Hollis Polk's Change Your Life in 10 Minutes a Day

How You Magnetize Things to You

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 18:29:00 +0000

You've probably heard someone say that "you magnetize things to yourself". They're implying that it has to do, usually, with visualization, or as a friend of mine says (apologies to this person, because i truly can't remember who it is), more properly, sensualization, that is, imagining it with as many senses as possible.

Did you ever wonder how that works? I sure did. And now I think I've found out.

At the end of every yoga class, you lie still, flat on your back for a few minutes, in 'corpse pose'. This is used to allow your body (and probably energy body, as well) to integrate the changes that have occurred in the practice that has just occurred.

Today, it hit me! But first, I have to back up and describe my experience of my own auric field.

For the last year or so, I have been sensing my aura as 2 interlocking toruses (tori?). The first torus has roughly the proportions of a large donut, encircling my mid-section, from about my heart to my hips, and projecting more or less from my skin to about the length of my outstretched arms. (Of course, the size does vary, sometimes pulling in closer to my body, and sometimes expanding to be much larger.)

The energy in this torus runs according the the right-hand rule of electromagnetism: Using your right hand, hold your hand so the palm is parallel to the earth facing down. Extend your thumb so that it's perpendicular to the palm. Curl the fingers around your palm. When an electrical current runs from the base of your thumb towards its tip, an associated magnetic field runs circularly around it in the direction that your fingers curl around the palm.

The second torus runs up through the mid-line of my body, which is the line along which all one's chakras are arranged. The energy runs up the mid-line of my body, out through the crown of my head, to a place a couple of feet above the top of my head, and then runs out and down, over the first torus, to a place underneath my feet, which completes the circuit, so it begins to run up again.

Usually, i am aware of the first torus, and not so aware of the second one. But today, lying in corpse pose, I became VERY aware of the second torus -- and the fact that a cross section of it on the floor looks very much like the magnetic pattern a bar magnet makes when it's surrounded by iron filings. Imagine your head at the North pole and your feet at the South pole of the magnet.

Eureka! Our energy fields are literally bio-energetic magnets! The electrical field of the human body has been widely described -- and used for thousands of years in acupuncture. But most people's awareness of this field stays with the electrical, and doesn't extend to the magnetic.

Because we literally keep pictures of things in our aura, we draw to us what is in our aura. If you have horrible, unprocessed memories, you are going to draw to you similar experiences until you realize what is there and let it go. You may not know consciously what's there, but if you keep having the same thing happen to you over and over again, this is why. (And I can help you shift it.)

This is why visualization works: If you put an image in your aura, your energetic magnet will draw it to you. The catch is that you must have a complete picture -- if you don't, anything that matches your picture will show up, but parts of the photo that are blanks will be filled in at random, or by matching other unconscious pictures in your aura. If you need help making a complete picture, call me!

It is important, as well, to have a strong, cohesive energetic field, and to put your pictures into it in a particular way. More on that later...

The Big Lie

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 14:53:00 +0000

Let me begin by saying that I believe each of us affects our own reality, our own life, not just by our actions, but also by our beliefs and thoughts. For example, knowing what you want (as in setting a goal) automatically helps screen out what you don't want, and shifts your actions in the direction of what you do want.

But there is a Big Lie going on in so-called NewAge circles, and it's this:

All you need to do is think positively, believe positively, and all wealth, great relationships and good health will come to you automatically. If all these things don't come to you, then you are doing something wrong.

There are a couple of problems with this:

First, most of us have a deep belief structure that gets in the way of conscious positivity, at least in some areas of our lives. This structure can be changed. I have written about that a lot in earlier blog posts. Please search this blog for items with the tag "belief" to read those posts. If some specific area of your life isn't working, call me at 888-4-HOLLIS, and I can help you shift a belief that may be getting in your way to something more helpful.

Second, we are co-creating the world and its events with everyone else on the planet. Mass events happen because they serve the ends of so many people. Those of us who join them, do so for our own reasons. Those of us who don't join in, didn't have a need to. For example, I have 2 separate friends who were scheduled to be on large passenger jets that crashed (one on 9/11), but took an earlier flight, and therefore lived to tell the story. They must have needed to live, rather than to die.

We all part of a larger story, rather than separate from it. Believing positively does not affect climate change. But if billions of us each act differently, that might affect it.

Here's how this works on a personal level. A friend told me this story:

"Normally, I'm an 'up and at 'em' kind of person -- I get up in the morning filled with energy, and I want to get dressed and get to work right away. That means really hustling to get on BART -- getting out of the house at 6:50AM, watching the traffic to catch every possible traffic light, walking at a very brisk pace through the parking garage and down to the platform to catch the 7:06 train.

"But one morning last week, I was feeling kind of tired, like I was fighting off a bug. I didn't really want to go to work, but I wasn't sick enough to stay home. I got out of the house on time, but wasn't figuring every car length in the traffic, nor walking at breakneck pace through the garage and the station. So instead of the 7:06 train, I caught the 7:12, which would still get me to work with 10 minutes to spare for an 8AM meeting. But I kept thinking, "I don't want to go to work."

"Here's the funny part: the 7:12 train had mechanical problems, so we sat in a tunnel for at least 15 minutes, then had to disembark, which took seemingly forever, because some people apparently thought they were exceptions to "everyone off the train", and wait for the next (now jam packed) train. I finally arrived at work 15 minutes late.

"When I explained about the BART breakdown, it looked to everyone else like I was late through no fault of my own. But what I know is this: if I'd been my normal self, I'd have been on the 7:06 -- and would have missed the breakdown entirely."

Did my friend's intention not to go to work create the breakdown? No. But it caused her to join in to a mass event, a breakdown that was happening anyway

We who are here on this planet right now, have all joined a general breakdown. Changing my beliefs about the current corrupt state of our political system will not change that system, at least not alone.

Ripples, or, You Never Know What Effect You'll Have

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 21:14:00 +0000

You just never know how your efforts will ripple out from you. Here's my current favorite example:

You may have seen this video of Jason Brown at US National Figure Skating Championships in January:

There is a backstory to this that you don't know.

My sister, Page Polk Lipe, has loved figure skating since the age of 2, when she insisted that those stupid double bladed skates were simply not good enough for her, not even on the frozen pond on which we were skating. That love kept her skating throughout grade school, high school, college at an Ivy League university, time traveling with an ice show, and eventually into coaching.

