How long has it been since you've looked up at the stars for more than a cursory glance?   How long has it been since you've really sat with the cosmos and with God, quieted your mind, and realized that much of the starlight that enters your eyeballs at night took a thousand year journey to greet you?    

To me, nothing is more humbling, and nothing offers such a feeling of total, pure, and utter Grace.  

I have a feeling we're very similar.  When I am outside under the stars, my mind cannot do anything other than ponder the incomprehensible Truth that we are all just specks of stardust hurtling through our galaxy at 500,000 miles per hour.   That sort of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

As I was sitting last night under the stars here in Woodacre, CA, surrounded by giant, beautiful redwood trees, it occurred to me how incredibly lucky I am.  

What a privilege and absolute gift to be able to sit in solitude on my deck at night and enjoy this beautiful feeling, in total silence.  With no light pollution or traffic noise anywhere.     An empath's dream.

It also occurred to me that the reason I have arrived at this moment, and the reason I am living this simple and rewarding life, has everything to do with how I intentionally have cultivated and nurtured the energy of my Soul and Higher Self.  

It has everything to do with the steps I have taken, and the amount of energy I put into, on a daily basis, toward CREATING this life, - a life where I increasingly experience my own Divine energy, rather than being at the mercy of the collective chaos.

I was reminded of an old saying the other day that you create your own Luck.  The deeper Truth of that quote, I believe, is that when we pledge allegiance to our soul, the abundance of gifts that come to us in return will make it impossible to experience anything other than Peace.

I didn't just get here by accident.  I have been gifted this energy and experience of freedom because I made a commitment to my Soul to express my own Divinity.  Unapologetically.  Without reserve.  To share, in a very public way, my Faith, my Commitment, and my Devotion to my Spiritual Calling in as many moments as possible.  No matter how much it might frighten my ego.

If I had stayed 'safe' and comfortable, I would still be languishing as a professor of counseling at the University of Wyoming.  In that parallel Universe, I would be silently suffering on a hamster wheel of churning out publications in sterile and forced language without a hint of Spirit around.   Like so many things in my life, my soul wouldn't allow it, so in 2003, I ditched the safety of the lucrative money/prestige and instead went and lived in a tent for half a year on the side of a mountain, not knowing how I was going to earn a living, but following the Inner Call nonetheless.

I've heard a lot of chatter lately among my community, and among my friends, about how the crazy world is affecting empaths.    It is true.  The world is going through a dark night of the soul, and we are experiencing 'crazy' everywhere as a result of the Light and Dark splitting timelines.   Recently, as I was standing in line at the grocery store, some person in line behind me was losing it and shouting loud obscenities just because the line was long.  

That's a fairly innocuous illustration of the rising polarity in our world.  And yet, experiencing that type of duality doesn't mean we cannot enjoy our own Peace and exist in our own sphere of energy in which the darkness cannot lay a finger on us.  

So.....here's how I do it.   I'd like to offer a glimpse into my daily routine of creation.

My life is a ceremony.  It is intentional.  

It consists of a series of never-ending beginnings, and never- ending endings.

Each morning when my feet hit the ground around 4:30 am, I raise my arms to the sky and proclaim my gratitude to God for having guided me through the dream state and allowed me to enjoy another day in a human body.   I plant my feet on the ground, exhale deeply, and say “May you Bless each person I see today.  May I bring joy to everyone I encounter.  And thank you for loving me.”

After peeing, I somewhat groggily haul myself to the kitchen, turn on the Lights, start the coffee, and then thank my house for protecting me and keeping me safe and warm.  I throw my hands in the air and greet the redwood forest, and the 4 directions, uttering the prayer that has become so familiar: 

“Spirit of the West, Ganesh, and Archangel Michael, please help us release anything that does not serve the Highest Good.  Spirit of the North, help us step into alignment with Source and express our Service as healers in the world.  Spirit of the East, help us bring new fresh energy of unconditional Love into our lives, and Spirit of the South, help us bring a little kookoo fun and silly into our day.”

I then sit in silence on my couch or outside on my deck, empty my mind, and ground myself into feeling the cup of coffee against my skin.  I look around and thoughtlessly observe shapes and forms.  Then I sense that I need to raise the energy, and so I crank up the dance music to thunderous levels.  And I dance my prayer of gratitude to the Universe, using this time to include personal prayers for all my past and present clients, students, loved ones, friends, relatives, and beloveds.  

My dance 'moves' consist of a large number of sun salutations as I raise my prayers up to the sky and bring Spiritual energy down to Earth, experiencing myself as a hollow Tree of Spirit energy.  It is during these times that I ask that my physical body and vessel be used to weave, spin, and send energy in such a manner that those I am praying for actually feel it.   I AM POSITIVE THAT I LOOK LIKE A MANIAC.   And therein lies the Joy.  :)

After 30 minutes of Dance, I go shower.  When I shower, I thank the water spirit for cleansing.  I ask it, and God, to release anything in my field, and in our fields, that no longer serves the Highest Good.

When I step out of the shower, I look at my body in the mirror.  I summon the Coyote spirit, smile into my own eyes, say “hey you sexy thing” and then wink at myself.    And then I usually burst into spontaneous laughter at the ridiculousness of that moment, knowing full well I am being Observed by God.   And sometimes, on special occasions, I can observe the voice of Spirit speaking back with the same level of humor.

After dressing, I enter my sanctuary (some might call this an office) - the sacred space where I engage with my sacred work, to sit down and begin the grounded portion of my day.   Setting pen to paper, I ask my Higher Self to guide me in setting intentions for the day.   On writing days, like today, I always ask for guidance as to what would resonate the most.  “What do the people need to hear?” I ask.  

