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MuseLetter
Inspired Self-Expression
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Greetings!
Well, here we are ... 2012! Impending doom or unknown possibility? One of two things is certain to happen: Either the world will end ... or it won't. In this issue we'll be examining how to stay mindful in a vastly uncertain world.
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Self-Help Snake Oil (and Other Myths)Living with Verve, Wit and Eyes Wide Open
 First of all ... we're all gonna die. A sobering opening statement I realize, however, it is the naked truth. Though we don't know when, where or how, we are certain of its inevitability.
Taking the sheer unpredictability of life into account, each and every day becomes a mysterious and precious gift - but how rare it is that we greet them as such? Instead, we saddle ourselves with the endless minutiae of habitual sameness until our lives are spent like androids, utterly void of genuine mindfulness.
Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.
Stephen Vincent Benét
What is Mindfulness? It's bringing one's complete attention to the present experience, a nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling or sensation that arises is experienced without judgment. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.
Not as easy as it sounds, I know: the car needs new tires, that report is due tomorrow, there's a pile of unopened bills on the dining room table, your youngest needs a new coat, the dog has a rash, great Aunt Sadie now needs weekly assistance and the list goes on and on and on ... and on. In the name of God, stop a moment,
cease your work, look around you.
Leo Tolstoy
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It can be tricky to consciously pause and "look around you", but to be truly present, pause we must. Just a few seconds to start, accompanied with a deep deliberate breath, and eventually - that one simple pause will become a sigh of wonderment. It's just a matter of shifting your focus and attention, over and over again until it becomes second nature. This takes practice, patience and perseverance.
I suspect many positive affirmation aficionados will doggedly disagree, but the promise of easy and effortless change is a brilliantly manufactured myth, in fact - it's a multi-billion dollar industry. But hear me out; when I'm taking long walks, (my meditation) I often chant and daydream as this soothes me and gives a 'form and focus' to my movement. However, just as it takes many walks and many miles, a consistent diet of healthy food and proper nutrition to change and sculpt our bodies, so it is with our psyches. Making genuine change, big or small, takes determination, discipline, really wanting it and ... focused surrender. I don't want to get to the end of my life and realized I've just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. Diane Akerman The Art of Surrender
To quote Dr. Amy Johnson: "Surrender literally means to stop fighting. Stop fighting with yourself, stop fighting with the universe, stop fighting and pushing against reality. Surrender = complete acceptance of what is + faith that all is well, even without your input. It's not about inaction, it's about taking action from that place of surrender energy."
All said, it's probably not realistic to tell Aunt Sadie to fend for herself or to send Junior to school without a coat, but you can begin being more mindful of all your daily activities. Instead of rushing through them, with scant little attention given, take a deep deliberate breath and bring all your awareness to that single moment; not what must be done next ... but that exact moment. Even if it's just for a few seconds, revel in the fact that you are being fully present. If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.
author unknown
WHAT IF?
What if you knew this was your last day on planet earth; what would you do? Who would you want to share it with? What would you say? What would you give away? Would you clean house so those left behind wouldn't think you're untidy? Or ... would you invite your entire address book to meet you for champagne at noon? W HAT IF?
For an outstanding piece of writing, "Last Day on Earth" by Larry Crist, read on ...Carpe diem, my friends, Robyn
Robyn Lark Wakefieldmentor, coach, guide and muse214.381.1255
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The Urban Goddess MuseLetter is a bi-monthly publication providing inquiry, inspiration, community and support for all who are committed to creative, authentic and unbridled self-expression.
Exploring native intelligence, creativity, non-duality, imagination, diversity, art, love, vulnerability and other real life stuff.
The contents of this newsletter may incite euphoria, uncertainty, heightened self-confidence and/or doubt. The author is not a Medical Doctor, Licensed Psychologist or Ordained Minister. Matter of fact, she was required to take two years of Related Math in college and still doesn't know her multiplication tables. Urban Goddess ® is a registerd trademark and trade name. All rights reserved. © 1992-2012
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The more side roads you stop to explore, the less likely that life will pass you by.
Robert Brault
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I got the blues
thinking of
the future, so
I left off and made some marmalade.
It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.
D.H. Lawrence
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2012 Workshop!
Sunday, Jan 22nd
11am to 5pm
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Urban Goddess Urban Bitch
Celebrating the Primordial Feminine
Honoring the Shadowlands, the Underbelly, the Deep Earth of our Being
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