What You and Harry Potter Have in Common

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 5 Conversations

 

“Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him.”

Dumbledore says this in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Right before he died.

Last breath.

Words of wisdom.

Well, this isn’t Hogwarts and I’m not Dumbledore, but listen up…

You are the best hope you have. Trust you.

Let’s be honest; like Harry, you’ve probably had issues trusting yourself in the past.

I’ve been thinking about this so damn much that it turned into a blog post and week-long experiment.

Remember the definition of trust?

trust: ability to rely on another person’s integrity, strength, sureness etc. i.e. You can trust someone to do the right thing.

At the beginning of the week I felt like I had no connection to this definition.

But I love experiments, and suddenly? Space for something new to show up.

The word itself – experiment – magically makes room in my grey cells that few other words provide. As soon as I begin to think in terms of an experiment, I become intrigued, curious and fully engaged.

The past week was a perfect example of this.

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Experiment in Trust

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 23 Conversations

 

Trust has been on my mind a lot lately.

You might think after so many years of personal development and almost a decade of coaching I’d be a very trusting person.

Not so much.

My lil’ lizard brain is suspicious and cynical, and you’d be amazed at the skepticism that rears its head almost every time I read or try something new. Why do you think it took me so long to start a blog and get on Twitter?

I’ve been lied to and cheated on in the game of love.

I’ve been burned by business agreements gone wrong, promises broken.

I’ve been hard done by, strung along and…

I know. This is starting to sound like a dramatic, movie-of-the-week. The result is this,

Not. So. Trusting.

You’ve got your own story of disillusionment and disappointment, so, we’re in this together.

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That’s How the Light Gets In

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 12 Conversations

 

“And I listen and I think. Time doesn’t seem to pass here; it just is.” – Bilbo Baggins

Rivendell retreat centre sign, Bowen Island, BC

Silence called to me from a special place. A place, that like its name, conjures up images of forest and faeries.

Like Bilbo, it is at Rivendell I find myself most able to think, to hear the thoughts and ideas bubbling up as though from a wellspring deep inside.

The sacred space, the silence, allow me to turn off the busyness of my life. My heart expands and I breathe deeply.

New thoughts emerge effortlessly as old thoughts play themselves out. It is easy to be at Rivendell; it offers itself up, a gift to unwrap slowly. An opportunity to treasure each moment, each thought that arises.

  • What is it that I am truly offering?
  • What is authentically, gloriously mine?

These are the questions I hear as I walk the labyrinth.

centre of the Rivendell labyrinth, Bowen Island, BC

I remember a line from a Leonard Cohen song,

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

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Love Letter from A First Born

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 16 Conversations

 

Today is my mom’s birthday and sharing her with you is a gift. In knowing her – Pierina – you’ll know more about me.

I am her, and yet? I’m not. I’m me infused by her love and caring.

She’ll cry when she reads this; I’ve cried writing it. Perhaps you’ll cry too.

It’s all good because it had to be said, from me to my mom, who I call Mamalu, a letter of love on her birthday.

photo of my parents, Pierina & Manuel Amorim

Let’s start with this photo, because really, who could resist that mischievous smile? I love that moment of joy and connection that shines through her eyes.

Can you see it?

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When Spirit Calls Do You Answer?

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 9 Conversations

spirit dancer sculpture, Santa Fe

“What is your spirit calling for?”

My spirit has been calling for silence.

Two weeks from now I’ll be at a silent retreat; four days of silence, rest and nourishment at all levels.

The silence has been calling for months, but I have not been listening.

I’ve ignored it, been busy, rescheduled it twice and dismissed the need.

I have been unwilling to honour the call.

Until now.

“Silence is sometimes the best answer.” – Dalai Lama

I have surrendered, given myself over, and booked off four full days (96 hours) of blissful, sometimes confronting silence.

The Spirit Dancer? Is satisfied.

And you?

