Serious Illness - A Blessing in Disguise

“Matter is Energy. Energy is Light. We are all Light Beings."
Albert Einstein

Thank you for that profound statement, Albert Einstein. And thank you, Helen Keller, for: “The best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

I had a stimulating discussion with a very wise friend recently. He had just read many of the writings from my blog, and though he appreciated them, he also felt that I wasn’t being specific enough. He opined that at times I glided over serious issues a bit too nonchalantly. I must admit that in re-reading some of the material I’ve noticed a glibness of sorts and, of course, that was never my intention. Perhaps in my enthusiasm to share information that had been life saving for me, in which I’ve been immersed for years, and which ever thrills and inspires me, I stated my case too perfunctorily.

Mainly what I write about is my own experience of the energy that we all share – that we all are – and the acknowledgement and embracing of that energy in its myriad guises. And I can hear my wise friend saying right now: “What do you mean by that? Most people won’t understand what you’re talking about. What energy?" Let me explain.

What brought me to my life focus on ‘energy’ was a challenging battle with cancer I had about thirty years ago, which entailed multiple surgeries and three years of chemotherapy. I spent the first four years of this seven-year journey in bewilderment, asking my doctors what I was doing wrong. “I take very good care of myself, why am I in the hospital every twenty minutes?” They didn’t have an answer to that one but were wonderfully skilled and kind and helped me immeasurably. Finally, around the time I was beginning chemotherapy, a deep insight awakened in me. I had to take responsibility for myself in this situation – something in me needed to shift into another gear. Out of the blue, wondrous guidance showed up. In retrospect, I see that I was led to all manner of healing modalities. We’re talking the 70’s here so a lot of this was really foreign to me – acupuncture, acupressure, shiatsu, rolfing, rebirthing. I was guided to health care professionals, seminars, books, and ultimately to my spiritual teacher, Hilda Charlton, who taught me and thousands of others about ‘energy’.

Our scientific community has been telling us for years that the Universe and everything in it – including every cell and atom of our bodies – is energy. Before Quantum Physics became part of our vernacular, Hilda was a living, breathing expression of the Universal Energy that has been the foundation of sacred teachings for all of recorded history. God, The Light, The Source, The Force, Divine Presence, Higher Power – however we wish to label It – that’s what she was sharing. She had us feeling with our hearts. She had us experiencing The Light. She was the catalyst through which many of us were healed. Though Hilda is no longer in her body, she's very much alive through her recordings and books (http://www.hildacharlton.com/) and through the many she inspired to go forth and share their own work in our world. I'm honored to be part of this list which includes Alan Cohen, Rick Jarow, Ron Young, Rita Heap, Lionel Fernandez, Garnette Arledge, Larry Heisler, Linda Cali, Jed Schwartz, Lois Slade, Allen Levy, David Pomerantz, Richard Shulman, Kathleen Donovan, and many more too numerous to mention. We're all so grateful to her.

Becoming attuned to this energy and how profoundly it is affected by our thoughts and feelings ultimately brought health back to my body and changed my life forever. I really ‘got’ that life is lived from within out, and that it's all about being ever-conscious of this connection – a connection to energy that we can’t see or touch or taste or smell – only feel. It has become my deep conviction, and the core of my work, that every arduous experience we attract to our lives is to serve that purpose – to usher us in to our own hearts and souls where this energy, despite any current physical disability, is alive and well and beckoning us to feel.

I realize that when we’re in the throes of critical illness, our natural reactions are to be angry, sad, depressed, and hopeless. And I don’t ever want to negate the value of those reactions. It's vital that we allow ourselves to experience these emotions. We can’t move to the other side of any situation until we accept what’s there. But I’m also encouraging acknowledgment of not only what’s there, but rising to the invaluable challenge that this scenario has presented to us. We are not simply these bodies. We are body/mind/spirit beings.


