My Blog – Maiden Spirit

Unexpected Treasure!!!

When I was a girl of about 9 or 10, my siblings and I spent hours playing inside a “fort” we constructed underneath the backstairs that went up to the second floor of our home. On the wall of the building underneath this stairwell was a shelf. On that shelf sat a large metal and wood tool chest filled with some of my Grandfathers tools.

One day, I was lying on the ground inside the fort. While relaxing and watching one of my brothers goofing off, somehow he found a way to climb onto the toolbox. Suddenly, the whole thing, shelf, toolbox, and brother came crashing down and landed on my foot.

Our laughter suddenly turned to me screaming! My brother pulled the toolbox off of my foot to a flow of blood gushing from a large gash near my ankle. I don’t remember what happened next.

What I do vividly remember was my parents discussion about whether or not to take me to the Emergency room for stitches. At that moment I experienced a thundering and profound inner clarity.

There was a “NO!!!!!” screaming in my head so absolute and potent that I was able to calmly, but with great energetic intensity, tell my parents that I would not need to go to the hospital with such conviction that they actually listened. This was the most astonishing thing of all!

Although that accident may have been traumatic for my body, what I remember most is the JOY of discovering my authentic No, my authentic Yes. I found my voice and my ability to take a stand for myself.

Realizing that I could say “NO” to what was not right for me and in so doing “YES” to what was right for me also opened my heart and mind to the possibility that I had a magical power to influence and create my life.

I still have a hefty scar on that ankle and maybe I should have had stitches…. Even though that opening to my power of choice as a conscious creator was only for a very short time, I never forgot it. That day my little girl self took her first conscious step to become the authority and leader of her own life.

Think back to a powerful memory when YOU felt a deeply authentic definitive “NO”, arise inside, so clear that when you expressed it, the world responded.

And, what was the YES this gave rise to?

Recently I asked my 85 year-old Mom to describe one of the “treasures” from her learning in this lifetime. Her answer was the inspiration for this blog post.

This is what she said: “An immense treasure I’ve discovered is my ability to feel and express my ‘No’ and to take a stand for myself … it’s only taken me 85 years to get this one down!” She went on to describe the JOY she felt recently when informing her Doctor that she would not agree to a proposed surgery. I could sense the power of the clarity and the rightness of her decision too!

YES. YES. YES. YES. YES!

The skill of accessing and expressing our authentic knowing is also a PRACTICE that spans a lifetime.

Take a deep breath and open your heart and mind to the reality that you possess a magical power to influence and create your life. Practice finding the treasure in knowing what is not right for you throughout your day today and in so doing find your “YES” to what is!

A Heroine’s Journey To A Dazzling YES!

Have you ever had a fear that you wouldn’t consciously admit, even to yourself?

The most transformational gift for me to accept in 2013 was facing a health challenge that required major surgery. This was the year I learned to say YES to ALL gifts that Life offers at a much deeper level, even those that forced me to face my deepest fear. I learned that I am greater than my fear, that giving is not better than receiving and I have what it takes to meet whatever Life brings me.

Since I was a little girl, I had a very strong anxiety and fear reaction to the idea of any illness that might require a surgery to heal. This mostly subconscious fear created so much resistance that I consistently avoided going to the Doctor to check out physical symptoms.

Except for one visit to the Hana Hospital many years ago, my body has been quite healthy and the need to face that fear did not come up.

That is until the beginning of 2013 when my body, or maybe it was my soul, manifested a health condition that I couldn’t ignore or easily cure without the very intervention I’d spent a lifetime fearing!

All that repressed fear came flooding into my awareness with an overwhelming intensity… sleepless nights had me blindly feeling my way through the deepest experience of fear I’d ever known. One of my darkest nights came when my consciousness was almost completely overcome in fear. I couldn’t find my link to the LIGHT… to my SOUL.

When I finally stopped and faced my fear of SURGERY, I recognized that what I actually feared was death.

When I found my YES to fully feel my fear of death and didn’t run away from it at all, I discovered a light within and connection to my soul so profound that I laughed out loud!!! I suddenly knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is only LIFE and that I have what it takes to metabolize the emotions of what ever Life brings.

All of the pent up energy it took to be in a resistant NO to my fear became available in a surge of creative power and JOY beyond anything I had yet to experience. I found my dazzling YES. Yes to my fear, Yes to all the love and care of my friends and family, Yes to everything. I found the GIFT in a challenge and it has set me free!

