Category: Freedom To Be

The Artist Within: Part II

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Sharing my remembrance of Jon with “The Artist Within” I want to add these thoughts,

I am so grateful to know so little and have it count so much.

Here are my keys to being the Artist I AM.

Remember: Love is my origin.

This I know: When I remain in my personal spiritual practice and what I have gained through the years –God/Spirit/Universal Energy is for me there is naught against me and there are 100,000 angels watching over me. Life is not an easy do – but it is a priceless gift of opportunity to live from the awareness – Love is my Source of well-being for myself and others.

Everything comes to pass … I can hold on to nothing.

This I know: Ongoing pain and struggle in life is not letting go and moving on. The streams and rivers only flow forward and let me honor where the currency is moving me and trust the Love in my midst to carry me on and sustain me.

There is no “there” to reach … only “here and NOW to be and the more I seek is ever present here and NOW.

This I know: Everything I need as I need it where I need it. I have it …. The more is here in this present moment … claim it, trust it, live it. I move on in Trust – and angels prepare the way before me.

No person, place, nor thing stands in the way of my personal Victory. I am the author of my life.

This I know:  As all of you, I have moved through immense changes in my life and had my losses, deep grief and at times felt betrayed and wounded. There is always a time to address our wounds, and it is vital to heal and bring new understanding to them. However, I am not the walking wounded … I am the walking Victor!

Forgiveness is essential to my body, mind, and spirit.

This I know: I cannot afford to hold animosity, judgments and unforgiveness against anyone. As with my wounds … I must feel what is the reality of the moment and work my way through to where I can let go and move on. Unforgiveness keeps me bound to the past and I give my power away to that person, event, or circumstance. It is not true that I cannot change the past … every time I see it from new light and understanding I change its impact upon myself, and I contribute not only to my own healing but enrich the world consciousness as well.

And finally …

Love carries me onward and home.

This I know:  From birth to birth (death is my birthing on another plane) … Love is my origin … love has carried me through, and love will carry me home. My life and artistry are shining through that Love. The impact I have upon others is solely through that Love.

My canvas is my faith, my courage, my trust to rise through the adversities and challenges I come upon. I am always at choice as to how I respond to what is before me.

Let’s all commit to open to the Artist Within.

Here is my prayer –

Let us express the artist within, free of judgment and imagined sin. Encourage the artist in one another, our gifts here to be seen, expressing heart and soul without judgment or blame, see the light we each bring through the soul’s eternal spring, where condemnation has never been, where it only gives life to the Artist Within.

Love, Charles

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

The Artist Within

Art Supplies: Photo by Pavel Danilyuk

This blog is to honor an eternal friend named Jon. We are witnessing a return to validating prejudice that denies the wonder of our diversity, which is a quest from birth that we are here to express our unique being. I offer this affirmation to celebrate your Being whatever age you are. Beloved, Jon, your heart-print is upon me.

“I celebrate the Artist within me that has created the beauty of my authenticity!”

Jon made his transition by suicide in April of 2009 after intense struggles, emotionally, physically, and coming to terms with his own identity and self-acceptance. I had the privilege of counseling him for a period and I honor the gift of his soul that he imprinted upon me. His health deteriorated, his addictions, and his despair overwhelmed him. He was a gifted artist, and I wrote this in his honor.

The Artist Within

There is an artist within each of us.
Through pain, love, joy, loss, and gain,
The artist emerges, the soul to express.
Yet the harshness of the world can so repress,
the sacred gifts we each possess.

Only when the false judgments we free
do we begin to realize and see,
The wonder that is you and me.
As in nature, there is a purpose for each to be,
a pure essence within, forever true,
an unconditioned love in which to view,
Everyone is here, as a vessel to share,
the artist within, with tender, loving care.

What beauty we shall reveal,
when the artist we no longer conceal.
when we see one another purely and real,
each with unique gifts, our passion to feel,
no longer fearing how others see our living,
but singularly defined by what is ours to be giving.
The artist … opening the soul for all to know,
We are here as a species to evolve and grow.

It is through the artist we find our humanity,
as each piece in a mosaic creates a work of beauty,
we each add onto the other … our artistry.
Let us express the artist within,
free of judgment and imagined sin.
Encourage the artist in one another, our gifts here to be seen,
expressing heart and soul without judgment or blame,
see the light we each bring through the soul’s eternal spring,
where condemnation has never been,
where it is only giving life to the artist within.

