Patience, young grasshopper ...

Remember the vintage TV show, "Kung Fu", when the main character, played by David Carradine, was learning the ancient ways from his teacher?  Probably the most quoted phrase from the show was when the mentor would remind Carradine's character, "Patience, young grasshopper." Though the show aired about forty years ago, I can still recall how that phrase, when uttered, pulled me into a state of calm and serenity.  Yep, even as a little kid.  Even back then, I knew it was important.

These days, it's been a challenge to lock into that sense of patience.  Just writing this blog post makes me itchy to get to the point of it, keep it interesting, keep ME interested, wonder how people will take it, how it will affect them, and on and on, blah, blah, blah - ad nauseum.  I'm getting impatient just re-reading what I just wrote.  "Get ON with it, Pam!"

It is oft said that patience is a virtue.  Indeed, that hackneyed phrase is from a poem entitled, Psychomachia, or Battle/Contest of the Soul, written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius.  Patience is one of the Seven Heavenly Virtures (Chastity, temperance, Charity, Diligence, Kindness and Humility being the others).  To practice them meant you'd arm yourself against the Seven Deadly Sins (the nasties wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony).  Yes, I'd say the seven virtues are something to emulate.  And I'm not doing too shabbily with most of them.  But Patience is eluding me.  It's a battle I've been losing as of late.  And I hate that.

Maybe it's due to having a Smart Phone, wherein everything is at my fingertips and, after having that sort of convenience, I'm inwardly baffled that the rest of the world isn't that zippy-quick.  Maybe it's having so many irons in so many fires all at once (my voice-over career, my book stuff, my spiritual stuff, social stuff and, oh, yes, how about my wonderful hubby?).  Sometimes I'm seven different people simultaneously.  Sometimes I work to have all things line up succinctly so that I can actually sit back and relax on occasion.  But then I feel guilty about relaxing, growing impatient with myself for not being in activity.  I don't think it's undiagnosed, late-onset ADD.  I think it's overworking and overstressing about being everything to everyone - sometimes including myself.

So I become impatient with my lovely hubby when he's not spinning at 100 MPH the exact same way i am.  I become impatient with the lady at the coffeehouse you wants a quick fill-up on her coffee because she's doing a "no, after YOU" to me and, really, I CAN WAIT (because I came in here to practice patience today), but I finally snap and say, "This is silly.  Just go ahead. Geeze - It's like a Mexican stand-off!" which upsets her but, hey, I can't stand people when they waffle.  Make up your mind, take a stand, or go home.  Stop.  Wasting.  My.  Precious.  TIME!

(cleansing breath)

So, I own the fact that Patience is a hard-fought, difficult-to-grasp virtue for me.  I think the first person I need to be patient with is myself.  My daily morning meditation practice is sporadic, at best.  But I know the value of taking those 15 minutes each day, how time seems to slow down and thicken and deepen, allowing for stillness and calm.  It's like I'm David Carradine and I can sit in stillness that bolsters me for my day ahead (although I do not take part in martial arts practices due to my bad lower back and due to the fact that I'm as graceful as one of these: )

So, I forgive myself for being so gosh-darned hard on myself for NOT meditating.  Yes, I could beat up on myself, because I should "know better", being a "big deal Chopra Center meditation student, fer cryeye".  Things happen.  Life happens. Things speed up and they often blind us to the softer, slower, gentler things.

I hiked today and prayed for patience, for focus and for stillness.  The fact that I'm owning my impatience issue is huge for me.  Owning it, recognizing it's a problem, is truly my first and greatest step in allowing myself the gift of stillness, of not having to be perfect, of not having to be Everything.

So, the next time I lose my patience, I'll slow down, breathe, look in my pocket to find it.  Because I carry it with me always ... and it's never completely lost.



From angiechan.com

My Goals for a Mid-Century Mystical 2013

The Mid-Century Mystic Spiritual Goals for 2013 (Space Age Modern Version)

Wasn’t 2012 a kick in the pants?  Seriously though; every single person I know was hoodswaggled and brainwhipped by ups and downs in 3-D Vista Vision.  Most of the energy was difficult, some of it welcome and exhilarating, all of it smacked loudly, like a two-story-tall tympani.  2013 already feels lighter somehow, with an effervescent pop like a freshly-opened bottle of Sprite (with the little dimple bubbles in the green glass).

