by Charles McAlpine | Jun 5, 2016 | Blog
A couple of days ago, while doing some writing, I realized there was something I needed to do! I was writing about “Who I am becoming”. There is so much happening right now and many of us are feeling the intensity of all this activity. The world around us is shifting and changing. Some people are adjusting and adapting to these changes. Some are disconnecting and finding new ways of being. Others are still holding on to their old ways and wondering why they are not working like they use. I a lot of what I was reflecting on while writing was about being more intentional about who I am moving forward. If you are like me, you have spent a long time being a student of Life. This means looking deep within to discover your truth. To discover your passion. Even your purpose. I know it seems like we would/should know these things. Aren’t we are the ones who have lived this experience or adventure we call our life? But what many of us don’t realize is how much others have affected our perspective. How our perspective influences how we interpret the events and circumstances we experience. In truth, most of us need to slow down. To become the Observer of our own life. To hear the internal messages from various aspects of ourselves. Then we begin to realize we are running old stories that no longer fit or apply (if they ever did!). So this is where I was in my writing, when I had this thought. “I need to create a meditation/visualization for myself”. To focus...
by Charles McAlpine | Apr 19, 2015 | Blog
One morning this week, as I was enjoying my morning coffee outside, I realized I was contemplating a large tree that holds court in the back corner of our yard. As I thought about it, I realized that it wasn’t even here when we moved in 13 years ago! Instead, in its place, there was a beautiful, gigantic ocotillo! It was the biggest ocotillo I have ever seen, about 20ft tall and thick! It would have taken 10 people with arms spread wide to surround this beautiful desert plant! And when it was in bloom, with its intense orange tops it looked like the whole thing was on fire! It was gorgeous! After we had lived here for about a year, I noticed a small branch with a few leaves on it, sticking out of the ocotillo at eye level. Because of the thickness of the ocotillo, I couldn’t see where it was coming from… So I asked our landscape guy about it. He said a small tree had taken root in the center of the gigantic plant. I asked him if he could take it out? He indicated that they would have to destroy such a big piece of the ocotillo to get it out, that the ocotillo would never look the same. Apparently, if you cut away part of one of these plants, it doesn’t grow back the same as it was before. I decided to let nature take its course. The desert can be harsh on plants. I assumed that the tree, which is deciduous, would probably never survive. I imagined that the ocotillo was so...
by Charles McAlpine | Jan 25, 2015 | Blog
Last night, Fito and I had dinner with another couple at their home. And almost immediately, we were talking about our plans for retirement. At one point I told one of our hosts that lately it seems like all of the conversations I am having, have to do with retirement or health! An obvious indicator that I am getting older! Sometimes I wonder how this could have happened so fast! It seems like just yesterday I was immortal! Or at least I walked around feeling as if this life would never end. And of course to top it all off, there is this whole twisted concept of life experience. You know.., “I wish I knew then, what I know now!” It seems as if Life is playing tricks on me! And yet there is beauty to this aging process. It feels like I am just beginning to get a sense of it. Maybe it is how the drive or demand for things to look and feel a certain way begins to diminish. The willingness to accept things as they are versus how we think they should be. It is as if we begin to see how life responds to and for us, based on our thoughts and feelings. When I was younger the world revolved around me, because my ego demanded it. Every situation, challenge or reward was assessed based on whether or not it was aligned with, supported or screwed with my personal plans! My reaction or response was based on how attached I was to either getting or losing that ‘thing’. And of course, it felt like...
by Charles McAlpine | Jan 25, 2015 | Blog
Last night, Fito and I had dinner with another couple at their home. And almost immediately, we were talking about our plans for retirement. At one point I told one of our hosts that lately it seems like all of the conversations I am having, have to do with retirement or health! An obvious indicator that I am getting older! Sometimes I wonder how this could have happened so fast! It seems like just yesterday I was immortal! Or at least I walked around feeling as if this life would never end. And of course to top it all off, there is this whole twisted concept of life experience. You know.., “I wish I knew then, what I know now!” It seems as if Life is playing tricks on me! And yet there is beauty to this aging process. It feels like I am just beginning to get a sense of it. Maybe it is how the drive or demand for things to look and feel a certain way begins to diminish. The willingness to accept things as they are versus how we think they should be. It is as if we begin to see how life responds to and for us, based on our thoughts and feelings. When I was younger the world revolved around me, because my ego demanded it. Every situation, challenge or reward was assessed based on whether or not it was aligned with, supported or screwed with my personal plans! My reaction or response was based on how attached I was to either getting or losing that ‘thing’. And of course, it felt like...
by Paul (Site Admin) | Jan 18, 2015 | Blog
Have you ever noticed how sometimes the do’s and don’ts of life seem to be in conflict with one another? It is one of the traps I find myself in quite frequently. I go back and forth internally about how to balance or accommodate both. Here is my example. We all have situations that come up that upset us. Maybe they make us mad or we feel offended. Perhaps we feel shamed or dissed (dismissed or disrespected). Regardless these situations trigger an emotional response for us. So then we are confronted with the conflicting do’s and don’ts. For many of us we are taught that we are suppose to turn the other cheek. Or, maybe in our pursuit of personal and spiritual growth we are told that we create our own reality and it is all a reflection… So we should look for and find the Love and Light in these situations. What is the lesson? The idea being that we are suppose to be positive and take the high road. Spiritual people are always kind and loving.., these situations shouldn’t bother us, because we are more evolved than that. At the same time, we are also taught that unexpressed emotions and repetitive thoughts that are unresolved cause stress and are stored in the physical body. Over time, the pattern of storing these unexpressed emotions or thought patterns become denser and create blockages with the systems of the body. They are the cause of many of our ailments and/or illnesses.., or at least they make us more susceptible to disease. So, this inquiring mind wants to know: If we...
