Home Wherever I am

I am on my usual morning walk with my puppy Mollie. She leads me to where she wants to go as I allow her the freedom to sniff and explore to her little heart's content. She teaches me to be present and patient. It becomes a walking meditation for me. Without fail, the beauty of nature awakens something deeply inside of me each time I choose to walk mindfully. Daily I am shown the way to live a life that is full and giving. This morning the beloved found me and entered my inner world as sweetly and gently as the sun rising above the trees. My heart was filled with love as I looked all around and felt held in the presence of a power much greater than I. It always humbles me. It was an ordinary day yet with my heart wide open I was experiencing an awakening. No phenomenon, just being swept into a moment of rapture. I stood still, hearing my heart beating and I felt at home right then and there. Home was right here within my heart and there was no searching. It was illuminating everything I gazed at. I saw the details as if someone was shining a spotlight on the world around me. I could hear sounds as if nature was amplified and in that holy moment I remembered that this is who I am. I was okay and there was nothing I had to do to arrive here but to receive it. Drinking it all in, I was filled with a love that seemed infinite. I realized that just as Mollie was guiding me to this presence, I was the one who allowed myself to just fall into love. The divine waits for me to be open and present to all that is right here. I stand by a tree right with a woodpecker just an arm's length in front of me. Wearing his red helmet, he looks right into my eyes. I didn't spiral into the past thinking of missing Steve, instead, I gaze into this bird with my heart wide open. I am filled with appreciation for all that life has brought me. All the ups and downs and ins and outs of day to day living seem to stop and give me the answer I have been waiting for: Be right here and see beyond the image. The mind softens and in the quiet presence of the moment I receive the rhythm of my own life. All my senses seem to be more alive and become the pathway home to my heart. I choose to be in the stream of consciousness instead of the mind of thinking. I feel at home in these familiar surroundings of Anna Maria Island and yet in that moment it wouldn't matter where I was. I am deeply with the divine that is close and intimately within and outside of me. The longing for the beloved isn't a faraway place to get to. It beckons us toward the journey that brings us deeply into our hearts where we are home. When we arrive, it radiates through and joins us with everything that exists. We begin to see the precious gift of life that offers comfort as the world becomes the messenger, giving to us the feeling of belonging. To be in love no matter what the conditions are outside is easier said than done! But if we can trust enough to let go, to surrender, this river of presence can fill you up. We are enough and worthy to drink from this cup of living waters that flows from within.   I make my way to my friend's home and Mollie runs to the door knowing what is waiting for her. She jumps up onto the  laps of Pat and Rob wagging her tail in excitement as she brings love and is loved right back. After getting treats and strokes, she parks herself in front of the screen door. She sits, fully alert and focused within, gazing out into the garden where she watches in stillness. Mollie is home wherever she is. She is happy and content just to be the receiver of life's gifts.  Frannie Hoffman (c) 2015

Kisses From Heaven

Hello my Beloveds!

For the last 18 months I have been on a sabbatical. This time has been an opportunity for me to turn my vulnerable heart toward each precious moment. It has been a transformational time, as grief has melted away more of my falseness and softened the limitations that held me a prisoner of fear.  Lau Tzu says it best, “when I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”  

When my husband Steve transitioned, I kept believing that spirit would guide me to a different life. Although I wanted to run away and start all over, I was forced to stay right here in all of the glory and pain of my vulnerable and broken heart. My home on Anna Maria Island was a safe haven as I continued writing and spending time in silence and inner contemplation. Being with myself, family, friends and my puppy Mollie brought me to a deeper sense of intimacy. I realized that my purpose had not changed at all, it was me that was different.

I am so grateful to all of you for loving me and choosing to walk upon this earth with me. It takes courage to live awake and we are all doing this dance together. In more ways than you will ever know, your hearts touched mine and helped to lift me up. With this New Year we find ourselves moving back into the river of life. New beginnings for us all as we merge with the flow that brings us into our own beautiful authentic expression of self with compassion and openness.

