One Book A Moon: Recent Episodes
Maya Lila di Vento
An End to Upside Down Living by Mark Gober
The Joy Diet by Martha Beck
The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden
It’s the last podcast of the year! And maybe ever?! I haven’t decided how I want to move forward with the podcast in 2021. My focus has definitely shifted elsewhere in life, and my main priority now is completing the KINDRÊD meditation teacher training. I’m also feeling called to start writing again; picking back up on the book I started writing in 2019, and/or blogging once more.
THANK YOU for joining me on this journey this year. Here’s to diving into the wonderful unknown of 2021 with courage and glee!
I’m so off track! Just gonna post this with no extensive notes cuz I’ve been sitting on this episode for a week or two.
An End To Upside Down Living by Mark Gober is our current read!
Hello loves!
You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and on Spotify!
This episode I’m joined by my friend Eric Nielson, an Inner compass coach and relationship alchemist. We chat about intuition and life adventures (including octopi and volcanos and GREECE!).
Our animal card is Shark medicine: fear, death, and sensitivity.
And our book is Alchemy by Paul Selig, which I am nowhere near finishing…
I mentioned a few of my favorite things at the moment, Nula family bonding rituals and KINDRED meditation.
Eric’s website
Eric’s instagram
This lunar cycle we’ll be diving into the book Alchemy by Paul Selig!
“As you say yes to the who and what you are — “I am a Divine Self, I am in form as the Divine Self” — you go to agreement in a higher octave that can summon forth the inherent Divine by nature of being.”
— Paul Selig, Alchemy
Paul channels the Guides, who are here to remind us: YOU ARE DIVINE. You are not separate from god. AND, you are not god to the exclusion of anything or anyone else! I really appreciated that bit of insight as it made me realize how to discuss this topic with those who feel claiming divinity is somehow egotistic.
Our Animal Medicine Oracle Card is Dragonfly: Magic, beauty, periods of activity and stillness…
And here are a few photos of Pennington Farm, where I recorded the first half of the podcast while on lunch break. It’s an awesome local bakery and cafe with delectable goodies (I love their pear turnovers, chicken pot pies, molasses ginger cookies… NOM)
Hello there! This is the second episode on The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible by Charles Eisenstein, SUCH AN AMAZING BOOK! I hope you read it.
- The Awakening Arts Academy and Dana Lynne Andersen
- Animal Oracle Card: AIR - Though, Alignment, Breath, Intention. Air is Unifying! “Air comes to you know with an invitation to open yourself to such a wave of energy and inspiration in your life — by taking conscious responsibility for your thoughts as the creative architecture of your world.” “Spirit of Air! Purify my thoughts and intentions To inspire the pathway of my highest visions. I am One with the breath of life.” What will you breathe into being?
- Disrupt the existing stories of the world
- Your intuitions and visions are REAL
- And more!
This month’s book: The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible by Charles Eisenstein
The Coronation article
Wondergirl Astrology
Chani Nicholas Astrology
My new favorite thing: KINDRED meditation: GENERATE JOY AND SHARE IT!
Animal for this next moon phase: PANDA BEAR: I am a beacon of harmony and peace. I experience my life with joy, grace and ease.
Part 2 of An End to Upside Down Thinking by Mark Gober. I love this book so much.
- Rogue scientists and decades of research on the paranormal/anomalistic.
- Use of remote view to solve crimes by US police department.
- “…We should acknowledge that the topics discussed in this book are multidisciplinary. Think about how many different areas of science have been covered: physics, neuroscience, cardiology, biology, chemistry, etc. Herein lies a serious problem in science: scientists specialize in their areas of expertise and are often uncomfortable or unfamiliar with subject matter outside of those areas… It is therefore possible that the lack of interdisciplinary integration has led to significant oversights in science… Many prominent scientists simply aren’t taking the time to look at the data… The don’t want to spend their time on something they deem impossible.”
- “Isn’t that what science is all about: refining our theories when we learn of new data? We know how little we know. We know, for example, that 96 percent of the universe is made of hypothetical “dark matter” and “dark energy.” We should expect that our theories will change, given how little we know. Therefore, we should be open the to possibility of new ideas. That’s not to say we should accept every theory we come across, but we should be open to scientifically exploring new ideas.”
