Choosing To Live or Choosing To Die

Choosing To Live or Choosing To Die ©2018 Joan M. Newcomb, CPC

We experience life on a multitude of levels. It is infinitely complex. It is definitely not black and white. But the level where we feel the most conflict and pain, is the level that presents the most choices.

If we're operating totally unconsciously, we don't feel like we have any options. Life happens to us. There is always something bigger and more powerful, that has influence over us. Bad things happen, it's probably our fault or someone else's fault. Good things happen, it's a coincidence.

When we experience life with more Consciousness, we're aware we have choices. If we make a decision, take an action, we can see it's effect in our lives. We feel a little more empowered. If things appear to happen, we can respond differently. Even if something seems "bad", we feel we can do something about it.

At this level of choice, we can go towards light, we can go with energy in motion, we can experience breakthroughs. It's not always comfortable, but it can be exhilarating.

And, in a funny way, choosing not to take action is still an action. We can choose to stay still, to not move. It's familiar, but it may be more painful.

When you look at life from this level and in this way, you can look at it as choosing to live or choosing to die. You can notice whether or not someone is bringing more life energy into form, or is on the way out.

And at a higher level of Consciousness, we're aware of all of these levels, and there isn't a judgment about life and death, coming more into body or leaving it. Sometimes people leave the party early. Sometimes people hang out until the wee hours.

Growing older means knowing more people going down the path of dying.  As much as it would be nice to hang out longer with our friends and loved ones, everyone has their own storyline and timing. I may miss their bodies when they're gone, but I sometimes (often) have a better relationship with them when they're non-physical.

At a higher level of Consciousness, the choice isn't about living or dying. It's about being fully in form, living fully in the moment, loving and appreciating all that is, and everyone in it.

I guess you could say that's choosing Life.

How I Lost 50# Without Even Trying

How I Lost 50# Without Even Trying ©2015 Joan Newcomb

I stopped growing when I was twelve but kept eating. By the time I was 14, I weighed the same as I would when I was 9 months pregnant with each of my kids.

My parents sent me to see a psychologist. He was fat, with greasy hair and dandruff on his shoulders. He gave me a 200 question assessment.  Afterwards he told me I was depressed, because I was overweight.

I have to say I was a little put off. Who was this guy to say *I* was fat?!?! I refused to see him again.

However, I went home and started charting my food. I'd use the 8x11 cardboard inserts from my dad's drycleaned shirts, and with a rule made columns. I'd write down everything I ate, then I'd look up their calorie content.

After a while I developed a routine of eating. I would start the day with a cup of corn flakes and a half cup of skim milk.  In my school lunch bag I would have a large golden delicous apple, a half a head of lettuce, and a can of tab. At dinner I would have whatever the family was eating, I'd just measure it and look up how many calories it was.  Sometimes I'd have a candy bar in the afternoon on the way home from school.

About the same time, I started walking to and from school every day. It was 2 3/4 miles each way. Essentially,  I was walking 5 1/2 miles each day and keeping to a 1,200 calorie diet.

During that time, I had developed a habit of substitution. I'd eat a piece of fruit instead of a cookie. I'd eat toast dry, with no jam. I'd eat salad with no dressing, and vegetables with no butter. And I learned to only drink liquids with no calories, so it was diet soda or black tea or water.

In about six months, I'd lost 50 pounds.

It was so empowering, to have consciously accomplished this body transformation. I felt like I could create my reality any way I wanted to.  And it launched a series of decisions and actions that took me off on my own path, away from family patterns and expectations, to a whole new world of experiences.

Now, I have to say that it was sheer teenaged obsessiveness that gave me the singleminded determination to stay focused for so long.

Puberty and adolescence is such a powerful time. Your physical form is finally almost adult enough for you as Consciousness to fully embody it. You're suddenly flooded with additional awareness, including past life memories when you ruled countries and won wars. But you don't have a driver's license.

Kids need to be acknowledged as Consciousness, they are treasure chests of potential. As parents we just need to step back and let them reveal how capable they really are.

Adults need the same validation. As Consciousness, you are magnificent. What is it that you want to change or transform about yourself and your life? What are the baby steps you need to take to make that happen? Focus on the first steps and the rest will fall into place.

How NOT To Be Tossed and Turned By The Vortex

How NOT to be Tossed And Turned By The Vortex ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I came across a video of a piece of fabric, dancing in the vortex of a circle of fans.  It looks human, in the way it twists and twirls.  It looks how we feel, as we engage with different energies in this physical realm.

Sometimes we feel buffered about by the varying influences, like a leaf reeling in the wind. We're affected by these circles, our family, our friends, our work environment. Those are the most noticeable ones. But we're also reacting to wider circles, our neighborhood, city, or region. And we resonate with even bigger ones, our religions, political parties, culture, and country.

These energy systems are multidimentional, not only spanning distance, around the globe, but also time. We engaging in historical patterns and responding to ones forming into the future.

But the thing that struck me, as I watched the fabric swirl around, is that it was missing Consciousness. It looked alive, but it wasn't.

When you are feeling tossed and turned by 'Life', your body/personality is the aspect that feels that way.  It's missing it's connection with You.

If that fabric were a dress worn by a dancer, she would be spinning and swaying, but you would notice that she's inwardly anchored, even when her feet aren't on the floor.

Dancers aren't performing random movements, they're enacting choreography. Even if it's improv, they are reflecting years of training.

Staying centered within yourself, You can dance through your various circles without having to participate in the denser emotional aspects of them. You can love your family and friends and not be driven crazy by them. You can maintain professionalism at work regardless of how dysfunctional the culture may be.

When you're grounded into your body, then you are in charge of actions. You can steer your kayak away from whirlpools, out of eddies and into the greater Flow of wellbeing.

