From Inside Out
“You are noticing something different. Somehow what’s going on inside isn’t meshing with what’s going on outside. Up earlier, up later, your clock is askew as you catch up with morning or miss it altogether. Eating? Three times a day is no longer a hard-fast rule. Slippage here, too. (Perhaps by happenstance, there appears to be a leaner you…) Invitations are forthcoming – happily you are being remembered yet an enthusiastic response to them hasn’t transpired. Question: where has the enthusiasm deplaned? To a tranquil isle surrounded by...
read moreEase Please
“A few minutes before the meeting begins, you feel yourself drifting away, away into a soft, lush setting where the greens and pinks and yellows are unlike any color you have ever seen. You walk gently – the ground has asked you to, and you oblige willingly. Birdsong fills the air: a soft breeze nudges your cheek, and it beckons you to the sparkles of a waterfall nearby. A curious rabbit hops in front of you, nodding its head in approval as you follow it to the crystalline rocks at the water’s edge. You sit down totally relaxed in the sun’s...
read moreThe Reason Why
“You’re doing your best. You’re trying hard to make things work, make them better, have some positive effect on what’s going on around you. Despite your utmost efforts, it seems the situation is deteriorating. Events and the people involved in those events are ever struggling or are manipulating the strugglers. Something is wrong with this picture. Or is it? Having done what you can, you cease your attempts at fixing; you retreat; you go within to regain a sense of balance and calm, to find your center of wisdom – yourself again. This is...
read moreOn Hold
“Whether making a banking inquiry, ordering supplies, completing a purchase, filling a prescription or receiving a legal update, you can expect to be on hold – waiting for the representative, agent, customer service officer, care ambassador, salesperson, account executive, administrator, accounts payable individual to connect to you. It can be perplexing, frustrating, annoying, time consuming unless you are doing something else while waiting for the other party to respond. Patience is key here, too. The waiting and wondering are...
read moreA Chance Remark
“Did you have a chance to catch it? The passing remark made during a brief conversation – a conversation unexpected, brief, and pleasant but not planned all the same? Did you have the ears to hear and the flash of discernment to take in the significance of those couple of words? Unimportant in and of themselves, however when put together, they were an answer to your prayer. A solution for a friend in need: dazzling in its simplicity and cosmic in its impact. They who made the response to an innocent question, left on their way, sincerely...
read moreWhat if?
“What if you had an amazing dragon that you could ride across the horizon and into the clouds? What if those clouds carried you both into the deep blue expanse of the cosmos where your attention fixed upon an alluring star? A star of sparkling gold, pink and white, that you set your internal compass to? To that star you, on trusty, devoted steed, flew toward until you reached its luminous edges, feeling exhilarated and free? What if you were pulled in, surrendering to the divine unknown but not caring or worried that you did not know?...
read moreSidestepping Puddles
“Who doesn’t like mudpuddles? Remember when you were a kid, and it was so appealing to test out a puddle. You wanted to know how deep it was. The thrill of finding out was just that: did the water go over your toes, your feet, your boots? Though you half-expected the soaker, it was always a surprise when it happened. Walking home with soggy feet was not fun but this was the least of your worries. Knowing your mom might not be pleased concerned you more. However, no matter how many times you got in trouble, the mudpuddles won out until...
read moreDeparted
“The Japanese custom of caring for the departed involves an exquisite ritual of carefully cleansing the body, dressing it with ornamental and favoured clothing, then gently placing the legs forward while ever so carefully folding the arms and then each of the fingers into the hands before clasping them reverently and placing them slowly on the chest. This ritual is performed with such respect, calm, and serenity that the preciousness of this human being is breathtakingly illuminated. How would it be if each human being were treated with such...
read moreIn Between
“In between jobs, videos, meetings, … In between meals, partners, errands, … In between kids, colds, payments, … In between tears, laughter, worries, … In between travels, studies, visits, … In between cups of coffee, mouthfuls, diets, … In between hearing, reading, watching, …In between lovers, friends, enemies, … In between dreams, goals, objectives, … In between games, periods, operations, … In between buying, selling, renting, … In between notes, words, thoughts, … whatever your space, interval, pause, break, intermission is, take the...
read moreLet your Ears do the Talking
“A client was asking for advice upon taking a new job. The response came quickly and unrehearsed: “Let your ears do the talking.” Its meaning? Spend more time listening to what is being said. Allow those familiar with the situation to describe, explain, fill in, complete, clarify what you don’t know or understand. Putting it bluntly, in new circumstances you don’t know what you don’t know, making it even more important to give others the floor. To remain silent is not weak but astute for it is in these moments that you move from the unknown...
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