Day 7.... Part 1

Last Sunday, in San Diego for Christine and Garrett's wedding, we sat in the sun and drank beer for majority of the day before we moved onto Saki Bombs at dinner. Needles to say, I got extremely burnt. It was the most severe sun burn I have received since I was a teenager running around the water parks in Wisconsin Dells with no care in the world.
My point is, it happens to be a unique coincidence that this happened in this particular week because I am peeling on 85% of my body. The reason I am sharing this rather disgusting information is because of the metaphors that go around shedding. When a snake sheds it's skin, it is a sign that the animal is growing, is maturing, has a new skin underneath to reveal. When a dog or cat sheds it's fur, its the change of a season. In my case, it really is just a coincidence but a wonderful one that adds a physicality to what is going on in my life.
Last night I had Christine, Garrett, and Dina over for dinner, and through all of the fun that we had, we still got into conversation about hat is taking place in the four of us, as well as all of you following this 2 week journey. That doesn't even start to include the hundreds of thousands out there that are just sitting in limbo, waiting, searching and calculating what is next in their personal journeys.

Last nights conversation got me in the realization of my first belief for the rest of my life. Here it is declared...

Belief #1 Life is not meant to be separated into segments. It is one flowing movement that cannot be compartmentalized as much as we like to think.
*So, this is mostly focused on work vs life. But it can easily get added to the
rest of our lives. Work and life does not have to be segregated. Why would we want to
have that separate when we spend so much time of our life at work? I do realize that there
needs to be a separation between work and personal life when it comes to actual job
functions, but separate work and life and acknowledge the separation gives one more
worth and credit than the other. Both work and personal life are apart of the same life!
There, in making one part of your life have more value than another is where this belief
engulfs all of our life, not just our career.

There is a Broken Bells song called The Mall and Misery, and the first line in the song is "Use your intuition, its all you've got." There is a lot to be said about that ten syllable sentence. We all have an amount of psychic ability in us. Whether you believe this or not, its true. We are animals with instincts and sometimes this is our most useful tool. "What does your gut say?" We've all said it. We've all heard it. If something is not working in our life and we feel like we are always swimming against stream, we probably are. Your body knows things, we just have to give it the time to figure it out. This brings me to my next belief. Here it is declared.

Belief #2 Spirituality + Inspiration + Intuition = Everything
*Earlier this week, I related how spirituality leads to inspiration. Once in a while,
there is a lack of inspiration so we need to keep it cataloged. We have to know what
inspires us for those moments that we have no inspiration. Our spirituality(religion,
meditation, a personal philosophy, exercise, ect) will get us grounded, focused and will
enhance inspiration because not only does it give clarity, but it too will inspire us. When
then the spirituality and inspiration are added to our intuition when there is clarity, we
are able to gain knowledge about the hiccup, problem, issue, triumph, or obstacle that
we may have at that moment. We get everything!

This is quite a bit to digest, so marinate on it. I'm off to record our show and then I will continue with more......

Day 6....A Good Day

So, I spent a lot of time observing yesterday. I also spent the day as I would like all of my life to go. I created it, for myself, and it was wonderful. When going through this process, so many little things come up that we have to try to remember so we can encorperate them into our daily lives. The thing to remember from this day is that we have to do the work. This day would not have happened if I didn't do the work to recieve it. Just because the life we want is the life we benefit from and are most alive in doesn't mean it not going to take work. No matter what our state of being, life is going to be work and sometimes it is going to be difficult. If we do the work though, honestly and with verve, we will recieve the benefits from that. I want a life that I benefit from. I need a life that challenges me and rewards me and I believe and know we all deserve that, to any level we find ourselves.

Well, I'm going back to sleep for a couple hours. I found myself awake at 5a.m. and thought I would take this opportunity to write a little about day six. It will really all be in day 7 so I hope everyone is looking forwatd to it.

Day 5 Beliefs and Inspiration

Inspiration comes from so many different avenues. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come all the time, that’s why we have to be able to record what inspires us and be able to access it. While I was watching Grey’s Anatomy today, I realized that one of the reasons that I have been such an avid fan for such a long time is because I am always inspired by it and am able to go back to it and watch it again and again to get those feelings repeated. That is the main reason why such a show as Sex and the City are so popular. Yes, entertainment value is there, but so is inspiration.

Inspiration and Spirituality. There are of course, many reasons why we, as human beings are spiritual. It is a way to come together in communion. It helps keep us balanced and grounded and holds us accountable to the actions we take. Above all these things though, it inspires us. I must say, because for some of you reading that don’t know me as well, when I mention spirituality, it doesn’t necessarily mean religion. It can be religion, meditation, exercise, Wicca, or whatever. For me, it is Rilka’s Letters to a Young Poet. When I really get into the thick of life, I go back to it. I have been through probably, at least, twenty five copies. I give them away, write to much, or just get the most out of them. It is one of my touchstones.

This weekend I am going to log down my areas of inspiration, continue with what I believe in while mixing it up with my wants and my needs. At the end of the weekend, day 7, I’ll bullet point the week and have a full list of these topics. Once that is there, I have a funny feeling integrity is going to sneak its way in and we will throw that up against our lists.

The last part I want to write about stems from another T.V. show. I have recently fell in love with the show Parenthood, thanks to hulu.com, and the season finale paralleled this little journey. The matriarch of the entire family is going through the exact same thing that we are. It is just a reminder that this is a check and adjust system for our entire lives, not just now. The other thing that was mentioned was that you have to be actively participation in your life. I’ve taken quite a few courses with Landmark Education, and this is a reoccurring idea with that organization too. We cannot sit on the sidelines of our life. If we do, we will vanish and there will be no evidence of our existence.