You can do this in all sorts of ways. You can practise mindfulness. You can walk barefoot also called 'earthing'. You can visualize an energy connection to the center of the earth, and imagine earth energy flowing up through your feet into your body.

These are techniques that have been around for millennia, for as long as we've been manifesting into bodies on this planet. They are still very effective, but may require 'upgrading' as our Collective vibration increases.

I'm playing with the concept of connecting wirelessly to the planet, and anchoring into key points of the body.  It's a way of being in the planet and not of the planet. It's strong, light, and flexible. If you want to know more, go here.

Play with these ideas this week, see which ones fit for you, and notice how it transforms your experience in the world!

When Good Things Happen To Guilty People

When Good Things Happen To Guilty People ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

There's a book called 'When Bad Things Happen To Good People', which profoundly answers the 'why me' question when terrible things happen.

But I think we're all resolved to bad things happening. The economy's had recent downswings, people have lost their jobs and had to reinvent themselves, divorce statistics are high, and even if your life doesn't have any dramatic events happening in it, there's enough on the news and social media to keep you comfortably miserable.

What we aren't prepared to deal with is when good things happen. When you watch TV and people win the lottery or get a wonderful surprise, they burst into tears. It's painful when good things happen. 

I've seen people become successful in their businesses, hit the six (or seven) figure mark, and they are extremely uncomfortable. It's almost like survivor's guilt. Why me, when other people are struggling?

Why not you?

You can hear other's thoughts. Who are you to have success? Who are you to be happy? Who are you to be in love? Who are you to be rich?

We're no longer matching the crowd. We're stepping up and beyond the energy of deprivation and lack. 

However, these are the thoughts that hold you back, that keep you from breaking through.

If I become financially successful, no one will like me. I can't attract a life partner if I'm independent. I can't be happy if a friend or family member is suffering.

Here's another way of looking at it: you can provide the example for other's to experience fortune in their own lives. You're showing that it is possible.

When good things happen, it can be hard to enjoy it, because we're stepping out of our discomfort level.

We're expanding our ability to have joy and love and other good stuff.  That's a stretch, for most of us.

You are allowing your Self to be full sized. To be fully Present. To manifest more of your True Self.

As Essence we are infinite, joyous, and free. We are capable creators. We come into physical bodies and roll around in the mud.  It's equally creative to manifest terrible things happening, as having wonderful things happening. A shift of perspective is all it takes.

It's okay to have good things happen. It's your birthright to be happy, joyous, and free. It is all right to vibrate differently than the crowd.

Each person who breaks out of the limitations of their family, peers, culture, creates space for others to join them. You help Consciousness evolve by moving forward yourself.

This week, let yourself dance to your own drummer, let yourself be high on life. Appreciate the good things you already have, and you'll let yourself have more!

Nobody's Ascending Anywhere

Nobody's Ascending Anywhere ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

One of my readers asked me some great questions "what's going on vis-a-vis the overall evolution of mankind. Are some" developed" people going to ascend by 2024?  2014 has passed and we're still here."

I answered this in a recent Mystic Minute Video, and wanted to spell it out more clearly here: ain't nobody ascending anywhere.

Yes, we talk about an acceleration in Consciousness. We talk about the vibration rising, getting more sensitive and Aware.  But the impression is that at some point we'll become so advanced, we'll just vibrate out of our bodies and disappear into the 5th Dimension.

That's how it feels to our bodies and from our personality's perspective.  We can't imagine existing at a higher vibration, we can't comprehend anything but 3-D.

Consciousness is already 5D. Consciousness is beyond the hologram, outside of D altogether. Even D is part of the illusion.

Consciousness embodies reality but is outside of it as well.  In Consciousness, there is no time or space, everything is happening at once.

So whenever we try to put things into linear measurements, it's our personality trying to figure it out. Oh, I must be going up in vibration (no, Consciousness is coming more into form).  Oh, I must be ascending, I must be developing more (no, you're just experiencing yourself AS Consciousness more, and as Consciousness you're infinite, beyond levels of development).

Back before 2012 they said some people weren't going to make it. They imagined mass destruction. All limited and undeveloped people would die.  And, dangit, the politicians and religious fanatics are still here.

Although, if you notice, they're all going more crazy than before. That's because their old paradigms and rigid belief systems are disintegrating and it's freaking them out.

And, guess what, they're Consciousness, too.

To our bodies, and our personalities, it feels like things are going faster. Time progresses that way, to form.  But past, present, and future, is all happening simultaneously to Consciousness.

The best way to handle this it to be in present time, in the NOW. You're body feels calmer when focused on the present moment. When you do that, things feel like they're slowing down.

Play with this all - viewing life from Consciousness, being Present, for the next seven days and see what happens!

Why Fire Your Spirit Guides?!?

Why Fire Your Spirit Guides?!? ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

Much has been written about connecting to your spirit guides or guardian angels. It's reassuring to know that there's unseen help.  People have experienced miraculous, real world results when working with invisible helpers.

We are born with some of them, and we collect others along the way. Some are more active than others.  If we had rough childhoods, we may have had a mariah step in to handle things.  If we created a business, chances are there's a deva overseeing it.

It's empowering to actively communicate with them, to make requests and receive information.  You can tune into them through meditation, or journaling, or just talking aloud when you're driving (both hands on the wheel so it doesn't look like you're on your phone)!

When I started having regular 'staff meetings' with my business devas, my income skyrocketed.  I've also used them for health related issues with some success.  Pretty much any area of your life can be improved with support from Spirit.

So *why* on earth would you want to fire your Spirit Guides?

Some guides are from the past and are outdated

Here are a few reasons:

1. When they limit or hold you back.  Childhood Mariahs are protectors when you're little but as an adult you don't need a nanny.  They are lovely beings, but they still see you as a child.

