Archive for the ‘aviation’ Category

Newer Entries »

Giving Yourself the Gift of Fuel for the Holidays

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

 

Just because  you are reading this, I think you deserve congratulations for taking the time to read something just for you! No matter what your holiday traditions, this is a busy time!

Which is why I ended up reading my own Flying Lesson #2 over again. It’s Bring Enough Fuel for the Journey. Here are some excerpts and thoughts that struck me all over again as good advice for the season:

It’s food for thought that even though there’s no excuse for running out of fuel in the aviation world, we consider running on empty a normal part of our culture. In some circles there’s even a sort of nobility attached to being such a hard worker that everyone knows you never sleep. Even when people refer to someone as being a workaholic, rarely do they shake their heads in sadness or suggest a good treatment center. In many cases, overworking and overdoing is considered the means to success.

But when we have the ambition to fly, to rise above the gravity of our current situation, self-care becomes a crucial function. If we are going to push the envelope and move into a lofty territory where humans have only dreamed of operating we’ll have to pay attention to everything we’re doing and be conscious.

Being conscious is what piloting our lives is all about. And the proof of the pudding (especially the Christmas pudding) is how well we manage our own energy.

Have you ever stopped in the midst of rushing around to listen to a small voice saying something like, “What AM I DOING?”

This is the same voice who might ask other wise questions, like:

  • How about a 15-20 minute power nap?
  • What if I just took a hot bath instead of…
  • Is the food I’m about to eat truly my premium fuel?
  • What if I went to bed at 9 tonight?
  • Do I really want to go to that party?
  • Is this conversation nourishing me?

Never running out of fuel is about taking 100% responsibility for not burning out, not depleting yourself, and for knowing and cultivating the kinds of premium fuel that truly give you energy. Who else will do this for you?

Hmmm, maybe Santa. On the other hand, why not put this present right in the center of your being this minute:

Peace.

Joy.

Freedom to manage your own energy.

May you find the generous heart within that wants to give you these gifts this season.

In love and light,

Pam

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in aviation, conscious evolution, consciousness, creativity and empowerment, Flying, health, inner landscape, loving ourselves, new life, nourishing ourselves, Photography, seeing oneself, self-healing, shifting how we see, shifting paradigms, spiritual practices, Tools for seeing ourselves | No Comments »

Piloting Your Way Through the Holidays

Monday, December 5th, 2011

How do we pace ourselves during this holiday season so that we can “fly” through busy schedules, family relationships, celebrations and sometimes travel? After all, the body doesn’t know the difference between “good” and “bad” stress. What it does note is an imbalance.

To fly a plane, a pilot has to master the controls of four forces of flight that act on the airplane: thrust, drag, lift and gravity. The engine can provide the thrust, and power also provides lift. But we don’t want to overdo it, either in the air or on our holiday rounds.

If it’s all thrust, we’ll burn out our fuel and be too speedy to be in control. If we let drag take over, we won’t have the speed we need to fly. Lift is wonderful, but getting too “high” isn’t always wise. Gravity, on the other hand, can bring a body down too quickly, whether it’s made of metal or flesh.

Piloting is the art and science of managing our energy so that our vehicle–whether it has wings or not–can operate with the most ease and efficiency possible. After all, that’s what it was made to do.

Here are some tips for managing your energy so you can soar through this season:

1. Use your mental “dipstick” to mentally measure the energy you have every day, on a scale of 1-10.

2. Decide what your personal minimum should be.

3. How and when will you pause to re-fuel? Schedule breaks.

4. What is your premium fuel? Is it solitude? Prayer? Family? Nature? What have you learned about this?

5. Discipline yourself. Does that seem dreary? It won’t if it means you get through the holidays with your well-being and cheer intact.

6. Joy is the key word for this time of year, but sometimes it’s hard to come by. Track your joy. Pursue it. Treasure it. Give it. It’s good for you!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in aviation, coaching, conscious evolution, consciousness, Flying, happiness, healing, health, nourishing ourselves, Photography, seeing oneself, self-healing, shifting paradigms, spiritual practices, Tools for seeing ourselves, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Remember Why You Long to Fly

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Guanacaste sunset

When we were in Costa Rica last month, I had some heavy things on my mind. Despite the fact that we were so fortunate, despite the profusion of juicy jungle life all around us, I was burdened. (I’m probably not the only one who has had things changing, falling apart and challenging me lately!) So my vacation To Do list had just one thing on it. It was one of the 7 Flying Lessons from my forthcoming book. It was easy to pick the appropriate one: Remember Why You Long to Fly.

As if I had called on her, Nature helped me with this lesson. For most of the first week it had been too cloudy for any sunsets. So when we had a clear evening, we planted ourselves on the beach. It was quite a show. The cloud blanket that had been providing the overcast lifted just enough to be completely lit up, creating a rose glow on everything and everybody. Nothing to do here but point, laugh, exclaim. Pure, unadulterated beauty.

