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I had the pleasure of being loved powerfully yesterday. It's such a circle. Love's power flows in an unpredictable, ever-expanding, unbreakable circle. A circle that flows in and out of heaven and earth.
I was in Los Angeles taking a Landmark Communication Course. My Aunt Janice was taking The Landmark Forum upstairs. We'd seen each other about a year ago at my Aunt Mildred's 50th wedding anniversary. Before that, almost a decade.
On Saturday I wrote a short love note to let her know I was thinking of her. Sometime Sunday afternoon, our breaks from our respective courses coincided and we had a chance to connect. She shared the unexpected impact of my note. She received it as pure love. She returned the same in the extended embrace when we saw each other.
And none of it would have been possible without my late great Aunt Lucinda. She's the one who came to me and inspired me to write a book (that's nowhere near done) which inspired me to look through an old family reunion book for authentic turn-of-the-20th century black names...which caused me to say yes to a chance invitation to spend part of Thanksgiving with my paternal relatives...which caused me to be at my aunt's 50th wedding anniversary and get reacquainted with Angela...who took a stand that I take The Landmark Forum. She took the stand when she said, "When you sign-up tell me when you're doing it. I'll come out and take it with you." From Delaware? "Yes!"
About a year later, five or six Landmark courses later...my Aunt Janice and I have the sweetest embrace in the lobby on father's day. I'm sure it was the best present my father, Robert, aka Bubba, could possibly have enjoyed from Heaven.
Funny thing about the universe. My maternal Aunt Linda and paternal Aunt Janice end up in the same seminar and in the same small group within the seminar.
Aunt Linda: "You're from Long Beach? What do you do?" She thought Janice looked familiar.
Aunt Janice: "I teach at Poly."
Aunt Linda: "No kiddng. My niece teaches in Long Beach. Her name is Robin..."
Aunt Janice: "That's MY niece!"
I love my ever growing life!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Helllllllooooooooooooo. Been a while since I posted. School is out next Friday. Yeaaaaaaaaah!!!!! Then there's more time. I'll be back online posting. I might even clear my inbox on all my email accounts down to zero. Might??? I WILL!!! I'm giddy with anticipation for a summer spent walking, chilling in my new infrared sauna and continuing to participate in Landmark Education programs. Me and my new honey are taking a couple of them together. More about that coming when I have more time to write. Wanted to share this email. It's verbatim as I sent it. It was to the members of one of the courses I'm taking about a breakthrough I had after we did our third weekend together--25 of the 150 or so that shared the third of four weekends spread out over 6 months. I'll be back
I said, “Good Morning.”
After a pause and faint gasp, the voice on the other end of the phone
responded with “You sound like God’s receptionist!”
That’s how the conversation with my buddy of 17 years started when I
called this morning on my way to work. He was the first person to hear
my voice the morning after disappearing BEING a failure.
We’ve talked almost every day since 1993 after a year or so of warming
up to one another. Sometimes it’s only five or ten minutes. Aside from
the times when either of us are on vacation, we must have a running
average of at least an hour a day…17 years of hearing my voice. He’s
heard my highs, my lows, my insights and my insanity. In fact, he knows
my voice so well, he can practically tell me what I’ve just eaten, whom
I’ve just spoken with or what I’d been doing from the first words I
speak over the phone. He’s off-the-charts intuitive, insightful and
colorfully articulate. He has me at hello.
The morning after the third weekend, after only “Good morning,” he heard
a new calm, a new peace, a new level of confidence and power that
inspired “You sound like God’s receptionist!” He likes to describe
things. Just in “Good Morning” he claims to have heard an “absence of
jibber jabber”. He’s the kind of person who hates when someone answers
“Fine” and hates more people who idly ask “How are you?” without
genuine interest.
Whatever we did this weekend caused how I occurred for him, down to the
timber and tone of my voice to shift.
That’s pretty doggone huge. I had asked several of you if you could
take my assisting agreement this evening. I have a scheduling conflict.
The conflict left me up-in-the-air and I was starting to be in this
space where there is confusion, anxiety and failure. Sometime last
night, things got clear. What I have is a prior commitment and a new
commitment. Being only one body, I’ll only be able to do one. There’s
no being failure. There’s only failure to be at one of the two places.
