Category: What I'm Learning

One Year (And A Month) Later ...

6/25/2021

"We must proclaim the truth that all life is one and that we are all of us tied together. Therefore it is mandatory that we work for a society in which the least person can find refuge and refreshment." Howard Thurman

Preface … I wrote this post a month ago – and then I didn’t put it out there. Throughout this month I’ve read and re-read it, edited it, sent it off to a trusted friend and still I’m hesitating. In the midst of my hesitation, I got curious – what is going on, why am I waiting? And I realized that I’m feeling vulnerable – I’m not sure how this will land, I’m not sure it’s “right” whatever that means. So here goes – I’m posting it as I wrote it (plus some ongoing editing), stepping into my discomfort – it feels like a metaphor for what’s next for me as I take a look at my post-pandemic life – what’s next is getting present and curious, breathing, experimenting and living into the moments even if they are uncomfortable and I’m not sure how they are going to go.

Post … What is it about birthdays and anniversaries – there is a ritual and comfort in marking the time and the people in our lives. Late May has always been a busy time for me with my birthday and my late dad’s birthday just one day apart, plus the Memorial Day holiday. This year there was another layer with commemorating George Floyd’s killing and all that that heinous act has brought to light and triggered around the world. How do we sit with the memories and the grief of the loss of this past year?

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What Is Our Ripple Effect?

1/31/2021

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“Never underestimate the valuable and important difference you make in every life you touch, for the impact you make today has a powerful rippling effect on every tomorrow.” – Leon Brown

With the inauguration and official (and thankfully smooth) transfer of power in the United States, I’ve been thinking about power and impact lately. What does it mean to be powerful? What is the impact of that power in the world? What is our ripple effect? As I’ve learned as a Radical Leader® we are all ALWAYS having impact – the key question is, is it the impact we WANT?!

Power and impact live within the broader context of connection. Humans are wired for connection, as Mark Nepo says “we have an innate call to find each other and join.” This connection with ourselves, others, the universe and God forms the context for our lives and is the water where the ripples emerge.

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I Am Here

10/16/2020

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"It seems the closer we get to being broken open, the more rawly we experience the muscle of paradox ... inside everything that is breakable, including us, is the one unnamable thing that is unbreakable." - Mark Nepo

I have never been much of a meditator, in fact I had decided a few years ago when it seemed like everyone was talking about mindfulness that I simply couldn’t do it because my attention continually wandered! Then when I took up a sitting practice as part of Presence-Based Coaching training I was taught that the whole point of meditation is to bring my attention back – that’s the muscle I’m building! I can do that! And once I practiced, I began to see the impact of slowing down enough to be present in my own body, truly with myself at least once a day. This practice stretches time and allows me to be still – it’s changed me and lets me drop down into my own knowing. As Glennon Doyle says in her recent book Untamed “I can know things down at this level that I can’t on the chaotic surface.”

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Breaking Patterns

5/31/2020

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"Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?" - Martin Luther King Jr. #GeorgeFloyd

I wrote a post for my blog a couple of weeks ago and just didn’t put it out there – I wasn’t exactly sure why. It felt like there was something missing, it didn’t feel complete, it wasn’t ready. And I see now that there was a reason for my hesitation because the world has changed again – as I write I am listening to the constant hum of helicopters and insistent whine of sirens and I’m in a place of rawness. Layers of what I know and patterns of my life are being stripped away. With the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protest and unrest in my city and others around the country I’m left grieving and unbalanced. This is not my pain directly and yet I feel it. This is not my experience directly and yet I’m in it. I wonder how to show up in new ways for my whole community.

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What does acceptance mean to you?

1/22/2020

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"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them." Albert Einstein

What does acceptance mean to you? I’ve been asking that question of myself lately! There’s a lot of information out there on acceptance – when I Googled “acceptance articles” 249 million results appeared in 0.58 seconds. AND, although I haven’t read them all 😀 I’m pretty sure none of them will tell me what acceptance means to ME.

The word acceptance has been popping up all over my life recently! I have a high school senior who is applying to colleges – being “accepted” is a big deal, the Holy Grail in fact and “denied” and “deferred” leave these young men and women feeling like acceptance is pretty far away. Acceptance really matters!

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This "Wild & Precious Life"

One Year (And A Month) Later ...

What Is Our Ripple Effect?

I Am Here

Breaking Patterns

What does acceptance mean to you?

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