What in the heck is going on here? I have been working on manifesting things in my life. Really really hard, for that matter.  Now, for some reason, things seem to be manifesting at a rapid pace.  Why?

Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaing.  In fact, I'm rejoicing today!  Its' a very happy time! And I realize that some things were set to happen at a certain time (things related to the academic year...the natural order of life according to intellectual calendars).  But still, it seems as if things are moving SO fast that I almost can't keep up with them! 

I feel as if I am moving at a rapid pace towards my heart's desire. It's as if once I decided I wanted something and since it is close to my true nature, the universe is saying "OK! Sure! Coming right up! Would you like a drink while you wait?" 

Now don't get me wrong; I've had some times of negative energy lately and I am under some serious stress right now.  But I am figuring out what I need in terms of a significant other.  I will soon be teaching the college course I have been waiting for (and with academic bells on, I might add!) And, I got a writing internship that I have been looking for.  Life is good!  I now see what I need to do in order to make my life great!  And I have started to develop some great friendships and I have a plan to move to my nearest big city in a couple of years. Life is good and it looks like I will get what I am after! 

But I guess what I can't understand is why is this stuff manifesting NOW? Why is it manifesting so fast? It's like a universal energetic downpour of affirmations.  Is this something I did? Like I said, I'm not complaning.  I'm just curious.  So how does the universe decide when it rains and when it pours manifestations?  Either way, I'll take it, any day of the week!!

Light and Love,

White Rose

Lori

Once upon a time, I went to Florida. To look for my soul. I looked high and low.  Over palm trees and around gators.  Through sunset clouds and humid mornings.  On hot tar parking lots and bath warm blue pools of water.  I looked in the schools and walked through universities. Asked strangers if they have either seen my soul or know how I could find it.  I even spend many hours in church, begging God to show me!  "Where is my soul, Lord? What do you want me to do?"  

 I started into the hot sun and wondered, "Where could I be?  I have come so far from the Midwest, that this voyage has to be what is leading me to my soul! All that time and money and effort has got to show me something!"  So, I continued to look.

Then one day, I gave up.  Packed up everything I owned into my car, gave away what wouldn't fit, said goodbye to my first floor apartment, dropped my key in an envelope into the apartment office mail slot, and turned my car north. I drove. I drove for 20 hours.  Stopping to spend the night in middle Georgia.  Wondering, "If my soul wasn't in Florida, then where is it?  Will I find it back in the Midwest?" 

Before I moved to florida, I spent many nights starring out the sliding glass doors of my Midwest apartment, wondering if I went on this journey to Florida, if I would find my soul.           I never imagined I would turn around and come back in defeat. 

It's been a year and 5 months since I have been back.  And I've realized something....  I never needed to look for my soul in Florida.  It wasn't there.  I never needed to look for my soul in the Midwest.  It wasn't there either.  Every single answer I was looking for was in me.  So here I am.  And yes, I have finally found my soul. It's been with me all along. I just forgot to ask one very important person.......me.

I've had this problem lately, of knocking things down. Just the other day, I was shaking a container of coffee at Target, trying to shake out the last of the Decaf Cinnamon Coffee (tm) beans when I accidentally shook loose the bin on top. That one went crashing to the floor behind me. It slipped out and over my shoulder like a scud missle and exploded all over the floor. Coffee beans were everywhere.

That's just one example of these incidents that seem to have been occuring lately. It's as if some little gremlin is following me and directing me to trip here and there. So yesterday, I decided to visit my local Walmart for some grocery shopping. Part of this trip invovled gathering some medicinal stuff such as contact solution and some beauty items. Not so out of the ordinary. But part of this journey included navigating through the recently widened isles with a rather large shopping cart. For someone who's single and used to grabbing a carry basket, a shopping cart is like going from a Toyota Corolla to a Ford F150 desiel.

