Wave Ur FreAk fLaG!

-     

  "Live life fully while you're here. 

Experience everything.

Take care of yourself and your friends.

Have fun, be crazy, be weird.

Go out and screw up!

You're going to anyway,

so you might as well enjoy the process.

Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes:

find the cause of your problem and eliminate it.

Don't try to be perfect;

just be an excellent example of being human." 

- Anthony Robbins

Do you embrace and live fully in your craZiNeSS? One thing I loVE about the quote from AR is that he encourages us to be super goofy and fUn! When I was doing the spelling bee last week, I was the old person, and I was the only one who dressed up--and I felt a bit awkward, to say the least. But I was so happy and excited to be a part, even though I felt a bit weird.

That can be amazingly scary for folks when they worry a lot about what other people think about them. What I've learned in the last few years, is that if I am play-acting and trying to iMpReSS others about how awesome I am, and I am trying to be a certain way--I am not being truthful 'cuz when I'm trying, it's not me. When I'm me, I don't usually have to try (. . . well, unless I'm in a situation where I would normally do the whole people pleasing BS and I am consciously trying NOT to do it...)

Anyway, being hu(wo)man and ImPerFecKt is so awesome 'cuz I am not TRyIng so hard to control what everyone thinks of me (or what I make up @ what they think of me) aND (bonus) I can relax!

Totally takes the pressure off!

And I can do loving things for myself despite when I screw up---and I am more okay when other people screw up--I can be more loving to them! 

It's all good! 

Here's my new secret: (shhhhhhh . . . please tell EverYonE!)

peOplE

arE

dOing

aNd

BeIng

tHeir 

Best...

and sometimes their best totally sucks to us . . .

(believe me, I get it . . . I've been there!)

BUT ALSO CONSIDER THIS:

Don't you want other pEEpS

to ASSume

you

are always doing and being your bEsT?

So, I challenge you to

PAY IT FORWARD.

sOmEtImeS, (& . . . don't tell nE1 . . .) my best SUCKS! SUCKS HUGE! aND I don'T always know why! Sometimes, my best is to get my butt out of bed and gO pEE, pEEps---'cuz I'm sad, or mad, or SUpEr sTuCk! (but not very often, anymore thankfully . . . )

AnyWay, hope you get what I mEan. When have you given someone else a miss, and let them off the hook of your JUDGEMENT!?

U R gEniUs . . . aT bEiNg U!

Everybody is a genius; 

but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,

it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.

~Albert Einstein

Dear Fun & Free Peeps!

Have you ever seen a school of fish swimming together? One thing that amazes me about fish is that when they swim in  a school, they work as a group--and they don't even touch each other or run into other fish! Check out this vid!

It's almost like they operate as one unified body, isn't it? How do they do that? I'm not a biology person, but there's something very natural about how these beautiful creatures operate as a school. I think it might be in their genes that they are naturally aware of other fish around them and gauge their speed and movement accordingly. I've also read that fish travel in a group because they are more protected, and they swim so close together so that from afar some predators view a school of fish as one big creature. I wonder if humans would benefit from a similar, more interconnected way of life. Hmnnnnn . . .

But I digress . . . Einstein's quote above brings me back to the subject of this blog: Each of us is, well, a GENIUS . . . at being uniquely ourselves! Because we humans are one species, we often kind of ASSume that other people should be like us, be good at the same things as we are, or like the similar stuff. I mean, we tend to judge other for not being or feeling or operating like we do, but we would never look at a fish and think, "Man, that fish is totally crappy at walking. That is well, unbelievable!"

Einstein's words are a nice reminder to me that everybody is exactly where they should be, and that my job is to keep my focus on Dana and allow others to be freely themselves; I am on this Earth to be uniquely and supremely myself, as are others. It also reminds me that my judgements are about ME, and are not really about the person I'm judging (and other people's judgements about me are also . . . not about me).

Anyway, when I was a kid, I used to want to be like others, but now I know that it's not even possible and insanely boring! I celebrate the fact that I'm sort of random, I laugh often and hard (and cry, too!), and feel deeply. I find joy in teensy-weensy stuff (like my favorite stickers or a yummy-smelling candle!) and I pay it forward by trying to smile and be kind to everyone I encounter. I have awkward dance moves, and love making faces. It's all good; it's just . . . ME!

