Finally Friday Week 16: Every Day Magic

Simple moment of drinking tea with Yoon

“I do believe in an everyday sort of magic -- the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like; the eerie appropriateness of moments of synchronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we're alone.”—Charles de Lint

Magic. I find it all around these days. This weekend I'm finding it in very simple things. It's a holiday weekend and I could feel the energy in the city on Friday. Everyone was packing, shopping, and getting ready to hightail it out of here to enjoy the weekend far from the stresses of the city. I thought about going away too, but somehow the weekend snuck up on me and I honestly didn't have the energy to make a plan. It's nice, sometimes, how the city becomes deserted on a long weekend. Normally crowded city streets become free and clear. It feels like Yoon and I have the entire city to ourselves.

One of the reasons I didn't feel the need to get out of town is due to the fact that I teach only three days a week, so I actually have a long weekend every weekend. There was nothing extremely special about having one extra day.

I've felt like really sinking into where I am recently. When I can witness the magic of life everyday in very simple things, I feel completely full. I don't live for weekends. I try and live everyday. In fact, I have found magic in living fully every single day. Even on my drives to work, I am able to witness the changing of the trees, flowers, and life all around.

This morning, Yoon and I went on a huge walk through Carkeek park. We did a loop through the forest and along Puget Sound. We might as well have been on one of the San Juan Islands. It felt so remote, yet we were 10 minutes from our house. We stopped by a stream with smooth stones and tall cedar trees and we took in the fragrant smell of flowers and babbling sounds of the brook below us. I felt a complete peace there.

When we got home, we relaxed and drank tea.

 Then we went to the $4 movie theater down the street and saw the Argentinian film Wild Tales. It was an intense movie! When we got back to the house, Yoon took out frozen salmon steaks from the freezer and sliced sweet potatoes and barbecued them all on the grill. I heated up a stuffed Shitake mushroom and leftover dumplings and a leak pancake from a Taiwanese restaurant. We ate all of this out in the front garden along with plum wine and Hawaiian music.

It was so relaxing and made me appreciate the very simple things in life.

Now I'm here writing this blog post on Saturday evening.

Do you often experience everyday magic. What are the simple things you find magic in?

Finally Friday Week 8: Coming Out of Retreat

"I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude."—Henry David Thoreau


Going off on a solo writing retreat is one thing. Coming out of it is quite another. I arrived to my family's lake house last Saturday afternoon, unloaded my stuff, opened the shades and then just sat there in complete silence staring out at the lake.

It takes some time to decompress. It takes time to let go of all things that push and pull me in the city. So many things to do.

Sitting there in silence, I felt a bit uncomfortable at first. What had I committed myself to? Is this what I really wanted to do? The silence was deafening at times. My ears strained to hear anything.

I heard the hum of the refrigerator.

I stepped outside on the deck and heard the hoo hoo of an owl in the distance. I looked up and saw an eagle. Pine tree branches swayed in the light breeze. 

I made myself a little dinner—stir fried kale and mushrooms with a fried egg on top and then went out on the deck to eat it. Out to the left, I spotted the neighbors paddle boat and took it out alone on the lake. I hummed to myself and sat there alone in the middle of the lake until the sun went down. Ducks flew disturbing the glass surface of the lake. I sat there all alone and quiet. I heard frogs.

The week went by much the same, but then I got absorbed in book writing. I would wake up, eat, take a walk and then write for 8-10 hours per day. I was completely absorbed in my next book. I sometimes became so absorbed that I forgot what day or time it was, forgot to eat lunch or dinner, forgot there was a world out there. 

On about day 5, I started to get a bit of cabin fever. Too many long days of writing. Was I going mad? Was this what happened to the best of writers?

I was supposed to pick up my husband from the ferry dock. He was coming out for a night. He'd be coming in on the 11:30pm ferry and I left at 6:30pm—a bit too early. Obviously, I was ready to get out. 

Grocery shopping was an adventure. I walked down every single aisle just staring at all the goods. But even after shopping and getting gas, I still had three hours to kill. I called my husband and he suggested I wait at Anthony's on the pier. So, I took myself out to dinner. It was really nice.

Near the end of the week, writerly friends came out to the lake, making my transition back to the civilization a bit smoother. I was so grateful to have time to really WRITE. I didn't check Facebook or waste time. I got right to writing. It felt good knowing that that was my only job out there for several days.

Now I'm back in the city and moving as slow as I did at the lake. I'm slow to clean, to shop, to get to this blog. 

But here I am. It's good to be back, actually. It was good to pare things down to only the essentials. I think life can often get muddled with things that aren't important. I'm trying to keep those things that are important close to me and let go of the rest.

Have you ever been on a retreat. How did you feel coming out of it?

