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The Return of Wild Wisdom

Domesticated. Is that a word that describes you or the life you are leading? Are you “settling” for less than your heart desires? Taking a look at the rote ways in which we live the moments of our lives can be painful to that wild creature that lives, breathes and moves inside of us. You know the one!

“We are here to fall in love with a lot more than just our mate… trees, stones, rivers, animals, birds, planets, galaxies, poems, music….”
~ Rev Matthew Fox

The creature inside that yearns to paint on the walls way outside the lines, dance outside at midnight (maybe in the nude!) to celebrate the universe inside and out, dig in the earth and come away with bits of dirt and leaves all over our clothes, speak out loudly and with conviction when a tree is cut down that doesn’t need to be cut except for some other humans profit, go out of our way not to “follow the rules” and instead find a path and a way that creates more life for ourself and others, and…..you speak more here!

Our planet and all life on it, as well as our individual aliveness, depends not only on engaging that Wild Wisdom, but embodying it with fearless grace and passion. What is it that you desire? Desire is not bad…it is a passionate means to access the gifts that we have to bring and the full life we have to live this time around. It is the fuel which feeds the Wild Wisdom that is within all of us.

I invite you to listen to my dear friend Lea Bayles speak to Wild Wisdom that sought her out to remind us to commit to and honor this intelligence whose time has come to return once again into our global consciousness and actions…NOW.

This piece is eloquent, intelligent, grounded, irreverent, deliciously sensual, and a call to all women and men to not ever dare again to shut away Wild Wisdom in a closet somewhere whimpering low sounds of mournful abandonment.

We were born with Wild Wisdom. It is all around us in nature and the interconnection of life that never ceases to evolve opportunity and change. It lives and breathes innately within us. Are we ready to listen??

“Within you, and in nature, is the potent, instinctual, untamable
and nourishing force of Wild Wisdom.
You need it. I need it.
Our world needs us to bring forth our Wild Wisdom.” Lea Bayles

Wild Wisdom

….and some Wild Wisdom words from Allan Watts..

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OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

WEBSITE:

www.ResonanceWithLife.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:
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Authenticity, Finding Your Voice

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A Lesson On Aging

This beautiful woman named Rose has a lesson to teach all of us who find that we are slightly, or greatly, discouraged by the aging process. Although Rose is no longer with us her story is below and I think will give you some inspiration as to the preciousness of each moment of this incredible life we have been given.

As I come to the turning of 65 this coming July I keep thinking (and feeling!) that I am so much younger. What it seems to be to me is the timelessness of our indomitable spirit which is ageless and craves living full tilt, though the body at times fails to cooperate much to our dismay! There is always another opportunity to live our passions!! For Rose it was going to college and getting her degree…for me it is returning to doing energy bodywork, teaching, and starting a new book just for women!

These days I find all around me examples of “older women” stepping right into their passions and staunchly refusing to crumple under the youth crazed culture. They are real, aware, wise, healthy, courageous, creative, beautiful….and very, very sexy! I will include myself in there, as well as many women that I know!

As Rose so wisely said, “REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.” What will you fill the “optional” with?? …in this one wild and precious life?! Oh, so many things to choose from! Yummm!!

Roses Story:

An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know.
I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…”
“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine”
as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was
introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell
you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop
playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those
with regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.” She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be .When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!”

TIP: Watch the wonderful film: My Afternoons With Margueritte (Available on Netflix)

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WEBSITE: www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Authenticity, Finding Your Voice, Manifesting Your Dreams

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Women As A Pathway To The Sacred

This picture along with the words caught my attention. There has been so much written about the Divine Feminine, Goddess traditions and women’s empowerment. It is not my purpose here to delve into these important and very extensive areas as this post would be very, very long!

However, I was taken by the simplicity and power of this picture as well as the words. Masculine acknowledging feminine awareness which is different from his. His understanding that women do have “another system of knowledge” that a man may not possess in the same way. An honoring if you will, and an invitation to bring this understanding and intuitive wisdom to the “counsel table” for all to benefit from.

It is time that this honoring and acknowledgement take place once again. Our global, national, community and family well being depends on it! We as women also need to accept the gifts that we posses, and be willing to use them in powerful, insightful, and compassionate ways

Below you will find a video done by the BBC that takes us on a journey into ancient times. This video explores a little-known ‘golden age’ for women, when historical characters such as the Empress Theodora in Byzantium, Wu Zetien in China (the Empress who called herself Emperor), the early women of Islam (2 of Mohammed’s wives) and Anglo-Saxon Hilda of Whitby, used the power of ancient traditions and new ideas about religion and philosophy to wield influence in what appeared to be a man’s world.

Women wielding their *power* in deepest human connection with/in the Divine.

We can gain understanding and inspiration from these women who were not willing to back down on using their innate sense of the much larger picture to create positive changes in a mostly male dominated world. It was a pleasure to be introduced to these women who paved the way to the sacred of their times!

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WEBSITE: www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Be The Change, Finding Your Voice, Power and Leadership

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From A Place of Value

Here we are at the turning of another year once again. If we are not mindful of the importance of living this next year within the precious moments given to us, then we may feel as many do today. A sense that “time” is moving too fast and that our own life is winding down much too quickly for all that we would like to experience and create.

Do we look back at what we did not accomplish? Berate ourselves for not losing that 10 pounds, not asking for a raise, or even not loving enough? Or, do we applaud the moments that had meaning and purpose during the year.

Each New Year’s Eve for me is spent in the ritual of silence with all electronic devices turned off and candles lit. Reflection over this past year and what I am grateful for is a large part of this year end meditation. In fact I have started what Dewitt Jones and Lynette Sheppard call the “Ta Da” list. This is a list, a remembrance if you will, of accomplishments, travels, completed goals, insights, new knowledge and self realizations from the year that is just passing.

From this place comes the cracking open to allow a focus for the New Year to seep into consciousness….one word that represents the place from which inner and outer actions will be taken that will expand awareness and support every action and goal. From this focus will come intentions for the New Year.

Many women, myself included, have taken a stand for empowerment for women. This past year I have found that I have often felt empowered, but the deep place from which this feeling is birthed from is not always present. The statement in the picture above is filled with the promise and inspiration of stepping forward into our dreams and making them happen in 2013 and beyond. Yet, for me there is somewhere else that these actions, and yes even the dreams, must be birthed from.

This was very evident as I wrote a proposal last evening for a salary in the job that I am presently doing. Although having done the research on what others were making in my area for this particular position and writing up a job description, I found myself thinking of what this start up business may be able to afford….instead of aligning with my inherent value and worth in all that I am doing and the impact that my very presence has on this growing business.

Thankfully a dear friend assisted me to “see the light” and stay in line with the original salary number I had come up with. I have to admit that I felt the uncomfortableness of staying present to who I am and the value I have to bring as I am so used to putting the emphasis on “other” than myself.

This place of self value rests within the deep purpose of our life here this time around. It is in every word, action, relationship, job we undertake, environment that we surround our self with, food we put in our mouth, our deepest self care. As women I believe we are still learning about this, for our lives are often taken up with the deep self care of others and their needs. Can we give to ourselves that which we give to others?

It is not selfish to have a deep sense of value about ourselves. It is instead the only place from which to live life. I am not talking here about what we have done to bring value, but more of the intrinsic beauty and sacredness of our very being. The openness, curiosity, honesty, beauty, creativity, integrity and loving presence from which we live our lives. And yes, even the fears, the mistakes, the challenges, the darkness and the pain which weave through each life. Even there….. finding value within and resting there.

Take this new fresh year and begin it with Ta Da…here I am world! …..and live this wild, sacred and passionate life from the value that is your innate being…

P.S. It is not too late to make your “Ta Da” list whenever you read this post!

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WEBSITE: www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Acceptance, Authenticity, Finding Your Voice

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The Love Ethic – Politics As A Spiritual Journey

“What we don’t engage we cannot transform.” Marianne Williamson

Less than a week ago we had a national election in the United States. As I saw it, as women and on behalf of the environment, we potentially had a lot to lose. This is why I was so stunned by some women I talked to that had decided not to even vote because it appeared they lacked the passion and motivation to really get involved in making an informed choice.

