Author: Sister Bridget Corfield

  • What Clutter Clearing Can Do For You

    OK, here is the second article about taking out the trash and why its so important! Please, you guys, leave me some comments about this stuff, let me know if its helpful , and what tips you have tried and found really useful.

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Trashkitty

    What Clutter Clearing Can Do For You
    by Stephanie Roberts

    You can get a pretty good idea of the benefits of clutter clearing simply by imagining your life free of all the negative effects of clutter: lack of focus and clarity; feelings of being professionally, creatively, spiritually, and/or romantically stuck; insufficient time and attention for self and family; increased stress, irritability and depression. Wouldn’t it be great to be free of all these?

    No matter what other factors may be dragging you down, I guarantee you that clearing your clutter will dramatically improve your mood and energy. And then any other problems you are confronting won’t seem quite so bad.

    When you first start clutter clearing you may be surprised at the emotions triggered by the simple act of dealing with your stuff. You think you’re just cleaning out your home, but what you’re really doing is rooting around in dusty corners of your psyche and coming eyeball-to-eyeball with unresolved business from the past. The personal relics that lurk within your clutter – college papers, family memorabilia, detritus from a long-dead marriage – can be easier to ignore than to carry to the dump, which is why they’ve been haunting the back of your closet for so many years.

    As you persevere with clutter clearing a moment will come when you realize how much lighter and happier you feel. In the process of coping with your clutter, you’ve reconnected with your inner self, with dreams and wishes long ignored. Those you’ve outgrown can be released with a fond smile. Those that make your heart leap with recognition and longing… well, now you have the space, time, and energy to pursue them.

    Clutter clearing gets you out of your rut. It shakes loose frozen aspects of your soul and allows them to journey into your heart where they belong and where you can listen to and act upon them.

    Eventually, you will find yourself turning to clutter clearing instead of aspirin or caffeine when you notice that you’re not as clear-headed, focused or insightful as you’d like to be. If you’re feeling lethargic and don’t want to exercise, you’ll know to examine whether you’ve allowed a zone of stagnation to creep in around the couch (where you are most likely to be having lazy thoughts in the first place). If you can’t seem to decide on priorities for your business, you’ll realize it’s time to clear off the desk and catch up on paperwork. And if you’re not eating as well as you should, you’ll remember that clearing off the kitchen counter and cleaning out the fridge will help get your eating habits back on track.

    What this all boils down to is that managing your clutter helps you feel like less of a victim and puts you back in control of your moods and your life. You have greater confidence in your abilities and decisions, so you feel more hopeful and optimistic about the future. You respect yourself more, and will probably find that other people treat you better as well. You feel less stressed, and have more courage to try and do new things. You stop turning to material objects to make you happy, because you are content with less.

    Clearing out your clutter creates space for possibility. You may find yourself deciding to go back to school, change your career, start your own business, go out on a date, take up painting or singing or ballroom dancing, try out for a part in a play, or… what’s your dream? (No wonder clutter clearing can be a little scary! Suddenly there are no more excuses for why you can’t pursue that dream.)

    Your friends will say you look terrific. They’ll wonder where that sparkle in your eye came from, and how you manage to look both energized and serene at the same time. It’s because you have released from your life everything that is no longer useful to you. You have let go of the past and are no longer hoarding for the future. You have made space for living freely in the present, where peace resides.

    © 2003 Stephanie Roberts

  • Journaling: A Tool For Your Spirit

    HI There!

    I hope 2008 is going really well for each and every one of you so far! So, the send process I mentioned earlier was Journaling. Journaling is simply writing but also so much more. What you journal about is up to you. There are as many different ways to keep a journal. Just a few examples are:

    Daily Diary – Writing a daily journal is one way to balance your emotional ups and downs. It is also an excellent way to communicate with your inner self.

    Gratitude Journal – Express your joy and happiness by keeping a gratitude journal. Make a note of everything, no matter how small or how big, that gives you joy or brings you happiness. It is always beneficial to focus on the positives, but it is especially healing during the bumpy times to be able to turn to a book filled with positivity and gratitude in your own handwriting.

