The Bliss Blog

Words have immense power to alter our perception of reality. One measure of your world view are the results you experience in your life.  The word ‘declare’ comes from Latin “to make clear”,   “to reveal” , “to make manifest.”  Create a ‘declare eclair’  filled with luscious, sweet, delectable stuff.  Declare joy. Declare success. Declare abundance. Declare love.

I often ask myself:  “What would someone have to believe in order to be living the experiences I am having at this moment?”  I take the ‘me’ out of it temporarily, so I don’t go getting all defensive about it and can step back and approach it with a bit of objectivity. I then explore the beliefs or ‘the story I am telling myself’  about whatever might be occuring.  Next step is to apply declarations.  Call them affirmations if you would like.  Our minds are so powerful and clever that it is important to state them in the affirmative.  Rather than saying “I don’t want to feel angry.” (our minds delete the word ‘don’t’ and instead focus on the word ‘angry’.), a declaration might be: “I choose to feel peaceful.”  Instead of stating:  ” I don’t want to eat all of that junk food.”, substitute it with “I eat healthy, delicious foods that nourish me in body, mind and spirit.”  In other words, focus on what you DO want, rather than on what you don’t want.

One beautiful way of declaring is using the words I AM (as in what God was said to have spoken to Moses at the Burning Bush)

I AM abundant.  I AM love incarnate.  I AM joyous.  I AM experiencing wonder.  I AM healed, whole and healthy.  I AM creative. I AM living my passion and purpose. I am courageous. I AM vibrant.  I AM free.

So what is it that you AM?

A beautiful song for your Bliss-filled day to carry you on waves on love~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93dYbhqBwQ

The Heart Is The Home of Wonder
 

What does Thanksgiving mean to you? For many people, it is about gathering together with loved ones around a table, filled to overflowing with all manner of delectable food. Perhaps it brings to mind the onset of the holiday hustle that flies in the face of the purpose for a season of good will, whatever your faith tradition.

I prefer to think of it as yet another reminder of how blessed I am.  While I face the same life stressors as many on the planet…more than some, far less than others, I have learned that an attitude of gratitude trumps challenges, overcomes doubt and vanquishes fear.  Sure, I can whine and complain about what isn’t flowing as smoothly and easily as I would like, in my day to day OR I can take a step back and do a gratitude inventory. Here are some of my blessings/blissings:

My deep and abiding, ever evolving spiritual faith.

Dear friends and family, the circles of which grow and expand daily.

Creative work that I love, for which I am abundantly compensated.

A beautiful home.

A healthy and strong body that lets me do all kinds of cool stuff, like dance, yoga, walking, doing what I call my ‘playouts’ (rather than workouts) at the gym as I ‘sweat my prayers’.

Precious time with my Mom who is receiving hospice care.

When I develop ‘spiritual amnesia’ and forget how amazing my life is, I return to my gratitude list.  It is so simple and immediately effective.  I encourage you to give it a whirl….

It is a feast that you can enjoy every day for the rest of your bountiful life!

Reggae legend whose spirit still enriches us long after his passing, Bob Marley shared his thoughts on gratitude in his song Thank You Lord

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPE1GaKTjU

What’s in a name? I remember reading that the sweetest word someone can hear is their own name. It is what they are referred to, how they identify themselves. When it is said lovingly, it is music to the ears and the heart. My birth name is Edie Dena Weinstein. Edie is translated as “rich gift” and Dena has variations of “slender” in Hebrew, “valley” in Native American heritage and “she has saved” in various African cultures. When I was growing up, Edie was an uncommon girl’s name and it brought with it, the baggage of easy mispronunciation. Come September, on the first day of school, well educated teachers would call me Eddie. Mortified year after year, I somehow survived the childhood trauma:) When I got married, I became a hyphenate, adding Moser to an already long name. Professionally and personally, that became the way in which I was known in the world. On December 21, 1998, the man I had married and whose name I shared, died while awaiting a liver transplant. I maintained the name as much out of habit after awhile, rather than feeling married.

Fast forward and I am sitting in the office of my friend Irene Bojczuk who is a life coach. I had told her that since turning 51, my intentions had been to make this next stage of  my life one of manna-festing (I like this term because it is symbolic of ‘manna from heaven’) my heart’s desires such as an abundant career using my creative gifts of writing and speaking and attracting a committed relationship partner. She looked at me as if the question she was about to ask was the most obvious one to consider. “Then WHY are you still using your husband’s last name?” My simple response was “It has been mine for 22 years and it is how people know me.” The thought of giving it up sent an emotional ‘gulp’ ringing throughout my entire body and yet I knew she was on target. Energetically, referring to myself as Edie Weinstein-Moser was putting out a message to the Universe that I was still married, at least to the name. When I left the session, I tried it out, imagining introducing myself to people with my new (well actually old since it has also been mine for 28 years prior to meeting and marrying Michael). When I got home, I changed the voice mail messages on home and cell phone, as well as doing word surgery on my name on the various social networking websites and groups I am on. I sent an email to my friends and told my mother. Unanimously, people supported my decision, sensing the rightness of the shift. I will make the legal name change next year.

Last year around this time, I was interviewed by a talented journalist named Naila Francis who writes for The Doylestown Intelligencer, a regional newspaper in the Philadelphia area, about the subject of grief around the holidays. As both a grief counselor and someone who lost a loved one at a time when many are in celebration mode, I was well suited to speak on the topic. I told her that it was the first year that I felt a semblance of normalcy. For the first ten years, I lived in a state of remembered sadness, fatigue, poor sleep, being on auto-pilot much of the time. At year ten, I plunged headlong into the depths of the loss one last time. Last year, I was fully able to enjoy the beauty of holiday decorations and music, unencumbered by the ‘body memory’ that had me reliving the experience leading up to and following Michael’s passing. This year, as I write this entry, it is even easier.

I am convinced that the name change had a great deal to do with the ease and comfort with which I am moving through what heretofore had been a challenge. In no way does it dishonor what we had as a couple. It does however, honor the metamorphosis I am exploring as I emerge as a gloriously wing-spread butterfly, soaring on the wind~ I welcome the beauty that I know will accompany me on the journey.