Thursday, August 14, 2014

Volcanic Love Flow: The Hendricks Factor

If you live in Chicago, Portland or Ottawa, something very hot is flowing in your direction one day very soon.  A couple of weeks ago I attended the Hendricks Institutes workshop entitled "The Conscious Loving and Living Essentials: The 3-Day Seminar" in Ventura, California, and there are three more of these workshops scheduled this year in those fine bergs.  If you are looking to either heat up your relationship or light a fire in your heart and soul, this might be a great sparkler to grab.
 
I did this workshop with Katie Hendricks because I am preparing myself to have a kick-ass powerful relationship, and I wanted to clear the way for it to come on in!   I have spent some time, since my last relationship, in Superhero of Love training.   As trite as it may sound, I had a hot and juicy time falling in love with me these last couple years.  Now I'm on to the wild and wonderful road to becoming a Superhero of Love in relationship. 
 
The first step was to look at anything that might be blocking the "flow" to bringing that Superhero of Love into my orbit.  This workshop is all about creating flow in love and in life.   As in all great workshops I have attended, I was led to shine light on the dark and dusty corners, and to take off blinders that I had firmly placed on my own eyes when I wasn't looking.  (Yes, we humans are very tricky that way.)
 
Things that used to be just out of my view became crystal clear, so that I could either let them go or heal them.  I got to the bottom of some inherited beliefs about marriage.   As much work as I have done on myself, I had never really noticed that every single memory I have of my parents together before they divorced when I was 7 years old, either featured loud yelling or silent bitter tensions. 
 
My memories of each of my parents with me alone are positive, but the chemical mixture that made up their marriage was a scary and dangerous recipe.  So, even though I am surrounded by long-term, loving marriages, this one core belief that marriage was dangerous and scary was a certain roadblock.  This workshop restored the possibility of a life-long partnership, and unequivocally removed some blocks.  The tides have shifted.  The men are starting to come ashore!
 
The surprising benefit of the workshop, though, is that it created flow in my work life.  I guess I missed the word "Life" in the workshop title.  Blinders can be so effective.
 
Right after the workshop I needed to do a final polish of my book, and I was not looking forward to it at all.  I wondered what more I would catch, how much clarity I would have after looking at it for months on end. I was delighted to discover that I had fun doing the final polish!  What fresh heaven is this?
 
Then, more miraculous workshop side effects ensued.  I was told I needed to up my game on social media for my potential publisher.  I had never considered Twitter a joy-filled experience, and had not even dared to check out Quora.  Now I'm having a blast on both.  Quora is my brand new playground that just completely turns me on in every way.  My heart and mind are awakened, and the ideas are definitely flowing like Niagara Falls.
 
And then there was the office furniture side effect of the weekend.  One of the access points to flow that Katie Hendricks taught over the course of the weekend was bringing flow into our bodies.  For instance, it's really hard to stay tense and serious about an argument, about a tough writing task - or anything -- when you are wiggling around.  Katie sat on a hilarious little tuffet for the course of the workshop. 
 

 
 
The minute I got home I bought one - an ErgoErgo Stool.  I get to wiggle and flow all day long while I work.  It's impossible to stay tense on this magical perch.  And, believe it or not I have not once missed the back of my previous lovely fancy office chair, because this stool gives me energy.  The fun rocking and wiggling I do while I work keeps the energy flowing late into the night.
 
And, that's the bottom line of what I got from the Hendricks' training: we can have a lot more fun and flow with this thing we call life.   Love can be hot lava flowing in all the right directions.  Life can be "but a dream" as you wind down the river, transforming as you twist and turn with the wind.   
 
As the song says "Let your love flow...," however you find the inspiration.  It can only have a good effect on you in many ways, and on everyone around you.

I Have a Friend who is a Superhero Cop

My dear friend is not only a brilliant writer, he is not just a good cop, he's a great cop.  He wrote this brilliant piece.  He will remain anonymous for obvious reasons, but I wanted to share it for as many to see as possible:


Ferguson, Missouri is about 2,000 miles away. Yesterday, my wife overheard someone on the sidewalk near her office tell his friend "Kill a cop, save a life." 

I've never abused or mistreated anyone in my life. If I saw that happen, I would do everything in my power to stop it. 

I've been filmed doing my job countless times. I don't care. I usually laugh and say go for it. Make sure you get my good side, and send me the link so I can see if I look cool on YouTube. Hell, it just happened Tuesday morning. Didn't bother me a bit, because I know what I'm doing is right and proper.

My job is to stand for others who are unable to stand for themselves. To stop evil and protect the innocent. I don't want to hurt anybody. Force is applied only to protect myself or others, in response to force that is used against me, or in the minimum amount necessary to lawfully arrest someone.

I can't think of a quicker way to destroy a good case or my career than to improperly use force on someone, and I would no sooner unnecessarily hurt a person than I would lead the Macy's parade in the nude.

I've been doing this for a long time. If you think killing me or one of my friends will save someone's life, you're very wrong, but if we bump into each other during the course of my duties, I won't abuse or mistreat you, and if you've committed no crimes, you'll be on your way.

But don't try to kill me. You'll find that difficult, and you won't like how it ends.