Hi Grace,

Well, you said it already:

"This is especially true these days if what I’m dreaming up is not normal".

One can ask oneself: what is normal? I say to myself: it doesn't matter cause what you do or think is as good as someone else's.

It works then both ways.

You accept your own "weirdness" as something that belongs to you.

You are not so surprised anymore about the "absurd" ideas or things others have or do (in your eyes). You are able to listen more, you are able to accept someone else more, etc.

And then it comes an intermingle by itself.

And when I do end into an endless discussion with opinions that do not seem to match, I try to keep my mouth shut and watch and learn.

And in the end I think, mmmm............ doesn't matter so much, what I think and do is good for me and i cannot get hurt :). And moreover as long as it does not hurt others, it's alright.

Well, something like this works for me.

Love, from that heartphone :)

Mieke

It's a fine & beautiful line you're walking. Manifestation seems to work better when macro is included in micro. Naysayers are aplenty & it requires steeping in our values to be immune. I've also found that simply not revealing what's in the works allows for potential to collect & intensify. Just keep it to yourself until momentum has reached an unstoppable intensity. Then no one can derail you. Many times it's torn down way before that & obstacle after obstacle appears.

If you must seek guidance, choose with discrimination & only very few, maybe one. Even then perhaps it can be talked about without full disclosure. And remember your own guidance, that's really where it's at.

Grace,

Teachers and guides are within. They are part of who we are. Who are your inner guides? Are they animal, plant, angelic, fairy, planetary? We can work with Light beings or allies in other dimensions -- they are already working with us whether we are aware of them or not. Have you invited them into your space of awareness? When doing so put a circle of white light around yourself for protection.

Trish~~

You'd like to hear about our experiences with this. Here is mine:

After I discovered that the reality I thought was "out there" was connected to what I called "in here", and after having experimented for a while with manifestation, the next challenge was to know... WHAT to manifest :) It's not easy without knowing what you want, and without knowing how to know what you want.

I discovered that I got lost in all kinds of old ideas of what I thought I wanted, things/situations that were customary to want in my "tribe". I thought I wanted certain things, only to discover that after I manifested them (with some degree of struggle), it was really all wrong for me and everyone else.

That confusion stopped when I realized how to know what I really want, not on the surface, but in the depth of my being. For me, this involves three things:

1) Turning my attention completely to what I want, instead of worrying about what others want. Not as a selfish gesture, but because the only point of connection with everyone else is inside oneself.
2) asking my body for guidance and direction, instead of my mind. So when I see a few alternatives, I ask my body which one is best for everyone,and act from there.
3) I recognize that the alternatives I perceive are all such that is based on my past experience. So in order for my world to truly grow into something that is beyond what this person is capable to imagine right now, I have the intention for evolution and the highest best for everyone involved, but I relax and leave the details to the universe (the larger me). In other words... I ask and wait for the highest answer to manifest itself, beyond my local capacity to even imagine.

In my life, help, support and guidance have been extremely important and sometimes still are. It's just that I've asked my own self whom to ask for help and guidance :) And I never follow any guidance without it feeling right in my gut. So this help, support and guidance have been invaluable when my perspective was too tight, but the more I rely on my own connection, and the more everything is inside and not outside me, the less it is possible to think that my guidance comes from "another".

Why create anything? Is not everything perfect...already?

Grace: you raise really neat questions. A couple comments from me:

1. Mieke said, seemingly in passing: "...and i cannot get hurt :)." That was a big key for me personally - to identify not with my body, mind, or ego - all of which can get hurt easily - but with that space deep within that is indestructible. Then you can watch formerly disturbing comments and events go by without feeling shaken, and allow yourself to receive strong feedback from others without getting reactive.

2. You mentioned that you were looking for a balance between taking guidance from others and "letting others’ opinions dictate how my life should flow." What if you were to take the perspective that nobody ever dictated to you, but that you were actually in charge of every decision you've ever made? That you were merely unaware at certain times that you chose to act based on the opinions you received? I think it might help you reclaim full ownership of your decisions, and also feel OK about those times you felt dictated to.

As for manifestation, I can't say I've had many of those experiences yet. I do know I feel a lot more at peace in the moment, and that this generally begets more peace and happiness around me. I still have a ways to go in exerting the power of my intention on the universe around me...

