June 2010 News

Sea Lion Nap ©2008 Paul Hood

Hello Everybody,

This month's newsletter is written by Sheryl. Hope you find it helpful!

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THE GULF OIL CRISIS AND TAKING A LONGER VIEW

An odd thing happened for me in recent weeks. After months of being highly activated in a political way—writing articles, signing petitions, circulating informative videos on Facebook and participating in sometimes highly charged discussions on all kinds of subjects—the BP oil catastrophe occurred and I found myself just watching. Not shocked, not screaming, not in pain. I’m watching with a kind of absolute belief that this was required, horribly yet inexplicably required.

This is an unusual position for me to take. In my own life I’m not so sanguine when awful things occur. Paul and I can go absolutely ballistic over things as simple as a missed communication. We meditate, we know the importance and useful application of a quiet mind and a positively expectant mental attitude, but we’re flawed creatures susceptible to the winds of pain and misfortune like anyone else. But not on this one.

Some part of me thinks the world will come back into balance because of this. That BP and Exxon and anyone else who wants to convince us to “drill, baby, drill” will not be allowed to run the show without proof that a catastrophe like this —and it will be a big one—can never occur. The devastation will guarantee it stays fresh in our minds. They can’t keep the news media in the dark forever and the longer this situation builds up the worse the consequences will be. Awful news for all concerned. But — in the long haul, obviously not now— could this be the best news possible for the world?

People on my Facebook list are grieving and freaking out as they should be. It’s on the world news every night. It’s a catastrophe of major importance. People’s lives are being ruined, people’s livelihoods will never be the same. The emotional devastation of thousands of dead animals and fish washing up to shore covered with sludge hasn’t yet occurred, and everyone is praying for the creatures to steer far away. And yet we know the truth: the coastline is already being impacted and lots of animals, birds and fish will likely never return again.

When a wound occurs we don’t let it fester. We disinfect and bind it up as best we can. BP might not have a clue of how to do that with this one and, yet, they HAVE to. And not because we’re demanding it and not just because they will benefit. The entire oil industry is at stake. That’s why Paul and I are not in the group of increasingly vocal activists calling for their heads—their heads are about to start to rolling already. I’m not celebrating exactly—I’m not that cruel, I’m not that mindless of the heartbreak already occurring—but I keep thinking that a gate to addressing the peak oil crisis that was once locked and blockaded by big oil interests is now open.

In case you haven’t been keeping up on “peak oil”, that’s why a lot of things have been taking place. We only have a few short years of onshore oil reserves left in the United States. That’s why there has been a mad scramble to get oil from other places. Off shore oil drilling and protracted wars in the Middle East are just two examples. Even if you throw away the ecological and human devastation involved in such an approach, continuing to focus on oil alone is ridiculously inadequate for the crisis already upon us. And yet big business interests have blocked or bought and deliberately underfunded solar, wind and other alternative technologies for decades! And while they, with Sarah Palin and John McCain's help, have been successfully convincing large numbers of working people in our own country that supporting the oil companies is good for everyone else, most people rarely see those riches for themselves. On the contrary and shall I say “coincidentally”, I received an email while I was writing this article from a man visiting Equatorial Guinea, an extremely poverty-stricken country in Africa that is rich in oil reserves being exported to other countries. The average citizen of this country makes no more than $1/ day while the oil companies make billions and the people they pay off make millions. The president of Guinea's son, for example, supposedly makes only $60,000 /year but somehow was able to buy a $35 million mansion in Malibu, CA in which to live. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6129992.stm)

Luckily we do still have enough time but the wake-up required to stop the madness and make us take stock of what we really should do now had to be enormous. The BP catastrophe might not even be big enough.

HEALING THE HEART

So how do we cope with this? 1) Understand that big crisis involves big sacrifice. This crisis is not just about sea creatures and people living in the Gulf—it's much much more serious than that. The upshot is that we won’t be able to do things the same way now. 2) Understand that through crisis the world can come to a higher understanding. Sometimes the only way out of a devastating situation is to go through it and come out the other side, sadder but wiser and more willing to make the changes that have to be done. 3) Be well in your own heart. Believe there will be another day and another with which to heal this. Enjoy each moment as an opportunity. And know that you’re not alone.

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COPING WITH TROUBLED TIMES IN YOUR OWN LIFE

SPIRITUAL COUNSELING
A spiritual counseling and healing session can help you gain clarity and support to find your way. Unless you're in eastern Arizona we're doing all our sessions via telephone these days but it works really well that way. Sliding scale fees make our sessions affordable. Click here to make an appointment now.

