Something New in My Support System That Might Support You Too

I’ve always had this huge judgement about using anything outside myself to feel better. 

My inner critic loves calling me lazy when I don’t get happy all by myself.

But aren’t we always looking ‘outside' for some nurturing? 

Would I deny myself a massage because it involves hands other than my own?

Many of you know that I went through a dark night of the soul about three years ago when I became a single parent.

I was guided to something, the leaves of a tree, that helped me feel better. It became an integral part of my support system. My guidance was to enjoy it two days a week. 

Those two days were the best days of my week emotionally, and also in terms of productivity.

Most people in the United States have not heard of it. 

Here’s what I like about it.

1. It improves my mood significantly without making me ungrounded. 

2. It’s a social lubricant and a heart opener. I’ve had very healing conversations with everyone from my mother to my ex, with a little help from this friend. And when I was in my grieving cave there were at least two days a week where I was willing to get out and connect with people. That brought me joy.

3. It offers extremely effective pain relief, a viable holistic alternative to prescription drugs for pain management. 

4. It’s a great anti-procrastination tool. Much more so than coffee, which it’s a relative of, it motivates me to knock things off my to do list that I’ve been putting off. Yet there are no jitters like caffeine. It’s mild energy boost is also accompanied by a reduction in anxiety. 

If you have read this far and feel a curiosity to find out more, email me at scott@scottsongs.com

Warmly,

Scott

Scott Grace creates custom made Song Portraits that honor and touch people you love. In adition, Scott is a life coach who does sessions via phone, Facetime or Skype. Read more about his coaching practice at Intuitive Life Coaching Jump Starts & Tune Ups.

Open the Mind to Open The Heart

There's a kind of thinking that blocks the light 
And makes me uptight
That sees two colors, just black and just white
That looks through the lens of what’s wrong and what’s right
And always is ready to run or to fight
 
It’s the kind of thinking that’s easy to see in Donald Trump, but not as easy to observe within myself.
 
I’ve been playing a game lately that helps me get free of that kind of black and white, us versus them thinking. 

The game is to look at something or someone that I have strong opinions or feelings about, and state my righteous, rigid and frigid opinion to myself, as if I am placing it in my right hand. 

Then I open the palm of my left hand and say, “On the other hand…” and force myself to see it from another point of view. 

And maybe even stretch a little more to include one more point of perspective that might have some validity for some folks.

Suddenly it’s no longer a black and white issue, There are grey areas, maybe even some colors. I have less enemy images in my head, and more room to see the humanity in people who don't share my opinions.

The more I honor the possible validity of more than my own cherished point of view, the more my mind, and thus my heart, opens.

Being polarized sucks. 

The North Pole and the South Pole on this earth have one thing in common: they are both freaking ass cold.

We can all bring some warmth to the current polarized political climate by playing this game, which pours the warmth of empathy onto our ego ice caps, ice that needs melting if we are going to become more fluid. Because becoming more fluid leads us right to...solutions!