Creating a context for your life

What is the context for your life? What gets you up in the morning inspired to face your day?
I was on the farm the other morning doing my chores while listening to the birds sing. I started thinking about how grateful I am that my day to day life requires that I get up, carry water, rake, clean, wash, shovel, cook, build a fire.... you get the idea. I remembered how growing up I was actually afraid of a life that would have me come home at the end of my work day and sit and watch television! When people come to the farm the sometimes ask me, "do you like living this simply?" It's funny but I never think of it that way, I actually think when we are gathered around a campfire in the evening, "what was it that sent us all in doors?", "what were we thinking?"
The context for our lives is one of empowering the future generations, so living close to the earth, growing our own food, creating a more sustainable and local existence gets us up each day. We say that the universities of the future may well be small family farms.
I encourage you to create a context that not only inspires you but has you stretch into making the difference you are committed to making.
Love, Terces

Sharing

We are quickly coming upon the Holiday season when sharing is a common theme. I was thinking just the other day how much of a gift sharing really is. When we share with others we let them into our life, we open our hearts to them and often they in return open their hearts and lives to us. By sharing I mean really digging deeply into your experience of life and sharing from your most passionate place.
Last night we were guests at a dinner in Oakland where 10 others had earned the opportunity to be there via a raffle that was part of a fund raiser for the East Bay Waldorf School. We all gathered and then shared in a conversation, that we started, about gratitude and abundance.
It wasn't long before people were sharing about their challenges of being parents of young children and their deepest wishes for the quality of life they wanted for their families. Or how judgmental they sometimes are of others and how separate they feel. How much they long for community and a sense of belonging. There was such deep sharing that in less than one hour this table of mostly strangers was connected with the warmth of love. We could all actually feel it.
I invite all of us to take on a new level of sharing this Holiday season. Not just in gifts and parties, but that deep sense of truly connecting with those we love as well as those we wish we knew better. Reach out to one another, share from your heart.
That is the gift I want to give and the one I want to receive as well.

Love, Terces

Apologizing

Consider there is always something you can apologize for. Anywhere in your life where love is not as present as it once was, you can take responsibility and apologize. In our current culture so many people think that apologizing means that you are wrong and the other person is right. That is not what I am talking about. Apologizing is simply taking responsibility for what you can honestly take responsibility for, there is always something. Can you see that in almost any situation you can apologize for "not listening", for not hearing an opportunity or the real underlying communication? Start there. I also recommend letting the person know you are about to make an apology. "I would like to apologize for something", especially if there has been tension between you. I don't think saying, "I am sorry" communicates as powerfully simply because it feels a bit like you are a sorry person. Try it, see what you feel.
Remember apologizing is a tool for restoring love, opening up the flow of love in any relationship.Isn't that what we all desire?
Have a beautiful day. Love, Terces

Rewrite your life

Consider that you know who you are, how you react, what triggers you, you even warn other people about the ways you are.
You might also be quietly waiting for people to figure out who you are, again already knowing. But what if you could create yourself newly every day? What if you could start saying things about yourself that create you as more of who you really want to be? Maybe you can. I invite you to take it on. For just one week pick one way of being that perhaps you don't think you are and start affirming that way. Lets say for example, I Am Beautiful, or I Am Generous, pick one that you aspire to but don't quite think you are there yet.
Now for this whole week really take on practicing being this way. Look yourself in the mirror first thing each morning, everytime you get into the car look into that mirror, before you go to sleep at night again look into the mirror and say, ,affirm, whatever it is you are creating for yourself.
Keep it up all week long. Notice your experience as the week progresses. Let what you are saying sink in, stop resisting it, just breathe into your words.
At the end of the week, share what your experience was with me, how was that for you? What are you present to now? How do you see and experience yourself?
I promise you can rewrite your life. Whatever story you are telling yourself and others if it empowers you, great, keep sharing it. If it doesn't empower you start practicing sharing another story. Make one up that is empowering, you made up the one that wasn't so why not start making up one that is.
You are love in expression, let your love express NOW.
In our workshop that just finished on our farm here in Maui one of the participants ended the five days sharing, "I have never fallen in love so fast."
Go ahead, let yourself fall in love with yourself and with everyone else in your life too!

Love, Terces

The Abounding River runs through Haiti!

Los Escolasticos are translating the Abounding River Board Game into Creole for Haiti (one of the poorest countries in the world) and Mexico. This amazing team is translating for us just by their interest in transformation!

Bring Gratitude to Your Family, Work, Friends, Parties, Events, Gatherings... Everywhere!