Spirit In Gear

Happy 6th Patti Digh & 37Days

Patti Digh's blog, 37days, is whole food for the soul. Her writing shines with authenticity, transparency, heart. You'll find no additives, bs, or fillers. Reading Patti's words is like taking my daily dose of vitamins for my spiritual and emotional health.

No matter how hectic my day is, I make time to read her posts.  Yes, they are that good!  Shedding is one of my favorite posts from last month.  Here is a small excerpt of the 11 items Patti intends to shed in 2011:

File cabinets: I am feeling smothered by the past. File cabinets contain papers about work I used to do, but will never do again. They need to go away, to make space for an art table.

Patti inspires me with this one.  It really hits home for me.  My office closet is jammed with filing cabinets overflowing with a previous career - seminars, workshops, and talks I gave 8-10 years ago.  I get a heavy feeling when I walk into that closet.  Why am I hanging onto it?  Over the holidays I have begun to clear out and throw away tons of binders filled with materials.  I have purchased banker boxes for things that need to be saved, such as financial info and tax returns that can be packed away out of site.  I can use the free space in my filing cabinets to take my current business to a new level of organization.  My intuitive hunch is that by opening up space, I am giving my creativity room to breath and expand!

Blocks: I'm letting go of false comparisons with others, false expectations of myself, and false investments in stories that don't serve me.

Am I finally old enough to let these blocks go too?  I hereby confer upon myself lifetime permission to "pass go."  Perfection not needed, not invited. 

Excuses: I told my business partner, David, one day as we drove up Merrimon Avenue on one of his visits to Asheville that I had just realized I had never done my best work because I always wanted an excuse to fall back on if someone didn't like it. "Oh, that? I didn't have a chance to edit that because I was nursing a sick dwarf hamster back to life from a heart attack." No excuses in 2011. None.

 I refer myself back to shedding perfection.  Just do it, Deb, and by the way, have some fun while you are at it.  Embrace imperfection for the humanizing quality it is.

Work: It is too easy to say yes to work that makes money but doesn't move me in the direction I long to go. This will be the year of giving up that work, of saying no to it so I (and we) can create what we most long to say. This will likely involve the art table.

My intent, with the work that currently brings me money, is to continue to systemize it so that I am working less on it.  I aim for more free time and flexibility just because I want it!

Happy 6th Blog Anniversary, Patty Digh!  May you grace us with your words for many more years.  In the meantime, my intention this year is to meet you in person.  I am your Southern neighbor in Greenville SC, and am a mere 75 min. drive away.  You have fans down here.  We'll be in touch soon!

 [Photo Credit:  Michaela Kobyakov]

 

Shout Out Against Gay Bashing

Kudos to Patti Digh for taking on ignorance and hate in Mindful Monday:  Thanks for Coming Out.  Please take a moment to read her post!

She reminds me that hatred and bigotry grow when the rest of us remain silent.  It takes courage to speak out, to take a stand.  It's not easy when our friends, co-workers, and family members may be the ones that spread the hate.  But if I don't say anything, I am allowing hate to grow.

Thank you Patti Digh for stepping out and leading by example.

 

Fav Blog Posts to Check Out!

I find myself in an emotional muddle, with nary a cohesive thought to write.  Yesterday close friends in our neighborhood just moved away to a distant state.  Today my washing machine just quit with a load of wash still sitting in water.  Since I'm not in the frame to write, I do the next best thing and find solace in hanging out in the blogosphere reading the words of my blogging buddies. 

It is apparently what the doctor ordered, as I have found much candor, wisdom, depth, and humor in the following posts (in no particular order):

For sheer candor in the art of being human, take time to read these posts:

- Tom Volkar - When Doubt is Good.  Tom's post, sprinkled with earthy language, shines with transparency.  I find myself laughing out loud.  We all go through periods of doubt.  If we can recognize when we are in the period of "good doubt," we can find the courage to hang with it to get to the next place.

- Liz Strauss - The Minute I'm Sure I"m Right, I'm Most Certainly Wrong.  Liz discusses how support can hinder others.  How difficult we all find it to admit we are wrong, but to go public takes a big person.

- Barbara Sliter - The Unintended Impact of Certainty.  Certainty is valued.  Uncertainty is pooh-poohed.  Yet being "less certain" can make room for other voices.  Thanks to Barbara for opening up this topic in a new way.

For your daily dose of wisdom, enjoy these posts:

- Dan Oestreich - I Am the Pot.  What leaders can discover when they are silent  . . . and listen.

- Chris Bailey - Open Letter to Fellow Career Zigzaggers. Why the world needs both straight-liners and zigzaggers!

