Signs of Spring

"Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's Party!'"

Robin Williams

Daffodils

Crab apple blossoms

Mojo Monday ~ Reveal the Secret

This past weekend was the annual Cosmic Cowgirl Member conference.  What a journey they are each and every single time.  Have you ever longed to be with people who really see you?  Who really hear you?  Who really believe in you?  Who respect you and want to know, really know about your purpose and your vision?  Those of us who have found our way to this tribe of women get to experience those very things while in their presence.  Even when we aren't gathered in real time and real space, we gather and connect via other various ways of communicating and interacting such as Ning sites, Facebook, email, texts and conference calls.  We take classes or teach classes together.  We paint, write, sing, dance, act and share our creative projects with one another.  

I have been a member of the Cosmic Cowgirl Tribe since 2008.  We are all also members of the Red Thread Nation.  The Red Thread Nation is a global tribe of creatives and the purpose behind it is to nurture the soul through art and education.  Each time I attend a gathering, be it the member conference, a workshop or a class, it rejuvenates my soul, inspires me and reminds me of those things I want to accomplish, the things I want to do to make a positive difference in this world and it helps me to re-energize the soul connections I have with the people in my life.  

This year's conference held the theme of "Born This Way."  We shared a Red Thread Ceremony the first night and began off with a meditative visualization about the theme.  We shared what came to us as we considered the answer to the question - "I was born to...."  We shared what came to us that first night in our circle.  

Our main creative project on Saturday was to create a paper altar.  It included painting, drawing, writing sentences or even whole letters from and to our younger selves, and then more writing from and to our present and future selves.  We created images of our younger selves and then had a playful photo shoot to capture the image of our legendary selves.

Some of us discovered that our initial I was born to... statement evolved during the weekend.  For others the message stayed true and strong from the beginning.  Mine began as "I was born to see the beauty in everything and reflect the beauty in everything and everyone to others."  During a fun verbal exercise of trying out new ideas I came up with many, including I was born to love, I was born to inspire others with my writing, I was born to wear a red boa, I was born to see the Wow and I was born to connect.  

On Sunday we heard from Shiloh Sophia McCloud, the mastermind behind Cosmic Cowgirls and The Red Thread Nation, about her recent trip to speak at the United Nations in New York City.   You can read more about her experience by visiting this link: My Journey East - Notes from the United Nations

The remaining portion of our Sunday gathering was focused around the stunning and emotion filled ceremony led by Carmen Baraka (aka Spirit Warrior.)   Carmen led us on a spiritual journey involving drumming, chanting she learned from her Apache grandmother and storytelling.  We were each encouraged to look within, to listen to the inner messages of our hearts and guts, to stand tall as warrior women, and to remember our connections to one another always and to turn to our tribe for strength.  We all know that the red thread that connects us is not just symbolic, it is very real indeed, and we need only tug on it to remind ourselves that our sisters are there for us always.  

At the end of our ceremony we each received a key.  The selected them with our eyes closed and allowed spirit to choose for us.  I learned of the words most women selected later.  My own key took me by surprise.  The word was "Secret."  I sat with it for a few moments, before a very profound WOW floored me.  My mind traveled back to a poem I wrote about my Legendary self during the Leading a Legendary Life course I took two years ago through Cosmic Cowgirls University.  

Empa is passionate about Love and Art

Her heart beats to inspire others to love themselves,

and she knows that there is a not-so-secret path

one can take to that very destination. 

It is through being a guest in one’s own heart.

It is by creating, painting, writing, dancing, singing, sewing,

and offering prayers that are but a universal song in the heavens.

Empa does not accept a narrow definition of beauty.

She knows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder

and that it ranges far and wide, is varied and eclectic

and is not for one person or one culture to define.

