I came across this video yesterday and wanted to pass it on today to all women as it is a fun way to celebrate all that it is to be a woman, not just a mother! Catchy tune that I immediately started to sing and dance to!!
So many strengths in being a woman! If we will daily remember our worth, act out of that embodied space, and remind each other of our strengths….the world would shift in a moment!
As adult women we sometimes realize in open, aware, and quiet moments that we have come far away from our Source – that remembering and living of the magnificent, loving, confident, wise, knowing, connected, and creative beings that we are.
When my 3 year old granddaughter Sorenna told her mother, “Mommy, there is a baby in there!” and her mother said “no honey there isn’t” having no idea that she was pregnant, Sorenna was coming from an innate knowing……a sense of the sacred energy of creation felt by those that are consciously connected and not distracted by the stimulus that daily pulls us away from our Source.
In fact, upon Sorenna’s insistence, her mother decided to get a pregnancy test, and guess what? Yes, I will have a grandson in September, Sophia will be a mother again, Sorenna will have a brother, and my son will have his long awaited son.
Just today I watched a video (which is below) of one of the wise ones still connected to what is important in life. I don’t know how old Sadie is, but I do feel that each of us should take what she says (and is!) to heart!
In addition, I have added a short video, put out by theAwesome Women Hub of women who are sharing what they feel the world needs next. This could be you or me on this video…and I do believe that Sadie and Sorenna have a place there as well.
Remember who you are….live it daily…..and remind each other!!
Sadie tells us “Believe In Yourself”!
Awesome Women Hub Asks Women What The World Needs NEXT
This last week I was in Austin, Texas exploring the possibility of relocating there from Oregon. What has led me to check out this particular place has been an innate guidance system inside that has consistently informed me when I am on track for what is sometimes referred to as the Divine Design of ones life.
I haven’t always trusted this innate system, which is often called our intuition, or guidance from the heart – our feelings. In fact, on this very trip there was a choice that I made that was completely separate from my own GPS – and it was made vividly clear that I was “going the wrong direction”. ( For more on this experience go to NaturalWealthJournal.com to the post “Negotiating The Overpass – Creating Another Game” )
Wouldn’t you pay attention if the GPS in your car came on and said “What the heck do you think you are doing?? I told you not to go here and you didn’t listen! Now you are lost in a game that is not of your own creation. You weren’t supposed to be here in the first place, and I insist that you pay attention to me NOW!”
Well, we all know that the GPS system in our cars (and within us) is much more polite than that, and when we do make errors in the direction that will get us to where we are to go, it kindly (yet sometimes quite strongly!) gives us alternatives to follow. We are always well taken care of in that way and we trust that we will always get to where we want to go when we are paying attention. Lapses in this attention pay off in lessons well learned – like course corrections.
I am here to tell you that your own inner GPS system is just like that if only listened to and trusted. This guidance comes from the messages of the heart – our feelings – and our intuition which never – I mean never – steers us wrong. What if you trusted that your life is unfolding in a natural manner and you took all actions from that inner GPS?
Here is what my friend Richard Cawte says about this: “Keep driving. Trust the pilot. The pilot is the part of you inextricably in tune with the brushtrokes…as well as the pots of gold…and the seamless electrical circuit that brings health to your cells…It’s you, God, everything. At the same time, it’s each atom in each cell of your body. Trust in that intricate design, much as you trust your lungs to inflate with the next breath, and the next…There is PLENTY OF OXYGEN for us all…”
So, I leave you now to play with your own innate GPS. In order to Be The Change we must listen, trust and take action from this unique wise inner director….or have an experience that reminds us what it feels like to be “lost” in someone else’s game. It’s all good!
When we were children magic was a natural part of our everyday life. We looked upon the world as an unending place of adventure, surprise, and magical moments if we grew up in a loving and caring family. Not everything could be explained, but we knew without a doubt that it was somehow connected with us, and we were connected with it.
Sorenna Making Bubbles
Recently I found that I was to be a grandmother for the second time. My sons partner Sophia had no idea that she was pregnant until my very connected and wise 3 year old granddaughter Sorenna told her one day as she was cuddled up with her – “Mommy, there is a baby inside of there (pointing to her belly), and it is my sister!” Of course Sophia denied that, but Sorenna insisted. Soon after that a positive pregnancy test revealed that Sorenna “knew” – she is connected! Whether it is to be a sister or not is still in the unknown.
