Finally Friday Week Three: Nevermind the "How," I'm Going to Uluru, Australia

Uluru (Ayer's Rock) Australia

"From my experience, the "how" likes to stay hidden. It doesn't show itself until you are fully committed to what you are doing.  Once it knows you are serious, it starts to work in your favor in ways you aren't even able to fathom."—Katherine Jenkins

Well, I guess I was so excited that it was "Finally Friday" that I forgot to post. So now it's Saturday already. So much has happened since I last wrote here.

I took a leap last Wednesday. I leapt off that cliff that I'd been teetering on the edge of (see previous post). I turned around and faced that pride of lions and the Tsunami wave dissipated. It wasn't anything too extraordinary, but it was big enough.

I decided to follow my heart and take the leap, even though I spent a great deal of time dangling on that edge.

The leap was a decision to go to Australia for book research in August. I'm writing a series of fiction books based on the Earth Chakra system and I have visited all of the chakras/vortices in Book One except Uluru, otherwise known as Ayer's Rock, in Australia. This is chakra three and it is pertinent to my first book in the series.

I thought about researching the area via computer and then writing about it, but that just didn't feel quite right. I know that I need to physically be in all these places in order for the story to come alive. I need to breathe life into the words and that's not going to happen unless I am there experiencing the land itself. The narrative has come through me while I'm there.

So last Wednesday I announced via Facebook that I'm going. I was excited to find out that many of my Australian blogger friends/authors are thinking about making the trek out there with me and now it has turned into a pilgrimage of sorts.

My heart was in the right place when I took the leap.

Now I feel like the universe is realigning itself to support this decision. It's saying, "Okay stars, planets and galaxies, this is what she's decided to do, like it or not, so let's get on it!"

It doesn't mean I have it all worked out yet. One of my hesitations was finances. Flying from WA State to Australia is a costly affair. It's around $1500.....and then you've got to have funds once you get there. All the "ands," "sos," and "buts" came in trying to convince me that it's all a bad idea and I should just forget about it. Because really,

 How are you going to do that?

It's all about the "how," isn't it? And sometimes family and friends jump on the AND-SO-BUT BOAT too, and you start to second guess yourself. Now you are in your head listening to all the "voices" telling you to forget it, and you've forgotten everything about your HEART!

From my experience, the "how" likes to stay hidden. It doesn't show itself until you are fully committed to what you are doing.  Once it knows you are serious, it starts to work in your favor in ways you aren't even able to fathom.

It's not just the "how" that gets down to business...you do too.

Ever since I made that announcement, I've been filled with so much positive energy. There's energy around this adventure. I'm excited to meet my Australian Blogger friends and it looks like it's going to turn into a pilgrimage and/or retreat. I bought a Lonely Planet Australia guidebook and a book on sacred sites around the world, I've contacted two Uluru guide companies in Australia to see if they can swing a group deal for me and the group that plans to come along, I've looked into airline tickets and places to stay. I've worked on some fundraising ideas...it's full-steam ahead, friends.

And there are signs too. Right after I made this decision, Yoon and I went for a walk at a park in Washington State and somehow ended up in the Australian Bush...no kidding....

Australian garden in The Seattle Arboreteum

 A section of the top of the park was dedicated to Australia and they had eucalyptus trees and shrubs and flowers all from Down Under. All that was missing was a kangaroo and a koala!

Have you ever listened to your heart and taken a leap without knowing the "how"? What did you do?

365 Inspirations—168: A Calling

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.”—Rumi

Tomorrow, or maybe the next day, I head out on a very undefined pilgrimage, spiritual journey, writing, meditation, yoga retreat. It will involve a bit of travel, but I'm not sure how much this time around.

I'm feeling called to work on a few projects that seem to be taking shape every moment. I am getting pieces of information on these projects every day.

I know it sounds strange. In my past, I often operated in a very linear way. I measured things that I could see, taste, touch, feel—tangible things.

More recently, I've been letting go of a linear way of thinking and have adopted a more holistic view of things.

I believe some things can be explained, but some simply cannot.

I'm not afraid of the unknown anymore.

In fact, I'm ready to dive deeper into the unknown. I'm ready to loosen the tight strings that have bound me to a rational view of things.

Life is much more than we are able to see. Life, in its entirety, is incomprehensible.

I'm excited to venture out soon. I let you know more about my journey as it unfolds.

Have you ever felt called to do something different than you normally do?

365 Inspirations—157: My Husband, Seong Yoon Lee

"Don't be afraid of the different winds that come to your life—even the unpleasant winds. If things aren't working the way you want them to work, maybe the universe wants to offer you something better, but you can't see that right now."—Seong Yoon Lee

This post was written by my husband and edited by me. It was part of my 31 Writers, 31 Lessons series in 2012. Yoon has a way of inspiring people, including me, to do the things they've always wanted to do in life and not be afraid of the challenges. Here's his story:

I clearly remember the day when I heard the sound of a gong while I was in an evening chanting ceremony in a remote temple in Korea. It was not just the sound of a bell, it was the sound of awakening for me.

