invocation: a breath for all timing is right timing

this is the latest I’ve ever written the wishes
this has also been just the most intensely miserable week
and the hidden treasure of things being miserable
is that when all signs point firmly towards GTFO
at least you know it’s time to make a change
and so instead of wishing the wish I thought I was going to wish
let us release a truly revolutionary wish into this world of ours

an envelope from maxine arrived this week

inside: a note that says thank you
inside: twenty five dollars
maxine does this sometimes, when she has a moment of
observing herself
using a concept or a phrase she got from me
to solve/resolve a situation in her life or meet it in a new way
I have never met maxine but I love her, and I especially appreciate
how she glows appreciation for herself and her noticing,
then glows some back to me

it makes me think of the vision of the
colorful silk parachute

colorful silk parachute

do you know the kind I mean?
a giant colorful silk parachute and everyone lifts together
on the count of three, and then
wheeeeeeee you scamper-slide beneath it super fast
plopping down on the inside of the fabric
and suddenly an amazing circus-like tent floats up above you and holds itself,
everyone goes oooooooh,
it is a canopy, a temporary round house, a sanctuary that has
come into being just for this moment of
shared magic

and people giggle a little because whoa what just happened

what I want

for the first time in a long while I know
with stunning crisp certainty
exactly what I want
from/for/in my now eleven-year-old business
it is wonderfully liberating to know this
and also more than a little scary

but I am just going to say it
because I know it
with such huge intense clarity
that I cannot not say it

{entry}
{presence}
{breath}
{here it is}

an entirely different stream / an entirely different way of thinking

on the television action show Leverage, they like to say
oh we work on an entirely different revenue stream
and they take such delight in this Alternative Revenue Stream
which of course is supported by leverage
they use this instead of money
or they use leverage to acquire the funds needed
for their secret ops
but the point is that they don’t think about their work
in terms of money
and they don’t worry about whether or not the client can pay them
because they’ll get compensated anyway and they believe in the mission
and somehow, counter-intuitively, this thinking-about-it-differently
becomes an opening
and all the resources they need are there

yes this is marvelous

I too would like a company that functions on
an Entirely Different Revenue Stream
with the accompanying superpowers of giddiness and glee at being
outside of the usual way of doing things
except (and here is where things veer off fairly drastically from the show),
I want to do this with clarity, honesty, integrity, intention, love,
and raw vulnerable presence
because this is right, and because these are the prerequisites
for us to do what we do here

stream

the alternate revenue stream I want my business to run on
is this:

GLOWING APPRECIATION and APPRECIATION GLOWING

and here is how I envision this
somewhat radical idea

roundness and rhythm

a circular-cycle
pulsing points of light
self-perpetuating
appreciation is felt-glowed-expressed
which then generates more appreciation and more glowing
back into the circle
flowing-glowing burnished copper and gold
everyone involved at any point feels loved
so beautifully appreciated,
and then appreciating more,
and then being appreciated again for appreciating
until the circle cannot even contain all this good feeling and the
entire world just spills over with gratitude and
the incredible vibrating throbbing humming joy-flooding feeling that
comes from
being full and present inside your thank-you heart

I envision something like this….

people come to this beautiful peaceful magically safe space
this space that we have built here together
(yes, together, because while I may have called it into being and
filled it with words-and-welcoming, it is the community of
thoughtful, creative, warm-hearted people
who have gathered here and made it pulse with life)

I imagine people coming here and saying:

mmmm what a remarkable space, this place is a glowing source of good in the world
and I want to be a part of this
I want to find my place here, play here when called to play,
to take the treasures that whisper my name, and let them
bring light and lightness into my life
to pick from among these shining ideas, concepts, tools, practices, experiments and sparks,
and make them my own
how can I share my appreciation for all the good that is here for me

what I want is something non-transactional

maybe even the opposite of transactional

what I want is a little bit like a guild

this is from a letter Lorinda sent last year, one of the people who views
the fluent self as a sort of guild they belong to
and just send me money once in a while:

Dear Barrington,
Two years ago on May 6, 2013, I found The Fluent Self website. Last year I was able to catch my magic bus to Rally! There I promised myself that I would expend the equivalent of my annual dues to a professional organization at The Fluent Self. Enclosed is a check for one third of the balance, and I am throwing Havi a bouquet of flowers because her writing is helping me on my Quest. My tangible thanks can reach Havi as a warm glow, or whatever she needs the appreciation to be, much like the salves, which are not only helping me but also my husband. Thank you again!

many times I have wished for a thousand Lorindas!
or wished that this was just a thing where people, all the time,
thought of themselves as belonging to the world of self-fluency
and then so of course we all support the work because the work supports us
and it just makes sense to do that

and yet, while silently wishing for this,
I have kept on running an ordinary business
a business that runs on the ridiculous founding principle of internet businesses
(more on that in a minute)
instead of one that functions like a guild

the colorful silk parachute belongs to all of us

the way things work now is that a core group of us hold onto the parachute edges
lifting it so everyone can run underneath
and this really made sense to me for a long time
actually I kind of thought of it as a radical experiment in socialism and social justice:
those who have more resources or are more committed to
diving deeper into self-fluency
people who can find money, time or willingness to invest in their lives
they lift the parachute through
[buying products or coming to events or working with me]
and this allows everyone to play here at no cost
which is really beautiful
and sometimes makes me cry because I feel so strongly
that everyone should be able to play here regardless of
whether or not their appreciation is tangible or not

now I want something new

well, I still want the material I share here to be
free for everyone
I will always want that
and: I want EVERYONE who can lift to lift, even if it’s just with one tiny fingertip!
even if it’s five dollars a year, sending a letter of appreciation,
sharing links to favorite posts with other people
I want that attitude and feeling of yes we are taking part in this together
making it happen together
it’s so light, this silk parachute, and so much lighter when everyone is helping
wheeeeeee! like that

I want these qualities of COLOR and LIGHTNESS and PLAY
JOYFUL PARTICIPATION and COMMUNITY and TOGETHERING
and EACH IN OUR OWN WAY and EACH OF US IS ENOUGH and
together we are the Mighty Mighty Nature Crew!

okay I guess we need to talk about C-I-F

I don’t want to sell things in the shop anymore
it’s such an odd dynamic, selling things in a shop
every time I think about it
the whole thing breaks my brain

in fact I will go one step further
I don’t want to spend any more time coming up with things
people will pay for
I am perfectly happy to invent and create these things
as a way of saying thank you to my fellow playmates in the guild,
of glowing more appreciation back into the
circle of appreciation

currently I have things for sale because the rigged-game set-up of the internet
is that Content Is Free (C-I-F)
and for the record, I’m not against Content Is Free…

I believe in C-I-F!

it might even be the thing I feel most strongly about
that people without resources
should be able to come here and soak up all the good
and using or adapting whichever concepts and techniques appeal to them
this is why this space exists

I have also benefitted from C-I-F!

