Picky Eater

       

Let’s start with this example: I want to try Mexican street corn because I think I’d like it, and it’d be safe if my first experience were at the hands of someone who was great with authentic Mexican food. I once had Panera “Mexican Street Corn soup”, which certainly doesn’t count, and I thought that if that went well, I could later get my hands on an authentic recipe and it try making street corn myself. These are just ideas, though, about which I’ve procrastinated for a while out of fear – a dislike of mayonnaise, of Miracle Whip, and a fear of failing at my own first attempt at the dish.

8 Women Who Have Inspired Me

 

  

-          Regina Meredith Discerning, brave, so intelligent, thoughtful about her articulation during interviews, which I believe she’s great at, by the way. Regina has a great deal of experience in journalism, and her show on the Gaia streaming network was an excellent resource for me. In addition to all the good info she provides, I admire how much she speaks up in the face of any suppressive pushback. That’s the big reason why I call her brave. She cares very much about energy work, self-awareness, and sharing truth and facts. I admire how committed she is to those things. We need journalists in the world with her type of ethics and integrity.

Crystal Dude (About This Dream I Had) UPDATED a bit on 9.9

       I had a dream today (July 19th) that helped me choose what to focus on. 

Cool Relief.

        

     In today's episode of Shannon's Mind...

    "...just scrolling along their pages, looking for videos I watched back in October or November, I feel strong relief. It's an undeniable sensation. I watched a couple of them two days ago and thought, 'Yes, this is part of the path I'm meant to be on'."

 

Amethyst Afternoon. (Support. Y' Know "You're Not Alone"? It's True.)

 

 

       May was a tumultuous, stressful month for me, and eventually, I will tell that story because it's full of juicy pieces of information for people who could relate, or get answers about things happening to one of their loved ones, and those who need my experience to be their wake-up call about boundaries. Today, though, I'm going to praise the sense of community* I get from some of the people in the wellness/ intuitive world. I so appreciate how much we benefit from collective consciousness, how these things allow us to empower ourselves and address a concern, and over time, there are people I come across who are in the wellness industry and labeling themselves as psychic because they authentically care about the highest good of themselves and others. They have a passion for empowerment. I'm going to focus on the fact that my 'aha' moment involved two women I respect very much whom I reached out to once I declared a readiness to have clarity and take more action in rectifying my situation. 

Compatibility and Self-Respect. A Note Inspired By Casting On 'Nobody Wants This'.

 

           Something that recently became a blip on the celebrity news radar has inspired me to leave this note: When you're in a friendship or a romantic relationship that has been unhealthy all along, and you contemplate ending it, you might reach a point where you're ready to not prioritize emotion, and instead sort through lists of pros and cons, and if you get to that point, I recommend including a higher perspective. 

          My example comes in the form of two couples. As of this writing, Netflix has a series going called Nobody Wants This, starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. Their characters are building a healthy romantic connection, while the actors are in respective marriages that are unhealthy. I respect Bell and Brody as performers - they are so talented - and they're real humans, each with young children, so I'm not excited about getting gossipy here, but their fantastic chemistry in season one of the show prompted me to ask my Higher Self a little about it, and an important point I got is that they were meant to take on those roles.

Wanna Tell Me Who I Am? First Make Sure You Can See Me.

 

 

          It would be reasonable and correct to assume that my parents are unaware of what an empath is and the fact that their daughter is one. For example, they rewrite my discomfort with amusement parks as a symptom of my A.D.D.! Something else that they are unaware of is that at a young age, I got in the habit of matching Mom's energy if she came in the room highly stressed or angry, as if that's where I should be just because I'm the offspring. As a little kid, I had my parents up on pedestals and I wanted harmony in the household, so I thought I was taking on one of my responsibilities. My parents didn't try to manipulate me into doing so, and if they'd known about it, they would have simply said once, "Don't worry about it, honey", and moved on, as if now my reacting to Mom would be a non-problem. 

 

Over the Influence

 

           I was trying to figure out how I’d make a certain point in this essay and – ta da!  – Christina Lopes, DPT, MPH posted something to her YouTube account that helps to get me started. On the image are the words, “Non-attachment is the most loving thing you can do”, and the post goes on to say,

“Why do we cling so hard to people, things and titles?

It’s not just because we love them.

