Good Vibrations

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” is one of Einstein’s more popular quotes. The quote, often referred to when talking about creativity and innovation, calls out the shift required when we desire for something in our life to be different than it is now. It can be a shift in thinking, mindset, attitude, or behavior. Whatever we call it, it requires a different energy,...

The Fire of Vision

I’m a big believer in vision. Since my early twenties when I first learned I had a choice and the power to effect the outcome of my life, having a vision to work towards has energized me. I’ve accomplished many of the things I set out to do and changed course on others. Surprises were incorporated and obstacles overcome. The really fun part was getting out of the way to let the Mystery do its thing as I learned...

Letting Go of the Precious Parts

In a conversation in my women’s circle we were exploring our various issues with clutter. The need to clear out the old to make room for the new, to simplify in order to find clarity, and to create space in the day for silence and reflection are familiar topics. I have written about this before. What I found as we continued deeper into the conversation was a pocket that I was still protecting. My precious part when...

What If I’m Wrong?

                  What if: the nervousness I feel when I’m about to speak isn’t fear? that slightly sickly feeling that accompanies a juicy idea isn’t doubt that I’ll be able to pull it off? the resistance I feel when it’s time to work on something I deeply care about is not insufficiency? the perfectionism that grips me in an endless loop of edits and improvements so...

Lessons From Lazing About

I’m grateful for the luxury of enjoying a lot of time in the garden this summer – now that the fog has cleared.  From outward appearances it looks like I’ve been doing a whole lot of nothing.  No books, no technology, no distractions.  What I’ve really been up to is being.   Just me and the greatest teacher of all – Mother Nature. Here are 4 things I’ve learned from her wisdom that I want to...

Life is Half a Bowl of Cherries

  Cherries are my partner,  Michele’s, favorite food.  A few years ago I gave her a cherry tree for her birthday.  (Score one for me on the great presents of a lifetime list.) We planted it in what we hoped would be the ideal spot in our garden, nurtured it and optimistically dreamed of the day we would pick from the abundant crop it would produce. Local and popular opinion weren’t encouraging that it would...

Lovin’ those Constraints

In the Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp tells of two of experiences in her vast repertoire of brilliant choreography that are a sharp lesson in appreciating creative constraints. In the first she was given unlimited resources:  any dancer she wanted  from the New York City Ballet – some of the best dancers in the world, all the rehearsal time she needed, and whatever musicians she wanted.  To sum up a good story: “…it’s...

Let it Flow, Let it Flow, Let it Flow

Recently I accepted an assignment from my mentor.  She suggested that for a month I give up striving, driving, initiating, or instigating; all the active, dynamic energies that are my natural first impulse and without which I don’t always trust that I’ll get what I want. The invitation was to explore living in receptivity, the state of allowing – a dance with the magnetic energies.  In other words: stop...

Lifting Up

My friend Mindy recently quit a secure corporate gig to follow her dream.  She holds a high personal value on beauty and creating more of it in everything she does. She also has a great love of community. Mindy’s unique expression of heart, passion and savvy business skills have come together in the form of a yarn shop. At the Grand Opening celebration something she said struck me deeply. In researching for the...

Calling All Allies

Many of us do not belong to an organized spiritual tradition.  Some of us weren’t raised with any or are atheist or agnostic.  Others didn’t resonate or couldn’t fully accept the whole package of a particular theology and chose to go our own way. What has worked for many who still desire spiritual practice and ritual is to take the best of what works from others and craft our own.  The beauty of creating something...

3 Tools to Build Personal Resiliency

In times of uncertainty – stress, breakdown, crisis, upheaval or even disaster our natural inclination is to rush to action and answers.  Rushing inhibits access to our higher reasoning skills.  When physically rushing we have less motor control.  This is not a personality flaw; it is how humans instinctively function in highly stressful situations. These 3 tools will help build personal resilience, provide more...

Clearing the Clutter

I’m in the midst of a practice Angeles Arrien introduced me to many years ago with the goal to create more spaciousness in my life.  This is about my fifth time through it and every time it has produced delightful and surprising results. Everyday for nine days in a row you give away, throw out, donate or think of another use for twenty-seven things in your home.  27 things a day for 9 days.  Numerologists in the...

Acceptance is the key

Acceptance has been working me.  I’ve been out of commission from a gardening injury since the 3rd of July.  It was entirely self inflicted – the not-so-elegant combination of impulsive activity, bad body mechanics, and using the wrong tool for the job.  I was flat on my back and in severe pain for a week. Two years ago, also  on the 3rd of July, I took a very unglamorous tumble in the driveway and broke a bone in...

Look For The Signs

  In my top 10 list of favorite TEDTalks is Neil Pasricha’s the 3 A’s of Awesome. Neil started a blog to deal with heartache by savoring life’s simple pleasures.  He offers The 3 A’s to Leading a Life That’s Truly Awesome. 1.  Attitude—Life ain’t gonna go according to plan.  There are 2 two things you can do: stay stuck where you are or grieve, face the future and choose to move on. 2. Awareness— Embrace...

Bakesale Betty, Take 2

A tragic thing happened last fall.  Bakesale Betty decided to close on Sundays – the day that I frequent Oakland.  I am heartbroken – as is my mother who, now in her eighties, has developed both a dislike for cooking and a hearty appetite for Betty’s chicken potpies. As fortune would have it, I was in the neighborhood one Tuesday afternoon and managed to scoot in just before closing to snag some goodies for...