Denise Linn is an international lecturer, healer, and author who has been at the forefront in raising consciousness about the benefits of working with subtle energies, feng shui, and space clearing. She was the widely acclaimed keynote speaker at several International Feng Shui Conferences and has written 14 books, including Soul Coaching, Feng Shui for the Soul and Sacred Space.

Welcome to my newsletter! It begins with some of my observations about life here at Summerhill Ranch and beyond (my Mumblings and Musings). Click Here for a list of upcoming events!

May 2008
Mumblings and Musings - May Edition

Greetings!!!
Here at Summerhill Ranch we are in my favorite time of year. It's the time that I call "Frog-Cricket Time"... and it only lasts for a few short weeks. It's a magical time of year—the air is still moist after the rains and the frogs are high on life, as they lull us to sleep every night with their raucous chorus. And yet, it's warm enough for the crickets and their sweet tones to join in. Together the frogs and crickets make a nocturnal symphony that opens my heart wide and deep. Soon, however, as summer approaches and temperatures rise, the frogs recede into their hidden crevices to hibernate for another year and the crickets seize the night.

It's during this time of year that I embark on what I believe to be a supreme act of love. (Okay it's not that supreme, but it's definitely an act of love. You'll see why.)

At this time of year, the frogs crave water and although I've created have lots of small pools and mini-ecosystems for them around the land, somehow they have their own preference for their water source. They don't seem to notice how wonderful their outdoor pools are, or the fact that that I put frog food tablets in their little ponds, or that I make sure that there is a balance of algae and fresh flowing water.

No matter how lush I think I've made their environment, there is something about the water in our toilets that drives them into a state of froggy ecstasy. Somehow they find a way to wiggle themselves into our toilets, even if the lid is shut. They seem like kids who can swim in the local water hole but prefer to sneak over the fence into a neighbor's backyard to swim in their pool.

However, in my mind, there are very few things more disconcerting that getting ready to plop down on the toilet, and to see green beady eyes staring up at me in disbelief.

I can almost hear them saying, "You're kidding, right? You're not really going to sit here?" And instead of desperately trying to get out of their porcelain paradise, they dive into the water and disappear into some secret inner chamber, waiting until the "bare-ass monster" leaves.

I could be cavalier, and ignore the fact they are there and then flush, but I know that I will be sending them into Froggy Nirvana (well, not exactly Samadhi... it's more like the septic system, but "Nirvana" sounds better.) So I contain my earthly needs and await their return, so I can sneak up on them and grab them before they dive into the bowl again.

This takes patience and a certain amount of humility to wait in hiding by a toilet bowl (hence my comment about a "Supreme Act of Love.")

You might ask—someone actually did—why don't I cover the toilets with Saran Wrap until I need to use them, but quite frankly the idea of forgetting that the toilet is covered in clear plastic wrap doesn't appeal to my sensitivities. So I continue, every spring, to be the unsung savior of frogs and wait for Cricket Time.

Acts of Love
From a typical "New Age" perspective, in every moment we should always do what brings us bliss and joy. But honestly there are lots (and lots) of things I do in life that don't bring me joy or even close to it. But I do them because it's the right thing to do.

Now maybe sneaking up on frogs with my net in hand—as they blithely swim in my toilet bowl—and trying to save them from an early demise, might not seem like it's fits in the hallowed category of "the right thing to do," especially compared with nursing a sick child through the night or picking up a friend at midnight that missed the bus.

However, it's what feels right to me.

Doing the Right Thing
Everyday I have hundreds of choices to make—most are small decisions, but they are choices never the less. Some of these choices make me blissed out-of-my-mind, but some are gritty, grimy choices. They are not fun or enjoyable or even slightly pleasurable. Yet I continue to choose to do these things because they feel like the "right thing to do."

To me these are acts of love. They can be as small as rescuing frogs or as large as helping to a friend who's in need, even if it means missing an important appointment. And in every moment, when I make the choice to do something because it feels right—even if it isn't pleasurable—I'm glad that I did.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that we need to suffer to grow, and I really don't believe in self-sacrifice. And there are definitely times to say, "No, I'm not available to help you right now" and then take a long, hot bath instead. But there are also times just to do something because it feels like the right thing.

It gives me a feeling of well-being to live in accordance with my deeply held values. Even if some of my decisions mean that I'm temporarily uncomfortable, I experience profound satisfaction from living with a sense of authenticity. When I make these decisions because they are "the right thing to do" I'm being consistent with the way that I see the world and what I believe is important in life... and this brings me joy. (So maybe I do believe the New Age tenet that you should always do what brings you joy.)

