The Gifts of Stormy Weather

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." - John Ruskin

I confess. I love stormy weather.  Storms have both beauty and purpose. They are elements of nature and represent earth’s capacity to maintain and restore her balance.  Earth needs the clearing and the moisture that storms bring.

And, so do we, the inhabitants of earth. We depend on earth’s storms as part of the natural cycle that provides food, warmth, shelter. We relish the freshness in the air when a storm has passed and the quiet stillness before a storm arrives.

We need storms in our personal lives, individually and collectively. We need them to wake us up personally, to give us the opportunity to return to what we know and to glimpse fresh perspectives from that place of knowing.  We need to experience storms as a part of living and experimenting on this journey of life. And, we need tears to cleanse that which lays heavy in our hearts as well as that which creates worry at the surface.

Our opportunity is to embrace the storms of life from a place of love and trust. Not fear.

You’ve probably guessed that, I’ve experienced stormy weather this week. Although there’s a spring storm brewing high in the mountains as I write this, my storm was intensely personal.  In the midst of my storm, there were times that I felt powerless in its wrath and times where I knew that I could turn it off and return to my ‘to do list/plan for the week’.  I chose to ride the storm and discover what gifts she might offer.

In this ride I shed tears for the planet and hugged trees that seemed to return my embrace.   I shed tears for humanity, for the misunderstandings that divide us and the horror and pain those misunderstandings bring forth.  My tears were a cleansing gift. I pray that in some way, large or small, they help me understand that I am not separate from any other, from the planet, from the universe.  I pray that the choices I make from that deeper understanding will seed greater understanding in my community and beyond.

Along the way I found a beautiful rock, heart-shaped, a symbolic gift of the love that is ever present. I rediscovered what I care about in life, and I renewed my courage to live fully the life that is uniquely mine to live as my part in the unfolding mystery we call life.

Exploration for the Week: How have the personal storms in your life supported your growth? Is there a storm brewing that has the possibility for new growth or a fresh perspective in some area of your life?

Mud Puddles and the Power of Love

"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge." - Thomas Carlyle

The snow melt continues as temperatures rise and the promise of Spring looms on the horizon here in the Colorado Rockies.  The messiness of the mud and slush seem as metaphors for the messiness of creating, whether a new life, a new approach to a community concern, a new world or all of these.

What can I learn about the power of love from the muddy puddles that appear, grow in size and numbers, and change each day?  How might this guide me in creating my life and us in creating our world?

I’m learning that practicing love is messy and paradoxical and that I can allow the messiness. I’m learning not to ignore it, to clean it up too fast, to put it out of sight and out of mind and go back to old habits favored by the world.  In my willingness to be messy perhaps I can glimpse a new possibility, maybe (re)learning (from my four-legged friend Luke or a small child) the sheer joy of splashing in the mud and the creative spark that may follow

Perhaps I can come to deeply (and therefore consistently) see that the chaos in life and the problems facing humanity and the planet are opportunities for us to splash with joy, to experiment with new approaches in the mud of chaotic times. Perhaps I can embrace fully the opportunities for growth, for inventiveness, and for creativity, both personally and collectively, that what we call and experience as problems represent.

Perhaps splashing in the mud will remind me that the power of love is the sole Universal power that – when we practice it – changes everything.  As I tap into this knowing, this wisdom of the ages I see the power of love to heal, to protect, to soften, to connect and most of all to create – a different life and a different world for us all.

Whether in my own little microcosm of choosing how I will respond to an event (or reacting without making a conscious choice), or in the greater macrocosm of the planet, collectively choosing how we address human and environmental concerns, may love be our answer.  May I/we know and be love in every situation we face, especially those that seem to threaten the self-love required to act from love.

As you glide or slog through the week ahead may you see love in nature, in art, and in every person and event that crosses your path. And, may you return that love with a knowing that, no matter what the experience, with love everything changes.

