Another big move!

After much thought, I have decided it is time to integrate my selves, my lives, my blogs. I originally began this blog as an outlet for expression that I didn't feel had a place on my life coaching "business" website.

Now, I have launched a new website at www.nancola.com and it includes all of me -- writer, columnist, life coach. Body, mind, spirit. Intellect, goofball, diva.

If you're craving only posts in The Universal Flow, it has its own category with just those entries.

Catch you there.

Mixing it up

Well, clearly something is going on with this blog. I think it may be time to merge it with Write Thinking, which is now featured on the homepage of my new website -- www.nancola.com.

Ever since last week when I was having lunch with a fellow life coach and explaining the genesis of this blog, I've been thinking that the thoughts I put here should be expressed on the other. Streamlining, partly. But mostly it's to mesh spirit with body and mind and coaching and writing and everything else.

Still pondering ...

Open to receive

I am feeling so in sync with The Universe. Columns, interviews, meetings, potential ventures -- they're all lining up nicely.

Stay open. That is my mantra. You will not see the possibilities if you are not open.

Simple as that.

Elevate your thinking

All week long, this quote has been in my head. I've been feeling it lately, bigtime. I know I've quoted it before, but it's an understandable favorite. And I just came across it in an Oprah newsletter:

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
-- A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson

This often gets attributed to Nelson Mandela because he used it in a speech, but it is pure Williamson.

It speaks to me so.

Break in the routine

Didn't do morning pages today. Makes me feel a little off. I always seem to notice their value more when I don't do them.

Hmmmmm.

Must make a point of resuming tomorrow.

Poetry in motion

Back in 2001, I attended a Creativity Camp in Taos, New Mexico. One of the exercises we did called for writing a poem from existing lines with some blanks and then a fixed list of words to fill them in. We had a time limit. The idea was to play with words and stretch them. I just found my poem in a batch of paper I was sorting through:

Serendipity that I sit here in the moonlight?
That I wander, my poignant soul a pool of laughter
The Universe is calling
It smells good, like fresh moonrise or a busy garden
I lunge, my heart elevated beyond a giraffe.

Makes me smile.

Channeling

Got an idea while watching The Today Show on the treadmill this morning. A Game Plan column possibility for FOXBusiness.com. Went to a cafe after the workout and nested in the back with a cup of coffee and a notebook.

Had a hunch that if I gave the thought over to my Morning Pages and just let it flow I'd get some clarity. And it worked. Before I knew it I had a few pages of a column.

Sometimes you just have to let it come through you.

For a reason

From a spiritual sense, the finale of Brothers and Sisters last night was so appealing to me. A series of circumstances that led a young woman, Rebecca, to think she was the half-sister of a large family turned out to be misleading. They were actually not related. It was painful for her and them to find that out after getting to know each other.

But in the meantime, she had developed a strong bond with Justin, who she thought was her half-brother. In the final scene, Rebecca asks Justin to meet her in a lovely, secluded place. And she courageously wonders aloud if all that had happened was supposed to lead her to him.

I love this line of thinking. That out of what seem like painful, convoluted circumstances can come a soul connection.

They kissed shyly. It was lovely.

Her day

Heading out of town for the weekend to celebrate Mother's Day with the family. Mom is cooking. Refuses to go out. Makes me laugh. I just go with the flow.

Each year it seems there is more to appreciate in her. Especially since so many in my generation are losing their parents.

She's a trooper. I'll take her.

Hot legs

This morning I had a talk with a centipede. It was on the bedroom wall. My instinct was to go get the Raid. But then I remembered that in holistic terms centipedes represent forward movement. This gave me pause.

Then I spoke. If you walk up, up, up, I told it, you will live. If you disappear soon thereafter, I said, I'll pretend our paths never crossed.

It did and it did.

And all it left behind were delicious thoughts of forward movement.

Sharing the wisdom

Amazing to me that several points from A New Earth were pertinent in one of my client sessions today. The client was so open to the concepts.

I love that aspect of being in The Universal Flow.

No going back

Joyfully completed the webinar series on A New Earth today. What a privilege.

The awakening process has accelerated in me. But author Eckhart Tolle touched on something with regard to that that has come up in daily life.

"Once this comes into your life, there's no going back," he said.

An "awakened" friend and I have been having discussions on this very topic lately. I talk of straddling two worlds, being able to exist in both. He shakes his head. No, not possible.

Hmmmm.

I will, as Tolle suggested at the end of class, choose presence in my daily life. And we'll see how it goes.

Spring

Really lived in the moment today. Took each thing as it came. Brunch was great. Strolled through the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival afterward. Ran into a friend. Sat on a park bench with him for a while. Drank lemonade. Marveled at the rain that never came, the sunshine that did.

A good Sunday.

Tuning in

The marching orders continue to happen and I am continuing to listen. Ear to the ground, baby.

Interview this person. Teach this group. Take on this client. Write this piece. Play this song. Kick back at this time. Show this person some love. Confide in this one. Don't confide in that one. Attend this event.

The beat goes on. My beat. My foot's a-tap, tap, tapping ... I'm in tune.

Those morning pages

My morning pages this morning came flying off the pen like they haven't in a long time. Maybe the reinforcement from interviewing Julia Cameron this week sunk in and put me more in focus on them again. Or maybe the fact that I decided to write them in a cafe this morning and the two people next to me were so loud that I had to consciously block them out made for a more focused experience.

All I know is they served their purpose well on this day, allowing me to get little pesky junk out of my head and work through an annoying pattern I've seen cropping up in myself. Sometimes, as pen glides over page, the junk just floats away.

Inner purpose

I just did my Week 9 class of the Eckhart Tolle/Oprah class on A New Earth since I was out on Monday night and missed it live. This is the chapter with what must be my favorite quote of the book because it speaks to me so:

When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life. It means fear is no longer a dominant factor in what you do and no longer prevents you from taking action to initiate change.