2. When you've entered a new phase of growth.  We'll call in guides to assist us when we're at certain levels of awareness.  When we advance in Consciousness, we need ones that match us at our higher vibration.

3. When you've changed directions.  Angels, guides, devas, all have a specific focus or area of attention.  If you finish medical school and suddenly realized you only did it to please your family of doctors and your real passion is law, you may need a different team of helpers.

How do you fire your guides?

You don't have to go all Donald Trump on them. I've found a wonderful serenity and neutrality when working with the other side. They don't need drama, just respect.

1. Communicate with them directly.  Have a little chat in whatever way works for you.  Writing it down helps validate the communication for you because you can read it afterwards.  Prayer and meditation gives your communication a focused intent.  I like talking outloud with my guides, when I'm driving, or walking my dog. (You can wear your headset plugged into your phone that's turned off, if you're worried that your neighbors will think you're looney).

2. Bring them into the present moment.  Imagine the energy of present time, or a calendar with today's date. This is especially effective with childhood guides. Somtimes they will automatically disappear. They can go off to help another kid.

3. Release their contract. We make agreements with our invisible friends. You can upgrade or release their contract and they will go on their way.

Now what?

You may want to take some time to reclaim your own energy, be with yourself in your new space.  Or you might be ready to hire new staff to help you!

1. Specifically ask for what you want.  Because you will get it. Again, do this in a way that works best for you.  If you prefer ritual or formality, you can light candles, say prayers or affirmations, write something and put it on your vision board.

2. Be open for something different. When I upgraded my business devas, I'd been use to formal staff meetings.  My new group didn't work that way. They were like a bunch of mellenials with iPhones that would spontaneously "psychic text" inspiration to me.

3. Take Action. Some angels will go out and find you clients while you sit on your couch eating popcorn. But more than likely you'll get intuitive hits or opportunities that require you to take action. We're the ones in physical bodies, so we have to act in order to make things real.

Try these suggestions and fasten your seatbelt, because your life is about to accelerate!

If you want to know more,  check out Accessing Unseen Help For Your Life, Health and Business!

Are You Making New or Repeating Old?

Are You Making New or Repeating Old? ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

All of our creations are our babies.  Whether you're planting a garden, writing a novel, putting together a fishtank, or building a house, you are utilizing your creative energy to give birth to something physically.

How do you bring your desires into form? 

I looked at the process of giving birth from the standpoint of Consciousness, and these are the steps:  

HOW TO MAKE A HUMAN

first, love

second, weave patterns together
third, narrow focus these patterns so they become dense
forth, from the woven patterns, density becomes matter within the boundaries of time and space
fifth, matter, an embodiment of love, gestates in a pool of perceptions
sixth, when it’s time is ripe, matter emerges into the storyline to weave it’s own story and patterns.

That last part, the sixth step, applies more to human beings but if you think about it, your fishtank or garden does have it's own storyline. My fishtank was supposed to be populated with 9 fish, eight gold or red, and one black, but the first fish I put in there turned out to be pregnant so within a week I had 20 little black fish. It took a few months before I got the right combination in there. It had it's own storyline beyond my agenda/intention for it!

This week, I was meditating on bringing a desire into form, tuning into it as a thought and imagining it becoming dense. And I caught myself - instead of bringing in new energy, as it became dense, I was focusing on what I did NOT want to create!

In other words, I was focusing on all the things that hadn't worked in the past, rather than this new idea I wanted to create.

Has this ever happened to you? You apply all the Law of Attraction or the Secret techniques and instead of getting what you want, you get a repeat of the same old stuff.

I manifested my current husband in nine weeks, by very deliberately stating what I *wanted* in a relationship. Any time my thoughts strayed to a list of complaints about my exes, I'd metaphorically grab myself by the ears and make counteracting statements! 

When you work on consciously creating a dream or desire, *don't* focus on making them dense! *DO* narrow your focus to exactly what you want (leaving room for your Consciousness aspect of yourself to bring it in more perfectly or greater than you can imagine)!

Realize that your perceptions color or shape your manifestation, so release limited or distorted ones!

Try this for the next 7 days and see what happens!

Want to know your essential purpose and passion? Sign up here to receive my updates and get a free quiz!

The Deva of Money and Morphic Fields

The Deva of Money and Morphic Fields ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

This morning I had a little chat with the Deva of Money and I thought I'd share it with you.  

Devas are the unseen architects of Nature, they design things to be brought into physical form.  They hold qualities and communities as well. There's a Deva of Broccolli that oversees all the brocolli plants on the planet. There's a Deva of Patience that you can talk to in Friday afternoon commuter traffic. There's a Deva of the country that you live in.

I know of someone who personafies the Deva of Money with a sexual connotation, which works for them. For me, it feels entangled with cultural history of women being dependent on men financially.

The Deva of Money, as I feel it, is light, bright, clear and impersonal, like the ocean, like God. The ocean is not vindictive, the ocean takes and gives, the ocean provides for wildlife and the planet. 

You fall in the ocean and drown, it’s not murdering you. Sharks eat you, they are feeding, being sharks. Your alertness keeps you from falling in the ocean, but what about boats going down, what about hurricanes and typhoons? Weather is not personal, it is patterns, it is part of the interweaving design of this world. 

Many of us are entangled in the morphic field of poverty and deprevation, lost in the "funhouse mirror" maze of distortions.

The Deva of Money invites you to come out, come into agreement with the flow.

Wealthy people grok the flow, yet multiple flows are happening all at once, which is why they can be assholes and rich, or why they can be personality deprived and opulent. They may be focused on money but not in integrity with relationships.

The game on this planet is to experience life, the game may or may not be coming into balance. it may be a goal in the game, we all get to set goals as part of the game.

