Just How Many Holidays are in December?

Greetings and Happy Holidays!

December is indeed a busy month with people worldwide observing many seasonal days of celebration. Most are religious holy days, with many of the most important days of the world's main religions occurring during this month. Many people value the variety of December celebrations, respecting both their own religious traditions and those of other faiths.

In case you're not aware of many of the celebrations occurring this December here's a rundown:

December 1st Jainism celebrated Maunajiyaras, a day of fasting, silence, and meditation. Advent, the liturgical period preceding Christmas, began on December 3rd. St. Nicholas Day, (Orthodox Christian) is December 6th. Bodhi Day, December 8th, is when Buddhists celebrate the enlightenment of the Buddha in 596 B.C.E. Dec 8th is also the Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception. December 12th is the Catholic Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The eight-day celebration of Hanukkah, commemorating the victory in 165 B.C.E. of the Maccabees over Antiochus Epiphanes, and the rededication of the Temple at Jerusalem begins on Saturday December 16th this year. December 16-24 is Posadas Navidenas, a traditional Mexican Christian festival which re-enacts Joseph's search for room at the inn. December 21st is Yule/Winter Solstice, and also St. Thomas the Apostle Day. December 24th is Christmas Eve. December 25th is, of course, Christmas.

Kwanzaa, a Swahili word for the first fruits of the harvest, is a cultural holiday celebrating African-American heritage, which begins on December 26th. The date also marks the death of the Prophet Zarathushtra (Zoroastrian) and the Zoroastrian festival of Ghambar Maidyarem, a five-day event celebrating the creation of animals and a time of sharing food with those less fortunate. Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St. Stephen (after the first Christian martyr), originated in England and is related to an old custom where servants and tradesmen received Christmas gifts from their employers on the first weekday after Christmas, the day after the family celebrations. These were generally called their "Christmas boxes." Also on this day it is believed that priests broke open the collection boxes and distributed the money to the poor. Holy Innocents is December 28th, a Christian day of solemn memory of male children killed by King Herod in the attempt to destroy Jesus. Also on this day is Holy Family Day, a Catholic celebration of the love between Jesus, Joseph, and Mary.

Hajj, Islamic pilgrimage rites at Mecca, begins on December 29th this year. Waqf al Arafa Islamic observance day during Hajj when pilgrims pray for forgiveness and mercy is on Dec 30th. Eid ul-Adha, the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice is on December 31st. It concludes the Hajj when those not traveling to Mecca also take part It is the most important feast of Islam. It concludes the Hajj when those not traveling to Mecca take part and is a three-day festival recalling Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to Allah.
And of course there New Year's Eve, a generally secular celebration.

Regardless of which Holidays you choose to celebrate and what faith traditions you honor, I affirm for you and your loved ones a peaceful, joyous, healthy and prosperous Holiday Season and New Year.

Purple for Peace for Election Day

Greetings Friends,

A great supporter of the Department of Peace campaign and a very dear friend of mine, Kris Haley, compiled the following. It has been sent out to all the Department of Peace campaign coordinators. What a great idea! Perhaps it may resonate with you also. I will be wearing purple on Nov 7th for sure!

You may have received an email from your political party of choice, urging you to group together outside your local polling place after you cast your ballot and light a red or blue (depending on your party choice) candle in solidarity and support for your preferred party. Certainly, this is still an option for those who choose to do so. However, we would like to propose a slightly different perspective for your consideration.

As you may know, the Department of Peace campaign does not make a practice of endorsing or supporting any particular candidate or party. Since lighting a blue or red candle appears to perpetuate the polarization and divisiveness currently being experienced in our beloved country, the Department of Peace campaign and the Arizona Department of Peace campaign does not support one or the other. Anything that forces a choice between one political philosophy and another is incongruent with our mission statement which is inclusive and connecting rather than convincing. However, it does spark a wonderful and innovative opportunity for us through which to express our philosophy of peace and unification.

So, for those who resonate with this idea, consider a combination of the politically charged colors of red and blue which, when blended, create purple. Consider lighting a purple candle on your porch, in your home, or in your heart to affirm the hope of PEACE on Election Day. This very visual activity is one that invites all people to participate either jointly or individually, regardless of their political allegiance. No polarizing placards or chants…just PEACE. Intend PEACE this election day…affirm peace at every opportunity…BE peace as you go about your business.

In fact, consider wearing purple this election day as a reminder to yourself that while we may each make different choices in terms of who we see best representing our country, we can still blend those ‘red’ and ‘blue’ differences into one color…purple…for PEACE.
I invite you to join me this Election Day and wear the color purple visibly. If someone compliments you, explain…educate and enlighten them as to why purple is the color of peace. I look forward to hearing back from you regarding your PURPLE PEACE EXPERIENCE next week as, regardless of our party choices, we cast our vote for PEACE!

Thank you so much for this, Kris Haley.
Check out Kris's websites at: http://www.beonevoice.com
and http://animalsynergy.com

and her husband, Criaig's site at: http://craighaley.com

To Pit or Not to Pit

Do you have control over your thoughts or are you are a slave to every single thought that passes through your mind?

Sometimes it's easy to feel joy, love, happiness and freedom. Other times, however, when something challenging is going on in our lives, it's all too easy to fall into the trap of letting those feelings of sadness, anger, self-pity and despair take over. I call that being in The Pit. Yet the truth is we do have a choice as to how long we want to stay in The Pit. We can choose to be there in fetal position totally enslaved by our thoughts or we can choose to begin to climb out. And no one else can choose this for us. It's our choice.

Shakespeare said: There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Now, I don't know about you but I can write, direct and produce quite an impressive 5 act drama, all in the privacy of my own head. In the midst of this I can be engaging in a full-blown misery party for one. It's a pretty lonely place.

