"Do you Wanna Meet the Love in Your Life? - Look in the Mirror "

"The voice within is what I'm married to. All marriage is a metaphor for that marriage. My lover is the place inside me where an honest yes and no come from. That's my true partner. It's always there. And to tell you yes when my integrity says no is to divorce that partner. ~ Byron Katie ~

A Reminder to Honor Your ME Time

"To have a sacred place is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room or a certain hour of the day or so, where you do not know who your friends are, you don't know what you owe anybody or what they owe you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be...This is the place of creative incubation. At first, you may find nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, take advantage of it, something will happen."

--Joseph Campbell

I've been neglecting this lately, letting a long list of tasks take over like weeds in a garden. This is a good reminder. I am thankful that my 9 a.m. appointment this morning asked to reschedule. Now I have time to go pull some weeds.

copyright 2012 Lori Steed Sortino

Finding Silence

A couple weeks ago I drew a card from the Denise Lin Soul Cards deck. It said Silence. The fine print said something about being calm and still no matter what was going on around you. I thought to myself "that's odd" and practically discarded it. That's how people describe me all the time. That's how I am. Never dis a card when it's trying to tell you something.

A few days later in a completely different venue with someone completely different, she used the same card deck and I got the same card.

Okay, I thought, you got my attention. I shook my head and put it aside, still not sure what it meant. Later that night when I had the time to bring it up again, I said out loud "I don't get it!" and stared at the card. Then I asked "if I'm already this way, what else is there?" and the answer came immediately.

Outward vs. inward. Yes, Lori, you are projecting calmness outwardly consistently. Certainly. Now what about what's going on inside?!

Oh. I get it.

Somewhere deep inside me a voice had risen up through all of the constant mental chatter of analyzing, contemplating, innovating, and extrapolating, and said "shut up!", "turn it off!", "give it a rest!".

If you're anything like me, you know how hard this is. Fortunately there are tools, so I'm turning to the tools. Here is a visual tool that I like. In addition, I have hired a yoga therapist who gave me specific whole body exercises that help balance a person like me, so I use those tools as well. I hope these reminders are helpful for you as well!

The next week after the Silence card appeared to me, a walking stick showed up. If you read the significance of this animal totem (yes insects definitely have messages as well as "regular" animals), it's about camouflage and being silent; not telling everyone what's going on. Waiting for the right time.

The world around me is always full of personal messages when I am open to them. I so enjoy this aspect of life. Everything is here to assist me in staying in my essence; staying true to who I am and what I want most. Everything wants to help me with being balanced and centered. All I have to do is allow it.