Appreciation and Deprivation

Hanging out on my porch last night, as I am wont to do, I was thinking about appreciation. Earlier in the day, someone let me know that they appreciated my efforts on their behalf. It was a nice feeling.

I like to write notes of appreciation. I send them both through email and snail mail. Thanking someone in writing for a pleasing or helpful attitude, the fulfillment of a favor, for being a good friend, the reasons are myriad, is a quick and easy way to spread around that feeling of appreciation.

But how do we appreciate ourselves? I like the concept of "future self." How do I show my future self that I appreciate her? A clean and orderly house, lovely, wholesome groceries, enough sleep, and fun plans are all ways that I appreciate my future self.

Pampering, movement, meditation, journaling, snuggling to name a few, are ways to show my current self my appreciation. My focus is always on the treat-nature of the activity. If I turn it into a labor, then it ceases to be an act of self-appreciation.

Why is it important to appreciated ourselves? For a lot of people, being shown appreciation isn't something that they see much. They may have busy families, or challenging work situations. They may spend a lot of time alone, or with non-demonstrative people. If you relate to this, you know your situation.

Not feeling appreciated can lead to feelings of lack, a tragedy in such an abundant universe, and those feelings of lack can lead to a sense of deprivation which, in turn, can lead to choices that leave you feeling empty like too much TV, binging, over-spending or buying junk, this list can go on and on.

By taking a few minutes a day to appreciate yourself, you will develop a habit that will serve you well, and keep you happier and healthier for a long time.

How do you appreciate yourself?

What's in a Name?

At last week's Celebrate! we tried something interesting.

We brainstormed a list of names. We wrote them down and made slips of paper and took turns drawing a name.

We would take a moment to notice how we felt saying to ourselves, "My name is X," and then we would introduce ourselves to the group.

Wow. It was so interesting to notice how my physical body shifted to accommodate the name. One name made the muscles under my cheekbones clench, another name made my upper chest contract. The third name I drew was the most potent for me. She has a lot of the characteristics that I think I want, but she felt so unhappy. Or I felt so unhappy. Or something. Anyway, we asked each other questions about our lives in that name and then marveled at the responses. It was kind of intense.

Subsequently, I've been writing from the POV of my big name, the third name I drew. I found that while she has a lot of what I would like, the cost has been big. It made me think about how I want to achieve my goals and what I'm willing to trade internally for them.

When we finished the exercise it was such a relief to go back to being Pam. Phew.

Inner Mind Radio

I'm having fun today playing with the concept of Inner Mind Radio. IMR is that chatter in your mind, mostly thoughts, that runs constantly. I'm fortunate in that I get a lot of music clips, ear wigs some people call them, from my very large collection of music in my head. And I'm delighted that a lot of what comes through has been shaped by Creative Questions, so that I feel better for those thoughts.

I do, however, still get the harangues from time to time, which leave me feeling bad or stupid, or such like. Or I have the dialogues like I did last night over whether I should turn on the air conditioner or just use the fan. (The fan voice won, but I would have been more comfortable with the A/C! I will try to remember that this evening.)

Anyway, as I think about IMR, it reminds me of channel surfing in my car, and that reminds me that, while I can't control my thoughts, I can control my thinking. What will I put my focus on? Harangues telling me how much I suck? Or will I tune into a station that lets me know I am valuable and loved? Hmmm.....

What plays on your IMR? I would love to hear about that.

Celebrate!

We had a Celebrate! event last night, generally speaking they fall on the third Thursday of the month. We all had fairly big, new stuff happening in our lives, and new stuff can be challenging even when it's great.

Each of us seemed to be a little something, not really blue, although just the weather could account for that, not mad or sad, but a little something. Yet as we talked about what we are planning, why we are moving on, our spirits lifted.

I'd found some fun good news, like, did you know that wine, especially red wine, has antimicrobial qualities and can be beneficial for mouth health? Italian researchers found that out. I'm sure they have lovely teeth!

And there is a new bank in Hawai'i, the Pacific Rim Bank, that is giving 10% of it's profits to charities and non-profits. A bank tithing! Now that's the new millenium!

By the end of the evening, we each felt calmer, happier, more centered and present. Amazing what a couple hours of positive can do for a girl's outlook!

If you are in the area, next month we are meeting on November 15th. I will keep you posted.

