Year: 2010

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The Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains are the oldest mountains on earth, or so we are told. I have not checked this out from any scientific source and there is no reason to disbelieve what I have been told by the local residents. Certainly this place speaks of ancient wisdom – it is in the air, the mist, rooted in the trees and circling the peaks. As we hiked the other day through the forest and up a gentle climb, the forest floor was waking up, evidence of lilies and trilliums, jonquils, mountain laurel, dogwood and rhododendron about to burst into bloom. Spring is in the air and I love that we are here teaching “If I should wake before I die” just as everything around us is awakening.

We are now in Augusta Georgia after travelling another 6 hours today, south and east. Not exactly in the Tennessee neighbourhood yet when you are already in the south, difficult to say no to. Our friends and dousing teachers Joey and Jill Korn reside here. We have been constantly reminded throughout this three-week tour of the hospitality and generosity of our American friends.

Yesterday ended with a good tired feeling after 4 consecutive ME FIRST events. We had three extraordinary evenings and one full day retreat. Most events have been well attended, others small and I am learning it is not about the numbers, it about the quality of the people who join us for discussion and discovery. This trip was also the great experiment – we set an intention to reach people with ME FIRST and at this point we have attracted about 70 people to the different events and we have established a network here in the south. This is the critical first step.

One topic of discussion since we have been here relates the Health Care Reform introduced by President Obama. Today when I opened my e-mail, I received a message from Laura Davis, fellow author who stated the following:

I spent much of the afternoon, not getting a massage, not hiking, not writing personal stories, but watching the C-SPAN coverage of the health insurance debate.

Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow is the vote. And for me this vote isn’t about someone else’s health coverage. It’s about mine.

Laura is a breast cancer survivor and is well aware of the costs of her care and what would have happened were she not covered by her partner’s health insurance. Her insurance will lapse soon as her partner retires. Another friend of mine who has had a long-term chronic illness has over one million dollars of accumulated health care debt which she states costs her the equivalent of 3 mortgage payments every month. As a Canadian it is unimaginable to me not to have easy access to health care and trust me despite our complaints and concerns about our system, we have no reason to complain. There are so many people here who simply cannot access health care and there is much fear evident among those who don’t want reform. I heard it the other day on the hiking trail as one of my fellow hikers asked me about our system, from friends and on the news. And there are many misconceptions about our system, so much so that I have wondered who fabricated the stories I hear. I cannot help but be engaged in the debate as this place, the wealthiest nation on earth, has a poverty mentality when it comes to sharing resources and offering equal access to all. Over the last 2 weeks I have watched my friend Betty Jones lobby with her friends and family for the reform. We as Canadians can set an intention for tomorrow’s vote that generosity and common sense rule.

The rain has returned after several wonderful days of sun and warmth. We will rest here for one day and then begin the trek homes, setting intentions for safe travel northward.

Until next time…

Betty

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Asheville, NC

This morning we travelled from Townsend Tennessee to Asheville, NC. The mountain passes were freshly opened after a night of snow. Magic best describes our passage through the uppermost points of the Great Smokey Range this morning, as each tree wore garments of lacy white snow, the air about them misty and mysterious. We stopped along the way for a few photo opp’s, children everywhere pouring out of cars and engaging in spontaneous snowball fights. Another car from Ontario rolled down their windows to chat with us, sharing notes on the local sights and our enjoyment of the region. Even though we are fully enjoying this trip, it was good to greet fellow Canadians.

We have just arrived at our friends Maureen and Zelle’s place in Flat Rock. Maureen and I met back in the late 90’s as part of the Higher Ground Community. She is a graceful, creative spirit, who with her partner Zelle, have created the State of Grace document. I encourage you to take a look.

This past weekend kick started our ME FIRST activities – a series of three events. While participation was lower than we expected it was perfect just the same, and met the most amazing people. In addition to this our friends and hosts Betty and Bud have been introducing us to their very eclectic circle of friends as well as the local culture. I feel so blessed to be experiencing all of this. It is interesting to note once again that every journey is about learning.

Last evening I attended a ‘wining women’ event with 11 other women. It was the Ides of March and the requirement was to wear a toga (okay a bed sheet wrapped around me!) There were many courses of food, each one paired with a different wine, lots of laughter, sharing and a fun! Gathering possibilities for hosting similar events at home.

That’s the update for now.

