JaiKaur: Women's Grace, Grit & Gratitude

It has been a few months since this blog has received my attention, a combination of a “tween” home on summer break, working on new projects for my business, and enjoying the summer once it showed up in late July. Gratitude for your patience with my summer slow-down….

For the past few summers, I have longed to make pilgrimage to northern Michigan, more my home while growing up than the many towns and houses we lived in. Both my parents were born and raised in this little town of Cheboygan, (more…)

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure-and unexpected adventure-of hosting a guest on my radio show who is brilliant in her field, insightful, powerful, and quite provocative. I was looking forward to being with her again 15 years from the time we had first met, curious as to where our years had taken us. Little did I know that our radio show experience would have me living a blog I wrote a few month ago titled “letting go of figuring it out”.

For those who listened to my May 28th BlogTalkRadio show, you may know where I am going with this. My moment of truth came when my guest questioned me for throwing an herb into my compost pile, scolding me as wrong and insensitive to do so. This was one of many in a series of questions that had a cat and mouse (more…)

One of the things I have learned about my life is 1. answers do come to the questions I ask of the universe and 2. sometimes I need to do something physical to get out of my head in order to hear-feel really-my answer. And so, on this fine May day, I took myself, my ipod with mp3s that I have been meaning to listen to-omg is that one truly from 2007?!-to rake up oak leaves buried in the grass over winter. Good focused physical exercise that would allow me to engage my conscious mind so that other minds could speak to me.

The question awaiting an answer was how to craft a business that delivers my passion for women’s impact -our grace, grit, and gratitude-while being….. (more…)

The other day, while in chauffermom mode, I listened to NPR’s Science Friday being broadcast from the “Origins Symposium” at Arizona State University. Scientists from around the world were discussing “Using Tiny Particles to Answer Giant Questions” and I was struck by what these scientists were saying, scientists whose training focuses them on the logical, rational, and emotionally neutral of their world. They were sharing how they love learning from the unknown mysteries of the universe, the most exciting part of their job being when they went into the mystery and found nothing at all of what they were expecting- “ecstacy” is how one scientist termed it! Not finding out what they expected to find meant they were not thinking big and magically enough and they could now expand their quest (even if it does not make their funding source very happy to not know whether martians truly are green).

As women, we are very familiar with mystery-what man has not exclaimed (more…)

I have been off my game lately, a little more absent-minded and a little less with the joys of the day. At first I thought it was simply the changes brought about by the side effects of winter hibernation-too many carbs and not enough exercise-that was making me sluggish in getting together with the energy of spring. Or, I would blame the energetics of living in a world distressed by it’s economy serving as a wake-up call to grow up. However, as I sit here in my parents home and all that being here calls upon my emotions, I must honor the wisdom of what my tears are telling me…that loss is less about the words we use to talk of it and more of how it challenges us, even those who believe themselves ok with impermanence.

I am being brought back to the powerful workshop of grief and how important the work of grief is to growing compassion, first for ourselves and then the other. To our minds, feeling our sorrow is the antithesis of what it believes in and so we choose to avoid, gloss over, or go into psuedo-spiritual mode when feeling sorrow’s presence. Grief is a powerful teacher on the truth of impermanence and simply wants us to worship each moment we are in, for this moment must die to birth the next moment. We are taught to disconnect our energy from that which is painful and call it maturity. And while this may keep us feeling safe and gain us the illusion of control, the truth is our withdrawal from what is painful simply removes the presence of our compassion for ourself and the other.

And so, instead of stopping my tears, I allow them to flow down my face, their presence honoring the loss of my parent’s place in what keeps me feeling safe and always loved as well as for their grief and fear of their destination. My child sees my tears and simply gives me a hug, innocent still of the price of the awareness of losing those always in your life. The tears help me to be more with the short and sweet of time-less important becomes what is past and more important what remains when the day is gone…. love, simply love.

This week, I took a day off from a life overbooked in responsibilities to pick up a lamp I had ordered from an artisan whose work I had fallen in love with almost 20 years ago when I lived in Santa Fe. Janna has decided to move on to a different expression of herself after 21 years of making beautiful ways to light up a room and I wanted to make sure to get another lamp of hers before I no longer could. Turns out that her studio was but 2 hours away -who knew!-from where I live in Massachusetts and so my spiritself whispered sweet nothings in my ear, asking for some time in my life as well. I had all the reasons that the pressures of too-much-to-do-in-too-little-time can argue for, and, I have learned over the years that taking time for what calls out within me, softly yet earnestly, never becomes a regret of mine.

So, I packed up our puppy from Chicago-another story of how what was true for my spirit and soul won out over the protests of Logical and Sensible-and played hooky from my shoulds of the day. I brought along my ipod (more…)

It is now officially springtime and here in new england we get excited about up-coming warmer temperatures, trees budding and then blooming with flowers and then leaves, and the sweet enjoyment of our gardens, be they vegetable or flower in nature. We have pored over seed and flower catelogues during the days of snow and cold, looking foward to the months when we eagerly are the hands that co-create beauty and pleasure around us. Our season of warmth and growth is shorter than some, granting us perhaps the grace to more consciously appreciate the pleasure of days warm and the plant kingdom in full regalia.

Much as we consciously choose what we desire to have surround us, choosing what we plant in our gardens, our landscapes, our homes, so we (more…)

For the last few days, I have been wondering what to blog about. Nothing profound was coming to mind, and my life was surely not providing me many inspirational moments. I put my desire for some water to come into my dry well of inspiration and then forgot about it. Then while dialoguing with someone about how we each chose to meet fear, I went halleluiah!…my blog topic has been delivered! I love it when what I know to be true-clarity, prayer, release, trust-works so that I recognize it in my 3D world!

I was sharing with a woman how when I felt my fear at the many challenges in my life, I am committing to instead…. (more…)

AS I write this, it is snowing outside, I am warm inside, and I feel a sense of coziness and peace. I welcome this oasis of ease, knowing it will not last, but not fearful of when the energies of chaos, confusion, and challenge again find their way into what I feel. I live in a time of great changes-really, massive changes-and to deny feeling what is “out there” would be to deny being in relationship with others and the world. Yet when I feel these challenging emotions, it is easier and simpler to redirect myself back to faith and trust through being in daily and active communication with my spirit and soul.

I am very blessed; I am healthy in body as are my family, I live in a warm and cozy home, and I do not worry as to my next meal. I am graced with (more…)

Along with millions and around the world, I watched Barak Hussein Obama become the 44th president of the United States of America and felt the joy, inspiration, and promise of this day. It was a good day for dreamers-from the dreamers of “we the people” to the dreamers of a world where all human being are born into a world in which there is no war, poverty, nor hunger of body, spirit, or mind.

A few years ago, while purchasing books, the person behind me began to speak of what a waste the ’60’s were…”lots of fuss and idealism and no real lasting change”. The bookstore owner and I looked at each other and (more…)