Guest Posts Archives - Signs, Synchronicity, and Waking Dreams

You Are My Peace (Beautiful Song)

On September 9, 2026

In Guest Posts, Love & Relationships, Songs (Original), Spirituality

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Guest Post by Riley Carson

This song was inspired by Franz Schubert’s beautiful song Du bist die Ruh (“You Are My Rest”), widely regarded as one of Schubert’s finest songs and a profound expression of love, peace, and devotion in the German art-song tradition.

The original German poem (lyrics) was written by the renowned German poet Friedrich Rückert. I began with an English translation of Rückert’s words and then reworked the text to preserve the spirit and poetic imagery of the original while expressing it in contemporary English. I set the resulting lyrics to music in a contemporary devotional style, creating my own musical interpretation inspired by Schubert’s timeless work.

Child’s Play

By Michael Avery

On September 2, 2026

In Conscious Living, Guest Posts, Love & Relationships, Spirituality, Synchronicity

Reading Time: 2 minutes

By Gloria Lionz

The inspiration for this piece came after meeting several family members of a dear friend. Everyone was friendly but cautious about ‘who’ I was to their family member. There are so many ways to “be” with ‘strangers’ – Open, curious, welcoming, suspicious. After 2 days of interactions, I wondered how I could shift my responses to their vibes; just be myself.

I heard: “Oh, that’s child’s play.” The poem took me the rest of the way…

Blessing the Moment

By Michael Avery

On August 26, 2026

In Guest Posts, Health & Healing, Love & Relationships, Personal Growth, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Guest Post by Jim Jackson

In the fall of 2008, at our monthly Kaiser hospice volunteer in-service training meeting, we discussed the following talk given by Dr. Jessica L. Israel. For me, personally, it was a smaller spiritual wake-up call preceding the major spiritual wake-up call two months later when my wife, Molly, suddenly passed-on, with no warning or cause ever found. “It was a very big deal!“

At the end, I will ask a question, one I ask myself several times a day.

“Have I missed the moment – the ‘WOW’? Or did I remember to BLESS it?”

Seeing Without Looking—Photography as a Meditative Practice.

By Michael Avery

On August 11, 2026

In Conscious Living, Guest Posts, Spiritual Exercises, Spirituality, Waking Dreams

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Dennis Ernst

It was early morning and the sun had not yet risen. I watched in awe as the sky warmed, then brilliant pink, orange, and yellow colors stained the deep blueness of the night sky. All this and much more had happened before my camera shutter clicked and the picture taken.

When I looked at the picture, it was just one moment in a scene that didn’t change, as the light shifted. What had changed was being still, being present, noticing without looking, without an agenda, and letting nature show me its beauty. That is something that arrives on it’s own and not part of my doing.

Grace (Intro and Poem)

By Michael Avery

On August 5, 2026

In Guest Posts, Inner Guidance, Love & Relationships, Poetry, Spiritual Exercises, Spirituality

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Gloria Lionz

For over 25 years, I’ve written and shared a Christmas season poem with family and friends.

Each year Spirit leads. I begin by asking the Universe what that year’s theme will be. The wording of my question changes but the intent remains: “What theme does Spirit want me to explore?” And, “how can what I share about it help the reader better realize their link to life’s gifts?”

The Spiritual Art of People Watching

By Michael Avery

On July 22, 2026

In Guest Posts, Love & Relationships, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Jim Jackson

In reviewing my personal journal of 2020, I found the following enlightening entry of April 16th, written during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has now become a great dislike to go to the grocery store, although I’m so grateful to have that opportunity: thankful for the food being there and being able to afford purchasing it. I’m also thankful for the producers, the factory workers, the field workers, the shippers, and the store workers for risking their health during their hard work so that we, the fortunate ones, might eat comfortably.

Today’s To-Do List (Story & Poem)

By Michael Avery

On July 7, 2026

In Guest Posts, Inner Guidance, Love & Relationships, Poetry, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Guest Post by Gloria Lionz

I attended a leadership conference in Vermont in June. It took me 29 hours to reach my final destination. Yes, I ‘flew’ there but the ‘schedule’ changed according to Spirit (not as advertised by the airline carrier). Chalk this TIRING EXPERIENCE up to Holy Spirit’s ‘way’ of arranging things for me to meet an entirely different group of people; sharing heart-to-heart stories as well as commiserating about mutual travel challenges.

Your “Mask Museum”

By Michael Avery

On June 30, 2026

In Conscious Living, Guest Posts, Past Lives & Karma, Personal Growth, Poetry, Spirituality

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Dennis Ernst

I recently made a visit to the Another Face of Mexico Mask Museum in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It was a huge, private collection of over 500 masks, from the 35 historic cultures in Mexico and Central America. The masks were used in rituals, dances, cultural celebrations, and were part of the collective identity.

The concept of the masks haunted me. The need to become something other that what we are, and imbue them with special powers, to feel like they were something greater than their ordinary life. This is a story of creating an identity and wearing it like a mask.

The Cancer Doc & A Humbling Experience

By Michael Avery

On June 24, 2026

In Divine Love, Guest Posts, Health & Healing, Love & Relationships, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Jim Jackson

On Friday afternoon I had a checkup appointment with Dr. Edward Chang, an oncologist and hematologist. I was seeing him for the latter purpose—not for cancer treatment.

Since my first appointment with my new PC physician and her concern with a slightly low reading in my platelet count, I’ve seen Dr. Chang on four separate occasions now, each time with a three-month extension from my recheck. Next time is a year from now.