Yep, still here. I wrote this big long post at work on Friday and then decided to let it sit and marinate. Talking with my coach on Saturday helped me put all this into perspective. And, FWIW, Jody, she was right there with you on your comment to me. I totally got it. Totally. This whole week has been about self-authority. And how I assert that. Most especially, handling it when others don’t overly like me doing that (coughDUTYcough) because they are used to something different.

So, below the cut is the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey would say). Be warned. It’s long and somewhat detailed. But if you wanna know how dissonance shows up when you shift a vibration, this is a good illustration.

As promised, let me share part 2 of what’s been going on with my manifesting work.

One of the key components (energetically speaking, of course) of the manifesting process is dealing with dissonance. Lemme ‘splain: When you make a conscious effort to shift your vibration to something different, the environment around you remains in the same vibration you were previously. It has to. You created it, after all. According to Andrea Hess, everthing from your house, to your job, to your relationships, to your bank account reflects your current vibration. So, you come along and have raised that vibration consciously. You are no longer a perfect match for all those circumstances that are in your life and as you may know, two unlike vibrations cannot get exist in the same space without some serious fireworks going on. Those fireworks can come in all kinds of packages: delays, irritating situations, annoying rude people, projects that fall through, sudden bouts of negative thought and emotion, recognition of self-sabotage and on and on. It’s easy for me to downshift into the other vibration (and lowering mine) to accomodate this disharmony. I do it much more than I am even aware of doing.

The difficulty when learning to manifest is staying afloat in your new vibration and ride the waves of the dissonance. It’s much harder than you think. This is why the excitement you feel after going to a weekend workshop, coming home with a million new ideas and plans, wears off pretty quickly with no change in your life at all. It’s because you switched vibrations and couldn’t maintain that once you’re back in your own familiar one. This has happened to me so many times. It’s really disheartening. But if you just wait it out a bit, hold your vibration and stay the course, you can let it wash over you with minimal discomfort. Most times, it just requires a negotiation of some sort (especially if it’s impacting a relationship) but there are occasions where the lower vibrational state cannot stay. And you have to make a choice to hold your own vibration and keep moving or fall back into one that existed before you switched up. Andrea suggests you keep track of all of these things that come up during your month so you can easily see how that dissonance shows up for you.

Okay, so, here’s what’s showed up for me since I started doing this conscious manifesting for Readings for Hope: A few of you are probably familiar with the name of one of my teachers and mentors, Rose Rosetree. I’ve studied with Rose for many years and she has had a huge impact on my spiritual work and my personal life as well. In addition, Rose is a very gifted writer with many books to her credit and she’s always been one of my biggest cheerleaders in the area of my writing skills. On both a personal and professional front, Rose has been a gift to me in my life. Which is why it came as a huge shock to me to see her latest post on her blog basically saying that working with your Guides in Spirit amounts to “Spiritual Addiction”.

“And the big guidance problem happens when a person starts depending on a psychic source, like one’s Celestial Guidance Team. Sometimes a person does perpetual pendling (using a pendulum). Or a person constantly asks or prays or channels. This well meant checking can get ridiculous. In the name of spiritual development, people are so willing to outsource even the most basic decisions. I wonder if it gets to the point where a person pulls out a pendulum to ask, “Is it okay for me to pee? Do I have the go-ahead to try for a #2?”

This post was written after I introduced her to “Practically Intuitive” and I felt it was aimed right at the heart of what I do. DISSONANCE! There you go. Right there. This one was pretty much up in my face, too. In the past, I would have just let it go since I am Queen of NO CONFRONTATION! But I felt I had to say something yet wasn’t sure what I bothered me about it. Was it that I have experienced something entirely different in speaking with the Guides? (They stress trusting your own self above and beyond anything anyone (even they) tell(s) you.) Well, no. She has every right to view things through her lens as I do mine. It’s not for me to “prove” otherwise. (I can’t anyway. I just know my experience.) Was I upset that it was a post clearly predicated on my work? Sorta. I knew that it hurt to have my teacher and mentor say something I perceived as disparaging about what I feel is my life’s work. And for one tiny, tiny second, I had a doubt. Isn’t that odd? The thing about which I am most certain in my life and here I was doubting this gift. Man. Talk about your dissonance!

How did I handle this challenge I was given? I chose to email her a question about what she wrote and she responded with a phone call which I missed, alas. But in the call, she was honest that my work did prompt her post and that it wasn’t about me personally but that she has deliberately set about in her career to step away from that path and forge something different. She reiterated her regard for me in the call and was very kind about all of it. I felt “heard” and that, I think, was what I was aiming for. I wrote her an email thanking her for the call (what? You think I’m gonna do all this in real time? Do you not know me at all?? heh) and said that I understood where she was coming from and while my experience with the Guides has been that they stress self-reliance, I recognize that she’s coming from a different perspective on it.

It was hard facing a moment where Rose and I differed professionally. But it was necessary, I think. I wanted to stand up to someone I respected and admired and say “my view is different” rather than just shuffling off quietly to do my own thing. And I did. YEY for me! (heh) Seriously, that was the bottom line: can I speak my truth even where it’s not comfortable? Can I trust MYSELF to know what work I’m here to do? The answer is yes.

Self-authority. Can I CLAIM my work and not just when I front it for a good cause but because I claim what I do FOR ME? (Jody’s point entirely and well taken.)

FYI: New post up on Practically Intuitive