...A Fragment of Life's Heart...

Another day dawns, the first thought that arrives as I sit down to write is, "Back to the grind" or the grace - depends on how you look at it.   It ALWAYS depends on how you look at it.   If changing my perspective was only as easy as putting on a different pair of glasses THEN the world would be perfect. Right? Doubtful.   We’d all be so worried that someone was going to steal our glasses or that we might break them that we’d be holed up in our homes worse than we are now searching online for a newer better pair of glasses to fix this new paranoia.   Always searching, never satisfied.   The story of most people’s miserable lives, including mine, no exceptions.   Many spiritual teachers and writers say that if you are constantly searching then will never find what you’re looking for because you have basically told the Universe that your faith is in the search, the desperation, the difficulty versus the hope, the happiness, the homecoming.   T...

I read a meditation this morning that encouraged you to enjoy the ordinary in the sense that it’s the ordinary, the mundane, the routine, that we all long for once it’s gone.   But until that moment when the ordinary is not longer available, we under-appreciate, under-value, and often ignore its preciousness.   I remember when I was tired of being in a relationship a few years ago.   I felt that it was ordinary, uneventful, unexciting and therefore useless to me at that point in my life.   I assumed and imagined that singleness (a.k.a. freedom in my mind) was where my happiness could be found.   On the contrary I had always desired relationship, friendship, companionship because it had been so invisible growing up, even through high school and college in many ways.   I was tired of being alone or maybe lonely but at that point even being in a relationship felt lonely and empty.   What friendships I had were seemingly superficial or tempo...

  According to Webster’s dictionary, freedom is defined as “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action : liberation from slavery or restraint.”  Knowing this, can you recall a time where you actually experienced freedom?  A moment where you were totally without a nagging thought, an influencing memory, or a demanding superior telling you what you should or shouldn’t be doing.  I imagine that few of us have ever experienced TRUE freedom because even if others are not directly guiding us, then we are being bombarded by memories, old mental tapes, advertisements, and other things that work to overpower our instinct.  To live in this world, this culture, means to experience some level of constant coercion, direct or indirect, blatant or subliminal.  Are we ever truly free to be? In my daily personal practice and in my professional practice, I often struggle to find and strengthen the intuition and inner wisdom of myself and my clien...

How many times have you heard someone or yourself saying, "well, I'm waiting for ...." or "I'm waiting until ..."  So is this waiting a type of spiritual patience or fear based delay that robs us of the richness and responsibility of living our lives fully - without apology or regret?  Now, I'm not saying that anything goes or that sometimes, good things take time because they do.  Plants/fruits/vegetables are one of those things that if taken too soon from Source/God then they are less rich, ripe, tasty, or nutritious.  But on the other hand if you wait too long the fruit, the flower begins to wilt or rot and is no longer useful or enjoyable.  As a friend used to say when it was time to go home, "It's past my shelf life!" So what has or is approaching its expiration date in your life?  How long will you wait on your lover to take the next step in commitment? How long will you put up with your bosses criticisms & belittling before you...

It feels like I’ve been on the epitome of silent retreats minus the few words I might ask a vendor or shop keeper about a price during the day and one brief conversation with a friend at night.   Of course there is an endless conversation going on in my mind ALL DAY LONG, but its not always entertaining and by the end of the day is just a muddle mess of syllables none of which stand out.   So am I really in silence considering the lack of silence in the mind?   It definitely creates a lot more internal energy than when we are constantly interacting with the outside world.   By the end of my days here in belize I am desperate to talk to someone besides myself and if no one is available at length then I either write more or turn on some music and sing with it or let it sing to me.   Amazing the lengths we will go to for connection.   No wonder that Tom Hanks befriended a volleyball in Castaway.   It’s obvious we need and want connection, however we ca...

How often to you make a commitment to yourself one day only to find yourself half way through a container of Ben & Jerry's, a bottle of wine, your pay check, etc?  Why are some promises easier to keep and others bring up every ounce of resistance our psyche can find or create? From my experience, it's the things that will have the most profound difference on my life that are the hardest and yet the easiest on some level if I'm truly ready and it's actually the right time in my life to uproot the weed.  I think it's easier to start with small commitments that have less of an extreme effect because that way if we aren't perfect ( and who is especially at the beginning ), the result isn't traumatic.  What I mean is that it isn't going to make a huge difference if you break your personal promise a few times.  Granted everything we do has an effect and even small things can add up over time if gone uncheck.  I find that when we are ready for a change th...