Page has been a figure skating coach for 36 years. In that time, she's had well over a thousand students, ranging from tiny tots in the local parks and recreation skating program to national and international competitors. One of her first national competitors was a boy named Rohene Ward. His mom was a single mom of two, doing the best she could with no support from his dad, and there was no way she could pay for figure skating for her very talented son. Page took him under her wing: she treated him like her third child, often picking him up and dropping him off so he could get to the rink. Many nights, Rohene stayed with Page and her family. She even found sponsors for him, to pay for his ice time, etc.

After a reasonably successful amateur career, Rohene joined an ice show that tours Europe. He's a headliner in the show now. In the off season, he's a coach and choreographer.

This is from the Minneapolis StarTribune:

"Rohene Ward didn’t get to watch from a front-row seat as the performance he choreographed was unveiled last month. While his pupil [Jason] Brown was bringing down the house at the U.S. figure skating championships in Boston, Ward was in Germany, on tour with an ice show.

"Brown had never heard of “Riverdance’’ when Ward, his co-coach and choreographer, suggested a free-skate program based on the Irish step dance. By the time he got to Boston, he had mastered Ward’s symphony of intricate footwork, dazzling spins and athletic jumps. Brown’s performance earned a riotous standing ovation and a stunning second-place finish at the national championships, vaulting him past more seasoned competitors and onto the Olympic team.

"Ward didn’t have an opportunity to see Brown’s skate until it popped up on YouTube, but he had envisioned it a million times. “In my heart, I was there,’’ said Ward, 30, who competed in four national championships and trained at Parade Ice Garden under coach Page Lipe. “It’s still surreal to me. Did I want to skate in the Olympics myself? Of course. But to help someone else reach their dreams, I feel blessed.’’

"During his own competitive career, Ward did much of his own choreography. In 2008, he teamed up with Brown’s coach, Kori Ade, first in suburban Chicago and later in Colorado. Brown was only 12 when Ward started working with him, pushing him to be an athlete while shaping him into an artist.

"This season, Ward was inspired by the spirit of the Winter Games to design a program that would challenge Brown to discover just how good he could be. Their collaboration has now been viewed more than 3.3 million times on YouTube. [It's up to 3.6 million views as I write this. -H]

"A heavy schedule of ice-show performances will prevent Ward from being in Sochi, too, but his fellow cast members already are planning a party to celebrate the Olympic debut of his fancy footwork. “Page taught me to love the sport and to be an athlete,’’ he said. “The only way I can give back is to give that to someone else. With Jason, I shared my love of being an athlete and an artist. And he’s soaked it up like a sponge.’’

Page inspired Rohene with her love of the sport of figure skating. Eventually, that ended up rippling out into the program you just watched. You never know how what you do will ripple out, therefore always share your knowledge, your wisdom and your highest instincts with those around you.

Fight back!

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 18:55:00 +0000

Don't like the weather? Help change it!

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 23:05:00 +0000

Most of the US and Canada is in the deep freeze, after being pummeled by blizzards. While we in California are lucky to have relatively warm weather, we are suffering from a drought which could quickly become crippling after a dry year last year.

What to do?

Change the weather!

In Urban Shaman, Serge Kahili King talks about how weather, and specifically hurricane systems, are responsive to human emotion.

The cause of the drought -- and the deep-freeze -- is a center of high pressure stationed over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. This forces the wet weather, which would normally bring much-needed rain and snow to CA, to go north, where it gets very cold. Then the jet streams force it south, which is normal, but now it's laden with moisture, which dumps feet of snow in places that would normally get inches.

So what can you do? It's really simple:

Get into a meditative state.
Make contact with the high pressure system in whatever way you can -- perhaps by visualizing it, or perhaps by making a heart connection to it.
Ask if it is appropriate to dissipate this high pressure system. Is it in the highest good of the world to dissipate it? The highest good of the people living in the drought or deep-freeze areas?

If you get that it is NOT in the highest good of all concerned, STOP. Be grateful for the information, and send love to the Earth.
If you get that it IS in the highest good of all concerned, visualize the dissipation of the high pressure area, rain falling on the West coast, and the Mid-west and the East coast warming up. When it feels complete, stop, and send love to the Earth.

Please write comments to let us all know what your experience is! And watch the weather reports. :)

Question x 2

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 22:10:00 +0000

How do you know what affects you? I mean what affects you deeply and permanently? Yes, most of us can remember a decision we made or something someone said once, and say, that deeply affected me. But I also know that most people don't consciously remember why they're afraid of heights, or allergic to cats (when no one else in their family is), or why they react almost violently to a certain tone of voice. I know because it comes up in client sessions all the time. Using hypnosis, we find whatever that is, and then shift it using NLP.

But what if that thing is cultural? A popular song perhaps? And if it's in no way traumatic, just something that you heard a million times.

Here's what I mean:

I remember the first time I heard the Moody Blues, the iconic rock band. I was 14, sitting on my friend, Mary's bed, on a log cabin quilt her mother had made, when she said, "You HAVE to hear this!' and played the first side of the album, "A Question of Balance". The album was titled for the song, "Question". I loved the album, and especially that song, so I bought it and played it about a million times. Yes, I knew the song's lyrics by heart. But I never thought about them much, or at least not very deeply. And as I got busier with my life, I stopped playing albums, and the technology changed, and I never bought the album on CD, or on iTunes. So I stopped hearing the song.

It turns out that my husband is a huge Moody Blues fan. So when he found out they were playing in San Rafael, he bought tickets. We went last week. They closed the show with "Question". Here are the lyrics that hit me like a ton of bricks the other night, because they are so deeply embedded in me:

It's not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
It's more the way that you mean it
When you tell me what will be.
And when you stop and think about it
You won't believe it's true.
That all the love you've been giving
Has all been meant for you.

How many times in the past few decades have I told people what will be? Not that I tell them that, exactly. Instead, I tell them the probabilities of what is likely to happen and what they can do to affect the outcome in a positive way. And I mean it in a way that will help them, that will heal them -- and I know that my intention DOES help them create what they choose. (And I have client testimonials on LinkedIn to prove it.)

And yes, it is true: since we're all One, that love, the love that comes through when I'm working with a client, is meant for me.

SO: Did the Moody Blues shape my work, without any of us knowing it?

