Essence + Spirituality

a prayer for expectation addicts: show up. shine. let it go.

a prayer for expectation addicts: show up. shine. let it go.

I have willed stuff into being. Lot’s of it. Will will willing willfulness. And if you dared to tell me (brave soul, you), in the midst of my willfulness, that I should let go of my expectations, (gasp!) I would have gone stone cold, or snortle-laughed you off, or pressed delete. Because I thought expectation was a key ingredient to manifestation. Turns out it’s a major distraction…

on bright faith and why falling in love is totally uncool

on bright faith and why falling in love is totally uncool

The Buddhists have a term for a particular flavor of faith: bright faith. This is not the bedrock kind of faith that grounds your psychology, spirituality, or devotion. It’s not the assurance/insurance kind of faith where we hope/trust that life will come through for us. It’s the Holy wow, I’m standing at the beginning of something that is so insanely ripe with potential that I wanna get naked and roll all over it right now, while singing rock opera…kind of faith.

transparency. when it works and when it bombs.

transparency. when it works and when it bombs.

At it’s worst, transparency without the intention of teaching can amount to a lot of diarist wanking. Which has it’s place, of course. Voyeurism and art are great lovers, and there’s a deep translation of shared humanness that happens when we get all bloody and exposed in our creations—and when someone else is provoked by our outpouring, or even more profoundly, relates to it, then, well, it’s a divine kind of wow…

7 things I know about active letting go. (sure beats waiting.)

7 things I know about active letting go. (sure beats waiting.)

“Active letting go” is not to be mistaken for “passive letting go”, whereby life rips stuff out of your grip, or you paint yourself into a corner, or things get so heavy they stop you in your tracks and you have to ditch them just to carry on. Active letting go is a little more…pro-active. It’s a practice. It’s awake. It’s somewhat delightful (except for the agony of it.)