Music: Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys

I've been doing a lot of studying lately. For the past 30 days I have been participating in a Magick challenge with a really cool group of people. We are all doing our personal work and share our experience as we feel inspired. The duration of this challenge is 40 days and I am confident that I will do it again because of all that I have learned about myself in this process. The intent of the challenge is like most 40 day ventures, profound personal transformation.

Throughout the challenge I have definitely been inclined to study the so-called spiritual teachers, gurus, and people of the world. The main thing I have noticed is their inconsistency. One year they say it takes 68 seconds to make a thought into reality and the next year they say it's 17 seconds. Later they say it is just adds up. One guy made, wrote, and acted in a whole movie on "Indigo" children only to have an interview years later in which he acts like "Indigo" is a new term that he knows little about. Angels are Extra-terrestials, but we can't seem to decide if they are beautiful or ugly. Some talk of 7 chakras, others say 12, and my favorite say 112. Everyone is channeling someone or some group. Some of the information is repetitive, some interesting, profound, affirmative, and some humorous.

In all of this my main subject of study is myself. I am studying the crevices of my subconscious and uncovering my personal truths. I am having wild dreams and sleeping longer than usual because sleep isn't sleep; it is school and I am in my doctoral program. Last night I was in hell or at least what I definitely could recognize as hell. All of the things, fears, people, and scenarios that truly irk me collided in one space and storyline. It ended with near arson, me jumping out of a 3-story building with pure grace, getting help, and returning to find older women taking care of the entire situation. The women moved around with a air of peace that wisdom bestows. I woke up knowing hell exists, but so does divine intervention, freedom of choice, and our ability to free ourselves from any situation that doesn't serve us.  I also wondered if my jump out of the window was necessary since nothing happened or did nothing happen because I jumped out of the window? Regardless, I can't help but herald my quick ability to assess the situation and excuse myself... and laud my courage to go back. In going back, I released my fear of hell and I was rewarded with sight of the wise women. I walked in the front door and surveyed how thorough their work was and felt a new sense of confidence and relief. Everything was alright. Those things weren't my concern anymore.

Though a fire never had a chance to start, I moved like a flame. The words of my aunt who told me to listen to that nudge that tells you need to leave a situation rung through me. I became the flame that I was sure would consume us all. I decided to become a fire ninja in the space of time it takes to light a match.  What would you do when confronted with your own hell?

Send me a note if you want to know more about the 40 day Magick Challenge at [email protected].

And yes, this song came blasting in my head when I woke up...

Isn't twerking just bellydancing to a different beat? I just finished my "classy" twerking workout aka bellydancing and I feel the Divine swirling within and around me.  I am pretty sure I have also helped heal the world after my last hip twirl. And the chimmy, please don't let me forget the chimmy which felt like I was on my way to bootyclapping if my booty was a tad larger.

Healing occurs as we allow divine energy, our true essence, to move around unimpeded. As the energy moves it balances imbalances and adds to our greater well-being. Twerking, oops I mean, Bellydancing is also incredibly empowering. If I didn't love being a woman before, I superlove it now. I know I was supposed to be looking sensual in the mirror, but I was cheesing with excitement and joy instead. That is still sensual, right? The Goddess in me says, "Absolutely, you sensual Goddess." *growls*

WI just had an idea! Twerk, or for you "ladies", Bellydance and then get a Reiki session. Ooo Wee! I just paused and laid my hands on my sensual body and HOT DAMN! I think I have said enough. Twerk and heal...Twerk and heal.

It was another Free Reiki Friday and I had a humongous list. There were many people who were on the list that I didn't know at all since I posted the event in an international Reiki group. As I received notification that a new person was attending I would write their name down on my list and from where they sent me their intention to participate, twitter, email, facebook, etc, so that I could follow up with them later. On that day I sent Reiki to many people whose names I couldn't pronounce. These were the kind of names that I had to carefully copy because I wasn't sure how the letters even came together to make sounds. I didn't know if they were young or old, male or female. All I had was a name that revealed zilch.

