How to Make the Season Bright

We’re coming into a time of the year when certain conditions of the human consciousness glare. This time of the year is intended to be the happiest time of the year according to popular culture, but for most it’s not only not the happiest time of the year, it’s often the most conflicted time of the year. All of the unattended-to things relative to family and friends — all of the shortcomings that one has lived out for eleven months — suddenly pop up to the forefront when it’s time to make amends, buy gifts, have family meals, and enjoy the happy tidings. If you’re going to become a different kind of human being, gradually you will need to see what I’m going to speak of.

There are all kinds of movements. This room — as relatively still as it is — is filled with movements, but they’re invisible movements. There is the movement of the person sitting next to you, however subtle that may be; there is the movement of the air around us caused by breathing, caused by the fireplace; there is the movement of thoughts and feelings, and the movement of invisible energies that these thoughts and feelings produce that emanate, radiate from the body; and there is the interaction of those radiations of two different people sitting next to each other and having the experience of whatever it is that energy brings out. But all of these movements, by and large, are almost completely ignored. They’re ignored, not because we choose to ignore them, but because we live from a nature that is isolated, cut off from any awareness of these movements. Not only are we not aware of these movements, we’re not aware of the movements inside of ourselves.

If I was to ask how many of you have been aware three times in the last ten minutes of the movement of your own thoughts and feelings, I can virtually guarantee that a small number of you might raise your hands, and amongst those, maybe one or two actually saw the movement of something. Being identified with something is not seeing the movement of something.

There are levels and scale of movement in this room, even as I’m talking with you, even as my words may move you one way or the other. There is the movement of the world, and there is the movement of spirit. They are two different things. One precludes the possibility of a human being ever understanding anything about compassion, about love, and the latter (the movement of spirit) is itself the embodiment of things that are compassionate, true, good, and loving.

The world that you are in now — when you’re not aware of the movement of virtually anything — is the world in which you are part and parcel, fully a part of the movement of the world. The movement of this world is completely governed by the movement of desires that have nothing that oversees them except for whatever dominates the particular individual in whom that desire manifests itself in the moment.

Therefore, a person is virtually blind, deaf, and dumb relative to the degree to which he or she is identified with these movements inside of themselves, and cannot see at large the movement of themselves in the world because they are the world that is moving. Now, maybe that doesn’t mean much to you, but I’ll tell you something about it — something that I saw recently.

My husband and I had gone to Costco [a giant warehouse store] in order to pick up some supplies for the Office. Costco is a perfect microcosm of the human brain. It is loaded with more things than one needs, set out in attractive aisles for the purpose of catching one’s eye (just as thoughts, desires, and feelings are), and it’s filled with individuals — not one of whom even knows they’re in the store, who knows the movement of their own thoughts and feelings.

Relative to that picture, imagine all of these thoughts and feelings running around the mind (just like in Costco), trying to get their hands on what they want to get their hands on — lots of discounted deals, lots of bright things for the future to make one happier — with thoughts bumping into each other, carts running each other over. Someone sees something and you see it at the same time, and you want the pasta before they get it. Have you ever run into your own thought?

Here are a thousand people in a giant store, and the purpose of that store (of desire) is to bring one to the desired object. If the store wants something to stand out, someone must actually make it stand out, so (particularly at this time of year) there are always a half a dozen or so people standing in front of little carts with microwaves and skillets, preparing tasty morsels for human beings to sample.

The human beings standing there, waiting to get their tasty morsel, are irritated by the fact that they have to wait in line to get it, or that the woman preparing it is too slow – because they’re part of a movement that can’t see anything except for the desire in front of their own eyes. They can’t see that 75-year-old woman, skin like tissue, thin and worn, hands old, eyes bleached (from the same kind of life that we’ve lived, I might add, that we’ve all been a part of). Hardly anyone says “thank you.” Not one person there thinks to themselves, “How is it that I’m in relationship with this poor old woman, irritating me because she’s not giving me my pleasure fast enough?”

