Why Is God Laughing
The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism
by Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra's latest book is a quick-read narrative style, laced with empowering insights. The story of a comedian's journey to enlightenment is followed by a brilliantly written guide to spiritual optimism. Inspired writing meets an easy read.

I read the entire book, cover-to-cover, on a 5 hour flight to Newark!
Enjoy.


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Entering The Castle
by Caroline Myss

I am loving this book! It is a work that appeals to all who feel themselves to be "mystics without monastaries." Myss has written a soulful and engaging book that speaks to the deeper desires at the soul of who we are as humans. A great prescription to awaken from the distractions of the physical world.

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May 2008 - Book of The Month
Transforming Fate Into Destiny: A New Dialogue With Your Soul
by Robert Ohotto

It's been awhile since I picked up a book that so truly spoke my language. There are so many gifted teachers out there, sharing powerful work... I am often struck by the potency a teaching. However, in this month's featured book, my appreciation was taken to the next level. I feel as though much of the knowledge that I have intuited on my own path is expressed so clearly here.

Excerpt:

We must understand that the freedom we have in free will is to align with our inner design, but we don't have the liberty to be anything other than who we're meant to become. Said another way, each of us eventually awakens to the terrifying reality that there is precious little we can truly control in life - that is, our ego is the caboose on the train of our being, and the soul is the engine that's truly in charge of our lives. The ego must humbly learn that it can only control the quality of our journey, not the destination, which was planned before we came here...

We must always be mindful of when we're seeking and chasing outer approval for our value. For the degree to which we believe in our inherent worth determines how much we can change the world through our Destiny.

I just finished watching The Moses Code, a relatively new release by director James Twyman. Take the recent hit, The Secret, and add higher consciousness including a heavy emphasis on the role of service and interdependence in spirituality. Unlike the teachings of late that have paved the way, this film is not promoting a metaphysical message focused on empowering the self... instead it emphasizes a holy message intent upon empowering the soul. The movie centers around the words revealed to Moses at the burning bush... I Am That I Am... and offers a suggestion for an entirely new way of approaching this message. I will not go into the particulars... as the purpose of this posting is not to review the movie. There is much to be said about the film... yet, I am writing from a personal place tonight.

There is an undeniable truth that I have been overlooking in my life. It helped reveal itself to me tonight, and I have decoded a perception that is a recent source of great struggle.

Pictured above is me just a few months after I arrived in Portland, over four years ago. As you can see, I looked very different then. I had very short hair... and my body was tight and brimming with muscles from the diligence of daily pushing them to their edge. This was an important season in my life. Beginning in the year 2000, the body you see above carried me through many achievements and much growth. My streamlined physique above reflected my business ethic, my single-minded ambition, and my passion at the time.

This was the true beginning of a destiny that I felt called to embody. It stemmed from a reason for being that resonated within me for as long as I can remember. And in the years from the time of that photo to now, I have witnessed the miraculous. I have watched myself inch ever-more closely to my calling (and I know this, because the voice gets louder). And the primary way that I have done this to date has been to say "yes" to pathways that have enabled me to connect to the voice within. One choice at a time, I awakened to my soul's yearning... saying yes to heartbreak as a journey to self love.... yes to an insatiable spiritual inquiry... yes to the emergence of the leader within in job after job... yes to being unpopular to others in the pursuit of my truth... yes to movement as a vehicle for unleashing my brilliance... yes to hooping as a pathway to understand what enlivens me in the presence of others. Again and again, yes has been leading me home.

Now, I find myself standing at the doorway of my mission as a messenger in this time of great love embodiment. And, suddenly, "no" has stepped in.

I have been experiencing a great paralysis. I am no longer the same driven woman in that picture above... a young soul who manifested opportunity after opportunity... businesses, clients, and projects. The one who dared to dream of a life where she could work for herself. The one who worked endlessly, blasting through to-do lists and pushing through with a warrior mindset. I am the woman on the other side of the wall she busted through. I find myself standing at the point of entry, saying: "Ah yes, now... I know what I can and must do." And... I do nothing! Much unlike this decade of movement that propelled me into the now, anything other than stillness feels false to this new me.

And so, it was today that I wondered aloud to a dear friend, "What is it that stops me from the actions towards this next creation of my soul's deepest yearning?"

The pieces are coming together now. You see, I have felt conflicted in my heart. I have always been wired in such a way that I cannot step forth on a path where my heart does not fully align. I have experienced it admiration, resentment, and utter confusion from others for this inherent trait in me. Yet, I have come to accept it in myself.