Also, something Eckhart said in the webinar was very powerful:

The mind can do many wonderful things when it no longer controls you.

Amen and amen.

Quotable Cameron

I am writing my butt off over here. Entrenched in all things Julia Cameron. And so, a favorite quote from The Artist's Way that feels particularly apt this week:

Leap and the net will appear.

Full circle?

How's this for Universal Flow? I interviewed Julia Cameron tonight. I had a bit of a motor mouth thing happening. I mean, her work has changed my life and I continue to use her tools in my life coaching and, well, there we were talking about all of it.

This is going to be a very special column. Stay tuned.

Up a notch

The other day at the gym I had to raise the weights on the leg extension and leg curl machines for the first time in a LONG time. I wasn't feeling challenged enough and wanted to feel the burn.

Today I had to increase the speed on the treadmill for the first time in a while because I wasn't working up a sweat.

You've gotta love the metaphor.

Another place

Some truth. Lately I haven't been as forthcoming in this blog as I might be, likely because I feel like something is happening that is large and mystical and it's hard to explain without sounding all woo-woo.

But honestly, it doesn't feel woo-woo. It feels real and very natural. A few months ago, maybe February, I stopped making lists each week to determine what tasks I would do each day. I feared nothing would get done, but I paid attention to my gut anyway because this was a strong urge. As it turns out, this has opened up my days, my eyes, my consciousness, my life.

I am working harder than ever, joyfully and enthusiastically, but it feels like there's been a shift. I am better able to see what comes up in the moment and address it. I am somehow more open. I am detached from results way more than ever, which is so liberating. I am more tolerant and patient. I feel like I've cleared away fog.

In the midst of this, no coincidence I'm sure, I have been reading and studying A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and learning to be. There are two weeks left of the web class with him and Oprah and I am excited that I have stayed with it and started to pay considerable attention to stillness.

I just today began reading Steering by Starlight by Martha Beck and it appears that once again The Universe has aligned things perfectly. I feel awakened and ready to go through the three stages she presents in the book -- dissolving, dreaming, daring.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I've already begun.

I'm listening ...

I feel like The Universe is talking to me these days. Like, giving me marching orders. Every day it's something.

I think this is always happening. I'm just listening better.

Gorgeous

Lots of activity at the Hoboken waterfront this evening. I sat at the outermost portion of Pier A Park, music pulsing in my ears, and just took it all in -- the water, the helicopters, the boats, the joggers, the strollers. With each passing moment I felt like I relaxed into it a little bit more.

It was a perfect comedown from a busy few days.

Color me Zen

I am filled with gratitude at my ability to, more than ever before, take a deep breath or two and move past anger or annoyance.

It is so worth the peace.

Inhabiting the Now

I thoroughly enjoyed week 8 of the webinar on A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and Oprah. One of my favorite moments tonight was when Oprah talked about how when a decision is not coming from a place of ego, it gives you peace and you don't have to ask "15 people" if you're doing the right thing.

How much does that resonate? A big amen.

Also, Eckhart talked about being aware of each thing you're doing and your surroundings and just being fully present so the everyday isn't mundane or a means to an end. I really felt this at the gym today. I used to be working on one machine while obsessing that someone else was going to get on the machine I wanted next. Not productive, obviously. It's so much better to feel each rep and enjoy the movement and power.

This is quality of life.

Choice

As I prepare each week for the Monday web class in A New Earth, I reread the appropriate chapter so it's fresh. I also go back through what I've highlighted in prior chapters to bring it all to the forefront again. Here's the passage that jumped out at me this time around:

If peace is really what you want, then you will choose peace.

Yes.

Sweeping view

Went with an in-the-moment urge to check out some real estate today. Was walking along the Hoboken waterfront with a friend when I saw a sign for an open house. It was an 11th-floor, two-bedroom, two-bath stunner. Marble counter tops. Wall-to-wall windows. Did I mention, wall-to-wall windows?

Now if only I had that cool million lying around ...

In the stars

Really, I'm not the astrology queen, but who can resist a weekend horoscope like this, courtesy of Astro Abby:

Your creative and romantic sides seem to feed off of each other this weekend. Friday gets things off to a tantalizing start. Everything, even a mundane task, feels slightly sexual and entertaining. You get a mild buzz from ordinary people, events and things because you’re embracing life with both arms – no more holding others at arm’s length. It’s amazing how quickly you can access your creative muse and whomever you choose by allowing yourself to be a bit vulnerable. And get this: Nothing horrific happens, even when you let your guard down. In fact, things are pretty fabulous all weekend! Count on Saturday being a banner day for those of you in love or lust, as well as the artists, musicians and dancers among you. You feel more alive and willing to take a risk that will undoubtedly pay off in a dozen tempting ways. Why fight it - especially when there’s so much to gain? Sunday’s Full Moon makes you the one that everyone fights over. Everyone wants your attention, companionship and participation. You won’t be able to quietly fade into the woodwork. Others will insist that you come away with them or at the very least, listen to their ideas. It’s so much easier and rewarding to just say yes.

Bring it.

The like-minded

I got a new life coaching client today. Another highly creative, energetic person who wants help focusing her efforts and maximizing her time. She's a delight. I just love these sorts.

The Law of Attraction is hooking me up yet again.

Star gazing

I bought Martha Beck's new book today -- Steering by Starlight. She was captivating at the conference in Asheville last week and a few of us decided to read this and discuss it like a book club.

I'm excited about it and can't wait to dive in.

In a dash

My favorite part of The New Earth web class tonight was author Eckhart Tolle's comment about gravestones: there is a birth year, a dash, and then a year of death. Your whole life is essentially in that dash.

