Well hey there, my happy shiny puppies in training! I’m back! After embarking on my annual pilgrimage to Peru to dance with plant medicines and participate in Ayahuasca and San Pedro ceremonies, after getting my mind duly blown (by design) and my energy upgraded and my inside bits wrung out like an old dishtowel, I returned to the “real” world (whatever that means…). And, as usual, I come bearing gifts. Also, as usual, I’m going to share some of those gifts with you today, and will let the rest unfold over the coming weeks and months, as I’m inspired to.

So, if you’re ready, strap in and hold on. This is going to be fun! Ha.

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The changes started before I left…

If you read my last “real-time” (meaning: not a repost of an old article) blog post, you’ll have witnessed the process that was already underway. I had stopped resonating with what I’d been doing. I’d realized that making videos and answering questions about basic Law of Attraction stuff was no longer floating my boat. And just as I did last year after I got back from Peru, I came to the conclusion that it was time to go deeper. I just wasn’t sure what that was going to look like. Well, I’m still not sure. I’m just going to go with it, follow my intuition and do what I’m inspired to do. I might not have as much of a schedule anymore, I might post less often or more often, or basically whenever I feel like it. It could be a video one week, and a blog post the next and maybe a Facebook live chat the following week, just to stir things up.

Now, some of you are going to be celebrating this change and going “Wooohoooo! Yes!”, while a few others are going to be a little bit uncomfortable. After all, this is change, and it’s not clearly defined change. My new publishing schedule is: whenever I feel like it. What are you supposed to expect? Shouldn’t you be able to count on me and my work? What about accountability, dammit?

Rules Schmules

Well, my puppies, this is me, stepping into inspired living more fully. You see, over the last few years, I’ve let go of the “rules” more and more. You know, the rules that state what you should do and how you should do it. And man, do we have a lot of those rules (otherwise also known as “judgments”). Here are just a few examples:

• Your age determines how you are allowed to act (“act your age!”), what clothes you are allowed to wear, how you can do your hair, what jobs you can get (or whether or not you can succeed at a certain job), how smart or knowledgeable you are (young=naïve/ignorant, old=outdated information/possibly senile), how much respect you should garner, and what you’re capable of.
• Your gender determines all of those things, too. Also, there are only 2 genders and they are clearly defined (many, many rules), so ALL women look and behave (or should) a certain way, and ALL men look and behave (or should) a certain way, and damn you if you don’t conform to that.
• Your socioeconomic status (how rich or poor you are) determines all of those things.
• Your religion determines all of those things. Even if you don’t practice it.
• “Insert other bullshit reason here” determines all of those things.

Basically, we have decided to use totally arbitrary characteristics to limit ourselves to a whole lot of should’s and should not’s. We’ve created “rules” for how to act, how to feel, how to react, how to be. Anything or anyone who doesn’t conform to those rules precisely gets judged and shunned and possibly killed. We have, until recently, had no tolerance for deviation from the rules, even though we can’t even agree on what the rules should be.

Right now, you might be asking, “what the hell does any of this have to do with your posting schedule, Melody?” And you’d be right to, because it doesn’t seem like it’s related (more than by the thinnest of threads), but it is.

You see, I had a realization during one of my plant ceremonies, while in Peru. Ok, I had MANY, MANY, MANY realizations, but this is one, and it was a big one. Keep in mind that what I’m about to write isn’t meant to be shared with people who can’t handle a deviation from the rules. This is for those of you (my puppies) who can handle and welcome a scrapping of the rules. This is for you. It’s not for them.

I’ve been dismantling and releasing the “rules” I was willing to accept in my own life for a number of years. So, for example, I no longer bought into the idea that my age limited or restricted or obligated me in any way to do or be anything. Nor did my gender (I don’t have to prove that I’m a proper or good or acceptable woman. I just am one. A woman is as a woman does.) Nor did the fact that I grew up poor, or Catholic, or German and American. Where I lived didn’t matter. It said nothing about me. How I dressed didn’t matter. It limited me to nothing. Not even the identities I wanted to accept, like being a good person, or being a teacher, or healer limited me or obligated me to anything. I could be whoever and whatever I wanted to be in the moment, every moment. And I was the only one who could decide what anything meant TO ME.

Well, last month, while having my consciousness expanded, I was challenged to not only let those types of “rules” go, but ALL of them – all of the rules we humans have arbitrarily decided to believe. Of course, a bit of fear came up. Fear twists and distorts things, and my mind immediately began to question the wisdom and possible sanity of letting all rules go. Did I have to let go of the laws of physics? Would I be lost in some matrix like state of pure energy or zeroes and ones, unable to function, while my body remained behind, drooling and unresponsive and diaper clad? In short, would I have to let go of physical reality?

The nice thing about doing plant medicines is that when a fear like that comes up, you can just puke (um, I mean “purge”) it out. Which is what I did. Easy peasy. One little upchuck, and the fear was gone. Of course I didn’t have to let go of physical reality, and of course I wouldn’t lose the ability to function. I was, in fact, gaining something. A new perspective; a BIGGER perspective.

Being in the NOW – on steroids

And that’s when I experienced what it was like to exist with NO RULES. No expectations of what I had to or should do in any given situation. Just total lack of judgment. It was like a final veil was lifted (or maybe just the next veil, who knows?), and I realized that ANY thought other than “what do I want?” was just, well, unnecessary. It was just a waste of time (unless you want to think other thoughts). I experienced total freedom.

