The stress of the 2016 U.S. election was overwhelming. 

Many of us felt fear, anxiety, sadness, depression, uncertainty, anger, hope as we waited for the outcomes. 

We have seen a lot of ugliness these last months. 
We've seen the ugly rearing head of all those who want to stay stuck in darkness. 
This is nothing new for human civilization. 

Yet we've also seen enormous strides: racial equality, gender equality, a new compassionate acceptance for all peoples, that we've never seen in the history of the U.S. 

America is a very young country. 
The changes that we see now in the world, are here because we are evolving. 
We are growing, and it is very rocky. 

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the stress of politics, please take a moment to center yourself, breathe, and please remember: 

God is not going anywhere.
The Light can't be taken away. 

If you have a spiritual practice, today is the day to rely on your practice. 
​
You're a soul. 
You're infinite. 
There is no end, ever.

Close your eyes, breathe and connect into that which you are: infinite soul, made of stardust, here for eternity. 

Politics have been with us since civilization began. 

And yes, politics is just another version of cult, group thought, no matter which side you're on. 

You, as soul, will exist long after politics are over.
No matter what happens.
No matter who wins.
Either way: you're infinite soul. 

The idea is to resist group thought.
The idea is to hold on to the clear, infinite Light of God/One/All/Divine/Universe. 

Your ego/personality may be intrigued or tempted or confused by cult, the election, politics.
But your soul? It knows that none of this is important. 

We continue growing toward Light.
No matter what happens.
No matter who wins. It is what we are here to do. 

Turn your attention away from all the swirling darkness of group thought.
Tend to your own soul. 

​Sometimes when we are spinning out with thoughts of this and that and the other thing, we just spin out of control until we wear ourselves out.
 
But other times, we retain enough presence of mind to remember that we can stop all this thought looping, by simply returning to Now.
 
And yet, how do we get to Now, with all this chaos setting up shop in our brain?
 
Many people like the practice of breathing, deep slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth, as an immediate way to shift attention, and to shift the hormonal balance in the body.
 
This works for many. But for me, the last thing I can remember to do is breathe, when I’m in a stressful situation and holding my breath!
 
Other people like tapping, such as used with EFT. This works for lots of people, but it’s not something I use much.
 
For me, and for others who have worked in the intuitive, empathic, sensitive, mystic and clairvoyant realm, one of the things that works the most is simply to shift attention to something else.
 
To practice noticing, something different.
 
For example, if I am having a stressfull situation, and I sense those thoughts looping into panic or anger or wherever they’re going, I will remember I need to get to Now.
 
And to get to Now, I will use something small:  an object in front of me, an aspect of nature.
 
For example, I might suddenly focus on the small orange clock on my desk, and simply being the practice of noticing this clock. I wll look at it in full detail: the way the little black hands move slowly and the second hand more quickly, the smooth finish of the orange paint on metal, the chubby alarm button on the top. I’ll just take in this little clock, with all the memories and emotions and feelings and energy and
 
I use the clock as a bridge.
I turn my attention fully to the clock.
I begin a practice of noticing.
And in this attention, I find myself in Now.
 
It doesn’t matter what you use as the bridge to Now: a leaf fluttering in the breeze, a stick on the road, an ant making its way across a pile of direct, the woven pattern of your sweater, the many colors in your own hair.
 
Just notice.
Bring your attention fully to this one thing, as if nothing in the world mattered more.
 
And you will, as you enter the beauty and grace of Now, that your thought looping has stopped.

Sometimes I’ll get an email from someone I’ve met somewhere out in the world: in a workshop, at a lecture, at an event.

And they’ll write “do you remember me?” and give some details about who they are and where we met.
 
I’m the person who knits hats.
I work with bees.
I live in Rome.
I helped you turn your microphone on.
I met you on the train to Portland.
 
And so forth.

The thing is… most often, I do remember that person, absolutely and completely.
 
