Sources of Energy...

“June 20: Traveling Spiritually. I  heard a friend say, ‘I’ve challenged her spiritually,’ and wondered what that felt like. I am much more comfortable staying put spiritually. If I allowed myself to travel, where might I go? I believe it involves the ability to put comfort aside, and boldly investigate new spiritual territory. Spiritual travel has many routes…” - From SARK's "Living Juicy: Daily Morsels for Your Creative Soul"

My Fellow Sources of Energy,

For me, I couldn’t relate more with SARK on this one. I have to set aside my comfort anytime I think about spirituality. Mostly because I have come to the realization that I no longer believe in any religion. I no longer believe in any one God. In fact, the whole idea of God makes me uncomfortable. How are we to even begin to understand what God is, and why are we so important to think that He (like he is a man) takes the form of a person. About a year ago I decided that I no longer believed in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Personal Savior. It's hard to admit that to people that do believe. I don't want to step on their toes and I don't want people I highly respect to think less of me either.
I think we are all energy sources that transfer from plane to plane. Our energy source never fades away, that light inside of us continues to shine brightly - in another universe, another existence, another place for us to connect with other lights and learn and grow from one another (I even think our energy sources continue to connect with those that haven't moved to the next plane - have you ever felt some kind of connection to something other than what is physically here - I have). My greatest hope is that all of our lights will continue to connect with each other, moving forward to a greater place of peace.
Where do you spiritually travel to?

Love, Faith

Fantastically FLAWED!

I was driving to work this morning and feeling pretty bad about myself. Yes, even I have moments of negativity and times of discouragement. I lite up a cigarette and thought in my head, "There you go Faith, you swore off smoking, and once again you weren't able to commit to something as simple as keeping yourself healthy." Suddenly I thought of all the other things I haven't been doing: Yoga, walking my dogs regularly, making time for my girlfriends, calling my sister back, eating better...Gosh, the list goes on and on.
Then like someone had banged me over the top of my head with a fry pan, I realized - I AM NOT PERFECT!!! We all have times in our life that we don't accomplish everything we set out to do. Instead of beating ourselves up, we need to understand that sometimes we need to step away from our perfectly planned goals, and accept the fact that we can't always get the things on our list done.
Perhaps the reason we can't get our list finished is because we have overstretched ourselves and and it's time to say, "Listen up body and mind, I need to slow down. I'm not going to be able to follow today's 'to-do' list."
Besides, life isn't about a to-do list. Life is about our personal relationships with our friends, our family, our animals, our planet. Maybe the reason we aren't able to accomplish our 'list' is because we have managed to neglect our personal relationships that the list simply can't get done. What a vicious cycle to then beat ourself up for it.
Take a moment to accept your flaws, in fact embrace them - that's what makes you YOU. Reflect on your to-do list - if you are not accomplishing what's on the list, you aren't the one that needs to change - it's your list that needs to change!
Go nurture yourself, the people, and animals that you love. In the meantime, I'm going to have a guilt free cigarette and know in my heart that I will quit one day. Just not today, because I am FANTASTICALLY FLAWED!

Positively Positive

I want to always be surrounded by positive energy. Positivity fills my soul and lifts my feet off of the earth. It sends me sky high and fills me with nothing but love, peace, and tranquility.
I don't understand people that relish in negativity. Is their negativity driven by insecurity? Is it driven by fear? Why would anyone want to bask in the darkness of negative energy?
I know that life isn't easy, but if you focus your attention on the things in life that fill you up, living in the positive is a very real possibility. There will be people that want to take that from you and knock you down by telling you mean and hurtful things to make you feel small. But you must rely on your inner self to shut them down and fill yourself with even more love, compassion, and warmth.
Give yourself a hug and tell yourself how special you are. YOU ARE LOVED DEEPLY!

Comfortable At Last!

