My #1 Idea for America and the world is . . .

Peace.

No surprise there, right?

Then I got the email you see below, and I got to take action on my desire.

Vote for Peace at Change.org and Help Spread the Word

The website http://www.change.org/ is holding an online event through Jan 15, 2009 calling for the "Top 10 Ideas for America," which they will present to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day. Change.org says, "We will then build a national campaign to advance each idea in Congress, marshaling the resources of Change.org, MySpace, and our dozens of partner organizations and millions of combined members." Imagine our campaign with expanded support like that!

The idea to "Appoint Secretary of Peace in Department of Peace and Nonviolence" is currently in FIRST PLACE in the category "Other" and second place overall. We need your help to keep it there all the way through January 15. Visit the site today and vote for peace, then use their "Email a Friend" link to spread the word.

Peace is the only umbrella I’ve ever found that encompasses the desires of all beings in all the world. Really.

Won’t you join me in the vote for peace?

Happy, peaceful 2009.

P. S. This is my last post on Blogger: I thank the team and I wish you all well. Starting 1/1/09, Seeds for Sanctuary will be posted only on Wordpress with the same URL. Thanks, Blogger!

Approaching the Season of Reproach

Here they come, dear one, just as we expected, just as they do every year, just as many of us dread every year. You must know I’m talking about New Year’s Resolutions.

Let’s create a new page in the book of New Year’s Resolutions this year. Let’s work at what I call “the umbrella level.” Here’s what I mean: give up reproach this new year, give up goals or resolutions that measure you or your accomplishments, and instead switch to resolutions that, as you make choices which support them, will change your WHOLE LIFE not just one aspect of it.

Let me give you some examples:

Instead of deciding to lose twenty pounds, choose the umbrella of healthy living.
Instead of deciding to get a new job, choose the umbrella of world service.
Instead of deciding to quit smoking, choose the umbrella of free breathing.

These are not “positive thinking” ideas, dear one. Instead they’re the biggest concepts I can wrap my mind around which will make the farthest-reaching changes in a life.

Let me make this very personal. Since you follow this blog, you know I’ve decided to be a bestselling author. My first novel came out as an audiobook this fall; it should be on Amazon, iTunes and Audible this very week.

I got some very strange guidance about this bestselling author business this week. It was LET GO. Let go into asking simply that my books serve humanity. In fact, I need just to give thanks that my books serve humankind every time I think of it, and take the actions I’m guided to take, that’s all.

The thing about working at the umbrella level is that it transforms everything. How do I know what path my writing will take toward serving humanity? I haven’t a clue, so instead of stressing about my cluelessness, I can let the Universe, which is never clueless, help me serve on a worldwide level.

So when I pick up my umbrella, and you pick up yours, we will all be working toward transformation at the highest levels we can conceive, and the changes that we all want can come to be.

One of my favorite fictional characters is a lady who made all sorts of umbrella level visions come true; it just so happens that she carried a parrot-headed umbrella. Any guesses?

Mary Poppins, that magical nanny, who knew just how to transform anything for the best. So no more reproach at the New Year, beloved. Pick up your umbrella, transform everything, and fly!

Hiding Out in the Present

Seeds X, 52

Seed: Hiding Out in the Present

This phrase came tripping of my beloved’s tongue two days ago and stopped me in my tracks. I’d just read Mike Dooley’s More Notes from the Universe. (If you’re not on his subscription list, click and give yourself that gift.)

One of Mike’s Notes really touched me:

Always, the best remedy for dealing with a troubling past is living in the present.

Yeah, I know. You know this, but . . . did you know that you can HIDE OUT in the present? I’d never thought of it that way. We’re approaching the “reproach season” of the year when we review who we think we are. If you don’t like everything you’ve been, done or had in the past, consider hiding out in the present.

Soon enough you’ll discover that there was indeed a present hiding in your past and that now it’s safe to take it out, show it off and enjoy it in front of everyone.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website www.susancorso.com and my blogs
Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

Couldn't Resist!

An electronic Christmas gift from my sweetie! I had to post it.

Happy, merry, joyous, peaceful . . . Susan

Inconceivable!

I hear the word of my title in Wally Shawn’s famous delivery from The Princess Bride.

Of all the files. I mean it. Of all the files. Yesterday ONE FILE turned up corrupted in my computer, and none of the Help suggestions helped.

It was a big file that I’d been working on for months—a little book of all my blog posts on Peace from Ode Magazine for the past year and half. I’d searched and found wonderful illustrations in Google Images to make just the words on peace more interesting. It was almost done, too. Just two more weeks of posts.

And it was corrupted. Irreparably. I closed my computer down to see if it would restore itself. Got back on it after dinner, and no dice. Then I put it aside. Nothing to do till morning. I told myself I had offsite back-up. It would be no big deal to reclaim the next day.

I got in prayer that somehow I’d get it back. I let go. Good thing.

Morning appointments kept me busy till 2. A dear friend suggested I look in the Trash. I don’t use a Mac but there is a Recycle Bin on a PC. I found it! Not whole, or not as it had been, but closer than starting at zero.

Then I got on the phone with the back-up peeps. Oh, yes, it would be a piece of cake to retrieve it. No problem. I was sailing—for a moment. Then we discovered that the guy who had set up my back-up on this new computer had not included that particular set of files! Dashed to the rocks! HOWEVER, and here is looking on the bright side, we got everything backed up now that needs to be!! And that’s quite a Christmas gift.

Then, I decided to brave Microsoft for Windows Vista. They were no help at all. My software was installed by my computer’s manufacturer so Microsoft wasn’t responsible.

I called Dell. Their people told me to reinstall Microsoft Office. No can do. It came on my computer. And besides, they only dealt with hardware not software! Wait, I said, wait just a cotton pickin’ minute, that’s not what Microsoft says!

Eventually (25 minutes later) they transferred me to their software department, which, after asking me another 25 minutes of interminable (and often repetitive) questions tell me that they can offer me a one-time attempt for $69 plus taxes, etc., or a $269 one-year software service contract.

I let go again, thanked the lady, and hung up.

One file, dear one. One file, and tomorrow’s Christmas Eve.

I’ll reconstruct it over the holidays.

And if this hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have known that all the rest of the “missed” files weren’t being backed up.

Cloud. Silver lining. It’s all in the view we take.

Happy, merry to you and yours.

