By Debra Basham, on April 26, 2014
A man without ambition is dead.
A man with ambition but no love is dead.
A man with ambition and love
for his blessings here on earth is ever so alive.
–Pearl Bailey
This day brings opportunity—just like every other day—to decide what I am going to focus on. I *think* I am pretty much an optimist. Even so, it is not easy to notice when I am giving my energy and attention in ways that is counterproductive.
I am blessed to receive a daily message from David Bloyd. I have never met David, but learned of his email messages through a writer friend/colleague from Florida. This morning, David’s opening is a quotation by Jarod Kintz, “One of my main regrets in life is giving considerable thought to inconsiderate people.”
David mentions Kintz had most likely made a play on a statement by Bernard Baruch about people: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” David goes on to say we spend a lot of time concerning ourselves about those who cause us grief of one kind or another, when all that does is consume our time and energy.
Have you noticed the way hindsight often provides appreciation for things that are challenging in the moment? In the Vipassana practice, the encouragement is to abandon the unwholesome and cultivate the wholesome. Wednesday’s Wholesome Thought entitled “Both Ends” says we can end up giving our energy to the things we don’t want.
Later today I am honored to offer the following interfaith “prayer for our earth” at the Earth Day celebration:
Creator of Life—you who are nameless yet known by many names. You are the source of All That Is, present with us here now and for all time.
Great Spirit, we hear you singing through the pines.
Holy One, we see you when the full moon hides her face behind the clouds.
Earth Mother, your beauty delights us.
Pachamama, you provide for our every need.
Thankfully, you bless our good intentions, and forgive our ignorance of the holiness of the ground beneath our feet.
Heavenly Father, from a distance the world looks black and white, but things are not as they appear, for just as surely as each finger on a hand is related to nose and eye and fist and beating heart, we—like you—are related to all creation.
Allah. Buddha. Christ. Jehovah. Krishna. Yahweh.
Beloved. Infinite. Higher Power. Source.
We gather not to set ourselves apart from one another or from our planet, but to share the truth as spoken by Mother Teresa: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
We gather not to worship either hollow images or sacred teachings.
We gather to celebrate each expression of divine love in the world.
Blessed be.
And so it is!
Aho.
Amen.
The song “count your blessings” is running through my head as my fingers play across the keyboard…If you are not familiar with it, or even if you are, you may enjoy having the melody in your heart now, too!
By Debra Basham, on April 18, 2014
Recently I enjoyed an evening with a young woman I have known for several years. She has blossomed into an incredible individual—filled with spark and excited to be a part of his planet earth.
As we were sharing I was reflecting on all the truly remarkable individuals I have been honored to connect with in person. The list includes Gary Zukav, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Deepak Chopra, Esther Hicks, Eric Pearl, and John of God. I have studied extensively with Dr. Richard Bandler, and was mentored in Healing Touch™ by Janet Mentgen. I share this not to impress you, but to acknowledge the awe life holds.
When I was with Pine Island Writers on “author’s row” in Fort Myers, Florida at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival in March (2014), where I got to hear Sue Monk Kidd speak. Authors can seem bigger than life, but what impressed me about her is how down-to-earth she is. Some of the most memorable notes from her talk include:
“The job of a novelist is to take a bad situation and make it worse.”
“The story starts in the ‘ordinary world’ then comes the call to adventure.”
“Well-behaved women never make history.”
Also while in Florida, I enjoyed riding bikes in the sun. I rode underneath eagle nests and along the canals. I met some truly wonderful authors. Plenty of time was spent playing dominoes, taking boat trips, and sharing meals with friends. Chance meetings with like-minded others dotted the landscape.You could say I spent my time in immersed in nature…. If you would like to see a short video of seven manatee in the canal, send email because I am glad to share.
After a rather leisured winter, the past few weeks have been very busy. Before leaving Florida, I was organizing, packing, and loading. We were intentional about making our trip home a journey: beginning with a day of bike riding along the rim of Lake Okeechobee before going on to visit our friend Linda Allen, in her lovely condo in our beloved Port Saint Lucie. We enjoyed brunch with my nephew, Scott, and his delightful friend, Heidi. Dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant was as delicious as we remembered.
Landing in middle Tennessee Monday, April 7, I had the joy of sharing time with some of the remarkable healers I get to call friends. An entire week of savoring moments with our daughter and her family included yummy meals, fun evenings, and delightful days.
On the drive to Michigan, we squeezed in lunch with friends in Indy on Monday, April 14—just in time to get our income tax return into the mail on Tuesday!