For so many years I have attempted to behave in a manner that seemed appropriate to fit in with whatever crowd I was surrounded by. It always seemed like I was saying, dressing, and acting the way the people wanted me to speak, look, and behave to make THEM feel comfortable.
Then, magically, something happened. I decided to just live my own damn life - no holds barred, no questions asked. Wear what I want. Say what I want. Do what I want. Overnight I was comfortable in my own skin - something I had never really felt before. I felt empowered by myself - this new ability to tune out what the world expected from me and just rely on what my heart told me to do.
My heart tells me to be kind to everyone around me, person and animal alike. My heart tells me its OK to wear costumes, dance in public, sing out loud, twirl in a circle for no good reason (if you haven't twirled, you really should give it a try - it will certainly bring a smile to you face), and love myself. It feels incredible to know that I will always be loved by me. I am an incredible woman, with plenty of fabulous flaws that are entirely relatable. I am just the woman I have always wanted to be - free to express myself and open to all the possibilities this wonderful life brings my way.
It's feels good to be comfortable in my own skin - with all my strange ways and thoughts and ideals, that's what makes me so terribly special.

And the Diagnosis is...

I have this incredibly annoying quality about me where I feel like I can control people's health. It's utterly absurd, I'm not a doctor, but I still feel compelled to drive my loved ones nuts with diagnosing them. I am constantly looking my loved ones over to find a medical ailment that I can correct them on - can you even imagine how annoying that is?!
I have managed to diagnose cancer, deadly staff infections, ovarian cysts, skin cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and alcoholism. Not to mention the endless diseases I have magically diagnosed my dogs with (Wobblers disease, tumors, broken legs, hip dysplasia, etc...). None of have been confirmed.
When I notice it getting worse, I take a moment for myself - this consists of taking a long deep breath, and saying "Tomorrow is never promised, just enjoy today". For some reason, this calms my mind from the deadly diseases I feel plague my darling loved ones. 
I think there is something to be said for acknowledging that tomorrow is never promised. Wouldn't we forgive easier and love deeper if we thought today would be our last? I think if we remember how precious life is, and how truly short it is on a regular basis, we can just allow ourselves to live without fear and shame.
Maybe my diagnosis's come from a place of love, but I would rather practice that love by living exuberantly, instead of waiting for the day that someone dies or trying to prevent it from happening.
So take a deep breath with me. *SIGH* "TOMORROW IS NEVER PROMISED, JUST ENJOY TODAY" And remember how wonderful your surroundings are and how brilliant the people in your life are. Smile and go live your life!

Side Walk Chalk

Lately I have been inspired by Side Walk Chalk, thanks to SARK. It's the perfect thing to do on a summer day when you just feel bored and uninspired. I'm not particularly good at drawing, but something about side walk chalk is non offensive, I would say it's whimsical and even happy to look at. The worse you do, the better it seems to look. You don't have to get overly creative, a bunch of flowers is all you really need to make a boring sidewalk look interesting, used by the community, and playful.
I think on the next sunny day, I will go outside with a friend and draw until I run out of chalk.

Unexpected Surprises

I received the most beautiful card in the mail on Saturday, that said, "Faith, You are LOVED! You are amazing". Naturally this brought a HUGE smile to my face for hours. I couldn't help but think, who wrote this magical little note. And how wonderful that they addressed me by my name, obviously this wasn't a mistake. This person thinks I am amazing, and what a wonderful reminder to be told that I am loved.
After some Nancy Drew work, I realized who sent it. I must say, I was surprised. Not because this person isn't thoughtful, but because she had a particularly hard week when she mailed it to me. The fact that she was able to step outside of her current struggles to acknowledge her friends really inspired me. It made me realize that no matter how hard our life is and the crap we are dealing with, we should always make time for the special people in our life.
I didn't want to call her and tell her how this note touched my heart. Instead, I went to the store and picked up a card. I cut out pictures of our faces and taped it on the front and wrote a personalized note inside. I mailed it yesterday - I can't wait until she receives it in the mail. I hope that it brings her a smile like she did for me.
When I told my friend Sandeep about this magical little note, he said, "It's the unexpected Surprises that are the best", I must admit that he is right. I think I will carry on her tradition by sending people anonymous little notes filled with love and magic. We all deserve to have unexpected surprises!

My Chest Full of Butterflies

Sometimes my chest feels so warm and filled with butterfly wings fluttering about. There may be no good reason why, a song I am listening to, a memory with a friend, the thought of a loved ones smile, listening to a hearty laugh -- all of these things fill my chest with butterfly wings. I can almost feel them tickling my skin. These wings give me the courage to be the woman that I am. It's like that inner voice that says, "Just go for it". I think tonight, I shall take my butterflies for a walk to let them take in the scenery and flutter about at all the wonderful things that I am surrounded by.