All your feelings about money, all your opinions about rich people,  distance you from having it in your life.

This week, sit and tune into the Deva of Money for yourself. Notice your first impressions. What does it feel like, look like, sound like, smell like, ??

Have a conversation with it. Have a pen and paper handy, jot down what you think it's communicating with you (unless you're extraordinarily clairaudient, you may get visual images or thought/ideas rather than actual words).

Dance with it energetically this week, and see how your life transforms!

Want to know your essential purpose and passion? Sign up here to receive my updates and get a free quiz!

Manifesting In The Real World

Manifesting In The Real World ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

The other day I had a chat with someone who does similar work and we both had the same question for each other: how do you integrate your inner and outer realities?

We'd been through different journeys since we'd first met, but had similar derailments, when "real life" situations occurred and took the focus away from higher consciousness work.

Feeling Stuck?

For me, my mother's Alzheimer's and cancer took me off my main career path, but I held my higher focus that I was midwifing her back to Source through the roller coaster ride of the end of her life.

It's hard to be out in the world, in the work place, or in other 'real life' situations (for me it was hospitals and doctors and caregiver groups), and maintain a multidimensional perspective.

How do you deal with coworkers or family members from the perspective of Consciousness? How do you approach issues, challenges, conflicts, as your Expanded Self?

It may require slowing down and not reacting from habitual patterns. Making different choices, responding differently (neutrally) to situations that come up.

The other stumbling block we encounter is our own techniques. You aren't at the same level you were when you first connected with healing guides or learned certain transformational techniques. These relationships, and energy techniques, need upgrading.

Sometimes it's a matter of communicating with your guides and bringing your agreement into present time with them.  Sometimes it requires a change of personnel.  Upgrading your meditation practise and techniques may be disorienting, like the going from a typewriter to a computer.  You may not be used to such instantaneous results.

Or - it may be renewing your acquaintance with your guides and resuming your practice. Your spiritual muscles may have gotten flabby!

I have experienced profound, miraculous, transformation when I take the time to consistently focus on energy work.  The tools in my spiritual tool kit work when I work them - for myself and my creations.

They don't work when I'm scattered or paying attention outside of my own space.

This week, take some time to dust off your toolkit and upgrade your invisible helpers and see what happens!

If you want some new techniques, check out my upcoming webinar!

Running on Fumes

Running on Fumes ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

On Monday I work up sick, and spent the first day walking around in amazement. I never get sick so I don't know what to do. If I have a headache or a sprained ankle, I forget to take aspirin.

The second day I asked someone what you do when you get sick.  They said 'rest,' a novel idea since I'd usually power through it.

The third day I drank ginger tea, which helped, and was tremendously productive.  Yesterday I was 100% better, but today I'm drinking ginger tea again.

Ginger Tea

When I look at the big picture, I can see where I've been overextending myself. In many ways and on many levels, I've simply run out of gas.

I just looked at the title of my post and realized 'fumes' can mean more than just fuel. I've carrying around grievances.

Fuming leaks energy.

Illness is a message to focus on your body, to do something differently.

I'm engaged in several kinds of start-ups that aren't yet yielding results.  When you begin something you can't expect to receive from it right away. It's like being a parent of a newborn.

My start-ups are 12-18 months old; I have a bunch of toddlers still in diapers.

When I look at my calendar for the week, 90% of my schedule is in service or action, 10% is receiving.  Imbalanced, to say the least.

I also notice that, although creativity is required in all my work, I'm not using my creative energy in a way that's nurturing or satisfying to me.  I have two or three books I've been meaning to write for years.

I'm not kvetching. I'm sharing this, suspecting that a few of you out there will resonate.

Where are you draining energy (emotionally, physically, financially, or otherwise)?

Where do you feel your creek beds are dry? Are they dammed up or dried up? What can reverse the flow?

Are you spinning your wheels? Are you stuck in a rut? What can give you traction?

Some ways to give yourself "juice":

Mini-moments of enjoyment. Pause to enjoy the sunshine, a flower, the view.

Take a total break. A movie or a book (unless you use TV or your Kindle to waste time normally), or a walk or a hike.

Ask for help.  It might be a simple as a brainstorming session with a friend, or hiring someone else to mow the lawn. You may discover your spouse/family/coworkers might be happy to pitch in, if you ask nicely!!

Meditate, pray, journal, energy work. If you're in the habit of any one of these, you may want to mix it up and try something else. You may find you need to strengthen other spiritual 'muscles'!

Try any of these for the next 7 days, and let me know what happens!

You Are Loved, Lovable and Worthy of Love

You Are Loved, Lovable and Worthy of Love ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I am sitting in a downtown Starbucks. It is not designed to hang out in. It has hard metal seats and tiny row tables. It's across from a city park, where city denizens live.

A woman comes in with a huge stroller and a tiny toddler.  Her daughter has a grey T-shirt with a big strawberry on it. She is a bright spark of light amongst beings who have accumulated many shades of gray.

I see a lot of diversity, but not a lot of happiness.  There's a lot of pain on the streets outside of Starbucks.

Street child in Kolkata with a mango!

Another woman with a stroller comes in.  She has an infant in a front pack, a two year old, wearing an identical gray T-shirt with strawberry and a four year old in a blue cotton dress. The two year old dances around the other toddler, delighted to be T-shirt twins.  The other toddler, clearly an only child, sidles up to her mom and raises her arms to be carried.

The little girls are bright sparks of light.  That is, their light is easily visible.  Yet every single person in Starbucks and on the street were bright, shining, infants and toddlers once. They were all loved, lovable and worthy of love.

Mother Theresa once said that she saw Jesus in every poor person's eyes.

There was a form of torture POWs were put in cages where they couldn't sit down but they couldn't stand up. They had to stay crouched for impossibly long periods of time.  When they were released, it was painful to stand.

