5/10/13—Being the Ripple

Today's Draw Classic*: Kizzie, my handsome boy. Do you know how significant your power is in the world? Do you realize that each and every day you make an impact on the overall vibration of humanity? How will you use your power today?

If you're a regular at the Daily Draw, then you've probably seen this post in some version before. Usually when I do repeat posts, I try to choose one I've never repeated before. But this particular post is different. For one, it's perfect for our week's theme of how much more awesome we are than we know. Second, my Kizzie boy has a hurt toe this week and is limpy, so he needs to be honored. And third, I've rewritten this post a couple of times, so it no longer fully resembles what it was originally. The last time I rewrote it was after my brother died. Anyway, it's one of my favorite posts. And when it calls to me, I repost it. :) So....

The other day I saw something I've seen a million times. Only this time, I saw it in a completely different way. My dogs and I took a trip to the park and my boy, Kizzie, decided to go in the river for a dip. As I saw him standing there, I noticed all the ripples issuing out with him at the center. Each time he moved, a new set of ripples would form. And the ripple effect of each motion would continue out into the river, despite the current. Despite anything. Indefinitely.

His presence was recorded throughout the river that day—through the ripples in the water, the displacement of the air around his ripples, and by his ripples meeting the shore and bouncing back. In the same way, his presence was recorded throughout the universe. Beyond that, on land, the wag of his tail, his body temperature and the sound of his breath had a similar effect in the environment around him, sending forth kinetic, sonic and heat waves from his body.

According to Wikipedia, a wave is a "disturbance (an oscillation) that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy." Einstein's famous equation, E=MC2, posits that everything in the universe is energy. So what we see in the water above is Kizzie's energetic body having an effect on the water's energetic body. And since energy is never created or destroyed—only transferred—the effect he has is eternal. Pervasive. Ubiquitous.

Our lives work the same way. You create a kind of ripple when you have children...a ripple that goes on way beyond your lifetime. But even if you don't have children, you create it through everyone you come into contact with...every life you touch. There is nothing about us—no thought, no emotion, no scent, no delicate resting of silk on skin—that doesn't cause a disturbance that travels through space and time. 

So imagine the kind of ripple effect even something as simple as a smile can create. You smile at someone and cause them them to smile and feel a little more part of this world. That changes them, even if ever so slightly in that moment, and that change is passed on to the others they encounter that day. The vibration they spread is just a smidge higher than it would have been. And the people they encounter are similarly raised. And so on. And so on. And it ripples around the world, back past the original smiler, indefinitely. 

Of course the same is true about being a grumpy gus.

But the point I'm making is that no matter how "small and insignificant" we are, the impact of our every breath and thought echoes out into the universe to create the "whole". And that impact continues long after our death. We're still benefiting from the simple work of the men who built the railroads, women who showed their independence and the early men and women who moved out of caves and built humanity's first communities. We're also still affected by the ripple created by those who never spoke up against Hitler, spread the belief that the earth was flat and sailed to Africa to grab people and make them slaves in the New World. 

If you've ever been to an emotionally charged historic site, you can still feel it in the air. Occasionally I drive through the Manassas battlefield where so many lost their lives during our Civil War. The air is different there. It's palpable. Another place that comes to mind is Cape May, NJ, where the ripples of risque ladies in their swim dresses still echoes in the surf. 

For better or for worse, everything that has ever happened adds to the ripple of everything that ever will. As will your choices to recycle, eat meat, hate a particular race, reach out to the needy or make myriad other choices. We cannot have the foresight to see the impact of our choices in any given moment, but the energy we put out continues to ripple on indefinitely, even if it dissipates over time and is transferred into something else. 

The beautiful thing about this is that, regardless of what you believe about God and heaven, we live on in this very real way for eternity. We matter. No matter how normal and mundane our contributions. Do you think those railroad men, like my grandfather, felt like the kings of transportation, trade, information sharing, development and connection that they were? My mother was one of those women who paved the path for other women to hold "men's jobs". Look at what has come from that! That's not what she was doing—she just wanted to put her competence to good use—but look at what came of it. 

There is a reason for you being here. Even beyond our deaths, in the memories and minds of those we leave behind, we continue to send out ripples that, even for a moment, change the way our loved ones consider their lives. There is nothing we do, nothing we are, that doesn't have this import in the lives around us and the lives around all those people, etc. 

You are the ripple. Everything you say and do today will be forever felt by the universe. How will you use your infinite power today?

*Today's entry was rewritten from the 4/23/12 version of this post.