So let me tell you the story about my session with someone I will call Rihkpeyhg...
Rihkpeyhg came to me via facebook. Prior to the session, I didn't look at their profile picture or do any research as I figure it to be unnecessary and time-consuming. Immediately I was drawn to the area of their sacral chakra. It felt feminine. I could feel a softness and a sensuality. As I stayed there, I started to feel a great sexual desire. Based off of cultural precepts, it would have been easily interpreted as masculine as we sometimes think only men have intense sexual desire. The feeling of sexual desire in Rihkpeyhg was strong, overwhelming, but I also got the sense that they didn't get to exercise their sexual prowess as much as they would like. Immediately I got the message that they needed to channel the energy into creative projects so that they can be more balanced and productive. I got the sense that the desire was taking over their life. As I tried to move throughout their field, I kept on going back there. Marvin Gaye was playing on my radio and the mood was very clear. Needless to say, from all of that swirling around in that sexual, creative energy, I was enjoying the session. Even though I loved how it felt, I knew a part of my job was to impart wisdom on how to use the energy. The Reiki energy flowed from me helping to bring balance to Rihkpeyhg and so did the message. I wrote down everything I got and then moved on to the next person.

After all of the sessions were done, the arduous task of sending everyone their personal messages began. At that point, I had mostly forgotten the details of their sessions and relied on my notes. Since I had to send Rihkpeyhg the message I had for them, it also meant I was going to see what they looked like. In my mind I had pictured Rihkpeyhg to be a middle-aged man who hadn't got any in a while based off of the feeling and the message. I felt like the message was saying, "Look dude, you are going to have to do something else with all of that energy 'cause you ain't getting none...at least not to match all that you have going on." I was shocked and bemused to find out that good ole Rihkpeyhg was a teenaged girl, and not the legal kind. Immediately I was questioning what I should do because essentially I would be talking to a child, who wasn't my own, about sex. When in doubt, do more research, right?

I dug deeper and realized that this girl had a boyfriend and even though I wasn't about that life at her age, I knew plenty of girls that were. I had to sit my inner virgin down and give her the message intended for her. While staying true to the message, I wrote to her as if her parents were over her shoulder reading her private messages. I was honest with her telling her I hesitated in relaying the message, but I also let her know what I picked up focusing the message on telling her alternative ways she could use the energy. I also lightly, like a dust particle in the atmosphere, acknowledged that she clearly wanted to boink her boyfriend. She replied with a big thank you and I felt relief when I felt her receive the message and the energy.

Ahh to be young and receive Reiki... The whole thing made me think about how cool it would have been if I knew someone like me when I was that age. No judgment, just wisdom. I'm glad Rihkpeyhg wasn't a middleaged man. She taught me a lot.

I have had the most interesting  and profound July. It has been full of personal revelations and smatterings of this song in my daily soundtrack. Have you ever realized that someone you thought you knew so well was actually a figment of your imagination? The truth is that you probably only saw what you wanted to see. Did you also notice every time they did something that you found offensive it came as a complete shock? How could this person do that to you, right? I mean, who does that anyway? Sometimes you even questioned their mental development. You found yourself using offensive and antiquated terms like "mildly retarded" to try to make excuses for their behavior and mannerisms. Maybe they were just tired or they had gas. Is it just me? I can't be the only one who walked around calling people "dumb country" and "mildly retarded". If it is just me, I can handle the head shakes and finger wags of disapproval since I have already forgiven myself, but on the off chance that it isn't, keep reading...or just keep reading.

In the past, I have had a very interesting way of learning in life. It seems that whenever I did something for the first time, from relationships to card games, I did it perfectly (or darn-near). It is when I tried to repeat my gloriousness is when the lesson started to kick in. The first time I played spades, I was a champ. The second time was forgettable. The first time I played laser tag, I slayed all of those little kids. The second time..well I remember feeling a vibration sensation more times than I would like to mention. The first time I decided to fall in love, I knocked it out of the park. When the second time came around, I was in a delusional haze with an absent-minded professor.