Rahm Emanuel very aptly states that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. Whether we like it or not, illness provides a time-out from life as usual which strikes most of us as really bad news. However, the good news is that, if we rise to the challenge, there's a hidden agenda here that can open us up to a part of ourselves that, I promise you, longs to be embraced. This difficult, painful, intrusive dis-ease is grist for our life mill. It’s not an accident. It’s meaningful and purposeful. It has the potential to bring us to unfathomable riches within that will enhance every aspect of our lives.

Ok, so how do we get to the riches? First, it helps a lot to accept, and have the experience of, our bodies being energy systems. This can be accomplished by just getting still for a few moments and noticing the beating of our hearts. Our amazing hearts start beating about twenty-two days after conception and continue unceasingly until our physical bodies die. Their service to us is priceless, and I suggest that right this moment, we all feel great appreciation for our beating hearts. Notice energy pulsing all through your body as the result of this beating heart. Feel such appreciation. Next, acknowledging our breathing – take another few moments and slowly notice the inhale – the exhale – so natural, so automatic. Feel appreciation for this breath of life that breathes us every moment, day and night. Allow yourself to feel - really allow yourself to feel love for your very own body. I'm very big on tenderness these days. Feeding ourselves tenderness. What elicits tenderness for us? Holding a baby, a puppy or kitten – just thinking about the vulnerability of a baby bird? Feel the tenderness that lives within you and then offer yourself this tender love and compassion. Just let tenderness flow through you like a soothing river. This is oh so healing for us. This is one of the riches.

Then there’s the continuous flow of energy pulsing through all the vital organs and systems that are working relentlessly to sustain our lives. Even when they’re compromised, our bodies are magnificent and functioning tirelessly to re-balance and heal themselves. I refer to our bodies as healing machines. And for this I say “Thank you”. Thank you every organ ­– heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, gall bladder, spleen…. every system – digestive, respiratory, reproductive.... Thank you, my body. Thank your body every day. Thank it for being your vehicle throughout this life adventure. Gratitude and appreciation are enormous contributors to our overall well-being. Even when our road has become outrageously bumpy, consciously being grateful for as many things as we can think of each day is immensely salubrious. Feel gratitude.

Having started to feel the precious energy of our bodies, and the gratitude inherent in that experience, the next step is taking responsibility and totally committing ourselves to our own well-being. Commitment is essential for our success in any endeavor, particularly in regaining our good health. As soon as we're truly committed, guidance kicks in and it can open us to the vast array of healing modalities available. I'm not talking about eschewing traditional medicine. I'm suggesting that when critical illness has arrived at our doorstep, it behooves us to pull all the bunnies out of the hat – to try anything and everything that has the potential to make us well again. Modern medicine is astounding, surgical procedures, stunning. But, from my viewpoint, to make our recovery lasting and this whole process as transformative as it is meant to be, this is the moment to take to heart Hippocrates' wise words spoken over 2000 years ago: "Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease." This is the moment to claim the healing energy that resides within us all, always. This is the moment to realize that there's a wellspring of power within our bodies that would have gone unnoticed if this crisis hadn't crashed into our lives. This is the moment to embrace a new philosophy and thought process regarding our bodies and the way we've been living our lives. Commitment and taking responsibility mean rising to the challenge and using all the tools available – traditional and alternative – to set the stage for our own healing. Reading/listening to any inspiring information to which we’re guided is most important, as is enlisting the assistance of someone well versed in the mind/body/spirit connection. These few things are a fine start on the road to our inner riches.


In the midst of my own health crisis I was drawn to, and immensely nourished by, reading Ralph Waldo Emerson. The veracity in his quote “The first wealth is health” is undeniable. He assures us also that: “We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us organs of its activity and receivers of its truth.” Lying in the lap of immense intelligence and receiving truth there is always available to us. All we need to do is get still enough to feel – to quiet our breathing – to listen and marvel at our beating hearts and the Life Force moving through our bodies – to open to the heart and soul food ever-present in this stillness. Relax – Release – Receive.

