I am borrowing the title of Margaret Wheatley’s book about new ways of being in organizations, Finding Our Way. I read it a few years ago (and recommend it) when I was working in a company where my way of being was challenged by a man who was operating from an old paradigm of crushing creativity to show his power and thus gain control. It didn’t work for him as it isn’t working at all anymore. We are being asked to consider alternate routes in our behavior. It is nearly to the point of the planet demanding that we do things differently. I believe we are at that point. We are taking a look at our acceptable lives and making some changes.

A decade ago I changed up my life in a very big way. I thought I had everything I needed to begin this new life I envisioned. It didn’t work out that way. Instead of finding what I planned, I found this person I kinda knew was there way down deep inside, hiding mostly because I was sure she was not what people wanted to see, not good enough I thought. I did the comparison and I normally came up short.

Along the way I have met a whole bunch of other people who felt the same way and many who still do. We are learning the value of being ourselves, warts and all. Life is exhilarating once those steps are taken, or at the least very interesting. The whole of existence conspires to help us along and when we pay attention there is an brand new road laid out before us.

We are not so different from one another. We may be at different stages of growth, different life circumstances, economic means but we are pretty much the same on the inside. We are, as the bumper sticker pronounces, all one…and we’re here to support one another to live the life of our dreams. The one where we get to be who we are, whoever that is. If we aren’t who we are, who will be? Nobody else can be. Each of us is individually beautifully part of one big puzzle. And you know what happens when there is a piece missing.

Life. Loving it. Fearing it. Wishing it. Hoping it.
All balled up in the chaos of trying to make it work.
A vision of running through a forest,
Screaming down a winding path that leads to the river
Belly flopping in, surfacing with a burst of laughter.

Others have joined in,
having made the same wild splash
into the cooling waters,
adding to the sparkling sound of noisy joy.
The laughter settles down,
And I relax into the water,
lie back and float with the current.

The sky is a vivid blue
with scattered white puffy clouds.
There is a hush as the water fills my ears
muffling the sounds of life.
It’s peaceful. A respite.

I feed the urge to stand in the water,
find my ground, stepping out,
Lie on a wide, flat rock by the bank.
I want to, and I do, look at my world
with the eyes of a child…upside down.
See the river in the sky
and the sky in the river.
A playful disorientation,
looking at the everything out of context,
enjoying the silliness, playing “what if”.

As long as I am breathing, I will always be alive.
As long as I am alive, I will always be evolving.
As long as I am evolving, I will always be changing.
As long as I am changing, I will always be conscious.
As long as I am conscious, I will always be deliberate.
As long as I am deliberate, I will always be intentional.
As long as I am intentional, I will always be focused.
As long as I am focused, I will always be consistent.
As long as I am consistent, I will always be certain.

The Spectrum of Intentions from Go Gratitude

I have just watched Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent. Tears are still damp on my cheeks. This is the second time I’ve watched this. What I realize this time is that we truly love seeing someone arise in glory from a supposed place of not-so-glorious. Maybe it comes from our own insecurities and feelings that we must be absolutely perfect to  rise above the things we feel keep us down. Susan Boyle shows us that is not so. Hooray, Susan! And thank you for dreaming your dream and making it happen in a way that helps so many feel their own dreams are possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Evidence of that is all around us as we move into spring. It’s time for us to let go of the blankets we have used to stay comfortable during the cold, dark nights. It is time to stand in all our beauty and show ourselves to ourselves and to the world. Good morning, Starshine. The earth says hello.