Tag Archives: The Daily Soul Report

The Land of the Living

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***Alright I am tempting you again today to subscribe to Your Daily Soul Glimpse (click here). Here is what subscribers received today in their inbox. Okay, now no more tempting (I think).

Today’s Soul Report: Looking Deep Within or Looking Out

I believe each of us is born with a natural leaning toward looking or not looking. ~Mark Nepo from The Book of Awakening

Mark admits: “Not surprisingly, I am one of those feminine seers: I believe if I don’t look, I will die.”

Similar to Mark, I believe if I don’t look, I will never be free. I shall never know comfort again. I describe myself as the Princess and the Pea. I must find the pea or rest I will not.

Mark also says, “…feel which you need right now- to look or not to look. Which will bring you more fully to the land of the living?”

You mean to say, sometimes it’s better not to look?

As he says, “…like staring into the sun too long, there are times we mustn’t look to preserve our sight.”

The boat ride home this weekend from Catalina was a bit rocky. I tend toward seasick. But, this time I knew I would not get sick. I felt strong and stable in my core. However, when I looked down, taking my eyes from the horizon, I recaptured that familiar queasy feeling.

I am in a time where deep digging does not serve me. This does not mean I am in denial of anything, which might lurk below. It just means- not now. It means now is the time to stay steady and stable in my core, and keep my eyes forward- on that horizon line. This is what’s needed to bring me “more fully to the land of the living.”

Where are you? Are you in a space in time where it is better to look deep within or not to look?

Namaste,

The Soul Reporter

Today’s Lesson

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Today’s Soul Report:

When we resent others for not being there for us emotionally it’s time for us to be there for ourselves emotionally.

When the above insight came to me today, I still felt resentful, but my projections toward “others” were less, less than usual. Because knowing this, now as I do, it becomes more important for me to be there for myself in this way, then punishing everyone else for not. This is today’s lesson and learning. Maybe it will help you too.

Namaste,

The Soul Reporter

These Moles

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Today’s Soul Report: Beauty & Acceptance

Maybe it’s becoming more present. Or age. Or the dancing in the kitchen this morning to Madonna, but as I looked in the mirror this afternoon- skin fresh from a shower, the moles upon my skin- the ones my 11-year old says are ugly, and I often agree, were not ugly. They are on my skin. My body- a body, that in time, will no longer be here.

We spend so much time hating parts of our bodies, and I don’t mean to suggest my subtle moment of mole worship will now shut those voices up- but I do believe this subtle moment may awaken others. Others where I appreciate this body. This magnificent and brilliant body, which carries my soul. My breath. My essence. If nothing else it offers more moments of peace, admiration, and beauty over anxiety, failure and disappointment.

Namaste

The Soul Reporter

You- not you over there. You- right here.

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Today’s Soul Report: Scrubbing the Toilet

I was making rather merry this weekend celebrating my 13-year anniversary. So, today back to Soul Reports.

Last night, some of us were on the red carpet (and if you were, and reading this, I want to say, hey—–(shout-out)) while others of us were scrubbing toilets (and if you were, and reading this, I want to say, hey—-). Yeah, you are just as special as those glowing beauties at the Globes. At least these were my thoughts as I scrubbed my toilet, folded laundry, and cleaned the sink during commercial breaks.

I used to feel inferior. Let down. Dismayed. Why aren’t I on the red carpet? Why aren’t I important? Well, back then it seemed like a perfectly rational thought. Today, however it makes me laugh. Ummm- I am not an actor. I don’t make movies. Why the hell would I be on the red carpet? They are where they are because they did the work to be where they are. Simple, therefore no need for pity and drama and cry baby fits of, why me? 

So, as I scrubbed my toilet I thought~ I am cleaning and santizing and beautifying my home for my family. A worthy, worthy purpose. Seriously, I said this. Wasn’t it Mother Teresa who said, “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” This, my soul searching friends, is a great leap for me. And here is why….

The last few days, I’ve been saying these simple words to myself- I want my life. I want me. It is like, duh. Of course, I want me. I want my life. That’s all I got, but that’s not how I’ve been living. Like many of us, I imagine, are busy looking at other people’s lives and because we are inundated with the glamorous lives of others, it’s easy to think ours is obviously not that great, and that somehow we must be failing.

