Mocha Gets His Wings

Mocha the Wonder Dog!

My little Mocha, my beloved miniature Doberman pinscher is an angel now. He met an untimely death, much too soon for me. He would’ve been five last month.

He was such a sweet dog with an awesome personality and a really expressive face. His little tan-colored eyebrows were constantly rising and falling, giving him a concerned look. He loved it when I sang “The Roof is on Fire” to him, replacing the word “roof” with “Moch.” He would wag his tail wildly.

He had a ton of nicknames – Moch, Mochacino, Mocha chocolata, Mocha Toka Choka, Mocha java, Mocha face, Ciao Ciao and Bat boy – all of which he answered to. Maybe I should’ve called him Prancer because of the way he strutted down the street, his little butt shaking from side to side. Wherever I walked him, in the red rocks of Sedona or the beaches of Massachusetts, people stopped to pet him and comment on how cute he was. “This is Mocha,” I would say. “He’s a really good boy.”

He was really a funny dog. He’d walk on two legs a lot, mostly in an effort to see what food was on the counter. He once stuck his entire head in a castle-shaped cake that I’d made. Of course, it was so funny; I couldn’t get mad at him. He loved kids so much that he’d walk up into a group of 10 kids who were hiking and sit right in the middle of them so they could pet him.

When I got the call that told me he was gone, I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. I’d just dropped him off the day before. Some part of me must’ve known he was going. I made a point to sit and hold him for awhile before I left, not something I normally do when leaving for a trip. I remember leaving and thinking I should turn around and go back and see him, “that’s silly,” I told myself, “you’ll see him next week.”

I was very calm as I heard the news. I just kept pacing around the kitchen as I listened. It wasn’t until the vet asked me if I wanted his body to bury or his ashes to keep, that it started to sink in. She told me his death was immediate. What other result could there be? Big car, little dog.  I told her through tears that I just wanted to let him go.

Of course I didn’t want to let him go, I wanted him home with me and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I couldn’t believe I was never going to see him again, never going to hold him and cuddle with him again.

For the last month I’d been thinking how much cleaner my apartment would be without him shedding and how much more freedom I’d have to travel without having to be home for him. Now I cherish every one of his hairs that I pull off my clothes, stopping to examine them before letting them go.

I am still so sad that he’s gone. I keep hearing his collar jingle in the middle of my workday, or I think I caught a glimpse of him curled up on my bed, but no. He comes to me in my meditations, sits with me and wags his tail.

I know in time the sadness will pass and I’ll be left with only the good memories. I love Mocha very much and he loves me still… wherever he is… that’s the way it is and the way it will always be. He’s always with me now – my forever mascot.

Mocha was a comfort to me through some very tough times in my life. Very often, in Arizona, it was just Mocha and I hanging out. He kept me company all day and every night, never leaving my side. Many times my friends would come to walk him and he wouldn’t go with him. He’d sit stubbornly and refuse to budge, preferring to be with me. I can only believe that the tough times are behind me now, or he never would’ve left….

Everybody loved Mocha. Most of all, me. I feel him around me now and know that his mission here was done. He completed it the way he did everything: with fun and love; grace and ease. Mocha helped me open my heart, and for that, he earned his wings. I’m very glad for the time I had with him, my beloved Mocha-faced dog. Thank you, Mocha!

Corinne’s novel, Walk Like an Egyptian is available at Amazon.com or from Llumina Press.

Check out Corinne’s Facebook Fan Page for tips for beginning writers.

Visit Corinne’s Web site: http://www.CasazzaWriting.com

The Wisdom of Uncertainty or There’s No Place Like Home

At the start of this year, I decided to give up my six year sojourn in the desert of Sedona and head back to Boston. It wasn’t an easy decision. I was scared and indecisive. I felt I had to give up everything I had built and known to step into the unknown; into the wisdom of uncertainty.

No one likes uncertainty. Least of all me. I am a Taurus and I like to know where I’m going, what I’m doing and even what time it will happen. I want to know my bank account is large and there’s a plot of land in my name. I like things certain.

Ok, so even though I am Taurus, I have come to realize that being stubborn is not for my highest good and this wasn’t the first time I was taking a leap of faith and stepping into the unknown.

Usually when I do this, I find a couple of things: First I really don’t have to give up everything. I just have to be willing to. Second, I find something better than I ever could have imagined. Something magical.

