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Does It Matter?

4/5/2015

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Picturesunrise from hills of southern Nicoya
     You may have noticed (or maybe not!) that there are big gaps in the timing of these blogs and I have been told over the years, in friendly and caring ways, that regularity on this thing is better for business, better for success.  Hm.  The questions I found I kept asking myself with regard to this are:

What does success mean to me?

Does writing a blog post honestly matter to me right now?!

     I decided a while ago that I’m not here on this planet, in the skin I’m wearing so that I can figure out how to live according to how others do or have or based upon some external standard about what is good or best or successful.  I’m here to have my own experience, the experience that feels right to me and I can only do that when I measure my success, whatever the ‘success’ is, good it feels to me.  Am I honestly feeling happy, satisfied, enthusiastic, pleased, peaceful, radiant, etc… while engaging in it?  Does it really matter?  …to ME!  Is what I’m doing coming from an inner inspiration that is founded in the deepest, most expansive part of me?  The happy, joyful part.

     At this very moment, I am laying on a four-post bed made of thick bamboo posts in a room with white curtains billowing in the breeze coming off the Pacific that spans to the horizon to the south and I can see the outline of the mountains of Costa Rica to the east.  I was lying in bed after another glorious sunrise over those mountains when in the not-so verbal rising into the day of my consciousness, there was, “write a blog post!” accompanied by a sense of delight!

     This blog is a microcosm of my way of living and at this moment of delight is an opportunity to express the idea, choice, modus operandi, whatever you’d like to call it, of Success = Joy that I’ve found to be my basic equation.  And joy happens when I’m engaging in what I value, that which is intrinsically inspired, what feels good and right to me.  That’s my M.O. so that’s my B.O., my bloggus operandi.  (Yep, my life is fully scented with it!)  Writing a blog post, or doing anything else, simply because it feels joyful to do so is an entirely different experience than writing it because I think I have to in order to be successful.  In the first instance, I am happy; in the second, I’m trying to fit, be pleasing, do what I’m supposed to in order to get to happy.  Well, fit what?  Please what?  According to whom?  I’d rather be happy than be something else that honestly isn’t quite happy trying to become happy.

     It’s funny to me that I’m here by myself in this remote house overlooking the beautiful Costa Rican Pacific with the intention of not only exploring and enjoying this place but also having time and space to clarify what really matters to me, right now and as I go forward, and here I am inspired to write in this blog.  I’m inspired because one thing that is clear, again, is that I like inspiring others to make themselves happy, do what matters to them, uniquely and individually.  I am a natural and talented Uplifter of Persons; it is my main art medium: it’s something I enjoy enormously.  I’ve loosened my ideas about what uplifting others means I specifically do and am enjoying the space and time to be, nonspecifically, and allow the next specifics to emerge from joyful inspiration.  It’s looking like I like to write sometimes!

     Getting to this time and space has been a loopy path with numerous pit stops while I gathered together more experience to prove to myself, on deeper and deeper levels, that there is nothing that I must do there is only what I want to do, what feels good and right to me.  Given the choice (and we all have it all the time, we just often don’t believe it!), might as well have the experience that matters to me, regardless of how it might look from the outside.  And as it turns out, clearing the way to put myself in the center this way has elicited spontaneous reports that others are greatly inspired by me when I have been paying absolutely no attention to doing so. And here I am now, moved by my own inner spaciousness to write this as an encouragement to you.  It feels good to me to take a stand for Happiness!  Your Happiness. 

     So no matter what you’re up to, I ask you: does it honestly matter to You?  If it doesn’t, I encourage you to step out of it, one way or another as long as the steps themselves feel progressively toward good; this is Your life to have the experience that is right and joyful for You.  If it matters but you’re not enjoying it, find a way to re-connect to your happiness, even if it means to disengage for a while.  Your impact is far more beneficial and grand when your actions are joyfully inspired and, anyway, being happy now is the way to being happy later.  If it does matter and you’re already enjoying it, YAY!  Success!  …or as it is said in Spanish, “Éxito!”  and that seems like a fine way to end.


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You get to choose.

1/13/2014

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Picture
Oh, the delights of a Family Bed,
a cat at my butt a cat at my head,

I start off the day by taking it in:
warmth and connection and living in skin.