This is my philosophy: "Do what you think is best... and don't hurt anyone."

When you do what you think is right it is holy. Even if your inner calling seems absurd to the outside world and even if it doesn't make sense to others, if it comes from the center of your being it is sacred.

Here's what "Doing What's Right" means to me:

• Being willing to listen to your inner voice without censorship, distortion or concern about the judgments of others
• Being fully in the moment, rather than being rigid. (What is the right thing to do one time, might be the wrong thing to do another time.)
• Responding in the moment, rather than out of pre-conceived ideas, guilt or shame about what you "should" do.
• Trusting that a higher force is guiding your choices. (The more you trust that force, the more the wisdom of your soul can shine.)
• Without sacrificing your inner wisdom, be as kind and don't hurt anyone.
  

Thanks for listening to my 'Musings'.
Please join me every Tuesday 10-11 PST for my radio show Soul Coaching. Listen Now »

February 2008
Mumblings and Musings - February Edition

Greetings!!!

Welcome to another edition of my "Mumblings and Musings" from Summerhill Ranch (our home in the Central Coast of California) I'm delighted to connect with you. In my "Musings" I usually let you know what's happening here in my life and then let you know about coming events and book launches.

How Almost Sinking Allowed my Spirit to Fly!
(or When the Sign Says "Road Closed" that's what it means...)

Recently David and I were in a situation that quickly went from daring to almost deadly ... and which put everything that I believe to the test. And I can tell you this—prayers, visualization, affirmations and the laws of attraction do indeed work!

Our great adventure started in a mundane way. We drove into town to rent a DVD and impulsively decided to take a county drive to a remote area. It was beautiful; we saw wild boars, a large herd of antelope, the biggest red-tailed hawk we've ever seen, and a glorious rainbow. We were low on gas but knew that we had enough to get back home ... until we came to a "road-closed" sign. (There had been torrential rains here on the previous week and there was water surging across the road.) It was getting late—evening was coming—and we didn't think that we had enough gas to turn around and go back the way that we had come, so we decided to forge ahead.

Even though it was a narrow road (with deep ditches on either side) the water flowing across it only seemed to be about a foot or two deep. We thought it would only be a short drive, even though couldn't see very far down the road. Once we started to drive, we quickly discovered the water was deeper than we imagined, and much farther across. Almost immediately we were navigating through what seemed like a wide, rapidly flowing, muddy river.

We couldn't turn around because of the risk of sinking into a hidden deep hole or ravine. Because the water was eddying in violent swirls there was no telling where the road was—we just prayed that we were still on it. Our only choice was to keep moving forward.

I was scared. Really scared. And so was David. I haven't been that scared for a very long time.

The water was probably almost three feet deep, and spilling over the running board of our Ford Explorer for the almost three miles that we were navigating through the emerging river. There was no way of knowing if some of the road had washed out and we were going to plunge into frigid water at any moment. At times I was sure the road went one way and David was sure that it went another way--it was like having to choose which way to drive through a huge swirling lake. If we chose the wrong way, we would plummet into very deep water. (Luckily, we always made the right choices.)

We needed to go slow so that we didn't splash too much water on the engine, yet we couldn't be so painstaking that we would get bogged down. (Even going slow, the car created a 60-foot wake!)

When my fear mounted to a peak, I took a deep breath and remembered everything that I know to be true. I remembered the Law of Attraction. I knew as long as I was afraid, the chances of creating a difficult situation increased, but if I could relax and visualize my desired outcome, it was easier for a safe result. So I did three things. (They worked for me. If you are ever in a challenging situation they might work for you too!)

First: Ask for help! I called upon as much spiritual help as I could ... God/Goddess/Angels/Guides/Ancestors. I actually was pleading, " Help!" as loud as I could in my mind. I also began to pray for the spiritual help of my extended family, friends and the Soul Coaches I have trained. I knew that on some level we are connected and I knew that if I asked for their assistance, it would come.

Second: Hold an image of a positive outcome. Every time I started to visualize how horrible it would be if our vehicle sunk and we had to try to escape out the windows, (or if we stalled and we had to try to walk or swim through the icy water in the dark) I instantly shifted into a powerful visualization of jumping up and down with JOY that we had safely made it. This took immense mental discipline to do; but every time fear crept in I replaced it with a vision of getting out easily and I allowed relaxation to fill me.

