Homeward Bound

I’m baaack…

It’s been way too long.  I apologize for taking such a long break from blogging.  I’ve been going non-stop on great projects with some amazing new clients. I’m also working on my book, diving into the strategy and design for the TempleHome online home + self improvement community and guiding a select group of people through the SoulSpace process. All this while preparing for a test shoot with the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) so they could see how I interact with clients as we move closer to (hopefully) getting a television deal.

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Space – The Final Frontier

Here’s an idea:

Instead of keeping torn, dirty or broken down furniture and walking past it each day, get rid of it and let the empty space inspire you with possibility. One thing that all of us are challenged with is creating the space to “just be”.  We fill our days, our lives, our homes, our every waking moment with stuff, be it physical or mental. There is a part of us that’s afraid to create space in our homes and in our minds and have it “just be” there, without feeling the need to fill it up. But there is a way to get into that state of be-ing.

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Out With the Old, In With the New

Now that 2010 has finally taken hold I’m able to look back at the transition between the two years and say good-bye to one of the most challenging periods of my lifetime. Challenging from the perspective of what’s happening in the world at large and more specifically what’s happening to the friends and family in my life.

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The Message in the Massage

I’ve just returned from another trip to Maui where we’ve begun working on our recently acquired property that will soon become the SoulSpace Retreat Center .

While I was away I treated myself to a massage that triggered a powerful response within me. It reawakened me to the fundamental importance of the connection we each have between ourselves, our possessions and the space that surround us. During the massage I started feeling all the tight and blocked places in my body (especially in my legs) that were preventing me from fully connecting.

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The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

When I got back from Maui on the evening of Sunday, November 8, I noticed that my Annie, the one constant love of my life over the past 15 years, was slower then she had been. I could tell something was wrong. I woke up on Monday morning to find her unable to get up to go out for her morning walk. She was deeply tired.

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One Man’s Trash

Once you ASSESS where you’re currently at in your life and realize how your outlook is manifest in your space the next phase in the SoulSpace process is

EXTRACTION

In this phase you identify all the possession you have that you’re ready to let go of. It’s interesting to consider that your things fall into two different categories. One category is stuff you’re holding onto that you no longer want or need and that has no emotional connection attached to it. The other involves stuff that still has unresolved emotions attached to it or belief systems that you’re ready to let go of.

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Esquire Design House Wins Four Prestigious Awards from the Custom Audio Video Installation Industry

Clever implementation of home automation, home theater, and hidden televisions gets prominent recognition

Adding to its list of notable design industry recognition, the Doheny Esquire House recently won 3 prestigious awards at the 2009 CEDIA EXPO Convention.  DSI Entertainment Systems was on hand to receive the awards for:

Best Large Home Theater (Bronze)

Best Integrated Home (Silver)

Best Hidden Installation (Bronze)

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Coming Out of the Closet

As I’ve explained before, SoulSpace is a 7 step process I developed that offers insight on how to create a home that soothes, renews and transforms.  Today, I thought I’d delve further into the first phase, which is called

ASSESSMENT

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The Truth Shall Set You Free

Like it says in the title “the truth shall set you free”.

How many times have we heard those words? And when we do, how often do we really believe the message?

To get to the answer I thought we might discuss… clutter.  Stick with me and I promise it will all make sense.

As I’ve said before; when we hold on to things in our space that no longer serve us they just take up room and remind us of a time gone by that still holds unfinished business or a consciousness that doesn’t serve us. If we want this to change, our relationship with those things has to change as well.

This same process should also be done in our minds. When we hold on to communication, lies and manipulation it’s very difficult to stay in the moment. If those things maintain their grasp there’s always a tug of war going on within our minds and hearts that keeps us anchored to the past. This, in turn, robs us of the beauty and peace of the present moment.

Cleaning up the clutter in our minds is just like the

EXTRACTION

phase of the SoulSpace process.

For my personal journey I’m continuing to explore the mind and heart to see the places in the past and in my current life that I’m holding on to. I’m striving to move beyond any hesitation at sharing my truth for fear that I might lose something or someone if I’m completely honest.

