In April 2009 when I devoted my life to being a traveling minstrel for God, inspiring songs about my spiritual journey began to pour through me. I've made some home recordings of certain songs, and I share them freely with you here. Under the "Music" section of this blog (you might need to scroll down and look in the side bar), you can download many of the home-recordings that I've done, or that Armelle and I have done together.
Also, some friends have video taped me playing guitar and singing, and have posted those videos on YouTube. Just click here to go to YouTube and type in 'Erik Archbold' or 'Erik Archbald' (my name is often mispelled). I've also embedded some of the YouTube videos below that you can watch now if you like.
Many Blessings to you,
Erik
This first one is definitely the most popular of my original songs, Peace of Mind, which I wrote back in college. This recording was taken at the Miracles Concert in Sweden in September 2010, which featured many musicians that were sharing music based on their spiritual path.
Here's one that Armelle wrote that we'd been working on singing together... unfortunately, the video camera ran out of battery before the song was finished, but you'll get the flavor anyway...
This next song is called "Just Relax"...
"Shine Through"...
And last but not least, here's one taken at the Living Miracles Monastery where I played some music during a spiritual retreat that David Hoffmeister was giving in Oct 2009, just prior to meeting Armelle. This song is called "Rhythm of the Soul"...
Dec 26, 2009
Our path
Armelle: This World Tour is about Healing the Mind, before everything else. It is about our healing, but when I am healed I am never healed alone, as it says in "A Course in Miracles". We are guided to travel to help us undo all our beliefs, whatever they are. And this blog is to share what we are going through all along this path...
October 2009 I received the guidance to go on a world tour together with Erik. I was very nervous at the idea of sharing it with him. We didn't know each other. I'd heard about him, several times, but I'd never had any communication with him at that time. I received the guidance to share it with David, first. He was giving a retreat at the Monastery in Utah, at that time, and Erik was there to play some music too. The moment I was telling Leila that I was called to share it with David, he just called!! So I told him, and he was so happy about my Guidance! That evening, the HS told me to share it with Erik too, so I wrote him an email.
The day after he answered me with so much joy and trust, that I bursted into joy too, and was jumping everywhere in the house. I was so happy! For several years I had been traveling alone. And I enjoyed it a lot, but in the summer I decided that I had traveled alone enough, and that I would like to share it with someone. I dreamt about this world tour for so many years, it was certainly 5 years that that idea of letting go of everything and just following my heart and traveling came into my mind! Now it was given to me... The HS was guiding me to "do" it!!!! I was so happy. This world tour was about sharing our inspired passions, dance and music, without restriction, everywhere (at someone's place, on a beach, wherever...), going into orphenages and sharing with children, and giving gatherings too. Erik was 100% with me, and through his e-mail, I felt his joy, and his trust in my guidance too.
That evening, after a meet-up group at the Light House, we were talking about tattoos in the dining room and Devan said something unexpected. He told me that I would be the next one to have a tattoo and asked me where I wanted to have it. A part of me was saying "no way for me to have a tattoo!! You're crazy". The other part of me felt something was happening. And suddenly I had the vision of a tattoo ring on my wedding ring-finger and the name of Erik appeared at that time, and I felt my heart burning and opening... "Oh no, what is happening to me? I can't share that! It's certainly the ego! It can't be from the Spirit!"
I waited two days before sharing it. I did it first with David, who immediately called Erik and gave him the phone. It was the first time we had ever talked to each other! And it was to share with him the Guidance I was receiving that we were supposed to be married in 15 days!!!
Everything unfolded perfectly. We took the time he was in California to get to know each other by phone. We spent hours on the phone every day. So for me, he was first a voice. And later, this gave me the impression it was the voice of the Father talking to me. During that time, I had the vision of an internet site called "Sharing Love World Tour", coming with an image of the three wise men, a shooting star and the lyrics of a french song "to where you go, I will go. Faithful as a shadow to the destination..." My heart was burning so much, and I felt how much this symbol of our coming together was very strong.
I went to pick him up at the airport 8 days before the wedding. On the way to go, I saw a bilboard where it was written "change your future!" It was what I was about to do, by acting in the present, by following the guidance, by saying "yes"... to the HS, to God through the symbol of the marriage with Erik.