The Light Returns

Ah yes. We can’t see it, but yesterday, in the Northern Hemisphere, the light returned to Earth. At 7:04 AM, we passed the point of the darkest dark. Starting today, the day is minutes longer than the night. Day by day those minutes grow till we meet the longest day at Midsummer once more.

What does it mean to face this darkness? What does it mean to face darkness no matter the time of year?

Darkness, dear one, is. There are all sorts of things that cause darkness in a human being. Confusion, unwillingness, fear, worry, thwarting of our wills. The issue isn’t whether there will be darkness. The issue is when there is darkness, how do you respond to it?

Some people respond in anger.
Others get sad, or depressed.
Some lash out.
Others turn inward.
Some act.
Others are paralyzed.

Over many years of working with my own darkness and that of others, I have learned to let darkness in myself be, and to be with it. Still, calm (mostly), unafraid. Let the darkness happen. (It will anyway.) Know that Annie was right, the sun’ll come up tomorrow. It does every day.

And wait, trusting the darkness, knowing that something is happening within it, something that could be good for us if we’ll just wait instead of reacting in an unconscious way.

Making friends with darkness means not resisting it or denying its existence. Darkness will come and darkness will go. Trust in the light within you for it is that light which even allows you to perceive the darkness. Make friends with darkness trusting that it is for your highest good, and watch the miracles come as the light dawns once again.

Little Pleasures

Seeds X, 51

Seed: Little Pleasures

I know, I know, spiritual teachers since the beginning of time have recommended that we appreciate the small things in life. It’s a good idea. Really.

I’d like to put a slightly different spin on it. From today until Christmas is seven days. Consider your six senses—one day at a time—as a path for appreciating the little pleasures. Friday: sight. Look for things that please your eyes. Saturday: sound. Listen for things that please your ears. Sunday: taste. Let your tongue be your guide. Monday: touch. Let your skin speak to you. Tuesday: scent. Follow your nose. Wednesday: intuition. You can view it one of two ways—either as a combination of the preceding five or ignoring the five and raising your awareness to your inner knowing.

Even though I’m writing this over July 4th weekend, I can tell you some of the little pleasures I’m anticipating . . . red, carols played by baroque trumpets, cinnamon buns, chenille sweaters, vanilla, and a revelation of a greater sense of who I am meant to be in the world.

Merry Christmas—what a pleasure.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at susan@susancorso.com and please visit my website www.susancorso.com and my blogs,
Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

Ode's Intelligent Optimists' Issue

Ode Magazine’s January/February 2009 Intelligent Optimists issue is fascinating, especially so for me since I was nominated to be one of them!

The assignment was:

This year Ode launches its first annual Intelligent Optimists Issue where we will feature people who are not famous yet but should be because of the work they are doing to bring positive change to their communities, their countries, and the world. As part of this special issue, we would like to hear your nominations, too: tales of ordinary people who do extraordinary things.

Just tell us who your nominee is and write a few lines explaining why this person is special and why their work is important.

I thank everyone who took the time to register and comment. It was an honor to be nominated and the comments people left on my nomination made me blush in secret delight! To read them visit, http://www.odemagazine.com/blogs/intelligent_optimists/3849/dr_susan_corso.

To be included in this list is thrilling. People really do work to make a difference on this planet. Personally, I think the only ways to be in the world are intelligent and optimistic!

Thanks again, everyone! I start the holy-days with a heart brimming with joy.

To Change!

I have been a big fan of the work and person of Barbara Winter and her Winning Ways newsletter for many years. I even had the joy of dining with her on one of her many visits to New York City.

If you are an entrepreneur or a wannabe entrepreneur or a I-might-want-to-be-an-entrepreneur-when-I-grow-up, Barbara’s work is for you!

Go to http://www.joyfullyjobless.com/ to learn about all her marvelous classes, tools and ideas for a joyfully jobless journey!

What appears below is from her e-newsletter. Her wisdom about different kinds of change grabbed my attention big time.

As you read this issue, think about these insightful words from Zora Neale Hurston:

There are years that ask questions and years that answer.

CARE FOR SOME CHANGE?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doug is a transplanted Iowan who has kept his Midwest sensibilities and friendliness. He's also my favorite clerk at the post office which I visit every day, but it had been weeks since I'd managed to connect. This morning, however, I won the postal line lottery and had a chance to catch up. I asked him how he'd been and he sighed and said, "This has been our most difficult year ever." Then he added with a smile, "I know 2009 is going to be much better."

Plenty of people will be looking back at 2008 and coming to the same conclusion as Doug. It has been a year full of challenges and change. I happen to believe that many people are going to look back at 2008 and realize it was the year they began laying the foundation for living an amazing and creative life.

Why don't we all know that as it's happening? Changing times are often chaotic times causing many to feel confused and powerless. Those who resist surrender any hope of serenity, while those who understand and embrace change are seeing abundant opportunities. Since change is a constant, whether we approve or not, which position makes the most sense?

If you'd like to change the world or change your life or even change one tiny aspect of it, then you need to understand that change comes in two different packages and it's important to tell them apart.

There's Imposed Change which is the kind we can do nothing about. Taxes get raised, fashion designers insist we stop wearing willow green, or road construction slows down our travel plans. Imposed Change is most difficult to handle if you don't allow yourself to have options or insist on being inflexible or are committed to preserving the status quo.

On the other hand, there's Instigated Change. That's the kind that we think of as improving our lives because we have chosen it. Instigated Change happens after we pass through the preliminary steps that get us ready to take action. It's not necessarily any easier to adjust to Instigated Change than it is to Imposed Change, but it's ultimately more satisfying when we do adjust.

"I was always waiting around for someone to fix the world," confessed singer John Denver. "And then I realized that if the world was going to work, it was up to me." The day that you take responsibility for instigating positive change is the jumping off point for self-liberation. It's the day when a shift for the better happens and you discover that Embraced Change comes bearing gifts.

Imposed Change—we all know about that kind and our own acceptance of or resistance to it.
Instigated Change—still, at its core, change! How we handle it is up to us.
Ah, but Embraced Change! I consider this sort of change an email to the Universe.

I’ve decided.
I’m changing.
That’s it!

That’s when the Universal Conspiracy for Good kicks in. You take one step and the Universe takes five to meet you where and how you want to be met. In my experience, the Universe always, always, always delivers much more and better than my original request.

To change!

