Today’s question is “have you lost your muchness?” If the answer is yes, the follow-up question is “what can you do to reclaim it?” If the answer is no, the follow-up is “Yay! Great for you,” and “what’s next?”

Once upon a time, I definitely lost my muchness. At times, it comes and goes. Right now, though, it’s here and I’m holding on to it. Last week, I committed myself to a project I’ve been delaying for four years. (Lost my muchness.) Last night, I began toiling towards completing that commitment,a nd in doing so, I reclaimed my muchness. I stared at a blank screen for hours, wondering what to write. Then it hit me. Hard. Today, I reached a milestone. Seemingly small yet monumental in a peculiar way because of what it represents, not necessarily what it is.

Your life is yours. It’s full of purpose, but you’ll never fully engage said purpose without your muchness. There is no diverging from the path because you make the path.

Looking at the level of peace the world, might it be safe to say there is no order in the nation because there is no harmony in the house…because there is no beauty in the people? Shine your light! Don’t be afraid to be who you are. Who you really and turly are.

General provisions:

A – Whereas the saying “all is fair in love and war” is absolutely correct;

B – Whereas for war we have the Geneva Convention, approved on 22 August 1864, which provides for those wounded in the battle field, but until now no convention has been signed concerning those wounded in love, who are far greater in number;

It is hereby decreed that:

Article 1 – All lovers, of any sex, are alerted that love, besides being a blessing, is also something extremely dangerous, unpredictable and capable of causing serious damage. Consequently, anyone planning to love should be aware that they are exposing their body and soul to various types of wounds, and that they shall not be able to blame their partner at any moment, since the risk is the same for both.

Article 2 – Once struck by a stray arrow fired from Cupid’s bow, they should immediately ask the archer to shoot the same arrow in the opposite direction, so as not to be afflicted by the wound known as “unrequited love”. Should Cupid refuse to perform such a gesture, the Convention now being promulgated demands that the wounded partner remove the arrow from his/her heart and throw it in the garbage. In order to guarantee this, those concerned should avoid telephone calls, messages over the Internet, sending flowers that are always returned, or each and every means of seduction, since these may yield results in the short run but always end up wrong after a while. The Convention decrees that the wounded person should immediately seek the company of other people and try to control the obsessive thought: “this person is worth fighting for”.

Article 3 – If the wound is caused by third parties, in other words if the loved one has become interested in someone not in the script previously drafted, vengeance is expressly forbidden. In this case, it is allowed to use tears until the eyes dry up, to punch walls or pillows, to insult the ex-partner in conversations with friends, to allege his/her complete lack of taste, but without offending their honor. The Convention determines that the rule contained in Article 2 be applied: seek the company of other persons, preferably in places different from those frequented by the other party.

Article 4 – In the case of light wounds, herein classified as small treacheries, fulminating passions that are short-lived, passing sexual disinterest, the medicine called Pardon should be applied generously and quickly. Once this medicine has been applied, one should never reconsider one’s decision, not even once, and the theme must be completely forgotten and never used as an argument in a fight or in a moment of hatred.

Article 5 – In all definitive wounds, also known as “breaking up”, the only medicine capable of having an effect is called Time. It is no use seeking consolation from fortune-tellers (who always say that the lost lover will return), romantic books (which always have a happy ending), soap-operas on the television or other such things. One should suffer intensely, completely avoiding drugs, tranquilizers and praying to saints. Alcohol is only tolerated if kept to a maximum of two glasses of wine a day.

Final determination:
Those wounded in love, unlike those wounded in armed conflict, are neither victims nor torturers. They chose something that is part of life, and so they have to accept both the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.

And those who have never been wounded in love will never be able to say: “I have lived”. Because they haven’t.

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Ladies and gentlemen, you have just witnessed the genius of Brazilian writer extraordinairePaulo Coelho, who has sold more than 100 million books worldwide, including his infamous The Alchemist. He is also quite a joy to follow on Twitter, as @PauloCoelho.

Source: Paulo Coelho’s blog
Image source: Enlighten Your Day

Give life to things which are beautiful. Don’t give life to ugly things. You don’t have much time, much energy to waste. With such a small life, with such a small energy source, it is simply stupid to waste it in sadness, in anger, in hatred, in jealousy.

