Heart Connections

I loved – and love - the Harmony Arts Festival! It is my favourite festival in the Vancouver area.

One thing I love about it is connections, connections to people. I always seem to make a new acquaintance with at least one soul, even if the encounter may be somewhat brief. This year it was at least three: on the ‘dance floor’ and at a table while dining and listening to music. And then there are always ‘old’ familiar faces I see, faces from my past (some from years ago) and some more recent (such as some members of the Burstin’ with Broadway choir, www.burstinwithbroadway.com that I’m in, this year being the third).

One such familiar face was that of a young boy. It wasn’t instant recognition as much as a familiarity as in ‘I think I know that boy’ kinda way. I saw him dancing or attempting to do so with his younger brother; I could tell they were brothers because they looked quite alike.

When I saw him return to his mother, I looked to see if I remembered her face, as I’m usually excellent at face recognition. This time I couldn’t quite tell as she wore sunglasses.

A short while later I saw they were leaving and scurried up to them. Indeed, he was in fact the young lad I had seen last year when I was attempting to launch my dream. He, in my opinion, was an ideal ‘student’ as he was full of exuberance and passion. He really wanted to sing and I loved that about him, mainly his passion and energy.

I felt more committed then to my dream, in sharing it with children such as this boy. His heart-felt enthusiasm touched me deeply. Unfortunately, even though his mother was fairly supportive, there was an issue to consider. I think it had to do with the timing in terms of vacation.

Needless to say, I felt that the universe - God/Spirit whichever term you prefer to use - was kicking my butt, but this time not forcefully but gently. However, I know I need to heed the call this time or else I’ll not only be disappointed, but disheartened and discouraged as well. And, not to mention that I would be kicked in the butt big time so-to-speak by Spirit if I didn’t. Furthermore, the boys and girls who could be potential participants would be missing out.

In a spontaneous piece of writing a number of years ago (2004 in fact!) during Tama Kieve’s workshop based on her book, This Time I Dance! Creating the Work You Love (www.awakeningartistry.com), I felt I channelled this message to myself, my soul: “...They’re waiting. ... The children need you. You can do this. The universe will support you ...” (This was similar in part to another message I received intuitively also a number of years ago.  Read my Aug. 7th posting about the latter statement in ‘Surreal Experiences.’)

Yet all this time I’ve been afraid. FULL of fear. Afraid to take action because I judged myself. Part of Marianne Williamson’s quote from her book, A Return to Love based on ACIM (A Course in Miracles) comes to mind: “... who am I to be brilliant ... talented, fabulous?” After all, I'm not a musician or a choir director. (My first two blog postings come to me now as I’m typing this. I think I need to re-read them! You may wish to too!)

In my case, it was fear that fuelled my lack of motivation. Despite this, last year for some reason I decided to plunge in headfirst through my fears, into the deep end in attempting to make my dream a reality. So close, and yet so far!

But I’m still restless. Rather, my heart and mind won’t be still concerning this dream as I have visions or intuitions that come to me sporadically.

For example, during my recent holiday on the Sunshine Coast whilst in the hot tub, I received a vision of an opening number of my to-be-choir’s performance. I also found a beautifully smooth stick in the ocean and knew immediately that it was to be my baton, my choir baton. (Not that I need one of course as I thought I’d be using my hand(s) exclusively.) Shortly thereafter, the thought of a feather, an eagle feather came to mind to hang from one end. Though I didn’t find an eagle feather – hopefully one day! – I did find a beautiful multi-coloured feather, possibly from a gull.

So Spirit still speaks to me, maybe not in words, but in different ways. I feel I need to heed the call this time. Time is ticking away. Life is precious. I need to share my gifts and have others, i.e., children share theirs with me too ... and the world!

A Man of Clear Vision

Photos courtesy of Roberto Kaplan

There are not too many people who really get me at a deep and authentic level. One such person is Roberto Kaplan. (You can check out his websites at www.beyond2020vision.com and www.eyecode.info.)

This is a testimonial I wrote after spending some time with him last summer: “Roberto Kaplan, you have the ability to perceive me through to the depth of my soul, my deepest, truest authentic self. You combine your intuition (insights), wisdom, and perceptivity as you sit with me or photograph me. In your presence, I feel acknowledged for who I am, though at times with my vulnerability exposed. However, it is a rare gift to be truly seen and understood by another and I appreciate your talent that is a true gift for all.” This is still true upon my visit with him this year.

