Monday, December 15, 2014
Jesus Appears on the Tonight Show!
Ah, the holiday season is upon us, a time when Mother Nature draws us inward and Mother Culture draws us shopping.
A close friend of mine has a birthday celebrated worldwide this time of year, though he was really born in July. He is pretty famous, although he doesn't really want all the attention he gets. He has been a regular in the supermarket tabloids for over two thousand years, way before supermarkets were invented. I’ve noticed, like with many celebrities, people make him out to be larger than life. They put him on a pedestal, somehow hoping that his life can save theirs, and like to fixate over the minute details of what he said and did. After he graduated from the lifetime of his that got the most press, people laid the name Jesus on him, but his friends from the old neighborhood called him Jeshua. Still do. Me too.
Jeshua, like all of us, is a stage actor that has played countless roles over countless lifetimes.
His most popular role has been Prince of Peace, Savior of the World. After retiring/ascending from show business in a glorious spectacle of emotion, he now works tirelessly behind the scenes, whispering lines to the rest of the cast. He guides his fellow performers to choose peace over drama, love over stage fright, and comedy over tragedy. He nudges us, when we finally become willing to listen to a Director other than our egos, to step into our appointed roles and play our parts to the max.
Jeshua does not appreciate the Academy of Christianity giving him the Oscar year after year for Best Savior. He would much rather share the statue with Buddha, Oprah, Robin Williams, me and you. And he would rather not have so much fuss made over him.
In a recent and rare appearance on The Tonight Show, Jeshua had this to say: “Jimmy, thanks so much for having me as a guest so I can give the world a Peace of my mind. That’s all I want, really. I certainly don’t want to be followed. I get paranoid when I think I'm being followed. And I didn’t ask for all these religions to spring up and make such a big deal of it all. I actually was not a big fan of religion in my time. And my time is still now.
I’m basically a down-to-earth kind of guy. In fact, I came down to earth to spread joy! Just like everyone, I’ve had a few moments here and there on the cross, but I’ve laughed far more that I’ve suffered. Please tell those churches to take all those pictures of me off their walls. How would you like it if they framed you having a horrendous hair day and decided that was the image the world should remember you by? Oh, and another thing: if people want to celebrate my birthday, I’d like to see them giving each other more presence! Simply being present to each other is the greatest gift you can give. Slow down, ease up on the material madness and get into the spirit of the holidays. And for Christ’s sake lighten up! Life is too eternal to be taken seriously!”
Thrilled that Jeshua was speaking so freely, Jimmy encouraged him to continue. Jeshua got excited, “People think of me as not having political ties, but actually I’m quite politically active. I’m pro-choice, pro life, and anti-right. That’s right, anti-right! I want people, all people, to give up this business of caring about who is right. And another thing...” At that point Jimmy had to interrupt and break for some commercials.
When they got back on the air Jeshua asked if he could have a minute for his own commercial. A phone number flashed across the screen and Jeshua explained that this was his new number, a modern way for humanity to call him up and fire away a question, concern or prayer. Mastering the art of multi-tasking, he answers over ten billion calls and texts at the same time. Explaining further, he said, “Traditional churches lead people to believe that to be close to me you have to pay money and have exclusive membership in their club. I want everyone to know it’s easier than you think. In fact, it’s what you think that makes it hard! Just try this: close your eyes, take some breaths, get quiet inside, and phone home. I’ll be there. But you’ve got to believe that you are lovable and capable of having a connection with me, just the way you are. Otherwise, there will be too much static on your end, and there will appear to be a receiver off the hook. If that happens, remind yourself you are worthy of receiving, and repeat the call. If you ever get a busy signal, you are the one that’s too busy. As I’ve said once or twice before, I am with you always. And I can afford to keep my promises. I’m not running for anything!”
Scott Grace chats with Jeshua on a daily basis. He would like to appear on The Tonight Show someday, but for now appears at www.scottsongs.com
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
It's The Thought That Counts
By Scott Grace
WARNING: Please do not attempt to read this while driving or operating heavy machinery, and be sure you watch the following brief video first, which serves as an appetizer, as well as extremely pleasurable foreplay: Dr. Seuss’s Reaction to the Law of Attraction!
Scott Grace is an intuitive, game changing, changing life coach who serves worldwide and does sessions via phone or Skype. Read more about his coaching practice at Intuitive Life Coaching Jump Starts & Tune Ups or schedule a free intro session through email at info@scottsongs.com
WARNING: Please do not attempt to read this while driving or operating heavy machinery, and be sure you watch the following brief video first, which serves as an appetizer, as well as extremely pleasurable foreplay: Dr. Seuss’s Reaction to the Law of Attraction!
When I was a teenager I was first exposed to The Law of Attraction via Richard Bach’s book, Illusions. Then I went on to read Think and Grow Rich, and I didn't.
Later on The Secret brought the universal law to the masses and everyone was trying to conjure up money and yachts and relationships with positive thinking and imagery.
Was it just hype made hip through good marketing, or is there some timeless truth to it all?
Can one be an outlaw to the Law of Attraction, or is it working whether you believe it or not, whether you work it or not?
Nowadays, get rich quick schemes aside, I am just plain aware that when I think thoughts that make me feel really good, I, like, feel really good, even if money doesn’t come knocking on my door. Why not choose high quality thoughts that stimulate feel good endorphins? There is no downside to it, as far as I can tell.
And maybe there is more to it than just feeling better.
On July 13 of 2006 a front-page NY Times article caught my eye. The title read: Paralyzed Man Uses Thoughts to Move a Cursor. The story described how, after neuroscientists had implanted a small sensor in his brain, a man had learned to use his thoughts and intentions to control a computer, a television set and a robot.
Wow! I stopped chewing on my breakfast and gave the article my full attention, excited about the implications and possibilities of mainstream science catching on and harnessing the power of thought.
I grew up completely ignorant of the role my thinking plays in the creation of my life. My parents and teachers couldn’t teach me what they didn’t know. My training in this culture taught me to focus my attention in a worrisome way on what I didn’t want, what I didn’t have, and what I fear might happen. The habit has been to run around struggling to make things happen in the external world, like attempting to turn on the appliances one by one when the lights go out instead of checking the fuse-box.
Our beliefs, thoughts and attitudes are the fuse-box.
When I was eighteen I read some books on metaphysics and began experimenting with affirmations. I was writing “I am a money magnet,” twenty times in the morning and again at night. After a few days of this, I walked onto a New York City subway and spied a five-dollar bill on the floor near my feet. Pocketing the surprise, I promptly forgot about it and went about my business. In all my years of living in the city, I had never found any bill larger than a dollar, but I did not link the five-spot with my prosperity implants. The next morning I filled my tummy with pancakes and my mind with money magnetism. I hopped on a city bus and took a seat right next to another loose, unclaimed five-dollar bill. This time I couldn’t deny the connection. I had magnetized some money into my life with my thoughts!
I began to feel creepy. Could my thinking really have that much power? If it was true that I was responsible for magnetizing what came into my life, then that would mean my habit of proceeding through life like a victim was worth discarding, or at least challenging. But I was far too fond of blaming my parents, the government, and God for my problems. Self-inquiry, holding my thoughts and beliefs up to the light of consciousness, was far too scary for my young mind to handle. I put affirmations on the back burner for a spell before I was willing to play with them again.
Three years later I was taking classes in meditation and spirituality offered by Hilda Charlton, a wise and beloved guide who helped thousands in her lifetime. Every Thursday night about four hundred of us students would come to receive her teachings in NYC.
One month she talked a great deal about experiences she was having with visitors from other planets. Hilda claimed that extraterrestrials regularly appeared in her living room and conversed with her about spiritual matters. Each time she brought up the subject in class, I rolled my eyes in disbelief, mentally asking Scottie to beam me up! I couldn’t see how intelligent people could believe that beings from outer space were available for fireside chats. That was too far out even for me!
