Author Archives: admin

August 31, 2010

Change-Big Fun!

By admin

As the heat of summer slips away and crisp autumn air tickles our noses, trees “know” to begin getting ready for winter.  For some tree species, the tree leaves begin to change color and the tree briefly shares its final moments of  leafy beauty with us before changing to its stark attire of winter grace.  The tree seems to go through its cycles of change with so much ease.  Is there not a moment that the leaves scream out…no way, we’re not changing! We’re not ready yet!  Do you think the tree mourns the loss of the leaves?  What if this happened? Would chaos ensue as trees defiantly defied change or resisted the weather? What inside of them, helps them to “know” it is time to change?

Oh how easy to simply be a tree. To participate in change with ease grace and beauty.  To be born, to give and receive easily and to pass with dignity when our days were over.  But, I guess that means giving up free will and choice, giving up the full range of experiencing emotions and giving up the joy of actively participating in the creative process of life.

We humans experience change in both our outer and inner worlds.  Unfortunately, we don’t participate in the natural cycles of change as graciously and beautifully as do trees.  Change occurs outside of us all the time; our kids grow up, the economy makes a sea shift, our skin marks its biological aging process with wrinkles.  We are impacted.  And, change occurs within us too.  When we change inside, we create impact on the world.  We are changing and being changed and choosing to change and creating change all the time.  Now that is pretty exciting stuff.  If we are aware and we have some skills and tools to participate in change, we get to experience the gift of human life through the lense of conciousness and through our own efforts.  We are the one living thing that is able to reflect on life and to participate in how it gets created (changed) through choice.  Now that is some big fun.

From this perspective (change as big fun!), where are you now in your life..

Do you “know” it is time for change but not quite sure what changes to make?
What has changed or is changing in your outer world?
What natural cycles of life are impacting you?
What changes would you like to create in your life?
What of your inner self would you like to change?
What skills, tools, support and awareness do you need to participate fully in the process of change?

This fall at Keys To Living we’ll be working with the financial areas of life. Focusing on this part of your life can create a positive ripple effect in all areas of you work and life.  Our fall class, Financial Vision and Clarity: A Key to an Empowered Life, supports you to fully to step into the process of change, teaching you skills, giving you tools and coaching you to new levels of self-awareness which enable you to create the changes you desire.

To find out more about this and other fall teleclasses visit us at Keys To Living. See you in class!

About the Author: Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC a Personal and Professional Life Coach, read more here or visit her site at Keys To Living. Read more Keys To Living Blogs featuring posts by Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC and Maria Cristini, CPCC, PCC, Life & Business Coaches: Keys To Living

We are also available to design a program or talk just for you!  Please contact us at maria_ruth@keystolivingworkshops.com or 415.648.8545

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You’re welcome to use this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “About The Author” info link above)

Posted in Finances, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
August 10, 2010

Need a speaker or a workshop for you group?

By admin

If you, or someone you know, schedules talks or workshops for an association, a community group or your organization, we are now offering this service.  Below are the main personal and professional areas we focus on at KTL.  We tailor our presentations to meet the specific needs of each group we work with.

Available for your fall or winter program needs…

Desires to Visions: Hands on How To’s. The focus of this interactive presentation is designed to connect participants to their desires, create future visions and strategies for their next steps.  Participants leave with clarity, vision and commitment to an action.

Dynamic Relationships: Creating Empowered Connections in Your Personal and Professional Life. One of the keys to a fulfilled and successful life is reflected in the quality of our connections. During this interactive presentation, we will discuss the deeper implications of the quality of connections in all areas of our lives.   We’ll take a look at which qualities would enhance your connections, then, using coaching techniques, discover ways to develop the kinds of connections you desire.

Decision Making with Ease: Finding your YES. This interactive talk/workshop introduces new concepts, skills and tools that empower choice making.  Participants will leave with the inner shift that happens when looking at life from what you do want vs. what you don’t want. We will focus on finding the YES within yourself and also the common YES when collaborating with others at work or in your personal life.

