Monthly Archives: February 2013

ARTICLE - The Power of Vulnerability

  By Admin | February 21, 2013 - 6:44 am |
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Looking up a definition of vulnerability, the first one noted is “susceptible to physical or emotional injury.” Aren’t we all, as human beings, susceptible to a blow to our physical and emotional well being? This is part of BEing a human. We can be strong and powerful in one moment, and fragile in the next. 
 
Other phrases that are used to describe vulnerability are “chink in one’s armor,” “live in a glass house,” “out on a limb,” “sitting duck,” or “over a barrel.” They certainly are not powerful images, are they? It is no wonder that we create stories that we are weak, helpless and victimized when we feel  vulnerable.
 
My personal experience with vulnerability has shown the spectrum from feeling weak and helpless to feeling powerful and in deep integrity. What I know is that the moment I burst into tears that I can’t hold back, I am tapping into the deeper mystery that lives within and is raw and true. I may not have the words for it and understand what it all means in the moment, but I know I am hovering around something deeply meaningful. If I can pause and let the tears pass through, WITHOUT judgement, there can often be an insight for me. As soon as I start to criticize myself or feel helpless or victimized, then the emotions take over and the learning is often lost.
 
I know I am in helpless victimized vulnerability when I hear this kind of self-talk: “Are you kidding me?” “Really! This has to be sooo difficult for me.” And the ultimate Viola Victim self-talk is “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” The other awareness about the helpless victim place is that it becomes more difficult to be grateful for what I have in my life. Sometimes, it just seems impossible to feel the gratitude.
 
Well I imagine you can guess what the empowered vulnerability might look like; gratitude comes easy for all the amazing simple moments; I embrace the fragile nature of my life as part of life; and I feel the truth in how it connects me deeply with the rest of humanity. We are all on our hero’s journey, and we all have moments of vulnerability.
 
I love asking questions that make people stop and think in new ways. Sometimes people furrow their brow and wonder whether I am asking a trick question or know the right answer when I ask them to pause and consider something like the power of vulnerability. When you ponder questions that do not coincide with the normal ways you think, you expand your view and open up creative problem solving. Asking new kinds of questions get at new kinds of understandings. 
 
What does “The Power of Vulnerability” mean to you?
 

FINDING THE FUNNY - Through a Child’s Eyes

  By Admin | February 18, 2013 - 7:17 am |
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A mom and dad were worried about their son not wanting to learn math at the school he was in, so they decided to send him to a Catholic school.

After the first day of school, their son comes racing into the house, goes straight into his room and slams the door shut.  Mom and dad are a little worried about this and go to his room to see if he is okay.

They find him sitting at his desk doing his homework. The boy keeps doing that for the rest of the year. 

At the end of the year, the son brings home his report card and gives it to his mom and dad. Looking at it they see under math an A+.

Mom and dad are very happy and ask the son, "What changed your mind about learning math?"

The son looked at mom and dad and said, "Well, on the first day when I walked into the classroom, I saw a guy nailed to the plus sign at the back on the room behind the teacher's desk and I knew they meant business."

FINDING THE FUNNY - Our Creative English Language

  By Admin | February 11, 2013 - 11:27 am |
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The English Language

There is no egg in eggplant, no ham in hamburger, and neither pine nor apple in pineapple 

English muffins were not invented in England

French fries were not invented in France

We sometimes take English for granted, but if we examine its paradoxes we find that

Quicksand takes you down slowly

Boxing rings are square

And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig

If writer's write, how come fingers don't fing

If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth

If the teacher taught, why didn't the preacher praught

 

If the vegetarian eats vegtables, what the heck does a humanitarian eat

Why do people recite at a play, and yet play at a recital

Park on driveways and drive on parkways

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a lanaguage where

a house can burn up as it burns down

And in which you fill in a form by filling it out

English was invented by people not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race

Which of course isn't a race at all

That is why when the stars are out they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible

And why it is that when I wind up my watch it starts, but when I wind up this observation, it ends.

 

NO WONDER WORDS CAN MESS WITH OUR MINDS!!

ARTICLE - Pain and Pleasure

  By Admin | February 6, 2013 - 9:42 am |
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Do you want to hear something crazy? I did not have any idea how much pleasure was available to me in my body until I was in a whole lot of pain. My body has experienced the high of dancing on stage with joy and ease to the "show stopping" pain of being unable to move a single joint in my body without a searing and stabbing sensation penetrating throughout.
 
It was in one of those "show stopping" moments that I learned about how to use pleasure as a balance to the pain. That was over 7 years ago now, and I have been exploring this phenomenon of pleasure and pain since then.
 
This is what I want you to know:
 
* Pain can be physical, emotional, psychological, energetic, spiritual, etc. No matter where it derives from, pleasure is a source of relief.
 
* Pain and pleasure live right next door to each other within our bodies. We do have a choice.
 
* Pleasure medicine, as I call it, can mean laughter, sensuality, sexuality, and beauty (to name a few).
 
* The above mentioned pleasure medicine lives within us 24/7.
 
* There are no side effects from pleasure.
 
* We all live with pain.
 
When we are able to ramp up the pleasure in our lives, we are engaging in a form of preventative medicine.
 
Simple pleasures are the very best. Here is a starter list of my most enjoyable simple pleasures. 
 
* Drinking coffee (with cream) in the morning outside in fresh air
* Reading, posting and telling jokes on a weekly basis
* Feeling the breeze blow across my skin
* Savoring the taste of a juicy mango
* Listening to the birds
* Smelling the fragrance of lilacs
* Giving and getting a hug
* Enjoying an Arizona sunset
* Talking to my daughter on the phone or skype
* Having a whole day with no plans
 
What can you add?