The Not So Big Life By Sarah Susanka

Susanka is an architect famous for The Not So Big House book series. The Not So Big Life is her account of how she discovered her purpose in life and how she continues to have a spiritual perspective in her daily living. Her practical, real-world examples bring down to earth the seemingly vague concepts of living in the present moment, creating a meaningful life, finding the time to do what really matters, etc. This is an excellent book that I highly recommend. The following blurb from the book’s back jacket is a nice summary:

In The Not So Big Life, architect Sarah Susanka expands her revolutionary philosophy on inhabiting space to show us how to better inhabit our lives. Through simple exercises and inspiring stories, Susanka reveals that all we need to do is make small shifts in our day–subtle movements that open our minds as if we were opening windows to let in fresh air. The result: We quickly discover that we have all the space and time we need for the things in our lives that really matter. These small changes can yield great rewards. In her elegant, clear style, Susanka convinces us that less is truly more–much more.You can read more at www.notsobiglife.com

Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

        This book really surprised me. I am a bit of a health nut and chided myself for picking up yet another book on the subject thinking I should instead be spending my time learning something new.

        Pollan takes four very different meals and traces their ingredients back to their original sources. In the process, he gives us an incredible view of today’s agricultural industry. He sheds light not only on our mainstream agriculture industry, but the organic one as well. Little did I know, for example, that many organic food producers are owned and operated by big industry and that many pesticides are “allowable” in products labeled organic.  I was also surprised to learn that corn fed beef was not the preferred beef that I’d always thought it was. I have actually made some changes to my food purchases as a result of this book. If you are at all interested in health, nutrition, gardening and/or the environment, this is a book you will want to read!

Dinner with Dad: How I Found My Way Back to the Family Table by Cameron Stracher

        If you’ve ever spent time and energy creating a meal for your family only to have them not eat or appreciate it, this is a book you’ll welcome! Stracher vows not only to be home for dinner with his family 2.5 times per week, he takes it a step further and commits to actually cooking that meal. It’s a fast, fun read that men and women, cook and non-cook alike will enjoy!

Courageous Souls by Robert Schwartz

        This book was recommended to me a number of times, but I resisted it because I’m such a staunch believer in free will and didn’t think a book about our pre-birth plans would have anything of interest for me. Fortunately, I finally picked up the book and found it quite both fascinating and inspirational!

The author explores 10 people’s lives that have significant challenges. Through mediums, he works to discover why the individual may have chosen the challenge and what meaning can be derived from the experience. It’s thought provoking at a minimum, but hopefully you will become as inspired as I did. As an aside, the author’s research and experience confirms his beliefs that while we do make plans, aka blueprints, before we come into a body, it is our choice on whether or not we follow those plans; in other words, we do have free will.

Let me know how you like or dislike these books. It’ll be fun to hear your interpretations!

Best Regards,

Susan

Grounding is the first meditation technique I ever learned. It’s simple, powerful and is instrumental in any transformation endeavor! It’s literally the foundation for all other meditation techniques. Grounding allows you to bring more of your spiritual self into the body. As Mary Ellen Flora writes in her book, Mediation: Key to Spiritual Awakening, “Grounding is the way you, as spirit, connect with the physical world and take charge of your creativity on Earth.”

We are all energy, and just like an electrical outlet that needs to be grounded in order to be safe, our bodies need to be grounded as well.  You can ground by creating an energy cord from the base of your spine to the center of the earth. Attach it firmly at both ends and voila, you’re grounded! It’s as simple as that!

To do this, sit quietly and close your eyes. This helps you tune into yourself more intensely. Visualize an energy beam flowing from the base of your spine going all the way down to the center of the earth. The energy goes through the chair, the floor, the foundation, dirt, etc, all the way to the center of the earth.

When I first started grounding, I liked to visualize a tree trunk as my grounding cord. It was easy for me to see how the strong trunk and roots held me to the center of the earth. Then, when I was learning about amusement (tune in to my next post for more on this), I had a Barney-purple stacking-plastic-cup grounding cord. My oldest son was really into Barney at that time, and the image just came to me. Seeing this grounding cord in my mind’s eye always made me laugh, which in turn made it easier to groundJ!

You can visualize a water fall, tube, chain, beam of energy, or anything that works for you. You can change it at any time, and you can also increase or decrease the amount of energy flowing down your grounding cord. Most people need to increase their grounding, but my point is just that you have control over it.