Need More Energy? Creating Routines and Habits for Regular Renewal. This topic addresses the holistic practices necessary for working and living with greater clarity, positive energy, and ease. This program addresses your ability to care for and sustain your energy, which is key to your success and fulfillment.  During this talk/workshop participants will take a deep look at practices of personal renewal and why making them a priority is a mature and life sustaining choice.

Appreciation, Gratitude and Receiving: Integrating Practices for  Profound Change. Gratitude is being studied by science in conjunction with its impact on our physical, mental and emotional health.  Gratitude can transform your day-to-day experiences.  It is a gateway to many expansive feelings such as satisfaction, enthusiasm and happiness, regardless of your current circumstances. During this talk/workshop we make distinctions between appreciation and gratitude as well as talk about our responsibility to cultivate our capacity to receive.  During this presentation participants will be introduced to new concepts and practices that will call them into active practice and cultivation of these qualities.

We are also available to design a program or talk just for you!  Please contact us at maria_ruth@keystolivingworkshops.com or 415.648.8545

For more information visit Keys To Living at keystolivingworkshops.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment
August 10, 2010

Free Teleclass: Desire-A Key to Financial Vision and Clarity

By admin
September 13, 2010
5:00 pmto6:00 pm
September 15, 2010
9:00 amto10:00 am
7:00 pmto8:00 pm

DESIRE: A Key to Financial Vision & Clarity

Free 1-hour teleclass

We are ALL aware of the current economic challenges riddled throughout the world today. You are probably feeling the impact of the turmoil and chaos in the economy and most likely your own finances mirrors the chaos in some way.  When it comes to the economy, people are being confronted with uncertainty and the unknown. This can result in confusion and a sense of powerlessness which may leave you paralyzed around your own personal finances.

In this free teleclass you’ll start the process of connecting to your desires, learning how that specifically relates to your finances and you’ll leave compelled to take appropriate actions.  Desire, is one of the key steps towards creating your financial vision and moving into action.  In this class, you will specifically look at what desire actually is, so that you can become familiar with yours, and more masterful at using it as a creation tool in your financial life.

You will leave knowing the power desire has in the creation process and how it acts as an anchor for your financial goals and visions. This class will tune your attention to your voice of desire in relationship to your finances, which leads to vision and clarity, which in turn leads to an empowered financial life.

OFFERED:

Monday September 13, 5p-6pm PST

Wednesday September 15, 9a-10a PST

Wednesday September 15, 7p-8p PST

For More information about Keys To Living and to register for this free call visit us at keystolivingworkshops.com


Posted in Finances, Uncategorized, Vision and Clarity, calendar | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments
July 6, 2010

FREEDOM: Want some?

By admin

Freedom is a core value for many people.  Take a moment to think about whether having freedom is important to you or not¦ when was the last time you thought about this, what does freedom mean to you, and do you realize you need to maintain it?

Freedom means something different to everyone.  No two people you talk to will have the same personal definition for what gets conjured up in them when they say the word freedom.  So if you truly want to honor your value of freedom, start to consider what freedom truly means to you.

Take a quiet moment to reflect on freedom.  Pause, close your eyes for a few minutes and move within yourself:

  • Think of an area in your life now, where your freedom feels crimped in some way?
    • In connection to this life area, what feels limited or restricted?
    • Make a note of that, since that is probably part of your freedom value.
  • Think of a place in your life now, where you experience some healthy level of freedom.
    • Make a note of that, and notice what it is that contributes to your sense of freedom.

When you imagine experiencing freedom, what are your feelings and what are you thinking about, and what images come to mind?

Once you have a sense of that, find two words to put next to your freedom value that best reflects what freedom specifically means to you.

Examples:

Freedom / Flexibility / Choice

Freedom / Empowered  / Self-Expressed

Freedom / Independence / Self“Reliant

Knowing what your freedom means to you is helpful, because when you are specific, you can better honor that value within your own life and communicate what you value to others in your intimate circle – then they will have a better understanding of who you are at the core.

Now comes the piece most leave out.  The piece about being responsible, being able to respond to what your freedom is calling for.  Think about an area in your life where you feel you have complete freedom.  If you allowed that freedom to be unbounded by internal or external accountability, supervision, structure and boundaries, can you imagine how you might end up with the opposite of freedom?  You might end up with a disaster on your hands and chaos.  You will start to feel oppression in the very area where you had total freedom.  Where there was joy, you might feel darkness, burden or limitation.

