Laughing at myself

Posted by Anita Bondi on January 16, 2012 under Anita Bondi | Be the First to Comment

I love to laugh at myself. I encourage others to laugh at themselves. Selves make silly mistakes, say stupid things, mess up. This (in my humble opinion) is no reason for feeling shame, hiding the truth, or creating defensiveness if caught.

What if we all simply “outed” our mistakes and laughed at ourselves? Whether it be a big thing like hurting someone’s feelings by sticking the proverbial foot in the mouth, or using the wrong word in a sentence, or, _____________.

I’ll start with a small one from my own day (after all ,incrementality is the only way to get anywhere)!

I woke up this morning so excited. I remembered that it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and that I had just taken a picture of a jewelry piece that had a partial quote of his hand-stamped on it. The whole time I was getting ready for the day, walking the dog, eating breakfast, I was thinking about how I could do a blog post today and honor him and myself in the process! (self-promotion is not a bad thing, a hard thing, but not a bad thing.)

I downloaded my photos, picked the best one, and sat down to write what was going to be a simple two sentence blog post.

Suddenly it was not Martin Luther King, Jr.’s face that I saw but rather it was Gandhi’s face. So, here is where laughing at myself really comes in handy. They are clearly not the same person, do not physically resemble each other, and did not live in the same country. I was about to proudly post the quote, “BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD”, alongside the picture of my jewelry piece, and a link to Martin Luther King Jr.

I could have just let this go, after all, you would have never known about it. I caught it in time. This time. What about all the other times that I don’t? Laughing at myself and telling you about my mistakes makes me ask these questions? Do you  feel a bit better knowing that “you” are not alone in your mistakes? Do I feel a bit better knowing that you will still like me even though I mixed up two great but very different men? And will this put a big smile on your face right now and cause you to giggle or laugh at me, yourself, and the ways that we are all so unbelievably beautiful in our humanness?

PS. Is there a Gandhi Day? If not, I declare this day the day to “have a dream of being the change you wish to see in the world.”

New Year’s “Letter”

Posted by Anita Bondi on January 3, 2012 under Anita Bondi | 5 Comments to Read

This New Year I was not drawn to create resolutions, list goals, or make bold promises. This New Year I am called to live where my feet are at any given moment. Why my feet? One possibility is that they are not my head and in fact are no where near my head. My head, aka my mind, likes to wander, scatter itself all over the place, and muse about a lot of things (don’t get too excited…things like, dust bunnies, grocery shopping, dog pee).

I needed something to bring to my trance dance group last night. We were journal writing and dancing into the New Year. Usually we use a writing prompt brought to us years ago by Patti: Oh 2012, that was the year of ________, and then we write as if the year has already happened.

I was wanting something more (needing something stronger to pull me away from dog pee and firmly plant me in the present moment). But I also wanted something simple, as most people I talk to are feeling too complicated right now.

My InterPlay mentor and teacher, Cynthia Winton- Henry brought the perfect thing (click on her name for the whole blog post). Here is a line from her short, sweet, and seductive suggestion: ” That is why my letter for 2012 is Q for quiet, for quest, for question. may my heart be open. what is your letter for the year?”

Taking her lead, I made a bunch of cards with letters of the alphabet on them and let each participant choose one. I asked them to come up with three words that began with the letter to help guide them into the New Year. Our trance dance is broken into three 20 minutes sections and I invited them to hold one word at a time as an intention and then gave them a few minutes to journal or draw between each dance segment.

We also had some time at the beginning to write using our “old” writing prompt and our “new” alphabet letter invitation. Surprisingly or serendipitously (is that a word?) I also chose the letter “Q”. Here is the beginning of my journal entry:

Oh, 2012, that was the year of possibility, of Quivering into the Quiet Question and knowing, YES!

Here is a picture of the letters that did not get chosen last night. Pick one and let me know what your letter is for the year!

Here’s to living where our feet are planted in every moment of 2012!

It’s a wrap!

Posted by Anita Bondi on November 27, 2011 under Anita Bondi | 2 Comments to Read

Day 7 of interesting ways to use the InterPlay Inspiration Deck.

It’s a wrap! I  am officially  finished my week of giving you interesting ways to use the InterPlay Inspiration Deck for your personal home use.

BUT

AND

If you don’t have a deck,  you won’t be able to practice, and then you won’t be able to change your life.

OK

that was a bit strong, but you get the point…time to invest in yourself and your practice.

