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Conscious Choices: Celebrating Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 84 of 100 days of Blogging

Do you make conscious choices about celebrating Christmas or other holidays?

A friend posted on Facebook about how she was upset because a work project got in the way of getting things done for Christmas. (It was a work project where she felt fulfilled and passionate about completing. The looming deadline happened to coincide with the holidays.)

She felt like every year she wants to do the traditional Christmas things: writing cards, baking cookies, decorating the house and everyone else seems to have their act together and are creating a Hallmark Christmas. She was frustrated at her “not getting it together” and asked the question: Anyone else go through this?

My response to her on Facebook: Do what you want to do. I stopped buying Christmas presents in 2009. It stopped having meaning for me. Switched to creating experiences with people throughout the year instead. Much more fun! Last year 16 of us gathered in Florida with four generations of people arriving and leaving over a two week period. Peaked in the middle with all of us there. We went to the movies, ate meals together, played games, This year we are spread all over the world and I am giving myself a 4 day retreat with a dog sitting job. I will Facetime on Christmas with my daughters. I am looking forward to silence and writing and sitting by the fire. I am happy…What will make you happy?

I think we all have memories of Christmas or other holidays that include some years feeling up and some years feeling down. When I think back on the most memorable years, it was when I let go of it looking like Hallmark or the years when I had a breakdown and made a change.

Last year during the Christmas holiday, when I was in Florida for two weeks it *was* a beautiful two weeks that had threads of triumphs and challenges throughout the visit. My daughter, Hannah and I were the first to arrive and the last to leave. The peak of all of us being together was in Daytona Beach and we got to experience the joy-filled moments and notice the stress. All in all, I look back on those two weeks fondly because I remember the good, I rode the waves of the bad, and I didn’t get caught up in other people’s “feelings.”

Christmas brings up a lot of feelings, right?

Contrast that to this year. I scheduled two days of dental work that required rest for my mouth and my body. I chose to do it on the days leading up to Christmas and arranged to be on retreat in a beautiful home with four little dogs and a fireplace. I made a plan to watch movies, write and take long, hot salt baths.

Changing the patterns of expectations of Christmas isn’t always easy unless you can consciously see the warning signs, the red flags, the “wake up!” messages and respond to them with a different routine.

One year, I almost had a nervous breakdown trying to make homemade ornaments for 20 family members and friends while working 35 hours a week, raising an infant and a toddler and barely functioning on 5 hours of sleep a night. I had lots of internal messages and pressure of Christmas expectations. One night, around midnight, I was trying to finish one more ornament before going to sleep. I was at the kitchen table, hunched over the embroidery and then I realized I couldn’t move my legs. I had a moment of paralysis. I called out to my husband. He helped me stand up and once I could lean on him, I had enough strength to move my legs and climb into bed. All night long I kept saying to myself, tomorrow is Al-Anon. Fall asleep. Go through the motions in the morning and just get yourself to Al-Anon at noon.

At the meeting, I confessed my physical situation from the night before, crying throughout my story. Someone asked me what would happen if I showed up on Christmas without the ornaments? I started sobbing even more when I said I didn’t even think my mother-in-law liked them. That was the last year I made ornaments. The end of a ten year cycle of making homemade presents and it was time to change.

After that, I still had years when I tried to do too much or stressed myself out with gift buying and baking. But that experience stayed with me and helped me to modify my expectations quicker. It also led me to take a longer look at Christmas activities ten years later when I was homeschooling my kids and leading community groups including Girl Scouts and Destination Imagination while we were renovating a house ourselves. I realized I needed a break and we all needed some down time to rest and hang out with no pressure.

Leading up to Christmas that year, I declared that I was going to wear my pajamas all day on Christmas. I was willing to go to the movies or to my sister-in-law’s house for dinner or to go visit friends, as long as I could wear my pajamas. That declaration was embraced by everyone in my family. The first pajama Christmas we spent at home. I made two kinds of soup the day before. We ate a special breakfast. Opened presents. I put out the soup, bread and salad buffet style and we watched movies, napped and played games the rest of the day. In the following years, the tradition continued. We did wear pajamas to the movies one year with pajama clothed friends joining us and some years we visited friends and family in their homes with all of us arriving in pajamas. The symbol of the pajamas made gave it the feeling of relaxation, rest and casual connection.

