Alysse Aallyn

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  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Zen to Awake Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 12

    The Universe Excoriates the Elephant in the Room – Judgement. The Christian religion, which is all about judgment, tells us not to judge. But we can’t help ourselves. The lives we lead are a relentless beauty contest/survival ordeal/wrestlemania/intellectual “Top THIS”-a-thon. 

    We Know Decisions are Being Made. About us. All the time. And we long desperately to influence them in our favor.

    What are Your Fears? Are you dreaming of masked goons breaking into your home in the middle of the night and dragging you away? Are you haunted by guilt for things done and things undone? We know it happens.  Will the prison bars close down on us as loved ones turn their faces away and rulers throw away the key? 

    Or are you haunted by religious fears of hell and condemnation? Are you confused about innocence in general – how can it exist in functioning adults? – and your virtues in particular? Do you HAVE any? Some people say we can’t break God’s laws, we can only break ourselves against them. That’s certainly true of the laws of Science!

    Who Judges the Purrson?

    We can tell other people are looking. We know we are always being assessed, ranked, possibly dismissed. We defensively assess, dismiss and gossip about each other. All of us wish to be judged by our intent, by the content of our hearts, rather than by results, which owe so much to Fate.

    Purrsons Cultivate Discernment – We are familiar with what it feels like to dislike some experience until a friend teaches us “how” to like it. We treasure the interesting adventure of seeing the world through another’s eyes, feeling with their hands, tasting with their tongue and remembering through their memory. An out of body experience for sure, as well as a bonding exercise. Seeing ourselves through another’s eyes can also be very uncomfortable. How about history’s eyes? What will be said about us? How will we be remembered?

    Purrson Challenge – Youth produces Bad Experiences and Bad Experiences develop Sophisticated – i.e. “Good” Judgment. Seriously, you need to be able to see some of these Bad Experiences coming because in our competitive capitalistic society these can become “extinction” events.  How many decades of your life do you have to devote to unethical corporations, scammy multi-level marketing schemes, bad marriages, unreliable friends and “secret ground floor” investments? Our time, youth, energy and assets are limited. Respect your limits.

    Purrson Danger – Fear and Regret are potent forces. Sometimes it is possible to be too cautious. But can you just “dip a toe?” The principle of “dollar cost averaging” suggests that you must keep “paying yourself back” for investments that seem to be accumulating big-time, so if they suddenly plunge, you will never have actually lost money. In other words, study your progress as you go and always bring yourself back to your healthy level.

    To do that, you need to know what your healthy level is. This isn’t about other people. This is about YOU. You come first in your own planning. You have to. If you don’t get the oxygen mask over your own face first, you’re going down, remember? Distrust people who require you to throw away all your safeguards and ignore your best gut instincts. That is not just disrespectful – it is a red flag.

     Tension seems to require mind altering substances – Don’t. Stay alert. You are balancing yourself, establishing not just a “healthy level” but establishing a Self.  This will get postponed for every experience you try to escape – you’ll only have to re-live it later – sometimes in a much worse form. Here are the important things you need to consider.

    Purrson Opportunity – Now’s the time for you to develop yourself outside “the group.” You’re not a cog – you’re a whole world. How often do you do things just because “the group” is doing them? How smart is your group? Who controls it? How close to the cliff ARE you? Think about the nature of leadership. Of models. Once you start evincing discernment you will be challenged but respected. Sometimes you lose your taste for the group, or you find a new group that suits you better. Purrsons evolve.

    Fearlessly.

    Models & Mentors – “Good judgment comes from bad experience” – Will Rogers

    “At the end of the day, you need someone who listens to you without judgment” – Payal Rohatgi

    “A rush to judgment makes a fair trial hard to get”

    – John Grisham

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Zen for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 11

    Today You’re Upside Down – You need a re-set. Your operating instructions must be faulty. But where did they go wrong? That is what we must figure out. Do you find yourself frequently fantasizing about some magic dissolution of “the rules” to benefit only you?  

    The problem with mirages – especially those we long to believe in – is that they become illusions. Falsehoods. We need so desperately to cling to an obvious fantasy we willingly surrender our ability to discern fact from fiction.

