We're ALL World-Changing Contributors

Last night Kel told me the repeat of an old story of his with different characters than the last time. A co-worker shared with him a video of his 20-year-old nephew pretty much making a guitar sing. Kel’s typical response (and I’m choosing to be hard on him to show him how hard he is on himself) was to tell me, “It made me want to give up my own music and just call it quits…That’s it…What am I trying to do?…I’m done.”

Yes, I see around me more and more genius savants, more heart-centered, creative, and talented young people than ever before. And, yes, at one time, I was comparing myself with them and making the same statements (mainly to myself about myself) as Kelly did above.

But as I told Kelly last night, these kids are growing up in a world of artistic opportunity and access, via the worldwide web, that we never had. And the consciousness of the era in which we grew up (1960s to 1990s) made severe cuts in the arts and focused solely on mental intelligence—a huge creativity stagnator (spell check tells me I invented a new word here), if there ever was one.

Art and music were considered nice little “hobbies” that only a few could “make a living at.” And often that was done by making sacrifices in other areas of personal well being. Starving artists in all areas of the arts often became most famous after they died. Unless, of course, they were dramatically strange during their lifetimes and people were fascinated by their insane-looking antics. Humans love their drama.

Most importantly, though, I realized that all these creatively wonderful young people coming into this grand world of ours are here because WE (and our parents and grandparents, etc) started opening doors of conscious awareness that made it possible for them to be born, and to even thrive here today. WE opened the proverbial box and initiated the changing of this world.

And while the change is admittedly a wild and chaotic ride—I wouldn’t miss it for anything. We’re bringing forth amazing new potentials never conceived of before.

We have a great deal to celebrate, fellow lighthouses.

And the greatest gift we can give to our loved ones is to embrace, and live joyfully, self-compassionately and self-encouragingly our own individual lives at every age.

People who think sacrificing their own happiness for their kid is doing the child a favor are missing the point. What child wants all that pressure and heartache to bear? Mommy and Daddy are miserable so I can be happy...Hmmmmm. Wouldn’t you rather Dad and Mom got up each morning excited about sharing with you their personal delight for the possibilities of each loved one’s day, in place of comments about “making a living” at jobs they just feel miserable at day after day after day?

Every single one of us is a LIGHTHOUSE in our own unique way—and age doesn’t matter. That old adage of “not being able to teach an old dog new tricks” is B.S. as far as I’m concerned. Old dogs just need to get rid of the “old” misnomer first and then open up their limited box of life and feel into what might actually be possible for them.

We have gifts and talents, as individuals, that we’ve yet to tap into, and I'm certain NOW is the time to start experiencing them. Nobody wants to hear about the disadvantages and hardships we had growing up. Moreover, using those as excuses for not grabbing our own brass rings and living one's own wildly abundant life seems pretty idiotic to me.

I used to have a hissy fit (frown,sweat profusely and get confoundedly mute) anytime someone asked me, "So--what do you do?" Recently, my answer came to me: "Why--I'M LIVING MY LIFE!" That pretty much leaves me a wide-open field of possibilities. Granted, I have days where I feel frustrated, because this, for me, is a new way of approaching my life. Some days the old crap feels neck deep, but inside here is a tingling of knowingness that I'm making it happen, regardless of how slow it seems to manifest. I trust that manifestation part will get quicker, too, with experience and practice. These amazing young people give me that hope.

We can do, and be, anything we desire, but we have to really get quiet and spend some time alone with ourselves in order to feel that. If you’re “too busy” to take some time for you with you, you’re being lazy. Take a few conscious breaths and realize the gift that you are to yourself. Let the joy of that dance inside you first, and just maybe the rest will find its way into your life. For me, it’s worth a celebration and a shot…

Mental Breakdowns are TEMPORARY

I've had a tremendous Ah-ha! just recently, regarding friends of mine who have been diagnosed with mental illness/imbalances. You could say they've all inspired me to dig deeper because of the hopelessness of what was considered "permanent." I hated those diagnoses and it hurt seeing these vibrant creative beings--some of whom I grew up with, another that I dated who treated me like a princess--get stigmatized and so medicated that I watched that life spark disappear from their eyes.

The KEY in all of this is to look at the breakdowns as a TEMPORARY state of being--a means to an end, that with greater awareness of what is happening need not be so traumatically cataclysmic for all those affected.

This doesn't involve pointing fingers of blame at anyone in the psychological or psychiatry field--these fields have been handicapped from the beginning by focusing solely on the mental and emotional and physical--missing the importance of one's SOUL. People were placed on medications and in institutions because of fear, and because no one understood human consciousness and the power of the belief systems in which we indulge. And ultimately, everyone was doing the best he/she knew how in the context of those times.

What I see now, is that my beloved friends were going through a traumatic crisis event meant to AWAKEN THEMSELVES TO THEIR SOULS--to a more self-aware consciousness of their being. If we're enjoying life, we don't question and seek anything greater--but pain will often motivate us to start asking questions, and to discover so much more about ourselves than we ever contemplated before.

The only thing is, that in walking through their dark night of the soul tunnel (which involves a breakdown of the mind patterns and old obsolete belief systems), my friends were halted MIDWAY in their tunnel--simply because no one understood how to create a SAFE and SACRED SPACE in which to ALLOW them to continue the breakdown in order to MAKE ROOM FOR THE NEW.

God gave us bodies, minds and souls that NATURALLY HEAL and BALANCE THEMSELVES-- we need to SIMPLY CHOOSE to step out of our mind traps/belief systems and SIMPLY ALLOW that to happen. I've attached a summary of the tools I personally used over and over again to get through my own dark tunnels--one which I posted about in Overcoming the Victimhood Addiction.