On Saturday the words I finally chose to write on my own altar were I was born to connect. However that key I received during our ceremony led me to share about the significance of it with the other women.  I began by sharing how the word secret, in an earlier time in my life, could have had a more negative connotation about secrets and things that aren't supposed to be talked about.  However, in a testimony to the healing work that Cosmic Cowgirls serves up, the word secret instead let me right back to my Legendary story.  I read the brief passage above in the closing circle and shared that that I was born to reveal the secret, as are all Cosmic Cowgirls who are going out into the world to teach and share about the healing and nurturing properties of art and education for the soul.













Come play along and take a couple of minutes to consider how you would answer the statement I was born to...

If you would also like to select a virtual key just as we did during our closing ceremony, just say the word and I will meditate on you for a minute and then pick you a key and respond with which one you selected.  

With love ~ Michelle (aka Red) 

Key for Cynthia:

March 8th ~ International Women's Day

A modern progressive world needs equality.

From China to Costa Rica, from Mali to Malaysia acclaimed singers and musicians, women and men, have come together to spread a message of unity and solidarity: We are "One Woman".

Launching on International Women's Day, 8 March 2013, the song is a rallying cry that inspires listeners to join the drive for women's rights and gender equality. "One Woman" was written for UN Women, the global champion for women and girls worldwide, to celebrate its mission and work to improve women's lives around the world.

This year, International Women’s Day focuses on ending violence against women — a gross human rights violation that affects up to 7 in 10 women and a top priority for UN Women. As commemorations are underway in all corners of the globe, "One Woman" reminds us that together, we can overcome violence and discrimination: "We Shall Shine!" Join us to help spread the word and enjoy this musical celebration of women worldwide.

Here is the a video of the song One Woman

History of International Women's Day 

The first International Women’s Day events were run in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland in 1911 and attended by over one million people. 100 years on, International Women’s Day (IWD) has become a global mainstream phenomena celebrated across many countries and is an official holiday in approximately 25 countries including Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia.

International Women’s Day is a global celebration of the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future. However, activity has not always been on the increase. Australian entrepreneur and women’s campaigner Glenda Stone, who founded the www.internationalwomensday.com website, a global hub of events and information, said:

“A decade ago International Women’s Day was disappearing. Activity in Europe, where International Women’s Day actually began, was very low. Providing a global online platform helped sustain and accelerate momentum for this important day. Holding only a handful of events ten years ago, the United Kingdom has now become the global leader for International Women’s Day activity, followed sharply by Canada, United States and Australia. 2011 will see thousands of events globally for the first time.”

More recently, social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube have also helped fuel International Women’s Day activity. Generally the day has moved away from its socialist Suffragette beginnings to become more mainstream in celebrating women’s achievements. Annually thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities, networking events, local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.

Special Notes About International Women’s Day

• International Women's Day (March 8th) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

• In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women's Day is a national holiday.

• The first IWD was observed on March 19, 1911 in Germany following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. The idea of having an international women's day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrialization and economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions.

How will you celebrate International Women's Day?

Mojo Monday ~ Bread and Roses

“Bread & Roses holds a special place in our hearts.  We keep on giving because no one can argue with the power music has to open hearts and comfort minds.”

~ Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan

I was steeped in an eclectic blend of music growing up as a child.  The beginning influences came from my parents and my older siblings.  My parents love music and in their younger days my dad saw Elvis in concert and my mom loved listening to the likes of Sarah Vaughn.  My parents are in their 70's now, but their calendar is still full of concerts they will be attending.

My parents started taking me to concerts when I was just a kid too.  I tagged along to various jazz festivals and blues concerts.  My older brothers exposed me to the music of  the Jackson 5, Bay City Rollers, and later hard rocking bands like Led Zeppelin and AC/DC.  One of my older sisters was listening to more to artists like Barry Manilow, the Bee Gees and other pop wonders. Between them all I was exposed to rock, folk, disco, country, blues, soul, jazz and the list goes on. 

