Monday, February 26, 2018

The Feeling of Common Good

I am so grateful for the feeling of common good.

Everyone I now is so grateful for the feeling of common good.

Everyone I don’t even know, all over the planet, is grateful for the feeling of common good.

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It is a good feeling to know that we have the power to create common good.

All the steps to legalize selfishness and self-centeredness do not take away form the simple principle of common good.

What’s good for all affects everyone.

There is room for good for all.

There are ways of achieving good for all which do not depend on actions and institutions which can be taken away by a small group.

We are starting to find these ways.

Instances where local grass roots action helps those in need are happening in more and more places.

Innovative and imaginative solutions are being found and implemented for underserved populations.

Networking among those who desire to serve and uplift are having a positive effect.

As this sense of good for all grows, it will trickle up through the ranks of people who have been empowered by the acts of others.

Good for all, the common good, is a unifying principle and it is gaining acceptance and power through the actions of more and more people.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Common Goals for Common Good

Common goals include everyone.

They are not exclusive, even to those who are selfish and self-centered.

The power of common good is being challenged in so many ways.

The resources which we all hold in common are our desire for good for all of us, inclusively.

This is gaining power even while the agreed upon currency of money and power feeds the greed of a small number of people.

Attention to right causes which uplift and include more and more people are gaining ground.

As individuals, then groups, begin to work in the same direction, many barriers are being overcome.

It is a comfort and a pebble of peace to move in the direction of good for all.

Despite new versions of tyranny and exclusiveness, new solutions have been found throughout history.

Today’s version will find its own solution through the desire for the common good.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Deep Comfort of Common Goals

There is a sense of deep comfort when working on common goals with like-minded people.

After a stimulating discussion and individual consideration of goals and skills, there is a sense of unity and trust as we share ideas.

Partnering and large discussion move the topic in consideration onto a larger scale than individual contemplation.

The feeling that everyone is moving into a new phase is energizing.

Focus and direction help make the process efficient.

As the workshop ideas percolate throughout the night in consciousness, they take radiant shape.

It is easy to outline appropriate substantial steps to take and to take them.

The focus allows an efficient use of resources at hand.

Focus also allows expansion and implementation of ideas already “on deck”.

A sense of ease and confidence pervades the day.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage


Friday, February 23, 2018

Joyful Creation

It is such a wonderful feeling to be engaged in joyful creativity.

Today, after doing my spiritual work, I decided to continue working on a sewing project.

The next two steps are done, and I have laid out the third step.

I am so grateful for the feeling of progress in such a happy way.

Committing myself to being able to do what I love has been a rigorous process, full of the usual obstacles involved in breaking a deeply ingrained habit.

But it is worth it.

I now have a mental, spiritual and physical basis and base for doing my work, and I love every minute of it.

As I received the inner guidance of my identity through listening deeply within, I have learned to trust my desires.

As I have acted on that guidance, I have been able to set up congenial space for my projects.

Through my study and deep listening, I continually find the ideas which I love to share.

Then I make them.

I make beautiful things.

I celebrate my originality which comes from my deep meditation and listening.

I joyfully play with the materials which I collect from fun places.

This is truly a restoration, a resurrection of my soul.

To be involved effortlessly in such a daily joyous expression is truly the Universe’s gift to me.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Whatever You Need, Right When You Need It

Sometimes I need something and I can not find because I put it down and forgot where it is.

Sometimes I need information or services.

Sometimes I need calm.

There is a teaching which tells me that whatever I need is right where I am, right in front of me.

When I get calm, I have taken the first step.

Then as I either sit quietly, or begin a search, or look on-line, the right ideas come to me and I am presented with what I need.

This has happened in many different ways.

One time, I couldn’t find my cell phone.  Calmly, as I began moving cushions on the couch, It was below one of them.

Another time, my husband and I needed someone to brush hog the near growth on our cleared acre.  As we rounded a turn on a country road, there was a sign and phone number offering that service.

In many other instances, I have been able to connect in easy but unpredictable ways with the materials, people, and information I have required.

The Universe loves us and takes care of us by providing what we need, right where we are, when we listen deeply and peaceably.

In that calm, quiet sense within, we can always hear the direction we need to turn and the steps we need to take.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Finding Your Deep Peace

I am grateful to find my deep peace.

Everyone I know is grateful to find their deep peace.

Everyone I don’t even know all over the planet, is grateful to find their deep peace.

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To find your deep peace, take a moment to slow down.

Take a deep breath and do so again until your begin to find your calm.

Once you can maintain your calm, go deeper.

Listen deeper, and deeper.

As you find your focus shifting inwardly, you can begin to listen for a feeling.

Maintain your calm and listen even more deeply for the feeling of peace.

Once you can feel your deep peace, maintain your focus and go deeper.

At a certain point, your deep peace will hold you and embrace you and cushion you and comfort you.

In this deep security, you will find your deep peace.

And here is where you can listen and find the messages and guidance which are meant for you this day.

You can do this at any time during the day and hear the messages and guidance that you need for that moment.

Find your deep peace and listen, and be guided.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Grateful for Time to Build

I am grateful for time to build on my new peace and happiness

Everyone I know is grateful for time to build on their new peace and happiness.

Everyone I don’t even know, all over the planet, is grateful for time to build on their new peace and happiness.

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Right now, my experience of peace and happiness is relatively small.

I have learned how to overcome long-term negativity in my life, but I have not been practicing it very long.

I have discovered that I need time to expand my practice.

I need to build a wider foundation with more experiences of peace and happiness.

I can continue doing what I have discovered that I love to do.

