Frequencies of a Cicada

Music To My Ears

I was going to do an article on the sounds of cicadas, but changed my mind.

Every morning, when I take Jolene out to brush her, I have an opportunity to sit on my porch and listen to the morning nature calls.  Usually bird-song is the most prevalent morning sound that comes into my awareness because of the nice number of birds in my neighborhood, and sometimes my neighbors are taking control of the airwaves with their leaf blowers and lawn mowers because, well, my neighbors are trying to irritate me.

It's August now, and the cicadas are buzzing in volumes that overtakes anything else that might try announce themselves before noon.  And I find it relaxing.

I figured there was a reason that cicadas exist, come out every summer, and relax the human population within earshot, so I investigated the frequency at which they vibrate - 123 hertz. 

Apparently cicada song is most important to other cicadas; the males are calling to the females.

But I did find out that 123Hz affects us too.  I found a chart that says it affects Pyoderma and Influenza.  This information wasn't helpful to me.  I looked up Pyoderma: skin disease.  Maybe singing cicadas cure acne.

When you play B2 with a bassoon the frequency is 123Hz.

When your subwoofer vibrates with 123 Hz it irritates you.

Certain tree frogs sing higher at around 123 Hz to compensate for traffic noise.  After all, they want those female frogs to hear them.

I also found out that if you held a singing cicada next to your ear, you could damage your hearing.  So, don't do that.

So far none of this was what I was looking for, so I changed my search to information about the cicada  and it's symbolism.  This was a bit more interesting.

Because of it's ability to reemerge from the ground and shed it's shell to fly, it's a symbol for resurrection and reincarnation in Japan and China.   The Greek lover of the goddess of Dawn, Tithonus, was granted immortality but not eternal youth, so he got older and weaker with time until all that was left of him was his voice.  He is now a cicada.  In the case of the 7 year cicada, it's numerology symbolism signifies a great imagination and ability to manifest with conscious thought.

Cicadas come out during the hottest days of the summer.  Since this corresponds with the sun being at the center of our lives, they are part of the sun-sign and bring to light our ability to connect and harmonize with our family and neighbors.  Since some of them take their time coming up from the earth,  (some lay dormant for 17 years!) they can bring to mind timing, patience, longevity, and the rhythm of nature.

There are about 2500 species of cicadas around the world.  Cicadas have five eyes and can see very well, but their cellular memories are so old, whatever they see looks like a tree to them.  So don't take it personally when they try to land on you.  Like aphids, they live on tree sap and water, so they do no harm to us or our gardens unless the females lay too many eggs and damage young plants.  It seems their main role on this planet is to breed, multiply, and be food to any who dares to eat them.  While underground they aerate the soil and promote tree growth.  They offer themselves to us as a gift and we reward them by running away screaming - we seem to judge ugly, noisy things as harmful.  Shame on us.

There is a genus of cicadas that include 7 species called Magicicada, a name I love.  They include the 13 year and 17 year brood.  They come out in such great numbers, in the millions sometimes,  to survive the feeding frenzy that ensues.  Their predator's tummies fill up way before their numbers dwindle, giving them a chance to mate and go back to ground and wait for the next cycle of rebirth.

For years researchers have sought to explain how the Magicicada life cycles developed and what the significance of the prime numbers (13 year and 17 year) might mean. 

The long underground life span seems to have started 20,000 years ago, during the last glacial period.  The Magicicada may have developed an ability to wait until the warm weather signaled safety for an emergence, leading to a change in their genetic makeup.  A theory about the prime numbers has something to do with Nature's way to keep cross breeding with other cicadas to a minimum.  There is a great article here, on ScientificAmerican.com that could tell you more.

I tried and tried and found no esoteric information on how cicadas affect us and why they keep coming back every year.  All I could do is theorize that there's a message that we're not getting, so they'll keep singing to us until we get it.  They've been trying for thousands of years and are very patient with us, and I hope they never give up.  

