Sunday, January 13, 2013

Like Magic, Only Real


If you haven’t seen this commercial, take a look. It’s only 30 seconds.



We think these guys are silly to believe that turning their labels out will affect the trajectory of the football. And yet...

People have asked me about the dedication in my book, “To Todd, who found the part that looked like me.” Here’s the story.

Years ago, I was in the emergency room with a pain in my solar plexus that I described as a 12 to the doctor who asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1 to 10. After the initial shock of being attacked from the inside out, and after finally getting some chemically induced temporary relief, I understood intuitively that there was nothing medically wrong with me.

I write those words “understood intuitively” like intuitive understanding was a common occurrence for me. It wasn’t. I’m a lawyer by profession and by calling. For most of my life I relied on what I could understand and defend through rational analysis, on what I could “prove” based on facts. Nevertheless, lying in that emergency room, I was sure that medical tests would reveal nothing. I was right. And I knew just as surely that I was going to die if I didn’t change my life. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew it.

My naturopath suggested that I consult Todd, whom she described as an energy healer. I was desperate enough to pick up the phone and call, and too embarrassed to tell anyone that I was going to pay someone who was no doubt some sort of crackpot looney. This was all way too woowoo for me.

At one point during our session, I suddenly felt something that defies description. The best I can do is to say that I felt a whoosh, like a sudden gust of wind, but on the inside. Afterward, when I asked Todd what happened, he said that among other energy healing techniques, he had done a “soul retrieval.” When pressed, he explained that he went to a place where there were parts of souls that had been lost, found mine, and returned it to me. With rising anxiety and incredulity, I challenged, “How do you know that part was mine? What if you put someone else’s soul fragment in me?” He replied calmly and matter of fact-ly, “It looked like you.”

Well, what can you say to that?!  I went on with my life, but there was a distinct and subtle shift that happened that day. True, I was doing many other things, too, to change my life. But my life did change, from one based in fear to one based in joy. Can I prove that what Todd did affected the outcome? No. But I can’t prove that it didn’t either. I came to accept that there are things that bring about greater joy and peace in our lives that I can’t explain through rational analysis.

Energy healing is way out there, I admit. But what about kindness? I can’t explain why kindness makes me happier, but it does. Forgiveness. Generosity. Smiling. Prayer. Gratitude. Meditation. Friendship. Compassion. Love. Faith. All these enrich my life and fill my (now retrieved) soul with light and joy. How marvelous. Like magic, only real.

As the commercial says, “It’s only weird if it doesn’t work.”

related post: Resolution or Revolution

42 comments:

  1. I agree that the proof is in the pudding! I've tried all sorts of alternative healing modalities. Sometimes they "work", sometimes they don't. But, I find, I can always rely on all these actions and qualities that enrich your life from forgiveness to generosity and so on!

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    1. Sandra, Yes, these qualities, unlike some modalities, always seem to "work." Can't explain it, but I see it over and over.

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  2. Great story. I, too, have been in situations where I've been in pain, yet I've "understood intuitively that there was nothing medically wrong with me." Nevertheless, I've always had it checked out. And so far (knock on wood), I've been right.

    I also believe that a change of heart, a change of attitude, and change of ... whatever you want to call it, can be a very powerful experience. So glad you're in a "happy place."

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    1. Tom, Thanks, I'm glad about that, too! Like you, I went through all the tests, but I knew they would reveal nothing. I look back at that event as my wake up call from life. And it was painful enough to get my attention and make me listen!

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  3. This is a beautiful story. That was an act of courage to consult Todd even though you weren't sure what you were doing. There are so many things that we can't explain and yet know that they make life better.

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    1. Tina, At the time, it felt more like desperation than courage, but I grew to trust him and respect him so much. And that gave me courage, I think, to open my mind to possibilities I had not considered before.

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  4. Galen, your reflection touched me deeply. When, in 1997, I lost my husband, my aunt sent me a copy of C. S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed". In it, C. S. describes an experience, more intellectual than feeling, about realizing and accepting that his loved one has passed. I recognized it as the same experience at the moment my husband died, though it would be years until I could understand it.
    It wasn't until I told this to Danny's sister that the blinders were removed. When someone loves deeply, they leave part of their soul with you. They can't go freely and completely to Heaven unless they say "good bye" and reclaim that piece of the puzzle for their own. It may sound strange, but it makes perfect sense to me.
    "It's only weird if it doesn't work."
    It worked . . .
    Blessings, my friend!