I will never look at a cemetery the same way again.

Staying on course

Watched the recorded webcast of A New Earth today. I had missed Chapter 6, Breaking Free, because I was away at a conference last Monday night.

I was particularly struck by the synchroncity of the questions posed by participants in the class. A woman from Dublin expressed much of what I've been feeling. In essence, how do we reconcile our awareness with other people in our lives who are not in that place? It's an ongoing challenge.

The book and course continue to inspire me.

Poised

Ever since going to Asheville last weekend, I have felt that something is rumbling beneath the surface in my professional life. Something big and bold.

Bring it.

I can hardly wait.

Golden rules

Love The Big Idea. Tonight Bobby and Jamie Deen are talking about what it's like to charm your way to millions. This is not rocket science -- choose nice over nasty, thank your employees every day, do good work.

So basic. A good reminder.

Heed this

A friend confided she was experiencing a rough patch with her partner of nearly two years. After she explained the issue, I asked, "Can you love her through it?"

Two days later, this friend said that question really spoke to her and that things were better.

Nice.

Now I must remember to take that advice myself when life gets thorny.

Adorn me

I bought a beautiful turquoise ring in downtown Asheville today. There is something about buying jewelry in cool cities that jazzes me. This one feels particularly spiritual, kind of like the sterling silver band I bought on a pueblo in Taos in 2001.

Treasures all.

Huffing and puffing

I found out this evening there is something very calming about packing a suitcase.

I'm off to a coaching conference in Asheville, N.C., in the morning and I was determined to not overpack and not underpack, but pack just right (haha). In my world, this can be stressful because, of course, I make it that way. Every possible scenario needs to be covered, right? A stroll in town. Our many classroom/workshop settings. Lunch in the mountains. Dinner out. Pampering at the spa.

I took a deep breath and started treating it like a fun puzzle. This is, after all, a great getaway and I feel blessed to be going. Once I could see the framework, the fill-ins were simple.

I'm ready. I'm happy. The suitcase is packed just right.

Julia

A whole lot of Julia Cameron in my life today.

My Game Plan column on FOXBusiness.com was about my recent artist date in New York:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/lifestyle-money/travel-lifestyle/article/revisiting-sights-smells-memories-past_545644_22.html

Over dinner with a friend, she told me she's reading Cameron's book, The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size. Then I came home to an email from another friend asking if I want to go see Cameron speak at the end of the month.

I'm paying attention.

Style 'n chat

Love conversing with my hairstylist, a dynamic, hip 60-something Puerto Rican and a certain kindred spirit. We talked Eckhart Tolle, Est, politics, ethnicity.

And I emerged with fabulous hair.

Nice way to spend an afternoon.

All set

Was just wondering what book I might pluck off my shelf to bring to Asheville, N.C. next week when, lo and behold, I got my mail and there was a book from a dear friend in there. She sent me Paulo Coelho's The Devil and Miss Prym -- woohoo! The book jacket says it's "a novel of temptation."

Sounds perfect for the mountains.

Hiccup

My brother knows I'm doing the web seminar with author Eckhart Tolle and Oprah on A New Earth, so he figures I might be interested in a piece written by a gentleman named Frank Pastore:

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/FrankPastore/2008/03/31/questions_that_bother_oprah_and_todays_new_age_thinkers

At first I thought my head might explode, but then I noticed the article was on a page where Clarence Thomas' book is "recommended reading." Yikes. (Not a very 'enlightened' potshot, I know).

But I digress. Many of us have an evolving spirituality that includes openness. Mr. Pastore apparently does not. Welcome to America, sir. Land of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and, yes, sometimes freedom to espouse unfounded bullshit.

God bless America.

The pain-body

Tonight's class on A New Earth with author Eckhart Tolle and Oprah was soul food once again. This week we were introduced to what Tolle calls the pain-body, defined as the "energy field of old but still very-much-alive emotion that lives in almost every human being."

A searing passage:

Any emotionally painful experience can be used as food by the pain-body. That's why it thrives on negative thinking as well as drama in relationships. The pain-body is an addiction to unhappiness.

We left class with the thought tonight that a good first step is to be aware of our pain-body and that of our loved ones when it emerges.

Step one.

A dose of Marianne

I have been happily toiling at writing a Game Plan column for FOXBusiness.com this evening and as part of my research I went on Marianne Williamson's website. It was a joyful reminder of her famous quote once used in a speech by Nelson Mandela and it bears repeating here:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
--from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson

Be still

Spent the afternoon at a meditation workshop and enjoyed it immensely. Sometimes I need my stillness imposed.

The big switch

My long-standing dental appointment for a check-up and cleaning is tomorrow. Was scheduled six months ago and was to be at 4 p.m. Yesterday, the publicist for a celebrity I've been wanting to interview asks if I can do it at the exact time of the dental appointment. I say no, I'm busy at that time but can do any other. The celebrity is trying to do this on her lunch, which on West Coast time is 1 p.m., my dead zone.

Yikes. I don't want to move the dental appointment because I already confirmed and it's irresponsible to cancel at the last minute. But I'm excited about the possibility of the interview.

Lo and behold, this morning the dental office calls and asks sheepishly if by any chance I can switch to 11:15 a.m. tomorrow. I smiled so wide she could probably hear it through the phone. I subsequently emailed the publicist and, presto, our interview is in the book for tomorrow.

I tell this to one of my clients today and she says, "Your universe is working."

Yes, indeed.

Silence is golden

I'm fascinated by my choice of verses in Wayne Dyer's book today. I like to scan the table of contents and pick the Tao Te Ching verse that speaks to me at that moment. Today it was verse 56, or as Dyer calls it, "Living by Silent Knowing":

http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/56.htm

Dyer sums up the verse this way: Those who care the least about approval seem to receive it the most.

