Joy, Anyway

 Musing…

“Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings.” Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Charise’s Turn:

The other morning there were three young deer in my backyard. One nestled in the grass while the other two grazed. In that moment, they owned my property. And I was an honorary guest to this visitation. 

Such a sight gives pause, especially on a December morning of the year 2020, while we are thick into the pandemic that began so many months ago. It reminds me that life is everywhere; and while I am sorely missing monthly escapes to a mountain cabin, the presence of something wild reaches my home in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Our borders and separations are somewhat artificial––as is our idea that we own anything on this earth. We are lucky to be here, and if I’m to propose any kind of new year’s resolution, it is to enjoy life… with all its wildness and unpredictability.  

 

“The unseen world is trying to liberate us.” Lama Rod Owens 

 

Get Fired Up: 

Be joyful, for this moment. 

www.charisehoge.com

True Colors

 Musing…

“And I’ll see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors and that’s why I love you, So don’t be afraid to let them show, Your true colors,  true colors are beautiful, like a rainbow.” Cindi Lauper, "True Colors," written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, American songwriters                                                               

Kate’s Turn:

Autumn is a time when, due to the stressors of decreasing light and increasing cold, the leaves on the trees show their true colors. They draw our attention to take in the breath-taking beauty of this autumn rainbow. I am struck with how stressors can affect us similarly. Our country, our world has been facing numerous stressors in 2020.  It has revealed the best and worst of humanity. I’d like to believe that our attention is drawn to the best examples of what humanity can manifest: compassion, generosity, sacrifice, tolerance, equity, creativity, truth, kindness, respect, unity, love…as the rainbow of our colors shines through the darkness. True colors are beautiful and heart-warming.

These challenging times call us to reflect on what our values are, what we stand for and how our actions reflect who we are. Our core values are like our taproot, allowing our passions to flow through our heart and show our colors through our actions. When you are deeply aligned with your purpose in life, you cannot be other than truly yourself; your essence shines through. And we need all our colors in the rainbow to shine during these challenging times. We are all in this together. 

Get Fired Up:                                                                                                                                         

“Don’t fear to be unique and reveal your own color.” Debasish Mridha, American physician, philosopher and author

Be an example of what humanity can be.

Touch hearts with your beautiful colors.

Be part of the rainbow connection.

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Nature Spirit

 

Musing…

“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.”  Gary Snyder

 

Charise’s Turn:

For me, nature spirit means the aliveness of nature. If you really notice nature with a listening mind, there’s much to receive: beauty, light, color, shadow, texture, growth, change, movement, support. So much of the time, nature is in the background, like a setting that we exist in, while we get on with our lives. I find myself wanting to bring it into the foreground––either by taking a walk or hike, gardening, having lunch or tea on my deck, or with a longing glance out my window. 

 

During springtime of the pandemic, a friend suggested we go on a walk at a safe distance apart. This was a novel idea after quarantining. On one of our walks, in a local public garden, I came upon this Dawn Redwood tree. Entering beneath the canopy of its branches was an extraordinarily uplifting experience, like a welcome embrace. I felt joined to the spirit of this tree. And, for a little while, I forgot about everything else. 

 

“Most people are on the world, not in it.” ––John Muir

 

Get Fired Up:

Give nature your attention. You will be rewarded with a restored spirit. 

www.charisehoge.com

Power of Circle

Musing…    
“A circle is both diameter and circumference, 
compass and horizon, 
holding center and edge together, 

calling us to the heart and the wild borders."                                

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, excerpted from "In Praise of Circles" in Dreaming of Stones: Poems 

Kate’s Turn:  

I am inspired by this poem. Christine’s words about a circle shimmered such that I had to explore why it touched me so. It speaks to me of the tension of the opposites as well as the dynamic between internal and external forces. A circle is defined by its center. But both aspects, center and circumference, are needed in a dynamic that creates the whole. It holds the whole as yin/yang does. The heart, the center still point lies within––the horizon, the wild borders beckon us outside of ourselves where it is spacious and full of possibilities.

This is how I experience creativity. The spark of an idea is lit from within, and the place it takes me when I follow my heart (the compass) is a new edge, a new horizon, a new creation. And I now realize that trying to explain how this poem touches me falls short of the depth in which the actual poetic expression moves me. Hence, the beauty and power of creativity.

Get Fired Up:

“Follow your own circle. See where it takes you.”

Adrienne Posey

 

What edges and wild borders are calling?  Let your heart lead the way.

