Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Rocking Authenticity!!!!!

Sooooo…


Life keeps expanding to the expression of one’s courage.  Yup for sure.  Today I addressed and implemented some boundaries I have been mulling over for a few weeks.  These issues made me literally sick to my stomach.  Its true what’s repressed must be expressed.  I am a woman on the cusp of her highest expression.  I cannot be boxed in, tamed or controlled.   It’s a beautiful thing although my ego and fears would tell me otherwise.  Go back to Massachusetts, fit neatly into the box that ‘they’ would have you in, follow the mainstream, acclimate, condense your spirit, CONFORM.  NO, but that’s not me, as one of my best friends and mentors taught me, “What would courage have you do?”  As another so succinctly told me “you have choices, other’s may not like them, but you have them”.  I am NOT a conformist at heart, never have been.  I am different, unique; you know that soft whisper that you hear saying … no that’s not right for YOU?  No shame, no blame but BE YOURSELF. There are no ‘follower’ tendencies in me as I hold a machete, slashing the bramble in my path.  Yes there are times when this journey scares the shit out of me, and I long and yearn to hold my grandchildren in my arms, but will I go back and watch my soul slowly die from the monotony of a life NOT lived??? Nope.   Will I wonder on my death bed what would have happened if I followed my dream…. Can’t do it. 
I have to be me, so thank you to the people in my life that get it.. that embrace my idiosyncrasies and love me anyway… who raise a quizzical eyebrow in the face of my choices and yet hug me when I get scared.  THANK YOU for realizing that I am THE HIGHEST expression of me and I am roaring, as my innate, primal GODDESS yearns to be expressed.  


I listened, I learned and I’M putting all of those lessons into real life expression. 

This is what courage had me do … these are the choices not only can I live with but I can be proud of knowing that I honored the source/goddess riding my skin and my soul with exquisite passion.
This IS the bravest thing I've ever done…ever… I risk every relationship I have being true to myself and YET I must, I have to … this expression is as necessary to me as the oxygen that I breathe. 


Watch me fly!!!!



Thank YOU for teaching me so well… cuz this goddess took it all seriously!!!!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

By the Grace... Breaking Chains Matters!

Appreciative, stalled in the stillness, examining the terrain of the 'waiting room', surrendering to the 'is'ness may and sometimes does feel uncomfortable.   There are moments of sublime elation and moments spent reclaiming balance.   It is a bit of a tightrope walk.  Goes something like this:  



The Cast:

E.G.O (Edging God Out) - EGO (my EGO is totally frightened by the divine self)
Divine Self – DS (the me I choose to be, following my authentic, self … my inner sexy geek)

Wake up..... EGO kicks in, sense of dread....I've got to do what?  In how much time? 

DS: you got this...let it rise, let the feelings rise.  It's okay, love yourself as is. 

DS gets out of bed, chooses to meditate, surrendering to Source's/God/dess’s plan, even if every step is not defined.  The path is only spiritually palpable...not always tangibly so. 

After DS meditates, and surrenders to Source/God/dess, the journey and plan; things progressively FEEL better.  Working out, meditating and writing, with EGO occasionally whispering in MY spirit’s ear, what the hell do you think you’re doing?? To which DS replies…  I AM TRUSTING source, dammit, we ARE following the light!!!!!

This is a small glimpse into the running dialogue in my head.  I choose to direct my thoughts now and that's the difference. 



Flashback:  Walking down a dark Manhattan Street, shadows jumping at me from every direction, heart in my throat as I pass the theater district.  On my way to Pennsylvania station (Penn Station) for the night, looking for any of my street siblings.  I walked determinedly from 42nd street towards 34th street. As usual, I was thinking about the why's of my life.  Why me?  What do I do now?  Why am I alone again?  Poor me, dammit, I just want a family, a home and to be somewhat understood.  “Yo, Cookie... Wtf are you doing?”  Blinking a few times, shocked out of my abysmal contemplation's, I recognized a girl I had been in Promesa with a couple of weeks earlier… and thought quickly…  oh shit, I'm wearing this girls Adidas.  Fuck!  She weaved toward me, her eyes empty and unfocused. I realized that she was almost unrecognizable due to the amount of weight she had lost since we had last seen each other almost two weeks before.  Slurring her words slightly she said what's up with my kicks, I said, I know, I have them on, but to be honest, I don't have shit else, and I'm not walking down the street barefoot.  (I was thinking damn damn, not barefoot too). She looked at me, I guess deciding if this was worth the effort of a forced retrieval.    I was bigger and stronger but she was definitely a better fighter due her many years on the street and the system (I remembered some of her story from our encounter groups in Promesa).  She said with a dismissive wave, “give them back next time we see each other”. I nodded apologetically with a shrug of  “badass” I don’t care... I don't really give a fuck attitude, my ego protecting my back out there in the concrete jungle... ( I totally gave a fuck). As she walked away from me, towards the shadows, I saw movement, a spectral, bony hand reaching for her head as she knelt down.  My mouth fell open as I realized what she was doing... My heart beating like a frightened baby bird, I quickened my pace speeding away from her in her very own Adidas.  I never saw her again.


Fast Forward: Sitting here in a semi-public place, watching a loving family, I just wrote that feeling all up in the 'ISness' holding space for that young woman who was driven to her knees by her demons.  I want so badly to remember her name.  To hold light for who she was, who I was, who we are.  In retrospect I was lucky, divinely protected ....but why? 



In 1991, I was laying on my mother's futon, talking to God, my children ages 5,4 and 3.  Attending Medical Assisting School in the evenings, I was single parenting while my ex was out doing his thing.  I could not yet see any rhyme or reason for this tortuous path.  I was more than angry, I was frustrated and laden with despair.  I cried out to the heavens, tears streaming down my face, WHY???? WHAT IS IT ALL FOR???… I could feel my heart clenched in pain, my insides felt as though they were viscously twisted and knotted in agony.   What the fuck do I do with THIS? How do I make this work?  I felt broken, empty, angry, afraid, bereft, and still not understood, by anyone. 

I heard an answer.

Three calm words...

No voice to describe... just three words ....then four.

write it down. 

write it all down.

I thought what, write all that shit down and then die?  Wtf? With my luck, that’s just how it would happen, leaving my children with whom???? Pfft!  NO, thank you.   


That was in 1991, I get it now, share everything, everything that has happened and the journey that is now unfolding.    Show the messy, sometimes scary, raw process, my return to innocence, retraining one damn thought at a time.  I am to flip myself inside out and show my seams, loving myself and all others during the process.  Holy shit! 


Yup, I AM brave, so are you, if your reading this, it's not an accident or a coincidence, there's something in this intersecting labyrinth that we are in together that mirrors and reflects something in your spirit.  Something that you want to know.   We are one. 

That young woman (cannot remember her name) and I were/are one.  I hope she made it, I really do.  I cannot feel upset that I didn’t run back to her, because as I knew in that moment, the darkness threatened me too, what I saw could not be unseen, if I had gone back, I may not have made it.  There but by the GRACE of god/dess, go I.  I hope she’s okay… to that young woman who shared a room with me at Promesa, I’m sorry I took your sneakers.  I am holding light for US. Wherever you are, I remember you.  I see you.  Thank you. 


*Write it down.. write it all down* 

Yup, got it.  

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Resplendently ME!!!!!

Massive layer shedding, as I took myself and splurged on two workout outfits at Old Navy, been walking the Katy Trail almost every day and well <clears throat> there has been chafing in these here parts… blink blink I’ve always been more than content to work out in old baggy cut up t shirts and old worn out yoga pants or shorts, but due to the severe temperature change and readjustment to more intense workouts my body is bitching. 


I bought bright pink and turquoise… so outside of my comfort zone.  Do you have any darker than black, please?  I can so feel my aunt, Darsh, laughing, applauding or both… smh.   Went back to the house preparing for my walk and took a glance in the mirror <did I mention that an ENTIRE wall is made of mirrors… gulp> I stopped in my tracks and thought shit.. shit… there’s lumps and rolls showing.  GULP.  Contemplated exchanging them all for BLACK, and asked myself, just who I am hiding from?  IF I am truly embracing authenticity, this is where I am RIGHT now. 