There is an artist within each of us, and I create the colors, the content, and the subject of my life canvas through my personal story and journey. We each bring to the canvas of humanity our personal struggles and triumphs and how we have dealt with them contributes to the world we all experience.

Each dawn I awaken to the opportunity to express my heart and soul, and the question: “What can I bring to this soul journey to add to the collective heart and consciousness of humankind?” I may not pose those questions daily; however, they are vital as to what I am creating in my life experience.

There is no magic pill for happiness. At the heart of what all the great Masters and Mystics have taught – that we are always living what we are believing about ourselves and others. May my journey contribute to the world the remembrance we all have value and make the heart-print upon others that Jon made upon me!

A note about artistry, not everyone is an artist in the usually defined sense. We are not all writers, nor do we create sculptures or art on canvas, write music or are on stage and film. The reality for all of us – our lives are a gift and we each have artistry to bring to what we do!

We live in a world that does not always encourage our authentic expression as a soul. We are told early on there are what the world wants us to be and the roles we are to play. Roles defining men/women, and religions that define who we “should be.” instead of celebrating the unique creativity within each of us and encouraging us to enjoy the adventure of self-discovery as to what is our song to sing.

Being the artist means that you have an intention to create your life in the most meaningful, expressive, and loving way you can. It’s not about great accomplishments. In fact, it may be the smallest of things. It’s all about our intention to bring purpose and meaning to our lives.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk.

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

Self Value

Self Value

I am reviewing writings from years ago and I am updating them with NEW awareness.

Take in this wonderful video from Maya Angelou, The Best Advice Dr. Maya Angelou Has Ever Given—and Received:

That inner space she speaks of is our sacred charge to remember our own value and to live it fully.

All that I have written reflects the ongoing work I was doing on myself and that continues to be.

The person I must hold in the highest regard is myself, not from my ego persona but on the deepest level of my soul! My ego is about presenting myself to others for validation and approval. My soul is seeking to express the origin of my being – and bring forth the uniqueness and authenticity of why I am here!

Writing 20 years ago the following statement: “I have sought validation, approval, acceptance, and love from others. This can be discouraging and exhausting, because everyone may have their view of what I should be living,” and that statement is particularly true of being a minister.

I continued to be on the treadmill of living to please others! The stark reality I know on deeper levels – If I measure my worth by the world and material standards, there is always rejection and disappointment.

I am always living what I am believing – about myself and others! I have written great statements of insight and awareness, and it takes full commitment to clear those patterns of condemnation, denial, and self-depreciation that continue.

I am in the hour living the words I have written with deeper regard for myself from the essence of my soul.

The seeds of genuine change occur when I realize that no person, place, or thing can make me whole. However, I have had individuals, and sacred moments in nature, and events that have reflected to me the remembrance of wholeness – which is my origin.

I do have purpose and accountability in my living, above all to make those heart-prints I have experienced that have stirred the memory wholeness, and the unconditionally loving soul that I am here to be and express.

My best friend is myself, and when I look in the mirror and say, “You have made significant progress – well done,” it indicates genuine self-worth.

Isn’t it wonderful life is not about a destination – but a realization my journey is ever deepening and expanding?

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

Inquiries Re: “Our Freedom to Be”

Brainy Quote

This Blog is offering questions we all face – and inspired quotes to those questions have encouraged me to rise to a higher view of myself.

Q: Are there limitations or limited beliefs?

 “Once I knew only darkness and stillness … my life was without past or future, but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the nature of living.”  – Helen Keller

Her first word – water! 

Q: Can respecting limits expand boundaries?

 “Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” – Albert Einstein

“In the law of God there is no statute of limitations.”  – Robert Louis Stevenson

Q: What is yours to do and what is yours to free?   2nd Principle of MYOB

“Does anybody really think that they didn’t get what they had because they didn’t have the talent, the strength, the endurance, or the commitment?” – Nelson Mandala

“You cannot let go of anything if you cannot notice that you are holding it.  Admit your weaknesses and watch them morph into your greatest strengths.” – Neale Donald Walsch

Q: Are you truly willing to “begin anew?”

“What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.”  – Lao Tzu

Q: What do you see as your soul gifts?