4/23/12—Being the Ripple

Today's Draw Classic*: Kizzie, my handsome boy. Do you know how significant your power is in the world? Do you realize that each and every day you make an impact on the overall vibration of humanity? How will you use your power today?

As many of you read last week, my brother was very ill. He passed into spirit this past weekend. I didn't have the time or energy tonight to do an entirely new entry, but I thought about an entry that I posted a couple of months ago and decided to use it as a basis for this entry....

The other day I saw something I've seen a million times. Only this time, I saw it in a completely different way. My dogs and I took a trip to the park and my boy, Kizzie, decided to go in the river for a dip (nevermind that it's the middle of winter). Anyway, as I saw him standing there, I noticed all the ripples issuing out with him at the center. Each time he moved, a new set of ripples would form. And the ripple effect of each motion would continue out into the river, despite the current. Despite anything. Indefinitely.

His presence was recorded throughout the river that day—through the ripples in the water, the displacement of the air around his ripples, by his ripples meeting the shore and bouncing back. In the same way, his presence was recorded throughout the universe.

Beyond that, on land, the wag of his tail, his body temperature and the sound of his breath had a similar effect in the environment around him, sending forth kinetic, sonic and heat waves from his body.

According to Wikipedia, a wave is a "disturbance (an oscillation) that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy." Einstein's famous equation, E=MC2, posits that everything in the universe is energy. So what we see in the water above is Kizzie's energetic body having an effect on the water's energetic body. And since energy is never created or destroyed—only transferred—the effect he has is eternal. Pervasive. Ubiquitous.

Our lives work the same way. My brother had four children, so clearly his impact will be felt by generations and generations. But even if he never had a child, the same would be true. 

Imagine the kind of ripple effect even something as simple as a smile can create. You smile at someone and cause them them to smile and feel a little more part of this world. That changes them, even if ever so slightly in that moment, and that change is passed on to the others they encounter that day. The vibration they spread is just a smidge higher than it would have been. And the people they encounter are similarly raised. And so on. And so on. And it ripples around the world, back past the original smiler, indefinitely. 

Of course the same is true about being a grumpy gus.

But the point I'm making is that no matter how "small and insignificant" we are, the impact of our every breath and thought echoes out into the universe to create the "whole". And that impact continues long after our death. We're still benefiting from the simple work of the men who built the railroads, women who showed their independence and the early men and women who moved out of caves and built humanity's first communities. We're also still affected by the ripple created by those who never spoke up against Hitler, spread the belief that the earth was flat and sailed to Africa to grab people and make them slaves in the New World. 

All of those people were everyday people, motivated by the same things that motivate people today and cause them to make good, bad, normal, misinformed and inspired choices today. For better or for worse, each of those people and their collective groups are still making a difference today. As will your choices to recycle, use gasoline, eat meat or make myriad other choices that we can and cannot have the foresight to see the impact of in any given moment. 

The beautiful thing about this is that, regardless of what you believe about God and heaven, we live on in this very real way for eternity. We matter. No matter how normal and mundane our contributions. Do you think those railroad men, like my grandfather, felt like the kings of transportation, trade, information sharing, development and connection that they were? 

There is a reason for you being here. There was a reason my brother was here. And, even in his moment of death, he sent a ripple out that would change the way many people would consider their lives, even for a moment. There is nothing we do, nothing we are, that doesn't have this import in the lives around us and the lives around all those people, etc. 

You are the ripple. Everything you say and do today will be forever felt by the universe. How will you use your infinite power today?

*Today's entry was significantly adapted from 2/17/12's entry.

4/11/12—Preparing for Takeoff

Today's Draw: The Fool from the Rohrig Tarot. Are you working your arse off on some goal right now? Do you feel like you're in a critical place where you need to keep your eye on every little thing, lest something go wrong? Has it ever occurred to you that you may actually be undermining your goals by putting forth so much effort?

You probably don't spend a lot of time considering the physical force of "lift". Normally, neither do I, but that has changed lately. 

Lift is the force that opposes the weight of an airplane so that, instead of succumbing to gravity, the plane stays in the air. The velocity and aerodynamics of the lifted object also play key roles in making lift happen. (Hopefully I got that right, because I have an oddly high concentration of pilot friends and I will hear about it if I'm wrong.)  ;)

Anyway, the idea of lift has come to me a few times over the last couple of days. In the abstract sense, lift is what happens when you "let go and let God". It's what happens when you're the "wind beneath my wings." Or when "Jesus takes the wheel." And it's also what happens when The Fool leaps into the unknown and trusts the universe to guide him safely to his destination. 