There is a monster at large. It is in our body. There is a monster at large that doesn’t care about anything other than what it needs in order to feel about itself what it has named as being primary for that moment. That’s all.

There is in me — just as there is in all human beings — a nature who has a vested interest in keeping out any impression whatsoever that makes me see that the world I am walking through is how it is because of what that nature is. No one wants to suffer the fact that the world they see is what it is because of the way they are. Why? Because then I’m going to have to meet this thing that doesn’t see but just wants. I have to meet this thing that doesn’t consider anything outside of itself other than what is necessary to support whatever it is feeling about itself in the moment.

Here is all of this movement, and part of that body of human beings is all moving towards a poor old woman who is moving to satisfy that movement, and not one part of any of that movement has consciousness of any other part. That’s what it means to be dead and blind.

Until a person begins to separate from this incessant movement in themselves, there’s no chance for them to ever know a life that isn’t part of the denigration of the spirit because of that incessant movement. It’s impossible.

But what a suffering is involved. I have to stop feeding myself. I have to stop having enemies. I have to stop thinking about people. And most important, I have to stop putting myself at the center of the universe because all the things I think about, even those I think I care about, still put me at the center of the universe.

All of this movement that I’m talking about, which we absolutely don’t see because we’re swept away in it, precludes us from seeing anything else that’s in that movement.

To be blinded means to be out of relationship with what’s around you. And the point of spirit, as opposed to the movement of the world, is that spirit (what is true) is always in relationship with what is around it. It’s never not conscious of its relationship to life because gradually a human being begins to recognize that it’s mandatory to become still. Without stillness there is no hope for transformation.

You have to examine yourself and see how stimulated you are by movement that you come up with that has to do with the plans by which your spiritual works are going to change you. All your plans and knowledge, your gabbing and convincing one another of what you have and how things ought to be, doesn’t change anything – it just makes you part of the “Costco consciousness” of spiritual beings.

True spirituality has its root in a very, very dear payment that begins with an individual becoming conscious of himself, in the world, as he is, and as the word is. Then because of that, by the very consciousness that he has of the condition inside of himself and its relationship to the world that condition has produced as a result of his unconsciousness of it, then change becomes necessary. It’s not a question anymore that a person wants to change. They’re staggered by the fact of what they are. You’re not staggered at all by what you are. You’re quite pleased with what you are because presently what you are is filled with your plans to become something different. All plans to become something different are garbage. If you have a spiritual future, you have nothing but the repetition of what you have been.

Be different this year by being different now. Try to see past the movement of your own mind. The only way to see past the movement that is generated by desire and the mind is for there to be something still in you. If there is nothing still in you, then you are part of all of that movement.

You go out to the supermarket, the shopping centers, the mall. By and large you waste your money, trying to find a way to feel good about what you’ve been and done over the year by making it up to someone at this time. You want to know how to make it up to someone? Don’t hurt them. Don’t take from them. Don’t stand in front of them and wait for them to give you what you want so that your appetite can be satisfied. Give them something. Give them your attention. Find out where you can be a little bit of light instead of a stone around somebody’s neck.

I know that it doesn’t sound like much, but I can assure you that one person standing in a crowd of five, ten, or fifteen people, recognizing the fact and the actuality of the condition they’re in, coming wide awake and bearing some of the pain that’s inherent wherever human beings are gathered for the purpose of satisfying themselves, that such a tiny act not only changes that moment but changes the whole of the world that you and I have been a part of.

This is what the holidays are about, as far as I’m concerned: Where is it possible for me to step out of the worldly movement and into the stillness of spirit that can be a part of the world but is not in it in the way that I am when I am part of that blind movement to satisfy myself?

When the shoe fits, change the foot… it’s not easy to change one’s foot, meaning to change one’s psychology, but I can assure you, if you don’t do that work, you will be part of a blind force that is consumed by a blind force, and that ends in a blind force.

