Writing is part of my meditative process to clarify my thoughts, to align my actions and to focus on my purpose. I write about my emotions, my shortcomings, and my ideas for a better world through poetry, prose, and what I call rantifestos every day, some of which I post here on my blog and on social media. I share them to help others move along their paths to live and lead with compassion.
You Belong.
You Matter.
Let’s Help Each Other.
Words to say to yourself. Words to say to others. Words to live by and love by. I use this phrase in nearly every course I teach, every workshop I lead. And I have the participants say it to each other. It softens the moment, it opens the hearts, it creates a space of compassion and connection.
Some people were born on third base
and go through life thinking
they hit a triple.
Barry Switzer
Not only was he born on third base, never held a bat, his dad owns the stadium and the team–the Meritocracy Mets! 😊
We all might know some trust fund babies. Or people who have been given everything their entire lives. I’ve been to weddings that are corporate mergers and worked with people who are amongst the most privileged humans on the planet. And every one of them has a story about their hero’s journey of slaying the dragons, overcoming the odds and the work ethic it took to succeed. It is human nature for all of us to spin a story, an amazing self-congratulatory, self-preservation story about what “I did” to earn, and deserve “my success”, no matter how much privilege we’ve enjoyed. And I have also worked and know those who have come from virtually nothing and suffered through real hardship to claw their way to the top. These are amazing stories that truly come from lived experiences that can inspire and give hope to others. We can fall in love with these stories, wonderful versions of the American Dream.
In so many ways, our brain is like a giant seed with seeds within it. The seeds are like our DNA within our neuro matter. Seeds that grow and flourish. Seeds that are dormant. Seeds that will never grow. All contained in the potential between our ears. The potential energy of the great forest within us. Stay with me and get used to this mixed metaphor 😉
We seem to be chasing something. Hoping for something. Looking to the horizon to find some proof that we matter that what we do matters. Waiting for our ship to come in.
There are always many ships carrying precious and mysterious cargo waiting to dock. To unload their containers at our ports. They only wait for us to open our harbors, our hearts, for them to bring us a wealth of enlightenment, wisdom, and wonder. But our desire and focus on material goods distracts us from the treasures that were never ordered or purchased. What we want interferes with what we need. And our ships and containers of a deeper understanding of ourselves wait or pass us by. That many so-called supply chain issues are distracting us from our own unique and important journeys.
We are drowning in a sea of madness. The madness in our acceptance of our inferior lives. The madness of waiting for something, hoping for something, and allowing fear and practicality to domesticate our dreams. We are addicted to madness. Until we are not.
There is a strange and unprecedented tsunami of change in the world of work: The Great Resignation.
Finding purpose is not some fantasy Mother Teresa job. It does not necessarily require major changes in one’s life. It can be applied by anyone in any stage of their life. Living with purpose is a lens, an intention to transcend the mindless transactions and to be mindful of how your compassion for others is being upheld in even the most mundane tasks. How what you are doing benefits others, beyond oneself, is always present.
Are we grieving what we lost more than what the person we grieve has lost? I have tried to be more attuned to my expectations of others life expectancies. “You must live longer for me.” “You should have lived longer for me.” What a crazy ego trip.
Grief is deeply interwoven into our life path. As we mature, we understand our own mortality and the mortality of everything around us. As we accept these lessons, we hopefully savor and cherish the brevity of life.
We have been in isolation, wearing masks, social distancing, vaccinations, zooming etc. For those of us not in denial, we realize most of this will not change. That we are forever changed by these experiences and that our future health and well-being depends on our adaptability not our non-sensical “return to normal” and our clinging to nostalgia.
Many of us are navigating this crazy world the best as we can. Yet many others are hiding beneath the sheets of “gratitude” and “privilege” of their COVID bed. Using the real uncertainty, anxiety, and health crises of this time as lame excuses for not moving forward with their lives.
Stop blaming COVID for your pre-COVID career co-morbidities– your laziness, your procrastination and deferral of the pursuit of a life that is true to yourself.
‘I have been thrown off a lot of boats, thrown under buses and out of windows. No one was trying to teach me how to fly, to learn bus maintenance, or experience deep sea diving.
For those of us who have been fired, laid off, forced to leave, we know about unintended swimming lessons.
The true life of the bowl began the moment it was dropped. –Ancient Kintsugi quote
Every unexpected, every frightening experience can reveal an opportunity, if we don’t panic, we don’t resist and we try to embrace the reality.
Nobody in the history of humanity has ever achieved ‘work-life balance,’ whatever that might be, and you certainly won’t get there by copying the ‘six things successful people do before 7 a.m.’
Oliver Burkeman
If you think about it, “work-life balance” is a illogical, irrational and oxy-moronic goal. Balance is about stability AND stasis. Think about it, you don’t want stability! You want dynamic change. Yes growth, but diversity. You want to be surprised with the magic of wonder. Our sense of time is a snapshot that is obsolete once the photo is taken. Life evolves, problems solve themselves, new interests arise, discoveries are made, and new challenges emerge. So balance the past? Crazy.
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