Our "spirit arranged" marriage brought a lot of stuff up for everybody around us. We experienced directly how much it's true that when you do something powerful, you do it for everyone, the whole universe. It had a lot of wonderful effects, and still now, each time that we share the story, it inspires people. I received the guidance that's the way we will be used... sharing about the way to experience a holy relationship for the undoing of the ego and coming to the unconditional love. It will happen through gatherings or workshops as well as through lots of holy encounters.
These last days I went deeper and deeper in the undoing, I cried a lot, without even knowing why I was crying. I seem to be in the undoing of all the pride I was experiencing in the "story of Armelle". I feel more and more humility and the call of the heart coming again.
Yesterday, I started the day by writing a communication from Jesus for me, and later went again into a lot of sadness. I told Erik that I don't know how to love...
And some time later, I felt strongly we will share our inspired dance and music everywhere we will go, proposing improvised meeting where we will be and sharing it with who will be there at the moment. We are guided to record and share it. There will be the major part of our world tour. We are guided to just go for it, with trust and the heart full of love, and Jesus told me that all our needs will be taken care of. He said that we don't have to look for gatherings or workshops; they will be proposed or offered. All that is guided is traveling and following. I was crying all the time I was sharing that with Erik. I couldn't explain why or what happened at that time. I saw us in Jerusalem, and it was very very strong for me...
So if you feel inspired by our path, and that you want to have the opportunity to join us in one place or another, and dance and sing with us, just let us know and stay connected with us via this blog. We will keep you updated every time we change places or we are guided to have a gathering.
We are already happy and grateful for who will be there.
With so much love,
Armelle
October 2009 I received the guidance to go on a world tour together with Erik. I was very nervous at the idea of sharing it with him. We didn't know each other. I'd heard about him, several times, but I'd never had any communication with him at that time. I received the guidance to share it with David, first. He was giving a retreat at the Monastery in Utah, at that time, and Erik was there to play some music too. The moment I was telling Leila that I was called to share it with David, he just called!! So I told him, and he was so happy about my Guidance! That evening, the HS told me to share it with Erik too, so I wrote him an email.
The day after he answered me with so much joy and trust, that I bursted into joy too, and was jumping everywhere in the house. I was so happy! For several years I had been traveling alone. And I enjoyed it a lot, but in the summer I decided that I had traveled alone enough, and that I would like to share it with someone. I dreamt about this world tour for so many years, it was certainly 5 years that that idea of letting go of everything and just following my heart and traveling came into my mind! Now it was given to me... The HS was guiding me to "do" it!!!! I was so happy. This world tour was about sharing our inspired passions, dance and music, without restriction, everywhere (at someone's place, on a beach, wherever...), going into orphenages and sharing with children, and giving gatherings too. Erik was 100% with me, and through his e-mail, I felt his joy, and his trust in my guidance too.
That evening, after a meet-up group at the Light House, we were talking about tattoos in the dining room and Devan said something unexpected. He told me that I would be the next one to have a tattoo and asked me where I wanted to have it. A part of me was saying "no way for me to have a tattoo!! You're crazy". The other part of me felt something was happening. And suddenly I had the vision of a tattoo ring on my wedding ring-finger and the name of Erik appeared at that time, and I felt my heart burning and opening... "Oh no, what is happening to me? I can't share that! It's certainly the ego! It can't be from the Spirit!"
I waited two days before sharing it. I did it first with David, who immediately called Erik and gave him the phone. It was the first time we had ever talked to each other! And it was to share with him the Guidance I was receiving that we were supposed to be married in 15 days!!!
Everything unfolded perfectly. We took the time he was in California to get to know each other by phone. We spent hours on the phone every day. So for me, he was first a voice. And later, this gave me the impression it was the voice of the Father talking to me. During that time, I had the vision of an internet site called "Sharing Love World Tour", coming with an image of the three wise men, a shooting star and the lyrics of a french song "to where you go, I will go. Faithful as a shadow to the destination..." My heart was burning so much, and I felt how much this symbol of our coming together was very strong.