There was nothing left to do except perform. In this case performance
shows up as either successfully finding someone who will switch
agreements this week or making alternative arrangements for the new
commitment. I'm one person with demands to be in two places. There’s no confusion. I won't be at one or the other. A breakdown in performance.
That was last night.
This morning I sound like the kind of being who could handle the
incoming calls of angels, archangels, saints, spirits and human souls to boot.
I said, “Good Morning.”
After a pause and faint gasp, the voice on the other end of the phone
responded with “You sound like God’s receptionist!”
That’s how the conversation with my buddy of 17 years started when I
called this morning on my way to work. He was the first person to hear
my voice the morning after disappearing BEING a failure.
We’ve talked almost every day since 1993 after a year or so of warming
up to one another. Sometimes it’s only five or ten minutes. Aside from
the times when either of us are on vacation, we must have a running
average of at least an hour a day…17 years of hearing my voice. He’s
heard my highs, my lows, my insights and my insanity. In fact, he knows
my voice so well, he can practically tell me what I’ve just eaten, whom
I’ve just spoken with or what I’d been doing from the first words I
speak over the phone. He’s off-the-charts intuitive, insightful and
colorfully articulate. He has me at hello.
The morning after the third weekend, after only “Good morning,” he heard
a new calm, a new peace, a new level of confidence and power that
inspired “You sound like God’s receptionist!” He likes to describe
things. Just in “Good Morning” he claims to have heard an “absence of
jibber jabber”. He’s the kind of person who hates when someone answers
“Fine” and hates more people who idly ask “How are you?” without
genuine interest.
Whatever we did this weekend caused how I occurred for him, down to the
timber and tone of my voice to shift.
That’s pretty doggone huge. I had asked several of you if you could
take my assisting agreement this evening. I have a scheduling conflict.
The conflict left me up-in-the-air and I was starting to be in this
space where there is confusion, anxiety and failure. Sometime last
night, things got clear. What I have is a prior commitment and a new
commitment. Being only one body, I’ll only be able to do one. There’s
no being failure. There’s only failure to be at one of the two places.
There was nothing left to do except perform. In this case performance
shows up as either successfully finding someone who will switch
agreements this week or making alternative arrangements for the new
commitment. I'm one person with demands to be in two places. There’s no confusion. I won't be at one or the other. A breakdown in performance.
That was last night.
This morning I sound like the kind of being who could handle the
incoming calls of angels, archangels, saints, spirits and human souls to boot.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
In Action
Things are really moving in my life. Unlike my usual, this entry will be short. I'm ready to take a sea salt bath and then a nap. I just ran/walked my first 5K. A big deal for me. I've been thinking about doing 5k's for years. I signed up for one in early 2005. When I got there, it was super crowded. I was told two different locations to check-in, and neither of them were correct. After walking around for fifteen minutes, I got back in my car and drove the twenty minutes back home.
Now, having reached my ideal weight, I'm ready to focus on keeping fit and becoming fitter. I've always enjoyed running, but never make time to do it. It requires taking on a regimen of strength training so that my knees don't give me any trouble. Running has been one of those dreams that I hoped might materialize without action. This week I decided to take action. Several colleagues were running in the Seal Beach, CA 5k/10k. When I heard about it, I committed to it.
Running a 5k isn't a huge strain, but in terms of doing the things I really want to do instead of putting them off, quite an achievement. (Time: 38:11.5)
I'm also finally writing. Actually writing. Doing it. (by the way...if you're wondering if I know I write with incomplete sentences all the time...I do. I just love them. I know they're wrong. Guess its my rebellious side.)
My coach in the Introduction Leaders Program had me take on a writing structure that is producing results.
I write for 15 minutes, 3-4 times a day. It's perfect because 15 minutes isn't enough to let the editor voice kick in. Instead of staring at sentences and trying to make them perfect, I actually just focus on creating and letting the images and ideas flow from my head through my fingers and onto the screen.
It feels great it is to be in action.
Now, having reached my ideal weight, I'm ready to focus on keeping fit and becoming fitter. I've always enjoyed running, but never make time to do it. It requires taking on a regimen of strength training so that my knees don't give me any trouble. Running has been one of those dreams that I hoped might materialize without action. This week I decided to take action. Several colleagues were running in the Seal Beach, CA 5k/10k. When I heard about it, I committed to it.
