Are You Playing Your Music?

Posted on December 12, 2007 by Pat

In his, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, Dr. Wayne Dyer lists, “Don’t Die with Your Music Still in You”, as his 2nd secret to success. Do you have a longing or desire to do something but have never had the chance to follow it? It seems like life has taken you in a totally different direction. Maybe you’ve always wanted to go back to school or wondered what it would be like to live in another country. I have a list on my refrigerator of things I want to do before I die and I keep adding to it. Here’s my list so far:

see the Northern Lights
hang glide
visit Scotland
swim with the dolphins

To date, I haven’t had a chance to cross any of these off yet but I can see me doing them. Not only that, but just recently I’ve discovered a type of “music” within me I never knew I had and that is writing. I started it last month with a book in its beginning stages and now creating this blog with just 2 weeks of daily posts. Reading and especially writing have always seemed to come hard to me. But I finally paid attention to that inner guidance and followed it and as it unfolds, there is an excitement I never knew was there. It’s not easy and there are times when I have to sit myself down and make myself write or I have difficulty coming up with a topic. But I find when I continue with it and allow it to flow it takes on meaning and a fulfillment I’m still discovering. I suspect this would work the same with anything you desire to do.

I don’t know where it starts but our life takes on this role of obligation and education, then having a family and earning a living. Before long, we’ve traveled down that road quite a ways only to discover that our lives have very little passion or meaning. Yes, we love our families – not to take anything away from that – and we have learned a great deal in the experiences that we’ve had but we still feel unfulfilled. There is still music within you and me that is yearning to be played – longing to be expressed. There is something you were imprinted with when you were born that only YOU can do and I suspect you already know what it is. What is keeping you from checking it out – taking the risk – to see what you can do with it? Maybe you’re afraid of what others will think or maybe they won’t approve. Or, you’re just afraid you’d fail. Whatever the reason you’ve given yourself, I’m asking you to take another look and find a way to discover this hidden gift – your music – and let it shine for all the world to benefit from. As Dr. Wayne Dyer quotes from Thoreau, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”

From the kitchen table – Pat
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Authenticity

Posted on December 11, 2007 by Pat

I touched on this subject in an earlier post “Footprints in the Sand – Footprints We Leave Behind” where I give a quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer in which he says,

“You’re not what you have”, “You’re not what you do,” and “You’re not what people think of you.”

This may leave you a little perplexed because it appears that this is all of what our culture is about. It’s only what gets the most attention. Yet, in your mind if you take away these things, what remains? That is the key question and I think it’s worth reflecting on. I’ve been thinking about this in my life and what if….what if… I no longer had my home and all that we own; what if I no longer had my work (not quite sure what that is at the moment but I’m feeling good at what I’m doing with writing these posts); and what if opinions of who I am by friends and family and acquaintances changed? Would I change with who I am? Where would I be or what would be left?

I’ve mentioned in earlier posts about a book I’m reading by Richard Bode entitled, Beachcombing at Miramar: The Quest for an Authentic Life. He left everything – family, home, job – in search of himself. Does it take stripping away all the distractions – possessions, labels, expectations – before you can come to terms with who we really are? Does it take this extreme measure to realize our worth and place in the universe? The thought of this can be terrifying and yet liberating. Richard Bode says,

“I went to all those places and I did all those things, and I don’t regret a moment, for each experience contributed mightily to the sum of who I am and what I know. But the day came when my children were no longer children and had moved into lives of their own, and I knew the hour had also come for me to move on to a place in life I had never been before.”

