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Bobble This!
In an email from an Oh, Shift! Fan… 
Jennifer,
Check out this bobble head my old team had made for me as a going away gift. See the book they have me holding?
Now that’s PR baby!! Plus, I love how skinny they made me!
Eric
Love it!!
Thanks, Eric:) You look gooooood…and smart!
Letting go
I think 2012 may very well be about releasing that which doesn’t serve you…so you can grab on to that which does.
I didn’t make this up. I just keep being shown opportunities to do it.
People are dropping off while others are stepping in. Old habits that I thought would never die are being replaced with ones I never would have imagined. And the things that were important before, just aren’t anymore.
Things are just different. Are you feeling it too?
(Geez, just look at the rainless, somewhat sunny weather we’re having in Oregon the last 4 months.)
So can we honor this and flow with it?
I beg you to open your eyes to that which you are being asked to let go of and alllow space for all that is meant to come in.
2012 is your year.
I’m not just saying that.
And you don’t have to take my word for it.
Just watch.
Listen.
Wait.
It’s all coming to you…in perfect flow.
Be
One of the greatest lessons I am learning on this 40-day tour is that when you are really being present, much of the doing falls away.
While in LA, I had dinner with my brother, who I haven’t seen in years. It was such a great time and the moment was so beautiful and I was so grateful to be sitting across the table from him that it wasn’t until I was driving away that I realized I forgot to snap a picture of us together (something that I would have LOVED to have done). But that was in the doing. And I was busy being. I forgot to do. Rats! I was bummed.
The next day, I was talking to my dear friend Elizabeth about this, and she reminded me that this is what happens when we practice being present. We are in the experience so deeply that the experience is all we need to take away. This is a major shift from my old realm thinking that we have to take away something in order for the experience to be complete. (i.e., all those vacation t-shirts with the name of the city on them, or when we see a landmark or monument and we snap the picture and walk away without really looking at it for more than that one second through the camera lens.)
I am starting to realize that it’s enough to just have the experience. I don’t need to take anything else away.
This also manifests in other ways.
I refer to myself as an information entrepreneur. (Someone who offers information as one of their greatest services.)
If you’re one too, then you know how hard it is to turn it off. Meaning that wherever you are, whatever you do, you are constantly thinking about how to post it, tweet it, blog it, video it, photograph it, publish it, share it or do anything to somehow make it a part of what you offer your audience.
With the dozens of different mediums with which we can do this (FB, WordPress, Twitter etc) it almost makes one feel silly to have an experience and NOT share it. Or at least that’s my thinking. Am I weird or do others also think this?
When I do this (and I am on this tour), I feel like I may be missing out on something….like what my experiences may mean to me. If I’m seeing and experiencing through a filter of “how can I turn this into a powerful message for others”, I am clearly not having the full experience for myself. Not being fully present.
I think the trick is to simply have the experience…for me. (duh.) Then collectively, those experiences will make me a more well-rounded, qualified person to serve my clients/audience in the future.
So when people ask me to share or post, I want to. I really do. But I can’t seem to be present in the moment AND remember to take the picture, find the message, share the inspiration, capitalize on it or turn it into a book chapter.
Oh, shift!
XO
JP
Shift #whatever
Take it off.
I’ve spent the last three days in Ashland, OR with my fabulous new friend, Shannon McCoy. He is an amazing coach and an aspiring speaker…and his relentless passion and commitment to help others is what makes him super special in my book.
Today we got to talking about how heavy it is to wear the mask. You know, the one we wear when we’re trying to be someone/something we’re not. The one we think is a good idea to put on when we want to impress others. The one that we were programmed to believe would get us ahead. The one that weighs roughly 2000 pounds.
Yeah. THAT mask.
It’s heavy. Exhausting to carry around. You know why? Because it’s made of crap. And crap is heavy.
Truth is much lighter. Actually, truth is as light as air and makes you feel like you are wearing nothing at all.
Naked. Exposed. Vulnerable.
And that is why we so willingly wear the mask.
Makes sense, right? We wear a mask to cover up some part of us that someone told us was not good enough. We take on a persona that we believe will be more widely accepted than our own.
But in doing so, we negate who we really are. And when we negate who we really are, we negate the world of our true selves, our unique gifts and original thought. Who do you think you are to rob the world of your greatness?
Take off the mask. The world is waiting for you. The real you.
Oh, and while you’re at it…if you happen to live anywhere in the Rogue Valley, do your authentic self a favor and go eat at Vinny’s Italian Kitchen. Mama Freakin Mia! Talk about authentic. Vinny and his food are as good as good gets. No B.S. there, just good old-fashioned Italian food. http://www.vinnysitaliankitchen.com
YUM-O-RAMA.