There's much to appreciate,
so much to enjoy.
Happiness I create
when this I employ.

It doesn't work to just get up and go
when going's not grounded in that which I     know:
sweet joy and freedom are why I am here.
Attending to that has me get up and cheer!

Consider this your divine invitation
to savor what's sweet upon your awaking.
When you daily set joy as your intention,
you'll find happiness is of your own making.
                                                                                                ~ Sarah Wyckoff ©2014

Yep, I did make that up just now because in my previous blog post, I said I'd offer more recommendations for feeling good in your life even if/when presented with uncertainties or unpleasantries and this poem felt like a fun way to offer one.  There's so much power in simply making the choice that today and today and today are here for me to enjoy and continuing to turn my attention to that which I do enjoy again and again and again!  Off I go to enjoy another today!


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Calming the Roaring Rapids of Time

12/3/2013

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Picture
Have you been amazed by your ride on the river of time being a ride on the rapids lately?  And have you been finding yourself amidst uncertain circumstances?  I sure have!  It has been a year since my last blog! 

When life seems to be racing by, filled with mounting uncertainties and an increasing sense of instability, it can be challenging to stay connected to a sense of peace and joyful purpose. While over the last year I did intentionally put much of my attention on my now 19 year-old son finishing high school and getting off and away to San Pablo, CA—he’s learning many useful things at The Hatlen Center for the Blind there—I had no idea a whole year would pass so quickly, much less the last 19! 

(That's a picture of me and my son, Zion, dancing together about 10 years ago.  I blinked and it's now now...again!  Oh the cosmic humor!)

So how can we live inside of the experience of well-being when the days seem to be turning to mist before our eyes and yet we still care about solid things like financial flow, meaningful and authentic contribution to our community, mutually nourishing relationships and overall happiness?  There are lots of responses to that question and what that response is depends on whom you ask.  My full answer would require more than this one blog post, but what's essential is to reel in your attention to right here, right now.  For me, it’s been a year of putting a lot of my attention on sometime besides the present moment and even though there have been big challenges and some gaping uncertainties, I have kept pretty well tuned to Radio Sarah.  There are still challenges and uncertainties; nevertheless, in fact because of those challenges & uncertainties, now is a good time to ramp up the practices that keep me in line with Me and feeling that deep sense of peace.  Now, whenever that is, is always a good time to turn attention to The Moment and seeing one’s self as the source of how the moment feels or is experienced. It's pretty human to get distracted, though, so cut yourself a break if you, like me, are not perfect.

One of the reasons some people enjoy fast-moving activities like video games, downhill skiing and many other sports & games is the same as the reason some enjoy meditation, Expressive Movement/Art-making or Tai Chi; these activities require us to bring most or all of the attention to the moment and we feel good there.  …I mean here!  (hint: whatever activity like that feels good to you is a valuable tool for you to use!  ...so go play!)

It feels good to have desires and visions for the future, too and yet when the future, even if it’s later the same day, is what occupies most of my thoughts, that’s when time is a roaring rapid and I find I’m less happy, especially if I don’t know the how’s, when’s, etc. to create what I need, desire or envision.  My future is built on the foundation of this moment after all, so caring about my experience in the future requires me to care about my experience, my happiness here and now.  I know when I’m feeling good that my actions are much more likely to naturally create or lead me to more of the experiences I desire.  When I’m feeling “onky”—onky (ahn-kee) adjective 1. upset in some way, to the extent that I do NOT feel good (based on Sarah’s Dictionary of Invented Words ©2013)—and I do anything, my actions will be guided by those feelings and are more likely to lead to more onkiness.  Much better to re-orient to feeling better about myself, Life or whatever and then proceed.

It’s okay not to know all the answers to the questions of how, when, where, who, what; it’s even okay to feel the onkiest you’ve ever felt because there really is plenty of time in The Big Picture for all of it, but when you’re ready to enjoy this moment and this lifetime and not feel like you’ve been losing time to the rapids, turn your attention to feeling good in the here where you are and the now when you are. 

I have some more juicy recommendations for feeling good in the moment even if uncertainties or unpleasantries are present.  Stay tuned!

