What's in the gallery?

We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.

We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**

* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.

** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.

What's in the gallery?

We dissolve stuck and rewrite patterns. We apply radical playfulness to life (when we feel like it!), embarking on internal adventures (credo of Safety First). We have a fake band called Solved By Cake. We build invisible sanctuaries, invent words and worlds, breathe awe and wonder.

We are not impressed by monsters. Except when we are. We explore the connections between internal territories and surrounding environment to learn what marvelously supportive delicious space feels like, and how to take exquisite care of ourselves. We transform things.* We glow wild.**

* For example: Desire, fear, worry, pain-and-trauma, boundaries, that problematic word which rhymes with flaweductivity.

** Fair warning: Self-fluency has been known to lead to extremely subversive behavior, including treasuring yourself unconditionally, unapologetically taking up space, experiencing outrageously improbable levels of self-acceptance, and general rejoicing in aliveness.

Friday Chicken #311: like it’s my job

Friday chicken

Where I cover the good and the hard in my week, visiting the non-preachy side of ritual and self-reflection.

It is Friday and we are here.

{a breath for Friday}

I am away at the Vicarage, where I have removed myself from everything to get even quieter than I usually am, which, if you’ve met me, is pretty quiet, since I don’t actually talk.

What worked this week?

Trust.

“This moment is right.”

Next time I might…

Remember what Julie says.

Because she’s right:

Anticipation, expectations….just toss that shit out. That is no way to live. Let it go. Work with what is here.

And that she laughs. The laughing part is key. You have to be having fun or at least giggling at yourself while practicing this detachment stuff. And of course: legitimacy for how hard it is. That part is important too. Otherwise I’m just attached to the detachment….

Eight breaths for the hard, challenging and mysterious.

  1. Loss and mourning. A breath for goodbyes.
  2. Goodbyes. A breath for everything ends.
  3. Missing. A breath for trust.
  4. PTSD. A breath for healing.
  5. Expectations and holding onto them. A breath for grace.
  6. Longings. A breath for allowing desires to be legitimate.
  7. I wish I could stay here. A breath for passage.
  8. Inhale, exhale. Goodbye, mysteries and hard moments of this week.

Eight breaths of good, reassuring, delight-filled.

  1. Wonderfully peaceful. A breath for pleasure.
  2. Wildly confident. A breath for the superpower I have been working towards: it is here.
  3. Nothing is wrong. All timing is right timing. A breath for remembering truth.
  4. Walking by the water. A breath for the thing that is best for me.
  5. Napping like it’s my job. A breath for one day this will be be part of my job.
  6. Epiphanies. They can be stupid and annoying, and they are still amazing. A breath for uncovering.
  7. I crossed a bridge, a big one, and this was the exact right time to do it. A breath for seeing it while it’s happening.
  8. Appreciation and thankfulness. Thank you, Operation Kaleidoscope. Thank you, everything that brought me here. Thank you, red lipstick. Thank you, lovely surprises. Nothing is wrong. Now is not then. So many things are good. A breath for deep appreciation in my thank-you heart.

WHAM BOOM! Operations completed.

The phrase Whoosh Ha Mastodon Boom is secret agent code that means: this thing is done! It is often shortened to wham-boom. You may also shout (or whisper) other joyous words if you like.

I have been writing all the things I wanted to write that I didn’t know I wanted to write. Wham Boom.

Superpowers!

Powers I had this week…

The power of giving myself permission to do the thing that is indicated instead of fighting it.

Whether that is back to bed or staying out late or crying on the floor or telling the truth.

Superpowers I want.

Same as last time: the power of knowing, deeply, that every moment is treasure.

Salve. The Salve of Comfort.

This salve is like a really good hug.

It holds the qualities of Support, Peacefulness, Reassurance, Unconditional Love, Sweetness, Strength and undiluted Adoration.

When I massage this into my skin, I remember: I am safe. I am held. I am loved. This thing that hurts will pass, and these truths will still be true.

These salves can’t be seen, but the production factory delivers enough for distribution by way of the magic of the internet, so help yourself. There is enough.

If salve does not appeal, you can have this in tea form, as a bath, cocktail, whatever works for you. Not only is there enough salve, there are also enough ways to receive it.

Playing live at the meme beach house — the Fake Band of the Week!