- Near Death Experiencers (NDEr’s) report similar experiences WORLDWIDE, across cultures. These things happen while the brain is dead, off, and the experiences are verifiable.
- “The suggest that a primary reason for living is to learn and to evolve consciousness. In the life review, the NDEr reviews his life from his perspective and from the perspective of those he affected in his life, all while judging himself — as if to learn to do better next time — and ultimately working toward a state of unconditional love… This notion makes the physical body seem like a temporary conduit or vessel for broader consciousness. Each individual’s body is then the lens through with the broader consciousness has a particular experience in a physical form. And when the physical experience is over (what we call “death”), consciousness can enter another physical vehicle for a different learning experience. If we are truly entangled as “one mind,” then the learning experienced by each individual’s consciousness is simply a piece of the broader learning and evolution of a universal, collective, “one” consciousness." …
- A Nobel Peace Prize laureate states his beliefs around reincarnation
- Materialism is wrong. “If consciousness is fundamental, then life has to be viewed in a more meaningful light since some part of us doesn’t die.”
- The politics of science — how scientists are punished for exploring topics outside the realm of the accepted narrative.
- The trickiness of consciousness, god, and science. Maybe science is afraid of consciousness because it’s too close to god.
- Science has become religion (said Einstein).
- Mark Gober’s new book An End to Upside Down Living
- Kindred Meditation
- HUG A TREE. Set a time for 5 minutes. You will feel something. (Ask the tree first).
- Animal medicine card: KOALA - Calm, Perspective, Imagination, Ease. Stillness, Beingness, Softness, Strength.
- Koala Affirmation: “I breathe deep with a warm smile and relax into the arms of the great Tree of Life. I feel peace, calm and new possibility. I bring this wherever I go.”
- Katya’s Matriarch Collective and her Instagram account @nurturingnovas.
Happy New Moon Leo!
- Wondergirl Astrology says we’re getting our mojo back with this new moon!
- What do you love to do?! LET’S DO IT!
- The Secret Language of Animals Card reading: Red Squirrel - Resourcefulness, Vigilance, Preparation, Busy-ness
- “With discipline and focus I build my plan… honoring the integrity of my vision. With humility and openness I release the “how”… trusting the flow of Great Spirit within.”
- An End to Upside Down Thinking by Mark Gober
- The Where Is My Mind? Podcast
- A bridge of science and spirituality
- The lie of objectivity in science
- The scientific evidence for Remote Viewing, Telepathy, Precognition, Psychic Abilities, Psychokenisis, Near Death Experiences, Communication with the Deceased, and Children’s Verifiable Past Life Memories
- Consciousness at the base of everything, not matter
- Nothing about a brain suggests that it harbors consciousness
- Einstein says science is a religion
- Materialism is not grounded in experience
- The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible by Charles Eisenstein
Come join me on a hike on a beautiful summer Sunday in Southern Oregon!
This week we continue diving into Of Water and the Spirit, an incredible recounting of a westernized African man’s initiation into the esoteric knowledge of his tribe.
I also touch on women’s bodies and lunar cycles, the beauty of cycles and death, the initiation process into adulthood and unity consciousness.
And Coronavirus in the homeless populations and the power of Vitamin D as presented by Radiolab. Listen here on youtube!
How has this book transformed my life?
The secret knowledge of indigenous peoples passed initiates…
The Kogi tribe of Columbia on Wiki and the beautiful documentary about them…
Vipassana meditation..
And GET OUT IN NATURE!
From Wiki: “At age four, Somé was abducted from his people, the Dagara by a missionary, and taken to a boarding school where he was inflicted with a Western education. Somé endured sixteen years of physical and emotional abuse by the priests, but he left the school when he was twenty to return to the village of his birth. Upon his return, integration into his traditional tribal religion and customs was difficult, due to his long absence from his culture and his apparent indoctrination into Christianity and a "white man's world". Elders from the village believed that Somé's ancestral spirit had withdrawn from his body and that he had already undergone a type of rite of passage into manhood in the white world. Despite this, they agreed to let him undergo a belated manhood rite with a younger group in the tribe. Having been raised outside of the culture and not speaking the language made the month-long, baor process, believed to unite soul and body, more dangerous for him than for the culturally-Dagara youths also undergoing the rite.Somé writes that each person is born with a destiny, and he or she is given a name that reflects that destiny. Somé says his name, Malidoma, means "friend of the enemy/stranger." Somé believes it is his destiny to come to Western audiences and promote an understanding between Western and African cultures.”