    Illusions are Powerful – The seventeenth century Dutch needed a desirable luxury exchange item the privileged could trade back and forth for status reasons. Yes, that was the tulip bulb. It was a bubble – of course– the bottom fell out – of course – and left a whole lot of previously comfortable people bankrupt. We don’t have anything like that, these days, do we? Or do we? People are rushing to invest in crypto because of its complete lack of regulation. But without rules, it’s laughably easy to steal people’s money without accountability or recourse.

    We’re All Rubes Here – Some people are investing in admittedly worthless “tokens” – just in case they go up in value. Does anyone remember the Beanie Baby craze? I had a friend who stored Mrs. Butterworth bottles in her basement – she had a basement FULL of Mrs. Butterworth bottles – because they were just BOUND to be worth something – someday. Have you seen what happens when everyone runs to the same side of the ferryboat? It tips them into the water! Successful investing involves being where the crowd isn’t – before they get there. That takes careful research. Relying on luck and chance is a fool’s game. 

    Pump & Dump Schemes – entice the unwary to “Get in on the ground floor.” But they’re just selling something worthless and they want you to bail them out. Bad decision making or deliberate manipulation?

    Some Illusions Are Life Strengthening – Others are Life-Depleting.

    I can’t stress this strongly enough: Purrsons Need to Avoid Fantasy Thinking. In spite of the fact that we think we are cats, Purrsons actually traffic in reality. We create worthwhile magic, the kind that protects and enhances – so we can’t be deceived by the “dark arts” that punish and stigmatize. Your map must represent actual ground, not pie in the sky, or you won’t be able to maneuver across it. When a mirage evolves into an illusion a delusion is created.

    Illusions Become Delusions – Delusions are a “fixed false belief resistant to reason; a distortion of reality to which the victim clings fiercely, even in the face of visible harm. The Buddhists say life itself is an illusion. But they mean that metaphorically, to keep you from become “attached” to the “ephemeral.”  Take the example of clinging to “fake food” and pushing away nutrition. Like any addict, we deny what our own bodies tell us; that we are “allergic” to this consumption.  When Purrsons end up battling FOR falsity – it’s the worst of all possible situations.

    Purrson Challenge – Let’s learn to enjoy facing facts. Enjoy reality as a bracing polar dip.  Do you find yourself trapped by an illusion that you used to need but now is killing you? You can identify this by your increasing suffering over an increasingly problematic existence and your diminishing pleasure over things that used to be reliable joys. Is it a relationship? An activity? A belief? Look at the problem honestly. Find others going through the same experience and generate frank discussion.

    Flying Monkeys Abound – If any group member rushes in defensively to shame and discourage you, to convince you you’re not feeling or understanding what you KNOW you ARE feeling and understanding then realize you’re being gaslighted.  That means that what you’re trying to exit is a “cult” that is NOT devoted to the health of its members but to their diminishment and co-option. Stop communicating with those flying monkeys and find somebody who supports the truth of your actual experience AND your desire to feel better.

    Purrson Danger – The path to re-making yourself is fraught with danger and you will require all sorts of help. Don’t be discouraged if your feelings are volatile and transitory and you are confused about their reality. Move slowly, consulting Models & Mentors – kind others who respect your autonomy, individuality and with whom you feel safe.

    Purrson Opportunity –  Relax! Purrsons will become adept at shifting vision from night vision to day vision, forward and backwards through time, manifesting others’ auras until we can see and harmonize with possibility and love.

    We Transform Illusion Through Skill – The impossible takes longer, because language is not as flexible as reality. You are embarked on an exciting growth challenge where you leave a constricting carapace behind. Sometimes the “shell” was protective and served for a time to keep you safe while you matured. You don’t need to disparage the old you, or the old relationship; it served its purpose. Often people who have been through a trauma say afterwards they wouldn’t change the past, because they treasure and embrace the person they’ve become.

    Models & Mentors – “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours” – Richard Bach

    “The world is an illusion we must take seriously.”

