Sablewing Open Productions

Going with the Flow

Part of exploring my psychic side is understanding the things that I feel or sense so that I can note them and try to notice patterns. One of the things I do is what I call “Going with the flow”. I use some kind of sense and I can sense a “flow” around objects that can indicate a positive or negative path.

Here is my theory about what I sense.

To me, everything around me has an energy associated with it. The item doesn’t have to be alive, it can be a rock, a paper clip, a computer monitor, all of these items have what I call energy associated with them. I feel this energy and each item has a different feel to it. If items are similar, they can have a similar feel but there are still slight differences with the energy associated with each object.  I also believe that almost anyone can sense this energy and probably do sense the energy but they aren’t aware of it because it is very subtle. There is something to try to see if you can pick up this energy.

First, when starting out, it can be easier to sense this energy by quieting your mind. Using meditation and getting into that relaxed state of mind allows you to pick up more subtle feelings. Once you have quieted your mind, move your hand over an object or a person. As you move your hand, slowly, keep your eyes closed and just notice if you feel anything different as you move your hand. For me, I get a sense of pressure, like something is touching my hand. Another person might feel heat or some other sensation. Notice how subtle this is, how does the sensation change as you move your hand, is there a difference in different areas. Now connecting this energy to the flow I feel, I have a sense of this energy moving towards some goal.

As this energy moves, there is a feeling of energy flowing by as I concentrate on the object. It’s like string being pulled or water flowing in a river, there is a feeling of movement and making progress towards some goal for the object. So long as there is movement, the feeling is positive, that the object or person is moving towards their goal and will obtain their goal at some point. Sometimes I feel a blockage in that flow. Some action is blocking the progress towards the goal and it feels like the energy is being stopped somehow. The water is sitting behind a rock or the string has a knot in it that prevents it from being pulled through to the other side.  It’s an uncomfortable feeling and usually an indication that things need to be shifted so that progress can be made again. Sometimes the blockages just have to be worked through and it can be tough because a lot of obstacles can get thrown in the way. But things usually start moving again and the flow turns positive, with the energy flowing forward towards some goal.

Right now, with this sense, I can’t tell what the final goal is. I can’t tell what the blockage is or how to clear the blockage, I just know that there will be some extra difficulty that can be worked through. Sometimes I can try to get a sense of different plans to see which path would flow with less blockage but that’s difficult. Most of the time it’s difficult because the flow involves me and I don’t read myself or my energy very well. I can read what seems to be negative energy, which could be a larger version of the blockage. What I can use this for is sensing a path forward that will take me closer to the positive life I am aiming to live. But because I haven’t realized I have this sense I don’t have much practice in consciously using it so I am very unskilled in ways I could use what I sense. And I have to remind myself to use this sense for improving the situation for everyone and not just myself.

How to Dance

I was over at a friend’s house when some tunes got turned up, things got loud and I was rocking out and having fun dancing.  Another person there said they liked my dancing and wanted to learn how to dance like I do. The thing is, I don’t have a set of steps or moves I use while dancing, I just let the music move me, so it’s hard to provide a lesson for such a thing. But I did come up with the following answer on how to dance like I do.

First, is understanding what is dance? When we are young, dancing is easy, it an expression of joy at hearing music. We hear the music, it makes us feel so good that we can’t stand to sit still, we just have to move and express the joy that wants to burst out. Watch a video of a toddler or a young child dancing to music they love and it brings a smile as we see their joy in moving their body and feeling the music. As we get older we want to share that joy, we want to feel the love of another. We want to play as an adult and share our love and our body.  So our dancing turns into a mating dance. The men, they get to strut and thrust out their chests and show that they are strong and powerful, they can go out and get the food for those woman they want to share with.  The dance moves show they are physically fit, they know how to move, they are strong hunters who can bring back food,  and face down death when they need to.

For the women, they dance to show they are fit, that everything is working and they know how to love a man. They also dance to show they can make good, strong babies. The woman can make babies that keep death away with the promise of life continuing on with the next generation.  And most of all, men and women show they feel joy, they aren’t afraid to share it and by sharing their joy and their love they reaffirm that life on this day is very good.

