It's not enough....

It’s not enough:
• for me to breathe once a day….and hope that for the remainder of my day, someone else will breathe for me.
• to say ‘no’ only when I’ve run out of reasons not to say ‘yes’, knowing all along that ‘no’ was my truth.
• to be silent to avoid being irritating or annoying or shunned when the absence of my voice ensures the slow but steady advance of a lie.
• to disappear into myself, curl up into a ball, hold my breath and remain motionless, terrified that if seen, I’ll have to take a stand for something!
• to only find my courage now and then, when I know that courage is what it takes to change my world.
• to hide, when being seen is what will make the difference.
• to be mindful once a week when mindfulness is the essence of a meaningful life.

Yesterday, in rich, meaty, satisfying conversation with a small group of women (you know how it goes – women gathering in small groups, talking….The Force that will change the world!), one was heard to say “It’s hard to change.” In that moment, I wondered: if the word ‘hard’, disappeared from our vocabulary, what truth would we discover about ourselves as we searched for the word that would capture what was under the ‘hard’ of change. “It’s frightening…”? “It’s frustrating…”? “It’s lonely….”? When we let go of ‘hard’, the next layer finds room to rise up and present another piece of the puzzle.

We also talked of trust. As we did, I realized that I have come to make the distinction between trusting others (external referencing) and trusting myself. And even in that, there is trusting my Self (that direct line to the signal that flows through the body that lives in this physical world) and there is trusting myself (the natural intelligence of the organic being that I am…the one that does the dance of the signals 2 and 3). When I relax and trust my Self, life is easy.

At the end of November, we will gather again. And once again, I’ll discover more of who I can become.

Breathing is good…..

Sometimes, you have to stir the pot....

...to discover the tasty morsels that have slowly sunk to the bottom in the great stew of life!

Today, I'm exhilerated and exhausted - both at the same time. I am just buzzing with the potential that we all are - ready to rock and roll! - and in the same instant, am ready for a nap. It occurs to me that this is another real-life, real-time example of how two distinct experiences can occupy the same space at the same time. We really are quite magnificent! Wherever did we learn to think of ourselves as puny?

The Huna Retreat was yet another unique experience for me (see my Huna Blog for more). This was the 4th Annual Huna Retreat at Oceanstone, and I know there will be many more. As I engaged, watched and listened, I was filled with such deep love for our shared humanity. It is never about anything but each of the unique beings that we are.

It is never about technique or ritual, intended only to remind us of who we are. When we remember, they become irrelevant.

It is never about any 'other', as we are not separate. In that realization, there is no 'other'.

When I breathe, and allow myself to relax into the breath, I am carried effortlessly into the much larger life that awaits my living of it. All I have to do is be willing to show up and get out of my own way. The rest takes care of itself.

This time, I was so mindful of the elements. The warmth of the sun. The rain. The winds relationship with the water. The movement of the trees. The birds. Sounds and sensations all 'round. Enlivened elements all around! This time, as requested, we had the clear evidence of the presence of the elements, without the drama! No doubt, Carole appreciated that one. :)

This time, it is as if the elements came out to play! With a gentle fury and an unmistakable presence, the elements flowed their energy through all that we created. As we approached the Higher Self Connection on Saturday night, late afternoon brought a calming of the winds and a light but dense fog (really! both at the same time!) wrapped itself around Oceanstone so that we were cocooned. Later that night, as we walked in the dark to our cabin just up the hill, I could hear the unbelievable roar of the ocean...and for a moment, was deeply grateful that I could not see what it was up to! No doubt, I slept much better for it.

This year, the experience of the Higher Self Connection was a collective one. The effect was that of a 'pattern enhancer' effect for each of us. I wonder what called to me to engage that way...

I know that next year, for the 5th Annual Huna Retreat at Oceanstone, it will shape itself differently and yet, in some way, its elements will be the same. I am always delighted and surprised by it all.

One thought that stayed with me through the three days, just kept tugging at my soul. I was very aware of the gift to the world by the Hawaiian people of the Aloha Spirit. At great cost to themselves, they showed us that it was possible to live from that state of 'invite and allow'. I continue to believe it to be possible AND that we do not have to lose ourselves because of it.

Aloha with edges. Fire, Water, Earth and Air - all present. In that, I too can become all present.

Breathing is good.....

Small groups - big impact

Day 4 of Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed is over. This small group of women covered more ground in four days than most of us cover in four years.

It wasn't always easy and it wasn't always fun - and it was worth every second. Today, they look and sound different. They are more awake..more present...more connected to themselves. They have clarity. They have a willingness to engage. They have the desire to continue to discover more about themselves.

I continue to believe that women are the key. Each of these women is going home today, more aware of themselves and their potential to have an impact on their world - for no reason other than their willingness to be authentic.

Thirty seconds of authenticity can undo decades of cultural conditioning. No wonder so many are terrified of it and committed to preventing it.

Before we can find its meaningful expression, we must redefine leadership so that we can live it in ways that do not destroy us and the people we love.

I'm tired and know that it has been worth every second. I know there will be many, many more Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed experiences. As women gather in small groups, I'll be there to open doors, identify pathways and gateways, and invite and allow. In those moments, it will all unfold exactly as it should.

Breathing is good....

Leadership as a result

Day 4 - and we're almost done. Bellies full from yet another great meal at Oceanstone; a few off to shop at Peggy's Cove; and we return to complete the cycle of this experience in readiness for the next. Beginnings and endings and new beginnings - all standing in the same space, at a different time.

Who would have thought that we could pack so much living into such a short period of time! Time invested is irrelevant to transformation. It happens in a breath.

So far, it has become abundantly clear that leadership is only a process at lower levels of thinking...at operational levels and below. At higher levels of thinking, leadership becomes an outcome, sourced by an experience of authenticity that becomes the invitation for that in others.

In the industrial model, leadership is a set of behaviours. In a quantum world, leadership is an experience that is the byproduct of something else. That 'something else' can and will create a new world for us all.

I'll be back later....and breathing IS good.

Leadership is a state of mind....

Day 3 of the 'Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed' women's retreat. More than any other time, today it is very clear to me: leadership is a state of mind. It has nothing to do with credentials, positional leverage, social status, etc....it has to do with who we are.

LIke charity begins at home, leadership begins in creating our own lives. We lead the same way we live. How can it be otherwise? What is leadership without the leader? Am I a living expression of that which I seek from/demand of others?

Does 'leadership' require 'follower-ship'? Our current models of and philosophies about leadership are profoundly out-of-step with all that we know of a quantum world. I wonder what it is that continues to have us believe that we can move forward in the discovery of a quantum world and continue to be who we have already been...and lead as we have always led? Just how silly are we.....

Leadership is personal....highly personal...perhaps even an experience and/or expression that is intimate. Intimacy with 'self'. Leadership as 'being' rather than 'doing'. We talk about it as a philosophy...but do we have what it takes to live it?

It's been a long day.

Breathing is good....

The ragged edge of intensity

Day 2 of the Emerging Futures: Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed. Metaphors are wonderful things. Today's was that of smoke leaving the fireplace and wafting into the room. It was not the only smoke there.

Through the day, I was aware of the degree to which women have become habituated to being nice; to staying in the conversations at the level of the veneer and not straying too close to the wood. As I sit and listen, another conversation forms itself inside me - the one that speaks to lives in a box...or lives existing and not lived...or lives on 'pause' while waiting for something to make living it more interesting. In those moments, clear that what it will take to disturb the deep sleep of habituation and complacency is something robust and rugged enough to stand the mind-and-body numbing effects of coma; and ragged and jagged enough to penetrate the thick calous that has formed over this successful, reasonable and moderate life. I wonder sometimes, if the coma is better or worse than the shock of waking up.

It's not up to me to decide which is better. It is up to me to trust them - and myself - and recognize that if they have chosen to put themselves into these conversations, they are doing so because they're ready for the acceleration that comes with it.

Day 2 and it feels like we've been here for weeks! And, as much as I know how that feels, I also know that when Thursday rolls around to 4:30 and it's time to leave, it will all have passed in the blink of an eye.

