BELLISSIMA: READY TO ROCK YOUR SOUL?

We are constantly being asked to turn our faces away from our own internal images of what is right, true and most of all alive for us. The very simplicity of these images may seem to speak against them. We give them away thinking they cannot be reflected by the complex experience of the world in which we have learned to live. But giving them away, we find ourselves strangely empty. Finally, we understand that though the world will never be simple, a life that honors the soul seems to have a kind of radical simplicity at the center of it.
                                                                        David Whyte

No twerking or other vulgarity, no sexy clothes, not even any makeup. Talent and enthusiasm is all this 25-year old nun needs to do to bring a heavily tattooed man to tears, and elicit acclaim from everyone in the studio. Brava!!! Bellissima!    
                                                                       Molly Alexander Darden, Huffpost Blogger

I have a gift and have come to give it to you. Shouldn’t things be that way?
                                                                        Sister Cristina Scuccia

How many of you know that you have something to say and hold it back? Recently THE VOICE has been in my space. First in my own inquiry: How can I give inspired voice to my work and life? More visibility? If living an authentic life, what is my most important decision this moment? What gives it voice? I keep choosing what my heart yearns to hear and needs to express. Amazing.

As I am finding new voice, I receive a happy email from a friend. Did I hear the news of who recently was on the television show, “The Voice”? I had not. Isn’t it fun how the media, instant and accessible, lets us celebrate all the new voices getting out here into our world? Even the relatives of a good friend.

Also recently, another friend and I were knee deep in coaching. When I coached him, I heard my voice come from this deeper place. He realized from this call that his new project was life altering. When he coached me, his integrity flashed across the phone like a laser. “David Whyte’s radical simplicity might be something you want to immerse yourself into. When life throws curve balls, don’t duck.”

For me, radical simplicity is faith in the unseen; the simplicity of “what is right, true and, most of all, alive” in me right now. Turn life’s uh-oh into possibility and promising outcome. Letting go of my firefighter habituation. Radically calling forth riveting surprises to engage a new voice.

Like one of my favorite horses, shaking loose from too much fuss, I was about to step outside for a morning hike. I let the rain nudge me back inside. I asked myself: “Okay, now what? What does my heart most need to hear?” Well I discovered it; The VOICE that rocked my soul. I invite you to listen and be surprised. Lighten your soul and spark your expression!  http://youtu.be/TpaQYSd75Ak Jaw dropping, foot stomping, yes?

THE LADY OR THE TIGER REVISITED

I was inspired in my seventh grade English class by reading The Lady Or The Tiger. That day I decided to become a writer. Not yet the later books, A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, Miles Connolly’s, Mr. Blue, Kazantzakis’s Report to Greco, Joan of Arc or Peter Matthiessen’s Snow Leopard rousing me. We are talking myth by Frank R. Stockton.

 

Not only did my emerging writer self present itself then but also the creative path to be an organizational and leadership consultant. My work: empower clients in envisioning desired futures. It is about clients finding themselves smack dab in destiny and then crafting a new story. (By crafting, I mean an authentic, creative engagement with the world such that unprecedented outcomes prevail.) In short, it’s an innovative conversation, thinking outside the proverbial box, discovering possibilities. It's best fired by passion, yet too often it shows up when the house is on fire, as in the case of our myth.

The Lady or the Tiger is a fascinating old school power story spiked with horrific paradigms still stalking our collective future. It is a story of tragic consequence for those moving outside inflexible class boundaries. It is an excellent myth for innovative leaders setting sail for uncharted worlds. Ending paradigms that destroy life are the riveting new narratives of pioneers and remarkable organizations. These are the leaders born of true leadership development. They are the risk-takers, manifesting outrageous futures.

Our old story involves a King doing as he pleases. It is a storyline ready to erupt into bloodshed. (When will the media lose its fascination with this story?) Our world is locked up in these predictable chronicles. What made The Lady or the Tiger so powerful is its conclusion.

I was dumbfounded when our teacher told us to write an end to the story as our assignment. Craft a new story? Remarkable. Astounding. Outrageous. Awesome. Okay, so who comes out from behind the door? The lady or the tiger? Wow. That newly created story is in now in my hands!

Working with companies as well as animal and philanthropic stewards, I still get hooked by old story lines. Who comes out, the lady or the tiger? My clients present ongoing dramas: lack of shared resources, ladies and tigers, kings and princesses still abound. These lineages are rife with violence. Precisely because the lady or the tiger myth still plagues our worldview, imagine my delight when I recently discovered a new twist in the storyline, likely born of daring leadership.

I am not going to tell you the outcome, but you might want to read “The Lady, the Tiger and the German Shepherd,” showcased in Unlikely Loves by Jennifer S. Holland. It is a story with promise for more arresting sequels. We are on the verge of a tipping point where dog eat dog and power games just might take a back seat to love, possibility and team playing.

Your turn: Who comes out, the lady, the tiger or…?

WU WEI

“What are you doing up there? It’s awfully quiet.”

“I’m doing nuthin’.”

“It is way too quiet for you to be doing nothing.

Don’t make me come up there.”

As old memory enters, I hear a mentor’s words rolling around in me. “Relax. You’ve done your work. You are moving forward. From within. I say again, relax and enjoy your steps.”