But that’s not all!!!!

Like you, I LOVE TO GIVE. It is commonly taught that it is more bless-ed to give than to receive and while giving is certainly a value to embrace, it only represents half of the story. Receiving is also an innate skill that we all had as children, but many of us learned that it is selfish or wrong to enjoy receiving.

Can you relate?

I know now that this a misunderstanding of how Life really works. One of the universal principles of life on Earth is the Principle of Polarity:

•Everything is dual and must include it’s opposite.

•Giving and receiving aren’t really opposites.

•They are part of an energy circuit that is only truly effective when the circle continues and is unbroken.

•It is not possible to give fully and forever without receiving in equal measure.

I came to realize that the imbalance which manifested as illness in my body was the long-term result of being stuck in the Giving Mode too much of the time. By resisting being on the receiving end of Life, I set myself up for being out of balance in my physical, emotional and spiritual being. For the past 9 months, I’ve been practicing the art of intentional receiving at it has been AMAZING. I feel happier and healthier than ever before.

At this sacred time of cycle change in the New Year passage, I invite you to pause and reflect with me.

Consider the high and low lights of your 2013 and really tune into your dazzling YES to all that Life gave. Know that you too have the capacity to live in YES and to metabolize any experience.

CHOOSE to consciously receive your gifts! Find the GIFTS in your challenges and you will experience an illumination of soul and emotional maturity that will set you free!

And may I suggest that you try out my granddaughters Azure’s Christmas morning YES TO THE GIFTS OF LIFE Practice? Stand to face your New Year heart’s desires and pure potential and you will be unstoppable. Just say YES…

AZURE’S YES TO THE GIFTS OF LIFE PRACTICE (see below for instructions!)

•Stand up with legs wide apart

•Fling arms wide open

•Open your heart and put a big smile on your face

•Anticipate the gifts that are coming, even though you can’t ‘see them (Azure knows the presents are there but she can’t actually see them)

•Every time you find your self in a NO space or imbalanced in the output mode, assume this posture. Breath into it until you feel your YES again

*** Variation: Try this practice lying on the floor or in bed -take over the whole bed!

Our Lady of the Winter Solstice Dawn

Tis the season! Perhaps you grew up celebrating winter holidays in a church community, like I did. For me this included singing Christmas carols and hymns in the choir, which I adored! On the other hand, I didn’t’ have one real friend in our entire church. I often felt alone even while participating in church gatherings.

Our minister taught that ‘GOD IS LOVE’ and this made so much sense to me! However, when I was about 12, a disturbing contradiction in the teaching and the experience started to register. I became intensely aware of my feelings of disconnection from my church community and in the services I attended weekly. At the same time an immense desire to experience a Higher Consciousness woke up in me.

My discontent and desire to experience the LOVE GOD instigated an intentional search for Divine Love. Gratefully, my parents encouraged and facilitated this exploration. I visited the churches of all my friends, a Buddisht temple, a zen monastery and an Indian Guru! By the time I was 16, I had yet to experience a Loving Sacred Presence in any of these communities. I decided I would have to find this Love God on my own. Reflecting back, I realize that it was the Feminine Face of God that I was missing. Although ‘Mary’ was part of the Christmas story at my church, she was never emphasized.

I can’t tell you exactly when the Big SHE first emerged in my heart. Can you? What I do know is that after I left my childhood church and throughout my 20’s, I was drawn to images and stories of the Sacred Feminine. Thus began my search for the Feminine in SPIRIT and in the World. One of the first images of a Divine Mother I encountered was also the most replicated of all time and throughout the world, the Lady Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. For me, she represents one of the countless ways Feminine Power has made herself known to us. Over the years I’ve collected many artistic representations of her for my home, including an incredible mosaic. I pass throughout a beaded curtain with her image on it to enter my office each day.

However, I have never created an image of HER of my own. As my personal festival of light ceremony this year, I decided to do a painting of Her. I want to share my experience of painting Our Lady of the Winter Solstice Dawn with you and the messages I received.

I began my painting of Lady Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on her traditional feast day, December 12th. This is the day she is most celebrated, especially in Mexico! That morning I woke up before dawn and witnessed a colorful sunrise through the forest and these are the colors that first went onto my canvas.

