Blog – Page 65 – Pam Grout

4 bald-faced lies that block your joy and power

March 25, 2016 20 Comments

“The brain’s natural instinct is to judge, but so is the urge to boink the UPS dude.”—Mary Karr 1535727-980x

This blog post might come as a bit of a shock. Mainly, because the statement I’m about to make is completely opposite of how we’ve learned to experience life.

Ready?

It is possible to live in a state of uninterrupted deep peace. It’s called enlightenment.

Here’s why most of us (and, yes, that includes me) don’t come close.

1. We’ve created a false self that masquerades as us. We place all our attention on this “self” that is no more real or lasting or solid than Chandler Bing. It’s a made-up hologram. It blocks our real identity and our connection to a sacred, limitless life force.

2. The life force got re-named and developed a bad reputation. The nickname for this realm of beauty, goodness and infinite vastness is, of course, God. But I don’t have to tell you that God, as a concept, has become warped and misused. It’s a closed concept which, again, is the exact opposite of Truth.

3. Enlightenment is regarded as the provenance of a select few. You know that false self I mentioned earlier? It likes to promote the belief that enlightenment is some superhuman accomplishment. When, in Truth, it’s our natural state of being. We are all connected to an immeasurable and indestructible life force. But because we see ourselves as isolated fragments, we plod through life pretending to be something we’re not.

4. A loud squawky voice is manning the dials. We think we’re having thoughts. But our thoughts are having us. And by that I mean, our thoughts, which compulsively judge, compare, label and define, block us from feeling our connection.

Pam Grout is the author of 17 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and its equally-scintillating sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.

Why I’ve learned to back away from the dials, ma’am

March 21, 2016 35 Comments

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”–Socrates

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A friend posted this query on Facebook the other day, “Your best advice in four words or less.”

She got lots of great answers. One of my favorites was, “Spread love. Spread love.”

While I didn’t post my own four words, I did think about it. And finally decided that what works best, at least in my own life, are these four words from A Way of Mastery.

“I need do nothing.”

Yes, I said nothing. Zero. Nil. Jack squat. Zilch.

I’ve discovered that, more often than not, I get in my own way. I start thinking I know how to make something happen. I start hatching schemes, composing plans, all of which are laughably limited and focused on self-preservation, survival and looking good.

The bigger thing always has a much broader, more loving perspective.

In fact, once I got over the crazy notion that this bigger thing expected something from me, something like penance or poverty or obedience to man-made commandments, I was able to let it do its glorious thing in my life.

This bigger thing, I now know, wants to bless me, to guide me, to interact with me.

But when my hands are so tightly clutching the steering wheel it can’t make contact.

God, the universe, the field (or whatever synonym you like to use) is literally blocked behind my schemes and intentions and seven steps to this or that.

I’m not saying I never create an intention. I just know that my limited tiny brain has a very small vantage point. And that the less I do, the better my life works.

Why it’s time to get your “Frozen” on and “Let it go.”

March 19, 2016 22 Comments

You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. —C. Joybell C.

frozen-let-it-go As a long-time journalist, I have been privileged to meet lots of amazing people–actors, artists, politicians and others you may not have heard of, but who are doing world-changing things. Like the principal who dances and sings with his students every morning.

The guest post below was written by a woman I was lucky enough to interview a few years ago for a story for CNN on medical tourism. Her name is Amy B. Scher and not only did she pioneer a healing path for herself, but she now works as an energy therapist who helps others find their way.

I was honored to endorse her new book How To Heal Yourself When No One Else Can and I’m honored today to share this post.

Enjoy!!!

4 Spirit Squashing Patterns You Can Change Right Now

by Amy B. Scher

Happiness comes from being who you really are and accepting yourself as that incredible human being, no matter what. After having successfully figured it out for myself following many years of misery (much of that misery being accidentally self-inflicted), I’m here to give you some short cuts.

As an energy therapist, my job is to help people be happy and free – and it always happens once they start honoring their already-awesome selves. There are several unhealthy life patterns I consider “spirit squashers,” which make ultimate self-love, acceptance, and well-being very difficult to achieve.

Are any of these patterns keeping you from being who you really are?

You Are Not In Need of Self-Help; You Are In Need of Self-love

Before we get to the good stuff, there is one question that I get often and want to address. Then we’ll start talking about – and releasing – unhealthy emotional patterns: “If we are supposed to love and accept ourselves for who we are, why are we trying to change so much about ourselves?” The answer is simple: We don’t want to change who we are, but we do want to change anything in our life that isn’t working for us. We don’t need to keep unhealthy patterns that have become part of our lives but are not part of our best selves. For example, I’m an impatient person by nature sometimes. When clients hear me say that, they wonder why I don’t “fix it.” But the truth is, that’s just part of who I am and it’s okay with me. It doesn’t inhibit my quality of life. I don’t want to spend my whole life nitpicking my personality. I want to spend my life living in the freest way possible, accepting all that I can about myself and changing only what really hinders my quality of life.

