2014 Your Opportunity to Create Anything

Kalina Ivanov and Muriel Stockdale creating
Kalina Ivanov and Muriel Stockdale creating
Happy New Year to the year of the heart, the year of creation, the year of getting into basics like what makes you tick, what connects you and what sustains you. Times have been interesting and I think will continue to prove to be even more interesting. Think of where we have come from in our lifetimes. So many new things, when I was a baby we got color TV, today’s new babies will see reconstructed body parts, wearable tech and god knows what else. But what is the point of all the magical toys if our inner state cannot match them with a higher state of consciousness. It’s not worth it to create more and more stuff to destroy each other, that is just not satisfying, is it?

So where are the new things that help us lift our consciousness? I’m not suggesting that you go to Colorado today and buy some pot but instead look for tangible tools to free the mind and heart so that 2014 can be that year of freedom, creativity, satisfaction, accomplishment and absolute connection to the ones you love. Here’s how I manage to stay in the light.

First, I continue to practice my Mastering Alchemy lessons. In a lifetime of spiritual yearning, wandering, experimentation and practice I have finally found a path with astonishing tools of enlightenment that steadily drive me toward the success creating my own life that I have always craved. The path starts off by helping with understanding the boundaries between me and the world out there. Next it progresses to discovering the interference of other voices in my head like as Jim Self, the master alchemist, says, “Teacher, Parent, Minister”. Once discovered those voices, that try so hard to drive our lives, are politely invited to depart. From there the course of study begins to include the voices of master principles inviting us to align with our own power. For example Jim Self repeats often “be happy”. He invites us time and again to be confident, capable and kind to ourselves and I finally get it. The course continues to be exciting, inviting, interesting and joyfully challenging. The key here is attitude and crafting the right attitude and sticking with it is the stuff of mastery. I invite you to check out the site www.masteringalchemy.com and see if you find it useful to you too.

Next I continue to watch the world and seek out those bright light ideas that inspire, uplift and ignite respect and love for each other. I try to post them here but it’s been a busy year and I know I’ve missed  a lot of good moments that should be shared. Two things that are really critical right now and that speak to the new trend that we will swing together toward are these and they relate to money. I know that the economic downturn was terrifying for so many. That downturn was predicted for ages before it happened and the circumstances that caused it are not mitigated so the chances are we could be back there again any day. But you know me, my goal is to focus on what’s positive. So don’t worry let’s make another crash into a great opportunity. Already behind the scenes there are many people creating radical ways to construct the new economy. Right now I am reading a great book, “Sacred Economics” by Charles Eisenstein which invites us to consider trade and commerce in a far more enlightened way than we do today. For those who were shocked by the fact that so many lost their homes in the bad mortgage fallout how about those crazy Occupy Wall Street folks who are buying up bad debt and then just forgiving it so that people can move on? We are not out of the woods and we need the radical free-thinking ideas of new minds to solve the tremendous problems we’ve created for ourselves. They are out there working on it creating micro finance, new forms of exchange, better worldwide connectivity and safer forms of interaction. The big trees are dead and about to fall but on the forest floor when the light of the sun hits them so many creative shoots will sprout that we will be amazed we had not known that all that preparation was going on.

On a more personal note I want to encourage everyone to create, do what you love, write, draw, sew, sing because that is the new economy. Many of you know that I was an unhappy costume designer for many years, that I then quit my career to make my way into a new career creating uplifting entertainment. That career has been a winding path, with a group formed to support people who want to create spiritual entertainment, a short film that never became the feature I hoped for – yet. There were also a few scripts including a musical that wasn’t produced and TV pitches that almost made it as well as a couple of books still in progress and, of course, the diverse US flags that have had an awesome journey throughout New York and New England and have now settled for a while at least at Charlotte’s Place downtown here in NYC. My husband has been asking me continuously, “What are you doing? You’re all over the place, why can’t you focus?” and because I don’t know what to say, I have to follow my heart so I say, “I not making an appetizer, I’m creating a feast”.

So I’m so thrilled to report that it looks like exciting things are coming to life in 2014. One is a TV show developed by me and my dear friend, Kalina Ivanov, for cable TV in the style of, “The Borgias”. Our show entitled, “The Accidental Empress” is about the remarkable ascension of a Creole girl, Aimee Dubucq de Rivery to Empress of the Ottoman Empire in 1817. What makes this story more interesting is that it’s true and she’s the cousin of Josephine Bonaparte. So watch out for the show, it is currently being shopped around and our fingers are crossed. The second project is now an opera entitled, “Sitayana”. It is the story of Rama’s wife who was rescued by her prince after being kidnapped by the demon king, Ravana. For years this project languished after my dear friend, Philip Baloun, who hired me to write the book for the musical, died. This summer when I did costumes for “Ulysses” i proposed my script to my fabulous director, Crystal Manich and she likes it and graduated it from book to libretto. So we are developing the project. Keep your ears open for news of Sitayana too.