Finally, people get old and it might seem like it’s hard to dance and move to the music to show that joy. What reason would old people have to dance? They have a very good reason, dancing is a way they can get up, show they still live, still feel the joy and give a big middle finger to old man death who is getting too close. For older people, dancing is a remembrance of the joy of the young, the making of good babies and seeing the new generation find out about all of the joy that dancing and music can have. So in learning how to dance the way I dance, it’s pretty simple. Feel the music, feel the joy rolling through your body until your body just can’t stand to sit still anymore and let that joy flow out. Your body will know what to do and it will be different each time as you dance and reaffirm that “I Live ! F**K Death, I am living today and sharing that joy with others, I LIVE!!”

What is that Odd Feeling?

I am currently experimenting and exploring with a different side of myself, one that I have only told a very few people about.  I am exploring capabilities that are most commonly grouped under the topic of psychic and paranormal abilities.  The funny thing is that these abilities I have don’t feel abnormal to me, I’ve always felt these things. Sometimes they comfort me and guide me and I hadn’t realized that not everyone feels the same things that I do. Part of me has thought that everyone could feel the presence of spirits and those loved ones who have passed on but I realized recently that isn’t the case. The abnormal part is that other people don’t normally talk about these things and I’m not up for those funny looks I would get if I did talk about these things.

And what happens when people hear about people who talk to spirits that can’t be seen and sometimes get answers back? It gets scary, for several reasons. One reason is that having someone or something hanging around that you can’t see, hear, feel or otherwise sense is creepy. Is there someone watching you in your home? Is there someone or something listening in to you on a private phone conversation? Can these beings see me and affect me while I can’t do a thing to affect them? It can be kind of scary to think about. I can also understand another reason why talking about this kind of stuff is scary. What if I’m imagining things? Other people don’t talk about this, what if I’m making up the things I feel and I can’t tell? What if I do something because of what I sense and someone else gets hurt? What if people reject me because I say I feel or see things that they can’t?

Again, scary thoughts that can prevent people from opening up about those odd bits and pieces they may feel but don’t understand what they mean. I’d like to let you know, that the spirits or beings I’ve sensed aren’t scary, they tend to have a quirky sense of humor, they are full of love, and they care about what happens to us while we are here in this particular physical form known as human. Sometimes sad things happen when I sense these beings, such as the strong feelings of someone who has committed suicide or died unexpectedly. But in those case, I was someone who happened to be listening as that  distraught being reached out to.  I was able to break off contact, usually by leaving the area where I sensed the strong feelings. It was a little scary but the feeling went away after I realized what happened. Once I received knowledge, I was able to push away the scary part.

In other instances I have sensed very negative energy that was a bit scary to be around. In one case there was a pull while I was in the area and it felt like very negative energy coming from the ground. I later found out, after a strong storm, that a tree was growing wrong in a slope and when it fell in the storm all negative energy ceased. That made me think that perhaps some of the negative energy is a signal that something is off balance in an area, something is amiss and it isn’t necessarily a demon or a devil or an evil person but perhaps something physically wrong. Are there possibly evil beings, intent on doing us harm? Or do we pick up on this negative energy, where it feeds on itself and we build an evil within our self to explain the bad feeling? I admit, at this time I don’t have enough experience to know the answers but in light of some of the feedback I’ve gotten on things I’ve read, I wonder. Or perhaps I’ve just been lucky and I haven’t run into any evil beings yet. But I do know that I’ve found out how to work through those feelings of fear and not let it keep me from exploring what I sense.  It can take time, I am human and sometimes courage is a hard thing to find but somehow I keep finding a well to pull from to get through.

What I Believe…

The other day I was with a group of friends during a conversation about religion. One of my friends commented that all of must be atheists. I didn’t choose to respond then, since this is normally a private matter for myself but thought I would write up a note on what I am, religious wise.

