Sundown tonight ushers in Rosh Hashanah for Jews around the globe so I greet you with the traditional Happy New Year greeting. Many people are about to begin anew with the time ahead as a blank page, a clean slate, that awaits our writings, our scribbles, our big ideas, our resolutions to live well and do good in the coming year.

Mysteries of the Universe envelope us more frequently in these days of illumination and connectedness. On Wednesday night in my new living room, I casually unpacked my bag of Celtic runes. Just for fun I drew one with no particular question in mind. I drew the blank rune which I’ve only done once previously in my 30 years of oracle abuse. The blank rune offers a clean slate, a tabula rasa, on which to craft one’s life. It leaves us wide open to cast off old beliefs and habits. It suggests freedom and sovereignty, two things sorely lacking in today’s crazy culture.

On Thursday morning, my personal angel, Roberta, came by and saw my angel card deck on the table next to my runes. “Would you like to take the oracle part of the exam?” I asked. Sparkling Roberta chose 3 angel cards: trust, forgiveness, and synthesis. Very nice cards and good reminders to practice each concept when dealing with others and oneself.

We put Roberta’s cards back, I shuffled the deck as we chatted, then pulled an angel card for me. It was the blank card. Blank like the rune I drew the night before.         

Roberta and I gasped. What are the odds? The synchroncity of choosing both the blank rune and the blank angel card on the threshold of the new year – the blank slate - that is this high holiday is sweet and powerful. 

So to all of you I say, here’s to a new year full of everything we desire. I wish you all good health, success, fun, laughter, kindness, synchronicity, beauty and grace.

Todah raba to all my excellent, brilliant friends around the world who care and make a difference.

May our next chapter be magic.

Duck Side of the Moon

My generation has a broad Pink Floyd lexicon, offering up lyrics quotations for a wide variety of situations (like the universal language of Monty Python but that’s another post).  Traveling around Europe, I’ve seen this too – people who hardly speak English, respond to my tourista requests by singing, “We don’t need no education,” or, “the lunatic is on the grass” when I ask if they’ve seen my travel companion. 

Recently, glass artist, Hans Schepker – http://glassgeometry.com/  – emailed me to ask if he could use my Duck Side of the Moon images for wallpaper.  He had seen the designs at my Cafe Press shop, Duck Side of the Moon -     www.cafepress.com/ducksidemoon    - and explained, “Rubber ducks and Pink Floyd are two great joys in my life.” 

Duck Cheney

Laughter makes us healthy. When we laugh, our arteries dilate and our blood pressure goes down. Laughter reduces stress and creates bonds with others. Being able to laugh at the curveballs that life inevitably throws us is hailed by life coaches as an essential tool for success. Anyone who lives life faces painful situations; it’s how we walk through them that determines our success.  

As more of us smash our notions of what “life is supposed to be,” we free ourselves to live lives full of spontaneity, creativity, courage and the ability to do the right thing. We’re shifting into new ways of living and earning money. Spirits are lifted by the idea of shifting our economy toward providing service, healing the planet and managing our natural resources. 

So maybe, with all the world has been through in the last 8 years, and with our sharpened sense of irony & humor, our dark night of the soul, looks a little more like this: 

Duck Night of the Soul

Jax in the Box

That cat did not come back the very next day. In fact, Jax went out and has been away since Saturday.

While we assure my sister that her beloved feline goddess (right) will reappear in her own time, it is painful to worry about a lost pet.

We are afforded the luxury of treating our pets like children rather than assets or sources of income. They are family members who never get kicked out of the nest. I don’t even mind when my cat, Mooshka (below) sleeps by my head and slaps me in the face, oops, I mean, caresses my face with her tail.

The sublime book & movie, The Golden Compass, depict humans with daemons (animal familiars) who are attached to us & feel our pain – not quite like Pres. Clinton but you get the idea. When I first saw the movie (then read the book) I said, this is how life should be  - everyone has an animal attached at all times.

Many animal experts and psychics, (you know I’ve got to mention them – check out intuitive Danielle MacKinnon in Portsmouth, NH,

http://www.daniellemackinnon.com/radio.html) talk about pets as buffers to pain & illness. Our animals, they say, are on the front lines of their owners’ emotions, absorbing stress, fear, love, etc.

Mooshka stops to smell the tulips.

Some animal experts suggest that our pets may even take on illnesses in defense of their humans. On Hayhouse Radio - the best self-empowerment source in the world – www.hayhouseradio.com – an animal expert referred to pets as ”our emotional wastebaskets.” While not the most majestic moniker, it does help us look at our pets as reflections of ourselves and our emotional & physical health.

