Every Step You Take

Every day most of us, who are lucky enough to be able to walk around, take thousands of steps as we plod our way through this world. It is important to be more conscious of each moment and each step. My offering to you is to be more present and mindful of each step. This is not possible for most of us BUT just raising your consciousness to considering 1-2% of your steps would be a “Step in the Right Direction.” (Sorry, for this Pun.) However, focusing on a few of the many steps you take each day can pull you in to your body and the present moment in a positive way.

As a stress management trainer and coach, I have shared a technique from Za-Zen which creates more Mindful living. It is simple and effective. If you want to attempt this technique to trigger a more mindful and relaxed life then follow this instruction a couple of times per day over a few of your busy days. First, consider your “intent” to be more mindful. Stop and take three slow deep breaths. Focus on the cool air as you inhale, then pause for a moment, and exhale fully and completely. Perhaps you can notice the warm air that you exhale. After those three breaths continue breathing slowly. Then begin walking, a bit more slowly than you normally walk. This control of your pace can assist you to get present. Now, as you walk more slowly and carefully, or “Mindfully,” feel your foot as it touches down. Does your toe hit first? Or, does your heel touch first? Roll your foot down into a complete step and repeat this for 20-30 steps. To consider 20-30 slowed steps requires a little time but can change your conscious consideration of the pace you “normally” live at.

As you practice this technique, notice how this allows you to feel. More in control of your body and your life? More present in this moment? More aware of your tight shoulders or jaw or forehead? Consider just “letting go” of judgement and allow yourself to “feel” who you are at this moment in time… This simple, but powerful, awareness technique can have profound benefit for you. Challenge yourself to give this a try and then consider how this can impact the rest of your day, your attitude toward your life, and the life that you have allowed to slip below your consciousness. You may even be amused as you watch other people as they scurry, busily through their lives. Wow, you are leaping into a consciousness that can assist you with your empathy and your “being in the moment” in a new way.

This only takes a few moments from your “busy” day. However, it will expand your control over your life and even your thoughts. Focus on a slow and more conscious breath as you stroll through your day and even find the joy of living in your present body. You are a Blessing!

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Be the Change! You Have a Choice!

Our world is going through upheaval. Conscious people want to get involved. We have our “pet projects” born out personal need for a cause which is “near and dear to our hearts” and there are many ways to respond. Our “special” cause may require funding and we feel great, temporarily, throwing money at a project. Or, we start organizing and donate time, and possibly money, to the cause which lights a fire in our passion. Many of us feel “Guilty” if we are not matching the money or effort we may see in another person’s contribution. So I ask you, Are You Doing Good Work or Donating Money to FEEL GOOD or to Deal With Your Feelings of Guilt?

Perhaps we can back off a bit. Volunteering time and money for a great social cause is admirable. Worthy of admiration. Is this why we do this? AND, forget politics and political action because it is “politics” which has gotten us into this mess… But, YOU have a choice on how you can change the world! Yes, you can be empowered by choosing to take action! YOU can choose to make yourself the Beacon of Light and Love to guide the people you are Blessed to meet into a higher state of consciousness… One person at a Time! You can show respect and love for every person you interact with. Though this may cost you less time and money, it may serve our world at a deeper, foundational level.

This does not mean to stop volunteering or donating. I am asking that you dive below the surface into Divine Consciousness. Superficial actions look great on the surface. You can get recognition. But, is this what you came here to do? If you get your name on a wing of the hospital, does this make you a better person??? Is your legacy driven by an egoic need to be seen or recognized? If so, Great! But…. Sharing your light in every interaction is a CHOICE You can make. “Be the change you wish to see in our world” means living in integrity with the Divine values. No, I am not trying to share guilt or even pretend that “Divine Values” has a Universal, etched in stone, meaning. I am strongly suggesting that living in acceptance, respect, and mutual love may be worth attempting. AND, “fake it until you make it,” is a great place to start.

