Thought 1: Connecting In Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

Seeing other people...really seeing them is one of the most difficult things to do. When we look at someone we are interpreting what we are seeing according to our own experiences, understanding, and knowledge. But to really see someone is the art of not making it about the person looking, but about the person being seen. What is their story? What does what we are seeing mean to them (not us). Under this definition most people spend their lives drawing self centered conclusions about others. Connecting with others in meaningful ways means to see THEM.

The Foundations of A "Day In The Life"

Habits are what form the foundation of who we are and what we become. Humanity is a collective of creatures of habit. Our species' history is rich with stories premised on the forming of habits, the sustaining of habits and the dissolution of habits. On a personal level, developing habits that are beneficial or not, is something I have turned into a life experiment.

Let me give you an example: Over the last couple of years I have adopted a start and finish to my day that has several key ingredients. Before I get out of bed each morning I take the time to feel what it's like to be in my body. I express gratitude for this body that I travel this life in. Then I take a step outward and recognize my surroundings, and I am grateful for all of the many things - the roof over my head, the food I have to eat, the many things that make my life easier, more enjoyable - I express and feel tremendous gratitude for all of this. And I keep moving out in my mind, away from myself and into the world recognizing all that I have to be grateful for, all that enriches and blesses my life. And I always end this gratitude exercise by visually opening the door wider to allow more blessings to flow, and to let more light into my personal world. And finally, I release it all out to the world, to humanity, dedicating it to the highest good of all.

When I end my day, right before I go to sleep, I offer thanks for the blessings of that day. And I wrap those blessings in the words of intent for what I would like to see in my life and in the world. I have nine attributes (plus one) that I speak to as I gratefully review the days events. These are:
Peace - That profound peace of deep inner calm that is beyond understanding - that it hold me and the world in the palm of its hand
Power - The ability to create my life as I choose - to make it my glorious work of art and to join with others doing the same
Prosperity - To be blessed with all that I need to accomplish what I wish to accomplish - that my life be abundantly blessed
LOVE - That I be immersed in that AGAPE form of LOVE that is unconditional and profound, that I am a vehicle for its spread in the world
Light - That I be anchored to the "light of the spirit" so that it shines through me, from me, and to me. That I recognize and engage with others who are doing the same
Life - That I be healthy, and happy, and content and balanced, and long lived
Joy - That it be a part of my life every day - in music, in voice, in touch, in dance, in song, in whatever way it plays may it enrich my life
Beauty - That it surround me and fill my environment. That it please me, surprise me, and embrace me in its myriad forms throughout the day
Compassion - That I be able to recognize the suffering of others and that I compassionately respond and help as I can while at the same time reaching out continuously to connected COMPASSION and LOVE to the world at large.
AND recently I added HAPPINESS. As I came to the realization that to feel good and content about all of this was dependent on happiness - on feeling complete and content and delighted with the totality of it all.

These are the nine attributes (plus one) that I close my day with, each day, and then again, in my mind, I open the door wider to allow more into my life and out to the world. And finally, right before going to sleep, I release it all to the world, dedicating it to the highest good of all.

I share this process because these daily habits have changed my life in positive and amazing ways and continue to do so. I have come to trust in these habits and to understand that the daily work of laying the foundation of who I am and what I am going to do, is as important as the actual doing.

With LOVE,
Betsy

Be Considerate of What You Wish For

There has always been, in my mind, such a distinction between what happens in the "waking world"and what happens in the dream world of sleep and imagination. Yet, when I think about it...when I really think about it, the two are inextricably woven together.

I am a functional dreamer...you've heard of functional alcoholics, right? Well, I am a functional dreamer. I purposefully and artfully weave my dreams through my reality. The interesting thing about this process is that the reality takes on the hues, tones, and texture of the dreams...and sometimes...just sometimes...they actually merge and become one...and WOW! That's where the magic of "what might be" meets the medium of "what is".

