Providing Value To The World

How are you providing value to the world?

Like many people, your initial answer to this question will probably revolve around what you’re doing to provide value and to contribute towards the upliftment of the world… I write articles on spiritual development, I teach young children, I make environmentally-friendly products, I do voluntary charity work….

As Lightworkers, when we consider providing value to the world, we usually think in terms of doing things like the examples above. They all seem very clearly geared towards assisting others and bettering the world. The value of such activities seems obvious and direct.

What if the answer to the question is something like I meditate every day or I work as an administrative assistant?

Meditating could be seen as a selfish activity – on the face of it, it is not other-oriented. Working as an admin assistant could be seen as a job far removed from traditional Lightworker roles.

However, an argument could be made that meditating calms you down, and that interacting with others later in the day is always much better when you’re in a calm state than when you’re rushed, anxious and worried. Similarly, an argument could be made that dedicated and competent administrative assistants provide value to the companies for which they work by keeping them organised, efficient and effective.

Both of these arguments are true. Yet they only hint at the full extent to which these two activities can be utilised to provide profound value to the world. The key to this lies in your state of being while doing these activities.

This is easy to see when we look at an activity like meditation. Entering into an alpha state and allowing Source energy to flow freely not only has positive benefits for ourselves, but also for the world – this energy ripples out and affects others, even those with whom we don’t come into direct contact during the day. We may not see the immediate impact of our meditative activities beyond our own well-being and positive changes in our relationships with family and friends, but it is there. Research has demonstrated that crime rates and accidents decrease when even a small percentage of the population of an area meditates (the Maharishi Effect).

Okay, so it is easy to add value to the world by meditating. But what if you don’t have time to meditate because you have to get to work as an admin assistant every day? The same principles apply. Even though you may not be sitting in the lotus position chanting Om, you can still bring a meditative state to your work by practising mindfulness and presence. When you are being peace regardless of what activity you are doing, you can bring peace to the world.

I think we can get very caught up in only considering value from a superficial point of view, in the sense that, on the face of it, someone working in an anti-crime charity seems to be adding more value to the world than someone working as an administrative assistant, for example. When we look at things from an energy level, however, the picture may be very different – it is possible that the charity worker is vibrating with anger and fear, whereas the admin assistant may be vibrating with love and peace. The former will ironically be contributing to increasing the very ills that she is trying to work towards decreasing, whereas the latter will be far more effective at decreasing crime and promoting peace, even though that isn’t her official job description.

So… let me ask you again. How are you proving value to the world?

World Gratitude Gathering

Kate Saltfleet’s latest post on her blog, Experiments In Living, is focused on the World Gratitude Gathering. Even though the gathering began on 1 October, it’s not too late to join. Thank you, Kate, for bringing this gathering to my attention!

The 9 Agreements for World Gratitude participants are:

1. I agree that a world of Love and Gratitude begins with me. I choose to be a conscious mirror and model of the change I wish to see in the world.

2. I agree to consciously set an intention for manifesting something miraculous in my life throughout this process.

3. I agree to tap into Gratitude on a daily basis and as much as possible in every waking moment. I know that the rewards of doing so flow through and extend beyond me, strengthening the collective field of Gratitude from which we may all derive benefit.

4. I agree to be a consistently uplifting inspiration in all my interactions in World Gratitude. I commit to see and mirror back the greatness of each soul who crosses my path. I choose to discover and nurture the light within so that it may shine forth to others and magnify their life.

5. I agree to honor each individual's right to choose their own belief system and life path.

6. I agree to be open to both give and receive within this community. In all my dealings, I seek win-win, mutually edifying interactions and transactions.

7. I agree to be my word in my exchanges with others. I realize that my personal influence is magnified to the degree I am able to keep my word with myself and others. If something comes up and I decide to change what I had agreed upon, then I agree to make that communication as soon as possible to the affected party.

8. I agree to love and enjoy my life as much as possible!

9. And, last but certainly not least, I agree to be Grateful for ME!

If these agreements resonate with you, click on the link below to join the gathering:

An Invitation To Connect With Me!

