Mojo Monday ~ Unresolvable Dilemmas

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love." 

~ Mother Teresa

Learning 

to live with

unresolvable 

dilemmas

Those 

tug of wars

that pull

you this

way

and then

that way

Unresolvable 

dilemmas

Freedom or

commitment

free spirit or

responsibility

striving or

letting it be

Unresolvable 

dilemmas

Desire to control or

desire to surrender

wanting to play it safe or 

wanting to risk it all

desire to connect or

desire to separate

Unresolvable 

dilemmas

Mind's eye or

mystic's eye

trust or 

doubt

being alone or

being together

Unresolvable 

dilemmas

Sometimes

there isn't 

really

a perfect

choice

Unresolvable 

dilemmas

Spiritual life or

material life

part of a team or

independent

taking action or

letting things happen

planning or

spontaneity

Unresolvable 

dilemmas

Life

is

full

of 

paradox


by Michelle Fairchild

___________________________________________

Learn more about paradox and learning to live with unresolvable dilemmas in the book Unflappable: 6 Steps to Staying Happy, Centered, Peaceful No Matter What by Ragini Elizabeth Michaels.

Mojo Monday ~ Redvolutionary

What is a Redvolutionary you might ask?  Well this is how author Sera Beak describes it for us: 


"A Redvolutionary is someone who does not play by the social, religious, cultural, sexual, or political rules.  She affects change by daring to be herself, forging a unique path, and serving her planet authentically through "ecstatic activism."  She's a kind of 'spiritual superheroine,' rebelling against dogma and ideology in order to experience a direct and intimate relationship with the divine.  She has a fearless commitment to truth and freedom, healing and empowerment, hot love, red wine and gold body glitter...for all."




A few years ago I read a book by author Sera Beak called The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Divine Spark.  Out of the blue I recently began receiving newsletter updates from author Sera Beak about upcoming workshops here in California.  What seems like eons ago, I had signed up on her web site to receive updates from her, and my twin mommy brain vaguely recalls getting something a long time ago, but then nothing.  So, to start receiving new emails from this fascinating young author made me take notice.  I pulled the well-read and dog-eared book from my shelf and began refreshing myself with the delights inside.  I also re-visited her new web site and learned that over 3 years ago Sera stepped back from the path she was on at the time.  She said goodbye to a publishing deal for her second book and the production of a film. In her own words she puts the experience this way:  "Over 3 years ago, the Universe ripped me a new one, a new Red Heart that is, and a lot has changed."  She goes into more detail in a keynote speech she gave in Spring 2012.  (You can watch the video on her web page by clicking here.)

Sera Beak

Sera Beak is a world traveled, Harvard-trained scholar of comparative religion, a spiritual cowgirl, and a redvolutionary.  She has whirled with Sufi dervishes, had a private meeting with the Dalai Lama on her 21st birthday, took the host from a Croatian Catholic mystic who had the stigmata and has experienced life-altering visions with shamans (and everything in between.)  Her book also received rave reviews from the likes of Sark, Neale Donald Walsch and Rob Brezny.  


Here is the preface, called Prelude to A Kiss:


"Do you ever get that funny feeling, slightly surreal and disorienting, maybe late at night or early in the morning, maybe right before lunchtime or perhaps when your friends are chatting, a lover is changing, a job is droning, or a TV is flickering, a feeling that there's something more than all of this?  That you are more than all of this?  That perhaps life is more purposeful and magical than you give it credit for, and never mind all your unpaid parking tickets and bad work days that seem to prove otherwise?


You do?  Me, too.  As does your best friend, your boss, and your weird neighbor.  As do Russian rocket scientists, Belgian sheep farmers, and the Dalai Lama.  The feeling is, in fact, universal.


So, what is this funny feeling?  Sure, you could explain it away as some Freudian childhood glitch or planetary retrograde or even some of last night's margaritas coming up for an encore.  But more likely, it's something a bit more profound.  Chances are it's a coy catcall from the universe, disguised as existential angst.  It's the divine ringing your inner doorbell.  It's your higher self, stealing the spotlight.  It's your potential, aching to be realized, and your spirit, itching to be scratched.  So then the question becomes, what are you going to do about it?  Are you going to explore this feeling?  Are you willing to open the door?  Are you willing to refocus your lens?"

