I just finished listening to a live teleseminar featuring Marianne Williamson. It was so filled with bits of wisdom to galvanize women that I found myself Tweeting quotes throughout the show. This call was part of the Women on the Edge of Evolution teleseries.
She’s going to do a Sister Giant: Rousing the Sleeping Giant of American Womanhood event in Los Angeles on February 26, 27 and 28. Sign up here. Scholarships are available for those who can’t come due to lack of funds.
This video is about a movie being made from a movement. There’s some interesting footage of people in action at a grass roots level. I have long wanted to be the kind of person who makes a difference but it seems I was always getting in my own way.
I didn’t always know that’s what I was doing but as I look back on the past with the knowledge and experience I have now, I know…”It was all me, every bit of it me.”
I proclaim that 2010 is going to be an exception to the rule. If there’s a shift going on (and I do believe there is) I want to be a part of it.
I have three goodies for you and each one will contribute to galvanizing your mind and preparing you get out of your own way and take action on your dreams and desires:
Some of us wait for the right moment to take action or to move forward on our goals and that time never comes.
Hopefully this video on YouTube will inspire you to let go of people-pleasing and perfectionism so you can take action on those projects you’ve been procrastinating.
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One of the things that was extremely helpful to me, especially for being less anxious and more creative is Holosynch. It uses sound wave technology to increase the threshold of your mind. They’ll send a free CD if you visit their website.
Today I delivered my tenth speech at Agape Toastmasters and completed the requirements for a Competent Communication award. The speech is titled, “Stand In Your New School Power and Dare to Make a Difference” (if you don’t see a video above, click here to watch it on YouTube). I joined Toastmasters just over a year ago because I’ve always enjoyed public speaking and wanted to improve my skills and break out of my comfort zone.
I’ve been speaking to groups of people for about 16 years. However, most of my speaking has been somewhat informal, (i.e. leading small, intimate groups), or it’s been structured but based on a cirruculm (i.e. instructing classes at Long Beach City College). Although teaching, leading and speaking have always been rewarding to me, I felt like I was holding back on presenting passionately and daring to create my own presentations.
In my past year or so at Agape Toastmasters I feel like I’ve really broken out of the mold I was in and this presentation in particular was one of the most exhilarating, honest and enjoyable pieces of work I’ve ever had the privledge of delivering to a live audience.
In my mind, this is the beginning of my speaking career and I hope to have the opportunity to deliver this presentation and others like it to groups of leaders in various locations. Specifically I would like to speak to teachers, therapists, social workers, ministers and organizations who provide service to the community. My hope is to get paid as a presenter and to have the opportunity to sell my book, From Sabotage to Success.
Over the past 16 years I’ve worked at numerous non-profit agencies and I’ve met many educated, dedicated and warm-hearted people who yearn to make a difference in the world yet seem to be confined and stifled, not to mention overwhelmed. My hope is that I can help these leaders feel strong and powerful so they can do the work they’ve always dreamed of. In so doing, I will be fulfilling a dream of my own: to use my skills to make a positive difference in the world for those who need it most.
——————————— If you have a saboteur like Puleza who’s stealing your power, purchase my book From Sabotage to Success and learn how to take your power back.
If you would like to book me to speak at your next event, please contact me at sherizampelli [at] gmail.com.
We often hear stories of war torn countries and starving children. It seems so far away and foreign that it’s difficult to remember that there are real people, children included, with real feelings who are being traumatized and living sub-standard, terrifying lives. This is like child abuse magnified. The impact of this trauma is far reaching and long-term.
I believe that when we calculate the cost of war, we need to factor these traumatized children and their damaged lives into the picture. Notice the intensity of emotion and expression that this child in the video displays as she describes wearing gas soaked clothes, eating food that tastes like gas and living in terror everyday of her life.
I am no expert on trauma but I work closely with people who are and I can speak to the long-term impact of living in an unpredictable, violent, chaotic environment as a child. If you have experienced trauma and are looking for a healer, I would recommend Yaffa Balsam, James Hyman or Tina Tessina. Each person brings his or her own expertise into the mix. Balsam and Tessina are both licensed therapists, James Hyman is a shamanic healer who does Deep Emotional Release Bodywork.
The title of this article was taken from page 145 of the A Course in Miracles text. I wanted to share an extended quote with you here today. I’m also going to use it as the invocation at my Toastmasters meeting tomorrow morning. (Exact location is paragraph 6 starting with line 7).
Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind, and the perfect equality of all God’s Sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another. God’s Sons are equal in will, all being the Will of their Father. This is the only lesson I came to teach.
This statement is flawless, it is clear that we are all equally children of God, equal in will. Only our language clouds the truth. You see, we have decided to use the word “He” as the pronoun for all people. Not all languages adhere to this custom. Some have one word that means all people or “humankind”.
So, if you are a woman reading the phrase above, realize that in God’s terms “He” = All people. Don’t let the language prevent you from receiving the message.
The first sentence of this quote assures you that sexism and racism are not Godly. “Freedom cannot be learned by tyranny of any kind.” That means you can’t have one group oppressing another group and have freedom. This applies to all human beings in all settings.
The next part of the sentence states: “the perfect equality of all God’s sons cannot be recognized through the dominion of one mind over another.” Said another way, as long as we are at war, we will never have peace. As long as we hate, we cannot experience love. As long as we are looking for problems, we will never find solutions.
Most Americans and music lovers worldwide acknowledge Elvis Presley as “The King” of rock and roll. But some people have no idea who Elvis Presley is or what it means to be “The King” to millions of loyal fans.
