Grace Under Pressure: No Blame

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Mary Swanson

My guest blogger Mary Swanson

Coming back to San Francisco after being gone for seven years, I’m very conscious of who I was then (before I moved). Ghosts of former times show up as I drive around town, or reconnect with people I haven’t seen in a while. Looking back in time always gives me an interesting perspective… It’s so much easier to look back and see that what I believed was going on isn’t necessarily what was happening.

The strongest experience I’m having is how I’ve been held by people. “Held” in the sense of “loved.” As I remember events I was involved in, deep conversations I’ve had with others, I can see how I used to hold myself at a distance. I’m reminded of something central to the soul healing work I’ve been studying for most of my life: so much of what we blame others for is just our own refusal to allow what we desire.

The whole idea that we project out into the world our unconscious beliefs and when they come back to us we experience that as suffering, is difficult to understand. We are all so used to blaming others for our suffering. But when we blame others, we place ourselves in the powerless role of Victim. It feels so satisfying though. HE hurt me, SHE betrayed me, THEY aren’t kind or understanding, IT’S THEIR FAULT I FEEL BAD! It’s so easy to blame and feels so right that the idea of healing by letting go of blame can feel like we’re not “standing up for ourselves.”

What I’ve come to understand is that Blame stops everything and freezes it in an iceburg of misunderstanding. It prevents us from realizing what’s really happening–we use others to convince ourselves we can’t have what we want.

The hardest thing, in all of existence, is to let ourselves have what we want. We are all masters at finding reasons why we should blame others. We are all masters at creating interference to what we want.

Deep down, for all of us sharing this experience of incarnation on the Pleasure Planet called Earth, we all want to be loved. The question to ask ourselves is not “Why doesn’t anyone love me?” it’s “How can I allow myself to receive the love that’s trying to come to me?”

Looking back, I see so many missed opportunities to feel that love. To literally feel the energy of love come into my heart chakra. It’s a humbling experience and also an encouraging one. My job isn’t to judge the shortcomings of others. My job is to allow myself to feel their love.

Here’s some wisdom from the Tao Te Ching:

The highest good is like water.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.

In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In business, be competent.
In action, watch the timing.

No fight: No blame.

Image: Rachel Bone

Related posts:

Posted in Mary Swanson | Leave a comment

Crowrider: I’m Your Venus

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Laura Tabet


By guest blogger Laura Tabet

Over the weekend I had a perfectly nourishing and wild Beltane celebration with a group of close friends. Lilacs, bees, butterflies, a rushing river, delicious foods, a gigantic cauldron full of fire, full moon rays, drumming, singing and ritual merry-making – my soul was as happy as it could be!

Beltane is a holiday devoted to our sensual relationship to life, Venus, and the Sun is also presently in Taurus (ruled by Venus). So the weekend got me pondering the following question:

What gets your Venus going – what is Her version of joy, beauty, love and abundance? How can I serve, delight, feed, nourish and honor Venus?

When you honor Venus she loves you back with abundance, flow, meaning, sufficiency, aliveness and wealth.

You can also look to your astrology chart for more information. Venus is the principle of relationship, money, beauty, eros, art and aesthetic value. What house and sign do you find Venus? This will tell you a lot about the area of your life and in what manner your Venus is vivified. (Download a free chart here: JanSpiller.com)

My Venus is in Pisces in the 12th house ruled by Pisces. My Venus gets turned on by the realm of imagination, metaphor, dreams, formlessness, poetry and the arts. So after a weekend of imaginal, dreamy reveries my Venus was juiced up! So I wasn’t surprised, though still delighted when I showed up at work on Monday and my client gave me a poem! I found myself saying to her “that a poem is about the best gift a person can give me!” And that’s true! My Venus was so happy!

The question of what stokes the fires of your desire and gets you back into loving flow is going to be a big theme in the coming month as Venus moves into retrograde from May 15th – June 27th.

When any planet is retrograde that part of our psyche goes on a vision quest. With Venus we are reviewing the habitual and conditioned way we come into relationship with life, love and abundance. What are your relationships to others showing you? What is your current relationship to money and flow? What is your level of juiciness letting you know about the patterns of belief/energy you are running in regards to abundance?

When Venus is retrograde it’s easy to blame the Other for a sense of scarcity in your life, to question your relationships, to feel disharmony or need to revisit unfinished communications (Venus retrograde in Gemini).

