I wanted to share one my favorite quotes, from one of my favorite poets, David Whyte:
"There is a lovely root to the word humiliation - from the Latin word humus, meaning soil or ground. When we are humiliated, we are in effect returning to the ground of our being."
We need to stop being so afraid of being embarrassed or...god forbid...humiliated. Allow yourself to celebrate your successes as well as to celebrate the times you return to your soil.
Let humiliation be less about your ego being embarrassed and more about your soul being grounded.
Live a little bigger today and, worst case scenario, you'll have an opportunity to get grounded.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Everything is as it should be...really
I've been listening to what I tell myself and thinking, "what if I believed that?...really?"
Today I hear myself thinking, "Everything is as it should be." When I really, really say and actually believe this, I relax. I feel open to giving my best and caring as much as I do.
If I let this moment actually be this moment, if I let it be what it is, I feel energized rather than depleted, frustrated or exhausted. If I don't have to make this moment something different, then I can use that energy elsewhere.
Everything is as it should be. Really.
Today I hear myself thinking, "Everything is as it should be." When I really, really say and actually believe this, I relax. I feel open to giving my best and caring as much as I do.
If I let this moment actually be this moment, if I let it be what it is, I feel energized rather than depleted, frustrated or exhausted. If I don't have to make this moment something different, then I can use that energy elsewhere.
Everything is as it should be. Really.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Soul's Inspiration
Just for today, let yourself care more for your soul's inspiration than your ego's reputation.
To grow requires you to risk your ego being embarrassed because you wanted and lost, you tried and failed, you swung and missed.
Caring, playing, trying, boldly speaking intentions is, in essence, soulful because it inherently requires you to risk ego damage.
We have to let go of protecting our ego from embarrassment. This is part of how the soul grows and deepens. Don't wait until you "have it all together" and there is no risk...Be a mess, have an audience, and show up anyway!
To grow requires you to risk your ego being embarrassed because you wanted and lost, you tried and failed, you swung and missed.
Caring, playing, trying, boldly speaking intentions is, in essence, soulful because it inherently requires you to risk ego damage.
We have to let go of protecting our ego from embarrassment. This is part of how the soul grows and deepens. Don't wait until you "have it all together" and there is no risk...Be a mess, have an audience, and show up anyway!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The work of Receiving
Someone described to me today their goals for 2012, and I began to think differently about "receiving."
When I think of work I think of producing, creating, fixing - energy out type of activities.
But I began to think of receiving as work. Do we passively receive, or do we work at it? Are we actively working the muscles of our hands and heart to open? Are we actively working to create a holding space for all that we could receive?
If someone throws something at you but you refuse to lift up your arms or wrap your hands around...how much can you possibly receive?
Today I will be aware of my receiving, and I will work harder at receiving.
When I think of work I think of producing, creating, fixing - energy out type of activities.
But I began to think of receiving as work. Do we passively receive, or do we work at it? Are we actively working the muscles of our hands and heart to open? Are we actively working to create a holding space for all that we could receive?
If someone throws something at you but you refuse to lift up your arms or wrap your hands around...how much can you possibly receive?
Today I will be aware of my receiving, and I will work harder at receiving.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
If you can choose, why not choose joy.
I'm not sure when I will start trusting what I know, but I seem to be learning what I know over and over.
Whether I am looking into the new year or looking into this one minute, I feel I have the ability to choose joy. I want to learn how to make choices that make joy available all the time, and learn how to look at the choices I am making and, still, choose joy.
Whether I am looking into the new year or looking into this one minute, I feel I have the ability to choose joy. I want to learn how to make choices that make joy available all the time, and learn how to look at the choices I am making and, still, choose joy.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Living from the inside out
So I realize and fully accept that I am one of those people who talks about their dog a little too often. For some reason, I seem to see things more clearly since he joined my life 3 years ago. I have always believed that nature has a lot to tell us about how to do life and that that the physical world has so much to show us about how to do relationships and how to have emotions.
Tonight I was talking with someone about the motivation behind what we do and say. So often we get paralyzed because we feel uncertain of how things will turn out. We don't say what we are thinking because we are unsure of how it will be received or if the recipient will reciprocate the feelings. So often we hold back on going for what we really want because we lack the guarantee that it will "all work out." So often we back away from things we might like - or love - because we're not sure if we will be good at it.
