Category Archives: Inspirational

The Rain of Life

IMG_0986 We depend on rain for our water supply.

We depend on oxygen to breathe.

We depend on day to work and play.

We depend on night to rest and sleep.

We do not create or have anything to do with any of these so called “natural” phenomena.

More often than not we take them for granted.

What or who else are you taking for granted in your life?

Where are you just showing up and receiving blessings without giving something in return?

In order to have water all the time, even when we go for periods without rains, we have to built dams and wells and cisterns.

We accept the oxygen by breathing, and some of us practice deep breathing as we have learnt that this habit expands our lungs and helps the oxygen to circulate more fully throughout our bodies.

Similarly, with the day and night, we have learnt how to harness and maximize both times, and the benefits and necessity of each for us.

So it is not really true that the good things in life are free.  Nothing is free.  Everything requires our conscious or unconscious reciprocal energy.

Therefore, if you want rain in your life, make sure you have a container to store it, and you plan for its uses so you will always have water when you need it.

Think about all the people and the plant and animal life throughout the world who die from lack of water.  Pause now and send them a drop of daily rain. You and your thoughts are that powerful.

The Island of Your Mind

FullSizeRenderSome of us live on islands and for us these islands are the world, as big as the African continent, the 2nd largest, but depicted inaccurately on most maps to look smaller.

Some people dream of owning an island, while others have purchased islands for their own private resorts or play ground.

Each of us possess an island, also known as your mind, and as such, you  get to decide what you allow in and out.

As you begin a new year, honor and protect your mind by being mindful of what you eat, who you associate with,  what information you allow to enter, and most importantly the thoughts you allow to linger and upon which you ponder.

No need to enter a race if you decide in advance that you cannot win.  Similarly, whatever thoughts and ideas you feed to your mind will grow. Plants flowers and fruits on your island, not weeds and despair.

My island is 360 degree of positive inspiration and creativity.

Get Busy Living the Life You Want

FullSizeRender All too often I hear people making all kinds of excuses about why they are not living the life they want, why what they want is not impossible or they have to wait until the time is right.

Toss excuses into the garbage.  If you want it and think it then it is possible. The time is now. The time is right, if you make it so.

Live your life fully today. Take baby steps towards your goals. Love every moment of every day.  Don’t sweat the small things.  Forgive people’s haste and ignorance.  Be bigger than the small minded.

When I wake up and look out at this beautiful environment that nurtures and protects me, I know I am on the right path and my life is unfolding like a glorious sun-flower.

Joy and gratitude are the stepping stones to achieving your goals.

surrender

surrender to love

surrender to joy

surrender to the dayDSC00249

surrender to the questions & challenges

surrender to the

answers & solutions

surrender

surrender

surrender

quiet the noise

now listen with new ear

for the wondrous truth

listen for the roots sprouting

within your belly

listen for the singing of the birds

within your bosom

listen for what is yours to do

listen

listen

listen

you are being called

to be present

to the unfolding

of your life

as it aligns

with the moon and the planetsDSC00256

 

Do Until – The Bridge

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I don’t know if most people give up just before their great breakthrough.

What I do know, is that to keep going without seeing any results is hard, and requires a specific mindset.

Each of us has to decide if we are okay looking at the ceiling above our heads or if we want to keep going until we burst through the ceiling and ascend into the sky.IMG_2404

There is no heaven above or below. There is however,  a place we hold sacred, where we believe everything is perfect and there is absolute ease and all our needs will be met.

It sounds great but also boring. The fact is every invention was borne out of a need.

Challenges keep you alert, exercise your mind and allow you to problem solve in incredible ways.

Sometimes you might have to rest for a little while before getting back on track, but never, never, never give up — completely.  That is the living dead.

Find a way to keep your dream alive and keep trying, especially when it seems hopeless. Take a break.  Regroup.  Recharge.  Own what you want.  Accept it and Demand that the universe supports you. DSC03346

P.S.  Make sure you don’t miss the signs of success.  Sometimes you already received what you asked for, but it looks different, so you overlook it.

Don’t be the dog spinning around to catch its tail.

Be the tree that owns is treedom.