In A Course of Miracles http://www.acim.org/ACIM/SectionIntro.htm (a complete spiritual thought self-study that teaches the way to remember God), it asks, “Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God (T-11, II.7, pg 198).” When we look at these questions, we’re fearful of what we find. I know it seems like I’m asking more questions than really saying anything. It’s because these are some things I’ve been asking myself and the answers are hard. It pulls together a lot of what I’ve been writing about in the past two weeks – trust, footprints we leave behind, family. And, I think in order to go deeper we need to contemplate and ask the “what if’s”. Are we playing the game and doing the dance well or have we stopped and really looked at our lives to see what is genuine and real? This doesn’t mean the only way you can arrive at these answers is by leaving everything behind and live on a deserted island. But, we can start right where we’re at and look around at our lives and take inventory. Are we living out of fear – hostage to the ego? From A Course in Miracles, Dr. Wayne Dyer has also quoted something that goes like this, “If you knew who walks beside you on this path you have chosen you would never be fearful again.”

I want to get serious about who I am and what I’m doing with my life and let that shine. I want to trust that invisible force that is with me on this path and not be fearful. What about you? Can you ask the questions and risk hearing the answers to open your life to a wonderful new chapter?

From the kitchen table – Pat
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Family and Going Home

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Pat

Starting tonight we get our grandsons for the weekend. I’m reminded how precious family is, especially this time of the year. My husband and I love having them spend time with us. They’re growing up fast (like the old song, “Turn Around”) and it won’t be long when they’ll have places to go and things to do with their friends.

Yes, we get caught up in the frenzy of job, errands, answering e-mails, etc. but more than once a year, at Christmas time, it’s important to play – wrestle, take long walks, make snowmen, talk, read stories, watch movies – and not let a minute go by without cherishing the gift of family. Whatever your family looks like, whether with children or not, it’s valuable to you and that’s what is important.

I grew up spending the whole summer, every summer, with my sister and 5 cousins at my grandparents. We were always excited to get there and cried when it came time to leave.

There was nothing special to do at my grandparents. They didn’t have toys and never took us to a movie. We just hung around every day and played together and were part of their everyday life. I think that is what was so special. We belonged and were valued and safe.

They took us fishing and crabbing and we went to the cemetery with them to cut the grass around the family tombstones. They interacted with us in their regular daily living. We visited like that with them every year until I graduated from high school. In fact that’s where I got the idea of sitting around the kitchen table and talking (see my headline).

Occasionally on the weekends our parents would come to visit – some as far as 250 miles. Because it was a long ride just for the weekend, they would leave after work on Friday and drive until the early morning hours. We’d be in bed and hear them come in and Grandmom would put on a pot coffee.

She would fix them something to eat to give them a chance to unwind from their long trip before going up to bed. We’d lie in bed catching the aromas of food drifting upstairs and listen to the quiet sounds of their laughter and talk. It’s been over 35 years now since my grandparents have died and I still miss them.

I can still hear them in the only lit room in the house, talking and sitting around the lone, kitchen table with all of us nestled upstairs in our warm beds. How do you create those memories for our children, our families? The answer: time and giving of yourself.

How did we get so busy that we barely have time for supper, a few words and homework, before it’s time for bed and then the next morning it starts all over again? Before you know it a year has flown by, then 5 years and then high school and on, and on, and on….. How do you take back control of your life? As Nike says, “Just do it!”

If you don’t make the conscious decision to live the life you want to live, it will be done for you. Life just happens. As we approach this special time of the year, become aware of your routines and demands and decide to change it. Love more, live more, laugh more and make those special memories starting this very moment with your family – your loved ones.

Here is a little something from Erma Bombeck, writer and humorist, If I Had to Live My Life Over (written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

From the kitchen table – Pat
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Fall in Love…..with YOU!

