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How are you being these days, People?

Being the Miracle You Are

People ask for an update on how I’m doing/being during these pandemic times and I wonder how to reply. You know me, real, raw, vulnerable. Here’s what I know for certain, as I’m sitting here, I’m feeling grateful beyond measure. I acknowledge my privilege to pause and reflect, and for this, I am grateful.

The briefest answer of “how are you?” is in the form of this haiku:

life gets lifey again
waves of energy exchange
lift me high once more

The longer version of my personal update is this:

Physical:

Grateful for health in 2020 & 2021 and for today’s massage and last month’s acupuncture and chiropractic work to restore me to alignment. I’ve felt a collective exhaustion and neurologic re-triggering of old trauma, mine and ours. Healing on profound levels happening little by slow. And sometimes it happens in an instant. It’s both/and.

Mental:

Grateful for the ability to slow down and take a break from paddling and learning new skills as a steers-person. The intensity of this during pandemic-mask-wearing-winter with my own hormones surging has been quite intense. But the whales and dolphins lifted my spirits. I’m learning to voice what I need and want without throwing a fit, though I have erupted a few times lately. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. (yes, you, too). I detect there is some spiritual progress and definitely I’m nowhere near spiritual perfection.

Spiritual:

Grateful for all that is and an even deeper knowing that the Creative Spirit of the Universe is everywhere; in you, in me, in my guts and in the rocks and roots around me. Inhale, Exhale, Spirit.

Emotional:

Grateful for the unflappable calm within me as a result of the above relational health. I’ve lost friends and feel estranged from some family, but I’m not beating up on myself for it. I’m humbled by the challenges of being human and how, no matter what we intend or do, we still end up hurting others. Today, I have greater reservoirs of compassion for self which offers skillful means with others. And, you know what? Sometimes the most skillful means I can muster is to back off, go within, take time and allow space for grace to enter my heart and mind and work in a way that is indeed miraculous.

Familial:

Grateful my mothers’ pelvis is healing after she fell and broke it a few weeks ago. She lived alone in Florida during the pandemic and is an incredibly resilient and resourced woman who inspires me greatly. My husband still works his state job out of the laundry room and the boys were lucky to be in-person at Parker School. My in-laws are struggling getting older, but teach me kindness and loyalty daily. We miss hugs with others.

Financial:

Right livelihood continues to elude me and we filed bankruptcy in 2019 and had some debt discharged in 2020. We still owe 100k in student loans and remain in committed action to unplug from a system of debt, overwork, “owning” land, and numbing out to the addictive currents running rampant in dominant culture. Sharing resources, valuing health, and honoring connections, we march into gladness, tenderness, wholeness and return to love, again and again.

Holistically:

I consciously choose mental wellness, radical self-care, continuous sobriety, and a desire to serve others. This means I’m unwilling and no longer able to play the game of the system. I don’t want to medicate in order to cope with the hustle and bustle of capitalism, toxicity of white supremacy, and chronic exhaustion so rampant in dominant culture. By medicate I mean take psychotropics or pain meds or self-medicate with booze or pot.

I’m committed to invoking wholesome states as much as possible, and learning to release judgement of other’s decisions around this. Forgiving everyone everything, including myself, I release shame, blame and criticism as coping strategies and instead invoke resilience, compassion and service.

Let us dwell here, in these realms of a tender heart.

Finally. Powerfully. Thankfully.

Thanks for asking how I am. Now I’d like to know how you are.

How you be, Dear One?

Let me know if you feel motivated to join me in my new core connections coaching program. Learn more about these powerful Realms of Resilience, Compassion & Service so that you can finally unhook from exhaustion and live an extraordinary life of gratitude and relational health with Self, Other & Spirit. click here to contact me and get on a waitlist

Holding you tenderly. You matter. Your relationships matter.

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Dive Deeper into Deep Listening

You can tell this beautiful creature is deeply listening. It is hard-wired for survival. To hunt food. To avoid danger. To survive.

When are, collectively, caught in a wave of survival presently. It takes a bit of focus and energy to remember to mask, to stay put at home, to care for loved ones without falling into overwhelm or despair.

We need our energy to survive, and dare I suggest, to thrive, even in these unimaginable times. So listen up, I’m here to help you have that energy needed to thrive. First things first, I give you permission to quit trying to fix anybody. Seriously. It is not your job. 

I give you permission to quit trying to do it all perfectly. It is impossible.

I give you permission to quit trying to focus when you are tired and not feeling 100%.

Every single person I talked to in the last week is experiencing some new level of overwhelm, tiredness or boredom.

And I talked with a lot of people.

Folks in certain parts of the world are cold…let us send warmth (I had a moment in the sun and sea and it warmed my soul to overflowing).

Folks are tired…let us send a good nightʻs sleep (I had one last night and today is markedly better than yesterday).

Folks are tired of the Groundhog-Day every day is the same scenario…let us send adventure and mystery in the power of our imagination to create a new reality.

So here is the ONE THING I’m nudging you to do today. Deeply listen. Listen to your own tender, beating heart. Listen to your pet purr with appreciation. Listen to your beloved share his or her experience in the moment. Don’t fix. Listen. Don’t exert. Be. Don’t succumb to the temptation to numb out. Be present with what is. 

You can handle it. Trust yourself to no longer abandon yourself. Focus on your own hula hoop. Stay in your own lane. And know, that by deeply listening, you are uplifting the world. 

Monthly Masterclass Series

I’m inviting you to join me on my Monthly Masterclass Series on the 3rd Friday of the month. Tomorrow, Feb. 19 at noon Pacific Time. https://www.timeanddate.com/ link posted for your convenience.