Being responsible for your freedom and freedom of others (however big you want to make your circle) can be a fulfilling and joyous activity.  When you tap into your own maturity, you realize that you need to monitor, and put the appropriate structure and boundaries in place to keep the freedom flowing while allowing the freedom to be enjoyed.  Accountability, supervision, monitoring, structure, boundaries and respect are some of the foundational elements to maintaining and creating greater freedom.

Where do you feel freedom in your life?

Your relationships?
Your finances?
Your ability to educate and nurture yourself and/or others?
Your physical health and ability?
Your ability to have fun and recreate?
Your spirituality?

Notice where you are being vigilant, discerning, and careful, making responsible choices along the way, and notice where you might be on the edge of recklessness, taking inappropriate risks, and creating messes you have no idea how to clean up.

This is a wonderful time to look within to what freedom means to you, where in your life do you enjoy freedom and where do you feel lack of freedom?  Then ask yourself: Am I being responsible in the area where I do have freedom?  Is there anyplace I might be a bit more careful, vigilant, diligent?  Finally, look to the places where you feel lack of freedom at this time.  Ask yourself, how am I not responding to the situation as it is, how can I take a small step towards responsibility in this area of my life now?

Finally, from Eleanor Roosevelt:

“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being.  With freedom comes responsibility.  For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”

To Your FREEDOM!

=============

Read the Keys To Living blog featuring posts by Maria Cristini, CPCC, PCC and Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC, Life & Business Coaches: Keys To Living

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Maria Cristini coaches small business owners, creative professionals, and executives to clarify and prioritize what they want for themselves in all aspects of their life. This clarity empowers her clients to create the future they want for themselves personally and for their businesses, both of which become an extension of their optimal self-expression. To learn more about her products and services, visit KeysToLiving.com and/or mariacristini.com

Posted in Living Your YES, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment
April 15, 2010

Happy April 15th

By admin

April is the month when many people focus on money matters and their finances.  It’s often a rush to organize and categorize income and expenses, to do your accounting and to contribute a certain percentage of profit to the benefit of all. We can disagree with the details, but the basic concept is not so bad.

The government asks us to be organized and methodical in a way most are not throughout the year.  So sometime before April 15, is the traditional scrambling to sort through what happened financially in the previous year. How many times, do we end up thinking, “I wish I had this overview months ago?”

It’s fun to be curious about the financial area of life, where there is a lifetime of information to learn and explore.  There are many people to meet doing interesting things in the financial arenas, which you may not even be aware of.  Creativity can certainly be expressed by people’s money ventures.

It is satisfying to keep the books methodically throughout the year, so that the information can actually be a benchmark and a snapshot of your journey through life. Your checkbook register and credit card report are a type of personal journal.  By looking at yours you can see where you were on a specific day, how you spent your time, what you value, what you contribute to, what you’re willing and able to pay for and what happened month by month.  What is not in your register or credit card bill is also telling of your values and choices.  Tax returns or a profit and loss statement will tell you a lot about a complete stranger and about yourselves.

I’m a life long learner when it comes to what money’s existence can teach us and I know that the price tag that is associated with some of my desires continues to challenge and grow me is ways that consistently surprise me.

When you do complete your taxes (early, on time or with an extension), take a new look at the numbers and what they reflect.  Sit back and read the information like you would a personal journal. Do the numbers reflect your desires and wishes from the previous year?  What do they tell you of your values?  Look at the biggest expense and are you glad you got to pay for that?  Where does your income come from and how do you feel about that?

How do you feel about the amount of time you spend focused on your finances?  Any changes you would like to make this year?  If you are going to go through the trouble of gathering all that information for the government, you might as well put it to some good use for yourself.

May your numbers reflect who you really want to be.

