Yes it’s me again. I realize that I haven’t written here much lately. I’ve been doing lots of travel. I’ve been to Detroit, Indianapolis, Connecticut where I did my workshop Reel Transformation: Your Life Now Playing, and also was the guest speaker in Bentonville, AR. While I love traveling…there’s nothing like the ordinariness of a daily routine. I actually went a couple of weeks without going to the movies…oh my! We can’t have that! I had to make up for it by going to 2 movies in one weekend and watching 2 movies on Netflix. I just have to get in my movie fix.
I have also started a once a month Multi-Media service here in Fayetteville. At least it was supposed to be once a month. I did the first one on Eat Pray Love in September, but then traveled so much I had to forgo doing one in October. I have another one planned for November and the topic will be about the spiritual wisdom from the movie Inception. I just LOVE planning these services. I put all the music, youtube and movie clips into Powerpoint. I really enjoy putting it all together. I have a talk started on the spiritually of Avatar, but haven’t gotten back to it in awhile.
I went to see the movie You Again this past weekend. I enjoyed the movie, but I don’t think it will win any awards. The acting was a bit over the top and corny, but it was designed to be that way. It did have an interesting and timely message, however. It was about being bullied in high school, and how the angst of that can stay with you into adulthood. It made me think of the boy who recently committed suicide because a video of him was posted on Youtube. Growing up is difficult enough without being bullied by one’s peers.
I was made fun of in grammar school…and it was torture. I had a large nose as a child, which thankfully I’ve grown into. My classmates called me Grindl, which was a character on TV at the time played by Imogene Coco…who also had a big nose. I guess she didn’t grow into hers. I thought Imogene was ugly. While it was humiliating for me to be called that name, over and over again, I survived somehow. I used to hate my nose and yearn for one of those cute little button noses. Now I rather like my face, nose included.
The characters in this movie also survived into adulthood. However, they found it difficult to let go of the hurts of their childhood. Yet daughter, mother, and later we discover grandmother, all grew up and led very successful lives.
The title refers, I suppose, to having to face ‘you again’….the nemesis of our childhood. But I think it’s not about the other person at all. It’s really about discovering who You are again. Anytime we let someone else define us we lose our true identity and forget how awesome and Divine and special we really are. When we can finally let that go and be happy with ourselves, we’ve come home. I think as young children we remember how awesome we are, and then something happens and we forget for a while. I think it was designed to happen that way. We’ve left the Garden of Eden and we are wandering around in the wilderness. Hopefully we make it through and have an awakening, a remembering and we come back into our Awesomeness….our Youness….our I AMness.
If you are a teenager being bullied in school…remember, no one else can define you. Who you are is perfect. We are meant to be unique, but growing up is about trying to fit in and so being unique feels wrong somehow. Later in life it will all make sense. For now you just have to learn to make it through and stand up for yourself. Find others who are like you…they are out there.
If you are an adult and are still hurting over your childhood….get over it already! It’s in the past. Who you are is awesome. All those childhood experiences helped make you who you are today. You wouldn’t be the same person without them, so be grateful for everything. Remember the truth of who you are….claim it. Let go of anyone else’s identity for you and become YOU AGAIN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1-UMzt9e34
REEL TRANSFORMATION: A blog about Life, Love, Spirituality, Movies and other thoughts: this Spiritual Life is a neverending story of tranformation.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
INCEPTION
I love movies that mess with my mind…movies like Vanilla Sky and Momento. These are movies where you have to pay attention and sometimes even that is not enough to fully grasp the boundary between illusion/dream and reality.
I was not surprised to see that Christopher Nolan, also the director of Momento, was the creative mind behind the new film Inception. This man knows how to bend and twist and open the mind. If you’ve seen Momento then you understand fully what I mean. Who else would think to film a movie frame by frame backwards to help us understand a character with no short term memory?
