Resourcing

Musing…

“When energy turns in— what Buddha calls paravritti, the coming back of your energy to the source— suddenly clarity is attained. Then you can see clouds a thousand miles away, and then you can hear ancient music in the pines.” ~ Osho, Ancient Music in the Pines: In Zen, Mind Suddenly Stops

Charise’s Turn:

Challenging times call for many responses, one of which is to resource yourself. To re-Source is to return to Source energy. Source energy is that inherent unformed consciousness which is about as far from expression of ego you can get. Different cultures and traditions give it different names or titles, such as the Tao, or the Seat of the Soul. 

Right now, sitting in the seat of the soul sounds like a pretty good place to be - as we are barraged with news, social media, divisive beliefs, disrespect. Here is a poem that emerged from sitting quietly and dropping in to that soul full place:

Wholly, Holy

In the betwixt, the cling, the dismay,

our ends are frayed.

There is a knot,

call it beloved, dearest whatever,

that can't be bought.

The yarns we spin come tied together.

~ Charise M. Hoge

Get Fired Up:

There is a place reserved for you in the seat of your soul, anytime, anywhere. Drop in…

www.charisehoge.com 

Creating Our World

Musing…   

 “Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.  When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. 

The wound is the place where the light enters you.

As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears.

You are not just a drop in the ocean, you are the mighty ocean in the drop.

Love is the bridge between you and everything. Do not worry if all the candles in the world flicker and die. We have the spark that starts the fire.”

-Rumi

Kate’s Turn:

Since our current events leave me mute, I offer some wise words of Rumi to inspire all of us to hold steady when our world is rocked. More than ever, we need to continue to create a vision of the world we want to live in….continue to live in the way that is most important for us….continue to bring our best vision of our life to the world. 

“We are creating the safety net and the new infrastructure that will be in place when other things collapse around us. Recognize fear is out there, don’t feed it and live your own life the best way you can.” - Kathy Biehl  

Get Fired Up:

What do we need to do to work together to create a vision for a world that we want?

Allow your spark to light the way.

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”  

 -Edith Wharton

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Go Boldly

Artwork from Stories of Migration exhibit
Textile Museum, Washington, DC

Musing…

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”  - Anais Nin

Charise’s Turn:

Sometimes a dream needs a nudge. It needs to take a walk out of our thinking. I recently gave such a nudge to my daughter, who works at a resale designer boutique and takes classes at our local college. She has talked about her passion for fashion as a career, and how the best education would be at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC).  “Let’s go check it out – they have an open house in October,” I offered enthusiastically. So we went, to explore making her dream a reality. And now she is serious about applying.

I’ve had to give myself similar nudges. James O. Prochaska, PhD, would refer to this as moving from one stage of change to another. According to his book, Changing for Good, Contemplation is a stage of change, as well as Preparation, and Action. So if you are thinking about a possibility you want to try, you are already in a stage of change. Keep going; as Will Rogers says, ”Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

Get Fired Up:

What is the one thing you can do now to see your dream/hopes/vision take shape?

Nudge, nudge.

“A dream is unrehearsed” - Yehudi Menuhin

www.charisehoge.com

Easy Work

Musing…         

“The light flows from their branches. And they call again ‘It’s simple,’ they say, ‘and you, too, have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine’.”  - Mary Oliver

Kate’s Turn:

There is work, and then there is easy work. Steady consistent application of our efforts eventually bears some fruit, an outcome we’re either pleased with or using as a step in further refinement. The harvest of this season demonstrates easy work; the seed, given the proper conditions, thrives and bears a bounty for our pleasure. It seems as easy as eating light!

The work that may feel like work is showing up consistently in our creative practice however we identify it. Giving ourselves the proper conditions allows the light of inspiration to fill us; our unique creative nature will bear fruit and shine.

“I think inspiration comes when you make it a habit of creating. When you work that creative muscle, eventually you come up with better and better ideas and art.”   - Alicia Schwab

Get Fired Up:

 Easy does it! Breathe into it…be filled with light.

“Being creative and making art is simply who I am. It’s something I have to do, like breathing.” - Alicia Schwab

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Take Your Gifts Out of the Box

Photograph by Michelle Ava,
artistic director of AVAdance 

Musing…

“Maybe I need more work than when I was 20, but I have more depth…not to perform, but to be present. Just to be. To be present with the whole of yourself. It’s an inner faith I’m talking about.” - Alessandra Ferri, quoted in The Washington Post, July 10, 2016, about dancing the role of Juliet at 53, with the American Ballet Theatre.

