Aug13
Posted on Aug 13 by Ruth Davis
Marika, Mabel and I spent last weekend at a friend’s cabin out of the heat of the desert. What a gift to drive two short hours north and be surrounded by tall, sweet pines, where the daytime temperature peaks in the mid-80’s and at night, it’s cool enough, with the windows open, to pull a blanket over my shoulders. We arrived in the dark on Friday night, unpacked, made the bed and went to sleep soon after. In the morning, Marika took Mabel for a walk along the forest trail while I lounged in bed, happy to see all of the trees through the windows. After coffee and breakfast on the deck, I took Mabel for a short neighborhood walk but the 6500 feet altitude was hard on this sea-level gal’s lungs and I when we got back I had to take a nap. But the air was clear and crisp and even a little moist when the afternoon clouds gathered in with a promise of rain. We heard some far off thunder rolls, but the storm missed us....
Aug06
Posted on Aug 6 by Ruth Davis
Two years ago this week I was pulling out of Marika’s driveway in the RV with Laddy, heading to the California coast. The dream was to move to CA, find a house to rent, continue doing the same Mac training work and enjoy the climate and the weather as I built a new life. And maybe Marika would join me in a year or two. A friend recently reminded me that dreams are fluid. They are not frozen in time exactly as we originally imagine them. Our dreams are always shifting, changing, seeking their own level, like water. As you know, that original dream morphed and changed many times, and I discovered that I enjoyed the simpler, smaller, spontaneous life of living in my motorhome. I made trips back to Phoenix to visit family, clients, and adventure with Marika. Somewhere in those adventures, we rekindled our deep love and, in January, we celebrated and recommitted to our 25 year partnership. Which is why I’m still in Phoenix in the middle of a Very Hot Summer. Yes, it is partly...
Jul30
Posted on Jul 30 by Ruth Davis
“Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ unknown Nothing is impossible. An idea may seem challenging. Difficult. Hard to fathom. But it is not impossible. Often, what we believe is impossible is really someone else’s voice telling us we can’t be it, do it, have it. But what if, for one moment, we imagined that we could. What if, for one moment, we heard a different voice that says it might, in fact, be possible. Shifting our thoughts, trying on this new belief as possibility, changes everything. It says that YES, we could, YES, we might, YES, we can! “What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.” ~ Tony Robbins It is so easy to just say a thing is too hard, too bizarre, too ridiculous to even consider trying. But what if you did?...
Jul23
Posted on Jul 23 by Ruth Davis
I love stepping back from myself. It gives me perspective. It minimizes self-judgment and helps me see my patterns and habits more objectively. When I take a step back and imagine that I am talking to myself as if I am my own best friend, I am gentler, kinder and so much more forgiving with myself. And it is easier to see how my behavior may not really be serving me. I’m finding that, the more I become an observer of myself, the more flexible I become, the more willing I am to try new things and open to the unexpected. Several months ago, my coach and I were talking about the power of our thoughts and intentions, and she shared a Prayer for Unexpected Income with me. She said that, when we open ourselves to new money, that new money will come. So I tried it. I read the prayer, out loud, and envisioned checks arriving in my mailbox. And nothing happened. A few weeks ago I found the prayer again. I read it out loud again, several...
Jul16
Posted on Jul 16 by Ruth Davis
In Zen Buddhism, Beginner’s Mind refers to “having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.” (Wikipedia) Children are a perfect example of living in Beginner’s Mind. They approach every new experience with curiosity and wonder. They have no experience, no expectations. They just show up and try. As adults, even when we know we are learning something that we don’t know, or attempting to do something we’ve never done, we expect to immediately be good at it. Often, that expectation of perfection and competence butts up against the deeper knowing that we WON’T be immediately good at it, and so we don’t even make the effort. How often, as an adult, do you allow yourself to be in a position where you know you won’t be a master? Where you let yourself be taught, encouraged, and allowed to make mistakes? Where you give it your best without having to be perfect? Several years ago I took a...
Jul09
Posted on Jul 9 by Ruth Davis
It’s too quiet to think! This is what so many of my clients tell me when I ask them to sit in stillness. They are uncomfortable. Fidgety. There is nothing to distract them from the silence. Even with all of the scattered thoughts running through their minds, it becomes too quiet to think. And this is exactly where I am hoping they get. Because sometimes we need to just STOP THINKING. Sometimes we need to stop trying to figure things out, stop planning every moment and just BE with our feelings. BE with the void of thought. BE in that sacred space where our deeper knowing can begin speak to us. I remember one of the first times I sat in a group, practicing meditation. We were listening to a CD of a woman asking us to sit still and just notice everything we thought, felt, imagined, but not stay with any one thought. She wanted us to let our thoughts float past us, making room for whatever came next. And through it all, she wanted us to be...
