The Abundance Matrix is our Way Out of Lack

We have an epic opportunity unfolding.

The current polarization of our collective dialogue into “this or that” thinking is a wake up call to the insanity of the binary mindset of the lack.

Common sense, experience, and simply taking a look around at the diversity and multitude of different experiences in the world, should make it clear to everyone that life is this AND that (and so much more!).

Humans have a difficult time thinking outside of “this OR that” mindsets because we’ve been raised to believe there is not enough, and therefore something or someone MUST be sacrificed.

We believe sacrifice makes us worthy, and we have a society of people obsessed with sacrificing their desires, instincts, and genius for the reward of social acceptance.

In our current system, we must prove we are WORTHY to receive by sacrificing whatever the lack matrix tells us will make us “good.”

The reward punishment system we find ourselves in is non sensical and counter productive to thriving. That’s why we both accept it daily in our thinking, and fight it adamantly in our “politics.”

We intuitively understand that it doesn’t work, but we haven’t found a new way to be without it.

And so war is our default.

Being “against” something (or someone) is the easiest energy to access on this planet; and the only way to sustain ourselves (in this way) is to keep creating things to fight against.

It’s non sensical.

In this mindset, we don’t create, we resist. We don’t build, we destroy. We don’t work together, we push apart. We don’t heal, we wound.

The irony is, humans need relationship, witness, and reflection in order to TRULY correct a mistake and invest the wisdom of their experience. Punishment does not rehabilitate behavior.

Without Witness, there’s no wisdom. And without wisdom, there’s no direct experience of abundance.

If our tactic is to punish the things we don’t like or agree with, we create an environment of suppression (one of the most dangerous states to be in).

Suppression creates monsters and super villains, heroes and victims. And the show must go on!

This is why we don’t develop self trust. It’s why we continue to allow the outside world to dictate to us how to live, what to do, what to say, and how to be.

(And then we go to war with it all, because it doesn’t work!).

Why do we do it?!

I believe it’s because we have a collective mental illness brought about by the ILLUSION that there’s not enough (and the belief that humans are innately “bad” and need to be punished for existing).

But what if…

THERE IS ENOUGH?!

What if we are innately worthy of life?

What if the only thing keeping us from healing + thriving, is our belief that we don’t deserve it?!

To connect to the natural ebb and flow of energy — to get back in alignment with our TRUE needs — means we must stop hoarding energy out of fear that there’s not enough.

We need to let go of our ego’s’ obsession with reward/punishment.

It’s time to establish trust with our creative instincts, so we can build the new world.

Once we let go of the excess worry, thoughts, beliefs, distractions, + obligations created by the owe/earn mentality of lack, we are able to reestablish intimacy with creation.

“Look at the birds of the air.” Jesus said. “For they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” (Matthew 6:26)

When we believe at a core level that we have no innate value or worth, we buy into the lack matrix program that we must “earn” our right to be here and that we innately OWE.

Earn/owe is the inversion of the “give/receive” nature of creation.

Give/receive is about alignment with the magnetic force of life. It’s about intimacy with how life FEELS.

Alignment with the give/receive nature gives us direct access to our inheritance: Life Itself.

We already HAVE it.

We are worthy to be here because we ARE here.

There is enough. It’s infinite!

We have innate value and worth.

Why is this so radical to believe?!

If humans believed in their value, our creative energy wouldn’t be manipulated to fuel the lack matrix illusion and the entire corrupt system would fall like the unstable Tower it is.

We wouldn’t be tangled in shadow contracts that formed through guilt and are reinforced through shame.

We wouldn’t feel insecure about our identity and out of alignment with our unique creative urge (that we came to express!).

We wouldn’t ask the outside world to tell us who we are.

We wouldn’t hoard energy.

We wouldn’t sacrifice our hearts in favor of war.

As we regain our creative sovereignty and remember how our creative tech works (hint: we don’t have to sacrifice), we begin to easily and effortless pivot toward our preference.

We give ourselves permission to create and therefore URGE. And urge sustains life.

In fact, our creative urge is the key to sustainable/renewable energy.

None of this can happen without a conscious break-up with lack, though.

We must dissolve the beliefs that there is not enough. We must get back in touch with our creative desires. We must allow our mind to be renewed and transformed with the energy of infinite possibilities.

Unless we understand that WE ARE WORTHY and THERE IS ENOUGH, we will continue to fuel war + suffering.
It’s an extinction program.

