The Powers That Be, and Gratitude

  There are many who have learned the changes that come when we learn to take a step back from our thoughts, and take a moment to appreciate everything around us. For some in tragic environments, this is much more difficult to accomplish, but in general, once it is, good things start to present themselves. It's amazing to think about, at the end of the day, because no matter what the cause, be it mystic or mental, the end result is the same, and results are what matter.

  Many in the spiritual community like to explain this phenomenon in their own unique way, though so do all those motivational speakers, who succeed in no small part thanks to the teaching of gratitude. But at the end of the day, we humans are too much the image of the Creator to simply have this gift without understanding it.

  To get what exactly the trick is, we first must look at how we accomplish our goal: using gratitude to improve our lives. This is a form of active spiritual alchemy, because it involves the conscious decision to break our normal thought pattern and introduce something else. To do this, we take a deep breath, and disconnect from our usual concerns, ponderings, and plans. Instead, we listen and observe our immediate environment, taking note of every detail we can, all while feeling our energy, our consciousness, dance across and experience the landscape. Out loud, give thanks for this moment of peace. Feel thankful for the respite, and feel love for the life you've lived that has come to this point.

  Such a little ritual, that when done often enough, sends a message that you are a grateful being, ready to receive more. That you will appreciate the things given to you, so you deserve them. As you come to believe this too, you'll find that what you have will always feel like enough, while also always being excited for what might be just around the corner!

  While there are more intricate ceremonies and candle-burning which can take hours, this short and simple ritual creates tangible effects almost from the very beginning, and as the cultivation of gratitude grows, the practitioner will have an easier time recognizing both when to thank the powers that be, and when that presence has answered with abundance. I cannot quite put into words all this means, but I have concluded that, at the bare minimum, this must mean that the universe is alive, and we are simply a part of it, a complex part which can ultimately communicate to that mystical force our desires, emotions, and intentions, all while changing our environment with our own work. That alone is enough to be grateful for.

  

An Update

  Originally, I wanted this blog to be dedicated to the short stories I've written. As my activity on this site has plummeted, however, my activity elsewhere has not. I've experienced a major spiritual awakening, of sorts, and in doing so, have begun studying the science surrounding our metaphysical reality. I have found several breakthroughs in my work, and have continued experimenting and praying all throughout it.

  But what does any of that have to do with this blog? Well, at first, nothing. I never planned on transforming one blog about stories into a whole new one where I can post my discoveries and findings. But the interface this website allows me to use is perfect for such a change. Furthermore, it prevents the creation of a dead blog, and allows me to share the information I find in one area.

  So, that's pretty much the update. I'm moving from short writings to pretty much anything I come across which provokes thought, or things which I think might be of benefit to those also studying the mystical arts, and hoping to find another breakthrough. Hopefully, together, we can continue our journey.

Ivory Woman

  I stood alone in a meadow, surrounded only by flowers, grass, and the wind, gently blowing, bending the garden of nature that lay bestowed upon me in the gentle warmth of the spring day. The scent of pollen drifted by, letting me deadweight myself into the tulips I laid on, cushioning me, lovingly caressing my body in a protective wall. I felt safe, comfortable, and most of all, happy.
  I had fallen asleep, and awoke now to the sound of little feet scurrying away. I jolted up in surprise, and found only rabbits, which had been nibbling at the fields around me. They darted away silently as I moved, and ran far into whatever burrows they had arrived from. I stretched, and lazily wondered how long I had been outside. It was then that something else happened. Something which I could not have predicted.
  From the sky, clouds drifted apart, and swirled into the shape of a plump woman. From that cloud, came life. As I bore witness, the face blinked, and the white clouds began to shift in a way as to become one. I could no longer see where one fold ended and another began. I realized I was now gazing at a nude form, who shined a bright white.
  She then began to float down, slowly, drifting like a leaf. She smiled at me, and revealed teeth which looked like platinum, glowing a brilliant, heavenly white. I stood up, and waited as she landed in front of me. I saw that she still held her modesty; as she had fallen, more water vapor had trickled by, and became a thick fog which shrouded her. She appeared impregnated, and I suddenly felt a deep respect for her.
  "What is your name?" Was all I could think to ask.
  "Chasity." She said, in a singsong voice that had me sitting back down without even noticing.
  "Are you real?" I asked. She didn't respond, instead, plucking a flower from the ground, and gently picking the petals apart, in a rhythm which I found all-too-relaxing. She hummed as she did, and when the petals were collected in her palm, she blew them into my face, along with the steam of her breath, and just like that, I was asleep again in the meadow, with a new memory, one that still leaves me wondering, whether it was reality, something in the fresh air, or a strange dream within a strange place.

