#Releasethebeast - The recent sexual assault allegations

by Denise Lucille on 12/03/17

As I witness the recent celebrities and politicians being exposed for sexual improprieties, assault and rape, it brings me great sadness. But this recent news also brings me relief for the victims. The fact is, sexual abuse and assault ignored can manifest anxiety, agony, self loathing, mental illness, promiscuity, fear, addiction, and even sexual predatory behavior in its innocent victims. For the accusers who are genuine in their choice to disclose and step forward as a form of release and healing, this is a blessing. For the accusers who are disingenuous, this is merely a byproduct of raising awareness to something negative that deserves justice. There will always be those whose intentions are not pure in every group, even victim groups, and I believe the energy of dishonesty has a way of ricocheting back to the perpetrator, which is evidenced by this whole #metoo campaign. 
Some believe the offenses vary is seriousness from those who made sexual advances toward their colleagues to those who raped and sexually assaulted their victims. The only thing that needs to be considered, is the true effect the perpetrator’s action left on the soul of the victim.
The real issue at the root of this whole mess, is the fact that otherwise talented, powerful, intelligent men could be so enamored by their fame and power that they choose to abuse this power to sexually assault or force themselves upon another. 
I like to think a man who has a great career; power and material success; the resources to deal with day to day struggles; loving mothers, sisters and sometimes daughters, sons and wives; would lack the common sense, insight and moral compass to not act so irresponsibly impulsive and choose to injure another person’s spirit, body and soul for something as superficial and fleeting as momentary sexual arrousal. 
They clearly have some deep seated belief they are entitled to hurt and destroy another’s spirit for their own sexual gratification. This feeling of entitlement is prevalent amongst the famous and the powerful which seems to often come with politics and fame. This is not to suggest all men in power possess this entitlement. I know many powerful men who do not abuse their power this way.
Also, this sick abuse is not isolated to just the famous, it affects families, religious groups, and schools. The bigger question we need to ask is how anyone can choose to abuse their power by robbing another’s trust and innocence for sexual gratification. 
Unfortunately, I’m afraid some of these men have probably encountered sexual abuse themselves and never resolved or released their own beast which manifested this predatory behavior toward others. While others are purely abusing their power by holding woman and/or children hostage for their own sexual gratification. We may never know who is who here, but one thing I know for sure, is when a person is violated sexually, regardless of the offender profile, they are scarred for life. The only way to minimize and/or heal the scarring from sexual abuse is to find a safe place to speak the truth and learn spiritual and emotional strategies to move past it. To bury, ignore and deny sexual abuse, is how behaviors like addiction, anxiety and risk for becoming a sexual predator exists. 
Once the beast of sexual abuse is released from the soul, it may circle the person for some time attempting to regain control searching for the food of guilt and shame to sustain its strength to overpower its victim; but eventually with spiritual and emotional guidance, the beast will grow weary from not being fed the feelings of guilt and shame and starve and die off allowing the victim to heal. 
On the other hand, if the same beast is left caged in denial to fester in someone’s soul being fed by shame, denial and guilt it will grow and take over and destroy the victim’s body, mind and spirit. This is why the #metoo campaign was an important forum to begin the process toward helping victims #releasethebeast of abuse. 
I’m glad these men are being exposed for their choices that have resulted in hurting innocent victims and I pray for those who turned their caged beast on another due to not having a safe resource to release their beast. 
There is no excuse for this behavior, and these men need to be exposed and held accountable and stopped. 
But we must do better as a society to stop the cycle where we can, and to become a safe resource to help others release their beast so that we don’t run the risk of continuing this sick, violent cycle of abuse, shame and denial. Denise Lucille 
#releasethebeast
www.houseblesser.com

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The #metoo movement

by Denise Lucille on 10/19/17

For all the beautiful women and men who have experienced the horror of sexual assault, the #metoo campaign is an awakening that confirms we need to open the door to the dark room of the soul that’s left to reconcile this horrific violation. If we haven’t experienced sexual assault ourselves most of us can speak from watching and helping another person through the horrific after effects of the long painful journey to recovery from shame, despair, fear, powerlessness, anxiety and depression; to hope, faith, healing, empowerment and strength. It’s not an easy journey, and I’ve always believed this is one of the darkest of all rooms a person’s soul will house in their lifetime. It destroys and temporarily kidnaps a soul and often holds it hostage using the chains of shame and fear. 
Healing isn’t possible if the door to the dark room doesn’t get exposed to even a flicker of light in the form of acknowledgement, hope, support and love. 
Maybe #metoo can be used as a light ?? that we can shine on the demon in the dark room that sexual assault leaves in its wake, and lend support, with an ear, and some love and prayers.

