All I can say is Paula Cole was worth the wait. After a decade of waiting, we got to see her live at the Keswick Theater in Philadelphia the day before we left for our vacation in California. “Wow” seems like an empty sentiment, but it is about the best way I can describe the experience of being totally blown away and awestruck. If you want to see comfortable in your own skin in action, watch this woman do her thing. Her new CD “Courage” is called that for a reason.

After a 7 year hiatus in which Paula Cole left the music business, raised her daughter, and experienced a deep personal journey, she is back. The reception the crowd at the Keswick on September 13th gave her tells it all. We are so amazingly grateful she is back and with us live delivering old and new songs alike in a way that can only be likened to magic. The night was one gigantic exchange of love between audience and artist. More on my experience of the concert in a minute, but first the back story …

You see, there is a back story behind this whole concert. In the mid-90’s when Paula Cole was popping up everywhere due to her exposure with hits like “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” and “I Don’t Wanna Wait” (which Dawson’s Creek made famous), we were just dying to see her live. My partner Kim was a raving fan since she first heard Paula’s debut album and caught a glimpse of her on the old VH1 special where Melissa Etheridge did duets with up and coming women (Paula Cole, Jewel, Sophie B Hawkins, etc.). If you’re like me you taped that special and watched it over and over and over… At the time, while I liked Paula Cole, there was something about her that made me uncomfortable. Perhaps she was a little unconventional or didn’t look or move like I thought she “should” based on how I experienced the music. Oh how young, naive, and uncomfortable in my own self I was at that time. I needed everything to be in a little box of my liking. (Perhaps that is just part of why I was so miserable in general.) Of course it had nothing to do with Paula’s power, simply my own crazy shadow aspects and preconceived notions run amuck. And, I didn’t have the tools or sense of myself then that I have now, so I just enjoyed the music and let Kim be a raving fan.

Then 1996 hit and “This Fire” came out. Read the rest of this entry »

I talk a lot about the importance of silence and meditation in living a comfortable in your own skin life. Those ancient and modern spiritual teachers know what they are talking about. Only in silence can you truly listen. Only when you quiet chatter and incessant doing can you mine the depths of what is truly there inside you. And, sometimes what you find isn’t all butterflies and flowers.

My official last day of “day job” was Friday, September 7th. I felt really proud about completing it with class and heading into something new. As a way to truly honor the transition, I decided to clear my calendar and take 2-3 days to just “be”. No phone calls, appointments, business commitments, household chores, or obligations; only a time to spend many hours in silence, meditating, journaling, and reading contemplative text.

It all sounded like a good, nourishing time when I planned it. Yet after almost three days of doing this, I found more noise and discordant feelings than anything else. Read the rest of this entry »

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the
expert’s mind there are few.”
— Shunryu Suzuki

The concept of “Beginner’s Mind” has been around for ages. Yet, as people dying to be seen as “expert” and “adult” we often resist letting go of the need to know everything. After all, we have careers where we are paid based on our expertise. If we are parents we are expected to be experts on raising children and answering all their questions. The list of ways we need to be “in the know” in our lives just goes on and on…

Once we reach adulthood we are supposed to be “adults” and that means having answers and being responsible and realistic. We are afraid of our own vulnerability that comes with saying the 3 powerful words “I don’t know”. Yet, it is these three words and our willingness to be beginners that paves the path to true mastery of ourselves and our lives.

Is the very resistance you feel toward “not knowing” or being a beginner keeping you from having the freedom and ease you most desire?

I am intimately familiar with this resistance and how to break its hold. I used to be so stressed out and had a high need to be perfect and never make a mistake. I would agonize over every little thing and hold myself back from trying new things I yearned to do because I feared not being good enough. I’ve learned how to not only be OK with being a beginner (and messing up in fact) but also how to really enjoy seeing or doing something in a totally new way. The liberation is amazing.

Curious how you can do that too?

Join me on this highly interactive call where I’ll lead you through an exploration of “Beginner’s Mind”, talk about what it can do for you, and answer your questions. I truly want to share this liberation with you.

Details:

When? Tuesday, September 25th at 12p EST (noon)

Where? Anywhere via telephone

How long? 1 hour

Register: Send a blank email to teleclasssep07@aweber.com
or visit http://www.thepaulagcompany.com/events.html

The call WILL be recorded, so if you can’t make it live sign up anyway so you don’t miss out.

Hope to “see” you there!

-Paula

I am dyed in the wool cat person. It’s not that I don’t like dogs, I really do. Some of them have really won their way into my heart. At the end of the day, though, I am all about felines and can think of nothing better than a cat to curl up to. That’s why I am amazed at how much fun a little puppy love can be and how good it can be for the soul.

The other day when I was up at Columcille, I was hiking up the hill toward the circle of stones when I saw the founder Bill standing in the middle of the circle seemingly preoccupied with something on the ground. As I got closer I realized it was the cutest little puppy I ever did see. Immediately my mood shifted from contemplative and a little down to instant joy, silliness, and fun. The little guy whose name is Lochae (pronounced Lock-a with a long “ay”) is the new canine on the land. He is a white and gray Border collie mix. You see the land has always had border collies but I only knew them as adults. And, while I loved Lance and Duke, I never got to know them from their first arrival only after they already made the place and its stones their own. This little guy, however…. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been both a very long and a surprisingly short 60 days since I first learned that I was getting laid off from my day job. As I embark on my last day tomorrow, I’ve been reflecting on what it means to complete what you started and do it with class.

When I first got the news I was surprised, a little upset, but overall confident that what was happening and the timing of it was for a reason. I have been yearning to get my business out of part-time mode and into full swing and the time is ripe right now. I’ve never been someone whose identity is wrapped up in their job, so I didn’t have any of those “if I’m not a than who am I?” pangs of crisis that some people experience when they are let go. However, trudging to a job everyday, even when I didn’t particularly like a given job has been part of my life for a long, long time.

Immediately upon learning my position was eliminated I committed myself to doing what I need to do to look back on this event in the future and know that this was the best thing that ever happened to me. I decided I would be the kind of person who navigates the final days of a job with grace and class. It hasn’t always been easy but based on all the feedback I keep getting from colleagues, I have handled myself in just this way. Here’s what I learned about how to handle an unexpected job loss in a way that would make your parents proud. Read the rest of this entry »