Spirit has been teaching me about the Abundance Matrix for the past 5 years. For the first time ever, I’m creating an online course to share everything I’ve learned:

*How to ditch the “owe/earn” mentality of lack and get in flow with the “give/receive” technology of Abundance.
*How to recognize the vibrational difference between lack and abundance.
*The 7 Laws of Astronomical Abundance.
*How to do “The Spell of Astronomical Abundance.”
*The mechanism of the lack matrix (to avoid the trap of continually reinforcing trauma).
*The spiral technology of abundance (+ how to get in alignment with it).
*How to use synchronicity as abundance technology
*How to tap into your unique Abundance language (to unlock your dormant potential).
*How to recognize shadow contracts (+ dissolve them).
*Tips to easily and effortlessly pivot toward your preference (+ include yourself in the equation of your life).
*Morning + night routines to prime and prep your thoughtscape for more abundance to be stabilized in your resonance.
*How to quickly dissolve “lack” agreements by discovering hidden limiting beliefs + transforming them through Witness.

Course includes:

*Abundance meditations
*Abundance subliminals
*Access to my private Abundance Matrix Mastermind group (on the Mighty Network).

Pre-register for only $88 (price will go up after release date).

Click here to pre-register + receive access to the Abundance Matrix Mastermind + discount. The Abundance Matrix Digital Course will be released May 18th at full price.

*This is a pre-recorded online digital course. You must have internet to access it.

Also — have you joined my email list? My teachings and deeper content is only released to my email subscribers. Check out the latest:

Magic Makes Everything Better!

Uncategorized

Lately I’ve been feeling so BLAH. Uninspired. Pointless, even.

As this particular brand of “low” has lingered longer than I care to entertain, I figured I might as well make the best of its visit. So I decided to pull up cozy chair, pour some hot tea, and gather a list of some of my favorite things (to add a note of enchantment to the misty fog and heavy rain that seems to have taken up residence in all the shadowy places of my being).

Thought maybe you’d all get something out of it to:

Trees. They just make me happy. Especially these enchanted ones:

Water. The perfect element to evoke when having tea with sadness (or any emotion, really).

The Sun. Ah the clearing, restorative, empowering energy of sunlight. Bon appetit!

(This first one, I took last fall in Utah, the second I took at a nature park in Sacramento, the third one I found on google images):

Magic stuff. Always helps me feel more alive (all from google images):.

Now I’m off to write about magical worlds — at winter time. Gotta work with where I’m at.

Happy Monday!

Monday’s Magic : A Creation Spell

Chakra Centers, Spirituality, Uncategorized

Try this on for your next conscious creation:

*Stretch to release any old energy stuck in joints/muscles (any area of the body that feels tight or contracted).

*Vigorously move the body for 5 minutes (running in place, jumping jacks, push-ups — whatever feels intuitively in alignment with releasing stagnate/pent-up energy in the body).

*Take 6 deep, cleansing breaths, raising the arms above the head with each inhale, and back down to your sides at each exhale .

*Get in a comfortable, meditative position with your spine straight and visualize a bright, purifying light cleansing all internal/external chakras and the auric field around you (this is a clearing of any energy that may block or interfere with your creation — clear spaces are crucial).

*With the eyes closed, focus on the 3rd eye chakra and see it as a blank canvas for your creation.

*Project (or paint) onto that canvas whatever you want to have manifest into your 3d reality. Make the image as vivid and colorful as you can. Feel it. Taste it. Experience it as if it were happening at this exact moment (because it is!). Take as long as you need with this step — this is where the magic blossoms.

*When you feel you are done “painting” your creation onto the canvas of your third eye, imagine a ball of pure white light swirling up from the heart of the deepest ocean caverns, and another ball of white light descending from the highest heavens — the Source of all Sources. Both balls of white Source energy are moving into your body (one from below, the other from above). One moves through your crown chakra down to your 3rd eye, the other moves in through your root chakra and up into your 3rd eye.

*See both balls of spinning white light blend with the canvas you painted on your third eye, arranging it into many particles, molecules — all the necessary elements of the physical reality it is forming.

*Once you feel all the elements have blended together into one beautiful vortex, send the energy back down through all of your chakras, and up again into your heart chakra, where it becomes alchemicalized with the Kingdom that is within. This is where you trust in the Higher Love and Wisdom of the Existence to add/take away any and all necessary elements. Stay with the image of the energy in your heart chakra until you feel it has completely dissolved and harmonized with your etheric and physical body.