Since mid-December, hours have folded into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months: each moment leaving it’s indelible mark on my heart space. That process continues…
As I settle back into my Michigan routine, the joy of reconnecting here rings deeply in my soul. A hug from my sister, Janis; meditation with the St. Joe Sangha; Thursday morning book club at Full City Cafe; getting back to work at Borgess Health & Fitness Center; and being welcomed back to Parkview Hills by Joel and Bobbie and McGee (Joel is my faithful business partner of 15 years, and Bobbie and McGee are his two cats that I have loved since they were frightened little kitties).
Amidst all of this outer activity, my inner journey has been tender and at times raw. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home! Follow the yellow brick road….
By Debra Basham, on March 25, 2014
Most people are aware of the formula for setting goals that suggests goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Looking at the first letter of each word in the list, you get smart.
While listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer recently, I resonated with him saying you need to be fearless about your dreams and let success chase you. He went on to point out that everything isn’t just coming from the past. There is also pulling from the future.
As I begin to ponder some current business-related goals, I am aware these overlap into my soul. The issues I am grappling with are not compartmentalized; so I am taking to heart the suggestion that sharing your goals with a community of people who care about you strengthens your commitment and betters your odds for success. So here we go!
- Revamp scs-matters.com home page
- Put an appropriate “call to action” on every page of the website
- Get the rest of the audios moved to CD Baby
- Set up mail chimp and build a vital email communication system
These four can be done relatively quickly with the help of Joel (co-developer of SCS) and Rebecca (our webmaster).
- Redesign ImagineHealing.info
- Redesign SurgicalSupport.info
- Develop an enhanced e-book to deepen connection
- Create an app for easy access
These four will happen most effectively by a resource person with experience Joel and Rebecca and I do not have. So building a team of technology support persons is key.
Now I get into more significant goals—these are why the previous four are important:
- Teach healing with energy and language via technology
- Integrate this information into churches, hospitals, and universities
- Write and share widely Debra’s Tips for Well-Being and Wholesome Thoughts
- Inspire individuals to live empowered, healthy, happy lives of service to greater good
While all of these are important, they only hint at the dreams about making a huge difference in the world!
- Live a life of faith, hope, and love
- Encourage and activate sustainability
- Lavish wisdom in concrete and symbolic ways
- Build a legacy by committing my full attention on living my spirituality
Today I learned one of the bald eagle chicks I had been watching all winter flew into power lines and was electrocuted. The chick’s first flight was on March 12, and its last flight was on March 21. I am deeply saddened by this news, yet, I recognize part of the reality of life on this planet is impermanence. I will honor this chick’s contribution by letting my heart break open more and more. I will walk blindly into my own emotions and watch as they flow into the stream of all human emotions. I will remember that the river always flows to the sea….
By Debra Basham, on March 17, 2014
Most of those who grew up in the Western world, know about Chicken Little. The folktale reminds us how foolish we can be when we panic. Chicken Little begins calling out “The sky is falling, the sky is falling, it hit me on the head!” when an acorn falls on his head.
Convinced the world is at great risk, he journeys to tell the King. Along the way, he incites fear in others (interestingly, the others are mostly fowl) who also join in the wild goose chase. The not-so-happy ending has these foolish creatures being lured into his lair and eaten by Foxy Loxy. The happy ending version has the chick receive a warning, just in the nick of time.
As is the case with other fables, truth resonates from this story, and I saw it first hand when a friend was able to overcome fear and activate her innate healing ability.
We were riding bikes when we stopped to watch a remote-control power boat racing wildly. The wind was strong, and her bike was light. It toppled over so quickly it took all of us by surprise. Thinking the worst of the event was the mirror hanging downward on the end of her handlebar, the guys rode on. As she started to get back on her bike, however, she noticed a VERY large “goose egg” on her calf.
The hematoma was already dark, and growing darker by the moment.
“Let’s do energy work on it now,” I was off my bike and heading her way. We both started doing Healing Touch™ on her leg.
I was also wishing I had some Arnica Montana (an amazing homeopathic remedy with the nickname bruises), and some Rescue Remedy (Bach Flower essence for trauma relief). I carry both in my purse, but I only had my fanny pack.
“If I had my purse here, I would give you some remedies,” I started, “so let’s have you take them energetically.”
In a way it is just like using your imagination. You know how it is to imagine biting into a lemon wedge and your cheeks will react? Our bodies cannot tell the difference between reality and imagination. That is why your stomach will do a flip flop watching a video of a rollercoaster.
She imagined having the remedies as we finished up the Healing Touch™ work. When the guys came back to see what was taking us so long, the egg-sized knot was almost completely gone!