It begins with awareness. It may include humility. It definitely includes Knowing that YOU are a Miracle AND so is everyone you meet! There is nothing special about you AND you are the most special soul in the Universe. We are all the same and we are all in this together. Work to Save the World but first save yourself. Be conscious! Choose to live in Love! Be sincere and say “Thank You,” to every person you meet. They are there for You and Your lesson!

YOU have a choice! You can live in a “heart space” or you can live with what you “think” is correct. Thinking is great and the drama this creates is very entertaining! This is what we came into this life to explore. The fun and the drama of living in our 3 dimensional limitations and our human lives. AND, enlightenment may include being most conscious regarding living in the moment and choosing to interact with each person in a respectful and spiritual loving/honoring way. You are unique. You are a Blessing! The very best volunteer work you can ever hope to do includes sharing from your heart the love and the respect you have for each struggling soul you bump up against.

We are here to serve! We are here to support the other pilgrims we meet along our path. Donating time and money to a “Cause” you care about is good. But, being a beacon of love and light is more gooder… (I meant that poor vocabulary to be a lighter way to end this posting. YOU are a Miracle! Thank you for being you!)

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Wisdom Sharing: Let’s Get Started!

Let’s Get Started!

Do You have a story to tell? More importantly, do YOU have Wisdom to share?
Of course you do…

We all have a story. We were born. We grew and lived our lives. AND, we survived until Now!
95% of us do NOT think we are amazing and special or that we have lived the “Heroes Journey.” But, we have! If anyone heard your full story the witness would ask, “How did YOU survive all those challenges?” Most people would NOT want to have gone through what YOU had to go through to get here… The fun exciting things and your successes would be fun to try on… The painful challenges, failures, difficult lessons, and the dramas you have survived would be too difficult for most mortals. Now, you learned more from your failures and painful experiences than you did from being successful, IF you are honest and like most other people. Even if you would not wish these difficult experiences on anyone you loved, and most other people who may mean less to you, YOU survived and there is knowledge and some Wisdom to share.

For me it was the ending of my marriage. My wife and I were 19+ years into our marriage when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was given less than 5 years to live with stage 3 C ovarian cancer. The surgeries and chemotherapies were horrible. We worked together and with her resolve, and all the alternative therapies she could find, my bride lived 8 and 1/2 more years. This experience made us closer! We shared love and experiences that each became an adventure. I would NOT wish this on anyone! But, I would not trade this experience, if I could. I learned so much! And, the great vacuum in my life when she finally “transitioned” was so much greater than I could have imagined. Even though I had 8.5 years to prepare, I was not prepared for the hole in my life AND this was one of the greatest learnings from my grief that I hold so dear. I do NOT want sympathy! I am not a victim! I was blessed with a love and a learning that taught me so much. AND, this learning is supposed to be shared!

Your wisdom born out of the difficult challenges has happened for a reason. You learned some important lessons. You are now here to share your wisdom AND somewhere there is a person who NEEDS to hear your story. You may not know that person or why they need to hear your story but they do need to witness you as a survivor and fellow pilgrim on the path through this life.

We want to overlook ourselves as the Miracles we are! We are a composite that is unique, born out of the challenges which no one else has lived through. No one else can do YOU like you do YOU! Your life adds to all consciousness as a unique contribution. If you can take responsibility for your Greatness, drop the role of “victim,” and find the importance and the Joy in the lessons you have learned, YOU can be the Beacon of Light to people you bump into in this life!

It would help greatly for you to start telling your stories. Practice telling these stories. AND, then find the people who would learn best by witnessing your stories. You can be a hero! You can lead the way! You can be of service to humanities’ consciousness by sharing of yourself! You may never know how impactful you have been or be able to take credit for a life changed by hearing your story. But, if you do not tell your story it will die with you and your full legacy may not be fully fulfilled.

Live fully and Serve by sharing of yourself. YOU benefit from retelling your “story” from the new perspective of who you are Now! You are a Miracle and Your story has value! Please share your wisdom!

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Remembering the Blessings!

