For the majority of the time on this blog, we have been discussing things that you can do and think about to ensure that you have a free mind. There are many things that you can do (we have discusses some of your options in previous posts), but maybe the the best way is to surround yourself with like minded people. The old proverb says, “bad company corrupts good morals.” While this is definitely, true, I feel that the opposite is true as well. Good company can bring you up to a higher and better level. For example, watching them live their lives and examining their attitudes can give you a lot of inspiration and direction when it comes to having a free mind. The other thing that is really great about having these kinds of people around is that you all have one common goal. This can be edifying and encouraging in days where you might not feel like living up to your full potential. This is essential and very helpful when it comes to accomplishing your goals.

If you are sold on the idea of being surrounded by like minded people, then congratulations! You are one step closer to finding your freedom and your happiness in your mind. However, you might be wondering how you can find these kinds of people. That is definitely a task. It might take a lot of searching and waiting. However, there are places that you can move to that have a culture that promotes free mindedness. If this sounds like a good deal to you, then you might need to pack your bags and hit the road. One of the places that we have in mind is Northern California. There are lot of people there who are interested in being free from the fetters of society and social constraints.

Modesto, CA

Living there

The San Francisco Bay area is a great place to set down your roots in free mindedness. The weather is very temperate and great for allowing your mind and body to focus on the more important things in life. However, sometimes, it does get hot. When this happens, you will need to make sure you are ready. The best way to do this is to find a repair or installation company that has great repairs: http://modestohvacs.com/ac-furnace-repair-modesto/. When you do this, the company should be able to have gas or electric heaters available. They’ll also have trane ductless units for sale. This will help you maintain a great comfortable atmosphere for focusing on freeing your mind!

 

 

A few years ago, I was suffering and wasting away spiritually and mentally in an office cubicle in the greater Washington D.C. area. With each phone call, each email, and each keystroke, I could feel my brain growing colder and my resolve limper by the second. I thought to myself, “wow, this is awful. I need to figure out a way to help myself feel alive again.”

So right there, in the midst of a fetid spiritual and psychological miasma, I had the clarity to promise to myself that I would figure out some way to have real purpose and motivation in my life. So I began my search. I read a lot of books, talked to a lot of wise and seemingly happy people, and consulted many online blogs. At first, I was lost in a fog of information. It seemed that everybody had a different point of view of how to live a happy and healthy life! Then, I realized that there were some common elements in all of these individuals’ testimonies. What was that, you might ask? The common element was meditation.

Reflection, thought, and you

End the stigma

When people hear the word “meditation,” they often roll their eyes and dismiss it as some new age hocus pocus. While I definitely agree that there is some of that out there, I want to explain to you what meditation means to me. The most important part of meditation is easy but needs some discipline. All you need to do is stop and think. That’s all. Think about your day, your spouse, your kids, whatever. Just think.

 

Oftentimes, we get trapped in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It is incredible to me how things that are so mundane and mindless can still absorb all of the power and energy in your mind. In fact, it is more than just incredible – it is a tragedy. There is nothing wrong with everyday life, but in my humble opinion, I think that we should be able to have control over our minds and not let the grit of our normal day overtake us. So, I come to you with this post. I have given it some thought and decided that I would share some of my ideas on how we can take back our minds from the monotony of our daily lives. In this way, we can truly allow our minds to enter the free zone. Then we will really be living. Keep reading to hear my thoughts!

Free mind

Breathe!

One of the most important things that you can do in order to be in control of your mind is breathing. This may seem like a no brainer kind of idea, but you would be surprised how many people are not breathing properly. You see, breathing is not merely a physical exercise. It is a mental and spiritual one too. When you take a deep breath, you need to make sure that you are mindful of your mortality. Don’t let it scare you. Just think to yourself, “wow, I need this breath to live. This air is giving me life.” When you think like this, then you will be focusing on life. Then, you will be stepping into the threshold of the free zone.