I also love movies that are laced with deeper messages, and Inception had me going back to the movies a second time with my pad and pen in an attempt to capture some of the quotes and richness weaved into the script. If you haven’t seen the film…well it isn’t easy to explain, nor would I want to even try. Suffice it to say that it is a movie about dreams and our subconscious mind. There have certainly been other films made about those subjects, but none as innovative and creative as Inception.
“What is the most resilient parasite?” asks Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio). “An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and re-write all the rules. From the tiniest seed, it spreads like a virus.”
WOW. Well that simple idea is what my spiritual teachings are based upon: the power of the mind to transform. Unity’s teachings are all about the power of the mind and how we can transform our life and our world through our thoughts.
Ideas are resilient and formative. This is great news! The bad news is that many of us are living with ideas that have taken residence in our subconscious mind, ideas we got from childhood, that are destructive. Ideas such as: “I’m not worthy” or “Life is difficult” or “The universe is not a friendly place.” Or, like Cobb, maybe we are harboring feelings of guilt that stay buried deep in our subconscious mind and interfere with our everyday living.
The thing is…those thoughts are not reality. If we believe that we are not worthy or unlovable or that we live in an unfriendly universe, we are deluding ourselves and living in a dream world. We need to wake up! But we’ve held onto those ideas for so long that they seem real. They are buried deep in our subconscious mind and they are running (and ruining) our world.
In the movie, Cobb and the others who hung out in the dream world crafted for themselves a unique totem. A totem was something that they could carry with them that would tell them if they were living in the dream world or awake. Cobb’s totem was a top (actually the totem was his wife’s, and why Cobb is using it was never explained, but for our purposes here let’s say Cobb’s was the top). When Cobb was inside of his dream world the top would continue to spin forever. If he was awake the top would eventually stop spinning.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could craft a totem that would let us know that the thoughts we were living with were not real? While we may not have a physical item to carry with us, we do have the ability to tap into our ‘witness’. All of us have a consciousness that is able to stand ‘outside’ of our circumstances and observe. It is that consciousness that is able to remember the dream upon awakening and even able to be aware it is dreaming (lucid dreaming). It is also that consciousness that can ask the question that Cobb asked Ariadne (Ellen Page) “How did you get here?” As Cobb pointed out, dreams usually start out in the middle, not at the beginning. So if you can’t answer the question, “how did I get here?” then you are most likely dreaming.
That’s a great question to ask ourselves whenever we are having a thought or experience that brings us pain. How did I get here? What is the prevailing thought behind this experience? What was the ‘inception’ of those ideas? For instance, say your lover leaves you and you go into a deep depression. How did you get to this place of depression? It wasn’t simply over being left. It was the thought process and meaning that you attached to getting left. Such as, “I’ll never find someone else to love me, I’m not good enough or loveable, I’ll have to live the rest of my life alone”…etc., etc.
If that is the thought process buried in your subconscious mind, then you need to wake up from that delusional dream for it will bring you nothing but heartache and will mess with your ‘waking world’. Once we uncover the prevailing thoughts we have the power to replace those negative thoughts with positive life affirming ideas. The trick is to make sure those ideas are imbued with a corresponding positive feeling. As Cobb said, “positive emotions trump negative emotions every time.” He didn’t say positive thoughts trump negative thoughts. Positive thinking alone is not enough; feelings trump thinking every time. Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, believed that thoughts include both thinking and feeling, and feeling is the most powerful and most formative of the two.
Cobb fostered deep feelings of guilt over the death of his wife and those feelings impacted his life and his dreams. He needed to forgive himself, release those negative and destructive thoughts and feelings and learn how to live in the waking world. The film ends leaving us wondering if he did indeed make it out of the dream world.
Albert Einstein said “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit it a very persistent one.” Perhaps he’s right and it’s all an illusion. It really doesn’t matter; we all have the power to choose our experience, our thoughts and our feelings…even within our dreams. That’s the beauty of Lucid Dreaming, which is a form of dreaming in which the conscious mind takes control over the contents of the dream. So even if what we think of as the ‘waking world’ is really an illusion or dream, as Lucid Dreamers we become empowered to change and mold our experience.