There are some traditions I enjoy every year like playing Christmas music, walking through neighborhoods and looking at the Christmas lights, connecting with my daughters on Christmas through Facetime or texting photos. It is a feeling of appreciation for the love and the light that is so present.

The year we wore pajamas was the first step I took to reclaim my power over Christmas and teach my children a new way of celebrating. And since then, every year has been different, consciously choosing the events and activities and tuning in to the real meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is L-O-V-E

**********

Andrea Hylen believes in the power of our voices to usher in a new world. She is the founder of Heal My Voice, an organization that inspires women and men to heal a story, reclaim personal power and step into greater leadership. Andrea discovered her unique gifts while parenting three daughters and learning to live life fully after the deaths of her brother, son and husband. In addition to serving as Heal My Voice’s Executive Director, Andrea is an Orgasmic Meditation Teacher and Sexuality Coach.

She is following her intuition as she collaborates with women and men in organizations and travels around the world speaking, teaching and leading workshops. Her passion is authentically living life and supporting others in doing the same. To connect with Andrea and learn about current projects go to: www.andreahylen.com and www.healmyvoice.org.

Posted in Conscious Choices

Living with Intent: Frequency Holders

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 83 of 100 days of Blogging

“There are people who are happy doing small things. I call them frequency holders. They are just as important as people who are doing big things. Their purpose is to give full attention to the present moment and to every action and interaction with other human beings ~ to be fully aware even in the smallest interactions. In that way, they also change the world for the better. In our culture, frequency holders aren’t often recognized, but that doesn’t mean they are not important. I was a frequency holder for a long time and still am in many ways.” ~Eckhart Tolle

I was working at a pharmaceutical company in the late 80’s. My official job was computer software trainer. One day, I was training an older woman on how to use the computer and the new operating system. Her hands were shaking and she kept asking me, “Is it okay to press enter? Are you sure? Are you sure?” I continued to hold the space, listen to her concerns, calmly encouraging her to press the key and breathe. Until finally, she would close her eyes, hold her breath and press the key. By the end of the hour session, she was navigating around the site, pressing enter with only a slight hesitation, smiling after each section completion and thanking me profusely for my patience.

Throughout the session, I had a sense that I was doing more than teaching her how to use the software and the computer. I was a just beginning to wake up to the power of presence, the idea that our thoughts create our reality and we could make a difference in the world with moment to moment connection. I was going to Al-Anon, studying A Course in Miracles and reading a variety of self-help books by Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dyer and Lazarus. The sense and feelings I had during the computer training session were validated and reinforced over the next few weeks. I noticed how something was changing in the older woman’s presence. She seemed to be standing taller, laughing and smiling and engaged more with her co-workers.

I knew that something was happening and I didn’t have the bigger picture until ten years later, another woman from that company contacted me and asked if she could come over to my house for a visit. During that ten year time period, our entire department had been laid off. I remarried, gave birth to two children, lost a son to cancer, survived a serious illness myself and was now building community and homeschooling my children. The woman was now divorced, had a new job, and better health. She asked to see me because she wanted me to know the impact I had on her and the people around me. She wanted to thank me for making a difference in the work environment and how it helped her to make positive changes in her life.

One of the gifts to me that day was to remind me that everywhere we go, we have the power to impact each other positively or negatively.

I have had more moments like this since then when I recognized the power of presence to shift the energy in a household just by being there. I am sure many of you have noticed it in your life, too. The impact a person’s energy has in your environment; either lifting people up or knocking people down.

If you are not aware of it, take a moment the next time you are in the grocery store. When you see people, including the clerk who rings up your groceries, take a moment to make eye contact and pause for a few seconds. Feel the connection. Notice the sensation in your body. Notice the reaction from the person. Give yourself a palpable experience of feeling the impact of your presence.

Give your full attention to the present moment.

We talk a lot about wanting Peace on Earth. Did you know that Peace on Earth comes moment by moment from the peace each of us feels inside.? That is the key. It is the Peace we spread to each other. Not just during the holidays in December when the words Peace on Earth appear on banners and cards and on store displays. Peace on Earth is a year round practice for each of us. It comes from cultivating your inner world, by practicing mindfulness, by noticing where you feel discomfort and adversity in your life and by making changes and raising your vibration. Do not discount the discomfort of fear or anger. Feel them. Go to the root of them and pull them out. Dismissing them actually buries them in places where they will fester. The key is to feel, heal and transmute them through forgiveness and acknowledgement.

