Peace also Takes Courage

I was on my way to a retirement home (Horizon House) in Seattle recently, to present my new book, The Most Important Day of Your Life: Are You Ready? And behold, I saw the bumpersticker "Peace also takes courage." It jumped out at me, and I smiled deeply, partly because I didn't recall seeing this lovely bumpersticker before, but mostly because it spoke to me as it speaks to the heart of my work.

The work we do related to dying well and "letting go" is deeply related to peace work, I believe. The more we can unload ourselves of the past and live more fully in the Present Moment, the more we will be able to create harmony in our world. The more harmony we can create in our individual worlds, the more harmony we will have in our collective world, etc.

During my presentation at Horizon House, I learned about a beautiful poem written by a Quaker leader and mystic named Douglas Steere. It relates to my blog last week, on the connection between the world where we go when we sleep and when we die. Here's the poem, offered to me through Paul Neibanck (who remembers it from many years ago):

The place I go when I'm asleep
Is oceans wide and fathoms deep.
Entirely (God's) from whom I take
My separate self when I'm awake.

I've discovered two fascinating links tonight, one related to "transitions" and the other to "memorial stones." The first one is Denise Le Fay's blog on "Peeling Off More Layers" at Transitions; the second is Morgan's Memorial Stones Tattvasgardenart.com.

Here's to all our letting go's and creating a lighter path along the way... and to connecting deeper with the Great Mystery, including our sleep and dream time! Dancing heart~~~

p.s. If you're wondering whether or not to see Eat, Pray, Love, you might be interested in reading my most recent article at Examiner.com.

The Holiness of Sleep

I was speaking about death and related topics the other evening with a new friend Joseph. We came upon the topic of sleep and the similarities between death and sleep. "There's a sense in which we die every day, the way Paul writes in the Bible," Joseph commented. And this made me think about how I share with people sometimes that when we go to sleep and dream at night, we're probably going to a similar place as when we die. In fact, I've heard it said that our soul leaves our bodies at night to go to the same realm that we go to when we die. Perhaps the only difference is that when we make the final transition, the silver chord is cut so that we then are no longer able to return to our bodies.

At one point in our conversation Joseph burst out saying, "Therefore it's important how we prepare for the holiness of sleep!" The holiness of sleep -- what a divine concept. We do so appreciate that sweetness of sleep that is a mini-death and release at the end of each day. And sometimes those days are long and full, and leave their many and intense impressions on us.

Joseph's comment about the importance of preparing for a good sleep -- not unlike the need for us to prepare for a "good death" -- also reminded me of the bedtime ritual I had growing up as a child: Reading a bedtime story with one of my parents, singing our night-time prayer of protection, "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep..." This song seems like it is specifically meant to help children let go into sleep with a sense of security after making a connection with God and Spirit.

I invite you tonight, before you go to that sweet place of sleep (return to the realm of the Eternal Mystery), to take a few moments to prepare yourself for the Holiness of Sleep. As you let go into the Realm of Spirit where you will be rejuvenated and refreshed to continue this amazing adventure of life, honor and give thanks for the connection that you have to the mystery of life, death, and Life Eternal!

In God's Deep Grace and Loving Kindness, Dancing heart~~~

p.s. I also invite you to see my body-mind-spirit related articles at Examiner.com.

Wonderful Books to Gift (and Awaken) Your Children or Parents

My dear friend and supporter, Buryl the Awakening Heart, is now on hospice due to his heart condition and decision not to keep "reviving" his heart. Recently he asked that I send each one of his children and niece and nephew -- and their partners -- a set of my books with the beautiful letter below. I was deeply humbled and moved by gratitude for his foresight and generosity. (Often it's the adult children who are purchasing my books to help in their parents' final transitions.)

