As some of you know, I'm a minimalist. I like to keep things spare and simple; a little stuff goes a long way. 
 
And yet in helping my mother downsize from one home to another, I’ve found myself deluged with stuff.
 
Every item must be sorted, handled, considered.
 
Moreover, each item is a memory trigger: the cake plate that was my Grandmother's. The butter mold from Norway. The antique box that we’ve somehow always had.  
 
Of course, every object doesn't just hold memories; it is a container of Universal energy. 
 
Thus if you add an object to your own possessions, you also take on the energy of that object. You take on the memories, the soul experience, the karma of the previous owner. Your parents, your grandparents, your ancestors, a stranger... whoever owned it before.

​Their stuff contains their energy.
 
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. And in truth, we can never be separate from each other. 
 
But the way I see it, the more we are bound by stuff, the more distracted we can get from our true dharma, our true calling.
 
If you are dealing with helping a parent sort through possessions, as many of us baby boomers are, take time to consider what you really need.
 
You may deeply desire having the karma of your ancestors around you via their objects. Or you may prefer to let it all go.
 
When you understand that every object, whether inherited from an ancestor or assembled from Ikea, contains the energy of where it came from, how it was made, who made it, who owned it—then you can decide what is right for you. 

My favorite middle-eastern restaurant is family run: the people are friendly and the food is fantastic: home-made hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel. 
 
A few days ago, I headed in for lunch. Near the counter, a worker appeared to be fixing something on the floor.
 
Except….  
 
He wasn’t a worker.
And he wasn’t repairing anything.
 
He was the restaurant owner, a man in his late 50s, kneeling on a prayer rug behind one of the dining tables.
 
He was doing his spiritual practice as is consistent with his Muslim faith: answering the call to prayer. For 1400 years, the devout face east and pray five times each day: 
 
• At dawn, before sunrise
• At midday, after the sun passes its highest
• In the late part of the afternoon
• Just after sunset
• Between sunset and midnight
 
It was midday. Thus he was praying.
 
He allowed nothing to stop him. Not the customers in his restaurant watching him, not the demands of a busy workday.
 
He was praying in public.

And most interesting to me was that even though he was in the midst of his devotions, at the same time, he was fully of this world.
 
Thus, when I entered the restaurant, he stood up, smiled and welcomed me, mid prayer. When I sat down, he stopped mid prayer and filled my water glass. When he was done with his devotion, he rolled up his prayer rug, smiled again, and came back and took my order.
 
His devotion was fully integrated. His spiritual life was enfolded into his regular day.
 
To witness this: a person praying in public, a person who did not separate the Divine from everyday… this was a beautiful thing. 
 
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find it hard to find a consistent time to meditate or pray. I get busy, or have appointments or life gets in the way.
 
Or does it?

Witnessing this man praying in public, reminded me that nothing is more important than connection to the Divine.
 
Each in our own way. Each with our own beliefs and traditions.
Spirituality not as a separate practice, but as our way of being. 

A lot of sensitive and empathic folks feel better when things are a certain way. When things feel right.
 
If you’re like me, you sense the energy of objects in a room the moment you walk in, and if things aren’t balanced quite right, or they’re not in harmony, or the energy doesn’t feel good… there is this keen urge to set things right.

To bring the room into balance.
 
You can follow the urge, or not do anything, but either way, you feel it.

​There’s a zen saying “do not disturb the harmony of the 10,000 things.”
It’s about this idea of everything relating to everything.
 
Right now, I’m helping my mom move from her place in Seattle, and there are 10,000 things that need packing and sorting and sifting through and making decisions about.
 
And with every thing moved from its customary place, there is also a sense of an emotional moving: in other words, with the movement of an object, comes emotional shifting. 
 
Sometimes it’s a memory trigger.
Sometimes it’s something else.
 
Objects hold energy, and when we move 10,000 objects, we release a great deal of energy.
 
If you have not lately sifted and sorted and gone through all of the 10 or 10,000 things in your life, I highly advise it.

