Pink Glow

The sky radiated pink this morning. The glow just kept getting brighter and brighter and then eventually morphed into yellow golden light. Gradually and without apparent effort.

Each one of us has a light inside of us. In fact, each one of us is the light. Allowing it to glow is effortless. Blocking it is what takes all the effort. In fact, many people strive for things as if they were lacking anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. You already have everything you need inside of you. Your only job in life is to let is shine through. Let it shine through the obstructions, the doubt, the disbelief. You are lacking nothing except the awareness that you have it all inside right now.

Chances

I'll be honest with you. I didn't want to go walking this morning, I just wanted to stay in my warm, cozy bed and watch the sun rise from there. But something pulled me out of bed. That same thing pulled me all the way to the edge of the lake. The lake was flat, the air was nice and cool and the sunrise was so clear. I was walking for about 2 minutes when I came across this heart in the sand. The cool part for me was that it contained my initial and my husband's initial. What are the chances?

I know that this type of thing happens more than we acknowledge. We always chalk it up to coincidence. I live by a belief that there are no coincidences; that each moment is significant to our experience. Based on this belief, I try to pay attention to what is right in front of me so I can take the next step on my path. I'm not sure if this is really "true" but then again, how can you ever know what's true for sure. Perhaps it's true because I make it so. I can tell you one thing for sure, it's a lot of fun to live this way.

Gradients

I couldn't tell where the colour changed between the horizon and the top of the sky. It was definitely red at the horizon and blue way up in the sky. Other than that it seemed to be one uniform colour but really it was a brilliantly seamless gradient of colour with no apparent stops and starts. There was something universally comforting about the uniformity of the sky this morning. Perhaps it was the predictability that I spoke of the other day. Or more specifically, the lack of chaos.

Why do we crave the absence of chaos? Is it for peace and quiet? The reality is that the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen have been the ones with the most chaos, the most uncertainty and the most variety. These things give us the spice of life. They make it interesting. Yet we continually push them away as if they were to blame for the uneasiness that we feel inside. Perhaps it's time to start looking inside to clear away the uneasiness instead of requiring the circumstances to change for that happen.

Cotton Candy

Do you remember that blue and pink cotton candy that you used to get at carnivals when you were a kid? That was the sunrise this morning. The sky was streaked with strings of cotton tinged with either blue or pink. It was dancing about the sky as the wind shifted and changed with the impending storm.

I miss being a kid. I miss the freedom that comes with not knowing so many things. I believe we call it "innocence". I yearn for simplicity in my life sometimes. I yearn to be free to run full speed from my living room to my sunroom or yell at the top of my lungs when I'm mad. This yearning usually lasts only for a moment and then it's gone. I was listening to a song by Lights this morning called "Pretend"; the lyrics capture that yearning perfectly. Maybe it would be a good idea to play pretend more often than we do. I bet it's more fun!

Resisting the Inevitable

I'm wondering if there is a day where the sun just doesn't want to come up. Does it ever wake up and wish it could not rise? My guess is no. The sun was a breathtaking ball of fiery red light this morning as it burst up over the horizon. It seemed to come right out of the lake.

I suppose I might be projecting on the sun. There are most definitely days where I don't want to get up. My work feels insignificant and the problems seem insurmountable. I feel beaten. I want to escape. But then I remember that I can't. That other people are counting on me. That my kids need lunches made and bathing suits packed. My students need a teacher to show up. Life keeps moving whether you do or not. It's days like this where I dig deep and discover that I'm made of more than I thought I was.

Hanging in the Balance

It was a stunning morning today. The full moon was setting as I came around the corner of the boardwalk. About 30 minutes later the sun completed the scenery with an intense purplish and red sunrise. I couldn't decide which direction was more beautiful so I kept turning around and taking in both scenes. I felt like the fulcrum of a teeter totter.

