What I mean is this:  think of when you have shared a dream with someone?  Didn’t you feel more empowered? Remember when someone supported and encouraged your dream?  Didn’t you feel stronger? I hope that on this cold frozen day you will let yourself be free to dream and find the strength and encouragement to pursue it!

Love & Peace,
Sandy

PS, if you missed any of Saturday Soul last week, check out the links below so you don’t miss a single heartbeat!
A lesson in driving (or not driving) on ice and how to make better decisions:  Stop! Slow Down! Chill out!
Learning to be content with our circumstances:  Learning to surf the waves
Our sheer existence is an awesome miracle: The Awesome Mystery and Miracle We Share
Is your mind handing you a pile of shit?  Are you taking it? Beware of Destructive Mind Storms

Dreaming ties us all together . . .

We can often get bogged down with the duties of living and building a business.  I loved this quote from American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac:  ”All human beings are also dream beings.  Dreaming ties all mankind together.”  Everyone from the CEO to the mailroom clerk have dreams, I wonder what would happen if we allowed each other our dreams without judgement?  Think of how our lives would flourish and our businesses would grow if we were truly free to pursue our dreams without reservation and embrace those around us to do the same?

Building our business requires that we engage with passion, tell a compelling and sincere story, and really care about what our product can do to serve our clients needs.  Keep your heart and mind focused on your dream, ignite it with passionately skilled action and watch it come to life!

Embracing ourselves and our talents as they are, AND our limitations as they are, is the place where freedom begins.
~ Sandy Hibbard

The most difficult thing [to some] is accepting yourself – right where you are. I think as an artist/creative we’re always worried about how other people are going to perceive the scope of our work. Battling and dealing with how things are going to come across to others is a struggle, yes, but not just because we care about what they think about us, I think it’s more about the worry of how they will accept our talent and gifts. To make things worse, we deal with our own struggle for perfection and wrestle with our inadequacies.

As humans, we are always changing and growing, evolving, learning, and unlearning. One set of skills increase then decrease as we develop excellence in another area.  This is life – we ebb and flow. We grow into our best by building upon layers of experience. You have to accept who you are TODAY, with what you have been given and learned so far. Embracing your gift as it is in the present is an important part of our journey… that’s awareness!

Accepting Yourself for Who and What You Are
As a writer and artist, if I wrote a poem out of inspiration today and then rewrote it next year, can you imagine how different it would be?  If I record a song today and go into the studio and re-record it 2 years from now, they would be completely different songs. At some point, you just have to say ‘enough’ and accept your art, your gift, AND YOURSELF as you are in this moment. You have created the art that speaks to you now and from your current level of experience. That has immense value. You have shared what is from your moment in time along your journey, what could be more pure and beautiful than that? Being ‘OK’ with ourselves and our talents as they are, AND our limitations as they are, is the place where freedom and growth begins.

When you embrace yourself and your gifts as they are, without judgement, it will be a relief. You can relax and settle into who you are, accepting the opportunity and the room it gives you to expand on so many levels – and there will be nothing to hold back the growth. There is a beautiful confidence and ability that comes with acceptance, an honesty and awareness that is attractive and inspiring.  Sure, you can always do better, but how wonderful it is when you put yourself out there, let go of the judgment and criticism and can say ‘this is real now, this is who I am’ – with no shame and no apologies. BOOM! You just let go of the chains that were holding you down!

Love and Hugs,
Sandy

Must it end so it can begin?

The heart grows heavy in routine
unimagined predictability
must I lay aside my dream?
Pick up a leaf and examine with a careful eye
underneath
the veins are sharp
pulsing life
like a network of bones held together
by the fabric of its hide
but the struggle is easily seen
on the other side
fading green
mottled browns
tones of decay as it’s tossed to the ground
chosen by a flick of the wind
separated from its flower
tender foliage on a slender stem
must it end so it can begin?
The uncertain outcome of a constant cycle of rebirth
giving way to the purpose of nature
to go back to the earth
to become what it was meant to be
creative predictability
Toil not
want not
see how the flower’s clothed?
why in this world of human experience
we choose the path of letting go
to put away our wonder in exchange for knowing
to lie secure in rote
no longer taking chances
in thought
in dreams
or dances
Exhausted disillusionment
painful disappointment
we lose the grip
the flower fades
and off we drop
selected by the gales of loss
heartache
and endless scorching days
yet we are more
we are spirit with infinite possibilities
we spin the clock in creativity
to live and learn
to love and grow
again and over again
Turn over the leaf and you’ll see me
amidst the magic of the galaxy
engulfed in life
pulsing
blood flowing
I refuse to let go
for what I’ve come to know
is love
and love is all
Turn over the leaf and you’ll see me
on this journey of routine
I set the sails with certainly
I guide my ship into my dreams
© Sandy Hibbard October 7, 2015