Friday, September 23, 2011

The Execution of Troy Davis, or Choose to Love Life


I am saddened that through all our efforts, we were not able to stop the execution of Troy Davis. I believe he was wrongly convicted due in part to the pervasive racism that still plagues this country. I also believe that the death penalty is wrong.

I want to say that all unequivocally so that the following will not seem flip or insensitive.

We spend huge amounts of our time, energy and money fearing death. And yet we don't know anything about death. We don't know whether what awaits us is a white light, the fires of hell, another life in another body, time with God, or nothing at all. And yet, or perhaps because of that, we fear it. We fear the unknown.

We could be spending that energy loving what is known: the present moment! For most people reading this, we have everything we need in the present moment. We just need to breathe and dive into life. As for the unknown, I'm learning to love the unknown as an adventure. If everything is known, that means I controlled it. Which means I imagined it and brought it into being with my little human brain. But if I allow the chaos of the universe to arrange into a pattern for my life, then I have all the wisdom of the whole universe getting together to create an amazing journey for me.

When my 25 year-old sister first died, I was devastated. I felt singled out; punished, even, since my father had already died tragically when I was 15. The thing that got me through it was looking to Hannah's life for wisdom. She lived with energy, enthusiasm, passion for adventure and connection. She travelled all over the world- for fun, for learning and to help strangers through humanitarian projects. She embarked on ambitious projects not knowing the end result but knowing the power of her values, convictions and personal strengths. She picked herself up after a painful breakup and embraced being single for the fun it can offer. Her model of how to live, loving life and not fearing death, inspires me still.

Instead of fearing death, let's love life.

What can we learn from Troy Davis even though his soul is no longer in his body? His wisdom can still speak to us if we allow it.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

When gift-giving gets serious

So much has been written about the amazing week in the desert that is Burning Man. The costumes, the art, the music - it's a truly unique and amazing experience.

This was my 4th year on "The Playa" and it was the most magical so far. Why? Not because I did any crazy drugs or had a wild romance. In fact, this year I specifically went there to receive the wisdom of the universe. Just to ALLOW things, people, experiences and messages to come to me without me controlling everything. See, control is a sticky thing for us workaholic Virgo types... we think we can do everything so we try to do everything. But at a certain point, our own intelligence and wherewithal is not as powerful as the universe. And that's where the concept of FLOW really becomes powerful.

Instead of trying to control everything, I chose to flow. This can be uncomfortable for me - not knowing what's going to happen, whether it will be good, whether it will be fun, etc.

On Friday evening of the Burn this year, I decided I would not commit to any particular time or plan for the night - I started out the evening with a few friends, and all I knew was that I was going to let the playa dictate my experience. And the gifts just kept coming - incredible music to dance to, art that kept popping up in unexpected places, even a couple that rode up to us and offered to make S'mores using propane fire tanks they had strapped to the backs of their bicycles. By the time the sun rose, I was in Heaven. I turned to one of my friends and said that the gifts kept flowing to me, and at that exact moment a stranger rode up to me on her bicycle and handed me a lit incense stick, then rode away with a smile. My jaw just dropped at the synchronicity!

Through tears of joy and beauty, I used the incense stick to bless and cleanse the people near me, and in those few minutes I had a very clear understanding of something I can bring to this world. I have always felt that goodness is truly the highest value, and what I've come to understand is that through my radical goodness, my willingness to be unreservedly in love with the world, with every stranger, I can make a difference. Yes, the world can be full of jerks, but it can also be full of beautiful creatures who give without expectation of anything in return, and I definitely want to nurture the latter.
So, you've been in LA for a year or more - you found a place to live, you bought a car and you even signed with an agent.

Now what?

This blog is about taking your career to the next level - thinking big, thinking outside the box and working collaboratively to achieve success. Success in LA.