The gem of this comes at the end of the clip and it’s easy to miss. I had to watch this twice to catch it. SPOILER ALERT: When Rachel gets four thumbs UP from the judges (ya!) and there are wild applause and cheers, she says something so important:

“Thank you. I won’t let you down.“

Thank you. I won’t let you down.

This is the most humble and courageous phrase you can speak when life opens the door wide for you — which it does everyday.

You’re up for it. You’re grateful. You see the gift and you realize you can’t do it alone.

With this: Thank you. I won’t let you down, you rise to the occasion.

There are so many people believing in you. Backing you up, saying prayers, taking your call, saying yes.

Dream realizing is reciprocal. Sometimes, when someone believes in you, you are honor bound to go for it.

Say it. Believe it. Hear it (from my heart to yours:)

Thank you. I won’t let you down.

Somewhere else…

: Are you gay? If you’re found out, you will get jail time.
: If you were unfaithful to your spouse, you would be stoned, likely by your neighbours.
: Want to convert to a religion other than the one you were born in to? That would warrant execution.
: Thirsty? Clean water is five miles away. Walk to get it. You have one bucket.
: You may want to play soccer with the other boys your age, but you have weapons training.
: Have you complained about the government in an email? You’re going to court.

Women…
: Long to be thin, to run in the sun? Forget it, men in your village like large women and you are force fed.
: Raped? Refuse a marriage proposal? If you’re lucky, they won’t kill you, they’ll just throw acid in your face.
: Long for erotic pleasure? It’s difficult since your grandmother cut out your clitoris with a razor blade when you were twelve.
: If you’re menstruating, you will miss school rather than face the ridicule.
: You can’t get a job because by law, women are considered “half the value of men”. Hell, you can’t even vote. You can’t even look a man directly in the eyes.

We could go on with the atrocities and restrictions — from the extremes of human trafficking (the average American girl is thirteen when she is forced into sex slavery,) and torture, to what we consider basic health-care, like clean needles and dentistry. The hell that is Haiti, and parts of Uganda, Sierra Leone, West Bengal…and our own cities…

Sometimes, the most direct route to appreciation is through the darkness – even if it’s merely imagined. Facts, faced: even in our struggles, most of us are privileged. We have so many rights, must we exercise the right to complain?

I’m writing this from an airport because I missed my flight – which derails my luxurious escape plans for a day. I’m lucky to have plans, to be sitting by a $2 million dollar sculpture, in a gun-free airport, drinking my peppermint tea, in a new warm coat, using free wifi. I’ll choose to be appreciative.

Your mother had the right idea: eat your dinner, there are children starving in the world.

That fresh salad you get with your entree; the insurance on your car; the clothes you wear, where you want; the hands you hold in public.
That vaccination scar on your arm.
Your innocence.
The light you’re reading by.
Really, what’s the worst of your problems?

Perspective isn’t everything in terms of have’s and have nots. But you can work it to your very great advantage.

That same week The World’s Strongest Librarian made a comment to me to the affect of, “we write because we need to, right?” It sounded so noble compared to my admission.

This got me analyzing my potential narcissism, neuroses and persona. From where do I derive my joy? The giving or the receiving? The process or the packaging? Am I in this for the glory or have I truly got the guts of an artist? Did Elvis sing in the shower?

The conclusion: I don’t actually need to write, not like Anais Nin did, or Henry Miller. I don’t journal. My bookshelf is less than 20% fiction. I’ve never been to a writing workshop.

What I need – like I need clean water, kisses, and milk chocolate at 3pm, is to share what I’ve found in my search for meaning. I yearn to philosophize. My voice – written, spoken, sketched – engages me with life. Either Rumi or God or Orpheus planted a mechanism in my brain that compels me to broadcast my epiphanies in anyway I can. Even on my most interior and complex pursuits I’m thinking to myself, “Can’t wait to register this a-ha in The Ever Evolving Big Mix of Cosmic A-ha’s.” The mix of us-ness. The mix of heartbreak and euphoria, collapses, and victories of determined love. Our mix. My art doesn’t work without the Our.

So I thank you. Thank you. For listening. For hearing, cheering and even for leering. Your readership and conversation are the alchemy that makes the pixels meaningful. This ain’t just a blog, or a drop in the bucket, this is a sacred feeding-post on the way to more. More to be grateful for.