Tradition

Seeds X, 50

Seed: Tradition

I never hear this word without the three notes from the song in Fiddler on the Roof coming to mind. Tevye sings, “Tradition! Tradition! . . . Tradition!” In the song, Tevye argues for traditional family roles for papa, mama, son and daughter. Tevye wasn’t living in the 21st century.

The OED says that tradition comes from Latin roots meaning a saying handed down. It surprised me a little because I’d always associated the word tradition with the word trade. And that’s my real recommendation to us all for this Season of Light.

Are there traditions in your family? Good. Now, get conscious about them. Do you like them? Do you want to keep them? If so, excellent, but if not, trade your old traditions for new ones. Things are going so fast in our world these days that traditions of any kind are of some value, except those that no longer suit who we are.

Consider putting a new tradition in place of an old one that no longer serves, dear one, and enjoy the holy-days.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark. Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website www.susancorso.com and my blogs
Ode Magazine. and The Huffington Post.

The First Public Reading

To quote Elle Woods, “Omigod, you guys!” I have just been invited to do the first public reading of Oklahoma! Hex—this Friday night!

So here’s the story. I posted my Monday post on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as usual. In it, I put out into the Universe that I am a best-selling author including the notion that I am invited to do readings. That same day I had also promised to call my book editor to catch up. I didn’t get him, but I did leave a message.

He called me back today (Tuesday) with an invitation to a gathering place called The Center for New Words in Cambridge, MA on, believe it or not, Temple Street! (How appropriate!) They do a monthly open mic night on the second Friday of each month called Mouthful.

The Center for New Words has a delicious tagline . . .

where women’s words matter

The Center for New Words is dedicated to a simple mission: To use the power and creativity of words and ideas to strengthen the voice of progressive and marginalized women in society.

There’s no question in my mind. Words have power—otherwise, why would I be a writer? Certainly, I believe in the creativity of words—otherwise, why would I write fiction?
And, progressive? Marginalized? Yep, no problem.

So I’m going to meet my editor for dinner, actually catch up, and give the first of many readings from my novels. How cool is that?

Remember what I said on Monday? I have no idea how any of the events will string together to create myself as a best-selling author. Except one. It’s the one I cling to when things seem to be slow, or not happening at all.

Here it is: If I want to be a best-selling author, then God wants the same thing for me. I simply get out of the way, and let Her show me how to get it done!

How’s your new pregnancy coming along?

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Catholic calendar. It celebrates the notion that Mary, mother of Jesus, was herself conceived in a state of grace.

I’d like to offer this feast day an upgrade as an example to all of us of how to change old associations connected to our traditions in order to create new associations for old traditions. You can consider this a lesson in how not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.

So let us start with a question.

What are you currently conceiving in your life?

This is, after all, a day celebrating getting pregnant with something wonderful. What might that wonderful thing be for you? What would you like to carry within yourself like the best secret in the whole wide world for nine months all the while nurturing it, helping it grow, refining it, participating in its new life until nine months from now you give birth to it? (The week of Labor Day—no mistakes!—when school starts.)

Here are some of the pregnancies I know are being conceived today . . .

A dear friend with metastatic disease is conceiving her total health today—
A client is conceiving a brand new website today—
Another client is conceiving the beginning of a thrilling acting career—
A writer friend is conceiving the completion and sale of his first novel—
A close friend is conceiving the growth of her real estate empire—
A neighbor is conceiving a proposal and wedding plans—

You get the drift.

The thing is, on this particular feast day, we are reminded that we each, alone, can create what we choose immaculately (it means without stain) if we will take the process inside ourselves and allow it to grow us as we grow it.

I’ll give you the example of my own process, and if you feel moved to pray and hold this with me, go for it.

It’s taken me years to be able to boil down to one sentence what I want in life right now. That is:

I am a bestselling author.

Can’t be clearer than that, can it?

I have no idea what that looks like, even less idea what the path is to get me there, even less what purpose of God’s that might serve, but I am clear that I do want it more than anything else. I have been writing novels for many years and have a cache of them ready to go.

I was guided to record Oklahoma! Hex, the first one, over the summer. It ought to be released on Amazon.com very soon. (Yippee!) I listen for daily guidance in service to my dream and I take the actions I am guided to take. Can’t do more than that, right?

Not exactly. The other thing I’m doing in this pregnancy just like I did in my last one is dreaming it into being. I’m creating the felt sensations that I think a best-selling author experiences. I’m imagining calls from Oprah, Larry King, Terry Gross, Charlie Rose and their teams asking me to be a guest on their shows. I’m imagining book readings and signings, opportunities to give speeches and sermons, conversations with book club folk. Contracts with publishers for printed copies of the books. Answering the Proust Questionnaire in the back of Vanity Fair. A profile in The New Yorker.

And remember, I have no idea HOW this might happen. None. That’s what makes this conception immaculate—without stain. Because I have no idea how, I don’t have to, and therefore don’t consider how, so I am free to imagine it exactly as I’d like it to be—immaculately, perfectly, clearly in my own consciousness womb.

On this Feast of the Immaculate Conception, you too have this same freedom. C’mon, I double dare you. Get pregnant, and see what you bring forth.

Advent Adventures

Seeds X, 49

Seed: Advent Adventures

This weekend marks the second Sunday of Advent in the Christian calendar, and even though we are not all Christians, we can all take on the spirit of Adventure during this Season of Light which includes Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Advent comes from Latin roots meaning coming. On its way. It traditionally anticipates the birth of Jesus. What’s coming your way right now?

One of the manifestations of Advent that I find enchanting is the Advent Calendar. They usually begin on December 1st and have 24 tiny windows to open, one a day. The first known Advent Calendar was handmade in 1851.

Whether you use a physical calendar or a digital one, grab yours right now. Make a special Advent note to yourself starting last Monday. Decide what you want to be coming into your life and countdown to its advent with children celebrating the Nativity all over the world.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website www.susancorso.com and my blogs Ode Magazine and The Huffington Post.

MILK

On November 27, 1978, I was a student at the National Theatre Institute in Waterford, Connecticut. It was my semester away from my alma mater where I lived, ate, and breathed theatre 24/7.

That same day, three thousand miles away, in San Francisco, Harvey Milk was assassinated along with then-Mayor George Moscone. I remember hearing about it, but its significance was lost on me in the whirlwind of booking the tour for our NTI roadshow.