Finally Friday Week 7: Retreating from the World

I feel most at home in silence.—Katherine Jenkins

I'm gearing up to head off on a writing retreat. I took a walk and ate lunch with a good friend today, changed the wiper blades on my car, bought groceries and now I'm slowly packing.

I'm heading off on a week-long writing retreat to my family's lake cabin. My goal is to work on my next book without any distractions. No wifi, Facebook, traffic, crowds and the fast pace of city life.

I am looking forward to getting into a slow rhythm again. I look forward to walks, cooking and of course WRITING. My next book has been neglected and put aside in the corner of my office and every time I walk in there it seems to scream for my attention.

Well, it will finally get my attention.

Finally.....

As much as my life is surrounded by people, I am wondering if, in fact, I'm an introvert. I crave long stretches of writing in silence and love to go on meditation retreats where I'm silent for 10 or more days. I feel most at home in silence. I can feel myself there and I'm able to tune into deeper callings within me. Without the silence, I could not navigate my way through this world. I look to nature, dreams and meditations for direction. In fact, I depend on them.

Retreat, according to the dictionary, means:

1. the act of moving back or withdrawing from the world.
2. a secluded place where one can rest or relax

Life seems to move at such a pace these days, especially in the city. It's good to go on a retreat and rejuvenate the body, mind and soul and tune into those inner impulses that are hard to hear with all the commotion that we are faced with on a day to day basis.

Do you ever go on retreats? What is your experience on retreats?

Blogging & Journaling: Freeing the Writer Within

This quarter, at Edmonds Community College, I'm teaching a new class called Blogging and Journaling: Freeing the Writer Within. I gave my students the challenge of writing everyday for one week and I was surprised to discover that many of them are doing just that!

 I received so many benefits from blogging and journaling over the years. I wrote 365 blog posts for two years straight. One year was in the form of daily lessons (2010) and another was in the form of inspirations (2013).

I was surprised to discover that one of the students in my class started her own 365 daily posts in the form of reflections. Here is a link to her first post that describes our first class meeting and her inspiration for writing everyday:

http://colormemod.com/365-reflections-reflection-1/

I learned so many things during those two years I blogged daily. Here are a few things I learned:

• I can stick to a goal and complete it. Even a goal that is every day for an entire year!
• There's always something I can write about and in keeping up with the practice of writing every single day, I learn so much about myself.
• The writing that comes from my daily blogs and journals does not need to be perfect. Sometimes there are spelling errors or grammatical mistakes. The important part is to get the words out and I can go back and edit later.
• The daily act of writing is important part of freeing the writer within. Without this daily act, one becomes rusty and out of practice. 
• I was surprised to discover that my daily posts actually attracted a following. Some came just to see if I had kept to my word about blogging everyday.
• Writing every day on my blog helped me to free the writer within and enabled me to write my memoir, Lessons from the Monk I Married, which was published by Seal Press in 2012.
• In blogging everyday, I became part of the blogging world (the blogosphere) and was excited to meet new people and find other bloggers with similar interests. I have met, both online and in-person, so many!
• I realized that you don't have to carve out hours and hours to blog. You can set a timer and create a post in 10 minutes. Then add a photo or a quote to spice it up and....Voila! Everyone can spare 10 minutes in their day. If I did it for two years while writing a book and working, you can too :)
• When you write everyday, the real YOU cannot hide. I call this 'intuitive writing'. You don't edit or judge, you just write. The important part is to keep typing or writing without stopping. Let the words flow out, later you can go back over what you've written. In both my blog and book, my strongest writing has come from intuitive writing. 
• People ask me how I built up my blog. It was the joy of coming here daily to WRITE. It wasn't about seeing how many followers I had or how much money I could make. It was simply about showing up here. From there, things began to happen organically.

I know there are dozens of other things I have learned in the hundreds of posts I've created here. Now I feel confident enough to teach classes at colleges, retreats and in-person about my experiences. It brings me joy to share my journey and be part of other people's journeys to blogging and journaling OR freeing the writer within, as I like to call it :)

Have you every written every single day for any period of time? Do you blog daily or regularly?

Perfection is in the Eye of the Beholder

Reading outside in the sun today!

"An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's."—J. D. Salinger

I watched a documentary on J.D. Salinger on Amazon Prime, which I get free with my Amazon Prime membership. I've been watching lots of documentaries lately, especially about authors.

J.D. Salinger was a recluse. He lived in his own world and did things his own way. On the outside it might have seemed crazy, but to him perhaps it was perfection.

I had never read The Catcher in the Rye. It was never required reading for me in high school or college, even though I studied literature/writing in college. Suddenly, after seeing this documentary, I had to read it. I immediately ordered myself a copy of The Catcher in the Rye from Amazon.