It is in your hands.

- OSHO

Finding the good: we’re going to attempt making this 79 year-old woman stop smoking. May the force be with us. If we succeed, she will have finally quit and her health will improve. If we don’t succeed, we tried. I’m fortunate enough to be with her now through all of this, no matter what happens.

Be inspired: value life NOW, not when the imminence of death becomes unavoidably visible. Share your love. Make it known. Spend time with the elderly. Spend time with the sick. Spend time with the people you love but have been too busy– or “too busy” –to connect with. Volunteer. Mentor. Help.

Australian footballer Harry O’Brien is not normal. He proudly subscribes to “no one normal has ever made history.” The more I interact with him, the more I’m inclined to agree that 1) he will make history 2) because he’s not normal. So maybe he’s right.

Harry’s perspective is cloaked in so much wisdom that his age of twenty-three intrigues and pleasantly surprises. With the visibility his profession allows, he’s able to touch many lives. He knows it and understands that to whom much is given, much is required. His “live for hope” motto isn’t a catchy phrase he uses on Twitter or on his site, Harry’s World, he lives it, finishing conversations and emails with it.

Harry is a Burnet Institute Youth Ambassador who engages young people in health issues that concern them. In 2008, he visited the Democratic Republic of Congo and his father’s homeland of Mozambique. Harry owns 20 hectares of land in Kinshasa, which he was asked to develop to support neighboring villages. In response to this request, Harry said, “I’m not 22 yet. One day I know I will have a lot of money, more than I can imagine. It won’t be today, it won’t be tomorrow, but it won’t be too long, and I will be back.”

Sure to have an increasing presence, Harry O’Brien is a person to know and a name to remember. To learn more about this fascinating young man, visit Harry’s World.

This is a widely applicable principle. Think long. Think hard. Think deep. Find out where this is applicable in your life and act accordingly.

‘Jazzy’ is probably the best term to describe my sonic climate right now. It started some time ago, but began to overtake other genres when I started really listening to Robert Glasper. Since then, it’s been ‘Robert Glasper Radio’ on Pandora all day long. Just recently, I was hipped to Mulatu Astatke (also Astatqé) of Ethiopia. Father of Ethio-jazz, a combination of jazz and Latin music influences with traditional Ethiopian music.

“Tezeta” sucked me in. I wanted more. Then discovered “Yèkèrmo Sèw” and “Yègellé Tezeta”. I was sold. You might be too. Look out ‘Robert Glasper Radio’; ‘Mulatu Astatke Radio’ is coming for you.

Mulatu Astatke – “Tezeta”

Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics – “An Epic Story”

Mulatu Astatke – “Yègellé Tezeta”

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.
What you have to do, you do with play.
Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.
The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be.

Being alive is the meaning.

The warrior’s approach is to say “yes” to life: “Yea” to it all.

Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.
We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.
When we talk about settling the world’s problems, We’re barking up the wrong tree.
The world is perfect. It’s a mess. It has always been a mess.

We are not going to change it.
Our job is to straighten out our own lives.
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.

If we fix on the old, we get stuck. when we hang onto any form, we are in danger of putrefaction.
Hell is life drying up. The Hoarder, the one in us that wants to keep, to hold on, must be killed.
If we are hanging onto the form now, we’re not going to have the form next.
You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.

Destruction before creation.

Out of perfection nothing can be made. Every process involves breaking something up. The earth must be broken to bring forth new life. If the seed does not die, there is no plant.
Bread results from the death of wheat. Life lives on lives. Our own life lives on the acts of other people.
If you are lifeworthy, you can take it. What we are really living for is the experience of life, both the pain and the pleasure.
The world is a match for us. we are a match for the world. Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging. Negativism to the pain and ferocity of life is negativism to life.

We are not there until we can say “Yea” to it all.

To take a righteous attitude toward anything is to denigrate it. Awe is what moves us forward. As you proceed through life, following your own path, birds will shit on you. don’t bother to brush it off. Getting a comedic view of your situation gives you spiritual distance. Having a sense of humor saves you. Eternity is a dimension of here and now.

The divine lives within you. Live from your own center.

