Have you noticed that you do not laugh as much as you used to? Is it because you have forgotten how? Or, is it because nothing is funny?

I think that when we do not laugh, we age more quickly and we pick up viruses more easily. If you think that I am wrong, ask yourself why the book series – “Laughter is The Best Medicine” – has been so successful!

The web site – https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm/ lists the following benefits of laughing.

Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Laughter burns calories. OK, so it’s no replacement for going to the gym, but one study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn approximately 40 calories—which could be enough to lose three or four pounds over the course of a year.

Laughter lightens anger’s heavy load. Nothing diffuses anger and conflict faster than a shared laugh. Looking at the funny side can put problems into perspective and enable you to move on from confrontations without holding onto bitterness or resentment.

Laughter may even help you to live longer. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don’t laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer.

So, today, start laughing.

Walk in peace.

Hello Questers! If you have a story to share or an idea for a blog or a series of blog posts, I would love to hear it. Please send your ideas to me at Judith-hirst@questers.ca. Or, send your idea to info@questers.ca.

The Spring Equinox 2019 is on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. An equinox is the moment in time (not a day-long event) when the Sun stands directly above the equator and day and night are of approximately equal length.

In the twenty-first century, people are not in harmony with the earth, the seasons, and the shifting skies compared to the way our ancestors were in harmony with what went on around them. A good example of people not being aware is that so many pedestrians get injured or killed by cars because they are not paying attention.

Regardless of the noise and activity around us, and the demands on our time, we can still practice being in harmony with the earth and nature. Spring Equinox is a wonderful time to begin looking at life in a different way. Since Equinox is about balance, bringing one’s life into balance is a positive way to move forward with a life change.

Some ideas are:

Make a date with yourself for once a week to walk outside, in a park, near a river, or through a forest, to feel the energy of the Sun, and to hear/feel/smell all the life around you.
Today, Equinox, have a small bonfire, and celebrate the changing of the seasons. Throughout this year, plan to have a small bonfire or whatever type of fire works in your situation, and have a few friends over to relax and talk about the miracles that are happening.
Sit outside, under the night sky, and watch the stars. If the city lights are too bright, drive to a large park or to a place outside the city to see the stars and contemplate where you want your life to be moving to – a goal perhaps.
Think about some new rituals that you would like to add to your life. Meeting a friend for coffee once a month is a great ritual.

Walk in peace.

AUTHOR – Judith Hirst has been writing spiritual and technical blogs for the last thirteen years. She is a non-traditional shaman who has studied with shaman teachers from different lineages. As well, she has studied and uses Dowsing, Body Talk, EFT, Reiki, Quantum Touch, Hypnotherapy, Angel Karma Techniques, Angel Therapy, and has taught Star Talker Training classes. She is a seer and medium. Judith joined Questers in 2007, and now serves on the Questers Board as secretary and blog master.

Want to join the Canadian Society of Questers? You can. Check the website – https://questers.ca/about/membership/ and read about the benefits of being a member. Then, go to the store and order a membership! It’s easy!

Keeping Your Perspective

Wisdom pops up in the strangest places sometimes. Check out the picture above. It is excellent advice on dealing with people that have strong opinions that do not really matter.

The writer in white is showing an example of mindfulness about the person that he is dealing with… and he is doing it with grace.

Sometimes, we just need to walk away from a person that is giving off a toxic energy. Quite simple!

Walk in peace

It’s coming closer – The 2019 Quester Spring Conference –

The Canadian Society of Questers

Spring Conference

Drawing the Future Towards Us

May 3, 4, and 5th 2019

Red Deer Baymont Hotel – Conference Center

4311 49^th Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada T4N 5Y7

Hotel 1-800-661-1657

*************

No Limitations

Sometimes, one needs inspiration, just to get through a tough time. Sometimes, that tough time is the inspiration. Lots of us have day to day challenges at work, at home, with health, with family, with addictions and with lack of sleep.

