“E lascia pur grattar dov’e la rogna!” “And let them go ahead and scratch where it itches!”

 

 

    In this digital age of sharing and self-promotion across the annals of the internet and social media accounts, a person could feel daunted, even cursed with the honest drive to achieve personal or career goals. Delving into the past is like playing in the mud – it’s like getting to know your fears. It stops you from rising. 

GRAPPLE YOUR CURRENT REALITY                     Because if you don’t…

·         Being particularly reckless leads to delusional thinking and compromises the sacred space of awareness.

·         Playing in the mud can lead to spinning out and returning to old coping mechanisms.

·         Getting to the root of things, however, will uncover the inspiration one seeks; so, don’t settle for half-solutions. 

Struggling with emotional concerns is not a curse.

It’s a gift that won’t come wrapped in a bow.

Check out this downloadable app for understanding coping mechanisms.

        

            Keep in mind, the questions people ask reveal more about themselves than the answers they find… or dance around… or would shallowly admit to. 

    

There aren’t any safer paths to take that will let you avoid the obstacles that you must face. 

 

“No matter what your current ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.” – Carol S. Dweck

 You must face the gifts that could and often do come from within our own darkness – even more so when its troubling to accept any type of gift, including compliments and criticism.

Hell, even acknowledging our own darkness feels like a punishment. The trouble is that we’re conditioned to believe that gifts come in colorful moments - not as tissue paper tucked away underneath the lounge of shadows. 

(Here’s the thing, as humans, we’re possessed of just enough wit, humor, courage and a side order of understanding to want to know ourselves, to accept our faults.)        

What this means is that, while we constantly complain about the riddles of our real lives, we’re also perfectly willing to spend our precious brain cells and shaky emotional well-being on pretend make-believe problems. I’m not going to wrestle the human theme of perfectionism currently, but instead use this blog post as a Segway warm-up for dissecting, “The Inferno”; in a read at your own risk book review I have on the horizon. 

Let me say this another way – after Dante Aligheri wrote “The Divine Comedy” of which “The Inferno” was part, folks of the early 1300s were faced with what the fears of Hell might be and look like as a physical realm.

With the encouragement of friends and notes I’ve taken from “The Inferno” translated by John Ciardi from Signet Classics publishing and “Dante’s Inferno” with text adapted by Marcus Sanders, I’m excited to face my dissection one of Italy’s greatest poets as an opportunity to bond with my readers.

On Furthering the Power of Self Determination

     Cultivating insight from joy ain't easy. 

     Because most folks are pretty much spiritual in some sense of self perception, I'm confident that these lamentations will be well received.
     I've noticed how happiness seems solid while joy feels characteristically fluid.

 ^^^^^^

The above sentences were drafted in Feb '20. I've done the unthinkable in an age of social media distraction and self-promotion. I've looked for every single Exit sign instead of warranting the Entrance door.  

Hello, September 2021 readers - I owe you an apology. I'm sorry for letting you down. When I first began this blog I was finally in a decent day time job and adjusting to life without my Mom in it. Knowing that I wanted a broader view of the world and completing paperwork for a passport in early March of 2020, my focus was on bringing passion, true purpose and career into one thing: Connection. 

Unfortunately, the globe became used to new phrases like social distancing,  pandemic and essential worker. Where I was working at the time was considered by society as an essential place of business - and business was good.

Almost too good. 

With increased hours, repeated temperature checks and little to no improvement as far as management or worker compassion was concerned, beating the keyboard became less important. 

In August of 2020, my grandpa passed away. He was a stern and proud man. My sister and I were tasked to handle his affairs another state away during the peak of the virus's first summer and left even less time for the powerful energies sweeping through me, desperate to scribble out anything meaningful through either blog or journal. 

These extremely intense times have changed us all in strange ways in all the ways. So with this I wanted to relay a very important message for the next few crucial weeks and months ahead: 

I own this absence with raw honesty. 

Having the unique opportunity to quit my job and focus on putting my BFA to work, I feel a heartfelt vulnerability to give this blog a revival and continue with what it is that I'm meant to do. Write. 

Who do I write for? 

I write for the inquisitive minds like my own who are posed with questions in their every day existence. I write answers understood by both sides of the brain. Articulate.

In over a year and a half I've decided to get back in for the long ride. During this year and a half, I polished up my website and took a couple free writing courses on LinkedIn and enjoying tips found on the craft of writing to help ensure reader satisfaction in future endeavors. 

That's the inside story. Staying inspired takes time to cultivate. 

Trust that the content I'm motivated to put out involves a book review of The Inferno on a separate blog I carefully plan to expand on.

I mean, barriers are placed for a reason, right? There apt to be unexpected changes. 

As well as setting the scene for putting readers' needs first, I want to heal this relationship between writing and readers by offering a link to a free teaching in hopes of some feedback from people to show I've got their back. 

There's a superb potential to deepen the meaningful and open-ended questions that're in need of answering; not only in this real-time pandemic life but in all the ages in remembered consciousness. 

There's no guarantee that I'll win back any readers' affections or stunned adoration with the revival of my aspiring projects including flash fiction submissions and updates on any short story publications. 

All I can personally do is manifest clear writing results. Content, as the pros call it. 

Why do I feel like I'm even better now?

Because of the weird ass experiences I've had since actively blogging - first time in Vegas this year in April, taking my sister to the Black Rock Desert for the Fourth of Juplaya, driving across two states into Montana to visit a dear friend are all possible blog posts recognizably feels like an awakening. Writing about the struggle of tenderness is going to be tentative to furthering my personal connection to a cold, digital world. And in it, I've become quite the digital nomad. 

In fact, as clichéd as it reads, it's often frustration that teaches the biggest lessons and foreshadows the most compelling periods of adjustment and improvement. 

Career coach Alice Stapleton is clear in her assessment of what it means to hold yourself back through self-defeat. "You'll never try anything new or move forward without failure," she said. As Master Shan-Dao said, "a person's achievement depends on the conditions he or she encounters." Thus, encountering the right conditions is crucial in determining whether we attain results in our cultivation. 

                    Believe in yourself.