Blog Archives

Do You Have A Dream?

6/30/2020

Do you have a dream? If you do, what does it look like? Is it one you've had since childhood, or is it a newer dream? How often do you think about this dream? Have you envisioned how it will play out and the details that will go into it? Have you taken steps to bring that dream to fruition, or have you given up on some of your dreams? Are you living the life that you pictured for yourself?

I think a lot of us started out with dreams...big dreams, but sometimes it can seem as though life has a way of keeping us from accomplishing these big dreams. Or, is it that we keep ourselves from accomplishing our dreams? How often do we really go for our dreams versus settling in for what seems safe or ordinary? For some, there comes a time where we think to ourselves...that's good enough, it's not quite what I had dreamed of, but it's good enough. Or, I have a comfortable life, a comfortable existence and that's good enough, or who am I to aspire to anything greater? Or, life's just too busy, I have kids now, a mortgage, a job, commitments, I don't have the time or energy, let alone the money to pursue my dream.

Do you see yourself in any of these examples? It's not that there's necessarily anything wrong with being comfortable, but what if we each aspired to have an extraordinary life, not an ordinary life? How would the world change? How would we change? What would it look like?

Kris Carr, author and wellness activist, says, "Your soul is expansive and it craves uncertainty. In the uncertainty lies the possibilities. Have an extraordinary life, not an ordinary life. Change your mind about yourself. We have more power than what we know and exercise. Get deeper into your vision. Dream big, manifest big, but recognize that it may come in a different package than what you envisioned once in a while." I get that, I think my soul is expansive and craves the unknown, and has a desire for infinite possibilities.

It can be scary to own our own power, to actually follow through on our true potential. A lot of times we let our ego and fear get the better of us. But what if we were brave enough to not settle and to dream? To know our gifts, our strengths, to be clear about our vision and to not hold ourselves back.

I think we often tell ourselves that we can't possibly act on our dreams because we don't know enough yet, or we don't have enough experience. So guess what?...experts did not start out as experts, they started out as beginners, as apprentices and they became experts. What if we just get started and learn more as we go, become experts along the way? What if we just started where we are and go from there?

I can already hear my own brain saying...yikes that means you are probably going to have some rough spots along the way or even fail. How many of us play it safe to avoid failure? I know I have been guilty of that a lot in my lifetime. Can we give ourselves a pass on our own self-judgment if we fail? Are we brave enough to see it as a learning opportunity and not as a failure? We've all heard the stories of successful people who failed multiple times before accomplishing their dream. Why is this so hard to do? What are we afraid of? Who's opinion of us matters anyway?

What if we dreamed and dreamed big? What if we gave our dream some legs and began acting on it? Do an exercise with me...sit down with a loved one that you trust and each of you for a few minutes tell the other several "imagine if" and "I dream that" statements. Don't hold back, be authentic, be bold, be brave, be creative, let it flow, whatever comes to mind just keep imaging and dreaming. Have it be personal or about how you dream or imagine the world or your community to be. Give it as much detail as you can. Who knows maybe you'll learn something about yourself or something about your loved one that you were unaware of.

Anytime you take a moment to put awareness to your desires, your dreams, and then verbalize them you are taking a big step toward acting them out. Each day take small right steps toward your dreams.

I once saw an interview with Steve Harvey where he said, "Surround yourself with dreamers. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Stop telling your dreams to small-minded people." Keep around you people who love and support you and your dreams. People who challenge you to be all that you can be and more. People who will encourage you even when you may fail. People who are also dreamers and who are aspiring to lead an extraordinary life. Live BIG, live interesting, live extraordinary, create magic. Why not? The world needs ordinary people leading extraordinary lives.

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Cultivating Feminine Energy

6/22/2020

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All human beings have both feminine and masculine energies regardless of our gender and it's important that they are in balance. We need both energies in order to achieve our highest creative potential. Unfortunately in western society, feminine energy is often considered the less valuable of the two energies and both women and men are afraid to embrace their feminine. Instead both genders intentionally ramp up their masculine energy to meet the expectations of society. In reality, one doesn’t beat out the other. They are two halves of the same whole. They add to each other and balance each other out.

As a society we need to make a shift and understand the importance of embracing and nurturing feminine energies. Increasing feminine energy will heal and benefit you as an individual, but will also benefit the entire world. When feminine energy is more present and in balance in our world, we’ll cultivate stronger relationships, communicate and collaborate, instead of compete, and be happier and healthier.