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Church.... a energy perspective.

by Denise Lucille on 08/03/17

Church
Taking my Sunday morning bike ride is always enlightening. Like church, I believe it's a way to commune with God, but through nature, not a religious leader. I occasionally find great purpose within the church when I need the fellowship of other parishioners, the sermons, nostalgic rituals and those times when I just need to sit and listen. But as I grow older, I have found the value of long bike rides and hikes on wooded trails to give me a strong sense of God and allow me to have one on one intuitively guided conversations with God. I don't go to church services as much anymore, but I understand it's great value for us as we move through life and its unexpected hurdles. I believe the integrative approach to spirituality to lift our energy and spirits to be the most valuable route to God. Doing charitable things for others; enjoying nature; embracing our bodies and minds; staying mentally healthy; using spiritual tools and praying/meditation, I believe are prerequisites to being able to tap into God's energy and messages. If we dread going to a church service, and go anyway, it's not going to have the same spiritual value of communing with God as doing something that brings feelings of joy, hope, faith and uplifts our energy. There must never be a struggle when communing with our God. It must be an organic and natural conversation that brings hope and faith into our energy. When our conversations with God bring us relief and peaceful feelings, it is then that God's voice can access our energy and speak to us in a mutually energetic, heavenly place. Happy Sunday! Denise Lucille

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Blessing the uninvited houseguest

by Denise Lucille on 08/03/17

When someone announces they have cancer, typically there are internal and external questions by others like "did they eat the "wrong" foods; did they smoke; not exercise enough; not use enough sunscreen; not take the proper nutritional supplements or not eat the right foods; or have a family history?"
In my case, the answer to all of those questions is yes, and I wouldn't have missed any of those experiences I engaged in for the world! 
Many of my most joyful memories are around these so called "carcinogens" while spending time laughing and breaking bread with my friends and family. ?? 
Delving deeper into the meaning of this diagnosis, my daughter had the same pathology/type and diagnosis at 19 years old and would have answered "no" to most of the questions above. That said why does cancer pay some of us a visit? I believe it's to teach us about fear. For some it's responded to as the uninvited houseguest who attempts to shake us down and steal our joy for a moment; while for others it's the same uninvited houseguest holding us hostage with fear and stealing our joy forever; But for some of us it's an opportunity to understand the mind's influence over the physical body and then probe to find the value in the uninvited guests' visit. Then to make a plan going forward to gain the wisdom and strength from it. I have chosen the later approach of the three. Utilizing spiritual tools, prayers, love and laughter, combined with western medicine solutions to focus on the cure, not the disease, seems like a good plan. 
If cancer was treated less like a battle to fight; and we took a moment to let the fear, grief and anger pass through and out of the body's energy system and then began a personal dialogue with the uninvited houseguest with newly generated thoughts of hope, faith, patience and kindness, imagine the powerful shift inside of us that could occur as we being to move toward healing. We could sit down with the uninvited guest and invite the wisdom from the spiritual lessons it brings to us instead of dwelling in guilt and fear energy where I know healing cannot occur.
Even if at some point, physical life is not sustained because of the uninvited houseguest's visit, either quickly or many years down the road, wouldn't our time here be better spent in a state of calm, hope and faith energy than in a state of fear, sadness, and despair? Mom taught us this lesson in her last years. Never have we laughed so much in our lives than in those years after her uninvited houseguest's visit. When she left her body, we made a conscious decision to not put any language in her obit that indicated that she lost a battle. She had cancer and then left her body to move on to greener pastures. Yes, it was a great loss for us, but I believe she won on her journey because of her role modeling of strength and humor in response to her uninvited houseguest to her granddaughter, who had her own uninvited houseguest at the same time, and to all of us going forward. 
Typically I don't like to post negative information or put a flashlight on things that make people sad or uncomfortable, but I wanted to speak my truth in an open forum instead of allowing the grapevine to run with it and risk misinformation with my personal journey. This is not to minimize others response to their own uninvited house guest, but to put my truth out there. That said, my uninvited guest is teaching me plenty and I feel blessed to have had the screenings that caught it; blessed to have a beautiful daughter who had her own visit by an uninvited houseguest and who is guiding me with mine to sit with it, gain the wisdom and send it packing; and feel blessed, yet again, with my job at Duke for a world renown endocrine surgeon and an endocrinologist I recruited this year who specializes in thyroid cancer. So, going forward in the spirit of Christine Murray's famous line in the last years of her awesome life, "who needs a man anyway?" I say this! "Who needs a thyroid anyway?" (Jerry wins??)
I am confident I will gain more than I will lose from this journey and have been given an excellent prognosis from my physicians. 
I will not speak often of the uninvited guest, but instead roll up my sleeves and get to work to learn and grow from the spiritual lessons it teaches me, while doing God's work, with no regrets and an open grateful heart. More than anything, I hope others who have had or currently have an uninvited houseguest can find hope in this message. Denise Lucille ??