Were I to identify what I believe is the most detrimental of the multitude of ways that women keep themselves small, it would be to presume that other women can't take it...can't handle it...are not up to the task of engaging in ways that are clear, open, honest and direct. Women do this with each other and presuppose that to demonstrate any authentic expression of that which is raw and ragged is somehow going to overwhelm the 'other'. In all the years that I've been working with women, I can count on one hand those who have been overwhelmed by an authentic expression by another - even when accompanied by intensity and noise. On one hand! That's not bad. I've been doing this for 20 years.

Today, as our day came to a close, I asked all of the women to ponder this question: what comes to mind when you think of being alone? When you consider that taking a stand for something that is deeply meaningful to you may result in others moving away from you, what is it like to consider being alone? What is the relationship between leadership and standing alone?

Tomorrow, we move to a smaller space that is closer to the edge of the water. A stiff wind, and the Atlantic will be lapping at the door! In much closer physical contact and in conversations that will cut closer to the bone, the intensity will increase yet again. I have no idea where the exploration of leadership will go AND I do know that it will be compelling and riveting! These leadership conversations are not about redefining leadership 'out there' but are about redefining and reshaping leadership as an expression of the authentic and unique presence that each of these women happens to be.

There is no leadership 'out there'. There is only each of us, living an awakened life or running habits. Who we are as 'leader' will replicate that in the lives of others.

Breathing is good....

Women, breast cancer, food...and men

I sit here, in the dark, feeling the need to write yet unsure about what seems to need saying such that my body has been awake since 4:30 a.m. Again, a restlessness that prods me to consciousness of body and mind, pushing for connection to my fingers and the keyboard. And so, here I am, not quite knowing where to start and ready to engage nonetheless.

I know the entangled threads of my own thoughts include notions of women and leadership; women and breast cancer; the need women seem to have to apologize when not agreeing or finding something lacking; food and its stranglehold on women and their bodies; and last, but most definitely not least, men. Were these neatly laid out in some pattern or framework, it would be much easier for me to collect my thoughts, one leading nicely to the next, formed in reason and supported by an obvious logic…..but such is not the case.

It is so much easier inside myself when that neat, logical pathway is there. I can feel confident and comfortable in the tidiness that logic seems to bring to a natural organization of information. However, what moves inside me does not feel like it will lead to answers. It feels much more like pieces of questions that, if asked, will somehow peel away to reveal the much larger, far more important question that is the underpinning of the chaos in my own mind – and THAT will bring some kind of relief by allowing a ‘truth’ to become identifiable so that t I can say ‘Ah, yes! There it is! That’s what it’s about!”

I have no idea what any of it is. I just know that it sits there….like a large meal taking far too long to complete its journey.

Women. We are an interesting specimen, indeed. We know we are more…we know we want more…and yet we seem so unwilling to just TAKE. We want, but even more we want to be invited to take. Permission given by other than self, that we may be our self..

Add to that the need to include everybody. The need to make sure that others are ok with our desire/need/want to take…even when permission is granted…unable to be/have more than anyone else without ensuring that we have at least, invited and tended to.

Women and men. Our apparent need to find ways to ensure that we do not imply that (how dare we!) we must move forward on our own. That at this time in the world, the vast majority of men will not engage differently because they cannot engage differently! In this moment, far more than not have been taken hostage by their own history and their genetics and over time, they have created eyes that can no longer see. Even though women can see, it is as if we feel the need to apologize for that and be sure to hold tight to the arm of men and insist that so can they.

Breast cancer. It’s not going away. Not only is it not going away, it’s spreading around the world. Glancing through the latest issue of Time magazine (which I bought to read on the plane and managed to leave on the floor of the media room at home, along with a couple of books….), it’s clear that there is much more to say about it – and I guess I’ll have to come back to this one next week. However, MY body tells me that there is an urgent need to pay attention. I don’t need anyone else to tell me that.

Women and their bodies. Food. Body. Connected and yet, one not really having much to do with the other. Body shape. Body size. Body mass – or lack thereof. Food as salve. Food as punishment. Food as temporary memory loss. Food as distraction. Food as a way of purging us of the truth of our own lives. Food as the cork in the bottle of our own outpouring of rage. Just how much of it has nothing to do with staying alive…staying well….and has so much more to do with acting out what we dare not engage directly?

