Sacred Walk to 2009

The splendid community event is coming together wonderfully. Musicians and artists will create a beautiful sacred space to bid farewell to the old year and say hello to the new.

Does Your Passion for Doing Good Cause Strain in Your Life?

Visionaries and social artists—creative leaders striving to make the world a better place—live on the leading edge, where winds blow hardest. The storms and challenges unique to your work can take a toll on your confidence. You feel overwhelmed, frustrated, confused and isolated. Perhaps you suspect that you are living a pale version of yourself. You yearn for more courage, strength and resilience as you face the tempest.

Within you lies the power to experience personal strength, courage and delight as you do your part to create a better world. When you access and develop your innate gifts, you align with your greater self and tap into the creative source energy of the universe. You are revitalized by your own spiritual depths. Then you feel confident instead of overwhelmed and discouraged. You know connection instead of frustration and isolation. You recognize your purpose and direction. You stand strong, even in whirlwinds. Your fulfillment and happiness at making a difference spill over into everything you do, enrich everyone you meet, and move us all closer to a more compassionate, considerate world.

My five-part coaching process shows you how to cultivate your gifts of mind, body and spirit so that you can release the strain, reclaim your best self, remain strong and resilient.

Five Part Process

1. Take an Inventory of Your Inner and Outer Landscapes.

When you clarify who you are, why you here, and the nature of your unique gifts, you have a firm foundation to hold you steady. Assess your level of satisfaction with major areas of your life, clarify your core values, articulate your overarching Destiny, Cause and Calling.

2. Upgrade Your Personal Energy Field.

All creation exists in a sea of energy which connects us all. Skillful use of energy modification techniques help correct and improve your energy field, resulting in more ease, comfort, and aliveness.

3. Establish Communication with the Seen and Unseen Worlds.

Both worlds can counsel, support and lure you toward your greatest Self. Connect with archetypal sponsors. Create supportive networks with powerful allies. Establish regular practices to reinforce your connections. Your personal coach is a potent ally as you live into your Destiny.

4. Re-design Your Personal Environments.

Properly designed, your personal environments support and sustain you. Personal environments include: nature, self, body, finances, spirituality, network, close relationships, physical. All these are experienced through the lens of your personal memetic environment – ideas, thoughts, paradigms, words, images, cultural beliefs.

5. Celebrate the Sacredness of all Life.

When you celebrate the sacredness of all life, your own life becomes more precious, and your actions take on new luster. Delight permeates your work and play.

Celebrating Ernestine Griswold

Ernestine Griswold has moved from this reality to another. My life has been made better by her presence. She was my friend, as well as my cohort in many adventures including Sacred Theatre and Mystery School. For the past several years I was her Life Coach, an honor my heart will cherish forever.

I will always treasure and remember Ernie's willingness to step up - even when her hands were shaking and her knees were knocking with fear. She stepped up to take piano lessons from great pianists (and befriend them), to play the piano in concerts, to dance a self-choreographed dance before an audience, to take acting classes and perform on stage, to make long and arduous pilgrimages to sacred places, to create and perform her Sacred Theatre plays, to listen for the voice of the Divine,to answer her soul's call.

She yearned for deeper connection with Source, The Lady, The Divine,even though she experienced them often. She was frail in appearance,strong in every other way. Loyal, steadfast, generous, courageous,daring, loving, kind, courteous, adventurous, brilliant, deep-seeing,creative, gracious -these are a few of the qualities she expressed in her daily life. She longed to be of greater personal service to the world, contributed generously to numerous charities, all the while yearning to do some of the work herself. She was always surprised to hear herself praised, to discover someone she admired sought her company.

In coaching sessions, we focused often on the fact that everything we do adds to the positive or the negative energy of the world - nothing is neutral anymore. That being happy is important because it adds to the positive. She lived happily and gave of herself generously. It has been marvelous to hear people here in Ashland speak of their conversations with her in the last 2 weeks of her life. She moved here to be near her Mystery School and Sacred Theatre friends, but she soon involved herself in many other circles, from the Beyond War group to the Horizon Institute to dance groups, acting classes and theater groups. She had recently visited her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren for a month in Australia. And she had visited  her sons (New York, Utah), her deceased son's family (Colorado) and her brother (So. California)in the past several months.

The morning after her death, on Jefferson Exchange, a radio show Ernie usually listened to, the guest was Richard Groves, who teaches the Sacred Art of Living
and Dying. He identified four core spiritual pains that face people of all faiths when they are dying: forgiveness, meaning, hope, and relatedness. I believe Ernie had transcended or resolved these pains, and was at peace when death came for her.

We had an appointment scheduled for 1::45 PM Wednesday, the day she died. Over recent months she had mentioned a sense there was something coming - a big change. And so there was.

There is a hole in my heart. And there is also an indelible imprint of Ernie.

Kaire Ernie!

I trust you now know how very loved you have always been, and will always be.
Elizabeth

Celebrate Everything!

Celebrate everything - the "victories" and the "defeats." That's a recurrent theme in my personal life as well in my work with clients. Victories, large or small are obvious reasons to celebrate. Defeats or failures are just as important to celebrate, maybe more so. Yes, my clients are taken aback the first time I say "Wonderful!" in response to a report of a "failure." After a short discussion of the value of every experience, especially those that don't work out as planned, the puzzlement transforms into enthusiasm for the next step.

One client was so disappointed with a "failure" that I insisted we have a ritual celebration, right there on the phone call. She assembled candles, flowers, incense, a rattle, and poured a glass of wine. We danced and chanted long distance - I in Ashland, she in New York. It was great! She uncovered how much she had learned during the "failed" project and began visioning the changes she would make the next time around.

So, here's a way to have an instant celebration, anytime, anywhere. I credit my beloved great-grandson Preston, 3 3/4 years old, with introducing me to Dora the Explorer, where I picked up this fun process. Dora is a cartoon character who goes on adventures with her buddy, Boots the monkey. Whenever Dora and Boots accomplish a goal, three little characters - a tree frog, a snail and a grasshopper, run across the screen. They are playing a drum, an accordian and cymbals. The tune is a short rhythmic, da da da dah da dah! And then they disappear. That joyous celebration is so contagious! I hear it in my head a lot - for myself, for Preston, for others. Try it!

Here's a picture of Preston. His presence in my life makes me very happy! You'll need to check out the TV schedule for the Nick Jr channel to see Dora the Explorer.

Love and delight to you on this September day,
Elizabeth

Purpose and Meaning of Life

The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The meaning in life comes from giving it.
Those simple words provide clues to satisfying the eternal restlessness of the human heart's yearning for connection to Source.

What is your purpose? What do you stand for? What is your calling? Is your life in alignment with your purpose, personal core values and calling?

Here's an interview I did with Alison May of San Francisco, a highly successful businesswoman whose career really took off after she identified her core values in regard to work.

to listen online:




to download:




All the best,
Elizabeth

The Secret Movie 30 Day Challenge with Andy Wibbels

Try this!

The Secret Movie 30 Day Challenge with Andy Wibbels

Great Life of Helen Keller by Dr. Jean Houston

Jean's presentation of the life of Helen Keller may be heard by clicking on the title of this post or by clicking on thefollowing link. An audioplayer will appear, and the talk begins in a few seconds, automatically. I encourage you to listen to the Q & A period, too, as Jean expands on the meaning for our own lives via the life of Helen Keller. There is a long pause between Jean's presentation and the beginning of the Q & A, because it took people a few moments to come back to present time - just be patient.

http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/W0BjKh2Q

Enjoy the presentation,
Elizabeth Austin