Quality of Life: The Design Process ©

A Legacy of Service ©

2010-01-31T17:06:00.000-08:00

Be of service. Share your talents, expertise, wisdom and brilliance. Be one with heart and engage your soul. Become a mentor. Donate your time, money, resources and brain. Be creative and connect with people or an organization that shares your interests and values. Become altruistic. Believe it is possible. Cease the egocentric view of life. Forget yourself and help others for a while. It is in the giving that one receives. When we are one with loving kindness, compassion and heart the world changes and heals. I believe in miracles. Make a commitment to be of service this year. Become significant to another soul or the soul of an organization.

Consider leaving a legacy of kindness and change behind before your soul retires to heaven or an alternative realm. What are your gifts? Do you have intrinsic gifts in vision, art, compassion, music, intuition, athletics, computers, innovation, medicine, writing, design, communication, organizing, creating wealth, activism, humor, business, culinary arts or healing? Find out now and share your gifts with others before you die. You will live longer by being of service to humanity and experiencing intimate relationships with others. You can Google and find citations of sociological and medical studies on this subject matter.

Contemplate who mentored you as you have evolved? Was it a grandmother, professor, an advisor or a successful industry professional? For eons, people have mentored and assisted growth and achievement in others. Success in life, art and industry is meant to be shared and celebrated. Genius is passed on through generations. Why not mentor someone now and share your brilliance? Create the relationship. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the teacher is ready, the student appears. The flow of dialogue is magic when the heart and mind are open. Learn from the great souls that have walked before us.

Mahatma Gandhi

“A life of service must be one of humility.”

Mother Teresa

“It is not how much we do,
but how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give,
but how much love we put in the giving.”

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Buddha

“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”

Recommended Websites:

www.volunteermatch.org – Volunteer Match

www.unv.org – United Nations Volunteer

The cycle of life continues in the legacy of service.

Lena Karunamaya, Visions Of Purpose Consulting
Visionary, Writer, Consultant
USA

www.lenakarunamaya.com

Urban Sanctuary ©

2010-01-07T17:54:00.000-08:00

Intuition can lead you to find sanctuary in any major metropolitan city in the world. Finding sanctuary is often a private, solo experience to be cherished and honored with one’s soul. It can be considered an indulgence to wonder the streets of a city with a purpose to discover happiness with one’s self.

I believe it is possible to find sanctuary in a city that contains thousands or millions of people in it. There are a variety of methods to find sanctuary. Choose the avenue that calls to you. Rediscover walking. Act like a tourist or a traveler with consciousness. Read the arts page in the newspaper. Venture out. Find a new café that has a table for one. Be bold and have confidence. Sit when you want to rest. Study people, strangers in the canvas of life or the clouds in the sky. Reclaim the present. Look for signs of synchronicity, the meaningful coincidences in life. Take the detour that synchronicity offers you. Breathe. Quiet your mind. Laugh to yourself while reading a book on a park bench unabashed. Indulge your inner confidence.

What do you love? Where do you desire to go to research a vision that has been emerging? What do you want to discover about yourself or about a place on the world’s map? What is your passion? Where do you want to be alone in your own private world amongst a sea of people? What are your secret interests you have not reveled to anyone else? Follow your heart. Find delight along the path and celebrate the new you.

The official definition of sanctuary is a sacred place, such as a church, temple or mosque, a place of refuge or a retreat, an oasis.

Spirituality, beauty, inspiration, luxury and comfort are important considerations in finding sanctuary in a city. I have discovered my own private sanctuaries in urban society. I travel solo for a day or long afternoon when my soul and brain needs a retreat from life. Inspiration is what I seek to discover. My writer needs nourishment on a daily basis and especially on the weekends. I immerse myself in the wonderment of my passions and visions. Nourishment for my body and soul are vitally important when I travel to my own private places of sanctuary. I love my life for I know my soul.

Lena’s Places of Sanctuary in Seattle, Washington, America:

A Redmond Spa: My sanctuary for luxurious facials, steam baths and essential oil massages. Pure heaven!

The University Bookstore: My sanctuary for exploring my visions and ideas. This bookstore sells incredible pens, art supplies, notebooks and journals that my writer desires. I especially love books. Autobiographies, travel memoirs, multicultural fiction and Buddhist philosophy intrigue my quest for learning and dreaming. I get lost in words, sentences, paragraphs and pages before I select the special book I want to buy and read.

Masala of India Cuisine Restaurant: My sanctuary for the senses. I love this restaurant for its incredible vegan selections and the fact it catered my wedding. This restaurant has a table directly underneath a statue of Ganesh. I always request this specific table in the restaurant. Ganesh is a deity from the Hindu religion and is considered the Lord of success and removes obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. I like to imagine Ganesh is removing obstacles from my life and blessing me with wisdom, success and wealth as I eat. Occasionally, the restaurant manager lights incense from India which reminds me of my travels in Northern India several years ago. Travel dreams emerge when I am in the sanctuary of India.

Quality Independent Films: My sanctuary for entertainment, vision and inspiration. I love films! The films I am drawn to see are independently produced dramas, foreign imports and documentaries. I love to go alone to a theater and sit in the middle, a little towards the back and wait in anticipation for the film to begin. Then I become absorbed in the story, the images on the screen. The outside world ceases to exist and for two hours I am in my own private wonderment. I always stay and watch the credits and honor the talented people who created such works of art.

Sunbathing meditations at Green Lake: My sanctuary for communion with the Earth, Water, Wind and Sun. I have three favorite trees at Green Lake Park in which I love to rest my soul under and meditate. I chose the one that is inviting me the most. I have been mediating for twenty years so I can tune out the activity at Green Lake and concentrate on my breath. When I desire the sun to kiss my face and warm my body, I find a space in an open field and lay down for a while. This is pure heaven on earth for an afternoon or a nap.

