It’s “Connect with Others” Week

The second week of each month this year will focus on “Connect with Others.” Let me start by telling you a true story.

The last month has been, for me, a time of introspection and tough questions.

• What am I really trying to accomplish here at Heartspoken?
• Does it really matter?
• A year from now, will I wonder why I invested so much time and energy in exploring the theme of connection?

Frankly, I was beginning to doubt myself…to suspect that these ideas that all seem so meaningful to me might just be too “loosy goosy” to be helpful for anyone else. I prayed. I meditated. I asked for guidance.

Bang! The guidance came…

The first thing that happened was a message from my new friend Karen Elliott telling me how much my blog had meant to her in the last year. Later that week, on the same day, two different people sent me a link to the powerful 20-minute presentation below given by Dr. Brené Brown. It chronicles her belief in the critical role between connection and happiness, to which she devoted six years of fascinating research that yielded life-changing findings. Getting this video from two different places was, to me, a “hug from God” that seemed to say, “Yes, connection is important.”

The connections are connected…

Please notice the way connection worked for me here: I was connecting with myself (introspection) when my connection with God/Source (prayer/meditation) provided guidance that enhanced my understanding about connection with others (messages and video sent by friends on the topic of connection). The connections are inextricably connected, and each one enhances the others!

So in this first 2012 post about “Connecting with Others” I share this video, because I believe its lessons will help each of you connect with other people in your life in a much more meaningful way, even though it must start by connecting with yourself. If you want the Cliff notes, here are a few key points from it (but trust me, you’ll be glad you watched the video):

• “Connection is why we’re here.” It brings purpose and meaning to our lives. The ability to feel connected is neuro-biologically how we’re wired.
• What causes us to feel disconnected [from others] is often shame—the fear that there might be something about us that makes us unworthy of connection.
• Those people (of hundreds she interviewed) who had a sense of worthiness, love and belonging were those who had the courage to be imperfect, the compassion to be kind to themselves and others, and the connection that came from authenticity. “They were willing to let go of who they thought they should be in order to be who they were…They fully embraced vulnerability.”

Do you agree with Dr. Brown’s findings? Do you find it hard to embrace vulnerability and let people see the “real you?” Do you agree the ability to do so can make it easier for you to connect with others? Share your thoughts in the Comments below, or join the conversation at Heartspoken’s Facebook Page.

Dr. Brené Brown is a researcher and professor at the University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work, where she has spent the past ten years studying a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness, posing the questions: How do we engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection we need to embrace our imperfections and to recognize we are enough — we are worthy of love, belonging and joy? Brené is the author of I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power (2007) and The Gifts of Imperfection (2010). Her blog “Ordinary Courage” is well worth your time. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo credit: “Caring Hands” by 001abacus via iStockPhoto.

The first week of every month during 2012 will feature a post about Connecting with Self. This first week of the first month of the year is the perfect time to be more introspective than usual. I am not at all inclined to introspection, but as I grow older, I am realizing how important it is. CLICK HERE for other posts on Connecting with Self.

Chris Brogan is a highly sought-after speaker, motivator, and consultant who is on a mission is ensure humanity is not lost when marketing and technology intersect in corporations and organizations. I find his writing and teaching to be unusually compelling, and he was one of the first online experts I followed when I began my foray into online business several years ago.

“Imitation is the best form of Flattery” ¹

Since about 2006, Chris has inspired thousands with his annual “3 words challenge,” and with all due respect and credit to him, I am going public with my own three words for 2012. He is very clear these words are not goals. Rather, they are beacons or a framework to guide, inform, and support your goals, decisions, and actions during the year. This is, of necessity, an extremely personal choice, and I hope you’ll consider choosing and committing to your own three. Here are my mine:

