PART ONE—Primary Issuance
Before I worked on Wall Street, I’d never really thought about government bonds.
PART ONE—Primary Issuance
Before I worked on Wall Street, I’d never really thought about government bonds.
A small group of us gather together each week on the second floor of The Book Loft, a charming independent book store on Centre Street in Fernandina Beach.
What is self-talk? It’s that constant stream of thoughts that weighs in on every external and internal event….
Once upon a time, in a land of commerce and trade, there lived a commercial bank….
My monthly meditation group is studying the universal aspects of meditation. The what, how, and why that applies to meditating, regardless of any specific practice. This month, we focused on preparation.
How does one get ready to meditate? There are many approaches. Lighting a candle. Washing the body. Saying a prayer. Using a special location. Setting an intention.
What do they have in common? Each impacts the experience and depth of the meditation. Each impacts the attitude with which we approach meditation. This concept of attitude, or energetic stance, towards meditation was the focus of our discussion and practice for the evening….
I am grounded: in my Ideals, my daily practices, my disciplines that have become my devotions.
I am balanced: male and female, masculine and feminine, I create a strong container to hold my tenderness and vulnerability.
I am powerful: I use my power wisely. I empower myself and others; I am not overpowered by others nor do I overpower them.
I am loving: my heart is big enough to hold all of my joys and all of my sorrows, and courageous enough to travel to the tender places where my wisdom lies hidden beneath my wounds.
I am willing: I willingly let go of that which no longer serves my highest good and willingly co-create my life with the highest that I know.
I am integrated: left brain/right brain, logic and creativity, intellect and intuition—these work together to help me see the whole.
I am divine: Divinity created me, Divinity lives in me, Divinity flows through me.
In the case of my memoir, it means I need to approach all of my characters and situations from a standpoint of love and compassion. It also means to love the process of writing, uncovering, discovering. Love doesn’t always mean enjoy, it can mean accepting people and things as they are/where they are. How will I know the light shines through? Because the story will flow, it will be alive, it will make sense. How do I write with love? Consciously, with intention, a softening that allows me to access my heart, not just my mental memories. Perhaps as Thich Nhat Hanh says, balancing the Buddha, artist and warrior aspects of self to engage with the project….
Sometimes I like to use acrostics to help the creative process.
When I sit down to write, I
Reflect on my past and
Imagine that I might have been a different person,
That things might have gone differently
If only I had been less
Naive and
Gullible
And yet as soon as I write those words, I
See that I am being too hard on myself and am not…
Doing follows Being.
What does this mean? How do we learn how to be, when we are so programmed to do, do, do?
One of the most effective practices I have been taught is called creative non-doing. Essentially, taking a few moments each day to just be. To be still, silent. Nowhere to go, nothing to do. A pause. A space. An allowance….
I am a writer….
Well, not professionally.
I am a writer….
Not really, I’m a former banker writing a memoir.
I am a writer…
It’s true, I love to write and always have. I’ve written poetry, essays, papers all my life, and now scenes, dialogue and characters.
I am a writer…
A million stars live beneath my eyelids
Dancing in microscopic colors
Joyously erratic
Oblivious to being seen or unseen
Simply alive and
Intent on moving
Your heart knows how to swim:
How to take deep breaths and hold it while you are submerged,
How to flow with the wild, tumultuous surf and not to fight it,
To stay calm and let it carry you to safety….