Thirty years later, almost to the day, we went to see the new biopic, Milk.

Oh what a difference three decades make. Or, do they?

The film, let it be said, is brilliant. No defensiveness. No edge. No sentimentalism. The story is riveting. Sean Penn’s performance took my breath away. One of the major actions in the movie is the grassroots work on a California referendum known as Proposition Six. It proposed that gay people should not be allowed to be public school teachers.

The elation and the despair of the characters in the film seemed to me quite clearly echoed in the recent California Proposition 8 mess. This proposition was a definition of marriage that precluded LGBTQ folk from claiming that right for ourselves.

The subjects of the two propositions were different but the energy, the care, the hatred, the antipathy were identical. Don’t you think we ought to have learned something in those intervening 30 years besides Excel?

Milk interweaves footage of the time with its current portrayals. The two weld seamlessly. Anita Bryant was just as hateful as politicians I heard talk about Prop 8.

With all the challenges that face our world today—interwoven global fortunes, climate change, nuclear threat, to name just three—I say it’s time we stopped trying to legislate matters of the heart and started working together toward solutions for all of us.

Oh, and go see Milk. It’s extraordinary theatre.

People Living with AIDS

I was gainfully employed in the Broadway theatre when HIV/AIDS hit our community. I knew more than a hundred young men who manifested it and died in the early 80s. It’s almost 30 years later as I write these words to participate in Bloggers Unite’s World AIDS Day. Bloggers all over the world are writing about HIV/AIDS today.

One of the major moments I remember in HIV history was when the then-current acronym switched from PWAs (people with AIDS) to PLWAs. People LIVING with AIDS. It was a big switch. In fact, it transformed the collective consciousness around HIV from dying to living.

The thing is: an HIV diagnosis today isn’t a death sentence, especially in Western nations where health insurance makes the outrageous cost of pharmaceutical cocktails workable. HIV has manifested everywhere on Earth now. A full 33 million people have HIV or AIDS. For most of us, HIV/AIDS has become about statistics.

Unless, or until . . . we get a phone call like the one I got recently. One of my closest friends called in a panic.

“I’m HIV,” he said.

“HIV what?”

“HIV Positive!” He burst into tears.

“Whoa!” I said. “Wait, you’re not HIV. You’ve tested HIV Positive.”

Does it seem a flimsy distinction?

I have lived with a chronic disease for almost twenty years. One of the first things I did for myself in the process of learning to live with it was to refuse to identify myself as the disease. I did the same thing for my friend automatically.

Diseases are diseases, dear one, and persons are persons. The two ought not to be confused. Not in the 80s, not now, not ever.

A person who has HIV, who has seroconverted, HAS HIV. That person isn’t HIV itself.

My friend is very blessed. His body is dealing well with the virus. In fact, through some spiritual work he’s doing, he’s actually reduced his viral load.

I remember AIDS before it had a permanent name. For a while, it was called GRID—Gay-Related Immune Disease. I forget why they changed the name.

The thing is: it’s not a mystical mistake that the acronym AIDS ended up what it is. It’s also a word in English: aids, helps, assists, abets.

Personally, I think that gay men made an agreement to act as avatars to our world to prove to humankind once and for all that we need to aid one another. There is no me or you, only me and you.

So what did my friend need after his diagnosis? Aid. Help. To navigate the medical system around HIV. To find information on the disease. To learn where there was appropriate support for his process.

What did I need after his diagnosis? Aid. Help. To deal with my own helplessness and anger. To stop taking personally what didn’t really touch me personally except through my friend. To bless those scientific minds that ever seek a cure for it.

You see, AIDS reminds us that if one person is affected by it, we all are. Having a diagnosis come close to home takes it out of the realm of statistics and into the realm of the personal. My friend is a person living with AIDS, and so, because I too live on Earth, am I.

National Sorry Day

Seeds X, 48

Seed: National Sorry Day

Hearing about this unofficial Australian holiday made me cry. It was started as an apology to the aboriginal peoples of Australia in 1995 and is held on May 26th annually. The history of the day documents a wrong done to the indigenous of that continent—their children were taken from them. It was called the Stolen Generation.

What do you think of every country of the world creating a National Sorry Day? For apologies to indigenous peoples, for apologies to other nations, for apologies within states, cities, counties, towns. Apology is one of the major tools in the kit of human relating. Rather than carry unresolved social or historical guilt or its correlate, anger, why not just apologize?

I realize that apology doesn’t undo the wrongs. Often it can’t. But what apology does do is acknowledge the hurt. Apology says, “Yes, I see you. I see the hurt, and I’m sorry for my part in it.”

This Seed arrives on the day after American Thanksgiving. Take a sec, and see if there are any apologies that might increase your gratitude.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark. Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my blogs Ode Magazine and The Huffington Post.

Vows of Poverty: No, Thank You

I’ve written about vows of poverty before. Usually I encounter them in the past lives of people I counsel when they come to work on prosperity issues. A vow of poverty is usually taken in a monastic lifetime along with the other two: chastity and obedience.

I recently discovered the work of Drunvalo Melchizedek. One of his projects is an ezine called The Spirit of Ma’at. In searching the archives, my eyes fell upon an article called “Releasing Your Vows of Poverty,” a message from Quan Yin, channeled by Gillian MacBeth-Louthan. Quan Yin is the Mother of Mercy. Her name means: She Who Hears the Cries of the World.

It was these two paragraphs that grabbed my consciousness:

The reason that you took a vow of poverty to begin with was because you were about to embark into a spiritual field or a spiritual endeavor. This could have taken the form of a priest, a holy person, a shaman, a nun, a minister, or any other form.


When you walk into any type of spirituality, automatically all ''vows of poverty'' are reactivated and initiated. In many lifetimes, you believed that to be Godly you must be poor, you must do without. You believed this wholeheartedly, and took a vow of poverty to prove that belief.

To quote Elle Woods of Legally Blonde fame, “Whoa!”

Is it only me, or has anyone else noticed that spirituality is becoming a bigger and bigger part of people’s lives these days? More people are turning to the seeking of spiritual answers, and some of us are even finding!

Now, think. The pundits say that our economy is in as big a pot of hot water as it was during the Great Depression.

Do you see the juxtaposition I’m seeing?

