OPENING TO TRANSFORMATION

"Transform what has been a hindrance in your life into a teacher of the heart." 

~ Phillip Moffett ~

How does transformation happen?

When we own it. When we claim it. When we speak it, and when we believe it.

Something begins in us as a spark- a glimmering of what could be...  and then we have to act, and decide, and commit.
We have to share about it so others can help us grow it with their enthusiasm and connections,
and we have to keep showing up.

That's the introductory process anyway. 

Once we set our intention and get into action, it's inevitable that transformation will happen, and when it does, it's generally in an instant when we are ready for it and the time is right. 

In a flash of clarity and pure sight, 

we are made new.

I open to inspiration and create newness in my life through action, intention, and the willingness to share.

SURRENDER TO WIN

"If you surrender to the wind you can ride it." 

~ Toni Morrison ~

Real surrender exposes us to unlimited options. Not trying to control things let's be what is, and what is is something we can always deal with- not our thoughts about what is, or our manufactured meaning, just the simple space around life's happenings, and the trust that all is as it should be- good, bad, or indifferent, and that whatever happens will support us, or teach us, or break us down to seed so that we can come back and sprout yet again...

I allow for the breaking down process so that I can build up fresh.

THE NATURE OF TANGLES

"You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind..." 

~ Jim  Rohn ~

Some days, everything just gets jammed up and congestion, rather than flow, is the name of the game. We aim for clarity and end up in tangles. And when this is the way it's going, the only possibility for any kind of satisfying clearance is to acknowledge the tangles and accept that at times like this, all we can do is all we can do.

When life gets messy I let it be messy until the energy opens and shifts into clarity yet again. 

LETTING THE FUTURE UNFOLD

"He who seeks to know the future is out of harmony with the present." 

~ James Lendall Basford ~

Looking forward generates all kinds of possibilities for the way things could be, and we create images in the mind that please our sensibilities. And then, when reality takes over, or plans change, we have to adjust our inner pictures to accommodate the loss of our pleasing ideas. And sometimes this transition is easy, and sometimes it takes everything we've got.

I let go of all attachment regarding the unformed future, and grieve the loss of my celebrated and hoped-for ideas.

THE TALKING CURE

"Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud." 

~ Herman Hesse ~

Truncated communication strangles possibility and traps us inside our heads with questions and misconceptions, when, with a bit of honest sharing, we could so easily be... free.

No matter the conflict, I trust in the healing power of communication.

OWNING OUR PART

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men."

~ Herman Melville ~

When things seem to go awry, it's instinctual for some of us to double back and re-trace our steps. What did we do, or fail to do, that contributed to the outcome that we got? The other option is to blame others and take no responsibility, but that's not the evolved way. We always have some kind of part in what happens, and acknowledging that is important, though it doesn't necessarily change the dynamic. Some things, for reasons beyond our understanding or control, are simply not meant to be.

I am sorry for my part in messy situations, and do my best to live right and in the light. 

BEING WHOLE

"Namaste." 

~ Sanskrit Greeting ~

We are whole- not broken and not incomplete.

And we are unlimited- not doomed, oppressed, or irretrievably stuck.

In each and every moment we are the possibility of freedom, 

the channel of divinity, 

and the opportunity for pure love.

I am deeper than the surface and wise beyond my years.

100% POTENTIAL

"I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom." 

~ Simone de Beauvoir ~

Once upon a time, many moons ago, I was excluded from a party of my peers for being too much of a "goody-goody," and at the time, the judgment cut like a knife. I went on to prove them all wrong, and became rather a bad-ass, but that didn't capture me either- not fully. The real truth is so much simpler than any of that. The real truth is that I am bigger than any label, and freer than any kind of trapping judgment, and the real truth is that we all are.

I am pure energy, responsive to the experience of life. 

MAYBE NOTHING IS WRONG

"I am iron resisting the most enormous magnet there is." 

~ Rumi ~

All our antennae go up when we sense that something is wrong. We go to our default positions and coping mechanisms. We get defensive. We blame others, We retreat.
     But if nothing's really wrong, then there's nothing to defend, and we don't have to trail around old unfinished business from the past. We can be fresh and clear and responsive in the moment instead of telling ourselves stale stories from what happened long ago.

I open to the possibility that nothing needs fixing and all is well.

THINGS BEING WHAT THEY ARE

"Be ground. Be crumbled, so wildflowers will come up where you are." 

~ Rumi ~

Is it better to end slowly, by degrees, or just to end? There is something about dragging out a departure and good-byes that makes it almost excruciating, and yet, it does create a certain readiness and total completeness that isn't there with a quick cutting-off.
     Maybe neither is better. Maybe one is just one thing and the other just the other. We're always trying to make things mean something, but maybe they don't necessarily. Maybe stuff just happens, and our interpretations and speculations and determinations and worries are just that- and block us from the ability to simply experience what is.

I stop trying to figure everything out and get present to what's actually happening.

KEEPING POWER

"Who am I to blow against the wind?" 

~ Paul Simon ~

It's fruitless to set ourselves up in opposition to the people we love. Blocking them in any way blocks us. We can allow for the way they show up in the world without taking it personally. We can give them their dignity and keep ours at the same time by setting boundaries where necessary and maintaining our inner calm.

