Big corporation is like the anti christ.  They are one of the largest consumers of human energy, outsourcing their customer service to non-english speaking Countries and pulling one who seeks assistance into a vortex of insanity. 

As a Taurus I am like a bull in a china shop.  I can be calm to a point but I have a breaking point and when I reach that point all hell breaks lose.  It takes me only a minute or two to reach this point when on the phone to Dell customer service or microsoft or any of these large monopolies who are leaving behind quality customer service in favor of corporate greed.

Recently I purchased a new version of Microsoft Office 2007 only one week before Office 2010 came out.  With my purchase came a free upgrade to 2010.  Only I was not informed I had a grace period in which to upgrade.  I figure I had at least a year so I didn’t rush, since I had just installed 2007.  But on November 18^th I went to find out how to upgrade only to find out the option had expired October 31^st.  I figured, no problem.  I will talk to someone who understands that I was not aware of the deadline who will be able to help me out.  After all I purchased my product and it did come with a free upgrade.  What happened after that was two hours of being passed around from one person to the next who told me the same thing.  “I’m sorry mam that offer has already expired.”  At first they told me the upgrade link was already taken down, and it was.  So when I asked that they mail me a CD which I would happily pay for, that was not an option either.  Evidentally all the upgrade CD’s had been destroyed.  I knew all they really had to do was issue me a license for the upgrade.  I could have downloaded a trial copy of 2010 and then entered my new license.  But there was not one person in that entire two hour cycle that had the least bit interest in helping me.  I should have known that the upgrade had a grace period. 

I had received thousands of microsoft product offers from stores who got my email information from products I purchased through them.  But did I receive one courtesy email telling me that my upgrade was about to expire?  NO!  Did I receive a note in my purchase package telling me I only had until October 31^st to take advantage of the upgrade?  NO!  But my ignorance about their grace period prevented me from getting my free upgrade.  And once the grace period, which I never knew about, was over, there was nobody willing to make it right with me.  They didn’t care about losing my business!  They had millions of people hooked into their system.  Who was I?  Nobody!  Right?

Just the day before I was on the phone with Dell Customer Service for four hours trying to get assistance with my Windows 7 that had corrupted.  Four hours.  No offense to the nice people who were hired to do the job of customer service, but these people were clueless.  They were going off a script without any real technical knowledge.  I’m sure Dell is betting that a few hours with one of these guys we will just give up and buy a new computer.

Unfortunately even companies like Qwest and Verizon who were once very loyal to their customers are now becoming too big for their britches. 

The entities in themselves are narcissistic.  Their employees are conditioned not to have compassion or empathy for the customers.  We are empty faced names.  That’s it!  We are pocket books. 

Dell wanted to sell me a three year warranty for my five hundred dollar laptop for nearly five hundred dollars.  And what do I get for my money?  I get to call those outsourced people who don’t speak my language and can’t help me.  I can’t count on my computer lasting either because I’m sure they have built to expire parts now so we are forced to continue throwing money at our computers in order to have them work.  My current laptop has a battery that lasts as long as the warranty.  Also the CD/DVD player is built to last about a year.  I really believe that the dark forces behind companies like these really do build our machines to expire.  Horrible for our landfills and our environment but good for their bottom line.

I have recently had to ask myself if I really want to be part of this world.  The world of computers, cell phones and high technology.  Although I prefer CD’s to using an Ipod, that option is fading from grasp.  I have to change gears as quickly as new technology is invented which means a lot more money out of pocket. 

In our Grandparents days things were built to last.  I still have a blender from those days that would blow anything you can buy today out of the water.  The reason things aren’t built to last is so that these large corporations can make more profit.  They profit at our expense.  We are constantly forced back out into the retail world to replace something that is not worth repairing. 

We can either tolerate the ways things are today and feed the beast with our hard earned dollars or we can make a decision to stop playing the game.

