Independence Is The Law

"Dependency is a basic violation of Universal law." - Gregge Tiffen

There is no question in my mind that the radical, revolutionary visionaries that founded the United States were deeply in touch with Universal law and sought to create this nation aligned with Universal principles.

I also believe that we’ve strayed as a country and as individuals from living fully into the independence that was a pillar of their creation and still is immutable Universal law. Taking responsibility for operating from independence requires attention, awareness, and (gulp) courage.

I’m coming to experience (and thus to deepen my belief) that at any moment, in any circumstance I have the power, the free will to choose differently. The rewards for making those choices are vast and deep, the most important being the joy of self-satisfaction and its deepening to self-love. These are not selfish, self-centered ways of being. Rather, they are what we are meant to experience as we chart the path of our lives in alignment with the unique blueprint that we each came to this life with.

The process of purchasing a home provided many opportunities to do just that. I did my best to rise to each occasion (and I forgive myself for not always doing so or for being less than gracious through part of the process). As I look back at the hoops that I jumped through and the amazing support that I received, I’m aware that at every turn, every hurdle I remained at choice. I never felt a sense of being a victim or of ‘having to do’. I chose with each hurdle to act from ‘okay, here’s my next step, let’s see where it leads’ rather than ‘I have to do this because, if I don’t, they will (or won’t) …’.

Either way, my actions might well have been the same. But the gift of making them from a place of choice protected me from any sense that I could lose or be hurt. I was willing to ‘let the chips fall where they may’. At its core that is the promise and the gift of independence.

Today, I not only own a home that I love (and look forward to sharing with others who need and want respite from the busy, noisy world), I have a deep sense of gratitude and satisfaction for how I walked through the process. The home and other material things I can’t take with me when I’m complete with this life, this body. But, the satisfaction, the gratitude and whatever wisdom I gained from the experience are forever a part of my consciousness.

Invitation For The Week: As you bask in the stars and stripes, the red, white and blue, enjoy a burger and your beverage of choice, take time not just to be grateful for the promise of independence, but reflect on the attitude you bring to your life’s choices and the freedom those choices represent. Are you operating as you are meant to: independent of all others? Rinse, repeat, and ask again.

Thoughts are The Seeds of Life

"With every thought, whether conscious or not, I create the quality of my life." - Cindy Reinhardt

We humans are such creative and powerful beings. Sometimes, we’re a bit silly too. Silly as in we have moments (hours, days, or longer) when we lose sight of just how powerful we are. Our thoughts are the foundation of that power.

When we forget, it seems as if we hand over our power to another person or an event. And, that they or it, not we, are creating the quality in our life. Who among us has not had the experience of thinking ‘if they (or it) would just change, I would be happy’? Those experiences have the possibility of waking us up and pointing to thoughts (conscious and not), beliefs, and stories that it may be time to shed.

I had just such an experience over the last week when at a tense moment in conversation some unconscious thought took over. I lost my awareness in the moment and with it my power to choose my path, to choose love over some (probably insignificant) fear. It wasn’t pretty.

These are the events in life that give me the opportunity to root out the weeds that pop up in the garden of my thoughts. I like to do so with care, rather than pulling and tossing blindly. Some weeds have hidden, unknown value. Upon reflection, they can be managed differently rather being destroyed. They can contribute to rather than detract from life’s quality.

My favorite weeding tools are contemplation, letting go, and forgiveness. Then, I nurture the garden of my remaining thoughts with gratitude, awareness, and practice.

As I walk through my own life’s events and, as a coach, have the privilege of hearing stories of the events in my client’s lives, I become ever more deeply present to just how powerful our thoughts are. With our thoughts we create joy. With our thoughts we create misery. We choose.

When we spill milk, we clean it up. We choose what tools to use and we choose whether to cry over the spill or to grow from it. With our thoughts we create the quality of our life from one moment to the next and beyond.

Experiment for the Week: Take time to notice your thoughts this week, especially in events that bring tension. What thoughts need weeding? What thoughts need TLC?

