I can't help it

I just love jewelry that is simple and inspiring, especially if it has tiny words on it. I've been a fan of Jeanine Payer for a while. I do not have any of her pieces...yet, but that doesn't stop me from admiring and wanting to share. In fact, Eckhart Tolle says a good practice for being present is to catch ourselves when we feel the need to own something and just appreciate what we like, or in this case, love about it instead. So I will enjoy languishing in this clever ring design and the quote inside:

"When the act of reflection takes place in the mind, when we look at ourselves in the light of thought, we discover that our life is embosomed in beauty." - Emerson

This ring can be found in the latest Sundance Catalog.

These photographs

affect me. I find myself going back again and again to look at them.
I know icebergs are practically the face of global warming, but I feel no upset, urgency or anger in what I am seeing. Each encounter takes me right out of my head,

to silence. I feel majesty, dignity, awe. Has inevitability ever looked this gorgeous?

They work like a magic wand for me - I hope they take you there too.

Camille Seaman is the photographer
Thanks to my awesome friend Alexa who first showed me this work at the
Candace Dwan Gallery.

The Now Age

What does a Weber grill have to do with being? I have no idea, but I thought it deserved some attention.

Last week I was reading one of my favorite magazines, Dwell, which is all about modern architecture and design with the tag line "At home in the modern world." Reading Dwell is a great sensory experience for me. I love the feel of the paper it is printed on, the weight of the pages and the photographs and layout are, of course, modern, and clean and appealing. Much of the content is more modern than my personal style, but that's one reason I enjoy it so much. I feel as if I'm at least aware of what's happening on the leading edge of design. Imagine my delight and surprise when I saw these 2 advertisements in the May issue:

Weber has an ad that looks similar to the picture (above) here, but the only copy on the page is this:

Go ahead and let your love flow. Find your happy place. And just be.

Once again, really have no idea what the grill has to do with being.
Next, an ad for California Closets simply says:

SPACE | TO BE

This one is not quite as confusing to me since just looking at the photographs of those beautifully organized closets makes me feel all zen inside. But still, it's a CLOSET we're talking about.

The fact that these ads are showing up in media which
#1 has nothing to do with spirituality/inspiration and
#2 is all about the latest modern lifestyle trends, reinforces what I have known for a while - there is a shift taking place in our Western Civilization. As a group we are becoming more open to and aware of our spiritual nature. Evidence is everywhere. The prevalence of yoga studios, interest in holistic healing methods and even the popularity of spas which cater to our minds, bodies and spirits. My belief is, this is no trend. It is a cultural transformation, and it doesn't look like religion in the traditional sense. It is a more personal, internal awareness of the whole picture of who we are. The New Age has evolved into what I call "The Now Age" and I am excited to be observing and participating in it. I'm sure to have much more to say about this, but for now

Being is hot. I like it.

Frank

When I think of somebody having a spiritual awakening, the image in my head does not look like Frank Ferrate, which just goes to show me. It is good to be reminded that anyone can choose to create their own life, from the inside out, at any time.

Frank's story is being documented on film. Here's the background:

All Frank Ferrate wants to do is fall in love one last time before he dies.

In the beginning Frank is a 290lb, 54 year old Sicilian from Brooklyn who has an unquenchable thirst for women, a tendency to create awkward moments and a knack for failure. He's got Hepititis C and is hooked on many medications including Interferon and anti-depressants. He drinks 10 espressos a day just to keep him awake. He is an ex-addict, he's accused of being a terrible father, a nasty ex-husband, a lousy brother, and he's a lost soul. Frank is never satisfied, he's always looking for the next quick fix. At least, that was Frank.
Until the day he stumbled into his long awaited awakening, disguised as Cafe Gratitude, a raw organic and vegan food restaurant in the sunset district of San Francisco. Here, Frank is offered something remarkable: another chance at his life. A conversation with Frank and a cafe waiter named Ryland results in the creation of an experiment: help Frank fall in love. The proposal: Frank will rediscover and recreate himself in just 42 days simply through what he eats and what he thinks.

If you go to www.mayIbeFrankmovie.com and click on the slice of pizza, you can watch the teaser which I think is such a treat, aside from the colonic reference (just a warning.) I can't wait to see what happens with Frank.

Happy Mothers.