I noticed that being present in that moment was actually a balancing act. It was very dynamic. I would go back and forth between the sun and the moon. I never actually stopped moving even if just a little bit. I think that's the key to living in the present moment. It doesn't mean shutting down so that nothing bothers you. I think it actually means being aware of the tension that exists in everything and marveling at how it all works together. Fully feeling each moment instead of escaping any feeling is the key. In that way, you can be present to any set of circumstances.

Tension

There is so much tension in the air when thunderstorms are in the area. It can be incredibly hot one moment and then freezing in the next. There is a push and pull between the warm front and the cold front. This tension creates an enormous amount of energy. It always amazes me at the calm following a thunderstorm. It's like a recuperation period.

We often shy away from the tension within ourselves because it's uncomfortable. What we don't realize is the incredible amount of potential that also exists in that discomfort. Usually discomfort pushes us into new and innovative ways of thinking and being. If there was no tension then nothing would ever change. There would be no growth. Tension provides the catalyst necessary for change to occur. Once the change is initiated then there is always a calm period where you can gather yourself up before the next cycle starts all over again.

Waiting

I got up this morning and waited for the sun to rise. It felt like I was waiting forever. The sun may have been waiting for the clouds to get out of its way. Maybe the clouds were waiting for the wind to blow them away. It seemed as though everyone was waiting for something.

I've noticed a lot of waiting lately. I have found myself waiting for others to do something so I can get on with it. This is a futile game. I can't control other people's behaviours (although I admit that sometimes I'd like to). The only thing I can do is pay attention to my own experience and act accordingly. I've noticed that the real frustration doesn't come from waiting on other people's actions but really it stems from no enforcing my boundaries myself.

Thunderstorms

To say it was storming this morning would be an understatement. It was raining so hard that I thought a herd of animals was running across my roof. There was no sun to speak of. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Day off.

Good time to write about a break in the routine. I was really glad to have a break in the routine this morning. I have been going like a bat out of hell and I really enjoyed watching the non-sunrise from the coziness of my bed. There is something so therapeutic about rain beating down on my roof in a steady rhythm. I just watched the light change from dark gray to light gray and then watched a little longer before jumping back into my regular routine. It was just enough of a break to give me the energy that I needed to get the morning going in my household. Sometimes the little things are all we really need.

Uniform

It appeared as if the sky was one colour this morning. However, upon closer examination it was possible to see the transition of one colour to the next. It looked so uniform. It made me chuckle and laugh to remember way back to high school when I used to spend so much time trying to get my bangs uniform and perfect and then lock it in with a tonne of hair spray.

Why do we crave uniformity? Is it because it's predictable? I think our minds crave predictability because this world is so darn unpredictable. We are constantly being tasked with making sense of our experiences. This is much easier if the circumstances remain the same. However, a conflict invariably arises because our hearts seek to be expressed in a variety of ways. This need for variety is in direct opposition to the need for uniformity. It doesn't have to be one or the other. The fun part is learning to dance between the two poles enjoying every step of the journey.

Hope

Sunrises make me feel hopeful. Perhaps its the thought of a new fresh day. Today was no exception. The sun came up today just like it does every other day. The air is thick and in need of relief from a thunderstorm. The sky is beautiful - peppered with clouds alternating between the colour of the clouds and the colour of the sky. It is a very hope filled scene.

When you look for hope then you find hopeful things. It's a function of focus. It's also more pleasurable to look for hope than to obsess about what's wrong. Paradoxically, surrendering to what's wrong in your life can liberate you and give you the ability to focus on something else. We have a hard time accepting the truth of our circumstances. I think it's because we actually resist what's wrong in our lives instead of surrendering to the way it is. Resistance is a form of focus. You've heard the saying "what you resist persists", right? It persists because you are trying to make it go away by resisting it. This just makes it even stronger. The only way to get to the other side of the problem is to go right through it. You must do the thing that you think you cannot do. When you are free of your own resistance then you will be free to focus on what you really want.

Late Starts

The sunrise got better as time went on this morning. The beginning of the sunrise was not really that impressive but as the sun started to get up over the horizon and interact with the clouds and the sky, the whole thing turned into quite a beautiful show. Coupled with the fact that Lake Ontario was dead-calm made it even more beautiful as the sunrise reflected in the lake like a mirror.

