[formobilagsw]

hi penny,
how wonderful that you have had these experiences and revelations - thank you for sharing them as i can relate to your feelings about the stress of xmas and indeed shopping malls! i have often tried to sit and 'project' some love to everyone who is going by - and have found it draining...so you are correct, we just need to be there (occasionally!) to spread the love.
also, making every moment a 'holi-moment' - that's great too!
thanks so much for adding your light and love to my day - i love you too...
kathy

[Junrlaeh]

to our american friends..happy thanksgiving, eh?

[greekbeast]

from your neighbor here in america, thank you for your kind gester and wishes. shall all our neighbors throughout the world find thanks from one's givings.

peace and joy for all ! r

[jabader]

holiday energies are extremely challenging!!! i've been thinking we should just delete them from our calendars--the expectations and a great deal of sadness, loneliness and tug 'o war as to whose family to go to--well, it just needs a new approach. too much tradition and dogma surrounding them. seduces people out of living in the now moment and focusing instead on the future dates of thanksgiving (now past as of this post) and christmas. and that brings in with it a whole crapload of expectations of ourselves with our loved ones.

guess it's ultimately an opportunity for me to walk through it in a new way, more centered on taking care of myself first, and thus staying more at peace within, and then expressing that peace all about. may sound selfish, but it seems to be helping me to truly get past the dramas and enjoy my loved ones and all of humanity in a less energy-draining way. any time i can leave a situation with a smile and a sense of being at peace, i'm grabbing it and going with it.

i've really been realizing how psychically tied in i am (truly--every human being is) and that it's so important to stay centered within and thus, at peace within. and when i start feeling scattered or tired, then it's time to go lay down, get away with myself for a bit in order to rejuvenate.

i had an "ah-ha!"experience in the mall in bismarck, nd (usa) while waiting for my husband to take some licensing exams for work. i window shopped a bit, started noticing my tailbone was aching and realized it meant that i was "taking on" outside energies. shopping mall energies are very draining for me--there's a great deal of "i'm not good enough, i'm not worthy, i need..."

so i bought myself a cappuccino, sat in the chairs in the aisle and began to people watch and feel. i no more than sat down and the couple who went through a dark and tragic motorcycle accident with me back in 2005 appeared--made my day to see them!

after they left, i continued to observe people and as i did so, it hit--every person in that mall (on earth) wanted to believe and know they were a unique contribution to humanity in all their ways of being. some were more open, but others felt very vulnerable and held themselves in close, others threw up protective barriers and yet others tried to pretend they were at ease while maybe some were truly at peace within--the body language was unmistakeable. and in the midst of it was a girl with down's syndrome with a bell-like voice that sounded like it was coming thru' a microphone it was so clear--and she held nothing back. she was out to let people know how happy she was they were there--the son's of norway were dancing and singing, and she wanted so much to be a part of it. i envied her ease of expressing that joy and love. with her, there were no barriers, nothing to hide.

i knew i was at last just allowing the consciousness energies to flow with that ah-ha. and i did really well that day once i realized all i had to do was to choose to allow all the feelings and thoughts to run through my mind and heart instead of trying to monitor and control them, which in the past caused me to manifest them as my own experience.

i can be in crowds now and breathe with ease, but i'm also aware of feeling a drain after long periods of it--and i know to go lay down and let go of analyzing it, etc. i also realized i didn't need those people to know that i was there, thinking that way in that space--there was a joy in thinking that maybe for a moment as they passed by they felt a little more at peace within their own heart and a little more celebratory of their own beingness. i didn't need them to look into my eyes, acknowledge my existence in any way, shape or form--for some that's just too hard to do. it's not been easy being human, and we're all doing the best we individually know how--even if, to others, it seems totally insane and selfish at times.

everyone there, and everyone miles and continents away, gave me the greatest gift in that moment, and they didn't even know it!

so, may every moment be a "holi-moment." (my way of shortening a holiday to a moment).
thanks everyone for being here with me now--i love and appreciate you more than words can possibly convey...peace be with you...

penny l