CHRISTMAS IS A SPIRIT THAT LIVES IN MY HEART

The Christmas spirit — love — changes hearts and lives.

                                                                 Pat Boone

Christmas is a Spirit that lives in my heart. This past weekend I ate pie, shared stories, and wrote holiday cards with a dear friend.

We’ve shared this tradition of writing holiday cards over the years. But we also shared it often as three people. Robert was with us then. A year ago Robert passed on to that other shore.

Marie and Robert were married for fifty years. It would have been too abrupt to write holiday cards without first hearing Marie’s Robert poems, Marie’s and Robert’s Warp and Woof poems or Marie’s sojourn into new life.

Marie’s poems emerge from the bone and marrow of her soul. My heart gasps with Robert being invoked again as a living, breathing presence. He is gone...and not gone...as Marie invites in a new relatedness with her world.

Photo By Karla Boyd

At a particular rock and tree formation, Marie shared a special ‘Robert moment’. That was on our first walk. On other walks, we wended around trails and marveled at Sutro baths and Golden Gate Park gardens. On our last day, we delighted in seeing double crested Cormorants, a Brown Pelican; we shared secrets and sighed at the burnt orange sunset as the golden sun dropped into the ocean.

Photo By Karla Boyd

This past weekend, our conversations teetered at the edge of vulnerable intersections, and stumbled into unchartered waters and engaged Process as if a She. It's as if a Presence, a Soft Feminine Presence that lives within us all, called us out from mundane familiarity into embryonic encounters that engage a deeper flow with life. We opened more in its unfamiliarity. We are, to borrow Marie’s words, finding our place

in the flow, the every moving piecing together, coming together,

of things in their own way, in their own time, reassuring,

sustaining and satisfying.

Holiday cards finished, we sit at Marie’s dining room table as the last wisps of sunset become dusk. With the lights not turned on, we encounter a quieting intimacy.

         Photo By Karla Boyd

“Today, I realize how much of your careful arrangement of everything reminds me of my grandmother.” Christmas Spirit has engaged Marie and I all weekend. Christmas Spirit: A LOVING Presence unfolding warming encounters in soft, sparkling radiance.

“I felt Christmas Spirit when I was with my grandparents,” I say near the end of Marie’s and my time together. When I was five, seven and ten, alone or with a friend, spending a week with my grandparents in the summer, Christmas was there.

When alone, I’d sit at the breakfast table with my grandparents. After eating, Goldie would ask, “What do you want to do today?” Christmas Spirit lived in the ordinary way we designed a trip to the local swimming pool; or travels anywhere with my grandfather when my grandmother needed some solitude. It lived in my walking alone to the corner store to buy dinner preparations.

That common conversation of three souls unfolding our day never let us down.

My grandmother’s hearing was impaired when she was three years old. On occasion, my grandparents sat on their front porch rocking. “Karl, what’s that sound,” she’d ask. “Oh, don’t get excited, it’s just the kids climbing out the bedroom window onto the roof, listening to our conversation.” We’d scramble back into the room. I can still hear my grandfather’s laughter.

My grandmother and I would sit in a swing on the side porch, my bare feet bouncing off the wall of the church next door. My grandmother never meddled but was interested in everything I said. We spoke of simple things in the most extraordinary way.

Close to dinner, my grandfather conspiratorially called me into the pantry room. He’d reach into the cupboard and pull out sugary orange slice wedges. “Don’t tell your grandmother, now.”

Christmas is a Spirit that lives in my heart. It’s evoked every time a moment is freed into life’s deep rhythm. It’s an everyday, ordinary time made sacred.

What about you, dear Reader, have you discovered Christmas Spirit living in your heart?

LETTING MY HEART LEAD THE WAY

     We know a great deal about what leaders do and how they do it. But we know very little 

      about the inner place, the source from which they operate. And it is this source that 

      "Theory U" attempts to explore. When leaders develop the capacity to come near to

      that source, they experience the future as if it were "wanting to be born" - an 

      experience called "presencing." That experience often carries with it ideas for 

      meeting challenges and for bringing into being an otherwise impossible future.

                             Otto Scharmer author of Theory U and Leading From The Emerging Future

This morning I told a friend, “I need to get off the phone and let my Muse show me my next blog. I’ve no idea where it’s coming from." This year’s sojourn has been about what Otto Scharmer calls "letting come an emergent future." 

It’s quite the adventure living into this freedom. It's about breaking the chains of traditional thinking. It's about trusting my heart to lead me. 

