Judge Me Not

We are so much more than the labels put on us or the numbers associated with our life. One’s salary, savings or lack there of. One’s house value. Years of education. Pants size, shirt size or dress size. One’s color should not put them automatically into a compartment. One’s gender should have nothing to do with how they fight, live their life or what type of partner feels most right to them. Who you are has nothing to do with the stats that may, or may not, be associated with your journey. Dear reader, can you sense how tired of judgement I am?

And yet, it’s a profoundly human reaction to judge others. To size them up and then render verdicts inside our mind about who they are and what they believe. I say the hell with that.

In starting this women’s empowerment clothing line, I’m continually coming up against other people’s ideas about what this company should be.  Often, I have to pull back, take stock of all the decisions that have brought me to this point, noting if I’ve stayed true to my core principles – No Judgement. So as I get judged, sized up and put into a box, I have a choice. Show up as my highest self or get down and dirty to prove my point.

Truth is, I don’t need to prove anything. Nor do you. Our clothing is for all women. Even women who aren’t sure if they want to associate as women. If you like it and speaks to you, wear it. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. Just know this, I have no desire to judge either way. I know how judgement feels. I know what it feels like to have someone take one look at me and size me up, incorrectly.

It took decades to shed the labels that have been thrown on me. Even the positive ones. I don’t like anything that limits. I’m me. I fumble and bumble my way along trying, always, to be my most authentic, best self. And when the impulse arises to judge another, and it always does, I try to harness the impulse before it develops into full-blown analysis and conclusion. It gets easier. Bottom line, if I don’t know you and you don’t know me. It should always start as a clean slate. Let me show you who I am by action and deed. Truth never can stay hidden. So give it time. Then decide.

This women’s empowerment clothing line doesn’t exclude anyone. Because all women could use empowerment in one form or another. Don’t be fooled to think otherwise. And I will continue to create affirmations that speak to all women, and do my damnedest to offer clothing that works for all women. It has been one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever undertaken. It may sound easy, but manufacturers don’t cater to all women. So finding something that works with a size extra small all the way up the line, and looks beautiful and is made of good quality materials, has been enough to turn my hair silver. There is no right or wrong in my book, except for that of exclusion and judgement. And damn these manufucturers like to exclude.

So dear reader, let’s all do our part to make this world a better place by judging less and loving more. Start with you. You can’t offer to others what you can’t first offer to yourself. Try not to limit someone because of their gender, race or socioeconomic situation. Try not to judge yourself by these things as well. We are all evolving. We are all fumbling and bumbling along; some more gracefully than others, yes. But we’re all still on a journey just the same. So be open. Be kind.

Am I a single mother, twice divorced with a business bankruptcy sitting in my past? Am I a victim of rape? Do I fight like a girl? How many degrees do I hold or funds do I possess?  How do you classify me? You don’t. I’m a spiritually guided soul who is doing their best in this world. There is no label or box that could ever fit me. And that’s just the way I like it and God intended me to be. Most likely the same holds true for you.

Sane

Who Shows Up

“Hurt people hurt people. That’s how pain patterns get passed, generation after generation after generation. Break the chain today. Meet anger with sympathy, contempt with compassion, cruelty with kindness. Greet grimaces with smiles. Forgive and forget about finding fault. Love is the weapon of the future.” ~ Yehuda Berg

I feel one of the most vital lessons within one’s spiritual practice is to become aware of who shows up within ourselves. And life, being the gracious host to our spiritual development that it is, provides us ample encounters by which to meet who does.

It is one thing to sit in meditation and express soft words of praise to God and all of humanity while alone. It is a completely different thing to offer such kindness when met with the many individuals who make up humanity. We aren’t here to solely be kind to those who are kind to us, even if such a thing fills our heart immensely. People like that, I look at as nourishment. They help fill me and prepare me for those who drain my heart and challenge my kindness.

People will enter our life that do both, fill us and drain us, challenge and empower us. Both serve a purpose. They allow us to see who we are inside. Who is buried under our physical shell. Our heart is revealed by how we treat others.

