Moving From A Competitive Mindset To A Cooperative One February 26, 2012

Moving from a competitive mindset to a cooperative mind is a matter of realization and desire.  The human race is maturing and a big part of it is the shift in mindsets that occurs during a shift in era.  We are moving into a cooperative age, the Age of Aquarius.  Pisces was a competitive age and many people are still holding that mindset, however a few individuals over the years have been born with the cooperative mindset to serve as seeds to the new age!  This number continues to grow.

Guilty by association is a principle UGD teaches and it works very simply.  You become like those you associate with.  Of course you will be attracted to those who are like you, this is another Universal Principle.  By using this principle you can personally choose the shift in mindsets.  All gangs have leaders, and however the leader acts so will the other members, yes?  Well, not necessarily this is an example of Piscean competitive thinking.  It is possible to have a cooperative group of like-minded individuals where each person participates equally and independently but with a cooperative mindset and similar goals.  Their values will be the same, and the outcome will be mutually beneficial for all people not just their gang (group or organization).  “If you become more self-responsible and affiliate yourself with others who are making the same choice, you will always have what you need when you need it. Always.” Harald Sandø

“A fully collaborative society is just as unthinkable in a world based on competition as competition was for an authority-based society (The time of Kings and Pharaohs).” Miki Kashtan  What is your mindset?  Look at your friends!

The answer to the question of how a Resource Based Economy (Cooperative mindset) will become the norm is as simple as attrition.  It will be a 100^th monkey scenario and we are near reaching that point if we have not already reached it.  Only a small fraction of the population needs embrace this new mindset and it will slowly spread until it reaches wildfire proportions.  The Occupy movement is a good example that we are reaching the point where the 99% are operating with a cooperative mindset.

Wherever your attention goes, this is what grows.  Are you concerned about being competitive in today’s market place and focused on survival or are you faithful that you will always have what you need and willing to cooperate, share, and gift this reality into being?

For more on RBE, and a Cooperative mindset, continue to follow this Transitions Blog, read the links provided above and read the eBook, “a Love Based Society” available at the website below.  I very much appreciate this opportunity to share these ideas with you today and thank you for reading “Transitions Blog”. 

Sequoia Elisabeth

Unity in Gender Diversity     Discover a Love Based Society click here

Give Up Defining Yourself February 23, 2012

“Give up defining yourself ~ to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of Conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.”  ~ Eckhart Tolle (A New Earth)

The Transitions Blog has been teaching this point from the very beginning and this is a good time to re-emphasize the relationship we have to identity.

 “We are all on a journey to discover who we are. In the process of thinking and doing, we see who we are not.  Along the way many personas emerge, and with each step you are closer to who you really are.  In the end we discover that there is really only one, and that is GOD.” (Unity in Gender Diversity)

Eckhart Tolle introduces an interesting concept which I had to really think about to comprehend what it means.  What I share here is open to interpretation as always.  What exactly is “the field of Conscious Presence”?  How does one be this?

At times we have all been connected to Source in such a way that we are aware of being aware.  It is a combination of being both a separate ego and a connected soul.  The feeling is one of knowing that you are not your body, or even your identity, but the consciousness that is aware that you are aware.

The reality is that God is all there is, and we are one individuation of this one infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being.  Since we are made in the image of this being and the expressions are infinite it matters not what this expression is, there is no way for you to not be who you are, “you cannot lose something that you are”.

No matter how you change the exterior it is the inner core which holds the essence of who you are.  Sometimes we need to test this and so this is where the need to dress up, wear costumes, and present in various ways emerges.  We are simply expressing the infinite!  This is not to presume that gender identity is not real, for this is a life path chosen for the express purpose of testing reality.  I can assure you that the inner drive to transition is profound and unavoidable.  This goes for most any and all transitions, as sure as a rock falls when dropped.  The goal is to see this field of Conscious Presence that each person holds and understand that the package is simply that.  Love the person inside!