I love The Internet! It makes connecting with like-minded people so easy, and I’m very grateful for the many friends I’ve made so far via this blog. Some of us are already FaceBook friends, Twitter followers and followees, and fellow Stumblers, but I know that there are still many connections to be made.

If you’d like to connect with me and this blog, here are the different ways you can do so:

FaceBook
Woo-Woo Wisdom now has a blog network on FaceBook. If you have a FaceBook account and would like to join this blog’s FaceBook page, please click on the box in the right-hand column of this page or click here. Similarly, if you’d like to become a FaceBook friend, you can find me here.

Twitter
Follow me at twitter.com/magswallis

StumbleUpon
Join me in Stumbling around cyberspace at magswallis.stumbleupon.com

And lastly, remember that you can sign up to receive updates to this blog either via a reader (e.g. Google Reader) or by email. This is a secure (and free!) service provided by FeedBurner, in which the blog’s content will be delivered directly to your inbox or reader to ensure that you don’t miss out on any posts! To become a subscriber to Woo-Woo Wisdom, either enter your email address in the box at the top of the right-hand column of this page, or click on the orange icon below it to get updates via a reader.

Steve Pavlina: Personal Development For Smart People

Pavliniac (n): Person who is an avid reader of Steve Pavlina’s blog and participant in his forums.

Okay, I freely admit it… I’m a Pavliniac, and like many others, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the release of Steve’s book, Personal Development For Smart People, since he announced that he was writing one. Luckily for those of us who are impatient souls, a glitch somewhere along the line resulted in the book being released earlier than the intended date of 15 October. Dare I call this a collective manifestation caused by all Steve’s many fans?!

The reason why I’ve been a long-term reader of Steve’s blog is that I enjoy the blend of logic and intuition in his writing and thought processes. Often, personal development blogs sit at one of the extremes, and while I’m more than happy to read such blogs, I find that my blog reading list as a whole has to find a balance between the two. Steve’s blog, however, is one of the few that combine the best of both sides of the brain, and his newly released book follows suit.

This book presents the results of Steve’s search for the universal principles underlying personal development – Love, Truth and Power. These core principles are further expanded to Oneness (Truth + Love), Authority (Truth + Power), and Courage (Love + Power). Finally, Intelligence is defined as the combination of all three core principles.

This framework synthesises information in what is often a broad and fragmented field, and provides both philosophical and practical applications to a diverse range of life areas, such as career, relationships and health. Although Steve has given examples from his own life throughout the book as well as provided exercises through which readers can utilise the principles in their own development, this is not a prescriptive book. Rather, the book aims to increase readers’ awareness of the principles in their lives, so that where these are present they can be further developed, and where these appear to be absent they can be allowed to grow. It is, as the book’s tagline says, the conscious pursuit of personal growth.

In the introduction, Steve states that the principles should be simple and elegant. They are. In fact, at first glance, it may appear that some of the book’s content is in fact too simple. Yet, this is not a simplicity born of triteness and self-help cliché that is unfortunately all too common in the personal development arena. Instead, this is the kind of simplicity that emerges from dedicated and conscious exploration and experimentation in the area of personal growth. It is a simplicity that allows us to recognise the overarching structures of life that exist at a deeper level. It is what Oliver Wendell Holmes referred to as the simplicity on the other side of complexity.

Can things really be this simple? Yes. But, remember that simplicity doesn’t necessarily equal easy. As Steve points out, personal development can be very challenging at times. It is at such times that it helps to have a touchstone to return to and which can guide us through to the other side of the complexity. This book is that touchstone.

If you’d like to try before you buy, Steve has very kindly provided a sample chapter of his book for download. The formatting of this sample chapter is different to that in the book, but the content is the same.

The full book is available from Amazon:

Flow And Creativity

I write. A whole lot! From short stories when I was young to my diary full of pre-teen angst to non-fiction books and journal articles when I was a lecturer to blogging and novel writing now… it’s always been a large part of my life.

For many years, I thought that writing was how I got into a state of Flow. Whenever I managed to find time to write, the words would pour out of me, entire sentences and paragraphs already seemingly downloaded into my brain. My fingers would fly over the keyboard trying to keep up. And I had this lovely flowing sensation in my chest area, kind of a warm loving, joyous sensation.

