Seedlings

Cracks Let the Light In

Sky* knows hundreds, if not thousands, of important artists, writers, preachers and politicians.  Daily as “Spirit Warrior” he shares snippets of those Individuals’ works through the web with what seems like great multitudes.  When I first began to receive these daily missives they rather annoyed me. “How could anyone be in touch with that many folks, and do I really need to know all of them?!! “

Over time I have come to treasure Sky’s daily offering.  Now several times a week I open up a crack in my world to let Sky in.  Through those cracks Sky educates, entertains, berates, provokes and celebrates.  Sky is someone whom I share with you as women 45 and over as he is over 45 and I have learned to trust him as someone committed to his spiritual path and who shares his own cracks and life lessons. 

Sky's sharing also shows up at a contemplative service which he instigated and helps maintain.  This past Sunday he chose to reintroduced me and others to Leonard Cohen , a prolific singer-songwriter and author, and his song Anthem.  Wow!  The chapel rocked.  We were moved by both the rich rhythms and the provoking lyrics:

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”

After playing the song, Sky led us in an illuminating discussion of how, indeed, our cracks do inform our life journey, and, perhaps can be the instigators of our spiritual journey.  Years after leaving home where I rarely rebelled even as a teenager, I began my rebellious phase.  I tested some of the tried and true family values that my parents had so carefully laid down.  Expressing my rebel created one of my cracks as it provided a contrast to my “pleaser.” The rebel continues to inform my awareness of my values and what happens when I don’t honor them.

So what are some of your cracks?  What light have they brought in for you?

*Should you want to be on Sky’s email list, contact him at: SpiritWarriorSky@aol.com.  If you find that his offerings don't suit you, he assures me that you can cancel at anytime.

“A Place to be… A place to become…”

One of the wonderful constants in my life over the last three years has been WomanSpirit Center.   When we stand together, I find we grow faster and stronger.  WomanSpirit Center facilitates that kind of growth.  Evelyn Wemhoff and Jan Donnelly are the two courageous and wise directors of the Center which provides resources and guidance for women’s spiritual becoming.

WomanSpirit Center, “A place to be…a place to become” lights up southern Bellevue and the region with multiple workshops to foster women’s growth and well-being.  Even though in an urban area, the surrounding setting provides a refreshing exposure to nature’s beauty.

Evelyn is the primary workshop facilitator and Jan joins her on special occasions.  Other workshops are provided by guest facilitators.  Gloria Burgess, poet, author, and visionary is a frequent presenter at WomanSpirit Center.  Evelyn also offers counseling while Jan is the diplomat to the world via their website, brochures and Quarterly Events Calendar.

I personally came to know the Center when I realized it was time for a personal retreat.  Evelyn facilitated that retreat.  Since then, I have hosted several workshops there.  The following poem written by a group of workshop Center attendees reflects what can open up when you participate in a WomanSpirit Center event:

Spring:  Coming to New Life

I stand in waiting; my feet on solid ground
Freshly tilled ground ready for new life
Two ducks hiding in a pond
A pair of geese honking towards a landing.

All this activity around me also touches within
Beauty everywhere; my heart smiles
Waiting to be born
The earth pauses before the drama of rebirth.

I can pause, breathe deeply and know
The next step to new life is emerging bit by bit.

 Group poem, March 22, 2008

To find out more about WomanSpirit Center, visit their website at: 
http://www.womanspiritcenter.com/

Stepping Up and In

Just when we think we have things all figured out…life hands us a curve!  Last May, the Board of Puget Sound Coaches Association (PSCA) chose to step up and create a regional conference to address unmet educational and public awareness needs.  The conference leaders asked for volunteers to jump in and support the effort.  I enthusiastically joined the ranks and we began preparing. 

Just as the conference was announced in October the economic storms began to hit people’s pocket books and psyches.  As in this situation, we are frequently confronted with “life’s storms” that seem and often do interfere with our plans.  How do we respond to those situations?  As midlife women we have experience to guide us and using coaching principles and practices can help.

 The conference was named “Conscious Choice, Conscious Change.”  And even when things had changed significantly in the outer environment and the enrollment numbers seemed to be impacted by the gloomy economic news and the holiday hubbub, the leaders, Janet Harvey, President, Tammy Redmon, Vice President and Co-Chair of the Conference and her Co-Chair Karen Steckler, kept pointing the way. Their commitment was to stay the course and have a splendid conference.  That conviction and commitment confirmed mine.  Together we would step up yet again and make this conference happen. And, the conference did happen on February 5 with a stellar outcome.