I remember how filled with doubt I was at the prospect of coming back to my family. Honestly, weren’t they a big part of the reason I left? I couldn’t find myself standing in the midst of their shadows. I worried that they’d expect certain things from me and that I don’t do things in the accustomed or accepted way. I worried I wouldn’t have the freedom to come and go as I pleased.

I also realized this was an opportunity to show them who I am… what the desert sand and red rock had molded me into. The desert sun had dried up some of my fears and made me stronger. After six years in the desert, I know so much more about myself. I learned who I am, what I want and what I’m capable of.

I spent Jan through March of this year selling and giving away a lot of my furniture, books and possessions. In April I shipped what was left across the country in a truck and headed back in my VW Jetta with a dear friend who was kind enough to fly out and drive back with me and my beloved four-year-old miniature Doberman pinscher.

What I found when I got back here was completely astounding. I had a job within two weeks of arriving. In this economy? Yup. The winter weather has been unseasonably warm and the love and support of my family and friends is amazing.

I have a quiet, comfortable place to live and the blessing of working from home. No one is more shocked than me at how happy I am to be here and how things have fallen into place. When Spirit wants you somewhere, it can sure make things happen in a hurry. Best of all, my family sees who I am and appreciates me. I’ve had a great time hanging out, cooking and celebrating the holidays with them. I am so grateful to be exactly where I am – even though I thought it was the last place on earth I’d ever be! That’s the magic that happens when you step into the wisdom of uncertainty.

Corinne’s novel, Walk Like an Egyptian is available at Amazon.com or from Llumina Press.

Check out Corinne’s Facebook Fan Page for tips for beginning writers.

Follow Corinne on Twitter @CorinneCasazza

Visit Corinne’s Web site: http://www.CasazzaWriting.com

Why is Judith Orloff yelling at me? OR The Power of Meditation and Gratitude

A few years back I got to interview Judith Orloff on her book, Positive Energy. I’ve really enjoyed Judith’s books and actually have the opportunity in a few weeks to interview her on Emotional Freedom. I’m looking forward to that.

I had a house guest a few days before I was to interview Judith last time.  I came home and my guest told me that Judith Orloff was yelling at someone on TV. I didn’t think anything of it. …. Until about 10 minutes before I had to interview Judith!

I got myself into quite a tizzy with negative self talk. “OMG, she’s gonna yell at me. She’ll think my questions are stupid, she won’t like me, etc.” I was so wound up; I thought I was going to be sick.

“OK, Corinne, now what are you going to do? You can’t interview her in this state.” I told myself.

With the remaining time I had, I went into meditation.  Once calm, I asked the simple question, “What should I do?”

The answer was immediate, “Start with gratitude.”

When I got Judith on the phone, the first thing I said to her was, “I’ve really enjoyed reading your work, not only from the standpoint of someone who’s always learning about spirituality, but also as a writer.”

There was a slight pause.

Then Judith said, “That’s the best compliment you could’ve given me! I love writing.”

That set the tone for our whole conversation and I had a great interview with Ms. Orloff.

By the way, I later remembered it wasn’t Judith Orloff who was on TV screaming, it was Suze Orman! Amazing what our minds can do to trip us up!

Corinne’s novel, Walk Like an Egyptian is available at Amazon.com or from Llumina Press.

Check out Corinne’s Facebook Fan Page.

Follow Corinne on Twitter @CorinneCasazza

Visit Corinne’s Web site: http://www.CasazzaWriting.com

Writing as Healing

Walk Like an Egyptian -- front cover

If you saw my interview on Arizona TV, you know I talked a bit about writing as healing. I do believe that everything that we need to heal is in locked in our cellular memories and comes up when we’re ready to heal it.

In my own case, while writing my first book, I remembered entire conversations from the dinner table 30 years earlier.  I was five and six years old at the time of these discussions. As I remembered things, I’d call my sister who is older than I am (OK, Donna, I won’t say how many years) and ask if she recalled the same. She always did, “Corinne, where did this come from?” she’d ask.

Yup. Cellular memory.

I believe that everyone has the ability to heal this way. Start writing and stuff will come up. When I got to Arizona and opened up the first draft of Walk Like an Egyptian that I’d started writing in NH, I found a story about a woman who moved from Boston to Phoenix to become a flight attendant. In the past, I’d had a great fear of flying. In the year since I’d started this draft and moved, I had overcome that fear.

This is a continuous process of healing. It goes on and on as we evolve and become more of who we truly are. And, that is why I write, after all – to know who I truly am and share whatever I’ve learned along the way.

