Embrace

Whether you look within or without or up or down, embrace what you discover. All parts of you and your world need your love and acceptance.

Laugh

Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person, is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.

Dennis Wholey

Awe

...an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration.

When is the last time you looked around at your surroundings and felt amazement or reverence. You don't have to be looking at the red rocks of Sedona to feel awe. You can have this experience where ever you are. Keep this idea in your consciousness and your eyes and other senses wide open today and find something to be absolutely amazed about.

Invite

A skilled Receiver receives everything. I am thinking about this poem this morning as I am getting ready to teach the third class of my five-week course on Receiving. It's one of my favorites. Enjoy!

The Guest House

Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

From The Essential Rumi, Translations by Coleman Barks (HarperCollins, 1995)

The Source

I was reading from the I-Ching last night and came across this beautifully worded thought in hexagram 48 titled The Source: This hexagram represents the deep, inexhaustible, divinely centered source of nourishment and meaning for mankind...It receives from the individual's experience and gives to the individual's nature.

What a lovely and inclusive way to think of reciprocity and the givingness of life. Do you ever think of how your personal nature and your experience sends a message that invites a larger universal response, with that response being in sync with you? Hmmm.

Am I being too esoteric here? Simply, I can think about where I would like to be and what I would like to have happen, but life meets me where I am. When you think of it, it is very honoring to meet someone where they are, instead of where you would like them to be or wish they were not.

I'm going to sit with that thought today and see where it leads me.

Music

Recently I was reading Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by the neurologist and storyteller Oliver Sacks. In it, he writes about how people experience music, or more to the point, how the brain experiences music. The stories are fascinating. For example, he writes that some people who are deaf or partially deaf, hear music "in their heads. " It's like the brain "decides" on its own to produce this music!

I read this with interest since for much of my life I have heard music "in my head" periodically although I am not deaf. Nor had I ever thought to mention it to anybody since it was infrequent and unobtrusive.

I was a musician/songwriter throughout my teens, twenties and thirties and occasionally still pick up my guitar, but music doesn't have the same place in my life as it did previously. And when I think about it now, it's possible that the less I play or listen to music, the more my brain decided to "play a tune." Hmmmm. Not sure about that; I'll have to pay attention.

It's interesting to think about the importance of music in our lives. How often do you give your linear thinking brain a rest and turn on the music?

Today I am going to make sure that listening to music is a part of my day. I may even play my beautiful Taylor guitar. But first, since I especially love songs that are in a language I don't know (for some odd reason), I am going to start out this morning listening to my new favorite artist, the Iroquois singer Joanne Shenandoah. If you haven't heard her before, treat yourself and get Peace & Power: Best of Joanne Shenandoah.

Curiosity

Curiosity is a door opener to the unknown. Instead of doing the same thing, thinking the same thoughts, feeling the familiar -- what would it be like if you approached your day with a curious mind and a willingness to let in the unexpected, the uninvited, the un-thought of?

I have a saying: receive everything; decide later, which reminds me to be open to possibilities instead of closing the doors too quickly before I've had the opportunity to sit with something new.

Today I will remind myself to be curious about what crosses my path. I'll save my assessments for tomorrow.

Peace

I watched a film last night titled The U.S. vs. John Lennon which profiled Lennon's role as a peace activist. It also highlighted his relationship with Yoko Ono and I have to say my feelings about her changed by the time the film ended. Not only was the love between them touching, but she handled herself with such grace in situations that could have brought out the worst in so many people. Although this was a film about Lennon, Yoko's role as a catalyst for John and her own importance as an ambassador of peace were made crystal clear.

This morning as I think back to the sixties and seventies, the tumultuous time in the United States and the power of ordinary citizens to bring an end to a war, I am touched by the contributions to peace that come in so many and often quiet forms.

Gandhi said: We must be the change we wish to see in the world. So many of us want peace, yet in our day-to-day lives we may not act in a peaceful manner.

In my book Lucky Stars I call the sign Libra The Peacemaker. Both Lennon and Gandhi are Libras. Today I am going to be inspired by these two great people and Yoko as well and choose peace as my mantra for the day. I will be peaceful inside my thoughts, allow that peace to reflect in my speech and look for ways to make a concrete contribution to world peace.

Right here right now

Philosophers speak about being in the "now," in the present. Last night at the end of my yoga class as we were settling in for the ten minute shvasana, the pose where we lie on our backs, my yoga teacher spoke about allowing the mind to settle into a deeper place, to connect with or drink from a deeper source she called atma, which I think means soul.