C-I-F was so helpful to me when I was starting my business in 2005
and money was tight, support was non-existent, I couldn’t afford help
reading posts online was an incredible resource for me
having free content is also how I give back
someone resourceful and motivated could easily put themselves
through university levels of self-fluency studies
by reading the archives of everything I’ve written
and never pay a dime

and knowing that people do this
fills me with great joy

C-I-F also worked for me back when:

a) the internet wasn’t as loud,
it was much easier to be
the clear signal in the noise
b) I offered so many other paid services
(coaching teaching workshops retreats trainings)
and other things I no longer wish to do
because I no longer have any desire to be in the front of the room
I no longer want to be complicit in any way
in supporting a culture that even implies
that some people are the experts and know better
I only want to be in a culture where sovereign equals play together,
where each of us is able to reveal our own wise knowing
and we all support this environment where everyone else can do the same

after spending nearly a decade toppling myself off
of every pedestal people wanted to put me on
I no longer agree to be in a leadership role
we are all Agents in the agency of Agency,
coming together as equals, to play and learn and be wonderfully surprised by what we
uncover, individually and together,
this is how I want to work

so what do I mean when I say the old dynamic isn’t working

right now I sell things in the shop because
if content is free
— if I’m not going to be compensated for the many hours I work here —
then something else
(more/better/secret content)
(next levels, help with implementation)
needs to have a price
because this is a business and it has employees, beyond me,
and everyone who works here needs to get paid, being paid is important,
and I have been neglecting this part of the business the past couple years
which is my own messy unsovereign pattern

but the point is, I currently follow the way of the world and I say
hey X is available for purchase and it is amazing
and if enough people say yay then I don’t have to go get a new job
I don’t want to do this anymore

in part because, to quote ann friedman,
“I am fine with a labor of love, but not a labor of debt”

and in part, because what I am currently modeling in agreeing to this
is neither sustainable nor joyful
which is wildly incongruent with what we’re trying to do here
since getting closer to qualities like sustainability and joy…
well, that’s the practice

here’s what I want

I want us to do away with the train of thought behind
[pay X to Get Y]

here is what I want the thinking to be instead:
wow self-fluency has given me so much
and changed how I interact with myself and the world
I want more of this joy and more of this play
and what I really want is to express my appreciation for everything I’ve received
how can I do that?

and then this person is so full of joy
that they send funds of thank you
and I am so full of joy, and so much appreciation for their appreciation
that I send them [product of their choosing]
as a thank you for the thank you
and I am perfectly happy
to give people something more to work with

and instead of selling/buying products
we thank each other with love
and up the glow

extra sweet

then the thank-you package they get is now extra sweet
because they already received the value before acquiring it
so there is no expectation and no monster-guilt
only big wild joy

is this possible though

to subvert the rigging to such a degree
that we can train ourselves to think of giving appreciation
because that’s what wants to be given
and not because of something we get in return
and then getting something as appreciation for the appreciation
and feeling wonderful about that
in place of the cultural training we have in
[“I paid Sum X and therefore I deserve Thing Y” or
“I don’t know if I’m ready to invest Sum X because what if I don’t use Thing Y”}

I don’t know

but I want to try
and have been trying to figure out what this might look like

because I think this is such a valuable practice:
actively wanting to Glow Appreciation as a way of being a part of something
and I also think this is a surprisingly
powerful, subversive and DISRUPTIVE act
undoing the rigging of the rigged game
through intentionally disengaging from the Transactional Exchange
and coming back to love

appreciation meets appreciation

love: I thank you for your thank you with a thank you,
but that ideally won’t be the motivating reason for
investing in my work which is really our work
because we all do it together
maybe in that sense what you receive is more like a Return On Investment for
being someone who is committing to the life practice of
supporting what you believe in because it supports you
and then — bonus! it supports you even more
the cycle of glowing appreciation glows stronger
and then everyone benefits because when I am no longer
a) Not Being Paid for my work
b) not spending my time inventing ways to keep
this unsustainable C-I-F method afloat
I can actually hang out here and write
which is what I want to be doing with my days

does this make sense?
I hope it does

anything else I want to say about this?

noticing the old Fear of Being Misunderstood brigade
so I want to be very clear about where I stand:

I really do understand that some of you are not currently in the position to share appreciation in any tangible form, even a dollar, and there is nothing wrong with this, I get it, I was in that situation and worse, and know what this is like

of course I feel the glow of your appreciation and glow appreciation back to you,
and there is no more you need to do, this space is here for you always,
and if you want and are able to glow more appreciation
through sending a postcard or sharing a link, then that is beautiful too,
and if right now that’s too much, you as you are in this moment is enough,
you are a part of this place regardless
you are loved and welcome and appreciated here, always

I stand by that

if you want to join this quiet revolution, be a part of the guild…

there is more thinking I need to do about form
in the meantime
there are truly great things in the shop
that will be gone when the shop closes
you could glow appreciation through saying yes to one of those
or to anything on the spark page
but instead of thinking of it as “buying” something
think of it as expressing appreciation for this space and
the insights, processes and practices
we experiment with here
and then getting even more appreciation back

if that doesn’t appeal to you,
there’s always Barrington’s Discretionary Fund
(here is an explanation of what that is)
and then you can give what you like and glow a thank you
knowing that this stream of appreciation
is what makes this place hum

and who knows what big magic will be seeded

in the world
through this quiet revolution
where we insist on more sustainable ways
(and keep experimenting until we find out what they are)
of glowing good into the world
together

what do I know about my wish this week

the way I’m currently doing things is not sustainable
and the above sentence applies to everything in my life
not just to a rigged-game business model that used to work
(for me, though probably not for that many people) once upon a time

