Loss.

Grief gets a voice. Maria Shriver's keynote from the 2009 Women's Conference...

Here's to Limitless Openings

Keep a smile in your heart and a melody in your soul.

There is a Sufi story about an Ocean-Frog who comes to visit a pond-frog, whose pond is three feet by four feet by two feet deep. The pond-frog is very eager and proud to show off the dimensions of his habitat. He dives down two feet to the bottom and comes up and asks, "Did you ever see water this deep? What is it like where you live?" The Ocean-Frog (from the Ocean of Ilm, the Divine Wisdom, which has no boundaries) cannot explain to the pond-frog what his Ocean home is Like, but he says, "One day I'll take you there, and you can swim in it."

Let today be that day!

With infinite Love and Gratitude,

Melanie

Celebrate our Earth - With Love

EARTH DAY MEL

Stop by the Melrose Place Farmer's Market Sunday, April 10th at 1:00pm to hear a Mel reading and celebrate our earth with love and food.


Melanie Lutz at the Melrose Place Farmer's Market
Melrose Place at La Cienega Boulevard
in West Hollywood, CA

IN memory of Irene Abramowitz

1914 - 2011

A teeny tiny prayer - learn the lesson

Laugh often embrace that which you are longing to remember and when a teacher comes into your life may you learn the lesson.

A teeny tiny prayer - body pains...

May your beautiful understanding of forever still, forever gentle, forever safe as you accept giving and receiving of love
continue to open your body for release.

Oprah's Master Class

Peep it!
Love it!
Get into it!

OWN's Master Class

http://www.oprah.com/own-master-class-the-lessons/master-class-connections-that-sustain-us.html

Got Balance?

I don't know about you but every now and then I get out of whack. During a bit of a moment someone gave me this chakra balancing audio and viola! Harmony.

With everything going in the world today -- take some time to reset your system.

Check out Katt Lowe's amazing energy practice at her site Connect Within here.

Prayers and Love Going Out Around the Globe

May great resources flow effortlessly to the rescue workers, nuclear engineers, families and people of Japan. May they have comfort and peace as they embark on the great work of rebuilding, restoring and regaining the strength of purpose to clean up from the natural disasters that continue to trouble their land. May every soul in the field of action be surrounded in Love and support and guides and everything necessary for their spirits to shine.

With Infinite Love and Gratitude.

46 Years Ago Today...

One of my favorite speeches by a President... Lyndon B. Johnson... given before a joint session of congress March 15, 1965 on voting rights, one of the most basic tools of democracy. It is a speech to remember.

Lyndon B. Johnson did not 'win' the Presidency, he ascended to the office due to the horrific assassination of President Kennedy. Johnson understood that one man doesn't 'make' human rights changes, he merely steps into the space of truth and offers it up for review, so the people, all the people, can move into a higher thought pattern, a space of humanity above the 'battlefield' and petty tyrannies of fear...



:President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s speech to a joint session of Congress on March 15, 1965:

"At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom.

Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.

In our time we have come to live with moments of great crisis. Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues; issues of war and peace, issues of prosperity and depression.

Rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself. Rarely are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, our welfare or our security, but rather to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved Nation. The issue of equal rights.

And should we defeat every enemy, should we double our wealth and conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation.

For with a country as with a person, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

--

Everything starts at home. it starts with our own being. it starts with our own hearts. Take care and remember the truth. All men are created equal.

On the planet today with the proliferation of technology and the advancement of weaponry to destroy it is clear there is one path through... Remembering the truth.  Peace is your responsibility and Love Remains the Answer.

To view the whole speech and read a transcript here's a great link....

Speech Before Congress on Voting Rights (March 15, 1965) - Miller Center of Public Affairs


Melanie Lutz is a screenwriter, author and all around magnificent woman. Her upcoming book  LOVE LAND is a collection of essays and ideas to open your heart WITH LOVE. For more information check http://www.melanielutz.com/ and http://www.alwaysalice.com/

Enjoy Adele singing at the NPR offices.

Yes the songs are about heart break but hey when hearts get broken there's tons to sing about...

We Salute You!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Today is the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day a time of celebrating all the lovely women in our lives!

Mel Eye. Like the Fish Eye... But more direct.

5 Words. 150 Years. One Message.

Today and everyday awaken "the better angels of our nature."

From the last line of the last paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address delivered one hundred and fifty years ago March 4, 1861 as tensions between the North and South were exploding and Civil war was imminent.

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." 

All great speeches share one common thread, there ability to divine the truth creating space for the eternal. The words may change. The times may be different, but, in the stirring of the heart a great speech gives birth to the openness of possibility and in that openness we are given a choice, a choice to be moved by a higher vibrational experience into action leading spirit ever forward with faith and grace extending love to all souls across the planet.

Because of his ability to stand in the face of insurmountable and daunting circumstances and deliver statements like "right makes might" because he was able to be a healing agent over a country deeply divided Lincoln has long captured the imagination of the world and the reasons why are obvious.

He was a true statesman.
He was a leader standing on the cusp of an uncertain future.