I went to pick him up at the airport 8 days before the wedding. On the way to go, I saw a bilboard where it was written "change your future!" It was what I was about to do, by acting in the present, by following the guidance, by saying "yes"... to the HS, to God through the symbol of the marriage with Erik.
Our "spirit arranged" marriage brought a lot of stuff up for everybody around us. We experienced directly how much it's true that when you do something powerful, you do it for everyone, the whole universe. It had a lot of wonderful effects, and still now, each time that we share the story, it inspires people. I received the guidance that's the way we will be used... sharing about the way to experience a holy relationship for the undoing of the ego and coming to the unconditional love. It will happen through gatherings or workshops as well as through lots of holy encounters.
These last days I went deeper and deeper in the undoing, I cried a lot, without even knowing why I was crying. I seem to be in the undoing of all the pride I was experiencing in the "story of Armelle". I feel more and more humility and the call of the heart coming again.
Yesterday, I started the day by writing a communication from Jesus for me, and later went again into a lot of sadness. I told Erik that I don't know how to love...
And some time later, I felt strongly we will share our inspired dance and music everywhere we will go, proposing improvised meeting where we will be and sharing it with who will be there at the moment. We are guided to record and share it. There will be the major part of our world tour. We are guided to just go for it, with trust and the heart full of love, and Jesus told me that all our needs will be taken care of. He said that we don't have to look for gatherings or workshops; they will be proposed or offered. All that is guided is traveling and following. I was crying all the time I was sharing that with Erik. I couldn't explain why or what happened at that time. I saw us in Jerusalem, and it was very very strong for me...
So if you feel inspired by our path, and that you want to have the opportunity to join us in one place or another, and dance and sing with us, just let us know and stay connected with us via this blog. We will keep you updated every time we change places or we are guided to have a gathering.
We are already happy and grateful for who will be there.
With so much love,
Armelle
Course in Miracles Gathering - Costa Rica, March 2010
We're going to be providing music and dance at this upcoming Course conference in Costa Rica in March. If you want more information, click on the banner below!
Dec 25, 2009
About Erik's Journey
When I first discovered Gary Renard's book "The Disappearance of the Universe" in a Maine bookstore back in 2001, I began to weep and laugh simultaneously while flipping through and reading its passages. The first thing that caught my attention was that it was saying, in no uncertain terms, that this world was nothing more than a dream of separation. When I read that, I felt my heart leap with joy, as if someone was finally confirming for me what I had always suspected deep down but had, until now, been too afraid to really accept. I had found great solace in reading other great spiritual works, such as Neale Donald Walsch's "Conversations with God" books, Eckhart Tolle's books, and more... but something felt different about what I was now reading.
For the next several months, I poured myself into its teachings, which are based on the spiritual self-study masterpiece called "A Course in Miracles". Shortly thereafter I bought myself a copy of the Course and began to do its workbooks lessons. My life has never been the same since. In my heart, it felt like the path back to God had been laid out in front of me and that all I needed to do now was follow it.
At the same time, and for several years to follow, I was working as a traveling hypnotherapist giving stop smoking and weight loss, group hypnotherapy seminars all over the country. It was an excellent career for me, allowing me to travel, help others, and make a very comfortable living. It also gave me lots of opportunities to really practice what I was learning in the Course, by understanding that true healing had nothing to do with healing "others"...but only on healing my own perception. But starting around 2006, I had begun to feel that my heart just wasn't fully aligned anymore with the business of doing seminars; I was really only doing it for fear of losing my "financial security".
Then, in April of 2009, my entire life began to go through a radical transformation. It seemingly began when I attended a three-week devotional retreat sponsored by David Hoffmeister's foundation, The Foundation for the Awakening Mind (www.awakening-mind.org), which is devoted to helping other students of A Course in Miracles to really apply its teachings in an uncompromising way. It was at this retreat that I felt my dedication to really LIVING the Truth become much stronger, and I began to take an honest look at ALL the areas of my life... and WHY I was doing what I was doing. I realized that I needed to start becoming uncompromising in my commitment to live the Course's principles 100%.
By the end of the retreat, it had become very clear to me that my hypnotherapy career was no longer in alignment with my true Purpose, since there was no authentic Joy in it anymore. Yet, I still had fear about leaving the "security" it seemed to provide without something else concrete to step on to. Fortunately, the Spirit wasn't long in rewarding my strong willingness with practical stepping stones.