Some said that their vote wouldn’t count anyway because of our antiquated electoral college system, or even that they lived on the West Coast and it would already be decided before they could even vote. There wasn’t even a thought about their own community issues and elected officials. Has “politics” disillusioned us so much that we have become apathetic?

I have to admit that I have been one of those disillusioned ones and have left the arena of politics for others with a stronger stomach. At the same time I realize that this is avoidance which results in a lack of change or transformation to the very systems and beliefs that are making us unhappy and imbalanced. As individuals, as communities, as countries, as a global society.

Many individuals feel that if you are following a spiritual path then politics is something to be avoided. If Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and many others throughout our time here on Earth had thought that quite a lot of transformation and change would have been completely left undone. The quote above by Marianne Williamson invites us to ENGAGE with what she calls the “love ethic” in all that we do on behalf of what is important to us.

If we really want a change to happen in our political systems, a shift in how we steward this planet that shares it’s riches with us, a change to a peace ethic instead of war, or whatever else is vitally important to you, then we really DO need to become engaged and make it a part of our spiritual journey.

In other words “take a stand for another possibility”. If we do not engage, transformation is truly not possible. Women in particular have a lot of power to create change in this realm – change that is desperately needed. This beautiful older woman in the picture above has taken a stand. Her bare feet upon the bark of a tree engaging with her own and nature’s life force on behalf of another possibility. What is it that you want to take a stand for? You are never too old…..your actions in whatever unique form DO make a difference!

WEBSITE: www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview, Reviews and purchase links can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

Category:

Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

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Arise, Sisters!

Yesterday I attended a rally to protest what is being called “The War On Women” here in Austin, Texas. (with many men and government officials present as well!) Today I received an e-mail about this experience which is reproduced below. In addition, I was reminded again about how powerful the media can be to undermine women and girls in the way we perceive ourselves by a video called Miss Representation which I have posted on this blog before.

All of this points to the absolute necessity for women to become active on behalf of themselves and all other women and girls on this planet. Without our direct individual and group participation in countering this backward slide into the “dark ages” for women’s rights and basic human needs we will become complicit instead of empowered.

E-mail regarding the “War On Women” rally:

Yesterday there was a rally at the capitol to protest the War on Women. It was a far smaller turnout than I had anticipated. As speaker after speaker said, the gains of the past 40 years are being pushed down the drain by a very active radical right. Little by little, our rights are being eroded, from the loss of equal pay in Wisconsin (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/scott-walker-equal-pay-repeal_n_1434886.html) to the intrusion of vaginal probe ultrasounds being required prior to abortion (Texas). Each of us needs to decide what our comfort level is regarding these changes, and regarding our own actions in response. If these changes cause you concern, you might want to contribute to Annie’s List, a Texas organization dedicated to getting women elected who share the same concerns. http://annieslist.com/Default.aspx

And a video that shows how the media is undermining women. Let us all think about what kind of action we can take to shift this very negative long term trend that is greatly effecting our young women and girls world wide!

WEBSITE: www.ResonanceWithLife.com

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Give Us This Day Our Daily Breath Preview and Reviews can be found here:
http://resonancewithlife.com/daily-breath-book/

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Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

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You Are Not Crazy!

This weeks post will be brief as I am giving you, the reader, a link to a recent Huffington Post article written by Yashar Ali – a man who has women’s well being at heart! The title of this article is “A Message to Women From A Man: You Are Not “Crazy“.

You will find a well written insightful article that explains something that Yashar calls “gaslighting”. This term, used by mental health professionals, explains a form of emotional manipulation “to describe manipulative behavior used to confuse people into thinking their reactions are so far off base that they’re crazy.” This most often happens to women, but everyone experiences a form of it at times in their life.

As women it is important that we understand and be aware of anything that may take our voice away. That has the potential to diminish the authentic expression of who we are. One more awareness to leave any remnants of “victim” behind.

