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

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com 

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

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com 

Release of Fear

I know that I can release my fears.

Everyone I know knows they can release their fears.

Everyone I don’t even know, all over the planet, knows they can release their fears.

——————-

Sometimes fears are triggered by things we do not even recognize.

How can there be a connection?

As I quit fighting the fear and just listen to what is happening as my body reenacts symptoms, I am guided to discover old memories.

Since the past things are no longer happening, I can reassure myself and find a way around the old feelings that have recurred.

I have proof because I am here now and the other people involved are not.

I can recognize the old symptom as a new kind of proof that I have gone beyond the past, because I am living in entirely new circumstances.

I can relax.

I deserve my new circumstances.

They are a manifestation of my own thinking and actions.

I love being here.

I love doing things that are important to me.

I can release my fears because they are no longer part of my life.

I enjoy my life and I am free.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.takethreedeepbreaths.blogspot.com 

Let Go of the Excitement

In the context of watching my energy, I am noticing the difference between excitement that is anxiety and excitement that is anticipation.

I realize that I can anticipate a good response without being excited and anxious.

In this energy surge, I can be conscious and aware of a good result without attachment.

It is normal and natural for people to respond to something that meets their needs in a positive way.

It is expected that there is a positive response to a good idea which comes at the right time.

I can observe my energy as I think about the past history of presenting this idea, and I can release myself from the sense of frustration that accompanied it then.

I can observe my energy as I think about the ease and acceptance of this same idea now.

Since there has been so much development and growth in my own thought,  it isn’t the same idea anymore, because it has grown and developed along with me.

It exists in a much larger context now, as part of a multidimensional musical educational experience.

Because I had to wait and be patient while the idea grew and grew and grew, it now has many more elements to support it.

Immersed in the delicious processes of creation, I did not have the opportunity to observe the whole context until now.

My original idea has many avenues for people to choose depending on their learning styles and musical instrument preferences.

I can now support many ways of approaching the learning process as others, parents and grandparents, musicians and those with no musical background, attend to these materials.

I can be pleased and be there to answer questions while others step into this new learning process for themselves.

I can be detached and not anxious, as my new idea takes shape in the lives of people who can benefit most.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com 

Energy, Memory and Thought-Attraction

I am reading about energy drawing you in and how to be aware and conscious of this.

In memory, I had six pencils with black and white designs which I put on my school desk to give me a focus point of beauty and calm in the midst of a tense and challenging teaching situation.

Each day, one of the those pencils was stolen.  

I changed my focus from the memory of feeling that I couldn’t even have something simple and beautiful to uplift me, to realizing that I have continued to love that type of black and white pattern and I now create those every day in my meditation drawing.

I have now freed myself from a negative, downward pulling memory.

I have enjoyed and appreciated those pencil designs for thirty years, and now I have eliminated a negative memory associated with them.

What a wonderful power the artist has to have created such a strong impression on me!

How joyous and fun it is for me to play with some of the same elements in my own creativity!

I am excited to see how my release came about.

I am looking at how releasing other elements will free me even more.

I love the idea of noticing my energy and changing the context of the memory to suit my own purposes.

I am gaining such a wonderful sense of life as I learn how to redirect my thoughts and to do the things I love.

Such a wealth awaits me as I continue to release myself.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.inspiredpractices.blogspot.com

A Broader Band Width

Strengthening my spiritual connections requires a broader band width.

That way, I don’t get thrown off by emotional disruptions.

When I am narrowly caught up in my own situation, I cannot hear the solutions which pertain to all of us.

There is always a universal solution which addresses all our problems.

It is the answer to to the question, “What is best for all of us?”

Which actions will address the needs which everyone has?

Which actions will express the greatest kindness and lead to the greatest benefit?

Which actions and policies will create the greatest safety and prosperity?

Since there is no way that only one person can do all these things, it is good to listen generously and widely for solutions.

Each time there is a question, it shows that an issue has been brought to consciousness.

Listening for the answer with deep compassion, allows us to go deeper to hear the answer.

This requires a broader band width, one which shows awareness and compassion.

Then the true solutions can be found, the ones which are sustainable and which reach everyone they can bless.

Thinking in this way gives us solutions across the board, across a wider band width.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.youngpersonsmentor.blogspot.com

Different Forms

Blessings come in different forms.

For me the most powerful ones are the steps I take to free myself from emotionally-imposed limitations.

The trauma left over from early childhood into my teen years leaves me with many hidden triggers.

For instance, when I want to try something new, I still sometimes feel my mother’s anger at my ability to find things to do which were out of her control.

I remind myself that these feelings are only a memory and that I have the right to do the things I want to.

I have been blessed lately with an approach by grace, by which I mean, an unexpected opportunity to follow through on something I want to do has effortlessly come into my life.

It may be a trip out to my land to pick up supplies, when I found my gate was locked by the landowner behind us.

I was able to drive to where I had phone service and ask for it to be taken care of right away.

I chose to be confident, as it was my right to have access to my land.

I was able to be polite, but strong, and the situation was taken care of graciously within the hour.

It may be a desire to try out a new cooking technique.

I was concerned about how to do it, and kept finding myself putting it off.

Finally, the thought came to me that it would be nice to have part of the leftovers for a dish I had just made.

Without thought, I got out what I needed and took the required steps.

As the process commenced, I realized I had been effortlessly, gracefully, provided with the opportunity to follow through on something new I desired to do.

I am so grateful for how our inner Guidance connects us to the Universe which blesses and frees us in so many ways.

© 2018 Kathryn Hardage

www.lovedcherishedadored.blogspot.com