This jumps out at me at a time when I am contemplating my professional growth. The verse is tied to the stillness, more like silence, that I have recently found to be valuable at regular intervals in my life.

I like it.

Ambition and Now

What spoke to me most in tonight's A New Earth webinar with Oprah and author Eckhart Tolle was the talk of where passion and ambition fit into living in the Now. Sometimes it feels as if those things disappear when we strive to be fully present in our lives.

Tolle explained that passion is ultimately greater if you focus on the Now. Baby steps. Not getting caught up in the result.

Yes.

Eerie funny

On the way back from three days with my parents, I'm reading A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (actually rereading and highlighting passages for class tomorrow) on the train and see this:

"If you think you are so enlightened," Ram Dass said, "go and spend a week with your parents." That is good advice. The relationship with your parents is not only the primordial relationship that sets the tone for all subsequent relationships, it is also a good test for your degree of Presence. The more shared past there is in a relationship, the more present you need to be; otherwise, you will be forced to relive the past again and again.

Yes.

Big lesson

Every single time I use Morning Pages or practice stillness or rise to the occasion when big tests come my way, things start to happen. Cool things. Things I couldn't have imagined. Things I've always imagined.

The lesson?

Keep doing Morning Pages. Practice stillness. Rise to the occasion when life tests me.

It's a way of being.

Special invite

Today's Ask and It Is Given card:

Nothing Happens Without My Having Invited It

When you understand the Law of Attraction, you are never surprised by what occurs in your experience, for you understand that -- through your own thought process -- you have invited every bit of it in. Nothing can occur in your life experience without your invitation of it through your thought.

Allow me to reiterate

I have not been feeling aligned with The Universal Flow the last few days. It's odd for me to feel off kilter to the point where I don't want to write about it.

Today after I filled in my Chapter 3 workbook for A New Earth (class tomorrow night), I was moved to go to the message boards and read the thoughts of others. Something funny happened on a thread titled, "Lost Ambition." It was about the feeling of how living in a way that allows us to breathe and be still and create space to let things happen can also mean letting go of what we always knew as ambition. That's tough for those of us who are driven and like control.

Someone on the board quoted from the book in response to a few of the posts. And, magically it seemed, it was a quote I had already noted on this blog (February 29) and needed desperately to be reminded of:

If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, creativity.

It know to the core of my being this is THE key for me to be fully present in my life.

Exotic vocabulary

Today one of my clients introduced me to a wonderful new word -- Mudita. Here's what the invaluable Wikipedia has to say about it:

Mudita is a Buddhist (Pali and Sanskrit) word meaning rejoicing in others' good fortune ... The term mudita is usually translated as "sympathetic" or "altruistic" joy, the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being rather than begrudging it. Many Buddhist teachers interpret mudita more broadly as referring to an inner spring of infinite joy that is available to everyone at all times, regardless of circumstances. The more deeply one drinks of this spring, the more secure one becomes in one's own abundant happiness, and the easier it then becomes to relish the joy of other people as well.

This, I believe, is why life coaching is so satisfying. Mudita.

Breath

Score! The Oprah and Eckhart Tolle live feed worked tonight and it was wonderful to partake in such a universal event. There were students asking questions from Ireland, Hawaii, China and Canada, just to name a few.

One moment that resonated with me came at the very beginning when Tolle called on us to be silent and feel our breath. It was just 10 seconds, but it felt longer -- in a good way. I had just started to learn this last month when I began taking a weekly Buddhist meditation class. Our instructor goes through the entire body, but brings it back to our breathing.

In the spirit of The Universal Flow, I'm getting this lesson from two overlapping sources. I think that means I'm supposed to pay attention.

So noted.

Quotable

From A New Earth:

Ego-identification with things creates attachment to things, obsession with things, which in turn creates our consumer society and economic structures where the only measure of progress is always more.

A good read

Had some fun after a coaching session this evening. My client brought her tarot cards and did a spot reading for me. A lot was said, but here's what stood out:

-- You have to have the courage to face the future even if you don't know the outcome in advance, even if your back isn't covered.

-- Resolving obsessive fears is your daily task.

-- Make sure you design every success and that each success has your signature.

Amazing. Dead on. Truth.

Makeup class

Watched the whole class on A New Earth today! After last night's glitch, I couldn't see the live version so I checked out the recorded version today. I enjoyed the experience and the interaction between Oprah and author Eckhart Tolle was terrific.

I came away with so much, but these two words from Tolle made a particularly strong impression:

Resist nothing.

Glitch (or not)

I was all set, hooked into Oprah's worldwide class on A New Earth. My video feed was great. Oprah and author Eckhart Tolle were having a conversation. Suddenly, stops and starts. Then, nothing.

I'm not sure what happened. What I do know is there's a way to play it from her website tomorrow.

In the meantime, the gems from the small portion I actually saw, all courtesy of Tolle:

-- (paraphrasing) So often we ask, "What do I want from life?" How about, "What does life want from me?"

-- (talking about his process) "Every day there was a space for writing ... I always honored that space."

-- "The book was inspired and not channeled."

-- "Find spaces of stillness."

Perhaps, this night, these were the only nuggets I was meant to take in. After all, tackling "What does life want from me?" is quite an undertaking.

Yes.

The nose knows

I just had the nose bleed from hell. Stopped it by pinching my nose, finally.

Now I know its physical cause is dryness in my nasal passages and all that jazz. But sometimes I like to see what the metaphysical cause is and here's what I found:

Nose problems are generally about self recognition. Nose bleeds particularly are about crying out for love and recognition. Yikes! A stuffy nose, incidentally, is about not recognizing your own self worth.

Do I really want to admit any of this is possible or true?

I think I already have.

