Gossip Gone Wild!

First I would like to say how grateful I am for those who see me as a trusted source to process some of life's messiest situations. I think I should also clarify immediately at the fore front of this blog that this is in no way directed at you reading this. This is for you reading this. If you think this is about you specifically in any way and at any point, just finish reading this, call me and we'll hopefully just clear that mess right up.

Let’s talk about gossip.

What's the difference between-

 

the destructive and energy draining forms of gossip, running our mouths, or self-seeking behaviors that put others down so someone else can move up 

vs .

the creative processing of what's going on in our lives with another human being?

 

My daughter often thinks I don't understand or remember what life is like as a teenager. This topic is something that happens quite frequently at her younger age. What's most unfortunate is that this behavior I'm discussing is hard to forget because it can continue way into adult life if we do not cultivate different ways to resolve situations we face.

Whether I am working with someone or speaking with someone that is a friend or part of my family, I make sure it is a completely open forum for this person to let it all out. They can share their perspective no matter how on or off point it is or seems to be. Let it flow and let it go. This is often an important part of the process for healing. Allowing someone to be authentic and honest with themselves and talking out situation with another human being can be extremely helpful.

What happens next is what determines whether this conversation is going to remain destructive or transform into a creative and beautiful process that changes everyone involved for the better. The most important and defining difference in the conversation of the gossip and someone who wants to process a situation, is the action. This is where creativity gets to come in, and I love me some creativity!

For the sake of this blog I am going to use my book  Embracing The Spark  and the chart found in Chapter 10, “Making the Most of Your Actions: Getting Creative.” Using this chart I can easily find words in the destructive column that align with the act of gossiping or self-seeking. On quick review of the list, here are some that could work in the destructive column:

Unsettle, Disempower, Invalidate, Ruin, and Misunderstand.

Whether the rumors are about you, or someone else, the negative talk could be affecting one or more people in the situation in sat least one or several of these ways mentioned above. Trust me, there were more. I chose to stop at five actions.

If we then look to the creative action on the opposite side of the list that correlates to each of these words we will find the words:
 

Establish, Inspire, Dream, Devise, and Conceive.

(Wow, do those words already sound and feel better or what??)

When we engage in a conversation about a rumor, speaking negatively about someone who may have hurt us directly or indirectly, or talking about someone who did this or that to someone other than us, we are acting more in alignment with destructive behaviors. These behaviors naturally develop into less favorable transition points for our energy, feelings, and thoughts. Our relationships with others can now become negatively impacted whether we are involved or not in the situation from this space forward.

Although we can’t always avoid a conversation like this, we can however find a creative solution and action that leaves us with a more favorable transition point for forward movement. Just because we are looking for a creative solution, doesn’t mean we are trying to control or manipulate an outcome. It means we are choosing to stop the ball the negative behavior from rolling down the metaphorical hill and transmuting it into a more sustainable form of energy for ourselves.

Let’s look at the creative words I found earlier with the chart and ways we can use them.

 

·         Devise- You may have already recognized that by Devising a plan of creative action is already pulling us out of the destructive behavior into a constructive one.

·         Conceive- You may want to contemplate the actions of the “offender” by trying to understand or Conceive where they were coming from when the “offense” occured.

·         Establish- If we don’t have any idea how to understand where that person was coming from, and the relationship in distress is a valued one, we may want to Establish a dialogue with the person to stop the rumor or gossip in its path.

·         Dream- Rather than letting the rumors invalidate you or your work or whatever the situation may be, keep Dreaming. A lot of haters show up when you start pursuing your dreams and self-seeking of others will show right up.

·         Inspire- Let the gossip Inspire you to be a better human being or let go of the people in your life that aren’t kind or care enough about you to Establish the dialogue with you. Let them be a reflection of what you'd rather not be.

Whatever you choose to do with your creativity, don’t worry about how the other person may or may not react. This is a gift you are giving yourself. You are choosing more favorable transition points for your energy and well-being moving forward. As we change, heal and love ourselves, we do this for the world. This is how we end gossip, self-seeking, and disempowering talk between us and those around us.

If at the end of the dialogue with your trusted companion, you find absolutely no creative action is necessary for you to make because what you’re talking about is really not yours to get involved in, try this-   

 

Establish a connection with your top and bottom lip

by shutting your mouth.

 

Oh, yes- creativity is always an option and it always works!

 

So much love and blessings to all of you creative souls!

-jodi

 

 

Here's the link to my website if you would like to purchase a copy of the  book! http://www.jodilynnlamure.com/book.html
 
 
 
 
 

 

There's Someone With A Gift For You

A small girl, no older than eight years old, stands among a dusty plain. Her hair is golden beneath the ash and dirt that has painted the top of her head, like snow flurries grasping to the edge of a rocky cliff. Her dress was once blue, the color of a sunlit sky, and there is an embroidered collar adorning the neck of the dress that has begun to fall off and dangle underneath her hair.

There is a man standing next to her that appears to be angrily screaming in her face. His gray hair is wild like the snakes that grew from Medusa’s head. His suit that was once black and neatly pressed, has begun to look more like the continued fading that his age and rage have brought unto his wrinkled face.

Behind the girl, an explosion has erupted from the dusty earth as a result of rocketing hatred from forces unseen. The warmth of the fire that has torn away its capsuled metal home can be felt scorching her back and the left side of her face. It lights up the sky brighter than the sun, and yet she stands there unwavering and embracing its warmth.