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On RECEIVING Thanks

11/29/2012

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     Thanksgiving is the holiday that is most attractive to me for a number of reasons.  Thanksgiving day is the one day every year that my entire family, that of my origin and of my progeny, gather in the same place to spend time together simply for the enjoyment of it.  That circle of love is something for which I'm very grateful and a big part of why I like Thanksgiving.  Significantly, any day or event that is primarily focused on Giving Thanks for things that feel good is delightful to me and to have so many souls focused that way feels powerfully creative of more good things to come! 
     Being grateful, acknowledging and naming people and things and conditions that are supportive and enjoyable has been the direction many of us give ourselves for Thanksgiving, but something occurred yesterday that popped that open to a new level for me. 

     A letter came in the mail.  Yes, the kind that's on paper and comes in an envelope with a stamp and my full name and actual house address written on it.  ...and not only was it a letter, but a letter folded up in a card, a beautiful card with a painting of a sacred tree with leaves in autumnal color flux and illuminated from behind with the pinks and golds of sunset.  ...or maybe it's dawn...  Present in the trunk of the tree is a strong and serenely smiling face gazing at the sun which is outside of the frame and there is a red fox gazing there, too, radiating reflected, furry golden light from a perch on the exposed roots.  Rocks and boulders slumber peacefully at the base of the roots glowing dark ruddy gold from the light in the sky.  It's beautiful and I describe it in some detail here because it moves me still, having such a thing just arrive. 
     The letter inside this beautiful card moved me still more.  It is from a woman who attended one of the 2012 retreats, in June (see the Retreats for Mothers page for more info on those).  The retreat she attended being several months ago, the arrival of this card and letter was a surprise and more.  She wrote of the ripples of transformation that her experience of me and the retreat has catalyzed in her life and thanked me for the gift and finished by asking me to continue to help others.  Her letter is one of those things that clearly confirms that what inspires you and comes from your free heart is important to bring forward and is a blessing to the world.  It encourages me to keep listening IN and following THROUGH and keep being the unique being I am in the world even when it feels risky! 
     With the utmost humility, I'm blogging about this because receiving her Thanks lights me up so much that I want to radiate that encouragement to YOU!  These retreats are pure inspiration for me and yet creating them initially was a stretch, a risk for me personally and financially.  The encouragement goes like this: "If money, goal accomplishment and acceptance were of no concern, I would _________ for the pure enjoyment and fulfilling experience of it!"  Fill in the blank for yourself!  Don't we all yearn for that to be our modus operandi?  Won't more of us operating from that orientation create greater levels of joy and harmony and well-being in our lives and on the planet?  I think you'll agree that's a double 'Yes.'
     As I have begun again to stretch and take risks in the planning and creating process for more and expanded retreats for 2013, her letter energized me and up-leveled my commitment and excitement for them and more, supporting me to take those felt risks!  I understood the importance of graciously receiving appreciation before and yet with the proximity of receiving that letter to this holiday which we've named 'Thanksgiving,' it occurs to me to open up the holiday--and the rest of the year for that matter--to intend on conscious ThanksRECEIVING as well, really allowing oneself to let in the energy of gratitude to YOU for the unique contribution to Life that YOU ARE because that feels so good and it fuels inspired activity.  Now that feels powerfully creative of more good things to come! 
     I would give Thanks for your company in that practice! ;-)
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Uncertainty's Power