2010 Blazing Blessings,
Danielle

For about six months, my sweet husband has been saying, “Look babe, if you want me out of the office, just say the word and I’ll make space for myself in the loft.”
“It’s alright, I can make it work. Stay.” I’d reply, as I stepped over fire-fighting gear and running shoes on the way to my desk. On other days the refrain was more along the lines of, “Would you puhleeese get your shit out of here, I’m trying to write the next great inspirational bestseller! I need white space, dammit!” Ahem.

A few weeks ago, I took him up on his request. I took my space. I booted his booty and boots out. I installed a new white desk. On one of my series of four perfectly aligned magnetic white boards I hung a postcard from my favourite monastery, an old Elvis coaster, and a long pheasant feather. The others are filled with square pale yellow sticky notes of tour dates and article ideas.

The man is truly happy upstairs with his laptop and model canoe. I’m euphorically creative and the Virgo in me is giddy with productivity. What took me so long to take what I needed?

What’s right in front of you waiting to be taken, indulged, used up and embraced? Banked sick days? An offer for mentoring, free advice, or a shoulder to lean on? A rainy day account? A white canvass whispering, make me your masterpiece?

Why do we delay gratification, put off what’s rightfully ours and rebuff well-intentioned favours and offerings of support?

3 EXCUSES FOR NOT TAKING WHAT YOU NEED

“But I can take it.”
I could write a novel in the middle of a football game, in the pouring rain, on a type writer, while eating a burrito. I think it’s a mix of being an only child raised in the country, and being innately ambitious that gives me the capacity to tune out and get stuff done. But tuning out, and rising above, and weathering the storm isn’t ideal. It’s endurance. The root of the word endure is “to bear suffering.” Be it a less-than-fulfilling relationship, or soul-sucking j-o-bs, just because you can take it, doesn’t mean you should. Stamina does not always equate to bliss.

“I don’t want to impose.”
Impose! Most of the people in your life want you to be happy. Assume that you’re surrounded by grown ups who actually mean what they say when they offer to take your kids, proof read your work, or lend a hand. It feels good to give. It feels good to receive. We’re all in this together.

“I don’t need much”
Austerity only works if it gives you the space to feed your soul. Fierce independence is life-affirming, but it’s only part of the formula for wholeness. Life is an abundant proposition – but it’s just that, a proposal. You need to say yes to all that it wants to give you. It’s a great offer.

The universe works on supply and demand. Which means it’s all yours for the taking.

I’M LOVING….

1. Salma Hayek breastfeeding an African baby:
“When my daughter grows up, I’m going to make sure she continues to be a generous, caring person.” This is a boundary-breaking gesture. Love it.

2. That I stumbled across this visual journal of Sharon Frost’s and was so inspired by her talent and devotion. Tho’ it made my visual creative output feel so…meager. Even if I start doodling one abstract thingy a day…that’d feed me.

3. That a friend said to me this week, “I’ll support you no matter what you do.”

4. My lawyer, my astrologer, and retired guys who love to give advice.

5. My new gig writing some motivational content for a really cool IT company who just said, “do what you do.”

6. Being a humanist over an artist, an artist over an entrepreneur, and a soul over any of those labels.

7. This quote from David Steindl-Rast: “Love is saying yes to belonging.” Yes.

Riff on what you love. It’ll do us all good.
xo
Danielle

1. The greatest gift Life has ever given me: My son! My Monkey Monk Punk! My baby had his 5th birthday party yesterday! Muah! Muah! Muah!

2. Whomever on the Academy Awards production team came up with the brilliant idea to have five previous best actress/actor Oscar winners introduce the five nominees in the same categories. Sophia Loren paying homage to Meryl Streep… Robert DeNiro admiring Sean Penn, “a great actor who proves that it’s more important to be a great human being.” It made for some of most authentic and intimate exchanges. It was a great expression of friendship – and more awards ceremonies should make way for that.

3. The TED talk on creative genius from Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love.

4. Two deep thought-springs from my posts on Apologies and Strong Souls. Respectively:
To Bless Apology, by Larry Hogan at Yesterday, Today and Forever
Spirituality of Disability, by Jay Schryer at Porsidan

5. The Eminence Pumpkin Latte Hydration Masque – which I now do twice a week. You can feel the pumpkin enzymes munching away the old skin and plumping up the freshness. Cosmetologically speaking, this stuff thrills me.