Blessed Be

Frannie

Kisses from Heaven

I bike down to the beach, excited to finally return to this place where the sea meets the sand and sky. My heart expands as I park my bike between two trees. I am pulled by a force that feels like a magnet. I am being guided. That’s what it is like to surrender completely to this presence that knows what you need. Pulled into the stream of consciousness where all that exists is filling me up and moving me into the direction where the veil lifts. Here I fall into the towel, lay upon the white powdery sand and merge deeply inside myself. I let out a sigh of relief. I am here fully and let go of all that burdens me. I feel totally alone, even though the beach is full of people basking in this magnificent day.

I breathe into my body, and melt into the warm of the sun shining on me. I fall deeply into sleep and awaken completely rested, my mind quiet… I hear Steve’s voice in my inner ear, “Hello baby-doll, it’s good to have you here.” I feel held in the womb of spirit and happy to feel the connection.

It is not uncommon to be in this place with Steve. Yet so often I wander off into the valley of sorrow or disappear into the busy mind of unwanted chatter. Sometimes I stay away, not because I consciously choose to, but I am pulled into the direction of doing and that’s okay. It’s part of living in this human world until we find balance. The balance is within and it is always my choice to find that center again or sometimes I am led by my heart like I was today.

I open my eyes and look at the brilliant blue sky. Contrails from planes passing overhead have formed a giant X. Most people just see a design made by an aircraft, but for me, they are kisses from Steve. He always signed his cards to me with big fat Xs. Now, using the sky as his canvas, he is reaching from wherever he is to kiss me with his presence. I feel the warmth of this energy holding me and filling me up with incredible peace. My connection to this feeling lifts the veil that shows me that Steve is right here waiting for me to open to the only way he can connect with me…through this magnificent world.

The veil between the worlds is thinner now and I can talk to my spirit loved ones anytime. As I let go of my own plan and allow myself to be pulled into the stream of consciousness, this union happens where Heaven awaits me. I am welcomed by this breathtaking view of the world that is now illuminated by the light that is within everything and I see the truth. I receive myself as I am joined by spirit. Kissed by the presence where I merge into oneness with all of creation.

How easy it all seems to be when I let go of doing it myself and surrender to the moment. Here the stream pulls me into the flow of life that gives and gives and gives. Into myself I am born again and alive like never before. Merged like never before because more of the falseness has fallen away and I am embraced by all of me. I have allowed myself to be loved, loving all that has come before this moment. The pain and the hurts and fears have all been embraced as I fall more deeply into the moment of what is. The choice is mine to make as I receive the inner guidance that speaks loud and clear, “Welcome Baby doll, I am here wherever you are.”

As I walked away from the beach, I took a picture of the huge X in the sky. I realized as I looked around that now I am never alone.

Later that afternoon I am with my son Luke and we get into a heated conversation. How easy it is to fall into the trap of defensiveness and trying to be right. We both are charged with unwanted energy but talk it out and return to what is true. I own the fact that I am not perfect, and in my self-acceptance I am able to listen to myself and still hear my son. Together we return to the warmth of our truth.

Maybe it didn’t feel as easy as it was earlier when I merged into the powdery warm sand but it was just as real and just as vital to allow that which will pull us into the truth. Here we are kissed by a presence that can free us and open us to what is important. Then the veil is lifted and we can see in every face, the face of God. It is the face of God looking back at me through the eyes of my son. And it is his perfection I see shining through all the imperfections of our humanity.  

Love wins again. As the sun sets into the trees and the moon rises up in all her glory, I am reminded once again that all can be shown to me in the dark where nothing keeps me separate from my connection to this presence that creates worlds. Another day where the veil is so thin and the Mystery reaches into me and wakes me up to welcome all that is new. We can be lead with our hearts without trying to figure it out in our heads, and then bowing down to creation, it begins within.