However, Saturn is trining Venus supporting us to take responsibility and take a good hard look (Saturn) at how YOU are approaching your relationships and how YOU are tending your own Venus.

On the same day one client gave me a poem, another client dove into some very deep work on her heart chakra. Underneath a mistrustful, protecting fighter, a strong tension in her chest, she discovered a sweet, precious and unharmed part of her original, innocent heart – the part that lives underneath the protections, survival strategies and conditioning of the wounded heart. She could see that her habitual need to protect her heart has taken her away from the discovery of her own essential nature. She longed to feel more connected to this pure aspect of her heart and asked her guides to help her remember the forgotten language of the heart.

These were some of the questions that opened up the dialogue with her heart:

What are you devoted to? What delights you? What is beautiful to you? What stirs your interest and excitement? Where does your curiosity lead you? What do you love? How do you love the world? How do you feel the world loving you back?

Lastly, today on my walk I listened to a Tara Brach podcast where she relayed a poignant story, where an experienced hospice nurse reported on the two things the dying most regularly express at the end of life:

1) They wished they had lived life from their true heart (not from rules/conditioning)
2) They wished they had put more energy into cultivating relationships

May this month be a time of revelation and healing as you ponder your own dance with life and love.

Blessings,
Laura

Image: “High Five Venus” Taken by Hipstomatic John S Lens, Ina’s 1969 Film

Image Note: Right after finishing this post dedicated to Venus, I went walking in my neighborhood and got a little message from the Goddess herself to let me know she appreciates all this attention! This little 2 of hearts mini-card was on the sidewalk! And it represents the archetype of The Lovers and Relationship!

Offerings:
1) Laura is gathering a group of creative, eager, and playful Crowriders to go on a mythic adventure to the top of Ring Mountain, in Marin County, on Saturday June 23rd for a half-day of ritual and magic. Email Laura for more info: journey@lauratabet.com
2) If you would like to explore where Venus is in your chart, or take a mythic adventure into your astrology chart, contact Laura for an astrology session!

Related posts:

Posted in Astrology, Laura Tabet | Leave a comment

Full Super Moon in Scorpio

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Heather Bleasdell

Get ready for a Happy Cinco de Mayo!

On Saturday, May 5th, 2012 we get to experience a Full SUPER Moon in Scorpio! When I think if Scorpio totems Phoenix, Eagle, & Scorpion the main word that comes to mind is BAD ASS. Combine that with the Sun in Taurus – our trusty Farmer self – and we have the power to do some serious weeding wacking!

Scorpio is about the death and rebirth cycles we go through in life. At this Full Moon, you can identify what’s dead weight in your life, and perform a mercy killing to transform it into something new. – Molly Hall

While the Full Moon lights up our shadow, Scorpio brings the promise of transformation and renewal with it’s laser-like intensity, passion and truth-telling. Scorpio loves the emotional raw underbelly. With the Sun in Taurus, we are being asked to transform and compost something that is deeply rooted within us, but no longer enhances our potency. You don’t have to make a big production out of it. Simply notice the habit/pattern that comes to your attention with this full moon and preform your compassionate “mercy killing” – hiya! Whatever it is, express it and release it with art, dance, music, writing. Creative expression is the key!

  • Remove dead plants from your garden and/or house
  • Release and recycle worn out clothes, shoes, sweaters, etc.
  • Rearrange/redecorate the bedroom – sage it, add a new color, spice it up. It’s time for new life & passion!
  • Make a plan to celebrate Beltane this weekend

TIP + Have A BONFIRE! Do you need more info? I think not.

Enjoy the fierce full moon & have a lusty weekend!
+ heather

Related posts:

Posted in full moon | Leave a comment

ALL-IS-ON: Writing on Things You Should NOT

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Allison Fragakis

By guest blogger Allison Fragakis

Just before getting married, my husband and I met at our rabbi’s house to run though the ceremony. After a discussing our vows, I excused myself to use her powder room. To my delight, I discovered that her family had written all over the bathroom walls in permanent marker. This was one funky rabbi! I fell in love—with her and with the idea of writing on things one should not. That was 15 years ago, and though I haven’t been able to convince my husband to have a graffiti bathroom, I have found other ways to be creative and naughty with my writing instruments.

