Sleep

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We all need sleep. Research has shown that even for people in great physical shape, being sleep-deprived brings on any number of problems really quickly; to the point at which they barely function anymore... It has become clear that we need sleep in order to stay rested physically, and focused and alert mentally ~ in other words, to stay healthy.

This would indicate that when we are asleep, we are doing a lot more than just closing our eyes catching our ‘beauty sleep’...

For instance, through our dreams we are making sense of our daytime experiences. We can get a ‘heads up’ from our subconscious on the things that are pertinent to our personal paths. In other words, we use our sleeping hours to interact with our subconscious selves. And we seem to do this in such a manner that we unload our logical minds ~ so we will wake up the next morning clear-headed and alert to start the new day.

But there may also be those times when we have slept our regular number of hours, and without anything special or exciting going on in our lives we still wake up tired. Or not quite rested. Almost like we have been working through the night ~ even though we know we have been laying in our beds sleeping.
Chances are ~ especially when looked at from a spiritual perspective ~ that we indeed have been working through the night in those cases. Not the physical labor we put forth while awake, but a more subconscious, or even spiritual effort which stems from a deep desire to help.

At this point in time with a growing emphasis on ‘Oneness’, we can become increasingly aware of those places, situations or people who may need our support in whichever manner we can give it. An while we may not exactly be conscious of what is needed, or where on the planet this situation is occurring ~ while we are asleep, part of us may actually venture out to offer whatever help we can.

Personally, especially when I wake up tired a number of mornings in a row ~ no matter how much I desire to help wherever help may be needed ~ I feel like making an appointment with myself to just sleep through the night, plain and simple. To take care of my need for rest and recuperation first.

So, as it turns out, it is important for us to sleep.
For ourselves, and in some cases for places, situations, or people anywhere in the world as well.
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Forgetting

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In order to not forget things, I use a structure within which I do them ~ a routine, a pattern. And so this structure is not as much something that I cannot or should not deviate from ~ it is more of a familiar pathway that helps me getting stuff done in time.

So for a number of years I have published my blog ~ like clockwork ~ every Tuesday and Friday. On the blog the date sometimes appears a day early due to time differences. (No, I don’t set the time on my computer to the time zone I’m in; it’s pretty much set to Pacific time all the time. Yes there are reasons to do that ~ which may not even be good reasons from a logical perspective. But here it is, and I’m not about to change that little quirkiness.) But over time a new blog has appeared twice a week.

Until now.

Writing my new entry I suddenly notice that the previous blog I have posted is dated a week ago. Somehow, without even being aware of it, I have stepped outside of that structure, that familiar pathway. And as a result my blog didn’t get posted.

My first reaction was surprise. How could I forget? I have been blogging twice a week for ages! But then a different ~ and come to think about it, more interesting sensation came up. A certain sense of relief. The world didn’t collapse. No-one commented demanding to know when I was planning to post my new blog... In forgetting to post my blog, I have gained a sense of flexibility and freedom!
This doesn’t mean that I won’t be posting my blogs regularly; I’ll keep doing that. It does mean, however, that if there is a week when I don’t have time to sit down and write a blog; or a day when there just don’t seem to be the right words ~ a blog post may be skipped.

It is almost like in forgetting to do something we would normally do in a structured manner ~ in a routine or a pattern ~ we are receiving a message from a Higher Source telling us to reevaluate. To take a step back in order to see whether what we are doing following those all too familiar pathways is really still that important to us...
If it isn’t, then perhaps we should stop spending our time and energy doing those things.
Yet if it is ~ to continue doing them, albeit in a more relaxed, more flexible manner.
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Problem solving

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In order to solve any problem, first one needs to identify what it is.
Some problems are quite obvious, others less so. And getting clarity in the more complicated situations often is the most difficult and time consuming part of solving the problem. The recognition of what the problem really is and how it functions in your life.

Therefore, rather than focusing on the final part of the process ~ the actual solving of the problem ~ paying attention to clarification and identification of the situation can be way more helpful...

How we do this is a personal choice as there are many avenues leading to that clear identification of the situation as well as how it is taking shape in your life.
Some people feel that meditating or pondering upon the situation will bring the awareness needed to see the full picture. Others write it out ~ putting their thoughts to paper until the desired clarity emerges. There are those that talk about the problem with others ~ to bounce their ideas and thoughts on the problem off a sounding board. To get some new or different input, to get out of the circle their own thoughts have been running around in... And this other person can be a therapist, yet can also be a good friend ~ just someone outside of the troubling situation and therefore having a more clear perspective on what is truly going on.