Canʻt make it at that time, no problem. Recording available afterward. Pay what you can: $20-$60/monthly. feel free to cancel your membership at any time. come once or stay as a member of the Moonshot Magic Movement. 

Sign up now, I will send you the Zoom link just before the Masterclass goes live, and I look forward to seeing you soon. 

$20 scholarship option

$40 core member option 

$60 sponsorship option 

You Matter. Your relationships matter.

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What Matters Most Variety Hour: Focus

focus and finish

Focus, eliminate the trauma, the drama, the trouble of any kind and focus on love and keeping things REAL. This month, February 13th, the theme of our Variety Hour is focus. Join us for a power hour packed with fun.

Please invite a friend and join us for this free event. You matter. Your relationships matter. So let’s gather and FOCUS on what matters most.

Right now so many people are losing focus on what matters most. Let’s keep the focus on keeping it REAL. Let’s get more our relationships to be REAL: RESOURCED. ENGAGED. AWARE. LOVING.

Here’s a sneak peak of the special guests for this Saturday’s show:

  • We have Tara Galeano leading a meditation
  • We have my husband Marc offering up a tasty treat & recipe
  • We have a quick glimpse of how to shift focus away from perfection and toward your heart’s desire with Caroline Garnet McGraw.

check this 7 min video out: https://vimeo.com/507689002/8c8e98055a


Caroline Garnet McGraw is an author, speaker, and coach for recovering perfectionists. She’s the creator of A Wish Come Clear, a popular blog devoted to trading perfectionism for possibility, as well as several online interview series. She’s a two-time TEDx speaker, and her essays have been featured on The Huffington Post, Momastery, and Women For One. Caroline lives in Florence, Alabama with her family.

to find out more about Caroline’s new book, click here: https://awishcomeclear.com/amy-elizabeth

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Love Letter to Your True Self

love

I invite you right now, to write a love letter to your true self. Even if you happened to do this writing exercise last month, do it again. Let it be fresh.

Simply pause, whatever you’re doing, and drop out of your busy, busy, busy mind. In this busy mind palace you can surrender. No longer trying to rearrange all the furniture, you can quit trying to manage all its contents. Drop the remodel.

Sit down, instead, and pull out a notebook. Pick up a pen and write.

Dear Beloved,

Grateful to come home to myself again, and again, with tenderness and compassion, I touch and caress this skin on my arms, I say thank you to my arms for hugging all those you have hugged and being willing to embrace the embrace.

Tickling my armpits, I smile at the hair that grows here during these pandemic times. Thank you for wicking away the toxins. Thank you for turning me away from the public standard of beauty and tuning into my true self.

Smoothing the wrinkles on my forehead, I appreciate the laugh lines around my eyes. And on my cheeks. I remember all the good times that have transpired. And I look forward to tomorrow.

Patting my soft belly, my tender emotional brain, I greet the real, raw, and vulnerable me who has been craving oatmeal cookies for days.

As I succumb to the crumb, I allow the sweetness of my son’s girlfriend kind gesture to fill me, here, in this vulnerable tender belly. This sacred space that is void of guilt and shame and simply delights in the delicious sweetness of her spontaneous plate of cookies.

Arriving at my doorstep, I receive the sweetness I’ve craved.

I smile into my eyes as I look in the mirror and send healing vibes to this sty in my right eye.

I apply a tender moist heat. This compress of understanding of all the horror that I have seen, and all the beauty that I have soaked in through these rods and cones. A direct circuit to my brain. And I pray for more sunrises and sunsets, smiles and sorrows.

Thank you, eyes, for giving me the experience of a more beautiful way of being in my body.

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let chi come to the needle

allow

During an acupuncture treatment, I found myself bracing against the next needle insertion. There were two students working on me, one very aggressive, the other more mild in her approach. I spoke up. 

“It feels like two different people are treating me and I am guarding against this experience.”

Wow, miracles occur when authentic voice speaks and present moment awareness guides the next event. 

Number one, in speaking my truth, I relaxed. I trusted myself to no longer abandon myself when something is not okay. I released the bracing and made myself more ready to receive the treatment.

Number two, in shifting their desire to fix, the students stimulated the healing process, and, lo and behold, the treatment mellowed in its intensity, and became more healing in the process.

And number three, in suggesting another approach, the instructor recommended that instead of moving the needle around in search of chi, they “let the chi come to the needle.”

This message, let the chi come to the needle powerfully shifted the moment.

Less effort, more being.

Less striving, more thriving.

Less seeking, more receiving.

Let connection come to you by learning this simple practice of surrender. Don’t try so hard. We live in a codependent society. The worst in me, when joined with the worst in you, brings a messy glimpse of reality. Trying to fix makes a mess. Trying to heal brings resistance. Allowing the other’s true essence to shine and connect with that is where meaningful relationships are born, and thrive.

You are surrounded by healing energy all the time. Your angels and ancestors await your request to serve you in your highest good. The healing power within you is ready to come to the needle.

The person inserting the needle does not need to try so hard. He doesn’t need to stir the needle in search of the tug or zing of the evidence of chi. The chi is there, waiting, patiently for space to show up. For safety to emerge within so the healing can transpire.

If you are looking for connection, sit back. Stir your own energy field and find stillness. Trust yourself to no longer abandon yourself. Bring your best self forth. Shine. Your magnetism will create just the connections you need. And just what your heart desires.

Try it. You matter. Your relationships matter.

Here are my take-aways: may they serve you as well.

*Let inspiration come to the pen, the canvas. (show up to write or to paint)

*Let connection come to the soul. (show up in sacred stillness & silence)

*Let chi come to the needle. (show up to serve without the agenda to “fix”)