INSIGHTS
JANUARY 2009

Dear Friend:

I can't help but laugh as I realize the irony of the fact that I'm sitting in a doctor's office, dictating this letter to my assistant Marty, and preparing to tell you that the predominant aspects throughout the year 2009 are focused into health and health issues. I write these letters every month with the intention of offering insight into the deeper meanings in the events of these times. I like to think that I'm shining a light into the darkness that might help you to maneuver your way through in a more spiritually and emotionally productive manner.

I would also like to think that because I have been gifted with this knowledge and this insight, I should be able to avoid the storms of these times. So, sitting in a doctor's office as I write this letter is kind of a humbling experience. I guess it's Spirit's way of saying, "Dixie, the world is a stormy place right now. Hard as you try to avoid it, you're still going to get wet and wind-blown. Everyone is going to experience the trials of these times. The question is, how are you going to choose to respond to the trials of these times?"

The entire year is filled with amazing experiences - extremes of all kinds….and the month of January starts out with a big bang. The universal intention of this time is for us to learn to respond with kindness, so for the entire month I'm going to be asking you to make your mantra, "I am a kind and loving person", and then try to remember this mantra when the girl at the checkout counter gives you a surly snarl instead of a bright "hello" as you approach her cash register. Try to remember this mantra the next time you say something important to your teenager, and they roll their eyes in contempt and say, "Whatever….." Try to remember this mantra when your love interest tells you their life has turned to crap and it's all your fault. I really mean it - Try to remember to be kind.

Now I'm not telling you that I expect you to be perfect at this. In fact, if you WERE perfect at this, you wouldn't be in this dimension reading this newsletter. You'd be flitting around Heaven with your newly sprouted wings, sitting on a cloud and playing a really mean Harp. We're not required to be perfect here. We're required to give effort….to exercise those spiritual and emotional muscles that strengthen us and gradually build us into kind, caring, compassionate loving people. (And oh, my gosh - do we have some muscle-building opportunities coming at us!) So while I'm telling you that we need to practice kindness, I'm also going to really urge you to remember to draw upon your sense of humor. It's not always going to be an easy thing to do.

During the entire month of January and most of February, we're going to be experiencing a universal epidemic of intensified and internalized emotions that will look a great deal like depression. In fact, I'm quite certain that a lot of people will be running off to doctors to get medicated for depression during this time. There are several things happening simultaneously. First, we are in a powerful, intensified internalization cycle. Second, the world is filled with fear energy that is the result of people feeling like they've lost control of their lives; the world transition that we're in has thrown most people totally out of balance. And last (but equally important), we are experiencing powerful aspects that bring past pain to the surface so that we remember events from the past with tremendous clarity and with emotion so powerful that it's as though they were happening again. All that pain and fear is likely to be projected into the present so that we feel we are totally powerless and totally alone, without support in this time. All of this emotion, all of this fear, and all of this intensification are going to have powerful effects on our lives. None of us are going to be able to avoid it.

Those of us who have been working for the past couple of years to clear attachments to past pain will have less of a reaction to these times/aspects than most. However, we're still going to be affected by it. We'll still have residual "stuff" surfacing, but mostly we'll find ourselves in an emotional spin resulting from our reaction to other people's depression, anger, grief, fear, etc. If you find yourself in relationship with another who is experiencing grief, pain, anger, fear, despair….it's so important that you be there for them and that you evidence kindness. All they need from you is to feel cared for.

We just need to listen to them. Absolutely, do not tell them that they shouldn't feel the way they feel or that things aren't the way they think they are - that they're wrong about what they believe is happening or has happened. Just let them release their pain through verbalizing it to you. IF they have been perceiving the situation in an exaggerated manner, once the pain is released, they'll realize this on their own and come around to seeing that and voicing that realization to you. To point out their exaggerations while they're still feeling an intensification of emotion will have the effect of causing them to believe that you don't see their situation clearly and even worse, cause them to believe that you don't care about how they feel.

The truly kind person just listens and expresses concern about the amount of pain the person is feeling. Statements such as "Oh, my gosh - I'm so sad to see you hurting like this", or "This is really hard for you, isn't it?" can have great healing effects. The two things that heal pain more than anything are #1, verbal release, and #2, a caring, kind, compassionate listener.