1. Focus

One of my inner demons is my propensity for getting easily distracted. I’ll blithely spend hours (not to mention dollars) on a new webinar, ebook, whitepaper, or course and get to the end of the day having accomplished nothing that gets me closer to my goals. Or worse, I have gone weeks at a time without clearly articulating what those goals are or why they’re important. This is the year when I will pare down, realize I can’t multi-task effectively, admit I know everything I need to know to take action and just do it! You’ll see evidence of my work on this as the year progresses. Heartspoken posts will be more regular and more targeted. I’ve asked my wonderful graphic designer, Lynne Crumpacker, to change the wording on my website header to say “How to Connect in a Disconnected World” instead of “Speaking from the Heart about the Power of Connection.” I certainly will continue to speak from the heart, but the new words will more directly convey why I feel there are important things to say about Connection.

2. Connect

Besides my obvious fascination with Connection, I chose this as one of my three words because I want to remember to connect my actions with my intentions. I don’t want to miss a single opportunity to make a connection with—or for—someone. I want to more actively connect with others who share my passion for understanding Connection, and I want to strengthen my own connections with Self, with Others, with God, and with Nature so I can share what I learn with you. These essential connections are woven into every aspect of our best-lived lives.

3. Play

I take myself entirely too seriously, and that’s got to stop. I intend to find ways to play and look at the world more playfully. I want to thank Dr. Cyndi Briggs and my fellow “Play in May” participants for reminding me I need more play in my life. I am convinced this will help me develop more balance, stimulate the other side of my brain (the side that wants to overthink everything), and open me up to more creativity and joy.

What are your 3 words?

I challenge you to pick three words that will help you get more out of the year to come. Please share in the Comments box below, or join the conversation at Heartspoken’s Facebook Page.

Photo credit: “Year 2012 Growth Chart” by kizilkayaphotos, Istanbul, Turkey, via iStockPhoto

BOOK REVIEW

Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaiming Your True Nature 

by Martha Beck

New Release December 27, 2011

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear” is a truth that will manifest itself over and over as this exciting new book is read and shared and read again.  The number of markers and underlines and margin notes in my preview copy are testaments to the fact I was ready. I devoured it and now am going back to start practicing the many exercises. The book’s purpose is to help you more clearly identify “what you should be doing with your one wild and precious life.”

The author, Martha Beck, has outstanding educational and life experience credentials for writing this book. It is both a sharing of her own life journey as well as a manifesto for anyone ready to embrace their own best life. With a B.A. in East Asian Studies and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from Harvard University, Beck is a trained observer and analyst. Her coaching specialty is helping people design satisfying and meaningful life experiences. She first got on my radar screen as a columnist for Oprah Magazine, where I am regularly impressed with her no-nonsense, delightfully humorous approach to issues about life’s questions, fears, and psychological roadblocks.

I recently read Beck’s bestselling book Expecting Adam, the story of her 1987-88 pregnancy and giving birth to a Downs syndrome child (new edition in 2011). Its subtitle is “A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic.” The unabashed revelation of her own fears, neuroses, and personal/professional challenges at the time was both heart-wrenching and inspiring. Martha has known and overcome tragedy, sadness, and self-limiting thoughts. She is an excellent guide for empowering others to overcome their own life issues. Finding Your Way in a Wild New World is her ultimate guidebook, the best of her teaching and philosophy in one zinger of a book.

Finding Your Way in a Wild New World is not going to resonate with everyone. Some will dismiss it as just another pop cultural self-help book. Others will use terms like “woo-woo” and “New Age nonsense.” They’d be selling it short. I am a devout Christian with an insatiable curiosity and open mind about spirituality and human potential. This book was filled with research-based findings on the power of our connectedness with each other and with all living things in nature (flora and fauna), and I believe people of any faith will find it enriches, rather than contradicts, their core beliefs.

Beck includes many practical exercises for each section of her book, all designed to exercise the parts of our brain that we don’t use enough, to train ourselves to focus our attention, and to tap into the energy that is mostly likely to allow us to find and cultivate our own best selves. They’re designed to get us out of our mental ruts!

