About

I'm passionate about finding and sharing ideas that feed creativity and inspiration in this weary world. Because we're so surrounded with illusion and lies, I hope this blog will help others in their quest to get a bit closer to the truth. I'd also like to say that opinions expressed in this blog are not necessarily mine or those featured here. Oh, and if you choose to use any images/words from this site, kindly obtain permission from all relevant parties and add the necessary links and references.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Interview: The Dream Life

I'm in love with Lorilyn's blog The Dream Life. It's so comforting and really feeds the spirit with her thoughts on letting go of fear, living on purpose and kindness to mention a few. A great place to go when you're feeling lost and out of sorts.
When/how did you become aware that you came from a family of writers and artists and when/how did you come to consider yourself to be a writer as well?
My grandmother's family had a lot of gatherings when I was growing up and those always involved my cousins and aunts and uncles playing music and singing and dancing. My dad always had a guitar in our house; my mom is an organist and pianist. The arts in general were emphasized in our house. My brother and I were raised to appreciate creative expression and place on it as much importance as you would place on science or any other subject.

Right before I entered middle school, my dad took a leave of absence from his job as a college professor to see if he could "make it" as a full time speaker/humorist. He never went back to teaching. I think I learned a lot from that about valuing what you know to be your calling and taking risks to get there. Even though it took me a long time to call myself a writer, I always have been a writer, even before I knew how to make letters, I carried around a pad and pencil and scribbled away. My whole life I've been able to express myself through writing much easier than I can in any other way, and I've been compelled to write. It's how I navigate the world. It just is what I do, whether anyone else is reading the words or not.

How do you find inspiration?
I find that inspiration comes when I'm not looking for it, or not worrying about it. There are moments in life that resonate with feeling and meaning - sometimes just small, passing moments like the way the wind is blowing through a tree or the lamplight in a window of a house or the sound of someone's voice. These moments grab me and spark my imagination. I also find that the deeper I go inside myself, the more inspired I am. As we live, we accumulate experience but we also accumulate questions. I find inspiration when I examine the memories that pop up
for me, when I ask myself, "Why did I do that?" or "What was that about?"

Almost always, if I go to those places, there's someone else who will say, "I know just what you mean," because we're all one, we're living a shared experience. In that way, I think the more I can be honest about myself, the more I'll be reaching out to others.

Do you ever have problems with self acceptance and how do you deal work with that issue?
I've struggled with self-esteem issues my whole life. When I was a child and into my young adulthood, I had this sense of not belonging, of not being pretty enough or smart enough, of not doing or saying the right things.

I still struggle with those issues sometimes, but the further I go on my spiritual path, the more I accept myself. The more you are shown that you are loved and guided and embraced by spirit, the harder it is to send yourself negative talk.

Another side of the self-acceptance coin is letting go of thoughts are worries about what other people think. I know there are people in my life who don't share my beliefs, who may even think that what I believe is crazy. I'm getting to a place now where that doesn't bother me. We're all walking our paths.

The more I embrace myself and my experiences, the less it matters to me what other people think, or the less I worry that my friends are going to "stop liking me" when they find out who I really am. I'm comfortable in my own skin now in a way that I wasn't when I was younger.

I think that we all have spirits around us that help and guide us. Do you think that people who commit acts that hurt others (in a consistent manner) have guides and what role do you think they play in the life of not only the individual, but others?
Yes, I think that every living creature comes from God and of God (or source or universal life force--those words are interchangeable to me). I believe that we all have guides, but we also all have free will. Some people are more consciously connected to spirit than others, and some people are listening to and following guidance without calling it that. Someone once said to me that every choice we make moves us in one of two directions - either closer to God or further away, and I believe that.

So a person who consistently hurts others, even someone who other humans may label as "evil" (I don't think spirit applies labels) does, I believe, have guides. Maybe theses people ignore or block the guidance, maybe they're so far removed from spirit, the guidance is completely lost. I do think there are people who vibrate closer to the light and people who vibrate farther away and I think our guides can help us steer clear of the lower energies.

In addition to spirits, you've also mentioned animal guides on your site. Do they work with the spirits or do some people only have animal guides and others spirits?
I believe that we all have spirit guides and animal guides. I also believe that we are given a power animal at birth - an animal spirit that stays with us throughout our lives just like our guardian angel (unlike the angels and guides that I believe come and go throughout our lives depending on what/who we ask for, what we need, etc.)

Shamanism is something I've only recently begun to study and I'm by no means an authority. Perhaps there are people who only have animal guides, but somehow I don't think so. I do think we have inclinations -- that some of us work more with angels, for instance, and so have more angels around while some people work more with animal spirits.

I was actually surprised when animals started showing up for me in meditations and during Reiki. I hadn't really "reached out" to them - but there they were.

This is an unusual question, but I had a conversation with a friend last week and we were wondering if animals experience (on a basic level) the law of attraction. What do you think?
I think that animals must live within the law of attraction, the same way that they are subject to the law of gravity. I think, though, that animals don't have to think about the law of attraction the way humans do. This is especially true, I think, of wild animals. I don't think a bird, for instance, is sitting around thinking, "Oh man, I hope there's food tomorrow, oh wait, I better get myself into a state of allowing." I think they just know that they are provided for. Domesticated animals seem to pick up more of our human neurosis, but even they seem to me to have a much purer connection to spirit than humans do. I think they just live the law of attraction naturally.

What brings you comfort and joy?
My absolute favorite part of the day is when Tracy and Woody and I pile into bed at the end of the day and everything is warm and cozy. That's when Tracy and I have some of our best conversations.

I'm also very comforted by candlelight and firelight, earthy aromas, and soft amber lighting. I love to light my candles, put on music or a guided meditation and slip into a hot bath with bath salts. I find genuine joy and delight in being with my friends. I'm very lucky to know some incredible people.

Friday at 5 o'clock is a very joyful time for me and running around the house with Woody is like something Willy Wonka invented, it's so blissfully fun. I find true comfort and joy in communing with nature and spirit and making new discoveries. And in being interviewed for blogs! Thank you-- this was so much fun.

Oh! And I guess I should have specified in my last answer that Tracy is my boyfriend and Woody is our pug! (graphic courtesy of The Dream Life)

3 musings:

Thank you so much for interviewing me and for your kind words about my blog.

This is such a wonderful interview! The questions were remarkable; I so enjoyed the answers, too! I think both interviewer and interviewee are deeply rooted, beautiful souls. Wow. I'm glad I got to read this!!

I really enjoyed reading this interview-very thought-provoking for me!

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