and so I ask for the superpowers of Clear Seeing,
Deep Wild Trust, and New Doors

I don’t know what the answers are but I do know
that the continuing on the not-yes path
is not helping anyone, not me and not the
people who read here
who are the reason I’ve been doing this for all these years
so this is a wish about newness and about heart
turning inward into my thank-you heart
to attune to my own glow-streams
my own quiet knowing
with love for all that is here

now

I just looked up and smiled: there’s a new mural on the wall at the cafe
and I didn’t notice it yesterday:
friendships are a history of shared meals
history, sharing, nourishment, joy
that’s it exactly

that’s the one thousand five hundred and sixteen posts here
beautiful shared meals

let’s start a revolution

I’m more than happy to be the one who cooks delicious things
and now I’m going to challenge myself to change both my own patterns
of not accepting help
and the rigged-game itself
by launching a quiet revolution in the world
by inviting everyone in my world to share in some form in the labor,
in the play, and in the appreciation
whether that’s grocery shopping and washing up
or bringing flowers or glowing appreciation in our hearts
each of us touching one finger to the colorful silk parachute
smiling to ourselves because we belong to a secret guild
a quiet revolution

superpower of knowing that pleasure is healing

february on the 2016 fluent self calendar was the door of SANCTUARY, and march is the door of LUSCIOUSNESS, which comes with the glowingly important superpower of knowing that pleasure is healing

thank you, past me
for naming this month
and reminding me of this superpower
which is exactly what I need most right now

ANNOUNCEMENT!

this is the last chance to acquire a pack of stone skipping cards
— PASSWORD: sweetdoors —
because I’m moving out and won’t have anywhere to store them
or the shipping materials
so get them this week,
and while you’re at it, sign up for the not-exactly-a-course
where we embark on establishing a loving playful practice of self-inquiry,
to access previously-hidden gems of internal wisdom
and whatever else we might need
dates coming soon!

if you want bulk packs of cards, we can do that too!
one pack is $22
or buy three and get one free
or buy five and get five free
because this is the time to let these go

last week’s wishes

two weeks ago I wished a wish called true currency…

which led me to last week’s wish of maps and passages, which brought me to the challenging passage of this past week, which brought me to this

invitation: come play with me…

you are invited to share many !!!!!! about what is here,
or share anything sparked for you while reading

or if you have APPRECIATION for this space, I would love that

deposit wishes, gwishes, superpowers, qualities, ingredients, intel, possibly in code

safe space for creative exploration asks us to let go of care-taking and advice-giving

wishes are never late because whenever you wish is the right time for wishing

here’s how we meet each other’s wishes: oh, wow what beautiful wishes

♡

Hello, week: we are here.

{a breath for being here when we get here}

Thank you, week!

This is the 397th week in a row we are chickening here together….

What worked this week?

Imagining that I have a tiny nearly-invisible earpiece in my ear with which I can hear the rest of my team, because I’m a character on the television show Leverage, in my mind, except that my team is my Incoming Wild Selves.

Every time I felt shaky, I could hear one of them say, “You’ve got this, babe. You’re doing great, cool as a cucumber, all is going according to the plan!”

This was such a useful reminder that I can’t see the whole plan, only the part I’m currently interacting with, and maybe everything is not Completely Falling Apart (Again!) the way my monsters think it is. And even if it were, being able to respond from calm steady trust is already rewriting the pattern and changing the game.

Next time I might…

Build in way more recovery time.

Naming the days.

This week was the week of maps and passages, and here were the days:

This is fun. We’ve got this. Day of Leap. Revolution. A well bell. A new outlook. Knocking it out of the park.

Upcoming biopic if it were based on this week…

Be Willing To Happily Abandon The Plan

8 breaths for the hard, challenging and mysterious.

1. So I entered three dance competitions last weekend, and here’s a thing about that, which I already knew in advance: dance competitions are not actually a great environment for a highly sensitive person who is also an extreme introvert. I knew being around that much noise and excited, ungrounded, chaotic energy would be extremely intense and overwhelming for me, but somehow didn’t really take into consideration how long the after-effects of depletion might last. Couldn’t get out of bed before noon all week (am usually a morning person, this is very unusual), and being around people, even a quick trip to the grocery store, was just the worst. A breath for this.
2. Every single Plan B I had — and I’m moving out of my house but don’t yet know where I’m going, so I have an elaborate list of nearly two dozen Plans B — fell through this week, one after the other, in a cascading domino effect that was enthralling and horrifying in its total destruction. A breath for big trust and for sitting with the not-knowing and the not-even-a-maybe, because that’s what we’ve got.
3. Lots of pain stirred up from then. A breath for healing.
4. I miss someone who is far away, and everything about this is complicated. A breath for ease.
5. While I have been trying to maintain safe headspace for myself by not reading anything related to the American presidential race, my god the political climate in this country is so ugly and distressing. Remember the late 80s? Remember Dan Quayle? Remember the things he would say? Remember how horrified people were at the thought of someone like that being second in command? And now it’s pretty hard to imagine that the thing we most feared was power in the hands of someone who was just not very bright. Right now, that seems pretty benign in contrast to the vitriol and xenophobia on display as Trump and Cruz bash it out. A breath for breathing, for safety first, for something better.
6. I am living out of a suitcase and can’t find anything I need, and this is not how I envisioned adulthood. I mean, I am delighted to not be a wife or a mother, and to be living a life of grand adventure, but I would also like to have a kitchen and a view, or even just know where I want to live. A breath for wanting.
7. Impending Birthday Crisis could easily be the fake band of the week. A breath for ease.
8. Inhale, exhale. May all misunderstandings and distortions, internal and external, dissolve in love if not in laughter. May peacefulness prevail. Trust-more love-more release-more receive-more. Goodbye (and thank you), mysteries and hard moments of this week.

8 breaths for the good, reassuring, delight-filled.

