The Empowered Lifestyle

Each and every Monday, the 7th grade program that my son is in sends home to the parents a detailed log of what classes will be studying what curricula during the week ahead. This weekly list serve update outlines quizzes and scheduled tests so that the parents can keep an eye on the homework being done and the amount of studying needed for specific classes and agendas. I tell you all this because yesterday I received the outlook for this week whereupon I saw that the kids in his history class are studying the history of the American Indian. Specifically what the sheet said was something like this: “Chapter 12..The white man goes back on his word to the Indians.”

To say the least.

Pun intended.

So, I’m making dinner and flipping channels on the kitchen television when I see that American Movie Classics has the most modern retelling of the Geronimo tale on. The one with the guy who starred with Sandra Bullock in that second ‘Speed’ movie. Jason something or other. Anyway, the point is that I ran upstairs and grabbed the boy and told him to come downstairs and watch this movie. In the kitchen. While I was cooking. I had seen this movie when it first was released and remember it as being fair and unbiased as to the deplorable, inhumane treatment that was part of our cultural heritage where the Indian is concerned. I know, I know, Sarah Palin would not call me “a real American,” but, there it is.

Anyway, I am cooking away when there starts scene after scene of battle after gruesome, bloody battle. Now, I KNOW that NO ONE should EVER cook any food AT ALL when there is any other energy but peace and harmony and love present as those same spices saturate any meal. Likewise, and this is actually a dictate in Feng Shui, we are NEVER EVER supposed to make a meal with violence or pain or imbalance afoot since we will eventually be imbibing more of same. I was torn since I had pulled my son away from other studies almost forcing him to sit and watch this movie that I now wanted to change to old reruns of Father Knows Best (just love that Princess!)

I chose to ‘fess up and tell him that I was changing the channel and how I knew that I am the biggest pain in the ass but that I was choosing healthy and happy digestion over custard’s last stand.

He got it. Well, c’mon, he IS my son after all.

Later on I told him that Feng Shui even says that you shouldn’t bang any utensil on the side of pots or pans while you are cooking either as this can cause some Alka Seltzer moments after dinner as well. We both agreed that it makes sense to make your cooking space as harmonious and beautifully balanced as possible in order to make your body the same exact way.

Next time, I’ll let him learn about the Trail of Tears when there isn’t any milk to spill around. And I’ll know that I have done everything in my power to put only love inside his mouth with a side order of peace and contentment filling his belly.

Crazy weekend this past weekend with all kinds of energies popping up, down and all around, not the least were attached to an email that I received from a client of mine relating to an otherwise out of this world event that is supposedly going to take place in the middle of this month over the southeastern US.

From what I understand, there is a woman getting giant YouTube traffic who is channeling missives from a federation or a foundation representing universal, planetary Galactic Light workers. According to Blossom (her real first name), those brothers from another mother-ship are sending a fyi that they will be coming to visit on the 14th of this month and will be stationed above the skies of Alabama starting on that same day and lasting for two more until they turn around and scoot on the 17th.

They are coming at this time, they say, so that we will know once and for all that they really do exist and that they are in process of trying to help us save the planet. I guess they don’t really care about the cheerleader. Anyway, according to their spokesalien, they are only coming so that the govt. can no longer deny what they apparently have known since mankind began, that we have space brothers who care about us, care about the survival of our planet and are coming to an October near you whether they are invited or not.

Now, don’t shoot the messenger here since that’s all, at the moment, that I strive to be. But, from all accounts, their initial messages these days have been that we should all remain in a state of love and not fear. The deeper implications here are that we should hold the light and stay in a space of overriding love, harmony, balance and positive belief. And, well, since this is essentially my message too I am wondering what’s so wrong with spreading that word?

And, well the whole “live long and prosper” thing? I’m all on board there too. So, for today, I wish you well and wish you would mark your calendars and then, like the rest of us, stay tuned. You might want to rethink that Halloween costume as well if, you know, it had anything to do with Sci-Fi.