I can continue meeting with my supportive craft guilds and women’s groups.

I can continue enjoying living in the country.

I can continue building up my collection of beautiful things that I love to make.

But, it is not time to go out and sell.

Every time I try to lead or push or encourage myself in that direction, I get rebuffed.

I pushed it last year and lost out on a lot of booth fees.  Even the weather caused events to be cancelled.

So now, I am continuing to work and to prosper and to create and to enjoy.

This is my time for building those kinds of peaceful and happy experiences.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Gentleness, Not Pushing

I am amazed at the amount of time I have by doing things gently instead of out of anger or by pushing myself.

The gentle nudges which come from listening deeply within are powerful agencies when translated into action.

I have tried to hurry things up, but it is useless.

When I feel the strong deep gentle power within and know that feeling of Guidance, that is the time.

That is when I am in sync with the Universe, and that is when things happen easily and naturally.

Even though I may be able to see where I think I am going, it feels different to get there when I am in alignment with the Universe and Its guidance and power.

I can take gentle steps and explore new skills and still know that I will be where I need and want to be.

I can leave the anxiety and tension behind me as I feel the gentle direction being given me.

A natural order takes over and the project emerges in its own time with many more beautiful elements than if it had been rushed.

I know to simply not work on something until I feel the presence of gentleness.

The hurry and rush of deadlines and assignments is irrelevant in the presence of a higher and better way.

I know to trust gentleness instead of fearing pressure.

It is a new way to live and work, and I like it a lot.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Keeping My Thought Close

It is easy to jump in on someone else’s emotional track, but it is more important to keep my own thought distinct and close to me.

I have learned how it feels to be calm and to not react, and I have to be sure to practice this as consistently as I am able.

My spiritual study and work with a counselor have taught me the difference between my own thought and the thoughts the are so deeply implanted by parents and by society.

I can choose the thoughts which I prefer.

I prefer the happy ones.

I prefer the ones which allow me to listen deeply for good ideas.

I prefer to be able to act on the good ideas without getting bogged down in negative habits and influences.

That is what I do now.

All day, I do things that I love.  Setting that up was the first step.

Being so very kind to myself was the second, in recognition that this was something I needed very much.

Acting on all the many projects which I love, in various sequences and combinations is the third step.

I am looking forward to sharing them as they get completed.

They are happy expressions of my life and I want other people to enjoy them.

I love that I can keep my thoughts close and still enjoy sharing my rich expression of doing the things I love.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Monday, February 19, 2018

The Heart and Happiness

The divine connection is through the heart.

It is very important to do heart-felt things.

That is the way to discover and support your spiritual individuality.

Notice what makes you happy and decide to create that for yourself.

You deserve a gift of happiness that only you can bring to yourself.

Figuring out how to redirect your life toward happiness builds your skills in creating delight for yourself.

This delight spills over and delights those around you.

They feel the happiness in your work.

You connect through your heart to the world of happiness. 

Happiness begins to define your divine life.

The more happiness you express, the more divinity you express.

Happiness is a divine right which can be expressed right now in your present state.

The more you cultivate happiness from within and express it, the more you cultivate your divinity.

At some point you not that your happiness is unstoppable, and so is your divinity.

Your heart connection is forever, always, and now.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Friday, February 16, 2018

Listening for Peaceful Things

The feeling at the Quilt Shop on Friday night is so expressive and enfolding to those of us who visit regularly.

We support each other through weekly stories of daily life.  Stitching away on various quilting projects and getting input and admiration as we go is very uplifting and so reminiscent of women’s gatherings for millennia.

Somehow, the daily problems, once acknowledged, are lifted to resolution.  The collective female mind is very powerful and inventive.  Sharing stories of difficulties opens the door for solutions midst a sympathetic and understanding group.

The peace I feel, while I am there sewing, is something I crave and look forward to every week.

The camaraderie is a tangible substance.

And seeing everyone’s work is just wonderful.  Beautiful fabrics sewn in beautiful combinations.  So may different patterns, beautifully crafted work.

We are able to discuss personal situations and current news events.  The ideas we share all seem workable in the right context.  We are hoping others in more powerful positions can find the same harmony.

We are the people.  We have the families.  We admit our limitations and our weaknesses, but we also admit our power.

Local events are addressed appropriately and people have to be answered and others held accountable.  Suggestions are made for purposeful steps to be taken.  Fairness is demanded in local government offices.  Children must be safe going to and from school and during school.

This all happens in the Quilt Shop.  We discuss, we evaluate, we support.

And we sew beautiful, beautiful things.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

Thursday, February 15, 2018

My Creative Process

Many of my fabric projects are ready for their next step.

Somehow I like to accumulate them, acquiring the materials that are needed, and then begin to complete the next step.

When this happens and it is the last step, it is very exciting to have many projects get finished all at once.

During the middle stages, it may feel as though nothing is happening even though the stack of projects gets higher and higher.

Then, the energy shifts and it is time to take the next step on all the projects.

One of the things that this allows to happen is that my projects acquire more complexity and layers.

There might be more embellishment, or more handwork, or an extra border, or research and testing of different threads.

At any rate, I can not push the creative process because there is something that is improving and expanding the project that I cannot see yet.

When it is ready, I am moved to take the next step and the next and the next over whatever period of time is necessary to bring the project to maturity.

I am always delighted to discover what is revealed.

It is so much fun to see how each new addition affects the outcome.

There may be many twists and turns of design as one step influences the next and the next in a cascade of creativity.

As I start completing the next step, there is a sense of peacefulness that replaces the restlessness of the growing stack of projects.

And then the process begins all over again until they are all complete.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage