Temporary Houses: A Conversation About Being in the Present

“The only power we have is in the present.” How many times have we heard this, yet we forget so often.

Forgetting to be present in the moment we’re experiencing, not in the past and not in the future, we rob ourselves of the means we have to change our circumstances for the better - to liberate ourselves from painful memories, and to proceed with courage and wo/manifest our truest, most heartfelt desires. As long as we’re not in the moment, we’re not in control of ourselves – and we are the only force that can make a difference in our lives. This is something I’ll remember when I slip into forgetting.

What brings this to mind for me was a recent walk in my new neighborhood. I moved in with a romantic partner who, on the immediate, physical level, is significantly “richer” than I am (although on the astral, quantum leap level, *“M.y O.wn N.atural E.nergy Y.ield” is huge, and I like to think and expect the immediate, physical level will soon reflect that!).

Here is the conversation I was having with myself while on this walk. For what I hope will be entertainment and spiritually assisting purposes, I will pretend two voices are involved, the fearful doubting, disbelieving “voice” (or attitude) and the fearless, faithful, positive one.

One attitude serves the vision of success and abundance. It creates strategies, moves, and circumstances that make one’s dreams come true. It inspires action in the dreamer, and this is crucial, because dreams without action amount to delusion and despair, whereas combining steps, no matter how small or seemingly non-productive, can have tremendous benefit, even if sometimes the only apparent benefit is another moment on the correct path.

“Wow, this is a really beautiful neighborhood. It’s so clean and filled with nature and neighbors who take great care of their homes and lawns. Look at the holiday decorations! Look at all the squirrels! Look at the crows! They’re huge and scary and those sounds they make are awful! I love this place. I feel so good here! This makes me happy!”

“But I feel sad because this place reminds me of my painful childhood. I grew up on a street much like this one. Maybe there are people in these houses who are just as sad as I was many times…. This is depressing. Besides, I can’t afford to live here. I have no money! Plus, we’re not here forever, we’re leaving soon. This is only temporary housing until we move into his “real” house, where the fire was.”

“Sure, there are sad people living everywhere, so there’s bound to be some here. But the world isn’t all depressed and depressing, you know. Not everyone had a difficult childhood. Not every home life is abusive, and not every family is dysfunctional. There’s lots of good in the world – lots of happy times for everyone, including you! And why are you thinking you can’t afford to live here? You live here now, don’t you? You’re here, living here, belonging here, right now! Make the most of this time to visualize different circumstances in which you live in a neighborhood like this and also have significant economic power and presence. And remember, his “real house” is just 3 blocks away, in a very similar and upwardly mobile neighborhood. The house won’t be as pretty as this temporary one, but remember that it’s three times the size, is being repaired, and has the potential to be just as pretty as it was before!”

After talking myself through that temporary funk, I went from feeling happy to sad then happy again.

I remembered that the past is in the past, the future doesn’t exist (it’s all the present – the now), and that all my power was in the now, only. I also chuckled at myself thinking how I’d been living in this neighborhood for months, would continue to for several more weeks, and simultaneously thinking, “I can’t afford to live here!” That’s like being alive and saying over and over again, “I’m dead,” or laughing uproariously during a joke or comedic show and saying, “I’m depressed.” When we focus on the present moment, we are absolutely in a position to make statements that reflect what’s actually happening, not what we fear or feel badly about from the past or so-called future. (And, if what’s happening in our present is sad or scary, we can use our strengths to re-form our thoughts about, and reaction to, those circumstances or emotions.)

I chose to leave my sad feelings and past behind, and to focus on the abundance of the moment. I chose, while walking through the affluent neighborhood, to think of it as mine. I chose to feel as if I belonged. I chose to imagine my bank account reflected my living there. I chose to pretend and speak aloud sentences that matched my dreams, knowing that my consciousness knows no difference between what is so called “real” and what is imagined. Why would I affirm lack, sadness, and poverty and have my consciousness believe and act on it when I could affirm abundance, joy, and affluence when it would believe and act on that just as well?

So, as I type this to you now, I am not doing so as a broke artist in the temporary housing of her beau. I am doing so as a rich woman living in an expensive house and affluent neighborhood – and totally belonging. In fact, I just re-read that last sentence aloud, and did it feel good! In fact, I’ll make an affirmation of it:

“I am a rich woman living in an expensive house and affluent neighborhood in which I belong and feel totally comfortable.”

Well, I gotta tell you I just read that sentence aloud several times and it feels wonderful!

(I also wrote it down and plan to say it regularly.)

What would you dare to want if you knew your consciousness would immediately begin to create it for you?

What thoughts would you think (About money, your career, life, love, your home life, etc.)?

What affirmations would you write (Always beginning with “I am”, “Now I” or something similar)?

And most importantly, what actions would you take (Even the tiniest baby steps count)?

I’d love to hear your comments! Please email them to me at cxwriting@gmail.com.

Recommended: Orin Journeys (guided meditations) by Sanaya Roman, co- author of Creating Money: Keys to Abundance. Self-actualization topics range from money and relationships to breaking addictions/healing self-destructive behavior as well as advanced techniques including channeling and crystal work. Available at www.orindaben.com. (MP3 downloads always $7 and cassettes on sale for just $3 each!”

*MONEY (My Own Natural Energy Yield) – Iyanla Vanzant

Cassendre Xavier [http://cassEndrExavier.com] has been making various forms of art in Philadelphia since 1991. Sometimes recording or writing under the names Amethyste Rah and Amrita Waterfalls, she coined the term “renaissance negresse” in 2002, and founded Philadelphia’s Annual Black Women’s Arts Festival, of which she serves as director, in 2003. Cassendre is a recipient of the Leeway Foundation’s Transformation Award “for work in art and change”. She will be a featured artist (performing her original music and writing) at the Erotic Literary Salon on Tuesday, January 19, 2010.