Be Creating

Many of you have asked me about writing a book.   My answer is simple; if you want to write a book just write it.   Books, articles and everything else you do begin as an inspiration within.   Inspiration is a calling of your spirit to move in the direction of fulfillment of your purpose.   When you read a quote, listen to a speaker, see something around you that calls to your inner spirit sit down and begin by vomiting on the page, or creating a mindmap. Yes, I said vomiting.   When I teach business writing for SkillPath one of the two ways to increase your speed in writing is to freewrite.   Freewriting is vomiting on the page, uncontrolled thoughts spewing from your mind onto the page.   This is even easier if first you created a mindmap or cognitive web. A mindmap allows your ideas to flow freely in a right brain fashion onto paper.   Use colors pictures and other graphical symbols to let your thinking come alive.   (An excellent reso...

"How do I learn to ignore the reality of the world around me?"  This question was posed to me this weekend at a session on Creating Well-BEing by Crowding Out Stress. My answer- First recognize that "reality" is unique to each individual.  You and I can be in the same room listening, to the same message, watching the same show and walk away with two distinctive experiences.   Why?  Because, we each walk into the room with two different personal histories, two different references for what we want at this moment--I maybe wanting time to explore my inner thoughts while you want to share your thinking with another, or perhaps one of us wants to be open minded and the other has come with an opinion to voice, etc.--and we process the message in two different ways.  Even more interesting is the idea that if you or I were listening or watching on a different day, we world hear and see the same message (reality) differently.  Once you recognize that "reality...

The Fourth of July happens to be my favorite holiday.  I love the whole idea of celebrating our liberty and freedom it always reminds me of all I have to be thankful for in my life. I love it all: the sounds-the kabooms, crackles and whistles; the smell of BBQ and sulfur; the explosion of color; the feel of the hot sun of the day and the cool breeze of the evening; the taste of potato salad, black bean and corn salsa, brats and backed beans;  most of all I love the time I spend with my two sons.  As my sons Wesley and Duncan join me at the lake I try to take time to savor every moment.  I try to set aside everything else and be totally in this moment.  I recognize that each moment is a gift to be savored and shared with those we love, the nature that surrounds us and the health we enjoy.  Sitting and watching a movie, drinking root beer floats and cleaning fish all become precious moments. Being mindful of this moment is worth celebrating 24/7.

Often circles or a crooked path are used as metaphors for your personal life journey.  Instead I find as I listen to others talk about their life journey there are themes that are repeated.  Some of these themes started in childhood and continue to be repeated well into adulthood.  For example I had a women in class the other day, who in elementary school had been kicked out of class repeatedly, found herself kicked out of school into an alternative setting, was presently incarcerated, sent to a work-release program which she was kicked out of and thus back in my class.  As she told me this story I asked her if she heard a theme in her life journey. I then asked- It sounds like you know how to get kicked out - are you interested in figuring out how to stay in. One theme I think we all share is defining our purpose, another is coming to terms with our own parents and our role as a parent. In your late teens you may have questioned your life purpose -- focusing on hi...

In the poem The Guest House by Rumi , he invites the reader to think of emotions as if they are guests in our home. "Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond." This morning as I prepared a lesson for my class and myself for my day,  I reread this stanza several times. I was thinking that the lesson applies to everything in our lives, not only our emotions but the people and events we experience.  If you and I could manage to be grateful for who and whatever comes into our lives knowing that each is a guide we may live our life in a new way.   Observing and embracing each as a lesson along this human journey, enjoying the learning experience. Not resisting, not wishing they/it would hurry up and go away but as an invited guest, that we wish would stay just a bit longer.   Today as you go through your day be grateful for the people, emotions and events and treat them as an invited guest.

Living a life full circle begins and ends your day with a ritual or a routine that connects you to your source.  I have begun a new ritual in the mornings one I'd like to share.  Before getting out of bed and starting my day I gather my thoughts  "Thank you for showing me how I can be of service, be loving and honoring of all  today." Many great spiritual leaders talk about how being of service is the most important thing we can do with our energy.  Being of service can be as simple as opening a door for someone, taking a moment to be totally present with someone at the drive through window, smiling and saying a heartfelt thank you, or picking up some sticks off the sidewalk of a neighbors yard after a storm. As role models for children when we perform an act of service we are teaching a powerful lesson. Today how can you be of service to your family, to others, to your community to the world?

I am very pleased that Gulliver Schools in Miami will be piloting an online book study for my latest Ebook Creating Well-BEing.  ( www.shop.creatingshift.com ) "Trying to balance home, work, relationships, personal growth and other interest isn't easy.  The first step in the process is to realize that you have only 24 hours in a day.  The second is to let go of the idea that balance means that all things receive equal attention.  That's not the case. Balance is about harmony." Find time this summer to set the tone for harmony in you life!