• I am not an atheist
• I am not an agnostic
• I am not a Christian, Hinda, Buddhist, Jew, Pagan, Wiccan, Gaian, or other religious follower

Kind of seems to leave everything out and this list is why I normally don’t like to talk about what I believe in. At times I might be viewed as any one of the above but I don’t feel that what I believe is pinned pin down easily into one slot. And I will say that I am definitely not an atheist, so that slot can be eliminated. However, here are some things that if a religion came out with them, I might follow that religion.

• A religion for mothers with two toddlers, one school age child and one teenager who are trying to take care of their kids, keep their household running smooth and probably working a full time job too,
• A religion for fathers who are working two jobs, taking care of odd jobs for their in-laws, helping their wife around the house and working to stay involved with their kids,
• A religion for the small business person just starting out who is trying to build up the business while their family keeps things going at home to allow the business to keep going,
• A religion for teachers, fireman, nurses, policeman and anyone else who is trying to do too much with too little and a lot of grief from the people they work for,
• And a religion for all those people, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandmothers and grandfathers, neighbor down the street, coworker, everyone who is trying to make a living, spend a little time with their family, have some fun, have a little bit of sadness and be busy living life while wondering what everything really means and what is the purpose of it all.

That is the kind of religion I could get into. Probably wouldn’t meet every Sunday or even every week, maybe once a month, on Tuesdays, because the kids don’t have much going on and work gets out earlier and there are still some left overs from the weekend so it won’t be too much trouble to go to a service. And the service will have a lot of talking and laughing, with some serious questions in one corner while the children are running around for some game they just made up and one of the parents is yelling, “Larry, watch out for your sister!”, while everyone enjoys the potluck and the really good cherry pie that Grandma Emma brought.

Yep, that’s the kind of religion I could get behind, no sermons, just people trying to figure out what it all means while taking another piece of pie and yelling at Susan to not run out the door just because her brother is chasing her. The question is, why would I like a religion like this? And how is it a religion? There isn’t any formal book, no formal guidance or set of beliefs to follow, so how is this a religion? My short answer is that it’s not a religion and it’s not supposed to be but perhaps that’s too short. For me, this gathering of people is a spiritual sharing because it is a group of people living life, working through the lessons that life hands them and still taking time to meet with others, to share their experience and love in spite of what life is handing them. They are seeking higher ideals of love, courage, support, and helping each other while still living a full life. They live an integrated life instead of putting religion in one compartment, family in another compartment with work in yet another space that doesn’t allow experience from one area to boost another area of our life.

But too many religions expect a passive participation, where the believers are led towards what to believe, to not question and where believers look for answers from experts when in reality, with a little help, the answers lie within themselves.  Or where enlightenment comes from a retreat away from the world. It’s easy to be filled with belief and a connection to God/Goddess/Other when you are away from people, out in nature and close to the earth but how do you connect when you are busy trying to meet that 5 o’clock deadline while cleaning up the mess and explaining to your family you will be home late one more night?  The same force is there, the belief is underneath all of that chaos but how can you connect and draw strength when the greater power feels like it’s far away, beyond the walls you are trapped in? How do you integrate that power from religious beliefs and use it to help clean up that mess and still get home at 6:00, in time to play with your children at home?

How do we live an integrated life that honors the spiritual while dealing with they physical challenges a full life can bring? I still haven’t found an answer but if that church ever forms I want to be a founding member. And I’ll help chase the toddlers around for that father and mother while the mechanic fixes that squeaky board in the chapel that everyone steps on as they walk in and Auntie Flo crochets an afghan for her nephew at college, a tired school teacher helps out the slow students with Joe Smith in the corner discussing Socrates and St. Augustine with Mary who’s visiting her cousin while she has a few days off from nursing. Sounds like a warm gathering with lots of love, support, encouragement and courage to help all of us get through another day.

The hallowing of 9/11

Today is a hallowed day but not by any actions of minister, preacher, father or sister or other representatives of the divine. The day has been hallowed by the blood shed of our brothers and sisters who were in a place where a rending sacrifice was cut from a confident people.

The blood was from a diverse set of people, truly representing what the United States of America strives for and so often achieves, a peaceful mixing of many people, cultures, races and beliefs. Thus this loss touched each and every one of us with a heartfelt pain we still feel less than a decade after this deplorable event.

