Author Archives: Erin Terese

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About Erin Terese

The views of others inspire me, intrigue me and propel me forward. Exploring this life, through words.

Learning to be Mindful

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This post was written for The Lotus Effect – a group created to aid in Spiritual Development.  Enjoy!

Today’s challenge is one I hope you all choose to partake in.  This challenge lasts for one full waking day.  From the time you wake until the time you drift into a peaceful sleep, I want you to be mindful of your thoughts, actions and the words you speak.

Mindful

Our Mind is an amazing tool.  We use it to assign words and values to people and things.  We remember past experiences and formulate wishes and hopes for our future.  It is an amazing and beautiful tool we use to help express our soul and emotions. But I want you to “keep in mind” that your mind is a tool – it is not you.  It is a tool to help you. And as we all know by now, your mind can also speak words of doubt, hurt, conspiracy and gossip.

I want you to be mindful of the words that are passing through your mind and across your lips.  Are they serving you?  Do the words in your mind express doubt and uncertainty?  Do the words you speak express love and acceptance?  Are the words you think and speak reflecting who you are?  Does it reflect your spirit?

All of us participating in The Lotus Effect are trying to open our mind and our heart to a more loving and peaceful existence here in our bodies.  We need to eliminate our self-doubt, negative thinking and judgment of others.  Our primary concern during this process is finding peace and love within, thereby allowing us to share this wonderful state of being with others.  We are looking inward.  As you catch yourself having negative thoughts and conversations throughout the day, I want you to stop and recognize them.  This is not to say you shouldn’t explore why you are having these negative thoughts and speaking in such a manner, but today I want you to realize how much of your energy is spent in this area.  Until we understand how our mind is perceiving our experience, how will we know where to start our healing and what issues need to be addressed.

Do not feel badly about your negative thoughts and words you speak, just recognize that they are there.  If you so choose, feel free to correct your thoughts with a positive affirmation or stop your gossip or conversation in its tracks by changing topics.  But for now, the most important thing is that you observe yourself.  I want you to experience your thoughts and interactions as if for the first time.  Let them resonate with you. What is your mind doing and is it serving you?  Your mind is a tool and is here to help you live the life your innermost self is meant to live.  Do not let your mind get in the way.  Your mind is not going to like this challenge, but your soul, spirit and inner light (whichever you choose to call it) will love this.

Ultimately, we want to trust our intuition and soul.  Part of this is learning the language we have taught our mind to use, and training it to work in a manner that serves us now.  Whether this means quieting your mind, calming negative thoughts or learning to be present rather than thinking about the past and future, we need to first see where our mind is going and what we are doing in there.

This exercise is to know your Self and better understand your inner workings.

It is more challenging than you think.  Please re-read this challenge, take it all in, turn on the Awareness Button and observe your thoughts and the words you speak all day.  Be Mindful of your Self. Once you are aware of how your Mind is serving you and how it is viewing the world around you, you can better assess what areas and issues are in most need of your loving attention.  We all have issues, triggers from our past and hidden things from our childhood that flow in the undercurrent of our emotions.  This exercise is to help you see what parts of you may need healing.  What issue is manifesting itself as impatient, judgmental, anxious, nervous, worried, lonely, overly busy, overly concerned?Be mindful of your thoughts.  Be mindful of your actions.  Be mindful of your words.  Be mindful of your inner voice that speaks through the knot in your throat, the pit in your stomach and the butterflies in your heart.  Be mindful – all – day – long!

Now, re-read, turn on the Awareness Button and observe.

Yours truly,

Erin Terese

2012 Blog Posts in review

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Yours truly,

Erin Terese

Farewell, Dear 2012.

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As I prepare for a night of music and dancing with some of my favorite people, I feel I must take pause for one final moment of self reflection this year.  There are only hours left in this year and it’s as if the past year is flashing before my eyes.

My heart swells at the amount of joy in my heart, laughter in my breath and gratitude in my soul.  Tears have been brimming in my eyes throughout the day, recalling all of the wonderful people and life lessons that have come and gone.  I have learned so very much this year, but one of the things that I am most grateful to have learned is to remove the idea of “bad” and “good” and simply take what happens as a lesson.  It makes letting go so much easier when you can take your lesson, say thank you, and move forward.  When you can remove ego and simply enjoy your moment rather than feel as if you won by your accomplishments.  Finding the space to live purely within the moment is the greatest gift. One that I will continue to work on moving in to 2013.

farewell 2012

This is going to be an amazing year.  I know this.  I feel this.  I trust this.  Awe and wonder, beautiful and bountiful change, lie around every corner this year.  Awaken the magic!

To you and yours: enjoy this moment and each-other.