    – Aldous Huxley

    “The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion – the tunnel’s the illusion” – Alysse Aallyn

    “Separation from each other is an optical illusion of reality” – Albert Einstein

    ‘Limit, like fear, is often an illusion” – Michael Jordan

  • Purrsiflage – Your Daily Cat Zen with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 10

    The Universe Wants You to Know You’ve Been Looking at This Wrong – Maybe it’s time to upgrade your concept of success. 

    Do you dream of adulation? Applause?  You need to remember that it’s the journey, not the arrival that matters, because it’s all we have.  The successful life is one long journey. The tired and footsore Purrson needs heartwarming visions to sustain joy for the voyage.

    Success Is a Worse Hazard for Purrsons Than Failure – Battle-hardened Purrsons threaten to collapse on reaching Road’s End.  Success requires us to see ourselves through others’ imagined eyes (and their specious and self-serving statements) – thus risking loss of self and a derailment of energy.  Future plans will be torpedoed in pursuit of the momentary fix of another’s apparent approbation. Isn’t the very idea of “success” something of a mirage?

    Success Is How You Define It – Abraham Lincoln famously said people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. If we define “success” as adulation and approval by others, haven’t we given away the ultimate power over our lives? Many people define success in material ways – it’s the only way to explain the salaries CEO’s pay themselves, while they freely admit nobody “needs” that much money. (They don’t seem to be using it very responsibly either, so I would judge them as “unsuccessful.”) If the most important standards are your own personal ones then the only person to please is yourself and those you love.  Let’s rephrase the challenge:  are you content?

    Purrson Challenge – When success is “arrival”, a “finish line” is implied. Do you really want to be finished? As we desire constant progress, then reaching a goal is death. But the opposite  – endless striving – is just  a treadmill. A “rat race”, in point of fact. So, the ultimate success must be “contentment with the journey”. To be content we assess our lives and come to terms with our missteps.  Many times we discovered something even more wonderful that we didn’t even know we were searching for.

    Purrson Danger – Success is a drug: so be careful. Don’t get addicted. Our society views everything as a competition, and the fundamental danger is you comparing your INSIDES (i.e., how you feel) with everyone else’s “outsides” (i.e., how they LOOK.) You can see that’s nonsensical.  We don’t visualize each other’s sadness, emptiness and pain, only display, swagger and showmanship.

    Purrson Opportunity – is to feel compassion for another’s hurt and struggle. Feel compassion (and forgiveness) for your own hurt and struggle. Assess your place on life’s path. Maybe you’re still on the edge of some great discovery, if so, keep going! Maybe it’s time to take stock of how far you’ve come and have a look at the big map. I like resting, thinking, reading and writing.  Retired, I do exactly what I want to most days, surrounded by love. Feels like success to me.

    Models & Mentors – “without continual growth & progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning” – Benjamin Franklin

    “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can” – Arthur Ashe

    “There is always light – if we’re brave enough to see it, we’re brave enough to be it “ – Amanda Gorman

    “Rules for success: 1. Believe in your ideas 2. Pick good people  3. Earn Respect 4. Always be a student 5. Enjoy what you do 6. Ask for advice 7. Learn to say No 8. Create the best products 9. Don’t take things personally 10. Create the future”

    – Bill Gates

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Zen for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 9

    The Universe is Alarming –  You awake trembling. Are you helpless in your dreams? Do you dream of children, of your own childhood? In Purrson Wheel of Life, flowers represent the soft evanescence of youth when the merest thumbprint of emphasis can leave eternal impressions. As the emblem of beauty, the Rose warns us that this quivering, temporary impermanence may be the very definition of eternal loveliness.

    Purrsons Remain Vulnerable – We are creatures, and we have no desire to divest ourselves of our animality. As Purrsons we defend youth, beauty, humanity, evanescence.

    We Remember Where We Came From – You well recollect how you were molded. Is it a pleasant nostalgic vision or a horror story? Do you resent all the other actors in this drama? Remember, resentment is a poison we consume – we are the only ones it harms. Value Your Training – good and bad – as you value your humanity.

    Roses Have Thorns – Celebrate Yours – Everyone sees the thorn-stripped rose the florist sells, forgetting that roses were born with protections, just like the rest of us. Contemplate yours.