BTW, did your mother discover the stuff you were hoping she wouldn't? :-)

I honestly believe that the only time other people's opinions matter is when it involves them in whatever it is that you are doing. Otherwise, it is your own personal happiness to make for yourself. Nobody else can do it for you.

A reference to inner spiritual guides means that one is healthy enough to understand when one hears voices within so that if one expresses that belief to another that the others don't think that one is totally daft...the problem with listening to spiritual guides is that for some the realization is real and true, but to some who don't believe it does sound strange and flighty.

I am speaking from personal experience. I prefer to be considered spiritually developed than "crazy" or "looney". So that means when I confess or share such information with others I do not dare to care what they think about me if they do not have the capacity to hear from within.

But I have learned the hardway that those who do not believe in spiritual guides and spiritual matters that those of us who experience such phenomena are considered a bit different from the norm.

Wow - all of you guys: Mieke, Pamir, Trish, Aurora, Vivian, Swordsman, Arizona ... y'all have some great wisdom to share. Thank you!

Swordsman - what you said about Mieke's "I cannot get hurt" comment - I was thinking the same thing. Funny what comes out of people, seemingly in passing as you say.

And my mom never let on that she knew, which I find absurd. I don't believe for a second that she didn't read every single one of my blogs once she remembered they're "out there." We will have this conversation soon and she won't freak out or anything, it's just not that bad (in the big scheme of things). I mean, what are we really talking about? Jail time, drug addiction? Nah, just a break-up, as if it's never been done before. When I'm going through something that's hard on me emotionally, I feel like I can only take so much in any one moment. Now that the worst is over, I can move into disseminating information. Still awkward, though, when people expect your life to continue moving in a certain direction.

Aurora - you always have good advice, and somehow you're able to communicate it in a way I can understand easily. Unlike Deepak - lol! Even after being around him (and his dialogue) for ten years, he still says things that go way over my head.

Grace,
you should see the smile on my face... it showed up as soon as I read the word "breakup" in your post, and it is not only because I knew it and had hoped you could talk openly about it and notice how okay it is, but also because only days ago I observed that I am still alergic to that word! Or maybe I was... anyway, it seems that all my life I have felt that the natural movement of people is closer to each other, not further away, so the very notion of breakup has so fundamentally contradicted my inner sense that I have always been extremely confused by and reactive to it.

But what I have discovered tells me that we cannot -ever - move away from what we all are. So even if the surface can look like a breakup, a breakup is really impossible, as we are the same.

I think you and I are very much alike, last I was at one of Deepak's lectures I fell into some kind of black out and woke up just before his last sentence :D I have a very vague idea of what he said, but I think that just like you, I have absorbed it all in another way. As Max' T-shirts say- it's not what you think :)
I look forward to meeting you one day in what we agree to call "person" :);)

Hi Grace,

Excellent post, thanks for sharing.

My typical answer to people who tell me "I can't" is "thanks for letting me know I couldn't do what I've already done."

You do what you need to do in life. Your heart will take you to the place it needs to be, whether the mind wants to follow or not. The mind's job is to look up, figure out where you are and move forward.

It's that labyrinth thing :p.

Accept you are where you are because you need to be: for whatever reason - or no reason at all. Share your story w/ those you feel comfortable with and listen to their words of wisdom. Take responsibility for your actions along the way and it's all going to turn out however it does - win some, lose some and learn from all.

And I too am amazed at the debt of wisdom that is shared here. It's extremely exciting to hear different perspectives and insights.

There was a time where I identified myself with being a spiritual healer. I had found my purpose and was thrilled to help others heal from their problems.

Then the awareness came that I am the creator of all my experiences....and I gave up my self given purpose.

I understood that I can not add anything tothat which "God" has already created and that I wanted Truth more than anything this world could give me. That is when I stepped consciously out of creating.

I no longer "need" others/things to know who I am and validate that I exist.

Vivian, you ask "Why create anything? Is not everything perfect...already?"

I think the answer might be in the moment just before you breathe out the next time.

dear Grace,
I have been gone for awhile traveling, and shifting thoughts and feelings into different boxes and just now have a moment to write. I always enjoy your honest posts, the insights, the fun - and your write back :)

Eveyone has opinions. Follow your heart, and ask the ones you love and closest friends, but you may find you will take flight in a new and different direction.

oh, that is freedom,
and it's exhilirating.
and you can
still get by
'with a little help from your friends'.

love,
~ Kate