Braving the Hot Mess
Check out Braving the Hot Mess on Facebook
  • Blog
  • My Story
  • Documentaries and Videos Worth Your Time
  • Books I Love
  • Vegan Recipes
  • Meditations
  • Affirmations
  • Tracy's Upcoming Events
  • Contact
  • Testimonials

Let It Fall Away

9/21/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Equinox is the time of year where there is an equal amount of time between the day and the night. This year, September 22nd marked the fall equinox in the United States. Equinoxes occur twice a year in the spring and the fall when the sun crosses the equator. 
​

​The fall or autumn equinox is a time of balance between the day and night before the night takes over. This duality between light and dark exists within our human spirituality as well. Just like with nature as it prepares for the winter months, all things must die before they can be born again in the spring. Spiritual growth requires facing our own inner darkness and overcoming it. Spiritually, the autumn equinox symbolizes inner preparation and work. It's about connecting and harmonizing your soul and spirit in sacred ceremony with nature. 

The fall equinox is a time of shedding, a time of letting go, a time of release. Following the cue of nature...just as the leaves are falling from the trees, so too shall we release, let go, and shed things in our lives that no longer serve us. Letting things fall away that are no longer in our highest and best good, that are no longer serving us in our lives. 

​What are those items for you? What things are no longer serving you? Maybe it's a story you have been telling yourself, maybe it's a habit, maybe it's someone in your life. I invite you to spend some time in reflection contemplating what is working in your life and what isn't. What might need shedding in order to make room for something that better serves you?
 

I invite you to slow down a little bit, to appreciate moments out in nature before the cold sets in, and to spend time being still in reflection while you watch the seasons change. Take time to sit back and reflect on the fruits of your own labor. Where were you a year ago today? How far have come over the course of the past year or even since the spring? Now is a good time to see how far you’ve come and to set goals to carry you through the winter months. The intentions you set this fall will stay with you throughout the winter and carry you into the spring.

Traditionally, the autumn equinox is also a time of harvest and for expressing gratitude for its abundance. As you reflect, take time to express gratitude for the fruits of your own labor. For your own accomplishments and growth. Give yourself a pat on the back for all of your strides forward, no matter the size, big and small. Celebrate the abundance.

As you are reflecting and setting your intentions, remind yourself that you are enough. As a matter of fact, you are amazing! Just the way you are right at this very moment in time. You are doing exactly what you are meant to do. Sure, we can all grow and improve and stretch and learn and do more, but this is not the woulda, coulda, shoulda game. You are enough right here and right now. You are perfectly imperfect!
0 Comments

Feed Your Soul

9/18/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Are you feeding your soul? A friend of mine sent me an article from Oprah.com about nourishing your soul. The article touches on practices that I use to feed my soul and have shared in previous blog posts. I'm sharing the article in this week's post because sometimes we can all use a nice reminder, or to hear the information presented in a different way. I hope you enjoy it!
​

6 Things You Need To Do To Feed Your Soul
You are what you eat - so make sure you're getting a balanced spiritual diet
By Martha Beck


Recently, I told a frazzled client that she needs to take time each day to nourish her spirit. "I’m not even sure how to do that," she said. "Can you give me a balanced spiritual diet? Like the old food pyramid?" Well, sure, I thought—except the food pyramid never worked for me. I’m gluten intolerant and have trouble absorbing fats: Once, my doctor wrote me a prescription for "less quinoa, more peanut butter." 

No one diet plan is right for everybody, and that goes for our metaphysical needs as well. But some spiritual practices are so nourishing that they’ve been recommended throughout history all over the world. I’ve outlined a menu of these "food groups" here. Add one of them at a time, the way your doctor might introduce a food to see how your body reacts. If a practice nourishes you, adjust the amount to find your own minimum daily requirement. Then add another practice. Eventually, you’ll create the perfect spiritual diet for you. 

