The great thing about Gratitude is that when you start to notice what you are thankful for in your life, those ‘things’ keep flowing in. My heartfelt thanks to Crystal Hoshaw for sharing with me the concepts and understanding of Pooja / Puja and Ojas.
I was her practice client, and as anyone who has had a Willow Session knows, all participants are challenged to really show up, and by that, I mean in a big way. Not just body, mind and soul, because there’s more… When you explore everything from meridians and chakras to your lineage and the Unknown, the discoveries and transformations are bound to be deep and powerful and have you looking around for a tissue.
So in answer to the quintessential Willow question, “What else?”
Pooja – offering honor and reverence to myself and others. Ojas – living a juicy, vital and essential existence. Wow, nice work if you can get it.
Living out your dreams isn’t so dreamy; it’s messy. When you reach for the stars, you encounter bad traffic, arguments, and moments when you just “can’t do this anymore.” Then again, isn’t that what Not Living the Life of Your Dreams also looks like? So how do you tell that you’re actually moving towards it or just holding it way out there? Every once in awhile, you either stop and notice, or the universe smacks you in the head and you sputter, “Uh wow, didn’t see that coming.”
Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl, August 2
This past Saturday, my friend Paul had a major meltdown – tired, feeling sick, and yes, “I can’t… I just can’t” came out of his mouth more than several times. And this from a guy who had a stroke at age 29, died for about 9 minutes trying to live out, “There’s no such thing as can’t”…and freaking survived!
And yes, that miraculous thing then happened after mucking around in the shxx. He noticed that he had actually moved the Dream closer in, and the Show he had visualized for years was on the cusp of going live.
“Wake-up Call,” is coming into view. It’s about people who reach out for answers and solutions even if our current state of affairs is shitty beyond belief. So if you’d like to be a guest or audience member of Rita Harrison‘s upcoming show, give us a shout. Join her to explore what it can be for you. Click through to my contact page, write WAKE-UP CALL in the Subject line, and GUEST, AUDIENCE (and how many) or BOTH in the message.
So what’s up with Pink Martini? Well, that fabulous big-little group was how I resolved my own mini-mega crisis. I’ve loved them since I first heard Sympathique, and they were playing the Hollywood Bowl! The little girl in me needed to go…and bad, but then all the road blocks popped up: no one to go with, narcoleptic me trying to figure out how to make the trek to and from Long Beach, and as always…money. Yes, all the stories – not reality – was keeping their concert out of my reach. The big boogeyman – feeling alone and unloved – was the storyteller. So if you want to join us the taping of the pilot for Wake-up Call, where the Why Not stories are transformed, email me at http://www.valjoycom/contact.
So… like so many others, I’m now in L.A. with a dream. Of course how to materialize it and how it materializes is the rub.
There had been a vague intention and outline of a plan, but what pushed me into action was more a jumping-out-of-my-skin Gotta Get Out of Here. Sure, the “more opportunities” thing awaited, but not a real job as tsk-tskers would say. I’m Taurean, and the lack of a stable prospect scared the crap out of me, but my Five of Spades birth card of the Wanderer put me on the move lest I blow something up.
The good folks I’ve met at L.A. Meetups have been mirrors to notice my What the Heck. Name, Who You Are, and 90-Day Goal introductions often free-formed into musings of hope and dissatisfaction about ourselves and this city of dreams. I say it without irony because L.A. absolutely still is – both stereotypically and authentically – where people come to see what they are made of. An Indian American music producer /composer from Austin, TX and a Canadian “composer for media” had had successes back home, but both were here with game plans for More. The former is giving himself the classic one-year window to find more gigs, and the latter sojourns twice a year for opportunity tours. Other stories include that of the organizer of the Create Yourself – Los Angeles Meetup and a Japanese American film maker who walk the talk every day by crafting work and a life in the industry that they want to be proud of.
My timeline? Nothing beyond Now. The work? Hmmm…health and wellness? Dare I stretch to say Healing Body, Mind and Soul? Writing? Just “something” to bring in the $$? As life would have it, the ruminating was interrupting by a giant crash as I literally and horrifyingly broke a beautiful piece of artwork in the house I was staying. Dust settled and glass shards and shavings mopped up, the message was clear to have a session with my main ally in life.
The answers from a Willow session are always unexpected and big if you let it be. We discovered quickly that goal-setting was a priority, but (and the “but” is key) the guidance was specific – “within the parameters of joy.” Making that distinction opened up possibilities that hadn’t occurred to me when I was only goal-oriented.
It was a subtlety that brings light-year-measurable forward movement. How different would daily, weekly and monthly goals be if I also slowed down to savor the simple pleasures of life? What if I dropped the judgments about all the things I should do and listened to the voice that connects me to myself and a deeper pride? What would happen?
Fighting for Happiness 