It was a tiny paperback book with the title in a 50s-looking font. It had an orange cover with a carousel horse on it.

At first, it was hard to read and I couldn't understand for the life of me why this book was a sensation. Every other word in the book was goddam. But then something happened. I let go of my ideas of what this book should be and entered the scene. I went for a ride with this author. I was part of the story.

For the last few days, I could not put the book down. It was a coming of age story of Holden Caulfield. Nothing was going right for him. He got kicked out of school, he got beat up, he didn't fit in, but he could only be and think who he was at that time. He definitely could not pretend to be anyone else. In fact, the entire book was a comment on how people in society, at that time, were just pretending or acting out their parts. The word phony was used dozens of times.

Yesterday I had so much to do, but I didn't do anything I was supposed to do.

I pulled two chairs together and made a makeshift lawn chair. I got myself a drink from the kitchen and I sat in the front yard in the sun for two entire hours reading The Catcher in the Rye. 

I forgot where I was.

I forgot who I was.

I forgot I had things to do.

A good book will do that to you.

Finally, I pulled myself together. I got my wits about me and got to work and taught my classes and it went really well.

But I wouldn't have done it differently. It was perfect. A perfect afternoon in the sun with an excellent book that took me awhile to warm up to.

It made me want to read more and write more. So here I am.

Have you read a book recently that made you feel good, made you think or made you change your mind about something? What was it?

365 Inspirations—344: Working on a New Book

“Write while the heat is in you. … The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.”—Henry David Thoreau

 I will be ending my daily blog posts at the end of this year, but hope to write weekly posts. I've started working on new book. It's not the book I thought I'd be writing. I originally thought I'd write a book based on my 365 Lessons I wrote in 2010, but I'm not called to write that one right now.

A book is flowing through me. Doubt sits on my shoulder, of course, but I'm going to keep following the flow with this one.

So that's why I won't be writing daily posts in 2014. If I'm lucky, I will try to keep weekly posts.

I want to absorb myself in this new book, which is fiction (something new as I'm primarily a non-fiction writer). However, it is based on my real experiences.

I will give you a hint: There's quite a bit of travel and spiritual adventure in this new book.

It's going to take me some time to finish it as it's just starting to reveal itself to me. I always get the title first, then the chapters and then the story starts to fall into place.

That's how my last book, Lessons from the Monk I Married, came to me and that's how this new one is coming again.

I'm nervous about it because it's something entirely new for me. It's a bit out of my comfort zone, but I feel called to write it and I feel excited while working on it and researching it.

So, in 2014, I'll be focusing on writing this book, doing yoga/writing retreats with my husband and teaching. Daily blogging will not be my focus.

Writing every day on this blog for a year has been challenge and I feel I'm ready to put that writing towards a new book!

Stay tuned here. I'll keep you posted and updated on its progress.

Have you ever felt the urge to write a book or work on a new project?

365 Inspirations—337: My Students

"There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."—Nelson Mandela

 I'm an author, but I'm also an ESL teacher at a local community college. Writing and teaching are two of my passions, but it's not the act of teaching or writing that brings me the most joy, it's what I'm able to convey through these mediums. I feel so happy and fulfilled when I see others find purpose, peace and joy in their lives—when they discover something about themselves or learn something they may have initially thought was difficult or impossible. I think it's the breakthroughs and the 'ah-ha' moments I witness in others that bring me a sense of fulfillment and bring me closer to my own discoveries. We are all learning and growing here, and sharing that process with others helps my own process of growth.

I've very impressed with my students this quarter, particularly my small business ownership class. I volunteered to teach it without knowing too much about what the class entailed. My husband has owned several small businesses, so I wasn't completely out of my league.

Still, I made sure I lined up plenty of guest speakers to cover the things that I did not know. I'm not fond of accounting, so I just touched on the materials that dealt with numbers. Afterall, it's an ESL class  and I am an ESL teacher, not an accountant.

So I decided to focus on the language aspect of business. I focused on the business proposal minus the spread sheets. We studied vocabulary related to small businesses and each student came up with their own business proposal which included a business name, tag line or jingle, owner's qualifications, five-year plan, etc.

Today they gave presentations and shared with the class their ideas. I was so impressed by these. Some of these presentations were reminiscent of Steve Job's new product presentations for Apple. These students have mastered the Power Point presentation. Here are some of them:

I'm sure the investors on Shark Tank would have invested in many of their ideas because they all sold me on what they had to offer.

Even though I volunteered to teach this class, I thought that I may not like it that much. Business can be so dry, but this class was completely creative. The students selected business ideas that they were PASSIONATE about and this made for a very exciting, energetic, FUN class and we also got to learn along the way.

