Cynthia Bourgeault, mystic theologian, author, and contemplative, says that beneath the surface of Western culture runs an ongoing current of 'existential anxiety'. Most of us can relate to this, both in our own experiences and in the experience of those around us. The culture feeds on fear.

Yet there is another choice: the way of Love and Grace. One lives in the thinking mind, the other lives in the Wise Heart.

Far from being impractical or lofty ideals, choosing Love and Grace over fear opens the way for a wholly new experience. Yes, it takes practice; daily. And with practice, a space is opened and grace flows in.

The Way of Grace is such a different way than the fear and anxiety we consider 'normal' even though it's not. The 'norm' of living in perpetual fear is a miscreation, a false reality, born of a belief that we are separate: from our own Divine Nature or higher wisdom, from one another, from the glorious Life that breathes in and out of us and connects all things, and from the Divine or higher intelligence at the center of seeming chaos.

The intelligence of Life beckons us, nudges us, calls us to our birthright - that knowing and experiencing of Love and Grace. There are also times when radical events shock us out of an old worldview or habitual pattern, and space is created in that way.

I've often required the latter, though my heart yearned for the former ... the gentler beckoning, the graceful response to that invitation. Thankfully, with practice and heartful intention, this is changing.

Yet I have watched in wonder time and time again how grace arises in the space that has been created by my own intention or by a jarring circumstance that in one fell swoop, brings down the walls of my resistance. Angels in human form come out of nowhere to assist, synchronicities happen, seemingly impossible obstacles fall away through surprising and often amazing ways.

I find myself ever grateful for this 'evidence of Grace', and it gives me courage to invite that way - the Way of Grace - to dissolve the old 'Law of Karma' belief in the necessity or 'normalcy' of fear, struggle, existential anxiety, and separation, and reveal the beauty and connection that exists at all times.

Some call this Pronoia - the Universe conspiring on your behalf, if you'll allow it. Others call it Love. Either way, the signature, the hallmark, is Grace ... a Grace which unfolds with such simplicity, such elegance, that it gives us some idea of how it might be possible for Heaven to exist on Earth.

May this Way of Grace open more and more in our hearts and minds, and may we more and more easily allow the space for it.

Joyful Blessings,
Jamie

I just posted an article which arose spontaneously as I heard from several solopreneur friends, on 'tough-times tips for spirit-centered solopreneurs'.

The Mayan Calendar guru, Johan Calleman wrote that this year (the 5th Night in the Mayan Calendar) would be a time when many 'spiritual warriors' felt tested. Whether one believes this or not, I know many people are in the midst of major life transitions that include livelihood as well. I believe this is as much an invitation and opportunity as it is a 'testing'.

Since solopreneurs and small-business owners are the 'juice' of their endeavors, and spirit-centered solopreneurs have particular callings, it's good to stay 'in the practice' and not get bogged down with fear and anxiety.

I share a few intuitively prompted (and experiential) tips in the article, "Tough-Times Tips for Spirit-Centered SoloPreneurs." You'll find it in my Live True, Work Well blog.

Blessings,
Jamie

What story are you living? What story is shaping your life, your work, your relationships?

Each of us -- individually, collectively, and in our livelihoods and organizations -- is living from a set of stories, whether we're aware of them or not.

Often, our stories and 'story lines' were crafted long ago, as a composite of the beliefs, thought patterns, limitations, and 'norms' that we inherited earlier in our lives. While we're called to change, evolve, expand, and grow into our greatest potentials and soul callings, living by our old stories creates barriers and limits that can seem confounding and frustrate our efforts or intentions.

Our current, limiting stories may be constructed from story lines like "This is all that's possible for me" or "This is the way it's always been done" or "I am a victim of circumstance" or "This is a hard, cruel world and you have to fight to survive" or "There is a scarcity of good, so you have to scramble to get yours."

There are more; plenty of them. And each one of these old story lines is profoundly limiting, and rooted in fear and scarcity that exist only in our smallest minds -- these are beliefs we inherited. Each of these is much smaller than your own -- and the greater -- potential for what's actually possible.

If we're not experiencing what we'd like to in our life, livelihood, groups, and organizations; or if we know that there is 'something greater possible', then it's a powerful invitation to create a new story, with more empowering and deliberate story lines.

Read the rest of the article in the current Ivy SeaZine.

Joyful Blessings!
Jamie

It always amazes me when something stirs our soul, and something in us says 'yes', mobilizing forces in the Unseen to orchestrate things into the world of our physical experience.Right now, I'm experiencing that phenomenon with an immersion in Munay-Ki that will take place next week.

It reminds me a lot of a similar unfolding that occurred in 2005, when I received word of a Wisdom University several-week immersion in the Divine Feminine as the group traveled throughout France.

The first time I heard about it was in the Spring of that year, and thought, "I would love to participate in that!" Of course, my 'thinking mind' came up with myriad reasons it wasn't practical, and so I set it aside. Each time I received a communication about it throughout the year, I felt my soul responding and my mind negating the possibility of it.

A month before the trip and immersion were to take place, I received a communication that one participant had dropped out, and there was one space still available. I remember sitting at my desk, reading and re-reading that email, listening to my soul respond 'yes' and my mind giving the laundry list supporting 'no'. I closed the email, then re-opened it, closed it, re-opened it.

Finally, I was prompted to 'just call for information'. I told myself if someone answered, it would be an affirmation that I should go; if not, it wasn't meant to be. Still, my mind continued with the reasons it was impractical, but the soul-urging guided me to call. The trip administrator answered it on the first ring, and told me that the spot would go quickly and I had to decide right then. At that moment, as if someone was standing right behind me, my intuition (or Guiding Angel!) said unequivocably, "Just trust, Jamie! Do it!"

I said yes, not knowing how I would pay for it, at a time when financial resources were very tight. But my soul was singing! For the first time in a long, long time, I felt absolutely joyous!

The next day, I received a call from my father and his wife, who knew nothing about the trip. They told me they, being proud of what I'd been doing, wanted to gift me with a check. The amount matched exactly with the cost of the trip.

I felt the reality of Grace at work; Pronoia - all the forces of the Universe conspiring on my behalf to orchestrate what we would call 'miracles' only because we've forgotten that they can be 'normal'.

And now another wonderful opportunity to study with and receive wisdom and transmission from Inka elders, in a way that makes my soul sing and that boggles my mind. The hummingbird, a totem of joy and synchronicity, and also one of four major animal totems of this medicine-wisdom way, have been appearing all around me since saying 'yes' to the Munay-Ki immersion.

I'm always grateful for reminders like these, when the soul calls, we say yes, and the Universe opens the way when we can't, with our minds, figure out how something would ever come about.

Joyful Blessings,
Jamie