=============

Read the Keys To Living blog featuring posts by Maria Cristini, CPCC, PCC and Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC, Life & Business Coaches: Keys To Living

Keys To Living is about to host a Free Teleclass: Desire: A Key to Financial Vision & Clarity.  Read about it and join us.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Maria Cristini coaches small business owners, creative professionals, and executives to clarify and prioritize what they want for themselves in all aspects of their life. This clarity empowers her clients to create the future they want for themselves personally and for their businesses, both of which become an extension of their optimal self-expression. To learn more about her products and services, visit KeysToLiving.com and/or mariacristini.com

Posted in Finances, Vision and Clarity, accountability, teleclass | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
April 12, 2010

Are you a Creative Professional?

By admin

Our evolving world is causing many of us to rethink and redefine ourselves.  For many people this looks like working two jobs, starting a business or working at a day job while creating an additional revenue stream from something they are passionate about. Simultaneously, there is the transition we are all in now, shifting from an information age to a conceptual age.  This shift is requiring creativity of specialized kinds that authors such as Daniel Pink and Howard J. Blumenthal are writing about. They both, from different approaches, describe the phenomena of the emerging creative professional as “that of the individual worker now emerging as a serious business professional with specific skills on par with lawyers, accountants, doctors, and other workers who are perceived to be within a specialized class.”* This emerging Creative Professional is, essentially, a new professional identity forming in our culture.

Who is the emerging Creative Professional?  Are you one?  And why does this matter?

Traditionally, Creative Professionals have been found in the arenas of marketing, art, film making, graphic design, photography, music, etc. This narrow definition of the Creative Professional was further broken down into specific labels such as “graphic designer”, “photographer” or “musician” to name a few.   Today however, many of us are those things and many more. We may be a photographer and a teacher. We might be a painter and a web designer.  We are no longer one thing; our lives are colorful mosaics of constantly churning creative endeavors.  Our lives are rich tapestries being woven together with multiple “things we do”, no longer being narrowly defined by one discipline.

What specifically defines the Creative Professional that is distinct? Not all artists are Creative Professionals and not all Creative Professionals are defined by traditional creative professions. However, taking an inventory of some of the qualities of the emerging Creative Professional gives you a sense of whether you are one or not. (You’ll see some of these qualities listed in our mini-survey below). More importantly, for you curious folks still reading, here is why identifying as a Creative Professional might matter.

As you shift and grow, by necessity, your identity must shift and grow as well.  Who you were, is not who you are becoming.  But who are you becoming?  What do you identify with now and how is that supporting you or holding you back?  Our identities are places that we can stand in. Feeling good about our identity helps use take risks, feel more self-confidence and can help guide our actions.  Conversely if we don’t feel good about our identity, we can become stuck, slowed down or uncertain about what we are doing.  Do a check in now, and ask yourself what your work identity is?  How do you feel about that?

The emerging Creative Professional has specific characteristics that are distinct and recognizable. Now, more than ever, these Creative Professionals are becoming leaders and innovators as they develop new ways to make a living from, and continue to contribute, their skills and talents to the world.

The point here is that the landscape we now inhabit is becoming richly populated with emerging Creative Professionals of all kinds, who don’t identify themselves in that way yet. This is leaving them in a place that is vague and their emergent identities uncertain.  Simply by stepping into a more empowered identity, we have access to greater self-confidence and become connected to our own inner resources that can begin to move our lives forward in new ways.

Do you know what being a Creative Professional means today?  Are you one?  Take our little survey and find out!

1.  Are you a person that …

  • Exhibits curiosity
  • Likes to investigate new possibilities
  • Tends to take initiative in most matters
  • Is highly imaginative
  • Is future oriented
  • Tends to think visually
  • Sees possibilities within the seemingly impossible
  • Is not afraid of taking risks
  • Is prepared to make mistakes

These are just some of the qualities of a Creative Professional.  You might also be the person who finds yourself thinking about what you want to create, in all aspects of your life most of the time, while other people are talking about the weather?   If you resonate with some of these characteristics, read on.

2. When people ask what you do, do you say:  ”Well, I am an attorney in private practice, but I’m also starting a small business”,  ”Well, I do a few things..I’m a web designer and I also teach yoga classes”,  ”Well, I’m a psychotherapist by training, but now I’m a trader and I’m starting my own business?”