So, if you’re ready for a journey of transformation, start writing!

__________________

Corinne’s novel, Walk Like an Egyptian is available at Amazon.com or from Llumina Press.

Check out Corinne’s Facebook Fan Page.

Follow Corinne on Twitter @CorinneCasazza

Visit Corinne’s Web site: http://www.CasazzaWriting.com

Get into Your Heart

What does being in your heart space have to do with writing? Everything.

I had the pleasure of hearing Gregg Braden speak here in Sedona earlier this year. According to Braden, the brain and the heart both have electrical and magnetic fields and these fields are relatively weak in the brain. The heart is up to 100 times stronger electrically and up to 5000 times stronger magnetically. If you were going to plug into a source to write from, which would you choose?

The heart is the source of all our internal wisdom, knowledge and power. With it, we can easily tap into a story and get our head, ego and personality out of the way. The words come through you, not from you.  And the by-products are awesome.

I recently had a reading from Ray of Sedona, a leading psychic here. He told me, “You can’t experience joy when you’re in your head.” I never thought about it, but it’s really true.

I know when I write a good scene. I can feel it. Sometimes I’m so excited about something I’ve written, I actually jump up and down. This happened when I was writing a particular scene in Walk Like an Egyptian. I won’t tell you which one (blush)….

Anyway, being in our heart space really opens up the energy of Divine Truth and Wisdom and allows us access to it.

For a great meditation to get you into your heart space, check out Michael James’ Heart Breath Meditation. It’s how I learned to get into my heart space and it continues to be invaluable to me.

Can you be open to at least the possibility that the wisdom of the Universe is at your fingertips? Good. Now start writing!

______________ 

Corinne’s novel, Walk Like an Egyptian is available at Amazon.com or from Llumina Press.

Check out Corinne’s Facebook Fan Page.

Follow Corinne on Twitter @CorinneCasazza

Visit Corinne’s Web site: http://www.CasazzaWriting.com

Bullet-Proof Research

Doing research is an integral part of writing. One writer I know has Google.com as her home page because she does so much research for her novels. Research serves to make your novel believable, giving it teeth. The same is true for non-fiction.

When I researched St. Gerard Maella while writing Divided We Fall, I found that this saint fit into my plot better than if I had made him up! Going online and viewing his sanctuary in Italy not only helped me write its description, it allowed me to visualize the scene I was writing. Talk about invaluable! I used the same technique while writing Walk Like an Egyptian to describe restaurants and hotels in Los Angeles that I hadn’t yet frequented.

Recently I interviewed American’s most beloved psychic, Sylvia Browne. She told me when she’s writing a book, her family room is filled with stacks and stacks of paper. She wrote The Mystical Life of Jesus long before The Davinci Code came out. Mystical Life states that Christ didn’t die on the cross, that he traveled to France after the crucifixion. Sylvia’s publisher warned her that she would get an onslaught of nasty letters.

No such thing happened. Why? Because as her publisher said, “You made it bulletproof, Sylvia!”
That’s the power of diligent research. It makes your work stand on its own and it helps you as a writer to describe and formulate scenes.

Corinne’s novel, Walk Like an Egyptian is available at Amazon.com or from Llumina Press.
Check out Corinne’s Facebook Fan Page.
Follow Corinne on Twitter @CorinneCasazza
Visit Corinne’s Web site: http://www.CasazzaWriting.com

Sex Magic in “Walk Like an Egyptian”

The ancient Egyptians believed that sex was a Divine route to God/Goddess. In fact, they felt it was the fastest one. They believed whenever they were in the throes of human intimacy, they could use that creation energy to manifest anything they chose. Yup. They just had to hold it in mind. Visualize it. Or Scream about it!

I wrote about this ritual in my novel, “Walk Like an Egyptian.” It’s described in chapter 23 of the novel.

I am inviting you to use this ritual. Be creative. Ask for what you want. Write to me at ccaz67@yahoo.com and let me know what you manifest. At the very least it will be fun!

Corinne’s novel, Walk Like an Egyptian is available at Amazon.com or from Llumina Press.

Check out Corinne’s Facebook Fan Page.

Follow Corinne on Twitter @CorinneCasazza

Visit Corinne’s Web site: http://www.CasazzaWriting.com

Character Profiles

Before beginning that novel, spend some time getting to know your characters. I recommend at least a 5-10 page bio on your main characters. Some people do as many as 25 pages.