Throughout my first day of her painting I thought about the sunrise and specially of the upcoming Winter Solstice sunrise, December 21st. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, this is THE day more sunlight will begin to return to us after the longest night of the year. I thought about the many times I have found myself in the dark, not knowing what to do, how to be, waiting for clarity or overcome with a challenge. I thought about how living my life from soul guidance is sometimes challenged on the way to manifestation. I think about the many times, I have fallen short or turned back, interpreting my lack of clarity or challenge and a sure sign to give up.

The process of creating my painting was like that too. There were moments of flow where I had a sense of where I was going. Then I’d hit a stuck place where I knew I needed to take a risk and try something, but I was afraid I’d ruin the painting. During moments like these I would sweat and pace, walk away, and finally come back to it. It felt like standing on the edge of the diving board knowing I have 2 options, give up or dive in. It was during such a moment that I heard HER first message. I could sense the Great Mother smiling as I struggled and stressed about painting her face. And then the voice of wisdom said, “If you don’t like it, you can always paint over it”. Each time I took an action, creative energies began to flow again.

MESSAGE 1: IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT

As I continued to paint, I thought of a recent email from a beautiful friend named Dawn, who went on a long journey to adopt a child and become a Mom. She shared this photo in that email and their JOY is a revelation of possibility! I felt deeply touched as a witness of Dawn’s perseverance through all the waiting, effort, obstacles, set backs and delays over many years. I honor her ability to focus on a dream of a family, now come true. She didn’t give up and her son is a sunrise everyday. The name of my painting also dawned upon me. Our Lady of the Solstice Dawn wants us all to TRUST YOUR KNOWING AND KEEP MOVING.

MESSAGE 2 TRUST YOUR KNOWING AND KEEP MOVING

After working on my painting of HER most of the day, I went out holiday shopping with my sweetheart even though my body was starting a bit of a fever. In the middle of shopping, I began to feel worse. What I wanted was for him to be oh-so extra empathetic, tender and compassionate as we made our way from store to store. Instead he was exasperated, frustrated, and tired from his day at work and barely tuned into me at all. As I noticed this, I felt irritated and at one point, downright mad, can’t he see I’m suffering here?! Later when I returned home and to the painting. Here is what SHE whispered to me:

Stop looking for compassion from others who are not capable of giving it – for what ever reason. Take responsibility for seeing what is real and making more empowered choices. Give yourself the compassion you desire. Don’t’ waste energy feeling angry and sad when that person you want it from isn’t able to give it. LOOK FOR COMPASSION WITHIN Turn to your own heart and through your heart to the Great Cosmic Mother of us all. Ask for help to make choices for that truly honor the truth of what you feel and need.

MESSAGE 3: LOOK FOR COMPASSION WITHIN

In the story of the appearance of Guadalupe she appears to a man named Juan Diego. At one point she guides him to find roses miraculously blooming in winter. I love the symbolism of roses blooming in winter and stories of miraculous possibility. Many roses found their way into my painting to represent the miracle of existence blooming in me and you with our every breath. The morning after that shopping trip with my sweetheart, he brought me roses!!!

Remember to trust in your knowing and keep moving forward, look for compassion within and you will be surprised by what life brings you.

YOU ARE a S-HERO

At 84, after almost 60 years of being the most caring and care-full mom she knew how to be, it has become clear that my mom now needs more care herself. She is choosing to make a transition from independent to assisted living. While helping her pack the other day, a framed photo of Mom and her second husband Sam surfaced.

Mom has a determination to be true to herself, faithful in the face of challenge and in charge of her life that I so admire. When she chose to be true to her heart, marry Sam, and face whatever prejudice she might encounter, my sweet Mama inspired my courage to make choices that are right for me even when those choices are difficult. Along with role modeling, all my life she been determined to love and believe in me, no matter what. She encouraged me to love myself and be true to my heart.

Are you a Mom, Dad, Grandparent, Aunt, Uncle or just have friends with kids? YOU have a powerful, potent opportunity to impact the children you so deeply care for and spend time with. You don’t have to be perfect, just be present…and listen to, see and love children for who they are.

Children know when we are paying attention to them and they know when we are not. They flourish in the conscious and validating presence of others. Being seen and heard means so much to their developing sense of connection with self, self-esteem and confidence

When we creating space in our selves to consciously shift from a distracted mind and back into the present moment, we have a firmer grasp of all our options and resources, including authentic feelings and soulful inner guidance. We can be present to our children.Next time you find yourself preoccupied and desire to return to presence with your child try the acronym, S.T.O.P.

