I am participating in an EnlightenNext seminar here in Raleigh for the rest of the month. I get to do homework. The question is: What new can happen in this moment? I get to write about it. This is a great place for sharing.

As I sit here, I wonder what I should be writing. I feel a subtle energy increase all over my body as if something is coming through me. I allow it to come through and am wondering how it will manifest.

This is different than reporting on what occurred in the past. A stream of consciousness in the present moment is coming as thoughts to write down. There is something like a throttle wondering if the inspiration should be written down. Just let it come through without pre-seeing the result. I am make a fool of myself in the process. That's ok.

We share
We love
We come inside to play


We touch
We play
We hold a vision of joy

We laugh
We touch
We sing of greatness

We find
We jump
We join in the unity

We pray
We fell
We share our soul

Into the silence
Forever touching
Creation unfolding.

I have gotten away from writing in my blog.

Part of it is being busy with other projects. I made a website for A Unifying Movement (A.U.M.). Check it out. I also have been learning Project 5, a software synthesizer workstation, to play around with composing some music. Odeo is not letting me upload in Firefox. IE did work.
Take a listen to "Gayatri Groove":



powered by ODEO


And then part of it is me being hesitant about sharing myself. I get to get over that. You get to have some of me. There is plenty to go around. Have a nice big helping. Tell me how it tastes.

How to participate: 1) Join holy memes and kosmic blog starters
and check it out every Friday for a different set of five questions. 2)
Copy and paste those questions (and this message!) into your blog. 3)
Tag your entry with the words “Friday Five” and post it. 4) Come back
to the pod and tell us about your post. 5) Message suzanne with ideas for next week. Let's spread the seeds!

1) If time and money were not an issue, where would you go, for how long, and why?
I dream of doing a South America circuit: Venezuela to Rio. It will take several months. I have visited Peru and am intrigued by that culture, both in the mountains and the jungle. I know little of the rest of South America. I want to experience it.

2) What do you love about travelling?
I love connecting with nature. I love experiencing other cultures. You get to be right there.

3) What do you not love about travelling?
FInding food for a vegan with no onions or garlic is a challenge. It is hard to always cook for yourself when traveling.

4) Out of all the places you've been, what are your top travel destinations? Why?
Our canoe trip down the Rio Grande River east of Big Bend was exceptional. We learned to white water canoe in a week long challenging run in a canyou away from civilization.

5) Where have you been that you would caution other people to avoid? Why?
Not much.

How to participate: 1) Join holy memes and kosmic blog starters
and check it out every Friday for a different set of five questions. 2)
Copy and paste those questions (and this message!) into your blog. 3)
Tag your entry with the words “Friday Five” and post it. 4) Come back
to the pod and tell us about your post. 5) Message suzanne with ideas for next week. Let's spread the seeds!
This week's questions are once again by the great Zoe : In Search Of Zoe. thank you!!
FRIDAY FIVE - CHOICES

1. Do you consciously choose to live your life in a particular way?

I choose to be a daily mediatator, a vegan avoiding onions and garlic. I chose Unity Church to be my sangha.

2. What life experiences have influenced how you chose to live your life?

Mediation keeps me and my life sane. When I stop for a while, the "bad" stuff comes creeping back in, the judgments, anxieties, depressions.

Ethically, morally, spiritually, and physically, being a vegan makes me feel much better. Meat drags me down. Allergies have helped fine tune what I eat.

3. Reflect on a specific good/positive choice that you made at a particular time in your life.
I gave up onions and garlic after a Dao 3 Day Seminar. I previously had not know the spiritual impact of these foods.
a. Was it like to make that choice?
I tried it a while to see if it made a difference. After a few weeks, I noticed that my negative reactions to events decreased. My level of peace increased. So I keep doing it.

b. What were the consequences of that choice?
That choic has made me at odds with most of the eaters in the world. There is almost no place I can go out to eat. Most prepared foods I avoid. I have to cook almost everything I eat.

4. Reflect on a specific bad/negative choice that you made at a particular time in your life.
We were on a hike with my children. My daughter threw a rock that hit me between the eyes. I over-reacted and grabbed her and lifted her over my head.

a. Was it like to make that choice?
I felt I needed to teach her not to do that. She could hurt someone seriously.

b. What were the consequences of that choice?
That was a difficult situation for her to handle. She felt for years I was going to throw her over the cliff.
Anger is never the way to communicate with others. They never get the message you are intending.

4. Are there any choices you have made that you would choose to do differently if you could?
I am learning to accept my life now as my creation. It is perfect as it is. I can recreate it as I want. I am gratefule for all of the choices that brought me to this understanding. I would not change any.

***BONUS ROUND***
Do you feel that you influence others and shape yourselves more with the “bigger” (new career) choices you make or the smaller (holding a door open for someone) choices that you make?
Both. The big choices change who you meet. The small choices do the shaping.

Let me step closer.
Let me fell your energy.
Let me see through your eyes.
Let me grapple with my fears.

My skin. The place of maximum separation.
Touch. Feeling the difference.
Pain. Wanting union.