Some of my most life-altering moments have been when I let my heart lead the way. Since I was a child, I always wanted to be near chimpanzees. I shared this one day in a group. Well someone knew someone who had recently gone to a chimpanzee sanctuary in the United States. 

"Oh, boy." 

A phone call later, I was speaking with a woman thought to be the sanctuary founder. Turns out she wasn't in charge of a sanctuary at all. She arranged African Safaris."Had she ever arranged a trip to a chimp sanctuary?" Well, yes she had. 

That's how I found myself on a plane to Zambia, Africa, the home of Chimfunshi. Talk about experiencing a future "waiting to be born." 

Shelia Siddle with an orphaned chimp

With nothing more than their heart’s dedication, the Siddles created the largest Chimpanzee Sanctuary in the world. Inspired and on fire, I saw my new future birthing before me as I hung out with the chimps. I saw the Siddle's sheer innovation, freshness and native leadership.

Chimfunshi chimps; photo by Karla Boyd

I had listened for years to the suffering of animal rescue workers: they were burnt-out and in need of new ways. In Africa, I saw how to move beyond the old paradigms that perpetuate more suffering. On that auspicious journey, I was called to offer leadership development work into the animal steward community upon my return to the states. 

Last week, I wrote a blog, Change Your Vibration And Tell Me What You Want. It's a request to publish positive media images and share what IS working. It's what made the Siddles natural leaders. It's what let me trust my heart and get on a plane to Africa. 

After I hung up the phone with my friend, a rainbow appeared on my walk. Back home, leaning into the unknown, I found myself opening to a link about positive news stories. Harmonyfund.org and Laura Simpson's “Unique Blue Sky Approach” caught my eye. In perfect synch with last week 's blog message were these words:

     We do not expose our supporters to graphic photos of animal suffering or distribute

     dire forecasts about animal suffering. Instead we focus on a spirit of joy and 

     determination as we pursue essential operations to provide food, veterinary medicine, 

     shelter and protection from cruelty for animals worldwide.

Harmony Fund photo

That is how I believe we move into our best futures ... flowing with the threads of where our hearts are leading us. 

So when, dear Reader, did you last follow your heart? 

CAMEL RIDE-“I’d Walk A Mile For A Camel”

Adam (aka Poncho later): Photo courtesy of Deb Mc Murray, Photographer

If you want to keep camels, have a big enough door. 

                                                       Afghan Proverb

The camel and his driver -- each has his own plan. 

                                                        African Proverb

I think compassion is all important. I carry a piece of rose quartz in my pocket 

that reminds me to take in everything, and give out everything, with compassion.

                                                     Tamara Nesbit

Destiny was calling. Namaste Global Vision’s mission is to enable animal stewards through our leadership coaching. I was off course in considering our non-profit directly assisting in an animal rescue. I called our other two founding members so we could consider the request.

“Here I am standing in the community kitchen,” I tell Art and Myron, “and one of the women asks if I will find Adam a home. I think about it. And then right after meditation, an ‘Aha’ comes. I do know someone to ask for help if we decide to take this on!”

Adam was in a midlife crisis during an economic slump. One of his humps was sagging. His current health and home were unstable. He used to be a photo celebrity; humans drove by singing, others sent wishes. Some offered connection and carrots at the fence. Eventually, even his goat friends could not cheer him.

After receiving the green light, I swallow hard. I call Adam’s owner and we talk for a very long time. Tentatively, I call Charley.

What happens next is camel magic, and phone calls that go flying.

“Mystic Moon passed away,” Charley tells me. “Many people wanted his stall. But I hung up a cross and prayed on it many times. I kept leaving it open for someone. I now know who! Thanks for calling.”

Charley knows about gentling. Gentling isn’t just for camels and horses; it’s for people too. Falling on hard times is hard. It’s not easy to let go of family, regardless of what wisdom says.

I’m reminded of “Heartland”, a thoughtful television show. “Second Chances” tells the story about Mr. Hanley’s neglecting his horses as he falls on hard times. Because of Amy’s dedication to helping the horses she ends up helping Mr. Hanley too. (http://www.amazon.com/Second-Chances/dp/B00F91RV0C)

Like with Mr. Hanley's horses, Adam's ranch life was precarious. His people were trying to make ends meet for hearth and ranch life. Sometimes, there were not enough resources for the animal's care. Adam was underweight. The authorities were coming around and that did not bode well for Adam. Negative thinking and despair don’t help. Destabilization invites a delicate situation. When breakdowns happen, it’s time for a change. (http://consultingforpassion.blogspot.com/2014/02/crying-uncle-wayto-breakthrough-things.html) 

A delicate situation it was: “Yes, Adam can go. No, he can’t. Take the goats, too. No, it can’t work. Well, let’s try. Need more time.”