I know that my illness drew me into a place of great blessing. It was a gift of inestimable value – a gift that truly does keep on giving. For anyone hosting serious disease, it is my ongoing prayer that this "illness opportunity" be grasped and inhaled and imbibed as the gift that it is. May it usher you in to finally feeling and relaxing into your precious connection with the Immense Intelligence – Universal Energy – Love – Light – God. "We are all Light Beings."


"True happiness is in the love-stream that springs from one’s soul; and he who will allow this stream to run continually in all conditions of life, in all situations, however difficult, will have a happiness which truly belongs to him, whose source is not without, but within."
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Sufi Teacher 1882-1927

Run The Light

This phrase has taken on new meaning for me recently. To many of us it's always referred to zooming through a traffic signal that's morphing from yellow to red. Now, to me, Run the Light means something totally positive and invaluable. I Run the Light while meditating, while walking down the street, actually whenever it occurs to me to do it.

Running the Light is a precious tool because when we're upset, depressed, worried, anxious or just plain exhausted, the energy in our bodies contracts, and things are not easefully pulsing away in there with the harmony and balance that is native to our systems. If we're out of this orientation for long enough, we usually get sick. I'm sure this is coming up for me right now because during the holiday season I usually succumb to overwhelm and get laid low by some form of 'not feeling well'. The upside of this is it reminds me that I need to Run the Light. This year I've been fine and think it's because I'm automatically doing just that.

First and foremost, running the Light requires us to acknowledge that our bodies are energy systems. Just stop reading for a moment and notice your beating heart - notice your breathing - take an energetic deep breath and then exhale it slowly as if you were ever so gently blowing on a big candle to watch the flame flicker - begin to notice pulsations all through your body. As Deepak Chopra says: "Our bodies are rivers of energy." See if you can feel that. All the cells of our bodies are alive with energy. Feel a flow within you.

OK - so what is running the Light? I'm a heart person so my inclination is to go straight to the heart. In metaphysical terms, the chest cavity is referred to as the heart center. It makes sense because that's where our physical hearts are housed and where we feel love, joy, peace and gratitude and conversely, at times, profound sadness and grief. It is considered the gateway to our spirit. So I ask you right now to come with me - come home to your heart. Obviously, closing your eyes wouldn't be appropriate, but as you're reading, see if you can imagine taking your awareness gently down into your chest cavity. When I say gently I mean as if your awareness were a leaf wafting to the ground in autumn - that kind of float and ease. Allow yourself to come to rest in the center of your chest cavity in what seems to be a vast expanse of Light. This Light is dazzling bright, shimmering and glistening and there's a surprising calm in Its luminescence - you are enveloped in It and soothed by It. It's a very welcoming feeling. Stop reading for a moment and imagine that. Feel It. It really is home.

Now assign healing properties to this Light - that It is tender, compassionate Love (It is.) and then imagine that this wondrous Light is liquid Light and that It is easefully starting to run through your entire body. We've all seen enough graphics on film to imagine this for ourselves - healing Light bathing our lungs and rib cage, all our vital organs being embraced and suffused, liquid Light flowing easefully though our intestines, our sexual organs, our pelvic girdle, down our legs and into our feet. You're glowing with Light from within from your chest cavity to your feet.

Now bring your awareness, again gently, back to your heart center - and notice that the liquid Light is flowing up into your shoulders and down your arms into your hands. Then see and feel It in your throat and up your neck into your head - Light/Love compassionately easing and releasing the tensions, fears, doubts, worries - any dis-ease. Know that this Light can spread throughout the body in moments. As you become more attuned to It, you can see and feel It branching out from your heart center in every direction at once. This wondrous tree of Life/Light is streaming healing Light to every nook and cranny of you. This process can become the most natural thing in the world for us to do.