Tanks are driving up behind her, and what seems like hundreds of men, woman, and children are being dragged by their arms by one another, running from the terror occurring around her. The screams and the ear ringing brought on by nearby explosives have drowned out the birds chirping and the winds whisper, and yet it looks as if she can hear their songs.

The sky has gone beige from the dust and smoke in the air. It appears to swirl around this calamitous scene with its very own mission of devastation. Like an evil apparition that has broken free from the  violent cracks in the earth, it is adding to the madness surrounding all who are present on the plain with wild and whipping gusts of dirt and rock.

But here is this little girl, still unwavering. Her eyes have closed and her lips have formed a gentle smile. She holds a flower between both of her hands that she harvested this morning near the river bank when she went to gather water. The look on her face is of pure peacefulness and gratitude just as when she picked it.

She seems unaware to everything that surrounds her at the moment, and yet we know that is impossible. How does she do it, continue to stand in the middle of the chaos and remain filled with peace? How does she maintain a smile, when pain surrounds her? How does she hold on to the flower, when the sky rains ash around her? How does she find her strength, this small child, when everything around her seems much larger than she is?

She trusts. She holds on to a vibration of joy and focuses on the flower, rather than the falling sky. Her courage is great because she knows she is much larger than she appears. She is part of something infinite, and right now her purpose is love just as it was yesterday, and just as it will be tomorrow. She doesn’t forget. That is all she needs to do.

For those of us, who have stopped running, and taken time to notice the girl, she has captivated our attention. It becomes much easier to focus on the love radiating from her than the chaos surrounding her. A bit of peace begins to course through our veins that was absent a moment ago.

We embrace this way she has shared with us, and find ourselves closing our eyes. Our mouths begin to turn into gentle smiles as we can't help but picture the girl in our minds. She is no longer one little girl holding a flower. She has become many little girls holding a flower by touching our hearts with her light. Now, as we carry her light within each of us, we can carry the gift to share with others.

Now close your eyes and see this little girl, then receive the gift she is offering all of us.

And so it is.

 

Remaining Grateful Through The Pain

 

Back in December, I suffered a pretty bad fall from the top of a ten foot ladder. I was fortunate. Nothing serious resulted except for some extremely sore muscles and possibly a bruised or broken rib. It took about six weeks to recover from the pain. Of course, due to the holiday season, I pushed my way through the pain and tried to maintain a jolly spirit, nonetheless. Family was in town, I was in the finishing stages of editing the book, writing a book proposal for a major publishing company, and having two younger children, it's just what you do around Christmas when you don't have time to slow down. At least this is what I thought.

An injury recently came about as a sort of aftershock from the fall. This one took me down with the pain the way I needed. Driving caused pain and sitting caused pain, sleeping was frequent, short spurts, and so I was left with pacing.

A girlfriend of mine came by to check on me during this time to drink coffee and keep me company. Thank goodness she did, because she told me about a Matt Kahn video she had shared on her Facebook page, "Healing Space." Matt Kahn is a Spiritual Teacher out on the West Coast. I took a look at his videos when she left. Although it wasn't the video she posted, he gave me this little reminder of why I was experiencing my pain and what to do with it. I have to share this because it was so profound in my healing.

I have learned so much spiritual guidance in regards to pain, but a lot of it had me chasing my tail. Even in my own book I talk about all situations being viewed as gifts and opportunities, and I had forgotten. I had forgotten that even the physical pain is a gift.

I wasn't seeing the pain as a gift! I was judging myself for what I was missing in my own healing work. I was judging my ability to understand the lesson or the meaning of the experience. I was frustrated with how the pain pulled me into my physical body and detached me from my emotional and spiritual self. Anger and frustration would build up when the pain would peak, only to remind me of my to-do list and the many tasks I should've been taking care of. Instead I was lying around, dozing off because of the lack of sleep at night, and forcing myself into creativity through the only necessary avenue that couldn't be avoided, cooking!

Thank goodness for Spirit to bring the message and assistance I was begging my guides for through people around me. I was having such trouble hearing my guides from this cave carved from pain and suffering, and so they delivered my answers through other resources.

I had to stop using spiritual beliefs as my current abuser. I had to remember that all is love and purposeful. I had to start being grateful- even for the pain.

When I found gratitude for the pain, and started loving myself again instead of abusing myself through my thoughts, old teachings, beliefs, and inner dialogue, I began healing. I didn't just heal my physical self by doing this. I healed emotionally and spiritually as well. When I welcomed the actual pain to be the gift, instead of the pain being the negative result of me missing or not understanding something in regards to the gift, only then could the pain heal me. Only then, could I allow myself to heal.

 

I am grateful today to know there is guidance all around me, in the physical dimensions and beyond the dimensions I can easily see. I am grateful to have the trust, that even when my ears can't hear and my eyes are blinded with tears, I know the Universe is listening and wants nothing more than to help each one of us. Keep praying, and talking to your angels, guides, guardians, God(s), Higher Power, Spirit, Great Mystery, etc. They are all listening and ready to remind you (yes, remind you) of the information you need as you walk your journey.

 

 

It's such a beautiful Universe to be connected to! Take the time today to embrace it, if only for a minute. Thank it for all it provides for us. It deserves our immense love and gratitude for the opportunity to experience this thing called living.

 

Much love to you all,

jodi