Charley, Myron and I chose peaceful negotiations and positive communication. Luckily, we had help. Adam received affection, support, treats and mantrams from a local spiritual community. Well-wishers had watched his growth from childhood, on. Deb, a photographer, sang to Adam every day on her way to work. We had all that good energy going for us.

Hours and hours of phone calls later, loading day came. Today was Adam’s turn for a camel ride. (http://consultingforpassion.blogspot.com/2014/07/camel-ride-part-one.html) And Myron and Scotty will tell you they walked more than a mile for their camel as they loaded him into the trailer. Adam and his owners said a teary goodbye. Adam then rode off, away from northern California, down south to his new home.

Adam arrived at dawn on Charley’s birthday. Charley’s brother surprised everyone with a three-man Mariachi band who followed the trailer. Adam’s regal head nodded approval as the band played on. In that moment, Adam became Poncho as his resolution to mid-life crisis was underway.

I hope you enjoyed the ride. He did. And, reader, what’s your transformational story that saved a life?

By the by: Everyone likes a happy ending. Here’s Poncho’s happy ending with his forever family. http://charleymayer.me/my-furry-family/#contentBox  

Poncho( aka Adam earlier) with his new friend, Corona; Photo by Charley Mayer;

https://www.facebook.com/PonchoTheCamel/photos_stream

                             "He's Doing Better Than Ever" Photo by Cassandra Ogier

  

TRANSITING SPIRIT

Gismo:

I am a sound sleeper when I am nine years old. Yet when our beloved dog, a beautiful brown Cocker Spaniel, Gismo, comes into my room, late one night, I open my eyes. He gently eases his body down onto the rug. Liquid brown eyes gaze into mine. The look of pure love is there. His eyes then take me into deeper shores. Soon after, he exhales and is gone.

I lie there watching him. His big old brown eyes are now forever closed. I watch for a few moments careful to make sure his furry body is unmoving. Where once was breath, now there is none.

I lie there in witness to quiet interlude. I am too young to know those words then. Yet, Gismo’s peaceful dying remains in my heart and being.

Muriel:

I am one day away from boarding a plane for Hawaii. I’m eager for my osteopathic treatment that will help me release the sciatic pain, preparing me for travels. I have been seeing the celebrated Dr. Muriel Morgan Chapman for a few years. I know fully her miracle touch.

Arriving there, I have no time to sit under her sprawling oak tree. The door to her office is uncharacteristically wide open. Slowly, I walk over to it. I find Muriel lying face up on one of her treatment tables. Quietly she says, “I have fallen. I cannot get up.”

She requests me to help her get into her house. While her house is only yards away, momentarily I wonder how I will accomplish this, given my injury. As if on cue, another car pulls up the long driveway and parks. Together we help Muriel into her house.

It becomes clear speaking first with Muriel, and then her daughter, that no one is in place to care for Muriel during this stage of her life. She has cancer and the treatments are no longer working. Muriel is well into her eighties.

My first planned vacation in years is mysteriously rearranged. Overnight, I become a hospice caregiver. My trip to Hawaii is cancelled. I am privileged that Muriel calls on me to stay with her.

What I learn is more than I can convey. After all these years, nothing expresses the level of intimacy, stripped-down core encounter, that we shared. My life is redefined.

There is a quiet hush in the home that governs interactions. My years of meditation barely prepare me for this depth of connection. After all the communication, healing and death and dying training, I am invited to be wholly present. This is practicum. This is raw intimacy. The daily conversations are centered on real life and death concerns.

Every day I watch life around and in me move away from the mundane and into the subtle, still, sacred space. To be sure, there are conversations, dialogues, some easy, some not, risks taken, discoveries made. People daily come and go. We are also down to basics. But another aspect of life ushers itself into view as Muriel lies dying.

Daily, I take leave to drive across a bridge to work midday; it is shaping our letting go. These are not easy moments. One day, just as I am getting ready to leave Muriel’s bedroom, she shifts our dialogue from tentative leave-taking to true engagement.

“Good-bye,” she sings out in that singsong, lilting voice of hers. She is weak, yet her sparkling brown eyes twinkle as I start for the door.