Running a 5k isn't a huge strain, but in terms of doing the things I really want to do instead of putting them off, quite an achievement. (Time: 38:11.5)
I'm also finally writing. Actually writing. Doing it. (by the way...if you're wondering if I know I write with incomplete sentences all the time...I do. I just love them. I know they're wrong. Guess its my rebellious side.)
My coach in the Introduction Leaders Program had me take on a writing structure that is producing results.
I write for 15 minutes, 3-4 times a day. It's perfect because 15 minutes isn't enough to let the editor voice kick in. Instead of staring at sentences and trying to make them perfect, I actually just focus on creating and letting the images and ideas flow from my head through my fingers and onto the screen.
It feels great it is to be in action.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
A Graduation Note
On Monday, March 23rd, I completed my fourth Landmark Education course, and thus completed their "Curriculum for Living".
The following is an email I sent to my fellow participants:
This afternoon I was present to feeling accomplished.
Tomorrow is the conclusion of our Self Expression and Leadership Program, the end of the Curriculum for Living. Everyone who completes The Landmark Forum is a "graduate". And yet, it feels incredibly special, powerful, remarkable to have completed the Curriculum for Living.
When I was 22 I graduated from Stanford University. My mom insisted on seeing me walk across the stage. I have vague recollections of sitting outside. There were speakers talking. I'd taken a year off and wasn't sitting with my "friends". It was meaningless, and not in the Landmark way. Less than a decade later I was finishing law school. Once again, I hadn't gone straight through. I was eligible to "walk" in May with everyone else, but I didn't finish officially till December. I chose to sit in the crowd and watch everyone else. It just didn't seem like a big deal. And, importantly, I never invited anyone to either graduation. To be honest, I don't even remember if I had anyone besides my mom there with me when I sat in the audience at my UCLA Law graduation.
This afternoon I realized that if there were stands, I'd invite all my friends and family to come out and celebrate my completing the curriculum for living. This really is the first time I feel a course of study has been worth celebrating. This education has had a profound impact on my life. This is the first time I'm genuinely proud of Who I Am. (typing that line, tears fell)
If college or professional school had made promises; if they'd delivered on them the way Landmark delivers on theirs, perhaps I'd have comprehended the celebratory nature of a "graduation" earlier. Prior to this curriculum, I never completed anything in a way that was satisfying or empowering. And certainly, not with the level of integrity and intention that I now apply to every aspect of my life.
I am living life powerfully and living a life I love. I've done more in the last three weeks than I usually do in three months, maybe six. Even though there are still plenty areas in my life that could use greater integrity, I see the incredible difference in who I am since I began this curriculum with The Landmark Forum in August. My home is cleaner; repairs I'd put off for years are now completed; student work is graded; grades posted timely; my desk is cleaner...sometimes completely void of pending items instead of cluttered; my relationships are richer.
I won't be able to attend the following Monday's revelry due to a prior commitment to assist at the Breakthroughs Seminar. Just know that all of you--coaches, participants, Kathy and everyone who has assisted in our program--all of you have participated in generating my first taste of what it means to be truly empowered by a course of study.
Finally, a "graduation" that is incredibly meaningful even as it's meaningless, shared with people that matter to me.
Love and thanks to each of you.
Robin
The following is an email I sent to my fellow participants:
This afternoon I was present to feeling accomplished.
Tomorrow is the conclusion of our Self Expression and Leadership Program, the end of the Curriculum for Living. Everyone who completes The Landmark Forum is a "graduate". And yet, it feels incredibly special, powerful, remarkable to have completed the Curriculum for Living.
When I was 22 I graduated from Stanford University. My mom insisted on seeing me walk across the stage. I have vague recollections of sitting outside. There were speakers talking. I'd taken a year off and wasn't sitting with my "friends". It was meaningless, and not in the Landmark way. Less than a decade later I was finishing law school. Once again, I hadn't gone straight through. I was eligible to "walk" in May with everyone else, but I didn't finish officially till December. I chose to sit in the crowd and watch everyone else. It just didn't seem like a big deal. And, importantly, I never invited anyone to either graduation. To be honest, I don't even remember if I had anyone besides my mom there with me when I sat in the audience at my UCLA Law graduation.
This afternoon I realized that if there were stands, I'd invite all my friends and family to come out and celebrate my completing the curriculum for living. This really is the first time I feel a course of study has been worth celebrating. This education has had a profound impact on my life. This is the first time I'm genuinely proud of Who I Am. (typing that line, tears fell)
If college or professional school had made promises; if they'd delivered on them the way Landmark delivers on theirs, perhaps I'd have comprehended the celebratory nature of a "graduation" earlier. Prior to this curriculum, I never completed anything in a way that was satisfying or empowering. And certainly, not with the level of integrity and intention that I now apply to every aspect of my life.