Today I was reading Lesson 3 of A Course in Miracles: I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].
Just then I thought about Cindy. The foreign exchange student from China that I hung out with for a few weeks.
I was taking a class on multi-cultural competency as part of the process towards my master’s degree in counseling. Our instructor, Vince Noble asked for volunteers to escort foreign exchange students and ease their transition into the USA. He may have even offered extra credit, I can’t remember. But I volunteered and was paired up with Cindy from China.
One day, Cindy and I went to the CSULB art show. There were many paintings and several rooms filled with original art pieces created by students. We came upon a portrait of Elvis Presley. I admired the creativity of the piece. Cindy pointed at it and asked, “who is that?”
I was stunned. It was as if my life was flashing before me. I could not imagine how to describe who Elvis was. He is so many things to so many people and I couldn’t imagine what the world, or at least my world, would be like without him.
I managed to mumble out some answer about how Elvis was a rock legend and I hummed a few bars of Blue Suede Shoes and Jailhouse Rock to see if it would ring a bell.
Nothing.
I was speechless.
I had been slapped aside the head once again and reminded that just because I have an experience or a social construct built up around a certain object or person, doesn’t mean everyone else does.
I know that part of the lesson with A Course in Miracles is to realize that I can choose to live in the now, free from attachments to the past, anytime I want to. This is the only place I can experience true freedom and creativity.
So, Cindy gave me a gift that day, the gift of realizing, “I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place (on this blog)] all the meaning that it has for me.” Yes, even Elvis Presley.
Back in the day I was known as Sheri Olson, AKA “Sheri O.” I was a bit of a hellraiser. I went to punk gigs 3 times a week, I danced in gay bars and I used heavy, illicit drugs. I smoked a pack of Marlboro red box a day.
When I was seven, I wanted to be a roller derby queen and the highlight of my life was the newest Elton John and KiKi Dee “45″, Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart. I remember putting it on the turntable in the back yard and either roller skating or hula hooping the entire time it played. I would play it 5, 10, 20 times in a row. If I wasn’t roller skating or hula hooping I was lip synching or dancing.
The older I got, the more I was scolded for such immature behavior and socially unacceptable music choices. I was trained to be a “proper Christian”. To cross my legs, to wear pigtails and to be skinny. I was trained to be dumb on purpose because “it intimidates the men if you’re too smart.”
I tried to maintain my “self” the best I could. I rebelled against all conformity. But eventually it got to me. The mean looks, the conversations behind my back, the cold shoulders. I was fired more than once just because I spoke my mind and people told me “you’re crazy” for as long as I can remember.
Why bring all that unecessary hardship on myself? I figured it would be easier to just follow the rules and get along.
So I tried to blend in. To be the “me” everyone else says to be. Tried to lose weight even though I love my curves, tried to eat more vegetables, tried not to eat dessert, I made sure to smile just right, to have good breath, to not be too sassy, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
In my 20’s and 30’s I pretty much acted perfect all day then came home and swallowed the refrigerator.
In University I learned how to “say it right, put it in APA format, double-space it and use 12-point font.” I learned big words and a series of scientifically unfounded psychological theories as well as a long list of labels, diagnoses and pharmacuetical cures for all that ails the human mind. I learned to “be professional!” at all costs.
If I was going to maintain this game, I knew it was imperative that I discontinue all connection with night life. Not even time to listen to records. No more time for punk rock gigs. My textbooks were my late-night and early morning reading. My entire life revolved around devouring volumes of research journals and psychology textbooks, getting good grades and regurgitating information the way my instructors wanted me to.
I played the game all the way to the end. I got a master’s degree and I’ll be damned if I ever get a PhD.
What finally happened is that I imploded. I became entirely incapable of performing the act. In some ways, “I” fell apart. The “I” I thought I was that is. I couldn’t do it anymore. Sheri O. was crying out for attention and she was ready to do some crazy shit like roller derby and punk rock to get it. Sheri O. won.
What I want to know is this: are our spunky girls with a creative edge being adequately nurtured these days or are they being stifled by the oh-so-rigorous training for the position of “Queen”?
Are they enjoying and embracing their youth, their skills and their talents or are they busy hating everything about themselves from their eyebrows to their toe nails? Will they have to wait until they’re 40 to realize that being themselves is the easiest and most beautiful thing there is? How many more generations can we afford to let this happen?
The truth is, none of us needs to be a perfect King or Queen, that’s a job reserved for the King and Queen. In England, everyone is very clear that there is only one Queen and Elizabeth is it. Nobody tries to be Queen because they know they can’t be and won’t be. We need to stop trying to be something that we’re not. I don’t say that to defeat progress but instead to encouarge you to be your best self, not some lame imitation of who you think you can and should be. Faking it is a total waste of time, trust me.
If you need help with finding the true you again or if you want to be sure to maintain the real you without crumbling beneath criticism, get my book From Sabotage to Success.
I just finished listening to a live teleseminar featuring Marianne Williamson. It was so filled with bits of wisdom to galvanize women that I found myself Tweeting quotes throughout the show. This call was part of the Women on the Edge of Evolution teleseries.
Back in the day I was known as Sheri Olson, AKA “Sheri O.” I was a bit of a hellraiser. I went to punk gigs 3 times a week, I danced in gay bars and I used heavy, illicit drugs. I smoked a pack of Marlboro red box a day. 
All links go to iTunes.
(Here I am at the 
So I tried to blend in. To be the “me” everyone else says to be. Tried to lose weight even though I love my curves, tried to eat more vegetables, tried not to eat dessert, I made sure to smile just right, to have good breath, to not be too sassy, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. 