So forget about the article.  I think I'll just go outside and listen to my magic cicadas.  Someday I'll figure it out.

Really?

Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy!

My morning started normally enough.

After I fed the dog, fed the outdoor birds and fed the indoor bird, I loaded the indoor bird onto her perch and took my breakfast to the couch where I happily ate my scrambled eggs and drank my coffee as I watched my morning talk shows.

I pulled out my laptop and started checking my mail.  Jolene camped out next to me on the couch to wait for lunch time.  So far it was a nice relaxed morning.

2 hours later I had to pee.  This meant I had to get up off the couch and go upstairs.  It was the perfect opportunity to turn everything off and get ready to go grocery shopping.

I closed my laptop, gathered my dishes and got up.  Jolene knew it was time to go and jumped off the couch to wait for me.  First I had to get the bird so she could go back into her cage, which can be a challenge, but we had a routine that made it easy. 

I grabbed a sunflower seed and asked her to come to momma.  Thankfully, she came without me having to coerce her with more seeds.  Sometimes she decides she needs a little more time and I have to be patient with her.  There's no hurrying a bird, especially a temperamental bird like mine.  Once she was on my arm I grabbed my dishes and turned off the lights and three of us went upstairs to the kitchen.

Boy, I really had to pee - but first I had to put the dishes in the sink.  Then I took the bird to the front door - this was part of our routine.  As she waited patiently on my shoulder I attached the suction cup perch on the glass of the door and tried to lure her onto it with a couple of sunflower seeds, but she wanted to show her appreciation first and cuddle with my cheek.  I tried not to dance the "full bladder" dance, pretended to appreciate her appreciation because I wanted to encourage her attempts at being nice to me, and after a couple of trying minutes (trying my patience, trying my bladder) I was able to get her off my shoulder and safely on the perch.  Then I opened the door a couple of inches to get the mail out of the mailbox that was right outside on the wall. Once I retrieved the mail I closed and locked the door against any accidental openings and letting the bird out of the house.  Even with clipped wings my bird can fly.

We did this so that I could have some time to take her dish of prepared fruit and veggies out of the fridge and put it in her cage.  If I did it before she went back to her cage she wouldn't get territorial and try to bite me.  So after I sorted the mail I went into the kitchen to get her dish.

Now, I was fighting the clock.  If I went to the bathroom first it would take too long; the bird would get antsy and fly to the top of her cage before I was ready, and it would be tricky getting her in it.  I could wait until she went in to eat, then close the door, but in my mind that was another battle I didn't have time to deal with and couldn't wait for her.  So I concentrated on holding my water and went straight to the fridge and got the dish out.

While I was there, I took out the food for the dog.  The plan was I'd put the bird food in the cage, get the bird safely inside, go to the bathroom and then feed the dog.

Well.

I put the bird's dish in her cage and went to the front door.  Good, she was being patient with me today.  I lured her back to my arm with another sunflower seed, then noticed there was an almond shell on the floor.  As I decided it was there because Jolene left it there, I bent down to pick it up.  I couldn't risk Jolene trying to swallow it.  I reached for it just as Jolene showed up - we raced to see who'd get it first.  I did.

Suddenly my hand was covered with ants.  Crap!

I instinctively dropped the almond.  Jolene instinctively grabbed it.  The bird instinctively hung on for dear life as I grappled with the dog to get the stupid almond shell out of her mouth.

OMG, my bladder will explode any second now.

I'm yelling at the dog and secretly hoping the bird will stay calm and not bite my ear. She did this last week and my ear is still healing.  Luckily Jolene was tickled by the ants and dropped the stupid almond.  I grabbed it, raced to the back door for some weird reason, and threw it out the door.  While the door was open I shook off some of the ants.  Miraculously the bird stayed on my shoulder.

I tried to stay calm for my bladder's sake.  I grabbed yet another sunflower seed and lured the bird onto her perch on the inside of the cage door, then slowly shut the door on her.  There were still a few ants crawling up my arm.  I squashed them as fast as I could.  Whew!  The bird was tucked away, the ants on my arm were dead.

