Each month as I prepare to write my Newsletter, I reflect on the past month and muse upon the upcoming.  In my three years of sending out monthly newsletters, I’ve never experienced such a shift in one month as I have this last month. Changes are taking place at a whirlwind speed. I hardly recognize myself.  And I hardly recognize our Planet as it changes daily with the Middle East being the epicenter.

The changes are taking place on every level. For me, the swift changes began shortly after I got my hair cut much shorter. While that doesn’t seem to be a big deal, it is.

You see it’s a physical expression or example of what we all are undergoing personally, locally, globally, and planetary.

We are all freeing ourselves from something.

Freeing ourselves from our own Gadhafis and the Mubaraks.

Freeing ourselves from our inner demons.

Freeing ourselves from our own oppression.

Freeing ourselves from our shadows.

Why?

So our inner light can shine. So that we can be the beacon of light that we are.

So that our Planet can be the beacon of light that she is among the Universe. (Just as each country makes up our Planet, our Planet is but one part that makes up the Universe. Each piece is essential for evolution.)

So that we can experience the joy of life, the joy of the physical experience that we signed up for on Planet Earth.

And so that we can connect with and acknowledge the light in everyone that we encounter.

For we are all, consciously or unconsciously, seeking the feeling-experience of Oneness from which we came from and that we truly are.

It is because of this concept of Oneness that as the unrest goes on thousands of miles away that we are sleeping restlessly and undergoing our own personal battles with the truth.

In some we are victorious.

In some there is bloodshed.

But in all it is worth it. And it is inevitable.

We can no longer sit quietly and watch the injustices that go on next to us. We can no longer NOT speak our truth. And we can no longer NOT be our true self.

We are simply moving to a place where we will have no choice but to BE LOVE.

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Photo credit: MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images

Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, feng shui consultant, energy healer, yoga instructor, and author of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing).  For more information, visit www.tishamorris.com.

Also check out the NEW Feng Shui Your Life eWorkbook. NOW AVAILABLE!

And the time is NOW.

Over the last year, it seems that every client that has come to see me for energy healing has received, either spontaneously or related to why they came, what I call a “heart upgrade” during the session. What is happening is that our hearts are needing to adjust or calibrate to the new energies and higher frequencies that are coming to our Planet. We must adjust in order to maintain resonance with the Planet. This inherently involves releasing density or lower frequencies from our heart chakra.

Why is this happening now?

We are moving from a head-based consciousness to a heart-based consciousness. If you’ve heard buzz words, such as the 2012 shift or shift of consciousness, this is it.

If you’ve noticed that your spelling isn’t what it used to be, then you are experiencing this shift. If you’ve noticed that you can read others more than ever, then you are flowing with this shift. If you have or are transitioning from a head-based job or career to a heart-based job or career, then you are aligning with this shift.

It is a total and complete change in how we have operated in the past.

And it is happening very quickly. Have you noticed that you can’t accomplish things like you once could? But with other things, it’s like magic? Instant manifestation.

The sooner we each shift from head to heart, the easier life will be. Not only easier, but more joyful than we could ever imagine.

In an article I wrote a while back – Doing Less, Being More – I spoke to this same issue. It is a shift from the masculine to the feminine, from doing to being, from head to heart. However you want to think about it. But now I speak about it with more urgency. This shift is happening so quickly that it is affecting people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Here are some suggestions on easing this transition:

• Have awareness. Just by reading this post, you are bringing awareness to your heart.
• Feel. Our heart is our feeling center. We must start to feel. To feel emotions. In fact, this will be the only way to accomplish or manifest anything in the physical world. Even businesses and businesspeople will have to feel in order to navigate in the material world.
• Be in your body. In order to feel, you must be present in your body. Throughout the day, check in and just feel your body from the inside out. Activities, such as yoga, tai chi, even golf, or any activity where you have to be present with your body form, help immensely.
• Feel your heart. Bring your awareness to your heart. Feel it from the inside out. Breathe into it. Or just physically touch your heart.
• Stop judging others. Judgment arises out of the ego’s need for separating ourself from others. This couldn’t be further from the heart.
• Forgive. This is the density around the heart that I referenced above. Forgive everyone, especially including yourself. Don’t forgive intellectually, but with your heart. If you don’t shed some tears in doing this, then you haven’t forgiven.
• Be love. Spend 5 minutes a day just being love. Let it radiate out of you as you sit in your chair. You don’t have to actively send out love, just be love. This is your essence. This is really you.
• Love Mother Earth. Our Planet is our home. Be here with respect as you would if you were staying with a friend over the weekend.

