Locked Inside

Several months ago, the door knob on our front door broke, and we were locked "inside" our house.  As much as I love my home, and why not -- I created the ambiance that surrounds me -- it was an uncomfortable feeling to be trapped within my world of familiarity.

We all scrambled to find another way out or we were going to be late for our jobs.  We slipped out the back through the French doors and into the garden.  I was the last one to leave and paused for a moment to try to apply the trapped feeling to my life.  Where was I feeling trapped within my world of familiarity? My job? My house? My own roadblocks? I believe the message is as simple as, "It's time to move."

THE "FAMILIAR" JOB

My first move was from my job that I had become too comfortable and familiar with and was keeping me from growing. I left my job in October after eight years of service in order to pursue meaningful work that I loved. Since then, I have continued my Master's program at Dominican University of California, opened my own business, and published my first of many books: HCG Diet: A Shot At Weight Loss~ A Personal Journal of Transformation.

TRUSTING IN THE MESSAGE - A NEW FAMILIAR PLACE

The next step is looking for a new place to live. We outgrew our home years ago, but we hesitated to move because just thinking about packing was overwhelming, not to mention the days/weeks it would take to resettle into a new place. Frankly, we have become very comfortable in our familiar place ~ and lazy.

Simple Awareness works like that -- we get messages, and it is up to us to interpret and act on them. Simple Awareness is a valuable tool that each of us possess, but sometimes we are too busy in our lives to stop and listen.

So, what is the next step? I need to make the intention, which puts everything into action. The intention could be a written confirmation in my journal, telling friends to notify me if they know of a great house that is on the market, and start collecting boxes for our move. The challenge in this Simple Awareness is that the message involves the entire family. Everyone has to be on board with the move ~ it's not just about me. When it comes to this, I think when the perfect house for our family is revealed, the others won't hesitate and start packing.

The most valuable thing I can do right now is to write/draw exactly what I/we want in a new home: its location, what it looks like, and as many details about its interior and grounds -- I must not leave anything out!

I know that Simple Awareness is always an opportunity to improve current situations and a welcomed message .... no matter what it takes.

Barbara Bonardi

What is Simple Awareness?

Simple awareness is when you slow down enough in your busy life to be present with yourself and your environment. Sounds pretty simple, but "being present" is overlooked quite often, because it is something we need to practice and sometimes we just forget to do. We're just too busy thinking, doing, buying, conversing, and finally arrive home, but not quite sure how we got there. That's . . . . not being present.

Simple awareness is about bringing your attention to what is going on inside yourself - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is about noticing your environment - the hawk perched above you as you drive by, the person you randomly run into for the third time that week, the reoccurring dream, or a special message you read in a book or heard at a movie.

Simple awareness connects us with our higher-self, our angels, spirits, and guides, the Universe, and God, delivering their personal messages, guidance, and answers to questions we have asked. Simple awareness is a tool for living life with purpose, intentionally, and experiencing joy in everything you do.

This blogsite is here to help you connect with your own Simple Awareness and begin to see the answers to your questions right before your eyes or ears if you just slow down and practice being present. I will be sharing my own experiences from my past and present that reveal what I have learned about simple awareness and how it has enhanced my being in all areas of my life.

Until my next posting, if you are randomly awakened at 4:44 a.m., this is a sign that your prayers were answered. It is also an opportunity to grab a pen and blank book and write down any messages you intuitively receive, even if it is just one word or a picture of something. This is a very special time our angels and guides communicate with us. Oh, and watch out for "444" when you are out and about through your day and see what lovely treasures transpire -- just because you noticed!

Social Media ~ Blog-Savvy Accreditation

When my blog-savvy friend, Suzanna Stinnett, approached me with the opportunity to be a part of the blog addressing Emergence of The Self In Social Media and asked me the question, “How is your “SELF” emerging in Social Media?” I immediately thought of my most recent baby steps into this new, unfamiliar world of blogging: Facebook. The emergence of my “SELF” was uncomfortable. My culture code forbade me to bring attention to who I am, what I did, my desires and opinions, and for goodness sake, “don’t brag about yourself” was something I grew up with. So, it is not surprising to admit that after attending a Social Media Mappers Workshop in Marin, it still took me a month and four hours to break through my fears and get my own Facebook profile launched. I remember, I was sitting at a local café that had free WIFI in two-hour intervals, but in order to get on, you had to ask the barista for a passcode. I was fast becoming someone who frequented coffee shops not only with a blank journal but with their WIFI ready computer as well. Even though it was free, I felt obligated to buy a machiatto every two hours to be able to stay online to work on my Facebook profile. Peet's was fast becoming my new office space and home away from home.

I approached my new worldwide web playground with much caution and excitement intermingled with threads of fear. I’m sure the turning feeling in my stomach was caused by my freefall into the unknown and the effects of caffeine overdose. I found myself inserting and deleting information and pictures about myself. My inner dialogue was completely present and ready to warn and criticize my entries: you can’t put that down, don’t say where you live, you’re going to insert that picture! The main thing that got me through all my internal interruptions was peer pressure. Yes, it doesn’t stop at high school. My peers were now the “big boy bloggers” like Suzanna and even my own children, and their friends, freely romping the internet and connecting with other bloggers all around the world. I had been a mere speck in the population and a rare consumer of internet products, who cringed every time I typed my credit card number into the payment template that boasted a secure site. Nevertheless, a credit card transaction was one thing, but my personal life on the worldwide web for everyone to see was a whole new paradigm to envision and learn to embrace.

Six espresso shots later, I was finally satisfied with my first attempt at creating my profile and clicked on the button that made it official. I knew life as I had known it was about to change in a drastic way, and I would never be the same. In fact, it was an opportunity to find out who I was in our global community. I was creating my Universal Identity, my voice, and the writer in me and desire to attain blogger-savvy accreditation overrode my fear.