Third: Connect with the Consciousness Around You. I believe that there is consciousness in inanimate objects, so I placed my hands on the dashboard of the Explorer and spoke to the spirit of the car, reminding it of all the great times we had had together and what a trooper she had been in the past. (I reminded her about when I had transported skunks in her to relocate them, and what a champ she had always been on slippery mountain roads in the Cascade Mountains and how we had always made it home safely. I asked for her support to make it through the water.)

To make a long story short; that was the most treacherous three miles of my life, but we made it!!!! As soon as we hit dry land, I got out of the vehicle and literally jumped up and down celebrating and thanking God loudly and repeatedly (just as I had visualized) and thanking my sweet car and my wonderful husband, who tensed up so much driving that his muscles were going into spasm.)

As frightening as this experience was, it was a true test and affirmation of the methods that I believe in ... they do really work!

All my love, always and forever,

P.S. Thank you so much for reading my musings. It's always a joy to connect with you.

December 2007
Mumblings and Musings - December Edition

Greetings!!!

If you are joining my newsletter for the first time, I’m so glad that you are here! Every so often I send out an e-mail that I call “Mumblings and Musings” about my experiences at Summerhill Ranch. I call it that because it’s a ‘mumbling’ about whatever I’m ‘musing’ about in life. (It also has announcements about my coming events as well.) I hope that you enjoy it.

News From the Ranch

Here at Summerhill Ranch we are in winter mode. We have pruned our 80 grape vines ... and from the taste of our newly pressed Zinfandel wine, it looks like 2007 is going to be a great year. Our persimmon trees look luminous now that all the leaves have dropped. Shiny orange fruit hangs heavy on starkly black branches. And we are harvesting the last of the pomegranates. I love popping their ruby jewels into my mouth.

The coyotes are getting close to the house lately. I'm concerned about our sweet chickens as I found some coyote droppings right outside their pen a couple nights ago. Early this morning piercing coyote howls seemed to shake the house with their volume. So in the dark, I padded up the frost-covered hill, to check on our hens; but they were happily clucking away on their roosts. Even though it was chilly, I loved seeing the breathtaking sparkles of stars overhead.

Sadie and the Hero

The coyotes have become bolder lately as they are losing more habitant daily. (Huge vineyards are going in all around us and soon our land will be completely surrounded by these sprawling acres of tilled land.) Yesterday David and Sadie, our border collie-mix ranch dog, were taking a walk. Sadie, ran ahead and was exploring in some brush, when suddenly she yelped and came tearing out of the bushes ... with two large coyotes charging after her.

They were in such fervent pursuit that even though David roared at them and flung his arms over his head, they didn't stop. Trembling, Sadie raced behind David's legs, and ducked, but the coyotes didn't stop. There were no rocks to grab, so David doubled his fists thinking that he might have to start punching. Although coyotes don't usually attack humans, they were almost upon him before they finally skidded to a halt.

They glanced at David, glowered at Sadie for a moment ... and then loped off. Sadie started barking after them, as if to say, "Take that! We whooped you!" even though a moment before she was almost Coyote Breakfast. However, when they got back to the house, Sadie stayed right by David's side, gazing up at him with a look that said, "You are so much my hero!"

Sadie is a bit of a hero herself, as she has adopted our tiny barn cat that was left to us when a neighbor had to move. I nicknamed the cat Munchkin because she's so tiny. Sadie somehow knows when Munchkin is in danger and always tries to protect her.

Several nights in a row now, Sadie has suddenly flung herself on the door, barking frenetically to get out. When I open the door, she races outside, (with me in rapid pursuit) and leaps at a marauding owl just as it is about to attack Munchkin. (We love owls, but our neighbor said that almost all of Munchkin's brothers and sisters were killed by owls.) I'm always amazed at the almost psychic connection that Sadie and the cat seem to have with each other. Sadie seems to know when Munchie might be in danger.

At night, when Munchkins curls up with Sadie in front of the fire, she looks at her with black sparkling eyes that say, "You are MY hero."

Because of these recent mini-heroic events, I started thinking about what it means to be a "hero."

I think that we all want to be heroes. (I know that I do.) I believe we all have an extraordinary, courageous being inside of us it just a matter of letting her/him out. So I started to think about what code of honor I would need to accept for myself if I were to start becoming even more of "a hero". (You might find that you have a different creed for yourself, but this is what I came up with for myself.)