Author Sera Beak ~ Ignite Your Divine Spark

Chapter 1, called Light the Match: Set Your Intentions Free, begins off like this:


"So how the hell do you start igniting your divine spark?  Well, first and foremost, start by setting your intention.  Your intention is the energy, the electric charge, the awareness you bring to every aspect of your life.  It's the force that  lies behind everything you do, the fuel for your fire.  Your intention helps create the pathway for your experience; therefore, setting it ain't no trifling, careless thing, but a responsibility, one not to be taken lightly...


Setting your intention is a bit like offering up an invocation to the universe.  You place your desire out in the world, as an energized thought, a pregnant idea, an open prayer.  You envision how you would like to be, to feel, to progress...


You can state your intentions every morning before you get out of bed; it's like applying an all-day moisturizer for your spirit: 'I intend to be divinely aware and connected today, no matter what.'  You can sing them in the shower: ' I intend to follow my gut on this business deal and make it soar.'  You can let your intention move through your body during  a yoga class: ' I intend from now on to be healthier with my eating and exercise habits, and to love my strong, sexy body.'  Or set it when you take  stroll in the park: ' I intend to genuinely smile at every thing and every body I come across.'  You can set an intention for the coming day, week, year, or lifetime, or just for the moment you are in right now.  It's really that simple.  If you don't have a specific intention to set, just sit still, check in with your heart, and start sensing how you would ideally want to feel in your job, in your personal relationships, in your body, in your life, in your relationship with the divine.  Hold these feelings strongly for a moment in your mind and heart, and then release them, breathe them out into the world."


In what ways do you inspire/conspire to be Redvolutionary?


What Sparks are you feeling/experiencing right now in your life?  


If Sparks are lacking, what might you dare to do to ignite some?


Have you set any intentions for yourself?  

**One great way to get inspiration for your intentions is to participate in !Spark!, a Cosmic Cowgirl University offering, that inspires and supports you for thirty days in achieving your intentions.  The next session starts September 1st and you can learn more here.

There is much about Sera Beak that hollers Cosmic Cowgirl, in addition to her self-proclaimed Spiritual Cowgirl identity, Spark, Divinity, Red, Intentions, Revolutionary,  Daring, Glitter... and Oh, the list goes on and on.   She had been working on a book called The Red Book of Chakras three years ago, until her life took an unexpected detour.  She offers this particular book for sale on her web site.  She shares this about it: This was the book I started to write three years ago before my ass got kicked by the universe.  While my writing style and focus has changed since then, this book still packs a power-full punch of She-force and that's way I'm sharing it with you all now.  Enjoy!


She is now working on her official second book called Red Hot and Holy: A Heretic's Love Story and she still has intentions to complete and release the film called Redvolution: Dare to Disturb the Universe.


Sera is offering some amazing workshops in California, along with other opportunities to work with her, and you can learn more about that here.

Mojo Monday ~ Whimsy In the Garden

There is something so refreshing and fun about creativity and whimsy in nature.  I spotted a fun photo on Pinterest and followed the link back to the creator of the above signs.  The website where this image can be found is called Fresh Picked Whimsy and the blogger is artist Lori.  Her original post about how this sign came into existence can be found here.

What I loved seeing is how this project started off with a creative idea and a pile of old wood.  The photo to the left shows the pile of unused wood that was just waiting for a creative artist to come along.  


The simplicity of taking what is already readily available and turning it into an adorable garden art piece is brilliant.  


Look how simple it was to create in the following images.  First pick out some pieces. Next paint them.  

Lastly, add locations that have meaning to your life.  If you want to add the distance, simply look it up on google maps or some other on-line mapping program.  Have fun with the lettering. Lori did a beautiful job on these by using white and black to create some dimension to the letters.  I also loved a suggestion on Pinterest that stated you could also include dates for when you visited these various places on the back.  


What are you waiting for, go forth and create whimsy!

Mojo Monday ~ We Are All Meant to Shine!

“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.”

~ Marianne Williamson

Come sit down.  Make yourself comfortable.  If it was winter I would tell you to go ahead curl up on the couch, with a soft cuddly blanket to keep you warm, and I would serve you some hot Moroccan mint tea, my favorite.  However in my neck of the woods it is summer and we are in the midst of our annual triple digit days.  So instead I will invite you to sit in a lounge chair in our backyard, and you can put your feet in the cool water of our kiddie pool, while we enjoy some cold ice tea together.   