Much love,

Erin Terese

Silent Night

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Silent Night has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs.  While there are many songs that are beautiful, fun or filled with holiday spirit, this song just seems so pure and filled with love.  Beauty hangs on the notes, dances with the words and warms all of the corners of my heart. Such pure joy is found in the birth of a child, in the twinkling of the cosmos and in “love’s pure light”.  This song is about the birth of Jesus, but in a way, it feels like a song meant for us all.  For we each are born with pure love and light.

Silent Night

This recording is for my mother.  She is a bright shining star of love and guidance in my life and my biggest supporter.  Since she wants so deeply for me to sing again, I recorded Silent Night on my iPhone for her this Christmas.

This is a rough recording, but may the feeling of love and light be with you today.

Merry Christmas!

Yours truly,

Erin Stafford

11:11

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I awoke this morning from a very heavy sleep, one in which dreaming was done and the kind you know was purposeful.  I did a quick scan to recall all my dreams, but none that came up seemed of dire importance.  I reached for my iPhone to check the time and it was 11:11 AM – this sat with me.  I had been sent a message and somehow it was tied to this 11:11 AM message.  This moment was intense and I really felt a sense of purpose and calling.  Then I lay may head back down and slept for another half hour, unable to recall my dreams upon waking (which is unusual for me).  I am the kind of person that remembers their dreams every day.  Not always in great detail, but every day I remember my dreams and have been able to recall as many as five per night.

11:11

Once fully awake for the day, I hopped on my iPhone, head on pillow, and began my search for the meaning of waking upon 11:11. I was slightly saddened that I was unable to naturally receive what this message was, so I thought “I’ll just use my typical internet tools and savvy to unlock this mystery”.  What happened next was nothing new – a series of articles and blog posts came to the forefront.  Many resonating.  Many not.  But I have found that each time I stop and listen to these small little ques, I do find something that awakens my memory and tugs at my heart strings.  Then I stumbled upon an article that felt as if it were written for me.  As if the author was part of me and writing specifically with the intent I should find it.  Tears began to stream from my eyes in a beautiful flow of recognition, forgiveness, understanding and release.  To further indulge the contents of the article is neither here nor there.  What is important is to listen to that calling.  To give in to the moment that causes you to pause.  To listen to what is being asked of you.  To heed the call.  To follow your light and passion and all that comes with it.  To embrace life in all its various forms, both know and unknown.

Upon reading the article and shedding some tears of release, it was as if a weight was lifted from my back that I never knew was there.  The past few days have been a roller coaster of emotions and I had needed that moment.  That message. That time to allow life to happen and to flow in the current with it.

My message is this:  Listen to the cues.  Heed the call.  Follow the signs. Be present.

The more I learn this, follow this, and believe this to be true, life happens to unfold in the most surprising and truly beautiful of ways.

Please, take a moment to listen today. What is the universe telling you?

Yours truly,

Erin Terese

The Awakening

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The nature of the awakening is that we are pulling each other, lifting each other, and helping one another.  We are inspiring and loving and giving each other the gift of remembering.  The ability that we have within us, to know and understand how to create the existence we perceive, is being remembered.  Awakened.  Rebirthed. Remembered. Renewed. Reimagined with the eyes of our former selves and current heart.  Our souls are being encouraged by like-minded souls.  Our hands are being held by those on similar paths.  We are moving together toward an existence that is far greater than our current minds can comprehend.  The beauty in this is that we are creating this together.  We are working together with varied skills and languages and visions, to build and manifest the world as we would like to see it.  There is great power behind our words, thoughts and speech.  Now is the time for us to quiet the mind, listen to the light and our inner rememberings and view the world with the eyes of a child: New. Possible. Loving. Limitless.

Awakening

Move forward with light, with love, and with incredible openness.

Yours truly,

Erin Stafford

Believe

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I believe that people are inherently good.  That darkness and cruelty comes from hurt within – from our heavy and unhealed emotional wounds.  I believe that if we heal ourselves, and release our buried wounds, we can heal the world.  That if we can get to a place where we see others with our heart, rather than through our lenses of pain and insecurity, we will see the beauty and light within all beings.  I believe that once we can see that light, we will share our love, forgive our neighbors and walk the earth with renewed purpose.

I believe we are far more wonderful than we realize.  That we posses an infinite amount of love and that we are hopeful beings.  I believe we can all access this hope, love and light by taking the time to care for ourselves and by following our intuition.  Once we have begun to heal ourselves, we will begin to see a world of hope, love and light.  From this place we can work together toward building a peaceful and harmonious existence.  One in which all are loved, cared for and at peace.  I believe this is possible.  I feel this through every fiber of my being; from the depths of my soul, through the corners of my heart and within the folds of my mind.

believe

I believe that within all of us lies the magnificence of the Universe and the ability to feel the joy of it all.