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    1. Martha, I was nervous writing this post because I thought it might sound a bit too out there. I'm relieved that you understand. Thank you for sharing your powerful experience.

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  5. When all of them believed about that label thing, it worked. I have also heard about that where soul part is retrieved. It is said that some incidents make "a part of us die". we cut out a part of ourselves to deal with something.

    But nothing is whole but the whole and I guess hence the healing ...

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    1. Jerly, That is how Todd explained it, too. And yes, labels are powerful things.

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  6. I once had a 1/2 hour massage on my shoulders and neck....her hands were so warm and so full of energy...I was actually crying by the time she was through. It can happen...

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    1. Isn't that wonderful?! Touch can be an amazing healing power.

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  7. I used to do all kinds of energy work in my younger days. In fact I have completed all the hours needed for a reiki practitioner but I'm not really "into" it anymore. I know it works for a lot of people by what they say in their testaments. I'm glad when I hear it working for someone.

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    1. Manzanita, I guess it's true that believing makes it so. How interesting that you went through the training and then didn't practice. Did you move onto other things or were you disenchanted with that particular practice?

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  8. Hello Friend Galen,

    What a wonderful story for you to share. May I add this: "it's only weird if you don't believe." Just like people that chose to not believe in GOD - weird - only weird to the "believers"....

    I have been to several energy healers during the last 3 years of my life and the first time I went to one after working on me I got off the table feeling like a child - light, free and very happy (even in the midst of what was going on around me).

    It's funny that you posted this at this time - serendipity - I just moved to Asheville (mountains of NC) from the coast of NC and upon arriving the lady that I am subletting from told me that an 80 year old energy healer lives below me. I thought, bring it on - the adventure begins.

    I also believe that GOD made us in his image and why would he not give us the gift of healing - I don't think he wants to keep amazing things from us. So the gift of healing is in everyone but who is not afraid to try it......

    In love, light and gratitude,
    Nancy

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    1. Nancy, Yes, believing makes it real. Keep me posted on your interaction with the energy healer below! That has lots of possibilities!

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  9. I have had and done soul retrievals. I don't advertise this as many people would think it was weird, but it is subtle. I even gave someone a herbal remedy once and she called it magic. I think it is as magic as drinking chamomile tea. There is so much out there and in the end it is all God. So many ways to heal and it's all just one way. Love. Great post and loved the commercial!

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    1. Jodi, I wonder if it comes down to opening our minds to possibilities beyond our rational understanding. Good example with the tea. I might not understand why it makes me feel better, but I believe it does. Glad you liked the commercial. I have watched it so many times. Love it.

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  10. Beautiful story Galen, so glad you shared it. I believe that there are many things that happen to us that are way beyond our limited sense of "understanding". What makes "sense" or doesn't is not important. What is, I believe, is that we believe and know that we are so much more than meets the eye!
    Namaste,
    SuZen

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    1. SuZen, I finally figured out that my rational mind has limits. Once I opened up to the possibility of things my rational mind can't understand, the world got a lot more interesting! Namaste.

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  11. Hi Galen,
    Some people don't realize how intuitive they are. When you said you experienced a pain in your "solar plexus" I knew something was different about you! Most people (the non-woo woo people ;-) would have said a pain in the chest!
    I'm right there with energy healing - I'm an energy healer myself. When I have ANY physical ailment, I immediately look for the emotional underlying cause. It's never just physical. Never
    Welcome to a magical (and very real) world!
    Lori

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    1. Lori, I have come to appreciate over the years that I do, like everyone, have a deep intuitive wisdom. I used to dismiss it, but now I pay close attention to it. I can easily believe you are an energy healer. I have seen you at work in your own life.

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  12. That sounds so beautiful "soul retrieval" Life is full of little miracles. Thank you for sharing, Galen! Hugs! (and thank you, Todd!)

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    1. Vidya, Life is indeed full of miracles. I'll pass your thanks on to Todd--he'll love that!

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  13. I was a skeptic before. My logical mind could not process anything that is unknown. But what did I know? I am now an energy healer, after experiencing benefits, shifts and supposedly weird stuff.