The degree to which my heart has been halting the progression of my path as an aspiring author is becoming more clear. I now understand that an old paradigm has expired, and a new one has been forming. I am unwilling to take even a step forward with a worn-out energetic that feels out of integrity with who I am destined to become.

My Destiny in this life is Service.
And the gifts that I am blessed with are not commodity or product.
They are blessed pathways that require Grace and Humility.

The old paradigm is that of the Entrepreneur. Much of its energy hinges on the question of how to take skills and talents and make them a marketable and sustainable source of sustenance in my life. This mode of being is not good or bad, as it certainly served its time in my life. Nevertheless, it has been flipped on its head over the past few months, and I see it now clear as day. I don't know yet how this will change how and what I do... but I do know that a rapid and irreversible revolution is happening with me on a soulular level.

While I am not rejecting the ways of business development as we know them to operate, I am certain that my creative energies will continue to allude me if I continue to yoke them to dollars and cents. In this new world where I see us all benefiting organically from the way in which we are destined to serve this world, a financial plan for a path of transformation feels somehow forced. Certainly, I can set objectives! Yet, I know that what I must create I must create for the sake of serving a greater good.

I must serve because service is needed.
I must give of myself because giving is the only thing that matters.

Even to me it sounds a bit idealistic. How will I pay my bills if I take a month off to write a book? How can I energetically give away my time and energy to causes that need it without room in my budget? I will not go there. I leave such miracles to God. I only know that this is the simplification (however naive) that must take place as I move forward on my path. I opened myself to God through the path of the Entrepreneur... and now the Minister is stepping in to take her place.

It is not that I believe I have to live minimally (or go without the material pleasures in life) to be great in service.... yet I do know that, for me, service must start to proceed my monetary apprehensions and needs to feel secure. I fully appreciate and honor the ways in which the business-mind is shaping my reality and providing me with liberties to have choice over what I do with my time... yet, what AM I doing with my time? This may sound dramatic but everything aside from helping others to feel the light of their brilliance within feels like a slow death to me. Too much time is spent on complex business operations and not enough on the inspirations that pulse through me in the moment.

I am taking my life back now.
I pray for the divine guidance within me to show me the way.

April 2008 - Resource of the Month
Hay House Radio

I felt like I had stumbled upon a goldmine when a friend recently suggested I check out Hay House Radio online. So many of my favorite authors, coaches, and distant-mentors all featured in one place. Become a member and you can download amazing talks for FREE! Sign up (again, it's free) and then visit the "Archives" to add talks to your iPod.

Check it out!

March 2008 - Book of The Month
Happier Than God
by Neale Donald Walsh

I am so excited about this book for two reasons:
1) It is written by one of my favorite authors and teachers
2) It speaks directly to an issue near and dear to my heart... the misrepresentation of the Law of Attraction and how to take metaphysical teachings to a Higher Plane.

I myself have just started reading it, yet feel confident in the basic premise... one that echoes many of my earlier blog postings. It is time for us to mature in our approach to manifestation, metaphysics, and what it is to be a creative being. Reaching beyond the ego, into a Higher Realm of expressing our power in this world. I look forward to curling up in bed tonight with this book... and I hope you will check it out as well.

And by the way, I am quite certain it echoes with a similar resonance as that within my own heart. The opening page is a quote:

God says for me to tell you this:

Nothing needs fixing;
everything desires A Celebration.
You were made to bend
so that you could discover
all of the many Miracles
at your feet.
You were made to stretch
so that you could find
Your Own Beautiful Face of Heaven

just above

all that you think you must shoulder.

When I appeal to God
to speak to me,
I am feeling just as small
and alone
as you are.
But this is when
for no good reason at all,

I begin to Shine.

(Begin to Shine - 2007 m. Claire)

More Info on Happier With God

February 2008 - Book of The Month
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
by Eckhart Tolle

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. This is a book that I picked up nearly two years ago, when it was first released. The degree to which the pages are earmarked and inked is a testament to what a treasured resource it continues to be on my spiritual path. I was thrilled when I learned that Oprah Winfrey has joined forces with Eckhart Tolle. They will be sharing this extraordinary work worldwide through a 10-week interactive webinar. - Candice

Creating a New Earth is a Community Event. Join Us.
Our community has the opportunity to be an active participant in a global force, led by Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey. Join Life Coach and Joyful Visionary, Candice Schutter, as she opens her home studio to a gathering of those interested in experiencing the power of collective awakening. Candice will help facilitate exploration of the depths of this work in a weekly offering - equal parts coaching and community book discussion. We will gather as a group to attend the online class LIVE, and then stick around to discuss our experiences. This is a donation-only community event.

