Laurie Story V Living Spiritual Literacy
Spiritual Literacy: Transformational Thoughts & Tools To Free Your Spirit
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11/20/23 November ThanksLiving with Appreciation Vibration!

Namaste Beloved Hearts of Grateful ThanksLiving!
As pictured above, we had a wonderful ThanksLiving dinner celebration here last week, a few days ahead of my birthday and this week's 'official' Thanksgiving. Jeremiah was back from 10 months of international travel and our old dear friends and ETV cohorts Rev Karene and Big Don celebrated with us. Karene thankfully brushed me up with a live gravy tutorial and all was SO delicious ~ a true celebration of appreciation!

While I often run behind, it is wonderful to be ahead on Thanksgiving this year! I am baking a pie and making mashed potatoes for Thursday of this week for another family dinner elsewhere yet this one really filled me up! Sharing and caring well spent in the loving vibration of appreciation. Having Jeremiah back home has been a full circle celebration of life in all of its turnings, yearnings and earnings.
This month of ThanksLiving has had so many elements of life! Jeremiah sang with me yesterday at Unity Spiritual Community ~ neither of us could pin down the last time we did this, YEARS! While our lives tend to cycle in chapters, we have choice points along the way of returning, staying, or forging new directions. I find myself doing all at once as I continue to sift and who I am and who I am becoming.

Also years in the making, Jeremiah helped put another bandaid on a building at my dad's ranch last week. Covering holes with the ranch iconic sheets of metal was a job well done with the spirits of the ancestors and Jeremiah's willing hands and heart. Another of the gifts of mijo and time, I am grateful!

Though gifted a night at the ocean for my birthday, I stayed local and will go seaside on a sunny day. Jeremiah and I walked all the way around Lake Tabeau which was that much more special after being not able to walk at all last birthday!
As I often do around my birthday, this month of ThanksLiving has had an extra heaping helping of darkness as I look within and explore the crevices. Still and always, I choose to align with the shine of my divine design as I vibrate and appreciate all the goodness that is. Our free will and transformational toolbox can take us anywhere we want to go in life's playground of dark and light.
After the church service yesterday, I dropped Jeremiah at the airport as he flew East to honor a wonderful soul at a memorial today. Celia was a woman who radiated kindness and appreciation for everyone. I'm glad that Jeremiah could honor her and see his dadio for a few days. I returned home and had some more emotional shifting to do so I walked in this ahmazing town I live in, truly grateful for ALL!
No matter what darkness we ever face, there is a path calling us forward.
After doing music with a room full of 2 year olds this morning, I returned to the ranch to do this ThanksLiving vlog sprinkled with a few of the songs we sang yesterday. The drum, the affirmative lyrics, the spirit of song all helped me align with divine design appreciation vibration. I hope it can do the same for you:
I also speak to honoring our Natives, I wear feathers because they free my Spirit and also in honor of the indigenous people. As I say in the vlog, I do not in any way want what I wear to be seen as anything other than an honoring.

Whatever ThanksLiving and Thanksgiving celebrations you are up to this week, may you be yes blessed in ALL of it! May you find appreciation for any and all aspects of your celebrations ... appreciation ever beckoning you into higher vibration! Aho!

11/5/23 November Transcendence of Abundance

Namaste November Remembrance of Transcendence Abundance!

Wherever you are in your dance of transcendence ~ from resistance to abundance, I greet you this 1st Sunday of November with persistence. I meet you here with more mountain juju from Silver Lake and Thunder Mountain. After the Pioneer morning music program, I returned to my beloved lake spot and was able to explore the exposed islands usually covered in lake water, now with layers revealed.

I strolled through the layers of sand, plant life, tree roots and lava rocks originally a part of the great Thunder Mountain. Once a volcano, the mountain's boulders can be found at her base as well as miles away. Large reminders of how we scatter pieces of ourselves throughout the journeys of our lifetime(s).

The gifts of this moment, this day, this place, were remembrances of the vast abundance of life as well as the layers of depth accessible through our awareness, free will, and choices to be in the positivity or negativity of our experiences. I was inspired to vlog; I share the mountain beauty as well as honoring the land and our Native Americans and their wisdom, along with sharing some thoughts on healing, transcending trauma, taking sacred steps and choosing how we frame our stories.
I invite us all to keep transcending any and all negativity anywhere in our circle of time as we root into the truth of who we truly be:

And so it is that the beauty of our planet is always here to help us realign with the shine of our own divine design! In addition to being in nature's beauty, we can turn to native wisdom, in an honoring of all they know themselves and this earth to be.
In addition to the vlog reflections, this new month comes with renewed cyber invitations; our daily Play & Pray ThanksLiving Calendar, ETV shows on Abundance, Appreciation, Gratitude, Feature Creature Teachers like Pumpkin & Turkey and lotsa Gratitude Songs! Through the layers, we journey on!