To me, being a hero means:

To do what's right ... even if you are afraid.

To listen to the inner wisdom of your soul ... and not the random opinions of others.

To be kind ... and remember that sometimes the person you need to be kindest to is yourself.

To live by choice ... not chance.

To pursue excellence ... excel, but not compete

To have integrity ... keep your word and your commitments.

To make corrections and changes ... not make excuses.

To be fair and treat all people with respect, and understand their point of view ... even if don't agree with it.

Most of all being a hero means accepting yourself with a depth of kindness even when you act less-than-noble. All bad behavior comes from fear and when you judge anyone (including yourself) for acting badly or imperfectly, you lose the ability to influence that being. When you accept your imperfections—and still are willing to brush yourself off and start again—you can make changes ... for you are on a heroic journey of the heart. To me this is the best kind of hero. The kind of hero I strive to be.

So these are my early morning musings as I nurse my cup of steaming green tea and wait for the sunrise.

All my love, always and forever,

P.S. Thank you so much for reading my musings. It's always a joy to connect with you and I wish you the happiest of holidays!

Here is an up coming event.
Soul Coaching 28-Day, Total Life Renewal

Hey, it's never too late to have a sparkly new beginning!!

Starting January 1st you might want to consider embarking on a 28-day adventure to re-evaluate and rejuvenate your life. It’s easy. It's free. And you can do it in as little as five minutes a day!

Every week is dedicated to healing a different aspect of your life. For example, the first week is "Air Week" and during January 1-7th you will have the opportunity to clear mental debris out of our life. During this week, you do a lot of clutter clearing; when you clear the outer clutter away from your life it has a profound affect on your internal mental clutter. Week Two is "Water Week" and during this week you have the opportunity to do exercises to clear emotional debris out of your personal energy matrix, and so on.

I offered this course last year and thousands of people participated with phenomenal results. A year later, we're still hearing from people about the amazing outcomes that they achieved in their lives by doing this simple program. (And I look forward to hearing from you about the results that this program has in YOUR life this year.)

There are a number of ways that you can participate:

1. You can go to my website ... DeniseLinn.com ... and download (for free!) the audio files to play on your I-Pod or computer that will give you all the daily exercises, plus a daily guided meditation.

2. You can use the Soul Coaching book to help you navigate the program. This book has expanded information about each of the daily exercises and will assist you on your journey. (Many folks like to use both the audio files and the book together.) This hard-cover book is normally $15.00, but until the program starts (or the book sells out), the book will be available through HayHouse.com for the wonderful special price of $5.00!Yea!! (To order in United States: 1-800-654-5126 or click here to order online.) The discounted price expires December 31.

3. If you are really serious about making substantial empowering changes in your life, you might consider working with a trained professional Soul Coach (Soul-Coaching.com) These remarkable individuals, that I have personally trained here at Summerhill Ranch, can be your personal guides as you go through the program. They can work with you in person, via e-mail, or over the phone.

4. On Hay House Radio, only during the month of January, I will be guiding you week by week through this program so be sure to join me for the month of January. (My show is live every Tuesday 10-11 pacific standard time.)

Professional Soul Coaching Courses

If you are interested in becoming a professional Soul Coach, you might want to consider training with me here at Summerhill Ranch. At this point, the May courses are half full, and the June, July and September courses are about one third full, so there is still space available in all the courses. However, these intimate courses always sell out, so if you have been thinking about it for awhile, please browse my website (DeniseLinn.com) for more information.

Dearest Soul Family!

The peaches are ripe and heavy on the trees in our orchard, my baby chicks have just laid their first eggs (they are no longer chicks, they have grown to glorious, plump chickens) and life is good here at Summerhill Ranch.

My young chickens (Samoa, Mango, Honey and Smudge) seem to be astonished about laying their first eggs. As they sit on their nests, they stare at me with a look that says, " What the heck is going on here? Why do I have this urge to sit in this pile of hay?" While the older chickens just sit on their nests looking quintessentially content.

When an egg is just about to plop out, the young chickens look at me in alarm, squawking loudly in protest. I can almost hear them saying, "Oh my God! Something BIG is happening."

As soon as the egg is out, they stand up and look at the egg and then look back and forth from the egg to me, as if to say, "How in the heck did that get here?"