    Dream Diary – Scenarios and symbology experienced during slumber have special meanings. Record your dreams first thing in the morning while they are still fresh in your mind. Self analysis will come later when you have the time to explore the scribblings in your dream diary.

    Travel Log – Jotting down your vacation highlights as you experience new places and different cultures will keep these special adventures alive forever.

    Memories Journal – Writing down stories about your childhood makes for a good keepsake to pass down to your children, grandchildren, and to be cherished by generations to come. While you’re at it, write down the stories told to you by your parents and grandparents. So many stories, so little time. Write them down before they are lost forever.

    Garden Journal – Keeping track of plants, weather, birds spotted, butterflies, new things spotted every day. This allows folks to compare the life of their garden from year to year.

    Scrapbooking – Yup, even this is considered a form of journaling!

    The journaling that I do is a combination of the first two mentioned above. I write daily, but I don’t really consider it a diary. I do have a section where each day I do write about what I am grateful for. Reflecting on gratitude really sets me in a great frame of mind before I do any casting or candle work. Journaling helps clear my head and organize my thoughts and feelings. As the weeks pass by, its become more and more part of my regular routine,  and easier , too!

    So, where can you find a journal that speaks to you? Gotta shop around! This is the fun part! You can go as simple as a spiral notebook if you like, but taking some time and picking out something that is special just to you, in color, texture, size, etc will really help you look forward to picking up your journal and putting pen to paper.

    Places I looked when I was starting was Ebay, Amazon.com, Levangers. Check out this site – Journals Unlimited. Lots of great selections there.

    So, below is a really good article about the basics of journaling for a spiritual purpose. Hope it helps some of you along this wonderful path.

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Journals_2 

    Journaling: A Tool For Your Spirit
    By Susie Michelle Cortright

    The fountain of personal wisdom may be as close as your nearest pen

    That’s because the single most essential instrument for nurturing your spirit is a personal journal.

    The word "journal" may mean 100 different things to 100 different people. For a psychologist, it denotes a tool for a patient’s self-analysis. For the writer, it may be a notebook of ideas and ramblings. For most of us, the word denotes a day-to-day diary, a log of action and reaction.

    For me, a journal is a notebook of ideas and solutions that I have discovered using my conscious and subconscious mind.

    Journaling is a remarkable device for easing worry and obsession, for identifying hopes and fears and for allowing your creative self to expand, increasing your level of energy and confidence. It harnesses the power to tap into successively deeper layers of your subconscious mind while it zaps the nervous, passive energy that ties your stomach in knots and leads to more guilt and worry.

    Journals are tools to help you discover the wisdom you already possess. Sometimes, this wisdom will surprise you. Other times, it will challenge you. Always, it will come directly from you, empowering you to trust yourself and to take action by giving you the deep-seated knowledge that you know more than you think you do.

    You will have found the answers within yourself, and you will return there for further instruction.

    In addition to revealing your personal insight and wisdom, the journaling process can help dispel feelings of loneliness and confusion by helping you discover a unity within yourself. As your conscious and subconscious mind work together to solve problems in black-and-white, the ideas are validated and more easily applied, even if you never share these ideas with a soul.

    THE ART OF JOURNALING
    The act of writing has tremendous potential to tap the subconscious and to arrange conscious thoughts in a clear pattern as words flow from your mind down your arm, into your hand and across the page.

    Banish your internal editor. This is that voice that booms from the darkest recesses of your brain: "You shouldn’t be writing that."

    Here are a few tricks to banish this voice.

    * Write quickly, allowing the words to freefall from your subconscious.

    * Keep writing. Don’t erase or cross-out any words. If you’re heading in a direction you would rather avoid, start a new paragraph. These accidental forays may be telltale signs for issues you need to address. And erasing just takes more time that you could be using to focus on you.

    * Date each entry in your journal. Note the time, place, and any details regarding your mood and emotions that will be necessary for context when you read back on your work.