I originally met Roberto Kaplan in 1996 when I originally pursued the possibility of clearer vision, i.e., perfect eyesight. (If I had continued at that time, I believe I would have perfect vision today!)

In my opinion, he is a visionary, best symbolized by all the eagles he saw – on a daily basis – whilst his stay on the Sunshine Coast, at least while I was there. He is also very intuitive and insightful, and perceptive. (Notice how they seem to all be vision-related words. ; ))

With focus (pardon the pun that just came out), determination, and clarity of his work and life’s purpose, he is present enough to know what is required of him to fulfill his daily and weekly passions and ambitions.

Spurred on by his inspiration, he is undaunted by external factors. This includes myself (and all my defense mechanisms what he termed ‘destructive patterning') during my recent visit. (Later, I would challenge both of us to ‘pattern interruptions' or ‘pattern interrupts' for short – my word and invention – in dispelling the negativity of destructive patterns.)

What I most appreciate about Roberto, other than everything I’ve stated already, above, is that he was extremely patient and supportive in helping me to transition from fear into love. He helped to open my heart up, unbeknownst to me at first. It was a combination of the natural outdoors, and his 'work' that included feedback concerning my way of seeing and coping with the world.

It actually wasn’t until after spending some time with him on the Sunshine Coast that I came to discover that my heart was in a state of openness, of love and gratitude. It had been awhile! My heart was also in a state of ‘positivism’ (my word) or optimism. Essentially I was starting to re-experience the feelings of belief, trust, faith, and attraction, the latter as in the law of attraction.

What I came to realize is that I needed to follow, rather live my passions: writing, dancing, even ‘speaking’ comes to me now, being in nature, and the like.

For this, I have to say thank you. Thank you Roberto for the invitation to visit and spend time with you in Roberts Creek, for seeing me as I am, and facilitating my process. Well, it wasn’t always easy, but nevertheless I am grateful. Truly.

p.s. Also check out Roberto’s amazing photos of nature, people, and the like on
www.flickr.com/photos/kaplaneyecode or his websites. Enjoy!

Touched by a Stranger

Photo courtesy of www.dreamhealer.com

A young man - I'll call him Abe (as he doesn't know I'm writing about him) - walked by with a skateboard and a fishing rod, an odd combination I thought. He was walking along the shore of the Sunshine Coast whilst my recent visit there and upon his return route spoke to my host.

His beautiful accent, and one I partially recognized, caught my attention. When I actually looked at him, I noticed he was an attractive lad and 'Adam' immediately came to mind: 'Adam' as Adam Dreamhealer used to be known by (aka Adam McLeod). Both Abe and Adam look tall and slim with dark hair and eyes. (I'm going by photos of Adam as I never met him in person...yet).

I think I even noticed Abe's aura by chance though wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not with the blues of the sky behind him. If so, it was beautiful turquoise in colour around his head. He not only had this vibrant aura, but also in his energy, his energy field.

That is what I most admired about him, his aura of attraction (the words and music of 'Physical Attraction' by Phil Collins came to mind when I was observing him). His energy was one of extreme enthusiasm, with passionate undertones. (This seems to be the number one thing or quality I first notice about people, i.e., their energy).

I also loved his ability to manifest as he was sharing tales of things he was attracting into his life. Abe was very grateful for a number of reasons and rightfully so as he was sharing part of his life story with us, two strangers, my host and I, on the beach.

I could tell his heart was very open and at one point asked him what his passions were. As he shared this, he exuded further excitement that was so contagious I didn't want to leave to get a scarf as the temperature was cooling down.

His presence had such an air and state of grace, like the quality of an angel or an angelic being perhaps. He expected ease and flow on a conscious and/or subconscious level as the universe graced him with gifts, i.e, things he was in need of.

I was in deep admiration of him and his process and was grateful to encounter this wonderful stranger. He reminded me to keep my heart open, be grateful, count my blessings, and expect the best ... stuff like that.

So my question for you now is, how do you keep your heart open?

p.s. I haven't met Adam Dreamhealer yet, but hope to one day. I know he's speaking in Vancouver on September 10th (though I have a number of variables to consider).