Here is one incentive: FREE SHIPPING! click here and then when you are ready to pay use the coupon code ABD3334 and away you go!

(pssst…this code will work for the jewelry on the site too!)

(double psssst….this code is only good until dec. 1st.)

Thank you so much for walking the path with me and giving me the inspiration to keep changing my life!

To read testimonials from people using the deck, click here.

Become a fan of the deck on Facebook here.

Follow me on Twitter here.

OR send smoke signals….

Any and all ways of connecting are welcomed!

Change your life

Posted by Anita Bondi on November 26, 2011 under Anita Bondi | Be the First to Comment

Day 6 of interesting ways to use the InterPlay Inspiration Deck.

We have a saying in InterPlay…Change your practice, Change your life or is it Change your life, Change your practice?

I think the meaning is the same. If you wish to change your life then you must change your practice because if you do not the practices that are not working will continue to not work and your life will not change. This is not rocket science, right?

The real question is: Why is it so hard to change your practice? Experts have written many books on this subject; google it and you will find many videos, articles, etc., or just read what my friend Practice has to offer you. (She is one of the principles of InterPlay brought to life in the InterPlay Inspiration Deck.)

When Practice gets a hold of you, watch out! She is a goddess and knows what is best for you. Practice believes in self-improvement through the power of daily affirmations and repetition. Every morning for six months, she bought a beautiful amber colored mat to her friend’s house to do Pilates because the friend wanted more strength and flexibility. Practice is committed and dedicated. She knows that to change your life, you just need to change your practice. And she is willing to take your hand and walk with you every step of the way.

Some of the things I have learned from Practice:

• get clear
• show up
• feel the fear
• get help
• walk the talk
• keep going
• affirm yourself

There is so much that could be said but as I stated earlier: this is not rocket science, so find your practice, stick with it, and you will change your life!

I promise.

Thanks-giving

Posted by Anita Bondi on November 24, 2011 under Anita Bondi | Be the First to Comment

Day 4 of interesting ways to use the InterPlay Inspiration Deck.

Today in my small part of the world it is Thanksgiving. For some it is a day to be off from work, eat large amounts of tryptophan, and watch football. For others it is about spending time with family, friends, and reflecting on all that calls for thanks and gratitude.

This year I fall somewhere between the two. I notice that my body feels sluggish, my heart carries a heaviness, and my mind is scattered and unfocused. Personally, I am happy to notice these things as it means I am fully alive and fully human. I am also deciding that I do not want to spend the day in this energy and know that the principles and practices of InterPlay can truly come to the rescue!

Here is the process that I will use today and offer to you:

1. notice the ways that you are feeling – body, mind, and heart.
2. get out your InterPlay Inspiration Deck and hold the noticings as you shuffle. (don’t have a deck..what are you waiting for?)
3. allow a question or inquiry to rise to your conscious mind. today mine was, “it is thanksgiving and i want to know what i can do to have more thanks in my body and also what i can do to be more giving to those i come in contact with today?”
4. hold one question or inquiry at a time and pick cards.
5. muse, journal, exform, etc. with the chosen cards.

Read on for my personal process:

First, I have to say, “I am lovin’ this!” “I am always so amazed at what I pick when I use this process!”

The first question was about having more thanks in my body and I picked the AFFIRMATION card.

The second question was about being more giving and I picked the WITNESS card.

Another way to use the cards is to just see the symbol and color on the front and let that speak to you. I will model that method for you below….

My experience with Affirmation: I see the star and notice the color is yellow. Yellow reminds me of the sun and warmth and I notice the star makes me think of being young and getting stars on school papers when I did a good job. This makes me smile. I like the word affirmation as it seems positive and happy. I decide to bathe myself in yellow and look for something yellow to wear today to remind me of my message. My thought, ” thankfulness is present when I allow affirmation, like sunshine, to flood my being.”

My experience with Witness: I see the dark green windy path holding the word witness and my thought is, “this is a process right now, a path that I am on and I trust that if I follow it, I will be led to where I want to go.” For today I will be a witness, to myself, and those that I am with. I will honor and affirm who I am , who they are, and where we find ourselves intersecting. I will not work to fix or change anything. Witness asks me to just be present: fully, truly, wholly present.That is a kind of giving that I never really thought about before. It seems passive and yet I can feel that it has a lot of power.

Off to try it out! Happy day of Thanks and Giving wherever you are!