*Acknowledge and surrender to the perfection of this hologram and the brilliance of its ability to reflect back to you exactly where you are in your expansion journey. Accept your journey with no judgement — remember you are perfect.

*Finally, feel your heart chakra burst wide open with the love and excitement of this co-creation, shinning all you have created into the physical world around you. Know that this energy carries within it a magnetism that will bring your creation into manifestation.

And so it is with you…

Monday’s Magic Spell: Deleting Damaging Programs

Body Work, EmBody Bliss, Empaths, Magic Mondays, Meditation, Meditation Monday, The Sacral Chakra

Vibrational awareness is the key to change. But one of the oldest (and thickest) programs we’ve been told as a human race is that things cannot change. We’ve believed for so long the external world is in control of us, that we’re victims, and what we think/feel/experience is inconsequential at best, evil at worst.

Of course, we all know now that it couldn’t be further from the truth. Yet, we’ve lived with these programs for so long that we’ve somehow come to believe the residue left behind is WHO WE ARE (rather than simply effects of the system).

The old paradigm of aggressor/victim/savior can only survive if we continue playing those roles. The great news is, we don’t have to agree to that game anymore. We can play a new game. We can have new roles. What would the game look like if we were ALL self-empowered?!

One of the keys to activating the new paradigm in your own life is by healing and balancing your lower chakas. The lower chakras have been so demonized by culture and religion (and even some New Age teachers), that we’ve become confused as to why we even have them. They are associated with our “human nature” — an aspect we’re told we need to destroy. If we can keep the “human” enslaved and controlled, we can have order.

The old paradigm wants to keep you a slave to your feelings/emotions because that’s the only way you can be controlled. As long as you stay out of the power of your lower chakras, you will not be a threat.

How convenient for the old system that one of the programs put in place in our Sacral Chakras is a sort of built-in guilt about our innate power, about receiving, and about pleasure.We’re not allowed to enjoy the world, feel pleasure, or receive without some sort of repercussion, and even attempting to change things sets off triggers of guilt, shame, and fear. We even go so far as to “slay” it, and by exiling the “shade” aspects of ourselves we’ve created our own monsters that we continue to fear.

The fear is just a program. The only truth it holds is the truth we give it. The only power it has is fueled by the emotional convictions we put behind it. And the program itself is one of duality, one that causes the energies of our lower charkas to get out of balance.It’s a game we’re all tired of, yet we continue to victimize ourselves and each other by agreeing with the rules of that paradigm. And the vicious cycle of aggressor/victim/savior continues.

In order for this program to survive, the aggressor needs a victim to terrorize, the victim needs a savior, and the savior who jumps in to rescue needs both (otherwise its role would be void).

What role have you been playing? We all typically slide into one of these roles quite comfortably, or vacillate between all three. And ironically, none of them are empowering.

Ultimately, when you embrace the power of your inner Shade, you are released from the program. It is impossible to be in your power and in the program of aggressor/victim/savior at the same time.

Healing (especially from trauma) takes time, and we need to allow ourselves the freedom to take as long as we need to soothe and comfort wounds caused from the program. But we DO NOT need to keep the program.

So for today’s magic spell, take a long, luxurious look at what the empowered version of you would feel like. See the you that has integrated both light and darkness (in balance) and is free from the aggressor/victim/savior paradigm.

What does the empowered YOU look like/feel like?

How does he/she create?

How does he/she luxuriate?

How does he/she look at people?

How does he/she walk?

How does he/she dress?

How does he/she interact with the energy around her/within her?

Simply spend some time playing around with the energy. If it’s too hard to put yourself in that role (due to the program still having too much persuasion on your thoughts) imagine you are writing a character that DOES own her power. One who is graceful and powerful and knows how to give and receive in abundance and with true, unconditional love.

Write that character. Indulge in the emotions of what she would FEEL like. Emotions are what drive the creations we bring forth into the world, and transforming/healing your sacral chakra will ultimately be fueled by how you feel.

The intensity of the pain/trauma you’ve experienced in the past does not have to rule you for the rest of your life. Start experimenting with what it would FEEL like to experience something different. You might be amazed at what you find.

How to Bend Time

Spirituality

I’m experimenting with bending time.