When we want to know who we are, look first at who shows up within yourself when met with Life. Do you step out of your own mind, with all of its many judgements and stories and validations, to be open and kind? Do you try? Or do you let yourself off the hook with a reason why you can’t? Life gives us countless opportunities to bring to Light who we truly are. And as much as it might seem as though it is doing this to show others who we are, I don’t believe it is. I believe it’s to show us who we are. If you are like me, dear reader, you may not always like who shows up. Its part of the process. Its the only way for us to finally deal with all that rests within. But, it’s what we do with what we see, that matters. Once you begin to pay attention, you will see how the hand of Spirit is trying to bring everything within you out and into the Light. That is the only way you will ever fully know who you are, and make all of your fragmented pieces part of the greater whole. And from there, you can live wholeheartedly. Not because you have vanquished parts of yourself that seemed rotten. No. Instead, you brought them into the Light and healed what was once very dark. You learned from it. You healed it. And then took this newly healed and enlightened part of yourself and returned it to the fold.

When I am at a loss as to how to behave. When it feels like everyone I meet is ‘causing’ me pain, disappointment or just plain frustration, I try to hit pause. Then, I try to be who I would want showing up for me. I try to be for them, and for the world, who I would like to see. This may or may not change the situation in front of me. But I’m not doing it for that purpose. I am doing it so that I can, at the very least, be true to myself and offer the world a mirror that reflects Love. Showing the world a wholehearted mirror is not easy. In fact, its one of the most painful experiences of my life. But it is also deeply rewarding. Because every now and again, it is reflected back to me. And that is bliss.

So dear reader, as you go about your long weekend, and life unfolds its multitude of experiences in the guise of people, places and things – notice who shows up within you. And remember: Be who you want to see. Be kind. Be patient. Be supportive. Be Love.

Sane

Holding the Key

Photo by Harry Burnett, Yale Puppeteer. Albert Einstein, Pasadena, CA 1931.

 

True freedom is not an external condition, dear reader. It’s internal. The key is your thought.

In every moment, in every situation you have the power of choice. Free will, as it pertains to your thoughts. You can either think toward the positive or toward the negative.

Please know, this is not a light-hearted endeavor. In all candor, I feel it is one, if not the most difficult undertakings one makes. When one does not know what rests around the corner, yet trusts that whatever it is, it’s going to be alright.

So then you finally round the corner and what’s waiting there is something absolutely terrible, you tell me. You thought it might be, but you flexed your spiritual thought muscles, did what they said to do, and kept repeating to yourself that it was going to be okay. And now this? You knew this namby pamby stuff couldn’t be counted on.

Our thoughts are not always our beliefs. And until one finally shifts their beliefs, by way of continually redirecting their thoughts, they may stumble upon the manifestation of their old expectations. In other words, give it time.

But it’s never too late to start ,and its never too late to continue on. But immediately, you will feel the difference. So, let’s take this with baby steps. Nurture yourself with kind thoughts. Get real with your self talk. Listen to it. You may notice that if your self talk were a person, you would want nothing to do with them. But that self talk is merely the puppet. You are the puppeteer. Turn the puppet into someone with whom you long to share time. Why? Because they are always seeing the good in every situation. Even the one’s draped in yuck seem to possess a certain purpose. This puppet has gone from inner critic and naysayer to cheerleader and comforter. It’s up to you.

Sometimes we view ourselves as victims, prisoners to a very cruel set of circumstances that all serve as proof that this world is a rotten place. Within this world are both conditions, the rotten and the glorious. Its you who continually focuses upon the rotten. Don’t believe me, look at what you choose to read, watch on television, discuss with coworkers, family and friends. Are you focusing upon upheaval, and wallowing in the muck. Or are you keeping your focus held high above it all.

Listen, listen, listen to your inner voice. It tells you everything about where you are and the part you play in all of this. Is it harsh on you and on others, not to mention the world around you? If so, these words and opinions are spinning off of the beliefs you hold deep inside. There is so much good within you, that if you only focused upon it without judgement, it would take your breath away. See yourself as Spirit does; a piece of itself. See the good in the world. And when you get hung up on the bad, know this, the bad ushers in the good. The darkness is here to call the Light; it is here to awaken us and cause us to stand in our Truth. Yes, it has a purpose.

And that negative self talk, redirect it. Every time it says something awful about you, stop. Reshape the sentence. You are fat, you are ugly, you are a failure. No one loves you. On and on it will go. Until you say – enough is enough. I am Divine just as I am. My value is not conditional upon my size, shape or color or acheivements. I have never failed more than when I’ve chosen not to believe in myself. Today, I choose differently. God loves me. The Source of all that is loves me so much that it hasn’t given up on me, and never will. I’m the one that did that. Today I see what Source has seen all along. And, I love it. I love all that I am. I love all that I have to give to this world. Today, I choose to turn off the continual loop of negative dialogue. Today, I begin to rewrite my script.

