Kategoriarkiv: #English

Let it choose us.

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I am taking part in the global U.Lab course of Transforming Business, Society, and Self, and as a part of week two, we were given a five-minute clip from The Legend of Bagger Vance to watch:

It’s a great clip, and as I watched it, or perhaps, more like it, listened to it, deeply listened with all that I am, goose bumps spread all over my body.

Especially this part,where Bagger Vance says:

There’s a perfect shot trying to find every one of us.
All we got to do is get ourselves out of its way…
…and let it choose us.
Look at him, he in the field.
You can’t see that flag as some dragon you got to slay.
You’ve got to look with soft eyes.See the place where the tides, and the seasons…
…the turning of the earth…
…all come together.
Where everything that is…
…becomes one.
You’ve got to seek that place, with your soul, Junuh.
Seek it with your hands, don’t think about it, feel it.
Your hands are wiser than your head’s ever gonna be.
I can’t take you there…
…just hopes I can help you find a way.

BoldomaticPost_Seek-it-with-your-hands-don-tIf ever there was a perfect description of what it’s like to enable another person to find their way, this is it. I’ve experienced it, in coaching as well as in conversations with friends and loved ones. I’ve been helped to find my way (but have also found it myself, in those instances of flow that seem to happen all to seldom), and I’ve helped others find theirs. I’ve witnessed others being helped along as well. And regardless of my part in it, it’s an amazing sensation, to experience, to witness, to assist, when a soul finds a way forward, getting out of the way and letting it choose us.

Letting it choose us. Surrendering to what wants to happen. Letting it flow.

Letting it choose you. Because something does want to happen. And it’s not something you can construct with rational thought. It’s felt. It comes.

So ask yourself: What wants to happen here?

Everyday life

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Svara

Out of body. And possibly out of mind as well… That’s what it feels like.

And, well. No. I’m not, neither of them. But I am definitely keen on heading home, that’s for sure. While going through security at Heathrow on Sunday, for my fourth flight in eight days I had a hard time to stay focused, and for a while there, I was having a deja-vu feeling of being in Düsseldorf on my way home after the Summit for Human Potential Realisation.

Not so, of course. I’m flying home with my 16 other choir members and our conductor Jens after our UK tour. And oh how I long for home right now (as I am writing this, on the plane).

morgonmatI want to sleep in my own bed. Next to my husband, snuggle up close and breathe him in. Hug the children. Sit down with them all to dinner, hearing about their ongoings this past week. Have a green smoothie in the morning, and a bowl of fruit with yoghurt for lunch. Let the chickens out of the coop in the morning, and take a stroll out into the garden later on in the day, checking for freshly lain eggs.

As I write, the out-of-body-sensation starts to creep up on me again, as I dream myself away into my ordinary everyday life at home… the smells, sounds, sensations. The daily chores of housekeeping. I even long for the task of hanging and folding some laundry. So maybe, I have gone out of my mind after all?

Podcast 39/52 – Chickensoup for the soul

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Thursday to Sunday have been a long enjoyable chickensoup for the soul-moment for me, as I’ve been travelling in England with my choir. England have greeted us with the most magnificent fall weather, and we’ve taken in the sights, sounds and smells of Oxford and its surroundings. On Saturday we sang in Enstone parish church of St Kenelm’s, and it was a joy. Good accoustics and an attentive audience, including both a touch of royalty (as the Swedish princess Margareta attended, being a resident of Enstone) as well as one sweet soul who let out the most appreciative ahhh at the end of each song. (And no, it wasn’t someone in pain, trust me, I know the difference!)On Sunday (today that is) we will sing in the service at 11 am in St Paul’s chuch in Covent Garden, also known as the actor’s church, as well as give a repeat concert at 1 pm.On account of all this music, as podcast tip 39/52, I wanted to share a special episode of On Being with you, the one featuring Yo-Yo Ma, world-reknown cellist. And, as it turned out, an extremely interesting human being, with such a great knowing of why he does what he does. 

I’ve listened to this episode, both the edited as well as the uncut version, many times, and each time I am left with the most lovely sensation of deep inner calm coupled with a great appreciation for the wisdom available to us all. Yo-Yo Ma personifies this for me, and I hope you will take the time to listen. And don’t be fooled by all this talk of music, it’s definitely a conversation spanning a wide array of life, including music, but really centering on Yo-Yo Ma’s love and interest of humanity.

Music is what happens in between the notes, Yo-Yo Ma says, and I can only agree. In between the notes, my soul is restored, my mind can take leaps of joy as well as sorrow, and it is truly chickensoup for the soul. For me, listen to, or creating, music is definitely one of my favorite pastimes to sooth as well as vigorate my soul. What’s the best chickensoup for your soul?  

Silly attachment?

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Svara

Witnessing attachment all over. Within myself. In my beloved family members. In people standing in front of me in the queue to the boat shuttle to Saint-Tropez. In parents scolding their children at restaurants. 

Everywhere. Attachment to a specific outcome. To a certain way of doing things. Of how to behave, act, speak. 

