Where does our desire, energy, focus come from? What generates the vital responses that drive us forward in the pursuit of higher vibrational learning?
How do we begin a journey, a quest, turn a dream into action steps, if not from intention?
Dramatic as it may sound, the act of setting an intention is metaphorically akin to the explosive power that lies beneath the surface of that place we call “ground zero.” The power of intention cannot be underestimated.
Our minds can change our perceptions. Using intention as the platform for mental agility and positive change, we can shift negative thoughts, lack of clarity, apathy, and overwhelm into crystal clear action steps. A path born from intention, set in motion, supports an empowered state of being.
The beauty of this foundational learning is how easy it is to implement. All you must do is ask.
Cue the Witch of The North, “You’ve had the power all along, all you have to do is click your heels…”
For intention to contribute positive change in your life, you only need the willingness to ask yourself, “what is my intention?” See what comes up for you with this simple request. If you are stuck, finding yourself impatient with the question, ask again. Be relentless in your pursuit of clear direction for your mind. This is a gift you can give yourself that will quiet the noise of assumptions, expectations, and judgment. Your intention may be as simple as, “I’m going to notice how I feel today”. Or, as profound as you are called to create. “My intention is to uplift humanity with my words and deeds”. Another step, to consciously utilize intention as a practice, is to simply ask, “What is the most beneficial intention I can practice right now?” I welcome you to ask this question daily and see what helpful answers come straight from your subconscious to guide you.
Intention is your purpose, your goal, your plan of action. Energy flows with ease where clearly stated intention has forged a path. When we ground ourselves in intention, we act as opposed to just reacting. Have you ever noticed your energy draining when you are solving problems without preparation? In an emergency, we have no time to prepare and solving the problem can be the difference between life or death. Why allow us to have this burden of immediacy and reactivity under everyday circumstances? Setting intentions for your day, your month, the next 5 years, and even your life’s intention, will help to guide you towards a way of being that puts serenity and mindfulness above reactivity.
I created the wisdom oracle cards Stars What Would Love Do? as a tool for setting intentions that are always grounded in love. It is not a coincidence the first card in the deck is number 0, “intention”. Zero gives our number system its power, and intention gives us the power to become the best version of ourselves. If you could only focus on one teaching for the rest of your life, this would be it.
Can you relate? There’s a little girl inside me and she doesn’t want to be judged. She doesn’t want to be the last one picked, and yet, here I am nominated for an award that resonates with my core values and I find myself wanting to win. What does that even mean? Haven’t I already won just by being nominated? Isn’t this a sign that I am doing what’s in my highest and best?
My higher self, the one who asks the question, “what would love do?” understands that being nominated is the reward. I have received a nomination, an invitation to a seat at a table with visionaries, entrepreneurs with purpose, and leaders who are heart and soul centered.
I had never even heard of this community until I created and published my card deck and guidebook, and that’s a win in and of itself! A new world has opened, and I could not be more grateful.
So, what am I referring to? The COVR Awards. Coalition of Visionary Resources. Serving the mind, body, spirit marketplace.
My heart is so full of gratitude, seriously, in the company of entrants from multiple countries, spanning over 200 categories. Every entry represents the best of the mind, body, spirit industry. I am humbled to be in the company of authors and visionaries I have learned from throughout my adult life.
Despite all the knowing that comes from the work I do to reassure the little girl inside me that everything is happening for her and not to her, I am an imperfect human. In the moments of self-doubt, I pull a card for myself.
“Compassion leads us to see the beauty that is always around us”.
It’s not an accident that the antidote to inner criticism, self-centeredness and pettiness showed up in my hands. The desire to win brings these non-virtues to the surface. And that’s ok, it’s understandable, it’s part of the work to recognize these triggers and responses and remove them with love.
From this place of understanding and compassion, especially for the little girl in me that wants so badly to win and be accepted, I can appreciate the beauty of being nominated and enjoy the process of sitting at the virtual table with hundreds of visionaries as we celebrate powerful work in the mind, body, spirit community.
The Cambridge Dictionary has this as one of the definitions of the word “win”.
“To receive something positive, such as approval, loyalty, or love because you have earned it.”
There is nothing more positive than receiving love. With this as the criteria, we all win when we give and receive the ultimate force in the universe, love.
I invite you to vote for “Stars What Would (((Love))) Do?” deck. Voting is open April 9th-30th. Visit here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/358B6GN
]]>I was traveling for a week in 2015. Actually, I was a willing passenger on an adventure.
My son Spencer uncovered a talent for the 19th century game of pool and we were bound for St. Louise by invitation of the top Billiard coaches and his team.
He saw the line.
I'll explain what that means in a minute, but this post is for anyone who went kicking and screaming into something, only to realize it was a gift from the universe.
The world was opening up to him. Showing him a path to his life purpose, and it had everything to do with the game of billiards or pool.
He started playing just after we pulled him from public school. My son was bullied by a teacher. Spencer was emotionally low. He asked to be homeschooled and I didn’t think it would be good for our relationship until I realized it was worse for him to be in an environment that was crushing his spirit.
What looked like unfortunate circumstances turned out to be gifts from the universe. In actuality, it was the catalyst that set him, and myself as a parent, on his path.
I can say now, with calm and confidence, THANK YOU universe.
How he innocently stumbled across the game was nothing short of divine intervention.
After this unfortunate incident, we found ourselves enrolling him in the homeschool program run by an angel named Lori Peters with One Spark Academy (OSA).