Your comments would be appreciated as we learn from each others stories!

WEBSITE: www.ResonanceWithLife.com

(Newly revised website! Take a peak at my book preview – Our Daily Breath – due to be published in e-book form January, 2012!!)

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

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Authenticity, Awareness, Finding Your Voice

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Phenomenal Women: The Power of One

“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom“. ~Anais Nin, 1903-1977, Author

In a time when women are coming to the forefront in many different ways all over the world, the video below struck me as a reminder to each one of us that need encouragement and inspiration to keep taking those steps forward.

There is great power that lies sleeping within each of us, and when awakened into action is formidable and unstoppable. Hold my hand sister and walk with me awhile….

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

WEBSITE:

www.IgniteWealthNow.com

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Authenticity, Be The Change, Finding Your Voice

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Embrace Your Inner Girl

Always do the thing you fear the most.
Courage is an acquired taste
like caviar.

~Erica Jong

A week ago now I started questioning what it is that I am doing in my life….in the world. This inquiry came about as I watched a snippet from a film on the Pink Saris in India and what they are doing to stand up for young girls and women in their country, villages, and homes.

I remember feeling bereft as I watched a very young beautiful girl being questioned by one of the Pink Sari women as to why she was so sad. Her answer was – “I just want to die”. Her wish to die was precipitated by being wedded at a very young age to an older man who was filmed asking “why does she keep running away?”. The Pink Sari woman’s answer was “you keep raping her”.

So many women and girls are faced with atrocities every day all over the world. They are not valued for the amazing beings that they are. Deeper than that is the paradigm that has brought about this inequity, violence, and disregard for the wisdom, vulnerability, compassion, empathy, intuition, balance, emotion, and relational abilities of what Eve Ensler calls the “girl cell” in all of us -women and men.

A year ago now I sponsored a woman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was able by my small donation each month to put this woman through a year long program to empower her within herself, to give her skills to be financially independent, and to have a support system around her to help her continue on amidst a country that has been in violent war for 12 years.

Now I want to do more.

What can each of us as women/men and girls/boys do to shift this old patriarchal system that has caused our very Earth to be in severe jeopardy? A system that male and female cannot thrive within.

I invite each of you to view the entire video below, a TED talk by Eve Ensler in 2009 given while she was in India.

I invite each of you to find a passionate way in your own life to shift the “training” that has caused us to lose ourselves. As Eve said, “Being a girl is so powerful that we have had to train everyone not to be a girl.”

Eve Ensler – Embrace Your Inner Girl

“In this passionate talk, Eve Ensler declares that there is a girl cell in us all — a cell that we have all been taught to suppress. She tells heartfelt stories of girls around the world who have overcome shocking adversity and violence to reveal the astonishing strength of being a girl.”

OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:

www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Category:

Be The Change, Empowerment, Finding Your Voice

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Finding My Voice

Maya Angelou has been over the years a voice to listen to. This video speaks to the fact that we all become “silent” from time to time, and hide out when it is exactly our voice that needs to be heard!

She speaks to an innovative and creative way to release our voice, when we least want to do so. I invite you this week to dance movements with sound, sing your favorite song, tone with sacred sound, laugh out loud, speak poetry to the sky, roar like a lion or hiss like a snake, or give each color a sound while you paint.

Find your way to finding your voice….even as the caged bird sings.

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WEBSITE: www.IgniteWealthNow.com (Natural Wealth)

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OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
www.BreathingSpaces.net
www.NaturalWealthJournal.com

Category:

Authenticity, Be The Change, Finding Your Voice

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WildlyFreeWoman

Women Who Thrive, Change The World!

Archive for the ‘Finding Your Voice’ Category

The Return of Wild Wisdom

A Lesson On Aging

Women As A Pathway To The Sacred

From A Place of Value

The Love Ethic – Politics As A Spiritual Journey

Arise, Sisters!

You Are Not Crazy!

Phenomenal Women: The Power of One

Embrace Your Inner Girl

Finding My Voice

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