Here are some hints that this book might be perfect for you right now:

• If you feel a yearning that you can’t identify or suppress.
• If you feel the need for clarity and purpose in your life.
• If you’re afraid to do things that you think you’d love to do.
• If wild success and abysmal failure both scare you.
• If you feel fragmented with no clear focus in your life.
• If your wild fantasies seem impossible but won’t let you go.
• If you feel you’re about to explode with possibilities and potential but can’t grab on to that one thing that feels just right.
• If you suspect your self-talk is holding you back.
• If you feel like you’re bumping your head against one obstacle after another but you’re certain there’s something better on the other side.
• If you feel the world is changing so fast you can’t keep up.
• If you feel stuck and unproductive.
• If you feel in need of emotional healing before you can move on to your real purpose of healing others.
• If you desperately want to make a difference with the rest of your life but don’t know what on earth you that might “look like.”

If any one of these rings true, you owe it to yourself to read this book. There is a generous excerpt available for free on Amazon. If it doesn’t grab you by the time you finish reading those pages, either the book is not for you or the timing is not right in your life.

If the timing is right for you, you’ll gain clarity, focus, and powerful tools for living abundantly in the best sense of the word.

Dr. Martha Beck

Connect with Martha Beck on Facebook or Twitter.

What books have helped YOU identify your true calling in life? Please share in the comments below or join the conversation on Heartspoken’s Facebook Page.

Cynthia Briggs, PhD, The Sophia Project

Heartspoken’s Connection Messenger, Cyndi Briggs, has done it again. Her post on The Sophia Project this morning entitled “I Write a Farewell Letter to My Insecurity” is a powerful manifesto to anyone who has allowed low self-esteem, their inner critic, insecurity, and judgment to paralyze them or deprive them of their full potential. She writes a letter to these imposters to formally sever her long-held relationship with them and tell them she’s moving on.

If you struggle with any of these “voices,” or if you know someone who does, Cyndi’s “good-bye letter” will inspire you. I hope you’ll read the whole post, but here’s her last paragraph:

I have much work to do in this lifetime. There is a call that is specifically mine and unique only to me. I must let you go in order to fulfill my promise. So with love, I release you into the ether, to reclaim my inheritance, and to give our wounded world everything I’ve got.

Cyndi’s message is a critical reminder of why I have included “Connection with Self” among the four connections I feel are essential to happiness and success. Cyndi has done the hard work of getting to know herself lovingly and honestly, and she has mustered the courage to recognize these insidious forces that would, if she let them, derail her from her highest potential. They threaten us all.

The message is so timely. During the holidays, we may be around family members who, often without knowing it, remind us of old insecurities, judgments, and criticism. Being aware of this will help you guard against their destructive power. Just acknowledge them and let them wash over you and out of your life. Stand in your own power. Embrace  your beautiful self. Let your light shine.

I’d love to hear how you have dealt with insecurity in your life. Leave a comment below or join the conversation at Heartspoken’s Facebook Page.

I have two short connection messages today.

Here in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, and my heart is full as I count my blessings. My husband and I will step on an airplane in the morning to visit our son and his wife in Texas. I haven’t seen them since last Thanksgiving! Our daughter and her husband will be driving in from New Mexico to meet us for Thanksgiving, so I’m a happy Mama!

My connection message is simply to practice gratitude every day, not just at Thanksgiving. Dig deep inside and connect with those precious blessings. Being truly grateful for those good things in our lives is a powerful magnet for inner peace and joy. Even in the midst of tragedy or sadness, the conscious exercise of identifying something for which we are thankful can be remarkably healing.

The second thing I want to share today is a very short (less than two minutes) video that Laura Roeder shared with her students this morning. Kevin Spacey’s powerful message is that if we’re looking for the “Ultimate Prize” (success, happiness, etc.) outside ourselves, we’re missing an essential connection in our life. The connection we need to make is with the inner knowledge of what we want in life and why we want it. “If you feel you have something to give—if you feel that your particular talent is worth developing, is worth caring for—then there’s nothing you can’t achieve.”

