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Rendition of Color

One of my favorite sensory memories is the smell the morning after a big rain.  I love it.  I am reminded of early summer mornings in New York waiting for the bus to pick me up for day camp.

The senses are a powerful thing.  Our senses provide us with protection.  They show us beauty and sorrow. They help us touch the heart of others and in hearing the sounds of symphonies.

If you were to think about it you would figure out that one of your senses is your “power sense”.  The one that stands out the most.  I read once that we can increase our sensibilities through practice.

Being the envelope pusher that I am, it was inevitable that I choose to work on my sixth sense.  My power of intuition.  My innate ability to learn, experiment, and create my existence and my experiences.

I test the theories constantly and the more responses I get the more I look forward to.  Today on my morning walk I was feeling optimistic about my endeavors but I noticed that something was a little off.  I decided to use my senses to see what I could surmise.

Taking in my environment I noticed that the water in the canal was very low, the sky had taken on a somber grey, the bushes looked a bland shade of green and the dirt a constant step ahead of me on the path was the flavorless color of oatmeal.

Where was my head space that I couldn’t see in color?

It took me most of my walk to figure it out but then I had an epiphany.  I have spent the last five days writing my book proposal and the last two of those writing my chapter summaries.  In doing so I have had to “relive” the unpleasant moments of the past.  I have had moments of anger, times of tears flowing freely onto the computer keys and moments of emptiness at the incongruity of it all.  My bleak mostly colorless past that sometimes gets the best of me.

In the moment that my olfactory senses picked up on the correlation, I let it go.  I let go of my past and my pain and my mother and my childhood and my fears and my sorrow and my searching outside myself for happiness.

I enveloped myself in love and honored myself as a woman.  Pure and simple.  Me.  A woman standing on her own with humility in her soul, love in her heart and exuding her own natural rendition of color.

What are your senses telling you?


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Words Renamed

When I don’t write I miss it.  It has become a friend to me. A confidante. A place to call home.  The one constant in my life that has never betrayed me, or left my side, or didn’t embrace me when I was crying.  For me the words come and the world fades aways and purity finds me willingly. 

Tonight I honor the words that have seen me through my darkest hours, lifted me out of hopelessness and encouraged me to become the woman that I am today.

Words are powerful and can invoke change, love, laughter, and integrity. Words can change a persons life forever. 

They come from many sources.  A billboard that left me laughing, a poem that left me breathless, a Daily OM that made me sigh, or an email from the Universe that was exactly what I needed to hear.  From the many books that became my mentors (authors like Deepak Chopra, Og Mandino, Napolean Hill, and Dr. Wayne W. Dyer) or an affirmation that I carry in my pocket. No matter where they came from, or how I heard them, it still stands that… thoughts become things…

Be as good as your word, dream big, make a wish, live each day as if it were your last, treat your body as your temple, do unto other as you would have done unto you, your most vital commitment is your commitment to yourself, and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful then the risk it took to blossom, all our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind, being is the great explainer, don’t go to sleep angry, when you find what you love follow it with all your heart, acknowledge your personal growth, the world will give you what you ask of it, so ask wisely, don’t sweat the small stuff, everything I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten, home is where the heart is, choose love, you don’t lack a single thing, be beautiful, live up to your true potential, a house with no curtains has nothing to hide, be compassionate, experience empathy, listen more than you speak, love is confession so today come out with your truth, it only takes one second in time, one friend, one leap of faith, to change everything forever, if you leap the net will appear, just surrender, just be, expect the unexpected, accepting full responsibility for every little thing in your life, is what opens the floodgates to joy and power, choose happiness…

Today give a compliment to a stranger, a friend, and yourself… come on… spread the word.




















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Agreements

I am trying very hard to stay optimistic on my journey. This test of nature vs. nurture that I somehow signed myself up for is like an amusement park ride.  I get dizzy.  I find myself one minute ecstatic at the prospect of what lay ahead and then one thing sets me off and I am questioning my own beliefs and purpose.

Constantly trying to keep myself uplifted can be a chore.  I love being happy and I love being positive but sometimes I am just plain grumpy.  Sometimes I let people and/or circumstances get the best of me.  Sometimes I let myself get the best of me! And if I am not careful my frustration can cover me in a veil of contention.

I get affected.  It’s true. I expect people to have integrity. To be honest. To be loyal.  To care.  I expect too much.  I expect too much of people and of myself.  If I could be granted one wish in life.  My wish would be that everyone achieve a state of empathy.  

In the meantime I shall choose to look on the bright side.

As a “people” we are far from flawless.  And that’s okay.  Our flaws give us character.  It’s our flaws that teach us how to be better but allow us to be human.  I am trying too hard. I care too much.  I know.  I always do and I always will.