Now, however, I understand that, for me, writing is less of a way to make Flow happen and more of an outcome of already being in a state of Flow.

When I am already experiencing Flow, then writing is effortless. In fact, it is so easy that my first draft is usually also my final draft (apart, sometimes, from a few minor tweaks). The entire structure of an article and the wording is already formed, and it seems that all I do is copy it down from the non-physical to the physical. When I’m not in a state of Flow, though, I may as well not even bother sitting down to write. Absolutely nothing happens – it’s writer’s block to the nth degree! Even if I do manage to squeeze a few words out, I always end up deleting them or drastically changing them in a complete rewrite when I am back in Flow.

To get back into a state of Flow, I focus on my breath. I’ve found that this is my personal access point to Flow. It doesn’t matter whether I’m focusing on breathing while doing a traditional sitting meditation, or a walking meditation, or even washing the dishes – all of these get me back to my breath and consequently help me to open up that inner space again, through which Source energy can flow. And, as Eckhart Tolle describes in A New Earth, “All creativity comes out of inner spaciousness.” It is a source of constant inspiration and guidance.

Many of you reading this blog are also writers… I’d love to hear about your creative process and how you get into a state of Flow. Do you write at set times each day or week, or do you write only when you feel inspired and in a state of Flow?

The Magnet Conundrum: Polarity And Flow

Have you ever tried to explain the Law Of Attraction to someone? The chances are that you’ve used the phrase like attracts like. In fact, the chances are that you’ve also used the idea of a magnet to explain that we attract things and experiences to us that are in alignment with our predominant energetic vibration.

If so, you’ve probably also encountered some questions in this regard. After all, on the face of it, when it comes to magnets, opposites attract – the north pole of one magnet is attracted to the south pole of another. I’ve often seen skeptics use this apparent contradiction to criticise the Law Of Attraction.

Yet, when we look more deeply into the concepts of polarity and flow, it is possible to reconcile these two conflicting ideas.

As you know, all physical matter is made of atoms, which consist of electrons orbiting around a nucleus. You may also remember from studying science at school that a moving electrical charge (or electric current) produces a magnetic field. Since an electron is a small moving electrical charge, it follows that each electron in an atom produces a small magnetic field.

Although each electron’s tiny magnetic field flows in a specific direction, these don’t all necessarily line up with each other. For most substances, the directions of these fields remain randomly oriented even when in the presence of a larger magnetic field, such as that produced by a permanent (bar) magnet. However, for some substances, such as iron, the presence of a larger magnetic field causes the substance’s electrons’ small magnetic fields to all line up in the same direction as that of the larger magnetic field.

The electrons in magnetic substances such as iron will retain their alignment temporarily after the permanent magnet is removed, until the usual movement of the atoms causes them to fall out of alignment again. Permanent magnets are made out of special iron alloys whose electrons retain their alignment for many years after initial exposure to a larger magnetic field.

When it comes to magnets and attraction therefore, it is not the two poles (north and south) that are important. Instead, it is the alignment of the electrons’ magnetic fields that is responsible for allowing a strong magnetic field to flow through the substance and which causes attraction between the substance and the magnet. The two poles of a magnet are essentially just handy naming conventions to describe the direction of flow of a magnetic field.

Ultimately, alignment equals flow equals attraction… sound familiar?!

Flow And Buying A House

In my last post on Flow And Intention-Manifestation, I mentioned that my husband and I had recently purchased a house. One of the commenters on that post, T Edwards, asked:

Congratulations on your new home. My question is: do you give credit for bringing it into your life to ‘The Law of Attraction’?

I gave a brief reply to the comment at the time, although I realised that there was much more that I could say on the subject, so much so that I thought I’d take this opportunity to devote a post to it!

I think I should start by saying that I use the term Law Of Attraction to describe principles of how the universe works on an energy level, mainly because it is a term that many people know these days and which can therefore be used as a reference point. For me, however, the principles behind what is popularly termed Law Of Attraction represent deep spiritual beliefs, many of which I was first introduced to as a young child and which I’ve come to understand more deeply over the years. I’m still learning! So, while my answer to T’s question in the comments is that I do give credit to the Law Of Attraction for bringing the house into my life, my use of these principles is a much more spiritual one than popular products like The Secret describe.