On the other hand, this time of the year, you do what you can, wherever you can, and suffer what you must consciously. Cease to be a part of what is destroying this earth and the soul inside of you, and you become part of the creation of a new world that begins within you and is finally expressed in a Light that dawns and is born upon the earth.

Wal-Mart Trampling Death

RELATED STORY: Police seek Wal-Mart shoppers who killed NY work

All right, bye-bye. Looks like everything has been fixed. The economy is just fine, and how do we know? Because people are trampling each other to get a Playstation or a Wii. You know, when we can become a culture where we trample each other for a game for our kids, you know, a game where we can teach our kids how to be more callous and not really care about, you know, people’s lives?

I’ve got to trample somebody just to be able to get Grand Theft Auto. If I could just, if I could kill someone to get the game that can desensitize my kids to killing people, it would be the — it’s the circle of life, I’ll tell you that right now. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Did anybody else watch the news this weekend and think to themselves, what are we turning into? You know, I’m going to let everybody else give you the what, the where, the when and the how because that’s all I hear on, I hear on the news, I turn on Fox, I turn on CNN, I turn on the networks and all I keep hearing is all of the details. One guy killed, pregnant woman taken to the hospital. He was trying — the guy who was killed was trying to protect the pregnant woman.

First they said she had a miscarriage, then they said no, baby’s okay. I said we’re on the road, we’re in St. Louis today for the third show, the third performance of the Christmas Sweater and I got up this morning and I said to Joe the researcher, I said, “Joe, you let me know when they start blaming it on Wal-Mart or on the pregnant lady.” And he just laughed and he handed me a piece of paper and he said, oh, it’s already begun. Here they are, just some of the highlights of what people are saying now: This incident was avoidable. Where were the safety barriers? Where was security? How did store management not see
dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner? This isn’t tragic. This rises to the level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-Mart.

Who could have said that? Oh, Bruce Both, the President of United Food and Commercial Workers union, New York’s largest grocery store union. So the unions are blaming it on the evil Wal-Mart. Consumer advocates have said over the weekend, “The intent is to artificially create fervor for a product as well as media buzz about it. Most consumers blame retailers not only for causing such disasters but also contributing via lax concern to making those circumstances worse each year.” Then here’s my favorite, quote, this is a mom out at Wal-Mart: What was she doing in that environment in the first place? What would possess a mother to be like that to endanger not only herself but her baby? What’s the matter with responsible parenting today?

What’s the matter, you going shopping? Yeah, I know. Going shopping, you know, that’s the same as going to the food market there in downtown Baghdad. Where is anyone that will say who the hell have we turned into? Where is anyone that will recognize that the only people responsible are the people that were standing there in line.

You know there’s a phrase that Ronald Reagan said that has been bouncing around in my head for weeks now and I know I’ve shared it with you. The Ronald Reagan said if we lose liberty, at some point our children and grandchildren are going to come to us and say what was it that you valued over your freedom, Grandpa. Well, I’d like to ask you the same question: What is it we value over life. What is it that was so important that we had to push each other out of the way.

And you know what? It’s time to stop pointing the finger to other people. It’s time to stop pointing the finger and saying, “Those people, I wasn’t in that line. Those people.” We’re part of the culture. E Pluribus Unum. It works for good and for bad. E pluribus unum: From many, one. We’re in this together, gang. What have we turned into? Who are we? While everybody else will tell you the what, the where, the why, the how, the when, I just want to concentrate today on who and a different kind of why. I mean, when we look at our life and we look at that Wii or that Playstation, why do we want it? Why? Why do we think we need it? Why do we think we need it so badly that we’ve got to go rush out of the store? Why do we allow ourselves in these corporations to not stand up and say, “You know what, guys, let’s make a few more.” “Well, that’s not good for business.”

