Keeping Your Chakras Open

During this time of social distancing and lockdowns, it is as important as ever to keep our chakras open and our energy flowing. Blocked or closed chakras can impede the flow of energy through our bodies, which can in turn affect our mental, emotional, and spiritual well being, not to mention our physical health.

In the spirit of keeping your energy flowing, I offer a practice to help you process challenging events and situations by walking them through the seven primary chakras.

 Root (1st) chakra                                                                              
What happened? Name the event. Let's take the pandemic. Or, if you wish, narrow it down to a more specific event caused by recent developments -- loss of job/income, limited interactions with people, restrictions on movement or freedoms, or a challenge in a relationship with a child or spouse.

 Navel (2nd) chakra                                                                          
How do you feel about what happened? Go with those gut feelings; they are called that for a reason. Are you angry? frustrated? sad? lonely? anxious? depressed? Feeling fear? despair? guilt? uncertainty? shame? resentment? What were the first feelings that came up? Name and acknowledge them.

 Solar Plexus (3rd) chakra                                                             
This is the seat of your mental body. What do you think about the event, about what's going on? What judgments are you making? What is that mental chatter in your head going on about? The thoughts that keep you up at night or distract you from your work during the day? We're talking reactions and rationalizations, not considered, measured responses. (If you need an example, look no further than your favorite social media feed.) Listen carefully to the messages you are sending yourself and others.

Heart (4th) chakra                                                                          
This is where the shift begins to happen. This is where our  2nd chakra feelings and 3rd chakra judgments can be transformed to (or by) the so-called higher emotions -- compassion, forgiveness, love, empathy, hope, acceptance, joy, and others. Choose the higher emotion that is needed to respond appropriately to the event you are processing. If not, you may find yourself mired in the swamp of 2nd chakra feelings and 3rd chakra thoughts. Suppressed, ignored, or left to fester for too long, these can block the energy flow and affect tissue on a cellular level. Find a higher emotion and ground in it daily. Having crossed the bridge at the heart chakra, we move from the lower to the upper chakras.

Throat (5th) chakra                                                                         
This is where you give voice to your experience or respond to the situation in some way. It might look like having a conversation with someone, writing a letter (which you may choose to send or not), or expressing your thoughts and feelings in a journal. This is also where you let go of what you think you SHOULD be doing and take appropriate responsibility for what you CAN do. For example, continue to do your job, taking the necessary precautions; or stay home, so as not to put others in danger. How can you be part of the solution?

Third Eye (6th) chakra                                                                   
Take time for reflection, meditation, introspection. Or if you happen to be an extroverted processor, talk it over with a trusted friend or family member, looking for insight. Is there a lesson here for you? How can you make meaning at a time when nothing seems to make sense? How can you use this event/situation as inspiration? As a call to action or change?

Crown (7th) chakra                                                                         
This is where faith resides, so closing or blocking this chakra can leave you feeling hopeless or disconnected. To keep the energy flowing, connect with whatever source of the Divine is true for you. Call upon your spirit guides, power animals, helpers and healers, angels, and archangels. They are always with you, but cannot act until you request their aid.


This process, which I learned from my Chakra Balancing teacher and mentor Arlyn Kline can be used any time to deal with big and little events alike. But it may come in especially handy now, as we all look for the best way to navigate this new, unfamiliar, and often surreal landscape. If there is one thing I have learned from decades of energy work and practicing mindfulness, it is that from the biggest breakdowns, come the biggest breakthroughs. My greatest hope is that we come away from this experience transformed -- or at least having learned something about ourselves.

[Note: Even as I composed this post, Governor Hogan announced the Stay-at-Home order for my home state of Maryland. This entry may be more needed than ever as we all absorb that news.]

Wet Socks?

There's a phrase I learned as a 20-something weathering the ups-and-downs of the search for love. I was doing a particularly bad job of hiding my

sadness one morning after the most heart-breaking break-up of my existence, which prompted a colleague and friend in the English department to say, "It could be worse...you could have wet socks."

From that day on, "Wet socks?" became our shorthand for checking the emotional forecast. And most days, that little shift in perspective was enough to bring at least the hint of a smile back to my face.