So what can both men and women do to increase their feminine energy? Here are a few ways to cultivate your feminine energy.

Get Moving
Feminine energy is activated by movement. Movement will get things going and increase this energy quickly, any kind of movement will do. If you've been stuck at an office desk or have felt physically stagnant for a while, get your body moving. Whether that means going for a walk, practicing yoga, or dancing, your feminine energy will always be activated by movement.

Create
The feminine is a creative force, just think how the female creates life in her body. Use and enhance that energy by creating. To shake things up in your routine you can paint, create a poem, write a song, or make a delicious meal for yourself and others. What you create doesn’t have to be “good,” it just needs to be created. Let go of your expectations and just create.

Receive
The feminine is a very giving energy but, you can only give so much and then you need to fill up your own bucket. By receiving love, energy, nurturing and attention from others, you can replenish your bucket of feminine energy. This could be in any number of forms, such as a massage, manicure/pedicure or having someone cook a nourishing meal for you. Allow yourself to receive more. Ask for help and support when you need it, get yourself gifts, pamper yourself, and make receiving a priority.

Indulge Your Senses
Reconnect with your feminine energy by indulging in your senses. Excite your taste buds by eating chocolate or indulging in foods that you love. Not only will your taste buds be happy, but your other senses will be awakened with the smells and textures of what you’re enjoying. Explore your sense of touch by going shopping and feeling all of the different textures of fabrics. Enjoy a warm relaxing bath with your favorite essential oil or take a salt bath. Get out of your head and into your body by intentionally living in your body and indulging your physical senses.

Embracing your feminine energy is not only important for balance in our lives, it's also important to creating balance in the world. It's a balance that’s important for both sexes to embrace and develop. Nourishing our feminine energy will help us to not only heal individually, but also provide for healing to the world.

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Same Behavior, Same Result

6/15/2020

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Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Many of us get stuck in behavior and thought patterns that aren't getting us the results that we want. It can be challenging to try different approaches to the problems in our life. The reality is, if you want different results than what you're getting, you have to try different approaches...you have to change.

The things you did yesterday have brought you to the life you have today. If you want something different, you have to do something different to create a different life tomorrow. There's no other way to get there.

It requires commitment to change ingrained patterns, a firm decision to do what it takes to change course. It's being open and willing to learn from others about a different way of being and doing. To be vulnerable enough to admit that what you are doing isn't working and then to have the fortitude to alter your behavior toward something that will better serve you.

It first begins with having the self-awareness that you're engaging in a pattern that's not serving you and recognizing the consequences of it. It can be tempting to operate in the mode of denial and blame other people. Once you're aware of the pattern that's not bringing you the results that you want, you can make a choice to change it and can take action to stop repeating the pattern. This can be challenging to do on your own and often requires a coach or expert in the area of change.

Change requires finding and activating a motivating belief. We possess the ability to manifest a vast amount of determination when properly motivated by a deeply held belief. What motivating belief will propel you to change the patterns that aren't serving you?

Once we get off square one, a key to maintaining the change is a positive growth oriented mindset. People with a growth mindset are continuously learning and growing to better themselves, to be the best version that they can be. These are individuals who believe that their intelligence, talents, and basic abilities can be increased or enhanced through hard work and dedicated effort.

Exercising awareness and mindfulness versus being reactionary is another key. When you see or hear something that triggers you (even if it's just a negative thought that crops up in your head) before reacting to it and pouring your energy into it, engaging in old patterns, question it. Figure out where it came from, and ask yourself whom your reaction to it would serve. Learning to take that micro-pause between a stimulus and your response to create change.

Being mindful and making choices are the name of the game of change. Small choices each moment in the direction of change. Small choices, small changes that lead over time to bigger change. Remembering that at every moment of every day we always have the choice to choose again. Never let a few days, or even weeks, of falling back into old habits discourage you from reestablishing the habits you do want...you can always in this moment choose again.

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Starter Kit For Educating Ourselves On Racism

6/9/2020

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Racism is pervasive in our society, even from those of us who are well-intentioned and it's time for change. I often speak to spiritual issues such as reverence, empathy, compassion and forgiveness, but today I want to speak to education.

