Open Your Heart

Have you ever had the experience of getting to know someone better after they had died? That’s happened to me a couple of times.

The first time was when someone I hardly knew suddenly passed away. He was a friend of a friend and I had only met him one time, but we seemed to have an immediate connection. The day after he died, I was daydreaming… doing some kind of chore in the kitchen when I sensed the presence of this new acquaintance. He was like hanging out with me, cross-legged on my kitchen counter, He had a warm and gentle presence, but powerful. He wanted me to tell our mutual friend that it wasn’t our friend’s fault. I asked him, “Why me? Why don’t you tell him yourself?” and he answered that our friend would not believe it was really him. He wanted me to tell our friend that it was okay… it wasn’t his fault. Of course I did the best I could to communicate that to my living friend.

My new deceased friend stayed connected to me for a while. He taught me a lot about continuing a connection and a friendship from the “other” side… and to even grow in love and understanding. He faded away from my conscious awareness after our mutual friend finally got his message about forgiving himself (or was it me?).

Losing a loved one… whether through death, divorce, estrangement…. is inevitable. We are going to be physically separated sooner or later. We are going to endure heartbreaking disconnects and estrangements. But we never lose our heart connections. And reconciliation and reunion are inevitable in the long run.

The best song I’ve ever heard about cherishing the love connection even beyond death is the theme from the movie “My Heart Will Go On” by James Horner. I had to rehearse that song about 50 times before I could sing it in public without crying… that’s how it touches my heart because it recognizes the truth – “My heart will go on and on…”

Yes, we can stay connected to loved ones by keeping our hearts open in expectation of the miracle. We can open our hearts wherever we are….

by Genie Webster

 






I had a mama… and when we laid her down to rest,
I went wandering around, looking for her, I guess.
Then I heard a whisper. She said, “Honey, whatcha looking for?
I’ve been here all along… knocking at your door. 
You can…

Open Your Heart… wherever you are.
Love’s the same though we have changed,
And we’re together though apart.
Open Your Heart.

I had a vision… where all my dreams had come true.
We were all for One and One for All with You.
Keep on believing… that the best is yet to come.
And walk hand in hand with a Heart that carries on.
You can…

Open Your Heart… wherever you are.
Love’s the same though we have changed,
And we’re together though apart.
Open Your Heart.

Now I’ll be leaving… I’m leaving friends and family,
The home I love, my whole life history.
But I’m not grieving… ‘cause I’ll never be far away
I’m connected to the hearts of the ones who’ve heard me say…
You can…

Open Your Heart… wherever you are.
Love’s the same though we have changed,
And we’re together though apart.
Open Your Heart… wherever you are.
Love’s the same though we have changed,
And we’re together though apart.
Open Your Heart!

See the music video here.

(c) copyright 2013 Genie Webster

The Technology of Success

Success, as I’m using it here, is defined as the self-perception that you are reaching your potential for fulfillment in any given area of your life. Success is defined by what you believe about yourself.

Some people seem to attract success and others resist success by attracting bad luck… why is that?

I’m learning that there is indeed a technology for success. There are a variety of teachers and methods for this technology.

I’ve been studying pieces and parts of the technology of success all my life, but I was missing the glue that put all the pieces together.  A big turning point for me was sparked at my first Out of the Matrix weekend in February 2013. I went to 5 or 6 subsequent Out of the Matrix weekends and learned a lot more about the technology. Not only that, but I did the homework and started seeing some dramatic results.

More specific technology for success is taught in Kabbalah, and using the tools from both technologies has resulted in huge personal breakthroughs for me, which continue to unfold.

If you learn the technology, apply the technology, and stay connected to like-minded teachers and students of the technology, then you can’t not be successful!

There are other technologies as well, but I like these two the best.

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Moroccan Pumpkin Goulash Recipe

Moroccan Pumpkin Goulash

I was in the mood for something pumpkin and spicy and so I got creative in the kitchen, inspired by a potluck gathering in the fall. This turned out delicious and very hearty!

Moroccan Pumpkin Goulash

Heat approx. 2 T olive oil in soup pan.

Add to hot oil and saute:

• (1) large onion
• (1) green bell pepper
• (1) red bell pepper
• 3-4 cloves minced garlic

Lower heat and while above is simmering, dice:

• 2-3 parsnips

Put above in microwave oven for 90 seconds. (or parboil if you prefer not to nuke). Add and stir into saute mixture.

