Bliss In These Troubled Times
July 16, 2010 by Coach Margie
Filed under Health & Wellness, Life Coaching, Self Development, bliss, personal growth
There is a lot going on in our world right now. The one thing that is most likely on every one’s mind is the huge disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This catastrophe is beyond comprehension on many levels. The environmental devastation is monumental, we don’t even know the extent of it as the oil continues to gush into the ocean each day in absurd amounts. My heart cries regularly about it, as this human created nightmare wrecks havoc and chaos on the planet.
How do we stay centered in our bliss, connected to the joy and beauty of life around us, when such horrible events are happening? Maybe it’s not even something that is “over there”, maybe there is equal devastation happening in your life right now, somehow.
The last year has been a challenging one for me. This is what I learned, and shared at the conference, about staying in bliss in these troubled times:
- Bliss never leaves, We just forget that it is there.
- It is so important to reach out to others so we can be reminded of who we are.
- Feel your feelings. So many times I wanted to feel better, and I knew if I didn’t experience the grief, rage, and despair that there was no way I could truly understand the gift of bliss.
- Our thoughts are not the truth. During times of devastation it is natural for despairing and depressive thoughts to take control. However, at any time we can decide to think thoughts that bring us closer to bliss.
- Bliss is a choice. While bad things happen, they are not our life, they are just a part of it.
One of the ways that I deal with the Gulf disaster is to spend every morning in meditation and prayer, where I send love, healing, and light to the Gulf , and to all beings affected by it. Prayers go to the plankton, the swimmy ones, the creepy crawlies, the winged ones, and the 2 legged’s. I ask for forgiveness and accept my part in what is happening. I pray that the powers to be will awaken to more life affirming choices, stepping away from greed and the wounding of this amazing planet. I use bells, and incense, and song, whatever will carry my words on the wind to be received by the oneness that is all of us.
Choosing bliss does not mean ignoring the reality of what is going on around us. It is about choosing to not get stuck in the ugliness and wound-ology of it all. Pray, sing loud, take responsibility, and then enjoy the life that is in front of you today.
Self Ecology, Planetary Sustainability
October 22, 2009 by Coach Margie
Filed under Health & Wellness, Whole Health, nature, personal growth, sustainability
This Summer has involved a lot of pain for me on various levels, as you know if you have been reading my blog. Now, I’m not telling you that to get sympathy or elicit your feeling sorry for me. It’s just fact. It is, what it is, what it is, as my clients often hear me say. Now that I am over the worst of it, I can look back and see what an amazing process it has been and recognize all the growth it has produced. The hugged-to-hard rib is healing, and so is my heart. I’m able to see beyond the intensity of my emotional self and things are looking pretty good!
Recently I found a wonderful piece of poetry, in an old “We-Moon” dayplanner, that I glued into my journal because of it’s perfection with regards to my process. What I have realized, as the seasons change and I come out of this Summer, is that the most important and wise thing I did through it all was to practice radical self care above and beyond any other concern. As I allowed myself to grieve my losses, and cry with the pain, or scream with the agony, and rage with upheaval of it all, I was facilitating a healing process. Had I ignored or denied what my experience was, it only would have come back to haunt me in the future.
This is true for our planet as well. The longer we deny and ignore the undeniable problems we are being confronted with, such as radical climate change, the larger the problem will become. If we accept what is, and set about changing it, then there is some prayer and hope that we just might heal things. In the process we also need to grieve our losses, rage with the absurdity of it all, and shed the tears of despair that rise from the depths of our spirit souls. Arne Naas calls this our Deep Ecology. It’s the place were we realize that we and Earth are one, and in caring for ourselves we care for the planet, and vica-versa.
The poem in the We-Moon calendar (http://www.wemoon.ws/), by Mary Steel, is called Self Ecology, and it speaks to the same thing.
Self Ecology
Without reverence for my
ecological self
without my own inner balance
where I find poise between
the skies of my ambitions
and the requisites of my earthly state
I cannot be that warrior
Without the quiet place reached
in grace and thanksgiving skywards
while the daily needs of my body
her bones, her flesh
draw me earthwards
I cannot engage in planetary survival
Without opening the portals
cosmological to base
in my own energy systems
I cannot go forth
and open the portals
for survival
of our planetary systems
And without standing aside to
watch in peace
the quiet flow of the energy
in my body
and the soft waterfalls of my mind
I cannot be that warrior.
Practicing Self Ecology is a radical act of planetary health care. For, when we understand our own micro-systems and bio-regions and changing seasons, we can better relate to, and want to protect, the natural environment around us.
Here, at Bliss101, we encourage the design of sustainable lives, relationships and environments. Self Ecology/Deep Ecology is a primary cornerstone of the philosophy that motivates and drives my engagement with, and support of, my clients. I invite you to join us on this journey as we move into this critical time on this planet. In the meantime, take good care of yourselves!
The Key To Sustainability-Common Interest
July 21, 2009 by Coach Margie
Filed under Health & Wellness, nature, personal growth, relationships, sustainability
Sustainability. What does it mean? What does it look like? More than just a buzzword, sustainability can be a way of life, a moral obligation, a lifestyle, and even a spiritual practice. Often sustainability is thought of in terms of the environment and what we can be doing to reduce our human impact of it.
But, what does it mean in terms of our personal lives, and within the realm of relationships? How does one practice or integrate sustainability, both from an environmental perspective as well as from a more personal one, into their life?
