In trying to close the gap between the internal/external demands of life and our ability to deal with them, typical coping mechanisms are denial and avoidance. We presume that if we don’t remember what was bothering us, it’s gone. But where do our disturbing thoughts, tensions and feelings go? One theory is that what we deny and avoid is housed somewhere in the subconscious mind. It lays there like a festering mass knocking on the door of our consciousness in our dreams, ou

“The mind is its own place – It can make Hell of Heaven or Heaven of Hell.” John Milton in “Paradise Lost” At some point we have to decide who we are and who we aren’t. The jury is still out on the human mind and its machinations. After all, the body has existed as a entity of wisdom for far longer than the mind. Evolution is unforgiving of those who don’t adapt and the greater the power for good, the greater the potential for destruction. Events in the Middle East with I

Even TV commercials can be segues to higher awareness if we are open to the metaphor. I was watching a Florida orange juice commercial in which there is a time-lapse morphing from fragrant flower to bright orange fruit. Maybe you’ve seen it? As the fruit appears, the flower shrivels up and disappears. The trees know how to let go of what was to make room for what comes next. Quietly, without fanfare, the greenery goes through its various cycles in faithful non-attachment

We either move beyond a sense of limitation in these times of change, or we are left behind. There are moment described in spiritual literature when people accomplish transformation in an instant. These miraculous examples of upward mobility are referred to as “epiphanies” in Christian lore. They are sometimes described as a vision that immediately gifts enlightenment to an individual and bequeaths a halo or some indication that this person is now a “saint,” or has achieved