    Purrsons Have Many Protections – Our Training, Our Mental Agility, Our Commitments – but most especially our worldview. Others may surrender and fade away, but we have confidence that, like the stars, we are designed for lasting beauty.  It is the essence of life to struggle, to mentally picture the goal and to design and redesign a gorgeous, life-changing map for all who follow.

    Purrson Challenge – Can we turn the building blocks of our own past into a constructive, hopeful framework for the future? Can you mentally accept and explore the power of a hardening maturity?

    Purrsons Preserve & Build  – We do not destroy. The philosophy of “annihilation” is a psychic snare.  It is true that terrible things happen to ordinary people and they are changed forever.  We may wish those things hadn’t happened but overwhelming regret prevents us from focusing on reality. We need to understand the world we’re in and map it for those who follow after. History and literature explore the coping mechanisms around disaster and the strong people it produces.

    Purrson Opportunity – Resilience is the art we cultivate.  We soon realize resilience has its own beauty; the rose may be pruned or even cut down but the plant is hardly dead, in fact it generously offers an outpouring of consistent blossoms. That is true beauty.

    Models & Mentors –  “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity”

    – Brene Brown

    “Being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure”

    – Bob Marley

    “Sometimes you have to drop your guard so your heart can breathe” – Emma Xu

    “The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility” – Paulo Coelho

  • Purrsiflage – Daily Cat Zen for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 8

    The Universe Sounds the Alarm – Time to pay attention to your physical well-being. This doesn’t necessitate a doctor visit, but it could mean you know perfectly well you’re doing something to threaten your health and it’s time to quit that.  Whatever it is.

    But Sometimes a Doctor Visit is Mandated – Do you dream of hospitals? Doctors? Shamen? Magic pills? One of society’s proudest boasts is our seemingly mysterious ability to cure illness, or at least palliate its effects. Your dreams say you yearn for healing, and something in you recognizes you need help.

    Do You Trust Your Doctor? Maybe it’s spiritual healing that’s required. Try a naturopath, acupuncture, massage therapy – you are searching for that instinctively helpful healer. Revisit all our advice on managing gurus (See WISDOM) – they must not be greedy and must meaningfully demonstrate they have your best interests at heart. You should not become their sex toy or support them in an extravagant lifestyle. Seek references from friends. Anyone attempting to isolate you and wall you off from information is not your friend.

    The Purrson Path Is Exhausting.  Anyone daring enough to redirect entropy suffers wear and tear. We need constant support. No shame – it’s part of the calling. Our hearts are involved, and they can race too much.

    What Makes a Purrson’s Heart Race? – Anyone developing their own personal lifemap is going to get lost frequently. It’s a wilderness out there. How can we find the right path?  How can we develop the confidence to choose the “right diagnosis” for what ails us? When should we request a “second” or “third” opinion?  How can we stay on the “right” course, or even assess the “rightness” of any course, considering all our past mistakes?

    Purrsons Need “Heart Strengthening.” Listen to your heart. Get out your Training Journal and start making notes. What questions do we wish to ask? Who do we want to be? Where are we trying to go?

    Purrson Danger – Can we tell the difference between a “fortifying” or a “harming” path? TV pharmaceutical ads list grisly side effects for pills tackling the vaguest malaise. Who can overlook these threats? Perhaps the ultimate “danger” lies in ignoring the warnings our “dis-ease” gives. What does “I want to be young again” really mean? We are all mortal. We have just so much time left to plan. To “become”.

    Purrson Opportunity – Some people are more confident following an “experts recommend” course, others adapt and customize as they go. Joy is the moment when planets and moments all click into alignment and we feel we accepted as a beloved child of the universe. Let’s unclog our ears, remove the plank from our vision and simplify our world to recapture the moments of joy experienced in childhood. If a loving, guiding force rescued us over and over again, we can summon the confidence to find several human healers to guide us through the healthcare system.

    Models & Mentors –  “Hugging is good medicine”

    – Karen Salmansohn

    “Medicine is the art of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease” – Voltaire

    “Medicines cure diseases, but only doctors can cure patients” – C.J. Jung

    “Medicine cures doubt as well as disease” – Karl Marx

    “The arts are as essential to everyone’s lives as clean food and fresh air”

    – Renee Phillips

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Zen for Your Inner Kitty with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 7

    The Stars Agree – You are suffering from an entanglement. An ensnarement in which you are sadly complicit. You don’t think you can escape, so you don’t try. You are afraid that the benefits of your slavery outweigh the joy of freedom. But the imprisonment you do so much to conceal is slowly strangling you – to death.

