One word.

And then another.

This is the cure for writers' block.

But it's a cure only for the symptoms.

The real solution is deeper. Much deeper.

Good writing flows from the heart; only an open heart flows.

The solution then, the cure, is to open the heart, to free the... Read More »

The funny thing about growing is that it’s sometimes difficult to see ourselves as the new people we’ve become.

We’ve all got insecurities. We’ve created these false views of ourselves based on what we’ve heard people say to and about us. And what we’ve said to and about ourselves. I see myself, not as who I am today, but to a great extent as who I was.

And so, I measure my abilities and limits based on past performance, abilities, and relationships. I am the mirror, in my limited thoughts born days past, of days past.

But this is not my present truth. This is not my present reality.

For me, these old beliefs manifest and actualize as current predispositions and views. For example, I’ve never seen myself as being well educated, as in fact, I’m not. At least not in the traditional manner. I never attended college. Not one day. I’d planned to,... Read More »

Deep within each of us is a knowing. It’s not limited to psychics and mystics and the enlightened. We all know.

We know when we meet a kindred soul we can trust them. We know when we meet a lost soul, we can’t. Sometimes we listen to the quiet voice. Sometimes, sadly, tragically, we don’t.

I posted a tweet yesterday, one among many. At that instant, I was in a good place, a clear place, a place of love. I said “In the midst of the din, hear one thing. I love you.” The tweet was, almost immediately, retweeted by three, favorite by six. I posted the same or similar tweet three more times in the subsequent twelve hours or so with almost no reaction. The difference, I think, was that I wasn’t in that... Read More »

We see the whole of existence in a spring bloom. We touch where we are touched. We bleed, we cry, we laugh, we dance; we die a little inside with each new sunrise.

The words we weave extend from pain, from pleasure, from wonder, from confusion, from fright, from terror, from the endless crawling night. We peer at madness, laugh at brave sorrows, clung, released, discovered, saved. To the red flags we raise ours, white. Surrendering to the art that demands release, replacing uncried tears, supplanting the bold auburns of autumn's shedding starkness.

We are art. We are song. We are verse, rhyme, reason, insanity, chaos -- we are the burning mystic glow.

We are poets.

We chose not this path; it chose us. We merely yield to the unending song of the tenacious and tenuous muse. We walk not; we bow. Pen in hand. Subservient.... Read More »

How do I change my mindset to one of pure love?

The old voices still whisper; the old images flash across a crowded perspective.

There was once a time when I experienced the clarity of a moment of pure light. I had been on a spiritual journey for a few years; I’d learned about God and love, found freedom from some addictive behaviors and substances; I’d found the path to where my divinity lay, once dormant, now waking.

Breathtaking views
A soul renewed
A butterfly landed
On my open hand

There was a time I was writing a collection of poems — Seven Doors in Seven Clouds. Each door corresponded to a segment of the journey to (or of) enlightenment: Clarity, Hope, Faith, Surrender, Trust, Fire, and Awakening.

I was convinced that as I finished writing poem number seven, I’d achieve some great place and heightened awareness, see the gates of heaven, and blink instantly out of this... Read More »

1

My favorite words: awake, heat, wonder, ergo, passion, you, joining, merging, discovery, bliss, perfection, here, now, one, love.

2

There's a tightness, an urgency in the pain. Unlike the uncomfortable moments, winded climbing the stairs. 37. Too young for what feels like a heart attack. Thoughts rushing. Be calm, Benjamin. Be calm. Breathe.

3

The universe never resists our deepest desires as our deepest desires are utterly and fully divine. The resistance we sense is not from Source but from destination.

4

It's a little about working harder, more about working smarter; more still about working "hearter."

5

What I have learned:

God speaks when we are ready to hear.

God reveals when we are ready to see.

We are one with God, thus we are God.

The universe provides all we request, in faith.

Nothing we believe impossible is possible.

Nothing we believe possible is impossible.

The world is as we have wrought.

The world changes as we change.

We all, deep within, want love and... Read More »

Life is dance, subtle steps in and out, left and right, rising and falling, writhing and resting, flowing in song, balanced.

But balance sought is balance lost. It cannot be captured nor held. It can scarcely be seen. Balance is the wind, and we are but windmills. As we allow the wind to flow through, we turn. If we do not, our resistance may cause us to be overturned.

And sometimes the wind does not blow. This is when we rest.

So balance is the wind, but also the absence of wind. Balance is the windmill turning but also at rest. Balance is the dance. Balance leads, we follow.

Does the rain choose to fall? Does the cloud choose to release it? What controls nature but the unseen force? And are we not, when balanced, a part of that very same nature? If God is Everything then God is Balance. Balance is of God.... Read More »

To find our soul mate, our twin flame, our perfect other, isn’t that what we all want?

And yes, I recognize that some of you will find my language disagreeable, arguing that soul mates and twin flames aren’t the same thing. They are. It’s just another example of trying to make new language fit our view of how we’d like the world to be. Most of us know we’re all connected. We’re all one. So, in a very real sense, we’re all soul mates. Twin flame is a term we invented when we realized our concept of soul mates was a little flawed. How can there be one soul mate when we’re all soul mates? But likewise, as we’re all one, not only in concept but in reality and truth, we’re all connected to the same light, the same same energy, and yes, the same eternal flame.

So, what is romantic love... Read More »

The paths we walk are different, but the destination is the same. There are many more commonalities than differences. This is one truth the ego likes to befog. Obscured by confusion, doubt, and a desire to be unique, the ego tells us the path we have chosen and are walking is the One True Path. This is patently false. People from many religions, traditions, and belief systems are coming together with the common aim of loving peace.

When we choose to focus on the similarities, in full recognition that we are indeed One, it becomes possible to love and accept differing viewpoints. If love is the goal, the only goal, we can come together in this goal, seeking, discovering, and practicing a shared loving intent.

The ego enjoys creating distractions to block our view of the truth. To allow any distraction that is not based on love is unloving. Granted, this can... Read More »

One day, maybe soon, you’ll wake up, open the curtains, feel the new day shining on your face, and you’ll have a realization. It may not feel like much in that brief instant, but later, as you sip your coffee (or tea or orange juice), another thought will occur to you. You’ll say, “I’m a real writer.”

You won’t know just when it happened; it will have been the result of many lessons, much sweat, occasional tears.

Here’s how you will have gotten there.

It started a long time ago. How long ago doesn’t matter. Maybe you were seven when you wrote something that felt good. You enjoyed both the process and the product. And Ms. Smith, your second grade English teacher with the long brown hair and wire-framed glasses, liked it, too. She gave you a gold star. And your mom put the paper with the gold star, your paper, on the... Read More »