Spiritual growth | Living Gracefully

Preparing for a Soulful Christmas

Image of Nativity With Christmas rapidly approaching, it’s a good idea to take some time to think about what Christmas means for us.

For many, Christmas is a time of reflection, sharing and love.

It’s the time of year when we go to extra lengths to show those we love just how much they mean to us.

So spending some time connecting with and being moved by our soul, as well as reflecting on the spiritual aspects of Christmas, is a wonderful place to begin.

But what does it actually mean to connect with our soul and the spiritual aspects of Christmas? Continue reading

Vegan or not, true compassion extends to animals and people alike

By Karen Scott Leave a Comment

One of the many accusations frequently levelled at vegans is how intolerant they are towards people who choose to eat meat and people who behave cruelly towards animals.

I’ve personally encountered interactions just like this.

For example, I follow articles and social media about animal equality, which support the elimination of animal farming practices and other forms of cruelty towards animals.

And what I’ve repeatedly noticed are vegans imposing guilt on others who comment on the upsetting content of the posts, but who haven’t yet arrived at a decision to stop eating meat.

Instead of influencing these people towards veganism, they end up alienating and embarrassing them.

I feel this is one of the reasons, vegans are often viewed as extremist, unrealistic and, at times, a little flaky.

They’re seldom seen as compassionate because their compassion can appear to be quite biased towards animals.

So why would it be helpful for vegans to change their approach and attitude towards people doing harm to animals?

Because then our love becomes grace-filled and truly unconditional. Continue reading

People just want to be loved, don’t they?

By Karen Scott 6 Comments

‘I just want to be loved.’

Have you ever heard someone say these words, or have you ever said them yourself?

Well I’ve definitely heard them before.

And it makes me wonder what these words really mean.

Is that what people really want? To be loved?

Most people would answer with a resounding ‘YES!’

‘Yes, I want to be loved. Of course I do.’

But could it be that, rather than wanting to be loved, it’s the experience of feeling love that people are actually searching for?

If it is, then our attention needs to shift from looking outside ourselves for love, to the more immediate experience of love which can be found within.

Yet because so few people know how to connect with love in a fulfilling way, they look to others for love instead.

They turn their attention outside in, and stop viewing life from the inside out. Continue reading

Recognising the symbols, themes and influences in life

By Karen Scott 2 Comments

I was born in the year of the Snake.

When I made this discovery, I felt an immediate rapport with these much-feared, slithering creatures.

I don’t have a fear of snakes.

I’ve never had reason to.

Unlike those who do fear them, I find myself excited when they make an appearance in my life.

I see them as sacred messengers of Spirit, who cross my path to impart some wisdom.

And just as nature holds messages for me, so do many other facets of my life.

My astrological signs, animal totems, past lives, angels and every other influence of that nature, have each had their own significance and impact.

Whether subtle or profound, each of these elements are all a part of the jigsaw puzzle which is my life. Continue reading

A vegan life — naturally compassionate

By Karen Scott Leave a Comment

Choosing a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle is growing in popularity. More and more people understand the many benefits to be gained from this choice.

Compassion, kindness and peace of mind, as well as improved energy and physical health, to name a few.

Yet conventional thinking considers eating meat to be normal and good for you.

Being vegan, therefore, is often viewed by mainstream thinking to be a radical approach to life.

Few seem to stop to consider the radical nature of factory farming, with its breeding and slaughtering of food animals en masse to turn a buck and satisfy the lust for meat. Continue reading

Being vegan — the harmless way to live

By Karen Scott 2 Comments

Image of lambs I love animals.

I love them in the same way I love trees, mountains, the ocean; all of nature.

And, although I wasn’t a child who fussed or fretted about animals, I would dearly have loved a little cat of my own. But that was really the extent of my interest in pets.

I didn’t feel a need to acquire a menagerie, or possess or pat every animal in sight. I simply appreciated the differences and beauty they offered to my experience of life.

At Easter time, when we traveled to the country to visit family, along the way Dad would point out the lambs that had just been docked or the sheep which had just been shorn.

At these times, I always felt that there was something unnatural and unkind about what had been done to those animals.

They were being shorn as Autumn was arriving.

Of course, I now understand the kindness behind docking — albeit unnatural and imposed.

But my natural, first impression, was an unpleasant sinking feeling and an overwhelming surge of compassion. Especially for the little baby lambs. Continue reading

Karma: its influence on your life and spiritual path

By Karen Scott 2 Comments

We’re always moving along our spiritual path.

Whether we’re actively seeking it or trying to avoid it, we can’t escape being on the road to enlightenment.

Karma sees to that.

Sometimes, it feels that we’ve detoured, or that we’ve become lost in life’s maze. We can feel that life has taken over and is moving us along. Yet even then, we remain firmly set on our spiritual journey through life.

Though we may not feel connected to spirit, we can be sure that karma is at work and is providing us with the lessons necessary for our growth. Continue reading

Little bird

By Karen Scott Leave a Comment

Image: ajari

Let the bars bend
Let them crumble and fall away
And on new wings unfolded

Set flight

To new destinations
As the layers of an age now past are shed
And a new you revealed

Your course now set in motion
And your awakened mind accompanies
Truth’s enrapturing light

So Listen

Be not too ready to move in haste

Sit

Be still

And your mind shall carry you
Beyond the course matter of life’s trivialities
Where you shall be free

The unfettered freedom of Being
Which liberates even the most imprisoned soul

So being no different than a caged bird
Release yourself from your jailer’s fast grip
To find that…you are We

How my brother met his Guardian Angel

By Karen Scott 4 Comments

Mark, my brother, has been responsible for introducing me to many new and wonderful experiences.

He has, on numerous occasions, acted as a true friend and guide to me through the more difficult challenges I’ve encountered in this life.

Here’s Mark’s grace-filled story of his passage from the dark night of his soul, into light.

Mark’s story

I’d reached a stage in my life when I no longer believed in God.

At the time, I knew little about spirituality apart from the teachings of the Catholic Church, which I grew up with.

My partner would talk about auras, Guides, the Light and past lives, but I was very sceptical about these New Age things. It’s just that there was something about the way he spoke about them and believed in them that meant I didn’t discount it as nonsense.

It was the sudden end of that relationship, in August 1994, when everything changed. And, from my perspective today, I can say that the end of that relationship was one of the most important events in my life. Continue reading

Positive + Positive = Positive

By Karen Scott Leave a Comment

Image of magnetised iron filings Many people talk to me about positive thinking.

They often tell me they’re doing their best to avoid negative people. But what they don’t seem to understand is how negative they themselves are being in that very moment of judgment.

Positive + Positive = Positive

A statement reflective of this might be: ‘I’m working with positive thinking and I’m finding I’m just getting on so much better with everyone!’

Positive + Negative = Negative

That statement might go something like: ‘I’m working with positive thinking but all the negative people are getting me down.’

Choosing to see someone as negative only adds to your isolation and can only result in you becoming even more negative. Continue reading