And specifically – attachment to our own thoughts. If the thoughts we got attached to were thoughts with pleasant accompanying feelings, well, it wouldn’t really be so bad would it? But so much of the attachment is to the thoughts with accompanying feelings leading to damning results. Where I storm off, feeling totally insulted, belittled, ashamed, embarrassed… All because a thought popped into my mind, generating this feeling, and then *magic trick* having me believe in it! How I wish I had a magic trick to reverse that, making me un-believe it. Because so often what I get attached to is just plain silly stuff, that really don’t matter at all in the big picture. What do I want to spend my time and energy on? Attachment to small petty stuff, really not anchored in values and virtues that I would like to be associated with, both when I think about me and when other people do? Or truly, living my values, making them a way of my Now, painting the picture of my every moment in shades and hues of those very values and virtues? Why do I let attachment to silly stuff stop me, from living my values? And does it?

A Symphony of Energy

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Spontaneously throughout the Summit for Human Potential Realisation, a Symphony of Energy has come into being. Not once. Not twice. Many times. All Symphonies totally unique, never to be repeated again.

Someone starts to hum. Or sing. Or ding a spoon against a glass. A clap of hands, the stomp of a foot. One by one, souls join in. Adding their own tune, tone, rhythm, movement to the symphony. Expanding it. Turning it into something more, something else. Transforming it. Enriching it. There are no rights or wrong, there just is, what is. Nothing more. Nothing else. And yet, in the moment of collective cocreation of a Symphony of Energy, there is everything. The entire universe condenses into the space opening up to it, held within the dancing humming singing clapping energy, like a group of young children happily bouncing about on a flowering field in summer, laughing, skipping, doing cart-wheels and clapping hands, peals of laughter and excited shouts of joy filling the air waves.

Sorry, too busy living, no time to pose for you.

”Sorry, too busy living life to pose for you, and by the way I see my friend over there!”, said the Peacock, dancing away on the castle grounds.

It’s one of the strongest sensations I bring with me as I head home after the close of the summit, this amazing feeling of co-creating a symphony of energy together with others. Amazing.

All made possible out of the generosity and willingness of individuals to surrender, collectively, to what wants to happen, in the here and the now. To dance and play, to live, to love, to be.

I’m sitting here writing this, remembering, feeling the Symphony of Energy within me, the memory resided in me, fully, in Body, Mind and Soul alike. Tears well up in my eyes, gratitude pulses through me. The feeling that comes to me, strongly, enforcing its message, shouting out loud, proud and happy.

The massage is clear. As I take it in, I know it to be true, and my gratitude multiplies:

I live.

Connective harmonies

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At first.
There is nothing.

Silence.

Then.
A hum.
A deep, vibrating hum.

Grounding me.

The vibrations enter me, Body, Mind, Soul.
All starts to vibrate within me.

Then.

I start to hum.
Cannot keep it in.
Out it comes.

A deep, vibrating hum.
Grounding me even deeper.

Blending with the existing hum, weaving back and forth. Together.
More voices join in.
The hum grows, in strength and resonance.

When I close my eyes, the overtones are apparent within me. I can feel the vibrations, starting with the base notes, slower vibrations, at the root of my being. Vibrations spread upwards within me, octave upon octave. Soon there is a symphony of resonance engulfing me, I cannot tell my boundaries, I am dissolving, becoming a part of a big humming body, in resonance, together.

I have to breathe.

I stop humming. Deep intake of breath. My boundaries solidifies again, as I stand surrounded by the vibrations, letting them carry me while breathing.

When I’ve replenished my body with fresh air, the hum within cannot be contained anymore, so out it comes, rejoining the choir of humming voices. Together again.

Once more, I start to dissolve, the world around me disappear, all there is is this co-creation, a being made up of voices, filling me up.

Every cell of my body sings, I go from humming a sonorous base tone to a high-pitched tone, clear, wordless. It’s the voice of an angel coming through me, soaring high on unlimited and unconditional love, dancing on the threads of vibrations, expressing the exuberant joy of experiencing Heaven on Earth.

It goes on and on.
Time ceases to exist.
What is. Is.

And then. Collectively, as one, we lower our voices, the energy remains, but more contained, concentrated, slowly dissolving, like a mist, dispersed by the ray of sunshine.

Voices go silent, one after another, keeping the hum within, rather than letting it out into the world. Like a ball of energy, nesting deep within the soul of each participant, a proof of our connection, a reminder of our human potential. The ability to start with nothing and out of it create a symphony of resonance.

One single hum remains…wonder

And then.
Silence.

Except deep within our souls,
where the ball of energy remains,

a reminder of Heaven on Earth.

In need of stillness

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Second full (and also the last) day of the Summit for Human Potential Realization is coming to a close and I am in need of stillness.Vanessa Jane Smith of Crafting Connection has been the visual facilitator throughout the summit and as always, it’s absolutely amazing having someone of her ability and talent capturing the words, feelings and energies of what is happening and turning it into something visual. And beautiful!

