One step at a time

One step at a time. I think there's something to be said for gentleness. There's something to be said for simply enjoying the steps you are taking. It's better to relax into the process than worry too much about what you're doing. It's better to let yourself do what it is in front of you to do, to take steps, one small thing at a time.

I grew up feeling that I was never good enough. I know what's it's like to be burned out, to feel you have to push yourself to sheer exhaustion for things to be ok. Not true. Actually the opposite of that is true.

Being gentle on the self is the most productive and beneficial state of mind you can have. Knowing that it's a long journey, you're getting there, you're on the right track, one small step at a time. It's the daily progression that makes the world go round, and it's never too soon to jump on the train of self-awareness.

I think the smaller steps you take the better. The more you like the steps the better. The more accustomed you get to framing everything you do with a self-loving, self-serving state of mind, the happier you are, and that is, after all, what life is all about. It's ok if you're just waking up to this idea. Right now is the perfect time. Trust your process and most importantly trust yourself.

Be gentle on the self. Take small steps. Enjoy the work.

What the world needs

What the world needs is: Artists, creators, innovators, people who are comfortable with asking questions, real questions, real hard questions. People who are brave enough to sit with these questions once they’ve taken the risk to ask them, for as long as it takes to find concrete results, resolutions and progress. People brave enough to go deep inside and challenge themselves to find truth. People brave enough to sit through the pain, darkness and fear to discover something real and worth living for. People brave enough to work for what matters, to seek what matters, to love what matters, unconditionally. People who feel deeply, love deeply and give the world their best. The world needs brave souls. The world needs winners. The world needs people with open hearts.

What makes great art?

Intention and feeling make great art. It's not what you have to say. It's not your skill or experience level. It's intention and feeling. It's knowing and surrendering. It's connection to yourself, your mark and the moment. That's it. That's what makes great art.

The geniuses of our time all know this. They use the secrets of magic, the timeless principles of energy and physics, the laws of the universe that all begin with one thought.

I know one may think that it's all about what you have to say, content is relevant, but it's only a point of departure for what makes one transcend. The point is transcendence, spiritual power. That is the purpose of art, to rise, to overcome, to synthesize something completely new, something that changes you, something that moves you into a better version of who you are.

It's a matter of resolution. It's transcendence of the great polarity of opposites, the dialectical issues, the dramas that arise in all of us. That is great art.

Intention. Feeling. You know it or you don't. Like all truth, it's simple.

You can't go back.

I think when you begin to see truth, even a glimpse you can't go back. Once you create with your intention, and you are aware of your process, you are moving forward and there is no going back. Once you see more, once you know, once you feel, you must only progress, you can not go back. This is scary. You are in flux. You don't know how to act, what to do, who to talk to.

You can't go back.

Change is not easy. Severe change is not easy. Fast, quick, abrupt, rapid forward moving change is not easy. That's one thing I've learned. But you've got to go with it. It's in your best interest.

It might seem like a time of crisis, but it will pass.

There are things you think you want. There are things you wish for. There are things you think you want and need and love. It's all illusion. If it doesn't set you free, it's not the truth. If it doesn't hit you in the gut and make you feel, it's not the truth. The truth comes unexpectedly, it always does.

Relax and know, that once again, you were foolish. Once again you predicted your future. Once again you tried something that did not work. Because why? It's not the truth.

What is the truth? And how do you know it? What makes you feel? What is in your gut?

Is it possible to transcend? What is this like? What does it mean to transform? What does it mean to be real?

Are we addicted to illusion? That's a good question. That's a real good question.

Are we addicted to avoiding the truth? Running?

What does it mean to be honest? What does it really mean?

Are we capable of healing ourselves? And connecting to the source?

Of course we are. The question: Are we brave enough to accept humility?

If you do one thing right in this lifetime, love yourself. And forget the rest.

If you do one thing right in this lifetime love yourself, and forget the rest. That makes sense to me. I have this feeling, that that's really what it's all about. That's the heart of it all. To know yourself, is to love yourself, and to love yourself, is to love the whole world. That is your only responsibility. That is all that matters.