1. I handled competing much better than I thought I would. I also handled not winning much better than I thought I would. A hundred billion sparklepoints to me for both of these, and for being brave and trying something new. A breath of admiration.
2. Dance breakthrough. Huge reverberating moment of “oh, wax on and wax off is how you block punches!” All the drills I’ve been working on so hard landed at once, and suddenly I get it, it all makes sense! A breath of joy.
3. I asked for a new outlook and I got one. A breath of thankfulness.
4. Big sweetness from far away. A breath for feeling this.
5. All is well. It just is. I am in advanced levels of the video game of learning this, and sailing through the tests. A breath for new skills.
6. Taking care of myself to the best of my ability, and this counts. A breath for practice.
7. I don’t yet know why or how it could be good that all my options disappeared this week, but I know that future me thinks this is really good news, so I’m going with that. A breath of gratitude for being able to trust this hard.
8. Thankfulness. Treasure in the form of flowers everywhere. Everything is okay and so much is good. Nothing is wrong, even when I want to believe it is. Now is not then. All Timing Is Right Timing. Thank you for this grand adventure. A full breath of deep appreciation in my thank-you heart.

Sparklepoints, superpowers, salve, fake band of the week!

Current ops and forward movement!

Big progress this week on the Studio Op, and The Fountaining. Officially retiring the Wild Wild Nest op but unofficially letting it percolate quietly on a back burner and trusting that it is the right secret op but just not the right time. Operations Jubilation and Wild Montage are ongoing. And The Wild Convening is underway. Thank you, fractal flowers.

I am bestowing vast quantities of sparklepoints upon myself like a fairground stripper, and you are welcome to do the same for you.

Superpowers I had this week…

Last week I asked for the powers of Oh This Is Great News, and to have this power about everything, and it was hard work at first but I got there, and this is a very useful power.

Powers I want.

I still want new dance friends to go dancing with: All The Right People To Play With Show Up, or the superpower of Just Right Companionship.

And mainly I want the superpowers of Perfect Simple Solutions Reveal Themselves To Me and With The Greatest of Ease.

The Salve of Luscious Adventuring.

I formulated this salve to help me find new perspective on suitcase-life, to get into the mindset of the playful adventurer who loves lusciousness, instead of going into hopelessness and poor-me. This salve is made of:

Fantastic Unexpected Luckiness. Possibility. Presence. Pleasure. Play. Desire. Glamour. Honey.

This is a good salve for any situation that needs a new outlook.

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

This week’s band is:

Hold The Twos

Their latest album is Paddle Paddle Paddle, and it turns out this band is just one guy.

TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS!

We are doing some reconfiguring and Congruencing, and the shop will disappear soon, so if there was something you wanted to buy, go ahead and do that before it’s gone. More explanations about [reasons] to come, but it’s all good stuff, and if something is speaking to you, this is a good time.

And this is the last chance to acquire a pack of stone skipping cards — PASSWORD: sweetdoors — because I’m moving out and won’t have anywhere to store them or the shipping materials, so get them this week, they’re amazing! And while you’re at it, sign up for the not-exactly-a-course where we embark on establishing a loving playful practice of self-inquiry, to access previously-hidden gems of internal wisdom and whatever else we might need. Dates coming soon!

How was your week?

Come play in the comments. Share something from your week, take a breath, or just say hi! No rules, my format doesn’t have to be yours, we’ve been doing this every week for years now and there still isn’t a right way.

Everyone belongs. We let people have their own experience. We’re supportive and welcoming. We lovingly refrain from giving advice.

And of course it’s always okay to comment under a made-up name, whether for play and delight, or in the interest of Safety First.

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

It’s fine if it’s not Friday anymore. There’s complete chicken amnesty — jump in whenever you like. Blowing kisses to the Beloved Lurkers too!

bubbling

all week long I have been bubbling a wish
a continuation of last week’s beautiful wish
and I can’t write about it
it’s too fresh and I am too passionate
I mean, I am just the right amount of passionate
but it isn’t yet ready to come into words
there is a passage required, a crossing through,
from wish-into-words
and so all I can do is trust more
and receive the gift of knowing that my wish wants more time
to self-express

echoing

and so how very appropriate that my wish this week
is about passages,
not just the passage from desire into words
from heart-knowing into spoken and acknowledged
but also from the Day of Leap into the new year
yes, I begin my year when february opens into march
extra-sweet when there is a hidden day as I cross through

I began my year by skipping stones
asking questions and letting them echo through the water
for this year of echoing and reverberating

maps and passages

this past weekend I entered my first dance competition
something that has scared me for years
I did it through imagining I was on a secret mission to Monaco
to retrieve some lost jewels
and while in Monaco, I would try my hand at gambling in the casino
even though I’ve been so convinced that gambling is something
I wouldn’t enjoy and would never be good at

this story became my map

when I got caught up in the results
I could remind myself that no, I’m just gambling to have fun
and for the experience of becoming someone who isn’t
intimidated by walking into a glamorous casino in Monaco
and all of this is secondary to the actual mission
and don’t I look amazing in my emerald green gown
I belong here with my gambling chips and champagne
this is not outside of my skill sets and experience

when I felt heart pangs of indignant outrage
when the winner at the blackjack table
was the pretty young thing with none of my hard-earned skills
I could remember that of course the house always wins
and anyway I was not there to win or to lose but to play
and to give a convincing impression of someone who is at home
at a casino in Monaco
which I did
so I win

jewels

plus I got all the jewels I came for and then some:

Presence, Play, Experience, Courage, Calm, Excitement, Practice

not to mention my ability to slide
into the arms of a total stranger on the dark
dance floor at 4am and share the most
connected, creative, playful, wildly magical dance that
smolders and burns because two dancers and a dance well shared
is absolutely transcendent
and this is something the winner of the blackjack round
doesn’t have the skills to experience yet

and one day I will also reveal the jewels of Graciousness and Laughter
I will know what it is like to be gracious and laugh about this
until then I have my beautiful story to be my map
and guide me back onto the right trail

peak moment

the other day I was at peak resentment
not about monaco, about something else
I said to myself, okay we’ve hit peak resentment
and somehow in that moment, the phrase struck me as the funniest possible
way to describe an emotion
if I’m at Peak Resentment, that’s a mountain top, clearly,
and so it stands to reason that I have the best view and therefore can
see where I want to go

where do I want to go from this peak, I asked
mapping out the landscape
pen on paper
until it became clear that the place I most wanted to be was
Appreciation Parks
the route was clear
I only had to walk it
so I did

passage

I went outside and walked it out
going from where I was (Clarity)
to where I wanted to be (Appreciation)
and that was exactly where I ended up,
even appreciative of the resentment,
because that was what brought me to the view