Surreal Experiences

WOW! I could write so many stories I don’t know which one to write right now! I’ve had an amazing two-week and well-deserved vacation that I didn’t want to end.

To say I had a blast would be an understatement. Literally, I had fun in the sun. Luckily summer came just in time to grant me two full weeks of sunshine and warmth...nice!

I’m so grateful to have been invited to spend some time at Roberts Creek with Roberto Kaplan, my original vision therapist, mentor and friend (www.beyond2020vision.com or www.eyecode.info). (My next blog posting may feature about some of my time there and some of the learnings and insights I received.)

I’m also thankful to have spent this past week at my favourite festival: the Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver (www.harmonyarts.ca). I was there every evening but three, the first two as I was away and this past Wednesday. This festival is my favourite for a variety of reasons, but the main one is free music – and great bands to listen and dance to – outdoors in nature, by the ocean.

But now I want to go on a slightly different tangent: today’s blog posting that I wrote spontaneously while sitting near the ocean during the Harmony Arts Festival.

There is a blur between so-called reality, for after all, what actually is reality? Because reality is different for you and for me (and for everyone else for that matter!). You see, we all see with different eyes, a different lens, a different perspective.

Now I wish I had taken a photo (and used it for this blog with permission) of this young lad of about age three who was looking into his grandmother’s camera after she shot a picture or two of his face close up. His expression was priceless! What did he see? And what did she see? (“She sells seashells by the seashore” is the phrase that comes to mind as I type this!)

Our reality is based on our past, our beliefs, our thinking, thought patterns, feelings, and our state of being (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc.).

Take, for instance, the witness of an event or an accident. There could be say 10 people who experience (i.e., see) it in their own way. Each person will have his or her own interpretation, and their own individual story about it. (This makes me think of witnesses in court.)

Similarly for families. Parents and siblings will have their own version of family occurrences. I was surprised for example to discover that one of my sisters experienced things in a totally different way than I did, seemingly opposite to mine: a major contrast.

I was aware of my first statement above intuitively years ago, rather the question about what reality is.

Apparently my reality is usually myopic in that I often see things – and experience life – in a myopic way. Roberto Kaplan portrayed this fact to me during our reacquaintance last week. Essentially, this means that I view life with a fear-based perspective.

I know this in a different way: I would label it as being pessimistic, fearing the worst and often anticipating and preparing for the worst. Perhaps this was a result of losing my twin sister at birth, who knows?

However, there are times when I am the opposite, full of optimism. This occurs when my heart is open and/or I am full of joy (like I was during most of my time at Roberts Creek and during the Harmony Arts Festival). Basically, when I have faith and hope, and trust and belief in myself/life/others/God/Spirit.

A number of years ago I received this message intuitively, “Elly, trust yourself. Trust the universe. It will support you.” This message came to me very strongly and clearly when I undertook T. Harv Eker's “Enlightened Warrior Training Camp” (www.enlightenedwarrior.com) and “Wizard Training Camp” (www.wizardtraining.com) through Peak Potentials (www.peakpotentials.com). And did I? No! Why? Because I didn’t have faith and/or belief in myself.

This is not to say that at times I didn’t experience this. I did, but the experiences were far and few in between for the most part. There were times though I was totally in trust mode and, with heart open, the universe presented itself to me so-to-speak in miraculous ways.

I used to call these ways ‘coincidences,’ but I have come to know that they’re more accurately referred to as ‘synchronicities’ as in ‘Divine Providence’ (this term comes to me now).

I’ve had two such major occurrences that lasted not just moments as in seconds or even minutes, but hours, days, and even weeks on end! Yes, truly. I’m not kidding. I’ve chronicled them and perhaps I’ll use them somehow one day in a more extensive writing. (If I do for this particular piece, it could be a small book!)

Suffice to say though that I know I was blessed to have experienced such amazing connections with ‘Spirit.'

My heart has opened, re-opened these past two weeks during my vacation. Thanks for Roberto to help me in this process and thus to enable me to thoroughly enjoy my second week listening to great music, and dancing and jumping for joy during the Harmony Arts Festival.

Till my next posting, enjoy our beautiful weather whilst we have it, at least for those of you readers in this part of the world, the beautiful BC Pacific Coast.

p.s. The photos are of Lion's Gate Bridge in somewhat of a blurred state, that is, depending on your vision! ; )