When you love yourself, something happens in the unconscious collective. You provide space for others to do the same, without ever realizing it, without ever trying. You give permission for others to awaken, to shine, to reach their full potential. You encourage, just by sheer magic force of you doing it. You lift the threshold, with the intent to heal. Nothing will go wrong in this frame of mind. There will be balance like never before.

And in realizing the balance, one realizes that there really is no balance to life. There is a strange evolution. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it sings, sometimes it glows, sometimes it's dim and dark, sometimes it's soaring.

I think the secret to being happy is realizing that there is no balance. There is never anything that you "should" be doing. This limits the adventurous spirit, and if you ask me, it limits the possibilities.

Saying you "should" do anything is implying that you're not doing something now. It's saying you need fixing, it's a refusal to see what you already have, to see the abundance at your footsteps, to see the magic of your gifts, right here within you.

Everything is right now. You are never in a place to say "I should" to anything, ever. Anytime you start saying "should", take note. What's going on? What are you feeling? What are you reaching for? It's better to know what it is you want, the inner mystery of your soul's calling, the stirring of your heart, the child that is always hungry for release, the creature that is wild and young and free.

I don't believe in growing up, and I don't believe that you "should" do anything. I believe your only obligation is to know who you are. In doing so, you will rise above the levels of deep unconsciousness and illuminate the world at just the right place, at just the right time.

Your heart will sing. It is the only way for you to serve the world. If your heart is not alive, you can't make any changes, you can't help anyone, you can't really make progress. You will be forcing yourself, living someone elses life, someone elses dreams, someone elses legacy. And there is no glory there. None that I can see.

What does it mean to love yourself?

Who are you?

What do you like?

What will make you happy?

Everyone has different answers to these questions, as they should. Thank God they do. If they didn't what would this world be? Machines? Dismal circuitry? Drones, cogs, lifeless human flesh is the saddest thing I can think of.

Awaken. Inspiration awaits. It always does.

Don't talk about magic

Don't talk about magic. Just feel and know. Remember that it's real. Remember that there is more to life than meets the eye. Remember shooting stars and light on water and all that's right about a smile.

Remember that you'll always have what you need if you believe it. Remember that it'll come to you.

If you believe that it will come, then it will. It always does. And it always comes at just the right time. That is the way of magic.

It will always bring you what you need, and you won't want anything else in the world.

But you can't talk about it, or it doesn't work.

You have to take chances and act on your gut instincts. You have to rise up and greet the stars. You have to show up and believe that you will be surrounded by insight and the gifts of wonder.

There is magic all around, waiting to be revealed and experienced. This is one thing that the universe has in abundance. This is one thing that we always have access to. However mundane your task may seem, there is magic.

It is meant to be absorbed, like aromas. It is meant to be felt, like drumbeats. It is meant to take you higher and carry you on for as long as you will allow.

There's no right or wrong. There's no tomorrow or yesterday. There is a kind of play, in which one must always trust, that there is always enough, and always a time to jump into the story. And it is exactly the right time for you, exactly where you need to be, exactly where you will flourish.

We don't grow old in a magical place. We don't answer to anyone. We don't expect anything.

We play. We dance. We feel.

We breathe in crisp air. Turning circles. Making love. Feeling alive. Like children, we are.

There is magic everywhere. No need to speak a word about it. Catch the wind. Jump into the story. Greet the stars, with arms outstretched.

When the end is actually the beginning

Sometimes you feel like you're finished. Then all of the sudden, some new bit of information comes your way and you realize that you're just getting started. My God, forgive yourself. You've never had the proper chance until now.

Sometimes I wonder what's it's like to be totally locked away and not able to associate with the outside world. Would it be miserable? Would you be able to somehow internally clear things so you may bravely start anew.

I'm wondering about a lot of things. Love for one. I've realized that what is really is important is not the search for love, to seek it, but to become aware of the barriers you've built from letting love in. I know I have walls. Sometimes they seem impenetrable. Sometimes I wonder if they'll ever get knocked done. It's times like this that I decide to look inward and feel. When I feel I know the answers. They are abundantly clear. There is no question, no doubt, no hesitation.

Change is a very good thing. It means growth. It means recognition. It means a chance. Thank God for change and thank God for growth.

Growth hurts, sometimes you need to hurt. Sometimes you need to suffer. Sometimes it's this suffering that makes you who you really want to be. I wouldn't change a minute of it.

