Archive for November, 2008
Written in Stone
By Jamie Gilroy
- Friday, November 21st, 2008
I woke up this morning thinking about epitaphs. I don’t know why, or if something in particular triggered it but as I went about my morning ambulation I kept wondering what if you could live your own epitaph? If you knew someone was going to write about you after you were gone, how would you live, and what would they say as a result? What kind of life did you lead, what sort of person were you?
And knowing all this how would you live? What choices would you make? Would you smile more? Would you be kinder? Would you have more patience? Would you take better care of your body? Your mind? Would you complain less? Would you remember to say thank you and please? Would you take out the garbage un-reminded? Would you stop to smell the flowers - literally? Would you hold the door, or let someone go ahead of you in traffic? Would you pick up the phone and call someone you care about and say “I love you”? Would you give away some of your money to charity, or someone less fortunate? Would you take the time to look someone in the eye when you meet? Would you truly care about what someone was telling you? Would you feed on drama or would you promote understand and compassion? Would you choose no matter what, Love over fear?
What if every day you awoke you did so with unlimited Gratitude? What if you forgot you would one day no longer be here or that someone was going to eventually inscribe some simple words on a piece of granite attempting to sum up a whole lifetime of experiences? What if you just lived so totally in the moment the way you want to be remembered?
Living like when the curtain comes down, you’ll be serenaded with wild applause and calls of “bravo, bravo, well done…!”
“Before my last breath”, right? What’s holding you back from being so totally you in every way you imagine?
Nothing’s written in stone just yet, right? So venture forth dear readers and live your epitaph!
Have a great Friday.
J
Belief Blog
By Michele Laub
- Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
“Belief colors every experience and determines how we react
in any situation, yet we are often unaware of the hidden beliefs that guide
us.” Ray Dodd from The Power of Belief
Since embracing this wisdom, I hunt for beliefs on every
level—those that I am aware of and those I am not, those that support my life
and those that limit it, those that are supported by society and those that
emanate from me personally.
It is a game I play in re-creating myself—expose the belief
through listening to my thoughts, and not necessarily believing them; observing my behavior, owning my present
creation, paying attention to what I say and the energy behind my words.
Hunting beliefs is a doorway to really knowing myself
So when my physical trainer recommended that I complete a
10-day Master cleanse fast, I thought, oh another opportunity to find out
something more about me. From my
immediate internal reaction which was’ I can’t do that. I will die” though I
spoke “ I will have to think about it.” I could see that I had a lot of belief
uncovering ahead of me to maintain my integrity.
I found that I believed that I would be sick, nauseous,
weak, fuzzy brained, unable to drive, unable to think, unable to work, that
fasting worked for others and not for me, Wow! No wonder I never fasted.
Then like everything else I made a “big deal” of in the
past, the fantasies attached to beliefs based in the fear of the unknown and
not good enough, I decided to create this experience of the Master Cleanse
Fast—one day—one hour at a time. The Master Cleanse is a combination of lemon
juice, filtered water, cayenne pepper and grade “B” Maple Syrup. Surprisingly, not as yucky as it sounds. As
the days passed maintaining the fast brought powerful, though diverse feelings
and physical experiences. Not only was I “fuzzy brained” at times, I had
clarity of vision and hearing beyond my typical experiences. Not only did I feel hunger in my belly; I
also felt relief about not cooking and eating and choosing what and where to
eat. Life became simpler and each day brought color filled and unusual
experiences. The myths about what would happen to me disappeared, and life in
the present moment took on expanded meaning.
Now that I have returned to eating, I much more mindful of
my choices, and am grateful for any food that is provided. I trust that food
exists for health and pleasure– a shift in attitude. Food is not life, and
lack of food is not death. Wow! What
energy I gave away to food, or no food.
All that energy has returned to me. The energy to create beyond
self-limiting beliefs, self-doubt and limitation is an energy I have decided to
invite into my life. This fast has been an invitation to a new consciousness.
