Why do we listen to everybody else when we know better? Who is "they" and when did they become so powerful?
I lost my voice. People have all kinds of ideas about what might help. "They" say you should... (insert advice here). I had a moment where I just closed my eyes and went internal. It helps to tune everyone else out. I know what I need to do (and my doctor appointment is coming up).
The idea of peer pressure and following others is all over the place. There are social media "influencers" and everyone wants "followers." We need to listen to ourselves.
The opportunities for frustration, anger and fear are plentiful. We can lose ourselves and drown in them. We MUST take care to nourish our thoughts, our Spirits, with the opposite of those challenging thoughts and feelings. Find the Love. Hold tight.
The neighborhood high school was having a marching band event. We went to check it out. We weren't there long and kept a safe distance from all others, but it had a profound impact.
When Zachary came home he immediately went to his instruments and began marching around. He found a mic and did announcing just as they had done on the field. He said he wanted to be in the band when he's a big kid and asked his dad what marching band was like. (Russ played several instruments with his marching band when he was in school.)
I was reminded how important it is to focus on and surround ourselves with the things we want to do. They lead our minds and Spirits in the direction we want to go. News stories about social media and algorithms drove the point home. We need to make a conscious effort to direct ourselves where we want to be, not just be guided by what we like to complain about. Zachary and I spent a little time watching some marching bands and it opened up a whole world of thoughts and actions. More of that please.
Here's to the journey! Here's to launching ourselves out there!
And to finding simple joys along the way...
Here's wishing us all some peace and well deserved comfort. May we improve our ability to go with the flow and enjoy the present moment as much as possible.
I have no idea why, as I sat here to write, the idea of dragons popped into my head. So here we are. First I looked up the spirit animal meaning:
"The dragon Spirit is drawn to people of intellect, dignity, contagious enthusiasm and authority. Dragons guide such individuals toward brilliance and, indeed, enlightenment. In this setting your Dragon Spirit Animal teaches you to roar - finding your voice, being heard and truly understood." - Google search for "Dragon Spirit Animal"
Then I looked up the cultural significance / history:
He thought he would try bossing me around and quickly realized it was not a good way to speak to his mother. He tried to fix it by explaining that really he was just talking to himself. Then I pointed out that he ALSO has to be careful about the away he talks to himself.
It occurred to me that this is a lesson we might all take to heart. I've been guilty of excusing my own brusk speech by virtue of the fact that it is the way I would speak to myself. I might happen to be one of my own worst critics. It really doesn't make a good excuse for speaking to anyone else with discourteous bluntness, but WHY don't I try being more polite to MYSELF too?
I certainly don't have time for polite filters inside my own mind. I think, and I think fast - pulling no punches towards any kind of fragile ego. A lot of us can be quite harsh with ourselves. We have a lot to do and not enough time to do it. I get that, but we could ease up a little. Let's give ourselves a little break, take care of ourselves a little better, be a little sweeter to ourselves. I'm willing to bet it's going to show on the outside as well.
The day began with Zachary's voice coming from the hallway.
"RUNAWAY ORANGE!" The yell was followed by the clinkity-clink sound of a plastic toy orange rolling down the wood floor. It was time to get up and I really didn't feel like it. I had already missed the window of opportunity to exercise alone and I would have to take Zachary with me if I wanted to go for a run. I headed toward the smell of coffee in the kitchen, passing by what looked like a game of soccer with the plastic fruit.
We saw Russ off for the day and managed to collect ourselves for a "stroller run" despite the cold weather. About halfway through our trek, we saw something we had never seen before.
"Zachary! Look!" I pointed to the street just to the left of the sidewalk.
There it was - a runaway orange.
Do YOU believe in coincidences? I was pretty certain that this preschool-aged kid had just manifested an actual orange and we continued our run with a discussion about how important it is to cultivate intentional thought and how manifestation does not always result in a physical object appearing so quickly.