The Love That Never Dies

“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one, you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to.”

-Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and John Kessler

The preciousness of this life, appreciating ourselves and each other and our world seemed to be awakened more deeply in me during the fragility of the days, weeks and months since the sudden death of my husband Steve last June. It didn’t matter how emotionally or physically fit I thought I was, the day my husband died unexpectedly from an aneurism- I was shattered and broken. The continuously busy world went on around me as I entered into the valley of sorrow where my children, family and friends stood with me. I was in shock and the trauma pushed me inside where all was revealed and uncovered. Moving through the pain without distraction was the ticket Home. At the time, I was sad, hurt, angry and alone. The grief devoured me like a hungry animal.

No one can fix us or do this work for us. When I stayed in the missing and longing for my husband, and some days that is all I could do, I would cry those buckets of endless tears. I was brought to my knees and to the very roots of the pain. There was no one to blame for now I had no choice but to deeply face it all for myself. Here is where some more of the falseness fell away and I returned to what was true. Now I can see clearer as I look upon my life up to this moment and listen deeply to what is being given. I can receive the truth that I am worthy.

As Joseph Campbell says so beautifully, “the privilege of a lifetime is to be who you are”.

When I joined with Steve in spirit, my misery faded.  Maybe his body was gone but his spirit was brilliant.  I witnessed first- hand how this time of great sorrow was to bring me greater awareness and transformation.

The sadness of a life without him will always be with me and as the days, weeks, months and now a year has gone by, this missing him is a constant companion. It is an incredible and life changing experience as I now can look upon the moment of his transition and I am so grateful to have had such a man. He led me back to my Beloved. Here we are never separate and never alone. I walk on in appreciation of life that continues to go on. I can feel the joy again and that is the gift when you allow sorrow to intimately be your teacher.

Life on this earth is a great treasure and we are surrounded by angels. The moment Steve left his body he was right there in all of his radiance, dialoging with me in all kinds of ways. Many of my friends and family also had visitations from him and he even told one of my girl- friends that he would joke with her until I was ready to play again. These angels or guides are our spirit loved ones floating around us or walking on this planet with us in physical form. Even the ones we imagine to be in conflict with us or the ones we view as our enemy, they are angels. Steve was and still is that angel that has assisted me in healing and continues to do so. His death was divinely on purpose to bring the gift of love that never dies.

Writing has always healed my heart and has helped me to create expression for my soul. I wrote and wrote through these months and now it is turning into a book called, Good Grief! Loss- The Doorway to New Life. I hope to have it available by the New Year. I also would like to share that I will start back with one to one sessions after my daughter’s wedding which is August 29th. I will send out an email when I return from California.

In the meantime, I am excited to share with you my new co-creation! I wrote a chapter for a collaborative book project called Transform Your Life! that will feature tools to inspire transformation in readers' lives!  At this same time, the book will feature authors who have overcome tremendous obstacles and through them found meaning and purpose to not only transform their lives but the lives of others.

As an author I am able sell books at a discount rate for 20% off. I will be honored if you will help support me and the book's movement to help people transform their lives. You can do this by simply spreading the word and/or purchasing the book to inspire your own life or gift to a friend.

I want to thank you for celebrating with me in this opportunity to collaborate and make a difference!

This is the link to purchase the book:

http://transformation-publishing.com/book/transform-your-life

When you go to check out use this coupon code:

 Coupon Code:  frannie20

P.S. The coupon is good on ALL books on Transformation Publishing's site!

Happy Mother's Day

As I fold the laundry, the sounds of a mocking bird come joyously through the open window where I stand. It is dawn as I welcome the good morning into my heart. I take in the music of this sweet song until it overflows and spills out of me. My cup runneth over with this love that comes gushing from inside.  I close my mind and surrender my heart as I lose my self to the feeling of being alive.