My brother and I make up bands, which are all just one guy. The Meme Beach House is the venue.

This band is from Luke and they’re called Overworked Alter Egos, they play metal ballads in Portuguese and it’s just one guy.

Attenzione! Attention, AGENTS.

I spend a lot of time saying “ohmygod I want to go somewhere and WRITE, I want to go on a writing retreat” and then I never do that because of the part where hahaha I’d probably have to sit around with Writers and talk about what I’m writing.

And then I realized I could invent my own that would be exactly what I want. Price super low because I need to leave town for a couple of weeks. It is called a Righting Retreat.

Partly because that sounds less intimidating (to me), and partly because it is true. We will Right things.

Come read the page because 1) I swear a lot, 2) I make a pun that is also truth, 3) there is a cloud that makes me smile, 4) I can’t be the only person who longs for this, 5) I just made a thing and would love company, 6) there is an extra-extra-extra low price for the first few people.

Not sure if there are still spots left because I am away, but give it a try!

—-> https://fluentself.com//righting/ —-> PASSWORD: oneword

Come play if you like…

Join me in the comments. Some of us share hard and good, some of us say hi, or maybe we’re on silent retreat. My ritual doesn’t have to be your ritual. Whatever works for you. Almost three hundred weeks of this and there still isn’t a right way.

Everyone belongs. We let people have their own experience. We’re supportive and welcoming. We don’t give advice.

Wishing you a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious day, a restful weekend and a happy week to come.

Shabbat shalom.

p.s. It’s fine if it’s not Friday anymore. There’s complete chicken amnesty — join in whenever you like, it’s no big deal. And I am blowing kisses to the Beloved Lurkers. I love that you are here too.

Wish #261: thank you, last year me.

very personal adsPersonal ads. They’re … personal! Very.

I write a Very Personal Ad each week to practice wanting, and get clarity about my desires. The point isn’t getting my wish (though cool things have emerged from wishing), the point is learning about my relationship with what I want, and accessing the qualities. Wanting can be hard, it is easy to feel conflicted about it, and the reasons for that make this a surprisingly subversive practice…

What do I want?

I have to tell you a funny story.

Last year, when I was going through the usual Fourth of July PTSD trauma from [explosions, everywhere], I made a wish that this year I would be somewhere safe:

“Part of what needs to change in July is REFUGE. I need to be somewhere else so that I can give myself shelter and refuge.”

The Spy Who Loved Me promised we would go to France, except then things changed and there is no Spy.

Guess what though? Even though I didn’t make any plans at all, I miraculously ended up at the Vicarage for the fourth of July. I ended up at the safest place I know.

How wonderful and amazing is that? Thank you, last year me. And me of Rally R, who set this into motion two weeks ago. R is for Refuge. Do you see?

What do I know about this wish so far?

Seeding. I seeded things.

Seeding things is important.

Seeding qualities is the most important.

Making wishes is important. Allowing myself to wish: this is important.

What else do I know about what I want?

I have written about my thank-you heart.

I have said thank you to the winding path that brought me here.

There is so much more thank-you than that.

Thank you, every me who wished every wish.

Thank you?

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.

Thank you, me of 2005 who started this website. Thank you, me of 2010 who opened the Playground in Portland. Thank you, me of the very first wish, who made the wish that brought me together with my home. Thank you, me who realized there was something in this practice.

Thank you.

Thank you for being brave enough to wish, thank you for peeking at desire and asking loving questions and being curious. Thank you.

Thank you inside and out, forward and backward.

Internal thank-yous to all the Havi Bells.

External thank-yous to everyone who reads.

Forward thank-yous to slightly future me.

Backward thank-yous to me from then.

Thank you in all the directions.

What else do I know about this?

The more time I spend in thank you, the happier I am.

What else do I know about this?

Past-me sets things up for me now, and I glow love to all the Havi Bells, past and future. We are all connected.

What else do I know about this?

Thank-you is the grace state.

Everything is easier when I enter from appreciation.

What else do I know about this?

It doesn’t cost anything. It doesn’t require anything other than getting quiet and remembering.

And yet at the same time, it is the hardest practice. The simplest, and the hardest.

It asks that I get quiet, peaceful, that I practice legitimacy, that I forgive myself.