You might wonder how did this happen? I might have wondered too but now I know. For years I worked under the same conditions of under paid, over worked, under supported, not enough time, no respect and etc. I always felt like, “poor me” “why does this keep happening to me” until I had to admit if this dynamic keeps happening it has to be in my own world construction somehow. Two times in my life I saw with absolute clarity how I created situations. The first was at NYU with my thesis production. In my first year I saw the teachers absolutely rip a designer to shreds during her critique. It was not necessary and so cruel and much of what they cited was not her fault, I was shocked and that experience stuck with me. I was terrified it would happen to me too and wouldn’t you know two years later, it did. The other time I created with absolute clarity was when we broke the rudder on our first boat. It was in the shop all summer so we didn’t get the license for it. On the last day of summer they told us we could pick it up. I was fretting about getting a ticket for not having a tag and I went on and on about it. Guess what we got, lucky us.

With that kind of clarity in creating the invitation is there to figure it out. Many years later, a lifetime later, I am delighted to say that with the help of Mastering Alchemy I get it. I am not a master yet but I am so much better at the creative process than I was. This year I will be good enough so that you can watch the Empress on TV and come to Broadway to see Sita get rescued by her prince Ram. That’s my intention. I also intend great things for you too; may there be blessings, connecting with friends and family, satisfaction in accomplishment, recognition and opportunity for you all in 2014. 

Muriel

Divine Practice

Crazy stuff is going on downtown here today for the 2 month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, helicopters woke us up and have circled all day. Streets are closed. Riot police, mounted police and more police ring Wall Street which is completed barricaded. The chant from Occupy Wall Street is,” Tell me what a police state looks like, This is what a police state looks like.” 60 people were arrested for blocking traffic.

Now we have some choices; engage, disengage or engage with equanimity and grace. The most important thing though is to not get overwhelmed by fear no matter what is going on and no matter what we think about it. In spite of the drama and the police people were engaging in fun. About a dozen people were dressed as trees and carrying signs saying: “Less banks – more Trees”. The drummers were joined by dancers. Occupiers were singing, “Happy Anniversary to you, etc”.

So let’s keep it light, in love, joyful, remember we are all ONE and 100% abundant. Things are shifting and will shift a lot more but we are versatile when light, open and loving.

11.1.11 Stepping into the Light

Today is another benchmark day, a line drawn in the sand between our last state of being and our next state of being. What do you want your future to be like? If you know then live it today. Happiness, abundance, love all those states of being that you postpone until this or that is acquired or accomplished are available right now so just step into that space. Now is the only time that we have so let’s be in it with gratitude and joy together.

This past weekend was my birthday, we were hit with a huge and gorgeous white birthday snowstorm, 18 inches of snow and power out could easily have ruined my day. But instead we had an adventure, sleeping by the fire snuggled with the cats. Sunday, my birthday, we grilled at my neighbors house all the food we bought for the party and invited all our near neighbors for a hot meal on a cold day. Anything can happen in these chaotic times but our attitude about it determines whether it is a blessing or a curse. I’m counting on blessings in my future, many more of them.

Blessings Abound

When we are awake and aware it becomes apparent that the next reminder of our divine origins and our residence in heaven is always in front of us. I have said it before and say it again it’s about focus or attitude. We see what we choose to see in life, the first step on the path is to wake up and recognize this and then to make a slight effort, a loving effort to see more.

Our natural buoyancy is up, around the heart, not the head but the heart. The head is too high and can topple too easily from its own constructions of what the world is. The heart though knows what’s what, it recognizes the blessings and that which we must avoid. The head can rationalize just about anything but the heart knows without a doubt what is right and true and good for all. Here is where blessings are birthed, not from a distant deity, or goddesses on a pedestal but from our own heart. We are equally capable of receiving blessings as of giving them. If we feel we need one then lets just give one, a blessing costs nothing takes no effort, reduces us in no way and only opens us up the flow of grace within us.

You know what is interesting to me about this post right now is the turn that it has just taken. I intended to write about how we can discern blessings out in the world like great teachers, uplifting music and artists, the gift of family and friends and pets and yet in the writing I was immediately directed inward to the very source of blessing; our own divine core. This is where we give thanks and generate grace and forgiveness. This the place where blessing attracts the great teacher, the healing, the blessing to our waking daily consciousness where we can incorporate it into our uplifted life.

We are moving to a time where smallness, victim state, manipulations and general postures of powerlessness will shift. If we want to claim our power and make the blessing that is our Godlike right we are more than welcome to at this time and space. We are not made in the image of God we are made of the same stuff and no-stuffness as God so we are God. With tenderness, humility and love I welcome all to step into power. Blessings to all.