Growing up knowing that whatever you did would never be good enough for the genius mother who birthed you is draining to say the least.  Of all the things I need to let go of in life this has created my biggest challenge.  This is not American Idol!  I need to stop judging!  I can just do my best, today.  Be who I am, today.  Feel what I have to feel, today.  Embrace the challenges.  Cuddle the accomplishments and finally let myself off the proverbial hook I have been hanging from.

Years ago I happened upon a book that would shed some light on my misguided youthful approach to the world.  Today I need to be reminded of the messages in this practical and insightful code for life.  I share them with you…

The Four Agreements by, Don Miguel Ruiz
agreement 1
Be impeccable with your word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

agreement 2

Don’t take anything personally – Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.


agreement 3

Don’t make assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.


agreement 4

Always do your best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.


Do you agree?


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Live Happy Love Often

Happy Valentine’s Day


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Shhhh

Have you ever tried to recall something in a conversation but it just doesn’t come to mind?  You know what the answer is.  It’s right there on the tip of your tongue but arghh you just can’t remember.  And no matter how hard you try to think the answer through your lips.  Nothing.

Then ironically hours later when you’re leisurely driving, or walking and just not thinking.  Voila!  The answer pops into your head!

The art of clearing your mind (meditation) has been used for thousands of years by people all over the world.  Native American tribes used meditation as a form of connecting to the earth (their mother).  Buddhist meditation is a means of reaching upward and outward toward enlightenment. Even religious prayer is a form of meditation. There are many forms of meditation and with its wide spread recognition it has even found its way into western scientific research.

Meditation has been known to heal us, change us, and save us.  It can bring clarity, invoke insightfulness and grant us the answers that we seek.

You don’t have to sit for hours at a time to clear your mind.  You don’t have to be sitting at all.  You can be on a treadmill or laying in bed.

As we all know I have a lot going on.  There are things that I need to have happen to assist me in my endeavors.  There are answers that I need and when I am “in it” I can’t always come up with solutions.

I walk every morning with Sir Henry (my 17 month old morkie-poo). On these morning walks I clear my head.  I pick one thing I need the answer to.  I get into a place of intention and I start walking.  I look up and around me.  I try not to look down at the ground (well, except for the occasional glance so I don’t step in something unruly).  I watch the ducks splash around in the canals, the birds take off through the sky, and the clouds clear the way for the sun.  I let my mind take me where it needs to go.

This morning I set out for an answer I have been thinking about since yesterday.  Nothing was coming to mind.  I went to sleep, woke with the sun, and set out with a clear mind and within 5 minutes of walking the path the answer came to me.  Loud, clear, and concise.   I am so excited about my answer that as soon as I get done writing this I am going to get started on writing out my vision draft… remember?  The one I mentioned the other day, that I read about in Inc. magazine.  (I’ll let you know how it goes!)

Clearing your mind helps you listen to your life and the answers are always there.  Within you.  I got 2 answers out of my morning walk today!  I haven’t really known what I was going to write about next.  Then as Sir H and I were almost home we passed by this one beautiful rose.  It was all by itself and as I walked by my inner voice said, “Don’t forget. Stop and smell the flowers” so I turned around, went back to that flower took a deep breath and thanked it for it’s beauty.

Then when I was about a block away my inner dialogue got so excited!  I knew what I was going to write about and I had to go back and take a picture of that beautiful flower that prompted my words, my insights and my gratefulness.

The answers are within.  Are you listening?


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A Bigger Picture

Sometimes I fall prey to old habits.  I am not proud of these moments.  They are actually annoying and tiresome.  But I try not to judge.  Life has it’s ups and downs and the key to life could just be as simple as having more ups than downs but knowing to appreciate the downs and what the lessons are.  Charles Haanel, author of the Master Key System said, “Our ability to appropriate what we require for our growth from each experience determines the degree of harmony that we attain.  Difficulties and obstacles are necessary for our wisdom and spiritual growth.”

I have always believed that I am here for some bigger purpose.  I mean how could I have had the childhood that I did if there wasn’t a plan for me?  How could I survive the 9 lives of a cat relatively unscathed?  My difficulties and obstacles were to strengthen me, humble me, and help me believe in my bigger picture.

They help me find my unequivocal determination to better myself as a person and I hope this accounts for something.  And I do know that with self-discipline, determination and some good old fashion luck anything is possible.

One of my favorite sayings is, “The more I practice the luckier I get.”  There is speculation over which golfer said it, some think Arnold Palmer, while others think Gary Player but in the end it doesn’t matter who said it.

What matters is the truth in the statement.  Self-discipline plays a huge role in finding success, happiness and self-esteem.  Luck is born from these moments.  Some people say they don’t believe in luck while others believe in luck but they never have any.