Gratitude is An Act of Self-Care

"Nowhere else will you find greater demand or greater satisfaction than that which the bloom of self caring can bring to the Garden of Life." - Gregge Tiffen

I’d not especially noticed the link between gratitude and self-care until earlier this week when I had the experience of feeling deeply grateful for the commitment I have to what Thomas Leonard, my first coaching mentor, called “extreme self-care”. It was a bright, sunshiny Sunday morning after an amazing early hike with Luke as I sat down to enjoy the tasty brunch I’d prepared. As I took a moment to be thankful for the food and all who had some role in putting it on my table, a feeling of deep gratitude for how I take care of myself swept through me. In that moment I realized that living in gratitude is, for me, an act of self-care.

Perhaps some of you will think “well, duh, of course …”, but for me it was an ah-ha moment. It took me back to when I first began to consciously practice gratitude over a decade ago. I started a practice of consciously breathing in love, breathing out gratitude. Several years later, I realized that love and gratitude lived in each and every breath I take.

This week I have a deep sense that this and other practices of gratitude are acts of self-care that make my life the joy that it is to live, one of many acts that keep me healthy, happy, and, hopefully, on purpose. My first and last thought and words each day are “Thank you” and I’ve come to feel those words in my heart. Meister Eckhart, the 13th century German theologian, philosopher and mystic, is quoted as saying "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." I’m experiencing the truth of Eckhart’s words as well as that in Gregge’s wise words above.

Living in gratitude, like self-care, is easy when life is flowing in the ways we want. As I celebrate the birth of my step-son’s daughter this week, I am grateful on many levels. I’m grateful for our relationship across the years and miles, for his happiness, his health and that of his growing family. And, I’m grateful for the internet which keeps us easily connected (not to mention the flow of baby photos since her birth!). It’s easy to be grateful.

But perhaps the ultimate self-care is to develop the capacity to be genuinely grateful in the midst of adversity. What kind of world might be created if we learned to be grateful to live amidst and navigate through life’s challenges with gratitude? Is gratitude a path to world peace?  And, aren't our children and our children's children worth whatever it takes?

Exploration for the Week: Notice your relationship to gratitude this week. What are you thankful for? What else might you be thankful for?

Beauty and the Season's First Bear Tracks

"If we were truly moved by the beauty of the world about us, we would honor the earth in a profound way." - Thomas Berry

What might our world look like if we each ‘honored the earth in a profound way’ as Thomas Berry suggests in his essay, The Earth Community?   What if we could see beauty in everything, like these bear tracks from my morning walk?

My first inclination is to rail more loudly against those whose greed continues to destroy the planet, her natural beauty and gifts. You know who I mean. The frackers, the mountain top removal miners … a very long list. It’s easy to point the finger of blame and to ignore my own choices that contribute to the destruction.

Next I thought about what I believe we should all do: recycle more, create energy from renewable sources, grow and eat organic, purchase recycled products. Again, the list is long. It’s worthy. And, yet it misses the mark of profound that I imagine Berry had in mind when he penned this essay.

I’m aiming for something personal: profound as in great or intense, heartfelt, wise. I’m aiming for expression, deep care for the planet I’m blessed to call home. And, this brings me back to me. ‘How can I honor the earth in a profound way?’

As I look out at the beauty of another blessed spring snow with its life giving moisture, I realize that I can bring consistency and add depth to my gratitude for the earth. I can acknowledge and appreciate not just the beauty that feeds my soul, but the splendor of all that the planet provides to sustain life: air to breathe, water to drink, fuel to warm me and support me in being mobile, food to nourish my body, materials for shelter. Again, the list is long.

As I reconnect with this deeper awareness and as gratitude fills my being, I wonder what changes may come when I practice acknowledging and appreciating the planet for her gifts on a daily basis. Will I discover lifestyle changes not yet seen to reduce my impact on our home? Might new, creative ideas emerge to make an even larger difference? What else is possible from conscious gratitude and appreciation? How might my small, yet profound care contribute to raising consciousness? I look forward discovering what will emerge in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. And, I invite you to join me.

Experiment for the Week: Take 60 seconds each day to feel and express your profound appreciation for the Earth. And take a few minutes more to share your discoveries on the Zone blog.