All of these situations interfere with us making the most of our life because we focus on what is wrong instead of what is right in our world. This focus is a tough habit to change.

I read an article in Forbes magazine. Here is the line that stuck with me….

You control everything that’s important in your life: You control your thoughts. You are in control of your dreams and aspirations.

The power of that line is that “you are in control” and not anyone else. So, if you are having a tough day, you are in control. Change it!

Walk in peace.

At Questers, we are excited about the Ghost Tour on an old section of the old Cariboo Wagon Road, which is situated on the Spruce Hill property, for our Fall Conference at 100 Mile House BC. Check out the information at Facebook – because we are doing something different this year for our annual Questers’ Fall Conference by returning to 100 Mile House area to team up Dave Scott “Spaced Out Radio” (www.spacedoutradio.com) and hold a joint Questers/Spaced Out Radio Paracon Conference (www.facebook.com/CaribooParacon).

To get everyone thinking about ghosts and ghostly haunts, check out the TV show called “Most Haunted”. The following excerpt from the HiggyPop website (https://www.higgypop.com/news/most-haunted-north-west/) gives a short write up of the show…

Since Yvette Fielding and her team of ghost hunters first appeared on our televisions in 2002, they’ve visited hundreds of haunted locations around the country, including a total of 45 episodes filmed in the North West.

The North West is a hotbed for paranormal activity and is the area from which the team have brought us some of the most memorable episodes of the show, including the 2017 Halloween special at Croxteth Hall in Liverpool.

Check out the list of “Most Haunted” locations in the North West, on the website. IT IS amazing how many haunted locations there are.

And, check out the Questers Fall Conference Flyer, below.

The greatest goal you can set this year is to make peace with your life, no matter your circumstances. These 10 powerful insights from Eckhart Tolle will get you started.

• Don’t seek happiness. If you seek it, you won’t find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness. Happiness is ever elusive, but freedom from unhappiness is attainable now, by facing what is rather than making up stories about it.

• The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral, which always is as it is. There is the situation or the fact, and here are my thoughts about it. Instead of making up stories, stay with the facts. For example, “I am ruined” is a story. It limits you and prevents you from taking effective action. “I have 50 cents left in my bank account” is a fact. Facing facts is always empowering.

• See if you can catch the voice in your head, perhaps in the very moment it complains about something, and recognize it for what it is: the voice of the ego, no more than a thought. Whenever you notice that voice, you will also realize that you are not the voice, but the one who is aware of it. In fact, you are the awareness that is aware of the voice. In the background, there is the awareness. In the foreground, there is the voice, the thinker. In this way you are becoming free of the ego, free of the unobserved mind.

• Wherever you look, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence for the reality of time—a rotting apple, your face in the bathroom mirror compared with your face in a photo taken 30 years ago—yet you never find any direct evidence, you never experience time itself. You only ever experience the present moment.

• Why do anxiety, stress, or negativity arise? Because you turned away from the present moment. And why did you do that? You thought something else was more important. One small error, one misperception, creates a world of suffering.

• People believe themselves to be dependent on what happens for their happiness. They don’t realize that what happens is the most unstable thing in the universe. It changes constantly. They look upon the present moment as either marred by something that has happened and shouldn’t have or as deficient because of something that has not happened but should have. And so they miss the deeper perfection that is inherent in life itself, a perfection that lies beyond what is happening or not happening. Accept the present moment and find the perfection that is untouched by time.

• The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be; otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again.

• Equating the physical body with “I,” the body that is destined to grow old, wither, and die, always leads to suffering. To refrain from identifying with the body doesn’t mean that you no longer care for it. If it is strong, beautiful, or vigorous, you can appreciate those attributes—while they last. You can also improve the body’s condition through nutrition and exercise. If you don’t equate the body with who you are, when beauty fades, vigor diminishes, or the body becomes incapacitated, this will not affect your sense of worth or identity in any way. In fact, as the body begins to weaken, the light of consciousness can shine more easily.

