Explore a Different Culture to Find New Interests

Sometimes it is easy to get stuck in our own culture including our own recipes, exercise and music. There is a whole world out there to explore with SO many different nationalities to learn about. Growing up in NYC had me aware of MANY different cultures just by the diversity of people, languages and the numerous food choices. I love travel and while my travel experiences are by no means extensive I look forward to a lot of it in my future. I have always been fascinated with other cultures and have made an effort to incorporate many of them into my own life. Travel is the best way to explore another culture and Peter from "I Will Change Your Life" and "Pick the Brain" gives EXCELLENT low-cost travel resources in his post"The #1 Way to Shake up Your Life". If you are unable to travel there are still tons of ways to learn about other cultures including the internet right from your home.

Food

I consider myself a true American because I was born here and am a mixture of many races and cultures. My dad has some Panamanian and Scottish in his heritage, spent a lot of time in Jamaica growing up (where we still have relatives) and we just found out there IS some Indian in my distant background from my Great-Aunt Maisie. My mom is all Italian-American. My mom's mom "nanny" spoke Italian although I only ever heard the "bad" words. ;-) I grew up waking every Sunday to the smell of my mom's homemade sauce. It wasn't until I went to college and was sick of eating Ramen noodles and cafeteria food that I called up my mom to get a play by play on how to make some of my Italian favorites; chicken cacciatore, meatballs, bracciole, lasagna....mmmm. After college I was able to give myself credit as a very good Italian cook with TONS of my own recipes but I definitely wanted to learn more.

As mentioned, because of being raised in NY I was exposed to lots of ethnic foods. (Sorry mom and dad for begging for Chinese food and only ordering white rice and wonton soup with the green things taken out for so many years). I grew up enjoying Mexican, Indian, Thai, Japanese and many other types of food but only ever knew how to cook traditional American and Italian meals. When I lived in NJ one of my closest friends, Aneeta was Indian and taught me a couple of recipes. I can now make an awesome curry chicken and samosas. I recommend trying out many different ethnic foods if you have restaurants in your area. If not, there are tons of recipe sites online that offer many different ethnic recipes. I recommend all recipes.com for their World Cuisine section of recipes -- this site has great pictures and instructions for preparing.

Dance/Exercise/Music

I grew up taking dance lessons including jazz, modern, tap and ballet. I was a club kid in NYC during my teen years and after college so knew how to dance but never studied any other nationality of dance. It wasn't until after college that I took a belly dancing class and loved it. After that I took yoga classes, pilates and became interested in the way other countries exercise and dance. My friend Aneeta also introduced me to Indian dance. I had never heard of Bhangra before. It was love from when she showed me the first video and played me the music. With it's hard drum beat and the energetic dance moves I knew I had to get a video for myself. Below is the BEGINNING of the WARM-UP of the Bhangra workout video my husband (Ray) and I work out to.

You HAVE to smile while dancing to this. The beat is so intense and the moves are so lively. Dancing to Bhangra can lighten my day no matter what happened previously! Through you tube you can find more Bhangra or Irish Step Dancing or any other kind of dance/exercise you would want to learn more about. Through exploring different exercises you also become aware of different music.

I have to credit my father for introducing me to many different cultures of music while I was growing up. He has always been into world music and has had extensive collections. I enjoy MOST types of music. I think it is fascinating to learn what is traditional music for a country. I LOVE bhangra music and also enjoy Spanish, Irish, African, Pygmy and just about any other nationality or genre. World Music is a wonderful place to listen to different world music or watch videos. The video below is for my one of my favorite songs off of the Deep Forest CD which is chants of Pygmies mixed with a new age beat. This CD is still one of my favorites 10 years later and is amazing to relax to.

It opens one's mind to learn about what other cultures like and do and it educates you as well. Go ahead, pick one culture you have always wanted to learn more about and explore over the internet if you are not able to get there in person. Educating yourself of another culture might motivate you to plan for some travel, learn a new language, start an exercise routine you never knew about, eat and make food you have only heard about or to find music that really connects with you. There's nothing to lose and LOTS to gain. Who knows, you might even discover a new passion?