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Pat

Several years ago I had some sessions with a life coach. I felt like I was stuck and the business I was marketing and promoting was going nowhere. She was very helpful and what I learned was very insightful. As we talked from session to session, I felt like more and more was being revealed. I was at a cross roads as to whether to continue or get back into the corporate world and chuck my dreams. Our last meeting, she told me she typically takes time before the meeting to meditate about her client and ask what it is they need and this is what she told me. She said in her meditation she was told to tell me, “The degree to which I love myself will be the degree of success of my business.” This came as a shock as I never really connected the two. Now, it was a statement I could not ignore. As Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “You can’t give away what you don’t have.” Do I really not love myself? I thought I had come a long way with this but if I had the evidence would be there – success – and it wasn’t. I have to be honest with you; I am still working on this. I’m better at it than I was 4 years ago when I met with that life coach. Here are some of the things I have learned and still learning:

You teach people how you want to be treated.
Listen to the small voice and follow it.
Be comfortable with saying no.
Fake it ‘til you make it. You’re not really faking it you’re just “thinking from the end”, as Dr. Dyer says.
Be authentic. People want the real you to come across not someone you’re making excuses for.
Laugh, laugh, laugh!
Don’t be afraid to go for it. Give it all you’ve got (Dr. Dyer: “Don’t die with your music still in you.”).
Don’t be afraid to feel – feel what it’s like to love yourself.
Pay attention to what your body is telling you and honor it.
Take time for yourself – get quiet and reunite with your source and recharge.
Give yourself permission to receive.
Bless yourself – you don’t need others’ approval.
Acknowledge that what you have to give to the world is valuable.

I’m sure there is a lot more I could add to this list and you could as well, personally, if you thought about it.

A couple of days after that last meeting, I had a dream. I had this statement going on and on in my mind. The dream validated what I was told only now it was no longer just in my head, now it had dropped in my heart. I dreamt there was a family reunion of some sort and we came from all over. It was an important gathering at an old house that seemed like home to me. There were family members gathered both alive and dead. You can imagine the feelings of seeing a grandmother or father again that had passed on. Getting a chance to hear their voice again, see their eyes and hug them. That alone was worth more than whatever this meeting was for. We talked and caught up on what everyone was doing and then it came time for us to get ready for the event. We each went to our separate rooms and I went to mine. I freshened up and changed and went over to a long oval mirror to make a final inspection. As I looked in the mirror, I was taken back and stunned. There I stood in a wedding dress. This event was a wedding and I was the bride. I couldn’t believe how radiant and beautiful I was. I seemed to glow. And then I realized that I had fallen in love with myself and everyone had come to celebrate me. When I awoke, I could still feel the glow and energy of love. It’s still with me today when I recall that dream.

You and this world were created by an intelligent being. There are no mistakes. Realize your worth and value and let your brilliance shine.

Photo by Benjamin Earwicker at www.sxc.hu.home

From the kitchen table – Pat
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Harmony and Peace

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Pat

This is a poem I came across some time ago that I had forgotten about until I heard Dr. Wayne Dyer quote from it in a recent lecture series. I saw it in a small, beautifully illustrated publication in 2002 that I received in the mail and liked it so much I held onto it. The publication was called Heron Dance Art Studio, Issue 35 (Heron Dance Website) and I thought I’d share it with you:

The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth
Across the doors where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
-RUMI

The secrets of life, yours and mine, are still available but not in the form we’re used to accessing. We’ve lost touch with the world that created us. That still, small voice we used to hear is blasted out by the noises and the hustle and bustle of everyday living. I remember when we first moved to the mountains 25 years ago I couldn’t get over how quiet it was. You could hear the wind from a distance pick up and slowly pass by in the trees. It took me six months to get used to the silence – it was deafening, at first, and then I began to slow down to the rhythms of the mountains. I just had to listen differently and tune into the ebb and flow of life happening all around me. It wasn’t demanding my attention – just flowing, and I could participate in the dance if I wanted to.

It’s a life force that never leaves us. You see it in the face of a newborn baby or in the eyes of an animal. They know it. It’s not a mystery to them as much as it is to us. We’ve separated ourselves and believe in a different reality. How did we get so removed from the rhythms of the cycles of life? The harmony and peace are still there, we just have to turn our attention to it – never withheld.

Leading up to this holiday season, turn your ear to the mysteries and still small voice you heard long ago beckoning you to tune in. When you hear it, don’t go back to sleep.

From the kitchen table – Pat
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