We think of it as being similar to the way you can imagine nice, pleasant, and calming thoughts before bedtime in order to have a peaceful night's sleep. Like the way we might focus our thoughts and energy in the direction we want to go with regard to any situation. The subconscious mind is a powerful tool in guiding the way of things. We need to be mindful of the thoughts and beliefs that we feed it.
Also - this week we watched the original Star Wars. The Force is with us.
Here's to wishing health and happiness into being this week! May the Force be with you.
Was it because I was having a relaxing and lovely evening?
No.
It was (at least in part) BECAUSE even though I was supposed to be watching "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" - I was dealing with a preschooler's complete meltdown over a blue bathrobe which was NOT on the hook where it usually is, but in the dryer AND also dealing with the migraine that developed shortly afterward despite binge watching "Schitt's Creek" in a failed attempt to alieviate the trauma. I did laugh a few times though and I'm sure that must have helped.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to just keep this short today. Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day.
A dear friend sent me this. It is perfect and wonderful - so I'll pass it along to you.
"Stop getting distracted by things that have nothing to do with your goals."
- @kanodadon2975 (Instagram)
Isn't it easy to get distracted? It's tempting to busy ourselves with silly things and conveniently create an excuse not to make progress toward our deepest dreams and goals. Are we afraid of failure? Or success?
Sometimes it's not silly things that distract. Aren't we capable of hiding behind real challenges and legitimate reasons why we never wrote that book? or song? or finished that project? or started that business? or put enough time and investment into that business to make it profitable and sustainable?
Perhaps it's more comforting to call a friend and commiserate about what's wrong in the world rather than brainstorming for solutions. Maybe anger is an easy route over creativity. It's plausible that our ambitions are so lofty, we just lack the discipline necessary for the little steps that need to be taken every day.
Who knows what our problem actually is. It's probably a combination of things. What if there is no problem at all! Possibly, we're just going along at our own pace, doing the best we can do.
Nah... I'm not buying that last one. I think there's always room for improvement. We can always learn. We can always do a little better. We can always Love a little more, try a little harder - or work a little smarter.
The creative process requires embracing the unknown to a certain degree. Trying something new takes a bit of courage. Fear is a powerful thing. Distraction that forces us to stay inside our own little comfort zone offers a feeling of safety. Would a little DIScomfort be worth it though, if it meant being able to take off in flight, on a direct course toward everything we've ever dreamed of?
Let's change one habit, learn one new fact, consider another point of view, challenge one of our own long held beliefs - do something, anything DIFFERENT from what we're used to. I'm betting even one little step outside our comfort zone can have a profound effect on our journey.
Then Zach started singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (life is but a dream), which made me think of this:
So I looked up the story behind the song and found the poem which inspired it: "God God God" by Paramhansa Yogananda...
"...When boisterous storms of trials shriek,
And when worries howl at me,
I will drown their noises, loudly chanting:
God! God! God!
When my mind weaves dreams
With threads of memories,
On that magic cloth will I emboss:
God! God! God!
Every night, in time of deepest sleep,
When my peace dreams and calls, Joy! Joy! Joy!
My joy comes singing evermore:
God! God! God!..."
Like stepping stones, this stream of consciousness brings me to my most sincere wish for us all this week (and beyond) - that we may find peace and joy throughout our journey.
May the "God" of our own understanding, and the truth in our hearts, inspire and radiate Love and comfort. May we access that deepest part of the soul where dreams originate, and train ourselves to create sweet thoughts there.
So... I was so tired I thought I might die. I actually told the people in the nearest vicinity that if I passed out, they should tell the paramedics that it's exhaustion.
That is enough of that. No more. The end.
It has been extremely challenging these last few weeks, with Russ gone (traveling). There's the baby, the dogs, our own traveling and on top of that the baby and I were both sick. Things were finally becoming manageable when I got a call for an acting gig. Cool! Then I had to stay up all night to be ready and to get there on time. I don't want to complain about that - I love these jobs! But sleep is important. It is necessary. When a lack of sleep becomes dangerous, NO JOB OR OPPORTUNITY is worth it.