Eckhart Tolle & Oprah Web Course -- A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

By now I am sure some of you have heard of Oprah and Eckhart Tolle's monumental free web course they are offering. Since this week I met quite a few people that had not yet heard of it -- I have decided to do a post to tell you this is truly something NOT to be missed. Week 2 of the class begins Monday but it would be quite easy to catch up. The class will be held every Monday at 9PM EST for a full 10 weeks (9 weeks left). Every week they will be discussing a chapter from Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose". You can logon to Oprah.com to get more info, sign up and watch week 1 or download it to your IPOD as a way to decide if you want to participate. The book you can pick up from the library, buy or download it to your amazon kindle and save on paper and money and have it within 2 minutes. You need to log on to oprah.com to get your free worksheets which ask very insightful questions to answer after every chapter. This past Monday over 500,000 people showed up to listen and it was inspiring to see JUST how many people are willing to open their minds and ears to listen to this important message.

So who Is Eckhart Tolle and what is "A New Earth" about? A New Earth is about becoming "conscious" and the shift that this world is undertaking and so desperately needs. My first encounter with Tolle was listening to the audio version of his book "The Power of Now". I love "The Power of Now" but find "A New Earth" in a better format and he offers very clear exercises to discover the inner you, awaken and differentiate yourself from your ego. I would find it hard to put it better than Amazon's summary, "In A New Earth, Tolle expands on powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence."

The first week's video is a great one to watch. Eckhart and Oprah explain how "A New Earth" is very in-line with religion -- instead of against it as many think and is a major reason for some shying away from it. I have covered posts that touch on issues covered in this book including listening to your self talk, consciousness and about two weeks ago I wrote a post called "Influences; People, Places, Things -- make them Positive" where I mention Tolle and the movie "The Shift". I feel Tolle and the movie "The Shift" are right on target about where our future is heading and are very important for people to become aware of. There are many discussions going on about this web course and "A New Earth" right now. From Facebook, to Oprah's Discussion Boards, to yahoo groups and one of my favorite blogs Evolving Times. There are so many people interested in this because of the importance. If you haven't experienced Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" yet I highly recommend it. I'm involved in quite a few discussion groups on it and look forward to talking with you and hearing your comments! I always make myself available to answer questions.

When the Student is Ready -- the Teacher Will Come

I have heard the above quote so many times in my life and at least ten times in the last week. Okay Universe -- I am listening and this is a WONDERFUL topic for me -- thank you! This quote is so true and I love reflecting back on how this was integral in my healing. It continues to be true and a part of my growth. As I learn more I become more open and the opportunities to keep receiving knowledge continue to present themselves from various "teachers".

While ill I was resentful, felt "why me", was a victim of my illnesses and I let myself be defined by my illnesses. I was Jenny -- "the chronically ill and chronically in pain mommy". I THOUGHT I was helping myself by going to forums to learn more about my illnesses and to bond with other people with similar conditions. I was reading books constantly about suffering, chronic illnesses and disease. I was looking into medical research being done on my conditions. I was also researching what ELSE my diseases would lead to. I talked to people who had my conditions much longer than I had them and used them to judge how I would be ten years down the line. I assumed I would be on JUST as many medications as they were and my body would probably start to get very heavy from the medications and the lack of exercise because I would be unable to move. I totally pictured my life as the doctors and others with illnesses said it would be; depressing, limited mobility, most likely in a wheelchair and with tons of pain. I received the pain and misery in abundance.

I had fought taking pain killers and anti-depressants for years because I did not want to be a mommy on pills and driving my kids around while under the influence of pain pills. I grew up in New York City and had seen my fair share of addiction and it was always something I was paranoid about. In college when I smoked cigarettes I would make myself stop for a few weeks "to prove I could" and there was never a doubt in my mind that after college I would be a non-smoker. My pain worsened and while I was able to still hold out from taking anti-depressants I started taking pain killers and feeling guilty about it the whole time. Part of me was still yelling at myself that I should be able to get on with life without them but the truth was I could barely get out of bed without them. I was passing out in the shower from pain, crying daily in agony and taking the pain pills did allow me to get on with my day and "get stuff done". Honestly they made me feel high on life -- like anything was possible, the pain was gone or minimal and I was hyper and full of energy for 4 hours -- then I would crash and face the moral dilemma of "Do I take another one or two so I can function or do I wallow in my pain?" I WANTED to feel better and was feeling more and more guilty about the pain pills (especially as my daily dosage needs were increasing) but was told by doctors this was how my life was going to be. The more pills I took the more guilty I felt and the more I was wishing there was an alternative.

