Mojo Monday ~ Promise of Tomorrow

Courage doesn't always roar

sometimes courage is the quiet voice 

at the end of the day saying,

"I will try again tomorrow."

~ Mary Anne Radmacher

This has been one of my favorite quotes for many years.  Artist and writer Mary Anne Radmacher has inspired me for many years with her writing and her art.  Many of her books are included in my library of favorites.  Yet it is only recently that I picked up a copy of her book called Courage Doesn't Always Roar.   I was incredibly moved and thrilled to read an expanded version of this very quote in this book.  I felt a bit stunned after taking it all in.

I also definitely appreciated this particular part in the introduction, 

"Courage is a paradox.  

Courage is the willingness to aspire, reach, 

and again believe in the promise of tomorrow."

Hmmm...let those words linger promise of tomorrow.

Now let us journey together further into the exploration of courage with Mary Anne Radmacher....

Courage doesn't always roar

sometimes courage is the quiet voice 

at the end of the day saying,

"I will try again tomorrow."

It takes courage

to change your style,

your opinion,

the path you walk...

your hat!

It takes courage to let go

of the weighty parts of your past.

It takes courage

to find your own voice.

It takes courage

to reinvent joys,

to reinvent opportunities,

to reinvent dreams,

to reinvent connections...

to reinvent hopes

that you have set aside.

It takes courage

to recognize that rigid habit inhibits.

It takes courage to accept

that the way you "have always been"

does not determine the way you are.

It takes courage

to stand in a place

you didn't know existed...

and learn from a view

you previously couldn't imagine.

It takes courage to let go

of your assumptions

and fly your dreams as a 

soaring invitation to become

the best version of yourself.

It takes courage to stand for your convictions.

It takes courage to give up control.

And it takes courage to recognize you are perfect

just the way you are.

Change of any sort, requires courage...

Courage to write a new story of your life

with the pen of each day

...of every moment.

Tell yourself this little story when you need it - 

"I have the courage to stand

in whatever the weather brings...

and understand that everything is washable.

Everything is fixable,

and everything is replaceable

but my time and breath."

The opportunity for greater courage

comes in the most ordinary moments.

Courage sings the praises

of the sturdy souls and says to them,

"Today I will borrow a little of your courage

and see what garden I can water 

with the healing of my tears;

and what growing things I can nurture

with the strength of my laughter."

Courage is defined more by its contrasts 

than it sameness,

more by its risks

than its security.

Courage is content to make no excuses.

Courage, dressed in intentional change,

is the most ferocious response to fear.

Courage acts without regret.

Courage laughs right out loud.

Have the courage 

to walk out the door

and let possibilities discover you.

Have the courage 

to wander and parades will find you.

Courage.

As you weigh the many possibilities of your day

measure your action with this question,

"How would I most like to remember this?"

Your chosen answer becomes

your natural action and

your unique opportunity 

for courage.

Perspective in the large.

Grace in the small.

An open hand.

A practiced pause.

A YES!

Courage doesn't always roar.

Mary Anne Radmacher has touched the hearts of tens and thousands with her popular cards, books, posters, journals, and gift books.  She conducts workshops and writing seminars on living a full, creative, and balanced life. 

She is the author of the following books:

Lean Forward into Your Life

Us: Celebrating the Power of Friendship

May You Walls Know Joy

Courage Doesn’t Always Roar

Live with Intention

Live Boldly

Please visit her website: http://www.maryanneradmacher.net/

A new year is approaching.  

2013 will be here within a week.  

Surrender your fear.

Embrace change.

Center yourself.

Stay true to your voice.

What is it that you want in 2013?

Now is also a great time to write yourself a series of Permission Slips!  Be courageous.  Set yourself free to be you ~ and to do those things that make you happy...and then let the rest be.

 You can just let it be.

I looked back at a list of Permission Slips that I had written for myself as part of a Cosmic Cowgirl Sparking session.  I have the date down as December 22nd.  I was inspired again by what I had listed.  Here is that list:

I give myself permission to be different than I was 10 years ago.

I give myself permission to like and love who Michelle is today.

I give myself permission to not be perfect.

I give myself permission to love my imperfect and over-sized body.

I give myself permission to be content.

I give myself permission to be an imperfect parent and partner.

I give myself permission to lighten up.

I give myself permission to not get it all done.

I give myself permission to write without editing.

I give myself permission to relax and have fun.

I give myself permission to make mistakes AND NOT beat myself up about them.

What would you include on your Permission Slip list?

Transformation ~ The Mystery and the Mundane

Come read about Transformation ~ The Mystery and the Mundane 

in my column We Are All Meant to Shine in Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine.  