- Full moon and lunar eclipse!
- One of my favorite (external) intuitive voices right now: Aaron Rose
- Our book this cycle is Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some
- Spiritual Names! My story (Maya Lila = the game of god playing human)
- The story of hypnotherapist Spectra Ma’at Amunari’s name
- The resonance (or lack thereof) of names
- Colonization of places and minds
- Egypt was originally called KMT, which means Black
- Egypt is African, not separate
- Why be named after someone who enslaved one’s ancestors?
- The breakdown of the Kemetic meanings
- Standing in one’s power to choose their name
- The power of words
- A few interesting stories from Mutant Message from Down Under
- Name change as initiation
- Celebrity name changes, pen names
- Personal initiation into womanhood
- The challenges of coming into your power
More from Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some
In this episode I’ll be speaking with Spectra Amunari, a hypnotherapist who specializes in past life regressions (among other things like smoking cessation). We recorded this interview a few weeks ago when race hadn’t come to the forefront of everyone’s attention, but Spectra is spectrum of ethnicities and a woman of color; her father from the Bolanta tribe of Africa (Bolanta means "to Resist") and her mother is Italian, Czeck and French. Spectra shares a fascinating past life story of one of her clients and will reveal our new book in the interview!
IN THE INTRO:
- A Superpower new moon — total solar eclipse on the solstice!
- Huge foundational shifts we’ve been trying to get our lives on over the past few years
- Wondergirl Astrology video — your soul is your compass!
- Unity vs division
- Your truth vs the illusion/manipulation of media
- LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION!
- What is the foundation of your life?
- What direction do you want to move in?
- Have faith and go with the flow
- Carve out a sacred space for what you most care about to flourish.
- What do you care about the most?
- Where does you heart and soul lead you?
- Where is your new life headed?
- FOCUS not on the past but on the future.
IN THE INTERVIEW:
- How Spectra found her calling to hypnotherapy - following the nudges.
- You don’t have to remember all the traumatic details or recount them to heal — hypnosis accesses the unconscious mind
- Brain wave states — waking up state, delta, theta
- Client past life story
- Not everyone is Cleopatra
- The hypnotherapy process
- The self-doubt of the subconscious mind
- A past life story: the woman with IBS and claustrophobia died of starvation in a closet in in a country she later discovered was part of her DNA
- Individual processing of past life trauma
- Using the elements to clear energies and emotions
- The woman’s IBS cleared up after her session and claustrophobia lessened
- Most of our decisions come through our childhood filters
- All behaviors are learned adn can be unlearned.
- Our book this moon cycle: Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma (his name means be friends with a stranger or enemy; he was taken from his African tribe at age four and forced to live in a seminary and become a Catholic priest.
- The 51st parallel, migrants from African getting trapped in the North during the ice age, brutishness and PHYSICAL LACK led to the patriarchal punishing male god and
- Vikings and Druids and ties to Egypt
- Living his name’s purpose and being a bridge between white and black worlds
- Ancient understandings of astral travel and atomic structures
- Shamanic initiation by illness, near death experiences
- The story of an American going to visit her Mexican ancestral village and seeing the drawbacks of a community getting washing machines
- The lessons of travel and experiencing happy, friendly cultures
- Cultural differences -- knowing people your entire life vs moving around
- Does every technological invention have a negative drawback?
Our book: Of Water and The Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some
From Wiki: “At age four, Somé was abducted from his people, the Dagara by a missionary, and taken to a boarding school where he was inflicted with a Western education. Somé endured sixteen years of physical and emotional abuse by the priests, but he left the school when he was twenty to return to the village of his birth. Upon his return, integration into his traditional tribal religion and customs was difficult, due to his long absence from his culture and his apparent indoctrination into Christianity and a "white man's world". Elders from the village believed that Somé's ancestral spirit had withdrawn from his body and that he had already undergone a type of rite of passage into manhood in the white world. Despite this, they agreed to let him undergo a belated manhood rite with a younger group in the tribe. Having been raised outside of the culture and not speaking the language made the month-long, baor process, believed to unite soul and body, more dangerous for him than for the culturally-Dagara youths also undergoing the rite.Somé writes that each person is born with a destiny, and he or she is given a name that reflects that destiny. Somé says his name, Malidoma, means "friend of the enemy/stranger." Somé believes it is his destiny to come to Western audiences and promote an understanding between Western and African cultures.”
