A Recipe for Soul Food

Posted on December 10, 2011January 26, 2013 by Sandi Amorim 9 Conversations

My soul is nourished by a generous helping of the following ingredients:

a period of silence and solitude

+

space to breathe

+

time with my Self

+

beauty to stir my spirit

=

soul food of the most nourishing kind

“Dreams nourish the soul just as food nourishes the body.” – Paulo Coelho

Repeat as needed.

#reverb11 is a prompt driven writing project during the month of December. Its purpose is to inspire reflection and create intention for the coming year.

This post was prompted by Day 10 – Soul Food: How do you nourish your soul?

A Tribute in 400 Words

Posted on December 9, 2011October 23, 2012 by Sandi Amorim 26 Conversations

Today is my dad’s birthday and that displaces any spotlight, coaching tip or wise words I could offer. Instead, I’m sharing my dad, hopefully in such a way that you get what an extraordinary man he is and he gets how very much he is loved.

I love how my dad can look at something and instantly know how to fix it, improve it, or build it better.

I love how much he looked like a Hollywood heart-throb in his army photo!

I love how even though he was a strict dad, he’s a big softy as a grandpa.

I love how he has always put our family first. Always and all ways.

I love how he shares stories from his past. Truth be told, he was a mischievous rascal!

I love the twinkle in his eyes.

I love his green thumb, his abundant garden, and most of all his home-grown tomatoes.

I love how he fixes something every single time he comes to visit.

I love that he grew up street smart and didn’t let other kinds of smart stop him from living life fully.

I love how he fell in love with a brown-eyed beauty and swept her off her feet.

I love that his dream of a better life fueled his immigration to Canada.

I love his accent and the richness of his voice, still tinged with his native tongue.

I love that he mixes up sayings and metaphors, and I still know what he’s talking about.

I love how he reads the newspaper from cover to cover, from a desire to understand his community and the world around him.

I love how he enjoys his retirement, using it as time to do more of what he loves.

I love that he always remembered his roots.

I love the energy in his voice when he speaks to his brothers on the phone and I imagine them all as kids looking out for each other.

I love that he makes time for his grandkids, how he teaches them, plays with them and lets them melt his heart.

I love how he loves my mom. 50 years of love.

I love that he taught me about integrity and doing the right thing.

I love his sense of humour and his great big chuckle.

I love that I’m like him in so many ways.

I couldn’t have asked for a better man to raise me and send me out into the world.

Happy Birthday Dad.

Know that you are loved and appreciated, probably more than you can ever really know.

Please take a moment and join me in wishing my dad, Manuel Amorim, a very happy birthday with a comment below.

Creating Space for the Holidays

Posted on December 8, 2011October 23, 2012 by Sandi Amorim 6 Conversations

The Vagabondage Series: Wherein Elana creates space and lets the holidays in.

If you’re reading this, you made it through the recent Black Friday holiday shopping frenzy. Congratulations. If you participated, you have my admiration for surviving it, and if you didn’t, you have my admiration for choosing not to.

Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or La Posada, the holidays are a busy stretch of rituals, drunk uncles, symbolism, and festivity. Although, in recent years, the winter holiday season has become less synonymous with its original meaning and more reminiscent of a feverish 30-day shopping extravaganza. Malls and boutiques are crawling with people and lousy with so-called bargains. Advertising and marketing departments spare no tactics or expense with glitzy, over-the-top commercial and print ads featuring the hottest electronics, cosmetics, fashion, food, and all manner of tchotchkes.

But you know that isn’t what it’s all about, right? Continue reading →

How to Live in Astonishment (leaf lesson #3)

Posted on December 4, 2011October 23, 2012 by Sandi Amorim 19 Conversations

We all have a dark side; a part of ourselves that we wish were otherwise.

Even the nicest of the nice, they’ve got their shadow side too.

But whatever you call it, however much you try to hide it, there’s something to learn from it if you look.

Just like this leaf, which I’m starting to think of as the leaf that keeps on giving. Weird thing is, when I first chose the leaf I completely missed the big dark spot you’ll see below.

It was hidden from my view.

How could I have missed that big, dark spot?

It was easier than you might think. I was so wrapped up in the colour and size, the majesty of it – I had eyes only for its beauty.

Continue reading →

Lessons & Reverberations

Posted on December 3, 2011October 23, 2012 by Sandi Amorim 13 Conversations

The biggest lesson of 2011 was this. . .