    After you have finished a journal entry, take a walk or get up for a glass of water before you reread your entry, and remember to reread this entry with compassion. Then, write an Insight Line–a sentence or two about what you think the piece is trying to tell you.

    Sometimes this Insight is as plain as day. Other times, it will take a little reading between the lines. If the subject is a delicate one, there is nothing wrong with putting off re-reading it for a few hours, days, even weeks. Some entries you may not read again at all. The Insight comes from the act of writing itself, the Insight Line simply helps you discover it.

    KEEP THE WORDS FLOWING
    There are as many journaling techniques as there are people who practice the craft. The important thing is to explore the underlying layers of your mind–using whatever conduit works for you.

    Get creative with the techniques you use. We all have a subconscious mind that communicates to us in a different way. If you are stuck and have nothing to write, try recording snippets of conversations, facts, feelings, fantasies, descriptions, impressions, quotes, images, and ideas. Draw pictures. Make a collage from a magazine. Use the technique that best suits the way in which you express yourself. You know your own mind and how it best communicates with the world. I promise you’ll have an even better sense of the way in which your mind works after the completion of a few journal entries.

    Clustering is one method that works well when the ideas don’t flow on their own. Put the central idea in the center of the page and circle it. Then, without pause, make associations, placing them in new bubbles and tying them to the main idea. The result is a complex matrix of ideas, many of which you didn’t even know you had. If you wish, compose these thoughts later into a cohesive essay that says exactly what you want to say. Or simply move on.

    Whatever your technique, start mining your subconscious today.

    ——
    Susie Michelle Cortright is the founder and publisher of Momscape, an online magazine devoted to nurturing the nurturers. Read inspiring articles and essays, and register to win free pampering packages.     http://www.momscape.com

  • The Lover’s Path Reading

    Hey There –

    Just wanted to update you all and let you know that I have changed my basic relationship tarot reading to the Lover’s Path spread described below:

    The Lover’s Path Tarot reading is intended for times when a romantic
    relationship requires deep examination. This tarot spread offers
    romantic advice. It studies the relationship on four levels. The
    thirteen cards chosen offers a complex picture of the relationship as
    it is at that moment, providing food for thought.

    This spread has 4 more cards and is more indepth than the spread I was using before. I have been working with this spread for a little while now, and just started offering it to clients. So far, the feedback has been really wonderful!

    If you are interested in a reading, or have any questions, please feel free to email me at bridget@spellmaker.com

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Lovers

  • Clutter’s Side Effects: How the State of Your Home Affects Your Life

    OK, Gang, here we go with the first article about clutter and how it effects us. I know you are all thinking Im a Im a total slob that my house looks like something from Sanford and Sons  but neither is true. Im not going to be on the cover of BH&G anytime, but …..  I really do believe that our outer enviornment does reflect our inner enviornment. And, I also know that I feel much different when I come home on a Monday to a pretty clean place (after having time to catch up on my housework all weekend) then when I come home on a Friday 😉   I also know when we are feeling punky about our case not going as quick as we like, that the doldrums can sometimes stuff can pile up. Been there. But, what better way to feel better and make your house inviting to your HD than by cleaning up! So, I’ll be quiet now and let you read…..

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Trash

    Clutter’s Side Effects:
    How the State of Your Home Affects Your Life
    by Stephanie Roberts

    Each area of your home has a symbolic meaning with which you resonate on a subconscious level. Clutter and untidiness within each of these areas causes constriction and inertia in the corresponding aspects of your life.

    CLUTTER IN THE KITCHEN
    The kitchen has been called the "heart of the home," and with good reason. Here we are nourished and provided for, even if we are dining on a frozen entrée zapped in the microwave rather than a homemade meal lovingly presented by Mom. An untidy and disorganized kitchen makes it hard to nourish yourself and others, on both physical and metaphysical levels. How you care for your kitchen is a clue about whether you are giving proper attention to your own nourishment and sources of abundance. Cleaning up and de-cluttering your kitchen opens up space for you to receive the support and comfort that you need in life.