 

 

 

Summer has an odd way of making you aware of your own mortality. Such an odd way. This may seem a little mystical, but it is definitely true. In the midst of everything being hot and alive, you know that the seasons will keep changing. You know that your journey will continue on. When the seasons change, things die and return to the earth. You can see this clearly in any sort of autumnal sketchbook of a young aspiring artist. In this way, we are made painfully aware that there is a number placed on our days. But it’s okay, do not fret. For after Fall and Winter, life is made new again in Spring.

Anyway, I really did not explain how I came to this conclusion and realization. This post will help you understand the origin of my philosophy a little bit. If you desire to understand how I arrived at this truth, keep reading!

The mystery revealed

The heat

As I explained before, this realization came to me during the hot summer month of August. This month of the year is particularly scorching in where I live (Virginia), and sometimes it gets so hot that if you go outside, you might faint.

What happened was that my air conditioning broke. If you are someone that lives in a place with a very hot climate, then you know exactly how I was feeling. I was languishing in the heat. It was almost unbearable. So, I decided that I would find some kind of repair company that would offer affordable prices in Virginia Beach, VA. Obviously, I knew that it would be imperative to contact someone who would be an expert in troubleshooting my cooling units. This actually proved to be a much more difficult task then I would have originally imagined. However, right when I thought that I would simply expire from the heat, I found a very helpful company. They were able to assist me with ease and direct me to a rheem or bryant replacement service. As a result, I was saved from that hot Virginia August heat.

It was then that I realized that my time on this earth is very fragile. All that it takes is a simple air conditioning unit to go out on a hot day for you to come to this kind of conclusion. Had there been no company to save me, there is a good chance that I could have suffered to my death. Thank goodness I didn’t!

After returning, I felt refreshed. Ready to take on the world. Well, at least my world of scientology. I felt strong; this was something that I really needed. Sometime to get out of my comfort zone and out of my head. Then explore my thoughts, my feelings, try to understand where I was in my life.

In addition, where I was going.

My thoughts swarmed around how I can make my move without making any ripples.   I just had to realized and accept that I may hurt my family and they may stop talking to me but I could not continue down this lie. I have changed so must my life change.

So I did what anyone would do in that situation, I called my dad.

Explain to him what I had been going through, the thoughts that I have been wrestling. That I could no longer go on pretending that, this is the life for me. That this is my truth. I let him know that I was going to end my relationship with scientology and suffer through whatever consequences that may happen.

Surprisingly my father  understood. He even expressed his discernment about his own concerns about the religion. That he too have been trying to figure out a way out. My father was just too scared about what would happen to my younger brother and me.

Together we will take this step and walk away. Walk away to a new life and new beginnings.

This is how I took my first step with my family, with my father.

We have never looked back.

As soon as the questions started coming I became scared. Very scared.   Like I rather feared for my life. Since I was thirteen, I have heard rumors about what they do to people that go against what is taught.

Therefore, I happily accepted their gift and flew halfway across the world but yes, I got it. This is the exactly that I have been searching high and low for answers. I picked a spot on the map and used what little money in my possession. Got on a plane and flew to Thailand.

You know how you have a feeling in your person but you still have to check and see if it is the right fit. That was I.   Trying not to get my hopes up.

Being that I am quite poor, I needed to stay on a budget that am trying to stick with. If I go over too much then I may not be able to get back. So far, I have spent more than I expected, with time and money, rambling through this beautiful country.

However all this must end. I cannot run away from my problems. A decision must be made and I feel that I am that much closer to making it.

After three hours of shopping, I bought what will become my favorite pair of chuck tailors. Brand new and for only two dollars, American. When I try to pay more the owner refused.

Now it is time for me to return.

 

 

At this time, it has been at least seven years since I started working at the bookstore. I have moved up from stocked girl to a store manager with talks of being able to buy myself into the business. The owners are getting old and they do not have any kids of their own so they are looking for someone to take over for them. They want to have a less active role in the everyday.