But before I could head upstairs to the bathroom I had to contend with the rest of the ants,  so I went back to the kitchen, grabbed a can of bug spray, ran to the front door, picked up the rug in front of the door and threw it outside, ants and all; I could see little ant bodies flying everywhere.  Then I sprayed the heck out of the floor and the door jam.

Once I could tell that the ants were all dead, I considered going outside to see how they got in in the first place.

But I REALLY HAD TO PEE!

So I decided it could wait and finally headed for the bathroom.

But now I found that every move I made increased the risk of my peeing my pants.  So I slowly headed for the stairs.  Very slowly.  I took a step, paused to relax my bladder, took a step, paused to relax my bladder, took a step and hoped no one was standing outside my front door watching me, then paused again to calm my bladder.

Miraculously I made it upstairs to the bathroom with dry pants, but:  now I have a knot in the sash that's holding my shorts up. 

I struggled and struggled, and long story shortened:  I did not wet myself.

I'm too old for this stuff.

(P.S.  I never did find the ant trail into my house, Jolene got fed, and I did get to the grocery store, where I forgot to buy half of the groceries I went to the store for in the first place but I did bring home stuff I found that looked good.)

Clear My Blocks (Simply Healed)

I Can't See Clearly

Darius Barazandeh has a web radio show called "You Wealth".   He's sponsoring a series of interviews with energy healers of all kinds, called the "Revolution Shift 2012" series, and one day I checked into an interview with Carolyn Cooper, founder of the Carolyn Cooper Simply Healed Method.  

Carolyn's method is an approach to healing that clears negative emotions in a non-invasive way.  She can intuitively connect with your energy, see where you've accumulated emotions and negative energy on a mental, emotional and physical level,  and clear it to let you move forward in a positive light.

Carolyn says we all have flaws in our ancestral energetic DNA.  It turns out we can carry negative memories and emotions for generations.  In other words, if your great-great-great-great-grandmother had a bad experience that she never got over, you could still be carrying around that emotional block for her, and that could be the unknown reason you can't get ahead in your financial life.  Add your ancestor's traumas to your own traumatic experiences that you've accumulated over the years, and you've got a soup of negative energy floating around you keeping you from achieving your dreams.

I found this an interesting theory, and I decided to test it.  Goodness knows I've felt some unknown force holding me back, keeping me from my version of financial and personal success.  For years I've searched for ways to clear my veils and blocks, and it seems like I'm buried in them.  I chip away and chip away at my marble walls and hope for a breakthrough; slowly but surely I make dents and sometimes windows in my wall and I can take three steps instead of two steps before I have to take one back.  It seems that my purpose in this life is to fish for energy healers of all kinds and bring them forward to chip at my wall with me, and I have to say it's been an interesting journey.

Anyway, since Carolyn Cooper doesn't do one-on-one healings anymore, I searched for one of her students.   I found Dr. Tera Maxwell, PhD, on her website, Pure Energy Works.com.

 Through our emails I found out she lives almost an hour away from me in Annapolis, MD, and she could do our session over the phone.   I made an appointment, sent her my payment and called her at our scheduled time a few days later.  I found her a very nice, positive and energetic woman, and since her daughter was sleeping in the next room due to wake up at any moment, she was eager and ready to start the clearing.   I didn't mind, since I had my own "child" waiting for me upstairs.  My bird, Charlie, was itching to get out of her cage and was calling me during the whole hour's session.  She hated it when I was on the phone talking to some unseen person and would do anything to get my attention, so I had to leave her locked up in her cage.  Sorry Charlie.

 After some energetic searching and problem pin-pointing, Dr. Tera found my generational trauma, inherited from both of my parents.  Soon she was busy pushing through and clearing away the negativity.  She kept going back in time and found some "good" stuff on my father's side going back several generations ago.  Once cleared, Dr. Tera looked on my mother's side, and to my surprise found some negative trauma that had held on to my mother's family for 39 generations.  That's a long time to hold on to a problem.  She cleared it, checked my own background for other stuff and cleared that stuff out, and finally asked me how I felt.