Perhaps I love movies that mess with my mind, because my mind was designed to be messed with? So let’s get busy messing around.
I was not surprised to see that Christopher Nolan, also the director of Momento, was the creative mind behind the new film Inception. This man knows how to bend and twist and open the mind. If you’ve seen Momento then you understand fully what I mean. Who else would think to film a movie frame by frame backwards to help us understand a character with no short term memory?
I also love movies that are laced with deeper messages, and Inception had me going back to the movies a second time with my pad and pen in an attempt to capture some of the quotes and richness weaved into the script. If you haven’t seen the film…well it isn’t easy to explain, nor would I want to even try. Suffice it to say that it is a movie about dreams and our subconscious mind. There have certainly been other films made about those subjects, but none as innovative and creative as Inception.
“What is the most resilient parasite?” asks Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio). “An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and re-write all the rules. From the tiniest seed, it spreads like a virus.”
WOW. Well that simple idea is what my spiritual teachings are based upon: the power of the mind to transform. Unity’s teachings are all about the power of the mind and how we can transform our life and our world through our thoughts.
Ideas are resilient and formative. This is great news! The bad news is that many of us are living with ideas that have taken residence in our subconscious mind, ideas we got from childhood, that are destructive. Ideas such as: “I’m not worthy” or “Life is difficult” or “The universe is not a friendly place.” Or, like Cobb, maybe we are harboring feelings of guilt that stay buried deep in our subconscious mind and interfere with our everyday living.
The thing is…those thoughts are not reality. If we believe that we are not worthy or unlovable or that we live in an unfriendly universe, we are deluding ourselves and living in a dream world. We need to wake up! But we’ve held onto those ideas for so long that they seem real. They are buried deep in our subconscious mind and they are running (and ruining) our world.
In the movie, Cobb and the others who hung out in the dream world crafted for themselves a unique totem. A totem was something that they could carry with them that would tell them if they were living in the dream world or awake. Cobb’s totem was a top (actually the totem was his wife’s, and why Cobb is using it was never explained, but for our purposes here let’s say Cobb’s was the top). When Cobb was inside of his dream world the top would continue to spin forever. If he was awake the top would eventually stop spinning.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could craft a totem that would let us know that the thoughts we were living with were not real? While we may not have a physical item to carry with us, we do have the ability to tap into our ‘witness’. All of us have a consciousness that is able to stand ‘outside’ of our circumstances and observe. It is that consciousness that is able to remember the dream upon awakening and even able to be aware it is dreaming (lucid dreaming). It is also that consciousness that can ask the question that Cobb asked Ariadne (Ellen Page) “How did you get here?” As Cobb pointed out, dreams usually start out in the middle, not at the beginning. So if you can’t answer the question, “how did I get here?” then you are most likely dreaming.
That’s a great question to ask ourselves whenever we are having a thought or experience that brings us pain. How did I get here? What is the prevailing thought behind this experience? What was the ‘inception’ of those ideas? For instance, say your lover leaves you and you go into a deep depression. How did you get to this place of depression? It wasn’t simply over being left. It was the thought process and meaning that you attached to getting left. Such as, “I’ll never find someone else to love me, I’m not good enough or loveable, I’ll have to live the rest of my life alone”…etc., etc.
If that is the thought process buried in your subconscious mind, then you need to wake up from that delusional dream for it will bring you nothing but heartache and will mess with your ‘waking world’. Once we uncover the prevailing thoughts we have the power to replace those negative thoughts with positive life affirming ideas. The trick is to make sure those ideas are imbued with a corresponding positive feeling. As Cobb said, “positive emotions trump negative emotions every time.” He didn’t say positive thoughts trump negative thoughts. Positive thinking alone is not enough; feelings trump thinking every time. Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, believed that thoughts include both thinking and feeling, and feeling is the most powerful and most formative of the two.
