I’ve been humbled this week.  I was forced to really look at the message I am sending out to people.  A message I’ve tried to live, communicate and teach for years…to just “be!”  I sometimes talk about “being present” (one of my rules as a classroom teacher) and last week encouraged you (and myself) to just be and allow. 




This week I got an email from a beloved friend of 20 + years, pissed off that I was telling people to “just be” when our world was falling apart.  He felt I was giving people an excuse to just sit on their asses all day and not lift a finger to do the work that is required to get our world back on track. I’ve built my life and business around the concept and practice of “being present” so this well meaning email caused me to take pause!




Okay, his directness stung a little (a lot :))…but it inspired me.  After the sting wore off…to question my own intentions and also take a deeper look at the reasons for living, coaching and writing so much about this topic.




Was there some truth to what he was suggesting?




Was I giving people and possibly myself an excuse to be lazy? 




I knew there was some truth in it because of the strong reaction I had. 




Note:  if you have a strong reaction to something someone else says or does there is always a lesson (and a gift) in it for YOU…it has nothing to do with the other person.




So here’s what I learned.  I DO hide behind my keyboard quite often.  It is safe and I can choose whether or not I respond to emails and comments about what I write.  It protects my sensitive nature and in some ways keeps me from actually doing the work that I know needs to get done in real life that would make my services more accessible.  Writing is one way of being present for me so if I’m writing and nurturing my own soul, thus advancing the consciousness of the world, then all is well...right?  Maybe.  Or is more balance called for.  Hmmm...at least something for me to ponder.




So, I have now taken more action this week to do some of the  things I’ve wanted to do for a long time (namely getting organization and systems in place to help boost my productivity).  Whoa, did that just leave my fingertips? lol




Thanks to my amazing friend,  I’ve allowed my “being” time to be a catalyst for inspired action and both the being and the doing have been more fruitful! Woot! :)




I also learned that I don’t have to be afraid to question and reflect on what I believe to be true.  If any of you have had to leave a religion or have lived a life in opposition to your family’s values (I’ve done both) then you know what I mean. 




I was worried that if I really looked at my motivations, intentions and “truths” about being present, I would find that I actually know jack squat about what I was trying to articulate and thus be found out to be a fraud!  But the gift was that as I communicated with my friend, I became more and more convinced of the importance of becoming aware and being present in order to act, do and work from a place of authenticity. He forced me to stand up for my beliefs and also mirrored back and affirmed them as I was able to clarify my motivations.




I stand firm knowing that as we become more present to your our own life we heighten the effectiveness and meaning of our work in the world as well as create fun and ease within the process of “work” itself!




So many of us just do and do and do without ever stopping to think…what the hell am I running around doing all this for? 




Why am I working so hard at a job I despise? 




Why am I giving all of my time to things I really could care less about? 




Because society tells you to?  Your boss?  Your God?




This I know, until you are able to be - just be - with yourself  and until you get present enough to hear your own soul, your actions will be forced, laborious, and less effective than if you learn to get present and listen. 




So there it is...the lesson that kicked my butt into action and the gift of my friend (and teacher) for speaking his own truth to help me clarify my own!




Now get busy...just being!

I KNOW you can feel it!  And I know it’s not going to be a secret for much longer – thank GOD!


I’ve received a few, okay many, emails, messages and comments with a similar feel and I’m calling you out…all of you! :)


It goes something like this:  “Leslie, I so feel and resonate with what you wrote/said.  I feel what you are feeling too.  Thank you for articulating it.” Okay, so this really doesn’t do even the slightest bit of justice to the beautiful responses I receive, but I know you guys get it!**


We are at a point in our evolution where, every day, every hour, every minute is beginning to feel like (and is!) a step into the abyss…into the unknown!  We are co-creating a new way of living, working and loving in a whole new paradigm! 

And I KNOW you can feel it too!


We have the incredible responsibility and privilege of building a bridge to this “new world” for our children and we’re going to do it through getting really, REALLY present (here, now, this moment) and doing it in community!


Huge, right?


Maybe not. 


Here’s the deal!  It’s true.  What you’re feeling is real!  In short, it’s hard to name because it is in the subtleties of being.

You are feeling it when you are


present,


allowing and


connecting,


but not necessarily aware of when you are in it! Whoa! 


Bringing conscious awareness to each of these elements of BE-ing will help clarify how exactly YOU fit into this evolutionary process.  This is the essence of what I experienced in real time at Eden where I found my tribe!


So let me break these subtleties down a little:


Warning: These are so simple you “thinking/mental/intelligent body may want to disregard and make them insignificant BUT I encourage you to feel into these in your physical body.  If you need help doing this contact me and I’m happy to help.




