Self Cultivation

Get To Know Your Inner Voice

November 3, 2016 By Cara Lumen

We’re it. We’re all there is. The entire Universe is within us. All the wisdom, all the knowledge. It’s there, it’s at hand, ready to be heard. Everything we need to know is within us. We learn and we’re guided by the voice within.

How do we learn to hear it?

The Universe is Within

It’s an interesting idea that we contain the Universe within ourselves.

Rumi says:
“Everything in the Universe is within you.
Ask all from yourself”

That means we’re pretty much on our own. And yet we get guidance and signals and insights all the time. When we learn to hear them.

The signs we ignore

Our days are full of signs and signals. When we allow our days to unfold, all manner of exciting and unexpected opportunities show up. Learning to interpret our inner voice will help us make choices that are aligned with what we need and want in the moment.

How your inner voice talks to you

Your inner voice is different from your intuition. Your intuition is a hunch, a feeling. Your inner voice KNOWS. Your inner voice holds the values you have embraced, it holds your connection to All-That-IS, Tao, or whatever you call the unknown part of you. It’s always speaking to you. You just have to learn to listen.

Learn to listen to your inner voice in silence

When you sit in silent expectation, when you are willing to embrace your inner knowing, you will understand. You may hear a word, you may see an image, you may get an idea or clarity or see a connection you had missed. You may simply KNOW. But most of all there is a sense of serenity and peace, a feeling of being safe, cared for and loved. It’s your inner home, your place of safety and refuge. It welcomes you with open arms and holds you close to its heart.

Visit your inner voice often.

Learn to interpret what you hear

You’ll emerge from your time of silent contemplation with a new perspective, with new resolution, new determination and a new sense of peace and willingness. Let this new awareness slowly infiltrate your life. Feel your way into the great wonders that have unfolded within you.

Choose what to apply in your life

Your inner voice will show you many options. It’ll deepen your understanding and expectation of what’s possible. Notice it and let it simmer within you like a vapor rising to surround you with its wisdom.

Trust yourself to understand

You’ll interpret the messages from your inner voice in the way that’s most suited to the moment. It helps if you clear out your preconceived ideas and allow this wisp of knowing to simply surround you and hug you and be absorbed into your being.

Act from a place of knowing

Then do what you need to do in the moment. That’s all. Shape things as they show up. Don’t force them, or push them away. Simply take what feels right in the moment and let the rest move on. Shape what you keep into the size and shape that expands your choices, your next step, and move through the doors that have opened for you.

Don’t play small

Your inner voice is the knowledge of the Universe. It knows no bounds. When you are willing to push beyond your own boundaries, consider concepts you’d never thought about before. You can trust that you’ll never be given an opportunity you cannot do. Simply flow into your next choice, your next action, with the ease of rain falling to earth.

Your inner voice wants you to play big

You’ve been given many gifts. You’ve been given a passion and talents to develop that passion. Your inner voice has a BIG vision for you. Listen. Interpret. Act.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:

Allow Life to Be a Meditation
Live Like Water
The Many Faces of Your Calling
Mindfulness as a Path to Self-Awareness
How Do You Nurture “Different”
37-Self Mastery As a Choice
35—How to Hold the Space for Change.
45-How to Become a Mindful Presence

Take Time to Explore Your Talents

September 22, 2016 By Cara Lumen

There are big “in-your-face” talents that sweep you along with them. And there are gentle, subtle talents that will add great meaning to your life once you uncover them.

What are your in-your-face talents?

I’ve been writing since I was the editor of my high-school newspaper. It was an interest and skill I’ve used in many forms in my life – copywriter for radio and television, a variety of organizational newsletters, ebooks, posts. Writing is how I sort myself out, how I figure out how to apply interesting concepts to my life. It’s how I share my ideas with others. It’s an ingrained part of me.

A major talent often shows up as a skill that’s so easy to use that it doesn’t even seem special. You may have no idea that not everyone can do it or that you are particularly good at it.

Music, art, mathematics, logistics, organizing, leadership, connecting with people, nurturing others, enthusiastic participation in whatever you do – these are some of the ways your major talent is recognizable.

What are your subtle talents?

It was always clear that I’m a good organizer. What took me years to figure out, though, was that I’m also a good organizer of ideas. I can see the overview, the complex, and explain it to others in easy-to-understand terms. That is an obvious talent with a subtle use.

My enthusiasm is a gift. It’s infectious. It’s also inspiriting, because it helps me get a lot done. Who would have thought of enthusiasm as a talent!

You may have a physical attribute that’s a talent

It turns out that people like my speaking voice, so I enjoy using it in videos and podcasts.

Take a moment to look for the subtle gifts and talents that you might find more ways to use.

Make your talent distinctive

Finding how to make my writing distinctive took some time and practice. Now I automatically think in the subhead style for a post. It’s how I organize my thoughts. It’s how I share my ideas. It’s my distinctive version of writing. And it simply evolved.

How many ways can you use your talents? Because I write like I talk, it’s easy to create narrative podcast scripts. My ability to organize ideas allows me to see connections and curate pieces of posts into the backbone of a new ebook. My enthusiasm keeps me exploring new platforms – like videos and audiobooks.

Look at your talents and find other venues where you can use them.

Explore your talents

When you find a little-used talent or desire, go exploring. I’m not a particularly good artist, but in my senior year in college I had space for some electives and I took two art courses – 5-minute sketching and composition. Though I wasn’t very good at composition, I got an A in the sketching class simply because I went from stick figures to a decent quick sketch.

I have taken other art courses along the line – Chinese brush painting being a favorite. There’s something magical about taking a blank space and filing it with your imagination, whether this is through drawing, or writing, or composing music.

Explore different media and see what new experiences, opportunities and insights appear.

Use your talent as a conduit to your soul

When you use your talent enough so it becomes second nature, the next step is to make room for the flow of your unconscious. I used to be surprised at what showed up as I typed. It felt like it was coming from outside myself. Now I know it comes from deep inside, from my thoughts, my interpretations, my soul.

Practice your talent until it becomes only the vehicle for your innermost expression.

What talent would you like to explore?

As long as it’s something creative, as long as I can explore what calls to me and interpret what I discover, the conduit doesn’t really matter. I’ve started to record an audiobook because I know I have the skill set for that. I’ve done lots of courses, but not with as many videos as I want to now. I’m a spiritual philosopher and I want to explore what that means to me and discover new ways to express it. I’m also a mapmaker because I explain to others what I figure out.

Look at what you’re already doing. Look at what talent you’d love to expand, and go exploring. Take some classes. Simply go practice whatever it is. Give thought to how you’ll bring that talent into your life. And just do it.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:

What to Do When You Are Between Teachers
Lose Your Attachment to the Outcome
The Art of Mastery
Your Art Must Originate Within Yourself
How to Develop Your Distinctive Voice

35—How to Hold the Space for Change.
34- Use Labels to Expand Your Possibilitieses
32 – How to See Your Work As Art

Allow the Right Action to Emerge

March 14, 2016 By Cara Lumen

When the time is right, the action will emerge. We simply have to have patience and trust the process.

Plans force the issues

When you learn to let life unfold, everything shows up at just the right time. The right ideas appear, the perfect circumstances emerge, the best people show up to participate.

When you allow your life to unfold, things simply fall into place and turn out much better than you thought.

Unfolding doesn’t mean you’re not aware. You are vibrantly aware. Aware of the ideas that show up, the situations that present themselves, the people whose words resonate. And then comes the time that you know it’s time to act – to shape the things before you into something much bigger than you could dream of.

Unfolding allows your ideas to mature

Giving a plan time to unfold also allows you to balance yourself. It may mean you become more experienced at a specific skill. You may have time to take some tutorials that spark new interpretations of your original idea.

Unfolding doesn’t mean a specific amount of time; it simply means a patient waiting to allow your ideas to develop and mature. To allow yourself time to absorb the idea and let your inner wisdom check it out.

With patience comes the right action

It comes so smoothly that it’s effortless. Everything lines up, and it “becomes.” It becomes more than you thought possible. It becomes more impactful, more clear, more relevant.

Learn to listen to your inner guidance. Learn to recognize the right time to move – that magical time when everything comes together to turn into something more amazing than you ever thought possible.

Learn to allow the right action to emerge.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:

Unleash The Power of Your Passion and Calling
Unfolding an the Wu Wei of Not-Forcing
Unfolding an the Wu Wei of Not-Obstructing
Unfolding and the Wu Wei of Not-Interfering
Engage in the Power of trust
You Know More Than You Think You Do
How To Cultivate the power of Simplicity
27 – Why Have You Been Chosen
28 – How to Walk Beside Someone in Service
29-Are You Wiling to Move Beyond Your Comfort Zone?

The Reward is in the Journey

February 25, 2016 By Cara Lumen

There’ll never be another moment that will not be “now.” So why do we spend so much time planning and thinking ahead? The reward is here and now, in this moment. The reward is in the journey itself, not the destination.

The reward is in learning something new

When I think of the joy I feel when I take a new step, when I learn something today that I didn’t know yesterday, I understand why the reward is in the journey. I now spend 20 minutes of every day studying – taking a tutorial to learn a new program, going on TED to find insights I hadn’t considered before. Learning is a major rewarding part of our journey.

The reward is in how you change yourself

No one wants to go back to be who they were in an earlier year. Maybe we wouldn’t mind being a little more toned and flexible, but we’ve moved past those earlier points in our lives. We’ve changed with the lessons we learned. Our reward is in being wiser and more aware.

The reward is in new insights you have gained

I’m on a compelling journey to understand the meaning of life and how I fit in and what I can do to live more meaningfully. It’s a constant focus. And each day brings a new insight, a deeper understanding, a new idea on how to apply that concept to my life. How exciting it is to gain a new viewpoint! That’s part of what makes the journey so rewarding.

The reward is in the next step you take

Each step brings a new view. A turn of your head, a lifting of your eyes and a wondrous new vista opens up before you. Each step opens up new doors, brings you face to face with new friends, makes you feel good about your steady progress. Notice the next step you take and appreciate your progress and your new viewpoint.

The reward is in new experiences

If you don’t move along your journey, you won’t have an adventure or interesting new experiences. Notice the new experiences each day brings. It may be in the ever-changing sunset or the social birds at your bird feeder. It may be an email from a friend you haven’t connected with for a while, or a new dish you concoct for yourself. Enjoy and cherish the new experiences you have along your journey.

The reward is in new friendships

When you reach out, you meet new people. When you share yourself, you make new friends. Reach out to the people who change your life. Email them even if you don’t know them. Thank them for the gifts they’ve given you. Do something thoughtful for the people around you who are easy to take for granted. Gratitude is powerful. Spread some around and reap the reward and pleasure of the responses you receive.

The reward is right now, in this moment

When you live in the moment, you do exactly the right thing for that moment in time. When you’re aware of how you feel in each moment, your responses and your choices become more authentic, more aligned with where you need and want to go. Do what your inner voice says. Follow your intuition. Express your authentic self. Share your soul

Don’t look further than right now. The reward is in the journey.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:
30 – The No Plan Plan
Unleash The Power of Your Passion and Calling
27 – Why Have You Been Chosen
How to Walk Beside Someone in Service
How to Plan in Unfolding Cycles
We Are Part of a Larger Spiritual Order
You Are All-That-Is
I Am You
Return to the Simplicity of The Uncarved Block
What is Your Truth?

Come Sing a Deeper Song

If You Are A Rock –Who Supports You?

May 21, 2015 By Cara Lumen

“We are both rocks,” my friend said as we were walking in New York City’s Central Park, “People depend on us.” I thought a moment and asked. “If we are rocks, who do we depend on?” “Other rocks,” she replied. If you are a rock, where do you find the rocks you stand on?

What do rocks need?

”Rock” is a tough metaphor. Rocks stand at the top of the mountain, until the earth shakes and they tumble down. Rocks hold steady the banks of a stream. Some rocks line the bottom of rivers during floods or dry spells or they act as stepping stones across a stream. Rocks line paths. They are used to make walls, and even houses. Rocks are steady. They are self-sufficient. They are sturdy. Oh, and sometimes they are shiny and have a very high value! But most of all rocks are strong, resourceful, and manage on their own. So what does a self-sufficient rock need? What you need?

Rocks may be self-focused

I’m not very fond of the idea that we may be self-focused, but if you are the only one taking care of you, you better be paying attention to you – what you need and want, what you say and do. You are the only person monitoring you. You are the only one making your own choices.

Rocks are strong and steady – not stubborn

Well, maybe a few rocks are stubborn, but if we’re the ones people depend on, we need to be clear about what we value and what we stand for. We must have the courage to go exploring. We are observant, and usually have a plan…

Rocks support others

Here-in lies the crux – if we support others, who supports us – how do we get support? How much support do we need?

We figure it out for ourselves

Rocks are not in the habit of asking for help, or opinions, or guidance. We simply figure it out for ourselves. That means we are curious, we think things out, we are philosophers and we see the overview. As far as I have experienced, we are on our own. I don’t find that sad, it is simply the way it is. As rocks, we have to learn to nurture ourselves.

Are you taking care of yourself?

As an older rock, I’m a bit worn in places and I need some extra care. I do that though eating a plant-based diet and continuing to find forms of exercise that I can still do that strengthen and add flexibility. I am very active creatively and that offers me deep nourishment. What are you doing to nurture yourself as a rock?

Are you in the right landscape?

The most meaningful change I’ve made as an older rock is to change tribes. I went online to find vibrant, curious, motivated people with whom to exchange ideas. I am both supported and nourished there. As your interests change, see how you need to change tribes or simply replace some no longer supportive members of your tribe.

Self-awareness is the key to nurturing a rock

The major way I nourish myself as a rock is through self-awareness. It took a major outside nudge to get me out of a retirement mind-set back into an active and contributing place of service. It took me awhile to figure out I needed to change tribes. Look for the on-going changes in your cycle, the shifts in your position. A small pebble that dislodges may send you on a wonderful ride down the mountain. If you want to be free, find that pebble and nudge it. If you’d rather stay where you are, take care of that pebble holding you in place.

Appreciate yourself

Rocks have to love themselves. They have to love themselves hard enough and deep enough to actually feel it. How do you acknowledge yourself? How do others acknowledge you? What kind of impact are you having in the world around you? Does someone come sit in your shade, or take shelter from a storm beneath your overhang, or sun herself on your surface? A rock is in service many ways. Perhaps you just need to notice how you serve.

Support other rocks

Now that you know you are a rock, keep an eye out for other rocks and see how you can support them. Acknowledgement may be enough. A helping hand may be in order. Encouragement is always welcome.

We are cared for when we are in service

Rocks need to be good, strong, supportive rocks. If that is your calling, be the best rock you can be. When you know you are doing well in your job as a rock, that is sometimes nourishment enough.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:

02– The Hole In Our Life Called Loneliness (Podcast 20 minutes)

03- Planting Roots and the Fundamental Need for Security (Podcast 20 minutes)

04–How to Redefine Yourself and the 30 year plan (Podcast 20 minutes)

05-Do You Have the Courage to Stand Alone (Podcast 20 minutes)

Do You Know How Much You Have Going For You?

Believe The Road Beneath You

Make Your Own Yellow Brick Road

How to Fill the Hole of Loneliness

We Must Know When To Go It Alone.

Where Do You Get Your Feelings of Self-Worth?

How To Set Values Boundaries That Express Your Self Love