Music became a soundtrack to my life.  If my 10 year old self was feeling sad I knew just the 45 to play with a song called Bluer Than Blue by artist Michael Johnson.  If I was in a rollerskating mood then Michael Jackson's Off The Wall was my first choice.  I toyed around on the family piano as a child and then took guitar lessons for a couple of years.  I returned to the guitar as a teen, but my ability as a musician seemed quite limited.  I was okay with it though. I had my record player and later 8 track and cassettes to fulfill my music needs.

One particular series of concerts my parents took me to as a child were called the Bread & Roses Festivals of Music.  These concerts in particular had a big musical impact on me.  One we attended took place in October 1980 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California.  I was only 11 years old.  We would put out our blankets and sit on the wide concrete steps. You can see from the program image below that the line up of artists was incredible.  

Another year we also saw Joan Baez, Paul Simon, Graham Nash, the Smothers Brothers and Peter, Paul and Mary perform.  That year we were also entertained by the MC talents of manic comedian Robin Williams.  

The story about how Bread and Roses came into being is very inspirational. It begins with a vision of a woman name Mimi Farina, sister to Joan Baez. Here is the excerpt from the web site for Bread & Roses.

"Every successful organization starts with a visionary founder. Ours was Mimi Fariña. She was the energetic, goal-oriented, passionate person who had the idea, was willing to take the risk, and was able to sell the vision of Bread & Roses to others.

Mimi  Farina & sister Joan Baez

Mimi was a petite ball of fire, a meticulous writer, an inspiring speaker, a fine songwriter, and a fabulous performer. As a child, she was an excellent dancer, and played the violin. As a teenager, she mastered the guitar. With her late husband, Richard Fariña, she entertained and inspired audiences in the 1960´s with original folk music until Richard´s untimely death in a motorcycle accident in 1966. Mimi continued to perform professionally for many years - both solo and with others.

In 1972, she attended a live concert with B.B. King at Sing-Sing Prison in New York, and she was deeply moved. She had seen the healing exchange that occurs between performer and audience at least once before at a performance for patients in a mental hospital. Not long after the B.B. King concert, her cousin invited her to perform at the halfway house that he managed. This time, the seed for Bread & Roses was planted. Mimi began to think seriously about creating opportunities for performing artists to bring the joy of live entertainment to people shut away from society. She said it was like writing a song.

Mimi started Bread & Roses in Mill Valley, California in 1974, working out of her home. She recruited fellow performers and matched them with facilities serving the sick, homeless, disabled and imprisoned. Eventually she rented a tiny office, hired a staff and really put the show on the road. From the beginning, she established a few fundamental principles that still guide the organization:

• Recruit high quality professional and amateur artists who (a) have a natural rapport with their audiences, and (b) will volunteer their time.
• Provide all performances free of charge to client facilities.
• Garner other volunteer resources, sound and light technicians, photographers, and the like, to reduce production costs.
• Treat volunteers, donors, and clients with grace and gratitude.

Not everybody can do what Mimi did; take a powerful idea, keep the principles simple, and execute with heart and soul. Mimi created a successful, nonprofit organization that serves other nonprofits and uplifts tens of thousands of people every year. Her accomplishments were recognized by many organizations over the years, including The Easter Seal Society (1989), National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (1993), League of Women Voters (1998), and the National Association of Women Business Owners (2000).

Although Mimi had planned to retire in 2000, she suspended participation in the daily affairs of Bread & Roses in November 1999 when she was diagnosed with cancer. However, she continued to assist the organization in many ways. In March 2000, she served as the beautiful and eloquent hostess for our 25th Anniversary Celebration. She continued to inspire and uplift the staff and board with her ideas and her humor. She illuminated our path, set an example of excellence and kindness, and reminded us how important our work is to our audiences and to our volunteers.

Mimi died on July 18, 2001, at her home on Mt. Tamalpais in Mill Valley, California, surrounded by her family and close friends.  Her vision lives on in the form of Bread & Roses today.  

