Category: Inspiration

Cozett Contemplates Security: Detaching From Struggle

Cozett Contemplates her security…

Before my meditation this morning, I was doing self-inquiry to see what my soul wanted to see come into my conscious awareness. I have learned well how important it is to do self-inquiry because not asking yourself questions leads to a life of undesirable, and vicious cycles that leave you feeling confused and frustrated and broken.

The issue of my own security came up. I think for various factors (that I will list momentarily) I’ve conditioned myself to ONLY be able to experience security when great struggle can precede it. And, only then will I allow myself to relax or acknowledge that my survival is being ensured. If you follow me closely, you know that I talk as openly as I can about my traumatic childhood and adolescence. From as early as the age of 4 I was tasked with taking care of myself. At the age of 5 I would get myself ready for headstart (like a preschool) and walk to the end of my driveway to the school. When I got home from headstart I would stand in a chair and do dishes, then because I wasn’t strong enough, my mother would run my bath and I would bathe, lay out my clothes for the next day, set my alarm and go to bed to do it all again the next day. I LOVED headstart. I LOVED my teacher! Mrs. Charlene Withrow. I will never forget that woman. In retrospect I now know she was deeply concerned about my living situation and she would periodically make home visits and always bring me…DONALD DUCK ORANGE JUICE!! It had a metal peel tab and a cool 1980’s Donald Duck print on a tiny cylindrical can. I didn’t get to grow up celebrating Christmas due to my grandmother’s religion but every time Mrs. Charlene showed up with Donald Duck Orange Juice, I felt like the luckiest child. It felt like what I would imagine my friends felt like on Christmas morning.

Nothing came easy growing up. My grandfather worked his cattle farm 7 days per week and worked at TVA 5 days per week and he never took a day off as long as he lived. He would go even when sick. He also suffered from migraines as many in my family do and how he managed to function on Goody and BC Powders while working so hard I will never know. But, what I do know is that same work ethic found itself in me, albeit in a bit of a physically weaker vessel. Though I do have my own feats in light of long bouts of illness both mentally and physically. I am proud of what I have accomplished while carrying loads that many will never understand. Working multiple jobs, owning multiple businesses, being unwaveringly patient and kind with others (which is definitely me being “too nice” too often and yes that annoys me) while maintaining privacy about my lack of security or staggering mental health issues (mostly behind me now!) it has not been easy. So, this too has conditioned me, I have conditioned myself with the experiences and emotions of being in constant struggle praying for it to payoff.

Between my childhood and adolescent context and my subsequent struggles in my adult years, it’s never really been at the forefront of my conscious awareness that I can experience security without grueling and nearly obliterating struggle.

Now, my age plays into this well. At the time of this writing I am 43 years old. Soon to be 44. I come from a different time. Up until my generation it was the cultural norm and still is in many places, both in the US and around the world, that unless you were born into wealth life would and should indeed be hard to EARN with struggle every penny. I mean, look at my grandfather. Because of his hard work my grandmother is still surviving today. He never got to enjoy the fruit of his labor though. We took 1 vacation growing up and…God love him, he was miserable and nervous and cranky the whole time. He was always cranky, really. But, he couldn’t relax, he fussed and cussed the whole time. We never did a vacation again. I was about 14 years old. People in my age group and older grew up seeing parents and grandparents who, in their lifetimes may have been some of the first people to get electricity, they used outhouses instead of bathrooms in a home, they lived off the land planting massive gardens and tending to livestock. They were the people of Appalachia, people of pioneering lifestyles.

My cousin Margo Holder and I often talk about our grandmother, Nona Schouggins. She lived on Big Ridge here in Hixson before it became full of subdivisions. It was because of her that electricity finally became available on Big Ridge. She was a medicine woman, a pioneer woman, a healer, an herbalist, she was tough mentally and physically and sometimes emotionally. But, her love held so many together in a secure embrace. Her sureness conveyed a sense of security to everyone who had the privilege of being in her life. But, her sureness came from her the tenacity that was required from her in order to ensure her own survival. Her sureness came as a result of her struggle.

So, a precedent had been set for many generations that has and is thankfully being up-ended by the advent of some serious technology. Having indoor plumbing and electricity has been a game changer for humanity. But, having internet and the ability to have visibility that can, in many cases lead to being paid, having a form of security financially by becoming an “influencer.” The ability to speak to a broad audience, from the heart about one’s experiences and wisdom has taken us from the requirement of struggling to survive to simply speaking your truth and being able to thrive.

This is where my security will come from. While I am decently healthy, I am not, and have never been able to hold a 9-5 job or a job that requires a lot of physical exertion. I have sleep disorders that won’t allow me to have a perfectly ordered work week at a traditional job. And, as of yet I don’t have a college degree. So, 9-5’s are out, warehouse jobs are out, and my goal of one day having my own counseling practice is out until I can finish my degree. As of right now, I am maxed out on my student loan amounts and I haven’t even been able to finish my bachelor’s degree. I need a minimum of a master’s degree to have my own practice. And, at almost 44 years old with maxed out school loans the likelihood of that ever happening is slim unless I just fall backwards into loads and loads of cash.

So, what does this mean for me? I HAVE to be creative. I have to own my reality by owning my own businesses. Thankfully, this is something I enjoy. But, does it mean I have to remain in a grueling state of struggle and uncertainty about my future? About my security in general? At first glance, looking at my lack of a degree, my age, my health (which again, isn’t terrible) if my security depends on “WORK work” then….I’m screwed.

