Holy Manifestation!

For most of my life, starting around adolescence, I have been aware to varying degrees that I can create things and situations into my real life from my inner thoughts and feelings.  This awareness was part of how I was raised by my parents, although it was never reliable for me, nor did I believe I was very good at it (except for at seemingly random moments).   At many points throughout my life, I have lost faith in this idea and stopped believing it was a reliable or even possible way to reach my goals, which was always reflected by a decrease in easy manifestation and an increase in frustration and the appearance that I was only able to achieve things by some kind of hard-won struggle, and even then the seeming achievement would often have a way of slipping out of my life soon after.

Gradually, on my path of increasing awareness and awakening to my own inner power, my intuition has consistently steered me towards the "we can create our reality" idea as having deep truth to it, so I have again opened to it, this time slowly and cautiously (aware of a residual inner hurt/fear of being "let down" by the idea) over the past several years.   My logical mind has examined the potential validity of my intuition's attraction to this idea often, and has reported back to me many times (each time with a fuller understanding) that it is, indeed, the way things must be, all things considered (and with a lot of underlying complexities that I didn't understand at first).  I have moved gradually from my initial teenage enthusiasm of "I can create anything I think about!" to the understanding that our creations originate not so much from the thoughts we WANT to think, but our overall vibrational "emanation", which we can actually affect and change at a core level through various means and a sincere desire for transformation.

The reason I am inspired to write this post is because I have been DELIGHTED lately by the ease in which I have been manifesting!  I was just today thinking of all the things I have manifested in the past month, just from having a thought of it, being able to easily imagine having it, and being completely open to the means in which it comes into my life.  In the past month, most of these things have been GIVEN to me, at a seemingly random moment, most of them without the person having any idea I desired them, soon after I had enjoyed imagining having them in my life:

• The Body Ecology Diet book ... it was on a bookshelf in the house we're subletting right now, so I got to read it again, absorb and implement what I desired from it, and then put it back, instead of having to add a new possession to our intentionally minimalist travel setup, which is even better than owning it for me!  So... this one manifested in a way even more aligned with what is right for me than I had initially imagined
• A laptop computer
• Awesome yoga pants
• Jojoba oil
• Bags of superfoods (ones I have been specifically desiring)
• A high-definition video camera

There are more, but these are enough to illustrate my point.  Even more important than these things, I often manifest outer information and guidance that helps me upgrade my life, appearing in response to specific sincere desires for clarity about something.  I have been contemplating the reasons why my manifestation ability has strengthened lately, and I have come up with a few things.

Top 4 Tips for Manifesting Your Desires (in my experience)

1.  A Playful Attitude

2.  Openness to the WAY the thing comes into our lives

3.  Practice & Momentum
4.  Clarity of Life Purpose

A playful attitude.  This one seems so consistently important.  Anytime we're in "survival mode" and trying to manifest something we seem to need right now, our true creative power is stalled.  Survival mode and Creation mode are mutually exclusive.  The only way I've found to manifest things that I feel stressed about "needing by a certain time", is to first accept the possibility of NOT having it by my mind's "deadline" (a funny term that's very revealing) and realize that it won't be the end of the world, relax about it, then start to PLAY with having and enjoying it in my imagination until I feel the excitement of actually having it.  Sometimes I can do this better than at other times... and if I can't seem to get from survival to creation in that particular moment, the best thing to do is get my mind off of it completely by focusing on something else that's enjoyable and fulfilling for me, and letting it come back into my awareness later when I feel more ready to deal with it in a more relaxed place.

Openness to the WAY the thing comes into our lives.  So often, we feel that to have a thing or be in a situation we desire, there are very few ways it can come into our lives.  Cultural programming seems responsible for these beliefs.  For example, we often think the only way we can have a certain thing is by using money to buy it.  Or, the only way to be in a situation we desire is to go through a certain series of steps that we've been taught are essential to achieving this goal.  The classic modern-day example is:  Go to school -> Get a job -> Have a career -> Buy a house -> Retire and finally enjoy your life and do what you REALLY want to do.   This process is completely unnecessary, and can only seem to be necessary because we believe it, and have narrowed our awareness to not being able to accept any other means to our desired outcome, which in that case would be "enjoy my life and do what I really want to do".   A quick example of this that happened for me just yesterday... I was thinking about my desires for the business Isaac and I are building right now, and how important the medium of video is going to be in getting our message across.  We don't have a video camera, besides the crappy one on our phone.  I noticed a "let down" thought of my ability to buy a video camera being far in the future, then immediately afterward "came to" and expanded my awareness to the WAY a video camera could come into my life, accepting that it may happen much more quickly.  THAT VERY NIGHT, I was talking with my mom on the phone, and briefly mentioned my desire for a video camera, and she immediately offered to GIVE me hers, because her new iPhone has a great camera so she doesn't need her other one anymore!!   I was elated, and AMAZED at how quickly I had manifested something as important as an excellent, high-definition video camera for the business we are building!!