“I say follow your bliss and don’t be afraid and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, door will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”  – Joseph Campbell

Q: Are you utilizing them – your gifts?

“We should never lose sight of the fact that the soul is on the pathway of an endless and ever-expanding experience and that only by expansion can it evolve.” – Ernest Holmes

May these questions stir you to explore your present NOW and claim an ever-richer view of yourself and purpose!

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

A Soulful Reflection for the New Year

Tropical Sunset

I am posting this under “Freedom to Be” as living from this reminder empowers you to BE!

A Soulful Reflection for the New Year

Remember … live one day at a time.
and sometimes it’s about just breathing in
the present moment a little more deeply and
being conscious of the need to “chill.”

A reminder:

When we become caught up in “urgencies”
remind yourself there is no urgency in creation …
It’s ongoing and there is a perfect sequential process to its unfolding.

Imagine if the flowers, trees, and all we beheld
in nature were in a hurry to grow. Mother Nature doesn’t rush or push.
She just nurtures the process of that growth through the seasons,
with the rising and setting sun. Take time to breathe.

The Divine Creative Process is always at work.

I am realizing in all I have experienced –
In new creations and letting go of the past,
that my strength has come from
my trust and faith to move on.
My empowerment is when I take a deep breath,
place my hand on my heart and open to
new clarity, where calm and order can take place.
No matter how cloudy or challenging the day,
I envision the sun behind the clouds. I can always access that inner strength.
and renewal that awaits my recognition.

My well-being is an inside job … and it begins with
tender, loving, care of myself … one day at a time.

I enter this New Year – committed to that TLC and passing it on with love and regard for all I come upon.

Here is a brief video with 7 Beautiful New Year Quotes:

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

Better or Bitter?

I Rise - Charles Geddes

Be aware of your 2 choices in life – better with gratitude or bitter with complaints.

This Principle is the ultimate key to all the others. Better shines through Gratitude and bitter shows through resentments and unforgiveness. Bitter is a poison to my body. Key remembrance – Be in Gratitude – Pre-Pray your way every day. My ancestors are in Truth heralding me on for my soul evolution. The inquiry: What stories am I carrying forward for world healing?

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
– Nelson Mandela

I have changed the word “bitter shows through “complaints” as the principle originally stated, to resentments and unforgiveness. Those two factors do keep us bound to past pain that blocks our personal freedom and well-being.

No matter what we face at any age – it’s how we choose to rise from our experiences that define our character and what we carry forward!

I believe with every decade of our lives – we live lifetimes. When I view my life from decades – from birth to 10 – 10 to 20 – 20 to 30, and ongoing, my life had quantum changes – dark nights and extraordinary joy, grief and profound love, disappointments and loss and coming to value my growth as the observer and not the judge!

I have done deep work through my years of study and ministry. I honor that have touched lives. I have also carried deep grief, anger and pain that remained in my tissues – literally! (See Angel Howard’s book – Issues in the Tissues – available now.)

The decision to do deeper personal therapy in my 80’s has brought that to the forefront of my awareness.

Though every session of my current therapy is not an intense one, I have experienced profound breakthroughs in releasing resentments, judgments and unforgiveness within myself that I did not know were as deep as they were.

I see Charles in his 80’s more compassionately and I am observing the judgments I made that I see with new clarity and healing insight – about myself and others.

I send forth my prayers for forgiveness to all that I have hurt or injured not only in this lifetime, but through all my soul’s journey. Where I can make amends in this lifetime, I do. Most importantly of all I can genuinely see I made decisions based on what I believed at the time. My beliefs have evolved and changed! Love and forgiveness of myself has been the liberating factor,

I do know depression and a sense of hopelessness – (my suicide attempt in my 20’s) and being in a psyche ward. I do know grief and sadness and an overwhelming sense of loss. (My AIDS support work with the group Together to Grow in the late 80’s – mid 90’s). I do know great disappointments throughout my life, and I also honor how I have risen – no matter what it may have required. My angel guides conveying to me – “Charles, breathe through this time, we have your back and are preparing the way forward for you – we are always with you!”

My capacity to love Charles now is authentic, for I no longer have the need to prove myself. I simply want to share what is in my heart to be and give. My capacity of forgiveness – deeper than ever because I want to cross over into my eternity with a sense of no judgment against anyone or anything in my past.