For millennia sacred teachings have told us of God being omnipresent - there is no place that God/Love is not. Running the Light is an acknowledgement of this Divine Presence being here constantly - in every cell, every atom, in every sub-atomic particle of us and everything else. This kind of surrendering to the Presence, which is our own innate healing ability, is the perfect antidote to the relentless, wearying and often destructive distractions of our daily lives. It's time to bless ourselves regularly with this Light - to remember and rejoice that It is ever-present with us - that we are one with It.

It goes without saying, that every time we engage this Light, we're raising the energy all around us and inadvertently blessing others. The next logical step then is to very consciously Run the Light to our beloveds, to anyone or any circumstance that is currently challenging us, to all beings on this planet, to Mother Earth and, ultimately, to the Universe. See all embraced in the Light - being soothed and healed by glorious Light.

As the New Year begins, let's make Run the Light a daily practice for ourselves. We can do it anywhere, anytime, though it's particularly delicious when we can sit or lie down and embrace stillness at the same time. It occurs to me now that maybe the yellow light morphing into red has real symbolic resonance here. Maybe, as 2009 commences, it's time to embrace Barack Obama's "audacity of hope" and move through whatever cautiousness stops us in our lives, and regularly Run the Light to the freedom, joy, fulfillment and vibrant well-being that are our birthright. Let's do that! Let's Run the Light!

Waiting Room

Last week I accompanied a friend to the hospital. She was to have surgery that day, and I'm a great believer in people having a loved one with them when they embark on this particular journey. All the pre-surgery agenda seemed to be handled smoothly, and she went off to the operating room 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I took myself out for some lunch and then joined a large, diverse group of 'the anxious' in the Family Waiting Room. I'm always so touched by the way we humans interact when sharing a common drama. Surgery's a biggie and the impact on everyone involved is enormous. I was acutely and gratefully aware of the communal compassion alive in the room that day.

It turns out that it was an extremely busy day at this major Manhattan facility, and, though my friend's surgery was completed in two and a half hours, all the recovery rooms were full. She had to wait in the operating room until a slot opened up in Recovery. Everyone on my side of these happenings was in the same boat. As all these patients remained stacked up somewhere in the vast labyrinth of this gigantic edifice, we were assigned to waiting mode for hours. The room was furnished with comfy sofas and chairs and coffee tables thoughtfully arranged in seating patterns to accommodate family groups or little niches where one could be more private. It was slightly overheated and airless, but everyone hung in quietly chatting or reading, with an occasional furtive dash to the restroom or Starbucks so as not to miss the surgeon's anxiously anticipated arrival. One by one they all came to inform us of the surgical outcome, though just when we could actually see our person was unknown. So we waited. There were lovely, dedicated volunteers attempting to keep us posted, but even they didn't know exactly where some of our people were. So we waited.

Through all this, I was greatly assisted by having inadvertently brought my very own support system. That morning I'd put on my iPod the Pre Surgery and Post Surgery Healing Support Programs from the Better & Better Series we'd produced a few years ago. I'd taken them to relax and inspire my friend as she waited for her procedure and subsequently to assist her in the healing process thereafter. She listened to most of the Pre before being whisked away, and seemed to be very touched by it. Then later, as I sat in this emotion-packed room, iPod in backpack, I was prompted to play the programs for myself. Since the post-production phase of the Better & Better project, I hadn't listened to them, and though my MO is to be highly critical of my own work, they really got to me. Despite all the upset in the air, I was able to succumb to the beach sounds, music and meditation (Pre) and the joyful, renewing ambiance of a waterfall in Spring, music and meditation (Post). It created my feeling so great that I found myself wanting to stand on my chair and proclaim to all the worry-wearied beings assembled before me that there's a better way. We can take a few moments, close our eyes and go to the beach in our minds. We can be comforted by soothing music, calming, inspiring words and the uplifting sounds of nature. We can take ourselves out of the tension and pain of this room. We can relax and de-stress ourselves. It's so wonderful and healing for us. This surgery thing is an arduous journey but taking care of ourselves in the process is mandatory and priceless. Clearly, we can't be the caregiver to anyone else if we're so exhausted and emotionally shot that we become ill ourselves.