Cocoon

Very thoughtfully filled out my chapter 1 workbook for A New Earth, since the course starts Monday night. Pulled my favorite quotes. It feels great.

Probably a little extra satisfying because there is loud, raucous activity outside my window today in the form of Hoboken's St. Patrick's Day parade.

I've created a cocoon. Bravo.

Yes, yes, yes

The insight that has already begun to change my life:

If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, creativity.
-- from A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle

Can't think of a better realization for a freelance professional.

Money Zen

Sometimes there is nothing more spiritual than the financial side of life. Mine is in sweet order and it feels terrific. Brought all the essentials to my accountant today for my taxes. Updated my current financial records. Filed receipts.

Me and my money are having an intimate relationship. Love is in the air.

Plugged in

Saw Deepak Chopra on www.beliefnet.com answering the question, "How do I tell if I'm plugged into spirit?"

Well, according to Chopra, it's how you answer these questions that determines it:

1. Is my life easy? Effortless? Full of grace?

Actually, a lot of the time it is.

2. Am I having fun?

Yes, most of the time.

3. Am I getting results?

Absolutely!

OK, then.

Intersecting wisdom

Today I see some connection between my ongoing reading of the Tao Te Ching via Wayne Dyer's book and the card I selected from my Ask and It Is Given deck.

I have been dwelling on the 33rd verse, which Dyer calls "Living Self-Mastery," for a while because it continues to resonate, especially as I simultaneously read A Good Earth. However, with regard to the deck, here's the card I picked today:

The Most Powerful Law in the Universe

Every thought vibrates, every thought radiates a signal, and every thought attracts a matching signal back. We call that process the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction says: That which is like unto itself is drawn.

As I see it, understanding what we are attracting and why is a major step to achieving self-mastery. This juxtaposition, on this particular day, means the subject needs my attention.

I'm reflecting.

Joining the awakening

If you are not spending all of your waking life in discontent, worry, anxiety, depression, despair, or consumed by other negative states; if you are able to enjoy simple things like listening to the sound of the rain or the wind; if you can see the beauty of clouds moving across the sky or be alone at times without feeling lonely or needing the mental stimulus of entertainment; if you find yourself treating a complete stranger with heartfelt kindness without wanting anything from him or her ... it means that a space has opened up, no matter how briefly, in the otherwise incessant stream of thinking that is the human mind. When this happens, there is a sense of well-being, of alive peace, even though it may be subtle.

-- A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Today I took the plunge and joined Oprah's 10-week worldwide class on this book. I felt pulled to it. This is what I know.

I'm on page 236 (of 309) and must finish before class begins next Monday.

Fantastic.

Purchasing power

So I'm in CVS today. I shop there all the time. It's a very busy store and there are usually lines at each register. So today I am purchasing hand soap and Vogue, the latter to make my laundromat time a breeze.

As I approach, I see there's one long line snaking into the aisles. There are two registers open. I hear a cashier clearly say, "Please form two lines." No one moves. One register is free now, so I head on over to the waiting cashier. A guy behind me loudly says, "Ma'am, we're doing one line here." I say, "The cashier just asked for two lines." (Don't get me started on the "ma'am" thing.)

The cashier looked at me and put her hand out to take my stuff. I paid and walked out.

As I headed back to the laundromat, I had a moment of guilt. And then just as quickly I let it go.

It just felt like grace.

A movement

I am about 200 pages into Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. What a profound book. Oprah's vision has made it a movement.

My favorite passage today:

So you may want to ask yourself the question: What are the things that upset and disturb me? If small things have the power to disturb you, then who you think you are is exactly that: small. That will be your unconscious belief.

That speaks to so much of what I've been expressing in this blog. The messages lately have been coming in layers. It's like I'm being prodded into sitting up and listening.

I'm listening.

Cyber space

I found out today that some of my emails have not been reaching their destination.

Annoying, yes.

But more importantly, why the disconnect??

Self mastery

I'm going to begin by saying I am very jaded when it comes to all things meditative. My typically optimistic self gives way to the skeptic. I proceed with caution. Over the last few years I have opened up a bit, but I still wonder what all the fuss is about. You know?

Well, with all the clear signs before me and with my meditation teacher (leader? facilitator? not sure what to call her) giving us "homework" to practice this daily, I had a strong urge to give it a go this morning. So I went into my brand new (accidental) CD meditation library and selected one given to me by Sofia, a life coach in Sweden who I met a few weeks ago. It is called Mantra Miracles by Di Leva.

Lo and behold, I had quite an experience. The mantras were lively and soothing all at once, but they were merely backdrop. I went somewhere.

But first I read the 33rd verse of the Tao Te Ching, which Wayne Dyer calls "Living Self-Mastery." I did this by randomly opening his book to see where it would take me. You can see it here: http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/33.htm.

"A Tao-oriented life focuses on understanding yourself, rather than on the thinking and behaviors of others," Dyer writes.

Layers and layers of the same message, methinks.

Zen me out

Went to buy a new bed today at one of the many big mattress sales going on (Are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln rolling in their graves at the thought of this "symbolic" American tradition?)

Anyway, guess what my little bonus was? A meditation CD.

I'm beginning to think it's a conspiracy ;)

What a card

Today's thought on a card, courtesy of Esther and Jerry Hicks:

There is evolutionary value in my personal preferences.

Do not underestimate the value of your preferences, for the evolution of your planet depends upon those of you on the Leading Edge of thought continuing to fine-tune your desires. And the contrast, or variety, provides the perfect environment for the formation of your personal preferences.

Reminds me of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, where all the great thinkers of the world withdrew from it. Hmmmmmm ...

In the cards

Received a very loving gift from a dear friend for Valentine's Day. It's a deck of cards and they're called Ask and It is Given cards based on the book by that name by Esther and Jerry Hicks. A line from the back of the box reads: A gentle stroll through these cards will return you to your personal power.