I am strongly looking at the decision to “bow out” right now.  But I need to understand what that means to me.  Does it just mean buying from the little guy only top quality, built to last products?  Well that would be a start in the right direction.  What about computers?  What options do I have?  I would have to explore that.

I have already made a decision that, other than paying off the balance on my account, Dell will not get another penny from me.  Neither will microsoft.  That narrows things down.  It may mean learning to live without a computer.  Ironically I make my living on the Internet so I would have to figure out another way to support myself.

Fortunately I have simplified my life already to where I don’t require a lot to live on.  But I could simplify so much further.  I could change the way I live my life.  Awe, what a concept.  There is so much to reflect on here.  And as I reflect on how we can change the world by our refusal to “feed the beast” then I will share my reflections through writing.

 There are a number of different ways for you to get actively involved during Non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) Month … which may as well be called Non-Monsanto Month, too, given that they’re the leader in the GMO industry. Here is a list of Action Item for you to pick and choose from:

1. Distribute WIDELY the Non-GMO Shopping Guide to help you identify and avoid foods with GMOs. Remember to look for products (including organic products) that feature the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal to be sure that at-risk ingredients have been tested for GMO content.
2. Download the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure and keep it with you whenever you shop, or download the free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.You can also order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk and give it to your family and friends.
3. Urge food manufacturers to join the Non-GMO Project and become Non-GMO Project Verified. This is currently the only way for manufacturers to get around the fact that there’s no GM-labeling system.
4. Urge your local food retailers to join the Non-GMO Project’s Supporting Retailer Program.
5. If your budget allows support this urgent mission by generously donating to the Institute of Responsible Technology.
6. Bring the film Hidden Dangers in Kid’s Meals to your local access TV station, or perhaps your child’s school, along with some educational material specifically designed for teachers and educators.
7. Share Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No!, and Jeffrey’s lecture, Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods with everyone you know. Post them to your Facebook page, or email the links to your network of friends and family.
8. Join the Non-GMO Project on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

My new Co-host Kelly and I are doing a series on “Darkness” for the month of October.  The topic we are covering this week is called Darkness:  The Last Stand, and it is based on my strong intuitive feeling that the although it may seem that the evil energies on the planet are escalating, it is only because they are about to be extinguished.

Yes we’ve had a dark or evil empire on the planet throughout the ages, so why should it change now?  Well the answer is quite simple.  Because as we are approaching the 2012 Age of Enlightenment the planet can no longer support life as we know it.  Mother Earth can no longer support the pollution of our environment and a “consumer” driven society and it is the Malignant Dark Forces of the planet that are focused on profit, greed and the destruction of humanity.  The evil empire are those corporations, political organizations and Illuminati players whose agenda is to rule the world and have huge profits.  They are self important people and organizations who could care less about the health and wellness of the “whole.”  Our planet can only survive when the “whole” is our focus.  Especially at this point in our evolution.

Our planet is somewhat like an aging person who can tolerate a lot of toxic foods and a carefree lifestyle at a young age but as one gets older the lifestyle begins to show extreme signs of wear.  At this point in order to have greater health and wellness the aging individual must detoxify his body and change his lifestyle to eating organic, healthy food, getting plenty of fresh air, sleep and pure water.  The toxic load on the planet is pretty severe at this point and we have two choices, change or die!

There are some pretty powerful forces of change happening on our planet as more people are withdrawing from consumer oriented society and are going back to a simpler lifestyle focused on organic gardening, sustainable living practices, recycling, reusing, alternative energy, community living and healthier relationships.  But as long as we are caught up in mass hypnosis and playing the “money” game where our motivation is personal profit and ego driven accomplishment then we are aligning with the destructive energy of the planet rather than the creative. 