I like to write on rocks, puzzle pieces, leaves, banana peels, old CDs, cereal boxes, Tupperware, recipes, cloth napkins, broken toys, pristine book covers, my toes, strips of tree bark, my kitchen stool, rulers and even pumpkins. I write poems, to-do lists, existential questions, reminders, song lyrics, birthday wishes, and inspiring quotes. I secretly write my deep thoughts and dreams on a wooden support beam in my attic. And my kids are encouraged to write on the inside walls of their closets.
Sure, paper is bountiful and proper. But, there is a magic that happens when you put pen or marker in motion on surfaces that you should NOT.  It’s also a great cure for writer’s block.

What do you like to write on that you should NOT?

 

Next Workshop with Allison
HORSES + WRITING (YeeHaaW!) Retreat with Allison Fragakis
Saturday May 19th from 10-4 PM at Equistar Farms in Sebastopol, CA – in coordination with The Flag Foundation-Horse Human Partnerships. Creative writing mixed with bonding with horses in nature–this is special opportunity to experience horses in a new and wonderful way! Contact Allison to RSVP

Related posts:

Posted in Allison Fragakis | 2 Comments

From Mexico with Love: Feeding Your Four Petaled Flower

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Emily K. Grieves


By guest blogger Emily K. Grieves

I am fresh in integrating the vast teachings and newly opened energies I received in my “Journey of the Four Petaled Flower” that I just completed yesterday with my friend and co-teacher Annie Fuller and eight other exceptional women. I am not yet able to express much of anything about these teachings and energies, but suffice it to say that the ancient and global symbol of a four petaled flower has arisen within my consciousness and unfolded for me into all dimensions. Do not be surprised if you begin to see four petaled flowers everywhere. What the symbol means, you will know, deduce, feel inside yourself. Perhaps you will feel it as a fundamental building block of life itself, and see it as a signpost in your mind’s landscape to remind your soul of the integrity and wholeness and interconnectedness of all life. What I know is that whatever comes to your mind as you contemplate any version of the four petaled flower will probably be true and more, beyond what our minds even remotely can conceive. The ancient Teotihuacanos of central Mexico held this symbol in the highest regard, as their foundation and sustenance, carving a natural cave into the symbol some 3000 years ago, building their pyramids on top of it, and constructing their entire physical and spiritual lives around it, living in its presence every day. Today, as I begin my integration of the exploration of this symbol, I offer you an image I ran across in one of the Teotihuacano murals in the Palace of Tepantitla, a tiny detail of a giant depiction of life, abundance, interconnection in the paradise of the natural world, Tlaloc’s paradise, and I thought “What are you feeding your Four Petaled Flower today?” What nourishment and sustenance are you giving to Life today? How are you tending the garden of Connection and Unity today?

Images: #1. Photo, Detail of “Tlaloc’s Paradise,” Tepantitla, Teotihuacan, #2. Photo, Drum of Four Petaled Flower, acrylic on cowhide, Emily K. Grieves

Related posts:

Posted in Emily K. Grieves | 1 Comment

New Moon Taurus

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Heather Bleasdell

On Saturday, April 21st, 2012 the New Moon enters earthy Taurus just as the Sun settles in. This new moon points us towards what we value, our self-worth, sensuality, going at your own pace, the 5 senses and what we need to feel emotionally secure. If Aries sparks the ideas, Taurus says, “let’s build it.” The trick is aligning our great ideas with what we truly value in the present tense. I love what Molly Hall says – “In the fierce urgency of now, the most powerful thing we can do for ourselves and life is to make a commitment to being who we’re meant to be.”

  • Write your New Moon Wishes for Taurus today!
  • Release stubbornness by moving your body in new ways
  • Celebrate Beltane and the arrival of May – have sex in the woods, indulge in a little romance, write love letters!
  • And to all you busy bees, schedule some relaxation time

TIP + Dial Up the Self-Worth-ometer – The New Moon in Taurus is a magical manifester. It’s time to look at what is truly calling you and make a commitment to doing what you love. One way to support ourselves is to make a list of your gifts, resources, talents & people in your court. What are you really good at? Making people laugh? Decorating your room? Drinking Ice Tea? Don’t be shy. Write it all down. Place the list on your altar or hang it up in a visible place. Every time you start feeling that your dream is impossible, turn to your list and imagine dialing up your self-worth-ometer. Say yes to drawing your dreams down from the void and start manifesting now – grow that garden!

