A few years ago, I clicked on a link that changed my life. It was a TEDTalk video, “Brene Brown: The Power in Vulnerability.”
Excruciating Vulnerability, Reconciliation and Forgiveness.
The Mist
Woke up this morning to the usual mist known as “the marine layer.” This mist, is more like the heavy fog one might associate with London rather than the sunny city of Los Angeles, yet seven out of ten days, I wake up with about ten feet of visibility.
The cool, creepy fog that is just as much a part of the city as the beach or palm trees, is almost a resident secret. I imagine thousands of tourist must wake up and think “What the heck? THIS is not what I paid for! Oh well, we’ll probably have to plan for an indoor activity now…” Within hours though, the mist is gone, usually giving way to the beautiful electric blue sky.
The mist comes into the city like a protective, moist blanket. It’s what keeps Los Angeles from feeling like the desert.
This morning, I thought about how many times in life I’d been disappointed or hurt by circumstances and how these problems seemed overwhelming and endless. It wasn’t until I was able to reflect on these experiences that I realized, like the mist, they were a necessary contribution to my life. As I look upon the landscape of my life, I see the diversity of my experience, beliefs, friendships and I realize that most of my peace has resulted from the times I had to surrender.
Surrender doesn’t mean laying down dead, it means being “ok” at worst and at best being “AWESOME;” no matter what happens. I wanna be one of those old ladies with deep laugh lines and strong arms. I wanna have people look into my eyes and still see the twinkle and I wanna lay my head down and sleep like a baby.
For now, I drink my tea and welcome the mist…
Riddle me this…
Image by pixbymaia via FlickrWell I guess it would be niceIf I could touch your body.
George Michael crooned about it in the 80’s…
The first definition by Miriam Webster says it’s an allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one’s promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
The Bible says it is:
…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
What is it?
Faith.
In the Huff Post blog that inspired this one, What Do You Know to Be True, my friend (the beautiful and popular holistic blogger 😉 Holly Sidell recants how a simple mail delivery had her mind spinning out of control. She determines to not make assumptions, good or bad, regarding truth.
You ever notice how the simplest little things can make us crazy because we’ve based our belief systems on a truth, that is rooted in fear? As our brain hunts for evidence to make these fears true, we become more certain that we are doomed.
I love, love, love the biblical (King James Version) definition, especially the SUBSTANCE part. Thought as substance? Whether you are a believer or not, you will admit, this concept is surely provocative! The substance of things HOPED for is the evidence of what is not seen. There are sooo many things we do not see, brain waves, microwaves, electrical and magnetic currents, God, Love, Spirit, ghosts, angels…
So, we may never know the Truth of “all that is” in this lifetime but if we can be sure of the good we hope for and allow that hope to become the evidence of what is unseen… THAT just may make life a bit sweeter.
Have a faithful Friday my friends.
Home Alone
Who can forget the 90’s classic “Home Alone” with Macaulay Culkin? (or the 17 sequels that followed…) In the film an overwhelmed set of parents forget their young son but the boy cleverly survives the zany weekend.
Home alone for me was not so zany but just as entertaining and nourishing as I needed it to be. I wanted to share what I did to arrive so at peace and excited to be me on Monday.
1. I put all serious work aside. I have A LOT of work ahead of me this week and I could’ve plotted and planned, packed and cleaned, unpacked and organized, written emails and proposals… but I didn’t. I relaxed mind, body and spirit and guess what? The work is still ahead of me but I am rested and clear enough not to be overwhelmed.
2. I ate. A trip to the farmers market provided a haul of live food that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love feeding my kids but this weekend was about food that pleased me. I experimented. I sat at the table and savored each meal. I also potted some herbs for future use in recipes as well as bath salts.
3. I exercised. I went for loooong adventurous hikes in the new hood. GORGEOUS.
4. I played. I will get more into this in future posts but I jumped and danced and pretended just like I used to do as a kid and it was AWESOME.
5. I meditated and got centered. I prayed and expressed gratitude.
I was not lonely during my time alone. Every day I discover more things about myself that I like, want to change, appreciate, find amusing… This is the great gift of being human.
I highly recommend a staycation alone. When was the last time you enjoyed your own company?
The Geometry of Chaos
Image by rosepetal236 via FlickrA fractal is a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole.
Have you ever noticed that the protons neutrons and electrons that make up all matter on Earth, look like planets revolving around the sun? Outside our bodies we go into our world, the atmosphere, then onto the infinite energy in outer space. Inside the body we go into our tissues, cells, and then onto the infinite energy of atoms in our inner space.
Fractals seem to provide a mathematical explanation for some core spiritual concepts. Don’t you think? The Bible says humans are created in the image of God. So, according to the Judeo-Christian faith, WE are potentially a reduced-size copy of the great creator. According to Tantra, the human being is a miniature universe and the same principles that apply to the universe apply in the case of the individual being.
Thousands of years after these Divine revelations, Marianne Williamson writes:“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
~ A Return To Love
It seems humankind has been searching for meaning and purpose since inception of the species. At some point, we all seem to want to make sense of the pain, joy, failure or victory we’ve experienced. This is what fascinated me most about the geometry of chaos, the possibility of a mathematical explanation for the secret workings of Nature! The beauty of all this seeking and finding and learning and growing is this… There is a chance that a scientific discovery, personal life events or a social perception may disprove one or all of the components of our findings but NOTHING can take away from our individual experiences with love.
As long as we are breathing, we have a chance to experience and celebrate life and love on this planet!
If we have returned to love, we’ve been blessed to have gotten there.
The Power of Words
I love words.
I think you can tell from this blog that I have a lot to say! Yes, I really love words and I believe they are tools of power. Over the course of my lifetime, I’ve heard words that have hurt more than childbirth as well as words that felt better than a massage.
I’ve read that words are manifesting commands to the subconscious mind. So, when we speak words out loud, we are actually telling our mind to make it happen. How EXACTLY this occurs is probably a course of study in brain science as well as philosophy and may never fully be understood. Humankind has always been fascinated by this form of communication. Here are some provocative thoughts and quotes to consider:
Life and death are in the power of the tongue…
~ Proverbs 18:21
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
~ Buddha
When you have spoken the word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it.
~ Arabian Proverb
Did you knowEvery letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a design, a number and a meaning. The sum of the letters have special significance.
It’s believed that in Sanskrit, the significance and the vibrations of each syllable have an effect both inside and outside the body.
In Hawaiian Shamanism there is a source of power behind the words of the language. The ancient Hawaiians acknowledged the spiritual, divine meaning behind the sounds and tones that make up the words.
Regardless of belief system, most will agree that words are powerful. I composed a short list of my favorite words. Whether the positive feeling I get from hearing these words comes from the word itself or from the meaning I’ve assigned, is not important to me. What matters is that I use these words in affirmations about myself and others.
* Love * Joy * Peace * Creativity * Humility * Passion* Family* Life*
How awesome it is that I can write and share the words on my mind freely! There are people all over the world that can’t. Words can motivate, inspire and change. I try to speak my favorite words, or variations of them in some form, EVERY DAY. Good words feel good.
Do you speak words of power over yourself and your loved ones? What words make the top of your list?
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