So, the month of January is very intense, very chaotic….we're in a powerful, powerful energy that can be used to greatly improve our state of being and to strengthen ourselves if we keep reminding ourselves that it has purpose and that the only thing that is required of us is to stay as clear as possible and to offer kindness into our environment. That doesn't sound like a lot…..LOL…..but it is! During this time, you'll sometimes feel as though you're living in an emotional war zone, trying to find kindness and compassion within yourself towards a lot of people who are acting very mean-spirited. If you can't dredge up kindness in some of those situations, then I recommend that you say to yourself, "Self….it's true....this person is being an *#&@*, but I'm not going to give them the power to make ME an *#&@*." They are acting that way because they feel terrified and powerless. Don't give up your power in this time. If they can get you to react to them, you're giving away your power. We're not always going to feel wonderfully kind in these situations, but if you don't feel it, act it….and if you keep on acting it long enough, you'll begin to BE it.

The truth is, you can use this powerful energy to light up your life, or you can use it to blow a fuse. Just strive to keep as clear and as focused on your intentions and your calm, centered accomplishment-oriented state of being, and strive not to absorb the eruptive emotions that are exploding all around you. Expect the unexpected so that you will be in a constant state of expecting change and so that you won't be blindsided by the bizarre occurrences that just come out of the blue and pass rapidly through our experiences. You'll notice that events that fill the news (and I'm talking here about the news on your television screen or the news in your social circles or in your family circles - the "big" events of the day) will seem enormous one day and be old, stale history the next day. The energy comes in with a WHAM and goes out and dissolves almost as fast as it comes in.

Relationship issues are primary through January and most of February. This isn't a good time to make long-term commitments. It's not a great time to get married or engaged. It's not a good time to make any life-altering decisions, and it's especially not a good time to try to "work out" relationship issues. Attempts to work them out can blow them apart. I usually tell my students to deal with all issues in the moment, not to let things hang….however, I'm going to give different advice at this particular time, because when people are in the kinds of intensification that I'm viewing here, it's impossible to work out anything until or unless they have released the pain. Any attempts to communicate with them and to clear the air with them will simply be misunderstood/misheard and will actually make your problem bigger rather than easing it. You could say something like, "Gosh, you look pretty today," and the response is likely to be, "What? Are you saying I looked like crap yesterday?" The more you try to explain that you were simply saying they look pretty, the deeper the hole you're going to dig for yourself. Don't try to mend this one. Just say, "OK….not a good time for us to have this discussion. Obviously, we do have stuff we need to talk about, but let's do it a little later." And absolutely refuse to continue the conversation. If you agree to continue that conversation, you are going to regret it - I guarantee you. Then, when you come back to it, what I recommend you say is, "I'm hearing from you that you don't trust me to always have kind attitudes towards you. Why don't you talk to me about that?" Then, practice what I said before…..just listen. Remember to practice kindness….don't tell them they shouldn't feel the way they're feeling. Don't tell them they're wrong about anything they say. Just let them release whatever it is they are feeling. If you can practice kindness through listening….if you can hear another person's pain without believing that it is an attack upon YOU, even when it may appear to be directed at you….you will build some powerful spiritual and emotional muscles during this time. It's a great opportunity! It's not a fun one, but definitely great.

As I said at the beginning of this letter, one of the predominant focuses through this entire year is going to be on health (that means physical, emotional, and spiritual health). Of course, this is all about the fact that we MUST bring the totality of our beings into harmony in order to weather the storms of this time. Because health is such an enormous issue right now and because many of us are finding ourselves spending time in doctors' offices and/or seeking spiritual or emotional counseling, all of us are trying to heal ourselves in one way or another. 

As I write this letter to you on this last day of December, I congratulate you for having made it through the tumultuous year of 2008. I hope this letter has given you a running start at the exceptionally tumultuous year that 2009 promises to be. What a time we live in! Well, we chose it. We wanted it. We have it. So let's enjoy it! Call forth your sense of humor, remember to practice kindness, AND……

Stay Focused on the Light....          

Dixie Yeterian