    LIVING AND DINING ROOM CLUTTER
    These are spaces where you mingle with and honor your relationships with family and friends. Here you engage with the world while being at home through watching television, reading the paper, or arguing politics with old friends over dinner. Clutter can turn these social spaces into dens of isolation, especially if the mess is so bad that it has been years since you’ve invited people over. Look around your living and dining rooms to see what they say about your relationship with the rest of the world. Are you hiding your true self from others, burying it in clutter, or putting it on display here?

    CLUTTERED HALLWAYS
    Hallways are the arteries and highways of your home. Think of clutter in your hallways as a traffic jam that prevents important connections between different areas of your home and your life. Look at your hallways to see how you feel about your life’s path: are they well lit and easily navigable, or do they trip you up? If you feel a disconnect between work and family, self and others, what you need and your obligations, it may be time to give your hallways a good clearing out.

    BATHROOM CLUTTER
    Bathing and anointing the body is a preparatory ritual for many religious rites both ancient and contemporary. On a daily basis we use this space to prepare ourselves to meet the world. Clutter in the bathroom can indicate a devaluation of self-worth, a lack of attention to self that goes beyond the physical. A clean, well-decorated bathroom can become a tranquil sanctuary for rejuvenation and self-care. Scented soaps, attractive accessories, and fragrant candles have a place here. Beautifying your bathroom by eliminating clutter and disorder and transforming it into a place of refuge will bring a sense of the sacred into your morning and evening personal-care rituals.

    CLUTTER IN THE BEDROOM
    Adults’ bedrooms are for sleeping and intimacy, and they should function as places of renewal for self and relationships. Clutter in the bedroom is enervating without being restful. If you feel "wired and tired," creating order out of chaos in this most personal space can help you relax and let go of the stress of the day. Then you can get a good night’s sleep or enjoy some special time with your partner.

    CLUTTERED CLOSETS
    Closets represent things that are hidden, unknown, or unrecognized. When we fill our closets with clutter, we stifle our ability to be intuitive and insightful. Cluttered closets can indicate problems that you may not be consciously aware of but which impede your progress through life, work, and relationships nonetheless. Keeping the closet door closed is not an effective solution.

    ATTIC AND BASEMENT CLUTTER
    A cluttered attic creates a feeling of being under pressure. It’s hard to feel optimistic about the future when there’s so much stuff "hanging over your head." Ancestor issues reside up there, along with all those boxes and chests holding the detritus of generations. And the basement and other below-ground storage areas are considered abodes of the subconscious, so watch your step and get that clutter cleaned up!

    CLUTTER IN YOUR GARAGE
    Think of your car as a symbol of your mobility, independence, and ability to be self-directed in life. If there’s so much stuff piled up in your garage that you can barely fit the car in there, you may be hampered or overly cautious moving forward in life as well.

    Stop thinking of clutter-clearing as a tremendous chore, and start thinking of it as one of the most effective self-improvement tactics available to you. Every magazine and piece of paper you recycle, every book you give to the library, every knick-knack and item of clothing you release to a new owner creates space in your life for new insight, energy, joy, and experiences to come in!

    © 2003 Stephanie Roberts

  • CELTIC BLESSING FOR YOU FOR THE NEW YEAR

    CELTIC BLESSING FOR YOU FOR THE NEW YEAR

    May you recognize in your life the presence, power and light of your soul.

    May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.

    May you have respect for your own individuality and difference.

    May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the façade of your life there is something beautiful, good and eternal happening.

    May you learn to see yourself in the same delight, pride and expectation with which God sees you in every moment.

    Celt

  • Happy New Year!

    Happy 2008 Everyone!

    I hope that 2008 brings each and every one of you your heart’s desire.

    I wanted to pick out a nice quote to start the year off with, but I ended up with three:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on

    them ourselves. The book is called "Opportunity" and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.

                ~~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

    Resolve to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years

    you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or

    brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general

    enjoyment.

                ~~~~ Sydney Smith

    Your Merry Christmas may depend on what others do for you. But your Happy

    New Year depends on what you do for others.