What else do I know about this?

The quickest way — for me — into thank you is rest.

Closing my eyes, resting into the floor, listening to my breath, feeling my body-mind slowly release rules and rigidity, fear and tension.

Anything else?

This desire to spend more time in THANK YOU is the the direct result of last week’s wish about Wonderfully Peaceful.

So this is perfect.

And also this is one of the things I came to the Vicarage to learn.

To say thank you, and to forgive.

Where do I want to start?

To be a bell of thank you, I need to do less.

Thank you requires noticing: my toes lift up in a little dance and my left hand is clenching again.

Thank you is how I want to enter writing. I am a writer who questions things, including writing. So I can start writing with thank you.

Thank you to each of the qualities in the eight points of my compass:

Peacefulness. Safety. Ease. Shelter. Freedom. Release. Glow. Wild.

Of course: Tranquility.

July-2014Tranquility Hello, July. Hello, new salve and superpower in the Fluent Self calendar, July is the month of Tranquility.

Superpower of remembering that Now Is Not Then.

Tranquility is just right. Also I love how the salve has an anchor on it, and I am by the water, being an anchor and a bell.

Now is not then is a wonderful concept, especially for thank-yous that are directed towards the past, because I have a lot of Hard in my past.

Sometimes it is challenging to find the thank you in those memories. When I can’t find the thank you, I can say thank you to me-then for hanging in there, for having the tiniest spark of faith, for letting me in. I can say thank you for having gotten through.

Last month we asked that past experience be transformed into jewels. Now it is time to be tranquil and present: thank you, me who set up the calendar in this way. Thank you for this transition which is exactly what I need.

Talking to Incoming Me about…

Me: Shifting my focus to thank-you and tranquility, this feels like new territory. Haha, those were all T words, and when I come back to Portland it will be time for Rally T.
Slightly wiser me: Remember last week when I asked you if you remembered the trees?
Me: Another T-word! Yes, so this is the same. The me from the trees knows about thank-yous and tranquility. These are not new to me. It is just a new angle, a new vocabulary, a new spiral.
Slightly wiser me: This is why you have spent the past couple of years in a deep commitment to quiet, so you could get to this. And Thank You and Tranquility are bridges to new and wonderful adventures. You’re more ready than you think you are, and it doesn’t require anything of you. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Trust your instincts. Do things that feel good.

Anything else? Starting points?

Find things that elicit thank-yous. Skip stones as often as possible. Dance. Intensity. Writing. Operation Sip Hint Learn. It’s all about red lipstick. Eight breaths. My body gets the deciding vote. Thank you in advance.

What else do I want?

Seeds planted without explanation, a mix of secret agent code and silent retreat. Things to play with someday.
  • Everything is easier than I thought, and look, miracles everywhere.
  • I have the best time dancing in my ballroom.
  • This doesn’t require my input!
  • Ha, it’s so perfect that it turned out like this. Past me is a GENIUS
  • I have what I need, and I appreciate it. There are resources to do this.
  • Trust and steadiness. I can see why this moment is good.
  • Hawaii. Hawaii is not in Hawaii. It’s the Vicarage!
  • I am fearless and confident. I do the brave things and it is not even a big deal, and I still get sparklepoints, yay.
  • Ops: Thank you in eight directions.

Clues?

The color copper. The texture of lace.

Progress report on past Very Personal Ads.

So. Last week, aka wonderfully peaceful…

That was the just-right wish, and how funny that I didn’t know we’d be entering the month of Tranquility. It’s like I was preparing for it ahead of time.

Thank you, writing. Thank you, me who asked.

Attenzione! Attention, AGENTS.

I wish to whisper a whisper about the Monster Manual! It comes paired with the world’s best coloring book, which does so much monster-dissolving magic that even if you wait to try the techniques, you’ll still feel better about everything.

Self-fluency is hard enough, we need ways to to interact with the thoughts-fear-worry-criticism that shuts down creative exploring. And when people get the manual, I am able to me spend more time writing here. So if you don’t need help with monsters, get one for a friend. Or plant a wish that someone gets it for you! And bring people you like to hang out here. The more of us working on our stuff, the better for all of us. ♡

Keep me company?

