Let Children Play and they Remain in a State of Flow ~ They Move with the Intelligence of Life
Letting children play allows them to remain in a state of flow. This is incredibly vital given that flow is the natural state of life. Nature does not force, rather it moves as a young child moves, instinctually, with the intelligence of the whole guiding it through quiet whispers and nudges. It simply knows, in the same our heart knows; it knows without knowing how it knows. When children give themselves over to their play, and specifically unstructured play, they move as a river does, as the heart does, moment-to-moment, fluid and free. It is within this natural state that they stay connected to their inner whispers and nudges, the ancient impulses of life that breathe into their hand as they doodle, into their thoughts […]
6 Keys to Walking the Creative Path ~ Overcoming the Illusion of Perfection
“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.” ~ Mary Lou Cook There are many excuses, or stories, we use to postpone what wants to emerge from us and take shape in the world: my creative offerings need to look / sound a certain way; people need to like them, like me; no one will purchase any; I can’t make a living from it; I don’t have time; I need to study more; my offerings need to create aha moments, invite transformation; they need to change the world! They need to be perfect! Because so many of us have drown our creative instincts in self-judgment, it can take a great deal of self-awareness to recognize our limiting stories; and […]
When You Slow Down Enough
by Vince Gowmon From Wild Empty Spaces ~ Poems for the Opening Heart When you slow down enough you no longer fear the silence of space and all it holds. In embracing stillness you discover that which you never knew existed or was possible, and you meet your Self and life perhaps for the very first time. When you slow down enough you finally feel the feelings and hear the words you have been avoiding all these many years. Those knocks on the door, those peering eyes that have been trying to capture your attention from the shadows, the long lost dream that once carried you away, far away, many moons ago. When you slow down enough you no longer fear your aloneness. You […]
Play is Training for the Real World
What skills and attitudes are needed to live in the real world? “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” ~ Woody Allen When you look at the two paths expressed in the image above, what would you say are the skills needed to travel the path above versus below? How do we need to be? What attitudes are necessary? In considering the path below, I would guess one of the first skills or attitudes you thought of was flexibility. (I say this because when I ask my playshop participants the same question it seems to always be the first answer shared, not just by one person, but many, which I find personally interesting!). I would also guess that you might […]
It’s Time to Be the Leader You Are Waiting For ~ Step into Your Self, Dreams and Life!
“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” ~Alan Cohen There comes a point when the life we are living is no longer enough. It is no longer feeding our soul, or representative of who we are and the values we hold. While this recognition can feel daunting, it is a moment in life that is ripe with opportunity. Because by recognizing and accepting it, we begin the process of opening to something greater. By traversing these crossroads, we start to truly live our life, […]
Give People Something to Play With ~ Enrolling Others into the Spirit of Yes And
The more you give people things to play with, the more they can give back to you, and the world! When you practice the Spirit of Yes And, you discover how easy it is to make people smile in the simplest ways. Their smile opens them up to their heart, and more fully allows them to give back. I was standing at a grocery checkout line waiting to purchase a whole pie for a potluck, when an elderly lady in front of me turned around and said, “That looks like a yummy pie!” I was happy! She was inviting me to play! “Yes it is,” I replied. “I plan to eat it all myself!” Grin! I passed the ball back to her. And then she smiled and laughed. I […]
Playing with Perspective ~ Seeing Life Through the Eyes of a Child
“When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a superhero.” ~ Fred Rogers Play is not just something we do; it is a perspective from which to see life. It is a worldview that invites endless possibilities to creatively engage people, objects and places. I was hiking up a mountain a few weeks back and came across a tree that was lying on its side, tilted downwards, paralleling the steepness of the trail. One might look at this object and see only a tree that’s fallen on its side. What I immediately saw was a slide that was inviting me to […]
4 Ways to Not Know
“When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” ~Margaret Drabble Something we tend to struggle with is accepting and communicating that we do not know. To the extent that we have been raised to believe that knowledge is power, we have come to believe that not knowing is weak and unproductive. As such, being honest about not knowing is difficult, and we feel pressure to act as if we know, when in fact we don’t. We fear judgment, asking for help and feeling as if we are a failure. Where in your life are you not accepting that you do not know? If you were to make it OK to not know, what would you do differently? Four ways to express not knowing “I don’t know.” […]
Creating Colorful Perspectives
Where Your Attention Goes, the Energy Flows. The decisions we make are based on the perspectives we hold about a particular person or situation. A perspective may be: She doesn’t know what she’s doing. I’m stuck; I can’t figure this out. This meeting is pointless. It has to be done this way. A perspective is simply a lens through which we view the world. What we often fail to remember is that our perspective is one lens of many, and not the lens. It is one color in the spectrum of viewpoints. When we forget this, we get locked in our perspective, and fail to make ourselves available to all the other colorful options. The next time you feel stressed or uncomfortable in any way, […]
The Call of The Butterfly ~ Answering the Call of the Awakened Heart
“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” ~ Richard Bach There may come a time when you feel the call to become something more than you’ve always been; a call to let go of one way of living, without being clear of exactly where you are going. All you know is that you can no longer stay where you are. This is the call of the butterfly. Life only really begins when you answer this call. It is you saying Yes to your soul, and Yes to soul-full living. It is the courageous beginning of a journey away from what no longer feeds your soul, towards a life that allows you to express yourself more fully and authentically. Answering the call awakens […]