You need to know about their childhood through the present the following information:

• Who influenced them
• What kind of relationship they had with their parents, siblings, relatives
• Nicknames
• What kind of friendships did they have? Have they lasted? Why?
• What is in their psyche that will trip them up? i.e. what are their limiting beliefs?

This last one, the issue of their psyche is most important to the plot. What is going to trip them up? How will they misinterpret things? What are they afraid of? Have they been abandoned, rejected, or reviled?

 In terms of the book, what does your hero want more than anything and what is he/she willing to do to get it?

Happy Writing!

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The Energy of Separation and Relationship

Recently, I’ve been taking inventory of my actions in my most intimate relationships. I had a lot of resistance to doing this. I got some help when a monk stopped by my house to bless me. His blessing gave me the boost of light I needed to work through some of my initial resistance, and it was the dogged determination of a dear friend who helped me through the deepest, toughest parts.

When I looked at my actions, what I saw horrified me. I had a blatant disregard for the feelings of others. In almost every instance, this was true – talk about an ingrained pattern. I had shut down my heart and surrounded it with armor. I don’t have to tell you how far this got me in relationship.

What is behind this?  A long-standing, deep-rooted, cherished family belief: The world is a big, scary place and everyone is out to get me. Everyone. That includes the people I love and those who love me. I would reject and hurt people before they could do it to me – because I had an underlying belief they would. If anyone got too close, I’d just swat at them and push them away. If that didn’t work, I would coldly announce that I was done and moving on, giving no regard at all to how they felt.  As this realization came over me, I felt a strong burning in my heart, the confirmation of truth. I felt relieved and grateful. There was a huge release of energy from my crown. Somewhere inside my head an alarm sounded, “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!” I knew it was my truth. I began crying tears of joy.

But there was more to it than that. I wasn’t able to trust and connect with others. My partner said it was almost like I wanted revenge against men. It all led back to separation. My Dad punished me leaving me alone in a chair for what felt like hours. Miserable and lonely, I felt abandoned and unloved. Please know I am not blaming my Dad for anything.  I am aware it was my choice to carry this story around with me. I could’ve let it go at any time.

I replaced the story of my Dad leaving me alone in my chair, with a story of me sitting on his lap in the chair, spending time with him, talking to him about what was bothering me and cuddling with him. In short, having my Dad love, nurture and connect with me. A much better truth.  After all, my subconscious doesn’t know what actually happened and what didn’t.

Finally there were the lies. I had been having difficulty speaking my truth in relationship and many times, just outright lying to the person who was supposed to be most important to me. I realized this was the tact I had taken with my Dad. I lied to him all the time to get what I wanted and it worked! Some repatterning was required here too – I need to be open and honest and tell the truth to connect with my partner and get my needs met. Once I knew this, I got a sharp ringing in both ears that drowned out any sound in the room. A definite confirmation of my truth.  It cracks me up; it’s like my ego saying, “La, la, la, la, la, I can’t hear you!”

I had no idea these unconscious beliefs were running the show all this time. That’s how insidious the energy of separation and ego is. I am very grateful to have this awareness about myself now. This means I can make a different choice. I already have.

Braco in Sedona: The Real Deal

I hadn’t heard of Braco (pronounced “Braht -zho”), the Croatian healer who heals with his gaze, until a friend forwarded me an e-mail that he was going to be in Sedona. I took a look at his web site and felt compelled to buy a ticket. What’s $8 after all?

If I had known what the experience would be like, I would’ve bought a lot more tickets! People who had experienced Braco before bought tickets to several sessions to feel the cumulative effects of his healing.

The event was held in a meeting room at Sedona Rouge. We filed in and were seated. One of the producers of Braco’s American tour spoke to us to prepare us before he entered. She told us Braco would gaze at us for about 5 minutes while we stood. We could stay and meditate for a few minutes after.

When Braco started gazing at us, I could feel all this incredible, unconditional love and my heart just opened. He gazed slowly back and forth across the crowd. It looked to me like the whole audience was swaying. The energy was palpable and really powerful.

When I sat down my head was spinning. A friend who was with me remarked that this must have been what it felt like to be in the presence of Christ – just pure love. Another friend said she saw Braco shape-shift into an Archangel. I didn’t see anything; but I felt that incredible love and feeling of Oneness all around me.

So many healers come to Sedona, that it’s easy to get jaded here. In my experience, Braco is the real deal: humble, unassuming, and packing a mightily powerful energy. If you have the chance to be in his presence, I highly recommend it. You can check out his American tour at BracoAmerica.com.