Hold Still 
The most powerful nourishment is also the simplest: shhhh! Practicing stillness is a venerable art in many spiritual traditions, usually in the form of meditation. You may want to try formally meditating by focusing on your breathing, a mantra, or a question. If you want a more Western approach, follow the biblical instruction "Be still, and know that I am God." Eckhart Tolle believes this is actually one concept, our ultimate spiritual truth, expressed five ways: Be. Still. Know. I Am. God. Contemplating any one of them provides nutrient-rich sustenance. 

I used to hate meditation. Dropping my mind into stillness was like dropping a cat into a washing machine. Nevertheless, I could feel the practice feeding me, and between sittings I grew noticeably healthier and more peaceful. 

Talk It Out 
You may have been raised to recite prayers before eating, sleeping, entering battle, or whatever. Myself, I’m not a formal-prayer girl. My favorite invocation is silently shrieking Help help help help help! (I also like to write whiny letters; I figure if there’s really an omnipotent force reading them, I can just let it all hang out.) 

Prayer means talking to your higher power, in whatever way feeds your soul. Pray the rosary, or kneel by your bed, or just riff. Two friends of mine spend every morning chatting with God out loud, as if the Almighty were sitting happily at their coffee klatch. The only thing that matters is that you speak from your heart. 

Wise Up 
Generally when we pray, our higher power doesn’t get right back to us—but that doesn’t mean we can’t find answers. Some earthlings can listen so deeply that they actually hear the divine. They receive guidance and comfort to share with the rest of us, like spiritual receptionists passing along messages. Of course, there are plenty of frauds who only claim to hear higher wisdom—but I’ve found that when someone’s got a direct line to the universe, their words have such a profound resonance, you immediately recognize them as truth. 

I recommend consuming a wide variety of foods in this group; you’ll discover amazing similarities between the words of different masters, whether they’re from Tibet or the Middle East or Mexico. The lessons are simple: Indescribable peace is possible. Love is our highest purpose. We’re all one. Once you taste the sweetness of true wisdom, you’ll crave it every day. 

Feel the Beat 
Music is another form of divine communication, one that transcends language. According to some scientists, the rhythm and resonance of music activate areas of the brain that help us feel we belong to something larger and are connected to each other. The effects are even stronger if we sing or hum and let our bodies follow along. What music do you feel deep down in your soul? Gregorian chants? A lone flute? The soft sounds of the ’70s? Whatever form you choose, sing, dance and sway. Let the music move you, literally. It’s a joyful way to absorb spiritual nutrients. 

Come Together 
We all need solitude, but we also need times of connection, when we can talk to one another, help one another and love one another. This doesn’t require moving to an ashram or even going to church. You simply need to connect with another human being who shares your spiritual point of view. It could be a friend or a family member, or you might find someone in your book club, a 12-step meeting, or your African drumming class. The important thing is having a chance to feed someone else’s spirit and be fed in return. Miraculously, giving and receiving are equally nutritious. 

Go Natural 
If there is a Creator, then we can see that being’s self-portrait anytime, right outside our window: It’s called nature, and you can start to appreciate it right now just by looking up at the sky. Or take a drive through the countryside or a walk in the park. Contact with the natural world calms our nervous system and quiets us enough to hear our inner voice of wisdom and intuition. Trust me, it’s there. To coax it out, just breathe the fresh air, open yourself to nature and wait. 

When you give your body healthy food, you feel more vibrant and alive; the same is true for your spirit. Sample a few portions of everything on this buffet and you’ll instinctively find the diet that will help you thrive. What could be more delicious? 
0 Comments

Look For The Helpers

9/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
What is going on in our world? Have you been contemplating this question? I know I have been. Two major hurricanes hitting the United States back-to-back, an earthquake in Mexico, the protests in Charlottesville, just to name a few recent events there are many others. What is going on? It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and even paralyzed by the suffering, devastation and injustices.

I think it's helpful in these instances to take the advice of Mr. Rogers' mother. Her advice was, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." I've found this to be good advice. It shines with laser-like focus a light on the goodness within humanity. It shines a light on the love, compassion, kindness and generosity of humanity. I am comforted when  my attention is not just focused on the suffering, but also on the caring.

