There is a lot of serious stuff going on in the world. We’re surrounded by it and by discussions
about it. It seeps into our lives, and
we start taking everything seriously, sometimes way too seriously. As
part of my on-going self-discovery journey, I’ve realized that something I love
to do is to see if I can lighten things up, usually with a little humor. Acknowledge a difficult situation, and then
see if/how we can shift the energy.
My intention and focus this year is to help others do three things: 1) lighten
up, 2) reconnect with themselves/their bodies (mainly through reflexology), and 3) reconnect with the planet (at the beach, of course….).
I was sharing my intention with my friend Lisa, and that I
was trying to figure out how I could pull it all together. Told her I was thinking about doing some sort
of group meditation at the beach. Here's a piece of advice: Never
tell a good friend you are thinking about doing something. They then challenge you to do it. She pulled out the calendar and held a gun to
my head and told me to pick a date. Well, not really, but she did make me commit to do it and pick a date.
At that point it was right before Christmas, so of course I had
every excuse in the book as to why it couldn’t be done now. She’s wasn't having any of it. OK, maybe on a Sunday morning when there’s no
traffic and parking is available in Laguna. She says OK, pick a Sunday. Sheesh.
Maybe it would be a good way to start the new year. Huh. Wouldn’t you know the first day of
January is a Sunday? OK – January 1st
it is. Who’s going to show up early on
the morning of the 1st? You
know, all of my friends are such party animals (ahahaha!). OK. I commit.
So a text goes out to a safe number of friends, I start to
get responses, and oh, shit, there are crazy people who will show up. Guess I better figure out what I’m going to
do.
Very interesting process. I went from not having enough content and wondering how to fill the
time, to having so many resources I didn’t know what to pull from. Then I had to fight with myself – what do I
want to say versus what would they benefit from hearing? How do I stop making it about
me, and make it about them? Fascinating.
Finally settled on how I thought the morning should go, and
then over the course of the next two weeks, changed it at least 25 times. Changed it again the
night before. Changed it again the morning of. And then something really fun happened. After getting off to an OK start with the 5 brave souls that showed up,
I started to relax into it, feel it, and let my intuition take over. And, funny thing, the shift happened after we all took a few minutes to stop and connect with the beach around us (imagine that!). What we ended up doing and
experiencing was not at all the way I had planned it - it was so much better.
In one of my many resources, I had come across a release
meditation using bubbles. It was basically to put your
cares, worries and everything you want to let go of into the bubbles and let
them fly away. Then, shift and put your intentions
and ideas and dreams in your bubbles to send them out into the universe. Simple, and I thought it would be appropriate for
starting the new year. Thought it would
be a small part of the morning. Of course, that
was when I was still thinking of a more serious, contemplative focus.
Ahem, so didn’t I just say that one of my intentions was to help
others lighten up? Duh. This group did
not need more serious contemplation - they’ve done plenty of that. They needed some
fun. Pulled out the bubbles, and
everyone at first was a little hesitant, but once we started letting the
bubbles go, I watched everyone shift and light up, and we had the most joyful experience of letting
old crap go. Then we switched to sending
out our intentions – laughing, lovingly, playfully sending them out. Awesome experience.
Now here’s the unexpected benefit from this – the bubbles
were not going out over the ocean. The
wind was blowing in, so they were going up towards the boardwalk. We were pelting everyone walking by on the boardwalk with
bubbles. And you know what happened? We
were having so much fun, everyone who walked by started smiling. And laughing.
And taking pictures of the crazy women on the beach who were having so much
fun. We were shifting the mood of
everyone on Main Beach. How fun is that?!
There are times when a serious, contemplative meditation is
the right thing. And then there are the times when a unique opportunity to
lighten up comes along, and I hope I get to be the catalyst for more of them.
On a side note, Lisa, the person who challenged me to do
this, works with me and helps keep me sane. We go to Starbucks when we need a break from the stress and chaos in
grey cubicle world. On a lark one day,
when the person at the register asked for our names, I gave the name Trixie,
and Lisa gave the name Bubbles. Yes,
Bubbles – should have known there would be bubbles in my future…..
We’ve been using the names Trixie and Bubbles at Starbucks ever since. And
the side benefit? The same
– everyone behind the counter smiles when we give our names, and when they call
the drinks out, everyone in the store looks over and smiles. And we smile back. And Lisa tells them to “have a bubblicious day!” (somehow telling someone to have a
Trixilicious day doesn’t quite work...)
The lesson? Keep it
simple, follow your intuition, and have fun. You never know how many others you
will affect, and sometimes all it takes is a smile and a 99 cent bubble wand. Or a smile and a fun name.
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| The brave souls who showed up on a very chilly New Years day |
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| It was a stunningly beautiful day after a day of rain |
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| If you look closely you can see the bubbles carrying our thoughts away |
Light, Love & Laughter
