The Power of Freedom

Let freedom ring... the message blazing so strong, as I witness the unfolding events of this week... The interesting alignment between our new President Obama and his allegiance to our very old President Lincoln – the man who was responsible for freeing the slaves (a most profound statement for Freedom) and the man who stands as evidence of that freedom, as first black President of the United States.

Freedom... what a powerful topic... The power of freedom is the power to create – to be FREE in your environs such that you are FREE in your mind... FREE in your thoughts and ideas, FREE to dream... FREE to believe, FREE to have faith that despite the worst of circumstances, you will prevail... Free to have Hope.

Freedom is a most profound ideal, particularly in its most primal sense when it has been taken away... Yet what I see right now is that even the most subtle sense of freedom is an enormously powerful tool - realizing that even the smallest threat to one’s freedom can have dramatic affect upon one's sense of power and ability to act, respond and behave in alignment with their human dignity, their wisdom, their creativity and their true personal power.

I realize as I ponder that even the slightest impingement upon a person’s personal freedom can drastically affect their capacity to produce. And for me, this comes straight down to the flow of creative energy, and the nature of creativity... the manner in which creativity itself actually works - a vastly important realm for us all to understand, for creating new solutions - to anything!

Innovation comes through creativity... and creativity needs a nurturing space – it needs space - quite the opposite of restricted freedom. Creativity needs openness that can allow it the ability to unfold. Like a delicate flower blooming – in a restricted demanding space, a flower may not be as easy to expand, as it would in a loving environment where there is ample support.

Creativity needs openness, in truth, it needs love. Or rather, in a space of love, creativity can thrive with ability to do much less in a space of stress, constriction, limited beliefs or attitudes - and a lack of freedom where personal power is reduced.

Which brings me to my own sense of freedom on very subtle levels... I see with crisp clarity that of course I needed to break free of restriction for very real and important reasons. In a restricted environment my own most powerful creative force and creative capacity was being hindered, and worse, actually blocked - a tragic thing indeed! So I feel and say thank God, I found a way to break free! For even when restrictions seem quite subtle... there is clearly impact, there is a limitation imposed, and those limits can drastically reduce the overall creative capacity...

When we are building something new, expanding new ideas or concepts, creating new structure for a business, book, or anything new... we need space, we need creative flow, we need the freedom to create!

So I say thank you, for I am profoundly grateful that I was given a bridge, for the hand that lifted me out of a place that was oppressing me to arrive instead in a place of deep Grace - where the love that surrounds me – the love that IS me – is able to flourish, come forth and come out – because I am allowed... because I am set FREE.

The power of Freedom is a mighty force that all together fully relates to the power to create... the power to flourish, the power to unite and allow great things to come forth...

I am grateful as I sing to this day - that I was set Free.

Thank you!



by Sharon L. Corsaro
Learn more at www.growing-gold.com

Thoughts Grow Our World?

[A sweet little Tid Bit I've shared along the way, this piece I wrote in March 2008 feels like a good New Year start - So I share...]

Ever think about what you’re thinking? Well you should! For creating – or growing – the world around us, really does start with our thinking!

I've been helping others navigate change creatively for something like two decades or more - and having studied the creative process extensively throughout - I've learned a thing or two along the way... In fact, I'm writing a book to encapsulate the systems I've developed over all these years for navigating the process! One of the sweet little morsels I like to share, is that truth be known - creating or changing anything - really does start with “what we think!” With this in mind, I once was inspired with a fun and easy analogy and great teaching tool - for getting us back on track to "monitor" our thinking. Simply put, it goes like this...

Consider “your thoughts” are like water... your thoughts are the energy (like water) that grows the “garden” of your life - and world! Like in a garden, when seeds are fed lots of water, they grow! So consider “your thoughts” as the water that grows your “garden.” Digest the power of this simple little notion... and you realize you can become extra aware of what you are "watering" – where you give your thoughts and energy – to better ensure you are “watering” what you want to grow - not over indulging "too much water" to drown a new plant (idea or project) and "not" watering, that is, allowing “to go dry” that which no longer serves you (old stuff, relationships, anger, fear...etc.)!

So go out and prosper in the New Year... and watch what you're thinking! Pull out some weeds, don't over water, feed your new seeds... and grow a good garden this year - one that's like gold!