I am posting this blog on January 16th, 2020. This is a message for me, from me, AND for YOU. Eight years ago today, at 8:20 AM, my Bride, Barbara, transitioned from this life. I am Blessed for all of the lessons she has taught me. In fact, I would not be writing this blog or working to create the Masters of the Journey community without this direct influence. Please, DO NOT think or Feel, “Poor John”. I am not a victim! I am a soul, just like you, struggling with life’s amazing challenges. Most of us have experienced the loss of the loved one, a friend, or a relationship. If you have walked this Earth in this life, for any amount of human time, you know how life can change. Times of change are often the most important times of growth and learning.

My Bride transitioned 8 years ago after our 30 years of relationship and after 8 1/2 years of living with Ovarian Cancer. The brutal struggle was filled with Joy and Growth. We grew closer. Our Love seemed to delve into the darkest places of anger, pain, and frustration, yet, it found ways to glow with warmth. For me, the lessons of empathy and the meaning of living while struggling with our human mortality was led by my wife. She demonstrated focus and stubbornness to live as long as she possibly could so her passing-over actually came as a shock to me. Two months before she died from our life together, she asked me to “not forget her” which with a knee-jerk reaction I complied. Not really knowing or understanding this promise which I had made. This is not unusual for me because I am naive about many of the things in this life that I have signed on for.

The void in my life when she moved on was a huge surprise. Though I had 8 1/2 years to prepare, I was taken by surprise. The vacuum in my life was much larger than I could have imagined. This is part of my lesson, my learning, and the message I am here to share. Sure you know that Life is precious. You assume the obvious that my wife of 28 years+ and the mother of my children would be “missed,” but that is not the story. Barbara, in spirit, has guided and protected me since January 16th of 2012. Her “presence” has given me stories to share. She has helped create every act of service I have engaged within. Our shared story lives to be a beacon for others to follow and to learn from.

Never consider any personal loss without reflecting on what you have been asked by the Divine Spirit to gain from a difficult life experience. Find a way to celebrate the Joy of life as you dance through the “mine-field” of life’s challenges. You came here to learn, and even enjoy, the bruises and bumps you find along the way. You chose to create the life you lead with your successes and with your awkward mis-steps… Any losses create the opportunity to appreciate your Blessings and your connections. AND, every person you bump into along the way offers you an opportunity to exchange love and wisdom from experience, even if born out of the pains which accompany you through your mortal life. You are made stronger as you are swept along in the rapids of the River of Life.

Also, find your way to remember the perfection and the Divinity within you. You are a Miracle! Look within to feel, and accept, the guidance of the Divine. It bubbles up, often in a subtle feeling, when you are at the crossroads of your life. You have read this far into this blog post for a reason… You were meant to find this consciousness and to go out and to celebrate the incredible experiences of your life, even with the bumps and bruises. Please share your story and serve by witnessing the story-telling of the souls you meet along the way! Your “Hero’s Journey” continues and your experiences can be of service to the community you live within, if you share YOUR story. By the way, YOU are loved and connected to all the wisdom of the Divine Spirit, just “remember” it and feel it within…

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

I Love You! I will always Love my Bride, Barbara!!!

Is It Time? More Importantly, Is It Your Time?

Everyone finds the “Right” Time for themselves! At some point in your life, or in another incarnation, we must find the connection with the Divine Spirit in a more fully conscious way. Some people might believe that this is “Enlightenment” or, at the very least a step toward Enlightenment. Recently, a new friend claimed that now, in early 2020, we are stepping into an exciting stage of human consciousness where we open our hearts and souls to reconnecting, consciously, with the Divine Spirit. So, I ask YOU again, Is It Time for you to step forward and away from the fear, anger, anxiety of your mind and ego???

