PLACE OF POSSIBILITY

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• Coyote Karrick 08:07:58 am on August 17, 2009 | 0 | # |
  Tags: +Intention, Career, DoingWhatYouLove, Inspiration, Money, True Stories

  "As an antidote to rigid financial conditions, Hagan got his cab driver’s license and insurance, and officially opened for business last month with the Recession Ride Taxi. In his SUV, Hagen will take passengers anywhere they want to go in and around Essex—for whatever they want to pay.

  There are no set prices for transportation, and Hagen also offers a cooler full of pay-what-you-want beverages to thirsty guests. He even offers special perks to frequent riders: he provides his passengers with hole punch cards, giving them a free ride after every six trips.

  Of course, Hagen’s customers could easily get a free ride anyway—after all, he’s not forcing them to open their wallets.  Since his payment policy is so flexible, he’s taken some strange trades: one customer gave him a $10 grocery card, and a local musician gave him his group’s CD. But in the weeks since the business has launched, Hagen hasn’t been short-changed once."

  "I believed from the start that this would work,” he said. “I believed that people are going to be generous enough to make it worth my while, and I’m going to be generous enough to let them decide."

   

  Check out the rest of this story and other uplifting real life stories at dailygood.org.
  

   

• Coyote Karrick 02:26:36 pm on June 24, 2009 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Manifest, Inspiration, Visualize, Imagine, DoingWhatYouLove, Career, True Stories, Naysayers, Inner-Critic

  I’ve been thinking some more about Dr. Abreu  (see my last post).  You can learn more about him and the prize awarded to him at TED Ideas Worth Spreading, a website I love!

  A music teacher who started a program, small and unknown, in a Venezuelan  garage with no guarantees and very little financial support that has now become a worldwide inspiration.  His story brings me back to these ideas for living a meaningful life:

  • Following the thread of our passion leads us to places we can’t yet imagine! Predictions often just get in the way.
  • The trick is to make the journey the IT – as meaningful as any ending we’ve imagined.
  • Any time we are postponing our joy (discouraged, in the past or the future, or just “getting it done,” etc.) we can re-tune our focus to what’s positive in our current experience (the only time we are truly guaranteed to have).
  • The meaning of life is to live that which we love, and to find joy in the process of discovering more of what we love (knowing what we don’t want helps us know what is meaningful to us).  For example, you may say, “I don’t love what I’m doing now,” or “I don’t know what I want to do.”  You could also say, “I can be happy about this and that regardless of what I’m doing.” Or,  “Here’s what I know I love so far, and there’s more to come, it’s on it’s way, and I expect it will be great!”
  • Dr. Abreu didn’t have any guarantees of changing the world by teaching 11 students.  Following the thread of what we love, and being happy in the process, does lead us in the best way to be of service to humanity.
  • Trying to figure out all the hows of an idea ahead of time will only slow us down.  Dr. Abreu had an idea fueled by passion and faith that was beyond his knowing of “how” it would go.  I would say that it’s not “luck” made him successful it is believing.

  The most satisfactory experiences in my life are also based on strongly inspired ideas (often I can’t explain why – I just know it feels right), a willingness to leap, a lack of attention to “naysayers” (including my own inner-critic), and overwhelming faith and focus on the positive.  Lately, my scale of believing has been tested by a few naysayers who say, “Sure, but how?!” Or simply, “I don’t think you can.”  In the other great milestones of my life, the balance of the scale was tipped toward conviction, desire, faith, etc., much like Dr. Abreu.  The overridden part of the scale included the hows, what-ifs, and voices of doubt.  I know that my clarity is compromised when I consider what others are seeking for me or what would make others more comfortable.  Some of my best decisions have made some people feel quite uneasy.  So, it helps me to remember that it’s not my job to follow the thread that makes other people happiest.  This is why I’m so grateful to be practicing following my inner-compass, my thread of joy.

  Dr. Abreu’s story also reminds me that the joy in life is in the process of creating something, and not a fixed end result.  He didn’t say, “When I have 30,000 students then I will be happy.”  He was happy with 11 students and he was inspired to keep following the thread of possibility.

  The trick is to enjoy wherever we are a bit or a lot more, to keep turning toward what fuels the energy of possibility within us, and let go of needing to know the rest, because we know that the journey is the richness of our lives.

  Love & Peace on your adventures!

  Coyote

  PRACTICE IDEA:  Rather than looking at where you are “not,” dedicate  10 minutes a day for a week to this writing exercise:  1.  List 10 things you appreciate in your current place of possibility (your life right now).  2.  List 10 possibilities for tomorrow or a year or more from now that would be meaningful to you, delightful, surprising, satisfying, over-the-top fun!  Notice if your inner-voice is limiting what you write, cramping your imagination, or judging these things as possible or not.  If you have a lot of internal “naysaying” then you may want to work on freeing your life from the inner-critic too!

