NUMB

It’s amazing to me how many people walk around numb.  And it’s even more amazing to me how easy it is to actually do.  All you need to do, it seems, is just react.  We actually develop stuff that helps us react, phones, games, computers, reality shows -- we don’t really need to think anymore, we just have to react.

Thinking all the time isn’t the answer either, in fact as we know from our lizard brain, it weaves continuous stories that keep us reactive even better than gadgets do.

The cure for numb is stillness.  

As always, the most critical stuff is both the simplest and the hardest all at the same time.  

RAY

"You have to jump off a cliff and build your wings on the way down." ~ Ray Bradbury


So here's my dream for the time of soul-travel.  The two Ray's - you and Ray Carver and me, at a little joint by the ocean, the chairs sinking into the sand, strands of the dried grass umbrellas lifting in the breeze, sipping a cold beer, mine and Bradbury's will have a lime squeezed in it, Carver's will be stout and black and frothy.  We're sitting back, listening to the ocean and once in a while one of you will say, 'man that was a bitch of a book to write.'  And we'd keep staring at the ocean eyes steady and unfocused, and nod.  We'd be happy, so happy because this is what we'd dreamed heaven would be.  And it was.

MENTOR

You are one whether you realize it or not.  There is always someone watching, a sister, a daughter, a friend.  

The question is, what are you mentoring?  

I’m not talking about your actual actions but the tiny, subtle betrayals of your body.  How you hold yourself, how you speak up, or don’t, whether you listen or whether you’re too busy thinking of the next thing you’re going to say, and are therefore dismissive of the person sitting in front of you.  

Are you angry and anxious all the time holding your body tight, your shoulders around your ears, your arms close to your body?

It’s exhausting to live like this, and it’s not what you want to mentor because it makes their journey and yours much harder than it needs to be.

SPANKING

I love this, it feels like a gentle little spanking -- just to get your attention.


"What's happened more in your life.. that you've lacked opportunities or that you've blown opportunities.  Practice being ready!"
~ Marianne Williamson

JOURNEY

Sometimes our journey requires us to stop and sit by the side of the road for a while.  Do it and don't feel guilty or worried that you're wasting time, not getting anything done. You are.  Trust that it is the right thing for right now.

PUT ANOTHER WAY - ASKING part 3

“The way you ask for what you want or need is also crucial. Say you have an uncle, and whenever the family gets together, he gives you a long, unsolicited and unnecessary critique about how you look and what you do. You don't go up to him and say, "Uncle Boo-Boo, I wish you wouldn't make fun of my hair and job at the dinner table." 

No! Wishes may or not be granted. First you ask for what you want, and then you inform Uncle Boo-Boo of a specific, clear consequence.

[...] 

People often engage in behavior that causes pain because there's no consequence. You have to create that consequence; otherwise, the asking is just wind in the air. But I want you to remember: You're creating a boundary—not a wall that isolates you, just a boundary, one that can be communicated with compassion. So when I get ready to speak to Uncle Boo-Boo, I'm not going to yell at him in front of the whole table. I'm going to say, "Uncle Boo-Boo, can I speak to you for a moment?" Then I'm going to take him on the porch, in the hall or in the living room where there's no one else and discuss my need, because this is between him and me. If I am feeling pain, I'm no longer going to permit, facilitate or deny it. I'm going to own it and deal with it, and then, no matter what he says in response, I can begin to heal. This is a natural process. Over time, you'll have more awareness. You learn to accept more of who people are, and, most importantly, you learn to accept more of who you are.”   

~ Iyanla Vanzant

Her most recent book is Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through (SmileyBooks). 

Reposted from: http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/Iyanla-Vanzant-Cause-of-Your-Pain-Oprahs-Lifeclass/2#ixzz1wZl8eaQW

HALFWAY

 “You can only go halfway into the darkest forest; then you are coming out the other side.”  ~ Chinese Proverb 

(reposted from www.doanegregory.com/blog, an excellent photographer, an excellent site)

How fitting for the first day of June marking the beginning of the second half of 2012.  (Coincidentally, finding this quote was a signpost I stumbled on by ‘accident’).

The quote struck me because the way I interpret it is that when encountering a challenge it helps to see that you in fact only have to lean in, or hang in, or however way you want to look at it, for a fairly short period of time, only half way, as the quote says, the rest of the time, you’re already coming out the other side.  

I find that very comforting, inspirational, and doable.