“Good-bye,” I smile at her, singing our new song back to her, my hand slowly waving.

“Good-bye,” she sings out again, as I move into the living room.

“Good-bye,” I intone, voice quivering.

Over and over, our voices are singing out, one to the other, as I walk across the living room. There is no holding back this moment.

Our good-byes continue until her voice fades. I open the front door to the outside. My heart is wet with tears.

These experiences helped me be unafraid of death. They opened my heart. They opened me to deeper love. I know many people are fearful of natural dying experiences. I’ve been witness to traumatic deaths and their impact on families, friends and culture. I wrote this blog to start a new conversation, exploring a comfortable relationship with positive dying experiences.

Dear reader, do you remember when someone you loved died in a natural way and it opened your heart?

A MOST PRECIOUS GIFT

When I am with Amba, I am in the presence of a huge heart, beating in rhythm with authentic life. In 1981, Amba introduced me to leadership development magic. Almost twenty years later, to evolve my non-profit, Namaste Global Vision (http://namasteglobalvision.org/), I took Amba Gale's Heart of Leadership course. I was trained originally in ontological leadership work that inspires cultures of love, honor and respect. It is a timeless field and Amba and I met again in that culture.

In another soul stirring “conversation course”, I received a most precious gift. Amba was letting go of chotchkies and venerated gems, making room for simplicity. LUCKY us who received these gifts. We sat in a circle at Harmony Hill Retreat Center. The view of Hood Canal was soothing, the work transformational. The LOVE, palpable. Tears come, remembering.

My box was carefully wrapped, with lavender and blue ribbons. Inside was a little ARK: NOAH was there on the ship with the animals. Around the ship Amba had carefully placed blue yarn attached to a little laminated card with these words inscribed:

Karla

Ushering forth the animals into safety

Loving them

Into safe haven

Knowing their magical powers, their healing, their spirit

Their loving presence that graces our world

You, like Noah, create such a space of belonging

Where wild and tame are the same

And there are no boundaries between humans and animals

And you touch and give of this ancient knowledge.

Being seen for who I am remains a most treasured gift. Being gifted Noah’s Ark is an honor. It is also a request of my heart and soul. I seek guidance from Ganesha, Hanuman and Buddha. I have changed; loving relations for planet, animals and humans seek me often.

What is the Noah path? Robert Ellsberg says that Noah was given a covenant that he and the animals were now protected in their journey.

Noah represented an ethic and spirituality concerned with the preservation of earth and the survival of endangered species and cultures; he might well serve as a patron of ecological stewardship. For the earth itself, as we know it, is a fragile ark. 

[The] covenant with Noah extends to his descendants ‘and with every living creature, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you.’[1]

Emmet Fox, a metaphysical teacher, encourages that the Universe is a loving Being. He communicates that the Universe is a refuge and we are all supplied with an infinite power of wisdom and love.[2] There is a line in The Chandogya Upanishad that reads: “All creatures have their source in him. He is their home; he is their strength.”[3]

Was it essential being seen by Amba and others as I set voyage? YES. It inspires me still. It holds me steady during choppy waters. Being gifted that REFLECTION of who I am is a core element in my development. It keeps me faithful and honest.

What about you, dear Reader? When were you last seen for who you are? How does that support you when sailing into uncharted waters?

---

[1] Used with permission from All Saints. Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time, by Robert Ellsberg (Crossroad, 1997) www.crossroadpublishing.com http://www.crossroadpublishing.com/crossroad/title/all-saints

[2] Power Through Constructive Thinking, by Emmett Fox, (Harper Collins, 1968) http://www.harpercollins.com

[3] Timeless Wisdom: passages for meditation from the world’s saints and sages, by Eknath Easwaran (Nilgiri Press, 2008) www.easwaran.org

WE ARE NOT YET DONE WITH THE SIXTIES

In 1969, Pennsylvania Avenue was coated with muddy slush as marchers from all walks of life streamed down, mostly single file, in the March Against Death. We marched past the White House to our destination. As we walked we saw others returning from dropping their placards in the caskets at the Capitol building. Some looked relieved; some eyes were wet with tears.  We were all tired. There was a searing question that many shared: “Are we making a difference?” This march brought out our best...and our cynicism.  Yet our hands were held high, hoping somehow that our fingers, separated for peace, could stop the war.

