Polarity and Making Things Happen - the wrap up - Part IV

You may have noticed that when you hold an intention with strong emotions, it will often happen -

partly because your passion will motivate you to take the actions you need to take, but sometimes it may also feel like things just fall into place, like life is opening a door just for you.

In those situations you were in the flow of polarized energy, focusing on either the outward flow of creative expression (giving) or the inward flow of acquisition (getting or maybe think of it as receiving, that sounds better).

Instead of mixing the two polarities together, you mostly focused on one flow or the other. It was either “I want to give” or “I want to get.”

You may be thinking, but I want both and that could be true, but maybe try a strong focus with your intention on just one and see what happens.

Our intention and attention are very powerful.

If you want to make things and make a living making those things - a strong outward focus would be "I want to create something amazing that will inspire people" which with polarity will create a laser beam focus on amazing and with passion and self discipline you will create amazing and life will support your amazing and the money will follow (as long as you are open to the many ways that it may come to you) to support your being able to give to others your amazing.

A strong inward focus could be "I want to make money with my makings" which with polarity (and passion and self discipline) will create a laser beam focus on money and the work that will follow will be edited and re-edited in order to make the most money with it until it is very likely amazing, too.

The "getting" focus of - I want to make money - though may take you to places and have you doing things that do not always sit well with you as a maker if you are not inclined toward this way of being in the world in the first place (and you will know if you are just by what feels right to you).

(many makers, being innately creative and creativity having an innately outward focus feel more comfortable focusing on the giving with this and how wonderful would the world be if we were all focused on giving!)

This is kind of simplifying things, but it really is kind of simple at its core.

Sometimes only the creator of the intention can know if it is an inward or outward polarity - you can create a business for the pure joy of making something amazing - you can create a business so people will think you are amazing - the outward polarity may be the only one that really leads to happiness, but that is another post.

Of course you still need that intention to inspire your passion (you need it to be something that gets you excited and fired up) and you need the self discipline to take the action to go through those doors as they open.

(and sometimes they will just crack open a little peak and you get to decide if you stick your big toe in or force that door open with your shoulder - I vote shoulder, but I'm from Jersey, remember)

With polarity you really can't lose -

especially if you're wearing the locket (wink).

* I can see for miles print by Bucks County Frames

Polarizing Our Intentions - what to do when we aren't a narcissist, but we aren't Mother Teresa either - Part III

OK, back to my polarity series- you will find Part I HERE and Part II HERE to see if you are attracted to these concepts.

(couldn't resist a little magnet maker humor)

Intentions that align well with outflow (from your consciousness out to the universe):

•write a book •build a business •compose a song •throw a party

Intentions that align well with inflow (from the universe into your consciousness):

•get a new car, job, etc •attract a new love •receive an amount of money

There are people who work with these concepts and think of outward energy as good and inward energy as bad, but it is not that simple, although I absolutely think we will each be drawn more toward one way of being in the world than the other way, since one way focuses on giving and the other on taking -

but they both work equally well, at least for a while.

At some point a more outward focused person will probably have to deal with themes of self care (valuing our own worth, time, etc), competitiveness and ambition

and the more inward focused person with themes of caring, compassion and connection because this is not a linear path for any of us.

These are just pitstops not permanent resting places.

I think people get much more done in a much more effortless way with a pure focus on one stream (not the way we mostly all go at things with a little give out and a little take in - which works of course, but maybe not as effortlessly) -

and yes, this is why so many people totally focused on themselves can get so far in life (not to judge that, but definitely not to endorse it either) and also the reason they usually have some sort of awakening or downfall involving compassion and caring and connection because these lessons get lost if this inward focus becomes too great.

Anyhoo, I am not sure why I felt the need to post about polarity this week, but these are just some concepts I have been working with in my own life and thought maybe someone might benefit from thinking about them, too.

My hubby (a person probably more naturally inclined toward inward energy, but who has been working on a more outward focus these last few years) -

gives away alot of free since he started his own business. He was upset (ok really pissed off) last week when a customer he gives alot of free to (advice, services, after hours, etc) had gone to a larger competitor, a competitor who would never give away any free, for a job that would have provided us with a nice little chunk of change.

He came home ranting about raising his prices and ready to never do anything for free ever again -

(thoughts that he is actually very comfortable with since he is kind of predisposed to this way of being)

but he had to kind of look at the fact that he gets a lot of satisfaction, appreciation, respect and money from that giving away things for free.

Of course we are not trying to be Mother Teresa here -

but we are just trying to create things that are real and focused for us right now and see where this takes us.

