Shema Productions

Heavenly Forest

The other day I was so stressed. Finally, I got myself to go out my door and take a walk on the grounds of my new home. I have been here a month and have walked around the adjacent golf course but this time I took a side path and what I found was truly magical.

There are trails and paths behind my home that I didn't know about! The beauty was almost overwhelming. I was so moved I began to sing like a prayer to the Presence that surrounded me. I even googled Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, born in the 1700's who brought esoteric teachings more prominently into the chassidic movement of Judaism. I know, how totally un-cool and not particularly present to use my iPhone in the midst of my own mystical forest experience, but somehow it felt right. Rebbe Nachman was famous for going into the forest to speak and sing directly in conversation with God, so I kind of wanted him near me!

As I wandered in my new playground, one particular tree really called my attention. She was larger than any others and she stood out very prominently. According to Professor Suzanne Simard, she was probably a Mother Tree connected to and nurturing the surrounding smaller trees! (Thanks for sharing this link, Ria!) 

I have to tell you, today I woke up to another view of this amazing gift I have outside my front door. We had a snow storm and the winter wonderland was again heavenly, in a different way.  I feel so blessed to have these trees near me. I missed forests living by the ocean. "There is something about trees," I said many years ago and it holds true for me today. I feel held, grounded and very grateful for the wisdom they hold. I can relax and regain my sense of self when I am with them.

Happy December. May you be blessed with beauty and nature always. Want to go for a walk?

Aleph

I’m reading a book called Aleph. A friend gave it to me as a present at my wonderful going away party in Swampscott.

At first glance I was excited by the title then, I, and everyone else in the room did a double take and a big, deep sigh when we saw the author - Paulo Coelho  He is  the author of the classic  The Alchemist, a life-changer for many of us. He is writing about Aleph!? Wow. Cool. Very cool.

This is the most auto-biographical of his books yet. He’s on a journey of transformation, hoping to find more happiness and balance between his worldly life and his spiritual life. The Aleph shows up as a portal into all time, a place that allows him to travel to past lives and experience all time in the present moment. There is so much more and I can hardly put it down! Thanks Mimi!

Energizing My New Home

I am really excited about my move to Lenox, MA. I have butterflies in my stomach sometimes because I can’t believe I have done this again - an 8th move in as many years which requires making new friends and so much more. But I have. I felt a distinct ‘it’s time to move’ call from deep within my bones about two months ago. From there, I followed guidance and was led to just the right location. I am so grateful.

I am meeting people, having fun and unpacking everything I can quickly but with ease. The furniture just fits, I mean literally by inches in some cases. I find just the right spot for this piece of art or that furniture. I haven’t hung all the pictures, but most of it is done.  What remains is perhaps the most important job, hanging my Alphabet of Vibration^TM paintings.

I’ve come to understand the incredible power these ancient symbols of creation hold. When they are in a circle they create a supportive energetic field, so where I put them in the house will matter. I have some over the fireplace (as you can see in the picture) and a few in the front hall. But for most of them, I want to feel settled before choosing where I place them. 

Now that my nest is pretty set, I have to remember to get outside for a long walk in the beautiful mountain air! That's next.

The Art of Creating

At the end of August the earth and our world were literally shaking on the East coast of the United States with an earthquake and a financial plummet. All of a sudden I had a ‘hit’ - a deep feeling inside that it was time for me to move. I had opened up to my art, my Judaism and my singing over the past 15 months while living in Swampscott, MA. All of a sudden I understood, it was time to stop renting, move inland and have creative community around me so I could put my work out in the world more easily.

I follow those intuitive ‘hits’ as they often proove to be very sound. I wondered, ‘Where to now?” I remembered a friend saying that the Berkshires, where Tanglewood, Kripalu and many other creative and spiritual institutions call home, was a portal of conscious energy and a great place to live. So I started looking and just three weeks later I found the lovely house I am now living in!

Thriving in Adversity

February 15, 2006. I got a call. My mother, after losing my father five months before, took her own life. She was distraught, feeling alone, scared with little sense of the beautiful, strong woman she was inside. That seemed to be left behind years before. I know. I was living the same life not long ago.

What I remember most about that day was the moment I felt a surge of energy stream through the top of my head and through my body. Out of my mouth, to my family who was gathered around, I said, “She did what she could. We will see this with as much love as possible.”

Peace Meditation

Happily measuring rooms in my new house in Lenox, MA in joyful anticipation of my furniture coming in a couple of weeks I am overcome with sadness. “Send in the Clowns” is on. It is part of a collection of Broadway tunes I am playing. All the years I didn’t care for myself or where I delayed in taking wise action come sweeping through my cellular memory.

I put down my measuring tape, sit on the bed and begin the free virtual peace meditation that I lead every morning for ten minutes. I imagine my ‘tools’ - the Hebrew letters and more - because I need to address this feeling NOW.

On a Clear Day

I always pay attention to the songs in my head that seem to come out of nowhere. I've learned over the years that this is one way Spirit is able to get to me. It's like, 'Phew. Her mind is quiet. Now we can get through!" So here is the song I woke up to just one hour ago, at 2:00 a.m.

On a clear day
Rise and look around you
And you'll see who you are
On a clear day
How it will astound you
That the glow of your being
Outshines every star
You'll feel part of
Every mountain, sea and shore,
You can hear from far and near
A world you've never never heard before

And on a clear day
On a clear day
You can see forever and ever and ever and ever more.

I get it. The more I clear my thoughts, release fears and patterns of behavior that no longer serve me, I will be able to tune into the truth of who I am. I will feel my interconnection with all there is. How fun to get that reminder - even if it is in the middle of the night!

Swan Lake

Scared of the unknown. Wanting peace. I drive in the car to recover myself. Not knowing what I will find. Stuck in traffic I glance to my right. A-bun-dance. Beauty beyond my wildest dreams. Laughter. Joy. Delight. Thank you.

 

Dangerous Beauty

 
My favorite movie of all time is Dangerous Beauty, a true story of Veronica Franco who was a famous courtesan, poet, writer and defender of love and women’s rights in 16th century Venice. Veronica’s mother convinced her to be a courtesan because she recognized her daughter’s beauty and thirst for knowledge. She knew that given the family’s low status Veronica would live a life of drudgery if she did not choose this path of pleasure. Women of that time, even those of wealth, were uneducated and disempowered. This was their only path of freedom, as limited as that was.

In the movie, Veronica’s mother brings her to a richly appointed library. “Mother,” she says, “we can’t go in there!” Her mother explains that while common women are not allowed in, courtesans are. She says, “Courtesans, my dear, are the most educated women in the world.”

I love the sumptuousness of the movie and what keeps bringing me back to it again and again is the message. Passion, a woman’s voice and her value as an intelligent and worthwhile human being are worth fighting for.

Entering Peace

OMG! "Entering Peace" came to my mind and heart as soon as I drove into this magical place, the Hancock Shaker Village just north of Lenox, Massachusetts. I was taking part in a Peace conference co-presented with the Center for Peace through Culture.  I learned a lot, sang with Barbara and Graham Dean from Summersongs, connected with friends new and old, including Nancy Roof of Kosmos Journal, and took in the simple, elegant magic of this place.

My heart is full, full, full. I will be living near here soon, as part of a vibrant, creative community dedicated to social and spiritual activism, peace and conscious living. I am forever grateful.