Cobb fostered deep feelings of guilt over the death of his wife and those feelings impacted his life and his dreams. He needed to forgive himself, release those negative and destructive thoughts and feelings and learn how to live in the waking world. The film ends leaving us wondering if he did indeed make it out of the dream world.
Albert Einstein said “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit it a very persistent one.” Perhaps he’s right and it’s all an illusion. It really doesn’t matter; we all have the power to choose our experience, our thoughts and our feelings…even within our dreams. That’s the beauty of Lucid Dreaming, which is a form of dreaming in which the conscious mind takes control over the contents of the dream. So even if what we think of as the ‘waking world’ is really an illusion or dream, as Lucid Dreamers we become empowered to change and mold our experience.
Perhaps I love movies that mess with my mind, because my mind was designed to be messed with? So let’s get busy messing around.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wabi Sabi
I discovered a new term the other day called “Wabi Sabi.” It is a Japanese concept about the beauty of things that are imperfect and impermanent and incomplete. This sounded a lot like my life and I immediately loved this idea. Anyone who is living in that in-between world that I call “The Void” can identify with learning to accept (if not love) the incomplete and the impermanent.
I did a talk once called The Spirituality of Imperfection, so this idea was not new to me. We are evolving souls and we are never complete or finished so it would behoove us to learn to appreciate our imperfection, because it isn’t going to go away.
I have, from an early age, loved the idea of evolution. I did a paper on evolution in grammar school and the teacher threw the paper across the room in anger. To be fair, she was a Catholic nun and I hadn’t realized at the time that Catholics didn’t believe in evolution. I understand they’ve since changed their position on that thought. Later in ministerial school I wrote a paper on the evolution of consciousness. My instructor, although he didn’t throw my paper across the room, argued with me a bit as well. I got a good grade on the paper, but I don’t think I fully convinced him of my point.
Others have been spouting the idea of the evolution of consciousness for decades, i.e. Teilhard de Chardin, Barbara Marx Hubbard and a host of others. Recently I saw a video by Ian Xel Lungold on the Mayan Calendar and apparently the Mayan’s have known this for centuries. According to them all of creation is evolving, and it makes perfect sense to me.
If we are constantly evolving, it stands to reason that we would never be complete, perfect or permanent. So why is it that we forget that fact and are often so hard on ourselves or our life circumstances?
The two terms Wabi and Sabi have separate meanings. Wabi refers to a rustic simplicity and can be applied to natural or hand-made items. One article I read described it as “asymmetry in a ceramic bowl which reflects the handmade craftsmanship, as opposed to another bowl which is perfect, but soul-less and machine-made.” Sabi is the beauty and serenity that comes with age, such as the patina on an old bronze statue or bowl. I’d like to think it also refers to those wrinkles around my eyes and mouth….they give me character, don’t they? It also reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit that was ragged and torn and yet immensely loved and full of life.
Wabi Sabi…nothing is perfect and yet it is in our imperfection that we find our beauty and uniqueness. I like that! So, I am hanging out in the void and my life feels incomplete. So what? All of life is a simply one void leading to the next void, so what’s my hurry? I might as well enjoy the beauty of this moment!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
REEL TRANSFORMATION MINISTRIES
I am in the process of filling out the paperwork for an Alternative Ministry called Reel Transformation Ministries. I am still looking for my right and perfect church, as well as other employment. Right now I'm living off of savings....God is so good!
This alternative ministry would allow me to do workshops and teach classes under the name of my ministry and receive tax deductible contributions. This is an interesting and long process. I have to file an Article of Incoporation with the state, create Bylaws and have a board of trustees. I also have to submit a proposal to the Association of Unity Churches to get approved and get a letter of recommendation from my Regional Representative. The deadline for submitting to the Association is August, but it wouldn't be approved until January of next year. Who knows where I'll be by then....I may not even be in this state. I may be working in my new church, and then I probably would have to put this alternative ministry on hold. But I feel drawn to go ahead for now, so we shall see what happens. Hopefully by January my book will finally be done and published.