Now that you are settled in I want to share with you how round these Cosmic Cowgirl parts we have been discussing the topic perspective.  I have two very simple points of view to present about life perspectives:

The first one is: Life’s too short not to wear a red boa.

The second one is: We are all meant to shine!

You may have giggled when I told you that life is too short not to wear a red boa.  Quite a few people do.  You may have even laughed when I surprised you by draping a red boa around your shoulders.  The other possibility is that you looked at me like I wasn’t quite all there, wondering what was up with this red boa thing.

Well, the philosophy of The Red Boa, as I like to refer to it in short, is about having more fun and enjoying life more in the present.  Now this approach to life may come easily to some folks.  There are people with naturally positive, happy and laid back attitudes.  However, I recognize that for some individuals this way of being can be very foreign and it can take some actual effort at first to practice at lightening up.  There are also plenty of people who, like myself, fall somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.  Of course there are always going to be tough life experiences that come along now and again and can make it tough to see the brighter side to things.  There are a number of things that can help us all to keep perspective about this thing called life.  The first one, while it may seem a bit morbid, it is to remember that this thing called life is not a permanent gig that will last forever.  Every single one of us on this planet has an expiration date, it may be many years from now, or it may arrive sooner than that.  The reality can be uncomfortable to consider, but when taken into consideration can help us keep things in perspective.

Let me assure you that I don’t walk around with rainbows shooting out of my ears, sprinkling happy glitter while I skip through city streets nor do I have birds and friendly animals scampering around me while I sing angelically in a forest.  On occasion I do wear glitter and truth be told I may bust a move while cleaning the house, especially if a band like the Gipsy Kings is playing.  

Sometimes my life feels grand and sometimes I want to scream “get me out of here.” Many wonderful things have occurred in my time here on planet earth.  My life has been full of abundance and I always try to be grateful for all that I have.   My life has also been affected by tragic and deep loss and I have even experienced depression.  A few years ago in fact I went through what I describe as a dark night of the soul.  Yet somehow I have always managed to return to what I call a sunshine spot.  Sometimes the return trip to my sunshine spot is quick and I stay there for an extended period of time.  Sometimes I can’t find my way back there for a long time, and those are the hardest times of course.  I won’t delve into all the details of my soul’s story right now, but I believe there is much we can learn from one another’s life stories.  Especially when brave souls come forth to share how they triumphed over adversity and chose to rise above it all.

Perhaps even after the introduction to The Red Boa philosophy you are still asking yourself “But why a red boa?”  I am here to tell you that wearing a feather red boa can be transformative.  There is something about a feather boa that is sassy, playful, mischievous, sexy and a little bit wild.  If the thought of being “wild” sounds a little intimidating consider what reknowned writer Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D writes about the “wild woman” in her introduction to Women Who Run with the Wolves:

"Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing.  Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species.  Though the gifts of the wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to "civilize" us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls.  Without Wild Woman, we become over-domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped."

If you do not yet own a feathered boa add it to your shopping list right now.    Then make up reasons to wear it.  For example, on my 30th birthday (which unbelievably was 13 years ago) I had my birthday party at a roller skating rink.  My family and friends requested lots of disco music (think Michael Jackson Off The Wall) and a few of us even wore feathered boas while skating.  I for one, am the owner of a rather fabulous collection of feather boas.  I often incorporate them into Halloween costumes too.  There is the flamingo pink boa, the fire red and orange boa, the parrot rainbow boa, as well as boas in simple black, red, green and blue. The photo collage (top left and then counter clockwise) above features me as "Fire," a rainbow parrot with my twin kittens, a pink flamingo, and then see how I use the rainbow one for decoration by framing a mirror in my art room.  

The reality is that I am a regular run-of-the-mill woman.  I have my low melancholy times, I get angry and feel impatient.  My figure will never walk a fashion show runway and from time to time I even have (gasp) bad hair days.  Yet, underneath there is also my wild woman, who occasionally howls at the moon, has danced in a bar cage and in the rain in Paris, and will when needed (or just for the hell of it) break out the glitter and feathers to help me keep that Red Boa perspective.

Put on

that red boa,

fling it round

your shoulders,

shimmy shake

those full

feminine hips

take pride

 in your stride

delight

 in the tickle

the caress

 of the feathers

feel your skin

oh how good

 it is to be you

one of a kind

a singular creation

of love

What do you do or could you do to stay in touch with your wild woman?