...Just the tip of the iceberg ~ with mountains more to share! See you on the next one...

by Sharon L. Corsaro
Learn more at http://www.growing-gold.com/

Go with the Flow

Just "go with the flow" she said. With a turned head every which way I thought "who said that?" for there was no one present...

"Go with the flow"...it came again... this time with a picture, a stream of thought in the form of "like the current of a river" as the advice continued, now in my mind's eye, as she continued by showing...

Life is like water you know... you are the vessel, encapsulated by the power of God and all the ones that love and protect you, held inside a golden vessel. The vibration of you, of your heart, of your love - and that which stays with you - it has the power to carry you... always carving the way ahead of you, as it buffers you - like a vessel riding down a river... In a river, you would ride easily with the current - the ride of the water - the passage of water - upon the path of least resistance...

As the story and visual continues, I ponder the beauty of the concept shown in this way... Ease. Just allow ease... thinking to myself, "allow the vessel that is created by me and that which surrounds me in protection - allow this 'golden vessel' as it were - to ride like a boat along the river of life..." As I continue to envision this analogy to life, the visual continues...

Like water and boat, you are riding along the current of life. Don't ever resist. Know that the power of your presence is in sync with all that surrounds you and all pieces are aligned... so when something is occurring, allow, don't ever push or resist, for there is a force so much greater, and it is the river... it knows how to move and it knows what you need - you make that clear all the time - with your thoughts, words and your heart - so your job is to receive all the parts that are put into place around you - the strangers you pass on the street, the encounters you have in a meeting, words exchanged, the timing of a phone call or email - all are in sync... Be the vessel riding down the river alongside every perfect particle that has been created around you... Everything is happening with reason, as an orchestra, harmonized with your desires and your purpose... So simply, allow. Be the vessel that rides the river of life...

I reflect on events of the day knowing that all things are occurring this way. Divine Timing is very, very real - in every moment! When we really truly - in every thought, action and word - "go with the flow" and follow our instincts, we are as one with the grace of this amazing harmony that has aligned all around us to create the given moment's encounters. In doing that, we allow the river, the water, the current and flow, to carry, to go where it is easy to unfold and flow with greatest harmony.

Truly without doubt, there is an enormous Divine force at work - always in every moment and every action - and it has amazing power, grace and promise to unfold everything in just the right way, at just the right time - It is only our job to simply allow that!

Be the vessel riding down the river of life - and allow this magnificent current to carry. Allow the encounters to come and go with ease - let water roll where it should and move as it naturally would. Allow the current, to carry.

As I come forth from this reflection, I know that everyday life is filled - brimming - with moments of ease and it is merely our choice to embrace them!

So, I share the "voice" of this vision - that you too may feel the presence that came to me - with love and clarity to help us all find life's greater ease ~ by allowing the river to carry!


by Sharon L. Corsaro online at growing-gold.com

Sharon Corsaro is a writer, creative coach and creative facilitator sharing tools for empowering the process of change and creative development in life, business, community and more. She shares "morsels of gold" from everyday life right here at Tid Bits of Gold, while continuing to work on her first book to share these tools more widely. For more information on Sharon's coaching or other services, please visit growing-gold.com.

How We Believe

How we believe makes all the difference in the world. It dictates what we say, how we behave, who we will talk to, where we go. It dictates how our children are raised, how our companies are run, what officials we elect, and in the most bare bones form, it dictates what we say and do, on a constant daily basis.

So why would we not take a deeper look – deeply ponder and consider – what we believe. Funny thing is, beliefs can sometimes be so inherently rooted inside us that we may not even recognize them as “belief” – so woven into our very fabric – that we think the belief itself IS the fabric, when it is really only “what we believe.” Ancient wise men pondered this to no end with the art and science of philosophy – in truth, the analysis of “belief.”

“How a man thinketh in his heart, so he is” ~ the famous words of James Allen could not be more solidly true.

A story I learned just last night demonstrates a profound example of how "what we believe" makes all the difference in the world, for profound impact on us all...

Based on a true story, I watched a film that shared the story of William Wilbersforce, an Englishman of the 1800s who fought to end slavery in a world where commerce was built upon this "resource." He eventually won the war and abolished the slave trade across the entire globe - an astonishing feat - in what I see as one man’s "belief" literally changing the world.