                ~~~ Anonymous

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Again, Happy New Year to you all. Don’t watch too much football 🙂

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Happynewyear

  • Buddhist Blessings

    How nice is this blessing to keep in mind for the coming year?

    Buddhist Blessing

    Just as the soft rains fill the streams,
    pour into the rivers and join together in the oceans,
    so may the power of every moment of your goodness
    flow forth to awaken and heal all beings,
    Those here now, those gone before, those yet to come.

    By the power of every moment of your goodness
    May your heart’s wishes be soon fulfilled
    as completely shining as the bright full moon,
    as magically as by a wish-fulfilling gem.

    By the power of every moment of your goodness
    May all dangers be averted and all disease be gone.
    May no obstacle come across your way.
    May you enjoy fulfillment and long life.

    For all in whose heart dwells respect,
    who follow the wisdom and compassion, of the Way,
    May your life prosper in the four blessings
    of old age, beauty, happiness and strength.

    Buddha

  • A New Approach to New Year’s Resolutions

    Happy New Year Everyone!

    I don’t know about you, but I really dislike making resolutions. Just the thought of them makes my stomach tighten. Why? Because in the past, I have been, let’s say, somewhat less than successful with them. Sigh. So, I was trying to think of some positive way to address making a resolution – one that wouldn’t make me cringe – and I came across this article. It makes good sense to me, so I am passing it along to you J

    So, I have come up with a couple of process oriented resolutions for myself. I will be blogging about them in the coming weeks, updating you with my progress (and setbacks as well) as they occur.

    The first process is managing my home better. Who wouldn’t want to make things just a little bit neater and a little bit tidier? I came across a great series of articles about clutter, how clutter effects us, and how clearing it away can change not only our homes but our lives as well. Also, some helpful tips on how to make cleaning up very manageable, not overwhelming. I looked a bit further and found some great beginner stuff on Feng Shui. Very interesting stuff! So, look for some interesting info about that energy practice as well.

    The second process I am adopting now is Journaling. I actually started journaling some a few weeks ago, but as of 1/1/08 I am making this a daily practice. It is truly amazing the realizations and insights that are revealed to me while I write in my journal. By getting your thoughts out of your head and putting them down in writing, you gain insights you’d otherwise never see. I have collected a few articles on journaling and getting started and some other neat stuff. Keep an eye out for that!

    I hope all of you have a great and safe New Years and here is to 2008 being the best year ever for all of us!

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    A New Approach to New Year’s Resolutions
    by Stephanie Roberts

    The New Year is traditionally a time to reflect on where we are in our lives and to think about improvements that we’d like to make. It seems obvious that the first step in choosing appropriate New Year’s Resolutions should be to define specific goals for what we want to achieve in the coming year. I’m a huge fan of goal setting, but I’m no longer convinced it’s the best way to approach this whole resolution thing.

    Focusing on specific goals leads to those oh-so-familiar resolutions such as "Lose 10 pounds by February 1st," "Go to the gym five times a week," "Stop arguing with my [mother/brother/in-laws/your personal nemesis here]," "Get out of debt," "Quit smoking," and so on. These are all admirable and worthy objectives — until we binge on that last box of holiday chocolates, start skipping workouts, let Mom get under our skin (again), succumb to a post-Christmas sale or give in to the craving for a cigarette, and the self-recrimination begins.s

    The purpose of New Year’s Resolutions is to help us focus on positive changes we want to make in our lives. Our intentions are good, but often all that we accomplish is to repeat past failures, undermine our self-worth, and add to our burden of guilt because once again we didn’t follow through on what we said we were going to do.

    A 1998 survey conducted by the University of Washington reported that 63% of the people questioned were still keeping their #1 resolution after two months. That sounds pretty good given how prone we humans are to temptation, but frankly I’m not all that impressed. Two months is a good start, but it’s not much time to make lasting changes and I can’t help but wonder what that study would have revealed three, or six, or twelve months down the road.

