About a year ago, I decided to enter a singing contest that was to be aired
on national television. I visited the contest's website and printed out the
application and the legal contract that I was to sign in order to
participate. Upon reading the contract, I was shocked to learn that if I
planned on singing any of the original songs that I had written myself on
the show that I would have to surrender my ownership/legal copyrights of
the songs to the TV show. I re-read the contract several times to make sure
that that is what the contract truly stated, and sure enough, it did. For
some reason, however, I kept a printed copy of the contract anyway even
though I had no intentions whatsoever of signing it nor of competing in the
contest. I was angry at the thought of a national television network and a
t.v. show with deep pockets trying to steal musicians' work, work that the
musicians poured their own heart and soul, talent, time, and money into. I
reasoned that it was just another case of the big sharks eating the little
fish in the sea. After fuming for awhile, I prayed to the Lord, my spirit
guides, and my spiritual teachers. I explained the situation to them and
asked them to investigate it.
Even though I did not have any intentions of signing the contract the way
it was written, I was hoping all along that the terms of the contract would
change so that I could eventually participate in the contest.
Shortly thereafter, I re-visited the t.v. show's website again and re-read
the contract, and to my surprise, the contract was re-worded differently.
The contract no longer stated that musicians who sing their own original
songs on the show would have to surrender their ownership/legal copyrights
of the songs to the TV show. The re-worded contract stated that the legal
ownership of the songs would remain with the musicians who wrote the songs.
In fact, the website even went on to explain that the t.v. show would like
musicians to attach a copy of their legal copyrights of their songs to
their application as a safety measure against any lawsuits filed by t.v.
viewers at home who watch the show and claim that they themselves wrote the
songs. I also re-read the printed copy of the legal contract that I had
kept and had no intentions of signing due to the stipulation about giving
the show the ownership of my songs, and to my surprise, the legal contract
that I had previously printed out was also re-worded the same way that the
website was.
Right before the reality shift occurred, I had an intuitive feeling that I
should return to the website and re-read the contract. Surprised and happy
that it had actually changed, I then felt that I should re-read the copy
that I had previously printed out, and I noticed that the terms of the
printed contract had also changed.
Needless to say, I never did win the contest. I did not even get to the
call back stage in the audition process, but the lessons I learned from
this experience far outweighed the rewards of appearing on and winning a
singing contest on national television. I learned that our reality truly
isn't fixed. Even a legally binding contract that was printed out on the
printer isn't fixed and can change, and I also learned about the power of
prayer.
Note from Cynthia: Thank you so very much for sending me this
reality shift story! I love the way you describe how physical evidence
vanished once you noticed the change in the printed legal contract details.
This is so very typical of reality shifts; once a shift has occurred, all
we seem to have in the way of proof are our own memories. Due to the
importance of memories, it's highly recommended that we document such
reality shifts when they occur, since our notes usually stick around, even
if no other substantiation exists.
Pillow Changes Color
Joyce
Dubuque, Iowa, USA
I'm a retired Elementary-Junior High Teacher, now turning to some of my
favorite things to do---art, reading, singing and dancing, music, and
meditation. I'd like to share a reality shift I had the other day.
As I reached for the third of three red violet pillows I place on top of my
bed, I noticed it was missing. After the final piece of searching, under
the bed, I glanced at the top to see a third pillow, But it was mauve.
Bemused and definitely curious, I checked the living room for my two mauve
pillows. And yes, they were there. Back to the bedroom, and now, three
pillows still on the bed and they're all red violet. Wow. I went to my
living room to reflect. I was truly amazed when the mauve pillow showed up
in the empty space between the two red purple pillows on the bed, and then
changed colors after I'd been to the living room and back. I think I got
the "pillow shift" because it's just too big to miss!
Note from Cynthia: While some people might not notice colors,
it's clear that you're the kind of person who does (as evidenced by your
use of the word "mauve," which some people aren't so familiar with). This
is an excellent example of noticing a change in something you're paying
attention to (color)... which often gets me wondering how many reality
shifts are happening around us that we don't happen to observe, simply
because they have to do with things we're not so closely observing. Thanks
so much for noticing and sharing this shift!
Keys Reappear in Pocket
Pat
New York City, New York, USA
I live in an apartment in New York City and work out of my home. I had gone
out for my weekly treat (eating lunch out one day a week) and had stopped
on the way out to get my mail so I knew I had my keys with me since my
mailbox has a key.
I went out for lunch, came back and since it was a nice fall day, I was
sitting on the steps of my building enjoying the day until after 15 minutes
or so decided I better get to work. I went to get my keys in my purse and
couldn't find them. I patted the pockets of a light, unlined windbreaker I
was wearing and no keys. I did the whole purse search again. Then I did the
purse search with some things taken out. More patting of pockets. Stood up
and patted and reached into both my windbreaker pockets and my pants
pockets. No keys. I had a small bag with papers in it and searched that;
shook it to see what came to the bottom. Nothing. I even opened my zip top
wallet, thinking maybe the keys had somehow fallen in there.
These keys are more of a key ring -- 6 or 7 keys, plus a few of those store
shopping discount tags, and a metal charm of a shark... finally the only
explanation I could come up with is I must have left them in the
restaurant. I tried to call the restaurant to save myself a trip, but got
voice mail.
