The Seen and the Unseen

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In this point in time there is an ever greater understanding that there are those things that we can see ~ that take up space, that have weight ~ and those things that we cannot see. That which we cannot see may be just energy, but can also be things that exist on a level of vibration that is not observed by our human eyes.

The energies around us, even though we don’t see them with our physical eyes, we can experience. We can sense or feel for instance, if an energy in a room is comfortable to us. Some places we may not want to stay for very long, not because there is anything that we can see, but because we don’t feel good in that space.

But what about the beings that can be around us while we can’t see them ~ like angels, guides, but also Deva’s and ‘nature spirits’? Are they really there? Even when you can’t see them? And if they are there, can we communicate with them? How would we do that? And how would we be certain of what they are saying ~ after all, if we cannot see them, we may be unlikely to actually hear them too...

From experience I would say yes, we can communicate with that which is around us, even if we can’t see it.
And sometimes, for instance when we feel like the unseen world is encroaching upon our personal space a little bit too much, we just want to tell them to give us our space ~ or even tell them to move on. To find another place to be ~ anywhere else but here.
Other times we may want to instigate more of a ‘conversation’ ~ in other words, we would like to get an answer. We would like to get the perspective of the unseen world on whatever it is that we are experiencing or the situation we find ourselves in.
Now, this is a little trickier in more than one way. First, in order to pick up on that sought after, yet ‘unseen’ perspective, we need to take time to be still and listen. Often the answer will be sensed, or known, rather than heard with our physical ears. Second, and this can be even harder, we need to believe the answer or perspective given to us. Even if we are only sensing something like ‘it will work out for you’, or ‘don’t go there...’, or even just the slightest breeze caressing our face...
When we take time to listen and feel confident in the answer we are given, we may find that the perspectives of the unseen ~ and yes, non-personal ~ world can be really helpful in our lives!

When we communicate with respect, both toward ourselves as well as toward others ~ even when we cannot actually see the others ~ the seen and unseen worlds can work together wonderfully!
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Walking our personal path

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It is an easy thing to say ~ that we are walking our personal paths. And, certainly when we consider our personal path to be a spiritual one, we tend to think that what a personal path entails is totally obvious to everybody who hears the phrase...

Yet when you start thinking about it, what is your personal path? What does it include? What should be part of it? And are there things you encounter on your personal path you wish they weren’t there? What is the use of these things being there in the first place?

Our personal path is exactly that: personal. That means that, while we can talk about the personal paths of others, we can only talk in generalities as the final choices, experience and responsibility are by definition not ours...

In the most general sense one could say that the personal path we walk through life is made up of a string of experiences through which we learn. The idea being that with every experience we gain in knowledge, wisdom, and ultimately spiritual growth.
These experiences usually are not the big grandiose things we may read about in the paper ~ they are the everyday things like how we handle getting stuck in traffic ~ again. Or how we handle people yelling at us. The joy we get from a walk in the forest. All those things tell us something about ourselves. Some of these things we like, other things we may want to change in ourselves ~ and through that process we learn about live and we come to more and more accept who we are as a person.

Now, if a personal path is spiritual in nature ~ what can doing the laundry add to that? What is spiritual in doing household chores?
What it boils down to is that while walking our personal paths it is not necessarily about the things we do and when we do them ~ it is how we handle, how we react to those things... When we find ourselves getting grumpy because we need to do a sheer unending amount of household chores that keep us from doing the fun things in life ~ we may find that these chores take longer ~ that we spend more energy on them ~ than they need to. From a personal path perspective, we may want to change something like that... The same goes for getting stuck in traffic ~ if we get highly frustrated every time that happens, we may want to ask ourselves why it is bothering us so much and make changes to our schedule or our attitude (or both) accordingly...

On thing is certain though, we can only affect our own personal path.
And we shouldn’t judge others on how they are walking their paths ~ unless we have walked a mile in their moccasins...
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Predictions

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Every so often a prediction pops up that the end of the world is coming.
The basis for these predictions may lie in channeled information or in biblical interpretation. Or in the fact that the Maya Calendar stops in the year 2012...