I felt the Spirit speaking to me through David Hoffmeister one day near the end of the retreat when I was contemplating what to do next in my life. David and I were sitting at his kitchen table talking about my life, and when I asked him what might be next for me in my life, he told me that he was hearing the words "traveling minstrel". I didn't really know what a "minstrel" was, but he explained that it was one of those musicians back in the Renassiance times who would entertain and serve the royal courts and such. David suggested that I could just be like a "traveling minstrel for God", going wherever I was invited to serve others by playing my guitar and singing Spirit-inspired music!
My music had been a passion in my life for many years, and I'd become quite proficient at playing guitar and singing, but I'd never taken seriously the idea of devoting my whole life to it. When David suggested this idea to me, I felt a mixture of emotions at first. On the one hand, my ego felt an initial sense of disappointment, since being a "minstrel" seemed so much less "important" than what I was still secretly hoping for... which was to become a famous "Course in Miracles hypnotherapist"! Yet at the same time, there was a very deep sense of authentic Joy and Peace within my heart around this idea, and so I sensed that this was indeed the Spirit guiding me. Also, David helped me to see that my heart's true desire was to teach forgiveness by DEMONSTRATING it (and not necessarily through FORMAL teaching or healing work), and that my music was a gift the Spirit could use to extend Love through me.
The moment I surrendered to this Guidance, I could feel such immense excitement and Joy! Finally, I knew the next step on my path! There was something so beautifully simple about the idea of just traveling wherever invited to share inspiring music, living on Divine Providence (i.e. depending solely on God for all my material needs), and devoting my life to demonstrating true forgiveness. Music and spirituality had become my primary passions in life, and so it felt so perfect that I would now be living a life which was a synthesis of the two. I could feel a real, authentic Strength behind this plan, an inner commitment to this new path, and resolved then to clear away everything else in my life that might be an obstacle to following it fully.
As a result, I immediately began receiving very specific "prompts" from the Holy Spirit about how to resolve all the practical concerns I had at that time. For example, I had a house with a mortgage, lots of credit card debt, and student loan debt. I also had a lot of money tied up in the stock market, which was beginning to feel more and more like an imprisoning and scary roller-coaster I'd unwittingly stepped on to.
Also, I was very tightly wound into the hypnotherapy company I had been working for during the prior seven years. I was the second-in-command, a manager/director over two of our other contracted hypnotherapists, the one in charge of the website, as well as very good friends with the Executive Director who was hoping to retire soon and have me take over the company. Therefore, when the Guidance came in that it was time for me to leave the company, I was quite worried that it wouldn't be easy to break away from it all.
From April until June though, I felt like the Holy Spirit was orchestrating things in my life to make the transition phase as easy as possible. First, I was able to talk to my Executive Director friend without too much trepidation and tell him that I was going to be quitting. He was upset at first but quickly forgave me. Before quitting entirely, I worked for the company for another several weeks, helped to train one of my subordinates to take my place, and I miraculously happened to make more money during that time than I normally made in half a year! With that money, as well as with all the money I was able to pull out of the stock market, I was able to completely pay off my credit cards and student loan debt! This was a HUGE miracle to me, because even though I made really good money at my job, I had been struggling to pay off that debt for years! Just goes to show that Purpose is EVERYTHING!
Around this time, I also received the Guidance to sell my house, which I was able to do in just over a month, and at a profit! This, too, was a huge miracle because, from the economic perspective, the house market wasn't very good at that time. I also gave away or sold 99% of my possessions, keeping only my guitar, my backpack, traveling clothes and a few other necessities.
