Each Day R/Evolution

Future Shadow Informants

“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.” - Rilke

Especially during times of challenge and hardship, it's easy to just want the day to be over, to move on, to get to the next day, hoping or knowing that the future will be better than the present, and certainly better than the past.

But the fullness of time comes with being present, in the moment, and I bless the challenges that bring me back to right now, that pull me into what is before me, around me. Moments where my spirit is not lingering in the past, nor is it rushing ahead towards the future. Through meditation, through breathing deeply, by just smiling and listening to birds - sometimes through pain - I am brought right into the moment I am experiencing. I notice. I am aware. I breathe through it all. I find balance, through rage and irritation and desperation.

In my own practice of mindfulness I sit still and become present to my thought, and to my breath, and my pulse, my blood, my energy. I sit and let the past experiences teach me, and my future shadows inform me. The paradox - all there is, is Now, and yet, Now is always in motion. I have faith that wherever I am now, there is a path that has already been blazed by a future self. Breadcrumbs have been left for me to follow, and I am guided by self-trust.

Ordering Chaos: Pt 4: Epiphany

As I was driving back from San Francisco, I realized why I was born.  I was driving back, alone, a drive I can make in about 5 hours or less, a drive I enjoy.  I sing, I think, I snap little pictures, I audioblog for my husband.  I scribble little notes.

As I was caterwauling along to a Martina McBride song, I started crying. . . "I was born, to give my love, I was born to give my love, I was born, to give my love, to you. . "

I thought: I know what I am made for. I know my purpose. I know my greatest achievements in this life are not accumulations of accolades, wealth, fame, validation, or stuff.

My greatest wealth comes from those connections I have made, connections of intimacy, support, compassion and strength.  I look at my friends, who own nicer cars, lots of property, and sometimes I compare myself to them - what do I have?  What can I show for all these years of existence?

My network of love is vast, with roots reaching far back in time, and spanning the globe.  I give of myself, without need for acknowledgement, but I acknowledge others.  I validate from within.  My confidence is born from the knowledge that I operate within a context of love, compassion, patience and pleasure that I create myself.  I am known and loved by many friends, not for what I do for a living, or proofs of my awesomeness, but just because I exist.  I am me, and that is abundant, and because of this I trust my steps, I trust in the natural sequence of events, I am curious and wondrous about the unravelling story that is my experience of this life. 
 

Ordering Chaos: PT 3: David Allen's GTD Roadmap Seminar!

I attended David Allen's Getting Things Done Roadmap Seminar, thanks to the help of my original GTD mentor Art Santos and I have to say, after years of doing GTD (since 2001, I think?) and training others to do it, there's nothing like going to see the Guru himself.  At the very classy Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica - we got some free schwag, I had him autograph my fresh clean copy of his original GTD book, and I learned so much!  But the main shockers:   

a) David Allen uses Lotus Notes to manage his GTD! He doesn't even use the Windows Outlook plug-in! I think I was the only one who audibly gasped to hear this!

b) David Allen doesn't care, and never has, about connecting his tasks to projects in a way that makes them trackable and sortable!

c) The "Mac Solution" that his company is coming up with is actually not a plug-in at all or a software! It's just a white paper that will outline how to configure Entourage to use GTD.  I don't know how I feel about that. . . yet.

d) David Allen calls himself "lazier than you are." He says he's spent more time researching how NOT to work all the time, and yet be productive, which is how he developed GTD.

All in all, it was worth $600, as the seminar summarized not only his first book but his second book: Ready for Anything.  There were about 100 people there. Homeboy takes this show all over the place.
He is making bank! I also found out his consultants charge $300 an hour!  Nice to know I could charge that too, when I feel like it.  But I'm down for my peoples, and right now, my intuition is that I'd rather help people who need it most. David Allen himself mentioned that it's probably the people who need GTD the least who are the ones who can afford his seminars and coaching.

Ordering Chaos: PT II: Going Home

I love San Francisco. It is my birthplace and my rebirthplace, and each time I return I learn more about how much I've grown. I recently went back for a few days to my beloved City So Small, and saw many friends, also had some voice-over work there, and a hypnotherapy client.

It is my goal, desire and intention to develop enough clientele there that I can go up to the City 1x/month and see clients and especially my friends. I have a few places that I can use to see clients, and I can also go to see clients who have their own offices.