So I walked back to the restaurant, thinking they'd be laughing "Ah, we
knew you'd return." Instead I got blank stares of No, we didn't find your
keys. I had sat in a booth and I was (yuk!) reaching between the back and
the seat looking for my keys. I was stumped.
I stood up and the bartender said, "Did you check your pockets?" and I was
slightly peeved and said, "Of course I did" and then patted them again
almost unconsciously. Well, there were my keys in my windbreaker jacket. I
can't tell you how stunned I was. I started saying, "I swear these keys
were not there" and the bartender was laughing, but said something like "I
know, I believe you. These things happen."
So I was thinking that typically reality shift happens for the good... and
here was a case where I felt "reality" was playing a trick on me. I swear I
would have bet my life those keys weren't in my pocket. Finally, as I stood
there sputtering, the bartender said, "Well, they're found now" and that's
true.
I really do search for meaning for otherwise meaningless events... rather
than just say "oh, I guess I missed the keys the 27 times I stuck my hands
in my pocket." And I am a magazine writer, and I have a column due and I
can basically write about whatever I want (within reason) but it sort of
has to have some 'personal growth' element to it, and over lunch I had been
thinking that I could write about "fear" since these are scary
times.
So perhaps the universe was telling me: your home is safe (you have the
keys after all!). When I got back to my apartment building, there's about
six steps up leading to the front door and on the top step was a dime which
had not been there when I left 10 minutes earlier when I went back to the
restaurant. For me, I've often gotten the "sign" of "money on my doorstep"
-- in fact, once I had change right outside the front door to my apartment
-- money at my doorstep -- (Hmmm... how's that for a waking dream metaphor?
and so my take-away from this was... I have a home and I have money at my
doorstep (literally) -- and yes, I put the dime in my wallet!
Note from Cynthia: What a wonderful feeling to find your keys,
and how astonishing to find them in a place you know for sure you'd checked
earlier... when they were not there. This is the type of reality shift
story that tends to seem less impressive to others as it is to ourselves,
as others usually don't know how thoroughly we checked our pockets. What I
really love about your story is the way you are able to recognize some
marvelous messages to you from the universe here... such as that in finding
first your keys and then a coin on your top step, everything is
just fine. There's a sense I get in your story that you are being cared
for, and even when it seems you might be losing things, all is well. This
is truly lovely thing to remember!
Burned House Vanishes
Teresa
Morristown, Tennessee, USA
One evening back around 2002, I drove to a friend's house and saw a house
in the process of being burned to the ground on her street, Tom Treece
Road. Only the foundation was left and flames were licking it. I found it
odd since no fire trucks were there and no residents from nearby houses
were out watching. I saw a house close by with its outside lights one, yet
on one was out looking at this or seeming worried about it's close
proximity, which is what made me halt in the road. I drove on to my
friend's house, intending to tell her how I was so shocked and startled to
see the burning foundation. Yet, I'd completely forgotten about it by the
time I got to Jessica's house which was not far down the same road. We
couldn't have seen the burning site from her front yard, since there was a
bend in the road. I must have sat there for an hour talking to my friend
once I'd arrived but not remembered the burning building and not said a
word about it, when suddenly, I completely remembered driving past it on my
way there. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten something so vivid. Jessica was
pretty shocked, too. She suggested we immediately go check it out and we
jumped up and got in the car to investigate. Jessica didn't believe me and
said that she would know if a house were burning on her street. So we
jumped in my car and drove off, so I could show it to her. We drove by the
spot where the burning house was a short time earlier and everything was
dark, there was no light, no fire. I slowed down, pointed and said, "It was
about right here." No sooner had I said the words, then we saw a burning
house with only the foundation left in flames. There was a flash or flame
like someone had just struck a huge sputtering match and suddenly, there
the whole scene was, just like I'd seen it perhaps an hour earlier. There
had been absolutely no change in how much foundation had been burned.
Jessica saw it go from nothing to burning building too. She wanted to get
out of the car and examine the house, but I was scared. I yelled at her
when she tried to open the car door to check the situation out, screaming
like a maniac and stomping the gas. I was afraid that we'd get caught in
the burning building place/time, and I felt a very real wrongness that made
me panic. I remember being so scared, I was willing to leave her there if
she got out, because I was so concerned about my safety. We went back in
daylight and there was no sign of a burned house. There was no story
reported in the newspapers, to my knowledge, and according to Jessica, no
one in the neighborhood ever mentioned it happening, which is odd, because
it stood out vividly in the darkness when I drove past alone. The whole
thing had an 'out of time' feeling to it. I'd have believed I was
hallucinating, except my friend, Jessica, saw it too. Thank God.
Note from Cynthia: This is a really interesting story, since you
had a witness, and later checked both newspapers and the surrounding area
to see whether there were any later signs of fire. What most intrigues me
about this story is the way the fire was seen by both you and your friend,
yet it also seemed to have started up out of the black darkness of night
both the first time you saw it alone, and the second time you saw it with
your friend. This is such a mystifying experience, and I'd love to know
more about it. Some people notice buildings vanishing or appearing... and
others have seen tremendously destructive realities that later turned out
not to be true, and I'd love to know if your story might be one of these.