Looking at her leg and listening to her tell the guys, “There had been a knot as big as a large egg, but it has already gone down!” I remembered having worked with my grandson after a bike injury when he said the worst part about having me work with him was that his dad would never believe how badly he had been hurt!
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| This image (found online) says it best! |
We all got back on our bikes and finished the ride along a linear park with many turtles, fish, and water fowl. The wind was at our backs and the sun was warm on our faces, and we had an amazing time together out in nature.
Last evening I received a message from her saying that when she rubbed her hand over it, she could not feel any knot! Here is her self-report from this morning: “Leg is soooo much better today. Did spin class this a.m. and now am on the way to do some grocery shopping.”
I wrote back these three words, “Grateful, grateful, grateful…”
I am grateful I learned this stuff. I am grateful it works. I am grateful she was willing to remember that the sky is not falling.
My only regret is that we did not take pictures!
By Debra Basham, on February 28, 2014
Never born never died,
only visited this planet Earth
between 11 December 1931 and 19 January 1990.
~ On the tombstone of Osho, contemporary mystic
This morning I read a Huffington Post news story of an amazing 99 year-old man. Dobri Dobrev, a resident of Sofia, Bulgaria, is a saint in beggar’s clothing. Every day he takes to the streets to beg, but he gives all he collects—plus his monthly pension—to churches and orphanages. He once gave a single gift of $24,000! Dobrev says he once did a “bad thing” so he is trying to make up for it.
It has been a very intense inner week, and reading this story of Dobrev’s life of service just magnifies what is going on inside me. Some weeks are like that. Seeing the snow melt, learning of a loved-one’s death, tossing away some moldy bread. Everything in my world is reminding me of impermanence and the desire to make a difference in the world. So I ponder…
In the midst of my pondering, this email Thought for the Day from Aaron popped in:
To me, the most important thing that the Buddha taught was that we all have the capacity to awaken. This is our innate nature. We are all Buddhas ready to awaken. In awakening, we become free, liberated from this cycle of birth and death. In other words you are all of the nature to awaken, ready to open your eyes. Freedom is not something that will come to you somewhere in a thousand lifetimes. Freedom is right here and right now, in this lifetime, in this moment.
I wrote to Barbara Brodsky, who channels Aaron, asking her for additional insight. “This one made me wonder what it means to be released from the cycle of birth and death. As I anticipate my future, I have a sense of being eternal, but wonder if you can say more or point me toward something in the archives to satisfy my intellect’s desire to know more.”
Barbara’s simple reply was soothing on many levels: “What he means is that we are no longer pulled karmically into the cycle of rebirth. We can still choose to return, for service and with love.”
In 2011, as I was anticipating surgery to remove a “very aggressive growth” in my abdomen, fear of death was dancing in the back of my mind. Although I had not told many people about the experience I had participating in a workshop in 1999, I had seen my timeline end at 2012. The workshop facilitator wanted me to go in and extend my timeline, and was very upset when I chose not to do so, saying, “If it is my destiny, I will face it.”
So in those last few weeks of 2011, I was wondering if I was witnessing destiny. I did not feel ready to die, I did not want to leave this life, and I was very relieved on New Years Day to still be here!
For sure, we have all done something we might think of as having been “bad.” Maybe we will be blessed to live beyond 99 years like Dobrev, but since we do not know when we will leave this planet earth, in the meantime, I guess you and I have some service to be about….
By Debra Basham, on February 17, 2014
Dear God,
Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.
–Children’s Letters to God
When I saw this quotation I knew a blog about gifts in unexpected places was asking to be shared!
On Sunday, John (my husband) and I were going to go off-island for a bike ride. Most days we are content to ride on on Pine Island, visiting Eagles’ nests, seeing Falcons, Vultures, Hawks, Osprey, Woodstorks, Egrets, Ibis, Pelicans, Herons, and various other of the nature available on any given day. But we needed groceries, so it was worth putting the bike rack on the van, loading the bikes, and driving the 14 miles. I had planned to ride Veterans Parkway, an urban trail we have previously enjoyed.
When we got the bikes unloaded and headed out, John wanted to go the other direction. I went along for the ride, so to speak, but as we stood by the side of a busy road waiting to cross, I felt the familiar twinges of annoyance. “Why do I agree to something I do not want to do?” I mused inside my head.
Once across the highway, I settled in a bit, grateful for a bike path and almost no traffic. The sun was shining, we had little wind, and the temperature was a very comfortable 75 degrees. My emotions are fickle, I admit that. A premenstrual teenaged girl has nothing on me in that department…
An easy rhythm developed into our making right turns. I love the metaphor of that! Down one side street, up the next, more and more right turns.