6. The friends who push me. The friends who cradle me.

7. The teeny tiny purple crocus that popped up in the front yard this weekend, all by her lonesome. Courageous lil’ mama.

1. Ganesha. This funky elephant man Hindu deity has been crossing my path a lot lately, so I decided to pay attention. I was jazzed to discover that he is also called the Lord of Success, and The Remover of Obstacles and the Destroyer of Pride. Works for me. Ommmmm Ganesha.

2. These daily Creativity Prompts from Grace Kerina, which are one of the first things I love to read every morning – truly original stuff, like:

: How would you solve this problem if you were raised by wolves?
: Double-dare yourself.
: Express the issue as a mathematical equation.
: Stop defending your position and see what changes.

3. This list of 999 business ideas, free for the taking. This was really inspiring for me last week. It’s proof that creativity is a stream that loves to flow – all you’ve got to do it flow with it.

4. My awareness of the divine basics: everyone in my life is healthy, I earn a living doing what I love, technology saves lives, music heals, kindness is universal, we are all making progress.

Start the week on a high note. What are you loving?

Danielle’s “Five Rules For Life”:

1. There are no rules.
Structures, how-to’s, dogma, principles…all disciplines and theories should be used to support your freedom and independent thinking. Curiosity is exponentially more powerful than playing by the rules.

2. Say thank you.
Gratitude is one of the most creative and noble forces of human nature. It makes everything – absolutely everything – better.

3. Let your feelings be your guide.
You feel, therefore you are. Your desired feelings should be the basis of your goals and strategic planning. Every dream is based on a desired feeling – focus on your inner state first and your outer reality has a better chance of lining up with your ideals.

4. Speak your truth.
Loud and proud or softly whispered – getting your truth out is the most healing and effectual thing you can do for your well being. Whether it’s between you and your god, at the dinner table, or in the boardroom – your authentic expression is essential to living in colour, whole and large.

5. Laughter is the honey of life.
Like gratitude, you can always find something to laugh at. No matter how pathetic or grand, screwed up or divine…a sense of humour can make the difference between running the rat race or easin’ down the road.

1. My willingness to look like a changeable fool.

2. This interview on EnlightenNext with Greek Orthodox Priest, Archimandrite Dionysios:

Q: What is the character of the ego? How does it manifest within a human being?

A: When we don’t trust. Ego is born when we don’t trust others. When we’re afraid of others, when we need guns against others, then we need to have an ego because we are in the wrong way of life. We think only of ourselves, and we see only our ego. But when we see each other, when we trust each other, there is no need for ego, no reason for ego, no possibility for ego.

3. Intent.com. With Deepak Chopra’s daughter, Mallika, at the helm, this site has a good chance of going big. My intents have just begun.

4. Sarah Bray’s lil’ “MaTweeps” interviews with cool people like creative wonder girl, Leah Piken Kolidas.

5. My husband’s courage…melts my heart.

6. This thought from White Hot reader, Mojo, in response to last week’s, “Are You Willing To Be Toast?” article: “Non-complacent, mysterious surrender.” Ahhh. So good I need to repeat it: non-complacent, mysterious surrender.

7. My Uggs. They changed my life. I write mo’ better when I’m warm and cozy. I love my Uggs more everyday {tho’ let it be known, I do not think that Uggs should ever be worn in public.}

What are you loving right now? Start the week with some sweetness.

RESOURCE
: Daniel Scocco’s You Must Love Mondays post

I’m loving:

1. My willful but open heart.
2. My tears.
3. My new Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse. It really is revolutionary. I’m surprised it doesn’t make toast.
4. Every single one of my Fire Starter clients.
5. That, thanks to @marrisabracke on Twitter, I solved my i-Pod’s “stuck click wheel” dilemma. Here’s the solution: Flip the hold switch back-n-forth a couple times, then hold Menu + Select (together) for a few secs until Apple logo appears. That usually works!
6. Being clear on how I contribute to the Twitter community: provocative inquiry (lil’ white hot truth Q’s.) No “what I’m having for lunch” or “hey everyone, I’m signing off for bed now” commentary.
7. That my friend had the best day of her life yesterday.
8. That my other other friend admitted he was depressed…and is being still to hear his essence.
9. My new favourite magazinee: HOW: Design. Creativity. Business.

And you? What are you loving at this moment in time? A love list is a great way to start the week. Meet you back here next Monday.