collapsing the wave

Rewriting my story about God

March 5, 2018 23 Comments

“It is not until our image of God is corrected that we begin to understand how we sabotage our own happiness.”—Michele Longo-O’Donnell

Before we commence with today’s festivities, I want to answer a question that was posted on my blog yesterday.

Could you give some suggestions on how to forgive the old story?

The simple answer, of course, is quit thinking about it, but that’s rather flip and perhaps not helpful.

So it came to me this morning as one my own old stories was playing out in my head that: a) I had cemented this “problem” into the plaster of my life by believing it was absolutely true and b) that an alternative story (in fact a gajillion other stories) were also true.

And that maybe that field of the other gajillion stories (where an alternative story could be true and a whole different thing could happen) is actually a pretty good definition of God.

And that forgiveness is nothing more than withdrawing my belief in the one story, withdrawing my conviction that this “problem” needs to be solved.

At that point, I can return to the field of gajillion possibilities. Or, to use the old terminology, return to God. Or love.

Absolutely anything is possible. Until that moment I pluck one particular possibility (usually a problem) out of the gajillion possibilities and then whip the bejesus out of myself for having it.

In quantum physics, it’s called collapsing the wave. All of our problems are nothing but waves we chose to collapse out of the field of gajillion possibilities.

So to turn it over to God is to turn it back over to the field where anything at all is possible. Where the wave is no longer collapsed.

It occurs to me that this definition may be just as difficult to understand as the Course often is. And my goal is to make it as simple as possible. So let me try one more time.

ACIM Lesson 64 (Let me not forget my function) encourages me to bring my attention back to the field of gajillion possibilities instead of zeroing in on one collapsed wave.

My function is to “be the light,” “to spread molecules of merriment.” And it’s much easier to fulfill that function when I focus on the gajillion possibilities (God) rather than the one thing that I just know is a problem, that thing I failed to “forgive.”

This lesson tells me that it’s all very simple–although it begs the question why the Course has used so many words to tout simplicity.

Every decision I make leads to either unhappiness (This problem is real, I believe in it with all my heart) or happiness (Absolutely anything is possible once I return to the field of gajillion possibilities). I prefer definition 2.

Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her new book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.

How to get past the bouncer of your limited thinking

January 3, 2018 25 Comments

“Enlightenment is the unlearning of the thought system that dominates the planet.”—Marianne Williamson
bouncer Picture a big, muscle-bound bouncer, a Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson type. His arms are crossed and he’s got that “no way, no how” look on his face.

Anyone with a lick of sense can figure out it’d be best to come back later, to try again when Mr. Tough isn’t so diligently blocking the entry.

Our current beliefs about the world are just like that bouncer. They block all the joy, peace, meaning and other Divine goodies that the Universe so desperately wants to bestow.

Which is why the Course in Miracles is all about clearing our minds, about undoing the beliefs we think are absolute fact.

Enter Lesson 3: I do not understand anything I see (in this room, out the window, etc.)

Again, we simply take a moment or two to look around and say, “I do not understand this pillow. I do not understand this cat. I do not understand this hand.”

Remember, we don’t have to believe these lessons. We just have to do them.

And as we surrender our old certainties (the world is flat, the table is solid, what we can’t see with our physical eyes does not exist), a new kinder, more loving reality comes gushing in.

Our old beliefs are dominated by fear, separation, limitations. And because our brains are private investigators looking for proof of our beliefs, we collapse the wave (a physics term that describes plucking a single superposition from all possible superpositions) to show us the “desired” superposition that supports our beliefs.

So sure, I may think I understand this pillow, this cat, this hand. But it’s possible I don’t.

And I’m willing to surrender my feeble understanding of the world to the infinite field, acknowledging that even my most brilliant ideas and plans are nothing compared to those of my Creator.

Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the just-released, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.

Gratitude is my bullet-proof vest

September 29, 2016 29 Comments

“I wake up curious and every day I’m surprised by something. I try to recognize that surprise every day and say, “That’s a new gift that I got today that I didn’t even know about yesterday.”—Michael J. Fox

I was thrilled to learn that Mike Birbiglia keeps a gratitude journal. The comedian whose recent film, “Don’t Think Twice” is getting Oscar buzz says noticing simple things, like watching his baby daughter sleep, keeps the crazy silverback gorilla in his head quiet. It allows him to stay sane.

Gratitude is like windex in the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”—an all-purpose cure-all.

Recently, I’ve been using gratitude to rewrite stories that no longer serve me. Rather than get bogged down in what the silverback gorilla tells me, I reframe my story by using gratitude.

For example, I am so grateful that I am a sleeping superstar. I might use this affirmation if I’m plagued with insomnia. Rather than moan about the fact I can’t sleep and worry about all those “bad things” that supposedly happen when you don’t get adequate Z’s, I plant a seed of gratitude. For what’s to come. For what’s possible.

Because remember, whatever is happening now is only one superimposition in the quantum field. We can collapse that wave with our attention, turn it into a festering problem or we can remember there are a gazillion other possibilities. Possibilities that we can call in with seeds of gratitude.

We don’t ignore problems (I prefer to call them incidences with mistaken identities). We just know they’re one story out of an infinite number of stories.

Here’s a cool one that recently popped in my inbox:

“So my friends and I planned this trip to Washington DC to visit the White House and the Grand Opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Sept. We planned it in July and were just counting down the days. Well in early September we got an email saying that our White House Tour was denied! Then literally 5 minutes later another email saying since so many people were coming to the museum they were going to have to give out timed passes to enter the museum. So between the 4 of us we figured we’ll get online and call and get the passes. Well that didn’t happen and we struck out!!!

““We didn’t want to cancel the trip because we were excited to see DC and no to mention the President and former President and Oprah and everyone was going to be there for the dedication ceremony and we wanted to be a part of history so we continued on. I just knew somehow I had to see the museum while I was there. We had one day Saturday to get in!

“After the ceremony the museum opened, we asked 100’s of people if they had any extra tickets but we were still unsuccessful! We decided to go back to the hotel room and regroup and plan our way to sneak in (seriously).

“At the same time, I just continued to be grateful for going to DC and attending the ceremony. Never once did I throw a pity party for not getting “timed passes” because I just knew FP wouldn’t let me down!!!

“We get back to the room to find a Facebook message from a person with extra tickets. And to top it off she had exactly 4 tickets because her friends canceled. Can you believe it!!?? Exactly the number we needed!!! There were more than 300,000 people trying to see the inside of that museum that day. And we got in! We were a part of history all because I knew the Universe (aka FP) wouldn’t let me down on this one.

“BTW if you are ever in DC definitely put it on your to do list. It is the most spectacular museum I have ever been to!!! It is absolutely breathtaking!!! It’s 7 stories starting from slavery to Obama being President! After reading your books and seeing my ancestors in this museum I know that my ancestors did not have time to throw pity parties or feel sad they simply believed in love (and saw love in others) and that things would change… and they did!! Had they not been grateful for what they did have they would not have been given more.”

Thank you so much, Chastity!!

Pam Grout is the author of 18 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the just released, Thank and Grow Rich: a 30-day Experiment in Shameless