    Do you fear abandonment?  Have you always been afraid of being alone? In ou Purrson Universal Horoscope, the Clinging Vine archetype reminds us of all of the unpleasant aspects of needing others’ constant support to function.  A clinging vine can’t stand up by itself, it needs an immoveable shoulder to fasten upon. Whose power are you increasing while yours wilts away?

    Americans cultivate the fantasy of independence and self-determination. It’s just too threatening to imagine what might happen if the wall we’ve been covertly clinging to, suddenly comes down.

    Purrsons Require Freedom of Action – We must be dependent on society for basic functions. At what point does mutual dependency become constrictive? What is your supposedly stalwart support dependent upon?  Why have you become locked into a position of support for someone else?

    Who Benefits? Is the cry of the detective when solving a crime – and trust the Universe – your imprisonment is a crime. Look around you. Who’s fat and happy and smiling all the time? Who’s lecturing others about how to knuckle under, a thing they themselves would never do?

    Purrsons Must Define Freedom in Their Relationships – Your freedom requires that you learn to recognize and resist parasitic and exploitive relationships where the benefits are unbalanced. 

    Get Smart. No need to over-react now with rage, humiliation and personal offense. Start drawing boundaries. Look behind your wall to see what supports it and to view the wide, wide world outside. Teaching any clinging vine to stand up for itself is doing it a favor.

    No One Stands Alone – The truth is, we’re all in this together. Billionaires, leaders, CEO’s, all actually need much more support than we ordinary beings fending for ourselves. But they always insist on maintaining their freedom of action – for good reason. 

    Don’t make destructive deals involving your future. Purrsons need to Become Immortal so their futures are always a poignant mystery.  We are responsive to the fluttering of butterfly wings as well as the shifting of tectonic plates. Divest yourself of pointless, (usually “inherited”) shame (from the collective unconscious) and simply acknowledge the obvious truth that humans are, for good and ill, social creatures.

    Life Is a Negotiation – Make an experiment of listing your dependencies – bank, mail system, social security? Vehicle, gas availability, fuel affordability? Grocery stores, restaurants, our own two ambulatory feet? Weather, peace, law enforcement?

    Recognize the Fragility of These Systems. Confronting fear creates some ruthlessness but Purrsons will never check their brains at the door. We are strategic, planning, evolving. Our maps will always need an update and a redesign.

    Purrson Challenge – Are we hanging ourselves in loops of dependency? How can we free ourselves? What could we do to claim more psychic and physical independence? While Mormons may require a “year’s worth” of canned goods in the basement, the rest of us recognize the need for an emergency savings account. We are beginning to understand how a threatened supply chain can snap. Begin imagining some future failure scenarios and hash out the possibilities; if the elevator fails, is it possible to take the stairs? Your dream life will reward you with a lessening of existential anxiety.

    Models & Mentors –  “Don’t set yourself on fire to keep other people warm” – Alysse Aallyn

    “Fear is the memory of pain. Addiction is the memory of pleasure. Freedom is beyond both.” – Anonymous

    “Don’t work harder on someone else’s problems than they do” – Ross Rosenberg

    “Enjoy togetherness but allow space. Respect differing beliefs. Accept, don’t try to change each other. Appreciate the other, but always be prepared to survive alone” – Darlene Lancer

  • Purrsiflage – Your Daily Cat Zen with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 6

    The Stars & Planets Say – Armor up. Something’s coming. 

    Have you been feeling muzzled? Do you dream of battles? Do you wake up angry? Worried? Afraid? Do you gnash your teeth while you sleep? Do you love proving others wrong? When others speak are you eager to jump in and “set them right”? Is your favorite word, “No?”

    Resistance is Never Futile – We become Purrsons for a reason. But what kind of Purrson are we?  After all, we can’t make our contribution unless we know who we are. Strangely, we get a lot of push-back on this seemingly basic investigation. First, there’s enormous cultural pressure against us defining ourselves while international corporate overlords compete, waging schemes to entrap us into fighting for them. It’s enough to gnash anyone’s teeth.

