Gratitude for Friends who Share…
I woke up feeling extreme gratitude for so many things I wanted to write about all of them but decided that I would focus on one. Its actually really hard for me to focus on one thing I am grateful for because one connects to all, nothing being separate from the others, all part of the rich tapestry of experience I get to share with you in bits and bites.
I had a wonderful email last week from a dear friend who also happens to be a brilliant writer and Academy award winner who shared with me an excerpt from her blog she had written 3 days prior to my book release. Her sharing was a celebration of how connected we are as we both have been considering co-creation and “What That All Means”.
Of course, we mutually agree the meaning is personal, and universal and quirky and strange and all that. Isn’t it true that when you remain open life is a never-ending story that keeps on going? And, it’s always a journey to the Uncharted as soon as you have discovered the answer there will be so many more questions and more rabbit holes that you can count to fall through.
We need our stories, we need to be brave to share them, to gently blow on the magic flame of hope and wonder, faith and trust, even if we are in the dark. We won’t always be.
So to encourage you to contemplate and share your story of how Spirit shows up in your life, with her permission I am sharing hers (she being the writer Sarah Kernochan. If you have ever seen the movie Somersby with Richard Gere and Jodie Foster, blame Sarah for the tears):-
From Sarah:
“ The year: 1994. Location: bed. Propped up on pillows, eyes closed, I was in a trance, and I was bored. Meditation seemed like flying coach from New York to Guam with an hour’s layover in Tahiti: that is, a few minutes of halcyon mindlessness hardly seemed worth all the effort of getting there.
Letting go of mind shouldn’t have been so hard for me. I blamed my mantra. I’ll tell it to you right now. I figure this is no longer verboten, since I’m not using it anymore. It was “hirim.” It was pronounced “ee-reem,” with the ‘h’ silent and a wet guttural ‘r’, on account of being purchased in France.
Now, a mantra is supposed to be a shred of nonsense that has no associations whatever, to lure the mind away from its usual perch which is lording it over consciousness. However, every time I’d begin inwardly reciting my mantra, the frog accent sucked my mind into a whirl of associations: remembering that one winter in Paris, 1990; the room where for six sessions I met with my French TM instructor, who was uninspiring, mechanical, and smug. The bastard made me give up smoking grass before he would sell me my mantra; what’s more, the mantra was wildly overpriced, given the exchange rate…
…And so on. So much for quieting the mind. To get through the snarled traffic caused by my French mantra, I wound up having to break up the mayhem by head-butting my mind out of the way.
One cool thing happened while meditating in my instructor’s presence. In trance, I was transported to a beautiful pavilion, where his guru appeared and huffed on my third eye. Afterwards, I assumed that my 20-minute twice-a-day meditation practice would feature more thrills of this kind.
Sadly, no. Twice a day I flew to Guam with no movies on board.
Still, I needed those layovers, however brief, in Tahiti. With my thoughts finally quelled, I would suddenly be lifted up, as if by elevator, to a plane where my head filled up with sunlight. But the moment was too brief. Too soon, thoughts returned and blocked the light; I would feel the elevator descending. My Self clamped back on and started whining that mindfulness is actually kind of boring.
One day, just as I began my descent, I asked no one in particular: is that all? Where’s the cool stuff? Where’s the guru?
To my surprise, I got an answer. Not a voice, but rather a thought, instantly imbedded in my mind, and translated into words for my benefit. Weirdly, it was in French.
Vous avez oublié de composer le ‘un’.
You forgot to dial the 1.
I burst out laughing, breaking trance. Eyes open, I knew what the guru meant. I’d been reminded to connect with the One. Not God. The ‘1’ was Unity, the Flux to which all souls and spirits belong, the Everything, the Great What-Have-You. That’s where the cool stuff is.
It’s not somewhere else. No elevator necessary. We’re already there. It’s like waking up in your bedroom, which your sleep momentarily erased. You’ve traveled in your dreams, and forgotten where you came from, but upon waking you realize that all along you’ve been lying in your bed.