Carl Jung said that "perception is projection" meaning you don't really experience people for who THEY are. You actually experience as YOU are. His concept is profoundly simple and yet extremely complicated at the same time. Everyone in your experience is a reflection of some aspect of you on an unconscious level. To the extent that you experience negative emotions about these people and/or events, Jung would say that those are your most unconscious qualities looking for resolution. There is a lot of power in looking at the world this way. There is also a lot of frustration. I suppose it depends on how willing you are to look deep within yourself and face what you see.

Boldness

There should not have been a sunrise this morning. The sky was completely overcast. If I was a betting woman I would have bet against any sunrise at all. And yet, the sun made a bold move and pushed through all of the resistance as if it wasn't even there.

The theme of this morning was boldness. There was a flock of geese unusually close to shore while I was walking along. I walked right past one goose who didn't so much as raise his head. I was within 2m of him for sure. In fact, he moved toward me at one point. Bold! I thought about the power of being bold. Boldness creates movement and action. These things usually lead to amazing results. Being bold means going against the grain and setting out on your own agenda. There is no complacency in being bold. It's a fantastic way to get the momentum rolling and create outstanding results. Just look at what the sun did!

New Again

I'm back in Toronto. The sun was brilliant today and yet it felt cool at only 27 degrees compared with the high 40's of the desert. It was oddly relieving. It's strange how a shift in perspective can literally change everything. A a few weeks ago, I would have melted at the thought of 45 degrees heat. Now, I have a different viewpoint.

I have noticed that making small shifts in my perspective has often led to a completely new experience of my circumstances. Usually, this process has allowed me to access more resources thereby making it easier for me to deal with my circumstances, especially the challenging ones. It can be accomplished as easily as changing a routine. In fact, I find that when I take a different route or try something new that everything changes in an instant.

Final Farewell

This was the last sunrise in the desert for me. I watched it from Red Rock Canyon. It was mesmerizing. The sky was afire with a golden red fiery glow. I watched it burst up over the horizon and up over the red and grey rocks of the stunning canyon. It was a postcard or at the very least a "Kodak moment". I took a million pictures. I wanted to capture everything.

Endings are like that. It feels as though something will last forever. And then, towards the end, it becomes frantic. Saying goodbye, taking pictures, connecting with each person. We had over 16 days to do this yet it all comes down to the final few hours. I'm not good at endings. I'm much better at starting things. I'll miss this place and it's demanding heat. There is nothing frivolous in the desert - it requires honesty because there is nowhere to hide.

Illusions

It appeared as though it would storm this morning. The clouds were thick and heavy all around the horizon. There was a stunning band of gold where the sun was rising in between the layers of cloud. By the time I went outside for my walk, the clouds were gone. The storm was an illusion.

Have you thought that your whole life might be an illusion? How can you tell the difference between a dream and reality? How do you know for sure? What if reality was real at all? What if reality was really just your interpretation of the circumstances merely filtered through your experiences, your beliefs, your values, your perceptions? What if none of it was really "real"? What would be possible if you knew you were making it all up anyway? What would you dare to experience if you knew for certain that you were in a dream? Would you live any differently?

Lessons

Standard sunrise again this morning. I feel as though I've been here before. I wonder if the sun goes through cycles of repetition with a purpose. I thought about taking a picture this morning but it honestly looked exactly the same as the previous few days.

I got to wondering, if the sunrise looks exactly the same then how do I now that it's a new day? I know it's a new day by looking at my calendar but other than that the morning looks exactly the same. Is there a lesson that I am meant to be learning that is hovering in the routine? We are always being presented with the opportunity to learn something but most of the time we miss the opportunity. I think that routine days or repetition is a way of slowing down the process so that we might notice the lesson that is right in front of us. They made a movie about this concept once. It was called "Groundhog Day". What we need is usually staring us in the face.