I am living life powerfully and living a life I love. I've done more in the last three weeks than I usually do in three months, maybe six. Even though there are still plenty areas in my life that could use greater integrity, I see the incredible difference in who I am since I began this curriculum with The Landmark Forum in August. My home is cleaner; repairs I'd put off for years are now completed; student work is graded; grades posted timely; my desk is cleaner...sometimes completely void of pending items instead of cluttered; my relationships are richer.
I won't be able to attend the following Monday's revelry due to a prior commitment to assist at the Breakthroughs Seminar. Just know that all of you--coaches, participants, Kathy and everyone who has assisted in our program--all of you have participated in generating my first taste of what it means to be truly empowered by a course of study.
Finally, a "graduation" that is incredibly meaningful even as it's meaningless, shared with people that matter to me.
Love and thanks to each of you.
Robin
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Amazing...aka Finally
On Saturday morning I sent an outline of my novel, chapter by chapter to my coach in the Self Expression and Leadership Program.
I feel amazing. I'll have to blog more later, but I just needed to share the success.
I feel amazing. I'll have to blog more later, but I just needed to share the success.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Angels at Work
I love my life.
The universe constantly conspires to assist me with living the life I agreed to live, fulfilling the purposes for which I agreed to be born. Authoring. Creating.
Two wonderful things happened today. Both of them conversations that got me writing tonight. The first conversation was with a colleage, the second with a new friend I've made in my current Landmark course.
I can't recall what it was that got me talking about my current writing interests when taling with our site's newest teacher. I just remember that when the conversation was over I volunteered to send him a link to some back story for one of the upcoming writing projects. After a couple weeks with no link sent, he inquired.
I'm so grateful. He asked if I wanted some feedback. "Not criticism, just feedback, to talk about your writing." Of course I was nervous. I wanted to say, "Hey, this is just backdrop, not my "real" writing. OK, fine, what was wrong with it? I'd rather hear it from you than some stranger." My printer and that of another teacher's I normally use conspired to be inoperable at the same time, sending me straight into his classroom. He was the only other class on my end still open and occupied thirty minutes after the school day ended.
I got over my self-talk and doubt and asked, "So, what did you want to share about the link I sent?" He insisted he just wanted to provide an opportunity for me to talk about it if I was interested. I was. I did. Fifteen or twenty minutes later the story of a major character I named just last Friday spilled from my mouth.
Then, a few hours later, I finally called a friend that had sent an email checking in on me a couple days prior. She shared all these amazing coincidences happening in her life. More than that, she shared the incredible power she was experiencing as a result of our class. She is helping her husband take their business to a new level; she's working as a partner in a new store and simultaneously taking on transporting her elderly father to and from weekly doctor visits while he deals with a serious illness that he'll recover from shortly. In other words, she's making things happen and the magic of the universe is smoothing her path at every turn.
And I was soooooooo inspired. Then the conversation turned to me. She said some wonderful things about my writing and then gently but firmly let me know that the time for me to get out of my way is today...not tomorrow, not next week, not next year. When this powerful woman spoke, I listened.
And tonight...writing happened. Yeah!!!
I look forward to the day when saying "Hey, I wrote today" is about as unusual as saying, "Hey, I ate today."
I signed up for a twitter account tonight, too. I'm not using it yet, but will be doing so in the next week or two. I plan on updating my status with plenty of "wrote X today".
The universe constantly conspires to assist me with living the life I agreed to live, fulfilling the purposes for which I agreed to be born. Authoring. Creating.
Two wonderful things happened today. Both of them conversations that got me writing tonight. The first conversation was with a colleage, the second with a new friend I've made in my current Landmark course.
I can't recall what it was that got me talking about my current writing interests when taling with our site's newest teacher. I just remember that when the conversation was over I volunteered to send him a link to some back story for one of the upcoming writing projects. After a couple weeks with no link sent, he inquired.
