The Rewards of Being the Invitation
I recently attended a teleconference on how to market and sell. The exuberant facilitator provided three pieces of information that made a lot of sense. First “ ensure that your emails and newsletters get to the person you are wanting to target, two “ ensure that your subject line is catchy, so that your intended reader will open your communication, and, three “ you guessed it, write so your audience looks forward to reading what you have to say. This expert, who has made millions of dollars teaching people how to market and sell, spent the rest of the time
From Europe with Love
Hello From Across the Pond! You may not be able to detect it, but these words are written with a Russian Accent. That is a consequence of immersing myself in an environment where the only English spoken is that which was spoken in my ear, by my hostess and translator, Maria Neizvestnaya. First Impressions of Moscow There were many surprises upon arriving to Moscow, and it was challenging to follow my own advice; that is, if you are going to immerse yourself in another culture and fully enjoy the unique experience of that culture, just be fascinated and curious without
Get Out Those Tweezers!
When I took up coaching as a vehicle for my work, 13 years ago now, I had no idea that this practice would generate an unfolding process within me, as well as my clients and trainees. I had no idea that it would continue to evolve, expanding the bandwidth of my reality, as well as my capacity to be with the BIG FAT BE-WITH’s, which come with personal and professional growth. It hurts SO good! Flying to San Jose, CA, on Thursday and then to Moscow the following week to provide trainings, is a dream come true. I’ve had to
Empowering People to Empower Themselves is Ridiculously Expansive and Hugely Rewarding
All is unfolding perfectly, as is the way of the Universe. At times, I’d like it to be different, yet when I step out of my own self-importance and look at the bigger picture, I know its all good and I become grateful for the way that it is. I love being back in the saddle again, in regard to creating and facilitating trainings. Three days in Moscow, One Day and then a Three Day Training in San Jose, CA; I think the world is more ready for us to be cultivating enlightenment and to be empowering each other to
If I Don’t Go, I Won’t Know
Well, my dream of working abroad is coming true. I’m heading to Moscow in August to facilitate a training in transformational coaching; after which I head to Scotland to see my daughter and family, then to Moldova to present at the European Transpersonal Psychology conference, and then, most likely back home to Orcas. The truth is, I’m scared to death! It’s one thing to find fulfillment and success sitting on a mountain side, secluded from the world. Its another to take that leap of faith into a world that is far, far away from the safety of my little haven,
If I Were Your Fairy Godmother…
This is how I’ve been starting many of my coaching sessions “ yes, even with executives and organizations. Most individuals I meet don’t think they need or want a coach or thinking partner, but I’ve never met anyone who wouldn’t love to have a Fairy Godmother. By sometimes introducing the work I do in this way, it engages the individual’s childlike innocence. Playfulness and wonder instantly appear, which allows a grownup to shed their limiting, rational thinking process and freely imagine and allow wants, wishes and desires to be discovered, acknowledged and spoken. Sometimes, I’m sure a new clients is
Today is the Day
“If God is such a loving God, how can he allow war, poverty and disease?” I hear this question a lot, and it inspired me to sit and write down my perspective, since I, too, wonder why things are the way they are, especially for me, on a personal level. Bad things happen to all of us, personally, professionally, to our communities, countries and on a global scale. Who’s responsible for it all? Who’s to blame? Is the right response to be angry, hateful and shaming? Is the right response to get even “ you know, an eye for an
So That’s How God Works
Life of Pi is an extraordinary movie. It takes you on a phenomenal adventure, which includes a tiger. At the end of that story, Pi provides a second adventure to consider, one that is more realistic, rational and logical “ the way his father wanted him to think. Then Pi asks his audience: "Which story do you prefer." The listener responds with "I like the story about the tiger best. And, Pi, confident in his knowing and truth, responds "That’s how God Works!" When the movie was over, I was saddened that we were brought to possibility that perhaps Pi
Rosie Takes Transformation All the Way!