But, with the technology that we now have, there is no reason why I can’t leverage that and forge my path, my security, in an alternative manner. I won’t be retiring from TVA and I am not the pioneer woman that my grandmother was. I do, however, carry deep wisdom, sureness that has come from the all encompassing struggles of my life. And, just like my grandmother, because of this sureness, this steadfastness of soul I am often told that people feel a deep and profound sense of hope and optimism and encouragement when they’re around me. I have, “feel good” energy. People tell me they feel they can be totally open and unashamed around me. They know they can tell me anything and trust that their secrets will never find their way into the ears of unintended audiences. People feel safe and at peace around me. And, it is because of how hard I’ve had to work to create peace in the chaotic life I’ve lived. I’ve had to be my OWN center. My OWN safe place. My OWN therapist. My OWN source of income. My OWN doctor. And, all of these abilities has had to come by following my intuition and what I know about my body, my mind, my emotions, and the extent of abilities.

So, for 2 days I have received a message from my soul. It spoke a few days ago quietly calling me out about, “being attached to struggle.” Then today my soul’s voice grew a bit louder. And, these words came to me, “You deserve to experience an emotional state free from loss, fear, danger and risk.”

I have never in my life had an emotional state that hasn’t included fear, loss, danger or risk. One of the happiest times in my entire life thus far was when I ventured to Turkiye. To the other side of the world, all by myself. But, even that time and the times I visited since the first, haven’t been free from fear of loss or danger or risk. I always find myself worrying about how I will pay my bills when I get back home. Feeling as if I’m going to be punished for eeking out an enjoyment that many take for granted.

I have no idea what an emotional state without the feeling of loss, risk or danger will feel like. I only know that I deserve to experience that. I deserve to live in that as a normal state of being. I deserve to know what it feels like.

I will be letting go of my attachment to struggle. I deserve to live a life of security that isn’t tied to constant struggle. In reality, because of all of the tech tools and social platforms this is more possible for me now than ever before. And, I’m showing up. I’m here to speak my truth and share wisdom and hope with others who know what it is to struggle. I am here to be a messenger of hope. An agent of peace. A global force for good in uniting humanity and calling out the poisonous and subtle tactics employed to divide us. This is my calling. And, this will be my peace. To know that I brought peace. Security…will be my security.

I hope it will be yours as well.

Lots of love,
Cozett Dunn

#cozettcontemplates #thestruggle #security

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Destiny Leads The Willing And Drags The Unwilling: Identifying Our Resistance To Greatness

I heard a famous quote by Seneca earlier. “Fate leads the willing; the Unwilling it drags.”

Recently, I’ve been exploring “counter-manifesting.” We hear a lot about having faith, thinking positive, and manifesting our dreams. That is all great. These tools (faith, positivity, and confidence in our creating) are absolutely wonderful and more of us need to operate in these things more consistently. However, if you hold defeating visions or limiting beliefs in your subconscious you will manifest more slowly and with much resistance.

Here’s what I mean. Say you have a really big goal and you’re studying about the law of attraction, you’re exercising your faith and you’re thinking positive thoughts and really leaning into what emotions you will feel once you achieve that goal BUT deep down you don’t believe yourself worthy of receiving those things…then you’re likely going to experience a slowness of getting to your goal. You will probably have lots of ups and down in your emotions where you have to “try” to believe and “try” to push off “negative” emotions…and drive yourself crazy in the process trying to get to what you want.

When we are born we come into this world with no sense of identity. We arrive as pure consciousness. Once we are born then layers are added on top of our consciousness by people outside ourselves and the circumstances into which we are born. We are pure potential. But, maybe you have or had parents with fears of success. Maybe you were born into severe poverty. Or, perhaps you were born in a country that restricts your freedoms based on your gender or religion. Many many layers outside of our control are heaped on top of us and those layers are internalized. Those layers are what I call, “psychic substrates.” A fascia of sorts for the psyche. And, if we are to reach our goals and see ourselves as we truly are we have to be WILLING to sift through and work with the shadow of our subconscious. Many people refuse to get still or meditate because being still means their conscious mind will be met with the issues that aren’t comfortable to acknowledge or address. We may feel overwhelmed by what we perceive would take a lot of time to work through. And, time is scarce. Especially if you live in a culture that glorifies work over mental health. Time is the first thing we need to reclaim to truly take our power back. On that note, I encourage you to inventory areas of your life where if you need to assert a boundary to free up more time, then please do it. Don’t fall into the trap of workaholism or screen time trying to escape the things you really need to know about yourself if you’re going to create the ultimate reality for yourself and those you care about.

In another article I will talk about “how” to explore your subconscious successfully without feeling afraid or overwhelmed. But, for now I just need you to become willing. That’s all the focus is for this article. So, let’s dive into the implications of this famous saying of Seneca. Clearly, you probably first understand this is an issue of mindset. Remember earlier I said you can do all the right things (aka work on your mindsets) and still not hasten or reach your goals? It is this thing, your natural response to your future that determines whether or not you feel led or like you’re being dragged. If deep down you truly don’t believe you are destined for greatness or to have great things then all the work you do will be like laying silk on top of sewage hoping for a smooth and clean path to walk. Sewage stinks. Who knows exactly what is in there. If you touch it could spread disease. If not controlled it creates disruption. See where I’m going with this? The limiting beliefs we hold are like sewage. We may feel afraid to even touch it because of how much it stinks, how disruptive it will be, and put off because we don’t know exactly what’s in it.