Have you ever tried it before? I find that consciously recognizing time is an illusion, setting an intention, and using visualization tips to break linear constructs and ride the curve of energy, works wonders for speeding up or slowing down time to fit your needs.

This concept is nothing new or special. It’s simply an awareness of higher science. Time does not exist. It never has. But the illusion of time does. Here is an excerpt from The Guardian about Einstein’s theory of time/space reality:

The theory explained

“When Einstein wrote his general theory of relativity in 1915, he found a new way to describe gravity. It was not a force, as Sir Isaac Newton had supposed, but a consequence of the distortion of space and time, conceived together in his theory as ‘space-time’. Any object distorts the fabric of space-time and the bigger it is, the greater the effect.

Just as a bowling ball placed on a trampoline stretches the fabric and causes it to sag, so planets and stars warp space-time – a phenomenon known as the ‘geodetic effect’. A marble moving along the trampoline will be drawn inexorably towards the ball.

Thus the planets orbiting the Sun are not being pulled by the Sun; they are following the curved space-time deformation caused by the Sun. The reason the planets never fall into the Sun is because of the speed at which they are travelling.

According to the theory, matter and energy distort space-time, curving it around themselves. ‘Frame dragging’ theoretically occurs when the rotation of a large body ‘twists’ nearby space and time. It is this second part of Einstein’s theory that the Nasa mission has yet to corroborate.”

Einstein was right: space and time bend. Taking this concept once step further, you can practice bending time in your own day-to-day life.

Here are three techniques to help you bend time:

1.Go into deep mediation: People underestimate what they can do in a superconscious state. On the astral plane, time does not exist. It is the perfect place to reassemble events/energy flow in your life. There are many different ways of doing this, but I find deep breath followed by a creative visualization works best.

Many people do this out of body, but you don’t have to actually go out of body to experience the results. Simply create the space in your mind where you can materialize whatever you want, and begin visualizing it as if it is already happened in your life. This jump starts the manifestation process and brings it more quickly into your experience.

For more information on how to have an out of body experience, check-out this video by Teal Scott:

2. Do a 360 degree turn: If your life is going in a direction that doesn’t feel good to you, turn it around – literally. I know this may sound crazy, but it’s worked for me:

*Stand up straight facing one direction (preferably the direction that feels most uncomfortable for you to face).

*Now visualize the direction you want your life to go (the stronger the visualization, the better). Imagine what the new direction would feel like.

*Take 5 deep breaths and turn 360 degrees,counterclockwise.

(Remember, time works on a curve, and so does EVERYTHING in nature. The turn you do is not only symbolic, it is physically turning the energy around your electromagnetic field).

3. Ride the Wave of Inspiration: Perhaps the best technique for stretching time. When you act upon the energy of your inspiration (and ride it to the end of its course) you’ll find you can create two weeks of ‘work’ in a few hours. When you are living in your bliss, time literally stands still (or “curves” to move you along your path in the fastest way possible!). Acting upon your inspiration is the most powerful way to create.

Abraham-Hicks offers powerful insight on how to do this:

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Perseverance

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

Perseverance is the difference between a fleeting notion and the pursuit of an idea. Our ability to persevere is another self-made wonder of the wondrous world.

Perseverance is not simply having an idea, it is moving forward in making the intangible idea into a tangible thing. It is a part of the means to the ends.

Dictionary.com defines perseverance thus:

noun

1.steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Perseverance is the course of action, the purpose – for example, choosing your own way. Making your own decisions and choices in regards to pursuing the destiny you most want to find.

I do not want to sit back and let my life just happen…I want to make it happen. I do not want others choosing for me…I want to make the choices. I do not want my emotions to be a result of the influences of the world around me…I want to choose how I will feel. I want, ultimately, to be content with my life, and happy with the choices I am making for it.

Yes, there will be bad days. You get doubtful, and frustrated when progress is not what you might desire it to be. But this is just a part of human nature. Even the happiest, most satisfied people in the world are not in that state absolutely all the time.

That is why you persevere. That is why you make the efforts you make, you strive for the journey and the ultimate goal. Ultimately, you want to be happy and satisfied, and that is worth striving for.

I look at the world in the way I have always wanted to. It is not a nightmare place filled with terrible people, tragedies and horrors…it is a world of endless possibilities, of good people, of possibilities and beauty and wonders. Yes, it is imperfect, yes there ARE all the bad things out there as well as the good, but I can see the world for all its positives more than its negatives.