Henceforth I would begin my sessions by dialing the One, to wake up in the Flux. The idea was to breathe, since breath itself is fluctuation. Different from reflexive breathing, I breathed with purpose, putting my full consciousness into it, as if to say Here I Am. Awareness dawned, and I’d wake in the true Here. Our real home, empty of furniture, blazing with blank light.
It also became my habit, on my way back from that place, to pause for a lesson from my guru, to ask questions and receive answers. Clearly the teacher was not some Indian guy. It was I, with my little third eye. I had held these answers all along, was born with them, and was now learning how to access them, as if a locked drawer had suddenly become unsprung. I suppose this source is what’s called our Higher Self by some. In any case, it was inseparable from my being.
For example, in one session I asked how to handle my persistent digestive problems. In answer, I was shown a bar of soap on a shelf. I was told to wash every part of my body with it – inside as well as outside. I reached it down from the shelf. The wrapper said Appomattox Soap. This I took to mean: in order to end the Civil War in my body, I would have to surrender to the Union (the ‘1’ again), and maintain peace by faithful physical and spiritual cleansing.
But the lesson wasn’t over. I felt suddenly invaded by a heavy paralysis. I couldn’t move a limb. And then some presence took hold and lifted me free, to observe my body from above. The splendor was dazzling. It shimmered like a palace, richly appointed, to be lovingly maintained. I had never truly felt the beauty of our mortal housing, and when I was gently placed back inside my body, I was able to revel in it for the first time. I emerged from this meditation with tears flowing down my face.
Another time, the message I got was: “Food dies.” I wrote the interpretation in my journal: “To fill up the stomach is to feed life that dies. To fill up with Spirit is to feed the life that lives.”
The most memorable of all my lessons came when I was shown a park scene. A light wash of green and blue suggested trees and sky. Vague calliope music played in the distance; amusement rides, horses and ponies, chattering people were sketched in pencil, like a rough draft for an animation sequence. That’s what this life is, I was told, a beguiling sketch that will lead, in the end, to a majestic finished creation – or Creation itself.
After I emerged from this meditation, I went for a walk in Central Park. The carousel music was playing, passersby chattered, love was everywhere, and my nostrils filled with the aroma of flowers that weren’t there.
The last experience I’ll relate here was also on the subject of creation. In one of my trances, it was depicted as a luminous shower, as if a ladle of pure radiance had overturned. I was shown that to be a creator oneself, a single step sufficed: simply step under the shower and be a part of it. Stand still and receive. True creation is co-creation.
While I noted this lesson in my journal. I understood it, but not how to apply it. That would come later…”
~Sarah Kernochan
So here is what I know and what I’m so grateful for. I have a community of like- minded people who are willing to share their stories and find ways to stay connected to the Spirit that infuses their hearts and all of life. We do it together. You are part of that community ( if you’ve read this far!)
My personal friends like Sarah are brave and courageous and they live in the world, work in it, and contribute as best they can. One thing they all have in common is a willingness to seek, learn, create, unpack, fall down, get up, get honest, get real, get going and share the journey stories and do it all again and again.
One thing my friends have taught me. To learn is to listen, to pay attention to what is shared.
Isn’t it so true that life is a continuous sketch that leads to Creation. Be a good idea to keep our pencils sharp.
I am grateful to be part of a “we”.
Love to hear your stories!
Always… your fellow traveller into the Uncharted.
.
Thank you Colette!! Love your advice truth and wisdom♡ And once again your Authenticity♡♡
Your book is fabulous!! I am enjoying it…just as good as the Map!
Love You and everything you do!
I am probably the only person reading your story about Sarah to admit that I saw Somersby at LEAST 12 times in the theater. There was a time when I could recite scenes verbatim, with character thrown in! “Kill that dawg, din yah? Poor ole Jethro. He took you for a stranger, so you had to keel em.”. LOVE Bill Pullman! Loved every stitch of that film! Now I look forward to learning more about Sarah.