Two choices – yes, it’s that simple – better or bitter. I choose to look in the mirror and be able to exclaim – Charles, you are getting better!

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

Non-Attachment with Passionate Pursuit!

Silhouette of man on mountaintop

Principle 4. Never give up – but be willing to step back and align to your true passion.

Life is about the willingness to step back – let go – reassess and realign to what is yours to “Be.” It is riding the waves of grief and loss as well as joy. They are all my teachers. My passion is derived from joy and sorrow and being the Victor of this adventure of life.

Essential to this Principle: I must practice non-attachment to outcomes and remain in passionate pursuit of what is in my heart to give and be!

That Principle can be a great challenge – and I am adding that additional sentence on the website!

I am not aware of what tomorrow may bring; however, I can be conscious of what I choose to bring to it.

A quote from Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning.

The last of one’s freedoms.

“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”

Out of the horrors of his time in the German concentration camps, he created a therapy called: Logotherapy – the heart of which was about:

“His most famous memoir begins by outlining a personal experience through the gruesome Auschwitz concentration camps. The three years he spent in concentration camps became more than a story of survival. Frankl embodies the modern-day definition of resilience.

He muses about the quest for meaning, the transcendental power of love, finding humor, and discovering courage in the face of difficulty. In the worst circumstances imaginable, Frankl held to the belief that the most critical freedom is an individual’s ability to choose one’s attitude.”

My stepping back at times has been crucial to draw forth the innate strength within me, a day at a time. In that quest, I do find new passion and purpose and I can choose the attitude that lifts me up and through to ever higher ground.

In 80+ years there is a profound gift of honoring and celebrating the distance travelled. Like all, I have faced dark nights, pain on all levels, grief that still comes in waves, and rising through this world with the beliefs in duality and others that have been crippling at times to my well-being.

In letting go of controlling outcomes – let me be in passionate regard for what I am being in the moment and let that move me on to all that is before me.

I cherish what my years and friendships have given to me. My passionate pursuit – the authenticity of Charles – rising to ever deeper purpose and value of self and others, never giving up and always willing to step back!

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

Self-Forgiveness – FIRST!

Forgive Yourself Image

Week three of continuing to revisit the 5 Key Principles.

Two key factors regarding forgiveness – the forgiveness of ourselves and of others.

My freedom is remembering that no person, no event, no place, or thing can block the light that I am. My healing is to live from that premise.

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”  – Mark Twain

Please Note:  I am changing the above on our website to reflect the first and most important reality of forgiveness – the forgiveness of self!

Four years ago, those Principles were out of an inquiry within my soul – What were the most important practices I have learned for my own healing and well-being? They are not new – but Universal – and are a way of life for me.

In these most recent years, I have realized the deep unforgiveness I carried within myself and created judgments that I unconsciously placed upon others. Through my recent personal therapy, I have been able to see the pain I carried within my body issues. See the website and book by Angel Howard – who was a keynote at our closing Big Sky Retreat this year.  She is amazing, and I look forward to having her on Mind Your Own Becoming Zoom Programming.

I want to be the observer of this life journey – not the judge and executioner of myself or others. I want to honor the distance I have travelled and see my life in new light, care, and regard. I choose to observe and be accountable for areas I need to own regarding my past and others.

I will add to that, I have taken account of the cruel and self-condemning thoughts I have held against myself through the years that created dark nights and harmful and addictive behavior!

I believe in my 80’s I gained more insight than all my 55 years of ministry combined.

Forgiving is not condoning a generational history of abuse, and the ongoing violence within humanity we see, however, I know the self-condemning  within me and the unforgiveness within my own soul contributes to the world consciousness daily. I choose to love this man Charles as profoundly as I have sought to convey love to others. I choose to convey personal amends wherever I can where hurt has been from my false judgments or behavior.

I want to stand on the Healing Bridge – for myself and all – and live from an inner Peace within my soul that I carry forward daily, without exception for all.

If I am still breathing in this realm my forgiveness is ongoing, I am grateful that I have come to realize doing the healing and forgiving within myself is the most vital of all.

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

Lighten Up!

meditation

Week two of continuing to revisit the 5 Key Principles. Look back on week 1, entitled Practice, Practice, Practice.

