It lies within you, thirsting.

Like a baby bird chirping desperately for its mother’s return to the nest to bring the food that will keep it alive, there is a yearning that lives within you, and it calls incessantly. It can be satiated with the smallest of moments, and it has a camel’s resistance to thirst, but if you ignore it too long, it will shrivel and die.

And as it does, color will fade from your world. Meaning will ebb away, enjoyment will wither, and you’ll sit around trying to remember a time in your life when richness existed. You’ll get dry, stiff… and when you hardly recognize the crusty you that you’ve become, you’ll chalk it up to being busy. Or being a parent. Or being a professional. Or getting older.

But it has nothing to do with any of those things.

The Urgent Call is your spirit’s need for connection. Like the migrating herds of the plains of Africa, who travel thousands of miles every year in search of life-giving food and water, your spirit has an essential drive to feel its connection to all around it. It’s the reason we seek community. It’s the reason we search for purpose and meaning in life. It’s the reason we feel better when we’re on a spiritual path, and it’s the reason that it doesn’t really matter what path that ends up being.

What matters is that you connect.
What matters is the Urgent Call gets listened to.
It doesn’t matter how your Urgent Call gets fulfilled, only that it does.
(more…)

I watched The Ramen Girl last night. I know, I know… not exactly the kind of movie you’d expect from a carnivorous, Olympic-lifting male, but I did. And you know what? I enjoyed it. Truth be told, I actually like romantic comedies as a genre—call me a sensitive, new-age guy, if you must—but what I enjoyed most from The Ramen Girl wasn’t the trials and tribulations of Brittany Murphy, or even the food (and I love food movies).

Mmm... steaming hot ramen.

What I enjoyed most about the movie, without giving away too many details, was the main ingredient that Brittany Murphey’s character, Abby, learned to infuse into her ramen that made it special: spirit. Because in the end, this was not a movie about ramen, or romance. It was about finding one’s place in the world by focusing on the how more than the what.

“How” comes from within

The fact that Abby learned to make a great bowl of ramen is secondary to what it required of her to do it. She got the recipe right long before she was able to make a meal that was worthy of being served to her customers, because she was taught that making soup isn’t just about getting a bunch of ingredients and assembling them. It’s about heart. Unless your soup has spirit, it hasn’t got anything.
(more…)

I love to chant. When all else fails, it’s one of the few spiritual practices that doesn’t ever let me down.

I’ve been meaning to write a post about it, just so you all know I haven’t fallen off the wagon completely… But then Fabeku beat me to it. Brilliantly.

Of course, our histories are different. And each of us has our preferences, and brings to it what we do. But all the reasons Fabeku speaks about as to why he chants… how it rejuvenates him, how it cleans him out and fills him up… he could’ve been channeling me, there.

Why it matters

So I chant. Fabeku chants. Big whoop, right? Well, as I’ve been a fan of saying for some time now, when it comes to spiritual practices,

It doesn’t matter so much what you do… but it matters a ton why you do it.

I stopped working as a healer a over year ago now. I was talking about this with my wife the other night, and I told her that one of the big reasons why was because I felt dry. I didn’t feel I had anything left to give… I just couldn’t be there for my clients the way I could before. And to be honest, I was never completely satisfied with my answer as to why that was.
(more…)

When it comes to making change in your life, your health, or the health of your business, the #1 item on every “Law of Attraction”-based, personal growth-oriented list is always gratitude.

Why? Because, the logic goes, when you are feeling grateful for something, you’re in a state of appreciation and happiness, which begets a greater state of happiness. The more you get accustomed to feeling good about what you have, the more you get to feel good about, and the more good you feel about what you have, and so on… it’s an ever-growing spiral.

But what if gratitude brings you down?

I have to admit, I used to resist gratitude in a huge way. Not because I have anything against showing appreciation, but because whenever I’d do a practice involving gratitude, I ended up feeling small and unhappy, which is the opposite of what it was supposed to do for me.

Not cool, I thought. Not cool.
(more…)

Why, in seemingly every tradition, are there ritual practices?

