Soulshine

“The whole point of focusing on ‘the NOW ’ is to end the search for happiness.” Robert Holden, Happiness NOW   Going with the flow of our day means getting out of our heads as much as possible. Sure, we have to be in our heads some. But the average person probably spends 80 percent of their waking day living inside of their head, and they only bother to leave it when the bump into the reality of the outside world. For example, you can be at work, sitting at your desk, fully engaged inside your head until your phone rings or someone knock on your door. These perceived interruptions take you out of your head and lead you back into the real world. They place you back into the flow of life, and yet we are often crusty about the fact that the real world is disturbing our little inner-world. Think of it this way: Our little inner-world is filled with expectations, shoulds and other such happiness-zappers. When we are constantly caught-up in our little worlds of “th...

“Sorry is born in the hasty heart.” Richard Todd, The Hasty Heart The hasty heart is the obsessive-compulsive heart. It’s the heart that’s always a jump away from reacting to life. And it’s the heart that plunges head-long into something without ever involving the thought process. Truly, “sorry is born in the hasty heart.” And yet, so many of us who suffer from hasty hearts find it difficult to say “I’m sorry.” We say ugly things that we quickly regret. We react and do things that are hurtful toward people we love. We act manipulatively to get what we want. And even after we have experienced our guilt trips, even after we have accepted that we have been hurtful toward others, we still find it nearly impossible to fess up and take ownership of our behavior. Why is this? If we want to change this bad behavior of ours, we have to get to the bottom of it through some soul-searching. If you’ve said or done something recently that you need to take ownership of through an a...

“Maurice’s folks won’t meet me: Not over their dead bodies,” said Adrienne. To which her sister Coco replies “So let them die.” Coco Before Chanel , Sony Classic Films 2009 Coco Before Chanel paints a vivid portrait of its heroine. French actress Audrey Tautou gives Coco Chanel a mysterious and intriguing edge. Through Tautou’s eyes, Coco is introverted yet daring, determined yet meek, comfortable in her own skin/designs yet edgy inside, cool and yet tender. She knows what she wants in life and she manages to remain focused despite her contradictory feelings. It seems as if Coco ’s great ability to stay focused in the present moment enables her to find balance between her extremes. Despite the many challenges she faces, she is always able to return to the center of her being; to the essence of Coco by following the flow of her feelings. We could all take a few good lessons from this portrayal of Coco Chanel. We need to allow ourselves to feel that tug and pull of our many emoti...