The Mission Statement for this inspirational program is as follows:

Bread & Roses is dedicated to uplifting the human spirit by providing free, live, quality entertainment to people who live in institutions or are otherwise isolated from society. Our performances: enrich the soul and promote wellness through the healing power of the performing arts; create a sense of community for our professional performers, in a non-commercial setting in which they can donate their talents to inspire and be inspired; provide an opportunity for non-performing volunteers to contribute a variety of skills and resources that support our humanitarian services and increase the impact of donor contributions. In carrying out this mission, Bread & Roses seeks to create a social awareness of people who are isolated from society, and to encourage the development of similar organizations in other communities.

Here are a couple more quotes from artists who serve as volunteer performers for Bread & Roses.  

"I became a Bread & Roses volunteer performer and donor a long time ago.  I am still supporting Bread & Roses because it meets a basic human need-the need for hope in hard times.” ~ Pete Seeger

“My commitment to serving humanity inspires me to support Bread & Roses.” ~ Carlos Santana

Come learn more about Bread & Roses and their dedication to uplifting the human spirit by providing free, live, quality shows to people who live in institutions or are otherwise isolated from society, by visiting their web site: http://www.breadandroses.org/

What is your relationship with music?  

Has music played a significant role in your life?

Are there certain songs that have been part of the soundtrack of your life?

Any favorite songs you'd like to share with us?

Had you heard of Bread & Roses before?  What do you think of this program?

If you are feeling sad right now come listen to my childhood "sad" song called Bluer Than Blue -- I have to say finding this video brought back memories but also made me laugh a bit and also feel extra tender for my precocious childhood self.

Mojo Monday ~ If Not Now, When?

Change.  It can hold promise and excitement.  It can also incite anxiety and make for restless nights of tossing and turning.  

For over a month my husband and I rode a self-inflicted roller coaster ride of his getting a new job that would require us to move to a new town.  At first I was filled with only anxiety.  I began to be plagued by irrational fears.  Slowly I worked through those and grew more excited about such a change.  A new town, a new house, a potential new job for me, though it looked promising that I could stay with my current employer who had other offices in that area too.  A bit obsessively I began to scour the homes for sale on-line.  We started to look around our current home with new eyes, the eyes of a seller.  A desire for newness and something to push us our of our comfort zones grew more appealing.  Then the unthinkable happened.  The job fell through. 

Deflation.  Disappointment.   Those were the things I at first felt.  Talk about counting your chickens before they hatch. Yet, I also knew that it wasn't the end of my story.  Life was going to carry right along.  My desire for change and to take some action and to push myself out of my comfort zone wasn't reliant on my husband getting that job.  There are still goals and dreams I carry in my heart and soul.  There are things I wish to accomplish that rely only on my personal commitment and efforts.  My biggest realization is that there were other things that needed my attention right now and I had been squandering my time with the what ifs.  This isn't to discount the benefits of dreaming, but in this case I was too caught up in projecting too much on one possible outcome.

One of my favorite books is called The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo.  I want to share one of the essays called String of Todays that takes on the topic of 'If not now, when? 

Since surviving cancer, there is a burning bit of truth I live with every day.  Sometimes it doesn't let me sleep, but most of the time, it brings me great joy.  No one uttered this to me, and I didn't arrive at it or work at it.  It just revealed itself, the way a broken bone makes us re-feel the immense pressure of air.  And this bit of truth is, If not now, when? 

It keeps coming dow to this: There is no tomorrow, only a string of todays. Still, like mos of us, I was somehow taught to dream forward, to fill the future with everything that matters: Someday I will be happy,  When I am rich, I will be free.  When I find the right person, then I will know love.  I will be loving and happy and truthful and genuine then.

But almost dying seared the sense of future from me, and though I expect to live a very long time, though I make plans and look forward to the many things I plan, I have no choice but to dream now.

I start out, as I always have, pouring the best of me into an imagined time yet to be, but then I hear, If now now, when? and the best of me floods back to the only place it truly knows - Now.

This all helps me understand a story about Jesus very differently.  I'm thinking of the young, rich merchant who approaches Jesus after his Sermon on the Mount.  He admires Jesus so, it truly touched, and wants to join him.  So he asks with great sincerity what he needs to do, what arrangements need to be made.

