What is the tie-in between self-love and “new thought”?
We now know what self-love is all about, so perhaps we better define “new thought” a bit more.
New thought was a philosophy that began in the early mid-nineteenth century that postulated the idea of “healthy mindedness” as well as a healthy body. It was a spiritual movement with its roots in metaphysical beliefs. It grew out of existing Christian beliefs, especially those of a Calvinist origin. New thought’s basic premise was; “that anything that exists in the mind and could be expressed through words had the ability to transcend the physical and be realized through individual thoughts and intuition.”
Many philosophers and thinkers of the time latched onto “new thought” as expressing their belief in the universality of humanity and whilst still accepting a higher power, they attributed that higher power to the Universe rather than some arbitrary human construct, such as God, Yaweh, Allah, or whatever it might be.
Perhaps, for most of us today, “new thought” only came to the forefront of our consciousness in 2006 with the world-wide streaming of Rhonda Byrne’s movie and later book, “The Secret”. It was at this time the idea of the Law of Attraction and New Thought actually swept across the world. Rhonda would be the first to admit that her movie was espousing nothing new, but rather sharing the “secret” that she had discovered from reading a one-hundred-year-old book by Wallace Wattles, titled, The Science of Getting Rich. So, although Rhonda’s epiphany may have seemed startling, exciting, and new to a whole new generation of adherents, the basic principles that made up the new thought philosophy had been around and discussed for many years.
Joseph Campbell:
One adherent to the new thought philosophy was Joseph Campbell. An American author and editor who lived from 1904 to 1987, Joseph Campbell is best known for his works on comparative mythologies across the world. He examined the universal functions and impacts of myths in various cultures and mythical figures across a wide range of different literature from all over the world.
For me, however, it was his pronouncements and quotes that have the greatest effect and inspiration. We talked last week about the greatest way to love yourself is to find your true path in life – that which you were gifted; those unique and special talents that we’ve been talking about. Joseph Campbell’s simple quote, for me, sums up perfectly what we need to do, as individuals, if we are to achieve the self-realization, self-actualization and self-love that we both seek and deserve.
“Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where there were only walls.”
Joseph Campbell
Such a simple phrase – “follow your bliss” but one that is guaranteed to put you where you (a) want to be and (b) where you belong.
Follow Your Bliss:
What is bliss?
Bliss is a concept that almost defies description. It is vast, boundless, immeasurable AND it is a totally different state, for every single person and that is the key. Bliss must be personally experienced to understand what it is for YOU. Bliss exists on an entirely different dimension to simple happiness – it is so much more than that. It is a state where the sense of ego slips away and a feeling of total connectedness takes over. When you are in a state of bliss there is no sense of “me”, separate from the rest of creation – there is just joy and peace.
Perhaps the best definition I’ve heard of bliss is doing something where time, the environment, and everything around you fades away into the background and only the thing you are currently focused on matters anymore. This is the way I feel when I’m writing these blogs, or my novels, so, for me, a state of bliss is attained when I am writing. For everyone it will be different and you need to focus on what gives you bliss and then find a way to relate that to today’s environment and a way to “follow your bliss” that also rewards you financially for doing so. Remember what Richard Branson said about not doing what he did for the money, but for the fun and the challenge. But that when he had fun, invariably the money followed.
If there is one guaranteed way to achieve the self-love and satisfaction that we all seek, that is it.
“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.”
Joseph Campbell
Simply put, if you do things that you are passionate about, you’ll feel more alive and doors will open for you.
New Thought and Self-Talk:
We’ve talked a lot in the last few blogs about the importance to our well-being of our own self-talk. Regardless of the reasons for us having a low opinion of ourselves, so many of us do and we are continually berating ourselves for not measuring up to either our or others opinions or expectations of us. When we denounce ourselves, we are doing serious harm to our self-esteem and self-worth.
This is particularly cogent when we look at new thought beliefs. One of the core beliefs of this new thought philosophy is expressed in the concept that; “thoughts are things”. One of the best known of the new thought authors is Napoleon Hill and perhaps his most famous quote was:
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”
I’m sure that will right now be resonating with readers of this blog. What an inspirational quote – if we act and think positively, with respect to self-love and self-talk, we can create whatever we desire and need. If thoughts are things and we can achieve whatever we conceive and believe in, if we don’t believe in ourselves, we will create exactly what we believe in and constantly tell ourselves – that we are hopeless, we are a failure, we can’t do anything right, or what’s the point in even trying if we’re just going to mess it up?