It was a funny time in my life. I had been doing yoga for some time, reading lots of spiritual books, worked in the backroom of a bookstore, and was convinced I loved the world. I remember sitting in a crowded NYC subway car imagining hugging all of the passengers. I did that as a ritual. Yes, I was that weirdo with the big smile on her face in a sea of stone-faced commuters. I truly thought I was love on two legs. Mind you, all of this love that I had was in no way being directed to me. Of course not, I was too busy loving the whole world. I fancied myself a beautiful, flexible butterfly in a pink and aqua tutu sprinkling love and joy to everyone I fluttered by. By the time I met the absent-minded professor, I was deep in the trenches of my loveland illusion.

Without having to go into detail about what happened, I rather fast forward to the song. It is all in the title really, I really didn't know the absent-minded professor.  There are often two sides to us, the person we project to the world and the person we truly are. When you really get to know yourself, you can see how they can work together, but before then life is just a big mirage of our colorful projections.  I was doing a lot of projecting at that time while my true self was in a coma. I loved everyone and walked around very confident, but if you asked me if I loved myself, I would have had a confused look on my face. I then would have said, "yeah" hoping it was true only to question it later when I was by myself. The truth was that I didn't know myself and I had yet to begin the journey of self love. Yeah I knew my personality traits and such, but I didn't KNOW myself from a place of true love. I was caught up on the cartoon-like yogi projection of me and not who I was. I projected so well that I thought that the absent-minded professor was just like me. Sometimes I even thought he was me. This lead to great disappointment as he revealed who he was to me because he did things that I wouldn't do...and how could he do them if he was just like me? He was screwing with my perfect picture of love, sunshine, and daffodils. I was devastated and wanted to place blame. It had to be the absent-minded professor, right?...Nah. I failed to get to know him and I didn't really know who I was. I failed to realize that I was in a relationship and fundamental battle with myself and not him. Poor thing, but the absent-minded professor had very little to do with the whole debacle. In many ways, the whole thing was my grand attempt to hold onto a false absent-minded image of me.

The failures of that experience became a great catalyst for where I am today. I have learned to love myself deeply, know who I am and accept myself with a full heart, and on top of that, I really like myself. Hopefully he learned something too. In writing all of this the question still remains, why did this song come up now? Recently the absent-minded professor contacted me using very similar words that he used years ago. Years ago, those words erupted an anger in me that burnt little holes in my butterfly wings, but this time it was just kind of funny. I took it as a test,  happy to find myself passing, and in my head I heard the song playing. Ben and Regina tickled divine confirmation in my ears! Immediately I realized that all of that time, I didn't know the absent-minded professor at all...and with relief and joy, I laughed. I took the last bits of my false projection down, saw the clear picture, and I laughed.

When I give a Reiki session or a counseling session I am working within my clients energetic field. In simple terms, I am reading them. In addition to that, as an Empath, I can also feel what that person is feeling. It is pretty unavoidable and since it helps me help the person I am working with, I just go with it. Things tend to get funny when I am working with someone who is able to do similar work. Not too many people like to be read, but I find the hardest clients to work with are fellow Intuitives AKA Psychics AKA Readers. I know it takes a lot for me to open up to another Reader so I am not shocked when I feel resistance from them. I remember when I was scheduled for a reading from a Psychic that prior to the reading (which was over the phone) I could feel her trying to get into my energy field. I have such a strong shield around me that I had to go into a slight meditation to let her in.