Until next time

Betty

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Townsend, Tennessee

Townsend, Tennessee sits on the edge of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. As I sit in my friend Betty Jones’ beautiful home, I can look across the park, the peaks silhouetted against the sky and the valleys below filled with the smokey fog that has given these mountains their name. It is an amazingly energetic and spiritual place.

We arrive here 2 days ago and in our brief time here I have already experienced my first yoga class (imagine, almost 60 and never been yoga’ed), where I was reassured that not doing perfect poses was simply a crack and that cracks are important as they let the light in. I also had a session, along with Jim and Betty, in heart math, an amazing tool which provided strategies for creating coherence between your head and your heart and shifting into a heart space. I can see the benefits of this for all of us and for working with coaching clients.

Our inaugural ME FIRST event is this evening at Migun, TN. I am excited and anxious, that wonderful mix of anticipation that comes before every series of events. In the next 10 days we have 7 events planned and I am holding space and the intention that the perfect folks attend each event and that I am able to make that heart connection with each one.

I am very comfortable here. How wonderful it is to have homes to travel to and to feel the warmth and intentions that our hosts have seeded in their own environments. Did you know that you can do that? It is really so easy, simply opening the space, releasing any energies within the space that no longer serve the occupants and inviting in the energies that are in everyone’s highest good. For effect you can smudge, with sage or incense. It works. I prepare my space like this before every ME FIRST event. It is a way of welcoming in spirit, purifying and creating a safe environment for all who gather.

I believe a hike in the mountains is the order of the day before our event this evening. To each of you, open space, and attract all that is in your highest good.

Until next time….

Betty

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On the Road

We are currently on I-81 just north of Roanoke, Virginia, a busy north south route that extends from the Canada-US border to Florida. I am sure many Canadian snowbirds have tested this route on their way to escape the chill of the great white north. The temperature has been steadily climbing the further south we travel now sitting at a balmy 18.5 degrees.

Our road tour started off with a blast and our inaugural ME FIRST Retreat on Saturday, March 6th. This was followed by a day in NYC with friend and fellow coach, Janet Wise, and a visit with Josee-Anne Maurais, a Montrealer now living the ‘the city’. We walked the streets of midtown between Grand Central Station and Central Park. The world joined us, everyone enjoying the first vestiges of spring. Fortunately it was Sunday and our focus was being with friends – this kept my desire to some day shop in NYC at bay!

Traveling poses its own challenges as we have to visit Starbuck’s or Panero’s to access e-mail. The environments are often busy and noisy. Makes me realize how much I appreciate the quiet of my own office and how challenging it is to work in a crowd. I have empathy for those cubicle dwellers of large corporations where privacy comes at a premium. 

As we so often do, we are having a cleanse day today – a day of not eating solids and enjoying our gentle Isagenix process. Always makes me feel so much better especially after a few days of eating more or eating differently than normal. And it means not having to eat fast food along the way – never a favorite of mine.

In an hour we will decide whether to stop for the night or continue on to Tennessee. We have now been in the car for just short of 8 hours, and we are 4-5 hours away from our final destination. We will stretch, breathe and check our fatigue levels before we continue. 

What have I been learning as we go, bringing ME FIRST to new audiences? I have begun to understand just how important this work is as we observe the reaction others have to the program and witness the changes that are occurring in ME FIRST participants. Each time Jim and I facilitate the material something different happens, aspects of the program become clearer, the material grows. I know from a deep place of knowing that this is how I am supposed to play in the world.

As we begin our Tennessee tour, I am holding the intention that events are well attended with all the perfect people and that the journey we have embarked on continues to unfold in wondrous ways.

Until next time…

Betty

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On the Road

There have been so many wonderful roadSIGNS this past week, not the least of which was an event I co-facilitated for Leadership Ottawa (LO). Of interest is that LO does not call their team facilitators, but cultivators. You have to love that, cultivating, seeding, nurturing and so on. For me it conjures up an entirely different energy.

In sharing this with my colleague and fellow coach Patty Walters this morning, I was able to notice that years ago I set an intention to work with individuals who understood that Leadership is an inside out process, that to be an effective leader one must first address the inner landscape of self. And this is where I was called to play during the LO retreat.

I am so grateful. And I have a dream of running a leadership event where this is the focus. I want to merge ME FIRST with leadership, in fact ME FIRST is exactly that, leadership of self. What follows naturally is stepping into being a leader in the eyes of others. Leadership, again in my view, is rarely about doing. It is a state of being.