This is a great analogy for staying in pain or poverty or other dysfunctional patterns.  After spending many years in darkness, moving to a healthy stance, being visible and in the light, is painful.

More and more light is coming into the world.  More and more darkness is being exposed.  It is coming to the surface to be cleared.

If you are going through dark times, if you are experience extreme discomfort, know that it is the greater part of You emerging.  The bright spark of light that you were, You still are.  Yet is is no longer a spark but a shining star, the brilliance equalling our own Sun.

Breathe and allow your Light to shine. Breathe and allow your heart to open. You are unique. You are special. You are loved, lovable, and worthy of love.

Everyone is.

Real World Manifesting

Real World Manifesting ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

Think about all the things, people, and situations that you've created in your life. Some you can validate that you created - you graduated from high school, you got into college, you chose that (even if it wasn't the college of your choice, you made it happen).  If you got married, you chose that (even if you chose to get divorced later - and you chose that, too).

It's harder to validate that you chose being born, and you chose the family that you were born into.

Maybe you read Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain, or listen to Abraham-Hick's Law of Attraction, Art of Allowing.  You put something on a vision board, or you imagined it in a pink bubble.  When it happened, you were pleased but maybe discounted the achievement as 'magic'.

It's more difficult to acknowledge that you created things that seem to happen spontaneously, or by accident.

Making things happen in the 'real' world takes hard work and effort. You set goals and take steps to achieve them. And if stuff happens to thwart your accomplishments... oh, well.

It's not helpful to say 'you create your reality', because when crappy stuff happens, you feel it's your fault. It's not accurate to say You are an infinitely capable being, because when good stuff doesn't happen, you feel like something is wrong with you.

The thing is - you are *both*.  At your core, you are an Infinite Being, and that's the aspect of you that created the reality you're in. Your body is your vehicle, your personality is the combination of pictures and experiences that you've created since before you were born.

You, the Infinite Being, creates your reality. Your personality wishes it were creating your reality.

How can you tell the different?  You, the Infinite Being, is amused and light hearted.  It's here for the fun of it. There is no time or space, so it's infinitely patient with it's creations.  This lifetime is happening in the blink of an eye, and it's simultaneously experiencing all lifetimees as well.

You, your personality, is serious. It's main focus is survival. It's not going to make it out of this lifetime alive. It exists in present time, the past is just a memory and the future is not real. It wants things NOW.

When you use energy techniques to manifest as an Infinite Being, it's done playfully. If it doesn't happen, no big deal.

When you use energy techniques as your personality, you are trying to make things happen. If it doesn't happen, there must be some outside interference.

Trying to make things happen by trying to maneuver your outer circumstances won't work. It's as effective as an actor pushing sets around on a stage.

Changing your energy from within, changes your external circumstances.

Look at the things you'd like to have in your life.  How will you feel when you have them? It's the feeling that you are going for.  You think you want the winning lotto ticket, but really you want to feel free. It's the energy of freedom you desire. And, as Essence, you *are* free.

You think you want the perfect relationship, but really you want to love and be loved.  It's the energy of Love you want. And, ironically, Love is already surrounding you and radiating to you (and from you), if you only take the time to notice.

Bringing something into form, manifesting in the real world, takes focus.  But not effort.  You are a thought, wrapped in love, and focused into density. You are loved, and you are loveable.

Make a list of the main things that you want in the key areas of your life.  What's the main feeling you want to have?

Give yourself the gift of those feelings. Imagine that *you* are in a pink balloon of freedom, or love, or whatever core energy that you want to have.

Try this for 7 days and let me know what happens!

If you'd like more specific techniques for real world manifesting, go here!

Pure And Simple Happiness

Pure And Simple Happiness ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

Whole Foods opened it's very first store in Tacoma yesterday and I was unbelievably happy.  We've lived here for 18 months and I've been trekking to Seattle almost weekly for my organic fruits and veggies.

I could rave on about the store - it's enormous, it's bigger than the one in Rockville in the DC area where I'd shop when caring for my mom - but it isn't about the store, it's about the feeling.

It was pure and simple, childlike joy.

Happy Baby!

It surprised me, because, yeah, I like Whole Foods, and, yeah, I'm going to appreciate not schlepping up I-5 forty-five minutes each way to go shopping, but this just came in sideways.  Which is what it's like when you're receiving from Consciousness.

Something like this happened a couple weeks ago as well.  We went out to dinner for my birthday, and this same childlike joy came up.  I mean, yeah, it was my birthday and yeah, it was a nice restaurant, but there was also a myriad of things that could have pissed me off (and has, in the past).

Instead these was this gleeful feeling, everything unfolding 'just for me'!

What's going on?

I think that I've cleared away enough rubble and clutter that my inner child feels safe to come out to play.

I've been strengthening my inner connection as Consciousness, and it's allowing this to come in.

I'm hesitant to say what's contributing to this, as I don't think there's one formula for finding happiness.  I've had several times where I've experienced what I'd call a Spiritual Awakening.  It's a feeling of being in love with the Universe, in love with my life, and in love with my Self (and not necessarily in that order).

I do know that it's come after a period of focused concentration, i.e. several weeks or months of meditation and energy work.  I also know that it's gone away when I've lost my focus or gotten distracted (like getting into a new relationship).

What I can say is that it takes disengaging from outside drama.  It takes detaching from other people's 'stuff'.  It's choosing to keep your hands on the wheel of your own vehicle, and your eyes on the road of your own path.

The thing about happiness is that it doesn't come from a winning lottery ticket, or from having all your ducks in a row. You may not have learned all your lessons perfectly, or attained enlightenment. You can, however start experiencing happiness, right here, right now.