Quan Yin continues:

Any time new levels of Light, of energy, of God declarations come to your earth, you automatically step into the DNA remembrance of your vows of poverty. Every time a new, expanded form of awareness comes to humanity, you stop creating money! You have done it over and over and over again. That is the fear of most of you when you walk fully into your spiritual position: that you will not have a cent to your name. You fear you will have to rely upon the good nature of other people to feed you, to clothe you, to give you love offerings or pay penance.

Aha! We, as a species, are walking more and more toward the light of new realization and understanding. Could it be that our economic “crisis” is a result of those vows of poverty being reactivated? I think so.

So how, I hear you asking, can I break these vows?

It’s really quite simple. Tell ALL the vows of poverty you have sworn in all the lifetimes you have lived, are living and will live that you are through with them. Be polite, and tell them, no, thank you. I have learned the lesson. Poverty is now no longer coupled with enlightenment.

Enlightenment comes with riches beyond measure—both in tangibles and in intangibles—if we’ll embrace this as the Truth.

We are made in the image and likeness of the Creator, no? Is God poor? No! God is Riches Itself. Accept who you are, dear one, and carry your riches into the world. They will bless you, and God, and all the rest of us, too.

No Drama Obama and Me

I love the theatre and it has a small consciousness hazard connected to it—I know how to do drama in my own life. So here it is . . . long story short.

A friend recommended that a friend of his meet with me. We did so and hit it off. I then recommended an old friend of mine to my new friend. New friend was inappropriate with old friend and I BLEW MY STACK.

I called my original friend to see if I could figure out how to deal with our mutual (my new) friend. I was raging, furious, a fierce Mama bear in all aspects. Very tough. DO NOT MESS WITH ME, DEAR ONE, when I am in that mode. It doesn’t bode well for anyone who crosses my path.

Fortunately, my original friend was delighted at my ferocity, the clarity of my emotion and my brutal honesty in owning my own reaction. He, bless him, helped me to get clear that my reaction was actually an over-reaction, connected to childhood events around betrayal. I chilled out.

Now I can call the person in question and make clear my feelings about his behavior without separating his head from his body. I plan to give myself Sunday to continue to relax over the issue, make space for myself, and be sure I am completely calm before I call.

All that put me in mind of No Drama Obama, and the silly IV drips of information about his new cabinet picks. It’s taken me many years to figure out that drama belongs on the stage and not necessarily in my life. In fact, I prefer it on the stage and I prefer it out of my life. It is, however, my default position.

The cool thing is that I was able to connect to a friend who totally appreciated my passion and saw it for what it was—my own reaction, and not really connected to the other players at all. That sent me back to No Drama Obama. He could have fussed at the media this week about the so-called leaks, but he just let it go, and kept on purpose.

That’s what I have to do, too. Keep on my purpose, speak my truth in love, and let my yea be yea and my nay be nay, and return, return, return, once, forever and always to peace. Obama is a great example.

Disarrange

Seeds X, 47

Thank you to everyone who made the time to comment on my nomination as an Intelligent Optimist for Ode Magazine. Be especially blest, SFC

Seed: Disarrange

When we arrange things, we put them in order, usually an order that makes sense to us. Alphabetical. By size. By color. By item. When we try to arrange ourselves, I think sometimes the Universe responds by disarranging us.

“It is necessary for things to disarrange you,” wrote French essayist and poet, Francis Ponge. “We cannot truly see something until we approach it, not as a superior but as an equal that has the power to startle us with the marvel of its selfhood.”

Be on the alert for disarrangement, dear one. It usually happens when we ourselves our clamoring to grow but can’t see how to get it done. A new relationship will disarrange us. A new job. A move. Endings. Beginnings. A new book. A new course. A new route to work.

The trick isn’t to attempt to arrange the disarrangement. (Disarrangement isn’t always disarray.) It’s to look at the disarrangement and see where you’re called to expand who you are so the new arrangement makes sense to you.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.

Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website www.susancorso.com and my blogs Ode Magazine and The Huffington Post.

Who Are You Waiting For?

I had a sad thing happen yesterday. A client chose to terminate our relationship. There are all sorts of reasons he chose to do this—not the least of which being that I was the wrong guide for the process he wanted. Truly, I was.

That’s sad for me, but it’s great for my client. It’s great because I’m hoping that by “firing” me, he’ll be able to make the space to find what he really needs.

My new assistant sent me the quote below. It goes with what happened yesterday.

"There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.


Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.


At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.


The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!


Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.


All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.


We are the ones we've been waiting for."



—The Elders OraibiArizona Hopi Nation

In my own case, in my client’s case, in your own case, dear one, we are indeed the ones we’ve been waiting for. Everyone’s path to that realization is different. Trust yourself, like my former client did, and fire the people, thoughts, experiences that don’t get you to where you want to go.

Several Cool Responses To Seeds

I always like it when Seeds readers write back to me in response to that particular week’s Seed. I even have a file in my computer called “Cool Responses to Seeds.”

Several of you wrote about this possible history of ps & qs:

The etymology and evolution of the phrase, in my experience, was found in connection to the earliest revolutionary days.

The command to mind your p's and q's was an admonishment when the pub got too loud and rowdy. Or for the servers to push more ale.

They served pints and quarts of ale. As the customers became more inebriated, the pub owner would shout to mind your p's and q's, in an attempt to lower the volume and rambunctiousness of his clientele and of course to save his establishment from the damage caused by drunken brawls.

If he was not making enough money for the night, he would command his 'ladies' to mind your p's and q's, of course meaning that they should sell more pints and quarts.

Since then, the phrase has been adapted to a more civil meaning to attend to peace and quiet.

I always enjoy reading your Seeds. Thank you for taking the time.

Another reader offered this explanation:

One of the explanations I’ve heard for the Ps and Qs comes from the printing trade.
In a type tray all the letters are backwards, and a printers assistant (known as a ‘devil’) could easily confuse a p/q!

Overall, most of the responses I received were glad about the reminder to allow for a little peace and quiet as the weekend began.

Peace and quiet are what let each one of us connect to the deepest truth of ourselves, dear one. Peace, quiet and inspiration—a.k.a. a deep breath—turn the Divine Spark into a Divine Flame, and that’s really what we’re doing here on Earth.

ps & qs

Seeds X, 46

Seed: ps & qs

Ode Magazine recently published their Silence Issue. Much of it was about noise and its less-than-healthful effect on our minds and bodies. A headline in that issue using the words peace and quiet made me think of my maternal grandmother. She used to tell us grandkids to mind our ps and qs. Did yours?

