Mid-June 2020 Newsletter

Hello, and a magical juicy Mid-June to you!
Welcome, or welcome back, to my newsletter. Today's issue is about seeing the new. Enjoy!

The brain is attracted to novelty, not to the "same old, same old". When we interact with someone we haven't seen for a while, we don't ask "What's the same?", we want to know what is new in their lives. These rhododendrons started blooming outside my front window a few weeks ago, and I was enchanted, getting up regularly from my computer to go admire then. Tight buds loosened, then eventually burst into bloom, seemingly changing by the hour.

It's all too easy to get stuck in a rut, doing the same thing day after day, following the same habits, thinking the same thoughts. This feels like I imagine a mechanical factory job would be, before automation and robots became so widespread, just putting tops on bottoms month after month, year after year. Where's the excitement, the joy, in that? Personal growth experts have long advised changing our habits by doing something like driving home from work by a different route, to shake up our routine. I think it's more in how we're looking at "the same thing".

Life is not static. Anyone with a baby in their life will realize this -- every moment is new! An unusual sound, or smell, can cause shrieks of glee. A relative or friend who hasn't seen the child in a few weeks will exclaim about how big they've gotten. Older children can suddenly shoot up in height, making them look very different. What if we paid attention to our usual surroundings the way we do to a growing youngster, or to a flower, where we are expecting change and newness?

As a natural vision teacher, I talk and write a lot about attention. Our vision follows our attention, and if we spend too much time not looking at what's right in front of us, our eyesight may start to decline. It's as if we're telling our brain "I don't want to see", and our brain, trying to give us what we seem to want, lets our eyesight begin to weaken. Just noticing, examining the details near and far, will activate your vision and start it improving. I often say "The more you look, the more you see!".

Julia Cameron is best known for her book "The Artist's Way". An artist can only reproduce a scene well on her canvas if she pays attention to the details she sees. She'll look at her subject, paint a bit, then look again. What did she miss before, that if added to her painting, would make it a better representation? Though I'm not an artist myself, it seems logical that painting from a remembered or imagined image works the same way. You'd need to keep inspecting the scene in your mind, seeing what you missed before, what is new to you, in order for your reproduction to be accurate.

Our physical world is constantly changing, new every second. Tiny fluctuating details make up the big picture, so that's changing too. Before I started improving my vision, about 20 years ago now, I was not constantly looking. I would take a mental snapshot, then examine that in my mind rather than continuing to inspect the actual view in front of my eyes. No wonder I was often startled! Looking for the new and different, appreciating it, then looking for something else new, is a positive feedback loop. You'll notice more and more, and maybe even be delighted.

To read about the connection between attention to the new, and clear vision, click here.

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Please send me your questions and comments
Let me know what you've wondered about concerning energy medicine or vision or dreams. I'll be glad to write a short article addressing that topic. Thank you to those who have sent me questions, or see a question you asked me in a private session written about here. You're helping many other people! Enjoy the second half of this joyous month of June. I'll write again in a few weeks. Take care!