it’s the moment of knowing what isn’t working
and giving myself room to not like it
that lets me wonder what would be better
and head in that direction

here, now

I am moving out of my home
where I have lived for the past seven years
this is right, and also,
this is painful and difficult
this is beyond painful and difficult
as I don’t yet know where to
and this period of not-quite and in-between and
living out of a bag
is reminding me hard of the very worst part of my life
which I don’t like to talk about
because it was really, really bad

and even though Now Is Not Then
(and may we all have the superpower of remembering this)
now is reminding me of then in so many ways,
challenging me to stay present and trusting

what is true

here are two things people say that are so very true and yet not exactly true
(1) the cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek
said, if not in those exact words, by joseph campbell
and (2) beyond fear is freedom
said by I don’t know, probably internet life coaches or something

as you know I am a big believer in asking
what is true and what is also true
it is very true that freedom is exactly what waits on the other side of fear
and it is very true that meeting a fear shows you the jewels it contains

what is also true?

this:

you are not required to take the direct route

you can go around fear
for example this is what I did when I used the game of Monaco
to dissolve both my fear of competition and my fear of being afraid

color schemes

sure, maybe the cave needs to be entered
but not necessarily alone and also sometimes it just needs to be remodeled first
and since we are the interior decorators of our interior spaces
we can make the cave a safe beautiful place to visit before we get there
by getting curious
asking questions
choosing Safety First
bringing along allies
and coming up with a color palette

there are so many ways around fear instead of through
worth repeating:
THERE IS NO RULE THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE THE DIRECT ROUTE!
and the best way to sneak past fear and dissolve it without being in it
is play

so how am I going to do this with my biggest fear in my own life
that I might relive the [truly awful things from then]
because I have no home again
what do I need from/for this cave to create safety before I enter
to transform it before I enter
let’s start with light
and with lightness and light-heartedness

leverage

I love the television show Leverage
it is a bit cartoon-like and maybe not exactly the most polished acting
and I love it
there is always a mission, that involves some kind of long con and cover stories
and taking on roles and undergoing wild risks
and it’s not actually scary because you know
that none of the good guys will ever actually get hurt
my favorite part is that they say
“oh, we operate under an entirely different income stream”
which is actually another part of the wish I am not wishing yet

what if I am not someone in the process of facing their biggest fear
in the form of reliving something very similar to the worst thing
that every happened to them

what if I am a character on Leverage
what if I’m the new member of the team
and this next however-long period of transition and in-between
is my role for the mission
I’m not in it, I’m acting it
I’m not even acting it, I’m acting the part of someone acting the part

see?

around fear is freedom too
to hell with going through if you don’t have to

getting in character

what is my character like?
on leverage, each character has a skill and a weakness
parker is an accomplished thief who can
steal anything but she loses her mind
any time children are involved because she can’t not identify with them
while sophie devereaux is a terrible actress who is an amazing actress when
she’s playing a role in a con

so who am I?
obviously my skills are writing and dancing
and my weakness is that home is very important to me
after what happened to me

let’s say that my mission involves acting like someone who doesn’t have a home
but of course I will still have safe houses
and once the mission is over in a couple months, I will have a marvelous very tiny
sweet safe home that is all mine and just for me

what will help me get into character
without compromising the mission

I need a new map

maybe this map tells me more about the character I’m playing
maybe this map tells me more about my safe houses
maybe this map shows me the set-up of the cave
so I can start decorating it now

it’s my map and it lives inside of me
so I can learn everything there is to know about it
through asking questions and skipping stones
getting quiet, getting curious, being receptive to truth

what is special about this map

ah of course
this is the month of Lusciousness
and my experience of [homelessness] was basically the opposite of that
I was cold, hungry, tired
very, very thin and very, very scared
but now-me still has the ability to infuse this mission with all things luscious
I work for the Leverage team, and we have resources
even better, there’s a team that has my back
so I don’t have to get by on my skills alone

let’s make this mission luscious
let’s make sure there is good food
and plentiful rest
good music, late-night dancing, things that deliver joy
flowers, of course

let’s commit to pleasure

let’s commit to wild adventuring
in a way that feels good at all times
and if it doesn’t feel good, add more pleasure
sweeten with honey
walk the map
touch the jewels
breathe deeper
add more light
glow

what do I know about my wish this week

it is time for this mission
even though it scares me
because it scares me
and actaully making scary things less scary is my job
so I can do this

now

listening to a song I like, and half-choreographing in my head
dancer-me and writer-me playing at the same time

superpower of knowing that pleasure is healing

february on the 2016 fluent self calendar was the door of SANCTUARY, and march is the door of LUSCIOUSNESS, which comes with the glowingly important superpower of knowing that pleasure is healing

thank you, past me
for naming this month
and reminding me of this superpower
which is exactly what I need most right now

ANNOUNCEMENT!

this is the last chance to acquire a pack of stone skipping cards
— PASSWORD: sweetdoors —
because I’m moving out and won’t have anywhere to store them
or the shipping materials
so get them this week, they’re amazing!
and while you’re at it, sign up for the not-exactly-a-course
where we embark on establishing a loving playful practice of self-inquiry,
to access previously-hidden gems of internal wisdom
and whatever else we might need
dates coming soon!

if you want bulk packs of cards, we can do that too…

last week’s wishes

I wished a wish called true currency…

this wish launched a plan I never would have thought of otherwise
and helped remind me of what is most important

invitation: come play with me…

you are invited to share many !!!!!! about what is here,
or share anything sparked for you while reading

or if you have APPRECIATION for this space, I would love that

deposit wishes, gwishes, superpowers, qualities, ingredients, intel, possibly in code

safe space for creative exploration asks us to let go of care-taking and advice-giving

wishes are never late because whenever you wish is the right time for wishing

here’s how we meet each other’s wishes: oh, wow what beautiful wishes

♡

Hello, week: we are here.

{a breath for being here when we get here}

Thank you, week!

This is the 396th week in a row we are chickening here together….

What worked this week?

Changing the metaphor in order to ease my painful anxiety about entering a dance competition. I’m in Monaco on a wild caper to recover the jewels, and when in Monaco, one might as well gamble at the fabulous casino…

It’s just part of the gig, it doesn’t actually matter if I win or lose, only that I act like I belong there. Whatever the results of my evening of gambling, it all supports my mission. The comp is not the point, it’s just part of my cover story.