Consider this an open invitation to deposit wishes, gwishes, personal ads. In any size/form you like, there’s no right way. Updates on past experiments are welcome too, as is anything sparked for you.

Commenting culture: This is safe space for creative exploration. We are on permanent vacation from care-taking and advice-giving. We are here to play.

Let’s throw things in the pot! And: Amnesty. Leave a wish any time you want.

xox

Friday Chicken #310: a richness of quiet

Friday chicken

Where I cover the good and the hard in my week, visiting the non-preachy side of ritual and self-reflection.

It is Friday and we are here.

{a breath for Friday}

I am at the Vicarage, where I have removed myself from everything for two weeks so that I can get even quieter than I usually am. There is a richness of quiet that I crave right now, and this is the place where I can sink into silence.

And since I am currently engaged in this deeper-quiet, this Chicken will be an abbreviated one. I hope you can feel some of the quiet coming through, as well as the wonderful superpowers of quieting.

What worked this week?

Removing myself from everything.

I keep looking at this sentence and shaking my head at the wisdom of what I did for myself.

Next time I might…

Do this sooner.

The plan to run away to the Vicarage happened super last-minute.

While I was going through my “how to run away to the Vicarage” protocol, I found a note from Last Year Me who said:

My love, please don’t wait to do this until you are at an edge. Don’t wait until you can’t see straight to pause and recalibrate. Do this before you think you need it. And, most importantly, don’t wait until after you need it.

So. I didn’t wait until after I needed it. That part is good. And I also knew six weeks ago that the need was on the way, and tried to ignore that information. Next time. Progress.

Thank you, last-year me. Thank you, last-week me. Thank you, incoming me who has figured out this whole “taking care of myself” thing.

Eight breaths for the hard, challenging and mysterious.

  1. Loss. A breath for comfort.
  2. Need. A breath for trust.
  3. The well of sadness. A breath for release.
  4. Goodbyes. A breath for newness.
  5. Isolation. A breath for knowing I am not alone.
  6. Wistful wishing for something that is not to be, or not to be right now. A breath for allowing desires to be legitimate.
  7. Everything unresolved. A breath for passage.
  8. Inhale, exhale. Goodbye, mysteries and hard moments of this week.

Eight breaths of good, reassuring, delight-filled.

  1. I am here. A breath for safety and protection.
  2. I have given this time to myself. A breath for treasure and for treasuring myself.
  3. Nothing is wrong. All timing is right timing. A breath for remembering truth.
  4. Sky. Water. A breath for peacefulness.
  5. I have words. A breath for appreciating who I am.
  6. Remembering that I am radiantly beautiful. It is astonishing how often I forget this, most of the time. A breath for rediscovering.
  7. When I have this kind of quiet, I am amazed at what I know. A breath for the sea of wisdom.
  8. Appreciation and thankfulness. Thank you, Alon for naming Operation Kaleidoscope. Thank you, Richard for being the best possible friend I could ask for. Thank you, miracles. Thank you, fruit. Thank you, blue towel. Thank you, lovely surprises. Nothing is wrong. Now is not then. So many things are good. A breath for deep appreciation in my thank-you heart.

WHAM BOOM! Operations completed.

The phrase Whoosh Ha Mastodon Boom is secret agent code that means: this thing is done! It is often shortened to wham-boom. You may also shout (or whisper) other joyous words if you like.

The best part of Operation Kaleidoscope is that I don’t have to do anything except take care of myself, and this is the best op in the entire world, and the monsters don’t even get to complain about me wham-booming this. Wham Boom.

Superpowers!

Powers I had this week…

The power of remembering how beautiful I am.

Superpowers I want.

Same as last time: the power of knowing, deeply, that every moment is treasure.

Salve. The Salve of Quieting.

It’s the Vicarage salve. When you rub this into your skin, it’s a bit like sinking into a warm pool. Or putting on noise-canceling headphones.

It’s this moment of AHHHHHHHHHHH DEEP EXHALE.

The hum-rattle-thrum of life’s buzziness just stops. There is you and your breath and sweet contentment. As if someone just turned off the vacuum cleaner in the background. As if the tap drip finally stopped. As if you had no idea how many things in the background (mental, physical, emotional) were causing interference until suddenly they all disappeared.

You relax into it, and then more, and then more. You set something down and then you set more things down, and then you remember words like tranquility and calm, and they are suddenly real.

