Easter has always held a special meaning for me.

My mother went into labor on Good Friday, and I was born in the early hours of Easter morning 1957, ten days after my parents had been told I had died in the womb.

My family said it was an Easter miracle.

As a student of A Course in Miracles, I’m into miracles. From the standpoint of the Course, a miracle is a shift in perspective from fear to love. And the best part of miracles?

They can happen every day.

Whenever I feel myself acknowledge my fearful thoughts or feelings (anger, resentment, stress) and meet those with love (compassion, forgiveness, presence) I experience a miracle.

When I open myself to this type of thinking, and ask the Divine within for guidance, my experience of life changes. While I may be dealing with chaos, instead of feeling helpless, I can begin to feel the true comfort, support and love that is always available.

Remembering that miracles can be simply a thought away is a daily practice for me. Learning...

qHow are you at saying “yes to new adventures?” I’ve always been lousy at it.

I was too busy, too tired, too stressed, too afraid…you get the idea.

What the heck qualifies as an “adventure” anyway? In my mind it was hanging off a cliff, jumping out of a plane, swimming in shark infested waters or some other equally terrifying and dangerous activity.

Imagine my surprise when I found out the truth.

An adventure can be all the scenarios listed above AND they can also be anything that challenges me to see from a fresh perspective, meet a new experience or face an old fear. And I can do all of that – when I remember to – with, and from, love.

Here are a few “adventures” I said yes to in the past two weeks:

• A long walk with a new friend in a local park to share life philosophies.
• Riding in cart as part of a small-town Christmas parade.
• Gathering with likeminded friends (old and new) on a frosty Sunday morning in our...

I wish it was easy for me to choose love in every life situation. It’s not. Sometimes I want to avoid a difficult conversation or pretend I don’t get scared when I hear disturbing news. Even with a consistent spiritual practice, I can still get triggered by a harsh comment, chaotic world event or when faced with a difficult decision.

After practicing degrees of avoidance, dodging, pretending and the occasional “forgetting” for decades, I’ve remembered the truth. All these tactics are simply an ego dance that keep me feeling constrained, stressed, uncomfortable and in conflict.

The truth is equally simple.

Every time I go within and ask Love for guidance on a specific issue or ask for help to react from love instead of fear, something miraculous happens.

There’s a shift.

Sometimes subtle, sometimes more pronounced but a definite shift to a feeling of peace. The shift is physical, mental, and emotional. My shoulders relax, the knot in my stomach...

I used to know exactly what the “right thing” was. In my younger years, and in most every situation, I had my opinion and felt strongly it was the “right” one.

Then I lived a few more decades and got a tad wiser. Not a Yoda by any means, but I gained the type of insight that comes from living life and through societal changes.

When I was a very young girl, the “right” thing was to send children to specific schools based on their race alone. As I grew into a teenager and young adult, I was led to believe the “right” thing was to pay women a lower wage than their male colleagues doing the same job. Well into my adulthood, the “right” thing was to only recognize legal marriage between heterosexual couples.

A lot has changed over the last sixty years and thankfully so. I’ve come to recognize that prevailing opinions shift based on societal norms, customs, spiritual practices and developments in science and technology.

So...

I was on a zoom call last week with two of my treasured “soul sister” friends. Among the giggles, questions, and loving comments we discovered a trend. Each of us were having up close experiences with…creatures. Whether it had fur, wings or was long legged and jumpy, we had all encountered signs from nature in the form of these nonhuman souls.

We discussed the spiritual meaning of each of the specific “visitors” and discovered how perfect each message was for the recipient. Coincidence? Not a chance.

One of my friends mentioned butterflies in her house. Many resources describe the butterfly as bringing a message of personal transformation, renewal, rebirth, and even elevation from earthly focus to a more spiritual one. According to Ted Andrews, author of “Animal Speak:”

“An important message carried by the spirit of the butterfly is about the ability to go through important changes with grace and lightness.”

I thought about...

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”  

 Viktor E. Frankl

This week my country celebrates July 4^th as Independence Day. The holiday marks the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the 1776 Second Continental Congress when my forefathers declared our freedom from Great Britain.

While the last few years have been cited as the reason many in America feel oppressed, in truth, significant swaths of our population have never been free. At least not like it was described in the history books I studied as a kid.

I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom. And who, what or in what circumstances I truly feel free.

I realized something.

My freedom comes from an inner sense of peace. While laws, ordinances and Supreme Court rulings can restrict my actions, movements and outside choices, my freedom lies in my ability to choose my response. As...

I was on the phone yesterday with a dear friend. As we discussed recent world events, she wondered out loud, “Where can I move that would be safe, protected from this chaos?”

We both immediately knew the answer.

Within.

“Within where?” you might ask. One of the Scandinavian countries? Australia, New Zealand? Somewhere in the Caribbean?

The safest place for you, me, and everyone we love is much closer than that: within the wisdom of our own heart.

Your best guidance forward, the way to navigate the world events and help consciously evolve our communities, countries and the world will not be found within current government structures. Or in rhetoric created to induce fear. It is always available within the quiet space of your own heart, however.

How do you access it, the wisdom of your inner divine heart? Meditation and spending time in nature are excellent options and here are three more:

• A favorite tool of mine is the free app offered by the Brahma...

I find the most specific guidance, the clearest wisdom and undisputable truths often come through at weird times.

Like when I’m in the shower.

That’s where I was today when I realized I had been wondering how to be more effective in my business. Somewhere between the shampoo and conditioner, I heard it.

“Connect. Inspire. Lead.”

This is a message for all of us:

• Connect – All the wisdom we need to understand our lives, have healthy relationships, and enjoy our time on this beautiful planet ALL comes from our sacred connection to the Divine within. How? Connect in meditation, spend time in nature, listen to sacred music, read inspirational books and be mindful of the ever-present now.
• Inspire – Often when I tell someone they inspire me, their reaction is “Me? What’d I do?” Our society used to think proof of inspiration through influence came from bestselling books, social media “likes” or the size of an email list. Not...

I thought I understood “life goals,” and how to create – or force – my life to be what I envisioned. I spent decades learning self-development methods, read self help books and learned about cutting edge scheduling and time management tools.

Yeah, that didn’t work so well.

Opening to mystical texts, especially A Course in Miracles, I learned something that truly changed my life: everything flows from love. Everything.

Hmmm…so how do I merge all I’ve learned over the years with this radical truth?

I used to spend hours on crafting a life mission, or purpose, then created specific goals in categories like work, family, health, and finances. While this works for thousands of people, it never did for me. Now I take a different approach.

My life purpose is to be love. Period.

What does that mean? To live my daily life from divine love, guided by the wisdom in my own heart. This is the same love that’s in you, each member of your family and...

I’ve been blessed to have many spiritual teachers in my life. I’ve studied Christian, Buddhist and Jewish teachings with brilliant scholars, examined mystic traditions with teachers who have embodied the work and followed contemporary authors who helped me understand the meaning of life and how to live with love and forgiveness in this ever-changing world.

But without a doubt this kid has been my greatest spiritual teacher.

Happy fifth birthday to my grandson, Emory, my personal Yoda. Sure, this could be ravings of a doting grandmother (and there’s some of that) but why do I think he’s been my spiritual teacher? While my mentors have skillfully introduced me to new ways of thinking and fascinating spiritual concepts, with Emory I’ve learned how to live those concepts in a deeper way.

This little sage has reintroduced me to:

• Unbridled joy 
• Curiosity about everything I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell 
• Being truly open to new people, places,...