Every year, my funky island gets wild and crazy at high noon on January 1 and there are thousands of us that rush into the frigid ocean waters together screaming like happy banchees.People wear wild costumes and just cut loose. Every year gets a little wilder, a little more inventive and always, some new element is added. Last year, we won a Guinness Book record for 'the most people in the water with bathing caps on at the same time.'

In a scant 48 hours, we will do it all over again. I am shivering in anticipation of . . shivering.

Something very extraordinary happened last year that I will never forget. It was a true mystical event. Picture on left is me with my daughter-in-law Stephanie (also my website artist), the protagonists of this tale. Here is what happened.

 Stephanie and I had wormed our way to the front lines of the screaming masses at the moment of the stampede into the water  - the big polar plunge The water was cold, very cold, but something else was going on that had to do with the sun. Steph and I swam out away from the collective of people, going much further out than we originally intended. I felt this bombardment of what looked like gold particles from the sun, and I felt them go into me. I went into instant joy. The exact same thing happened to Stephanie. She felt the same energy.At this point, the water not only did not feel cold. It felt absolutely delicious. We were flipping and flopping in euphoria, like two dolphins. I remember feeling a strong need to dive under water and feel that sine wave undulation go through me that marks the movement of dolphins. Steph and I just kept looking at each other in a state of incontainable happiness.

 As we looked to shore, we could see all the people lining the edge. Then on the pier, which extends far out from a pavillion on the end, same thing, people end to end. I have never felt such an intense love for humanity as I did seeing the people all lined up and facing us. I was massively in love with all the bodies that made up this unit of our species capable of this much desire to have fun and play and be creative.

Steph and I did not want to go back in, neither one of us, but a man in a boat kind of shooed us back in the direction of shore. We must have been out there for about 20 minutes but the state we were in was timeless. Our hearts were blown wide open, and that is how 2012 began for our polar bear selves.

With that much joy, the cold had no impact, even after being in the deeper water over time. The whole thing was a gift and a foretelling of things to come in 2012. I am convinced those sun particles were responsible for our state of consciousness. I saw them but I think whether one sees them or not, they can be felt. They seem to be heading straight for our hearts, once the first little cracking open of the door of joy begins.
 
There is another piece to this story that I will share on another blog. In the meantime, I am going to stock up on some more sun particles, in case it is overcast on polar plunge day.

The world is getting smaller (and more connected), just as our abilities are expanding, and 5th dimensional Oneness is beginning its reign on this fine earth in earnest. Many things are now possible that were not before. The means to discern and accomplish, two things which are crucial to have during the tumult of great transformation, are showing up in so many different forms.

One form I wish to mention today, is the ability to look at a photograph and know what you need to know, to get information necessary to making a decision. A case in point is a choice I made five years ago. I decided I wanted to sponser a child in a village in need somewhere on the face of the earth, under the auspices of Plan USA. I went on their website and looked at pictures of children from around the world. The picture on the left is of Evans, a young man in a village in Kenya. This photograph spoke to me strongly so I ended up becoming his sponser, which I will do for my lifetime.

What I saw in Evans face spoke to me and told me so much. I was stunned to find out this is a picture of him at age seven. What he must know of hardship is written all over him, but also, I see his strength and his power. And all that, from a photo. I feel privileged to be able to be part of his life and I hope to meet him one day.

My point in sharing this is twofold. One is to make the point of how much we can tell when looking at a photograph. My last two dogs and my last cat were all rescues that I totally knew were to be with me by their photographs, and three finer animal beings, you could not wish for. In all three cases, the image of the animal stood out among the many as being the right one. How do we know these things? I'm not sure answering that question is as important as just knowing that it is an ability that we have, at least latently, and it can save a lot of wear and tear by trusting that inner knowing.

My second point in sharing Evans picture is that you may send him blessings via this photograph. The photograph is a two way conduit for energy sharing. Tribes that felt their soul was being stolen when their photograph is taken have been tuning into an awareness of how a photograph does indeed capture an essence, but not in a destructive way, though one supposes an image could be used negatively just like anything can. I paused before putting up Evans picture without his permission but I would not know how to get that, first off, and secondly, I feel convinced he stands to gain by being introduced to those who read this blog. I sense he is going to become someone in the future that is going to have a strong impact, and that the more love and appreciation he can get as he is developing, the better. So I share him with you. I am convinced, on some level, he will receive the good you send in his direction. That is one of the blessings of 5th dimensional living as One, this kind of opportunity.

What is life, if not one big path made up of many smaller paths. It is all about direction. Where are you going and why are you going there? Some paths are carefully chosen. Some are randomly selected. Some are thrown at us. But all give us the same thing - our life story.

