Listening with Presence

Communication is a skill. And some are better at it than others. There are so many ways in which we communicate. But in conversation listening with presence is often an act of love, respect and beauty. Our listening skills get better, stronger, and more expansive when we are aware and open to the other person's needs. Listening with a compassionate heart and without our own personal filters keeps us in the moment and engaged with the message. As we listen with our heart and soul we begin to harmonize with the other person. We find the flow to the conversation's energy. We then are able to choose with great wisdom the words the other is ready and able to receive. We do not bring our agenda to the conversation. Our listening becomes a creative force. There is a beauty to the flow of the energies propelling the conversation forward into possibilities as opposed to shutting it down or trying to manipulate it.

When we listen this way we are able to truly hear the message. We can witness the feelings that are trying to be conveyed; all of it, not just part of it. When we bring our loving presence to the role as a listener, we find that the partner in the conversation feels witnessed, attended to and valued. Exactly what we hope for when we have someone listening to our thoughts, feelings, ideas or opinion.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Space

In order for things to change in my life, in order for there to be room to grow, and in order for there to be room for trial and error...I need space. Space to be creative, to be able to pause, to be able to dive in and explore. I have found this space when I step inside. I find this room for change and growth when I remove myself from the drama, the story, the excess and the noise of the world around me. Some say that I tend to be a loner, and that may be true, but for reasons that are far different from what they think. I need to find the blank canvas, the clear space, the empty page in order to find the intuitive guidance of my soul, the meaning of my truth and the creative energies that are longing to be explored. I find the answers to my questions in this space. I find the challenges to my growth. I find the wisdom of my heart. And I find the essence of my soul there. Looking outward has yet to provide me with the richness and abundance that I find within.

So how do I create this space? It is often found in nature. It is often found in claiming quiet time without the world's distractions. So much of my personal movement happens in this quiet. I breathe deeper. I see more clearly. Life becomes vibrant. Ideas explode. Truth encourages. And my soul dances.

Within this space I find more energy. I find a peace. I also find that I really am so comfortable there. When we become comfortable with our silence we are then open to the energies of the Universe. We hear the call to follow our passions. We connect with Source and open our hearts wide. Within this inner sanctuary I honor, celebrate and dream. It is a deep crystalline pool of wonder and inspiration that I can access at any time.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

How to Be True to You

I have a question that I have dealt with in the past and I feel as though I have answered it fully, to this moment anyway, as I still ask it each and every day now. Let me share it with you. Where are you not being true to yourself? It is a big question and the answers do not just lie on the surface. I asked it because I found myself at a point in my life where I felt my authenticity was slipping. Do you recognize that feeling? You know, you find yourself doing things because they are expected of you, you are in relationships that are not serving you and you are resentful of them, you are going through the motions and not living days of joy and beauty but instead mundane and ordinary. I felt brittle and paper thin in my truth. I wanted a full life, I wanted extraordinary, I wanted to bring my dreams into my reality...so I answered the question. Any kind of discomfort or blockages that I was experiencing were there because I was choosing to let them be there. I was pretending to rationalize them, excuse them, or ignore them. And I was not very successful. I knew I was not fully in my power. I knew I was not being truthful with myself and others. I knew things had to change.

Eventually, with lots of honest reflection, trial and error, failures and successes I began to align my true soul essence with life. I became true to ME. My thoughts, my feelings, my actions, my words began to reflect the desires and authenticity of my soulful awareness. My Being was an expression of my soul.

I began to develop a trust. A trust to believe in myself and my creative juices. I began to create my dreams into a reality. I made lists of things, ways, ideas, conversations and offerings that I wanted in my life and I spent time, diligently each day, to create this life. I still have many things on my list, but I discovered that working on this list, my HOT LIST, helped me to remain true to me. And so it goes onward. Some days easier than others and sometimes there is a pause. But not being true to myself was like wearing clothes that no longer fit. Once I found this authentic truth, I simply did not want to be any other way with myself. My soul was too glorious and beautiful to ignore.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade

Not Needing To Fix Everything

What if you could accept it? What if you could truly be with it? What if you were able to sit back and appreciate that your imperfections are truly beautiful, meant to be, part of your authenticity and truth? What if you could let go of the judgement and comparison? We all do it, comparing is part of the human ego. How much and how often and why we do it is, though, within our control. We have grown up comparing how good we are compared to others...how smarter, how slower, how shorter, how happier, how wiser, how richer, how prettier. We keep count, check and balance. How does it serve us? What do we learn? We learn someone will always seem to be better at or be worse at, someone will have more or have less, be thinner or be heavier and so on. How does that serve us, this comparison? It is a fact of life, that by now we should expect and find a way to BE with.

Instead, some of us use this information to really dig at our Self. We critique, we judge and we blame or shame our Self thinking that this will somehow make us change. Maybe we do change, odds are though we change in a way that is not supportive of our soul's needs. Our soul invites us each moment of each day to release this judgment and live as though we don't need to be fixing everything. Our soul longs for us to show up and be present and see the beauty that we are, that surrounds us and that is happening in our life. To see the beauty to be found in our less than, in our imperfect world and in the miracles and in the abundance.

Julia Cameron once wrote, "Wherever you are is always the right place. There is never a need to fix anything, to hitch up the bootstraps of the soul and start at some higher place. Start right where you are." It is when we release judgment and embrace the wholeness of who we are, where we are and how we are that we begin a whole new way of living. We let go of the need to fix and we find we have so much more time in life to do what our soul longs for! To live life fully.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2013 Lisa Meade