Tag Archives: presence

What’s Really True Here?

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I sent a note to a friend…ok, technically it was an email. “Notes,” I guess, are archaic and our grandchildren are going to think it is only music. Well, it is. It’s music of the highest order, the notes of our soul. I had a tag line on my email, (also known as “signature”) which is this quote:

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive–and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who come alive! H. Whitman

My lovely friend said “Nice tagline!” (which is apparently another way to refer to it in case you are not speaking English as your first language and wanted more confusion). And without thinking or missing a beat I wrote back: “Inspiring people in every nook and cranny I can possibly find! Some day, I’ll impact this world!“

And I began to weep quietly within myself. My heart was touched by the fact that I wrote down the words “some day.” Oh dear. For one claiming to be a lover of all things compassionate, I effortlessly rode right over myself and missed an opportunity to acknowledge who I am in the world. Thank goodness for my desire to capture these moments in writing so if nothing else I will not so automatically go there next time! And thank goodness I can ritualize, in the dearest way,  a path back to what my real truth is here; this is one of those times I can exist in conscious connection with my core and shout out to the hallows of my room “I AM impacting the world already!” And rather than being seduced into the lair of judgment about how much, lo, I will instead stick with the words and repeat them again:

I.AM.IMPACTING.THIS.WORLD.ALREADY.God's fingers

I’m even positively impacting it! Hey, if I’m going to judge, it’s going to be on the favorable side. Clearly I am writing all the rules here and it’s great fun. So beats the alternative of the darker side. Life would not be rich without the lessons and contrasts of the shadow, but that is not the topic for this day. Today I am touched by how important, how resonant it is to me and for me to impact the world. I confess, I want to spend a bunch of hours dropping deposits, (thank you Dr. Covey) in the emotional bank accounts of any living thing I encounter today. And forever. And you bet I will receive deposits in mine as well! My account is open for deposits, thank you. I believe this short time spent slowing myself down long enough to listen to what I was saying and course-correct to what is really true (thank you, Byron Katie) better positions me to take on my day’s main thrust: creating my very own model for life and leadership. The view is so much better from here!  Thanks for being here with me.

A Little Vastness Will Do Ya

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If there is such a thing, I am a junkie for inspiration.  I look for it in the obvious places, such as books by favorite authors,  talks by favorite or recommended speakers, TedX talks, etc. At other times I look for it in rich conversations with friends or family.  I love when I find it in those moments when I look at my son or daughter and I get that all that matters is that moment, that look, that feeling right then. IMG_0345 I look for it in nature when I treat myself to a nice big dose of beach walking, mountain hiking or listening to “a tree fall in the woods.” Inspiration is contagious and I constantly pray to inspire one more person on the planet each day I get to breathe. I’ve even been so enthralled with inspiration that I’ve eluded my sense of practicality and shaken my fist at God and said “Can’t I just inspire people?  Can’t that be my work? Do I really, in essence, have to ask people to pay me to inspire them?  Can’t I just do it and won’t you just make the rest happen?”  Apparently the answer is yes and I am the last to know, because somehow I am in front of a keyboard with a sufficient layer of adipose, a mini-van, a nice rental home, children I adore and this keyboard, by the way!  Something is happening and I’m guessing it will behoove me to take note of it in case anyone asks how it happens that I can do what I love, pass go and collect, well, enough to keep this keyboard.

Which is not exactly what I wanted to say here today.  There is a link, and that link is that I was inspired by Pema Chodron today.  In her book, Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears, she talks about how learning to be in the present moment and especially in the moments of discomfort, “…is a work in progress, a process of uncovering our natural openness, uncovering our natural intelligence and warmth.” I loved hearing that we have a natural openness, intelligence and warmth.  Not artificial, natural. She continues, “I have discovered…that we already have what we need.  The wisdom, the strength, the confidence, the awakened heart and mind are always accessible, here, now, always.  We are just uncovering them.”

And here’s more good news: “We’re not inventing them or importing them from somewhere else. They’re here.  That’s why when we feel caught in the darkness, suddenly the clouds can part.  Out of nowhere we cheer up or relax or experience the vastness of our minds.  No one else gives this to you.  People will support you and help you with teachings and practices…but you yourself experience your unlimited potential.”  Please, sir, may I have some more?

I can lose sight of these truths.  I often forget, and witness others doing the same, my natural capacities and create stories about how I must be instead of looking at the truth of who I in fact am.  I forget about that access I have to my natural heart and wisdom and again, go about the business of making other un-truths up about who I am or need to be or how I need to act or show up.  My natural state of being beckons me.  Probably every moment.  The invitation is there for me, and inviting it is: Jen, cheer up, relax and experience the natural vastness of your mind/body/spirit!  Piece of cake.