I had spent the hour going through some emotions, looking for any physical reactions.  At times I was smiling gleefully, at others tears were on the verge of falling.  Some memories had surfaced that I knew needed to be healed and I'd told her about them, which she located in my energy field and healed.  Other than that I was feeling pretty good.  I figured it would take some time for me to see any improvement in my life and told her so.  We said our goodbyes at the end of the hour, and I continued my day; life went back to normal.

I noticed, however, that when I went to bed that night my mind seemed clear of my negative chit-chat.  My eyesight was even a little clearer.  It was the difference between looking through a dirty window versus a squeaky clean one.  In that way I guess my energy load was a little lighter.  Maybe I was seeing my environment through a clear energy field.  It never occurred to me before this that I needed to Windex my aura, but I guess we all should every once in a while.

It also makes me feel like a fish in a bowl.  If I have trouble seeing the world clearly, how do people see me?  I've had energy clearings before, and it did make a huge difference in the direction of my life path.  I guess this was a good lesson in making a conscious effort to clear out the crap every once in a while.  I do believe, like when I get my yearly physical, that I'm going have to call Dr. Tera for another appointment.

I'll let you know if anything else changes.

My Certificate (Law of Attraction)

I'm a certified Law of Attraction practitioner!

So now what?

Dr. Joe Vitale, a popular author and well-known teacher of the law of attraction, and Steve Jones, a certified clinical hypnotist and master LoA practitioner, developed a short study course to educate people on the law of attraction.  For not too many bucks I studied the e books and took a couple of short multiple choice quizzes to see if I learned anything, and I got a certificate for my trouble.  For some reason I thought it would be useful to be certified, so I bought in.

And I passed.

Now I have a certificate from the Global Sciences Foundation that proves I passed (though I have to presume that everybody passes) and pronounces me a Certified Law of Attraction Advanced Practitioner.

To add validity, it's signed  by Dr. Joe and Steve Jones. 

I filed the certificate away to get back to later as I continued my foray into high vibration learning experiences.  Now, a few months later, I had to wonder, what do I do with my accomplishment?

The answer is, I'm already doing it. 

I went to myglobalsciencesfoundation.org to check up on my next step.  I was surprised to find that they significantly raised the price of the course.  I must've been a beta tester.  I was also surprised to find a list of other people who've taken the test, and I was on the list along with a number of practitioners from all over the world that included doctors, teachers and life coaches.  I'd joined a club of honored members of the Global Sciences Foundation.  Ooh, fancy.

Going through the site I learned that I could do absolutely nothing with the certificate or teach others about what I learned.  I seem to be doing both.  With my websites and blogs I'm educating the public about making the law of attraction work for them.  I'm checking  out other teachers and programs and recommending them to anybody who needs a lift.  All I have to do is talk the talk and I'm doing my certificate proud.  And I get to add a link to my website on the list of practitioners.  

The question remains, what do I do with this certificate?

I guess I'll frame it and use it as a reminder to continue on my journey; and I'll take you along with me.

I'm Successful! (Yes to Success)

 Success!

Debra Poneman says that success is the journey, not the destination of a goal.

And I think she's right.  Dreaming up a goal, like creating a necklace or building a shed or writing a book and working toward that goal is where all the fun, growth, inspiration and fulfillment is.

Think about it.  When do you enjoy life the most, after you've accomplished something, or while you are trying to accomplish it?

As long as you're making your heart sing, as long as you're doing what you were born to do, you are successful.  If your purpose in life enhances the lives of others, fantastic!  But if you're only goal is to be a happy earthling, that's also good, because if you're happy then the people around you are happy.  The world around you is improved because of your happiness and you encourage your own creativity when you're living a happy, fulfilled life.