This is the best!
Today, for example, I bribed Lady Ellerton’s secretary to put me on the guest list at the party at the Ellerton mansion (translation: I paid the entry fee to a dance convention), then explored the casino in Monaco (the hotel where the competitions are taking place), and even attended a three hour seminar on how to maintain a good poker face (or what judges look for in comps, which is actually kind of the same thing).

I also acquired my chips (registered for my first two competitions!), so this weekend I shall be gambling (competing) in a glamorous casino (not a casino), looking smashing, not giving a fig about how I do, because I’m there to enjoy myself!

And now I’m suddenly and miraculously not stressed out about competing. Play is healing, and changing the metaphor is so liberating and I am a genius, the end!

Next time I might…

Remember that the national Day of Uncontrollable Sobbing — which I celebrated correctly — very often coincides with four days before moon time.

Naming the days.

This week was the week of true currency, and here were the days:

Outrageous self-love. Beautiful day. Wild and serene. Sanctuary is mine. A day for me and my yes. All smiles. Gambling in Monaco.

Upcoming biopic if it were based on this week…

We’re Over Here Now, Turn The Page.

8 breaths for the hard, challenging and mysterious.

1. More mystery injuries and mystery scratches. A breath for this.
2. Got followed on the street by a catcaller, for two blocks. I’m a woman, so it’s not like this is the first time some creep has followed me, but this was different because it was on my street. It was only 7pm but pitch dark, and I was so discombobulated that I panicked and disassociated and ended up running to a neighbor’s house, after which I somehow made it to a nearby shop where I texted my former housemate to come get me and drive me the few blocks home. A breath for safety first, and for grounding. And for the quiet revolution.
3. Knowing that this person knows where I live (he saw me exit my house) freaked me out to no end, and for several days I was on edge and not able to fall asleep for ages. A breath for these…. what should we call this, side effects of misogyny and patriarchy? For these terror symptoms and for what they point to. And a breath for healing.
4. So as you know, I am leaving my home, and what’s next is a mystery. I had two good possible plans for where I might spend March, neither was 120% yes or even close, but both were perfectly acceptable, and then both fell through on the same day, within hours of each other. Wise quiet me knows that this is all for the best and these are the right doors to be closing so that I can see the ones that need opening. But me who has had the rug pulled out from under her so many times was, while not remotely surprised, reminded of old pain. A breath for trust, clear seeing, true yes, All Is Well and Now Is Not Then.
5. Two people dear to my heart misunderstood me this week in such profound ways, and both had been carrying around a false story about me for weeks without bringing it up, so that it became embedded as truth in their minds, with no way for me to offer another side. This was very painful, and also whoa entirely new layers of my stuff about being misread, and the ensuing IMPENDING DOOM that my monsters are convinced is imminent. A breath for me from then, a breath for me from now, a breath for truth, a breath for my light and my steadfast loving heart, may they be seen and appreciated.
6. Perhaps not entirely unrelated to the above but 94% related to an obscenely painful bout of PMS, this week featured two days of overwhelming rage at everything, followed up by two days of intense grief and crying my eyes out. And I don’t mean just tears. I mean Desperate Sobbing and everyone at the diner looking awkwardly at the ceiling because my grief was so all-consuming and messy and uncomfortable. Among the many, many things that had me sobbing include: the bar kokhba rebellion, yes, even though it was two thousand years ago, I’m still upset about it. Also that if Hillary Clinton were a man, everyone would be say, “okay sure, he’s a thousand times more qualified, more presidential, more talented, more capable, more everything than anyone else, so this thing is over”, but instead I have to listen to otherwise intelligent people saying they won’t vote at all if she gets the nomination. I’m going to stop here, because it was a long list, let’s just say everything made me cry. A breath for permission to grieve whatever my body needs to grieve.
7. So many times I can’t even hear my yes because too many monsters, and then I just make monster-fueled decisions, and here’s an example of how this turns out: I won’t pay $25 for a cab ride, when I can just take public transit, and what would have been a fifteen minute ride turns into a two hour debacle, during which AT ANY POINT I would have paid $25 to just get out of that situation. For example while stranded on a non-moving train with twenty screechy cheerleaders and their moms, all with matching side ponytails. Or while waiting in the pouring rain for a bus that was twenty five minutes late and still fourteen minutes away. Not only would I have paid the $25, I would have paid to buy an actual car, drive home, and then later drive it off a cliff because to hell with cars. In the moment it seemed like a reasonable plan. The point is, this all happened because instead of getting quiet and tuning in to my yes, I let my monstering determine my course of action. A breath for hey maybe this time I will learn this lesson well enough to not repeat it, and a breath for compassion, because rewriting the rigging is hard work.
8. Inhale, exhale. May all misunderstandings and distortions, internal and external, dissolve in love if not in laughter. May peacefulness prevail. Trust-more love-more release-more receive-more. Goodbye (and thank you), mysteries and hard moments of this week.

8 breaths for the good, reassuring, delight-filled.

1. Playing the “find eight good things” game at the afterparty all week. Appreciation-breath.
2. Metaphor magic! I have gone from TERRIFIED of competing (just yesterday) to actively excited and looking forward to it because I’m going to destroy it out there at the blackjack table by having the time of my life, and it is going to be awesome, whether that is acknowledged by the outside world or not. A breath for speedy transformation, and for the beautiful healing that comes from play, and acknowledging the power of words.
3. We finally got the house ready to show and posted the ad for the house! May we find the most wonderful renters in the world, amen. A breath of thankfulness.
4. And miraculously, I am not falling apart even though I still have zero idea where I’m going to live or any details about anything, and I’m not worrying, which is the superpower — the superpower of I Have Forgotten How To Worry — that I’ve been asking for all these weeks. A breath for things can change faster than you think, and for being receptive to perfect simple solutions.
5. Dancing up a storm. Last weekend I danced nine and a half hours in one day and I can’t remember how many the next. Tango workshops, zouk workshops, nightclub two step, blues, ballroom. DELIGHT. Ankle is fine. I feel good. A breath for this big joy.
6. The thing I was most worried might be happening over the past few weeks is not actually happening, and there was a good explanation for why I thought it could be happening, this is a relief and a good reminder to breathe and trust in All Is Well. A breath for clarity.
7. I got back to my lost yeses. A breath of gratitude.
8. Thankfulness. Treasure in the form of sweet words and good clues. Everything is okay and so much is good. Nothing is wrong, even when I want to believe it is. Now is not then. All Timing Is Right Timing. Thank you for this grand adventure. A full breath of deep appreciation in my thank-you heart.

