365 Inspirations—340: The Unknown

“One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end.” —Jiddu Krishnamurti

I feel like I've already written this post. Can the unknown be an inspiration?

There's so much that is unknown in my life right now.

I never know which twist or turn life might take.

I think that's true for every single one of us, but we are creatures of habit.

We like to believe we know what will happen today, tomorrow or any other given day.

The unknown gives me hope. It makes me believe that my dreams are possible.

I believe that if I put it out there, something will come from it. I know that sounds strange, but I've seen it happen too many times. I don't want to know all the details of how my life will pan out. That would be so boring.

Of course I set down the foundations for my dreams, but I'm not attached to how it will all play out.

Maybe it will take a very different twist than I expect and that's part of the fun, isn't it?

I'm on blog post 340. I had no idea what I'd write about today. That's part of the unknown playing itself out in this moment.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Are you comfortable with the unknown or would you prefer to know what is going to happen next in your life?

365 Inspirations—330: Setting Intentions

Leading a Workshop at Kalani on the Big Island, Hawaii on Intuitive Writing

"I had let go of WAITING for anything. I had moved on to the next creation and while I was in the act of creating, this good news came through. And that is how it has happened again and again...."—Katherine Jenkins

Yoon and I are offering a very special retreat for the New Year. It's called Setting Intentions: An Intuitive Writing, Collaging and Yoga Retreat. You can find out more about it on the side bar of this blog or on my Yoga and Writing Retreats page HERE.

I am a BIG believer in setting intentions. All the best things in my life came to me by doing this. I have notebooks/journals full of pages which state my intentions and an art presentation book full of collages (like vision boards) that I've created on retreat and in my own free time.

I can tell you one thing I've learned for sure: These methods, which activate a different part of the brain, WORK.

But they don't work in the way you'd like them to. The intentions you set for your life come when they are ready to come. Sometimes they slip through the back door or sneak up on you when you've completely forgotten about them.

If you are waiting for something to happen, you may be waiting for a lifetime. The best things in life come when you least expect them to. Of course you have to do the groundwork, but let go of the outcome. It's that simple.

Lots of people quit before they even start. The road may seem long or difficult, but I truly believe that the FIRST STEP is just as important as any other step towards living a life that is uniquely yours.

Intuitive writing, which I'll talk more about in my retreat, has helped me in uncovering my subconscious mind. That's where the juice of life lies. If you've ever had a hunch, a vivid dream, an inner calling or a gut feeling, you are tapping into that authentic part of yourself that wants to be front and center in your life but has somehow taken a back seat to the 'rational,' 'practical,' or 'realistic'. Not that these aren't important in life, but they've somehow taken over the wheel completely.

They took over the wheel in my life and still sit on my shoulder and tell me to 'get real' from time to time.

But what is 'real'?

Intuitive writing and collaging are playful ways of bringing back that childlike innocence and purity to our lives. Somehow, in our need to be mature or grown up, we've lost touch with that purity. Instinctively, we all know what makes us happy and what fills us with joy, but it's easy to lose touch with that as we get older.

Do you feel happiness and joy in your life? Do you like the way your are living? Are you completely satisfied with your life?

If you can say "yes" to all these questions, I congratulate you!

I wasn't able to say "yes" to all those questions. I didn't know what I really wanted until I started to creatively explore this area of my life through writing and collaging. Meditation and yoga also helped shed light on that inner part of myself that had been buried beneath a pile of 'have tos' and 'shoulds'.

Many years ago, while in a long course of meditation, I saw an image of my very first book. I saw the title Lessons form the Monk I Married. I saw the entire book, with all its pages and chapters, as if someone had flipped it right in front of my face.

At first, I was irritated by this. After all, I was there to meditate. I was in a serious, long course of meditation. I wasn't supposed to be daydreaming about a book.

But it kept coming back again and again and again...

In 2012, that book was traditionally published exactly how I saw it in my mind's eye.

A few days ago I was lamenting that I hadn't heard much about my book lately from my agent. I was worried and thought I needed to do something more.

Today, while I was working on material for my upcoming retreat in January, my agent contacted me to let me know that I had received an offer for the simplified Chinese rights of my book. That meant that my book would be available in Mainland China! The complex Chinese rights had already sold, which covered Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong, but this was the cherry on the cake and I did NOT know it was coming.

I had let go of WAITING for anything. I had moved on to the next creation (my upcoming retreat) and while I was in the act of creating, this news came through. And that is how it has happened again and again....

Only through my own experience can I say for sure that this works.