(in photograph: my mom, Patricia, me (in pigtails), my sister Lynn and brother Gerald around 1971)

My wonderful sister Lynn does not send flowers to our mother on Mother's Day. Instead, she sends flowers on her own (my sister's) birthday, the day my mother became a mother for the first time. I think this is brilliant. You see, I consider Mother's Day to be an artificial holiday and I decided to find out how it all started. Get this:

In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament.

Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

When Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first Mother's Day service was celebrated on 10 May 1908. Anna chose Sunday to be Mother's Day because she intended the day to be commemorated and treated as a Holy Day. Later commercial and other exploitations of the use of Mothers Day infuriated Anna and she made her criticisms explicitly known throughout her time.

The holiday was declared officially by some states in 1912, beginning with West Virginia. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.

Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States

While I'm being negative, I may as well throw in some hypocrisy. Today I gladly slept in while my husband took the boys out for breakfast, was giddy to receive a gift certificate for a massage from them, went out to a nice lunch with my mother-in-law and called my own mother 2 times to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. Yes, I went through all the motions and I did it with sincerity. I'm a sincere negative hypocrite.

My point is, there is nothing I could say, do or give that would adequately celebrate and honor my mother. And no matter how much I love a good massage, there is nothing I could receive that would accurately reflect what being a mother means to me. How I feel about having and being a mother comes from the deepest, most sacred and tender place in me. On any given day you might find me up at the surface feeling over worked and under appreciated (I mean, seriously, how much laundry can a family of 4 generate??!), but that's ok. I chose this role and had never wanted anything more in my life. Nothing has caused me to step- up, stretch, work, think, love, be and become more than motherhood. I consider it my greatest service to the world and yet there's a good chance I'm getting much more than I'm giving.

Laurel Denise Jewelry

Today I discovered the work of jewelry and stationery designer, Laurel Denise. Love, love, love.

I must admit that I felt a tinge of jealousy as I browsed through her collections of handmade glass and silver pieces. I have been thinking about jewelry for the be line for a long time and recently designed some pendants with the wonderful Payson Cooper. I'm here to tell you, it is so much harder than it looks to create something simple, stylish and profound, but Laurel has done it. I know enough to know that jealousy does not serve me or the world in any way, so I quickly channeled that emotion into admiration, appreciation and consumership.

The one I "had to have" was similar to the pendants pictured, but says "let your life become." I am also coveting several necklaces from her "10 million wishes collection" which include a card with a poem and coordinating necklace that contains a word or phrase from the poem. My favorite pendant says "let me be aware" and the poem it accompanies is gorgeous:

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare & perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky & want, more than all the world, your return." -Maryjean Iron

Claim your Space

I feel so fortunate to have, at my gym, an amazing yoga teacher, Julianne. She teaches once a week and if I miss her class, it leaves a dent. Last class, as she was talking us through a pose, she told us to "fill up your mat - fill up the space you came here to fill." Anyone who practices yoga knows that what is happening on the mat is a reflection of life off the mat. Don't ask me how, it's magic. And while Julianne was telling us where to place our hands and feet in class, she was also using her yoga teacher voodoo to make us see life a little differently when we walked out the door. (Is this just me? Does anyone else have a yoga teacher voodoo story? Please share.)

Anyway, I've been thinking about my space ever since. Thinking about what I came here to fill it with and picturing myself putting my shoulders back, standing up straight and expanding to full capacity. I like the feeling I get when I think about it. It's like looking at one of those well designed urban apartments in a magazine where every bit of square footage has been thoughtfully considered. That's my goal - no holding back, no playing small, no wasted space.

Thanks Julianne!

Eve in Paris

Thank you to author and reporter, Eve Marx, for sending this photograph of herself sporting around Paris in her be shirt. (Nothing like being in Paris) Eve also interviewed me recently about the be line for our great local paper, The Record Review. Thanks Eve!

A New Earth - Chapter 2

The format of each web class is Oprah and Eckhart Tolle together discussing the chapter of the week while answering emailed questions as well as live questions from viewers via Skype.

Chapter 2 is titled "Ego: The Current State of Humanity." Ego is explained as a surface reality created from our thoughts, successes, failures, possessions, social status, roles (such as mother, father), nationality and other mental and cultural structures we have inherited or picked up along our way. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. In fact, we should "honor" them. The problem humanity faces is that we have identified so completely with this false definition of ourselves, we have forgotten who we really are. So, if we're not that, then who are we? Exactly the right question to ask says Eckhart. Ask the question, but don't answer it. Leave it blank. We can't think our way into knowing who we are. We have to feel it. "Who we are is that alive presence which is deeper than thinking."