In the last block, we drew up close beside an old monument. Each of us, cold and depleted, wore a placard around our neck with the name of a dead American soldier. The wind whimpered against the caskets now heavily laden in tribute to those dead. I dropped my placard into the pine casket. Some turned away. I could see them vacantly staring. I imagined them looking into that blank space that lies somewhere between life and death.  

Barb nudged me. Her eyes fastened on a large black Pontiac that slowly pulled up behind the caskets. A man in a servant’s uniform got out and went to open the back door. His arm held fast the elbow of a wrinkled old woman. Her gray-veiled hat was ready to topple into a mud puddle. Her worn back was crippled over. Her tiny black glove clutched tightly to a white name card and her eyes met the caskets in resignation.

The man had one arm around the old woman’s arched back, holding firmly to her left shoulder. The old woman took tiny solid steps toward the caskets. She was as old as wars were old. She was as tired-looking as the time of killing is tired. Her face was as worn as the flag. Her eyes filled with tears and a look of pity that the dead now could never know. Her steps remained as slow as the movements for peace remain slow.

She took one final step to the casket. She quivered as she stretched out her hand, gently easing the name placard from her fingers into the overflowing casket. She didn’t waste time for goodbyes. Yet she glanced out into the crowd of people and nodded slowly, then turned quietly and walked back to her car.

Suddenly I knew why I was there, why we all came, why we were fiery, angry and sad, trying to make sense of a war that had no meaning. This one woman, solemn and bent over, shared her love for life that was no more.

“Karla, how did you feel in that moment?” Barb asked. “Well, somewhere in our aching uncertainty, there’s some hushed meaning in what we’re doing.” Put this on your resumes, America. We were there. That moment lives in us. It will lead us home. We are not yet done with "The Sixties".

"And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."
                                                                              John Donne

IT’S TIME FOR WHAT: TO DO IT ALL OR TO LIVE AND LOVE?

I have work to do in the yard and also in the basement. Could work all day and then wouldn’t be done, but don’t suppose I will. I just work a while and when I get tired, I stop and rest.

                                                                                                 Karl Kennedy

The work will get done; it will be done better than work that emerges from tiredness of soul and spirit. Nurtured, nourished people, who love themselves and care for themselves, are the delight of the Universe. They are well timed and efficient.

                                                                                               Melody Beattie The Language of Letting Go

How many of you work when tired? Do you ever pause and ask, what is it time for?

Renewal does not emerge from doing. It emerges from being in harmony and in rhythm with inner life. It requires a rendezvous with Spirit. It’s counter-intuitive to a mind revved up, plowing through our work as if an ox who is being driven to the limit. Not good for the ox and not good for us.

In life, many feel a pressure to perform, multi-task, launch into a myriad of projects to just keep up. Because we are pressure driven, many of us have trouble keeping time with our Spirit. We wonder how we lose sight of what’s most true.

When I was an undergraduate, I launched into my Sophomore year like a young woman on fire. A year before, I was in the throes of grief, having just lost my grandfather. I took that grief and drove it, like a speeded-up drunk, into my Sophomore year.

Time became important to me when I arrived two hours late to my grandmother’s home, causing her to worry about me. In one split second, I shifted from rushing in the door, arriving at dinnertime, to seeing myself reflected by one of the most important people in my life. I let her down…during the most important moment in her life. I was out of synch with Kairos time and its expression of love.

Having sped along back roads, I justified my late arrival; after all, I was in college. And there was a war on, the protesting of which rattled and then changed a nation. Lucky me, I got to be a part of that. My grandmother was my place of refuge and nourishment. Surely she would understand.

Yet, my actions said it all: I didn’t have to be on time for her. I could come and go as I pleased. Luckily for me, this selfish behavior got cut short. I was not taking care of myself. Being out of alignment, I was not honoring those dearest to me. In years since, I’ve been slow on the uptake of self-care; but creating more time for those I love became a commitment. It started that day that, by grace, became a most intimate and remarkable time.

In this precious moment of your life, dear reader, what is it time for?

HANG IN THERE, BUDDY. C’MON, NOW

Hang In There, Buddy. C’mon, Now

An atmosphere of "profound equivalency" guides all relationships [in the Andean culture]-- between humans and nature, between human and deities, between deities and nature. Each watches for cues for what will keep the other happy, and give affection and respect the other’s need.

                                                                     Priscilla Stuckey, Kissed By A Fox

In ontological organizational development, we say that there’s a field of relatedness where conversation lives. Here, we’re in connectivity and find our true sense of belonging. We contribute and allow ourselves to be held in this “equivalency.” In harmony with this principle, Priscilla Stuckey shares one Andean writer’s perspective: "With them [deities, animals and nature] we keep company; with them we converse and reciprocate."