Since I preordered your book, and got two of them cause I clicked twice, (and given both away without planning to) my life has become so much more rich! Instead of reading the book since I longer have a copy, I’ve delved into your interviews and I’ve been exploding with enthusiasm for you, Gregg Braden and Joe Dispenza. The others I am getting to, it my path has followed my glee. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to get one of the books back. Until then, I’ll find you and your awesome friends here. Love, Traci Robinson
love this!!!
Traci, thanks for being the best kind of fan! I loved working on Sommersby because it was a tragedy, and Hollywood rarely makes those. I think it’s important to cry and feel sorrow – what the Greek playwrights called catharsis. (I love Colette too, but that’s another story.)
you are so FUNNY… I too know all the words.. catharsis is right..Thanks for writing it Sarah it means so much that you are here 😉
Traci.. I think I beat you at 13 lololol .
Woke this morning with overflowing gratitude for ira Ludwig a man that is living his passion and healing all those that he crosses paths. However this voice tells me something much deeper has been healed within Mr or hope ignited and so happens it’s on yom kippur.
What really resonates for me here is the time factor, Boy can I relate to ” running the past Gods.”
Time and time again I have found myself doing this and always ending up back where I started.
It s time to get off the hamster wheel.
Thank you Collettte
Collette, I felt great happiness for when I was walking through Indigo at Sherway Gardens in Etobicoke and saw “Uncharted” highlighted in the store. Your wisdom, intelligent instruction and joyful spirit is getting the wider recognition it deserves and the community will benefit from. Yahoo you! Thank you for your ongoing inspiration and thoughtful advice in my own journey. Enjoy these moments. Dawne
Loved the story you shared. So many synchronicyties in our lives if we only stop to see, really see and let them speak to us.
Thank you Colette, the message is wonderful and so true for my life’s journey. Thanks for the support and insight, Have a blessed day!
It’s funny everything you said today is so true because it’s happening to me now .we bought a second house so much needs to be done that I had to step back and give it to spirit. Like you said there is no rush we will be in that house when it’s time not our time but spirits time ???? .So I thank you again ????????????????Judy
Wow so very blessed true. You and your friend said it all and so grateful that I was led to you. Gratitude gratitude and gratitude. Thank you for you and your sharing. It gives me hope and to be brave for these uncharted waters there is nothing to fear but fear itself spirit always has my back.
With heartfelt graditue thank you.
Thank you for helping so many of us by co creating this community. I am so very happy to be a part of it and love everything you share and teach. Looking forward to start reading Uncharted 🙂
What a powerful story! I have no comments…I simple need to compost on it. Any observation would be forced without an inward journey. Big Universal Love and Gratitude!
Wonderful teachings from Sarah and you. I am a mediumship student and initially got most of my information from bodily sensations. I know when most of my family visits because they each have a special place on my body. Lately, my life has been upside down due to a life changing move (physical). Prior to the move I had stopped meditating because strange spirits would land on me and I could not discern who they were. Every time I got quiet this would happen. Now in my new apartment, three spirits landed on me and will not leave. I have named them because they have been around for so long. Do you have any idea what is up. I have tried to have like=minded friends assist, but they say this is mine to deal with after they were unsuccessful. It is lessening, after about 6 months, but still here and bothersome. My Guide is not doing much to assist so I call on Archangel Michael. Sometime it works and sometimes it does not. Just wondered. I started the Map first and I have Uncharted on my Kindle waiting for me. Thanks for all you do and write!
Gail
honestly I have no idea..you might want to speak to Althea Gray she is the healer I go to for clearing. http://www.altheagray.com
I love your post. Thank you Colette!