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An energy perspective to pre election chaos...

by Denise Lucille on 08/03/17

I am not afraid of who will be the next president....anymore than I'm afraid of the cancer cells that revealed themselves in my body this year; nor the mugger who tried to steal my wallet and my feeling of safety and security last month;
or the economy tanking if "x" becomes president. 
If any of the aforementioned things or other potential threats occur, and bring me to my knees with grief, then I'll cross that bridge when I get there. But I don't believe that living in a perpetual state of fear over "what if" is good for me or anyone around me; or worse controlling others or projecting that fear onto others. We all should use this election as an opportunity to let go of fear and enjoy our lives, regardless of which candidate convinces us they will "save" us. The wise know from life experience that no one can save us except ourselves and our God. No point arguing that your life will change if "x" becomes president, as it may do just that, but mudslinging and depending on a politician to save you, only diminishes your strength to save yourself; not to mention robs you of the potential joy in the present moment. We need each other more than ever as a source of comfort for the day to day life challenges. The person who is stuck in grief from the loss of a child, parent or spouse and doesn't know how to ask for help or wants to joyfully remember their loved one's memory; or the person who is in the midst of an illness and struggling to understand their options and who needs our comfort and guidance; or anyone who is in the REAL fire of life's challenges, not the feared or imagined ones the politicians promise await us if their opponent wins. 
No politician can offer the spiritual service that we can offer one another. This is a spiritual "test" to distract us from what's important and we are failing. We are here to heal each other, not to try to control a political race. Let's consider removing ourselves from the mud pit and loving on one another! 
Let's create a place where every person who desires to project their fear through their social media posts, awakens and posts a prayer, a funny joke, a recipe or photos instead with their sole/soul intention to heal, forgive or bring laughter and hope to someone who is stuck in grief or despair. We are living in complex times where people need each other's love, forgiveness and support more than ever. Our energy is focused on a corrupt election we have no control over. Vote your truth and go in peace if you choose to. If your truth can't be expressed in your vote, then use the time to call or visit a friend or loved one who needs comfort. Imagine how just moving away from projecting fear into the universe alone could replace this fear, chaos and division we are experiencing and contribute to healing each other's spirits.... and even more important send a message to our children that a politician cannot make or break our spirit. Denise Lucille

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Bless this Love story...

by Denise Lucille on 08/03/17

Love story
I've always believed that there are many love stories throughout our lifetime. They can be romantic; between friends; siblings; between a child and parent or a pet and their owner. Some of those love stories are more spiritually impactful than others. After hearing the Carrie Fischer/Debbie Reynolds love story and Debbie's calm, rational, spiritual exit from her elderly body, in response to her desire to be with her daughter's new heavenly energy, I was amazed at just how powerful love is between life and death. I don't believe willing our death from the physical is the answer to all who lose a great
Love, like that of a child, which is clearly the most painful of all losses, but more the acknowledgment that love stories are powerful beyond the physical and come in all shapes and sizes. The understanding that this love bond between a parent and child is one of the most profound love stories on our journey is an understatement, sometimes as the Fischer/Reynolds story confirms, even more powerful than a romantic relationship for some. 
I don't typically make "New Years resolutions" but this story inspired me to use this year to focus on my love stories with God, myself, Jerry, my daughters, my friends and family, my puppies, and other loving relationships around me to enrich and deepen the love energy of each of them. I know this starts with an acknowledgment that I have many love stories in motion and that my own loving relationship with myself and God is the catalyst by which all the other love stories will thrive! May your new year be filled with beautiful love stories! 
Happy New Year! Denise Lucille