As I watch my chickens gift us with their beautiful brown eggs, it makes me remember times in my life when I also wondered why things were happening to me. I recall those times when I too was also shocked by particular events in my life. But looking back, I realize that as surprising as those experiences were at the time, they were all a part of the cycle of my life journey, just as laying eggs is a natural part of a hen's life.

Even if I didn't know why things happen in life, it's comforting to believe that all of it ... and I mean ALL of it ... is a part of a natural cycle of life. And I embrace it all, even the parts that seem surprising or shocking.

Watching my chicks grow up is one of the many joys of living here at Summerhill Ranch and I always feel honored to share my life with you. Thank you for listening.

I also wanted to let you now about a few things coming up soon.

With immense love,

July 2007
Mumblings and Musings - EXTRA Edition

GRIEVING FOR THE FAWN

I'd been working on the Buddhist tenet of non-attachment . . . but I wasn't sure that I was getting it. (To me non-attachment means not being attached to the outcomes in life . . . and objectively observing situations, without becoming emotionally embroiled in them. Things aren't good or bad . . . they just are what they are. ) But like I said, I was having trouble practicing this spiritual tenet.

For example, I was outside a few nights ago, when I heard something thrashing in the bushes behind me. Gripping my flashlight, I whipped around, and in the beam was a huge skunk just a few feet away . . . with it's tail held high. I froze and repeated to myself, It's not bad. It's not good. It just is what it is. Non-attachment! Non-attachment! As the skunk walked up to me, I was practically screaming silently, NON-ATTACHMENT!

I didn't move and didn't breathe, until he slowly walked off—and then I ran in a fury to get away. (At that point, I knew that I was in the throes of attachment.) I was very attached to the outcome that he would not spray me. To my horror, when I looked back, the skunk was chasing me. I had no idea that they did that! But I got away. At the time, I thought that this experience was a lesson about non-attachment—and I chided myself for blowing it.

Dangling Frogs

It seems that my lessons come in threes, because the next day, two more events occurred that both help me gain a deeper understanding of what non-attachment truly was.

I was sitting at my computer, ostensibly working on my book, Past Lives, Present Miracles, but mostly I was musing about non-attachment while gazing lovingly out the window at our beautiful chickens as they scratched for bugs in the garden. Suddenly one of the chickens started prancing around, excited about something she had found. And to my horror—when I looked closer to see what was hanging out of her mouth—I saw the lower half of a frog dangling out of her beak. Its lifeless legs flopped up and down as the chicken loped off with it. Poor little froggie!

I really love our frogs. I have watched most of them grow from eggs, to tadpoles in my tiny little "pond," and then into frogs. It makes my heart sing to hear their little peeps at night. I felt terrible. Again I admonished myself for reacting and being attached, because after all—I reproached myself—chickens eat frogs. It's what they do. It's not good. It's not bad. They just eat frogs. I was sure that Buddha wouldn't have been upset by it. But my journey to understanding non-attachment wasn't over.

Screaming Deer

Have you ever noticed, that if you don't listen to the whispers in life—those whispered messages from spirit—then sometimes you hear the screams. Later that same day (when, once again, I was supposedly plunking away on Past Lives, Present Miracles), I heard a horrible wailing sound.

I ran outside and looked up at the hill, in the direction of the sound, to see eight coyotes launch themselves on a fawn that was screaming for his mom. Again and again, they lunged at it in a frenzy. The fawn's mother was trying to protect her baby, but there were too many coyotes and there was nothing that she could do. I yelled and waved my arms. I was desperate to save the fawn, but I was too far away. There was no way that I could reach him in time . . . there was nothing I could do to stop it. The high-pitched cry reached a frantic pitch, as the coyotes continued their assault. The mother finally stopped her efforts and just stood in shock. We both stood in shock . . . and just watched in grief. The fawn's cries petered down to whimpers . . . and ultimately silence. The mother must have been numb, because as the coyotes filed past her—one by one—when they were done, she didn't move. She just stood there . . . but instead of looking at the remains of her fawn, she looked at me without changing her gaze. I could feel her heartache and her pain. I could hardly breathe and felt so very sad for her. She didn't move for hours, she just continued to stare in my direction.

The Power of the Truth

After the shock wore off, once again, I began to scold myself about how I needed to practice Buddhist non-attachment, and that I shouldn't have been feeling all those emotions. After all coyotes need to eat and they always have to kill something to eat. Why was I so upset? But as hard as I tried, I just couldn't feel non-attached. I just felt miserable.