Jesus opens his arms and says, 'Come with me now,  Drop everything and come.'
The young merchant stumbles and cites his many 'yes, buts': He can't leave his business so suddenly.  He has to leave word.  He'll need to gather fresh clothes.  How much money should he bring?

With open arms, Jesus simply says one more time, 'Come with me now.'
How often do we all rehearse this moment, putting off love, truth, joy and even God, citing our many 'Yes, buts' to ourselves, when all we have to do - hard and simple as it is - is to drop everything and Come Now.

• Breathe slowly and meditate on something dear to you that you have been working toward.  It might center on being happy, knowing love, finding a partner, or learning how to play music, or how to understand the truth of your experience more deeply.
• Breathe deeply and, for the moment, dream about it now; that is, eliminate the efforts to build it tomorrow.
• For the moment, imaging that whatever portion of this work you are to know or achieve or inhabit can only happen today.
• In hale deeply and take the energy of everything you've planned and put off back into your life today.
• Rather than feeling overwhelmed with all this, try to let this energy simply fill you as you move through your day.

Unfold Your Own Myth

This month in Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine 

we have all been contemplating and writing 
about the term Legendary. 

Come read my latest article called Unfold Your Own Myth

"We are all born innocent babes you know.
We all begin with a blank storyboard.
It all begins with endless possibilities."

From Brush Dance 2013 Rumi Calendar

Mojo Monday ~ Enjoy Every Sandwich

As medical director of the famed Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Lee Lipsenthal helped thousands of patients struggling with disease to overcome their fears of pain and death and to embrace a more joyful way of living. In his own life, happily married and the proud father of two remarkable children, Lee was similarly committed to living his life fully and gratefully each day.

The power of those beliefs was tested in July 2009, when Lee was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. As Lee and his wife, Kathy, navigated his diagnosis, illness, and treatment, he discovered that he did not fear death, and that even as he was facing his own mortality, he felt more fully alive than ever before. In the bestselling tradition of Tuesdays with Morrie, told with humor and heart, and deeply inspiring, Enjoy Every Sandwich distills everything Lee learned about how we find meaning, purpose, and peace in our lives.

Here are excerpts from Chapter 18 called Living and Dying Outside the Box.

"We create the world we live in.  Some of us have large comfortable homes with room to grow, and others have tiny, boxlike apartments that keep us feeling small and confined.  When I was younger, I lived in a Neuroimaginal box of depression and anxiety where smart people became doctors or lawyers and relationships were like those idealized stories presented to me daily on television and in movies:  Good people get good things, love is pure an romantic, and bad guys always get it in the end.  At that time, I believed that was all there was to life.  I had no way of seeing outside that limited worldview.  it was my truth.

When I lived in such a small box, I couldn't imagine any other world or life.  I reinforced my limited world over and over by surrounding myself with people who shared my views, passions, and opinions.  I defined myself by the world I had created. 

I had no desire to leave the little box I lived in, because there was enough comfort, security, and success for me to believe that everything was fine.  I came up with justifications for why I couldn't change.  I had responsibilities to my wife and kids, to my work.  I had invested so many years to build this life and career that the fear of change was greater than my desire to change.  Maintaining the status quo was just enough to get by, and I told myself good stories of a successful life to avoid thinking about change.  I had solid defense mechanisms.  

I was a physician with a wife, children, and a thriving practice.  Everything was supposed to be great, but a restlessness began to grow inside me. This restlessness became anxiety and dissatisfaction, and although I wouldn't have used this terminology then, my soul began to call out to me for what it needed: a new self, a new world, something larger.  My desire to change began to exceed my fear of change.

I started to explore other options and ask other people about their experiences.  People around me who had changed their worlds told me, 'Oh, it's easy; I did it.  And look how happy I am now.  All you need to do is...' I thought that they just didn't understand how hard change would be for me.  I was a successful doctor.  They hadn't lived my life; they weren't me.

