Disclaimers

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We live in a time in which disclaimers are to be found anywhere and everywhere ~ sometimes in the most unlikely places. There are times that a disclaimer suits the situation ~ in other words it is a warning about something that can be encountered in that particular situation. And while that is a good thing in many cases, it can also seem redundant. For instance when on the internet a disclaimer is found that the opinions expressed are just that, opinions; and not stated factual truth.

To me the most eye-catching disclaimers are the disclaimers about medication which by law now have to be included in the commercial or advertisement for that medication in the U.S. Out of a thirty second commercial, sometimes as much as twenty seconds seems to be a fast spoken summary of all side effects and health problems this very medication may instigate in your body. It often makes me wonder why ~ after having heard all of that ~ a person still would opt for a medication like that...

Since the channel ‘Investigation Discovery’ has made it to Dutch television ~ a whole new range of disclaimers have come to my attention. And with them, an entire new set of ponderings...

The programs aired on ‘Investigation Discovery’ are at least based in reality, and oftentimes are documentaries of things that happen in reality. At the start of many of their programs a disclaimer is both shown as well as spoken that ‘the following program contains images of a violent (or sexual, or graphic...) nature that some viewers may find disturbing’.
Given the content of the program ~ no matter how interesting it may be ~ I keep wondering why it is not disturbing to everybody? What part of our experiences makes us watch narratives of the most gruesome occurrences without feeling a level disturbance? At what moment have we started considering the fact that those things happen in the world ~ let alone them being shown on TV ~ as normal?

A more interesting thing to me is that when I switch channels and land on a ‘whodunit’; a dramatized crime series like CSI ~ no such disclaimers are offered.
Of course those series are rated, and when one is very familiar with the rating system, one can deduce whether there may be disturbing scenes in that program. But how many people really look at those tiny images in the TV guide of their choice? And yet, in those series, similarly gruesome plots play out as they do in the real world documentaries...

Ultimately, disclaimers bring up the question at which point we are going to make our own choices ~ doing our ‘due diligence’ not based in the fear (or fascination) of anything ‘bad’ that may happen, but more out of interest or a sense of curiosity. Then, weighing the risks, we can make an informed decision on what to do next.
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Fabric

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I like soft, natural fabrics. It is their feel, the way they fold. The way they wrap your body... Just simply the level of comfort they offer when you wear them...

Of course this is a personal consideration. Other people may like fabrics that are easy in the laundry, that are fast drying. Or like non-wrinkling fabrics even better.
And in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter what you choose; what matters is that you pick out what suits you best... And that may be one thing at one time, and another at a different time... It may suit a purpose, or be a folly ~ brightly colored or in more earthy tones.

It is not the material you choose but the way we make our choices that make up the fabric of our lives.
That give our lives structure; a framework within which we feel comfortable to live our lives.
As the fabric of our lives is woven, colors and patterns emerge. Sometimes culminating into events that may or may not have been within our realm of influence. And when things have happened, changes have occurred ~ the fabric of our lives is likely to change as well. Following our new priorities; woven in different colors and new patterns.

Whether we weave a strong fabric, or a fabric filled with folly depends on the choices we make. It depends on what we feel suits us, or our purpose, best at that time. What supports our lives best the way we see it right there and then.

From a more spiritual perspective, one might say that the basic fabric of our lives already exists. That all we do as we live our lives is to roll it out ~ moving from one pattern to the next; from one set of colors to another. With ever unexpected hues and colors appearing each time we roll out a bit more of that tapestry that is the fabric of our lives.

Yet again, it is not necessarily what is there ~ it is what we do with it that makes the difference. How we choose to react. How we handle the patterns and colors the fabric of lives has at this very point in time.

No matter how you look at it; whether you feel like you are weaving the fabric of your life or rather see it as an existing tapestry that is rolled out further and further as you live your life ~ it is up to us to choose how we will handle things. To determine what the patterns and colors mean to us; what events are moving in and out of our lives...

And again, it doesn’t matter a whole lot what you choice you make at any one time ~ as long as it feels like it is the right choice for you!
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As we change...

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There is much talk about change; changes in the world, changes in the climate, changes in the energy, and yes, changes in ourselves...
Yet, often the most profound changes we create for and in ourselves happen unnoticed. Then, when you meet a friend you haven’t seen for some time a remark may be made on how much you have changed and suddenly we do see the changes in ourselves.
Whether they are changes in the way we look, changes in in behavior, even changes in our energy are now visible to us.