For some crazy ass reason, I watched two episodes this weekend of Kim & Kourtney. What I saw were these people, although beautiful (well, in my opinion Kim), wealthy and going around making appearances, had drama and instability in their relationships and their character failed to charm. To expand on this “reality”/celebrity hyped-culture, I will share a little poem I wrote as part of a “contest” my daughter got me in as she kept posting her quirky little poems on my Facebook wall (warning- by posting this, you might have changed your entire opinion of me, for it is a little weird):

You’re listening to Martin Luther King. Smeagol found a ring. It’s the darndest thing. You think it’s all about lemons and love, but really its about fishnets and gloves.         The shallow shall prosper. The weak will intensify. The spirit is petrified. God (and Martin Luther King) are mortified. And your mom’s rhyme can’t help but be philosophized. 

The point is- our spirits are petrified (and thankfully can never die). It appears the shallow are prospering, and the weak are intensifying. I am not one to give God a personality so I don’t actually mean he is mortified (it was said for the art). But—-if you are like me, thoughtful of the soul, and more than fishnets and gloves- then take heed. We are the ones to settle this greed.

Okay- enough of the poetry. But really. And maybe that is not your call to heed, but whatever it is- when I began this post what I really wanted to say to you (and also to me, as I do) WANT YOUR LIFE. Want you. There is no one like you. No one- in all that you can do. Okay, I can’t seem to stop rhyming. 

And here’s why it is important to declare that you want you. That you want your life. Because if we do not, we miss what is sitting right at our nose, maybe closer. There are opportunities right where we are at, but if our eyes are on the red carpet and we aren’t even there, or on Kim Kardashian, and we aren’t even her, then how can we be us? How can we see what’s in our life, right now? How will we ever know what we are capable of? How many lives we can change, whether it’s only our own, or our families, or even the world?

This declaration seems like such common sense, but as we know common sense is not so common, so today I thought I’d share this very common sense. Say to yourself, I want me. I want my life and watch what unfolds (even if it’s scrubbing a toilet).

Namaste,

The Soul Reporter

 

 

 

Soul Work

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Today’s Soul Report: Soul Work

Yesterday, I wrote about being open. Yesterday, I lived what I wrote. Today, I intend to do the same. But, back to yesterday- in my mind, I saw myself getting some work done in the afternoon, but instead I opened- and took some time with my morning pages. From there, I stood on the sidewalk and looked at the sky and all I wanted to do was walk. So I walked. As I walked, it became clear what my next step would be- to introduce Soul Work (I’ll say more about that in a minute).

When I returned from my walk, it was time to get my daughter and begin dinner. When I finally sat down to write out my plan for Soul Work, my daughter came in with some news. I put my work down and gave her all my attention. And then, I stayed up until 1:30 creating my ‘Soul Work’ page, located here on this blog (look up). The only reason I am telling you all these somewhat boring details is to share what I learned- if we stay open, every step to make the day complete and full, arrives. Had I not opened beyond my agenda-riddled mind, I would not have gone on a walk. Had I not gone on the walk, I may have, instead sat at the desk spinning my wheels, wasting time wondering what I should be doing.

See how efficient we can be, when we are OPEN.

Now- Soul Work. I am not going too far into what I mean by Soul Work (because I did that last night until almost 2 am and if you click here you can read more) but, one description I will give is a quote, which explains it: “The only useful purpose is to turn within and realize. There is nothing else to do.” (Ramana Maharishi) What I do want to go into more are reasons why this IS the only useful purpose.

Here is one reason:

The places unseen are what cause the most trouble.

The news my daughter gave me last night is too personal to share here, but what I will say is by coming to me, and sharing what what none of us saw, was we finally did see, and in us seeing, she could see even more. And for me this is what Soul Work is about. We tend to want change to be more complicated than this- you know, 10 steps to enlightenment sort of thing, but really it is about SEEING, and then it gets complicated because there is A LOT to see. But first steps, first….

So, if I were to give 10 steps to enlightenment, my first step would be to SEE. To LOOK. To PAY ATTENTION- to how you feel. What you think. Where you are standing right now. What you are holding inside. JUST STOP AND LOOK, and to help even more, share what you see with someone else. Maybe this is why confession was/is done. I never went, and when I see it in movies, it always looks kind of creepy, but there is something about confessing what we keep hidden- the secrets we don’t want anyone to know about, that shifts our behaviors. Because the places unseen are what cause the most trouble.

I will continue to share more reasons why Soul Work is the only useful thing to do.

