Lisa K: The wisdom of discovery

Lisa K is the only Wisdom Series contributor whom I knew first in real life - and later, met again on Twitter. We met through The Angel Salon, a collective of Angel Therapy Practitioners in the New York area who used to offer card readings at the T Salon in Chelsea Marketplace.Lisa is a sharp, strong and deeply intuitive healer and teacher who has helped hundreds of people access guidance and deepen their own intuitive skills through personal counseling sessions, readings and her internet radio program, "Between Heaven and Earth."To me, Lisa's is the wisdom of intuition. I am pleased and proud to introduce her to you:- - - - -Whenever I think about summer, I anticipate extra time to do anything I want and relax. It’s as if God has given me a bonus.  Summer is usually a time for slowing down, and taking a break from the hustle and bustle of life, as the world settles down for lazy slow days and vacation.Because I work for myself, I can schedule my workload so my summers are free. I see less clients, I don’t schedule any workshops and I take a break from my radio show.  I can rest, rejuvenate and focus on things to ‘improve’ my life.  To me, improving myself is often just an opportunity to think outside the routine, to contemplate my life, think about where am I and what is important to me.Where is the wisdom in summer fun and relaxation?  Ah, it’s there, in the moments we have to reconnect to ourselves.  What better way than when we are not rushed and we are enjoying life?We can also meet the little challenges in life in a more easy going, less serious way  because we aren’t under pressure to perform or to get things done, and we may find some interesting lessons in doing things a bit differently.A summer respite can give us pause, a time for reflection, for appreciation and connection to our hearts, where our inner wisdom resides.  Even if it’s just for a few minutes here and there, you don’t need to be on a three month retreat to find out more about yourself!When the weather is nice, I love to go sit outside, particularly in the late afternoon, because it’s usually not so hot out. I can daydream, and contemplate the things that are going well in my life and the things that I want to improve.  Or sometimes I don’t think, I just enjoy being with nature.  In summer, everything is alive and vibrant. The flowers are soft and delicately beautiful, in harmony with what is around them.  I have my epiphanies that pop up then, there’s something about connecting with nature that helps me connect with my spirit.  I often go outside to think over an issue or inspire my creativity to come up with something new.Exploring with your own "GPS" systemSummer is also our time to travel and explore. My family and I usually take a trip to another country and plan our own adventures, by landing in a city, then renting a car to do a loop excursion to lesser known villages and towns.  It’s a great time to exercise our skills in navigation.  One vacation in Switzerland we rented a car that had a GPS that spoke French and the manual was in German.  After only a few miles, I realized that  “à droite” and “à gauche” were the only French words I understood. We had to do something.  Instead of panicking, I thought, wow, now what? Where can we buy a map?  I said, “What’s the word for map in French?”  My husband, who knows a little Dutch, said he thought he may be able to look through the manual and figure out the words for “language” and “English.”  Fortunately, he was able to piece together from a few words and pictures how to change the GPS language to English.  I discovered that if you pause to think, relax and not panic you may find a creative solution!Then there was the time the GPS didn’t help us, even if it did speak English.  We were on our way to Meissen, Germany, a picturesque town made famous by the well known porcelain factory there of the same name.  Unbeknownst to us, there was major construction on the main road to the village and a detour sign that sent us in a direction away from the town, without any other signs showing us how to get back to Meissen. We were lost.“Let’s use our intuition!”  I suggested and, by just following our instincts, we ended up taking a breathtaking tour of a pastured countryside, down a road on a high ridge that gave us an incredible view of the village, which then allowed us to know which way to head.  Sometimes your intuition has a better solution than one you could have come up with. We learned to just go with the flow.The adventures on exploration vacations break us out of our routine and get our intuition and creative juices flowing without the pressure.  My husband and I see it as a good thing, while my parents would see it as an anxiety filled experience with moments of panic. In fact, when I told this story to them, they said, “Omigosh, how did you find your way around? We could never do that!”Contemplation time and Sacred placesVacation spots are wonderful places to instill a little contemplation time.  Just to be aware of your present moment, and give thought to where you are in your life right now.  That moment of contemplation is just a pause to really enjoy your “beingness.”  In that beingness you may find some inspiration.We love to visit old towns and villages with lots of culture and wisdom steeped in history.  Some of the special places we visit are old giant medieval cathedrals which are usually found in a beautiful place in the countryside.  Places of worship, historically, are put in sacred spots that can be traced back many hundreds of years, and these locations have a special mystical quality.  Being there releases you from your contracted self and brings you back in touch with your inner knowingness.  I love to walk through the naves of the cathedrals slowly, and feel the energy as I pass by the altars that line the aisles.  I discovered that the strongest feeling of buzzy energy is at the altars where people pray the most.  I began to discover the feelings a place can give you of inner stillness, and the palpable buzz of sacred energies.  I came to know what the feeling of holy energy is like, which is subtle but definitely tangible.  I brought that knowledge home and now I can tell the difference in the whispers of energy that are around me.Once in a while my summer inspirations are not so exotic, but just as profound.I remember last summer, I was attending my cousin’s son’s wedding out in Carlsbad,  California.  The dinner was served out on the terrace in the late afternoon, overlooking a beautiful landscape of hills and trees.   As we sat eating our meal, out in the distance were two colorful hot air balloons hanging gracefully in the sky over the heads of the beautiful wedding party.  The golden hue of the setting sun cast a warm yellow glow everywhere.  It was serene, even amongst the laughter and chatting.  It was a great moment to stop and take a breath, enjoy my moment and reflect on what was making me happy in life.  I was happy for young youthful love, and for being able to be with the cousins that I like most.   I realized how much I loved being with them and how the next generation has now become adults, and I have a new set of family who have become my adult friends.  How wonderful a gift that is!What can the coming summer days bring for you?  Will you be able to relax and use the pauses in life to discover more about yourself?---Lisa K. is highly sought after spiritual teacher of everyday spirituality.  Her fresh view of new age teachings brings a down to earth understanding of how to integrate spirituality into daily living. Lisa K. has helped hundreds of people around the world through intuitive readings, workshops, online classes and her popular radio show, “Between Heaven and Earth” which presents a variety of topics on Every Day Spirituality. You can find out more about Lisa K. at http://www.lmk88.org