Dear Loved ones,

I have ordered two books sent direct to the six of you via media mail this week: The Last Adventure of Life and The Most Important Day of Your Life: Are You Ready?. These books have been very helpful to me as I experience the "process of dying". (Surprisingly, it has been enjoyable.) The books are written by Maria Dancing Heart Hoaglund, a Hospice Counselor. Her fervent desire is to help people release their fears and awkwardness around death. (In the USA we don't talk much about death so as if "then" it won't happen.)

There may be a note in the books. "Happy Death Day". Some day you and your loved ones might find these books as useful as I did. ( Anyone can send a "Happy Birth Day" gift per AT Hill.)

Thanks for your understanding and nice comments on my experience.

Love and hugs, Buryl Hill

Thank you, Buryl of the Awakening Heart, for your wisdom, courage, and adventuresome spirit. I love and appreciate you so much! May you have an amazing, glorious adventure when the time comes. As the prophet Isaiah says, "You shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace." (Isaiah 55:12)

Blessings of Deep and Abiding Hope, Dancing heart~~~

A Most En-couraging Day... Connects with the Unity Consciousness being Celebrated

Today was a particularly lovely day. Perhaps I was tapping into the powerful "unity consciousness" convergence that was going on?

One of the first things I encountered when checking my email in the morning was an order of six sets of my books! This was from a beloved friend and client of mine who's now on hospice. His name is Bus (or Buryl) the "Awakening Heart," and he had the bright idea that he wants to gift his children and niece and nephew with my books. What a lovely, pro-active idea. I was so tickled and encouraged by his foresight and generosity! (And I'd just been thinking during my morning meditation that I desired to see my book sales increase, too.)

Then, I met with a group of Amega Global distributors and we shared ideas on internet marketing and how best to get the word out about these wonderful self-care products into the world. Blogging was one of the ideas, by the way ;)

I want to briefly mention just one of the tools that Amega has to offer: The mighty little "Am-wand" or "magic wand." It's shaped like and looks like a pen -- see picture above -- and was developed by Japanese, German, and Russian scientists after 21 years of R. & D. It resonates at the Zero Point frequency that was discovered by Einstein in 1914. It's known to provide any living being it comes in touch with, the energy that allows it to come back into its Perfect Now imprint. [I think of a newborn baby as resonating to the Zero Point energy... Maybe that's why most people are so attracted to babies and newborns?!?]

If you're interested in learning more about this holistic company that has much to offer through their quantum physics products, please contact me. I will help you find a Wanding Party that you can attend. That way, you'll be able to experience the products for yourself; this is the best introduction to these products and Amega that's taking the world by storm as part of the Self-Care Revolution that's sweeping the world right now.

I trust that you are feeling the positive "shifts" that are taking place, too. Life will no doubt become easier to maneuver as we honor the Oneness that we are all a part of.

Keep the faith! And stay beautiful (keep shining ;), as my spiritual director used to say, Dancing heart~~~

Why Would Anyone Want to Read My New Book?

A new friend and net-worker I've met at the local Starbucks challenged me to come up with ten reasons a person would benefit from reading my book. I came up with twelve!

Reading The Most Important Day in Your Life: Are You Ready? is likely to benefit you by --

1. Bringing more joy into your life.
2. Allowing you to live more fully in the present, letting go of the past and future.
3. Assisting you to go deeper spiritually.
4. Helping you become a better partner and friend.
5. Inspiring you to delve into the mystery and magic of life.
6. Helping you to become a better caregiver.
7. Challenging you to know "who you really are!"
8. Allowing you to move through life transitions with more grace and ease.
9. Helping you to help your parents and elders face the aging process.
10. Showing you some of the best kept secret treasures of hospice.
11. Allowing you to discover what comes after life.
12. Showing you how to prepare to "start the conversation" with someone you love.

As you can see, anyone could benefit from reading my new book! It's affordable ($11.95) and an easy read -- only about 100 pages -- and no difficult words; I promise ;)

I invite you to go to my website now and pick up a couple copies of my book: One for yourself, and one for a parent, child, or a friend. It makes a wonderful gift for anyone facing change; and who isn't facing some kind of change in our shifting world right now?!?

