Inspired by Share Your Shame by Steve Pavlina and our chat during our recent visit . This is also inspired by Peas on Earth by Bunny Berry. I decided if I am participating in Peas on Earth, I should include making peas or Peace with my past.
So, call this what you will. It felt like a confessional video and after I uploaded it I felt a comforting sense of calm. It’s a sense of not caring what others think, but being open and true to what I have lived to get to where I am today. I admit my past has been quite colorful, but it is only making my journey through life so much sweeter.
Like me or not, this is a part of what made me who I am. I love where I have been but even more where I am going.
I love being a mom. My kids freaking crack me up. I didn’t realize they were listening to my inspirational CD’s by Wayne Dyer. I think the kids may only get in one bunch of greens a day. They are putting up a little silliness, but they actually were the ones who said they wanted to join in on the challenge.
Last Friday, I was in Las Vegas and I had the pleasure of meeting Steve Pavlina at his home. I really didn’t know much about Steve prior to our meeting. A friend on mine named Jon posted a blog in January stating that Steve Pavlina was doing a 30 day raw experiment. All I knew is that he posted blogs online and anyone who gives raw a chance is good in my books.
A few months later, I met him through an online website for raw food enthusiasts: GiveItToMeRaw.com. After we became acquainted, I became more curious. One day I was listening to a radio interview. I totally identified with him. We have very similar stories. I felt like I was listening to my own interview. It was strange. I wanted to know more. I knew I had plans to celebrate a birthday party in Las Vegas. It would be even better to meet him since I knew he lived there.
I decided to send an email out to Steve to see if he would be interested in meeting another raw food junkie. 🙂 I hoped for the best but expected the worst. His response was music to my ears. He was available and agreed to meet. We planned to met at a raw restaurant, but then due to his juice feast he decided it would be best to meet at his home.I have to admit for a moment I was a bit put back that he invited me to visit him in his home.
I never meet “strangers” from the Internet, especially a man in his home. Then, I felt a sense of peace. First of all, that says so much about a person. I felt that he was truly generous and trusting. Our homes are out sanctuaries. I felt honored that from our brief interaction that he would invite me to meet there.
We exchanged stories and experiences over juice. During our chat, I mentioned there were a few things I didn’t feel comfortable with sharing in a blog. After his encouraging words, I am taking his advice. I will be posting a blog about some of my biggest fears or just things I probably wouldn’t normally share on the Internet. I truly feel that sharing my stories will be beneficial for my growth. I have been blogging occasionally on gaia, but nothing too personal, except every now and then. I have been inspired to share my experiences online in a more consistent and personal way. Here I go! I love vlogging (video blogging) and feel that I am better at expressing myself in video than in writing, so I will be doing both.
Steve sent me along my way with a copy of his book that I began reading as soon as I arrived back at the hotel room. I am looking forward to sharing the insight I receive from his book and what actions I am inspired to take as a result from his words. I agree that we cannot outgrow personal growth. I am fascinated be human potential and look forward to challenging myself to new levels of conscious living.
I may be a little behind the times as far as movies. I just watched “The Bucket List” last night. I was in tears(AGAIN)… I love movies that make us want to live better lives and this movie did just that for me.
After the movie I made a list of what I would want to do if I only had 30 days to live. Talk about a time crunch, right? So, 30 things went on my list. I wasn’t very hard to pull it together. It really just affirmed that I need to move forward with my dreams and do the silly things that I put off. Then I asked my 2 kids (12 and 10) to write their list. It really helped me understand what they valued and dreamed of doing. It makes me want to be a better mother for them and provide them the opportunities to do what it is they feel is important. I became all teary eyed reading their list. Some things are so small that they seem insignificant, yet it means the world to them. How well do we know our loved ones?
Well, here is my list of 30 things.
1. Go on a hot air balloon ride 2. Play on a flying trapeze and practice gymnastics with my kids 3. Jump off the rock at Waimea Beach (I always want to but I chicken out) 4. Swim with dolphins and sea turtles 5. Kayak out to rabbit island and have a picnic 6. Go horseback riding (I LOVE HORSES) 7. Spend the day surfing, laying on the sand, playing volleyball 8. Watch the sunset, a fire pit on the beach, BBQ, make smores and watch the stars 9. Live in a tree house on a tropical retreat, pick food from the garden 10. Travel to Fiji 11. Travel to Bali 12. Travel to Greece 13. Travel to New Zealand & Australia 14. Mentor under an amazing raw food chef & create edible works of art 15. Visit all the amazing raw food restaurants 16. Spend time at a wellness spa 17. Have a massage everyday 18. Have a make over and look as beautiful on the outside as I feel on the inside 19. Go snowboarding, sledding, snowmobiling, & ice skating 20. Learn to sew with Mehgan 21. Learn to play the guitar with Alex 22. Take couple dancing lessons 23. Take interior design and landscape design classes 24. Enjoy intimate concerts by Jack Johnson, Michael Buble, Jason Mraz 25. Go rock climbing & have a picnic on top 26. Swim in a waterfall lagoon naked 27. Enjoy a helicopter ride 28. Ride bikes along the coast 29. Play hide and go seek in the dark with my kids 30. Go indoor skydiving ,then maybe try the real deal 🙂
Making this list reminded me of how many things I would love to do but I put off. Is this “put off” a slap in life’s face? Life is meant to be lived. I felt like I have taken my life for granted. It’s good to be reminded and humbled. My kids always say…life is meant to be fun and enjoyed. If today was my last day to live, would I spend it any differently? Would you?