OMG!!! Such synchronicity —– ok, let me explain. This summer I deemed my “Moon Lodge” and my “Medicine Wheel” closed for repairs. I have spent 10 years communing, praying and PREYING, singing songs of gratitude, journaling, meditating and journeying in these two places. I knew it was time for a maintenance overhaul. Time to let its nature return to its own sacred source. So at Beltane I closed the entry ways. Weeding and dusting is all I allowed my self to do—-well and reexamining every plant and and weed, every feather and bone, and the stones in both of these places. Not requests made but I couldn’t keep my heart from swelling with gratitude. Then “Uncharted” arrived. It was insanely perfectly timed❣???? Slowly I have digested every word and activity. This morning, with one chapter remaining —- I have reopened the Moon Lodge. What I discovered about my summer without it, was that I was forgetting to dial “1” since a very special encounter with Chief Tonquish. That I was trying to control my meditation instead of allowing Spirit, the “1” in all to direct me. Love to you and thanks to Sarah for allowing her addition to your always awesome words❣????????????????
I was listening on Saturday to a tribute to Louise Hay on the occasion of her 90th birthday. I still have a greeting card which is from 1989 How to Heal Your Life. I posted it on my Facebook page. What struck me most was the humility that every speaker demonstrated, each one spoke with such honesty, authenticity and such love and enthusiasm. I laughed from the heart; and was reminded that this one woman; has transformed the world and has left an indelible imprint on the minds, hearts and souls of millions of people. Not to omit that she began her healing work and brought Hay House into the world at age 60. When I consider how my life has been impacted, my mind rebuilt; and the growth that has unfolded as a result of the shared vision and synergistic power of Hay House is an understatement. ” We are a part of everything we have met” Ralph Waldo Emerson. I am grateful beyond words, and realize what a gift/privilege this journey is to search, question, reflect on how to become the best person we can for our own development and hopefully by example we might change the perspective of others along the way. I want to thank you Colette for all of the stories you have shared in this blog and for the collaborators you have shared with us along the way. It has expanded my vision, and I have and continue to learn every single day. I can recall how timid I was to write on this blog at the beginning. What I discovered was that each of us have a voice, and our contribution is important. Everyone is welcome, included, and encouraged to speak their truth and share their experience. When I lost my former job it was the end of community as I knew it at the time. What I discovered is that the boundaries of a community are open-ended and that my life is enriched by the sharing that others offer. Listening is such an undervalued skill. I think it is one of the most important assets we have. The greatest gift we can offer another is our rapt attention. So I am ready, ears tuned; eyes open, and yes pencil sharpened so I don’t miss anything. On the weekend I read the license plate of a passing car. It said REFRESH. The messages are everywhere. So grateful to be present to receive the ones that are intended “Many Blessings” to you Colette.
Sarah writes beautifully! My favorite part is when she says “We’re already there. It’s like waking up in your bedroom, which your sleep momentarily erased. You’ve traveled in your dreams, and forgotten where you came from, but upon waking you realize that all along you’ve been lying in your bed.” Once again, an amazing AHA on how we are always connected, all the time. Thank you for sharing this with us. And thank you for all you do. You have these incredible abilities and yet you are always so humble, reminding us we are all great works in progress, we are perfectly human, we are ONE. Infinite Love and Gratitude:)
don’t you love it ???
Your blog….I don’t even know where to begin or how to express my thoughts at the moment. My dear, dear friend of 30+ years has been battling pancreatic cancer for two years. Today I learned she is waving the white flag. She has surrendered. In a matter of days she (her body) will cease to exist on this earth. Next week I will be saying good bye to an amazing wife, mother, sister, aunt…and a friend who filled my life with so much joy and unconditional love. So, prayers please for her the trip home.
we are with you Susan… all the way.. and sending her love and support for her journey..
This will be my third attempt at posting a comment. I’m not sure what the Universe is trying to tell me but my messages keep mysteriously disappearing into the ether before I can finish and/or post. My dear, dear friend of 30+ years has valiantly battled pancreatic cancer for two years. This week she waved the white flag. She has surrendered. It was an honor to have been her friend. I am forever grateful for my kick ass NAS Keflavik neighbor. Let the good times roll, Becky. See you at our next duty station….
oh Susan I am sorry for your loss and I send a shower of sparkles to your beautiful friend’s crossing over… big hug
Thank you….
Colette,
I have listened to this weekly oracle reading five times and am about to actually listen again and write it in my journal. Not only is it completely spot on but I love these take aways below.