An example is today's card that I picked randomly from the deck. On the front it says:

What if Source were standing in my physical shoes?

On the back it says:

It is not your job to make something happen -- your work is to simply determine what you want. If we were standing in your physical shoes, our attention would be upon bringing ourselves into alignment with the desires and preferences that we have launched. We would consciously feel our way into alignment.

This makes perfect sense to me right now and was, in fact, a welcome message to receive.

Thank you, dear friend.

Funny valentines

I wrote a Game Plan column for FOX with a Valentine's Day message about focusing on love rather than your love life and I'm really proud of it:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/lifestyle-money/travel-lifestyle/article/think-love-life-love_467984_22.html

While I didn't craft it with any expectations, I have been getting some wonderful feedback.

All that said, I opened my mailbox today and found two envelopes that appeared to be valentines. Upon a closer look, I realized the mailman had put them in the wrong slot and that they belonged to my neighbor.

Not sure why I manifested that.

Silent knowing

I'm still working Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life by Wayne Dyer. I am currently fascinated with the 56th verse of the Tao Te Ching, or as Dyer dubs it, "Living by Silent Knowing." Here it is:

http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/56.htm

It felt particularly synchronous because I am reading Eckhart Tolle's book, The New Earth, and its message of reaching a higher consciousness is very much about 'silent knowing.' To put it in Dyer's words: Living in silent knowing becomes the process that casts your existence in a different light -- you have less of an edge and feel settled, softer, and more centered.

Yes.

Meditate on this

Well, well. This evening I was compelled to not only go back to the Buddhist meditation I attended last week, but sign up for the four-week series. I was ambivalent about the topic -- conflict and anger -- because I have spent a lot of time and energy working on that area of my life. Did I really need more?

HaHa. As it turns out, I do.

The class begins with a guided meditation. Then the instructor talks about a particular topic. As she's talking, I'm arrogantly thinking this is a great review. Then she poses a situation and asks if we find ourselves in these kinds of scenarios. We're sitting next to a person in a movie who is noisily chowing down on popcorn. Our annoyance escalates to the point where we become convinced that person is horrible and that they are ruining the movie experience for us.

Hello! What did I just write in this very forum yesterday? That I have been attracting "distractions" like crazy lately. Our homework is to be more mindful in those recurring moments.

OK.

Transcending

A friend recently laughed when a screaming child in a cafe made our conversation challenging.

"You're manifesting this," he said with a smile.

I knew it was true because it kept happening. Even on a train by myself on Friday, sitting in a near empty car, I was reading when a woman entered at the next stop and sat right in front of me. Within minutes she pulled out her cell phone and began to talk. Did I mention there were a thousand other seats and she chose to sit right in front of me?

At the time I was reading Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth, which is about awakening to a higher consciousness. Couple that with the aforementioned meditation tapes that keep coming my way and I think the message remains loud and clear: Learn how to be still, tune out noise, transcend.

I did that day. I'll take each one as it comes.

Joining the club

Hate to be a follower, but I was too intrigued by Oprah's new book pick to pass it up. I bought Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth today and will begin it on a train ride tomorrow. The subtitle, Awakening To Your Life's Purpose, was probably the most compelling thing of all to the life coach in me.

No brainer.

Knock, knock

OK, I must cop to this. On January 17 I wrote about how people kept giving me meditation CDs completely unsolicited and that I heard The Universe loud and clear.

Well, actually, I didn't. Aside from going to a Buddhist meditation on Monday night, I have not really put aside time to meditate and listen to these CDs.

Why confess now? Because today someone I just met randomly gave me two meditation CDs. Plus, the aforementioned Buddhist meditation I attended came about because I was asked by a friend.

Unbelievable brick to the head, right?

Methinks I should pay attention before I'm rendered unconscious.

The big U

I coached two clients today who are in a supreme state of manifestation. They have stated intentions and cleared space and things are happening, one after another, to bring their goals to fruition.

There goes that Universe, conspiring to make dreams a reality again.

Obvious wisdom

Went to a Buddhist meditation tonight. I was intrigued by what came up for me in that almost two-hour timeframe.

But then, that's the idea, right?

Ego in check

I chose to begin working with the 24th verse of the Tao Te Ching today -- Living Without Excess (http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/24.htm).

What struck me as funny was that I picked it because I thought it would speak to my current penchant for purging my space. Instead, it was a lesson in not bragging, showing off or being self-righteous. Hmmmmmm. Intriguing.

Author Wayne Dyer likens it to the sun, which is in a constant state of giving and doesn't demand anything in return. It is pure.

Be the sun.

All lit up

It has been a week since I wrote that I was into the 27th verse of the Tao Te Ching. I'm still in it.

"Living By Your Inner Light" is just an irresistible message to me right now. Maybe it's because my inner light feels palpable in a way that it hasn't before. It's coming through my sight, my speech, my hearing, my touch.

Wayne Dyer writes: "Your inner light is more trustworthy than any guidebook, and it will point you in the direction that's most beneficial to you and everyone you encounter."

I can feel it happening.

Bucket List

My Game Plan column on Foxbusiness.com today prompted me to start a brand new Bucket List so I can start manifesting some pretty cool stuff. Check it out:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/lifestyle-money/travel-lifestyle/article/draft-bucket-list_453338_22.html

(Don't) Hear me roar

I have learned lately to recognize my own power and to wield it softly.

Priceless.

The best policy

Talked to a potential date on the phone tonight. Asked if I like to ski. My response was to laugh out loud. Which made him laugh out loud. Which prompted me to say, "Are you kidding? I don't even like to be cold." Which made him laugh even more. Which prompted me to add, "I can be a bit of a prima donna."

"You're confident enough to say what you're really thinking. I like that," he said.