This feeling of contentment in just being present with myself fills me up with the appreciation of my life. This communion with spirit seems to touch me like a long lost lover coming to visit. I welcome the moment for the gifts are plenty as I am swept into the stillness and filled with the sweet company of a love that is beyond this world. In this silence the presence of God is like a kiss.

I can feel life happening all around me in this quiet moment as I gaze towards the side yard and watch the butterfly moving from the hibiscus to the orange blossom tree. So gentle its touch as I begin to receive the thoughts of my mother. I allow the tears to fall freely from my eyes. It opens me up to drink in the precious moment of just being here.

Life is so full and how easy we can be pulled into the busyness. This moment has come for me to drink in the nectar of a sweet moment in time to remember how I love my mother and all she gave so unconditionally. The pictures of her that float across my mind's eye tell me such a beautiful story. Her loveliness was not just physical; it was shining through her eyes and her touch. She was an ageless beauty and even though the painful years of sickness wore her down, there was a spirit so free that lived in her paintings she created, her meals she cooked, her decorating of any home she lived in, her gardens filled with flowers and fragrance of many kinds and oh how sweetly she played with her grand-children. She loved us so much.

I miss her every day and yet the longing for her brings me to all kinds of feelings that sometimes are covered up by a busy life of giving or doing. How easy it is to slip something on like some form of protection from feeling the world around us. I remember the gloves my mother wore when she got dressed up. Some of them were just to the wrist and others were long and elegant and covered her arms right up to her elbows.  I could not wait to wear those glamorous accessories when I was a child.

But now, for me, I like to get dressed to face the world and as I breathe, I feel my skin being touched by my clothes and then I rest in my very being within as I let go of all that is trapped inside. I open myself to receive the fear and hope, confusion and certainty with a compassionate heart. Rising above all these things without leaving them brings me to the doorway where I walk on.

Sometimes just giving thanks for the mystery of it all, brings me to discover that love is all around.

How blessed I am to be a mother, not perfect but bruised, as I continue to take care of myself and cherish my children and loved ones.

 For my mother:

If I could tell you what I feel-

I would cry the words out loud.

Wrapping myself around the longing for your touch.

My heart feels empty without you here.

Yet full of sadness spilling out like an endless river of tears.

You are gone- You are so near.

For every thought is of you.

I grasp onto the memories that pour through me-

trying to remember every part of you.

Don't leave me for a moment for

I do not want to forget-

You my precious mother.

I do not want you to fade away like a

dream that once was dreamt and now forgotten.

How could I live without you?

You will live within me as

everything I do, I will do for you.

To live my life fully, for when I do,

I will feel this grateful life that

I was birthed because of you.

Happy Mother's Day!

Namaste` 

Frannie

Intuition Can Guide Your Way

The greatest gift we can give to ourselves and to those around us is good health; to be healthy at all levels - body, mind and spirit. Achieving this kind of health is seldom easy.

Each day that I can get out of bed, I am blessed. So long as this heart beats, I am blessed to get up and attend to the business of being human as I am committed to cultivate compassion and to trust in faith that intuition can guide my way.

Intuition or 6^th sense, is a gift we all have but sometimes our energy is blocked. When we resist our uncomfortable feelings, anxiety can become intense and sometimes overwhelming. If we lean into these feelings and breathe in without making up a story our courage grows and we create space inside to listen deeply to truth.

It is my intention to start each morning centered within from a place of worthiness. Here I am able to face the events of the day with a compassionate heart and to know that no matter what is going on in the outer world, every situation offers me a chance to practice healthy living. Even if I do not accomplish everything on the list that had been created in my mind, can it be enough and most important, can I feel enough? When I do not take care of myself or listen to my heart, I get tired and the flow stops and eventually I get sick. 