You are not in need of self-help; you are in need of self-love. Self-love is all about transforming only the things that prevent you from living your biggest, best life.

You may have practiced some of these unhealthy patterns for a very long time—quite possibly, for your whole life. They are probably threaded into your being to such a great degree that when you read them, you might not even recognize they don’t have to be that way. But that’s the beauty here. You can change any pattern that’s not working for you, no matter when you may have learned it.

4 Unhealthy Patterns That Squash Your Spirit

Draining vocabulary : These are words like “chronic,” “busy,” “overwhelmed,” and “anxiety.” All these words are stressful. And what you tell yourself matters. If you don’t want to be stressed, don’t tell yourself that you’re busy, overwhelmed, and anxiety-ridden, or chronically ill. Not too relaxing, right?
Negative self-talk : Imagine for a moment that our bodies obey each thing we tell our- selves as if it’s a command. It does not filter or translate; it simply takes it in and acts. Now, the scary part is, you don’t have to imagine. You are, with your internal self-talk, commanding your cells to believe or do as you say—either verbally or internally. Make sure you don’t have a “shitty committee” in your brain running the show, okay? When I hear mine, I say out loud, in my most fun and loving tone, “I call bullsh*t!” That’s it. It’s a light and silly way of holding yourself responsible for changing this pattern.
Victim mentality: This is a pattern that I had somehow mastered, although it took years for me to realize it. My personal pattern was fairly subtle, but once I saw it, boy, did I see it! I’ll go so far as to say this pattern can be an addiction for some—the pattern of blaming outside circumstances, playing the part of “poor, pitiful me,” or claiming little to no responsibility for one’s life circumstances. The difficulty with identifying this pattern is that it shows up in so many ways, and they aren’t always obvious. Consider making a pact with yourself: Don’t have conversations (with yourself or others) that support this pattern. Simply refuse to let yourself go there.
Taking things personally: We were all born as wonderful, self-centered works of art. As human beings, we tend to be self-focused, and that’s okay a lot of the time. But it can get us into big trouble, too, because we tend to interpret everything as if it is personal. It’s all too easy from our human vantage point to see the opinions and actions of others as direct reflections of our own wrongdoing.I also use the visualization of a burning forest fire when I’m having difficulty with taking things personally. I imagine the person whom I am being upset by as a burning fire in a large wooded area. In this visualization, I draw a circle around the fire with a stick. I then know that I can be anywhere in that forest (symbolic of my own life and my own energy field) and be safe from the heat and sparks. I allow the fire (symbolic of the person in this specific situation) to be angry or do whatever it needs to do to burn out or dissolve. However, I don’t allow myself to be affected. This is very helpful for me in staying grounded when others are upset, either in general or specifically with me.

Now that you know about these patterns, do something about them, okay? Because there’s only one guaranteed way to be happy – and that’s to let that big beautiful spirit of yours soar.

Amy B. Scher is a leading voice in the field of mind-body healing and author of How To Heal Yourself When No One Else Can: A Total Self-Healing Approach for Mind, Body, and Spirit (Llewellyn Worldwide). She has been featured on healthcare blogs, CNN, Curve magazine, Elephant Journal, Cosmopolitan, and the San Francisco Book Review. Amy lives by her self-created motto: When life kicks your ass, kick back. She can be found online at www.AmyBScher.com.

My new job title: deployer of miracles

March 15, 2016 22 Comments

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it,”– J.M Barrie

happiness-miracles-are-everywhere-marianne-williamson “Soooooo,” it always begins, at a cocktail party or a gathering of strangers. “What do you do?”

Most of us have a suitable answer we can pull out of our pocketbooks. Usually it’s a job—I’m an accountant or a teacher. Or maybe a zookeeper.

I, too, have that pat answer at the ready. It’s simple enough to tell people what I do during a few hours of every day. I write.

But every now and then when I’m feeling mischievous or wanting to start an unusual conversation, I’ll say something like, “I’m a miracle deployer.”

Deploy, according to the dictionary, is to position into readiness, to bring into action, to distribute strategically.

And that’s what happens when we talk about anything–be it miracles or woe is me! We deploy it into action.