I realized that if I allow students to choose and be part of the learning process, they learn so much more. It's fun for me, for them and for everyone.

I'm fairly positive that many of them will start many of these businesses they proposed. It's just an ESL class, but I know some of them will go on to take business classes or accounting classes. They will study nutrition, photography, architecture or any other classes they need to make their dreams come true.

I had one student who had absolutely no idea what her passion was. She spent the first couple weeks wondering if she'd ever find a business idea. Somehow, along the way, she discovered it and gave one of the BEST presentations I've ever seen and with so much enthusiasm. It made me happy to be part of this process of discovery.

I'm happy that I got to be part of seeing all of my students' passions and ideas come alive. It makes my job so worthwhile.

Have you ever done or taught something that seemed out of your league, only to discover that it was right up your alley?

365 Inspirations—335: ELEVEN straight months of blogging...

Blogging 365 Lessons in 2010 at my father's house in Florida

“Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage, courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure. As you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty, study thoughtfully but write boldly. Then, like the hero of the fable, your dance will dazzle the world.”—Robert McKee

I've made it to December 1st. I cannot believe it. I've blogged inspirations for ELEVEN straight months. One month more to go!

I will say that doing this has helped me to see the positive. Blogging every day has helped me realize that even on days when I feel like giving up, running away, throwing in the towel, calling it quits, or hiding, there's a glimmer of hope.

Somehow I find something to write about.

Can I be my own inspiration this time?

I didn't give up, but somedays it was hard to get here.

I blogged right over Machu Picchu, found a way to blog when the internet crashed, blogged when I had jet-lag, blogged through final exams, blogged at airports, in hotels, on busses, blogged when there was nothing to blog about (but I still found something).

Writing everyday this year has taught me that I am in fact a WRITER. I can say it. I am proud of it.

And this is not my first year of blogging for 365 days. In 2010, I wrote 365 blog posts in the form of lessons!

I've taken most of those off my blog as they may become a book.

So that's almost TWO YEARS of blogging everyday.

That's 730 blog posts!

Will I do it again?

Probably not for awhile, if ever.

I think I'm ready to move on. I have BIG PLANS for the coming year.

I will let you know more about those soon.

Have you ever done anything for 365 Days? (Besides the obvious)

365 Inspirations—333: I've Made it This Far....

“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” —Robert Louis Stevenson

Somehow I've made it to post 333. It's 11:17pm and this is how it is sometimes. Writing every single day for 365 days on this here blog is not as easy of a task as one may think, but I'm still here.

We took the ferry back from my mom's house and arrived in Seattle at around noon or so. Yoon had to take his car into the shop, so we went out for some noodles while we waited for it to be fixed.

Life caught up with us. Today was a mix of commuting, taking care of odds and ends, a squabble about something insignificant in the scheme of life, a date-night out to a good flick called The Book Thief and a night-capper at a French restaurant/bar in the area. Now we are here.

Yes, we are here. Yoon strung together some Christmas lights he found at various places around the house. We have a nice fence for them.

I'm feeling like I'm at the crossroads of something. Like I may just leave part of myself behind for a life that I'm meant to live. Can't explain very clearly right now.

I'm ready to get some headway on my next book, but life keeps taking over.

I'm inspired to do something different, but I haven't done it yet.

I'm confident that I will.

It's just a matter of time.

Life is going to change.

It always does.

But so far, I've made it this far. I've made it to blog post 333. That's something, isn't it?

Thanks for reading.

Have you ever been surprised at how far you've come?

365 Inspirations—320: Seeing Green

Right before my second writing workshop this week at Kalani, I was up in my bungalow trying to gather some notes together for my presentation. How do you prepare for intuitive writing or a talk on intuitive writing?

I created a sort of skeleton of the presetation: a bullet point list, a few pages earmarked in Penny Peirce's book The Intuitive Way, a few pages of my own book earmarked for a reading, but the rest would have to unfold as it was meant to unfold.

So I stepped out of my 'planning' box and out into the nature that is all around me. I started to see green everywhere and it was vibrant, lush and alive. It was calling me outdoors, beckoning me to pay attention to it. So I did.

A tall coconut tree, some banana trees, and several fragrant, flowering bushes are all in our backyard at Kalani. In the distance, beyond all this green, I can see the ocean.

I stepped out on the patio to touch the smooth, glowing green surface of a plant and was surprised to find a little gecko camouflaged in the flesh of this plant. It had bulging blue eyes and beautiful red markings on its head. It came up out of the middle of the plant as if to greet me.

Next to this was a flowering bush and I bent down to smell its sweet nectar.

It's easy for me to get stuck in my head, but nature always brings me back.

Down at the EMax room, where I was to give my talk, a huge crowd had formed. It was a bit intimidating. Maybe some people wouldn't like what I had to offer or say.

