As I mentioned earlier, I recently attended a Buddhist retreat in New York City. It wasn't a retreat with lots of meditation and solitude, it was lectures and teachings about following a spiritual path in the midst of so many distractions (city life, family life, careers, etc.)

The teacher (Lama Ole Nydahl) mentioned something in response to a question about how to make more money and getting student loans. Lama Ole said that the "less you need, the more freedom you have." It really resonated with me. Need less, be more free.

When I look at my own life, even though I am a long- time simple living advocate, I still have so much stuff; stuff that has to be cleaned, stored, repaired, organized, insured, acquired, gotten rid of, arranged, moved, worried over, protected, inspected, etc. Many of the things I own haven't been used in years or even decades.

If I had less stuff, if I needed less stuff, if I didn't need to acquire more stuff...I'd have more freedom. Freedom from cleaning, earning so much money, insuring, moving, worrying, organizing...doing. The most important of these is freedom from having to earn so much money. Maybe even the freedom to one day be financially independent. If your needs can be satisfied with $30,000 per year, you are a lot more free than if you "need" $60,000 or $100,000 per year. It's easier to find a job making $30,000 than it is to find one paying $60,000. You may even be able to work part-time or set your own schedule if you need less money.

Most of us want to be "free"; not so bogged down with duties, responsibilities, work and worries. Yet, most Americans are on an endless quest of working to acquire more material goods (stuff!), acquiring and then having to work harder to make more money to acquire more stuff and on and on. Many of us never even question how much value the stuff adds to our lives nor whether we really need it.

The book, "Your Money Or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin has a very useful chart called the Fulfillment Curve. Briefly, it explains that in early life you get true fulfillment from stuff: Mother's milk, a blanket, dry diapers. A little later you get some pleasure from a new bike, new school supplies, new toys. The positive relationship between money as represented by things and fulfillment was further reinforced. Eventually we switched to luxuries and hardly noted the change; first car, college, first apartment. With each new acquisition there was still a thrill, but it cost more per thrill and the good feelings wore off more quickly. By that time though, we totally believed that more stuff equals more fulfillment. Then came houses, cars, pools, designer clothing, electronics, etc. To get these things, we worked harder, climbed the corporate ladder, used all our energy on careers. More money brought more worries, more time away from family and friends, more demands on our time. The curve shows that there is a point of "enoughness", but most of us passed it a long time ago and never even noticed. If we could recognize what is enough for us personally, we'd disengage from the rat race earlier and live more fully.

Enough is in some ways a secret to living well. It is the place of maximum fulfillment. Enough is an individual point but includes all we need for our survival, enough comforts and even enough little luxuries. We have everything we "need". However, there is nothing extra to weigh us down or to make us slaves to paying for it. "It's appreciating and fully enjoying what money brings into your life and yet never purchasing anything that isn't needed or wanted" say Joe and Vicki in their book.

In "Your Money Or Your Life", one of the keys to knowing whether you really want or need something is to ask yourself with each purchase: (1) did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction and value in proportion to the life energy (as represented by money) I spent?, (2) Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose? and (3) how might this expenditure change if I didn't have to work for a living? By asking and answering these three questions, you will find that many if not most of the things you buy are not satisfying enough to warrant you working so many hours to purchase it, or do not meet your values or who you really are. The question about the expenditure changing if you didn't have to work is to make you aware of how much you spend related to work (vacations to decompress, child care, clothing, etc.) and also to start recognizing that financial independence can be real if you choose it as a goal.

So how much freedom do you have now? Do you want more freedom to do more of what you want to do and less of what you don't want? Are you willing to see how acquiring and having so much stuff in your life ties you down and reduces your freedom? Are you willing to make some changes today? Start with your next purchase and ask the magical three questions. Start in one room and begin decluttering. You'll be amazed at how free you can be with just a few alterations in how you view things.

As I started in the last issue of the newsletter, here is an exercise for you to enhance or build your creativity. Each issue (assuming you all enjoy it) will have an exercise or question to inspire your creativity. It's just for fun so be playful with it. Several of you posted your responses to this exercise last time. Bravo! A few of you were too shy to post in public. Either way works, but posting it is another step in putting yourself out there. This is a fairly safe environment so be brave!

Listed below are five words and one emotion. Write a paragraph, poem or short story using all of them. Remember, no pressure, no judgment. Just have fun.

• Clarify
• Sky
• Token
• Seedy
• Leap
• And the emotion is: Joy

I've created a yahoo group where your stories or responses can be posted. Be brave...step out!

Have we got a wonderful and exciting class for you! You've read the books, heard the gurus, maybe even given it a try or two. I'm talking about the Law of Attraction, sometimes called Manifesting. If you truly want to consciously create the life, loves and prosperity you desire, join us for a truly amazing class. These laws or principles apply to anything you want to have more of in your life: starting a successful business, attracting great clients, finding the perfect employee, meeting your mate, having a beautiful home, designing your life, being wealthy...well, you get the idea.