I embrace you in all sincerity.
I dance with myself.

Open to love.

I posted a discussion about the relationship of viruses and memes.

The questions this week in the holy memes and kosmic blog starters discussion came from the Unity principles. The questions and my responses:

1. How do you know something greater than you exists?

Is God greater than me? If God is all there is, then I must be God. Why is there so much that I do not understand? Why is there hate? The "answer" has been that the world is a dream, an illusion, maya. It sure feels real to me at times. The joy and the fear. I am reminded of Jane Siberry's song, Calling All Angels. (large download)

The mystery is like a Zen koan. The separateness is there but does not feel right. The synchronicities, the miracles, the feeling of love, the beauty, all call me to Unity/God/Source.

2. How do other people relate to this something?

We each have God as our source. We have the same thoughts/feelings/emotions. All of us touch the source every moment of our lives. Our daily practice is to see God in everyone and everything.

The question should have read: How do you see other people relating to this something?

3. How can we affect changes in our lives?

We are creative. We inherit that from God. Every thought comes into manisfestation. We change our lives by changing our thougts. Joyful thoughts -> a joyful life. How do we change our thoughts, especially the subconscious/shadow ones? By allowing our Godness to shine through. Find that place in our hearts where love flows. Rest there in the silence. Become that peace.

4. How do you talk with this something greater?

God is beyond concepts/words/thoughts. Prayer/meditation are the same thing for me. Becoming aware of the silence and letting it effuse through my being. Whenever I lose sight of the power of emptiness, I am grateful for a community to lead me back to feeling the Unity.

5. What have you been asked to do by this something greater?

The mystery of a life guided by synchronicity. I do not know where it leads. I take each step, trusting to be shown the next step. Thank you for stepping with me.

Mother/Father God,

 We touch you in our hearts as we accept the lives we have created. Radiating powerful, joyful, free love from our hearts, we accept the impulses from you that manifest our new lives.

Bring on the miracles!! We rejoice in the truth. We are joy. We are freedom. We are courage. We are the ambassadors of beauty through our being.

Let me know fully my creative power. Let me live free. Let me give continuously. Let me touch other's hearts. Let me be the catalyst of a new state of being where we all are aware of truth and live it in every moment.

Thank you for being.

So it is. Amen 

How to participate: 1) Join holy memes and kosmic blog starters
and check it out every Friday for a different set of five questions. 2)
Copy and paste those questions (and this message!) into your blog. 3)
Tag your entry with the words “Friday Five” and post it. 4) Come back
to the pod and tell us about your post. 5) Message suzanne with ideas for next week. Let's spread the seeds!

This week's topic was suggested by Paisley. Thanks so much!

1) What is your philosophy on food?

Everything has an essence, a vibratory signature beyond the physical. The physical comes from that essence. We pick up "stuff" from the food we eat/smell. I want to eat food that resonates with my essence. That has led me to be almost completely vegan.

I also do not eat onions or garlic. They interfere with my peace. When I gave them up, peace settled into my life.

2) What's your favorite kind of food? Why?

I eat a lot of beans balanced with grains. Add some cooked vegetables. Pretty close to a macrobiotic diet. I feel good when I eat this way.

3) What qualities do you seek in the food you eat?

I tend to like fresh, organic, slightly seasoned foods. Too much spice or pepper hot covers the wonderful taste of the vegetables.

4) How can you use food in worship/ritual/spiritual practices?

Avoiding heavy, spicy, dead foods keeps my body clear for my meditation practice.

5) What is missing in today's eating habits? What's missing in your eating habits?

People eat what is socially appropriate or what satisfies an obession. I would help to look at how the food you eat makes you feel. The best way to do that is to stop eating something for a while (a month is plenty), and then try some. Onions are not a pleasant taste for me now.

I should spend more time on preparing what is good for me. I live life a little too fast. 

How to participate:

1) Join holy memes and kosmic blog starters
and check it out every Friday for a different set of five questions.

2)Copy and paste those questions (and this message!) into your blog.

3)Tag your entry with the words “Friday Five” and post it.

4) Come back to the pod and tell us about your post.

5) Message suzanne with ideas for next week. Let's spread the seeds!

Another great one from Joy Bringer! Can her screenname hint at any less? ;-) Thanks!

1. What does “JOY” mean to you? What brings joy to your body / heart / mind / spirit? Joy - a n upflowing/outflowing of spirit stuff into feeling. I am the source of joy. I create joy. Can you feel it?

2. Where do you find “Joy”? What brings you more joy – simple everyday things / special moments / people / events / ideas or one-in-a-lifetime experiences / achievements? I find Joy in my heart. Joy is created. I add joy to these things.

3. Do you give as much joy as you receive? How? As we create Joy, others tap into it. They learn to create it. A positive feedback loop takes us into the Source.

4. Which joy/s do you treasure most and can’t live without? (In yourself and others) Music and mdeitation take me there. Serving others prepares me.

5. Do you believe in the power of joy to heal, inspire and/or transform? Give examples and / or quotes if you want. Seeing the joy of the congregation at my church as the joy of the choir comes through in our performance.