3. Has you industry changed dramatically in the last 5 years and as a result you are seriously reconsidering how to package your life to meet your own needs, be fulfilled and make a contribution?  Does this look like a multi-faceted work life, that, although challenging you are also enjoying due to the creative challenges you are constantly being presented with?

4. Do you work from home, juggling self-employment that requires marketing efforts and life from one desk?  In other words, do you operate a home business that requires you to be innovative and creative on a regular basis?

If you answered yes to any of the above you are most likely an unidentified Creative Professional.  If this is you, try this out. The next two people who ask you what you do, respond in two ways.  First, respond with your laundry list of the things you do.  Then, if you identify at all with being a creative professional, say that out loud to the next person who asks you what you do, say first, ”I’m a Creative Professional” and see what difference it makes in how empowered you feel.  Also notice the response you get to your laundry list versus your statement, “I’m a Creative Professional”.  Please post a commnet below and let us know how that went!

Author:  Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You’re welcome to use this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “About The Author” info below:)

Read the Keys To Living Blog featuring posts by Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC and Maria Cristini, CPCC, PCC, Life & Business Coaches: Keys To Living

About Ruth

Ruth is a Creative Professional.  Her life is a mosaic of of coaching other Creative Professionals, teaching, writing, art, parenting other other creative endeavors.  Visit her site at Keys To Living, for more information and to read more, visit Keys To Living Blog.

*wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_professional

Posted in Finding Your Yes, Identity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
April 12, 2010

“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”

By admin

Why Slowing Down Speeds Up Your Finances

I have a card ready to send to someone that says: “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get“, and it just came to mind as I started to write this blog about slowing down in the area of finances.

As a life and business coach and a human living my own life, I know that when we hurry we often start taking action before we consider:

  • what it is we truly desire
  • why we want it to begin with and
  • what our short and long term vision might be for that particular desire

This can lead us to moving fast, being busy, looking like we’re on the road to success yet after a bit realizing we’re feeling disconnected and often have allowed ourselves to be led to an end we don’t really want when we experience the result 10 days from now, 10 months from now and 10 years from now? We are left with the thought: “the hurrier I go, the behinder I get”.

Imagine slowing it all down, taking the time to be in touch with your heart’s desires, connecting to your values, and then from there creating a long and short term vision for what you want to create.  A vision that you will be happy to enjoy once you manifest it.  During this slowing down phase when you are connecting to your desires and clarifying your vision, it might look like you’re not doing anything.  In our culture we don’t often give enough value to this as it doesn’t look like what successful people are doing.  The truth is, most successful people are doing this, this is simply not the part that you see.  When you are seeing them in action… they are at the next phase of the journey.  Action will have it’s proper time and place in your strategic plan.

Some desires and visions absolutely have a financial component to them. Many creative imaginative people might focus on the dreams and not the financial aspect of the dreams.  Many logical thinkers and achievers might focus on the numbers and strategy and that there is a goal to achieve without the heartfelt desire in the mix.  At Keys To Living, we want to suggest that there is a distinction between desire/vision and the financial aspect that goes with it.  Desire and vision don’t contain the financial piece in them, nor should they.  Most people do not directly desire money or healthy finances… most successful people have desires and when the desire has a financial component to it, they are able to merge and manage the two aspects to create success.  Desire and finances – when looked at separately, then merged together with tools that can support you, will inspire you, and can lead to incredible clarity and personal power.

Desire is driven by intuition, emotion, feeling, quality of life, and wanting.  There is often an initial vision right behind the desire. Perhaps there is a desire and vision of contribution, of sharing experiences, of traveling, of education, of a thriving business, of going to interesting places with friends and family, creating a movie or writing a book, moving to another state/country …  your list will be self-generating, personal and endless.

When your desire has a financial component to it, and you are overlooking the financial aspect of your life you will not achieve the desired vision you imagined.  Some desires go hand in hand with money – whether we like it or not.  If you don’t address the finances the vision will go dormant quietly or by creating severe pain in the area of finances itself. The pain is a result of your values and dreams being crushed simultaneously.  Again, no one really cares about the money and yet without proper nurturing of the financial area of life – one’s spirit starts to die, dreamers stop dreaming, optimists become shut off to personal and business opportunity, and the flow of generosity and contribution is severely restricted.  Think about how you feel when your financial life is not tended to.