Facing What Is Changes What Will Be

"The act of running shuts off almost all of one's Universal flow since the body and mind are focused on escape." - Gregge Tiffen

Sometimes in life an event occurs that triggers our flight, fight or freeze response. When we shift into this mode we lose our receptivity to Universal flow.

We forget everything we 'know' about how life really works. We experience losing access to our power, the power that we use easily in course of our normal daily activities. We flee. We blame someone else. Or, perhaps, we ignore the event, hoping it will go away.

Tax time in the United States, the April 15 date on which tax returns and taxes are due, is a time that brings this out for many. And, this year, I had just such an opportunity to step out of my power, when I learned that I'd made an error resulting in a significant tax due. I could ignore it and face the consequences later. I could step into anger at the government for taxing me or at myself for being so stupid. Not good choices I decided.

On the other hand, I could face my mistake, pay the taxman, be grateful for the income, and correct the error to avoid the same situation this time next year. I chose this course, and the results I experienced were nothing short of miraculous! My thinking was clear and I could see several options for meeting the obligation. I reached out to explore the best approach and to ask for help. A gift arrived that covered the amount due. Then, magically other projects that had seemed stalled began to move again. Best of all, I didn't experience the stress so common in our culture around this issue we are blessed with the free will to choose how we face what life presents us. Fight, flight, fear and blame beget results that cause stress, worry, and dis-ease. This approach is rather like imposing a personal emotional tax on ourselves. It makes us rigid and, like the pine above, we may break.

Our other choice is to allow and dance with what is. That's how I imagine that the cheerful mountain bluebirds move through life. When we face and embrace what is with responsibility and gratitude, the form of what comes next is forever changed. We stay in our power, allowing Universal flow to course through and guide us on our path.

Exploration for the Week: Notice where you are taxing yourself by choosing to fight, flee, or freeze from some event in life. Consider choosing differently.

The Gift of Following My Heart (and My Dog)

"… we are born to happiness and fulfillment, but we sometimes get so lost and wrapped up in the everyday events of our lives that our happiness and fulfillment seem rare." - Ted Andrews (Animal Speak)

This morning as is my habit, the camera accompanied Luke and I on our morning walk.  Yesterday, in a bit of a rush, I left it behind.  Most mornings, especially Thursdays when the blog is calling to be posted, we walk a two-mile loop – down the road, turn, up a path to the next road, turn, then back to our road and home.  This morning Luke ignored the turn up the path and continued to follow a path toward the Ziggurat.  At the same time I called for him to come back, I felt a pull to follow his lead and the Ziggurat path, thinking that we’d follow it for a short while then back track to home, but not make the climb to the top.

When I reached to fork where the path veers off to this ‘stairway to heaven’, I veered. I felt a pull to make the climb.  The blog post would come in its time. And, Luke was delighted.  The path makes the climb fairly easy, and the views from the top are spectacular: the Great Sand Dunes to the south, the vast San Luis Valley to the west, Poncha Pass and the Collegiate Peaks to the north, and the stunning Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Crestone Peak to the east.

The views though were only part of the gifts this day.  On the way down, as I was photographing a tree stump, I noticed my shadow below me on another tree. What fun to welcome the sunshine and see myself as the sun came up over the ridge! Shadows, when we allow them to, offer us great gifts of insight and self-understanding. I paused for another few moments of gratitude and appreciation.

The next visual gift was a mountain bluebird who made a rare appearance in a tree top as we reached home.  These beautiful creatures remind us of ‘unassuming confidence and happiness’ according to Ted Andrews. I think of them as cheerful, for that’s the feeling they instill in me.  This gift was especially poignant since yesterday bluebird appeared on the Cheerful Way street sign near my home (and me without my camera!).

But the greatest gift of all is the gift of peace that comes with following my heart. Had I followed our normal path this morning, the post would be very different – no spectacular views, no fun with my shadow, and perhaps no bluebird or deep sense of peace.

Reminder heard – loud and clear. Over and out until next week when we celebrate Spring!

Experiment for the Week: Take a break from your normal paths in life and discover the gifts that await you.

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.

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.