Lift is a universal force in physics. So, when you've got all the right elements working for you, it's always going to work. Anywhere in the universe. Anytime you start talking spiritually, however, there is a leap that needs to be taken to cover the chasm between fact and belief. Metaphysics or New Age thought posits that there are laws of the universe that also dictate the way the higher power's energy moves through our lives. Physicists often take issue with the way physical laws are applied to spirituality. They are scientists and they deal with fact and not faith. The leap between the two means nothing to them, because it can't be proven.

Traditional fool image

 

 

In addition, as much as I am a metaphysical believer, I acknowledge that we make things sound like fact that are often just belief, in the same way any religion does. For example, the Law of Attraction (like attracts like) isn't a scientific law. It's not a proven fact. There is no "Law of Attraction" in physics. You can google it all you want and find page upon page of entries of people saying it's a physical law. But none of those pages will be hosted by MIT or Cal Berkely or NASA or any other group that deals with actual physics. Because it's not a law of physics. If there was a scientific LAW that like attracted like, then magnets wouldn't repel each other, we wouldn't have the saying "opposites attract" and a positively charged ion wouldn't attract a negatively charged ion. It's not an absolute that like attracts like. Therefore it cannot be a law in the scientific sense. 

I say this, because a lot of what people call "quantum physics proving spiritual belief" is a misunderstanding or bending of quantum physics. I believe in metaphysical theory and have been studying/practicing for over 20 years. But it's not proven scientific fact as it's presented and I believe it's dangerous that people believe so. It's just as theoretical as Moses walking on water—something many will swear actually happened, yet it can't be proven. All we have is hearsay. So it's not a fact. It's a belief. I just want to get this out because I feel that if people are going to believe in this way, they should at least know the difference between physics and metaphysics...between scientifically proven laws and theory. Metaphysics is not science. It's a theoretical belief that tries to explain the unexplainable using information (often naively) extrapolated from scientific fact. It is not scientific fact itself. Which doesn't mean it's not true or real. It just means it hasn't yet been proven.

That said, I'm all about the "like attracts like". I've seen it happen a million times in my life. It absolutely works for me. I also feel energy working around me that can't be captured by scientific devices. I've spoken to people who are dead and people who may have never walked the earth and exist only in the spirit realm. We can attribute something like spirit energy to scientific laws of thermodynamics that say that energy (and EVERYTHING is energy) can neither be created, nor destroyed. It can only change forms. That is scientific fact. But it doesn't mean the energy of a human becomes a ghost when it changes forms. As much as I believe it to be true, it's not a fact. 

So I think it's clear now what I mean that there is a leap between fact and spirituality. At least as things exist today. And so I'm making a leap with this whole physical force of lift that I began talking about. And the leap I'm making is this—in tarot, the Fool jumps off the side of a mountain on a journey of self-knowledge, in complete faith that he is protected by the universe. And somehow he lands softly in exactly the place he needs to land to learn his next lesson. 

This whole idea of lift...of leaping and letting the universe cradle me to where I want to go...is showing up everywhere for me lately in messages like, "let spirit steer your vessel", "trust that the universe has got your back", and "the more you align with your purpose, the higher you'll soar." All beautiful messages, and ones that make you want to melt into the arms of your higher power. But seeing as how we're all control freaks, so hard to do. 

Like with the airplane, we need to symbolically loosen our grip enough to lay prostrate before the higher power—this is the aerodynamic form we need to take advantage of lift. Next we need to put forth enough effort to take off and achieve altitude. Then we just need to allow gravity to support us from below and lift to keep us soaring, putting forth effort now and then as needed to keep momentum/velocity going. Just like with the plane, most of your energy will be used taking your first steps toward your goal. From there forward, the universe has got your back. Though, again, not a scientific law, this is what Deepak Chopra calls the Law of Least Effort. If you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off, it's a sign you're not allowing the universe to do its job.

Mike Dooley says it another way. He says our job is defining the "what" and God's job is defining the "how". I love that, because it's not only saying it's as simple as placing an order, but there's a hidden gem in there. When you're running around trying to figure out HOW to make things happen—or trying to dictate how things will happen—you're not letting the universe do its job (does the plane micromanage the universe on how to create lift? Or does it just trust and utilize the natural force?) And when you're not grateful for the WAY the universe is delivering on your order—because it's not the way you imagined it happening or because things are looking worse before they looks better—then you're basically telling the all powerful that you know better than they do. You're effectively canceling your order. 

