone than I have in a long long time.  Part of me is looking at this and wondering if perhaps I should indulge in a little self pitying loneliness, and the other part is sitting in the mystery, wondering where this is all going to end up, and being grateful that I have time to study.  It takes some faith to sit in the mystery, and today I  heard a talk by Rev.Gail at the Carson City Center for Spiritual Living that reminded me that I was ok, that I have faith, and all is well, and will continue to be well.  My job is to continue my studies, go to work, and live life, and that I am doing. 

If you see me drift off into never never land once in a while, don’t worry.  I’m probably just contemplating the latest profound clues, or maybe just resting.