Listening To Our Stories

We all have a story. It is the tale of who we are, how we came to be, where we hope to go. It holds the potential to make us uniquely whole. It sometimes defines us, often confines us, can inspire, challenge or disappoint.

Knowing that everyone does have their unique story the shaman listens with ears of understanding, looks for the messages between the lines of the story, and weaves the frayed strands together to bring alignment and healing. We learn from our stories and we learn from the stories of others as well.

Our stories provide us with tremendous lessons from which to grow. It is up to us to be open to these lessons. We learn our patterns and our blockages. We learn what is ready to be released or embraced. We learn how we have healed and how we have not.

No two people, no matter how similar they are, share the same story. So to offer unsolicited advice is often pointless. But when we are asked to witness and listen to someone's story we can create an opportunity for the engagement of the energies. We can hold with compassion, we can provide encouragement and we can celebrate successes.

The shaman is often called the Master Storyteller. She will listen to the story and read between the lines, she will find the soul loss, she will help to retrieve what has retreated and heal what is broken. She will bring the story to a place of wholeness and restore the beauty and wonder that is defined by that soul. It is within the wispy layers of the story that she finds the energies of graceful expansion.

Knowing this about our stories, we are gifted the opportunity to change the way in which we listen. Instead of engaging without being asked, we can instead witness with honor and respect. We can listen and be open to the possible lessons that are meant for us. And if we are given the role to do more than witness, we hold the potential to be in service to the soul of the story. We are given an opportunity to answer to the call of duty to be healer, teacher, or more. The greatness of the story awaits.

Blessings, Lisa

Quiet Wonders

Stop anyone on the street and ask them what they would like to change in their world and you will get an answer. We tend to focus a good deal of our time and energies on the changes we want to see and be. We share our thoughts about this with friends and loved ones. We purchase books and programs to support our efforts. We look to others to see what path they have chosen to reach their goals of change. We are a very busy group of changers.

Sometimes, though, changes happen subtly and quietly. We set our intention and then turn it over to the Universe, to God or to our Higher Power. Sometimes, the only action we bring to it is our hope. With fingers crossed we move forward with our day and trust that something will shift, change or release. Sometimes we just have to leave it to prayer and positive thoughts.

We don't always know what to do to create the change we are seeking. Sometimes, we just don't have it in us to push on, so we turn it over to Source. There are those times when it feels like it is a dream, a golden desire, so distant that all we can do is hope. Yet, life has a way of quietly creating miracles.

The Universe knows our intentions, it hears our longings and it aligns with our heart. Sometimes all of our preparations for change lead us to a place of waiting. Waiting, releasing and trusting creates the quiet wonder that we often find ourselves blessed with. Somehow getting out of the way, letting go of the struggle and remaining open to the possibilities creates the silence that opens the space within our life for growth.

Blessings, Lisa

Taking Time

Fast paced! That is what the world's energy feels like of late. Hurrying from one task to the next, quickly completing one goal only to set another. Rushing through the experiences of life so that we can get to the next. And we miss so very, very much.

It is easy to get pulled into the flow of this energy. We find ourselves overwhelmed, frustrated, unfulfilled and exhausted. Fast forward does not work well for most of us. It forces us to cram life's moments one on top of the next, without the full rich experience, without the opportunity to enjoy, witness or receive all that is within them.

We ignore our natural rhythms and take on a pace that is set by some unseen force that does not align with our energies. Eventually, this all comes to a screeching stop as our body complains, our mind stresses and our soul aches.

When we slow down and take the time we become more mindful and observant. We are much more present and aware. We find lessons and gifts in the moments of our life. We witness the beauty of others and all that surrounds us. We experience joy and love; two energies that thrive in the gentleness of pleasurable luxury, unmeasured time and open possibilities.

We become aligned and restore our own personal balance. Tasks still demand our attention, but we discover we are better at completing them. We recognize that our hurried state can only serve us for so long before we are just a speeding reckless being that is quickly burning out.

Abandoning the frenzied pace that is so readily presented to us gives us the chance to find our own pace that is comfortable, agreeable and keeps us in our power and in our grace. We can consciously choose when we need to amp up our energies, but it certainly does not need to be something we give our control over to. Living at our own pace, taking time to be present and engaged, we find brings abundance to our moments that fuel us for the long and steady as well as the quick and demanding.

Blessings, Lisa

You Are Conditioned

Every relationship, every event, every thought has the power to impact our life in profound ways. The blank page of the moment picks up the hues and colors of the experience. They begin to create the story that we believe of our life. Eventually, these events have an influence on how we react and respond to our present day happenings, relationships and thoughts.

There is no room for judgment here. There is no positive or negative, no right and no wrong. We become conditioned, over time, by these experiences and our reaction to them. The ways in which we decide to choose to move through them, to curtail them, to alter them or to embrace them creates a touchstone for us to reflect on again, when a similar situation occurs.

But this is not to say that if we are unhappy with the patterns that repeat within our life, we can't choose to make a change. Making a change can and often does result in different unfoldings. We have to be aware and ready to catch the moment when we can pause and not automatically react, but instead consider. In that consideration we find we have choices. We recognize that we are conditioned, over time, to react or respond in a certain way, even when we have a deep knowing that it may not result in the way we want it to.

Often our conditioned response comes from a place of unawareness. We are not being fully present and in the moment. We may be going through the motions. We may be revisiting the past and feel rooted in old emotions or fears. Sometimes we are overcome by panic or anger and that fogs our thinking and keeps us distant from our inner truth and knowing.

To break the pattern of our conditioning we need to capture that fleeting moment between repeated experience and repeated response. It is within that in between moment that we can find a new light to bring to the experience. Perhaps a shift in perspective is all we need. Perhaps a leap of faith into an unfamiliar reaction. Perhaps a longer pause, to wait and see how things can unfold differently with a bit more time. In this moment of transition we can find a new way to empower ourself, a new way to heal or a new lesson to embrace. Choosing to break the conditioned response with a response of awareness keeps us present and allows us the opportunity to rewrite a portion of our story.

Blessings, Lisa