I ask myself, why does it feel like the end? And what am I beginning? I take time to reflect and the confusion passes. It is replaced by clear guidance. I am sure of what I see and feel.

Now just time, sweet time will reveal.

Go Boldly

This is the book that changed the world. If you are crazy enough to believe that you can change the world, then you can. Do not hesitate. You only get one life. Whatever else there is, I assure you is nothing like this one now. I guarantee it. If that’s not enough to make you get up and realize what you are worth, I’m not sure what is.

When you think that all is lost, look around you and be brave. What is lost is an opportunity to find what suites you more than anything else could. What you lost is a chance to reach inside and find what you really want. What is lost is not lost, it is found and that will never change, not now and not for all for time.

Do not hesitate.

Go boldly. For boldness is perfection. No matter how afraid you may think you are boldness is perfection, there is no right or wrong. No one can do it but yourself. No one knows the answers but yourself. No one has the magic like you’ve got it and that’s the truth, stop looking at labels. They limit you. Go where you feel drawn to go. Go where you feel powerful. Go where you rule your world, where you are most alive. Go and do not hesitate.

There is always an opportunity no matter what you’ve believed, no matter what you feel. The loss, the perceived loss, passes, no matter what you think. That is the truth.

If you’ve ever wondered, what happens if I make it? What happens if the desolated road passes. I am here to tell you it does. I am here to tell you it’s never hopeless, if you have the seeds for brilliance you can make them grow no matter the circumstance or perceived loss.

You must trust, that what was lost will come back to you in wondrous ways, in some other form, that it ascends.

Do not hesitate anymore. I am tired of hearing about pain. I am tired of hearing about loss. I am tired of not going forward. I am tired of people crying. I am tired of the pain. I leave it now. This is a choice I make, and I do not look back. Once you change you can never go back and thank God. Thank God.

Ascendancy is simple. As is the truth. Go boldly and do not hesitate.

Create what you must. Do it and dream big. Do it and believe. Do it and live your truth. Live your reality. My God I cannot look back. Why would I ever want to?

There is no life like this one. I choose to live it fully.

Boldly, you must go. Without hesitation.

The moth flies around me. I feel the power of change. I embrace it.

Ascendancy, the moth in the night

A moth landed on my table. I am thinking of ascendency. What is freedom after all?

The moth is a messenger. I wonder what the message is?

The point is that it’s not hard. Ascension is grace. Can I say something brilliant?

To rise, to move up, through the air.

What exactly do I mean?

Woman and moth.

You can’t force great art. You can’t force spiritual ascension. You can’t force your flight.

You just do it.

That’s what I mean.

And what about the pain? The suffering? The seemingly endless plight? Does she get through it and ascend? I see, but I can’t say, I only become.

Silence is the mastery of sound. As is stillness, the mastery of truth. Freedom is simple, as is everything. I am not here to contort and delay. I am here to become. And that is what I know. Do not hesitate. No need.

Trust your own process, for that is what brings you home, that is what brings you here, that is what knows who you are.

You will find yourself. You have found yourself. I was told, get through the block and you will find

yourself. This is true. Focus on this. This is true.

"From the very beginning, art meant something very important to the people who made it. It was a correspondence of the emotions to what you saw; it wasn't knowledge. You were being at one with something eternal; something outside of yourself. And no matter how many fake things have been brought in to suit other conditions... That is still true." -Milton Resnick

Dealing with confusion, doubt and fear

What do you do when you are impeccably confused? When you feel the world is crashing down on you and you're not sure if you can take another step? When you are overwhelmed with options, decisions and people... When it seems there will never be a day of pure solace, for yourself, to breathe and be who you are.

This is how I feel today. And I'm asking myself questions: What do you do with confusion, doubt and fear? What do you do about the walls you have that keep you from love? What do you do when it seems like the end?

I feel this way today, so I revisited Danielle Laporte's inspirational piece, "Decide to Rise".

I realize I have two options: rise or stay stuck.

What's it going to be?

I realize that it's points like this where life tests you, to see what you're really made of, to see who you really are, to challenge your true substance.

There comes a very important point in everyone's life, where they realize time is moving fast, the brilliant now has arrived, and it is, time to rise.