We spotted a garage sale and decided to stop. Not noticing a sign “EVERYTHING ON THIS TABLE $1, I picked up a couple of little things and asked the price. Thinking a dollar each was way too much money for the items I had picked up, I put them back but spontaneously heard myself say, “I will take this set of dishes.”
I could tell by looking it was not a complete set, having only five tea cups, but it was still a bargain at $5. While in Florida I could use more dishes that are microwave and dishwasher safe. Handing her the money, I said, “Just pack them up for me, and we will drive back and pick them up.”
A car pulled up and another shopper began browsing. I overheard the other woman grumble, “Damn, people. I wish they would leave us alone.” Actually, the sale was over and they were trying to pack up.
The woman had just started carefully wrapping each of the dished and putting them into a big box when we arrived. I had an intuitive while we had been there earlier, and now as I began to help her wrap and pack, I asked her if the dishes were part of an estate sale. “Yes, they belonged to my sister, Joanne.”
“I am sorry for your loss. How old was your sister?” I could feel her sadness.
She thought for a moment, then told me, “She was 70, and she died last April.”
“I will say a prayer for Joanne every time I use her dishes. I will say one for you, too…”
“What about me? Say a prayer for me, too!” called the other woman, the one who had grumped about people still coming to buy.
“One for Joanne, and one for each of you….” I smiled gently at Joanne’s sister.
Joanne’s sister had a wistful look on her face as she said, “I am glad the dishes are going to someone who will appreciate them. They meant a lot to my sister and that means a lot to me.” I could feel the significance of my current reading of John Edward’s One Last Time: A psychic medium speaks to those we have loved and lost.
As I loaded Joanne’s dishes in the van, I could feel the truth of our lives being moved along by an unseen benevolent force. It was as though my day had been orchestrated by a woman I had never met so that I could bring a gift of peace to a woman I will most likely never meet again.
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| Joanne’s Johnson Brothers Indian Tree China. |
By Debra Basham, on February 5, 2014
Miles are covered one inch at a time.
I believe our birth story (you may have heard tales of your coming into this life) reveals significant threads of your soul purpose—your particular gifts, and your challenges. When I am interviewing a new client I often ask what he or she knows about his or her birth. Some stories are exciting, like “I was born in the back seat of a cab.” Some are frightening: “I was so black my dad thought they were showing him the wrong baby because he thought the baby he was looking at was not Caucasian.” Some birth stories are quite detailed and others are really a question mark, such as with an adoption.
I remember having heard my mom say she had gotten very stressed out by the other women in the labor ward (now there is a term most young mothers will not even recognize) and her labor “stopped.” I am musing about how that might relate to my patience, or lack there of.
I have been watching this snail on the wall of the carport. I wonder what he (she?) thinks about all day and whether or not it is frustrating to cover the same ground over and over again so slowly one can barely perceive any movement at all. In some ways, that reminds me of the nature of the soul.
It has been said that the nature of the soul is cyclical. It seems as though we are covering the same ground but we are actually coming around again from a different point. You can see that movement in the revolution of the sun, or the moon, or the seasons. Spring always follows winter…
I have been working for over three weeks to get our first audi onto CD Baby so it will be available through webstores like iTunes and Amazon.com. It took me three full days to fill out the application. It seems to be the littlest things that can cause a hang up. I did not remember the password to the new bank account number, so I got locked out of the account and had to wait until business hours the next day. I tried for two days to upload the album cover image. Sorry, I do not know about pixels and resolution. The list goes on and on.
Today, I will be more patient. I will focus on the bigger picture and be grateful for the ability to learn new things. I will appreciate that someone at Google does know how to get my gmail messages to come into my iPhone. Yes, it was working before it wasn’t.
I will not cry so easily thinking I am a failure because I am having tech-no-logical challenges. I will celebrate the wonderful young woman I met recently who sent a text saying, “You know what? I just noticed I have not pulled in days! And I’ve been in great moods that have literally been putting my other friends in good moods.”
Today I will celebrate that although my mom said her labor stopped, it obviously started again because I am here. Perhaps my gmail will simply start again, too…
By Debra Basham, on January 29, 2014
Although the act of nurturing another’s spiritual growth
has the effect of nurturing one’s own,
a major characteristic of genuine love is that
the distinction between oneself and the other
is always maintained and preserved.
–M. Scott Peck. M.D.
Peck’s words have me pondering the mysterious dichotomy of our being separate, unique, individual selves, who are simultaneously ONE. All of the mystics write and teach about our oneness. We have a distant sense of knowing of that.
