This morning I was sitting by my sister’s pool, sipping hot chocolate, when my attention delved so deeply into thoughts and images of an event of the recent past that I did not immediately notice the robin land in the shady grass and begin to chirp. When her chirping got close enough and loud enough, the spell was broken, the dream ended, and my attention went fully on her for a moment. Upon noticing that I had been lost in thought, I do what I always do, which is to come to my senses; to feel into the body and breath, feel the heat of the sun, my seat on the steps, hear the call of the bird, notice the taste of …
People don’t support my happiness!
People don’t support my happiness! During a TeleClass last night, I described how my experience of life has changed since discovering the joy within; how things, people, or events–even the weather, don’t bother me, and someone who was relating emailed this question: “How do you explain this concept to others in your life? Sometimes, it seems people can’t accept that everything is ok. And not only ok but great. And they want to tear that down.” To deal with this, you could learn communication techniques or ways to improve your self-confidence or self-image, but those are just temporary, superficial band-aid attempts that support a sense of separation, of ego. Alchemy is much more radical, it is not about learning or …
Burning Bridges
I thought of recent conversations with colleagues about the “tipping point” or “turning point” where, when a decision is made, it’s over and there’s no turning back. We’ve been trying to grasp what exactly that is; it seems to be a decision, but perhaps it is more than that…
One habit (which most people have) that leads to depression
Depression and anxiety are becoming epidemic. Statistics on Depression: • One in ten U.S. adults report depression. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 2008)
Cindy turns down the Next Top Spiritual Author win
As most of you know–because you were there, with me, making it happen by casting your vote–that Alchemy won the Next Top Spiritual Author contest in 2010. That was announced before I saw the contract, but when it arrived, I was not moved to sign it. After two weeks of picking the brains of best selling authors and just waiting for the decision to be made known to me, with the blessing of my Singapore investor, turning down the deal was as big or bigger a win as accepting it. For some books, it may have been a good direction, but it appears Alchemy is taking a different route, for now anyway. Going into the contest I knew that a …
When non-violent communication is violent
“You always interrupt me,” came the complaint. “In non-violent communication we own-up,” she continued… I have periodically heard about something called “non-violent communication” and while I knew nothing about it, immediately I liked the idea the name implies. But this was the first time I ran into it head-on in real life, and I clearly saw how it failed (in this case) to meet its own namesake. (Or perhaps there was confusion in its understanding, or application.) I had been communicating with a co-worker and wanted to share an insight, but when I began to address the subject, I was interrupted and the topic went in another direction. “You always interrupt me,” she complained. “Always?” I asked.