In this way, you can use your grounding cord as a release mechanism. You can let go of anything down your grounding cord that you’d like to release such as stress, pain, old concepts, other people’s energy, etc.  For example, you may find that you often compare yourself to others. To release that behavior, just get the concept of competition in your mind’s eye, and let it go down your grounding cord. “See” it flowing right down to the center of the earth where the energy is neutralized.  I find that releasing unwanted things down my grounding cord is a huge energy boost!

This might seem like a simple visualization technique in the beginning, but as you practice and gain more experience with releasing things down your grounding cord, you may actually start to “see” energy leaving your system and/or feel it with your physical body. My son once said, “I like when you do your readings because I can feel the warmth”. Unbeknownst to him, he was “feeling” my grounding (I do my psychic readings upstairs from his room).  

By bringing more of your spiritual self into the body, grounding also helps your body feel safe. When I’m nervous or afraid, the first thing I do is increase my grounding, and instantly I start to relax. Once you start grounding regularly, you’ll notice when you’re not grounded because you’ll feel agitated and restless.

It’s fun to practice and play with this technique. Several times throughout the day, just check in and see or feel whether or not you are grounded. You can also drop your grounding cord while talking with someone -- just let it go. Notice how that feels. Then take a moment, reground, and notice the difference. 

My children have taught me a lot about having fun with grounding. After moving on from tree trunks and plastic stacking cups, I now just create my grounding cord as a beam of energy, and give it a color. I recently started asking my kids what color their grounding cords were and they would sometimes say, “silver” or “blue, green, and red”. Wow, what a concept! I’d never thought about combining colors before! My daughter’s favorite right now is “pink and yellow,” while my oldest son sometimes matches his grounding color to something he’s wearing and usually throws in a silver or gold energy for fun. My middle son likes his grounding cord to be a rainbow. I love that they have no limits about how they can create and use their grounding cords -- they’ve taught me to loosen up about mine too! Right now I’m purple and gold with curls—woo hoo!

As always, I’d love to hear your stories whether you are just starting or a seasoned grounderJ.

Best regards,

Susan

Dear Friends,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a long drive to visit family for the holiday weekend, but it was a great opportunity for me to catch up on some reading thanks to my husband who was willing to chauffer most of the way. I thought I’d share some of the interesting and inspiring articles I read:

There are several good articles in the December issue of Oprah Magazine. I’d love to link to them to make it easy for you, but they don’t have the full articles on the website. Bummer—although I can understand the need to actually sell the magazine in order to be able to keep it going. I’ll paraphrase the main article that really fascinated me. It talks about people who listened to their intuition despite friends and their own intellect telling them it was crazy, even potentially dangerous to do so.

The tile is The Hallelujah Chorus by Aimee Lee Ball on pg 311.

To summarize:
There was a group of boys living in an orphanage in Liberia. Their parents had died or disappeared during the civil war that had taken over their country. They had been chosen to form a cappella choir that would tour the US and raise money for the orphanage. While the boys were visiting the Charlotte, North Carolina area, their orphanage was attacked and decimated.  

This next part gives me chills so I’ll quote it for you.

Lysa, a 37-year old motivational speaker, was going to hear the choir with her then 8-year-old’s Brownie troop. She decided to take all three of her daughters imagining no more than an ordinary day,” she says. “Nothing led me to believe life was about to be seriously interrupted.” But listening to the honeyed voices of the young travelers, she was overwhelmed with a sudden thought: Two of the boys were meant to be hers. She literally put her fingers in her ears to drown out what she assumed was a divine message she didn’t want to hear. At the post concert reception, two boys named Mark and Jackson separated from the crowd, wrapped their arms around her, and called her mom.

…The idea of adoption was crazy, she understood—not even in the realm of possibility—but she made him (her husband) promise to hear the boys sing. And “crazy” became a calling for both of them.

The story goes on to describe how their friends and family gave them every reasonable reason not to adopt these two boys, but they followed their hearts and did so anyway. Not only that, but some of the more ardent opponents ended up adopting a child, too. In fact, through Lysa’s encouragement, several families adopted every single one of the boys and then sent for their siblings and adopted them as well.

The article goes on to describe how each family was “drawn” to a particular child or children and how mysteriously they have become an integral part of their families. A whole community is now raising these young people. If you get the chance to read the full article, do so! Here’s a pic: http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/200612/omag_200612_adopt.jhtml

This is a link to an article by Gloria DeGaetano, author of one of my favorite parenting books, “Parenting Well in a Media Age”. You don’t have to be a parent to appreciate the message: creating meaning in our lives. http://thepci.com/articles/degaetano_LookingForMeaning.htm

This is the link to an article in Parent Map called Creating a Family Spirit of Giving. http://www.parentmap.com/dec_06/1206_1.htm

This links you to an article from Bright Horizons about the potential pitfalls of constantly teaching your kids without giving them time just to be. http://www.brighthorizons.com/efamily/article.aspx?id=56&mailing=305&user_id=95449&campaign_id=240#continued

Hope you enjoy!