Then, in response to my misery, a thought erupted inside of me, The hell with non-attachment! The soul loves the truth. What is my truth right now? When I heard this question, I stopped and answered. The truth was that I was very sad about the death of the fawn and of demise of my frogs. And the truth was that although I understood that chickens and coyotes needed to eat, I didn't like to see things die.

Remarkably, as soon as I let go of my pre-conceived ideas about the way that I should have reacted spiritually to those situations—and I began to acknowledge what was actually true—I began to feel so much lighter. When I quit trying to suppress or judge what I was feeling, and just allowed myself to honor what was so, the heaviness that filled my heart just dropped away.

There is immense personal power in being able to honestly acknowledge to yourself what is so for you—without judgment. This, to me, is true non-attachment. My experiences made me realize that non-attachment doesn't mean that you need to deny or criticize your emotions. To me, it means being willing to be the sacred observer and to honor your truth in every moment . . . no matter what it is. It means being willing to concede the truth of what is occurring within you and around you, even if it doesn't fit a pre-conceived notion of what you should be feeling. And it means not being attached to your judgment of how you should be reacting.

Remarkably, taking the time to acknowledge and accept my emotions and my truth, allowed me to begin to accept—without judgment—all of the actions of the skunk, chickens, frogs, coyotes, and deer. Animals do what they do . . . it's what is so. And sometimes their actions bring up emotions in me. That's also what is so. It's incredible what a difference honoring the truth makes. Maybe I'm learning about non-attachment after all.

Thank you for allowing me to share my insights from Summerhill Ranch. Click here for some information from Hay House about the upcoming I Can Do It Conference in October. Also, please click here to learn more about the wonderful Weekend of Miracles seminar in Monterey California that is also coming up in October. Lastly, the remodeling at Hay House Radio is almost complete so my shows will start up once again beginning July 31st.

Sending you all my love and wishing you a summer filled with spiritual insights -

December 2006 / January 2007

Relativity and the Power of What Is

Greetings!!

Welcome to a New Year!! I love this time of year because it symbolizes endings and new beginnings. I guess I love the idea of a fresh new energy ... no matter when it is!

Lots of Love and blessings!!!

Denise Linn



NEWS FROM SUMMERHILL RANCH

Here at Summerhill Ranch we are in winter mode. We have just pruned our grape vines and our newly pressed zinfandel wine has only nine more months to go until maturity. But, so far so good. Our persimmon trees look beautiful now that all the leaves have dropped. Great orange globes of fruit hang heavy on the branches; they seem to glow in contrast to the starkly black bark.

The coyotes are getting close to the house lately. I'm not sure why, as all our fruit- except for the persimmons--has been harvested. On these cold nights their howls seem more raucous and joyous than ever. It's almost as if they are trying to displace the evening's chill with their triumphant yips and yowls.

It was a huge project, but recently we mounted a number of very large owl boxes and owl ledges into our 400-year old oak trees to provide more homes for the growing population of owls that reside here on the land.

Also, welcome to my newsletter, 'Mumblings and Musings.' I call it that because it's a 'mumbling' about whatever I'm 'musing' about in my life. The topic of this newsletter is 'relativity' because that's something I've been thinking about the last few days. (This is not like Einstein's relativity, but the notion that everything is relative to everything else.)

My thoughts about this subject were spurred by an experience I had a couple of days ago. I was grocery shopping at Trader Joe's ---a bastion for great deals and great products. It's a 45-minute drive, so whenever I shop there I stock up. I had two carts piled high with bags of breads, cheeses, yogurt and organic produce, so a buff, young clerk came to my rescue. As he kindly helped me unload groceries into my car, he casually mentioned that he had just graduated from high school.

I was shocked. I remember being in high school. Seniors looked grown-up ... not like this kid. As I watched him heft brown paper bags out of my cart, I realized that he probably looked his age, but he looked immature to me.

I flashed back to when I was a freshman in high school. At that time in my life, I thought seniors were wise beyond compare; they represented the pinnacle of life. I remember running up to a girl friend screeching, “Oh my God! Oh my God!! A senior just asked for my phone number!” At which point my friend started to screech too. I mean seniors were GODS! Now, looking at this senior, he looked so very young and untried in the ways of the world.

I realized that the only reason that he looked so young was because, in comparison, I was so old. It was all relative.