While dining at the home of friends, I sat with their bird, Pedro, on my shoulder. He was an excellent and attentive date until he started squawking whenever I spoke excitedly. I wasn’t mad, meerly enthusiastic, which registered with Pedro even when I whispered!

Stay tuned for more comments on our extraordinary relationships w/animals, including N’kisi the psychic parrot – http://www.sciencenewsblog.com/cgi-bin/snblog.pl?snblog=121051

and dogs that have been trained to wake diabetics whose blood sugar drops while they sleep.

Until then, we’ll be hoping for Jax’s safe return home.

Arthur's Seaweed Treat

Our dogs love seaweed.

Darling Arthur (right) totes a morsel of what we call “the lasagna seaweed.” It’s everyone’s favorite. All our beach pups paw through piles of the pungent stuff to find these prize pieces.

We doting dog owners used to scold our dear ones for dining on the weed for fear of unknown bacteria. Then one day I said, “Wait a minute. I pay a lot of money to eat seaweed! Let’s not be hasty.”

While all seaweed and beach flora and fauna are not necessarily safe & caution is advised, I must note that my long-time canine, Indy (Black Lab, below), has been rejuvenated by the shore and, quite possibly, his many trips to the seaweed buffet.

Indy & Mugsy: Seaweed Devotees

Salt MAY BE at the heart of the seaweed sensation. Unfortunately, we have learned to be afraid of it because prepared foods so prevalent in Western cultures are laden w/criminal amounts of salt. But salt was originally a precious commodity. Salt made it possible to preserve meats which allowed groups to travel long distances to follow or find food sources.

Alexander the Great discovered salt’s restorative properties when his horses were rejuvenated by licking the salty walls of a cave. Salt came to be used as currency, hence the word “salary” and the phrase “worth his salt.”

Salt is also key in  keeping thyroids and margaritas balanced so really, what’s not to love?

KaaluWading2Surf

This morning the Atlantic was frantic. Wild & tantric, her majesty showered my canine companions & me with salt & chi. She reminded me that her fragile equilibrium is upset, like her Earth & its inhabitants.

This beautiful part of the world, Boston’s North Shore, is a classic crossroads of industry & ocean, of productivity & intellectualism. Densely populated with global citizens, visionaries & activists, community service is practiced here.  Now that makes for good & free chi!

Every life coach I listen to (and I listen to a lot) gives this advice:  Whether you’re looking for a new job, mate or community, get out there and volunteer. Giving feels good, creates endorphins & opens doors.

My astute friend & blog reader, Joel, asks, “Where can one find creative community service directories or web sites to steer people into community service opptys that we do not realize exist?”

1) Think locally. Check the websites of your Chamber of Commerce, regional newspaper & local “what to do” calendars. Most communities have animal & people shelters, food pantries, arts organizations, health & human services, civic boards and outreach programs that welcome & train volunteers.

2) Google “community service”.  Opportunities to contribute and learn new skills are endless. I like these sites:

http://www.americorps.org/

http://www.nationalservice.org/

 http://www.volunteermatch.org/

3) Habitat for Humanity Int’l's site - http://www.habitat.org/ - let’s you type in your zip code to find local affiliates with community service opportunities. 

4) Offline: Donate a portion of your fee. Perhaps you’re working for an org that provides community service. I do a lot of PR, design & photographic work for nonprofits where I donate a portion of my fee for a tax deduction. This gesture is always welcome and always generates new clients, good will and good chi!

So go forth & give! Good chi is free chi.

Chi is not the trendy spiced tea drink, chai (rhymes with I). Chi is our life force, and it needs some love & freedom.

Welcome to Free Your Chi, a blog devoted to health, happiness, service & laughter. Time is precious so we offer pithy advice & sage resources on success & living well – from exercise, healthy foods & shamanism, to inspiring wine, women & song (okay, inspiring men, too).

A shift is upon us and we are getting ready for a new kind of sustainable existence. Though it’s not the newest tool in the manifestation box, the “secret” is out and suddenly millions are practicing the power of gratitude to make abundant lives. Questions of our ”purpose” and how we can be of “service” are part of the planet’s current zeitgeist. What better time to find ways to heal our planet & our people.  

The saying is trite because it’s true: we are spiritual beings on a physical journey. We can make the most of our time here by being conscious, conscientious & even a little conspicuous in our kindness & caring. There is no time to waste in embracing the golden rule of kindness.

Here’s to a brilliant 2009! May it be a year of success, joy and truth because, if I may paraphrase, the truth will free your chi.

WitT-shirts, mugs, bags, buttons, doggy gear & unmentionables to help you Free Your Chi at www.cafepress.com/freeyourchi