Julie in Michigan

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Friday, March 26, 2010

Bucharest?



Wow, I love Google analytics. I can see the city my visitors are in. I can determine how they got here – Facebook, direct-link, Google search, etc. I’m amazed, especially, to see that I have International visitors - Hello Romania! Perhaps that can be traced to my FB links to friends in New Zealand – thanks Marc for that! I can even tell how long they stay on my site and number of pages they visit.

What I can’t see is who they are. I sure do wish you’d say hello.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Reiki – What is it?



The question I am asked most frequently, I think the name Reiki is deceptive in today’s society. Originating as a formal school of thought in Japan, it’s most basic form originates in a parent’s hands as they hold a crying baby. The sense of touch and the love that radiates from one’s hands doesn’t need formal training to be expressed. So why take a class?

The amount of healing energy that radiates from one’s hands can be increased through focused thought and clearing of the pathway. How is that done? Through education and Attunement, the amount of healing energy that radiates from a person’s hands can be increased. What is even better is that the healing energy can come through one’s thoughts without the actual touch!

If you don’t believe that one’s thoughts are transmitted, you have never walked into a situation where someone was angry with you and you knew instantly before a word was uttered or you saw their face. You have never entered a gathering and intuitively gathered that some big news was afloat. Verbal and body language clues perhaps, what about the thoughts of someone unseen and then the phone call comes? What about the thoughts to call someone and when you do, they remark that they were just thinking of you?

Thoughts move across time and space without limitation of physical laws. Intention to send positive thoughts can accelerate the process. You may or may not want to heal from a physical illness, a debilitating condition, mental stress, anxiety or pain. Why not? Read “Why People Don’t Heal and how they can” by Caroline Myss. We get ‘something’ out of sickness, lack and pain. But that’s another story for another day. Watch for it.

Today I’m talking about someone who truly desires healing and the possibility of that occurring without a pill or invasive surgery. Can we turn up the volume on the amount of healing energy that can come through a practitioner’s hands or a friend’s thoughts? Absolutely, I’ve seen it firsthand.

I burned my hand one day. It was a minor burn but uncomfortable. A few family members and friends were at my home and one ran to the bathroom for ‘medicine’ while another reached for the ice in the refrigerator. My Reiki student knew that what I desired was for her to send healing thoughts and turn up the volume and intensity of healing energy immediately, directed toward my burn. Quickly she did this while I stood silently, apart from her, and opened myself to receive. The burn feeling stopped immediately.

My niece looked quizzically at me while she stammered, “I thought you were kidding about this Reiki stuff”. Nope, serious as a heart attack.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Chicago



I’m taking the train today, Amtrak, heading to Chicago. My beautiful, darling son is there with his wife and children. I asked him once how he learned to be such a good dad. His answer was that I showed him by being both. You don’t get many compliments like that one in a lifetime.

My niece is there with her husband and little boy, plus her big boy who has developed into a good friend as he reached adulthood a few years ago and became an artist and world traveler. Those don’t usually get combined but they did in his case. He was doing air-brushed art at Disney and a New Zealand couple took an interest in his work and now it’s offered on t-shirts on the Island on the other side of the world. I’m looking forward to a more in-depth chat about how his visit went.

Trains are a great way to travel. I enjoyed flying from the first time I got on a Michigan-winter flight to Florida back in the early 70’s. Went by myself and enjoyed every minute of the thrill. Back then the last few rows in the plane were reserved for smokers! Planes changed and while the smoking in closed quarters without any open-windows would be an issue, a bigger one is the rules and regulations requiring shoes, coats and belts to be removed, taking the laptop out of the case, everything in baskets and then on the plane, the seats up and down, trays, electronic devices. Give me a train today.

Trains are easy. You can reserve at the last minute, show up at the last minute, pay in cash, none of that credit card required to be scanned. Change your seat, move around, and take a break by walking back to the dining card and sitting down to have a coffee and bagel. Not the best food to be sure, but available. I can stretch out and open my laptop or read a book or sleep and five hours later, I switch trains in downtown Chicago.

A few blocks away from the Amtrak station is the Metra station. I get to walk along Chicago River and remember the summer jaunts I’ve taken on the Water Taxi. I love Chicago. Navy Pier is a favorite place in the spring and summer.

I visited Tall Ships Chicago in 2006. This year's event is still in the planning stages, but starts August 24th and they are looking for volunteers. Hmmm, if I'm still in the area...

Ships from all over the world, all sailed into Chicago on the same August morning for the Festival. A few of the local tour boat companies offered special cruises during the festival and my grandson and I were in one of these that was heading out into the lake as the ships were sailing in. Phenomenal day, never to be forgotten.

Unfortunately, it is March and not much going on this weekend in Chicago, at least not that I’ll be involved in, just a family visit. It’s good to have family.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Please comment


I love Google Analytics!! I had added it to my blog awhile back but wasn’t getting any info (I thought no one was reading it)… turns out I missed one subtle detail. BUT, thanks to one of my classes this semester I got the missing piece. So, I’ve been able to see that Yes, Lots of people are visiting my blog and I can see what city they are in but I didn’t know I had friends in those cities.

Please, please, please, let me know who you are. Comment if you like. I’m really interested in your opinion (I think).

Friday, March 5, 2010

Reiki Healing Touch


Hands on or Distance? Is one more powerful than the other? I personally like hands-on although there are exceptions. Physical distance between client and practitioner certainly is a factor but in the case of face-to-face situations there are two major considerations. One is that not everyone likes to be touched and the other is that certain skin conditions prohibit touching, the most obvious, a burn, but also significant, a rash which may be contagious.

Burned skin will not feel good if it is touched, especially not when heat is radiating from the Practitioner, as it will when one has intention of allowing Healing Energy to pass through her hands. Even standing a few feet apart, using the Distance Symbolism to create the connection and then applying Power and Clearing Symbols will be most effective and most comfortable for the client.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

I got inspired this week; I noted an ad for a writing contest in the Oakland Press. They want a 3-5 minute script. On impulse I clipped the ad and set it on the kitchen table. That’s an area that gets visited frequently and I need my visual reminders in plain view. A roommate once said that after we hung a curtain on a hall closet, the closet disappeared. Neither of us ever thought to look there when we were searching for something we knew was in the house, somewhere. If I can’t see it, I forget it. Makes for a mess in the bedroom but that’s another story.

So, I need to think of a story for the writing contest. I have a few of them, a few that I think about from time to time and know that I need to develop further, one that I’d like to expand into a novel, a few that would go well in a collection of short stories (maybe not too many of those), but the problem is what is right for a screen play.

I watch movies every day. I get no televised programming on my set… it’s for video only. I vary between Netflix, Blockbuster, Redbox, public library and whatever I hear of next. My current favorite is Netflix because of the streaming video. But that’s taking me off on another subject again.

I took a cinematography class last summer from Texas Woman’s University. It was a distance class but provided an excellent text book, inspirational discussion with classmates and many recommendations for movies I hadn’t yet seen. We studied color, setting, script, music, all sorts of interesting concepts related to film that we normally just process without awareness. I became more aware.

Plus, a friend of mine sold a screenplay and that really got me excited. I picked up a couple of books on how to write a screenplay – a little different than the novel or short story and started thinking about it. So, here I am with a contest requiring a 3-5 minute script. I just have to decide which story to create an excerpt from. I’m on the case.