These salves can’t be seen, but the production factory delivers enough for distribution by way of the magic of the internet, so help yourself. There is enough.

If salve does not appeal, you can have this in tea form, as a bath, cocktail, whatever works for you. Not only is there enough salve, there are also enough ways to receive it.

Playing live at the meme beach house — the Fake Band of the Week!

My brother and I make up bands, which are all just one guy. The Meme Beach House is the venue.

This band is from Marisa and they’re called Weird Hyper Electric Confusion, they play Irish trance music and it’s just one guy.

Attenzione! Attention, AGENTS.

I spend a lot of time saying “ohmygod I want to go somewhere and WRITE, I want to go on a writing retreat” and then I never do that because of the part where hahaha I’d probably have to sit around with Writers and talk about what I’m writing.

And then I realized I could invent my own that would be exactly what I want. Price super low because I need to leave town for a couple of weeks. It is called a Righting Retreat.

Partly because that sounds less intimidating (to me), and partly because it is true. We will Right things.

Come read the page because 1) I swear a lot, 2) I make a pun that is also truth, 3) there is a cloud that makes me smile, 4) I can’t be the only person who longs for this, 5) I just made a thing and would love company, 6) there is an extra-extra-extra low price for the first few people.

Not sure if there are still spots left because I am away, but give it a try!

—-> https://fluentself.com//righting/ —-> PASSWORD: oneword

Come play if you like…

Join me in the comments. Some of us share hard and good, some of us say hi, or maybe we’re on silent retreat. My ritual doesn’t have to be your ritual. Whatever works for you. Almost three hundred weeks of this and there still isn’t a right way.

Everyone belongs. We let people have their own experience. We’re supportive and welcoming. We don’t give advice.

Wishing you a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious day, a restful weekend and a happy week to come.

Shabbat shalom.

p.s. It’s fine if it’s not Friday anymore. There’s complete chicken amnesty — join in whenever you like, it’s no big deal. And I am blowing kisses to the Beloved Lurkers. I love that you are here too.

P is for Possibilities.

It was Rally P, and it was perfect in every way, of course, because Nothing Is Wrong and This Moment Is Right, and This Moment Is Useful, and I am Taking A Breath, and that is what perfect means, to me.

Not that everything went the way I wanted it to, not that everything was “flawless”, whatever that means. Just that everything that happens at Rally is part of Rally, and here we are, on a marvelous shared adventure.

And since I was on a Stealth Adventure for Rally P, it was, in a sense, a private week of P.

P is for playing, what we do here, the starting-point of self-fluency.

P is for all the things that are possible.

Since there are far too many pleasurable P-words to play with, how about a compass of Possibilities?

North: Possibilities.

Pure potential.

Anything can happen.

Who knows what marvelous things are in store.

Northeast: Provision.

Provisions and provisioning, all forms of taking exquisite care of myself.

Caring for past me and for incoming me. Planting jolly ranchers for later.

East: Presence.

I am here now.

Right here, right now.

I want to be here now.

A breath for this moment, and for being with it.

Southeast: Pleasure.

Delighting in pleasure.

Trusting in pleasure.

Choosing pleasure.

I avoided this one for years, too scary, too intense. It was waiting for me though. And it was just right. It was even better than I thought it would be when I was hiding from it. Uh huh.

South: Permission.

An anchoring word, if there ever was one.

Something else I feared, because I thought it was about a lack of boundaries.

Actually it is about marvelous boundaries: glowingly healthy boundaries.

It is about play and it is about presence and it is about knowing what you want. It is about giving legitimacy to what you feel, need and want. Big stuff.

Southwest: Passion.

Thinking about a former lover who introduced me to this poem, by Helen Chasin.

It is called The Word Plum:

The word plum is delicious

pout and push, luxury of
self-love, and savoring murmur

full in the mouth and falling
like fruit

taut skin
pierced, bitten, provoked into
juice, and tart flesh

question
and reply, lip and tongue
of pleasure.

Yes, passion is luscious. And so are words. And so, for that matter, are plums. Although the lover in question had never had one. I have a weakness for people who are unfamiliar with ordinary things that are not ordinary at all. It is a thing.

West: Passage.

It is about preparation for the voyage.

It is about crossing.