So why is it that we don’t see the changes we work so hard to achieve in our lives?

It seems that the closer to ourselves ~ or even the core of ourselves ~ we create changes, the harder it is distinguish what has changed and what is still the same...
It is like growing older; on a day to day basis it is something we know is happening, yet seeing ourselves in the mirror every day we don’t notice the changes. The moment we see a picture of ourselves which was made a year ago, or even five years ago ~ we can instantly see how we have changed, matured, even grown older.

The same thing happens when we decide we want to change something about ourselves, for instance through the use of affirmations. After the first week of using the chosen affirmation, nothing seems to have happened. After three or four weeks of affirming the changes you desire in yourself or in your life, small changes become visible. It may be a couple of months later that you realize you are doing things different; interact different, set your priorities different... The change has been made!

As these type of changes are a gradual process rather than ‘big changes’ that have a tendency to come in with a ‘bang’ ~ sometimes the easiest way to see whether things indeed are changing are to look at pictures of yourself, or to look at your handwriting ~ as it is funnily enough one of the things that reflects changes very rapidly.

Or you can ask a friend.
But just as it can be scary to consider ‘big changes’ ~ after all, we as humans don’t like the concept of having to change much ~ it can be unsettling for a friend to see you change... Some friends may disappear from your life, while new friends come into your presence. And sometimes it is easier, even for someone you think of as a close friend, to simply disregard any changes you have made in and for yourself. It seems safer to keep looking at you the way you once were ~ five, ten, twenty years ago ~ and give you the compliment: “Look at you! You haven’t changed one bit!”
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Rhyme nor reason

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Sometimes things come together easily ~ just as was to be expected. Other times there seems to be neither rhyme nor reason to the way things come together. And it seems that the latter is becoming more prevalent in these times...

Whenever there is something to be accomplished, no matter what it is, it is being planned for. The obvious contingencies are thought of and often taken care of ahead of time. And pretty soon the only logical outcome of events would be the achievement of the set goal.

With many things in our lives this is what happens.

Yet when it comes to the important things in life, the things that really matter to us, the things we are passionate about ~ all of a sudden the tried and proves ways of getting things done don’t seem to work quite as well...
Promising leads don’t pan out. In meetings with all the ‘right people’ talks get stuck on minor details ensuring that nothing productive is realized. And no matter how much time and energy you spend on it ~ it just isn’t working...

While all the logical steps are taken, agreements reached, and the desired outcome should be within reach ~ everybody involved seems to want to take it into a different direction.
It just doesn’t make any sense.

A different, perhaps more spiritual way of looking at the situations in our lives that have neither rhyme nor reason in the way they play out, is to view the situation as if an important new player is added to the mix: the universe itself.

Especially in those areas of our lives we feel are important to us ~ the big things in life ~ the universe can step in and make things go more smoothly (for instance by consistently helping us to be at the right place at the right time), creating results that are beyond our wildest dreams. It can also intervene in order to usher us into a different direction; a direction or path that holds greater promise for us, whether we are aware of it yet or not...

When things turn out better than expected, we may say we had luck on our side.
When things fail to come together into a logical result of our actions, we perhaps complain that it doesn’t make sense and get frustrated with it.

Either way these things often happen under the guidance of a higher force. And while there seems to be neither rhyme nor reason to what is happening and why the way we as humans perceive it ~ the universe just wishes the very best for us...
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Midnight

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For few of us midnight is the actual middle of the night. For most of us it is somewhere at the end of the evening or the beginning of the night. It is the end of the day and as such the start of the next day. In this manner it is, in a sense, the bridge between the evening of today and the morning of tomorrow...

Midnight blue is the darkest blue you can think of, and yet, the darkest time of night is said to be right before dawn. Unless you live quite close to the polar circle, dawn is quite a few hours away from midnight...

Midnight is when everything is quiet.
However it is a time that is full of life and activity for the creatures of the night ~ animal or human...

The only logical way to look at midnight, is that it is diametrical opposite to midday ~ a time of day for which much of the above is true also; it is hardly the middle of the day, although bright ~ the brightest light is often a couple of hours later, and while daytime is a time of activity, midday somehow has a quiet, a stillness about it...

