Okay, this question sparks a vision of mine, which has been pulling me forward and helping me to choose which projects most excite me and which I need to take a pass on ~ I began having this vision last summer while I was coaching with Mattison Grey (a coach who really kicks butt). I was also listening to some old CD's by Thomas Leonard on the Principles of Attraction. Thomas was big on finding a vision to pull you forward and Boom! Suddenly I had one. (Okay, I love to watch Entourage.) Here's my vision:

What will the world be like when everyone, from childhood on, is coached everyday by everyone else, at home, at school, at work, etc.? How will people and the world be different? How will we treat each other? How will we handle problems?

If you've never been coached, these questions won't mean much to you, but if you have, you may be picking up my excitement already!

Coaching is a 2nd Tier (Spiral Dynamics) profession that facilitates emergence into the higher Values Systems, where people move away from blame and be blamed, to thrive and help thrive. Where they stop trying to control and start taking responsibility and where they begin to see the absolute perfection in everything and where they stop using precious energy to fight with one another and instead, start doing what works to solve problems once and for all.

What if everyone thought this way? What if children grew up this way? The world would be completely different. Many of our worst problems would be getting solved ~ as a matter of course!

So two of my pet projects are 1. A coaching school for non-coaches at ACE, the Association for Coaching Excellence. and 2. the School of Coaching Mastery, which is FOR professional coaches, because when "Everyone is a coach or soon will be" as we say at ACE, the need for coaches who are true masters in every sense of the word, becomes obvious.

In the near future, people will relate to each other in a whole new way. Instead of listening for what they can get from each other, they will get their egos out of the way and listen for what is unique about the other person, what they are feeling, what they value and what they really want and they'll help each other to be that and have that. They'll "get" each other quickly and develop profound relationships ~ that third entity that the Integral folks talk about ~ and their relationships will begin to do the work that individual egos have not been able to do. It's a huge leap in evolution ~ and it's truly possible in the near future.

I could go on and on here ~ but hey! I'll be late for Yoga...

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2007

I'm letting my practical side and my philosophical side each answer this one, because their answers sound really different. Ultimately tho, it's all the same..

Practical Me: Money is a tool. It's useful. I like to have plenty coming in, cuz it's easier to do more with it, but I've discovered that when I use the tool in an educated way ~ when I'm smart with it ~ I can do way more with it than I thought possible. When I'm not smart with it, it is amazing how little I seem to accomplish.

It's a lot like using a computer: If you don't know how it works, it can leave you banging your head against a wall ~ but if you do know how to use it, it opens up new worlds for you.

Philosophical Me: Money is life energy. I expend my life energy creating value for others and they pay me money ~ which they were paid, because they expended their life energy creating value for others. For me, value and life energy are the same as love. Therefore:

Money = Love

Like I said, it's useful!

Who do I love? Great question. I could give you a few answers, but I wouldn't really be telling the whole truth.

This is how I feel about feelings: We have them. And our minds, being meaning making machines, make up stories about why we have our feelings.

So if we feel stress, we say, "I'm stressed about ________." If we feel love, we say, "I love _______." But really, the story, the be(lie)f, isn't the point.

And the stories can be really confusing, when it comes to love, because really we're all One. So what does "who" have to do with it?

I love. That's it.

And the "you" ~ the "who" ~ is a given.