Posted on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

On the drive into town this morning I heard a the Bach Cello Suite #1 in G by Yo Yo Ma, and I was reminded of the first time I ever heard him play this piece. It was part of a program which aired on PBS called The Music Garden, about an imagined music garden in the middle of Boston where, instead of Muzak, ou would encounter various pieces of classical music, each evoking or heightening a different mood, as you strolled through the garden. It reminds me of the beauty of the labyrinth.

Yo Yo Ma playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZn_VBgkPNY
A link to the makers of the film: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/mgd.html

Tags: gratitude, inspiration, Joy, labyrinth, Music, uplifting
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Posted on Sunday, February 13th, 2011

The Packers had won, there were beautiful, light flurries coming out of the mountains, and a bassoon concerto was playing on the radio; what could be better?

Tags: Enjoy, Grateful, Joy
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Posted on Saturday, December 18th, 2010

There was nothing I could have done differently; one moment the dog wasn’t there, the next he/she was. A man in a truck stopped and confirmed that for me, so why did I feel so awful? He tried to comfort me by saying, “I just read in Scripture yesterday that dogs and other animals have no Spirit; they just go back to the Earth.” If I believed that, then I would experience far less joy in life than I do, but I didn’t tell him that; I just thanked him for stopping and drove away. What gave me a glimmer of some comfort was something Abraham said about animals sometimes jumping in front of cars in order to drop their old bodies and move on to something new. Interestingly, when I replay the moment over in my mind’s eye, what I see is a dog dancing in front of my car just before I hit him/her. Dancing. It reminds me of a friend who died of a massive heart attack while dancing. He simply sat down with a big grin on his face and left. If I can believe Abraham, then I can only hope that I can leave this life dancing like my friend and the dog; please let me be that awake, and that joyful.

Tags: dancing, Joy
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Posted on Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

I was driving home from work, developing a plan for telling my roommate that our arrangement wasn’t working for me. (My recent trip to WI for Thanksgiving helped me clarify that I either want to live alone or else in a situation of a certain level of sharing — including an occasional meal which we co-create.) So I arrived home and my roommate came out of her room to announce that she was moving out. . .tomorrow! Well, the part of me that is concerned about money freaked out, but then I told myself (as I had on my recent trip) to relax/breathe/trust. I went back and forth between freaking and trust a few times before I actually began settling into something closer to excitement; yes, excitement about the possibilities. (Of using the second bedroom as a real studio, or perhaps a friend who is coming for solstice and will now have an actual bedroom to stay in might decided to move in for a while; the possibilities keep growing!) And then I went online to check/send some emails, and there were two, count them, two, with offers of money!

Tags: Dreams, Joy, power
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Posted on Saturday, December 4th, 2010

It began with a late afternoon car ride down to Charlotte. As I approached the city, traffic came to a near standstill and I began calculating how much time I had left to get to my flight; if we continued at our current pace, I would miss it for sure. “Let go, relax, and trust,” said my inner voice, and within moments we were moving swiftly. As I approached the extended stay parking area, I was informed that my usual lots (1,2, and 3, which charge $4/day) were closed. Now what? I could feel panic rising up. “Let go, relax, and trust,” came again, and then there was a sign which directed me to lot #4, where I was charged a mere $10 for the entire 10 days I would be gone. At the terminal, I put my bag on the scale and watched the numbers climb: 25, 33, 38, 47. . . 50! I breathed a sigh of relief and headed to my gate, where I sat as our boarding time came and went, then our flight time came and went. I only had 55 minutes between touchdown and take off in Detroit, and I usually had to go from 1 concourse to another.. “Let go, relax, and trust.” I have a pass to the Sky Club; I’ll have food, drink, and a comfy place to sleep if necessary. When I deplaned, I discovered that my next flight was just finishing boarding at the very next gate. During both flights, I had free wifi, so I was able to handle those last minute e-mails I hadn’t gotten to at home. I landed in Madison and was taken to my friends’ house where the Nutcracker Sweet tea I had asked for was waiting for me. “A client just happened to gift me with me it, so I didn’t have to buy it,” she said, smiling. And the magic, and gratitude, just keep coming, including the sighting of a pair of bald eagles just a few hundred feet from me. I hope you all had as magical a Thanksgiving as I and my friends did.

Tags: gratitude, Joy
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Posted on Friday, December 3rd, 2010

I was wanting some small pine cones to put into my potpourri jars and let several of my friends know about it, but no one was coming up with anything. Then, on a warm day in November my cat, Clive, begged me to come out and be with him on the front porch. Like him, I lay on my back and looked up—to see the tree above me laden with the very pine cones I was wanting.

Tags: Joy, Synchronicity
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Posted on Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

I may very well be anthropomorphizing here, but the dog in this video looks like he is having a lot of fun going back and forth on a skateboard On one video, his owner said that bulldogs are, in fact, great lovers of play. So, what can you do to be more playful and joy-filled today? For me it used to be skiing; now it’s being in my studio, creating a new quilt, or coming up with the next idea for something to create, or cooking up something wonderful in the kitchen.

Tags: fun, Joy, play
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Posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Have a grateful day! A friend told me he heard this from a cashier, and it brought me up short. I am always telling people to have a great day, but this feels so much better – because if I am having a grateful day, it is automatically a great one.

Enjoy your treatment. I recently heard this from an acupuncturist. It was a great reminder to focus on enjoyment, and I did. I enjoyed the tingling sensation running up my legs, I enjoyed listening to the various breathings of the other people in the room (this is a traditional style clinic in which several people are treated at once), I enjoyed looking at the tree and sky through the skylight. I enjoyed taking an hour with my own thoughts, as I focused them on feeling better.

Make a loving, not a living. I truly believe that if you love what you do, the living part will automatically follow. So try loving what you do, or do something else. (I’m not always able to do this myself, but it is a good practice for a master.)

Today is the best day ever! Someone in my MasterMind group began starting his days with this; I followed suit, and it really makes a difference in how my day goes.

Tags: Enjoy, Grateful, Joy
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Posted on Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Regardless of which path you think you’ve been following up to this point, why not always choose to see yourself as a master of joy, practicing? If the sages are right, there is no endpoint, so if you think you are practicing to be a master of joy, you’ll never get there; if you realize you are a master of joy already, but constantly practicing, then you can relax and enjoy the dance, which is all there is.

Tags: Joy
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Posted on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

One of the reasons I became a psychologist is, as it turns out, one of the reasons I also quit the profession: My nuclear family life was filled with drama, mostly between my parents. As I sat out of the way in the basement and listened, I became a very good listener, but I became “addicted” to listening – to drama. Even now, 10 years after giving up my license to practice psychology, and in the midst of developing a “joy coaching” practice, I sometimes catch myself listening for drama, even inviting it in and relishing it. The truth is that I would much prefer listening to people tell me about their enjoyments, accomplishments, joy; wouldn’t you?

Tags: Joy
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