I own a words and phrases dictionary so I looked up that phrase. What is it to mind your ps and qs? No one is totally certain, but the overall consensus is that it means: be very careful, be precise most especially in terms of your penmanship—don’t confuse the loops of a p and a q. That works for me.

But what works more for me is minding my peace and quiet. Things are getting busier for me these days. Lots of clients. Writing. My audiobook is out and there are more to come. I’m doing interviews, writing, monitoring comments on various blogs, writing, even coming into the 21st century on Facebook. When I get cranky because of too much input, minding my peace and quiet works every time.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark. Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website http://www.susancorso.com/ and my blogs
Ode Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

Afterglow

http://change.gov/

True to the spirit of his campaign, Barack Obama's website has a link whereby you can make suggestions: how cool is that!

http://change.gov/

(Actually, just "change.gov" will get you there.)

Then click on "Tell Us Your Story."

Here’s what I’m worried about:

That we’ll get over the euphoria of electing Obama and that all the energy that went toward electing him will dissipate. That’s why I wrote to our President-Elect: utilize the energy that elected you! Challenge Americans to pick one issue and work on it every day for a year.

The other one I’m urging is the establishment of a cabinet-level Department of Peace.

What’s bugging you?

Tell the Obama folks. I did.

Keith Olbermann on Prop 8

I don't usually post on Tuesdays but Keith Olbermann had me in tears with this Special Comment on the defeat of Proposition 8 in California.

God Bless Newsweek

Their post-election Special Edition arrived on Friday and I spent my Saturday night reading it word for word. Even the ads. What appears below in italics are quoted in order of appearance from Newsweek. The non-italic type is my thought process as I read.

First, let me say that I was thrilled that Obama won. I cried, tears of relief more than any other kind. I felt brimming with hope, a chance for true change.

Jon Meacham writes, “His voters share convictions, not experiences.”

Now we need to wade in, make some serious choices and share experiences. Government, too. For us citizens, we need to consider where we’re going to put all that energy we created through the election season. In my Huffington post this week, I suggest that we each pick one—one issue that we care about and start now to take action to change it the way we think it ought to be changed.

A Liberty Mutual ad read, “For one Tuesday each November, the chores, duties and errands can all wait. Because democracy can’t.”

Democracy, that crazy ideal foisted upon us by the Founders of our nation really does involve a government of the people, by the people and for the people. People isn’t just a generic term, dear one. People is made up of persons, individuals, who by their choices make a difference.

Raina Kelley, writing to her four-month-old son, writes, “He did not simply dream of being president, he summoned the discipline to get there.”

This is what’s called for now, in all of us. Discipline. The slow, tiny action steps that make for both eventual and overnight success. Pick one, one issue and act. What’s the thing that bugs you the most about where our universe is right now? Global warming, global cooling? Polar bears? Panda bears? No arts education in our schools? Diminished athletic programs in schools? Do something about that thing, whatever it is.

T Rowe Price’s ad said, “Re-evaluating your investment choices?”

I’ll say. I’m taking every single penny of my consciousness out of the ‘we have a terrible government’ account and putting it into the ‘yes, we can and yes, we did’ account. And I’m asking myself seriously, what do I want to invest in for our country’s future? For me, trees are important—very important, and so is, as always, peace.

Rick Perlstein writes, “What can Barack Obama do? He’ll need help.”

Duh. Duh. Duh. Yet I worry that the energy and the euphoria of the election cycle will give way to the lethargy and carelessness of past years. What do you care about? DO SOMETHING about it. Now. While you/we still have the energy.

Newsweek goes on, “Obama used to send listeners out of his stump speech with five words: Let’s go change the world.”

Notice the little pronoun in there? It’s not “me.” It’s “us.” Let US go change the world. Obama can’t do it alone, dear one. Even if he is the President of the United States.

A U. S. Bank ad made me laugh out loud: Fly high. Go far. Yes, the future looks brighter with us.

Now they, of course, meant U. S. Bank, but I saw us. The future does look bright for us, as a people, as a nation, but only if we DO what’s ours to do.

Oprah Winfrey is quoted, “Winfrey spoke of reading ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,’ how the enslaved Pittman was searching for ‘the One,’ the child savior who would lead her people to freedom. Well, I believe, in ’08, I have found the answer to Ms. Pittman’s question. I fo-o-u-und the answer! It is the same question our nation is asking: ‘are you the one? Are you the one? I’m here to tell y’all, he is the one. He is the one. . . Barack Obama!!”

Oh, dear one. Yes, he is the one, the one we elected to be our president, but Barack Obama, no matter all the things he definitely is, is NO savior. In fact, God help him if he or we think he is. Barack Obama is a good man, connected to his ideals, and aware that he needs a team to get done what needs to be done. Are you on his team? Good, because that means you’ve picked one issue and gone to work in its behalf.

A Royal Bank of Scotland ad: Commitment. Make it happen.

And that’s it in a nutshell. We have to commit. Now. To making the changes we want to see in the world.

On November 3rd, speaking in Florida, then-Senator Obama said, “We have a righteous wind at our backs.”

We do. We have the tremendous momentum of the election season. We have the joy, the hope, the release into faith in our country. Let’s harness that energy and commit. Pick one issue, dear one. One, and do something.

Anna Quindlen has been a favorite writer of mine for decades. She sums up Newsweek’s issue stunningly. Citing Barack Obama’s race speech, she writes, “He made the political spiritual.”

And that, blessed one, is my whole point. Everything is spiritual from our votes, to our country, to our president, to our commitments, to the air we breathe, to the issue we commit to changing.

So I say, God bless Newsweek. May each of us pick one issue and go at it.

Synaesthesia

Seeds X, 45

Seed: Synaesthesia

Here’s a fancy word! I read it in Joe Vitale’s wondrous marketing book about P. T. Barnum called There’s a Customer Born Every Minute. If you’re into marketing, run and get it!

Mr. Vitale used synaesthesia to turn himself into a dynamic public speaker on an occasion when he was scared out of his socks. The word itself means a merging of the senses. It’s Greek and it denotes the condition of dreaming into reality. Here’s how Joe Vitale applied it.

