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This is the print-friendly version of the April 2009 Newsletter -
Online Issue # 21
April 2009 Newsletter
Online Issue # 21
In this Issue:
See also, the print-friendly version of this newsletter (all the articles are on one web page).
Look for the next issue in August.
The Front Page
All Things Possible
“Our life is not a problem to be solved, it is a gift to be opened.”
-Wayne Muller
Some of you know that I have an ongoing interest which I've affectionately referred to as my one and only hobby: reading used car ads. Not just any used car ads, Volvo station wagon ads. Except for one new car that came with a loan right after college, all of my car buys have been older used vehicles, cash cars I call them. Except for a 1974 light blue VW Super Beetle, all of my used cars have been Volvos, and all but one of those have been station wagons.
I didn't plan this, it's one of those things that happened. As I think about it though, it really fits who I am—practical, thrifty, adventuresome, helpful, and a dreamer. Even though I live in the city, I like a vehicle that can haul stuff at a moments notice without a fuss. Stuff like building supplies, compost, groceries, friends, furniture, pets, plants, and the unexpected find.
For as long as I've owned cars, going on 35 years, I've been fortunate to know and work with wonderful mechanics whom I've learned about by word-of-mouth. In all those years there have been a grand total of four mechanics in my life. Two in Duluth, one in northeast Minneapolis, and one in Dinkytown, where I've been a loyal customer for over 25 years.
Originally, the auto repair shop in Dinkytown, on the corner of 14th Avenue S.E. and Eighth Street S.E., was the Gorshe Brothers Garage. Greg worked there with Mr. Gorshe and his brother, who have since retired. I cried when I found out about the retirement, but the business still bears their name, Gorshe Auto Service, and, fortunately, Greg continues to work there.
Because I choose to buy and drive older used cars, it's essential for me to have a mechanic I trust completely, as well as AAA extended towing. That way if something unexpected goes wrong I can be 100 miles from home and still be towed back to the “garage of my choice” in Dinkytown where Greg will take care of everything. Over the years that has happened on several occasions, but it's nothing I worry about anymore. When a mechanic like Greg always does good work, is knowledgeable, honest, and fair there is nothing to worry about.
Even though I regularly scan the used Volvo ads, I'm rarely car shopping. I just like to have a pulse on what's out there and what it's going for, in case. Lately though, I find myself scanning with more focused intent. This past winter has been particularly hard on my 1992 station wagon. Mechanically it's still sound at 221,000 miles, but the driver's side doors are beginning to visibly rust along the bottom. I checked out the possibility of buying a used door from a recycler of Volvo parts and I'm actually thinking about that. I guess it depends on the door repair estimate and what shows up in the ads.
I recognize that my car hobby parallels what many employees have always done with jobs. Right now, so many people who are employed are especially grateful to be working, even if the work they do isn't the work they really want. They show up and do their best, but they're also keeping an eye and an ear open for what's out there. They want and need to know, in case they happen to uncover something of interest or find themselves in a position of needing to make a quick change. In both of these examples, we're now seeking and using information online rather than in the newspaper that's delivered to our front door. And who hasn't noticed, there seem to be more cars to be sold than jobs to be filled?
So much has changed, and is still changing, to the point that many of us feel disoriented in an increasingly unfamiliar world. Stable things we counted on to guide and ground us, to act as landmarks in our lives, suddenly vanish or seem in danger of toppling. It's easy for worry and fear to overwhelm us and paralyze our best creative energies. But that is only one aspect of what is possible.
I'm reminded of a favorite line of mine from Wayne Muller's book, Sabbath, “often it is when we do not know the outcome that all things become possible.” This, too, is an aspect of what is possible now, a time to awaken and channel our individual and collective creative energies. We do not know the outcome; it is still being created—by you, by me, by all of us.
With gratitude,
Laurie Mattila
Good Books
Success Intelligence:
Essential Lessons and Practices from the World's Leading Coaching Program on Authentic Success
by Robert Holden
Hay House, 2008
hardcover, $26.95
I picked up a copy of Success Intelligence, not recognizing the author or his work; the title just intrigued me. It turns out that Robert Holden wrote the best-selling books Shift Happens! and Happiness Now! which are both available in paperback. Holden is the Director of Success Intelligence and The Happiness Project, and his work is featured in two BBC television documentaries: The Happiness Formula and How to Be Happy, neither of which I've seen.