Many of us feel helpless, we don't know what we can do to foster change in this area. There are many things each of us can do, but one of the key things all of us can do is to educate ourselves on racism. It can be easy to try and leave it up to others to change, or to proclaim that you don't think it's really that bad, or that you don't know how to talk about it and that's where education is key.

I have not read any of the books pictured above, but they are a starting point for creating some understanding around racism. I will be focusing my attention on a few of these and invite you to learn alongside me.

Dr. Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as founder and chair of the Center for Healthy Minds says this, "Racism is rampant in our society, including well-intentioned white liberals. We know from our science that simply declaring that one is not racist is a far cry from actually experiencing all human beings, whatever their skin color might be, as equals. And it is even a further cry from acting in ways to combat the insidious racism that infests every nook and cranny of our work – from the scientific measures and populations we study to the people we hire. We must work together to translate our good intentions into action."

I don't believe it's a coincidence that we are alive during this timeframe. We are all being called to heal the world, let's each make sure we are doing our part to heal the past, present and future. Sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option and educating ourselves is one of the key first steps toward change.

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Do You Practice Reverence?

6/1/2020

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My heart hurts deeply as we've witnessed yet another senseless act of racism and violence this past week. As I've been reflecting and having conversations around racism and the events which have unfolded around the country the word reverence comes to mind.

Do you live your life with reverence? Reverence recognizes and honors the presence of the sacred in everyone and everything. It's a feeling of profound awe, deep respect and love for all that is. Reverence is a spiritual practice.

Do you believe that we are ALL children of God, of one Source, that we are in essence one? I invite you to pause and give that deep consideration. Do you REALLY believe it without hesitation, without any "buts", without any excuses stemmed in fear? Do your daily thoughts, actions and behaviors support this?

Author Gary Zukav states in his book The Seat of the Soul, "We look upon each other as prey to satisfy our emotional and physical needs. We say, 'It's a dog-eat-dog world,' and that to survive in it we must take advantage of others before they take advantage of us. We look upon life as a contest that produces winners and losers, and we feel no restraints upon us when the needs of other people or other groups threaten us."

He goes on to say, "Our behavior and values are so much shaped by perceptions that lack reverence that we do not know what it is like to be reverent. When we curse a competitor or strive to disempower another person, we absent ourselves from reverence. When we work to take instead of to give, we labor without reverence. When we strive for safety at the expense of another person's safety, we deprive ourselves of the protection of reverence. When we judge one person as superior and another as inferior we depart from reverence. When we judge ourselves, we do the same thing. Business, politics, education, sex, raising families, and personal interactions without reverence all produce the same result: human beings using other human beings."

I could keep typing quotes from this chapter in his book because it is so important to me especially right now. In my opinion our world needs more reverence. Yes, we most definitely need more love, less hate and less divisiveness, systemic changes and that all starts with reverence. As a society we have bought into the model of fear hook line and sinker. We operate from a place of fear and scarcity, that it's a dog-eat-dog world to justify our appalling behavior toward each other and toward the earth.

The practice of reverence is missing in many of our lives. People are labeled, dehumanized, and viciously attacked both verbally and physically. It lacks reverence. It hurts my heart deeply and it probably hurts yours too.

I believe we should each be pausing and reflecting on whether we are practicing reverence for our fellow humankind, for our earth and all the creatures that inhabit it, and what action we can each take to practice reverence. If we are reverent, we would not harm life. The reverent person is a spiritual person who sees Divinity in all forms of life and honors it. Challenging ourselves and asking...What we can do to actively practice reverence?

Marianne Williamson, one of my favorite authors, says "We need reverence and devotion toward each other, toward the children of the world, and toward the planet itself. We need reconciliation with the God of our understanding, and radical forgiveness towards each other. We need to look at ourselves and ask how we can do better, devote ourselves to our country and to our children’s children, and rise up from the ashes of our self-pre-occupation. We need desperately to evolve from “me” to “we” now. Only then will our nation rise: when we rise first."

I'm sending out lots of love, light, peace, healing and reverent energy to you and to the world. Be brave. Be empathetic. Listen deeply. Practice reverence.

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Do You Have A Dream?

Cultivating Feminine Energy

Same Behavior, Same Result

Starter Kit For Educating Ourselves On Racism

Do You Practice Reverence?

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