Salamanders

  I sat by the fire I had sparked in the midst of this clearing. The leaves in the trees nearby were still, and the only movement came from the flickering flames which danced shadowed patterns across the landscape. For a moment, I felt fear, wondering what could be moving amongst those shadows, but then, came peace, as I gazed instead into the combustion happening before my eyes. The fire had just started, but had yet already swallowed whole the tinder I had used to help my lighter provide me with warmth.
  The larger branches crackled as they began to, in turn, dissolve into ash as the fire slowly digested it away. I felt a serenity, a slow calmness even as I watched the flames dance without pattern, with no order to behold. I enjoyed the smoky scent wafting into my lungs, and breathed a deep, content sigh.
  It was only then that I could see something else glowing, too. Just out of reach of the clearing, several bright lights approached. They were too numerous, and too close to be eyes, and they're flickering forms betrayed their identities as miniature fires. Impossible as it was, I was witnessing several bright fires, slowly approaching my camp.
  Once again, I felt fear creep up my spine, tensing my muscles along the way, preparing to flee. Another sensation, however, came from the fire balls, a sensation of joy, freedom, and relaxation. I realized this sensation was formed around them in an invisible fence, and the closer they got, the more I found myself sinking lower into my fold-up chair, greeting the strange creatures with a smile.
  They finally entered my camp, and I was able to gaze finally at the angellic beings who approached. They looked like salamanders, wrapped in a warm glow which looked like fire with no substance. Somehow they floated in the air, propelling themselves with their feet and tails. Their bodies were red, then orange, then yellow, then green, then blue, then violet, before shifting back to red and repeating. This display amazed me, and I wondered, for a moment, if I had somehow fallen asleep.
  It was then they chose to speak, locking eyes with me individually, all seven of them. Only one spoke, and though their lips didn't move, and though the voices spoke into my head, I could somehow track the source of the voice, and locked eyes with him.
"We are happy you have found us here." He said to me, and I could only wonder how I heard him smile.
  "Actually..." I began to correct, then thought better of it, choosing instead to stay for the ride, and question nothing.
  "Yes, we found you." He answered my unspoken question. "But you found us first. In the fire. You spoke to us, and didn't know it. You don't need to be afraid of us, we are the spirits of fire."
  "The... Spirits of fire?" I repeated, understanding little, if at all, of what he meant.
  "Everything has a spirit, and we represent the spirit of fire. All that happens with fire, naturally, comes from us."
  "Okay..." I said, tryinng to sound like I knew what he meant. "What do you want with me, then?"
  "We want to teach you our ways." The creature said, before they all suddenly blinded me with their light, and in a flash, were humans... Almost. They had only four fingers and toes on each appendage, with a suction cup-like protrusion on each end, where fingerprints would be. They had odd ears, sharp, triangular, and lurching back as though to enhance aerodynamics. Their hair was made of fire, which burned a dull red, yet reached a foot or two into the sky. Their eyes had no color to them, and their lips stretched unnaturally wide. To top off their looks, each had a long, pale tale, which matched their skin, which had no melanin or shade to it. Despite their alien look, I felt comfort in their gazes, and in their grins.
  They were dressed in bright reds and yellows, and both the men and women wore baggy two-piece outfits. Their outfits also contained loose-flowing ribbons, which had bells attached. To match their clothing, wrist and ankle bands were also adorned, sporting the same bells and ribbons.
  I can't remember when we started dancing, or laughing, or how they brought drinks for us all to share. I can only remember that campsite, which I now make a note to visit every year. To once again dance with the salamanders.