Think of your life. Which paths are most well worn and the most loved. The picture you see on the left is a case in point. This is where I set out to sea to swim and kayak with my dolphin family. I pad bare footed towards the sea on the pavers and the planks with a heart full of expectation, each and every time. (Gives whole new meaning to 'walking the plank!') Since everything is vibration and everything is connected, I know my joy vibrations - anticipation when going in one direction, and fulfillment when coming home, must surely be absorbed where my feet land, such that when another treads the same path, they might feel "someone happy came through this place."

I am convinced we leave our emanations wherever we go, so when you strike out in a direction, perhaps taking a path no-one  else has, you are actually giving them the courage to go that same way if they are so inclined. They can feel a degree of safety and encouragement. By the same token, we can detect which paths we do not wish to take by the tales told by our absorbed auric field in the environment.

For each of us, a big road stretches out ahead made up of paths we have yet to choose. Do you want the comfort of the familiar? Or do you have a taste for the untried? Whatever, it is your life and your choosing. Just do me this favor. Choose at least one path you love with all your heart. I just showed you mine.

When the branches are bare, and the skies are overcast, and the air is frigid, the cardinals flit around as if it is Spring. Their eye popping color against all the neutral tones always makes me catch my breath. They may be my favorite bird.

They mate for life, it is reported. They constantly stay in contact as they go about their daily bird chores. You can easily hear the call and response. So touching, that devotion. I have seen the female at the feeder chowing down just fine but when the male comes to join her, she stops eating and he feeds her! Apparently, he loves to feel needed and she, being a wise woman bird knows to give him that. Truth is, she does need him, because (as I imagine it), she loves him. That is sufficient to qualify as 'need.'

So all this talk of birds, and yet, in the title, I say 'we are the color.' What I mean by that is that our ability to feel our heart's fire gives us a color I imagine to be similar to the vividness of the red of the cardinal. Our heart's fire is lit by so many different things, but always, it is about the passion we feel in response to Life Itself. Different seasons afford us different passions. It is now winter so, as we channel our inner cardinal, our color will flare up and create both warmth and radiance. You may not know this, but it is exactly the strength of what you are feeling in your inner heart that helps others to feel the color of life. Especially in the season of the sap having gone down into the roots of the trees. We underestimate our impact on each other. As I said in the title, we are the color.

If there is anything more peaceful than the silence and purity of fresh snow in crystalline cold and fresh air, I don't know what that might be.

On Christmas Day 2012, I hark back to what mushing dogs in those deep woods of the frozen North of Finland felt like. Yes, it was beyond cold, (minus 35 degrees F) but it was a dry cold. (That helped). And the privilege of experiencing such untrammelled pristineness, a place no man had laid his interfering hand on, more than made up for dealing with the cold. (At least 10 layers of clothing also helped). I felt swaddled laying in the soft snow (which I ended up doing a lot when my dogs would whiplash me off the sled going downhill at a gazillion MPH). I don't weigh a lot, so when I would stand on the brake to slow down, God would laugh. It had no impact. In truth, I loved falling in the soft snow. Getting the dogs back was another matter. But it was all in a day's work.

There is no snow here today but I feel the peace that snow gives. I am just here with my animals this morning and will do the warm friends and family part later in the day. For now, it is . . . great great peace. I know the more we can feel it, the more we can imbue our beautiful Gaia and all our relations, two and fourlegged, finned and winged with it. Everyone wins.

Happy Birthday to all Christed Hearts everywhere.

Can you stand it? Can you take it? Can you abide seeing your true beauty? Your true grace and love and power? Few people can.

"But I'm flawed", you say. Then you add, "severely flawed." I laugh and say "me too." But there is a difference. I KNOW the difference between a personality and a Soul.

How brave of us, to come into a state of forgetting who we really are and being willing to do the endless work of getting a personality to get into shape and do right. It is endless work, and, angels that we are, we never tire of trying to do better.

But I am here to tell you, if you could see your Soul, really see it, you would have so much forbearance for your so-called short-comings and how long it feels like it takes to shift and merge with your Divine Center. What's more, you would begin to lighten up and find your flaws such a minor note compared to the bigger truth of your TRUE identity, the you you were before you came into form.

How can you manage to see your Soul? That is the rub. I think the answer is, it happens by Grace, and when you are willing to have your whole world shift forever.

We are in this amazing energetic field of shifting, even as I write this on Dec. 23, 2012. For the first time in my whole life, in a meditation yesterday, I saw my Soul. I can tell you this. It will be a shock to your system. But it is time, and there is no going back, once it happens.

In the meantime, love your flaws. They make you interesting, and  . . .surprise surprise, frequently you are loved because of them, not in spite of them. That is one of life's great mysteries.