I often get a few Intuitives on Free Reiki Fridays and it is always a little weird. The first reason is that they know the value of the work I am doing more than those who do not spend a lot of time in the spiritual world, so why do they want something free? And if it is out of curiosity, isn't this the point that they should engage their intuition to determine if they should work with me or not? Don't get me wrong, I have done the same thing. Recently I saw a woman offering free 3 minute readings and I inquired about it. I guess free really means no commitment or risk. We don't expect much with free. It was like I wanted to test her out and maybe they are doing the same thing...and it is all good, until I have to read them.

Reading a Psychic isn't much different from reading someone else because Psychics are just people who have tapped into their inherent gifts. At the end of the day and if they eat well, they still drop loads in the toilet like everyone else. The main difference is that I find the information that I receive to be more down to earth. With most clients, I find myself saying that they should work on meditation or connect with their ancestors, but with psychics the messages are more like "clean up your house" or "go to the club and chill" or "your baby is becoming more independent and you should be ready for that". I don't choose the messages and the tone always seems to be very catered to the individual. Keep in mind that I am giving a Reiki session, so these messages come as I am in different parts of their body/auric field. After the energy has stopped flowing I write down what I got and then send it to them in a message. This is where it always gets funny (not in a ha ha way).

My ego has been tested every time I have sent out the messages. First of all, it isn't easy to give out these messages because they are so personal. Secondly, as clear as it was when I got the message, I begin to question if I should send it. Before I doubt myself, I just start typing. I start at the beginning of my list and keep going until everyone has received their message. Within a few hours the replies start rolling in. Most of them are thank yous with a few questions, but the psychics always act like they forgot they signed up for Free Reiki Friday. I get, "Is this message for me?" or "What is this?" This could really screw with my confidence if I hadn't already received so much confirmation from the other people on the list. So that is the point where I have to quiet my ego that wants to boast and say, "You know good and well that message was for you." I take a deep breath, come from the heart, and simply say a "yes" and maybe a "thank you". I know had it been the other way around, I would be offering a similar reply because of that weird feeling that someone was all up in my business.

Being read can be an invasive procedure no matter how loving the reader is. It can be downright scary because the reality is that you are asking for someone to help you with something that you have a hard time acknowledging or healing on your own. The other side is that when you are reading people on a regular basis, it can give you a false sense of security and even superiority. You become the giver, the provider, and no longer the receiver. You can feel on top of it all, but how quickly you can fall when another reader can see that your house is a hot mess.

Even though I was testing out that psychic recently, I am glad that I was at least willing to be open. We all need help sometimes and I think it is the strongest of people who really know how to receive it with grace, trust, and openness. I am working on being one of those people. In saying all of that I do have to say there is also a wonderfully amazing side to working with highly intuitive clients. I'll explore more of that in the next journal.

I have done 3 Free Reiki Fridays since I have started my practice. I started it because I wanted to get more experience and find a way to introduce Reiki and what I do to people/potential clients. I have always been a one-on-one person even at parties, so I decided instead of sending out a big Reiki blast to all of the participants, I would work on each person individually. The con to this is that it takes a lot of time (several hours) if you have a list of 50 people. but the pro is that I get to connect with so many different and amazing people while gaining a ton of invaluable experience. My lists have all been comprised of close friends, old friends, and people I know through Facebook, and then complete strangers...oh and my mom. She loves free Reiki.

Prior to doing Free Reiki Friday, I knew I could could connect with those who have transitioned, but for the most part it was faint and experimental. Like I was able to connect with one of my friends who had passed and a few family members, but it wasn't easy, clear or whenever I wanted. So there I was with my list and working through each person on my list while jamming to the likes of Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, and Coltrane. I was halfway through the session I was giving to someone who happened to be my friend and suddenly my Pandora decides to play the jazz standard "Someone To Watch Over Me". At first I was going to skip the song because I didn't want the singing to mess up my concentration, but something told me to listen. The energy was flowing strongly so I didn't contest, I simply listened. A pretty standard session was changing dramatically as I felt tears starting to flow from my eyes. I felt so much love. My hands felt guided to go outside of her field and in my mind's eye I saw flashes of a man. I instantly knew it was her father. The song seemed to be in slow motion because each word sung had such a deeper meaning than ever before. I continued to cry involuntary. It was weird because I could tell we didn't speak the same language as I could actually feel his message being translated. It was truly heart to heart communication and my tears were joyous ones. I usually prefer a laughing fit over tears, but this time I took the tears with grace. His love for her was flooding over me as I absorbed his message. He came through so strongly. It felt like he was waiting for an opportunity to reach out to her and there I was.