Love and deLight to all of you, Dancing heart~~~

P.S. If you are in a position to support my work financially at this time, I would very much appreciate your help. You could purchase some of my books, some Soul Baskets/Bundles, request some of my services, or you could simply donate funds at my website.

The Importance of Nourishing/Loving YourSelf

From time to time in my life I seem to get powerful reminders to nourish and love myself. Recently I had such an experience when I visited a Polish healer. I was guided to visit him intuitively after meeting a charming Polish couple last week at one of the Amega wanding parties I've been attending.

After I received the energetic healing from this healer, he wanted to talk with me about self-love. He eventually sat me down and continued to expound on the need for me to love myself. He said that it was very important that I love myself deeply and that I love and forgive everyone in my past -- all the lifetimes, and especially all the men in my life. He suggested that I practice the exercise (that I actually learned awhile back, and have mentioned in my new book, The Most Important Day of Your Life) of looking into the mirror every morning and saying to myself again and again: "I love you, Maria Dancing heart."

Mark also shared with me that many women are coming to him at this time. The women are the ones ready to heal -- and change -- right now, he said. The men, not so much. And he added that all women need to heal by releasing and forgiving all of the past, especially the men in our lives. This was not new information to me, but it was interesting to hear an echo of what I've been hearing, and a powerful reminder to continue to work with my own healing, loving, self-care, etc.

This makes me think of a conversation I had last weekend with Mary Lane, author of Divine Nourishment: A Woman's Sacred Journey with Food. During our conversation she shared re the powerful connection between the divine feminine and death. It makes complete sense that as the divine feminine rises on the planet, we are gradually learning how to accept and befriend death, not to mention the "shadow-side" of life. The two go hand in hand. Then, just this morning I was communicating with Betty Kovacs, author of The Miracle of Death, in connection with my new book and its beautiful cover, she wrote about the need for beauty to be associated with death. Again, it seems totally fitting that as the feminine aspect of life comes alive and we re-integrate death into life, we also see it in its full beauty!

Blessings of Joy, Beauty, Hope, and Love to you all in these times of facing and "embracing" the shadow sides of life, too, Dancing heart~~~

Death Care Reform in America

I got inspired tonight to think about some ways that we might reform how we deal with death and grief in the United States. Here are some beginning thoughts that I had. I hope that after reading them, you'll respond and let me know additional ideas and suggestions you have.

1. Face our fears about death -- go deeper into our spiritual practice -- and find ways to overcome them.

2. Learn to embrace our experiences with grief. We can see them as opportunities to grow.

3. Develop more gentle acceptance and appreciation of the aging process in our own lives.

4. Start the conversation with our loved ones sooner rather than later, letting intuition and courage be our guide.

5. Find ways to be proactive about death and grief: Have the courage to speak and share emotions around these issues when they come up naturally -- openly, with love and gentleness.

6. Make end-of-life and funeral plans and share them with our loved ones. Visit sites like agingwithdignity.org and the Five Wishes Document, or my website. Explore aging, death, and the afterlife and ponder the unknown future and the mystery of it all. If your parents aren't planning for the inevitable, start planning yourself and share your plans with your parents. Then, they can be gently and naturally guided to explore something that's difficult for them to approach.

7. In whatever creative ways that we can, help hospitals to create a more gentle, loving space for death. This is beginning to happen, thanks to Palliative Care programs in numerous hospitals.

8. Get acquainted with local palliative care and hospice programs in your community; they are the way-showers for us in this area and can teach us a lot. Consider becoming a volunteer at a local hospice.

9. Become more knowledgeable about the death and grief rituals of our cultural and religious heritages. Then, broaden our horizons and become more knowledgeable about the same rituals of other cultures and religions that are different from our own. They may well have something to teach us.

May our creativity and imaginations guide our way! Blessings on our lives... and good deaths, Dancing heart~~~