In the Prologue to Success Intelligence, Holden tells the story of when he was sixteen years old and the painful reality of his father's alcoholism confronts him on the public sidewalk of his hometown. Questions, triggered by what was happening to his father, haunt Holden as they also shape his life's work. What is success? What is happiness? What's real? What is life for?
In seven parts, Holden explores the primary, interweaving themes of vision, relationships, and work as they relate to success and happiness. He also considers the importance of potential, wisdom, courage, and grace. In the final part, Renaissance, his focus is on the “challenge to take your true place in the world.” Thirty of the chapters end with a Success Intelligence Tip, which is really an opportunity to personally explore an aspect of Success Intelligence in your own life. Expect more of Holden's original questions.
Robert Holden is a thoughtful and engaging writer, who knows and appreciates the challenge of living and working in a “Manic Society” that values busyness and speed more than vision. He is also a leader in the use of positive psychology to bring about individual and organizational change. Reading Success Intelligence had the feel of talking with a wise and caring mentor who took the time to pass along what he has learned and believes will make all the difference—a life with authentic success and real happiness. I am grateful for this book.
The Hay House paperback edition of Success Intelligence is scheduled for early May.
“What looks like a dead end to our egos is really an invitation to go higher than before. It is a lifting-off point where you are asked to give up your own efforts for more grace and to let go of your own plans for greater inspiration. Every dead end is a place in the road where you must let go of what does not really work for what really can.”
-Robert Holden
The Answer Is Simple...
Love Yourself, Live Your Spirit!
by Sonia Choquette
Hay House, 2008
hardcover, $19.95
Who among us doesn't want to love the life we are living?
In her latest book, The Answer Is Simple, Sonia Choquette, writes about how it's possible to love your life, regardless of the inevitable ups and downs or less than fortunate circumstances you might be facing. As the subtitle suggests, loving yourself and living your Spirit come before loving your life; not the other way around.
Through her work Choquette has been fortunate to talk with and observe people, from widely different circumstances, who succeed in really loving life—and to her they are different. Instead of relying upon ego and intellect to navigate life, these individuals are guided by the Spirit within. They know who they are: they are worthy, part of the Divine whole, here to love what they love, and share that love.
The book is organized into ten simple steps/ideas intended to help you practice “self-love and authentic Spirited living”: Welcome Your Spirit, Connect with Your Soul Family, Remember What You Love, Choose Kindness, and six more. Each idea is followed by practical action you can take to live in the joy, light, and love of your Spirit, rather than the pain, fear, and control of your ego.
Midway through the book, you'll find an “Interlude” titled The Heart of the Matter. This section focuses on how to fully engage the heart—love yourself and live your spirit—by considering four expressions of Love/Spirit: open heart, clear heart, wise heart, and courageous heart.
The Answer Is Simple is a book that will be valued by readers who seek to know and live the uncomplicated truth of their own hearts.
Choquette is the author of several more best-selling mind-body-spirit books, including Trust Your Vibes. The Answer Is Simple is also available as a deck of oracle cards.
“The ego differentiates...things as more or less important, but not the Spirit.... All gifts are equal in Divine mind. Claiming, valuing, and then sharing yours completely, without hesitation or interference from your ego, is one of the greatest and simplest secrets to loving yourself and living your Spirit. What do you love? Sharing that fully is your purpose.”
-Sonia Choquette
Practice Page
"Each of us leaps instinctively at what is needed for understanding and completion."
-T. Alan Broughton
Here's something for you to think about, write about, talk about, wonder about, and try out.
Before this newsletter became available online, I reviewed two books written by Wayne Muller. How Then Shall We Live? came out in 1996, followed by Sabbath in 1999. These are books I still turn to for inspiration, and books that others continue to recommend to each other in some of my groups. The themes are timeless: revealing meaning and beauty in our lives, and restoring sacred rest to our lives. Both of my copies are marked with handwritten notes and underlined passages that leap at me when I read them.
To give you a feel for what I'm describing, here are three portions I highlighted in How Then Shall We Live?
"What is our song? How do we name ourselves? Which word, when we speak it, reveals what is most deeply true about this inner voice, our deepest heart, our fundamental nature?"
"What if the answers to our questions about life and path and practice are already speaking to us, and in our rush to find them elsewhere we miss the easy, gentle wisdom that would teach us all we need to know if we simply center ourselves and be still for just a moment?"
"What are the elements of our craft? What few simple tools are necessary to live a full and happy life? Which few things, if we choose them, would be able to sustain our creativity, enthusiasm, and passion?"