I do have some simple tools and techniques that I use, and that I've taught clients to use with great success. If you're interested, I'm going to be launching a new online training, click here to find out more!

What about you? What makes you happy?  Or, what would make you happy? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Disasters and Consciousness

Disasters and Consciousness ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

We just had a massive earthquake in Nepal, followed by a large one in New Guinea, a fair sized one off of India, and volcanos erupting in Chile and the Phillipines and (underwater) off the coast of Oregon.  There's a whole lotta shaking going on.

With any growth cycle, there are periods of tension and release.  The planet is always moving around, tectonic plates shifting, creating more land masses, destroying along fault lines.

Society goes through similar cycles, belief systems constricting, people rebelling, conflicting ways of thinking coming to the surface, and eruptions of protests and wars, until we settle into a new normal.

We're strongly affected by natural and "manmade" disasters.  It brings out the best (and sometimes the worst) in us.  Heroes are made and hearts are broken.  Miracles and tragedies, side by side.

Faith is tested, faith is lost, and faith is found.  If there's any evidence that there's a power greater than our personalities, take a look at super tsunamis and 7+ magnitude earthquakes.

We may contribute to planetary disturbances and global warming, but the Earth could shrug it's shoulders at any moment and be rid of us.

Some of us shake our fists, at God ("how can God do this to us?") or at the Government ("it isn't doing enough to help or prevent this").

I've written in the past how we collectively create being in these situations.  I've noticed when everyone seems to be stuck or struggling, something major occurs.  And at other times, when everyone seems to be dealing with their own, inner earthquakes, external disasters pass us by.

But now it doesn't seem useful or helpful to look at things that way. It's too easy to blame or fault, misunderstanding responsibility with the ability to respond.

What happens when you perceive this as Consciousness? When you close your eyes, turn within, step back or drop down,  what do you notice?  Consciousness feels immense.  Consciousness feels impassive.  It feels like the ocean, which gives life and just as easily swallows you up.  It's not personal.

As Consciousness, there is no good or bad.  Earthquakes aren't bad.  Loss of life isn't bad.  There will always be eruptions.  People will always died, and at different ages and under different circumstances than they or others will have preferred.

Step a little more back, drop a little deeper, and there's more awareness flowing.  There is love and caring and appreciation.  And yet birth and destruction and equally creative.  There's acceptance of all that is.  There's a knowingness that all is very well.

Whatever we are each struggling with, is put into perspective.  This, too, shall pass.

Values and Worth

Values and Worth ©2015 Joan Newcomb

What's most important in life for you?  Where do you focus 90% of your attention? What do you spend most of your money on? Do you feel satisfied with your life?

The answer to these questions may - or may *not* give you a clue about your core values.

For instance, your children may be of the utmost importance, so you work two jobs to support them, but you never get to see them, because you're working, so you don't feel satisfied with your life. 

Perhaps you spend most of your money on clothes, because you want to appear fashionable but you really you feel like the geeky kid you were in middle school.

These are examples where you aren't living your life in alignment with your values.  Your sense self worth is affected.

Sometimes what you *don't* spend money on also reflects your values.

When you know what your values are, it helps you make decisions.  You may value relationships. You may value communication.  But you make $300 an hour at Microsoft spending most of your day debugging software in a room by yourself.  Now you understand why you're rich, but not happy.

Perhaps your top values are honesty and integrity, and you're dating someone charming and handsome but who compulsively lies.  You now know whether or not to stay in the relationship.

Spiritual, emotional and material values don't always harmonize.  Your family may value hard worth and fiscal responsibility, but you value creativity and freedom.  Your Church may say they follow the values of Christ and yet aren't compassionate or nonjudgemental.

Don't allow others to determine your worth.  You are priceless.  You are a gift to this world.  You are Consciousness here to enhance the collective experience by being uniquely YOU.

Your core values are clues to your life purpose.  You're here to express yourself as Consciousness in physical form.  Your artistic abilities are your spiritual language.  If you write, if you sing, if you dance, if you act, if you paint, if you knit, if you cook, if you garden, it is the greater aspect of you communicating the essence of who you are.

To identify your top core values, take this questionnaire.

Hope this helps you navigate life in the direction of your choice! 

Relaxing Into Discomfort

Relaxing Into Discomfort (c)2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I'm in Germany, and it's been one roller coaster ride since we got here.  There were 32mph winds when we landed (which should have been a clue for the rest of the trip).

We came from Madrid, where it was nearly 80 degrees, and in Germany it was in the 30s.  We've been rained on, lightening'd over and pelted with hail pellets.  Our artist's apartment in Madrid was warm and inviting.  Our flat in Kreuzberg is a flophouse for grunge-rebels.

Madrid is no problema friendly.  Germany is nicht so.

It is hard to stay Conscious in discomfort. My body contracts in the cold.  It feels similar to being in poverty, or ill. 

I'm distributing my mother's ashes to the places where we lived. To get down to Zehlendorf, we encountered closed stations in the Reichstag, a change of trains on the U3, and then an Erzatz U3 bus because there'd been 'a fire on the line'.  

At some point, I realized I'd just relaxed into the discomfort. A girl who looked like Tin Tin appeared to help us when passengers were being told to leave the train.  It had thundered and hailed over the Reichstag, and it was sunny and almost warm in Zehlendorf.

Zehlendorf's brick-cobbled streets were strewn with tree limbs, from the windstorm the night before.  Many of the houses were unchanged from when my family had lived there during the Cold War.

The more I relaxed, the more Dorothy showed up.  That's not true, she'd been present the whole way (we'd walked on Dorothenstrasse at the start of our trip, and "DB" - for DeutschesBahn, is also my nickname for her).  Little purple flowers appeared.  The first house had whimsical tiles - probably not original, but the kind of thing that would make her giggle.  And the pub on the corner had a -probably original - Berliner Kindl sign (she had a large collection of mugs and glasses, mostly likely from there).