Right now I am drinking my morning coffee and I am aware of my mind flitting from a replay of the last several days when a friend was visiting, to a phone conversation from last night, to a business plan that I will be fleshing out this week. My mind could write a dissertation about all three of these subjects! In fact it is attempting to do just that while I am writing this blog (!) and I find myself needing to turn away from the circular thoughts: how I hope something will turn out and what I wish was different.

So instead I am turning my mind to this: Right here right now, I am enjoying the warmth of the morning sun, the hypnotic hum of the refrigerator motor and the sound of the keys on my laptop as I type. And, for just right now, that's enough. There is nothing to solve, to change, write more coherently about (!), or make happen.

Rest

Take a rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. Ovid

Soften

I used to be so sensitive, edgy and prickly that I frequently thought of myself as needing to file down my porcupine quills from a sharp point to something a bit more rounded, manageable and attractive. I can still get over-sensitive and edgy, but the filing process doesn't take as much time and there are fewer quills to tend to.

I think a lot of people could benefit by examining their quills. Sometimes our words are sharp; sometimes it's just our thoughts or reactions.

I've learned that softening my gaze so everything looks out of focus helps me relax and let go of what ever I am feeling wound-up about.

Today I am going to have my file handy just in case and I'll practice softening my gaze.

Love

Come out of the circle of time, and into the circle of love. Rumi

What do you love? Whom do you love? It can be easy to use up a day thinking about what we don't like, what is going wrong, or what could be better. What would your day be like if you turned your attention to finding something to love in everybody and everything that comes your way?! Hmmmm. I'm going to experiment with stepping into the love-pool today. I'm going to start right now with listening and dancing to James Taylor's Shower the People You Love with Love. Why don't you join me!

Giving

Namaste— I honor the God in you that is in me—is a Sanskrit greeting and blessing that beautifully illustrates the unity of life. Just like this greeting, both genuine giving and genuine receiving are an act of recognition, a song in the heart, a melody of One. It is the same when we accept the generosity of another; we vibrate to the same chord. Together, giving and receiving form a connection that is a complete energy circuit. Energy moves out in giving, and returns in receiving. It’s a beautiful image, isn’t it?

Have you ever given something and then blown off the gratitude of the recipient of your giving? Or, do you appreciate and strengthen the connection between you and the Receiver by expressing pleasure in the giving?

Today I am going to focus on giving, whether it is a smile to a stranger, a penny in a fountain, a check for a charity, or a treat for myself. And I will be sure to receive the appreciation in whatever form it arrives.

Dream

I was hiking up Lookout Mountain with my friend Bobbi recently. It is one of the many beautiful desert mountains that surround the Phoenix area. Passing a guy on the trail, I said, "Hi! How are you doing?" "Living the dream," he said, "living the dream." We all laughed.

Looking out over the valley and up at the afternoon jigsaw puzzle sky, I thought for the millionth time: I am so glad I followed my impulse, my heart, my what-ever-it-was that brought me here.

What are your dreams? Do you just want them or do you allow space and time in your life to live them?

Today I am going to receive my dreams in all of their forms. I don't have to do anything about them this minute. I just have to welcome them and give them a home.

Life is short. Today, create a space for your dreams that is as big as the Arizona sky.

Smile

Stop what you are doing and turn the corners of your mouth up in a smile. It's an amazing exercise. The physical act leads to a smiley feeling! Now, I don't believe that we should be in happy happy joy joy moods all day. But, sometimes we are so focused on what ever it is that we are doing, that we forget to enjoy ourselves.

Today, I am simply going to remind myself to smile.

Balance

In my yoga class last night we were practicing balancing poses. My teacher told us she was reading a book by Dr. Oz who said everybody should be able to hold their balance standing on one foot for at least 15 seconds.

I was thinking this morning about this concept of balancing. Do you know that it is impossible to hold a yoga balancing pose unless one's mind is quite, one's gaze is soft? Trying too hard to do the pose is actually counterproductive. Balancing turns out to be about relaxing.

Is your life in balance? Are you doing too much? Are you relaxing enough? I've come to think of the balance between the active and receptive, or giving and receiving with the phrase: The only possible match for someone who doesn't know how to receive, is someone who doesn't know how to give. In this way, we find our perfect match.