Perhaps it is the way we have 10 fingers and 10 toes, a heart, two legs—all separate, unique, individual body parts, simultaneously ONE body.
I recall an experience years ago. I was snuggled into bed with John (my husband). My fingers were moving almost automatically down his forearm. For an instant, I was not touching his arm. I was touching the arm of our beloved grandson, Brad.
Whatever this “self” is, it is at once both separate and not.
“Debra the Demented” was written on Saturday 18 December 1999.
I stand quivering before the leap out of myself and into mySelf!
It is as though I am perched above life itself and I can see out over the horizon in all directions… feelings unfold before me to my left and to my right…. each has a life of it’s own, yet has no life at all….
The years stretch beyond years and yet fall into nothingness…. as all moments become one…
Laughter belches up within me and dares to give voice with no thought to the shame that might follow…. and silence sucks the breath out of me and leaves me for dead…. only to be once more drawn from the ashes…
If this is an awakening, then I must be mad… and if it is not, then surely I am. I long to write, to give words to this depth… to let the dance dance me… to let the song sing me… to let the death die upon my breast.
Can one lose oneself? Can one go to sleep and never wake up? Can the madness rule the house of one’s soul forever? Or can there be nothing but this endless mirage of life moving one in spite of one’s willingness or resistance?
I am a willing eagle. I am a willing frog. I am a willing birch and blade. I will allow the music to blow through my boughs and I shall throw my head back and laugh once more until the tears take over and then I shall begin again and again and again…
I lift my cup to my lips and say yes to life!
By Debra Basham, on January 27, 2014
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.
Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
These very meaningful words came to me today from a poet and novelist born 4 December 1875. Rainer Maria Rilke is what the world would call long dead, having died 29 December 1926. I agree with the words to the hymn: ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart. Today Rilke lives inside my heart.
I have been working on a writing project over the past several weeks. In practical terms, I have not yet hit my stride. The theme of the writing is my traumatic trip to Europe in October 2011. I have known the tale needs to be told, but the telling is not easy, and yesterday I got some harsh feedback about the writing I have done so far. I was told it reads like a travelogue: “I went here. I saw this. I did that.”
“Where is the emotion?” one of my fellow writers asked. “Are you hiding something too painful to look at?”
Most people who know me well, would agree I am no stranger to emotion. I have cried over a shrub carelessly tossed by the side of the road after having been ripped from its home along the side of the driveway, making room to park another car. I have cried myself to sleep over circumstances my ears will never hear of.
It has taken me twenty-seven months to be willing to look at my experience in Europe, put pen to paper, and begin to share it with you. I am thankful that today Letters to a Young Poet give me the courage to face that fire-breathing dragon within. I am grateful to know that this chapter of my history wants only my love….
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| Flowers growing along the path at the Montsegur Monument. |
By Debra Basham, on January 20, 2014
Recently we received a copy of Don’t Retire, Rewire! It is amazing that some people really do not enjoy retirement. Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners write about the new trend of “working retirement” as an opportunity for finding fulfilling work, passion, and life after you leave your full-time career.
I have been meeting with a couple of writers’ groups. One writer gave me his card with this on the back: Retired: No business. No plans. No worries. No money. No future. Too healthy to beg. Too old to steal. Too lazy to work. Ain’t got much. Don’t want anything. Ain’t mad at nobody. Ain’t running for nothing. Waiting for the third of the month.
I have started writing about my experiences in Europe in 2011. As part of that writing process, I have been reading How to Write a Book that Sells You, by Robin Colucci. The author is a writing coach, and while some of the questions she poses really are only about writing a book, this set of questions seems quite thought provoking and appropriate for every person to reflect on.
How do you want to spend your time?
Do you want to work a lot or a little?
Do you want to work with individuals or groups? Large groups or small?
Do you want to travel or stay put?
Where do you want to live?
Do you want to go off for long periods of solitude and self-reflection, or are you a constant networker?
How many months out of the year do you want to work? Which ones?
I attended a workshop by Robert Allen Fahey, who calls himself a psychic medium. He says his work is similar to John Edward, host of TV’s Crossing Over. I have met other people who do this sort of work, but Robert said something that I had not previously heard anyone else say. He said that those on the other side think they are the ones who are living and that we are the ones who are dead.
Whatever you think about people who do this work—about Robert or about John—it is worth reflecting on what it is that gives life to your life.
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” — John Lennon
Whether you are near retirement, just entering the workforce, already retired, or anywhere along the path of life, how would you answer these questions? Move beyond the forces of fear. Notice what allows you to be motivated only by love. Make 2014 a year of open-hearted vision.
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