• You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you and allowing that goodness to emerge. If peace is really what you want, then you will choose peace.

I Decided To Succeed

– By Walt Disney

And so after waiting aimlessly one day like any other I decided to succeed.

I decided not to wait for opportunities but to go out and find them.

I decided to see every problem as challenges with infinite possibilities.

I decided to see the desert as an opportunity to find an oasis.

I decided to see every night as a mystery to solve.

I decided to see each new day as an opportunity to be happy.

That day I discovered that my only hindrances were my own weaknesses, and that they were just pointing at the best way to do better.

That day I stopped fearing to lose and I began to fear not trying at all.

I discovered that it’s not about me and perhaps never was, and it ceased to matter who won or lost.

Today I rejoice in finding I’m better than yesterday.

I learned the hard part – it’s not climbing to the top of the hill but to keep on climbing.

I learned that my greatest triumph is to have the right to call someone “friend.”

I discovered that love is more than just a state of illusions; it is a way of life.

This day I stop being a reflection of my past failures and light up the candle of the present.

I learned that this light is of no use if it’s not to illuminate the path of others.

I decided to change so many things.

That day I learned that our dreams exist only to be realized.

Since that day I no longer sleep to rest. I sleep solely to dream.

******* Editor’s Note: From the writings of Walt Disney

Picture of Bach Rescue Remedy in all its forms

I first heard of Bach Rescue Remedy from a friend and neighbour. I came back from the Philippines with an illness that turned out to be a form of malaria, and I was sick! With sickness comes feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and reclusiveness. Sally promised me that if I tried Rescue Remedy, I would start to feel different and better in a week. I went and bought a bottle of the drops. My house has never been without it since.

Here are some of the Rescue miracles. Most involve one to five drops on the tongue.

Heals a broken heart
Helps the healing process in an illness
A few drops revives wilting flowers
A few drops relaxes an anxious dog
A few drops soothes a “first time mother” horse giving birth
A drop perked up lethargic goldfish
Two drops at night helps insomniacs drift off for a couple of hours sleep

This sounds like a pretty interesting product, doesn’t it?

Well, Dr. Bach created a whole system of remedies like this one, called The Bach Flower Remedy System. The System includes many remedies in addition to the Rescue Remedy which is also called “The traditional crisis remedy”. The following comes from the Bach Centre website – http://www.bachcentre.com/index.php.

It (the Rescue Remedy) is the most famous of the remedies, but in fact is not ‘a remedy’ at all. Instead it’s a blend of five different remedies:

Rock Rose
Impatiens
Cherry Plum
Star of Bethlehem
Clematis

This mix was created by Dr Bach to deal with emergencies and crises – the moments when there is no time to make a proper individual selection of remedies. It can be used to help us get through any stressful moments, from last-minute exam nerves to the aftermath of an accident.

There is a complete list of the original Bach Remedies, what they are, and how to take them, on the Bach Centre website. Check it out, and let me know what your favorite remedy is.

Walk in Peace!

Editor’s Note: You can put your comments under this blog post, or you can email me at Judith-hirst@questers.ca.

Picture representing ghostly house and spirit

I am the first to say that I believe in ghosts and that I had ghostly experiences. I love to talk about ghost and/or unexplained experiences. I am very excited about our Questers Fall Conference in September 2018 because we will be talking about ghosts. But, I never really thought about categorizing them. Then, I read this fascinating article called “The Curious Question of Ghost Taxonomy” by Benjamin Radford in the Skeptical Inquirer Volume 42.3, May / June 2018.

A bit about Benjamin Radford – he is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy. His newest book is Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits (2018).

The summary of his writing is to ask what ghost hunters are looking for. Here are is a quote from his article.

Among the vast constellation of unexplained and Fortean topics, ghosts are by far the most elusive and unknown. Cryptozoologists who search for Bigfoot, for example, have reached a general consensus on what they’re looking for: a tall, bipedal, hairy, manlike animal. Not so with the most popular paranormal subject in the world: ghosts.