A great Receiver is one who excels in the ability to experience receptive states. If you are busy much of the time (an active state), you may not know how to allow (a receptive state) events to unfold when appropriate; you may not even notice (a receptive state) something that could be helpful to you. Or, if you are extremely talkative (an active state), you are less likely to excel at listening (a receptive state).

Think of your life. Do you see that when one person does all of the doing, the other stands back? If you are the one who is always busy, chances are you’ll feel exhausted and perhaps even resentful. We like it when we are in balance with others.

Today I am going to be attentive to this concept of living a balanced life. I'll make a point to notice if I am veering too much toward the active or receptive. I'll start right now by standing on one leg for 15 seconds!

Willingness

It's easy to want something to be different in your life and harder to do what is required to bring about that change. We can be so used to moving forward in the same or similar ways we have done for years. I like this quote by Robert Anthony: If you don't change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?

Our beliefs about what is possible, our willingness to step out in a different way, to think differently, to color outside of the lines -- this is what is necessary to bring about change. It's nothing external to you, it's only you!

Today I will remind myself to be willing to see differently, to be open to something new that crosses my path, to be willing to listen, and I may even do a cartwheel! Join me!

Meditation

I heard a saying a long time ago: when you pray, you ask; when you meditate, you listen. I don't live in a culture that has taught me this helpful skill, so as an adult I have needed to learn how to quiet myself, how to slow down my often-busy mind. Like any skill, this one requires practice. And since my mind likes to be busy, this one requires a lot of practice!

My yoga teacher ends each class with a ten minute shvasana, also called the 'corpse pose,' a pose that requires me to lie on my back with eyes closed. She says that this is one of the hardest poses for many of her students -- to commit to stillness.

Every time I meditate, I am present with where I am right here, right now. And, it is in the present that manifestation occurs. Skilled Receivers know how to be present and therefore know how to manifest their dreams and desires. I am starting a new Receive course this morning for the first time in close to a year. I am excited to return to this work because I strengthen my Receive-muscles each time I teach this course!

Today, I will find time to commit to stillness and meditate so I can strengthen this helpful skill.

Smell

I love this photograph. It's posted on my travel blog with other pictures of cows from my trip up to the Toronto area last October. More people have talked to me about this photograph than any other from my blog!

I thought of this photo this morning because I wanted to write about the sense of smell. All five senses are such effective conduits into the present. In previous blogs this month, I've written about hearing and seeing.

The saying: stop and smell the roses, is about slowing down and enjoying life. Have you ever spent a day with focused awareness on what you are smelling? I don't know about you, but I am more aware on a day-to-day basis of seeing and hearing. For me, smelling is a neglected sense and -- go figure -- my sense of smell is my weakest of the five senses.

It's easy to notice a delicious, special smell like wood burning in fireplace, the scent of flowers, or the the aroma of baking bread. Today I want to receive the every-day smells in my environment. Like any other, I know this sense will bring me into the present and that is exactly where I want to be today!

Letting Go

I knew when I woke up this morning I wanted to write about letting go. I've let go of a lot recently. And I have so many feelings about that: liberation, happiness, grief, wonder, anxiety, excitement...I feel full. Life seems pregnant with possibilities.

Perhaps you have let go of something recently: a job, a person, a pet, or even an idea about yourself. Such a mixed bag this letting go thing. Yet, letting go is inevitable and organic and can even be helpful.

My project for today is to let go -- of the past and of the future. I have no idea where this road on which I am traveling leads. And today I don't need to know.

Wanting

It was well into teaching the Receive courses and working on my book that I really got the importance of wanting and how conditioned people are to think of wanting as being a bit unseemly when it comes to their own desires. For example: can you make a wish for yourself without adding all of the footnotes about wanting world peace, that no child go hungry, if it is in the universal will (who is the universe except us?!), etc., etc, etc.

I love how Cinderella transformed her life from days filled with sweeping up after her stepmother and step sisters (perhaps your life has an equivalent) and finally expressed a wish, a want, a desire.

What I love the most about this story is that her wish was to go to a dance! She wanted to go to the Ball and she wanted a great dress. Now that I can relate to! She didn't say she wanted to go to the Ball as long as all of the children in the kingdom were happy.

As soon as she asked, her fairy godmother appeared. You know the rest of the story.

Sometimes we are so busy excluding ourselves that we don't realize we have lost the ability that many of us had when we were very young, to have a great BIG wish.

