Tuesday, September 18, 2012

GROUND

There's something that happens when the seasons change.  When you take a moment to observe what's happening with Mother Nature....it all feels unbalanced.  One minute it's raining, and windy, only for the next moment to welcome the sun.  One day it's warm, one day it's hot, and the next humid.  

There's just really no telling what's next.

Can you relate that to the moments when you lose your own balance?  You lose your keys, leave the coffee on top of the car and drive away, are wearing mis-matched socks (or shoes, even!), find the salt in the refrigerator and the milk in the cabinet.

Everything around you is swirling around in chaos, and you're ALLOWING your mind to follow suit.  Allowing it to get swept up in disorder.

Why not slow down?  What's going to come crashing down to earth?  Well...maybe you!

Slowing down and simply observing the chaos is just one way to get you back to yourself and your natural rhythm.  Routine is another way to connect with the elements that surround you and get a hold on them.  

The amazing thing...is...it all comes back to that magical concept of CONNECTION!

Stopping grounds you, routine grounds you, breath grounds you, exercise grounds you, rest (mind AND body) grounds you, playfulness and not taking it all so seriously....IT ALL GROUNDS YOU!

Why?  Because at the core of your nature, you're nurturing yourself.  Which in turn helps you tune into what makes you, you.  When you're not grounded you're not connected to yourself.  I've seen people who are deathly afraid of that connection, yet crave it.  They'll use work, family, etc to keep busy and avoid the connection.  Yet they'll positively yearn for that sense of connection.  But, HOW?  How exactly do you get it?

Dig just a little bit deeper and connect to what moves you!  Don't be fearful.  Anything, everything you every need is always within you.


Monday, September 10, 2012

UNITY

11 years ago.

We all remember where we were and our initial thoughts as we watched American flight 11 cruise into the North Tower,  with United Airlines flight 175 following into the South Tower.

Disbelief washed over an entire nation...then panic...and then....reality.

Reality of what we were dealing with, and what we were in for.  Reality of every single victim, every individual tragedy.

...and then support, in every single direction to guide the rest of us to some semblance safety.


11 years later, America has come very far.  Yes we're in economic turmoil and yes things have been trying in so many different ways....but as a unit we've come far.  We've evolved many times over.  And it stems from that day.

So much happening and turning our worlds around, the enemy had made us vulnerable.  Sure we immediately retaliated as a nation, but individually and within our families...we remained vulnerable.  Life as we knew it would NEVER be the same.  Never could be the same.  As natural beings we recognized the call, and we submitted to it.  Together.

There's a beauty in vulnerability, and the challenging times in our lives.  Through grief, struggle, uncertainty, fear, and pain comes a rawness of the human spirit.  It's the times we can naturally rely on one another without pride and ego's mixing in.  Raw human experience reminds us that we are cut from the same cloth, and somehow together still WORK BEST as a unit.

I was 22 years old and remember walking down 40th Street from 8th Avenue toward 7th.  It was after 4 or 5 days of non-stop news coverage, and check-in's with friends.  Absorbing the sadness of who was no longer with us...yet continuing to take steps forward. Hearing the stories we all had, how we were all affected, yet feeling the clock ticking along as it always had.  As I was walking, I took in the subdued city energy.    New York City had slowed down and taken a moment.  Nearly closed down.  As we all took the moments we needed, together, to mourn what had once been.  

As our City rallied and our nation rallied...so did we.  A specific resilience I'd like to personally reserve for New Yorkers alone.  We got back up, put our Grown Up pants back on, and did the best we could.  Together.  

I've felt this unity...this vulnerability to the circumstances...only twice in my life.  Both times, I've thought it to be the most gorgeous of natural occurrences.  I know I'm not the only one.

So, I encourage you.. implement a true practice of unity in it's truest form.  Everyday.  Remind yourself what that support meant to us all.  Free from judgments and pride.  Free from fears...NO MATTER WHAT!  Everyday.

Never Forget.