If I had been playing around with communicating with our ancestors and loved ones before, that time was undeniably real. It was such a beautiful experience for me as I truly wasn't expecting it. It felt like time stopped and I stepped into an entirely different dimension. I wrote down the notes from her session and went to the next person on my list. The show had to go on. Later I sat down and wrote to her about what I experienced. She replied in gratitude. I can't be sure if she believed what I wrote, but I know she had to feel it.

Bruno again? What can I say? He speaks to me...and this morning I woke up with this song playing in my head and its been playing all day. I have never been into those Bonnie and Clyde, ride or die, or me & you against the world types of songs. I always thought it was all a bit unnecessary. When I first heard the beginning of Grenade, I skipped it. Immediately I discarded it as one of those songs that I had absolutely no interest in. I saw it as Bruno's way to get young women to scream and pass out at his concerts and teenagers a song to cry to after their first heartbreak. Today I am feeling a little different about it. I have no choice since it is on replay on my internal jukebox.

I see this big explosion and I wonder if the pain is even felt. I see this person in complete surrender to the moment and I watch in admiration. They stare their torturer in the eye, feel everything, and ride each pang like a wave until it takes them under. See this song is a song that they (the lover) would never get to sing if they went all the way through with it, this undying love. Is it because he hasn't had the chance or is this an conditional song about unconditional love? If it is love, limitless love that he is giving her, then how did it run out? There he is at her doorstep unloading all of his "love" and I see her picking it up to place it in the trash right after she removes his breaks so he can't stop this love giving. She then proceeds to beat him up at the door until he is black and blue. Next she gets the gasoline, a match, and burns him alive. This is a sad song, but love is energy and energy can't be destroyed. Right?

Of course I am right. I learned that in public school science class. Therefore, death doesn't end a life and love is limitless. You don't stop existing and furthermore you can't be held. With each death is a new transformation and a new adventure. Does this mean it is time to take a bullet? No, silly. We experience small deaths everyday. As we make new choices in life, forge new paths for ourselves, dream new dreams, a little piece of us dies to create new life within.

When I heard this song this morning, it was after a dream I had. In the dream I was talking about how I didn't want to be trapped into being a singular way. Here is this guy singularly directed to the object of his affection saying he would die for her and I thought what if he really did. What if he went all the way? And if he represents unconditional love that is inherent within us, what if she was bold enough to go all the way? Now we have a Romeo & Juliet scenario but it is still intriguing. What if you were willing to give it all up to yourself? What if you were willing to have a death within? What would we transform into? Well we wouldn't be trapped in singularity.

What does the song of unconditional love, death, and transformation sound like? I am listening for it.

My first in-person client was a family friend's husband. He had been experiencing a lot of neck pain that he couldn't seem to relieve despite all of his varied efforts. He knew nothing of Reiki, but he told me he was open. I did my best to describe Reiki over the phone but I could tell he still didn't really get. I have to admit I was nervous in explaining it. How do you explain how a non-physical force positively affects the physical world? I didn't know the "how", I just knew it worked. Nonetheless, he continued to emphasize that he was willing to try it and was open. He was an ideal first client and as nervous as I was to know that I would be putting my hands all over the body of someone's husband, I knew there were no mistakes. We set our appointment and I promptly began my celebratory dance after we hung up.