Whatever gifts that layer your table this November, may you ever remember the bedrock of your divinity, cradled in it's infinite capacity to love you and dance you through any and all layers of your transcendence. Namaste, Love!

10/29/23 October Circle of Mystery: Ancestor Awareness in the Circle

Namaste Blessed Awareness in the Divine Design Circle!
I greet you at the end of this Mystery month, as we near Samhain, aka, Halloween. I remain in a deep clean of my work webs, ever rejoicing for the gifts of life. I am surrounded in remembrances of my ancestors who are illuminated now at Samhain.
Ah, the time of year where ghosts, goblins, tombstones, giant spiders, all appear in people's yards as decorations with Jack'o'lanterns, initially constructed to ward off evil spirits, now elaborately stencil carved ~ all of it in the name of fun.
Here, on this web space, we play with Spider, Pumpkin, Cat, Cat, Owl, as Feature Creature Teachers with much to say about how we are the co-creators of the web of our own lives. Our fun is to align with the shine of our divine design!

Spider is being integrated on our Oneness page for a visit in any season! She joins our other Feature Creature Teachers of the month, Bat, Cat, Owl, and Pumpkin,
in this wrap up vlog that also speaks to nature and the ancestors:

Nature is indeed always our great healer, teacher, preacher, and soul reacher, speaking to us of earth's rhythms and seasons and also always offering beautiful sacred ground to stand upon ~ barefoot if you can! The Mother Earth is always providing us a place to anchor and ground for more wellbeing. She is also always whispering of all who came before, and are still here now in the circle.

It is said the veil is thinnest this time of year between here and those who have gone before us, oft referred to as the dead, they are simply not in bodies among us anymore. Their Spirits live on and are available to us to continue our relationships, just in a different configuration. People often receive signs from their loved ones on the other side ~ pennies, butterflies, anything of meaning can bring a meeting of heart and mind. Most often, our departed loved ones are held in memories rather than direct presence interaction yet any medium can tell you, their loving Spirits certainly are among us should we choose to experience them. In meditating on how I wanted to speak to this today, a new song was born! It is an invitation into conversation and inspiration with whoever comes to heart and mind.
Brand New Song: Ancestor Circle


I mention my mom and dad, aunt and uncle yet I have friends I also visit with regularly. My dear Renee gave me a Tinkerbell travel mug and I often speak to her when using it. Today was a special event for Faith, the matriarch of the SF Folk Music Club and I really felt her reaching out ~ literally through the voices of a few club members I haven't connected with in a while. Faith and Ranger Bob, both gone from here 10 years now though they, and others, are still friends I visit with. Of course ancestor visits are necessarily different than human to human interactions yet Spirit relationships are real nonetheless. I have been experiencing them my whole life and am the richer for it, to be sure. This way of being has also eased some of the pain experienced in the transition we all go through when a loved one makes their transition to the other side. A huge part of having these Spirit relationships is doing what we can to honor what they left behind, sometimes the actual physical things that require us to be their hands and feet for incompletes. I have had a heaping helping of this from multiple peeps and it has made me all that much more inspired to take care of as much of my own accumulation as I possibly can. Having relationships with those on the other side is a huge inspiration to live fully while here. I am currently embracing life as if I have another 30 years or could go tomorrow. Truth is, that is one Mystery question most of us don't know.

I will further say that ancestor honorings and relationships are not at all limited to our family and friends. Anyone we wish to call into our circle, is available to us at least on some levels. I have a Spirit Board that helps me with my heart callings for work. And! In working with old materials, I am sensing the honorings of ancestor voices in the circle in some new ways! I produced 3 Halloween pieces written and published nearly 100 years ago in the ETV segment video below. Especially the 1st piece, always gives me angel kisses when hearing it as I sense the pleasure of the author(s) in being spotlighted now for their AHmazing wordcraft!

Vintage Voices: Halloween!

And so it is that I bid you a sacred Samhain, and take leave of you with these ancestor voices. May your holiday be fun and may you also connect with a dear one or ones on the other side if that calls to you. Thank you for answering the callings of your heart and for sharing this moment in the circle with me. Namaste, Love!

10/15/23 October Circle of Mystery Awareness and Guidance

Namaste Blessed Faces of the Divine!
I greet you merry mid-month, living and loving Mystery aligned shine! Since our beginning of the month, have you been experiencing your alignment of being full, free, and happy in the Divine ~ aka The Mystery?! Any new awareness' as the commotion of the world always offers opportunities to tune our navigation? Remember, as co-creators, we always choose our point of attention and attraction!
Here's my playhouse altar this day & my feet altar in the backyard sand turtle which is always issuing transformation conversation invitations! I am celebrating new Halloween segments and re-mixed Halloween ETV shows too, wooooo hoooo!