How do we deal with events that seem to take us off track?  Sandra Taylor, one of the keynote speakers, reminded us that we always have the opportunity to consciously “step up and step into" an alternate reality when the one we are in doesn’t serve us.  The portion of any change that we can control is our response.  So when events, people, or our reactions to them seem to be dragging us off course, we can take a deep breath and respond.  We can “clear our mental and emotional screens" and step into a new way of being in that moment.  The conscious choice may be from terror to manageable fear, or from fear to curiosity, or from a “no, this can’t happen,” to a “yes, it will!” 

How have you weathered a recent storm by creating a new NOW?

 

Sunshine on our Backs

East and west coast Washingtonians basked in the sun as President Obama was inaugurated onTuesday.  We got relief from some rather harsh weather, and we also energetically took in warming and elevating energy as our new President spoke to us about the changes and challenges ahead.  What a model of calm confidence and leadership he and our new First Lady, Michele Obama, provide!

During his inaugural speech President Obama used “I” very few times preferring to use “we” as he called all of us forth to regenerate ourselves and our country.  Government will do its part, and we must take responsibility and do ours was the message I and countless others heard.

Responsibility fit well with his call for us to “set aside childish things” as we move forward.  This bold statement was one of the hard truths I now can hear more easily as it comes from an individual who himself has done the hard work to earn our respect.  He will be tested many more times.  And, so will we.

At midlife we have increased capacity and urgency to make conscious choices about how we want to be in the world.  What childish ways is it time to give up individually and collectively?

Personally I can shudder once again “in the winter cold” as I review all the areas I have for improvement from a redesigned marketing process to optimizing how I use my resources in my life and in my business.  And, if I take moments to return to and bask in the sunshine of this “new day,” I know “I can, we can, yes, we can can!” for we have been given another chance to step into our greatness.

Let's engage in conversations about how we can and will step into our greatness at the very time we are more attentive to the betterment of the whole.

Next Level Leadership - What does it look like?

This morning the sky opened up to bright sunshine after intense rains; that’s my sense of what is happening across the country. The speaker this week at Women’s Business Exchange (WBE), a Seattle-based organization that brings Spirit to work, was Debrena Jackson Gandy.  Her message was about next level leadership and her words of inspiration left us with vibrancy, intention and energy. Here are three key requests she made of us if we choose to be next level leaders.  Midlife women, heads and hearts up, how well do you embody these capabilities?

As a next level woman leader, engage in conscious, continual, vitalizing self care.  So often in our culture we “do, do, do” until we have little energy or focus left for taking care of ourselves.  Debrenna knows to her bone that when we take time to go within and fill ourselves up with joy, we can be full to overflowing.  Over the last few years I have used several practices to access this, and my persistence has paid off!  This year, 2008 I join with many others in inviting women to Relax and Reconnect with their inner joy and wisdom. 

Debrenna, as a woman, particularly an African American woman rejoiced in how our President Elect, Barack Obama, models the next characteristic of a “next level” leaders, attentive listening.  She emphasized the great gift we give to each person that we truly listen to.  When one feels received in that way, our capacity to give grows exponentially.  What a difference that act can make in our marriages, our relationships with our children, friends, colleagues, and especially our enemies.  Walls will come down and hearts will open up.

Debrena’s third invitation was to activate ownership.  This means that when we have something to invite people to join us in, that we enroll them.  For example, rather than simply reciting the specifics of an offer, step into the highest expression of what you are about.  “During December we will hold a magnificent event which will transform your quality of life going forward.  To make this happen, I am asking six women to join me.  You are my first.  Will you join me?   “Yes,” was the eager response.

Midlife Women, how do you think we are doing in embodying these capabilities?

NOTE:  If you are in the Puget Sound region, join us at WBE next month, and experience the live lab where we will indeed be embodying self-care, attentive listening, and active ownership. 

Family Virtues and Values… grounding & important

Headed “home for the holidays” I went to visit my brother and his extended family which has become mine.  Upon arrival at the Salt Lake City airport within minutes the effects of the blustery snow storm melted as my brother and I hugged. 

My brother has an affinity for putting just about anybody at any age at ease.  His winning combination seems to be equal parts of “sincere interest in people” and his delight in jawing about dogs, guns, and politicians, “you name it!” We share a sincere interest in people and he is much better at “jawing” than I, which means he helps me slow down and enjoy watching his ease at engaging clerks, children, and even cantankerous adults.