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Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, feng shui consultant, energy healer, yoga instructor, and author of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing).  For more information, visit www.mindbodyom.com.

Article by Aluna Joy.com with excerpts from Carlos Barrios, author of The Book of Destiny: Unlocking the Secrets of the Ancient Mayans and the Prophecy of 2012

At sunrise on December 21, 2012 for the first time in 26,000 years, the Sun rises to conjunct the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree, The Tree of Life, a tree remembered in all the world’s spiritual traditions.”

Some observers say this alignment with the heart of the galaxy in 2012 will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the earth, cleansing it and all that dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level of vibration.

This process has already begun, Mr. Barrios suggested. “Change is accelerating now, and it will continue to accelerate.” If the people of the earth can get to this 2012 date in good shape, without having destroyed too much of the Earth, Mr. Barrios said, “We will rise to a new, higher level. But to get there we must transform enormously powerful forces that seek to block the way.”

A Picture of the Road Ahead:
From his understanding of the Mayan tradition and the calendars, Mr. Barrios offered a picture of where we are at and what may lie on the road ahead. The date specified in the calendar Winter Solstice in the year 2012 does not mark the end of the world. Many outside people writing about the Mayan calendar sensationalize this date, but they do not know. The ones who know are the indigenous elders who are entrusted with keeping the tradition.

“Humanity will continue,” he contends, “but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity to be more human. We are living in the most important era of the Mayan calendars and prophecies. All the prophecies of the world, all the traditions, are converging now. There is no time for games. The spiritual ideal of this era is action. Many powerful souls have reincarnated in this era, with a lot of power. This is true on both sides, the light and the dark.

A Call for Fusion:
As he met with audiences in Santa Fe, Mr. Barrios told a story about the most recent Mayan New Year ceremonies in . He said that one respected elder, who lives all year in a solitary mountain cave, journeyed to Chichicastenango to speak with the people at the ceremony. The elder delivered a simple, direct message. He called for human beings to come together in support of life and light. Right now each person and group is going his or her own way. The elder of the mountains said there is hope if the people of the light can come together and unite in some way.

Reflecting on this, Mr. Barrios explained: “We live in a world of polarity: day and night, man and woman, positive and negative. Light and darkness need each other. They are a balance. Just now the dark side is very strong, and very clear about what they want. They have their vision and their priorities clearly held, and also their hierarchy. They are working in many ways so that we will be unable to connect with the spiral Fifth World in 2012. On the light side everyone thinks they are the most important, that their own understandings, or their group’s understandings, are the key. There’s a diversity of cultures and opinions, so there is competition, diffusion, and no single focus.”

As Mr. Barrios sees it, “The dark side works to block fusion through denial and materialism. It also works to destroy those who are working with the light to get the Earth to a higher level. They like the energy of the old, declining Fourth World, the materialism. They do not want it to change. They do not want fusion. They want to stay at this level, and are afraid of the next level. The dark power of the declining Fourth World cannot be destroyed or overpowered. It’s too strong and clear for that, and that is the wrong strategy. The dark can only be transformed when confronted with simplicity and open-heartedness. This is what leads to fusion, a key concept for the World of the Fifth Sun.”

Mr. Barrios said the emerging era of the Fifth Sun will call attention to a much-overlooked element. Whereas the four traditional elements of earth, air, fire and water have dominated various epochs in the past, there will be a fifth element to reckon with in the time of the Fifth Sun: ether. The dictionary defines ether as the rarefied element of the Heavens. Ether is a medium. It permeates all space and transmits waves of energy in a wide range of frequencies, from cell phones to human auras.