But then I was reminded of the that little gecko on the green plant outside my room and thought that little guy offered up all he had. He showed his true colors and that's all we can really do.

Do you spend much time in nature? Do you find that being in nature brings you back to this moment?

365 Inspirations—318: Waking Up at Kalani

“How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo. Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank. It shines on a good many folk, but on none, I dare bet, who are on a stranger errand than you and I. How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”—Arthur Conan Doyle

I woke up early, not because I like waking up early, but because the entire bedroom was cast in a fiery glow. It seemed like the land outside must be burning. Maybe Pele, volcano goddess, was paying a visit.

In a half-asleep dream-like state, I wandered outside in my nightgown and slippers to the edge of the grass and looked out at the ocean. It was the SKY that was on fire—a brilliant sunset. How could one sleep with this glow?

Birds were chirping and fluttering about, the smell of sweet tropical plants filled the air. As if this place wasn't alive enough, now things were really getting started.

We are way out here on Ocean Vista point. A bit of a hike to the dining hall, but we decided to hike it this morning.

We walked slowly on the dirt path that was wet from an early morning rain. The air was humid and the combination of wet and the rising sun caused a fragrant, tropical steam to rise from the ground.

Palm trees rustled in the breeze, greeting us as we walked along.

On the way up toward Guest Services, an island cat came running down the street toward us meowing. He rubbed his body up against our legs as if to say, "Good Morning, so nice of you to come this way!"

We passed the pool, the reclining Buddha statue in the bamboo and a statue of a feminine-looking Buddha who may well have been Pele, with many offerings of shells and crystals.

 Finally we reached the dining hall.

A tiny woman blew into an enormous conch shell signaling the start of breakfast. The sound can be heard all the way to Ocean Vista.

Breakfast was fresh Kona Coffee, fresh squeezed juice, egg frittata, french toast, oatmeal with homemade granola and an abundance of fruit—papaya, pineapple, berries, mango, watermelon, grapes and some other tropical fruit that I couldn't identify. I topped my fruit with fresh whole yogurt.

After breakfast, I walked slowly back to the room feeling full of all the abundance and beauty of this morning. I could get used to waking up here....

Have you ever woken up to amazing beauty? Where were you?

365 Inspirations—295: A Room Of One's Own

My Writing Room

"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again."—Joseph Campbell

My husband is closing up shop. The overhead at his current, beautiful yoga studio is too high. He's kept it for almost four years, but it's still expensive. He's led dozens of yoga retreats, outings, events and it will be sad to see it go. He will be officially leaving his space next Tuesday.

He has decided to continue teaching a limited number of yoga classes in our house. I look around at our small house and suddenly see it shrinking.

We have a beautiful open living and dining area that will accommodate yoga classes. Now that we've updated and remodeled our house, I know it will be perfect for a small group of students. We've had seven to eight students in our house at one time before my husband opened his own studio.

I find that now, more than ever, I need space to write. I'm very happy to announce that I'm working on my next book, a travel memoir. It's not the book I thought I'd be writing, but I think it's going to be good.

The room across from our bedroom will be my writing room. This will be my space to write, blog, and create and I think I'm going to really personalize it into the space I dream about. Right now it's a bit minimalistic, which I like, but I want to spend some time changing things around a bit.

Now that there will be classes in our house, a room of one's own and staking out space is of utmost importance. I'm glad there is still space for me to have a room of my own, besides our bedroom.

My husband has transformed a room in our basement into his man cave. He hangs out down there and watches videos from the library, reads, and relaxes. I'm glad he has a space too.

Our little house has seen its share of people and events. We've had three live concerts, a talk about happiness from a Tibetan Rinpoche that drew a rather large crowd, yoga classes, barbecues, badminton matches, picnics, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas family events, a baby shower and we've had NUMEROUS people stay over. My writing group, whom I've been meeting with for over 4 years, has come here on many occasions.

A few summers ago, our house got a facelift—new floors, walls, kitchen update, bathroom update, new roof, etc. It's quite cozy now.

To tell you truthfully, as much as I fret about the space becoming smaller, I do like the community or the sense of community we have around us.

But I am also very grateful to have a space to call my own.

Do you find it important to have a room of your own?

365 Inspirations—291: Continuity is the SECRET

"Continuity of practice is the secret of success."—SN Goenka

Don't ask me how I got here. How on earth have I gotten to post 291? I've been writing blog posts for two-hundred and ninety-one days STRAIGHT!

Only 74 posts left!

The secret?

Just do it. Don't think too much about how you'll do it. Pick a goal, commit to it AND JUST DO IT.

Put one foot in front of the other. Place your hands on the keyboard and type one letter at a time.

