Ideas

"Every new idea has something of the pain and peril of childbirth about it."
-Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

It seems like ideas are a dime a dozen, there are so many of them out there. But the real value comes from the execution of those ideas! Ah! How many times have we seen some invention or some new contraption and said: "I thought of that!" Yes, and someone else did, too- and the difference is that someone took that idea and ran with it, and made it a reality. It's easy and fun to sit around and brainstorm. The "pain and peril" comes from the work that is involved in developing the idea into something that is viable, something that is tangible.
-Lissa Coffey

Independence

" I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and ev'ry highway,
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way."
-Paul Anka (1941 - ) "My Way" (song, 1969)

When Frank Sinatra sang this song, didn't you believe him? He sang it like he meant it, and I think he really did! It's important for us to be able to look back on our lives and reflect on our independence. Every decision we've made, right or wrong, has been ours alone, and we need to take responsibility for that. I, for one, am doing it "my way!"
-Lissa Coffey

Inspiration

“Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought.”
-Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Robert Browning describes inspiration so poetically. And isn’t that exactly what it feels like? Inspiration seems to come out of nowhere – but we really know exactly where it comes from – Spirit. In fact, the word itself means “in spirit.” So when we are tuned in with that divine energy, we are open to receiving that “splendour” at any time. And it is beautiful.
-Lissa Coffey

Intuition

" You must train your intuition - you must trust the small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say, what to decide."
-Ingrid Bergman

Intuition is the topic this week. There's a song playing on the radio quite often these days- it's by Jewel, and it's called "Intuition." It's gotten me thinking about intuition, instinct, hunches… it's all the same thing. In the song, Jewel sings: "Follow your heart, your intuition, it will lead you in the right direction." Great advice- but like much great advice, do we always take it? I think we try to second guess ourselves too much. When Ingrid Bergman says we must train our intuition, I think she really means that we must train ourselves to listen to that voice, and hear what it has to say.
-Lissa Coffey

Ideas

" Ideas come from God."
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Ideas are so ethereal- we wonder where they come from, how we "get" them. There is one school of thought that says that there are no new ideas- that every idea ever conceived is floating around in the universe and it is up to us to tap into that intelligence, and kind of "download" it into our consciousness. It makes sense that ideas come from God. But then we have to wonder if God "gives" us these ideas, or if we go out there and "find" them from our own creative pursuits.
-Lissa Coffey

Ideas

" You talk of our having an idea; we do not have an idea. The idea has us, and martyrs us, and scourges us, and drives us into the arena to fight and die for it, whether we want to or not."
-Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)

When we get a really good idea, we can tell that it is a really good idea because it won't let go of us. We think about it, dream about it, and pursue it until we can make it a reality. It's like the Universe is tapping on our shoulders, saying: "This is it, come on, let's go!" How could we resist?
-Lissa Coffey

Ideas

"The man with a new idea is a Crank until the idea succeeds."
-Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Imagine the ridicule that the Wright Brothers must have had to put up with. But did that deter them? Obviously not! Anything new and innovative might be regarded with fear or suspicion because it is untried, unproven. I guess it's just a part of our human nature to be skeptical. Thank goodness there are those among us who follow their dreams regardless of their critics! From just one idea, when it blooms, many seeds spring forth, and a whole garden of ideas can then grow and flourish! That's progress. And we can do the same thing spiritually, too.
-Lissa Coffey

Ideas

" Now some people when they sit down to write and nothing special comes, no good ideas, are so frightened that they drink a lot of strong coffee to hurry them up, or smoke packages of cigarettes, or take drugs or get drunk. They do not know that ideas come slowly, and that the more clear, tranquil and unstimulated you are, the slower the ideas come, but the better they are."
-Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write, 1938

The quality of the thoughts we have, and the ideas we get, is reflected in our lifestyle. Whether it's writing, or selling, or manufacturing, or any kind of business that we're in, we're dependent upon fresh ideas to keep us moving forward. When we're aware of that, and make time and space in our lives to nurture ideas through silence and meditation, our lives become that much more peaceful and efficient.
-Lissa Coffey

Independence

" The first of earthly blessings, independence."
-Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)

Since the 4th of July, Independence Day in the U.S., is this week, I thought we'd look at the topic of independence. It's a big word, and one that held a lot of meaning for our forefathers who wrote the Declaration of Independence 227 years ago. It seems like a long time ago, but then it's so relatively recent compared with some of these quotes we read here, some dating back thousands of years. I remember when our country celebrated it's bicentennial in 1976. In my hometown, Palo Alto, California, all the fire hydrants were painted red, white and blue to celebrate! I was just a little kid then, so I don't think I really understood the significance of that day. But I do now. Independence is indeed a blessing.
-Lissa Coffey