What is “ethereal” is related to the regions beyond earth: the Heavens. Ether, the element of the Fifth Sun, is celestial and lacking in material substance, but is no less real than wood, stone or flesh. “Within the context of ether there can be a fusion of the polarities,” Mr .Barrios said. “No more darkness or light in the people, but an uplifted fusion.

But right now the realm of darkness is not interested in this. They are organized to block it. They seek to unbalance the Earth and its environment so we will be unready for the alignment in 2012. We need to work together for peace, and balance with the other side. We need to take care of the Earth that feeds and shelters us. We need to put our entire mind and heart into pursuing unity and fusion now, to confront the other side and preserve life, to be ready for this Moment in History.”

Mr. Barrios told his audiences in Santa Fe that we are at a critical moment of world history. “We are disturbed,” he said. “We can’t play anymore. Our planet can be renewed or ravaged. Now is the time to awaken and take action. Everyone is needed. You are not here for no reason. Everyone who is here now has an important purpose. This is a hard, but special time. We have the opportunity for growth, but we must be ready for this moment in history.”

Mr. Barrios offered a number of suggestions to help people walk in balance through the years ahead. “The prophesied changes are going to happen,” he said “but our attitude and actions determine how harsh or mild they are. We need to act, to make changes, and to elect people to represent us who understand and who will take political action to respect the earth. Meditation and spiritual practice are good, but also action. It’s very important to be clear about who you are, and also about your relation to the Earth.

Develop yourself according to your own tradition and the call of your heart.
But remember to respect differences, and strive for unity. Eat wisely. A lot of food is corrupt in either subtle or gross ways. Pay attention to what you are taking into your body. Learn to preserve food, and to conserve energy. Learn some good breathing techniques, so you have the mastery of your breath. Be clear. Follow a tradition with great roots. It is not important what tradition, your heart will tell you, but it must have great roots. We live in a world of energy. An important task at this time is to learn to sense or see the energy of everyone and everything: people, plants, animals.

This becomes increasingly important as we draw close to the World of the Fifth Sun, for it is associated with the element ether – the realm where energy lives and weaves. Go to the sacred places of the earth to pray for peace, and have respect for the Earth which gives us our food, clothing, and shelter. We need to reactivate the energy of these sacred places. That is our work.

One simple but effective prayer technique is to light a white or baby-blue colored candle. Think a moment in peace. Speak your intention to the flame and send the light of it on to the leaders who have the power to make war or peace. We Have Work To Do.”

According to Mr. Barrios this is a crucially important moment for humanity, and for earth. Each person is important. If you have incarnated into this era, you have spiritual work to do balancing the planet. He said the elders have opened the doors so that other races can come to the Mayan world to receive the tradition. The Maya have long appreciated and respected that there are other colors, other races, and other spiritual systems.

“They know,” he said, “that the destiny of the Mayan world is related to the destiny of the whole world. The greatest wisdom is in simplicity,” …  . “Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It’s not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It’s encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way.”

According to the Army Corps of Engineer, a flood of this magnitude statistically happens 1 in 1000 years in Nashville.

I am saddened to say that Nashville (and the surrounding counties) has received its share of the natural disasters that seem so widespread these days. This one has struck near and dear to my heart as I see the town I grew up in and currently live in submerged in water.

And I’ve never felt more proud to live here than I do now.

Like any city during a disaster, the people of Nashville have opened their hearts to their neighbors, friends, and strangers. And but for the scores of volunteers, so many more lives would have perished. Once again, the Volunteer State has lived up to its name.

Nashville has always been a city for healing. Situated in a bowl of limestone rock, Nashville is very grounding which provides a great bed, so to speak, for healing. It’s no coincidence that Nashville is a hub for major hospital corporations. Underneath, it also has a very strong and vibrant alternative health and lightworker community that many are not aware of.

Being a sister city of Athens, Greece, Nashville has many parallels, such as the only exact replica of the Parthenon, along with many other architectural similarities throughout the city. It is theorized by many that Nashville will be (or is) a major player in our new world or post-2012 era. This brings me back to the flood.