What are ghost hunters looking for? It’s not clear. As Owen Davies notes in his book The Haunted: A Social History of Ghosts, historically “Ghosts shared certain characteristics with fairies, angels, and devils, and the tricky task of distinguishing between them often depended on the context in which they appeared: and this in turn changed over the centuries according to religious, philosophical, and scientific developments” (Davies 2007, 13).

Another excerpt….

But there are of course other theories, including:

Ghosts are “created by naturally occurring environmental conditions such as electricity and electromagnetic radiation”; evidence for this often comes in the form of EMF readings.
Ghosts are the “‘playback’ of energy or stored human emotion that was once present in the location and then somehow captured or ‘recorded’ into the environment”; evidence of this theory is often discussed in terms of “residual hauntings,” for example. Flaxman and Jones noted that if this theory is correct, it raises questions about the legitimacy of EVPs (ghost voices), which may in fact be “merely the thoughts and feelings of the investigators.”
3) Ghosts “are very much alive and active, but present in alternate dimensions or realities.” Flaxman and Jones speculate that “if a ghostly apparition is indeed coming to us from another dimension or parallel universe, it might not be a dead person at all but a real, live person whom we are merely glimpsing across the great divide of reality.”
Ghosts may be either figments of our imaginations or products of temporary hallucinations (created, for example, by brain chemicals or low-level electromagnetic fields).
Ghosts “are sentient entities that enjoy vexing and even harming humans.” This theory suggests that ghosts are similar to supposed demonic entities or fairies.

If you want more information, pick up the magazine, “Skeptical Inquirer”, June issue, or, go to https://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_curious_question_of_ghost_taxonomy and read a smaller version of the article.

Read more about the organization, Skeptical Inquirer. A bit of their philosophy and about their founders is below.

The Committee is a program of the Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit educational organization. The Committee was launched in 1976. The Skeptical Inquirer is its official journal.

Some of the founding members of CSI include scientists, academics, and science writers such as Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Philip Klass, Paul Kurtz, Ray Hyman, James Randi, Martin Gardner, Sidney Hook, and others. A list of CSI fellows is published in every issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine.

CSI, encourages careful, rational, critical examination of unusual claims. One of the best guides is a short piece by Ray Hyman, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, titled “Proper Criticism”.

Walk in peace!

Editor’s Note: This article is to talk about ghosts and to point readers in the direction of the Skeptical Inquirer magazine because it has such fascinating information in it. –Judith

Editor’s Note: Over the summer, you may find that you have free time for reading or watching a movie. Here is a selection of reading material that you might like to look at – just in case you have nothing on your “I need to read” shelf. If you have some book titles to share, please send them in, and I will add to the list of book titles.

Change – Learn to Love It, Learn to Lead It

By: Richard Gerver Paperback Book

‘To be successful, you have to be able to adapt to change’ – Sir Alex Ferguson The pace of change is greater than ever. We face new challenges every day in our jobs and in our personal lives. Those who can handle change are the most fulfilled. Those who fear change will find it hardest to thrive.

Art of Abundance – Ten Rules for a Prosperous Life

By: Dennis Merritt Jones Paperback Book

A life of wholeness and purpose are well within our reach–The Art of Abundance outlines ten rules, or practices, that lay the foundation for a life worth living.

Chariots of the Gods 50th Anniversary Edition

By: Erich Von Daniken

Hardcover Book

Now in a beautiful 50th anniversary edition with a new foreword and afterword by the author, this is the ground breaking classic that introduced the theory that ancient Earth established contact with aliens.

Llewellyn’s 2019 Herbal Almanac

A Practical Guide to Growing, Cooking & Crafting

By: JD Hortwort

Llewellyns Herbal Almanac offers a wide variety of practical ideas on how to benefit from natures most versatile plants. With hands-on projects, fresh ideas, and tips and techniques, this guide is designed for herb enthusiasts of all skill levels.