This new stage of development has been shared with me from many sources, of late. In December 2019, I attended a “channeled” visit with “Mother Mary” who suggested the “Time of Magic” was unfolding making it easier to connect with guidance of the Divine. From many sources this message repeats. Time will tell if this is accurate… Of course, if you believe in “time.” From their own disciplines and in their own ways, many “new age” spokespersons are announcing this new consciousness born from the ashes of our cultural, religious, quasi-spiritual, and philosophical belief systems. The “Rational Era” of mental understanding is finding its way, partially through Quantum Physics, to “know” the unexplainable in a different, less rational, way.

The words to describe Divine’s unconditional love, acceptance, and connectedness do not do justice to these concepts or feelings. Our three dimensional explanations are too limiting. People who return from a visit to the Divine after having a Near Death Experience (NDE) can NOT find words or the best way to share their experiences. The feelings of these communication attempts often feels “familiar” to the witnesses because we have all died and been reborn into our current lives. “Past Lives” may not be past lives at all. (Perhaps, time and space are illusions for a simple three dimensional “understanding.”) Some consider linear time a mental construct and we are living in multiple lives simultaneously. (That is a lot to consider, but perhaps we are as limited as our limited conscious minds currently allow.) Perhaps, in fact, We are “greater” than our egos allow us to believe because we are a perfect hologram of the perfection which is the Divine Spirit.

So, what do we do with this information or feeling? It is time to allow an “opening of the Heart and Soul.” It is time to feel the Divine within us and NOT just think about it. To “Know” and to “Remember” our perfection and Divinity is to release attachments to our Drama. Or, the roles we are engaged in playing in this current incarnation are perfect in their imperfections. Our lessons are the challenges we have signed up to experience. So we must be responsible for the choices we have made not as an excuse but as a way to move forward at the highest levels of consciousness. YOU are a Miracle!

Look for the “Magic” and the Guidance that comes from your heart and your soul. Do not Fear change or death, for this can get in your way… There is No Death, only a transition back into the higher realms and your next learning experience. Along the way, remember we are all in this together and finding ways to lovingly support your fellow travelers is an act of service which ends up serving you, and all the rest of us. Be the Beacon of Love and Light you came here to be!

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Jumping in to the River of Life

Are YOU ready for an Adventure? Well, whether you are ready or not, you have chosen to “Jump In!” Perhaps now, more than ever before, it is time to don your safety helmut (or not…) and feel the flow. Recently, I described my life at the start of the New Year, 2020, by describing the sense that I have jumped in to the “rapids of the River of Life!” Yup, I am swirling around and rushing down stream in the exciting life choices I have created. This is NOT just my situation. No, YOU are flailing away with me as we get swept down stream in an adventure of a lifetime.

If you read the most recent past blog, you might realize that the start of 2020 portends something a bit different. Guidance indicates that we are coming to the end of the period of life’s struggles and finding the beginning of the new age of Magic. Maybe it is not new, but a return to the Magic which our ancestors may have known. Technology has “masked” the magic and connections with the Divine Spirit, our hearts and souls. We have been drinking from the chalice of “rational thought” and ego driven lifestyle choices… You can argue with me about this but this is not the point of this channeled blog.

It is time to learn, or relearn, to flow with the currents. It is time to accept the consciousness and the guidance that is coming our way. These are exciting times. Times filled with expanded consciousness and spiritual growth. JUMP in and prepare for the ride of your life! (Fighting with the current is a great way to learn from painful and challenging lessons, but remember, it was YOUR choice to jump into these rapids.) You made the choice to come back to this human incarnation to experience the challenges of the three dimensional realms, and the limitations, of human existence. There is “Joy” to be found in these travails… As I said earlier, the next few months of the year 2020 seems to include an easing of the life tests we have been struggling to learn from. IF we begin to quiet our ego driven, conscious minds, we can sense and then feel the wisdom which guidance is providing. We can work to detach from the wild circus that our fear and anxiety driven lives have so substantially provided for us in the recent times.