  • What has your spirit been calling for?
  • How will you honour that call?

How 2 Small Words Will Snap You Out of a Funk

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 9 Conversations

Two small words that have the power to create reality.

It can be a reality that feels good, full of possibility. Or the opposite, a full on funk that has you on the couch with the remote in one hand and a bag of chips in the other.

But wait!

What if you could…

  • write that book
  • skydive
  • learn a new language
  • start a business
  • have the body, career, mate, life you’ve been dreaming of?

I’m guessing those goals, or similar ones, can easily trigger your lizard brain and I can already hear the “yeah buts” that want to keep you in the funk!

What if you…

  • aren’t creative enough
  • are too afraid
  • aren’t good with languages
  • don’t have the funding…or the courage
  • aren’t willing to do what it takes?

Familiar? I know, and not in a good way.

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What Will You Do With Your One Precious Life?

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 21 Conversations

“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

You’ve probably read that quote before; maybe it even inspired you…for a moment. Did it actually change anything in your life though? Did it spur you to action or have you commit fully to a dream?

I didn’t think so. Me neither.

And yet? I love that quote, which is actually the last line of this poem.

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Maybe I’m quirky, but it’s the second last line that inspires me, “Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?”

The idea that my life is precious appeals to me, but it’s the reminder that everything dies “and too soon” that inspires me to action.

Consider that you don’t often do what it takes to honour that one wild and precious life. You don’t, and it’s time to tell the truth about that.

You talk about it. A lot.

You make promises and New Year’s resolutions, you join programs and support groups, spend money and waste time.

Now, until I’m on the other side and can share my perspective from the afterlife, I’m pretty sure this life? Is all you’ve got. Right here. Right now. This is it.

It’s not a practice life either.

This. Is. It.

But when you think of your life, doesn’t it seem infinite, like you have all the time in the world?

Except, you don’t.

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Dear Georgia (or why I came to Santa Fe)

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 8 Conversations

 

Before I discovered coaching, photography was my passion and before that, painting.

One of the painters that inspired me (not only with her art but also in how she lived her life) was Georgia O’Keefe. Today as I wandered the streets of Santa Fe I couldn’t help but think of her and the land that captured her heart.

sunflowers in Santa Fe

“I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.” – Georgia O’Keefe

adobe buildings in Santa Fe

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keefe

sculptures Santa Fe

“To create one’s own world in any of the arts takes courage.” – Georgia O’Keefe

Santa Fe has long been on my list of places to visit and it feels wonderful to finally be here. I am soaking up the sun, the colours and of course, the spirit.

What place is calling to you, and why?

 

The Letter Love Wrote

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 28 Conversations

Dear Beloved,

Dear Beloved,

Lately? I haven’t been very good at expressing my love for you. There’s been a lot of make wrong, and judging and assessing going on and it hasn’t been pretty.

I’ve been focused on work and getting things done, mostly noticing what you haven’t accomplished. I’ve thought and said things to you that I would never, ever say to another. I am so…sorry.

When I think of what you’ve been through the past year and a half, I almost swoon with pride. Really I do. I just don’t tell you enough.

I save that for others.

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I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

Posted on by Sandi Amorim 13 Conversations

in·som·ni·a

noun: inability to obtain sufficient sleep, especially when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying asleep; sleeplessness

Lately? There’s been A LOT on my mind. I recently launched a new project and it’s all good. It’s just – a lot you know? And it’s keeping me up at night. From the running to-do list to the many what if’s, the thoughts play like an endless tape causing the undesired state of sleeplessness.

The usual remedies? Not. Working.

From sheer excitement (and probably an overdose of adrenalin), I’ve already been running on much less sleep than normal. But what exactly is normal when it comes to sleep?

Opinions vary, but there’s some consensus that the optimal amount in humans runs 7 – 8+ hours for adults. I’ve been averaging more like 4-6.

Hmm, should I be exhausted? Continue reading →