Well, we are here. The day after the pin point of the galactic alignment, for all points and purposes. So what is new and different? It is up to us. What do we wish to be new and different? Our call.

So I will get the ball rolling. Let's have a Peaceable Kingdom, where humans and creatures . . .make that ALL creatures get along, are curious, wish to interact, and delight each other. We have so much to learn from all of Nature's teachers, no matter what kingdom they are part of.

This picture is from a video of a tourist visiting in Africa where the mountain gorillas live. He was hopeful that he might get within feet of the gorillas but never in his wildest dreams did he believe that when he sat down, they would come up behind him, a mother and her children AND the big silverback who was the head of this particular band of gorillas.

The man's friend videotaped as the improbable happened. The mother gorilla and the babies came up and began touching the man on his head. The mother gorilla proceeded to give him a virtual head massage. The man could hardly fathom what was going on and was grinning ear to ear the whole time. The silverback (in the background of the picture) simply sat down and watched.

When I went to Galapagos Islands years ago, the animals were so tame you had to be careful where you put your feet because they had no fear AT ALL of humans and would not move as you approached them. Birds would light on your shoulder. We all became St. Francis of Assissi. Even as I swam there and saw two white tipped sharks next to me, I had no fear because they had no fear.

So this is what I would like to throw into the mix for the New Earth, that we trade out our fear for interest. That we uncover and explore our ability to get on any and all wavelengths, be it with other humans or with any aspect of Nature, so that we may find connection and exchange of the peaceful and curious kind to be the most natural thing in the world. We have started moving in this direction. All we need to do is, keep going. We are still in the alignment so, what a perfect time to dream the future. As I said earlier, it is our call.  

Whatever you believe or do not believe about Dec. 21, 2012, it strangely does not matter. The Mayan/ Toltec plumed serpernt god Quatzalcoatl was scheduled to return at this time. Christ has been scheduled to return at any point. New messiahs and world teachers are supposed to show up to help us find our way in vastly changing times. The particulars of what you believe are not anywhere nearly as significant as one might think. But one thing is exceedingly important, and that is that you use the energies of the gift of this three day period to best advantage. These days are a gift to you, and hold for you, a level of Grace that exceeds what you have known before. Your job is to receive the Grace. Your job also is to discover that YOU, your very own Self is the one whose return has been anticipated. It is not 'other' we have been awaiting. It is each of us or, more accurately, all of us, ( or, as has been called by book of the same name by Richard Moss "The I that is We").

Something very much is returning. It is our remembering who we are and why we are here. Whether you see Quatzalcoatl standing at the foot of your bed, or Jesus wakes you stroking the hair back from your forehead, as powerful as our otherworldly experiences may be right now, what is most important of all is that we remember how precious we are. That we FEEL it, and that we see the same is true of everyone we touch and meet and greet and draws breath on this planet. The playing field is not likely to be more leveled for years to come than it is right now. As we feel our preciousness and our equality, then we can anchor it, and when this wave of Grace subsides, which it will, we can DECIDE to never go back to sleep, and to dedicate our life to being a living demonstration of what our current experience is showing us.

Nothing is more powerful than first hand experience. And nothing is more glorious than to share a gift this large with millions of others simulatneously.

Last night, I had an experience of shaking hands with everyone in the world, one by one. Hard to explain, but it made me the happiest I am capable of being. As it turns out, you can go home again. I know, because we are all doing it.

All over the world, for the next period of days, hearts and minds will be joined in anticipation of what has become known as 'The Shift.' We have spent decades making ourselves ready, whether we knew it or not. The alignment of our heart with the core of earth,the core of the sun and the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, right at the Winter Solstice is a rare (26,000 year rare) event.
 
Whether you are a mystic, a scientist, a New Age student, an ancient sage  or a conservative of one stripe or another, all feel something is happening. The mind may not acknowledge this noticing, but the feelings are stirred. Fear of disaster is an interpretation that has been made, but for those who have discovered ' the safety zone' - the deep peace that lives in our center when we calm down, there is no fear. Rather there is the vulnerability of opening to the unknown and feeling such gratitude for the huge joining that is occurring on this planet over these days. The sense of Unity is unlike anything that has happened in such numbers before. To me, it feels like we are all returning to Innocence together. 

I have no idea what to expect but what the wind is telling me (and it is blowing hard right now) is that this is a time of immense significance for Gaia, and for us as her children. The UNITY that is happening is the point as we each surrender to shifting in whatever way serves the Whole. The imaginal cells are in charge. There really is nothing for us to do, other than station ourselves in the middle of the tiny blue flame that burns ongoingly in the temple of our heart. All else will be added.