Sane

My Mother. My Safe Space.

The Young Writer, Awards Night with Mom.

I remember one time in middle school having to call home. I can’t recall my reason. Complaints of illness, perhaps. My father was in the hospital a lot during that time; his body shutting down due to his advanced alcoholism. I mustered all the courage I could find to make my way to the office to express my needs. An anxiety-inducing task for this shy, young girl, in and of itself. But the office secretary required me to call and talk to my mother, directly. As soon as I heard her voice, on the other end, I cried. There’s just something about my mother’s voice that cuts to the core of me, and exposes my heart wide.

Most likely because my soul knew that with her, I was safe. Safety can do that to a person. The ego, which so often tells us how hardened we must be due to this world, has a difficult time convincing us of the same when it comes to certain safe people.

After rushing my son to the hospital due to his brain tumor, it was my mother who again provided this safe space in my hotel room each night. Not my husband. My mother. She sat quiet while I railed against God for coming after my son. She sat quiet while I wept afterward, asking forgiveness for all the harsh words I had just spoken. Her silence wasn’t judgmental. She did one of the most giving things one can do for another, she allowed me to work through my emotions while holding me in the safe space of Love and Light.

I went through a rather hard time at the conclusion of this last year. One that pushed me not only to the edge of my physical being, but more importantly, one that made me question myself as a spiritual guide. It was she that I called. And as soon as I heard her voice I cried.

My tears have always been safe with my mother. I am so grateful for her.

Dear reader, people matter. People are one of the most significant, magical, loving ways through which Spirit works with us, and for us. I lost my mother the other night. It was unexpected. I didn’t get to say goodbye.

While racing to the hospital I spoke directly to her spirit. Oh dear reader don’t think for a second that the little girl in me didn’t want to beg her to stay. It did. But my own soul wouldn’t let me be selfish. Instead, it pushed me to operate from a place of love. So I told my mother that if she wanted to stay that the Heavens would support her. But if she wanted to go, I understood. It was okay. I wouldn’t hold it against her. Within seconds of my words entering the air around me, my mother’s presence entered my Jeep, and settle onto the passenger seat beside me. At first I felt my body resist, as if I could push against, and thus change reality. Then I softly broke, and felt her riding along next to me. I knew.

And now I find myself bouncing between the world of extremes. My physical, emotional and spiritual being wanting only to feel her dainty arms wrapped around me, once again. And the world that demands that I discuss how to handle her passing, often using terms so technical I have to remind myself they are actually talking about my mother.

When I left the hospital, the other night, I told her that I wasn’t strong enough for this, not yet. She returned to the passenger seat, cigarette in hand, as it usually was, and said, “Yes you are.” She never really did mince words. The majority of who I am agrees with her. The small child in me needs time. But the all of me sees the love, knows the love and feels the love. And the all of me is so very grateful that I was given this beautiful, feisty, little Indian scout as a mother. She pulled me through so many rough times. She held me like no other. She loved me like no other. She was like no other. I hope I blessed her life as much as she blessed mine.

Sane

Falling In Love

I can’t speak for how it is in any other country, at present. But for those of us here in the States, we’ve been hit with a barrage of reminders from the media that it’s Valentine’s Day. A time for love. History is a bit hazy as to a definitive origin for this holiday. So, I like to go with the one that feels best to me. February marks the time when nature looks toward new growth, new life, a new season. I like that idea.

There is a new season awaiting you, dear reader. Its waiting, and its bursting with potential. But you must do the work to bring it about. The fertile ground of which I speak has nothing to do with what’s out there, and everything to do with what’s inside you. When you look upon yourself do you offer up harsh words of judgment. Do you whisper self-criticism when you look in the mirror. If so, please stop. Instead, start planting kind words into your mind.

I want you to fall in line with one of the most Divine guides given to us, nature. See yourself with promise. See yourself as an ever-changing, ever-developing, ever-unfolding creation that gets to ride through many seasons while here. Each season, guided by both nature and our own beliefs. We can never be more than our beliefs. So, what do you believe about yourself?

Give yourself the gift of self love and appreciation, not just today, but for this new upcoming season, and every season. It starts with this simple, yet poignant, ritual – look in the mirror, and fall in love with who you see. All of your past beliefs rest upon the face that’s looking back at you. And within the eyes that are gazing hard upon your own, is your inner being. The child within you. The person who has walked through trials and tragedies. The person who has taken more beatings from you than it has ever taken from any one else. Also is the person who loves to laugh; who loves to sing; who loves to play; who loves to savor the deliciousness of life. Be courageous, and feel what is stirred within you as you lock eyes with your own image while repeating these simple words: I love you.

