What is it you Desire?

I am feeling really inspired by getting clarity around what it is I really want out of life. Yesterday I was really clear about what I don't want, and found that by the Law of Attraction, I got more of the same. Example, "I don't want to feel disrespected anymore" sounds totally different when I say instead, "I want to be respected." Or how about, "Grace, I don't like it when you leave your room so messy." sounds wildly different when I say, "Grace I would like you to clean your room now." This language or way that I have of speaking to others I have found puts them on the defensive and I end up with more of the same behavior that I find irritating or that isn't working. By putting my focus on what I desire instead of what I am annoyed with gives a totally different outcome. I also realize that to get what you want you have to believe you deserve to have it. If you ask for something and in the back of your mind expect that you probably won't get it means you probably won't get it.

Not saying I am perfect, but I am working on this.

A Penny a Kiss

How many times have you been walking down the street and spotted a penny...paused and just walked on by? You wouldn't do that to a quarter would you?? I myself have done this at least hundred times and if I had stopped I would be by now at least a dollar richer than I am today.

My husband read an article to our daughter and I recently where a family of four had collectively gathered over a thousand dollars in found change over the course of a year! My daughter, inspired, decided to begin her gathering over our vacation and we now have about half of a water bottle jingling with the change that she found.

I get a lot of "tip" money left behind in the pockets of my loved ones when I do laundry. As I was changing the wash to the dryer I heard a "ting-ting-ting" on the floor and excitedly followed the sound, hoping for a quarter or at least a nickel. But alas, it was merely a simple, lone, dressed-down and tarnished penny. I almost didn't pick it up!! Then I thought of the conversation I had just had with Grace the other day on the phone where she had inquired about the progress of our family fund. I had assured her that it was growing steadily and that I had been contributing any found monies into the water bottle. This made her very happy. I picked up the penny and smiled, thinking about one of my favorite Andrew Sisters songs, "A Penny a Kiss" writted during World War II and the Depression. "A penny a kiss, a penny a hug, we're gonna save our pennies in a big brown jug! A penny a kiss, a penny a hug, Oh! How rich we're gonna be..." I put the penny in my pocket and promptly placed it in the water bottle when I got upstairs.

Thanks for reading.

The Stories we tell Ourselves

Sometimes I have to stop and shut my inside voices up. I don't mind the inside voice who says encouraging or funny things. I am particularly targeting any voice in my head that doesn't have something nice to say or who continues to whine about why things aren't working. Or actually listening to the voice who has a ready list of "logical" reasons about why something hasn't/can't work.

When I started noticing myself doing this I started to notice other people doing it around me as well. I started thinking if we spent as much time telling ourselves why things could work, (remembering the good times, seeing the possibilities, supporting the possibilities for others, participating in the work to make things work) as we do telling ourselves and others about why thing can't happen...what a different inner/outer world we would all experience.

I am not interested in my friends and family allowing me to say outloud any sentences the start with (Yeah, I know...but,). That "but" means I am about to provide us with an excuse about why something won't work.

When we see what is possible for ourselves and others, then inspiration occurs. And within inpsiration is momentum. The momentum is like a swift current that carries all of our dreams, hopes, wishes and aspirations wavelike to the stars. I feel the stuckness that comes with selling myself short and I empathetically experience that with others who are practicing the same bad habit.

My mom refers to the stories we tell ourselves as tapes that can be played over and over again and listened to just as easily as they can be erased and re-recorded with something we can all enjoy.

I hope all of us become more aware of what we are telling ourselves...because it truly does translate into how you approach your life, your beliefs, how you parent, how you love.

Thank you for reading.

The Earth is Round

(This is a picture of the first look at Earth from the Moon)





I am still get a chuckle when I think about a time in our history where we were convinced that the earth was flat. How radical it was to consider the possibility that it may be a sphere! I carry this notion into present time, where we can become convinced beyond reproach that our fantasies are in fact, FACT. There is always a chance that your theory you could be a little more "well-rounded" so-to-speak.

Storm Large takes over Portland!

Hey everyone! Check out Storm Large!! She is one of my favorite Portland artists. I started watching her a few years back when she played shows at Dante's and have never before been so stunned by a performers presence onstage. Storm completely owns the space and she is simultaneously vulgar and vulnerable to watch. In her most recent production, Crazy Enough, she shares her most intimate life stories in a automusico manifesto that will leaving you crying and peeing your pants from laughter at the same time! Her show has been extended 3 times because of its wild popularity!!

http://stormlarge.com/

Choosing Love over Fear

Every day presents us with many opportunities for self improvement and growth. Many times we may find ourselves in the middle of a mess and acting in ways that we wish we wouldn't have. We may even know better than what we are doing and still find ourselves choosing the low road. I have found that when I am choosing the low road the person in the driver's seat is my EGO. It is a spoiled child that wants its way at any cost. Even the cost of affinity and closeness with others...which is what my human spirit craves most of all. I have made a commitment to myself and to my family to be "willing" to catch myself in the act of cruising down the low road. I then take my EGO out of the driver's seat, take a deep breath and realize that I can choose love. Right now. My EGO is the one who is afraid, but I am the one who is listening and choosing. Even with this insight, I will not be perfect, but at least I am practicing and getting better one choice at a time. The older I get, the less interested I am in being "right".