The Magic IS the Mundane

My dearest lovelies….Some days are for confronting the really big questions; today is one of those days and THIS is one of those questions.  How passionate are you about your life?  Seriously.  When you take a step back and really look at your life, do you get excited?  Do you see it as a privilege?  Aa punishment? Or are you just sort of in it drifting through the days unconsciously waiting for the magic to find you? 

Several months ago I started to ask myself the same question and I have to tell you, it’s sort of changed everything. 

For reasons I don’t completely understand, a lot of us, myself included, subconsciously wait for some sort of catastrophic event to happen before we are shaken up enough to recognize that things are not working…or that we want more…or that we just want to feel something that resembles enthusiasm for our lives again…or maybe for the very first time ever.

It was a series of BIG, crappy events this past Summer that prompted me to sort of take a serious step back and really look at where I was in my life as opposed to where I wanted to be.  That’s when I got the biggest gift the Universe has ever given me; I woke up one morning and realized that I didn’t need to tear up everything, I didn’t need to run off and join the proverbial circus to be happy, I just needed to quit taking my life for granted.  And that one realization literally changed everything because the moment I really faced my mortality….not in a sad sort of way but in a “Hey, what the hell are you waiting for?” sort of way, I couldn’t help but get excited enough to want to make some really fabulous changes.  The good news is that they were not big changes, and they didn’t cost a thing!  They were more like adjustments to how I chose to see everything and what I was actually looking for.  That’s the real game-changer….

I think what typically happens in life is we wind up waiting for circumstances to change for us before we decide to make any sort of a move…  We have all these big, fake contingencies lined up as a means to avoid any sort of accountability or movement because let’s face it, change is scary.  But I’ll tell you what…NOT changing….living a life that doesn’t make you happy, waiting for someone else to give you permission to change your circumstances….well if you ask me, that’s even scarier.  Sitting there and telling ourselves that we will change anything ONLY when something else happens first is sort of a BS fear based way of saying “nope, not ready, but thanks anyway.”  Haven’t we lived that way long enough?

I could give you a list of reasons not to enjoy and be passionate about your life as it is in this exact moment or I can gently place my hands on your shoulders, look you in the eye and say, “sweetie….isn’t the mere fact that you’re breathing on your own something to celebrate?” 

I have to be honest with you, I know a lot of people who are going to read that statement and say, “yea, but…..I don’t have enough money, I hate my job, my partner left me, my parents didn’t treat me well, it’s Monday…..”  The list goes on and on. 

I know that a lot of us have been through some horrible STUFF….we feel beat up and broken, we feel frustrated, disappointed, sad and just plain exhausted.  Even worse yet, some have gotten so used to the dissatisfaction of life we just don’t feel anything.  But that does not need to be how we feel today, that doesn’t need to define who we get to be NOW or how we feel NOW.  All of that STUFF is our HISTORY!!!  All that STUFF, even though it feels like its with you today is YESTERDAY’S emotional trash and it’s time to leave it at the curb.  You don’t have to carry it around with you anymore.

Contrary to what you might have been telling yourself or have been lead to believe, none of that garbage could be further from what this life is supposed to be about.  Being passionate about your life is as simple as how you choose to see your world; in other words, one conscious choice in either direction and it’s the dawn of a whole new day.  Seriously.  If you wake up every day expecting bad things and bad people to happen to you, then that’s exactly what you will get because it’s all you’re capable of seeing.  If you go out into the world looking for devils, then all you will ever see is devils. 

But what if you wake up every day looking for the very best of life?  What if the first thing you do before you even put one foot on the floor is just take a breath and say THANK YOU?  What if the next thing you do after that is look outside…. Do you see trees?  Flowers?  Snow?  Look at it…..really LOOK at it and see the intrinsic beauty in every single part of it and don’t take one thing that you see for granted.  Some people are not fortunate enough to actually SEE any of it….but you are.  Say thank you!  Enjoy all if it!

This is where being passionate about your life starts.  One simple decision to look at things differently or maybe SEE things for the very first time, literally has enough power to change everything!   