A New Earth  SHiNE Circle
Group Coaching & Discussion Group
the SHiNE Portal - NE Portland
Mondays, March 3 - May 5
6:00pm to 8:30pm
6:00pm Webinar (view together)
7:30pm Refreshments & Discussion

Just 3 Easy Steps:

1
SIGN UP ONLINE
at Oprah.com for the online webinar and access to workbook supplements.

2
RSVP to SHiNE
Email us to let use know you plan to attend. Space is limited, so act now.

3
AWAKEN in COMMUNITY
Read each week’s assigned chapters and join us on Monday nights to share in the experience.

Donation Only Event
Please RSVP prior to attending

December 2007 - Book of The Month
The Other 90 Percent:
How to Unlock Your Untapped Potential in Leadership and Life
by Robert K. Cooper

A colleague and friend recently recommended this book to me... I am just getting around to reading it. I am only a quarter of the way through it; yet, I am fully enjoying the energy with which it is written. You can read lengthy reviews (and excerpts) on Amazon - see link below. In short, I consider it upbeat and inspiring tool the path to unleashing our brilliance.

Click Here for More Info on The Other 90 Percent.

Do you have recommendations for other brilliant resources?
I want to know about them! Email SHiNE

October 2007 - Book of The Month
Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
by Thich Nhat Hanh

This month, I choose to share with you a pivotal book upon my journey of awakening. A simple book by a simple monk with a simple message... it changed everything for me a decade ago. Thich Nhat Hanh delivers his message of meditation, bringing it alive in ways that transcend a meditation cushion or temple floors. If you want to change the way you experience the mundane moments of life, you have to read this book. You will never do dishes (or look at a dandelion) the same again.


Excerpt:

The Dandelion Has My Smile

If a child smiles, if an adult smiles, that is very important. If in our daily lives we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.

How can you remember to smile when you wake up? You might hang a reminder--such as a branch, a leaf, a painting, or some inspiring words--in your window or from the ceiling above your bed, so that you notice it when you wake up. Once you develop the practice of smiling, you may not need a reminder. You will smile as soon as you hear a bird singing or see the sunlight streaming through the window. Smiling helps you approach the day with gentleness and understanding.

When I see someone smile, I know immediately that he or she is dwelling in awareness. This half-smile, how many artists have labored to bring it to the lips of countless statues and paintings? I am sure the same smile must have been on the faces of the sculptors and painters as they worked. Can you imagine an angry painter giving birth to such a smile? Mona Lisa's smile is light, just a hint of a smile. Yet even a smile like that is enough to relax all the muscles in our face, to banish all worries and fatigue. A tiny bud of a smile on our lips nourishes awareness and calms us miraculously. It returns to us the peace we thought we had lost.

Our smile will bring happiness to us and to those around us. Even if we spend a lot of money on gifts for everyone in our family, nothing we buy could give them as much happiness as the gift of our awareness, our smile. And this precious gift costs nothing. At the end of a retreat in California, a friend wrote this poem:

I have lost my smile,
but don't worry.
The dandelion has it.

If you have lost your smile and yet are still capable of seeing that a dandelion is keeping it for you, the situation is not too bad. You still have enough mindfulness to see that the smile is there.

You only need to breathe consciously one or two times and you will recover your smile. The dandelion is one member of your community of friends. It is there, quite faithful, keeping your smile for you.
In fact, everything around you is keeping your smile for you. You don't need to feel isolated. You only have to open yourself to the support that is all around you, and in you. Like the friend who saw that her smile was being kept by the dandelion, you can breathe in awareness, and your smile will return.

September 2007 - Book of The Month
The Mastery of Love, by Don Miguel Ruiz

This book is a recommendation truly as a follow-up to his earlier work, The Four Agreements. When the message this earlier book is received and embodied, it has the power to transform your life in the most empowering of ways. While I am not far into it, I sense a similar potency in The Mastery of Love. If you have ever wanted to understand love as an action and purposeful way of life, you'll gain insights from this book.