I thought that if I became a monk someday, I'd come back to this temple. Two years later, I came back and became a monk. Through many years of sincere practice and everyday life in the monastery, I have learned so much. Of course, it had its own challenges, joys, frustrations—the same as mundane life. I know things are always changing, but I never thought I'd come back to mundane life.

But the winds carried me in a different direction. Sometimes we need a different direction for our growth. I faced many struggles, emotions and fear about this change, but I learned something that I want to share with you here.

My master in the temple told me that I had to finish my degree in Buddhism, so I decided to come back to my college and study there. In my free time, I also studied English and Japanese at a foreign language institute nearby.

That's where I met my wife.

I never expected this would happen, but as we got to know each other, I found that we had a deep connection to one another. It was not easy for me and it was also not easy for her to come all the way here—to this point where we are now. I was a Buddhist monk and she was an English teacher. But also, I am just a human who feels different emotions in me. I don't want to tell all the stories here. You can read all about those in her wonderful book, coming soon, called Lessons from the Monk I Married.

Ultimately, I decided I wanted to be with my wife because of the deep connection and love I felt for her. I had to leave the monastery and start all over again. I also had to face my fears in that process:

How can I make money?

How can I pay bills?

What will other people think of me?

I struggled with all of these questions and had to face each one of them.

Shortly after I decided to leave the monastery, I moved in to Kathy's apartment. However, she had plans to meet her family in New York. These plans had been set months before. After she was gone, I was all alone in her apartment. There was nothing but miso and cabbage in the refrigerator, so that's what I ate. Perhaps this was her test for me. Could I survive on my own without the temple and without her help?

Somehow I needed to make money. But what kind of work can an ex-monk do? I didn't know what I had to do. I looked in the local newspaper and found a position posted for a sushi waiter. I had an interview and got the job. They needed people, also I needed money. But I didn't survive very long there. I moved too slowly and messed up on many orders which resulted in yelling sessions from the manager. I had become his servant. In his eyes, I was just a stupid server who was good for nothing but fetching cigarettes for him.

So I quit. I was back to nothing again. But I started to think about my training and all that I had learned. I had been trained in yoga and meditation in the monastery. I knew I had so much to share about this. So I put up some posters around the apartment building, and before long people were coming to practice—both Korean and foreigners alike were coming. By the time Kathy returned from New York, her apartment was full of people practicing yoga.

So it became my career. I became a yoga teacher. I operated two yoga schools in Korea and am now the owner of Yoon's Yoga Bliss near Seattle. I have met so many wonderful people through this yoga adventure. I found a life where I am able to share all that I am. I learned how we become authentic and at the same time universal. Through creative energy and love, we become the embodiment of who we are, and that authenticity also continues to evolve through our own searching.

So don't be afraid of the different winds that come to your life—even the unpleasant winds. Life is an adventure. Sometimes we find treasures and sometimes things fall completely apart. If things aren't working the way you want them to work, maybe the universe wants to offer you something better, but you can't see that right now.

Be strong. Don't give up searching and you will find those treasures that are beautiful and priceless.

Seong Yoon Lee studied Buddhism at Donguk University in Korea. He was trained as a monk in the Chogye order at Songgwang Temple. He met his wife in 1996 and later they married in 2003. He owned and operated two yoga schools in South Korea, one in Seoul and one in a nearby suburb. He has taught yoga to hundreds of students and his yoga school and unique approach to yoga were featured on a major television network in Korea in a documentary about stress. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife and is the owner of Yoon's Yoga Bliss near Seattle.

365 Inspirations—111: Awakening Intuition

"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you, and you don't know how or why."—Albert Einstein

I'm doing a self course in awakening my intuition. To be honest, I'm a highly intuitive person, but I am trapped in a body and mind that has been trained not to trust or follow this side of myself completely. I'm now realizing that there is no other way I can live. Following my intuition is my path. All other paths are not the ones I'm supposed to be on!

I know this at a very deep level, yet I fear the outcome of following my intuition completely. There's a sense of security (It may very well be a false sense of security) I get from following a comfortable, known path, even though I am quite sure that path doesn't suit me anymore.

So I'm back and retraining my mind. I'm reading Penney Peirce's book The Intuitive Way. I'm reading it step by step. I'm scribbling in the margins, I'm underlining things and I'm really listening and paying attention to what I'm reading. I need to absorb this information and live it completely. This is what I know and feel.

Penney asks in her book "Could it be that just beyond the Information Age in the Intuitive Age?"

She goes on to say

"Intuition, I'm convinced, is where the other 90 percent of our brainpower lies. Through intuition, we get the big picture, the simultaneous understanding that puts us and all the facts in our proper relationship to something beyond us."

I've been feeling so many gut instincts, deep in the core of my being,  to follow a new path, but I'm hesitating to do so. Much of it is fear related to security and comfort. Also, there are some financial things to consider. I believe I'm moving in the right direction and am still applying my rational, linear mind and not completely abandoning reason.

I think that is a good balance.

But truth be told, for too long I've ignored signs to do something new and eventually, I believe, if you ignore your gut instincts, they will keep resurfacing in some form or another until you have no other choice but to pay attention to what this intuition of yours is saying.

And this time I'm listening. Really I AM!

Do you always follow your intuition or gut instincts? Are you doing what you want to do?