I'm so grateful. He asked if I wanted some feedback. "Not criticism, just feedback, to talk about your writing." Of course I was nervous. I wanted to say, "Hey, this is just backdrop, not my "real" writing. OK, fine, what was wrong with it? I'd rather hear it from you than some stranger." My printer and that of another teacher's I normally use conspired to be inoperable at the same time, sending me straight into his classroom. He was the only other class on my end still open and occupied thirty minutes after the school day ended.
I got over my self-talk and doubt and asked, "So, what did you want to share about the link I sent?" He insisted he just wanted to provide an opportunity for me to talk about it if I was interested. I was. I did. Fifteen or twenty minutes later the story of a major character I named just last Friday spilled from my mouth.
Then, a few hours later, I finally called a friend that had sent an email checking in on me a couple days prior. She shared all these amazing coincidences happening in her life. More than that, she shared the incredible power she was experiencing as a result of our class. She is helping her husband take their business to a new level; she's working as a partner in a new store and simultaneously taking on transporting her elderly father to and from weekly doctor visits while he deals with a serious illness that he'll recover from shortly. In other words, she's making things happen and the magic of the universe is smoothing her path at every turn.
And I was soooooooo inspired. Then the conversation turned to me. She said some wonderful things about my writing and then gently but firmly let me know that the time for me to get out of my way is today...not tomorrow, not next week, not next year. When this powerful woman spoke, I listened.
And tonight...writing happened. Yeah!!!
I look forward to the day when saying "Hey, I wrote today" is about as unusual as saying, "Hey, I ate today."
I signed up for a twitter account tonight, too. I'm not using it yet, but will be doing so in the next week or two. I plan on updating my status with plenty of "wrote X today".
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Double Rainbow Day
I'm so excited. I came online a short while ago and discovered that a friend I hung out with earlier just contributed a wonderful post to my community project--a blog for and by energy healers. A perfect ending to a great day.
The original plan for the day was major house cleaning. Her call was welcome relief. We drove to the Fairfax district for a fabulous Ethiopian meal.
It was rainy off and on all day. Nothing like spending that kind of day in a quiet restaurant with a girlfriend. On the way home there was an amazing rainbow. So rarely do you get to see where it ends. It rested it's northern end smack in the middle of the Hollywood Hills. No kidding. And it was a full ark. That's a rare treat.
As I kept glancing away from the freeway to marvel at seeing the clear colors descending into the near distance, I heard "Look! A double rainbow." Yep, two rainbows, complete arks and clear colors, which appeared to be a couple miles apart at most. The clouds were spectacular and a full moon sat high above it all perfectly centered in the late afternoon sky.
It was another of those blessed moments of bliss that descend upon me more and more frequently. The meal was void of liquor, dessert or soda. Aside from the effect of the food itself, a drug-free transport into the realm of bliss. I love those moments when I get to straddle the world of the five senses and this other dimension where the all things meld into a singular pulsating field of connection to the energy of all that my eyes survey. It's like viewing a painting and then being transported into it, becoming one with the paint on every nanometer of the canvas.
Hard to say if the double rainbows cast a spell that I fell into or if the state of bliss manifested the rainbows. I'll know for sure when I get to heaven and learn if first came the chicken or the egg.
The original plan for the day was major house cleaning. Her call was welcome relief. We drove to the Fairfax district for a fabulous Ethiopian meal.
It was rainy off and on all day. Nothing like spending that kind of day in a quiet restaurant with a girlfriend. On the way home there was an amazing rainbow. So rarely do you get to see where it ends. It rested it's northern end smack in the middle of the Hollywood Hills. No kidding. And it was a full ark. That's a rare treat.
As I kept glancing away from the freeway to marvel at seeing the clear colors descending into the near distance, I heard "Look! A double rainbow." Yep, two rainbows, complete arks and clear colors, which appeared to be a couple miles apart at most. The clouds were spectacular and a full moon sat high above it all perfectly centered in the late afternoon sky.
It was another of those blessed moments of bliss that descend upon me more and more frequently. The meal was void of liquor, dessert or soda. Aside from the effect of the food itself, a drug-free transport into the realm of bliss. I love those moments when I get to straddle the world of the five senses and this other dimension where the all things meld into a singular pulsating field of connection to the energy of all that my eyes survey. It's like viewing a painting and then being transported into it, becoming one with the paint on every nanometer of the canvas.
Hard to say if the double rainbows cast a spell that I fell into or if the state of bliss manifested the rainbows. I'll know for sure when I get to heaven and learn if first came the chicken or the egg.
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