Yours truly,

Erin Terese

A Quieting

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After a lovely weekend of serendipity and destiny and truly present moments:

I am so very grateful for the people in my life and those that have crossed my path.  Words will never express the depth of my gratitude.

Thank you all for sharing your authentic selves.

Yours truly,

Erin Terese

Why am I thankful? Let me tell you.

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Last week I gathered with seven of my girlfriends for a lovely Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner.  We have been having meatless dinners every two weeks for the past five months and creating delicious meals that feed our bodies, nourish our souls, and we also happen to have fabulous conversation and wine to wash it all down.  When we first began to meet, we crafted our shared mission, laid out our guidelines and thus began our journey. The thing about journeys, as we have all learned, is that there is so much that is unplanned.  And there in the life and the ish and the serendipity lies the magic.

Thanksgiving is not a Holiday that I normally feel very strongly about.  By now we know that Christopher Columbus was not a very good man and that what was done to the Native Americans was cruel and wrong on so many levels. But we Americans continue to celebrate regardless.  Hopefully most people embrace this holiday as a chance to reflect on what they are thankful for, what makes them grateful and then share these feelings with close friends and family.  I’m not sure about most families, but mine doesn’t typically reflect aloud (although I don’t believe I have ever initiated or suggested that we do). I simply take a moment and say my thanks within my mind, and maybe send a few thankful texts and a Facebook shout out.

During our Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner, my amazing friend Kat mentioned that we forgot to say our thanks.  Wait, people actually do that?  The idea excited me, but I was immediately struck with the thought Oh, crap!  Now I need to think of something quick.  How do you say on the spot what you are thankful for?  Luckily I was second to last, so I had a little time to formulate my answer.  As my friends began to speak, I couldn’t help but to hang on their every word and was completely moved by their answers. Thanks was given for friendship while husbands were away on military leave.  For friendship during breakups and makeups and hard times. For nieces and nephews.  For making new friends, having a safe place to speak and empathetic ears to bend.  For new jobs and traveling adventures. For fertility treatment and twins on the way.  For health and success in business.

While my friends were speaking, I was hit with my answer: I am thankful to be living now, in this day and age.  As a 29 year old single female, I cannot tell you how glad I am to be living in this era.  As women in America, we have the freedom to live our lives as we choose.  Up until recently, women have had to abide by the the lifestyle laid out before them.  This usually consisted of marriage, a lot of babies and tending to the home.  In the last century, women in America have been making great strides.  We can be gay, straight, bisexual, single, married, divorced, educated, fit, overweight, employed, living on welfare, vote, travel, follow whichever religion we choose, pursue whatever career we like, have children, not have children, garden, have a personal chef.  We have the technology, the freedom and the education to play a hand in our fate. We are empowered.

I can choose the life I want and pursue it with little judgment.  Obviously there is judgment in the world, but there is more acceptance and tolerance than ever before.  There is someone in your corner now, cheering you on and propelling you forward.  A century ago, I would have been considered an old hag.  Too old to marry. An outcast.  Or most likely, I would have fallen in line with the steps of society: married, working in the home and having my fourth child. I am so grateful for the life I lead.  My friends and family accept me, I pursue every passion and idea that crosses my mind and strikes my fancy, and I express myself openly and share myself fully.  I know that for every person that judges me, there is someone else reaching out to give me a hug and thank me for being my authentic self.

I am thankful to be empowered.

I am thankful to be living now, in this day and age.

What are you thankful for?

 

Yours truly,

Erin Terese

There Where My Longing Lies

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It was there in the moonlight, gazing at the starry sky that I first felt it. Time stood still and the light shining in the distant galaxies was calling me home – pulling me higher.  My body was anchored to the boulder atop the mountain on which I sat, but my soul was soaring.  Voices and memories were pulsing through my veins as if they had been there from the beginning and reminding me with each breath and heart beat that we are as one.

Finally I was given a glimpse of what I had been seeking.  That longing that had been pulling on my heart strings, knotting in my throat and ringing in my ears had found its source. The sky.  The beyond.  Somewhere in the darkness and the twinkling of faraway stars and planets.  Past the black holes, comets and solar systems.  Farther still where sound and light and fantasy shift into a new language undecipherable to my mind.  Yes, it is there where my longing lies.  Somewhere my mind cannot explain, nor my memory attempt to fathom. There in that place lies a piece of me, every bit as connected as the brown in my eyes and the heat on my breath.  Part of me there is reaching out, longing to connect, wanting me to listen.

With open mind, heart and soul I listen.  Now, I listen.

Yours truly,

Erin Terese