Otherworldly Encounters

Evidence of UFO Sightings and Abductions

By: Nomar Slevik Paperback Book

Explore the realm of the unknown with these true stories of unexplained phenomena. Join expert ufologist and paranormal researcher Nomar Slevik as he shares fascinating stories of sightings and abductions centered in the Northeast’s UFO hotspots.

Power of Eight

Harnessing the Miraculous Energies of a Small Group to Heal Others, Your Life, and the World

By: Lynne Mctaggart

Discover how to tap into your extraordinary human capacity for connection and healing using astonishing new findings about the miraculous power of group intention in this new book by the author of the international bestsellers The Intention Experiment and the Field.

A tribute to Canadians and Canada

86 per cent of  Canadians believe they live in the best country in the world.
We live a long time: Canadians born today will live an average of two years longer than the global average (close to 82 years in Canada versus 80). Meanwhile, 89% of Canadians reported being in good health, 20% above the average world-wide.
We truly are nice: At least on Twitter. Researchers from McMaster University looked at how Canadians and Americans engaged on Twitter and found that Canadians use much nicer language. While Canadians commonly used words like “favourite”, “gorgeous”, “great”, and “amazing”,
Canadian retirees are the happiest in the world, second only to those in Mexico.
You can grow old here comfortably: Canada was ranked 5th best out of 91 countries for elderly treatment, ahead of Switzerland, New Zealand and the U.S.
We’re well educated: Two-thirds of Canadians have a post-secondary degree or certificate, compared to the average of 40 per cent for the developed world. That puts us third, after Japan and Korea, for most educated population in the world.
We drink responsibly: Despite our reputation as beer guzzlers and whisky swiggers, Canadians’ drinking habits are more tame than the global average.
We’re inclusive: Canada is the third most gay-friendly country, after Germany and Spain, according to a Pew Research study. In Canada, 80 per cent of people said society should accept gays and lesbians.
Canadians are generous: Roughly 64 per cent of Canadians donate money to charities—more than all other countries, aside from Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. But compared to the front-runners, more Canadians are willing to help a stranger in need.
We have better work-life balance: Less than 4% of Canadian employees work more than 50 hours a week, far below the average of 13% across OECD countries.
We have the most most livable cities: Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto—they all made it into the top 25 on the 2017 Mercer list of most livable cities in the world. Taken together, that means half of all Canadians enjoy some of the best city living there is.
Our banks are sound: In Bloomberg’s annual ranking of the world’s strongest banks, Canada clinched four of the top 10 spots.
We have more social mobility: The Conference Board of Canada gave us an “A” in intergenerational income mobility, meaning that if you’re born into poverty in Canada, you have a decent shot at becoming a high-income earning as an adult.
We’re responsible for some of the most prominent literary authors of our time: Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Miriam Toews, Yann Martel, Lawrence Hill, Emma Donoghue, and the list goes on.
We’re big gamers: Roughly 20,400 people now work in Canada’s gaming industry, making it the third largest in the world behind the United States and Japan. That also means it’s the largest gaming industry in the world on a per capita basis.
Just For Laughs is the biggest comedy festival.
We invented the egg carton: The simple design is the genius of Joseph Coyle of Smithers, B.C. who, in in 1911, settled an ongoing dispute between a farmer and hotel owner over broken eggs consistently showing up in the hotelier’s order. More than 100 years later, the cardboard carton has barely changed.
We invented the telephone: While the landline is verging on obsolescence, it revolutionized communication and remained virtually unchanged for more than 100 years after Alexander Graham Bell invented it.
We beat Edison to the light bulb: Thomas Edison may get all the credit, but the invention actually belongs to Henry Woodward. The Toronto medical student patented the first incandescent lamp, which featured an electric light bulb, and sold the rights to Edison who refined the invention.
Canada is the best place to ride out any impending climate change. UCLA geographer Laurence Smith has argued that by 2050 warming will unlock vast new resources and transform Canada into an economic superpower.
Canada boasts some of the most beautiful skies in the world, with the Aurora Borealis lighting up the nights from August to April. The northern territories offer the most brilliant and frequent viewing opportunities, but it’s possible to catch occasional glimpses of the Northern Lights in nearly every province.
We have the highest tides in the world: The Bay of Fundy, between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, sees the most dramatic tides in the world, with the difference in high and low tide reaching 16.3 meters.
Dinosaurs lived here: Not only did archaeologists uncover the largest-ever bed of dinosaur bones near Medicine Hat, Alta., in 2010, since then scientists re-examining old fossils identified a new species of spiky-headed dinosaur called Xenoceratops foremostensis—or “alien horned-face from Foremost.” Canada is also home to the number one place on earth for sheer number of dino discoveries: 37 species have been found in Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park.
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined, with fresh water accounting for 9% of the country’s total area. There’s nearly one lake for every ten people in Canada, and that’s just counting freshwater bodies bigger than three square kilometres.