Now, here’s where we alchemize this “septic psychic substrate.” What if, as you began to approach this sewage, you noticed that it didn’t quite smell as strong as you thought it might? So, you get a bit closer while grasping your silk. Then as you get closer you begin to notice it’s not as murky but has an opaque quality to it. So, relaxing a bit, you walk up to the very edge of it, and to your surprise you discover it is in fact a sparkling, crystal clear pool of life-giving water. One of the first emotions you might feel is, “ahh! I wish I had come to this sooner! This water could have been nourishing me and refreshing me along this path!” You then decide to scoop your hands into it and it feels so perfect. So cool and refreshing but not too cold. And, you notice it’s deep. Quite deep. So instead of using your silk to cover it all over, you wrap it around your body like a swim suit and SPLASH! You go all in and dive into the deep pool of healing and refreshment. You float and enjoy the clear sky above you. You notice the droplets of water beaded up on your skin. And, you feel….AMAZING. And, from this surprise refreshment you are able to proceed on your path with a skip in your step because the discovery of it changed your mind about it. You saw it clearly for yourself without putting off exploring it because you originally believed it to be too dirty to deal with it.

So, at what point DID the sewage alchemize? When you started off you held a belief it was too much. But, as you approached you noticed it didn’t quite carry the scary and gross characteristics you truly believed it did. At what point did it actually change into life-giving water? It happened in increments. It happened in the emotion of WILLINGNESS to approach IT that IT became clear and refreshing. This is how we transform things. We musn’t be afraid to touch them.

Now, that your underlying belief has changed you won’t have any subconscious resistance to the positive mindsets you are implementing! You can now fully enjoy believing that you are in fact great and destined for greatness and when you receive promptings from Spirit, from God, from the Universe, your natural response will be to feel curious and adventurous and you will find yourself going after your wildest dreams! You will find yourself being led…not being dragged. So, if you’re looking for a sign to believe in yourself with radical, outrageous, and cocky confidence…this is it!! Permission granted.

With love,

Cozett Dunn

Cozett Contemplates

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She Brought Us All Together Again: Love Is Greater Than Faith

Cozett Contemplates how she brought us all together again…

This morning my meditation released a lot of stored emotion I have about the division we’ve faced collectively over the last several years.

I don’t think I realized how deeply it has affected me.

All my life I have been a peace keeper of sorts. Human suffering has always bothered me. Always. And, I’ve always had this drive to help everyone I can to avoid suffering, consequence, and repercussion.

When I was in 1st grade, I was in a shared classroom with kindergartners. Our teacher is to this day still the favorite teacher I ever had. I remember her that clearly. Originally, Miss Gregory, then she got married and became Mrs. Aldridge. I loved her. She had one big rule for our classroom. And that rule was, “NO MORE THAN ONE ON THE FLOOR.”

She knew how frenetic young children can be and this was one way to keep order, peace, flow in our classroom.

One day while doing a writing lesson, I noticed two kindergartners at the sink. One had gone up to wash his hands from some finger painting they were doing. Then his friend got up and walked to the sink as well and was whispering in his ear. I remember feeling fear, feeling frantic, because I didn’t want them to get in trouble.

So, while they were talking at the sink, I decided to “risk it all” as much as a first grader can! ha ha. I thought, “if I can get to them before she does and get them to sit back down then it will be worth the risk of becoming the 3RD person on the floor!”

So, I quickly got up and walked up to the two boys and said quietly, “you all aren’t supposed to be up here. No more than one on the floor. You’re going to get in trouble.”

Suddenly, from out of nowhere came a whack across my bottom followed by 2 other whacks on theirs.

I felt so defeated. Embarrassed. Like I had lost an epic battle trying to do something good. Trying to do something that would “save” them. How could my pure motives bring me this? Punishment?? Of all the things.

That was the first of many lessons to come. That lesson that is now finding its articulation in this post, at the age of 43, is that “you can’t save everyone. And, as hard as it is to watch sometimes you have to allow others paths to unfold without interruption. While you think you are interrupting pain, it is more likely that you will be interrupting valuable lessons that will keep that person from pain in the future, when you aren’t around to save them or look out for them.”

As an adult I’ve not really departed from this inclination. I’ve refined it though through my own lessons of pain that weren’t interrupted.

During meditation I was asking myself, “what is next for me?” I’ve created 3 additional businesses that will serve as platforms for my own personal expression, healing messages, joy for myself and others, and another means of ensuring my own stability, as a single woman, one income household. But, they are not ends in and of themselves. They are my children. And, I want to watch after them dutifully, and support them by being their biggest cheerleader. But, that isn’t the end of my journey. It is a hugely satisfying accomplishment, yes. But, obviously that isn’t where my story ends.

This is when I began to cry. I actually cried so hard I began to shake. I began having flash images of memories over the last several years of social media posts, and news headlines, and news stories of our how country and world has erupted into sickness, war, racism, and near elimination of the middle-class.

Between religion, politics, poverty, and humanity’s inability to hold space for others who are different we have created a very sick atmosphere to live in. And, if you are an empath, you like me, probably feel all of this in your body and it is like a personal version of hell.

I’ve felt so trapped. Having a higher perspective and wanting to run to everyone and “get them away from the sink so they wouldn’t experience pain for their choices.”

So, this morning after I asked the question to myself, and to God, “what is next for me?” I heard these words, “She brought us all together again.”

That will be my legacy. These social media posts I do, my YouTube videos, my businesses, my voice are all channels to the goal that I wish to meet and enjoy as I lie on my death bed. And, that is world peace. I don’t care how lofty that sounds. And, I don’t care what any religion, psychologist, sociologist or other teacher says about how that’s not going to happen, or how it can’t happen, or how it has been predicted that we will only ever unwind into an apocalyptic extinction.

While I am here and while I have breath in my body I will strive to help people who are vastly different from each other, join hands and hearts.

There is truly more that unites us than divides us. I want to be intentional about loving my neighbor. And, I want you to be as well.

When we are falling out with each other due to different religions, skin color, economic philosophies, parenting, body image, etc. And, when our planet becomes inundated with a virus that is global. These are symptoms of what is happening in the collective unconscious. There are some bad programs running beneath the conscious awareness of our thought life that is pulling us into a chasm.