Beltane/May Day is May 1st
Beltane is the cross-quarter pagan celebration of fertility, lustiness, abundance, passion and life! As the counterpart to Samhain (when everything is dying away), Beltane is the celebration of life, when everything is coming together, growing and bursting forth from the Earth. For centuries, folks all over the earth have celebrated this holiday by lighting a fire on the eve of April 30th and letting it burn through the night. It’s a time for prayers & wishes around fertility, virility, conception, new life, abundance, and prosperity. Jump over the Bonfire to make a powerful wish. If you want to conceive a child, jump the fire with your partner. You can also celebrate with your family & friends by doing a Maypole dance, making crowns of flowers, weaving ribbons, dancing on the grass barefoot, planting a goddess or moon garden, leaving treasures for the faeries (and having lots of SEX outdoors… after the kids go to bed, of course – use your discretion, as always :)

Beltane Altar – Create an altar or centerpiece for your table to honor & celebrate fertility in all it’s forms. Think color, and lots of it! Flowers, ribbons, the Green Man, the Goddess in her Mother form, pairs, babies, phallic symbols (sticks, small maypole, antlers, seeds), womb symbols (cups, chalice, wreath, rings, anything circular), candles for fire! Think lusty and yummy.

I like to crack the jokes now and again, but it’s only because I struggle with math. – Tiny Fey (Lady Taurus)

Get to loving,
+ heather

Images: Cow Skull by Georgia O’Keeffe and Tiny Fey photo

Related posts:

Posted in new moon | Leave a comment

New Moon Wishes for Taurus

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Heather Bleasdell

This is a money moon, so make sure to write your new moon wishes on Saturday, April 21st!

From Jan Spiller‘s book, New Moon Astrology

Each month the NEW MOON offers us a fresh opportunity to take charge of our lives by using magic present in the atmosphere to manifest our dreams. On each New Moon POWER DAY, a window of opportunity opens that we can use by writing down a wish list (ten wishes maximum each month) of what we want to have come true in our lives.

Because this month’s New Moon occurs in the sign of TAURUS, you may want to include wishes concerning one or more of the following categories that are ruled by that sign: money, sensual pleasure, contentment, perseverance, patience, self-worth, releasing stubbornness.

Sample wishes: “I want all non-constructive stubbornness totally lifted from me”; “I want to gain lots of money in a happy way”; “I want all fears of poverty totally lifted from me”; “I want to successfully realize my goals by taking one step at a time and not rushing to the next until the one in front of me has been completed”; “I want to easily find myself consciously and consistently appreciating the abundance of life and Mother Nature.”

Image: Taurus Collage by Heather 2010

Related posts:

Posted in new moon | 1 Comment

Grace Under Pressure: Good News & Baud News

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Mary Swanson

I’ve just returned to San Francisco after Seven Years in Vermont. Which sounds like a movie or book. It was definitely an adventure into the wilds, into my past, into a deep internal transformation that I’m not really sure how to bring back into the world.

It feels like I’ve come through a worm-hole, from one universe into another and I’m feeling the kind of space-sickness one would feel if you actually did break down all your molecules and transport them through time and space and then reassembled yourself. It’s taking a while to get my bearings.

I’m definitely home. That feels solid. But I’m not the same person I was when I left and neither are any of my friends and family here in the Bay Area. With certain people there’s no dissonance at all. With most though, there’s an odd experience of being at different “baud” rates.

In telecommunications and electronics, baud (/’bc:d/, unit symbol “Bd”) is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes (signaling events) made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a line code. The baud rate is related to but should not be confused with gross bit rate expressed in bit/s.

I know Vermont operates at a much slower pace than the Bay Area and I am definitely thinking, moving and speaking at a much slower rate. But something else is going on too. While I was gone, I seem to have let go of some kind of fear propulsion, some kind of something that has been pushing me through most of my life. It’s not that I’ve lost ambition or desire, it’s more of a sense that I don’t need to push anything.

During the past Seven Years I feel I’ve had co-dependency, the need to do something to win approval, knocked out of me. There’s nothing quite like moving to a new place and watching yourself try to make new friends to bring up your relationship patterns. Denial fell away and I got to see my own fears & manipulations. Not pretty but the end result of acknowledging my inner fears has been, of course, a transformation. The fear in me seems to have quieted down.

