Devotion to me is a method of practicing an inner process of inquiry or gratitude or some other expression of conversations with your highest good, the Universe or God/Goddess, whatever it is  you call the benevolent creative force of the world. This process for me takes many forms depending on what tool I am working with at the time.  Right now I am reading the Celtic Devotional Daily Prayers and Blessings by Caitlin Mathews.  She has created a magnificent book which follows the seasonal calendar of the ancient Celts.  Each season focuses on the gifts of that time of year and the challenges that come as well. She has written a beautiful prose to be read each morning  and evening.  The content brings an awareness in me to have a deep appreciation of my life and all who are in it and to send out prayers of equal value to the world at large.   When I finish reading a daily morning or evening page I feel like I am making practical use of my beginning and ending of each day by focusing on gratitude and asking for help with my own challenges and recognizing the challenges of others in other parts of the world.  Right now so many indigenous cultures are challenged with famine and war and accessing clean water.  If I can focus my morning and evening in gratitude for having these necessary human needs met then I can also send out prayers that all souls living on the planet will also have these needs met as well.  It is a small thing to pray and send out healing energies!!  If we all bring ourselves to recognize all that we have then it will be easy to remember to help others when we can either by physically volunteering or by being a conduit for prayer and healing energies.  I am hopeful that if more and more of us bring this awareness to our lives and send out every morning and evening our sincere hope that we want to see the world change then it will be possible.  I envision a world where all children eat 3 or more meals a day and have all the fresh, clean water they need.  Then they are ready for an education and a future that can be bright with promise.  I hope you join me for the next week practicing this morning and evening practice of acknowledging all that we have and sending out healing energies and prayers that everyone has this same experience.  Thank you ahead of time for joining me in this Devotion of Life!!  

Namaste!!
  

When your not sure of your direction, where your North star is pointing, or where your life is heading you must dig deeper into your soul and find the way. In Buddhism the way is the Dharma, the middle way or the path of the heart.  Where is your "middle way" when you feel bereft?  When the good strong voice of reason and steady stream of nagging becomes the only voice I hear, and after I have panicked and scoured and exhausted the endless plans in my head, I actually turn to Lotus Tarot free online readings....I know not very glamourous or even deep but I find a detachment and exactness in the readings I get.  It uses only the major Arcana and in this way I get some big answers to my small questions.  So this morning when I was desperate to assuage my panicking heart I pulled up the old site and had a go. So surprised was I to find that The Emperor and The Empress were the first cards. Everything is good, balanced and fortune is on its way!!  So why is it that I feel like the floor is dropping out from under me and the walls are caving in??  Breathe, I say to myself......and I truly can't say with any assurance that all is well and great fortune is on the way but my higher purpose and the powers that be are at work in my life and I can only have faith and trust that all is well in my world.  And when I feel this way the Lotus Tarot online is there to help me fixate on another opinion besides my own dire and somewhat morbid one.  It is what I call my North Star, my moment of gamble you say, to put so much trust in an online free reading?  Well my friend the mind is a simple child and really to guide it with over the top grace and ease instead of drugs and punishment has been decidedly my preferred way of dealing with her. She is the sweet inner child that was hurt way back when life was black and white to everyone one but her.  Life was a rainbow with fairies and sunshine until the evil entered her realm and the storm clouds of earth bound reality set in.  And so when she is feeling the need for sweet reassurance and quiet steady flow of strong positivity she turns to the most outrageous direction to find an answer that is not to be found in realistic calculated and measured ways.  To find the answer in the clouds or tea leaves brings back the hope and glee of that child who just thinks that wishes really do come true, and the prince can wake the sleeping princess and she will not be doomed to lie asleep for eternity alone.  I know most of you have quieted that child with the voices of practicality and made him believe that  dreams really don't come true and the big, bad wolf is real and coming for you if you believe that magic is possible but sometimes when we least expect it we reach for the moment when dreams and the Wendy bird will save us and bring us back to Never Land and we will be able to defeat the Captain Hook in our heads.  Where is your North Star?  Maybe it is the "second star on the right and straight on til morning".  Whatever it is believe and clap your hands and say "I do believe in fairies, I do".

"Life is like a box of chocolates" lately it feels like I'm not tasting my favorites but biting into the strawberry or coconut nougat ones I never liked!!  I want the Bordeaux ones, the carmel and toffee with walnuts.  But they all are sweet and maybe it is how I am looking at them???  Maybe I need to reach into my inner palate and receive these different tasting chocolates with a new acceptance??  They have value albeit not my choice in the first place but still they were made and someone likes them!  So heres to the not so perfect but sweet somethings in your life that seem unappetizing.  Try another bite and see if maybe, just maybe there is something there that is valuable to enjoy.  I know that is what I am going to make a sincere effort to do today and tomorrow and the next day.......Cheers!!