Practice & Momentum.  The importance of this is in gradually developing confidence in our manifestation powers, by proving to ourselves again and again, through real-life experience, that it is indeed possible.  At first, you may have a strong resistance and questioning about whether you can do it at all.  PERSIST.  Do it anyway.  It may take days to start seeing results, or many years.  It doesn't matter, because in my opinion, developing mastery over our power of Creation is one of the primary reasons to live at all.  Once you start actually manifesting things consciously, you will begin noticing a building momentum that increases every time you have another success.  It's just like mastering anything else... it happens gradually, and your confidence in your ability grows through the small successes that come with persistence and dedication.   First, you must believe to see... then you will see what you believe.

Clarity of Life Purpose.  Very recently, I experienced a quickening in my clarity of purpose at this time in my life... meaning, I received a huge influx of inspiration and ideas for what I desire to manifest in my life, with great clarity and specificity.  The level of alignment and enthusiasm I feel for these projects has noticeably heightened my feeling-emanations and the speed and clarity of my thoughts, which has seemed to directly increase my manifestation ability.  It's like the cosmos is noticing that I'm "in the flow" and creating with inspiration, and is supporting my creations in manifesting, supplying me with what I require with ease, so I can continue focusing fully on creating.

I would love to hear about your experience with conscious creation and manifesting your desires!  Please comment below if you have stories to share, questions that are baffling you, or anything to add to the list I made!  We can help each other improve our manifesting powers, for the Good of All!

Ecstatic Alternatives to Punishment

When I first put the words "ecstatic" and "mothering" together, I did so because there was just something about that combination that resonated with me. I am just now realizing what ecstatic mothering truly means to me, and how it guides my entire experience of parenting (and living).

Ecstatic communion is a state of being we can experience in any relationship with any living being during our lives. It is most commonly felt as the blissful high when we first "fall in love" with a lover... it is like we are transported to another dimension where everything is right and perfect, and the whole world is our playground. Ecstatic communion is characterized by feelings of deep attunement with another being, wordless understanding, a blissful dance of energetic entwinement, and being unspoken allies who are always inspired towards their shared highest good.

Ecstatic communion is my guiding light, my highest aspiration, for all my close relationships, especially my children (since their entire experience of relationship is initially defined by their relationship with me). This type of all-encompassing love is our most cherished desire as living beings... if we are lacking in this, nothing else in existence is good enough to replace it. Helpful hint: we can give this to our own selves too, in fact, we must if we are to truly receive it from another.

I feel sad when I see a parent spank their child, or verbally/emotionally manipulate their child, humiliate them, bribe them, or use any other form of "love withdrawal" to control behavior. My sadness comes not from seeing the spanking/anger/manipulation itself, but because of what it implies: neither the parent nor the child are experiencing the nourishing, blissful state of ecstatic communion with each other. They are experiencing disconnection, frustration, emotional pain and despair, although they may not recognize them to be that because those are such normal feelings for so many. The parent does not understand the child, and is not softening their opinion of what is happening and questioning deeply enough to hope to reach an understanding of their child.

Many parents think their child does not know how to act in the world, and it is their job to show the child how to act, by whatever means necessary, for the child's own good. The end justifies the means. But think... which is more innately perfect, the "ways of the world" (meaning our cultural routines and unquestioned traditions), or your child who just entered the world and looks upon it with pure eyes, and interacts with it with pure, highly sensitive and huge feelings? Your child has not yet created an emotional stone wall between the way they feel about an experience they had, and the way they are told they should feel about it. Hopefully, they will never have to.

Of course, it is beneficial to accept the world as it is, even if there are many things you wish to change. But that does not mean you have to compel your child to conform to the "ways of the world" using stern and angry feelings. You certainly can, and that is okay... but how do you feel when you do that? Is that how you desire to feel?

What I do instead, simply because it inspires my experience of ecstatic communion: I remember that my child is more perfect than the world... and will certainly improve the world by their presence, if their higher-vibrational purity is allowed and encouraged. Then from this place, I am my child's ally, and show him around the world he entered with all its nuances, willing to patiently demonstrate and explain anything he requests a deeper understanding of. Example: I ask myself, is he ready for the responsibility of carrying a glass over a hard floor? If not, all the glasses stay out of his reach, and if he sees me with one and wants it, I explain why I am going to hold it for now, so he becomes familiar with the concept long before I feel he is ready and willing to take on the responsibility of caring for something as fragile as glass. If he throws a fit about it (which is likely, since his desire for experience is so strong), I acknowledge his feelings (usually just with my peaceful, loving presence) and offer him a more appropriate activity to direct his energy into. There are many more examples, some simpler and some more complex in their most harmonious approaches. But examples aren't necessary if you let ecstatic communion be your guide.