The first Christmas show that we did in Pittsburgh, I won’t give you the full story, but the people who were there, they will know the first story. The first Christmas show that we did in Pittsburgh, I stopped it at the very end. I stopped it and I stopped the orchestra and I had a frank one-on-one conversation with them. Well, I got backstage and the director came at me and said, “What were you thinking. What are you doing?

You never do that. What are you doing? Don’t ever, ever do that again.” And then he looked at me and he realized I was the executive producer of the program and he said, “In my opinion.” And he’s a good guy. I love him. But he walked out the door and my daughter looked at me and said, “Dad, you do that every time.
You follow your gut. That’s why people respect you.” Sometimes in business you’ve got to do the right thing. Not the popular thing, not the cheap thing, not the thing that — you know what? Don’t you just want to be treated with respect?

Don’t you — and maybe this is another thing on who have we allowed ourselves to become. Wouldn’t you rather do business with a company, wouldn’t you rather — for a company to come out and do an advertising slogan and say, “Look, you’re not going to hear about the big long lines for the Wii, you are not going to hear about the big long lines for our cell phone because we’re not going to artificially deflate them.

We’re going to make enough. We’re going to have enough. We’re not going to try to hype you. We’re not going to try to get you to trample people. We’re not going to try to — we’re not going to use people and take their day and have them stand in line, to create a line to create more hype. What we’re going to do is respect you as a customer. We’re going to say to you as a customer I respect you, I respect your time, I respect your money, I respect your loyalty. And you know whether or not?

Not only do we make the best phone or the best game box or the best whatever, not only do we do that but we know how long you work, we know how hard you work, we know how stressful it is for you to go out and do your shopping anyway. We know that you and your wife or you and your husband lay in bed at night trying to make a list for the kids, trying to make a list and trying to get it all done before Christmas. Christmas has become so overcommercialized, Christmas has become so tough to do in the first place, we as a company are going to try to help you as a parent. We’re not going to do this. We’re going to make it the easiest it can be to buy our product.”

Now, wouldn’t you rather do business with a company like that? You win in the end. I told you a few weeks ago about Wal-Mart. Here’s Wal-Mart standing up against the unions, standing up against everybody else, standing up and just doing the right thing, doing business the right way. Not getting flashy, not getting inflated. Treating their people right but not crazy, not like — you know, not like the big three automakers where they just give away everything so in the end they destroy themselves and then nobody has a job. They try to do the right thing.

And who is surviving? Who is it that is surviving in this economy? Wal-Mart. In the end you win. Going to be a lot of people that say no. You saying to your kids, “You know what, gang, Christmas ain’t about the Xbox. Christmas isn’t about Playstation or Wii,” at least not spelled Wii. It’s about we the family, and we don’t need that. I don’t want to hear about Wal-Mart. I don’t want to hear about anything. I want to hear from the people who were standing in that line, what is it that was so important. Who have you allowed yourself to become?

Who in this country of ours even has the moral authority anymore? She said to me yesterday, they said, Glenn, you know, you go to these church events. If your church didn’t hand out and they just — I said, you know what, the leader of my church, if somebody trampled themselves to get into a church event, the leader of my church would have raised his cane and said, “Who have you people become?” And he would have the moral authority so we would all stand there and look at each other in shame and say, “Oh, my gosh.” But who can say that in this society anymore.

We have chased shame out of the public square. There is no one that has the moral authority anymore to say to us as individuals, as people, as Americans, and say who have you allowed yourself to become. Shame on you. Who has that moral authority to say that? Gang, we need to find that moral authority because our founding fathers were right. If we don’t police ourselves, somebody else has to do it.

by Glenn Beck: http://www.glennbeck.com/

The True Spirit Of Giving

There is a lot of controversy and confusion in people’s minds over Christmas and its meaning both in our personal lives and in the world. With the commercialization and secularization of Christmas, the true “reason for the season” has been lost for generations.

