It tingles in the right place

The tingle. Have you ever felt it? It might be bold or faint, starting from the bottom and moving up, starting from the top and moving down, traversing laterally; inwards to out or outwards to in. It could just hover around your mouth - pulling on the corners of your lips, your head - expanding your being from your crown, chest - expanding and contracting with purpose, your organs - the mechanical entities of your being; churning with a rumble and a roll.

You know this feeling may not even be a tingle. Your bodies reaction is unique, and may rumble while mine roars or spark while mine whizzes.

The key here is: your body is speaking to you all of the time, and it is important that you listen. 

The 'tingle' is the feeling I associate with the GREAT. I know I am onto something that stirs my inner soul and passions when I feel this. 

If it is fulfillment and happiness you desire I believe you must allow your visceral reactions to be the compass that steer you, unclouded by logic, worries and uncertainty and instead chemically tied to your being. 

Becoming aware of all of your bodily sensations and take time to recognize them and listen to the signals they are giving you. Let them steer you away from the bad, towards the good and understand the purpose of the present. 

Again I offer some extensions of my thoughts for you, and your body, and your success.

(read) 

Consider pondering the advice of Kimmi Luu, founder of The Flow Channel (http://theflowchannel.com/) and dear friend of mine, in this blog segment. 

"What better day than today to wash out in bliss with a gratitude practice?Feeling of happiness, compassion and gratitude are marked by gamma waves swimming through the prefrontal cortex area of the brain. Take time to reflect on what you're grateful for and enjoy these lovely high frequency neural oscillations."

(watch) 

Consider watching How To Make Stress Your Friend, a fantastic Ted Talk (can you tell how much I love TedTalks?) by Kell McGonigal. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.html

let your body speak to you

Find Your Wave and Surf It (re-named)

FEAR
PASSION

Warning: readers please recognize what I share with you is yours, to make with it what you wish. While I stand by my remarks, take literally at your own risk. Some reason may be required for your particular circumstance. BUT I believe "forgetting the fear" you hold onto has the power to open the doors to greatness and set a float your ambitions.

In life I am a jumper. Meaning I see opportunity and I jump - I jump towards it, and then I jump right in it! I act, and through my actions comes forward momentum - and the dynamic movement of my life so that I may learn, experience and make an impact. 

But, like the rabbit my movements may mimic, I can find myself at a wall, hole, the den of a predator, or completely lost. The wall - being new to the industry, the hole - the bills that need to be paid, the den of a predator - what the world seems to be telling me is right, completely lost - the feeling of uncertainty. 

It is easy to forget your passions and throw them aside when you become tranquilized by fear, whether it is the result of a wall, hole, den, feeling completely lost - or other.

YOU CANNOT LET YOUR FEARS DICTATE YOUR MOTIONS. or your potential for positive momentum will fade, your belief in your abilities will be devalued, and your potential diluted.

Natalie MacNeil, a great woman I have had the pleasure with connecting to once said "done is better than perfect". I always associated with this train of thought but never saw it as an appropriate way of engaging with the world and the right way to achieve success. 

But doing is what happens when you harness your passions, and take leaps even when the results may not be perfect. Each time you take a non-perfect leap you land closer to the future you want, keep your momentum going in a positive direction, enhance your esteem and self-efficacy, and re-invest in your potential.  

Find Your Wave - And Surf It 

Mentor.1.2.3.4

The Following Blog was written in August, 2013. Posted Feb. 23rd 2014

 MENTOR me?

PLEASE. because I DO value the wisdom of others and you can help ME be a better & more successful person. 

Well I never saw that coming. 

While my eyes are regularly honed into the talent of others - I never considered that they could be my mentor! or that they would want to?

"wow their really good at that!" 

"my gosh what drive, what success" 

"damn... that was brilliant!" 

There talents generally have one of two effects on me:

a) Temporary Awe

b) Inspiration *that push*

They were doing 'their thing' and rocking it, and until recently I believed I had no place in their path or them in mine besides that inspirational piece of themselves they shared with me, while working side by side, attending a conference, observing their work from afar... and on and on. I am lucky to say I have been the benefactor of both awe and inspiration (no matter how temporarily) through interactions with tons of driven, inventive, passionate and successful people.