- Marcia Reynolds - Your Goals May Be Killing You.  The distinction between creative productive goals and outcome goals, and how the former can bring you more happiness.

- Andrea Hess - Shredded Cheese and Manifesting Money - Read how attracting money should be as easy as picking up shredded cheese at the grocery store.

- Terry Starbucker - The Most Useless Word in the English Language.  Go check out the link to find out the word!

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If You Write, or Want to Write - Read this Rant

Patti Digh wrote an excellent rant on writing - twelves points in all.  I'm going to print it out and keep it nearby when I feel tempted to skip writing, censor my writing, or worry about how my writing will be received.

Here's a juicy excerpt from Patti's post: 

What is your intention? To build a successful blog, or to actually say what is inside of your heart and mind and every single bloody cell of your being, and that you must somehow export it out into the world before you die?

Whether you write, paint, embroider, sing, or (insert your word), you can draw courage by reading how to write (a book). a wee rant.

I love your rant, Patti Digh!

[Photo Credit:  Laura Nubuck]

When Not to Follow the Crowd - Blog Spotlight

I notice a theme developing as I read diverse posts from Pat, Liz, Dick, and Jory.  Although each of these bloggers writes on totally separate topics, they carry a personal message for me about the cost of following the herd.

Without further adieu, the spotlight shines on these well-written posts.

Pat Ruppel's post on Fitting In - Cookie Cutter or Piece of Puzzle, provides encouragement for not fitting in when it really doesn't fit us.  The world needs the expression of uniqueness of each person.  I especially like the questions she poses at the end to help us understand our motivation for choosing to fit in or not.

Liz Strauss' The Danger of Old Think and the Dangers of Thinking New highlights two follies.  One is to attempt to interject old skills and perspectives into a new culture; the other is to throw out the old and follow the new because everyone else is doing it.  She ends the post with a killer sentence that nails the solution - it's like  Haiku for business.  I won't quote the sentence here because I don't want to give away the ending!

Sometimes I follow the crowd to fit in, or to prove something, either to "somebody out there" or to myself.  Dick Richards pens a candid post, Nothing to Prove, tracing what he tried to prove in the past with what he's since learned. 

Jory Des Jardins critiques Twitter in  If I Were Twitter's Agent.  Her analysis is both knowedgable and entertaining. 

You may wonder how Jory's post relates to following the crowd.  It hits a personal note for me because I feel conflicted about joining Twitter.  My conflict does not really center on Twitter.  It rests on my ambivalence about wanting to be a part of the "in crowd," and my desire to preserve my energy.

Nor does it rest on any concern about new technology.  I'm perfectly capable of 'twittering."  But I look back and see that I only joined Facebook and LinkedIn because so many people ceaselessly invited me to join.  I haven't completed my full profiles on either site, and don't utilize it as I should. 

I realize in writing this that there's a time to follow the herd, and a time to follow my energy.  If I do the latter, I'll lead a life that feels more authentic and rewarding.

When do you think it makes sense to follow the crowd?

Photo Credit:  Andre Mesker

 

Blog Spotlight - Resources for Spirit

Recent posts from Andrea Hess'  Spiritual Practice vs. Spiritual Growth, and  Slade's Psychic Shielding for Empaths, zero in on practical spiritual applications for daily life.

Andrea's post does not beat around the bush.  Pay attention to the results your spiritual practices (meditation, prayer, fasting, journalling, yoga etc.) are creating in your life.  Anything happening?  Why are we doing what we do?  She stresses that ideally spiritual practices lead to growth in other areas of our life.  Growth could be a new state of being, which of course leads to a new way of acting.

I'm hearing a similar message in a book I'm reading - Prayer Primer, by Thomas Dubay.  It describes a process of praying (beyond learned prayers) that leads to a deepening relationship with God.  Out of that deeper relationship with God, our aim is to take our reflections and translate them into improved ways of interacting with others.

What could be more practical, and essential, than protecting ourselves from energy-sucking people?  Slade's Psychic Shielding for Empaths is for anyone who interacts daily with people - from empaths, healers and teachers, to customer service workers and hair stylists.  The question is how to do this in a way that doesn't shut us down in the process.

Slade recommends the use of pink light as a shield (semi-permeable that is).  I find his distinctions between visualizing white light vs. pink light very helpful.  In day to day interactions, invoking pink light "allows for your loving energy — compassion, concern, good will — to pass through, yet the White Light (which is still present within the Pink) blocks negative energy.  Slade adds that the pink light is "a kind of filter — magnifying what you most hope to receive/ project, while still blocking psychic attack completely and absolutely."

If you're wondering under what circumstances to invoke this pink light, or how to do it, be sure and read his excellent post.