One cold, blustery evening Hilda seemed to focus her warm, penetrating gaze directly on me as she addressed the group. “Do you want to know why I’m spending all this time talking to you about ET’s? To get you out of your little mental boxes, that’s why! Some of you are so shut down and closed tight! There’s a whole universe teeming with life out there, dimensions upon dimensions! Open your minds, kids. Free yourself from the pettiness of worshipping your doubts.”
In that moment I clearly saw the fear fueling my skepticism, and I prayed to at least open at the possibility of the existence of extraterrestrial life, telling myself that Hilda had shown herself worthy of my trust many times over and had no reason to be deceitful. I felt an opening, as if my inner skeptic said, “All right, we’ll consider it.”
Two weeks later a friend called. “Scott, I know you sell things on the street, and are open to creative ways to make some cash, and I just discovered two hundred T-shirts in my basement. Wanna sell them? I’ll give you a great price!” I graciously declined, feeling strongly that short sleeve T-shirts would not sell at any price during the winter. “Oh, that’s too bad!” he said. “They have a picture of a UFO landing on the earth and they say ‘I Believe’ on them.”
My head started spinning. I couldn’t rationalize away the synchronicity at play. I bought the ET-shirts and offered them up for sale at Hilda’s classes, selling them all in two nights.
On another occasion a friend who was struggling with having to find a new place to live at the last minute asked me for support. I led her through a visualization in which we imagined the perfect living space coming into her world quickly and easily. We mentally toured the rooms of her new home, giving thanks for what we declared would be the easiest move of her life. As we went through the process we both had some resistance, internally muttering, “This is such Metaphysical Mumbo Jumbo!” We voiced the doubts and laughed at ourselves, admitting, “Hey, this can’t hurt, it might even help, and it sure is fun!”
Two days later my friend, while fetching the morning paper in her bathrobe, noticed a For Rent sign on the lawn of her neighbor to the left. She investigated the situation and ended up moving into the house next door. It turned out to be quite literally the easiest move of her life!
These, and many other experiences, have inspired me to gradually make space in my head for a universe that works with me and for me, as I learn to think in harmony with my desires and not against them.
Using the power of thought instead of a mouse to control a computer… Wow! What will we think of next? How exciting are the possibilities! What if enough of us used our thinking intentionally to create what we most deeply desire? What if a bunch of us humans took a stand as magnets for a happy and peaceful world?
If our thoughts can move a cursor, then what else can they move?
Later on The Secret brought the universal law to the masses and everyone was trying to conjure up money and yachts and relationships with positive thinking and imagery.
Was it just hype made hip through good marketing, or is there some timeless truth to it all?
Can one be an outlaw to the Law of Attraction, or is it working whether you believe it or not, whether you work it or not?
Nowadays, get rich quick schemes aside, I am just plain aware that when I think thoughts that make me feel really good, I, like, feel really good, even if money doesn’t come knocking on my door. Why not choose high quality thoughts that stimulate feel good endorphins? There is no downside to it, as far as I can tell.
And maybe there is more to it than just feeling better.
On July 13 of 2006 a front-page NY Times article caught my eye. The title read: Paralyzed Man Uses Thoughts to Move a Cursor. The story described how, after neuroscientists had implanted a small sensor in his brain, a man had learned to use his thoughts and intentions to control a computer, a television set and a robot.
Wow! I stopped chewing on my breakfast and gave the article my full attention, excited about the implications and possibilities of mainstream science catching on and harnessing the power of thought.
I grew up completely ignorant of the role my thinking plays in the creation of my life. My parents and teachers couldn’t teach me what they didn’t know. My training in this culture taught me to focus my attention in a worrisome way on what I didn’t want, what I didn’t have, and what I fear might happen. The habit has been to run around struggling to make things happen in the external world, like attempting to turn on the appliances one by one when the lights go out instead of checking the fuse-box.
Our beliefs, thoughts and attitudes are the fuse-box.
When I was eighteen I read some books on metaphysics and began experimenting with affirmations. I was writing “I am a money magnet,” twenty times in the morning and again at night. After a few days of this, I walked onto a New York City subway and spied a five-dollar bill on the floor near my feet. Pocketing the surprise, I promptly forgot about it and went about my business. In all my years of living in the city, I had never found any bill larger than a dollar, but I did not link the five-spot with my prosperity implants. The next morning I filled my tummy with pancakes and my mind with money magnetism. I hopped on a city bus and took a seat right next to another loose, unclaimed five-dollar bill. This time I couldn’t deny the connection. I had magnetized some money into my life with my thoughts!
I began to feel creepy. Could my thinking really have that much power? If it was true that I was responsible for magnetizing what came into my life, then that would mean my habit of proceeding through life like a victim was worth discarding, or at least challenging. But I was far too fond of blaming my parents, the government, and God for my problems. Self-inquiry, holding my thoughts and beliefs up to the light of consciousness, was far too scary for my young mind to handle. I put affirmations on the back burner for a spell before I was willing to play with them again.
Three years later I was taking classes in meditation and spirituality offered by Hilda Charlton, a wise and beloved guide who helped thousands in her lifetime. Every Thursday night about four hundred of us students would come to receive her teachings in NYC.
One month she talked a great deal about experiences she was having with visitors from other planets. Hilda claimed that extraterrestrials regularly appeared in her living room and conversed with her about spiritual matters. Each time she brought up the subject in class, I rolled my eyes in disbelief, mentally asking Scottie to beam me up! I couldn’t see how intelligent people could believe that beings from outer space were available for fireside chats. That was too far out even for me!
One cold, blustery evening Hilda seemed to focus her warm, penetrating gaze directly on me as she addressed the group. “Do you want to know why I’m spending all this time talking to you about ET’s? To get you out of your little mental boxes, that’s why! Some of you are so shut down and closed tight! There’s a whole universe teeming with life out there, dimensions upon dimensions! Open your minds, kids. Free yourself from the pettiness of worshipping your doubts.”
In that moment I clearly saw the fear fueling my skepticism, and I prayed to at least open at the possibility of the existence of extraterrestrial life, telling myself that Hilda had shown herself worthy of my trust many times over and had no reason to be deceitful. I felt an opening, as if my inner skeptic said, “All right, we’ll consider it.”
Two weeks later a friend called. “Scott, I know you sell things on the street, and are open to creative ways to make some cash, and I just discovered two hundred T-shirts in my basement. Wanna sell them? I’ll give you a great price!” I graciously declined, feeling strongly that short sleeve T-shirts would not sell at any price during the winter. “Oh, that’s too bad!” he said. “They have a picture of a UFO landing on the earth and they say ‘I Believe’ on them.”
My head started spinning. I couldn’t rationalize away the synchronicity at play. I bought the ET-shirts and offered them up for sale at Hilda’s classes, selling them all in two nights.
On another occasion a friend who was struggling with having to find a new place to live at the last minute asked me for support. I led her through a visualization in which we imagined the perfect living space coming into her world quickly and easily. We mentally toured the rooms of her new home, giving thanks for what we declared would be the easiest move of her life. As we went through the process we both had some resistance, internally muttering, “This is such Metaphysical Mumbo Jumbo!” We voiced the doubts and laughed at ourselves, admitting, “Hey, this can’t hurt, it might even help, and it sure is fun!”
Two days later my friend, while fetching the morning paper in her bathrobe, noticed a For Rent sign on the lawn of her neighbor to the left. She investigated the situation and ended up moving into the house next door. It turned out to be quite literally the easiest move of her life!
These, and many other experiences, have inspired me to gradually make space in my head for a universe that works with me and for me, as I learn to think in harmony with my desires and not against them.