Sharing the truth needs to happen in all areas; at work, in relationships, with ourselves — anywhere and everywhere. Standing in our truth takes a lot of courage because it means we have to confront the fear of loss. But if we don’t do it then we’ve already lost.

At our core we all desire to be open, honest and loving within and without but this can only happen when our actions match up with our ideas. If our truth is shared and we lose anything in the process maybe it was time for that thing to move on to create a space for something or someone else to move in.

One thing I’m beginning to trust at a deeper level is that the truth will always move me to where I need to be. But the truth is not only shared with other people in other situations. Sometimes the most difficult person to tell the truth to is the one who looks back in the mirror.

Take a moment. Take 10 moments.

Close your eyes. Allow the clutter to pass through your mind. Access the revelation of the one place and the one thing in which the light of truth will set you free. And breathe.

Yours in the pursuit of truth,

XB

Life is but a Dream

I’m in Palm Springs at the moment, taking a break to be with myself for a bit.  I’ve been thinking about my life and truly looking at everything I have going on and what my stake is (financial, emotional, spiritual, etc.) in each project.

I watched the movie Charlie Bartlett earlier today.  At the end of the film there’s a scene where Robert Downey Jr. (he’s the principal at the school the main character attends) is in a classroom and written on the chalkboard is part of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.  It’s such a small thing that you wouldn’t really even notice it if you weren’t paying attention.  But I did notice and it inspired me to get to the computer and complete the latest posting.

Previous steps in SoulSpace including

ASSESSMENT & EXTRACTION (I’ll explore these steps in greater detail for future posts)

ask you to evaluate those things in your life that you are ready to let go of. Once you’re free of all the tangibles and intangibles that are no longer you the slate is clean and it’s time to connect to the deeper part of yourself and your deepest desires.

Today I want to expose you to one of the steps in the SoulSpace process called

DREAMING

This phase is about getting connected to our dreams and the wishes we have for our lives.

When we were all young one of the first nursery rhymes that we learned held the deepest truth to life in it.  I’m sure that we remember it but for most of us we forgot about the truth that it held:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

It really is the truth.  If you can dream it you can have it.  And once you’ve experienced that dream, you’ll have to dream again.

Dreaming does not require money. It just demands your attention to allow your mind to think outside of the box. To allow yourself to soar without any restrictions.

Dreaming can occur in all different sorts of ways when you’re “awake”.  It can happen while looking at magazines; for home, for travel, for anything.  Just make sure to give yourself the space to do it.  Find some quiet time and let loose.  Play like you did when you were a kid without thought to anything but the moment of play.

That’s what I am doing right now in my life.

I’ve spent the day thinking about all those projects, all the things I do in my life, and I can clearly see that the singular way of living that has been my “normal” is no longer fulfilling.

Of course by singular I don’t mean that I’m single.  Most of you know that I’m in a four year relationship and that’s actually the point.  Caring for my human family is becoming more and more important. It feels more true to me and my soul’s purpose.

This revelation comes after already having shifted a lot in the past few years.  Now I can feel and see that unless my dreams encompass all of me and my soul (which includes being of service in a deep and profound way) then life no longer has the meaning that it did before.

I am in the middle of a significant transformation that in some way is turning the “I” of me into the “we”.  It’s very interesting to observe the changes within me during this transition.

And if in the being and doing I can share one thing about the DREAMING phase it would be this:

Give yourself the time to truly connect with what is important to you and what your soul has come to this planet to experience and contribute.  Spend a moment everyday in silence and ask that you become your authentic self and the authentic expression of your soul.

I believe in the depths of my soul that we all “have a dream”.  Now more than ever it is time to begin dreaming this new dream.  It’s a dream without the influences of what the media says our dreams are supposed to be, without images and projections of idealized people and relationships.

It’s time to begin dreaming the dream that brings us together, that brings us back to ourselves and each other.  Even in these divisive times I believe that in the heart of all people there is a dream of unity.  A dream of justice.  A dream of protection and love for all.

Allow the revelation of your dreams to come to you. Just keep asking. And looking. And exploring. It will come.

But perhaps the greatest truth of all is that we need each other to do this, to dream our truest dreams. So let’s start doing this together, because after all:

life is but a dream.

Yours in living dreams,

XB