And this is the beginning of our ME FIRST road trip, planned many months ago and now underway. Currently we are in Garrison, New York, in the upper Hudson Highlands. Tomorrow we will run a ME FIRST Retreat Day hosted by our friends Lynn and Norm. Sunday we will dip into NYC to see friends. Next week we travel on to Tennessee to run a series of ME FIRST Events. I will keep you posted as  frequently as possible.

Something I recognize is that I have not been keeping up with my blog – unfortunately I have allowed this venue to become simply one more thing on  my to do list, a chore. That is not where I want to play. I enjoy writing. I enjoy having this conversation with all of you, even though I am not aware of who is visiting. And I want to be attractive, inspiring and uplifting. This is the energy I insert here, in the spaces between my words.

I invite you to share my intention for a leadership event/retreat which is inspiring, uplifting, provoking. Without knowing where or when, I can absolutely see it happening and see you there.

More notes from the road later!

Until then,

 Betty

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Open Space

Early in my consulting days, I was anxious to gain all the credentials I could to make myself more attractive to clients. One of the most significant programs I took was called Open Space Technology (OST), a technique developed by Harrison Owen. After organizing thousands of conferences for clients, Harrison began to notice that the best conversations and the most significant connections were made during coffee breaks and lunches. He began to wonder how he could create a conference that was, in essence, on great big break where the conversations that needed to happen had space to occur. Hence he developed Open Space, essentially a space for participants to come and to express the topics they believe needed to be discussed. It is a system which gives voice to the people attending.

At a deeper level, and as I discovered during my OST training, open space is also about opening space within ourselves, allowing the conversation we need and want with self to occur. I still remember the moment I realized that this was what Open Space really meant – it was one of those great AHA moments. And as I realized this I also recognized just how much of my inner space was clogged and cluttered with the many responsibilities I had assumed and the multiple doings I was engaged at. In fact it was hard to find space to actually open.

The idea of open space came up over coffee and muffins yesterday morning as a group began their second ME FIRST day. I was sharing the idea with them and as a result the conversation continued well into the morning. Instead of following the preestablished agenda, I simply opened space and allowed the conversation to go where the participants took it. interestingly the agenda was addressed just the same, albeit in a different order and fashion than I had believed it would unfold. Isn’t that just perfect! Set the intention, pay attention and be in no tension, and everything follows.

The important thing I have noticed about open space, as it applies to you and me, is that it is an exchange of energy, releasing what no longer serves us (should’s, have to’s, must do’s and limiting beliefs) and replacing this with all that is in our greatest good (wants, desires and intentions). Understanding this exchange is vital, for if we clear space without understanding what we want to replace it with, the space will fill with anything and this anything  may not be in our highest good, it may simply be a back wash of what we have released.

Open space is also the space we create through ME FIRST – identifying time dedicated to re-acquainting ourselves with who we are now and who we want to become. This work simply can’t happen unless we take the time for it. And the good news is, it doesn’t require a lot of time, just moments or minutes of being, quiet, breathing, emptying, looking within. It is all perfect!

Until next time…

Betty

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Life and More

I have been less than attentive to my blog of late and feeling somewhat guilty for my behavior. Now how does that serve me? I began to ruminate as to why I started a blog to begin with. Yes there was that pressure things my colleagues and clients telling me that, “You have to have a BLOG”.  

As I write this I am aware that I don’t like the word blog, it sounds too much like Blah, and that is simply not very inspiring. Anyway I stored the blog ideas on my shoulders where I carry all my should’s (did you ever notice that should is the root word of shoulder?) until one day I simply broke down and asked for help. That was a break through moment, asking for help, and once I did, it happened rather easily and effortlessly with the help of a friend, Alyssa. I did receive a lecurette at the time on the importance of having a regular presence on my blog, which I am now wondering if I failed at.

Oh PHOOEY! I just want this to be fun, so here I am today with a momentary rant. I release all the should’s, yep that feels better. I am signing up to make the blog FUN – another shoulder release. A deep breath – there we are. So what’s become clear to me lately (and you)?

Tonight I am profiling at AWE (Alexandria and Area Women Entrepreneurs). I love that this is happening on our Valentine’s Celebration, after all our logo is the flying heart.

