All posts by Jan

A Day in a Life: From Another World To This World

A simple symbol celebrating the season… - Photo by Jan Ketchel
A simple symbol celebrating the season…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

I wake out of dreaming with the following words flowing through me. They offer guidance in how to approach this season and, really, how to be through all of our days, through all of life in this world:

Rather than wish for, give.
Rather than take, receive.
Rather than too much, just enough.
Rather than withholding and withdrawing, be open.
Keep it simple.
Be present.

Sending Love and Greetings to Everyone! Yes, keep it simple!
Jan

Readers of Infinity: Be Real

Here is a channeled message from Jeanne, compliments of Jan. Our regular blogging schedule will continue through the holidays, so we look forward to communicating with all of you over the next few weeks. Best wishes to all for an energetically peaceful and loving holiday season! Here is what Jeanne has to say:

Melt the icy shield and allow the true self to more fully live each day… - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Melt the icy shield,
and allow the true self to more fully live each day…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Live every day with an open heart, with graciousness and kindness flowing out of you. With sorrow and sadness releasing, embrace your lives more fully. Be present where you are, with whom you are with, and with the self in your human form. Be aware that this is where you are now, but this is not where you will stay, for you are in constant flux.

Constantly remind the self that you are on a journey, and that journey encompasses all that you have already lived and all that you have yet to live. It encompasses who you are now and who you have the potential to become. It encompasses all that is now in this moment and all that comes in the next moment.

Keep in mind that your journey through life is constantly shifting, that you too are constantly shifting, that each day you are a new being with new opportunities to grow and change. Embrace yourself, your journey, and your life as fully as you wish to be embraced. Make this journey special, productive, challenging, and evolutionary. You are the one in charge. You have the power! Grab hold of it and take yourself to a new level. Your guides and your own energy are waiting to receive, accept, and accompany you!

Open more fully to your life as it is. Face your circumstances, accepting them as necessary to move you along, but also be aware that you must choose to move beyond this stage. If you are going to change, you must allow the power within to emerge more fully now and take you into new life. It’s your choice. The secret, however, is that the power to evolve lies within. You will rarely find it without, though life outside of you has a habit of jolting you into awareness of this fact. Life outside of you is constantly in synch with your true mission: to awaken the spirit within so that you may grow and evolve.

May you all choose to ignite this power, independent of, and instead of, waiting for that jolt from outside to strike. Light a fire beneath your complacency, your negativity, and your hopelessness—for now is the moment when lighting that fire will kindle more than just smoke. New life will emerge now more fully, as you instigate your human self to be consumed more fully by your spirit self—the real you, seeking to live your life more fully.

It’s time for everyone to shift—to no longer be ruled by the world outside of you, which is not really succeeding—and turn inward, taking hold of the truths of the true self; a loving, kind, sensitive, knowing being. Allow this true self to speak, act, and be more fully present in your world and your life. The time to do this is now, everyone, no matter who you are or what you have done or been.

Now is the time to dare to be gracious, humble, beautiful, and open to the world, to be amazing in the world, just as it has the potential to be amazing in return! All of you are a part of making this so. All of you can be part of shifting the current situation, simply by daring the self to shift a little bit more each day into the real you. Without fear, I encourage you to present this real self to the world.

I suggest you sit with yourself a little each day, calmly allowing your true and gentle self—kept so safely hidden inside for so long—the opportunity to smile a little more each day, to speak a little more each day, and to feel a little more each day. You’ll be surprised at first, but then less so, as you realize this true self is being constantly met graciously and kindly by the true self in others in return. This is what all others seek as well, a new, truer communication, on a deeper level—a connection with the oneness of being a spiritual being in human form on this earth at this time.

Let go of all facades and posturing, of negativities and cynicisms, of projections and disappointments, and instead be real!

A Day in a Life: Wholeness

Feeling a little overwhelmed? It's not that hard to change… a little new energy can go a long way! - Photo by Jan Ketchel.
Feeling a little overwhelmed?
It’s not that hard to change…
A little new energy can go a long way!
– Photo by Jan Ketchel.

We are all seeking our wholeness. That’s why we’re here. Everything we encounter, choose, and act out is part of our greater intent to achieve this wholeness. Everything that bothers us, makes us feel, makes us angry, fearful, bad, good, beautiful and alive is part of the challenge to get us in touch with our wholeness. If we begin to look at all aspects of life as necessary opportunities to aid us in achieving this wholeness, we might begin to view our lives as spectacular experiments.