LINKS:
Spectra’s Hypnotherapy Website
You Were Born Again to Be Together
Hypnosis Motivation Institute
Bernie Soon (Specializing in EMDR & Somatic Experiencing)
This Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse brings us further into the poetry of Mary Oliver.
Poems are potent, packed with punch in a little package!
Poetry is a primer for wonder and joy, so you can draw deep from the well that feeds your soul.
The magic of the ordinary.
Why are we here?? To experience beauty and wonder? To create? To be a confused human?!
The game of divine amnesia, of god playing human.
You can find us on Apple Podcasts — please subscribe and review, it helps others find us! — and you can also stream on Spotify.
Shoot me an email at onebookamoon@gmail.com to recommend a book and look us up on Facebook to join our Facebook group.
Full moon: completion, finishing
Lunar eclipse: BIG THINGS we’re trying to finish end clear up
From Mystic Mama:
FULL MOON Lunar ECLIPSE in Sagittarius
“Current Gemini energies continue to reflect and communicate the reality that we all experience life through different fractals.
Our collective lens has focalized the experience of our black brothers, sisters and relatives that continue to be subjected to racism rooted in white supremacy and abuse that has been systematically allowed to perpetuate.
Our expanding realizations are transforming into bridges of solidarity and action calls to the ways we can each proactively participate in the active dismantling of the oppressive systems that we consciously or unconsciously maintain.
We are in a time of collective and personal awakening to what has been in the shadows, oppressive and imbalanced across our implemented systems as well as our personal myopic realities.
We each carry our own truth, but a universal truth is that we’re all here ultimately to learn to love.
All those who have had crossed over and come back through near-death experiences, and those who are mediums between worlds echo this truth: Life is a school of learning, and we are here to learn to love.
At this time, like Rumi said, that is our task, and not only to love but to seek to dissolve “all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
It is also a time to have courage and not be afraid to communicate, even as it makes us feel increasingly more vulnerable.
Vulnerability is the straight path of the heart, the direct access point.
Gemini continues to teach us that through communication we can heal our separateness and isolation.
As we’ve heard it said, the more difficult the subject, the more healing is to be gained from talking about it.
In what ways can we speak from our experience like elders, like our grandmothers and grandfathers, with compassion but with strength that illuminates another facet to be taken into account?
We are lovers, We are love. That’s what we are here to remember, here to learn, here to BE.
each point of focus is only a fragment of the hologram of understanding.’
But to benefit from them we must reclaim the fundamental right to honor our own experience and not have it dismissed, ridiculed or silenced if it runs contrary to the received wisdom of the time.
“This takes courage in a world where people are being demonized and discredited for daring to question… and reflect more deeply on the narrative they’re being fed.
“But if ever there was a time for courage it is now!
“Courageous thought, courageous speech, courageous hearts open to a new world in which we’re not told how things are but instead discern, through digesting many perspectives and listening, perhaps most importantly, to the voice within that knows truth..
“To take responsibility for our own well-being. To enjoy maturity of thought and behaviour, not surrender our sovereign view to a surrogate ‘parent’ who tells us what to believe.
“They affirm the healing radiance of the human spirit and the unadulterated power unleashed when we remember who we really are – divine through and through, and equally human. Of this world and all others everywhere.
“This power cannot be diminished by tyranny or lies, by manipulation or fear.
“One of the great necessities of this time is to honor and reinstate the Divine Feminine…
“We need to heal our disassociation from our emotions and (Water) and our detachment from and abuse of the body (Earth).
“If we were fully connected to these elements we could NEVER harm another person, dump toxic poison in the water or air, abuse a child, kill, murder or go to war.
“If everyone’s heart chakra was fully open we would FEEL what we do to another and we would never be able to do the horrific things happening on the planet right now.