And how are they all connected???? Because I know they are.

I know that women and our willingness to lead has something to do with men.

I know that women and our need to apologize when we see what they do not, has something to do with men.

I know that women and breast cancer has something to do with men.

I know that women and food and our bodies has something to do with men.

Is it about men? It can be – and much more, it’s about women. About how we abandon ourselves. How we pull in and make ourselves small. How we hold our breath so that we cannot be found. How we make ourselves crazy by knowing we are so much more and yet can’t seem to bring ourselves up to our full measure in the event that we tower over another. How we shuffle along, carrying on our backs the myths of the obligations and responsibilities that have long defined our purpose in the culture, crippling ourselves in the process and exhausting ourselves on the journey when we have barely begun.

Although it feels like a paradox, here’s what I believe: men don’t need me to take care of them or tend to them or make excuses for them. What men need from me is for me to be real; to claim what I see and engage; to move in the direction and with the speed that is who I am and not be less in my misguided need to coddle them. They don’t need it! They are very much up to reclaiming their own lost territory of Self! And when I do make myself less from my desire to be ‘caring’ and ‘compassionate’ and ‘considerate’, I sabotage it all by losing momentum and focus, and getting stuck in the morass of what is when all that could be fades into my habits of being. Perhaps we need to redefine caring, compassionate and considerate so that we can give without being consumed.

Women are dying. And men are dying, too. In body and in spirit. Losing interest in living the lives that we have because we cannot give ourselves permission to create the lives that we want.

If women do not break free from the very habits of culture that have taught them to be grateful for their bondage, there is no hope for the men, either. Women MUST make this journey alone and in the company of each other. I walk my path alone – no one can walk it for me – and when I look right and left, I see other women walking their path, alone.

On this trek, there is neither time nor place to carry another. It is up to women to find a new place to stand and take on the shaping and the creating. We must leave base camp and head up the mountain, becoming willing to make the climb on our own, facing its treacherous terrain and inclement weather. Are we up to it?

This is not an easy thing to do since we know that men have been making this climb for generations. “They know so much more about it! They have maps and signposts and tools! Maybe we can bring them with us so that we don’t get lost!” And in doing so, we will only go where they have already gone – and that will not serve any of us.

I have sons. I have a life partner. I have a brother. I have a father. I love them all – and I am responsible for none of them. My sons are their own unique presence and will shape their lives as they see fit. So will my partner and my brother and my father. Regardless of what I think they can be or should be, they define their lives. And the lives they define, I take no responsibility for. It is THIS approach that keeps us all vibrant and strong – and not necessarily in agreement! Individuals choosing to be in a collective, rather than a collective that demands surrender to its lowest common denominator.

The men in my life – the ones I live with and the ones that I have worked with – know that I do not look to them to save me, or carry me or fix it for me or guide me. What they do know is that I am both willing and able to stand alone; and I am also both willing and able to stand beside them and with them as they engage their own journey. I am formidable and do not apologize for it.

Sometimes, it is not about being equal. It is not about more or less. It is about emerging into the unique expression of who I am without self-imposed limitations. After all, if there are no ‘others’ handicapping my creations, my outcomes are truly my own. Lost to me is the possibility of making someone else responsible for what I create and I am left to face myself.

Breathing is good….

Rapid, profound and generative change

Day 1 of 'Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed'. Although our day has been a leisurely one (3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon), it feels as if we've been here for days! Insights, discoveries and instant change are not a function of time invested. They are the natural by-product of our willingness to be present, to be aware and to engage.

I watch...I listen...and in each voice, I hear the determination to have their choices be greater than their fear. I hear a willingness to stay in the tough conversations, particularly when those conversations are a direct threat to all that they know to be 'true' and 'real' and 'right'. This willingness leads to soon discovering that all these are maleable and can be redesigned to transform their lives.

Over dinner, we shared stories about our lives and the people in them. We laughed a lot! But then, seems to me that laughter is a given in so many conversations that I'm in. If we can't laugh at ourselves, the remaining choices are often those that make our lives so much smaller, very quickly.