Life as a spiritual craving for wholeness is not a new idea, but it encompasses more than our spiritual selves. As long as we reside in physical form then our physical bodies, encompassing our emotional, rational and feeling selves everything we do to our bodies, everything we challenge them to do, and everything that happens to them, becomes part of the whole experiment too. We must pay attention to what our bodies tell us.

At the same time, we must not be afraid to live. We must challenge ourselves to take up the cause, to fulfill our spiritual desires in a conscious and constructive manner. Our spiritual/physical vehicle seeks full life. I suggest making a concerted effort to stir up new energy, to pry ourselves out of our slumps, depressions, no-man’s-lands of isolation, our feelings of disconnect and aloneness, ridding ourselves of our ingrained thoughts of despair and self-condemnation, by intent—intent in the form of empowerment.

Do something to empower the self, in some way, every day. Even something small may be the thing to jolt us into a new kind of living, into valuing who we are, allowing who we know we are at our deepest level to emerge more fully into life. This is what our deepest self desires above all else, to be given permission to fully live. It’s the kind of process that involves testing and proving, so make a little effort, each day, to bring out the deeper self. In so doing, in my experience, we will be met in return with the spiritually seeking side of others. You’d be amazed, as one spirit talks to another, how alike, and how tender and loving we all are.

“I promise to do something, each day, to empower myself.” Setting this intent and then choosing one beneficial thing each day is a good way to begin. It might mean pushing aside our ideas that we are too busy, or too shy, or too unworthy to make a phone call on our own behalf. It might mean standing up for ourselves, feeding our bodies and souls with only the most nourishing and healthy foods and thoughts. Changing one behavior or thought about ourselves is the beginning of consciously taking over the experiment of this life, taking our journey to a new level. What are we waiting for?

Jan

Readers of Infinity: Your Changing Self

Here is this week’s channeled message from Jeanne. I asked for a short one, but I got a long one! -Jan

If the world outside of you has changed, you can bet something inside is seeking change as well… - Photo by Jan Ketchel
If the world outside of you has changed, you can bet something inside is seeking change as well…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Know yourself completely and honestly. To your fullest capabilities, allow the self to be humble and accepting of the failures and faults of others, knowing that you will not reconcile your outer relationships until you reconcile your own deepest fears and issues.

Know that you are not alone in your sorrows and your tribulations, but that there is always something or someone to aid you, guide you, and be present for you, if you are open, aware, and willing to receive.

Now is a time of great change, even upheaval. You may see it outside of yourself so clearly, though you may also be experiencing it inside in some form as well. All transformation arises out of turmoil, so do not dismiss the difficulties that now confront you, but push through them to the best of your abilities, with your inner world being the main focus. That is how to enact and use the turmoil of change.

Ask the self: What does all of this mean for me, personally, at my deepest level? What am I really being asked or confronted with? What is my spirit trying to tell me? What am I being shown, for me and my own growth? What revolution is brewing inside me?

When we take our attention off what is going on outside of us—with the world, with the people closest to us, and with what is happening within our daily lives—and focus calmly on our inner world, something important gets revealed. It is that important message that we must pay attention to, striking and even frightening though it may be, perhaps even posing drastic measures. We must ruminate and ponder our deepest knowing of what we are being shown as the next most important battle to wage within the self. Then we must call to action all of our inner resources to aid us in finally tackling that issue.

Whatever that issue is, My Dears, if you face it squarely and fairly, if you address it with honest forthrightness, without backing down, your future will be brighter. The turmoil, as I mentioned, must be weathered through for change to happen. Once you are in the energy of that change, then all of your resources and tools must be brought forth to keep you focused and in balance, in alignment with your spirit’s intent.

Is it not better to be in the turmoil of rightful change than locked in a prison? Is it not better to be on the road to freedom, though that road my be difficult, than caught in a trap? Is it not better to be flying ahead than falling backwards? These are some of the situations that must be pondered as you face your changing self.

Reluctant though you may sometimes be, accept your changing process a little more each day. Focus on the glimpses of light ahead that your spirit has already alerted you to. The future is not really that far off!

