I often ask myself, "What really matters in my life?"
Here's a story for you...
When I was in college at Brandeis University, getting my Bachelor's in Sociology, I took a class called Sociology of Birth + Death.
We meditated in class, in a round room, practiced eye-gazing, + by the second semester of my sophomore year, I was asked to TA the class! ;)
I experienced such a profound transformation in that class, that I gave a box of books I had read to my best friend from high school, Dana. "These books changed my life!" I said.
One of the books was A Year to Live, by Stephen Levine. Stephen is a practicing Buddhist, + he asked us to live our lives in the present moment, as if everything mattered, + this is all we have.
What would we do if we only had a year to live?
When I graduated from Brandeis, I could have applied for prestigious jobs, but instead I worked at a Cooperative Summer Camp for Peace, + worked with Teens. Then I lived on an Ecovillage in Missouri, + worked at a Unitarian Retreat Center in Western Massachusetts.
I wanted to live my life like I had no time to waste. My parents started receiving letters from me, that sophomore year. Telling them how much I loved them. I practiced forgiveness + got in touch with various people from my life.
I took my first yoga class + went to my first meditation retreat. I studied abroad in India + wrote my research paper on a commune (living in a treehouse for a month, in India!).
I was determined to give life all that I had + live all my dreams, + definitely not get caught in the "system."
What would you do if you had a Year to Live your Passions, Dreams, + Full Self-Expression?
I invite you to write it out, + choose a "Micromovement" + incorporate this Action Step into your life. Or... maybe it's time to take a Leap.
With Gentle Love, Eye-Gazing, + a Big Push,
xo
Debra.