It was early morning as I raced out of bed with my plan to make scalloped potatoes for the family Easter dinner. I wanted to get a lot done so that I could get to Sunday morning Yoga. During the class I could feel waves of nausea pass through me. I didn't want to feel defeated by the moment of weakness and I kept flowing through my postures, focusing on the practice of being present and also delighting in the fact that my son Luke was on a mat beside me. This was his first class and it was great to see him participating in the exercise.

I had just been sick with a cold for two weeks and I would not give in to these feelings that were trying to wrestle me down onto the mat. Instead I stayed in the energy of a peaceful union with the divine that was flowing in between a sick feeling deep inside.

When the class ended I still held my head up high and thought that I was okay as I communed in the satisfaction of sharing yoga with Luke as we walked home enjoying just being together. Entering in through the door of my house, the smell of baked scalloped potatoes filled the air. The smell of cooked food turned my stomach as I covered my face, still in denial I rushed past the kitchen and fell into bed just for a little while. I will feel better in an hour, I thought to myself. By the time my in- laws arrived the fever and waves of flu hit me like a ton of bricks and I was down for the count as Easter dinner went on without me.

As I lay in bed, I lean into the discomfort of aches and nausea that take over, I feel defeated by this tiny uninvited guest that has entered my body. I surrender to the moment as compassion fills me with the thoughts of others that are sick every day.

I begin to remember being ill for ten or more years, when getting out of bed to feed my children was the greatest of challenges. Years of chemical sensitivities and chronic fatigue was my greatest teacher when one breath of a pollutant would put me into a catatonic state and kept me in bed for days and days. Every day I felt like I had a flu as doctors could not find the answer to my suffering. Months of endless visits to medical doctors finally lead me to listen inward.

As the doctor sat in front of me saying that the only solution was to put me on a tranquilizer, I felt the terror bring me deeply into my body and a voice inside said NO! I bolted out of there as if energy was pushing me. I knew deep inside that in that moment spirit was guiding my way. The shift happened for me as I felt the confidence to trust my gut feelings and not give this doctor the authority.

That day was a turning point as I chose the path less traveled and life unfolded for me in a divine way. I chose to listen inward. Books fell into my hands as my eyes were opened to alternative medicine. There was no turning back as I was directed by a force that spoke to my heart and unleashed the healing within. 

Meditation became my medicine as I embraced the parts of my past that were hidden and causing unbalance. As I opened myself up to all of the uncomfortable feelings that were now rising up, I began to let go and surrender to fully being inside myself. I didn't have to be afraid of what was within me. I needed my connection to myself no matter what it felt like. This liberated me.

It is only through the pain and sorrow do we grasp the freedom of fully being here as we begin to experience the blessings of an imperfect life.

These years of searching for health was the beginning of finding my true self as I allowed stillness to bring me out of anxiety. I cultivated a new lifestyle of inner reflection, contemplation, breathing deeply, eating consciously and yoga.  I would write for hours and let the flow of spirit fill the pages of my journal. I would ask questions and gently I would connect to an energy that would speak to my heart like a long lost friend. I listened and allowed a higher vibration to fill me up and guide my way into a new and higher perspective. Days were filled with this communication as I began to trust spirit.This was over 25 years ago as I pioneered the path back to wholeness.

The balance within creates a neutral way, like a doorway into the present moment where the silence guides us on our path. This connection to our spiritual being is where the messages of the heart can lead us. Through this connection we can share it with others. Haven't you wondered where that thought came from or those words that just spilled out of your tongue? All of a sudden truth chills, as I call them, move up and down your spine and fills up your whole body and somehow you know that you have lined up with spirit.

It takes a conscious effort to move inward. To neutralize the charge of past energies locked up in the body. These energies are stuck within our tissues like blocks that stop the flow within. This stagnation of energy can cause illness.  The triggers of the outside world can help us free these old feelings and thoughts that keep us a prisoner of beliefs that do not serve any longer.