We are always in a state of passage. Sometimes in a significantly more heightened state of crossing the line. This is what Rally is for, to facilitate passages. So you can come back with new awareness.

Southwest: Protection.

Safety, shelter, sanctuary, safe rooms. But also: privacy.

Knowing that you are held. Knowing that you are cared for. Knowing that nothing can get in that doesn’t need to. A force field that only allows in the qualities you want, in the amounts that feel safe and comfortable. Protection.

Other P words.

Paths and pathways. Peace and Peacefulness. Percolating. Providence. Plenty. Poetry.

Planting. Purpose. Persimmon. Participation. Picking (both up and also: choosing). Pink. Past. Ports. Portals. Portable. Porches. Privacy.

Painting. Positivity. Patience. Perception. Percepting. Precision. Perseverance. Purpose. Poise.

Polish. Publish. Private Eye.

Peonies. Posies. Parenthetical asides. Possess. Parades! Parks. Pouring. Pie. Pennies. Picnics. Pizazz. Protests. Pickles. Perch. Periwinkle. Pass. Process. Promenade.

Perspective, which is seeing the Possibilities. Playground. Play! Pert. Picturesque. Party, and Briana’s brother who takes his party with him. Pattern Recognition. Power. Preparation. Potential.

And of course we must visit Phrontisterey for such words as paizogony (it’s totally making out), palanquin, and pantopragmatic.

May it be so! And come play with me.

Thank you, letter P.

If you want to whisper words or sound effects that start with P, go for it.

If you want to share in any of the qualities and magical words I named here, you can.

They work like the salves in the Friday Chicken: just take some, there is always more.

Whispering loving spells that begin with P, for myself, and for anyone who wants…

Wish #260: Wonderfully Peaceful

very personal adsPersonal ads. They’re … personal! Very.

I write a Very Personal Ad each week to practice wanting, and get clarity about my desires. The point isn’t getting my wish (though cool things have emerged from wishing), the point is learning about my relationship with what I want, and accessing the qualities. Wanting can be hard, it is easy to feel conflicted about it, and the reasons for that make this a surprisingly subversive practice…

What do I want?

Whenever I talk to Eve Wild (Incoming Me), she tells me about her twin superpowers: Wildly Confident and Wonderfully Peaceful.

I have been working with the first one because it scares me more, now is the time for the second.

Or, really, now is the time to understand more deeply how they are connected.

What do I know about this wish so far?

I have run away to the Vicarage, the only place where I consistently am able to access this feeling of Wonderfully Peaceful, so that I can study it.

The Vicarage is also the only place where I allow myself to do hours of yoga, in any form that I want, even if it’s hugging my knees and rolling on the floor, for — yes — hours.

No wonder I feel wonderfully peaceful at the Vicarage. I also feel wonderfully peaceful because it includes all the elements that make a Havi Bell a happy bell:

Quiet. Water. Spaciousness. No responsibilities other than caring for myself.

So of course I am here to learn how to bring this back with me into daily life.

What else do I know about what I want?

Usually I wait until I am very much not in a state of peacefulness to retreat to the Vicarage.

Well, that’s what happened this time as well except this time I planned it right before the crash instead of planning it during the crash. Pre-emptive peacefulness!

I have many monsters about this, from all sides.

Both from the “how dare you take time to yourself when everyone needs you” angle, as well as the other side: “good grief, if you can’t even figure out how to take care of yourself, to the point that figuring out you need a break five seconds before you fall apart is a win, that’s just embarrassing.”

They mean well. And also they’re feeling a little scared about what might happen if I get peaceful as a regular thing. They’re worried I will lose my passion. Nope, not going to happen. That’s why Wildly Confident comes hand and hand with the Wonderfully Peaceful.

So we’re talking about that. Making some safe rooms.

What else do I know?

This wish is connected, intimately connected, with all the previous wishes.

I have made wishes about emptying, about letting go, about closing the doors, about release, about clarity and getting clear, being willing to see what is, one thing at a time, eliminating as part of illuminating.

And here I am, literally in the place where I go when I am empty. I am sitting with the void (it’s a hot date with the void), and I am letting go. Filling up on peacefulness, letting go of things that do not contribute to peacefulness.

Past-me set up everything beautifully so that I could learn this, now.