Turning a blind eye to the adversities of the world? Wearing rose-colored glasses? NO. I see that there are horrid people and awful things in the world perfectly clearly. But I am not giving them my focus, not giving them my energies, not giving them my attentions and intentions. I am persevering instead to look at the good people and wonderful things in the world. And frankly, without those negatives, we would be incapable of seeing the positives.

I am persevering still. Are you?

(Note to the reader: If you also visit my blog, you will see that this week’s Pathwalking is a variation of this same post. I believe the topic of the self is so important, I wanted to spread it to a wider audience.)

I am MJ Blehart, “Wednesday’s Wondrous World” author and photographer (these shots are the progression of the hike up Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona). Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Time

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

It never ceases to amaze me how much we take for granted time.

We measure our entire world in time, be it short like seconds, minutes, and hours or long like years, decades, centuries and so forth.

Our perception of time, though, is quite the wonder of our wondrous world. Because how we perceive time versus the actuality of time can vary so wildly, and so incredibly.

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” – Albert Einstein

Time is often not simply the passing minutes and days, but things that seem to take forever or happen almost instantaneously. Like boiling water or driving from this place to that or waiting for an interview and such. Isn’t it incredible how no matter how long these things actually take, our perception of them can be so variable?
We relate our world to so many aspects of time. We measure our age, the hours of the day, whether we are early, late, or on time, and the passages of nearly every aspect of life almost obsessively. We are constantly checking clocks, checking watches, even the passage of the sun during the day to make sure we don’t “waste” time or “abuse” time.

“Time is the reef upon which all our frail mystic ships are wrecked.” – Noel Coward

I am frequently amazed by just how I find myself “running out of time” every week in relation to this column. I don’t leave enough “time” in my day, or my week, in order to focus on and give these posts the attention they deserve. In fact, this whole wondrous world topic was inspired by my thoughts about taking some time to put more focus on a post here.

But how do I use my time? How obsessed over the minutes, hours, days and further am I, and do these distract me from appreciating the world around me? That is something to not be neglected when it comes to time – how over-reliant on it am I?

How do other animals perceive time? They don’t have chronographic devices accurate to milliseconds on their wrists or as part of their communication devices – and yet they seem to get along just fine in this world. How come we have developed this unique and compartmentalized sense of time?

“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin

Measuring time in the way we do is both a blessing and a curse. Like pretty much everything we experience in life, it is truly moderation we need to practice in order to appreciate time and its benefits. In particular when balanced against its negatives.

For good or ill, time and how we perceive it is an undeniable wonder of our wondrous world.

“Time is an illusion. Lunch time doubly so.” – Douglas Adams

I am MJ Blehart, “Wednesday’s Wondrous World” writer/photographer. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Fountains

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

Water is essential to our lives.

We are composed mostly of water. Our hydration is important to our wellbeing.

Previously I have gotten into the topic of water in some of its most natural occurrences. Rivers, rain, snow. But today I want to look at a manmade wonder. Fountains.

I am not talking about drinking fountains, I am looking at ornate, impressive displays or water and our power as a species to manipulate it.

Whether a simple, elegant display or an immense, impressive work, fountains can be artistic, calming, inspiring, and simply beautiful.

Fountains have been showpieces of impressive art. They get lit up at night and dance to the whims of their creators.

Water can be trickled down across various steps and blocks, or it can be shot hundreds of feet into the sky. Fountains are the ultimate show of our ability to move water however we desire.

I am always impressed by the art people create. Subjective or otherwise, fountains certainly fall into this category.

Another simple but elegant and beautiful wonder of our wondrous world.

I am MJ Blehart, electric, “Wednesday’s Wondrous World” writer/photographer. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Hope

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

Hope is a central tenet of life. It drives us, binds us, gives us purpose.

Dictionary.com defines hope thus:

noun

1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.

2. a particular instance of this feeling: the hope of winning.

3. grounds for this feeling in a particular instance: There is little or no hope of his recovery.

4. a person or thing in which expectations are centered: The medicine was her last hope.

5. something that is hoped for: Her forgiveness is my constant hope.

verb (used with object)

6. to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

7. to believe, desire, or trust: I hope that my work will be satisfactory.

verb (used without object)

8. to feel that something desired may happen: We hope for an early spring.

9. Archaic. to place trust; rely (usually followed by in ).

No other creature on this planet, to our knowledge, has the ability to feel hope. This uniquely human expression is an incredible wonder of the wondrous world.