This morning, as I enjoyed the daily luxury of a hot shower (yes, I said luxury), wet socks interrupted my thoughts about life during a pandemic. It could be worse, I thought, as the water ran over my shoulders.

• We could have no hot water, forcing us to start the day with cold showers each morning.
• We could have no internet -- no Zoom meetings or classes, no virtual hangouts or Skype chats with friends and loved ones.
• We could have no computers or personal devices -- no Candy Crush or Words with Friends, no videogames or online Fort Nite marathons, no Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter feeds to monitor.
• We could have only one landline (remember when that was a thing?) that we had to fight each other for.
• We might be forced to get by on a diet of Saltine crackers and peanut butter or have to wipe our @$$es with scraps of newspaper.

Or we could be forced to watch news coverage of the pandemic 24/7 or tune in to press conferences that are more likely to spread confusion and misinformation than provide much needed reassurance. But no one is forcing us to do that. We can stop. Go back to getting our news once or maybe twice a day. If keeping up with hourly developments adds to our anxiety, we can step away from our screens, particularly the 24/7 opinion-driven programs that pose as news and the click bait that infests our social media feeds.

I know it is hard to be stuck at home -- and here comes the tough love -- but there are worse problems in the world than having to cope with a little boredom (or conversely, with the extra burden of having to teach and care for our children while working from home), especially if it allows those on the front lines -- those staffing our hospitals, maintaining public safety, running state and local governments, and supplying the food chain -- to continue to confront, contain, and eventually conquer the virus.

It is worse, in fact, in many parts of the world right now -- in Zagreb, Croatia where they just had a 5.4 earthquake; in war torn countries like Syria where many are living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions in refugee camps; in the impoverished areas of this country (and there are many) where the stoppage of non-essential businesses and the closing of schools means there might be no food on the table, much less a 30-day supply in the pantry.

So, friends, let's remember all those things we can still do from home -- exercise, worship, nurture relationships, practice mindfulness, learn, create, inquire, discover, and, most importantly, love each other. If we cannot work right now, maybe we can find our purpose in doing our small part to serve those who are fighting for survival.

Call me Mary Poppins if you must, but the best way to counter the grief over what we have lost or stand to lose right now is to feel gratitude for those blessings, large and small, that we do have.

And if that doesn't work, remember: wet socks.

On Choosing Sacrifice [Notes from a Pandemic: Day 13]

Today marks the halfway point of Lent, day 20 of the 40-day journey to Easter Sunday. On Ash Wednesday, our parish pastor Father John asked us what we were going to sacrifice for Lent. He urged us to look deeper than giving up a favorite comfort food or bad habit, and to contemplate instead giving up something that might change our hearts.

I thought back to one of the early years of my teaching career, when a good friend who taught history stopped me mid-rant in the teachers' lounge one day to make the observation that I complained a lot. Too much. I took what he said to heart and turned it into my Lenten practice that year. No complaining for 40 days. I didn't tell him. I figured that the best test of how I was doing would be to see if he or anyone else noticed a difference. They did. And so did I. The benefits of that sacrifice lasted long after Lent ended.

In the current political and social climate, it has been easy for me to get caught up in the swirl of negativity. I have noticed, as has my husband, that my frustration at the direction our country and world is going in (whether it's climate change or immigration or gun control or equal rights or the latest lies and mistruths coming from the White House) often boils over into angry outbursts or near-paralyzing anxiety that interferes with my creative efforts.

So I committed, sitting in my church pew on Ash Wednesday, to give up negativity and, as best I could, be a source of light and healing in the world. A lofty goal, sure, but one that might bring about the kind of change and journey to the heart that Father John was encouraging.

While there was some talk at that time of an epidemic spreading across China and into Europe that was likely to eventually reach our shores, I didn't know then the level of sacrifice we would all be asked to make in the days, weeks, and now it seems, months ahead.

We are all being asked to sacrifice, to give up some of the freedoms that we hold so dear in order to stem a crisis before the scope of its consequences becomes entirely tangible or visible. We are being told to stay in our houses, curtail our activities, work and school from home, and forego our usual forms of entertainment, from eating out to seeing a movie to enjoying an afternoon baseball game or taking in an evening concert or show.