    I have since decided that we can choose to believe or we can choose not to believe. Science has already proven that our mind pretty much draws the evidence to support the belief. So I figured that let's choose to be open to the unseen and unknown and find out what happens thereafter.

    Well, life has been pretty much interesting ever since I made it an exploratory one.

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    1. Evelyn, Going from skeptic to healer yourself. That is quite a journey. I like your clarity of the choices we have. I'm with you!

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  14. I have always Believed that Intuition is simply communication with an unseen Realm that most certainly exists and guides us if we listen and trust. I'm fortunate that I was raised with Parents that both lived intuitively due to their cultural heritages that don't find it to be strange at all. Sure, over the years there have been some who mocked or tried to put logic to why so much of it 'works' and cannot be adequately explained... since it does work I am merely content to work it. *Winks*

    Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian

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    1. Dawn, I hope you will share more about your parents and the connection between their acceptance of intuition and their cultural heritages. If you have written about it on your blog, feel free to leave a link. I bet others would like to know more, too.

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  15. I had a whoosh experience 3 times so far in my life and they have each time helped me make a change. All three have been when I was on the phone to NY or Skype to Spain, or a time set with a healer in Australia, which woke me up at 2am my time. It is usually followed by incredible heat within an area in my body and exhaustion afterwards. Each time it has revealed how I need to open the door to make a change. I have been to another healer here in town who gave me lots on information about my medians which was helpful and after a treatment I could not drive my car, my energy was all strange and random, but when she changed to group healing sessions - it was just a waste of funds.
    I am going to a new healer in town who is here from Ireland, later this month, because I am stuck in a mode...I do not know how it will be, because she was in a head on car crash and it is a miracle she is alive, but is nearly walking on her own and we both feel called to be in touch.

    I am very comfortable in these types of learning modalities and in changing ideas and perspectives. Sometimes though I wish someone would just tell me what to do

    I did so enjoy reading your experience and it IS only weird if it does not work.


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    1. Patricia, So glad you enjoyed it and I have to say, it's been very reassuring to get some many comments from folks who have had similar positive experiences with alternative forms of healing.

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  16. Would you believe that I had a whoosh experience yesterday - okay, not quite as dramatic as yours with Todd perhaps, but some blinders fell off and I can see a new me emerging, Galen. But it's not until we're really ready, does it happen, don't you think?

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    1. Corinne, A new you emerging? Now that is intriguing. Of course I like the old you very much, so I'm a little nervous about this new you. Not TOO different, I hope! I agree that these changes happen as we are ready for them. I was certainly ready then. Here's to our continued emergence!

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  17. Galen -- wait, you mean they really can't control the movements of the ball with a beer bottle label? Of all the many fine things you've written here, this is one of my favorites. Wonderful story of how keeping an open mind can lead to real, lasting change. That's a big thing I've been focusing on lately -- how to employ "both-and" thinking instead of the usual "either-or" mindset. This is a great example of that.

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    1. Stephen, I'm not saying they aren't controlling the ball. Like the guy says, it's like magic, only real. I'll be turning that label towards the TV screen during the Super Bowl. Just sayin'....

      Glad you liked the post. "Both-and thinking"--I like that!

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  18. Galen: Does it make a difference that any guy who ever played football knows that to throw a spiral, you must put your fingers across the seams?

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    1. JJ, I'm sure it does! That's magic, too, right? But real, of course.

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  19. Galen -
    We get so caught up in the physicality of who we think we are that it is easy to forget who our essence - we are souls/spiritual beings.

    I believe in energy healing ~Soul retrieval makes perfect sense to me.

    On my trip to Ecuador, I heard a sound - combination of sucking/whooshing - in the middle of the night - and stumbled way over close enough to the sound- so that I could see a shaman sucking the illness out of my friend's stomach....energy healing - you bet!!

    As always Galen, thanks for your beautiful, thought provoking stories. :) Fran

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    1. Fran, That's amazing! I'm glad I wrote this post because I've heard from so many folks who have had similar experiences. Fascinating.

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  20. Wow, what a powerful message- and I do believe in magic! I did see that commerical before too, but now I see it even better!

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    1. Karen, I saw the commercial several times before I really thought about the deep message in it. Do you think the advertising folks knew how profound they were being?!

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  21. I am just in over my head not aware of alot of these topics but fascinated.I loved reading about everything, did not know about healers or the whoosh etc.I need a Todd

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