Add:

• 1 large apple, peeled and diced
• 1  c. raisins
• 1 lb. ground turkey, browned and drained
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 2 t. cumin
• 2 t. ground coriander
• 1 t. turmeric
• 1 t. curry
• 2 T beef broth granules
• 1 lg. can pumpkin
• 2 c. water
• 1 can black beans (optional)

Simmer for about an hour on low heat.

Calories – who knows? who cares?

The Primal Prayer

I’m not too big on prayer. I don’t ask other people to pray for me or my loved ones. I figure God already knows every detail about everyone’s situation.

I meditate, though. I think about my loved ones and hold them in a space of healing love. But I wouldn’t call that praying.

However, in a crisis, I know a prayer that works. It goes like this: “Help me!”

That prayer worked when I was confronted by two snarling dobermans, alone on a mountain trail. (Obviously, I survived!)

(See On Barking Dogs and Sovereignty of Mind for the whole story.)

That prayer worked when I woke up in the middle of the night with awful heartburn… only to realize “Wait a minute… this couldn’t be heartburn… I skipped dinner tonight…. oh shit! It’s a heart attack. HELP ME!!!” And I got immediate and clear instructions to slow my system down by taking some deep breaths. (This was turning out to be a terrific prayer!)

Fast Forward to this year.

I’m a new student of Kabbalah. The homework after the first class was very simple. Say one short prayer first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Ask for help. Say “Help me!”

Aha! I already know this is an effective and easy-to-remember prayer! Now I learn that this is the first lesson of learning Kabbalah! So I did the homework. Now, instead of praying “Help me” only when I was in the middle of a crisis, I was praying this prayer every morning and every night. I was making deposits into my spiritual bank account.

“Simply acknowledging our need for the Creator’s help can be a major step in the right direction. This is the whisper that we are not alone, the first step in building a relationship with the Creator, and the first crack in the shell of ego that imprisons the Light within us.”  – Michael Berg

It so happened that the first week I started this “Help me!” prayer routine, my car broke down upon exiting the freeway… only ten minutes from my home.  While I was waiting for the tow truck with the hood up, at least eight people stopped to offer help. This nice guy Julio even stopped to see if it was anything easy that he could fix. So helpful! The tow truck arrived in a very short time after my call, and dropped my car off at the neighborhood mechanic, only a block away from my home. When my neighbor saw me walking home with no car, she offered the use of her car the next day so I could go to work.  Help was around every corner!

I said the prayer fervently again that same week, when I learned that my position was being eliminated at my company. The rumor was that I was going to be let go. I was furious. Of course I was scared… and my car needed major repairs on top of that! My head was reeling… I was very crabby… I was beating myself up… why did I spend that money? Why didn’t I take better care of this car? blah blah blah…

I knew I needed help to reverse this downward emotional spiral and so I sent out the alarm: “Help me!” Help me remove the blocks to my powerful and unlimited Self! I need help!

That’s when I felt what I can only describe as a power surge. It was a physical sensation that propelled me into a proactive mode. I decided to go into my own business and I announced it to a couple of close friends. At the same time, I sent out resumes to about six different companies, three of which responded the next day. I was on a roll and I was confident and empowered! By the end of the week, the boss had not only decided to keep me, but he was going to send me to training for a new product.

No, I’m not too big on prayer. My only prayers are “Help me,” and “Thank you.”

 

Rene Best musician guitarist

On Relationships and Entwinement

What differentiates a relationship from a love affair or a friendship?

You know you are in a relationship when some aspect of your life is entwined
with another person’s. (Thanks to my friend and fellow writer John Haynes for the
perfect word — entwined — to describe this condition.)

For the purposes of this exploration, let’s set aside (for now) the business
relationship — such as coworkers, vendor/customer, teacher/student, doctor/patient, boss/employee, etc. The people involved in business relationships are indeed entwined, but their agreements are mostly spoken or written contracts with one another.

For the purposes of exploring this idea, let’s think about relationships where there
are no contracts, just entwinements.

If you are lovers with someone, then you connect with one another when you want
to, and leave when you want to. The same applies to friends,

If you are in a relationship with someone, then your Saturday nights (for
example) are entwined with theirs. Your holidays and vacations are entwined with
theirs. Perhaps your finances and book collections are also entwined with theirs.