• S – Stop what you are doing, put things down for a minute.
• T – Take a breath. Breathe normally and naturally and follow your breath coming in and of your nose.
• O – Observe your self and your child, just take note of what is present.
• P – Practice conscious connection with ‘I see you’ statements that show your precious one that you are fully aware of them and desire to connect. For example, you could say,” I’m so happy to be with you, I see you are wearing your favorite pants today” Or, “I see you are feeling frustrated with that toy”.

(This Presence Practice is an adaption of an article By ELISHA GOLDSTEIN, PH.D.)

Because of my Mom’s intention, determination, and best efforts to be present for me throughout this lifetime, I gained access to what I call the Great Mother, a universal Cosmic Parent Principle who inspired the heart prayer of gratitude, Cosmic Mother Love, I am sharing in this article.

It truly is in each tiny act of day-to-day presence and role modeling that you most powerfully contribute to an inner well of spiritual empowerment and encouragement that your children will later draw from when facing the challenges and choices of their lives. YOU ARE A S/HERO in the most essential way.

Evolutionary Parenting Visionary

PARENTING VISIONARY!

We know our words can never accurately convey truth that is constantly updating! And yet, I also believe that when we tune in to emerging possibility together and give voice to our evolving understanding something new opens up for us all. Please join me in the co-creation of an evolutionary parenting/living vision statement by adding comments to what I’ve started here:

WHAT IS EVOLUTIONARY PARENTING?

On our journey of evolutionary parenting and living, we follow a soul calling from deep within to embody light as role models to support our children in the discovery and expression of their own.

We consciously develop ourselves as inspired and intuitively guided parents. We do so through cultivating presence, awareness, support, transparent communication, true acceptance, and unconditional love.

We generate a witnessing field of consciousness that embraces and allows our children to be fully authentic in all his or her developmental stages of expression.

We offer our hearts as landing and launching pads as needed.

When it is the highest good to do so, we illuminate the path ahead for our children. We also realize that our children’s destiny path is her or his own. When ever appropriate we empower our children to make their own choices, even when we want them to do it our way.

We reflect back the brilliance and potential we see and sense in our beautiful children!

We bow before their light energetically, in our words, and in our actions.

Our children are also our teachers. These relationships are catalysts for our awakening and development. When our children press our buttons and we react unconsciously, we make amends and do our work to evolve!

We honor ourselves as parents with acceptance and compassion, especially when it’s tough. Learning new ways of doing and being is a gift to now and future generations!

Radiant Blessings!

Georgette

What is YOUR vision of Evolutionary Parenting/Living?

Do you have a story to share?

First Moon Rising

A Girl’s Rite of Passage Documentary Film

Hello Bright Light,

You know that feeling of waiting for perfect right timing before stepping on to a escalator, diving into a wave, or merging into fast moving traffic? Well, I’ve been waiting for that perfect moment to write to you and in so doing begin a new way of staying in touch and offering support, education, and inspiration for your journey of inspired parenting and living! And so begins my transition from monthly newsletters to more frequent blog posts and a more intentional sparkling direct connection with YOU.

I’m excited to step out from behind the curtains of the Life Blessing Institute. The very first thing I want to share with you is a documentary film about MAIDEN SPIRIT, which includes a beautiful vision and example of what a girl’s coming-of-age celebration could look like. The film is called First Moon Rising: A Girl’s Wisdom and Rite of Passage Journey ~ you can view our 22 minute film at the bottom of this page.

Join me in a global vision of every girl in our world waking up each morning knowing she is safe and provided for, that she matters, her female body is a blessing, that she has the power to create, not only new life, but as she becomes an adult woman she will have the power to participate in the creation of her own life.

Thank you! I hope you enjoy the film!

Georgette Star

Our fabulous, feminine honoring, creative producer and film-maker, John Jordan-Cascade and I would be honored to receive your impressions. What moves or inspires you and why?
Email us at georgette@lifeblessing.com

Check out Cascade Productions @ http://www.cascadecreativeproductions.com/,

First Moon Rising DVD is available to purchase (here)

Life Blessing Institute programs: www.maidenspirit.com & peace-warriors.com Contact us at info@lifeblessing.com