Tell the Truth

What’s to be done when the world is not treating you right? When the day is full of bumps and bruises, impediments to reaching the goal, the result, the state of being you are after?

Pushing forward seems to be the expected way – buck up, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, carry on. Oh, and hide your feelings while you’re at it ‘cause no one likes a crybaby, a loser who can’t keep their stuff together. Do you ever notice these programs running you when wrestling with struggle? I find them so ingrained in me that even though I know better they are still the initial inner voice I hear, the big brother of society’s sub-conscious sitting on my shoulder whispering to keep me safe and approved of.

What if, instead of hiding and pretending, what if we said, “It’s been a rough morning. For some reason I woke up every two hours in the night and then found my car broken into and my new I Pod stolen. I’m really feeling violated and bummed out.” I tried this approach the other morning. I told the truth amongst colleagues and clients, other career women at a monthly networking meeting. I let my heart be seen and felt and told the truth.

At first I was afraid of being judged or glossed over – of getting a cheer up girlie sort of response that usually side-swipes my feelings and ticks me off. But I did not. Instead I received many genuine ears to listen to my succinct, honest response to How are you? acknowledging the bummer of my morning. I was greeted with compassion and some great hugs too. Unfortunately, many of us know what it is like to be violated, in one form or another, and it can be freeing for the person sharing and listening, both, to exchange that open truth-telling. I’m not recommending a joint therapy session in the midst of networking, rather the simple honest facts of events and primary feelings.

What if we let ourselves do this, to tell the truth and receive compassion from others? What if we were not hooked in the loop of the façade of perfection? What if we trusted others to listen and have empathy rather than judgment? What if we really understood that we all have our up and down days and moments and that accepting this turns the peaks and valleys into rolling hills? What if?

I believe there would be a lot less stress and illness – cancer, heart disease, obesity, alcoholism, drug and sex addiction, anxiety, depression, etc. I believe we could become a more cooperative community again, the kind that could be depended upon. I believe social responsibility and creative solutions, on behalf of our selves, others and our planet, would flourish.

We need each other. Not to be the perfect image of those we see in the movies and on TV, in magazines. We need each other to be real, to be all of who we are in this beautiful human imperfection. We need the connection, the love, the listening, the honoring. We are feeling human beings – we have feelings for a reason – and we need to live in the safe space of honesty, recognizing them, responsibly expressing them, and allowing ourselves to be empowered through them.

Try it. Try being honest – whether elated or infuriated. The next time someone says How are you? tell the truth.

to Living Sensual! 
Live in Love with Life
xo Piper

Why Do We Have Desire?

To me this is like asking, "Why am I living?"  "Why am I breathing?"  

A friend and colleague, Michael Bogar, recently shared with me, Desire comes from the root Desiderare, "to long for, wish for, await what the stars will bring" and the phrase De sidere means "of the stars." 

Contrary to many old beliefs, our desires are not a sin, they are not selfish. Our desires are connected to our soul purpose, our passions, our expressions of self and our relationships as human beings on this planet earth. For an average of 78.74 years we get the gift, the opportunity, to experience all that Life has to offer, to grow it within us, to create it outside of us. Our desires give Life the direction to make this happen in a way that is uniquely fulfilling to us.

How many of Life's choices do you think you might be presented with in just one day? How many choices about what you want to experience, what you want to have, eat, hold, read, accomplish, how you would like to care for yourself, care for others, who you want to spend your time with, what you want to say, to express, how you would like to interact? How many of these choices do you think you are presented in just one day? Twenty, fifty, one-hundred, or more? And how do you discern, do you make all of these decisions? What is motivating you, leading you? I say it is your desires. The outcomes you wish to materialize.

And when you have a moment of floundering, as we all can and do, of not knowing what you want, what happens? Someone else's want is fulfilled, the person or people who knew what they wanted. Yes?  

If you want your desires to materialize for you, you need to know what they are. You need to voice them, visualize them, believe that you can have and be them, feel yourself changed by them before they have even arrived. You need to put a stake in the ground and act toward them.

And being the beautifully complicated humans we all are, this path to wanting and receiving is not always clean and tidy. Often our past fears come into play. These fears need and want to be acknowledged and nurtured and worked through in a way that continues to keep you focused on your desire and heading in the direction of its receipt.

This is what we do at the Living Sensual Institute. We step into desire, your desire. We support you to claim it, feel it, work through the resistances to having it, being it, and we support you to conjure it, attract it to you. We believe in you and the heart of your desires.

If you have a desire, one that keeps calling you, and has felt continually out of reach, come work with it, move toward it, feel the nature of its gift entering into your life at our Summer Empowerment Camp this month.

Coming you will be part of an intimate group of 12 enjoying and expressing from the heart of yourselves and your desires. Supported by 3 top-notch coaches and mentors and 6 wise and well-trained therapy horses, this weekend camp is all about your breakthroughs, your clear next steps that will lead you to realize your desire, it is all about your empowerment. The many prolific life-changing processes used in the Living Sensual Way have been successful for millions, and they can be successful for you too.  

to Living Sensual! 
Live in Love with Life
xo Piper