Challenge:
Pay attention to what leaps for you as a way to know, or know again, what matters.
Notice The Leap:
When something leaps for you, it's as though it's printed in bold-neon-orange and jumps out from what comes before and after. On the page, it might be a phrase, a couple of lines, or a question. Or it might be something you hear in a song, conversation, or interview. Maybe it's something triggered by a collage of silky textures and dreamy colors, an unforgettable blending of scents and flavors, or a YouTube video someone sends to you.
Many people make use of the rule of three: the third time something comes up, again, they make a mental note to pay attention. That's a beginning too: notice what repeats for you.
Follow The Leap:
If you're open to writing for discovery, this makes a great exercise. You begin by noticing something, anything, that leaps for you. Record the details of what happened. Listen for any associations that are floating around. Don't evaluate anything. The idea is to document the leap in the way you might record a dream you remember in the morning.
Next, allow yourself to wander freely on the page, considering a few questions. Capture fragments. Note impressions. Make associations. Follow along.
Who or what might be showing up, wanting my attention?
Has anything similar happened recently?
What else am I reminded of?
Do I detect any patterns?
Is there meaning or connection to decipher?
How am I responding to all of this?
What's my best guess?
A Short Cut:
This doesn't need to be time consuming. So, if you aren't interested in introspective writing, just keep a list of what leaps for you. Make it something small you can carry around and review every so often.
However you try it, you will soon notice that your leaps are not random. There are patterns to what wants your attention, patterns deep within you that the world is simply reflecting back to you. As you spend time in a state of curiosity and openness, you'll be rewarded with glimmers of insight or knowing, confident that the next guiding leaps will be there for you when you need them.
Laurie Mattila
© April 2009
Upcoming Calendar:
Discovery Writing: Creating A FutureSM
celebrating 15 years of listening-writing
For NEW Students:
Discovery Writing: Creating A Future
For 15 years Discovery Writing has been helping people to hear and trust their own knowing, in order to create a life of their own choosing.
This six-session class uses a simple “listening-writing” process as a way to explore what you truly desire; it is also a path to follow in creating your future.
View the online flyer to learn more about Discovery Writing: Creating A Future
Spring Schedule 2009
Thursday mornings ( 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. )
April 16, 23, 30 May 7, 14, 21
Fall Schedule 2009
Wednesday evenings ( 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. )
September 23 October 7, 21 November 4, 18 December 2
For FORMER Students:
2009 Discovery Writing Retreat for Women
Although it’s too early for registrations, it’s not too early to pencil the dates of the annual fall writing retreat on your calendar. We’ll be going to StoneyWoods Retreat Center for the weekend of October 16-18th. In August, I’ll send out an email to past registrants and former students with all of the details.
2009 Discovery Writing Yearlong Group
This is the group that begins in January and meets monthly through December. For the first time since I began offering the group, it didn’t happen this year. Because of that, I’m considering starting a group in September that would meet monthly through May. I’ll have details in the August newsletter if I decide to try again this fall.
Intentional Living—Meaningful WorkSM
celebrating its 10th year
For ALL who are Interested:
Intentional Living—Meaningful Work
The idea of living with intention and working with meaning speaks to the heart, soul, and imagination. When I created this class over ten years ago and began teaching it through the Compleat Scholar, I had no idea it would grow more relevant with each passing year. Once again, the class will be offered in the spring and I would love to have you join us.
Description: Poet Mary Oliver asks, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Using this question as a place to begin, you are invited to examine the way you are living and working. Consider other questions too—Is this all there is? What are my true needs? How is my life being consumed? What's worth doing? Grapple with these ideas and more through personal reflection, group discussion, interactive exercises, a little writing, and optional outside reading. The group provides a supportive and stimulating environment that encourages personal responsibility for informed, conscious choice.
Class will be held on the following Thursday evenings at the Continuing Education and Conference Center on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota: April 9, 16, 23, 30 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Preregistration is required for Event ID 182628. $160.
To register for Intentional Living—Meaningful Work, you will need to call the Compleat Scholar office at 612-624-4000 or go to www.cce.umn.edu/scholars.
About the Newsletter
This newsletter is created several times a year for my clients and students, and anyone else interested in listening to and trusting their own deep knowing. It is designed to support your process of discovery and growth, and to bring you up-to-date about my practice. It offers encouragement, guidance and resources for you.
You will find new issues posted on my website in the months of April, August and December. I hope you add my website to your favorite places and check back when the next issues are scheduled.
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