A Note From Anne

Dear ,

I have a new computer. It just so happens that my daughter had her babies during the new computer era. I’ve lugged this fabulous computer with me to see the newly arrived grans, but the learning curve is so steep, given a new operating system and new software, that I’ve been using my iPad because it was much easier to use.

You would think the news was my new grandbabies, and it is, but I’m writing this on this new machine that I’ve used less than an hour. To be sure, the real news is that I am a first time grandmother at 65, as I mentioned last week, and now I’ve had a look at these two little precious beings. They took my heart away. They are small, both less than four pounds, but they are perfectly formed and adorable.

Back to the computer story - I am teetering on the edge of making this new relationship a hardship, and while it's different, it’s not really difficult. It’s easy to think of different things as being hard. I tend to feel out of control when things change, but really, it’s quite smug of me to think I can control things. I can feel confused and not know how to do something and it’s still okay.

Last week I talked about being relaxed about feeling uptight; this week I think I’ll be okay with feeling out of control. It’s always good to give up resistance to the experience of reality. I can be okay about not being okay with my new computer. I just stopped writing to speak with a friend via phone. She just bought a new computer similar to mine. She’s going nuts. I feel better. Have a great week.

Anne

  Avoiding Dramarama

I'm in the airport? People rush by. I feel the drama rising. I want to join the struggle. It's tempting, but I pull back, breathe, and relax. I was in the right terminal, but since I'd pulled the wrong boarding pass, I took an extra ride around the airport to get to another terminal. I sit in the train as if headed toward my execution.

"Wait. Come back to reality. This is just a train ride. Why not enjoy it, even if you are going the wrong way?"

I watched a woman pushing a cart down the walkway. "Thank God that's not me." I'm headed for a jet. She's got the job from hell."

I remember the days when air travel was a luxury. I'd dress like a model when going on a trip. I felt like the rich and famous when I took flight. Nostalgia. I dug down to those inner realms and felt the smile. It was there all along, just waiting.

"No, you must check your bag; it's too big to gate check." Back to the airline desk. Twenty-five dollars and my bag is safe and headed toward the plane belly.

Where is that damned smile? Yes, it is still here. Again, back to reality, to where my mind quits judging and playing patty cake with drama. The stillness doesn't care. It just watches like a patient parent.

At last, I'm in my seat. What is that? The smell intensifies as if the item itself grabs me by the nose. I sit, closed eyes, and a banana assaults me. I don't even have to look in the direction of the Baby Ruth. Even after thirty years of abstinence I'd know that smell anywhere.

I slink down the aisles toward the restroom. When did jets get so small? Maybe people are just larger. Muffin-topped people spill over their seats. I think of Harry Houdini and nod to his spirit. I imagine him in trying situations, body contorted into tiny spaces; he knew he must remain cool. He was an escape artist, and while I escape different kind of chains, I too am an escape artist.

Ego driven stress and struggle chains me to a life threatening dream of emotional upheavals, but peace is so close, and just as Harry slips those bonds with ease, so can I slip by my weaselly little mind. Pop goes the weasel and I'm free. It's amazing how easy it is to drop the drama.

Even though upset is a national sport, it's time to rework our allegiance to complication and distress and join the ranks of ease. Travel, waiting in line, waiting for an elevator - these events are not crises. They may entail inconvenience, but they are not emergencies. If we hold court with irritation about the small things in life, the universe is sure to hand us bigger and more challenging experiences. Try the opt out lane. Opt out of drama, and I'm sure your life will get easier and easier.