How do you keep perspective (or your cool), if you even do, when the shit hits the fan?

Do you own a feathered boa?  If not, what are you waiting for??

Mojo Monday ~ The Cowgirl's Guide to Riding Wild Donkeys

A brilliant email landed in my email box this weekend from Leonie, formerly known as Goddess Leonie.  She offered for FREE, her book called The Cowgirl's Guide to Riding Wild Donkeys.  As a member of a women's tribe called The Cosmic Cowgirls, I have to say that seeing the word cowgirl in her title made me happy inside.  


Now here is what Leonie offers in her brilliant (and FREE) Project Finisher Ebook:


* Her secret to producing and creating effortlessly, easily + with ridunkulous amounts of joy
* How to get your projects finished + out into the world in record time 
* How to transform your biz + creative practice with this simple, powerful technique 
* The secret to making your ideas into real, finished, tangible creations that can touch the world + give you gorgeous income!


Here is one of the fun pages from the book:




























To get your FREE copy of this delightful book visit Leonie at her web site by clicking here. 


Here is the full web address:
http://leoniedawson.com/free-the-project-finisher-ebook-how-to-finish-your-projects-get-them-out-into-the-world/

Mojo Monday ~ Releasing the Past

"Removing an arrow/error like believing your past 

was the BEST and your future is less bright, 

is easier said than done, if you know what I mean. 

We get a LOT out of holding onto the the things that harm us, don’t we? 

I know as long as my past is better than my future, 

I cannot call in the future that is mine from a pure heart, 

or as Dr. E puts it: 'clean, calm, clear heart'." 

~ Shiloh Sophia McCloud 

Sharing from her experiences at 

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes' 

SoulFire Vision Quest in June 2012

The past can be an anchor holding you back.

When I read the words above that Shiloh Sophia McCloud wrote they literally leapt off the page at me. Fairly recently I had found myself in a bit of a funk and during this time frame I also happened to flip through some old photographs.  Some were of my days of living and traveling in Europe.  Others were of me in my college days and with various friends sharing fun experiences.  I found myself wistful of my youth, my courage, my appearance (one that required I work out damn hard to achieve), my freedom and some of my relationships.  The words Shiloh wrote spoke to me deeply though.  At the age of 43 was I really ready to declare the best years of my life were over?  Was I really thinking that nothing fabulous would/could happen that might make those experiences of my twenties and thirties seem small in comparison?  When had I grown so disillusioned, jaded and skeptical?  Was I going to throw in the towel and live my life talking about the good ol' days and the "remember whens"?  Heck, I had to admit that I was falling into that pattern.  

Recently I also made some observations about we humans.  I saw first hand how easy it is for we humans to hold onto the past in a death grip of remembrances, and not in a good way.  It is fairly common for people to keep track of the hurts and the ways we have been wronged.  I make no judgments of this tendency, because most of us have been there at some point or other, and according to psychological research it is now believed that it is in our human nature that bad events wear off more slowly than good ones.  Here is a quote from an article called Praise Is Fleeting, but Brickbats We Recall by Alina Tugend, "As with many other quirks of the human psyche, there may be an evolutionary basis for this. Those who are 'more attuned to bad things would have been more likely to survive threats and, consequently, would have increased the probability of passing along their genes,' the article states. 'Survival requires urgent attention to possible bad outcomes but less urgent with regard to good ones.'"

I have personally experienced my own propensity to remember the bad, as well as witnessed that of others. I have found it sad to observe once close and treasured friendships crumble because of one or two negative interactions, in spite of years of wonderful times spent together.  I have also witnessed someone complaining and talking about their resentment for events that took place 30+ years ago.  Yet reminding someone that those events are far in the past, cannot be changed and really don't have to affect them in their current life, isn't often productive.  You can't make someone else see through your eyes how they are allowing their old resentments to steal their happiness in their present life.  Again I don't judge anyone that is stuck in such a place.  There is a time when it might be necessary to delve into the past in order to really get the muck out and heal it.   When Oprah and Iyanla Vanzant teamed up earlier this year Iyanla stated that in order to heal our pain three things to need to happen, we have to feel our pain, we have to deal with it (really deal with it) and then we can heal it.  Feel, Deal, Heal.  She also bluntly told a former addict that while he was no longer using drugs and drinking alcohol that he was now addicted to his story and that he needed to move on because he was the only one standing in the way of his happiness. 