I hestitate to even put this here on my blog, as potential congregations will come here to check out my blog. Please know that this is an example of living in the moment and trusting the flow of Divine Order. I would like nothing better than to be in a church working full time, and yet until then I must move forward to create...and this feels like fun. It may turn out to lead nowhere...and it may end up being something awesome. Who knows? God does.
This alternative ministry would allow me to do workshops and teach classes under the name of my ministry and receive tax deductible contributions. This is an interesting and long process. I have to file an Article of Incoporation with the state, create Bylaws and have a board of trustees. I also have to submit a proposal to the Association of Unity Churches to get approved and get a letter of recommendation from my Regional Representative. The deadline for submitting to the Association is August, but it wouldn't be approved until January of next year. Who knows where I'll be by then....I may not even be in this state. I may be working in my new church, and then I probably would have to put this alternative ministry on hold. But I feel drawn to go ahead for now, so we shall see what happens. Hopefully by January my book will finally be done and published.
I hestitate to even put this here on my blog, as potential congregations will come here to check out my blog. Please know that this is an example of living in the moment and trusting the flow of Divine Order. I would like nothing better than to be in a church working full time, and yet until then I must move forward to create...and this feels like fun. It may turn out to lead nowhere...and it may end up being something awesome. Who knows? God does.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Prayers for the Gulf
I'm posting an email from Mike Davis about the joining together in prayer on Sunday, June 20th to pray for the Gulf:
What started out as an invitation from Rev. Patricia Reiter to Unity churches around the Gulf of Mexico to come together in blessing the Gulf has gone national. It has grown into " . . . a joining of people from all walks of life to pray in their own special way. We will have over 10,000 people joining us at that hour from around the country," writes Rev. Reiter.
Please pass this email along and help us reach as many people as possible - the Gulf needs us, as we need it!
BLESSING OF THE GULF OF MEXICO:
WHEN: Sunday, June 20, 2010, 3:00 p.m. Eastern time
WHERE: Along the Gulf of Mexico, or wherever you are
WHO: Everyone!
WHY: "We can channel our frustration at the pollution of the Gulf into a positive force for good."
A special song has been written for this event: "O Holy Ocean, A Song For the Gulf." One comment we have received on the song sums up what we are trying to accomplish on June 20th: "Bravo! I am moved by your tribute and prayer for our ocean!!! I've been so grieved and saddened by the images coming out of this tragedy. Your beautiful song points me in the right direction."
Please share this video of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8VY4WHn9M
Thank you for all you can do!
Warmest regards -
Mike and Paula Davis
http://www.mikedavismusic.net/ / 407-748-7865
http://www.veniceunity.com/ / 941-484-5342
What started out as an invitation from Rev. Patricia Reiter to Unity churches around the Gulf of Mexico to come together in blessing the Gulf has gone national. It has grown into " . . . a joining of people from all walks of life to pray in their own special way. We will have over 10,000 people joining us at that hour from around the country," writes Rev. Reiter.
Please pass this email along and help us reach as many people as possible - the Gulf needs us, as we need it!
BLESSING OF THE GULF OF MEXICO:
WHEN: Sunday, June 20, 2010, 3:00 p.m. Eastern time
WHERE: Along the Gulf of Mexico, or wherever you are
WHO: Everyone!
WHY: "We can channel our frustration at the pollution of the Gulf into a positive force for good."
A special song has been written for this event: "O Holy Ocean, A Song For the Gulf." One comment we have received on the song sums up what we are trying to accomplish on June 20th: "Bravo! I am moved by your tribute and prayer for our ocean!!! I've been so grieved and saddened by the images coming out of this tragedy. Your beautiful song points me in the right direction."
Please share this video of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8VY4WHn9M
Thank you for all you can do!