XO
JP
P.S> I know. I said I wasn’t blogging anymore. But the craziest thing happened. When I decided to release the need to blog everyday I started to WANT to do it… and so did my computer. So I’ll do it when I feel like it. And you can read it when you feel like it. Deal?
Final Shift…for now.
Stay in flow.
Ok, here’s the deal.
Yesterday was a technological train wreck for me. I spent the greater part of the day (over 8 hours):
-Uploading, resizing and then downloading photos for my blog posts
- trying to get my blog to work, which gave me trouble for no apparent reason
-on the phone with tech support to get my website back on line after it crashed for the first time ever…for no apparent reason
-rewriting an entire blog post that got lost when Word Press didn’t “save” even when I asked it to
-problem solving why my Outlook kept shutting down…for no apparent reason
-deleting files from my laptop which (yes, for no apparent reason) was suddenly working at a snail’s pace
Needless to say, by the end of the day my body was a massive ball of tense nerves. I missed 8 hours of this great city and its people and definitely suffered a loss of emotional energy and confidence. All because of these damn technological problems that were happening for no apparent reason.
But there was an apparent reason. I just couldn’t see it because I was in such resistance. I was choosing to resist that which was being presented to me. The signs, if you will. Now, some of you may not believe in signs. I get it. But I do, and when I listen to them they never lead me wrong. The problem is, I sometimes don’t listen.
In utter desperation I called my dear friend, coach, healer, Heather Strang to talk this out. She helped me realize that I was not being in flow. Meaning, I was going up river, against the tide, up the down escalator. That the Universe was trying to show me, in as many ways that it could, that this tour is not about blogging, posting, fighting, crying, getting stressed out or missing opportunity. It’s about me showing up the best way I can to help people do their work. Me being fully present, relaxed and undistracted so I can shed light on the world in my own special way. It’s about meeting new people and creating community. It’s about discovery and recovery of Self. Sharing my gifts and helping others share theirs. Showering people with love and receiving the same in return. It’s about getting out on the streets and observing, learning, breathing, connecting, talking and being…in flow.
Oh, shift! That’s what I say.
So, I will follow the signs and release that which doesn’t serve me. I will choose to be in flow.
Forty posts in forty days sounded like a good plan. But you know what they say…If you wanna make God laugh, tell him you have a plan.
So, I’m out. I will share what I learn in one way, one day. But it will be in a way that feels right and doesn’t cause me so much havoc. What a novel idea.
Check me out on FB where I can easily post and share from my phone and be in flow.
Hugs and love from the road.
XO
JP
Shift #2 of 40
Say yes to people
It’s no accident that Elizabeth Sadhu would come into my life and offer to host the first f’in tour event.
Actually, Elizabeth reached out to connect with me way before I even thought about touring. And I said yes. Thank God I did, because she is a total gift in my life and, as a result of saying yes, I am sitting here in Eugene, Oregon having the time of my life.
Life is made up of opportunities which come from saying yes.
When people cross our paths we should treat them like doors. Doors which, if opened, reveal to us a plethora of opportunities, learning, experiences, relationships and whatever else you can’t imagine. See, I believe that people cross our paths for a reason, and in that moment we have a choice to make. Engage them or ignore them. By saying yes to people and engaging them, we open the door and are privy to what lies behind it. By ignoring them we are not.
As a result of saying yes to Elizabeth, I now have the opportunity to open other doors that would not have been available to me had I not said yes to her. Today in Eugene, I said yes to a lot of people and here’s what I found…
Alegria's Washboard
While chatting with a local washboard player, whose name is Alegria 
, I told her how I wished I was more musically inclined. She enlightened me with this: We all have rhythm. Rhythm comes from the breath. As long as we have breath we have rhythm.
And then before I could even process that, she pondered about how the dial tone of a phone sounds a lot like the Om and questioned (out loud) whether that was the intention of the inventors.
When discussing this “saying yes” philosophy with my new friend Tim, he chimed, “There is no such thing as coincidence, just corresponding incidence.”
Chris Hardy, a local musician and a recent transplant from Cali, stopped to chat with me on my way out of a bar and we got to talking about musicians. He shared with me his belief that what makes a great musician is a balance of great self confidence and humility.
Interesting perspectives spew from anyone if we just give them the time and space to share them.
On my morning walk, a man collecting bottles made a comment about my hair (bigness). Had I ignored him, I would have missed learning all about the local shelters, their problems and needs. Oh, and also the expected winner and spread of this Sunday’s Super Bowl game.
During my usual afternoon chocolate attack, I went into a cafe, bought a chocolate treat for myself and one for a lady who was sitting alone at a small table. For randomly engaging her, I was rewarded with a delightful convo, her business card and an invitation to speak at her next company sales training.
Doors. They’re everywhere.
Let me make it easy for you.
For as long as it has a breath and it’s in your space, it’s a door.
