tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25324334278792597412011-07-07T20:15:40.488-07:00Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-66125263627206004012010-06-17T12:07:00.000-07:002010-06-17T12:12:07.103-07:00

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain "In satire, truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual  examination, or facts." - Wikipedia If we rely solely on our gut feeling or our thoughts, we run the risk of of being closed mind to

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-14597466908234231802010-06-08T15:39:00.000-07:002010-06-09T10:51:46.905-07:00

"Life becomes much less threatening when you realize 99% of what people have to say about you is really about them."  Those words of wisdom where shared with me over a decade ago by my best friend and husband. Lately, I've been able to see the deeper wealth in the words by flipping the perspective and looking at my own thoughts. Ninety-nine percent of what I think about other people, I could

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-35783410830735864852010-06-02T13:13:00.000-07:002010-06-07T13:13:21.211-07:00

Recently I was thinking about the message behind the cheap and classic toy, the Chinese Finger Trap. The trap is a cylindrical piece of woven bamboo in which the player cleverly figures out to place his pointer fingers in either end and not so cleverly gets trapped. The more he pulls on the cylinder to free himself, the more he is ensnared. The secret to freedom is in relaxing or pushing

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-29456019078841658122010-05-27T16:03:00.000-07:002010-05-27T16:03:55.368-07:00

I have participated in my fair share of helping friends to move. One move that stands out in memory was for a friend who was still in the midst of packing when we arrived to load up the U-Haul. He had boxes that were ticking (clock inside?) and fizzing, garbage bags with steak knives poking out and one memorable hefty black bag taped with an 8.5" x 11" blue ruled paper sign that read "closet

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-3309398352369648812010-05-25T15:39:00.000-07:002010-05-25T15:39:13.531-07:00

Can you remember how potentiality feels? How the brain goes from noticing nothing to noticing something? How the senses align to feel the quickening of something not yet formed? That feeling of potential is both subtle and powerful. During an early morning walk this past week, between the lifting off of one foot and the planting of another, I felt something in me shift from the void to the

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-20008144877749452962010-05-21T10:20:00.000-07:002010-05-25T11:37:00.938-07:00

While listening to Rick Steve's podcast this morning on drug policy reform in Portugal, the former Drug Czar shared a nugget of wisdom on humanity: By changing we risk losing control. I believe this truth is another way of looking at the discomfort of the beginner's mind. In order to improve ourselves and our situation, we have to let go of having the mastery of past situations and put

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-67258319582813809252010-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:002010-05-25T10:20:02.665-07:00

I believe we are here to learn our true nature, and once the secrets of our hearts our unwrapped, to live in the light, expanding the energy of creation to others.We create our own suffering for ourselves and others. So do we also create emancipation. It is up to us to make the choice between the two within every action, reaction, and interaction.

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-55599860641005692452010-02-14T10:54:00.000-08:002010-05-25T11:13:59.715-07:00

It is very common for people to approach self development work as a "fix-it" solution for one's weaknesses. While it's admirable to want to improve a low performance area, the vast majority of drive to improve a weakness comes from external motivators: painful social interactions, direct requests from the people in our lives, loss of status or position. External motivators, unfortunately, do not

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-32785746416797000092010-02-02T10:59:00.000-08:002010-05-25T11:00:09.488-07:00

I had an enlightening conversation with Laurence Hillman a few months back in which he made a distinction between comfort and fulfillment in our search for meaning. In short, he believes that which brings us fulfillment is not necessarily comfortable. As we are exiting the holiday season full of wishes of "comfort and joy" and entering that period of resolve in our race to be better, I am

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-10501768716721188052010-01-30T10:56:00.000-08:002010-05-25T10:57:48.003-07:00

I woke up this morning with the memory of an incredible dream image. I was attempting to get to a higher part of a building through an old fashioned window/door/stair entry way and I discovered that I had a lot of fear that I wouldn't be able to fit through it. The frame was, indeed, smaller than me and I felt confident that I could get through it if I just let go and slimmed down. As dreams

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-62648112960468947802010-01-20T10:50:00.000-08:002010-05-25T11:12:59.649-07:00

In The Best Year of Your Life, Debbie Ford provides an eye opening chapter called "Exposing the Fantasy." She calls into question the human condition of putting off having a better life until "x" happens: I meet Mr. Right, I get my dream job, I have a baby, I make it big. The problem with putting our hopes on a fantasy event is that we often don't take the time to see what emotions are really

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-29177612844797923992009-12-29T10:49:00.000-08:002010-05-25T11:06:58.785-07:00

Do you have a fear of looking foolish in front of others? Potentially accused of being a poor judge of character or action? Do you often regret lost opportunities to take a risk, learn something new, or grow stronger? Our modern society scorns the fool as a weak and dim fellow, but his role in history and archetype is actually quite the opposite. Today is the Feast of Fools, the fourth of the

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2532433427879259741.post-43994696301085890802009-12-28T10:52:00.000-08:002010-05-25T10:52:52.030-07:00

Today, my mind has been reeling over the dimensions of time. In fact, it's that time of year to think about it. The ancients called this time of year, the time between or time out of time as many calendars had intercalations to handle extra time. We are in the midst of the 12 Days of Christmas (today is the 3rd day or Childremas Day) which is also considered a sacred time between the ending of

Erica Wangnoreply@blogger.com