And how do you know that hasn't happened to you?

Breathe the Free Air of Earth

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 22:31:00 +0000

I go for a several mile long beach hike every year on my birthday, which happens in early summer. It's a time for meditation, reflection on the past year, and looking forward to the next year. This year's hike was a time for healing in a way I'd never imagined (but more about that in a future email). Before the healing, though, I was meditating as I walked, just noticing what was around me: the sun, the sound of the surf, the light on the waves, the birds feeding, and feeling the regular rhythm of my body walking. My mind was clear; I wasn't consciously thinking at all.

"Breathe the free air of Earth" popped into my mind. I know I didn't make it up because I really wasn't thinking. I was puzzled as to its meaning, but then the healing started, and so my attention was directed elsewhere.

A few days later, I was riding BART (Bat Area Rapid Transit). The train was at a place above ground where you could see the San Francisco Bay, the maze of freeways and the Port of Oakland, all of which are quite impressive in a 'modern, industrial life meets nature' sort of way. I was enjoying that when "Breathe the free air of Earth" popped into my mind again. I know I didn't make it up, because my conscious mind was thinking about transportation systems.

Since it happened twice, I knew I was supposed to pay attention to it, but I still didn't know what it meant. Given the recent revelations about the NSA's spying on all of us so completely, etc., I thought perhaps something had changed so that we were free. I asked my guides for clarification. No such luck; we are not yet free.

Things are changing, slowly, behind the scenes. See this for more info (I don't trust much of what is written these days, but David Wilcock's writings are generally well-researched. The most recent post is the least well-researched of his stuff, but he does pose some very interesting 'questions'.) My guides tell me that we are all asked to say this affirmation as a way to support the global changes:

BREATHE THE FREE AIR OF EARTH!

Please use it often:

meditate on it
use it as an affirmation
use it as a greeting
sign your emails with it
post it on Twitter
ask your friends to use it
be creative (I'd love to see a song with this as the refrain!)

Thank you for anything you do.

Edward Snowden & Intuition in the Long Run

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 18:47:00 +0000

Sometimes you have to wait a very long time, years, even decades, for the full import of an intuitive message to come through. That means you have to remember them, so you can refer to them over time. Edward Snowden's flight to Moscow reminded me of this.

I grew up during the Cold War. This was a time when political prisoners were jailed in the USSR, and often sought political asylum in the US.

I was curious about the Soviet Union, asked questions, and expressed an interest in visiting. My parents told me I should never go there, because the hotel rooms were bugged. They knew a couple who'd visited, who'd told them stories of their guides making comments about things they'd only said to each other in the "privacy" of their hotel room. I had a bad habit of telling the truth, and couldn't keep my mouth shut. (I still tell the truth, but I've learned when to keep my mouth shut! :) )

My dad subscribed to all sorts of magazines that came to our house, but went to his doctor's office waiting room fairly quickly. One of these was Travel and Leisure. When I was 11, the cover photo on one issue was a beautiful shot of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. I was captivated! I stared and stared at that photo. Then it came to me -- I just knew -- that the US and the USSR would become more and more alike, and that we'd be trading with each other. I decided right then that I had to learn Russian, and insisted on being sent to a high school where I could learn the language. My dad really heard me and made that possible.

3 years later, I was in my first year of Russian classes at a school near Albany, NY. That year, the Russian wheat harvests had failed, and our governments had arranged a grain deal, in which some of our wheat would be shipped to the Soviet Union. And our teacher took our class (all 4 of us) on a field trip to the Russian freighter that had docked at the Port of Albany. I didn't understand much of what the sailors were saying, but I still remember the sight of the grain pouring into the hold.

This was at a time when social programs in the US were still expanding, which were described by some as "communist". Wow -- we're getting to be more alike!

I had to drop out of Russian classes after 1 year at Princeton, because it was just too hard to do that on top of my engineering courses. But by the time I moved to New York in the late 1970's, we were actively trading grain with what was still the Soviet Union. In fact, a good friend was a grain trader.

Then the second Russian revolution happened -- the Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union was dismantled, and the promise of democracy beckoned. Wow -- we're getting to be more alike!

We all know that democracy didn't really take hold in the Russia. And we know that the security state has grown in the US. Wow, we're becoming more alike. :(

And today, irony of ironies, Edward Snowden has had to seek political asylum by transiting through Russia. Has the US become the USSR?

I keep thinking about that knowledge that my 11 year old self had, and how she had no way to know how right that information would turn out to be, no way to predict exactly how it would play out.

Sometimes you have to wait years -- or decades -- to watch your intuitive information play out. And the only way to do that is to remember it. Sometimes, like what my 11 year old self got, it just sears itself into your mind. But journals help, too. And no matter how scary it is, it helps to tell other people what you get, because they'll help you remember.

The REAL Value of Meditation (You'll Be Surprised)

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 20:20:00 +0000

How many of your thoughts are pre-programmed? How many of them come automatically? For example, if it's going to be a hot day, do you automatically think about watering the plants? Or going to the beach? Or what time you're going to have to turn on the A/C? When you get up in the morning, do you automatically think of your shower, or that first cup of coffee? Often those are thoughts we've come up with ourselves, out of our personal experience. We know how good that shower or coffee are going to feel, and so our minds go automatically to them.

Many of our thoughts are automatically programmed - some by us, but some by our families or by society. For example, if you see a Rolls Royce, you might have automatic thoughts about that. Most of us have never owned a Rolls Royce, or even ridden in one, so we don't have a personal experience of it. That means that we've been taught what to think about the Rolls by society.

Our bodies are programmed by nature to operate within a small range of various parameters. This is called homeostasis. For example, our bodies don't work outside of a small temperature range. Yes, we've been able to extend that with clothing and shelter, but even then, we only operate from perhaps -50F to 110F. which is quite small considering that fires often go to 1500F, and the temperature of most of the universe is about -118F. Our bodies only work in a small pH range, as well.

People are intimately connected with their bodies, often identifying with them, thinking that they are their bodies, and only their bodies. Consequently, society, which is just people, is set up to foster homeostasis. That is, society is generally set up to keep things the same, or at most, change in tiny increments.

This applies to thoughts, too. People can only transmit thoughts they already have. Again, society is just a lot of other people. So in a way, society programs us to have the same thoughts other people are already having -- society programs us to stay the same.