Through my own health crisis (six surgeries in four year, then three years of chemotherapy), I was guided to, and subsequently gifted with, life transforming/saving insights. For the last twenty years it's been my joy to share these gifts with others. It's no news flash that stress creates most of our illnesses. Our bodies are simply not designed to be contracted and tight and harbor upset in them. Anything we can do then to get back to breathing and relaxing and connecting to the Peace within - and it is always within - always! - is our responsiblility to embrace. Life does not provide a wise counsellor at our side at all times, so it behooves us to awaken to the fact that there's boundless wise counselling to be had within. And there are myriad ways to guide us to this wisdom.

Having experienced this day, it's more clear to me than ever, that caregivers need healing tools as much as patients do. And they're ubiquitous. Of course, I'm partial to the Better & Better Series, which is for both patient and caregiver - but there are many others. Furthermore, even without crisis mode, do yourself a favor and discover the delights of your own inner self. It's the gift that keeps on giving. The Love, Joy and Peace of the ages are there for everyone. Day by day, let us become our own best caregiver and enjoy an ever-expanding experience of life lived from within-out. It's time!

Let's Start Getting Serious About JOY!

JOY!

On November 4, 2008 at 11PM EST the pilot light of joy was ignited within the hearts of many beings in the USA and around the world. This was more than the incredible high of a World Series win or moving into the house of our dreams. This was a much deeper, substantial and potentially life-transforming plunge into the infinite well of joy, love, hope, faith, compassion and peace that ever-dwells in us patiently awaiting our acknowledgment.

Many of us have long felt disheartened (Webster's definition - "a weakening of spirit" could describe us for sure) about our great country. The unjust and immoral policies that had been implemented by our government were so far off our personal radar, that we were stunned, incredulous and dumbfounded. At the same time, on some level, we had to feel that, wittingly or unwittingly, we had aided in the creation of this toxic scenario in the first place.

But a new day is dawning. And now each one of us has the opportunity to be very consciously responsible for getting our country (and ourselves) out of the proverbial ditch - for resuscitating it - breathing wondrous new life into its currently compromised state.

We were all gifted with an infusion of joy and hope and such love in the late evening of November 4th. We were gratified by Senator McCain's concession speech and then profoundly touched by President-Elect Barack Obama's purposeful and determined acceptance of this grand honor and awesome responsibility. We were delighted to tears by the adorable Malia and Shasha and by being witness to the genuine love and caring that flows between Barack and Michelle and their beautiful girls.

There remains great joy and hope in our air. Let us revel in them at this time, and let us commit to sustaining this deliciousness within ourselves that it may become our daily expression to the world. When the going gets rough and challenging, as it surely will with the rebuilding tasks ahead, let us be like exquisitely trained actors and call forth the sense memory of that November evening. Let us remember it - remember where we were, with whom we were celebrating - re-live the joy. Breathe it in. Breathe it out to the world. Be re-inspired. Let us refuse to let negativity highjack our country or us ever again. Refuse! Let us stand firm and tall and determined in that decision.

Joy is our birthright. It is within us every second of every day, regardless of the outward appearances of our lives. It wants to be acknowledged, embraced and become our constant companion. Let us, finally, and not a moment too soon, start getting serious about JOY!

Listen to Elizabeth's Most Recent Podcast

Trust

To listen to a podcast of this posting, please go to http://elizabethhepburn.podbean.com

Often, since the numbing shock of September 11, 2001, I’ve found myself dancing with the word “trust,” and within its resonance there has been great solace. To me there’s something much larger going on here than even the entire world being in the grips of imminent danger. And that has to do with the reaction/response that each and every one of us has to this potential threat to our very existence.