There is a very strong likelihood that the person in the mirror has not been loved by you – not fully. Instead, its had to harbor years of criticism and judgement. Let those words not touch your tongue this year. When those thoughts fall into your mind, sweep them away with love. Don’t damn yourself for having them. Remind yourself that they are merely a habit you started long ago. Maybe they started by way of words spoken by another, but you took it from there and made them your own. Your brain, the magnificent tool that it is, has created default pathways that cause – what was – to be – what is – until you break the habit. Then a new pathway is formed. Like giving up anything familiar, it takes time. But that person in the mirror is worth it.

Be courageous, dear reader. Stop looking externally to be loved until, at the very least, you have first found it within yourself. Surround yourself with thoughts that edify, uplift and encourage you. Add to your life those things that bring you joy. Start to cherish you as if you were the love of your life. Because, quite honestly, you are.

Sane

Semblance of Happiness

There have been times when I’ve been labeled a bleeding-heart liberal. Often too, I’ve been called a feminist; as it seems I’m generally advocating one thing or another. Truth is, if I advocate anything, it’s that we all find and allow ourselves happiness.

Life is nothing if not imbued with joy. It’s a dry, lifeless experience without it. When we feel joy, we feel the energy of life. Is a tree joyful when its growing – I can’t say. But surely it feels alive. And that is key. There have been times in my life when although physically alive, I was emotionally dead. I had no joy. I was out of alignment to the 10th degree. Unlike the tree that doesn’t have the tool of the mind, and therefore grows as intended, I stunted myself. I formed a rut consisting of a belief system that didn’t serve me, then surrounded it by a moat of fear. I lived there for many years. Then one day, an energy pushed through that overpowered my mind. Every day since I give thanks to that energy, the last breath of air it took, and the courage it infused in me to breathe again.

You may have a moat that surrounds you, dear reader. One of your own making or one that seems to have been built by another. You stand on one side and happiness seems to rest on the other. Don’t ever let fear stand in your way. Don’t ever fall under the misbelief that a life consisting of happiness is not yours for the taking. It is. You just need to claim it, and make it your own.

Each and every day look for the little things that make you smile. Those things that turn your head in curiosity. This may be a person, place or thing. Take back your power, your growth, your joy by seeking out the things that stir you with life. Start small. Even if it is one tree that seems to sit steady against all forms of weather. Maybe its the water that breathes through waves that go in and out. A song, a movie, a color that instantly pleases you. Maybe its the feel of the air as it enters your lungs. If so, breathe it in, hold it there a moment. Then release it back into its environment. Stop and treasure these things.

Joy doesn’t always happen easily. Sometimes it requires us to reach for it. We can not connect with something outwardly that is not a match to who we are inwardly. So first, give yourself permission to be happy with you. If you do not look upon yourself favorably, you will never be surrounded by a favorable reality. That is what I advocate. I have things within my being that no one but me may like. But I decided they’re okay. In fact, I came to the conclusion that they are part of what colors me. Maybe each color, standing alone, isn’t beautiful. But together, it works. I’m happy with that. I’m an advocate of you taking back your power by first being happy with you.  Work outward from there.
Sane

As the Water Carries Me

 

The other day, while standing outside in the blustery wind, I was told one of the most beautiful things about myself, “Something about you brings people back to center. And sometimes moves them forward.” I’d like to believe this to be true.

Coming back to center, in my opinion, has little to do with finding a stationary place, forming a groove, then remaining there. The soul isn’t stagnant. The soul flows. Finding appreciation for one’s self during the ebb and flow, that is a large part of my life’s work. I have to believe this is why I find such resonance with the water. Also too, why so often I can be found sitting and looking out over the bay, watching the waves as they move, or choose not, depending upon the day. I too ebb and flow. Its been a long road, seeing the beauty in both.

It’s easy to cling to those parts within ourselves that seem so perfect and good, and hide those that don’t. To award the emotions that ride high, and push down the rest. There have been times when I felt like a stranger within my own being, whose life has stirred into a mess. And then it shifts. A new day comes and the waves calmed. I was the mess. And I am the calm. The water never divides itself. Nor should we.

