Discover Your Gifts
Finding Your Voice
Freedom Through Expression
What the World Needs Now
Finding Your Voice
Blair has a knack for telling a story as an example to help someone understand what is going on in his or her life. Storytelling is an ongoing art for how traditions and life lessons are handed down and allowed to grow.
Finding the One Still Voice of Wisdom by Blair Caudle
(as published in the Fall 2007 issue of “Art of Wellbeing”)
© 2007 All Doedreamers writings are not to be copied in whole or in part. Please see our full copyrights at bottom of our home page.
Voices, voices, so many voices! Voices of the past. Voices of the present. Voices of the future. Karmic voices. Cultural voices. Parental voices. Political voices. Religious voices. So many voices to listen to. The heart and mind are tied to them all, especially the mind who never wants to be quiet. Most of us in this culture are so influenced by all the voices outside ourselves that we never get in touch with our true self – our soul and it’s purpose and mission. I’m not saying all these outside voices are useless or unimportant. They’re just not ours.
Why not write our own stories? I believe we have the right to live our own lives, and not the lives of our ancestors. Our ancestors need to be honored; we need a sense of where we came from; many great lessons come from the past. But can we be the heroes in our personal myth instead of reading about other myths and legends?
The people who are doing this today are on their own soul’s mission, and seem to be the happiest among us.
One of the most powerful ways to live is to be present and to live in the now. Living in the present and not worrying about the past or future gives us a sweet freedom. Yet there are also voices in our present that are not ours. Perhaps we need to examine the voices we listen to every day, especially the voices from the media or any negative sources that can have a draining effect on our very being. The voices from the future call to us, telling us what is going to happen and effecting how we feel and behave. These strong feelings have meaning and are often the ones we can’t shake.
The voices of the past are often even harder to shake. They are based on what our ancestors did and what our families expect of us. That one little word, karma - boy! What power we give it. We give power to our ancestors and all of our old wounds and stories. We just love to tell them over and over again. And each time we do, we allow the ghosts of our ancestors and their old stories to live again, through us. This makes it kind of tough to live in the now, don’t you think? Perhaps we can honor our ancestors by giving them a place besides in our psyche. Maybe we could stop telling their stories and write our own stories.
The cultural, political, parental and religious voices I mentioned also have an impact on how we live our lives. They are part of the fabric that holds society together. They have to be tolerated, but maybe we don’t have to hold them in such reverence that they can’t be changed to fit the present as we evolve. Can we find our own voice, our soul’s voice? Can we find the one still small voice of wisdom? I think we can. I think we must. The soul and its song are part of the beautiful melody of the universe. Just like an orchestra and all its instruments, we can learn to play this song in harmony with the other souls who want to play their songs. What a beautiful song it will be. Each of us has a unique voice with its many layers of complexity. Together, we create a beautiful song of diversity.
Voices, voices, so many voices! The more we quiet the other voices and the more we practice the peace and the calm, the stronger this little, but powerful, voice of our own becomes. The sage within is the one we seek.
Freedom Through Expression by Terry Rader and Blair Caudle
© 2009 All Doedreamers writings are not to be copied in whole or in part. Please see our full copyrights at bottom of our home page.
Perhaps the most powerful question we can ask ourselves in order to create the positive change our world is crying out for today is: “How can I best serve to express my Divine-given gifts of joy? We believe that it is through diversity that a transformation for the better will occur. Each and every one of you have unique gifts that are needed now. Although many of you are going so fast, you don’t recognize the fiery promptings stirring in your belly. As the saying goes, change begins with you – yet you don’t have to change yourself. You only need to recognize yourself and the truth that lies within. This is possible by taking the time to seek clarity and we find the best place to do this is outside in nature. All the thoughts, ideas and intuition needed for mankind’s survival are stored in nature. It takes time and proper courtship with Mother Nature to receive her wisdom. These gifts – your answers are waiting for you. They are your birthright to living as a human being upon our precious planet. In offering reverence, respect and some sort of exchange or a promise, Mother Earth will speak to you through your belly. Your gut will recognize your inner truth. Your faith will prod you on. Your belief will steer you clear of distractions. Your expectations will bring you extraordinary surprises in realizing your true potential.
Mother Earth is calling for a bigger understanding. A far greater response is now needed and it goes beyond acknowledging the logical left-brain details of icebergs melting and polar bears dying. This is heartbreaking to know that such an incredible species may soon be extinct, more and more are disappearing. We need solutions to these challenges that threaten life on our planet as we know it. Every person, every village, every town, every single community is important. Every mountain is important, as is every mountaintop. Every river, every animal, every plant, every insect, every ecosystem and especially the air that we breathe – it is all-important and precious in this never-ending, evolving jigsaw puzzle of life. Every single piece is needed to complete the big picture. We all breathe the same air – all life on earth matters and its time that we as human beings, the biggest user-uppers did something about it.