By the end of June, I was completely free of everything that had bound me to my past, and I felt a newfound sense of Freedom like none I had ever experienced before! I was totally free to follow the Spirit fully, and even ended up with several thousand dollars of extra money which I knew would last me at least a year living simply. It was as if all I'd had to do was to say "Yes" to the Guidance to become a traveling minstrel for God, and like a domino-effect, everything else was lined itself up to be resolved for me easily and effortlessly! It was a wonderful demonstration of one of my favorite passages in the Course:
"Once you accept His plan as the one function that you would fulfill, there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will not arrange for you without your effort. He will go before you making straight your path, and leaving in your way no stones to trip on, and no obstacles to bar your way. Nothing you need will be denied you. Not one seeming difficulty but will melt away before you reach it. You need take thought for nothing, careless of everything except the only purpose that you would fulfill." (T.20.4.8:4-8)
My life since then has been very much like a surreal dream, in which I've seemingly been directed by the Spirit every step of the way. I began having inspiring songs pour through me from the Spirit, and more and more have felt like my body was nothing more than an instrument of God's peace, no different from the guitar my hands would strum. Being used in this way for God's Plan is such a glorious Joyride!
When Armelle came into my life in October with the Guidance, first for us to go on a world tour together, and secondly for us to get married in two weeks, it felt like a thrilling next step in the journey! While it was a bit scary to my commitment-phobic ego, taking the leap of faith with Armelle felt indescribably Joyful to my Heart! I was learning to, as the lyrics in one of the songs I was inspired to write says, "trust the river... it gently carries me along, to the sound of my favorite Song".
Currently, Armelle and I are back in the United States, deepening in our relationship with God and each other by using all the wonderful forgiveness lessons that inevitably arise day to day! We are trusting fully in Divine Providence for all means of support, and just letting the Spirit guide us every step of the way so that we can shine His Light and extend His Love through our music, dance, and our simple devotion to Truth. We are deeply committed to practicing the principles of Holy Relationship with each other for the purpose of healing, and and we are eternally grateful for the exciting and gentle steps the Spirit has given us for our awakening. Thank You Holy Spirit, for Everything!!!
Thank you for reading my story, and if you wish to connect with me in any way, I warmly invite you to email me at: erikarchbold@gmail.com, or call me at 707-364-0957! Also, if you are interested in reading some of my earlier writings about my forgiveness practice with the Course prior to 2009, you may visit my previous ACIM blog at: www.erikarchbold.wordpress.com
Many Blessings to you,
Erik
(Dec 2009)
(Dec 2009)
--------------
Update (Jan 2013):
Here's a more recent video from this past December 2012 in which I share with a group in Belgium - with Armelle translating - about what it was like to leave my hypnotherapy career in 2009, marry Armelle, and start trusting in Spirit completely.
Enjoy...
Update (Jan 2013):
Here's a more recent video from this past December 2012 in which I share with a group in Belgium - with Armelle translating - about what it was like to leave my hypnotherapy career in 2009, marry Armelle, and start trusting in Spirit completely.
Enjoy...
Dec 18, 2009
Inner Dance
Armelle: It's now been three years that I've been regularly practicing dance. I've practiced several different types of dance, all of them based on self-expression where you let the body move without trying to control the movements. Some examples of this type of dance are Biodanza, 5 Rhythms Dance, Authentic Movement, etc.. Through the dance, I've had many experiences, and it has been a way of revealing myself to myself more and more.
In June of this year, I met David Hoffmeister and his partner Helena at a retreat in Belgium, and this meeting opened my heart so wide. I recognized the Love that they extend as something I'd known forever and that I'd been looking for. Being and sharing with them made me feel like I was at Home. It was a hugely powerful experience for me.
The retreat opened up a new part of myself. On the last day of the retreat, David asked me to facilitate something with the dance for the other participants of the workshop, which I did. And during that experience, I had a vision that I would soon create, or rather, would receive through inspiration, a new type of dance to share which would be a sort of "meditation dance". It felt clear that this vision would come true, and yet at the time, I had no clue about how or when. I chose not to be concerned with that though, and to simply follow my heart, trusting that all would be revealed in time, if it was meant to be.
In August, at a devotional retreat in Canada organized by the Messengers of Peace, I was once again invited to facilitate another dance session. I took this as a sign that the dance was definitely meant to be a part of my path. Then, in September when I came to Cincinatti, I also shared with David how much I felt inspired to dance, and he continually encouraged me to do so.
For several days, I felt strong guidance to spend time dancing, but for some reason I resisted this guidance. Finally one morning, I surrendered and ended up spending more than an hour dancing in the garage.
