052_Old Neighborhood — New World

Lar and I recorded this on Father’s Day. Lar’s in New Mexico and I’m in Utah. So saying Happy Father’s Day, Lar, looks like me filling him in on the latest events happening with our kids and grandkids and the appreciation we have all been expressing with each other about what a powerful champion he has been (and continues to be) in their lives. 
It feels good to join in a conversation that celebrates our union and bring this podcast cast to life week after week.

I was telling him that being in Salt Lake, visiting my old stomping grounds has felt profound for me. What made it so poignant this time around, is that I just finished writing a memoir shipped it to the publisher, Mandala Tree Publishing,  a couple of days ago. So I’m kind of in a reflective and appreciative mood for the part this setting and the events in my life that took place in this city that ultimately transformed me and my life. I’m looking through the eyes of now, where forgiveness and love have transformed the way I revisit my old neighborhood. 

JOY is my predominate feeling now. Course, that’s the yummy way. And it all started for me here, in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

 Anyway,  it got me thinking about how often we revisit old haunts and don’t see through the fresh eyes of today, this moment. How present to now are you when you revisit things from your past?

Lar shares how hanging onto an old perspective of a place where he was teaching made it near impossible to be open to what was actually in front of him. 

We’re so sure we understand the past and what to bring into the future, that it interferes with seeing the actuality of what’s happening now.  When we cling to our perspectives, we overlay our past on the present don’t see what real. We cheat ourselves of being present and having the presence of mind to deal with what’s happening. 

We have to be willing to let go of our old storyline so a new world can unfold. 

With things beginning to open up and things are seemingly getting “back to normal” we’ve become accustomed to living with the pandemic in our lives. We have a deeper sense of our inner-connectedness. 
Many of us said during the long weeks of quarantine that we don’t want to go back to the way things were with such tremendous divisiveness. But are we taking the steps necessary to make sure that this experience with the global pandemic transforms our world with the lessons we learned and the actions we take? 

Here are a few questions to keep in mind as you move into your old neighborhood, so to speak, and into your new world:

• What will I do differently for things to be ‘better’ then before?
• How can I find creative solutions that unify rather than divide?
• How can I not overthink, but rather collaborate to bring new life to old environments.
• What must I take more seriously?
• What would be better served to take more ‘lightly’?
• What must I let go of?
• What can I now embrace that I resisted before? 

No matter what shows up on a daily basis, be it a celebration of life — like with Vivi’s birthday party,  or the moments when heartbreak strikes — like someone you love getting seriously hurt and you’re completely powerless… Can we be present and welcome it all? 
Can we allow and champion each of our feelings, so we can be available to act with presence and not just some canned response we think we’re suppose to be like? 

Have a yummy week and a yummy day!