,​ 
I used to make a lot of New Year’s resolutions. I was going to go on a diet and lose 10 pounds. I was going to exercise more. Well, we all know how long most resolutions last. Why is that, I wonder? My guess is that it is because it is the ego resolving to improve our appearance or personality. The ego likes to keep us in a state of never being satisfied. Even when we reach our perfects weight, something else crops up that needs improvement. There is always something wrong, be it health, relationship struggles work problems or our physical appearance.
 
Does that mean we shouldn’t try to improve ourselves? No, it is human at least at this stage in our development to strive for improvement. But in doing so, aren’t we really saying we’re in charge. I no longer feel I’m in control of my life. There is something much bigger that is driving my life and all of life along. I would call that something mystery. I am trying to cooperate with this mystery by surrendering to what is, including even accepting my perfectly imperfect self. I think it is important to love ourselves just the way we are even and especially when things seems to be falling apart. It’s called going with the flow rather than swimming against the current.
 
I think it helps to look beyond the events of our life that we label good or bad. Having said that, I get it that losing a loved one can seldom ever seem good. In fact it is devastating. Often quite a bit of time has to elapse before we can see any good coming out of it. Yet what we often find is that our joy and sorrow are two sides of the same coin. Khalil Gibran in The Prophet” said “When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight,”. This is very true in my experience. But what I have found is that the love I felt for the person I lost is still there. It resides within my heart and is a comfort.
 
My former husband died this year. Although we all miss him I would say his passing was a good thing because he was in a lot of misery and wanted to die. I had several friends that died. Each of them were ready to leave the earthly plane. My body has declined a lot this year and my eyesight is getting worse. I honestly don’t know if that’s good or bad - it seems to change with the passing moment. I am learning to look beyond these labels of duality because in my experience so-called “bad” things often lead to good. It is not so much the events themselves that disorient us but how we interpret them. If I think something is bad, then it is.
 
As my body deteriorates I often notice a presence growing in me, and I call that my soul. What is the soul? To be honest, I don’t really know and yet I experience it as a more peaceful state of being. I see it as the invisible part of us that connects us to infinite divine intelligence. It is the part that never dies even when we stop breathing. But how can 2023 be the year of the soul? Well, it’s just the year coming up. Every year can be the year of the soul if we allow it. Although we can’t bring it about, we can at least create conditions that encourage our sometimes shy soul to come out of hiding. I do that by asking these questions before taking an action. What would my heart have me do? Or What would love have me do?
 
Besides these questions I express my gratitude to Spirit every day for guiding me and surrounding me with her light and love.I also spend some time in silence just being aware of my breathing. I sometimes listen to music and sing some upbeat songs like “Blue Skies”. Often I will repeat phrases such as “The peace of God which passes all understanding”. If I’m in pain. I will sometimes say “This too shall pass.” These are just some of the ways I encourage my soul to take the lead in running the show. I almost forgot to say that one of the best ways of “soul crafting” (a word used by author and wilderness guide, Bill Plotkin) is to be out in nature, or observe her from my window, as I do every day. Each of you no doubt have your own ways which work well for you. We are all so beautifully unique and uniquely beautiful. I am convinced that what we do individually to elevate our frequency will have an impact on the collective consciousness of our planet.
May the light and love of Mystery guide you throughout 2023.