I experience peace by keeping charge of my personal power.

LOOSE AND EASY IN OUR OWN SKIN

"Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape." 

~ Rumi ~

We are so constrained by our desire to look good. There is tension in it- a lack of pure authenticity. It's as if we are filtered through our own self-consciousness, lacking relaxation, awkward in our own skin. And, generally speaking, it comes out most when we are meeting others for the first time. And it's exhausting. And it's uncomfortable. And it has a kind of shelf life beyond which we have to either get authentic, or escape. It's not sustainable to be fixed in looking good for too long a stretch. That's why we all need to get home at the end of the day and put on our jammies and let down our hair.

I learn to relax in the world so it's not so exhausting to be out and about. 

STRETCHING TO NEW HEIGHTS

"Connect movement with breath and spiritual meaning." 

~ Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa ~

Babies know the value of stretching, but as adults, we often forget the benefits- and stretching not only our bodies, but our minds and spirits as well. There is something about it- about moving and reaching and lengthening and twisting and bending, that both relaxes and enlarges us, that feels good, and allows for release, increased energy, stamina, circulation, and fresh perspective.

I stretch my muscles, my effort, and my imagination.

THE CYCLE OF CARING

"We must be our own before we can be another's." 

 ~ RW Emerson ~

I'm not sure where we learn to put ourselves last, but some of us do learn that somewhere along the way. We take care of everyone else first, and if there's anything left over- the dregs- that's what we get. And sometimes, what's left amounts to nothing, and we spend our days and weeks attending to the urgencies and emergencies of our work and family, and don't even bother or think about whatever we may need.
     And we dry up... eventually.
     But we needn't.
     It's the great irony of life that when we do right by ourselves, we do right by others. Effort and care is circular and must revolve.

I am good to myself, and that makes me good for others.

LETTING GO OF BEING RIGID

"Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play."

~ Henri Matisse ~

What if we stopped letting every little thing that people do and don't do get under our skin?

What if we could genuinely see all sides of every situation?

What if we didn't have to be rigid?

What if we didn't have to be right?

Where would that leave us?

Could we be... free?

I let people be who they are and where they are, and who and where they are not.

GETTING STRAIGHT WITH OURSELVES AND OTHERS

"We excuse our sloth under the pretense of difficulty." 

~ Marcus Fabius Quintilian ~

It's easier to process "No," or "Not this time," or "I have a conflict," than a whole stream of excuses. What are we supposed to do with them?
     My neighbor's father died. I was on vacation and then my kids were sick. I mis-placed your phone number. I was so busy I couldn't take even five minutes to respond- seriously- I didn't even have five minutes!
     OK. But again, what are we supposed to do with that information? Apologize? Tell you not to worry, that we understand, that it doesn't matter... All of these feel a bit unsatisfactory. Just tell me what you can commit to, and let us both get on with our lives.

I live free from excuses.

GOING FOR IT

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." 

~ Rumi ~

I'm not afraid of adventure or new things- not really. What scares me the most is how easily I can fool myself, and how automatically I squash myself down with who am I kidding thoughts, and wondering if I can really be so lucky as to follow my dreams...
     And yet, if I don't follow them, they will haunt me forever, so why not go for it? I have nothing to lose but my excuses and my fear.

I follow my passion and live from the heart.

INVITATION

"Long have you timidly waded, holding  a plank by the shore.
Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,

to jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, 

and laughingly dash with your hair." 

~ Walt Whitman ~

We are more repressed than we realize, or can comprehend. We back ourselves into corners and trap ourselves in little boxes. We make up endless reasons why we can't and why we don't and why we won't. We live stultifying lives and think ourselves free. Let's think again, and reconsider the possibilities. Maybe we can, actually, and maybe we will. Maybe we needn't be small and quiet. Maybe life and God invite us daily to rise.

I honor the call to be my best self.

BEING NEW

"You dance inside my chest... and that light becomes this art." 

~ Rumi ~

We have to practice being new. It doesn't just happen once and then it's over. Life cycles round and round again, and every time it turns, we must choose.
     Our old patterns reach out to grab us and pull us back, but if we commit to a fresh direction we can be refreshed. We have only to declare the path we're on day after day after day.

I decide my life one choice at a time.

ALIVE AND WELL

"Never explain. Your friends do not need it, and your enemies will not believe it." 

~ Elbert Hubbard ~

Direct, true, and real from the gut.

Unstuck.

Free in the moment and owning it.

Being me the best I can be.

Seeing clarity.

Feeling sanity.

Not bothering with what doesn't matter to me.

Alive and well.

No need for a shell.

Simply

As

I

Am.

The truth of me happens one minute at a time.

CHOOSING WHAT WE CHOOSE

"I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum." 

~ Frances Willard ~

I am tired of second guessing myself, of worrying what others might think about the decisions I'm making, and of wanting my father's approval. I don't need it.
     I choose what I choose because I choose what I choose. I don't have to explain it to anyone, nor should I question others about their choices, or doubt them, unless they specifically ask.
     It's exhausting to manage the world. I hereby declare that I have been in error, and going forth, I am willing to be ok with things and people being what they are and being what they are not. I needn't fix or advise or suggest or judge. I need only freely express myself in each moment, and be open to the possibility of love.

I get out of other people's business, and keep other people out of mine.