I’ve always been naturally ecumenical in nature. Here’s what I mean. I grew up to about the age of 12 or 13 as a Jehovah’s witness. Then around the age of 14 I had the opportunity to attend a Pentecostal church. It was in this setting that I found a place where I could enjoy self-expression in light of my feelings about God. The ecstatic worship services gave me a break from my crisis filled childhood. I got to see other examples than just my own family of origin in how differently people see God and respond to God and live out their beliefs. It was absolutely beautiful to my innocent mind. And, to this day I wish I could go back and experience these types of services. Unfortunately, I cannot and for reasons that would require another long post. For all of its faults, and frailties it gave me something beautiful to take away once I diverged. I gained a lot of confidence to approach and to continue learning about, God. As an adult woman, who was a preacher within a Pentecostal tradition I constantly strove to bring together Catholics, and other protestant denominations. I incorporated their theology into my own and tried my best to preach from that space.

Because I desperately wanted to be a responsible teacher who created and perpetuated unity and because I felt a duty to make sure that everyone who came under the sound of my voice wouldn’t receive only the fundamentals of the faith. They had plenty of that. We are still to this day harped on and harping at each other and everyone else the 10 commandments. What a shame. Even Paul, an Apostle, said we should leave the elementary teachings of the faith behind and go on to greater things. The mysteries of the Christ. Not cause and effect. Not good and bad. Not right and wrong. If your heart is renewed and you’re an ethical person at all you don’t need to be told any of this in order to follow it. There is a lot of wasted breath that could be used to teach people….how not to feel disdain for other religions but rather curiosity. The world’s religions are characterized by what I call, “the big 3.” Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We are ALL Abrahamic. And, it is a disservice to the messengers of our faith contexts to somehow in our imaginations pit them against each other in a make believe fight for supremacy. How egoic is that? Yuck. God has nothing to do with that in reality. At all.

But, it’s not enough to be religiously or spiritually ecumenical, is it? No. Why? Because even that, as well-rounded as it can seem, STILL disenfranchises humanity. Yes, there is an entire world outside the confines of any religion or spirituality. And, I also want to find myself there. And, you should too. We weren’t created FOR religion. It is not my life purpose, nor is it yours, to die championing the supremacy of your religion. We are here for the purpose of life. LIFE is the purpose of all of us. I’ve discovered this because of death. When you are one breath away from homelessness, when you are sick in your body, mind and relationships….you understand acutely, how pointless religion and its supremacy really is. The only thing that matters is life and love.

There is a famous bible verse, penned by Paul an apostle to a church in Corinth. In 1 Cor. 13:13 he exhorted the congregation by saying, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Let me say this in a way that I hope you will understand:

1. Love is greater than faith.

That’s it. The end.

Love is greater than your faith context. In other words, your faith isn’t nearly as important as your capacity to hold space for people unlike yourself.

As an adult woman I still feel the nature of my girlhood within me. I am still wanting to rescue people and steer them away from all that harms. Even if, AND ESPECIALLY if, that is our own behaviors, and attitudes.

And, that’s what this post is. Me, an as of yet, not college educated, single, white woman in the southeastern United States, whose appearance fits my stereotype. I mean my accent alone sends the message about my stereotype. My accent is…mamaw’s cornbread, with sorghum and grits.

But, I’m here. I’m showing up. In spite of my physical appearance, my accent, my heavily religious background. I’m here. And, I’m pointing to behaviors that will bring us all pain.

I’m urging you…to sit back down. No more than one on the floor. Sit, think and allow curiosity and compassion and consideration and commonalities to saturate your conscience. Allow these things to point you away from divisive behaviors and philosophies.

We really are better together. ALL of us. And, I am joining hands with everyone. Especially people who don’t share anything in common with me other than the fact that we need clean air, clean food, safe neighborhoods, and schools for our children. If that’s it (which it isn’t) that is enough. Love can grow from just those things.

I love you….do you love me?

Yours truly,

Cozett Dunn

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Rain Falling Forward

Times of refreshing rain falling on me falling forward

I turned to my inner sea and collapsed shoreward

Rising from the black sand beach of my subconscious

Walls closing in around me I must become dauntless

My time here has come to end. My time here is about to fall backward

May it collapse into the unconscious sea for it never was truly me

I learned something the other day while I was reading, “Flowers On The Path.” And that is the karma of living unaligned invites wrath.

I read this book by Sadhguru, my Indian mystic, the one I aspire to emulate.

It was the rain falling forward that knocked me from this path of wrath

It was the rain falling forward that was my footpath

Solar plexus has become my lexis

I’ve learned to trust my gut

My pivotal nexus gives assurance so I strut

From one country to the next all around the globe

In the soil of every country I become their microbe

Giving life to the foundation of all we are and need

My happiness demands I elude the greed

Hermetic aesthetic

My soul won’t fit in a corporate hole

Capitalism is apathetic

Because it deems the hermit pathetic

So narrow. Only preying it knows

But, I plan to take it down with the gift of my prose

The great whore who preys upon the people

The great whore who has made it’s home under the steeple

I will write until my writing becomes a freedom song

Liberating the inhabitants of the earth and making them strong

A mother to the nations I’m calling first the east, then the north

Before I venture to the south and call them all forth

I give up entirely on the west. It is from where I came

It’s way of life nearly made me lame. I will leave it to another creature

Or perhaps to the lukewarm church and its favorite hateful preacher

Were it not for the falling forward rain

My life would still be subject to drain

But, I am moving forward now in this beautiful falling forward rain

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Born Of Storms: A Primal Brew

Born of storms and hurricanes
Nursed at the breasts of the  monsoon rains

Thunder dandled me on her lap like a prize
And lightning taught me how to be wise

Violet colored I became electric
Mystical musings my soul eclectic

Tonight I stood beneath a navy sky trembling in the autumn winds
The white sparkling stars so clear they became my lens

Glistening neath the starlight escapade
I realized life is truly a charade

Value is only valuable because we ascribe it so
Fickle humanity….we are our own foe

Evolve, come play with me
I wish to wash your feet in the sea

Dreamscapes unfurling in the quiet of the night forest
“I love you with all that I am” my heart and mind chorused

Shall I really be taken into the sky?
Will these naked branches witness me cry?