Desire: The Key to Financial Vision & Clarity, is a FREE 1-hour teleclass that will have you slow down enough to look at your desire, which is the spark to your vision, connected to your values… all of which can point you to what is needed in the financial area of your life.  This holistic awareness will provide you financial vision and clarity, and lead to the success and self-empowerment which infuses your joy.

Without the desire defined, we wouldn’t have a road map for our financial life.  Desire becomes the anchor and your personal connection to finances.  When you start to merge desire, vision and your financial life, the result is fulfilling success.  The ability to fund your dreams does matter.

At Keys To Living we encourage you to look at your financial life through the information found in your desires and vision.  Register here for this Free 1-hour teleclass and if you wish, the following 4-week teleclass. Allow us to inspire you, teach and coach you, give you tools and open your heart and mind to your own ability to merge your desires and finances to create the future you desire. 

We’re excited to present this version of our foundational key to living with a focus on your desires and finances.  Slow down, register now and you’ll go faster in the end!

================

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE?
You’re welcome to use this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “About The Author” info below:)

Read the Keys To Living blog featuring posts by Maria Cristini, CPCC, PCC, Life & Business Coach: Keys To Living

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Maria Cristini coaches small business owners, creative professionals, and executives to clarify and prioritize what they want for themselves in all aspects of their life. This clarity empowers her clients to create the future they want for themselves personally and for their businesses, both of which become an extension of their optimal self-expression. To learn more about her products and services, visit KeysToLiving.com and/or mariacristini.com

Posted in Finances, Goals, Vision and Clarity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
February 16, 2010

What About Valentine’s Day?

By admin

The way we spend Valentine’s Day can tell us a lot about HOW we love.

  • Whether tangible or intangible, was your day about both receiving and giving?
  • Did you ignore the day and shove the Valentine part under the rug or did you embrace the day and use it to show care and love?
  • Does this day remind you that your life is made abundant with giving and receiving love or does it turn into a day of focusing on what’s lacking?
  • How was the way YOU spent Valentine’s Day reflective of how you spend all your days?
  • There is learning in all life has to offer, and we can use just about any personal or professional relationship circumstance to dig a bit deeper into knowing ourselves.

Truth of the matter is that we’re not our most abundant self unless we are engaged in relationships.

There are infinite ways the topic of relationship can show up on a coaching call.  Here’s an example of how coaching on the topic of relationships can look:

On individual coaching calls with clients who have their own businesses, or have leadership roles within an organization; often the coaching moves to the conversations needed in order to share work, ideas, and power in the most impactful way for everyone involved. When people are powerful in their relationship to themselves first, from there it’s a few short steps to authentic communication, which creates change, impact and benefit.

In personal relationships it’s often similar in that it’s about communication, finding common ground on a topic and moving forward powerfully, getting ones needs and desires met, being fully self expressed in the relationship.

Always the focus of these relationship conversations has to start with the relationship the client is having with him/her self in the situation. The first conversation to be had is with oneself, then one can move out, communicating to others from there.

In February and March, at KEYS TO LIVING, we’re turning our attention to relationships.

Do take time to focus on your relationships: with yourself, your family, friends, children, co-workers, and more!

Take advantage of all life has to offer this month and prepare and support yourself to have a fabulous year.

Written by: Maria Cristini, CPCC, PCC

Posted in Balance, Goals, Relationships, Successful Relationships | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
January 10, 2010

Sparks of Desire and The Creative Cycle

By admin

Over the winter break, I sat by a hot fire in Inverness, California and thought about the year ahead. I was starting to think about my own desires for the coming year and as I did this, the fire in the hearth started to die out. The wood we were using was slightly damp from all the rains and it was taking quite a bit of nurturing to keep the fire hot enough to burn through the wet wood. My kids and I were committed to keeping our heat source alive, so when the fire started to quiet down and smolder we diligently went to the kindling wood, chopped it into fine slivers and gently nudged the kindling into places where they could receive some heat.