If you are in a relationship with someone, you celebrate holidays and birthdays together. You call because you are expected to call. You feel obligated sometimes. There are expectations.

You don’t necessarily have to be romantically involved to be in an entangled relationship. I have a friend who denies he is in a relationship with a woman who calls him nearly every day… sometimes at 1:00 am…  and with whom he goes out regularly. She depends on him for companionship. He feels obligated sometimes, but he goes along with her. They are in a relationship because there are expectations, and an ongoing social entanglement.

Relationships can be healthy and can be a source of great joy, spiritual growth,
and comfort in a sometimes unfriendly world. But when relationships are not
healthy, they can kick yo ass.

I’ve been in four long-term relationships in my life, each one lasting about
five years. In one case I was the dumper and in the other three cases I was the
dumpee. In all cases I had to take some time to recover in between
relationships.

Some people hop from one relationship to another, never pausing to assess the
damages and repair whatever has been broken or weakened. Some people come out of a broken relationship bitter, jaded, and with low self esteem. There is spiritual and emotional work to be done — without the distraction of a new relationship — before you can possibly make a responsible and clear choice about a new partner. In fact, if you are broken or unhealthy yourself, you are likely to attract a broken and unhealthy partner.

Everyone goes through phases in life when they are wounded from a big loss or a
health problem or any other aspect of human suffering. Hopefully, if we are in a
healthy relationship when hard times hit, our partner has the strength to pick
up the slack and hold us up while we are knocked down. That is one benefit of
being emotionally entwined with a strong and whole partner. Where relationships
fail is when both partners are wounded, or weakened, at the same time. Then the
relationship can endure only through a miracle, or by pure faith alone.

Relationships are like anything else organic: They have their seasons. They
start off in the springtime of the honeymoon infatuation, and often make it
through the sunshine of summer. But things start drying out and dying in the
autumn, and they appear to be dead in winter. And autumn and winter are
inevitable in the wheel of life and in the course of a relationship.

The trick to sustaining a relationship through the wintertime is to prepare for
it and to simply endure it. Prepare for it by keeping photos and memories of
summertime happiness and storing those up to help rekindle the flame in winter.
That way, when you think things are dead, you can endure by having the wisdom
and faith to know that it is only winter, not the end.

Of course, if one person decides to kill a relationship, and their mind is made
up about it, there is no hope of sustaining the relationship, so you might as
well let it go.

I have come to the conclusion that it is our responsibility, as adults, to find
out where we are wounded and to tend to those wounds before bringing them into a
new relationship. And if you fall in love with someone and want to enter into a
relationship with a partner who is wounded or weak or unhealthy, encourage them
to heal and get whole… before you get entwined. Ultimately, that is the most
loving and the most human thing we can do for one another.

Ho’oponopono – Hawaiian Peacemaking

Ho’oponopono is the ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. The peacefully- oriented people had a method of resolving squabbles among family and community members. It’s a practice of prayer, forgiveness, and restoring right-thinking.

Ho’oponopono is “mind cleansing.”

Here’s how I use “ho’oponopono” in my personal spiritual practice….

There once was a co-worker that really knew how to push my buttons. Let’s call him Frank. Frank seemed to be addicted to drama, and on weaker days, I would allow myself to get sucked in. He was negative and full of complaints. He was sometimes rude and disrespectful. I avoided him as much as I could, and was able to deflect his negative projections most of the time. But in general he irritated the hell out of me and seemed to get some satisfaction out of that fact.

One day it was announced that Frank and I were assigned to go to a business conference together. We were to drive together three hours each way, as well as have meals together and in short spend the whole friggin day together.

I had a choice… I could let the situation ruin my day… or I could take charge of my mind. It did not take me long to decide for the latter.

On the morning of the conference, as I was getting ready at home before the long trip with my nemesis, I played my favorite recording of the “Ho’oponopono” chant. I played it over and over. I sang along and internalized the message. I visualized Frank with a peaceful smile on his face, and I imagined him as courteous and benign. I sang the chant to Frank over and over until it sunk into my subconscious pretty good.

By the time I met Frank at the office, my attitude towards him was different. Frank was different. He actually turned out to be a decent companion and our working relationship kept improving after that day.