I can hear the gentle rustling of crunchy leaves
Longing for harvest and without any sheaves

I walked alone beneath an indigo sky
A woman in the woods.  A catcher in the rye.

Surely I misunderstand
As I am misunderstood

But, how will I ever stand
Except here in the dark of the wood

I am elemental in my being
I don’t appreciate experimental seeing

My road has never been paved
It wasn’t fitting that my trauma be waived

It made me who stands before you today
My poetry my progeny my indelible way

You know what I’d really like to do?
I’d like to pound the ground into a primal brew

Clink a big cheers to my sister Venus
Have a scandalous laugh with the ghost of Remus

Swirling mythology mixed with symbology
I laid foundations without apology

Cozett Contemplates

#chatttownpoet #cozettcontemplates #MidNightPoetry #thinker







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And You Will Know The Truth And The Truth Will Make You Free

My Monday morning meditation has yielded much! In my life I’ve been in pursuit of a better understanding of faith, truth, love, romance, freedom and optimal mental health.

We all have our own unique path. Unique experiences and understanding of the world around us. No two people see any one thing the same. Nuance is an inescapable part of reality.

Years ago I held roundtable discussions with one single question posed to many. And that was, “what is faith?” I could see the result of faith, I saw people struggling to apprehend faith, I heard people talk about the strength of their faith. I began these roundtables in my early 30s. I’m now 43. And because I’ve joined my previously narrow understanding of faith and its power to the reality of the energetic field that though it isn’t visible it is measurable I began to feel it taking shape.

I’m now satisfied in my 13 year search for better understanding about faith.

In addition to this I’ve marveled at the concept of truth and how striving for it pits people against each other. To me this was disgusting. How could the striving for something so pure bring out so much elitism, war, murder and destruction of people and places….all in the name of truth? For a long time due to this ugliness I gave up on truth being a knowable reality. The last 10 years I’ve studied every religion, every major spirituality (with the exception of some small tribal and indigenous belief practices), major philosophies, and of course psychology.

My breakthrough about truth and Jesus’s teaching that it can set us free came from my exploration of physics and metaphysics. When I learned the power of truth…the knowable reality of truth…is found where it is located and that is at the hub of all that is. The Bible was my introduction to the concept of eternity, infinity. And I found that this concept was most appropriately extrapolated by physics and metaphysics. It showed me a growing body of measurable evidence of its existence.

This Monday morning is unlike any other in the life I’ve lived thus far. This morning I have a clear mind, a pure heart, and have been able to find a place of rest and peace concerning 2 of the most important questions in my life. I have peace now about real faith and how it directs the quantum field and the reality that truth cannot be chained or limited because it is by nature unrestricted since it is the still point of infinity…it is the axis in which the past, future, present, potentialities, thoughts, emotions exist simultaneously.

I am now free to move on to a better understanding about love, romance, freedom, and optimal mental health. I am confident that in my pursuit of understanding to experience these things I will do well. I will figure them out. I will figure them all out in a way that will not only serve to better my own existence but the existence of everyone around me. I will…change the world.

I feel inspired. I feel encouraged. I feel proud. I feel happy. I feel free. I feel confident. I feel intentional. I feel free. I feel free. I. Feel. Free.

#cozettcontemplates #truth #wisdom #freedom

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Deep Within My Keep: A Poem Of I Am

And, when the time was right I became my own

My flesh your figment and justice my bone

Deep within the keep of who I am

I exist within a hologram

Projected realities colliding with the fates

While cunning chimeras pace at my gates

I am the offspring of a million goodbyes

I am the prayer that they can’t catechise

To Adam I say, “I’ll see your rib and raise you intelligence.”

And, to me he says, “I’m only interested in your acquiescence.”

The gamble that is and has always been

Is how authentic can you become without it being seen as sin

I owe no one comfort to the detriment of my own

The reality of me is my creative capstone

I repose in the still point of infinity

I refuse to be the adjuvant of your affinity

I do not exist for your pleasure

I’ve come to unearth mysterious treasure

You will not find me on the surface

It’s best to look for me in cursus

Water witching forgotten wells

Drawing deep from my poetic tales

I’m a nomadic wonder within this realm

My heart is my compass and it’s steady at the helm

In my defiant softness your trespass has become apparent

Your rage belies your belief that you are inerrant

You are justified in crossing my boundaries? Arrogance like yours must be steeled in foundries

And for what reason? Your inescapable bruteness is grounds for treason

A throne of fables, fae, and fire

My feminine ferocity becoming a pyre

Save the cherub for an appropriate setting

Charon is best suited for my level of vetting

Hades has no need for hierophants

And my soul has been looted by sycophants

So, when the time was right I became my own

My flesh your reality and autonomy my bone

Deal with it.

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The Power Of Collectivistic Celebration

During my meditation this evening I was open to receiving wisdom from the etheric realm. I asked God to tell me a piece of wisdom of which I am unacquainted. God spoke to me about my purpose. In my meditation I had a vision of sacred geometry, sacred spaces and women in celebration. Then I heard the words come up inside me, “The power of collective celebration.” So, I asked myself what that could mean in light of the sacred geometry and sacred spaces I had seen. It was revealed to me that the work and vibration and joy of celebration…on a massive scale is one of the most liberating things a thought leader can do. Lead their collectives in regular celebration.