The experience I had that morning was incredible. I felt like I was in total communion with the Spirit; like there was no barriers, blocks, or limitations to experiencing Who I Am in truth. It was unlike anything I had experienced before. I really felt like I wasn't the one moving the body. Rather, it felt totally inspired. It was a dance of total release and connection with the Spirit. He was leading; I was merely following. I felt so connected and so quiet, and for a while the flow of thought simply stopped. It was like the deepest meditation I'd ever had!
After that initial experience, I started dancing more frequently and going deeper into the experience. It became clear that this dance would be my way of expressing the Spirit and sharing the Love. Also, the Spirit gave me a name to call this particular dance by: Inner Dance.
It was during this time that I was guided to record some videos of myself dancing to share with others on YouTube. Here is one of the videos if you'd like to watch it now :
For me, the Inner Dance is an expression of being, and an experience of the Now. It is like a deep, slow-moving meditation. It is a way of experiencing Who We Truly Are. It is a time that we offer to ourselves just to be, and to be in The Love. It's like a caress, so soft and so tender. It is a means of slowly and gently allowing any inner blocks to the truth to fall away. It is also a gentle way to listen to and feel the guidance of our heart. In the end, it is something that cannot really be understood through words, but only by actually experiencing it.
Recently, I've begun feeling a strong calling to share the Inner Dance with others both as an inspirational performance, as well as in a workshop format, where I facilitate the participants through their own Inner-Dance experience. In the workshop format, there is a context in which all the emotions are welcome and where afterward, we can share and express anything that came up during the dance.
If you feel inspired to host an Inner-Dance gathering, in which I perform and/or facilitate a workshop, please feel free to contact me via email at sharingloveworldtour@gmail.com.
With Love and Gratitude,
Armelle
In June of this year, I met David Hoffmeister and his partner Helena at a retreat in Belgium, and this meeting opened my heart so wide. I recognized the Love that they extend as something I'd known forever and that I'd been looking for. Being and sharing with them made me feel like I was at Home. It was a hugely powerful experience for me.
The retreat opened up a new part of myself. On the last day of the retreat, David asked me to facilitate something with the dance for the other participants of the workshop, which I did. And during that experience, I had a vision that I would soon create, or rather, would receive through inspiration, a new type of dance to share which would be a sort of "meditation dance". It felt clear that this vision would come true, and yet at the time, I had no clue about how or when. I chose not to be concerned with that though, and to simply follow my heart, trusting that all would be revealed in time, if it was meant to be.
In August, at a devotional retreat in Canada organized by the Messengers of Peace, I was once again invited to facilitate another dance session. I took this as a sign that the dance was definitely meant to be a part of my path. Then, in September when I came to Cincinatti, I also shared with David how much I felt inspired to dance, and he continually encouraged me to do so.
For several days, I felt strong guidance to spend time dancing, but for some reason I resisted this guidance. Finally one morning, I surrendered and ended up spending more than an hour dancing in the garage.
The experience I had that morning was incredible. I felt like I was in total communion with the Spirit; like there was no barriers, blocks, or limitations to experiencing Who I Am in truth. It was unlike anything I had experienced before. I really felt like I wasn't the one moving the body. Rather, it felt totally inspired. It was a dance of total release and connection with the Spirit. He was leading; I was merely following. I felt so connected and so quiet, and for a while the flow of thought simply stopped. It was like the deepest meditation I'd ever had!
After that initial experience, I started dancing more frequently and going deeper into the experience. It became clear that this dance would be my way of expressing the Spirit and sharing the Love. Also, the Spirit gave me a name to call this particular dance by: Inner Dance.
It was during this time that I was guided to record some videos of myself dancing to share with others on YouTube. Here is one of the videos if you'd like to watch it now :
For me, the Inner Dance is an expression of being, and an experience of the Now. It is like a deep, slow-moving meditation. It is a way of experiencing Who We Truly Are. It is a time that we offer to ourselves just to be, and to be in The Love. It's like a caress, so soft and so tender. It is a means of slowly and gently allowing any inner blocks to the truth to fall away. It is also a gentle way to listen to and feel the guidance of our heart. In the end, it is something that cannot really be understood through words, but only by actually experiencing it.