“Reclaiming and restoring the Divine Feminine to her rightful place is NECESSARY… (and to be clear- this is not about men vs women- as men and masculine identified beings have an inner feminine just as women and feminine identified beings have an inner masculine)
“Use this sacred Eclipse portal to question your assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and ways of perceiving the world around you.
“Use this time to anchor more deeply into your heart, compassion, empathy and love for all beings- human, animal and non-human- everywhere.
“Use this portal to open up to Higher Truths that go beyond ego-mind perspectives. See beyond the veil of delusion/illusion/manipulation so you can get to the Truth.
“Start with yourself (do your shadow work) and then extend that inner work out into the world around you.”
Full moon ritual course from Melissa Corkhill at manifestabundance.co.uk/
Course link for blog: https://manifest-abundance2.teachable.com/p/get-your-glow-on1?fbclid=IwAR2ChpcZY1atWEsOsfs_iJ1lNDpXyjkZsEmvd5UDuuGJiub2L-x0tWNmcrM
This time is about harvesting, about achieving full potential, the peak. Assession your intentions and progress from the New Moon, re-alinging with path.
Get a moon journal so you can set and track your intentions
Step 1: Cleanse: smudging, grounding, breath work, bathing in water, full moon bathing, anointing with oil Wim hot podcast ritual
Step 2: Create sacred space
Step 3: Get present (breathe/ground)
Step 4: Get clear (drop into heart)
Step 5: Speak your truth (journal Q’s)
Step 6: Close circle (appreciation, joy list)
Step 7: CELEBRATE!!!
It's a New Moon today! Have you done a witchy ritual and set your intentions? Here's a quick outline of a ritual you could do; feel free to adjust it as desired:
For rituals I like to have the four elements represented: earth, air, fire, and water. So grab a candle and lighter for fire, a receptacle with water (water holds consciousness and energy and has been used to communicate with ancestors), a crystal or rock for earth, and a feather for air. If you don't have a feather, we'll count your breath as air. Get some paper and a pen, oh and sage if you have it! Plus any other sacred objects or essential oils you feel called to include.
Get comfortable at your altar or in your backyard or in the bathtub or at your table or on your couch or bed. Wherever feels good to you!
Begin by cleansing yourself and your surroundings with the sage, or by visualizing bright light of any color pouring down onto and into every cell of your body.
Take three deep inhales, into your belly, and exhales, all the way out.
Light the candle and write down your intentions for this next lunar cycle, in the present tense, as if they are already occurring ("I am..." statements). Meditate on the feeling of those intentions already being real. When you are finished, thank the new moon and the elements and your ancestors for using their power to support you with these intentions, blow out the candle, and put the paper somewhere visible to remember what you're creating during this birth/death cycle.
You can find this episode of the podcast on Apple Podcasts Spotify! Our new book is Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver -- poetry so beautiful it makes me cry!!!
Here’s the first poem I read:
What Was Once the Largest Shopping Center in Northern Ohio Was Built Where There Had Been a Pond I Used to Visit Every Summer Afternoon
Loving the earth, seeing what has been done to it,
I grow sharp, I grow cold.
Where will the trilliums go to continue living
their simple penniless lives, lifting
their faces of gold?
Impossible to believe we need so much
as the world wants us to buy.
I have more clothes, lamps, dishes, paper clips
than I could possibly use before I die.
Oh, I would like to live in an empty house,
with vines for walls, and a carpet of grass.
No planks, no plastic, no fiberglass.
And I suppose sometime I will.
Old and cold I will lie apart
from all this buying and selling, with only
the beautiful earth in my heart.
Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver
Here’s the Medicine Stories podcast episode with Lyla June.
Herstory by Jane Hardwicke Collins
Herstory - Audio by Jane Hardwicke Collins on the Freebirth Society Podcast
Here’s the article I read from regarding the powers of the birth/death cycle of the moon.
Here’s an article about generational trauma (14 generations, not 11!).
Between the Nothing and the Everything we dangle, weightless and heavy…
This episode we’ll be further diving into Initiation by Elizabeth Haich. In this book are some titillating descriptions of god and reality — two of my favorite subjects!
In this scene, Elizabeth is remembering a past life in Egypt; her teacher is explaining to her the unity which underlies everything. If you’re interested in the metaphysical and esoteric, you’ll enjoy this book!