Set a goal, make sure everyday you take a step toward your goal; move forward and you'll feel successful whether you're making money or not.  The reward of your efforts is ultimately how successful you feel as you work to achieve your goals, not so much in the final achievement of your goal.  Have you noticed that once you finish a project, you find another to get involved with?  It's because we like to achieve, we enjoy the journey, we feel important when we are making a dream come true.

All of this came into my consciousness as I listened to the introductory audio of Debra's "Yes to Success" seminar.  I was trying to relax in the hot sun on my patio, connected to my computer via my headphones.  While listening to Debra talk, my gaze wandered to my tomato plant and I saw that there were 2 little green tomatoes growing on a stalk.  I thought, "Yes!  Success!"  It was the first time I was able to grow a vegetable ever in my back yard.  All it took was a big pot full of rich potting soil and cutting down about 4 trees.  For 20 years all I could grow in my back yard was moss because those trees blocked the sun.  Don't worry, they weren't my trees and I didn't cut them down myself.  Well maybe one was, but I waited until it was almost dead to cut it down.

Debra Poneman went on to talk about the "three E's" that go with your manifesting.  When you start working toward your goals ask yourself, is it easy?  Do you have the support of the universe?

Is it enjoyable?  Are you having fun?  Do you look forward to what you're going to be doing during the day?

Is it evolutionary?  Are you growing?  Are you learning?  Do you feel that you are moving ahead as a person?

This is the test of the "three E's".  If you pass this test then you know you're on the right path.

According to this test I'm doing all right.  This high vibration life has taken me places I never knew about this time last year.  I'm confident I'll discover even more exciting things by this time next year.  Hopefully I'll get away from my desk and discover amazing places as well.  Even if I don't, I'm doing all right.  I'm successful.

Two days later I finished the audio course.  I decided I like Debra Poneman.  She has a way of lifting my spirits and giving me hope that some day I'll be a financial success.   Some day soon.

On to my next growth spurt.

The other night, the first Sunday of June, I had another tele-appointment with Mahendra Trivedi.  This call was a lot like a sales call.  He talked about the products that the foundation was selling; wine, water, probiotics and vitamins.  He's been experimenting with beef and pork - directing energy to cows and pigs and the products for sale to change their cellular development, and he feels very successful. Apparently the pigs and cows are growing with record speed - healthy and plump.  Dahryn, his wife, is working on skin products, particularly a face serum, that she's infused with her energy.  They showed a few testimonial videos about how well it affects skin quality.  Soon she'll be selling it to the public.

I got a little bored with it all, but stayed put on my couch because I wanted to get my energy transmission, and it was a good thing I did.  Guru Trivedi came through with a pretty good one.  I said my little prayer as usual then went silent for 10 minutes.  Maybe it was because I was more specific with my prayer this time, or maybe Mahendra was feeling good about the compliments that his wife was sending his way during the call;  this transmission turned out to be pretty good.

Have you ever closed your eyes while in the passenger seat of a car at night?  Please don't say you've done it while driving.  Every time  you pass under a streetlight a shaft of light passes over your eyelids, then darkness, then light, then darkness, over and over again.

This was what was happening to me on my couch in my basement.  I'd turned off the TV because of the distraction during the call, so there was nothing in the room to cause the light shifts.  I found it interesting, but it was just the beginning.  Soon the light pulses were speeding up and I was feeling movement in my forehead - IN my forehead - like rotating waves of magnetic energy.  As I sat there experiencing the movement it expanded into my jaw, then my throat, and then I was feeling air moving on my face and legs.  Take your hand and flap it like a fan over your face.  This is what it felt like on the outside.  On the inside pressure was building, my head was pounding a little and my heart was beating in tandem with each wave.

The whole thing ended with energy spreading to my chest and heart area, and when the 10 minutes of silence was over my third eye was warm, my throat was sore and my heart chakra was wide open.  In fact, I was starting a large hot flash.  The transmission had opened my heart, my throat and my third eye chakras.  It was a wild ride.  I found it interesting that one other participant commented on the feeling of waves washing over her.  So I wasn't alone.