1)    You guessed it…GET PRESENT!  You’ve heard it from me before and you’ll hear in again but find a practice that helps get you in the moment, be it meditation, breathing techniques, yoga …hell – give yourself a pinch every now and then!  But the new paradigm of living and loving is here and now…so get there, err…ah…here…now! :)




2)    ALLOW!  Welcome to the present moment.  NOW, you must ALLOW (ooooo mama, this is a hard one for me!).  Allow everything to be as it is and everyone to be just as they are.  That’s right…no fixing, no judging (which is just fixing in your head), and no blaming or projecting your own crap onto others.  I know this is a big one, especially us women who feel like we could pretty much run the world all by ourselves (thank you very much) if everyone would just DO AS I SAY! 

And, sistah, believe me, I hear you! ;)

But think of it this way…allowing is close to our natural state of receiving.* Ahhhh,  so much to share here! So for now, allow, allow, allow…and if you have to bite your tongue to get through the day – well, then, at least it will get you present! :)


3)    CONNECT...no, seriously!   How many of us go through our days “connecting” without really connecting? You know what I mean, your lips are moving and so are theirs but you’re in your head making assumptions, replaying your day, picking up the kids, etc and a whole conversation has gone by without you really being present.  So here’s my suggestion:  find a group of people you can practice getting present with and allow each other to be…yep, that’s it!  Find a community where you can breathe, meditate, stretch and allow yourself and others to be good, bad, ugly, brilliant, guilty, fearful, genius, idiotic…whatever!  Find a circle of peeps where you will be allowed to be you…all of you!


Sound good?  Connect now! :)


Local?  Connect HERE! :) Come on by!  I'll be holding the container for this kind of community on June 5th!

and if you're not local but want to connect to a like-minded communiy send me a quick message here with this in the subject line:   “I’m in from (your city here)!”  Ex:  I’m in from Tempe, AZ!”  And I will get you more info as it becomes availble...remember, I'm stepping into the unknown too...weeeeee! :)


So that’s it.


Subtle…yes.  Simple…yes.  Supported…yes.


So let’s build this bridge together!  You in?



**I thank YOU for the continued inspiration in your responses to these posts for you help me remember who I am and why am here so I can hopefully do them same for you. :)


*We no longer have to control everything around us in order to survive in this world and if you still feel like you do, like I do sometimes, gently remind yourself that you are safe and the need to control is just an illusion…whew!  The world is now ready for us.  We are safe to allow other people, institutions, societies, cultures, and worlds to just be. Let’s start to rest in the divine feminine knowing…allowing…. receiving…trusting that by doing so we will catalyze POWERFUL change is this world! More to come on this!

I’m crying as I begin to write this.


I’ve been trying to find a way to express to all of you what I soaked up, practiced and learned at Eden Unplugged last week.  There is so much I want to tell you but as I sit to write, my heart is heavy because writing this means I am no longer there…for reals.


I’m no longer sitting naked in the healing waters of the hot springs, I am no longer in the warm shelter of my tent/soul mate mama, I am no longer listening, connecting, crying, hugging, eye gazing, dancing and holding space with the beautiful souls I was fortunate enough to cross paths with on this desert in the journey.


Smiling through the tears now.


As I sit hear in my local coffee shop sipping a matte latte with a scarf I wore most of the time at Eden wrapped around my shoulders (I may never wash this thing again), trying to keep the hip barista guy from seeing proof of sorrow streaming down my face, I feel an incredible energy and hopefulness!   My experience at Eden has proven to me that the world I have dreamed of all my life (and somewhat lived in, if only in my head :)) IS possible!  We CAN be and love, allow and accept, create and fall apart with each other…in community! 


We no longer have to live in the illusion of isolation!


You can be who you really are…all of you… naked and raw, vulnerable and brilliant and it will be okay...it will be enough!


Writing this, honoring what I said I would do when I got back and sharing what I have learned, is calling me out of that space in my heart I have not wanted to let go of for the past 11 days…so thank you for holding me to my promise to share…I will, in depth and in all the amazingness that is Eden and Eden unplugged share more!  For now, thank you for allowing me this moment to grieve the physical experience of Eden so that I can begin to, with your help, manifest the spirit of Eden in the real world! Woo hoo!


I think it will seep out through these messages over the next few weeks but if there is one lesson to take away and one I am learning through this process of reintegration into the “default” world, it is honor where you are.   If you feel yourself, trying, pulling, pushing, straining, feeling the “have tos” and shoulds…stop…no seriously,


Stop...


Take a deep belly breath….


Allow whatever you are feeling to just be.  Allow yourself to feel it in your body and feel it and feel it and FEEL IT until the Universe has squeezed every last beautiful, sparkling nourishing tear from you and then…


Listen... listen close to the Eden of YOUR heart! 


Let’s build it together! 


I’m in!  Are you?