Law of Attraction monthly forum

February 1st was bitterly cold, and dark at 7:00 pm, but that didn't keep this group of inspired women away. Rosie Bodin led the way as we ventured into the Law of Attraction. Each of us had stories of how it has worked for us, and how it hasn't. It seemed like for every story of how we had attracted unpleasant things, someone in the group had been in a similar situation and had been able to change it. And was able to articulate how that had happened. Seeing the Law working right in our class was something to behold. I am very much looking forward to our March forum when the focus will be on prosperity.

I am so grateful to Rosie for her wonderful presentation, for her gentle yet firm hand in keeping us on topic, for all her in-depth research on a very broad topic, for her humor, for her vulnerability and openness, and for her courage to do the public speaking thing on a very important topic.

I am very grateful to our participants for their willingness to show up on such a chilly night, to share their very personal stories, to bring their wisdom and experience to such a powerful topic, to support each other to move through the places where we got stuck. What an amazing group!

I am grateful to the University Baptist Church for creating a space that is so supportive of this kind of work -- warm, friendly, good vibes!

If you would like to post something you are grateful for today, please use the comments option.

Treasure Maps!!

Wow! We just had our first Treasure Maps class and was that an amazing experience! (I know, I know -- too many exclamation points, but it was cool.) I wanted to acknowledge all the help I received to bring this first class to fruition -- and I had a lot of help.

For those who don't know about Treasure Maps, they are a visual representation of a deeply desired goal, a collage of images and words. You place the picture somewhere where you will see it a lot every day. The images that show you at your goal reinforce themselves into your mind over and over. When you have to make a choice between something that leads you toward your goal or away from it you will find yourself naturally choosing the more supportive choice.

So, back to my thoughts on gratitude for today. First, I have to acknowledge how grateful I am to myself for a bunch of stuff. I am grateful that I have had the courage and tenacity to keep on trying to learn about how to reach my goals. This is one of my biggest issues. I have had lots of great ideas over the years, but couldn't figure out what to do to get them to happen. Now I know! That is nothing short of miraculous to me.

Ten weeks ago I came back from Florida where I had taken training to allow me to be an Unlimited Network Community Practitioner in Unlimited Body. If you don't know what that means, ask. Or wait, I'll be talking about it a lot more as we go on. Since then, I have actually started my business, the one I've been dreaming about for years. I have had a lot of help, more than I could have imagined asking for, believe me. And I have discovered that part of my achieving my goals is having the courage to ask for help, then accept it.

I am grateful to Rosie B for all her support, insight, comfort, playfulness, talent, humor, wisdom, and wheels! I am grateful to her for being around to share my success -- makes it easier for me if I don't have to try to feel it alone. I am grateful to her for responding to me when I'm feeling cuckoo, instead of reacting. Without you it sure wouldn't have happened now.

I am grateful to our participants; Anna, Diana and Pat for showing up, for contributing such great insights, for their clarity, understanding, creativity, willness to share their thoughts, joy, sense of fun, and feelings with us. Without youse it wouldn't have been.

I am grateful to J.P. for his unflagging steadfastness and conviction that I can do this. To my folks for their kind words and understanding. To Rosie Posie for all the help, listening, caring, and advice. To my exceptional teachers, Arne and Laura. D'uh.

I am grateful to the people of the University Baptist Church for creating a space that feels so good.

What are you grateful for today?

Beginning with Gratitude

This is my first post on blogger, though most likely not my last. I'm starting a new business in the healing arts and, wow, have the last few weeks been exciting. I found my office space in Dinkytown, so fun. I'm building a web site, writing like a mad woman, and looking forward to a couple days of really down downtime, like hours in the tub with a suspense novel.

I have noticed somethings through this process that I want to put out here in the world. The first is that I have received so much wonderful support that I am in awe. I never would have thought that so many people want to help me get this business going. I am deeply touched and immensely grateful. I have had offers of help ranging from paperwork to furnishings. I have made connections that are professional and promotional. I have met very kind, loving people who want to make a difference in the world, people who understand that the universe wants us to be joyful and playful. I mean, holy moly, this is incredible.

The next thing is support for the idea that we manifest our reality. In the last few months I have had the experience over and over of stating a clean intention, getting out of the way, and getting results 10 times better than what I'd hoped for. This is powerful, transformative stuff, and it's so easy.

The third thing I've noticed is that this huge transition is being pretty easy. Easy. Gentle. Fun. Not hard, not challenging, not difficult. I have been using Creative Questions like crazy and wowie kazow do they make the difference. If you want to know more about Creative Questions let me know.