So regardless of your circumstances, go forth in gratitude, and whatever your talent or your gifts may be (Don’t forget that your smile and your attention are valuable gifts too), share them today with whomever you meet. The world needs them!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. I’m grateful for YOU.

Photo credit: “Warchi” via iStockPhoto

I am inspired this morning by my friend and artist Kelly Walker’s blog post entitled “Art Matters.” Kelly is a “working artist.” She works to hone her innate talent. She works at her shop, Delilah’s Gallery, to offer beautiful pieces for sale. She works to share her love and appreciation for painting and art of all kinds. She works to support the arts in our region. She works to connect with children and aspiring artists to help them discover their own creativity and talent. I see connection insights everywhere in her message!

Art—artistic endeavor in any form—can be a powerful connection tool. It connects us with our own creativity. It connects us with the time and circumstances that inspired the artist. It connects us with the artist’s message in its creation. It connects us with our own emotions and thoughts about what we’re seeing and the world around us. A gift of art can often convey love and meaning to the recipient in a way that is hard to express in words.

Mary Boone, in a 2008 article for the Huffington Post called “Why Art Matters,” made a statement that resonates powerfully in today’s difficult economic environment: “Looking at art, we reconnect with our inner spirit, a spirit that is rich in thoughts, feelings, and dreams, a spirit that can’t be bankrupted, no matter what is happening in the financial markets.” She goes on to quote John F. Kennedy, shortly before his death in 1963, when he said, “We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.”

British art critic Peter Fuller, in an article found on the Art Influence website (Peter Fuller Memorial Foundation), says, “Art can make us better at seeing and enhance our enjoyment of being in the world.”

The next time you need a change of scenery, visit your local art museum or art gallery. You’ll undoubtedly see things that you don’t like or understand, but you’ll treat your right brain to some sensory stimulation. And who knows…you may see something that totally transforms the way you see your life.

Has a work of art ever caused a shift in your thinking or perspective…or connected you with knowledge or feelings you weren’t expecting? I’d love to hear about it! Comment below or join the conversation at Heartspoken’s Facebook page.

Photo credit: “Paint brushes in a row” by “dp_photo” via iStockPhoto

Book Review of Lisa Mikitarian’s Her Safari: Snapshots Along the Way

What makes good fiction? The answer, of course, is completely subjective, but the fiction I most enjoy includes one or more of the following criteria:

• It entertains, thrills, or fascinates.
• It offers unusual vividness of language or imagery.
• It reflects noteworthy insight into human nature.
• It incorporates unusual powers of observation.
• It connects me with experiences, thoughts, or emotions I wouldn’t experience otherwise.
• It enlarges my capacity for understanding or empathy.
• It causes me to reconsider or rethink my world view.

The short story is known to be a challenging genre, because it requires that delicate balance between enough and too much. The short story writer does not have the luxury of time and space to develop characters or narrative. Every word counts.

Her Safari, the debut collection of short stories by Shenandoah Valley author Lisa Mikitarian, is one of the reading highlights of my year, with all of my “good fiction” criteria on display in one story or another. Some dear mutual friends urged me to attend a book signing, and I bought her book to show my support for a local author. Little did I know it would be so engaging!

Each of Mikitarian’s 33 stories is a snapshot of a different woman dealing with a different life challenge or decision. Each story depicts women of all ages and all walks of life, and each is a delight in its own way. Some of their situations are desperate and serious; others are silly or highly amusing. Some involve a crisis or lesson of faith. These are done well, without preaching.  If you’ve had some decades of living under your belt, you will recognize many aspects of your own life reflected in the pages of Her Safari. You may find that you can laugh at yourself, or forgive yourself, more than you could before you read these insightful tales.