The big question, at least from a practical point of view is: why now?
There are a lot of things in the world of today that are considered to be ‘bad’. There is still a lot of fighting going on. Fighting for a cause as well as fighting as a release for frustrations that perhaps have been building for years and years... Although slavery in the traditional sense of the word is not common anymore ~ it seems to have been replaced by a different form of slavery. ‘People trafficing’ has become an industry.
Yes, our world would be a lot better place to be if all those things were not happening.
On the other hand, there is also an enormous drive to change things. To make things better. To rebuild and reform...

And all of this is taking place around the same time the Maya Calendar reaches its end.

It is easy to come to the conclusion that our days are counted and the end is near.
Or is it?

It makes a huge difference whether one predicts: “The end of the world” ~ or “The end of the world as we know it”.

“The end of the world” implies that the earth itself will cease to exist. And while there are most definitely changes going on with our planet ~ its weather patterns, its landmasses even ~ the destruction of the earth doesn’t seem to be imminent to me.

“The end of the earth as we know it” ~ now that is a completely different perspective.
Seeing the tremendous changes that are going on on a small scale in people’s personal lives as well as on a global scale ~ does seem to indicate that we are on the beginning of a time ~ an age even ~ that may well be totally different from what we as humanity has experienced up to now!

The question that remains however, is if this change  linked to a specific date. Would it be possible to have just one moment, one morning when every single person in the world wakes up with the realization that the new time, the new perspectives, the new energy has come? Or is it more likely to be a process? And if it is a process ~ has it started already or are we still waiting for its beginning?

Maybe the Mayans had the most sensible perspective on this yet: If the world, both the earth and humanity, are changing to such extend that a new world will emerge ~ than what would be the use of continuing this Calendar that is based on the world as we know it?
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The predicament of predicting...

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It is hard to foretell the outcome of anything ~ whether it is the outcome of a situation, the outcome of an election or even if what you are looking at is ‘the future’ on a much broader scale.
Or, as it turns out, it is not making the prediction itself the hard part ~ it is the prediction being factually true that turns out to be almost impossible...

There are many reasons why we, even with all the technical help we have nowadays such as computers, are still unable to see those things that haven’t happened yet with great accuracy.

To start with, there are thousands, if not millions of possibilities for something to happen let’s say at a certain time in the future. Statistically, picking the one that will turn out to be factually accurate gives very slim odds.
Another, more personal thing that makes it hard to see what is in the future is that it is very hard for us to see an outcome that we would never have thought of. An outcome we have a hard time imagining...

These two reasons also show the duality in our approach.
On one hand if we have all the information ~ including how the people involved are thinking about it or what they are hoping for the outcome to be ~ leading up to the outcome, even if that outcome is something that is a future event; we would probably be able to figure it out logically. That is where computers come in handy. The problem here is that we never really have all that information...
Coming from the other side, our intuition, our sense, feeling can give us a lot of information on where the situation may be leading us. We may even have visions showing us possible outcomes of that situation. Yet if the outcome is totally different from what we can imagine, or believe it to be ~ all our intuitive, sensory information on the outcome isn’t doing us any good...

And yet we keep attempting to ‘know the future’. To predict what is going to happen ~ be it just in our personal or family lives, or on a world scale.

And knowing what would be the outcome would likely give us a sense of security. A sense that we can take action toward that known outcome, and be ready for it when it happens.

The thing is, that just by focussing on that one outcome that we ‘know to be true’ ~ especially if we start focussing on it with a large number of people ~ chances are that we start manifesting it into our lives, into the world.
If the outcome we envision is a bad outcome, we may not want to do that for obvious reasons.
If we sense and know the outcome we predict is a good outcome, in focussing just on that one possibility we may block an even better outcome to emerge...

Perhaps that is why it is said that the value we find on our path is in the journey itself, rather than the outcome...
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Expanded reality, again...

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As more and more people living in the world of today are experiencing their lives from an expanded reality perspective ~ what is also changing is the manner in which the input that is available is perceived, registered, interacted with and acted on...

In the ‘good old days’ real life decisions were made based pretty much solely upon logical input. The things that were proven ~ either empirically or scientifically.
With the acknowledgement of our multiple layers of consciousness, intuitive input has become more acceptable. And as the realization dawned that there are levels of our Selves that well may know or be aware of everything that we ever would have a need to know of ~ for some of us how we feel about a particular situation that we are dealing with can be more important than the facts and figures of what is going on.

However, to effectively live in and make use of the expanded reality ~ we need to look at both ends of the spectrum. Which means that the ‘facts and figures’ as well as how we may feel about it should be considered.