So right now I am in the middle of a "Dream Weaver"project. I left my 8 to 5, 40+ hours a week job to set sail for the open sea of what might exist beyond the place I felt "less than" in. I am in the midst of dreaming, weaving, living, and ordering what this "new" reality is. So here are some of the criteria I have, so far, that I am weaving into this new way of being:

- I have natural rhythms that will lie at the heart of this life: when I need sleep - I sleep; when I need exercise - I do it; when I need to meditate - I am welcome to do that. In fact, there is a self caring graciousness of acceptance, love, and honor. It is about self care and self love, that is then available to the world in the form of other care, and other love. It is balanced and healthful way for all.

- People are a key component of this reality in an amazingly rich and balance symbiotic way. We collectively lift each other up, care about each other, honor each other, respect each other, and love each other exactly as we each are, with all of our faults and foibles, with all of our brilliance and uniqueness. At the heart of the people in my life lies acceptance, love, and care.

These are two of a number of the threads that I am weaving this new dreamscape with. I am pleased to say that even as the body ages, even as end of life is inevitable, the dream continues, the creativity flows and at the heart of it Love thrives.

With Love,
Betsy

We Are All Just Walking Each Other Home

Sometimes I find myself stepping back and marveling at the complexity that humanity has created in order to get from birth to death.  We are all just walking each other home.  It seems pretty simple when it's put that way.  Each moment of the journey is rich with possibility, with blessings, with challenges, but in the end it's just a step on a journey of many steps. It is too easy to get wrapped around the axle of past, present, or future - to loose perspective.  For some, being wrapped around the axle of life has become a way of life.  For some, the beauty and simplicity and camaraderie of the journey has been lost in the man made complexity.  

We are all just walking each other home.  

Does it matter if you are first, or last?  In truth I enjoy walking shoulder to shoulder so that we can touch, so that on this short journey of a lifetime we can be more intimate, and get to know each other.  I would like to foster a relationship with those that I walk with of listening, and caring, or helping and encouraging and of gracious generosity of heart, mind, and spirit. We should not be tripping, hindering, blocking, restricting, or in anyway impeding or making the journey artificially difficult.  That is foolish, childish, selfish behavior that inevitable leaves one alone on a dusty road to death. There is no purpose for petty nuances on this simple journey.

We are all just walking each other home.

Walk with me awhile.  I appreciate your company.  I am pleased and honored to walk with you, and I am grateful for your company, however, long we walk together.  Thank you for enriching our walk home.

With Love

Betsy

The Rhythms and Patterns of Life

Lately I have been tuning in more to the rhythms and patterns of my life and life around me.  My patterns and rhythms are fairly simple, and because I have lived with them, they are easy to figure out and understand.  I like that things have slowed down some from mid-life.  I like that simplicity and lack of complication suites me now.  Is it a different life than I imagined?  I can't really say.  It is different than my parents led me to believe, but then their lives probably couldn't survive in today's world, and how they did things would not fit well anymore. That means there's been a lot of re-learning on my part in order to get to this point.  I am tremendously blessed.  What I find interesting is that most of what I have had to adjust for is man made changes, like how to make a living, and the impermanence of relationships and familial units.  The things of nature have changed some due to man's influence, but not as much as the man made constructs.

I recently had a conversation with a friend around the concept of living past 100 years old.  Aging isn't always easy, and the thought of dragging the deterioration process out longer just doesn't appeal to me.  As it is we have senior homes brimming with elderly who's quality of life is hugely diminished.  I ask myself, why would I want to live longer if it's under conditions that, for me, carry no attraction?  For me, the answer is, I don't.  I don't know how I will meet my end.  As in the rest of my life, there is so much that I just couldn't have predicted.  What I do know is that I will continue to create the art that is my life for as long as I can, and as richly and abundantly and graciously as I can.  I will let the rest take care of itself.  That's probably the nicest thing about getting older, the end for us all is the same, so how we get there becomes so much easier to orchestrate as the options narrow.