I invite you to embrace the courage to bust a long held
belief that you would choose to give up if you believed you could… and watch what happens. Your comments and
personal insights are welcome
The Wisdom of Seasonal Cycles - Inner and Outer
By Kevin Murray
- Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
It is fall in New England; the later part of fall when the leaves are almost all down. My dog Zachary likes to take me for long walks in the woods. I comply. I love to watch the seasons come and go. There’s a little bit of winter already in this part of fall, just as there is always some of what’s been and some of what’s coming in the present moment.
During our hike the other day I felt 2 layers of ideas fall together and overlap. It landed in a moment, like a flash. One familiar layer is the 4 seasons. The newer layer is based on a pattern I’m noticing in a spiritual awakening path. The newer pattern is that we go through 4 stages of spiritual growth, and like the seasons, they keep coming back around. It is not linear. It is cyclical. We don’t complete the path. We go through with an increasing level of awareness, and then, just when we think we’re done, it’s time to go through another cycle, another season of spiritual growth.
The 4 Steps I refer to are Curiosity, Inquiry, Practice and Mastery.
At some point along the way of our lives, we have something or things that piqued our curiosity. Something that opened up our eyes and hearts a little. It may have been a book, a movie, a teacher, a moment in nature. We may not have known in that moment that Spirit was knocking on our door, but that’s what it was. Or rather, our soul was trying to get our attention. Curiosity is awakened. So this is the starting point for anyone. For without Curiosity, why bother opening to anything new? And without anything new, what would ever change? So there is a desire inside each of us, and it takes a moment or many moments to come out through an invitation borne of Curiosity. Maybe it takes years before we act on it, but the first step is Curiosity.
What I saw in my walk with Zachary, was that Curiosity is like the Winter and could be represented by the seed. The seed rests quietly in the ground in the Winter, but inside is all the information required for the full nature of the thing to manifest fully as what it is. Just as in us, we have everything we need already to recognize ourselves as creators; to fully manifest our lives in our unique expression of who we are.
The second step is Inquiry. By this I mean a deeper inquiry into the force behind the Curiosity. Which is to say, the forces in our lives; Mind, Spirit, Body and Soul, Creator, Love. Inquiry involves a more active role for us. Curiosity may have us sitting on the sidelines, but at the level of Inquiry, we are simultaneously on the playing field. At some point the seed begins to move in the ground, signaled by warming in the Spring. The wisdom inside is inspired to action and new form. Curiosity is awakened into Inquiry and the journey into Self has begun. Or the journey has begun again with whatever new awareness we gained from our last time around the cycle of seasons.
Curiosity awakens into Inquiry. This type of inquiry is deeper than an idle wondering about the nature of things, God, the universe, etc. This inquiry is into the nature of our minds, our beliefs, our patterns of behavior and language. At this level, we put our attention on witnessing the mind from an observer point-of-view . And of course, there are still many times where Mind is the dominant player, when we are not witnessing how the mind judges, opines, and otherwise pulls us through a day. We can be pulled through the mind’s dominance when we are so completely identified with the Mind that we think it is who we are. The good news is that this Inquiry also brings the grace of moments where we can see the mind operating, and that simple vision confirms the suspicion begun in Curiosity: I am more than my mind. There’s more to life than this!
These moments of grace are like the new leaves, shoots and buds of spring. Something is unfolding, something is happening. We see evidence of shift, but the larger manifestation is not completely apparent. Inquiry models this energy of Spring. There are moments where we can see our mind more clearly, and therefore have a capacity for new choice, sometimes we are back to mind-dominance and we don’t have a choice. Similarly, not every seed will fully emerge. If the sun or the dirt or the water isn’t right, the growth will stop and the plant dies.
