My apologies for not connecting with you via a newsletter in March; as it turns out, I was continuing to live and learn by LISTENING deeply and ACTING wisely (as I wrote in January), and by doing my best to live the DISCIPLINE of JOY (by being mindful, grateful and trusting, as I wrote in February).

All of that has led me to what I want to share with you this month – about BHAGs (pronounced “b-hags” – short for Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and BEDROCK.

I first learned about BHAGs from Jack Canfield – goals that stretch us beyond our comfort zone and align us with our core values.

BEDROCK is a term that I learned from my years in the RC (Re-Evaluation Counselling) community – old ways of thinking and being that are so ingrained in us that we think that they’re insurmountable.

While visiting my Mom recently (she lives in Kemptville, about 40 minutes south of Ottawa), we watched “Cast Away“, a film in which Tom Hanks plays a FedEx executive who undergoes a physical and emotional transformation after crash landing on a deserted island. I saw the movie years ago, when it was first released (in 2000), AND watching it again had a profound impact on me; it reminded me, yet again, that the only time we have is NOW.

For the last several years, and in several ways, I’ve become increasingly aware of the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimages leading to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Watching “Cast Away” with my Mom pushed walking the Camino off of my “bucket list” and turned it into a personal BHAG.

AND – what happens when we set a BHAG?
Our BEDROCK surfaces!
For me, it was old thoughts and beliefs about not being worthy and not being enough.

For years, I’ve enjoyed the image of a spiral as a visual metaphor for how we grow on this journey – coming around repeatedly to the same life lessons, with new perspectives that we’ve learned from past “spins” around the spiral. I’ve known, and have worked on, my BEDROCK for years – and now, I’m using some new tools to help disintegrate it:

1) Tapping / using EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) as I
2) Recite (or sing) “Ho’oponopono“, the mantra at the heart of the ancient Hawaiian practice of forgiveness (“I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you.”), and then
3) Reclaim the power of I AM by affirming “I AM Worthy” and “I AM Enough”.

As well as using these tools daily (along with meditation and journaling), I’m now watching every available youtube video about the Camino. My BHAG is to walk it in honour of my 60th birthday (WHAT???) in September. (If you’d be kind enough to visualize me accomplishing my BHAG with Ease and Grace and Joy, I’d be most grateful!)

So – with Gratitude, Faith, and Simplicity (my words for 2019), I say YES to my BHAG and to disintegrating my BEDROCK!

In honour of BHAGs and BEDROCK, I offer you some of my music; may it serve you well.
Here And Now (a song from my CD “Little By Little”, about the power of the ONLY moment there truly is – the present moment);
Ho’oponopono (a BRAND NEW RECORDING of a chant, co-written with my dear friend Becca Palm, that celebrates the power of forgiveness and letting go);
A WholeHearted Life (a song from my CD “YES”, that reminds us that we ARE worthy and we ARE enough).
(You can listen to my songs and chants here.)
(You can find the words to my songs and chants here.)
(You can buy my CDs here.)

How about YOU, dear Friend? What’s most resonating in YOU this month? What’s a BHAG that YOU want to accomplish? What’s YOUR BEDROCK? WHEREVER you are on your journey, I’d love to hear from you. Please e-mail me; we’re all in this together, and we have much to learn from each other. (BIG THANKS to all of the kind souls who respond to my newsletters; reading your comments is always a highlight of my month.)

APPRECIATION

Every Monday on my Facebook business page, I post messages of gratitude.
Please have a look, join the conversation, and SHARE the posts with your friends. 

UPCOMING AND ONGOING EVENTS

– PERFORMANCES

(For the most up-to-date information, please click on any date in my online calendar)

– VIDEOS

May I be of service to you and your organization or community with my words and music?
My KEYNOTE CONCERT presentation can be seen here, and my PERFORMANCE VIDEOS, including my LATEST ONE (“Learn, Share, Grow and Belong”) can be seen here.

– MUSIC

My very dear friend and song co-writer Becca Palm has created “Community Songs”, a songbook/CD package of 23 songs which includes 4 chants that she and I co-wrote (“Ho-oponopono”, “Listen”, “Small Steps” and “Turning Within”). To get your copy, please click here. (You can also listen to and/or download the songs here.)

As a very dear and wise friend in Montreal once said to me, “All I can offer you is my experience”.

My sincere desire, in every one of my newsletters, is to encourage us all to live our Big Lives one Small Step at a time.

Much love to you, dear Friend. May you say YES to your BHAG, and disintegrate your BEDROCK, with Gratitude, Faith and Simplicity, and may you go with LOVE. 

– Nathen