We can see signs of the crumbling of the evil empire including the crumbling of the Twin Towers on September Eleventh 2001.  The World Trade Center represented the heart of our financial system in the United States.   We also see corporate monopolies who are more concerned now with the almighty dollar than with providing a quality product or service.  I personally experience large phone and cell phone companies, computer companies and other monopolies who have lost personal integrity in business.  Everything is about profit and gain.  I had one recent experience with Dell where I talked to one of thier “outsourced” sales people about ordering a new battery for my laptop.  The sales rep sold me what he told me was a 24 hour battery.  I was pretty excited that technology had progressed to the point where I could get a 24 hour battery for $60.00.  But when the battery came it was only a two hour battery.  You can imagine my disappointment when my battery kept dying in such a short time.  I contacted the company and told them about the mistake and they simply said “Well the battery you purchased was a (fill in the blank) which is only a two hour battery.  They took no responsibility for the misrepresentation but rather told me I got what I paid for.  I will no longer do business with Dell. I believe we all need to take that stance. 

We need to find a way to stop supporting these large Corporate Monopolies with our dollars.  This includes purchasing conventional produce and junk food which are nothing more than toxic wastes for our bodies.  We can get better “deals” with the large monopolies but once we are hooked in we are not considered nor taken care of. 

If we want to align with the positive creative force on the planet we need to make some major personal changes in our lives.  We really do need to watch where we put our money, who we support and be willing to go without certain conveniences.  We also need to be willing to divorce mainstream society.  We need to find a new way of living and being on the planet where we don’t constantly fall prey to the seduction of the material society and the desire to be admired and approved of for what we own, what we do and what we look like.

The more we withdraw our support from the “Evil Empire” the less we feed it, the more it will starve.  It can only be kept alive by the masses that support it.  The majority of innocents in our society are keeping the beast alive without really realizing how.  It is time now to wake up and see how we are contributing to the downfall of our planet. 

The world of the future, in my visions, is a world built on independent self sustaining communities where all community members work together for the common good.  This is what has been lost in modern society.  We are taught to be self-important and pursue goals based on our own needs and desires alone.  The result is everybody out for themselves without concern for the other.  Yet our personal happiness doesn’t really evolve from what we have or accomplish but rather how we contribute to the happiness and well being of others.  We don’t do this at the cost of our personal health and wellness.  We do have to consider ourselves in the equation.  We still have our own unique gifts, talents, abilities and contributions to make to society.  But we need to take a step back and ask ourselves if the way we are living our lives truly supports the creation of the “new world” rather than the narcissism of the world that is passing away. 

I see a new infrastructure being built before the old one crumbles.  But the time is now.  We have run out of time and can’t waste any more of it dreaming of the future.   We have to put our money where our mouth is today and begin taking action right away toward the development of new communities, self sustaining living environments, and peaceful relations with those whom we choose to build our lives around.  We need to start purchasing our food from local organic growers or learn to grow our own and trade with others who are doing the same.  We need to support farmers markets, small integrity driven business, even if we pay more, and high quality, long lasting products and services that truly improve our lives and makes a small footprint on the earth. 

We can’t wait for others to do it for us.  We absolutely have to be part of the solution today!  I know I sound a bit like a salesperson, trying to sell you something by telling you that you need to act today, before it is too late.  But this is true.  Tomorrow really may be too late.  It is better to have foresight and act today than hindsight when it is too late to make the change.  And so ask yourself what you can do today to make a difference for the greater good of humanity.  If you begin living for this purpose alone, it is my feeling that your life will take on a new level of meaning, purpose and happiness.  Because it is universal law that what we put out is what we get back, we reap what we sow.  If we sow the seeds of abundance on the earth than we shall reap the abundance.  What are we waiting for?

Listen to Darkness, The Last Stand.

I often talk about the dark Goddess because she has been a constant companion in my life.  She is the  feminine power that works within the deep unconscious realm that we are often unaware of.  She visits us in the form of personal crisis, health issues, and the dark night of the soul.  Sometimes it is in our deepest struggles that we become aware of the Dark Goddess stripping away our illusions of who we believed ourselves to be so that we can know ourselves on deeper levels.

