Mastermind Blog

Every meeting with my teacher, she asks one thing that I am proud of this week and one thing that I am grateful for. These things are not in the lesson.  They are simply what she does as we begin the session.  The first several times she did this, I was unprepared for the questions.  Finally, I snapped into realizing that she was always going to do this.  I started thinking on these questions at least 30 minutes prior to a meeting.  The result was that I forgot what the answers were by the time she asked them.  I began to write them down and was proud of myself for thinking of this.  Then I would lose the note.  It was a strange thing to find the note the next day or the day after but whenever I found it, I would replay the thing I was proud of and the thing I was grateful for.  If I did not toss the note I would find it again and again.  This has been very helpful in creating the habit of deliberate personal change because I FELT the ...

Dear Subscribers and Followers, I laugh as I write this post to my single subscriber and my single follower on this date 1/26/2020.  You might ask what is so funny but since you are me, you know that you(I) are(am) the only subscriber to your(my) own blog.  I want to tell you that I am proud of you for staying in the practice, for holding the space for you and for others, for being here for you in this moment.  The more you are here for you, the more you value you actually have to share. I figured out how to research how many subscribers I have but have yet to find out exactly who they are.  I think that will become more clear once I have a subscriber other than myself.  I don't know why I find this humorous but I do. I am speaking to myself as if I am outside of me.  It is one of the techniques I use to save the space for myself.  All of the other people that I am writing to (that are not me), are also deep in the experience of their own lives....

Volunteering is when you do something of your own volition for someone else.  It is done as a way to share back with your community whatever that community is to you.  It is an act done with no expectation of repayment.  It is also an act that I believe is essential for our own growth and spiritual nourishment. I was the president of the farmer's market 6 years total,  I volunteered at the library at South Kitsap High School for a while, and I tutored illiterate adults to read, but most of my volunteering has been with loved ones like Marge and my sister-in-law, Soni.  Volunteering is where I think I learned the most and found the most long term satisfaction.   Only other volunteers can really understand the rewards of volunteering, so I can't explain it on paper.  It has to be experienced. There are a number of ways to volunteer and I pasted a link from AARP at the end of this post for those looking to help in their community.  Just typ...