magico-mental exercise

You know that feeling of unknown, unspecified dread that you get, that sense of nervously, anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop? Those times when you somehow just know that something awful is about to happen, right around the corner -- some tragic news out of left field, suddenly discovering that you totally forgot about something very important you were supposed to do, something you said or did in the long-distant past comes back to haunt you, something you did with good intentions turns out to have disastrous consequences, something you thought was resolved actually wasn't, someone you thought you could trust turns out to have been sabotaging you behind your back, all of the hidden fears that lurk in the back of your psyche, unnamed, unspoken, crowd about and ooze to the surface?

Now think of the exact, complete, absolutely total opposite of that. Imagine sudden, unexpected great good fortune out of the blue. You get recognition for work or a good deed you thought nobody had ever noticed, you find money or wealth where you hadn't expected it, you receive a gift from a previously-unknown admirer, a lovely call or email comes in from a dear old friend you haven't talked to in years who still loves you, you have a surprising instant of exquisite bliss, are gifted with unasked-for friendship and loyalty, pass through a vista of beauty that takes your breath away, you experience an unexpectedly reciprocated desire, are visited by a deep, strong and powerful wellspring of joy that you had no idea whatsoever was on its way. Undeserved delights surround you. You make all the traffic lights, there's extra time on the parking meter, you speak the clever comments that defuse the situation and make people relax and smile, you get the extra portion, you weave in and out of the events in your day as though irrevocably blessed by the gods, a golden childe of the universe.

And imagine that moment of surprising joy is now, right now, this very moment.

Something unexpected, something wonderful, is waiting to happen to you, right now. In each precious moment, the universe has wonders and beauty to share with you, whether or not you feel you deserve them (and you do). It's better than you think, it's better than you have even dared to let yourself hope it might be. The grace of an infinitely wonderful, perfectly imperfect universe surrounds you -- not in some huge impersonal untouchable glorious clockwork majesty, but in small, precious, tangibly and messily human moments of physical bliss, silky-sweet joy, gorgeously manifest beauty, deliciously hot, spiced wonder, and lusciously cool breezes of blessings, brushing across and through all the hidden parts of your life. Let the unexpected blessings and gifts of the universe caress, embrace, nuzzle, nibble and enfold you, and know that whether or not you feel worthy of them (and you are), it's all there for you, right now. You swim in a sea of unexpected joy and delicious surprises. In each moment, in this moment, it's there, it can be. It will be.

The other shoe is about to drop. And it's a Ruby Slipper, or a gorgeous black pump, or a pair of hiking boots, or a perfect crystal slipper, or killer spike heels or some cool Doc Martins or thigh-high leather boots or the Tivas you've always wanted. Dare to put it on, try it out, and take a few steps around, and see if it doesn't lead you to a place more wonderful than you ever thought was possible.

Something wonderful is about to happen to you.

"Love Is the Drug..."

This article just crossed my desk -- too funny. I'd like to think (and choose to believe) that there's something more to love than physiochemical reactions. And certainly there is an important distinction to be made between the transitory thrill and intensity of "being in love" and choosing to and being capable of maintaining deeply romantic and passionate relationships over the long haul (and I note that they're doing a followup study on people who sustain passionate relationships over 20+ years).

I've always felt that the experience of being "in love" is like a scaffolding -- an intense, ecstatic opportunity, within which a true thing of beauty, an enduring love, may (or may not) be created. When the blinding madness of "being in love" fades (as it almost inevitably does), the scaffolding falls, clarity returns somewhat, and you then see whether there was anything true and real built there, or whether you just have leftover bits of scaffolding ;>

Of course what these scientists so recently discovered, our ancestors and artists have known and described for thousands of years. And another way of looking at this study is that it is strong scientific evidence for the innate and inborn human desire to get out of our own little skull-bound ego-prisons and open ourselves to deeply merging with the world around us, in order to experience life beyond the limits of our own small brains.


http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=47560
Love Is the Drug...
By E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporter
( Read more... )

good quote

Yum.

"Morality is doing what is right no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told no matter what is right." - Unknown