“He gets up and leads me to one of the great white stone blocks of which the walls of the room are made. Pointing to the smooth, white surface of the stone, he asks, ‘What do you see on this white surface?’ ‘Nothing,’ I reply. ‘And what could I draw on it?’ ‘Everything.’ ‘Now,’ says Ptahhotep, ‘This Nothing therefore contains Everything. In this condition both together form a perfect unity. Within this unity something can only become recognizable if it becomes separate and distinct from unity. ‘Now watch as I draw, with green paint, the form of a leaf on this surface. The form of the leaf was already there on this stone surface before I drew it, but you weren’t able to recognize it, because the positive form of the leaf and the negative nature of the background were still at rest within each other. They were completely identical. The form of the leaf was not yet separated from the Everything that is contained in this Nothing. When the leaf appeared on the wall, it became separated from the Everything, and therefore recognizable. ‘And remember something very important: the fact that this leaf appears in green colour means that it has left behind in the Everything its form in the complementary colour, in this case red, as its invisible, negative picture. Whatever you see as you look about you is only recognizable because it has separated itself from its complementary half and the latter has remained behind in the invisible, unmanifested state. ‘You can achieve knowledge only through comparing the two sides, positive and negative, which have become separated from each other. As long as these two sides are together, resting in each other, you can’t perceive or recognize anything. ‘Observe the visible world. It is only recognizable because it has separated itself from the unity in which the Nothing and the Everything are still at rest within each other. In other words, it has separated itself from the absolute unity we call God. The things in the world about us are only recognizable because the positive appears separately from the negative and we can compare the two together. There can be no perception unless unity is split into two halves—one of them manifested and the other, its reflection and complementary half, unmanifested —so that both become recognizable through comparison!”
I’m excited to introduce my very first guest on the One Book a Moon podcast: Minna News, an accidental medium and spiritualist! Minna is from Finland and she and I met almost twenty years ago when we were both living in Florence, Italy, in love with Italian men and the Italian language. Minna went on to have a long career in journalism, eventually writing for Forbes Finland, until her career and her life collapsed abruptly about five years ago. While pregnant with a child that ended in a miscarriage, she began to hear voices telling her she would also lose her marriage and her job (which came to pass), and eventually she “accidentally” ended up on a retreat learning how to communicate with the dead.
Minna is offering free sessions to learn how to contact the spirit world and how to get in touch with your latent psychic abilities. Connect with her on Instagram @senseandspiritualism to make an appointment!
Minna introduced me to one of her favorite books, Initiation by Elisabeth Haich. Elisabeth lived from 1897-1994 and wrote a fascinating account of her life and her past life memories of being a pharaoh’s daughter in Egypt. We’ll be diving deep into this book for this moon cycle!
Here’s our second dive into the Your Guide to Forest Bathing by M. Amos Clifford.
I go off on the Coronavirus, fear, critical thinking, divinity, community the future, and, of course, Nature…
Also I start out with an awesome tip on how to bring the healing benefits of the forest into your own home during this time of lockdown!
We are out of balance - our bodies, our societies, our economic systems, our relationship with the natural world... but we can start the healing ourselves, doing the work of just BEING in forests, amongst the trees.
Our book this moon cycle is a beautiful and succinct read: Your Guide to Forest Bathing by Amos Clifford. Forest Bathing, or shinrin-yoku in Japanese, is a scientifically-researched way of improving the immune system (critical in these times!), reducing stress, blood pressure and rumination while increasing relaxation and mental clarity.
Clifford provides a step-by-step path for Forest Therapy:
- Set an intention to forest bathe.
- Put a branch or line in the dirt in front of you to ceremonially mark the “Threshold of Connection” to begin your session.
- Use “Embodied Awareness” to explore a space for at least 15 minutes. (More on Embodied Awareness soon).
- Walk S L O W L Y for 20 minutes, noticing what is moving around you.
- Choose from various “Invitations” activities.
- Sit in one spot for 20 minutes.
- Hold a tea ceremony with plants you have foraged during your session.
- Mark the end of the forest bath with a “Threshold of Incorporation,” crossing the same or another line or stick.
