Communitas

That deep feeling of social connection with a group of others whom you relate to as Us or We. The intimate knowledge of the lives of others whose endeavors are important to you. That internal sense of concern for others' well-being, and elation for their achievements.

Why don't we have more of this?

Every time I ponder the ails of our modern culture, I come back - time and again - to a lack of community. While most of us may experience this with our families and/or our circle of friends, that tends to be the extent of it.

If we had true community; if we knew our neighbors, even though the inhabitants of the homes near ours are likely to change on occasion; if we related to the people we encounter throughout our days as the fellow human beings they are, with the same experiences of joy and sorrow; if we sought to support all the people around us, even with just an encouraging smile; if we considered the effects of our actions on those around us; we just might find that a great many of our frustrations become resolved.

Too often, too many steps get skipped, from aspects within our own body - our community of cells, so to speak - to aspects within our own selves and lives, to aspects within our family and closest social network, to aspects within our neighborhood, to aspects within our city, state, country, continent, hemisphere, and planet. We ought to bring our focus back to localization. That whole "be the change" is great advice, and reestablishing community is a great start.

It begins with self-sufficiency, and then, when you have a goal you cannot achieve alone, you start with the next closest person or persons; you don't reach out to strangers, hundreds of miles away. And when those around you need help, you give it, so that they will be there for you in your time of need, and so that your heart will grow in its capacity to experience joy. There is such enrichment to be gained through community, and so much benefit to everyone.

Blissipline

Happiness is not meant to be a destination, but our purpose. It is not something that is attained, it is either achieved by grace or by choice. It is a state of being that can be cultivated through practice. This practice is our duty to ourselves. It is being called "Blissipline".

By repeatedly training yourself to be grateful for your circumstances, you strengthen your joy skills. Recalling how far you've come, remaining cognizant of how blessed you are, and maintaining an eager zeal for where you are going, will tap you into a magnitude of power known only to the blissiplined.

Engage in joy regularly. Enhance your experience by inventorying your beliefs, shedding those that limit you, and building on those that empower you. Intensify the effects by establishing routines that connect your spirit with the Spirit of the Universe.

Meditate

After many years of promising to myself that I would take up meditation, I have finally established the practice. The benefits are as vast as the methods are varied, and I highly recommend it for all. The funny thing about it is the paradox between its simplicity to perform, and its complexity to explain. Many newcomers believe it to be much more complicated or difficult than it is. While the ultimate goal may be to clear your mind completely, a very worthy approximation is to focus your attention on just one thing. This approach opens up a plethora of possibilities. It also means that we meditate more often than we realize! Any time you study something, or find yourself in a groove working on something, or put your mind to visualizing a specific scenario - be it recalling past events, making plans for a future endeavor, or imagining a desired outcome - you are effectively meditating.

I find that routine is quite helpful to my practice, and I have incorporated a handful of expert opinions, as well as my own personal flare. The system I have adopted involves a morning set which I do first-thing (I may use the restroom and/or make the bed real quick first, but that's it), often involves some appropriate music, and takes approximately 15 minutes; and an evening set I do just before crawling into bed, which only takes about 7 minutes. I am inspired to share my method with you :)


In the AM:

~ I take my peaceful spot on the floor, and commence with some stretches.

~ Sitting upright, I just breathe few breaths.

~ I then open all my chakras, making the associated hand formations, and stating my related affirmations:
      "I am grounded and connected to the earth.
      I am a sensual being with creative abilities.
      I have great power and an effective will.
      I am loving, open, and empathetic.
      I express myself, and speak the truth.
      I have vision, clarity, insight, and intuition.
      I am one with Source (the Source is One)."
{These are affirmations I put together as statements that ring true for me in relation to my understanding of each of the chakras; feel free to use them, but I encourage you to explore your own.}

~ With this Oneness recognition, I then transition into a recommended series, which begins with envisioning a beam of white or pink light flowing down into me from Source, filling me with love, and then flowing out of me to fill the room, and then the house, and then my neighborhood, my city beyond, my state, the continent, and the world. {At this point, I am usually smiling.}

~ Filled with love, I discharge any negativity held in grudges, by calling to mind one or two people who have gotten under my skin; sometimes I conjure my own self. I picture them facing me, and say to them, "I forgive you. Can you forgive me?" We smile together, and then I pray for them with, "May you be filled with loving-kindness; may you be well; may you be peaceful and at ease; may you be happy. I love you; I bless you; I release you." {The releasing is especially relieving because dispels any judgement, obligation, or expectation tied up in there.}

~ Moving on, I visualize my ideal life 3 years from now {apparently, people tend to overestimate what they can accomplish in 1 year, and underestimate 3 years' time}, focusing on health, relationships, and abundance.