Using the power of thought instead of a mouse to control a computer… Wow! What will we think of next? How exciting are the possibilities! What if enough of us used our thinking intentionally to create what we most deeply desire? What if a bunch of us humans took a stand as magnets for a happy and peaceful world?
If our thoughts can move a cursor, then what else can they move?
Scott Grace is an intuitive, game changing, changing life coach who serves worldwide and does sessions via phone or Skype. Read more about his coaching practice at Intuitive Life Coaching Jump Starts & Tune Ups or schedule a free intro session through email at info@scottsongs.com
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Spiritual Comedy Triple Header
If you are in the Bay area, or know someone who lives in the vicinity, please take a look at this flyer. My three favorite personal growth related comedians in the entire known universe are all performing together on Saturday night, November 22, and yes, I am one of them.
Ebola & Fear - Will the Real Virus Please Stand Up?
On Monday night Jon Stewart shared his opinion that in the United States, the virus that is reaching epidemic proportions is fear.
Fear, as you know, is fed and spread by mind to mind contact, especially early childhood contact with relatives, and any and all exposure to the the current media.
When one is afflicted with the virus, they usually are not aware of it. Fear has a way of masquerading as practicality. It convinces you must get real, that you are in danger, and shows you 'evidence' to support its truth. It councils that now is the time to freak out about the various worst case scenarios that are running through your mind, and then sells you a protection plan to survive the catastrophe, like stay in your house and watch cable news. Self-quarantine is a typical fear protection plan, whether the fear be of Ebola or intimacy. Fear isolates. Love joins.
Besides fear, love is the only other virus available on the planet, and fortunately it is even more contagious, spread by enthusiastic heart to heart contact.
Love whispers to you that you are safe, and that all is well. Fear shouts you are doomed. Two voices. One real and from God, and the other manufactured in the laboratory of human ignorance and illusion, using a bullhorn to command and demand your attention and obedience.
The thing about fear is that when you host it long enough your immune system weakens, and little buggers can get in there and wreak havoc in your body. The good news is that when you let fear go, your immune system gets stronger, and your mind returns to enjoying the 24-7 Good News Channel that broadcasts the message that All is Well All of the Time.
If you would like a playful, positive, and passionate infusion of the Good News Channel to vaccinate yourself from being susceptible to the fear virus, watch this from the Spiritual Dr. Seuss: The Story of Fear, and it’s Grand Departure From Your Nervous System!
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Help! My Life Is Falling Apart! (A Note to My Email List, But You Can Take A Peek)
About a year ago I sent out an email and a Facebook message to thousands, basically saying that my life was falling apart, please send money, prayers, hugs, and flowers, in that order. I had mixed feelings about that share. I had a great deal of shame about myself and my misfortunes, and going public with my pain ran counter-intuitive to the logic of my ego. But it was also so freeing to come out from behind the curtain and reveal myself to be not a wizard with his life all together, but a fellow human going though a hard patch and asking for some help. An outpouring of love and support extended itself to me, and now, one year later, it seems a good time to check in with everyone and once again share more personally about my journey.
For those of you who didn’t get the original memo, basically, in August of last year my relationship partner of ten years ended it. We had a daughter between us that was four years old. I was shocked. Devastated. It seemed out of the blue. I wanted to enter couples therapy and get support, support that might have led us to perhaps part ways in the end, but more consciously, mutually, and peacefully. But this was her choice, she had reached her completion point, and so it was.
And so I grieved.
I grieved day and night for more than a year, knowing that it would not have been in my best interest to pull myself up with my own bootstraps and use my will power to move on with my life. It was a season for mourning and clearing, for facing and embracing pain, pain that had been with me more than just my adult life. As tempting as it was to blame my partner, my goodness, all she did was leave me. With myself. The pain was in me. Had been. No blame. (Although that did not stop me from projecting some her way!)
I became the town crier in my little town of Fairfax, CA. I walked the streets crying openly and loudly, tapping the EFT tapping points while I walked, offering up my pain, not caring what others might think of me. How freeing!
Not that I had much of a choice. It was that pressing and intense.
Grieving was my full time job. Making money? I would have loved to, but it just wasn’t a priority at the time. It was my time to get naked and peel my way down past the shame to a core level truth about me that I had not yet embraced totally: That I am good enough, lovable, whole and complete, and can stand on my own two feet, in or out of a relationship.
And so, in the window of opportunity opened by my grief, I dredged up and purged an identity of unworthiness that had had me by my balls my whole life. Oh, I felt good enough while I was in the relationship, at least for the first eight years. I had a beautiful, kind woman to call partner. But once she pulled away and let me go, the perception of myself as damaged goods returned with a vengeance. I tried all the ego bandaids for covering a wound: dating and romancing others, (great for avoiding loneliness, but not for healing) sex-capades (great for momentary pleasure, but not for long term happiness), and spinning my former partner into an evil witch. (An unavoidable pleasure, till it made me sick.)
I’m no longer grieving full time. It’s a part time job now, a few evening tears, some weekends and holidays. I am getting over and through the victim story, and seeing my part in the co-creation. And I am receiving a great deal of goodies from my willingness to dive deep into my shadow work.
One such blessing is that our daughter has a very present and grateful Daddy, and we both are having a very happy childhood. I am on board for the parenting journey in a way that I could not or would not be when I was in a relationship. Now I have her half the time, but double the fun, and the co-parenting is going smoothly. Being a Dad, something I once resisted as if my life depended upon it, has turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I take no moments of my time with my daughter for granted.
Another blessing is that I have become more creative, productive, and helpful to others, both in terms of my new Spiritual Dr. Seuss material, my gigs, and my coaching practice.
When I announced to my 5000 plus list last year that my life was falling apart, I lost a number of clients. I would not want to be coached by someone in the condition I was in. But as I have come full circle, my newer clients are getting so much more from me that I could have given a year or two ago. I notice that I am so much more compassionate and patient and with people who come to me for support. And my psychic and intuitive skills have dramatically improved. I guess all that grieving cleared a pipeline for more of my gifts and life purpose to shine on through.
Many of you sent me gifts of money a year ago, and I thank you so much for that. I bought a new guitar, which I badly needed. An IPad, which one can argue was not a need, but I am sure making good use of it, both professionally and personally. I also ‘bought’ some coaching/counseling, which was my deepest need. My goodness, if I hadn’t had weekly sessions with my coach/counselor I don’t know if I would have made it through. I needed someone to hold the light for me while I sobbed through the mess of my feelings, someone who could remind me that I wasn’t drowning in pain, I was releasing it. It was time to access the courage to be strong enough to let myself be weak, and I needed someone to be strong for me so I could fall apart. It has been said that only those who have the courage to fall apart find out how together they really are. This was my time.
Long after the gift money ran out and the debt ran up I continued getting weekly support from a coach, and still do. It is helping me re-build and renew my life. How can be a great coach if I do not let myself receive and learn from others?
One of the signposts that signaled for me that I was mostly on the other side of pain was the creation of my latest and incredibly delicious Spiritual Dr. Seuss poem:
The Story of Struggle and the Garden of Ease
That came through me in a few short months, easily and joyously, and it’s words, it’s message, and its frequency was something that is helping me define and clarify myself, my path, and my purpose on this planet. I am an ambassador of ease. When I am in my right mind, which is more and more these days, I live and breathe ease. I teach and transmit it with playfulness and gentleness. Gentleness is a big one. In my grief, I have learned to be gentle and patient with myself in the darkest, deepest, scariest places, and have emerged with my heart full of love and so much renewed enthusiasm to serve.
Earlier this month I was a keynote speaker at a conference in North Carolina. I did what I did: told some true stories from my life jouyrney, sang a few of my funny personal growth related songs from Levitational Pull, and shared three of my Spiritual Dr. Seuss poems.