Both blogs noted above are filled with provocative and very helpful content.  Enjoy!

[ Photo Credit:  Christopher Rayan]

Welcome to Riding On Dragons

Although my blogging remains on hiatus, I must take an overdue moment to welcome Dick Richards back to the blogging world - he debuted Riding on Dragons in October.

I'm envious of the way he decided not to pidgeonhole his blog.  Perhaps I need to consider that too.  In any event, I like Dick's short, refreshing, and candid posts.  It's about time you showed your face again, Dick!

Blog Spotlight on Andrea Hess's Series on Negativity

Andrea Hess wrote a 3-part series of in-depth posts that I find illuminating and provocative:  What is Negative Energy?   Who Are Negative Souls? and How to Deal with Negative People.  Each post builds upon the other, and I'd recommend you begin your reading with the first post listed.

Andrea points out that negative souls aren't necessarily evil.  Some look kind and seem to say the "right" things.  She asserts that many people on the planet do not fit exclusively into the category of "lightworker" or of "negative soul," but work with either energy based upon convenience at particular times (free will).  However without choosing a definite path towards the light, life remains stagnant and little changes.

What if you suspect you have negative souls in your life?  As you read over Andrea's list of 11 defining characteristics, you may recognize friends, family, or work colleagues.  I found myself struck by several of these clues:  negative souls don't create anything, since creation is an expression of Divinity; they have a way of causing us to doubt and question ourselves; they show up when we are down, but not when we are happy and connected to our purpose.

In the 3rd part of this series, Andrea describes 7 strategies to deal energetically with negative people.  These strategies reflect a spiritual depth that goes beyond the typical "how to" list in popular magazines.  She concludes with the reminder that it is not our job to "save" negative people.  What a relief.  That's one less thing to feel guilty about!

Notable Blogging Links - 1/17/08

Part of the advantage of being "snowed" in Thursday was the time freed up from driving to various meetings.  Instead I did some blog cruising and found lots of cool info, wisdom, and inspiration.   Here are just a few juicy links:

You'll find light-hearted, yet profound insights in Barbara Sliter's Switching Computers is Like Life.  Does life imitate Mac, or Mac imitate life?  Barbara reminds us that creation is messy work, and we can get in trouble when we ignore our intuition.

Tracy Boatright's Cease Fighting and Get Into the Flow encourages us how to watch out for those "should" decisions we make.  Her post outlines how she used self-awareness to turn her life from resistance to being in the flow, attracting more than she ever dreamed.

What if we could import happiness at work like we import fruit from Chile?  Apparently we'd have to import happiness at work from the Scandinavian countries, the only ones purported to have an actual word - arbejdsglaede - to embrace this concept.  Alexander Kjerwulf's Karoshi vs. arbejdsglaede raises some sobering thoughts, or happy thoughts, depending upon which country you reside in.  Don't be deterred by the title.  The post is excellent at detailing the cost of overwork, referencing Japanese workers, and providing compelling evidence to change.

For there to be a giver, there must be a receiver.  For one to be heard, there must be a listener.  But not a listener that multi-tasks, as I have been guilty of.  Rebel Belle's Listening - A Gift of Health, succinctly lays out in brief fashion how to listen deeply, and what happens when we don't.  Being recently bereaved, I'm more sensitive to being heard.  I can tell you that my healing process has sped up through the deep caring of close friends who simply listened to me.

I saved the best for the last, because I want you to remember this in your heart.  See Alexys Fairfield's Wonder, because that is what we are in God's eyes.

Blog Spotlight On - Kissing the Dogwood

Photo by Christopher Rayan

About 8 days ago I discovered a gem of a blog, Kissing the Dogwood.  At first I couldn't define why I liked this blog.  I just knew that I loved the energy and feeling I experienced just being on this site, whose creator is Walks Far Woman.  Her affection for the camera also shows through in the evocative photography.

Today I returned to the site to read more posts.  What I love about the writing is the honest, inspiring, and transparent voice that comes through.  What makes a good blog great - when we speak in our True Voice.

For example, I feel connected to Walks Far Woman (whose name I have not yet discovered!) as a parent myself, as she articulates a dilemma in Making Waves.  In Good Will Always Outweigh the Bad, she shares a personal experience of how she moved from feeling dispirited and worthless.  As the commercial says, "When life comes at you fast . . .," we can get knocked down and deflated.  Walks Far Woman reminds us that we can be resilient by staying connected to others.  And may I extend a public thank you to Walks Far Woman for including my post on Eliminating Struggle as one of the posts that improved her mental state.

Now there's only one thing Kissing the Dogwood needs and that is a "Subscribe" button!  (Mea Culpa if I missed it.)