When we arrive at his home the scene quickly becomes a hum and blur when two grandnephews under 7, their parents and their father’s 40 pound Rhodesian ridgeback arrive.

Children are welcome in my brother and sister-in-laws’ home…and there are rules for kids and dogs.  I find this refreshing since I find my capacity for enjoyment goes up significantly when respect for all is evident.  Respect looks like a very large dog is not allowed to knock children, furniture, adults, etc. down.  Children are seen frequently and heard, and when the shrieks of excitement build, grandpa requests that the boys use their “inside voices.”  I am impressed by the fact that there truly is space even in a bustling house for everyone given “ground rules.”

The opinions diverge widely on a number of subjects and I use my listening skills to check-out the assumptions that I find can easily come to mind when I heard values expressed that are quite different than mine.  There are plenty of juicy topics to choose from:  presidential candidates, bringing home troops and when from Iraq, etc.  I notice some are more comfortable with black and white and I tend to lean towards believing there is a significant amount of gray – things I don’t know and don’t feel comfortable drawing a conclusion about without more information.

No matter who came through their doorway and, I’ll bet there were over sixty in a five day period, they were all welcome, invited in, and listened to at a level that conveyed, you guessed it, “respect!”  That careful listening and respect has etched itself indelibly into the hearts of so many over the years and draws people back to the Smith’s.

So, a few lessons on values that I took away from this holiday are:

=Ground rules set and honored can reflect respect

= Love is about listening and truly hearing one another.

= Differences don’t have to divide us; they can help strengthen our awareness of what is important to us.  They can also become harsh dividers if they are accompanied by judgment of one value being more justified than another.

Total Beauty Design

Thursday, June 10, Dr. Michael Braungart spoke at the 4th Annual Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Awards ceremony sponsored by Resource Venture, a program of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Braungart was powerful, funny and challenging. More on him follows. First, however, I want you to know a little about the 180 breakfast Awards Ceremony attendees. Lawyers, bakers, and candle makers, were there, actually lawyers, ecologists, landscape architects, architects, corporate L.E.E.D. (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design*) representatives, designers, small business people, non-profit organizations, and a number of folks from branches of local, regional and state government. All were there because they believe in sustainability at some level and they wanted to acknowledge the contributions of the Award Winners. The age range was great, and I mean GREAT! There were lots of people under 30 and those up into their seventies. They were alive, energized and eager to hear what Michael had to say. Dr. Braungart, Michael, pulled no punches. He first slides showed smog, pollution, etc. letting us know that America has been consciously/unconsciously committed to GUILT and has set up recycling as a way to assuage that guilt. He challenges that that is not our "HIGH DREAM!" We don't even really want to settle for "sustainability." He believes we actually want much more, we want the full advantage of our internal and external resources, our creativity, and our spirit. Taking a trajectory that is pointing in that direction is what will lead us out of the dark cycle that is polluting our "nest" - air, water and natural systems. Dr. Braungart and his partner and co-author of Cradle to Cradle, William McDonough, believe in Cradle Design/”Total Beauty Design” that defines a framework for designing products and industrial processes that turn materials into nutrients by enabling the formation of cyclical material flow metabolisms. With this design focus "waste equals food" for another product or process. For example, they have helped design a Ford SUV that is fully recyclable in 5 years, you lease it, and when you return it, the materials are "up-cycled" in a way that maximizes use and minimizes unusable waste. (They do know where the U.S. consumer lives!) If you want more of the science, by a copy of Cradle to Cradle or Natural Capitalism and check out Braungart's website at www.braungart.com. Excellent regional resources if you are considering eco-efficient innovation are: www.resourceventure.org and the Sustainable Industries Journal Northwest (www.sijournal.com).

Just Do It

Well, I believe I am up to something that deserves a lot of attention, much more positive attention than it is currently getting and that is the future we are creating in this moment, right now.  That is our taking charge of the process, believing that we do have an impact by what we are currently saying,thinking, doing. 

So for example when I got up to the loud insistence of my tabby this morning at 5:00a .m. It was clear my mood was clouded.  Not a sunny beginning.  And, at that moment I decided I did not like the personal weather forecast that I was creating so I changed it.  It decided she must have a point and so I actually rolled over and looked at her.  That was all it took, I smiled and the whole day shifted.

Those shifts happen lots each day, and they have a positive or negative impact on my mood.  So, the more conscious I am that I am not only creating for that moment but for the rest of the day, the rest of my life.  I am much more motivated to create positive things in my life in the moment.