“Hang in there, buddy. C’mon, now. Come on, baby.” This is the warm voice that the hypothermic dog heard, barely hanging on by his front paws, crying, having fallen into the icy waters. http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/623/This-Dog-Was-Scared-And-Freezing-To-Death-But-They-Never-Gave-Up-On-Him 

There’s a connection in life, a thread wrapping around each of us in moments of being fully engaged. Charlie was saved and with him, his rescuers, the media, and each of us connecting with the situation.

A near eighty-year old woman gave up her dream of dancing to become a mother. With her children well into adulthood, she moved to Spain. Her husband died shortly after. Instead of retreating, she went into a dance studio. This woman fulfilled her dream, causing amazement and tears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2LMxf3Df6I  We’re all inspired when one of us goes the distance.

Pharrell Williams hired directors “who were out of the box.” His video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM lightened the world. His production of “Happy” spawned over a thousand videos of others singing his song. We all need to stay in this field of relatedness: earth, animals, humans, old and young. It really is that simple.

Engaging a group of professionals, equine-leadership style, is a happy moment of mine. The group had a practiced intimacy, or so I thought. “What’s one story of you being with a horse?” A simple question; stories poured out, each unique, moving.  “I loved my horse, and then we moved….” One woman was hesitant. She was afraid of horses.

In the twenty years of gathering together, this group never shared these touching horse memories or this depth of connection with nature. Horses have big hearts. They love people authentically. They are masters in the field of relatedness. While we talked “horse” in the group room, they milled around inside the arena.

When we went out to engage the horses, things got hushed; something sparked new awareness. In the first exercise, the horses laid down, a sign of feeling safe. The group felt this honor and a new energy field of gentleness was revealed. Horses, barn, earth, sky, sun and humans were united. The woman who was afraid? She asked to join in the exercise learning about trust. She broke into tears when connecting with her horse. She’s still talking about it.

How about you, reader? What’s your happy moment standing in a field of connectivity?

LOST AND FOUND

If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to ­music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem.  Open a gap, create a space. Be patient.       
                                                                                        Hilary Mantel                                                                                       
Everywhere, take your time, so you do not give the mind an opportunity to speed up and get out of control. Negative thoughts are fast. Positive thoughts are slow.

                                                                      Eknath Easwaran

    

Have you ever considered that what you thought was missing was not actually missing? That your mind clouded over in anxiety and played tricks on you?

It is faith and peaceful reflection that allow things to be discovered. But the mind likes speed; its’ whirling and spinning out of control. My mind has done this often. I am sitting at my desk. Suddenly I am called out of my office. Or I go take a walk. And when I return, my eyeglasses are not on my desk.

First I feel this mild panic and queasy stomach. “I have no time for this”, my mind shouts. “I’m down to the wire.” My eyes look this way and that. My mind is racing. “I can’t finish this project without them.” My shoulders are rock-like. My limbic brain is on alert. “Code Blue. Code Blue.”

That is exactly what happened to a friend this week when I called her. With very little words from her, “Code Blue” screamed across the telephone wires. I could almost see the veins popping in her neck. “I lost it! I lost it! My report I spent all week on. It’s gone. I don’t know where! I am afraid I left it in that last huge conference room and someone threw it out!” Code Blue. Code Blue.

I guided her in a leadership exercise to reconnect with her document. Her shrill thoughts escalated in and out at a fevered pitch. They forecast doom and condemnation. Her mind ruled out simple solutions. At every turn it thwarted her process.

But she kept at it and her Code Blue simmered down.  Finally, her sputtering mind stopped for a moment. Her intuition said quietly. “It’s not lost. It’s not where you’d expect it.” That intuition saved her a wild trip across four counties to go search in, what likely would be, a closed conference facility. Her intuition said: “Enough, rest, eat. Let go.”

About an hour later, she emailed me, reporting she had found it. She learned something about the tricky mind: it abruptly guaranteed that she would never leave her reports in the place her intuition suggested that she look.

What is lost is not lost. This was certainly so with Buddy, the dog, who was missing for seven years. Mrs. Hartman demonstrates in this positive story what faith in the yet-to-be found can do. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/dog-reunited-with-owners-7-years-missing_n_5127079.html?utm_hp_ref=good-news


How about you, reader? What’s your intuition guiding you to discover that you once thought was lost?

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?