~ Then I take note of 10 things for which I am grateful today, particularly blessings that have occurred recently, including some personal, and some professional.

~ Next I walk through my coming day, setting intentions for each plan to go excellently, making sure to incorporate my evening meditation (as I keep forgetting it!), followed by an intention for restful and regenerative sleep. I also set an overall intention for the day, to guide my spiritual growth, such as "to be present", "to refrain from judgment", or "to incorporate frequent moments of stillness".

~ In the final step of this recommended series, I imagine love and blessings pouring over me from Omni.

~ Taking the yogic "Child's Pose", I recall my gratitude prayer: "O Universal Existence, I am eternally grateful to share in your loving light. To know such joy is a divine gift, extended of your wise and benevolent grace. May your will be manifest in my life. Thank you."

~ Moving into a pre-push-up position, I stretch a little more, take three slow and deep breaths, and state, "With this effort, I strengthen my body." I then perform a brief workout of three short intervals:
     30 mountain climbers,
     20 bicycle crunches, and
     10 forward lunges

~ I bring my palms together and think, "I am here, I am grateful, I am Love." I smile.


In the PM:

~ Seated next to my bed, I breathe a few breaths.

~ In order to better acknowledge my achievements, I then recap my whole day.

~ To get a head-start on tomorrow, the next thing I do is set a general intention for it.

~ Then, as it is the single most highly recommended practice for health and happiness, I do another round of thanksgiving.

~ And finally, "I am here; I am grateful; I am love."

Anti-worry

Worrying is often like a brainstorming session, in which we conjure up 100 ways and reasons that our fears might manifest. This process generates a lot of energy for things we don't want to experience, which makes it a rather ill-advised exercise. However, it does provide a useful method for bringing our DREAMS to life.

Imagine coming up with 100 ways and reasons that our goals might find us with ease and grace. Why, you could attract some pretty marvelous circumstances your way, even just by discovering them and taking action!

Now give it a go - see what good you can reveal ;)

Fulfillment

I find myself in a bit of a rut these days. I work at a job which was meant to be a short term stepping stone toward the achievement of my dream occupation. Unfortunately, the problem which this job was meant to address found renewed sustenance in other matters. Thus my problem remains and has grown to include employment that is not self rendered, as desired. In addition, the work I do is quite rote, and distinctly unsatisfying, in that I feel no sense of progress toward my goal, nor any impression of making a positive contribution to the aspects of the world in which I find value.

Doing work that lacks fulfillment can be quite dispiriting, and should most definitely be avoided as best as possible. Having discovered my dream occupation, and finding myself elsewhere than that path, I have come to greatly appreciate the notion of "do what you love". I have spent many years doing things that merely suited my fancy, but now that I know in what manner I believe my bliss to exist, I find nothing outside of that course even remotely rewarding.

It's good to be driven. I am actually sort of new to being driven to something which I am unable to immediately obtain, or to which I see no clear path to acquisition. Though the light at the end of this meandering tunnel cannot yet be seen, its brilliance is felt in my very soul. I do what I am inspired to do in efforts toward the manifestation of this dream, yet I have a persistent sense that this is largely out of my control; therefore, many of those efforts are centered around openness - being open to ideas, connections, and opportunities. This is proving to be a pointed lesson in patience, but the fantasy I hold in my heart fills me with such joy, that I am frequently rejuvenated and repeatedly hopeful.

As I trudge through this period of murkiness, I take solace in the knowledge that I am working towards the manifestation of ultimate fulfillment. I wish for each person to find their own.

Serendipity

As I step into 2014 armed with intentions to manifest my dreams by tapping into the creative powers of the Universe and relinquishing my desire to control them, 2014 has indicated its own intention to be the year of Serendipity.

Serendipity is the marvelous union of unexpected and fortuitous. Personally, I find each instance to be like an omniscient wink from Omni. It falls in line with Synchronicity, as well, which I take as warm Omni hugs :)

I find this revelation to be remarkably splendid, as I shall now set to occupying my inner busy-body with the task of noting serendipitous occurrences, rather than attempting to micromanage. Although serendipity is said to occur when one is looking the other way, beneficial happenstance is often overlooked, and I believe one can tune his or her awareness to an optimistic frequency. They say people's perceptive filters have a tendency to find what they seek - what a superb way to fulfill one's prophecy!