KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

by Sheila Burke

Did you ever have one of those moments when you find an answer in just the right moment in time? That happened to me today. Last month, my husband and I opened a thrift/antique store. It's a side business in a small building we have been unable to sell in the down economy. The building has been and is currently inhabited by the previous owner's spirit. His name was Mike. Chairs move, footsteps are heard, swings swing all by themselves at a steady pace for almost an hour, and the little boy that lived upstairs had an invisible older playmate that occupied much of his time. Mike used to run a music studio and give lessons. In fact, while renovating, an old guitar fell from the drop ceiling right smack onto my head!

Business was slow when we first opened the thrift store, and once we said, Hey Mike, can you drive some customers in here so we can keep the lights on? Within 30 seconds, a steady stream of people came in making purchases. Since we've opened, we've had a little sign taped to the cash register that says, Ask Mike to send customers and thank him. We also talk to him every day we are there. We say, Good Morning, Mike, How ya doin’, Mike, things like that.

Anyhow, I am generally the one who works the store four days a week. This is in addition to running our mainstay business (a window cleaning company), working on my zen Facebook page, blogging and most importantly – taking care of my family and house. It's quite exhausting sometimes, but bringing in a little extra income is a must these days.

I came home yesterday afternoon thinking, Do I really want to do this anymore? I even told a friend just this morning that I feel like I've got my hands in too many things, and I'm unable to give my full attention to any of them. So I dragged myself down to the store this morning and pulled up the window blinds for my five-hour stint. I took a book off the bookshelf of dollar books and plopped down in my chair. I still contemplated in the back of my mind if I wanted to continue this venture or not.

People trickled in and out and I made two small sales, not enough to pay for the electricity for the day. A nice lady came in wanting to purchase a bunch of old 78s for a Victrola, but she didn't have enough cash, so I went against my own policy and accepted a check. An older man popped his head in the door and asked if we buy things. I told him not generally (you should see what people want to sell you sometimes), but I'd take a look, all the while thinking that all I had was $20 in the register and a check that I wasn't even sure was good!

Well, I ended up buying an old camera and three old railroad lanterns from him for the $20. Two of the lanterns were a hot rusty mess, but one was in okay shape. Now, I can strike up a conversation anywhere, and this guy was looking for someone to unload his life story on, so we began an hour-long conversation. We laughed about life, we talked politics and religion, and he told me stories of his days as a Navy Seal in Vietnam. He slowly pulled down his sock and showed me a badly healed wound in his ankle while his face puffed up and his eyes began to tear as he recounted how poorly he was treated upon his return home.

I also discovered that he's been writing books, but has never talked to a publisher. I told him I self publish, and how it's the way to go now, and gave him the information that got me to where I am now in my writing. I felt like he was an old friend by the time he left. I began to think about how much I like it when people like this come in. To hear their stories, and in many cases to feel them. The laughter, the tears.

I was just about to close up when another lady came in. She bought some old window shutters last week and was picking them up. She arrived five minutes before closing. I felt a silent groan when she appeared, but welcomed her with a smile. She chatted for 25 minutes, well past closing. People walking by saw the door open and filed in. The shutter-lady smiled and whispered, Sorry, it's my fault you are still here, but maybe one of these customers will be good for you! and she was on her way. No one bought anything, and as soon as they left, I hurried straight to the blinds and turned the Open sign around to Closed. I had one more blind to draw when I saw a van pull up. Ughhh, really? I peeked my head through the door, smiled, waved, and mouthed, It's okay, come on in.

The couple said they were from out of town. They happened to be driving past and wanted to stop and see the building because the man's father had owned the building previously. I said, Ahh! Mike! and then I looked at him, widening my eyes, and said, You know...your dad is still here. I proceeded to explain all the little noises, bumps, chair pushing and happenings in the place over the years. I even showed them our ask Mike sign by the cash register. They were quite fascinated, and I was really happy to have met them. I also explained how, when I brought the old guitar back (that had cracked me in the head) and hung it on the wall, the activity seemed to calm down a LOT.

While the couple looked around at all the renovations and recounted old times, we talked about all the spirit happenings some more, and I offered them the guitar. They thought it over, but then they decided that Mike would like it to remain there. The man purchased a few rock and roll music items, and they gave me their contact information for when either I was ready or they were ready to receive their dad's guitar back. Mike's son wished me all the best success, and said it was nice meeting me. Then before closing the door, he smiled a wistful smile, looked around, and said, Goodbye, Dad.

So my Aha! moment, as dear Oprah would call it, was that I've opened this store for a purpose of earning a little extra cash and helping to upkeep this money pit of a building, and in doing so, I'm meeting new people, hearing wonderful tales, and enjoying old souls.

I think I'll stick with it for awhile and see what transpires. 🙂

Sheila Burke is a married mom of three beautiful and strong young adults. Always a dabbler in putting pen to paper, Burke finally started publishing her books in 2010 with the release of her first book, Zen-Sational Living. Although she freely admits to losing her Zen now and then, this inspirational author is pleased to share her life's journey with her readers, and has done so in the many titles she has released over the years, on her blog, and through social media. To explore her wonderful books, visit her author's page at Amazon. She can be contacted via her website, ZensationalLiving.com, or her popular Facebook page, BeZensational.