The 400 plus people in attendance were deeply touched, rolling in the aisles, and blown away. Their response, appreciation, and the sold out book and CD sales filled me with clarity and confirmed for me that I’m on my way, that the grief work was all worth it, and that a new Scott has emerged from it.
I thank you all so much for your support during this year of transition. I’m pretty connected to and aware of joy most days, most moments. I’m excited about my future.
I trust the universe and God’s Plan, not my own.
I have no plans.
It will be fun to see where all this leads. There are more poems, more books, many more speaking gigs and travels. There is so much I have yet to create and give. That fact used to make me frustrated with myself, God, and the freakin’ slow ass process. Now I am excited, peaceful, and ever so patient. I can sense and track so many airplanes in the sky, patiently circling the airport, waiting for the Divine Air Traffic Controller to say the time is now to land.
For now, I have landed, and it feels pretty damn good.
Please let me know if and how I can serve you.
Scott Grace is a a speaker, recording artist of nine CD’s of music, and an intuitive life coach that has a blast playing Santa Claus all year 'round and giving away complementary thirty minute sessions. Say hello at www.scottsongs.com, info@scottsongs.com, or call him at 415 721 2954 to schedule a session. In addition, he is the author of the book, Teach Me How To Love, a True Story that Touches Hearts and Helps with the Laundry! Check it out at Amazon. On YouTube he is the Spiritual Dr. Seuss and his address there is www.youtube.com/user/skalechstein
For those of you who didn’t get the original memo, basically, in August of last year my relationship partner of ten years ended it. We had a daughter between us that was four years old. I was shocked. Devastated. It seemed out of the blue. I wanted to enter couples therapy and get support, support that might have led us to perhaps part ways in the end, but more consciously, mutually, and peacefully. But this was her choice, she had reached her completion point, and so it was.
And so I grieved.
I grieved day and night for more than a year, knowing that it would not have been in my best interest to pull myself up with my own bootstraps and use my will power to move on with my life. It was a season for mourning and clearing, for facing and embracing pain, pain that had been with me more than just my adult life. As tempting as it was to blame my partner, my goodness, all she did was leave me. With myself. The pain was in me. Had been. No blame. (Although that did not stop me from projecting some her way!)
I became the town crier in my little town of Fairfax, CA. I walked the streets crying openly and loudly, tapping the EFT tapping points while I walked, offering up my pain, not caring what others might think of me. How freeing!
Not that I had much of a choice. It was that pressing and intense.
Grieving was my full time job. Making money? I would have loved to, but it just wasn’t a priority at the time. It was my time to get naked and peel my way down past the shame to a core level truth about me that I had not yet embraced totally: That I am good enough, lovable, whole and complete, and can stand on my own two feet, in or out of a relationship.
And so, in the window of opportunity opened by my grief, I dredged up and purged an identity of unworthiness that had had me by my balls my whole life. Oh, I felt good enough while I was in the relationship, at least for the first eight years. I had a beautiful, kind woman to call partner. But once she pulled away and let me go, the perception of myself as damaged goods returned with a vengeance. I tried all the ego bandaids for covering a wound: dating and romancing others, (great for avoiding loneliness, but not for healing) sex-capades (great for momentary pleasure, but not for long term happiness), and spinning my former partner into an evil witch. (An unavoidable pleasure, till it made me sick.)
I’m no longer grieving full time. It’s a part time job now, a few evening tears, some weekends and holidays. I am getting over and through the victim story, and seeing my part in the co-creation. And I am receiving a great deal of goodies from my willingness to dive deep into my shadow work.
One such blessing is that our daughter has a very present and grateful Daddy, and we both are having a very happy childhood. I am on board for the parenting journey in a way that I could not or would not be when I was in a relationship. Now I have her half the time, but double the fun, and the co-parenting is going smoothly. Being a Dad, something I once resisted as if my life depended upon it, has turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I take no moments of my time with my daughter for granted.
Another blessing is that I have become more creative, productive, and helpful to others, both in terms of my new Spiritual Dr. Seuss material, my gigs, and my coaching practice.
When I announced to my 5000 plus list last year that my life was falling apart, I lost a number of clients. I would not want to be coached by someone in the condition I was in. But as I have come full circle, my newer clients are getting so much more from me that I could have given a year or two ago. I notice that I am so much more compassionate and patient and with people who come to me for support. And my psychic and intuitive skills have dramatically improved. I guess all that grieving cleared a pipeline for more of my gifts and life purpose to shine on through.
Many of you sent me gifts of money a year ago, and I thank you so much for that. I bought a new guitar, which I badly needed. An IPad, which one can argue was not a need, but I am sure making good use of it, both professionally and personally. I also ‘bought’ some coaching/counseling, which was my deepest need. My goodness, if I hadn’t had weekly sessions with my coach/counselor I don’t know if I would have made it through. I needed someone to hold the light for me while I sobbed through the mess of my feelings, someone who could remind me that I wasn’t drowning in pain, I was releasing it. It was time to access the courage to be strong enough to let myself be weak, and I needed someone to be strong for me so I could fall apart. It has been said that only those who have the courage to fall apart find out how together they really are. This was my time.
Long after the gift money ran out and the debt ran up I continued getting weekly support from a coach, and still do. It is helping me re-build and renew my life. How can be a great coach if I do not let myself receive and learn from others?
One of the signposts that signaled for me that I was mostly on the other side of pain was the creation of my latest and incredibly delicious Spiritual Dr. Seuss poem:
The Story of Struggle and the Garden of Ease
That came through me in a few short months, easily and joyously, and it’s words, it’s message, and its frequency was something that is helping me define and clarify myself, my path, and my purpose on this planet. I am an ambassador of ease. When I am in my right mind, which is more and more these days, I live and breathe ease. I teach and transmit it with playfulness and gentleness. Gentleness is a big one. In my grief, I have learned to be gentle and patient with myself in the darkest, deepest, scariest places, and have emerged with my heart full of love and so much renewed enthusiasm to serve.
Earlier this month I was a keynote speaker at a conference in North Carolina. I did what I did: told some true stories from my life jouyrney, sang a few of my funny personal growth related songs from Levitational Pull, and shared three of my Spiritual Dr. Seuss poems.
The 400 plus people in attendance were deeply touched, rolling in the aisles, and blown away. Their response, appreciation, and the sold out book and CD sales filled me with clarity and confirmed for me that I’m on my way, that the grief work was all worth it, and that a new Scott has emerged from it.
I thank you all so much for your support during this year of transition. I’m pretty connected to and aware of joy most days, most moments. I’m excited about my future.
I trust the universe and God’s Plan, not my own.
I have no plans.
It will be fun to see where all this leads. There are more poems, more books, many more speaking gigs and travels. There is so much I have yet to create and give. That fact used to make me frustrated with myself, God, and the freakin’ slow ass process. Now I am excited, peaceful, and ever so patient. I can sense and track so many airplanes in the sky, patiently circling the airport, waiting for the Divine Air Traffic Controller to say the time is now to land.
For now, I have landed, and it feels pretty damn good.
Please let me know if and how I can serve you.
Scott Grace is a a speaker, recording artist of nine CD’s of music, and an intuitive life coach that has a blast playing Santa Claus all year 'round and giving away complementary thirty minute sessions. Say hello at www.scottsongs.com, info@scottsongs.com, or call him at 415 721 2954 to schedule a session. In addition, he is the author of the book, Teach Me How To Love, a True Story that Touches Hearts and Helps with the Laundry! Check it out at Amazon. On YouTube he is the Spiritual Dr. Seuss and his address there is www.youtube.com/user/skalechstein
Monday, September 22, 2014
Healing the Sick, Raising the Dead, and Forgiving your Mother
Sunday afternoon, Sept 28th, from 2 to 5 PM, I’ll be offering a workshop at the Absolute Center that I’ve been doing all around the country for the past year, from St. Louis to NYC, from Wisconsin last weekend to as close to Santa Rosa this past March, but somehow have not gotten around to sharing it here in Marin where I live until now.