    Purrson Challenge – We must be protective of our special gifts. Specify under what circumstances you are relaxed, happy, Purrson and “In-Flow.” The ‘flow” state is “bliss” – your brain oozes alpha waves as you sink into some interesting exploration, losing any sense of time and feeling at one with the universe. Suddenly, we are experiencing the pleasures of “Eternity” while still very much a part of this sphere.  

    Is “flow” achieved for you through music? Dance? Composition? Reading? Sex? Some lucky people access this state through meditation alone. It is certainly worth a try; meditation is very good for your brain.

    Purrson Danger – The danger of Eternal Resistance is that it becomes reflexive. Our Resistance must be chosen, carefully thought out and promoted by History and Fact.

    Purrson Opportunity – You are a carefully cultivated, curated work of art. Your whole life, your experiences, your very dreams, have brought you to this moment. Your resistance to invasion, to malformation, to co-option, to corruption, has blossomed into an individualized focus that must defeat their blander, blunter, self-serving opposition. 

    You lose nothing – gain everything – by becoming yourself; a unique Purrson nonpareil who has never existed before and will never exist again. You are the opposite of a faceless soldier, you are rare, sui generis, customized for this moment of space and time but perfected for eternity. What fears are left to surmount? What can you dream?

    Models & Mentors – ‘When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty” – Thomas Jefferson

    “Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory” – Frederick William Faber

    “To fly we must have resistance” – Maya Lin

    “The history of liberty is a history of resistance”

    – Woodrow Wilson

    “The more important an activity is to your soul’s evolution the more resistance you will feel” – Steven Pressfield

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Zen for the Cat Person with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 5

    The Universe Speaks to the Forever In You – We value the “continuity” in ourselves that goes beyond memory, beyond future aspirations, beyond even our sense of ourselves. It is our core identity that we feel as something very distinct from the rest of the world.

    If We Are Allowed To – we see it as “special.” It is very much to the benefit of the hostage-takers to convince us that it isn’t there. But it is, and it is eternal. Your body is a temple – it is “only” a temple for your precious, your unique, your immortal Soul.

    Do you ever dream of hummingbirds? Of the ‘impossible” flight of the bumblebee? Your soul is speaking. Listen. According to C.S. Lewis, we are not a Body with a Soul, we are a Soul with a Body. Our bodies may be all too mutable, but our souls belong to eternity. 

    Do you dream of past lives? See yourself in historical contexts? Do you have dreams of utter bodilessness in which you are totally free, seeming to travel invisibly through the power of mind alone?

    Can Souls Be Destroyed? Unfortunately, yes. It takes a lifetime but at the end of some lives there is nothing left. Souls are always under threat. 

    What is the Sin Against the Holy Spirit that the Bible talks about, the one sin that cannot be forgiven?  It is any attempt to slaughter the soul, the stifle your inborne, God-given ability to detect the numinous and to access the sphere of eternality. Purrsons therefore fight the greatest battle there is, to protect the power of their own Souls’ immortality and those of everyone else.

    Accept Your Immortality – Can we destroy our own immortality with no help from others? Sadly, also yes, and some of us act like we want to! If “heaven” represents eternal bliss and “hell” eternal pain who would ever choose the latter? Those who find life itself such a stacked deck they turn away from the gamble. It’s soul suicide. This is as tragic as battling against one of our talents (“I’m never going near that guitar.”) Who exactly are you trying to harm? The direction we need to travel is in uncovering who we really are and freeing ourselves. To become a Self worth being.

    Everyone Has Experienced the “Flow “of Bliss– We have knowledge of eternality in our daily life – actual accessible ecstasy in which Time and Impossibility vanish while we experience full connectedness with the universe.  We become Purrsons just to master this ability – and to transfer it to others. This skill alone makes merely being ourselves a reliable, eternal pleasure.

    Purrson Challenge – Obviously, our minds change the same way our bodies do. We grow up! Think about the differences between you now, and you at say, three years old. Imagine the joyous understanding with which you will eventually “get” what seems now incomprehensible. If you just accept that possibility, you can enjoy the Now.

