"When you come, we welcome and when you leave, we do not pursue."
-Taoist saying
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"I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best."
-Walt Whitman
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"You grow up when you decide to do right, and not what's right for you, what's right for everyone - even when it hurts."
-Movie "Lars and the Real Girl"
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"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

-E.E. Cummings
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“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Susumnah - the space between breaths
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do not wish for union
there is a closeness beyond that.
why would god want
a second god?
fall in love in such a way that
it frees you from any connecting.

~Rumi
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“Words are tears that have been written. Tears are words that need pouring out. Without them no joy can shine, no sadness can come to an end. So, thank you for your tears.”
-Adam Fethi
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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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To love means to open ourselves to the negative as well as the positive - to grief, sorrow, and disappointment as well as to joy, fulfillment, and an intensity of consciousness we did not know was possible before.
-Rollo May
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Not consciousness and self-understanding but a passionate inner presences makes us what and who we are.
-Thomas Moore
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It matters what you do. It matters what you don't do.
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Be true to your heart, hide from no one most especially yourself, honest in your emotions, and real in your words - even when it scares you.
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I can cook for myself, clean for myself and take care of myself, the only thing I need from another living person is love and respect, and if you cant give that to me, you have no business being in my life.
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Travel safe and enjoy life and the love you have. May you share it frequently with those in your life in ways that rejuvenate and sustain both you and them. May you be at peace and share your love without reservation and without hestiation. May you be strong and capable of sharing yourself - both good and bad. May you be whole in both your lightness and your darkness. May you find joy and share it with those who are important in your life. May you live full and accept the love that is reflected in your life.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson
"A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles"

This is a gathering of Lovers.
In this gathering
there is no high, no low,
no smart, no ignorant,
no special assembly,
no grand discourse,
no proper schooling required.
There is no master,
no disciple.
This gathering is more like a drunken party,
full of tricksters, fools,
mad men and mad women.
This is a gathering of Lovers.

- Rumi

To the woman who taught me what true love really is. I will always you love no matter how far apart our lives continue to flow. For this is in fact the true beauty of our love. It needs no container or connection.

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Goddess of My Eyes
by Angel True

Your gentle blues find me,
gazing at you.
Fierce emeralds carry my passion you say.
Connected. Uplifted.
The moment stretches into infinity.

Passion - spiritual love.
Trust - openness.
Intensity, such INTENSITY!
With every look, with every word,
with every gaze - it grows.

Laying together we notice the ease,
the comfort with which we flow.
Our kisses feel electric. Our flirtation is alive.

Stronger, closer, more, connected still.
Our eyes find each other again, and again,
and again, and again.

On my lap you sit. Connected and soft.
You care. You love. You trust.
We grow.

Transcending the physical.
We approach the spiritual orgasm of desire.
We talk, we trust, we discover - each other.
A new place. A new feeling. Words must be found.

Comfort. Love. Fear. Ease. Natural.
Desire. Care. Trust. Significance.
Understanding. Understanding without words.

Endless conversation. Virtual connection.
Future. Options. Time stretches forward.
Moving forward we think - what will be?
Yet still we know all will be right.

Cookies and brownies and everything sweet, yet bold and strong like an alligator with coffee, yet gentle and compassionate like a newborn's mother, yet stimulating and exciting like an electric shock on a rainy day, yet clear and truthful like The Book of Life, yet powerful and imaginative like the Emperor of Rome, yet still humble and wandering like a monk on a vision quest, and all the while inquisitive and wide eyed with wonder like a child entering a new world of existence.

Living authentically requires a certain recognition of perspective and a supportive philosophy. Many of the perspectives and philosophies individuals have been culturalized to possess are contrary to authentic manifestation and sometimes even self-destructive. True Living offers the following perspectives and philosophies to further support authentic living.

