Last night, I took a leap into another world of words and thoughts, feelings and flow as I launched a radio show called It’s All About Relationships, on Vivid Life Radio. It ties in so beautifully with the Bliss Blog, since it is yet another way of living my bliss full out and encouraging others to do the same. When I consider all of the overlapping soul circles and interwoven threads that led me from where I was to where I am now, I am blown away amazed.  There are times when I feel as if things in my life are rolling waaaayyyyy too slowly and other times in which I feel like Fred Flinstone with his scrambling feet, trying to keep up with it all. Yabba daba doooo!

My first guest on Valentine’s night was Christine Arylo whose book Madly In Love With Me, I reviewed for Beliefnet a few months ago. In our conversation, we spoke about the pandemic of self criticism and the vital need for self love, since it fuels our every interaction, whether it be with family, friends, partners, co-workers, and the eco-system. She spoke about her ‘inner mean girl’ who had snagged her yesterday morning, ragging her with “  Oprah has a couch , Marianne Williamson can pack a room like nobodies’ business. What have you done lately?”  She has been able to transform her “Mean Patty”; one of the personae into a talent scout who helps her to move forward and connect her to the right people. She shared that “Self esteem is knowing that you can do and be and have anything.” There is a difference between that and self love. “Self esteem is 1/10th of self love.  Self compassion and self forgiveness is part of it.” She suggests daring acts of self love for folks to practice, saying that our inner mean girls and inner mean dudes show up when we are about to expand our lives. Boy, do I know that one. My monkey mind inner critic chattered at me throughout the day, with imposter syndrome rants, “Who are you to host this show? What if you stumble over your words and forget what you were going to say? What if there are technical snafus?”  I then took a breath, ran through my checklist of what needed to be done and remembered the wise words of my friend Reid Mihalko who would remind me when I was nervous about facilitating a workshop called Cuddle Party, “Darlin’, the event will go as the event will go.”  And the event went well. My intention was like that of someone who is hosting a party. When I do that, I clean the house, set up the rooms so that they are comfortable for my guests, want the environment to be warm and welcoming,  make sure the food is yummy and plentiful.

This morning, I had breakfast with a formerly cyber friend who has now become a face to face friend. We say across the table at The Down To Earth Cafe in Perkasie, PA  This too was a warm and welcoming place whose mission is

“ to provide the best quality and freshest food possible.  We support our local farms and resources whenever possible.  We serve locally roasted coffee, honey, eggs, milk, maple syrup,produce, biscotti’s and plenty more.  We recyle our cooking oil to be turned into bio-diesel, reuse our waste for compost and recycle anything we can.  We hope you enjoy!” and enjoy I did!  I indulged in an apple cider latte that tasted like a liquid apple pie and a breakfast burrito with eggs, spinach, black beans and rice and even more delightful was the conversation with Janet Vasil, director of Your Media Moment. In the few hours we spent together, we laughed knowingly as we regaled each other with stories about the joys and challenges of a journalist’s life. She has had an amazing career on tv and print media; as a reporter and news anchor, covering ‘hard news’, yet this powerful woman seems to have balanced it with a soft, compassionate, fully in integrity side; knowing who she is. These days, she is an author and  ’Media Expertizing Coach’, working with clients whose desire it is to get their message out there in the world. I could tell how passionate she is about her work; which essentially is platform and image building. We had such a blast realizing how many people we had in common.

As I am typing these words, I am in amazement that on a Friday afternoon, I am sitting at my dining room table, in front of a cut glass vase that had belonged to my parents, filled with lovely flowers, sipping peppermint tea, watching the sun stream through the windows, gazing around my living room, eyes landing on the Kwan Yin statue given to me by my son’s girlfriend as a birthday gift, breathing in the aroma of a gingerbread candle, listening to a replay of the interview, not for picking it apart, but for celebrating how far I have come. This validates my relationships….all of them, but especially that with the woman in the mirror.

Please listen in to my show each Thursday night at 8pm est  on www.vividlife.me

http://www.YourMediaMoment.com/

www.thedowntoearthcafe.com

http://blog.beliefnet.com/blissblog/2012/11/madly-in-love-with-me.html