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divine timing

  • I don’t normally post twice in a day, but when I do, it’s because of diving timing.

    What the heck does that mean?

    For starters, there’s an element of something bigger than me wanting to be shared. Something not a part of a marketing plan or an agenda my mind conjured.

    Nope. There’s an inner tingle telling me this is the right thing to do.

    Also, it’s a real life story of divine timing and how it unfolded in my life two days in a row.

    Yesterday I arranged to meet a friend for a hike. Because we were going together, it was a different time and different place than I would have chosen if it were just me.

    The trail we frequent is a loop and she deferred to me to choose the direction.

    I felt a pull to go to the right.

    We had a lovely chat and came up with solutions to solve most of the world’s problems, should anyone in authority care to ask.

    When we got to the creek, there was a big SPLASH!

    It sounded like someone fell in. It was a big enough disturbance that we stopped to look around.

    There were geese nearby but they were just minding their own business and seemingly innocent of any excessive splashing.

    Then I saw it. A large bird perched in a tree. With a white head.

    As far as I know there’s only one kind of white-headed large bird in this area and that’s a bald eagle.

    A rare and majestic sight! And we had front row seats.

    We went on about our hike and that was that.

    Until today.

    A new client cancelled her appointment. She called this morning, all apologetic and distressed. I wasn’t concerned because I had sensed it was going to happen.

    I can’t explain it, but I was waiting for that call.

    And here’s the interesting part. I knew I wouldn’t be doing that session today, but I left it on my calendar. It was a placeholder. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to open that slot for another client or make lunch plans.

    After we rescheduled her appointment, my day organically rearranged itself. I found myself catching up on admin tasks and enjoying a slow start rather than heading out for an early walk as I had planned.

    Which put me at my usual spot on that same creek, but about two miles downstream, but a different time than usual.

    Just in time to cross paths with a stranger who pointed out the large bird with the white head looking down at us from a tree.

    Just in time for other people to cross my path so I could share the magic with them.

    I could have been irritated by the change in my workday. I could have tried to force some kind of productivity.

    Instead, I followed the breadcrumbs and was rewarded with a beautiful and unusual sight.

    Of course I texted my friend to tell her I saw an eagle (the same one?) again. She replied that perhaps there was a doubly strong message for me in this synchronous rendezvous. That’s exactly something I would have said! But I hadn’t yet had that thought.

    So I’m letting it simmer.

    The bald eagle, as you likely know, is a symbol of America. A proud, strong, bird. A bird of prey. An endangered species.

    There’s a lot to work with here, but I’m taking it as a positive omen as well as a reminder to follow my instincts.

    Divine Timing

    I don’t normally post twice in a day, but when I do, it’s because of diving…

  • Have you ever held a time slot for an event that got cancelled? I’m guessing we all have. In that process, we’ve possibly declined other conflicting invitations. When the original plan falls through, it’s natural to feel frustrated at having missed out on opportunities, some of which might be long gone.

    What if, rather than ruining a potential girls’ night out, concert or Reiki circle, that canceled event was doing you a favor? What if it was just a placeholder, taking up space on your calendar so that you wouldn’t RSVP to requests that were not in your best interest? That perhaps there was something altogether different that was a better use of your time, something that you didn’t know about until later? It could be as simple as having quiet night at home to catch up on your reading or a last minute invitation for something fabulous.

    This happens to me all the time when clients cancel appointments, some of which had been on my calendar for weeks. Then just moments later I learn about a class I’d love to attend or another client has an urgent situation and the now-open slot works perfectly for them.

    I’ve learned to trust in divine timing and believe that the universe really is looking out for me in ways I don’t always understand. Learning how to let go of the desire to understand, btw, is a pre-requisite to living a soul-led life. Sometimes clarity arises in hindsight, but not always. I’ve learned to assume that many things are simply above my pay grade and simply follow the breadcrumbs.

    This is not to say you need to tolerate consistent abrupt changes of plans that are simply bad manners from a friend or business associate. It’s true that some people are simply inconsiderate and might need a talking-to about respecting your time. I’ve had my share of this type of cancelation and have had to learn to stand up for myself in this regard.

    And… sometimes, especially when your Spidey senses are tingling or magical synchronicity results, you can take note that something bigger than you arranged for an alternate experience.

    The more we notice, acknowledge, and express gratitude for such interventions, the more likely they are to occur. The more we’re able to accept that we just don’t have the perspective to always know what the best thing is, the more easily we can go with the flow.

    So when the maintenance crew’s truck is blocking the driveway and I’m delayed a few minutes, or the garbage truck is ahead of me and I choose to take a different route to avoid the fragrance, it’s entirely possible that I’ll benefit in unforeseen ways.

    When there’s a guy sitting on my favorite bench by the creek and I walk a bit further to find the perfect log right next to the water, it’s obvious that the unexpected change worked in my favor. I don’t always have such obvious proof that this is the case, but there are so many examples that have demonstrated benevolent intervention that I’ve begun to trust that most of the time, the universe is orchestrating events on my behalf.

    In case you’re in need of a tune-up or a recharge, a slot just now opened up in my schedule for tomorrow. Use the link below if you want to book yourself a much-needed Reiki session, either in-person in Philly or a remote Reiki treatment wherever you are. I suspect you also just had a cancellation that leaves you open at just the right time.