Your real duty is to go away from the community to find your bliss. The society is the enemy when it imposes its structures on the individual.
On the dragon there are many scales. Every one of them says “Thou Shalt.” Kill the dragon “Thou Shalt.” When one has killed that dragon, one has become The Child.
Breaking out is following your bliss pattern, quitting the old place, starting your hero journey, following your bliss. You throw off yesterday as the snake sheds its skin.

Follow your bliss.
______

Joseph Cambell was the world’s preeminent scholar on mythology. His The Power of Myth is an incredibly enlightening and fascinating read that I highly recommend. Find the good as you blissfully take your own hero’s journey.

Image source: Mary’s English 100

As a child, I watched my grandfather eat grapefruit regularly. Eager to be like him, I requested to taste it, and hated it. What was wrong with the man?

A decade and some change later, I’d drastically changed the way I ate to manage my migraines. Processed foods had become a decreasing part of my diet, while natural foods became the foundation, so my taste completely changed. While perusing the grocery store for new foods, I found myself staring at a grapefruit.

Hmmm…

I decided to give it a go.  After all, who knew what would happen?

The next morning I was in for a shocking surprise. I didn’t like it; I loved it. That was six years ago and grapefruit has since become a staple.

When’s the last time you tried something new or something you long ago decided you didn’t like? Your tastes change, if you let them. Expand your palette for life.

Here’s “Razor Tongue” off of his Langue De Rasoir (animated by TMelchishua), reminding us to be careful of the words we choose to use with others. The idea can be extended to how we talk to ourselves. Our words can create, build, destroy, hurt, and heal. Let’s be mindful.

If not, Guys, have you ever told a woman not to change a thing, knowing she’s critical of herself? …and meant it? If so, kudos. I’m sure you know that’s a compliment very easy to welcome. If not, try it and let me know how it goes.

Ladies, have you ever been told you’re perfect just the way you are? No? Press play.

Bilal Salaam – “So What”

I just thought about the concept, what if there were no mirrors? No reflections. No cameras to take pictures.

If we walked around, never knowing how we “looked,” would there be such an emphasis on the physical? On the material?

Would we be more inclined to work on enhancing our inner selves versus our outer shells?

Would how a person looks even matter, or would that concept be so trivial and unevolved? In this time, this reality of ours, as a collective, we spend most of our time –days and nights– focusing on enhancing everything on the outside, and barely any significant time on what’s inside…that which, from a universal perspective, in an ethereal sense, is what really has any relevance.

Can people really even let go of the material? If that didn’t exist for them, I wonder what would? What would people have if you took away all that centers around this outside, illusory, existence? If money, clothes, and cars no longer determined status. If beauty was no longer gauged by the physical self. Magazines would go out of business. Beauty products, clothing stores, gyms, etc.

What if the standard was how deep one connected with their self, and how in-tune an individual was with the collective consciousness of the universe. Or what if music and other forms of entertainment aided in expanding and attaining a higher level of consciousness, versus having us thinking about chasing paper, sex, violence, and infidelity. Or if it actually united man and woman, over continuing to erode the male/female connection.

Are we just pawns in this world? Are we that weak that we allow others to determine what we deem to be of value, of significance? Are we that stupid to allow these forces to continue to divide us? To keep our souls imprisoned and our minds in constant states of want, like little children and their developing egos. Adults are no different, swayed by the media, by entertainment, by money, showing them what they should be looking like, smelling like, how they should be living, what they should be wearing, and just as children we look, eyes wide open, for others to tell us what is cool, what we should be doing, and then make moves accordingly, doing our best to act out that role, redefining our egos every time, buying into the bullshit, literally and figuratively. Just eating it all up. And in the end, we feel so empty.

Is that you?

Don’t look in the mirror.

“What’s your Soul’s reflection?”

——
Jessica Mann is a sun child with a warm smile, a big heart and an acute case of wanderlust. She focuses on launching a nonprofit to provide inner city youth with the opportunity to travel the world, mothering her four year-old daughter, and following the road less traveled. Her motivating and expansive energy can be found in the city of Chicago and online at her blog, Awakened Soul, and @SoulMotivation.

Image by: Richar Klix