Wasn't always that way. Glad it is now.

Sitting on empty

In the interest of creating space for something I want, I did something radical today. I put my kitchen chairs (approximately 20 years old and outdated as can be) out on the sidewalk with a "Free" sign on them. I anticipate that sometime soon some new ones will come my way. The right ones.

I am patient.

Isn't it lovely?

Spent the day with a friend, shopping for home stuff and then having a delish dinner. As soon as I got home, of course I had to rearrange half my bedroom to accommodate the light green nesting tables I bought to serve as a nightstand. One move led to another and another and another until I looked up and it was after midnight.

So here I am, admiring my handiwork and impressed with myself for finding exactly what I needed on my virgin trip to Home Goods, which offers exceptional deals on quality merchandise. My bedroom looks so pretty! The old stuff looks fresh. The new stuff looks right at home.

I have surrounded myself with soft, floral beauty.

Lit up

When I opened up Wayne Dyer's book on the Tao Te Ching to begin a new verse today, these words in the table of contents leapt off the page: Living By Your Inner Light (verse 27). Here it is: http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/27.htm.

All week long I have felt lit from within. My coaching has been by instinct, from the heart and very effective. Three consultations have led to three clients. I have the Midas touch. It's a joy.

But Dyer takes it to a whole new level in his essay about this verse when he writes, "Try on the view that you're here to teach yourself and others in some way, and that the work is to raise the collective energy of our entire universe. Cultivate your awareness of the inner light that's within all. Be the Tao!"

A call to awareness. Nice.

Space for ideas

Today my purging flow led to some cool stuff. While taking a bag of clothes to the homeless shelter, a bag of books to the used bookstore and a bag of other items to the hospital thrift store, I wound up talking to some folks in the community and picked up two ideas for my Game Plan column on FOX Business.

So often in the life of creatives it is this kind of casual interacting that leads to the art. That's why time and space is so essential to the process, the flow. Our kinship with our world is everything.

It's exhilarating to be in that space.

Bye bye

I'm still heavily immersed in verse 48 of the Tao Te Ching, Living By Decreasing (according to Wayne Dyer). As we speak, there are three bags next to my front door -- one for the homeless shelter, one for the local used bookstore and one for the hospital thrift store.

Simplicity is my middle name.

Ahhhhhhhh ...

I am almost to the point where every single thing in my home has an actual place. Meaning there is no need for shuffling, piling, getting to it later, clutter.

Imagine that.

Tao immersion

Still going strong on the Tao Te Ching, Wayne Dyer-style.

Passed through "Living Your Own Utopia" (http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/80.htm), which is verse 80, the last couple of days and then moved on to "Living By Decreasing" (http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/48.htm, verse 48.

The former asks us to live with radical appreciation while the latter is about seeing the value in subtraction. They make an interesting combination. I see it like this: Hold onto only those things you have great appreciation for and let go of the others. It keeps life simple, almost natural.

I'm in the thick of it and it's quite liberating.

Heart smart

Went to Target with Mom yesterday. Found a welcome mat with colorful hearts all over it. Had to have it.

Love is welcome at my door.

Audio messages

It seems I am manifesting in the form of CDs. People are showering me with them. Within the span of 48 hours, I have received one called 'Feng Shui, Music For Balance and Harmony' and then from another person, 'Deep Relaxation' and 'Anxiety-Free.'

Do I detect a pattern?

Stay tuned.

Living softly

In my continued quest to engage the spirit of the Tao Te Ching on a daily basis through Wayne Dyer's book, I did my second day with the 43rd verse. Dyer titles this one, "Living Softly." It seemed a logical followup to verse 15, "Living an Unhurried Life."

Here's how it goes:
http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/43.htm

It is a beautiful verse that likens softness to water and its ability to enter space where there seemingly is none. It touts the virtue of living softly as opposed to rigidly. Dyer's words:

Practice the way of nonaction, or performing without effort. By letting go of your inner drive to push ahead, you'll see that you ironically do better than when you tried so hard. In your work, become more tolerant in your drive to achieve by softening your attitude and behavior. You'll see that customers and larger opportunities are attracted to you.

I am drawn to the simplicity of this, yet I know for someone as ambitious as me, it isn't that simple to live it. But it is wise. So I will listen.

Quotable

This precisely captures my insights this week:

Never mistake motion for action.

-- Ernest Hemingway

Flow indeed

I named this blog The Universal Flow for a reason. The idea is to live our individual lives in sync with our purpose in the Universe. I think it's going pretty well in 2008.

I'm still immersed in the spirit of the 15th verse of the Tao Te Ching. I've been dwelling on it since Saturday and the theme is, after all, "Living an Unhurried Life." This message is just making its way from my brain down into my pores. I need to live this. I need to relax. I need to plan, but leave room for life.

So yesterday I talked about clearing some space in my home and making room for, among other things, a new filing cabinet. Something attractive and sturdy and assembled. Something that can house freshly organized business files. And then today I was walking on the main drag in town on a quest for some roasted chicken when I passed a little furniture store that I usually don't look at twice. I was beckoned in as if by force.

The store sells unfinished furniture, so you pick a piece and then have it finished however you want. And there it was. A great filing cabinet with pewter handles that can be done in a black wood finish to match my decor. It's two blocks from home, so no delivery fee. It'll be finished, ready to use. That's my style. I'll probably order it by the end of the week.

Keep on flowin' ...

Room

I spent much of the day chip, chip, chipping away at files and streamlining. I love the feeling of paring down while simultaneously reconnecting with items I've filed away -- articles I call "keepers," ideas whose day will come, and outlines I've used for past classes/presentations, just to name a few.

In the world of manifestation, we call this clearing out the old to make room for the new -- fresh ideas, a better filing cabinet, bolder ventures.

Possibilities abound.