Because rituals work, that’s why. They work through repetition; through continual practice, the attentive mind learns the steps until they are memorized. Once the mind’s focus is no longer needed to complete the ritual, it goes on “auto-pilot”, and the adept can repeat the ritual and focus the mind deeper, awakening the heart/soul/whatever (depends on the ritual, of course). This allows for a much deeper level of presence to be had, transforming the result of the ritual, and the mind of the practitioner.

Or, as my martial arts teacher would say, “First, the mind teaches the body what to do. Then, the body refines the movement, teaching the mind how it wants to move. Finally, body and mind are united as one.” He also said that once you performed an action 10,000 times, you had it mastered.

(more…)

Out with the old, in with the new.

That’s my motto right now. I reserve the right to change it, if/when it suits me, but that seems to be the flavor of my thinking lately.

Ever have the feeling your business could use an emema? I did/do, and I’ve been laying down on that table for quite some time now.

To help steer me away from expanding on that metaphor, and to give you some context, let me give you some background. This will be especially helpful for those of you who haven’t known me all that long, all that well, or just are curious about the path I’ve come to tread and where this blog is going. I’ll try to be succinct…

(more…)

The new year is almost upon us… and you may be feeling completely unprepared for it. Of course, you may also be excited as a three-year-old on Christmas morning about it (something I got to witness first-hand this week).

Either way, a new year presents a wonderful opportunity. Sure, you could say it’s just another day, another week, another month. But there’s a shift that happens when a new year dawns; a hope that you can feel—and take advantage of—to make changes in the way you do things. The question then becomes: what to change?

Of course, it all depends on your priorities… and they fall in line behind your goals… which are a product of what’s important to you. To help you get a bit more clear on what’s important to you, and brainstorm a bit about possible changes to make, here are a few ideas to sit with and see what sparks your interest.

1. Redefine your targets.

What’s important to you in your life? Another way of asking that is: What are you working towards? Retirement (years from now)? Location-Independent living? A few extra trinkets for you and yours?

If you aren’t clear on what your targets are, you’ll want to take some time to think long and hard about this one. After all, it’s a big world, and the choices are limitless… you can craft your life however you want. Knowing what targets you’re aiming at influences every action, every decision, every choice that follows.

(If you haven’t yet read The Four-Hour WorkWeek, you owe it to yourself to get a hold of a copy… Tim has an eye-opening philosophy when it comes to life, as well as excellent tools to help you get clear on what you’ll need to achieve your plans.)

2. Planning sessions.

Once you’re clear on your targets, take some time to do some planning. You may want to set aside some alone time to dream, mind-map, and feel into your path. You may also want the support that a mastermind group can offer; if you don’t have a group, think about starting one. Either way, working without a plan is like driving a race car blindfolded; you’ll stand a much better chance of getting where you want to go if you can see where you’re headed.

3. Clean out your office.

Working in a space that’s bogged down with old papers, unused files, and irrelevant project materials is like taking your grandmother with you on a first date; there’s history there that’s just not helpful. Instead, clear out the clutter from your space, organize it in a way that’s productive, and freshen things up; you’ll benefit immensely from the mental space you feel.

4. Clean up your computer.

Does your desktop look like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle? Do you have scores of folders and files piling up on your hard drive, making it hard to find what you need? You can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by devoting some time to clearing out your old computer detritus. Can’t part with it? Put the stuff you aren’t sure if you’ll need or not into storage: burn some DVDs, or stash it online.

5. Paint a room, or a wall.

You’d be amazed what some color can do for you. My office is mostly green, but I’ve got one wall that’s red, and it’s amazing. New color = new life.

6. Show your gratitude and love to someone.

Maybe there’s someone in your life that you haven’t been in touch with in a while, or someone who plays a special role in your life that you haven’t shared your feelings with lately; ringing in the new year is a great reason to reach out. But it doesn’t have to be a person, either: is there an organization you’ve admired, but haven’t made contact with? It could be a humanitarian organization or an environmental group, a software company, or a non-profit that serves your area. Call them, write them, or visit. It’ll do you both a world of good.