Sparklepoints, superpowers, salve, fake band of the week!

Current ops and forward movement!

More progress this week on the Studio Op, Wild Montage, and The Fountaining. Set off to Monaco to retrieve the jewels! Percolating on the Wild Wild Nest and Operation Jubilation. Thank you, fractal flowers.

I am bestowing vast quantities of sparklepoints upon myself like a fairground stripper, and you are welcome to do the same for you.

Superpowers I had this week…

Last week I asked for the powers of I Have Completely Forgotten How To Worry, To The Point That I Can’t Even Remember What It Is Like, and the powers of I Think I Am Completely Utterly Wildly Amazing.

And yes, I had these for moments and glimpses, and once for an entire day, and it was incredible. More please!

Powers I want.

I still want new dance friends to go dancing with: All The Right People To Play With Show Up, or the superpower of Just Right Companionship.

And mainly I want the superpower of Oh This Is Great News, and I want it about everything.

The Salve of Playful Rewriting.

This salve is made of:

Play. Possibility. Presence. Pleasure. Chocolate.

Put some on at night and release everything that is done while you sleep, and smile in your dreams.

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

This week’s band is my favorite:

Retrospectively Pugilistic

Their latest album is Kitsch N Karaoke, and it turns out this band is just one guy.

TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS!

We are doing some reconfiguring and Congruencing, and the shop will disappear soon, so if there was something you wanted to buy, go ahead and do that before it’s gone. More explanations about [reasons] to come, but it’s all good stuff, and if something is speaking to you, this is a good time.

And this is the last chance to acquire a pack of stone skipping cards — PASSWORD: sweetdoors — because I’m moving out and won’t have anywhere to store them or the shipping materials, so get them this week, they’re amazing! And while you’re at it, sign up for the not-exactly-a-course where we embark on establishing a loving playful practice of self-inquiry, to access previously-hidden gems of internal wisdom and whatever else we might need. Dates coming soon!

How was your week?

Come play in the comments. Share something from your week, take a breath, or just say hi! No rules, my format doesn’t have to be yours, we’ve been doing this every week for years now and there still isn’t a right way.

Everyone belongs. We let people have their own experience. We’re supportive and welcoming. We lovingly refrain from giving advice.

And of course it’s always okay to comment under a made-up name, whether for play and delight, or in the interest of Safety First.

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

It’s fine if it’s not Friday anymore. There’s complete chicken amnesty — jump in whenever you like. Blowing kisses to the Beloved Lurkers too!

{preface}

some weeks the thing I want to write about here is
so vulnerable and intimate
that I convince myself I don’t have the words
or even that I don’t know what my wish is

probably because getting so close to
truths and yeses is
uncomfortable and scary

a useful thing about having gone through this
now three hundred and forty six weeks in a row
is the trust: I know if I just ask a question, any question
skipping it like a stone across the waters of my consciousness
and get quiet and wait
something true will be revealed
so let’s get brave and quiet, and ask: what am I thinking about?

I am thinking about grape leaves

whenever I eat stuffed grape leaves, I think of hagai
who owned this sandwich shop in north tel aviv
everyone said he made the best sandwiches in the city
and so people would put up with the wait
even though israelis think waiting is bullshit
you partly had to wait because of the line and everyone shoving
but mostly because hagai was slow
(“he’s an artist!, the artist of sandwiches!”)
and stoned off his gourd

people raved about the stuffed grape leaves in the deli case
and haggai would say his aunt in petach tikva made them
fresh by hand, a wonder, his aunt, at her age,
and even though who has time to drive to petach tikva
he would still go there twice a week
so his clientele could eat the best damn grape leaves in the middle east

my friend k got me the job there
where I repeated his story about the grape leaves
that the customers loved so much
until one day I walked into the kitchen in back
and found him, joint in the corner of his mouth,
applying a can opener to a giant industrial-size container of stuffed grape leaves

of course

“did something happen to your aunt?”, I asked, concerned
he looked at me confused, or possibly just feeling sorry for
this gullible wide-eyed foreign-born person who was so slow to catch on
of course there was no aunt, or if there was,
she wasn’t making stuffed grape leaves

so yes, a certain self-justified intentional dishonesty that I am not okay with
which is certainly one of the reasons I am, let’s say…
ambivalent? wary? when it comes to this
business of having an internet business
I’ve been doing this for eleven years
and despite having learned time and again how so many people
are not even close to what they present
in crafted-images, jargon, persona, avatar
I keep re-learning this
but no, that’s not why I’m thinking about what I’m thinking about
let’s peel another layer back
undoing this grape leaves story as if it were also made of grape leaves
ah of course

I am thinking about not getting paid

when I quit the sandwich shop under emotional circumstances
unrelated to the stuffed grape leaves incident
I was still owed quite a bit of money
all my calls went unanswered and unreturned, no surprise there,
I asked k what to do and she said that what she did
was march in and stand on a table and throw a screaming fit
until he paid her
the tightness in my solar plexus grew and
I decided I would live without the money

for a long time I wondered why she would get me a job
in a place where the owner doesn’t want to pay you
but as someone who has many times given someone in my company a job or task
that I thought would make them grow
in places and ways they most needed to grow
and then regretted that, every damn time, because it never works
I understand what she was hoping for
she was hoping it would make me tougher

it didn’t
it just exacerbated my tangle of apprehension and resentment
but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a beautiful wish that she wished for me
so I breathe appreciation for the wish

I am thinking about the winding nature of patterns

that funny-not-funny way of things
how if you don’t learn something the first round
(and god, how many of us do, pretty sure no one)
then you get handed endless opportunities to try again
over and over again until it gets ridiculous
and you think you have terrible luck or possibly a curse
until you realize it’s just the video game
and you’re in groundhog day mode
time to breathe in love and courage and
do the opposite of what you usually do….