We believe that new solutions are available to us right now through our intuition and imagination. It makes sense to us to see how math, science and technology were born out of right-brain creative, intuitive thinking. Einstein was said to sit and get very still. He’d place a marble in his hand and hold a question in his mind for a particular problem he would be working on. He would slow down his thinking and go to a deeper level, often falling asleep in the process. The marble would fall to the floor and wake him up with an answer to the question he had asked for help with. Did he receive his insight from a higher form of intelligence we all hold within ourselves? Perhaps you have potential beyond what you are living now. Be still and ask. Believe and expect great things. Don’t settle for less, go beyond all you have done before. Don’t expect to get answers for tomorrow from yesterday’s thinking, reach for something new.
Technology, math and science are not all that we need at this time. Humans have a desire to experience beauty and a natural infinity to simply want to play. We also need to express the unique creativity within us through art, music, song, poetry, storytelling, dance, film, etc. It is imperative to our survival as a human race, that these creative modalities are kept alive. Nature reveals answers to us every day and can be seen through the beauty of a sunrise, on the rainbow reflecting in the dewdrop of a spider’s web, felt with the thundering hooves of a hundred wild mustangs running free across an open plateau and heard through an eagle’s cry. We only have to pay attention to experience the stories imparted to us on the wind and be inspired to share them in a compelling, creative manner. Human beings have an innate desire to express themselves and when this is stifled, we begin to live as drones – denying real oneness, neglecting exceptional solutions. We are here to feel and experience life, not to kill each other or our planet in the process.
We urge you to get outside in nature. Listen, watch, inhale, taste and feel the answers awaiting you. Mother Earth will tell you what to do. All you have to do is ask and allow a space for the answer to come. Your part in this magnificent play has never been more needed. Express your joy! Even in times of sadness it is through our greatest pain that we become most honest – that we share our greatest truths. This is when we create the most beauty. Through integrity and grace, we believe that by creating more beauty we can bring a balance to the chaos.
We were at a friend’s dinner party when a man approached Blair and began talking about various things which led to a conversation about spirituality. Blair responded with several ideas on how and why things might happen to people. He pointed up as he completed his thoughts and smiled and said: “ But! There’s always the wild card.” The man replied: “Yes, look up.” Blair looked up to see a joker card stuck on the ceiling, 20 feet above his head, left by a magician at a party almost a year before. There is so much syncronicity that goes on all around us every day, think of what we may be missing. Imagine the possibilities. YOU are the wild card. It is time to claim your inner innocence – write, paint, sing, dance and play! We are all waiting for each other to step fully into our power as human beings. In this power, we can begin to live and love more fully. We can embrace far more compassion than we presently think we are capable of holding. As we become whole, the earth becomes whole – the circle completes and continues on.
At the end of our lives, it truly will not matter how many toys we have accumulated. What might matter most to us as we lay dying is whether or not we were lovable and loved. If the answer is no, we may find ourselves left alone to sort through all of the “what ifs” that we passed by, all of the creative urges, all of the risks that called to dance with us in order to live our lives 100% and beyond. If the answer is yes, we may realize the greatest peace possible before we die, knowing that we lived our lives fully, we loved hugely and we were loved immensely for all we did to made a difference for the ones who will live on after us. It is your life, your legacy. Make it count. What will you leave behind? What will Mother Earth say to you in your final hour?
Through example, we teach the next generation. By planting positive seeds of inspiration and support within their hearts, they will grow up with everything they need for a beautiful life. Tomorrow’s children rely on us, and our actions today. Let’s keep nature alive for us, for them, for all life on earth. Together, we can create a world that will not only sustain our physical needs, but our emotional needs as well. Let’s get busy. Get creative and be sure to have some fun in the process. It is no longer about how productive you can be. It is about how much integrity you carry over into the next generation through their eyes and stories. They are watching, serve them well.
What the World Needs Now
When it is all said and done, it really is all about the love.
“If people are happy with what they are doing, there’s less conflict in their whole being – in their body, in their family, homes, etc. Therefore, there’s less conflict in the community and in the world. This leads to less sickness and strife, its just good common sense. Do the work with love and the work becomes the love, easily it flows.” –Old Crow
Watching you fulfill your dreams
Opening your heart to simplify your life with a down-to-earth connection to nature can be very enlightening. We believe that if more people get out in nature, they will begin to care more for our precious resources in order to sustain them. We love to see people light up and become inspired to walk their talk and to express their passion in the day-to-day world we live in. Watching you fulfill your dreams fulfills our dreams.
The Dream of Tomorrow ©2005 Poem by Terry Rader
Creator we thank you for the day to come,
when once again
the air is fresh and clear,
the water runs pure and clean,
the plants are lush and green,
the trees are tall and plenty,
the farms are full and growing,
the children are fed and clothed,
the adults are calm and happy,
the elders are included and content,
the animals are respected and loved,
the resources are plenty and not wasted,
the days are long enough to enjoy,
the time is precious and appreciated,
the songs are joyful and promising,
the dances are playful and meaningful,
the prayers are shared and believed,
the villages are safe and protected,
the love is unconditional and ever-present.
Hear our prayer of gratefulness for the day to come –
when all life on earth is cared for.