Sequoia Elisabeth

Unity in Gender Diversity     Discover Sex and Sexuality click here

Place As A State Of Consciousness February 17, 2012

The power of place is in the consciousness you hold at the time.  Perhaps you remember the quote, “all the world’s a stage and we are merely players” William Shakespeare, or perhaps the concept of “The Matrix” presented in the movie by the same name?  When you have an experience of say the beach, it is all created in your mind!

I know this seems farfetched to some of you, but to others it will be obvious.  What this comes down to is the state of consciousness you are operating with.  Is Love on your mind or fear?  Prosperity or lack?  We are taught that if we wish to raise our consciousness we need to be in Church or some Holy place and that is simply backwards.

By being in a high state of consciousness the Church or Holy place appears.  It is possible for your entire day to be Holy, whether you are in the supermarket, school, or office!  The state of consciousness you hold will be your experience of that place.

To create this state simply clear your mind and intend the Highest and Best Good in, of, and around you at all times.  Worry is not a choice, hurry is not a choice, Holy is the Only Choice!  Deem every place you go – Holy – as this is the Ultimate reality!

The power of place then becomes the power of Holy Spirit operating in, of, and around you!  Attending church is fuel to this Holy state of consciousness, as is meditation, yoga, prayer, mantras, and a myriad of other spiritual practices.  Even menial labor, exercise, or other repetitive tasks can assist the mind in reaching a Holy state of consciousness.

All it really takes is a pure heart and clear intentions.  Your thoughts are focused on the Highest Good for everyone, not just yourself.  Your experience is centered in Joy, not only yours but everyone’s.  I speak of a feeling that is centered in the heart and comes from your core, not the superficial feeling of happiness that can never last.

With practice and pure intentions the place no longer is important, because your life will be Heaven on Earth!  “A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world.  Everyone you meet is your mirror.”  Ken Keyes

Sequoia Elisabeth

Unity in Gender Diversity             Free eBooks

 

Why Transition? February 15, 2012

Recently I was asked why anyone would want to take hormones and have surgery to change their sex.  They were curious about the personal benefits involved.  We often hear the costs involved, such as $$$, social status, and sexual dysfunction, however what a cysgender person cannot know is the pain, dysfunction, and inner turmoil that exists for a transgender person.  The very question demonstrates a lack of understanding.  So let’s set the record straight by explaining a few things.

First of all, incongruency exists for a transgender person, because they live in the opposite body of which both their brain and identity have aligned.  They are operating without the proper chemistry and attempting to work with the wrong tools.  You can use pliers to hammer nails but it just does not work very well.

Hormones assist in the regulation of brain function.  What determines Gender Identity is the effect of hormones on the fetus in the earliest stages of development.  “Scientific evidence has been growing that somehow certain brain-structures in the hypothalamus (the BSTc region) determine each person’s core gender feelings and innate gender identity. These structures are “hard-wired” pre-natally in the lower brain centers and central nervous system (CNS) during the early stages of pregnancy”.  (Dennis, Carina 2004)

Further, “Six years ago, the Netherlands Institute of Brain Research published the results of a study they had been conducting…. A subsequent report was published last year in the leading international journal for neurological studies, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism [85 (5): 2034-41; May, 2000]….  What the researchers found were significant differences in the brains of men and women relevant to reproductive hormones, cognition, emotions, and our body’s responses to them. The differences were both in magnitude and consistency and involve a region of the hypothalamus identified as the BSTc. Human males average about twice as many neurons within the BSTc as do females. In both males and females, transsexuals did not have the neuron number typical of their gender, but, instead, had the number typical of the sex they always believed they should be.” (Niedermayer, Grace 2004)

The relief a transgender person feels from the proper hormones is usually a euphoric experience.  The beautiful thing about contra-hormone therapy (CHT) is the effects are reversible completely for about the first six months and even after years of therapy if the person decides to revert, although sterility is likely.  In only a few weeks it is clear if CHT is the right choice.