That’s why I only want to share stories of miracles. And love. And possibility.

That, my friends, is what I really do.

And why I like to share stories here on the blog. Here are a couple that recently materialized into my inbox:

Story #1:

“I always walk my dog in the morning after I wake up, and during the walk, I usually buy a newspaper with cash, but this day, I didn’t have cash with me and was in too much of a hurry to go and get some, so as I took the dog out, I said to the Universe that it would be really nice if I could be provided with some cash to buy the newspaper.

“Then I took Pugsy out to our garden (which we share with 4 other households, but not very many people go out there), as usual. To my delight, I found a huge pile of coins in the middle of the lawn! It was enough to buy at least 2 newspapers. I said thanks and then took the dog out of the apartment complex and bought the newspaper at a kiosk.

“The next day, I said to the Universe, “I sure would be nice if I could find some more money today too.” I didn’t find a pile of money in the middle of the garden, but I found one-tenth that amount outside that someone had thrown away with a foreign exchange receipt (we live next door to a foreign exchange shop). I was delighted again and said “thank you” and went to buy my newspaper.

Story #2:

“Thank you! I never thought E2 experiments would work for me so did quite a lot of Byron Katie work to enquire into my negative thoughts just to be able to even proceed and when I get over the shock of it’s success I know it will change my life.

“For experiment number 4 you did suggest picking something small to manifest but when I thought about what I really wanted there was such an energy surrounding my desire I thought what the heck. I wanted a 200 year right of access across our land, by two neighbors, extinguished within 48hours to give my family some privacy. We had been talking with our neighbors about the possibility of extinguishing the access for over two years but the middle neighbor was never keen. That night I had a vivid dream that explained to me why I had chosen, not just this but every property I had ever had, with a right of access across it.

“Despite being happily married with two beautiful children, I had left a right of access open in my heart for a first love of some 35 years ago. The next day I noticed and heard a buzzard flying in circles above me, the same happened the next day and on the third I got a sense that I needed to visit an antique centre not far from me, only to stumble across a stuffed buzzard on one of the stalls. I got the message this buzzard is stuffed, dead, gone.

“A second dream that night ended with the question, isn’t it about time you stopped this. I got it in an instant and guidance told me that there was nothing else I needed to do. So, not 48 hours but just 90 hours later I had a knock on the door from one of the neighbors saying they had been talking to the other neighbor and his son and they both agreed they didn’t need access over our land any more. I contacted the solicitors the very next day, papers have been signed and I’m still dancing round the house. I am so glad I didn’t ask for a bunch of flowers as suggested. Yours still in shock–Julia xxx.

A spiritual lesson I learned from Netflix

March 14, 2016 43 Comments

“The only thing you really want from life is to feel enthusiasm, joy and love. If you can feel that all the time, then who care what happens outside?”—Michael Singer, author of Untethered Soul

when you buy a book

Okay, sports fans. Another excerpt from the new book that comes out in August. I’m super excited and will make an announcement real soon. Blessings and joy to all.

If you have Netflix, you’ll notice a category called, “Because you watched…..” that lists all the movies or TV shows or documentaries that fall into the same genre. Netflix assumes you’d appreciate these offerings because well, they’re quite similar to options you chose earlier.

Likewise, Amazon recommends books and products that are related to items you’ve bought and even viewed in the past.

This is exactly how the universe works. It continuously sends people, ideas and events that mirror the frequency you emit, the channel you’ve chosen to speak for your life.

It doesn’t charge for these gifts that match what you’ve previously selected. But it also doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t judge or doubt that what you’ve chosen in the past is what you still want. It doesn’t think, “Well, her parents and her culture obviously had it wrong, so I’m going to send her different kind of stuff.”

No. It sends an exact match

So if you’ve tuned into lack, spent your life focusing on what might go wrong, that’s what the universe will happily continue to send.

But when you tune yourself into a new channel, start watching a different type of movie, a movie that brings you joy, you will get more people, ideas and events that mirror the upgraded frequency.

Dancing with the Stars…and the moon and the people in coffee shop lines

February 29, 2016 23 Comments

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…”
― Susan Polis Schutz

Just found out the pub date (that’s publication date) for my new book has been moved up from October to August. So, in celebration, here’s an excerpt:

Wanna know one of my most important spiritual practices?

Erupting into spontaneous dance. In places besides dance floors.

Here are five reasons it’s as important as meditation:

1. It cuts thought off at the knees. All spiritual practice is about getting out of our own way, letting go of all the thoughts that block the Divine Buzz. The majority of our thoughts are boring re-runs from yesterday, the same ole to-do lists, fears and gripes.