This will naturally look different for each collective and each thought leader but the results of such an effort will be what lays the ground for a community to self-soothe, it sets aside the intense worry that plagues our modern overworked world. It removes people from the ordinary to the extraordinary. It increases the vibration of the collective and because of that time in celebration it gives us a break from the stringent focus required by our jobs, families, medical needs, etc. The effect of that is that the celebrant can come away from the celebration and experience clarity. Clarity about the condition of humanity and how their medicine can in fact heal the world. Clarity about life, love, relationships, the shadows we all carry inside, and so much more. Celebration therefore has a healing effect for our brain and nervous system.

I feel called, or instructed to do just this. My next steps? Maybe a spiritual retreat? A festival? Not sure. I’ll be exploring though and let you all know! Also, I am open to suggestions from around the world of where would be sacred spaces conducive to celebration. Let me know!

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The Skin Of The Shaman

Listening has always been an intellectual and spiritual practice of mine. Whether it’s small talk, big talk, a ten seconds video clip I’ve always had a gift for reading between the lines and understanding intention. I am the nod and smile type so this likely doesn’t convey. But, then there is absolutely NOTHING about my outward appearance or mannerisms that remotely match my inner world. I’ll go in to that some other time. But, as a middle-aged, overweight, American white woman with a thick southern accent there is unfortunately no chance of anyone seeing me as I really am. I’m relegated to the circle of stereotypes like Honey Boo-Boo’s mom, or the Nanny Maw character on Tiktok. I ADORE Nanny Maw! She is epically hilarious and does a great job at poking fun at all of us southerners. You don’t really look at characters like this and think: “sage, deep wisdom, pointed, discerning, wisdom teacher, guru, intellectual, etc.” I do not look the part that I play in my current cosmic dance. And, it’s frustrating for me. Internet banter does nothing to alleviate the stereotype of my body type, race and nationality.

So, in getting out my message to the world I understand that from the jump I am disadvantaged in being heard the way I deserve to be heard. I will never walk on to a stage and have the immediate reaction from my audience that say a male Indian guru would have. The audience will always and forever be surprised that what comes out of me, from my mouth, my words is of the same essence and deep wisdom as say Sadhguru. Who is currently my favorite wisdom teacher. I encourage everyone to hear what he has to say. His wisdom is broadly applicable to all religious contexts as well as to those who are atheist. He’s a good thinker. Truly. My task is that first I have to clear my own path before I can even get my voice heard. That path is filled with the preconceived ideas of others about my disposition. My disposition. My appearance. My context. It all makes my thoughts more questionable than if they came from Sadhguru or some other well known guru.

A few years ago I became acquainted with an amazing yoga teacher. One of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known. So wise and kind and insightful. A trauma specialist. White and very much like me in the context of our nationality and skin color. She practices as a shaman. It never occurred to me to question what she called herself or knew herself as. She touched my life in a profound way and still does. She is without a doubt a shaman. In my current friend circle I am thankful to be surrounded by progressive thinkers, fiery activists who put everything they have in to defending and supporting and promoting the disenfranchised of my area. They open their mouths and succinctly hand racists and hypocrites their a** on a daily basis. They’re smart. They are educated. They are passionate. And they have seemingly endless energy to argue. Words matter. Am I right? This is one reason I write the way I do is because to me words are everything. Especially in the absence of forethought and consideration. In spite of my admiration and generally on-board nature with the message of their activism I felt a bit disappointed and disillusioned by a recent post one made about shamanism. Basically he said, “unless your skin is brown or black it is an insult to call yourself a shaman and if you are white and calling yourself a shaman then you are actively participating in cultural appropriation.” That is a huge and entirely faulty blanket statement. Here’s why.

Many shamanic cultures believe in reincarnation. There are two schools of understanding on reincarnation. One is that once a body dies and the soul is disconnected from its bodily form then the entirety of that soul gets recycled and put into another container whether it’s a human body or animal body. The other (which is the one that I subscribe to) holds that since soul has no shape then when it is detached from the solid energetic form that we know as body, the energy is no longer bound to a singular body. It disburses and spreads out and degrades. It is made up of ribbons or strings of energy. Once those ribbons of energy are loosed from the body many of them will join themselves to other stronger energy forms. In other words the spirit when disbursed it expands until it breaks off into pieces. These then find their way into other bodily forms. So, if you believe that an ancestor reincarnated into your new baby it’s more likely that part of that ancestor did but not the entirety of their previous energetic soul form. For those unfamiliar with the science of energy it may be good to state here that the first law of thermodynamics is that “energy cannot be created or destroyed it can only be changed from one form into another.” Yes, you can be a Christian and believe in reincarnation. The early church never had a qualm with the concept of reincarnation but due to power dynamics and edits to the Bible to force it to fit into Roman thought we lost the richness of that mystic component of our faith. At any rate, the point that was lost upon my friends is that if shamans believe in reincarnation and that concept is a major part of the society that they operate in then it follows that those shamans understood that once they left their own bodies they very well could come back in another human body that may or may not have resemblance or relativity to the culture that they were healing. Words matter because they shape how we are seen and understood and how our gifts are received. So, in my opinion this did a horrible disservice to any seekers who saw that post. Plus, the shamans of 2022, regardless of their cultural context cannot look like the shamans of earlier centuries. Why should they? Why should we? If the modern age brings us anything it is the understanding that modernity and mysticism can coexist. It’s about the message. It’s about the medicine. Not the body that it comes from.

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Science Is The Twin Flame Of Spirit

For nearly the entirety of my life I have spent my free time, my play time, contemplating life. How big it is. Why people do what they do. Why people think the way they think. Why people interacted with me the way they did. What does the future hold for the universe as we know it. What impact does the unseen have on the seen.

