Standing in a Moment

Sometimes I want time to stand still. I want to live in the realization of new discoveries, relish in new ideas, and dance with all ah-ha moments that keep reminding me that I live in a fluidic universe.

Isn’t it what we all really want? To recapture the first time we felt our hearts swell with love and our minds expanding with the freedom of thought? Like the first time you read a book that changed your life or heard a song that made you sob. We all want to be moved. We want to feel our hearts beat fast again and our skin ripples with chills as we experience the exhilaration of a life changing moment.

Change is a calculated and deliberate function in our DNA. We are designed to experience change every moment of everyday. Twenty-four-seven, we are going through changes—evolving and expanding constantly. If we didn’t experience change we would shrivel up and cease to exist.

But sometimes change can be scary or painful. Things come at us at rates we aren’t ready to process. Change sweeps us off our feet and before we know it we are landing flat on our backs and looking around to find out what happened. Strange enough, when we look back at it years later, it doesn’t seem as big as we made it out to be when we were in the throes of the moment.

What if we had the consciousness to change those life altering moments into opportunities to live in the moment? Like the first time you read that book or cried at that song? What if, for just that split second before we decided this “life altering” moment was going to be terrible, we consciously decided to find the spark of greatness hidden within? That moment when time stood still and the universe opened up and showed us something bigger than ourselves and it was conspiring to give it to us. Maybe we found how to love ourselves again, and truly love other people. What if we were able to understand we have a higher purpose?

What is change, but a moment when we are required to stretch outside that box we managed to fit so comfortably into.

Change is merely an opportunity to grow and growth is the moment we realize change is inevitable.

It is time to grow. Right now is the time to stand in the bright light of discovery, expand our reach, and drink up the change that inevitably is happening.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings. Happy holidays to you and yours!

Ho, Ho, Ho

In this time of giving, what are we really giving? 

Tis the season to be jolly—Fa, La, La, La, La…..What the hell is jolly? Okay so maybe I’ve reached a saturation point of what the definition of jolly is. Maybe I’ve given up unconsciously on the belief that jolly was reserved for a pudgy old man dressed in red with reminisce of white rabbit fur sewn to the cuffs of his sleeves and pant legs. Maybe the glare off his big black shining boots have caused me to ponder the reason for the season; cuz it sure isn’t the big red bag filled with “I wants” and “I gotta haves.”

I’ve realized that even when I pull my nose from the grindstone and look up at the big man; he isn’t standing there looking down at me with his clear beautiful eyes and his shiny red nose hugged by his cherub rosy cheeks. He isn’t offering me an icepack and bandage. No his huge hands stuffed in white cotton gloves are forcing my head, right back down against that dark gray spinning coarse wheel.

Hey don’t get me wrong, I respect a guy who can strap on a cluster of reindeer and deliver in one night! I can even root for the dude that decides to fill my dirty socks I hung on my fireplace to dry. But come on— if he can land on my roof and with the wiggle of his red bulbous nose, break into my house through the chimney, can’t he at least have the common courteously to clean my gutters while he was up there?

So often we get sucked into the commercialism of Christmas, that we don’t really have the opportunity to formulate and articulate the feelings or words that embody the emotions of this time of year. How many times have we spiraled into the abyss of grenchy-ness? When we have reached a point of such desperation, that the idea of tying antlers to our little dog’s head and strapping him to a huge sled on top of an enormous mountain seems like a good idea?

But what if we stopped? What if we decided right here and right now to release the pressures of gotta haves and I needs and replace them with I’m good and I have enough? It is time for us to look within and find that place where we ARE enough. The love we feel for each other is enough! It is time to stop measuring our worth by what we get or give and measure our worth by what we do.

We all know—actions speak louder than words, we hear people tell us that all the time; right now is our moment to embody it. It is time for us to change our limiting ideas of lack and helplessness to the infinite possibility of total abundance and complete harmony. 

Lift your nose from the grindstone, listen to the music that is waiting to be heard, and feel your heart grow three times its size. Who knows, maybe the next time the big guy in red is on your roof he might just clean your gutters.

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblings!

Why Do We Do This?

As the holiday season is ebbing and building around me and as I look at experiences that are rolling through my life; there are days I feel like I’m living the Blair Witch Project. Okay— no I’m not running through the forest at night, scared for my life, but sometimes, I feel like I am holding the camera of life, and there are days my hands aren’t too sturdy.

Let me explain—time is running at me so fast and at such a force, that the moment I realize it’s here I’m already asking what just hit me as I am looking at its backside. Why do I do this? Every year, every holiday season, I have grand plans, yet decide to throw away the instructions and misplace the right tools for the job. Then as the deadline creeps upon me, I run around in a clusterf*ck wondering where I put the damn screwdriver!

It isn’t because I don’t care or don’t want a great experience for my family. I think the huge pink elephant in the room for me in the months of November through December is the fact that I get caught with my sweatpants down around my ankles and end up scrambling to pull them up before I run.