Now… whenever I feel irritation or tension creeping up in any relationship, I know I have the tool to cleanse my mind… get back to “right” thinking (that is, thinking like God). It works every time.

You might also enjoy:

Advanced Forgiveness Lesson

On Mind Training

Detach and Allow

 

The Gypsy Songbird Program

Singer / Songwriter Show and Dance Party

Rene Best musician guitarist

 

About the “Program”

My landlady Iris — a sweet lady my mother’s age who wears her white hair in a bun — was kind enough to attend my last singer/songwriter show at Unity Center. When I got home from the show and after-party that night, there was a note on my door from Iris: “My sister and I enjoyed your program.”

That struck me as kinda funny at the time… program… like, school program (that’s what we called our school musical performances). I got a chuckle out of that, but of course… it is a program.

Now– a month away from the June 22 show — I’m in the thick of designing the next program.  This show will be entirely different from the last show, which was mostly a singer/songwriter program.

This show (Gypsy Songbird) is going to be more of a vocal virtuoso / variety show, complete with belly dancers.

I’ve always believed that the visual element of a show is just as important as the audio so I designed and am in the process of making my own costume… and there will be costume changes!

Yes, I will also be debuting my belly dance moves, which surprises me more than it does you. If I were my friend, I would think that alone is worth the price of a ticket. Ha!

I will be doing songs made famous by Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Patsy Cline…. I will yodel and sing opera. Oh and did I say there would be beautiful dancing by the magnificent Beverly White Yates?

It will be a quirky program, funny and poignant with stories and anecdotes about my adventures out west.

All the proceeds will go to benefit my home church, Unity Center of the Heights.

If you can’t make it to the program, please buy a ticket or two anyway for the church.

Hope to see you there!

 
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Slowly but surely….

Good ol’ Ken helped ship (12) big boxes of my stuff out of my storage unit in Reno, via Greyhound Bus. I had to go to the bus terminal to pick up the cargo in downtown Cleveland. Ken warned me that all the boxes would probably not fit in the PT Cruiser (with the back seats removed), and that I’d have to make two trips or borrow a truck. I was okay with making two trips. I felt like I hit the jackpot when I got to the bus terminal and I was able to fit all (12) boxes in the car at once… I only had to make one trip downtown! Thank you for yet another lucky day!

A Mother’s Love

Words and music by Amy Jill Jordan and Steven MacKinnon

Thank you for watching over me
All of the sleepless nights you lay awake
Thank you for knowing when to hold me close
when to let me go

Thank you for every stepping stone
And for the path that always leads me home
I thank you for the time you took
to see the heart inside of me

You gave me the roots to start this life
and then you gave me wings to fly
and I learned to dream
because you believed in me

There’s no power like it on this earth
No treasure equal to its worth
The gift of a mother’s love

Thank you for every sunlit day
That filled the corners of my memory
Thank you for every selfless unsung deed
I know you did for me

Thank you for giving me the choice
To search my soul till I could find my voice
And I thank you for teaching me
To be strong enough to bend

You gave me the roots to start this life
And then you gave me wings to fly
And I learned to dream
Because you believed in me

There’s no power like it on this earth
No treasure equal to its worth
The gift of a mother’s love

I thank God for a mother’s love

More stories about a mother’s love:

Forgive Your Mother

The Gift of My Mother’s Heart

Me & my mother Joanne Fudella
(Aug. 3, 1930 – Sept. 15, 1994)

Free Falling as Spiritual Practice

The willingness to free fall for a while is necessary when you take a leap.

Who can break through to the next level without taking a leap? No one. To be able to free fall peacefully is required in order to break out from where you seem to be stuck.

You will not die if you practice free falling in your mind. No one gets hurt and if you imagine the feeling and vibration of free falling vividly… that’s as effective of a practice as bungee jumping or sky diving.

When my former husband and I came to the decision to divorce, we decided to commemorate the event by taking sky diving lessons and jumping from a plane. I can honestly say that yes, I experienced physically free falling from 20,000 feet up in the sky… but I knew I had a parachute. I don’t think it’s really free falling if you have a safety net.

Free falling is letting go of any attempt at control.

Free falling is emptying your mind of all thought.

Free falling is riding the wave while becoming the wave.

This video gave me a whole new perspective on free falling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlUNevsIgE4