Moonlight on water

Grace is not sunlight at noon but rather moonlight on water.  It is grace and beauty that adorn the natural world.  One would hardly say it has any content, but grace’s all including gentle force keeps the magic of our life alive and would make its absence felt.  By itself it’s not essential or fundamental thing, it’s not a force which manifests, yet it’s a key element that empowers the manifestation to happen sooner, perfectly aligned with purest intention of divine will.  Grace enriches our life in so many ways, one is grateful when entering fully into his everyday. As waves of ocean hitting the shore slowly but surely soften even the hardest stones, the impact of grace is seen in artistic expression in the world and thus in peaceful eyes of a person, acknowledging the simple moment of art that life is.

In one of such graceful moments, these words just came through:

Grace I feel inside

Right now in this very special moment

When Earth is dancing through the Universe

And Moon is Bright and Full

I’m sitting on my golden chair

Letting down my golden hair

My smile is spreading across the face

Allowing myself to… just be Grace.

The music topic and its relation to power and grace opened an interesting discussion with my father, a professional musician with a wide background in music and composition. He opposed my opinion that music can combine both power and grace. That according to his opinion is not possible. Music that carries grace also includes a certain lightness and lightness and power do not go together.

Through that discussion I realized we have a different understanding of power. More so from that discussion I also gained a very good addition to defining grace by saying that grace includes a certain LIGHTness, innate feeling of fluent flow and outside appearance of elegance and easyness. Throughout the history of music a music which could be characterized as graceful also often includes a kind of a longing – longing for salvation. This connotation of grace is probably more linked to western mind, which carries christian DNA.

From the practice that I know I have experienced much of this power-grace relationship through yoga practice. First the definition of power: capacity to perform, a person having great influence, a capacity of a system to operate. The power of will in example in yoga enables you to stay in a certain position even when it gets uncomfortable, but if you force yourself in that position you are strugling yourself and you do not give the impression of lightness and easyness. Through practice you learn how to use your capacity but with breath and balance from within feel the easyness, have a relaxed expression on your face, thus having capacity to perform (power) but not harming yourself or others whilst doing it.

In one of the group coachings I was hosting a guest, whom I asked what does having power mean to this person? It was to make a difference in other people’s lives.

Today we were having a coffee at the Escape caffe. I am obviously drawn to everything that has wings, butterflies, birds in its logo. This caffe has wingsJ The owner made a kind gesture just as we entered the place. He carefully corrected a cushion on the couch we sat on. You can see in this person’s eyes much power and sense the ability to make a difference, but also a humility and softness. That combination of inner strenght, humility and softness in communication gets already very close to what I would call Power with Grace.

In the Gold museum it is written at the entrance: king=sun=gold=power. What amazes me in that museum is the history of the humankind where gold had that link to light to sun, and has always been the representation of power. Through the history having power often resulted in a exploitation relationship between one who had power and one who was obedient to that power. Is our humankind now ready in its awareness to embrace a Power with Grace? For him who has power to base the creation of abundance on cooperation? And for him who has different kind of ability to offer his ability with happiness and self-responsibility in the relationship?

There is this connotation of Power in a Coldplay song: Viva la vida (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE&ob=av2n) and there is Grace and Beauty in Sans Saens Swan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNbXuFBjncw. In music they Power, Grace and Beauty co- exist together.

When I was looking at the explanation of the word  »reconsiliation« I found the latin origin of the word which means »to bring together again«.

We hurt eachother by trying to protect oneself.  But by protecting ourselves we are never fully free.  My experience led me to believe that only when I feel as »brought together again« with all that I am, forgive for all the cruelty and power there is in me, only then I am trully free to Love.

