Living In My Own World

Is Someone Trying To Tell Me Something?

I woke up this morning thanking the Universe “for the upcoming day, for the new opportunities that will open up for me, for the people that will cross my path and the coincidences or synchronicity of events that will help me to find my true purpose and higher Self.“  (It’s something new I decided to try…)

A couple of hours later, an old friend I used to work with suddenly IM’d me asking me how I was doing and what I have been up to lately.

I told him a quick overview of my situation, which right now consists basically of the fact that I recently returned from a very inspirational journey to India and that I am focusing on my writing, browsing new income options and slowly trying to find my place back on track in the “real” world.

“Yeah, but what about singing?” he asked. “Are you singing??”

I was surprised by his question:

A) because I was surprised that he remembered how much I love singing and that he actually cared whether I was doing it or not
and B) because it was one of the things that had often crossed my mind (and my path) when I was in India.

First of all, I had been faced with certain social situations on the trip where I was challenged to overcome my shyness and so-called “stage fright” in order to enjoy the situations to their fullest. For example:

• performing a Hebrew song for the beautiful Muslim family that hosted us on their houseboat in Kashmir (they insisted I sing!)



• or singing English songs with little kids at an elementary school my husband and I went to volunteer at in Rishikesh



• or learning to let go and sing freely in my room even after realizing that the accoustics in the guesthouse we were staying at were horrible and that everybody could hear everybody whether we liked it or not. This, by the way, I learned on my first day there after innocently singing to myself in my room only to have one of the guests who was staying one floor below me tell me I have a really nice voice…

So not only was I challenged to face my fears but even more intense was the sudden deep calling I started feeling to somehow combine my love of singing with my spiritual path. I just wasnt sure what that meant… And it was very “convenient” for me to simply forget all about it, especially when I returned home.

That is, until my old friend asked me the million dollar question above and I was instantly sucked back into pondering the whole thing again. The only answer that seemed to come out was “Not yet, but I will.”

So that was that.

Later this evening, I went to try a Kundalini Yoga class for the first time in my life. The class was pretty interesting (though I don’t have much to compare it to) but what caught my attention most was a certain song that the teacher played at the end of the lesson. It was a mantra, a sort of prayer that repeated itself over and over, sung by a woman with a beautiful and angelic voice. Something about her instantly caught my attention and I was intrigued to find out who she was or what her name was. It also got me thinking once again about using singing as a form of getting spiritual messages across. I contemplated asking the teacher the name of the singer but for some reason, I just picked up my stuff and left, humming the song in my head.

Again, more “convenient”.

And back to my computer I went, only to find a random forwarded mail, waiting in my inbox. It read the following:

Recommended website: A singer who is all light and love.. Music for the soul: http://www.snatamkaur.com/web10.html

I had the honor of discovering the singer Snatam Kaur earlier this week. She really is a channel of purity that connects to higher dimensions.

I clicked the link, and to my shock and delight, the song that started playing on her homepage was… you guessed it… the same exact song I had just heard at the class… the same angelic voice.

I was floored.

I was inspired.

And after reading about her life, I was even more inspired.

So anyway, I don’t know what to do with all this yet.

But I guess I can start by thanking the Universe for the upcomimg day, for the new opportunities that will open up for me, for the people that will cross my path and the coincidences or synchronicity of events that will help me to find my true purpose and higher Self.

Photographed in Khajurahu, India

(Click photo to enlarge) 

Taken on my recent trip to Kajurahu, India next to one of the many beautiful Kama Sutra temples.

India, HERE I COME

In a few hours from now, I will be on the plane heading to the beautiful country of India with my husband, the love of my life.

Words cannot express what is going on in my body as I write this, but I guess you can say its a healthy mix of excitement and fear of the unknown. (We will be traveling there for about 2 months and yet, we didnt really plan anything and I have absolutely no idea what to expect…)

Im not sure if I’ll have a chance to update this blog, but I sure as heck will try.

To my family: DON’T WORRY, I love you and we will be in touch.

To any readers out there who have been following my blog, I look forward to sharing with you this magical twist in my spiritual journey…

NAMASTE!

My First Online Interview - SeoVice

A friend of mine from a cool new site called SeoVice interrogated me a little about my part in the online marketing business (a “Day in the Life” sorta piece…)

Click here to read my first official online interview and learn a little more about me and the projects I’m currently working on!