He asked himself questions about the speech he planned to give. “If this speech were a piece of music, how would it sound?” His answer was: like Melissa Etheridge. “If it were a color, what would it be?” He saw fiery red with white streaks in it. For weeks before his speech, he dreamed it into being. Weeks after the event, he got the highest rating the group had ever given.

We are dreaming creatures, beloved. We literally dream ourselves and our lives into existence. Why not use your senses to dream the dream you want?

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark. Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website www.susancorso.com and my blogs
Ode Magazine and The Huffington Post.

The Suspense [Was] Terrible

I first heard those words of Oscar Wilde in the mouth of Willy Wonka. The rest of the phrase is: “I hope it will last.”

We just got home from voting and the autumn leaves on the trees are crackling . . . yes, with dryness, but also with the tension in the air. There were no lines, although we ran into our neighbor who said he had tried to vote early this morning and the middle school that is our polling place was mobbed.

The suspense is heavy, pregnant, dark, brooding, alternately light, birthing, exploding. We have waited almost two years for this day and this day, as days do, finally arrived. I have every expectation that tomorrow morning there will be a new President-Elect of the United States of America.

Whew! Campaign season over. Dial down the pundits, but wait, what are you saying to me?!?! The work has just begun? Not even, dear ones.

The election is indeed over. The work has not quite begun, but we are in the enviable position of having had two years of seeds sown in our minds. Seeds of peace, seeds of hope, seeds of a renewed America. What normally happens with seeds, dear one?

Not that I am one, but I know that most seeds need gardeners or farmers or Dolly Gallagher Levi to do what needs to be done to encourage them to yield fruit. All we have is a President-Elect. Better stated, we ALL have a President-Elect.

Now that we’ve elected him, what are we going to do about it? Let me assure you of one thing. His work has just begun, and he can’t do it without us. C-A-N-N-O-T. Our President-Elect needs us—starting right now—to hold with him the vision of the America we want our America to be.

We can’t toss the responsibility onto him and the government. Nosirree, we, the people, have to start to work NOW to help our country restore itself economically and in the world.

I challenge you to pick ONE issue that you care about, just one—the environment, health care, education, political reform—it doesn’t matter which one and begin to pray and work for it to become what we need it to become.

The suspense is almost over. What are you going to do now?

(So you know, my one issue will be the establishment of a cabinet-level Department of Peace.)

Breathless in Boston

This weekend turned out to be all about the theatre for me. We saw the opening of a college production of Madwoman of Chaillot on Thursday, nearly had to drive to Maine for an audition for my sweetie on Saturday, and I went to the Boston Opera House to see Legally Blonde on Sunday. The theatre has been a part of my life since I was a very little girl. It’s part of the way I view the world.

Madwoman is about how the street people save Paris from corporate greed. It’s a wonderful metaphor for our current time. The way the show was performed, however, was an uncomfortable metaphor for our time. It ran long, too long for the young actors to sustain the arc of the story. In the end, the powers that were (in that situation) told these youthful performers to a/ hurry and b/ shout. Hence the uncomfortable metaphor for our time.

We are often in a hurry and, as a result, we often shout at ourselves and at others. We got home very late that night and went to bed. In the morning, I wakened anxious and edgy. It took me two hours to figure out that I couldn’t get a deep breath because my body had picked up the anxiety of the cast! I had to slow down just to make enough space for me to breathe.

The audition was postponed so we got to stay warm and cozy at home rather than drive to Maine, but we did get a chance to reconnect with our friends the director and producer of The Public Theatre in Lewiston/Auburn, Maine. A truly magical company, it’s an Equity theatre in a most unlikely place that sells its seasons out consistently by insisting upon experienced actors who show up and create wonderful theatre.

Things are slower in Maine than in our bigger metropoli. There is both the time and the space in which to breathe. Breathing’s good, dear one—at least four or five times daily! If you can’t “catch your breath,” here’s the fastest way to get it back. Exhale! Breathe out. Hard. Even if you have to force the air from your lungs. What you’ll find is that you’ll catch right up to your breath because the exhale is what causes the inhale—not the other way around.

The Boston Opera House is a stunning theatre. Originally created as a vaudeville house, it became a legit theatre when Sara Caldwell, the opera director, took it over for her opera seasons, and my, is it grand! Legally Blonde is in the queue of musicals I’m planning for The Healing Mysteries of Mex Stone.

I just got back from the performance and wow! It was so fun. Interestingly, several of the scenes were slower than the ones in the MTV version. Not only were the actors able to breathe but so was I despite the high energy of the show.

This brings me to my point about breathlessness. The U. S. election is tomorrow, and a lot of us are holding our breath and crossing our fingers for our favorite candidate to win. Here’s my advice: let go, breathe out, and let the inhale sustain your faith. By November 5th, we will have a new President-elect.

"Are you a . . . ?

Seeds X, 44

Seed: “Are you a . . .

. . . good witch or a bad witch?” It’s Halloween. I couldn’t resist. You know, I’ve probably seen The Wizard of Oz a hundred times, and I had to rewatch Dorothy’s arrival in Munchkinland to be sure that this line belonged to Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. In fact, it’s her first line.

What she’s really doing is qualifying her prospect. Her pitch will change based on whether Dorothy, her newly arrived prospect considers herself a good witch or a bad witch. Dorothy, of course, denies that she’s any kind of witch at all. Glinda—f.y.i. Billie Burke at age 53, widow of Florenz Ziegfeld—made me think.

You see, Dorothy refuses to be identified by the label offered to her, and each one of us has that right as well. The point is that WE get to decide how we’ll think of ourselves.

At All Hallow’s Eve, the veil to the Spiritside of the world is very thin. If there’s an idea of yourself that you don’t yet embody, reach for it. It’s, once again, up to you.

So. Are you a . . . ?

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness, they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.
Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website SusanCorso.com and my blogs , Ode Magazine. and The Huffington Post.