It is easy to identify with the light, with what is good in our lives, with what is good about ourselves.  The challenge is to look into that shadow and see there is still so much work left to do.  But the truth is…as long as we are here, living and breathing there is work left to do.  I realize for myself that the more I am willing to surrender to the dark Goddess, at work in my life, and go deeper into my own darkness the more I can be of service to humanity.  Because it is that same dark shadow that looms over humanity that resides also within me.  The more I can purge, cleanse and purify my own body, mind and spirit the lighter I can walk upon this planet and the more I can contribute to the over all healing of Mother earth.

Lately my personal challenge has been my own health.  I am one who is very health conscious and always doing what I believe to be the right things in regards to eating right, exercising and taking good care of myself.  But even in the pristine environment I have created for myself I find myself plagued with symptoms I can only describe as loss of vitality, stiffness, pain and fatigue.  It is easy to feel angry at the powers that be, who I believed should be rewarding my efforts at maintaining a high raw diet, daily yoga and walking with an abundance of youthfulness, energy and vitality.  Instead I find myself waking up in the middle of the night, almost every night, walking like an old woman downstairs to find something to do in the wee hours of the darkness, while constantly rubbing out the pain in my body.  I ask why?  Why is this happening?  What is it that is happening?  What is the cure?  How do I get my youth and my vitality back?

I can’t help but feel that the Dark Goddess, at work in my life, is trying to get my attention.  It isn’t about diet this time, it isn’t about getting enough exercise, or doing the right thing externally.  It is about doing the right thing internally.  Because that is what she comes to show us.  If I resist the path that is wanting to unfold in my life then I will feel that resistance in my body.  I will feel the hardening of the rigid contructs I have built my life under in the form of joint pain and a sense of unwellness.  And so I have to confess.  I have to talk about the truth.  I have built a comfortable little life for myself.  One where I sit home and write, talk on the phone to clients and work on my book, a slow process.  I have loved my life because it is fairly uncomplicated.  I have a nice man in my life who supports me in what I do, I have a great home in the Country with a couple dogs, cats and peacocks running around.  They are my family.  And yet I am being uprooted.  The voice within is telling me I have become too comfortable.  It is time to get up and get moving, in another direction.  It is time to leave my quiet, comfortable paradise and join the world again.  It is time to physically get off the laurels I have been resting upon and take my work to a whole new level.  It is the lack of movement in my life that has caused the rigid pain in my body, the sleeplessness and a strong feeling that I am not doing what I’ve come here to do.

I’ll admit, the fear holds me back.  I’ve never cared for public speaking, performing, and taking on too much financial responsibility that might come in the form of opening that spiritual center I came to the Northwest to open.  And yet it is my calling.  It is the calling I have resisted for three years.  I did some good things while I was waiting.  But my work at home lifestyle had become too safe, too isolated, and in so many ways I was hiding my light from the world and so that light was beginning to dim. 

I realize it is time to take my ministry to a whole new level.  It is time to step out into the public domain rather than hiding away in my Web domain.  It is time to form real human bonds rather than virtual bonds. 

Living in a virtual reality for so long I realize I am not alone.  Many of us have faded into our virtual worlds and never really walk amongst the living, breathing people around us.  We have sheltered ourselves from our neighbors and our friends have become the people in our virtual social networks.  Although the Internet has been a great thing, and still is, it is also easy to get lost in virtual land, and to disconnect from the heart of humanity.  I for one, believed I had a great life here in cyber land.  But my physical body is showing me that I am taking it for granted.  It is time for me to create something out there in the physical world that brings people together in the physical for the purpose of spiritual growth and connection.  That is my calling!  And when we ignore our calling in the world we can be guaranteed a visit from the dark Goddess who will come to shake up our comfortable little realities we have created. 

The next step for me now is to listen and to follow the guidance I am hearing.  That is the next step for all of us.  Will we do it?  Not always.  But I know it is the only way to truly be alive in the world and by confessing to you that I have fallen short of my purpose in this life, perhaps I can inspire and encourage you to come along with me, to turn up the volume so you can hear the guiding spirit in your own life a little louder.