It does not matter one tiny bit what your life looks like right now, the fact of the matter is that you….YES, YOU…were born with a divinely charged magic wand that holds so much power it can fundamentally alter the entire course of your life.  It can even help you to lead by example and potentially help someone else to change their life too….it’s called perception and it’s been your birthright all along.

How do you choose to use your power of perception today?  We certainly aren’t guaranteed a life free of set-backs or heartache or let-downs….but HOW you choose to process what happens is what matters…. You always have the ability to see things as happening TO you or FOR you but nobody can make that choice BUT you.

We really don’t know how long our life line is do we?  Doesn’t it make more sense to do our best to look for the magic and the miracles in the “mundane” versus waiting for what we perceive to be the BIG events?  What if you decided that the breath you just took IS the really big stuff?  I know it sounds super simplistic….and I know from personal experience that it’s not always easy to see the good during what can sometimes feel like a mountain of obstacles, but the work is worth it.  Have you ever actually climbed a mountain of obstacles?  The view on the way up and over those obstacles is absolutely amazing!  Everything so much shinier and even the shadows have no choice but to shrink a bit when bathed in so much light!!

Fall in love with your life today….love it unconditionally and with all your heart and soul no matter what it looks like right now…. Don’t wait one more minute…. You deserve that….you really do and you’re always just one decision away from knowing it.  My sincerest hope is that today is the day you decide to embrace and celebrate your beautiful life and be passionate about it just because you can! 

Wishing you bliss and blessings,

Heather

All images and text are the property of Heather Hanson and may not be copied or reproduced without express written consent.

DIvine You

Some days are for remembering the truth of who you are…..who you were before the world chimed in and told you who it expected you to be.

Whether you remember it or not, we are each Divine beings cut from the same beautiful quilt of humanity. You and I are made up of every conceivable reflection and version of ourselves that ever was or ever will be.  Regardless of what your life has looked like or what you have believed to be true about your SELF, the one certainty in your existence is that YOU are truly divine. 

Your connection to that divinity can never be severed…..it can never be taken away from you, it is the essence of who you are.  Long before you were even a prayer on someone’s heart or a fleeting wish, you were a divine spark of potential.  That light constantly glows deep within you and make no mistake, no matter what you do, or what you have been told, that light, that divine spark can never be extinguished or taken away from you.

Sadly and for so many of us, the longer we are “here” the more we begin to believe that our spark simply doesn’t exist or that it is somehow damaged..  We start to feel afraid that who we authentically are is simply not enough, so we do what we think we need to in order to fit in and blend.  We become whatever we must just to feel like we’re a part of something and that we have a connection to the people around us.  So without a clue as to what we’re doing, at a very young age we begin to create masks for ourselves. 

At first we don’t create them intentionally, we don’t even really know that we’re doing it, we just sort of hide behind whatever it is that helps us fit in the best.  Most of us are terrified of being the kid left alone on the playground at recess so we intentionally shrink ourselves a bit; we dim our own divine light just enough that  the other kids will like us.  The moment we realize it’s working, is the moment we have created our first mask.

Over the journey of many years we become certain that it feels good to wear our masks. At some point we almost convince ourselves that we are in fact, truly the person behind the disguise.  Think about the last costume party you attended. Initially that alter-ego masquerade mask is exciting and perhaps a bit liberating as we put it on and step into a version of ourselves we’ve always wanted to experience.  But then as the evening wears on the mask begins to itch, we can’t enjoy the food, the drinks or even the character we were trying to be because the mask has now become a hinderance, a burden, and a distraction that leaves us unable to focus on anything else.  When we can’t take it anymore, we finally pull it off, leave it on a coffee table somewhere when nobody is looking and as we do, we exhale a sigh of relief because we are free. 

I think many of us forgot a long time ago that life was never designed to be a costume party.  Unfortunately, as we get older and understand a bit more about how the world works, we start to see what masks we need to create in order to fit in, to get the job, the promotion, the friends, the significant other.  We start to see what sort of masks make us more likable, more popular, more loveable, more accepted.  And so, layer after layer, with each mask we create, we move further away from the divine authentic nature of who we truly are.  We become a constantly changing version of who we believe we are supposed to be.  We are exhausted, we are confused, and we don’t understand why we can’t quite get comfortable in our own skin. 