This rigid framework does keep us safe in many ways -- it keeps us physically safe (we know to run away from fire), and we're accepted by the group, which also helps to keep us safe (from the odd marauding wolf, which will attack an individual, but not a group). But it prevents us from shifting in ways that might be beneficial, as well. A simple example is that 70 - 90 years ago, cigarette smoking was promoted as being healthful. Despite decades of medical studies, lots of women applauded cigarettes' effectiveness in weight loss, so they ignored the studies, continuing to believe in the health benefits.

It's as if our thoughts make an impenetrable cage around our energy fields, preventing new information or energy from getting in. Meditation, however, is the cessation of conscious thought. even briefly. As a friend said once, "I can't seem to stop thinking completely, but I can make the spaces between my thoughts longer." That cessation of thought makes spaces in the thought cage around your energy field.

Those spaces are where new information, in the form of wisdom, creativity or energetic upgrades can occur.

In general, higher energy is more powerful than lower energy. It travels farther and affects more people. This is exemplified by the fact that X-rays (the frequencies of which range in the 10 to the 16th to 19th powers) can penetrate things that look solid in the visible light spectrum (whose frequencies are in the 10 to the 13th power).

So beings, like gurus or spirit guides, who transmit higher energy will always spread higher light than is currently available. This higher light carries higher wisdom, creativity and new ideas.

Unfortunately, the higher light, higher wisdom, new ideas and creativity are a mixed blessing, at least at first. This is because the higher light is confronted by homeostasis, both personal and societal, which is unbelievably uncomfortable. The two are going to fight for space in your energy field, if you will, or in the common thought forms of society. In the end, though, the higher light always wins. It changes you for the better, as it changes society for the better.

(This material was given to me in mediation, of course!)

When the teacher is ready...

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Fri, 10 May 2013 20:43:00 +0000

You've probably heard the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." That seems very true in my experience, if you allow that the teacher may not be a person.

But I think it works the other way around, as well. When the teacher is ready, the students appear.

Here's what I mean:

One of my longest term clients, whom I'll call Andi, is a talented psychic herself. She has taken more than a decade to accept, harness and focus her talents, while working several jobs and raising her kids.

Andi is finally ready to step up and begin teaching her own workshops! Not only does she accept her abilities, but she has a really unique way of teaching what she knows. She's really excited about this first workshop!

In setting it up, though, every possible practical obstacle has come up. The sound engineers promised that the equipment was idiot proof. Not only was it not idiot proof, it was broken! But she spent 6 hours thinking something was wrong with her, before she called the audio engineers.

A clerical error on the part of a utility company prevented her from paying her bill! And despite the fact that it was the utility's fault, the only way to fix this problem was for her to cancel her account, and start again, which was very time consuming.

The local newspaper printed her announcement with the wrong date, despite her having sent the correct date in an email. And it went on from there.

In typical new age "I must be responsible for this" fashion, she called to have me look psychically at what was going on. She complained, "Why do I have to teach all these people how to do their jobs?"

The guidance came through very clearly: because she had accepted the role of teacher by announcing her first workshop, all sorts of students were appearing, ones she didn't know she'd advertised for! That's why I say

When the teacher is ready, the students appear.

How to Deal with Betrayal

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:19:00 +0000

You've certainly been betrayed. Maybe your significant other cheated on you. Maybe someone stole from you; maybe it was someone you really trusted. Maybe someone blabbed something you told her in confidence -- all over Facebook. Maybe someone embezzled from an organization to which you contributed. Or maybe the premise under which your government has been operating has been a complete lie. (Warning: this last is a bit wonkish,)

So it's not just you who have been betrayed; it's everyone. And I've been thinking about that a fair amount lately. Here's what my guides have to say -- it's a bit dry, but it is fairly complete:

Trust is required for human cooperation, which is required for human life. All betrayal is a betrayal of trust. You trust people to either

Do something (e.g. keep information private, be sexually faithful, protect your goods)
Be who they represent themselves to be (e.g. licensed as a cosmetic surgeon if that is what someone holds himself out to be, or in love with you, if that's what he says)

Betrayal engenders lack of trust, which causes anger and grief. Anger is a natural reaction to a violation, in this case a violation of trust. All grief is loss, which can be physical or emotional, and if you are betrayed, you have lost trust, at the very least, but perhaps also money, or a sense of safety, or many other things.

Betrayal opens your eyes to the real reality. It also calls into question, at least temporarily, the nature of your own reality, not to mention your own judgement. But you can always trust your own experience. You may reframe the meaning of the entire experience in light of the betrayal, but your experience is yours, and can not be undone.

Here is a timeline of how betrayal happens, more or less, that is, the cycle of betrayal:

All is well
Betrayal
Lies to cover betrayal
Discovery of betrayal
Shock, anger, grief
Self-flagellation (why didn't I see this?)
Dealing with the consequences of the betrayal
Integration/healing process (including cycling through the 3 steps below)
All is well, with new knowledge/options/choices

Please note that the time frames here are hugely variable, from days to decades.

The questions to ask yourself in order to deal with betrayal are:

What have I lost?
What do I still have? (hint: your experience, your abilities)
How was I violated?
What can be done to rectify that situation, either by the other person, if he/she wants to make good, or by me, if I want to be in some sense whole again?

Knowing the truth will help you make better choices going forward.

Ask & You Shall Receive!

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:24:00 +0000

I recently agreed to help a friend rehab a downtown San Francisco office building, which she owns, but is too busy with her main business to attend to herself. The building is mostly vacant, with a small portion occupied by her company. Renovations, like additional sprinklers, added electrical capacity and a new air handling system, are necessary to make the building rentable. Without the renovations, she has an asset that is really underperforming.

I've been working on what needs to be done to the building in order to make it rentable, working from a 10 year old inspection report. Since there are plumbing, HVAC, electrical/data, sprinkler and roofing issues, I have to think about in what order they should done. So far, I've learned that you must begin the HVAC work (removing old unit), replace the flat roof, and then install new air handling unit. For example, I suspect that plumbing must be done before the roof, as well, but don't know that for sure. (I should mention that although I've done a lot of residential rehab, I've never worked on a commercial building before, and the systems are a bit different.)