My husband and I started looking for a new house to buy in January this year. We had owned our own home in South Africa, but had decided to rent when we moved to Scotland until we had become more settled and familiar with the city of Edinburgh and its surrounding countryside, and had a good idea of which area we wanted to live in.

I had started thinking about our ideal house when we first made the decision to move to Scotland and I knew a house purchase would arise in the next year or so. I developed a picture in my head of what it would look like (based on both my and my husband’s intentions, which are thankfully exactly the same when it comes to houses and decoration thereof!), and even drew a floor plan and a 3D picture of what it looked like. This picture was continually refined, and by the time January came round, I could see our ideal house extremely clearly in my head. It had the same status in my mind as the house we owned in South Africa, in the sense that it was as real to me as a house that I had actually lived in. I knew our ideal house intimately!

When it came to the details of our ideal house, we had some non-negotiables as well as some nice-to-haves. We were also clear that the house had to reflect the Divine qualities of love, peace and joy. We were looking for a house that felt like home the second we stepped through the door. In terms of finances, we planned to use the money from the sale of our house in South Africa as a deposit towards buying a house in the UK. Houses in the UK are a tad more expensive than in South Africa – our many Rands gave us a great deposit amount to use here, but unfortunately not enough to purchase a house outright! Nevertheless, we were grateful that we had that money to contribute towards the process as it would keep our mortgage down and make us more attractive to lenders.

The first few months of the house-hunting process were frustrating. Each property we saw matched our requirements to a certain extent, but none included everything we wanted, even when we considered doing renovations. Those that were closer matches were outside our budget, but even those didn’t have the energetic qualities we were looking for.

About four months in, I became very despondent. I started to doubt that we would ever find our ideal house within our budget. I hated the idea that we would have to settle for something far less than we wanted. Even though this was a dark time for me, it was out of this period that I began to clarify my thinking around Flow. I spoke to my guides about it, and I started practicing it in all areas of my daily life. I changed my focus from details and specifics to making Flow my primary focus. I learned to trust that if Flow is present, all else falls into place.

At about this time, the UK started to experience a so-called “credit crisis”, and the news was full of doom and gloom – mortgages were difficult to obtain and house prices were falling. I took the latter quite positively, however – if house prices were falling, it meant we would be able to get more house for our budget! I also chose to ignore the news reports about mortgages, and instead maintain my focus on Flow.

Shortly after this, we walked into the house that we ultimately ended up buying. It felt like home. It matched our intentions perfectly on an energy level. At first glance, it only had some of the non-negotiables that we’d wanted, and none of the nice-to-haves. But, upon closer inspection, we realised that we could easily renovate the house to obtain all but one of the non-negotiables and all but one of the nice-to-haves! Honest reflection showed me that these two unobtainable characteristics were in fact ego-driven wants. I released these, and in the process I realised that these two things that I had thought so important actually weren’t so important after all!

Had there not been a credit crisis, this house would have been out of our budget range by at least £10 000. As it was, we were able to buy it for £30 000 under budget, leaving us with money to spare for all those renovations! Thanks also to some helpful family and friends who are involved in the building trade, we are likely to obtain some hefty discounts on things like kitchen units and bathroom suites.

The actual purchasing process was a beautiful example of Flow. Our dates for giving notice on our flat matched up perfectly with the sellers’ moving date. Through our solicitor, we were put in touch with a financial advisor who organised a mortgage for us at a very good rate. The mortgage application process itself was easy and hassle-free. Our solicitor was amazing – he was efficient and thorough and kept us updated at each step. We essentially sat back and watched the process unfold, doing our small bit (e.g. signing a form, making a telephone call, making a bank transfer – nothing too onerous!) as and when required. In a telephone conversation with the seller at one point, he mentioned to me that he was amazed at how smoothly and easily everything was progressing – I could only agree! With Source energy directing the process, how could it be any different?!

If you’d like to see some pictures of our new ‘hood, you’re welcome to browse through those on our other personal blog.