You have to live in the now.

I know you’ve heard it before, but we all need reminding now and then. You simply can’t wait for a health crisis or any other kind of emergency before pursuing what you want in life.

When my father-in-law died suddenly last January, it was a wake-up call like no other. It lit a fire that caused a ripple effect throughout my life and business. And even though I’d thought this before, in an instant it became more real. . .

There is no someday.

It went from an intellectual concept to a burning desire to wake people up.

That is a lesson I can never forget. Its learning can never be undone. Ever.

Some days I don’t know if I’m up to this calling.

I think, who am I to wake people up?

And then I hear, who am I not to?

Because the alternative – people continuing to live and die with regrets – has become unbearable. Continue reading →

Turn Up Your Awareness and Come Alive (leaf lesson #2)

Posted on November 28, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 13 Conversations

“All you have to do is to pay attention; lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step.” – Paulo Coehlo

So the question is. . .do you pay attention?

Time after time, I’ve learned that it’s all about awareness. It really is a muscle that you can develop with practice. And when you consciously turn up your awareness (think of it like a dimmer switch) everything zooms into focus.

Solutions become clear, often in abundance.

Next steps open up, right there in front of you.

Confusion fades away.

How do you turn up that awareness then?

The exercise I shared from my retreat is a good way to start. Being with an object (for me this leaf) with no expectations, no judgments, no concerns, created space for my mind to see it (and life) in a new way.

Continue reading →

Walking In Wonder

Posted on November 24, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 12 Conversations

When you walk, how do you walk exactly?

Odd question, I know.

What I mean is do you look straight ahead or down at the ground? Do you look people in the eye or avert your gaze at all costs? Do you march military style or stroll like it’s Sunday afternoon?

How you walk says a lot.

I look around, I look at people, and I look like I know where I’m going.

For years I couldn’t understand why I got asked for directions or why people so often chatted with me on the bus.

Now I know.

It’s the walk.

But that’s only the day-to-day walk.

There’s another walk I’ve been thinking about.

How do you walk in the world?

Are you light-hearted, downtrodden or skeptical? Optimistic, resentful or curious?

What’s your way of being when you walk through life?

Just like your physical stride, this walk speaks volumes.

Continue reading →

Lessons Are Everywhere (in which I learn about myself in a most unusual way)

Posted on November 22, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 18 Conversations

Ever notice how anything in life can teach you if you let it?

While on retreat recently, as part of a group exercise I was invited to choose a leaf from a table covered with leaves of all shapes, colours and sizes. The beauty of fall lay before me.

While initially drawn to the intense red of the Japanese Maple, I found my hand reaching out to this leaf.

I didn’t question it or try to convince myself otherwise. I simply trusted my intuition, something I sometimes forget in the busyness of life.

The invitation was to notice if the chosen leaf had anything to teach me.

Funny how the oddest things seem perfectly natural when I’m on retreat.

Up in my room, I placed it on the desk where I did my writing.

And so I sat with my leaf.

Continue reading →

Choose Your Path

Posted on November 15, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 16 Conversations

Do you view life as a maze, full of challenges and competition OR as a labyrinth, an opportunity to find yourself along the path?

A maze is designed to confuse you and test your ability to solve the challenge of getting to the centre.

A labyrinth is unicursal, designed with one single path that always leads to the centre.

The Labyrinth at Rivendell

You are not born on one path or the other.

You get to choose your path.

Every single day.

Rational, logical, competitive, pressured ==> You’re in the maze.

Relaxed, present, connected to spirit ==> You’re walking the labyrinth.

Labyrinth thinking takes letting go of societal conditioning to get things done and win at all costs, ie: Who gets to the centre first? It takes letting go of traditional education’s conditioning to do it right and do as your told, ie: Follow the path exactly in order to get a gold star.

Notice your default view.

Maze or Labyrinth.

My work as a coach is not to tell you which path to choose.

It’s not about which path is right, but which path feels right for you.

If you’re alive you’re on the path.

Which would you rather walk?

Here I Am

Posted on November 14, 2011April 16, 2014 by Sandi Amorim 21 Conversations

Reflections From A Retreat

Here I am, again.

Reacquainted with my Self.

Time slows down,

Here.

Here, I am in need. . .

Of rest and connection.

It always seems easier,

Here.

Here I am, ready,

To let go of all plans.

To start anew,

Here.

Here, I am centred.

I am always here,

But I’m only now,

Remembering.