This may sound weird to you, but I believe that wanting is spiritual and that we can't be effective wishers for world peace for example, if we cannot want something for ourselves. So, it is good to practice wanting. You'll be more helpful to the world by developing this skill.

You already know you want all children to be fed. What do you want for you?

Today I am going to practice wanting. I invite you to join me!

Inclusion

Have you ever been to a party where you knew few, if any, people? Have you stood awkwardly by yourself watching people who knew each other chatting and having a good time? How about having the experience of someone mercifully coming over to you, talking with you and introducing you to others, helping you to feel comfortable?

Perhaps you’ve played this role yourself, helping someone to feel included. It’s a relief, isn’t it? You’re grateful when someone reaches out to you, and it’s a great feeling to be that person for someone else. We all like to be welcomed and to know that our company is desired.

Sometimes a smile from a stranger comes at just the right time. When I was at the DMV yesterday getting my new Arizona driver's license, the woman assisting me was so friendly and helpful that it felt in those moments like we were two women who were part of the same human race -- more similar than different. I felt welcomed to Arizona! It was really a lovely experience. And, the icing on the cake -- I got to leave behind my old license that had a photo I didn't like. My new one is much better!

I think of spirituality as the concept of Unity, which means nothing is separate—we’re all in this together. It doesn’t mean you go off to one side while everybody else is part of some unified whole. It means you are an important, integral part of the whole shebang—the universe, the world, your community, your family, your relationship.

Today I am going to be inclusive and remember that we are all in this strange, mysterious journey of life together. I want my behavior to reflect that belief.

Seeing

When you gaze upon something so beautiful that it takes your breath away, you are in the present. It may be a stunning sunset, an extraordinary piece of art, or a baby in your arms. Your other senses are eclipsed as you fully receive what you are seeing.

All of the way into my thirties I loved the hustle bustle of city living and the colors of the urban landscape. I became aware at one point that every time I visited my mother in the suburbs of Philadelphia, I felt my eyes drink in the green of the trees, lawns and plants. It was a visceral experience.

I thought of this years later when I was teaching my second Receive course. Mary Ann, one of the participants and a nature lover, was used to noticing all of the beautiful trees and flowers when she took her dog out for their daily walk. She reported to our class, “I always took in, for example, the beauty of the flowers. But now (after learning about becoming a Receiver) I really receive them. It’s a much fuller, more receiving experience. It’s different. It’s like my appreciation is heightened and the experience is fuller.”

While it is easy to appreciate a beautiful sunset, it is also a wonderful experience to bring that same sense of awe and fullness to the regular sights of the day.

Sometimes we don’t see what is right in front of us. Today I am going to keep my eyes open and enjoy life's beauty in all of its colors, shapes and textures.

Attract

Is life attracted to you? How does life express this attraction? Through people or animals; strangers or friends? I remember years ago watching a dog trainer, Barbara Woodhouse, on TV. It seemed as though any animal that crossed her path immediately adored her!

I actually experienced something remarkable recently. I typically have flowers in several vases around my home. Their beauty adds to my life and I actually coo over them quite a bit. When I am in the same room I tell them how beautiful they are -- not that my pleasure is not obvious anyway!

So anyway, the other day I went over to my sink to wash dishes. Right in front of the sink were cheerful yellow flowers and I swear I felt from them such a wave of affection that it stopped me in my tracks. Now, I am used to expressing appreciation for them, but it had not occurred to me that something happened energetically that they would have what ever a flower's version is of love and appreciation. Anyway, I was genuinely moved and awed by that experience.

To receive is to be open, aware and responsive to how life speaks to you. The Law of Attraction, a Law that has been getting a lot of attention these days, is about attracting. Yet, if you are not attentive to how life speaks and relates to you, you may not be able to draw what you want toward you because you have missed the signals and information that would be helpful to you.

You can’t force someone to be attracted to you. But you can learn how to become attractive, to open up to and receive life and the people in it.

Today I am going to be attentive to how life speaks to me. Who or what is attracted? And why? What do I put out and how does life respond? This will be an interesting project for the day.

Do you have any thoughts on this? How does life respond to you? Take notice today and tell me about it.

Relax

How can relaxing be advantageous to your Receive Practice or help you manifest the life you desire or keep you centered in the present? It seems counter intuitive. Do you think of relaxing as doing nothing or being lazy or non-productive?

