We Heal Not To Continue Healing, But To Live

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We Heal Not To Continue Healing, But To Live

There comes a point along the healing journey when we reach a threshold. We know, intuitively, that it’s time—time to translate all the wisdom we have gathered and gifts awakened into art, into service; time to make courageous changes, to stop searching and begin planting roots for living. It’s time to make ourselves much more available to life, to those who need us. For those who’ve been staunchly committed to their healing journey for years, this can feel incredibly daunting. A great deal of time and energy has been given to turning inwards toward pains and struggles, to giving their fullest attention to themselves. But to now suddenly land somewhere and turn outwards, to commit to someone or something new, to step into the vast […]

Let Fear Motivate You—Fear Of What Will Happen If You Don’t Act On Your Heart’s Knowing

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Let Fear Motivate You—Fear Of What Will Happen If You Don’t Act On Your Heart’s Knowing

Fear is a great motivator. It’s not just our longing that drives us, our dreams and desires, but also our fear—fear that we may live the rest of our lives ignoring our heart’s knowing and neglecting our joyous, creative potential. Listen to your inner whispers; heed the nudges of your heart wishing to capture your attention. But if you find yourself persistently procrastinating, delaying your wistful nature, take a moment to consider the consequences. Consider what will come of you, what you will be relegated to, if you do not commit as best you can to this one, precious life. Feel the weight of gravity that stubbornly pulls you down into the never-ending banal job, the deadening relationship, the continual denial of your feelings, creativity […]

Unleashing Your Creativity ~ 16 Practices and Mindsets for the Reluctant Artist

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Unleashing Your Creativity ~ 16 Practices and Mindsets for the Reluctant Artist

Creativity is something we tend to resist in ourselves. We grow up believing “I don’t have a creative bone in my body”, or “I am not an artist”. And with the forces of industrial civilization demanding that we do things just so, followed by endless assessing and reporting on how well we do things just so, we have all succumbed to what I call The Disease of Being Right. Wrong must be avoided at all costs. Such is the short leash on our creativity. In his book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie discusses how he used to go into elementary schools to teach students how to make sculptures from sheets of steel. When he began each class, he always started with the same question: […]

You Market Your Purpose by Living It

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You Market Your Purpose by Living It

While useful to market your business, the most important means of making a living from doing what you love is to truly live your message. And as your offering ripens and you deepen further into life, life moves you, guides you and wanders with you further along winding roads leading you to the people ready for your services. There is not as much need to push as much as flashy, tech-savvy, and dare I say, manipulative marketers may deceive us into believing. There is not as much need to make things happen if we feel and trust the pulse of life moving us, and have the courage and awareness to follow, to let it lead us into wild unknowns.  Too much pushing and getting lost in the […]

The Wisdom and Power of Choosing Joy Simply for Joy’s Sake

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The Wisdom and Power of Choosing Joy Simply for Joy’s Sake

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things.” ~ Robert Brault There is something to be said about doing what’s enjoyable simply for the sake of joy; about letting loose, being swept up in the moment, lost without a care, just as children are. I learned the unmistakable importance of this truth many years ago… the hard way. For over four years I was dead broke. I had a lofty vision in mind—to lead workshops publically, as well as build a life coaching practice. There was initial success after completing my professional training, but what little there was begun to sour, and slowly I spiraled downwards along an onerous path I could never have imagined. […]

We Pine for Fridays Because We Live Separate from Ourselves and Life

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We Pine for Fridays Because We Live Separate from Ourselves and Life

The act of throwing ourselves to the pavement and into a frenzy because, at long last, we’ve reached Friday is outdated and needs ending. This myopia says much about the maturity of Western society, and how much we compartmentalize our lives, separate ourselves from joy, family, friends, nature, our gifts, values, intuition, a deeper calling, and much more.   Personally, I am glad I no longer crave Friday nights, nor loathe Monday mornings. I am grateful I cannot separate work from play, professional from personal, and that I continuously fail to know if it is a statutory holiday. Each day unfolds into the next as though it is one continuous movement that cannot be broken down into fragments that split me apart, leaving bits of me shattered and […]

Yes, Trouble’s Brewing Out There, but Are You Playing, Living, Despite it All?

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Yes, Trouble’s Brewing Out There, but Are You Playing, Living, Despite it All?

There is a lot of turbulence in the world, and it is very easy to dwell on climate change, the US election, Brexit and more. Don’t turn a blind eye to it all, but do notice how much you are turning towards the doom and gloom versus what makes you come alive, here and now. For those on the healing journey, the “spiritual path” as some like to call it, you may be inclined to inner-work yourselves to death, endlessly processing the fine far away corners of your psyche. And for all of us, we may find it easy to focus more on bleakness than beauty, folly than fun, problems than possibilities and play. Yes this is somewhat dichotomous, I’m aware, for there can be […]

Choosing Heart and Life Amongst the Busyness of Things

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Choosing Heart and Life Amongst the Busyness of Things

“The cities, the roads, the countryside, the people I meet—they all begin to blur. I tell myself I am searching for something. But more and more, it feels like I am wandering, waiting for something to happen to me, something that will change everything, something that my whole life has been leading up to.” ~ Khaled Hosseini—And the Mountains Echoed Her voice spoke with urgency. A pressing need to accomplish a number of tasks and build new ventures prompted this coaching client to hire me. During our initial session, she shared with such a clip that it was hard to truly feel and thus hear her. The buzz of words was like a lightening storm surrounding and protecting something that felt like a quiet, deep agenda […]

Transcending the Illusion of Success ~ Thriving in Heart-felt and Hard-won Truth

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Transcending the Illusion of Success ~ Thriving in Heart-felt and Hard-won Truth

“It takes courage to endure the sharp pains of self-discovery, rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.” ~ Marianne Williamson I can hear my mother’s concerned voice now: “Vincent, how is your business going? Is everything okay?” My mother loves me dearly, and like many moms, she worries about her child, perhaps more than other moms do because of where I came from, and how I have chosen to travel a highly unconventional route. It wasn’t long ago that I was living below the poverty line for four years, desperately holding onto a dream that was slowly slipping from my grasp. I knew I wanted to be a speaker—to travel, leading groups deeper into […]

Offer Fear a Place to Sit…and Let Creativity Come Out and Play!

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Offer Fear a Place to Sit…and Let Creativity Come Out and Play!

“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.” ~ Charles Brower During a recent playshop, we decided to offer Fear a place to sit. Fear’s presence needed to be acknowledged. It didn’t serve anyone to pretend it was not in the room. Fear, after all, is one of the great impediments to being playful and creative. We fear being judged, doing it “wrong”, looking too silly, failure etc. Fear doubts the innate artist within, demands perfection, and devises unnecessary plans to ensure we avoid unexpected pitfalls and looking “stupid”. It works us hard! Today’s kids have become so fearful of […]