They realize that nothing is stopping them but their own thought, that it is a fear of the thought of the thing that is actually greater than the thing itself.

One must rise.

Experiments and results. Use whatever it is you are going through to better understand yourself, your work and your truth.

I feel I am at that crossroads now. Do I use the strands of my broken heart to create something powerful? Or do I hide behind excuses and doubt? There are two roads. I believe my answer lies through a mighty plunge into the unknown, a blind leap of faith through the darkness, a renegade of action when it seems all is lost.

What are your challenges you are faced with?

What are your answers? How do you respond?

What do you feel?

How do you resolve life's most challenging tests?

What do you do when it seems you are at the end?

Sometimes the greatest battles, lessons, struggles, also have within them our greatest lessons, truths and successes.

I choose to believe this today. I chose to believe it is the beginning of far greater things. Only I can imagine, create with intention and work to the finish line.

Decide to rise in the words of Danielle Laporte. I think she's got the right idea.

It only "seems" scary

The first steps "seem" the scariest. Key word here is "seem". Seem means appearance, appearance means in actuality that's not really what it is. It seems so scary. Oh my god can I do this? Can I really make a bold step forward?

Yes you can. It only seems scary.

No one's looking at you.

No one's laughing at you.

No one's talking about you.

First of all, it's not your business what other people think. Second of all, they're not thinking about you, they're too worried about their own lives and what other people are thinking about them. Trust me.

So..... take those first steps. Now.

Be bold.

So what if you screw up? I guarantee you'll learn more screwing up on big bold moves that oyu make from within, than you would if you'd never tried. Guarantee.

First of all, you'll be a hell of a lot stronger no matter if you succeed or not because you tried. You did something because of an inner impulse. You're building yourself up.

Second of all, you'll have more guts, stamina and wisdom next time to actually do it right. You're bound to succeed.

Fearless Move = Strength = Your Power = Your Best = Why You're Here

And it's ok. You have permission to be as awesome as you are. It only "seems" scary. The thought of the thing is scarier than the thing itself. Reality is nothing to fear. Reality's not laughing at you. Reality wants to give you what you want so bad I can't even mention it. And that's the truth. The only way to know for yourself this truth is to trust it, to find your own process, to go for it, to take those first steps. I promise you'll be glad you did. You might even get into it. You might even rock so hard you can't imagine life any other way. You deserve to be that hot. I believe that if more people woke up to this reality we'd have a lot more fun, make more progress as a collective whole, create what we're really passionate about and we might even fall in love with ourselves, our lives and each other.

Sounds like a win-win for everyone.

It only "seems" scary. "Seem" is an appearance. It's not that scary.

It's easy. It's fun. It's simple.

Make the first steps. I encourage you.

Face your dreams.

Face your dreams.

What if your slate was wiped clean right here and right now and you were free to do and become whatever your heart desired? What would be the first mark you would make on the new clean slate?

What would you become?

What lies underneath the blocks?

Why are you doing this work? To feel what? To be what?

You are ok to ask the questions. You are ok to not to know. You are allowed to expand through uncertainty and to explore.

You are allowed to ask the question. To sit with it. To not know.

That perhaps could be the most important thing you do in your lifetime. And that first mark, the most profound step. It is true, it is also the scariest.

What if you were free to face your dreams? What if the pain went away? Then what?

Take a minute to reflect, to dream, to ask the question.

Who are you? What do you want? What will make you happy?

Your slate is clean.

It is all energy

"Everything is energy and that's all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics."
∼ Albert Einstein

In the words of Steve Jobs...

His finest words
"Your time on this earth is limited, don’t live someone else’s life, live by your vision."

On beginner's mind
"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

"You are already naked."

On following your heart
"If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your hear and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

On death
"If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? …whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

"Almost everything- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

"We don't get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life.
Life is brief, and then you die, you know?
And we've all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good.
It better be worth it."

"Your time on this earth is limited, don’t live someone else’s life, live by your vision."

On life
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

On business
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"

"I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance."

"Things don't have to change the world to be important."

On action
"I want to put a ding in the universe."

"Real artists ship."

On simplicity
"That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."

All quotes by Steve Jobs, 1955-2011