The point of this post is a reminder of the magic that is indeed all around us and the wisdom of interconnection and knowing that we all have deep within our cellular structures – our heart and souls. Might it be a boring life indeed if this awareness was lost completely…..and it is NOW when we most need to remember the delight in the simple moments of interaction with life playing out around us and within us.
Here are a couple of videos that were passed on to me this week. The first is showing some very magic bubbles – be certain to catch the small girls delight near the end of the video. After viewing that one then sing along with Curtis Mayfield as he sings the great soulful gospel song “It’s All Right”!
As you go through your week find the magic moments and stay open to wonder. Pass it on!
Giant Stinson Beach Bubbles
It’s All Right with Curtis Mayfield – Have a good time!!
Pure magic and brilliantly written for the times we find ourselves in now!
Come back to the remembering of a world where all was intimately interconnected with the natural world, and magic prevailed throughout the land. Travel with 12 year old Tilly and 13 year old Zack in an adventure of a life time – an adventure that reminds us of who we are and how far away from that we have fallen to. You won’t be able to put it down…I couldn’t!
International Women’s Day just celebrated it’s 101st birthday on March 8th. “This is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievement of women around the world. It is a national holiday in some 30 countries including China, Russia, Vietnam, Rwanda and Bulgaria. In 2010 there were approximately one thousand clebratory events in 64 Countries. On March 8, 2012, we will make history, with an unprecendetned celebration in every city around the world”.
….and YOU know we can create and manifest this!! Coming on the heels of my last post I wanted to share the video below with you and also give you a link to Women’s Day Live 2012, a vision in the making. It birthed on 3/8/11. The question posed by Lili Fournier (and ME!) is: How are you going to be a part of this?
The video below is an inspiring one reminding us of the power that we hold collectively and collaboratively to empower ourselves and each other as women. It starts with you taking care of YOU….and then reaching out for that “sister’s” hand. I will be there with my hand and my full expression to meet yours… Empower Women, Change The World!
There is a extremely contracted template for aging in our Western culture…and I, for one, am here to expand and redefine it – or possibly not to define it at all, but to say let us live our days/our years in a celebratory way! After all, if we weren’t aging, we would be dead!
When I come across examples of women who are living their passion well into their later years, I pay attention. These women are inspirations for us. They awaken possibility within our hearts, minds and bodies, and remind us that each moment of this precious life is here for exploring and living with all the passion we can possibly express and create. These possibilities are actually unlimited.
There is a lot of “press” these days about “letting go” of the constructs and habitual patterns that have kept us locked into an oftentimes “deadly” repetitive replay of a safe way of living, while resisting the changes that are mounting around us and the whispers of our heart and soul that beckon us to “please come out and play!” Sometimes this work seems daunting and we struggle with the back and forth between an assumed “safety” (most often conjured up by our rational minds) – and heart and soul freedom. In fact this is my passage and that of many others right now.
What if it was easier? What if we just merely accepted that we hold within us the Divine spark already and that we were meant to be full expressions of our deepest creative, sensual, and soulful natures. In that case all we would need to do is say YES! This is a YES! with no rational mind limitations. This is a YES! that says I am deeply interconnected and an important part of the whole. This is a YES! that says NOW is my time….and the next moment, and the next, and the next. The path may be strewn with unusual and sometimes challenging experiences…but they all can be seen and accepted as an invitation to live and breathe with the fullest expression that we are capable of in the moment.
Growing up I loved to watch the passion and art of dancing, and still love it…as well as dancing myself whenever I can. A couple of years ago now I took Cuban Salsa lessons for a year and even though I found myself going the wrong direction in the rueda (circle) at times under the Spanish verbal and hand sign direction of the teacher – my body, heart and soul sang with pleasure in every step and shake of my body.
When this video came to me I knew that it must be shared with you. Here is Sarah “Paddy” Jones, a 75 year old British lady who is still living her passion! Wonder if you will shed tears as I did witnessing her come to radical aliveness on stage??! Is this how alive you would like to be at this age – any age?? I know that I would!!!! If not NOW, when???