Mojo Monday ~ When I Grow Up

When I grow up...I want to be a sheep racer, probably said no one, ever. Yet in the photo above, just look at the joy on those little girl's faces as they race away.  Of course, my animal loving nature does have me hoping that the sheep were having just as much fun.

Can you recall as a child what you wanted to "be" when you grew up?

Quite often when you ask a child this question the response has to do with the type of job they imagine having when they are an adult, and in their limited exposure to vocations, it is often things like astronaut, fireman, teacher, actor, singer and so on.  

As we grow up, discover more about ourselves, our likes and dislikes, our preferences, our strengths and weaknesses, we are usually still being directed by our parents, our teachers, and other mentors, to figure out what we want to do for a living.  As we grow up we learn about other job possibilities and most often the statement "When I grow up" still ends in some kind of declaration regarding a career or how we think we might make a living.  

Have any of you said, or heard a child say "When I grow up I want to be happy."?

Or how about "When I grow up I want to be whole-hearted." or "When I grow up I want to be philanthropic." or "When I grow up I want to be compassionate and full of grace."?

I love the quote by John Lennon featured above, "When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life.  When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I wrote down 'Happy.'  They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life."

What I've realized in my advancing years is that while there isn't anything wrong with figuring out what we want to do, however it doesn't capture the whole picture or touch upon some of the more important aspects of our life journey, such as the lives we touch, the care we show for others, and the love we infuse into the lives of others.

Some people eventually figure out what makes their spirit soar and it may end of coinciding with what they do for a living.  If not, hopefully they will still find how they earn their check to be somewhat fulfilling, and in their off time they will pursue their deeper soul stirrings.  

For those still trying to figure things out, be it how to be really happy or what kind of career to pursue, recapturing the playful spirit of a child can be helpful in exploring the possibilities. In this day and age is it rare for people to stick with one career.  In fact if they are to really seek out those things that bring them joy, contentment and inner peace, they may change direction several times in their lifetime.  

Consider role playing, trying on different hats so to speak, just for fun.  

Ask yourself the question "If I could do anything I would..."

Consider this fun list in the photo to the left for inspiration.

What about becoming a rock star, cowgirl, tap dancer, gypsy, star gazer, fairy godmother, cupcake spinkler, or even wonder woman?

Now while none of these may be a way to make a living, simply pretending or trying on a new persona, could make living a lot more creative and fun.  

Consider the possibilities of what you could be when you are grown up....because whether you are 24, 34, 44, 54, 64 or 104, you still have room to grow.

Mojo Monday ~ The Story of Time

Purely Pacific Northwest from John Eklund

"The Milky Way drifts across the sky. Aurora tumble and roll. 

Clouds flow like rivers or undulate like smoke."

This video is photographer Oregon-based John Eklund’s time-lapse depiction of the Pacific Northwest.  John has this to say about his work, "I choose to shoot locations that appeal to the way I would like to interpret the story of time."  "Here is the Pacific Northwest, there are endless opportunities to depict the magnificence of the world around us.  I have discovered that when time is the storyteller, a special kind of truth emerges."  

The video Purely Pacific Northwest is composed of 260,000 shots John took of Mt. Shuksan, Crater Lake, Mt. Bachelor, Mount St. Helens, Oregon's Badlands, Painted Hills, Cape Kiwanda, Mt. Hood, Lost Lake and Cannon Beach between July 2011 and August 2012.

I am in awe of this video.  There is something about nature, our planet, the stars, the cosmos above, that leave me with a sense of wonder and wow, but also a greater sense of peace.  It reminds me that we are all a part of something so much bigger and greater than ourselves.  It also gives me a comforting reminder of the way we are all connected on this planet.  

Connecting with the beauty of nature has always been a grounding touchstone for me.   Is the same true for you?     

Consider getting out, taking your camera and going for a walk in your neighborhood or a nearby park or if you have more time on your hands, take a little drive and go exploring to find some fall color.  Perhaps your adventure might even call for a hike in the mountains.  

Come back and share photos after your outing.  

Do they tell a story?  

How did you feel during the outing?  

Here is a photo slideshow from the world of nature my family and I have been enjoying the last few days in beautiful Northern California.  

Slideshow design generated with Smilebox

Mojo Monday ~ Harvest Time

Mojo Monday ~ Sustaining Wonder

"In truth, our aliveness depends on our ability to sustain wonder:
to lengthen the moments we are truly uncovered, to be still and quiet
till all the elements of the earth and all the secrets of the oceans
stir the aspects of life waiting within us."

~ Mark Nepo

In The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo, the topic for November 11th is called Sustaining Wonder.  He begins the days reflection with a quote by Kahlil Gibran.

