Illumined Life Leadership

This month, I have been given subtle messages by several “messengers”, to pay attention to how I can become more rooted, connected to our world and others around me. Simply, how I can be more of an Earth Angel. As I sit here and type this message, I’m actually amazed at how I caught on to these “messages”. I’m patting myself on the back (I am, really! 🙂 ) for listening to my intuition, which I blogged about last month.

More on the messages and messengers further along…

You’ve heard this term before—Earth Angel—yes? And, I bet you can even sing the song. Yet, have you pondered what truly is an Earth Angel? It was quite funny how I came to think about it. Last week my neighborhood association hosted an Art Fair in our park and I volunteered for a few hours. I recognized one of the vendors who was walking in my direction and we spoke for a few minutes. We lived on the same block growing up, and played together often. Her cousin, who at the time lived a few homes away as well, is still one of my very best friends still today. Although I had no intention of visiting the vendors or purchasing anything, I did want to stop by her table to see her craft.

Lilly’s business is www.BagRevolution.com, and she creates earth friendly shopping bags with cute sayings on them. Yes, you must visit her site! It just so happened that I had wanted to purchase a few of these bags so that I could do my part to be eco-friendly. It takes a village, right? I believe it does. So, the first one that caught my attention said “Earth Angel”. Immediately I said, “Okay, give me three of those and one of the other.” In fact, I told Lilly that I believed I was an Earth Angel. She may still be wondering what I meant! I was thrilled with my purchase and set my new bags in my kitchen, and began using one as my paper recycling “bin”. Lilly was Messenger #2.

Fast forward to this week…
I received an invitation from the local chapter of my coaching institute to hear from a “Peace Pilgrim”, a young man who has dedicated his life to traveling from community to community (wherever he is invited to go) to learn and teach principles of peace and love. While the topic seemed interesting, I did not pay too much attention to it at first. I already had a commitment that evening, and it would have been a long day for me. Yet, the more the days went on I received a stronger calling to attend. So I did. This man was quite intriguing. You just don’t meet people like this every day!

I would not be able to do his vision justice unless I shared verbatim everything he discussed with us on this night, but I will try to sum it up in one paragraph. Scaughdt (“scot”) is the principal founder of (i)am—Inspiring the Altruistic Moment (www.inspiringthealtruisticmoment.com). He shared with us two workbooks he had created for his “Re-Discovering Peace” three-day workshop, which had just adjourned a few hours prior. He only shared two of the major concepts in the workbook, but the message was clear and deep for me.

In essence, Scaughdt’s talk was one of detailing the path of self-reactualization—how we—those of us on earth—can move closer and closer to spirit through our thoughts, emotions and actions. He showed us a very complex diagram that detailed, based on his first-hand knowledge and experience living in this fashion, how we can move through and up this path by lovingly choosing to do for others (putting others needs first) as often as possible. He describes that “shift” as jumping from Truth to Virtue, that is, being a “Virtue Walker” (walking your talk) instead of a “Truth Seeker” (simply searching for deeper meaning). He believes that we reach enlightenment and contentment in the exact moment we decide to choose love and peace and oneness over fear and ego and selfishness. We have hundreds of these “moments” to consciously make this decision each day. Ahhh, I definitely met an Earth Angel and clearly saw in my mind and felt in my heart those moments when I had been an Earth Angel too. Scaughdt was Messenger #3.

Now, I’m taking you back to the first week of February, when I had the opportunity to meet a like-minded individual. I was in a work meeting with one of our board members, when we had a moment to talk candidly about the economy, work, personal development, etc. I shared with him my new coaching business and my desire to align myself more closely with individuals who “speak my language” as well as those who I can help along the way. He shared that his wife, too, was “on this path” and happened to be working at the university as well.

So, just a few days later his wife and I were having coffee on campus talking about our interests, sharing experiences, and feeling “at home”. Just before our conversation ended she felt the need to share with me an organization developed by Deepak Chopra, one of my favorite authors. She felt that being aligned with them would be something I would benefit from and would provide me an avenue to share with others the work I was doing. She also mentioned that she did not see this organization’s presence in Miami.

It did not take me long to look up the Alliance for a New Humanity (ANH). And when I did, I too noticed that it did not have a Miami Chapter. I thought to myself, “Why not take this opportunity to help lead a global effort for creating transformation right here in my own backyard?” That day, ANH Miami was born. My mother, Ellie, who has always been my like-minded spiritual partner, has joined me as co-founder of ANH Miami. I invite you to learn more about ANH by visiting our group website: http://anhglobal.ning.com/group/anhmiami. You may join this group as well as our group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=124729195553. We hope to begin organizing our first discussion soon. Tatiana was Messenger #1.

It was in this moment, when I was thinking about what to blog on, that my eyes became fixated on my new Earth Angel grocery bag. Instantly my thoughts were filled with these meetings and conversations that seem to have created a theme for my month of February—“How could I be more of an Earth Angel more often”?

So, next time you pick up a book that you feel will help you on your quest to seek a deeper meaning in life, why not heed Scaughdt’s advice and just go out and give of yourself from the heart. If we each get out of our own way, spread our wings, and engage in random acts of kindness, we will, together, be creating a New Humanity.

Many blessings,

Monique

I then thought about what a wonderful tool music is for so many reasons. For me, music keeps me dancing. A friend once asked me, “Do you miss dancing? Do you think of it often?” And, my immediate response was “It never leaves me!” In fact, every time a song comes on—it doesn’t matter what kind of music it is—I see myself dancing in my head. And my soul feels it and benefits from it. So, music helps connect me to my life-long passion.

Another thing music does for me is to make certain tasks less painful. How many of you dislike doing dishes? Well, I loathe doing dishes!! And, since this is one of the only things my husband will not do (he’s amazing…he does so much!), I really needed to find a solution to begin enjoying dish washing. Now, when my husband sees me plugging in my iPod speakers in the kitchen he knows that I am doing my dish-washing dance! Yes, I blast loud, fun, dance music, and before we all know it, the dishes are done and my mood is high and positive! The kids get a kick out of it, too!

Yet another way that I’ve always used music is to help center me. There are so many ways we can meditate, but for some people, like me, finding the time is difficult. Some experts say that all you need is a few deep breaths, or 5 to 10 minutes of sitting quietly to get the benefits of meditation. When I combine these simple steps—a few deep breaths and 5 to 10 minutes of stillness—with music—that always seems to help quiet my mind, relax my muscles, and put a gentle smile on my face. I’m ready to conquer the world again!! For me, that singer is Josh Groban. Or, if I need to jump start my enthusiasm and love of self, then I listen to “Just Fine” by Mary J. Blige. What music does this for you? How can music help you shift?

So, you probably want to know what my new favorite song is, and how the lyrics positively affected me, right? I would be curious too! The song is “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Living in the “now” (through love and without fear) is something that I have been practicing intently. So, when I listened deeply to these words, the reason to live in the “now” was so much more meaningful to me. Perhaps you’ll see it too. Here are some of the words from “I’m Yours”:

Open up your mind and see like me,

There’s no need to complicate, ’cause our time is short.
There ain’t no better reason to rid yourself of vanities
and just go with the season,
it’s what we aim to do, our name is our virtue.

Have a music-filled week!