Please go to the link for my new year message on the website…thanks so much…what’s up and what’s coming…read it here
Month: December 2013
‘Uncommon Sense’ ~Private Readings with Catherine :Lets Get Real Chattin With Catherine
What does Investment Mean?
I’ve been busy these days editing some new video chats to share with you for Lets Get Real Chattin with Catherine and invested a lot of time and talent. I’ve invested a lot of energy into creating my show and researching guests. I love what I do. I get great rewards for my investment in this work, which often feels like play although it is serious. Regardless of whether those rewards are monetary, or the pure joy of being able to create something new, fresh and inspiring; the rewards are mine. It is a return on my investment. Lately the aspect of money has been floating around social media and mainstream media. There has been some awareness about how money is created, how it is distributed and what it all means for us on the planet. We often feel quite powerless about these subjects. There is also an awareness about our food supply and the threats to it. What does investment mean to us? The way I see it, being conscious of our investments and not taking it lightly could change our world. We are far from powerless, but we have been conditioned to think we are.
We can look at our food production and how it is grown, distributed and what is invested in that creation. Investing in something can mean many things. When we put our time, talent, attach our name as an endorsement, or purchase something or talk about it, we are investing in that thing, product or person. Our investment into things or people is a gift. We give to things we believe in, or we like, or love, or feel have merit or value. If we do not value our gifts, talent, money, name, etc. and give it to things we do not believe in then we diminish ourselves. If we don’t believe in it, like it or want more why do we invest in it?
This is really important to me to share, because I think many times we don’t think about where we give of ourselves. In part that is because we often undervalue ourselves. Shopping for clothes, food, or household items for example; ‘oh I’ll just buy that product even though I really don’t like how it’s made, but I need it now.‘ Or, ‘sure you can use my name as a reference’, even though we really don’t feel good about the other person’s tactics, methods or product. We give our investment without thinking sometimes and perhaps that is due to our sense of self-worth. When we give to things we don’t really want to give to, we are giving our power away. When we recognize the power of our respecting and valuing who we are we do not give it away cheaply or without consideration as to what we are investing in. If we don’t want to invest in child labour, G.M.O.’s in our food, polluting our planet and so on, why do we invest in the things that contribute to it’s rise? ‘Well I’m only one person so my choice to buy or not is not going to change the world!”
Sadly this is how we have been indoctrinated to think. It is a lie. Believing that one person can’t make a difference is accepting that we have very little value, when nothing could be further from the truth. We have all seen examples of how one person has made a difference on this planet, some for the benefit of all, some to the detriment of all. Our investments count in big and small ways.
The other day I had a political party call me on the phone asking for me to buy a membership in the party. When I told them I did not want to be affiliated with any political party, they argued with me. I said ‘I do not wish to invest in any political party at this point, I’ve done that in the past, the party concept, the political system itself is not working and not something I am willing to invest in.’
That’s when he shocked me into seeing his reality, he said, ‘Oh I’m not asking you to invest anything!’ Really? To my way of thinking he had asked me for a great deal. Yes he asked for my money, which is one part of the investment. But the other part was my name, which in fact means more to me than the money. He was whether he knew it or not, asking me to put my credibility into his political party. An endorsement is something which I take very seriously. My name defines me on this planet. I do not invest my name into things I do not believe in, otherwise I am undervaluing myself and not in alignment with who I am. In other words I would not be authentic to my beliefs. He was dishonoring me on several levels. First he did not hear or comprehend my statement that I did not believe that the political system was working or that a party system was something I saw as having merit. I felt it was too exclusive and I want inclusive. All people have the potential for good ideas, regardless of party colours. He did not hear me. He did not want to hear me. He wanted my investment (my time on the phone to hear his point of view)but was not willing to give me the same courtesy in return.
This was something the man did not understand. He really didn’t care about who I was (as he had already decided who I was) and was not aware of the investment he was asking me to make. I declined just the same. It made me think about all the other places that we invest without much consideration because it’s such a fast paced world and we often don’t have time to really consider what we are investing in. An investment has a dividend or a payoff or loss. When it isn’t a large sum of money on the line, do we consider the potential return on our investment, or the loss?