After a long, dark and damp winter in the Pacific Northwest, it is truly a wonder to witness the coming of blossoming and burgeoning growth. Not just in nature, but in me too! I’ve spent the past nine winters in the Bay Area of California, where to a large extent, I was disconnected from the natural unfolding of nature. I hid away in the comfort of the Mountain View condo to avoid the inner turmoil when bombarded by the noise and confusion of well-designed urban space. The grace of the rain and dark days of this past winter on the
We Want Transformation We Just Don’t Want to Change
My colleague and friend, Maureen O’Neill, and I kibitz a great deal about what it is like to be on this spiritual journey “ one of transformation. The truth is it’s hard friggin’ work, and sometimes, it hurts like HELL. Transformation, we think, is easy. We believe that it’s something that just happens, like miracles and magic. It’s as if we have to do nothing at all, and all of a sudden “ presto-change-o, we are transformed. We imagine with that transformation that life is effortless, and that there is no more hard work to be done. Change, on the
Need I be Different?
It’s a magnificent, sunny and warm day on the Island today. Daffodils are blooming as a result of my first attempt at planting them in the cold wetness of November. I had no idea that so many would bloom and hadn’t imagined the intense beauty that blossoms in each one. After sharing some time on Skype with my daughter Elissa, grandson Andrew, son-in-law Jason and my sister Patrice, who is visiting them in Scotland, I consider what I may be missing. I think about what kind of mother I am and the choices I make that have me here on
When is an Act of Love Not an Act of Love
When is an act of love not an act of love? Its when that act is attached to personal gain. I love my friend Harry. In this moment, I want to stop him from doing something very foolish and could be life-threatening. Yet, what I’m experiencing isn’t founded on love. It’s found on a need to gain control and to experience self-righteousness regarding my assumption that Harry doesn’t know better than to choose what he’s about to choose, and that I know better than him. I question my motives in this moment and find myself wanting. The question is:
Consider Engaging in an Act of Kindness
Consider, for a moment, engaging in an act of kindness. I word this request in this particular way in order for you to get how huge an endeavor it is. It is not just a matter of doing. An act of kindness, or any act, for that matter, comes from a state of being. So, to consider, brings you into the moment where you begin to mindfully engage in cultivating awareness of the state of being, which allows an act kindness can unfold. Where does an act of kindness begin? Maybe it would be helpful to begin by looking
Don’t Go Back to School
You have a desire “ a calling. Something is telling you that there’s more, but the way is unclear. Uncertainty and self-doubt encourage you to stay on the well-worn path. Academics is a well-worn path. However, is it the right path? I came across this Rumi poem, translated by Coleman Barks. Moving Water "When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.When actions come from another section, the feeling disappears. Don’t let others lead you. They may be blind or, worse, vultures. Reach for the rope of God. And what is
Do What You Hate
I’ve been working on bookkeeping for taxes, cleaning up errors in my books, creating the content of my current coach training “ in summary, attending to nit-picky stuff. I hate attending to anything where a high degree of attention to detail is required. I’d rather hire someone else to do it for me “ pay them thousands of dollars so that I can avoid the angst and vulnerability that arise through doing what’s required as a solo-preneur. When working with clients and students, I love attending to details; otherwise I HATE IT! There are a lot of things I
Immersion Before Emergence
As a teacher, facilitator and coach, I encourage my students to immerse themselves in a self-study program that allows them to fully realize who they are “ that their security, stability and function in the world has nothing to do with what they believe to be true “ only what they know to be true. The only way to know who you are is to dismantle your current belief system, to individuate and to differentiate yourself from everything you think yourself to be, do and have. You have to experience the truth to realize the truth. And, you have
We are Safe and Secure in Our Innocence
Andrew is my two year old grandson. His reality is fueled by exuberance in discovering himself through the world that surrounds him. He is oblivious to the multidimensional reality that allows him all the freedom and expansion required for a Child of the Universe to thrive and blossom into his full potentiality, while all of thethis’s and that’s of the grownup world is out of his realm of consciousness. In the age of innocence, Andrew doesn’t think about or worry about things that scare him. If something bad happens, he looks to his mom and dad for comfort and