So I was thinking about how to get that workflow info, as well as a good source for commercial vendors, which are harder to come by than residential. (The residential ones are on craigslist, yelp, etc. but the commercial ones mostly aren't, as their business is much more word of mouth.) I thought about Jim, a member of my extended family (my husband's cousin's husband) who used to have a paving contractor's license, who does really good work himself (his house is very well done, and he's helped me a bit with our house), and clearly knows what quality work is in all of the trades. He is now the property manager for a large church which also has a K-12 school, along with other buildings and parking lots, and so he's dealing with commercial people all the time, not to mention flat roofs.

A few weeks ago, on a Wednesday, as I'm sure you know, a new pope was elected. I don't really care about that, not being Catholic, but on the way home from the jobsite on BART, my cell phone picked up a network named "Vatican" at the Daly City station! It has never done that before, nor has it ever picked up ANY network at the Daly City BART, which I've ridden a few times in the last few weeks.

I thought that was pretty remarkable, and said so to the nice, middle aged lady next to me. (I never really talk to anyone on BART, either.) She remarked that she didn't own a cell phone, or a personal computer, though she used one all day at work. We got to chatting, and I heard the words "tenants" and "engineers" both, so I asked her if she was a property manager. The answer was yes! She is the property manager for a small hotel chain, which also owns about a block of SF, right off Union Square. She's been at that job for over 20 years. I explained my situation very briefly, and she is willing to talk to me and to share her rolodex.

I got home, took a phone call, changed my clothes and went to yoga. I was a little early, but that was okay. As I got out of my car, I saw a couple of people who looked familiar -- Jim and his wife (my husband's cousin)! So I told them about my new position, and asked Jim if he's willing to share his expertise and rolodex. Of course, the answer is yes! :)

Just another instance of intention creating reality. The amazing thing to me is that I never did anything formal about setting an intention. I just kind of thought about what I needed. And the information I needed, in the form of two people, one of whom I didn't even know, showed up almost immediately. Be clear what you want, ask and you shall receive!

Want to learn more about contacting ETs? Here are 2 ways:

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:16:00 +0000

If you've read this blog for a while, you'll know I've been contacting star visitors, with my husband and many others, for 6 or 7 years now. If you're interested in making contact yourself, go to

www.ETletsTALK.org

You can join for free, and see who's making contact near you. If you have been interested in doing this, you probably feel pretty alone. You don't have to feel alone any more. If you simply have questions, it's a great place to ask those who've been doing this for a while.

Furthermore, Sirius, the movie coming out soon, and will be streaming online. My wonderful husband is in this movie (we don't yet know how big a part, as we haven't seen the movie), but he is in this trailer.

The film will be streaming online on Monday, 4/22. I'll post the link here, as soon as I have it.

Have fun!

Why are Lindsay Lohan's exploits news?

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:15:00 +0000

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've certainly heard of the travails of Lindsay Lohan, or the earlier ones of Britney Spears. Why? Why are we talking about these people?

I think I may know, and to explain, I need to tell you a couple of stories.

When I was a young teenager, I got to train with some of the best figure skaters in the world: Olympic champions, national champions, and a lot of national competitors. (I got to be there because my younger sister was quite good, and we were a package deal.) One of the national competitors had a mom who was unbelievable, and not in a good way. She was the most extreme skating mother ever (think stage mother). She'd harangue her own daughter over every little thing, she'd scream at the other kids for getting in the way of "my Cindy", she'd even yell at the other mothers if she didn't agree with them. (Btw, her daughter grew up not to BE a national champion, but to coach one.)

After a few years of this, my mother took my sister out to LA to train with a different coach for a summer. While standing in the rink, she met a woman from Colorado, also in LA with her skating daughter. The other mother told stories about a horrible woman at a rink in Colorado -- and it turned out to be the same woman!

That amazed me, but then, this week, something else happened. I was calling references for a structural engineer to look at a building foundation. One of the references, whom I'll call Roberta, said, "before I tell you about the engineer, I have to tell you a little about myself. I went to a little school called MIT."

At that point, my 'hey, we're similar' programming went off, and I said, "Oh, I have an engineering degree from Princeton."

She said, "Well, then, I have to tell you my Princeton story. When I went to MIT, which was in the '50's, I started off as a math major. We had a professor, a mathematician, who was really famous. And he was mostly famous for being crazy. While I was there, he left and took a job at Princeton. So we used to say that we didn't know if everyone at Princeton was crazy, or if Princeton just drove them crazy." But she didn't name the professor.

Now my programming kicked in again, so I said, "I have a crazy mathematician story, too. When I was an undergrad at Princeton, I took a lot of economics, so I knew what Cournot-Nash equilibria were. And I knew that John Nash (who would much later become the subject of the movie, "A Beautiful Mind") hung around the math building, Fine Hall. In fact, he was referred to as 'the ghost of Fine Hall' because hardly anyone ever saw him.

"In our senior year, my brilliant physicist boyfriend began to tell me that he was having mathematical conversations with Nash. Nash would leave an equation on one of the blackboards that lined the halls. Jim would leave the next step. Then Nash would leave the next, etc.

"One late night, we were hanging out in Fine, taking a study break, when Jim whispered to me, "Wait a few seconds before you look, but that's John Nash." When I turned to see him, he looked hunted, furtive. That stuck with me, though I didn't understand it till I saw the movie 25 years later. (Btw, at the end of the movie, it shows Nash beginning to interact with students in 1978, shortly after this incident.)"

Roberta said, "Oh, my story's about Nash, too! One late night, he accosted me in the main corridor at MIT. He stood way too close to me and screamed at me that I wasn't very smart, that I wasn't a very good mathematician, and that I didn't belong in the math department because, after all, I was only a girl. And when I turned to leave he followed me down the corridor screaming at me for quite some time."

"That incident changed my life. I dropped out of the math department, and into mechanical engineering. He was probably right -- I was a good mathematician, but not a great one. And in math, you have to be great. [I've heard this from a mathematician client, too. HP] So I switched into mechanical engineering." And she told me the details of quite an illustrious career.

She continued, "To this day, I don't know if he actually knew something, or if he was just acting out of his prejudices. But he actually did me a favor."

So my Mom and some stranger find themselves talking about a crazy lady they've both met. And decades later, Roberta and I are both talking about John Nash, whom we've both barely met. Why? And why do we talk about Lindsay Lohan?

Here's my theory:

TALENTED + CRAZY = FAMOUS

Think about it: there are millions of crazy people on this planet. And the only people who talk about them are their families, maybe some friends, and the professionals who are helping them.