After picking up my contact solution, I wheeled my F150 around the left corner and up the nutrition asile. One lady was kind enough to move out of my way as she saw me coming. "Cool", I thought, "she moved for me. This isn't so hard." Continuing my voyage, I started thinking about all of the things I had to do tonight and tommorow. Lots of work and lots of grading and planning. I turned my cart sharply right, confident in my auto-pilot state while keeping an eye out for pedestrians. And then, it happened.

The left part of my cart clocked a display case holding cute, rounded makeup packages for little girls...cute pink and yellow tubes with sparkles, hanging neatly on hooks, mounted to a display that was hanging, how I don't know, mid-air on the end cap of an asile.

As my cart pushed against the side of the cardbord display, something unhooked itself. Then, like those buildings they implode in Las Vegas, the display started falling apart. It happend in slow motion and I had an audience consisting of a family of three to watch. At first, the display box itself started slipping off whatever magical invisible thing that was holding it up. Then, as it was falling straight down, it started leaning forward. Then, one by one like the Rockets in formation, the little, cute, pink, rounded packages of girly makeup started slipping off their short plastic hooks, throwing themselves out into the aisle I was in, and some even slid their way into the main aisle.

As the four of us watched helplessley while the little disc like packages tossed themselves to and fro, all I could think was "I should have grabbed a basket instead". Finally, when it was all over, the family of three took immediate action. They started picking up the little diks of girly makeup and repositioned the cardbord display case so it was at least standing partiall upright.

As they helped me replace the little makeup packages, I thanked them several times. Their small 2 year old daughter saw what her parents were doing and picked up a package, carefully placing it on one of the hooks. "Thank you so much!" I said in my sweetest talk-to-small-children voice. How cool, I thought, that these people are not only doing the right thing by helping someone else, but that their daughter is taking a direct example from them.

Despite my klutzyness, here I am, in the middle of Walmart, experiencing kindness and love from two complete strangers. My retail mishap was just further proof that there are good people in this world doing good things. They just don't make the 5 o'clock news.

As I thanked them again and left the scene of the incident, I pushed my cart toward the electronics. I needed to see if they had a better price on a monitor. When I stopped to look at some candles, I looked down in my cart and noticed three of the little pink, girly makeup packages hitchiking in my cart. Their glitter sitckers and fruity lip gloss was shinning back at me. "Damn" I thought. "Now I have to go back."

I did go back to put them back where they belong. But this time, I parked my cart two asiles away from the display scene of the crime. Carefully placing each package on a hook, I stood up slowly as if not to make any sudden movement to cause the display case alarm, and I backed away quietly. Slowly. Carefully. When it was all clear, I turned around and walked back to my cart two blocks away, praying that the display would stay up until I was far down another asile.

My apologies to the employees of Walmart. And my gratitude and love to the nice people who helped a stranger pick up their mess. It's a good shopping trip when you find kindness at a Walmart. Kindness is everywhere. Somtimes it takes a little accident to prove it.

Just the other day, I bought a small plant at Target. It only cost me $1.00. It was a tiny little pot with a tiny little packet of seeds that grew tiny little roses. "Great!" I thought. I'll grow this in no time.

So I brought it home, took apart the cardboard (which I recycled, of course) put the dirt pellet (I'm sure dirt pellet is a trademark name somewhere), poured water on it, and planted the seeds. And there my little pot sat, on my 25 degree and sometimes 12 degree, kitchen windowsill.

And I waited, patiently, for it to grow. After about 3 weeks, I still watered it, but my hope was growing dim. One morning, I walked over to it, and much to my surprise, a tiny little shoot was sticking up out of the tiny little pot. "Yes!", I thought. It turns out that I can grow tiny little plants! This was very exciting.

Off and on, over the next two weeks, I would water it, put it in the sun, and return it to the 22 degree window sill. After realizing that the window sill was perhaps too cold, I put it on my breakfast bar above my sink. What a bonus! It's in a warmer place and I will remember to water it!