Mere words can add no more nor subtract from the value of the day, we can only quietly observe and honor their unwanted sacrifice by living our lives in spite of fear, in spite of the despair in these harsh, angry times. By standing up as a free people and not shrinking from the internal challenges before us, then we honor their sacrifice. We claim what was taken that day, our sense of perfect security and reweave it into a cloth of confidence and humility that allows us to embrace our differences and not destroy others out of fear. We become leaders by example, in which freedom comes at a cost and which we will not sacrifice for the illusion of perfect security from those who fear and loathe us because we stand out from others.

Where has all the good news gone?

There doesn’t seem to be any good news lately in the United States. With stories about the planned burning of the Qur’an, objections to a mosque and community center planned near Ground Zero in New York, the oil spill in the Gulf,  high unemployment rates and people out of work for long periods of time and on and on and on it really seems like Americans have been become intolerant, hating, greedy, fearful people who fight any change, any suggestion of differences in order to cling to an idealistic version of the United States that their parents or the founding fathers lived in.

Myself, I can see why people are afraid of change, afraid of other races, other religions and other ‘unamerican’ events.

Our country is structured so that in order to survive and stand proud you must be a part of a family that has at least one wage earner, with children and the other things that we consider requirements for the good life in the United States. Never mind that this typical family makes up less than half of the family types in the US, it is a dream that residents of the US strive for. With the unemployment rate at an average of 9-10% across the country, higher in some places, this dream is threatened and shattered by the realities of today.  People no longer fit in and are becoming ‘those’ people, you know, the ones who take welfare and steal our taxes from us, who have to take a handout and don’t know how to manage their money, you know, ‘those people’. So when you have people who are afraid to open their mail because of the past due payments, afraid to answer the phones because of collection agencies, afraid to see their friends and family because of their shame, that fear needs an outlet, it needs something to blame because if the problems are the person’s fault then they should be able to fix them.

Which they haven’t been able to because right now things, well, they suck.  And a lot of these people who are so afraid are white people who felt they had a contract with someone that they would never have to be this afraid for themselves and their family. Some kind of contract with Wall Street, big government, state government, bankers, corporations, all of these big establishments is supposed to have an implied contract of hands off on white people. With the last two years people are finding out that there really isn’t any security guaranteed but that doesn’t erase the fear, the shame and the guilt. When someone hurts that much and feels helpless in protecting their family that person is going to look for something to do or someone to blame. Blaming someone is all too easy when you don’t feel there are any other options open to you. So there’s that brown guy down the streets who speaks English funny who has a job, the black fellow across the way who plays his music a bit too loud, the woman who wears the shawls that completely covers her and flaunts her heathenish beliefs in front of good Christians, these people must be the ones who cause the problems in this area. And there are other white people who agree and say what about those slant eyes at the laundry or those spics from down south, they’ve stolen our jobs, we’ve got to get rid of them.

We have to show them we are powerful, we are the mightiest people and that we can do whatever we want to them just because we want to… and because I’ll feel like it’s not my fault that my life is screwed up and I don’t know how to fix it. I want to tell you, it’s not your fault. To put it bluntly, shit happens and in almost everyone’s life at some point there will be some disruption, some challenge where you wonder if you will be able to put bread on the table and keep a roof over your head, you’ll wonder if you can care for your family, how you will get through this illness, how will you care for your helpless spouse or child. It’s part and parcel of being human and being white or brown or yellow or some other color doesn’t offer any protection. But you do have this one hope, this one bright hope to help you get through to the other side. Your ancestors went through the same thing or even worse and somehow they survived, your family survived and you are now here today, alive and able to make choices. And it’s likely that your children and grandchildren will face similar crisis and will somehow find the strength to make it through to the other side. There is always hope and there is always someone that you can find to help you find the strength to make it through to the next day and the day after that.

With that note, I would like to share some links that provide a more positive look of people in the US and which give me hope and the feeling that I’m not alone in my thoughts and view.

Batman and Robin for racial diversity

Zen Habits – Site with tips for slowing down your life

Good News Network – Good news stories from all over

Gimundo – Good news served up daily