Over the next couple of days, I hit a whole new level of the “no mind” state. While I’d already achieved a silent mind (instead of all the voices that used to be in there, narrating and judging and reminding me to do stuff, while also panicking about all the stuff that could go wrong), I suddenly found myself sitting, for hours at a time, without a single thought in my head (I later joked that I had finally become a true blond, he, he.) I might as well have been drooling, but I wasn’t. I just sat, quietly, silently, and observed. I didn’t think about what I was observing. I didn’t have it in me. My mind was blank and peaceful and free. I was in a pure state of BEING. Nothing needed to change. Nothing needed to happen. Nothing was wrong in any way. I wasn’t even appreciating. I just WAS. And it was glorious. Like floating in a pool of warm water. Nothing is expected of you; you don’t have to do anything; you can just float and be and STOP doing all of those things you’re usually doing. And I do mean ALL of those things.

Now, of course, I’d experienced this “being in the NOW” before, but never so intensely, or for such long periods of time. In the following ceremony, I discovered that this had been training for the next step – the next epiphany.

3D vs. 5D

You see, sitting in this “NOW” state, with no judgement and no dialogue or narration or ANY kind of reaction to it – sitting in a total state of allowing – opens us up to a broadened perspective. Which means, we see MORE of what is there. And there’s always more.

If you’ll allow me to get a wee bit more woo-woo here, it’s the difference between living in 3D and 5D (the third dimension vs. the fifth dimension). When we’re talking about dimensions, we’re not talking about places or even frequencies, we’re talking about how big the spectrum of awareness is. Can you see only black and white or in color? How many colors can you see? How many tones can you hear?

When you look at a tree, what do you see? Perhaps the bark, the leaves, the birds and squirrels and bugs that make it their home. How many hues of each color do you perceive? Do you feel the tree’s energy and the energy of all its furry and crawly friends? Do you see its energy extending far beyond its physical structure? Do you hear it communicating with other trees (its family), the animals and even you? Are you aware of all of that data, or only what is in 3D? Are you fascinated and humbled and entertained by looking at a tree? If not, you’re missing out on a whole lot of awesome stuff.

When your perspective (i.e. consciousness) expands, you see more, you perceive more. It’s like realizing that there were fairies dancing all around you and you just weren’t ever aware. It’s awesome and fun and mind blowing. And it’s a lot easier to expand than we think it is.

All we have to do is slow down, listen, and BE. If we just spend a little time in that state, more of our reality will reveal itself. The hardest part of that is giving ourselves permission to enter into that state of allowing, and not beating up on ourselves for probably “doing it wrong” (judgement).

It’s all about the moment

Here are a few more insights around this topic:

• Life is a series of moments. Every NOW is a moment.
• You can’t capture a moment.
• If you take a picture of something, or simply remember it, you are not reliving that old moment. You are living a new moment.
• If you share a moment you previously had alone with others, that’s a whole different moment and a whole different experience.
• You can’t “ruin” a moment. You can’t get it wrong. There’s always a new moment. Now’s one. Now’s another one. Now’s another one. Oh look! Another one…
• Even if you assign a lot of meaning to a moment, in the next NOW, you’re living a brand new moment.
• All your power is in this moment.
• What are you doing with this moment? What do you want to do? How about this one? And this one?
• If you’re bored, you’re not paying enough attention. There’s always more to experience, if you really look, really listen, really observe.
• Just be in this moment. Experience it. Play with it. Don’t judge it. Don’t try to change it. Let it be what it is. A new moment will come along, um, NOW.
• Don’t water down a moment by thinking about how you’re going to tell others about this moment later.
• Don’t cheat on this moment by worrying about the future.
• Don’t poop all over this moment by insisting on dredging up the past in a way that isn’t fun in this moment.
• No one gets to determine if your moment is “good”. Only you do.
• Only this moment matters. Nothing else. Nothing else has even manifested yet and what will manifest is determined by this moment. So, only this moment matters.
• Be aware of this moment. Don’t always distract yourself. It’s ok to distract, but take time regularly to be present and aware. Practice being present for this moment. It will never come again. Honor this moment.

As always, it can be kind of difficult to put some of this stuff into words. The insights are so huge, but the words can really fall flat and sound a bit “well duh, Melody”. So, my intention is that as you read these words, you’re drawn to a deeper level of understanding of them, as I was; that as you read, you’ll step into this moment with greater awareness and feel more of the freedom you can experience when you let go of the “rules”. If you can’t let go of all the rules, don’t worry. Letting go of some, moves you in the right direction. Then you can let go of some more. Ha.

More to come!

That’s it! That’s the first installment of what I’ve brought back for you. Let’s see what comes out next, how it comes out and what fun we’ll have with it. Basically, let’s just all show up and see what happens. I predict that it’s going to be awesome. Yay!

Oh! But if you’re worried about missing any of my content because of my new, “in the moment” schedule, just sign up for my email list and I’ll let you know the moment I post anything. See what I did there? If you’re not getting my newsletter yet, you can sign up here, and join the Happy Shiny Puppy Army. If you’re getting the newsletter already, then get ready for some more surprises and gifts coming your way. Weeeee!

And then, why not take the time to leave me a comment down below. Let me know what you think about today’s blog post, say hi or tell me what you want in this moment (go on. Practice!). Cause I missed you guys, and I’m ready to hand out some happy shiny puppy hugs. Smooshy HSP hugs. Who wants some?