Hope is multiple parts of speech, and hard to define. But it is often hope that drives us. It is hope the keeps us from despairing when odds are not in our favor, when times are hard, or when we cannot see the light in the darkness.

Hope is often that spark that keeps the flame from dying out. It is in the emotion of hope that we hold on that our desire will manifest; it is in hope that we hold against the storm, that we weather the bad times for the good.

Some people take no action, and hope for hope alone. They want some other, or the universe, or the unseen powers-that-be to take care of them, to bring about what they want and desire, to make their way. But hope, while it can stand alone, often needs to have something more substantive to move from nothing but an ideal to a possibility.

Many of the greatest minds in history have remarked on the importance of hope. Albert Einstein said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “To live without Hope is to Cease to live.” And I think Aristotle sums it up best with his, “Hope is the dream of a waking man.”

Songs and stories of hope abound. We are warned that to hope, but to do so without effort, without a tangible desire, does not serve us or a greater good. Hope needs action, needs presence behind it. But hope for the most part is a grand and glorious thing.

Hope. A true wonder of our wondrous world.

What do you hope for?

I am MJ Blehart, writer and photographer of “Wednesday’s Wondrous World”. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Cars

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

Stories and songs have been written about this wonder. Endless advertisements on television and in newspapers abound. Gaining the ability to operate one is considered a rite-of-passage in the first world.

Status symbol. Conveyance. Workhorse. Clunker, junker, lemon or scrapyard candidate – it is hard to deny the wonder that is the automobile.

Cars can be found in an amazing myriad of sizes, shapes, colors and classifications. The abundant four-door sedans, coupes, hatchbacks, liftbacks, station wagons, sports cars, saloon cars, luxury, inexpensive, simple and complex – cars can be found pretty much everywhere around the world in every possible configuration you can imagine.

Mass produced models from ginormous automakers spanning the globe to home-built kit cars. The scope of the automobile is impressive, and frankly pretty amazing.

Whether you are a gearhead, petrolhead, motorhead or just your average person using their car to get to work and play and back again, denying the wonder of the automobile is impossible.

The car has evolved quite a lot in the more than a century since its invention and mass production, but the basics remain the same. Four wheels, internal combustion engine, and doors are pretty much universal. (Yes, there are cars lacking in elements of the above – three-wheelers, for example). But the car has changed how we view distances, how we travel on a day to day basis from point a to point b, and how we live overall.

Some people simply use cars when they need to go to work, or to visit friends, as a convenience. But for some, cars are a way of life. They are a reflection of the self, a status symbol, an extension even of the spirit.

Atlanta, Georgia

There are iconic cars of songs, stories, television, movies and more. Most people are familiar with Christine from Stephen King’s book, or The Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo, or the Batmobile, or KITT, or the focus of every episode of Top Gear, or all the cars that are the focus of the Fast and Furious movie series.

People love their cars. Whole societies exist around MGs, Corvettes, Porsche 911’s, and various other classics. Some people will spend hours lovingly cleaning, polishing, waxing and maintaining their cars. People will go to great lengths to acquire the car of their greatest desire.

For teenagers, the car is the ultimate rite-of-passage. Get your driver’s license, get your car, get your freedom. No longer must you rely on mom or dad or your older siblings or older friends or relatives, YOU now have the power to go. In some respects, the ability to drive a car is one of the largest steps into adulthood.

Old cars, new cars, black cars, blue cars – we have clogged cities and highways across the continents with our autos. As third world nations industrialize and gain more wealth and abundance, the car is often one of the first acquisitions of the people, as evidenced by increased fuel consumption and pollution.

For good or ill, the car is an easily overlooked but still unique wonder of our wondrous world.

What do you drive?

I am MJ Blehart, “Wednesday’s Wondrous World” author. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Electricity

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

Returning to a more simple idea, today’s wonder I want to explore is Electricity.

This is one of those wonders we frequently take for granted. Why? Because it is so very common place to the first world that we just expect it to be.

Whatever generates our power – from coal-fired plants to solar to wind to geothermal to nuclear – electricity drives our world.

Reading this? Well that is thanks to electricity. Without it, we’d not have the internet. No electricity, no servers, no computers, no smartphones, tablets, and so on and so forth.

You walk into a room, flip a switch – and there is light. You get into your car, turn the key, and everything lights up and the radio works and your Bluetooth connects.