So I have some goals for 2013, spiritually, creatively, and Mid-Century Modern Mystically.  Here they come:

1.      To Blog, Perchance to Dream. I have three blogs: one for my book, “The Cotton Candy Road Trip”, one for my voice-over career, and one that acts as part of my personal playground and church – this one.  Visiting my blog, for me at least, is like boarding the Wonka boat, cruising down the chocolate river, where Anything Can Happen.  At least, that’s how I wish it to be.  But yet I have to follow some sort of schedule.  At least I’ve tried, instituting “Monday is Tarot Day”.  Well, that was a valiant attempt by yours truly, but it doesn’t work when you’re dealing with writing primarily about spiritual things.  So for 2013, I’m committed to not committing, except for once a week.  I must blog on this dragonfly wing of a blog at least once a week.  What I share may inspire someone to live a lighter life, have a more playful day, enjoy something from 1966, so at least once a week is a must. Tarot?  Yes.  The Monkees?  Why not?  Spiritual Growth?  But of course.  Which brings me to …

2.      Life Coaching.  Alright, I took life coaching classes and I do coach, but, due to the Garden of Oddballness that was 2012, getting the website up and getting a handful of clients (at least) did not happen because of the bloom of oddities that met me throughout the year.  My Mid-Century Mystic blog is a part of the website, but because it’s on Blogger and my Guided By a Star coaching website is not, there are issues.  Enough with the issues!  Get the life coaching website up by hook or by crook and have a link to this blog and just stop with the waffling already.  There are people out there who need some coaching from someone who’ll allow them to play and be big kids!  Okay then …

3.      Vintage Finery.  So.  Let’s get down to the vintage goal for the year.  I’ve already got our new/old/Don Draper couches ordered (yes, I’ve imagined Don Draper draping on them, yes I have).  I’ve got a swellegant buffet waiting to be utilized for our entertainment center.  I‘ve got plans to paint the bland-as-wallpaper paste kitchen a pastelriffic palette.  These things need to be planned.  But beyond all that, I need to re-retro myself.  I’ve been lazy about incorporating something vintage into every day’s outfit.  I certainly have enough stuff to make this a reality.  So, please allow me to wave my arms like my beloved Serena in “Bewitched” and make it so.  And that also pertains to make-up and hair.  My hair has been a boring rendition of “the Rachel” because of the perm I’m growing out.  By the end of the summer, I should have my flip back, if not before.

4.      The Pause That Refreshes.  Meditation also took a backseat during the Scourge of 2012, which is ironic since I had an amazing time at the Chopra Center retreat in the summer.  But if you don’t practice, if you don’t keep the flow going, it’ll get stuck like taffy on the floor.  So meditation will be re-instituted into my daily plan.  And that also includes my walking meditation in my Church of the Great Outdoors, the arboretum.  But I’ll be adding something more …

5.      Angel on My Shoulder (and in my car, at the café, accompanying me through Disneyland).  Every single person on Earth has a guardian angel, angel guides and spirit guides.  I have a guardian angel, two other angels who have specific jobs, and a spirit guide.  I also have recurrent conversations with other angels, the big ones, like Archangel Michael.  In case you’re curious, your angels are always with you.  The big, celebrity angels, the ones ostensibly managed by big-deal talent impresarios in L.A. (kidding.  Just meaning that these angels are known by many religions, and by the non-religious as well), are there any time; all you need is to call upon them.  They can be anywhere, anytime.  The connection you attain with angels is up to you.  They’re at the ready and they help us mere mortals throughout our lives.  But if you wish to have a more personal, purposeful and fulfilling relationship with your angels, you need to feed it daily.  The onus is upon you to communicate with them to enrich and deepen your connection.  2013 is the year I not only deepen my angelic connection, but the time to make “angel time” a part of my daily spiritual routine.  Angle magic is powerful and gets you closer to God.

6.      A Year-Long Cosmos Cotillion.  2013 is a six numerologically, the year of creativity and love and I choose to celebrate these things all 12 months in a very exciting, serendipitous way: the 2013 Party a Month Club.  No, I’m really not kidding.  Some people have rolled their eyes at this idea, citing the fact that I already make February my birthday month.  Well, if you’re celebrating a milestone birthday in the year of creativity and love, the year that’s also your 15^th wedding anniversary to your soul mate, the year that’s also the 15^th anniversary of your first trip to Disneyland with the aforementioned soul mate, I say take the whole year to rattle the noisemakers and blow the kazoos.  The Party a Month Club will begin in earnest on February 1 in Disneyland for my birthday.  It will run through January 31^st, 2014.  The ideas I have for parties (some grand, some quite small) range from the sublime (wait ‘til you see what we’re doing for our annual Summer Soiree!) to the silliest bit of girl-night grooviness I’ve ever dreamt up.  Note: there are no membership cards or dues; I’ll just throw parties and invite people.

I’m loving 2013 already.  2013, you are natty and snappy, wearing your little bowtie and brogues.  You smell like lavender and citrus and I thrill to you up in the air, riding the sky ride across Disneyland circa 1963.  I embrace you and know we will be the best of friends.

Monday is Tarot Day: Meditation on The Hermit.