Two qualities of the Summer season are discipline and commitment. In our relationship with nature, this is a time for working the fields, long sun-filled days. It’s the time to do what needs to be done so that the harvest will be good in the fall. Without the discipline and commitment to tending the garden, the harvest will be less. The third step of spiritual awakening corresponding to this is Practice. As my prosperity teacher says “We know what to do and we do it.” Our practice is whatever it is: meditation, mindfulness, contemplation, prayer, journalling, anything that supports and deepens our time with our essential selves. We may often still be filled with curiosity. We may still be inquiring into our true nature. These pieces do not follow each other. They are always present. One or another may be getting more of our attention. Just as the seasons overlap, sometimes there is a little reminder of summer even in the winter, with a little warmth and sun, so do these qualities of a spiritual path overlap.
The next step, not the last, is Mastery. Mastery is when we flow with life. There is no suffering. There is light and love and laughter. We manifest easily. We move with grace and ease. We are in service. This relates to the Autumn season. In the fall, there is abundance of the harvest. We reap what we have been busy planting, weeding and nurturing. This is a time to give of what we have received, just as the harvest gives its life to feed us. Just when we are at a place of Mastery, that is the perfect time to let go of whatever it is that we say we have mastered.
When a pumpkin is at it’s fullest expression, just then is it time to disintegrate to allow the seed to go into the ground for the next cycle to begin. So too for the Master. When our mastery is at it’s fullest, the parts of it that we become attached to, the parts of it that have become ’set’ in the mind, those parts we can let go. We let them go knowing that whatever we will need will be provided. Whatever we’ve always needed has always been provided. Mastery is empowered by this type of humility and allows us to plant the seed for the next part of the journey back into the winter of our curiosity and on from there.
Passion, Muddy Legs, and Blue Sky
By Jamie Gilroy
- Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
It’s been a while since I can say that I had mud on my legs and actually appreciated that fact. You see I went for a mountain bike ride Sunday afternoon. The last time I was off road on a bicycle I lived in California. That was six years ago. My old ti bike has been transformed into a rigid forked, slick tired city basher that can pull a Burley trailer with baby. The cold weather has arrived suddenly and riding a road bike in weather like this sucks. You need a thousand layers on and even then your fingers and toes freeze. I am a warm weather roadie. Riding the rollers indoors is an exercise in will and focus and patience. I started thinking there had to be a better way to keep riding my bike outside until the snow started falling.
I had a brilliant and simple idea. I’d buy another bike. Mon dieux! Not another bike! Yes add another to the stable of 3 now 4. So a friend of mine sold me his full suspension bike that he never rode and was in virtually showroom condition (thank you Chris!). I opted to just do a mellow tour around town since my lower back has decided that after 50 years of playing stunt man it’s rebelling. (Ok at this point in the story those of you who are asking why someone who is ailing would throw a leg over something that is meant to subdue terrain that most people would have a hard time walking. You are smarter than me. So stop reading this instant. Those of who you who love watching someone about to do bodily harm to themselves - keep reading!).
As I pedaled around I felt pretty good so I decided to ride in a section of woods that we (the old bike crew) used to ride regularly. 8 years ago I knew those trails intimately. I steered the bike onto the trailhead and it all started coming back to me. I found myself knowing what corner was next, what line to pick, and when (thank gawd!) to dismount and walk it (don’t tell anyone though). The further I rode the more my love of riding off road began to resurface after a long disappearing act. An hour into my rediscovery I found a large rock in a clearing that looked good to stretch out on. I did some yoga there on that rock to keep my back loose. And then I lay back and looked up and breathed deeply.
The sky was a brilliant blue and the clouds all puffy white. The only sound was the wind and nothing else. A hawk raced overhead on one of the wind gusts - so effortless and inseparable from this place. Feeling the sun warming me on such a cold day felt restorative. I had never in all my years of riding mountain bikes just stopped and relaxed and appreciated the place I was in and the expression of solitude. We used to race along these trails on a mission and with total focus. A competition with either ourselves or each other. Today it was just me appreciating the moment.
A few crows passed and landed in a nearby tree. They had a conversation going that was probably about the hawk. I smiled listening to their song. I stretched a little more and gave thanks to this place and this moment that I was able to stop and appreciate the passion I rediscovered.