When we see incredible photographs from space of our world at night, the lights show us where our cities are. Electricity provides us with the beacons to find one another along the way.

Electricity allows us to cook our food, heat our homes, view and explore and learn information across the world. Electricity lets us play pre-recorded musics to keep us entertained, and provide background music when there might only be silence.

We have scattered across our globe yet remain connected via electricity. We go to extremes to acquire materials to power our cities and homes, we strip the resources of the globe to get natural gas, petroleum, coal, wood, and other such sources of power.

But we have access now to increasingly less expensive solar batteries to power our lives. We have instant communications from one side of the world to the other.

Electricity has changed this world in ways I doubt any could have imagined. It has both brought us closer together, and divided us further. First world problems are often solved by some means involving electricity that the third world can hardly even conceive.

With wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable resources, electricity can be spread even further, can bring the world closer together, can make even more lives better, simpler, and abundant.

Electricity – an incredible, often taken-for-granted wonder of our wondrous world.

I am MJ Blehart, electric, eclectic elocutionary author of “Wednesday’s Wondrous World”. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: The Self

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

Truly an amazing wonder of our wondrous world is our knowledge of the self. But do you care for and love your self as you ought to?

In today’s society, we have become so focused on our jobs, our families, our friends, our coworkers, our education, our finances, our possessions, our weekends, and so on and so forth – that we have become utterly negligent of the self.

We have become indoctrinated in the idea that this is selfishness. Too much focus on the self leads automatically to selfishness, arrogance, greed, corruption…and as such we become uncaring, socially unacceptable creatures unfit to walk amongst the rest of humankind.

But this is a lie that prevents us from getting to know ourselves. We are taught from an early age to share, and to think about others, and to consider the feelings of those around us. I am not saying that this is a bad thing in any way – but what we neglect to explore is the connection between the self and the person we are sharing with, how we think about ourselves, and considering our own feelings.

I must iterate here that there is nothing wrong with selflessness – except when it involves the utter lack of attention and energy to the self. When all you do is give, and sacrifice, and disregard your own needs and desires, you create an immense imbalance in your own energies. Balance is utterly necessary in life.

We have become creatures of extremes. Society places tremendous attention and focus on the opposites: male versus female, Republican versus Democrat, heterosexual versus homosexual, rich versus poor, fat versus thin, and so forth. But life is very seldom defined by the extreme opposites; most is balanced somewhere in the middle.

When it comes to time on the self and time for others, we cannot neglect the self and have balance. But because we are so acutely aware of these opposite extremes, we forget that there is a line between self care and selfishness, and that we cannot ignore the one because of fear of the other.

Self care, self love, and self talk are NOT selfish. They are utterly necessary. If we neglect the self and sacrifice our wellbeing, our happiness, and our desires just to be selfless, we are only hurting ourselves.

Selfishness on the one hand, sacrifice on the other are the extremes in regards to the self. The question is – where is the middle? That would be Compromise.

It is surprisingly easy to mistake compromise for sacrifice. The difference with regards to the self is simple – compromise is striking a balance between giving OF, taking FOR and holding FOR the self; whereas sacrifice is unbalanced with giving FROM, holding NOTHING and taking FROM the self.

If you do not find balance in giving to and taking for the self, then you might find you really do not know who you are. And our ability to really KNOW our self is truly a wonder of our wondrous world.

How do you feel about yourself?

I am MJ Blehart, deep thinker and author of “Wednesday’s Wondrous World”. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Appreciation

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

We all want to be appreciated. Appreciation is an amazing wonder of this wondrous world.

I know no one who does not appreciate hearing “Thank you!” or “I appreciate that” or “That was really great of you.” The appreciation, whether for an act you have performed or a job you have done or simply for you being you goes a long ways towards how you feel on a daily basis.

Whether we are already aware of this or not, we are responsible for our own feelings. No one “makes” us feel a certain way, though it is undeniable that the actions of others and outside influences will affect how we feel. We choose how to let things phase us, and we can choose whether to let a feeling an outside influence produces linger or be let go.

One of the worst feelings you can have is feeling unappreciated. In especial when others around you are being shown appreciation, and you are not. Whether you watch someone you consider a peer receive some sort of award or recognition that you feel you also deserve, or whether someone you have been partnered with is thanked and you are not, there is nothing more disconcerting than feeling unappreciated.