What makes you unique? Leave a comment and share your awesomeness with us!

Lots of Love,

;0) Dana

bE-iNg hUmAn . . .

Dear FunFreePeeps;

I have been writing for the past few days about embracing our human-ness (our fate, according to Guru Singh) while keeping our hearts open to our soul-purpose (our destiny, according to Guru Singh). I have to admit, sometimes it's tough for me to be vulnerable, to feel my emotions and share them, and to embrace what it means to be human. I try to operate from a place of LOVE & CONNECTION rather than FEAR & PROTECTION, but often I find myself shrinking from connection and inhabiting my protective shell when I feel hurt or sad. It's only human to go into fight, fright, or flight mode. One of my personal human challenges is to try to remain open in my heart even when I feel like shrinking away and disappearing into a tiny insignificant dot.

Can you relate? 

For the next 10 days I'm going to re-feature The 10 Rules For Being Human by Cherie Carter-Scott--focusing on one each day. After all, we are first and foremost . . . HUMAN!

So, today, we'll look the BIG PICTURE, and then, I'll write about one rule each day (in the order that she has them, 'cuz I have to follow the rules, right?!)

Here is an overview: Pretty cool stuff . . .

***********************************************************************************

The Ten Rules For Being Human

by Cherie Carter-Scott

Rule One - You will receive a body.
You may love it or hate it, but it will be yours for the duration of your life on Earth.

Rule Two - You will be presented with lessons.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called "life". Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or hate them, but you have designed them as part of your curriculum.

Rule Three - There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Growth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors and occasional victories. The failed experiments are as much as a part of the process as the experiments that work.

Rule Four - The lesson is repeated until learned.
Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have learned them. When you have learned them, you can go on to the next lesson. 

Rule Five - Learning does not end.
There is no part of life that does not contain lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

Rule Six - "There" is no better than "here".
When your "there" has become "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will look better to you than your present "here".

Rule Seven - Others are only mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

Rule Eight - What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you.

Rule Nine - Your answers lie inside of you.
All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

Rule Ten - You will forget all this at birth.
You can remember it if you want by unraveling the double helix of inner-knowing.

**********************************************************

I am so excited to revisit these ten guidelines for life; we'll begin tomorrow with the first . . .
 

heartLOVE!

Dana

iN-jOy yOurSeLf . . . haVe fUn & pLaY nOw!

WeLL HeLLo funfree fLowErz & BuZZiNg BEs! (word play alert),

Yesterday I wrote about each of us being uniquely and powerfully ourselves--and letting go of the expectation that other people should (and can . . .NOT) possibly be just like US! I used the metaphor of fish not being able to climb trees--which is kind of like the message on the poster from notsalmon.com about being, well, ME! Check it out on the left!

The wall paper on my phone used to read "just be . . ."--and it served to remind me to BE PRESENT . . . which is kind of hard for me, I admit. Going to the quiet space where I'm with myself is getting easier, and I've found that I am actually in-joy my own company. (Get it? In-Joy, as in, INWARD JOY, not found on the outside?)

I do have to remember to breathe, relax, and BE in the present moment--sometimes meditating or doing yoga really helps me with that--and, I continue to work on quieting the inner voice that sometimes bosses me around and constantly tells me what I SHOULD be doing (you know, like, SHOULD-ing on myself?!), or criticizes me. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that the JOY is HERE, in the present moment.

While last year, the wallpaper on my cell phone read: Just be . . . !
This year, I changed it by one word: Just be . . . me! 

And here's why:

If I want to know myself and JUST BE ME, as in the one and only Dana Lynne Curry Bradach (not that I think I'm like so cool or better or anything . . . !), I had to learn to just be . . . first. Otherwise, how would I have the quiet presence to be with myself and get to know me? And now, just like the flower in the cartoon above, . . . I want to wisely follow my primal Dana gut instincts to attain my highest level of Dana-osity!

As I fully disclosed yesterday, I am kind of a nut (in a good way), and I think & act like a kid most of the time, but I'm also extremely smart, organized, loving, kind, and responsible. There's also some yucky stuff, too--but I'm doing my darndest to BE the BE(st) ME I can BE! 