The women in this experience are not ready to settle for less than who they know themselves to be capable of becoming, in their private and public lives. I have a lot of time for that; and I'm willing to do what it takes to move forward.

Tomorrow is another day and one that I know will be filled with surprises for us all.

Breathing is good.....

The power of contagion

Human beings are contagious, of that there is no doubt. For me, the more important question has always been: what am I spreading?

Mindless contagion (the spread of a thought, behaviour or intention from one deeply habituated/sleeping being to another) will occur, whether I want it to or not. It's called enculturation. It is an essential part of who we are as living, organic systems. Far more potent are the implications of contagion of an awakened collective.

I just got a note from Frankie Picasso - host of Mission Unstoppable blogtalk radio. To date, there have been more than 190 downloads of our Thursday evening radio conversation that included Amy, Lori and Anne.

To me, this is what it's all about. Passing it on. People being willing to share with others an experience that has been meaningful for them. Being willing to declare themselves and be seen by others to have been drawn to and/or moved by something....anything!...that has awakened meaning in their day-to-day life.

When we are 'private' and 'secret' about what we are moved by, we end up stuck with what we've got. How could anyone know the potential we carry? How could the vision ... the dream that could shape our lives .... ever take hold when we are unwilling to do other than just dream?

Intention 2009 will happen - and it will happen because there is a new wave already moving. In this moment, I know that there are now 190 more awakened expressions of that wave....

Breathing is good....

Retreats and new projects

Today, I leave for Oceanstone for a week. The first four days will be spent in the company of women, engaging in one of the most potent conversations I know of: that of 'Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed'....in an Emerging Futures context. This is the third such retreat, of which I know there will be many, many more.

This time, I had the opportunity to engage with each of the women in a one-hour conversation to explore what their interests/issues/concerns are, which was recorded for their personal use. Two weeks after the program, we'll do it again. Each woman will then have a record of her own journey and evolution, to be revisited in those moments when it seems that there is nothing they can do about their own lives. What I've learned over the years is that as we grow and evolve, re-listening offers new insights since we are not who we once were.

This trip also opens the door for me to another Huna Retreat. This, I do for me. Every year, in the company of 'ohana' (or family of choice), I get to relax into the Huna that has so profoundly shaped my life and just let it flow. I never know where it will go - and I am always suprised and delighted by the experience and its outcomes. This year, the experience is calling to and shaping itself around the notion of Connections....to Self, to each other and to our world. Given Intention 2009, this feels important and will carry through to the April 2008 Mauna Lani Experience and Huna Retreat. There are many big and life-altering changes coming and I know that for me, these are the stepping stones to moving easily through and to the other side.

Not exactly a hardshp! Seven nights at a 4-star, oceanfront retreat with great company, potent conversations, great food.....and at least one massage to ease my body into making sure that I stay open to it all! The people I love are all taken care of and it's a great day to travel. Life is good!

Lori will be joining me for Huna this year. Her recent posting to her second blog 'A Whole Healthy Me' has led to a project that will see Lori and I working together in a process to explore our relationship to food....and all of the things that eating represents that have nothing to do with hunger! Lori's courage and willingness to contribute has resulted in her agreement to record our conversations with the potential to share this process with others who may be experiencing the same kind of challenges. That's one project that I'm very eager to begin. Lori is fearless when it comes to her own evolution - and so am I.

Time to get on with packing. There is always much to bring to these experiences, including all the things that have to get squeezed into my suitcase!

Breathing is good.....

Radio interview now available

Well, that was fun! Frankie Picasso created great space for Amy McNaughton, Lori Walton and Anne Thibeault-Berube and myself to talk about the things that are meaningful to each of us. Without exception, the four of us found that the time just flew by. Imagine...four women running out of chat time.... Who would have thought....

The link to the radio interview is:

http://BlogTalkRadio.com/missionunstoppable/2007/10/11/The-the-Company-of-Genius-In-the-Company-of-Women

(Other links to Frankie, Amy, Lori and Anne in posting of Thursday, October 9th, below.)

