This document so well imparts what I am up to when I write about creating prosperity, I am simply offering a link so you can experience it yourself:
http://www.globalsufficiency.org (The homepage currently features a link to “Celebrating the Holidays in Sufficiency.”)
(If it has been some time since I posted this, and the homepage no longer features the document, you can access it at http://gsn.onefireplace.com/resources/Theme/GSN-Holiday2009-Special-Report.pdf.)
I am learning to let go and trust the flow of life. It is the only way I can step fully into my Work. Letting go ego’s control, and surrendering to Source/God/the Universe is a theme showing up in my life these days.
Letting Go of That Fifty-Pound Rock
I am addicted to planning. My habitual focus has been, “What do I need to do now to make sure I’m okay in the future?” I need to make enough money to buy food next week and pay rent next month, and put some in savings for special situations down the road. I need to schedule my life. (My schedule book is consulted several times a day.)
This is not unusual; it is a mindset of our culture. We save for retirement, plan a vacation next summer, and buy insurance. Earning money, using a schedule, and buying insurance are useful for functioning in society. I bring them up because they represent a need to control what will happen.
Asara Lovejoy describes surrender as like putting down the fifty-pound rock that’s been carried all one’s life. It may make things a lot easier, but it sure feels strange. Asara teaches the One Command, an awesomely effective process for reprogramming belief that we can have what we are wanting to create in our lives. Core to the process is the statement, “I don’t know how…” (this thing will happen) (CommandingWealth.com).
By surrendering control over how the experience or thing I want comes to me, I open myself to all the possibilities in the universe that little me didn’t think of. Most likely, one of the universe’s infinite possibilities will be even more effective than my few choices.
Letting Go of Having
Recently, I took a lymphatic massage class, which included “lymphaticizing,” or clearing clutter from, one’s home. Karen Kingston’s Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui was reading for the class, and inspiration for me. I learned that I don’t need to keep papers (or other items) that are no longer useful, have negative associations, and/or someone else thought they would be useful but I don’t. I had kept those things because I thought I might need them someday – or at least was supposed to need them someday. It was refreshing to let go of them all!
Stuart Wilde takes even further this idea of letting stuff go. In Infinite Self, he describes the mindset of not owning anything – even one’s body. It’s all energy in transition, here with me – or you – for a while, and at some point it’ll be time to let go.
In this mindset, if I were to come home to find the stereo missing, I would say, “Ah, they’ve come for the stereo.” I would know that the stereo, which I had for a time, has now gone back to God-Source – and now I have space for something else.
This lets me release a lot of responsibility. I don’t need to hold on to all these things in my life. They will come and go, and what I need will always be available in Source Energy.
Letting Go of Intellectual Knowing
This one builds upon my first point, putting down that fifty-pound rock of intellectually controlling the future.
In preparing my Connections in Nature workshops, I’ve been exploring perception and our understanding of what we feel. When we perceive, a lot happens in a fraction of a second. A stimulus comes through one or more senses, and immediately is interpreted through our understanding of the world. Culture, education, values and personal experience are a few of the filters that act here. Still within a fraction of a second, thoughts and emotions about the perception come up. Finally, there’s a strategy – how we’re going to respond to that perception. Most of the time, we react without being conscious of this process. We see a person in front of us and before we know it, we are smiling or shouting at them.
What I’m playing with – on my own and in my workshop – is slowing down and attempting to catch the body’s response before all the processing. I’ve found this is a way to access intuition – a way of knowing that goes beyond intellect and draws from source.
“Ah, They’ve Come for the Rock!”
I’m enjoying witnessing this journey of letting go. I’m seeing my sense of struggle decrease and an increase in my trust that I am taken care of.
It’s amazing how much more space I have for creation, when I’m not carrying a fifty pound rock of impending doom that constantly warns, “If you don’t do ____, your future will fall apart!” The voice hasn’t completely left yet; I still have at least fifteen pounds of it. It’ll be nice to come home one day and exclaim, “Ah, they’ve come for the rock!”
The only thing in the way of me doing my Work now, is myself.
For years, I have held a future vision of myself as teacher-healer in nature, guiding people to a greater sense of connection while connecting with the Earth. This core image of my Work (my spirit’s essential work in this world and this lifetime) has been on hold, because “I don’t have the land yet,” or “I don’t have the healing center with garden yet.”
There are always reasons to not be in action. I am realizing that these are no reason to put off what would most fulfill me.
And so I got clear that I am doing workshops in nature now. One of the next thoughts attempting to stall my plans was, “But I don’t know what the content will be!”
I asked my partner how he would describe the value I bring to the world. I make connections, he said. He reminded me of something I’ve appreciated in myself for years: my ability to recognize themes across boundaries, to bring seemingly disparate ideas into one conversation, and to foster deepening connections to self, other, world and spirit.