The challenge in profiling is to understand what your audience wants. Does the audience want to know more about me and how I arrived here or do they simply want to know about the business or do they want a smidgen of both. I think I will go with door number three, a little of both. I only have 20 minutes however, so I want to be scarce on the details.

Saturday we leave on our first road trip of the season – five days in Burlington and Kitchener, Ontario. The tour is designed as a networking, book promo, business building opportunity. A colleague of mine has planned an “Evening of ME FIRST” in Kitchener. I love these evenings, inviting attendees into the ME FIRST conversation and hearing their views. It is challenging and exhilarating as I never know exactly what will show up. The following day I am participating in a Company-of-Women event in Burlington. This is a first for me and a way to become acquainted with this organization. We also have the opportunity of visiting with friends and playing a little – you have to have that fun quotient.

On our second roadSIGNS teleconference call this past Monday, I was gifted with a new idea. One of the participants who is about to retire coined the phrase ‘Re-Wirement’ instead of retirement. I always viewed re-tirement as a hyphenated word, designed to convince Jim that leaving the corporate Pharma world three years ago was simply putting on new treads. I think he secretly had hoped to put his feet up or to play hockey everyday. (I know he loves his current job!) Back to Re-Wirement – sounds like a possible book title to me!

Everyday is a new learning and a new opening. As 2010 began I set an intention for expansion, personally in terms of how I show up in the world, and business wise, with roadSIGNS. I want to attract new possibilities and opportunities that I have not imagined in the past. And I see the SIGNS everyday that this is happening. My clients feed and fuel me and my imagination. Doors are opening. What has become clear is the power of INTENTION!

Well this doesn’t feel blah – maybe this blogging is not so bad after all. I simply need to relax and have some fun and be in a conversation with each of you. Let me know what you think and what is becoming clear in your life. 

Until next time…

Betty

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Am I Divorced from or Married to ME?

I just finished my workout. I had planned to walk outside late afternoon but I found it just a bit too cold. I have been on an Isagenix cleanse day today, a weekly ritual I use to keep myself tuned up and healthy. I am always cold on these days making the outdoors even less appealing. Forunately I have my trusty treadmill, and while boring, I managed to get lost in an Ester-Hicks tape.

Our season of ME FIRST Retreats kicked off last Saturday. For the next 2 months, we will have an event, either retreat, workshop or speaking engagement, every weekend. I love the energy this creates around me – it keeps me focused on my purpose.

A topic of conversation this past Saturday was, are we divorced from or married to ourselves. It came up toward the end of the day as we set our final intentions for the following days.

You might ask, how can I be divorced from myself? Here are some of the tidbits that arose during our conversation:
– falling prey to the self-critic’s words and letting him/her override all that is perfect about us
– living by old belief systems that no longer support us in who we want to be now
– a lack of self-worth and self-respect
– failing to acknowledge our gifts and strengths and how we contribute to the world.

As you can imagine, being married to oneself is the opposite:
– holding oneself in unconditional love and high regard
– calling in our heart or angel voice to over-ride the voice of the self-critic and letting him/her feed us instead
– acknowledging ourselves daily as a way of being in gratitude for all that we contribute to others
– making space for ourselves on a daily basis – ME FIRST time.

It is a great discussion!

A few years ago, a friend of mine Kerry Messer wrote ‘The Wedding Vows’, a piece I published in my first book, roadSIGNS – Travel Tips for Authentic Living. I recently reviewed these vows and made a few slight tweaks. Here they are:

I vow to hold myself in unconditional love and high regard.

I vow to live by my values, my call to action and my ‘Tick” –my Personal Guidance System.

I vow to remember that I am the best ME I can be today and that tomorrow I will be an even better me.

I vow to listen to and trust my intuition under all circumstances.

I vow to follow my heart and spirit wherever they might take me.

I vow to be intentional and to believe that I am worthy of all that I intend.

I vow to surrender my need for control and to let God’s will drive my car through this life like she has in all my past lives.

I vow to be gentle and understanding of myself when I make mistakes.

I vow to forgive myself with grace and ease.

I vow to wake up every morning walking into the day remembering there is only now. 

I vow to remember that I can’t change the past or pre-determine the future, but I can make the best choices for my higher good in the many moments of today.

I vow to take care of my body and health as if I was carrying myself as a fetus.