My hope is that many will go, listen, find something meaningful and pass this link along to others they feel would be awakened to somthing meaningful by listening to the interview. I know it will require that each of us turn up the volume on our own voice in order for a different sound to be heard above the defeaning roar of the white noise of our lives.

It occurred to me when the interview was over : what a great idea! What a great way to create yet another Space within which Intention 2009 can come to life! I'm about to look into creating an interactive process that will invite listeners from around the world to engage in conversations about the evolution of the species; and how each of us is a unique and critical part of that process. (Without the individual,there is no potential for a collective.) This is a conversation that focuses on the global outcome through the individual awakening. I think of it as an application of 'Think globally - act locally' to human behaviour and its impact on the collective. I can't change the collective. What I can do is change myself and naturally infect the collectinve just be being that changed Self.

Amy, Lori and Anne were terrific! As I listened to them interact with Frankie, I felt so grateful to be me, with each of them in my life. I remember them all when we first met; and I heard in their voices so much more the truth of who they have already become in the world. As much as they each have already made profound changes in their lives and the lives of those around them, I know that each of them is destined to have an impact on the world. They are willing to see and be seen, to have their voices ring out loud and clear AND they have valuable and important wisdom to share with us all - each in her own, unique way. Life is good!

Last night reminded me of days gone by when I was part of several radio and tv live, call-in, hour-long shows. I loved it! No...not strong enough...I LOVED IT!! For me, there is this wonderful, intense, dynamic, creative tension in those live experiences. Real people, real life....real potential waiting to awaken. I'm up for that.

I'd love to talk with people from around the world on what's meaningful for them in the whole personal/global transformation conversation. Over my lifetime, I've known of so much transformation promised and so little delivered. I know, without a doubt, that it is not about US. It is not that we are not up to it or willing. It is that the process that we are already stuck in, with our humanity as we've been taught to believe it to be, is not BIG ENOUGH to make room for us to be able to find what we seek.

I know transformation - in an instant! - is possible and available and accessible to us all. I've seen it - over and over again - for the last 20 years. I know how it works and I know that every single one of us is up to it. I also know that if we don't know HOW, we end up frustrated, angry, resentful and bitter that our great efforts go unrewarded and without the benefit of the outcomes we desire. Life ceases to be an adventure and becomes a sentence to be served. Not pretty.

I learned long ago: I cannot experience a paradigm shift (i.e. transformation) from the paridigm that I'm in. The trick is how to move from the paradigm I'm alread in to the one that will allow for what I want. My intellect hasn't a clue. My body knows the way, if I will only allow it to take me there.

Stay tuned...literally! There is much more to come.

Breathing is good.....

New Awards Dinner for Women

I recently got an email from a woman in BC requesting nominations for women considered worthy of recognition for having done something/created something/given something/made something happen/etc.... It struck me that without exception (at least, in my awareness of how it works), all is premised on the need for someone else to say that you are worthy/deserving/etc.

Women are particularly bad at this. Although many men are able to stand and tell the world how wonderful they are and what great things they've accomplished, most women I've come in contact with are very uneasy about doing just that. We hang back...waiting to be seen, to be invited, to be acknowledge, to be given permission to speak/do/act by someone outside of us. We've become very adept at only allowing ourselves to be what we think other people see us as. We hide so much of who we are.

So, it struck me : it's time for an Awards Banquet for Women (men can be guests) called 'Toot Your Own Horn Awards' (TYOH awards). At these awards, women get to stand up and declare to the world what they want to the world to know about what they've created/designed/manifested/etc. that has profoundly changed their lives and holds the potential to have an impact on the world.

None of this waiting for someone else, in their finite wisdom, to point the finger in your direction and cast a light into the shadows in which you stand! We'll have no more of that!

Picture this: women who are ready for a TYOH award purchase a table of 8 and invite 7 people that they want to share their lives with. Each woman who purchases a table gets to speak for 15 uninterrupted minutes, in whatever way works best for her, about what she has created, what difference it makes and why it's important to her. Imagine what wonders will unfold!

Great and powerful voices, speaking to manifestations that are unique and highly personal! The only criteria for consideration is that you care enough to take a stand for what is meaningful to you.

