It is said that change is inevitable—that nothing is static. The cells in our bodies are in a continual state of change. With every new thought, our minds change and expand. With every new birth and every death, our world changes. The Universe is in a continual state of growth and expansion and each of us is called to respond to that universal expansion. There will be signs that begin to nudge us, gently at first, to let us know it’s time to make a change. It may begin simply as an uncomfortable or restless feeling. In those early stages, if we take the time to examine the feeling, we can often make the shift that is needed without too much disruption in our lives. However, if we ignore the initial nudging, the signs become more apparent until we have no choice but to pay attention.
Even though it may appear that the signs are coming from outside of us, the truth is they are coming from deep within us to let us know that it’s time to grow beyond our perceived limitations. The longer we choose to ignore these inner promptings, the more uncomfortable our life becomes until we finally pay attention and make the necessary change. I think of this as a transformational healing journey. My hope is that you will find the stories within these pages, and the tools I used, to be of service to you on your own personal journey of transformation and healing.
I believe that we are all spiritual beings and one of our primary goals as humans is to remember and awaken to our spiritual essence. This often entails that we undergo a profound spiritual experience—some call it an awakening. In the pages of this book, I take you on my own personal healing journey that began in 1985 when I responded to a not so gentle universal nudge that I needed to make a change in my life. I divorced my husband of 20 years and moved with my three children from our comfortable home in Wisconsin to the unfamiliar landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area.
This set the stage for a transformational awakening that occurred in the summer of 1991. My oldest daughter, Kris, was living on her own in California and my 14-year-old son, Greg, had been living with his father in Indiana for two years. My 12-year-old daughter, Liz, who was living at home with me, became the victim of a gang of girls who were threatening her on her way home from school each day. The school authorities told me that since it didn’t take place on school property, they could do nothing and the police told me that unless she was actually attacked, they could do nothing. Thus, Liz was living in a continual state of fear. In speaking with my ex-husband about the situation, he suggested that it might be best if Liz came to live with him in Indiana. This idea ripped open my heart -- this was my baby! How could I send her that far away? I told him this was not a decision that I could make. It was a decision that only Liz could make.
Liz really didn't know her father as we had separated when she was 3-years-old. However, after talking it over with her that night, she decided that she wanted to give it a try. So in the summer of 1991 I flew with Liz to my parents' home in Wisconsin. Her father drove from Indiana to pick her up and take her back with him.
Words cannot fully describe the emotional upheaval I was feeling. However, I’ve come to believe that the Universe works in wondrous ways. While in Wisconsin I visited with an old friend. She gifted me with a book, saying it had changed her life. I read it on the plane trip back to California. The book, The World Beyond by Ruth Montgomery, was the first metaphysical book I had ever read and I found it awakened in me a memory of when I was three years old, telling my mother, "When I get born again, I want to have you and daddy as parents again."
I remember my mom asking, "What do you mean when you get born again?"
"You know," I responded, "when I get born again."
Mom looked at me and said, "Honey, people don't get born again. We all get born, we live our lives, and then we die and go to heaven."
I remember thinking, "How come she doesn't know that's not the way it works?" But, being only three, I wasn't equipped to have a philosophical conversation about reincarnation. So, it was never mentioned again and my Catholic upbringing definitely buried any idea of reincarnation. The thought laid dormant in my subconscious to be awakened 45 years later by Ruth Montgomery!!
I mark the reading of that book, as the beginning of my conscious spiritual awakening and the beginning of my personal healing journey. In October of 1991 I was introduced to Reiki and had my first attunement. In December I had my second attunement. Within a year I had received all the attunements and became a Reiki Master-Teacher, had quit my corporate job and co-partnered to run a metaphysical healing center.
My belief is that planetary healing begins with each one of us taking the steps necessary to heal ourselves. Because we are all connected, when one of us heals we create a ripple effect of healing. May we all help each other and our planet to heal through our own self-healing.
(Note: This post in part was excepted from my Simple Healing Tools book.