conscious life

Barbara’s Word Game – Volume One

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There are Souls who enter one’s life and one just knows from the very deepest level within that this Soul is here to stay forever with you and in you. My Soul Sister, Barbara G, is such a Soul for me. She has helped to mold me in a way very few others in my life have done. I am eternally and deeply grateful to and for her.

My beloved Barbara is bed-ridden as her journey this time included Multiple Sclerosis. She often asks herself – as do “able-bodied” I: why am I still here, alive in this world in this body? In one of her many superb poems, the answer that came to her:

“As long as the Mind can work, we’re still here.”

One of the ways that Barbara keeps her brilliant mind sharp and agile is through a deceptively simple word game that she lovingly taught me – one I fell quickly and crazy in love with! One I am going to share here, and will – I strongly suspect – then leverage as I (finally) birth my raison d’être into our world (stay tuned).

With this game, when in solitude, Barbara challenges herself to find only a  positive and energetically empowering word or words for each letter in the English alphabet. 

What follows is a taste of what our two Minds conjured up one magical evening in her home when we played this game together. Let me know what you think, and please join us in playing Barbara’s Word Game and spreading the positive!

A is for authentic

B is for beautiful (you’re beautiful, it’s true…)

C is for conscious

D is for The Divine in us all

E is for enlightened

F is for fertile

G is for grateful

H is for healing

I is for intuitive

J is for joyous

K is for kindness

L is for L-o-v-e

M is for magnanimous

N is for natural

O is for open

P is for pleasure

Q is for quiet

R is for resilience

S is for sexy 

T is for tenacious

U is for uplifting

V is for vivacious

W is for wisdom

X is for xylophone (the happy instrument!)

Y is for yes!

Z is for zest

 

 

Introversion, Independence & Interdependence

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According to the dictionary independence (no dependence) is synonymous with self-government, self-rule, separation, self-determination, autonomy, freedom, and liberty.

We celebrate independence.

Yet, there is a popular old saying that no one is an island, meaning we are human and, thus, by very definition and design, social beings  who are dependent on each other.

There are songs that emphatically assert that “…people who need people are the luckiest people in the world” and “it’s a small world after all.”

As both an introvert and the eldest daughter of a very strong woman, I often struggle with these assertions of interdependence. Which should I strive to be – independent or interdependent? Can one be effectively independent and interdependent?

My mother – with only the best intentions in mind – raised her three daughters to be just as strong as she is, which meant staunchly independent. “Let yourself never ever be put down by relying on a man,” my impressionable sisters and I were taught in both word and actions from very early on. Interdependence was never discussed; not sure mom even knew such a word existed! A woman was either independent or weak – period, no middle ground. This information I absorbed and, while it has served me well in many respects, as I mature I can clearly see the damage it has wrought  in personal relationships.

For introverts, much as we love good company in relatively small doses, relating can be overwhelmingly taxing physically, emotionally, and intellectually. As such, an introvert requires separation from others to re-fuel. We can literally wither away without enough space and independence. Yet, too much of this “good” thing independence can leave the introvert vulnerable to depression and profound feelings of isolation.

I am seeing now the ego, limits and dangers of independence/self-determination and the reality, vulnerability and expansiveness of interdependence. I am learning that very little in life is black and white. As I gray, so does life!

 

 

 

 

An intentional Life: A Mid-Year Review

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Today, Tuesday 1 July,  marks 2014’s halfway point – a milestone, a time to slow down a bit and reflect: where and who have I been these past six month and where am I intentionally and consciously going in the next six months. So, here goes…

The first half of the year was all about others – my family and my work. Two big events defined the first six month of 2014: my sister’s wedding and a fundraising gala for work. It was quite a juggling act as both demanded so very much of me and, in turn, I was driven to give so much of myself – as is my wont, I tend to delve in with heart, mind, body and Soul. Both events were (by God’s Grace) smashing successes. Yay! The price to me (a confirmed – and proud – introvert): I enter the second half of 2014, utterly exhausted in heart, mind, body and Soul.

Thus, the second half of the year will be – really, it has to be – predominantly about Me! In the midst of the busyness that 2014: chapter one presented, I quietly celebrated the (seemingly sudden) coming of age 45! I have reached the midpoint of my life! Whoa! Where am I going? Who do I wish to be? My words of guidance for 2014 are receptivity and decisiveness. I decisively declare 2014 to be The Year of receiving Boundless Miracles. This requires presence, my full attention to what is transpiring internally and the resultant external cues. I need to be in the here now. The second half of the year is less about others and more about me, so that I can then present/offer my very best Me to the World. That is the intention and the goal. So, it is written, so it will be done.Image