Until Next Time,

Betty

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I See You

On January 24th I had the opportunity to see the movie Avatar. On the surface, like so many of these American blockbusters, the movie was about good and evil, peace and war, love and fear. Cutting through those threads you also see the secondary theme of stewardship versus greed, that human trait that leads us to destroy what is in our path when there are resources to be harvested, failing to consider the long term effects of our actions.

The movie is clear, humans have destroyed Mother Earth and now they are seeking the necessary resources elsewhere leaving, yet again, a path of destruction in their wake. I have to admit the message of the movie weighted me down. I had to sit with it overnight and re-consider the movie in the early morning hours.

When I did, and I allowed all the violence and destruction within the film to evaporate, I was able to remember the beauty of it, the magnificent creatures that inhabited this amazing planet, Pandora. This was my roadSIGN, the quiet themes that ran behind the scenes that had initially occupied my attention.

The indigenous peoples of Pandora, the Nabi, understood the interconnectedness of all life. They saw all life as sacred, whether that was a member of their own species, another animal, or plant form. Their greeting to one another was, “I see you”, a greeting stated without judgment and deigned to connect with the other person at the heart versus head level.

Did James Cameron intend for this to be the real message of the film. I can’t say. What I know for sure is that once I allowed for it, and reflected on the film rather than accepting it for face value, there was that deeper richer meaning. And it has affected me.

As I write this column it is raining, and although this is January, it all seems perfect. I once heard rain described as Mother Earth’s tears, and I am thinking that perhaps we need to cry, often, for that is what washes away the greed, and the fear, and the destruction and allows both the earth, and us, to heal.

I am not here to sell you on the movie – clearly that will be your choice if you have not already seen it. Whether you have or you haven’t, I simply want to ask you, are you choosing, everyday, to be a good steward or are you driven by fear, or greed or desire for more. Do you take the time to connect, with yourself, with your family and friends, with nature? Do you see yourself, not for all the things you think you should be, but for the beauty of who you really are? Do you understand that when you become a good steward of you, holding yourself in unconditional love and high regard, that this ripples into the world around you. Isn’t it time to shift our relationship with ourselves and others?

JOY!

At a meeting the other day, I heard someone saying that tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life. I found this interesting for, as we know tomorrow never comes. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Today is the day when change begins. Today is the perfect time to change your conversation with you and shift from the inner-critic’s saboteur to your heart voice which speaks of respect and gratitude for who you are. Today is the time to begin blessing others rather than judging them, for everyone is in your life for a reason. Today is the day to begin to speak for Mother Earth, for she is as much a part of us as our own parents and children. Today is the day to begin a new journey and to step onto the path that you choose for you.

If not now, when?

I see you!

Until next time… Betty

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In Discovery

I have been writing about the Journey of Self-Discovery since 2002 in my monthly e-newsletter. It started as a way to test and develop my writing skills. Little did I know that 8 years later the result would also be 3 books.

Despite this, I recognize that I continue to be ‘in discovery’. And this is also the reason I love coaching others and facilitating ME FIRST Workshops and Retreats. Through my work I have the opportunity to witness, everyday, the discovery of others.

This past Saturday, Jan. 16th, I hosted a ME FIRST Renewal Day for those individuals who had previously participated in the ME FIRST Program. The purpose of the day was to remember and celebrate the key events of 2009, to review, and if necessary, revise the PGS (Personal Guidance System), and finally set intentions for 2010. The process was particularly powerful as it built upon each participants self-acknowledgements and the personal work they had previously completed.

The power of intention, which I have written about before in this blog, was evident. Different from goals and objectives, which are focused on a specific outcome and which can contract you, intentions expand you. They allow you to open to possibility. They ask you to trust and, once set, to understand that your life is on purpose. Finally intentions ask that you accept the offers which will appear down the line, even though the results which follow may be very different from what you thought it might be. Therein lies the expansion. It seems the Universe knows better than us what might be in our highest good.

Do intentions work? Yes, and once set, you also must pay attention, watch for the roadSIGNS. When the SIGNS appear, note them and express gratitude – this I have learned is key.

I am enormously privileged to be called to this work. The roadSIGNS Coach is my passion, working with individuals and teams to assist them in being clear on what it is they want, setting intentions and following how their life responds and unfolds.

In discovery, every moment of everyday. This might be the title of a new book!

Until next time….

Betty