Then, cultivate the feeling of PEACE inside of yourself. BE PEACE is exactly that.

In 2010, I spent a year writing in a coffee shop every morning. Priscilla’s in Toluca Lake, California. One day, the coffee shop owner came over to me and shared how much she appreciated me. She said, “You bring an energy to Priscilla’s. It feels good when you are here. Thank you for being here”

None of us experience feedback every day about when our presence has made a difference. The moment when someone notices your presence without you “doing” anything. Personally, it is rare to have someone contact me 10 years later to thank me for my positive energy. Or that a coffee shop owner would notice the difference in the energy in the shop when I am there or not. And really that is not the point of this blog post.

I want you to see that you are a frequency holder and for you to become aware of it. Maybe you will be lucky enough to have someone thank you and maybe not. Be it any way. Turn up your awareness and notice the impact your energy, your vibration, and your frequency is having in your household, your community and rippling out into the world. Decide if you need to change something to BE the energy and the vibration you want to be to impact the world.

It’s in every one of us.

And in addition to receiving my words…watch this video. Let it wash over you. Know that you matter. Your presence. Your frequency. Your voice.

It’s in every one of us.

**********

Posted in Inspiration, Intention

Using Technology for Connection

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 82 of 100 days of Blogging

I woke up this morning to an invitation from my 21-year-old nephew, Luke, to become friends on Fitbit. He goes to college in Massachusetts. For the last four days, my 32-year-old daughter, Mary and I have been doing the Daily Challenge on Fibit; challenging each other to walk the 10,000 steps. She lives in New York.

I play Words with Friends with my brother (Pennsylvania), sister (Florida) and a few friends (various states and time zones).

I eat dinner with my daughters (California, Maryland, New York and have Dance Parties with my granddaughter (New York) on Facetime. I Skype with clients in Sweden, Italy and Germany.

I am connected to people all over the world. Technology is amazing!

I know there has been a lot of conversation about how technology creates isolation. I am witnessing the opposite. There are so many places to share our authentic voices, so many secret Facebook groups with deep connection and ways to post our secrets that I am noticing people want more connection and they are reaching out to find it.

I also notice that I have more connection to family and friends who are scattered all over the world. We are expanding into new ways of sharing our lives and connecting through activities.

Who says that just because you are in a room full of people that anyone is truly connected and sharing authentically?

What are you noticing about technology and social media and connection in person and on-line?

Post in the comments and share your voice.

**********

Posted in Connection

Love: Authentic Connection

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 81 of 100 days of Blogging

Miracle Message #79: Love can come from any form of authentic connection. #MiracleNow ~Gabrielle Bernstein

A Series of Blog Posts:

Intimacy Research Background:

I wanted to grow and learn. I wanted to heal the wounds from past relationships with men. I wanted connection and intimacy. I wanted a partner who would practice with me. Real feelings. Real connection. Research.

So, I asked him. A man who was in my coaching leadership program. A man who I had a mental, physical, emotional connection with and who I felt could match my level of intensity and desire. I asked him to be in an intimacy research partnership with me for eight months. He said yes immediately.

We set up a Google document. We Face timed. We texted. And once a month, we met in person in San Francisco. He flew in from Germany. I flew from New York. We created an experience.

*****

Month 2 (October 2013 continued):

At the end of the week, we spent one last night together at the Good Hotel. With the words, BE GOOD on the wall #begood. Funny to see that as I am in a process of reclaiming my sexuality. When I saw the words I felt like my mother was in the room with me reminding me to be good!

Axel and I took a walk in the full moon light and I saw the words LOVE on the apartment building across the street. I took a photo.

Him: No. Love always complicates things.

Me: Why does love complicate? I feel love for people all the time. I felt love for the man behind the counter who just checked us into the hotel. He was so present. So full of information and wanting to be helpful. I could feel his heart and I felt love for him in that moment. My heart swelled with love. An authentic connection.

Him: That is not possible.

The night before in the airbnb with 20 of my friends and classmates, someone asked if I am in love with Axel. I said yes, I think I am in love with him. Then, I paused and felt into my heart. No, I am not “in love” with him. I am in love with elements of him that bring out elements of love for me. The love is expanding me to be more of me.

In this moment in the moonlight, I tell him:

I love the way your body feels and the way our bodies feel together.

I love the playful side of you that brings out the playful side in me.