Why Say I Love You
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve manipulated people I love in the name of love. I did so because I believed I had something to gain, and something to lose. It’s a model of love based on ownership, property, and the getting and taking model of reality. Its fear-based. And, strategizing instilled a sense of invulnerability in me, if I can make a belief that I love and am loved by someone, even though it doesn’t really feel that way, well, its better than experiencing the reality of being unloved. Who am I, or what am
80 Percent Effective
Michael, a COO of a growing startup in Austin, Texas, is a great guy and a brilliant thinker. He’s been hired by a particular company to bring about a turnaround in management and inevitably the bottom line. The company has experienced a significant loss in revenue over the past few months and it’s now Michael’s job to turn things around. If he fails, the company will fold “ end of story. Michael is about to take the company in a direction that will transform its vision, culture and business structure. There’s no doubt he has what it takes to create
Generating Momentum – The Art of Tending Fire
Without a doubt, what we want most for ourselves as coaches and for those we serve, is that we generate momentum towards manifesting our highest purpose and desire. Clients of mine, whose desire it is to have a thriving business, find it challenging to get out of their own way. Many of them are budding coaches who are passionate about their work, yet carry lifetimes of patterning that continually reminds them of how failure met them at every turn. Repeatedly, dreams of achievements are dashed, and they are left to their own undoing. Inevitably, the patterns of lifetimes ending in
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Dark, wet and dreary “ in such an environment, where else could beauty and joy be cultivated daily? From one of the longest and driest summers in history to one of the darkest and wettest Decembers on record, the weather of the Pacific Northwest has thus far provided me with enormous opportunity to find joy and beauty in the moment. It was a tough, first couple of months, but I think I’m getting the hang of it! I found that when I focused on the gloomy, depressive grey, the lack of sunshine and being in total darkness by 5pm, it
Love Being Human
It’s seems that no matter how much I think I understand humanness there’s always something or someone that stretches me out of my momentary comfort in believing I’ve arrived. Sometimes I get set off into a world where I presume to know better about how people should be so the world is a better place for all. I think of myself as a master in various arenas of humanness, yet find, time and again that as soon as I think I’ve mastered an aspect of this event called life, I’m brought to the realization that I’ve hardly scratched the surface.
Archives: 2009, 2008, …
———————————————————————————————————— Welcome again! 7am on the Redeye ferry from Orcas to the mainland. Springtime makes my feet want to root themselves in the earth. It is not a time to go gallivanting around to more beautiful places “ they can’t be found. Birds, trees in bloom “ everything’s in bloom. After 6 months of winter’s darkness in the Pacific Northwest, Mother Nature births us all over again to be her eyes, her ears, her sensing bodies in service to absorbing the beauty and the light that arrives with this season. I’m not an intrepid individual, really. I leave the Island
What I’ve Learned on My Summer Vacation
Today I am launching my latest book: ABC’s of Spirituality in Business! And …. Today is the ninth anniversary of my move to Orcas Island. Man, am I going to CELEBRATE! It’s been an interesting couple of months. Sure its summer, but the unfolding process of self-actualization never goes on vacation. It keeps poking and prodding at me to "Get On With It! So, I’ve learned that when life doesn’t happen according to plan, it’s time to explore and discover my personal contribution to having things be the way they are; because, of course, the Universe has its own unfolding
Celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of My Leap of Faith
"When a situation has been dedicated wholly to truth, peace is inevitable. Peace without faith will never be attained, for what is dedicated to truth as its only goal is brought to truth by faith." (A Course in Miracles, 1985, p. 371.) Two years ago, I let go of my role as facilitator of the Transformational Coaching Training Program. After a decade of dedication, joy and engaged connection with remarkable people committed to changing the world, I was called to embark on another journey “ the trajectory of which seemed to make my heart sing. That’s all I knew. Those