Muddy waters

After two days of sitting with verse 71 in the Tao Te Ching, today I chose verse 15. With 81 seemingly irresistible choices in Wayne Dyer's table of contents, it was these words that jumped off the pages: Living an Unhurried Life.

It is important to note that there are a number of translations of this wise ancient text and that I am letting my current reading of it be colored, or illuminated if you will, by Dyer's lens. I own two popular translations of the Tao Te Ching and have used those in the past to gain insights into my spiritual life. By using Dyer's Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life book now, I am adding a layer of depth to the experience.

What so struck me about verse 15 (http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/15.htm) is that its message is the antithesis of how I live my life. It talks about the muddiest water needing stillness in order for it to become clear. So often I live at warp speed and I don't stop to let the "mud" settle. Instead I muddy it up with something else and keep moving.

Dyer writes, "Be an observer and receiver rather than the pushy director of your life. It is through this unhurried unfolding that you master your existence in the way of the Tao." All of this advice comes under the heading, "Stop Chasing Your Dreams." As one might imagine, my mind came to a screeching halt on that one.

But I am letting it seep in. Slowly.

Revisiting the Tao

Back on September 23, 2007 I vowed to use Wayne Dyer's book, Change Your Thoughts -- Change Your Life, Living in the Wisdom of the Tao, as a starting point for spiritual reflection each day. I liked the idea of reading a verse from the Tao Te Ching and then reading Dyer's thoughts about it. The idea was to start from the beginning and do a few verses a week, which would allow me to live with each one for a few days.

Well, I abandoned it after just a few verses. I started with good intentions and then don't follow through.

I can do better than that in 2008.

I have modified the idea slightly, but my resolve is basically the same. It's just less orderly. Each day I will open the book to the table of contents and find a theme that resonates with me that day. Then I will turn to that verse and read it and Dyer's accompanying essay. Occasionally, if no verse speaks to me in the table of contents, I will simply open the book to a random page and trust that The Universe will show me what I need to see that day.

So yesterday I began with verse 71 (for one interpretation, see http://www.taoteching.org/chapters/71.htm), whose title in the table of contents reads, "Living Without Sickness." This verse is tough for me because it involves looking within and understanding what my body is trying to tell me in ill health. Two of the simple sounding (but not so simple to execute) suggestions by Dyer are "Have a happy mind" and "Examine your habits."

I will stick with this verse for a few more days and let myself get immersed in its message.

My physical self

With each passing day of this stomach virus, I am gaining a deeper appreciation for my body. Not the outer stuff, so much, that most of us women fret over. I've already grown to accept and like my "packaging" -- a gift of being in my 40s, I believe.

No, this little episode has given me a greater gratitude for all the things my body does on a regular basis that I take for granted, the things that allow my life to go along swimmingly. Things like digest food with ease. Things like walk four blocks without giving it a thought.

What's interesting about a stomach virus is that in order to nurse myself back to health, all the foods I know to be healthy, and that I gravitate to, are taboo for a while. A whole bunch of kale would probably send me into cardiac arrest at this point. Jell-O is the better option.

Like I've said many times, a purge can be unpleasant but it also represents a fresh start.

Whew!

Universal commitment

I woke up today feeling the kind of weak that scared me, frankly. Now, hours later, I feel much stronger physically and almost ready to explore the emotional and spiritual messages to be gleaned from the bug that has rocked me for the last four days.

I believe strongly in reading those messages, listening carefully to my body, perhaps making some changes as a result.

That is my Universal Flow.

Cereal incentive

This morning I saw a commercial for cereal with strawberries in it and it filled me with longing. My appetite is not there yet. But it's getting better.

So today I went to the grocery store and bought a box of cereal with berries. It bears noting that I don't eat this sugary stuff in the morning in 'real' life, so the idea is a real treat. The box is sitting on my counter, taunting me.

It'll be a great transition back to health.

Bug

I woke up and went to the gym yesterday. Came out and went for some coffee. Stood at the cafe counter and realized I wasn't hungry and that coffee didn't sound so appealing. But I got a cup and sat down. Within an hour, I knew something was wrong. My stomach felt funny.

That was the beginning of a hell-ish weekend. Runs, fever, chills, achiness, weakness. Last night I tossed and turned, slept, tossed and turned, asked for mercy. Yikes.

I just took a shower. Had some chicken soup. I can only hope I've turned a corner.

Please. Say it's so.

Kindred spirits

I spent a lot of time today talking to vibrant, smart, thoughtful, spiritual women.

This is what I have manifested in my life.

Good for me. Sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered.

Shiver

It's an unacceptable 60 degrees in my home right now. Earlier today, I resolved to go forth peacefully, confidently and forcefully to get a solution. It is in the works.

This is a test. I know this because after buying a thermometer, calling the health department, accepting an offer from a nice person with an extra space heater, and trying to get two space heaters working to make my rooms a little more livable, I blew a fuse and had to enlist my neighbor to get the power back. Grrrrrrrrr. I'm trying my best to rise to the occasion.

Brrrrrrrrr. Where's my quilt?

Walking my talk

So I followed my own advice as written in my most current Game Plan column on FOX:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/lifestyle-money/travel-lifestyle/article/new-years-resolution-revolution_420592_22.html

I wrote assessments of 2007 in these areas -- home, work, spirit, creativity, body, finances, relationships -- and then added what I want to do in those same areas in 2008. Finally, I crafted goals in each category and some actions for each.

Now they feel concrete and ready to manifest!

Order

I'm a fairly organized person, but I've been feeling like I am one step away from being pretty darned phenomenal at it. So the early part of the year will have some serious time devoted to that goal.

Today I began with clearing space in drawers, putting my actual daily organizer in workable order and creating a written plan for each area of my life.

Things are moving in the right direction. I like that.