(I should add in a little act of synchronicity - a customer who had given us a bad check for $1000.00 over a year ago that we thought we would never hear from again - walked into George's shop and paid him ... in cash ... the day after I wrote this post and more importantly the day after George got over being pissed off at the other guy and let it go)

Back tomorrow to wrap this up with specific ways we can work with this idea in Part IV

*give to others print by brook noel
*run mad print by bookfiend

Part II - Polarizing our Intentions or How Daisy Does It (not the 80's bachelor party flick)

So back to Polarity today and how this connects with manifesting our dreams.

Our strong emotions for our intention are actually the result of energy, not the cause of it.

The source of this energy is actually the universe itself. The energy is already there. We just need to connect some of it with our intention.

The polarity of the energy flow is simply its direction. The in-flowing energy has one polarity, and the out-flowing energy has the opposite polarity.

So the two basic ways energy can flow through us are:

1. Us -> Universe (we direct energy from our consciousness out to the universe)
2. Universe -> Us (we draw energy from the universe into our consciousness)

OK, now back to Cousin Daisy Mae

(I've had alot of strong tea this morning, I'm sorry)

because the very thing about her that drives some people crazy (ie, me) her total focus on herself - allows her to connect with this energy easier than most of us because most people direct our energy in both ways and the polarities kind of cancel each other out.

Most of us get muddled up in the middle of things - we set our intention to write the book so we can inspire other people through our story and so we can make alot of money - these two intentions (one flowing inward and one flowing outward) create a kind of energy deadlock - picture two fists pushing against each other.

Cousin Daisy Mae (with a pure inward focus) might say that she wanted to share her story with the world and she may even say that this grew out of a need to create something, but the true intentions that would get her into that energy flow would be to 1. share her story with the world to impress people (inward focus) and 2. make alot of money (inward focus)

and with a pure inward polarity for her intention (along with a strong emotion to align with a strong energy) and her self discipline she will manifest, I promise you, a book deal and advance faster than I can finish my tea and first sudoko.

Now, the same can absolutely happen with a pure outward focus for our intention where we focus solely on sharing our story and creating something amazing -

maybe this is a harder polarity because there could be a little voice in the back of our heads that is also sending out the thought - now, I need to get enough money for this because this is going to take alot of time or I need to get credit for this.

And maybe those thoughts that we push down and do not really want to look at cancels out the energy that the thought of creating the book has connected with.

Now, I am not saying we can't be thinking both these things - I want to give and I want to get (because this is exactly what almost all of us would be thinking) and I am not saying that thinking both things cannot work for us - because of course we can totally make this happen - but maybe it doesn't work so well with the more effortless flow of energy that is the law of attraction; not as part of the same intention anyway.

The best and most successful things I have ever created have been with a pure outward focus and such a strong sense of excitement and adventure about the whole thing that the lack of knowingness about the outcome just didn't factor into my thinking and I think the younger you are the easier this may be to do - because there is a kind of youthfulness and daring to this that comes easier to us when we are young and have less responsibilities and gets more complicated as life gets a little bigger and more demanding ... but is even more crucial to us then.

Part III - Wednesday - Polarizing Our Intentions - what to do when we aren't a narcissist, but we aren't Mother Teresa either

* ask, believe, receive print by colorbee
* giving you my heart photograph by Yann Pendaries

GIVEAWAY - Studio724 - Gorgeous Lime and Aluminum Tote!

CLOSED- WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED HERE THIS WEEK!
Studio 724 is the incredible shop of designer Lucia Bennett where some amazing urban design and modern vintage work is created!

After 20 years as a graphic designer, this ex-Jersey girl launched Moda Industria - a waterjet cutting business - in Bloomington, Indiana.

At Lucia’s bungalow, waterjet art is everywhere. It hangs beneath the front gable of the house, all around the front porch, inside of the front fence, between container plantings in which she grows vegetables and herbs, on her garden gate, along the exterior walls of the house, and all around the back deck with its outside cocktail bar.

(ok, I'm jealous, I admit it)

I have one of Lucia's amazing bags and it is just gorgeous, the felt is incredibly strong, the metal handle is incredibly smooth - it is really perfect and gets lots of attention!

We are so lucky to have one of Studio724's amazing pieces for this week's giveaway.

WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive Studio724's 12" Lime Green Wool Felt and Aluminum Tote ($75 value) -

HOW TO WIN:

It's easy, peasy - just leave your contact information below with LEAVE A COMMENT and be sure to check out Studio 724's shop - you will find some amazing urban design and modern vintage pieces!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Facebook this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:
Enter by midnight, Sunday, April 10! Good Luck!

The winner announcement is here - thanks to everyone who entered!

Earth Hour - Tonight 8:30 PM - lots of good stuff happens with the lights out!