And then I shut my mind off, enter the void, and listen for my soul's response.  It comes in vague feelings, sensations, sometimes imagery, and sometimes a 'keyword' or two.  “Show me more,” I ask.  I then scribble down what I am hearing and feeling in my hardbound journal, which I have kept relatively faithfully, on and off for varying degrees, since I was 12 years old.

When I sense that my daily work planning is finished, I ask myself “What play activities would bring Michael joy today?”   And I plan my daily fun as well, which I joyfully engage in usually early afternoon after my morning chores are complete.   It usually involves some form of interaction with Mother Nature and/or more ceremony in the form of hot yoga, where I bust additional dance moves, to the delight of my teacher, Susan, who can feel my intention to raise the energy of the room.

There are very few moments when I am not aware of the dialogue that I am engaging in with God. My preferred relationship is with Yeshua/Christ - but not the 'diety' who has been misinterpreted by religion.  I find that I prefer to dialogue with God/Spirit as a friend and Brother, not as some distant being who is judging me.   Thus, when I receive dialogue in return, I get called “brother” a lot.

The morning and afternoon, with the accompanying sunshine, are for active dialogue and communication on my part.   I often will hear The Divine's actual voice speaking to me in return.   They say “I love you” every single day, multiple times a day.   It sustains me, in every moment, especially moments where my Faith is wavering.  It makes me want to celebrate and express my Joy even more.  

To know that I am loved, held, cherished, and most importantly, DIRECTED by something higher than my own mind gives such comfort.  I recognize that I do not need to worry about much of anything.  Yeshua told me, “I've got you covered,” and that is really all I need to know to be able to let go of my ego's need for control.

Because of this constant communication and reciprocal relationship, my days usually fly by.  One might think that after spending an entire day in ceremony and prayer that I might get tired of that.  To the contrary.  When my day is winding down, I crave even more communication with God, however, in a different form.  

The nighttime is when the communication changes up.  I enter the sacred space of my outdoor sanctuary once again, surrender and enter the Silence with reverence, bowing to my Altar - my beloved Redwood trees.

And then I sit in the darkness, for 15-20 minutes, and I simply enter the Womb of God.  I savor every single moment of pure spaciousness – simply witnessing the tranquility, the calm, the Peace with which I am infused.  Occasionally I catch myself actively praying for someone or some thing, and when I do, I remember to dial that voice down.  Nighttime is for solitude - to receive the energy of Space and to prepare myself for the dreamtime.

After sitting with the stars and the bats flying by my head, I recognize the desire for sleep and return to bed.  Before I close my eyes and exhale with intention to fall asleep, I ask God to help me be of Service in the dreamtime, and to be given Service in return.   My intention with my dream life is exactly the same as my waking life.   As a result, my dreams are rarely crazy, nor do they scare me.  They are almost always a reflection of how I operate in the daily life, and I am usually teaching or leading ceremony in some way.  I am aware, in my dreams, that I am Serving the Divine.   The experiences in my dreams are usually always as meaningful as my daily life.  

THIS.  IS.  NOT.  AN.  ACCIDENT.

It is my intention to express the Will of my Soul.  In every moment of my consciousness.  

I love living my life in constant union and communion with my Soul, expressing non-stop gratitude for being in a physical body.  With a healthy dose of 'crazy' thrown in for good measure.  :)

Is the reason that my life is so rewarding borne of my devotion to continuing to grow, learn, expand, and constantly step outside of my ego's comfort zone?  

100 fucking percent.    

Is my life 'perfect'?   Of course not.  I wouldn't want it to be, for that's boring.  I incarnated in a body to temporarily leave 'perfection' in the first place.  I have always been very honest with you about my own messiness.  If I wasn't such a hot mess in certain areas of my life, I wouldn't be truthful, first of all, and more importantly, I wouldn't be ME.   Embracing the polarity of life is what I, and you, signed up for being here at the most transformational time in human history.  Will my life always be as easy as it is now?   Nope.   Will there continue to be moments, days, months, and years that test my soul?  You bet. (Yes, I'm a Minnesota native).

It is important to mention that I don't have children.  Nor do I have a partner.  I am not care-taking my parents.  And I am not working a 9-5 job or even 40 hours a week. And no matter how your life circumstances may differ from mine, you have just as many moments – 86,400 seconds each day – to intentionally connect with your Divine self.  That's 86,400 seconds of pure potential.  

If you want to know the secret to manifesting a meaningful life, it's this:  make sure you spend as much time, if not more, with the Divine, Spirit, and God as you do with Facebook or Netflix.

When you make it your intention to more deeply Serve God by expressing your Authentic Self (e.g. your Soul), no matter how scary that thought might be, the Universe will absolutely conspire in your favor.  If you've been feeling stagnant, it's time to listen to the inner soul call and stop ignoring it.

My dearest empath, a better Life is coming for you – and for us ALL.  

It will come on it's own timeline.  You have zero control over when it will arrive.  

And yet please know and embrace, once and for all, that you have ALL the creative control over how you express your soul call.  

Give yourself permission to get creative with your day.   Give yourself permission to deeply engage with the Ceremony of Life.  

It's time.  You're the creator.   You're God.

Wishing you a joyous day, filled with wonder, miracles, and more than anything else: may you know your own connection to your Divine Self.

And here's a little shortcut to help get you there:  take a look at the brightest star in the sky tonight.  

And when you do, don't you ever forget that that star you're looking at is YOU.

Love, Michael

P.S.  Ready to play in a vortex of community JOY Energy?   Come join us in the EMPATH SANCTUARY community before Nov 4th, 2024, when doors close.