    Purrson Danger –  What Christians call “sin”, Buddhists call “clinging”. We grab on to any passing thing in fear, to halt the frightening mystery of our flight but of course it doesn’t work! The G forces build up as space revolves around us, meanwhile we are clinging to some crappy object, or some person who is experiencing a different trajectory. Let those things go. Don’t be frightened by your feelings, just study them, turn them into huge iridescent bubbles, and spin them away. Learn to enjoy this flight, no matter how wild it gets.

    Purrson Opportunity – Think about the Biblical parable in which everyone is invited to a glorious feast. These “guests” are so threatened by this invitation, they not only don’t go, they murder the messenger. 

    Watch the glorious film, Groundhog Day. Poor weather forecaster Bill Murray is sentenced to living the same reality over and over and over again, trying everything he can think of to escape, including suicide. Finally he decides to learn how to just enjoy the life he has been granted, and to be as nice as possible to the other frightened, enraged, confused souls around him. Only then is he able to move on to the next level which turns out to be the rewarding love of his dreams. That is the Progress of the Soul which we defend.

    Models & Mentors – “the living soul, once conscious of its power, cannot be quelled” – Horace Mann

    “The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” – Carolyne Myss

    “Without applied awareness of the soul, happiness can’t arise” – Dada Bhagwan

    “The desire to know your own soul ends all other desires” – Rumi

  • Purrsiflage – Today’s Zen for Your Inner Cat with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 4

    The Universe Tells You to Open Your Eyes.  Some shy, unpretentious glory awaits your consideration. It could even be your own Self. 

    Are your dreams so beautiful you regret waking up? Do you imagine possessing great beauty yourself, or do you dream of caressing another’s gorgeous flesh, the dream lover turning those diamond eyes upon you? Do you dream of beautiful places, caverns, waterfalls, chapels –spectacular in their other-worldly glamor? We are all visual learners, attracted to beauty, hypnotized by color. Our relationship to the universe is naturally worshipful.

    Purrsons Don’t Take Time to Appreciate Their Own Beauty – We’re here to preserve and exalt – in our own individualistic ways – the beauty of our natural world. We alert when the planet slips into disharmony, but our love of beauty provides a guide suggesting how our pleasure in harmony can be restored.

    Beauty Is a Guide to Order and an education in symmetry. Wildflowers’ magnificence is numinous. It stands in contrast to the managed world which is constantly attempting to freeze & fetishize the ephemeral, even unto the eternal. Wildflowers’ mysterious evanescence suggests what true beauty is. To become a servant of the seasons is to fill our lives to overflowing with constant pleasure.

    Train Your Purrson Eye – Take joy in your surroundings. Japanese samurai practice flower arranging, for the purpose not only of relaxation, but discernment. As there is “forest bathing”, so there is “flower bathing.” But nature is wide and we are part of it. The Purrson Mandate is vast and all encompassing. Puppies doing anything, kittens doing everything, a dance class of toddlers (all doing the wrong thing), flowers coming up through cement, a piece of brilliant stained glass on a battered utility truck, a book of cave paintings, the swirl in our coffee, old photographs, our beloved’s sleepy morning face – once you start the “collecting” process, you realize beauty is all around you.

    Look in the Mirror – That is what beauty is – those lines, those scars, each one a history. That light behind the eyes is a directing soul, in tune with its guardian angel. Accept yourself. It is necessary for the Purrson to love Self, in order to truly See, much less Love –  others.

    Unclutter Your Soul – Clutter is frustrating for the brain. We all love sharing beautiful pictures, but aggressively, officiously  “beautiful” people have been hogging the space. Be discriminating in the cherished mind-pictures that you gather.  Think of the wildflower. Is fakery the path to joy or depression?

    Purrson Danger – We find ourselves caught in a frenzy of “likes”. A “like” button can have a plethora of meanings, but if we don’t take care, we will begin to “need” likes the way a drunk needs booze. Without them we fear nothingness. Specious approval from strangers – or at least attention – can never fill your heart. The quiet joy of certain pleasure inside your own head as you follow your bliss –– that’s lasting pleasure. Relax, refresh, renew.