For me, that has meant giving up several performances at the Argentine Embassy and Kennedy Center, postponing indefinitely the writing residency I've been preparing and joyfully anticipating since last fall, and the cancellation of SCBWI MD/DE/WV's annual spring writing conference. For my brother and his family, it meant cutting short a semester of teaching and learning abroad in England.

For healthcare workers, first responders, and so many others working to keep grocery stores and other essential services available, it means putting themselves at risk daily to take care of those who are ill and to ensure our continued health and safety. For many others, it means not being able to do the jobs they depend on to support themselves and their families. The sacrifices are just beginning.

Thinking about the sacrifices my mother and godmother made as refuges during and after World War II puts it all in perspective for me. I feel fortunate to have a roof over my head and a pantry full of food. I find myself wondering what I can give up, how I can scale back my consumption to make things last longer and stretch farther, what I can do to make sure there is enough for everyone. I seek out and do my best to embrace the lessons that this time of sacrifice offers. I encourage you to do the same, and to consider what doors may be opening to you even as others close.

With sacrifice come feelings of loss. Loss of what we had but may have taken for granted, or loss of what we did not yet have but were looking forward to. Not the least of these are the loss of certainty and loss of the ability to make long-range plans. And as human beings, we tend to grieve what we lose.

So yes, go ahead and grieve whatever it is you feel you have already lost or what may be taken from you in the days and weeks (and months) to come. And then take a few deep breaths and make the choice to sacrifice.

Word of the Day: Anxiety [Notes from a Pandemic, Day 8]

Anxiety. It's a word that's getting tossed around quite a bit in the news stories and social media posts of the past few days and weeks, increasing since lock-downs and shut-downs have been instituted. And with good reason. We are hard-wired for anxiety, an instinctual reaction to a potential threat. Add in uncertainty -- not knowing what comes next and not being able to plan for the future -- and anxiety takes off like the little popper weeds springing up all over my backyard.

My work with the energy healing art of chakra balancing over the past decade has taught me a few things about anxiety that I pass on to you here for your consideration as you and your family and friends adjust to this new level of uncertainty.

Anxiety arises from the root chakra, at the base of your spine, and increases when you become ungrounded. What ungrounds you? Not just physical jolts like falls or accidents, but also emotional shocks to your system, like the threat of a global pandemic, say, or your world grinding to a halt for an unknown length of time. Check, and check.

The antidote to anxiety, physically speaking, is grounding; its emotional counterbalances are trust and surrender, as in believing that we will get through this and letting go of trying to control those things that are beyond our control.

Why does staying grounded matter? Anxiety can cause you to pop out of your body, resulting in your aura floating somewhere near or above you, rather than aligned with the chakras (energy centers). Remaining in a heightened state of stress or anxiety over an extended period of time (14 days or 12 weeks, let's say) can result in dis-ease, or if it takes hold in your tissue and cells, disease.

So what can you do to stay grounded? A handful of suggestions:

🔴 Take a walk...or a stomp...or a run. Feel your feet connect to the earth. Walking around barefoot in the grass (if it's warm enough) or putting your toes in the sand (if you are lucky enough to have a beach -- or a sandbox -- nearby) is even better.

🔴 Hug a tree. Seriously. The bigger and more sturdy the trunk, and the more extensive the root system, the better. But really, any tree will do. If you feel strange wrapping your arms around a tree, or if you are afraid your neighbors will think you've finally lost it, leaning against the tree or putting the palms of your hands on its bark will work. 

Feel your energy connect to its energy and allow your energy to flow down the trunk, through the roots, to the earth. Have the intention of giving back any energy that is not serving you (i.e. anxiety, worry, panic) and pull up sustaining energy from Mother Earth. I did this when my father was ill and we didn't know how much longer he would be with us, and it always brought me back to a steadier place.

🔴 Find your rock...literally. If you have any jewelry with hematite, a stone with grounding properties, or just a pocket-sized piece of it, carry or wear it. If not, any stone will do. I prefer something with a smooth surface that fits in the palm of my hand. Hold it in your hand; feel its contours; tap into its solidness. Notice how it warms as you hold it. Or, if you've got a park nearby and can find a rock big enough to sun yourself on, kind of like a turtle, go for it. Allow its weight and mass to bring you back to earth and to your body.