Our appointment was set in the evening. I had set up the living room as a welcoming healing room. My Reiki table was dressed with a fresh sheet, I burned incense, Reikied the room, and charged my crystal grids. I still was very anxious for his arrival, so I Reikied myself, meditated, spoke to my guides, ate some food, and took a shower. By the time he came in, I was ready. I used my phone as a timer. We scheduled an hour long session for $40. We first began with what some call psychic surgery. In this technique, I use rhythmic breathing and funny movements to remove any blocks that may be present. It is a great way to clear the auric field and prepare the client to open and receive Reiki. It is also pretty fun to do due to the dramatic movements that I end up making. After I was finished I asked him to lay down and relax.

When I was taught Reiki, both the client and the practitioner remained silent throughout the session but he was very talkative. Maybe he was nervous, well I think we were both nervous as we listen to our stomachs bubble and sing. Instead of encouraging silence, I went with it. Why not? He was a great conversationalist, so am I, and I felt the energy flowing through my hands so I knew it wasn't impeding the work we were doing. It became interesting because as I moved in different sections in his body, the topic of our conversation changed and as he finished speaking about the various subjects I would feel guided to go to a different part of his body. I did more listening and focusing on my work than speaking, but I made sure to stay engaged with him. Even though I knew he came for neck problems, I found it interesting that the first place I felt guided to go was to his feet. His neck was one of the last places I went.

As it is said and experienced, whenever you give a Reiki session, you also receive one. I definitely got a great session. Even though he didn't know much about Reiki, he was a very spiritually conscious person. I found that as he opened up, a lot of what he was releasing was great wisdom for me to learn from. An hour is a long time with a stranger, so I found the more I was open to him the faster the time went by. After I left his neck, I noticed there was still 15 minutes left. I scanned his body again and once again I was at his feet. I felt the energy flowing through my hands stronger than before. It came as a shock because I assumed that it would be winding down, but I went with it. In this way, Reiki is always teaching the practitioner. From his feet I went to his hip and then I felt strong guidance to go to his other hip. He expressed that he experienced a hip injury in his youth. As I was at his hip, he asked me how did I know where to go. That was when I really started to open up. As I spoke, I felt a great amount of wisdom flow through me and color my words. I listened carefully as I spoke. The energy continued to flow strongly and I found tears wetting my cheeks. My heart was wide open. I truly didn't know why I was crying as I wasn't said. In many ways I felt I was crying for him, helping him to release pent up emotions. The session ended as the tears dried.

He got off the table and said he felt like a brand new man. To both of our surprise, all of his neck pain was gone. We exchanged hugs and thank yous and he gave me a tip. After he left, my excitement exploded. I danced, jumped, and ran around the house full of energy. I was in a state of complete elation and gratitude.

I remember years ago I had this pivotal conversation with my "first love" in a restaurant after we had been broken up for some time.  He wanted to get back together but for me there was no way. I loved him deeply, but I couldn't be with him. Midway in the conversation, he asked me in his southern accent, "Are you really going to walk away from all of this love?" I remember looking at him blankly with disbelief and apathy behind my eyes as I remembered all that had transpired for get me to that place. For us, all possibilities had been exhausted in my heart and mind, and I had no more to offer. I listen to this song and think about that time, that feeling. Deep down I wanted a reason to be with him. I wanted something to forgive. This would have been the song for that time, but somehow it wasn't in my rotation.  I am writing about it now, over a decade later, and from an entirely different point of view.

So what is the deal with this song now? As I look back with wisdom, I have always been my first love even when I didn't know it. Sorry homie. I sometimes need reasons to get up out of my bed, cook, work, move, but I don't need a reason to be me. I don't need a reason to love myself. I would tell that girl sitting in that restaurant that you either love and trust without reason or not at all, but first you have to direct all of that love to yourself. Lately I have been having a lot of conversations about love and trust with friends and this is the song I tend to hear. I asked my friend not so long ago why does she trust her husband.  She started to look for reasons. I asked another friend, who is afraid to open their heart to someone else, if they trusted themselves. They said they did and then I asked why. They started to look for reasons to make their case. As they did this they realized they didn't always trust themselves. They were trick questions in a sense. Trust rooted in love needs no reason. You never need a reason to love or trust yourself. If you can do that for yourself, you can love someone else in the same way. The hesitation we feel is that we want a guarantee. We want to know we won't be hurt. Love is your guarantee.