All natural disasters are a result and for the purpose of bringing our Planet into balance. And all natural disasters cleanse and renew the areas in which they strike. It seems not coincidental that this flood has taken place while the most disastrous oil spill in history is taking place. Earth must maintain a balance if we are to maintain residency here.

A smaller example is that of East Nashville that was hit in 1998 by a tornado. This once-thriving area in the early 1900′s had since been overtaken with crime and poverty. Beautiful Victorian-built homes had fallen prey to decay and neglect. After the tornado came through leaving destruction in its path, the neighborhood spurred by insurance money rebuilt itself to better than ever. It is now considered one of the best neighborhoods to live in in Nashville.

While none of this makes it any easier to see the current devastation of homes, lives, and businesses in shambles, I do know that Nashville will rise from this disaster and be better than ever. It will heal and be healed. And it will be that beacon of light that will help bring our precious planet back into balance.

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Please spread the word, in case folks don’t grasp the severity of what’s going on. Temporary shelters are at capacity, missing people are unaccounted for, many homes are under water, we’re in a water conservation emergency, much of Nashville’s economic base is threatened by flood damage, etc.

Text ‘REDCROSS’ to 90999 to donate $10 to disaster relief.

So what is at the root of all the changes currently going on? It is more than a failed banking industry, greedy creditors, international wars and conflicts, and an increase in global warming. In fact, these are only symptoms. The underlying cause is an energetic shift from the masculine to the feminine. In other words, it is a critical rebalancing of yin and yang energy.

All energy, including humans, is comprised of yin and yang energy. In other words, all males have yin (feminine) and yang (masculine) energy, as do females. It is our ultimate challenge to balance these two energies within ourselves. Relationships have proven to be the most common way to do this. For example, if we have an overbalance of masculine energy, then we will seek someone with an overbalance of feminine energy to, in essence, complete us, and vice versa. This critical yin yang balance within ourself is a template for our Planet.

For thousands of years, our Planet has become increasingly overbalanced with masculine energy. Masculine energy has served us with increased productivity, leadership, activity, technology, mobility, and other facets that have led to an amazing modernization of our Planet. However, with these advancements have come abuse of power, war, corruption, greed, superiority, and fear. As a result, women have been oppressed and our divine goddess, Mother Earth, has been abused.

In order for our continued survival on Planet Earth, the pendulum must swing the other direction. And it is. It is not coincidental that during this Depression, the only industries that have grown are those dominated by women: teaching and healthcare (particularly nursing). The industries that are falling are those based in masculine energy that got carried away with power and greed. Meanwhile, businesses based in compassion to men, women, animals, and the Earth are thriving. In other words, it is yin-related activities, businesses, and ideas that will work right now.

So it is important to recognize what constitutes feminine energy in order to not only make this shift into our new world easier, but welcomed and enjoyable.

More Being, Less Doing

Masculine energy is very active-oriented, while the feminine is about stillness and receptivity. In my article, Being More | Doing Less, I explain how the active pursuit of what we want no longer works like it used to. Instead, try allowing things to come to you. In other words, instead of beating doors down, notice which ones open easily. This is a personal balance that we must all find within ourselves in order to manifest what we want.

More Intuition, Less Mind

We have all had an experience where our intuition told us something that simply did not make rational sense to our mind only to find out later that our intuition was right. Our intuition can know things that our mind simply cannot know. This is actually a product of the right and left brain functions. Intuition comes from our right brain, while logic and rationalization comes from our right brain. Correspondingly, the left side of our body is our feminine side and the right side is our masculine side. In our new world, our intuitive skills increase while are monkey mind will drive us mad trying to make sense of the world. Thinking can be so overrated!

More Creativity, Less Structure

Like intuition, creativity is a product of the right brain. We are all being called to be creative. In being creative, we touch the core essence of our purpose here on Earth. Each one of us has a special gift that can benefit others, whether it is cooking, art, healing, gardening, or singing. Begin tapping into your creativity and you tap into your soul.

