Tag Archives: oprah

GIFT DAY 070: they’re back …a journey to perfect health

11 Mar

Today’s the day.

Oprah and Deepak team up for 21-Days of a Meditation Challenge.

Are you in?
If not you can sign up here: Oprah & Deepak 21-Day Challenge

21 day meditation, jamie eslinger, the promise daily
Today’s Centering Thought was: I commit to living perfect health.

I did the meditation. I om-ed out. I found me some zen.
And I’m still wondering what perfect health means.

(To be honest I sat through the meditation with two dogs wining for my attention… but I digress.)

Perfect health seems so, well… perfect.

When I think of perfect health it has me analyzing all the imperfections, the lines, the wrinkles, the bumps, the lumps, the you-know-whats that don’t fit you-know-where anymore.

And perfect seems so, well… unattainable. Don’t we have enough pressure to be perfect? To find perfection, to live in a perfect little bubble? The problem with perfect is this: when the perfect bubble bounces up against a pokey, harsh object, it pops. Just. Like. That.

So I did the meditation. And don’t get me wrong, I loved it.

But I still prefer to think of perfect as the beauty that arises from imperfection. The little messes that happen along the way. The unexpected surprises that were better than what you planned in the first place.

For my health that means living in the body I wake up with, and making the best of it. Bumps, bruises, blemishes and all.

And to be honest, I’m perfectly fine with that.
Zen out.

More tomorrow.
Lovemore (fearless),
Jamie
{Curious…what does perfect health mean to you? Write on… in the comments section.}

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Day 106: a perfect 10 and the 2 questions you must ask yourself

15 Apr

Today was officially a triple S: 
Super
Soul
Sunday

Okay, so, I am admittedly hooked.
And, today just added to my addiction.

I was intrigued by Oprah’s interview with Daniel Pink and two questions from his new book, DRIVE.

The first question is based on Claire Boothe Luce’s advice to President Kennedy that “every great man is a sentence” (she was concerned Kennedy was trying to do too much and risking his legacy by turning into a paragraph).

Here’s an example of a sentence:
Abraham Lincoln preserved the union and freed the slaves.

Pink inspires all of us — not just the White House set — to ask ourselves:

1) What is my sentence?

And….

2) Was I better today than yesterday?

It’s his secret formula for living on purpose and staying motivated.
And, I LOVEMORE it.

But, even more so, today, I was pleasantly surprised by what followed the Pink interview. Soul Pancake’s ode to pets. Not just because I am gaga for puppies, but because…

Today is PUP AIKEN’s 10th birthday.

I think every dog has a purpose and a story too.

Pup’s story began when he was stuffed in a box and dumped on the side of the road as a puppy — left for dead.

He was starved, underweight, malnourished and freezing when they found him and his sisters.

Justin heard about the pups and went to go look at them, where he found only one boy, crouched in the corner and crowded out from all food, love and attention by the girl puppies.

Justin spotted something in Pup that nobody else saw.
A small white patch on his chest shaped like an arrow pointing up.  From that day forward, he became Pup Aiken (and shot an arrow right though Justin’s heart!).

As Pup grew up that white patch morphed from an arrow to something that resembled a #1.

Pup came into my life when he was 7 years old— after I had been pining for a dog for a decade (unfortunately, I was in a relationship with someone who didn’t want one, so I didn’t get one).

I reconnected with Justin who came — not only with a big heart, fun personality, and the elite status of my high school boyfriend  — but also, to my delight, with a dog!

And, now Pup is our Numer One Pup.
And, I can’t imagine life without him.

Pup has gone from a tattered box on the side of the road, to living in a little coastal town in Oregon, to spending his summers on Martha’s Vineyard and winters in Naples, Florida. (Not too shabby by doggy standards.)

So, what would Pup’s sentence be?

I think it would go like this:
Pup Aiken was a rescue dog who rescued everyone around him by wagging his tail with passion, living with exuberance and always giving more LOVE than he received (and a few high-fives too!). 

This photo was taken on his 8th birthday.

This photo is one of my favorite moments with Pup, showing his compassion and patience as the cat crawled up on his back while he was sleeping. The cat in this photo died a few days later of old age — it was as if Pup knew he needed comfort.

And, this photo was taken last night, right before bed.

Pup not only got a big treat for his birthday today, but, a few weeks ago he received a (surprise!) little puppy brother named Brady. Pup continues to show us compassion and patience as Brady jumps all around him and uses his neck as  a chew toy and his back as a lounger.

