We dance ’round fires
to pray for others to change,
and we change our names
so that a reality we don’t truly want
will let us in the door…
For pure encouragement
Write this sentence down where you can see it: I am devoted to dreaming about my ideal life.
Dreaming is a solution, a soul elixir for so many emotional ailments. The mere act of dreaming is a life-affirming endeavour. Dream. Envision. Fantasize. Imagine…
You have no jurisdiction here (a poem for boundary-making)
The outline of my being
shines brighter than
agreements I made before now…
Here’s what to do when you’re feeling small. Reframe your power.
What I love the most is truth, and if I’m going to be of service — and I’m devoted to being of service, then I have to tell you: I feel so small today. I see the pain. I see the joy. I see the beauty. I feel the global scope of what’s happening, and… I feel really, really… small…
The Chorus (A poem for those of us always trying to get ahead.)
Chorus:
The long time of loud striving
the symbols of success
keeping time in my head
always a quarter b-b-beat behind…
Kundalini rising (A poem for your fire)
I am looking
for a place
to put this fire…
New, little big deals. Is this the week you do what you’ve been scared of?
My friend Robindra promised he’d show me some DJ ropes (because I wanna spin and mix and stuff when I grow up). He got a gig in North Van and said I could tag along for the night. So I Facebook’d about it, mentioned the locale, said it was a great way to kick off my birthday week, and I put on my black high tops to head out…
Kali’s fire, my life, my love.
Kali came to me on a morning that felt like night. She said, “It gets dark so you can see the fire burn more clearly. Throw it all in. And by ‘all,’ I mean yourself.” Into the fire I put a habit of sadness I was married to. And so then I put in my own singular and true sadness, but not so it would be obliterated, rather transmuted, because I wanted to honour the utility of my delusions, the lies that made for density so that I could see the fire burn more clearly.
My Upper Limit Problem and how we resist joy
When the stakes are high or when the success is more than you’ve experienced before, Upper Limit Problems can strike. You rain on your own parade. You make a windfall of cash and you get into a car accident. You fall in love and you pick a silly fight. You come down with something before a big moment…
the Dalai Lama looked me in the eye and said, women rule! (in so many words)
A little story to start the weekend… TO INDIA WE GO Just about to turn thirty, I was given a rare opportunity to have a private audience with His Holiness The Dalai Lama. “Hey kid,” my boss said on the other end of the phone, “I think I’ve got us a meeting with the...
May Roundup: Listening, giving & comparing. Notice your energy. Love your sadness.
May 2013 Roundup: What I know about working with people, listening, giving and loving sadness—plus getting to know your creativity pattern.
Be The Giver.
Sometimes it can feel like dreaming of more than what we’ve got betrays our current reality. As if to wish for something different means that we’re unappreciative of what we have. As if to long for a little less of this, or a brighter shade of that denigrates what stands in front of us.
Why affirmations can mess you right up (and what to say to yourself instead.)
Contrived affirmations take you out of the present. Rather than facing what’s real, we try to plaster over the difficult truths with happy thoughts. This is false optimism and it’s damaging. It undermines our capacity to be with what is, and to access our real strength and spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity includes the capacity to acknowledge our fears while maintaining our confidence and faith…
You’re going to hurt someone.
You’re going to hurt other people. Even though you don’t want to. Even though you don’t mean to. To no fault of your own. You’re going to hurt someone. We’re all bumping up against each other with our cravings and sensibilities, reaching clumsily for fulfillment…
Me ‘n’ The New York Times. And We, The People.
If making a book that lotsa people are finding useful, but didn’t get approved by the ol’ bastion of book approval is the worst of my problems, then, well, there is no problem.
what boat do you need to burn? a testimony to your future
Usually we want to do more of what got us to where we are. Familiarity, best practices, proven techniques. But the future craves more daring from us. What boat do you need to burn?…
give until it hurts. a short story.
Sometimes we resist The Give, because it hurts to meet the other in their place of need and suffering.Generosity insists that you meet people where they are. This requires some courage, like all forms of intimacy…
17 money practices for business that cost me a lot to learn (part 2)
The question I get asked the most in terms of monetization and business priorities is about what to focus on first. Here’s the only mantra you need: Get the money in the door. What can you do in your business to make money RIGHT NOW? Today? This week? And the week after that? Do it. I’ll bet you it doesn’t rely on having the perfect logo or the right suit to wear…
20 personal money practices that got me to a place of grooving prosperity. (part 1)
More than most subjects and matters of life, we tend to leave money wisdom to the experts. Fitness — we get that we need to do what works for us as individuals. Sex — you know that you’re the mistress or mister of your own domain. But money — few of us, would proclaim that we’re money experts…
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.)
your permission slip from the universe
I’ve got the Goddess of Permission on speed dial and she was thrilled to oblige with this sweeping list of acts of self expression and liberation. We can draw on it whenever we need. Come back often. Build on it. The Permission Goddess sends kisses and high-fives…
depression vs. sadness: the power of mincing words
Depression may be the cousin of sadness, sometimes the defended response to unyielding sadness, but it makes you feel anything but alive. It dulls, weighs, and messes with your memory of your true essential nature…which is that of joy…
the secret to self promotion: radiance and the facts, jack
Sometimes, at the start of your journey, all you may have in your inventory to “sell” is passion. And sometimes, that’s enough to open doors. If you’re loving what you do and believing that it’s going to make a positive difference in people’s lives–whether it’s your wedding photography, your coaching methodology, or your zero point energy invention, then, you my friend, are ahead of the game…
what’s on your stop doing list?
Look back on this year and get very clear about what sucked. What didn’t work, got mired with resentment, felt onerous, weighed you deadly down? A note on resentment: you can’t continue to do things you fully resent and think they’re going to transform into enjoyable activities over time. It just doesn’t work that way…
the goddess of grief: getting to the other side. and there is always another side.
Grief is one of the most powerful Goddesses. She swallows your agony and lets it tear her apart. Beautiful birds fly from her belly–each one an insight into life and your power. Grief brings the whole flock to your window and she waits and waits to reveal universal truths to you. She goes to the depths with you. She rises with you…
goddess feature: saraswati, rocking the creativity
Years ago in Santa Fe, my friend Navjit and I went to a gathering for Guru Karunamayi. New Mexico is to gurus what New York is to rock stars–they all pass through eventually. So catching a Hindi lecture on a Friday night and then heading to the club was par for the course. So there we were in our leather pants and Timberlands, gold eyeshadow and Betty Paige bangs… in lotus position…
the “i don’t know” conspiracy
“I’ll figure it out,” may mean waiting quietly, even for a long time, on the will of heaven. It may mean turning over every single stone without rest until you find the answer or the escape hatch. It may mean praying til you sweat, surveying the experts, or forty days in the desert…
What’s it going to take?
I wonder what my days would be like if I approached my happiness with more urgency and insistence (like I do deadlines and should-do’s.) Like: I’ve GOT to meet my dancing quota! Come hell or high water, I WILL get a facial and lay in the sun! Wild horses couldn’t keep me from lunch with my girlfriends!
i’m loving: all things woman
Each woman has potential access to Rio Abajo Rio, this river beneath the river. She arrives there through deep meditation, dance, writing, painting, prayer-making, singing, drumming, active imagination, or any activity which requires an intense altered consciousness.
what motivates you: pleasure or pain?
Studies show that positive reinforcement with children fosters self-esteem and better problem-solving skills. Praise the good, deflect the bad. The power of accentuating the positive isn’t something we grow out of.