More Heart, More Heart, More Heart

As I mentioned above, the businesses that are now thriving are those based in compassion and love for their fellow humans, children, animals, and Mother Earth. In other words, they were started from the heart to make a positive difference in our world. Some businesses that may not have started out that way have evolved into helping others. Why? Just like our species… for survival. For example, more businesses are buying fair trade, donating to charities, recycling, etc.

The time is now for all men and women to embrace our Divine Feminine. Although gender is irrelevant, women have an inherent femininity that makes it easier to tap into the Divine Feminine. While men are being introduced to their femininity perhaps for the first time, it is especially important for women to completely embrace the Divine Feminine and become the goddesses of the new world.

photo credit

 

If you’ve found yourself voraciously cleaning stuff out of your home lately, you’re not alone. Over the last few months, I have heard this repeatedly from friends and clients. There is an insatiable urge to clear things out of closets, basements, drawers, and in some cases, entire rooms. For many people, this urge is so pronounced and unlike anything ever experienced before. For those of you who are historically packrats, this feeling is very new and perhaps even confusing.

So what is going on? Afterall, it’s not even Spring!

Basically, we (in conjunction with Planet Earth) are going through a major purging. Looking at it in terms of the economic climate, we have all realized that we not only can live with less, but feel better with less. All of the stuff that we accumulated over the last couple of decades just doesn’t feel good anymore. Stuff feels like a big weight. Instead, space makes us feel good. We can breathe again (notice how your breath changes after you clear something out). This is all part of a return of living close and in harmony with the Earth, not in opposition like we as a collective have been doing. In fact, you may have noticed that when you are now drawn to purchase something, it is artisan-made, natural fibers, and/or organic products.

From a spiritual perspective, we have been and will continue to be (perhaps until 2012) on an accelerated course of evolution with this Summer (’09) being in full force. As we evolve, we become less and less dense as different vibrations cannot co-exist. Matter is the highest form of density. Whereas, energy before it manifests into a physical form is a lighter density, but still some level of density. For example, a kidney stone would be emotional energy like anger that has manifested into a physical form. As we evolve, we purge this density (which could be the subject of numerous blog articles) on the physical, emotional, and mental levels. And, our home, which is an extension and reflection of ourself, needs to as well.

As you clean stuff out of your home, you are assisting in an important and necessary part of your spiritual growth, which is paramount to your physical and emotional well-being. You may even notice some resistance well up along the way. Be conscious and notice what the resistance is.

As you clean out your basement, you are cleaning out your subconscious mind. In other words, you are bringing things from the subconscious to the conscious mind in order to effectively deal with it and, if necessary, get rid of it. Prior to that, things were stuffed down there to avoid dealing with it or even having to see it.

What about closets? This is where we stuff things we don’t want others to see, perhaps including ourselves. As we clean out our closet, we are all “coming out of the closet” in some aspect. In your own unique way, it is allowing you to live more authentically. This again is a letting go or purging of anything dense, such as lies, fronts, and fakes. Even with regards to your clothing closet, perhaps there are clothes that no longer seem to fit who you are anymore.

We are all evolving to our highest vibration and most authentic selves, which is love. So, when you get the urge to purge your home, go with it.

As the first decade of the 21^st Century is coming to a close with 2012 just on the horizon, science and spirituality are on a crash course of convergence more so than ever before. As more and more is being discovered in science about other galaxies and planets, the question of “are we alone” will continue to be asked and the answer inevitably leads us to a merger of science and spirituality.

But all of this should be of no surprise. For It was Albert Einstein in the early 1900s who so prophetically tried to explain this to us. Without putting a name or label on it, Einstein was a scientific genius and spiritual master all at the same time. While Einstein has undoubtedly gone down in history as one of the great scientists and inventors, he should also be acknowledged as a spiritual master. As evidence, I share with you the following from Master Einstein:

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”

Some of you may have heard about all the talk around 2012.  No, I’m talking about Sarah Palin’s run for the White House.  I’m talking about the End of Times.  To bring you up to speed, 2012, particularly December 21, 2012, supposedly marks a time of massive transition.  What exactly that means is a matter of personal perspective, opinion, and belief.  In other words, no one really knows what, if anything, will happen.  But one thing is eerily clear:  never have so many different sects of people pointed to the same date as being significant as they have 2012. 

