Watched a movie last night, called The Shift, made by Hay House Films, that had been on my get-to list since it came out a few years back. As the rain poured down and thunder rumbled through, heralding a change in the weather, a shift was occurring for my friends Ondreah, Deb and myself. We sat for two hours, mesmerized by a story woven through the lives of a group of people who come together at the lovely, wind and wave swept Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California, seemingly for many different reasons, but for a single purpose: transformation.
A film crew arrives there to interview Wayne Dyer who had chosen to use the center as a writing retreat, while he penned his next book. The project director; a cynical, but somewhat open to learning ambitious young man is facing his greatest challenge…how to maintain purpose and focus, without being caught up in ambition. He and his colleagues are intrigued by what Wayne has to share, particularly since these are new concepts for them. It was fascinating for me to observe, having been a student of metaphysics and transformation for more than 30 years, to consider what it would be like to encounter these concepts for the first time in my life, now.
Another dynamic occurs between a monetarily wealthy, but emotionally and spiritually impoverished couple who show up at Asilomar for a conference sponsored by a non-profit organization that serves homeless people. The husband is a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps developer who is only attending to make himself look like a good guy since he is facing challenges with his image as someone who puts profits before people and the environment. The wife is bored and entertains herself with shopping.
The third grouping is a family with wife, husband and two beautiful and active little boys who keep Mom and Dad hopping. Dad is kinda laid back and Mom is hovering and ‘interfering’; micromanaging nearly everything they do. In the midst of being a devoted mother and nurturing her children, she has given up one of her self nourishing activities.
Two other cool elements in the film: Louise Hay has a cameo; one quick scene, and the other is someone I thought of as a ‘behind the scenes angel’ who turned out to be a surprising entity at Asilomar.
The concepts that Wayne explains throughout the movie, serve as fodder for amazing changes in consciousness and action for these people. Some of the most poignant:
1. The illusion is that our value as human beings is based on what we have, what we do and how other people view us. Take a look at your own life and ask yourself if you have found that to be so. If you believe that your possessions, achievements and the ways in which you are perceived by others define you, then it seems to me that you will be at the whim of externals. The truth is that happiness, success and a full, rich life are inside jobs.
2. Wayne asks a question of one of the film crew…about how he knows that a slice of apple pie is indeed apple pie. His profound answer is that it came from the pie. In that same way, Wayne explains that we are like that from which we came. We come from our Source….Divinity, so we must be Divine as well and as such, will be supported by that same loving energy.
3. He muses about the idea that for the first 9 months from conception to birth, all of our needs are provided for and we have no thought or worry about it. Why, he wonders, do we then angst about it once we are born? Because we ‘interfere’. What if we knew for sure, that despite appearances at times, that continues to be true? I have found myself (or rather, lost myself) tumbling into what I call ‘spiritual amnesia’ when I forget that God/Goddess/All That Is has my back (front, sides, top and bottom too:) Once I am reminded of that, my life flows with more grace than I had ever imagined.
4. Wayne refers to shifts as quantum moments that have these qualities in common, regardless of the form they take:
The are vivid. They are surprising. They feel good. They are enduring.
As I fondly gaze at the quantum moments in my own life when I have surpassed the limiting beliefs and fear thoughts, I feel a sense of pure delight, a wowie-zowie sense of wonder. They often come in unexpected wrapping; not always pretty. Sometimes they show up as disappointments or disapproval. I have the responsibility and choice to unwrap them and see what is really underneath. Recently, I discovered a precious gift hidden beneath the illusion of ‘uh-oh, now what?’. As I contemplated this particular situation, I was able to shift from feeling like a bad little girl who had done something wrong, to a mature woman who wasn’t going to allow this situation to cause self doubt. I was once again reminded that people operate by their own values and what feels right for them. I bless this person and situation for being a teacher for me.What a high quality quantum moment that was!
5. You don’t attract what you want. You attract what you are. Sure, making a list of the experiences, items, people, relationships, qualities you desire is one step toward calling them into your life. A piece that people often miss is that in order to bring them to manna-festation, it is important to embody those in your own life. I don’t subscribe to the idea that opposites attract. I KNOW that like attracts like and birds of a feather flock together. If I want to bring more love into my life, I need to be a love shower (show-er and shower, both:) and sprinkle it out into the world.
What if you knew, as Wayne shares at the end of the film that you are only a thought away from changing your life? The shift can occur in an instant. Is this the one?
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