Saturday, May 31, 2014

DREAM CATCHERS





For years I have been fascinated with dream catchers but never bought or even thought of making one. Then I heard that a man named  Christopher Peter VanderEssen  will be a building a giant one near Woodstock for the 45th anniversary of the famous event.  His huge dream catcher will be dedicated to peace. 

The webbing of a dream catcher intrigues me and the idea of them being dedicated to a purpose fits right into my beliefs on energy and connection.  I decided to check into them. Mine would be gifts; expressions of love.
As a subtle energy practitioner I know that the thoughts and feelings held while making or holding something leaves an energy imprint. In the past, I have built medicine wheels in my yard and dedicated them to peace by laying each stone with a prayer for peace. Every stone holds a blessing and its clockwise progression creates a vortex of energy that almost anyone visiting the wheel can feel  Most people who come to visit will say that my yard makes them feel calm; that it is a healing place. The dream catchers I was going to make would be the same. 




Working or moving in a clockwise direction creates a vortex of energy that holds whatever intent is placed on them. The first dream catcher I made was for a grand daughter's 9th birthday. It held  the intent of love and happiness. The second was for a friend's toddler and it held a blessing for love and protection. The one shown in this photo below is my 3rd . Its for the family of a single mother I know. It carries the blessing of love and unity.  My current project is for a young woman's high school graduation. Her dream catcher will hold the intent of love and expansion.
Dream catchers are one of the traditions of Native Americans that seem to speak to everyone. The traditional dream catcher idea, given to the Lakota people, was to protect  sleeping children from negative dreams. Positive dreams pass through the open center of the dream catcher and glide down  feathers to the sleeping person. Negative dreams become caught-up in the web and then vaporize in the first morning light.



The impression to build dream catchers had many levels of information attached. Not only did they allow me to express love to others but, they calmed my spirit and gave me a positive focus while working through changes in my husband's health. Art is creative; creating is making something new. When my focus is on love and creating, the energy I surround myself with holds that vibration. It becomes a ripple that will spread to all that are near me in body or thought.

If you want to see more of the dream catchers I have made they are on my Face Book pages:
 https://www.facebook.com/MalanaAshlie.author
 https://www.facebook.com/Gringos.n.Paradise?ref=hl

Friday, May 30, 2014

Discipline (and other nasty words)




Each new blog entry has me promising myself to become more disciplined in my writing and posting. As you can see from the dates, I fail. So I changed from grandiose dreams of daily submissions to a more practical goal of once a week. Procrastination trickles into my exercise schedule, my Face Book management and other media posts. It even affects my correspondence efforts. Does anyone else have this problem?

My days feel like there is just too much going on. As I reexamine my activities and what could cause the hours to  vaporize, there are so many different interruptions and distractions that I don’t know which one to blame. Yet, the searching raises a reoccurring question. "Why is it easier to give-in to self-destructive behavior than it is to follow a sound, healthy, habits?




My understanding is that we invest the most time into the things from which we feel the greatest (immediate) benefit. An example of this would be in the case of a child that learns that misbehaving brings more attention than being good. This often re-enforcement causes the child to chose naughty behavior-even if the attention is painful. There is an endorphin release from every emotion whether it is pain or pleasure. After a while, our addiction to the chemical creates a 'scar;' something similar to a scratch on an old LP record or a rut in a road frequently traveled. It becomes something easy to fall into.  I believe that when we feel there are not enough endorphins from happy or healthy habits we chose the other direction. It is illogical but satisfying.

Discipline is its own reward but I am trying to establish a baby step program that begins to erase the old behavior by giving me a new stimulus. A few years ago I learned a handy sales tool. It was to write a ‘5 Most Important Things’ list. It’s part of breaking a big goal  down into baby steps. To do it, write a list of 5 things that you want to complete  every night before going to bed. These should be things that will help move you toward your ultimate goal.

It helps to write the items in order of their priority. The next day give your attention to ONLY the first thing on the list. Draw a line through it as it is completed. The line drawing is a nice little neuro-chemical release in itself. When it is completed celebrate with a stretch, a glass of juice or some other short feel good reward. Working from a list helps keep you focused regardless of interruptions. If the list is not completed by the end of the day, just move any remaining item(s) to the top of the next day’s list. 






As human beings, we often feel that we dance through our days in a  "deep sleep." We believe that our destiny is controlled by a higher power, when in truth, we are the choreographers given full authority by the Creator.