We are a great nation, filled with amazing people, amazing weather, amazing scenery, and amazing cities. We astonish the world with our creativity in politics, science, arts, and technology.

Canadians, we are fantastic!!

****************

Editor’s note: most of the facts in this tribute come from Maclean’s Instant Articles, from the June 30 2017 article. The last paragraph is mine.

Summer Solstice is the perfect time to work on self healing and to be kind to others. The blessings of light are perfect for this time.

Try this prayer:

Walk in peace.

Who Passes the Smell Test?

An animal schnoz is obviously superior to our own mediocre noses, right?

Not so fast. Matthias Laska, a biologist at Linköping University in Sweden, has been comparing senses of smell across species — including humans — for more than two decades. “The more data I collected on different species over the years, the more interesting the picture became,” Laska says.

But sizing up how sensitive the snout of, say, a seal is compared with a bat or human isn’t straightforward. People can tell you when a certain scent is no longer detectable. But each animal has to learn to associate a particular odor with a reward and then do something, like press a button, to let researchers know when they smell it.

The odors compared between species also have to be the same. That sounds obvious, but while humans have sniffed around 3,300 different scents for science — out of the trillions possible — the highest number for animals is 81, by spider monkeys. Laska only found solid enough data to compare humans with 17 species, all mammals.

However, human noses held their own. Humans tested as generally more sensitive sniffers than monkeys and rats on a limited range of odors. In fact, humans detected certain scents at lower concentrations than the notoriously top-notch nostrils of mice and pigs.

Humans even beat the indomitable dog for at least a handful of scents. These include aromas produced by plants, a logical evolutionary advantage for our ancestors seeking fruits. The majority of the odors in which dogs bested us were the fatty acids, compounds associated with their own meaty prey. “Odors that are not relevant for you, you are usually not good at [smelling],” Laska says.

Bottom line: Humans, Laska says, “are not as hopeless as the classical wisdom will tell us, and dogs are not the super nose of the universe for everything.” — Ashley Braun

Winter north of the 50^th parallel is usually cold and very snowy. The effect of the snow and cold is to keep people more at home then out and about. When we are more still, that is, not caught up in going here and there and doing “busy” things, then we have time to expand our creativity.

Creativity requires that we have time to delve inside, to rummage through our forgotten ideas, and to visualize something different. The deeper the snow, the more we go within our mind and spiritual center.

The snow is a visual that shows us a blank slate that can be written on, painted on, built on, and expanded in many different ways. Some musicians say that they write their best songs and music through the winter.

This winter, think of something that you would like to do – to create. Take some time and roll it over in your mind. Jot down a few thoughts. Let your creativity soar.

Many blessings.

Years ago in Winnipeg, I was lucky enough to get tickets to hear Iyanla Vanzant speak about her experiences, and about writing her first several books.

One of the topics in her sharing story was about storytelling, and why it is important to share our stories because they provide reference for others and, often, they provide healing. The poster above share one of her quotes about storytelling.