We, truly, are the world. Our collective consciousness, or perhaps more accurately, our collective unconsciousness, has been creating the scenarios on our Earth for millennia. And now, with our backs literally to the wall, we face our greatest challenge and, potentially, our finest hour. It’s time for each of us to step up to the plate and play our part in raising the consciousness of the entire planet.

“But what can we do?” we cry out. We’re only human, with all those incumbent frailties and shortcomings. And to that I say, “No!” It’s time to get off that one, and admit, acknowledge and claim that we are also, and most importantly, divine. We are spirit beings as well as human beings, and have immediate access to The Power, The Source, God — however we wish to label the Divine Presence — every second of every day. It dwells very peacefully within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson has said:”There is a principle which is the basis of all things — which all speech aims to say and all action to evolve — a simple undescribed, undescribable Presence dwelling very peacefully in us, our Rightful Lord. We are not to do, but to let do; not to work, but to be worked upon; and to this homage there is a consent of all thoughtful and just men of all ages and conditions.

“To me this dark and difficult “night” is the grandest opportunity ever presented to the human race to — once and for all — embrace and be willing to embody Who We Really Are. We’re in the midst of a major earth drama to be sure, but the more we can expand into the larger context, the infinite, sacred context which is pregnant with both the mysterious and the miraculous, the less that anxiety and fear will incapacitate us.

We can choose to hold the perspective that the enormous upset and dis-ease currently raging throughout our world has as its purpose to cleanse and uplift humanity to an awesomely beautiful level of love and understanding and brotherhood. And here is where trust comes in. We need to allow ourselves to trust this arduous process. We need to relax into that trust — to breathe, to let go, to trust.

Every day, even for only five or ten minutes, lie down on your bed, on your office floor — whatever — and make yourself as comfortable as possible:

Place your arms away from the body, palms upturned, legs uncrossed, a real ‘let go’ position. (If lying down is not an option, do this in a comfortable sitting position.)

Close your eyes and take a slow deep breath in and release it with a sigh.

Sigh out any angst, letting a smile come to your face.

Let the sigh be audible, if possible — letting yourself “let go,” sinking into the bed or floor, really relaxing.

Do this three times, letting yourself become more and more relaxed with each exhalation.

Now breathe naturally, and slowly begin to notice your breathing: how miraculous, how mysterious is this ever-constant breathing.

Say thank you for being breathed.Then notice your beating heart: how miraculous, how mysterious is this beating heart.

Say thank you to the Source of this wonder.

Now notice the energy pulsing through your entire body. Feel that you are claiming your oneness with Life itself and say thank you to the Source of this energy that permeates the Universe — the miracle, the mystery, the majesty of which we are all an intrinsic part.

Now, simply and innocently, trust. Trust that you are one with the Infinite Presence. Trust that It is guiding you to be at the right place at the right time. Trust that we are all giving birth to a new and most glorious way of being in this world. Trust that there will be joy for all, and that boundless creativity will be available for manifestations that will thrill us beyond our wildest dreams. Trust that the Innate Intelligence within your heart and mind will act through you with great courage and integrity in the face of any challenge. And always, in all ways, trust that you are never alone.

Whenever in doubt, Come Home to you Heart Elizabeth Hepburn

To learn more about Elizabeth Hepburn, please visit her website at http://www.elizabethhepburn.com/

To purchase the, “Better & Better Series”, please go here.

At The Same Time

At The Same Time

I woke up this morning musing on my life's relentlessly blessed theme - the heart and the magnificent energy available to us there. 'Whenever in doubt, come home to your heart' is the signature on all my emails. I feel there's nothing more important for the health and well-being of each of us and our world than this heart energy.

And it's so accessible - the heart energy and the myriad aspects of love ever-present within us. Our physical heart is beating unceasingly, from approximately 22 days after conception until we shed this physical vehicle. When acknowledged it can be a constant reminder to us of our Oneness with all of Life. The energy is pulsing in trees and flowers and grasses and oceans and stars and animals and in each of us - in all things. Everything in the Universe is energy.