Most people who know me would not identify me as a fearful person. I’m more noted for leaping off metaphoric cliffs. But looking at my own fears and all things I told myself to avoid admitting them, has changed me. It remains to be seen what effect that change will have but for right now all I can say is I’m not sure who I am or what I’ll be doing next. I just know I don’t feel pushed and I don’t feel like pushing anything. It’s strange to be feeling the absence of a fear I didn’t even know I had.

People in Vermont say the great thing about the place is that it never changes and the horrible thing about the place is it won’t change. Something about that stubborn, flinty refusal to be anything but exactly what it is has left its imprint. Am I now like rock? Like water? Like trees? Or am I finally knowing a kind of rightness in myself? Time will tell and for the first time in my life, I feel comfortable with that.

It’s just really strange.

Related posts:

Posted in Mary Swanson | Leave a comment

Ritual: Hail Freya, Lucky Friday the 13th

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Heather Bleasdell

Lucky us! We get another Friday the 13th this year (the last one was in January.)  Thirteen is a LUCKY number for the Ones who Walk the Old Path representing the 13 lunar months in a year. Friday is the sacred day of the Nordic Earth Goddess Freya (commonly associated with Venus and Aphrodite) representing love, beauty, nature, passion, fertility and crazy sexiness. That’s right, if you google Freya… you’ll see what I mean. The divine feminine is darn sexy. As Doreen Virtue writes in her Goddess Oracle deck,  “Freyja teaches us to appreciate our attractiveness and enjoy ourselves.” Many Freya rituals are about sparkling yourself up physically…. (so you should definitely make arrangements to take care of yourself in at least one area that’s been dragging your “hottie meter” down - see January’s post) AND I also suggest that we all consider answering the question, what really makes me feel beautiful?

For Myself: a smile from my husband, flowers, a shower, a fresh altar, a run, a swim, well-made earrings, beautiful jewelry, big hugs, a compliment from a friend, good haircut, a yummy jacket or sweater, lovely accessories…

For my Husband: a nap and a shower, exercise or hard-days-work-in-yard and getting “cleaned up,” having good breath, wearing a new shirt, beautiful boots, a nice jacket, fishing alone in the rain,…

For our daughter Addie Rose (4 years old): when I dress up, when I get to go to the beach with my family, kisses and hugs from mommy, a precious ring…. more dressing up.

Just for today, allow yourself the awareness of feeling beautiful today.
Enjoy the day, TGIF!

Related posts:

Posted in art & magic, goddess, Just for Today | Leave a comment

Crowrider: CRAZY 101

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Laura Tabet


By guest blogger Laura Tabet

Here’s what I’ve been hearing a lot of lately:

“I don’t know how to fix this”
“I am overwhelmed”
“I can’t hold it together anymore”
“I’m exhausted”
“Nothing is working””
“I’m FU**ED”
“I feel crazy”

Mars Retrograde turned the first three months of 2012 into advanced, required and uncomfortable human coursework. We’ve all been asked to identify and confront the most stubborn, ongoing issues that seemingly evade transformation. Add Mercury Retrograde into the mix and the last month has been a perfect recipe for going CRAZY! Nothing seems to be working, it’s glaringly obvious and yet there’s a cosmic brake on our creative action.

While Mercury is out of retrograde now and Mars is moving out of retrograde over the weekend, I want to collect some of the uncomfortable insights of this challenging human workshop. Over the last few month it has felt like the most obvious principles of good living that I have been studying and collecting my whole adult life, that I even teach people about!! were out the door. That’s the nature of crazy! So today I’m anchoring myself back into the basics.

So here’s the question: what is actually happening when we feel crazy? And how do we get back to creative sanity?

Thankfully I got to gather with a quorum of creatives/close friends over the weekend and we examined that question together.

Here’s some of what we came up with from our own present, personal experience:

1) Crazy is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.

My experience right now is that nobody is getting an easy ride. We are living in a time when our obsolete organizing principles are being stripped away from us. Our unconscious, conditioned ways of being are not producing the life and world we want to live in. But are we letting go of what isn’t working or just recycling the same behavior?

Sometimes life gives us gentle blinking billboards that wake us up to what’s not working.
However, in the last three months it has felt more like our faces are being held down in the s**t until we acknowledge that it stinks.

2) Crazy is resisting what is – fighting it, wrestling it, pushing against it.

The biggest way we do this is to override the signals of the body that are always in the present moment and full of authentic information.