And I'm celebrating YOUUUUU! Thanks for being here! Thank you for being a conscious co-creator on your journey through the sacred! I am also celebrating my broken ankle anniversary from last weekend so what follows here is a brief travel log, some takeaways from this year's healing journey, and some updates on the web offerings & ongoing content for your consideration. Ah, to be in the circle!

As the mountain aspens brilliantly glow, change is in the air beckoning us, as always, to be the alchemists of our co-creations. For my part, I am still sifting through a lot of birth and death, with a deep gratitude breath in all of it!

Last weekend, I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of breaking my ankle coming down the mountain. The miles between the break and the car were painful and set the stage for a long winter of being off my feet. The moments and hours before the fall were full of bliss and glee; enJOYing the 8,000 ft. elevation with friends, beauty, and high mountain vibrations. In a snap of a second, seemingly thrive turned to survive. It was a slow hobble down with some prayer, affirmation, song all employed as transformational tools tempering the physical & emotional pain. I have been back up there twice before this summer yet did not do any serious hiking. This anniversary trip was also not one to hike though it was filled with serendipitous experiences of comfort and celebration in deep appreciation of my healing.
I had a morning music program with the littles. I recently returned to doing early childhood music and movement programs ~ a piece of my work I had previously retired ~ set up shown below with owl friends in the playhouse being perched for the trip. I drove up the mountain after the morning program and parked myself for a bit by beloved Silver Lake. The sparkle was intoxicating, the wind chilly, and as beautiful as it was, I could not sit still. Not motivated to hike yet stirred to move.

I travelled further up the mountain and was struck by the aspen splendor. I was reminded of divine timing and guidance as I breathed in their beauty I had not consciously thought of earlier. My inner GPS was certainly in the know though so I followed along the divine flow raptured by their golden glow ...

My intuitive flow took me to the Hot Springs where the sign said they were full. I went ahead and asked anyway and the beautiful young woman working ushered me in. We had a lovely Owl connection, she had an Owl tattoo, I ended up giving her an owl stuffy friend and a CD for her young daughter. Beyond the outer chatter, we had a divine appointment connection ~ you know, when you just feel aligned in a moment of time?! The mineral water soak was glorious! I later had a great mermaid swim.

I was travelling with my peeps on the other side so of course I drove into Nevada and actually had a prime rib dinner, whoa, thanks dad! Unexpected flow yet it felt good, nurouishing, as I was thanking my body for healing this year; broken ankle and broken heart ~ our bodies are always delivering messages from our heart. I centered then and now on the deep appreciation I have for the way my body has healed, continuing to bring me a deeper connection with the information our physical is always transmitting vibrationally to our mind and spirit. I was able to walk my talk, even when I was crutching, in that I chose to predominately heal myself. I was blessed with a fine chiropractor who helped with alignment and monitored the break with x-rays. It took at least 5 months for the bone to come back together and I still am in a healing, feeling dance yet the come and go pain is very minimal. It did re-awaken lots more awareness of the chronic conditions I have had since breaking my neck, now more than 40 years ago! Whaaat?! So let's begin there with some awareness', aka lessons learned. Yes, many say this is an earth school giving us lessons. I say all we experience is for our soul expansion, however we term that! Here's a short list of experiences, remembrances, awareness' that perhaps can (re) awaken something in you!
1. What do we tolerate day in, day out, that is chronically painful or numbing?
Sometimes these situations can bring us 'wake up calls' yet more often it seems we 'put up and shut up' allowing for a life experience that is unnecessarily diminished or compromised. Of course our comfort zone can keep us 'comfortably numb' one way or another and only you, in alignment with your wise heart, knows what you are tolerating that is calling you to the dance of transcendence.

2. How good are you able to allow yourself to feel?
Unfortunately, that comfort zone set point often leaves us unconsciously only able to feel so good. When you are feeling deep happiness and contentment, does it feel like home? Are there any 'waiting for the shoe to drop' thoughts or 'accidents' to snap you out of it? If so, can you compassionately notice & choose happy anyway?!!

3. Can you practice unconditional Love for yourself no matter what? This has been the hugest focal point for me in healing body, mind, heart, Spirit, and it IS a practice! It means letting go of judgement and condemnation. It means being able to be compassionate even with the 'broken parts' of you that need healing. It actually means seeing yourself whole instead of broken, no matter what!

Some of the mountain still stands in charred testimony to raging fire destruction.