🔴 Wear red...it is the color of the root chakra. If you feel ungrounded, try wearing red, particularly shoes or slippers, socks, or underwear (not kidding!). If you don't have those, shirts, sweaters, and scarves will work too. It may sound woo-woo, but the subtle energy body picks up on subtle cues.

🔴 Family time. We've all got plenty of that now, maybe too much for some people. But connecting in a meaningful way can stave off free-floating anxiety (note how that term implies an ungrounded aura) in a way that our electronic devices cannot. Like the coronavirus, anxiety can be contagious. As we listen to updates and read other people's posts, we may absorb their fear or panic.

While our screens will provide us with much needed human contact and a sense of connection to the world outside our homes, if you find yourself scrolling endlessly through your social media feeds (as I have a number of times these past few days), put it down and take a break. Go outside. Get some fresh air. Breathe deeply (more on that in a subsequent post).

There are more, but this is a place to begin. Together, we will get through this. 💕

Notes from a Pandemic: Day 6

Day 1 of our official lockdown in Maryland. Schools are closed for a couple of weeks -- likely more. Public gatherings of more than 50 are banned -- down from 250 a couple of days ago. Columbia Mall and movie theaters are temporarily shuttered (thank God there's still Netflix). But my husband and thousands of others are still at work. No, he is not a healthcare worker or a USPS employee.

Meanwhile, I got up this morning looking forward to a day of writing with no other obligations breathing down my neck and no stream of emails to distract me.

You know what they say about best laid plans, right?

My cat Mimi had other ideas of how we could spend the day. Or should I say her bladder and her chronic case of idiopathic cystitis had other ideas. It is 3:54 p.m. as I scrawl these words in my notebook, keenly aware that at any time she might get up and start to cycle again. A cycle goes somewhat like this:

• Go to litterbox 1.
• Go to litterbox 2.
• Go to litterbox 3.
• Strain to pee in each one. 
• Cover resulting one or two drops of pee.
• Go to back door; scratch and meow until staff lets you out.
• When door opens, go outside. 
• Two minutes later, if that, paw at the door to get back in.
• Go to front door; scratch and meow until staff lets you out.
• When invisible force field (translation: glass-paned storm door) goes down, pause and sniff the air. Contemplate whether to go out or stay in.

https://www.gocomics.com/brewsterrockit/2020/03/15

The two times I have dared to take my eyes off of her when she's been inside, she rewarded me by leaving bloody drops of urine on the white basement carpet, the clean-up of which demands either locking her in the back room of the basement with the litterboxes or tossing her back outside so as not to incur more collateral damage while taking care of the needed clean-up-on-aisle-6.

Those of you who have or have had small children or colicky babies can surely identify. Or perhaps I should say, I can now feel your pain. The only difference being that your little one will grow up and likely grow out of that phase, while the best we can hope for is to keep these incidents as few and far between as possible for the rest of Mimi's life, which could easily be another ten years or more, if she lives to the average cat age of 17 or 18.

I now know what you parents go through when the crying baby finally goes down for a nap and you are afraid to go about your normal business or tackle the house chores that have been stacking up while you tended to said crying, cranky, or sickly infant for fear that you will wake the proverbial Kraken. Fortunately for me, writing can be done without a lot of noise.

So, I will sit here on the living room floor, leaning against the buffet, notebook on my lap, and finish scribbling these thoughts while six feet away, my cat sleeps, belly up, under the dining room table for who knows how much longer.

And then I'll think about clever titles for the journal I'll be keeping throughout this pandemic to mark significant local and global developments as well as to track the more trivial personal struggles and triumphs that go with a life of seclusion while we wait out the coronavirus' threat and do our best to flatten its curve.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone. And remember, we're all in this together.

Hearing Voices: Wisdom from a Weekend in the Company of Storytellers

I have been hearing voices.

Since coming home from the SCBWI MD/DE/WV regional conference March 28-29, I hear the voices of the illustrators, agents, editors, and authors I met there whispering in my ear each time I sit down to write and revise. It feels like I have a whole support team standing behind me as I write, which is probably the next best thing to having packed them in my suitcase and brought them home.

What are they saying? Read on for some words of wisdom that have been echoing in my brain.