My yoga-dance teacher was the first to tell me about Susan Sark. She knew I loved writing poetry and journaling and was surprised that I had not heard of her. I put a few of her books on my amazon wish list and received them as birthday gifts August 2006. From the moment I picked up her first book, "Succulent Wild Woman" I loved Sark's writing and it resonated. I also received "Sark's Journal and Playbook" where she gives ideas on WHAT to write about. I had journaled on and off throughout my life but in the last few years writing had just become a means for me to vent. I would go back through my journals and find that it was one complaint and horror health story after another. Sark showed me there are a lot of OTHER things to write about! She talks about her survival of sibling incest and how journaling helped her to heal. She tells you to write down friends that you are grateful for, favorite books, dreams, favorite inspiring things, "gorgeous moments" and oh so many more!. She became my first teacher in healing and I believe put me in the right space to receive my next teacher.

When my husband bought me "The Secret" for Christmas 2006 I was very happy to receive it. My good friend Alissa had been telling me about it for months and I really was excited to watch it. After watching it there was not a doubt in my mind that I would heal myself. How was it possible I had a BA in psychology, had taken graduate classes in psychology and had never heard of the Law of Attraction? I watched "The Secret" a few times and knew it was a turning point in my life and that I needed to gain more information. I started with the people who really resonated with me throughout the movie which led to me also wanting to learn more about the mind/body connection. The more I wanted to learn the more opportunities and teachers presented themselves. I considered Dr. Deepak Chopra a wonderful teacher through his books, audios and videos and ingested as much information as possible. Dr. Wayne Dyer also became a very important teacher to me as I poured through his books, videos and audios.

I started to heal so quickly it did seem like a miracle to me. Shifts were happening daily and I was amazed at how quickly some of my habits changed (of course some took a little longer ;-)). I decided I would write an e-book on my experience and I also decided it was time to start learning about the internet again so I could market my e-book. I knew I wanted to get my message out to others and that I wanted to help others to do what I did. I quickly found the FREE internet marketing course the thirty day challenge and my love of blogging was born. I started blogging as a means to sell my e-book but quickly realized it was MUCH more than that. I LOVED writing, I LOVED communicating with people about my passions (healing naturally and non-violent computer games for kids), I loved that I was now entering a field where learning constantly about how to better myself would be integral to my success, I loved the people I met from the start and I KNEW I had found what I wanted to be when I grew up! ;-)

Now I find teachers often in the blogs I read regularly and the new ones they lead me to or that I find. My mind is opening up to more and more possibilities and I have few if any self-limiting beliefs. I still have a ways to go in a lot of areas in my life -- I'm still a RECOVERING perfectionist, hope to develop a steady exercise plan that sticks, want to learn tons more on meditation and quieting my mind and have other areas that "need work". The best thing is I am READY for my teachers now. I am open and ready to receive and am so excited at the prospect of learning even more than I have over the last year.

Let's look back -- so if I had not been so ready for receiving Sark, I probably would not have been in the right place to receive "The Secret", which led to my healing through reading Dr. Chopra and Dr. Dyer among others, which led to me wanting to write and discovering the GREAT teachers of the thirty day challenge, which led me right here where I am now... thoroughly enjoying writing, empowering others and learning every day how to be a better person and live an even MORE fulfilling life. It is easy to see how once I was ready the teachers did come and continue to. I am so grateful for every step of the way and am so excited to see where I will go.

My life in 2007 was spectacular. I grew more spiritually and intellectually than I ever had in any other (or maybe even ALL all of my 38 accumulative) years. You need to open yourself up and be ready to learn for the teachers to present themselves. Are YOU ready for a teacher? What self-limiting beliefs do you have that you can start to work on getting rid of? What do you feel you could do to help you be more ready to receive? Once you start receiving it just leads to more goodness and more knowledge and teachers presenting themselves.... Thank you to all my teachers who enabled me to get where I am today -- my heart is truly filled with gratitude and love. I cannot tell you what it means to be healthy and feel the Universe is listening and ready to present me even more knowledge and teachers! I am so willing and grateful to receive!

