Frankly Scarlett, I Don't Give a Damn!

DRAMA! It comes with life and when change catches us offguard. For many though, it's the drug of choice.

Drama for the sake of drama is becoming old; the musty-smelling, dusty kind of old. Often, drama is just bad behavior. Take, for instance, the person who walks into a meeting and derails it to meet his or her own needs. Half an hour later, the rest of the participants are sitting there just waiting for the real meeting to begin. Or, think about the screech that comes out of a mother's mouth when their child runs in front of a stranger because they are caught up in being Batman. In reality, the stranger is usually smiling and remembering when they were Batman.

I'm of the mind that screeching and derailing should be reserved for national emergencies ... not because we're so caught up in our own melodrama that we create chaos wherever we go. Drama is addictive. It gives us a reason to live, we get to draw on our skills as resourceful beings. Our inner Academy Award Winning Actor gets to play it's part in the world. Unfortunately, being on the receiving end of drama or around it for any length of time is just plain boring. Chicken Little learned that lesson.

If your Inner Scarlett O'Hara is looking and feeling sort of grey and tattered around the edges, consider retiring from the stage for a while. Instead, focus on the staggering beauty of your child's eyes or have a conversation with a friend where your friend does all the talking and you just listen. Really listen, with every cell in your being. Become the audience instead of the Drama Queen and discover something new in the depths of the beautiful beings around you. What you're likely to discover is that everyone wants a part in the play and it's more fun when we share the stage rather than dominate it.

Many Blessings,

Susan

What do you cherish?

I've been home for 2 days with a stomach bug. I think it's a bug. Or maybe I'm just sick of something and I manifested a reason to sit quietly at home. Honestly, I don't care why. What I care about is taking advantage of time alone to be with my thoughts and feelings. Late in the day, the patio door was open wide enough to let the cats move freely between in and out. The sun was setting and a breeze was making the wind chimes sing. I lay on the couch under a down blanket letting the breeze hit my face and the wind chimes sooth my soul. I watched the tree branches dance in the wind and teeny tiny bugs get swooped around with the gusts. It was a perfect moment in time. It reminded me of being young. I used to take loads of time to be. From a very young age, I relished the fresh air, watched the sun on the water, smiled at the shadows of leaves on the sidewalk. I've always known that nature is the most gifted artist and she never fails to take my breath away. She makes me grateful to be alive. I don't take enough time to just be these days. And the funny thing is, full awareness of breath and life can happen in an instant. I don't have to sit in meditation for parts of hours every day. I consider that torture. Instead, I give myself permission to walk outside and let a sound or smell or a visual cast a smooth blanket of beauty on me. I give myself permission to be satisfied with the smallest moment that reminds me I'm alive and I'm fortunate and I'm enough.

What do you cherish in the smallest, most quiet moments of a day?

Many, many blessings ... Susan

The Inside-Out of Feng Shui

There's an inside and an outside to Feng Shui, and understanding that the flow between the two can go in either direction is one of the keys to the magic of the process.

When we place objects in our environment, when we select our environment, we are giving ourselves subtle clues about what's happening on the inside.  In fact, we are screaming at ourselves to PAY ATTENTION!  Your own desire to move things around in your home is you trying to get your own attention about how you feel inside.  That's the Inside-Out flow.  The Outside-In flow is when you purposefully and intentionally change something in your environment to affect change inside of you.  This is you beginning to work with the subtle energies of the world to bring about change in your life.  This is you creating new perspective in your environment, and that external change begins to cycle in to your very consciousness.  

The steps toward bringing Feng Shui magic into your life do not demand that you intellectually understand all the rules in order for it to work.  There's an old saying:  "I'll believe it when I see it."  This basically means "prove it to me intellectually, then I'll buy into it".  And there's a new saying: "I'll see it when I believe it."  This is where Feng Shui rubber meets the road.  

Belief that something else is possible creates an energetic softening in you.  And when you are willing to believe that something else is possible, you create an opening for positive change.  And remember, if change is hard, you're making it hard.  Life and the Universe want your life to be amazing.  All you have to do is let go enough in order for positive change to happen.  

Gratitude is a great first step toward change.  Look around you and notice one thing that is great in your life, even if it's as insanely simple as: "I just got a pedicure and I love my red toenails".  Let yourself get really happy about your toes for a few minutes, then take that feeling and apply it to an area of life that challenges you.  For example, you hate your job.  It makes you miserable because everyone is against you.  Take your Happy Red Toe Feeling and point it toward your job.  Allow yourself to admit ONE thing about your job that doesn't suck and let your Happy Red Toes infuse that thing with happiness.  Notice where you resist.  Notice whether this is easy or hard.  Notice if your mind is saying "this is stupid".  There's a lesson in what comes up for you IF you're willing to be objective enough to notice.  The last step is to be grateful that you noticed something different in this process.  Get it?  No matter what comes up, be grateful that you're creating awareness.  If "this is stupid" comes up, be grateful for it!  Be happy that you have a skeptical voice inside your head that keeps you from running down th road after every new fad that sweeps the nation.  Then ... notice what's there now and be grateful.  