Warmest regards -
Mike and Paula Davis
http://www.mikedavismusic.net/ / 407-748-7865
http://www.veniceunity.com/ / 941-484-5342
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A Change Messenger
I just participated in a teleseminar and realized that I have a new vocation: I am a Change Messenger. Maybe it’s not a new vocation, rather just a new name for my work or a clearer focus on what I’m already doing. Yes, I’m a minister, but really what my work is about is calling people to transform and change their lives through connecting with their Higher Power. On a smaller scale my work is about my own personal change…as I continue to change and evolve I have more insights to offer to others. On a larger scale, my work is about being a messenger to help facilitate change in the world. As individuals change—the world becomes a better place.
All of us are Change Messengers, not just teachers and ministers. As each of us transform our thoughts, words, feelings and actions, the world benefits. Our life transmits our message. What I’m also realizing is that each of us has our own unique message to share. My individualized message has to do with the Hero’s Journey and the Stages of Transformation that I’m writing about in my book Reel Transformation. What I am most excited about is helping people realize when they are being ‘Called’ and when they are wondering in the ‘Wilderness’ so that they can recognize that when they get fired or get divorced that something greater is really at work in their lives.
So what does this all mean? Well, I’m still working on figuring that out. I’m still looking for work in field ministry, but I’m also trying to open my mind to see if the universe is calling me to work in other realms as well. How else can I get my message out there for others to see or hear? Certainly finishing my book would be one way, this blog is another, but perhaps there are others as well. I remain open and receptive to the message and to God’s call.
All of us are Change Messengers, not just teachers and ministers. As each of us transform our thoughts, words, feelings and actions, the world benefits. Our life transmits our message. What I’m also realizing is that each of us has our own unique message to share. My individualized message has to do with the Hero’s Journey and the Stages of Transformation that I’m writing about in my book Reel Transformation. What I am most excited about is helping people realize when they are being ‘Called’ and when they are wondering in the ‘Wilderness’ so that they can recognize that when they get fired or get divorced that something greater is really at work in their lives.
So what does this all mean? Well, I’m still working on figuring that out. I’m still looking for work in field ministry, but I’m also trying to open my mind to see if the universe is calling me to work in other realms as well. How else can I get my message out there for others to see or hear? Certainly finishing my book would be one way, this blog is another, but perhaps there are others as well. I remain open and receptive to the message and to God’s call.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Next Top Spiritual Author Competition
I have recently joined a competition sponsored by James Twyman to become the Next Top Spiritual Author. This is an exciting competition that gives us authors lots of support in the writing and publishing process. I'd been struggling for some time to find a way to describe my book in a short and consise manner, and this competition has helped me do just that! The winner of this competition gets their book published by Hampton Road Publishing. To make it to the next level I need LOTS of folks to go to the website, view my video and vote for me. There are 2500 people entered from around the world and 250 will advance to the next level. So please go and vote for me and tell ALL YOUR FRIENDS to also go and vote for me. Thank you so much.
The title of my book is Reel Transformation: Your Life Now Playing. It is a book about the spiritual stages of transformation that are inherent in any spiritual journey...and we are all on a spiritual journey. My book talks about how these stages can be seen in the characters in movies and also in your own life.
To view my video and vote for me go to: http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=1911 if you can't click on this link then copy and paste the url.
Here's the video, but you need to go to the link above to vote for me. Thank you...and don't forget to tell your friends.
Blessings,
Cindy
The title of my book is Reel Transformation: Your Life Now Playing. It is a book about the spiritual stages of transformation that are inherent in any spiritual journey...and we are all on a spiritual journey. My book talks about how these stages can be seen in the characters in movies and also in your own life.
To view my video and vote for me go to: http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=1911 if you can't click on this link then copy and paste the url.
Here's the video, but you need to go to the link above to vote for me. Thank you...and don't forget to tell your friends.
Blessings,
Cindy
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