  Quotes

"The ego's voice is one of fear and distrust. It doesn't trust life. It expects difficulties at every turn and tries to avoid them through planning and thinking about the future and mental rehearsals of the future. However, the truth is that such thoughts are impotent. They don't protect us from life and they certainly aren't capable of predicting the future. They keep us busy in our heads and result in nothing of value."
– Gina Lake, Embracing the Now

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
– Steve Jobs

  Anne's Books

Standing in The Dark

EZosophy

Offbeat Prayers

Click here to see all three of Anne's books

What people are saying about Standing in the Dark:

"Standing in the Dark, by Anne Sermons Gillis, isn't just another positive thinking book. It's a book about the difficult times in life and what we can do to make it through them. It does, however, give us positive ways to make life easier. It's a short book, but it's one that may just turn your thinking on its head, which will probably be the best thing that's happened to your thinking in a long time. It's about how to bring more ease into a life that isn't easy all of the time. Anne discusses six main areas of life: Ease, Mission, Health, Relationships, Money, and Loss."
  – Charles David Heineke

Now available on Kindle. Click for details.

What people are saying about EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy or at Least Easier Living:

"Although most conscious people understand that life doesn't have to a struggle, the "how to" has been missing... until now. Anne's book makes it "easy."
  – T. Harv Eker - Bestselling author and Founder of Peak Potentials Training

Now available on Kindle.
Click for details.
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What people are saying about Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic:

"I love your book. It is filled with much wisdom, humor and heart. Really beautiful."
  – Alan Cohen author, Enough Already, mentions Anne and EZosophy on page 99

Now available on Kindle.
Click for details.

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to find out.

  Theosophical Society

Anne Sermons Gillis currently serves as the president of the Houston Lodge of the Theosophical Society.

We encourage our members to live a life in service to humanity, in stillness through mediation, and in study of ancient wisdom.

"Recognition of the unique value of every living being expresses itself in reverence for life, compassion for all, sympathy with the need of all individuals to find truth for themselves, and respect for all religious traditions."
   --The Theosophical World View

Meetings are held on the first and third Saturdays at 10 AM Central Time in Houston, Texas.

For more information visit The Houston Lodge or visit our national organization at http://www.Theosophical.org.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Anne's Services

  Schedule Anne

You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.

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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time.

Other Events for Your Consideration

Here are two upcoming spiritual events that may be of interest to you.

May 17-18, 2014
Awaken Houston Retreat Flyer

June 5-8, 2014
Co-Creators Convergence Conference, Year 2

  Healthy Living

Stay in Touch

Kangaroo Care? My little grand babies are getting kangaroo care. They are premature babies, but it seems that everyone can benefit from KC. It's skin to skin contact. The little ones come out of the isolettes and get on mom's and pop's chest for one hour or more. It is not only a bonding time; babies who receive KC cry 87% less that those who are swaddled instead of held.

When babies are held, their mothers produce oxytocin, also called the love hormone. Oxytocin is produced when people fall in love. It's the really good stuff.

"There are now a multitude of studies that show that mothers and babies should be together, skin to skin (baby naked, not wrapped in a blanket), immediately after birth, as well as later. The baby is happier, the temperature, heart, and breathing rates are more stable and more normal, and the blood sugar is more regulated. Not only that, skin to skin contact immediately after birth allows the baby to be colonized by the same bacteria as the mother. Touch and breastfeeding are thought to be important in the prevention of allergic diseases. When a baby is put into an incubator, his skin and gut are often colonized by bacteria different from his mother’s." (International Breast Feeding Centre)

Ashley Montagu's seminal work in the 1970's on touching brought to light that skin to skin contact is not the fluffy stuff; it is an essential ingredient of healthy living. It matters not if you are one or one hundred years old. Touching, as in skin to skin contact, reduces depression, strengthens your immune system, and produces healthier, more well adjusted people.

Even self massage is beneficial. Try rubbing your arm in a loving way. Doesn't that feel good? Maybe one of the reasons people love to dance is because of the touch. It's touch season. Reach out and touch someone when appropriate, hug as often as possible, and learn practices like Do In, the art of self massage, and when you do, you will find that your life is easier and easier.

  Anne Talks

Click to watch the Intuition Teleseminar with Anne Sermons Gillis (43:07).

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Editor/Publisher: Charles David Heineke of TheDoorway.org.

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