7. Commit to your health.

As they say, “Without your health, you haven’t got anything.” So what in your routine could use some tweaking, or a complete overhaul? Your eating habits? Exercise? Sleep patterns? There’s a world of good information out there; grab a recommendation from someone who’s got the area you want to focus on dialed in, and see what you can learn. After all, none of us are getting any younger!

8. Learn something new.

There’s nothing like following a passion to learn something new to breathe new energy into your life. You can focus on anything you want… and, you may want to learn something that plays into your work; it’s up to you. Need ideas? How about a new language to expand your client base? A software program that will allow you to do all kinds of fun things with your work? Or a skill (like typing dvorak to rid yourself of RSI), or a sport (to interact with new people), or a musical instrument?

9. Lighten the weight of debt.

There’s nothing like dropping old baggage to make you feel light again… resolving to clearing up old debt is a great way to head into the new year. It doesn’t just have to be financial debt, either. If you feel an outstanding obligation in a relationship you have, or the feeling that you owe somebody for something they’ve done for you, pay it back it whatever way you can. You’ll feel so much better once you do.

10. Commit to your spiritual well-being.

Your spiritual health is a deciding factor in your enjoyment of life, your ability to be creative and spontaneous, and your sense of purpose and fulfillment. But that doesn’t mean being spiritual can’t also be a blast! Look for ways to let your spiritual connection be a source of fun, as well as an outlet for your devotional tendencies. You can try new spiritual practices, or play with ways to make your tried-and-true acts of devotion more fulfilling, more expanding, or more celebratory.

What are you going to do to get ready for 2008?

Let us know in the comments. Or, if you need some help figuring it out, ask for it in the comments, too.

Image by bingbing.

Meet Elena. She’s one of those high-energy-yet-down-to-earth people, the kind of person you wish you knew more of. A literal fountain of ideas, she’s smart, quick to grasp concepts, and has more interests than a bank.

And that’s Elena’s problem (or so she’s been told). Her friend told her, “You’re too passionate, E… you jump from one thing to the next more often than anyone else.”

And it’s true — when she finds something that catches her attention, she’s on it like a hungry dog on a fresh bone, and she learns everything she can about her new passion.

So even though she loves learning, that voice often goes off in her head that says, “Maybe they’re right… maybe I should really cool my jets on this. I’m thinking about this way too much.”

But what the heck would she listen to that voice for?

(more…)

If there’s one thing I learned last week, from cooking for 150 people at a four-day retreat at the Farm of Peace, it was this: wear good shoes. Without proper support, you’re in a world of hurt.

And as painful a lesson as that was, it wasn’t the most profound lesson I learned there. But it was the most practical.

I’m a big believer in practical spirituality. As much as I love conceptual spiritual study — geeking out on the nuances of the theories of free will, self-direction, and hearts and souls (I’ve got a double grand trine in air, after all) — it’s the practical side of the spiritually-infused life that really puts my heart at rest.

Practical spirituality, to me, is how your spiritual studies directly impact and influence the way you live your life in the most seemingly mundane of ways. You could say it’s the “shoes” of life — the support that a sturdy spiritual orientation gives you in tackling the challenges and tasks of your existence.

Now, that might seem a bit odd to some; to think of the spiritual existence as a foundation for life, when so often the spiritual is thought of as the pinnacle of life, supported by the worldly. As if the dense, worldly life is the base, and the ethereal, spiritual life forms the “higher” parts of life. But I’ve found that model to lead to all sorts of problems.

(more…)

Ooh, man, do I love to learn — and I bet you’re the same way. And, there are times when we’re learning for the wrong reasons.

When you need specialized knowledge to accomplish a task (like learning CSS, NVC, or intuition), or you’re just curious about something (flamenco guitar, 17th century naval frigates, or how to grow better cucumbers), then learning lifts you up. The more you learn, the more full you feel, and the richer your life becomes.

But when you’re learning something new because you feel deficient as a person without it, “less than”, or are driven by a compulsion to appear better than someone else, then you might as well be trying to fill in the Grand Canyon with a teaspoon. Because no matter how much knowledge you accumulate, you’ll never feel full.

And here’s the kicker: the same lesson applies to learning as it does to material wealth, food, affection, or just about anything you can think of.

(more…)