We humans are taught from a young age to focus on the future to somehow provide us with the THING (whatever that is for each of us--being skinny, richer, finishing high school, graduate school, having a bigger house, better job--WHATEVAH!), as our guarantee for happiness. But the problem with future mentality is that we live our lives always waiting to arrive--and we miss the gifts of presence--as in, living in the now, the PRESENT. Check out this amazing message I found today on someone else's blog!

I don't know about you, but I have missed out on big chunks of my life because of worrying about my future or focusing on the past. When I asked one of my best friends what is really really important to him and what he wants to do with life, he kind of got this funny grin and said, "I want to enjoy myself." At the time, I really didn't get it (I grew up in a home where everything was STRUGGLE and SACRIFICE), but I've slowly come to realize that enjoying myself is one of the most important jobs I have, AND it doesn't have to do with anything outside of myself . . . it's an INSIDE job.

Hope you enjoy yourself today!

hearts@!--
Dana

p.s. but not perfeckt ;0)

"Prayer to Heaven(s) on Earth"

Baker Park, Plymouth, MN

hEy ALL!

So, after living from the OUT:SIDE IN for a good part of my life, I personally enJOY spending time with mE, now. While I used to be sOsOSoSoSoso scared of being aL(one), now I long to BE, & BE quiet, and listen for what makes mE, mE! Some daily practices that help me get centered in mE are mEditating, BEing out IN nAtUrE, prayINg, and writINg in my joUrnal.
  
RAther than jump out of bed into the shower every morning in  a huge rush, I try to lie in bed and breathe, and look to my day with gratitude in advance for amazing experiences and opportunities the You-niverse has created FOR me!

What is your deepest heartfelt desire? 

Mine is really simple: to love and belove(d). 

That's it!

How about you? What is calling you? 
Are you listening?

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Love and more love!

;) dana

wHo R yoU?

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary 

to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."

Hermann Hesse

hApPy (almost) wEEeeEeEEee!(kend), y'aLL!

It's summertime, and I don't work in the summer (or, I actually don't go to a job--but I am working really hard at other stuff, thought, like taking care of me, my family, my home . . . ).
The thing about not being so dang bUsy, is that you get to hang with yoUrself, which is super awesome but can also be scary if you are one of those people who loves to DO & BE bUsY. 

One cool thing is, that if you can get used to checking in with yourself, you can be still no matter where you are--even if you are at the Mall of America, in New York City, or in the middle of crAzY bFf dRAma!

You know, every tornado has a center, and in the center of the tornado there is stillness. When we find oUrselves in the midst of a tornado, we can choose to go to the sweet spot of the storm and remain calm and cOOL, or, we can enter the dRaMa fULLy and get sucked into the sTorM!

bEwAre: sTory oPPorTunity: This is especially true in miDdLe school . . . can you relate? I personally am an 8th grade teacher, and last year I ate lunch with some of my fLaVor-ite kids alMost evEry day (what up LuNcH cLuB #$%@#$@%^#$%^#R%$%). 

One of my fav girls was talking one day about her friends, and she said that in 7th grade, she got stuck in soSOSOSOosooso SOSOSOso much drama because she tried to be friends with eVeryOne and it got her in trouble 'cuz when she was friends with eVeryone she was friends with no One, really--AnD she got drAgGed into everything.

So, she decided to figure out who she wanted to hang with, and keep those peeps close--and GueSs WhAt? 

Her DraMa got much much much smaller  .  .  . 

Anyway, the point is (wait for it ... wait for it ...):

We choose our own busY-ness, and our own dRaMa. Personally, I'd rather be calm and centered than be out in the middle of other people's storms!

SwEeT dAy to aLL!
hearts!
dAna

p.s. leave a comment to let me know what U are going through! :0 ) dana

be YoU!

“It doesn't matter what you did or where you were...

it matters where you are and what you're doing. 

Get out there! 

Sing the song in your heart and 

NEVER let anyone shut you up!!” 

― Steve Maraboli

Good Day fUn & fReE foLk!

Can you beLIeVE you are aLIVE and yoUr fabulous existence began as a strand of DNA?

(Pretty darn amazing . . . huh?)

So, do you live your life on purpose? With purpose? I am doing a lot of stuff right now to figure out them meaning of my LIFE('s) highest purpose. 

One of the things I have come to is that if I get in touch with me, I can check in to what gives me a feeling of passion and what brings me to LIFE!

