Soulshine

“A nun I know once told me she kept begging God to take her character defects away from her. After years of this prayer, God finally got back to her: I’m not going to take anything away from you.  You have to give it to me.” Anne Lamont, Help-Thanks-Wow I’ve come to believe that prayer needs to be very simple and that it needs to be a partnership. Prayer, to me, is simply talking with a Higher Power; no need for rote prayers. The most honest prayer comes from the heart. I write it myself with my honesty and vulnerability. Prayer is a partnership in that I ask a Higher Power for help with the things I am powerless over, and in that I accept responsibility for the things I need to do to help myself. Prayer isn’t about asking a Higher Power to do everything while I sit back and wait. This partnership means I work hand-in-hand with a Higher Power to resolve life’s burdens, and it often leads to a partnership with others as well. I struggle with terrible bouts of sadne...

Many men think they have to be towers of strength for everyone else around them. They perceive themselves as men of steel who shoulder life’s burdens fearlessly, when in fact they are mental/emotional basket cases because they refuse to face their feelings and to share them with others who can help them. This crack in the masculine armor really begins to make itself visible when these same men become fathers. Let’s face it: Father’s have lots to be concerned about. In addition to themselves they have spouses, children, house payments, car payments, educational expenses, credit card bills, employment issues, et al to get their stomach’s churning. It’s true that most spouses work and shoulder much of the burden today, but there are still more men than not who feel 100 percent responsible for their families. So, it’s no wonder that most Dads suffer from heartburn and other digestive issues. They have many problems to juggle and they rarely, if ever, allow anyone to truly help...

  “Take this moment. Make it still. Stay forever by my side. Make a promise to your soul. Leave me never.” Afterlife, Miracle We all need to make promises to our souls—promises we are willing to pursue. But before we can make a soulful promise to never leave another, we have to make a soulful promise to ourselves. We need to promise to never again abandon ourselves—in any way. Once that promise is made we need to include the additional promise to always love who we are. Once we bring these promises to fruition, we can think about making the most breath-taking soulful promise of our lives: To work at being vulnerable before others. It takes great courage to love who you are enough to be totally vulnerable and real before other people. But once we are able to be vulnerable before others, our naked sincerity will invite others to be vulnerable before us. This is how we soul-connect with the right people in life. And this is how we discover our soul mates. No one meets their true so...

“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...

“Frame your own life events in a way that helps people  understand what to make of you.” Anonymous It’s Christmas Eve and the greatest gift we can give and receive is love. Forget the other stuff. Love last forever. In order for people to love us, however, they have to understand us. To understand us they need to know us. We have to be vulnerable enough to open up our hearts, look inside and come to understand ourselves. We can then paint an authentic portrait of who we are and frame ourselves in such a way that our lives make sense to us and others. Those who like the authentic portrait we paint of ourselves and those who understand the way in which we have framed our lives, will grow to love us just as we are. These are the people we want to add to the portrait that we savor as family and friends. These are the people who matter. These are the people we want to spend our days with, especially our Holidays.  Spend some good time with yourself on this Chri...

There’s a reason why the term “Angel Eyes” has been popular for many years. When you look into the eyes of another person, you see through to their soul, to the angel inside of them. As you peer into the eyes of another, you touch their divine humanness. And in doing so, you allow them to touch your own soul as you open up your inner-angel to them. It takes a great deal of honest, naked vulnerability to look someone deeply in their angel eyes. And it takes loads of courage to keep your eyes focused on theirs as they look you right back in your angel eyes. Sadly, many of us fail to have such courage or naked vulnerability. We’ve been taught to refrain from looking people in the eyes for fear that we will somehow make too much, or too deep of a connection. The supposed fear is that we will then owe the other something, but I think the real fear is that we will have to acknowledge their sacredness as a human being. It’s easier to treat a person like they are a disposable obje...