We left a dusting of her at each place, and returned to Kreuzberg where we were rained and hailed on.

The next morning we took my husband to the Krankhaus, which is such a good name for the place.  I got to practice relaxing into discomfort with rude admins and raving admitteds. Nobody feels like they've chosen to be sick on vacation and certainly nobody likes to go to hospital. But I have a traumatic reaction to them after sleeping beside Dorothy for 18 days when she fell and broke her pelvis and then got diagnosed with cancer.

Meanwhile, my 24 year old son is having the time of his life with the night scene in Kreutzberg, German beer and Currywurst. He does not mind the discomfort of the weather, or at least does not let that stop him from fully enjoying his Berlin holiday.

He is symbolic of the next generation moving forward without the restrictions of the past. My husband, currently, is symbolic of those of us releasing those painful patterns.

Tonight we leave, my son returning home to Madrid, my husband and I going on to London. Perhaps this whole ordeal was to make the next phase of my journey seem easier. London will now feel warm (it's in the mid-50s there).  We'll be used to trains and undergrounds.  And we'll really appreciate knowing the language!

Tomorrow's a major eclipse, which closes one door and opens another.  It's a time of sudden, unexpected changes.

What do you need to relax into? What are you resisting (that needs releasing)?

Breathe into it.  This too shall pass.  It is taking you to a new level of Expanded Consciousness.  And, it will get better!

How To Have A Rich Life

How To Have A Rich Life (c)2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I'm in Madrid, visiting my son.  Spain is a great place to recover from jet lag. Their sense of time is totally different than the US.  Their workday starts at 9am, their lunch break is from 3-5pm, then everyone goes back to work until 7:30 or 8pm.  Dinner is at 9pm or later. They get 26 days of holiday/vacation per year.

Compare that to the US where the average workday is 8am-5pm, with a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. And, if they're lucky, 14 days of holiday/vacation annually.

It is a more relaxed rhythm to the day, and to the flow of life in general.

It feels like the US is driven by consumption and production. What do you do? How much do you make? Where do you live? We are evaluated by these things.  Spain seems to focus more on quality of life, family and friends.

Madrid is a noisy city, which would normally drive me crazy. I'm highly sensitive to sound and empathic vibration.  There is no tension here, no anxiety. There is space to be.

It's fun to see the life my son is creating here.  I recognize my kids as capable beings who came into this life with their own inner wisdom, and life intentions. I manufactured their body, gave them their initial 'driving lessons', but their road trip through life is their own creation as Consciousness.

What do you value in life?  What are your choices?

What we spend our money on, and how we spend our time, reflects our values.

We may love our family, work very hard to support them, but not spend quality time with them.  Unless you count running them to soccer practice and violin lessons quality time.

What we *don't* spend money on, and what we neglect,  also reflects our values.

You can have a low salary and a rich life.  You can have effortless abundance.

If you are feeling dissatisfied or unhappy, perhaps your externals are in conflict with your internals.

You don't have to make sudden changes to get back into alignment with your Essential Self.  Small steps have profound results.

You may need to take some time to even know what you want!

This week, notice how you spend your time (and money).  Are your actions getting you what you really desire?

Our outer life reflects our inner life.  Any external disagreement or power struggle reflects that we are  out of alignment - or coming into alignment - with our Inner Being.  Sometimes, as we begin to be more true to our heart, relationships and circumstances that aren't aren't true start to chafe.

Spend more time with your Self and inner communication. That may be journaling for 5 minutes a day, taking a walk without your phone or earbuds, working in your garden or painting.

Take tiny steps this week and see that happens!

Doors Slamming Open

Doors Slamming Open ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

This has been a powerful week.  We've had the last of 7th Pluto/Uranus Squares, which began in 2012,  I've heard that the astrology is similar to 1928-1932 and the late 1960's, but even more powerful.  And today was both a New Moon Solar Eclipse *and* the Equinox.

An eclipse has 3x the power of a regular moon, and brings sudden changes, setting in motion a new phase of growth that can last for 6 months to 2 years.

The Equinox is a turning point into a new season.  Depending on your hemisphere it's either Spring, going from dormancy (really, Nature's architectural planning phase) into action, or it's Autumn which is nature's New Year.

This is the most potent time to set intentions and get clear on your vision for the coming year(s).

Recent years have been, individually and collectively,  a long, hard, roller coaster ride.  Many of us thought it would get easier (or completely end) back on Dec. 21st, 2012.  The buildup to that time was challenging.  People lost things they loved or strongly identified with: careers, relationships, and lifestyles.

Most of us now are in totally different circumstances than we were a few years ago.  We could not have imagined back then that we'd be where we are now.

A lot of us are mourning the losses.

The world has radically changed as well.  Regimes have fallen, religions are transforming.  Yet even as progress is being made, old power games from the past are resurfacing.  Echos of the 1950's, 1930's and even Medieval times are making headlines.

Please know that this is all a result of increased Light into the world.  When you flip the 'on' switch in a room, it shows where you haven't dusted.  When a higher vibration comes into form, it reveals the denser limitations.  It fractures restrictive solidity.

We are collectively more Conscious, that is, as Consciousness we are able to embody more.  Our bodies can handle our higher frequency.  There is greater clarity, even as it seems there is more chaos.


At any moment we are at choice about how we want to experience this new way of being.  We can step back, or to one side, and feel the grief, loss, anger, discomfort.  We can step forward or to the other side and feel joy, expansion, wonder and Love.

We've only lost our illusions.  I say this having lost both parents, my dog, and my home in one year.  And it was, by no means, the most painful time of my life.

I can't go back and regain those things I lost.  But I can go forward and create a new life.

