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Instant Karma

Michelle Cromer November 12, 2024 Leave a Comment

I bought a John Lennon pen for my husband’s birthday recently and so I have been doing a great deal of thinking about John Lennon. His song, Instant Karma! (We All Shine On), first popularized the idea that the world immediately mirrors your inner state. It might not be everyone’s experience, but it was his.

Because John Lennon was acutely aware of his inner feelings he could outwardly express his creative genius. Since he was so aware of his inner world, he realized that in every moment, in some way, the outer world reflected back his inner state. Perhaps this is true for everyone, but many are just not aware of their inner state.

The principle of instant karma is that if you are feeling really good inside, then “instantly” the people you interact with tend to make you feel really good. If you are feeling anxious and in a hurry, then the line at Target you get in will be the slowest. If you are angry, then people do things to make you angrier. On the other hand, if you begin to let go of your anger, people begin to let go of theirs.

Instant Karma means that what you put out is what you get back instantly.

What are you putting out there today?

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Cultivating Joy

Michelle Cromer November 11, 2024 Leave a Comment

My son August came down from Brooklyn for a visit. He was going through his old closet and asked me to mail back some things that wouldn’t fit in his suitcase. I had no idea what was in the bag he left until I dumped out the contents at a shipping company. To my delight I discovered dudgeon and dragon dice, playing cards, baby arm props, bull whips, and costumes.

It was a box full of creativity and to me, a box full of joy.

Joy walks alongside all of us. You don’t have to hunt for joy, manufacture it, or live a stress-free perfect life. Joy arrives when you welcome it into the messiness of our crazy lives. She sneaks up when you least expect it. You cannot invite her, you can only be ready when she shows up, and hug her with all your mite when she does. Joy slithers through the cracks of the imperfect life. That’s how joy works.

Every moment in our lives offers each of us a choice. Look at your life and it will show you what you value. Are you choosing stress, conflict, and unhappiness? Joy provides the perfect barometer for navigating life. All you need to do is determine and recognize what brings you joy. Do that.

Being Thankful

Michelle Cromer November 4, 2024 Leave a Comment

A wise woman was traveling in the mountains. As she crossed a stream she looked down and found a precious stone. She picked it up and tucked it away in her bag. The following day the wise woman met another traveler who was hungry. When she opened her bag to share her food, the hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he returned in order to give the stone back to the wise woman.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious.”

“What could that possibly be?” asked the wise woman.

“Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone,” the hungry man replied.

***

I have heard many versions of this beautiful Zen story and there are so many lessons to learn from this one simple tale. I interpret the river to be symbolic of the journey of life, and the precious stones to be the people in my life. We find many precious stones during this journey. They may not look precious. They may seem to be plain old pebbles. But if we look closely – if we pay attention and take the time to pick up the stones and shine them, and look after them – we can see that they are precious beyond all measure. But they do not belong to us. We just look after them for a while. They come and go as life takes all kinds of twists and turns. All we can do is enjoy the beauty when it is in our hands and in our lives and let it go when the time comes to do so. These are moments of grace. Moments of gratitude. As we focus on them, we manifest more of the same.

In this month of thanksgiving, I want to give thanks for the precious stones that I have been honored to hold in my arms and in my life: my steadfast family, my incredible friends, my astonishing colleagues, and my amazing clients. Oftentimes, these precious stones stay with me for months or years, but always the time spent seems fleeting. They are the greatest and most humble teachers, the most inspiring and heart-warming support.

My wish for you this season is that you hold the precious stones in your life close. You never know when the time will come when you must let them go.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire, if you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times, during those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes,
they will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary because it means you’ve made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things,
a life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings. ~ Author Unknown

The Magical Mystery of the Marfa Lights

Michelle Cromer October 28, 2024 Leave a Comment

So often West Texas will slap you in the face with its heat, screaming at you to take notice. Other times it whispers in your ear and suggests that you stop, look up, take a deep breath, and marvel at its wide-open spaces.

Prada Marfa permanent artistic installation located in the middle of the Chihuahua desert, 37 miles from Marfa.

Marfa, Texas is located right smack dab in the middle of this wide-open space. It has one traffic light, yet it has a famous Prada store, which isn’t a store at all, but rather an art installation. Donald Judd, the famous New York City minimalist artist turned the remote town of Marfa into a cultural pilgrimage site when he put his studio there. Judd wanted a place to house his permeant gigantic installations and began making his work in three dimensions which changed the idea of art.

But way before Donald Judd set up shop, Marfa was known for their mystery lights.

Since 1617, when Captain Manuel Pedro Vasco first saw the Marfa Lights, he called them, “The lights of God.” Since then, people have reported strange ball of lights above the horizon on the outskirts of this small Texas town. No one knows exactly what they are or what they do, and they aren’t always there. That’s what makes them so captivating. These source-less lights which can be blue, white, or yellowish, glow, fade, dance, disappear, and return at different places and change colors anytime between dusk to midnight. Some think they are UFOs, evil spirits, good spirits, or to skeptics, headlights on the horizon. Of course, in 1671 there were no cars.

I feel this is a formula for any sacred site.
Forget what the non-believers and skeptics say. Forget what you’ve seen, or think you’ve seen, with your own eyes. When you visit a sacred site, activate the joy within you, and release the need to control the outcome. And maybe like me, you will get to witness magical moments firsthand.

The Age of Meaning

Michelle Cromer October 24, 2024 Leave a Comment

Have you ever asked yourself questions like: “Who is God?” or “What is my purpose?” or if you are like me, “Is this it?” Shouldn’t life be about more than just working, trying to pay the bills, buying stuff, and traveling? What if there’s more to life than what we experience with our five senses? We know there are tones of music too high to be registered by the human ear. Aren’t there also colors beyond our perception? Just because I can’t hear the notes or see the colors doesn’t mean they aren’t real. What else could be beyond our earthly perceptions? Or is this really…it?

If you ask these questions, I think you are entering a time in your life that I call The Age of Meaning.

The Age of Meaning is when you “wake up,” and ask deeply spiritual questions that propel you to discover who you were born to be, leading you to understand your life’s deeper purpose. The Age of Meaning is not to be confused with other, historic, “Ages,” nor is it based on how many times you have rotated the sun. Most of those ages or periods in our lives occur in chronological order. Step by step we enter the same chronological age. The Age of Meaning isn’t about a prescribed age, and it can’t be measured in linear time. It isn’t activated simply because we have taken a certain number of breaths. Asking deeply personal questions activates The Age Meaning. Those questions result in us having deeply personal experiences, and how we allow those experiences to affect us, move through us, and change us.

This article is about my spiritual journey and sacred sites, sacred travel, and what I am learning while passing through The Age of Meaning. However, each spiritual journey is as unique as each human on the planet—what works for me may not work for you in exactly the same way. I intend to share what is happening to me and hopefully help you along your path, freeing you from the obstacles that are keeping you from setting off and offering guidance when you feel alone. But I have my journey and you have your own. As the Buddha said, “Don’t believe me, don’t believe anybody, don’t accept anything based on tradition. Don’t believe anything based on the fact that your community believes this or your country believes this or the people who are around you believe this.” Find what works best for you.

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