Hence, the reckless, bouncy, dizzy— vomit inducing camera work. God forbid I actually turn the lens on myself and talk into it. Yes, there are days I want to throw on my jacket, pull down my beanie, snatch the video camera of life, and head out to the forest, but those days tend to be the ones I should stay home, build a fire, and sip my hot cocoa.

Thank god for the people around me. Everyone needs people who will grab the camera from you and steady the video of your life. Fortunately, the camera operators in my life tend to shy away from drama. My “videographers” are the type who decide to press the pause button when I pull at the seat of my pants or have spinach in my teeth. They are the ones who record the amazing moments in my life and never get tired of rewinding the best parts.

So I guess in a roundabout way, this is my moment to thank the “videographers” in my life. This is the time to be grateful for those people who make me shine, protect my privacy, support my ideas, and just unconditionally love me for who I am; because without them, I would be just another chaotic, dizzying, heart-pounding Blair Witch Project look alike.

The Fires of Change

Change can be hard, but without change nothing would happen. We could look at a forest fire as completely devastating or we can see the rebirth and new growth it creates. I never knew for the longest time that fires are as vital to nature as the rain. Come to find out, fire must occur to saturate the soil in minerals and remove the old stagnant growth that is stifling the rejuvenation of nature’s very essence.

We tend to only see what the fire takes. We grieve for huge forests lost to a limitless power that can scorch within seconds. We ache for what was once there. It’s only natural to feel the loss when you watch the land being swallowed by an awesome power. We see the devastation and long for what once belonged there. But you see, live is continual. We live in a circular motion. We tend to experience life in such a limited interpretation. What if we decided to break away from those limited beliefs? What if instead of seeing every loss in our lives as devastating, we rejoice in the potential that a tough moment creates for us? How different our lives would be.

Yes, when we go through a major life altering event, our forest fire that consumed everything in our lives, we feel the deep ache, pain, hurt, anger, and the turmoil it created. We feel betrayed by life’s thoughtlessness. But it’s our choice to see the devastation or the potential. It’s all in how we react. We can spend our lives begging and searching for the why me or we can move forward leaving behind what used to be.

We can’t take someone who never saw the forest before the massive fire and get them to see the full beauty that was lost. It was the past; the spent ideas nature chose to change. All we can do is promote new growth, wait to see what new expressions will come from the mineral rich soil. We must let go of what used to be and embrace what is now.

Today is your opportunity to move away from the fires that consume your life and plant new ideas in the black char-coaled soil filled with limitless potential. It is your moment to stand back, take in the open space that lie before you, and recognize it is nature giving you new place to start. The possibilities are unlimited; the Universe is waiting for you to plunge your hands into its soil of change. What are you waiting for?

Find Your Diamonds!

Being Authentic is really important to me. Anyone can walk around being something they aren’t; living under a persona that chalices their ego and indulges their psyche. When people don’t come from their authentic self they appear to have a soul that doesn’t bruise or a second thought that doesn’t stick to their mind. But what they don’t realize—people can see right through it.

To come from your authentic self doesn’t mean you lose your privacy, or become weak. As a matter of fact, you become stronger, more confident, and yet unassuming.

You’ll know when you are acting from your authentic self. You’ll notice nothing seems forced, laborious, or fake. You will live in the exact moment you breathe in and exhale. Storms of yesterday will be distant clouds and the currents of tomorrow will be calmed.

I have such a deep connection when people come up and tell me how much they loved reading Wilson Mooney. Each and every word that pours from the people who have fallen in love with Wilson and Max has been etched in the deep folds of my heart. Every person has created a ripple in the patterned waves that increasingly have become my gratitude.

I don’t know why I am still amazed when people tell me that they loved the story or that it was well written. Sometimes, I become intimidated by other people's expectations. See, some people can’t believe I have a natural ability to tell a story. Hell most of my life I didn’t know, until I tried. Because let’s face it, that’s all I am doing. I’m not curing diseases or saving baby whales. I am writing stories that people can escape into. I am giving people the opportunity to leave their day behind them, and shelf their worries of tomorrow to become someone else today. I am giving them permission to experience a different life without guilt.

That’s all I am doing. That’s all I want to do. I want to write stories that allow my readers to become someone else for a couple of days, and if they are thinking about the characters a week after they’ve finished the book, I’ve done my job!

Being authentic isn’t about money, fame, or ego. It’s never about that. It can’t be. See if you are doing what you love, you can’t help but be authentic; because authenticity comes from a deep unconditional love that bubbles and swells within your soul. It isn’t something you can buy or pretend into existence.

You become authentic when you learn to live in the moment. It’s when you give of yourself selflessly; become open to the love of the human race, and find all the reasons you are grateful to be breathing today.

It is the moment you find the spark of life waiting to ignite every experience. Even the silt of the ocean floor has the potential to become a pearl. Hidden amongst the dirt of the mountains are perfect diamonds.