Anything else?

It’s funny. The monsters are right about one thing. I have every reason not to be feeling wonderfully peaceful.

There’s work stuff and family stuff and heartache stuff and a whole assortment of stuff-stuff, a giant monster-number of things to feel feelings about. Worry, pain, hurt, sadness, all the feelings.

Except all of these are actually reasons to do more exploring of Wonderfully Peaceful, to spend more time figuring out how this works, what it feels like, what I already know about it that I don’t know that I know.

And it is time to ask an old question again: What is more astonishing?

Where do I want to start?

Doing wonderfully peaceful things.

Sleeping. Trusting my instinct. Going for long meandering walks. Listening to the kiwi.

Getting back to the qualities.

And the compass. I love this compass:

Peacefulness. Safety. Ease. Shelter. Freedom. Release. Glow. Wild.

How does this relate to Releasing?

June-2014-Release That’s the superpower in the Fluent Self calendar, June is the month of Releasing.

All Past Pain Is Transformed Into Jewels.

Letting go is how I get wonderfully peaceful. Wonderfully peaceful is how I let go.

Either way, they support each other. Maybe wonderfully peaceful is one of the incoming jewels of past pain. That sounds crazy enough that it’s worth investigating.

Talking to Incoming Me about this…

Me: I don’t know anything about wonderfully peaceful, I am the wrong person to be exploring this.
Slightly wiser me: Remember the trees?
Me: Oh, right. I am exactly the right person to be exploring this. I have been on this voyage for decades.
Slightly wiser me: Nothing is wrong. This moment is right. Treasure yourself. I am here for you. There is nothing wrong with falling apart when you need to fall apart. It is not in opposition to wonderfully peaceful, it is part of the process of getting to wonderfully peaceful.

Anything else? Starting points?

Keep connecting to Incoming me. Skip stones as often as possible. Writing and Righting. The sweetest ship. Dance. Intensity. Unapologetically red lipstick. Eight breaths. My body gets the deciding vote. Thank you in advance.

And, of course, remembering the Vicarage compass: Vitality. Internal. Compass. Aligning. Resetting. Access. Glowing. Energy.

What else do I want?

Seeds planted without explanation, a mix of secret agent code and silent retreat. Things to play with someday.
  • Everything is easier than I thought, and look, miracles everywhere.
  • I have the best time dancing in my ballroom.
  • This doesn’t require my input!
  • Ha, it’s so perfect that it turned out like this. Past me is a GENIUS
  • I have what I need, and I appreciate it. There are resources to do this.
  • Trust and steadiness. I can see why this moment is good.
  • Hawaii. Possibly Hawaii is not in Hawaii. It’s the Vicarage.
  • I am fearless and confident. I do the brave things and it is not even a big deal, and I still get sparklepoints, yay.
  • Ops: Sip Hint Learn.

Clues?

“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.” — Jo Godwin.

Thank you, Agent Prairie Blue!

Progress report on past Very Personal Ads.

So. Last week, aka covert *and* witchy…

Silent retreat on most of it, other than that yes, this was the exact right wish and the exact right approach. Oh, and guess what? I figured out what Hawaii is a STAND IN for in my wish, and I found my way to the place that is like Hawaii for me.

Thank you, writing. Thank you, me who asked.

Attenzione! Attention, AGENTS.

I wish to whisper a whisper about the Monster Manual! It comes paired with the world’s best coloring book, which does so much monster-dissolving magic that even if you wait to try the techniques, you’ll still feel better about everything.

Self-fluency is hard enough, we need ways to to interact with the thoughts-fear-worry-criticism that shuts down creative exploring. And when people get the manual, I am able to me spend more time writing here. So if you don’t need help with monsters, get one for a friend. Or plant a wish that someone gets it for you! And bring people you like to hang out here. The more of us working on our stuff, the better for all of us. ♡

Keep me company?

Consider this an open invitation to deposit wishes, gwishes, personal ads. In any size/form you like, there’s no right way. Updates on past experiments are welcome too, as is anything sparked for you.

Commenting culture: This is safe space for creative exploration. We are on permanent vacation from care-taking and advice-giving. We are here to play.

Let’s throw things in the pot! And: Amnesty. Leave a wish any time you want.

xox

The Fluent Self