In retrospect, these people had made substantial changes in their lives, but in doing so they forgot what it was like to be stuck in a world of limitations.  For them, changing their world seemed so easy, a no-brainer, and of such great value that they wouldn't have it any other way."


"Birthing a new life, scratching your way our of a confining box, is very much the same; the freedom and expansiveness at the other end make you forget how traumatic and difficult the work of escaping was.  Today I can't imagine living my old life, but I can say that leaving it behind was not easy.  I have not forgotten totally the pain of delivery.

But pain always seems to push us until vision starts to pull us. In my thirties, the pain of living in my depressed and anxious little box finally surpasses my desire for safety, and I began to scratch away at the lining of the box in which I was stuck.  For years, I didn't even know where I was going.  I just knew that my old world wasn't enough.  I scratched away at that box with simple tools: meditation, exercise, rock'n'roll, love, and therapy.  I had no idea what I would find outside the walls of that box.  I only knew that it was too painful to live inside it anymore.  I was living the life I was supposed to live, but my soul was withering.  

So I scratched away each morning, each evening, and each and every day until a small streak of light started to shine through.  The wall had become just thin enough for me to know that there was something outside this prison of my own making.  After I could see that small glimmer of hope, the effort started to feel worthwhile and change became possible.  Inspired, I scratched some more.

After years of scratching, struggle, introspections, and disruption in relationships, the thin opening in my small box became wide enough for me to step out.  What I found was scary, unknown place where all my old emotions and thoughts lived but where they were now accompanied by a new worldview in which thoughts and emotions were just of the moment, not the definition of myself.

This new world I had entered, this new home, was a place of transcendence, anger, depression, and joy , and I had to deal with it all.  There was no shield expect love.  Somehow, without being aware of it, I had created a new home for myself.  It was a safe place both to grow in and from which to venture out into the risky unknown.  From this new home, life became and adventure in which difficulty was just something to dive into. Every time I did dive in, I came out stronger than before.  I came out refreshed and renewed. 

This new house of my own creation has changed and now has many rooms.  I have built it over many years with my practices of meditation, prayer, therapy, and journeywork, and it continues to expand.

This home has a room called depression where I can sit after struggling to walk up our small hill because my postradiation lungs are burned, coarse remnants of the pink, healthy tissue they once were.  In this room I sit and listen to Jackson Browne's 'Late for the Sky' and acknowledge what I've lost. 

This house has a room called anger where the frenetic energy of punk rock pushes me to flail about until I collapse, usually of exhaustion, expunging anger at those who have hurt me.

This house has a room called joy, where Patti Smith's 'People Have the Power' is cranked up to eleven on the volume dial, where I laugh, jump, and let tears of pure happiness flow.

This house has a room called love where 'God Only Knows' by the Beach Boys plays 24/7 and where I sit and feel the petals of gratitude in my pocket.

This house has a room where my family dances together to Johnny Clegg's 'Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World' and I hold my daughter while hearing Joseph Arthur's 'In the Sun.'

This house has a room called peace where I meditate and Tibetan bowls ring in their sweet, harmonious tones and overtones, incense burns, and the world of today disappears in the silence of all that is bigger than me.

This house has a room called busy-ness, where a playlist of Springsteen, the Stones, the Beatles, John Prine, the Replacements, NRBQ, and many others are my welcome sound track to a life of doing.

This house has a kitchen where my friends and family gather and create warmth.  My dad sings Sinatra as we make sandwiches together -- many breads, many fillings, much love.

This house has a room called death where some day --maybe this year, maybe in five years, maybe when I am seventy-eight -- I will go to lie down and this body will stop and some version of 'I' will rest at last.  But the music will play on.

I built this house with practice, experience, and love.  It took years of work. It didn't exist before me, and it may not be there once I cease to be.

You too can build a house of your choosing.  Like any labor of love, it takes time, patience, and practice.  Even if you only have time left to redecorate one room in your existing house, it's worth the effort.