I love your intense enthusiasm that mirrors my own intense enthusiasm.

I love how you connect with strangers on the street and in the hostels that brings out that side in me, too.

I love working side by side with our computers and challenging each other to be powerful.

I love talking about money and how excited we both get.

I love to watch you skateboard. When I see your joy, I want more of that for you. I feel the freedom for both of us in being free to express who we are.

I love…

In the morning we OM before leaving for the airport. It is cold in the room so he shows me the Hamburg wrap. He covers me in blankets so that only my pussy is exposed. All he needs is access to my clitoris. I am wrapped up like a blanket mummy.

Him: I am going to step over you now. (He positions himself in the “nest”)

Safe ports me with, I’m going to touch your thighs with grounding pressure.

Me: Yes. Thank you.

He does the noticing step describing my pussy with neutral language of shape and texture and color.

Him: I notice your left labia touching your right labia. I see a light pink on the edge of the labia. Your clit is hidden under the hood.

I can feel myself getting warm and feeling connected. I can feel my vigilance center lowering. I am relaxing.

Him: I’m going to touch your pussy now.

Me: Yes. Thank you.

He puts gloves on. Dips his index finger and thumb into the beeswax lube.

Him: I am going to touch you now.

Me: Yes

He starts with a slow lube stroke making his way from the introitus to the clitoris. He begins with a light, slow stroke. Barely touching my clitoris. Short strokes. Up, down, up, down. A slow rhythm.

I feel a slow buzz of electricity in my forehead and my thighs. I can feel the welling of tears. One tear slowly falls down my cheek. I let him know I am going to cry.

Him: Thank you.

The sobs begin to shake my chest and rock my chest up and down. I sob out all of the emotion that was in my body from being in Immersion (the coaching leadership program) and sobbing out the sadness of Axel going back to Germany and me going back to Los Angeles and all of the joy and pain of the week. Sobbed out all of the energy that I picked up in the room at Immersion. Sobbed out all of the pain of leaving my children with my husband for two weeks when we divorced twenty-five years ago. I am sobbing the present and the past. I sob about Germany and feel the sadness in the Youtube video we had watched earlier that morning. The sobs begin to slow.

The two minute bell rings.

Axel begins the downstrokes to finish the OM and ground us both.

I take deep breaths and let my tears come to a gentle completion.

The final bell rings.

Him: I am going to apply pressure now. Up or down?

Me: Push up towards my head.

He applies pressure to my pussy with both hands. Grounding all of the emotion and swelling in my pussy.

Axel picks up the washcloth.

Him: I am going to do the towel stroke now.

Me: Thank you.

He does one slow wipe on my pussy removing the lube.

He removes his gloves and helps me sit up.

We share frames.

Him: There was a moment when I felt heat in my chest and a thumping pressure in my heart.

Me: Thank you.

Me: There was a moment when I felt a wave of sadness in my heart and a cracking in my upper back.

Him: Thank you.

We put away the blankets and pillows. I put my pants on. We both pause and look at each other. Moving closer we embrace and hug. I tell him I am so sad that he is going back to Germany. He brushes my hair away from my eyes and says, I know. He kisses me on the forehead. Hugs me tight.

We move towards our suitcases. Finish Packing.

Time to go to the airport.

*****

If you would like to watch an Introduction to OM Video, click on the link. OM is Orgasmic Meditation. https://youtu.be/pYohBt5AVmA

**********

Andrea Hylen at Agape in Los Angeles

Posted in Relationships

Spiritual Growth: Learning through Intimate Relationships

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 80 of 100 days of Blogging

Miracle Message #85: Let your intimate relationships be your greatest learning devices for spiritual growth and healing. #MiracleNow ~Gabrielle Bernstein

A Series of Blog Posts:

Intimacy Research Background:

We set up a Google document. We Face timed. We texted. And once a month, we met in person in San Francisco. He flew in from Germany. I flew from New York. We created an experience.

*****

Month 2 (October 2013):

Already in the first 48 hours, I had cried several times and said, “Fuck you, Axel.” His idea of trying to find things to say to me that would emotionally whack me on purpose had reached a boiling point inside of me. He wanted to increase the sensations for our research. I had processed, cried, asked him why he thought he needed to be mean on purpose, was he trying to make me jealous? Wouldn’t there be natural opportunities for that? It felt like bullying to me. As we approached the 48 hour mark and I knew we were going to be sleeping in different locations for the next 4 nights, I left in a fury without saying good-bye or “see you tomorrow”.

I just left.

As I rolled my suitcase down the steep San Francisco hill towards the BART, (the metro system in San Francisco) I was fuming and also feeling relief from the compression between us. I was feeling free again. People may think intimacy research is fun. This was one of the kick ass, button pushing, emotion triggering, different perspective moments that are always a part of human relationship research.

The first 48 hours had many fun moments. We met at the International Flight Arrival Gate at SFO, and made our way to the BART and the private room at the hostel. After OMing, (Orgasmic Mediation), and a nap to try to help him re-calibrate from Central European time zone to West Coast time zone, we ran through the streets of San Francisco exploring and laughing. Running up and down the escalators in Bloomingdale’s like two school kids, looking for the underwear he likes that he can’t get in Germany. Stopping on the street to be videotaped by a few young filmmakers. Discovering a great Thai Restaurant for dinner. Both of us talking non-stop.

It was great until I got triggered and whacked emotionally, one too many times. When I got closer to the BART I stopped on the corner realizing he might not know where his suitcase was in the hostel. I had moved it to the front desk without telling him. I pulled out my phone, called him and told him about the suitcase. He said, “Where are you?”

Me: I left.

Him: You left?!? How could you leave without saying Good-bye? After all we have meant to each other?

Me: I got whacked too many times. I can’t take anymore right now.

Him: Where are you?

I tell him the location of the corner.

Him: Don’t move. I am coming to you right now.

I wait on the corner. Not sure if I want to see him. Feeling a little turned on that he was so upset. It feels like he really cares about me. Beneath his anger, I can feel something else in his voice…vulnerability? tenderness?

I look up the hill and in the fashion of Richard Gere in Pretty Woman when he comes to sweep Julia Roberts off her feet in a limousine, except my version is Axel in converse sneakers on a skateboard, flying down the steep hill. He arrives at the corner with a swift stop. Swoops me into his arms, pulling me close and breathlessly says, “Don’t ever do that again. Don’t leave like that!” He is trembling and out of breath.

His head is buried in my hair and neck. His arms are wrapped around me tightly, not letting go. We hold each other for a few minutes. Breathless. Teary. Exhausted. In this embrace, we begin to talk back and forth slowly, almost whispering our answers. He wants to know what happened. I share my feelings with my face pressed into his hair. My lips brushing his neck as I speak. His hand on the back of my neck holding my face close to his neck. His lips brushing against my hair as he speaks. We are so close. Holding on for dear life. Staying connected.

This is research with real feelings. This is intense.

He says he didn’t know I was so upset. He thought I was expressing my feelings and was okay. We add in more communication tools. Green, yellow, red. Green means all is well. Yellow is I am uncomfortable but willing to stay connected and learn. Red is I am ready for flight, fight, freeze. I am falling apart.

I was in “red.” How do we let each other know that we are in “red” and to stop the teasing, emotional challenging, and back off. How do we learn to recognize it in the moment?

Do check-ins throughout the day. Stop and listen to each other. We also add in “safe porting.” Letting each other know we are going to do something before we do it. Create more safety in the space.

This was painful and powerful. As we end the first two days of deeper intimacy, I can feel a breakthrough. I can feel deeper communication. I can feel the power of going through this step by step. Noticing patterns. Making changes. Feeling all the feelings. And seeing into the soul of another person.

**********

Andrea Hylen at Agape in Los Angeles

Posted in Relationships

Orgasmic Meditation: Why I OM- Part 2

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 79 of 100 days of Blogging

Health benefits are one of the reasons I OM. Physical and Emotional. After spending last week in New York and OMing every day again, I became even more aware of it. Things like singing all the time. Singing is one of the things I do when I am most connected to my self and I am happy. I was singing out loud as I walked through the streets of New York.

Some of the things I have noticed over the last three years of practicing OM:

*More energy

*Better sleep

*Happier

*Grounded

*Feeling Connected to people everywhere

*Healthy weight for my body

*More clarity when I want to speak in a group

*Ability to hold a wider range of emotions and feelings, which leads to…

*Easier to witness another person’s pain and process without needing to fix anything, which leads to…

*Better relationships with family and friends and the strength and ability to coach and lead my business.

Below are some of the benefits reported by other practitioners of OM.