Best regards,

Susan

Dear friends,

Thank you for all the positive and warm responses to my inaugural blog last week! Your feedback was greatly encouraging.

Were you surprised to get my Psychic Reading Q&A with no explanatory note? I was too. I was trying to post it on the site as a general FYI for people considering a reading and not necessarily in the blog space where it was sent out in the RSS feed. As you can see, I’m still figuring out all the logistics of the space. Thank you for your patience as I work out all the kinks.

Now that I look at it with some amusement, I see that this mistake gives me a natural lead-in to my theme this week—validation. Instead of beating myself up for not having the site up and running perfectly before exposing it to you, I just have to validate that I actually put it together and sent it out! So there—I validated myself and my reality instead of wasting my energy stressing about how I should have done things or worrying that people will judge me for my mistakes.

On that note, here comes this week’s edition…self-validation. I hope you enjoy!

Self-Validation: Part One

I recently did a reading where validation, specifically self-validation, emerged as a theme.  My client is an executive at a very cool, international company and she’s working on a fulfilling project that is dramatically improving the lives of thousands of impoverished children. Her co-workers and managers value her as evidenced by her promotions, raises, and accolades. Yet she feels dissatisfied; she feels as if she is not doing enough and isn’t credible in her position.

So what’s the problem? External validation is fleeting. Granted it feels good (OK let’s be honest, it feels great) and the pursuit of it can become addictive. However, the bottom line is that the feeling isn’t sustainable.

Typically, high achievers set high expectations for themselves and others. We are told from a young age to “keep your eye on the goal”. One problem with this philosophy is that the goal is in the future and when we are constantly looking toward the future, we’re not able to appreciate or validate where we are right now—in the present moment. Another hindrance is that, even if we reach or come close to our goal, we raise the bar. We never actually feel satisfied because we’re always striving for more, more, more. This is an exhausting way to operate and we eventually become discouraged.

If this sounds familiar to you, ask yourself, “How do I change this behavior?”

Self-validation is the cornerstone to developing our own personal self worth. When we validate ourselves for who we are as much as for what we do, we gain strength and energy to create our life from an abundance perspective instead of a deficit perspective.

One approach toward this is to validate you as a person. For example, when you start to feel frenzied from the constant struggle to keep up or flagellate yourself for not doing enough, being enough, or achieving enough—stop for a moment. Stop and validate all that you are right now and all that you have done to become that person up until this moment in time. For example: “I am genuine; I care about and respect myself and others; I have amazing friends, I am pursuing my passion in life; I have overcome many challenges and have become a better and stronger person as a result; etc.” This exercise will help you come back into the present moment, which in turn will help you relax and accept your current reality with a greater degree of pleasure.

Do you have other approaches for self-validating that work for you? Please share them with us by posting your comments to this blog. We’ll all appreciate you for it and that will be one more thing for which you can validate yourself J!

Tune in next week for Validation Part Two: Ways to Validate What You Do

Best regards,

Susan

Commonly Asked Questions Regarding a Reading with Susan Moe

What is a psychic reading & why should I get one?

A psychic reading will help you get in touch with yourself as spirit.  Our society encourages us to put our attention on the physical and material aspects of our lives. It is easy to forget that we are really a spirit or soul that uses a body to manifest our creations on this earth. A psychic reading will acknowledge how you are creating as spirit and is an excellent tool for discovering your true self. Knowledge is power; know thyself!

What can I expect to happen during the reading?

I will give you two readings during the first 30 minutes and you can ask questions for the remaining half hour. First, I will do a rose reading which will give you a quick snapshot of where you are in your current growth cycle. Then I will read the seven major layers of your aura and give you information about what you are presently working on in each of those layers.

What kinds of questions should I ask?

You can ask about anything really. Typical questions usually revolve around relationships, career, challenges, etc. You may also want to ask about your path in this lifetime. You may ask questions about the two readings and/or questions you have prepared beforehand.

Can I ask about people who have passed away?

Yes. We are all spirit and continue to exist even when we no longer have a physical body.

Will you tell me my future?

I will not predict your future because I believe in free will. If I were to look at and give you information about one of the infinite futures available to you, I could potentially program you and have it manifest through a self fulfilling prophecy. Feel free to ask a future related question and I can look at the energy in present time.

Will you give me advice?