One last, if you’ve read the Em-POWER-ing Days of this month, you’ll know that today and the next few that follow are sorta/kinda yucky. Watch your money. Watch the collective fear and stay away from it whether it has to do with alien invasions or CEOs that we should shoot into Outer Space. Rather stay centered in the light with the knowing that these energies all begin to turn around before this month is through. Repeat, everything starts to turn around towards the middle of this month. Including, we’re told, that big silver spaceship.

Okay, so today, in this month’s July Empowered newsletter, I promised that there would be some days during the month that I would share some really ‘SECRET’ Shui, cures and adjustments that you probably wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else but this blog (unless you were really, really serious and really, really looking)! These Secret Shui cures are ones that I have used myself (and constantly continue to do so whenever needed) because they work really quickly to bring TREMENDOUS benefits, blessings and results.

Let’s face it, I LOVE this stuff and I KNOW it works. And I want to try to do something here, on my blog, that you can’t find anywhere else, even inside my other media efforts. So, if you are reading this and you think your family and your friends and even your pets need to know about how to QUICKLY and EASILY make the most of the space around them to bring their dreams to life, well, here’s that chance to just pass this info along!

For today, though, let’s start….So, have you ever wanted something so badly that you could just taste it and, yet, the opportunities to grab hold and hang on just never seem to appear? Let’s use some of the old secret Shui to shift that perspective AND that reality right NOW. And I know that this might sound like it’s really simple but it’s so totally effective and so incredibly powerful that I sometimes even hesitate to share. All I can say is LUCKY YOU, because, today is THAT day and here we go:

For this blessing you will need a ball of red yarn, some scissors, tape or small thumbtacks and possibly even a step ladder. Go to the room you sleep in. I would normally say “go to your bedroom” but I have found over the years that many people sleep outside their designated bedroom for one reason or another, so, really, I want you to just go to the room where you sleep most of the time. Now, from each corner of the room you are going to hang a piece of the red yarn from the ceiling to the floor. DO NOT MEASURE ONE CORNER AND THEN CUT ALL THE PIECES THAT SAME LENGTH. Because of house settling and other and myriad reasons, each corner, from ceiling to floor, will measure differently. Measure out each string’s length individually. Now that you have the four pieces (standard number of corners in a bedroom) cut and ready to hang, you need to also cut four one inch pieces of the string. Folding each of the longer pieces of yarn in half, tie this one-inch piece in the center of the long piece. Just tie it in a traditional knot. Now, visualizing what it is that you really really really want, go ahead and hang each piece from ceiling to floor. When you are all done go ahead, stand back and admire your magical work and then “see” this statement as truth: These pieces are called a “phone line” from Heaven to Earth (ceiling to floor.) The knot in the middle signifies YOU and YOUR WISH. You are symbolically making a call from your space to the Heavens and placing your order for the best life possible. Delivery already on it’s way! We are using red string here today to really ratchet up the request. Leave the yarn in place for at least 27 days or all the way to nine months as these are the time periods we can expect for your wish, or some form of same, to come true!

I will just share that the first time I did this at my old house in the Hamptons, one of the pieces of yarn simply disappeared a few days after I hung them. I didn’t know what to make of that but thought it very strange at the least. I was doing mostly in home consulting at the time and really was hoping for a celeb client to come my way. A few days later I received a call to consult from the wife of the man who wrote the song “It’s Not Easy Being Green” (as in Kermit’s lament) as well as a ton of wonderful children’s book and scores of well known music. He was dying of cancer and his wife wanted to make him as comfortable as possible and thought that Feng Shui could help (which it can and does.) I did my best and she obviously thought those efforts good enough as she began to recommend my services to many of her well heeled and well known friends and associates. Her beloved died several weeks later and she wrote me the kindest and sweetest note afterwards. And, after all, it really was me who should have been thanking the both of them for the honor and the experience of helping him in his last days. I have always believed that I got what I wished for almost as soon as I hung those strings and that the one that went away was symbolizing his powerful and beautiful spirit. I was and remain humbled by the pure gift of that entire experience and will, to this day, hang those strings whenever there seems to be static on my personal power line and then I rest easy that the Heavens above (and all the souls who sing their own songs there) are answering my call!

