About two years ago I decided to do something I’ve always wanted to do…SkyDive. (Well…..strapped to someone who knows what they’re doing.) It was exhilarating! Fantastic! Mind-blowing! This was my controlled risk I wanted to take challenging every norm I’ve lived with my entire life. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.

You see, at the time my world was crumbling out from under me. I felt like Humpty Dumpty. I had abandoned my career to save my marriage (that ended up in divorce), I moved, I went through a total upheaval. I realized that I had to sift through the rubble to find what was left of me, pick up some pieces to try and redefine who I was, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I knew I was in for a rocky road ahead, so I chose skydiving as a personal challenge to push myself beyond all my comfort zones. The way I figured it? If I can have enough courage, faith, and trust to jump out of a plane (without training, skill, or aptitude), what else could I do?

Willy Ley, in The Race For Space, said, “The point to remember is that a giant leap into space can be a giant leap toward peace down below.” Although Ley’s quote was an obvious reference to space exploration, I knew when I read it what I must do. My leap out of a plane was my giant leap towards peace in my own life here below.

Skydiving taught me about change, fear, and what your body and soul does when life comes at you hard. I remember the moment they opened the hatch on the airplane. There was this automatic survival safety switch thrown in me that said, “Oh my gosh! There’s an opening in the airplane! Cling to your seat!”

The irony is, in my head I knew I wanted to jump. I had signed up for it, paid for it, signed the waivers, had my parachute, and even had my tandem instructor by me the entire time. I had done the work, knew that’s what I came to do, but my body was on autopilot. And it wasn’t moving.

But then I got the courage to get to the edge.

Look, today’s climate of change in the world will make you want to cling to your seat and grab the “Oh Shit!” bars. It doesn’t matter that intellectually we understand we have to keep moving forward. We didn’t just forget that sometimes things don’t work out as planned. We know we have to adjust. But when the hatch flies wide open, it’s easy to just stay where you are even though you know you have everything within you to still keep moving forward with purpose.

So just be aware. Eventually, once you catch your breath and get comfortable knowing you’re just having an automatic reaction that is totally normal, you may eventually have the courage to walk to the edge and take a step into the exhilarating life you were meant to live.

Remember, you don’t have to jump out of a plane to awaken to your own life. Taking a leap includes anything that shakes your blood and get you moving towards the life you want. It could be as simple as submitting an article to a magazine, changing your hairstyle, volunteering for a cause, or enrolling in a class.

So get ready. Fear is part of the factor. What leap have you been suppressing or what leap will move you in the right direction? Are you ready? Maybe so. Maybe not. But all you have to do is take one small step…or go ahead and take one giant leap.

“We are very near to greatness: one step and we are safe. Can we not take the leap.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

[pash-uh-nit]

–adjective

1. having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid.
2. ardently sensual.
3. expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; emotional.
4. intense or vehement, as emotions or feelings.
5. easily moved to anger; quick-tempered; irascible.

“Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.”
- Christian Friedrich Hebbel

passionate. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/passionate (accessed: October 20, 2008).

[ri-zil-yuh nt]

adj.

1. springing back; rebounding.
2. returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, or stretched.
3. recovering readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyant.
4. Marked by the ability to recover readily, as from misfortune.

“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”

- Bruce Lee

Source: resilient. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/resilient (accessed: September 15, 2008).

While life flies by, it’s easy to get caught up in the to do lists, the schedules, the hectic lives we all lead.

We text while we talk, we surf while we watch TV, and we talk while we drive. We have videos playing in cars, we have iPods for planes, and we have books for trains while music plays in our ears. Our laptops keep us company while in a coffee shop alone. And before we know it, our minds don’t ever have to wonder what shape the clouds morphed into or see that a new flower just bloomed in season. We’re busy. We are busy, busy people!

So much of our time is spent zoning out, chilling out, getting things done. And listen, it’s not just because of technology. It’s really always been this way.

One of my all-time favorite plays (and honestly one of the reasons for creating this site) is Our Town by Thorton Wilder. It’s set in a quiet rural town from 1901 to 1913 – long before technology ever had an effect on life. The play has this expressive scene where the main character Emily, after passing away, is granted one more day to revisit. She’s warned not to pick too special of a day, that would just be too painful to bear, but just pick an ordinary day.

After reliving a part of her 12th birthday, she really can’t take it anymore. She is heartbroken after reliving ordinary moments like waking and coming down for breakfast. She says in this all important monologue,
“Oh, Mama, just look at me one minute as though you really saw me!”

Suddenly, she turns and says, “I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another. ”

Among her saying goodbye to earth, she bids farewell to ticking clocks, sunflowers, food and coffee, new ironed dresses, hot baths, sleeping and waking and finally sobs saying, “Oh earth, you’re just too wonderful for anyone to realize you!”

We spend our days not really looking at one another – seeing one another. Sure we have moments where we can focus and not multi-task, but, are we really paying attention? Do we pay attention to the clerk who bags our groceries, or the person who seats us at our table? Do we pay attention to those we love…to the things we love? Do we really focus on our conversations with one another or let small ordinary moments, and things, and people pass us by?

Love.
Pay attention.

Because hey, as Matthew Broderick says in Ferris Buehler’s Day Off (1986), “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”

Tim Russert was no head of state. He was never elected into office, he wasn’t a president of a large corporation, founder of an organization, leader of a nation, movie or rock star.
Yet with his passing, he has been mourned by media, politicians, business leaders, and common folk like you and me….for days now.

Shows have been dedicated to him, anchors have teared up over him as I’ve sat with my own box of tissue and bawled over a man I felt so connected to yet never known. The selfish side of me mourns that my son will not grow up learning politics through Meet The Press and more importantly how to ask the tough questions, know how to push when needed, and let it go when appropriate.