I finished my ride in the woods and rode home on the road feeling calm and clear and re-energized. I looked down at the mud covering my legs and on my new bike and smiled. I took the time to play and get dirty and loved every second of it. Mountain biking used to be my favorite sport. And on this blustery Sunday I got my mojo back.
That felt awesome. So here’s my advice. Go play and find your passion. The time is most certainly now…
Keeping the knobby side down.
J
Dear Santa
By Meghan McChesney Gilroy
- Thursday, November 13th, 2008
This blog was inspired by Associate Teacher Michele Laub’s upcoming Rediscover Your Family and Friends This Holiday Season Teleclass.
Dear Santa,
We are so grateful for our family, for being alive, and for all we have. This year has been full of challenges for so many on the planet. In the spirit of remembering what’s important, we propose (with your kind approval, of course) to celebrate anew:
- To remember that the biggest gift is our time and energy. So we gather with friends and family to enjoy each other’s company.
- When giving gifts, to do so from inspiration - whether it’s writing a sweet note, buying a gift that would touch the heart of the giver and receiver, or making something by hand. We have so much that we don’t need to add much more to the pile! (On that note, we vote to forgo making lists of what we want understanding that if inspiration doesn’t strike the buyer, then we may not receive a gift at all.)
- To remember others. There are so many people who could use a helping hand right now so let’s give. Pick a worthy cause and give as much as you can, or make a donation in the name of a friend or family member as their gift. It’s a way to give twice!
- To remember the joy of Christmas through a child’s eyes. Let’s make it magical for the wee ones - decorating trees, cooking together, playing with boxes, unwrapping a gift that fosters their creativity and imagination. And to receive our joy from giving our time, love, and attention to them. That means more than any present.
The holiday time can be one of stress, when we feel the pressure of sending cards, getting to the mall, paying for the purchases, and squeezing in too much activity. Or, it can be one of pleasure and peace, of giving and receiving from the heart. Let’s choose the latter.
All in favor?
With love,
The Gilroys
A World in Transition
By Jamie Gilroy
- Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Last night something amazing happened. Some might call it a miracle. Some felt as if their prayers had been answered. And still others felt the despair in their hearts loosen as they watched this unique American spectacle called Election Day. It wasn’t even close this one. The hope and desire for real change manifested itself in the man who won the election by a landslide. The snapshots of Americans who voted for Obama were varied and diverse. The images of people, yeah just people of so many colors standing as one were spectacular. But what struck me the most was the reaction from around the world.
The photographs of citizens from places far from this American soil showing their optimism and joy for the new president to be were beautiful. It blew my mind. It reflected the connectedness that we all share - the oneness of humanity. It was as if color no longer mattered (when really did it ever?). It was like we finally grew up as a civilization. And the man on the TV screen was one of us. No more idiotic swagger and insipid rhetoric. Someone who was going to think ahead and plan forward - looking to the future and yet dealing with the now.
If you get a chance look at the slide show on today’s New York Times website of the worlds reaction to Obama’s victory. It brought tears to my eyes. I thought of my sons Nick & Bodhi and felt for the first time in a long time that maybe just maybe the world they are inheriting will be one based in awareness and love. A world where “change” is not a four letter word, where that simple yet profound word (CHANGE!) becomes inherent in the worlds vernacular and inspires new choices and new directions.
Right now I can feel the transition occurring in my own emotions and within my own body. Something is going on and I can feel my resistance has been in play for a while now. I find that some days I’m all over the new ways I’ve been expressing myself in the world. Then there are days like today where I fall prey to the “shoulds” and “can’ts” and the feeling of being stuck. Whether it’s trying to shift the old way I run my business or the familiar way I hide myself behind my mask. It’s the same story. The choice is really simple and really sweet. Keep resisting; keep holding tight to the old model. Or?
Fall in step with the transition, open my arms to the changes going down and let it happen. Last night the world was blessed with an opportunity. Climb aboard that train, cause change is gonna come…
It is indeed a world in transition and I for one am liking what I’m seeing.
God bless and Godspeed.
J
» Comments (0)