ONE KEY POINT: Many individuals who were diagnosed with mental disorders have been on chemistry and mood-altering medications for years. Those anti-depressants, etc. flat-line emotional feeling. Numbs everything down—and one of the key ways of moving through these dark moments is by ALLOWING and BECOMING AWARE of YOUR THOUGHTS and FEELINGS in the moment.

*I DO NOT recommend anyone dropping use of the medications all at once or by yourself—it’ll torpedo the individual into a possible, life-threatening suicidal depression. Make sure you have whoever prescribed them to you (or a facilitator who is fully aware of the drug's effects) help you self-compassionately, gradually wean off them.* 

First, contemplate that the diagnosed “disorder” is just a temporary condition and get some sense of your own inner-knowingness and ability to move through things, and then work with your therapists or facilitators from that place of inner clarity to help move out of the old story and treatments. 

Each person has his/her own answers--feel into, and think about this, for a moment with your eyes closed. None of us can possibly express to another outside of us all the unique impressions, perceptions, beliefs, inner reactions and experiences of oneself. You and Your Soul/Divinity, alone, hold all your answers.

AWAKENING does involve going through a depression—it’s like being dangled over a dark void—until you find your way inside of you to the heart of matters, and the discovery that God/Source of All is within you, and has been all along.  No matter how dark it's seemingly been, we’ve never truly been alone.

Moving Through A Mental Breakdown, aka, A Dark Night of the Soul:


1. A Trigger Event sets off the crumbling of a person’s Belief System Foundation due to a deeply suppressed trauma/personal shame bursting to the forefront of the person’s awareness.

These events can go back as far as childhood--sometimes, even a different lifetime--or may be as recent as the previous breath. Our minds try to handle the situation by trying to run from them (by frantically racing and keeping busy), by trying to ignore them or pretend they never happened, or by trying to use substances or actions to squelch them. Suddenly the trigger event catapults the person into overwhelm—mental and emotional breakdown.

If these wounds are surfacing, it’s because the person has opened themselves to a higher consciousness perspective of the event that they can use as a TOOL to get themselves through the dark tunnel and into a place of true healing. Each person truly has His/Her OWN ANSWER.

2. Get yourself into a SAFE and SACRED SPACE, and set yourself firmly with the intention to DO NO HARM to oneself or another.

THIS IS A TIME TO BE ALONE WITH YOURSELF and to allow yourself to become AWARE of how you talk with yourself and how you FEEL.

Close your eyes and breathe deeply into your belly and allow yourself to revisit and observe, and feel into yourself in the event. There will be tears and physical pains as things loosen up and began moving again. Just gently breathe through them...breath at a time, breath at a time...

You're okay--it's just a memory--an illusion...

In this space you can HONESTLY and SELF-COMPASSIONATELY think and feel everything without judgment as to whether anything was wrong or right. That which is allowed to be felt and thought will simply move through without manifesting. You can even say things out loud like the word “fuck.” Feelings and thoughts don’t hurt anyone when we allow them in a SAFE SPACE. Trying to avoid or ignore them will cause them to manifest as quickly as consciously choosing them—because your attention has focused on them.

Remember the Consciousness CONTEXT of the time of the event—what you believed about yourself and your world at the time. Ultimately, YOU’VE NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG!!! Everyone is being and doing the best he knows how in any given moment. NO MORE beating up oneself or blaming others.

"I ACCEPT FULL RESPONSIBILITY for EVERY MOMENT OF MY LIFE"—and that means first being compassionate with, all-accepting of every single moment and aspect OF YOU!!! Anchor this in your reality by writing this in your own handwriting—it’s an empowering expression of you.

Love yourself like the Source of All and YOUR SOUL loves you—UNCONDITIONALLY!!!

“I PURPOSELY put myself through these painful events in order to SHAKE MYSELF AWAKE so I would start asking myself deep questions and ultimately discover the joy of living a life THAT I CONSCIOUSLY CREATE!!!”

3. “Bring that which is hidden into the LIGHT.”

DON’T HIDE FROM YOURSELF or YOUR DIVINITY or SOURCE.

God/My Inner Knowingness to Me: “When you’re feeling as though you’re doing something SHAMEFUL—don't hide from me! Put ME THERE WITH YOU in that moment. View the whole scene from my greater perspective.” 

Enlightened, Self-aware Beings NATURALLY Do No Harm--not even in an illusion--because you know feeding off the energy of others just brings you more misery.

Tell one or more “safe” people your secret—a therapist is great for this due to confidentiality laws. By expressing it out loud and honestly to another, it brings the skeleton out of the closet, and by doing so, removes its power over oneself.

DO NOT NAME NAMES or POINT FINGERS of BLAME at another. No one can REALLY steal one's power away unless all parties have consented to act out the dramatic/traumatic scene together. This is the beauty of the life as a human on earth that we’ve been given. Our consciousness is eternal, but the roles and acts we play out together—EXPERIENCES—are temporary illusions. God/Source gave us—HIS/HER CHILDREN a SAFE PLAYGROUND to play together in.


4. Thank yourself for everything.... 

If you’ve only gotten to the place of self-forgiveness (realizing you were simply deep asleep and unaware of who you really are), your journey isn’t quite completed. All that experience made you MORE than you were before. YOU ARE A GIFT, and ALWAYS HAVE BEEN--especially to your SOUL.

Hopefully, when you're done you'll realize as I have--it all ends up being about experiencing with love and gratitude for ALL...

"I AM that I AM!" Breath at a time...Breath at a time...