Ann Hampton Callaway's fabulous song At The Same Time, which is featured on Barbra Streisand's CD Higher Ground, embraces this theme. Just a few of her lyrics are:

Think of all our hearts beating in this world at the same time.

Think of all the love pouring from our hearts at the same time.

Think of all the Light our Love can shine around this world at the same time.

And the very last lyric:

There's a healing music in our hearts, beating in this world at the same time.

Just think and feel how much beauty and truth are in these words. Thank you, Ann. Yes, there is a healing music in the hearts beating within us. The healing ensues from the innate connection we have with each other and with the Spirit dancing within us and in and around all of Life. Let us give thanks to our beating hearts and the healing music flowing from them. Let us feel that these pulsations are flooding our body/mind/spirit system with Light and an ease to vanquish all dis-ease. Let our beating hearts constantly remind us of Who We Really Are.

Take Responsiblity and LOA Shows Up!

Take Responsibility and LOA Shows Up!

Clearly the Law of Attraction has been in full swing throughout my entire life - throughout all of our lives. But my consciously becoming aware of it began one day in the '70s, when I had what was for me, at the time, a revolutionary thought. I was four years into a bout with cancer. I’d had six surgeries and was beginning a chemotherapy regimen that ended up lasting for three years. I was a working singer/actor, and was tap dancing as fast as I could to keep my illness quiet so I’d still get hired in theatre. Neither my doctors nor the few people I’d taken into my confidence could explain why this was happening. I took better care of myself than anyone they knew, so why was I in the hospital every 20 minutes? My medical team was terrific, and they were doing all they could to restore my health, but I began to feel that it wasn’t enough. I knew that something inside of me had to shift. And then out of the blue came this insight: I must take full responsibility for my own well-being. Unbeknownst to me, this was one of the axioms of the then-emerging human potential movement, and the energy was in the air. From that moment on I was fully committed to being responsible for my own wellness.

This famous Goethe quote always rings so true: “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

I began! And what we now refer to as the Law of Attraction became a palpable presence in my life. I opened up and the Universe moved in. I was guided to books and seminars and health care professionals. Modalities that I hadn't even known existed were thrown across my life path. I got rolfed, rebirthed, acupunctured, acupressured, shiatsued. It was so exciting and I was so grateful. Ultimately I was led to a spiritual teacher and healer, Hilda Charlton, and after receiving her teachings and healing energy for a year, I removed myself from chemotherapy. I just knew I didn’t need the drug anymore, and with my doctors fainting all around, I promised to come more frequently for check-ups. I did, and thankfully my intuition was correct; I’ve been fine ever since. (Please know that I never recommend that cancer patients do this.)

For 12 years I studied with Hilda. I knew that her wisdom and the blessings from her magnificent spirit had helped save my life, and I wanted to learn all I could from her. Her teachings were based in ancient metaphysical/spiritual traditions. It’s the same quantum mechanics material now being espoused by our scientific community and many of our doctors. It's all about the Law of Attraction. To summarize Hilda’s teachings very succinctly, here are three points that were life changing/saving for me

1. The universe, and everything in it (including every cell of our bodies), is made up of whirling atoms of energy or subatomic particles. (Regarding our bodies, Deepak Chopra says it this way, “Our bodies are rivers of energy.”)

2. Thoughts are “things”. They are constantly impacting our bodies, either uplifting them or disempowering them. “You are what you think about all day long.” Emerson

3. Disease is literally that ”dis-ease”, a lack of ease and harmony in the body/mind system.

My life was never the same again. Though I loved being in theatre, my passion for the healing arts took over. I longed to share all this wondrous material that had healed and touched me so and found myself dancing into what continues to be the most creative period of my life. I began presenting what we called Healing Concerts, in which I sang everything from Puccini to John Denver, punctuating the songs with inspiring information. And when the market would bear it, I’d lead a meditation. As I wanted to thank all my doctors and the people who had assisted in saving my life, we produced a recording of songs entitled Gratitude. It went onto the market, as did Beautiful Dreamer Awake, music and meditation to help people relax into delicious sleep at night, and to invigorate their awakening process each morning. This project was particularly auspicious for me in that I wrote the “wake-up” song. Amazing! It had never occurred to me that I could do anything but interpret someone else’s words and music, and suddenly ideas were coming to me straight out of the air. I was thrilled.