    If the prospect of making New Year’s Resolutions triggers feelings of guilt because you’ve been making the same ones year after year — without ever losing that 20 pounds, or exercising more, or quitting smoking, or getting out of debt, or really-truly-this-time-I-mean-it finally getting organized — perhaps it’s time for a new kind of resolution.

    I’ve come to the conclusion that the best resolutions are process-oriented, not goal-oriented. They focus not on achieving a specific goal by a specific date, but on making subtle and important shifts in how we are living in each moment. I’d like to see more of us make resolutions like "Treat everyone I meet with kindness," "Respond to anger with compassion," "Honor and respect my body," "Make better use of my talents and abilities," or "Be a mindful caretaker of my financial assets."

    These kinds of resolutions deliberately break the #1 goal-setting rule: "be specific." Their vagueness is their greatest asset, because instead of setting a concrete milestone (which we then beat ourselves up for not reaching), they provide a gentle guiding light that keeps us headed in the right direction as we make our cautious way forward to becoming better at being who we are.

    Process-oriented resolutions help us avoid the pitfalls of failure and guilt by making it easier to reinvent our lives moment by moment. If we slip up and eat that donut, lose our temper, pull out a credit card or light up and take a deep drag, our resolutions remind us that we can make a different choice next time.

    This does not mean you shouldn’t set goals this year! Goals are terrific, and important, and I definitely recommend creating a specific, written list of your desired achievements. I also, however, suggest separating goal-setting and resolution-making into two distinct tasks.

    This year, instead of defining your New Year’s Resolutions by what you want to achieve, use them to describe something about the type of person you want to be. Think about what you want to accomplish, then make resolutions that provide a foundation of attitudes and behaviors that will support you in achieving the specific goals you’ve added to your list.


    Copyright © 2002 by Stephanie Roberts

    Newyear

  • Marie Laveau House Blessing Kit

    With the New Year approaching, it’s time that many of us think about cleaning out our closets and taking out the trash both physically and spiritually.

    One great way to cleanse the actual space around you is the Marie Laveau House Blessing Kit. This is a one time use kit, which takes a couple of hours or so, depending on how large a space you are blessing.  While most frequently this kit is used on your actual living space, it can also be used on your workspace as well, or on your HD’s living space. If you are unable to do the entire house/office , then the kit can be used just in the room(s) where you spend the most time. This kit is great for areas/locations where much fighting (or crying) has occurred. It’s great to be done if you are moving — both on your old space to help facilitate the sale or renting of the space and it can also be done on the new place you will be living to get off on the right foot and with a clean slate. Its best to do this just before moving in, as you wont have all the furniture and boxes to have to move around (ask me how I figured that one out…. )

    Check out the kit at www.spellmaker.com/cleanseyou.htm ! I always have one on my shelf. I never know when I might get the urge to cleanse 🙂

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

    Marie1

  • ~~A Prayer for Forgiveness~~

    I came across this while looking for something else. It so moved me that I have printed it out and put it on my night stand so I can read it before sleep every night. I hope you find it as moving as I have….

    Sister Bridget

    A Prayer for Forgiveness

    Today, Creator, grant me the courage and the will to forgive the people I love the most. Help me to forgive every injustice I feel in my mind, and to love other people unconditionally. I know the only way to heal all the pain in my heart is through forgiveness.

    Today, Creator, strengthen my will to forgive anyone who has hurt me, even if I believe the offense is unforgivable. I know that forgiveness is an act of self-love. Help me to love myself so much that I forgive every offense. Let me choose forgiveness because I don’t want to suffer every time I remember the offense.

    Today, Creator, help me to heal all the guilt in my heart by accepting the forgiveness of everyone I have hurt in my life. Help me to sincerely recognize the mistakes I have made out of ignorance, and give me the wisdom and determination to refrain from making the same mistakes. I know that love and forgiveness will transform every relationship in the most positive way.

    Thank you, Creator, for giving me the capacity to love and forgive. Today I open my heart to love and forgiveness, so that I can share my love without fear. Today I will enjoy a reunion with the people I love most. Amen.

    ~~~don Miguel Ruiz 

    Angelpray