Being on that beach was like flying. I felt lifted, transported. In the presence of something wondrous and magical. It rendered any of my own concerns small…or perhaps it just bathed them in a rosy light and made me see that all will be well. All is already well, I remembered.

What do you think happened in this scene? I believe I finally re-opened my heart. The beauty had been all around me the whole time, but this overwhelming scene just cracked my heart open, and I remembered.

I want that feeling of flying, that ecstatic feeling, because it re-connects me with the truth. The truth that I am a spiritual being capable of great flights, and that I am connected to everyone and everything.

What makes you remember why you long to fly? What lifts you and transports you and opens your heart and causes you to remember All That Is?

I wish you that experience of soaring. Why not remember today?

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in aviation, consciousness, Flying, Imagination, nature as mirror, nourishing ourselves, Photography, returning to essence, seeing oneself, shifting how we see, shifting paradigms, The Beauty Path | No Comments »

Plane Shadow

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

plane shadowIn the fall my husband Jon and I flew our Cessna 182 from Tucson to Taos to visit friends who have a wonderful mountain cabin. On the way, we saw fall leaves coming to their peak, almost as quickly as time lapse photography on the Discovery Channel. By the end of the long weekend when we returned, spots of gold like this one had spread, and whole swatches of forest were brilliant gold and orange. Superimposed on it all, I would see a moving shadow of our little plane, projected onto the screen of nature.

Plato saw reality in a way similar to this, as I recall–shadows projected on the back of a cave, like a camera obscura. Is everything we are so attached to a moving set of illusions?

Part of the Flying Lessons process I teach is the notion of seeing that we can move our vantage point around, seeing ourselves and our lives from above when that is helpful, defying the gravity of events on the ground level.

Another flying lesson is about opening our hearts to the beauty and wonder of nature, and to the beauty and wonder of our inner words as well. After all, we are part of the creation, and when we see that we are full of gratitude and a sense of connection to the whole web of life. The stories that fill the “middle world” which we usually inhabit are like this shadow of a small vehicle moving across the canvass of nature.

The key here is that we can observe all this. We are the first species that is conscious of ourselves. We have choices no part of creation has had before. What will we do with this awareness?  Where will we travel on our journeys? What will our relationship be to the planet? What will our exclamations be as we observe our interaction with the planet; will they be utterances of wonder or cynicism? Small views or large? How curious are we to see what the extent is of our powers? How will we use them?

Or is the plane shadow just a “plain shadow,” just an illusion, just a passing image that no one saw anyhow?

What do you think? If, like me, you are a “philoser,” as I used to call myself when I was a child, and you too are sipping from a pot of tea, drop in and share your observations.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in aviation, conscious evolution, consciousness, Flying, Gaia, Guided imagery, Imagination, inner landscape, nature as mirror, Photography, returning to essence, seeing oneself, shifting paradigms, The Beauty Path | No Comments »

Know Where You’re Going to Land

Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Flying Lessons

Flying Lessons

Want to fly?  Especially if you’ve seen Avatar, you know what I mean. Don’t we all long to soar in that free, powerful way that connects us to everyone and everything? It’s an image as old as humankind–soaring above our earthly cares and the solidity of the material world.

There’s only one catch–the one I learned when I was in flight training, earning my private pilot’s license back in the late ’90’s.  The catch is that the scariest part of flying isn’t taking off or soaring or looking down on the little ant houses below. It’s getting that heavy piece of machinery back on the ground in one piece. It’s landing.

And yet we have to address that catch, because it’s basic. That is, who would be crazy enough to take off and soar if you didn’t think you could get back on solid ground? We are human, after all, and subject to gravity. So sooner or later we have to come home.

When I was learning to fly, and especially through the years that have followed my training, I’ve chewed on the metaphor of flight and on the many lessons for life my female flight instructor, Clio, taught me. Clio didn’t intend on being a spiritual teacher or the “aviation therapist” I called her, but I thought the spiritual training I got was pretty cheap at $65 per hour.

So now I’m writing a book:  Flying Lessons for Life. And as I work on Lesson #1, Know Where You’re Going to Land, I’m full of thoughts about how important this concept is to me and to the clients I see. Almost everyone these days is “in transition–” a polite word for deep doo-doo in some area of life. The economy is hard, relationships and systems are falling apart, and the universe seems intent on decomposing anything that isn’t sustainable for the new future it must have in mind. So knowing where we’re going to land is more than just a handy skill; it’s a basic necessity.

Where do you go when everything falls apart?  How do you find solid ground? Do you go to outer things?  To family and friends?  To substances? Activities?  Or do you go inward?  If so, how do you find center, that place where you can stand no matter what is going on around you?

I’m working on some ideas around these questions, but I’d love to hear from you.  How do you know where and how you’ll land?

Happy flying!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in aviation, centering techniques, Flying, humor, Imagination, managing change, Photography, returning to essence, spiritual practices | No Comments »

Newer Entries »