In South Africa we have developed a new way of greeting each other we say the obligatory “hello’s” and “how are you’s” and we have now added a third question, “are you busy?”

Recently when I was being asked this question, I found myself nodding and responding enthusiastically that I was indeed very, very busy.   Life is hectically busy.  Then I stopped and thought “what is this busy-ness really all about?”  In our society and business lives we are starting to wear busy-ness like a status symbol, like a label of our importance, our right to exist in the world.

We are living in a time that is obsessed with achievement, productivity and getting things done yesterday.  We have communication bombarding us through a myriad of channels – emails, sms, faxes, phone calls, meetings, media.  Colossal amounts of content are vying for our attention; the quantity is increasing every day but is it really improving the QUALITY of our lives?

How much of our busy-ness is noise and distraction rather than meaningful interaction?

A huge building in Johannesburg is now wallpapered with an advertisement for a Blackberry that proclaims “Now your email can find you anywhere in the world.” Yet, instead of jumping with glee at the thought of this new technological advancement, I shrink back in horror – what if I don’t want to be connected 24 hours a day to my email?

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I recently received an email from one of the Daring Dreamers who has done one of the Dream Mapping and Goal Setting Workshops.  She has a very intersting question, which may unlock something for you in your own life….

Donna, there’s something I’d like to ask you about that we didn’t discuss about manifesting your dreams and goals. Sometimes the way we feel about ourselves prevents us from achieving our dreams. For example, we may want to be rich and famous (sorry, very obvious example!), but inside don’t feel as though we deserve that fame or wealth, or both, and so keep sabotaging that dream, no matter how many affirmations or visualisations we do. What would be the way around this? How would you suggest someone deals with this?
And how do you find out what your core belief about your dream may be?

Dear Daring Dreamer

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There is a quote that completely delights my Fairy Godmother soul and that is

“You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.” – Teilhard de Chardin

Connecting to spirit means different things to different people but whatever it means to you, begin daily practices of getting in touch with your soul.  In my morning routine I include Meditation and yoga as means of connecting to spirit.  I go out into nature as often as possible to just gaze in awe at the magnificence of this world, phase out noise and bother of everyday stresses and to get in tune with my soul.

One of the exercises that I use to connect to spirit is to imagine that I am looking at things for the very first time, like viewing the world through the eyes of a child.  When I spend time doing this and immersing myself in that child-like wonder I connect deeply to spirit and life seems to slow down and become very meaningful.

Whatever it is that lights your Soul up – begin to do it this spring!