Recently, I've begun feeling a strong calling to share the Inner Dance with others both as an inspirational performance, as well as in a workshop format, where I facilitate the participants through their own Inner-Dance experience. In the workshop format, there is a context in which all the emotions are welcome and where afterward, we can share and express anything that came up during the dance.
If you feel inspired to host an Inner-Dance gathering, in which I perform and/or facilitate a workshop, please feel free to contact me via email at sharingloveworldtour@gmail.com.
With Love and Gratitude,
Armelle
Dec 14, 2009
Our Spirit "Arranged" Marriage
As some of you may already know, Armelle and I came together in a most uncommon way, by a miracle of what we would call Divine Guidance. In a nutshell, we were prompted by the Holy Spirit (the inner voice of Intuition) both to go on a world tour together AND to get married in 15 days... all before we had actually met each other in person!
Needless to say, this Guidance was shocking to us both (and completely terrifying to our commitment-phobic egos) but we both knew that it was in perfect alignment with our new Purpose. We therefore went ahead and followed the Guidance, meeting each other in person for the first time just a week later, and then getting married another week after that. It brought up so much of our unconscious fears and resistance, mostly about what our family and friends would think, and continues to flush up lots of emotion for healing.
If you scroll down below (past the videos), you can read a more detailed account which Armelle wrote (and I edited) about how the Guidance originally came in, her reactions to it as well as mine after she first called me to share it, etc.. Also, just a few days after our marriage we felt inspired to record a short video of ourselves talking about how it all happened, which you can watch below. There's also a video of Armelle being interviewed about it at the Miracles Concert in Sweden last Sept (2010), and another video of our friend and mentor, David Hoffmeister, talking about how radical Guidance like that can serve to undo the ego.
In addition, I've included a link right beneath this paragraph which will take you to all our wedding videos which we've posted on YouTube; an event overflowing with laughter and happy tears of Joy! If you want to watch a shorter version of the story about how we came together, then you can go directly to Part 6 of the wedding videos. About halfway through that video and continuing into Part 7 of the videos, I get interviewed by our friend Charles and talk about the Guidance we received, how I responded to it, etc.. Click here to go directly to Part 6 to watch that interview.
Or click here to be taken to the YouTube page which shows ALL the wedding videos.
Enjoy!
Needless to say, this Guidance was shocking to us both (and completely terrifying to our commitment-phobic egos) but we both knew that it was in perfect alignment with our new Purpose. We therefore went ahead and followed the Guidance, meeting each other in person for the first time just a week later, and then getting married another week after that. It brought up so much of our unconscious fears and resistance, mostly about what our family and friends would think, and continues to flush up lots of emotion for healing.
If you scroll down below (past the videos), you can read a more detailed account which Armelle wrote (and I edited) about how the Guidance originally came in, her reactions to it as well as mine after she first called me to share it, etc.. Also, just a few days after our marriage we felt inspired to record a short video of ourselves talking about how it all happened, which you can watch below. There's also a video of Armelle being interviewed about it at the Miracles Concert in Sweden last Sept (2010), and another video of our friend and mentor, David Hoffmeister, talking about how radical Guidance like that can serve to undo the ego.
In addition, I've included a link right beneath this paragraph which will take you to all our wedding videos which we've posted on YouTube; an event overflowing with laughter and happy tears of Joy! If you want to watch a shorter version of the story about how we came together, then you can go directly to Part 6 of the wedding videos. About halfway through that video and continuing into Part 7 of the videos, I get interviewed by our friend Charles and talk about the Guidance we received, how I responded to it, etc.. Click here to go directly to Part 6 to watch that interview.
Or click here to be taken to the YouTube page which shows ALL the wedding videos.
Enjoy!
The Path of Relationship
The way that Erik and I met and were married is certainly what the world would call unusual, for three weeks before our wedding, we still hadn't even met!
Our journey together began when I received, in Oct 2009, a powerful heart-opening vision of Erik and I going on a world tour together to share his music and my Inner Dance. At that time we hadn't met or even had any communication, and I had only just heard about him through our mutual spiritual community of friends; that he had left his old life, his house, and hypnotherapy career and had become a "traveling minstrel for God" about six months prior!
When I shared this vision of the world tour with Erik through an email - our first communication - he responded almost immediately with authentic enthusiasm about the idea, even though he knew almost nothing about me!
