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This weekend I decided to visit the new Habitat for Humanity Restore on Wendover Road in Charlotte. I have passed it many times and decided to see what goodies I could find. I also noticed a sign attached to the large building that said Julia’s Coffee. I thought it was strange that they had a coffee shop attached to the Habitat for Humanity store but decided to check it out.

I entered the Habitat store and found some records and Cd’s which I purchased. I then walked over to the coffee shop and was extremely surprised to find a eclectically decorated, dimly lit, two level shop with used books in one corner. I ordered a scone which I was told was locally made and a cup of their El salvador coffee. The scone and coffee were delicious, much better than Starbucks… no burnt coffee taste here. Apparently, the coffee is grown by a small family in El Salvador (which is where there sister affilate is located) and roasted fresh in Charlotte. I also learned they have free WiFi access plus live performances by independent artists like Rick Spreitzer, Kate Minogue, and Billy Jones every Saturday from 1PM-4PM.

I wandered over to their used book section on Spirituality. There was plenty of good reading from Deepak Chopra, Patanjali to Scott Peck. I nabbed Deepak Chopra’s”How to Know God” for $2.98 and sunk into one of their overstuffed seats contently eating my scone till closing time (6PM).

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I usually let my Alaskan Malamute walk me when I get home from work and we always pass a house that has an Invisible Fence. There are three plump Jack Russell Terriers that have collars with big boxes around their tiny necks. Apparently, if the dogs walk past a certain area they either get a warning beep and possibly a small shock. Not sure which comes first.

Anyway, there is nothing visibly stopping them from running away except for the possibility of getting shocked. As I approached with my dog, their plump little bodies perked up and they frantically charged us barking and twitching with excitement. However, as they approached the “forbidden zone”, you could hear a little beep coming from their collar and suddenly, they just stopped in their tracks.

This got me to thinking (god forbid) that many people (including myself) create invisible fences in our minds that stop us from growing. We are so scared of the possibility of pain involved with making changes in our lives that we never cross the barrier to freedom.

We continue to live in the status quo which keeps us in prison behind a mental fence. However, the pain involved in change is short lived and once you get past that threshold you are suddenly free to create the life you really want.

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I was at my friend’s house several months ago and noticed what looked like a xylophone on his coffee table. It was rather nondescript looking but when I struck the mallet to the metal bars it produced very mesmerizing tones. I asked my friend where he bought it, and he said it was given as a gift. Needless to say, I really wanted one and looked all over the Internet but all I could find were xylophones. This was not a typical xylophone.

In my search, I stumbled upon a website called tonguedrum.com which piqued my interest. I listened to some tongue drum audio samples on their site and fell in love with the sounds they produced- a haunting, beautiful sound reminiscent of a Caribbean steel drum with wooden overtones.  I learned that one of the producers of the movie “Crash” had bought one and was using it in his next soundtrack…Cool.

Anyway, I ordered their smallest tongue drum and it arrived last week. It is made of solid hardwood with slits or tongues that you hit with a mallet. The sound just resonates throughout the wooden box and fills the room with a organic, tropical sound. The designer says the instrument is tuned so you cannot hit a bad note which I found to be the case ( I never learned to read music notes).

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The other day I was watching Sponge Bob Square Pants (don’t ask, my partner loves the show) and in this episode Plankton (evil plankton) is trying to get Sponge Bob to “toughen up” by training him to be inconsiderate and mean to others. However, as hard as Sponge Bob tries, all his actions end up helping others.

Eventually Plankton gives up in frustration at his failed teachings. Apparently, Sponge Bob can do no harm to others. It is in his nature to help everyone feel good. These are the traits of an enlightened being.

As hard as it is to fathom, we are all connected and our actions affect others in both small and large ways creating a ripple effect that continues on.

I have decided that the next time I encounter an angry situation, I will change my reaction to understanding instead of anger and focus on how I can help that person find happiness (at least in that moment).

may everyone be happy,
may everyone be free from misery
may no one ever be separated from their happiness
may everyone have equanimity, free from hatred and attachment.
-Buddhist Prayer

Romantica

June, 30 2007 at Julias Coffee
1133 N. Wendover Road, Charlotte, North Carolina
Cost : Free

Afternoon from 1-4

Friday, June 29th, 2007
Center For Positive Living Charlotte NC
Rumi Night ~ Movie, Discussion & Zikr
7″00PM
Price: Cost: Love Offering
We will begin with Spiritual Cinema Movie “Rumi: Poet of The Heart” at 7pm. This documentary brings to life a man and his poetry that have been gone from this earth for over 800 years and yet he is still the most celebrated and read poet in the world. Jelaluddin Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic, best known for his deeply spiritual love poems. This 58 minute short film will be followed by discussion and concluded with an introduction to Sufi Zikr. Led by Co-Pastors Christy Snow & Renee Leboa who are also students of Sufi Shaikh Kabir Helminski of the Mevlivi Order (Rumi’s Order). This evening will also include sharing from Christy & Renee regarding their recent pilgrimage to Rumi’s resting place in Turkey with Shaikh Kabir.

