Illumined Life Leadership

c/o Paul Teixeira

Today is my Birthday. And what better a way to celebrate my Birthday then to give birth to something new; something that is a piece of me…a piece of my truth. So here you have it, a new beautiful ranting, a new blog.

On days like today I think back to my childhood and I really try to remember who I was and what invigorated me; made me lose time. For it is my belief that we are living authentically during those moments of simple pleasures, joy and timelessness. Whatever it is we are doing in those moments we can do forever! Ahh…remember those days? Yes, I know who I was, and I make sure to tap into that energy now as a Bigger Child. That energy is still within me; my core self, and I owe it to my child self to stay true to who I’ve always been.

I talk a lot. I talk a lot to lots of people, especially high-achieving women. In trying to achieve so much, many times we lose sight of our truth. It becomes blurry, fuzzy, and seems so far away. We stray. As high achievers we get a HIGH by multi-tasking; getting a lot of things done at the same time, or doing too much to please too many. But do we really get a lot done? Are we pleasing ourselves? How much joy or effectiveness am I getting out of one specific task or activity if I have to drop it to begin another, and another, and another? As a high achiever, what exactly am I achieving?

So today– my day– I focus on the intention and action of living my truth and not straying from it, which as we all know is so easy to do.

I read this today and it cemented the concept for me. Perhaps it will for you too:

“The moment we stray from where we are, we create a tension between two places– where we are and where we are thinking of being. It is this tension that blocks us from the sensation of being fully alive, because being split in our attention prevents us from being authentic– even though managing many tasks at once is considered intelligent. That we stray from the moment is not surprising. The more crucial thing is that we return.“

Yesterday, I received so much joy from sitting silently and watching my daughter, age 6, revel in her body, her creativity, her enthusiasm in her new dance class. I closed my eyes and went way back in time and saw myself dancing and singing uninhibited in front of no one, or anyone, who cared to watch. I could care less of anyone’s judgement or lack of it. All I cared about in that moment and for hours on end was the feeling I felt, and the dream in my heart. If anyone wanted to come along for the ride, all the better. It was all about the process, not the outcome; the performance, not the feedback. I LOVE this part of MY TRUTH!

What part of YOUR TRUTH do you revel in?

I also found much joy and laughter in reading an article in O about a busy working mother who had visions of her complicated, messy life turning around completely; of becoming someone other that who she was.

She shares:

“I am not and was never going to be the relaxed, organized, manicured career mom, any more than I was going to be the shiny, elusive cheerleader or the diligent Gap employee or the virginal good girl or the wise young lady who dates only responsible, emotionally available guys. I am a disorganized, melancholy second-guesser who rhapsodizes a little too loudly over the pleasures of a cold beer at the end of a long day.”

And, although she managed to have a few really amazing chaos-free days, she embraces her authenticity by proclaiming:

“This is true…I love this f_ _ _ing clown show of mine! Sometimes, even though my world is in chaos, I see myself braiding my daughter’s hair, drinking my tea, blending up a fruit smoothie and singing and dancing crazily to distract the baby from the blender’s scary, grinding sound, and I think…That woman is weird, but she does seem to be enjoying herself.”

I love that. I love that although her world-ly self tells her how she should be (which is not authentic to her), she honors what her spirit self tells her she is, and what feels right and real.

Today I celebrate me. The child me, and the somewhat developed bigger child me, who always wants to give birth to projections of myself and juicy bits of what I’ve always offered to this world.

Want a piece of me? Well, you have no choice. You’re gonna get it!

Cheers to me, to you, and to living our truth!

Monique