Life is truly what we make it and the sooner we stop forcing and start allowing (with healthy boundaries, of course), the sooner life begins to flow.   

Many blessings, and may you step into a slightly greater version of yourself soon.  You're worth it!  

Susan

Wind and Time

Wind.  It woke me last night with it's force.  Gusts that were certain to bring the house down and now rain so hard that it seems like the heavens are slamming their fists down on the town of Clayton.  Feng Shui means Wind and Water.  These are two elements that effect subtle change over decades or instant change when they show up with fury.  It appears that fury is the answer in these first few days of the New Year.  

New Year.  Hmmmm.  According to the Chinese calendar, New Year is 2 months away.  According to the Mayan calendar, New Year comes in July.  And yet we celebrate (with fury) the coming of the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar, which has a casual connection to the movement of the planets.  It is a marking of time that simulates the movement of the moon through its cycles, and it is "adjusted" occasionally with Leap Year.  How does this clunky marking of time impact our lives?  Take a minute to notice in your being and in your body how you feel about January marking the beginning of the year.  Do you feel in synch or do you feel something else is true?  Now notice how you feel when you think about the heavens, about the movement of the moon and the sun through the sky.  Let your consciousness float into a different awareness of time and notice how your body feels.  What's true for you in this moment?  What, if anything, needs to change to help you feel "in synch" with your day, your week and your month?  

You are a product of the world around you and you are not separate from your surroundings.  Take this awareness into your day and your week and notice if anything shifts.  

I'd love to hear from you!  With blustery blessings on this furious morning,  

Susan

Things that make you go Hmmmmm

Here I sit, at the tail end of 2007.  I look back on a year of travel, connection, new beginnings, endings, reconciliations and I'm oh so grateful for my life.  

No contemplations this time.  Just a GINORMOUS (new fave word) wish of abundance to you and yours as you say good-bye to one year and look forward to another.  

C'mon in and share what's good and what you'll change in the New Year.  Let's celebrate together.  

Blessings!  

Susan

Cats, a Red Hat and Gratitude

It's Thanksgiving morning and my eyes popped open at 4:40am as if to say "don't miss a minute of this day". So, I woke up, made a cup of coffee, donned my long denim coat with the fake fur collar and cuffs, found a red stocking hat and headed into the back yard with my cats to stare at the stars. It's cold this morning ... about 40 degrees. My cats love being outside in the cold and they were VERY excited that I joined them this morning. Mike, the big one, was first in line for my lap and a cuddle. Lots of purring, lots of head scratching, then a leaf moved and he was "on it"! Maggie ran over when she figured out Mike was done. No cuddling for Maggie ... just a scratch and a tail pull. Any more would have distracted her from being "on alert". She's tiny and she loves to be outside, but she runs inside at the first sign of trouble. Not Mike, he defends his yard against anything. Somehow, those two little guys have put a smile on my face despite the hour. They have successfully busted me out of my normal not-a-morning-person grumpiness and I'm grateful. My cats remind me that it's okay to ask for love, it's okay to act like a nut when a leaf moves across the ground and it's okay to beg shamelessly for what you want.

Today, when things can get a little rushed and hectic and stressful (family and meal prep can do that to us!), take a lesson from my cats or from the little kids in your life. Do something nutty, ask for a hug and laugh when things get weird. And above all, be grateful for the life that you have, exactly as it is and notice how everything around you softens in response.

Many, Many Blessings!

Susan

Congestion

What is the silver lining in a Cold? I look for silver linings and I think that's my spiritual practice. I have a cold that took about 4 days to creep up on me then it knocked me down. Against my will and in favor of good judgment, I'm staying in bed one more day. This is the day that challenges me to the core. My energy is better but my head feels like it's the size of my house. I CAN work and there will be a cost if I don't let my body naturally move toward health. Which brings us to the question in my mind today: where else in my life do I push toward conclusion when a natural solution will present itself, if only I'd leave it alone?

I contend that much of our stress in life occurs because we can't leave well enough alone. We create our own chaos because we can't just let things run their natural course. Find one place in your day where you find that you're pushing on something that doesn't need to be pushed. Stop pushing and see what happens. Notice how life takes care of itself, people handle their own problems and the world doesn't come to an end just because you stopped driving yourself so hard.

Give yourself the gift of STOP and just maybe, your shoulders will drop or you'll be able to take one full, deep breath.

Blessings,

Susan