Our ego doesn’t understand this level of discomfort because all it wants to do is protect us, so it wraps us in more and more layers of masks as a way of keeping us safe. Ironically, we truly believe that the more masks we wear, the less of our beautiful individuality and ourselves that we show the world, the safer we are and the better our ability to connect with those around us…. 

We tragically and constantly forget that long before we even took our first breath, we were already tethered unconditionally to one another and to our most amazing connection; the one that we have to the Divine Source of who we are. (God, Creator, Spirit or whatever name you identify as the Creator of all things).  That Source created you perfectly in his/her image with unlimited possibility, individuality and potential.  You were never intended to be like anybody else.  You were not created so that you could eventually shrink who you are to fit in or to blend.  You were created to shine out loud in your own luminous humanity of endless colors.  You are, at your most authentic, exactly who you are supposed to be.

Can you imagine what it would feel like to live in the space of THAT sort of freedom every day?  To never have to create another mask but instead to just be who you ultimately are?  What if you could really wake up every day remembering and embracing your true self?  What if you could know just how much you matter and how connected you are to every single one of us without ever having wear even one more mask?

That freedom is available right now but for most of us who have never really let the world SEE us, nothing could sound more terrifying.  Right?  Actually, I think it’s far more frightening to constantly worry about one of the masks slipping off or someone seeing past it before we believe we are ready. The stress of all those masks hardly seems worth the effort when the reality is that you have absolutely nothing to hide.

Let’s be honest, most of humanity is made up of people who have been creating masks for themselves too.  Much like you, they didn’t know they had a choice, they just assumed that if you saw them without their masks you wouldn’t like them either.  They too forgot all about their divine nature. 

 The simplest truth is that the moment you decide to listen to the voice that has always been with you everything changes.  The instant you finally hear the voice that keeps tugging at your heart trying to get you to re-member who you are will be the precise moment that every mask you have ever created will simultaneously cease to exist. You and everything that was ever intended for you will be free. 

What if today is that day?  The choice has been yours all along.  Itchy, scratchy tedious masks or blissful, happy, light-as-a-cloud divine freedom?  Choose wisely!

Wishing you bliss and blessings,

Heather

all images and text C 2018

Heart of the Moon

Some days are designed for reflection…for quiet contemplation and for gratitude. 

It is the most wonderful blessing that today of all days, the very first day of the year, we are going to be greeted by a magnificent and awe-inspiring Super Full Moon this evening.   It simply doesn’t get any more magical than that!  No matter where you are in the world, regardless of what side of Mother Earth you call home, sometime this evening you and I will be able to look up and share the light of the very first full moon of this brand-new year.  It’s really nothing short of awe-inspiring, isn’t it? 

If you allow yourself to get very still and just BE in this moment, you can almost feel the energy of this moon swirling all around you.  This is a day for the magic of possibility and potential…a day for celebrating what we have achieved, for enjoying the harvest of last year’s efforts and for setting intentions for the future.  This a day to recognize that there are no real obstacles standing between our imaginations and the manifestation of our dreams….there is only the illusion of limitation.  This is a day for remembering that truly, ALL things are possible and that means ALL things, to all people, not just a few lucky ones….ALL things….ALL people…and that means you too!  It is a new day, a new year and we have so much to celebrate!

I am so happy to share my love of the moon and so much more with you because for the last few months I find that I am in an inspired new head and heart space.  I feel like a veil has been lifted and suddenly I can see the magic and even the miraculous in what used to feel so mundane and taken for granted.  With inspiration perched firmly on my shoulder, I cannot help but feel like I need to make certain that I share what keeps showing up…so I started drawing again, I started writing again and that’s literally just the tip of the iceberg! 