Take responsibility for the self, for where you find yourself now, and be guided, not by that which is outside of you, but by the honest truths inside you. Only you know what they are, and only you can choose to accept them and deal with them according to your spirit’s intent. And only you know what that is!

With love and compassion for the self and others, move into your changing form. Meet your spirit more fully each day, as you dare yourself to keep going!

A Day in a Life: How Do You Create A New Reality?

The energy of change is around us and in us too! -Photo by Jan Ketchel
The energy of change is around us and in us too!
-Photo by Jan Ketchel

Change is constant. It accompanies us through our lives, abiding with us, challenging us, sometimes catching us unawares.

The past few days have brought winter weather—ice, freezing rain, snow. Suddenly the world is different and we have to meet it in a different way. We need heavy outerwear against the cold and wind, and perhaps snow shovels to clear a pathway. The seasons are a marker of change that we can all see and we seem to roll along with them just fine.

Sometimes, when we know we should change, and there is nothing outside of us helping us out, we have to help ourselves. Arleen Lorrance, the originator of The Love Project back in 1970, suggests that we create our own reality, consciously, rather than living as if we have no control over our lives. But just how do we create a new reality for ourselves?

I know a person, who at the age of 85, left the home she had lived in for 60 years, left her friends and nearby relatives, to move to a new town, into a small apartment in a place she barely knew. She challenged herself to embrace a new life. Granted, she had relatives in the same town, but she was going to be on her own. Five years later she still lives there, in a diverse community of people she never would have met, many of whom are now friends.

I know several young people who dared themselves to take on life far from home, in strange cities they knew little about, but they succeeded in getting jobs and apartments, made friends and created new lives for themselves. I know families that have decided to change, to move out of crowded cities into the countryside. Lots of people move every day, seeking a new reality.

Sometimes, however, we aren’t able to change so drastically. We have responsibilities and duties to others. We have jobs and bills to pay, homes to care for. Life goes on and we seem to just go along with it. We can get bogged down in the drudgery of the ordinary, the routines and schedules. We constantly replay the same messages to ourselves, many simply not true, that keep us in old places. Our thoughts get stuck in telling us what we can’t do, that we aren’t enough, or that we’ll never change. But, the truth is, we are changing all the time. Every day we are different in some way, just by virtue of life itself, cells changing, energy shifting without our awareness. Just in being alive we change, but even more empowering is to volitionally change, to take over our own lives. In fact, we can create a new reality for ourselves in some very simple ways.

One way to create a new reality is to create a new inner reality. We can begin by changing what we say to ourselves. We can change how we think. We can change how we view the world around us and the people in it. We can reject negativity and begin giving ourselves only positive words, thoughts, and viewpoints. We can even go so far as to make one decision that we know will be beneficial for us and follow through on it, taking action on our own behalf.

What are we all hanging around waiting for? -Photo by Jan Ketchel
What are we all hanging around waiting for?
-Photo by Jan Ketchel

I use meditation as a means of shifting my reality, training my mind to be quiet and calm so I can leave the rigors and demands of this world for a few minutes a day. The world always looks different when I get up from my meditation seat and reenter life. Dreams do it for us while we sleep. Taking a walk and seeing the world outside ourselves with new eyes can do it too. Simply being open to life can change how we experience our reality. If we decide to accept everything and everyone as beautiful as it/they are, another tenet of The Love Project, we find that we receive and accept on our own behalf in a different way too.

We might do something to beautify or expand our reality—paint our living space, try a new recipe, take up a sport, or do something we’ve always dreamed of doing. There are so many things we can do to create a new reality without moving from our center, though sometimes we might need something drastic, and that’s good too. Sometimes we just might need to give ourselves a kick in the pants!

The final great change that we must all face is death. I know someone who is facing death right now. This person is dying with great dignity. In moments of lucidity, death is being embraced. “Some people, like me, get lucky,” he said. “We have a healthy life, then get sick and die. Other people hang on for ten lousy years hoping they are gonna get better. That’s way worse than physical pain.” He is creating his own reality. Not succumbing to tests, hospitalizations, tubes and treatments, he is creating the death he wants. It’s his final opportunity to create his own reality in this world.

May we all take the opportunity to create a new reality for ourselves, it’s never too late!
Love,
Jan