His patience is admirable and amazing.
And, just proves that while he wears a Number One on his chest, Pup really is a Perfect Ten.

Happy tenth birthday dear Pup! 
We love you more than chocolate, ice cream and dog treats.

High Five, indeed.
xo~Jamie (and all the other people you have wagged your tail at who love you right back)

P.S. Want to find YOUR sentence?  You can watch the DRIVE video.

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Day 29: may the force be with you

29 Jan

I am back from vacation, not quite back to reality and glued to the television.  Pup and I are watching Oprah’s Next Chapter with George Lucas.  (Well, Pup is snoring, I am watching.)

I love seeing the genius behind the vision, the visionary behind the creative genius.

More than anything, I am moved by this simple statement from Mr. Lucas on his own brand of success:

Don’t listen to your peers. 

Don’t listen to your parents. 

Don’t listen to your culture. 

Only listen to yourself.

So simple.
In all my readings, research and experience so far, it seems all gurus point in the same direction  — within.

Listen to yourself.
All I can think in my own head, to myself, right now, is:

May the force be with you.

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Day 333: walking on broken glass

29 Nov

My day started off with a crash.
A really loud one that only porcelain on tile can create.

Here’s a glimpse:
My favorite mug that my friend Susan gave me, photo taken just yesterday.

And, here it is today.

Crash. Crack. Silence.

NO!!!!!!!!
My heart dropped and mind and body froze watching the cup slip out of my hands, then bounce and crack on the floor, only to stare back up at me.

Instead of reading Keep Calm and Carry On, it now turned cockeyed on one side and screamed back “NO” in capital letters.

As I stood barefoot on the cold, tile floor of the kitchen in pink fluffy robe, I, dumbfounded, with nothing else to do, looked around for something to pick up the pieces.

Isn’t that always the case?

Turns out we have no broom.  
We both keep meaning to buy one at the grocery store but we constantly forget. It seems our need for avocados, carrots, salad and meat override the desire for a broom.

So, this morning, as I found myself on the verge of tears, with my favorite mug starring up at me in two separate pieces, I also found myself broom-less with no clue about how to clean it up.

And then that old Annie Lennox song rang through my head.
Won’t you pick the pieces up?
Cause it feels like I’m walking on broken glass.
Walking on, walking on, broken glaaa-aaa-aaaaass.

Lightbulb!
I dug through my art supplies and found a clean paintbrush.
It worked well enough to sweep the little fragments and shards of glass into one little pile that I could brush onto an old dustpan and deposit in the trash.

Even with the mess cleaned up I still felt like crying.

Then, later today, I found a little ray of hope.
Oprah interviewing Dr. Wayne Dyer.

In Oprah’s interview with spiritual teacher Dr. Wayne Dyer, he talks about how he practiced the Tao for one year. (Sounds like a 365 day promise to me.)

I was intrigued. 

What caught me, at just the right moment, was this:

“God has to be in you and has to be in everything that’s missing from your life.  So you are already connected to everything you need in your life. All you have to do is align yourself.”

I like that.
And, I feel like I understand it too, in a way that 333 days ago I never could have imagined.

So, maybe I lost a mug today.
MY FAVORITE MUG.

But, I have something even greater than treasures.

I have the friendship that brought that mug into my life (thank you Susan).
I know I already have everything — even when I’m not shopping! — and am connected to everything I need.

Plus, I know, deep down inside, we all have the ability to pick up the pieces.

As long as we keep calm and carry on.
Even when it feels like walking on broken glass. 

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Day 310: not real simple

6 Nov

Today I caught up on old magazines, of the Real Simple and Oprah sort. I holed up under a blanket with Laura’s stash of glossies on my lap while all the children took naps and I dove right into the pages of Consumer-Land.

Within the pages I found a few lovely options (like the photo above!).
It has me thinking about a question Laura asked me tonight:

“What will be your very first purchase in 2012?”

It’s hard to know at this point in time.

Will it be a necessity?
Like snow boots after a freak snow storm while we are visiting family in the Seattle area during the holiday?

Or will it be pure style?
Will I wait it out until Ms. Holly Getty takes me shopping in New York City?

I don’t know the answer yet.

But right now, I can say this:
The answer is not real simple.

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Day 284: the blessing of puppies and tennis balls

11 Oct


A funny thing happened when I became a dog owner — the perceived value of used, flat, and otherwise worn out tennis balls shot through the roof.