FLOWER ESSENCE AROMATHERAPY
The first Mama Love formula I ever made was called Mama Love for Troubled Times because using it helped me feel as safe and secure as a baby being held in my mother's arms. It's a good thing, too, because the life I had had up to that point was being dismantled and I needed to find the emotional balance to pick up the pieces and carry on. Not only that, it smelled wonderful, with ingredients like Rose and Jasmine that you'd find in the best perfume. My formulas are actually made to aromatherapy standards which means they're safe to be used more extensively than conventional perfume but they're designed with both aromatherapy and perfume sensibilities to make them enjoyable to use. Combine flower essence healing with a spiritual counseling session and you have an effective program for healing that can't be beat!

Mama Love for Troubled Times can be found by clicking here.

Or visit the Mama Love website to find all the formulas I make.

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BOOKS HAND-AUTOGRAPHED BY THE AUTHOR (Sheryl Karas)

THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF FAMILY CAREGIVING --
For five years, ending in 2005, I worked as a Family Caregiving Consultant at the Alzheimer's Association and Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center helping families taking care of loved ones with incurable progressive memory loss and dementia. Trying to find services needed to provide basic care is what brought people in to see me first, but as the caregivers became more ensconced in their caregiving roles inevitably emotional and spiritual issues would become their primary concerns. My role shifted to providing a combination of practical and spiritual care. During this period I wrote a caregiver newsletter every month and this book is the result.

Unsigned copies of "The Spiritual Journey" and a nice variety of journals featuring our photography are also available online at http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress .

THE SOLSTICE EVERGREEN: THE HISTORY, FOLKLORE AND ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE
The evergreen has been a potent pagan symbol in almost every culture, from prehistoric Japan to Northern Africa, from Native America to Medieval Germany. The Solstice Evergreen explores the rich spiritual heritage of this ancient symbol in depth and includes a great many myths, legends,and folk tales from across the globe as well as dozens of black and white illustrations. Gathered together in this book for the first time, this rich collection of mythology presents a unique perspective spanning many cultures and centuries.

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WHERE TO FIND OUR ART

Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Art and Photography by Sheryl Karas... http://SherylKaras.imagekind.com/
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl
Brand New Shop (Pendants featuring our art and photography, more items to come)... http://www.etsy.com/shop/paulnsherylart

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WHERE TO FIND OUR VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam

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BE A FAN!

We've recently joined the world of Facebook. We post little tidbits of inspiration and fun, information and news about what we're up to, things that don't fit in the newsletter and things that do. And it's an easy way to interact with what we post through comments and possibly discussions from time to time. Check us out at http://tinyurl.com/HealingCommunication . Check Mama Love out at http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!

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THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REFERRALS!
Simplest way to tell people about us? Forward this newsletter and include a note saying you like us. It's easy!

September 2009 Newsletter

Hello Everybody,

Last month Sheryl mentioned that she was looking to publish a book and asked people to forward her publishing proposal and writing sample around the internet in the hopes of connecting with a publisher and/or literary agent through the power of community. It worked! Someone on this list suggested she contact an old teacher of hers. He recommended an author colleague back in Santa Cruz and that person encouraged Sheryl to contact her publisher and gave us his name. A few days later another person on this list forwarded the newsletter to someone else who forwarded it to yet another person. That person is another author who wholeheartedly recommended his literary agent and the SAME publisher the first person recommended! Interesting, huh?

At this point proposals and sample chapters have been sent to more than one publisher and several literary agents. Publishing is a BIG waiting game and you never have any real idea of how and when (or if) a book will be accepted. But the game is in play and this community has been a big help in that. Thank you very much! We'll, of course, let you know how it turns out.

An interesting set of spiritual issues that presented itself to us this month is the role of environment or context in terms of what we perceive and how we form our points of view. If you're reading this online take a look at the graphic at the top of the page. It's an optical illusion—the blue in the graphic is exactly the same color as the green. Don't believe us? It's all about context. The color is actually a blue-green. When seen next to orange our brains interpret the color as green. In the context of the magenta stripes the color looks like blue.

We could write an entire volume of books on this topic alone—how the environments we live in color our perceptions. Trust me, there's a world of difference in the experience of those who live in vibrant diverse communities next to the Pacific Ocean vs the homogeneous community in the plain arid Arizona desert we find ourselves in now! But we'll simply address a single application of this or two. At least for now. . .

Be well,

Sheryl and Paul

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IT'S ALL ABOUT CONTEXT (AND POINT OF VIEW)
by Sheryl Karas

A lot of our oldest clients think we are "psychics." We ask for guidance, get information that we could not possibly know any other way. On rare occasions we get insights about the future, read people's energy fields, even hear guidance from departed loved ones and helpers from the other side. All things a psychic giving a "reading" might be expected to do.