    Schedule a Session

    Placeholders and Divine Intervention

    Have you ever held a time slot for an event that got cancelled? I’m guessing we…

  •      

    Here in Philadelphia, we just had our third significant snowfall in as many weeks. It makes for a lot of rescheduling clients so they don’t drive home after a relaxing treatment on icy roads. And it’s also provided several unexpected free days. Kinda like snow days as a kid, and loads of time to spend with my beloved books. In short, the weather has been wreaking havoc on my schedule and I’m doing a pretty good job of rolling with it.

    I especially enjoy my hikes as the woods are incredibly peaceful.

    Until yesterday.

    I’m expecting a delivery that has been delayed and have no idea how long. No big deal usually, but I need to sign for this one. When I ordered my BioMat weeks ago, I began sending Reiki to its travels all the way from Hawaii. Obviously there are lots of complications these days for such a lengthy journey, and snow is only one of them. So I turned to Reiki, and have been intending for safe and timely transport.

    Last week when I learned that it was scheduled to arrive today, I was elated. At that time, I had no appointments booked and simply blocked out my calendar so I could hang out at home listening for the doorbell. Reiki at its finest! Admittedly, I was a little bit smug about my success.

    Then the storm yesterday resulted in a notice that the package has been delayed, but no information as of yet as to how long it’s delayed. Curses! The rest of the week is rather full due to keeping today’s schedule vacant and all the moving clients around because of the weather.

    Again, not usually a big deal, even as a dedicated pedestrian. The pick-up store is walkable. But this package is 18 pounds! Too heavy to carry, even to the nearest bus stop. Too difficult to schlep with a shopping cart as crossing every intersection on foot means climbing over a frozen slush bank created by the plows. The likelihood of finding a friend available to give me a lift in the middle of my now-full rest of the week is slim and Lyft and Uber seem rather unappealing these days.

    From this perspective, it’s rather a downer. Somehow I’d forgotten about the magic of Reiki! As if the flow of life-force energy is unable to navigate a snowstorm? Puh-lease! I’m grateful I only lost a few moments of my precious life worrying about this triviality before I turned it back over to the ease and grace available when I’m connected to the flow of Reiki.

    So, I still have no idea when the package is coming. I’m continuously releasing my attachment to having it arrive today as planned (after all, I’m really, really eager to experience the BioMat!) and releasing my attachment to knowing when it’s supposedly coming so I can make a plan. Instead, I’m placing my trust in Divine Timing and an intelligent and benevolent Universe.

    It will get here when it gets here, and I’m certain that its arrival will be perfect in ways I can’t possibly know just yet.

    Going with the Snow Flow

          Here in Philadelphia, we just had our third significant snowfall in as many weeks. It…

  • For months now I’ve been spontaneously waking up before 5 am. Since I’ve been using Reiki to break this super annoying pattern and failing miserably, I know that there’s a bigger plan beyond what I can see. As I tell my students, Reiki always works, just not always in the way we want it to! I trust the intelligence of this universal life-force healing energy much more than I trust my own thinking. My thoughts often lead me astray!

    This week my self-care, spiritual, and personal growth practices all converged to show me the colossal wisdom of Reiki and my own shortsightedness. It’s a lovely story of how the universe has conspired to give me exactly what I want despite my continued resistance to receive it. The complexity of several different factors intersecting perfectly blows my mind and lends credence to my belief in synchronicity, divine guidance and divine timing.

    Last month’s meditation in Rick Hansen’s “Growing the Good” online program focused on motivation. That certainly got my attention as I was just wrapping up the 12 week studies in the book, “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity“, by Julia Cameron. Given that I’ve spent the last year intending to open to my innate creative flow, this book was a no-brainer, and linking creativity with motivation was incredibly helpful. As was the choice to delve into the humorous yet profound “You are a Badass at Making Money” by Jen Sincero, as I’m building my own business and have a burning desire for more freedom and autonomy as well as prosperity.

    Throw in the practices I’m learning about dream tending from Sharon Blackie in her online course “Courting the World Soul” and a dietary detox revealing greater levels of energy, I grew closer to my epiphany. But it wasn’t until I had a medical intuitive session with the amazing Laura Bruno regarding the healing of a longstanding pain in my foot that the breakthrough broke. In addition to some practical remedies, Laura suggested that I make a verbal commitment to a project that I intend to complete in the next 2-5 years. As I did this… ding ding ding!! The alarms in my head went off and everything fell into place.

    I have three different books simmering inside me that I just can’t seem to find the time or motivation to begin. With the exercises in the books I’m reading, the meditation, harvesting the messages in my dreams, breaking the hold that sugar has over me, and making this commitment to myself and the projects I desire to create; it was infinitely obvious that the universe/Spirit/Reiki/intuition/whatever you want to call it was giving me the gift of an undisturbed, quiet hour every morning to devote to my creative urges.

    Once I stopped wasting this precious time lying in bed cursing my biorhythms and feeling sorry for myself, I began to see this for the spectacular blessing that it is. Since then I’ve been jumping out of bed after recording the fragments of dream memories and doing what absolutely needs doing to sit my butt down and write for an hour. I have no idea of where it will lead, but the energetic rewards of being devoted to my goals and allowing creativity to flow, feel fantastic! And quite frankly, that’s good enough for now.

    Happy side effects: I’ve not had any sensation in my foot since I made my commitment to using this morning time for writing. My body was trying to tell me something for a long time and I just wasn’t getting the message. I vow to learn to speak her language to save myself the time and hassle of painfully unheeded communication. I am also finding myself so productive in the mornings that I’m able to get to the woods more frequently for creek therapy and sunshine. Win, win, win!

    Reiki fail?

    For months now I’ve been spontaneously waking up before 5 am. Since I’ve been using Reiki…