Hello? Is this thing on?
I snapped at a friend of mine who was pushing himself too hard too. There's just no reason for it.
Can we all make it cool to get enough sleep again? Was it ever cool? Can we just not care about if it's cool or not? Any way you want to angle it - the point is that I am going to knock it off. I must. I think we all should.
Alright. That's it. Now everybody go to bed!
Here's wishing us all a week Blessed with a decent amount of sleep.
I had a writing session in Manhattan this week. The first thing I noticed after I parked the car was the giant "TD" on the building across the street. :)
With a smile, I headed to Starbucks. I ordered two sandwiches and some drinks for myself and the other writer. After spontaneously bursting out into song and dance when The Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" came on - at THE SAME EXACT MOMENT the cashier did the same thing (causing several other customers and me to laugh) - my drink order came up and I hurried out to my session.
I had almost already passed by the homeless man out in front by the time I noticed him sitting there. I mentally reviewed my purchase, regretfully thinking that I had nothing extra to give, and kept moving, when I realized that I didn't even have my own sandwiches. I left without them! I turned around and headed back in, this time getting a full view of the man on the bench holding a sign. I inquired at the counter and was directed to the station that would be producing my two sandwiches shortly. The girl called my name and held up three sandwiches. I asked which two were mine.
"All of them," was her response.
"I only ordered two."
"You paid for three. You can get a refund at the counter if you'd like." She indicated where the registers were. I didn't have time for that and collected all three from her. As soon as I turned toward the door, I realized who the third sandwich was for.
"Ohhhh!" I said aloud as if God was standing there waiting for me to get it. I walked out and gave it to its intended recipient. "They gave me an extra sandwich. It's turkey bacon." The genuine "Thanks!" and smile had me thinking of all the signs we're given that we sometimes miss when we're too busy to notice. I almost hadn't noticed this man at all and was rushing to arrive to my session on time. God probably talks to us all the time like that. If only we heard the message more often.
The rehearsal studio was undergoing construction and the lobby on the main level was down to wall studs. My eyes scanned the elevator doors and their unfinished and wall-less edges, looking for the button. The attendant sat nearby like he was posing for a video shoot where he was playing the role of the despondent doorman. Smiling as I met his gaze, I asked him if there was a button or if it would just open when it came down. He pointed to the center of the two elevator doors and said, "the arrows." I laughed out loud when I followed his finger to a sign with THREE LARGE ARROWS pointing to a button to "PRESS HERE" for the elevator. He laughed out loud too! He said he got that all day long. Talk about being oblivious to the signs! There it was, in neon arrows! The day's events were reminding me of this scene in "Bruce Almighty."
Here's wishing us all a week in the God zone, where we see the signs. ;)
This pretty much sums it all up. I've been saying and doing this as an exercise every day. Why should I be bound by my own limited perspective? The unknown tends to scare us, but what if it didn't? What if THE MOST AMAZING things were sitting right there waiting for us to allow them to happen?
I'm going with THAT. Yup.
Have a "better than you can imagine" kind of week everybody! xoxo
This is a quote from Sara Avant Stover's book, The Book of She. I have found it invaluable this week. Saying this as an affirmation is truly transformative. Any negative thoughts or attitude that might be less than stellar can absolutely be turned around with a little creative thinking. Sounds like "base metal to gold" to me!
We don't need to know exactly how. All we need to do is hold this intention. Spirit, the unconscious mind, a higher power, (whatever your belief is) takes over and our focus is left on the opportunity for wisdom and love contained in the same circumstance that we could have stewed about for days. WHO HAS TIME FOR THAT? I have to keep it moving in a positive way. There is absolutely no time to waste on things like second guessing, worry, guilt or the like.
Regardless of your spiritual practice, cultural tradition, or religious belief...