Experiment for the Week: Notice where love is present in your life, from the inside out and the outside in. Embrace it. Be grateful.

What Nature Teaches Me About Seeing the Beauty in Everything

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

“What is real to me is the power of our awareness when we are focused on something beyond ourselves. It is a shaft of light shining in a dark corner. Our ability to shift our perceptions and seek creative alternatives to the conondrums of modernity is in direct proportion to our empathy. Can we imagine, witness, and ultimately feel the suffering of another?” - Terry Tempest Williams, Finding Beauty in a Broken World

In the past week or so as we’ve experienced sunshine and rising temperatures here in my corner of the Rockies, I’ve been fascinated to observe the snow melt each day.  Little holes in the snow’s surface reveal much larger patches of earth underneath them.  Sheets of snow and ice lean toward the southeast, splattered with dirt, looking like the model of a city skyline.  The tracks of wildlife and neighborhood canines (including Luke) form paths across the once pristine fallen snow.

I’m sure you get the idea.  Flowers bloom, the bloom fades.  A sunny day turns dark and stormy.  A once stately tree dies leaving a trunk and leafless branches.

As I reflected on my observations, I wondered ‘how does seeing beauty in what some would call ‘ugly’, support me in seeing beauty and perfection in everything, especially in those circumstances, people, and politics which trigger a negative response (or, even a reaction)’?

Could it be that they are seeds planted in the garden of nature that I can call upon to remind me that I’m not separate from anything or anyone and that there is beauty in ALL?   If I can see beauty in mud splattered snow, then isn’t that a seed to see beauty in those with whom I disagree, including political leaders whose views and votes are different from my own?  If I can see beauty beneath those holes in the snow that reveal nothing but brown grass, then don’t I have the capacity to see beauty in the words of others whose approaches differ from my own?

To these questions, I say a resounding YES!  I’m aware that developing my capacity to see beauty in all phases of nature required nurturing, both conscious and unconscious.  Over the last five years of being blessed to live in this place of amazing natural beauty, I have consciously opened to all that nature has to offer and put attention to growing my awareness. As a result, I’ve consciously begun to notice and acknowledge beauty in the small details, like the melting snow.   With the awareness that has emerged, I see that nurturing and vigilance that will be required to grow these seeds into consistently seeing the beauty in the people, politics and circumstances with which I disagree.

The contemporary thinker, philosopher, and writer Charles Eisenstein [http://charleseisenstein.net/about-charles/] writes about his decision not to join the ‘March Against Monsanto’ not because he supports the company’s practices, but rather because to do so contributes to what he calls “the story of separation”.  It’s generally easy to protest those things with which we disagree, and not so easy to take a breath and find another way that is beyond the right/wrong, good/bad judgment orientation prevalent in our culture today.

Perhaps, finding the beauty or, if you prefer, the opportunity in those things which we may dismiss as ‘ugly’ or wrong or disagreeable represents a pathway for peace, personally and collectively. Indeed, for our own learning, this may be the most important work of our time.

Question for the Week:  How many seeds for seeing the beauty in everything can you identify this week?

The Importance of Knowing You Are Enough

“I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
One world is aware, and by the far the largest to me, and that is myself,
And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million years,
I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness, I can wait.” - Walt Whitman

If you look beneath the surface of last weeks’ I Am Enough message (or most any of my posts), I hope that you’ll consistently find the theme of transformation. As I explore ancient wisdom and the idea of creating new measures of success, I’m aiming to evoke (or perhaps to provoke) personal transformation at the deep level that has the power to change our world.

Knowing that I am (and you are) enough is just such a fundamental shift. It requires that we find the place within that knows this Truth, embrace it deeply, and nurture this knowing like we nurture our children, our precious relationships, and our gardens. That is the essence of self-love.

When our foundation is self-love, self-acceptance, knowing that we are enough, we make choices grounded in love and cooperation, not fear and competition.