I used to say, “I am the luckiest unlucky person ever.”  Well guess what.  I was exactly that.  Something bad would happen to me but something good would come out of it. Or it would happen the other way around.  Then one day I had an epiphany.  What if I just said, “I am lucky” and leave off the unlucky part?

I set out to focus on the things I could change, the manageable tasks, the baby steps.  And I realized, my focus were my thoughts and my thoughts became my reality.

Do you know that if a bad thought comes into your head, all you have to do is say the word positive and you change your thought process?  Our thoughts pave the road we are on.  Our thoughts take us places.  Our thoughts can change our lives.  Thoughts are our mental pictures about ourselves and everything around us and we have the power to choose what we think about.  
This power of thought allows us to envision what our everyday is going to be like.  Our thoughts can also take us by surprise.  Like thinking to yourself, “I want sushi tonight” and then that very night you are sitting at a sushi bar.  Simple right?  You thought something and it came true.  This is an example of what Malcolm Gladwell calls the “Blink Moment”  We all have them.  But life moves so fast and we don’t always listen.  If we can hone the craft of listening to our thoughts, they can help us make the right decisions.  
If you are trying to reach higher in your life let your thoughts take you there.  We all deserve the best and we all deserve a chance.  We have to love ourselves enough to go after what is important to us.  We must believe in our visions, our dreams, and our ability to create the ultimate life worth living.
In this months issue of Inc. there is an article on the power of visioning.  Try an experiment.  Pick something you want and follow the steps to envisioning it into reality.  It can’t hurt right?  And you might even have some fun.  You might even get what you envision!  Now isn’t that worth the old college try?

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Forward moving February

My astrology zone for the month has informed me that as of the new moon on February 2nd, Neptune, Mars, The Sun and the new moon are having a party in Aqaurius!  Well, I am inviting all of you!  All of those who are ready to play, laugh, and prosper, can join in the glorious fun of achievement, friends and family.  This can be a very social and lucky time for all of us.  I say whether we believe or not, we can still choose to join in the fun.  It can’t hurt right? 

How about this for a theory… If it’s true that we are all energy and the earth is energy and the planets around us are energy, well, isn’t all energy inter-connected?  Doesn’t that make us “one” with everything around us?  This could be great news!  This could mean that everything we do and everything we are is part of a collaborative effort.  Something bigger than each of us.  But something that belongs to all of us.  We are all a part of this one big vast ball of energy and the roles we play in life are us communicating our energy with the energy of everyone and everything around us.  


Imagine it this way… Think of it as having invisible help in all of your endeavors!


I don’t know about you but the thought that I have the whole world behind me, with me,  helping me, makes me feel stronger, more couragous and loved.  It has also left me breathless, and extremely excited about continuing my quest of giving back when I can.  So much to be thankful for!


I know my sometimes debatable approach hasn’t gone unnoticed but you know what?  Great!  I would thank Carl Sagan if he were still with us.  He was an Astronomer who, in his lifetime, received the NASA medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, he was the recipient of the Public Welfare Medal, and a Pulitzer Prize winner (to name just a few of his accomplishments).  In a lecture he said, “We would be arrogant to think we are the only ones”.  It was thanks to his words that I became enamored with arcane subjects and have reworded this impactful sentence to get me through some arduous times. 


In college I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Ellie Wiesel. He is a world renowned  writer, a professor, a political activist, a Nobel Laureate, and a Holocaust survivor.  It was the holocaust survivor part that really got me.  I remember thinking, “Okay this is going to be interesting but oh so depressing”.  I never laughed so much in my life.  Now every time I think of Mr. Wiesel I smile to myself.  That’s some powerful stuff!  I am thankful to him for helping me find the laughter in adversity!


And of course, another of my favorites, Plato.  It was his dialogues about his relationship with Socrates that taught me my love of questioning!  So much so that I wrote this as a teenager when I first started reading Plato…  “A rhetorical question and the socratic method.  How would Plato fend in the 90’s and what corrections would his mistakes make?”


If we’re all thinking and questioning we could be on to something.  We’re sharing.  We’re contributing to the possibilities. Change. Growth. Love. Harmony.  Family. Prosperity. Kindred Spirits.  Forward moving.  Peace.


Are you coming to the party?  What can you bring?

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Shoot for the Moon

Life never ceases to amaze me.  I’ve been puzzled over some recent turn of events and I am having trouble accepting that maybe I am supposed to learn some lesson from the exchange.  I question this!  Maybe you can help me?

As most of you know I spent the first quarter of my life being insulted, criticized and verbally abused.  And those of you who know me, also know that I have spent all of my adult life uplifting myself into a place of confidence, value and self-esteem.

Shouldn’t my rising above my circumstance be proof that I am well-educated in the subject.  My theory is that people are negative or bitter because somewhere along the line they forgot their true worth.  We weren’t born into this world to just get by.  We were born to bloom!