Here's to celebrating a day when a story is told about The Divine incarnating here on Earth, to symbolize the Divine in all of Us, uniting Us all as Family and inspiring Us to respect and cherish each other as such.
Merry Christmas! Blessings for a joyous New Year, that We might be refreshed in that Spirit.
On occasion I've thought of hanging a sign like this instead of blogging.
Here's the thing... it's the holidays! We are all crazy busy. This year, I am going to slow down a bit and enjoy the magic around me. There will be home decorating, traveling, shopping, playing with babies, songwriting, music recording, snow shoveling, family visiting, and ten thousand other things. Let's take lots of pictures AND remember to put down the camera sometimes and just be present in the moment.
Time is so precious. Enjoy all the wonderful moments this holiday season!
They've been all around me lately! When I was letting the dogs in, one flew right in front of my face. Russ said, "Whoa! Did you see that butterfly?"
Yes. I've been seeing them everywhere. It was a few days later that a little girl I know drew me a picture. "That's nice," I said, "What is it? A heart?"
"It's a butterfly," she informed me.
Saturday morning I noticed some pretty flowers in front of a local diner. While in the middle of a little flower photo shoot, we got photobombed...
Soon another one came along and didn't mind posing for a few shots...
The next day, a butterfly flew in front of me while I was talking to someone and literally interrupted our conversation. Later that day, out of nowhere, another friend texted me a picture of a butterfly.
"The butterfly is one of the most emblematic totem animals symbolizing personal transformation."
- spiritanimal.info
I have been thinking not only of personal transformation, but of transformation in a broader sense a lot lately. It seemed as if everyone was talking about sexual harassment last week. It was all over the headlines, the radio, the television and social media. I was surprised that anyone would be "shocked" that a powerful entertainment industry executive would be accused of (or could be guilty of) sexual harassment. (Really? Shocked?)
Then there were the comments from Donna Karan implying women were "asking for it" by presenting sensuality and sexuality in their appearance. (Again... REALLY??? Victim blaming? In 2017? From someone who designs those "presentations"?) After fierce criticism, she said she regretted making those comments and that she was in fact "shocked" by them herself.
The talk radio show discussing the general issue of sexual harassment had me listening so intently I missed my opportunity for a cardio workout, while opting instead to stay and listen in the parking lot of the gym. Some "brave" women came forward to talk about their battles. Others expressed their lack of "bravery" in similar situations. Many of us have experienced both sides of that fence.
I like the idea that the whole collective is transforming - standing up for ourselves in new ways, bringing to light things that were in the shadows. Does it mean that sexual harassment will stop? Certainly not. Our collective evolutions might ebb and flow like the Universe Itself. Is the fact that we are having this conversation helping someone? Without a doubt, yes. A flood of support has come via #metoo, with people posting the hashtag to indicate that they have also endured sexual harassment or sexual assault.
I think of all the ways culture and societal norms affect us all. What we wear and how we act are often weighed with considerations of how we will be perceived - for both men and women, for all kinds of reasons, and in all kinds of situations. What about a day when we can all feel free to express ourselves, sexuality and all, without fear of physical vulnerability, negative consequence, or judgment? What about a day when we can look into each others' eyes, see ourselves, and offer ourselves enough compassion, kindness, and respect? What if power came from within and was not attempted to be gained by dominating or judging another? What if profits made by uniting people and seeking their best interest far outweighed those made from selling fear and division? What if we as a human race were inching toward finally getting our act together? What if all things were actually happening for the education and good of all???
I'm down with the caterpillars. Let's transform.
#letsevolve #butterflyme #butterflywe #metoo
Namaste,
T
"Your natural beauty wants to be. Set your sexy free."
- Tanya Diona, Get Your Sexy On
"But it is not enough to merely exist," said [the butterfly],
"I need freedom, sunshine, and a little flower..."
- Hans Christian Anderson
"Butterflies... flowers that fly and all but sing."