Wilbersforce had spent a lifetime fighting the system when at a certain point, he felt defeated, his work had been powerful and strong in the British Parliament, but it had not reached the crescendo he needed – he became worn, and stopped the fight. He had given up and his health was drastically taking him down. It was at this point that a woman he met saw a fire of passion inside him, and pushed him to speak up again - to reignite the fight, and carry out his "war on slavery" - for which he had nearly lost all hope. She warned, it was time to push forward - and fight again - for the fire inside him around this one cause was in fact the only spark of "life" she could see in him. To her challenge, he could have said no – his health was very bad, he had fought long and hard and not won - he could have chosen to leave it alone, and give up. But something deep inside him – something in the passion of what he believed said DO IT. And with that decision – he set out to change the world, literally and dramatically – and he did!

One man's belief literally transformed a global condition, to set the stage for severe changes across the entire world... that affected millions upon millions of lives.

It was with this last stroke of energy that he came forth with new ambition, new charge, and in the end, new persons for his team emerged - with the brilliant ‘back-door’ solution that finally tipped the case to his side, and he won – slavery was abolished across the globe. An astonishing triumph - after years of long hard hours, passion all but spent - finally, an enormous victory!

I ponder this story, as I think to myself and pray others will too... "my goodness, what do I believe, that is waiting to come forth from inside me? What fire is inside me... what do I need to be doing with my beliefs – that also could be dramatically important to this world? ...heaven forbid I should not do what is burning to be done by me in this world?!"

I ponder the power of one man’s belief that unequal treatment was wrong - coupled with a willingness to stand up against the masses in conviction with courage - to literally change the entire landscape of the world. When he took on his crusade, 11 million Africans had been been affected by slavery – we can only imagine the thousands and millions of lives that were saved, once the trade was abolished.

All this to confirm my own conviction... There is purpose to our passion. Passion fires up inside us as a sign of strong beliefs – as the evidence for “what we believe” – and in many ways, it is a sign of hope, that we will take action, we will carry out our purpose.

When we feel with drive, when we fight with strength, when we know with depth, that something is wrong or must be changed – it could take a lifetime to correct - but we must still fight... take those steps, and keep going – go with what we believe - because it is there that we will win... we will unearth and uncover the final stones that carry out the grand plan "our beliefs" have had us fighting for, all along.

There is a reason for our passion – and truth is, it’s our job to listen! To hear the voice inside that burns a fire, to be spoken.

I pray today, that we may each live with passion and act with conviction, that the ones among us who are to stand - will do so with grace, with courage and with ease ~ and the strength to carry on!

I can only hope that I will do my job - too!


by Sharon L. Corsaro
Learn more at http://www.growing-gold.com/

A New Day Has Dawned

Our world and our country finds a new voice… one of youth, courage and strength. We found a way to break through enormous old barriers and elect to office a man of different race. One of color. One that’s different than ever before. Change it's true, is the sound of this voice.

"Newness" is here and perhaps with it we find the strength to say no to the past and yes to our future. To create the means and ability to look beyond our differences and reach into our souls – our collective – to find the new dawn of beginnings. New beginnings. Newness. The possibility of change, the possibility of something new.

Here today, we have the time and place to make a difference in our world. To find inside us, the strength that has waited a century or more, to come forth. The power of greed, corruption and disempowerment shed to the wayside, as we allow and embrace, something new. The hope of possibility. The hope of new ways. The hope of something new that has come to embrace us, come to engulf us, come to BE us, as we allow and embody, the new.

It's time, I say, to be that which we came here to be. To BE the spirit of our hearts and souls, to BE the spirit of newness. For in all things, there is an end and in the next breath, there is something new. It’s time that we, as a people, rise above and beyond, to know our power, our strength, and know that in truth, we have enormous ability to prevail beyond all indifferences, all question, all doubt – to BE the strength – as we unite.

