Tasting the Universe: People Who See Colors in Words and Rainbows in Symphonies by Maureen Seaberg

Welcome to Kala’s Quick Five, where I chat with fascinating authors, artists, teachers, and researchers and ask them five questions about their work. My guest today is Maureen Seaberg, author of Tasting the Universe: People Who See Colors in Words and Rainbows in Symphonies. Maureen is a NYC based journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The Daily Beast, the New York Daily News, Irish America, ESPN magazine and on MSNBC, PSB, and NBC.

Kala: Maureen, your book is a spiritual and scientific exploration of Synesthesia, which is described as a “cross-wiring, or lack of chemical inhibition, between brain neurons.” What does the world look and sound like when one has Synesthesia?

Maureen: Hi Kala. Thanks for having me on Kala’s Quick Five. The world is as non-synesthetes know it, but with an overlay of color and impressions that enhance it. It is an add-on, not a deficit, and one of the coolest brain traits to have!

Kala: During your research, you discovered that both Marilyn Monroe and Billy Joel have synesthesia. How was it determined that they possess the trait?

Maureen: I won a scholarship to the Norman Mailer Colony and my professor there, Dr. John Michael Lennon, found Mailer’s writings on Monroe (he wrote a controversial biography of her) that seemed to suggest she had this brain trait. I later confirmed it with a surviving niece of hers in North Carolina.

Joel was a neighbor of a friend of mine who is a synesthete, the wonderful artist Marcia Smilack and she always thought he “got” her. When I spoke with him I realized not only is he a synesthete, but his musical inspirations appear to him, waking and sleeping, in a synesthetic vision — all in color.

Kala: You mention that one of the inventors of the internet, Sir Robert Cailliau, is a synesthete, who sees the letter “w” as a dark green color, which is one of his favorite colors. What prompted him to use the www. as the beginning url for all websites on the internet?

Maureen: Sir Robert was working at CERN with his colleague Sir Tim Berners-Lee of Great Britain on the supercollider. One day after work, over a beer, Sir Tim suggested they call it “World Wide Web.” This seemed cumbersome at first to Sir Robert but he loved the dark green he perceived around all those “w’s” so he went with it. At the first World Wide Web conference they gave out green enamel www pins in honor of that synesthetic association.

Kala: I see auras and colors around people. I’m not sure that this is the same as synesthesia, but I also see colors with music and in elements, such as color around the wind when it blows. You see numbers, letters, days of the week, music and sound in colors. How many types of Synesthesia are there and how do they differ?

Maureen: Wow, Kala, welcome to the tribe! Seeing auras is now believed to be a form of synesthesia (I see them too in the right light) and there are over 50 forms known now with more being found all the time.

Kala: What would you say are the drawback and the benefits to having this trait?

Maureen: The only drawback is the lack of understanding that still lingers around it. The benefits are that the synesthesia usually acts as a mnemonic, giving you a great ability to remember things. (Phone numbers that might slip a “normal” person’s mind are backed up by the memory of the associated colors.) It also is eight times more likely in creative people. I’d feel color blind without it.

Kala: Maureen, thank you for your time, appreciate you joining me here on Kala’s Quick Five.

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More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, wisdom teacher, business intuitive, inspirational speaker and host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into empowering and lifestyle enhancing topics. More info at ExploreYourSpirit.com

Laugh When You Feel Like Crying by Allen Klein

Welcome to Kala’s Quick Five, where I chat with fascinating authors, artists, teachers and researchers and ask them five questions about their work. My guest today is Allen Klein, the world’s only Jollytologist. Allen has a masters degree in humor (from St. Mary’s College in Minnesota-and that’s no joke!) He is also an award-winning speaker and best-selling author whose first book The Healing Power of Humor is in its 36th printing and ninth foreign language translation. He has written 17 books that all focus on humor as a means to deal with everything from traffic jams to tragedies, and his writing has appeared in four editions of Chicken Soup for the Soul. His new book is: Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying: Embracing Life After Loss.

Kala: Allen, welcome to Kala’s Quick Five. You teach workshops using humor to deal with changes, challenges, and stressful situations. Examples include Humor for Workplace Wellness, and Motivational Humor Presentations for Healthcare and other Professionals. How can one use humor in the workplace effectively without going too far and upsetting someone?

Allen: You are right. Humor in the workplace can be a tricky thing, especially in today’s culture and harassment issues. Still, I think it is possible to lighten up the work environment. First, stop, look, and listen for what kind of humor is acceptable where you work. What do people kid around about? What kind of humor ticks people off? Does the supervisor or the boss set a tone for appropriate humor?