Christmas isn’t just about capitalism and candy. It isn’t just about singing and Santa and fattening foods and toys. Many people today are desperately searching for deeper meaning for this Holiday season. Now, more than ever, they recognize they need it, not just for themselves or those they love. They need it for the sake of the thousands of chairs that will sit empty on Christmas Day.

Some people feel it is an exclusively Christian holiday, holding no special meaning for them. Others believe it is nothing more than a feeding frenzy for the free market and an excuse to get people to open their wallets at every turn. Others take the viewpoint that it is a holy day that is cheapened and diminished by all the garish festivities. Yet few, if any, when really pressed, are willing to give up the Christmas holiday, in spite of their ambivalent feelings.

The reason for this is because of the real meaning behind the Christmas season. A meaning that we all somehow psychically feel even though our own intellect doesn’t fully comprehend what all the fuss is about.

That hidden meaning is that Christmas is the festival of the human heart. It is a time of year when all the universe conspires to raise the vibratory level of consciousness on earth to one of peace and love toward ourselves and one another. This season resonates to the sweet, childlike innocence that resides in all of us. A time when the heavenly forces inspire us to shift our focus away from fear and toward one of joy, and healing.

The Christmas festival emphasizes this shift in two ways; one is the rebirth of the soul and the second is the return of the light to earth. Even before the rebirth of Christ which centers around our modern day Christmas festival, as far back as recorded history, in fact, these two themes of rebirth and light have emerged again and again during this time of year.

It is as if Divine Consciousness moves forward year after year, during the darkest season, to bring us back to light.

Yet even knowing the true meaning of the Christmas season is not enough to convince some people of its importance. “Peace! Goodwill! Humbug!” they cry just as Scrooge did in the famous Dickens fable. “These are nice ideas but no more than a fantasy. I feel no peace. No goodwill!”

Yet there is a way to feel this vibratory shift. There is a way in which your own heart can experience the love and light pouring into the earth’s vibration from Divine Source. That way is to participate in the rituals of the season.

No matter who you are, your heart cannot resist the beauty of an ornamented Christmas tree or the glow of a mysterious menorah. Cynicism gives way to the celebration when carefully preparing holiday sweets or stringing colorful lights around the entrance to your home. Any heart warms to a rousing rendition of “Joy to The World” or the sensuous smell of roasting chestnuts on a crisp winter’s eve.

Sadness leaves when carefully choosing gifts to delight and surprise those you love. The heart feels rich and fulfilled as you wrap them in beautiful paper and bows. For just a while, through partaking of the whim and richness of the season, life takes on an extraordinary hue, one of sweetness and safety. Something psychic and healing happens to our hearts as we enjoy layer upon layer of these sensual seasonal delights. These rituals open the heart chakra and allow us to feel and express the innocence and beauty of being a child of the universe.

Each occasion we create to feel the vibrations of Christmas helps raise the consciousness of the planet and return it to balance. For every person creating joy, there is one less person in pain.

These are the ways to experience the vibrational shift toward light that occurs during this season. But there is one more thing you can do to amplify this experience a thousandfold.

That is to enter the season of Christmas with the intention of being a personal messenger of light and love, and celebrate in the name of service to Divine Consciousness.

Nothing transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary more directly than the intention to do what ever you are doing with the desire to serve Higher Power.

When we celebrate the season with such an intention and desire, we not only experience Christmas we actually become Christmas: an agent of rebirth of the soul and the bringer of light.

Therefore, if the best gift you can give to yourself and the world during this holiday season is the gift of self love, So be it.

A Holiday Reminder

The last month of the year 2008 is about to begin. It’s an exciting time. Halloween has come and gone, and now we have Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve to await. Many will be observing Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

There will be many celebrations and gatherings to come, religious rituals observed, shopping expeditions or nightmares (unless you’re already finished), card and gift exchanging, and many meals shared. At least that will be the case for many.