If YOU choose, you can awaken to the magic. You can remember how powerful you are. You can bask in the Divine Wisdom which is found within our soul and Know Your Divinity! Remember that You are greater than your ego driven fears and insecurity allows you to believe. You are Amazing! You are a Miracle! To more fully Know your potential, you can quiet your mind through meditation, or peaceful music, or a gentle walk in nature, or slowing and quieting through massage or after love making and then connect with the “feelings” of your inner guidance.

Your adventure has picked up speed. The River of Life is flowing more rapidly. You can struggle or you can let go and flow… You can be swept along in the Magic with the assistance of your guidance and travel more quickly in the higher consciousness you have come to this life to seek. Relax and stay afloat as you careen through this new age and trust your inner child as it finds the fun and joy of the increased Magic! Your soul and spirit are light and buoyant as you navigate this amazing and beautiful life! The River of Life has smoothed many of the bumps along your way, but it helps to gracefully float closer to the surface…

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Yes, you have heard this before. It is only a day on the calendar and it seems to happen about this time every year. But, this time it is different! Every turn of the year offers a fresh start. Setting optimistic goals and the New Year’s Resolutions is a tradition and after you set these goals, we wait to see how long it will take to stray away from the desired new behavior or life change. This year it will be different. Not because you will not set and then break your “resolutions” but because this New Year’s is different.

It is not just a change of the calendar year from 2019 to 2020. It is the change of a new decade. This Blog has never posted a consciousness developing blog at the change of a decade. This year and this decade are different. The turmoil of the past few years is coming to a “resolution” and we are entering into a new phase. The “clean up” phase of spiritual energies is transitioning into the dawning of a new age which includes the return of “magic.” I am told that our guides are supporting our new consciousness and as we come out of the time of conflict and struggle, we will experience of the reawakening of our inner child. We can choose a more Joyful path.

This is difficult to believe with the media’s headlines shouting out fear and anger. I challenge you to look deep within and find, and then live, your authentic self. Yes, it is there and has never left you. Be the beacon of light which leads with love and joy. Be the model so others will join in and regain the confidence to be the perfect spiritual beings they are! Look around for the best ways to support your fellow pilgrims and open your heart to new possibilities. The “Magic” will gradually brighten in the coming months.

2020 beckons as a turning point! The New Year and the New Decade allow for the re-engagement of the magic and the return of the spiritual insights which are counter to the anger and fear we have struggled through. You have an opportunity to live in a more positive and loving world. This grows from the inside out. Get in touch with the pure love and magic that has always dwelt within you. Celebrate every interaction and know that your consciousness will be raised for the benefit of you and all the other souls in our Universe.

So, in the back of your mind, set this new resolution to live most fully in Love and Magic. Be the Light and allow others to resonate with your Joy and glowing Spirit! Find a way to develop your confidence in knowing that YOU are a Master. You are Perfect! You are the miracle and manifestation of the Holy Spirit! Have fun! Dance in the Light so your inner child laughs with the Joy we have all come into this Life to celebrate. (Even the Joy which comes from the difficult challenges and the amazing lessons we are tested by for our development.)

You have the opportunity to step into the Light of the Divine and all the Magic which surrounds you! Trust it. Look for the good in every interaction. YOU are a Miracle! You have a choice to Live in the Light!

So, continue on your path and please do NOT miss any opportunity to raise your consciousness, remember the Divine within you, and find ways to connect & serve your fellow travelers. YOU are a bright beacon of light. Thanks for being YOU!

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Life is Great! How is it going for You?

Have you ever felt that Life is Great?!!! Are you a “glass half full” or a “glass half empty” kind of person? Sure, life is full of difficult challenges and there are many difficult experiences we face. Many people get caught up in the fearful side of life or dwell in the status of victimhood. This is not “bad” but it is a lesson in personal responsibility that most of us must try to understand and then move through in our quest for higher consciousness.

Fear??? What is the worst that can happen? You will get around to dying someday…
Why live in Fear? (Book resource: “The Afterlife of Billy Fingers” lots of information from the “other side” (or maybe there is no other side only an earth bound less conscious side???)