You see, I watched Meet The Press every Sunday like many watch a fight: on the edge of my chair, yelling at the TV (for him to ask the question), and when he did make his move (or called someone out using their own quote – because Tim always did his research and was prepared) I would shout and pump my fist because he just knocked. them. out.

Left now to wonder, who will EVER be able to take his place or simply take over the show, I am amazed at the tributes still continuing even today for Tim Russert.

Never before have I seen such an outpouring of love and affection, respect and admiration for someone that was so uncommonly common yet nothing like anyone I’ve known personally. He was powerful yet humble, brilliant yet down to earth, loved yet feared, unrelenting yet giving…this man, this great man, has astounded me with how authentic he really was true in his paradoxical contradictions. And it’s proven with every interview of people who knew him and loved him.

David Gregory, Sunday, on The Today Show said this:
“It is said that someone is wise not if he knows the answer but if he knows how to ask the question. As unfair as it is, this Sunday morning, Tim is silent. So we are left to do the probing, to examine why he was so loved, so loving, so sharp, so uniquely capable of walking with the kings and yet retaining the common touch.

A friend of mine has written that through death we realize that our mortality is always in the background giving vividness and urgency to our days.

Tim would tell us all to ‘go get’em’ and we will do that now with even more purpose because the big guy lead the way as the moderator of all moderators, as a mentor, and as a man.”

For all that we the people say about him, it will never be enough. And so in my weak attempt to be wise, I ask: Do we live our lives the same way Tim Russert did? In the same way?

Do we remain loving, open-hearted, authentic, true, loyal, always learning, always giving, standing for something, professional, unrelenting in the pursuit of fairness and justice and truth for ourselves and for others? Do we do our homework and do it well? Do we look for both sides of the story? Do we remain humble no matter what success comes our way? Do we help others along the way?

If for no other reason, we can look at the life of this man and use it as an example of someone who really got it. He knew how to live. He extracted every bit of life in his short 58 years which will never be enough for all of us, but were mighty packed for him.

Yes, I think Tim Russert would tell us to “go get’em” as in GO GET LIFE. Live for your today’s, tomorrow’s, and honor your past. Live with an open heart, always look for what you CAN do, and love freely, honestly, and magnificently.

In the end, if we’re lucky, we might have half as many people honoring us as he did – or yet, the people who matter most to us.

Go Get’em!

Always in Honor of Tim Russert, 1950 – 2008

(Live the dash! Make Every Day A Holiday.)

I’ve somehow managed to get lost in what I have to do, what’s going on in my life, and what’s coming up….thoughts, that is. And while I love thinking and dreaming and hoping and solving, I miss out sometimes on what is going on right in front of me.

I can’t turn my back on life anymore! I want to embrace it all: the traffic, the colors of the cars whooshing by me, the flowers blooming on the side of the road, the café I’ve never noticed before. Paying attention and being curious about the world where I live is an awesome and exciting feeling. And, in a way, it calms me….soothes me. It makes me feel as if I’m growing into the ground and not just passing by. Plus, it gives me great conversation topics at dinner or during drive time with my son.

Don’t numb out. Save thinking for moments you can really pay attention to the thought. Be curious about your world. It’s a beautiful thing out there. Notice people and things passing you by. Tip your hat to life’s dull moments; laugh out loud at the person picking his nose at the stop light. Because YOU were paying attention, thank goodness that person wasn’t YOU.

“Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

When you love someone and you see them hurting, it’s tough to stand by and watch. You want to fix it. You want to come to their aid, by their side, and fix the situation or sometimes, try even to fix them.

I want to challenge you to try something.

Simply remind them.

Remind them of who you know they are on the inside. Remind them of the gifts, qualities and strengths you have always admired in them. Remind them of a situation you’ve seen them go through before and solved on their own. Remind them of the knowledge they possess inside and the abilities they have to overcome anything – a situation, a doubt, a problem, or anything they might think of themselves.

Remind them you are on their side.
Remind them you love them.
Remind them that you believe in them.

The most compassionate love is when you can remind those you love of the person you know them to be. There is no need to tell untruths or pump someone up with exclamations of power or grandiosity. That may feel right in the moment for you but when you are the one hurting, all of that seems like a band-aid of sorts that may not feel quite like it fits right over the wound.

It is hard not to go into fix-it mode. But with kindness, compassion, and generosity of spirit you can truly mend a broken heart with your love. Not with hope or hype… but with truth, honesty and certainty.

And that is the truest form of love we could ever know.

Remind them.

“To love a person is to learn the song in their heart and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.”

-Thomas Chandler

- Og Mandino

He let the paint be what it is and do what it does. He not only accepted how paint splatters and globs, runs and pours, he adored the way it moved and danced across the canvas. He played with it. He called it “action painting” and dribbled and drizzled it saying, “The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.”

Usually artists, like some of us in our everyday lives, try to control the outcome. We pause, we plan, we are careful, we are cautious – making sure that we get things juuuuust right. The end result of being so careful causes worry, dread, self-doubt, fear, loathing, procrastination, and stress.

It really seems so counter-intuitive. I mean, can we really control what people are? We can definitely have an effect, but in the end sometimes accepting what situations, circumstances, people, things are is really the beauty of all of it.

I love how Pollock really worked with what he had in a natural way. I learn from him. I admire him. I’m too much of a perfectionist. I need things to be just so. I am learning to breathe and let go: let things do what they need to do, let them dance, evolve naturally, and love them dearly for it. In the end, I will have my own masterpiece called life.

Copyright © 2008 by Kelley Taylor

Have fun! See: http://makeeverydayaholiday.com/to-do/to-do-make-your-own-jackson-pollock-art/