Now, the thing with these transmissions is that even though I can feel them when they're happening I still don't know if they are affecting me in any way.  People all over the place talk about how their lives have changed, their health has improved, their financial problems have disappeared, etc. - Thank you Guru-ji, thank you!

But I so far have noticed nothing out of the usual for me.  I'm even struggling a little more financially this year, and right now my throat is still sore, thank you very much.   But I like these monthly experiences and my interest is piqued about Dahryn's youth serum so I'll probably try some when it goes on sale.  Once I finish up my 6 month energy subscription I might even consider a face to face with the Trivedis some day during one of their retreats, just because I'm curious about how a person to person transmission might feel.

For now I'll take full advantage of the extra time I have while I'm not working and continue to explore my personal growth.  On paper I'm doing okay; in my head I'm pretty successful.  There's nothing to worry about, yet.  2012 is my year for developing my talents and stepping into my new, improved skin.  I'll wait for 2013 to worry about the bills.

Maybe by then the energy transmissions will kick in.

What's The Question? (Afformations)

Why?

Noah St. John says:  Ask yourself the right question and you'll get the right answer.

This is what the gist of his Afformation program is about.  He's decided that pretending that you already have what you want, as with affirmations, is counter intuitive. You need to get your brain working by asking it the questions that makes it find the reasons you already have what you want, then you'll be able to follow the ideas it comes up with to get it.

For instance, instead of saying to yourself, "I am successful.  I have money in the bank," all day long, you're supposed to ask yourself, "Why am I so successful?  Why is there so much money in my bank account?"  Your subconscious then works on the problem you just gave it to find the answer.  This is supposed to lead you to the ways you can put more money in the bank.

There is a logic about it.  The problem is not that I don't have a bunch of ideas about how to get money in my account, I just don't have the drive to make them happen.  This could explain why I'm not a multimillionaire. 

It's not that I'm not willing to work for my money, I just want to find THE THING that's guaranteed to get me there.  Then maybe I'll find the drive.

It's hard work sifting through the bad ideas to find the good ideas, decide if I have the personality to do it, then be willing to gamble the little bit of money I do have to try it out.  What I need is a program that makes my brain yell, "DO THIS!"  Otherwise I'll never trust my subconscious suggestions, considering they are what made me not a millionaire in the first place.

Oh, I've listened enough to do what I'm doing.  It's been pretty satisfying creating websites and writing blogs, reading other people's blogs and gathering self improvement information, going on life affirming vacations and trying my hand at stock market investing, but I'm not getting any richer doing it.  Actually, my credit card is taking a beating, the hardest beating it's ever taken, but I keep convincing myself it's okay.  I've had a pretty good life until now, and even though I've "wasted" a ton of money, I don't regret it.

So the question remains, "Why am I trying Noah's Afformation program?"

Because.

I'm trying all of these things out with the hope that I'm actually doing myself some good.  Some day I'd like to say, "I owe my success to Noah!" or "Without Carol Tuttle I wouldn't be who I am today," or "If it weren't for those energy transmissions I'd still be poor and alone."  Maybe I'll be able to say all of the above.  Who knows?

Noah St John is happy and perky and seems like he's on the right track.  So I'll ask myself, "Why?" for a while and see where it takes me.  I'll also listen to my brain entrainment audios and hug my money honey as he throws money at me and drink my mushroom laced coffee.  And even though I'm not working enough at the station and my wages have dipped, I still have the ability to pay off my credit card.  Some day.  If I stop buying self help programs.  Or paying my mortgage.

Did I mention that my brother invited me to go to Hawaii with him in November?

So, here goes: "Why is it so easy to save up for a Hawaiian vacation?  Why did I say yes?"  I need to go to another dimension and ask my other self for some advice.

I've Finished It. (Quantum Jumping)

 Whoo, hoo!

I got my coffee, and I'm happy.  The weather has become humid, so I've converted to iced coffee in the morning - very satisfying.  I'm actually surprised that I like it so much.  I'm going to have make sure I keep up my Gano stock from now on.