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Bless this retirement

by Denise Lucille on 08/03/17

I love receiving unexpected gifts of wisdom on my Journey! 
Jerry and I recently had a great conversation. He works with a man in his mid 60's who retired and then found himself wanting to return to the workforce after a short time. He loved his work but retired because it was that time in his life; the next thing to do. 
He gave Jerry and some of his pre retirement colleagues some very sound wisdom. He said that if he had to do it over, he would have had a "plan" upon retirement. Not an "I'll do what a want, rest, travel, golf, relax" plan either. A real thought out plan. Many I know who retire seem to just sit under the radar of life. They mill around, watch tv, or news, go out to eat etc. 
A real "plan" includes some thought, even possibly writing down and even beginning in preretirement taking small steps to move gently toward the plan. Sometimes, when people retire they have expectations that require others to take part in their life and they end up disappointed that the others in their plan didn't come through for one reason or another, i.e. Adult children, family members, etc. 
Maybe the secret to a successful retirement is finding and beginning to define joyful things in preretirement and acting on these things with small monthly projects. Then when retirement creeps up on us, we just step it up a notch and continue on a larger scale with those interests. Then we would have something we could do occasionally that we enjoy around our full time jobs, that we can move into in our retirement. I believe the plan should include other people in some capacity. Painting, hiking and biking is great, but a small activity that requires human outside interaction or offering guidance occasionally brings purpose and connectedness as we leave our jobs and our work families so the grief isn't so heavy as we make the transition. 
I started a spiritual business alongside my job about 5 years ago, and although I don't get to enjoy my spiritual business as much as I would like to now, I do what I can around my full time job responsibilities, and look forward to moving it up a notch when I retire. The beauty is that I have established the interest before retirement so I can step gently from my work family into my other business family without so much focus being on the energy of grief of leaving my long career and work family behind. It's almost like parenting. There's nothing more joyful than raising kids. But then as the plan is designed, they leave the nest. If we have a "plan" as they are growing up, that allows us to focus on something outside of our parenting jobs just a little, we can gently move into the other interest as the children move out and start their lives, without so much focus on the grief that accompanies empty nest. 
This man's wisdom was sort of an epiphany to me on how to stand up to grief and letting go with a "plan" that gives us the option to keep our face toward the light at all times. Everyone wins; we do, our family, our friends, the people we serve and our work colleagues. Life is really a constant flow of dealing with change. I see this "plan" plan as a win-win while entering our retirement years.  Denise Lucille

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The Millennial Woman - An energy perspective

by Denise Lucille on 03/14/17

As a woman in the millennial age, I’ve had 6 decades to observe and be part of the female collective consciousness. Also, having been raised in a single female mother home with sisters, aunts and grandmothers, girlfriends, and now daughters, I understand many of the dynamics of the female experience.
I have observed women over time who express anger and outrage over politics and inequality issues and I have also observed women who express intelligent and spiritual thought and processes to deal with these and other complex issues.
Of the two, I find the calm, spiritual, dignified woman who bridges the gap of her feminine/masculine energy with a strong sense of self, as the winner.
I grew up in 1960-70’s around many strong women who lead the way with balanced energy including my own mother's resilient, victimless energy.

In the 1980’s the Madonna culture grew and it attracted a strong following of women who lead with their sexual energy. In my opinion, I think these women, seem to have placed a negative energy chip on the female gender's shoulders to carry. Many of these women lead with their hyper sexualized energy sometimes combined with anger energy.
But in history there were also women who lead with their strong calm, nurturing energy which is evident in some great women role models like Rosa Parks, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, Anne Frank, Helen Keller, Maya Angelou, and Audrey Hepburn to name a few.
As a woman watching how women use their energy to create meaningful change for other women, I believe leading any action with anger and hyper sexuality prevents women from being taken seriously and is problematic when the attempt is to be part of a movement to make intelligent, meaningful change.
Of course there’s a time and place for anger (which is a natural emotion) but I’ve seen little value in public displays of anger with regard to women, or men for that matter, when attempting to deliver a message or be taken seriously. I do not judge the women who display anger and hyper sexual behaviors since I'm aware their behavior could be rooted in a reaction to being physically violated in the past and this is the way some people move through this sort of pain and suffering.
I’m only suggesting that the woman leaders who have the greatest influence on women's lives are the women who are aligned with and have surrendered to the physical identification to their feminine energy and are able to balance it with their masculine energy, and not feel victimized by it. I believe That these are the women who lead with gentle strength to guide others to create meaningful change for all people.
I understand that many women make judgments in their youth to gain acceptance and attention by using anger or hyper sexual behaviors that they believe will elevate them at the time, but often they mature and learn a better way as they grow older and more spiritual.
I have concluded that the woman who uses her mind and spirit to arouse another's curiosity, intellect and spirituality, is far more powerful than the woman who uses her sexuality to arouse another's ego and physical desires.
I have also found that women who see men as their equal and not their enemy or victim, is of the most value to guide other women.

That said, for our daughters, mothers, sisters, and girlfriends to be taken seriously, I believe it’s best to be part of a group who is at peace with their feminine/masculine energy and who operate from clear, powerful, nurturing, intuitively guided loving intention toward all beings. Maybe if we saw ourselves first as a child of our creator, and not the physical shells we carry around, we could operate from a more balanced feminine masculine spiritual energy to create real change for everyone. Blessings, Denise Lucille, www.houseblesser.com

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