Something feels sooooooo good about starting a new blog. It reminds me of the first day of school with brand new rings of paper and pencils ready to fill the sheets. I suppose an introduction would be appropriate ; ).As you know, my name is Lori. I am 32. I currently live in Southern California and will be relocating to Hawaii in April 2009. I am a single mommy of 2 kids. My son is 12, my daughter is 10. I am very close with the children’s father. We are committed parents. At my kids events the other parents think we are still married since they usually don’t see ex relationships getting along.
Together, we alternate homeschooling. WOW, what a shift. Transforming and I am amazed I took on that challenge. I am so glad that I did. It was what felt right for us. It is only my second year doing it. I hope to continue.
I am a self employed Health and Wellness Practitioner. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I feel a deep connection to my purpose and that is my work. I suppose it is the most stable “job” one can have. You can’t exactly get fired from your purpose. It is born into you. Talk about job security…LOL. 🙂 . My purpose is to move from inspiration to action. Hence my screen name: Inspire2Act. Pretty simple. Sometimes it stays in the head…but, what’s the point if no action is taken? My passion is to inspire others to act in ways that are worthy of them. I have a background in massage, personal training, nutrition, purification, rehab and physical therapy, day spa, beauty, and green living (check out: http://gliving.tv/).
Self reliance and empowerment are deeply rooted into me. It is something I wish to maintain and deepen and inspire in others. I wonder of being born 1 hour from Independence day has anything to do with it? ; )
I LOVE being a woman. I love the femininity, the beauty, the curves, the softness, the smell, the WORKS. I am thankful I have been given this body and I am honoring this body temple that houses my spirit. I love being alive!
Here are some projects that I am into:
1. Turning my cookie cutter track home yard into an edible landscape. I feel a strong sense to empower myself through making my property have a purpose. This includes every plant I own :). Productive and purposeful and efficient. I don’t exactly have the rep for being an amazing gardener, but I am passionate and thirsty to learn. I love http://pathtofreedom.com/ . They inspire me. I attend their events and film screenings and potlucks. Once I am up and running I am going to help others establish their own edible landscape and homestead. This is a great site to connect and have support: http://freedomgardens.org/.
2. Learning how to make yummy raw food. A few years ago I was going to attend CIA in Napa (Culinary Institute of America) until I realized there was no correlation with nutrition and gourmet food at this facility. Hence, my hunger to learn gourmet raw food :). The journey has begun! Raw food culinary geniuses: Wish me luck ; ). For everyday raw stuff I check out: http://www.welikeitraw.com/ .
3. Physical fitness! I am deepening my yoga practice. I have been doing yoga since I was 15. It was never consistent and regular, but I loved it still. I have decided to commit to it. I feel it is the most neutralizing, balancing, and healing form of exercise on the planet, but that’s just me. It truly enhances all the fun activities I enjoy like dancing, snowboarding, and surfing, and gymnastics. I really love being creative with the body and having fun. A workout is only secondary to the fun factor!
4. I’d love to learn to play the guitar and the piano. I have a piano in my front room and don’t know how to play…so sad. 🙂 Chopsticks anyone? My kids and I just started guitar lessons. What a hand workout!
5. To realize a book NEVER feels finished. I just need to publish it already! I suppose an artist may always want to tweak his final painting. I have written in the fields of self development and empowerment through conscious living, health, wellness, beauty, purification, diet, green sustainable living practices, etc.
6. I love retreats I would spend my life traveling the world just to see them all, so why not start this way? Like minded people, please respond ; ). I am working on holding retreats that are informative and inspirational as well as FUN!!!! I would like to set them up by seasons. Perhaps a snowboarding raw yoga retreat in winter. A surfing raw yoga retreat in summer. Spring and Fall perform purification retreats. A place to decondition old paradigms and get back to the version of our authentic self.
7. I love fine nude art. Those black and whites of sculpted physiques are mesmerizing. Our lives and bodies are our own work of art. I find this beautiful expression: http://www.fineartnude.com/webring/
8. Complete a 92 day juice feast. I have only done 2 week liquid cleanses. Check out: http://www.globaljuicefeast.com/ . Wow, what a commitment.
9. I am very interested in living debt free and below my means. I have lived a life of debt and found it to be very low calibrating in consciousness. It is a burden that weighs the spirit down. As Wayne Dyer says” Debt is nonspiritual“.
“I leave you free to be yourself: to think your thoughts, indulge your tastes, follow your inclinations, behave in ways that you decide are to your liking.” – Wayne Dyer in “There is a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem”
“The greatest gift you can give to anyone. Your children, your mate, a stranger, anyone is to say, ‘I am self sufficient and I am in charge of the way I feel. And you all just go and do your thing and be however you need to be and I will selectively sift from among you, even the specific components of each of you and I will practice those components that resonate with my source until I have practiced a vibrational frequency that becomes my proclivity, it becomes my mood, it becomes my point of attraction and I will illicit from you things that make me feel wonderful when I illicit them.” We should be willing to say “Do anything you need to do or want to do. It really isn’t any of my business what you do. It is my business to find things in you that please me.” – Abraham (Esther Hicks)
Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow. ~Swedish Proverb
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? ~Stephen Levine
Present your family and friends with their eulogies now – they won’t be able to hear how much you love them and appreciate them from inside the coffin. ~Anonymous
Relationships offer us an opportunity to share and grow. By being uplifting ourselves we are uplifting others. We all deserve to feel loved and the first love starts with ourself. Life is filled with enough pain and drama. Be the feel good person in other’s lives in it will bring you peace in your own life.
If you are running through life feeling overwhelmed and not really making the impact you know you want, or wishing you felt alive and filled with passion then you are going to LOVE me!