Count me in on that one! I've already got 7 people in my life that I want to share this evening with. And you can be sure that it will be in a beautiful place, with great food and great service, and we'll be treated with the great consideration we desire....and are willing to create for ourselves.

Hmmm...I must get to work on that one.....

Breathing is good!

Upcoming Radio Show

This Thursday, from 5:00 to 6:00 pm Ottawa time, I'll be a guest on the internet radio show Mission Unstoppable with Coach Frankie Picasso. The conversation will focus on the new four-day women's retreat called Emerging Futures: Leadership Redefined - Reclaimed.

I'll be joined by Lori Walton, Amy McNaughton and Anne Thibeault-Berube, all of whom were in the original pilot in June. In their own words, we'll discover the difference that this women's retreat has made in their lives.

I'll be leaving for Halifax on Sunday for the next offering of this women's retreat. I know that the June program propelled me and others present into taking action NOW rather than 6 weeks or 6 months from now. As a result, lives have already been changed. I know that Amy, Lori and Anne all have compelling and important stories to tell of the impact, for each of them.

My colleague and friend Sheila sent me a note yesterday, mentioning that she had just noticed that 2009 is the date on the Institute's Declaration of Evolution by Intention. Her comment was: "When I first read about the 2009 goal on Evolution by Intention, I thought it was a lofty undertaking. Now, I KNOW that it is imperative that it get out there, so others can even consider it as a choice. I am totally amazed by the sheer ease of it, and the SIMPLICITY of it, and the ALOHA of it, and, yet, the incredible depth and breadth of it. Genius!"

I know that the WEL-Systems body of knowledge, Quantum TLC, The CODE Model, Evolution by Intention and Emerging Futures change lives - quickly, profoundly, generatively and effortlessly. After almost 20 years of results, there is no question about that. It is not that I believe everyone should engage in this experience; it is that I want everyone to have access that they might choose for themselves.

I, for one, am unwilling to struggle through my life when I know there are other ways.

Breathing is good.....

Giving thanks....

I’ve been pondering this notion of ‘thanksgiving’…of giving thanks. I was wondering to whom I am giving thanks?

It may well be that many give thanks to their god for their lives. Others don’t have anyone to thank in that there is no god in their lives. And still others feel that they have nothing to give thanks for. If anything, they’re angry, resentful and filled with fear.

For me, I am mindful less of giving thanks and much more of taking this time to pause and take an extended look at my life. In this pause is an awareness that I have created it all – the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ – and in that awareness, I am mindful of the opportunities for discovery, growth, evolution and potential that my life is a living invitation to consider.

In the moment of this pause, perhaps more than anything else, I am aware that I am loved. I have surrounded myself with people who welcome me into their lives, who value my presence in it and who both welcome and accept me as I am.

I am aware that those who I call family are healthy, well, vibrant, playful and full of potential! Each is their own unique person, with their unique way of moving through their world. The measure of my appreciation of them in this uniqueness means that there are times when their lives include me and other times when their lives are unfolding on a holodeck that does not overlap with mine. It is these streams of new life that make my own that much more interesting.

I am aware that my life and that of the people I love is big, expansive and ever-changing. In this constant flow and flux, there is great joy for me! There are times when the content of that flow and flux can bring me tears, and there are far more times that it brings me a great sense of adventure. In this immense Space, potential unfolds..and as I face into it, I always become more.

I am aware that I have created my life from my choices: from my willingness to listen and to reveal; from my vulnerability and my strength; from my courage and my fear. And it is all mine! Not one moment do I hold as anyone else’s responsibility or creation. Not one breath do I take that I believe anyone else has forced me to breathe…or prevented me from doing so.

I am aware that I choose and then choose again, trusting that each choice is the ‘right’ one for that moment. I have discovered that to be bold in living from one breath to the next; to be unwilling to be bound by who I was yesterday or five minutes ago, is to be constantly in the invitation to be fully alive. As much as this can have its challenges for us all, I am also aware that those who are in my life soon give themselves permission to claim this for themselves. And in that choice, they too become more.