THE ATTRACTION CIRCLE: PRACTICING THE LAWS OF ATTRACTION AND LEARNING TO MANIFEST YOUR DESIRES

• Weekly fun-filled experiential exercises designed to uncover your ability to allow and attract desires with ease.
• Learn tangible, pleasurable ways to remain in a state of receptivity and vibrational harmony with your desires.
• The exercises allow your deepest desires to surface.
• Recognize the power and joy in achieving all that you desire in life.
• Yes, you really can!

Embark upon your journey toward conscious co- creation today by joining our Attraction Circle now. We're going to help you amp up your energy around your desires and give you lots of practice.

Call Mary Anne at (713) 528-5971 or email maf@lifeunfolds.com for more information and to register. Also see http://www.lifeunfolds.com/attraction.htm for more information.

• Starts July 19th, 2005
• Day class is Tuesdays from 1 to 2:30 pm, four weeks.
• Evening class is Tuesdays from 7 to 8:30 pm, four weeks.
• Both start on July 19th, 2005.
• Held in Montrose area in Houston, Texas.
• Fee is only $89.

SPECIAL NOTE: If you register with a friend for the Attraction Circle Workshop, you each receive a 10% discount off the tuition. If you register with TWO friends, you each receive 20% off the tuition.

Related reading:

Ask And It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks

The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer

The Attractor Factor by Joe Vitale

Attracting Perfect Customers by Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez

Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan

Notes From the Universe by Mike Dooley

The Magic of Believing by Claude M. Bristol

I'm Rich Beyond My Wildest Dreams by Thomas L. Pauley and Penelope J. Pauley

The Feel Good Guide to Prosperity by Eva Gregory

Most of us want to live our lives with passion, zest and joy. We all want to have enough energy to do more than make it through the day. We want to feel energized and fully alive. Our active lives today are usually filled with activities and things that weigh on us. Below are three things that consume our precious energy and make us feel less than our poweful, fully alive selves.

Too Many Choices: Today everything we do and everything we have requires thought, decisions and action. Even watching TV to relax requires you to choose from hundreds of channels, make decisions about time and place, reach agreement with significant other, and what's appropriate for family members. The TV we bought probably required trips to several stores, research of the consumer magazines or internet tech sites, price comparisons, discussions of size, type (HD or not), flat-screen or plasma, console or table-top, etc. Expand those choices to things like cereal, cars, careers, diets, cell phones and cell phone plans, and you can see we are inundated with too much, too often. A strategy for reducing this stressor is to simplify. Simplifying will mean fewer purchases, fewer, more satisfying belongings and less activity around what you own and do. Start small. My two favorite books on the subject are:

The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs

Yes Too Often: Many of us are trained from birth to be helpful and nice. And those are good things, but not when they rule your life. We say yes to PTA, being a room mother, helping with Boy Scouts, chairing a committee, helping a friend move (YUK!), going to parties and dinners, and on and on. Those are all great if you have the time and really, deep-down want to do them. However, being able to say no to things you do not want to do or cannot easily fit into your life is an essential way to reduce stress and have more energy. You don't have to give excuses or explanations, just say, I'm sorry, I can't take that on right now. I have a magic phrase that works every time if you are shy about saying no. Just say "that doesn't really work for me". It's very difficult for someone to argue with it or convince you that you can take it on. Just keep repeating it when pressured.

Too Much Work, Too Little Play: Many Americans are spending more time at work than ever before. It is one thing to work a decent work week for your salary, another to give your life energy away to make money for someone else. Even running your own business can consume your life if you are not careful. Every hour you spend at work over and above what is absolutely required is an hour you could be spending getting to know your family, finding and nourishing the right relationships, developing your creativity, having fun and pleasure, finding out who you really are through hobbies or personal growth, relaxing, meditating, exercising, or volunteering with your favorite organization. Most of us have a choice about how much we work. Start now to really examine how much of the overtime you put in is really your choice and not a requirement of the job or the career. Read inspiring stories of others who have cut back and are still doing well in their careers.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish. We communicators, we storytellers, we poets, we artists, what is our function really but to remind ourselves that in the human endeavor, our humanity is never complete unless it has a strong moral component. And we cannot afford to be too small in our objectives because what is required even to survive is that we take the larger view of ourselves and our possibilities. And somebody has got to say that, somebody's got to ring that bell, somebody's got to write that poem, sing that song, dance that dance that says to us all, Rise, you're larger than that. It's up to you to define the final meaning of America." -- Ossie Davis

"A person with big dreams is more powerful than a person with all the facts." -- Dayle Maloney

"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become." - James Allen

I recently re-read this wonderful book, "The Field - The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe", by Lynne McTaggart. I found out about it on the "What the Bleep" movie website. It is one of the books referred to in the movie. It is a fairly easy read and really expanded what I understand about the way things work in the universe. I highly recommend it.