So it's been a few weeks now since I took part in a life-changing experience, the Chopra Center's "Seduction of Spirit" retreat.  I've been a very good meditation student, having only missed one meditation session.  That was yesterday.  And I haven't exploded anything like that.  Not that I thought I would, but when you're really committing to a meditation practice, you feel pretty guilty if you miss a day.

Which is pretty much what meditation is NOT about.  It's about entering the silence, connecting with Universal or God energy, and about cultivating a healing place in your soul from which you can bring about positive change in the world.

Going within.  Not escaping, but retreating for 20-30 minutes, twice daily.  And, like the Hermit portrayed in this beautiful image from seewithin.wordpress.com, holding a gentle light up to your heart, to notice its connection with All  That Is, and to express it outward in our lives.

I love this card because it also brings to mind another type of meditation I enjoy: walking in nature.  It's quite easy, healthful, and healing.

No matter which form of meditation you choose, DO choose.  I believe we all need it - and all of us need all of us to practice it.

Namaste.

Monday is Tarot Day! Such a beautiful new beginning of spirit!

I've recently been enjoying "Tarot Awareness", a wonderful book about using tarot for meditation.  Book's been around for awhile, but it only makes sense that I should learn about it a few months ago and embark upon it now, because, apparently, the Universe wants me to meditate again. 

Today was my first day of the Chopra Center "Seduction of Spirit" retreat. The retreat space, at Eagle Wood Resort in Itasca, IL, couldn't be more lovely, the staff from the Chopra Center couldn't be more helpful and welcoming.  And I couldn't be more blown away by my good fortune - or more blissed out right now. Group mediation with around 160 other beautiful souls can do that to a person.

But enough about that.  What's up with the Ace of Wands and my new take on meditation and this wonderful gift that's come my way?

The suit of Wands are about spiritual matters.  Oh, lookie -  seems as though the hand of God is handing someone a big ol' wand of sprouting consciousness, of spirit ready to bloom and grow.  Hmmmm ... could it be me that's ready and willing to jump back into the meditative realm again?  Seems all arrows - and mystical god-like, ghosty hands floating in on a cloud - are saying "yes!".

It's as if God/Universe is basically making Itself clear about my need to meditate, about the importance of that sublime quiet stillness, about calming down, cooling off.  Since 2012 began, I've been off and running, quite often meeting myself at the door, and rarely giving myself any time to really be quiet, inside and out quiet.  My hubby recently asked me, while I was in the throes of running about and complaining about one stress after another, "Will meditation help?"  I blush to admit, I said I couldn't calm down long enough to sit quietly for 3 minutes, let alone 30.

For the next 6 days, I won't be able to escape it.  God will basically be sitting right next to me, gently reminding me that this truly Magic Wand will be at my ready, in the form of my new mantra (my primordial sound mantra, one that I've had with me since I came into this world, one that I met again today like a long-lost friend who knew everything about me and was so glad to be able to reconnect after decades).

All I need to do is trust, to stay still, to calmly remind my wandering mind that this unique and brilliant sound is mine and will help iron out all the rumples.

Welcome to the natal day of Mid-Century Mystic! Let the nose-wiggling begin!

Greetings!  I've been anticipating writing such a blog for a while now, but needed an angel wink from the cosmos to make it happen.  And so it happened just about twenty minutes ago.

I was out, walking for fitness and participating in one of my usual walking meditations at the same very time (it's two, two, TWO life-affirming activities in ONE!), working through a particular conundrum I've had for a while:  I've had three separate psychics, completely unrelated to each other by acquaintance or location, look me squarely in the eye and ask, "Who's Samantha?"

I usually explain that I'm the biggest "Bewitched" fan they'll ever meet and pretty much leave it at that, since I truly don't know what the connection is for me.  They then, all three of them, mention that it's my spirit guide.

I've meditated on it, journalled, conducted rituals, thrown tarot spreads for clarity - nothing.  Then today, it came to me, as I entered the house and gazed upon our gorgeous Christmas tree, and my eye was drawn as if by ultra-magnetic powers to the Samantha Stephens ornament my friends Jon and Tom gave me a few years ago.

So, the combo of my Mid-century interests (which go way beyond Sammy) and my abilities in the spiritual realm (tarot, astrology, spiritual co-active coaching, to name a few) are overseen, inspired and coaxed by my spirit guide, whose name happens to be Samantha.  It all became crytal clear!  And I immediately was hit with the words: "mid-century mystic" (I clearly saw it in the"Bewitched" font, in my mind's eye).  I threw it to the wall - and it stuck like a 60s starburst clock.

And so it was, on this day, December 5, 2011, that Mid-Century Mystic was born.  It's my blog, my calling, and what makes me sparkle like stars in the ceiling of the Cosmos Cotillion. 

Curious?  Well then, I urge you, by all heavenly means, to stay tuned and read on...

(And to have a natal day shared with Walt Disney, the ultimate mid-century mystic,  is pretty smackdabby spectacular.)