Dance Like Nobody is Watching

Last night I went for a walk with an Eckhart Tolle lecture sinking in through my mp3 (what can I say - I’m a groupie!!!)

I was approaching the Tel Aviv Port just as E.T. was in his motivational peak (for those familiar with Eckhart you know he’s not exactly a “motivational speaker” but that the real power lies in the peaceful simplicity of his words…)

Anyway, just as E.T. was encouraging me to “embrace the moment”, “be here Now“, “surrender to the present moment, no matter what form it may take”, “SURRENDER TO THE NOW”, his voice started drowning out to the sound of samba music coming from a large crowd of people standing along the port.

I then realized that what E.T. was really trying to say was “Oh, for god sake, take off the damn earphones, stop listening to me blabbing on about surrendering and embrace the present moment already!!!”

And so I did.

As I approached the crowd I realized that it was a huge samba party, with people of all ages line dancing to the beat of the samba drums, following the lead of some dance trainers who were demonstrating the moves.

As with any type of similar situation, there were the people who were actually participating (and I must say, having the time of their lives..) and then there was the rest of the on-lookers circling the event, safely smiling and clapping away as the others got their grooves on.

I was with the on-lookers (hey, I’m SHY!).

I was looking at the dancers, at how much fun they were having, and yet all I could hear was Eckharts words echoing in my ears: “SURRENDER!”

But I couldn’t.

The next couple of minutes consisted of a unique inner dialogue with myself (as a typical Gemini, I’ve gotten quite good at those) which consisted basically of this:

- Dance!

- No, I cant…

- But you want to!

- No, I’m shy…

- Just do it!

- But I don’t know the steps..

- No one here knows the steps.. they’re learning as they go!

- But what if someone I know will see me?

- So what?

- What if they notice that I’m here all alone?

- Who cares????

- Hey I know, I’ll come back next week with my husband.. It will probably be much more fun with him anyway… Yeah, that’s what I’ll do!

- You chicken.

Ok, you get the point.

But here’s where the real magic started:

All of a sudden I noticed a little girl and her mom who were standing nearby. The mom was trying to encourage the girl to dance and the girl kept shying away. Each time the mom would gently nudge her, the girl would consider it for a moment, and then finally she would shy away clinging on to her mommy’s leg.

At that moment, I INSTANTLY had a flashback to my childhood where unfortunately I had been in so many similar situations: people encouraging me to dance or play or participate or sing (I sooo wanted to do that) .. and almost every single time I would eventually shy away, disappointing the people around me, but most importantly - disappointing mySELF.

And then suddenly it hit me:

I’M NOT THAT LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE! I dont have to be that little girl anymore!! It is just my conditioned mind trying to take over… trying to convince me that this is something I wasn’t capable of doing.. that I was “too shy”. (Yes, those hours listening to Eckhart’s lectures were finally starting to pay off…)

As I was having this enlightenment, I noticed more and more people around me had started to join in the line dance. It was like a wave coming in and I knew that I could not stand in place any longer.. that if ever I wanted to prove something to myself I would need to do it NOW.

“JUST TAKE THE FIRST STEP”, that little voice inside me thundered over the music.

And so I did.

I took the first step and the next thing I know I was dancing to beat, shaking my booty along with the best of them…

And I was having FUN!

But that’s not the end of this story:

Just as I was starting to really enjoy myself, I suddenly noticed (now, get this…) the same little girl I had seen before, was now looking directly at me (out of all the other people in the crowd) and trying to copy my dance moves!!

I smiled to her and she smiled back this sweet, shy smile and before I knew it I was heading over to her (dancing as I went) and yelled to her “Come dance with me!” She giggled and shyed away, running back to her mom. And I continued dancing with the others till the end of the song.

When the song was over, I headed out of the crowd, but not before bumping into the little girl and her mother once again.

Before I could say a word, her mother gave me this huge smile and yelled “THANK YOU!” over the music (I guess she noticed me trying to get her daughter to dance…) I looked down at the little girl and told her “You know, you’re a really great dancer! I SAW you!”

The girl looked back at me with her big brown eyes amd beautiful smile and I could tell she was so pleased with herself when I said that.

Again, her mother thanked me and told me that I have a beautiful smile.

As I thanked her back I realized that I had just made a difference in that little girl’s life. That even though I was a perfect stranger, maybe I had succeeded in encouraging her to let go and feel good about herself.