My idea of being centered no longer comes with a longitude and latitude. No longer do I try to define my center by any other guidelines than – I feel good, I feel steady, I have hope. This, to me, is center. For me this is alignment, and alignment comes with a lot of leeway. There are days when feeling centered means I speak to almost no one. I sit with the weight of reflection, and think thoughts that require silence. And then there are days when my center lives and breathes within the laughter of friends, dancing in the moonlight, or sipping wine. If it feels right, if it feels good, and I have hope – then I am at peace and at center.

I used to have demons within me, from which I would run. Then one day I turned. I looked at them and they looked at me. And like with most people, I noticed their value. I noticed their purpose. With that I formed an appreciation for those things within me that use to knock me off-balance. Next to my joy stands my melancholy heart. It took seeing with eyes wide open for me to accept and embrace the all of me.

Dear reader, we all shift. We all have our own sway. No movement within you is better than the next. Each has purpose. Even when you are a mess, it is a mess that carries meaning. Life messes us up, so we have to let go. Sometimes we sink low to see something we wouldn’t had our gaze been kept high. Everything changes. It must. And so must you. Move with life and life moves with you. Maybe the purpose of life is to learn how to love yourself – throughout.

Sane

By Way of Earthquakes

Many of the significant points of meaning within the Bible were explained using parables and metaphors. This was done because society needed it to understand. I still find metaphors a vital tool necessary for the understanding of larger concepts. And so with that let me say, I’ve lived through two major, figurative earth quakes in which I lost most everything. Yet, once the dust settled, once the clean-up process was given time, I discovered that in light of all that I’d lost, I gained greater access to me; the me that lived inside the boundaries I had been building around myself.

We are always building boundaries, intentional or not. Sometimes we build walls of brick so tightly pressed together no air can squeeze through. At times we fill our world with tangible item after tangible item, surrounding ourselves with things we use to define who we are and our purpose. “I am a successful business owner, look at the company I’ve built. This is who I am.” “I am a good parent, look at the large home I give my children.” “I’m good at what I do, evidenced by my bank accounts.” Then all is lost. Every wall comes tumbling down around us. I’ve lost homes. I’ve lost businesses. I’ve lost hefty bank accounts. Down the walls came like dominoes, one after the other – twice during my lifetime. But each time, in the end, I amassed more of me. As if the Divine knew I was, again, hiding behind limiting walls of my own making, preventing the work of my soul, a figurative earthquake was brought my way.

It’s inherent to life to build boundaries and amass things. But I will say that I do so now with more awareness. The bricks are not so tightly stacked together. And if I do build a wall or two, I try to keep them low. Most of all, I am reminded to define myself by what’s inside of me and not what surrounds me. In this I feel I have become a better parent to my children. But also it’s made of me a better friend, daughter, sister and, I hope, partner to another.

Dear reader, if everything in your world has crumbled down, and you are working to rebuild, or worse, still buried under the damage of all that has fallen – dust yourself off, stand up and look around. Among other things, those walls may have been preventing you from seeing your limitless potential. And that earthquake might have been ushered in from the cries of your soul. Somethings in life may be undeniably harder now. And you may feel bitter and angry. Some of those trees you planted took years to grow. But please ask yourself if those trees where blocking your view.

Chances are things were not right the way they were. Now is your chance to start anew. Do so with awareness. Take this moment and all it has exposed. That’s what earthquakes do – they expose all that was hidden behind and within. They uproot and toss to the side. Now is the time to clear things out and lay groundwork of great importance. Now may be your time to rediscover – you.

Sane

Honoring You

It’s on my heart to write about relationships tonight and yet my mind says I have no insightful words to offer. However, the desire remains. So I must. Let’s see what is given.

To those whose hearts are aching tonight, I’m sorry for your pain. When the heart and mind have conjured a desire, it will be given. I don’t believe it is always easily given though. If there is a good deal that stands in your way, layers of dysfunction, unresolved pain, then those things must be worked through. The universe will prepare you. But it will do so first by bringing those things to light.

So if you are sitting tonight with a heart that feels two pounds too heavy, pay attention. The dream exists. It lives and it breathes. Clear yourself first. Do the work. Truthfully, you wouldn’t want it any other way. Because when this most breathtakingly beautiful person enters your realm you would not want your layers of damage standing between you two.

As you read these words, I want you to look inward. I want you to sit in darkness and close out the world. Then fall. Free fall until you reach your core. Go home. Remind yourself of who you are. Fall in love with you again, dear reader. You will see some things you may not like. But that’s okay. Those hues upon your palette are there for a reason. They got there somehow. Now paint with them. You get the chance to reclaim your canvas each and every day. No excuses. Just begin painting again.