A few months ago, they approached me about becoming a partner.   I will run the business day to day and they will serve as silent partners. Which I think is a great opportunity especially if I am trying to branch out and leave the religion. It is something that will allow me to fully break free.

Rely, it was an option that really made me developed a plan to make my move. For years, I have been thinking about this. In addition, for years I have been worrying what it would do to my family and my friends. However, after seeing all that I have seen and heard, I no longer feel as though this is my life.

I started questioning everything. All those things that I hold true. It was a real upheaval in my life. A time that was truly trying.

However, this was a hard decision. My entire life revolved around scientology.

MY ENTIRE WORLD.

With all of this swarming around my head, I became so stress out. The bookstore owners, which have become a second family to me, surprise me with a free trip anywhere in the world.

Once I started working in this great bookstore, my eyes were wide open, as they say. I did not just read books about religion; there was also different daybooks, and those that teach you to do basic maintained and upkeep of a variety of appliances. Furnaces, air conditioners,   heaters, washing machine. I literally read about everything.

This was all made quite useful when we had different things like the time our furnace went out during a winter storm. Those things that I read about and learned helped me get it up and running until a maintenance man was able to come out and service the system.

By working in that bookstore was the best thing to happen to me. The things that I have learned and been opened up to. I also learned about a/c repair, tune-ups, check balancing, and how to prune an avocado tree so that it has the best chance of survival in hydro garden.

Sometimes I would think about my life before I started this employment adventure and wonder what was I doing before, you know. How I thought the world was before and how I feel it is now is like night and day.

The only thing is, I started asking questions and that is when all of my problems started blossoming.

At first, I was targeted, ridiculed, and harassed. It started out small with just probing questions during my sessions. However, it quickly escalated.

After reading through the world religions sections, I started to read about scientology. Not just the books that they offer us but from another perspective. I did not realize people saw scientology like this. What’s more, I realize that I started to agree with what I was reading.

Although my new and discovered worked like have blossomed and taken off. I was not face with some many personal dilemmas and questions. When I brought it to my leaders and chiefs of our chapter, they immediately scolded me. With strong encouragement for me to quit my job. Just to get out of there and keep the off my back, I said that I would consider it.

They seem too satisfied by this and released me to my room.

However, they had not answered any of my questions. Nor did they told me anything to squash these whispers and thoughts in my head. It was hard to swallow and ignored the thoughts.   I just felt even more confuse than ever. Then ever!

I kept working at the bookstore. I figured if I keep my thoughts to myself, keep my head down and keep trudging through everything I can continue to work at the bookstore. Which by the way I love it has been the best thing to happen to me. Leaning about so much, different cultures, lifestyles, and recipes!

Even with all of these questions running through my mind it just seem too much to confront for a young seventeen year old. However, it was the first send that took root.

Spending hours in a bookstore surrounded by all of that knowledge, I realize now that it may be kismet. One of those things that could have not been avoided no matter what you do. At the time, of course I did not have these thoughts. I was just happy that someone would take the chance on a young teenage like myself. Seventeen is hard to find a job unless you do like some people I know and lie about your age. Which I refuse to do.

When it would be slow in the books store, I was expected to clean and straighten up the place. Just empty out the trashcans, dust, ensure that the books are in order, just little things like that. Now when I am finished with all of that, the owners encourage me and the rest of the workers, to read.   Therefore, we can stay current with our readers. It is hard to give suggestions when you have not read a new book or any book for that matter in three years. Seventeen years if you are I and have been holed up in a scientology convent your entire life.

I started reading the fiction books; they are so great and engaging. This took up many of my times, when one of my coworkers encourage me to broaden my horizon and read real stories.

That is when I started in on the nonfiction books. For some reason I was drawn to religious studies section.

It was then that I realize that there are so much out there.