If you desire to experience more ecstatic communion in your relationship with your child, here are some aspects of ecstasy consciousness I value the most:

Be in Your Bliss, All-Ways. Live for yourself, not for your child. You can't be centered in someone else... so be self-centered. If you ever feel depressed, lonely, exhausted, irritable, etc... it means you are not doing what you are meant to be doing at that moment. This is of such vital importance to parenting. Your child looks to you for their primary example of HOW TO LIVE. Would you rather them see you enthusiastic about each day and all the amazing things in your life... or trudging along and living your life for someone else, mood swings and all? You know what it is that fills you with life. If you are feeling unfulfilled, ask yourself, "if I could do anything right now, what would it be?" ... then consider how you can restructure your life to bring you more of this element, and all others that inspire you. Your child will see that life is grand and beautiful, and that it is to be lived fully and with appreciation.

If you feel anger or frustration about your child behaving differently than you desire, immediately assume that the core of what initiated their behavior was a desire for something good, important and essential. Even if you don't know what it is at first (sometimes it is buried deep under a seemingly unrelated behavior), knowing that their core, hidden desire was for something beneficial, will change the way you respond to them, and you are more likely to seek harmonious resolution, express acceptance and loving kindness, and return more quickly to ecstatic communion with them. Extend this same assumption to yourself whenever you feel moody or "act out", and you will experience so much more self-love and self-understanding.

If you happen to find yourself in a state where your stress threshold is near its tipping point (most of us have been there at some point... always a result of not being in our Bliss at that moment), and your child just triggered you, and you have an urge to yell or hit something, this is an important moment where much learning can occur. You can turn around and yell away from your child, and/or hit a pillow or the floor, or something similar... and your child will see that it is not about them, it's about you. They will learn that strong emotion, when it is OWNED (rather than projected onto another with anger or blame), is a powerful energy capable of great benefit. They need to see how to handle strong emotion, since they have so much of it that is seemingly out of their control when they are young. After you vent some and are feeling a little calmer, sit down next to them (so you are at their "level"), make eye contact, and talk to them about your feelings. For example, "I feel so angry right now, because you are doing this thing and I have yet to find a way to influence you in the way I desire. I feel sad because it seems like you haven't been listening to me, and I desire to be heard! How can we strengthen our communication so you can understand what I desire? I realize I have also been feeling sad lately because I haven't been with my friends as often as I desire... let's plan a time where we can be with friends soon" etc... let all the passion you feel, your desire for illumination, come through your voice with authenticity. This is MUCH more beneficial than either suppressing your feelings, or projecting angry opinions towards them. This way, you are acknowledging that your anger is a personal transformative energy, and you are up for the challenge of transforming in the heat of that moment. Then an experience that was seemingly just stressful and frustrating becomes a very powerful learning experience for both of you!

The Magic of Expectation: A Story

A couple weeks ago, Cedar and I were "reading" a book that he loves, Evie's Kitchen by Shazzie (totally awesome book, btw, about raising ecstatic children!). He loves to look at the pictures, and asks me to read the words and tell him the letters. Anyway, on the back cover of the book is a picture of Evie, probably as a 3 or 4-year old. Blue butterflies are photoshopped around her in the picture, and one butterfly appears to be in her hair, on the left side above her ear. Cedar loves pointing at her and saying "E-bee", and pointing at the butterfly and saying "buh". So he was doing that, and I said "Cedar, a butterfly landed in Evie's hair!!" ... "Uh-huh!" he said. "Cedar, do you think a butterfly will land in your hair, too?" I asked him. He then gazed off into the distance, like he was imagining something, then a moment later said "Uh-huh", his vocal inflections full of wonder and desire. I said in confirmation, "I think so, too".

A few days, maybe a week, later... we were sitting in my parents' pool room, and I saw a butterfly flying towards us, behind Cedar. It landed in his hair, right above his left ear, in the exact place it is in the picture of Evie. He didn't see it, so I told him "Cedar, there's a butterfly in your hair!!" and pointed to the spot. He reached up and gently pulled it off, and saw it in his hand, then it fluttered off. He squealed with delight!! He was very excited about the whole experience.

This was a powerful experience for me, as well, and showed me the magical power of PURE expectation: truly expecting something to happen, with such purity and zero doubts.

Think about this, and think about what your child can create for him/herself if he/she believes it can happen. The only thing they need to be able to believe AND physically manifest something, is the support of the people in their lives they look up to and believe are powerful. If you tell them something is possible, it absolutely is for them. And then, because of the purity of their thought, they will be able to manifest it!