PSA

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!!

March 28, 2014

I hit the big number of 525 Posts, I decide to stop using this site and invite you to play at my new blog!

You can find me:  

www.paulahillempath.com/blog/

My aim is to continue blogging daily. I adore writing and am proud of where I have taken this Common Salt Blog. Now, I will venture toward new avenues, focus on creating a book out of this marvelous chapter of my incredible life and share the story with many more readers turned comrades.

I do hope you will join me, late in the night, at the hearth of inspiration and candor, for without all of you, my voice cannot be celebrated.

Thank you for your stick-to-it-tive-ness!

Stop That!

March 27, 2014

Gotta stop falling on the black ice.

I have to stop answering the cell phone when I don’t have time to talk.

Stop getting sucked-into the link, after link, after link saga.

Stop burning the long grain brown rice and setting off the smoke detector.

I will stop eating too many raisins after 8:30pm.

I need to stop wincing at the Credit Card invoice envelope when it arrives in the mailbox.

Stop whining about not having….____________fill in the blank.

Stop swearing at the printer, it will not function any better with loud expletives.

I got to stop inviting the cat up on my lap when wearing black pants.

I want to stop thinking I am not enough.

What are you up for STOPPING?

Please share my blog.

A Together Life

March 25, 2014

I have compassion for the susceptible places I have touched. As I sit in the pew, listening to a marvelous voice, projecting with confidence and absolute joy, I am sensitive to those around me in the adjustment of my return. I feel compassion for my own exposure. Journey deeply into my inner world of my brain, easedropping on my thoughts of sudden spasms of enlightenment. I am happy. Giddy with warmth from the community around me. I don’t even know 98% of them yet, they have welcomed me as their own. Time quiets the chatter. I drop into the comfort of my suffering in need of support. The little thin woman who yells to blame someone for how badly her life is going drowns out the music and reverie.

Total independence is a misconception. You can no more live without getting your emotional, fiscal and livelihood needs met than you can live without sustenance, air and rejuvenation. If you honor your Self, belonging is truly a bridge of finding your way. Stepping out of the comfort zone and into a community where self-expression is encouraged, insisted upon, helps you communicate more effectively, own your own worth, be more available to learn new things about your Self, handle rejection, take constructive action, manage your time and energy with grace, be of service consistently, master your chosen field, step out of your comfort zone more frequently, and discover a renewed strength within.

You, as those around you, live in 10% of your consciousness. Belonging to a community serves to raise that level. Just how far is completely up to you. 

Case In Point

March 26, 2014

Vulnerability envelopes me as I hunch on the black asphalt at the edge of the road in yesterday’s morning flakes. Left leg splayed in a homely position, jutting to the back, as my previously injured ankle, appalled by the thunk against the black ice, begs movement. A blend of fine exasperated swear words soak the air around me, absorbed by the trees, fresh falling snow, and my once agile body. Reality sets it’s head on my shoulder, as I note my soaked jeans, angle of my appendage, and the simple fact that I could very well be flattened by a passing vehicle, gets me to my feet. Ambling like a wounded third baseman, I make it home, shaken and withered.  

“Sabotage” comes to mind, “injustice, retribution, shame, exasperation, indignation, unmerited consequence, and fear” slides up from the stubbed toe to my heart.

Then, through the hours of rigidity of the muscles, shocking shudders of pain, unsightly swelling, certain bruises and torn discernment, comes “Find the Way.”  Shuffling phone calls and re-scheduling events has everything clink into place. A horizontal position, leg high above the heart, which typically never lends itself to productivity, a majority of satisfaction takes over. Although phases of disquiet enter the recesses, I am alright.

I haven’t turned my life from living out of a cardboard box on the street to making millions, like some, yet I have made these past few days into more than a bruised knee and ankle. I can accept and honor my good companion, Vulnerability, not shoot her down in times of need. I realize I have the fortitude, determination and gratitude to take the next halting step towards home. 

A Together Life

I have compassion for the vulnerable places I have touched. As I sit in the pew, listening to a marvelous voice, projecting with confidence and absolute joy, I am sensitive to those around me in the adjustment of my return. I feel compassion for my own exposure. Journey deeply into my inner world of my brain, eavesdropping on my thoughts of sudden spasms of enlightenment, I weep silently. I am happy. Giddy with warmth from the community around me. I don’t even know 98% of them, yet they have welcomed me as their own. Time quiets the chatter. I drop into the comfort of my suffering, in need of support. The little thin woman who yells to blame someone for how badly her life is going, drowns out the music and reverie for a short time.

Total independence is a misconception. You can no more live without getting your emotional, fiscal and livelihood needs met than you can live without sustenance, air and rejuvenation. If you honor your Self, belonging is truly a bridge of finding your way. Stepping out of the comfort zone and into a community where self-expression is encouraged, insisted upon, helps you communicate more effectively, own your own worth, be more available to learn new things about your Self, handle rejection, take constructive action, manage your time and energy with grace, be of service consistently, master your chosen field, step out of your comfort zone more frequently, and discover a renewed strength within. Join. 

Academic Demands

Qualities you will never be tested on:

Sense of Wonder

Creativity

Critical Thinking

Resilience

Motivation

Persistence

Sense of Wonder

Curiosity

Question Asking

Sense of Humor

Endurance

Reliability

Enthusiasm

Self-Awareness

Truthfulness

Empathy

Leadership

Courage

Compassion

Sense of Beauty

Resourcefulness

Stick-to-it-tiveness

Humility

Spontaneity

All of the above, however, can be taught through example. They are all exceedingly difficult to explain, examine at length, master, and have some consistency. Once you hold your Self to the test of enriching your life with one, living it fully, as though “Truthfulness” matters, for example, it is much easier to recall and emulate again, and again. Why not put them in your curriculum for this year. The planet could use a lot more eloquence with “Question Asking.” What do you think?

Who I am, When I Die

I want to live my life, remembering that today, I am better than yesterday.

Each time I leave my home, I want to think people will be able to determine who I am. Conversely, as they enter into my front door, the “me” I aim to project, comes blaring out of the stuff, scatters around the room, flings off the walls, envelopes the observer with my energy. They can surely proclaim I am determinably conscientious, an animal enthusiast, a spiritual but not religious person, a woman with a zillion friends, gluttonous reader of everything save Science Fiction, productive and consistent entrepreneur, a casually quirky dresser, thrifty yet not terribly frugal, voracious contributor to the environment, typically friendly, habitually happy, relatively secure, striving to be fit, pragmatically health-conscious, not easily intimidated, pseudo organized, accessible twenty-four hours a day, hyper-energetic, and faithfully free. 

And, if I die, everything will be findable.