I teach and live leadership development: learning to let go, hold hands with Being: let Being do the heavy lifting. My mind tells me that I may as well be taking a pass at an Olympic gold medal as to drop completely into the zone. Some part of me, a marathon runner, sees the next goal post up ahead. She cannot stop running. Must have been all those Wheaties I ate as a kid.

Saturday arrives with my declaration for rest. “Ah, nice to kick back.” Seconds later in the shower the saboteur enters: “Be nice to get your desk cleaned.” “ George and Linda seem like they hit a rough patch. Call them, eh?” I turn up the hot water. “Today, relaxing; no agenda,” I tell my Wheatie’s fan.” If a mind could pout, mine certainly would have.

Nowhere to go. “Ah, but the project,” the yelping voice protests. “Ah, we’re not doing that today.” “Huh?” And so it goes.

Surrender comes: Wu Wei. “Go to the pond,” the no voice says. And so I do. A sigh from body, groan from mind.

Once there, I notice the quietness of water, the lilt of fountain spray, Canadian geese resting. Calla lilies in cozy harbor. My neck releases taut muscles. My legs move slowly in steady stride. Camera hangs loosely. I walk to the water’s edge and to the calla lilies. Casually, I lift my camera.

Wu Wei is the wisdom of non-action or non-doing. Laozi tells us that when we are in harmony with the Tao, we conduct ourselves in natural and uncomplicated ways. I like that.

The geese slowly paddle near my favorite bench. We hang out together, in stillness. I remember hanging out. Just sitting, resting. No reading. No nuthin’.

Quiet for a while. Then mind blurts out: “Do you think the camera will bother the Mallard ducks?” “Will that couple make the geese swim away?” No longer engaged by its chatter, I let my thoughts drift in and out, as if clouds wandering by.

“When mind moves away from noticing breath,” Vipassana meditation teachers say, “gently bring it back.” “When your mind wanders away from a passage prayer line,” passage meditation teachers say, “quietly bring it back to that line.”

Geese continue to groom as I tell my mind: “Slow down, slow down, slow down.” As ducks take to flight, I let my camera join them in play and gratitude.

I watch ripples of water, ducks swimming, their smooth landings from flight, a thing of grace. When thoughts enter, I gently return to the water, just noticing. It calms my spirit.

Camera down, mind quiet, I lie down and just “be”. Doing nuthin’. The geese now cease grooming, stare into the water, not moving, as when I arrived.

“By jove, I think she’s got it,” warm breeze seems to say. Geese and I are present, in tranquility. Doing nuthin’.

GATEWAY TO THE POSITIVE

                                                                                             Photo-Yose-Bierstadt

It is easy to look around and notice what’s wrong. It takes practice to see what’s right. Positive energy heals, conducts love, and transforms. Choose positive energy.

                                                                                                Melody Beattie

                             

Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised.

                                                                                                 American Proverb

“The reprieve from everything negative that these animals offered me was enormous. I was feeling very apart from nature. I had lost my fascination with people. Being so close to the horses and alpacas was really special.”            

                         Lauren Grabelle, quoted in Unlikely Loves by Jennifer S. Holland

This week got off to a blazing start. When I was in Africa, I fell in love with the Chimfunshi sanctuary and I met amazing people, including beautiful ebony-skinned ones. I wondered if, in my lifetime, Hollywood could embrace this beauty. Imagine my delight when Oscar winner Lupito Nyong’o’s moving speech on black beauty went viral, empowering others to step out of internalized racism and into a new standard of splendor. http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/lupita-nyongo-delivers-an-incredible-speech-on-beauty-i-prayed-to-god-for-lighter-skin/story-fn907478-1226846866664 

What allows you to move in positive ways? We are in constant transformation. Let me introduce you to Nick Ortner helping us “tap” our way into transcendent tipping points and to Ryan Eliason, whose mission is: “empower 20,000 social entrepreneurs with mindset shifts and tangible business skills needed to make a positive impact in the world.”

When I need a hit of the positive, I dip into nature’s beauty: flowers, rocks, mountain views. When not writing, working, being with animals or engaged in soulful conversations, I occasionally look to what new offers the television industry has.

My criteria: Is it affirmative? Does it model good values? Is it inclusive? Recently, three shows made the grade: “The Fosters”, “Parenthood” and “Switched At Birth”. They feature families honoring diversity and who are lavish with amends. Actors who might be overlooked are celebrated, with no culture or race upstaging the other. Oscar winner Marlee Matlin shares that in "Switched at Birth," she gets to be herself. It is a beautiful new cultural fabric that we are weaving. We have raised the bar.

Not only did Lupito Nyong’o move me to tears, but also my heart leapt up with a client’s watershed breakthrough. As an activist, my client got caught in a breakdown of “us against them.” Old conditioned bias sabotaged her efforts.

Through her leadership development, this client committed to ending her negative speech and angry outbursts. She cast new stones upon the water. No longer muttering, she is making a solid leadership stand for women caught below the poverty line. Aligned with her values, she teaches organizations to do their leadership development work first. Slow down and do your own work.

We toasted her 20-year project completion that celebrates the feminist movement’s positive impact and her philanthropy on behalf of shared wealth. She offered what helped in 2013: “Many things, equine-guided leadership, a horse named Lilly, meditation and moving up the scale.”  http://namasteglobalvision.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NamasteDeclaringNewFuture-3%20copy.pdf 

Isn’t it amazing what can we can accomplish in this new movement to step into the positive?

Lupito Nyong’o