In my understanding, life is not meant to be too easy. We tend to learn more from the mistakes and failures we encounter than from the easier, and more pleasant, successes. I believe that we are born into our lives with certain built-in flaws and imperfections which are our “lessons” to experience and learn from in this life. None of us are “perfect” and our imperfections make us the valuable characters we are meant to play. We bump into other imperfect souls and, whether we like it or not, are meant to learn from these exchanges and interactions.

I have heard other people exclaim, “Life would be so perfect (or so much better) IF this or that was different…” Well, that is what we are here to do. To change “this or that” especially when we actually have some choice or control and this means changing “this or that” about ourselves (or at least our beliefs.)

People have very different opinions on what is “Great” in life. These opinions do not often match up very well. Each one of us is unique and how we feel about the things we encounter is different and unique. “That is what makes horseraces,” is an expression exemplifying why difference of opinions creates the wonderful diversity of experience in our lives. Sure, we bump into other people’s opinions which “trigger” our mental or emotional states of mind.

You are special. You are unique! Your soul is part of the larger Divine Spirit and the Divine can not exist without YOU and your challenges. So please consider the self-awareness of taking responsibility for yourself and your lessons. Learn to smile at the difficult challenges you face because these can be the most important lessons you have to learn from in this life. When you do smile at these life challenges you may end up “knowing” that life is Great!

One last rant, the other seemingly imperfect souls we bump into in this warm tumbling drier called life, are all connected to us and to the Divine Spirit. They are simply other perfect manifestations of ourselves. We are all in this together. Enlightenment comes when we realize this and know that our “purpose” is to reach around and grab the hand of the next person to support them and to assist their consciousness building efforts even if these other actors seem remote and unconscious…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Evolution Away from Great Communication

Communication is a lost, or disappearing, art! Do YOU want to improve YOUR life? Interpersonal, eyeball to eyeball, communication is going the way of the dinosaurs or rotary telephone or TV Western shows. But where has it gone and what has replaced people eloquently conversing in thoughtful, heartfelt interactions? Social media has taken its place AND social media communication skills have not found their way past superficial levels equal to what toddlers or, at best, middle school level people might use. Great “adult” conversations do not happen commonly, if at all, on social media. Social media is not designed that way.

Are we evolving away from face to face interpersonal communication? Or, are the newer generations “wired” differently than older generations who grew up before the technology revolution took over?

Loneliness is an epidemic especially affecting the millennial generation. Why? Possibly because the skills and practice of good interpersonal communication are poorly used, if used at all. Just look around in our culture and you see people are addicted to checking on their social media instead of the person in front of them. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more appear to be more interesting and satisfying than attempting to connect with the words, gestures, and feelings used in communication by the live person sitting in front of you. Mature adults have complicated relationship needs and these are not well resolved with cute social media, snarky statements or behaviors.

If there is doubt in you regarding the changing patterns of communication, just get on an commercial airplane. People used to talk to the people in their row or watch the movie. Now, fewer people actually speak to the people they are sitting next to on the plane. People disappear into their “devices” even if they are not on social media due to “airplane mode.” Why are we not sharing our stories with live human beings sitting right next to us?… Perhaps, we have just lost the skill of chatting. Perhaps, we have “evolved” and speaking with words heard by the person near to you is being lost as a social activity to be replaced by loneliness…

Why? Where did this come from? Is technology so seductive? Are young people so insecure that they have to fall into the social media trap just so they can fit in? If so, what are they fitting into? Or, are we moving away from verbal and interpersonal, physical interaction into a future where we all communicate psychically and through our developed skills of intuition? We are evolving into a culture of addiction to our “devices,” social media, and instantaneous, though shallow, responses. As if the number of “likes” or clicks has given us a sense of value. (The answer is “YES.”) This misses out on finding a smile or raised eyebrow or a noticeable shoulder breath in your communication partner.