I was never great at watering it before the dirt became dry. It wasn't Arizona desert dry or anything, but dry enough to make a tiny little plant very unhappy. A few weekends, I put it in the sunshine that streamed through my sliding glass doors in perfect angled lines, drawn by the vertical blinds. It seemed to flourish there. My tiny little plant every grew two extra, bright green, tiny little leaves!

This was all too unbelievable. I have had such bad luck in the past with plants, mostly killing them. Except for a tree that wouldn't die but rather would shed it's leaves in angry protest all over my carpet when I would neglect it. But this was different. This was real! And it was growing in my cozy but spacious, third floor apartment. Over the next week, I started to think big: Large roses, ornamental peppers, real peppers, even lettuce! Although, I'm not sure how lettuce would have worked out on the third floor. But a Google search would have probably told me that someone had done it before.

Two days ago, I watered my plant, thinking it needed more water than usual. The tiny little plant and it's tiny little leaves flopped to the side of the pot. I thought it was just because I gave it too much water, as usual, and it would recover soon. No. Something much worse happened.

Yesterday morning, I looked at my tiny little plant and noticed something unusual; the stem seemed longer. After some careful examination and gently picking up the part of the plant that put it's tiny little leaves on the side of the tiny little pot, I noticed it had gotten longer. The stem of the plant grew. For a brief moment, I thought my plant had gone on a growth spurt, the way an 8 year old does. Nope. It turns out, my tiny little plant uprooted it's tiny little roots in a plant protest. It was done. My tiny little plant had enough of me and my occasional sunshine, 22 degree window ledges and general over watering.

Today, I return the dirt pellet dirt to the ground, in hopes it and the rest of my tiny little plant can nourish the rest of the ground. Nature knows what to do with it.

As for me, I know that I would love to have a dog someday! And a dog can tell me when it's thirsty right? A dog will stop drinking water when it's done. They even have self-watering bowls! I should be OK with a dog.

As far as plants go, I'm going to check out some lovely plastic ones later today.

Recently I have been doing affirmations.  I tried this many years ago, but sort of gave up too quickly.  This time, it's personal....

I watched the new movie by Louise Hay called "You Can Heal Your Life" about five times in one week.  Each time it makes more sense.  I love how they show one woman's journey through a thought change and her movement towards a new life and new way of thinking.         I can really relate to her and it inspires me to move forward.

So here I am. Every morning, I start out with "I work at a job I truly love" and then progress to others such as "My income is constantly increasing"  and "I love myself" with others inbetween. 

At first, I had a few tough things happen to me, including smashing my hand inbetween a TV cart and a door frame.  I did this while I was focusd on affirming "I love myself; therefore I attract positive and loving people into my life".  Unfortunatley, affirmations don't come with a warning that says one should not push TV carts around and tune out your surroundings while saying them.

But, I"m OK and decided that if I was going to affirm while standing in line, waiting at a red light, in the ladies room (ahem), or even sitting on the sofa, that it would still be wise on my part, to pay partial attention to my surroundings.  I have a hard enough time staying focused on certain situations when I would rather be elsewhere. 

So far, tiny little changes have been taking place, but things are progressing on many small but important levels. 

Affirmations are great for important meetings too!  If I'm bored and don't want to participate, I just sit there and think "My income is constantly increasing" and "I love myself", with the hopes of matching my vibration to a time and place that truly makes me happy.  

Just make sure you don't "affirm and drive".  Please wait for the red lights and trains.

This weekend, I was introduced to Reiki and all I can say is, WOW! From the litte reasearch I've done on Reiki, it seems to fit me perfectly! 

Have you ever practiced Reiki?  Do you know people who do? What's it like? Is the medical community recognizing this as a true healing practice?  How does it feel to "do" a Reiki session as a practicioner?  I would love any information you might have on this!

Top 5 reasons I would LOVE to learn Reiki:

1. It's from the true source (God)
2. It heals the healer as well as the intended
3. It's becoming recognized in the medical community
4. I could use it to help my family
5. I could use it to clear my space and allow good energy