And the Truth is that life works just fine without our incessant input. In fact, the more we distract the yammer, the better things actually work. This may seem counterproductive, but your right and perfect path will show up once you quit trying to figure everything out. It’s all the figuring and fretting that keeps it away. Dancing shuts down the mind so Truth can emerge.

2. Dancing puts you on the same wavelength as the F.P. As I’ve repeatedly said, you can’t watch ABC if you’re tuned into NBC. When you’re joyfully dancing, you’re on the same channel as the Big Guy. Which, of course, makes it easier for the F.P. to pour out all those countless blessings with your name on it.

3. It makes other people happy. I spend a lot of time in airports. And for the most part, the thousands of people waiting for flights are doing the same thing. Staring at their cell phones. One day in the Cincinnati airport, my daughter and I spotted (well, there was really no possibility of missing him) this tall gangly young man dancing jubilantly through the terminal. By himself. We were sitting at a Chick Fil A (this is before I began boycotting them) when he zoomed joyfully by. We both began laughing and like the young children in the German fairytale, The Pied Piper, we began to follow him.

Who can forget this wonderful scene from the movie, The Full Monte, where these unemployed steel workers began tapping their feet while waiting in the unemployment line?

4. It heals your body and eliminates other ailments. My friend, Betty, is 82. Most of her peers, when they get together, discuss one thing—their health or lack thereof. What she discovered when she took up dancing, the conversation (between Fox Trots) became elevated and people forgot all about their health issues. They actually started having fun, feeling young again.

5. It jars you into a new reality. Worldview 2.0 is all about leaving ruts and mental architecture that squeezes us into a tiny, uncomfortable box. Worldview 1.0 includes dancing, of course, but, once we’re grown-up, it only occurs when there’s alcohol and a dance floor. By dancing in places where others don’t expect it, you jump out of the box and your consciousness can’t help but follow. Again, life forms around our beliefs and expectations (our consciousness), so the more we can expand our beliefs and expectations, the bigger toehold life has to flow in.

Pam Grout is the author of 17 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the equally scintillaing sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.

Be your unapologetically weird self.

February 15, 2016 39 Comments

“God wants us to put this stuff down now. He wants us to wear the world like a loose garment. And be of good cheer.”—Mary Karr

I headlined this post with the advice venture capitalist Chris Sacca gave to the 2011 graduates of the Carlton School of Management.

Every last one of us is weird and different and that’s a beautiful thing. Diversity is not something to be threatened by. Or to avoid. It’s to be celebrated.

Instead of reaching for the spring-loaded trigger, we should all bust out laughing. The commentary on this blog over the last few days reminds me of a Saturday Night Live sketch. And I’m a huge fan of Saturday Night Live.

Thank you all. I so appreciate your support, your funny comments (imagine disowning someone because they prefer bleu cheese salad dressing or penny loafers) and the reminders that baby, it’s high time to rev up our love engines.

Those old habits of defending our positions might have worked in cavemen days, when saber tooth tigers were trying to rip elk meat from our baby’s mouth. But it’s 2016.

And it’s time to create some new habits, some new beliefs. It’s time to quit gnawing on old miseries and start enjoying the now.

Several of you wondered why I would apologize. It’s not because I did anything wrong. It’s because it felt like the loving choice. Because it’s my spiritual practice to know that, in Truth, nothing can hurt me.

So if I’m asked to apologize, why not? One of my many gurus said if someone asks for your cloak give them your “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt, as well.

Remember it isn’t agreement with others we need. It’s agreement with ourselves.

So I’m hoping the uproar can die down and we can all get back to dreaming, loving, believing in new possibilities.

Again, thank you all so very much.

It’s official: I’m not the poster child (nor have I ever aspired to be) for perfect human being

February 12, 2016 179 Comments

“The history of my stupidity could fill volumes.”—Czeslaw Milosz

wa190_cosmospeace I believe in saying thank you for everything. I think there’s a gift (a pony underneath the dung for those who’ve heard the joke about the excited kid on his birthday) in every circumstance. Even those that might appear, at onset, less than desirable.

Yesterday (and I’ve been more or less obsessing about it ever since), I wrote a post about my excitement over a particular political candidate. I’ve been known to gush about many things—books I love, music, movies, other authors. I don’t expect others to like the same books, movies, music. It’s a diverse planet, something I celebrate daily.

However, this particular spurt of enthusiasm did the exact opposite of what I most want: to promote love and peace and understanding. Let’s just say, it was a huge fail. I was shocked really at the strong reaction it provoked. People were more or less shouting, “off with her head!”