 

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Community of Inspiration

Musing…
“What you do today that is worthwhile, inspires others to act at some future time.” ––Marcus Garvey

Charise’s Turn:

When the poet Thomas Lux died, I read about his life and how he included a blessing for others at mealtime. Though we were both at Sarah Lawrence College at the same time, and writing was a major part of my studies as a student there, I never took a course from him. But now, I have inherited his generous act of including others on this planet as I bless the food at my table. My family knows this evening ritual by heart. Such is the way of inspiration––once inspired, there’s a trickle effect. I’m calling this a community of inspiration. 

You can probably name some things that you have found inspiring, which you then incorporate into your life as new ways of thinking, doing or being. This moves others; and this is how a community of inspiration is made. Right now, as we isolate more and distance to protect ourselves and our societies from the global pandemic, we can be curious and open to the ways people creatively adapt. We can find the strength to be inspired, and to share our inspiration for the greater good.

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”      

––Ralph Waldo Emerson

Get Fired Up:  

What acts of creativity, compassion, innovation are inspiring you? 

How can you let your inspirations support you in your life, and, by trickle effect, support others?

www.charisehoge.com

Conscious Creation

Musing…

In his Letter to Artists, John Paul II wrote: “Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the term.  Yet, as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: In a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece.” The primary creative act is the living of our daily lives, making of it a work of art.  

Kate’s Turn: 

The mosaic of our nation, of our world, is pieced together and fortified by the conscious creation of each individual life. Our creative nature is innate; it is an infinite resource from which to craft your life. Simply living your daily life with consciousness and intention makes you an artist.  

The intensity of the pandemic crisis along with the racial conflict in 2020 has given us some awareness and learning. Hindsight is 20-20, they say, and one of the learnings during this time is that we are all in this together. This heightened awareness of inclusion provides an opportunity to reflect and to redefine the crafting of our life. This juncture calls us to decide who we are and what we stand for. Making conscious choices for quality of life rather than survival are an investment for our future. Considering others' best interests as your best interests builds unity. Practicing love in the midst of fear is indeed a work of art.

Get Fired Up:

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.  You wait and watch and work; you don’t give up.”––Anne Lamott

Continue to create your masterpiece. You are essential in the whole mosaic.

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Making A More Humane World

Washington, DC
Black Lives Matter Plaza

Musing…

“Art is an effort to create, beside the real world, a more humane world.”––Andre Maurois

Charise’s Turn: 

As a performing artist in the Washington, DC area, I have participated in dance festivals, street fairs, and theatrical productions. With the current pandemic, all of these arts events are cancelled. But the best street art that I’ve seen occurred in the early morning hours of June 5, when a “Black Lives Matter” mural was painted on a portion of 16th Street NW. The painting was ordered by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. 

Politics aside (there’s been both praise and criticism for her decision), the mural is an act of bold creativity linked to core values. It is visually stunning and cannot be ignored. The yellow letters span the street, curb-to-curb, amounting to a walkway to get from one side to the other. The art is now part of the street itself, as if the blueprint was already there and has come to the surface. It has a gathering force that draws people to it––and has inspired other communities in other cities to create similar murals. 

Get Fired Up:

Consider your core values and how they light up your creativity. 

What do you value, and how do you express this? 

  

www.charisehoge.com

Limitation Sparks Innovation

Musing…  
 “While we might feel small, separate, and all alone,
Our people have never been more closely tethered.
The question isn't if we will weather this unknown,
But how we will weather this unknown together.
So on this meaningful morn, we mourn and we mend.
Like light, we can't be broken, even when we bend.”
––Amanda Gorman from The Miracle of Morning
National Youth Poet Laureate


Kate's Turn:
Our nation, our world has been in quarantine now for over 40 days. The word quarantine comes from the Italian quaranta which means forty. It has Biblical references: the Israelites 40 years in the desert, 40 days of Lent, the 40 day Flood. It is a period of time that invokes a radical change, a transformation if you will, to a different way of being. A new normal becomes apparent with the loss of life as it used to be––adaptation begins to morph into innovation.

I have been in wonder and awe at the innovations that have been reported, on a spectrum from pantry meals to significant celebrations to frontline protective gear assembly to scientific missions in developing testing and treatments. The flourishing of community and unity, compassion and connection are the heart-felt effects of these innovative efforts on every scale. Everyone has had the opportunity to tap into their creative nature. It is our infinite resource that can light our way when limitations give us pause.

Get Fired Up:
What innovations have emerged from you during this time?                                                          
How are you tapping into your creative nature?

“Only you and I can help the sun rise each coming morning. If we don't, it may drench itself out in sorrow. You special, miraculous, unrepeatable, fragile, fearful, tender, lost, sparkling ruby emerald jewel, rainbow splendor person. It's up to you."―Joan Baez

www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Adapting is Creative

Kahil Gibran Memorial Garden, Washington, DC
"Do not the spirits who dwell
in the ether envy man his pain?"