Spiritual Leaders for Change

spiritualleadersforchange.org

Deepak Chopra

Jack Kornfield

Roshi Joan Halifax

Barbara Marx Hubbard

Rabbi Michael Lerner

Stephan Rechtschaffen

Sister Jenna

Lama Drolma Palden

Dean Ornish MD

Reggie Ray

Krishna Das

Sylvia Boorstein

Jean Houston

Pema Chödrön

Marianne Williamson

Barbara De Angelis

Alex & Allyson Grey

Ed & Deb Shapiro

Oscar & Cindy Miro-Quesada

Swami Beyondananda

Peter Fenner

Robert Thurman

Jai Uttal

H.H. Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi

Lama Surya Das

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Jack Canfield

Julia Butterfly Hill

Gay & Katie HendricksP

ir Elias Amidon

Richard Moss

Eli Jaxson-Bear

Corinne McLaughlin

Gordon Davidson

Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi

Sharon SalzbergGangaji

Joan Borysenko

Judith Ansara & Robert Gass

Christian de la Huerta

Rev. Dr. Susan Corso

*************************************************************************************
As spiritual leaders signing this letter we are stepping forward to say: “We can make a difference.” As our spiritual practice empties, opens and strengthens us, we are naturally moved to engage in the world with compassion, equanimity, and the dedication to live our values.
We know many of you are already both concerned and involved in this year’s Presidential election. Yet, in the past weeks, many of us have heard friends in the spiritual community expressing ambivalence about voting. When asked why they wouldn't vote we heard things like: “It doesn’t make any difference”; “I’m more interested in spiritual practice than politics”.
Humanity is at a crossroads. We can no-longer afford to sit on the sidelines. We are asking you to get engaged.



The 2000 presidential election was decided by just 500 votes and this November appears to be just as close. Every vote matters. Your vote and the votes in your community could make the difference.


Please make a heart-felt inquiry and look at the candidates. Ask yourself who best reflects the values you want to live by – those of spirituality in action.


Who do you believe will lead this country and the world in the direction you would like to see it move?


Which candidate will foster security through international cooperation rather than wars of aggression?


Which candidate will move policy most quickly toward a sustainable habitable planet for future generations?


Which candidate will most support our commitment to human rights and equal opportunity for all people?


...and then Vote. Let your voice be heard.


Together there is nothing we cannot do.


TAKE ACTION NOW
1. REGISTER TO VOTE & Detailed Voter Information

2. VOLUNTEERFind out how you can help!


3. FORWARD THIS MESSAGE


Visit our site for fliers, email resources (optimized for forwarding) and more information on how to get the message out.

Let’s bring the benefits of our practice into our lives. The world needs us.


Please help us Spread the Word.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

I needed my hand held this week, and my friend, Court, came to my rescue.

First, on the subject of holding hands at all, it’s a nice thing to do. I love holding out my hand when someone else needs their hand held. It assures me that when I need mine held, someone will show up to do it. Thanks, Court!

Second, I needed my hand held in a cyber way. I needed to (finally) learn how to post videos on my blog. I’d tried and tried and failed and failed. Someone I knew had to know how. I put a request out to my friend having seen videos on his blog.

Third, in the process of having my hand held, I learned several more bits of blog trivia and so did he. So we were both blessed.

When you want your hand held, there’s a reason for it. Accept the reason and reach out—you just might be surprised and delighted at who reaches back.

I'm learning video posting

This is a great idea!

Hilarious!

http://www.aarpvote08.com/?d=U3VzYW4gQ29yc28

I already have one vote!

Helper/Helpee

Seeds X, 43

Seed: Helper/Helpee

I quit helping people years ago. Does that surprise you? At the time, it surprised me. I had a client, a dear one, who I’d gone out of my way to help turn on me in rage and resentment. It took me a couple of years to process what happened.

Finally, I got it. I’d helped her and that made me “better than” her in her eyes. My intentions were good, don’t get me wrong, but the way I offered help to her, she felt “less than.” I wrote her an amends letter out of my new understanding.

Helper/Helpee relationships often mean that one person is up, and one person is down. It’s not always a pretty scenario. The thing I learned, and it might shock you, is this: Every situation which involves more than myself must serve both (or all) persons involved.

When I realized that I learn as much from my client as he or she does from me, we are both served. We both grow. We both heal. So, I gave up helping a lot time ago, and instead, walk parallel with people when they ask me to do so.

Be content,

Susan Corso

Dr. Susan Corso

Seeds are remarkable gifts. Sown in consciousness,
they bring you to the most important part of your being—your Divine Spark.
Check out the Seeds Archive for past messages of inspiration.

When you have friends you would like added to the Seeds e-mail list, send their addresses to me at SeedsDrCorso@comcast.net and please visit my website SusanCorso.com and my blogs
Ode Magazine and The Huffington Post.

The Overrated Mind

I’m a thinker—I admit it. I think, not because I am, but because I like to think. Thought fascinates me. Mine and that of others.

Since I turned 50 though, my thought has been systematically heading south. What do I mean by that? I’m learning to think with my heart. I think it’s a natural aspect of getting older. Consider this:

As we age, life tends to become simpler, more clear. We know what we want and we know what we’re willing to do to get it. Many years ago, I decided that the Prime Directive of my life would be Peace. This means that I measure every choice I make by this question: Does this (whatever this is) contribute to or diminish Peace? It makes my choices simple.

We all need a Prime Directive. It doesn’t really matter what it is. I have a client whose primary value (same as Prime Directive) is Love. He measures every choice as to whether it’s loving or not. A friend of mine uses Compassion as his standard. I know someone who is all fired up for Justice; another who values Freedom above all.

Do you see a pattern here? I sure do. All of these primary value notions are intangibles. If you think about it, they almost have to be in order to be big enough to encompass any circumstance. These sorts of ideas are umbrellas.

The thing is, one’s Prime Directive isn’t available in the mind. It’s not something we can decide upon and implement like a goal or a strategy. Nope, a Prime Directive has to come from the heart. Has to. Because that’s where individual prime directives live.

I laughed this week at a Google quote from Joss Whedon (the creator of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) and friends, “It’s not enough to bash in heads. You’ve got to bash in minds.” Well, maybe not bash. That definitely doesn’t contribute to peace.

But we do have to question our minds. The mind is a wholly overrated commodity in our logic-addicted civilization. And, if you think about, you probably can’t even say where the mind is. The brain? Sure, we all know that brains live in our skulls. But minds? Where do they live?

Here’s a secret: the best aspects of our minds live in our hearts. That’s why my thinking has gone south. When I feel peace in my heart, I know I’m making the right choices. When I don’t, I know I’m stuck in that elusive mind-space that wants results based on intellect. Intellectual results get caught in polarity, and don’t give me a peaceful heart.

Try an experiment with me. Spend a whole day thinking with your heart. The process is: have your thought, then check in with your heart. Does that particular thought support the ideals that you hold most dear? If so, good. If not, think again.