It’s because they hold our self-image together – like emotional superglue.”

 

Inspiration in a Tumultuous Time

 

 I'm in need of some inspiration right now. Maybe this will help you, too.

It's so essential that we focus on goals that have higher vibrations, that we focus on discernment, on appropriate neutrality, on healthy self-esteem and confidence and patience and compassion.

So.

Gin Palace 📚 by Tracy Whitwell, a Book Review

           I've been taking notes, if you'd like to read along. Recently, I wrote about 2012's The Accidental Medium by the same author, Tracy Whitwell, and this is a sequel titled, Gin Palace. Wanna watch a likeable, funny, flawed (and in my opinion, relatable) woman make mistakes and learn from them and live and feel sorry herself and solve crime with the help of dead people before she goes home to her coffee and fluffy cat and her well-written variety of relationships? If so, then come along!

Dogs and a Tarot Deck

          

          Recently, I made a very dumb mistake when I headed across the street to play with my furry neighbor, a golden doodle named Cooper. I had my deck of little Rider-Waite Tarot cards in the pocket of my coat. I wanna tell you about that and also share something quickly about how I get 'yes' and 'no' messages from my Higher Self, just in case this tidbit ends up being helpful to you.

Tracy Whitwell

 

            I wonder...if it was coincidence, which in general I don't believe in, or if by train of thought I manifested the moment when a particular audiobook came up on YouTube:The Accidental Medium by Tracy Whitwell.

Wanna Play with Chakras?

           I just thought I'd share this for anyone who likes using strong visuals in their meditations and energy healing. If you can relate, I'd like to know your version.

          At this stage in my spiritual path, I enjoy a silly, very visual routine as a way of checking in with different essential parts of my being, providing TLC in a brief, very visual moment to myself before going back to tangible human stuff, now feeling that much better, probably because at that point, I'm confident that I've practiced some efficient self-care. Chakras, also known as energy centers, are a real part of our health and wellness, a statement I make based on research and personal experience, and if you feel like messing around with the concept by spinning or clearing them, I recommend it! I've been under the impression that the condition of one's body is influenced by multiple factors, including the electromagnetic energy in and around it. A few ways of exploring that are detailed below.

           As I've progressed in the rookie program of intuitive development, my clairsentience has strengthened. Of course, that's not the surprising part, but instead the way it feels when I run through all the energy centers, spinning them and checking on their status in a simple way, usually starting with clarity and size. These days, I feel them more acutely, and I don't notice these sensations without specific focus, one chakra at a time. I'll admit that usually, when I move through that routine, I'm long past the foggier, lovely phase right after waking. I tend to cleanse chakras while wide awake because it grounds me when I'm transitioning from research to exercising, or I might be in a longer line at the store than I anticipated, overheating because I haven't checked the weather in advance, and it's lovely out, but I'm wearing a coat and a sweater and my foot is starting to hurt and, 'Did I call the bank? Ohmydog, how is the skin on my hand still itchy and feeling tight when I moisturi -- you know what? This is annoying. Let's do something useful: Chakras'.

Manifestation! Also, Designing a Kids' Toy in a Dream

          It's one thing to hear numerous times about balancing a goal with the truth of spiritually and psychologically letting it go, and another to watch a result of doing so and recognize the process, saying to oneself, "Oh, okay, so this is what it looks like in my life". As I type this, I can hear Oprah in my head - a moment from a fantastic, brief talk she gave at the 2016 Essence Festival about scoring the role she wanted in the film adaptation of The Color Purple. She made the following excellent point: "When you've done everything you can do, surrender all". That speech is fantastic, the advice is needed, and what I'm about to tell you is one way in which that very process has played out for me recently.

        I've been saving money and tried a few energy work techniques I'd never explored before. One of my responsibilities since quarantine began has been to expand my education on epigenetics, or the science of what causes genes to develop in particular ways, causing blue eyes, allergies, IBS, acid reflux, migraines, cancer, etc. I'm also in the process of studying the connections between stress and the body, the heart and the brain, as well as the brain and the immune system. I've learned about different types of energy work, different outlooks on spirituality, and fascinatingly, I came across media detailing the spiritual beliefs of ancient civilizations and devoted esoteric groups - things that are universal truths, some of which we are finding and sharing scientific evidence for today. There were civilizations in different parts of the globe that passed down info. over generations that match up so well, it couldn't rightfully be dismissed as a coincidence by historians. The better I understand each of these subjects, the more that information serves me today and well into the future, so you can consider this to be a part of doing my share in the process of manifestation. 