I call it Healing the Sick, Raising the Dead, and Forgiving Your Mother!
It’s a workshop offering mental, emotional, physical and spiritual healing, where I extend my intuitively guided methodology of EFT tapping, as well as healing songs born in the moment that zero in on whoever has asked for support and addresses what they most need to hear and to feel and to receive. The song medicine I specifically channel for you, called a Song Portrait, gets recorded and sent to you priority email the next day, right into your inbox. That goes for $200 in an individual session, and you get it at the workshop for $40.
My favorite way of describing the workshop is by letting you in on how the strange title was born.
Although I’ve been offering workshops since 1987, I first led this particular one in St. Louis last summer in August, as part of a Course in Miracles retreat I was co-leading for the St. Louis Miracles Council. The combination of EFT tapping, channeled songs for healing, and the support of a group adding their energy to each person’s work with me was indeed a powerful combo. The first person who chose to get some attention had been in chronic back pain for over twenty years. Before that she had been a professional dancer. After experiencing a major shift while working with me on some deep issues (back pain is often the accumulated stored burden of carrying other people on your back), I asked her to try dancing in front of the group of over 100 participants. I asked her to dance with me. She did. Beautifully. Miraculously. And her joy was so palpable. After the weekend she reported to me that she was still pain-free, that she was having her best nights of sleeping in years, and that she was still dancing.
Wow!
Going back to the workshop, the next person who worked with me was challenged by chronic fatigue syndrome. Again, I took her back to a core issue I was guided to address, with EFT and a song. She, too, had a powerful release of energy. Then the next person said, “Scott, I want your help with something that would indeed be a miracle: Forgiving my mother!” She did get that help and was able to enjoy some significant freedom from the chains of resentment and a lifetime of mother wounding she had been carrying.
Hence, the title of the workshop was born within those first three participants who had asked for support: Healing the Sick, Raising the Dead, and Forgiving Your Mother!
Please come to the workshop expecting a miracle. Bring anything that burdens or troubles or ails you, no matter how intense or hopeless you feel about it. Or how long you have been suffering. If a room has been dark for four days or forty years, it matters not. When you find the light switch, the light comes on, and everything changes.
There are no limits when it comes to healing, because there are no limits when it comes to the power of God, and how much He/She/It/ loves and supports you.
Sign up for the workshop here. Sign up for both the workshop and the concert the night before and get a ten dollar discount:
Scott Grace Concert and Workshop Registration
I call it Healing the Sick, Raising the Dead, and Forgiving Your Mother!
It’s a workshop offering mental, emotional, physical and spiritual healing, where I extend my intuitively guided methodology of EFT tapping, as well as healing songs born in the moment that zero in on whoever has asked for support and addresses what they most need to hear and to feel and to receive. The song medicine I specifically channel for you, called a Song Portrait, gets recorded and sent to you priority email the next day, right into your inbox. That goes for $200 in an individual session, and you get it at the workshop for $40.
My favorite way of describing the workshop is by letting you in on how the strange title was born.
Although I’ve been offering workshops since 1987, I first led this particular one in St. Louis last summer in August, as part of a Course in Miracles retreat I was co-leading for the St. Louis Miracles Council. The combination of EFT tapping, channeled songs for healing, and the support of a group adding their energy to each person’s work with me was indeed a powerful combo. The first person who chose to get some attention had been in chronic back pain for over twenty years. Before that she had been a professional dancer. After experiencing a major shift while working with me on some deep issues (back pain is often the accumulated stored burden of carrying other people on your back), I asked her to try dancing in front of the group of over 100 participants. I asked her to dance with me. She did. Beautifully. Miraculously. And her joy was so palpable. After the weekend she reported to me that she was still pain-free, that she was having her best nights of sleeping in years, and that she was still dancing.
Wow!
Going back to the workshop, the next person who worked with me was challenged by chronic fatigue syndrome. Again, I took her back to a core issue I was guided to address, with EFT and a song. She, too, had a powerful release of energy. Then the next person said, “Scott, I want your help with something that would indeed be a miracle: Forgiving my mother!” She did get that help and was able to enjoy some significant freedom from the chains of resentment and a lifetime of mother wounding she had been carrying.
Hence, the title of the workshop was born within those first three participants who had asked for support: Healing the Sick, Raising the Dead, and Forgiving Your Mother!
Please come to the workshop expecting a miracle. Bring anything that burdens or troubles or ails you, no matter how intense or hopeless you feel about it. Or how long you have been suffering. If a room has been dark for four days or forty years, it matters not. When you find the light switch, the light comes on, and everything changes.
There are no limits when it comes to healing, because there are no limits when it comes to the power of God, and how much He/She/It/ loves and supports you.
Sign up for the workshop here. Sign up for both the workshop and the concert the night before and get a ten dollar discount:
Scott Grace Concert and Workshop Registration
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Robin Williams and Me
Robin, we will miss you. I will miss you.
On one of my business cards, it describes me as a cross between Eckhart Tolle, John Denver, and Robin Williams. I did not come up with that myself. It was laid upon me, more than once, by people trying to describe what I do at my concerts.
I have always loved Robin Williams. One time I got to open up for him at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. I was experimenting with stand-up comedy in those days, and this was my crowning achievement in that world.
In the Green Room before the show, we met. We ate Thai food and joked around together. He couldn't stop talking about himself, and that was OK by me. I was fascinated, and took him in on a deep level. Instantly, I picked up that he was a tortured individual, trapped by his own aching empathy for all the pain in the world, troubled by so much, and unable to truly receive the love that came his way.
I saw that he performed, yes, out of love and joy, but also partly because he felt unlovable just being himself.
I so related to him.
Robin was a role model for me, both of how brilliant we humans can be when we let Spirit work through us without hesitation, and also of how much I need to make self-care and self-love more important than talent, fame and fortune.
Without that commitment, I, too, have that self-destruct potential in me, and I have to work consciously each day to honor my sensitivity and channel it to help nurture myself and others.
I, along with so many around the world, am grieving and honoring Robin's passing.
I have been visited by his guides and it seems, in touch with his Spirit, and am offering whatever help I can give to ease and make gentle his transition.
Robin has, sadly, been a demonstration for me of how little money and success have to do with happiness and peace.
May he be at peace, and take as long as a break that he needs from his next performance.
Sincerely,
Scott Grace
On one of my business cards, it describes me as a cross between Eckhart Tolle, John Denver, and Robin Williams. I did not come up with that myself. It was laid upon me, more than once, by people trying to describe what I do at my concerts.
I have always loved Robin Williams. One time I got to open up for him at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. I was experimenting with stand-up comedy in those days, and this was my crowning achievement in that world.
In the Green Room before the show, we met. We ate Thai food and joked around together. He couldn't stop talking about himself, and that was OK by me. I was fascinated, and took him in on a deep level. Instantly, I picked up that he was a tortured individual, trapped by his own aching empathy for all the pain in the world, troubled by so much, and unable to truly receive the love that came his way.
I saw that he performed, yes, out of love and joy, but also partly because he felt unlovable just being himself.
I so related to him.
Robin was a role model for me, both of how brilliant we humans can be when we let Spirit work through us without hesitation, and also of how much I need to make self-care and self-love more important than talent, fame and fortune.
Without that commitment, I, too, have that self-destruct potential in me, and I have to work consciously each day to honor my sensitivity and channel it to help nurture myself and others.
I, along with so many around the world, am grieving and honoring Robin's passing.
I have been visited by his guides and it seems, in touch with his Spirit, and am offering whatever help I can give to ease and make gentle his transition.