I have created some ideas for others who desire to find sanctuary in urban society that might not know where to start. Explore one per week then select your favorites. Design your own. Your own signature is always the best. Discover the one that meets all your criteria for sanctuary and then keep it private.

Alternative Urban Sanctuary Ideas:

Art Galleries
Museums
Travel Bookstores
5 star hotel lobbies for tea and a book
Independent Florists - develop a relationship with the shop owner who can personalize bouquets for you once she knows your lifestyle and emotional territory
Public gardens for imagination and beauty
Cafes in the afternoon for contemplations and writing visions
Health Club steam baths for a cleansing ritual and relaxation
Spas for treatments for the body and soul
Hair salons for a new design of personal style
Import stores for design ideas and textiles from around the world

I invite you to be happy. Venture out into the land of contentment. Leave the external world behind as you explore the sanctuary of your soul. Find the inner peace you desire in the world of people, traffic and noise for it does exist in urban society.

Lena Karunamaya, Visions Of Purpose Consulting
Visionary, Writer, Consultant
USA

www.lenakarunamaya.com

2009-11-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

Everyone wants quality of life and to be happy. This is part of human nature. How to create a quality life with meaning and purpose many times eludes the most brilliant minds on the planet. Why? Societal and cultural constraints, digesting values that are not ours and not caring for ourselves with loving kindness, I believe are the main root causes of imbalance and unhappiness in life. Many of the people around the world are hesitant to be authentic in every aspect of their lives. I feel this is mainly due to some external circumstance or an internal censor. Do not live your life for someone else for this always robs your soul of light. It is sad and unnecessary when people do not feel brave enough to be themselves. Courage takes effort.

Visionary human beings are brilliant and extraordinary. The world needs the collective consciousness of greatness, today for humanity to evolve. Step into your brilliance for everyone has soul intelligence.

Designing a quality life is a process. Usually this process begins with an awareness. There is most often dissatisfaction in one’s life or a longing to be different. Start with private writing and organize your thoughts. Then release the limiting beliefs you have about yourself that have surfaced. Replace them with nurturing, positive messages. Healing the unspoken parts of yourself takes time. Remember that anything is possible. Do not wait to create the life you truly desire. Travel home to your soul through meditation. Visions will emerge. I guarantee you if act with great courage and faith to be authentic; you will love your life. Dare to be different and change the planet.

Integrate time just for you into your daily/weekly schedule. This is highly recommended. I know this sounds outrageous to many but vitally necessary in order to reclaim your authenticity. Turn off your computer. Take a nap on a Tuesday. Take a dance class. Hike in the wildness of nature and in your own imagination. Plan an adventure. Listen to music. Write a new screen play for your life with soul. Do things that you love and love your body. Eat organic food and schedule a massage. Take an essential oil bath. Go on a media fast. Ask for a hug from someone that loves you and receive. Dream up a new life for yourself. Invite others to know you, the authentic one inside. Take a risk.

Surround yourself with visionaries, optimists, artists & professionals, innovation & abundance. Seek out progressive people who believe change is a part of daily life. Invite these incredible souls to become your new colleagues, mentors and friends. Then you will have a new support team or an unofficial advisory board to help become yourself again you and expand. Read memoirs written by people who challenged society and changed the world. Become inspired. Gain courage from others who have gone before you. Liberate yourself from the confines of the past and family members who live in your head. Live in the present. Focus and walk forward.

The world needs your brilliance! Do not hide yourself behind emails or your business brand. Be bold and brave. Say no and say yes when you truly mean it. Speak up at a business meeting, networking event or seminar. Quit, ask for a raise or start your own business. Breathe. Develop a professional or business strategic plan with the assistance of a consultant. Grow. Get your professional and personal needs met simultaneously. What a concept?

Weekends are times for relaxation. Listen to the hidden desires of the soul and body. Be a spontaneous an adventurer in life without your Blackberry. Leave it at your office on the weekends. Borrow a cell phone on a Saturday if you are addicted or have pressing obligations. Radical suggestion, I know. Defy culture and society, the status quo of corporations and rules of operation. Fight the pressure of workaholics in your place of employment to be like them. Quiet the nonstop mind. Learn how to do this. Lists in the head can wait until Monday, believe me. Take a bath, an alternative to stress or go to a spa. Brainstorm with a friend about new ideas. Socialize. Definitely do not say yes to anything that goes against your intuition, ever!

If these things, I have recommended are too insurmountable to contemplate or do, I have other suggestions. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Ask for help. Schedule an appointment with your primary care physician, naturopath, acupuncturist or progressive, professional consultant to help you achieve your goals. Be honest. Do Google research. Go to a twelve step program or an expert therapist that deals with your core issues if necessary. Start at the beginning, middle or end for life is a cycle of change.

Reclaiming your authentic self is a process and a statement. Speak your truth always for this benefits everyone you encounter in the world. What if everyone on the planet loved themselves? Imagine what the world would be like if this was true. Authenticity is a gift of human nature.

Visions have a divine purpose. Listen to your intuition and light the fire of passion inside and create. Envision the life you truly want to live. Design it and have fun.

I invite you to read Quality Of Life: The Design Process on a regular basis twice per month. Email it to a friend or colleague. Gain new techniques for designing a visionary life truly worth sustaining. Become inspired. Believe in possibilities. Be your own catalyst for change. Increase the quality of your life and have time for adventures beyond the horizon.

Lena Karunamaya, Visions Of Purpose Consulting

Visionary, Consultant, Writer

USA

www.lenakarunamaya.com

Quality of Life: The Design Process ©

A Legacy of Service ©

Urban Sanctuary ©

Authenticity © 2009