Once you know some of this than you can introduce some light-hearted things everyday. For example, put up a ha-ha bulletin board where workers can post a cartoon a day, funny signs like, “Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it,” or their baby photos for everyone to guess who it is.  Or, you could introduce props on your desk to lighten the day like a jar of bubbles, Groucho glasses, or clown noses that can be used when meetings get too serious.

Kala: You lost your wife to a rare liver disease when she was 34. Near the end, as your wife lay dying in the hospital, you both received a lesson in the therapeutic value of humor. Tell us how you both connected and stayed strong during this time.

Allen: My wife had a copy of Playgirl by the side of her hospital bed and suddenly opened to the male nude centerfold. She insisted that we put it up on the wall. “This is too risque for a hospital” I told her. “Nonsense” she replied, “just take a leaf from that plant over there and use it to cover up his private parts.” I did that and things were fine for the first two days but by the third day the leaf began to shrivel up and reveal more and more of what we were trying to conceal.

After this every time we saw a plant or leaf we both laughed. Our laughter may have been brief and fleeting but it brought us closer together, revived us, and helped us rise above the painful process of her terminal illness and eventual death.

Kala: You’ve worked as a home health aid, hospice volunteer, and director of The Life-Death Transitions Institute in San Francisco. During this time, you gathered your experiences and put them into a book, Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying: Embracing Life After Loss to help others in their journey through loss and grief.  The book is described as a compassionate guide to the bereavement process in which you share the tools and encouragement necessary for transforming loss into a passion for living life to the fullest.  What was the most powerful lesson you learned while working in hospice and assisting with transitions to the other side?

Allen: The biggest lesson I learned from working with dying patients is that death is a natural and necessary part of life. Image, for example, that there were no death. Would you ever get anything done? Probably not because time would never run out. In addition, how would this world feed, shelter and support an ever increasing, never ending, and constant population growth?  Nature shows us with the four seasons that each one is important and how what looks like death in Winter is new growth in Spring.

Kala: Ok, Allen, what’s a Jollytologist and are you the world’s only one? Can others apply to join in on the fun?

Allen: Guess what Kala? I made the word, “Jollytologist” up. Since I studied the therapeutic value of humor for years, technically I’m a “gelotologist.” (Gelos is a Greek work meaning laughter.) But since most people don’t know the word Gelos, I change it to Jolly. Of course, anyone can join in the fun. According to my thinking, anyone can become anything they want. Since I’ve coined the word “Jollytologist,” others have become a Joyologist, a Happyologist, a Funologist, etc. But one word of caution…don’t call yourself a “Jollytologist” because it is Trade Marked.

Kala: Death is a natural part of life that every living being will experience here on earth. What has your work taught you most about the death process and about living?

Allen: I have learned that loss can be one of our greatest teachers. In fact, I’m convinced that we need major setbacks in our life to learn about our strength, our power, and our spirituality. We human beings are funny creatures. We don’t learn much when things are going well. We seem to need a nudge now and then to learn life’s lessons. It is why my book, Learning to Laugh When You Feel Like Crying, has five stages for going from loss to laughter. First we begin with Losing someone or something dear to us. Second we start Learning from that loss.  Third we can move on by Letting Go.  Then, as we put the our loss in the background, we begin Living our life once more. And finally, once we live our life fully, we start Laughing again.

Kala: Allen, thank you for joining me here on Kala’s Quick Five.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, wisdom teacher,  inspirational speaker and host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into empowering and lifestyle enhancing topics. More info at ExploreYourSpirit.com

Connect with the energy of Imbolc

‘In every woman there is a Queen. Speak to the Queen and the Queen will answer.’ - Norwegian proverb

In the wisdom teachings of the Divine Feminine, there are certain earth cycles, which open a gateway between the higher planes of existence and the earth plane. These moments of enhanced connection allow us to view the rhythm and timing of the goddess in her form as mother nature. As the traditions of the Goddess and Divine Feminine resurge in the light again, it’s time to celebrate. The powerful life-affirming magic of Spring is around the corner. Should you wish to change something in your life, this is the moment to set that intention and ask for your dream to bloom, grow and rejuvenate.

We are experiencing one of these magical moments this week, marked as the mid-way point of the season of Winter around February 2nd. This celebration is most popularly known by the Celtic reference of Imbolc. Imbolc, a gaelic word, means in-milk, derived from the gaelic pronunciation ‘oimelc’, meaning ewe’s milk.