Am I at my perfect fitness level… no.  Am I as tight and toned as I would like… no.  BUT, so the fuck what??? I AM a divine goddess creatrix no matter WHAT, so I embraced my bravery and my courage and walked out of the house ala Cleopatra.  

As I roamed around in the extreme heat of Dallas <gps’ing myself with my phone… yay> got my eyebrows threaded, and getting my 12,000 steps in, I pondered….  Do we, ‘did I’ shame myself (ourselves) for so many years because it was socially expected that I (we) should want to hide my body???  Was I more accepted because I was trying to fit myself into the perfect cookie cutter/ sheeple wanna be?  Did I dim the bodacious light of MY soul and BODY to make other’s feel comfortable… surrendering to the abyss, cuz it was safer?  Who said we all have to look alike, why is long and lean so acceptable, what’s up with us fertility goddess shapes… we are ‘drawn’ that way…. and that is PERFECTLY MAGNIFICENT. 



So I sashayed my ever decreasing ass all over Dallas, getting both darker AND more radiant with each step… so what the active tank I bought is more form fitting than anything in a LONG time, maybe I’m done with being part of the woodwork, ha.. maybe I am ready to spread my wings, rising into the air, a resplendent, transcendent goddess. 

I will hide NO longer.  I am HERE, and HERE IS FANfuckingTABULOUS!!!!!! 


Monday, June 2, 2014

Blossoming into MY highest expression!!!!

“Mom, you were the angriest, bitterest person I knew”



My mouth fell open a little bit.  Me?  Really?  Seriously?  Thinking damn, this boy has MET a lot of angry people and I WAS at the top of that list.  Then the yummy num nums slipped in quickly and I realized how MUCH I have changed.  I recognized how HURT, bitter, angry, I truly was.  I use to SEETHE on a constant basis.  I didn’t understand why the world seemed to be pitching fast balls at my face.  Why wouldn’t SOMEONE see my pain?  Was I invisible?  FUCK!!!!  I EXPECTED everyone to fix the situation.  I wanted my mom and dad to recognize what had happened, I wanted my little sister to bitchslap the lot of them and say..UMMM do you not see you are hurting her??  I wanted my ex-husband to don the armor and slay the damn dragon.  (PRESSURE much?)  I wanted the love of my children to save me… I grasped at love like a woman in quicksand, crushing the delicate petals in my desperate attempt to breathe.  I wore my rage as a protective, outward spike studded mantle of protection against the world, not realizing I was stabbing my loved ones with my palpable pain. 


I wasn’t always that way, as a young girl I lived in the moors of my own fantasy world which resplendent with the most brilliant, fragrant flowers was my heart’s terrain.  Fairies, pixies, brownies and sprites were abundant and free, roaming this land of my creation.  Majestic, grandfatherly trees dotted the landscape and were welcoming with their huge sturdy branches poised to embrace my books and I.  I of course was the fairest in the land <smiles> and the animals were my best friends.  That’s where I lived once upon a time.  Then I lost my way, I found myself in the brambles of my own despair, and I abandoned hope and closed my heart.  



During my years in the abyss, I kept reaching for the light, I did.  I knew that although I was covered in slick, oily, dense darkness of despair, I was still a creature belonging to Source.  I recognized that in my heart of hearts, I just didn’t have any idea how to go about reclaiming the brilliance with which I once viewed everything… but then…

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.  (Anais Nin)
and blossom I did… as a matter of fact <just realized> that is what this leg of my journey is called… “Blossoming” …  Didn’t even have that in my mind as I sat down to write how far I’ve come since that angry, bitter, hurt, woman I USED to be.  



‘used to be’ was such the gift in that statement...… yeaThank you RJ!!!




Sunday, June 1, 2014

the mofo 'waiting room'

"We judge that which is reflected in others, that we have not worked through and accepted in ourselves."