To really see where the terms come from, we need to look at the cycle of day and night.
This 24 hour time-span is one of the shortest cycles in nature; the time it takes for the earth to make a full, 360 degree turn on its axis.
Midday then is the point when the sun is at its highest point above the horizon; midnight the time when the sun is at its lowest point beneath the horizon.
And looking at the significance of these points in the cycle, it appears that at midday we can see most clearly as the reality, the true nature of things is least obscured by their shadows, showing the shapes and energies as they truly are.
At midnight, when the sun is exactly at the other side of the earth, we can see an entirely different reality. Or perhaps we see different aspects of the same reality, not with our eyes but with our other feelings, even with our intuition. It makes midnight the time for feelings. For those often undefined bits and pieces of information that we feel good about, or not. It is when our ‘gut-feel’ is very clear...

MIdnight, when the energy of the sun is no part of our experience, is the time when our (inner) senses can be relied on. That special smell, a rustle as a soft breeze plays with the leaves of a tree, the sonar calls of bats ~ just outside of our range of hearing; it is all part of that other reality that is so easy to forget about in the light of day...
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Surprises

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Surprises are unexpected or astonishing events, facts or things... And while sometimes the timing of the surprise may not be totally unexpected ~ for instance in case of a surprise birthday party ~ the event in and of itself is still unanticipated.

The term ‘surprise’ doesn’t really give any indication whether the unforeseen event is pleasant or not. So, from that perspective there can be both truly exciting surprises ~ happy things that happen to you ~ as well as unpleasant, or even nasty surprises. Yet, in my thinking the word surprise is positive! More related to its positive aspects than it is to its negative connotations. The latter I tend to describe more as ‘sudden unexpected events’.
Same meaning, different word, different connotation.

It is funny how language can work that way...

As far as surprises go ~ life is full of surprises!
Unanticipated things that are suddenly right there... Like a sunny day while the weather forecast had been dismal. Or walking into the supermarket and discovering that the item you really need is on sale. Or even an event you signed up for being organized in a way that can be much more beneficial than you originally thought.
Examples are plentiful on the unexpected things that may be coming your way in every day life. From the very mundane ~ like the price of gas having dropped a nickel ~ to the very esoteric.

If this is so ~ then why don’t we feel that excitement of the surprise more often?

Somehow we may have lost our sense of wonder ~ our open approach to life as it comes our way. We ‘hope for the best and expect the worst’. It seems to be a safe attitude to live our lives with as it allows for good things to become part of our lives, yet will prevent us from being caught unaware if something bad might come our way instead.
Inherent in that attitude is that we often put a label, or even a value to an event ~ sometimes even before it happens we have projected how much fun it possible can be, or worst case, what the ramifications of the event might be ~ both immediately as well as in the long run. And if none of those labels turn out to be true ~ it really is surprising (!) ~ but it may give us an uneasy feeling of being slightly out of control...

To experience the world around us as it is ~ filled with surprises ~ it would be good to re-cultivate our sense of wonder; our openness to life...
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Seasonal Weather

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When we look at the seasons, we seem to connect the seasons more to weather we expect than we connect them to their inherent energies. And so we expect cold ~ or at least colder ~ weather during the Winter months; and warm, sunny weather when Summer is here...
And depending on what season resonates most with us on a personal level, we may feel cheated when the expected weather doesn’t come around.

This year, the weather seems to be a bit off the patterns we have come to expect. And this seems to be happening in whichever direction you look. The weather is hotter than normal, colder than normal, rainier than normal dryer than normal...
It brings up the question what ‘normal’ weather is for a particular season in these changing times...

Of course there is a lot of talk and thought about climate changes. Are the differences in the weather of the seasons because of them? Because the climate, the earth is heating up ~ melting the polar ice ~ that the weather each season isn’t what it used to be?

Or should we look at it from an entirely different direction?
After all, everything is in change. The frequency of the very energy around us is increasing, veils are lifting, our awareness is becoming more acute... So how is that affecting the seasons and the energy they bring into the world? And are the variances in weather patterns an expression of these changes in seasonal energy?