Open it and see what’s behind it.
Say yes to people.
XO
JP
Shift #1 of 40
Love more.
I learned this in Eugene, OR.
To nutshell it….I L-O-V-E Eugene.
Why? Because LOVE lives here.
You see it and feel it and smell it in the air. It’s everywhere.
You know how everything is big in Texas?…Well, everything is love in Eugene.
Elizabeth and Jim = Shared Love
Jim and Elizabeth keep it together by doing one of the things that brought them together. They dance. Contra dance to be exact. They both love to dance and they love to dance together. As we speak, they are off to a dance camp in Seattle to do what makes them happy. Shared Love.
This morning Elizabeth and I got up early to take a 40 minute walk. We only crossed paths with one random woman walking her dog. She was about 40 feet away from us, but that wasn’t too far for her to wave and yell “Good Morning!” She didn’t need to be brushing shoulders with us to greet us. She YELLED it from a distance. Unavoidable Love.
After a sold out f’in coaching circle filled with amazing women shedding love on each other and themselves, I headed out to find a St. Christopher (saint of safe travels). As the Universe worked its magic, the store I had targeted was closed (for good) and so a sweet smiling Eugenian directed me to a vintage store called Eugene Jeans.
Tim, owner of Eugene Jeans, is a hugger.
The guys name was Tim and he was a LOVER. I mean a real one. Not some fabricated farce. He oozes love. Just like the city he lives in. We chatted about why that might be. Why is Eugene such a lover of a city? He credits the Berkley transplants back in the 60′s. Ok. Fine. Whatever it is, it’s good. And he claims that the love culture withstands the continued growth of the city. Sustainable Love.
I asked Tim where to go for a cold one. He recommeded the Melrose Street Cafe. Tim joins me later and in the first five minutes he introduces me to a gentleman named Walker who is bouncing an idea off of Tim about how to collect socks for the local youth who are in need. This is what they talk about at the bars in Eugene. Or at least this one. I am drooling at this point. Selfless Love.
My evening was filled with LOVE. The band sang of love, the whole cafe showered love by singing Happy Birthday to a celebratory patron, love filled my glass and I felt love to my core. People effortlessly approached me throughout the evening to share themselves and their truth with me. Open, loving, happy, authentic conversations were gifted to me effortlessly. I’m not kidding you when I say that my heart was bursting. (No, the beer played no part in that:))
What if everywhere was like Eugene? What if each of us could take a feather from it’s loving hat? Just one.
What if we tried to practice shared, unavoidable, sustainable, fearless, selfless love in small ways that felt good to us?
What if we loved more? If you don’t know where to begin…love more by hugging more. You never know where that will take you.
Love is what makes the world go round and Eugene walks that talk in a big way. This whole city has given me a great big hug…so f-it… I think I’ll stay one more day.
Love you.
XO
JP
What if…
What if everything wasn’t meant to go as you planned it?
What if plans were an excuse for not following the signs?
What if the plan was not to plan?
I love the way this sounds.
It’s not lazy. It’s different.
And different is how we are always being asked to think.
If we keep thinking the same, evolution is impossible.
So, how can we think differently about the age old belief that we must have a plan if we are to succeed?
What if we just listened and followed what we heard, felt, sensed was the next right action?
How easy would life be?
Mmmmmmm. I like easy.
XO
JP
Hmmmm.
If you are really good at something does that mean you are meant to do it (for a living?)
I used to think that our gifts were given to us for a reason…to share them, but to also make capitalize on them (oh the “c” word). But I have recently begun to think differently.
What if we were given these talents to use them in ways that WE define? Maybe as a hobby or as a volunteer service to help others?
I think you might agree that we are meant to share our gifts but in a way that flows effortlessly from us. Forcing anything is being in resistance. And who wants to live like a salmon?
XO
JP
Do. Then think.
Oh, shift! I met with my fabulous photographer friend Brian McDonnell last night to chat a bit about the tour.
His enthusiasm about all the different places I would be passing through really started to sink things in for me. You know…I finally began to realize that I was actually doing this. Er.
Funny how that works.
Girl has idea.
Girl says idea.
Girl does idea.
THEN Girl thinks about the idea.
(yes, I called myself a girl 4 times)
I’ve decided this is the best way to roll. DO then THINK.
If I had thought about all that went into planning and taking this tour BEFORE actually deciding to do it, I probably would have said to myself what many of you are saying to me…”That’s so crazy, girl!” or “Damn that’s a lot of driving!” or “What? You’re traveling ALONE?—you better get a taser gun.”
But the truth is I didn’t think about it. I just did it. And so here I am…Being a crazy girl, driving 4500 miles WITHOUT a taser gun. Taser gun? Really?
xo
P.S. What have you been thinking about doing for waaaaaayyyyyy toooooooooooo loooooooong?