For others, the season will be a time of sadness, loneliness, want, need, and perhaps, even despair. As we go about our holiday routines, it is worth remembering that not everyone will be celebrating with their usual flair. Many Americans lives are in upheaval. They will be missing loved ones the most during this time, juggling finances to pay their bills, trying to ensure their children receive at least one item on their Christmas lists, worrying about job security, having the funds to pay January’s living expenses, and pondering what 2009 holds in store for them. Others have known a difficult year and don’t hold much hope for the remainder of it.

Every year, we are reminded at this time of year to remember the true meaning of the holiday season. Depending on your religion or faith, it will be different things to different people. However, they are all variations on a theme: love, peace, hope, and generosity of mind and spirit. And, for those who may not practice any religion—formal or personal (spiritual)—it is still worth remembering what matters most to you and not allow yourself to be swept up into the holiday madness.

The following are some ideas to revisit often over the weeks to come. Embrace them or not, but do consider them.

1. Avoid Stress.

Don’t spend more than you can afford, go to too many parties or events, or lose yourself in work. Try to maintain a balance in your life. If you are worried about having a job next year, don’t go on a spending/gift-buying spree you cannot afford for one day in the year. If you find it difficult to accept gifts when you know you cannot afford to reciprocate, tell your family and loved ones you would like to exchange gifts next year when you are more certain of your finances. Accept and extend invitations as appropriate to your schedule. If you have much to accomplish at work, don’t go to parties just because you’ve been invited. Keep your schedule realistic. In addition, work will always be important because it represents your livelihood; however, it is not more important than the people in your life. Make time for them and try to be available to them.

2. Be Generous.

Give to others what you can and give from the heart. If money is an issue, then give your time. Volunteer at a charity organization. Help others whenever you can—one person at a time. This could translate to giving someone a ride home or picking someone up if they’re having car trouble, offering soothing words of comfort to someone who is unhappy, or giving another a spontaneous hug. As always, giving can bring so much more into one’s life than receiving. Offer whatever you can to others. You have no idea how deeply your kindness could be received and appreciated.

3. Be Understanding.

Holidays aren’t happy for everyone. In fact, statistics show that it is during this season that that the suicide rate goes up. So when dealing with others, try to be patient, positive and present during your interactions. Hear what they are saying to you. They may seem fine or happy on the outside, but be facing numerous challenges and struggles you couldn’t even imagine. Remember this especially when dealing with customer service representatives, waiters/waitresses, attendants, and anyone else with whom you come in contact. Let’s hope that no one would ever go home and commit suicide because you lost your temper with him or her. However, what if you’re the one who drives another over the edge? Do you want to take that chance? If you have an issue with someone, speak calmly and honestly on the issue—not on the person’s character or worth to the world.

4. Focus On the Big Picture.

This is one moment, day, week, month out of an entire year and an entire lifetime. It’s natural for some to be difficult or challenging. Don’t let the frustrating ones cause you to lose your balance. Remember at all times the person you want to be. Stay aware and be that person, the together and generous one who takes all things in stride. And, if you do have a bad moment and say or do something you regret, remember it’s never too late to apologize. As someone who once worked with the flying public, I cannot tell you how special it is to have an irate passenger who was rude or clearly dealing with other issues come back and apologize for his or her behavior. Not only does it wipe the slate clean with me, but it tells me much about the person’s character.

5. Have Intentions – Make Them Good!

Have a plan and have things you want to accomplish over the holiday season. Be true to you. Have great fun and don’t over-extend yourself in any way. Don’t spend, eat, drink, or work too much. Enjoy the holidays, being alive, and sharing moments with loved ones. Know your areas of concern and respect them—as well as your limitations and boundaries—as you go through each day and moment of this holiday season.

“LOVE AND YOU SHALL BE LOVED” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. FORGIVENESS & REBIRTH It’s a good time to make amends and dissolve old grudges. The gift of forgiveness will warm the hearts of both you and the forgiven. Once you have forgiven, embrace the moment, and let go of all hostility towards the person and incident you are forgiving. Go forward and start anew, a rebirth of your relationship. Do not bring up the subject ever again, just erase it from your memory.