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A New Green Dress

the almond tree that houses

my meditation tea house

has decided that she wants

a new green dress

and I’m okay with that

as a woman

i understand the desire

to change things up

flaunt what’s left of

your beauty

see if heads still turn

when you walk down the street

but this woman is messy

instead of just giving away or

tossing the old dress

she has been for the past week

cutting it up into small pieces

as if to say I am done with you

but since you did look good on

me once

me go tek me time

and peel you away

–red firy leaf after leaf

strewn all over the floor

and ground–

so you remember me

daily as I sweep

these bits of her former self

i nod in salutation

and  me tell her

girl me see yuh

and me overstand

how as women age

we have fi go on bad

to get just a little

attention

but she nah listen to me

so me sweep

so she toss

another bit of her old dress

Our Walk

Tuesdays we walk Manchineel beach

most call is Hay Penny

the vernacular for Half Penny

but these tempting looking apples

that line the beach are poisonous

I alternate between walking and jogging

jumping over waves racing beyond the shore line

At the end of the beach where rocks

form a barrier I perch on a pillar

allowing my mind to wander as is often

my eyes search the landscape

taking in the ridges of the hills

the greens and blues and straw colored too

Brian meets we half way

after treading in the bush

he has husked 2 coconuts

the water sweet but little

I spoon out the firm meat and chew slowly

my breakfast

On our return walk

we pick up plastic bottles

cans     paper    trash     others

careless leave behind

unmindful that paradise needs help

to maintain her beauty

I stop to photograph the nesting bed

of a leatherback sea turtle

now is there hatching season

a gentle wind fans my face

the sun polishes my back

arriving at our favorite spot

I diving into the temperate ocean

grass snags my feet

waves tickle my nostrils

my gratitude is boundless

The Peace of Laughter

My mother’s laughter is what I remember most about my childhood

Full      engulfing    pure and commanding.

I knew my mother’s laughter could stop thieves from entering our home.

My mother’s laughter made cocky men smile

and jealous women befriend her.

Laughter was the mode of discipline…

As long as Mommy was laughing all infractions were forgiven

As long as Mommy was laughing all requests would be met

As long as Mommy was laughing the sun would rise bright and joy

would define the day.

My mothers has blessed me with her laughter.

Whenever I find myself in a tight spot

or feel overwhelmed I break into riotous laughter

and nothing or no one can stop me

laughter is the path and mouth of peace

laughter is the spirit of my mother

who with dogged determination raised

me to be steadfast and resourceful

Laughter is  love’s proper name

Stepping Out

To be creative is a gift, but with it also comes responsibility, to hone your talent, to share it, to excel and to evolve.

I do not take my talents for granted, and I am enormously grateful for the stories and poems that come to me.  As I branch out into owning and marketing my own intellectual property, rather than hand it off to publishers, I feel a sense of freedom and possibility that I have not felt in a long time.
I am launching my own Journal, Interviewing the Caribbean.  I am establishing my own institutions, no longer hiding behind or trying to fit into other’s agenda, but plowing my own road, and when I’ve gotten that done I will build my own monument.

Go Out on Your Own – Take the Step

This morning, I declared aloud to myself and the birds and lizards who were near by that I absolutely do not want to work for anyone any more, ever, and truly, I don’t understand why I have taken so long to arrive at this realization.

 

I have been afraid. There. I have said it. Working for someone else meant there were many things I didn’t have to worry about, but it also meant there were many things I wanted to make happen and could not within the confines of someone else’s agenda. I have always known this, but kept trying, working hard and negotiating. Once I decided I had a bottom line, that this was absolutely what I would accept, and nothing less, the fear fell away. Truthfully, the fear remained, but I ignored it. I am worthy and my projects, regardless of how impractical they might appear to someone else, are important and that is where and only where I want to place my energy at this time. On self, me, my work, my ideas, my dreams, my ability.

While from very young we are socialized, especially in the school system, to work within established governments, institutions and/or private businesses, the great majority of us forget that all of these structures were created by someone else. We too can create what we want. I have spent almost forty years in service to others, helping them to shape and grow their business, and trying to get them to include some small portion of my dream into their frame-work. I thought that was the logical route, and for many it might be, but it is no longer applicable to me. I want and deserve more. I am capable of so much more.

Well the flowers bowed down and the clouds applaud me today because I am sure. Today I am confident. Today I say yes to Opal. Yes to my dreams. Yes to my university. Yes to my books, yes to my plays, yes to Opal. I will honor and reward myself. I will carve out a place for who I am and what I want to create for myself and others to come forth, knowing that I am capable, knowing that the support I need is already at hand, knowing that it is all divine and I am finally ready to be my best yet self.

I remember distinctly coaching my children not to seek jobs as adults but to create their own work reality and make that work for them. I am so delighted because I think all three of them have someone been on this path.

I urge you to start living and investing all your time into making your dream happen.

Go on and take the step. Everything that exist now, and that will ever exist began with one person saying yes to their truth and reality, then building a team. If you know that you have many ideas, and you are always trying to get others to buy into them, you need to branch out, run with the wind…Yes you might get swept off course, your might get blown to the ground, but you also might be lifted off the ground and experience a vantage point you did not know existed. It is time to love your dream. It is time to soar. It is time to create something from a kernel that shelters a mountain.

I am taking off. Join me and become part of my team, until you find that your dream is bigger than mine and needs its own university. Ase.