One of the most notable and in my opinion reliable groups of people is the Mayans.  The Mayan calendar ends in 2012.  Just ends.  As you may know the Mayans have a pretty good reputation.  For example, the Mayans were known for advanced writing, mathematics and astronomy. Their Long Count calendar, which was discontinued under Spanish colonization, tracks more than 5,000 years, then resets at year zero.  December 21, 2012 marks the end of that calendar. 

If I haven’t gotten your attention yet, keep reading… 

Today’s astronomers have chimed in and get this: On the winter solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means that whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will be disrupted on December 12, 2012.  Is all this a coincidence?

Nostradamus has apparently also put in his two cents.  Scholars of Nostradamus have interpreted his documents to point to 2012 as the date of the occurrence of an astrological event of massive proportions.  The History Channel (which seems to be more like the Science Channel these days) has a great series on this.  You can also check it out on youtube.  Meanwhile, bringing it back to the Bible Belt, Christians have increasingly predicted that the Apocalypse is upon us due to the rising conflicts in the Middle East and increased natural disasters as predicted in Revelations.  All that is lacking is the rise of the Antichrist.

Books, articles, and blogs are increasingly popping up and will continue to do so as this date nears.  Experts in all fields, including ecologists, environmentalists, economists, historians, seers, astronomers, and spiritualists, have different perspectives on how 2012 will play out.  But all agree that there will be a fundamental shift that will forever change us.  The End of Times doesn’t necessarily have to mean ‘doom’, but life as we know it.  And with all ends, there is always a new beginning. 

What will your new beginning look like?  The year 2012 will mark a time in which we will become the architect of our destiny, unlike ever before.  Your perception of whether the events of 2012 are “good” or “bad” will be your reality.  If leaving planet Earth upon the Armageddon is your idea of leaving hell for heaven, then that will be your reality.  If staying here to experience a higher consciousness with your fellow Brothers and Sisters while living out your dreams is your idea of heaven on Earth, then that will be your reality.  It is your choice.  

Having a choice in determining your reality is certainly nothing new.  We do this every day.  If you consider yourself ‘unlucky’ then you are.  If you consider yourself ‘lucky’ then you are.   One of my favorite quotes is “if you think you can do a thing or think you can’t, then you are right,” by Henry Ford.  This is the same principle as the glass half empty or half full.  It is all about one’s perception.  This principle, however, will be seen on a massive scale.  Perhaps you are already catching a glimpse of this as the current recession looms.  Some see it as cleaning out an old system based upon greed allowing for newer ideas and innovations to emerge.  Others see the current landscape as doom while watching their jobs and investments go down the drain.  Many of us are somewhere in the middle…perhaps the glass is one-third or two-thirds full. 

As our current way of living continues to fall as I wrote about in November , this clears the way for the ‘new’… new ideas, new ways of thinking, being and living, belief systems, innovations, expanded consciousness, superior technologies and inventions.  We are on the cusp of an extraordinary time in history that we have all chosen to witness and take part in.  What will be your role?

This Fall, particularly during the month of October, we have seen much more than just the leaves fall, but the stock market, big industries, and the current political regime.  As I hear the black walnuts fall off the walnut tree in my backyard, almost violently, I am reminded just how dramatic the ‘old’ world has been and is falling.  Those things that seemed so secure are suddenly crumbling leaving us wondering just what can we rely on.

One of the advantages of living in a seasonal climate is that we get to experience the cycles of life firsthand.  Once the leaves have fallen and the plants have deadened, we are left with a massive clearing where only the bare essentials are left and completely exposed.  This is where we find those things that are most important to us, which then provide the foundation to grow from in the Spring.  The phrase, ‘out with the old, in with the ‘new’, couldn’t be a better description for this process.  And the deeper the clearing, the more space available for the new.  

So as Fall quickly turns to Winter, begin asking yourself what can I rely on and what is most important to me.  Your answer will most likely be the same for both questions and the answer will most likely not be something in the physical form.  And this is the quintessential lesson for all of this Fall.