Testosterone in a body wired for estrogen or vice versa will create dysphoria, agitation, and irritability.  So if euphoria and a general peaceful feeling are not experienced then CHT is not the answer and other treatment is indicated.  Yes, CHT is a treatment for a medical condition, gender incongruency (formally known as Gender Dsyphoria).

As in any medical condition it is best to have specific medical guidance by someone with experience in gender therapy!  It is possible to treat yourself, just as anyone with any medical condition can do, however the results very drastically.  Hormones are not a recreational drug!  I find this almost comical that someone would think so, and yet invariably people do.  If you would like to know more about hormones, their effects, what to expect, other gender and sexual info please read my eBook, Sex and Sexuality, One Woman’s Journey of Discovery.

Sequoia Elisabeth

Unity in Gender Diversity             Free eBooks

 

Discipline, a tool for better living February 12, 2012

Discipline is key to success in just about anything you do in life.  Now there will be serendipitous successes, however in the larger picture a person must be disciplined to achieve anything of greatness.  Think back through your life and notice the big successes.  Did they take planning and fortitude to complete?

Building a career, a house, completing a gender transition, making a move to a different country, etc. all take discipline, because they are major undertakings.  Even small tasks such as cooking dinner or washing laundry benefit from forethought and planning.  We have all tried to do things without planning and ended up doing the task over and over before it was done correctly.  Research pays off!

Thought, word, action is the process in any transition. First you visualize the goal or the end product and then you write down a plan and/or discuss the plan with someone you respect and trust.  Once the vision has been created and the process is firm within your mind and those helping, action is the next step.  It is important to believe in yourself and actually take action or it will simply be a pipe dream.  Un-acted on dreams tend to morph into resentment and become destructive, so this brings us back to discipline.

Building discipline takes time and effort, but with determination and the power of intention there is nothing you cannot achieve.  Martial arts are a good way to practice discipline as is any sport.  Arts and crafts are also a way to build discipline.  Any activity that requires repeated practice to perfect is an exercise in discipline.  Little do you realize learning an instrument or foreign language is actually building a skill that serves in many ways.

When you are faced with a major transition the discipline you developed in our younger years will pay off in spades!  This is the point behind 12+ years of school, years of sports, or music lessons.  It all leads up to greater consciousness.  This is what education is all about anyway, growth of the soul, and spiritual consciousness.

Discipline is a tool used on the path, the better your discipline the stronger the growth.  So don’t get caught up in the details and the seemingly menial tasks along the way.  Discipline develops over time and when used consciously it empowers you to manifest all your dreams!

Sequoia Elisabeth

Unity in Gender DiversityFree eBooks

Transgender? February 7, 2012

How does one know they are transgender?  The answer to this question is both easy and complex.  Easy in that only the individual knows they are transgender by how they self-identify and complex in that identities often blur together.

A person can identify with many others who are important in their life.  Gender is not always important, meaning they may identify with both men and woman and sometimes other beings as well, such as animals, plants, or insects.  We do it all the time, it is called anthropomorphization, projecting human characteristics on to things other than human.  A statue of stone can be made in a human image signifying a personality cold as stone.  Or metal could be used to give the figure a fiery nature.   You are not your body, but a Spiritual Being having a Human experience.

Getting back to self-identity, gender identity is usually apparent by the age of 3-6.  For this reason historically the Native Americans and recently some modern families are choosing to allow their child to tell them how they identify instead of looking between the legs and then pasting them with an identity.  Certain characteristics such as toys chosen, behavior in certain situations, and how the child interacts can be indicators of masculine or feminine characteristics.  However just because a boy likes to play with dolls does not make him transgender.

Gender is a spectrum not a binary and in fact 80% of the population falls somewhere in the middle of the bell curve.  It is rare to be totally male or completely female in gender.  Just think back about your life and did you not enjoy doing things which were considered opposite of your gender?

The point of the Transgender movement that has been growing since the fifties is equality.  Everyone no matter their gender, race, orientation, status, finances, appearance, mentality or any other characteristic deserves to be treated as an equal.  Each person in their own way is an expression of God, Great Spirit, or Infinite Intelligence.  And it is up to the individual to decide how they identify!