There is a chinese story in Marci Shimoff’s book Happy for no reason, that illustrates so nice what Marci calls Rejection is a God’s protection:

An old farmer was working  on a field with his horse. One day his horse escaped and his neighbour expressed symphaty. But the farmer stood firmly and said: »Luck, Misluck, who knows.«

A week later that horse returned with a horde of wild horses and this time the neighbour congratulated to the farmer. The farmer again responded in the same way: »Luck, Misluck, who knows.«

Then the son of a farmer tried to train one of the wild horses but fell down and broke his leg. Again the farmer responded: »Luck, Misluck, who knows.«

A week later the army recruited young men and took with them everyone in village suitable to serve. When they saw the son of a farmer with a broken leg, they left him home. Luck? Misluck?

So sometimes when something is not going according to my construction and plans…I remind myself on this story and my mother’s sentence. It doesn’t necessarily bring instant happiness, but it brings more patience to wait for the bigger picture to reveal itself.

I like it when a waiter already knows what you are having. So when he sees me he already asks single espresso and fresh orange juice? Sometimes I get lured by my friend’s foam on a capuccino, but each time I come back to a conclusion that my body is just not standing it. As with that foam it is quite often also with something else in life. Something others have/are seems appealing, but it is just not so good for you and does not bring you inner happiness.

Funny enough I have heard M. Jackson’s song »Man in the mirror« (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps&ob=av2e) a numerous times and forgot about the video. But it was only the other day that I started listening to lyrics and realized that it has in fact the same meaning. I have just read an article Learning leadership in practice when this song started off on my i-pod. I didn’t even realize I had it recorded. It is I suppose one of those things as Dr. Wayne Dyer (audio cds The secrets of the power of intention, http://www.drwaynedyer.com/) says: »everything is already there«.

When I was at the conference Democratization of knowledge once of the speakers was also prof. E Antonacopoulou, who was after the conference also kind enough to share that particular article with me. What I love about that article is how it explains the important role of leadership practice in everyday life and illustrates leadership practice by presenting the stories of a man, Jorge Muñoz, and a woman, Mukhtaran Bibi, whose everyday practices drive them – and others around them to engage in learning leadership. Both are stories of love and learning leadership, and both  provide powerful learning (about) leadership practice by illustrating how leadership can emerge as a labour of love.

At the time of the conference I started also to look more into the projects such as One (http://www.one.org/livingproof/en/), a documentary on Pedro Opeka and his work in Madagaskar (http://tvslo.si/predvajaj/pedro-opeka-dober-prijatelj-dokumentarni-film/ava2.124146347/)… On the conference I was sited next to a passionate and dedicated person, who runs Impumelelo Social Innovation Centre (i, telling me about all kinds of great initiatives that were done to help…

That were all acts of a Love.  Something that those people felt  so strongly, they were innerly compelled to do it.

In most of the cases is just being courageous enough to release who you truly are. When you are at that place you are vibrating peace with yourself and inner happiness. That is most precious what you can contribute to this world. What you do will is then aligned with your being.

In my experience I call the manifestation of this: Happy encounters with people…Some examples of those happy encounters were: When an unknown couple said to me we love you, when an aboriginal woman cried help me – but was happy when I nodded my head and said I am sorry, when a woman with a My star plate on a car stopped me on a street and said if I am happy with a car, she will buy it.. Only then and with that dancing experience   (when again I had comments from the audience that it made them so truly joyous) made me realize that I can actually be an inspiration or source of inner activation for themselves by practicing who I truly am.

A voice of compassion.

I actually do not remember how it came to this, but my memory starts with a joyous feeling of us two, my sister and me, sitting at the airplane for London. Heading for Genpo Roshi, Big mind, big heart workshop (http://bigmind.org/). Oh, yes, now I remember: I got an e- mail from Paul McKenna – because he was doing this workshop together with Genpo, I suppose he emailed all of us who did some kind of training with him. Anyway, we were chatting, girlishy, both with successful careers, both mothers of wonderful boys, both knowing again on that plane how to just have fun and be in that moment of expectation of new experience to come.