In unity, we gain power, we build on our strengths, we grow with grace and dignity, to embrace and embody the truth that we are. In unity, we become whole. In all ways, in many ways, in the ways we were meant to be from the beginning of time. We've had this potential inside us, and now – today – we take a chance on something new. To become and go beyond - taking the peace of our world into the palms of our hands. For we have the power to rein. To allow and let go, let God be our force. The power within joined with the power without, to unite, in our souls, and be all that we can. To be the strength of our world, to be the strength we were meant to behold.

Thank God for our strength, Thank God for our souls ~

by Sharon L. Corsaro
Learn more at www.growing-gold.com

Get Outta the Well!

I didn’t even know Theo before that phone call… But from the moment he said “What are you, like Baby Jessica fallen in the well?” we laughed incessantly, after I vanished from the return call promise, letting “I can’t hear you, let me call back from the landline” turn into Theo calling me back 10 minutes later - with the now infamous question. So the joke fit, but what got even better, was the prophetic nature of it all, as our instant chemistry grew into a heartfelt and very funny connection that had us both rolling – one line after another – as Theo proceeded, to throw me the rope!

You see, I think when we laugh at ourselves we soften an edge that makes it much easier to say “yeah, you’re right” when we’ve screwed up, or in my case, just been sitting on “it” for far too long. I needed a tug that day – actually, I needed a big kick in the ass – to get me out of “waiting” or "being too busy” – and instead, just DO IT!

The way I see it, Theo completely did his job that day, playing his role in my life to a tee – as the mighty creative force did its job of always finding a voice – this time, with some great humor from a complete stranger!

Theo’s words could not have come at a better time. The night before his call, when I found myself ready to offer too much time to someone else's project – I stopped myself, thinking “wait a minute, I have many of my own projects to tend to,” as I proceeded to say to myself, “Okay then, its time to get this stuff done – just DO IT.”

And so, it would seem amazingly Divinely orchestrated when Theo came along – perfectly on cue – completely unbeknownst to him – to do his job with me! I didn’t even know him, but I needed his call exactly when he took action. So in the grand scheme of this great cosmic play, Theo came along right on cue for me – of all things, to humor me into saying “YES, I know, I gotta get this stuff DONE – OK!!! I’ll DO IT!”

In the funniest way, he was there to hold me to my word – the “word” mind you that I had only thought to myself no less, just a few hours earlier! So really, all I had to do was decide… and there was Theo – a total stranger – knocking on my phone’s door, to say “Sharon!?… are you stuck in the well? Or are you gonna do it?!” Quite literally, kicking me in the ass – because I needed it!

So as the story goes, this is really how it works – all the time! Decide… and God and the Universe will respond… Dare to actually put words behind your decision – and watch out, there ain’t no turnin’ back!

Truth is, we really don’t even need to “know” each other, we really don’t even need to “know” the circumstances or “know” much of anything actually…

What we really need is to just show up, be present, make the call, say the words that want to spill out – and quite literally, just BE – to do “our job” of being in the right place at the right time, to let it all happen! When we do that, magical things unfold… as we help ourselves and each other – get exactly what we need – all the time!

So I say – DO IT! Whatever “it” is that’s calling in the moment – say the words, turn the corner, write the book, be the stranger… because more likely than not, you're onto something good!

Holiness

So much in a word... Holiness. Conjures many thoughts, images, feelings - and truthfully I think for me, the whole.

I share this today, as the Holiness of me has been brought glaringly to my attention. Who am I to hold back, who am I to not honor this, who am I to underestimate, the Holiness, in ME? I believe that we all - truly in the whole - are Holy. The spirit that makes all things alive, is the Holy Spirit, in truth - and that spirit is - wants to be at least - really alive, in all things - including us!

It is only my humanness, that forgets, feels badly, gets sad or regrets. It is my humanness, that worries. It is my human, that feels separate. And from that place, today, I am reminded, allow and be the Holiness of me... Allow the Holiness to shine, to be bright, to reveal to me - Allow the Holiness of me and through me, to be the guiding light - that has immense knowing, all powerful presence and magnificent plans, for me.

Allow the Holiness, to Be.

These are the words, that come to me today. And once they did, I realized it was time to share.

So in my times of loneliness, wonder, worry or despair - I am reminded that really my only job is, to Allow the Holy, to be - in me.

May this find peace with you - and may we all be blessed - in a world that remembers... above all else, we are Holy, indeed.

With love in the Spirit of Kindness,
slc