If I do not value my name, my talent, energy, resources and so on then it doesn’t matter where I throw it. The investment means nothing to me if I invest with that kind of mindset. But if I do value myself then I will invest in things I want to grow, to prosper, to thrive. The choices I make are all part of the world I create. We reap what we sow. That is investment. If I invest in relationships without any expectation of receiving anything in return, it’s likely that is what I will get.
To suggest that I was not being asked to invest ‘anything’ was to discount my name and my money. Therefore what would I expect as a return on that kind of investment? To invest in food that I know is not healthy, is to expect unhealthy returns on that investment by way of my health. If I endorse someone because I just want them to stop asking me, what kind of return will I receive on that investment? I suspect that my own credibility would be called into question.
What we invest in is something worth thinking about in my opinion. When I’m asked to invest or support Breast Cancer, as they often do,…my response is NO! I do not invest in that. I invest in health. I do not invest in an industry of sickness rather I put my money, time, energy etc. into that which thrives. So I am feeling called to share this with you, if only to ask you to consider what you invest in. What do you consume, buy, endorse? Where do you spend time and talent? Everything we invest in has a return. If we plant rotten seeds, the crop is likely to fail. If we plant healthy seeds and continue to nourish the soil, we are likely to harvest a bounty to our great delight!
Who you are has value. What you do has value. Your choices matter. Never buy into the concept that you are too small to make a difference. Your investment is always significant and if it is discounted by the one you are investing in, perhaps that is something worth exploring before you invest.
LGRCC~Live Show updates for Dec 10 & 11. 2013 :Lets Get Real Chattin With Catherine
Had a very interesting chat with Madelaine Standing this morning on the methods for helping us move through Trauma…most of us have some kind of experience with trauma in our lives, it’s wonderful to be able to offer some techniques that can help us move through it with more ease. That chat will air Dec 13, 2013…watch for the broadcast link…in the meantime we’ve got some awesome exploring to do with two live shows this week…click the link to get all the details…see you there!
LGRCC~Live Show updates for Dec 10 & 11. 2013 :Lets Get Real Chattin With Catherine.
▶ Ten Rose author~Guest on Lets Get Real Chattin with Catherine – YouTube
▶ Ten Rose author~Guest on Lets Get Real Chattin with Catherine – YouTube.
Very inspiring chat with author Ten Rose as we explored making a very real difference on the planet. He’s living proof that anyone can make a difference! Just awesome!
What Christmas Means to Me
‘Tis the Season! What Christmas means to me and why I celebrate it!
By Catherine Whelan Costen
Christmas is so much more than a day, or an event from years gone by to me. It’s not a religious practice as much as a spiritual awareness for me. For many people it is a very factual story of a one-time event; one Immaculately conceived Virgin Woman named Mary, one Foster father named Joseph, one miraculous birth, named Jesus who became the Christ. But for me, it is not about those people exclusively. It’s our story even today.
What I see with my heart is that this planet was in the dark, the dense and the sorrow filled reality for eons. The All That Is, God, the Universe or whatever you wish to call that benevolent force of creation, sent us a light beyond our expectations. A light that could never be snuffed out! Before that light could penetrate the darkness of our hearts, we had to be prepared and that took a very long time. Generations went on in that darkness but seeds were planted in hearts along the way and passed on. Until finally there were enough open hearts in this reality to allow a small crack in the wall of darkness.
On the wings of angels, in the energy of the highest vibration of love came this amazing light, a light that had been promised for many years but that many would not understand. Just as we have not understood that we are spirit and that our bodies are only our vehicles, people would not be able accept this amazing light. So instead stories were told to help us accept it. But it wasn’t meant for one, it was meant for ALL! The Christ consciousness was and is the awareness of our connection to the ONE. But many could not see, would not see due to the density of the wall of black, the wall of guilt, shame and pain.