If you are interested in learning how to OM, go to this link for the most up to date classes in Washington, DC

Practitioners of OM Have Reported The Following Benefits:

Increases Overall Vitality. It lights you up from the inside out.
Increases Overall TurnON. When you’re TurnedON, things flow.
Increases Energy. There’s a well of energy that lives inside of you.
Increases libido. You’ll want sex more.
Reduces stress & irritability.
Increases ability to feel and know desire. You’ll be clear on what you want.
Lengthens orgasmic pleasure during intercourse. Yes, that “Place” extends.
Increases confidence with your body & in the bedroom.
Gain skills of concentration & attention.
Addresses chronic dissatisfaction. TurnON alters dissatisfaction.
Increases intimacy with your partner. OM creates more communication.
You will communicate better & feel more connected.

Source: http://onetaste.us/what-is-om/

**********

Andrea Hylen at Agape in Los Angeles

Posted in Orgasmic Meditation

Carving the Next Path: Is it really YOUR desire?

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 78 of 100 days of writing

“Hidden beneath your feet is a luminous stage where you are meant to rehearse your eternal dance.” – Hafiz

In an enlivened conversation with a group of women this morning, the topic of following your desire came up. We were talking about learning to distinguish between the social conditioning of what we think we want and connecting with the true desire. Sometimes it is the same thing and sometimes we are so conditioned by society, family and friends, it is hard to delineate and distinguish our true desires.

Some examples:

Marriage, children, a 9-5 job, buying a house, retiring.

My own journey has included leaving a marriage, homeschooling my kids, using alternative medicine to heal an autoimmune condition, starting an on-line business, and living rent free while running a non-profit organization.

All of those paths went against the social conditioning learned in my family and community.

Here is an abbreviated version of tips I have used (and still do) to carve each new path.

#1 – See your life as a practice. Try new things. Be willing to look foolish. Failing is part of the process that helps you to discover who you are and what you want.

#2- Develop your intuition by increasing your awareness to your feelings. Notice when you feel happy or sad. Use the feelings as part of the practice. Follow the feelings and do the work to heal the things that trigger you and make new choices based on feelings.

#3 – Commit to one or more practices. Things like meditation, walking, journal writing, or exercise. Things that reduce stress, quiet your mind, and help you to release and let go and hear new answers to your questions.

#4 – Find several tribes of like minded people. This is where you get to practice using your voice, explore your feelings and desires and to find your authentic voice.

#5 – Shake up your routine. Anything that breaks the pattern. Sit in a different seat at the dinner table. Walk or drive a different path to work. Move your pillow to the foot of the bed and sleep in an opposite direction. Walk backwards. This will help you to rewire your brain and see things in a new way.

#6 – Take classes. Read books. Work with a coach. Be willing to learn something new. Be willing to change.

If you are interested in exploring more in a space with women who are ready to have deeper conversations, I will be teaching the next on-line 12 week program: An Experiential Life: Carving the Next Path – March 1, 2016-May 31, 2016. (Women only)

*Secret Facebook group

*Zoom video conferencing with a weekly conversation in the community of women

*Weekly exercises and energy tools

*Two individual coaching calls with me on Skype.

Join us!

https://andreahylen.com/an-experiential-life/

**********

Posted in Carving a New Path

Writing: Creating a New World

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 77 of 100 days of Blogging

In a small used bookstore in Brooklyn, I found a book, “In Favor of the Sensitive Man and other essays” by Anais Nin. I am sure many of you know the author by this famous quote:

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful then the risk it took to BLOSSOM. ~Anais Nin

One of the essays in the book is called The New Woman. It was from a lecture given at the Celebration of Women in the Arts in San Francisco, April 1974.

“I believe one writes because one has to create a world in which one can live. I could not live in any of the worlds offered to me-the world of my parents, the world of war, the world of politics. I had to create a world of my own, like a climate, a country, an atmosphere in which I could breathe, reign, and recreate myself when destroyed by living. That, I believe is the reason for every work of art.

The artist is the only one who knows that the world is a subjective creation, that there is a choice to be made, a selection of elements. It is a materialization, an incarnation, of his inner world. Then he hopes to attract others into it…

We also write to heighten our own awareness of life. We write to lure and enchant and console others. We write to serenade our lovers. We write to taste life twice, in the moment in retrospection.” ~Anais Nin

I am inspired by these words even more so today as I finish writing this blog post in a used bookstore in New York City on Crosby Street, Housing Works Bookstore and Cafe.