This way of educating my son was new to me. OSA provided classes for homeschooled children in Jr High that wanted peer connections, and for parents like me, who didn’t want to teach their own children academics. OSA, a fledgling non-profit born out of necessity and need rented the local teen center during the day to house the kids and teach classes. After school, it became a hang out for kids 12 to 17. It was in this program, that on breaks, Spencer would play pool in the game room. A kind soul named Hacker, who worked for the teen center, encouraged Spencer to learn the fundamentals and play at the Friday Pool teen tournament. Spencer started to play and win. Vern, a sweet older gentleman that happened to be caring for his ailing wife, would come to the Senior Center (located next door to the Teen Center) to socialize and play pool. Vern was the best player Spencer knew and he asked Vern if he would teach him.
Vern accepted, and for months every Tuesday, Spencer, and Vern had a standing appointment to learn and play.
In a short time, Spencer was “placing” in top positions and often winning the weekly tournaments…… He craved more. As Spencer progressed he was focused and eager to learn. He reached out to local pool halls asking if he could play, but he was only 12 years old. One Saturday afternoon we were having a family hang-out day and Spencer said, “Mom, there’s a pool Hall 2.5 miles away called Stixx’s, can we swing by and check it out?”
Gulp, A pool hall was not my vision of where I wanted my pre-teen to be playing. After a few deep breaths, not wanting to break his spirit with my bias, I said, “maybe”.
Actually, I was thinking, “how can I get out of this...??”
I called ahead to ask if they were open, and more importantly, were minors allowed. I also asked if it was a place for very young players? Brian, the pool hall associate said, “why yes, we think of ourselves as a family establishment.”
“Yeah right”, I thought… but not wanting to disappoint Spencer I said, “let's go check it out, but I will go in first.”
We parked and I walked in alone, ready to find all the negatives and tell Spencer, “sorry, it's not cool.”
To my pleasant surprise, the people were kind and happy to have someone so young interested in the game of pool. They also loved that Spencer had his pool stick in the car. When I came back to the car I said to my husband Jim, “let's all go in and watch him play”. And that is what we did. On that day Spencer met Chris Robinson, a 16-year old that had placed in the National Tournament the prior year and then eventually went on to win Junior Nationals and become Spencer's best friend to this day.
This was the beginning of many trips to Stixx Billiards in Ventura, CA to practice and play with Chris and participate in this community.
And then he saw the line. Not everybody sees the line, but Spencer did.
The elusive, much coveted vision of the line. This is the line on the table that appears in a players mind's eye when he’s about to make the perfect shot.
This begs the question, do we see the energetic line between our adversity and where we are?
And there were other lines that were seen from one connection to another. Like the line that was crossed by a teacher who bullied Spencer. I can assuredly tell you that without that unfortunate situation, Spencer would have never found the game of pool.
The experience my son and I had was a stellar example of being open to accepting the gifts that present themselves, in unexpected ways from the universe.
Like the line that leads you to your true purpose regardless of the adversity it might have been packaged in.
*Pretty S. Martinez photo credit
]]>As Valentine’s Day shows up on the calendar, do you get a sinking feeling in your chest or stomach because you don’t believe there should be a day about romantic love?
Does it feel like pressure to have a certain kind of romantic experience, creating unrealistic expectations for you and a partner? Are you single and not looking forward to the day of couples posts with roses and chocolates? Does the idea of conventional displays of affection feel disingenuous?
If you’ve followed my journey at all you know that these kinds of expectations and gestures have nothing to do with my practice of leading from love. It’s always nice to be appreciated by a partner, and that is a form of showing affection and appreciation, however, love as a practice and technology to solve human problems is so much more than that.
That’s why I got so excited about the idea of “Galentine’s Day”. An opportunity to reframe the Valentine’s Day romantic love pressure cooker into a warm and nutritional offering that celebrates the love we have for our girlfriends and ourselves.
Let’s call this the great Valentine’s Day reframe of 2021! If there’s anything we learned from 2020 it's business as usual doesn’t work. We’ve been asked to be flexible, resilient and humble as we navigate a global pandemic, and enormous political and social shifts. So what do we do about Valentine’s Day looming on our calendar? The stale candy and over priced flowers suddenly lose their meaning as we stretch to understand the quickly changing landscape of our times.
Through the practice of asking, “What would love do?” we can take this day to a deeper level.
1. Water Love: Make yourself a hot bath with epsom salt and a few drops of your favorite essential oils. Allow the water to embrace you in it’s warmth.
2. Earth Love: Take off your shoes and walk on the earth. Feel the grass, dirt, sand or stone.
3. Self Love: Speak the mantra, I am worthy, I am loved. Repeat until you believe it.
4. Nourished Love: Make or order your favorite meal, paying attention to the way it tastes and feels in your mouth.
5. Spoken Love: Use kind words in all interactions. Notice the way it makes people feel around you.
6. Morning Love: Before you open your eyes in the morning, think of one thing you’re grateful for.
7. Attentive Love: Turn off technology, be silent with yourself, close your eyes and experience what bubbles up.
8. Affectionate Love: Give yourself a foot massage. Use a natural oil or body butter and thank your feet for carrying you everywhere you go.
9. Future Love: Write a letter to yourself with loving words of encouragement and acknowledgement. Seal it and send it to yourself at the end of the year.
10. Divine Love: Giving love to others.