Excerpt:
I want you to imagine that you live on a planet where everyone has a skin disease. For two or three thousand years, the people on your planet have suffered the same disease: Their entire bodies are covered by wounds that are infected, and those wounds really hurt when you touch them. Of course, they believe this is a normal physiology of the skin. Even the medical books describe this disease as a normal condition. When the people are born, their skin is healthy, but around three or four years of age, the first wounds start to appear. By the time they are teenagers, there are wounds all over their bodies.

Can you imagine how these people are going to treat each other? In order to relate with one another, they have to protect their wounds. They hardly ever touch each other’s skin because it is too painful. If by accident you touch someone’s skin, it is so painful that right away she gets angry and touches your skin, just to get even. Still, the instinct to love is so strong that you pay a high price to have relationships with others.

Well, imagine that a miracle occurs one day. You awake and your skin is completely healed. There are no wounds anymore, and it doesn’t hurt to be touched. Healthy skin you can touch feels wonderful because the skin is made for perception. Can you imagine yourself with healthy skin in a world where everyone has a skin disease? You cannot touch others because it hurts them, and no one touches you because they make the assumption that it will hurt you.

If you can imagine this, perhaps you can understand that someone from another planet who came to visit us would have a similar experience with humans. But it isn’t our skin that is full of wounds. What thevisitor would discover is that the human mind issick with a disease called fear. Just like the description of the infected skin, the emotional body is full ofwounds, and these wounds are infected with emotional poison. The manifestation of the disease of fear is anger, hate, sadness, envy, and hypocrisy; the result of the disease is all the emotions that make humans suffer.

...

Imagine that you could visit a planet where everyone has a different kind of emotional mind. The way they relate to each other is always in happiness, always in love, always in peace. Now imagine that one day you awake on this planet, and you no longer have wounds in your emotional body. You are no longer afraid to be who you are. Whatever someone says about you, whatever they do, you don’t take it personally, and it doesn’t hurt anymore. You no longer need to protect yourself. You are not afraid to love, to share, to open your heart. But no one else is like you. How can you relate with people who are emotionally wounded and sick with fear?

More Info & Excerpts

August 2007 - Book of The Month
Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

This book is an extraordinary and fun read. I picked it up at the urging of a dear friend. And, as the kind woman at the bookstore pointed out, it is a must-read for any woman of in her 30's-40's. In fact, any woman who has made the journey through self-discovery is sure to resonate with this articulate, funny, and lovable woman's journey. Check it out...

From the book jacket:

By the time she turned thirty, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern, educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want— a husband, a house in the country, a successful career. But in-stead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love and the complete eradication of every-thing she ever thought she was supposed to be.

To recover from all of this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, left her loved ones behind and undertook a year-long journey around the world, all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Gilbert's aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature, set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Italy, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, where, with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise Texan, she embarked on four months of austere spiritual exploration. Finally, in Indonesia, she sought her ultimate goal: balance-namely, how to somehow build a life of equilibrium between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. Looking for these answers on the island of Bali, she became the pupil of an elderly, ninth-generation medicine man and also fell in love in the very best way—unexpectedly.

An intensely articulate, sensible, moving and funny memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment. It is also about the adventures that can transpire when a woman stops trying to live in imitation of society's ideals. This is a story certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

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July 2007 - Book of The Month
Radical Acceptance, by Tara Brach, Ph.D.

I am currently reading an insightful book written by Buddhist teacher and scholar, Tara Brach, PhD. It is an compassionate and insightful journey inside the wars we wage within. It is beautifully written, includes supplemental meditations, and is laced with tons of beautiful quotes from teachers of all paths. Tara shares her story as a peek into the discovery of self-acceptance.

Excerpt:

The renowned seventh-century Zen master Seng-tsan taught that true freedom is being "without anxiety about imperfections." This means accepting our human existence and all of life as it is. Imperfection i snot our personal problem - it is a natural part of existing. We all get caught in wants and fears, we all act unconsciously, we all get diseased and deteriorate. When we relax about imperfection, we no longer lose our life moments in the pursuit of being different and in the fear of what is wrong.

D.H. Lawrence described our Western culture as being like a great uprooted tree with its roots in the air. "We are perishing for lack of fulfillment of our greater needs," he wrote, "we are cut off from the great sources of our inward nourishment and renewal." We come alive as we rediscover the truth of our goodness and our natural connectedness to all of life. Our "greater needs" are met in relating lovingly with each other, relating with full presence to each moment, relating to the beauty and pain that is within and around us. As Lawrence said, "We must plant ourselves again in the universe."

