Personal Growth Planet Blog

The look of determination and focus. The sheer will to get something done…even if it’s something that’s a huge challenge or seemingly impossible.

That is being in “The Zone.”

If you look at the face of a basketball player about to shoot a free throw, you’ll see it.

If you watch a preschooler crossing shoelaces while learning to tie a bow, you’ll see it.

If you get up close to a performer on stage who is singing, dancing, playing a guitar or another instrument, you’ll see it.

You’ll see that person (or those people) in the zone.

What is my destiny? What is my purpose in life?

These are BIG questions that run through my mind from time to time. As I go through my life, I sometimes wonder if there isn’t something more I am “supposed” to be doing. Is there some important path in life that I have neglected, ignored or by-passed?

Maybe this is just a mid-life thing or perhaps people of all ages ask themselves similar questions.

The idea that there is some higher purpose or destiny in one’s life is present in movies, books, television shows and stories of real people’s experiences.

My heart soars when I see video footage of the masses of people who are raising their voices and making their presence known on Wall Street in New York City.

For almost two weeks now, activists and regular folks, union members, airline pilots, celebrities and more have used non-violent resistance to occupy parts of New York City to call for systemic changes in our country’s financial and political systems.

You might not think of the culture here in the U.S. as devoid of fun and frivolity, but I think that it is. Look around and you might see all kinds of people doing all kinds of things that seem light and jovial…but, if you look a closer, this isn’t necessarily the case.

You see, there’s a huge difference between truly having fun and merely numbing out through entertainment.

Many of us seem to live in this impossible contradiction of wanting to do something important and valuable with our lives but then craving some outlet or sense of escape.

In last week’s blog post, I described what a double exposed moment or life is like and I laid out some of the potential hazards of this (usually) unconscious reaction.

Those double exposed moments are when the past and present fuse together in a weird and sometimes painful amalgam in the mind.

They literally alter a person’s experiences. The reactions that come from this confusing fusion can be anger or defensiveness that doesn’t seem to fit the situation or could involve an emotional withdrawal or shutting down.

The effects to a person’s relationships and ability to attain goals can be negative.

Have you ever had a double exposed moment? Perhaps it feels like you’re living a double exposed life!

“Double exposure” is a technique used by some photographers. The result is the superimposing of two images on top of– or to the side of– one another. It is usually done intentionally to gain a particular effect. Pretty cool art!

There are far too many times in my own life when I feel as if I am having a double exposed* moment. It is as if I am speaking and reacting to some person or situation from the past and NOT speaking and responding to what’s going on right here and now.

The 4th of July is an important date in the history of the United States. It marks the anniversary of our founders adopting the Declaration of Independence. This was the date when it was officially declared that this collection of states (former colonies) were now a free and independent country.

Setting aside the fact that on July 4, 1776 not every person living in what was becoming the United States of America was truly free…

I’m going to talk about what freedom doesn’t mean to me and also what it does mean to me…

The word “unconditional” is thrown around quite a bit. It is often assumed that parents love their children unconditionally. Lovers are expected to love one another unconditionally. To boost self esteem, a person is encouraged to accept him or herself unconditionally.

I don’t know about you, but truly accepting or even loving unconditionally is not as easy as it sounds.

If any of us are completely honest with ourselves, we’d probably discover that there’s not a whole lot of unconditional loving or accepting going on.

First of all, I don’t know what– if anything different than the usual– will happen on Saturday, May 21st. What I do know is that we humans (no matter what our religious beliefs are) tend to prepare for the worst.

Whether it’s preparing for a “Judgment Day” in which our “sins” will be counted up and assessed, preparing for our country’s economy to go belly-up or even preparing for the ones we love to let us down and leave us…

We humans seem to have a propensity to steel ourselves for an inevitable, horrible, gut-wrenching, carpet-ripped-out-from-under-us kind of life.

Drums beat a steady, almost hypnotic rhythm. Bodies move, twist, turn and twirl and intermingle with and among the beats.

Dancing…

In some form or another I have danced throughout my life. As a young girl, I took tap and jazz dance lessons. I can still remember kick ball changing my way across the wooden floors of Miss Lois’ dance studio.

Many bright points for me in the midst of my angst-filled high school years were singing and dancing in the show choir. And, for the past few years, I have taken belly dancing classes at a local recreation center. I am filled with gratitude for the patient and good-humored belly dancing teachers I have who, yet again, try to help me learn to undulate and shimmy.