Think of this time as doors of possibilities slamming open.

Shift to thinking of yourself as Consciousness with a body/personality.  As Consciousness you are at choice.  As Consciousness, you are Source. This is the energy that you can effortlessly create your reality. Step forward, or to the side that feels lightest.

Try this for the next 7 days and see what happens!

We've Forgotten We're Apples

We've Forgotten We're Apples ©2015 Joan M Newcomb (updated from 2010)

I just rewatched a wonderful clip of Carl Sagan explaining the 4th dimension. He does it by demonstrating on a table with using square pieces of paper to represent '2 dimensional beings', which he calls 'Flatlanders'.

These 'Flatlanders' only perceive the world in 2 dimensions. They can go forward and back, and side to side, but up and down do not exist to them.

Then he brings in an apple, representing a 4th dimensional being. The apple hovers over a little square piece of paper and says 'Hello'. The Flatlander has no way of recognizing the apple and instead feels the greeting coming from inside him!

At some point the apple tosses the piece of paper into the air, and the Flatlander has a multidimensional experience, seeing all his little paper friends below. When he returns to his Flatland world, he can't explain to them what happened, because they do not have an 'up' nor 'down'.

As I was watching this, I realize - that's very much what life on Earth is like for folks. They're in their little flat world, and all that exists is what's in front of them, where they're going, or what's behind them, where they've come from. Their only measure of reality or basis of comparison is the other little square pieces of paper on either side.

(I actually knew someone like this; he was a software programmer for Microsoft. I use to say he had the emotional depth of a piece of paper)!

They've forgotten they're apples.

Yes, we exist in this physical reality. And in this world we have time and space. We have the past, where we came from. We have the future where we're going. We have distance and how long it takes for us to get from here to there. We have our bodies and through our bodies we perceive the lighter molecules of oxygen and sunshine, and the denser molecules of the earth and water.  We have emotions and we have thought, and with both of these we make up stories to color our passage through this world.

And, we are more than just our bodies.  We are Apples.  We're above and beyond all of the limitations of time and space, density and effort.

When you're living life as a Flatlander, you may think an apple has come along and tossed you into the air, giving you a brief glimpse of life from an 'airplane's view'.  As a Flatlander you may worry about apples invading your 2 dimensional world and doing this to you.  As a Flatlander you may worry about the other square pieces of paper thinking you're crazy if you have an up-down experience.  Or worry they can stop you from having one!

As an apple, you're aware of being in all places at once.  There's a little slice of you in Flatland, which is fun and amusing.  And the greater part of you is above and beyond that.  You're not worried about the other Flatlanders.  And, truth be told, you're not worried about the other apples.  Because if you go up, up, and up, you realize there *are* no other apple's.  You're It.

You don't feel lonely as the only apple because You're so Big, You're Everything.  And if you go down, down, down, you can interact with the other aspects of yourself you've created.  The other personalities and square bits of paper.

As I mused on this, I wondered, but what about those other Flatlanders when they're getting in my face or giving me a hard time.  At this, I had a Byron Katie moment.  They're just sharing with me their limitations.  They're in pain and discomfort and they're sharing with me their experience.

The more aware of myself as an Apple, the less the pieces of paper get to me.  When I'm an Apple, I don't see the other pieces of papers are limitations to my reality.  They're just elements in my own wonderful creation.

So, this week, I invite you to remember you are an Apple.  Whenever things seem flat, remember you can't perceive beyond this dimension with your human eyes, because they're part of your physical body which only exists in this dimension. You perceive the greater worlds with your extra-perception. You sense them, you Know them.  Use this greater Knowingness to expand your experience.  Try this for a week and see what happens!

Death and Taxes

Death and Taxes ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."  Benjamin Franklin

This may be a little premature (for both topics), but I was having a conversation with Janet, my radio show co-host about recording a show in April. She thought it could be about money, as it is tax time in the U.S. 'People are feeling taxed' she said. 'What is taxing you, how are you feeling taxed?'

And I immediately thought, 'in paying taxes I am expressing appreciation for all that the taxes are going to support!'  I like roads, and school, and healthcare, and retirement. And I may not like supporting warfare, I don't mind supporting the troups. Military spending includes supporting military families.

Two Tax Collectors, Marinus van Reymerswaele

We think of taxes as something bigger than ourselves (the Government) taking something away from us. Or we count on tax returns to give something to us. We're little, they're big.

And from the perspective of Consciousness, it's all a creation.  As the greater aspect of ourSelf, we create the reality of taxes.

If we feel like it's something happening to us, we're reacting as our body/personality.  We feel powerless, less capable, something bigger than us has control.

Stepping up to the awareness as Consciousness, we feel amused, we are in total agreement with whatever is occurring, we see the interconnectedness of it all.

As Consciousness we feel ownership, and authority.  Nothing is more powerful (and nothing is less).  There's no good nor bad as Consciousness, there's no ethics, so it's all good.  There is ultimate acceptance of what is.

"The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse everytime Congress meets."  Will Rogers

As Consciousness we've created this wonderful world of opposites and oppositions.  It's not accurate to say this is all an illusion, because it invalidates the very real, feeling experience we're having.  It's too easy to try to detach by being in denial and trying not to feel.  But then we miss the point of being here.

Taxes aren't certain, you can live without taxes.  Death may be an inevitability for the body but it's timing isn't certain.  Perhaps the biggest illusion is death.

We react to death, we feel the absence of the deceased's physical presence, but it's our grief that keeps us from sensing the aspect of them that's still alive.

If we miss someone, we may actually be experiencing what Bryon Katie calls a visitation.  They come to mind because they're there.  It triggers our body, because it feels the absence.  Bodies don't like death because they're not going to make it out of this lifetime alive.  But we will.

Consciousness doesn't die.  And that is certain.