I am aware that my life is full of rich, powerful, compelling and life-enhancing conversations. Conversations with people with whom I am deeply intimate. Conversations with strangers who quickly become so much more. Conversations with those new to my life and those long present. Conversations with individuals and with those who gather in small groups. Conversations that provoke and those that heal. Face-to-face, by email, on the phone….each one crackles with its immediate potential for life to be lived – fully and NOW.

In those rare and brief moments when I forget who I am…when I am lost in the fog of my unwillingness to own my life...a simple sound inside me becomes the pathway home. It is the sound of my own breath, moving in and out of my body. I surrender to it. I fall back into it, like welcoming arms ready to hold me and guide me and do for me what I cannot seem to do for myself. This sound fills my body, soothes my mind and lifts my spirit so that I am able to see beyond my own limitations. In that moment, I am above all that seems to bind me to what I am not, and I can find my way.

I am deeply appreciative of my life and all that graces its expression: the people, the events, the moments in time that linger and become the platform for more. I love and am loved. I am awake. I am willing and able. I expect my life to be a reflection of the rhythm of who I am…of the strength of my beating heart; of the pulse that guides all that flows through me; and most of all, of the connection that I am a living expression of - that connection to the essence of my being that allows it all to be as it is.

I am aware of and deeply value the godforce that I am in the world. I am also aware of the godforce that each of the others who surround me, in my life, also is in the world. I call. Some answer and some do not. And in it all, the godforce that I AM honors that in each of them.

I know that choosing, creates. I know that how I choose, creates my life. In this moment, I choose to recognize all that I have created and be at peace. What I now seek for myself in my world is to create a collective of others who recognize this in themselves and create a collective that is at peace with its own creations. In this, a new world unfolds. It is not about doing anything to the world that we have – it is about manifesting the one we desire.

Breathing is good….

Diving deep and surfacing

Where does the time go? I'm beginning to notice that on the holodeck of my experience, time is doing some interesting things.

Two weeks ago, I had my first experience of Manifesting a Meaningful Life . All I can say is WOW! - what an incredible ride! I'm happy to say that given all that is emerging in my life, I recorded the full six days. I know there were many times when things were coming out of my mouth and I had no idea what they were about. Only when completed, had another slice of life fallen into place. I look forward to listening to the recordings. I know that there is much there for me to discover.

That's a strange feeling. KNowing that the words that came out of my mouth are somehow new to me....and hold new information of which I was not aware when the words were actually spoken. I wonder what that is - and at the same time, I trust it completely.

2008 is lining up to be a year that manifests new gateways. Gateways that allow for acceleration. Gateways that invite new ways to experience my world. I'm eager for it all to continue to unfold and know that all I have to do is continue to trust the truth of my experience, from one breath to the next.

Last week was equally busy and spent more in play. Took a few days to spend time with my Mom who - for those who know her! - is no hardship to be with. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. My mother is one of the most irreverant, sassy and enlivened people I know! This is one time that I sure hope it's genetic.....

This week is already full of exciting and compelling invitations for discovery. Amy has a new office in Dartmouth! Lori is visiting in Ottawa and making her way through the Nation's capital - on foot. Others from the Manifesting experience are taking off like a shot, moving with the force of intention into manifesting their lives in ways that are meaningful to them. And that is really what it's all about. Without meaning, manifesting becomes a force on the loose, kind of like a hose left lying on the ground with water gushing through it. It goes this way and then that, guided only by the force itself with no framework of meaning. I know the women who were here two weeks ago are indeed, a force to be reckoned with.

There is always more. More discovery. More creation. More people to play with. More growth and evolution. My world is an amazing place in which to live and I am grateful for every moment. As I consider the months to come - the time at Oceanstone for the Women's Leadership Retreat, the Huna Retreat; as I consider the coming November experiences for CODE Model Guide certifications; as I look forward to stepping boldly into the next book; and as I breathe a sigh of peace as I know Kona approaches, I know my life is magical. I also know that a magical life is a choice.

One last thing: I was blown away by the magnificence of the space created by Carole and Peter in Knowlton. Grace...immense space....beauty...and a welcoming that melts my heart. Carole and I have been friends since grade 9. Am I that old???? To this day, I have never heard her say an unkind word about another soul. Is there a category for that for the NObel Prize?

Breathing is good....