There are lots of talented (and I include beautiful) people, as well. They do their jobs, people admire them, but really, no one talks about them except in relation to their work.

But somehow, we talk about the ones who are both talented and crazy.

I Gave on the Inner Planes - or - Be Careful What You Say!

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:48:00 +0000

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

William Shakespeare

I had a truly Twilight Zone experience yesterday. I took a big bag of old financial files to a shredding company (much easier than doing it all myself). The attendant took my bag, shredded it while I watched, came back to the counter where I stood, and asked for payment. While I dug the $7 out of my wallet, he sat down at a computer at a desk that was just on the other side of the counter, and took my name, address, etc.

I pulled out a five dollar bill and 2 one dollar bills, noting that this was one of two fivers, and the only two singles, and laid them on the counter, with the fiver on top. As I looked at them (and the attendant was still seated and typing, facing diagonally to me), I watched as the corner of the fiver lifted up. Simultaneously, I heard a 'phhht' sound, like when something gets caught in the hose entrance of a vacuum cleaner. The fiver literally vanished, as I was watching!

At first, I didn't believe my eyes. I thought it had blown onto the desktop just the other side of the counter. When the attendant finished typing and looked up at me to be paid, I pushed the tiny pile of bills at him. He counted out two -- and asked for the five. I said I was pretty sure the five had blown onto his desk -- but -- nothing. He and I searched the entire area, even moving things to look in places where a bill could not possibly have blown, and it was simply gone! There was no fiver anywhere. I checked my billfold, and no, there was just one fiver in there now, not two. So it's not like I thought I pulled it out and didn't.

I've had many anomalous experiences -- but this beats all.

Of course, I had to look at it psychically, which I did. I also asked a friend who is a very good psychic to look at it as well, because I didn't completely trust myself. We both got the following:

This sort of thing happens all the time. Things pop in and out of our physical reality, from and to other dimensions. Have you ever been absolutely sure you put, say, a necklace on top of a bureau, only to look and it's gone? Then it reappears later, sometimes there, sometimes somewhere else, maybe even somewhere you couldn't possibly have put it? Then you've had the experience. You probably explained it away, or thought your memory was going. It wasn't.

I was just privileged to actually see it happen, and to have enough physical world evidence that it wasn't something else, including a partial witness.

According to my friend, it happens more easily with money, because money is just energy made tangible. (Certainly my husband has had several experiences of money just appearing in front of him, or falling out of what he thought was his empty hand). Apparently, someone in another dimension needed the energy more than I did, and I agreed to give it.

On a related note, I do volunteer my time and energies to ask for energetic protection or healing for people who really need it. And so for the last year or two, when money has been a bit harder to come by, and I've been asked to give money to worthy causes, I've occasionally replied, "I gave on the inner planes." I guess that's now literally true!

So be careful what you say -- even in jest -- words have power.

Spaceship Earth

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:55:00 +0000

Very inspiring - well worth the 18 minutes!

Does this exain orbs? telepahty/channeling?

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 14:48:00 +0000

This has lots of good ideas, though it's a bit short on substance.

Self-awareness through poop!

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 01:15:00 +0000

(No, I'm not examining my own feces for a health exam.)

What do you think when you see dog poop on the sidewalk?

I used to think, "Eewww, gross!" I mean, afer all, dog poop is feces -- smelly, dirty feces.

Or maybe I'd think indignantly, "What an inconsiderate dog owner, not to clean up after his (or her) dog!"

But the other day, when I was out for my daily walk, and came upon dog poop on the sidewalk, I thought, "Aaawwww, a living, breathing dog left that. It's so great that we have four-footed companions!" I didn't try to think this, it's just what came up.

So I know something in me has shifted.

How do you know when something has shifted? What has shifted for you recently?

Turkeys!

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:31:00 +0000

Here in northern California, wild turkeys roam suburban neighborhoods. I love seeing them, as they are about the largest wild birds with whom I interact. (Every now and then, a pelican will let me swim close by in the ocean, and they're large, too, but much less used to humans than the turkeys, so they stay farther away.) Unless you are very quiet and still, the males will raise their tail feathers, in what I suppose is a warning, and the whole group will move away from you.

I've been under the weather lately, with something a friend calls the 'mutational flu'. It's also called the ascension flu. Yes, i have lots of symptoms (see the list at the link), but the results are amazing. When I walk in the morning, the plants look different; they sort of sparkle. I've felt the energy of trees and large bushes in my aura for a few years, and now I can even feel grass, and leaves that have fallen. Being able to sense the energy of something so small is really different, and gives a whole new dimension to my walks.

This morning, on my morning walk, I met came across two turkeys in a place where it was very quiet and no other humans were around. As is my habit, I got into rapport with one of them, matching her movements as best I could. Fairly shortly, she relaxed and began to groom her plumage, as did the other turkey. We stayed for a while, I got this photo and moved on.

A few minutes later, I was back on the main road. A young guy approached from the other direction, as we crossed a culvert. A flock of turkeys was below us, near the stream that goes through the culvert. The guy was yelling at them, good naturedly, "Hey, you turkeys!" in the way that people call each other turkeys when they mean 'you jerk', or 'you idiot'. He looked at me as we passed, and said, "You know that they can hear you from here, don't you?" Well, yes, I do know that.

In the past, I might have thought of this dude as a turkey! But because of my own internal shift, instead, I see a sincere, if misguided, attempt to communicate with another species. The dude just needs a bit of the energy that has been infusing me! :)

Who Can You Trust?

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 18:44:00 +0000

Last weekend, I was out hiking with a friend, who kept telling me what was going on with her, at a very deep level, and then saying things like, "It's great to be able to share this with someone; I don't have anyone else to tell this stuff to."

It occurred to me that her major issue was not all the things she was talking about, but rather, trust. (There are some very good reasons for this, which I won't go into.) She's not alone, though -- trust is a big issue for a lot of people. So since then, I've been thinking about how you find out if you can trust someone at a deep level. (I'm not talking about more superficial issues, like showing up on time, or paying what they owe you. I've dealt with those issues here.)