He was a researcher who understood a sense of the common defense.
He presided over a war that pitted brother against brother.
He attempted to tide the rift of a long fought battle and seemingly overwhelming differences of opinion.
He delivered the United States into a new era.

Let's Remember Together. To any problem perceived or otherwise Love remains the answer and peace is our responsibility.

Any student of history will tell you that American is made up of the most diverse collection of races, religions, beliefs and peoples. Why? America was the new land, holding the promise of a new age, it remained the last melting plot available on our precious planet to leave behind the oppressions of tyranny. But, as anyone who has ever had to face their demons or "train their dragon" will tell you, running from your fears or the fears of the collective does not make them go away. Fears exist to be met and faced and understood so they can be freed from ruling our unconsciousness behaviors.

Because we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave does not mean we do not have to practice what we preach, that we are not suffering from the afflictions of humanity, that we didn't murder, and oppress, and cheat and steal, that we didn't make decisions that were based in personal fears.  Freedom is a discipline we apply everyday because every man brings with him and plays host to his own terrors projecting those terrors into the consciousness of a society. It is each individuals personal journey to transcend beyond these lower thinking forms exercising bravery in the quest to be free, rising above the battlefield and baring witness to the truth.

While our history has blemishes that we continue to atone for; the slaughter of the Native Americans, the entitled slavery of a beautiful race of people, women's suffrage, civil rights, bank oligopoly, corporate raiding, seething greed, there is one thing that remains constant --- faith in the "better angels of our nature." A space where whatever unjust, not right minded human afflictions are taking place that we are willing to see the truth and hold the space for new possibilities, to look at things in a different way, to argue yes, but then to see the light and be a clear and present source and beacon of truth so this mass collection of "discordant elements" as William Wordsworth stated could "move in one society." One society embracing each others differences in love and opening to the highest possibilities of peace for all humanity.

Getting a little biblical (and who doesn't love the bible)-- from the Sermon on the Mount. "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock." 

You can build your house on the rock of truth or the sand of your fear.  We are all blessed with a choice. In making a choice between the two in a stance of honesty and Love I invite you to consider how your actions to yourself and others will affect your own personal sense of peace. 

Actions always have consequences. Make your actions count. When the scripture says "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." It speaks directly to the emotions that create the rubble of our lives. Let go of the pride and ask yourself "If I look at this situation with Love what is the truth?"

In all the drafts of his speech Abraham Lincoln included a confrontational pointedly aggressive statement addressed at the South that he removed when he delivered the speech. The final line of the Inaugural was to have read....

"Shall it be peace or sword?

Either way the result remains the same - the truth will shine through. The choice is yours. 

5 Words. 150 Years. One Message.

AWAKEN
"THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE"

Compassionate positioning means creating a stance where you are able to be in a space of compassion and Love and look into the eyes of those who are suffering and feel their suffering without losing your center. When you know your own center, you are in stillness with the truest space of your being allowing you to understand in every situation the space you are holding, and from that space you remember your job is to extend Love. You are not taking on another’s karma, you are merely dealing with your own, and in your knowing of this one detail, you allow other people to grow into their knowing.

Move into the experience of full and equal human rights around the planet. Move into the "angels of our better nature" and rewrite any operating manual that isn’t based in Love, that doesn’t include a daily practice of acceptance of yourself and those around you.

May you enjoy peace of mind, love and harmony with the past present and future, creating space for what is next.

***Excerpted from Melanie Lutz presents LOVE LAND.

Check out the full text of Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address

Lincoln's First Inaugural Address (Top Treasure): American Treasures of the Library of Congress

Past Mel Post - sourcing this post....

http://alwaysalice.blogspot.com/2010/08/few-of-my-favorite-things.html

Melanie Lutz is a screenwriter, author and all around magnificent woman. Her upcoming book  LOVE LAND is a collection of essays and ideas to open your heart WITH LOVE. For more information check http://www.melanielutz.com/ and http://www.alwaysalice.com/

My All Time Favorite Poem by William Wordsworth....

Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows
Like harmony in music; there is a dark
Inscrutable workmanship that reconciles
Discordant elements, makes them cling together
In one society. How strange, that all
The terrors, pains, and early miseries,
Regrets, vexations, lassitudes interfused
Within my mind, should e'er have borne a part,
And that a needful part, in making up
The calm existence that is mine when I
Am worthy of myself! Praise to the end!

Blast from Mel Posts Past

You can have it all!

http://alwaysalice.blogspot.com/2009/12/retro-music-fest.html

Feel the rhythm today and everyday!

Words to Live By - Regina Brett

Every now and then I highlight wisdom from another writer.... Today's Loving Thoughts are written by Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer Newspaper, Cleveland, Ohio:

1. Life is not fair, but it is still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

6. You do not have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It is more healing than crying alone.

8. It is OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it will not screw up the present.
12. It is OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea that their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you should not be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But do not worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that is not useful, beautiful, or joyful.
18. Whatever does not kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It is never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, do not take no for an answer.
22. Over-prepare, and then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Do not wait for old age to wear purple.