There will be times when you feel like quitting. There will be times when that voice inside your head says, "What's the point? Is anyone reading these posts anyway."

Keep going. Continuity is the secret of success with anything you set out to do.

You will hit walls, fall down, wonder 'what's it all about Alfie,' get sick, feel emotionally unstable, lose power (in more ways than one), lack confidence, and almost throw in the towel.

Another secret? Never, ever stop on those days that you feel like that.

If you want to stop something you've committed yourself to, stop when you feel REALLY GOOD. Stop only when you feel like you've gotten what you need from something...when it's enough...when you feel satisfied.

I'm a person who tends to stick to my commitments, so I'll continue to write those 74 posts because it's my ritual and I enjoy it. I am definitely in the habit of blogging every day! Of course I'm happy when people read and comment, but I write these posts because I enjoy writing them and if there is readership, that's a bonus!

Have you ever stuck a commitment out to the very end even though you sometimes felt like giving up? What was it?

365 Inspirations—262: Transitions (i.e. marriage, children, new job, loss of job, divorce, death)

"Divorce, disease and death don't have to be terrible journeys that we should all avoid, they can be enlightening journeys of growth, depth and new understanding."—Katherine Jenkins

CHANGE

How do you feel about that word?

Transition is my inspiration today. Life is full of transitions, some small and some life changing.

Our world seems to be getting smaller and smaller. All we have to do is log onto Facebook or Twitter and we find out in an instant who gave birth or who died.

Most people like to share the good things on these sites. We see hundreds of pictures of newborn babies from every angle. Wedding pictures splatter the pages showing happy faces and sunshine. Those traveling to exotic locations around the globe like to include albums of their travel pics (I'm one of those people). It's enlightening and uplifting to read about these transitions. We prefer, on average, to share those transitions which are positive.

But what about the not-so-postive transitions? What about divorce, disease and death? The three Ds? Not many people are willing to share these or look at these as a transition anyone would CHOOSE to have.

The funny thing is that we will ALL, each one of us, get sick at one point or another and we will ALL die.

I know you are thinking, "Please don't remind me, I don't want to hear it, I want to focus on the positive transitions!"

I don't know what it is about our culture that makes us afraid to except all transitions equally as passages to a new way of living. One is not better than the other, it is just different.

Divorce, disease and death don't have to be terrible journeys that we should all avoid, they can be enlightening journeys of growth, depth and new understanding.

If everything in life were simple and easy, full of ponies and rainbows and sunshine, then why would we need to make any effort at all.

I realize that being a positive person may make it difficult for others to open up to me about their own suffering or uneasiness. Sometimes it is even difficult for me to open up on such topics because who wants to be a downer, right?

The truth is, when I do choose to share that my day is not going so well or that I'm suffering in some way, people are often very empathetic and supportive. Why? Because THEY'VE BEEN THERE. We have all been there.

Maybe they haven't had exactly the same experience, but each one of us has had to go through our own share of not-so-wonderful times.

No matter what any of us may be experiencing at this moment in time, there's one thing for certain. IT WILL CHANGE.

The process may not feel nice. We may even feel like running away or escaping. But if we can move through the transition. If we can look at our situation and say, "This is happening right now. Things are changing. I'm going through this transition. I'm here and witnessing it and hopefully learning and growing from it," then it doesn't matter what we may be experiencing or going through. It is in fact all the same: a learning experience.

And now you are asking, "What transition are you going through?"

And here it is:

My husband is planning on closing his yoga studio in order to pursue a self-sustained business model. I believe this is necessary and will turn out extremely positive, but the process is scary. He has built a very wonderful community near Seattle. I believe that community will continue, it will just take on a different form.

Do you tend to embrace transitions (positive or negative), or do you try to avoid them like the plague? 

365 Inspirations—223: Breakthrough

“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”—Thích Nhất Hạnh 

We just came back from a yoga/writing retreat we led at the Yoga Lodge on Whidbey Island and the word that comes to mind, for some reason, is breakthrough. 

Perhaps it's because my husband said, on numerous occasions, during our yoga practice, to "just move through it." I think what he was saying is not that we bring ourselves to pain or injury, but that we don't become fearful of what we are capable of and we don't run away when things 'look' difficult.

I believe each and every human being has incredible strength within. We are all warriors. We all have the ability to breakthrough any hardship and come out on the other side with an entirely different view.

This is exactly what happened on our yoga and writing retreat.

Yoga and writing (and we threw collaging into the mix) are such powerful tools to access what's inside.

Yoga helps one to go inward and feel every single part of the body. All tensions or past traumas one has endured are actually first felt in the body and stay there until one has worked through the body and allowed them to be released.