“Our partnership with forest and the whole of the more-than-human world is a necessary thread on the loom of evolution of the world. We have a place we are called to inhabit in the family of things.”
I think if we’d talk about death more often, we’d appreciate life more, and be less apt to freak the f out over viruses. It also might just motivate us to figure out what we’re here to do, the gifts we’re here to share with the world, and what brings us and others joy!
This is our second episode getting into the book “Don’t Keep Your Day Job” by Cathy Heller.
Here are some of my favorite purpose-driven quotes from the book:
"One thing I’ve learned is that the opposite of depression is not happiness—it is purpose. We’re all chasing a feeling of meaning, a sense that we’re contributing our unique essence."
“We have to take this concept of purpose off its pedestal and start interacting with it in our everyday lives. Stop thinking of purpose with a capital “P.” Start looking for purpose and meaning where it already exists and where you can build more of it. Bring these concepts back down to Earth and brush off the pressure that we need one, all-defining purpose. Purpose might be making a phone call, taking an extra moment to connect with a colleague, or reframing a self-defeating idea about our work.”
“As with all creative processes, the soul of the project is often not fully revealed until the eleventh hour. It took months to realize the purpose of this book is so much more than business or motivation or worth. It’s about trusting those hunches. Trusting your joy. Imagine breaking free of the constraints of your current reality and learning new tools to tap into a flow where you are seamlessly led to the right opportunities, serendipitously find your tribe, and attract financial abundance. If you picked up this book, then you’re curious about transformation and might hear that whisper that questions what life could look like if you really opened up. I’m going to take you on a journey to living more in tune with yourself. It is the most simple and perhaps most complex work that you will ever do.”
“Reaching your purpose isn’t a one-time discovery. It’s a long development of trial and error, so enjoy the process. This is the only life we have.”
“It’s an enigma that we’ll review again and again, but clarity follows action. Only once we’re willing to shed our well-designed plans of what the journey should look like can we get messy and figure out where we’re actually supposed to thrive.”
“Clarity will follow action. We get clues of what to do next at each stage of the process. No one knows how the path will evolve. You learn to trust your intuition and move toward what feels good, where people are excited about your work, and where you sense greater opportunities to come. Just like a scavenger hunt, you’ll receive clues each step of the way that will eventually lead to your purpose. “Happiness is all about purpose,” says Binny Freedman, lecturer and inspirational educator. As we lean into how we contribute to the planet, we develop a deep sense of contentment…”
“The word “develop” versus “discover” is so important, because many, if not all, of the guests who appear on my show started with one idea, began developing it, and realized they had a passion for something else. It all came through this process of doing. Angela explained this so eloquently on the podcast: “People always ask me, ‘How do I discover my passion or purpose?’ And I say, ‘No, no, no. Don’t use the word “discover.”’ ‘Discover’ sounds like it’s under a rock somewhere and one day you’ll find it. Then you’ll have it. It’s much more gradual than that. It takes years for many people to develop a calling before they can say, ‘This is what I was meant to do.’”
“Now, how do you start down that path? The path that will take many years. The most important thing that I could say about developing a calling is that it has to be trial and error. You have to basically experience different careers or roles in a company. You can’t just write about it in your journal and expect it to all be introspection,” she said. “There has to be some trial and error in the world, and it’s very hard to predict what will end up sticking and that you’ll enjoy more and more. It’s very hard to predict what you will come across … sometimes for random reasons. I encourage people to try to develop a calling with patience, but also with an exploration mindset. I see a lot of people who are struggling with this, or kind of cooped up inside their own heads, and they don’t get out and try.”
“It is about finding your life’s work and waking up every day with purpose and gratitude for the ability to live that purpose in a powerful way. Your “day job” is really a synonym for all the uninspired, routine, and mundane parts of your life. As you begin to design your life around purpose, how you move through the world will change. You’ll want to foster more supportive and positive relationships that help you serve the world.”
“I don’t have to be Beyoncé. I don’t need to be Bill Gates. I want to be in service, doing my thing that gives me joy. I want to do something I love. Success to me isn’t the bank account or the fame. Success is feeling like you are living your life instead of the life someone else wants you to live. You are leaving your mark, and the world is better for it. I’m going to declare a new measurement of success that matches up with the new dream: Success is how often you’re swimming in that joy of being alive. Success is the feeling that you’re on an adventure that’s going to continue evolving exactly as it should. Success is feeling purpose and being paid for it.”
