What The 2012 US Election Taught Me

This should have been posted months ago but here it is anyway.

If this election taught me anything, it taught me to speak up and not be afraid to voice my opinion. To be true to what I BELIEVE in and not to waiver, even in the face of adversaries that maybe your own family. It also reminds me that having HOPE is powerful. Believing that everything works out as it should, according to spirits’ plan….this is POWERFUL.

If Romney had won I would have had to let it go and then HOPE some more that spirit would eventually give us what we had been looking for… a peoples leader….just as I’ve hoped for for my entire life.

I have always had hope that things will continue to get better. I am not the type to let conspiracy and fear-based ideas run my life. I believe in the power of looking at the bright side.  This kind of thinking has done me well and I would recommend it to anyone else because you DO NOT KNOW what is going to happen in the FUTURE. Why waste energy worrying about it when you could just BELIEVE in the POSSIBILITY that in the future everything will be better? It is not a pollyanna point of view.  It’s a survivalist way of thinking.

I feel like I have been under a political regime for nearly all of my life. Too many presidents have gone by since my childhood that was intolerant, money-hungry, war mongers…..literally. I used to get so frustrated at those presidents because it didn't seem like they understood us or even cared that all we want is to have our basic human rights.   We want the right to affordable healthcare….not to abuse the system and take it for free….but to be able to AFFORD IT!  We want the right to choose what you do with your own body and who we can marry and we want the right to speak our minds. All of which it seemed they wanted to deny us.  Why would anyone think that was okay to take away from us?

A time where big oil owns the USA, religion is practically legal in schools, the news is all fear-based and a group of older rich white men run the world… is finally becoming a thing of the past. 

Before, Democrats, including myself, seemed scared to speak out, for fear of harassment for our views or punishment from the government for protesting.

This is America! We are home of the FREE TO BE YOU AND ME!

I have prayed my whole life for a peoples’ leader. Someone that was more like me. And now that we have ONE, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of this country. And he is just one of many peoples leaders to come. 

And WE, the ones who stayed silent for too long, still always kept the hope alive that one day this would be a whole new world. So, just IMAGINE where we COULD BE in ten years and know that the POWER of that POSSIBILITY is what got us here today.

I believe that humanity has been experiencing a shift in consciousness and that now that we have learned many of the lessons needed to be ready for it, we are finally beginning to see truly progressive thinking become progressive action.  I could already feel this shift happening in my own everyday life but now I see it happening to our country and it is truly enlightening.

But in the meantime, while the change continues to occur, we should have patience… and above all we must NEVER FORGET, what it took to get here. It took the courage to speak up and speak out…..for decades.

And if there was only one thing you could judge Obama on (the thing that makes me love and believe in him) it is that it is clear in his actions that he CARES about us. He wants to see the BEST for all of us, the people not the corporations.  He is genuine and transparent, unafraid to speak out against lies and those that would try to shut him down. Of course, he is no saint, just like none of us are, but the man deserves some credit. These are noble characteristics that are rarely seen in a political leader.

And now is the era we have all been HOPING for, when the meak shall inherit the earth. And I know, that it is only a matter of time before we are completely through this shift and all of our hearts are fully open and awake.

 Intolerance will no longer be tolerated. 

Starting Again

Was trying to think of how to start again… and then I opened this little notebook I’d started months back. I must have known that the pretty little notebook covered with butterflies, roses, gemstones, and glitter would give me direction. I’d started writing stories of this life in it last summer. 

I saw this quote, no idea where it came from.

“Creative force is released by an internal process of letting go.  The process of healing is the process of releasing our creative force for the mastery of health and well-being.  Much of illness is a result of blocking the natural flow of an individual's creative energies.”

And this, my friends, is my most primal desire for wanting to write again.

Though, I am not writing for the superfluous reason for being heard…not like when I was younger.  I have grown so much from even 2 or 3 years ago.  I just want to write from my truest clearest form of expression, from the space of being centered and in service to spirit and what it expresses through me.  We all are spirit and I believe that if each of us could have the courage for self-expression, it would give us all the opportunity for great growth and healing.

So that is the goal here from now on, more to write for me, and my expression of spirit, than for anyone else. Not only for my own growth but as a way to honor that which resides in each of us making every person holy, as their own aspect of spirit.

Attack of the Fibroid!

I really do have a great excuse for not blogging in so long.....and yeah I know that I didn't blog for almost two years before that but anyway- here is the story I wrote about it soon after my surgery.