The other day someone I have been working with very closely told me this story (this is one of many similar stories), “I met this girl who said she came to L.A. to be a star. And I looked at her and laughed and said, join the club honey.”   He went on to say more to the same effect and I was astonished.  What gives any of us the right to shed darkness on someone else’s dream?  Just because one person doesn’t make it in a given field does not mean that the next person who comes along, as far-fetched to us as it may seem, doesn’t become a huge success.

Why can’t we all just believe in ourselves and each other?  Why can’t we believe that if we shoot for the moon, that worse that can happen is, we land in the stars?  And if we can’t believe for whatever limiting beliefs we have inflicted on ourselves, why can’t we just shut the f**k up.  Doesn’t everyone know the old adage, if you don’t have something nice to say then don’t say anything at all?

I am an undeniable, unequivocal believer in our potential as people.   It has taken me a long time to believe in myself and my possibilities.

If we weren’t meant for greatness and we didn’t believe in ourselves, then there would be no Bill Gates of the world, no Mother Teresa’s and certainly no one running for President!

Negativity breeds like a cancer.  It is contagious and engaging and scary.  Look at what’s happening to me right now… these negative exchanges have left me sleepless, distraught and depleted.  I am reminded of my past and the negativity plays like a broken record.

My mother did teach me some valuable lessons.  One of those lessons was to not listen to what people say to us in anger because they might as well be looking at themselves in the mirror (perhaps her way of telling me not to listen to her? Oh! I just had an aha moment!).  Well, anyway, I think this holds true with negativity.  But the dilemma now is, what do I do about it?  I’ve tried to express my concern and the response is always, you are up here and I am here and we meet in the middle.  Well I don’t feel like we are in the middle.  I feel like I have been brought down to that preverbal gutter of negativity that I have spent my life trying to get out of.  I don’t want these to be my thoughts and I certainly don’t want to engage in the gloomy game of accusations.

I couldn’t wait to write this out today.  My way of brushing myself off and finding my footing again so that I may find myself once again, skipping along the stars like a cobblestone street.

Are you dangling from the moon?  Will you share?


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Some Simple Wisdom

Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish. 


~Marcus Aurelius




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Love Actually

I made my first statistics list before my first birthday and I believed that my fate was sealed.   I came into this world because it was to late for other arrangements.  As I got older I struggled to find my place in the world.   I was lonely and I was lost. But most of all I was angry.   Angry at the genius mother who couldn’t love me.   Angry at the military father who was never there.   I was angry at my Self for what had become my life.
Why didn’t I have the answers?   Why couldn’t I fix it?   Fix my parents and fix my Self.   Frustration and rebellion would set in like a bad rerun and I couldn’t turn it off.   I feared everyone and trusted no one.   I was the quintessential representative of a misplaced youth and I was face down in the proverbial gutter.   I didn’t know if I would ever get up.   I just lay there in a puddle of my own tears.   Drenched and depleted I prayed.   I prayed for guidance and help and love.  
I am simultaneously launching a new company and writing a book proposal for my 1st novel to submit to publishers.  Somehow we prosper!  We are able to push ourselves to new limits and it’s then that we start to realize our true potential. We must hold ourselves accountable and then we will become conscious. Conscious to a life worth living and the possibility that we are all so very special. 
The biggest lesson on my journey is that we do have power. We do have worth and our words can make a difference.  And I hope that by some miracle my experiences and my sometimes questionable approach may shed some light, spark a fire or give some insight for all of us.  
I know the world does not revolve around me.  I realize that we are all in this together.  In some way shape or form we all have our shit.  And the best way to get through life is to find people who’s shit is compatible with ours.  
I hope my writings help change our world a little bit.  Help someone know that they weren’t the only one who had bad things happen to them.  To know that the world will give us what we ask of it so we must be careful what we wish for.  And perhaps it is conceivable that we can negate the disparaging voices from our past.
This is about sharing in the process and not being afraid of the rejections, the inspirations, the positive influences, the negative influences, the process of dealing with daily life.  This is where we can be reminded of the value and the power that a kind word or a smile or some love can hold for someone who is living life with their head down. 
I was that person for far too long.  My friend Betheny challenged me to an experiment.  Everyday I am to look 10 strangers in the eyes and smile.  Sounds easy right? For me it is a terrifying prospect.  But I love experiments!  So I find the courage in her intention for me to live outside my shell and meet new people.  It’s even getting easier, well for the most part,  when I can stay out of my head long enough to know it’s not that deep.  And the most important thing is I am smiling and I am making someone else smile and a smile can go a long way.  Like Love… Nothing moves mountains like love!
We all have love in our hearts.  So let’s focus on the love.  
Today let’s focus on the things we love about ourselves and silently say “I love you” to everyone we meet.  
Do you have some love to share with the world?

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