I invite you to attend my upcoming retreat to experience how you might put these tools to use in your own life. If you can't attend, perhaps you know a loved one, family member or friend who might find this retreat useful. I'm also available for personalized Skype sessions on this topic.

And now a few questions for you...

Do you feel you are living the life you were meant to live? If not, what would it take you to get there?

365 Inspirations—219: Clark Kent on Craigslist

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."—Albert Einstein

Today I met Clark Kent. He was on Craigslist.

Or at least that's how I saw it.

We met because he had advertised some concert tickets that he couldn't use and I was looking for discounted tickets to the very same concert.

I'm a bit leery of making any exchanges via Craigslist. Especially ones that might require me to meet in a back alley somewhere or a back street or a back anywhere. I've heard stories. But I'm trying not to believe all that I hear. I want to make my own decisions about things.

Still, out of some collective fear that I made my own, I hesitated in contacting the post.

The thing is,  I really wanted to treat my friend to this concert for her birthday, so I mustered up all my will and courage, typed up a response to the post and hit SEND.

Within a few hours, Clark wrote back willing to take me up on my offer for the tickets. Now all we had to do was decide on a meeting place.

He suggested a Starbucks in Seattle and that felt safe to me. After all, there would be people around, just in case it was all a scam.

We decided on 10:30AM this morning. He let me know he'd be reading the news on his iPhone and that he had big, black-rimmed glasses.

Without much to go on, all I could think about was Clark Kent. He's the first person who came to mind. Black-rimmed glasses and the news just had Clark written all over it.

I texted my friend to let her know the plan.

She wrote me back and said, "If I don't get a text from you by 11:30 saying you got the tickets, I'll call 911."

"Don't worry," I said, "I think this guy is safe."

There were two Starbucks in the shopping village where we planned to meet. He let me know that he'd be sitting outside the smaller one to the north of the shopping area. I parked my car in the North parking lot and located a map to find my bearings. The star on the map indicated that I wasn't far from the Starbucks where we planned to meet.

I sent him an e-mail message on my phone: I'm here, but now just trying to find Starbucks

He wrote back: Where are you? I'm out front of the smaller Starbucks, not the bigger one.

It was like we'd known each other forever, yet we hadn't even met yet. We were already sending short messages to one another about our whereabouts. Was this normal? I thought Shouldn't I be a bit more discreet?

In the distance, I spotted it. It was between an Apple and a Windows store. I suppose Starbucks was strategically placed in the middle as sort of a neutral zone between these two rivals. A place where people could relax and not think of their affiliations. Where people could just be people.

Clark was sitting there between these two computer giants in a button down, baby-blue shirt that matched the clear blue sky. His big, black-rimmed glasses were on the tip of his nose and his nose was in the news—the news on his phone anyway. His hair was slicked back and he looked as if he must be on a business break. He wasn't a freak or a pervert or a scammer or a crazed lunatic, he was just as I had pictured him. He was an exact replica of Clark Kent.

He looked my way and smiled.

"Hi!" I said.

"Hi, how are you?" he asked, fumbling a little with his phone.

"I'm here to pick up the tickets," I answered.

Something about his calm, yet slightly clumsy, nature made me feel like it was okay to sit down, so I did.

"Why don't you want to go to the concert?" I found myself saying.

"It's my girlfriend's birthday and she doesn't want to go, so I'm giving them away."

I found this so ironic. It was also my best friend's birthday and that was the precise reason why I was getting the tickets. I could tell he was a big fan of the band. He mentioned seeing them once at Bumbershoot and said they were great.

He asked me if I'd ever been to the concert venue before. I said that I hadn't and then he launched into a discussion about the type of lounge chairs that I should bring to this outdoor show.

After about ten or so minutes of conversation, he handed me the tickets and I handed him the cash and we both said our farewells and walked off in opposite directions never to meet again. For all I know, he could have tiptoed off to the nearest phone booth to change into his BLUE suit with the "S" on it. Or perhaps, since I haven't seen a phone booth in a very long time, he disappeared behind the Apple and Windows stores, in the alleyway where the Starbucks garbage dumpster reeks of week-old pastries and coffee grounds.

Who knows where he disappeared to.

All I know, is that you just never know. I've decided that I'm no longer listening to what people say about this or that. I'm going with my own hunches. This time my own hunches led me to a pleasant encounter with a friendly person who, for all I know, just might be Superman.

You just never know.

Do you tend to follow what the news or what others say about things, or do you trust your own hunches?