New site

Please go to https://drkatherinetkelly.wordpress.com/ for my updated blog site.  See you there!

Evolution of a Blog

I invite all of you to view and follow my new blog at:  http://drkatherinetkelly.wordpress.com/. 

You will be able to access all of the entries from this blog site on the new one, along with many new entries. 

Also, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, go to:  https://twitter.com/DrKTKelly/, where you will see quotes from my upcoming book "Soul Health:  Aligning with Spirit for Radiant Living", as well as updates on release dates, workshops, etc.

Thank your for visiting my site, and I look forward to seeing you on the new one!

K Kelly

One breath at a time...

I've been taking many long, deep breaths lately--- mostly to regroup and take stock of the moment.  In the last post, I described the situation about my sweet and loyal pup who is dealing with an inoperable tumor on his spine.  Since that time, and thanks to the wonder of both conventional drugs and a holistic vet in the area, my poor little guy has been restored to 'near normal' in terms of his quality of life.  I was near tears in my deep moment of breathing last night as he joyfully and continuously squeeked a toy for almost 20 minutes straight-- a true sign that he was happy to be alive.  I stopped what I was doing to go sit on the floor by him to experience his joy and breathe in the moment.... that turned into many more moments of squeeking.  At any other time I may have been annoyed that I couldn't hear the news in the background.  But in those wonderful moments, I too was elated that he was alive.

I'm guessing that many people are taking their own deep breaths of consciousness right now.  Between the horrific weather patterns, the grueling election campaigns, the state of the economy, the various health problems, family stress, emotional and physical exhaustion and so on... these moments of consciousness are much needed to really evaluate where we are in life and where we want-- or must go.

One of my favorite authors, Pema Chodron, explores this awareness from the buddhist perspective in her book "When Things Fall Apart".  When asked how she got through many of her own trials and tribulations, she answered "breath by breath".  And sometimes that is the only consolation one can accept as they make it through their days.

It sounds simple-- to breathe.  But once I ask someone to become aware of their breathing, it often becomes more difficult to breathe!  We have made a very unconscious process very conscious and in doing so, we become labored in our most natural effort in life.  Recently, a few workshop participants admitted that the request to become more conscious of their breath actually created a fear reaction.  They had to become quiet and 'listen'--- something that was all too unfamiliar for them to feel at ease in doing.

But in times of stress or duress, sometimes our breath is all we have.  It is literally and figuratively all that may sustain us in that moment.  But it is also in that moment that the most potential for change lies.  We cannot evolve without these moments of consciousness--- these pauses in which our souls can finally catch up with our human condition and instruct us for what we need to do in order to not only take the next breath, but also to learn from and grow beyond it.

While life may be about taking one day at a time, a conscious life is about living breath by breath.  For me, it is not enough to simply live.  I want to be conscious of every moment I am lucky enough to have.

Which is worse.... loss or the process of losing?

For those who know me personally, you are well aware that my house is not a home without a dog.  My family felt the same and we always had at least one pup when I was a child.  I now have two wonderful furry critters, both rescues, which I hold near and dear to my heart.  One is 13 years old, while the other is around 7.  The younger one is often my therapy assistant, coming to work with me and allowing my clients to love on her as they open up their souls to heal from the happenings of their own human condition.

Recently my older dog was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor which surrounds a vital nerve in his neck.  For several days he was unable to walk and cried in excruciating pain.  This both terrified me and filled me with sorrow as I remained helpless until a diagnosis could be made and pain medication could be effectively administered.  The challenge now is maintaining my own composure knowing that his life will be ending, along with my daily connection with this amazing furry creature.

This experience has raised my own consciousness about loss, one in which I am all too familiar.  Having had older parents, three of my four grandparents had passed away before I was in highschool.  My father died when I was 21, followed shortly by the remaining grandparent.  All blood-related aunts and uncles had passed away by the time I was 30, and my oldest brother passed away last November.  I have also experienced the loss of close friends while in high school and college.  In some ways, I guess you could say that this makes me very good at 'loss'.  I've had multiple opportunities to practice grieving and have come to know myself quite well in what how I handle these occasions.