A quick review of my margin notes will, I hope, reveal some of the pleasure this book gave me:

• Wonderful!
• Effective use of both humor and pathos
• Lovely analogy
• Hilarious! (in the story of a woman flirting with her doctor while under the influence of Percocet, the registered trade name for a mixture of a acetaminophen and oxycodone)
• Powerful!
• Hilarious pettiness in conversation between sisters
• Great image: God swatting with a wet towel
• The power of words, good or bad…
• Insightful!

I am most impressed with the wide range of viewpoints and emotions so vividly portrayed by this author. I don’t know Lisa Mikitarian yet, but she is someone I want to know. She has a remarkable ability to observe and appreciate people in all their flawed beauty.

New York Times best-selling author Jason Wright’s book cover endorsement was perfect: “Lisa Mikitarian is more an artist than a writer. In Her Safari, every word feels hand-drawn into place. The short stories are brilliant in this stunning debut.”

You can find Lisa Mikitarian online at the Connecting Now blog she cocreates with her daughter Madeline. They dispense “offbeat advice for everyday conundrums.” Get ready to smile. Follow her on Twitter (@Dandelionfleur) and LinkedIn. The wonderful cover design was by Shenandoah Valley artist Holly Cooley.

Lisa Mikitarian. Photo by Aisha Mujib Khan.

What does this book have to do with the Power of Connection? In a very real way, each story connects the reader with a situation or emotion that offers a glimpse of truth, insight, or inspiration. Once again, I am reminded of the power of a well-told story.

When has fiction helped enrich your life? Please share in the comments below or join the conversation on Heartspoken’s Facebook Page.

Photo of Lisa Mikitarian by Aisha Mujib Khan

Introducing Connection Messenger and Guest Blogger B. Lynn Goodwin: author, caregiver, journal-writer

Note from Elizabeth/Heartspoken: One aspect of the Power of Connection that we haven’t explored is the notion that connections can change, and when they do, the connection tools that we need will change too. This personal story from Lynn Goodwin is one that many of you have—or will—experience. She uses journaling as a way to connect with herself, her feelings, and her situation. I’m grateful for these life lessons.

From Adult Child to Parent’s Caregiver

One Saturday morning in June, I got a call from my mother who said, “The strangest thing just happened. I was standing in the kitchen, and then I was in the dining room, and then I was back in the kitchen, and back in the dining room, and back in the kitchen, but my hand never left the refrigerator door.”

I knew immediately that something was very wrong. My suspicions were confirmed when she added, “Can you come up here?” My mother was a proud, feisty, independent woman. She never asked for help.

“I’m leaving right now,” I said, while I pulled on my pants and searched for a shirt. I grabbed my purse and keys and drove my Geo Prism to my mother’s condo in Rossmoor.

I found her sitting on the white sofa in her breakfast nook. She was still wearing her favorite red robe, and her body leaned slightly to the right.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“I’m fine as long as I’m sitting here.” Her forced smile was askew. Her body leaned to the right. “I called an ambulance.”

“Good,” I said, though it was anything but good. Responsible maybe, but not good.

She leaned towards me and whispered, “I need to go to the bathroom before the ambulance gets here, but I can’t walk. Do you think I could hold on to you?”

“Of course,” I said, hoping she could not hear my heart thundering in my chest. “Can you stand up?”

She braced herself on the counter next to the sofa, and together we got her up.

“Can I put my hands on your shoulders?” she asked.

I should have thought to suggest it, but I had never helped my mother walk before. I didn’t know what I was doing. I only knew that I was needed. It was a simultaneously heady and scary feeling.

I didn’t know very much about the power of connection back then. I had never been a wife or mother. I had never even owned a pet. I wanted to help without trespassing on my mother’s independence.

With her hands resting lightly on my shoulders, I guided her through the kitchen, across the living room, into the hall, and onto the toilet. I expected her to lurch and fall, but she never even gripped me tightly. I wasn’t sure I was helping. I couldn’t figure out my role….or hers. I did not realize that our connection was changing, and I was moving into the parental role. I wasn’t even sure I was needed.