​My daughter and I usually watch something on Netflix when we get together but recently we did something a little different. The Wizard of Oz was on television, the old version with Judy Garland. We had loved it in the past, but would it still resonate? It did. It was magical. I ended up singing at the top of my lungs: “We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz because because because because because...because of the wonderful things he does... the wonderful wizard of Oz!”
      I thought about the three people Dorothy met as she followed the yellow brick road. I loved the straw man who thought he didn’t have a brain. At one time I didn’t think I had much of a brain either. It was my former husband who convinced me otherwise. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog now. And then there was the lion who thought he didn’t have any courage. I can relate to that. I lacked confidence in myself and I found my courage only when I stepped out of my comfort zone and did things that scared me. The one who touched me the most was the tin man who believed he didn’t have a heart. I have no doubt that I have a heart, but I haven’t always allowed my heart to guide my life. It has taken me a lifetime to learn to trust my heart and not just my head.
      All of those characters were looking to some outside power, the Wizard, to give them what they thought they lacked. The wizard, as it turned out, was a fraud. Nevertheless, he did convince them that they already had the qualities for which they so yearned. Is this not true for all of us, if we stop to think about it? And Dorothy, all she wanted was to find her way back home to Kansas. Isn’t that what we all want, to come home to ourselves, our true authentic selves? We may take a very circuitous route to get there, but what could be more important than learning to love and accept who we truly are?
       All of us would like to have a wizard in our lives who would magically make our troubles go away. Well, in a way we do have one, but the wizard is within us. “Oh yeah, right!” You might say: “Well, how come I can’t find this wise guy?” I can understand if you are skeptical, because I was too and sometimes still am. Why can’t this inner wise being take away my arthritic pain? What I am learning so far is that I can’t make the pain go away, but I can learn to accept it so that it doesn’t dominate my life. I admit that I still get grouchy and grumbly at times, but I accept that too.
    The good news is that I can even experience joy and peace along with the pain. The reason this is possible is that these are natural divine qualities in us that are not dependent on outside events. Do you sometimes feel joy for no reason? If people ask you why you’re feeling so happy, you may try to come up with an external cause, but really it is just something that bubbles up within you.
        But how do we keep these good feelings from fading away? Well, we can’t hang on to feelings from the past, but I try to remember each day to set an intention that I will allow joy and peace to flow through me. But sometimes the doubts creep in anyway, so I just try to remain very conscious of what I feel or think. In recent months I have started a practice of pouring out my concerns to God through my writing each day. This practice helps me to see my life through the lens of gratitude instead of staying stuck in my negativity.
      At first I wondered if I was making this all up, but now I realize that our imaginations are among the most potent ways we have of connecting to Mystery. You may think I’m living in a dream world but if that be so, I much prefer it to living in the so-called real world—believing the illusion of “ain’t it awful?” Along with Dorothy and her friends, I will continue to “follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road,” sometimes dancing, but more often wobbling my way along my path with as much peace and joy as I can muster. When I lose courage and it feels like I may stumble and fall, always Spirit is there to pick me up as I continue on my journey. What an adventure life is!My daughter and I usually watch something on Netflix when we get together but recently we did something a little different. The Wizard of Oz was on television, the old version with Judy Garland. We had loved it in the past, but would it still resonate? It did. It was magical. I ended up singing at the top of my lungs: “We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz because because because because because...because of the wonderful things he does... the wonderful wizard of Oz!”
I thought about the three people Dorothy met as she followed the yellow brick road. I loved the straw man who thought he didn’t have a brain. At one time I didn’t think I had much of a brain either. It was my former husband who convinced me otherwise. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog now. And then there was the lion who thought he didn’t have any courage. I can relate to that. I lacked confidence in myself and I found my courage only when I stepped out of my comfort zone and did things that scared me. The one who touched me the most was the tin man who believed he didn’t have a heart. I have no doubt that I have a heart, but I haven’t always allowed my heart to guide my life. It has taken me a lifetime to learn to trust my heart and not just my head.
      All of those characters were looking to some outside power, the Wizard, to give them what they thought they lacked. The wizard, as it turned out, was a fraud. Nevertheless, he did convince them that they already had the qualities for which they so yearned. Is this not true for all of us, if we stop to think about it? And Dorothy, all she wanted was to find her way back home to Kansas. Isn’t that what we all want, to come home to ourselves, our true authentic selves? We may take a very circuitous route to get there, but what could be more important than learning to love and accept who we truly are?
       All of us would like to have a wizard in our lives who would magically make our troubles go away. Well, in a way we do have one, but the wizard is within us. “Oh yeah, right!” You might say: “Well, how come I can’t find this wise guy?” I can understand if you are skeptical, because I was too and sometimes still am. Why can’t this inner wise being take away my arthritic pain? What I am learning so far is that I can’t make the pain go away, but I can learn to accept it so that it doesn’t dominate my life. I admit that I still get grouchy and grumbly at times, but I accept that too.
    The good news is that I can even experience joy and peace along with the pain. The reason this is possible is that these are natural divine qualities in us that are not dependent on outside events. Do you sometimes feel joy for no reason? If people ask you why you’re feeling so happy, you may try to come up with an external cause, but really it is just something that bubbles up within you.
        But how do we keep these good feelings from fading away? Well, we can’t hang on to feelings from the past, but I try to remember each day to set an intention that I will allow joy and peace to flow through me. But sometimes the doubts creep in anyway, so I just try to remain very conscious of what I feel or think. In recent months I have started a practice of pouring out my concerns to God through my writing each day. This practice helps me to see my life through the lens of gratitude instead of staying stuck in my negativity.
      At first I wondered if I was making this all up, but now I realize that our imaginations are among the most potent ways we have of connecting to Mystery. You may think I’m living in a dream world but if that be so, I much prefer it to living in the so-called real world—believing the illusion of “ain’t it awful?” Along with Dorothy and her friends, I will continue to “follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road,” sometimes dancing, but more often wobbling my way along my path with as much peace and joy as I can muster. When I lose courage and it feels like I may stumble and fall, always Spirit is there to pick me up as I continue on my journey. What an adventure life is!