9/4/2012

12 Comments

 
    This morning I sent, well it was honestly more like witnessed, my son Zion off on the bus to his first day of senior year with zest in his step and a smile on his face.  I must admit that I'm awed by the miracle in which I live.  At this moment, my perspective is on the miracle of uncertainty's offerings.  Where I am, that is to say what I'm experiencing, in Life these days is rich and beautiful and the result of an ever unfolding adventure in not knowing what's next.  The depth of joy in my life experience reinforces my understanding that where I'm going, that is to say the experiences to come, will be rich and beautiful, too, even though I really have no idea what it will all look like. 
    How could I have known years ago that the boy who, it was said, may never walk or talk would get himself up at 5:45am today, get dressed, have the simple breakfast he pre-prepared last night, get his backpack together including the notebook he & I cleared out from last year, put on his new 'flip flops' (his first pair and they keep making him chuckle because of the literal "flip flop" sound they make; he says "Wouldn't it be fun to make a whole symphony from the sound of a lot of people's flip flops!"), wish me a wonderful day and greet the bus driver at 6:30am with a heartfelt "Good Morning!"?  What I do know is that if I had tried to make happen some precognition of who or what he should be or be able to do that I would have missed the innumerable opportunities and blessings (some in the form of challenges) that have taken us here to this sweet morning. 
    What else I know is that if I try to make happen the details of my idea of what's possible next, I'll loose the greatest treasure of what's to come, the treasure that only Life and I can create together when I respond from the deep guidance within me to what Life brings to me in each moment.  I don't know what form(s) that treasure will take, but I do know it is more exquisitely perfect than if I limited it to just what I can imagine.  Mistake me not!  I am an enthusiastic supporter of imagining, but it seems to me that imagination's gifts are best revealed when imagination is followed, nurtured into existence, not lead or forced, allowing a greater source of possibility than my own thinking and experience to inform and influence material manifestations.  That's quite a bit like supportive parenting!
    Zion is the miracle he is because we are allowing uncertainty to lead him ever more fully into the unique and perfect expression of Life that can come only through him.  The joy in which I live is the same kind of miracle that welcoming uncertainty about my specific life path has offered. 
    I am aware that stepping along this life adventure in alignment with that kind of trust is a choice.  It requires letting go of much of what most of us have been educated to (over) value about control and goal-orientation and devalue about surrender and process- or love-orientation.  It is my choice and I'm grateful for the resultant experience of liberation and abundance in a way that has my heart bowing on my knees with humility and awe and leaping with radiant celebration!
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The Day Has Come

7/9/2012

9 Comments

 
    It's a beautiful morning here at Freeheart® Ranch and I've been up since hours before dawn riding a wave of creativity specific to evolving the look and content of this website and starting this blog.  I've been evolving as an individual for years, so it ought not surprise me when I take on something I never thought I would, in this case blogging.  One time, and one time only, I will confess that the word itself has been completely uninspiring to me--too much like slogging, groggy, blah or block.  After receiving advice multiple times from a variety of sources to include a blog in my offerings and having a deep commitment to reach out and be of service, I find myself willing to shift into interested, inclined and finally inspired about blogging!  ...ready to have an altered response to the word and the thing itself.
    Shifting one's own response to or interpretation of something toward what is more Life-affirming, more deeply true, even if only slightly, can be life-changing and is essential in the path of personal evolution.  Every single one of us humans takes on interpretations of or beliefs about ourselves others and the world as we develop and these beliefs determine our behavior and responses to people and events.  The way we behave creates our life experience and the world we live in (aka 'our thoughts create our world').  My previous response to blogging was preventing some people from finding or connecting with me and my work.  Shifting my response has opened up an extended field of possibility that I like because I'd like more people who are ready for my partnership in service of their personal evolution to find me! 
    Whether small or huge, such shifts, when done with intention and consciousness, enable us to create the future we'd like to cause and the life experience we most desire.  Sometimes a 'Just Do It' approach is enough to cause a shift and other times support and partnership are necessary to navigate into a new, inner territory to find the ground for our fullest potential to emerge.
    We've been acculturated to muscle through life using the 'Just Do It' approach that has been predominant and applauded and yet many of us are finding ourselves unsatisfied with our individual experiences and the conditions of our world in general as we have created them via hypermasculinated, muscling means.  It is increasingly being noted that we need to now help each other, be partnered, interdependent and more related in order to evolve individually and collectively toward an ever more satisfying experience.  We need to bring forward more feminine ways of creating in the world for better balance and greater well-being for everybody.
    I'm delighted to have received encouragement from others and listened to my own inner nudges to engage in a new response to blogging beginning with this entry.  Whether it's the 'Just Do It' variety of shift, an assisted deep evolution of self, simply feeling appreciation for what is or a combination of them all (I highly recommend the combo), I encourage you to choose consciously and revel!
With a free and warm heart,
Sarah
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    Sarah Wyckoff offers Holistic Transformative Coaching, in Person or by Phone, as well as groups and retreats.

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