Routines

There were no clouds this morning. It was a standard desert sunrise. In fact, I happened to be up very early this morning and watched the sun rise from complete darkness. The sky turned blue first before any reds or oranges showed up. Then it was a pretty standard sunrise. Routine.

Routines are useful. They give order to our world. They help us focus when we lack a little motivation. They help propel us to get things done. They give us certainty. However, on the other hand, they can give way to complacency. They can hinder your growth if you aren't conscious. As with balance, routines should be treated as dynamic systems. There is a fine line between being a useful mechanism in your life and being the very thing that prevents your evolution. Be mindful of your routines.

Paradoxes

This morning's sunrise was so breathtaking. There seemed to be a golden paintbrush touching every single thing in the sky. It was really golden with a touch of pink. I found myself staring at the brightest part of the colour, the place where the golden light was most intense. When I looked away there were dark spots where the light had been. That got me thinking about paradoxes.

Do you ever notice that in order to describe something accurately you often need to use it's complete opposite as a reference point? Such is the power of paradox. In order to make sense of one thing, you need to be able to contemplate the flip side. In the case of light and dark, the brightest light stands out in the darkest night. Think of a brilliant dark night sky and the gazillions of stars that pepper throughout the darkness. They are only visible because it is so dark. You can't even see a minute fraction of those same stars when you are in a brightly lit city at night. Paradoxically, it is the darkness that allows you to differentiate the light. But you don't need to get rid of the darkness to see the light, you only need to bring light to the darkness. The metaphor is powerful. You don't need to get rid of those things, people or events that weigh you down, you only need to bring your own light to the situation and you may very well find the juxtaposition quite powerful.

Choices

This morning's sunrise was fiery red. It burst over the horizon in a blaze. In fact, a few minutes prior to the actual sunrise was nothing out of the ordinary. Then, all of a sudden it burst forth. It was almost as if the sun made a last minute choice to do this. Then, as quickly as it burst, it was over again. A few minutes of gorgeousness was all I got.

Then, on my walk this morning, I ran into the same older gentlemen out walking his little wee dog. I've been running into this guy most of the mornings. He's so jolly and he kind of looks like Santa Claus (in a pair of shorts because it is after all almost 100 degrees in the morning). His greetings are highly energetic and enthusiastic. My mood is always lifted after I talk to him. Then, I realized that we are both making choices. We are both choosing to interact with each other at this high vibration of joy and enthusiasm. It shapes my day completely. It also brings my awareness back to the fact my experience is my choice. Always. A choice.

Fresh New Day

The sun came up again today. I can't say I'm surprised. I was pretty much expecting it. Well, I was actually 100% expecting it to come up today. However, in a few hours there will be a total solar eclipse in the southern hemisphere. It will be seen by very few people but it will happen nonetheless. Can you imagine what it must have been like in the long ago past when there was a solar eclipse in the middle of the day and the people had no understanding of how the solar system worked? They must have been frightened out of their boots when darkness fell across their land for no apparent reason. Their fear, of course, springing their lack of understanding of the big picture.

Hmmm, that principle couldn't still arise today, could it? What if our negative emotions were simply the result of a lack of understanding or lack of ability to see the whole picture? What if every negative emotion could be transformed with a change of context or perspective? It couldn't be THAT easy. Or could it? By the way, I mean EVERY negative emotion, not just the easy ones. Imagine a time in the distant future when we speak of our understanding of emotions in the same way that we speak of understanding solar eclipses and the like. Imagine the freedom. It's always an issue of perspective.

Glitches

We were back to an almost picture-perfect sunrise this morning. There were just a few glitches in the sky preventing complete clarity. They didn't provide enough resistance to really alter the sunrise but they did add enough differences to make it interesting.

There have been a number of "glitches" in my life lately. I've had miscellaneous challenges with telecommunications, scheduling and mail delivery; an usually high number of these types of challenges. Then, it dawned on me. There will be a total solar eclipse tomorrow. There must be an energetic jam up in the air waves wreaking havoc in the lives of many organized people. It's amazing how that little reframe changed my entire outlook. I wasn't nearly as upset with all of little stupid things that were going wrong when I considered this new context. That's the power of reframing any situation. You can literally let go of your problem if you can find another meaning or another context where it all makes sense. The tension will vanish immediately.