Her mother looked at me like I was a human angel that appeared out of nowhere.

What her mother didn’t know was that all of this would have never been possible if it wasn’t for her little girl gently nudging ME on to face my fears.

Her daughter was MY angel.

And for that I shall be eternally grateful.

Life’s Too Short for the Wrong Job

Dedicated to the amazingly talented Niv Kaikov.

Or as One Inspired Dude puts it:

Hugged by a Random Stranger

Last night I got my first free hug from a stranger.

I was sitting with some girlfriends at a Tel-Aviv coffee shop, when we suddenly saw three guys in their twenties walking with signs that read “FREE HUG”.

Feeling weirdly spontaneous, a friend and I jumped at the opportunity. And I have to say: IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

The hugs themselves were really nice (one guy had some sort of flower-shaped ‘pillow gloves’ on his hands which makes you feel as if you are being hugged from all directions - that was awesome, I just wanted to revel in it!).

And once they left, we still couldnt stop smiling (neither could other people who watched it happen) and it was incredible to think how something this small can have such an amazing immediate effect on our current state as well as the state of those around us).

Anyway, it was a really fun experience; and I strongly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity should it arise.

It’s really just a matter of going with the flow and living the moment. (Another friend that was with us, for example, refused to do it. Ironically, I think she could really use a good hug.)

Related Video:
Free Hug Anyone? Going Once, Going Twice…

Pissing on the Present

“When you’ve got one leg in the Past and one leg in the Future, you’re pissing all over the Present.”

Be Here Now.

The Secret to Teaching

Im so impressed…

My sister just told me that she is planning on showing her students the movie The Secreton their last two days of class this year. (My sister teaches English in an Isreali high school.)

She said that it is “her gift to them”. That instead of waiting till they’re 40 to learn these things, she wants them to hear it now.

I have to say, I was really suprised when she told me. I already knew she was an amazing teacher (most of her students agree) but still, I was so moved that she was taking this iniative.

Most teachers focus on teaching children WHAT to think, when the real gift a teacher can give to their student is teaching them HOW to think.

Because I Said So

OneInspiredDude posted this touching conversation that he had with his young son (not sure how old he is):

“Anthony, is it good to always listen to adults?”

“Yes.” he responds, unsure.

“No, buddy! Just because someone is an adult and older than you doesn’t mean they know what they are talking about.”

“Is it good to listen to the adults around you most of the time?”

“Yes?”

“Yes, because we’re doing our best to guide you well. We make mistakes, too, though. So, how do you know when to really listen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Buddy, you’ve got to listen to your own heart. You know the difference.”

Isn’t that beautiful? Its so wonderful to hear a parent nurturing those qualities in his child. I mean, when was the last time that any of us had this kind of conversation with the children we love? Have we ever?

As he wrote in his original post: “Anthony knows wisdom when he hears it, as all kids do.”

But what we forget is that the reason kids recognize wisdom when they hear it is because they are already BORN with this wisdom.

What’s sad is that we, the adults, or society as a whole, are the ones making these children second-guess their own innate wisdom, intuition and sense of Self.

I mean, the only reason a small boy would answer a hesitant ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Should you always listen to adults” is because at one point or another the child encountered a situation in his life where he asked ‘Why should I? and an adult told him something along the lines of ‘Because I am the adult and I say so’. The term “Adult” is always used as a form of authority: “If you need help, tell an adult.” “If an adult tells you to do something, you need to listen.”

So although it is a wonderful thing to explain to your child that just because someone is an adult doesnt mean they know what they’re talking about… the truth is your child already knew that. It’s the reason why they didn’t listen to you in the first place!

What Im trying to say is that maybe we should try focusing less on what it is that we should be teaching THEM and more on what it is that they are trying to teach US.

Hope that made even a little sense.

Related Posts:

Children of the New Earth: Crystal Children

Paris Hilton: A New Spiritual Leader is Born

Barbara Walters reported on a telephone call she had with Paris Hilton a few days ago. Paris told Barbara that she’s had some sort of spiritual awakening and when she gets out she wants to devote herself to different charities and use her so-called ‘power’ of fame for better causes.

Paris said, “I used to act dumb. It was an act. And that act is no longer cute. I do not want to be that person for the young girls that looked up to me. I am 26 and it’s a different time. God has given me this new chance.”

