Mission_001

I love the inspiring message of this quote. There has been a really strong pull for me lately to free myself from the shackles that have held me back and to connect to my gifts. It's not that I don't connect, but I crave to connect DEEPLY, with reckless abandon.

No more going through the motions or going along with how everyone else is responding. I want to open my heart to be touched by what I experience, not just bear witness to it. I'm ready to put down the protective armor and thrive.

It gets incredibly burdensome to regulate life experiences through fear of how others will respond or what they will say. Although my head knows better, I can still find myself getting stuck in old stories and past experiences. However, it is important to offer my heart the gentleness and delicacy of opening and not just plow through things. There needs to be a level of trust in place in order for the surrender to happen.

The trust I need to foster and strengthen is my own trust in me. I need to trust that what I know about me and how I live my life is far more important than whether or not someone else is in agreement.

My creative talent at the piano was harshly criticized more than it was supported the further I went in my studies and even somewhat professionally. I get the concept of higher expectations and technical skills, but the verbal attacks don't need to be part of that process...at least for me they don't. My joy of creating at the piano had been attacked in a way that I found incredibly difficult to recover from at that time. As I move through this, I am connecting my passion beyond just what I create at the piano.

As I continue to prepare for the benefit concert in April, I am increasingly inspired by the WHY...for Eli...for his family...for connection and support on the journey...for the joy of music...for the gift of life...for health...for talents and gifts...for love...for so much more than some harsh words spoken to me at an earlier phase in my life.

I am continually reminded how powerful the words we say (or think in our heads) really are. I survived those moments of shame and criticism and now I thrive. I have cleared the path to engage in life with depth and connection, not in the shadow of somebody else's words.

We all have stories that have shaped us. Some of those stories are still carried today. Be gentle and invite yourself to connect to the greater "why" of each day. Allow that to inspire the passion within to make the most out of each day.

You are not the words somebody else has spoken.

Surrender to your truth.

Thrive...

with passion...

compassion...

humor...

and style.