The video below is misnamed on top, so please disregard the title of Ginger Rogers who died when she was 83. Sarah “Paddy” Jones is British and living in Spain. She took up dancing 5 years ago after the death of her husband. She has seven grandchildren.
This second video is less performance oriented and more into the heart and soul of “Paddy”!
“Imagine a Woman” poem has circled the globe. It has been read by politicians in South Africa and Bermuda, genocide survivors in Rwanda, artists at their showings, graduates at their graduations, friends at cronings and birthdays, ministers at memorials and commitment ceremonies. It is tweeted, blogged, posted, and loved throughout the world! The poem is 15 years old. Thank you to: Sherryl Frauenglass: A Woman’s True Voice
I started with this poem as it is a great entry for the focus of todays post. A couple of days ago I was at my optometrist listening to him lecture me on the fact that I was seeing, without correction, at 20/70 and that was not good enough to drive without glasses or contacts.
I sat there reflecting on the fact that over the past 10 years or so my vision has improved as I have consciously worked with lowering the correction in my contact lenses….and more importantly seeing my world, my life, and my body as an exciting creative art piece that I have been so lovingly gifted with this lifetime.
For whatever reason I held back from him the information that I used to be tested at having vision without correction at 20/350 in one eye and 20/400 in the other! I somehow wanted to savor that without any explanations from my very competent optometrist….
Much to my delight Susan Gala’s Inspiring The Whole Radiant You posted a video by Christiane Northrup, M.D. whom I have followed for some time now. I share this with you as a reminder of who you are….and what you can create with awareness and commitment to your individual thriving and that of the women who’s lives you touch. Let the words of Christiane inspire you for 2011 to become “the whole radiant you” NOW as you age into beauty and flourishing!
Christiane Northrup, M.D., pioneer and visionary in the field of women’s health, brings her seventh special to PBS, WOMEN’S BODIES, WOMEN’S WISDOM. This program is based on the fourth revision of her classic text, and brings to viewers Dr. Northrup’s newest thinking about how women at all ages can transform their relationships with their bodies, inside and out.
(Oh, and by the way I was told that my contact prescription needed to be changed as I was “over corrected” and cataracts were beginning to form in my eyes too!)
Over the past few weeks, as I continue to straddle several worlds of livelihood in my own life, I have been lead to reflect deeply on what will not only bring sufficient cash flow to sustain me, but most importantly will be in alignment with who I am in my fullest and deepest authentic expression and my deep desire to bring good into this world. There are many of us who have worked diligently on our own “money wounds” and have attempted many strategies for clearing away the “shame” and illusional beliefs around this particular form of energy called money.
Recently I have come to the conclusion that a lot of our own self worth has been tied into whether we “have it”, whether we “have enough of it” and whether we “are enough” in order to make/create “it”. It seems such a waste of precious life energy to have so much of our time and attention tied into such a paradox….and this global scarcity paradigm pervades everything!
Many of us are finally coming around to deeply honoring whatever it is that we are called to do, whether it be in the arts, health professions, or business….and disengaging it from having to make large amounts of money from whatever it is that we are doing. Though that may naturally happen – it is not the “end all” goal, nor does it define who we are and what we have to bring.
When I had my own business in massage, breath work, yoga therapy and women’s retreats, I remember the thoughts of “needing one more person to sign up” or “having enough clients for the week” which seemed to be a never ending cycle of “not enough” and struggle – which then translated inside of me to “I guess I am just not enough because I don’t know how to do this and sustain my well being at the same time in the manner that my culture tells me I should be doing”! In fact, I loved what I was doing, but the self imposed pressure to “make more money” took away from that natural feeling of fulfillment and creativity.
We all know that this is a journey that most all of us have to walk, until we find the peace inside of ourselves to do what it is that deeply calls to us from a place much deeper than monetary gain. Sometimes that means we will have “lean” times, and sometimes we will have “abundant monetary” gains….but amidst it all is the knowing that we are listening to what moves us, honoring our creativity, heart, intelligence, and intuition – and giving it out into the world as the video above reflects to us.
