We are doing it again... sunset redux. 
In which we try to watch every single sunset of summer. 

It's September now, and it's almost over... just a few opportunities left.
 
We did this in 2014. We did it in 2015, and in 2016. And this year, it is the same: bliss, bliss and more bliss, as the sun sinks down in the west and calls it another day. 

Yes, there has been astounding stress this summer: heat and fire, hurricanes and floods, so much suffering for so many.

And yet, the sheer beauty of it...
In all of this suffering, how can there also be so much bliss? 

There is the sun, first high in the sky over the river.
There is the blaze of color and saturation and glow.
There is the sun sliding down  till it hangs  over the rim of the horizon.
And then there is the drop: as the orb slides beneath  the earth.
A few moments later: the Fahrenheit drops, and night begins its night call: birds, crickets, frogs enter chorus.

Last night, the Universe did all over again, perfectly: As the sun dropped, we were listening to Wah! sing "Shiva", and at the moment Wah@ sand "Shiva," the wind picked up and a breeze sang though the trees. 

So much bliss! I was completely gone. 

To watch the sunset every night is a spiritual practice.
It is a call to meditation, to connection, and to the repeated, insistent cognizance of our place as a human on the earth, and our place as a soul in the Universe. 

We often think that creativity is a magical gift that only a few people have. 
That some people are born writers, or artists, or musicians, or dancers. 
Either you've "got it" or you don't. 

In truth, creativity is simply an aspect of awareness. 
It's about learning how to open the "tube" in which Divine information flows. 
It's about getting out of our own way, and learning to let that flow happen. 

Another way to look at it: getting creative ideas isn't about "forcing" or "trying" or "working. It's about receiving them. 

The same way that we receive images and information in meditation, or we receive the whispers of the Universe when we are out and about in our day—this is how creativity happens, too. 

What I find is that when we gather information from the Universe, we are always informed at the deepest level. For example, if you are writing a novel, whatever creative ideas arrive to you, always have to do with your soul's journey too—it's not just about the characters or plot. If you are painting a painting, what you express is always what your soul is working out—it's not just about what finds its way to the canvas. 

For whatever reason, fall and winter are some of the very best seasons to do creative work. There is something about being done with summer, and being ready to go internal, to wander around and see what the Universe is placing in our path, as clues and answers to our creative process. 

If you've never been a "creative type" why not? 
If you're a "creative type" who isn't being creative, why is this? 
If you need an infusion of inspiration, what happens when you let the Muse that is is the Universe, guide you?

Sometimes it seems we follow our schedules religiously—except when it comes to our spiritual life.

Now, some of you have very active spiritual practices, and you understand why it’s important to create time and space for retreats, workshops and events that expand you. Yes! This is the way to do it!
 
But for many folks—and I know this because I hear this directly from you—you're so busy with your life, spiritual practice seems to take a back seat.
 
Maybe we can grab a couple of minutes in the morning to journal, or a few minutes to meditate before bed. Maybe we multi-task by listening to spiritual podcasts while we’re at the gym. Or we squeeze our Divine connection into yoga class during the week, or at a Sunday spiritual service.
 
It's hard to understand until you're there... but..once you start making your spiritual life your priority, your to-do list is going to shrink.
 
You won’t be squeezing spirituality in anymore.
Skimping on the Divine won't be enough. 
You’ll want to make it your priority.
 
And when you make it your priority, all the busyness, all the doingness—will start to drop away. You just won't be interested any more. 
 
Once you start connecting in with the Divine—really experiencing two-way communication with the Universe—then the stuff that doesn’t really matter, won’t  matter to you. 

To be spiritually connected means that we are able to have direct connection with the Universe—a two-way communication that provides all the support we could ever need.

No guru, no teacher, no middle man required.

As souls, we are able to communicate directly with the Universe, and the Universe responds to us—it answers back!

There is a particular language that the Universe speaks, and this is a spiritual language we can learn. Once you understand this language, you have a spiritual connection that will support you forever. 

How do you learn the language? It's very easy. Pretty much any of the super-affordable DailyOM courses I offer will start you on the path of learning that you need to know. 

The  key is to start. Intuition is much more than just having a "feeling" or instinct. It is a language that you can learn very fully—a language that lets you receive information from the Universe in all ways, at all times, every single second.. 

it is a beautiful life, when we let the Universe lead—when we learn how to receive, interpret and follow the Divine guidance that is always available to us. 

So much unhappiness is caused by things we can't control.

We can't control weather extremes like hurricanes.
We can't control natural disasters like fires and floods. 
We can't control political systems or world events. 
We can't even control other people..

What we can be in charge of is ourselves.

That's it. Just us. And often, this simple realization that we can be in charge of ourselves—not the weather, not the world, not even our family member or friends— is enormously freeing. 

This means it's all on you: to punish yourself, fight with yourself, create all kinds of drama, distraction and disarray for yourself. Or to love yourself, fully and completely, exactly as you are. 

A lot of you are experiencing anxiety and fear as you face extreme weather in the U.S: floods and hurricanes in the south and east, the forest fires covering so much of the west. Many other devastating problems, other places in the world. 

So many of you who are sensitives and empaths feel all of this so deeply. 
In the past, you might have wanted to leave, to hide away, to pull away from the rest of humanity to reground and regroup your own sense of self. 

But there isn't any escape, is there? 

We can no longer "go" anywhere or get away, as we might have decades or year or even a month ago, to escape weather or to escape each other. Now, when we see a victim of Harvey, we realize even if we were not in that flood, our Oneness shows us what this person suffered. When we see the blankets of smoky air filling our forests in the west, our Oneness shows us we are all affected. 

We are feeling what each other feels. 
Understanding this is the first step toward having a new spiritual view of the situation.

There is no place to go. 
There is no way to hide.
We are in this together. 
We are not separate, and trying to get separate is no longer a solution. 

Separation: hiding out, finding your quiet space, was the solution of the past. 
It was the sure bet for sensitives, introverts to regroup. 

But now, we're invited to simply show up with full recognition of our Oneness. 
This is a new phase for humanity.
It's different. 

If you're feeling unmoored, stressed, freaked out, If you're feeling like getting separate isn't working any more. If you're unsure, if you sense that things are building and you don't know where they're building too... well, you're right. 

It isn't about politics or weather, although these are reflections of our collective inner change. It's about the newness of Oneness, 

A new understanding in the human collective. 
Difficult and uncomfortable now. 
Once we get used to it, a true evolution.