These questions, and more, were the topic of a recent Cafe Conversation that I host every month. These engaging and provocative Cafe’s provide members of the community the opportunity to come together and share conversations about the deeper, more meaningful topics often not covered in social situations. I have to tell you that this topic was one of the most interesting and energetic ones we have had in our 3 yrs running! This tells me that it is an important one, and one that lots of us need to be having often.
We are in interesting times. The inevitability of Peak Oil looms before us. Global Climate Change is undeniable. The current economic situation has everyone looking at ways to simplify, reduce, save, recycle and whatever else can be done to stretch the dollar just a little bit more. If we are to transition into these times with any semblance of grace, it is absolutely imperative that we have these conversations. We should have been having them years ago, and some of us were. Now it is no longer a luxury.
Sustainability can be defined as the capability to endure as a system to maintain diversity. This is easy to understand in terms of the environment-we need diverse eco-systems to maintain an eclectic array of plant, insect and animal life. What about the sustainability of our own personal and internal ecology?
At the Cafe we decided that individual (my) sustainability, which could also be considered well being, supports the sustainability of the whole. By putting our personal sustainability (evolution?) 1st over the relationship, the family, the community we positively effect those things in regards to their sustainability and growth. (The old put your air mask on first theory.) The connection of personal sustainability and environmental sustainability can not be ignored.
All of this is great, in and of itself. But what holds it all together? We don’t live in a vacuum, so what happens when you have 60 billion people, plus all the other species, trying to survive on this one fantastic planet? The key to true sustainability, we decided at the Cafe, whether you are talking about this whole planet, or the relationship between two people, or even with yourself, is a point of interest that is commonly shared. The point of interest feeds the commitment to sustainability. All the hard work, or all the love in the world doesn’t make a sustainable relationship. Everyone must have the desire, that common point of interest, to see it manifested, to sustain the attention and intention towards the end result of true sustainability.
To tie it all together, the final ingrediante required is a healthy dose of respect. It’s hard to maintain the desire for sustainability on our planet if you don’t respect Mother Earth. Likewise, if you don’t respect yourself, chances are you’re not going to make choices that sustain health, vitality, and other life affirming adjectives, for yourself, or the relationships you are in. This brings up the assumption that sustainability is always a positive thing. Is it possible for negative things to be sustained like ideas, beliefs and thoughts?
Of course it is. It’s probably just not very sustainable.
(Lots of gratitude to the Cafe Conversation participants for their contribution to this blogpost!)
Sustaining Long Term Relationships
June 5, 2009 by Coach Margie
Filed under celebrations, personal growth, relationships, sustainability
Wasatch Academy Class of 1979, in 2005
You grew up together. You went to school together. You have known each other a long time and no-one knows you like they do. You met on vacation and have stayed friends ever since. You used to be partners a long time ago and now you are the best of friends.
We all have those special people in our lives; true friends we can’t imagine not being there, and that have been with us for a long time. What makes these relationships last longer, and others come and go so quickly?
This morning I was doing an interview with Sharon Michaels on Blogtalk radio (I’ll post it as soon as it goes live!) and I was talking about my work around encouraging sustainable lives, relationships and environments. It seems to me that sustainability needs to be looked at differently, from a broader perspective. As the world looks at planetary resources, and creating energy in environmentally sustainable ways, so to do we, as individuals, need to do the same. We must continuously ask ourselves-is what I am doing producing energy that is renewable, or is it depleting my resource?
Back to relationships. My theory is that those relationships that last and last are the ones that consistently and constantly provide renewable energy sources. They feed us in ways we need and want. They lift us up and hold us up. They provide the kind of energy that helps us to grow and learn and evolve. They give us that freedom to grow, and don’t abandon us when we need a little extra push in our lives. They’ve got a back up energy supply when our batteries are running low
Take a look at the special people in your life that have been there for awhile. Check out my theory and explore how those relationships give you energy. Now take a look at the ones that don’t feel so good, that maybe you need to let go of, or that you are hoping would go away on their own. What’s the difference?Do you have more relationships that produce energy, or more that deplete your energy? If the latter is true I encourage you to begin the process of letting go of these destructive dynamics that only serve to bring you down.
Old yearbook photos make nametags for 30 year reunion!
Speaking of long term relationships, I am in the midst of preparing to head up to Utah for my 30th High School reunion!! Hard to believe so much time has gone by. I am really excited about connecting with old friends, rediscovering classmates in ways I have not previously known them, and bringing my full authentic self to the table. It’s funny. As I communicate with some of them, most of whom I have not seen in years, it seems as if no time has really gone by. The essence of these amazingly gifted, smart, funny, and wild old classmates, and friends, is still the same. I feel the energy within myself build up as I imagine the way renewed connections will nurture, feed and inspire all of us. The fun factor alone will probably produce enough energy to fuel my car all the way back home!
While we don’t all stay in touch, all of the time, I know that this group of friends will regularly be a touchstone in my life, a place to come home to and a way to remember with great reverence where I have come from. They witnessed, and accepted me, as a naive, skinny, rural teenager from the East Coast, who was far from home and had no clue what she was stepping into for her senior year of High School. There is no doubt they will do the same for this just-a-little-bit-wiser, not-so-skinny, menopausal women, who knows that home is where your heart is.