We need more choices made from that place inside as our contributions to being the change that has the potential to shift mass consciousness. Only when we fully embrace that we are enough can we accept that those who make different choices, come from different cultures, etc. are enough as well. Knowing that you are enough builds the courage to embrace differences across the street, in our families, our communities, and in cultures around the world.

When we know that we are enough, we don’t need to prove our worth by spending more to have more stuff. When we know we are enough we can give and serve and do work in the world that contributes to building one another up rather than tearing down those with whom we differ. When we know that we are enough, we experience the reality of Oneness, that we are each a tiny, yet integral, part of the entire Universe.

Knowing deeply within that I’m enough is a measure of success that is not of the world. It’s an inside job and only I, and each of us individually, have the power to claim this mark for ourselves.

Coming to deeply know that I am enough requires stamina and courage and the will to cast out beliefs, stories, habits, systems, and people in life who bring me down. It requires practice and puts me squarely in the driver’s seat of my personal power, the power to choose my thoughts, my words, and my actions as reflections of me and for me.

Experiment for the Week:  Strengthen your ‘enough’ muscle by noticing thoughts or feelings that don’t support this knowing. Then, use your will to choose differently.

Enough! I am. You are. Really.

In a world that challenges us to be, do and have more, I find that I sometimes forget that I am enough.  That leads me to question, doubt and into the stuck places I wrote about last week. The power of simply declaring ‘I am enough’ is one way to jump-start myself.

As individuals in a culture of stress, I believe it is wise to reflect on just what embracing our ‘enoughness’ means.  We have accomplished much in life. We continue to do so. We’ll likely continue that process.  Our accomplishments, our possessions, our good deeds are not what make us enough.  There is a peace that comes with knowing deeply that you are enough.

I learned this at a time in my life when I worked in an organization that, in my experience, always demanded more.  Sound familiar?  I hear frequently from clients in organizations large and small. I hear it from parents, teachers, managers, business owners, community leaders, sometimes even myself, all feeling that we 'should' be able to do more.

I was gifted with the declaration below as I started my journey to knowing that I’m enough.

I AM ENOUGH

I am a human being.

I am only a human being. 

I am not superman or superwoman. 

I am not perfect.  

Perfection is a fantasy only good for producing suffering. 

I don’t have to superman or superwoman, no matter what my voices say.

Human beings are finite, 

And, so am I. 

We can’t know everything, do everything, and don’t have forever. 

I am finite,

And, I accept my finitude with dignity and gratitude, 

I am grateful to be human.

The voice whispering in my ear ‘you are not enough’ is just a ghost, 

An echo of a past moment trapped in my body.

I have made the mistake of listening to the ghost as though it tells the truth. 

But it speaks only an old judgmental story, 

With no care for me.

But I have grown up.

 Have my own voice, My own contentment.

When the echoes speak, I will speak my contentment with my own voice, 

And, accept that I am human,

And that is enough.

I have virtues

And, I have vices.

I have competences

And I have incompetences –

Like any other human being.

But I can make offers

I can make requests

I can make promises

I can have ambition

And I can move with others to create,

To create a future

And to live with dignity.

Life is going to do whatever life does

And it doesn’t care

About my assessment of it.

So it is time to have acceptance.

To accept life.

To accept myself.

And to center myself in my commitment

And in my care.

That’s the life of a human being.

Not a superman or superwoman.

I accept myself

I declare satisfaction for being human

I declare

I AM ENOUGH.

Thanks to life.  Amen.

©2002, 2004 Robert Dunham. Enterprise Performance. 

