Of Love, Life & Truth ~ Secret Wisdom in the Poetry of WordPlay
~ by Vince Gowmon Know, know now, the only time you can k-now, and you’ll win your Heart over, now won One. But you may need to say a brave No to what is false, what is not You, to say Yes to what is real, what you know is true now, know now. And so trust your inner No, your inner k-no-w, its strength, its worth, its reason for being, so you embrace and follow your Heartfelt knowing, and boldly own what is kn-own within, making You more authentically known to the world, hiding less, if only a little, if only from your beloved, co-worker, friend, cat, plant… If only you own not just what is known now but what you’ve always known since […]
What if these Confounding Times are like a Zen Koan Inviting Us to Awaken?
What is a peaceful word that ends with “i”? This is a koan that came to me in my dreams a few days ago. I offer this, what I call a Personal Koan, to sit with, to contemplate; to consider as an important inquiry to help you navigate these pivotal and confounding times, and your life in general. Reading further below, you’ll also discover what I call a Collective Koan, which is different from the former by only one letter. Personal Koan If you don’t know what a koan is, it’s a paradoxically complex yet simple question or riddle often given by Zen Masters to their disciples that can only be answered by going into the heart. Its confounding nature forces the seeker to abandon […]
Everything is a Waiting Game… Until You Stop Submitting and Wake Up to Your Power
“The ultimate gift we can give the world is to grow our tiny humans into adult humans who are independent thinkers, compassionate doers, conscious questioners, radical innovators, and passionate peacemakers. Our world doesn’t need more adults who blindly serve the powerful because they’ve been trained to obey authority without question. Our world needs more adults who challenge and question and hold the powerful accountable.” ~ L.R. Knost If you sit passively back and do not engage life with a sense of purpose, do not act from your gifts, your power and in courageous service, you will succumb to the mainstream narrative and all that’s wrong with the world. The television will be the alter you frequent hours a day, not your heart which begs for […]
When Present-Moment Truth Trumps the Pursuit of Happiness: Learning to Live Authentically Here and Now
“We are powerful beyond measure, and so deeply vulnerable at the same time. This may seem like a dichotomy, but it isn’t. We have misunderstood real power. It has been something assertive, non-surrendering, pushing on through. This is not real power. This is simply willfulness. Real power is something else—receptivity, openness, the courage to keep your heart open on the darkest of days, the strength to feel it all even when the odds are stacked against you. Real power is showing up with your heart on your sleeve and absolutely refusing to waste one moment of your life hidden behind edginess and armor.” ~ Jeff Brown In our first session my clients often tell me that they have a goal to be more authentic. It’s […]
Sinking into Truth. Resting in the Body ~ 6 Steps to Moving Beyond the Overwhelming Stories of the Mind and into Self-Compassion
“You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.” ~ Albert Einstein Sometimes it can feel like you are caught in a firestorm of overwhelming and uncontrollable thought. Concerns, doubts, “What if’s”, “Yes but’s” swirl through your mind pulling you into the fierce grip of anxiety. For the sake of simplicity, let’s call these swirling thoughts stories. If you pay close enough attention to your mind, you will see that it is a relentless and compelling storyteller. And sometimes it is difficult to know what is real and what is not. The bottomless pit of stories When your mind is bombarding you with images and thoughts that create anxiety, it may be tempting to […]