That, in a nutshell is why positive self-talk and believing in ourselves and our unique abilities is so important. If we don’t – we are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy through the Law of Attraction. Remember the mirror exercise from recent blogs. We really need to practice that – we need to be able to look in the mirror and say; “I am an awesome human being, I can achieve anything I set my mind to, I am capable, I am special, I am unique, I am… (fill in the blank).
There are so many people in this world today who are quick to try to bring you down, to scoff at your achievements and to belittle you or even withhold applause or praise. Congratulations, and celebrations are so important – always look for things to appreciate in yourself and give yourself a big pat on the back and a high five whenever you make constructive progress or take positive action. Self-love is also about moving away from lower [on an energetic sphere] feelings / emotions such as shame – guilt – anger – judgement and so on, and raising your vibration, instead.
We hope you’ll review this series from time to time and deploy some of the tips on a regular basis. It is your duty to yourself to remind yourself that you are better than all of that, that you are special and unique, that you are wonderful. If you don’t believe it, how can you expect anyone else to believe it?
I hope you have realized over these last four blogs why self-love, self-care, self-awareness is so important to us, as human beings and what we can do to ensure that we do love ourselves properly and look after ourselves so that we are able to utilize those special and unique talents that make us who we are. I want to leave you today, with a special quote that neatly sums up everything we’ve been discussing over these last four weeks.
“You can’t hate yourself happy. You can’t criticize yourself thin. You can’t shame yourself worthy. Real change begins with self-love and self-care.”
– Jessica Ortner
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Till Next Time I’m Sending: Peace and Light
Crystals have been around since the earth was formed, some four and a half billion years ago. Some, in the new thought movement, who are channelling from higher dimensions [Earth is on the 3rd of at least 13 dimensions], tell us that we are shifting from the carbon state to crystalline as part of the Earth’s ascension process. Ever since man first gazed in wonder at the crystalline nature of certain rocks and gems, he has used them for a variety of purposes. Almost every civilisation, in the history of the planet, has believed in and used the power of crystals for their spiritual, metaphysical and healing powers. Ancient Mayans, Incas, Egyptians and even today’s “new thought” spiritualists recognised and understood the benefits these crystals brought to our lives. Crystals are used today to heal disease, sickness, in meditation, and also in many different religious rituals.
The actual term crystal does not, in fact, refer to an object as such, but rather a form of structure. A crystal is nothing more than a particular collection of molecules or atoms and can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with its own specific characteristics. The composition of the crystal will determine what form it will take. For example, crystals can be made from simple salt, in your own kitchen, forming cubed-shaped crystals. Many gemstones, such as diamonds and rubies are crystals. When carbon is in the form of a diamond, it can be used to cut other gemstones as well as being used in a variety of every-day items such as watches (quartz crystal), early radios, electricity conduction and a whole host of other mechanical uses. In 1880, Pierre Curie discovered that by putting pressure on various crystals, including quartz, topaz and tourmaline, he was able to create electricity. This phenomenon, called the Piezoelectric effect, is why crystals are used as essential elements in computers, TV screens, iPhones and satellites.
What we will be focusing on when examining the power and use of crystals in our everyday lives will be principally the crystalline rock formations (often called gemstones) that we can have around us at all times to assist us. The reason quartz crystals were (and still are, in some cases) used in watches is because of their vibrational properties. Quartz crystal vibrates every second when a current is passed across it and was therefore perfect for watches which require accuracy of timing. Both our bodies and crystals have energetic vibrations. When we align our body’s vibrations with those of a particular gemstone there is a natural energetic or healing effect that occurs. For example, healing crystals and gemstones have a powerful vibratory impact when they are placed directly on your body. The energy in the crystal surges into you and assists the free flow of energy all around your body.
This is probably the most commonly asked question and one that creates much debate both within and outside the scientific community. Although most scientists will be quick to point out that there is no hard, quantifiable evidence of the benefits of crystals, I would just remind you that almost all modern medicine and cures come originally from the natural world and many of these cures have come down through the generations from natural, tribal practices. For aeons, every ancient civilisation has utilised crystals as part of their overall holistic approach to health and well-being. There are certainly studies that have suggested that crystals can increase the alkalinity of water as well as some solid science on the health benefits of crystals in skincare. For example, finely milled quartz is often used in exfoliating creams and magnetised tourmaline, when added to skin cleanser, has been shown to improve cleansing efficacy and boost circulation.
There are many various types of crystal, each of which has an effect on you. I will go into the different benefits we can expect from various crystals in future blogs, however, here I just want to give you a few short examples of the power that can be expected from certain crystals.