Ah! This is why I have created my work in the personal growth field, why I’ve dedicated over 1500 hours to body-mind-spirit training, why I care so much about the people and communities with whom I surround myself. It’s because my work in the world is connection.
I thrived yesterday as I took myself on a test run of my first Connections in Nature workshop. Wow! I get to go for 2-3 hikes a week, focus on personal growth and connection, lead groups – and this is my work? Being active in this Work brings a level of fulfillment that transmutes my thoughts of limitation into enjoying the evolution – from now to that healing center with garden in my future, and all the journeys beyond.
I am finding that I can ask to experience life in a certain way, and receive that. I frequently ask for a theme for a day, such as peace, ease, fun, or joyful surprises. This theme is easy to sort back to as a reminder later in the day.
I am working with A Course in Miracles, a powerful book designed to transform perception – letting go of limiting thought patterns – to facilitate an awakening of consciousness. A passage that stood out for me last night, paraphrased in my words:
When my intention is on something that does not feel good, I can ask myself,
“Is this what I would see? Do I want this?”
The only decision I need make is what I would like to see. When my desire is clear, the means to see (experience the world) as I choose will be given me. (From ch. 21, section 7).
I choose to experience peace, joy, and ease.
In the past months, I’ve seen many around me without the nine-to-five employment that has been a standard in our society. While fear about lack of money has been present at least some of the time, I see many using this time creatively to pursue long-cherished interests or develop special projects. In this way, the economic change has been a blessing allowing society to spend more time doing what they are passionate about.
The economic change has affected me, too. It has been an opportunity to look at my fears of losing money, and recognize how little stands behind those fears. If I were to live without fear of losing money, what would my life be? Much of my life would be the same, as I have adamantly pursued my ideals – though I would feel much more ease.
Working through this fear, I recognized that money is an area in which nearly all of us feel pain. I recognized that the pain many currently experience is a perfect opportunity to create more compassion in ourselves and our society. I envision a gift economy based on compassion, where all have access to a life of ease.
I’ve had glimpses of this gift economy. I live with friends, and we often receive food from each other without expecting equal exchange. When I didn’t own a car, I often received rides; now I offer rides to others. In my communities, individuals have asked for and received donations to attend a special workshop or just make it through the month. At the vibrant Burning Man festival, 48,000+ people come together to live and play in a gift culture, without money or trade.
What is money? Money has been separate from the gold standard for nearly four decades. It is simply backed by our trust and belief in its value. It represents an exchange, and its value is portable between unrelated situations because of our agreement that it has value.
People have imagined and created ways of exchanging without money. Local complementary currency systems abound, facilitating people meeting each others’ needs within their own communities. The Swiss WIR was created by 16 Swiss businessmen who exchanged services amongst themselves in the currency shortages of the 1930s. It has proven immune to economic crises, and some say it contributes to the stability of the Swiss economy. Barter networks range in style from business (International Monetary Systems, Itex) to social networking (Commuto, SwapThing).
What if we were to take the opportunity of this economic shift to create a new relationship to money? This would take a shift toward compassion and trust. Imagine receiving without giving in return, knowing that you contribute elsewhere. Imagine giving because you know how good it feels to receive, and you know there is plenty.
I have practiced giving and receiving money this way. With friends, I have practiced giving or receiving a few dollars, for no reason other than to experience letting go of expectation that there will be equal exchange.
What if we were to create a new economy, where all have access to prosperity? What if the fear and lack that we experience today were transmuted into compassion and trust? What if we were to create a gift economy?
It has been quite some time since I last blogged. What have I been creating in that time?
I’ve been through quite a journey in my intention to create prosperity. I’ve achieved my long-feared “running out of money” and life has continued to be good. In fact, it’s been even more prosperous.
I’ve moved into a spacious, gorgeous home in a neighborhood where I once “vacationed” (housesat).
The herb garden: mid-April
A friend, Leah, offered me free range to garden in her yard. In my new home, I’ve planted herb and vegetable gardens.
Two core elements of my personal prosperity vision are gardening and community. The gardens at home were planted with my dear friend and roommate Ame. Gardening at Leah’s has given me occasion to regularly visit, and build friendship with a woman I’ve admired.
At Leah’s, I’ve seen the power my intention has to create. When Leah offered her yard to me in January, it was thick and tall with grass, thistle, and blackberry briars. Cutting and pulling those tall weeds was fun, yet I wondered if it’d ever become a garden. My first tentative plantings of seeds and cuttings did poorly.
The herb garden: mid-May
Then Leah, inspired by my intention, arranged for a neighbor to till the front sidewalk strip, then half the backyard. Looking at that bare soil under the sun, I wondered how I’d ever get it all planted. And yet, every time I head over there, I find the seeds and plants I need make themselves available to me.