However, in the situation with my beloved pup, I'm becoming ever so conscious of the fact that I am not good at the process of 'losing'.  Somehow knowing that his life will be siginificantly shortened has thrown a whole new wrench in my ability to 'lose' gracefully.  Knowing that at any minute the tumor could get worse and I will have to see him suffer-- and then make the decision of when to let him go-- has added a whole new dimension to the idea of being a good 'loser'.  Perhaps it is the unknown of how and when it will happen, or whether I will feel I've done enough to ease his discomfort and show my own unconditional love to this truly unconditional creature.

As a result of my new awareness of 'losing', my consciousness has also been greatly heightened in stopping the non-essential tasks and fully attending to my little guy whenever I am near him.  I have also become increasingly aware of the need to gleen every bit of meaning from life at any given time.  I am more present and mindful when speaking with friends and family-- or grocery store clerks... or delivery persons... or anyone for that matter.  I am more attentive to my own self as well--  allowing my emotions to come closer to the surface, sharing my thoughts, hurts, sorrows and joys more willingly.

In essence, this process of losing, although painful, has brought me more joy as well.  I am making every attempt to step out of the fear of losing, and step further into the love of 'having' each moment.  I am taking more time to breathe in each experience and both relish and cherish each gift of experience that comes my way.  I'm also eliminating more and more of the unnecessary distractions of life... the nonsense commercials on t.v. which I 'mute' the second I can...   the nonessential trips to the store to get something that could wait a few days longer....   the annoying political phone calls that seem to be flooding the lines these days...  and so on.

I want to be better at the process of 'losing'.  I want to be more graceful and genuine as I head into these unchartered waters.  I want to remain present, even though I may really want to run away from the pain deep inside.  In doing so, I know I will gain more and more from each moment, each interaction, and each breath.

Join me in this process.... lose the nonessentials... and gain your consciousness just a little more.  Become better in your own 'losing' process, whatever you may be letting go of. 

Hold yourself firmly in your consciousness and cry your way to joy!

Fun and Leisure!!!

So, it's June 11 and I finished the first draft of "the" book this weekend!  "Soul Health:  Aligning with Spirit for Radiant Living" is in its final stages...  and should be released sometime this fall (2012!).  What seemed like both a long and short process-- long because I was so excited about getting this done, and short because I somehow wrote the entire book since January---  is wrapping up.  Hard to believe.  But long awaited. 

The Soul Health Model is my baby.  I'm very proud of it and use it daily with clients.  The model describes the importance and process of creating the ultimate life balance so that your soul has the best platform to evolve.  Long story short-- we must balance the 10 key aspects of our 'human condition'-- our everyday challenges-- with our spirit condition-- in order to thrive in this world.  Ironically... the last branch added was "Recreation" or the Fun/Leisure component of our human lives-- which is far under-rated as far as I'm concerned.  In fact, it was the hardest chapter for me to write-- both because it is the one which is most overlooked or pushed to the side in our experience in the human condition-- but also because at the point in which I was writing the chapter, I wasn't exactly having fun in my own life.  I had been working long hours, writing during what was left, and getting out far too little!  It's hard to write about fun and leisure when you're not having any of it yourself!!!

I do try to practice what I preach.  But I'm also an agent of change.  I love the work I do-- sometimes too much.  And in my own consciousness, I can become unconscious!  I can get caught up in the 'busy-ness' just like anyone else.  I'm much better than I used to be, but I, like many, have to intentionally schedule fun.

Are you having enough fun in your life?  Do you laugh enough???    Probably not.  But onward and upward...  I vow to have more fun today... how about you???

Time Flies....