Celebration of the Powerful Human Heart

  I want to out myself to you about a meditation attempt. For a moment, I was imagining the energies of two specific women, one on either side of me, with my Higher Self directly across the way. My intention, at first, was to open up to messages, but I kept turning to distractions so varied, I'm surprised I don't have whiplash. Finally, we reduced the session to just the Higher Self and the human. Suddenly, there was an image of a little girl in a dress kneeling or sitting inside a white chalk circle. I knew that so long as she stayed inside that circle she was safe. Well. I quickly placed the reference (A Little Princess, a lovely movie based on a beautiful book, both from my childhood) and asked, "Does that refer to the circle of white light*? Or the electromagnetic heart field?" and the response was, "Heart field". 

 

Look-Alike of Motörhead Singer (About This Dream I Had)

 

           In a dream, two different childhood classmates showed up, along with a man who looked very much like Lemmy Kilmister, the late lead singer of Motörhead. Also, my subconscious invented a weird, inefficient elevator. Pleased and curious, I mulled it over, researched and consulted my Higher Self. The results are explored in the following post. Wanna come with?

 

   

The Internet As a Tool For Compassion

         
          What if it's the stress, judgment and separation that is the illusion? Seriously, what if that isn't just woo-woo bulls**t talk?

          I really enjoy learning more about what life is like for other people. It's important in the growth of my empathy and in widening the acknowledgement of and celebration of other lifestyles, cultures, points of view, etc. There are plenty of pros and cons to the internet, and one big pro is how we can use it to educate ourselves bit by bit and feel connected to people thousands of miles away. Of course, I'm preaching to the choir, here, but I love that someone in Hartford could get the sense of community they need from people in Oslo, Nice, Lisbon, Austin, Reykjavík.

Karma. Is It Real?

 

          I feel safe using this generalization: that we're all familiar with the word "karma". The post today is a brief contemplation of whether I want to continue believing that karma exists. Wanna join me?

I'm bringing it up because I've heard it enough times from some speakers I appreciate in the spiritual wellness realm, whether they were giving their take on how karma could result from certain actions, or defining and explaining karma in basic terms. It intrigued me when I heard something different from a shaman named Durek.

About This Dream Visitation From a Dog

           On December 26th, I had a silly hours-long symptom of ascension: It sounded rather like someone in the next room was quietly whistling, made even better by the fact that it was changing octave almost constantly, lacking rhythm and it amused me. I periodically would let it distract me just for fun. I'd be eating breakfast, working out or washing my hands and I'd pause for a moment, be quiet and listen. 

As I go through a physical aspect of spiritual transformation and the entire planet adjusts to the 5D energy, obviously that means lots of interesting moments, like movement and pressure within my brain, my vision changing so that I can see the vibration of atoms, and this! My hearing has been shifting too, allowing for fun feelings and sounds no one else notices!
          I have to be careful around Mom so she doesn't worry that I'm developing any health issues. The physical sensations need to be as much a secret as possible and excuses are made for my pauses or slip-ups; Usually, "migraine" or blaming my acid reflux does the trick.

In this post, I plan on going further with the topic of these ascension symptoms for a little while, then mention a dream visitation I got from a loved one. If you're interested, click!

'My Brother Jordan'; Impacted by a Documentary About a Young Man I Didn’t Know

         Just to give you an indication of where I'm going with this, the original title of this post started with the word, "Appreciation". I’ve been changed by a documentary I found on YouTube. If you’ve been deeply impacted by a doc about an individual, I’d love to hear from you; I’d like to see what you learned and how you have changed your life based on it, because this is an intense, uncommon experience for me, and I’m gonna gush now about an influential young man I never knew:

            Jordan Robinson.

            I’m so thankful to the filmmaker behind this, Justin Robinson. As he put it, this movie was [“about a brother, by a brother”], and I can’t imagine how difficult and/or therapeutic it was to make, but without the film, there would be one less lovely testament to Jordan out in the world, which some of his loved ones might lean on to help with their grief, and selfishly, I’m glad for the movie’s existence because I got the chance to learn from it.