For anyone who wondered if I was PREGNANT.. for A LONG WHILE..i was NOT. On Tuesday I gave cesarian "birth" to a 2 1/2 pound uterine FIBROID. This picture gives you an idea for what a fibroid looks like and the size of the thing that came out of me. It sits beside a 6 INCH RULER. It may have been there 10 YEARS or longer. I am told that 60 % OF WOMEN have them, many not knowing it. If you are having symptoms such as the following, which you thought were just the body aging, you may want to get checked out. Most never know until they feel pain or start to "show".  Over the past several years I have had painful flatulence and constipation with an impacted colon thrown in here and there. As it grew and it began to show I would have back pain, occasional nausea and feel like I was always on the verge of my period or had bad indigestion. In the past year, I would have severe to mild headaches almost daily. I was also susceptible to contracting other illnesses, i.e: I had an intestinal parasite, staph infection-about the time I think I got infected with the campylobacter pathogen, and last year Lyme disease (which my acupuncturist cured in 10 days). He is the one who discovered the fibroid too, as my YEARLY gyno exams DID NOT..... but not until my belly got very hard and the fibroid began to show.

 It has been a real PAIN to deal with for years now yet I did not know the ROOT cause was the FIBROID until last February.

At the time of my surgery I looked 5 1/2 months preggers. Although there are no real theories about why we get them, some doctors say that they are inherited. That had to be at least part of it for me since my MOM HAD ONE the same size, in the same exact place (upper uterus) at the same age as me.

The surgery went well and I am finally healing. It has been a very intense week, to say the least. Besides the pain, there are still a few organs relearning how to work well including the bladder.  I also have to be careful to keep my body moving so as not to get any blood clots in the legs, walking also helps with the painful flatulence. And I have to be careful getting in and out of bed so as not to strain anything or tear internal stitches. It's a tricky place to be. I sleep when I can, between my pain medications. I am taking a number of vitamins and supplements for a speedy recovery including aloe vera, CoQ10, Vitamin C, and I am on the way to full health.

 But it seems like a long road ahead. I can drive in  4 weeks and no extraneous activity or lifting for 6 weeks. I am just taking it day by day.  I thank God/Goddess that I am not any worse off. Recovery is imminent. I just wanted to share my story in hopes it may possibly help someone else who may or may not know what they are suffering from. Thanks to all of you have prayed and continue to pray for my speedy recovery. I am happy to continue the dialogue if anyone has any other advice or questions. Thanks again for all the love. Peace to you all, Athena

Life In the Past Two Years

Wow, it has been almost two years exactly since my last blog entry. Soooooo much has happened but I'll sum it up here and write in-depth later. Since November of 2009, my life partner has become my business partner and we travel doing festivals almost full time now, my love and I have purchased land and begun to build our dream house (an Earthship) and most recently I have had a hysterectomy for a grapefruit-sized fibroid in my uterus. It's been an intense couple of years but it has been amazing too. I'm excited to share it...now I just need to find the words.

My Life Since June, Some Anyway

Well, a lot has happened since I last blogged. My love and I have traveled to Guatemala, Belize and across the U.S.A and back, I held a baby monkey, had another fabulous festival season, saved a family of baby ducks and watched my closest friend and familiar of 15 years pass on.  Here are those stories. 

Athena, Angel in Disguise

Video of Athena

My dearest and most loyal friend passed on recently.  She was an amazing inspiration, so full of love and extremely resilient.  She had four major surgeries last year to remove tumors but the cancer took control in the end.

In her lifetime Athena traveled cross country twice, seeing more sites than most Americans ever dream of.  During her time here she lived in New Orleans, Iowa and Atlanta, met the love of her life and gave birth to 8 beautiful puppies.  She made friends with everyone she met and I never once saw her fight with another dog.

Here is a video of her in her last days. She was so full of life you would have no idea she was ill.  She passed into the next world a few days later, still smiling and happy as ever despite her pain.

Coast to Coast Adventures

After our trip to Central America (see previous posts) we returned home and I went to work for the summer on the Gulf Coast as planned.  Of course you already know that that did’nt last because I got called out to L.A. to work the Big Fair.  (see previous posts)  It was a month long run, very exhausting but worth it for all the knowledge gained and more money than I would have made otherwise.  I was so happy when A came to get me and begin our cross country travels together. We got to really enjoy the airstream and live it up in style in some of the most beautiful national parks and seediest RV resorts ever.  Here is a miscelaneous group of photos from our travels. We were all over the place and the posts to come will show where we went in detail.