Experience the Joy in Learning Something New -- Find Your Passion!

I grew up in NYC where I was fortunate enough to have tons of opportunities to try different activities. My parents introduced me to everything from dance, guitar lessons, acting classes, swimming lessons and anything else they could come up with for me to try. I am the same way with my children and if they show an interest in ANYTHING I will sign them up. I feel experiencing these things is the only way you will know if you have that passion for them.

So what is it about when we become adults that stops a lot of us from trying new things or educating ourselves in something new? Fear of failure? Fear of how we'll look doing something new? Fear of the unknown? How will you know what you are passionate about if you don't try a myriad of things? The only way you can excel at anything is learning about it, practicing and accepting that there will probably be some set-backs along the way.

Because my parents led by example I still have the drive to try new things. My father was taking new lessons over age 40 including tennis, tango and guitar lessons. If I hear of something and it holds an interest -- I want to pursue it to know if it IS a passion or something I want to learn more about.

After college, my friend Alissa and I took belly dancing together and had a BLAST. I've taken yoga, trance dance and a plethora of other dance/exercise classes. When I moved upstate NY I took up cross country skiing because I knew I would need to see the light of day in the long winters. I knew I'd probably fall and not have any kind of form WHATSOEVER but the point was to get out and try it -- and guess what -- I fell in love! When I saw "The Secret" I knew I had to learn about the Law of Attraction and the Mind/Body Connection and it resonated within me that THIS was something I was MEANT to learn about and experience.

Then -- there's inventing. I have had my idea for the last 5 years and only in the last 2 1/2 have I worked steadily on it and I have been amazed at all I have learned and experienced. I started off knowing NOTHING about inventing except that it interested me. I won't say I am an expert or a Stephen Key by ANY means now but I can tell you I have learned far more than I ever imagined I would. I have had TONS of set-backs but am still going strong. Thomas Edison's quote that "Inventing is 1% Inspiration and 99% Perspiration" rings VERY true to me!

When I was ill and in chronic pain I had my moments of wanting to give up on the inventing because it was "too hard" or "too much work". Since I have healed and studied the Law of Attraction I don't experience those feelings anymore. I know you have to fail in order to learn and progress. I have my goal of seeing this through and giving up won't make that happen. Priscilla Palmer wrote a great post on How Your Goals are Always Manifesting. I won't say I don't get disappointed when something doesn't happen the way I wanted to. I just choose not to dwell on it. It helps TREMENDOUSLY knowing there was a REASON things went the way they did and it helps to ask myself what I learned from the experience and will do differently next time.

The best thing about learning something new is the self confidence boost you get if you look back and see how far you have come! If I had never pursued inventing I would probably be kicking myself and wondering "what if?". Do I know if my invention will be manufactured and make me tons of money? I sure hope so and that is my intention and goal but if it doesn't that will be OK too. I do know I have learned priceless lessons in something that interested me for a long time and I will be MUCH better prepared to pursue my NEXT invention.

If I had not pursued learning more about the Law of Attraction and the mind/body connection after seeing "The Secret" it is probable that I would still be in pain instead of the feeling the best I have felt in over 20 YEARS! I would not have found BLOGGING if I was not physically well enough to take an internet marketing course..... Following one interest can easily lead to discovering a new one. Blogging is a GREAT love for me and I am SO grateful that I have the opportunity to write as often as I do about subjects that I am passionate about! If you pursue an interest and it doesn't resonate with you that is OK as well because at least you can say you have tried it and not continue to wonder.

What have you always wanted to learn more about or try? A language? An instrument? Indian Cooking? An exercise class? A sport? Writing poetry? What makes your heart beat with excitement when you think about it? NOW is the time to explore it further. There are TONS of resources online for learning new things. If you live near a college there are usually inexpensive exercise/dance classes available. (I took 1 1/2 hour yoga-dance classes for $5/class). There are libraries EVERYWHERE -- take out books to learn more! Just go for it and feel the joy within when you learn and experience something new! Find YOUR passion!