My childhood and adolescence was quite traumatic. Because of this my mamaw fiercely guarded my play and rest time. She knew that through her love and the therapy that only nature could provide I would have a shot at transitioning into a normal adulthood. Whenever domestic violence or some other drama wasn’t actively occurring she made sure that I was able to have that down time to sleep. Now, lots of sleep is nothing unique about the teenage experience. But for me prolonged sleep was imperative for my mind, emotions and body to recover from the stress of crises.

My senior year in high school brought a lot of change naturally. I was launching into legal adulthood, choosing whether or not I wanted to continue educational pursuits or take a break (I took a break), experiencing milestone events like prom, graduation, getting my first car, applying for jobs, finding my father on my 18th birthday, and of course surviving the overdoses of my mother. My senior year was so intense that I would often lie to my friends and tell them I was grounded just so I could stay home on the weekend to think about life.

As a child I would run barefoot from the house down the sloping front yard and to a pond where the cattle would gather to drink. I would first walk around the entire pond in the gray claylike mud looking for tadpoles. Nothing was more satisfying in those days than feeling the slick smooth clay of the pond to squish between my toes and see my feet disappear slowly into the murky waters as the tadpoles would gather around my ankles. I took those moments in slowly. Thinking about the feeling. The sight. What it meant to the tadpoles. Did they really flee in terror so quickly at my splashes only to return and gather unknowingly around the source of the splash?

The pond was spring fed and the spring was terraced with tiny waterfalls that eventually gave way to the opening of the pond. I would walk up into the spring to it’s very head and at its main waterfall (which hit at about the height of my knees) and pretend to be making medicines with some gnarly fallen limb from the woods. I would take my stick and jab through the top of the fall into the mud below. Think mortar and pestle. I would declare to my imaginary audience that I had just found a cure for whatever ailed them. After passing around my medicine I would go lay inside a circle of trees beside the pond and just look up at the sky for hours. Until I was either called home or found I would lay and look and think.

At the time of this writing I am 43 years old. I have devoted my life thus far to the pursuit of understanding why people think the way think and how the unseen impacts the seen. In thinking about how the unseen impacts the seen it is an inescapable thing at this juncture in history to think in terms of God. The concept of God. The understanding of God affects the thought lives of billions of people and for the atheist or agnostic they are also impacted by the beliefs of other’s beliefs about God. In short there is no escaping God. Even if you don’t believe in God you probably are in relationship with others who do and that absolutely impacts your reality, the justice you are able to receive by a legal system that is influenced by the belief in God, relational ethics and dynamics that are influenced by others belief in God. From sexuality to spirituality all these things are shaped by the concept of God whether it is a personally held concept or not.

Since 2019 I have experienced the hardest years of my adult life. I’m feeling disillusioned and disappointed. But, I’m discovering if it weren’t for my disillusionment I would have no chance at “reillusioning” a theory and philosophy that works for me. If not for disappointment I would have had no shot at being reappointed into a higher perspective. One that helps me finally to feel a level of self-assurance that will translate to my own soul how perfectly capable I am of relying on myself and trusting myself to be able to protect myself.

I am well-studied, well-versed in all of the major world religions and spiritualities. Not as an enthusiast. But, a genuine learner. I have been careful to take a scholarly approach to all things unseen, all things faith related. I’ve always intuitively felt that the intangible held the keys for a humanity who can holistically understand the world and people around them. And through that I, we, could form a sure scaffolding for a reliable hope.

As I’ve researched the world’s major organized religions I have observed the following:

  1. Each one subscribes to a main, male deity who feels insulted if other gods are adored or seen as powerful or wise. Monotheism. But, how can monotheism be monotheism if the “the” acknowledges that there are other gods? Thou shalt have no other gods before Me, yes? Then it follows that there are in fact other entities, other gods by the admission of the deity who says it’s wrong for any other deity to receive adoration.
  2. Researching as far back into recorded history as is humanly possible we understand the earth’s oldest spirituality is Hinduism. Hinduism is polytheistic but still features male deities as the ultimate gods to whom everyone is an emanation of. Hinduism, however, does at least teach that these male gods have female counterparts, or female energetic expressions that should be equally worshipped since they understand that masculine energy is incomplete without the feminine.
  3. In mythology which served as a religious context for many in the ancient world we see that our collective, those before us, were immersed in a world of legends held to be truth or fact. The stories of Zeus, Calliope, Cupid, Achilles, Aphrodite, Venus are all so fantastical that those of us who cut our teeth in western thought and the allopathic treatment of the intangible almost lack the capacity to believe in the unconsciousness from which they all sprang to be dealt with by the conscious. Demigods? Absolutely real. But, wait that concept is also echoed by Jesus in the NT of the Bible when He boldly declared to the super religious of his day that….”you all are gods.” Incarnated wisdom. Incarnated goodness. Incarnated creators. This is what we think a good God should be. Wise, good, and tirelessly producing.

In the last several years I’ve found the answers to many of my nagging questions about life in quantum physics and the study of metaphysics. As someone who was raised in a southeast Tennessee Christian context I was acutely aware of the history of Christians balking at science. At one time, not too long ago Christians would kill any other human who thought the world was round. The church regarded this teaching as a point of major doctrine and anyone who opposed that thought was deemed a heretic and punished accordingly. I resolved as an adolescent to listen to science no matter what because to me, to walk in this world as a single-faceted human who only has the ability to disseminate ignorant rigidity concerning the intangible is an utter betrayal of the mystery that sent me to this planet. It would be a cosmic travesty and a coward’s journey for me.