2 – Be Aware of What Is Yours to Carry and What Is Yours to Set Free.

What baggage we carry that has never belonged to us, and we keep adding to it with more stories that keep us entrapped in emotional quicksand of lies and untruths about ourselves and others.

I honor that I took on great responsibilities in my youth and felt it was absolutely mine to do. There is no regret in all those years – yet there is great awareness that I carried that sense of obligation for decades longer than I needed to. My sense of identity and value was solely in being there for my family and others.

In my 60’s I did step away from that profound sense of obligation, however, I still carried in my ministry and work that I had to be there for everyone – and always available. I was still adding to my luggage – that only I could lighten by stepping back and awakening to – I can travel more lightly.

From events that took place in my work and wonderful new friendships and love in Ft Lauderdale, there came a time when I realized, I wanted to explore a whole new freedom and no longer “carry” being there 24/7 for everyone.

It was time to set Charles – Free. I let go of my church leadership and through the imprint of COVID and Black Lives Matter – I created Mind Your Own Becoming – a non-profit forum for open and meaningful discussion of our times that we come to authentically listen.

Check our Opening Home Page on What we are About and our Mission, Vision statements.

I also decided to move to Montana having been born in Colorado and being one of the founders of the Big Sky Retreat from its beginnings in 1976. The mountains were calling me for a sense of being home where I could claim new growth – and “Lighten Up.”

I let go of all except for sending packages to Clancy, Montana, where I was to discover a new sanctuary space, and packing my new Jeep Cherokee with all I could. A beloved friend Rev Kent Barnard traveled with me part way to Texas.  From that point on I was by myself and arrived in Montana, May 1st, 2020.

Through this decision for the first time in my life I do not feel driven in time and schedule. I am here for what Kahlil Gibran defines as “Work is Love made visible.”  I am refired, renewed, redefined, and awakening to my full value – without the need to prove it to others.

I am conscious to look at my baggage ongoing and the self-judgment I carried throughout my life, generationally and personally. I seek to live from valuing how far I have travelled and the rest before me is meant to be the best because I have “Lightened Up!”

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Practice photo

A review of the 5 Key Principles of Mind Your Own Becoming – The path to our Freedom to Be!

Taking in the Key Principles of MYOB is about putting them into practice as a way of life.

However, we choose to see them – as Spiritual Principles or Ethical Principles to live by – these are not new. They are at the heart of great faiths and are the core of what the Mystics have taught.

Please review what I have shared on the website regarding these Principles. I am updating my soulful reflections of them as I turn 83 and honor I am continuing to deepen and expand my awareness of Charles. I will be revisiting the 5 Key Principles over the next 5 weeks.

1 – Free Others to Be Where They Are – Not Where You Want Them to Be.

I have come to realize that we all move through what we are here to grow though. I cannot evolve for anyone but myself. My soul / sole priority – is to work on what I personally need to continue to see life in new perspectives that nurture my own authenticity and self-value.

I can and do plant seeds of my insight and let them be.

I celebrate that when I have had personal breakthroughs and share them with clarity that it can and does encourage others to go deeper in their own awareness.

When I recently shared the story of being the victim of an attack on a dark, rainy night by four men years ago and that I forgave my attackers immediately, that I carried for decades that it was my fault being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just recently through my personal therapy I was able to utter for the first time in my life – “It wasn’t my fault” and believe it.”

Sharing that story at the Big Sky Retreat – an attendee came up to me with tears in her eyes – saying – you freed me to say the same about what had occurred to her. She realized it was time she freed that pain of self-condemnation against herself.

When our stories of insight touch another life,  that is the result of Minding my own Becoming to empower others.

The simplicity of that Principle – when you do the deeper soul work on yourself, you are more mindful that you can’t control or grow for anyone else – but you!

The great liberty is when I realize – the deeper I go into my own self-liberation and authenticity, the greater compassion I have for everyone – without exception. I can pray for world-wide awakening – as I choose to awaken daily to personal task – of Minding my own Becoming!

Monthly Theme and Weekly Speakers.

Every month, we take the Key Principles of MYOB and put them into practice in our lives. Looking at the deeper call before us — What are we each to “Be” to bring about societal change through our soul evolution in ways that establish justice, love, and care for all – without exception. Please join us weekly on Thursdays at 7 p.m. EDT for our virtual program.

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