Fortunately for us we don't see ourselves that way. . . or, to be honest, we wouldn't be able to do this work at all anymore. We don't believe that psychic work per se is healthy or unhealthy. It's all a matter of context. Many spiritual leaders say that psychic or spiritual powers in general are a significant trap on the trail of spiritual development. Others—evangelical healers for example—consider guidance from God and the healing that occurs in that instance as the highest form of service they ever do.

We think that way, too, but context is the key. We believe that excessive dependency on psychic guidance -- what's going to happen? what is so and so is thinking about me? what should I do next? -- is the antithesis of what spiritual counseling and healing work is all about. Sure, it can make all the difference— a single phrase that I receive in a session repeated out loud at just the right moment can break things wide open— but the point is healing and spiritual development and not the phrase in itself.

Spiritual growth and development in the context of living well is the motto we used on our website and in our ads for a long time. We probably chose the phrase "in the context of living a great life" but I've developed a different attitude about that now. Living a great life connotes riches to some people, power and glory to others. But when life hands you oranges when you want something more . . . oranges look like lemons. Living well isn't really hard at all, it's just hard to perceive at times. Sometimes that's what people need: a little bit of help in seeing the value in it all. . . and living well regardless of the nature of what we receive. To put a positive spin on it isn't necessary. I'm referring to a deepening of our ability to receive. To revel in life's tiny moments is something important. An apple on a tree can be something you don't consider a gift at all. But in other circumstances it can be a very sweet thing or even a matter of life or death. When we can revel in the gifts we receive they become that much more. And we can receive more readily.

May I be more specific? A few weeks ago I was given a gift and said to myself "Wow, that's really nice. Too bad I wanted something else." I took the gift, put it down for awhile and proceeded to spend enormous amounts of energy trying to have something I thought was better. And I got very very sick in the process. That got my attention. :-( By the next morning I made a new decision: that original gift was looking pretty special to me now! How could I not have noticed?

The great prophet Mick Jagger has been known to say "You can't always get what you want. But you get what you need!" Thank God, thank Goddess for that!

And that's my "sermon" for today. Be thankful for all we receive. Be well, be happy. Use our help, as you feel the need, for that!
;-) Amen

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SPIRIT IN CONTEXT
by Paul Hood

The other day I discovered that there are a few biblical quotes all falling within the same passage which have had an influence on me. An old movie by Frank Capra called "You Can't Take it With You" contains the quote "Consider the Lillies of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin. . ." Later on, there's the well known "Oh ye of little faith." I use that one on Sheryl from time to time, usually when she's criticizing my driving, because if you drive with me, really, you better pray.

Eventually the passage comes around to "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." After college when I was looking for a place to land, I was decidedly pointed towards a tiny little canadian province, Newfoundland and Labrador: Quaerite primum regnum dei (Latin, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God"). I took note of the motto, and didn't head straight for Newfoundland, though I hear the seal flipper pie is to die for.

Context: what do all those tiny quotes mean out of context, and why would it come up lately? What it means for me is that, like it or not there is a further re-ordering of priorities going on. We've all got our material lives, but of course there is the transcendent as well; all those higher ideals which we cherish, which make us human, really. The kingdom is within. Take care of that, and the rest will work itself out. The passage seems to promise that your earthly needs will be taken care of if you just get right with God, but if you read it in context it goes much further than that, you might even say that it's self contradictory. You can't really expect any spiritual text to place the material above the spiritual-- ain't gonna happen. So you just have to deal-- but it won't ignore the material either. These are two aspects of God, the transcendent and the immanent. And when I say God, of course I mean you, me all of us, all the stars, the earth, the air--- as material and as divine stuff.

Who and what you are in the moment, matters. If you lose all your stuff, what still matters is who and what you are. It often takes hard times for people to get spiritual. Losing your stuff, or being disappointed, not getting what you want when you want it, it can get your attention and attention: our consciousness is the only thing we do own, unfolding moment by moment. Losing your stuff is also a great opportunity to appreciate other people; who they are and what they do, and to be grateful for that. Why ? Is that an order ? Do you have to be grateful ? No, it's just a suggestion because being ungrateful feels like crap. That's the thing, no matter how spiritual books may seem to emphasize the spiritual over the material, it's all very practical in the context of the human beings reading it all: we're made of spirit, and the material world obeys the edicts of the collective soul.

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INTERESTED IN A SESSION?

We do telephone sessions with people all over the world. Visit our "Make an Appointment" page to make your appointment now. Be sure to tell us what time zone you are in and a couple good times you might be available for an appointment. Thanks!

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MORE WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Paul's Blog
Sheryl's Blog

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THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REFERRALS!
Simplest way to tell people about us? Forward this email with a note saying you like us. It's easy!