When I used to live from the OUTSIDE:IN, I worried a lot about what other people thought of me (made up info. on my part, btw!), I freaked out about what I looked like, and I found myself reacting to life rather than responding to it, living it & loving (mySELf and oTheRs) as a powerful coCreator!

Instead of trying to be cheap imitations of oThEr people (and what I thought they wanted me to be--also made up), I beLIeVE it is my destiny (& everyOnE's) to be the most powerful and fabulous eXpReSSioN of mE I can be! That is each of our destinies! 

So, are you living life small? Or, are you living LARGE and in CHARGE--bursting forward with pursuing the amazing creative aCtS that give you energy and paSSiOn? I was walking around the lake with my beautiful friend Alana (good morning, hun!) and we decided that the biggest gift is being present and engaged in life (aka . . . LIVING!).

Have U every thought that the wOrLd will be a better place if U get to know yourself enough to sHaRe your gIfTs with the You-niverse? What presence do you wish to leave as your own personal signature to our delicious and amazing existence?

Live your life as your BeSt sElF--'cuz every juicy moment and hOLy interaction is created jUsT for you to reaCh youR hIghEsT poTentIaL!

JuSt SaYin'!
LiVin' LaRgE . . .
;) dana

lEt thEm bE fRee(lY thEmSeLvEs!) . . .

HeY yOu aLL! 

sO, letting others be free means leaving them alone to be their oWn fReE bad selves...(not really, but themselves . . .). It's not really our business, where they are, or what they do... cuz if we don't like what they do, say,believe or N+E=ThiNG, we have a choice to just walk away . . .  without hating on them, (however, it is possibly our business to tell them how we feel...more about that later...).

NE way, like I was telling you the other day, I have spent a lot of NRG in my days wishing people in my life would change (or want to change --FOR ME...you know, so I could feel better by being in control and get my needs met from them OUT(side): IN(side)! embarrassingly dramatic...). What I know now, is that people don't change (much) unless they want to (and for sure not cuz I want them to . . . CRaP! and unCrAp . . .). whew...that takes the pressure off to control everyone else's destiny...thanks! Where did I learn that ridiculous maneuver?

Honestly, I wish the (un)GroWn-uPs would have taught me about this stuff when I was a kid. It's tough to figure out how to do and be in relationships (or not), and I wonder why don't we have a curriculum about this?

I don't know about you, but I am pretty sure I've spent a lot of time in my life with people who just were not a good fit for me--not sayin' they were BAD or WRONG--just not a good fit. Something felt OFF, if I would have been tuned into my gut. And I stuck around because (and I'm making these up as I go) 

• I didn't think I could do any better or find other relationships
• I didn't have the energy to leave
• I could remain a victim of "the relationship"
• I thought I could change the person

SUPER QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Would you ever look at like, a sunflower and expect it to grow into a rose (cuz you like roses better and that's what you want on your table?)...
and there's more (sorry . . .) Would you ever expect a sunflower to grow faster just because you gave it more water and super duper fertilizer...and...expect it to grow into a rose, still?

How about appreciating a sunflower for its sunflowery-self and a rose for its rosy-ness? And, if you don't like the sunflower, just walk away and choose something else (without haTinG on it)? and same with the RoSe? I personally like clover, myself!)

Just sayin'-----we get to choose our relationships.

fLuFFy puPpies and raInBoWs and pink ponies, too!

;) Dana

Be yOu . . . & leT oTherS, tOO!

Hey funfreeMe LoVe(ly) PpS!

So if we want others to accept us for all of our crap and hUman-ness (not a word, but oh well . . . ) that means that we should pay it forward and allow everyone to be free to be (the best version of) themselves, and not necessarily what WE want them to be. Which means, a couple of different things:

• we can't expect others to change for us
• we can (maybe) accept others for who they are (even if we don't care for them or them personally)

So, maybe--- we can trust that everyone and everything is exactly as it should be . . .(including ourselves, which is kind of hard to believe, especially when things get tough and we feel like we and others totally suck the big one!).

In my blog from last summer, I was writing that sunflowers and roses are meant to be sunflowers and roses---they aren't supposed to be anything else. . . . which leads me to the question: Why do we sometimes think people should be anything different than who they are?

