Gentleness is sometimes mistakenly interpreted as weakness.

To a culture that prides itself on its show of strength, people who prefer to work in a gentle way are seen as being weak: unable to protect, defend, or fight for themselves. The prevailing wisdom in our modern American culture is that might and violence are necessary to 'save the day' and get things done.

Non-violence, to this belief system, is considered weakness, and therefore completely unable to create positive change.

Transformation time is upon us, all of us, everywhere on this brilliant planet we share, this beautiful earth.

We learn more about the world around us by the minute. New creations, inventions, and discoveries are showing up every day. The earth itself is transforming before our eyes, and we are being reminded to make more thoughtful, conscious, and intelligent choices about how we treat our home and the other beings who live here with us.

The great news is that the really big changes are happening within us. Opportunities for personal spiritual growth and awareness are endless.

Several years back, I went to Joshua Tree State Park to see the annual blooming of the Joshua trees.

I joined a fascinating talk given by one of the park rangers, called ‘Meeting the Joshua Tree’, and learned about the mystical growth of these special trees. Each tree is unique and different, often markedly so. There is no genetic predisposition to become a perfect Joshua tree shape – each tree is a perfect Joshua tree and each is one of a kind, like fingerprints.

What if people sang out loud, just because they felt like it?

What if this was a normal thing to do, to express one’s feelings with music instead of judging whether one was ‘good enough’ to be allowed to do so?

What would it be like to hear ‘hello’ from every stranger you met?

What if cars had no alarms?

What if leaf blowers were never used?

It isn’t all that difficult to create an atmosphere of peace on earth.

Each of us can do this, daily. When you and I carry the energy of peace along with us, we’re bringing healing energy wherever we go. This becomes a gift to whomever we see, whether we know them personally or not.

Not only that, but each of our individual loads is lighter as a result of choosing to carry peace along on our daily travels. This is because peaceful energy is a much lighter and brighter vibration than non-peaceful energy. Peace is a conscious energy.

Earth is your home.

This is your world, and it also belongs to every other being on it, (yes, even the mosquitoes). The earth is endlessly bountiful, generously providing us all with enough riches to support a whole world full of living beings.

You have the right to be here. Everything you have is made from the earth; your cell phone, shoes, food supply, car, books, computer, money. Everything we needed to grow, evolve, heal, and entertain ourselves, was already here.

One of the main 'side effects' of becoming conscious is the transformation and changing out of personal habits.

Most of us have an unconscious habit or two that we'd like to change. As we become more aware of how our energy gets sucked into these programmed habits, we more easily shift our energy into doing things differently, and we change.

Daily habits are routines that are part of our lives, with varying degrees of awareness attached to them.

Yes, meditation is fun!

If you're having fun, you're doing something right. Meditation is one of my favorite practices for bringing more fun into my life.

Is it fun to feel good? Do you enjoy being validated, feeling creative, energized and healthy, being able to decisively take action when you know you want to do so? Do you want to know more about who you are? All of this is about being able to find your own energy, and have your space. Personally speaking, I find all of this stuff fun.

Every day you wake up to begin a new chapter in your life story.

The story of your life isn't written until you live it, and you get to make it up as you go along. You are in charge of deciding what story lines to follow, which choices to make, what your character says and does. You give your life story its overall tone and feel. You develop new plots, story lines, and introduce new characters into the story.

You can be your own writer, editor, and publisher. You don't need anyone else to give you the stamp of approval - it's your story to tell, not theirs. By doing this, you get to know yourself better.

A new day begins, bringing with it more opportunities for you to choose.

In each moment, you're making it up as you go. Beginning with getting out of bed in the morning, you’re responsible for a bevy of choices about your life today. What mood will you embrace as you step into the day? What attitude will you choose to carry with you on your path?

You get to decide what clothes you’re wearing for the day ahead, and you also get to decide what energy you’re carrying with you. It’s not always easy to decide how you’re going to feel, but you do get to choose what you will do about how you feel.

Are you the one who defines your prosperity?

Prosperity is a spiritual energy, one that you can decide for yourself. What you create with your spirit, leads into the rest of your life. When you work consciously on creating your pictures of what prosperity means to you, instead of adopting other people’s opinions, fears, and beliefs, you’ll be less affected by the highs and lows of the marketplace.

When you face yourself, look honestly within, and decide what is true for you, it becomes easier to create what you want.

You may not realize what a gift you are, simply for existing and being yourself.

Nobody else has ever been just like you. The exact combination of stuff that is you, is one of a kind. Because of this, you don’t really have any competition, and you don’t ever have to be anything but you. Your spirit is unique in all of time, and nobody else can replace you.

The best part of this is that you get to decide how and who you want to be. Sometimes, because of this uniqueness, you may feel invalidated.