Finding Integrity

Although Truth and Integrity are strongly related they are very different things. Truth is what is correct and accurate and honest for you as an individual. Integrity is a state of being whereby you hold only Truth in your heart and mind. Integrity becomes an ever developing process of manifesting Truth for yourself and those around. It involves becoming whole and clear only when encased within the embracing of your Truth. Integrity also involves embracing and accepting other individual's Truth and recognizing it as part of the greater fabric of our existence. Honoring and supporting other's Truth even when it differs from your own is the highest manifestation of integrity. With True Living you constantly seek the highest Integrity in thought, action, emotion, and word possible at all times.

Recognition of Choice

Everything we do in life is a result of choices we make. In every turn and interaction we face one or more choices on how to proceed. At times it may feel like there is “no choice” but the reality is that we just don’t like the consequences of the other options. With True Living you seek to recognize the choices you are given in life, understand the real consequences of the options, and make choices based on desire and intention rather than fear of the consequences.

Expectation vs. Desire

Many people walk through life with “images” of how things “should be.” These "images" and "shoulds" cloud perception and judgment in life. They lead individuals and even groups down a path of thinking that this is what “will be.” Eventually it is discovered that the “images” of what individuals think “should be” and come to believe “will be” do not match the reality of what actually is. Needless to say this is often disappointing and can lead to frustration and despair when the mismatch continues over time. With True Living you focus on understanding the core issue of the “image” and replacing the “should be” that follows instead with desire. Once the desire – usually broad and not too specific – is firmly acknowledged you can begin the process of intentional manifestation. True Living focuses on your desires and how to fulfill them with maximum joy.

Intentional Manifestation

Intentional manifestation is the process by which you empower and grow your authentic self. It begins with understanding your goals, needs, and desires. Once you are clear about what you desire you can give thought to the best way to manifest it. By pausing to give thought on your manifestation you are able to be intentional about going about it. This means you can think about what is effective, what is an appropriate venue, and what behaviors and attitudes are most effective. True Living infuses intention into every thought and action.

Ethics

Societies are built on a foundation of ethics. They help individuals decide what is right and what is wrong so that the society can exist together as a community. Each culture’s ethics might be a little different but they all have commonalities and at least a few specific ethics in common. Commonalities include ethics about behaviors like theft, killing, physical violence, work, and spirituality. The problem with ethics in societies, however, is that they are subject to corruption, hijack, or just blatant disregard either by individuals or even collectively as a society. The other important thing to note about ethics is that they are “flexible” in most societies even though by their very definition they really aren’t. Within a reasonable limit there is some “flexibility” within which an individual can still avoid being perceived as blatantly wrong or bad. In some societies as they become more open, individuals can find wide latitude in how to define their personal ethics – specifically in areas such as work, sex, some relationships, and certain social behaviors. With True Living you seek to define your own ethical beliefs and then live wholly within that framework as much as is humanly possible.

Values

While ethics help define right and wrong for a society your individual values help define what is important to you. While right and wrong help you know what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior the important issues as defined by your values help guide the choices you make in life. Values can often be seen best by looking at the choices you make in life. Examine choices such as career – Are you in a career that you enjoy? Does this career earn a lot of money or only a little? Which is more important to you – happiness or wealth? Examine your relationships – Do you have a lot of friends or just a few? Are they close and intimate or just casual? Does your house have many material items, lots of gadgets, expensive art or none of that? What kind of car do you drive? Where do you spend your money and on what? Do you give money or time or both or neither to charity? Do you recycle? All these examinations and more will help define your values as you begin to understand what is important to you. Be careful in assuming what the core value is though, because values, like ethics, are subject to corruption or flexibility. Additionally, values can get caught up in the fear cycle of “image”, “should be”, and “will be.” Although something may be important to you, you might not always act that way because of your fears of choice. With True Living you will define your own values free from societal pressure and self-destructive behaviors.