From Illustrator and (visual) Storyteller E.B. Lewis's touching, entertaining, and inspiring keynote address and his session on Writing with Pictures:
1) "Leap."
     Why? Because the leapers make it.
     The longer version of the story is one familiar to all kinds of artists. A writer (illustrator, painter, etc.) stands at the edge of a cliff, looking across a seemingly bottomless chasm to a group of published authors and asks the question we all ask: "How did you get there?" The answer is simple: "I jumped."
     As important as it is to take the leap of faith, E.B. Lewis cautioned, success is also about timing -- about the universe recognizing that this is the time your work is ready to be seen -- and preparation. Which leads us to #2.

2) "They [the greats] won't let you on the stage until you've done the work."
     Success doesn't just happen. Put in the hours and the effort to learn and practice your craft. And don't be afraid to make mistakes. Which brings us to #3.

3) "Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes and art is knowing which ones to keep."
     Making mistakes is about being willing to fail. If you're not willing to fail, E.B. Lewis warned, you might not make it to the other side of the chasm. The best way to lose your fear of failure is to fall in love with the process. To love the journey rather than always racing to get to the finish line.
     How? See #4.

4) "Put yourself in a place of most potential, and by that I mean multiple right answers."
     The work of the storyteller -- writers and illustrators alike -- is to solve problems. Not by finding the right answer, but by exploring the unending possibilities, and by having the courage to take on the creative dragons we all face when we sit down to write or draw (some days with better results than others) day after day until a project is complete.
     Where do we find the energy to do that? In #5.

5) "As Mark Twain said, 'The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.'"
     We all have a chip, E.B. Lewis said, pointing to his head. And the chip has to get turned on in order to find out the why. But in order for the chip to be turned on, we must be exposed to the right conditions, people or experiences. Once we know why we were born, why we are here, that passion fuels the journey and keeps us facing our dragons. That passion also steels us in the face of resistance. Which brings us to #6.

6) "We are the documenters of the world. We are the feared ones in society. We cause the multitudes to think."
     They want sheep, not shepherds. We create the shepherds.
     (Personal aside: Good teachers also create shepherds. One more reason why teachers, writers, and artists make good allies. We're all on the same side.)

From freelance editor and author Kate Angelella's talk on Learning to Love Revision:
7) "Revision is where your novel comes from."
     Kate's detailed tips on revision merit a separate post. But I will say here that as she guided us through the hard questions to ask on a first and second pass, I realized that I don't hate the revision process at all. In fact, if anything, I love it too much. But then I heard E.B. Lewis whispering in my ear again, saying it's all part of learning the craft.

8) "Every writer must have a shard of ice in her heart."
     Without that, you'll be too easy on your characters. Be willing to make them struggle. Your readers will thank you.

9) Kate's favorite piece of revising advice from writer Neil Gaiman: "If there are things you aren't satisfied with as a reader, go in and fix them as a writer: that's revision."
     A terrific reminder that one key to revision is putting aside the writer's hat for long enough to see your work through the eyes of a reader. That's where the desk drawer comes in handy. Put the manuscript away until you can see it with fresh eyes before embarking on the next round of revisions.

(Sidebar: Kate also led a Sunday morning intensive workshop on the objective correlative, which sounds much more intimidating than it is. Best part? A series of writing exercises that allowed us to experience this tool of the writer's craft firsthand. Again, worthy of its own post.)

From author and Kid's Post columnist Fred Bowen's session Writing My Way to a Better Life:
10) "Have a way to write that isn't official."
     Why? Because writing unofficially is a great way to generate and capture ideas as well as a dependable way to clear the channels when writer's block rears its ugly head.

And from Agent Carrie Howland of Donadio & Olson: candid advice about traditional and not-so-traditional ways of querying. Carrie reminded us that Twitter contests like Pitch Wars and PitMad are good not only to get your name out there and practice your elevator pitch, but are also a great way to get to know something about agents and editors. A fun way to do your homework before submitting a traditional query. And also a way of finding mentors and a community of your peers. She suggested that we look for comps and cover copy in the things others say to us when we tell them about our books. (Great advice! This happened to me just the other morning in a writing session with an old buddy.)
     And one last comforting tidbit: "The number of followers you have on Twitter really doesn't matter." That said, you can follow her on Twitter.