An exercise he uses to help people experience their inner awareness is:

Close your eyes and hold out your hand. Without touching or moving anything, experience your hand. How can you know your hand is there? Can you feel that the inside of your hand is alive? We are that aliveness. There is a distinction to be made between thinking and attention. Again, we can't get this with our minds, we have to get it with our beings.

This is slippery stuff. It all makes sense to me, I believe it and I want it, but it doesn't come naturally to me. That's ok, says Eckhart to people like me who are calling in with their questions. Real life situations such as illness, aging, motherhood, shopping addictions and depression which get in the way of being are addressed. The first and most important thing we can do is to become aware that we have identified with a thought form such as "I am sick" or "I want to buy this." We don't have to change anything, just bring attention into the present moment and "yield internally." The ego cannot survive when we do that.

This is the part that many people don't get about the need to "be" more: when we choose to be present, we don't stop taking action in our lives. In fact, (this is the part that I find so exciting) if we make the choice to live from a place of conscious awareness, we tap into who we really are and our actions shift from reactive, repetitive conditioned responses into "alignment with the whole and supported by creative intelligence...Circumstances and people become helpful, cooperative. Coincidences happen." (pg. 58) This is where our true power lies. There seems to be a million ways to slice and dice it, but the bottom line is - be.

Movie: The Love Guru

A life devoted to spiritual enlightenment can get very heavy if we're not careful. Oscar Wilde said "Life is too important to be taken seriously" and I couldn't agree more. Fun and laughter with some good natured irreverence thrown in are key ingredients to a happy life as far as I'm concerned. The spiritual teachers I respect the most do not take themselves or their teachings too seriously. They present themselves authentically, acknowledging spirituality as the most important part, but still one part of their total self. People who have spent time with the Dalai Lama or Desmond Tutu often remark about how often they smile, laugh and crack jokes. "Keeping it Real" as my otherwise sophisticated husband likes to say when he entertains me with his adolescent boy humor.

Mike Meyers, comic genius, has a new movie coming out in June called "The Love Guru." I laugh all the way through "Wayne's World" and "Austin Powers" (especially the 1st one) no matter how many times I watch them. The website and the trailer for the new movie look like an equally hilarious parody of today's spiritual lifestyle. I might be skeptical if I didn't know a little about how seriously Mike Meyer's takes his own spirituality since watching him on Iconoclasts, one of my favorite TV shows on the Sundance Channel. Each Iconoclasts episode features two people who are very different, but share the distinction of being creative pioneers in their field. Mike Meyers and Deepak Chopra were a featured pair. They are filmed hanging out, sharing stories and experiences and learning from each other. As a fan of both men, it was really fun to see a different, unexpected side of them. Click here to watch a clip from the show.
As he says in the clip, "Enlightenment is lightening up" and since nobody is as hysterically, respectfully, relentlessly irreverent better than Mike Meyers, I can't wait to watch and learn from a master.

Keep Calm

I am a sucker for stylish wisdom.
For example, the simplicity and humor of the high quality graphic design and art prints from
keep calm gallery in England.

I love my KEEP CALM postcard and LESS IS MORE poster which are framed and visible in my house. I have experienced many an attitude adjustment just walking by them.

Happy Earth Day

Mother Earth is a perfect example of being. She just is who she is with effortless perfection. And, like most mothers, she is reliable and available 24/7 so she is easy to take for granted. One day on the calendar is certainly not enough, but here goes:

To the Earth: Thank you for being such a magnificent place to live. Thank you for spinning in your orbit consistently and efficiently, providing us with sure and steady ground on which to walk, run, drive, bask and romp. Thank you for working in perfect harmony with the sun, no matter what, so that our time is divided into day and night by the rapture of sunrise and sunset. Thank you for the plants and trees that know exactly what to do and when to do it. Thank you for the oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds and streams that are so beautiful we often forget they are the source of all life. Thank you for the soil that grows our food and for your natural resources that are used as shelter and scenery by all of us living creatures.