God is in the speckless blue sky.
God is in the solitary flower.
God is in the barking dog.
God is in our skin, hair, eyes.
God is in our hearts.
God is in the birds soaring overhead.
God is in our lovers, partners, and passing strangers.
God is in the eyes of a child playing with abandon.
God is in the warmth of the sun and our beautiful spinning world.
God is in our cells and DNA.
God is everywhere.

Last night I attended a “Toning Circle” at the Center for Positive Living in Charlotte. The instructor was Lauren Powell and she travels around the country to New Thought churches teaching people to heal through music vocalization.

The class was well attended with over 20 people sitting in the usual circle. In front of every other person were quartz singing bowls and freenote xylophones of various sizes. Lauren explained that our own voices and the music we create have healing properties that can eliminate toxic emotions. She instructed us on how to produce mellifluous sounds by breathing properly and keeping our throats open (not easy).

She brought up the Japanese study on water crystals by Dr. Masaru Emoto and how their shapes were affected by the intentions and feelings of the people in the room at the time. Apparently, negative thoughts produce ugly shaped water crystals that resemble diseased cells and positive thoughts produce beautiful structured water crystals.  Anyway, By singing and playing music we create positive feelings that may actually alter our cellular structure (we are 70% water anyway).

She asked three people to sit in the center of the room with two words that they wanted the group to sing back to them. For instance, some people chose their name and a positive word like “John” and “Love”. We proceeded to play the singing bowls, and Freenotes while vocalizing those words towards the people being “treated”. Everyone seemed to feel good after we sang for them.

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A couple of weeks ago, I decided I needed to go on a hedonistic vacation where I could shop, dance, and just plain enjoy my life for at least three nights. So, I booked a South Beach vacation package with my partner. We ended up staying at an art deco hotel called “The Century” on Ocean Boulevard (Where all the action is supposed to be).

On the day of our arrival everything went smoothly. We took a taxi from the airport to Ocean Drive and arrived at the Century hotel. The hotel was a compact slice of the 1930’s Deco genre and was recently remodeled. The concierge was reasonably friendly and our room was small but comfortable. The room was a little shop worn but acceptable with hardwood floors and modern furniture. Everything was within walking distance including the beach, but more importantly there was a Starbucks directly across the street!

That night we walked down the bustling Ocean drive and I must say I have never seen more Bentley’s, Mercedes’, and Ferrari’s in one place. As we were walking, we were frequently accosted by cheesy sales people trying to get us to eat at their restaurant..not cool.

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Last week I attended an Abraham Hicks study group which was based on their book “Ask and it is Given” and “The Law of Attraction” . The group had about fifteen people and we sampled scenes from their movie “The Secret behind the Secret” by Ester and Jerry Hicks.

Apparently the original version of “The Secret” had Ester Hicks in it but was later edited to remove her portions. The basic premise of this couple’s work revolves around a visitation by a spirit called “Abraham” who revealed mucho information about us as humans and how we can change our lives by altering our emotions and thoughts.

As I said earlier, the class focused on movie “The Secret Behind the Secret” which further expounds some of the ideas that were touched upon in “The Secret”; in particular, the law of attraction and how to manifest what you want by altering how you feel at any given moment.

We began the class by singing a “feel good song” (Gasp!!). I resisted at first but finally joined in with the group and after a couple of minutes found myself smiling and actually feeling good-Silly how simple things work so well. Anyway, we proceeded to watch parts of the movie and discuss them.

After watching the part on manifesting things, our teacher (Sharon Powers) told us to close our eyes and envision something that we want in our head for at least 68 seconds. I saw the picture of a Red Gerber daisy.We were then told to release our desire to the universe.

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Yard Sale at Vajradhara Center, Charlotte
Next Saturday, June 9th
4601 Addison Drive, Charlotte 28211. 704 442 9094

My mother was in town for the week and I decided to take her to a Quantum Touch Healing Circle at Unity Church in Charlotte. My mom is no newcomer to alternative therapy/thinking and is a Silva Method graduate. We arrived a little late and the room was almost full. There were about twenty people seated in chairs arranged in a circle.

The two head practitioners explained (sort of) what Quantum Touch was all about:

Channeling of energy from the practitioner to the patient through intentional thought, and breathing techniques. This raises the vibrational energy of the practitioner,which in turn, raises it in the patient promoting the healing process. It was made clear that the practitioner does not do any healing and that all the healing is self-healing.

The “Quantum” in Quantum touch comes from Quantum Theory. Quantum theory states that all of reality is made up of energy fields and that over 99% of the universe is simply space. The practitioners speculate that they are breaking up blocked energy fields (chakras?) in the patients.. (Not sure I understand)

In order to determine who would get treatment first, we were asked if anyone was in pain and several people including myself raised our hands. My practitioner was a middle aged man who looked like an engineer or chemist, coming across very practical and serious. I explained my problem to him and he put his hands under my hamstring area, closed his eyes,and began breathing heavily. He performed Quantum touch for about an hour and I felt sorry for him because he had to keep his hands propped under my leg the whole time.

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