Charise’s Turn:

Time, for me, seems to be going around, not exactly forward. A birthday comes around, a holiday, a remembrance, another class or workshop, another piece of writing coming into fruition, another performance. There’s a building of memories, of knowledge, of experience in such a way that if time were linear, it would be vertical, not horizontal, in it’s stacking up effect. Why the talk of time? I never thought I’d be performing dance in my fifties, especially partnering in a duet. But in the past nine months, such an event has happened twice, on two stages in Washington, DC, under the direction of Michelle Ava, founder of Joy of Motion Dance Center. We are now looking at developing a third collaboration.

What was required? Letting go of the idea of a limit - not an actual limit, but the idea of a limit. This is where you come in (stage right, or left, or straight out of the audience). This is where I address you: how are you hanging on to an idea that is untrue, that is getting in the way of your true ability? Let’s stand in silence for a moment with the question. What comes out of that silence?

Get Fired Up:

Embrace your abilities, time after time.

www.charisehoge.com 

    (Video of collaborative performance is on my website “Services” page.)

Co-Creation

Musing…        

“ I am a hole in a flute that the Spirit’s breath moves through – listen to this music.”   – Hafiz

Kate’s Turn:

The Latin root of the word person is per sonare…to sound through. We are the channel through which the life force energy is expressed. We are here to sing our song, so to speak. Our expression is unique, it has its own melody to offer in harmony with all other life forms, for us all to enjoy the beauty that we create together…how sweet it is! My journey seems to be about being Light - to awaken and shine - and in doing so, my ‘song’ helps others shine in their own Light.    

“We are a hole in a flute, a moment in space, that the Spirit’s body can move through and sway all forms – in an exquisite dance – as the wind in a forest.”   – Hafiz

Get Fired Up:

What is the song you came to sing? Sing, dance, shine, cook, garden…you name it! Sing your heart out! 

“Use what talents you possess:  the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”   – Henry VanDyke

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Appreciation

Musing…

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” - Voltaire

“There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.”   - Mahatma Ghandi

Charise’s Turn:

Monet appreciated water lilies for years, noticing the cast of light at different times, the reflections of clouds, trees, and foliage in the water, the colors hiding in blooms and skies. When I recently visited his home in Giverny, I was seeing nature through his unceasing appreciation as displayed in his paintings. In a museum in Paris, the Orangerie, there are two oval rooms devoted to his large curved panels - they completely surround you. When I wrote the following triolet poem (second place honors for a poetry prompt about a painting in The American Scholar), I can’t say whether I was speaking about his gardens or his art. Mostly I was fishing for his relationship with what he so appreciated.

Soft Palette

The momentum of water lilies

is round, a resplendent haze

of emergent lucidities.

The momentum of water lilies,

repeating morning reveilles,

underscores Monet’s matinees.

The momentum of water lilies

is round, a resplendent haze.

- Charise M. Hoge

Get Fired Up:
“Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe.” - Wayne Dyer

Poems by Charise can be found at: www.mixandmosspoetry.com

Collaboration

Musing…         

“ The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.“ - Aristotle

Kate’s Turn:

Charise and I are approaching our collaborative writing project from 2 different perspectives. Charise is preferring to select favorites while I am looking for the overall design; she sees the standouts while I see the patterns or themes. Of course, both are essential for anything to have form – drops of water are what comprise an ocean; individual threads are needed to weave a tapestry; individual flowers and plants create a garden. And so together, from this necessary dependency of sorts, we marry our contributions to create a new form, greater than each of us could offer individually…at least, that is our intention.

“There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.”   - Warren Bennis

Get Fired Up:

 How do YOU make a difference? How does your ray of sunshine add to the light in our world?

“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.”   - John Cleese

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Perfection

Musing…

“Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The world is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment, every sin already carries grace in it.”

- Herman Hesse

Charise’s Turn:

Have these quotes provided a certain quality of feeling around the word perfection? My selections are purposeful; the majority view is that perfection is something unattainable, and some say strive for it while others recommend throwing out the idea of perfection altogether.

How about a highly subjective experience of what’s perfect for you? 

What’s perfect for me is:

•       a room full of students understanding and owning a teaching
•       making a choice that allows for a new and welcome opportunity
•       success of a project while working under duress
•       timing that is fortuitous and brings joy, relief, or peace of mind
•       serendipity of meeting someone who changes my life or way of thinking
•       the ability to create without knowing all the details or the results

The list could go on, it’s inexhaustible. That such a list is inexhaustible is perfection!