It takes time to know if you can trust someone with your most sensitive experiences and feelings. Listen carefully over a period of time to anyone you are getting to know, before sharing anything sensitive. Does this person

Complain a lot? If he complains all the time about just about everything, eventually, he'll complain about you, quite possibly spilling some of your 'secrets'. (On an energy level, there are no secrets. The energy spent trying to keep a secret weakens you, and takes energy from more positive pursuits. So transparency is your best protection in any case.)
Make many judgmental statements? If you hear judgments falling like drops from a leaky faucet, you must assume that she's judging you just as harshly as everyone and everything else, whether or not she says these judgements to your face. Do you really want someone judging you harshly? Do you even want to be around someone like that? Do you really want someone else's limitations circumscribing your life?
Ridicule people often? The ridicule can be in the form of put downs, or nasty, sarcastic humor (think Don Rickles here), or 'teasing'. An habitual ridiculer will use whatever you have shared to ridicule you, sometimes to your face. This is what really hurts, because what hurts you most emotionally are judgements on things you already feel bad about.
Gossip? If she gossips, she'll feel free to tell your 'secrets', and leave you open to others' judgements and ridicule. Who needs that?

As you begin listening for complaints, judgements, ridicule and gossip, you'll find you rule out a great many people before settling on the few who don't do these things, or at least not as habits.

In the meantime, keep your own counsel. Journals are great for this, as long as they are not online, and preferably not even on a computer, which can be hacked. There are specific ways to keep journals which will help you clear your own issues, so that you don't actually need someone else to talk to most of the time. Maybe we'll get to that in another post...

Tell Your Truth

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:25:00 +0000

According to the New York Times:

"Christian conservatives, for more than two decades a pivotal force in American politics, are grappling with Election Day results that repudiated their influence and suggested that the cultural tide — especially on gay issues — has shifted against them.

"They are reeling not only from the loss of the presidency, but from what many of them see as a rejection of their agenda. They lost fights against same-sex marriage in all four states where it was on the ballot..."

Why do you suppose that is? I think it's because by now, almost everyone in the US knows someone who is openly gay, and knows that this person is a 'normal' person in all respects, whose only difference is that he or she is attracted to members of the same sex, instead of the other sex.

Why do you suppose everyone now knows someone who is gay?

It's because a generation ago, gay men began to organize because of AIDS, began to speak out, began a 'gay pride' movement. When all those gay men, and eventually lesbians, began to come out of the closet, eventually, almost everyone realized they knew someone who was homosexual. And each person realized that his friend, cousin, colleague, brother, sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew, uncle or aunt who came out of the closet was still the person he or she had always been. That made homosexuality, well, normal.

Why would you want your friends and relatives to have fewer rights than you do? You wouldn't.

This is the power of telling your truth. When you stand up and tell your truth, it empowers someone else to do the same. Eventually, like tiny streams come together to make a river that changes a landscape, all of you come together to change the consciousness of a country (and eventually the world).

It's not just true for homosexuality, either. It's true for those who are fighting to legalize marijuana (and by the way, 24 years ago, an FBI agent told me that "if we had to exclude anyone who'd ever smoked marijuana from government, we wouldn't have a government"). It's true for people like me who openly talked about psychic abilities before it was popular. It's true today for people who are talking about having positive contact with extra-terrestrial beings. It's true for the insiders who are leaking political, financial, military and scientific truths, which the 'powers that were' are trying to hide from We the People.

So whatever your truth is, say it loudly - and proudly (as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else -- I am not standing up for child molesters, etc. here).

The Heart Grows Smarter - NYTimes.com

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:38:00 +0000

The strong effect of relationships on longevity:

The Heart Grows Smarter - NYTimes.com

A sense of place

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 16:24:00 +0000

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, I was horrified that an American city had been allowed to drown, disgusted that our government didn't give a damn about the hundreds of thousands in the city itself, and the millions in the area. When the tsunami hit Indonesia, I was horrified by the loss of life. When the earthquake hit Haiti, I was saddened for what happened to all the people there. When the tsunami hit Fukushima, I was worried for my friends there (who got out okay), horrified by what I saw, scared about how it would affect the entire world (still am, actually).

But when Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, it was a completely different experience.

Before I get to that, though, let me say that everyone I know -- and that's a lot of people, because I grew up there, because I went to college in NJ, because I lived in Manhattan for a couple of years -- is okay. (I know this thanks to the magic of Facebook.) Many are inconvenienced by lack of electricity and in some cases, gas, but they're coping. Two friends, a couple who live in Highlands by the ferry terminal, had to evacuate. Their house is still standing, but it's gutted. Other than that, it's a tree down here and there. Yes, it's sad; yes, it's difficult in the short run, but for everyone I know, except my Highlands friends, there's no real life-changing damage.

The thing is -- Sandy hit me in the gut. And it's kind of in my consciousness all the time.

I grew up at the Jersey Shore, 5 miles from the beach. I was at the beach every day of every summer, often all day, every day, all summer. I learned to swim there, learned to ride waves there, felt one with the entire universe in the ocean there for the very first time. I learned to go to the beach to clear my head, even in winter.

I learned gymnastics from friends on the hard-packed sand at low tide. I learned life-saving there, and worked briefly as a life guard (the pool, not the ocean, but still).

I went to beach dances there. I heard Springsteen before he got famous, when his band, the 'hot' band, was the Steel Mill. The Asbury Park boardwalk was my idea of fun -- roller coasters, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and the Fun House, not to mention cotton candy and candy apples.

Mostly I hung out in Sea Bright and West Long Branch, but every summer, one of my grandmothers would rent a studio in Asbury Park or Bradley Beach or Belmar or Deal. I'd go stay with her for a week, then I'd go home and my sister would stay with her for a week. It was always so much fun. It meant I got to know more beaches in more towns.

I remember when the Long Branch pier burned down. I had one very memorable date at Seaside, where we walked the beach after the boardwalk closed, talking till 2AM. (Yeah, Dad was angry, even though I had no curfew.) When I was in college, a friend and I rented a house on Long Beach Island for a week off-season, when we could afford it. And I remember meeting a Long Branch firefighter in Wildwood, who told me they'd been instructed not to put out the Long Branch pier fire.

Reading that the many of the train bridges are out upsets me terribly (one of them goes through the Raritan Bay marsh, and it's amazing). Seeing photos of the destroyed Seaside rollercoaster saddens me. Seeing photos of Asbury Park, and Sea Bright and Highlands under layers of sand, the water having retreated, churns my gut. The photo of the missing wall of the Asbury Park Convention Center horrifies me.