So many inventors, scientists, writers, and others have said that it was when they stopped focusing so hard trying to solve something and simply relaxed -- that it was then that they had their breakthroughs.

When people are relaxed, they are enjoyable to be around. I know for sure that when I am tense and wound-up not only do I feel icky, but I'm pretty sure being around me is not a picnic.

Today while I go about my day, I am going to make sure I keep a relaxed attitude. If I find myself feeling agitated by anything, I'll breathe deeply and relax.

Listening

Hearing is one of the body's five senses. But listening is an art. Frank Tyger

The five senses can be portals into the present. Today I am going to listen. Even as I sit here now and open up my ears I hear the hum of the refrigerator, which is actually quite a relaxing sound. I just heard someone close a car door. And I hear the ticking of my kitchen clock. Wow! That's a loud clock!

Have you noticed how often you close your eyes when you are listening to something especially enjoyable like a beautiful piece of music? You close one sense to totally tune into the experience of another. How often do you bring that same attention to the ordinary sounds of the day? It's interesting how you can't help but be in the present when you are listening.

The use of sound is well known for being a meditative device, whether by repeating the word OM or through chanting. It's an effective way to center your consciousness into the present.

I believe one of the greatest gifts you can give is to totally receive what someone is saying. Today I am going to listen. I'll listen to the birds and the traffic and I'll make sure I give my undivided attention and be present when someone is speaking to me.

I have a CD, which is a continuous chant of the word OM. I'm going to put my ipod in the docking station right now and listen.

Welcoming

Opening to life is really like welcoming whom ever and what ever crosses your path. On my best days, my welcoming attitude invites life in, in a way that just can't and doesn't happen when I am closed down or too inward. Sometimes we save the "best" of who we are for specific people or situations. Today I want to welcome life in all of its forms, people and manifestations. And I am going to make a point to notice (my word from January 2) the results of my welcoming attitude! I welcome you to join this experiment and post your own experiences.

Acceptance

I am choosing acceptance for today's project. I am going to accept where I am right now, right here today. It is so easy to be focused on where I would like to be and what I would like to accomplish. I like to remember that acceptance isn't about passivity. Accepting doesn't mean that I don't have dreams and goals that I am keeping on my radar screen and that I am working toward. Acceptance just means that I accept that in this whole panorama of my life, today is here. Not the past; not the future. For today, I accept where I am in this journey and will extend this thought to those I meet today or think about today.

Breathing

Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.

Thich Nhat Hanh

I love this quote from the Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh. Paying attention to one's breath, is such a great way to center oneself in the present. And, the nice thing about breathing is that you can do it anywhere!

For today, I am going to pay attention to my breathing. If I feel upset or anxious or tense, I'll say silently: Breathing in, I know I am breathing in...breathing out, I know I am breathing out.

Noticing

I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about today. But I had a dream this morning about noticing. Yes, noticing. Receptive states are experiences of being in the present and one of the ways to be fully present is to simply notice or pay attention to what is going on around you.

So, for today I am going to pay attention and notice what is in my environment, what I am doing and what I am feeling or thinking. Right now I am noticing how comfortable my chair feels. I see that the blinds I forgot to open are still closed. I just heard the heater turn on (yes, it’s been chilly here in Arizona!). I am also noticing how peaceful my home feels.

I don’t often think about the importance of noticing. But today I will.

Gratitude

I've been writing in my gratitude journal (sometimes more and sometimes less) since I started teaching my Receive classes several years ago. I made writing gratitudes a part of the class curriculum when I realized that whenever we are focused on feeling grateful, that we are are also fully in the present. It's about being receptive to life's givingness.

I want to start this year with the reminder that whenever I make a point to write down five things each day for which I feel grateful, I tend to keep noticing things throughout the day that I also feel grateful for whether a beautiful tree, a phone call from a friend or my morning coffee.

So for today, my five gratitudes:

1. I am grateful I live in beautiful Arizona!

2. I feel so blessed to have such good friends.

3. I am lucky to have found work that I love.

4. I am thankful I found a handyman who is a nice guy to fix things in the house.

5. I'm really glad I ate only half of the Doritos in the bag last night!

I like to spend sixty seconds immersed in one of my five gratitudes. Today I am choosing the one about feeling blessed to have such good friends. And for the rest of the day I am going to make a point to notice and say thank you for all of the ways that life gives to me.

Feel free to add your own gratitudes or any other message.