In the sense that if the Fall weather is nicer, bringing out even prettier colors than one can remember ~ might that be saying that the energy of ‘reaping the rewards’, the energy of the harvest of that which we have put our efforts into is going to be nicer as well?
And if the Winter is colder than predicted, may that be emphasizing the energy of ‘turning inward’ even more than it has before?
If Spring weather feels more like it is already Summer ~ is that saying that we are ‘skipping Spring’ or could it be that in this energy we need to be more prepared than ever to get our projects started?
When the Summer is a lot rainier ~ like it is where I live ~ does that mean that the energy of maintenance; the maintenance of whatever projects we are working on ~ the nurturing of whichever seeds we have planted ~ needs more input, more nourishment, even more time and effort than it did in Summers of the past?

Perhaps, looking at the season’s weather from an energy perspective can give us hints as to how we can best work with our own energy at that time...
Whether we need an increase in quiet time, more or different nourishment, be more prepared or alert...

It seems I have needed all of those things as the frequency of the energy around my is getting ever higher...
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Lost and found

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It is never fun to lose something ~ as a matter of fact, it can be a traumatic experience. Of course it depends on what it is you have lost.
Losing your wallet, credit cards, or keys can be quite a scare, and can have an enormous impact on your life.
Losing a scarf, a book or magazine, or something of that nature may be an inconvenience, but those are things that usually can be replaced quite easily.
Losing a couple of pounds is ~ for most of us ~ a positive aspect of losing things.

Yet losing something, no matter what it is, no mater where you lost it can bring a level of frustration to the surface you may not have realized you had in you. Pretty much independent of what it is, questions come up like: ‘I am careful with my belongings, so how could I have lost it?’; ‘When was the last time I have seen it, or held it in my hands?’; ‘I am certain I put it up in a secure place, now where is it?’

And while sometimes this item you cannot find could be stolen from you; certainly in the energy of today there can be more to it...

In the ever higher energy frequency, it seems to be a lot harder to truly focus on the task at hand. And this seems to be more true for mundane tasks. It is as if part of us is occupied elsewhere while we are performing our every day chores. And before we know it, this item we are putting up in a very secure place finds its way to a place that is both as secure as it is unexpected.
It is a good recipe for ‘losing things’ in the sense that you are certain it is someplace in the house ~ but you have no clue where to look for it...

A different perspective on losing things, especially in this manner, is to take some time to reflect on what it really is you have lost. What does the item mean to you? What period of your life did you get it? And what was your state of being during that time; how did you feel about yourself and the world around you?
Answering questions like these may give you a hint as to why it might even have been time for this item to be released; to be lost ~ even if it is someplace in your own home...

And if this rings a bell with you, perhaps the most fascinating question to answer for yourself is:
‘What have you newly found (A release, a realization, a space, an energy?) through through the process of losing something?’
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In your face...

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Every once in while there are things that get ‘in your face’.
Things that I may have known about for months or even years ~ yet suddenly, without an obvious reason  they are right there, ‘in my face’. No getting around it anymore.
It needs to be resolved; and it needs to be done now.

For something to get ‘in your face’, it usually has been in your life for a while ~ and one way or another you haven’t spend time dealing with it. Perhaps because it is a problem that doesn’t seem to have an apparent solution. Or it is something that is so entwined with other people and different situations in your life, that it has become hard to see what it is really about. But often it is something you feel you can live with... It’s not that bad; and after all one has to prioritize. It’ll get better eventually. I’ll see someone about it next week, right now I have other things to do...

Our reasons to push it away are plentiful. Being involved in our day to day lives we may not even realize how urgent the matter is to us. If not on a physical, every day life type of manner ~ than certainly on an inner level. An emotional or energy level.
It has to get a lot worse for us to become truly aware of its importance to our lives, to our wellbeing.
It has to get ‘in your face’.

And for us humans, being physical beings living in a material world ~ this may well involve a very physical ‘attention getter’. Like a (minor) accident. Or an ache that may materialize without a reason for it to be there.
One thing seems to be clear; the longer we postpone looking at whatever it is we need to look at, chances are it will push itself to the foreground of our lives more and more. Until suddenly it becomes our top priority. We have to take time out of our busy schedules to deal with it.

Inconvenient as it may seem, this is how things are brought to our attention by the universe. Especially when they are in our way, hindering us to take our next step on our personal path of growth.
Therefore, from a spiritual perspective, there seem to be (at least) two ways to go about working with it. On one hand, when something has become totally physical it may require the help of a healthcare professional. On the other hand, pondering the question what the underlying lesson is and starting to work with it may help to quickly resolve the physical ‘attention getter’.

And pretty soon it is something you deal with, rather than something that is ‘in your face’.
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