Friday was the last day of school for all the kids around here so, of course, it was one big party from Sun up to set, which is why I didn’t see that Tim Russert had died until really late that same night. And, when flipping around and looking for a repeat of Top Chef, I stumbled upon a ‘Breaking News’ story. I was shocked. Even though I didn’t know Tim personally, I know a lot of people who did. And one of my truly good friends, Barbara, has a son who interned with Tim and has worked for and with him on MEET THE PRESS ever since.

Her son, Louis Burgdorf, wrote a sweet and heartbreakingly sad tribute to Tim (reproduced below) that I was able to read early Saturday morning. It basically said everything I have ever heard about Tim Russert from so many who knew him so well. I’d always understood him to be an interviewer extraordinaire. Kind and considerate and, well, here’s a word you don’t often hear attributed to people in the media, FAIR. A liberal himself, he always allowed equal time for even the hardest of hard-line conservatives. Tough as nails but even-keeled and, again, fair, were Tim’s hallmark credentials and he’ll forever be remembered for them.

His media savvy and politics aside, though, the one other thing I heard time and time again about Russert was that he was absolutely and completely devoted to his family. He loved his wife and adored his kid. He wrote a wonderful book about his relationship with his dad called “Russ and Me” and gave a loving nod to Luke, his son, each time he left the air. That this man who could so openly express his affection and admiration for both his father and his son would die so close to Americans’ celebration of Father’s Day, and that he would be felled by a heart attack, holds no small amount of deep irony for me. And maybe even some slight solace. He will be missed.

A Tribute to Tim Russert by Louis Burgdorf:

This is a remembrance from a desk assistant, a person at the bottom of the rung in the news business; a novice but never the less, a good friend of Tim's. That alone shows you what kind of man he was. I started my news career as an intern at Meet the Press and from day one Tim made an effort to get to know who I was. The first day on the job I walked into his office nervous as any young guy would be starting his first job, but only I was about to enter the office of the most legendary and powerful journalists of our time, and one of my idols. A man that can make or break presidential candidacies with a single sentence, a man that questions President’s, policy makers and heads of state, with the sole goal of getting the truth for the American People. With my palms sweaty, legs weak, head down and eyes glued to the floor I remember trying to swiftly drop papers on Tim’s desk. Unfortunately they were stuck to my hand and my stomach dropped. Tim put down the phone, looked me in the eye and said “thank you Sir.” What’s your name? Where are you from? What brings you here?

He immediately took time to find out about me. His deep and powerful voice and congenial demeanor completely eradicated the nervousness within me, and I immediately felt comfort. That's a testament to the kind of man Tim was, he didn't have preconceived notions about people he just loved people with every fiber in his body. He was always willing to take time out for his friend’s colleague’s fans and critics, despite his unbelievably busy schedule. He would walk into the newsroom, and his presence alone would motivate you to be a better person and to work harder to achieve your goals. With a smile on his face he would enter a room calling people nicknames that he had created for them, talking about sports, politics and his son Luke. In my case he would call me a list of department store names ending with my last name Burgdorf. He would say; “there he is Gimbals, Macy’s, Saks, and Burgdorf, what are you up to? Go get em, go get em.”(As he made a prodding motion with his hand). He was an intense man, he lived and breathed politics and would do exhaustive research on every diminutive detail of every issue or person that he covered on his. Despite his grueling work schedule he still managed to make everyone around him feel appreciated.

Tim was the reason that people have devoted their lives to NBC. He was the glue of our world at the Washington Bureau, a fearless leader, and a father figure to all of us. Most of all he was a man that was principled on doing the right thing. He made our bureau a very special place to work. Undoubtedly the most influential journalist of our time, he took on the difficult stories, asking the tough questions, and got unparalleled results. Tim managed to do all this and still pursue every task with a heart of gold. That was Tim’s magic, he would ring your bell on Meet the Press by taking unique approaches to tackling issues and priding himself on knowing more about his guests then they new about themselves. But after sharp political minds were eviscerated, they would sit and eat a beautiful breakfast on set with him and would find themselves laughing and enjoying Tim’s company, no matter how heated the debate or toughs the questioning was minutes before.