What potential is buried deep within you? What is it that sparks passion, and evokes unbridled zeal in your life? Go within, search within your own house; your own authentic self; within you are all the diamonds you desire and all the pearls you want; all you gotta do is dig deep enough!

Thanks for reading!

Cause and Effect

I had an epiphany today and realized that sometimes what we are looking for isn’t what we see. Funny enough it was during a conversation about how we can be looking for something, expecting it to be a certain way, and poof, it shows up totally different.

Case in point; my husband was looking for the creamer the other day. Cuz God knows French Roast black coffee just doesn’t go down as easy at when you turn it milky brown. I had just put the creamer back in the fridge directly at his eye level; but because he was looking for a blue container instead of a yellow container, he totally didn’t see it.

It was right in front of his face, and yet he searched and searched but couldn’t see it. Only after I told him it was on the top shelf and he came to the realization that he had bought a different brand this time, did he finally see it.

Too often this is the metaphor of our lives. We spend so much energy and time looking for something that happens to be right in front of us. Or we get mad, frustrated, sad, or disappointed because we keep looking for something that isn’t there. We keep thinking it is supposed to be one way, and when it shows up looking different we don’t see it. No, that can’t be! I wasn’t expecting it to look that way! When did that show up?

Why waste the energy and time trying to find something that just isn’t working? Why do we keep trying to fit that square peg in the round hole? Could it be that we are so concerned with what it looks like that we haven’t been able to really understand why it showed up?

Why are we so focused on believing in financial lack? Why do we shrivel in fear when success comes knocking on our door? What is it about being sick and tired that has become barometer of what’s normal?

I think it is because we have allowed ourselves to overlook the law of Cause and Effect. Too many times we look to laws as tangible things; scientific laws that allow us to cling to the earth and harness electricity, but rarely do we look at the law of Cause and Effect and correlate what we see and experience is a direct reflection of our consciousness.

We all must understand the law of Cause and Effect. It was taught to us every day of our lives as children. You touch the flame, you’ll get burnt. You hit someone, they’ll hit you back. You do such and such, so and so will happen. We’ve learned there are consequences to our actions; because for every action there is an equal and measured re-action. Basically it is Cause and Effect.

Now we must apply that to our lives now. Look at what we are thinking. Is it constructive? Productive? Worthy of our time? Is what we think, producing a healthy experience? Are we putting out to the world exactly what we want back? These are the questions we need to take a moment at a time and ponder.

Are we looking at the Law of Cause and Effect with the same seriousness as all other scientific laws? Because once we do that—once we embody the difference that shows up in our lives, then we will truly be free to live a life of totally prosperity, complete peace, and unlimited possibilities.

You Have the Power to Choose

The other day I goofed and let someone define me. Yeah, don’t say it. I already know I did exactly the opposite of what I know I’m supposed to do. So I guess I’m here to be the voice of reason. It’s all about recognizing that when we veer off course we must recalculate the direction the ship is sailing; because let’s face it, nobody knows your course better than you. 

Our lives are designed to be lived to the highest and best potential possible. We exist to experience life. So when I allowed someone to make me feel less than—I gave away my power. I gave away the one thing that is given to us the moment we take our first breath. Freedom of choice!

We have the freedom of choice. I know what you’re thinking, “Gretchen, that is a pretty broad statement. Who are you to say such drivel?” Well I’m not too far off of the mark here. Let me tell what I mean. Let’s look at the act of making a choice. 

What is a choice? A choice is the right, power or opportunity to choose; a decision. So, with that in mind, let’s look where we can use choice. Because whether you know it or not, every nano second of the day, we are making choices. AND YES, by not making a choice you are choosing. See the irony in that statement. Sometimes we are so terrified to make a choice in our lives that by NOT making a choice, we are choosing to NOT to choose. Whew—One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. 

When we decide to react to people—good, bad or indifferent, we are making a choice. When we create relationships filled with pain, hate, and anger or love, joy and trust, we are always in the driver’s seat! We choose to let that person under our skin, or let them love us unconditionally. We choose how to react to events in our lives. We choose to stay stagnant in a job or accept growth. Everything we do is based on our freedom of choice. Nobody is standing over you telling you what to think, how to feel, or how to react. The only person in control of your thoughts and your decisions—is you.

I’m not going to sit here and beat myself up for missing the mark; I’ve already adjusted my thinking and let that limited definition dissolve back into the powerless, nothingness it came from. I know who I am and where I am going, and so do you. Don’t let anyone…ANYONE define who you are. Remember you are a mighty moving force to be reckoned with in this world. You hold all the power in your life by the choices you make. 

Remember this—every minute of the day is a new moment to make a different choice. Leave the past where it belongs; stop worrying about the future, it hasn’t happened yet; and just live for today, this moment now! 

Thanks for sticking around and reading my ramblings!