As I mentioned before, I started a program called "Quantum Jumping,"  a system of alpha level meditations designed to get you in touch with your "self" to solve problems, tap into your creativity, accelerate your power of attraction and positive manifestation, and ultimately raise your vibration to become a master manifestor.

Burt Goldman, the creator, spent a good part of his life studying the principles of the metaphysical and the mind.  After some time with Paramahansa Yogananda and Jose Silva, mastering meditation techniques, hypnotherapy, Feng Shui, photography, and writing, Burt developed Quantum Jumping as a way to tap into his many talents.

Now in his 80's, he's discovered the power of the internet and has decided to produce an accessible audio program to share his discoveries with everyone.  His idea is that there are an unlimited number of parallel universes, each with a version of us that has already accomplished what we want to accomplish in this universe.  With a visualization meditation exercise we can gain access to our "doppelgangers" and ask them for help.  He's interesting and easy to listen to, and being the adventurous type, I decided to give his program a try.

I'm already a fan of visualization meditation, being a bit of a daydreamer since infancy, and I welcome any meditation exercise that gets me in touch with my higher self and my intuition.  But I had to get over the notion that believing in parallel universes is silly and see the bigger picture.  All of these other "Valories" are still me, whether they really exist or are just a way to visualize my inner knowledge.  If Quantum Jumping helps me solve problems or attract the good stuff, I'm all for it.

After listening to all of the modules and trying out different versions of the meditation, I finally got to the module that really resonated with me.  Burt concludes the lessons with the real benefit of the program: as you contact and relate to your successful doppelgangers you not only tap into your intuition, you connect with the higher frequency vibration that they project to attract your desired outcome.  I guess I don't find it so silly anymore.

 I'll keep working with the system for a while.  Luckily these meditations only take 15 minutes or so, so if I can remember to use it when I need it, I might be able to advance a little in my life plan.  Check out his program at www.quantumjumping.com. Here's a little video to get a sample of Burt's philosophy:

Trouble is, I've just invested in another program by Noah St. John.  He has developed "Afformations" -  a series of questions you ask yourself to help you achieve your goals, instead of just trying to manifest something with a thought.  I've listed to a couple of his audios and am having trouble with listening to him ask "why?" over and over again for an hour.  It's like having an irritating kid plugged into your ears - "why do I, why did I, why am I, why, why?"

But I'm willing to give his program a try.  I'll let you know how it goes.

On a completely different note:  Yesterday I scared a baby robin out of my hydrangea bush.  I had pulled out the hose to change the water in the bird bath when disaster struck.  He came hustling out from underneath the bush to underneath my foot so quickly, I had no time to react until after the damage to his little body was done.  I was devastated.  I cried over his little body for half an hour, then took him to the back yard for a proper burial.  

It seems every year a robin chick dies in my yard while waiting for full flight wings to develop.  Last year three chicks escaped while the oldest sacrificed himself to shepherd next door.  The year before Jolene, my little dog, scared up a chick from my garden in the back yard.  I convinced Jolene to leave the little bird alone, but I found it the next day dead in the yard.  I'm not sure what happened.  I hope Jolene didn't scare it to death.

Upon reflection, it feels like there's a little birdie soul out there trying desperately to grow into adulthood, but dies prematurely every time he escapes the nest.  I hope that some day, maybe next year, he makes it.  Or maybe he should try coming back as something else, like a hawk or a hummingbird.  Hawks get to eat the squirrels and I've never seen a dead hummingbird.  Some people think that robins are mean and aggressive, but from what I've seen, they have to be to survive.

This morning I had the privilege to watch a baby sparrow take sustenance from it's parent's beaks.  It was gratifying to see that the parents were feeding their baby with food from my bird feeder.  I'd like to think that for every bird that dies on my property there are several more that live happily and healthily because of my bird feeder and bird bath.  I'm sorry about what happened.  I hope it never happens again.