Writing and collaging help to take that energy that is inside and bring it out. Both of these activities use the right side of the brain. I teach intuitive writing. I believe that 'first thoughts' contain the most energy.  They can often lead us to clues about ourselves. When one does intuitive writing, the inner critic takes a back seat and the writer allows whatever is inside to form words on the page or images on a collage.

Collaging at The Yoga Lodge

I've used both collaging and writing for a good part of my life as a means to access what is inside. I use 'first thoughts' for this blog and much of the 'meat' of my book Lessons from the Monk I Married came from intuitive writing. Intuitive writing is the act of moving the pen across the page or your fingers over the keyboard without stopping. Later you can go back and read what you have written and I guarantee you will find more than you ever thought you'd find. There are lots of golden nuggets in intuitive writing, but it is a practice and to be fluent in it, you have to practice it.

I really believe that the combination of yoga, writing and collaging was what caused many breakthroughs on our retreat. People moved through things and arrived at higher ground. This was so beautiful and amazing to witness.

I was happy to be a part of the transformation of our entire group and can't wait to see how each person's life blossoms in the coming years!

Have you ever used yoga, writing or collaging as tools to breakthrough something that has been holding you back or keeping you in a place that no longer fits who you are?

365 Inspirations—222: Everyday Enlightenment

"Each and every animate and inanimate being and object feels full of light today. It's everyday enlightenment. Nowhere to go but right here."—Katherine Jenkins

I'm sitting on the deck off my bedroom at the Yoga Lodge on Whidbey Island. A lawn mower hums in the distance. People are scattered on the grass, on picnic benches, in lounge chairs, under trees and they are writing and resting! I led a workshop today on intuitive writing or free flow writing.

I encouraged the people on our retreat to let go of the inner critic and just write. I can see they are doing that and each one of them feels full of light to me. In fact, each and every animate and inanimate being and object feels full of light today. It's everyday enlightenment. Nowhere to go but right here!

Here are some pictures from our retreat:

Have you ever joined a yoga and writing retreat? Would you be interested in joining one?

365 Inspirations—217: Blogging

Reflection of me blogging 365 Lessons in 2010

"Thinking or dreaming about what you want to do won't get you any closer to it. Just get out there and do it!"—Katherine Jenkins

I've been blogging here since 2009! This is my little corner of the World Wide Web. It's where I share stories, connect with other bloggers, write posts about inspirational people places and things, converse with regular friends here and make new friends and discover new blogs. This is the place where I write and keep a regular practice of writing. By announcing, back on January 1, 2013, that I would write a blog post every single day, I'm holding myself accountable publicly for my writing. So far I've written 217 posts this year. That's over 7 months of blogging every single day!

Why do I do it? Well, one thing I've discovered is that blogging every day about the things and people I find inspirational has helped me to focus on the positive and inspirational in my own life. What you focus on you become. I've found this to be absolutely true for me.

Another reason why I write here everyday is because I've found that by showing up daily to this blog I've gotten in the regular habit of writing and now I can truly call myself a writer.

It's not easy to show up here and write a post every day and I can't promise you that every post I write will be fantastic. All I can promise is that I will be here and that the post I write here will be related to something that I find inspiring. 

Today it's blogging. Blogging is my inspiration. It's led me to many other blogger friends, to my agent and to a book deal. It's opened up a portal to another world I didn't know existed. It's expanded my scope of the world and connected me to people across boundaries, countries and continents. This was not possible when I was a high school student. That's perhaps why much of my ealier writing was in journals now packed away in boxes. 

I can't promise you I'll blog forever, but I'm blogging now. I'm still here writing and that in itself is something. I think it's easy to throw in the towel when things start to get tough or we lose interest or we are having a bad day. It's usually the time when most people give up. 

Lots of people want to call themselves writers or bloggers, but they don't write or blog—at least not regularly. To be good at something, you have to do it. 

Thinking or dreaming about what you want to do won't get you any closer to it. Just get out there and do it!

Do you blog or write regularly? What is keeping you from doing these things?

365 Inspirations—209: Keep Writing

"When asked, 'How do you write?'
I invariably answer, 'one word at a time.'”—Stephen King

Today I finished my second book proposal and sent it off to my agent. Phew! That felt good. It was finished weeks ago, but I kept procrastinating and trying to fine tune it and finally I just sent the thing off.

Sometimes you just have to do it. You just have to push that send button and let it go!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I'm trying to keep in the flow of things and not get caught up in any ONE thing. If things aren't flowing, I let go for a while and come back later.

This blog has been a journey into "flow" for me.

I think our very first thoughts are so important and tend to contain the most energy. If we work our writing too much, it loses its flavor.

I'm a big fan of intuitive or free writing and my best work has come by simply showing up to write and letting the process take me wherever it wants to go.

