SOUL Speaking

S.O.U.L.

Spiritual odyssey understanding life.

In various conversations this past week, I found myself centering on deeper questions. I would either find myself talking of the deeper or walking away and pondering it. Interesting.

I notice that our society and culture do not really encourage the time to go deeper. So many of us wear so many masks, being something for everyone else and ourselves... and often ignoring the still, small voice within.

I am feeling the voice getting louder. Not in any audible way, but in my senses, my nerves, my veins. I consider myself someone who thinks deeper, but I have been "caught up" with the business, the busy-ness. Now, I am feeling something afoot. I am not sure what, but I know there is a knock on the door and it is getting louder.

I am reading the work of Martha Beck these days and she says that the power of the mind, while great, is nothing as compared to the limitless power of the soul. It is impervious to the conditions of this world. It knows what we were designed to do and be. We may veil that and even run from it, but the soul finds ways to send signals. We are mind, body and spirit. We talk of mental health and body health.... our spiritual health requires us to go deeper and hear our soul.

Hear it.

Mine is sending to me. I hear it in vibrations and discomfort and things "not being right"... in my reactions to same old situations, things I have enjoyed. Something is different, and so I am taking time to pray and meditate and quiet my mind, to hear that voice. Yes, the mind is powerful and our bodies are temples, but the soul is the "sage". Intelligence and strength pale in comparison to love and wisdom, the powers of the soul.

Hear the soul. It speaks.

Hear yours. I have said my piece. More to follow.

Barry

About the L.O.V.E.

Short and sweet this week.

Speaking at the Young Adult Cancer Survivor Conference on Thursday and the NL Association of Career Professionals Provincial Conference this weekend, followed by the launch of our second capaCITIES Program for neighbourhood leadership... well, I am hit smack-in-the-face and heart with this notion that my work is about LOVE... looking inside ourselves for strengths, finding opportunities to use those strengths for good, having a vision in our minds of how much better our corner of the world will be when we do that, and engaging the process by just doing it. I believe in it, and LOVE it.

This week, I facilitate a public forum on alternative education, launch a junior youth mentorship program, give a public talk on LOVE ad Leadership, continue capaCITIES and more. I also expect to receive 4 books by Martha Beck. Looking forward to the material. My emphasis is LOVE. My message is LOVE. The kind of love that moves things through action.

That is it for this week.

LOVE your work. LOVE your life.

More to come.

Barry

LOVE is the answer.... Let It Reign ;-)

A great day.

Today began with time at the Provincial Student Leadership Conference at St. Kevin's High School in the Goulds. I opened the day (their last full day of events) by facilitating the "pump" session.... 15 minutes to ready the entire group of 400 high school students for a great day ahead. We had a blast! We did a simple but fun networking exercise that really worked. The energy was palpable. And then, it happened.

Inspired, I felt the need to finish by teaching these 400 youth a dance that they could use at their closing dance tonight or in flash mob situations, motivating others to dance (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvLfAL7Lgpw for an example on the Oprah show). The kids ate it up. So did I. What I witnessed was the synergy of pure joy and enthusiasm and encouragement. It brought a deep, rich smile to my heart. It was powerful, practical LOVE.

Then, it happened, again.

I had the privilege to hear Micheal Gaultois (www.michaelgaultois.ca)speak of his journey from burn victim to survivor and more... a powerful message of hope, effort and working together. It resonated with me and my passion for unity and leadership. It spoke of LOVE.

This was followed by 2 breakout sessions with over 50 youth and teachers, on Global L'Attitudes (my keynote on the attitudes and actions of success)... the youth were so engaged. It was immensely encouraging. The future is in great hands, if we can let it go to them soon enough ;-). But again, these sessions were about LOVE.

Love, yes LOVE... I shall explain... in moments.

The day then turned to my Chinese lessons and a new recording of SLOWER and HEALTHY LIVING You Tube Show with Allison Martin (my massage therapist) as guest.

Why do I cite all of this?

Last night, I left karaoke unusually early, stating that I was not "into it". Strange. Curious. Intriguing. I somehow felt disengaged.

Today, was my answer.

What was the answer?

I have been feeling a change underway for sometime now. I have experienced this only several key times in my life... moments where two forces were pulling, with the inevitable "winner" being the force of purposeful change. I have been feeling the forces at work for a while now, again. It has been a challenging and gratifying year. It has been a time of trial and triumph. It has been a time of certitude and uncertainty.

With the events of this day and last night, came a peace... a peace born of acceptance. As a Baha'i, I know that Baha'u'llah says "Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity." On some level, I understood this to be true and important. On a deeper level, I did not fully "get it".

I get it.

Now, I get it.

Finally, I get it.

Life is life.

All things pass.

Our truest happiness comes from within, and is choice. Micheal Gaultois spoke of this today. All sacred texts speak to this. Detachment from results. Attachment to love, real love.

Today, I felt an awakening. My chosen brand The Unity Guy became more clear. I believe in love, honour and unity. I believe in LOVE... looking within for our strengths, finding opportunities to use them, creating a vision in our heads and hearts of the way our part of the world will positively change when we use our strengths, and engaging it by doing it. I am the L.O.V.E. Warrior, encouraging myself and any and all to L.O.V.E. daily.

Bottom line, today has been a day of authentic experience. My advice?

LOVE.

Love your work. Love the people you encounter. LOVE your life.

Look inside yourself for your truest, deepest strengths. I call them virtues.

Seek out real opportunities to use these strengths for good.