The Law of Attraction kept expanding in my every day experience. Taking responsibility for my own well-being had not only been the catalyst for my healing, it had opened wide a path of creativity that stretches before me as far as my mind can think and heart can feel. It’s true that in the past 10 years there have been many difficult and painful times. My beloved mother passed away, as did my beautiful Collie dog, and my husband and I endured a lengthy separation. We’re now happily re-united and surprisingly grateful for that estranged time. Everything happens for a reason!) However, through it all, the training I received from Hilda sustained me. My working knowledge of LOA and the profound connection to spirit that had been born and honed in me at that time relentlessly supported my well-being.

Of course, I've needed to take responsibility for the fact that the Law of Attraction was very much in play before my epiphany in the '70's. It was then frequently fueling a negative side of me. Though there are myriad reasons why we host serious disease, one of the huge contributing factors to my illness was not loving and respecting myself enough (though I ate right and got enough sleep, etc.). I was always an intelligent and gifted person, but I beat myself up all the time. Nothing I did was ever good enough. My MO was trying too hard to be what others thought I was or what they wanted me to be. Therefore, though it was usually couched in humor, there was a lot of self-denial and self-denigration. This lack of harmony within myself led to stuffing much sadness and frustration into this body. It's clear to me that these negative thoughts, and the feelings they engendered, helped set the stage for my illness. I attracted it. However, in retrospect, this most arduous time in my life was a blessing in disguise, a life chapter that taught me so much and opened me to wonders I probably would never have known. I think of it as an initiation, a rite of passage. I feel all our crises are just that. Everything is grist for the mill, part of the journey - in many instances, a journey of remarkable creative gifts.

Shortly after leaving my husband, I was walking in Central Park and these thoughts flooded my consciousness: sing these two sacred songs, put a meditation in between them, here's the cover art and you can produce this yourself (my husband had always produced my products). It was that clear. Within 24 hours I had contacted my friend Jeff Olmsted, a terrific musician who has a sound studio in my neighborhood, and we began working on the project. The fee for his services was the exact amount I'd just received for selling my Aunt Mary's bequeathed china. Hmmm. Talk about LOA. The project is called Come Home To Your Heart and, like all my other recordings, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Creative inspiration is deliciously uplifting and humbling at the same time. It is so precious.

Over ten years ago I wrote on my projects-to-be-done list: Pre and Post Surgery Videos for Patients and their Caregivers. In 2004 Eric Brown, a retired lawyer, came into my life, loved the idea, most generously produced it and the Better & Better Series was born. It's so clear that the Universe wanted this project done and brought everything together at the perfect time to accomplish it. Hilda always reminded us that "God has perfect timing". The How is always up to the Universe - the What is up to us.

And now The Secret emerges. At this most critical/perfect time on our planet the Law of Attraction is introduced to the masses. What better timing than now to awaken people to their responsibility for the health and well-being of their own lives and for that of our beautiful Earth. My gratitude to all who participated in the making of this life-transforming video and book. My gratitude to Esther and Jerry Hicks and Abraham who have been teaching LOA for years. My gratitude to my beloved teacher, Hilda, and all the spiritual teachers who have been imparting these universal principles for millennia. My gratitude to Oprah for ensuring that millions all over our planet received this most significant and very urgent information. May it seep so profoundly into the mass consciousness that we and our world become steeped in gratitude, integrity and compassionate caring that, true to the Law of Attraction, keeps creating more and more of the same. Thank you. Thank you. Gratitude reigns.