Thank you for being a clear example of the bigger picture - a dignified model of life's paradox. Like us, you are complex, special and necessary, yet simply a tiny particle in the eternal vast universe. Thank you for continuing to give of yourself, without judgement. Happy Earth Day!

Movie: Peaceful Warrior

Inspired by true events, the movie "Peaceful Warrior" is adapted from the book "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman. The story begins at UC Berkeley where Dan is a college student and Olympic hopeful gymnast. While he seems to have everything going for him, Dan is restless and reckless. He meets a mysterious gas station attendant played by Nick Nolte and they develop a Karate Kid, there's a lot that can be learned by scrubbing floors, type of wise teacher/student relationship. It's not the greatest film experience ever, but I recommend it for its cleverly expressed and articulated lessons on living in the present and the triumphant happy ending of which I am always a fan. Even the trailer (above) can give you a quick inspiration fix.

Nick Nolte's character, who we only know as "Socrates" which is Dan's nickname for him, insists that Dan stop gathering information about life from outside of himself and start looking inside, the only place he'll find the answers he's looking for. Of course, the one way to access your true, inner self is to stop identifying with your thoughts which are "just reflexive." He tells Dan to "take out the trash," (of his mind) and he defines trash as "anything that's keeping you from the one thing that matters - here and now." There are some exciting scenes which illustrate how powerful we are when we are fully present and living in the moment.

One of the final scenes shows Dan embracing the big one, the lesson of all lessons - "The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination." We've all heard this so many times it starts to lose its impact. What will it take for us to really get this? Dan Millman had a devastating accident which finally caused him to pay attention, but that doesn't have to happen to us. We can learn from him. Each moment has something wonderful to offer. Don't relive your past, don't get lost in the future. All we have is right now. We came here for this experience, not the results. There's always more results, but there's never another now, or now or now... We have to go beyond these words which lose their meaning from over-use and really feel what this means. Feel the now.

It's not easy being

It has not been the best day. I've been kind of down, moving in slow motion, not motivated to do much of anything, but have lots of stuff on my to do list, and feeling guilty for not doing it. Fun.

An opportunity I was really excited about didn't work out and I've allowed disappointment to seep into my day. I could justify the heck out of how great my life is anyway, but I'm too blue to try. Self pity is oddly satisfying sometimes.

On days like this I am confronted by my limitations regarding being. It's easy to be in the moment, enjoying "what is," when "what is" is going my way. I have to remember that it is my choice to focus on my negativity and what's causing it, or to let it go and just be. The good news is, we all have a metaphoric be muscle, and the more we flex it, the more easily and quickly we'll move from self pity into self awareness. And the bigger the be muscle, the lower the tolerance for hanging out in that wimpy dugout of self pity. In fact, feeling sorry for myself has gotten old, I'm boring myself, so it's time to move on and flex.

I'm only able to override my mood and suspend my negative thoughts for brief moments, but that's all it takes to catch glimpses of the feeling of being. It feels like relief, happiness and freedom. It feels like everything on every to do list getting done easily, and in perfect timing. It doesn't recognize the concept of missed opportunities, only the steady stream of new doors opening. My blue feelings aren't completely gone, but they have been interrupted long enough for me to remember that I have options and I'm free to be anytime, anywhere.

a letter to the be line

Dear be line:

I bought one of your T shirts, “be power” as I am going through a divorce and am trying to regain my belief in myself and the “powerful me” that I used to be.

I am writing to tell you how wearing this shirt gave me the support I needed when I traveled to Yosemite in August to throw my mother and father’s ashes off a 600 foot cliff. I have become afraid of heights as I’ve gotten older but really wanted to reunite my parents in the place that they honeymooned and loved so much.

Before the hike, I put on my “be power” shirt to remind myself, just like it says on the bottom of the shirt, that I possessed the strength and ability to overcome my fear. It was really comforting. Please look at my enclosed photos and see for yourself how I did!

And, just for good measure, on the way out of the park I pulled over at one of the vista points that had terrified me two days earlier. I walked over to the edge and looked down the cliff into the ravine below.

I really think this was the beginning of my journey back to the person I used to be!

Sincerely,

Meredith P.

(click here to see the shirt Meredith was wearing)

dear meredith, thanks for the great letter. sounds to me like your journey is not back to the person you used to be, but forward, becoming much more than you've been before. Congratulations on finding your power!