So that's what I've been thinking about lift lately. Lord, these entries get long! I just feel I have so much to share sometimes. I had an amazing session with an energy healer today and the whole idea of lift was driven home to me in ways that spoke directly to the core of what is going on in my life, why I'm feeling so restless and what I need to do to continue forth on my journey. Maybe that story will come out another day. But what does the spiritual concept of "lift" mean to you? Do you feel like you're soaring higher lately? Or does "lift" make you realize you're working too hard and not letting the universe work for you?

If you're on Facebook, you can go to http://thedailytarotdraw.blogspot.com/ for links to information on some of the the metaphysical theories and scientific laws discussed in this essay.

The Week of 2/19/12—Raising Your Vibration

The other day I saw something I've seen a million times. Only this time, I saw it in a completely different way...

My dogs and I took a trip to the park and my boy, Kizzie, decided to go in the river for a dip (nevermind that it's the middle of winter). Anyway, as I saw him standing there, I noticed all the ripples issuing out with him at the center. Each time he moved, a new set of ripples would form. And the ripple effect of each motion would continue out into the river, despite the current. Despite anything. Indefinitely.

His presence was recorded throughout the river that day—through the ripples in the water, the displacement of the air around his ripples, by his ripples meeting the shore and bouncing back. In the same way, his presence was recorded throughout the universe.

Beyond that, on land, the wag of his tail, his body temperature and the sound of his breath had a similar effect in the environment around him, sending forth kinetic, sonic and heat waves from his body.

According to Wikipedia, a wave is a "disturbance (an oscillation) that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy." Einstein's famous equation, E=MC2, posits that everything in the universe is energy. So what we see in the water above is Kizzie's energetic body having an effect on the water's energetic body. And since energy is never created or destroyed—only transferred—the effect he has is eternal. Pervasive. Ubiquitous.

Taking this further into metaphysical realms, everything about you is energy, including your thoughts, as different synapses in your brain fire. Everything you do, everything you say, everything you think—everything—interacts with the universe. There's no place to run, no place to hide. 

I suppose one way to see this is to say the universe is like a highly sophisticated lie detector. In a lie detector test, your body physiologically responds if you tell a lie. Your heartbeat quickens, your temperature rises, etc. And that piece of equipment captures those measurements. 

Lie detectors can be beat, though. The universe can't. It detects the most subtle shifts in your energy—shifts your brain may not even be able to consciously record. And every shift creates a "disturbance that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy." 

Everything we do and are is recorded in the universe. And everything we do and are creates a disturbance in the universe. And everything we do and are is detected by the energy in the universe, including other people, animals and things. When we're sad, the trees know it. When we lie, our dogs know it. When we crave, the wind knows it. The "knowing" may not be conscious, but it melds with the energies of all that is. It creates a "disturbance" in all that is. 

I'm constantly amazed at how small and insignificant, yet how powerful, we are in the universe. Through just our thoughts alone, we can create beauty or pain. I'm not a parent, but I hear parents say all the time "our kids have no idea we're arguing" or "the kids are too young to realize what's going on." And then there are single people like me who think, because we have no kids or partners, that our thoughts and actions have no impact on the world around us. 

Even if you're entirely alone, locked in a lead box, you're fooling yourself. The energy of your being is transferred out into the universe and is recorded by every other living on either a profound or subtle level, depending on how relevant it is to the being. Even alone in a lead box, the lead knows. And the disturbance you create in the lead echoes forth, transferring itself to everything else, forever reshaping the environment around you.

When people say "we create our own reality", we really do. Even if you don't believe in that 100%, you shape it with every bit of energy you put out. And you ARE energy, a perpetually vibrating wave, the amplitude and frequency of which shift subtly every millisecond of the day, reaching out to all of creation. 

Heavy, I know. But essential to everything from your own spiritual development to the fate of everything that has ever existed or ever will..."a disturbance that travels through space and time."

So as you move through your week, consider these thoughts: 

• What effect are you having on the universe in this moment? 
• What net effect will you have this week? 
• How will you shape your own reality with your next thought?
• What type of "disturbance" do you want to create in your environment moving forward?
• What kind of "disturbances" are you creating in your own body with the thoughts you have?

People in the woo-woo world often refer to their self-development and spiritual work as "raising their vibration" or "walking in the light". If you've heard these phrases and thought they were BS or didn't know what to think, now you know what we're talking about. At some point in a spiritual journey you will ask yourself what effect you have on others and how you can change the world...questions like that. The answer is, literally, never more than a thought away.