I dreamed that I was a white male, mid 20s. I do not remember seeing this male before outside of this dream. I was a gang member and I was with other gang members that I have never seen before. One of them tried to show me up, and I tried to ignore him. He had knives and was trying to throw them at me. He shouted something that I couldn't understand. Finally, he was too close for comfort. I panicked and grabbed a knife and threw it at him, piercing him. He fell to the ground. I then grabbed another knife and cut him into pieces. Covered in blood, I ran back to a big house with a truck in the front. Some guys outside working on the truck asked where the guy I killed was, and I didn't answer. I walked back over to them and said, I took care of it, and went inside. I awoke from this dream with a start, feeling so scared and disturbed. I have never dreamed of killing anyone before. I am a nineteen-year-old female. I am a Virgo and definitely fit the Virgo description. I'd really like to know what this dream is trying to tell me. Though I don't often remember my dreams, when I do, I am often someone else in those dreams. This has been bothering me for a while. Thank you for reading; I look forward to your answer.

Kayla

Susyn:

Usually, our dreams are not to be taken literally. Given its vivid, violent nature, it's possible that you were reliving a past life experience in this dream, but even if this is the case, the fact that it rose from your subconscious and played itself out through a dream suggests that it holds important messages for you.

Let's start with the fact that you dreamed of yourself as a young man in your 20's who belongs to a gang. The word gang obviously has a negative connotation; it implies that one is hanging out with questionable characters who are probably involved in some sort of illegal activity.

This could be a reflection of a social group you are currently involved in; even though they may not be lawbreakers or hell raisers, they might be behaving in ways that are detrimental to their spirits and yours. This could be one person or many; if you review the relationships you're involved in and find one that you no longer feel comfortable with, you'll have a clue as to the message of this dream.

One of the gang members tried to compete with you and began throwing knives at you. This could be reflected in your real life as a competitive coworker or jealous friend who is backstabbing or criticizing you. It may be that you need to stand up to this person or confront them in some way, which is what you did in the dream.

Though you would never cut another person to pieces in real life, the events of this dream affirm that you are more powerful than whoever is trying to undermine you, and if forced, you could stop them dead in their tracks.

Imagine a scenario where you are being critically attacked at work. You confront the perpetrator and end the attack. After that, were a boss or manager to question you about the trouble, you might respond I took care of it, just as you said in your dream.

One of the outstanding features of this dream is finding yourself covered in blood. Though it came from another person as you cut them to pieces, blood in a dream represents the lifeforce and often the start of a new cycle of life. You can take this aspect of the dream as a promise that you are about to enter a new level of awareness and achievement.

I would take this dream as a confirmation that you may be emotionally, mentally or spiritually under attack and need to make some changes. Even if you are unaware of a situation in your waking life that this dream may symbolize, it is a wonderful reminder that you have the strength and power to take care of yourself should the need arise in the future.

*****

Oceania:

This dream represents your fear of expressing anger. You're afraid you'll lose control and that someone might get hurt if you get mad. This is a common fear among nice people. When used constructively, however, anger is a useful tool.

Your dreaming mind used strangers to enact the tale because you weren't quite ready to see that it's about you and someone close to you whom you're mad at. The gang theme just goes to show how scary anger is to you. Because gangs are surrogate families, chances are the dream was about YOUR family.

It seems that one person in particular may have emotionally abused you. This person, who could be male or female, was portrayed by the attacker. The knives he threw represent cutting words. He shouts something you can't understand, meaning you can't understand why this person is so aggressive towards you! It's not personal. Mean people are battling inner wars; those around them simply suffer collateral damage.

That he was too close for comfort suggests this person crosses your boundaries and invades your privacy, leaving you feeling violated and intruded upon. You have a desire to defend yourself, but you're afraid your anger might do some serious damage. It's likely you grew up around a harsh person, which led you to believe that anger is always loud, violent or critical. You're learning that anger is simply energy our body musters up when our safety or comfort is threatened. You can learn to channel this energy in a gentle, creative, even humorous manner.

After you pierced your attacker with a knife, you proceeded to cut him into pieces. This shows your fear of losing control should you ever get mad. Instead of seeing yourself as a gang member wielding a weapon, imagine yourself as one of those big rubber balls you might buy for a child, about the size of a basketball and usually pastel or neon in color. Rubber represents a flexible boundary somewhere in between rigid metal and flimsy paper. You'll feel it when someone bumps up against you; you can then make your presence known by pushing back, or you can choose to roll away!

I'm assuming the truck in your dream was more of a moving van than a pickup truck, and capable of concealing its contents. Your unconscious mind was hoping to contain the evidence of your anger and haul it away, but there will be no need to deny your anger once you learn to use it positively. A book or class on assertiveness would be helpful to you, and therapy would be a supportive, safe place to dump any old anger you're hauling around!

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.