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What We Never Anticipated

I never anticipated that setting a goal to give would be so much more effective than setting a goal to earn. Keeping an impulsive promise to cover a big expense for my grandmother has rewarded me in unforeseen ways. It has made me more determined and creative. It has inspired me to negotiate more lucrative work, boosting my career, productivity and prosperity. It has brought me closer to my grandmother and also to other family members who help me keep my promise.

Grandpa never anticipated the steep decline in the stock market when he planned for Grandma to outlive him, nor for the rising life expectancy of nonagenarians. Now Grandma’s prospects for years of continuing health look bright. The chance that her capital will last her lifetime looks dim.

Grandma never anticipated depending on her family and friends. I shudder to think how often it crosses her mind that she would rather die than ask for help. She has not anticipated the power of today’s technology to make it easy to reach her huge network of loved ones. With a single click we can each give whatever amount we can comfortably afford. My new goal is to raise $9801. for her 98^th birthday. I want to brighten her prospects of long life with a little financial cushion. I originally limited this to family members, but was encouraged to share it with all of you in my community. Would you be willing to chip in on a one-time, occasional or continuing basis? Please see widget below. I look forward to connecting with you in this meaningful way and sharing updates on this project.

Be a Bowl

A lump of clay sits on the potter’s wheel. The wheel spins and the potter drops her thumbs down to open the interior space. Forcing doesn’t work. She allows the spinning of the wheel, the properties of the clay and her own intention to interact. She acknowledges her medium, explores it, and it responds. In order to bring the clay up and out she must first drop down. From that deep center her fingertips mark a spiral as she stretches. Even after the shape is fired that spiral connects the rim of the bowl to its foot, its root.

Be a potter now. Your body will become the bowl. It is the clay on the wheel. Lie on your back. Drop the top of the sacrum into the floor. Drop the navel toward the floor. Engage the muscles deep inside which will allow you to do this. Muscles near the surface of the body may be more accessible at first. Let them rest. Relax the abdominal organs. Relax the face and the jaw. Access your deeper strength with great intensity. Drop into your sacrum and stretch out from that center. Remember the potter—she doesn’t force or even push, really. She engages the clay and drops into it.

From that root she pulls the clay up and out. Stretch long through the crown of your head. Firm the thighs, point the toes and stretch long through the legs. Stretch long through the arms, the palms and the fingers and toes. Let the navel foundation and the intensity of the stretch allow the heels to lighten off the floor. Use your deep strength only. Back off and readjust if you notice any surface muscles of the belly or face volunteering, or if the sacrum gets uprooted. At first the heels may not even leave the floor. Visualize them stretching long and up 6-12 inches, or 15 centimeters off the floor. Stretch long from the sacrum through the crown of the head, lightening the shoulders from the floor. From the navel foundation let the deep muscles of the back raise you up to look at your toes. Arms, palms and fingers stretch long and straight and lighten off the floor to point at the toes. Your circumvent force, the rim of your bowl, expands out from your navel center. Relax and readjust when you reach the limits of your ability to keep the connection between your hub and your rim.