Take broad strokes. Now paint outward. This time I want you to paint your world not with fear, not with shame and most assuredly not with guilt. This time, paint with love. There is a darkness within me that used to choke my breath. Now, it sits as the shadow within the backdrop of my colorful portrait. I chose how to use it. It didn’t choose me. And if those who view me don’t like it, look away. I won’t change it. So it is with this knowing I say to you, dear reader, do not compromise yourself. Does this take a strong hand – yes. But you are strong.

You are beautiful. You are divine. And God would have it no other way than for you to love every inch of you. No one but society expects you to be perfect. To that I say, fuck society. Fuck the opinions of others. Decide for yourself your definition of perfection, and let that definition be that you are a perfect work in progress. Why – because you are. You see every smudge on your palette. You see every brilliant hue as well as every dark color.

But don’t you see – you were meant to have them all. Life is about figuring out how to use them to paint the life of your dreams. Dream big. Dream bold. Dream in fine lines, dream with giant splotches – just dream. Don’t look upon yourself as possessing anything that is less than. And if someone in your life fails to honor the greatness that is you, step back; they have work to do. The work you had to do was honoring yourself by accepting no less than someone who honors you.

Me – I’m a motley assortment of colors. I am darkness and I am light. But I love them all. I carry the full spectrum of color upon my very large palette. I used to hide much of it. It nearly killed me. Now, I paint using all that is me. What I change are those that I allow into my world, I never change the colors that are me.

Now dab your brush, take a little bit of your lightness and smack it hard against the canvas. Then find the courage to see your struggles, and touch your brush upon the darkness and glide it across your canvas. Own it. Step back. Notice how your darkness brings your lightness to life. See how the one makes the other shine.

Sane

Choose Again

It is one of my deepest beliefs that life brings us the experiences we need to manifest our desires as well as expand our inner being. It’s the choice we make when the experience is given that makes all the difference. I can’t say how often these opportunities will be presented. I think it depends. But try not to take them for granted, dear reader. Give pause and ask yourself: What desires am I allowing myself to experience and which am I holding at bay? How am I choosing to shape my life. These are the questions I periodically ask myself. I think we all should.

Please know that life is not trying to punish you. Often it feels that way. Sometimes the very thing we want most, feels shrouded in crippling uncertainty. Almost as if we have to reach through the briar patch before we can make it our own. The briar patch is merely your pain. It is your fear rearing to the surface. Emotion is a profound indicator. Pay attention. Listen to what it’s telling you. Life is almost always giving. It gives the good and it gives the bad. It gives that which brings to light your dreams and it gives that which prods your fears. It just depends upon the choices you make, and what reality you keep in play. It is easier to reach for fear. We have familiar, intimate knowledge of it. And often, it’s what’s expected. Choose differently. Then expect a different experience.

Remove the briar patch. Don’t walk around it. If you do, it will remain active within you. It will forever stand between you and that which you want. It will even prevent you from finding peace.

Don’t give up. Yes, you have work to do. But that is why you feel the pull to reach. That is why when your thoughts go in a certain direction it feels so good. Follow that feeling. Life is saying to you to remove your blockages. Heal your pain. Don’t let the pain live within your being for so long that it becomes a hardened scar that immobilizes. Life is trying to work with you. Work with it. Choose different. Sometimes these are the hardest choices to make because it requires that we step out of the familiar. But it is the only way to get a different outcome.

When all is said and done, you don’t want to look back and see a life shaped by fear, ruled by pain. You don’t want to look back and see the holes within you that were left open and hurting. And you surely don’t want to see the absence of all that you had wanted.

I try not to carve my dreams in intricate detail. Instead I give the Universe the essence of what I want and then say: Surprise me. And the more I clear away my blockages and allow myself to lean into that belief the more Life is able to work with me. It’s a partnership. To me, it’s the ultimate partnership. The relationship I have with myself and Life is the foundation upon which everything else rests. I love me. I love every healed wound, bump and crevice of my inner being. Also too, I have reconciled every turn Life has given me, as hard as they were. Because each one gave me the chance to choose. I didn’t always choose well. But then another chance was given. It is an enormous moment of self-awareness and spiritual truth when one discovers they are the one standing in their own way. They are the one fertilizing the briar patch. Go easy on yourself, dear reader. But, do stop feeding your fears. Remove the obstacles. Choose again. And when it arrives, reach for it.

Sane