4. Are you at peace with death knowing there is only always a circle of life? Yes, of course we all will 'die' to this body temple and journey on at the appropriate time for our soul's next chapter. Yet, there are so many other deaths in this circle of life! Relationships, circumstances, work and play places where we put our energies. As humanity evolves, chaos and death are part of the process. Can you partake in the process choosing to turn and return to peace, acceptance, unconditional Love, rather than struggle and suffering? It is always a choice. Really.

5. Do you take sacred steps on your journey with heart eyes wide open to the ever present omnipresent presence of the divine? All the time? Part time? Any time?
One of the gifts of being off my feet was the hyper awareness of my steps and the ability to deepen the experience of sacredness through slowness. We live in a fast paced society that values top speed. I have always wanted to be in the fast lane. Aging and injury can bring the gift of slowing down and I do indeed see more of the glow when I allow the flow of slow mo. Aho!

My Thunder Mountain last weekend in gorgeous glow!

In this month's celebrations of the Mystery, our multimedia page is changing every week. Owl Awareness flew off today to make way for Bat Intuition. Both of these Feature Creature Teachers have many lessons for us in human navigations. You can find Owl on our Sacred Awareness page, Yes, woooo hoooo, I took today to publish the 1st of our looooong planned Spiritual ABC pages being revised and re-instated in our Leaping Literacy Library. Blessing that mess along with all the rest! And!
In keeping with today's list, I could no longer tolerate the wait list on this, I am naming and claiming the good in the progress, unconditionally loving librarian me, allowing for the period of death and the new sacred steps. YES, blessed!

Thank you again for being here! I will return 10/29 with a Samhain celebration blog and vlog. May your Mystery awareness practice continue to bless. Namaste, Love!

10/01/23 October Circle of Mystery

Namaste Mystery's Love Expressed,
I welcome you and your wise heart of reflection, here on this 1st day of October or in whatever divine appointment moment of this connection. We now join in the circle of the changing season, the heightened awareness sitting between illumination and darkness, oneness, ancestors, birth, death & rebirth, the balance of all in the circle, and the discerning wisdom of the witch. Witch, of course, meaning wise one in touch with the wisdom of the earth and all creation in the circle. I center in my inner witchy wisdom in today's vlog:

Yes, the season of the witch is upon us! And it is high time we honor the truth of the witch as wise woman. As I sang in the vlog, we do indeed welcome the wisdom! Here are the lyrics and Mp3 Song (download!) of the Welcome Wisdom song found on my Timeless Spirit A-Z CD. On the recording, I am singing and playing with extra cool guitar added by the CD's young and talented producer Cameron Lawson. Also, here it is in music video honoring all the wise women past, present, and future.

While we all have powerful inner wisdom, we don't always tap into it. In fact, all too often we forget it is there and/or we really only turn inward for guidance when we are feeling lost or in pain. More often, we seek our answers from anyone else besides ourselves and our higher guidance. From this naturally human place of conditioning, we may consider The Mystery as a puzzle to be solved or perhaps never understood. While there are aspects of the mystery beyond our comprehension, we have an ongoing invitation into being with this divine flow of inspiration and supportive co-creation.

If you have been a visitor to this New Thought Families' website anytime since its' inception in 2007, you most likely encountered the anonymous audio, eventually turned video, of The Mystery. It is an endearing, simple, and profound invitation to BE the Mystery and to live full, free, and happy! After all these years, it still speaks to my heart and I hope it does to yours as well:

From this place of being the mystery, all the imperfections melt into unconditional Love. My ever lovin' looooooooong list as usual got partly done for this 1st of the month and on a later timeline than what I had planned. I had some intense tangos with the dance of resistence this week as well as the OMG overwhelm yet I made new inroads in my Library work and my inner playground of who I be. Definitely messy and I choose to embrace the chaos of creativity with the compassion of divinity. I choose to see, know, and affirm my progress even if it is less than what I had hoped to be sharing in this moment. No need for the blah blah deets because I am living my divinely expressed Mystery ~ choosing to experience this life as full, free, and happy! I will share the part of the calendarization that is done that shows the themes of our explorations this month.

There is rotating content spotlighted on our multimedia page currently featuring the Om HomETV show The Mystery and the full segment with Feature Creature Teacher Cat. We are revisiting the brief daily invitations to play and pray with the Mystery in everyday ways on our October calendar!

For you, the wise one reading this, here's an extra invitation for you:
Watch the flow of the Mystery in and through you and all you do.
What makes you feel free, full, and happy?
How can you realign with this consciousness when you or anyone else would act in ways that would have you forget the Mystery? Finally, can you simply just BE in the Mystery allowing for all that is there in any given moment?! Blessed BE!
Namaste, Love!