Emotional health can lead to physical healing. We do not need to be afraid of the fear that seems to be a part of this human experience. If we do not run away or deny what is here within us, we can allow it to open us up into more life. With our hearts wide open we can choose to respond with kindness to ourselves or others.

We have a responsibility to ourselves to practice healthy living moment to moment as we clear our own emotional baggage and let go of the judgments that keep the pain and suffering alive. This settles in our bodies and makes us sick. That's why I say, our issues are in our tissues.  As the world of events and circumstances continue to spin around us we are given another moment to stay present long enough to receive the truth that expresses life through us.

Health is our birthright and it takes commitment to choose a lifestyle that keeps us aligned with spirit. The best way to be in tune with your intuitive nature is to understand the feedback you get from your physical body. Your body honestly reflects how energy impacts you through all kinds of physical symptoms. If you are in alignment with your soul, then you're going to feel more relaxed and your heart will beat more steadily and your energy will remain high. If you are making poor choices and compromising your heart, your body will communicate this too! Listening to your body can keep you balanced and safe. Your body is the conduit for your higher self and the more you pay attention to it you are accessing your own inner healer. Listen to your body as you create balance for yourself as your 6^thsense guides your way.   

Blessed Be,

Frannie 

Join me at my upcoming Circle of Light Meditation Groups:

 

Sign up for my 'Opening To Your Sixth Sense' Workshop: http://www.islandyogaspace.com/registerme.php

Within Us All

Forever and ever you'll stay in my heart

And I will love you
Forever and ever we never shall part
Oh, how I'll love you

-written by Burt Bacharach and Hal Davis for Dionne Warwick

My sisters and I sang this song by Dionne Warwick to our mother each day when we were with her before she died suddenly of a stroke. Mom had Alzheimer’s and caring for her wasn’t always easy. She would be in her own tormented inner world but the moment we would converge together singing as loud as we could, I say a little prayer for you…she would smile from ear to ear. The joy we felt singing the song was contagious and mom would shift into a laugh no matter what was going on with her. That song helped us shift too and for a moment we would all forget the hardships we were going through.

It has been over 3 years since my mother’s passing and whenever I feel low, tired of life, fearful of what is happening in the world, I call out to my mom and ask for help. Out of the blue that song would appear as I would turn on my radio or sometimes it comes blasting from an unknown source, even someone’s open car window. I have no doubt that her spirit comes through in a way to comfort me to say “I am here”. I have heard spirit speak to me in all kinds of ways since I was a young woman and as the truth chills move up and down my spine or an overwhelming peace fills my moment, I know that I am guided by a power that knows what I need. How do I know? I just know.

I didn’t understand the gift I had as a medium until one of my best girlfriend’s died suddenly of an aneurism over 30 years ago. Her name was Debbie. Let me bring you into that moment that changed my life forever.

I sit in a room with Debbie’s dead body. Nothing was more important to me than being with her again. So here I sit, alone with death.

No one can tell you what it feels like to be with someone you love who has just died but I will try. As my great friend Debbie laid lifeless before me, I began to speak to her. The intimacy I felt was familiar as I shared with her feelings from deep within my being.

I felt held in a love from beyond this world. In that moment Debbie was both a friend and a teacher, showing me that she was so much more than a body. This experience with my dear friend marked the beginning of my path to spirit.

It started when Debbie’s mother, devastated at the way they prepared her body for the viewing – she thought they made her look like an old lady – asked me to give Debbie a quick make-over. I don’t know what came over me but even though I was trembling inside and walking on shaky ground I had a feeling that took over and I said yes I would help. It was the final gift I could give my sweet Debbie. I knew how she liked to present herself to the world.

As I set about styling my friend, the entire room was transformed into a sacred holy place. I fixed her hair, put makeup on her face and nail polish on her fingernails. Each touch was the most precious of all moments as I tenderly cared for my friend. Though her skin was cold, I felt the warmth of her spirit there in the room with me.