That puzzling walk, in which my old role as daughter fell off and the role of caregiver began to slip on, became a metaphor for our new relationship, which lasted over six years. My task was to lead her so gently that she did not realize she was being led.

I had just been laid off from my job at Ohlone College. I’d planned to train for a career writing computer programs, but first I had to take care of my mother’s needs. I believed they were temporary. So did she.

Even after carotid artery surgery that summer, my mother insisted she did not need a caregiver. She was fine to live alone, as long as I came by every day, took out her garbage, drove her to her appointments, did her grocery shopping, picked up her mail….

Aging and caregiving sneaked up on us insidiously. She had needs. There was no one at home waiting for me, and I twisted my thinking until I believed she was doing me a favor when she begged me not to get a job because she needed me.

Journaling: Connection and Self-Care Tool

I didn’t have anyone to talk to about my resentments, so I turned to my journal. It let me vent, process, analyze, and find hope. It showed me the bigger picture. It helped me see what was beyond my control and see my mother and me in a new light.

I wish I had known that my mother had Alzheimer’s. It would have explained her inability to use the new microwave. It would have explained why her legs didn’t receive the messages her brain sent. It would have explained her endless grasping for the word “nectarine,” which she called an apple with a tiny core.

Eventually my journaling helped me understand that I was an adult daughter doing the best she could against insurmountable odds. As I continued to journal after her death, I accepted my choices. Journaling provided a record. It was my place to reflect, discover, and forge a new connection with myself as well as my mother. Journaling was my own, private, gift to myself.

If you are a caregiver, it’s okay to ask for help. It’s important to acknowledge that you have needs. If you take care of yourself first, you’ll have the strength and energy to be a gracious caregiver for your loved one. Journaling can help you care for yourself.

I could make my mother comfortable, run her errands, and help her out, but I could not stop the undiagnosed disease that was taking over her mind. After she was gone, journaling helped me see that I set unreasonable goals. It helped me forge a better connection with myself.

When the doctor insisted she move to assisted living with five other aging people whose offspring didn’t check in daily or weekly, she realized how devoted I was. She began thanking me repeatedly. We forged a deeper connection. I am grateful that she trusted me enough to put her care in my hands, and I am grateful for the insights I’ve gotten from journaling.

Has journaling ever been a helpful tool for you? We’d love to hear your comments below or join the conversation on Heartspoken’s Facebook Page.

B. Lynn Goodwin is the author of You Want Me To Do What? – Journaling for Caregivers (Tate Publishing). Her stories and articles have been published many places including Voices of Caregivers; Hip Mama; the Oakland Tribune; the Contra Costa Times; the Danville Weekly; Staying Sane When You’re Dieting; Small Press Review; Dramatics Magazine; Career; We Care; and The Sun.

A former teacher, she’s conducted workshops and written reviews for Story Circle Network. She also writes for StudySync, and Caregiver Village. She facilitates writing workshops and publishes Writer Advice.

Guest Post by Mimi Meredith

Are you underemployed? No. You’re not. You’re employed.

I don’t mean to say, be grateful for any job because so many other people have none. I don’t want you to justify your experience in life by comparing yourself to others and living the “it could be so much worse” mentality. There’s no power or joy in that kind of thinking.

Instead, how about this. How about considering that where you are is where you are. Maybe not “where you’re meant to be” because, hello, who knows where you’re really supposed to be? Are you God? Just because something feels right doesn’t mean it is right. It just might be more comfortable or more in line with your expectations.

Wherever you are I can guarantee you this, there is something to be learned and there is something good to be done there.

If you go around thinking a job is beneath you or that you are underemployed, not only will you lose the chance to gain what you can from the experience, but you will insult all those around you.