Robin has, sadly, been a demonstration for me of how little money and success have to do with happiness and peace.
May he be at peace, and take as long as a break that he needs from his next performance.
Sincerely,
Scott Grace
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Handle YourSelves with Care
Treating yourself like a precious object will make you strong.
-Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
I was working with a client last week and found myself suggesting that she listen to her inner critic/self-doubting voice like it was a member of her esteemed board of advisers.
I had been doing this for years, and it is so cool. Try it. Practice listening to the critic with non-resistance, respect its opinion, take in its message as if it had wisdom, and thank it for sharing. Then, invite it to sit back down and be quiet. It will, when it feels heard. All parts of you want to contribute and be heard. The trick is seeing and feeling yourself as the CEO, the one with the ultimate power in the company. Often the critic has some gold in its criticism for you, though it speaks in a shaming tone of consciousness. But whether or not it has gold, the main thing is to stop resisting it, give it your full attention, and then you are free to listen to other, more loving members of your Advisory Board, like your Higher Self!
How can I give this kind of advice? What are my credentials? What qualifies me is that I have long since stopped pretending that I don't hear voices. I do. I'm sure there are plenty in there, but I tend to focus on a trio, and I’ve named the big three affectionately: The Critic, Swami Scott, and Little Scott.
The loudest voice, the one with the megaphone is the critic. The critic thinks that critical thinking is intelligence, and that it can and must protect me in a harsh world. The critic protects by constantly drawing attention to what is seemingly wrong - wrong with other people, the world, and especially myself.
I became interested in the history of the critic. Tracing back my critic’s family tree, I found out that the first of its ancestors came to America with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. Historians noted that the critic was often seen in the back of the ship, gazing in Europe’s direction, muttering things like, “This was a big mistake. We should have stayed home. We should have known better!” (The critic is quite fond of the word should.)
The critic learned about life from watching too much tunnel-vision, fixated on the only two channels it was capable of tuning into: black or white, right or wrong, good or bad. Left to himself, he would continue to watch his black and white set all day long, enjoying being in remote control of how he pictures life. But lucky for us, we have Swami Scott to guide the critic away from his old programs. Swami Scott is a still, small voice of guidance and support connected to Universal Love that we’ve been learning to listen to over the years. When the critic barks at us in his usual righteous tone, “You did that wrong again! You’ll never be good enough!”, Swami Scott might switch off his TV and take him outside to gaze at nature. “Look, Mr. Critic.” (The critic listens best when respectfully called “Mr.”) “Look at all these different bushes and flowers. None of them are exactly alike. Are any of them right? Are any wrong? Are there any mistakes or flaws in nature? And aren’t we a part of nature?”
Swami Scott’s main job besides pacifying the critic is to take good care of Little Scott. Without loving guidance, Little Scott tends to get himself in trouble. He might choose to eat things that taste great going down, but feel heavy in the belly for hours later. He might run across the street without looking both ways for cars. He has even been known to run and dive heart-first into the deep waters of a relationship, which is usually not such a good idea without Swami Scott slowing him down, using discernment, pacing his strokes and keeping him afloat.
The Swami is a wise and powerful being who lives somewhere between our eyebrows. Swami Scott has only one disciple, me, and he encourages complete inner-dependency. After taking many workshops and seminars, and studying with other swamis, personal contact with Swami Scott is one of my life's greatest joys. I sit at his feet in confidence, knowing I never need fear giving him my power. He is my power!
And now to introduce Little Scott. We used to think that being an adult meant not being childlike or vulnerable anymore. But look into any adult’s heart and you will find a child in there, no matter how hidden in a grown up they appear to have packaged themselves. My inner child is a sensitive, playful, brilliantly creative and exquisitely loving child of God. He feels life to the fullest. When I let him have his feelings, he can feel joy, sadness, anger, hurt, fear, regret, love and ecstasy, sometimes all in the passing of five minutes.
But he can also hide really well from those feelings if he thinks he is not safe, if he thinks he is going to be judged for being too sensitive, or too vulnerable.
For much of life Little Scott did not feel safe to feel. Parents, teachers, other kids, and the inner critic all seemed to gang up on him and contribute to his not having a safe space to have emotions. So the kid learned to make it in the world by hiding and pretending, which led to many years of substance abuse. The disconnection from feelings went deep. I even found spiritual pursuits could be used to numb out. My first ten years of meditation, though helpful in many ways, were also used as a form of emotional anesthesia for the layers of pain my inner child carried.
What Little Scott needed was to ask Swami Scott to listen to his feelings, with empathy and acceptance. The child needed a loving presence, a consistent inner friend who would be there for him without judgment or diagnosis. Little Scott tried to find that love through relationships. Women would come and go, but the emptiness of not having his own inner connection would return. In that emptiness he cried out, asking for love and nurturing in the only ways he knew how. He cried through addiction. He cried by not letting the adult Scott reach his goals. He cried until the criticism, the constant high-speed busyness, or other forms of self-abandonment would stop and Swami Scott would come into his consciousness for a loving bedside chat.
Those chats have become pretty special. During those times the Swami listens compassionately to the little guy, cradling him tenderly while he shares, making a safe space for tears, fears, anger and joy to be felt. Tissues are on hand, and the critic stays out of the room. This is where I am learning about the power of acceptance, simply being and hearing where I am at without trying to fix or change things.
As I cease pushing and judging myself, feelings come up to be felt and are released as part of a natural cleansing process. Little Scott becomes lighter and freer. He feels handled with care. A sense of safety returns, which allows his heart to open and express love. He gets a familiar twinkle back in his eyes, a light by which Swami Scott and Little Scott co-create, work/play together in love and service, sharing joy and inspiration with others.
And so it is that that serving mankind and womankind starts with being kind and connected to yourself. Or selves. It takes courage. In a culture that teaches us that strength is about force, say, grabbing a bull by its horns, it takes courage to gaze at yourself in the mirror and say, “I will not fight.” It takes courage to walk the path of non-resistance, to be a peaceful warrior in a world where the status quo has not yet learned to value the power of gentleness and vulnerability.
But the rewards are so juicy: You get to retain and enjoy your innocence, your golden child-heart.
This is my dream, and I invite you to join me: that more and more of us negotiate a cease fire with our inner critics, that we treat our inner kids to a lasting, lifelong happy childhood, and that we handle ourselves, each other, and our world with the utmost care and respect.
Handle Yourself With Care
Once I thought by now I’d be
Mr. Functionality
Perfect and complete in every way
But I still get lost and then get found
As I walk this sacred stumbling ground
I need to reassure me, I’m O.K.
I’m all grown-up the world can see
But that is just one side of me
I’m also a tender child finding my way
I sometimes fumble in the dirt
I have a heart that can be hurt
And so I hear a voice within me say
Handle yourself with care
There’s a precious child of God in there
There’s a judge inside that’s sometimes strong
Convinced I’m doing my whole life wrong
So quick to rise up to my prosecution
But as I grow it’s getting clear
The judge is just a voice of fear
And gentleness my only real solution
For how can the child in me feel safe
If I’m trying to whip myself in shape?
There must be another way to grow
The petals of my heart open in a loving self-environment
A flower grows and blooms
When it’s given the room
So handle yourself with care
There’s a precious child of God in there
And so I live life day to day
Some obstacles get in my way
And though I groan I see the strength that’s birthed
I still get lost and then get found
As I walk this sacred stumbling ground
But life is getting sweeter on this earth
Reaching out to make heart connections
Making my peace with imperfection
Finding out the world needs what I have to give
For as I love the child in me
My heart extends so naturally
I can lend the world my shoulder
When my cup is running over
So handle yourself with care
There’s a precious child of God in there
*ScottSongs 1995
Scott Grace, www.scottsongs.com, is a life coach, singer/songwriter, recording artist, speaker, minister, workshop leader, and in general, a miracle minded mischief maker. A pioneer in the field of intuitive song, Scott is known for his unique ability to spontaneously create ‘Song Portraits’ for individuals, groups, conferences and businesses about any topic presented. He travels both nationally and in Europe, speaking and singing at conferences, churches, workshops, schools, weddings, etc. His nine compact discs are full of positive, life affirming songs for adults and children. To request a catalog or for booking information please contact Scott at (415) 721-2954 or e-mail him at scott@scottsongs.com.
-Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
I was working with a client last week and found myself suggesting that she listen to her inner critic/self-doubting voice like it was a member of her esteemed board of advisers.
I had been doing this for years, and it is so cool. Try it. Practice listening to the critic with non-resistance, respect its opinion, take in its message as if it had wisdom, and thank it for sharing. Then, invite it to sit back down and be quiet. It will, when it feels heard. All parts of you want to contribute and be heard. The trick is seeing and feeling yourself as the CEO, the one with the ultimate power in the company. Often the critic has some gold in its criticism for you, though it speaks in a shaming tone of consciousness. But whether or not it has gold, the main thing is to stop resisting it, give it your full attention, and then you are free to listen to other, more loving members of your Advisory Board, like your Higher Self!
How can I give this kind of advice? What are my credentials? What qualifies me is that I have long since stopped pretending that I don't hear voices. I do. I'm sure there are plenty in there, but I tend to focus on a trio, and I’ve named the big three affectionately: The Critic, Swami Scott, and Little Scott.
The loudest voice, the one with the megaphone is the critic. The critic thinks that critical thinking is intelligence, and that it can and must protect me in a harsh world. The critic protects by constantly drawing attention to what is seemingly wrong - wrong with other people, the world, and especially myself.
I became interested in the history of the critic. Tracing back my critic’s family tree, I found out that the first of its ancestors came to America with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. Historians noted that the critic was often seen in the back of the ship, gazing in Europe’s direction, muttering things like, “This was a big mistake. We should have stayed home. We should have known better!” (The critic is quite fond of the word should.)
The critic learned about life from watching too much tunnel-vision, fixated on the only two channels it was capable of tuning into: black or white, right or wrong, good or bad. Left to himself, he would continue to watch his black and white set all day long, enjoying being in remote control of how he pictures life. But lucky for us, we have Swami Scott to guide the critic away from his old programs. Swami Scott is a still, small voice of guidance and support connected to Universal Love that we’ve been learning to listen to over the years. When the critic barks at us in his usual righteous tone, “You did that wrong again! You’ll never be good enough!”, Swami Scott might switch off his TV and take him outside to gaze at nature. “Look, Mr. Critic.” (The critic listens best when respectfully called “Mr.”) “Look at all these different bushes and flowers. None of them are exactly alike. Are any of them right? Are any wrong? Are there any mistakes or flaws in nature? And aren’t we a part of nature?”
Swami Scott’s main job besides pacifying the critic is to take good care of Little Scott. Without loving guidance, Little Scott tends to get himself in trouble. He might choose to eat things that taste great going down, but feel heavy in the belly for hours later. He might run across the street without looking both ways for cars. He has even been known to run and dive heart-first into the deep waters of a relationship, which is usually not such a good idea without Swami Scott slowing him down, using discernment, pacing his strokes and keeping him afloat.
The Swami is a wise and powerful being who lives somewhere between our eyebrows. Swami Scott has only one disciple, me, and he encourages complete inner-dependency. After taking many workshops and seminars, and studying with other swamis, personal contact with Swami Scott is one of my life's greatest joys. I sit at his feet in confidence, knowing I never need fear giving him my power. He is my power!
And now to introduce Little Scott. We used to think that being an adult meant not being childlike or vulnerable anymore. But look into any adult’s heart and you will find a child in there, no matter how hidden in a grown up they appear to have packaged themselves. My inner child is a sensitive, playful, brilliantly creative and exquisitely loving child of God. He feels life to the fullest. When I let him have his feelings, he can feel joy, sadness, anger, hurt, fear, regret, love and ecstasy, sometimes all in the passing of five minutes.
But he can also hide really well from those feelings if he thinks he is not safe, if he thinks he is going to be judged for being too sensitive, or too vulnerable.
For much of life Little Scott did not feel safe to feel. Parents, teachers, other kids, and the inner critic all seemed to gang up on him and contribute to his not having a safe space to have emotions. So the kid learned to make it in the world by hiding and pretending, which led to many years of substance abuse. The disconnection from feelings went deep. I even found spiritual pursuits could be used to numb out. My first ten years of meditation, though helpful in many ways, were also used as a form of emotional anesthesia for the layers of pain my inner child carried.
What Little Scott needed was to ask Swami Scott to listen to his feelings, with empathy and acceptance. The child needed a loving presence, a consistent inner friend who would be there for him without judgment or diagnosis. Little Scott tried to find that love through relationships. Women would come and go, but the emptiness of not having his own inner connection would return. In that emptiness he cried out, asking for love and nurturing in the only ways he knew how. He cried through addiction. He cried by not letting the adult Scott reach his goals. He cried until the criticism, the constant high-speed busyness, or other forms of self-abandonment would stop and Swami Scott would come into his consciousness for a loving bedside chat.
Those chats have become pretty special. During those times the Swami listens compassionately to the little guy, cradling him tenderly while he shares, making a safe space for tears, fears, anger and joy to be felt. Tissues are on hand, and the critic stays out of the room. This is where I am learning about the power of acceptance, simply being and hearing where I am at without trying to fix or change things.
As I cease pushing and judging myself, feelings come up to be felt and are released as part of a natural cleansing process. Little Scott becomes lighter and freer. He feels handled with care. A sense of safety returns, which allows his heart to open and express love. He gets a familiar twinkle back in his eyes, a light by which Swami Scott and Little Scott co-create, work/play together in love and service, sharing joy and inspiration with others.
And so it is that that serving mankind and womankind starts with being kind and connected to yourself. Or selves. It takes courage. In a culture that teaches us that strength is about force, say, grabbing a bull by its horns, it takes courage to gaze at yourself in the mirror and say, “I will not fight.” It takes courage to walk the path of non-resistance, to be a peaceful warrior in a world where the status quo has not yet learned to value the power of gentleness and vulnerability.
But the rewards are so juicy: You get to retain and enjoy your innocence, your golden child-heart.
This is my dream, and I invite you to join me: that more and more of us negotiate a cease fire with our inner critics, that we treat our inner kids to a lasting, lifelong happy childhood, and that we handle ourselves, each other, and our world with the utmost care and respect.
Handle Yourself With Care
Once I thought by now I’d be
Mr. Functionality
Perfect and complete in every way
But I still get lost and then get found
As I walk this sacred stumbling ground
I need to reassure me, I’m O.K.
I’m all grown-up the world can see
But that is just one side of me
I’m also a tender child finding my way
I sometimes fumble in the dirt
I have a heart that can be hurt
And so I hear a voice within me say
Handle yourself with care
There’s a precious child of God in there
There’s a judge inside that’s sometimes strong
Convinced I’m doing my whole life wrong
So quick to rise up to my prosecution
But as I grow it’s getting clear
The judge is just a voice of fear
And gentleness my only real solution
For how can the child in me feel safe
If I’m trying to whip myself in shape?