"In one atom are found all the elements 

of the earth; in one motion of the mind are found 

all the motions of existence; in one drop of water 

are found all the secrets f the endless oceans; 

in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of life."

How do you sustain wonder in your life?

Do you think there is a connection between sustaining wonder and guarding your time so that you have time to ponder, reflect, and marvel? 

What things can make you think "WOW!"?

The author's reflection on November 1st entitled The Next Moment of Love also offered up thoughts on overextending ourselves.  It begins with a quote by Thomas Merton:

"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude 

of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, 

to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help 

everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.  

The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his or her work for peace."

Mark Nepo then continues, "Merton wisely challenges us not just to slow down, but, at the heart of it, to accept our limitations.  We are at best filled with the divine, but we have only two hands and one heart.  In a deep and subtle way, the want to do it all is a want to be it all, and though it comes from a desire to do good, it often becomes frenzied because our egos seize our goodness as a way to be revered.  I have done this many times: not wanting to say no, not wanting to miss an opportunity, not wanting to be seen as less than totally compassionate.  But wherever I cannot bring my entire being, I am not there."

Consider these thoughts and questions that he poses at the end of this section.

• Center yourself and think of the many kindnesses that you feel called to do. 
• As you breathe, let your heart glow around one.
• Without thinking, pray for the others, but devote yourself today to the one.

Wonder is also mentioned in the November 9th reflection called Diving Half-Blind.  This quote by Thomas Brown introduces the topic:

"We carry within us

the wonders we seek

without us."

Mark Nepo later in this passage writes, "....the deeper we go, the slower the world; the slower the world, the soften our way.  So we must keep calling each other into the depths of what we know.  For below the surface we all shine.  Diving in, we all turn silver.   Given to air alone, the cuts of this world burn.  But when we dare to enter what is deep, the bruises we carry soften and glow.  In truth, the more we accept our limitations and surrender to the depths below our woundedness, the more the vastness holds us up.  There is no way to know this but to dive."

He closes with the following suggestions:

• Center yourself and hold a pain or ached that you carry; hold it gently before you.
• As you breathe slowly, surround your pain or ache with a loving kindness meditation that keeps broadening your prayer for all living things.
• Allow this silent prayer to subside.
• Now, if you can, feel your pain or ache slightly softened by your love for the world.

There is wonder in the simplest of things.  This thing called life is a wonder.  Our "aliveness" is a wonder.  Author Mark Nepo shares these profound thoughts about life in his reflections of November 24th entitled The Need to Continue.

"The longer I wake on this Earth, the louder the quiet things speak to me.  The more I experience and survive, the more I find truth in the commonalities we all share.  The more pain softens me, the deeper my joy and the greater the lessons of those things that live in great stillness.

      Before I had cancer, I used to complain so much, annoyed that every chore would need to be done again, that the grass would grow back as soon as I'd cut it.  Now I am in aw how it will grow no matter what you do to it.  How I need that knowledge.

     Now, twelve years from that bed, I am standing in a gentle rain, each drop a whisper of simple things I will never understand.  Now, there is only air in the sky of heart waiting to rain. Now, I am thinner, grayer, brighter, less able to say, and my heart has learned more on this side than it will ever let me know.  Now, I want to learn how to kiss an orange, unpeeled, and taste the juice.

       Twelve years ago the unasked-for growth disappeared, and ---praise this life -- I have been shedding ever since.  Now, all that remains is my armless heart wanting to live."

• Sit quietly and consider your thoughts as leaves and your hears as the tree.
• Breathe slowly, and try to listen to the soil you share with everything.
• Breathe deeply, and meditate on what is oldest in you.

Here is a poem to inspire you in all your wonder and wow-ness!

Remember Your Wow-ness by Patricia Lynn Reilly

(Poem appears in Patricia's book called Words Made Flesh.)

Verse 1

Do you ever look up at the night sky and say WOW?

Well you're made of the same WOW-ness as the night sky.

Verse 2

Do you ever get lost in it's bigness and say WOW?

Well you're made of the same WOW-ness as the big sky.

Verse 3

Do you ever feel held by its darkness and say WOW?

Well you're made of the same WOW-ness as the dark sky.

Verse 4

Do you feel the tug of the full moon and say WOW?

Well you're made of the same WOW-ness as the full moon.

Verse 5

Do you ever try to count the stars and say WOW?

Well you're made of the same WOW-ness as the night star.

Voice Choir

You are composed of the same stuff as the Milky Way.

You are an exquisite dimension of the Galaxy's development.

You are a space the Universe fashioned to feel its own grandeur.

You are an individualized expression of WOW. WOW! 

Mojo Monday ~ Breathe

and remember