by Charles McAlpine | Jan 18, 2015 | Blog
Have you ever noticed how sometimes the do’s and don’ts of life seem to be in conflict with one another? It is one of the traps I find myself in quite frequently. I go back and forth internally about how to balance or accommodate both. Here is my example. We all have situations that come up that upset us. Maybe they make us mad or we feel offended. Perhaps we feel shamed or dissed (dismissed or disrespected). Regardless these situations trigger an emotional response for us. So then we are confronted with the conflicting do’s and don’ts. For many of us we are taught that we are suppose to turn the other cheek. Or, maybe in our pursuit of personal and spiritual growth we are told that we create our own reality and it is all a reflection… So we should look for and find the Love and Light in these situations. What is the lesson? The idea being that we are suppose to be positive and take the high road. Spiritual people are always kind and loving.., these situations shouldn’t bother us, because we are more evolved than that. At the same time, we are also taught that unexpressed emotions and repetitive thoughts that are unresolved cause stress and are stored in the physical body. Over time, the pattern of storing these unexpressed emotions or thought patterns become denser and create blockages with the systems of the body. They are the cause of many of our ailments and/or illnesses.., or at least they make us more susceptible to disease. So, this inquiring mind wants to know: If we...
by Charles McAlpine | Aug 3, 2014 | Blog
OMG! I can’t believe how intense the last two weeks of July were! I couldn’t even write about it last week because of being in the grips of fear and truthfully.., a bit of shock! Storm Wisdom had it’s worst two weeks of sales EVER! When I say ever… I mean even compared to the first two weeks we were open and hardly anyone even knew we existed. We were busier then! It was scary. Of course when a cycle begins, you are not necessarily aware that something new has started. So one day where you have less than $20 in sales, you can shrug it off and assume it is some weird anomaly. After a week of questionable activity.., “shrugging it off” is a lot harder (at least for me!) You begin to question everything. As you know, you can’t run a brick and mortar business with no sales. No sales means no payroll, no rent, no utilities, etc… You get the picture! AND… Something similar was happening at home! It felt like our livelihood was being threatened! Yuck… I don’t even like thinking about it. And amongst all this, there was a definite pattern of bad communications. Not what was being communicated during this time, but old conversations, agreements or understandings were falling apart. What seemed clear six months ago was now a muddled mess. Once again for both Fito and me. It was a dark time. And of course, if you consider yourself a spiritual magician and student of life, then you have to look at these blocks, challenges, ebbs or whatever, to determine what the...
by Charles McAlpine | Aug 3, 2014 | Blog
OMG! I can’t believe how intense the last two weeks of July were! I couldn’t even write about it last week because of being in the grips of fear and truthfully.., a bit of shock! Storm Wisdom had it’s worst two weeks of sales EVER! When I say ever… I mean even compared to the first two weeks we were open and hardly anyone even knew we existed. We were busier then! It was scary. Of course when a cycle begins, you are not necessarily aware that something new has started. So one day where you have less than $20 in sales, you can shrug it off and assume it is some weird anomaly. After a week of questionable activity.., “shrugging it off” is a lot harder (at least for me!) You begin to question everything. As you know, you can’t run a brick and mortar business with no sales. No sales means no payroll, no rent, no utilities, etc… You get the picture! AND… Something similar was happening at home! It felt like our livelihood was being threatened! Yuck… I don’t even like thinking about it. And amongst all this, there was a definite pattern of bad communications. Not what was being communicated during this time, but old conversations, agreements or understandings were falling apart. What seemed clear six months ago was now a muddled mess. Once again for both Fito and me. It was a dark time. And of course, if you consider yourself a spiritual magician and student of life, then you have to look at these blocks, challenges, ebbs or whatever, to determine what the...
by Charles McAlpine | Jan 19, 2014 | Blog
This past week I attended Victoria Barna and Gisela Arenas’ workshop called “New Year… New Beginnings”. One of their main areas of focus was to look at each participants “Numerology”. Life Path number, Challenge number, Personal Year number. That sort of thing. Then a couple of days later I had my semi-annual Astrology session with Jolinda Marshall (who has been my astrologer for over 25 years!). It never ceases to amaze me how these systems of study can be so accurate. They provide clarity and confirmation on the cycles of our lives and provide insights on the ups and downs. In both cases and even in Human Design (another system of study), the information that is shared is not so much predictive or specific to any single individual, as they are about energetic alignment or in some cases.., non-alignment. For an example, This is good time to make financial decisions, not a good time to make major relationship choices, etc. I find that when I tap into these ancient arts, I am pulled out of the details of my life and begin to recognize and appreciate the phases and cycles of life. Something that we all experience. I have been connected to Astrology for so long that I even seem to know when something is off in my chart. Perhaps I am seeing or experiencing things from a perspective that is not normal for me. Sometimes when it lasts more than a few days, I will call Jolinda to find out what is up and how long that particular “transit” is going to be around. In the numerology portion...