Angels in the Desert

It was such an usual sunrise for the desert. It was almost overcast. This is quite bizarre for the middle of summer. At first the sun was a fiery red glow behind a thin veil of cloud. But as it started to rise, the light from the sun began to shoot out from underneath the clouds. It reached out in all direction in a golden spray of light. I couldn't help but think of my angel story. There must have been a super-charged flood of angels given the rarity of clouds at sunrise out here.

The whole morning was filled with breathtaking vistas. It was the difference in light cast a new view on the whole scene. The light went from full brightness to complete disappearance to varying degrees of filtered light. Every time the light changed, the scenery changed completely. Think of the powerful metaphor here. Each one of us is light. We have the capacity to allow our light to shine fully or to close down completely essentially blocking out our light. These are two extremes that are few and far between. What is more usual however for people is to be somewhere in the middle, allowing a partial expression of their light filtered through their resistance. It's neither bad nor good. Rather, it's just the way it is. There is so much variance to this filtered light that every time there is even the slightest shift in who we are then the whole landscape of our existence changes completely.

Slight Changes

The reason why I have not been taking pictures every morning of the desert sunrise is that it is usually identical each day. However, this morning there was some rare cloud on the horizon. It made for a beautifully spectacular sunrise which filled the sky with gold, orange, purple and blue. It was a small change that made a huge difference. I sat on my balcony and just watched it unfold.

I started thinking about how it is usually the small changes that make the biggest difference in our lives. We are all out there looking for the BIG idea, the breakthrough, the magic pill that will solve all of our problems. But I am constantly reminded that it is usually the culmination of the little things that causes a shift. It may appear to be instantaneous but it is often the result of a series of slight changes versus one big one. Therefore I try to make small changes every day. This morning I took a walk in a completely different direction. I came across something that made me laugh along the way. Laughter is good and it usually puts me in a more powerful and positive state for the day. This positive state was made possible by the slight change of walking somewhere else. Who knows where it will lead but I can tell one thing for sure - it wouldn't have been possible without making the slight change.

Opposites

Sunrise seemed to come early this morning. Or perhaps it was just the fact that I had a late night which changed my pattern. It was hot and sunny by 5:35 this morning. I love this heat. Today's heat was a little crisper than other mornings, not quite as stifling. Shortly after sunrise I was on my way to my favourite spot in Las Vegas: Mount Charleston. It is at least 30 degrees cooler in the mountains here. What a beautiful drive.

It's amazing how much of our life experience revolves around the weather. The lack of sun can totally wreck a day and yet too much sun can do the same thing. However, it is the extremes in anything that help define a great experience. You can never experience the depth of coldness until you have also felt the height of extreme heat. You can never truly know light until you have spent some time in complete darkness. Opposites are what define our experience and give it richness. Paradoxically, the extremes can also be the sources of frustration and suffering. I suppose it comes down to perspective. Which side are you going to see?

Stability

Did you know the sun comes up every day regardless of what is happening in your life or my life? In the desert, the sunrise seems to be identical each and every scorching hot morning. The desert goes from hot to hotter to hottest in a matter of hours. I personally love the heat. By about 7am, it is so hot already that you can start to "see" the heat around the edges of the mountains and the horizon. It glimmers and glows and seems to mute the colours. Yet, regardless of how it shines or how hot (or not) it is, one thing is for certain. The sun's coming up again tomorrow.

How many things in your life are that certain? Probably nothing. In fact, there are very few things in life that we hold as certain as the sun coming up (and going down). There are ways to transfer these feelings of certainty to other beliefs. Imagine if you held the same sense of certainty about your ability to start a business or your ability to achieve your dreams. It is absolutely possible to transfer this certainty within your own neurology. That is why I love the field of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) so much. Because it gives me the "know-how" to do things like increase the certainty of my beliefs so I can consciously create a life that I love.