As I sat with my observations I endeavored to honestly explore the implications of them. To the best of my ability I’ve tried to allow the observations all the latitude of God. Because if truth is found in God then God isn’t afraid of the truth. How can I discount one and exalt another simply because the one I choose to exalt tells me to do so? If you have only one dollar to your name and it is in your pocket and you are dehydrated are you going to spend that dollar on water or will you throw it in the trash because someone who seems more hydrated than you tells you to do it and do it with joy because joy is a virtue do you throw it away? In the same way I have chosen my wells and I hope you do too.

As I began to finally have a big picture developing I’ve been able to think through what the implications of this big picture mean to me and how I will allow or disallow them to shape my life and relationships and career and philosophy about life in general.

Every single belief we hold has within it an origination, an emanation, an elation and a declination. Concerning God I no longer have to understand origination because that is truly impossible to know. But, emanation is where I pick up the trail and follow out each belief to see what does this belief entail, how has it shaped the world and people around me, what did or will it look like when it reaches its fullest expression, and what will its declination look like, do I already see its declination, if so what does it look like and what are the implications of its decline. If it hasn’t happened yet but I can see it coming what are the implications of its decline for me personally, and what are the implications of its decline for my neighbor.

In short, everything, every deity, every belief, philosophy will at some point collapse back in to itself. It may resurrect or reassert itself again later or it may fall away completely and out of the reach of the annuls of history for someone like you or me to discover or know that it even existed. Oscillation and vibration is everything. Why? Because literally everything tangible and intangible is comprised of electromagnetic energy. My theology, my cat, the bird on my balcony, the poem in my heart that hasn’t been written down or recited for any ears. All oscillating and vibrating. The higher the vibration the healthier is that thing, person, animal, belief. If there is no vibration. No oscillation. Then there is death. There is no escaping that reality. Your body is made up of approximately one trillion cells. Every second your body is undergoing thousands of chemical processes to keep you alive. Thousands. Every second. Completely unaware your body is carrying out its assignment.

So, where does this position me? I am a Pisces. I’m a poet. I’m a philosopher. I’m an INFJ. I am a manifestor according to human design. I am naturally and now unapologetically a metaphorical and highly spiritual person. The disillusionment and disappointment over the years have once and finally threatened willingness to believe that if a higher power exists then it exists to protect me and cheer me on as I walk through life. I’ve spent so many days crying. So many days wishing I could gather together the most prominent spiritual leaders of every organized religion and major spirituality and screaming at them, “I DON’T UNDERSTAND!!!! I SEE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. I KNOW WHY YOU BELIEVE THIS. BUT, I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE SEEMS TO EXIST ONLY A CHASM BETWEEN BELIEF AND REALITY. BECAUSE ALL TOO OFTEN THE BEHAVIOR OF YOUR ADHERENTS DO NOT MATCH THE BELIEF YOU HOLD. PLEASE PROVE TO ME WITH ALL YOUR WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOR THAT YOUR WAY IS IN FACT THE BEST OR ONLY WAY. BECAUSE AS I STACK YOUR BELEIF AND YOUR ORIGIN STORIES AND YOUR PHILOSOPHIES AND PRACTICES TO OTHERS, WHO SAY SIMILAR THINGS I DON’T SEE HOW IT’S ANY BETTER OR SO UNIQUE THAT IT INDICATES YOUR BELIEF IS THE MOST ORIGINAL AND OLDEST AND THEREFORE THE MOST CORRECT AND SURE.”

I’ve sat with my unbelief. And I’ve realized that if I sever the part of me that is nourished by mystery and metaphor then I will kill myself. I will kill who I am at my core. So, in light of that I have deduced that my healing will not happen if I become atheist in an effort to cope with my hardship and confusion. My most sure path of healing will not include the world of mystery and metaphor but it will be my unique voice. My wilderness cry in a world that has no interest in deep listening. My voice is truly in a desert. It is dry and desolate here and in order to inhabit it you have to have a special skillset that many do not naturally possess nor are they interested in possessing. It’s quiet. The silence alone has born witness to my thought. And, it has been during my contemplation that I have concluded that spirituality cannot and should not be separated from what we consider reality. The gods have always lived among us. They have all at some point or another lived in us in the form of mysteries. Some people shake their fists at mystery because to them mystery is misery. It is a psychological plague. It removes their control and grip on their own understanding of life and as we have seen with the crusades this causes violence because it activates the bruteness and lower vibrational emotions such as anger, hate, superiority, elitism, etc.

As I meditated earlier today I decided, “I will no longer try to separate myth and mystery from science. When I read stories about how demigods came into existence, or how monks and nuns and mystics have levitated during prolonged periods of meditations, or how a scientist used the power of his mind to heal his own broken bones….I understand that the truth lies in the mystery.” Fact doesn’t have to be separated from fiction. Remember the chasm I mentioned? That chasm is space. Space between the intangible and tangible. Space between belief and practiced reality. Space. Did you know that an atom is 99.999999999% empty space? And, if you removed the empty space from the atoms of all people, the entire human race could fit in the volume of a sugar cube? Empty space where there is no obligation to believe a certain doctrine or dogma, empty space where there is no demand for decision, empty space that is completely and infinitely neutral, empty space like this should be inherent and integrated into belief system in the world whether atheistic, polytheistic, or monotheistic.

I came away from my meditation with this specific thought in my mind, “the mysterium, the mythology, theology cannot and never will be reduced down to simple calculation that is explained away by science. Science is the twin flame of spirit.” Little did I know only an hour or so later as I continued my study about physics that I would come across a quote by Nassim Haramein, a unified physics researcher and scientist. He said, “Physics without philosophy is lost in mathematics. You have to have a fundamental concept to write the math that works. And that is called thought, philosophy.”

Today my footing is more sure not because of hard and fast and provable science but because I am intrinsically rooted in mystery. I am found in metaphor. And I await science to discover me.

Yours in thought,

Cozett

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