I remember that when I first adopted Levon, he was very ill. I had to take him to the vet, force feed him every day and force tubes with medicine into his mouth for the first several months of his life. I remember in particular one time, in his already fragile state, he got a hold of a tiny piece of snail poison. A tiny snail poison is a major problem for a little, runtly dog. He was rushed, of course, off the vet and had to immediately be hooked up to IVs. What I distinctly remember from this is the vet saying, "We THINK he'll be ok." We THINK. Not - here is the treatment, it's expensive and a pain, but it will work. No. The reality was we "THINK" he'll be ok. What I realized, in that moment, was that this little creature was helping me live from the inside out. I made a choice to give him the treatment, to feed him the meds, to watch over him for months NOT because I was guaranteed a positive outcome, but because I loved him. There was no outward guarantee or promise, but there was an internal drive to act because I loved him. I did not nurse him because I knew he would be OK. I nursed him because I loved him.
And what I experienced with him was a pure experience of making a decision based on internal motivation rather than external guarantee. I didn't need Levon to fully recover to make the time and effort worth it. It already was worth it. Because I loved him, not because I knew for sure what was going to happen.
What in your life are you waiting for a guarantee, a promise, a prediction to start?
What if you let your passion, desire, curiosity or love be enough motivation. What if it were already worth it just because it is important to you...
Tonight I was talking with someone about the motivation behind what we do and say. So often we get paralyzed because we feel uncertain of how things will turn out. We don't say what we are thinking because we are unsure of how it will be received or if the recipient will reciprocate the feelings. So often we hold back on going for what we really want because we lack the guarantee that it will "all work out." So often we back away from things we might like - or love - because we're not sure if we will be good at it.
I remember that when I first adopted Levon, he was very ill. I had to take him to the vet, force feed him every day and force tubes with medicine into his mouth for the first several months of his life. I remember in particular one time, in his already fragile state, he got a hold of a tiny piece of snail poison. A tiny snail poison is a major problem for a little, runtly dog. He was rushed, of course, off the vet and had to immediately be hooked up to IVs. What I distinctly remember from this is the vet saying, "We THINK he'll be ok." We THINK. Not - here is the treatment, it's expensive and a pain, but it will work. No. The reality was we "THINK" he'll be ok. What I realized, in that moment, was that this little creature was helping me live from the inside out. I made a choice to give him the treatment, to feed him the meds, to watch over him for months NOT because I was guaranteed a positive outcome, but because I loved him. There was no outward guarantee or promise, but there was an internal drive to act because I loved him. I did not nurse him because I knew he would be OK. I nursed him because I loved him.
And what I experienced with him was a pure experience of making a decision based on internal motivation rather than external guarantee. I didn't need Levon to fully recover to make the time and effort worth it. It already was worth it. Because I loved him, not because I knew for sure what was going to happen.
What in your life are you waiting for a guarantee, a promise, a prediction to start?
What if you let your passion, desire, curiosity or love be enough motivation. What if it were already worth it just because it is important to you...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Getting Serious about Joy
I talk a lot about not taking things so seriously, learning to let go and be open to what life actually brings...not what you expect it to bring.
One of the things we have to take less seriously is our image of our bodies. I see people grieve over their weight, their underarm, what happens to their thighs when they smash them down against a chair or hard surface. We take our thighs so seriously.
Today, in a great conversation, I realize that some things (of course) are to be taken seriously.
One of which is joy.
What if we took joy more seriously? What if we prioritized getting and giving more joy?
What if we took time to think about joy, about the different sources of joy and the different ways that it can look in our life.
What if we took joy at least as serious as our thighs?
One of the things we have to take less seriously is our image of our bodies. I see people grieve over their weight, their underarm, what happens to their thighs when they smash them down against a chair or hard surface. We take our thighs so seriously.
Today, in a great conversation, I realize that some things (of course) are to be taken seriously.
One of which is joy.
What if we took joy more seriously? What if we prioritized getting and giving more joy?
What if we took time to think about joy, about the different sources of joy and the different ways that it can look in our life.
What if we took joy at least as serious as our thighs?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)