Worse, the feeling of being unappreciated can very easily spiral into darker, even more negative places. It is not hard to go from feeling unappreciated to feeling disconnected to feeling unloved to feeling unimportant to feeling sad to feeling angry to feeling hopeless…you get the idea. And we have all been there, haven’t we?

The first thing we have to acknowledge about this is this: You can do nothing to change how others appreciate you, or don’t. Once the act of appreciation or neglect has happened, it is done. Attempting to change it is a waste of time and energy. All we can do is accept it and move on.

Unacceptable! I worked hard on ‘x’ or I gave an incredible amount of effort to ‘y’ and I want that acknowledged! I know that feeling, and I am here to tell you that, sorry, this instance is over. It has happened, and you cannot go back and change it. All you can do is accept it, and move on.

Now that is not to say that you do not have the right to feel hurt, to feel angry, to feel dismissed, to feel neglected, to feel unappreciated. We are human beings, and this is a part of our nature. And since we need appreciation, when we do not get it it hurts.

What I am suggesting here is not to hold onto it for too long. We have control over how long we will let that terrible feeling linger, and we can choose to let it settle into our being and fester for hours, or days, or weeks, or months, or what-have-you. Holding onto that unhappy, negative sensation does not serve you. It does not let you move forward, it is a roadblock to your continued wellbeing.

Let the feeling happen, because you cannot stop it. But you can choose to not hold onto it for too long.

What comes next, though, is important. What do you do with regards to the person or persons who did not appreciate you? Do you continue to do good work even though you are not feeling appreciated for what you do? Do you do less? Do you do more? Do you lash out, and seek retribution for the hurt you have received?

Here are my thoughts on these important questions. First, and most importantly, whether you receive appreciation or no, you should not stop being you. You should continue to act as you act, within your own nature, no matter if you receive acknowledgement or no. If it no longer makes you feel good, and it no longer serves you, then by all means move on.

What you should NOT do is lash out. You should not belittle or show a lack of appreciation in retaliation for the slight you have received. That will only make things worse. Remember, negative acts beget negative acts. You have to break the cycle or it will continue.

Here is the even more important part of this. If negative begets negative, then conversely positive begets positive. If you want to get appreciation, SHOW appreciation.

Remember to thank people. Remember to compliment people. Remember to show people that you appreciate them for what they do, and who they are. Appreciation is a two-way street, and when we give it, we get it. Yes, this is much harder after you have been slighted, but that does not mean it should be neglected.

I believe that if we are more grateful, whether for the things we have or for the people around us, and we show more appreciation, the whole world could be a better place. You know how good you feel when someone shows YOU appreciation. Shouldn’t we spread that out further?

Appreciation – a true wonder of our wondrous world.

Let me conclude with this: I sincerely appreciate you. Whether I know you personally or otherwise, whether you agree with the things I write here or not, I appreciate you. THANK YOU!

(Note to the reader: If you also visit my blog, you will see that this week’s Pathwalking is a variation of this same post. I believe the topic of appreciation is so important, I wanted to spread it to a wider audience.)

I am MJ Blehart, “Wednesday’s Wondrous World” author. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!

Wednesday’s Wondrous World: Photography

Columns, Wednesday’s Wondrous World

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words.

Grounds for Sculpture – Hamilton, NJ

How true this is. Photography can capture our world and hold moments in time in still life forever.

Certainly in this day and age, we have the technology to build fantastical photos. But I remain a fan of letting the lens, the framing and light intermix and do all this work for themselves.

The Palisades – NJ

People, places, landscapes, starscapes, skyscapes, still and running waters, animals, even technological wonders make for incredible subjects. Every photographer has his or her own specialties and preferences.

Sparta, NJ

I am an amateur photographer, have been for most of my life. I love nature, and like nothing better than taking a hike with my camera and a journal. I can photograph the world and then use it as the basis for other creations, live and in person. I also love unique and historical buildings, and impressive monoliths of technology, from aircraft to industrial machines to wind-towers.

Sedona, AZ

So rather than write an endless collage of words about the wonder of photography, I am going to show more photos, and let them do the talking.

Columncile – Bangor, PA

Photography. Truly a diverse and far-reaching wonder of our wondrous world.

I am MJ Blehart, writer and photographer for “Wednesday’s Wondrous World”. Every week I share a magical wonder of this amazing world, and I hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Check out my blog, The Ramblings of a Titanium Don, for more of my work.

Also now available, Pathwalking: A 21st Century Philosophy in Book and Kindle form!