If you are confined inside four small walls, it is impossible to see what lies outside.  When you are inside a box of pain, scratch away at the walls.  When you are inside a box of depression, scratch away.  A box of perfectionism, scratch away.  A box of self-pit, scratch away at those walls as if your life depended on it.  Because it does. You won't know where you are going, or how to get there, or what it will look like on the other side.  But if there is pain or worry or unhappiness, scratch away at the walls that imprison you--scratch away with prayer, meditations, yoga, exercise, laughter, art, movement, gratitude, acceptance, and love.  Scratch away with the knowledge that there is so much more to life that what we imagine it to be.  There is so much more to death than what we imagine it to be.  And there is so much more to living and loving and being than can be seen from inside our little walled-in world."

"We all have this capacity, we can all learn the necessary tools, and we all have God or Spirit and the shaman within us.  We just need to begin to practice, to scratch away at the old Neurimaginal world we have created and build ourselves a new home. 

Patti Smith was right.  People do have the power.

Facing my mortality, chemotherapy, radiation, and especially the inability to help those whom I love has made this the most challenging period of my life so far, but simultaneously, I have felt more gratitude and more freedom and peace and life than ever before.  

Someday you will face your own mortality.  At that moment, I hope you see that your life has been well led, that you hold no regrets, and that you have loved well.  On that day, I hope that for you, it has become a good day to die."


Questions to ponder and maybe answer

1) Author Lee Lipsenthal states "We create the world we live in."  What are your thoughts on this statement?  Are you satisfied, content, happy in your current world?  If not, what changes do you want to make to it?

2) If you are living in the world you want and envisioned what took place to get there?  Was the journey difficult or easy?  

3) Lee describes his new life in terms of building a new home.  He then goes into detail about all the different rooms and because music plays an important role in his life he even shares the soundtracks that play in these rooms.  Consider the various rooms he names: depression, anger, joy, love, peace, busy-ness and death. He also mentions a room where he and his family dance and of course the kitchen, where family and friends gather.  Think about your own life and how you would describe the rooms of your home.  Which rooms already exist?  Which rooms might you add on?  If you are a music lover what songs would be playing in your rooms?  

4) On a deeper level what did you take from that whole section about rooms?  

Lee Lipsenthal, MD, ABIHM, was an internist, trained in the prevention of heart disease and in integrative medicine. A popular and acclaimed speaker and author, he was the medical director of Dean Ornish's Preventive Medicine Research Institute for a decade and has also served as president of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine.  Lee died September 20, 2011, just months before his book was published.  He and his family had grow hopeful over the course of two years that he had overcome the aggressive esophageal cancer.  Yet when he learned it had returned the prognosis was that he had only six to eight months to live.  

In August of 2011, shortly before his death, he wrote an article for the Huffington Post called Dying Awake.  Here is an excerpt:

"It may seem peculiar that I am calm while others in my life are suffering. I can assure you their suffering makes me sad; I wish this weren't happening. Yet after almost 30 years of meditating, I have learned to embrace optimism, gratitude and the knowledge that I am not in control over my life or death. Instead of being mad at the hand of fate, I am focused on what is going on -- mentally, physically, and emotionally -- with myself and those that I love. In spiritual language, I am awake. 

I have no bucket list of things to do. I have been living my bucket list for some time now, and when I was first diagnosed, it came to me that the real list in my life was not the places I wanted to see, but the list of friends in my life with whom I want to spend my time."

Here is one last piece by Lee on "Living Fully" as it appeared in his article The Noetic Change Model - Living  Life of Meaning 

Living Fully

Living fully is having an ongoing transcendent experience.

It is not studying and analyzing the experience.
It is not wanting more of the experience.
It is not buying the right clothing to remind you of the experience.
It is not telling the world that you are the experience.

It is being within the experience.
It is asking “How does this experience inform my life?”
It is asking “How does this experience help me to serve others?”
It is doing the work of love without being seen.