I am also here to share that Cosmic Cowgirls has a secret weapon when it comes to transforming one's pain and past into glitter and gold.  The remedy is art and writing one's Legendary Story.  All of our lives offer us up the most wonderful material for a kick-in-the pants, rollicking, roll-in-the-hay read.  That bar fight you had back in 1995, don't you dare leave it out, and your stories from when you raced wild with a roller derby team called The Angry Beavers will be sure to have your readers staying up all night.  If you danced in a cage or on tables in a bar tell us all about it.  Perhaps you lived in Europe and had several foreign lovers.  Hmm....now we are getting to some good stuff.  Yet, there are the tougher stories, perhaps the boyfriend or husband who cheated and left you for Paris Hilton.  There might even be tragedy, the fiance who died in a car accident or the abusive childhood you survived.   All of these provide you with a champions story and the back story to who you are today.  If you have any doubts about that one pop on over to Effy Wild's blog called The Glitterhood and begin reading her powerful and moving mini-memoir. 


As we are beginning our Legendary journals over at the Red Key Vision Quest consider what stories you have to tell.


Is there something that you first need to feel, deal and heal?


Do you feel addicted to any of your stories that are causing you pain and keeping you from moving forward in your journey?  (feel free to share or think about privately)


Which stories or experiences of yours first come to mind when you think of the word Legendary?


With love and encouragement to shine, shine, shine!
Michelle

** Mojo Monday was born in May 2010 and has been featured on Cosmic Cowgirls Rodeo of the Soul since that time.  Mojo Monday offers up inspiration, interesting ideas, questions and more to get our week off and running.  We like to gather around the campfire and share  our stories and our experiences with one another.


In 2011 Steph Cowling who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, joined the Mojo Monday team and inspired us all for a year with her incredibly thoughtful writing and her beautiful photography.  Fortunately you can still find her writing in her column Soul In the City in Cosmic Cowgirls Magazine.


This year the inspirational Trish O'Mally is co-facilitating Mojo Mondays with me.  Her writing carries magic within it and if you attend a Cosmic Cowgirl Conference you may get to experience her gastronomical brilliance as well.

Mojo Monday ~ The Red Key

The tribe I call my own, Cosmic Cowgirls, is offering an invitation.


This is your invitation to open the door of the heart with the flaming red key of possibility! 

How would you feel if you could take charge,
AUTHOR YOUR OWN FUTURE
instead of letting life happen to you? 

If there was a place to express your TRUE voice now instead of later. 

WHAT IF THERE WAS SOMETHING YOU COULD DO RIGHT NOW – TODAY
to change how all of this is landing in your heart, your life, your spirit?

Maybe you are saying…I’ve heard that before

Painting by Shiloh Sophia McCloud

I want to live my true authentic self. Whoever that is… Life is too precious to live an unexpressed life. But I don’t really KNOW what my path is or where it leads, OR how to get there. I’ve tried change before and it didn’t stick. How is this going to be different?

Many women say that this work that we offer is just what they have been waiting for all of their life. A true connection. Belonging. A place to express the songs and images within them. You are a choice that you get to make. What it is you want to say, be, cause, create, manifest? How you want to experience your life and how it occurs for you? And you are right, it is not easy to do it alone and that is WHY we are doing it together, as a tribe of women who are TOGETHER committing to a life path of sacred work that reflects who we are instead of living a life that is not consistent with us. Why would anyone keep living a life that does not reflect who they are? Because many of us don’t know where to turn.

Now there is a place to turn, and something to turn it with – a magical red key that lives inside the heart – a key that belongs to you and your very own muse.

Are you, like so many of us, feeling:
• life is passing you by and your life didn’t turn out the way you wished?

• are living like you are dying instead of living like you are living?

• you would like to be creative, feel that you are, but tell yourself you don’t have time?

• there is no creative spiritual community you can truly call home?

• that the voice of the critic is your own voice, and you believe her when she says: you’re too old, you don’t have time, you’re not smart enough, not creative enough?

What if we told you all of those were lies?

Come learn more about this journey that begins June 21, 2012 at:

http://www.cosmiccowgirlsuniversity.com/education/2012/redkey/