Shortly after receiving his email response, I received another powerful vision that we were supposed to get married in about two weeks time! I saw a vision of the wedding happening during the weekend of a spiritual retreat that we had both already planned to be at, just south of Cincinnati in northern Kentucky, and I also saw a vision of a tattooed ring on my wedding ring finger!
After three days of trying to discover if I had gone completely crazy or if this was truly Guidance from Spirit, I nervously called mine and Erik's mutual friend and teacher, David Hoffmeister, to share the Guidance I was receiving. David happened to be in Utah in which he was giving a retreat at which Erik was present, and so after our brief conversation, he happily passed the phone to Erik so that I could share the Guidance I was getting in what was to be mine and Erik's very first phone conversation!!
Fortunately, he didn't hang up on me or think I was insane, but instead seemed quite peaceful as he listened to me! He shared that it was indeed quite "big" as far as leaps of faith go, but he seemed completely open to it as a possibility, which really made me feel more relaxed that I wasn't going crazy!
We didn't make any immediate decisions over the phone just then, but simply remained open and agreed to stay in communication over the next days. At the time, Erik was in Utah and would be flying to California the next day to spend time with his family for a week before then flying to Cincinnati where we would be staying in the same house with our mutual friends. Therefore, we knew we'd be seeing each other a week later no matter what.
Erik later shared with me that after we hung up the phone, he felt his ego-mind beginning to go crazy as well, but through speaking with David, he allowed himself to start sinking into the possibility that this was truly meant to be, and would be a Blessing to All. About 20 minutes later, after sharing the Guidance with others who could immediately feel the Joy it was coming from, he felt himself surrender into an experience of total Peace in which he felt absolutely certain that he would indeed be marrying me!
And so it was! Two weeks later, we were married, leaping joyfully into the Unknown with faith and trust, supported only by a deep inner Knowing that we both felt. We had God, or Awakening, as our primary Purpose for our union, so we knew that everything we would be going through together would be used and dedicated to that one Purpose. And that's what we've been doing since our marriage in October 2009, using every opportunity to grow and remember the Truth of Who We Are.
Everything we need to fulfill this Purpose is given by our daily Life through the forgiveness opportunities that naturally arise. We don't need to ever seek for anything that isn't already immediately available. Every encounter we have, every relationship, however it shows up, is an Opportunity for forgiving our illusions and remember Love's eternal Presence. This Presence is our True Identity and is beyond everything we could ever imagine... far from what we think we are as human beings.
My experience is that ALL our relationships offer us a fast track to the Experience of Truth when we are willing to just be totally authentic. It is about being with whatever seems to be happening in its pure nakedness, free of our own false ideas and interpretations. Just opening up fully to whatever experience is being offered to me in the moment... being willing to explore the experience I'm having on the inside emotionally... being curious about it, without pretending I already know anything. This is how we can "be as little children" in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus taught. Without holding onto my past "knowledge", I experience a childlike sense of wonder and surprise at the Beauty in each moment.
Each encounter, relationship, or situation in which I feel discomfort arising offers me another opportunity to be released from my sense of imprisonment. All that has been repressed or pushed out of awareness will come up again and again, until I am willing to face it with forgiving eyes, to look at it, and to go through it until it's nothingness is seen.
That's the Gift that my relationship with Erik offers me, and it is the Gift that ALL of our relationships offer us. In each moment, the relationship offers me release from the past by inviting me to accept the Present Moment as it is, no matter what form it appears to take.
And that's what we propose to you who are reading this now and feeling a Calling to go deeper into your own journey of Awakening. We invite you to connect with us if you feel inspired to - through an email, a one-on-one session over the phone or Skype, or an in-person meeting - and share whatever is on your heart. Being truly Helpful to our brothers and sisters is our only function...
I leave you with one helpful question that is worth remembering in all moments of conflict, be it with another person, a situation, or even with yourself: "Do I want to be right, or do I want to be happy?"
With Love and Gratitude for every step you take to Remember the Truth Which has never been lost, but has always been Held safely within your Heart, just waiting to be recognized once and for all,
Armelle
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| On our wedding day. :-) |
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