Awareness is everything though, because even when I choose to visit The Pit these days I know I am out of balance, disconnected from joy, disconnected from love and it feels so utterly uncomfortable and unnatural that I get out out quickly. I recognize that I have a choice: To Pit or Not To Pit. And that choosing To Pit is exchanging a moment of joy during my precious time on this planet for a moment of misery.

It's always our choice as to how we want to spend our precious time here and it all begins with thought.

What are you choosing today?

Rewiring

Greetings Friends,

It has been an amazing week! The latest Secrets of "The Secret" class had approximately 125 people who showed up! Amazing, glorious, wonderful people who are ready to begin really using The Secret in their lives, as well as people who are not new to The Secret, but who are ready to apply it to all areas of their lives.

Thought by thought, feeling by feeling we are truly rewiring those neurotransmitters and aligning with what it is we choose to create in our lives. Thought by thought, feeling by feeling we are collectively continuing to change the vibration of the planet.

May your day be truly blessed!

What is the Secret Longing of Your Heart?

Greetings Friends,


Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, asks in his book: This Thing Called Life:

What is the secret longing of your heart? If you saw an advertisement which read: You can learn how to be well, happy and successful; you can learn how to influence people; how to create your own destiny, would this have a greater attraction for you than an advertisement which read: You can learn how to help others? Or would you be even more intrigued by this advertisement: Do you wish to become one of the molders of human destiny?

Does one of those statements jump out at you? What indeed is the secret longing of your heart? Whether it’s for greater success, greater health, greater prosperity or to become a “molder of human destiny”--Universal Principles, when correctly used, allow you to create the life you truly desire. Imagine a day when you stop just dreaming about the secret longings of your heart and actually begin creating them! Imagine a day when you stopped wishing and started manifesting. So think for a moment, delve really deep, what is the secret longing of your heart? I know you have one, or perhaps many. Are you ready to open up to all the good there is to allow this secret longing to come to fruition or are you just going to keep on wishing and hoping?

There is a Power for Good in the Universe and we can all learn how to use it. Unfortunately we don’t learn to use this Power for Good by whining and moaning about everything we don’t want. If this were the case many of us would already be master manifestors. We do, however, learn to use the Power for Good by getting clear on what the secret longing of our hearts is, applying Universal Principles and taking action to bring our dreams to fruition. There is a power for good in the universe and you can learn to use it! One proactive step would be to take The Secrets of The Secret class (http://dare2create.com) which begins again this Thursday evening in Phoenix.

Blessings to you and happy manifesting.

Secrets of "The Secret" Class

Greetings Friends,

Have you seen the movie The Secret yet? For those of you who have, you know what The Secret is and for those of you who have not, I really encourage you to view this phenomenal movie. Whether you have seen it or not, you may be interested in an upcoming class I'm facilitating in the Phoenix area entitled Secrets of "The Secret". Last month I facilitated it at Unity of Phoenix and the turn out was incredible. Even more amazing is the results people are having in their lives when they learn how to apply the concepts in The Secret.

This four-week class will show you how to practically apply the concepts illustrated in the movie. By viewing portions of the movie each week, engaging in discussion and experiential exercises, you'll learn how to have greater prosperity, joy, peace, health and love, and how to create the life you truly desire.

This fun and illuminating class will teach you how to:

Align your thoughts, words and actions for success.
· Focus on what you want to manifest in your life.
· Change your thinking to create unprecedented abundance.
· Release negative emotions and replace them with positive ones.
· Let go of worry and embrace a deeper level of peace.
· Develop a closer relationship with the creator within.
· Replace beliefs that are holding you back with empowering ones.
· Harness the power of the Universe to do your bidding.
· Understand how you control the flow of “good energy” in your life.Increase your faith in Spirit, in yourself, and in your abilities.

Class: Secrets of “The Secret”
Where: Creative Living Fellowship
6530 North 7th Street, Phoenix 85014 (7th St & Maryland)
When: Thursdays Oct 12th –Nov 2nd
Time: 7:00 PM to 9 PM
Cost: Love Offering (Suggested $10.00 per class)

How to Choose Joy Right Now!

Greetings Friends,

To Blog or not To Blog? That is the question. Seems that nowadays everyone and their dog (well in my case 5 cats) seems to have blogs, so why not? I have decided to join the world of bloggers so here it is... the Dare2create Blog.

So what is Dare2create all about anyway? Well, the term Dare2create means stepping forth in courage and authenticity to live our dreams in all areas of our lives. It's living a life of full expression by having the conviction to follow our passions and goals. It's about being bold enough to let our magnificence shine! It's also about creating the world we desire to live in--not just waiting for someone else to come along and do it, but to step forth boldly and begin the ripple effect.

The Dare2create blog will feature ideas for living a life of outrageous joy, a life that you love, a life that brings you passion, purpose and peace.

So my question for you right now is do you take time to marvel at all that is around you? Do you take time to allow your joy to flow? What is something that you see right now in front of you that brings you joy?

For me, as I look around so many things bring me joy. There are my glasses sitting on the desk (new for reading this year). How joyful I am to have them and how absolutely joyful that I can see well enough without them to write this. Then there is my warm cup of Blueberry tea in my favorite Utah Shakespearean Festival Mug. I gave up caffeinene this year (quite an accomplishment as I'm a British ex-patriot and I truly think all Brits come out of the womb with an IV attached to them for a "nice cuppa tea!) Then there is one of my lovely cats, Echo, curled up in a little ball purring delightedly. Joy, joy, joy!

I invite you to take a moment now and raise your vibration by looking around to focus on what brings you joy.