“Intentions compressed into words enfold magical power.” ~ Deepak Chopra

**********

Posted in Writing

Women (and Men): Your Voice Matters

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 76 of 100 days of Blogging

What advice would you give to a group of younger women about what you have learned about using your power and your voice?

Sitting on the Hot Seat in a New York City OneTaste Meet-up group the other night, I was asked this question. My mind went from blank and then I was flooded with ideas. Too many for sharing in that moment. The hot seat and the question penetrated a strong desire to say it out loud. Here are my thoughts:

First, I would like to tell you that your voice matters. Sharing your ideas and perspective on issues and things that stir you is so important. Spend time exploring what you feel and think. Read. Listen. Explore.

*Find several tribes with like minded people. It is easier to find your authentic voice with like minded people. Listen. Practice using your voice. Be messy. Be open to thinking differently! Change your mind. Change your mind again. Each experience either reinforces what you think or it changes you.

*Offer new perspectives and new ideas to your tribe. Like minded does not mean never changing. Share information, dreams, feelings, challenge each other. Find your passions. Discover your unique gifts and talents and use them.

*Cultivate a feeling of safety inside of you. Take responsibility for your own emotions. If something pisses you off or makes you feel tender, then check within yourself to find the source. We all have an emotional history and things can happen that trigger it. So, take responsibility to feel, know, and heal…YOU! The people in front of you are mirrors for your inner thoughts, beliefs and feelings. Don’t expect anyone to fix you. Get in the rock tumbler of life and let experiences stir you up and reveal your bright, shiny essence.

*Hire a coach or therapist for support. Take a course that pushes an edge. Personal growth is a life long endeavor. LIFE LONG. You will keep growing and expanding throughout your entire life, if you choose. Weave in and out of inner reflection and outer connection. Both are important.

*Listen to people of all ages. The five year old and the one-hundred-and-five year old both have wisdom. Listen and then feel. How does it feel in your body? Do their words feel true for you?

Then…

*Take your voice into the world. In conversations, in writing blogposts, speaking on internet radio, on Persicope on Twitter and at the dinner table. Challenge people to have deeper conversations. Ask them what they think and feel. Listen to them. Be curious and wonder why they have a perspective that is the same or totally different from you. Engage in dialogues that expand ideas into solutions.

*You have the power to impact and influence a new world into existence.

YOUR Voice MATTERS!

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Posted in voice

Living in Flow: Expectations and Change

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Andrea Hylen Leave a comment

Day 75 of 100 days of Blogging

I intuitively felt that December was the month to come to New York for ten days. Spending time with my granddaughter and daughter and son-in-law, speaking at a Dramatic Adventure Theater Travelogue, spending time with friends socially and professionally and of course, December in New York City. What a great time of year to be here! I think of Rockefeller Center, Holiday decorations, Rockettes, FAO Schwartz toy store, Hot chocolate, ice skating and snow. I think of cold weather. Bundle up in your boots and winter coat.

But this year something is very different. The weather is unseasonably warm. It feels like springtime. And although I am used to the warm weather in Los Angeles and Florida this time of year, it is hard to really feel the anticipation of Christmas which is less than ten days away. It just kind of feels weird.

So, I have been reflecting on expectations and the ability to flow with change. A change in the weather. A change in a location. A change in life. Staying open to the unexpected and noticing what you feel and how you react.

The weather is actually awesome! I have been walking between 5 and 8 miles every day. Spending time in coffee shops that I might never have experienced because it would have been too long a walk in boots, snow and cold. I have expanded the range of exploration and I have been noticing signs all around me. Sitting on benches outside of the coffee shop. Lingering longer. And asking questions…

What does my soul want to experience?

Signs and Clues Appear:

I’m a Masterwork in Progress.

I got this!

Keep Generosity Present.

Bliss

The magic of home.

Find Something Shiny and New

Hmmm…find something shiny and new. I wonder what that might be.

And just like that, I am invited to participate at a Meet-up event as a Greeter, invited into a deeper conversation, I see two people I know at the coffee shop and then I coach a client on Skype.

I feel connected with the new and the old. I feel something new is opening within me and I am willing to sit in the process of waiting. Something is cooking. I feel connected and curious.

I’m not done!

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Posted in Living in Flow

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