by Sally Aderton for the Creators and Curators at Unwind at Westclox, La Salle, Il April 15, 2022
Photos by Sally Aderton

Ram Dass's seminal book Be Here Now published in 1971 awakened millions of westerners what the eastern sages had been teaching for millennia. There is no place to go but be present to what is. I call it "destination orientation thinking" and it is a trap. Life is going to get better when...fill in the blank. This is a lie. #gratitude #prayer #meditation #changeisconstant #beherenow #presentmoment #spiritualgrowth #selfawareness #pray #meditate #energyinmotionbook #sallyaderton

In 2008, I was sitting in the front row at The Unity Center in San Diego, excited to hear Deepak Chopra talk about his recently published, "The Third Jesus." When he started his talk, his first comment was "Every day I wake up and ask myself 'Who am I today?'" This common question is what the sages say life is truly about. We are here to learn who we are. The challenge is we think we are going to arrive at the place where we have the answer, but then we never get there because we are constantly evolving and learning something new about ourselves.

At this point in my life, I have been asking a lot another question. Where am I? The emphasis for me is the word "I" not "where" and this is an important distinction. My writings here on Patreon have been like an online journal, historical record, photo gallery, and reminiscences of where I have been. It seems here on this platform I get to mash up my past, my present to create a new future that is yet to be known.

One of my Sally Sayings is, "We do not get to where we are if we have not been where we have been." Until quite recently, I did not want to be where I was, emphasis on where...or who I was, emphasis on "I". That time though thank God passed. Patreon was one of my medicines to help me enjoy once again who I am and where I am.

When thinking about my topic today to muse and create around I went first to my vast galleries of images. Often I start my creations here with perusing through journals looking for poetry. Since I trust the Creator in me, when I saw this photo taken so long ago....when I loved who I was and where I was...I wondered what poem would match the sense of pride that I was living my dreams when it was taken. Of course, within moments I found the poem from a time where I was again not happy with where and who I was. 

I am not naive. I know that the feeling I have today about who and where I am in my waking dream I will always be content. But today, I am content. I can affirm freely with my words that I am at peace. As I have surrendered my struggle to accept where I am, I have found ease. 

The younger me in the photograph is still in me. I see her. I know her. I love her. I am proud that she had a radio show in San Francisco on KEST. The station's tagline was The Personal Growth Radio Station. By the early 1990s metaphysics had not yet gone main stream. I was one of the revolutionaries to push the cultural comfort zone and open up spirituality riding the waves of the New Age. This opening of minds and hearts the generations now being raised with TikTok do not understand that you could not get astrology, numerology, psychics, healers, crystal magic, tarot instantly on your phone. 

Now that I know where I am, I know I have another question to ask myself. "How I can be a cultural revolutionary today?" That question makes me smile. I will let you know how the answer shows up to guide my dreams and action. I am curious and that is glorious.

~ Sally Aderton, Utica, IL, April 13, 2022

Inhale, exhale, be.

The word 'Pacific' means calm, peaceful. That is always how I felt when I was near a sea. It always make me feel wild to be at an ocean. Wild calm is the nature of nature itself. "We are the world" is not just a line from Michael Jackson's famous anthem. We really are and the world is us. #prayer #meditation #natureheals #unity #consciousness #selfawareness

Human beings want connection. All pain is a form of separation. When we feel a part of something, small to great it does not matter, we feel loved. There is no direction we can go beside forward in time. We can change our perspective about the past and historical events but we cannot change the events themselves. When we feel connected we can move forward with less fear and more courage. #prayer #meditation #love #courage #action #unity #intuitiveartsandsciences #energyinmotionbook