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Clogged drains: What’s the message?

drainsI’ve just finished working with the idea of spring cleaning and making space for the new: ideas, activities, dreams. And I realize that I have the perfect metaphor for what happens when spring cleaning doesn’t happen: a clogged drain.

One of the sinks in my home is challenged by a refusal of the drain to let water pass through. The result? A sink that is filthy. Leftover soap scum and bits of food and dirt line its walls. No matter how much clear, hot, cleansing water I pour into it, it is not enough to result in a clean sink. In fact, the “stuff” from days gone by comes back up for a visit!

What’s the message? I think that holding on too tightly or too long, or holding onto too much, even when the holding is around “good stuff” is harmful to the flow. Eventually, a life that is too full of to-dos, intentions, belongings, habits, beliefs, becomes a life that is stifled, stone-walled, blocked.

Consider looking at this in reverse. Ask yourself where you feel stuck or what dream continues to elude you. Then, invite some spring cleaning in to unclog your being. Let these questions provide some channels toward cleansing:

What specific plans do I need to release?
What beliefs are not serving me anymore?
What habit can rest awhile?
What fears are based in the past?
What relationships no longer work?

Finally, breathe into the freedom of the space created by letting go and wonder:

What is possible now?

For a bit of inspiration around letting go, check out:

GoodBye (lyrics)
Look Beyond (lyrics)

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When inspiration is lacking …

… what do you do? How do you be with the time or the task in front of you when the spark is absent, the desire to do “it” doesn’t exist?

Today, I wanted to write something for you, something inspiring, something that you’ll be glad you read. And … I couldn’t find a topic that inspired me enough to want to share it with you! Oh I tried! Without a new idea, I opened up old draft posts and tried to finish them. And boy was it work! And what I wrote? Not so good.

Sometimes the work in front of us requires that we execute whether or not we are inspired. Sometimes it doesn’t. Always, however, the energy we bring to the task at hand has great impact. Consider the “task” of disciplining a child, leading a team meeting, lunch with a friend, intimacy with a partner, writing a blog post. Now imagine that “task” completed with the energy of excitement, love, connection, joy, purpose! Now imagine it completed with the energy of bored, afraid, angry, “just get it done”, distracted, uninspired.

Which energy would you want to receive …
from your parent, supervisor, friend, partner, me?

The next time you lack the energy, the inspiration, that would best serve the “task” at hand, ask if it can be postponed. If so, don’t do it now! Otherwise,  take a moment to vision the impact if you proceed from the energy you currently feel. If you don’t like the vision, ask yourself:

What would shift my energy?
What would inspire me to bring full, engaged presence?

What would it take for me to be inspired?

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Problematizing …

Problematize: to make into or regard as a problem requiring a solution.

Think about it. You experience a rough night’s sleep and before you get out of bed in the morning, you’ve convinced yourself that “it is going to be a bad day.” Or, you express your desires to a friend and they don’t react the way you’d hoped. Immediately you assume something is wrong and then try to smooth the waters. Maybe your favorite problematizing is around just about everything you undertake! You compare yourself to others and always come up short. You are never good enough and you better fix yourself now!

Imagine a different scenario –> Whatever it is, it just is.

It just is suspends judgment, allows what is to be. It just is is neither right nor wrong. With it just is in your previously reactive energy, when something “happens”, you smile and say to yourself:

It just is. How interesting. Or even, how fascinating!

And from here you eventually wonder, “Now what?”

We return to that rough night of sleep. You waken at midnight, and say, “Huh. How fascinating. Okay.” and return to sleep. You repeat this at 1:00 am, 2:00 am, 2:20 am, 3:10 am and eventually when the alarm rings, you notice you are tired! And again, it just is.

“I am tired in this moment. It isn’t good or bad.”

You take in a deep breath, think about what lies ahead in this day, and consider if anything can be or needs to be cancelled. If so, it just is. Cancel it. Perhaps you really don’t believe anything can be cancelled and you choose to proceed with the day as it is. You do the best you can – for today. You let that be. It just is. Regardless of how anything turns out or what others may think, you know, it just is – for today.

Try it! Start by asking yourself where you practice problematizing. Pick an area and experiment with this idea of withholding judgment, of letting life be what it is. Then:

What do you notice about your personal energy
when you practice it just is?
Where do you experience more acceptance?
What impact does it just is have on those around you?

What is the power in problematizing?
What is the power in it just is?

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Morning Glow

morningglow

I decided to try something new this morning. I am on my porch listening to the song birds. The eastern sky is a blend of soft pink and orange. Traffic noise is picking up as the crows add their voices to the mix. I am here with the laptop on my lap and you in my awareness. I breathe in deeply each time I look up from the screen. Hello train!

Usually, the computer stays indoors, not allowed to “corrupt” the morning sacred space. That also means that I must return indoors to be with the computer before my spirit really wants to. (NOTE: Clouds, soft and sparce across the sky, also have that morning, pinkish glow now.)

What I want to share this morning is this:

  1. Such judgment I place on the computer: it “corrupts” sacred space. I must ask, is that true?
  2. Because of that judgment, I have previously been unwilling to experiment and find out!
  3. Isn’t it up to me whether the presence of the computer steals the serenity I feel in the sacred space of the morning?

Today, I encourage you to notice where you have created a rule, a restriction, a way of being which no longer serves you, which is actually blocking you from nurturing yourself or moving forward in some way you desire.

What is the restriction?
What if you removed it?
What is the worst that can happen?
What is possible?

PS: In case you were wondering — the sky has continued to change and I have witnessed it. My spirit has remained open and light, a product of this sacred, outdoor space for me. My experiment has been surprisingly successful!

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Enough Already

ItsTimeBreakFree4By6

Spring has arrived in Wisconsin even as tornadoes, snow, rain and wind rampage other parts of the country. And I am grateful. Coffee in hand, I sit on my porch and listen to the birds sing their song of morning delight. I sense the stillness all around and the anticipation of wonder within. My heart chakra opens, expands, and I feel the connection to all that is.

Then, without warning, I notice that my thoughts are actively planning – the day, the summer, my work with others. Really?

So I breathe. I gently return to the present moment. I gently invite my busy mind to rest. I gently invite my being to BE.

Does any of this sound familiar? Is your human “doer” challenged to stop and simply be with the beauty around you? If so, know that you are not alone! It is the nature of our mind to think. We have been shaped by a society that values thinking, planning and doing. And there is a place for all of this!

Yet, as a former compulsive thinker and doer, I would like to invite you today into a practice of stillness, of quieting your mind, of allowing, of simply being. Begin with a few minutes or a few deep breaths or a slow, mindful walk around the block. Whatever you choose, begin. Then notice:

How does your heart chakra feel?
What happens in your nervous system?
What “urgent” matters are no longer urgent?
What is the magic in stillness for you?