Right now, after 2,5 days of intense experiences and emotions, I feel an urge to do just what this little figure (drawn by Vanessa on day 1, a small sample of her artistry) is doing. Sitting on a beach, overlooking the faraway mountains, contemplating life, reflecting, integrating, being in the stillness. Know that feeling?

At a loss for words

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Yeah. I truly am. At a loss for words. I’ve given and received on so many levels, used so much of that which is available to me to use when interacting and co-creating with other souls here on Earth, accompanying them, side by side, heart by heart, that there’s nothing more to do but go to sleep. After a day of expansion, expansion, expansion, it is time to integrate, internalise and stabilise. 

  
I’ve experienced a full day in the love bubble, and the only thing remaining in me right now are a few silly giggles as I write this. And hopefully enough energy to brush my teeth and get out of my clothes and into my Indian nighty… but no more words. That’s for sure.

When were you last at a loss for words?

Podcast 38/52 – Stillness

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I remember the first time I came across Pico Iyer. He gave a TED Talk on The Art of Stillness that captivated me. His words, his way of showing up in the world, his message. All captivating, and performed in such a way, that something opened up within me.

Stillness was never a word I used to describe myself. Before. Perhaps I’ve been more still in a bodily manner, but definitely not mentally. Mental chatter, constant, busy busy, chatting away at all times. Never knowing how to shut it up, or to stop paying attention to it. Never a still moment. Almost.

Now. I revere the stillness that I find, now and again, often on a daily basis. Meditating for instance. But also in micro moments throughout the day, discovering something beautiful, sensing a smell, or a sound, or even the absence of sound. Captivated, for just a microsecond, as if time stops, ceases to exist, like pressing a pause-button.

Pico Iyer also had a conversation with Krista Tippett, On Being, on the Art of Stillness, and I thought it would be an excellent companion to the reflections on being aware, that have dominated the blog this week. Pico Iyer travels the world, and then travels within his inner world, deciphering the first kind of travels through the second. In a sense, becoming more aware of what goes on outside, by a raised awareness of what goes on inside. travel to be moved

This is what my life journey have started to feel like, a travel, a journey of discovery, of expansion as well as stabilization, of awareness. And the more I travel, roaming the landscape and continents within, the more I am moved by moments of pure presence, in me, as well as outside of me.

Today I will be traveling, and Pico is spot on. I am not traveling for the sake of moving around, I am traveling with the hope of being moved. And I know I will be.

Why do you travel?

 

Being aware – reflection #4

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Last and final day of dipping my toe into being aware, as a warm-up for the Summit for Human Potential Realization, which starts tomorrow in Netherlands. It’s been a ride already, just these past four days of immersing myself into being aware, so I’m very curious as to what wants to happen these coming three days as I will be diving headfirst into human potential realization with all the participants of the summit..

What is made possible when you live life out of a place of heightened awareness?
What happens to you? Those around you? The world?
Today I’ve had an experience that certainly gave me a glimpse of what a heightened awareness means and makes possible. I’m not sure I can describe it though. But I can tell you this, it certainly whetted my appetite for experiencing more, experimenting more, discovering and going deeper.
What happens… clarity and calmness. Leveling. It’s as if the components are all in place, only the settings change. Like classical greek dramas, all containing the same main ingredients/characters, only set in different surroundings. Life is like a multitude of greek dramas, in other words. On one level of awareness a specific play is enacted. When I drop down to another level, as my awareness is enriched, another drama enfolds. So what ever I’ve encountered on one level, will, in a sense, reappear on all the other levels, only in different costume. I truly sensed that today. My inner judge has been a verbal judge, and to a large extent I don’t hear it anymore. Today as I dropped down to a deeper level, the judge reappeared, but not in the same form as before. Today my inner judge put on another costume, communicating with me through my body, rather than through words in my mind. That’s a first. Interesting experience.

greek dramas

Is anything made impossible when living life out of a place of heightened awareness?
Is anything made impossible? That’s the same as asking if everything is possible. And yes. I think so. I actually already think anything is possible, we just don’t live life out of that starting point. With a raised awareness perhaps more people would? And as a direct result, they would embark on journeys to create the impossible, which would stretch the boundaries for what we now to be possible, push the edge of possible into the impossible, expanding, expanding, expanding.

What would the world look like with a raised awareness in humankind?
Different I believe. And as I’ve decided to believe in the good of humankind as well as truly believing the universe is a friendly place, the image I paint of a world with more aware human beings, is a world I’d love to live in, to experience. With love, generosity, care, humor, laughter and joy. Not a ”perfect” world. Not a world without sorrow, angst and pain, but a world where we are so much better equipped to live life, fully, to truly live a good life, regardless of the external circumstances. Because it’s possible. Perhaps what’s stopping us is the demons in our minds, as Måns Zelmerlöw sings in Heroes?

We are the heroes of our time
But we’re dancing with the demons in our minds

Are there fewer demons to fight when operating from a heightened awareness? Or are they simply in a different costume? And if there are demons in our minds, wouldn’t there also be angels? Why not dance more with them instead?