Truly and deeply connecting with another person is created by as many non-verbal perceptions as by the actual words themselves. This connection has greater emotional and spiritual value than checking on the “likes” to a recent posting. No wonder we are in an epidemic of loneliness in our society. Consider putting your “device” aside and looking into the eyes of your partner with as little “Judgement” as possible get to know their story! Employ the skill of asking open ended questions to stimulate clarity and greater consciousness in your communication partner. (Quit thinking ahead for some cute, but snarky, response and show your partner the respect they deserve as another struggling life form.) You may find the long awaited information you have been seeking….

Our culture has become polarized. Many people lack all civility when they are confronted by another person with a contrary belief. This lacks perspective and keep us narrow minded, reactionary, and emotionally fragile. A different opinion can be very useful in forming a longterm style of behavior and lifestyle. Living only within your familiar beliefs seems safe but in the long run it is not easier or even safer. More about this in another blog on communication. Be open. It does not mean you have to agree with or even like what the next person will say but this perspective came into your consciousness for a reason. Learn what you came here to learn. Bless and respect every interaction which occurs in your present life…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Write Your Story!

Your story is important to you and to the “witnesses” you share your story with. Do not quit reading because you do not write. “Write” suggests that you spend time considering your life’s experiences and find some way to communicate these learnings. Whether through written words, or verbal story-telling, or expression through creative arts, or by simply “acting out your role” as the character you came into this incarnation to portray in the Great Play called life. Yup, you are a character in a play which inter-connects you with all other living things.

Recapitulation of your life’s experiences can assist you move forward on YOUR path toward Enlightenment! Yes, you review the learnings you are consciously aware AND you look for the learnings which have travelled below the level of consciousness. Share your stories! You learn by sharing! You gain perspective and you can get feedback as other pilgrims respond to your story.

Recapitulation can mean “searching for your “essential Knowledge.”” In a spiritual frame of reference, “essential Knowledge,” may include learning or remembering your connection to your “source” which is the Divine Spirit. Your job is to find out who you really are as a soul or spirit engaged in learning lessons which will create awareness and lead you to a higher level of living in an “enlightened state of consciousness.” What could this possibly mean? It might mean that you achieve a state of consciousness where you spend more of your life knowing you are connected to all other living things and assisting any, and every, soul you bump into to achieve a higher state of their spiritual development. (We are all in this together!)

As you remember and communicate your story, you can relive these moments. Seeing these experiences through a new, updated filter, you can gain insight. Often you will consider an entirely different message, and learning, from a long held but overlooked, past experience. As an example, I have retold my story many times of the insight at the age of 23 years old, when I experienced a meditation where I saw myself sitting with my back to a tree by the “River of Life” like I pictured Buddha would have done. The life changing moment, and epiphany for me, allowed me to see, to know, or to remember as Buddha would have known, what the “connection to all other living things” might be like! At the time, I could imagine that I could be like Buddha and could only imagine what Buddha might have thought. NOW, in a recent recapitulation, I have come believe that I WAS the Buddha, or a few of my atoms were the Buddha, or perhaps my Divine Spirit was in the Buddha, and so I shared this experience with this higher level of enlightenment. Wow, I am not saying I am as good as the Buddha or a Master as he has been for so many people. I am simply saying that I can resonate with this higher level of consciousness because I have this somewhere deep inside myself, JUST AS YOU DO!

Of course, this does make me more responsible for accepting my Divine Self and this creates a higher level of personal responsibility to live more impeccably as a role model of the living human incarnation of the Divine! Yikes, I have to be more careful and responsible… Or, at least more ready to live in Joy and Wisdom. Every interaction and every sharing of my story now requires that I remember that my “witness” was guided to me to hear this story as a lesson for us to share! (I had better connect more deeply with the beautiful and also perfect soul in front of me so my story meets the deepest requirement for the consciousness which we share…)

So consider your story and retell these rememberings in a way which YOU can learn a great deal as you find the words or creative expression to review this experience. Write YOUR Story with both you and your witness’s consciousness in mind…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey. You are a Blessing. You are a Master.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog