“I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.” Henry Moore
Blog
The Holiday Secret Sauce
I’ve written before about being Jewish and why I love Christmas. This past Saturday, when I went to yoga for the first time in awhile, I heard something from the teacher’s dharma talk that gave me new insight into the ‘Secret Sauce’ that makes the holiday season so special.
This may seem obvious, but stay with me. The Secret Sauce is wonder. Yes, wonder! 
Obvious in some ways: Kids remind us of the bright-eyed innocence we once possessed, the lights and sights (New York City at Christmastime, a snow covered field) and the glitter and majesty of gifts, parties, and religious rites.
But it’s more than that. Wonder is a state of full presence. It’s a state of connection to our greatest capacity for love and compassion.
As Jesse Prinz, a professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, said, we might feel a physical sensation like the swelling of our heart when we are in a state of wonder. Cognitively, we cannot connect what we are experiencing to something we already know or it wouldn’t be wonder.
Even if we’ve seen something before, if we feel wonder, we are seeing it in a new way or as if we were seeing it for the first time. We might even gasp and utter the word “Wow!” as we process what we see and feel.
The heightened expectation, even in the face of an event we anticipate annually, puts us in a state of wonder. For there to be wonder, there must be a lack of certainty. We can’t be ‘in’ wonder if we know what is going to happen.
It’s like my yoga class itself. I go to class with a reasonable expectation of what will transpire. We’ll sit on our mats, wait for the teacher to begin, spend some time centering and reflecting, warm up our bodies, then move in to increasingly difficult movements until we hit a high point and start slowing down.
Finally, we get to stretch and then lie down in savasana (dead man’s pose—my favorite —who doesn’t love lying down to nap while exercising!?) I know what’s going to happen. But I don’t really .
I have to be fully in the present to be in the poses. The endorphins kick in as the work gets harder. Fully present to breath and movement, and soon, I’m in wonder.
Wonder at the simplicity that is also difficult and the collective breath that moves the whole room to a place of greeting the divine within us and each other (although late comers to class asking me to move my mat so they can find a place pisses me the hell off—divine evolution is clearly a work in progress!)
Consider this, if you will. We do this thing called the holidays every year. We basically know what to expect and yet it induces wonder. We must surrender a lot of ‘reality’ to feel the magic.
This can also be a sad time of year for so many. If the ‘secret sauce’ is wonder and not dependent on family (which most people complain about anyway!), can we create that magic for ourselves? How do we take a melancholy time and turn it into wonder?
As I said, it requires surrendering reality and getting in touch with the love, the discovery, the newness of right now whether it’s fully desirable or not. It’s not easy but it is in our sphere of influence.
As we enter the final days of this year, consider how you could launch in to 2016 with wonder and do things differently than you’ve ever done before? How might you change things up to allow a state of wonder to guide you?
Ponder that with a hot chocolate or hot toddy. I’ll see you on the other side of the holiday season.
Today’s Quote: Change Your Thinking
“You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” Albert Einstein
Tinkering isn’t Only for Elves
Like the elves at Santa’s workshop, this young woman turned her tinkering into “toys” that spark the creativity in others. The side passion that energized her as she slogged through her master’s thesis, drew the attention of her classmates who wanted to learn how they could make their own creations. In less than a decade, she has a multi-million dollar business developing kits and training for do-it-your-selfers who love to make cool stuff.
Today’s Quote: You Control Your Direction
“The direction of your focus is the direction your life will move. Let yourself move toward what is good, valuable, strong and true.” Ralph Marston
Purpose is Practical
By Ginny Kravitz, Now What?® Facilitator
To the Mountaintop and Back
Who am I? Why am I here? Whether it’s for you personally or in an organizational context, identifying your core purpose can have a profound and lasting impact.
When I guide
someone through the process of discovering his/her purpose, I describe it this way: We’re going to the mountaintop and back.
It’s “to the mountaintop” because it feels lofty to consider the big P-word and it does require a higher vantage point.
While there is much to say about how best to explore those mountaintop questions, today it’s the “and back” part that I’d like to address because the real value is what purpose does for you once you return from that metaphorical mountaintop and are walking around in real life.
Three Things Happen
Once you acknowledge your purpose, you can expect three things to happen rather quickly:
#1) Decisions are clarified. Even before you decipher the larger questions such as your next career move or direction to take in life, you can start using your purpose to make everyday decisions.
When my client, Catina, realized her purpose is: to stimulate growth, I supplied her with the following list of questions to use throughout the day – at work, parenting, or anytime:
Which decision or course of action will stimulate growth? What can I nurture today (in myself or others whom I encounter)? What supports growth here? What inspires me to grow? What would bring new life to this situation, project, or conversation?
It’s been over five years now and Catina says that her purpose continues to influence her choices – sometimes in surprising ways – and has led her to challenge herself and accomplish things, both in her personal life (running her first marathon, teaching dance to children), as well as in her career as a Business Intelligence professional.
#2) Communication is amplified. As the themes that comprise your purpose start to gel, you’ll find that they pop up in your conversations: as you share ideas at work, deliver presentations, update your resume, or summarize the why-you on a job interview or sales call.
How you communicate your point of view gets a big boost. Instead of limiting yourself to job description bullet points, you start articulating the difference you care about making. And it’s not tag line snazzy or slick – it is simply and authentically you.
Communicating your purpose helps people see you. Tina, a Project Management Professional, recently accepted a new job within her company. As she explored various positions and submitted her applications, Tina incorporated language that conveyed her unique perspective.
When the hiring manager who is now her new boss initially interviewed Tina, this is the feedback she gave: Your resume leapt off the page in a sea of resumes. It created a clear image of who you are and what you value. It was compelling. I didn’t just want to interview you… I wanted to meet you.
#3) Motivation is fortified. The third thing that happens once you identify your core purpose is that you now have direct access to a powerful source of motivation. The work involved feels worthy when the through-line to purpose is there.
Purpose is your touchstone and the reminder of who you are and aspire to be. It clarifies, aligns, decides, communicates, and motivates. Connecting with it feels good and brings joy.
Purposeful & Practical
Whether you have a definite sense of purpose or are at the clue-collecting stage, allow what you know about your purpose to influence how you move around in the world.
Call To Action:
- What are the themes that appear to be part of your purpose? Insert them into the questions that I shared with Catina (see #1 above) and use them to guide your decisions.
- Reinforce the times when you feel connected to your purpose. Before bed, review the day in your mind and note when you acted from your purpose in ways large or small.
Seeking your purpose is a worthy endeavor. It might feel a bit abstract or lofty to consider, but it is actually extremely practical.