This week a Facebook connection that I think highly of posted a piece that you will find below. McCall has been consciously walking her path for awhile now and I found this piece deeply honest and real. This may touch some of you and others may disagree,…but what is important here is that we speak what is moving in us, share our stories, and support each other in walking the path of “enough” – ourselves and the resources we have at our disposal. I have asked that we start a revolution – a revolution of ENOUGH – of perhaps more than enough – as we look in the mirror at our magnificent beings and recognize the “power of one” walking a soul path ! Thank you McCall for this piece and for stimulating dialog!
The Money Paradox: Feeding the Belly and the Dream
So many of us are feeling it now. The urge to do deeper work, to excavate our deepest gifts, passion, and truth, to be the change we want to see in the world.
Not only are we feeling it, we’re doing it! We can’t help but do this. And in doing so, we’re often called to leave behind many traditional life patterns. Including traditional jobs.
Enter money.
Yikes.
How do we continue to pay our bills while following our hearts? We can’t turn away from our soul’s work any sooner than we can avoid death and taxes. We also can’t turn away from the fact that our rent is due, we have mouths to feed, and god damnit it still takes money to live in this world. (Don’t worry; I’m working on a revolution to change that) But for now…
Let me share with you a few key points that have helped me shift and soften this money conundrum since leaving my 9-5 job five years ago to follow dreams.
First, we must must ditch the “Do what you love and the money will follow” saying. I don’t know where this woo-woo-feel-good tagline came from, but evidence shows it’s serving the credit card industry, NOT the soul-saving-change-the-world-with-your-dreams industry. It’s just not reality for most people to instantly make money doing what they love, and I am “most people.”
Let’s face it; we are in a culture that doesn’t pay change-the-world-creative-types the big bucks. We pay doctors, lawyers, athletes, and Hollywood mega stars. Many of us are called to follow a soul path of music, writing, art, healing, mentoring, and teaching that doesn’t pay the big bucks. So? We’ll do it anyway if that’s what our souls call us to do. We’ll do what we love and figure out a way to pay the bills. Some may call this limited thinking. I call it reality.
Next, we must must stop attaching our worth or how well we are following our true path to how much money we are bringing in from it. There’s a saying among writers that goes, “The only difference between not being published and being published is being published.” Same goes for making money from our gifts. One of my greatest mentors is an amazing writer. All of her books are self-published and as good (and more life-changing) than many books I’ve read on the best-seller list. But she doesn’t pay her mortgage from book royalties. (Few authors do) But she is hitting her soul calling right on the mark.
As for me, I felt like the most dreadful failure a year after quitting my job, writing killer songs, creating my own buzz in the indie music scene, and expecting the money to follow, because “God damnit I was following my passion!” but instead I had a $10,000 credit card bill in my hands and no way to pay my rent.
And I couldn’t go back to a 9-5 job. I just couldn’t. I’d come too far on my own path.
Rock and a hard place !
Learn to negotiate to fund the dream. So, I got a waitressing job, knocked out my debt, kept food (organic food, of course) on my table, and kept writing songs. Strangely, that waitressing job made me feel less of a failure and more at peace knowing I was taking care of shit on my end. I’ve gone in and out of seasons of needing my waitressing job to pay the bills since then, because sometimes I’m making enough from my dreams than other times. I am no longer ashamed or prideful about that either way. It is what it is. It’s all an energy flow, and there are greater things at play here than I have control over.
These days I’m not picky about where the money comes from, as long as I’m living true to my heart and bringing good to the world. I can do that while waiting tables too. Some people can even do that while working a 9-5 job. Truth be known, you’ll find me more often than not advising my clients to keep their day jobs as long as possible. Day jobs can be a blessing. They can fund the dream! I say, stay until staying truly interferes with your soul moving forward, not until you merely have a case of entitlement and wish you were somewhere other than there. Only you can know when that is.
Embrace the paradox. All this said, I still find myself falling into the trap of thinking “Someday when I figure out how to really make money with this. Someday, when I’m discovered. Someday….then the money paradox will go away.” Hmf! It never goes away. It might soften and get easier over time, and yes, we really can (and do) make money following our hearts and using our gifts. But the paradox is always there. Even for Oprah, Meryl Streep, and James Taylor. We all need money to live. Embrace the paradox, and it softens. I promise.