I can’t tell you how many times I have said to myself in the last six months,
“OK Laura, fire up!” It’s a rather innocuous, seemingly self-inspiring phrase but really I’m pushing myself into overwhelm and exhaustion. And that is CRAZY!

Or how many times I’ve heard people say, “I’m fine!” when they really aren’t.
Let’s get honest with what is happening and start to really listen to the signs.

3) Crazy is a wide gap between ideals/shoulds and the actual truth of the present moment.

I’ve had to do some major reviews on the expectations I place on myself, my life, my partner, my family, and the pace of life’s unfolding. I’ve been setting myself up for a lot of disappointments and powerlessness thinking I can make something happen when that isn’t really in the flow of my own or the collective energy.

For example: I’ve found myself on Craigslist almost every day looking at my dream house that I know I can’t afford in the present moment! I had a daily practice that enhanced my sense of disappointment! Now that’s crazy! The pressure of where we ideally want to be vs. where we are sets us up for unworthiness and powerlessness.

4) Crazy is avoiding the present moment.

As Carl Jung puts it: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

The present tense reality has a habit of always breaking through our illusions like a bull in a china shop. If we avoid reality than we get shocked by it, increasing feelings of exhaustion and victimization. What are you afraid to acknowledge?

How are you avoiding some hard truths? Staying busy, watching TV, or taking drugs is not going to make anything go away, it will only make it get bigger

5) Crazy is trying to control what you cannot.

“God grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” Reinhold Niebuhr

I teach people tools to become change makers and authorities in their own lives. But there’s a paradox here. How do we honor our creative authority, the ability to affect change when we come up against unfixable realities and things we cannot control?

What I’m letting myself remember is that surrender is a creative action – one that stimulates enormous change. Laying down my personal will and letting life unfold on its own accord requires I anchor myself in radical trust and alliance with Mystery. I’m having to remember that I’m not actually in charge of the universe! (HA!)

6) Crazy is not forgiving ourselves for our limited ability to change others.

A lot of my review, and the collective and astrological review right now, lives in the realm of relationship. We are learning right now that we do impact each other, that we are interconnected and our compassion and response to each other ripples out in powerful waves.

On the other side of the spectrum we all have those relationships that we spend a lifetime praying for an opening or a shift in the dynamic. We’ve been standing on our heads and bending over backwards for long enough that maybe it’s time to forgive yourself, live through the grief and powerlessness and spend your creative energy somewhere else.

7) Crazy is in our isolation.

Sadly, when we are overwhelmed and experiencing countless disappointments, obstacles and powerlessness – our systems become over-laden with the shame affect. Shame causes us to curl inside ourselves and evokes the victim consciousness, a state of profound separation. We forget that we are all in this life together, that crying together, saying “I’m going crazy” to another human being may not change our circumstances but helps us feel more connected and supported in the process.

It’s so easy for me to forget I have support. It’s easy to imagine everyone else is having an easier time of it, or too busy to want to connect with me when I’m negative and overwhelmed. But an authentic moment with a friend, even a short moment, makes a world of difference. I’m also increasingly clear that WE NEED COMMUNITY and BIGGER CONTAINERS for the tasks of the present moment. Sorry for the drama…I’m just saying.

Principles of Transforming Crazy

1) Name and acknowledge what is happening to yourself or even better a friend.
2) Make course corrections! Don’t keep doing what isn’t working!
3) Distinguish what you can control and the things you cannot.
4) As my good friend Heather says, “It’s time to delete the Default Button.”
5) Radical surrender. You are not alone, we are all scared. But letting go will make it easier.
6) Breath compassion into your life, your body and all of your relationships. When we breath kindness into our body it initiates the tend-befriend part of the brain and reverses the fight-flight-freeze state.
7) Make something out of your experience through expression. Write a poem, make a collage, pound at clay, etc.
8) View failures as information not evidence of your incompetence!
9) Be simple! Take walks, go slow, just do the next obvious step towards relief or accomplishment.

I’m sending waves of compassion to you all. Sending visions of ease and lightness in the coming weeks as the endless sets of waves die down and we paddle to shore, coughing up water from our lungs and collapse onto a sun-filled beach. I am laughing joyfully, and a bit maniacally (the crazy isn’t gone yet!), at just how human we all are, how many times we need to revisit and remember it all.

With love,
Laura

Image: “Can you love a nut?” Photo my Laura, concept by Heather and Friend

Related posts:

Posted in Astrology, Laura Tabet, letting go | Leave a comment