Then I remembered when I was five years old and I couldn't wait to be ten because ten was it! Ten years old represented the peak of life ... everything after ten was ancient and before it was young. When I was in my early 20's, everyone over 30 seemed decrepit. “Don't trust anyone over 30” was the slogan of my generation. We all agreed; 30-year olds were over the hill.

Later in life--when I was bemoaning turning 40 on the day of my 40th birthday--my 12-year old daughter took me aside to have a 'daughter/mother' chat. She said, “Okay, it's true that you are not as young as you used to be; you'll never be in your 30's again. But trust me, you are not as old as you are going to be. So celebrate being 40.”

Arrggh!! Out of the mouth of babes comes truth. She was right. Today I look at 40-year olds and they look so baby-faced and wet-behind-the-ears to me.

Now, at age 56 now, I think that 80 is old, but age 65 ... well, that's the peak of life. I guess it's all relative.

After packing my groceries into the car, I drove up over the mist-covered Santa Lucia Mountains towards Summerhill Ranch (our home). I started thinking of all the other areas of life that are relative. For example, our view of the weather is relative.

Last week all the television and radio stations were agog with the approaching storm coming here to the Central Coast of California. Big headlines in the local newspaper blared, “Storm On The Way!” It seemed that everyone was talking about it. Someone even called to tell me that they were going to load up on groceries because “a storm was coming!”

David and I just laughed about the coming so-called storm because we had lived in rainy Seattle for 20 years where a sunny day might make the news ... but not a bit of rain. It just rained for two days. That was it. Two days of rain. But here in dry and sunny California that's a newsworthy storm. I guess it's all relative to what you usually experience.

The Power of 'What Is'

As a culture, we consider ourselves young or old, (fat or skinny, rich or poor, smart or stupid, lovable or detestable, etc.) depending on with whom we compare ourselves. This can seem like a never-ending roller coaster of craziness, especially if we compare ourselves with a media-inspired, airbrushed ideal of life.

But there is another way to live. It's what I call the power 'what is.' In other words, instead of discerning life based on who and what we compare ourselves to, we can just simply say, “What is so right now?”

The soul loves the truth, and when you tell the truth to yourself---without comparisons---it is an act of power. In other words, you are not young or old ... you are 15, or 45 or 75 years old. And that's the simple truth. Or, for example instead of labeling yourself as fat or skinny, simply tell yourself what you weigh. When you say “I weigh 100 pounds (150, 200, 300 pounds or whatever you weigh) without any judgment added, that's the truth.

My daughter Meadow told me about spending a weekend with some folks that drank more than her and she felt like she was a teetotaler. Then the next weekend, she spent time with folks that didn't drink, and she felt like a lush. The truth is that she drinks a glass or two of wine at dinner. Adding terms like 'teetotaler' or 'lush' is a relative judgment and it's not empowering.

So 56 years old is just that ... 56. Not old. Not young. Just 56. And the weather is foggy today. It's not bad, it's not good. It's just foggy.

Embracing the power of “what is” is like being a sacred observer of your life. I lived in a Zen Buddhist monastery for over two years and the Buddhist say that when you are in the present moment, right now ... without judgment and without comparing yourself or your situation to others ... then enlightenment was possible.

Thank you for allowing me to share my grocery store musings with you. May the year ahead be filled with sweet precious moments of 'what is.'

Sparkles, Love and JOY!!

Denise Linn

p.s. below is my schedule for the coming year.

HAY HOUSE RADIO

My radio show is every Tuesday 10-11am Pacific Standard Time and during almost every show I lead a Soul Journey meditation. Many of these are live Past Life Regressions that you can do in the comfort of your own home. (My previous shows are also available for downloading from the archives on Hay House Radio.)

SOUL COACHING PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION

I'm delighted to announce that I'm doing five professional certification Soul Coaching courses this year. The first four are here at Summerhill Ranch and the fifth one will take place in Thailand. (see site for information about these remarkable courses!) The Thailand course isn't listed on the website yet as we are in the process of finalizing dates etc. but it will be probably near the end of October/beginning of November. Two years ago I taught Soul Coaching in the north of Thailand and the course was filled with incredible mystery and magic and this time should be even better. We include elephant rides, blessings by Thai monks, and an evening in the exotic night bazaar!

I look forward to seeing you at one of my courses this year.

Soul Coaching Dates for 2008 Click Here

Events & Seminar Dates for 2008 Click Here

For Archived Newsletters Click Here