My first reaction was, “well, fine. I’ll just quit writing my blog.” But that’s petty and little and not the person I aspire to be. My only goal remains to love to the very best of my ability. That’s it.

Needless to point out, I’m an imperfect human being. I make many missteps and will continue to make many more.

Since I believe change starts on the inside, the angry reaction I got prompted me to take a good look at the part of me that still feels insecure and easily hurt. As I always say, you don’t notice your mascara is smeared and try to fix it on the mirror. You fix it the only place where it can be fixed—on (or in this case IN) yourself.

So thank you, all—those who stood up for my right to express an opinion (one of the things I’m grateful for is that I have that right) and for those who basically acted out that part of myself that still feels like a poser.

I’m deeply sorry I offended anyone. And I hope each of you (especially those who took on the role of my inner critic) has the very best, amazingly awesome weekend of your life.

Five non-political reasons I support Bernie Sandwich

February 11, 2016 117 Comments

“Pizza makes me think that anything is possible.”–Henry Rollins

I try to stay out of politics here on the blog. My goal is to bring people together and well, usually politics does just the opposite.

But I’ve recently become so jazzed about the candidate commentator Chris Hayes, the other night, accidentally called Bernie Sandwich that I simply must shout it from the rooftops…or at least from my little public megaphone.

Here are the five reasons I’m feeling ‘the bern’

1. Bernie talks “we.” Other candidates spout I: “I’m going to work really hard for you. I’m going to change this. I believe……” Listen to his language. It’s all about “we, together, all of us.” Bernie knows change is a team sport.

2. Bernie talks possibility. Pragmatism, I suppose, has some perks. But idealism and optimism is the only thing that will really bring about the change we all long for. Anything is possible, but only if we wrap our mind and consciousness around it. I want to believe big things are possible. Why not?

3. Bernie refuses to talk smack about his opponent. Again, pragmatists and the “old story” insist the only way to win an election is to attack the other guy. Bernie, even when asked, even when his opponents start slandering him, refuses to go negative.

4. Bernie talks (and votes) peace. If little ole me here in Kansas could clearly see the futility of the Iraq war, I can’t fathom how any reasonable person in Washington could not see it. Bernie was one of a handful of senators who voted against sending troops to Iraq.

5. Bernie supports everybody. White, black, straight, gay, born here, immigrated yesterday. Bernie knows we’re all one. He knows you can’t really bomb that guy over there or wipe out that species down there without it affecting all of us.

I love his new ad and with that, I’m signing off from Lincoln Street.

How Dwight Schrutte learned to trust the universe

February 10, 2016 6 Comments

“Every thought we think is creating our future.”–Louise Hay

In my new book, the one that comes out this fall, I tell a story about Rainn Wilson. He’s the actor who played Dwight Schrutte in The Office. He’s also one of my new heroes. His website, Soul Pancake, is inspiring, funny and dedicated to changing the old, worn-out paradigm of doom and gloom.

Rainn is a practicing Baha’i, a deeply spiritual soul, but back when he was a newly-minted, struggling actor living in New York, he temporarily threw his faith overboard. How could any reasonable person be expected to believe there’s a force that wants to interact with us, a force that has our best interests at heart?

Except that attitude didn’t feel right. Like all of us, he longed to be connected to a bigger thing. He embarked on a quest to read all the spiritual texts.

One night while watching a baseball game with his deeply-agnostic poet friend Phil, he shared a story about the Lakota belief in Wakan Tanka, a sacred spirit that exists in all of us.

“Oh yea,” Phil challenged him. “If your Wakan Tanka is so powerful, ask him to let the Yankees win this game.”

At the time, the Yankees were behind by two. It was the bottom of the ninth, two outs, not a likely proposition.

Rainn, ever adventurous and open-minded, said sure and sent up an incantation to Wakan Tanka.

“I kid you not,” says Rainn in his memoir, The Bassoon King. “No sooner did I send up the “chant” then Darryl Strawberry hit a two-run walk-off home run to win the game.”

The Blog

4 bald-faced lies that block your joy and power

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Why I’ve learned to back away from the dials, ma’am

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Why it’s time to get your “Frozen” on and “Let it go.”

Like this:

My new job title: deployer of miracles

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A spiritual lesson I learned from Netflix

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Dancing with the Stars…and the moon and the people in coffee shop lines

Like this:

Be your unapologetically weird self.

Like this:

It’s official: I’m not the poster child (nor have I ever aspired to be) for perfect human being

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Five non-political reasons I support Bernie Sandwich

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How Dwight Schrutte learned to trust the universe

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