    Models & Mentors –  “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it” – Confucius

    “Beauty is a light in the heart” – Khalil Gibran

    “Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself” – Coco Chanel

    “Don’t think of all the misery but the beauty that remains” – Anne Frank

    “Beauty is reality seen with the eyes of love” – Rabindranath Tagore

  • Purrsiflage – Daily Zen for Cat People with Alysse Aallyn

    Feb 3

    Today the Universe Delivers the Secret – At the same time you are Lonely for Light; the Light is Lonely for You. Do you dream of other-worldly events? Parapsychological and out of body experiences? Flying and underwater breathing? 

    Freedom dreams of otherworldly mastery tell us much about who we are. In the Purrson Horoscope, the sunflower represents our spirituality – a natural inborn turning toward Light, a reaching out for connection with something others might insist is not there. But we feel – very strongly – that it is. Who’s right?

    Sunflowers Need Light and So Do Purrsons – Hundreds of years ago Blaise Pascal argued that we have so much to gain if the supernatural is true, and nothing to gain if it isn’t, so that the calculus is simple. When you act as if the universe was richly designed by a Carer who promotes Goodness and rewards Love, you create the ideal conditions for human flourishing, whereas, as we all know, and has been conclusively proven scientifically, pessimism about outcomes dramatically lowers future benefits. Certainly, one could argue that our communications with each other are fraught with mistake and misapprehension, but that’s an argument for increased effort and insight and hardly a quitter’s mandate.

    Cats & Purrsons Cultivate their Sixth Sense – Some people are born color blind – others are tone deaf – so it’s perfectly possible some are unable to access the extra dimensions. But the lucky few that identify as Purrsons know that there is a universal resource to be tapped into when we can maneuver ourselves to the “right wavelength.”

    Purrsons Follow the Sunflower Path – What IS our mandate? Focus on increasing your ability to tell health and growth potential from sickness and disease enhancement. This will help you find the right path and the right people. Goodness never seeks your diminishment and constriction – the ruthless pursuit of human power does that. 

    Test all wavelengths for generosity, balance and liveliness before venturing out upon them, just as a cat would; this sensitivity is your Cat Whiskers.

     Contemplate what is beneficial in the universe. Bask in the flow of reassurance, resilience and recovery that intense spirituality provides.

    Purrson Challenge – Fully explore your fears with a view to answering Immanuel Kant’s timeless question, “What can we hope?”  Jesus focused his ministry on healing and met virulent rule-focused pushback. He found himself in a world of frenzied status-seeking, abject power submission and denigration of minorities, women life-givers and the poor. His life as well as his words teach us that the “Letter” kills, but the “spirit” gives Life. 

    It is up to us to find and nourish the spirit that shares unafraid, realizing that commitment causes our resources to double and triple stratospherically. Once you can feel the “angels” – i.e. virtues – around you – (I picture them as nosing deer!) your fear subsides.

    Purrsons Never Surrender Their Ability to Scent Danger – No journey can be free of risk. Trust requires us to follow where we cannot see the path, and so sometimes we lose the path. Sometimes we realize our “guide” is REALLY looking to capture & constrain, not enhance & liberate. We must maintain our ability and reserve our right to recognize this so that we can  reverse course before the cliff edge,  telling malignant spirits “You no longer represent me” and to seek out a healthier program of progress.

    Purrsons Enhance Opportunity for Everyone – We are never alone.  All around us are pilgrims struggling with the same things we’re struggling with. Sharing and caring knits us together. The American two party political system benefits from stirring up hatreds to protect itself from change. Don’t accept it. We are not each other’s enemies. The possibilities for friendship and connection are huge, but hatred and anger lead in only one direction.

    Models & Mentors – “The world is full of magic things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper”- W.B. Yeats

    “You need not work to become spiritual – you are spiritual. You need only to recognize that fact” – Julia Cameron

    “The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love” – Marianne Williamson

    “Happy people build their inner world – unhappy people blame their outer world” – Dalai Lama

    “The power of God is with you at all times, through the activities of mind, sense, breathing, the emotions , doing all the work, using you as mere instrument”  – Bhagavad Gita