Infinite Possibilities

  Sometimes I wonder if I've chosen the right things for myself in life. I wonder how things could have gone, had I made other decisions, had I changed my mind about anything. My stubborn nature has helped propel my personality into being headstrong and confident. I don't normally think twice about doing something.
  It's only after I've made the decision, after the consequences have played out, only then do I look back and ask myself if I've made the right choice. Perhaps things would have played more smoothly had I changed just one aspect of an outcome, maybe things would have been easier. Then again, maybe things would just be harder. It's difficult to predict what might have happened.
  If you believe in an infinite universe possibility, you'd realize that you've already made every choice available to you. The problem with this idea is in confidence. If we are so sure we would have made the choice we did, is there a possibility that we wouldn't have? Does life experience mean nothing if we have every choice available no matter what we do? Admittedly, free will allows us to make any choice at any time, but with infinite universes, how can we know what we would have done?
  Decisions incredibly out-of-character for ourselves are very, very seldom done, and when they are, it's usually out of duress. How can there be universes existing on the basis that we do unbelievable things that we would normally never do? By extension, have we technically done everything we could possibly do, simply by living where there are infinite possibilities to do so? Are we all murderers because we've murdered in another universe? Are we always the best and worst of ourselves? Who are we, really? What is the "real" universe? And can we one day wake up, not recognizing ourselves, our location, or strange new habits we have, all because we've accidentally "jumped" into a new universe?
  Science, it seems, can be impossible.

Oftentimes

  Oftentimes, humans find that they feel alone in this world. Events may transpire, things may be said, and the person who we once thought was the better half of ourselves leaves forever.
  Oftentimes, we never truly realize how important someone is until they do leave, or worse, we knew the whole time, and must now wear the heavy burden of knowing we will never have the opportunity to right the wrongs between us and them, never be able to change the last words we said; never be able to show them what they meant to us. We can't change time, we can't change biology, and we can't change our hearts.
  Oftentimes, our minds and hearts never leave the ones who left us. Even years can pass, and hearts still feel those same, fresh wounds. Religion helps us little; what good is an afterlife when our soulmate isn't here, now? The only recourse is to overpower the pain, to gain what little space we can between us and the emotion. Alcohol, drugs, violence, crime, gambling, adrenaline. Yet, time and again, these brief periods of peace end, and we're forced to do more to have the same effect. As the crashes become worse and worse, more of our time becomes devoted to escaping the crippling depression the loss of our love has brought down.
  Oftentimes, this unhealthy pattern becomes our downfall. As our escape from reality must keep up with our increased tolerance, now topped off with a desperation to continue escaping. We must now escape several things: our loss, our self-hate, our guilt and shame, and our depression, all balled up into a monster that nobody could ever hope to cope with. So instead, we do the only thing we've learned how to do; we escape. We take more, we do more to run away from it all, to somehow escape ourselves. We don't dare take a moment to ask ourselves what our loved ones would think of us now, we just keep going, keep running from everything. An endless cycle, one that we witness in real-time, as it completely destroys and ruins us.
  Oftentimes, we find ourselves sitting by a cliff, gun in hand, staring at the moon and stars reflecting from the otherwise-black, despairing waters below. The beauty is lost on us. We've lost the ability to care years ago. As we stand to our feet, we catch a glimpse of a new day on the horizon, brightening the world for another 12 hours. We place the gun to our head, our one last hope is the forgiveness of our loved ones. We have forgiven them for leaving us, after all. Perhaps they will forgive us for coming back so soon...

Shower

  In the bright light which shines just above my head, I spend the time washing my hair, scrubbing my body, and thinking deeply, as I'm sure everyone else does. My mind wanders, and I think for a moment about the beauty of the world. How, when it comes down to it, everything is beautiful, even if no one can see it or appreciate it.
  This thought brings me to watch the water fall in front of me. I can't see the individual drops, but my eyes can catch the glint of the light on the water itself, and the overall look of the small, constantly changing lines that my mind captures. Together, it reminds me of television static, and I smile to myself a bit.
  This thought cascades into a new one. Humans have evolved so quickly with technology. Our sciences have advanced faster than anyone could have guessed it would. I imagine how insane our electronics would look to anyone from only a century ago, someone who could very well still be alive today. Imagine if they had seen a phone, or if, in their time, they had all the same equipment and understanding as we have now. How much further in the future would we be today? Where would we be?
  These thoughts fade, as they normally do when I turn off the hot water that didn't exist until a couple hundred years ago. I step out of the shower, suddenly taking in everything again. I live with so many things that enhance my life, things that I couldn't imagine being without. Yet, there was once a time when everything we have today wasn't even a dream or imagination. I wonder, then, if perhaps the technology we'll have mere decades from now will be the same. We all imagine holograms and food processors, but if we can imagine those things, does that mean that what we do discover will be even more amazing?