Doctors, Lawyers, or parents do not have the right to impose their interpretations on any other person.  Now they can and will offer their expertise, but it is still up to the individual to take that information and do with it what they will.  Even a child 3-6 years old can tell their parents how they feel.

The parent can then provide opportunity for the child to explore their feelings, and with love and support the child will fulfill their destiny.  And for those individuals who have suppressed these feelings for decades it is never too late to give yourself permission to be yourself!!  Ultimately, Love is the answer to every question.

I encourage those with doubts or questions to explore their feelings by looking deep within the heart.  The only way to know for sure is to try different gender role expressions.  When you arrive at a conclusion it will feel right.  Of course, this is for the moment because life is filled with moments and this feeling may change, although the wiring of the brain is fixed at birth.  Life is an exercise in discovery and forgiveness.

Sequoia Elisabeth

Unity in Gender Diversity             Free eBooks

Transgender and The Age of Aquarius February 1, 2012

This blog is about terminology, identity, and transition.  The entire world is in Transition in many ways, so it is time we revisited Transgender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation so that everyone understands the meaning of certain words and concepts that put life into perspective.  First and foremost it is important to understand that gender and sex are different things and have multiple meanings.

Gender is your self-concept of who you are man, woman, transgender, androgynous or other.  Each individual is born with this, but is not aware of it till the ages of 3-6.  If a discrepancy is perceived then this awareness is often suppressed or denied, however this is now changing, children are coming out and telling parents who are actually respecting their concerns.

Cisgender is a term that specifically means “not-transgender”, and is used to mean genetic girl (GG) or genetic boy (GB), a person with a matching gender identity and physical sex who has never questioned their gender.  Since transgender persons have a label we feel it only fair for others to have one too.

Transgender is a person appearing or attempting to be a member of the opposite sex, such as a transsexual or habitual crossdresser.  This term is an umbrella term to include the entire community of individuals who cross gender boundaries on a consistent basis.  For more on terminology I cover it extensively at this link.

Sexual Orientation is also hard wired at birth and does not change, although many people now days are bisexual or pansexual meaning they are open to the individual’s personality and not so concerned with physical sex.  A homosexual is attracted to their same sex and will not consider being with the opposite sex, just as a heterosexual is only interested in the opposite sex.  With Transgender individuals these definitions get blurry, so it is up to the individual to identify.  Make no assumptions because each person is different and may change their mind from time to time, especially if they are young and exploring.  The term sex can also mean physical or biological sex, amongst other things.

Mass consciousness is shifting due to the era we are entering, The Age of Aquarius. The traits of the Aquarian Age person is that of being bisexual (pansexual) and androgynous which explains much of the trans-revolution we are experiencing today!   We are moving from the end of the Piscean era (money, power, and control) to the new era of Aquarian.  I have spoken of this in other blogs and find that this explains much of what I have been experiencing.  (A great article that explains the shift from Pisces to Aquarius is found at this link.)

Does this mean I was not to transition?  Of course not!  This is the purpose of these times and my life is a mirror of the greater whole just as your life is!  Your path is up to you and if you have questions I am happy to assist!  Please visit the website below and explore the Gender Learning Center.  It goes into gender at length as well as sexual orientation and the different aspects of each of these.  The eBook “Sex and Sexuality” is available free on this website and is an extensive look at gender, sex, orientation, sexuality, and more.  The website below lists gender and spiritual information in several formats -video, powerpoint, written, quiz, and eBook, so you can find what works best for your learning method.

The first step in loving someone is not judging them, and seeing beyond the outer appearance.  The second step is getting to know them and the third is following your heart to a deep friendship or more relationship.  It is time we let go of money, power, and control and embrace love, unity, brotherhood, and integrity.

Sequoia Elisabeth

Unity in Gender Diversity     Discover Sex and Sexuality click here