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Browse every published article connected to Natalie Amsden, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
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Browse every published article connected to Natalie Amsden, or search within this exact expert archive.
The brain has as many nerve cells as there are stars in our galaxy and galaxies in our universe – over 100 billion. With high-speed cameras and high-powered lenses we have expanded our view of both the minute quantum details of life on earth and the contents of the depths of our universe. One thing we can all agree upon is that today’s science has proven that life is beyond what meets the eye.
“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” —T.S. Elliot During the time of Aristotle and for 18 centuries after that, it was believed that the Sun, our solar system, and the stars rotated around the Earth in concentric circles. At the time this understanding was the basis for a very important spiritual belief—that humans were at the center of the Universe!
There is only one true desire. All of our longings, goals, and motivations are reaching toward a single fulfillment. The ultimate pot of gold that we long to reach at the end of our infinitude of rainbows is joy. Embracing joy is the driving force that helps us to get out of bed each day and the reason for every choice we make—whether we consciously recognize it or not.
What is the difference between you and Joe, a homeless man on a bench who asks for change? Are you more blessed because you are a better person? No. Just because someone lives on the streets doesn’t make him a bad person. Are you being rewarded for all of the good things you’ve done and Joe is being punished? No. Joe has a great heart and started his life as a person with a job and a family and later found himself in circumstances that lead to a downward spiral. Then he became stuck. So, what’s the difference?
Every one of us exits childhood with our own unique cocktail of patterns, programming, beliefs, habits, preferences, expectations, and mind viruses. Some of these ingrained pieces of our psyche are positive, such as saying please and thank you, brushing our teeth every day, and, hopefully, believing that education is important. However, we also enter adulthood with our share of wounds and neurotic tendencies. At a more subtle level, we are also programmed with certain beliefs and fears that limit our lives—mind viruses.
I stare for a long time, trying to disce the color of my grass. I consider the cliché about “the other side.” Time passes and distance helps me take in more of the view. I notice a crack across my vision. I pull away the pieces of the broken lenses – green in color – revealing the brown, weary, thirsty grass that has invaded my lawn. I wonder who had put it there. What horrible gardener had duped me into paying for such a mess? I look down at my hands, covered in callouses and soil, holding remnants of green lenses.
We find ourselves at a unique point in history: at the precipice of human transformation. In this world of rapid change and mass confusion, many of us feel a deep longing for something more—for connection, love, joy, peace and meaning. We are all awakening, each in our own way and in our own time. As our world changes around us, our world view is changing. History is not just the evolution of technology; it is the evolution of thought.—James Redfield, The Celestine Prophecy The Evolution of Our World Viewrn(An adaptation of the “Longer Now” from The Celestine Prophecy.)
In the book The 100th Monkey Ken Keyes, Jr. tells the story of a scientific research study on monkeys that supports the notion that quantum shifts can occur when a population reaches a “critical mass.” This phenomenon is often referred to when one is in need of evidence to support the belief that an optimistic future is possible for humankind. The 100th Monkey empowers us to have faith that if enough people will just think the right loving and compassionate thoughts —
When a caterpillar approaches its time of transformation, it begins to eat ravenously, consuming everything in sight. The caterpillar outgrows its own skin many times, until it is too bloated to move. It turns its world on its head as it attaches itself upside-down to a branch and forms a chrysalis. This gentle encasing limits its freedom and protects it during the duration of the metamorphosis.
Since the popular book and movie The Secret hit the shelves in 2006, the concept of The Law of Attraction (LOA) has spread like wildfire, attracting believers and critics alike. Believers—who call themselves “deliberate creators”—practice the processes of positive thought, affirmative thinking, and visualization, believing that whatever we think about (wealth or poverty, joy or suffering, love or loneliness) the Universe will deliver.
As a Transformation Coach I love my clients, just as I love my readers. That is why at times I must use tough love in order to encourage others to dig deeper, look truth square in the face, and make a commitment to change. Either you want to transform your life or you don’t, and I hope you do, which is why I am offering this healthy dose of reality—with love. “But” is the word that usually precedes an excuse. The dictionary defines an excuse as: “self-justification; ‘a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise’.”
We all have the ability to create any emotion we want to experience at the flick of a switch. Imagine someone brings you a big, juicy lime. That person cuts into it, and the lime juice squirts onto you. He gives you a piece, and as you bite into it your face puckers as you taste the sour juices. Now, notice that your tongue feels tingly or is salivating. Just thinking about limes triggers a wire in your brain that tells your tongue to prepare for the lime by producing the saliva that is needed to break down the powerful acids. Our emotional brain wiring works in the same way.
The motivation for all that we do comes down to wanting only one thing: JOY!
From the first time we open our eyes we begin imitating our parents. When our caretakers smile at us we learn to smile. When our caretakers get frustrated we learn frustration. When we meet other children, especially in early elementary school, it is often comical how much they act and talk like their parents. Like little birds they parrot what they commonly hear their parents say.
When I was a child, faith was a dirty word to me. It wasn’t that anyone told me it was bad, it’s just the associatio I had created about it. I grew up in a multicultural home, complete with a Channamus Tree for the holidays. One side of the family was Jewish, the other Christian, and both sides were relatively open-minded and non-traditional. My family was spiritual, to a degree, but certainly not religious. Throughout elementary school I was the only “Jewish” kid in a school full of Christians.
Nothing in life stands still. Science has shown us that the entire human body—every cell—completely regenerates itself within a span of about seven years. Brain scientists and psychologists have agreed that in each moment our brains are taking in new information and our minds are constantly assimilating this information into our neural network of thoughts, beliefs, and associations.
WHAT IS A MIRACLE? - Unexplained medical healing?rn- Much needed money from an unknown source?rn- An answered prayer?rn- A significant coincidence?rn- Surviving a horrible accident?rn- Being saved by a surgeon?rn- Witnessing child birth?rn- Seeing the blessings within your curses?
We live in perhaps the most exciting time in human history. In a changing landscape of globalization, we find ourselves experiencing a collective and individual shift—an awakening to a new way of life. As an entrepreneur, I see firsthand how rapidly our financial and corporate economies are changing, and I believe that for the most part these changes are positive—yes, positive. The outdated and unsustainable systems from which our current age has evolved is naturally falling away to allow for a future of conscious business and world unity.
Sometimes insight comes from the strangest places.
While growing up, my holiday home had halls decked with holly, a menorah in the window, and a “Chanamus” tree. I come from a multiracial, religiously diverse family. My mom’s family is Jewish and my dad’s family is Christian. I have ancestors who fled the holocaust, as well as ancestors who came to the United States during the time of the Mayflower. I am English, Scottish, German, Romanian, Polish, Welch, and Russian. I am a cultural, ethnic, religious mutt.
Nothing stands still in life. Change is constant, inevitable. As you read these words you are moving, growing, changing. This being the case you would think we humans might be more accustomed to the change process. Instead we often live in resistance, or even fierce opposition, to change, and therefore to life itself. There are many reasons for this, but generally the cause is fear brought on by our unconscious attachment to our mind-made identity. By unconscious I mean we’re not aware of it. By attachment I mean a clinging-to, a dependency on.