do what you love

chance can allow you to accomplish a goal every once in a while, but consistent achievement happens only if
you love what you are doing. - Bart Conner


give yourself permission to do what you love.

period.

there is no time to waste anymore.





copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

oh, to be so bold

honesty. truth. authenticity. daring. boldness. inching my way out the edge.

it shouldn't take a lot of work to be bold, but it does take practice.

here are some tomes to myself that help keep me on on the path:

1. be mindful of what you think, say and do. are you reacting from old, worn out patterns that no longer work, or are you committed to a new way of being that serves you and others well.

2. take time for replenishing. we need to refuel if we are expected to show up full of energy and on our game. it's hard to "go with the flow" when we are just trying to keep up with the current. do what you need to do to get and stay in balance. like physical exercise, our mental state also needs the same kind of disciplined workout, even if it is the discipline to shut off for a while.

3. stop making nice. it's wonderful to be generous and kind, but when you say "yes" just to please others, you set yourself {and others} unknowingly, for disappointment. better to say no than to say a yes that will be regretful later.

4. when in doubt, contemplate warriorship. my teacher, john, reminds me all the time. just sit. nothing really matters until i can see with clarity and awareness. until then, its back to the cushion for the warrior to feel the wisdom.



copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

reprieve

i could hibernate in my cave and write for ever. or, until I got too lonely, depressed or hungry.
and, i need a bit of a reprieve. I have twitted and tweeted and bloggered and put my face on a book for everyone to see.
i want some quiet, and rest and respite.

chill out, calm down, quiet.

i knew I was at the end of my rope when i was barely two feet into the office and already barking at unsuspecting simple souls.
oops.

kiss and make up, but still simmering inside. pushing the rubber ball down, but it is sure to surface again.
time to purge until even the void is empty.

e m p t y ...............................................................
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copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

stepping into ourselves

like shedding a coat we've worn for years. feels comfortable, but a bit smelly and ragged around the edges. repaired too many times to count. thread dangling from worn elbow sleeves and broken buttons. we love it, but only because it is familiar, worn in and quite frankly, we are too worn out to shop for something new.

and then, one day, we realize the coat is faded, the sleeves are too short and somehow it just "fit" us anymore.
this is when we can finally let it go .......

this is what it feels like to be free.
to be ourselves, again, finally.



copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

habituals pattern be gone!

i love every other tuesdays.
i get to speak with my Shambhala Buddha guru, John.
he sets me straight, goes right to the heart of the matter, all that matters, only that which really matters.

this weeks glimpse of enlightenment is about not getting hooked into my perception of events. looking at other people's stories {really, the stories I am making up}, my own story {more making up} and the reality. what is true? what is accurate?
we may never know.
we always know.
we simply have to sit.





copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

inexplicable awe

Sitting in silence
Hearing the breeze echo through the cracks in the old, worn house in which I live
Sleeping sweet furry child lies on the floor next to me in his calm silence, breathing up and down, in and out , again and again and again

Often it is the most simple, yet indescribable things through which beauty resonates.

Sometimes it is like our own private morse code . Only we know its meaning, having experienced it through the windows of our own soul. Expression. Emotion. So personal, so intangible, so inexplicable Sometimes I ache trying to understand it. Sometimes, I am so overwhelmed, feeling a sense of timelessness and left in utter awe.


copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

way of the warrior

{warriorship is a continual journey. to be a warrior is to learn to be genuine in every moment of your life.}


-- The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa.


my bible for this year is a little pocketbook called The Sacred Path of the Warrior.

i will never forget the first time i read this book- it was like looking in a mirror and finding hope, recognition and a roadmap out of my own head and onto the path of an authentic life.

step by step, inch by inch. it make take a lifetime, but at least i am on the path.
warriors unite!


copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

essence of emptiness

Essence is emptiness.
Everything else, accidental

Emptiness brings peace to your loving.
Everything else, disease.

In this world of trickery
emptiness
Is what your soul wants

- rumi

making friends with your own terror

The lonely child who travels through
the fearful waste and desolate fields,
and listens to their barren tune,
greets as an unknown and best friend
the terror in him, and he sings
in darkness all the sweetest songs.

–Chogyam Trungpa, excerpt, “The Silent Song of Loneliness”

from Susan Piver's site. One to love.







copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

divine superfluous beauty

My quest for beauty began the day I was born…..I didn’t discover this until I found myself one day, many years later, lost and longing, desperate and empty. Little did I know at the time, it was my soul calling for me to come back home to myself. It was trying to get my attention that the life I was living was not the life I was meant to have.
This is when the hard part really began.

Dips and detour, roadblocks and roadside disasters. I was entrenched in a massive pothole and hanging on by my fingertips. Digging my way out, one slow scoop at a time. It was tortuous and time consuming. And, it taught me something of the best lessons I have ever learned.

1. Be true to your self. No one but you really knows what your heart longs for and your soul needs.
2. Don't compromise. It's easy to get sideswiped by others' opinions, ideas and advice
3. Get out of your own way. Learn to let go of the habitual patterns that keep you stuck.
4. Let if go, let it flow. Everything keeps moving. See it, feel it and let it move on.
5. Patience, perseverance, persistence. My "make it" mantra. Don't give up until you know in your heart it is time to surrender.
6. Celebrate every step. The joy is in the journey. we often look to big events, but it is the everyday small actions that create the beauty of our life.

Beauty is the essence of everything I long for, live for, aspire to be, do , see and feel in my life. When beauty is the foundation of our lives, everything else falls into place.

If beauty is God, I am lucky to have been in the presence of something divine.
May bewilderment always be my muse.

copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

letting life unfold

it's hard to let go.
I am a reformed control freak who does not easily changed ingrained habitual patterns. That is Buddha speak for I haven't quite got my sh**t together yet. My saving grace is working with my buddhist coach and practicing the 5 Rhythms. I am finally starting to see glimpses of what life can be like if I trust my intuition and let life unfold.

as a friend once said, as she came to my rescue at a time in need, "just let it come up and then let it go." Things are always moving and before you can stop and ponder the meaning of it all, it has already moved on. We would do well to the same.

fluid. like a river. meandering, flowing, continuously moving or sitting in luxuriant calm, but always moving, moving, moving.

part of our gift and our challenge is to let life unfold.


ahhhh....unfurling feels good.



copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

the truth of it all

sometimes the truth is like a subtle awakening that sits at your doorstep until you are ready to open the door.
at other times, it hits you like a car wreck- assaulting you unexpectedly with a trauma that you could never imagine.
and in another {sideways} glance, it may be a slow seething knowing that you continue to deny. deny. deny.

when will you wake up and see the writing on the wall. really see the writing on the wall.
hear. listen. observe.
be the witness and speak not a word.
time to be a silent participant that offers her soul. and gives her life. and lives life with the enthusiasm that destiny knows is yours to have.
and then, there is redemption.
and the gift appears as if it just arrived. And yet, you recognize it as if it were there all along.
peace is your patient gift. and love. and honor. and love. and honor. and...love.

this is the truth that I want to dare to live.



copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

the year of "yes"

The warrior's approach is to say "yes" to life:
"yea" to it all.


- Joseph Campbell


This is the year of "yes" for me. Not the kind of "yes" that makes nice and tries to please everyone into submission and happy smiles, but the kind of "yes" that pushes me a bit further beyond my fearful resistance. The place that Eleanor Roosevelt says we must "Do the things that scare you.".

It is about showing up as who we are and being that which we already embody. Being ready to take the fall, but knowing that if we take the leap, no matter what happens, it will be a victory- merely for having shown up. We will never the be the same. Immediately, we are something more than we were.

Peeling away the old skin as we try on the new. One heals the other and allows it to fall away and become what destiny already knows.




copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

make everyday matter

What are we {me} waiting for?

today is the day to make it so.
think and dream BiG and allow it to unfold and unfurl like tender spring blossoms before your eyes.

show up, be present, surrender

come what may, it is what we make it.
let it be so.

let is be life.
let it be lovely.








copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

poetessa sings

Poetessa, poetessa
wake up from your slumber!
there is a life to be lived
and nectar to be drunk

Life is like a delicious intoxicant
magical and mystical
allegorical

Tell the story, live the life
and leave only your ashes behind




copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

tears cleanse the spirit and soothe the soul

why are we shy about showing our emotions? Especially sadness.
we think if we are sad, then something is wrong with us.
The truth is, something may be wrong. tears can be a signal to stop and pay attention.
They are called upon to offer comfort and solace, soothing and calm.
They cleanse us and clear us of pent up emotions. They dislodge the tension that carries its constraint in our bodies like twisted corkscrews of metal- hard and unyielding, cold and stiff.

and tears are compassion. for others, for ourselves, for us.

to mourn the things that never did come to pass, those that may never be, and the dreams that slipped by us, almost forgotten, but the sadness still lives deep within our soul.

shed some tears...and feel the warm river of your soul begin to flow.





copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

devotion

de·vo·tion

Pronunciation:
\di-ˈvō-shən, dē-\

Date:
13th century

1 a: religious fervor : piety b: an act of prayer or private worship —usually used in plural c: a religious exercise or practice other than the regular corporate worship of a congregation
2 a: the act of devoting b: the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal
3obsolete : the object of one's devotion


a delicious song to be sung everyday...rejoice in the dance that becomes our daily practice of life.












copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

quiet night with dog at my feet

Miracles can be furry and soft like a bunny.
Mine is sitting at my feet.
His name is Jack.

pureunconditionallove.

copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

risk being the fool

Perfection. Perfect. Perfectly done.

Those words have ruled my life and now it is time to toss them to the wind. ahhhh, watch them happily float away on a cloud into nebulousness.

Risk being the fool for a day and you will see how good it feels.

Freedom is being exactly who you are. for me, there is no greater and more precious gift.



copyright 2009 Alisa Barry

enlightenment in seven days

Buddha told his disciples: whoever makes an effort can attain enlightenment in seven days. If he can’t manage it, certainly he will attain it in seven months, or in seven years. The young man decided that he would attain it in one week, and he wanted to know what he should do: “concentration” was the reply.
The young man began to practice, but in ten minutes he was already distracted. Little by little, he began paying attention to everything that distracted him, and thought that he was not wasting time, but was getting used to himself.

One fine day he decided it was not necessary to arrive at his goal so fast, because the path was teaching him many things.

It was at that moment that he became an Enlightened one.


From Warrior of the light by Paul Coelho

copyright 2009 Alisa Barry