Her spirit danced around the room, free and larger than she ever could be in her petite five foot body. Her spirit was alive. At that time, this experience was beyond comprehension for me. As her love spoke to my heart, I felt her in every cell of my being. I looked down at her peaceful face. How beautiful she was and she never really knew it. I think, “How perfect she is!” and feel privileged to touch her for the very last time. I bent down and kissed her. I thank her for being my friend and for loving me and supporting me.

I see her with her hair fixed and her makeup just right and those perfect nails that she worked so hard at growing. She looked beautiful in her death and full of life in her spirit.

It was after my son was born and I would rock him in the wee hours of the night, I would feel Debbie’s presence and see her walk in front of me looking young and full of light. Her visitations began and slowly I would open and listen to the sweetness of her communication. There were no words, only love and peace. I felt her there helping me to know that we are not alone and able to join with our spirit loved ones.

Debbie’s death was the catalyst that brought me to my purpose. My gift is to serve as a conduit, a connector to help people find their way back to their open heart.

I am no longer afraid of death. I owe this peace to all who have come to me during and after their transition. I have been shown the other side or “rooms” on the other side of the veil. As I move more deeply inside my connection to myself, the focused attention brings me beyond the confines of my human body and into the experience of our light body. This feeling is so freeing.

My meditation practice has helped me to trust that spirit is always waiting for me to be quiet enough to send me a message that could assist me. I have no doubt that this way of being is important for us all. As each of us are used in our own unique way to help the planet wake-up to the deeper meaning of life.

When I take my gaze inward, breathing consciously into this moment, I can feel myself let go of everything I think I know and enter inside as I reside at the entrance to my heart. I begin to soften and ground into my body and out of my head. I become the doorway to other worlds beyond this one. The veil lifts and my focus shifts into a feeling of oneness with everything around me as all of me within is joined in an infinite light that joins me with spirit. It really doesn’t matter if I recognize the messenger. I invite spirit in as my awaited guest. I listen deeply to the silence of my mind as my heart fills up with the energy of being present. I receive the gift that is given as the formless merges with me as inspiration bringing so much more to me than just these words.

You could say that here we merge with God in a way that makes life more full as creation spills out onto the blank pages before me. If I had a paint brush I could allow the strokes to move with ease upon the white canvas, sing the song that fills the air with joy or move the body from the inside to the outside as the dance with spirit swirls and twirls like a whirling dervish bringing the sweet presence to all I meet.

It is an energy that just wants to move through us as we open and receive more life. It feeds us and when we share it and when others connect to it, there is more life. We are in community and we are here to share this food that we receive.

Yesterday at my yoga class, my teacher Cindy read a story about children who were told that whoever would get to a certain tree before the others would get a basket of fruit. The children decided to hold hands and run together to the tree. When the teacher asked why they did that, the child said because together we could all have the fruit. They knew that together they would all benefit.

As I hear the story it tells us all to share this fruit of our creation. Spirit is right here sitting on the doorstep of our hearts, waiting to come and share in the glory of creation. In spirit we receive the inspiration that guides our way and fills us up. This truth can free us from the prison of our own ego mind continuing to keep us stuck in old beliefs and patterns that hold us back and keeps us tight, hugging to our fears and doubts. Maybe we believe that there is not enough to share and we keep it for ourselves. I can’t do that. I came into the world as a triplet and sharing has been natural. In the womb I knew about oneness and I am sure we all came in with this knowingness. But life brought us to the place of learning about separation and now it just doesn’t work. Then crisis happens and strips us down and humbles us to ask for help. Why are we ever surprised when they come and offer us comfort and a hand to hold?

As there are angels in the heavens just waiting for us to ask for help, so are there earth angels giving us the message over and over again, that we are not alone. Let us not wait for the crisis. Open up now to that infinite spirit that waits for you to quiet your mind and come into your present state of being. Listen. Here you might hear your name called like a whisper in the wind and your spirit loved one may be singing your song, reminding you that you are not alone. Here is where you can hear the message of love that guides your way and touches the world with more life as you share it in your beautiful authentic way of being you. Forever, forever…..