In my second week of Life on the Lot, I made myself sit patiently and listen to understand (woo hoo…look who listens to her own advice!) a man whose training style I find incredibly condescending. I stilled my critical voice and realized, it’s just his style. He isn’t demeaning unless I allow myself to feel demeaned. None of it’s about me nor meant to be taken personally. This guy has been in the business for years. He has a protocol to follow that has been proven successful and I decided if I could stop thinking about how I’d improve his protocol long enough to simply follow it, maybe I’d be successful to. This was incredibly difficult for me, but I did it. (Applause!)

Guess what? It worked! I listened. I understood. I honored his experience and I learned something that I put into practice with immediate success.

I have two favorite quotes when it comes to work…

Don’t expect honor from the work you do; bring honor to it.

and

I never had a job I loved, but I’ve never failed to find love in every job I’ve had.

That last quote is a paraphrase of a comment I read by William P. Young who wrote The Shack. He has worked as everything from a janitor to a hotel desk clerk.

I find much more wisdom in those statements than I do in the fortune that was in my cookie when my daughter and I went out to celebrate my second car sale.

That’s it in the photo…

“Avoid unchallenging occupations. They waste your talents.”

Your talents…your goodness…your love. None of it’s yours to begin with. So share them all abundantly. Wherever you are.

HEARTSPOKEN’S NOTE: For anyone who is employed, especially in this economy, your connection with your work can impact your happiness and all other aspects of your life. Mimi herself, in an effort to bolster family cash flow, has started a job as a car sales person. Her reflections on this journey can teach us all a great deal about the importance of attitude in any situation. If you’re feeling unappreciated, or that you’re working in a job that is not worthy of your skills and talents, try not to let a bad attitude ruin any chance you have at being content and learning what you should from the experience. CONNECT with the good in your situation and, as Mimi herself believes and practices: Let the Goodness Grow!

Share your own struggles and successes with your attitude about work. Leave a comment below or join the conversation at Heartspoken’s Facebook Page.

About Mimi Meredith:

Mimi spent the first 20 years of her career in public relations and corporate communication. Or, as she likes to describe it–helping people to be better understood and to be more understanding. Her unique ability to identify communication gaps with her “gloriously blunt,” but warm manner is matched by her intuitive ability to bridge those gaps. She is an author, speaker, and workshop leader. She is also a genuine, warm person who works diligently to make her corner of the world a better place. Visit her new site and blog: Mimi: The Goodness Grows.

Carman Goodrich

Can it really be ten years since the terrible attacks on American soil that took place on September 11, 2001? We all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard about it, and that whole day was surreal. For thousands, the nightmare has not ended because of everything from physical and mental health issues to the economic impact from loss of loved ones and personal property. My heart aches for each of these people, and I pray they find help and solace in the midst of their pain.

I do not believe in dwelling on tragedy, but surely it is appropriate to learn lessons and reflect on the outpouring of courage and love that took place at the time and that continues. I want to share a beautiful piece entitled “On My Honor,” written by my friend Anne Goodrich (@AnneGogh) about her son — 11 years old that fateful September day in 2001 — and his poignant response to what he was witnessing on television. It’s not long, and well worth your time: http://bit.ly/qVFhZy.

The words “Lest we forget…”  of Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem/hymn “Recessional” are haunting me as I think about 9/11. It warns of the perils of hubris and holds lessons for us as individuals and as a country. I share it here:

RECESSIONAL by Rudyard Kipling

God of our fathers, known of old—
Lord of our far-flung battle line—
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies—
The Captains and the Kings depart—
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.

What lessons have you learned from 9/11? Has it made you want to strengthen those connections in your life most precious to you? Has it made you more aware of the work of police and firefighters and medical professionals who work every day to keep us safe? Has it made you appreciate every moment you have with your loved ones? I hope so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additional 9/11 Reflections: “Connection Lessons from Sept. 11“

Photo by John A. Cottrell, Jr., M.D.