Musing…

"Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better."––John Updike

Charise’s Turn:

You may be one of the fortunate ones, as I am, to have a home and resources to shelter-in-place during the current pandemic. We are all adapting to an altered way of living, making the best use of our creative potential. Creativity is a life tool. I’ve seen so many artists finding ways to create and share their art virtually. I’ve seen people applaud in the streets of New York City for the health care workers who are taking care of our sick. I’ve seen people figure out how to connect from a distance, and then think about reconnecting with others they’ve lost touch with, as we build our own sense of community in separate spaces. I’ve seen, in my own household, with three of us––including my daughter who left NYC when her college campus closed––the teamwork involved in sharing space and supplies. I’ve seen a fantastic fort made of branches in the park near my house, as children spend time outdoors, away from playgrounds and their more structured activities.  

What have you seen? How are you tapping into your creativity during this time of great change? 

Get Fired Up:

Honor your creativity as a life tool. 

www.charisehoge.com

Spring Expectancy

Musing…    
 “Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles.”––Edwin Louis Cole, author 

Kate’s Turn:  
Spring is the epitome of expectancy. The air smells fresh; the warmth of the sun melts the winter blanket of snow. And all eagerly await the appearance of green grass, budding trees and first blooms. Our hopes for new life are rekindled. Even though this happens every year, it always seems like a miracle. Witnessing this unfolding is witnessing the Mystery of life in its perpetual cycle of death to life, darkness to light.

This is the time to shine the warmth of your love on the visions and ideas that have been gestating deep in your being. Call forth your dreamseeds as they unfold in the Mystery of life. Expect the best as you see them in your mind and hold them tenderly in your heart. Love them into being. Surely your creativity will flower.

“Where there is great love there are always miracles.”––Willa Cather


Get Fired Up:
How can you let this mysterious power of being awaken you?

“The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall soon see the results of that love. Every seed has awakened and so has all the animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we, too, have our being.“––Sitting Bull


 www.kroskalifecoaching.com

Doing the Work

Musing…

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”––Carl Jung

  

Charise’s Turn:

What is the ‘work’ that supports endeavors? There’s the work of the endeavor itself, and then there’s the work that supports you to accomplish what you’ve set out to do. That type of underlying work includes: self-care, making choices, setting priorities, making a schedule, getting clear, feeling energized, feeling comfortable asking for help as well as seeking opportunity. While this may sound like a lot to focus on, I’m finding that I can be much more efficient––and open to change––if I attend to the underlying work.   

Meditation helps me with clarity, and once I’m clear about something then I can move forward. What I’m currently clear about is that I want more space to create…specifically, to write. In the simplest way, this means putting ‘writing’ on my schedule as a regular appointment. Instead of a client or a class, block out an hour (or more) for writing time. And, examine where my time is going that is draining me, to see what can be done there. One thing I’ve done is put more faith in my ability to create and back this up with giving that ability more value. With that in mind, I’ve decided to scale down how much I share my poems via a blog. This allows me to prioritize seeking out publishing opportunities, which has typically been a sporadic and inconsistent pursuit. 

Get Fired Up:

Sometimes you need to make radical choices in favor of your creativity. Listen to yourself. And schedule time for the underlying work that supports what you do. 

www.charisehoge.com

Winter Rest-oration

Musing…    
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”––Lao Tzu

Kate’s Turn:  
Rest is a vital aspect of healing, of a healthy lifestyle.  Our cultural norm is to produce, to work, to be in the yang energy of output.  When this is imbalanced, it can often stress and take a toll on our well-being.  The doctor’s familiar advice for feeling ill, after all, is to rest.  Don’t wait until you get sick.  Embrace your winter yin energy.  

Winter is nature’s example of rest in the cycle of growth. Mother Earth quiets herself and takes pause under the blanket of snow.  It is the yin, the receiving aspect in the balance of yin-yang energy.  Quieting our external ‘doing’ can give our internal ‘being’ an opportunity to restore and renew.  Focusing our attention on our inner nourishment, in good time, will naturally lead to further creative expression.  This time of rest can offer a fresh perspective, a new idea, a renewed vision.  No need to hurry. Trust in the roots of your creative nature.

“Maybe you are searching among the branches for what only appears in the roots.”––Rumi

Get Fired Up:
Snuggle under a blanket and embrace winter’s gift; restore your core (your creative nature ) with rest and reflection.

Place the fruits of your quiet time on a vision board for later activation…everything will be accomplished.

“The end of all of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”––T.S.Eliot


 www.kroskalifecoaching.com