There must be another way to grow
The petals of my heart open in a loving self-environment
A flower grows and blooms
When it’s given the room
So handle yourself with care
There’s a precious child of God in there
And so I live life day to day
Some obstacles get in my way
And though I groan I see the strength that’s birthed
I still get lost and then get found
As I walk this sacred stumbling ground
But life is getting sweeter on this earth
Reaching out to make heart connections
Making my peace with imperfection
Finding out the world needs what I have to give
For as I love the child in me
My heart extends so naturally
I can lend the world my shoulder
When my cup is running over
So handle yourself with care
There’s a precious child of God in there
*ScottSongs 1995
Scott Grace, www.scottsongs.com, is a life coach, singer/songwriter, recording artist, speaker, minister, workshop leader, and in general, a miracle minded mischief maker. A pioneer in the field of intuitive song, Scott is known for his unique ability to spontaneously create ‘Song Portraits’ for individuals, groups, conferences and businesses about any topic presented. He travels both nationally and in Europe, speaking and singing at conferences, churches, workshops, schools, weddings, etc. His nine compact discs are full of positive, life affirming songs for adults and children. To request a catalog or for booking information please contact Scott at (415) 721-2954 or e-mail him at scott@scottsongs.com.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Resistance is Futile - An Upcoming Bay Area House Concert
If you live in the Bay area and you are free to attend to my upcoming house concert on Saturday, Feb 1st in San Rafael, but you are noticing you might have some resistance, please review the following..... the details about the concert are towards the bottom as you scroll down...
Your Resistance To Attending My Concert - And My Re-Buttals To Get You Off Your Butts
(with thanks to Katie Darling (www.theinfinitewave.com) for the concept...
#1) There is too much pain and heaviness going on in my life and in the world right now to laugh, lighten up, and be silly.
Letting the weight of the world fall off your shoulders is part of both your personal healing and your service to others! Emmanuel says: "There is nothing that transforms darkness more quickly than a festivity right in the middle of it." Do you add any healing to the world by taking it all so seriously? You can curse the darkness or light a candle. Come to the concert and be a candle!
#2) It's so much easier to stay home and watch TV for my entertainment.
TV brings you numbness and escape, and a concert with yours truly brings you to LIFE! And, by the way, there will be popcorn at hand at the concert. And, even better, since I am a channel, you can channel surf at the concert by making song requests and ordering me around (musically that is). I will always sing on demand when you push my buttons and honor requests for me to change channels, so bring your metaphoric remote control and come.
#3) I can't afford it.
$20 is out of reach? Is that true? Can you know it's true? Or is unworthiness or lack of self love masquerading as responsible budgeting! Do you once in a while spend $25 or much more on a gourmet meal at a great restaurant to treat yourself and/or a loved one? Of course you do. This will be a gourmet concert that will feed your soul, and your spiritual/emotional tummy will be filled and satisfied for a long long time. This meal will be gluten free, easy to digest, and will support you in losing tons of emotional weight, all in two hours of passive enjoyment. Chew on that before convincing yourself you can't afford it! Treat yourself to a treat. You deserve it!
#4) It's too far to drive.
Really? Give us a break, you're not THAT old yet!
#5) I'll stay in the moment, wait to the last-minute and then get a feeling/guidance that I'm not in the mood or it's not right for me.
Ah yes, we spiritual people love to play this trick of the ego to avoid new experiences, joy, and expanded aliveness. Bring your sluggish, moody, apprehensive body and experience a lift and a surge of joy that will make you want to dance and skip all the way home. And if you really want to challenge yourself and heal your fear of commitment, you can actually make plans and register in advance! Now that's radical - practically against the law in these here parts.
#6) I'll feel exposed and awkward, and I won't be able to hide.
Yes, you will be exposed to love, joy, laughter and to healing. You will find it a very safe space. You may even discover you really don't want to hide. But you can if that is your desire. Your boundaries will be honored.
#7) I need some time to myself.
I know this one so well. I've used it much more often to coddle my fears and nurse my sense of separation than to authentically meet a need. You decide. But I promise you this: Coming to my concert will be time between you and your Divine Self. And it will fill you up big time.
#8) I'll be out of town.
If you already have plans that take you out of the area over the Feb 1st weekend, then you might just have a legitimate reason for not showing up. If this is the case, please disregard all of the above and have a great weekend elsewhere.
THE CONCERT DETAILS
An optional potluck is happening and starts at 5:00 PM. Come and chow down with Scott and friends. Bring something healthy, please.
The concert will begin at 7:00 PM so please try to arrive and be seated by 6:50 PM. It goes for at least two hours, usually more.
RSVP to Bobbi@ryalsjobs.com and please cc scott@scottsongs.com
FEE: $20 per person, payable by cash or check made out to Scott Grace at the door.
Date: Saturday February 1st
5 pm Pot Luck 7:00 pm Concert
Location: 120 La Alondra Ct.
San Rafael, 94903
Your Resistance To Attending My Concert - And My Re-Buttals To Get You Off Your Butts
(with thanks to Katie Darling (www.theinfinitewave.com) for the concept...
#1) There is too much pain and heaviness going on in my life and in the world right now to laugh, lighten up, and be silly.
Letting the weight of the world fall off your shoulders is part of both your personal healing and your service to others! Emmanuel says: "There is nothing that transforms darkness more quickly than a festivity right in the middle of it." Do you add any healing to the world by taking it all so seriously? You can curse the darkness or light a candle. Come to the concert and be a candle!
#2) It's so much easier to stay home and watch TV for my entertainment.
TV brings you numbness and escape, and a concert with yours truly brings you to LIFE! And, by the way, there will be popcorn at hand at the concert. And, even better, since I am a channel, you can channel surf at the concert by making song requests and ordering me around (musically that is). I will always sing on demand when you push my buttons and honor requests for me to change channels, so bring your metaphoric remote control and come.
#3) I can't afford it.
$20 is out of reach? Is that true? Can you know it's true? Or is unworthiness or lack of self love masquerading as responsible budgeting! Do you once in a while spend $25 or much more on a gourmet meal at a great restaurant to treat yourself and/or a loved one? Of course you do. This will be a gourmet concert that will feed your soul, and your spiritual/emotional tummy will be filled and satisfied for a long long time. This meal will be gluten free, easy to digest, and will support you in losing tons of emotional weight, all in two hours of passive enjoyment. Chew on that before convincing yourself you can't afford it! Treat yourself to a treat. You deserve it!
#4) It's too far to drive.
Really? Give us a break, you're not THAT old yet!
#5) I'll stay in the moment, wait to the last-minute and then get a feeling/guidance that I'm not in the mood or it's not right for me.
Ah yes, we spiritual people love to play this trick of the ego to avoid new experiences, joy, and expanded aliveness. Bring your sluggish, moody, apprehensive body and experience a lift and a surge of joy that will make you want to dance and skip all the way home. And if you really want to challenge yourself and heal your fear of commitment, you can actually make plans and register in advance! Now that's radical - practically against the law in these here parts.
#6) I'll feel exposed and awkward, and I won't be able to hide.
Yes, you will be exposed to love, joy, laughter and to healing. You will find it a very safe space. You may even discover you really don't want to hide. But you can if that is your desire. Your boundaries will be honored.
#7) I need some time to myself.
I know this one so well. I've used it much more often to coddle my fears and nurse my sense of separation than to authentically meet a need. You decide. But I promise you this: Coming to my concert will be time between you and your Divine Self. And it will fill you up big time.
#8) I'll be out of town.
If you already have plans that take you out of the area over the Feb 1st weekend, then you might just have a legitimate reason for not showing up. If this is the case, please disregard all of the above and have a great weekend elsewhere.
THE CONCERT DETAILS
An optional potluck is happening and starts at 5:00 PM. Come and chow down with Scott and friends. Bring something healthy, please.
The concert will begin at 7:00 PM so please try to arrive and be seated by 6:50 PM. It goes for at least two hours, usually more.
RSVP to Bobbi@ryalsjobs.com and please cc scott@scottsongs.com
FEE: $20 per person, payable by cash or check made out to Scott Grace at the door.
Date: Saturday February 1st
5 pm Pot Luck 7:00 pm Concert
Location: 120 La Alondra Ct.
San Rafael, 94903
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