GPS – Pam Grout

The best parenting advice. Ever.

October 10, 2017 18 Comments

Children are remarkable for their intelligence, for their curiosity, their intolerance of shams, the clarity and ruthlessness of their vision.”–Aldous Huxley

Along with potty training and socialization, most parents want to give their children some kind of spiritual training, some kind of guidance into the higher dimensions.

Sadly, the most popular spiritual training involves a list of rules and no-no’s, a set of 10 commandments and a lot of reining in of natural impulses. Not to mention forcing them to get up early the one day they hope to sleep in.

Here’s what I suggest instead:

Make it clear to your children that the very best way to connect with their spiritual nature is to follow their joy. Those impulses of bliss and joy are God communicating. Any child (even grown-up children like myself) who follow that path will know God (or what I call the field of potentiality) in a very real way. There will never be any doubt about what to do next or which path to follow.

Because we’re taught just the opposite (you need to do this, you need to get good grades, you need to forget about running around and whooping like a wild banshee), most of us spend our lives wondering “What does God want from me?, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” It’s all there in living color.

If we only follow our “beeps.”

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.

Let bliss be your GPS

August 26, 2014 4 Comments

“I say always listen to your beeps.”—Necie in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

I have spent my life seeking higher guidance. My favorite joke used to be, “Why doesn’t God work in neon?”

I finally learned that God or the universe or whatever name you want to call the Divine Buzz does indeed work in neon. It’s called joy. Or as Joseph Campbell instructed, “Follow your bliss.”

If you want higher guidance, start moving towards what makes you happy. Kids know this. They automatically seek out things that bring joy.

Until….

…their parents and their culture and the dominant paradigm insist “You can’t do that. You have to protect yourself. You have to be safe.”

I’m reading Pat Conroy’s memoir, The Death of Santini. He remembers very clearly that his dad, who was a notorious disciplinarian (read: bully), would react the most violently anytime his children were having fun. It’s as if he was saying, “Cut that out. Fun is not allowed.”

Even though most of our parents weren’t bullies, they certainly didn’t tell us that the things we’re drawn towards, the things that bring us joy are God’s guidance in bright, crystal clear neon.

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 soon-to-be-released sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.

Why I trust in the big universal GPS when setting goals

July 30, 2014 15 Comments

“What are we believing that costs us our freedom, our happiness and the awareness of our own true nature, which is love?”—Byron Katie

My ship landed in Bermuda this morning. Even though the captain made lots of jokes about finding this little speck of an island in the middle of the huge Atlantic, his navigation equipment took us right to King’s Wharf, right on schedule.

Even though Captain Dimitrios wasn’t constantly manning the wheel (I know, because I sat next to him at dinner one night), we made it safe and sound.

All of us have navigation equipment. It works by setting a destination (a goal, an intention) and starting to move. It doesn’t even matter which direction you begin moving. Once you set sail (in any direction), the GPS will quickly tell you which way to go.

The problem with most of us is we set a goal and then immediately try to override the navigation equipment. We come up with our own ways to make things happen. We try to supervise every step of the process. We want to know NOW exactly how it’s going to work.

But here’s the deal. We CAN’T know. Our job is simple: make a goal, start moving and let the universe do the navigating.