But wait! I am driven, I set lofty dreams, I value success and personal growth - and yet I am passing by the opportunity to connect with these wildly talented creatures?? Please! What was I thinking! Passing by opportunities to gain great mentors who have already traveled many of the paths that I wish to in my life, learned lessons and fumbled now and again. 

During my pre-graduation faculty send-off all three alumni speakers paid tribute to the power of a good mentor and the impact it had on their path and successes. And it was in those moments I decided to hop a board and harness the power (I know it sounds humane) of the mentor! In concluding that it is possible that the right driven, inventive, passionate and successful person who is charging down a path I hope to one day or living out the values I uphold  - could in fact be willing to be my mentor! And for that matter yours too!

----

I re-visited my list of drafted, non-posted blogs this evening for two reasons

1) at approximately 12:00 noon I knew I had a new feeling to write about (see upcoming blog - forget the fear/harness the passion)

2)  at approximately 4:00 pm someone reminded me of a blog I had written on my return from a work term in Kenya, and I wanted to revisit it myself.

I decided to go ahead and Post this blog for the following two reasons

1) This message is a message worth sharing - and not stowing away in my pile of forgotten blogs. YOU need to recognize the power of a mentor & consider engaging in your first opening conversation!

2) SIX months after writing this post I have found TWO mentors. One who I sought out and one who more or less found me. And I am growing exponentially. And it is not a one way road - in partnership with my mentors we are able to share, ponder and grow. 

Similar, sentiments are shared in part in TedTalk "The Art of Asking" by Amanda Palmer and the ambitions of University of Waterloo start up Ten Thousand Coffees. Provided for your viewing pleasure - so you may dive deeper into my proposition and be moved to action. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking.html

http://www.tenthousandcoffees.com/#splash

 

Ask, and then tell me how it goes!

Shake Me Up.I'll Shake You Back

.... well this is boring
...........yeah. yeah it is

THIS IS to often THE CASE.

But I promise you. If you shake me, I'll shake you back. And I bet I'm not the only one who will return this favor because so many people are bored... yeah... yeah they are.

It is your human interaction. No matter how uncalled for it may be that can initiate all of this shaking!
(caution: this does not warrant socially inappropriate interaction)

I've believed in this shaken (not stirred) method since I was in 9th grade. After spending grades 4-8 holding back from human interactions (this behavior may have existed this date but I can't say with certainty) at the fear of finding out what potentially catastrophic results of shaking may be. While the feeling of constantly censoring your inner stir'er resulting in the building of pressure, confusion and stronger walls to prevent the escape of the stir'er inside may be more of a extrovert experience I hope this feeling might connect to you (out there) in some way. In grade 9 I explicitly, perhaps even out loud, told myself there's no point! Both the world and me will be better of if I just *shake things up* - ask questions, start conversations, crack jokes (?), and get involved and dirty with friends, classmates and even strangers.
dirty - in a non-dirty but hands-on kind of way

And you know things really worked out! Life was great! My inner-being wasn't feeling the build up of pressure or limitations of thick walls. Because shaking things up makes your life interesting, and at least a couple minutes of those around you too! Shaking things up leads to new discoveries, relationships and understandings.


How to Shake:
- strike up a conversation with a stranger
- share something with someone you don't know
- move your body in unexpected lively ways
- invite someone on an adventure (something unusual and exciting, no matter how small it is)
- have fun with how you express yourself to others (poetry, paint, dance, song!)


An ode to the lady who shook me most recently:

while in one of the places which currently gives me very little pleasure but I see great potential in the SUBWAY (somber faces, people in close proximity trying their best to ignore everyone around them but so much diversity and opportunities for great conversations). A lady who I would guess to be in her 60s and was sitting a few seats away from me turns to look at me (who is mercilessly chewing on my nails) and says "no" while wagging her pointer finger back - and - forth. Perhaps this form of shaking was not as 'ideal' as  moving your body in unexpected and lively ways but it worked! It was a brave and unexpected opening into a great (aka. 'interesting') conversation. She shook me. I did my best to shake her back. And now I'm writing about it. Because life is better shaken not stirred.