Behind that wondering if I would succeed – in making a garden, in moving to a nicer home, in “making it” financially – there has always been trust. I trust that I can enjoy myself now and all is well, and I trust that I will enjoy myself in the future and all will be well.
Camphill Communities California is on YouTube! This is a well-done short film (and finalist in a competition sponsored by the Pulitzer Center and YouTube) about a community and a way of living that is close to my heart.
I spent two and a half years of my life livng and working in a sister Camphill Community, Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in Pennsylvania. I chose this place because I was so impressed that the developmentally disabled folks were respected as… people! I wanted to be part of a place where people were loved as complete beings, regardless of how different they seemed.
Take a look at this video and feel the heart-warmth yourself.
It has been a while since I last posted. In the last few weeks I started a management position, and the transition to a new level of accountability felt huge for some time. I’ve gradually gotten used to this new level of being – of holding space for other people to stretch and grow and be their best and shine. And I find that it serves me even better to be this bigger being who I already was, who was waiting in the wings.
Sometimes I think this being a manager thing, or whatever it is that Megumi is (I am) up to in the moment, is about my glory. Or about my getting to heal my childhood wounds. And it is, to the degree that my cup doth not run over until it is first full. I receive acknowledgement and love so I can joyfully and naturally pass on acknowledgement and love to others. I love finding myself witnessing and holding up the people around me. I love this because what really matters to me is to nurture communities that nurture each of us to live more fully.
This evening, I watched a series of short films created by the Global Oneness Project. It is a beautiful project: to create conversation and connection through videos of people who are creating positive change, and/or asking questions that inspire global consciousness. The videos are freely distributed (not for money), and can be viewed and ordered (yes, for free) on the Global Oneness Project website.
These videos turned my attention to what really matters. I nearly cried to see former gang members wearing “Barrio de Paz” (Peace Town) T-shirts. In this video, youth leader Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora explains that gangs aren’t inherently delinquent, and only band together for love and structure.
My cup was filled again by the words of Jayesh Patel, founder of the Indian NGO Manav Sadhna, and personification of humble service. His reminder to “be a ladder, not a ‘leader’” re-presenced my intention in being a leader: not to collect glory for myself, but to be of service so others can climb to an expanded way of being.
This series of videos reminds me that what really matters, what really makes us prosperous, what really brings joy and peace and love, is to be in alignment with our values and mission.
This post is dedicated to Janalynn Bliss’ poem, Unexpected Flowers, which appeared in Yogi Times‘ December 2007 San Francisco issue.
I have been creating a prosperity collage, and this poem showed up as my perfect representation of prosperity. I may have lost the beginning of the poem in my creative cutting. This is what I have:
I seem to see them everywhere:
a sprig of cherry blossoms,
months out of season, dangling
inches from my nose,
on the tree I walked under almost
everyday in the heat of mid-September;
a single soup-bowl sized
magnolia, as thick as heavy cream,
held up against dark leaves,
silhouetted by the full-moon October sky;
rampant vines of bougainvillea, daily
tossing their blossoms onto my car,
even in early November,
so that when I drive to work
I leave a trail of hot fuchsia bracts
all the way down Adams Boulevard.
I look for them now.
Today I spied a pink bloom
nodding as the breeze shivered through
the close-clipped hedge
where I had never noticed flowers before.
But it wasn’t a blossom at all,
just a wadded napkin tossed aside,
snagged in the web-like branches.
This poem reminds me to notice the small beauties, the little gifts, as I go through my day. These are my prosperity.
A few days ago, I shared with my coworker this connection I had made. I work at a school that is all about creating joy and celebration. So it was completely natural for us to create that the words of the day were “unexpected flowers,” and that every twenty minutes, one of us would throw our hands in the air and shout, “unexpected flowers!” and we would briefly revel together. Well, not very long after we began this game, what would appear but… unexpected flowers! A team of students preparing for the weekend’s anniversary celebration (and who were not in on the game) returned from cutting roses around the corner. As one young man walked in holding big, luscious roses, I reflected: we put our attention on them, and we sure got ‘em! This unexpected manifestation was a gift reminding me how easily I receive, and thus how prosperous I am.
Join me this weekend at the World School’s 28th anniversary celebration! I’ll be sharing tools for accessing a life you’re passionate about, and giving the opportunity to practice them. You’ll get to meet and hear many of my colleagues share their cutting-edge work in holistic health. The celebration is free, and includes complimentary massage demos and lunch on both days.
I’ll be speaking at the San Francisco campus at 12 pm on Saturday, and at the Pleasanton campus at 2 pm on Sunday. Click this link for addresses and complete talk schedules.
 | Liz Filippone on Asking |
 | megumiburr on Loving People as People |
 | satatma on Loving People as People |
| megumiburr on Loving People as People |
 | diedra on Loving People as People |