More raw and open than ever before, I get this on such a soulular level now.  I am much more observational and less reactionary, when I maintain my necessary level of self-love, otherwise I’m liable to become unintentionally but noticeably snarky.   



I realized today on the phone with my bubby, how far we've come by simply putting one step in front of another.  Jen literally went back and found our very first conversation, holy shiznit...  what growth, courage and tenacity during 18 months of deep, painstaking work, shedding layer after layer of protective tissues, facades, walls, barriers, bullshit and the propensity for dramatic hyperbole.   (what?!?!?!?!  what you say, you don’t have a BUBBY???  You ought to remedy that at your earliest convenience, an absolute must on this, my personal road less traveled)

Stubby and Bubby were born one day on Skype as we very exhaustedly tried to describe without our usual grasp on the English language, how it felt to be remarkably bipolaresque on this archaeological dig into our authenticity.  Literally Bubby threw up two hands in sock puppet fashion and of course I saw MUPPETS, and thus they/we were born. (MUCH more on that story later)




So after serious rumination, trying always to understand, I realized that MOST of life occurs in the mofo WAITING room.  That’s the shit right there… that pulsating, annoying thing that’s been driving me crazy for years.  IT’s ALL about what we do while we WAIT.  That’s where REAL LIFE happens, it’s the skill with which we navigate through the lulls that can make us or break us.  I call it the ‘waiting room’ … magazines, reality TV, trashy books??? What does it for you?  I've learnt that if I can just get to the Divine “Pier One” and decorate that bad boy, life is so much easier.  When I stay in the is’ness’ and relinquish the expectation of flow and surrender to the eventuality of life’s magical progression, it’s all amazing.  When I focus on what next… umm when is it coming? What’s going on?  What’s happening? I gotta what?  I’m moving where?  Who ..what.. when… how???.... how??? … how???¸ I can go a lil batshit crazy.  



So I surrendered.   I did, and I make that choice over and over again every day, and will continue to as much as it is warranted.   I’m never going to lie to anyone and say this shit is easy.   NOT HAPPENING.  There are magical moments, the one’s that take your breath away with such beauty, your heart just breaks right open in awe, and then there are the moments where the pain is so fucking intense ya feel like banging your head into a wall over and over again (I’m so seeing stubby and bubby right now… looking like Animal smashing his head on the piano) but the thing is, IT’S REAL.  NO bullshit, and why… why choose this road that’s actually called the less traveled one, I mean we cannot claim false advertising, can we?  BECAUSE those moments, those HOLY SHIT, THAT FELT AMAZING are so worth the rest of it, and if we keep going, a momentum builds and we become one with our own source energy … that’s where the magic happens. 


Yesterday Denae and I went to see Maleficient, which she knew I’d been jonsing to see, Angelina is so my woman crush for SO many reasons.. pfft.. I was NOT expecting to bawl like a five year old, and quite honestly was thinking to myself.. WTF, Shanti, can’t you JUST ENJOY THE GAWDDAMN movie?? Then I realized that those were not my words, they were words that were said to me so much, there were recorded in my psyche, so I <the empowered woman> said, hmmm there’s good reasons to cry, this brought up alotta shit in you, with all of this bravery, journeying, shedding of old dynamics and primal life, it's showing you something and well … yanno it was.  

That little voice that speaks to you consistently, that little thread of knowing, it’s wise, it really is.  I’m listening to my inner god/dess, my connection to source, cuz there’s magic in the fucking waiting room. I’m painting that bad boy, throwing up some paintings, hammocks, incense and candles, because I truly believe if I find my happiness, joy and serenity there, in the not knowing, the surrender, the FREAKIN waiting room where self-love is imperative… then I got this shit... SELF LOVE is indeed,  the act (action) of loving God/dess.  Wow.  How much we've grown eh Bubby????

Soo more to come on the ‘adventures of Stubby and Bubby’ … Maleficent, and of course “The Waiting Room” … <eyeroll> lol 

Dedicated to Jen"Bubby" Taylor!  Yo... <eye to eye hand gesture> we got this... we do indeedy yes, mah sweetie!!!!