Creative Katrina

Photo by Road Fun

For people who may not know me, I’m as much of a spiritual “woo woo” person as I am a left-brained, logical entrepreneur and business person. And as a communicator by heart and trade, I’m always fascinated with how people connect with their own idea of spirituality. How do they nurture it, seek it, grow it – decide their own individual path? What role does it play, if any?

The topic of spirituality connects and polarizes because it’s such an important part of how people define themselves – whether you believe in it or think it’s a bunch of fairy tales (I’m friends with quite a few atheists). It’s one of the key concepts that’s supposed to make us “human”, and separates us from all the other “things”. And clearly, it’s one of the concepts that creates considerable friction between us all.

The Spiritual Piggy Bank

During a recent meditation this random idea popped into my head – what if people viewed spirituality like a 401K or a cash only transaction? Here’s what I mean:

A spiritual 401K is something you contribute to regularly through daily or weekly practice, moment by moment. It’s a simple, normal part of your every day life. Some days you can contribute more than others and it’s a habit. The types of contributions are endless – yoga, meditation, self-reflection, doing heart-felt things for others, forgiveness (of others and self), community service, pampering yourself, spending time with family, petting an animal – the list goes on because of the rich, diverse things people consider their unique spiritual replenishment.

Other days you need to make a withdrawl in order to pump your personal reserves back up. The fee for early withdrawl seems steep when you first need to dip in, and you wonder if you can really take the hit. Even scarier, you aren’t sure you can replace it any time soon, and have no idea how you will ever be able to. In reality, this overwhelming feeling is simply the awareness of what is lacking, and that feeling is what helps you realize where you need to go next. It tags that desire to connect with your inner knowing, to discover what the next step is to evolve to a whole new level of insight and awareness, while leaving behind the scraps of what no longer works for you. Prepared or not, you are very aware of what is fulfilling or missing.

Cash and Carry Only, Baby

On the other hand, the cash and carry method of spirituality is still helpful, but perhaps a bit less fulfilling in the long-term. You panic, try to get in touch with new spiritual practices or insights to alleviate any number of uncomfortable feelings, and then feel temporarily better. Perhaps you learn something to take along to the next step in your journey but aren’t necessarily developing a practice that enables you show up in that mindset regularly. It’s why you sometimes feel on the wrong end of a rubber band, scrambling to find a way to get things in balance for your mind, body and spirit, without ever really feeling grounded. You’re biggest effort is focused on just trying to avoid getting snapped in the face.

Is one approach better than the other? Nope. It’s just a way to look at how you are creating your personal spiritual space – whether that’s through the “woo woo”, outdoor activities, spending time with family, community service, working with the land and animals – whatever makes your heart full and open. I think the real question is how long do you want to be a pinball? Or does it feel better to create a spiritual 401K that reminds you of all the good you do and can come back to it as needed?

I know what my answer is…what’s yours?

Photo by Jad_23 on Flickr

There are so many ways to easily get distracted from your own awesomeness and inner power.

Frustration, hurt, pain, disappointment, loneliness, lack of love and endless other emotions, mixed up with the mundane daily tasks of life, all eat away at the edges of our soul. It’s so easy to let these experiences unknowingly chip away at our inner glow, dwindling it to barely a spark.

The truth is, these are just experiences – not definitions of who you are. Crap happens. Life seems unfair, cruel and down right vicious at times, but this is when you must tap into the radiance within, calling forth your inner joy and beauty that cannot be destroyed or taken down by such external things.

Your view and perspective of the world is more than a way to travel through your life. It’s a means to explore, challenge yourself and move towards transformation, to burn away the old ideas and non-sense that keeps you trapped like a rat in a cage.

When you burn through those doubts, limitations and pot holes to dig deep into your inner and gifts and strengths is when you’re truly at your most radiant. And just imagine what this world would be like if more people valued their inner glow, honoring themselves enough to pursue their biggest dreams and passions despite all their fears.

I do not claim this path is easy. You will feel as if you live many lifetimes in one, burning through the old emotions, thoughts, friends, beliefs and ideas in a space that is unclear, undefined and kind of scary, to make way for the new saplings and buds. And the cycle will continue, growing and expanding with each evolution. Repeatedly.

What you get from this path of consistent pursuit of authenticity is a new base of wholeness that grows with you, over and over. It generates a sense of connectedness, clarity and radiance that is so immense and beautiful, there is simply no room for anything else to fit.

The best part is that radiance is catchy. You inspire others just by being connected to the true you within. So what are you waiting for? Spread the radiant love!

(Source: creativekatrina.com)

Photo by benjaminasmith on Flickr

In the last few weeks I’ve noticed the struggle for the expression of the individual identity in my business dealings, meetings and on social media outlets. Or perhaps as I move through my own personal challenges, it’s something more apparent just to me. Whatever the reason, this blog topic was screaming at me to be expressed. Although it’s a bit different than what I normally cover I couldn’t ignore it. Or perhaps, I just wanted to get a better sense of how others feel about it, too.

The “Self” in your Business

Knowing who you are is important, and being clear on how that ties into the big picture is essential to seeing how you fit into your business community — personally or online. But when does connection and community become more about actually connecting, and not about building a list of potential names you can bombard with your latest offering?

I’m recognizing more and more how folks are fighting to push their individuality out into the world, and that is great — I applaud people for having the courage to share their unique ideas and creativity with a bigger audience. Where is starts feeling icky is when the ideas, products or seminars are created with a guise of wanting to “help” others. In reality, these business folks just selected the right string of SEO words to snag a target demographic and boom — instant interest.

You may even experience this in your own sphere, as people push methods, systems, processes and classes that will “change your life” and get you on track with your business, home life or spiritual practice. Now, don’t get me wrong. Some offers are legit and truly helpful. I have experienced some myself recently, and I’m so grateful for the insight they have provided.

However, there are also many folks using the social media model of an online community to push their own wares first, and connect with people second.

Real power of a business lies in connecting with people first. Then all of the other “pushing” is unnecessary. People stay tuned. They WANT to know about your latest product or service and are looking for ways to enhance your existing relationship. It’s genuine and welcome.

To me, the most obvious example of this is Zen Habits.com. Leo Babuta created a site that talked about topics related to the human condition, and followers showed up because it was authentic. Real. Honest. People weren’t being sold on anything, but people felt compelled to connect because there was something that was of value that they could apply to their own lives. With a built in fan base, he was able to create products he knew people would already be interested in.

The Slippery Slope of the Human Connection in Business

There is a very fine line between being human and connecting with your human-ness. As a human being there are basic things you have come to expect when interacting with others, things we all deal with because we are facing similar life experiences. We connect with this sense of universal relation and create sort of a “situation relation” bond. However, I feel the next step is to take that understanding and mutual relation and use it to connect with someone beyond the surface, beyond what you want for yourself out of the exchange.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s ESSENTIAL for entrepreneurs to promote their products and services to each other. It’s how we stay in business (I’m one myself). But it’s also critical for entrepreneurs to create those one-on-one connections to establish credibility, to connect with the actual, real human needs of that one person to help them in a way that inspires them to be the best at their gifts, and then they can then share that same respect and approach with others.

When you make it about how you can help an individual grow and support themselves in a new way, AND offer a high quality product or service on a universal level, the reward is the inner knowing that what YOU do is valuable beyond the products or seminar you just sold. It’s about tapping into the essence of true community to make a much more significant impact through authenticity, that touches and elevates the performance of clients as much as it puts money in our pockets. It also feels a heck of a lot more awesome.