Takes me back to TrUsT in something biGGer and GREATER than what we know! . . .  (and trust is hard, . . . cuz alot of times, we only believe in what we can see, touch, smell, taste, etc...).

So, be gr8ful for all-
hearts!
Dana

What time is it?

A Time for Everything
	To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
	a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
	a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
	a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
	a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
	a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
	a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
	a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.                                                                                  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Good Morning! Happy Monday! This passage is so meaningful to me, especially because one of my life lessons is that TIMING is not something I can't control (never could); it's up to the Universe to guide me to the right time and "season" for everything, and that means I have had to learn how to get quiet and listen. Like the picture above reminds me,  cocooning is something I had forgotten about for a long time. But I'm finding it again, and beginning to take good care of myself after a long time of caring mostly for others first.  I am learning how to spend time by myself--out in nature, reading, writing, journaling, and even praying and meditating. Some people in my life are bothered by this, and ask me "WHAT'S WRONG?" when I have want quiet time or solitude, or just me time. I don't want to do what others want me to do (or what I make up they want me to do or be) . . . I just want to be me, with me!  DOing is totally OVERrated! I am a hu(wo)man BEing, not a hu(wo)man DOing . . . and so aRe yoU! Back to the importance of timing . . . It can mean people changing, letting go behaviors or relationships that no longer serve us or where the contract is complete. It could also be bringing in new habits, people, or rituals into our lives--like exercise, relationships, or even spiritual practices that nourish us. Sometimes, other people expect us to be on their timelines, and this can be very tempting--especially since we often want people to like us and approve of us . . . which can be tough if we know inside that it's not right. We can be pressured into stuff we aren't ready for or that's against our own inner timelines, and then be resentful or do things half-heartedly 'cuz we aren't listening to our hearts and guts! We are all in the process of Becoming our Best selves, and sometimes that means going within, listening to the Universe and our inner clock-- so we can go with the flow and timing of LIFE--and emerge renewed, refreshed, more connected to Source. Blessings . . . it's all go(o)D . . .  ;) Dana

B yOur CrAzY SeLf!

lOvE & mOrE lOve!

-     

  "Live life fully while you're here. 

Experience everything.

Take care of yourself and your friends.

Have fun, be crazy, be weird.

Go out and screw up!

You're going to anyway,

so you might as well enjoy the process.

Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes:

find the cause of your problem and eliminate it.

Don't try to be perfect;

just be an excellent example of being human." 

- Anthony Robbins

 Hey pEEps!

Do you embrace and live fully in your craZiNeSS? One thing I loVE about the quote from AR is that he encourages us to be super goofy and fUn! 

That can be amazingly scary for folks when they worry a lot about what other people think about them. What I've learned in the last few years, is that if I am play-acting and trying to iMpReSS others about how awesome I am, and I am trying to be a certain way--I am not being truthful 'cuz when I'm trying, it's not me. When I'm me, I don't usually have to try (. . . well, unless I'm in a situation where I would normally do the whole people pleasing BS and I am consciously trying NOT to do it...)

Anyway, being hu(wo)man and ImPerFecKt is so awesome 'cuz I am not TRyIng so hard to control what everyone thinks of me (or what I make up @ what they think of me) aND (bonus) I can relax!

Totally takes the pressure off!

And I can do loving things for myself despite when I screw up---and I am more okay when other people screw up--I can be more loving to them! 

It's all good! 

Here's my new secret: (shhhhhhh . . . please tell EverYonE!)

peOplE

arE

dOing

aNd

BeIng

tHeir 

Best...

and sometimes their best totally sucks to us . . .

(believe me, I get it . . . I've been there!)

BUT ALSO CONSIDER THIS:

Don't you want other pEEpS

to ASSume

you

are always doing and being your bEsT?

So, I challenge you to

PAY IT FORWARD.

sOmEtImeS, (& . . . don't tell nE1 . . .) my best SUCKS! SUCKS HUGE! aND I don'T always know why! Sometimes, my best is to get my butt out of bed and gO pEE, pEEps---'cuz I'm sad, or mad, or SUpEr sTuCk! (but not very often, anymore thankfully . . . )

AnyWay, hope you get what I mEan. When have you given someone else a miss, and let them off the hook of your JUDGEMENT!? Let me know in the comments!

Love you and love EverYoNE!

;0) dAnA-drOpLeT 
(that's what my bro used to call me . . .)