Deja Vu

I have watched the sunrise from Red Rock Canyon before. It was almost identical. The same song even came on the radio as I drove into the canyon. It was really bizarre. The only marked difference that I could discern was my path was crossed by jack rabbits on no less than five occasions. And, then again, my path was crossed by burros. It was all a little weird. Hard to believe I was less than 30 minutes from the strip in Las Vegas.

Whenever I have deja vu, I begin to question what issues in my life are still needing resolution; so much so that I have created almost identical circumstances to facilitate the completion. This is my approach to deja vu. It's not necessarily true but I am always intrigued by circumstances that repeat themselves. Usually it means that the lesson was missed and it is being re-presented for learning. Some lessons are more important than others which is why deja vu is significant to me. It's like a supercharged cosmic two by four ensuring that it gets my attention. It definitely got my attention this morning.

Shifting

It's been a while since I have been in Vegas, teaching. The last time I was here the sun rose directly in front of my hotel balcony. The sunrise position has shifted significantly since then. I know this is due to the fact that it's the middle of summer and the sun is always shifting but it is the size of the shift that has caught my attention this morning. The shift is all I can notice. I could barely take a picture without falling out the window.

I always experiences shifts when I am here. The desert does this to me. It strips off anything that is inessential, forcing me to contemplate the uncontemplatable. Maybe it's the heat that wears me down. The desert is ruthless. Only the strong survive here. On my walk this morning, I came across a beautiful tree. It had lovely fern-like leaves; they were very green and very lush looking. However, upon a closer look, I discovered that the branches out of which the leaves were growing were covered in big, sharp thorns. These thorns obviously serve the purpose of protecting the tree from other creatures coming by and eating the precious source of photosynthesis for this tree. A living paradox. Soft, lush beauty with a built-in protection mechanism. If perception is projection then I'd say that it's time for me to develop the same internal equilibrium as the tree. Can we be soft and open while at the same time creating enough internal protection to allow ourselves to fully flourish?

Soft Desert

I'm back in the desert again. The colours in the desert are always muted; a softened version of their originals. Even the sunrise is muted. There is a softness around the edge of the sun that I only ever see when I am in the desert. I love being here. I love feeling the heat of the wind and seeing the tenacity of the desert plants as they creatively strive to get hydrated.

At first glance, the desert appears harsh. But it's not. The hardness of the rock and the dryness is softened by the pastel colours and vibrancy of the desert plants. This place is calming and balanced. The desert has stuck a balance between harsh and soft. I strive to do the same within myself. I'm not always successful. I usually swing too far one way or the other. Thankfully, I am willing to pay attention to the feedback in my life which helps inform me which way I am leaning. Lately, I have been leaning a little to far to hard side. Introducing softness is always a challenge however the hardest part is making the switch. Then, it get easier each day.

Brilliance

I watched another sunrise from the Thunder Bay airport again this morning. I was flying with my family after the conclusion of some holidays. The sunrise was brilliant. The sun shone so brightly that my son kept asking me if he could close the window shade because it was too bright. All I could see was brilliant golden light.

That brilliance is in each one of us! How do I know this for sure? I know because we can all witness the brilliance of the sun or the brilliance of the night sky or the brilliance in an act of kindness. Because we can witness these events it means that we already have the brilliance within us. The events are merely a reflection.

Balancing Act

Today marks the first blog entry in the second half of the year. We've passed the halfway point in 2010. Wow. Balance was all I could think about at sunrise this morning. Even the sunrise seemed to hover in the balance.

Many people think that balance is a static state; a place to get to where there is stability. But I think that balance is actually a dynamic state where you fine tune the give and take of your energy. Balancing is about finding an optimal state where you have just the right amount of external or internal stress to activate your peak performance but not too much to overload your system. There's a fine line between the two. If you got off to a slow start then you always have the option of increasing your performance in the back half to balance your slow start. Think of it as a game or rather as a balancing act :)