Here is a little inspiration to leave you until day 6….. It is Ryan Adams song “Words” with a little of an additive.

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Day 4....Wants, Needs and Beliefs

In my line of work right now, I see a lot of people in just a short period of time. I see their different states of being, their attitudes, their focus for the day. I get all this in just a matter of seconds and then comes the presuppose: Do I let them continue with this until something else interferes, or do I take initiative and change it? I was blessed with an amazing gift to read people fast. Not necessarily who they are in life, but where their gage is at in more immediate moments. It comes in handy at work, as well as my life.

With this talent, I see what people want or need pretty quickly and can go off of that and change their attitude. This sounds fantastic because you may be thinking that I make peoples day and put them into a more grand mood. I do and I do this often. Unfortunately, when I'm exhausted or offended, it can just as easily go the other way. It rarely happens, but it happens.

I digress though. At work, I get to separate people's wants and needs. Both need to be manicured individually. A woman comes in, she WANTS a medium coffee, but she NEEDS to be told she looks fantastic. The coffee comes quickly with a smile and a warm greeting followed by, a muffin? The compliment comes with its own presentation. A pause, a look of focus, and "What did you do to your hair? It looks amazing!" Both want and need were met and her clarity comes for just a moment, but it's there. My question is, what happens when our wants and needs are met? Just a question, but one that needs to be answered with recognition, not a fanfare.

Thinking about all the people I see in a day, and what I'm working on with this search, I spent some time today thinking about what they think of there lives and how they would file it in "Where they should be?" An observer can really see the ones that love what they're doing, the ones that despise it, and the ones that aren't even aware that they don't have to be where they are. Just food for thought, but a lot can be said as an observer. It gives a chance to be objective and relate that to the subjective. As I continue to touch base with people, and check in with my beliefs, I'm going to take some time this weekend to just observe. Observe and relate.

Until I add to this later, after I eat some dinner, I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite videos or Rue McClanahan. She was a phenomenal actress that worked on one our most controversial shows in American television. The Golden Girls topics were groundbreaking and to think that three of them have past is sad. I thank them for sharing their talents.

Day 3. Part 2.

I just wanted to write a couple thoughts down before I go to bed. The passion that each one of us posses is inside us. We just have to touch base once in a while and give it space to grow. Once we do that, it propels us into inspiration, creativity, optimism and discovery. The difficulty here is finding the time to stop our busy lives and give it a little space and nutrients so that it can flourish. This passion is a living being that if not taken care of, will vanish.

No one ever prospers from taking the easy way. They may be happy, or believe they are happy but greatness in our world's history has never come from mediocrity. I choose not to lead a mediocre life. While this week continues into the next, I feel that I must go into my personal beliefs. How can we know what we are to do in life if we do not know what we stand for. It has been a long time since I actually took inventory in what I believe and hold to be true. That will be my exercise for tomorrow, to make a list of my beliefs. I will also reference a journal article I wrote from when I was in college.

Sweet Dreams everyone!!!

Day 3. Part 1... A walk through Barnes n Noble

I took a walk through Barnes and Noble with an open mind and no forethought. I was just wandering though to see if anything jumps out at me. I am acknowledging that there is something there that I maybe have not yet been introduced to. On the other hand, I am acknowledging that what ever the next step in my life is, that it really could be at my fingertips and I don't know how to access it. I was in a meeting earlier today and my regional director said a couple things that went along with what I am focusing on in my life. The one that left the imprint was "the journey isn't significant if you don't remember all of it". His context was completely different than how I am using it now but is still just as important. In order to get through this discovery, I have to acknowledge all of my journey. Again, even if it is one part of my life that is only going on for two weeks.
So far today, I did a couple other exercises. One of them was that I made two lists. One list was of things that I have always been interested in. When I say always, I am referring to topics in my adult life. Some of these include acting, music, organizing events, helping people, Eleanor Roosevelt,writing, Philosophy and classic poetry.
I then made a second list. This list is of topics that just recently, with in the last year, I have become interested in. Some of these include film editing, voice over work, fiction writing, radio work, photography, education, teaching abroad. Now, with both lists, I am looking back to my adolescence to see what of these lists have either carried over to now, have reappeared, or are brand new. The final thought in this exercise are there things from my adolescence that are missing; Ideas that were so strong to me when I was a kid that I thought would be so important to me as an adult that I wouldn't be able to live without? We'll see what happens from this.
The other exercise that I'll be continuing on through out this first week is getting a hold of the people close to me who love what they do and find out a little more about what it is that makes them love it and also how it contributes and enriches their lives. To leave you with Day 3, Part 1. Here are some of my pictures from Christine's wedding that I absolutely love.

Day 2 of my journey on what to do with my life

I know it may seem pointless to think that this will be figured out in 2 weeks. I completely acknowledge that it won't be. My hope though is that I have a little more understanding about what options are out there and what I may be interested in that I didn't even realize I was interested in.

I haven't been able to do a whole lot today other than find ways to make money in fields that I have already conquered. But, my plan has been more clear. For the next couple of days, I'm going to start contacting my friends, especially the ones who have established lives doing something that I am envious of. It may be travel, being a house wife, marketing, advertising or even psychology. What ever it may be, I want to spend some time getting to know why they are doing this and what makes them want to do it every morning when they wake up.

The other thing that I'll be doing in the next couple days as this journey goes on is utilizing the Internet as much as possible. Look at different cities and areas of the world. Do they have something there that we don't have here? Would we benefit from that particular thing? Do I find it interesting? Are there areas that have something I want to move for?

This project that I am doing is all about being peripheral. Getting myself out there and seeing what I can talk about and bottom line, find that inspiration. Don't get me wrong, this isn't stopping me from looking into the things I've already got going. Well, until tomorrow, here is my new favorite entrepreneur.