With deep gratitude to the author Bob Dunham for sharing this at a time years ago when I needed it most. You can discover more about Bob’s leadership work here:  http://www.generativeleadership.co/

Moving Past My Stuckness

"An emotional block is excess energy being stored. We know it is there when we want to do something and we don't do it."  Patrece Powers (www.p-systemsinc.com)

Many thoughts swimming in the pool of creating focus for this week’s topic.  I sensed a common thread and finally ‘it’ appeared, relating as it always does to what I’m experiencing, questioning, or aiming to create in life. I name that ‘support from a friendly universe’. Hence, sharing this place that I get to where I stop and what that place is teaching me, is today’s muse.

The Place.  It starts with a hesitation around some step that seems so easy and clear when I planned it. I feel confused, afraid. Definitely I experience excess energy that I’m not channeling in a direction that moves me forward. Ouch!

The Pattern(s).  Over the years I’ve developed several approaches. I beat myself up for not doing what I ‘should’ do (additional ouch!).  I tell myself ‘it must not be quite the right time or the universe would support me to get do it’ (gotta love that – give my responsibility to the universe! – delayed ouch!). Occasionally, I ‘force’ myself to take the step without any joy and no awareness of using my power to choose (not so ‘ouchy’, but the results rarely meet what I’m aiming for). I might even ask, half-heartedly and with no intention of discovering what I can learn, ‘what’s stopping me?’ (sort of taking responsibility, but not really – delayed ouch!).

The Results.  Honestly, I have a darn good life for which I am very grateful.  And, there are some gaps that I need to own without guilt or self-blame. It’s around those gaps and my stories about them that I become most deeply stuck.   I believe what I have the opportunity to learn in this domain can only make life better (much less ouch, both self-imposed and that gifted to me by the friendly universe and expanded possibilities for what I manifest in the world).

The (not so) New Awareness.  As with so much in life, the insight is not entirely new.  I can make the conscious choice to stop and become consciously aware of what I know.  On some level, I know what the emotional block is.  Each time I feel stuck, when stored energy begins to feel like what I imagine being in a pressure cooker feels like, I have the opportunity to allow what I know to come into my conscious awareness.  While I may experience a momentary ‘ouch’ from what’s there to discover, the long term comfort of stepping honestly into self-awareness and the future choices that are sure to present themselves from that willingness seem, in this moment, to be well worth it.

Experiment for the Week:  What’s your experience with being stuck this week?  Hop over the blog and share your discovery [SHORTLINK]

The Universe: Friendly? Or Not?

"I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’ This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves."  Albert Einstein

I awoke as I’ve come to do on Thursday mornings, curious to know what would emerge as the focus for this week’s post.  My daily ‘Note from the Universe’ [www.tut.com] reminded me that in my experience life’s events have turned out for my highest good.  And, after a frosty morning walk with Luke, of course the Universe is friendly!

I find this easier to observe when I’m aware of my fundamental belief that the Universe is indeed a friendly place.  Like most of us, sometimes I wake up to find myself in the middle of a pond of muddy thoughts that (apparently) I turned on unconsciously as (surely) I wouldn’t consciously choose them. Or, I notice that I’m feeling ‘off’.  Sometimes I react to an unplanned, unexpected event as though it is ‘bad’, or something happens to trigger doubt. My belief in a fundamentally friendly universe is an anchor that I call on to help me navigate through these curve balls of life.

You might recall a few months ago when the house I rented was suddenly put on the market, sold quickly, requiring that I find a new place and move [See The Power of Being Flexible]. As I look back on that experience, there were days when I needed to use every ounce of will I could muster to be in action trusting that the events were ultimately in my best interest.  Believing in a friendly Universe made that task easier.

Of course, sometimes what serves us best may be downright painful, as anyone who has experienced the loss of a job, a relationship, etc. can attest to.  Yet these are the events in life that bring us the greatest opportunities for the deep personal growth that becomes wisdom.  These are the events that when we face them with courage and commitment open the doors to unseen, unexpected possibilities.

Being in the new home reminds me that ‘home’ is important to my sense of well-being, my inspiration and my creativity. I thought the home I was living in provided that fully (and in some ways it did). The new home has multiplied my sense of well-being, inspiration and creativity exponentially and in unexpected ways.