The idea is to keep writing. It's important to let go of the inner critic that blocks one from the process. Writing is a process. To be a good writer it's important to keep writing and keep showing up.

Do you write everyday or do you have a practice of writing? Does your inner critic get in your way?

365 Inspirations—199: Exciting News

Friends on Kehena Black Sand Beach, Big Island, HI 

“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.”—Henry David Thoreau

I'm not very good at hiding exciting news. I was going to wait, but why?

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of valuing yourself and I also wrote about how each of us gets to choose how we define ourselves. You can call yourself a painter, a blogger, a basket weaver, a candlestick maker, a parent, a doctor, a community organizer, a bird lover, a friend, a fellow human being or whatever you wish.

Today I'm going to call myself a soon-to-be artist-in-residence! I received an e-mail from Kalani, a  retreat center on the Big Island of Hawaii, inviting me to be an artist-in-residence and a featured writing workshop leader at the Hawaii Yoga Festival in November.

Kalani is the largest retreat center in Hawaii and will be the host of the Hawaii Yoga Festival.

I'm honored to be invited to participate in this amazing event and to offer writing classes in November. I'll also be using some of the time to write/research a book I'm working on.

How did I find this lovely retreat center tucked away on the Hilo side of the Big Island of Hawaii? By sheer luck!

Yoon conducted a yoga retreat on the Big Island in the Pahoa area last March. We had heard about a famous black sand beach where you could swim with dolphins and woke up early one morning to do just that. When we arrived, lots of people were on the beach doing yoga. I found this very interesting because we were also on a yoga retreat.

While I was floating out in the waves, people began pointing in my direction from the shore. Right then and there, a spinner dolphin put on a huge show inches from where I was floating. Then pods of them came in and we were swimming with them. I even got to see them up close under the water with a mask.

My husband Yoon making a whale tail on Kehena Beach

It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Afterwards, we were driving home and saw what looked like a shop or restaurant on the left hand side of the street. We walked in to the shop and were greeted with warm smiles. We ordered lunch and sat outside near what turned out to be the yoga studio. That's when we realized that this peaceful place was Kalani!

Having lunch at Kalani with friends on our yoga retreat

Afterwards, I researched Kalani and now I'm going back to this magical corner of the world once again as an artist-in-residence. We just never know what we might discover on this journey called life and where those discoveries will take us next! 

Are you good at hiding exciting news or do you share it right away?

365 Inspirations—198: Valuing Yourself: Getting Paid for What You Love To Do

Signing Books at Edmond's Bookstore in WA State

“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”—Goethe


 Writing is my passion and teaching and sharing are also my passions. I've been teaching ESL for years and it's been such a joy, but writing has always been something I've done on the side—until now.

I have closets full of journals that date back to my childhood. They've been locked away and have never seen the light of day until recently.

It was this blog that I started years ago that gave me the courage to pull my writing out from the closet and to start valuing myself as a writer. 

Now my writing and classes related to writing have taken center stage in my life. Just a few days ago I received a check from my agent for the Chinese translation of my book, Lessons from the Monk I Married and we are gearing up for another yoga/writing retreat at the Yoga Lodge in August. It will be our third annual retreat!

It was a long road to becoming confident enough to share my writing with the public. It took so much courage and still takes courage to "put it out there," but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Each and every time I take a step towards putting my writing, classes and my work out there, I'm facing my old fears and each time I do this it becomes easier to face them.

Every single one of us has these fears and old voices inside of us that try to tell us why we can't do what we love and be paid for it. These may be voices we heard when growing up that we made our own or they may come from the fears of others on the outside who have not been able to live their own dreams.

Whatever you dream of doing, start it. Do you want to be a potter and be paid for it? Start making pottery and start selling at fairs and boutique shops. Every penny you make towards doing what you love is important because that penny becomes a nickel becomes a dollar and so on. Before you know it, you will call yourself a potter and everyone else will start to refer to you as The Potter. And this becomes your life.

Remember, you can define yourself in anyway you choose. You don't have to define yourself by your day job unless you absolutely love your day job. Call yourself a painter or a cartoonist or a card maker or a builder. Whatever suits you. You get to decide. The more you place importance on what you love to do, the more others will recognize you for it. Before you know it, you WILL be paid for doing what you love, it's a natural progression.

Just remember to put your ear plugs in when the nay-sayers come out to destroy your plans and ideas. They will come. Usually these are people whose dreams were not realized and they are frustrated and disgruntled because of it. Don't let them rain on your parade. Keep positive and encouraging people close to you. This is very important.

Most of all, value yourself. You are the only one who can do this completely and YOU are worth it. If you value you, others will value you too and will compensate you for your work. 

Are you doing what you love and being compensated for it?