But how do you do that? How do you deal with the essentially double amount of input you get on pretty much anything in your life?

For me personally, it is important to find quiet places. Where I used to listen to the radio a lot, I hardly ever turn it on now. I find that a quiet place allows me to focus easier. Not just on the job at hand, but also on what is going on energy-wise with what I am doing; how I feel about it. In that focused, quiet space I can allow thoughts and ideas to come up without logical direction... Thoughts and ideas that are more intuitive in nature ~ that give me additional information that often turns out to be quite useful...

For other people it can be easier when focusing on something to keep a radio or television on. The sound in the background helps them to only become aware of those senses, ideas and thoughts that are actually useful at that moment ~ performing that specific task ~ while drowning out all the additional input that is not pertinent to what is happening for them that very moment.

Either way, when something happens that pulls you out of the space you are in; away from the three-way interaction of logical input, sensory or intuitive input, and that which you are focused on ~ it can be an unpleasant, even physically painful experience...

The expanded reality we are experiencing most certainly comes with its own lessons to learn and techniques to master. And it is a steep learning curve!
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Expanded reality

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In the energies of this point in time, more and more people seem to live in an expanded reality...

Where about fifty years ago the reality of life, the real world, or even truth was looked at as our physical existence alone ~ nowadays more and more people realize that there is more to our reality than our physicality.

And as that realization has dawned and gathered more and more momentum ~ a number of things that were ‘way out there’ some fifty years ago, are now part of life. Like meditation, energy healing methods, subconscious healing methods ~ they are now readily available for those who are interested in the unseen part of our reality.
With that came a new vocabulary. So now, when talking about meditation, one may ask what type of meditation you are practicing. The same goes for healing techniques ~ and the discussion whether those healing techniques are actually working, or if you are way better off just getting yourself to a hospital soon followed.

All in all we ~ and with us our reality ~ have shifted to the acceptance of a reality that is both physical and energy. That we are both physical, have a body and live in a physical world, and are energy, have a light body and live in some unseen, parallel world. A world that is unseen to most of us. A world that can be experienced, yet not quantified ~ and therefore remains unproven to those needing such proof...

For those of us that experience that unseen world, those of us who sense the movements, the colors, even the raw energy itself ~ scientific proof is not needed.

This doesn’t mean in any way, shape or form that we are ‘airy-fairy types’.
Most of us are just as grounded as anyone else ~ sometimes they seem to be even better grounded in the physical reality than most others. We are usually living full and productive lives in the physical world. We are more often than not reasonable, logical people who sometimes can be opinionated just like the rest of the world.
Yet our reality doesn’t stop at our physical existence alone. We are well aware of the duality of our Selves. And whether we choose to show it to the people around us or not ~ the reality that we accept as truth is an expanded reality...

In that expanded reality, ‘real life’ is both physical and energy ~ and this means that while logic, science, and proof of things are important, so is the sensory input ~ the input that comes from a feeling, intuition, or even a vision about how something may play out.
In that expanded reality, it isn’t about an ‘either / or’ perspective, it is about using the input from both sides ~ physical and non-physical ~ in order to come to the best decision; and ultimately to get to the best conclusion.
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Faith and Trust

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Faith, the complete trust or confidence in something that not necessarily can or needs to be proven, and trust, the firm belief in something ~ are two similar, yet in some sense vastly different concepts...

Faith is often related to religion; having ‘a faith’ then says one believes in God. Having faith relies on a feeling of confidence that things will work out ~ even when we ourselves are not in a position to see our way through the situation we find ourselves in, we may have faith that somehow, someway, things will come to a conclusion that will work for us, or even be beneficial for us.

We could even have faith that through Divine intervention we can turn a certain situation, or even our lives around.

And in a sense, that says it all. We have faith in something that is outside of ourselves. Be it the Divine, the goodness of others, or just the other party involved doing the right thing ~ in each case we believe something outside of ourselves will help turn things around. Make our lives better.

So what about trust?
When we trust, we have the firm belief in, for instance an ability or the strength of something or someone. Trusting is a much more mundane thing to do...

Funny thing is that neither faith nor trust requires factual proof that that which you put your faith in actually exists, or that which you trust really is true.

As far as faith goes ~ well, you got to have faith!