Have a motivating vision in your mind of how doing this will help you and others.

Engage, by taking the action. Just do it.

Have a day of L.O.V.E.!

I am grateful.

Barry G.

PS

Love is the answer...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P94hxfJEw-o

Let it rain, LOVE...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHj8SrH8LSU

Rich Jewels

Ritual.

Rituals. Rich jewels. Hmmmmm...

It is a word laden with much meaning in many circles, and not a lot of it good. Still, on this (Canadian) Thanksgiving Weekend, I am left with the thought that it is not ritual that is good or bad but the nature and meaning (if any) of the ritual.

Yes, on this day, I am thinking that there are four primary areas to our lives... mind, body, spirit, and soul. For me, mind consists of matters of vocation and education. Body refers to those things of the physical, fiscal and physiological..... material health, financial health, physical health. Spirit is that which deals with emotional health, inspiration and contribution. Soul, the deeper spirit, the core.

Why do I note this? I am becoming increasingly aware of my need to build true, meaningful ritual into my life. As someone who loves the notion of the non-linear, this is a bit of challenge. Still, I am understanding that ritual is to living as the skeleton is to the body... providing core structure and strength if the ritual is strong and meaningful.

So, my ritual starts today. EVERY day, I will devote time to prayer and meditation in the morning and the evening to begin and close the day. EVERY day, in that time, I will read sacred text of all divine faiths. It will be my source and anchor. And... EVERY day, I will devote time to my physical health and take care to eat what sustains and energizes me, allowing myself flexibility and variety.

EVERY day, I will devote some time to play and joyful experience.

Finally, EVERY day I will work at something I love or learn something I love.

All in all, this allows considerable flexibility but it aligns with the spirit of All I Ever Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum... to work some, learn some, play some live some EVERY day.

We live in a world where we work and "look forward" to weekends and days off and holidays. There is nothing wrong with that except I believe that we find ourselves living in what Richard Bolles refers to as the 3 boxes of life... education in our early years, work in our middle years and recreation in our latter years. He contends (and I agree) that we need to do a little of each EVERY day.

This blog is about unity, but not just of the group and community... of our lives. Unity starts with balance. Balance requires some structure so that we do not avoid key areas of our lives. My suggestion is that you decide today that EVERY day you will address matters of the mind, the body, the spirit, and the soul. I know that is my focus now.

Enjoy the day.

Barry

Twin Spirits United

This blog is a compilation of thoughts, professional and personal.

With that in mind and heart, on Saturday evening, October 3, 2009 I had some good friends over and we watched The Shadow Effect produced by Debbie Ford. With contributions by Marianne Williamson (I love her) and Deepak Chopra, among others, it is a solid and even remarkable piece of work that addresses what they refer to as our "shadow". I refer to it as our "veil". Whichever and however we speak of it, it is about that part of us which we are not "happy" with; that part of us we hide from the world... that which we see as weakness.

In watching and engaging the DVD, a thought occurred to me. At its core, we are talking about embracing our whole selves, using the struggles of our lives as sources of strength and teaching... not of shame and embarrassment... and thanking them, not being ashamed of them.

What I found powerful and a remembrance for me was the opportunity to name "the pain", or shadow. I was a very loving and audacious child who grew up with the notion that I was "too soft" and would have my heart broken. While at my core, I knew that I was strong, constant and well intended messages surrounded me that how I felt and how strongly I felt it was somehow naive and would leave me open to abuse. It was seen as not practical.

Now, I blame no one.

I only recognize that throughout my adult life, I have strived to be "responsible", a guardian if you will... the protector, vigilant. It served me well in many ways, throughout my life. Still, it caused that audacious, idealistic, bountiful soul to get buried amidst the pragmatism.

Today, this day, after real and engaging prayer and meditation and a day of being me, I realize that the "balance" for me needs to shift. That indomitable spirit of which people have seen shades and glimpses (many would say I have in abundance, but little do they know the degree LOL)... it needs release from its almost self-imposed exile. That does not mean that I somehow throw all things in the air and renounce "realism". But, part of my "realism" is this unconstrained spirit. I think of it as bringing that spirit to the front lines to stand side-by-side with the responsible one. Balance. ;-)

My Baha'i Faith tells me that God is real, and unknowable and creates us because "He" loves us. I believe that in work and play, we each somehow believe that we are to hide aspects of us which we are told are weak, flawed... not appropriate in this crazy world. We put them aside, somehow feeling that if we ignore them, they will go away. I do not believe that this means that we share all secrets. Still, I do believe that our authenticity requires us to realize that what we have been told are weaknesses are, equally, strengths in that we can learn from them.

This blog is about "wholiness"... and in watching The Shadow Effect, I suggest that wholiness is advanced when we embrace all that we are and have experienced. My personal faith tells me nothing has happened without a reason and that my true and only power is to discern the lessons and act upon them. I will be watching the interactive version of the DVD this coming Thanksgiving weekend, taking Thanksgiving Day as a retreat... or maybe I should call it an "advance". ;-)

Bottom line, I suggest you might want to see the DVD. Regardless, I suggest you name that which you have long hidden and see as pain... and you have that conversation with yourself about what it has brought to your life in positives. For me, I sit here typing, knowing that I have found a remarkable new sense of balance of 2 warrior spirits, one guardian, one fierce... one shield, one sword... and I am embrace them both. My spirit roars!

May your spirit and all that it has experienced and the strengths and lessons you have gained from it all, shine and roar!

Peace, prosperity, and passion... and please stay tuned.

Barry