How to Use Polarity To Make Things Happen (you do not need a locket for this, but it might help)

I have been sitting on this series and considered not posting it because I feel like I am getting a little too heavy and serious with my blog these days

and preachy, maybe a little too preachy, but then I thought maybe someone will resonate with it and since it was mostly finished anyway, I talked myself back into posting it ... so here goes ...

(so much for 2011 and my year of deciding)

"I believe in polarity."

(not the locket here, although I believe in that, too, but the polarity that makes our thoughts into things. The non-content part of our thoughts - the energy part or at least the direction of that energy part - the part that makes things happen.)

Mostly polarity is not a thing people question -

(except maybe the same people who question human activity's impact on the environment)

but, polarity's part in the manifesting of our intentions is not something that can actually be proven.

(in the same way as melting glaciers and the depleted ozone)

I will try anyway.

Last week I talked about Cousin Daisy Mae and her amazing ability to manifest just about anything she wants through self discipline, passion and intention. There is one thing that I didn't mention about Cousin Daisy Mae.

(and I should add that her name isn't really Cousin Daisy and she may even be a he, but I can promise you this person does in fact exist and would probably never in a million years recognize themselves here or even read my blog)

Cousin Daisy Mae is a clinically diagnosed (although maybe only by me while sipping my green tea and puzzling through my sudokus) narcissist. She is the most self-absorbed, selfish person you may ever meet.

She is a master taker, a master manipulator, a master liar - well, let's just say Cousin Daisy is all about Cousin Daisy.

Since we were kids I have watched her manifest her every intention (and I would guarantee she never thinks the word manifest or intention and most likely nothing any deeper than - "hey, that's cool, I want one") - with maybe a little background thought of I deserve that.

I am truly, truly grateful though to have her in my life because she has taught me some incredibly valuable lessons about energy and manifesting.

I believe thoughts are things and that they have both content and energy. So when we set an intention to create something - the thought that gets this creation started includes 1. the content of that thought and this content part is important - so if your intention is to create health for example - the intention: I am healthy (good) is much better than I am not sick (not so good) and you are probably aware of this and there is lots of information out there on thought content if this interests anyone, so I am not going to get into it here -

and 2. the energy of that thought - now most of our thoughts have a neutral energy because they are kind of low-level nonsense stuff

(I have to do laundry, here comes the mailman, hmmm... Olive needs her nails clipped)

and we can even spend hours holding low-energy thoughts with great content (positive daily affirmations like - I am happy, for example) and we will manifest virtually no emotion, no action, and most likely no results.

Now energy is not something we create. It simply is. It is always there. What makes us feel strong emotion is not the energy itself (which is always there) but the flow of energy moving through us.

Our intention needs to get us so fired up (and if it doesn't why are we intending it anyway) that real emotion is created (and that emotion can be joy or love and it can also be greed or lust because this stuff is non-judgemental) that we are (for example) talking so much about our new idea or concept or way of being or thingamajiggie that people are telling us to "shut up about it already" then maybe we have something real.

And speaking of  "new" (which intentions do not have to be, of course) I have read a couple posts lately suggesting that maybe there are no new ideas anymore and sometimes posts supporting taking something that is already out there and making it better and I really couldn't agree less.

I believe there are people with new ideas every day, every second of every day, and these new ideas and concepts and ways of being and thingamajiggies are being thought up by people who believed a new idea was possible -

(if we think there is no such thing as a new idea then I am pretty sure we will never have one)

and as for taking someone else's idea and making it better - well, what is better? and I am talking art here and not functional automobiles and washing machines - if someone has created something from their heart and soul and taken it from step 1 to step 10 and we bounce in and take it to step 11 to make it better than what have we really created anyway? - probaby nothing any more impressive than a possible copyright infringement.

And I am not talking about inspiration here - which we obviously take and give to each other all the time and is something that absolutely needs to flow, but that is a whole other post.

Back Wednesday with Part II - How Daisy Does It

and my legal department (ie Olive and her best friend Ruby)  likely due to the possible conflict between next week's blog title and an 80's bachelor party flick (maybe there really are no original ideas) suggest that I add my usual disclaimer.

Disclaimer - since I am not an expert in energy and cannot be said to actually know what I am talking about, I cannot be held responsible for any actions you might take from reading any of my posts - please keep this in mind if you end up in your parents' basement obsessed with sudokus and green tea.

(unless of course, this would be an improvement over your current living situation, in which case, I take full credit)

Check out my Etsy shop critique this week for a wonderful sustainable jewelry shop Nature's Art Melbourne HERE and don't miss the last few days of love, maude's giveaway HERE if you haven't entered yet.

Next week I have my biggest dollar value of any giveaway ever - it starts on Monday and you won't want to miss it! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

xo