While in SF, I go to my own haunts - small, untrendy places for locals like Eddie's Cafe on Divisadero and Fulton for breakfast, coffee at Cafe Abir, and always, shoe missions with my best girlfriend, Charmaine, on Haight. Had a lovely dinner at EOS compliments of Mr. Jonathan Abrams, and met up with several friends at Jay's Bee Pub Club down in the Mission. Had some delicious drinks at the fabulously uncrowded Bar 821.

My criteria for good place to go in SF:

A) free, safe, nearby parking or easy access from public transit.
B) free wi-fi (if applicable)
C) good coffee, delicious foods or tasty treats
D) chill but energetic background music
E) cheap to medium expensive

Although my best friend Romeo's short film was playing at this year's Asian American Film Festival, it wasn't showing on a day I was there. He's in Manila, anyway, shooting his feature length film The Inheritance - which I helped to write! I have my first story editor credit on a feature length film - and it's actually getting made right now!

I always feel such a pang coming over the Bay Bridge, when the SF City skyline comes into view. I roll down the window, and the air smells like home.

Ordering Chaos: Pt I: Yoga

Sometimes chaos is in order. Sometimes you must order the chaos. The Mercury Retrograde is over, and we can all resume our lives without fear, or excuse, for miscommunications, or electronics or travel disruptions.

To this point, I have spent most of my Mercury Retrograde - nearly the entire month of March, in a low-profile planning mode - not that I haven't been busy - because I've been extremely busy, and I will itemize here what kind of life I've been living lately.

PART I: BACK TO YOGA!
I am taking regular yoga classes - Anusara at City Yoga, and Kundalini at Karuna Yoga. This focused practice of mindful connection with the mind, body and breath has not only revitalized me, but I have begun to crave it, and feel muddle-headed without it. Also, it's made my hands and arms stronger, and brought back flexibility to my wrists, which is infinitely valuable when I teach voice with the piano - I feel stronger, despite the previous injury and ongoing disability.

The yogis at City Yoga are so present, and they correct you with gentleness, encouragement and skill. Community classes are offered for $8, which is half the usual cost!

Thanks again to my friend and colleague, Art Santos, who introduced me to City Yoga.

Although I am not a Pisces. . the Mercury Retrograde!

Originally posted by E.dward:

"Of all the arguments made in favor of getting regular exercise, I rarely hear the one that's most important to me: Do it because it strengthens and tones the power of your will. When you get used to rousing yourself out of your physical inertia, the habit carries over into the mental and spiritual sphere. You find it easier to force yourself out of your comfort zones and push toward the next frontier. You're less likely to procrastinate and accept mediocrity, and you actually enjoy challenging yourself with worthy goals that require strenuous effort. It's now the will-building season for you, Pisces. You know what to do."

Thanks, E.

In addition, the elusive and mysterious Madame Lola has aggregated the following information regarding the Piscean shift into Mercury retrograde:

Mercury retro in Pisces, the sign of his fall, creates mental and emotional confusion, with strange dreams and sometimes psychic experiences.  There is, however, an opportunity to gain insight into our own ego. Mental processes being entwined with emotions, we find it hard to separate ideas and opinions from passion and idealism. Maintain privacy and dignity in the working environment and don't try to read between the lines, when there is really nothing to find. As Mercury turns in stressful square aspect to Pluto in Sagittarius, people tend to become too intense or place too much importance on relatively innocuous ideas or pieces of information, and the likelihood is that the intelligence will be confused or misleading, especially if concerned with foreigners, faraway places, or religious matters. Don't waste time looking for hidden motives in what others are doing, when their actions may be perfectly innocent. Others take your ideas or actions far more seriously than you had intended. Valuable time can be lost, or you can jeopardize a position of personal power if you manipulate a situation, or the information and ideas you get from others, to your unfair advantage.

Horoscopes, like runes, tarot cards, I Ching, numerology -- are all suggestions validated only by our personal experiences of resonance with the readings.  Some things may apply, some things are uncannily apt, some is irrelevant and unnecessary to try to fit into. 

Of course, according to the astrological interpretation of my birth chart - since I was born during a Mercury retrograde, it's lucky for me when we're in one!

BarCamp Los Angeles

Tonight I went to the first night of BarCamp Los Angeles, a geeky un-conference.  Heather and I set up a GearSwap / Electronics Iron Chef table for the l33t to hack into something.  So far no one's taken up the challenge yet. 

Tomorrow I'll be presenting "GTD with Mistress Chi-Chi" - a memorable way to evangelize the GTD workflow system and inspire discipline, in my organizatrix persona! So far there are a handful of other GTD enthusiasts who will also be on Chi-Chi's GTD panel to share their passion for productivity and their customized lifehacks!

Evolute!