As you clear and declutter, look and relook, you will find your emotions will also be processed, released and integrated.

It’s good to be good… or is it?
 
Sometimes, in our urge to better ourselves, to expand and improve and grow as souls in human containers, we mistakenly think our goal is to be perfect. 
 
When we’re doing a certain task, there’s this keen urge to do it right.
When we’re trying to change habits, there’s this keen urge to do it perfectly.
 
And of course, it’s impossible to do things right or perfectly, because we’re humans and humans aren’t designed that way.
 
We’re richly, beautifully, marvelously imperfect.
And this is what makes us whole.
 
We’re not computers, robots, automatons.
We’re richly emotional, deeply sensitive, fully feeling human beings who are here for a wide range of experiences, including imperfect and imprecise ones.
 
Whenever I find myself thinking I need to do things perfectly, I take a moment and look at things from soul perspective.
 
And I remember: we aren’t here for perfection.
We’re here for soul growth.  
 
So go ahead:
Eat the ice cream.
Skip yoga.
Resist the urge to be perfect.
​
See how it frees you. 

​Do you remember when you were in kindergarten, you had to be separated from certain kids, because you distracted each other too much?
 
If Ben sat by you, you couldn’t focus on your coloring.
If Linda sat by you, you couldn’t focus on your reading.
If you and Ben and Linda sat together… total chaos ensued!
 
You were distracted by others, and they were distracted by you.
Your boundaries were blurred, which is common for children.
 
As we grow, however, we start to understand that our purpose is not to be distracted by the actions of Ben or Linda… or by any of the people in our lives.
 
We are One, certainly.

But as souls in human form, we are each here to accomplish specific tasks and learn particular soul lessons.
 
If we’re so busy paying attention to what other folks are doing, or being concerned about what other people are learning, we lose sight of our own path.
 
It’s all about being responsible for our own soul path.
 
If you find yourself overly involved in what other people are doing, or distracted by everone else’s drama… pause for a moment.
 
Distraction usually means there’s something you don’t want to look at.
 
Breathe deep, and look at it anyway. 

​We’ve all heard the phrases “Divine time is not our time,” or “the Universe works in its own timing.”
 
And this can be confusing.

Because time is really only the dimension of Nowness, it can get easy to become confused when we are receiving guidance about our lives.
 
We go into meditation and receive an amazing guiding vision about our path and purpose: we see the vision clearly, we see ourselves in the vision, we are surrounded by Guides and the angelic realm who support this vision.
 
Our vision is so clear, so important, so prophetic... we know it in our hearts and souls to be absolute truth!
 
And then… nothing happens.
 
Days go by, or months, or sometimes even years... and the vision we saw does not manifest itself.
 
So, what does this say about Divine timing?
 
In essence: The Universe manifests when we are ready for the manifestation.
 
This means, when you receive a guiding vision that is so crystal clear, so prophetic, that outlines a clear path for your life… it’s up to you to follow that path.
 
You must move, ceaselessly and tenaciously, toward this vision.
If you just sit at home watching The Good Place, nothing will happen.
 
If you desire to move toward this vision, but you have some past wounds to clear up, the Universe will work patiently until you have done that inner work, and then the Universe will manifest this vision for you.
 
If you really desire this vision, and you also move your personality and your body toward this envisioned reality, then the Universe will assist you at a steady speed.
 
If you are wholly clear: you are onboard with this vision and there is nothing more important than this destiny, right now, for your soul, it will happen immediately.  
 
Of course the Universe can bring you everything right now!

But the Universe, in its infinite wisdom and love, brings us the most important things in right timing.
 
If you have been working toward a vision for a long time, trust that everything is happening as it should be.
 
You may need to commit more fully in action.
You may need to do more inner work around past wounds and fears.
You may need to simply get out of the way and allow.
 
Our destiny unfolds in right timing, because there is no other way the Universe works than in Nowness, Oneness, love.