Alright my friends, that’s all I have for now. I just gave you my best on the money issue. As always, open to hearing your take on things. We all grow together when we share our experience, strength, and hope.
As the holiday season gets fully underway the stress of attempting to be “perfect” in doing all that “needs to be done” hits us with full force. Connection with others becomes foremost in our every day experience as we juggle shopping, working, parties, entertaining, and on and on. Emotions run their highs and lows, and at times we end up
wishing all of it would just “be over with”.
A couple of weeks ago a video came my way which was a very well done interview by Patricia Gras with Dr. Brene Brown. Dr. Brown has done extensive qualitative research on the emotion of “shame” and its intimate connection with perfectionism. She states that shame is a very primitive emotion and that it has to do with fear of disconnection.
Connection is “hard wired” into our being as humans and is a basic need. Shame is an intensely painful feeling or belief that we are flawed in some way and somehow inadequate or unworthy of connection.
Our culture, through media and advertising, blasts us with perfectionism and ridicules those who are not – claiming that we will be accepted and loved if we are perfect.
We end up struggling and creating the very disconnection that we fear the most.
It is here that we are invited to look at areas of our lives where we struggle with perfectionism, and more importantly to share the stories with others we trust when we experience shame. It is our imperfection that connects us with each other – our shared humanity.
Thus, in attempting “perfection” we are actually disconnecting from the very connection we long for. In authentically sharing our experiences and receiving those stories from others with empathy we are connecting on the deep levels that call to us from our primitive instincts. Dr. Brown states “shame cannot survive empathy”.
(Go to Part 2 for the second half) (Thank you to Lynn Walker for this video!)
This holiday season let go of the perfection and appreciate your own humanity and that of others. Tell stories, listen to each other, and connect on real and authentic levels. Let go. Might this contribute to a different holiday season?
Now go to this video and see how easy it is to be connected just by being yourself as you are in the moment and simply waiting for the love to be reflected back to you. Don’t let anything get in the way of living your life in connection!
May I trust my highest power that I am exactly where I am meant to be. May I not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May I use those gifts that I have received and pass on the love that has been given to me. May I be content knowing that I am a child of God. May this Presence settle into my bones, and allow my soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
– St Teresa of Avila (16th Century Spanish Saint)
It is with the quote above that I start this post on being brave and courageous in your life. I too, like so many of you, stand on the precipice. As I stand here I remember that you are here with me as well, but that somehow doesn’t stop the thought – Gee, you would think that it would be easier by now since I have been here so many times before.
Perhaps that is the definition of a life well lived….you stand here many, many times and have the opportunity to create your own unique leaping dance trusting that even if you fall on your face….. there will be a “lifting up” that inspires you to leap yet again.
As Chameli Ardah states on her Awakening Women blog “the Green Tara above embodies the fearless and protective aspect of the feminine, but it is not courage which resists fear. If you think of fear and courage as two ends of a spectrum, we need to be willing to move through the whole range”. This means that standing in the fear is part of this leap process.
Thus easy isn’t quite the word that defines this passage. I have learned that when we are seeking alignment with our passions and the Divine plan for our life, it is then that we consider taking those leaps and making those choices that bring us into the discovery of what that still small voice has been saying to us for oh so long.
It is here that faith and trust in the wholeness of who we are comes into play. It is also here that we remember who we really are….and say YES! Yes, to the healing, yes to one more day to love and be loved, yes to starting over again one more time, yes to the creativity that sometimes rocks us with its insistence that it be brought out into the world, yes to the risk of finding more of who we are, yes to being vulnerable, being “seen” and surrendering the resistance, yes to giving back from a full place with every fiber of our being.
It can come in big leaps, but also can come in stages like the walking of a labyrinth where each step brings you closer to the edge of discovery…and then to the heart of the matter. The clues are all around us right now. All we need to do is be still and listen carefully. The answer is always there.
As you watch this video by Jana Stanfield remember that you are also one of these women that reached deeply inside, found her strength and courage, was not afraid to ask for support as needed, and leapt into Herself, settling into this Presence deep within your bones. Rock on!
WildlyFreeWoman 