She said her spiritual advisor told her, “My spirit or soul did not like the way I was being seen and that’s why I was sent to jail. God has released me.”

She also said that she has been reading The Power of Now… as have I.

***

Ok, so before you’re too quick to judge:

• It is not uncommon for strong, powerful, successful people to realize that there is more to life than material abundance.

• Celebrities tend to realize this even faster because they have already been exposed to the ultimate fantasy most people have been trying to get to (not just the money and “perfect life”, but also the admiration or recognition that all humans tend to long for) and yet that still doesn’t ‘make them happy’. And so they quickly start searching for answers.

• It is very common for all people to undergo some sort of spiritual revelation when they encounter an event in their lives that really shakes them up. For most people that can be losing their job or getting in an accident, while for people used to getting everything they want in life that could be going to jail (even for a short period).

• I think there comes a time in life when everyone has this spiritual revelation. Hopefully, this happens to you before death. There’s not much point in reincarnation if you STILL don’t know who you are.

• Paris, of course, would not be the only one realizing this. People seem to be waking up wherever you go. These past years and the ones following are leading into the next stages of evolution: trancending the mind.

• If a woman like Paris “awakens”, someone who has such a huge influence on our younger generation (whether you like that or not) and the money or “power” to make a difference, then she can help reach that many more people, taking us one leap closer to the critical mass necessary for the next stages of human consciousness. Now THAT’s Hot.

This is a video of what Barbara Walters had to say about their phone conversation (try to ignore the annoying interruptions of those who haven’t quite “gotten it” yet:

Im interested to see how this will unfold when she gets out…

Be Here Now

I am currently working on learning to finally ’step out’ of my thoughts and realize the underlining of simple ‘being’.

The best person to learn more about this from would be Eckhart Tolle (he has some really interesting lectureson that available on video.) He also wrote the book The Power of Now.

Transcending your thoughts really is the next (and maybe final?) stage of evolution. And the more you learn to transcend your thoughts, the more you are in the moment of just ‘being’. The more often you are completely in the moment of just ‘being’, the more you start understanding what that even means.

In other words, we can either take what I just said and start analyzing it to death (till death) or we can move into the next stages of human consiousness.

It’s up to you.

“Be Here Now” Lyrics
Artist: George Harrison

Remember, Now, Be Here Now
As it’s not like it was before.
The past, was, Be Here Now
As it’s not like it was before - it was

Why try to live a life,
that isn’t real,
no how
A mind, that wants to wander,
’round a corner,
is an un-wise mind

Now, Is, Be Here Now
and it’s not what it was before,
Remember, Now, Be Here Now
as it’s not like it was before - it was

Me, Myself and Buddha

My family likes to tell me of the time when I was a baby and my older sister took me to a garden nearby with some of her friends. She and her friends then decided to go get some ice cream and they were happily licking away until one of the friends suddenly asked, “Um, where’s your sister?”

They then realized that they had forgotten me at the garden and started running back in panic - only to find me lying in the baby carriage and, as they put it, “talking to the trees.”

Ironically, I just saw a movie about the Life of Buddhawhere they said that the young Buddha’s first meditation actually took place under some trees after his servants had forgotten him there.

Hmm, I wonder…

Tomorrow is an illusion because INFINITY IS BEING.

Stumbled upon it here.

All a Child Needs

There is only one thing your child truly needs, and that is YOU in the now and in the present. It has nothing to do with time or your busy schedule. Time is not an issue. It’s about putting everything else aside (your problems, your work, your relationships, your busy, busy lifestyle) and for that one moment simply ‘being’ with your child in every depth of your existence. Listening. That’s all your child needs. And so do you.

** sidenote ** (Updated June 1, 2007)

The other day I was sitting with my 6-year-old neice on the porch swing, when all of a sudden we found ourselves talking about one of her classmates who, as she described it: her father went away when she was a baby and he never came back. They speak on the phone occasionally. “They’re not divorced,” she pointed out to me, “they’re just SEPERATED”. She also explained to me that the girl’s mother ran a day-care center at home and that she never had time for her daughter. She said her friend sometimes felt that the kids her mother takes care of all day long experience having her as “their mother” more than she did. Together, we discussed how that made her friend feel and if she had tried sharing these feelings with her mother…

“Yeah, she tried!”

“So what happened? Did it help?”, I asked.

She then shook her head with deep empathy and compassion. “No! Her mother didn’t listen.“