Luther sings that he never knew he would be  standing alone and outside with no one to love. Really? Is there a shiny car around, a puddle, a window? Because all you have to do is look in the reflection to realize you have someone to love. It is time to love yourself. Open the door to your heart and step inside. Sit a spell. All relationships begin with the one you have with yourself. Love without reason, trust without reason, and walk faithfully in love. You can't control someone else nor should you want to unless you want to be controlled as well. You can't make someone stay. You can't make someone honest. But here is the cool thing: real love is on an entirely different frequency. Look in the mirror and realize that you don't need a reason to love yourself and you will feel this frequency. Love is your guarantee.

This song, where do I start? *laughs quietly*... This is a fairly new song for me. It is one of those Stevie Wonder songs that I never paid attention to. I have an ex who really loves Stevie and in conversation about love and heartbreak he suggested that I listen to the song. The Ex, like me, has a knack for being a little dramatic with his song choices so I knew it was going to be good, but not this good. Oh Stevie. He truly is the master of songs about love unrequited and getting dumped or should I say getting "dropped".

My first listen I rolled my eyes, my second listen I sympathized, and every listen after that just makes me smile. Is my heart cold? I mean, this man got dropped from about a half a mile from heaven and it makes me giggle. She took him up in her rocket and then dropped him. That's cold, right? *laughs*...Nah. You see, I had to look at the full picture. She sounds like a lovely woman, amazing really. She has her own rocket ship and sounds well traveled equipped with the knowledge on how to get to heaven. She is your typical Superwoman equipped with looks for all of Picaso's eras and moves with all of the grace of Bach's Sonatas. Intelligent, sweet, poetic, this lady is an angel. AH-MAY-ZING! So here is the thing, he got dropped, but if you listen closely, he didn't go empty handed. She gave him a star to keep him warm as he came back into the cold, cold world. This proves that she is also generous. This begs the question: What really happened? Where did the spark go?

Stevie says he doesn't know why it happened, but I'll tell you. This amazing woman liked a nice guy... the kind of nice guy who doesn't have his own rocket ship. He is great at complimenting and saying how wonderful she is, but doesn't seem to offer much except company. Here he is in her rocket and isn't offering rocket fuel?!?! What?! He isn't taking the wheel or rubbing her feet. Where is his Rocket? No one questions this except me?! It sounds like she is doing all of the work and he is just paying her compliments. Flattery doesn't fly rocket ships Stevie. The real problem is that she realized this a little late in the game. She realized she was on her way to heaven with a guy who hasn't developed himself. He wasn't ready for heaven yet. She has it going on, but she needs help, a real partner who has done the work and took the risks in learning how to fly. Heaven isn't her destination, it is a part of her journey. This guy clearly couldn't fly on his own and tried to hitch a ride. She looked at her fuel tank and saw that fuel was running out and she did the calculations and realized she needed to release some weight if she was going to make it to heaven. Sweetly, she found him a star to help keep him warm on his journey before she chucked the deuces to him. The result of this wise decision is this song.

Stevie sings he would not do what she did to a dog. She wouldn't either. She probably wished that she took a furry companion instead. After this song I hoped he took some time and gained some gratitude for what she did for him. Sure he didn't get to heaven, but she showed him the way and there are so many on the ground who haven't even come close.

Lesson: If you want to get to heaven and beyond, develop yourself.  Don't put it all on someone else. Learn to fly your own rocket and meet that lovely someone in heaven. Your other option is find someone on ground and learn to fly together. No matter how you slice it, you will get there on love, but it begins in you. Oh and humor helps...it is like a turbo boost. :)