When I read it, I remembered why the publicity committee wanted to have a blog on the Canadian Society of Questers website. It was so that all members and participants at conferences and guest speakers, and guests, could share their stories.

This month, we are starting the sharing of stories. I have asked the Questers Board members to share a story about Christmas or about what ever. While I can’t say the stories have poured in – it is Christmas season and we are all busy – some stories are hitting my in box and I will be sharing them over the next month.

For those members, guests, or associates of Questers, I am happy to share your story if you will send it to me at judith-hirst@questers.ca.

For those of you that would like to read more about Iyanla Vanzant, you can check out her website http://iyanla.co/.

For those of you that have read her books or if you have heard her speak or taken Iyanla’s workshops, we would love to post your book review or workshop review.

And now, it is time to close off this posting. As always,

Go in Peace.

Tagged Storyteller

Some people have a difficult time opening up their creativity. There are many books written about how to be creative and how to keep being creative. The common theme is that we must/need to let go of fear.

The other day, one of my friends sent me this wonderful list of affirmations by Louise Hay. The affirmations are about opening up your creativity.

It is a wonderful read!

Affirmations for Creativity

– by Louise Hay

If there’s a particular project you want to work on, or if you just want to be more creative in general, then you can use some of the following affirmations. Use them joyously as you release your creativity in a million and one different projects.

I release all resistance to expressing my creativity fully.
I am always in touch with my creative source.
I create easily and effortlessly when I let my thoughts come from the loving space of my own heart.
I do something new or at least different—every day.
There is ample time and opportunity for creative expression in whatever area I choose.
My family totally supports me in fulfilling my dreams.
All of my creative projects bring me great satisfaction.
I know that I can create miracles in my life.
I feel good expressing myself in all sorts of creative ways.
I am my own unique self: special, creative, and wonderful. I direct my creative talents toward music, art, dance, writing—anything that gives me pleasure.
The key to creativity is knowing that my thinking creates my experience. I use this key in every area of my life.
I am a clear thinker, and I express myself with ease.
I am learning to be more creative every day.
My job allows me to express my talents and abilities, and I rejoice in this employment.
My potential is unlimited.
My innate creativity surprises and delights me.
I am safe, and I am fulfilled in all that I do.
My talents are in demand, and my unique gifts are appreciated by those around me.
Life is never stuck, stagnant, or stale, for each moment is ever-new and fresh.
My heart is the center of my power. I follow my heart.
I am a joyous, creative expression of life.
Ideas come to me easily and effortlessly.

Go in peace.

Here are all the phrases people use to talk about their relationship with time.

Life is going by so quickly.
If only I had time, I would….
That will have to wait
I am so busy, I don’t have time to…

Because people are so caught up in the concept of time and the limits that they feel they have, people get angry. People worry. People cut corners when doing work, and they become stressed. People forget about kindness.

The poster reminds us that sometimes we must be mindful of the little things.. like giving thanks, like being kind, like being honest. We can always find evidence to support that the world is against us, or that we are being wronged. We have learned to blame.

What a nice change it would make if we could all look at the way the world works for us, and to see how the Universe supports us.

Just for today, I will…

Go in peace.

Tagged Letting Go Mindfulness

Laughing

Spring Equinox 2019

Keeping Your Perspective

Keeping Your Perspective

No Limitations

Drawing the Future Towards Us

No Limitations

A Discussion About Ghosts

Are These Books on Your Reading List? July 2018

Change – Learn to Love It, Learn to Lead It

Art of Abundance – Ten Rules for a Prosperous Life

Llewellyn’s 2019 Herbal Almanac

Otherworldly Encounters

Happy Canada Day 2018!

Summer Solstice on June 21 2018

Who Passes The Smell Test

Who Passes the Smell Test?

Christmas Thoughts – Winter and Creativity

Opening to Creativity

Just For Today, I Will….