Balls that were previously thrown out for losing their bounce are now prized possessions for the canine set in our household — specifically Pup.  I have even seen dead, yellow balls lying outside a tennis court and actually considered bringing one home to Pup before I came to my senses.  Because, believe me, Pup needs one more tennis ball like I need one more pair of shoes.

Even still, he sure does love a good, old-fashioned used tennis ball.

Ironically, there was a time when tennis balls apparently made me angry.  Not the used kind, the brand-new, shiny, right-out-of-the-box, smelly kind.

Many years ago in fact, during a tennis lesson, the tennis pro instructing me through a proper forehand and backhand — while I smacked little yellow balls in rhythm with each spit of the ball machine — finally stopped me and said: “You have a lot of pent up anger.  You are killing that ball.”

His words stuck with me.
What did he mean by anger?  I don’t have anger.  Do I have anger? 

Looking back, I was claustrophobically trapped in a few things I didn’t really realize were choking the passion out of my beating heart; like a difficult marriage and dreary job, and a longing for more in my life, like puppies and babies and a family Christmas with gift-wrap and bows, the way it used to be when my mother was alive. 

So, tonight, it was exactly this theme that Oprah tackled, letting go of anger. One of her Lifeclass lessons asked:

Some psychologists believe anger is a reaction that occurs to help us protect ourselves from the grief that may arise if we accept a loss or disappointment. Look within yourself for anything from rage to annoyance. What’s the object of your anger?

While the object of my anger during that tennis lesson was clearly more than those helpless little yellow balls twirling through the air, it has taken me a long time to figure exactly what I was angry/fearful/sad about.

Tonight, as Oprah and Iyanla Vanzant uncovered the hidden anger in a few brave studio audience participants’ lives, I thought back to something my therapist shared with me while I was weaving my way through divorce — she pointed out that I didn’t miss the exact situation of my life, I mourned the dream of what I thought it was or could be. 

Ah, yes, the dream.
The crux of it all — where the hurt lives when the bubble bursts.

And, tonight, that is exactly where Iyanla went — straight to the hurt.  In her signature Iyanla way, she dismissed all excuses and made her “students” dig deep, to the place of hurt — asking:  Where is the fear?  Where is the hurt?  Where is the control?

When I ponder these questions, I find it ironic that the hurt, pain and control showed up in my tennis game long before they consciously showed up in my head, heart, body and soul.

As Iyanla said, anger is the easy way out.  And, I guess, for me it was a lot easier to get angry at a tennis ball than at the situation where I found myself at the time.

In her closing remarks, Iyanla asked everyone to remember just how the challenge (whatever it was or may be) has blessed you.

The answers for me are too many to count.

But I can tell you one thing: these days, I treasure old, used, slobbered on, no-bounce tennis balls over new ones.  Because new tennis balls don’t carry the teeth marks of Pup and the wag of an exuberant tail that says with each swing back and forth, “Hey you, look at me! I’m your blessing.”

Now throw me a tennis ball.

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Day 214: going back-to-school oprah style

2 Aug

At the beginning of this year I promised to take care of myself.
Specifically, my head, heart, body and soul, and, write about it everyday … which I am.

I promised to avoid shopping and frivolous purchases. To truly care for my body, and not only what I put ON my body … which I am.

But, I didn’t plan on living a chocolate-free existence.
Which, painfully at times, I am.

I did expect to find good, healthy things to invest my time and energy into.  At the beginning of this year, I could have guessed I would take yoga classes, but, I didn’t expect to take a class from Oprah.

Today, I found out the consummate teacher herself will be back in the classroom.  School may be out for summer, but come October, Oprah will teach her OWN students some of the best lessons she has learned over the years.  The class is called OWN Your Life (the Oprah class) and is being billed as the ultimate life class.

Now, how can I resist that?
Especially during this promise of 365 days where I am taking care of my own life and all the crazy, weird, and wonderful adventures it entails.

So, I signed up.

Back-to-school must be in the air.
Because, I also signed up for The Chopra Center’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge in August.  This is the same challenge I completed in the spring, and the closest I came to soul food so far on this journey.

So, I figure, why not try it again?
Maybe I’ll learn more this time around.
Maybe I’ll learn something different.
Or, maybe, I’ll just learn.

And, in the end, I guess that’s all that counts.

So, here I find myself, entering the month of August and already signed up and ready for fall classes; one from the life guru herself, the other from Deepak Chopra’s “sweet spot of the universe”.

There just seems to be one thing missing…
Back-to-school shopping, new shoes and a fall wardrobe.

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