  “As you set out…ask that the way be long” (C. Cavafy), or short and sweet, or however it may be, but let the scale reside in the realm of your joy!

  

  Photo:  The Possibilities Are Delicious!/iPhone/Queens NY/Coyote Karrick

   

• Coyote Karrick 10:59:14 am on June 18, 2009 | 1 | # |
  Tags: Inspiration, Inner-Compass, DoingWhatYouLove, Career

  33 years ago, Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu gathered 11 students in a parking garage in Caracas, Venezuela and taught them to play music. Over the last three decades, Dr. Abreu’s organization, “El Sistema” or “The System” has grown considerably and now teaches music to 300,000 of Venezuela’s poorest children.
  

  Read more and see the video at DailyGood.org

  
  Idea:  We all have gifts.  Have you taken some thought recently to the gifts that you love to share?  What other gifts would you share/express in the world if anything were possible?  Are you open to new avenues for expressing your talents and discovering new ones?

  I find it amazing how many of the world’s innovators just started out following the thread of what they love to do and then doors opened for new connections, avenues to share their love, careers, prosperity, etc.

  Life is full to bursting with opportunity and everyone has special qualities to express.
  Photo:  The Smiling Musician/iPhone/Coyote Karrick

   

• Coyote Karrick 03:26:17 pm on June 11, 2009 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Inspiration, Energize, Get Physical

  I just met a guy who recently got back into his favorite activity as a 13 year old. BMX racing. He’s now in his mid 40s, wears button up shirts, and works in “the city.”

  “How’s it feel to catch air again?” I ask. He’s enjoying it. A couple falls, but he’s having a good time.

  Is there something you once loved doing or always wanted to try?

  Age is just a number.  Are you ready to get in a new or old game?  Enjoy!

  

  Photo:  The Game/iPhone/Coyote Karrick

   

• Coyote Karrick 08:58:47 am on June 3, 2009 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Inspiration, Movies

  One of my favorite movies for the message.  Watch the movie.  Read the book.  If you already have, check it out again.  These topics are for a lifetime:

  • Being present.
  • Living our love/calling/passion.
  • Service.
  • Beyond impossible.
  • Love.
  • Self-worth/identity.
  • Letting go of the inner-critic.
  • Happiness.

  Thank you Dan Millman.

  Some quotes from the movie:

  Emotions are natural like the passing weather.

  There’s never nothing going on.
  There are no ordinary moments.

  There is no better.  You will never be better.  Same way you will never be less than.

  All you need to do is be conscious of your choices.

  A warrior does not give up what he loves he finds the love in what he does.

  A warrior is not about perfection or victory…He’s about absolute vulnerability.

  The accident is your training.  Life is choice, you can choose to be a victim or anything else you’d like to be.

  A warrior acts only the fool reacts.

  You don’t surrender your dream you surrender control.

  Paradox – Life is a mystery don’t waste time trying to fig it out.
  Humor – Keep a sense of humor especially about yourself…
  Change – Nothing stays the same.

  The journey not the destination.

  Make every move about the move not about the gold or about what your dad thinks but about that one moment in time.

  Where are you?
  HERE.

  What time is it?
  NOW.
  

  What are you?
  THIS MOMENT.
  

   

• Coyote Karrick 08:27:40 am on March 13, 2009 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Inner-Compass, Inspiration

  IN THE FIELD:  There is a museum in NYC called The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It contains more than two million pieces of art that you can walk right up to and practically kiss for one dollar.

  IN MY LIFE:  My inner-compass led me to board a subway bound for the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday.  What if we only have today?!  Within fifteen minutes I wandered in front of works by Georgia O’Keefe, Degas, Pollock, Picasso, Matisse, and many others.  More important than the famous pieces, I was enjoying where my eyes were drawn.  This was exactly the energy and inspiration I was hoping for!  I am blown away at the variety, scope, and length of time people have been creating art – like, 40,000-year-old Australian Aboriginal rock paintings!  The desire to create is certainly old news!

  We all have it, a natural desire to express art in life.  Watch a 2 or 5 year old!  However, our creative energy is often bound up in limiting habits of thought – fear or beliefs that we have nothing of value to offer, or simply, we’ve stopped exploring.  We each have particular gifts to express in the world, we are thankfully not all called to paint or sculpt, because the variety makes life rich.  There’s a guy in a Banff film who can jump a bicycle onto and then ride a chain link fence.  People may not consider this to be art, I do.  This is his gift (one of them), he can’t not express it, and in it he is taking the art to new heights.  Yesterday, I thought of the artists who spent hours and years creating their masterpiece without any idea if they would be compensated or recognized.  Expressing our gifts in the world is a courageous act where there are no guarantees.  One of my coaches said that she is an Integral Coach because she can’t not do it.  Likewise, I imagine that almost all of the artists in the museum would have rather died than not make their art.