The initial inspiration that triggered me to move to this beautiful, remote community in the Rockies almost six years ago has returned in a new form that feels just right. Unlike the old home, the new one is perfectly suited to its implementation.

As I create this offer to bring others here to rest, restore, retreat at the pace of nature, I’m aware of uncertainties, some known; some, not revealed. Yet, with the faith that I live in a friendly universe, how can the outcome be anything but perfect?   [Stay tuned – you’ll be the first to know! And, if you just can’t wait call me for a preview.]  It's a bit like knowing that the mountains are there, even though not visible in the frosty fog of this winter morning.

Whether a current challenge or opportunity is one of an unexpected change in business, work, relationship or any other area of life, if you find yourself suffering or stuck, look first to your belief about the nature of the universe. Then, let that become a pillar of strength from which to build your thoughts, your plans, and the actions that follow.

Experiment for the Week: Do you believe the Universe is friendly? Notice this week how your thoughts, your emotions align (or not) with your fundamental belief.

The Connecting Power of Gratitude

"Be kind. Be connected. Be unafraid." Rivera Sun - The Dandelion Insurrection*

As I sat in gratitude for a simple but delicious meal this week, I took time to imagine with gratitude everyone who played a part in this food being on my plate. I don’t just mean the people who raised the chickens that laid the eggs or the baker who baked and packaged the bread or the dairy that made the butter. I mean everyone!

We don’t often think further than the food itself or, maybe, the growers.  As I reflected upon just how many people it takes to get a few simple things on my plate (not to mention, the plate, the cutlery, the placemat, the napkin, the table, the stove, the cookware, the fuel, etc.), I realized in some new way just how connected we are and sensed the power of this awareness as a seed for creating new stories and new systems for our time.

Imagine for a moment how much love the world would be flooded with if we took time in our thankfulness for everything to have a moment of awareness and gratitude for everyone involved. Take that egg for example. Here’s the start of my list of who it took to get that egg on my plate:

• Linette and Scott who raise the chickens that laid the eggs
• Yours truly who picked up the eggs at their farm
• Everyone involved in creating the materials to build the chicken coop and those who built it
• Everyone involved in growing and transporting the food that feeds the chickens
• Everyone involved in creating the carton for carrying the eggs
• Everyone involved in building the vehicles that transported the above AND the roads that were travelled AND the materials for those vehicles and roads

And, that’s just the eggs (before they were cooked)!

There’s a power and possibility here that I’m only just glimpsing as I write.  Our systems today use our inter-connectedness to create dependence and fear.  Through awareness and gratitude, we each can choose differently. We can choose to honor our inter-connectedness with thankfulness to each and every human being who plays a part in the bounty, however great or small, that we experience every day. Imagine a world with that much love and gratitude!

Although the sun has set on yet another Solstice and Christmas, let the year ahead have us feel gratitude not just more deeply, but more broadly as well.

Experiment for the Week:  For one thing on your plate at a meal, create a list of everyone involved and lovingly honor all those whose efforts made it possible. What do you notice?

*Rivera Sun weaves a powerful story of and for this time in The Dandelion Insurrection. Always and all ways a great read! You can find her here: http://www.risingsundancetheater.com/wpblog/ and on Facebook.

The Gift of Solstice

"All of heaven and all of earth coordinate at the Winter Solstice." - Gregge Tiffen*

Winter Solstice is the time of natural transformation, newness that comes forth with or without our awareness. Winter Solstice is the time when our receptivity is heightened in consciousness. Is it any wonder that with fewer hours of daylight, we are drawn inside into our homes, perhaps under the covers, and definitely drawn to be inside ourselves at this time of year?

Solstice is the birthday of the Planet and was celebrated as such with reverence and respect in ancient times by our ancestors who lived in close harmony with the Planet’s rhythms.