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I am reading a remarkable book, by Daniel Gilbert, entitled: Stumbling On Happiness. It speaks to the Researcher archetype in me... the one who was enthralled as a psychology major with explanations of the curiosities of human behavior. Psychology is, at best, the synergy of a multitude of minor illuminations that have been woven together to reveal the universal pathologies of the human mind. I love the beauty of this paradoxical science - the attempts to measure the subjective experience that is beyond objective measurement - due to the fact that the absolute truth can never be known as long as human's are the one doing the measuring. It is a fascinating predicament, that I love getting tangled in from time to time.


The book is a masterful work of a Harvard psychology professor who has weaved together research on the inherent pitfalls of imagination, foresight, and expectations as they relate to happiness. I find pleasure in any work that challenges the most basic tools that I use in my personal and professional practice (namely: imagination and sensation)... asking me to question, refine, and evolve my perspectives, making them more sound and viable. I highly recommend it!

From the website:

Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had presumed. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward.

Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks, and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was.

Smart, witty, accessible, and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human endeavor to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there.

BTW, you may even enjoy this one even if you are one who is typically overwhelmed by fact and figures. Gilbert's writing style is funny, satirical, and sometimes even has me laughing out loud. Enjoy!

theMessenger April 2007 - Book of The Month
Dare To Be Yourself, by Alan Cohen

A fabulous and inspirational read, this book is a must have on your bedside table. A three-page journey will take you further than you might imagine, as Cohen offers you anecdotes from all walks of life to help bring out the SHiNE in you. I especially love the fusion of spiritual traditions that he offers.

From the back cover:
In this powerful map to self-discovery, Alan Cohen draws on sources from Buddhism to the Bible, from Gandhi and Einstein to A Course in Miracles, sharing many of his own radiant moments of revelation on the spiritual path. He shows how we can let go of the past, overcome fear, and discover the power of love in our lives... Dare to Be Yourself will dramatically enlighten, empower, and enliven you as you awaken to life and love and the unique gifts that are yours to give the world.

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theMessenger February 2007 - Book of The Month
Intimate Communion, by David Deida

Intimate Communion is on my list as one of the top ten most influential books in my life! If you would like to learn more about masculine and feminine essence, and how sexual polarity influences our most intimate relationships, this is a must read. Both informative and poetic, this is the perfect book for Valentine's Day!

Excerpt: 
As a woman you have become the all of his desire. As a man, you have become the spine of her surrender. Grateful for your demise in life, the Divine is alive in every lover's smile. This book is for men and women who are turned on by sex, love and true spiritual ecstacy. It is for people who enjoy tangled bodies, open hearts and enlightened minds. If you are not delighted by a style of intimacy involving deep passion, deep devotion and deep understanding - all three - then this book is not for you.

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theMessenger January 2007 - Book of The Month
Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting, by Lynn Grabhorn

Are you familiar with recent publications by Esther & Jerry Hicks? Were you inspired by The Secret? Are you curious about how to take metaphysical principles and bring them to life in your everyday? The book is a playful, easy- reading guide to just that. And true to its purpose - inspiring you to feel good - it will even leave you laughing out loud at times. Check it out!

Excerpt: 
We cannot hold ourselves above responsibility for what is happening around the world today, for the planet mirrors the predominant vibration in which it is emcompassed. We cannot say the awfulness is simply the result of others' evil, or wrong-doing, or even ignorance... So rather than the "ain't it awful's," when we finally starting saying to ourselves, "Nothing is more important than my feeling good," we can begin to break those destructive negative talk patterns. Then, by God, we truly start to make a difference with what is happening around the world.

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theMessenger December 2006 - Book of The Month
This Time I Dance, by Tama J Kieves

Looking for some inspiration into the new year? Tama J. Kieves has written a brilliant and insightful book on the journey to creating the work you love. I highly recommend this book for any of you who are committed to following your heart towards an abundant and fulfilling livelihood. Written to the everyday artist in each one of us, Tama's poetic language is both seductive and accessible. One of the RARE books that I have read more than once.

Excerpt: 
Now I've begun to think that it's not that the universe supports us, but that it supports itself. It provides conditions of growth and plenty when you step into the role it has in mind for you. Nature doesn't support the journey of a cactus in the rainforest. But things come easily to the palm.

Visit Tama online