There are moments in life that are just in  a different, uplifted energy, when you can just feel everything goes in a flow. (and to be able to just observe it; not to jump in it with my ego being happy to notice that flow and trying to take over –it is something I am still learning).

You know,  this is probably the first time I dare to write a little bit out of the normal rational language, but I suppose It is time. Still when I am writing this I feel a fear, a little voice telling, hope there will be more people who will find this funny and interesting, than those that would call me crazy. Because one time through this journey of Heart I have also heard that. But survived it and came out stronger and with a more open heart.

Ok. To get back into the flow… On that plane we were discussing what each of us wanted to experience on this trip to London. My sister’s wish to see Wicked, my wish to drink a glass of nice red wine in a restaurant and some other things. Well it was an interesting trip, full of nice surprises put there for us by the Universe or Created by us (again one of those things that I keep circling around like a dog chasing his tail). We got to enjoy »Unlimited, together we are unlimited« (for those of you who haven’t seen Wicked – lyrics in a musical) in a third row of a full theatre on the day of arrival, bumped into a restaurant with an excellent choice of wines, a lady in a restaurant asking me if she can give me coupons for free meal, because they were leaving the town… and much more. Yes, once you are in that joyous feeling and vibrating it,  magic happens.

Before I wrote how sometimes my Ego wants to ride and feast on being able to predict and control the flow of events. The second voice that can interrupt the Flow is  Doubt.  Is this really happening? Maybe it goes too much easily and something is wrong? Both voices have their function and sometimes they act with me, sometimes leading me to another lesson and realization about myself. I learned to trust and react, sometimes follow the voice of Doubt, sometimes follow the voice of Ego. All is well, and all is experience of what we call This Life.

With Genpo and Paul…We were sitting on the workshop, going through a process of hearing just one Voice. For me that was a little Voice of compassion. It was crying out: why nobody in the world hears me? You know, a good thing being there with my sister is that I got it right back in a question: Are you sure that little voice is talking to the World? For me it was for that time a breakthrough to feel it so strongly. And that was enough. It is hard to accept if someone suggests that you don’t have a compassion for yourself.

Later on when I activated Practicing of compassion, several events took place.  Probably the most funny learning episodes on that matter when my son gave me an EFT teddy bear like a week in a row and I had to do tapping: Eventhough I am bad I completely and fully accept myself (for those unfamiliar with EFT check www.eftuniverse.com). You see, I am a perfectionist. I tend to the world in more »this is the right thing to do«, having the tendency to split the world in bad and good, and the greatest fear coming out of that is to be bad and always striving to be fair and good. Reacting in anger and resentment if something doesn’t go my way. So my son (aged 3 at that time) was definitely teaching me a lesson. Helping me to realize the duality. Helping to realize how much Love and compassion I need first for myself to accept all that. I found it so funny when I had to tap that sentence over and over again.  I am sure you are familiar with the saying: Love is blind. Hmm it is not only in relationships with others, it is also in relationship with yourself. There comes a time in life when you become aware of more things – also negatives in you. It takes a lot of compassion towards your self to be able to accept them, love them, and still be with them. Realize that they are part of Oneness.

For me this journey of experimenting how Be love feels like, started couple of years ago (or probably beyond as goes the Goldfish song: seven years beyond two tousand years we are »still« just cruizing:). Long before my mind would know to name it as the start of Be Love experience. In the next posts I will share with you a little bit of that experience.

For today here is something that I found as food for thought and soul:

I have three treasures. Guard and keep them:The first is deep love, The second is frugality, And the third is not to dare to be ahead of the world. Because of deep love, one is courageous. Because of frugality, one is generous. Because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one becomes the leader of the world. (Lao-Tzu, The Way of Lao-Tzu – Chinese Philosopher [604–531 BC)

The second is part of a poem Water by Ian McCallum (from the exhibition Untamed): Be wild as a water, write erase and rewrite your purpose and direction. Feast on your seasonal moods of fertility, fragmentation, self ruin and silence. Be faithful to the fire in your heart.