The feminine was ready to return to the planet. The woman was able to receive because she had been longing and waiting in absolute truth. She drew it into herself and breathed it into man, which we know as the Christmas story. She was the vessel, which gave birth to that powerful light. Many call her the Blessed Mother, the woman who opened herself to receive the light and infused it into her son; and for me that is more than one woman’s story. It is the story of life. The world was not ready to receive this gift and not able to comprehend that it was for all. The messenger ended up crucified. As often happens in our human experience.
But the magic of Christmas that we so often embrace in the child is the magic that is within us all. The power of that light to transform us all is beyond our human ego minds. The world is still dark, but not as dark as all those years ago. Many are choosing to receive the Christ Consciousness within and to allow it to transform our lives. It is not a religion, although many practice the traditions and remembering through a religious connection. It is a heart opening for me; it is an awareness that that higher vibration of love is present if we desire it. The gift giving and lighting of candles, sharing food, community bonding and opening of hearts that we so often see during the Festive season is not meant to end with the New Year. The magic is meant to transform us and open us to the new possibilities.
Sadly the commercialization of this holiday has created another story. However it is up to each of us to decide what it means for us. When someone asks me ‘have you accepted Christ as your personal savior?’ I can only answer it this way; ‘if you are asking me if I have opened my heart to welcome in the gift from creator, the light of the highest vibration and allowed it to transform my consciousness and heart, then yes I have. My transformation is ongoing, ceaseless and eternal. Do I need to be saved? From what? From my ego? From the darkness? No we are all perfectly created, perfectly who we are. Jesus was the first to embody the Christed Consciousness, but even he made it clear it was not to be exclusive. ‘All this and more you too will do’…those are his words, paraphrased of course.
I believe we don’t need anything. We do on the other hand have an opportunity to be more than we have been as a species. Christmas is a great gift to remember and reveal who we really are, rather than believing that someone outside of ourselves will save us, or that we are powerless. We are all part of the ONE! The One is not in lack ever! The One is eternal, all knowing, all seeing, all potential and possibilities and we are all aspects of it. We are the light of Christmas~it’s in us eternally. We only need to reveal it, to discover it ourselves.
So when we give a gift to another as our tradition’s practice is, we are reminding each other of the amazing gift of light, which opens our heart. We are recreating that remembering of the eternal gift giving. The lights that shine all around are a reminder. The evergreen tree~ a symbol of everlasting life. The child in the manger; the child within each of us, perfect innocence and loved. The mother of God~the eternal divine feminine which balances the energy of the divine masculine, and is the vessel which receives and creates from that union. The foster father Joseph~the guardian and protector of this energy. Everyone had their roles as do we~the feminine didn’t bring the light in alone, neither did the masculine.
The Christmas story is not something that happened over 2000 years ago, it is something that can happen every day in every heart. We draw in that inspiration, we receive, we create and we share with the world who we really are.
That is why I love to celebrate Christmas! That is why I love the story, in both the symbolism and the truth of it. What I see in humanity over our history is that we hear messages and messengers with a better comprehension when it is revealed through story, traditions and ritual. So for me, it’s personal and it’s sacred. It’s magical and powerful to see the world come to life year after year. It’s the hope for peace that will transform us; peace within first and then we can give it to the world. Each year as the season begins I pray for a wee bit of that magic to linger into the New Year.
The Christmas story, the energy and truth of it, is not exclusive. It is inclusive and it has to be so because we are not disconnected from each other or Source. That light burns brighter every time another heart reveals it’s true authentic self. These are my beliefs and I share with you in the hopes of connecting hearts in the spirit of our full potential of peace on earth now.
Looking back~Introduction ~Let’s Get Real~Chattin with Catherine 01/29 by LetsGetReal Chattin Catherine | Self Help Podcasts
This was quite an interesting revelation for me tonight...I listened to the first show and where this all began…it’s Jan 2012…there is a bit of an echo on the audio, I was just learning the ropes of broadcasting…but it appears that I already knew how much my life would change that year…that was the year that my world was turned upside down…first I dove into starting this new show…then in March my son was killed in a truck rollover and yet…as I said in this intro…life goes on and we can’t stop it…it’s what we chose to do with it that matters…if you want to explore back to the beginning of LGRCC check this out here
Catherine Clarity Whisperer Blog 