Once the kindling got just hot enough, we’d hear a quiet pop that would let us know there was a spark. That’s when we blew on the tender spots of the kindling wood. With just the right amount of gentle blowing, more sparks would start to appear, then a dandy bit of popping would ensue and sparks came alive! The sparks rallied and would give us a good show before flames burst out to wrap themselves around our damp wood and heat us from our heads to our toes!

The cycle would last long enough for us to go a few rounds on our Scrabble board and then the smoldering, kindling, blowing, sparking, flame igniting process would start all over again. We each quietly enjoyed this process very much. No one complained when it was their turn, in fact, it took on a sacred quality as each person quietly focused on keeping our fire alive.

It was during one of my turns that my mind meandered back to my thoughts about my desires for 2010. As I sat blowing on the kindling I realized how close the process of tending this fire was to the process of bringing our desires to life. I really saw how, through the right mixture of raw materials, (kindling) warmth and gentleness (environment) our desires can be sparked. They are simply potential waiting to take shape. Once the spark of desire happens, it is our choice whether to nurture it or not. (Blow on it and create the right environment.) As more attention is gently given to the desire it has the possibility of growing into its fullest possibility (flame) and becoming uniquely alive and dynamic (fire) before it dies out (smolders) and the process begins again (quiet, the sacred moment of attention and tending).

As I looked back over the last year and thought about the people who had gone through our yearlong program and my own life and work, this metaphor, of tending the fire, became very alive for me. I see that the process we engage in with our own lives and work, is very organic and cyclical. Our process of bringing our desires to life is more difficult to attend to because our lives are complex. However, for those people who take the steps of bringing even one desire to life, the process is life transforming.

Bringing even one desire to life can have life changing impact, like the alchemical nature of fire. Of importance to understand is that, the process of bringing desires to life needs awareness, commitment, the right environment and support. These are things we aren’t taught how to do. We may assume we know how but, really, how many of us had the kinds of nurturing, supportive, skillful environments that modeled this process of living?

At Keys to Living the work we do with clients begins with them becoming more connected and clear about their most potent desires, followed by permission to honor, support and commit to them. Every time a client goes through the process they grow and change in profound ways. We will be continuing to write about the process of bringing desires to life through out the coming year as we will be doing this with groups through our programs at Keys To Living.

If you get any thing from reading this today, I hope you take away with you the importance of the moment of connecting to your desires. This is the sacred moment of quiet where it all begins. Please follow along this year as we make the process visible through this blog, add your comments to nurture process or better yet, join one of our free tele-classes or programs to receive the support you need this year to bring your own desires to life.

Upcoming offerings

Free Tele-class, Sparking Desire:  A Key to Vision and Clarity

Four Week Tele-class, Vision and Clarity:  A Key to Creating What you Want In Your Life

Written by Ruth Oprean Cardillo, CPCC

Posted in Desire, Vision and Clarity | Leave a comment
November 22, 2009

Gratitude

By admin

Simply saying or thinking about the words receiving and gratitude, evokes joy. Each evening I treasure the moments when I ask my children, “What are you grateful for today?” They stop and see their day flash before their mind’s eye and always find one or more treasured experiences to be grateful for.

Gratitude is a reflection of our joys, our appreciation, our vulnerability, which we courageously honor, our willingness to love and be loved, our willingness to surrender to the best of what’s possible for ourselves.

So on a seemingly bad day when the kids get a bit stuck on what to be grateful for, I may ask them did you do something you feel good about, did you or someone you know accomplish something, was someone nice to you, were you nice to someone else, and before too much probing, a thought of gratitude spills out of them.

We can find our way to gratitude through the doorways of joy, love, creativity, surrender, vulnerability, and easiest for most – simply appreciating what you have been given and received or created, made happen and feel excited about.

Once you find your gratitude and feel it more deeply, you will realize that all the doorways are opened before you in that one expression of gratitude.

What do you have to be grateful for today?

Register today for our Upcoming Free Teleclass Deepening Appreciation: A Key To Cultivating Gratitude

Posted in Appreciation and Gratitude | Tagged | Leave a comment