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I appreciate you!!! Thank you for joining me on this journey!
Happy New Moon! This lunar cycle we’ll be deep diving into the book Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller. Cathy quite possibly saved my life in my late 20’s when I was going through a dark night of the soul. Hear the story of how I escaped being depressed and hopeless working a dead-end retail job in Beverly Hills, the story of the Cheesecake Ninja, and learn more about Cathy’s life-changing book and podcast.
Favorite Quotes from the Book:
"I believe that a single idea can change the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we live.”
"The purpose of The Miracle Morning is more about waking up with purpose—combining the benefits of early rising and personal development—and isn’t so much concerned with which activities you do, as long as the activities you choose are proactive and help you improve your inner world (yourself) and your outer world (your life).” PURPOSE!!! Cathy Heller is a friend of mine and one of my major angels and inspirations in life. She says "the opposite of depression is not happiness - it’s purpose.” I’ve spent my life chasing happiness - and not finding it - but running from purpose. Purpose is scary, challenging, terrifying. Purpose is work - you don’t FIND your purpose, like it’s something sitting out there. You DO your purpose. You take action, you walk the path, and the path leads you to purpose.
"Most Miracle Morning practitioners and high achievers use their daily practice to enhance their focus on their immediate goals and their most significant dreams. This is especially true for those they’ve been putting off, or haven’t been making time for—such as starting a business or writing a book. The Life S.A.V.E.R.S. are ideal for improving your ability to stay focused on your goals and accelerating the rate at which you make progress towards your dreams.”
"It didn’t take long for me to realize that every day I did The Miracle Morning I felt better, more fulfilled and more productive, but every day that I slept in, I woke feeling lethargic, unfocused, and unproductive.”
“Our quality of life is created by the quality of our habits.”
"By changing the direction of your life [through your daily habits], you immediately change your quality of life, and ultimately, where you end up.”
"By waking up each morning and practicing The Miracle Morning, you will begin each day with extraordinary levels of discipline (the crucial ability to get yourself to follow through with your commitments), clarity (the power you’ll generate from focusing on what’s most important), and personal development (perhaps the single most significant determining factor in your success).
“There is nothing to fear, because you cannot fail. Only LEARN, GROW, and become BETTER than you’ve ever been before.”
“Create the life you deserve to live, and help others to do the same.”
I deserve to live a life of joy, thriving, and wholeness. And so do you!!!
Visit www.TMMBook.com to download your free Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Challenge Fast Start Kit—complete with the exercises, affirmations, daily checklists, tracking sheets, and everything else you need to make starting and completing The Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Challenge as easy as possible. It worked for me!
Do you know your VIA Character Strengths?? Take the test, it’s free and scientifically backed. Let me know what you get! Mine are Curiosity, Love of Learning, and Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. Can you see why what I’m doing is perfect for me?!
Inspirations & Influences - Highly Recommended!
Brian Johnson at Optimize.Me
Cathy Heller with Don’t Keep Your Day Job
3 Books with Neil Pasricha, who also releases podcasts synched with the moon phases
My favorite podcasts: The Moth, Radiolab and Snap Judgment
Youtubers: Kaypacha, The Leo King and Lee Harris
Negative influence who I will not name - I want to be authentic but not negative or mean. Its’s a podcast with a fantastic idea but I just don’t vibe with the hosts. So I figured hey - why don’t I do something similar?! Maybe some people love the flavor of those hosts, but others will love MY flavor. Cuz I personally can’t stand that other flavor. Though in reality I can’t think of an ice cream flavor I don’t like… I loooove black licorice ice cream and wasabi gelato…
Find us on Apple Podcasts and SUBSCRIBE and leave a review!
Join our One Book A Moon Facebook Group for more of the goodness!
If you’d like to support the podcast and get goodies in the mail, check out our Patreon page.
I appreciate you!!! Thank you for joining me on this journey!
In this first episode, host Maya Lila di Vento shares the book that had the most impact on her life in 2019 - The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. At the time of release, Maya Lila was on day 243 of Miracle Mornings and she goes over the 6 elements and a bit about Hal's story.
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Music by Takki Taro.