Archive for March, 2009

Being v. Doing

March 23, 2009

I was listening to the Carolyn Myss recording of “Anatomy of the Spirit” on my drive home from the Eastern Shore after visiting my family today. At the end she closes with a prayer, extended from the traditional, by Reverend Jim Cotter that reads:

 

God be in my head and in my understanding
God be in my eyes and in my looking                           
God be in my mouth and in my speaking
God be in my tongue and in my tasting               
God be in my lips and in my greeting                        
 
God be in my nose and in my inhaling
God be in my ears and in my hearing
God be in my neck and in my humbling
God be in my shoulders and in my bearing
God be in my back and in my standing
 
God be in my arms and in my receiving
God be in my hands and in my working
God be in my legs and in my walking
God be in my feet and in my grounding
God be in my joints and in my relating
 
God be in my guts and in my feelings
God be in my bowels and in my forgiving
God be in my loins and in my swiving
God be in my lungs and in my breathing
God be in my heart and in my loving
 
God be in my skin and in my touching
God be in my flesh and in my paining
God be in my blood and in my living
God be in my bones and in my dying
God be at my end and at my reviving
 
by Reverend Jim Cotter, Prayer at Night’s Approaching

 

 

I was struck that the author isn’t asking God to “do” anything for him, rather simply to “be” with him, in every part of him.  

 

In my life right now I am learning and practicing the concept that my beingness is enough… that I do not need to prove my value, that others can actually feel me more in my being than in my doing.

 

We’ll be exploring this “beingness” and how to find it in ourselves in the middle of our busy lives in my next workshop “Step Outside the Cubicle” on April 5.  If you are interested, please take advantage of the early bird workshop fee of $65! (valid until March 29) Simply email a note letting me know you are coming.  I’d love to see you.

 

Click here for more information.

Think less, feel more…

March 16, 2009

Lately, I’ve heard several people say they’ve stoppped watching the news. That’s not such a great option for me because a) the Sunday New York Times with a hot coffee is one of life’s great pleasures and b) I need to feel connected to what’s going on in the world – even if it’s bad.

When we talk about thinking less and feeling more, it isn’t about tuning out. It’s about tuning in.

I was furious to read about the latest round of bonuses at bail out-subsidized A.I.G. while 26,500 teachers in California are being laid off. How do I deal with my anger? I feel it. I let it run its course through my body and then I keep on doing what I can in the world with an open heart.

Where do I practice staying open while feeling the whole spectrum of emotions that a woman is capable of ? In the safe space of the Weekly Women’s Circle. I invite you to see how it works for you. Sign up here for this Monday’s Circle!

Step Outside the Cubicle

March 11, 2009

You and I both know how hard it is to stay connected to your feminine heart while taking on the world from 9 to 5 (or 9 to 9…10…11 for some of you!)

 

I’m excited to announce Step Outside the Cubicle” - a new workshop for the working girls out there (including the laid off gals and the lucky ones working from home!) So kick off the pumps and treat yourself to an afternoon of thinking less and feeling more.

 

When? Sunday, April 5, 2009, 1 – 4pm

Where? Yoga Source in Carytown

Click here for details and to register!

Poem on the #15

March 7, 2009

My sister Allison sent me this poem she saw while riding the bus in Portland, Oregon on 9.19.06. I have loved it ever since.

“Lyric 12″

I believe in myself slowly.

It takes all of the doubt I’ve got.

It takes my wonder.

- by Primus St. John, from Communion: Poems 1976-1998

Home Is Where the Heart Is

March 4, 2009

Angeline at Scout Design strongly recommended that I get a copy of the book Home Is Where The Heart Is by the designer Ilse Crawford. I’m normally not much for home design. I live in a (great) Fan apartment with IKEA furniture that I’ve taken apart and put back together more times than I can count in my cross country adventures from NYC to Aspen, to Portland, (back to Aspen!), to Richmond, to Phoenix (only for Girls For A Change!), to San Francisco and back to the Commonwealth.  Nothing in my home really “goes” together yet each piece, including the IKEA furniture and my Great Aunt Virginia’s side tables, holds meaning and memories for me. 

Angeline gets me, she gets what I want to share with women about the integration of body, mind and heart, about connecting to ourselves, about meaning, love and authenticity. So I trusted her and bought my first ever home design book.  The red velvety cover is yummy to the touch, the heart-opening words Ms. Crawford writes ring so true, and the pictures include messy children’s rooms, eclectic artist spaces, homemade cupcakes decorated with naughty sayings, walls covered with family photos and places to be still.  This is a home I could live in.  

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book: 

“God invented the giraffe, the elephant, the cat. He has no real style. He just goes on trying things.” – Pablo Picasso

“Then again, don’t think. Daydream… The heart has a quiet voice. Allow thoughts to unfold: all those emptinesses that precede stumbling across the unexpected. That aching dullness is so often the catalyst for better things, for breakthroughs.” – Ilse Crawford

“It is time to come out as yourself.” – Neil Crofts


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