But when we start looking at trust, things get a bit more interesting.
We can trust the strength or reliability of say a car. We can trust that another person is speaking the truth, or will do the job well.
Yet, as no factual proof is needed to put our trust into someone or something ~ how do we know who or what we can trust? How do we know our trust will not be betrayed?

In order to effectively trust the right people and the right things, we ultimately have to trust ourselves.
We have to trust ourselves to know when things are not adding up, when something is ‘fishy’, when there is more to the story than the other person is telling us... And as these are often not based on factual information, it comes down to ‘gut feel’, or intuition.
And then we have to trust our ‘gut feel’ or intuition to the point that we actually take steps based on this feeling we have inside. These steps may be something like doing research ~ in other words looking up the facts of what is at hand ~ they can also be the actual decision making process, like the decision to go left instead of right...

It is a good thing to have faith.
And when you trust, trust yourself first!
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That which is mine, and that which is yours...

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Most people have a good idea as to the things they own, and the things that are the property of somebody else. And most people respect this concept.

Yet the time that we could leave our doors unlocked and trust that everything you own would still be there upon our return is long gone.
Nowadays we need to lock windows and doors ~ often with multiple locks; sometimes with the added security of an alarm system ~ and then still we may not have faith that things will still be there the way you left them when you walked out. Even indoors we put our valuables away in a safe place...

Somehow it seems that the line between that which is mine and that which is yours has become less self-evident. So much so that we can’t put our faith in the recognition of that line anymore.

In today’s world there are people who feel that they can take things that are the property of somebody else in order to sell for profit. And it seems that the fact that they can, in some weird and convoluted way makes them feel that they have the right to do so.

Of course it doesn’t help that when caught, all they end up from a punitive perspective is a slap on the wrist. Quite a difference with the days long one when the punishment for thieves caught stealing or burglarising was to have a hand chopped off. Ouch!!

So what is it that makes the grass always greener on the other side of the fence? Why are we lusting after those things that are out of reach for us ~ be it because they belong to somebody else or because we simply don’t have the resources to acquire them? What is it that makes us think that the life of someone else is better than our own?

And perhaps even more interesting, if we feel that the lives of those other people are so much better than our own ~ what keeps us from bettering our own lives?
Instead we just keep looking at the neighbors who seem to have it all, maybe even complaining that we should have at least the same things ~ after all aren’t we working just as hard, or even harder than they are?

At that point, this line between that which is mine and that which is yours has turned into a competition. And when we get stuck in that state of competition ~ always comparing ourselves to those who seem to have it all ~ we can never truly appreciate the things that we already have; the things that belong to us; ourselves...

In a sense we may even be thieves ~ stealing not from others, but from ourselves the sense of accomplishment, of acceptance, of happiness...
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Synchronicities

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Synchronicity, according to the dictionary, is the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.

At one time or another all of us experience synchronicities in our lives... They are the things like picking up the phone to call a friend, yet right as we start dialing the number the phone rings and it is our friend calling us. The same is true for two people having the same idea ~ or even starting to say the same words in a conversation.

Synchronicities are not always glaring us in the face like that.
Not so long ago, a friend gave me the advice to not scatter my energy as much and to focus on those things that are truly important to me. This is good advice ~ chances are it is good advice not just for me, but for many of us in this day and age. Pretty much at the same time, a group I had been actively participating in on facebook was shut down.
To me that is a synchronicity confirming the value of the advice, as well as pointing me away from an activity that is failing to be productive for me.

A bit longer ago ~ I had just returned to the Netherlands from an extended stay in the U.S. ~ within a few days three or four people asked me independent from each other, when I was planning to leave the Netherlands again... Turns out that buying my next ticket at that very time allowed me to get it at the best price possible, right before prices went up again!

Synchronicities are those instances when events and timing come together for you in a beneficial manner. Not only are they signals that, when paid attention to, can make your life easier, better ~ because of the timing aspect involved most synchronicities demand that action be taken as well.

From some perspective one can say that synchronicities happen when you are in sync with the flow of life ~ or even the flow of the universe. The right action taken at the right time permits you to benefit from being in sync.

This means that there are a couple of things we may want to be acutely aware of:
The sometimes very subtle messages pointing us in a specific direction.
The right time.

That last one is a hard one for me. I have a tendency ~ even when I have this sense that the right time is right now ~ to finish what I am doing before taking the action required by the synchronicity.

Unfortunately, that then, drops me right out of sync...
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