Independence

" The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself."
-Montaigne (1533-1592)

Independence could also be called self-reliance, or self-sufficiency. We must know that we are each whole and complete. We can count on ourselves, we belong to ourselves.
-Lissa Coffey

Independence

" What is independence? Freedom from all laws or bonds except those of one's own being, control'd by the universal ones."
-Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

It shows great spiritual maturity to be independent, to know that universal laws prevail. There's a self-referral that goes on with true independence. We answer to ourselves. We don't need the written out, voted and agreed on laws to guide our behavior- we know the right thing to do, and we do it. It doesn't need to be written in a book, it's written in our hearts.
-Lissa Coffey

Independence

"No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings."
-William Blake

I guess this is another way of saying "Go for it!" This makes me think of my favorite book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Jonathan was certainly independent. He lived by his own rules, he learned and grew beyond the expectations of society, because he felt compelled to do so. He followed his heart, and he later became a teacher, passing his wisdom on to younger generations seeking inspiration. Why be content to walk, or even run, when it is in us to soar? We get to make the choice because we are independent thinkers.
-Lissa Coffey

Inspiration

“I am one who, when Love inspires, attend, and according as he speaks within me, so I express myself.”
-Dante (1265-1321)

Writers and artists often speak lovingly of their “muse.” Love is a muse that all of us share. What could be more inspiring? When we are “in love” we are “in spirit,” we feel our connection with God. Yet that connection is omnipresent. So when we feel that connection, we can have that same feeling of being “in love” and use it to inspire our selves!
-Lissa Coffey

Inspiration

“Don’t loaf and invite inspiration.
Light out after it with a club.”
-Jack London (1876-1916)

Inspiration can come to us… but more often it is something we go out and find. And we can find it just about anywhere! Spirit is everywhere, in everything. We may have to change our scenery once in awhile to wake us up to that fact. But look around – we are living amongst the richest treasures of spirit all the time – choose to be inspired.
-Lissa Coffey

Inspiration

“ My affirmations or utterances come to me ready-made – not forethought – so that I occasionally awake in the night simply to let fall ripe a statement which I had never consciously considered before, and as surprising and novel and agreeable to me as anything can be. As if we only thought by sympathy with the universal mind, which thought while we were asleep. There is such a necessity [to] make a definite statement that our minds at length do it without our consciousness.”
-Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

We are in spirit, and therefore inspired, all the time, even in our sleep. All we need to do is recognize this, and use what is available to us.
-Lissa Coffey

Inspiration

“The most beautiful thing in the world is, precisely, the conjunction of learning and inspiration.”
-Wanda Landowska, in Denise Restout, ed., Landowska on Music (1964)

This is what spiritual growth is all about. When we are inspired to learn we grow so much. Our inspiration is our calling to grow, to bloom. It is a gift; it is a blessing.
-Lissa Coffey

Intuition

Trust your hunches… Hunches are usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level. Warning! Do not confuse your hunches with wishful thinking. This is the road to disaster."
-Dr. Joyce Brothers

We can look at intuition either scientifically or spiritually, but it is there, and significantly so, nonetheless. When we get our minds involved, analyzing our hunches, that's where we get ourselves into trouble. We think too much, when sometimes we need to just "feel."
-Lissa Coffey

Intuition

" By learning to contact, listen to, and act on our intuition, we can directly connect to the higher power of the universe and allow it to become our guiding force."
-Shakti Gawain

Where is this intuition coming from? Whether it's from the deep recesses of our memory or from the intelligence of the universe, it is worth listening to. Maybe we can't explain intuition, but we can see the benefits of it at work in our lives.
-Lissa Coffey

Intuition

"Instinct is the nose of the mind."
-Madame De Girardin

I love this! The nose doesn't "think" - it just senses- our brain then translates what scent is coming through. Our instinct is the same way- sometimes we don't know why we know something, but we just do. So rather than try to translate or decipher this information in the brain, it might do us well to just go with it every once in awhile, and find out just where our intuition leads us.
-Lissa Coffey

Intuition

"I go by instinct… I don't worry about experience."
-Barbra Streisand

This is such a powerful concept. Look at how this relates to the work community. One resume may be loaded with experience, while another has just the bare bones. Is that more important than the impression the job candidate makes in the interview? When we meet someone face to face we get a "feel" for how we can relate to that person, how we would like to be around that person every day in the work environment. These are the kinds of things that can't be put down on paper, we have to use our instincts.
-Lissa Coffey