Solstice is the time of completion and of new beginnings. The old cycle (year) is done. We are presented with the opportunity to declare completion and move on with awareness of the seed of newness that is planted inside. A new ‘you’ with its potential to bring wondrous change in the cycle ahead is ready, provided you are willing to claim it.

In keeping with my understanding of ancient traditions, I take time at Solstice to create a personal ‘silent night’, a time harmonize my rhythms to those of the Planet, to with love and gratitude let go of everything from the year behind, and to acknowledge the seed of newness inside.  And, I invite you to take a few moments or even a few hours to create your own and to acknowledge and embrace the potential of the newness in you.

Start by harmonizing with nature. If you're blessed as I am to live in nature’s beauty, take a walk. Observe and honor the rhythms of nature, whether the slow steady growth of a tree or the daily cycles of ocean tides.  If nature is not outside your door, then sit quietly and imagine your favorite place in nature. Feel yourself in that place. Allow those rhythms to bring you the quiet peace of the season.

Next, create an atmosphere and attitude of gratefulness and let go of everything that has come to you in the cycle ending. Your aim is to empty and prepare a space for the new. Thus, let go of not only what doesn’t serve or suit you, of those things you consider ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’, but of everything: every attitude, your wants and desires, your fears, your hopes, your stories about the events of the year ending, the people in your life.

Finally, when you are ready (perhaps after only a few moments, perhaps a few hours), evoke the sound of newness with the declaration “I am new”.  This is the place where heaven and earth come together in you, as you. The new you is ready to meet, greet and receive the gifts of the new cycle.

May the blessings of your unique newness follow you into and throughout the new year.

*My understanding and celebration of Solstice, while it is my own interpretation, comes primarily from the work of Gregge Tiffen. You can learn more about Gregge’s work at www.g-systems.com. And, you can purchase from his collected works, including his telling of Winter Solstice – The Christmas Story, at http://www.p-systemsinc.com/publications.htm.

10 Days of Solstice

“Become totally empty; Quiet the restlessness of the mind; Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness.”  Lao Tzu

In a noisy, full world, I wonder how it would be to live from the place of allowing everything to emerge from emptiness.  I wonder not just how it would be, but how I might create this experience more often in my life.  And, I dream about the world we will co-create as more of us take this path.

In a noisy, full world, it’s no wonder that emptiness has a bad rap. “Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy,” says the Wikipedia article on the topic, highlighting emptiness as a “negative, unwanted” condition.

This Western view seems to ignore that, on some level, all creation starts from emptiness.  A great novel starts with a blank computer screen (or piece of paper).  Great art starts from a blank canvas.  A fabulous soup starts with an empty soup pot. The planet was formed in emptiness at precisely the right place and the right time.

Okay, it’s quite a leap from a blank canvas to the formation of our home, planet Earth.  But at this time of Solstice, I’m reminded that this is a time to celebrate the birth of the planet. In the deep stillness, quiet, and dark of winter, I’m choosing emptiness as a focal point of my celebration.

Inspired by the ’21 Days of Gratitude’ that thousands participated in last month on Facebook and wanting to acknowledge the Winter Solstice as something more than a moment on the calendar, I’m creating a personal ’10 Days of Solstice’.  And, I invite you to join me by creating yours.

I feel a call to honor this precious time of darkness before the light begins to return. I feel a deep desire to be in the quiet that nature provides during this season, and use her as a guide on my own path.  I sense that this is exactly what I need at this juncture in life.

No, I’m not totally unplugging and going into isolation. However, today 10 days from the December 21 Solstice, I’m committing to practice at least a few minutes of emptiness consciously and intentionally every day.

I want to deepen my experience of what emerges from my unique ‘mirror of the universe’.  That is the blank screen/canvas/soup pot from which I begin.  What about you?

Experiment for the Week: Take a few moments of quiet each day to let go of the noise and fullness of life. How does it feel? What possibilities emerge?