Time- there is enough! No need to push the manifestation time line. The sky is NOT falling.
Old stuff IS coming back up but it is NOT calling you to do the same old thing.
This is a week of the scenic route. – yes, maybe longer and maybe feels like back tracking but instead of freaking out, actually be curious to see where this route is taking you.
I was so jazzed up after last week’s intense movement that I just assumed a nice linear prigression in the weeks to come. This week of “flexibility” is being given to me as the gift. What I realized was I get so locked into the nice neat linear line, I, of course, make it much harder on myself.
So instead of yelling at the driver for the scenic route, and totally spazzing out that I am regressing and that I will never get there, a voice said to me to actually take the easier route – stop fighting!!!!!!!
Thank you, Colette!!
big hug xoxox
Love your book Colette thank you. The Observer reminds me of a meditation that I had in 2008 i came out of meditation and came up from downstairs in my house and sat on the couch in front of my partner and I smashed my Fists into my legs and said that it’s not my fault. My partner looked at me and she said that I looked like a 12 year old boy. She went with it and said what is not your fault Alfred and I said that it was not my fault that mr. Funk my grade 6 teacher left the teaching profession. I had blamed myself for my teacher leaving the teaching profession in grade 6 because I didn’t think that I was very good in school – . I was twelve at the time and I was 47 after this meditation, the type of meditation I was doing at that time was to be the witness and I did witness that and became the Observer and it was just a huge lift off my shoulders I felt so much lighter after that so it just goes to show you that we can blame ourselves thirty five years earlier for something when we were young but to be that witness to be there as the Observer it was just like peeling away a layer of an onion it was incredible. Thanks for the tribe.
wow so interesting thanks for sharing!
Colette, I am so grateful for you. I don’t know what it is about you and your cards, but sometimes I feel like when I use your cards or read some of your blogs, I get more knowledge and insight about what’s really going on with me than I would talking to a therapist for more than an hour. Not that that’s a bad idea, and right now I am looking for a decent counselor or therapist to talk to because I have gone through so much change and upheaval in my life since I turned 40, and I’m not sure what direction I’m going in anymore. Right n ow I really have some strong feelings for a guy I’ve known for over 2 years on a strictly professional basis and I know he’s married and has a young daughter, and I never thought of him any other way, until a few months ago we were kind of thrown in together in a crazy situation where he became like, my hero to me, and now we totally avoid each other and I feel like I can’t talk to him at all. And I feel like it’s all my fault, I’m the one falling in love, and I guess he isn’t or he sure as hell doesun’t want his wife to hear about this. I don’t know how to handle it, and I think he’s being very cold ignoring me. And that’s what I’m going through. Thank you.
It is something:44 and I am smiling for the angels use of synchronicity. Thank you Colette for sharing Sarah’s writings and to Sarah, I love your writing style and how would you know that this particular blog you shared with Colette about meditating and that the mantra you were given was the very same one I abandoned. Had I had a mouthful of something liquid, while reading your account, everything on my desk would have been christened. We in our human form like to complicate the hell out of everything when we simply need to relax, be silent and know we are connected to “Source” all the time.
Colette, I wanted to have a copy of “UNCHARTED” as soon as possible and so I downloaded it on my mac and began reading and writing on my computer but for me, something was missing and so yesterday I picked up a copy and 2 journals (one says “Keep room in your heart for the unimaginable,” and the other says “Not All Who Wander Are Lost”). I need to write cursively and unedited. Thank you for this beautiful book club to connect with all who are on this “UNCHARTED” JOURNEY. Namaste
Love this!
Linda – thanks, and you too are a good writer: “everything on my desk would have been christened” – big laugh from me!
You inspire gratitude! And as a member of your community/fanclub – I am grateful for you, your guidance, wisdom and energy. And your dogs.
Dear Colette and Sarah
I am sitting here beaming. Thank you, Colette, for being a Being who is surrounded with friends like Sarah. Sarah….you paint beautiful word pictures and I just love the feelings evoked by reading what you have shared.
Thank you, thank you, thank you All.
Big Love