While Imbolc is the most well known celebration of this holiday, its origins stem from a powerful universal wisdom teaching known as – ‘As Within, So Without’.

During the barren frozen winter days of early February in western Europe, the celebration of Imbolc was a symbol of hope and represented the good things to come. When surveying the landscape (without), everything appeared bleak, and lifeless yet (within) the dairy animals, hints of Spring were returning as the animals began to lactate and milk began to flow again.

There is a Goddess assigned to this quickening and universally she symbolizes the seeds of life planted (within) the earth and within each person and how when nurtured and cared for, they blossom (without) producing the life affirming milk and awakening of life and hope.

In the Celtic celebration, the Goddess is known as Brigid, also spelled as Brighid. Brigid is revered as the Goddess of healing, writing and prosperity. As a solar goddess, she represents the fire and light that burns within each living being and how when cared for, this eternal light creates inner healing, restores vital energy and stirs life within. She is also represented in the phases of the Goddess as the maiden and the bride. Wise women around the world work with this goddess energy, helping others to launch new projects and beginnings, to stimulate powerful healing energies within the body and perform weddings, as this is the most advantageous day of the year to be married.

Brigid is referred to as the bride, which in modern times is recognized in the form of a young woman being joined in matrimony. This is but one derivative of the wisdom teaching and rituals. The Goddess Brigid is recognized as one of the Queens of Heaven who is being transmuted during this time and reborn. The Wise Woman of Winter, who has journeyed deep within herself during the darkest days of winter, is now ready to emerge and be reborn as the Young Maiden. This maiden carries the hope and promise of new life along with the wisdom and discernment of the wise women, giving herself the gift of intuition, healing, abundance and love. She is a bride of the light, participating in her own unification of this energy in a marriage ceremony of the heart and mind.

Would you like to connect with this energy and connect with the loving energy of the light without and stir this energy within your heart and mind?

There are Seven Sacred Ways to Connect with the Energy of Imbolc and the Goddess:

1. On February 2nd, light candles and lamps in the home to welcome the return of the Light. Yellow, white and orange candles are the best colors to use. As you light each candle, focus your energy with the flame and ask that the light burn clear and bright, bringing clarity to the home, burning off any residual gloom or negative energy within the home.
   
2. White flowers symbolize the purity within and the promise of blooming to come. Place a beautiful bouquet in the heart area of your home and breathe deeply into the flowers, allowing their essence and fragrance to be experienced by all of your senses.
   
3. Reminiscent of the milk flowing, sharing dairy products is abundant, the most popular choice being milk chocolate. Hot chocolate warms the body and when stirring the chocolate, imbibe the mix with loving thoughts and warmth.
   
4. Place a silk ribbon or piece of fabric on a window sill, often referred to as Brighid’s Mantle. It is said overnight, it will be blessed with the healing, intuitive and abundant energy flowing at this time. Use this fabric to wrap your deck of tarot cards, to wrap herbs in or create a special pouch to hold treasured items.
   
5. Leave an offering outdoors of bread for birds and other small creatures who may be having a difficult time finding sustenance in the barren landscape. While outdoors in the cold, give thanks to the beauty surrounding you. Stand with your feet firmly grounded to the earth and raise your arms in the air, bring the light from above around you and allow it to flow deep within you.
   
6. Gather the seeds that you will be planting in your Spring garden. Hold your hands over the seeds and ask for the energy of the Goddess within to bless the seeds and nurture them. Take a small quartz crystal and charge this crystal with the same intention. When planting these seeds in the spring, plant the quartz crystal into the earth next to the seeds.
   
7. Reflect on the seeds of thought you planted in the Fall within yourself and the goals you are affirming in this new year. Ask for the quickening of the seeds within you, that they may blossom and grow. Take a quartz crystal and charge this crystal with the same intention. Keep this crystal on your desk or in a spot where it will remind you of your goals and intentions.

The Goddess in her many forms, teaches by example through nature. Use this time wisely, as it creates a sacred opportunity to plant new seeds of thought in the mind and heart. In the circle of life, there are adversities (within and without), representing a time of darkness and Winter, which are always overcome through the journey. The return to the light in the Spring, offers the opportunity to be reborn and move forward on the path, having learned from the time of adversity. Offerings of gratitude are given at this time to one’s adversaries, as they represent lessons and growth opportunities in disguise.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read archived articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at the National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, wisdom teacher,  inspirational speaker and host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into empowering and lifestyle enhancing topics. More info at ExploreYourSpirit.com