Tim Transformed Meet the Press from the longest running political show on television into the most watched, most influential, most historically significant political show on television. Despite the gargantuan success that Meet the Press has had since Tim’s tenure as its host, he has always been extremely humble about it. Tim always stated that he was the temporary Custodian of Meet the Press always paying homage to his predecessors in Meet the Press minutes. Every Sunday and Monday one of my duties as an intern was to verbate the viewer comments so that Tim could go over them. He really cared about his viewers thoughts, and I have no doubt that he read the majority of them. A man that symbolized everything good about the news business, a man filled with love for his country and his family, a man committed to getting the accurate version of the story to the people. Tim was a man with a congenial disposition principled on morality, integrity, and character. The world has gained a new luster by the life of this man and I feel privileged and honored to have been touched by his brilliance. We welcomed him into our homes and minds every Sunday and will never forget the knowledge and truth that he instilled within us.

The news industry and the world have suffered a tremendous loss, but have gained so much from this man. Tim liked nothing more then to lift people up when they were down and thought nothing was more important then keeping your word. I have been deeply impacted by Tim Russert. I will dedicate the rest of my life to living by the principles that Tim so fervently stood for. Love of life, love of truth, love of accuracy in work, love of commitment, love of politics and the freedom of human thought and expression, and of course most of all love of faith and family. “If it is Sunday it’s Meet the Press”.

Ted Kennedy has brain cancer. And it seems like a pretty inoperable brain cancer with a grim prognosis at that.

I don’t know why, but I just sort of assumed after all this family has gone through over the last gajillion decades, that Teddy had somehow slipped through the cracks of the ‘Kennedy curse.’ Not that cancer is a curse and not that he won’t beat it either (more on just how he can do that in a bit), but, well, another drama for a family that has CLEARLY had its fair (or unfair) share of it. I guess that I feel a little bit more involved since I grew up in a wholly Irish Catholic household where the picture of President John F. Kennedy took as much real estate in the family dining room as the hallowed and framed one of the Pope. The oil portraits of us, the four Irish wee ones, well, not so much as the true places of honor that belonged to the first Irish Catholic Head of State and the pontificating Holy Father.

So, Ted, I wish you luck and health and courage. Of course, I wish all the same to your whole family, especially your grace-FULL niece, Caroline, who has had to endure more tragedy and death in her lifetime than I can even imagine. And, Vicky, if you are looking for alternative ways for Teddy to fight the good fight, then he might just want to avail himself of a little literal Feng Shui fightin’ treatment, called appropriately enough, The Cancer Cure:

While receiving all other medical treatment (in this case Senator Kennedy looks to have chosen a traditional chemo therapy), meditate on what is called in Feng Shui ‘The Six True Colors,’ WHITE, RED, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, BLACK. In this sequential order, these colors symbolize or represent a Holy figure, whether that means the Buddha or Archangel Raphael, the healer, the Hindu goddess Saraswati or the Pope, these colors, when put in order, represent our own holy nature and our bodies' own internal abilities to heal--ESPECIALLY if that healing demands a suspension of skepticism and an allowance for the miraculous. I have seen this cure work many, many times in even the most dire of circumstances.

The initial color, WHITE, represents the beginning or the birth while the last color, BLACK, symbolizes the end. All the intervening colors represent all things, both seen and unseen, in the Universe. When these six colors are represented in this particular sequential form, (color them in a rainbow sequence with crayons, paint or markers or cut strips of paper in same colors and affix them to a foundation of some sort; do whatever makes you feel proactive, empowered and comfortable) the end result is a mystical and mysteriously healing symbol that will have a positively beneficial effect on anyone who is looking to create their own cure. Simply meditate on these colors, in that specific sequence for twenty minutes a day. As you take these auspicious colors into the body, transmit this miracle color sequence to the afflicted cells, flooding them with vitality, health and healing.

We’re pulling for you Ted. May the wind be always at your back, especially as it blows during this battle.