Blessed Be,

Frannie

Will You Be My Valentine?

 

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love.

It's the only thing that there's just too little of."  -Hal David

Is there really so little love in this world or are we so focused on the pain and conflicts? It is sometimes easier to remain stuck in old mind sets or behaviors even when they keep us feeling miserable. Are we afraid of confronting the truth and lost in being victims instead of looking at ourselves face to face so that we can let go of what stands in the way? Here I realize that keeping myself closed stops me from letting love in. Here I contribute to keeping the lie alive that there's just too little of love. When all I need to do is release what is holding me back and forgive the past, allowing compassion to contribute to the world.

It really doesn't matter who you are, where you have been, whatever the beliefs that guide your way, there comes a time when we all have a longing to be touched through the heart. Each of us needs to nourish the soul as we breathe deeply into the truth that we are loved. Accepting this statement is easier said than done sometimes. So much of our days are filled with judgments of our self or another that we forget that each of us is deeply loved.

God's will for us all is that we be happy. When we make a choice to be happy, the whole world looks different to us. Sometimes it is so much easier to feel all of our negative feelings like shame, anger, sadness or resentment. We get caught up in the loop of these unhappy feelings and forget to give ourselves permission to feel some happiness. Yes, we have to feel these negative feelings but that is only to release them so that we can feel the truth that is underneath it all. It can take days, weeks or just a moment as we find our way back to what is real and live more fully in our hearts.

Love takes discipline and practice. It's not just the sweet words on a greeting card. It is the moments we spend with spirit as we pray and meditate or just walk mindfully in our life. These moments we spend with God in the silence is the muscle that strengthens this inner connection. Here we listen as we let go of what we are doing and merge with who we are. We become still and the voice of acceptance calms us down and brings a peace that fills us up. I don't know about you, but this sure makes me feel happy and I realize that when I give this to myself, it is a lot easier to demonstrate and express love in many different ways. Like this morning, while I am writing these words, I lift my gaze from the computer screen as I see my husband making his way out of the bedroom with his hair all messy from the night's sleep and shuffles over to the coffee maker, I say, "good morning my darling". When we offer this gift with a genuine heart, the giver is also the receiver as we contribute to giving a little more love to our world.

Can we come to the altar of our heart each day and awaken to a new moment to be with spirit. Here all is well as love is shared with all we meet.

Turning inward, I go deeper inside to myself.

The moment I awake I am lost in your embrace.

You are the sweetness as I breathe into what is being revealed in this glorious moment.

You are my beloved, precious presence that lives deeply inside all that I am.

Wake up little one!

Wake up to this moment where you are here to bring about change.

The doves sing the song of creation, nudging you to plant the seeds of truth.

Oh sweet mystery, dance upon the heaviness of my heart.

Take me into the sunshine where it is warm and inviting.

I keep walking as the shadows of the past lurk behind every step.

I look upwards and find your light gazing softly like a sweet smile on the lips of a lover guiding me even if I cannot see.

I am feeling it all yet I dwell in the comfort of your vision of a vast meadow.

Here is where I lay in the arms of your embrace and look upwards to all that passes by.

The clouds look back as the winds push it all away, giving me the answers that guide me closer to truth.

I hear the way Spirit speaks to me like the still flower raising its petals to the sun.

Opening more and more until the fragrance of such a beautiful bloom fills the air with the aliveness of just being.

I am here in the midst of the same moment again and again where life forms into one precious moment.

Be still my sweet love and know that I am here.

Be quiet as the voice of nothing speaks louder for all your tomorrows.

Be here and let all that has crowded you make passage for your Self be known and true.

This is love. This is love.

Blessed Be My Valentine

All my love,

Frannie