It has been a while.... as you can tell by the date of my last entry.  This is partly because I haven't quite embraced this social media thing and partially because of happenings within my own 'human condition'.  Shortly after the last post I went headfirst into a very busy fall with a full client load, 27 presentations/workshops between August and December, and also indulged in my usual fall travel-- hiked Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons National Parks in September then headed to Peru for another wonderful spiritual adventure.  However, while out of the country, I received word that my oldest brother had passed away, which led to more travel back to my homestate of Colorado twice before the end of the year.  Since then I have been immersed in the writing/completion of my first book-- "Soul Health:  Aligning with Spirit for Radiant Living".  (Stay tuned for release date.)  This adventure has brought its own challenges, but much learning about myself and others along the way. 

You see, even though I write about the human condition, I am not exempt from experiencing it myself.  This 'being human' thing tests us on a daily basis, many times when we least expect it, and when it is the least 'convenient' to feel as if we can manage it let alone learn from it.  But human we are.  And this means that we must take what comes to us and open ourselves to the 'pop quizzes' of life along with the major exams.

Last year when walking along the south rim of the Grand Canyon I had my own conversation with God, Universe, or whatever else you may call 'it'.  It was a moonlit night, far too wonderful to want to go inside even though it was too dark to even see the canyon.  I was wandering along wondering why life has to be so hard at times.  The thoughts that came to me went back to my graduate school days when, to me, it wasn't an option to allow anything to get in the way of finishing, no matter how difficult other parts of life might have been.  I just kept pushing forward.  I found myself chuckling as the words came to me that I chose the 'graduate school' of life when I committed myself to learning, growing and evolving no matter what.  Like those days in school, I realized that I wouldn't be doing life any other way than to just push forward no matter what.

I often tell clients that one of the hazards of therapy is that once you begin to learn and grow you never want to stop-- which creates a vicious cycle of more learning and growing along with the challenges and discomfort that comes along with it.

So, here's to the 'graduate school' of life for those of you out there who are committed to your own evolution!!!  Congratulations... and my sympathy all at the same time!  No one said this human thing would be easy... but we keep pushing onward and upward.

Let us continue on our upward journey.....

"Shake Awakes"...

The east coast earthquake that hit yesterday is said to have been felt by 100 million people.  In a matter of 30 seconds this huge number of people were suddenly jolted into awareness that the Earth was moving beneath them.

I can't help but wonder what would happen if this many people were suddenly jolted into overall consciousness within the same amount of time?  How would it change the world?  How would we treat each other differently?  How would our priorities change?  How would we spend our time?  Who would we love more... or less?  How would our judgments change toward other people... and toward ourselves?  How would we care for our selves and others?  What would we care about more... or care about less? 

Instead, our world is waking up just a little at a time.  Perhaps humankind would not be able to handle a mass consciousness in such a sudden way.  Perhaps we would panic and resist the consciousness... more than we already do.  Perhaps the journey of consciousness really  IS the key rather than the destination.  Our evolution is a very slow process... and perhaps we can't rush it.

But I yearn for a time of oneness.... of unconditionality... of total and complete love rather than this utter fear that we seem to swim around in.  I ache for a time when we don't judge one another for our differences.  I pray that it happens in my lifetime, but I'm not willing to put money on it at this point.

About a week ago I had a startling realization on one of my walks.   I realized I am greedy.  My greed, though, is based on wanting to be a change agent for as many people as I possibly can while I am still on this Earth.  I am not afraid to admit this greed... in fact, I am proud of it.  I am proud of the drive that I have had as long as I can remember to help people to heal and to evolve.  As a kid I remember seeing elderly people barely walking through a store or sitting alone in a restaurant looking tired and depressed.  I remember telling the Universe to take some of my youthful energy and give it to these people so that they could go on just a little longer or with just a little more energy.  Even then, I wanted people to live their lives to the fullest... to experience every drop of life that we are gifted with as humans.

And so my mission continues... My name is Katherine Kelly and I am greedy.  I will stand up any day and admit this as long as it helps someone to grow... to become more conscious.. and to do the ultimate service to our creator.... to evolve.

May your own personal earth shake enough today to bring you even a little more consciousness.. which will connect each person to the other.