I may not be able to pull a name out of a hat, I may not recall every detail of what we talked about that day …. but the person his or herself? The Soul self of that particular person?
 
This is easy to remember.
 
You probably find this is  your experience too: there are certain people, who when you meet them, just stand out for you.
 
There’s a kind of recognition, a resonance, a magnetic attraction, a familiarity, a knowing.
 
When you meet these people, who might be all kinds of people of all ages, races, cultures, nationalities, genders, backgrounds… all the ways we tend to separate ourselves from ourselves…. You just know them.
 
This is because of three things.
 
First, we’re all One. Of course we know everyone, we are everyone!
 
Second, many of us are in soul collectives or soul circles that operate in the same vibrational field… healers, empaths, intuitives, artists and so forth are one example of a soul collective of sensitives, for example.
 
Third, many of us have had multiple past lives together, over and over doing the same puzzle of How Am I to Live in This Life, and over and over giving each other the exact puzzle piece they need at this moment.
 
When you meet someone you recognize, rejoice! It is beautiful to go through life meeting old friends.
 
When you meet someone you don’t know, be open. Everyone we meet is set on our path by a loving Universe
 
And when you meet someone that stands out for you, be grateful. You have found yet another kindred soul, yet another person who holds out a piece of the puzzle for you, and you for them. 

​If you’ve been reading these teachings for a while, you might be starting to chafe under all this advice to do nothing.
 
To do no thing.
 
Um… yeah…so… what am I supposed to do?
Does this mean just sit around?
What about my life’s calling?
What about my life’s work?
 
So, here’s the thing: you want to detox yourself from busy-ness, from the distraction of overscheduling.
In other words, you want to clear out all the non-essentials.
 
And then, with all this time you have created, you want to do what is most important to you.
 
Not to your mother, your partner, your friend.
To you.
 
For many of you, this is simply meditation, more spiritual practice. This direct and intimate connection with the Divine is the most important place you want to put your energies.
 
For others of you, you want to create: write, paint, do music, do art, take photos. All of this is a way of existing in the bliss of creative Flow.
 
For others of you, you want to wander: to see the world from soul perspective.
 
For others, you want to be in partnership: to enjoy the Divine intimacy of being deeply in love.
 
For others, you want to help: the world, humanity, animals, nature, all of it.
 
This living from your passion?  It takes time.
 
You’re going to need to let go of all the stuff that doesn’t matter.
So you have time to do what does. 

​By now, you know I often talk about how important it is to slow down.
 
To pare the schedule down.
To get rid of the distraction of busyness.
To stop running around, and simply Stop. Right. Where. You. Are.
 
One of the interesting thing that happens when we first start to slow down like this, when we first start to try it on as spiritual practice, is that we find slowness unbearable.
 
It’s as if we’ve been eating sugar every hour, and suddenly we give up sugar.
And we eat a carrot.
 
And of course the craving for the sugar, for the addiction, for the distraction, for the sense of busy-means-I’m-doing-something really takes us on a ride.

We feel antsy, we feel bored, we feel less than, we feel exhausted… as if once we stop moving, we can’t ever start up again.
 
If you’re in a personal detox from distraction, take heart. The feelings of utter exhaustion, numbness, flatness, flatness will go away soon. Once the addiction to busy-ness gets out of your system, you’ll start to move to a new groove.
 
Time will lose all meaning for you.
You’ll pay attention to the easy things.
You’ll chop wood, carry water.
You’ll chop wood, carry water some more.
 
And pretty soon you’ll find that the simple stuff is just as fascinating and far more interesting than all the distractions you used to do because you thought you were supposed to.
 
There is more peace and ease in heading outside for a mind-clearing walk, than in all the meetings and activities you can think of.
 
There is more beauty and grace in simply hanging out, than in all the non-stop schedules you can think of.
 
We think we’ll get bored if we stop doing stuff.
We have FOMO.
We think we’ll stop existing, if we aren’t in constant motion.
 
But once you get the addiction to busy out of your system… you find that by doing less, you exist more.