Instead of giving you my advice, I will look at a particular situation and give you information so you can decide what the right action is for you. For example, if you are trying to decide between two career opportunities, I will look at the energy of each of those paths and give you the information I see. Then you may take that knowledge into consideration during your decision making process.

Will the reading be scary?

This is one of the most common questions but the fears behind the question are quite different for each person asking. Readings are typically a fun, validating, and exciting experience and rather than being scared, most people are elated to have been related to as spirit.

What do I need to do to prepare for a reading?

If you are receiving a phone reading, it is important that physically you are in a quiet, distraction-free environment and able to be mentally calm and present. It’s also a good idea to have paper and pen handy. I give you a lot of information and it can be hard to recall afterwards. Some people prefer not to take notes, but would rather sit back and simply enjoy the reading and that’s perfectly fine as well. For in-person readings, I will provide the space and writing materials for your convenience.

Are you reading my mind?

No, I am not reading your mind. I am extremely disciplined about keeping my energy clean and to myself. Also, I have no desire to know your thoughts or feelings unless you’d like to share those with me openly and consciously.

How often can I get a reading?

It can take the body up to three months to fully adjust to a reading so 3-4 times a year would be fine depending on your circumstances.

How do people find you?

Referrals from friends or colleagues are my greatest source of clients. I have a referral program where you will receive a free reading for every 5 people you refer to me. You may choose to keep that reading for yourself or give it as a gift to someone else.

Do you have gift certificates?

Yes, and they are lovelyJ.

Dear friends,

I love to hear stories about how people use their intuition and spiritual techniques in their day to day lives. I thought you might, too, so I started this blog…Susan’s Sharing  Space. I call it a “sharing space” because I aim to have us share this space together rather than just my having a glorified diary or something. I hope you will jump in and share your stories, comment on my musings, and find inspiration or at least a novel way of looking at situations in your own life.  

This space is definitely a work in progress and will be beefed up over time with lots of info, tips, and tidbits. I thought I’d follow my own advice and not wait until it was perfect before launching because you know what would happen then—nada, nothing! It’d never get off the ground. Instead it would remain just another good idea floating around in someone’s gray matter and not out in a “space” where anyone in the universe can access and hopefully benefit from its existence. Do you have a great idea that you’re waiting to execute until you have more time, until you can do more research, or until it’s more “perfect”? Just a thought to ponder…

Anyway, I promise to keep my comments short and sweet and hopefully entice you to come back for more because you can get a quicker and hopefully more long lasting fix than a triple shot caramel macchiato with whip at your local Starbucks.

So where’s the beef? Ok, I haven’t given you anything yet but promises so here’s a fun, true story that happened to a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago:

When leaving her local grocery store, my friend passed the stands with the free magazines for apartment rentals and autos for sale just as she’d done thousands of times before. Something stopped her. She turned around, walked back and picked up her neighborhood newspaper—which she’d never done before. As she explains, “My intuition told me to pick it up and although it was late and I was tired, I decided to listen and go back and pick it up”. She randomly opened it to the middle where she saw a picture of her neighbor’s daughter playing a sport at the YMCA. “Wow, how cool!”, she thought and decided to take the copy to her neighbor’s house on the way home in case they wanted an extra for family or friends. On her way home, guess who she sees walking down the street?!?! Yes, that very family happened to be out for a walk which she also had never seen before.  She pulled over to offer her congratulations and give them her copy.

The family was surprised and delighted because they hadn’t known about the publication and the daughter just beamed at the sudden recognition by her family and neighbor. My friend, who had been tired and cranky before, was now elated and reenergized. This is a common experience when we listen to and follow our intuition or our inner, spiritual selves. My friend’s body was tired and cranky and just wanted to get her chores done and get home, but her spiritual self wanted to create this fun and enriching experience.

The more we listen to our inner self, our spiritual self, the more we’ll hear and the more guidance we can receive for big decisions as well as little fun ones like the example above. But don’t just take my word for it. Try it for yourself and have some fun! Take some time to tune into your inner self during the week and see if you get any “hits” or messages to which you consciously decide to listen. Please share your stories with us! The more we validate ourselves as spirit, the more energy we generate within ourselves. This not only raises our own vibration, it helps raise the vibration of those around us and that inevitably makes the world a better place for all of us—plus a heck of a lot more funJ!

 I hope you’ve enjoyed my inaugural blog and that you’ll sign up to receive updates when they are posted. Just click the “Subscribe to RSS Feed” on the left bar—it’s completely private and secure.  Invite your friends to come along for the ride while you’re at it—the more the merrier!

Best regards,

Susan