     May these voices travel with you and echo in your head as you go about your daily work too. Happy creating!

Life's Little Victories: Birthday Edition

Yesterday being my birthday, there were too many celebration-worthy moments to try to cram them into one Facebook status update. So, as promised, this special blog edition of Life's Little Victories captures and catalogs (in approximate chronological order) the many blessings that surprised me throughout the day, starting with...

1) Saturday, June 14, 9:12 p.m. Happy Birthday wishes from my husband, it already having turned to June 15th in the country where he is away on business. (Yes, bad timing, but we made the best of it.)
2) Sunday, June 15, 5:37 a.m. A happy birthday text message from an early rising good friend that set the tone for the whole day by wishing me a day of wonderful surprises. The day did not disappoint. (Note: I did not discover the message until somewhere after 8:00 a.m., a more civilized hour!)
3) The cats let me sleep in until 9:00 a.m....not!
4) Songs from the universe DJ who inhabits my iTouch shuffle (and at times, my car radio). The first three of the day: "No One in the World (can love you like I do)" by Anita Baker, "I Believe in You" by Luka Bloom (an Irish folksinger my string quartet used to open for during my college years), and "Bad" sung by Luka Bloom (but a cover of a U2 song), which doesn't sound birthday-ish until you hear the refrain of "Let it go...surrender" -- one of my go-to mantras.
5) Big bowl of Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries (my favorites!) and honey for breakfast.
6)  Wore my birthday present to myself -- a new favorite shirt!

(Only the colors are much more vivid than the pic shows.)
7) Unable to find the keys to my car, I drove Paul's to church, only to discover that he had left an interior light on which would have eventually drained the battery.
8) Front row parking at church even though the lot was crowded.
9) Wink from the woman I sat down next to in church -- and wishes to have a great day as we left.
10) "For God so loved his only son..." gospel reading, followed by sermon all about LOVE.
11) Free doughnuts and coffee after mass (usually the first Sunday of the month).
12) Universe DJ, this time in the car, plays Pink's "Perfect."
13) Traffic light karma -- greens all day long.
14) Found a planter of those flowers that look like mini-petunias and verbenas, normally $20, on the clearance shelves at Lowe's for just $5 (such a great discount, the cash register could not compute.) They already looked happier this morning.

15) Universe DJ strikes again -- in car -- Katy Perry's Happy Birthday song.
16) A late lunch with my Godmother, her husband and a couple of her choir friends on her front porch.
17) Serenaded with "happy birthday" in beautiful two-part harmony as dessert arrived (see #18).
18) Homemade gooseberry tart (with berries from her garden) topped with schlagsahne (that's German for real whipped cream). Yum!
19) Perfect weather all day long -- sunny, low humidity, blue skies -- aaaahh! (Thanks, Mother Earth!)
20) Birthday Skype call from my husband, who...
21) ...revealed where he had hidden a card and presents before departing.
22) Voicemail birthday message from my brother and his family...and later a conversation with them.
23) Cards and presents from family, including...
24) ...a beautiful scarf -- in our wedding colors (light green and lavender purple) -- from my sister.
25) Ice cream for dinner. Birthday rules. Haagen-Dazs swiss vanilla almond. How did I used to eat a whole pint in one sitting in college??? (H-D, you can thank me for this shameless plug with a free year's supply, hint-hint.)
                                                                                              
26) A boatload of birthday greetings and wishes from Facebook friends and family!
27) Happy Birthday/Father's Day call with Dad and Mom during which they shared memories of the Father's Day afternoon decades ago when I first entered the world.
28) Put my feet up and watched Chronicles of Narnia. Can I have my own personal Aslan?
29) Gemini b-day Horoscope highlights: "Reach for your dream by working hard at your job and developing goals during the next 4-6 weeks." Exactly what I plan to do. Full immersion writing period coming up. Time to crank out some serious words!
30) One word: Flow.

As midnight approached, I didn't want the day to end. But as I tweeted last night, if Day One of this new year was any indication, it's going to be a splendid year!

Thanks again to all of my friends and family who made my special day enjoyable, memorable, and filled with love!