for example

that same exact thing happened in just about every job
I’ve had since
but havi, you say, why did you keep agreeing to work without pay?
because I believed I would be compensated later
I wanted to be accommodating, a word that is so deeply tied up
in the rigging of the rigged game
and how women are trained in being pliable and compliant, placating,
don’t nag, don’t make them angry
so of course it was easier to think of myself as generous and trusting
sure, my boss at the bar was going through hard times and it was just temporary,
and of course a revered yoga teacher would pay me
why even get it all in writing, we’re all living lives of yoga here aren’t we
satya (truth) and asteya (not-stealing)
of course it will be fine

I am thinking about what is beautiful

I see two things in this pattern
one is this vulnerable tangle, this self-perpetuating cycle
of apprehension-resentment
small scared me who is excruciatingly hesitant to
establish boundaries and set clear expectations
who doesn’t even see her own disinclination to wear her own crown
I feel overwhelming tenderness towards her
protective, wanting to ease her pain

and the other is what beautiful hope she held in her heart
when I let go of the layers of shame and grief
I see someone who wanted to TRUST LIFE
and there is a lot to admire in that
even if the monsters say otherwise

I am thinking how funny it is: I am now the one who doesn’t pay me

over the years
as these Havi-not-getting-paid situations repeated in various forms
I tried a variety of tactics
asking / reminding / yelling / threatening / throwing a fit
none of these were terribly effective
in fact I think the only time I actually got my money back was when I quit
my job at the import company that turned out to be run by moroccan mafia
and even that took six months of steady harassment until I finally got a check

anyway, after all those years of “it’s no big deal they’ll pay me later”
and then not getting paid, and then falling into the same trap in the next job
I thought self-employment would solve this
except oh look somehow it is just landing for me now
to what extent I carried that old pattern along with me
into my own business, for eleven years,
not even noticing that the person screwing over me was me

it all seemed so reasonable

of course when the business was successful
I was going to invest that success into making beautiful safe spaces
online and in real life where people could have deep powerful experiences,
transformative moments, of accessing their own secret wise knowing
that’s what I do, I am a Very Interior Designer (the most interior!)
and so good at it and it brings me such delight
of course I could just pay myself later
when it all paid for itself
yes, I can laugh about this now
and about so many things that were not funny a few years ago
and yes, now it is time to turn this around

enough, pattern
I see you and I receive what you have for me
time to change how I respond
with love

I am thinking about raw and vulnerable states

like when I am a few days away from moon retreat
and find myself sobbing uncontrollably in a diner
and have to declare that day to be
the official Day of Uncontrollable Sobbing
(because at least that way I am celebrating it perfectly)

I am thinking about how {Play + Presence}
is always a good answer to raw and vulnerable
how fortunate then that these are my superpowers
this is what I glow, in me and out into the world
and I know where they come from: the secret s-word is sanctuary

I am thinking about sanctuary

here is my favorite thing about sanctuary
how it means two things
{awe + shelter}
and how safety is such a big deal
it just softens everything,
how much easier is it to fill up on the treasure of gratitude
access the wells of appreciation in my thank-you heart
when I feel safe
when I make safety for myself

awe brings me back to safety
safety brings me back to awe
shelters for accessing wonder

there it is again: what I do
what I do and what I do not pay myself for
what I do not ask to be paid for

jewel

once I did a guided meditation with my friend janet bailey
she got it from mark silver
the intention was to reveal/discover your heart-jewel
the quality that you radiate into the world
and that you sometimes forget to fill up on yourself
mine was a double-jewel
the jewel itself was SANCTUARY
the jewel on top was FREEDOM

I am thinking about true currency

sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night
and scribble something that seems terribly important
knowing that morning-me probably won’t understand
I keep these in a list

this is what middle-of-the-night me wrote this week:

appreciation is the true currency

here is what I think this means
and this is really at the heart of my wish
I want to be someone who lives in a state of appreciation
directed inward and outward
I want to swim in a sea of appreciation
I want to ask for appreciation to be expressed towards me, glowed towards me,
in all (healthy, sovereign) forms
including the form of being paid, expecting to be compensated,
asking and basking in asking
because this is how we rewrite the patterns
this is how we rewrite the whole game

I am thinking about my good heart

my heart sanctuary is where I access appreciation
what if I let this into the rest of my life
what would that look like
what is a life of sanctuary, freedom, appreciation
if unraveling and rewriting patterns is my job
(and has been for the last eleven years)
what would happen if I believed that was worthy
of being compensated all on its own
without having to do anything else?

this wish, now that I can see it, scares me and excites me
so I am going to seed it here
with endless safety for this tiny sweet vulnerable thing
and with trust trust trust

what do I know about my wish this week

it’s the right time to be wishing this wish
as the month of Sanctuary leads me to the day of Leap
and into the month of Lusciousness…

now

sunglasses
leopard print scarf made by someone I admire
ginger tea
train passing by
appreciation for all this

superpower of safety first

january on the 2016 fluent self calendar was the door of FREDOM, and february is the door of SANCTUARY, which comes with the glowingly important superpower of safety first

thank you, past me
for naming this month
and reminding me of this superpower
that I forget-and-remember a thousand times a day

ANNOUNCEMENT!

this is the last chance to acquire a pack of stone skipping cards
— PASSWORD: sweetdoors —
because I’m moving out and won’t have anywhere to store them
or the shipping materials
so get them this week, they’re amazing!
and while you’re at it, sign up for the not-exactly-a-course
where we embark on establishing a loving playful practice of self-inquiry,
to access previously-hidden gems of internal wisdom
and whatever else we might need
dates coming soon!

if you want bulk packs of cards, we can do that too…

last week’s wishes

I wished a wish called the emptying and the M-T-ing…

and what a wonderful wish
I finally finished the seemingly sisyphean task of emptying the house
and found some yes
and M-T was indeed More Treasure and Maybe Tacos
and many wonderful things

invitation: come play with me…

you are invited to share many !!!!!! about what is here,
or share anything sparked for you while reading

or if you have APPRECIATION for this space, I would love that

deposit wishes, gwishes, superpowers, qualities, ingredients, intel, possibly in code

safe space for creative exploration asks us to let go of care-taking and advice-giving

wishes are never late because whenever you wish is the right time for wishing

here’s how we meet each other’s wishes: oh, wow what beautiful wishes

♡