Sow: Beauty

Shakespeare Garden Central Park NYC

Musing...
“In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty.”  
~ Christopher Morley

“We live only to discover beauty. All else is a form of waiting.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

Charise’s Turn:

Most of the work I do is on the go at other locations – in the gym, studio, or classroom of a museum. These are not my spaces, they are spaces I visit and bring yoga; and sometimes they are noisy, or have tables and chairs to move aside, or have an ailing stereo system, or limited natural light. But I often find myself saying “beautiful” when I witness participants striking a certain pose or harmony of movement. I want them to know that they have created beauty and I see it – it’s where struggle falls away and their bodies find opening and strength.

Behind the scenes of my work is a home office, and recently I was prompted by my own coach to consider how this space looks and feels. Why does that matter? It matters because appreciation of beauty and excellence is my top signature strength. Have you heard of the VIA survey of signature strengths? The VIA , or “Values in Action” Inventory, measures your character strengths, and speaks to what you value in life. Because appreciation of beauty and excellence is number one for me, my home office wasn’t appealing and in fact I was avoiding it, choosing to grab my laptop or whatever I needed and be somewhere I liked. This wasn’t very efficient overall. Beauty has something to do with efficiency? Yes. So rather than dismissing the task of altering the look of my space as a waste of time, I made that task a priority. In order to reap better results, I had to sow beauty.

Get Fired Up:

Find out what your top signature strengths are, and how this knowledge will contribute to what you want to achieve, or reap, from your efforts. You can take the survey at no cost at: www.authentichappiness.org.

 “Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.” ~ Khalil Gibran

www.coachingmoves.com

Sow: Radical Action

watercolor by Kate Kroska

Musing… 

“ Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.  The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark”. 
~ Agnes deMille

“In its' expansion and growth, a seed first puts down roots. These are called 'radicals'. These radicals anchor the seed body, creating channels for water and nutrients to flow into the body of each seed. Roots are like radical ideas. First, an idea sparks within us, and it takes root and grows. We feel ourselves energized, enlivened and inspired by this possibility. If it is viable, the roots of this seed idea will continue to grow, eventually making its way into the Light.”  ~ Stacey Robyn, Bloomin’ Humans

Kate’s Turn:  

When an idea stays with me for a period of time (receptive yin energy), it moves me to take action on it (expanding yang energy). Examples of this demonstrate both simple and more complex manifestations: bake a seasonal pie; plant some pansies for my front porch; research sumi-e painting classes (East Asian brush painting) are examples of simple sparks - more complex ideas that persist for me are studying mid-life transition life coaching; practicing qi’ssage, an acupressure form using qigong; planning/training for a pilgrimage in Spain on the Camino route. I believe we have the capacity within us to do anything, but not necessarily the drive. I like to sow seeds of possibilities for ideas I have, (taking leap after leap in the dark) such as talking it up to others, getting more information, experimenting and experiencing aspects of it, etc. This gives me information about whether I have the drive to progress in its development and whether it’s an idea that will actually take root. Choosing what pleases me, what brings joy, has a greater chance of producing radicals to anchor this spark of an idea.

To procreate the future, to re-create in the future you must act upon the thoughts that come to you in your relaxed subtle average thinking. Take an action, any action. That action could just be looking up a phone number for a course that's available and maybe next week you may call and maybe the week after that you might visit there or even visit via the internet. Just by taking a few baby steps forward into any of these thoughts, you change. You change who you are. You change your abilities and you draw to you new understandings and new vibrations and new light energies that will escort you in to these expanding aspects of self.

"When a sprout breaks its casing and forces its way to the surface of the earth, it is the climax to a long and deep accumulation of life force, the product of unseen and subtle cycles.
A seedling carries with it the complete pattern for its growth, perhaps the makings of an enormous tree. Although time and the right conditions are necessary, neither of those factors adds anything to the inherent nature of the seedling. It completely embodies its destiny."
     - Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao: Daily Meditations

Get Fired Up:

Have radical trust in the life force you embody.

Find one idea, one thought, one radical possibility that sparks! inspires! and enlivens you! Commit to taking action on it TODAY!

Sow some actual garden seeds and take comparable radical action on an idea while your garden seeds anchor their radicals.

www.kroskalifecoaching.com