7. ACCEPTANCE & RESPECT Accept your loved ones as they are, do not try to insist they change or do something for their own good. Respect their wishes, way of life, and right to be as unique and individual as you are. Nobody is perfect and no one likes to be told how they should feel or what they should do with their life.

8. COMPROMISE & COOPERATION Give in a little and compromise. It is the holiday season for the whole family, so consider sharing the children, grandchildren, activities and cooperating for the good of holiday. If each family member does cooperate in some way, no one will feel slighted, left out or disappointed.

9. PRAISE & ACKNOWLEDGE An unexpected compliment does wonders to break the ice. Conversations often start when someone acknowledges something good about another person. It is infectious, “I love your dress” and “your home is decorated so beautifully”, will certainly be graciously accepted and appreciated.

10. AFFECTION & WARMTH I confess I am a hugger, even when I meet friends of family or friends for the first time, I shake hands while being introduced, upon departing I usually hug them. I trust my first impression of the person and instinct takes over from there. For your loved ones, hugs and kisses are usually accepted warmly. The best huggers are babies, children and elders. They all accept the warmth of a hug and squeeze without wanting to let go.

11. GRATITUDE & GRACE Count your blessings, and consider the gathering among them. Graciously accept compliments, gifts and hospitality. Think before you comment on a gift you receive. The giver has taken the time and tried their best to please you. Politely thank each person who presents you with a gift.

12. COMPASSION & SUPPORT If you know someone is having an exceptionally hard time dealing with a tragedy or crisis, offer your support and a shoulder if they should need to talk. Spend a few minutes finding out how they are, and make plans to meet in a few days to discuss their situation privately. Then attempt to change the subject to a mutual interest or help them get involved in the activities of the gathering.

13. COMPANIONSHIP & TRUST A friend, sibling, mate or pet are treasured companions. We all need a honest, open and trusting relationship with someone in our lives. Nurture these relationships with honest and open communication and commitment. The gift of loyal companionship is a blessing to embrace and not to be taken for granted.

14. SHARE & INSPIRE Giving something of yourself, sharing your knowledge and teaching by interacting with the world around you, will inspire others to do the same. The blessings of our own personal lives are many and these blessings help us endure and overcome the unexpected trials. Inspiration is a gift we all have to give, share your inner feelings about life, your spirit and acceptance to the world of love around you. Unexpected happiness and love will be your reward.

Tis the season for love, giving, sharing, wisdom, insight, good will, and being true to yourself and others. All the best to you and yours!

Recycled Glass Tree Globes

Beauty, elegance and heartfelt sentiment are at the root of artist Stephen Kitras’ latest collection of glass globes. Hand blown of 100% recycled glass, this series features Kitras’ signature ability to create a delicate interior trunk within the globe. Vibrant splashes of color add the finishing touch on these one-of-a-kind home accents. Handmade in Canada. Sold individually.

Tree of Family (far left)

Like the roots of a tree, family nourishes and encourages us to grow to limitless possibilities. The Tree of Family reminds us that no matter how far we branch out as individuals, our family is always there for support, for encouragement, and above all for love.

Tree of Peace (middle left)

The beauty and tranquility of nature in essence captures the meaning of peace. Like a tree growing in harmony with the forest that surrounds it, peace brings with it a message of tolerance, acceptance and compassion.

Tree of Joy (middle right)

Delight in vibrant mix of life’s simple pleasures. Like a tree bursting into life after a long winter, spread the joy you feel today with those around you. The Tree of Joy reminds us that performing small acts of kindness can help make the world a more joyful place.

Tree of Love (far right)

There is no greater gift in the world than the gift love. Like a tree, love grows stronger and more beautiful with time. The Tree of Love represents the countless blessings the love brings into our lives.

Learn more