None of my close friends in northern California is having the gut wrenching experience I am. But then, none of them grew up there, either.

Here's what I've learned: places really do become part of you. I don't know if it's just the memories, or something deeper. We exchange molecules with the air around us with every breath, and we use what we take in to build our bones and muscles and organs and skin. But every single atom in us supposedly changes every 7 years. So how is it that these places are so much a part of me?

I know now that what they say is true -- you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you can't take New Jersey out of the girl.

Does this really need to be said?

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:06:00 +0000

This is going to sound like a shaggy dog story, but ber with me - there is a point.

A friend of mine, Heather, told me the following story:

"I'm a small time landlord, and recently rented one of my apartments to a single mom, a nice lady with two young girls. The woman was getting out of what sounded like an abusive marriage, and in a real hurry to sign a lease before she left the country briefly to care for her ailing grandmother. She was REALLY not looking forward to this -- she grew up here, didn't know her grandmother all that well, and hates being in Fiji, her grandmother's country. She was the best family member to go, though, because she makes her living caring for the elderly.

"She signed a 1 year lease, gave me a deposit, and we made plans for her to move in just after the first of the month. This would give me a couple of days to clean up the place in case the last tenant didn't do a great job.

"Four days before she was supposed to move in, she called from Fiji, and reached me on my cell phone. The number was blocked. I was in the car on the way to a MeetUp, but my friend, Jack, was driving, so I took the call. My tenant said, "My grandmother died, and I'm stuck here healing with cultural issues." Wow! I was shocked, and said I was sorry. Then she said, "I don't know if I'll be back in 2 weeks or 2 months. Can I get out of the lease? What do I do?"

"I told her calmly, but firmly, that she had signed a lease, and I was not about to let her out of it. That she was responsible for the $10,000 amount of the lease. That the law is that I'm required to make reasonable efforts to find another tenant, but that she is responsible for any deficiency. That is, if it's vacant for a month, she owes me a month's rent. And that I'll take her to small claims court to collect whatever she owes me, as soon as I know the amount of my damages."

"She said she understood, and would call me back in a few days to let me know if she could borrow enough money from a family member to keep the lease. I said I understood, and would look forward to her next call. Of course, she never called back.

"That was bad enough. Then I heard through a mutual friend that Jack was telling people that I dealt with this all wrong. That I should have just expressed my condolences and put off a serious discussion for another time. Never mind that he didn't know the situation, that he didn't hear her side of the conversation, that he didn't know the phone number was blocked, so I had no way to reach her, that he's never been a landlord, that he didn't know the law, and that I really need the money.

"So now, I'm not only out a tenant, but my reputation is being ruined by an ignorant jerk, who apparently knows better than I do what to do in my situation -- and is happy to tell anyone who will listen. And who is so cowardly as to not tell me this to my face. By the way, I tried to approach him to talk about it, but he has excuse after excuse as to why he 'can't' get together. What can I do?"

If he won't meet with you, there's not a lot you can do, except to realize that there are ignorant, cowardly jerks everywhere, and to let it roll off your back. You did the best you could. As my grandmother would have said, "Don't dignify that with an answer." Focus your attention on more positive things -- and let this go.

I think the lesson here is more about not being in Jack's position. How do you avoid that? In the words of Craig Ferguson (yes, the guy from the Late Late Show -- he's a very perceptive guy, not just a funny one), ask yourself these three questions:

Does this need to be said?
Does this need to be said by me?
Does this need to be said by me now?

And if the answer to any of those questions is "no", keep your mouth shut.

How to keep showing up!

hollis@888-4-hollis.com (Hollis Polk) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:22:00 +0000

In the fall of my second year in business school, my friend, Candy, who'd just completed a summer job and been offered a full time post by that company for after graduation, had to go to a company recruiting cocktail party on top of studying for mid-term exams. Trying to put myself in her shoes, I sympathized with her time crunch, as well as the stress I thought this would bring (or it would have brought for me).

Candy looked at me with a wry smile, and laughed softly, "Oh, no, this isn't stressful! All I have to do is show up. I'm good at showing up!" She continued, "I'll get brownie points for showing up. That's really all I have to do -- show up and say 'hi' to a few people I know, so that they know I'm there, as part of the team. I don't have to impress anyone -- they've already offered me the job. I don't even have to talk to the recruiters much; they're more interested in prospects they don't know."

This idea that sometimes, all you have to do is show up, stuck with me. Or as Woody Allen said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up."

I'm reminded to mention this now, because I personally have a lot to show up for at the moment. In fact, it seems never ending -- the weekly radio show, the clients, my other businesses which seem to constantly need something, let alone friends and family. (Did I mention taking the barest of acquaintances in for surgery last week because he had no one else?)

I'm actually really good at showing up. I know not everyone is, though, and I think that's mostly caused by lack of motivation. So how do you maintain your motivation?

Keep reminding yourself of the big picture -- when you see how a tiny action can really help with the big goals of your life, you'll keep on showing up for the little stuff.
Remember that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", as Lao-Tzu said. Yes, you have to take a lot of those single steps, but only one is the first one, and the 'showing up' ones are pretty easy.
Ask yourself, "How much effort is this really? How can I systematize this so that I can do it with almost no effort?" For example, if you're a coffee drinker, you have surely devised a system to make coffee so efficiently that you barely notice making it any more. You can do that with many things in life.
Try to find the fun -- or something positive -- in showing up.

Last week, I had a computer nightmare (believe me, you don't want to know the details!). Showing up to deal with it sucked. But the big picture is that I need that computer to run my businesses, and to do the radio show. The first step was to try to do the updates I needed by myself, using all the online help available in forums. When that wasn't enough, I called Apple for help. When that wasn't enough, the online help desk made me an appointment at the local Apple Store for help. When they couldn't solve my problem, they sent me to an outside company who is one of Apple's premium service sites.

There, I met the owner, who is not only the most competent Mac person I've ever met (he almost solved my problem completely, and told me how to do the rest myself), but also turned out to be interested in a lot of things I'm interested in that have nothing to do with computers -- star visitors, the unfairness of our current economic system, angels, the effects of vibrations, etc. We had a fascinating conversation that went on long past the completion of my computer issues. Meeting this man turned out to be the 'something positive' in showing up.