Namaste,

The Soul Reporter


Dig In, and Get Open

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Today’s Soul Report: Opening

Not much to report today, except this:

 

Will we keep the gate open as our desires come to greet us?

 

They are our desires, so let them in. 

I don’t mean to be so simplistic today, but I am quite tired. I think there is something profound here, about staying open, as simple as it sounds, but this is not always what we do, is it? We are often quite closed, aren’t we? So how then, do we open? And further how do we stay open?

Recently, I begin by simply stating in my mind my desire to be open, and to stay that way. I see myself at the edge of a cliff, knowing my desires are here, meeting me. I see myself continuing to stand there, at the edge, an elegant wind blowing through my hair, and I look. Listen. Notice. And, respond when needed. Always staying open.

What more can I do? When the call comes, as one did today- for an opportunity to possibly earn a bit of money, I stayed open. When my mind feared another responsibility, I returned to my open space. When I wondered if I even know what I am doing, I stayed open. Again, I don’t mean to make this sound so simplistic. There was inner work, which had to be done to do this. The untying of deeply rooted knots. The facing of fears and obstacles. The clearing of space inside myself. But, anything can begin with an intention. A vision of seeing ourselves as open.

Do this now…when you think of yourself as being open, what does this look like? Return to this image, again and again, and intend to stay open. What obstructs our openness will be revealed. We can face it, and stay open. As we do, our heart, our mind, our soul, our eyes open wider and wider, and so will our lives.

Dig in, and get open.

Namaste,

The Soul Reporter

Find Your Bliss

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Today’s Soul Report: Find Your Bliss & Express It 

Last week, I saw a woman roller skating. She appeared happy. My daughter said, “I see that woman a lot, skating.”

I’m guessing it makes her happy. It is her bliss, and it appears she does it often.

My bliss (well one of them)~ sitting in the sun with a cup of tea. It’s been awhile so I’m off to do that now.

While I sit, I discard my hefty to-do list. A list I’ve had for many years. A list I’ve added on to. A list, where I’ve crossed some items off. And a list, I no longer care to have in my possession.

My bliss~ allowing whatever is to meet me, to meet me, and no longer needing a list.

 

 

 

 

Which leads me to this…

A sunnier spot to sprawl, on a freshly mowed lawn. I wish I would have done this all day….. Becuase today what I really crave is S P A C E & quiet.

I used to think only the ocean was big enough to take away my troubles and cares. My tight mind and make it blank, but looking up I see that the sky takes it too. Maybe this is why that woman skates. Yes, it is her bliss. It makes her smile. But really, what it does is create space in an otherwise clutter filled world, where we do-do-do, overcompensating for what we lack-lack-lack and fear-fear-fear.

SkySpace

 

Find your bliss. If it’s roller skating, then roller skate- often. We all need some S P A C E, probably more than anything else. And we can find it anywhere. In our backyard, if we have one. At the ocean, if we are near one. In our souls, if we dig deep enough. And if no place else- the sky that surrounds us.

Namaste,

The Soul Reporter

What I Know For Sure

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Today’s Soul Report:               What I Know for Sure

Oprah Winfrey has a column in her magaizine: What I Know For Sure

Here is what I know for sure~ something always comes. Ok, what the heck do I mean by that? I mean- I’m never stranded. Never without assistance. Words. Wisdom. HELP. Now, I don’t always trust this, but deep down I KNOW THIS and when I really KNOW this, then I’ve nothing to be insecure about, and neither do you.

Example: I have been sending in posts to an online journal to be considered as a regular contributor. Not knowing they would publish them, thinking they wanted to see my abilitiies and content, I sent them previously published material from my blog. Now, I may need to resend new material. I shared this with my husband and he said, “Well it’s not like you can’t produce.”

Ah, yes I can produce. Something always comes. An idea. A thought. An insight. An experience. And if nothing new comes, I’ve lots of “closeted” pieces I can dig out and freshen up. No worries.

Meryl Streep has been asked how she does what she does- she usually doesn’t have an answer. She fears if she tries to figure it out it what she does might stop. When my husband told me I can produce, for a moment, I doubted. Can I? Will I? What if it stops?  What if I have an opportunity and I fumble? 

But….

Here is what I know for sure, something always comes. And if I use what comes, follow it’s direction, then every day I will be spent. Cup once again empty to be filled again tomorrow.

     Now I’ll play Oprah~ What do you know for sure?

Namaste,

The Soul Reporter