These helpers inspire me to be caring, to be generous, and to be of service. Compassion is contagious, so is kindness and love and generosity. It inspires and gives each us of permission to open up our hearts and do the same.  I think it's good advice to look for the inspiration, not just the sensation.

When we look for the helpers it energizes us to bring out more of that goodness that resides within each of us. When we look only at the grief and the suffering and the violence we forget that humanity is full of goodness and beauty and love and kindness.

So, maybe what's going on in the world is partly a call for us to recognize our humanity. To recognize our commonality. To recognize our connectedness and our interdependence. To recognize that when one suffers, we all suffer. To honor that we are all one. To ramp up our muscles of empathy, compassion, love, kindness, generosity, service, forgiveness, gratitude and grace. 

Maybe what's going on in the world is partly a wake up call for us. A challenge to wake up and be more conscious. A call to stop skimming through life. A call to live with more awareness and intention. 

And maybe what's going on in the world is partly a wake up call for us to honor the earth. To take better care of it. To pay attention. 

I don't have the answers, but I'm contemplating what is going on and what the deeper meaning might be? I do believe that there are spiritual lessons to take away from these events. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this topic. Please drop me a comment or send me an email.
​
Picture
0 Comments

What Is Your Why?

9/5/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Many people live out their lives focused on what they have to do. The task list is endless and the days, weeks and years go by with the focus on completing this to do list. Life gets clearer, more interesting, more meaningful and even more simple when we discover our own personal and/or our organization's why. Have you stopped to ask yourself why? Why you are doing the things that you are doing?

Business strategist Jason Burnham says, "Your why is your purpose. Every individual has a purpose. While you may not have been able to identify your purpose just yet, it does not mean it does not exist. If you are constantly stressed, demotivated, unfulfilled at work, pessimistic of the world, or feel your life lacks meaning then these are clear indicators that you are not living your purpose. And if your company does not appreciate its employees, possesses a negative culture, focuses just on increasing margins, and operating in silos, it means your company has not yet aligned around a common purpose. The good news is that it is never too late to find your purpose. I just found my purpose less than five years ago. Although once I did, I can honestly say I have never been happier and life has never been more fulfilling, both personally and professionally."

When you are living in alignment with your why you'll find that you have more energy, more determination and more courage. You will have laser-like focus as your efforts are zeroed in on what matters most. 

As German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche said, "He who has a why can endure any how." Knowing your why is an important first step in figuring out how to achieve the goals that excite you and give your life meaning and fulfillment. 

Another way to look at this is to ask yourself, "How will you measure your life?" Does how you will measure your life include taking a stand for something and then living your life in alignment with it? Living with purpose, with meaning, with intention, with alignment, means focusing on things that matter to you the most. 
​
So how do you find your why? Here is an exercise you can do to help zero in on your why. First, write down the things that are really important to you in life. Next, write down the things that you love to do. Now ask yourself why are these important in my life and why do you love it? Now make a list of the things you are actually doing. Throughout this process, challenge yourself to discover what you want to be doing instead of what you feel you should be doing. 
​
It can be easy to fill up our lives with things that we really don't want to be doing. Certainly some tasks that we perform may be necessary, even though they aren't high on our list of things that are important or that we love. The goal though is to minimize this list as much as possible and to find the deeper meaning in the ones that remain. Even if needed finding the meaning within a job that on the surface doesn't seem to align with your why. 

Remember, we are all 100% disciplined. The important question is...what are you disciplined to? Is it the things that are really important to you? Is it the things that you truly love and enjoy? The trick is to ask ourselves how we can spend less time doing unimportant things and more time doing the things we love. Stepping away from society's expectations and focusing on your own expectations. Believing in your why, and aligning with it is powerful and impactful. 


As civil rights leader Howard Thurmon once wrote, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive, then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” :)
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archive 

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Picture

      Please sign up to receive weekly new blog posts. 

    Submit
Proudly powered by Weebly