Get Fired Up:

When, where, and in what way do you experience perfection? Begin a list of what is perfect for you. You may surprise yourself.

www.charisehoge.com

Blooming

Musing…      

 “We never know when we will blossom into what we’re supposed to be. It might be early. It might be late. It might be after thirty years of failing at a misguided way. Or the very first time we dare to shed our mental skin and touch the world.”         – Mark Nepo

Kate’s Turn:

I am SO ready for spring blossoms! Our winter in the Midwest, while being mild, has been very cloudy and grey. Granted, my intention for 2016 is “Be my own sun”; but I must admit I’ve been buying tulips weekly to color the grey days with some cheer. I thought it was time for me to blossom, so I launched a group coaching program, using creativity as a practice. But the interested parties dropped off such that it fell apart, and I ended up saying, “Not now.” So I decided to do the creativity as a practice for myself (being a group of one!) and it’s been a steady anchor in my days of outer grey and contrasting inner de-light.  I smile when gazing at my cheery tulips – I gave tulip bouquets to some friends – I even made a lovely little tulip box. We never know when we will blossom…feed the spirit – do the work – love the process; and our blooming will surprise us in its own timing. Happy delight-full spring!

“Creativity itself doesn’t care at all about results. The only thing it craves is the process. Learn to love the process and let whatever happens next happen, without fussing too much about it. Work like a monk, or a mule, or some other representative metaphor for diligence. Love the work. Destiny will do what it wants with you, regardless.”     - Elizabeth Gilbert

Get Fired Up:

You know the phrase, “Bloom where you are planted”? Keep watering your roots so that the world can be delighted with your colors!  

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Winter Clearing

snow angel

Musing…

“Our homes can offer sanctuary and renewed hope during times ahead which may be potentially difficult…They can provide us with a sacred space where we can remember who we are and remember why we are here on the planet at this time.” - Denise Linn, author of Sacred Space

Charise’s Turn:

I’m advocating for a new movement similar to Spring Cleaning, which is Winter Clearing. In the Washington, DC area, where I reside, we were recently pummeled with snow. Twenty-six inches may not sound like a lot to some of our readers, but this area is not budgeted for that amount of snow. It doesn’t happen often enough to support the removal effort. Result: four snowbound days at home. Fire going in the fireplace, magical walks nearby in the dog path (thanks to people walking their dogs, pressing down the snow), and an opportunity to slow down. Also, at our house, we were clearing out filing cabinet drawers. Too much paper, stuff, and clutter can bog down your life, intrude on your space in the same way too much unplowed snow impedes moving forward. Feng shui experts would say that the excess sucks your energy. I can attest to feeling unburdened of some weight of the past by hauling our four drawer metal filing cabinet to the curb this week, next to the remaining small mound of snow.

Get Fired Up:
Look around your office/kitchen/bedroom/studio/living room and notice the ignoble beast of burden taking up space. It’s likely staring you in the face, and you’ve done your best to ignore it. Look again. Begin removal, while you can. It’s Winter Clearing!

www.charisehoge.com

I Say "Yes"

Musing…       

 “ For it is the pleasure of the universe to say "yes" back to you in each moment. “  Science of Mind

Kate’s Turn:

I just finished reading Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, a memoir about her year of saying “Yes” to whatever she has fear about. Using this as inspiration, I’ve decided to say “Yes” to allowing more good in my life, Yes to more of what makes me feel good…such as playing in my art studio, having some consistent  time in the creative zone. 2016 is the year of action, and putting my creative expression out there ( i.e. taking the show on the road) is another Yes for me.  My focus in 2015 was “creating form from light”;  in the spirit of creative expression, and shining my light, my focus for 2016 is “be my own sun”, being the star of my own life. I am certain that saying Yes to consistent studio creative time will bring form from which to shine my creative expression. Some ideas have been gestating for a while already. Stay tuned!

Charise and I are saying YES to our 6 year Meet Your Muse blog entries, playing with ideas to see what form will emerge from past entries as well as making room for its evolution and expansion. We are creating space in which to do this project in 2016, the year of action, remember?! 

Get Fired Up:

So, my fellow creative spirits! What is your YES in 2016? How is it you intend to “Be your own sun”? Please comment with your plans…please let us know how you’d like to see Meet Your Muse evolve.

www.kroskalifecoaching.com