I am quietly and very intentionally meandering down a beautiful new path; a road I find to be less traveled and a wonderfully peaceful detour from the chaos of my never-quiet, constantly creative mind.  I have taken a most incredible turn that has lead me towards a magical and most divine place I had never been to before…and as I’m sure you can understand, when you’re excited about something you just can’t wait to share it.  As we move gently into 2018, I look forward to introducing so much of it to you, but for today, this wonderful day for reflection and gratitude, let’s just stay in this inspiring place for a while longer and start this new chapter with our hearts turned toward the moon…..

Perhaps you haven’t even noticed, but between the Full Moon and the New Moon every single month, she is always doing something to get your attention and lend you her light in any way that she can!!

Two times a month, (at the very least) regardless of what is happening in the world, in your home or in your heart, you have an on-going invitation to stop whatever it is that you are doing, be quiet for a moment, turn your head up to the sky and let your heart go within...  If weather permits and you can go outside, that’s fabulous; and if not, any window that allows you to stand in the light of the moon will do.  This momentary pause is available and waiting patiently for you every single month….it doesn’t cost a thing, you don’t have to dress up, or even clear your schedule….you just need to be still, look up, breathe and let her Divine energy re-fuel your heart and soul!  How incredible that the Creator (God, Source, Spirit, the Divine) of ALL things amidst every other miracle He(She) blessed us with in those first six days also gave us this incredible luminary hanging high in the sky as one more very visual reminder of what is truly possible when we lean into the light.  

For me, these two nights of the month are so special that I started to think of the Full and New Moon evenings as micro-holidays.   As a matter of fact, in the Jewish religion, the New Moon is a holiday specifically for women called Rosh Chodesh (which translates to; Head of the month).  It is said that because of the women’s loyalty to God and not worshipping idols during the era of the Golden Calf, God gave them a great reward; he gave them the New Moon and their very own holiday.  It became customary for the women to literally take the entire day off and the men would step forward to handle everything!  They would do the cooking, the housework and tend to the home while their wives, sisters, and all the other females in the villages took time to rest, rejuvenate, celebrate, and share their gratitude for the moon and a brand new month!  I can’t see any reason why a holiday like Rosh Chodesh which insists that all women take the day off wouldn’t be a fantastic addition to the calendar today!  Can you?

Amidst the constant craziness of life, these Divine monthly lunar events (and make no mistake, they are truly Divine in origin) need to be some of the moments that matter…. Whether it is the evening of a full or new moon, the opportunity is still the same.  Like a trusted old friend, there is always available for you a quiet moment between you and that magical luminary high in the sky who can’t wait to shed her light on your next chapter.  Every month the moon silently listens and then cheers you on as you decide to set down and release anything that no longer serves you…. She is among your greatest cheerleaders always using her light to illuminate any fears or misgivings you had so that you can move past them and begin to plant your new seeds of intention.  If used properly, the divine energy of the moon is like a beacon flooding your conscious and subconscious desires and wishes with light so that if you have felt stuck, you can now do what is necessary to bring your greatest desires from wish to fruition!  But first you must invite her in and take a very intentional moment to hold space with her.

The truth is, we are all divine beings inventing and re-inventing ourselves over and over throughout the course of our amazing lives.  We have the capacity to call towards ourselves anything that we need and release whatever it is that no longer enriches us.  With the moon as just one of our Divinely created guides, two times each month we have an invitation to get quiet, tune in and be in the light of a space that can’t wait to work alongside you while you work to bring all your hopes and dreams into the tangible world. 

As the hum and buzz of the holidays begins to subside a bit, it is my sincerest wish for you that tonight as this Super Full Moon rises high in the sky, you will take a moment and look up in quiet celebration and gratitude for all that you accomplished and experienced in 2017.  Pause for a moment and remember just how far you have come and how miraculous this journey has been so far!  There is always so much to be thankful for.  If we give ourselves the space to be very still, that big beautiful moon can’t wait to bathe us in her magic and truth-revealing light just in time to energize our spirit as we step into the dawn of a brand new year!  Happy Full Moon to you! 

Wishing you love, abundance and magic!

Heather