  Here are my questions now:  Am I living my art?  Am I painting that which I would paint if I knew I would die tomorrow?  Am I expressing my gifts the best I can today?  What would I need to do in order to die complete tomorrow?

  This last question I love so…

  IN PRACTICE:  Spend a little time appreciating the life of an artist – someone who you think gives his or her heart fully to their craft (be it music, painting, motherhood, business, etc.).  Even just 10 minutes online reading about his or her life.

  Next spend some time, like 10 to 30 minutes, thinking and writing about what you would need to do to die feeling complete tomorrow or in a year.  I recently watched the movie, The Bucket List, which propelled me to look at my current “Life List” (I’ve been writing them each year since 1994) and write the top 10 or 20 things I would do if I knew I only had 3-12 months to live.  It was valuable for me and because I expect myself to change, I plan to revisit this topic again and again.

  What would I do today if this is it?

  Usually, my answer boils down to something like, I would express my love for everyone and everything more, laugh more, give more, live in the moment, and dance all night.

   

• Coyote Karrick 10:22:40 am on March 11, 2009 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Inner-Compass, Inspiration

  IN THE FIELD:  The 33rd Banff Mountain Film Festival is on tour bringing inspiring films to 30 countries.  Check it out at the Banff Center.

  IN MY LIFE:  Last night I saw 7 of the short films presented by the Banff Mountain Film Festival.  The films feature people stretching the boundaries of what is commonly thought possible, needless to say, I love watching these films!  I recommend seeing one of the shows or checking out the films online.

  I have had some incredible adventures in my lifetime -  sailing in remote areas, traveling across the world, swimming on reefs, climbing rocks, winter camping on skis, racing canoes, etc.  These experiences have been fun, they also have been excellent teachers.  I intend to keep sampling the ways we can discover life through adventure pursuits.  The base jumping movie, “Journey To The Center,” is a must see by the way.  Exciting, but is it necessary to travel to remote places to find our aliveness?

  Nowadays, I consider waking up and living a life designed by my innermost truth the biggest adventure of all.  It’s still enlivening to meet my fears on the physical edge of my seat, and there is immense joy in everyday life.  In a world that values reaching destinations and achieving goals, I appreciated the reminder last night to also enjoy the journey – wherever we find ourselves, whatever we are doing.  “Life” artist, Gino Hollander,  featured in the film “Mountain Town,” seems to be on to it:

  Chispas de la vida are those special moments in life, those certain somethings that make life really tasty.

  I’m not very much with allegories or with gurus or with ways to do it or how to.  If you like to do it do it more, if you don’t like it stop it, change. There isn’t anything more than that.  I am Gino Hollander. I am 81 years old. I  am a painter.

  …the thrill of just being there and doing this impossible thing…it was wonderful [describing a 1943 army ski training with a 90lb pack in minus 40 degrees in the mountain wilderness].

  …move and so on and some very nice things are going to come up that you couldn’t have dreamt of in a million years.

  I choose to paint the things I have feelings in life…and I express my life through them and I don’t listen very much when critics are talking either.

  There’s so much input in life so much happens in any given hour  if you are living it, if you are aware of it.

  For more on Gino Hollander and the movie go to YouTube or Mountain Town’s official site.

  IN PRACTICE:  Choose one everyday thing you do, like washing your hair or dishes.  Then the next time you do it, bring your attention to your experience with the intention to relax and be absorbed in every aspect of it.  What do you notice?  Make this a practice associated with an everday activity for a period of time like a week or a month.

   

• Coyote Karrick 05:33:48 pm on September 14, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Inspiration

  “A hesitation mind and a determination heart are perfect strangers to each other.”  – unknown

  PRACTICE IDEA:  Look around for people or stories that inspire you with their “determination heart.”  Dedicate a week to one of these activities:  1.) Read new stories of inspiring people, 2.) Engage in conversations with co-workers and friends on the subject, 3.) Watch movies on the theme.  In addition, think of a time that you had a “determination heart.”  What types of thoughts supported this alignment?  Remember and soak in how you felt.  What quality from that time would you like to apply to your life right now?

   

• Welcome To My Blog

  I know that life can be a delicious adventure, so I've embarked on a quest to know it as such through experience. In the process, I'm learning to get out of my own way and laugh more. My intention is not to tell you "the" way, there are many ways and your inner-resources and personal experience can guide you. However, something here may inspire you to seek a direction or follow an idea that already resonates for you. I wish you the best conditions for your life adventure. Love, Coyote Karrick coyotekarrick.com
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