Communication

Communication skills, or more appropriately poor communication skills are often the biggest stumbling block individuals face in manifesting their inner truth. While you may reach a point of greater understanding and recognition of your inner truth, ethics, values, and desires – if you can’t articulate it well to both yourself and others it might all be for naught! When communicating your inner truth it is important to properly acknowledge your emotions. Emotions revolving around big life issues such as career, relationships, marriage, kids, money, love, sex, intimacy, housing, and parents are usually deep and complex. Common components of this emotional swirl are fear and shame. These two components are often rooted in our childhood or our culturalization from society. In True Living you work on overcoming these barriers but first you must learn to communicate through them. With True Living you will focus on skills such as articulating your gut response, identification and articulation of fears, voicing your emotions, use of “I feel” statements, and identification and articulation of choice.

(C) 2005 True Living with Authentic Intention

Should

The word “should” is one of the worst tortures you can inflict upon yourself. "Should" is a judgment laden word. It carries with it the "expectations" (another implicitly emotionally laden word) of society, or other people, or worst of all yourself! It defines right and wrong. It conveys lack of choice. It predefines behavior. It "assumes" (yet another laden word) your intention, need, attitude, belief, and desired outcome.

Should is a culturalization that has been drilled into you to imply that anything else is, well – wrong. When you use the word "should" what you are telling yourself and others is that you have failed in some way. By judging yourself by external standards of failure you are degrading yourself and your choices and failing to respect your own desires.

This failure is implied – but not real. In fact, you often use “should” – laden with its judgment in place of a longer set of words for what you really mean. Should is often used in place of the following statements:

Other people will think it would be really good if...
Societal values deem it wise and self-serving if...
Others will be disappointed if I don't...
To achieve the appropriate outcome I need to...
Others think it's important if...
Society thinks it is right if...

Notice the judgment in each of those statements. While they may seem a bit over-zealous in the attempt to demonstrate the judgment it is exactly what you are often thinking or how the word is used by others.

Additionally notice the implied lack of choice. You are catering to others opinions, values, decisions, ethics, and beliefs. If instead we can refocus our thought process to accept and acknowledge our choices and options we can make choices that we believe in and are based on our own needs.

See the difference in these statements:

I believe it will be good for me if…

My values deem it wise and self-serving if..

I will be disappointed if…

To achieve my desired outcome I need to…

I think it’s important if…

I think it’s right if...

Notice the ownership and basis on your personal values and ethics. You make these choices now for yourself rather than for others. Instead of failing to support the external judgment you give yourself clarity on the choices you actually want to make. If you don’t make these choices – or chose differently – you can understand your consequences in terms of your own reasons. Then you can support your choices for yourself or understand what has or needs to change to be in line with your own integrity.

(C) 2005 True Living with Authentic Intention

Assumption

“Assumption” is another word that removes options. The act of assumption indicates that you somehow know more than you actually do. It presumes another’s choices or actions before they are actually made – precognizant almost. By assuming how another is going to act and acting on that assumption you take away another person's choice. In this case you are inflicting your judgment on someone else.

Not only are you inflicting judgment on someone else – you are also believing that you somehow know how another will choose. It is as if you have suddenly become a perfect fortune teller – but not really.

Additionally, you are then limiting or removing your options for response because you think you already know how another will act. When you make these assumptions you place yourself in the position of trying to respond to an action that hasn’t even happened yet.

Here's a common example:

If I smile at her she’ll think I’m flirting with her. If I flirt with her she’ll want to go out with me. If we go out she’ll like me. If she likes me she’ll want to marry me. If she wants to marry me she’ll want to have kids. If we have kids I’ll have to earn lots of money to support us. If I have to earn lots of money I’ll have to do a job I don’t like. If I have to work at a job I don’t like I’ll be unhappy. If I’m unhappy she’ll want to divorce me. If she divorced me I’d be very, very sad.

I don’t want to be sad – so I won’t smile at her.

Before any possibility for interaction has even occurred – you've removed the choices by making assumptions.

(C) 2005 True Living with Authentic Intention