Life

My question journal comes alive

[This post is for my Dreamers & Schemers, who expressed an interest in learning about my question journal practice at our last meeting.]

One of the lovely outgrowths of my Akashic Records practice is my question journal. It began simply as a way to keep track of the questions I wanted to bring to my Records. I started it on my cellphone because I don’t make a habit of carrying my Akashic Records journal around with me, and I needed a handy way of jotting down questions as they occurred to me through the day. Earlier this year, however, I noticed that my question journal had taken a life of its own. It had come alive for me in the sense that I would jot down questions, and in a span of days or weeks, I would get an answer in the course of my daily life.

Two recent examples illustrate how this can happen in vastly different ways. (more…)

By Ysette, ago

Mid-year reflection

It’s been forever and a day since I’ve written here, and I can’t give a pat answer for why I haven’t been moved to blog even though I’ve been processing a ton of learning and sharing it elsewhere. Today I drafted an email to my Dreamers & Schemers and thought Read more…

By Ysette, ago

We get love all backwards

Love

I’m not in the habit of being a contrarian Oh, who am I kidding? I felt compelled to directly contradict a RT in my Twitter feed today for getting love exactly backwards. No, love is NOT “giving someone the chance to hurt you, but trusting them not to.” Love is giving someone the chance to open you up, and trusting yourself to get through the hurt if/when it comes. I’m toying with the idea of opening a Love Academy just to right these wrongs, but in the interim, let’s just break this little nugget down.

(more…)

By Ysette, ago

Just around the river bend

There have been a couple notable times in my life when I felt the sheer terror of not having a future. It’s the sensation of staring into a black abyss instead of seeing a well-defined path before me. Over a recent family vacation I was again struck by deep fear Read more…

By Ysette, ago

When identity is shaken, what takes its place?

The topic of identity keeps popping up in conversations with people in different areas in my life, which signals to me that it’s time to pen my current thoughts on it. Two questions drive this investigation. The first from friends, peers, and colleagues on the brink or in the midst of transition, wondering what will happen to their identity when they find themselves without institutional attachments to define their place in the world. The other comes from within: When we loosen our grip on identity, what takes its place? This is the story of how I journeyed into the Place of Nothing and found my center.
(more…)

By Ysette, ago

Getting beyond #purpose

There is something especially touching about the earnestness of a young person’s search for purpose. I have the great fortune of knowing young adults in their early twenties who hunger with every fiber of their being to express their unique essence and be of service to some particular corner of Read more…

By Ysette, ago

Let’s keep talking about life crafting

One of the hard-won lessons of burnout for me is that unless I make huge, sweeping changes in my life, I will keep hopping right back on the hamster wheel—not because I’m a workaholic per se, but because I have a certain aversion to moderation. Consistency, predictability, the daily plod…yeah, Read more…

By Ysette, ago

Presenting: Dreamers & Schemers

There’s been a lot of hankering in my social and professional circle for a greater feeling of community, and at the request of a few friends and colleagues I’m calling together a regular event conceived as an alternative to mastermind and networking groups. As youth development and non-profit professionals, so Read more…

By Ysette, ago