When we choose ‘to talk it out’ ~ to find someone who can give us feedback on the situation ~ an interesting dynamic can form in the sense that there can be a point at which the person having the problem says ‘Just tell me what to do to solve it, and I’ll do it’. Or even the person giving feedback being maneuvered into a position where it falls upon them to solve the other person’s problem. Something that hardly ever works out well.
Another dynamic that can occur is that the person who is only asked for feedback is willing to help to such extend that they start taking action in order to solve the other person’s problem...

This well intended action can ~ especially from a spiritual perspective ~ compound the problem rather than solving it, as it takes the process of ‘working it out for themselves’; the process of ‘learning your life lessons’ away from the person having the problem in the first place...

As our life lessons are often disguised as problems, as obstacles that make us stop and reevaluate what is going on in our lives ~ solving our problems can lead to a tremendous amount of personal growth!
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Your voice

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As I said, we all have a voice. And while nature sounds its voices without inhibition, this is not always true for us humans. All too often we hold back. And I don’t mean that we don’t make a sound ~ more that we seem apprehensive when it comes to truly expressing ourselves. It is a lot easier to make a lot of noise without actually saying something ~ without it being a genuine expression of who we are or what we experience at that moment.

Often I hear people say that they don’t have anything to say; that they don’t have anything to offer to the world. That anything worth saying is already been said by others who are way better at saying it...

And while a lot is being said by others ~ as we can be aware of through TV, the internet, radio, and yes (news)papers ~ I believe that each and every one of us has a lot to offer still!

We can use our voice to sing. We can use our voice to express joy. We can use our voice to express the experience of Peace, or ‘stillness’, or ‘connectedness’. We can use our voice to teach our children, to tell the stories we grew up with. We can use our voice to talk about the things we would do different if we would have a chance at doing is all over again ~ and why, and what we have learned from our mistakes, and how we have come out stronger for it. So others can learn from our experiences...

But in the end, using our voice has to do with expressing our genuine selves more than it has to do with  the words we are speaking or writing. This means that using your voice can be through movement, through dance. Or through painting. Or through pretty much any activity ~ anything we may be doing ~ that we are passionate about. That makes us happy. Whether it is in what we do for a living, as a hobby, or in being and living who we feel we truly are at that point in time.

And we can use our voice to form a group, to bring our voices together in a way that draws more attention to the message we intend to get across. If we choose to do so ~ let it be a message of oneness; a message of Peace...

In doing so I am certain that through using our voice, we all have a lot to offer to the world!
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Voices

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There are many, many voices. Not only does each of us have a voice;pretty much everything around us has a voice as well. Some of those voices are quite obvious ~ like a barking dog, or ducks making a racket in the stream in front of my house. Others are not as obvious, even though they can be loud. Like cars and trucks. We tend to be so used to the sound of those that it only really attracts our attention when they are accompanied by sirens, or when a car suddenly lacks that familiar noise ~ like an electric car can drive by us in an almost ghost-like manner.

But to hear most voices around us, we will have to stop and listen. To be still ourselves ~ both as in ‘not moving around’ as well as in quieting our mind and certainly stop talking...

To be still and listen to the song of the birds. To be still and hear the quiet cat-feet on the floor. To truly listen to a tree, to hear the quaint sound on the breeze...
They often have a lot to say to us, as soon as we stop and listen. Even if it is just to enjoy the moment. To take a deep breath, and to connect to our surroundings at this moment in time.

And perhaps that was what these little voices were telling us all along ~ that it is a good thing to get ourselves to enjoy the moment.

This morning I woke up with the distinct voice of ‘paper’ in my mind.
I have to admit, I have never thought of ‘paper’ in that way ~ in it having a voice of its own.

I am fully aware that paper is used to express the voices of others ~ through newspapers and books; or little notes on the fridge. Then there are the sounds of paper ~ like a sheet of paper falling on the floor, or when we crumble up a sheet of paper ~ and then the tiny crackles as it sometimes unfolds itself again ever so slightly...

Of course, waking up with ‘the voice of paper’ in my mind may well indicate that while paper does have a voice of its own, its meaning in this case is symbolic. In which case ‘paper’ may for instance refer to ‘money’. ‘Money talks’.

All in all those voices that are around us are worth listening to every once in a while ~ if only because they help us connect to our environment in this very moment, and in doing so help us connect to the core of ourselves, now...
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