Leaning into Life: Lessons from the Road

One of the things I look forward to learning this year is leaning into the twists and turns on my bike. I don’t aspire (yet) to get down on a knee like racers, but I’m open to the possibility.

Why do I want to do this?  Because I want to overcome a fear. Because I want to learn to trust my bike and the laws of physics. Because I know it will make riding more fun and make me a safer driver.

I also want to reinforce physically what I’ve been learning spiritually about leaning into life — whatever it dishes out.

Leaning in, Dusty style

Earlier this month I spoke about leaning into the curves of life at the International Motorcycle Show.  I talked about my decision to lean into my financial meltdown and use it as an opportunity to re-launch my life.

Then I told the story of  Dusty, who leaned into what little life she was told she had, and was given a new lease on that life. I met her in Wyoming as part of the Conga rally.

Dusty had been through three rounds of unsuccessful treatment for breast cancer. Her doctors didn’t know what else they could do for her, but they advised her to stay in treatment. She decided that instead of trying more chemotherapy and radiation she would instead “lean in” to a possibly shorter life, ride her motorcycle, raise money for breast cancer research, and enjoy each day as if it were her last.

Her rewards for leaning in? She was part of the Conga group that raised nearly $40k for the cause and when she returned for a checkup, her cancer had disappeared.

She could have leaned into life in a number of other ways, of course. My takeaway from Dusty’s story is that sometimes you have to take the scariest option, face your demons head on and in the process, always look for a way to serve others.

Tell me your story

If you have “leaned in” to a scary situation, a daunting opportunity, or perhaps something you’ve been fighting against, I really want to talk to you. Please get in touch.

Prompt: What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world?

As it appears to date, my story parallels Nietzsche’s  The Three Metamorphoses, which I call The Camel, Lion and Child. Joseph Campbell’s excellent interviews with Bill Moyers brought the tale to my attention.

The Camel, Lion and Child

Campbell explained that you start your life as a camel, being loaded up with all the things Thou Shalt Know, Thou Shalt Be and Thou Shalt Do to be a good member of your society. After being so loaded, you launch your  life with all that stuff on your back because you never know what you’ll need out in the wilderness. In the middle of the desert you come upon a Dragon covered in scales labeled “Thou Shalt.” Your job is to slay that dragon.

Camels don’t slay dragons, so you must transform into a lion to do this. Only as a lion can you explore and claim your own kingdom. But first you must slay the dragon.

The lion then goes out into its kingdom and does many great things. But the lion must transform into a child to reach full maturity and to claim creativity. Why is this?

“Innocence is the child, and forgetfulness, a new beginning, a game, a self- rolling wheel, a first movement, a holy Yea. Aye, for the game of creating, my brethren, there is needed a holy Yea unto life: ITS OWN will, willeth now the spirit; HIS OWN world winneth the world’s outcast.”   ~Nietzsche

My life as a camel

Knitted camel spit guard -- who knew?

I carried my Thou Shalts longer than necessary, longer than was healthy for me, and longer than was healthy for others — well into my 40′s.

I got good grades, went to college, married, started a family, went to graduate school and made a run at The American Dream of business ownership. Sure, I have a feisty spirit, but  camels are feisty too. In spite of my feistiness, I was still a camel.

It wasn’t until I let the Thou Shalts Dragon nearly chase me over the cliff that I transformed into a lion. I needed a lion’s ferocity to throw off the Dragon that told me I should go back to work for The Man to pay off onerous business losses, tax liens and redeem myself from  social shame.

I always wanted to write for a living, always wanted to travel. The camel believed this was impossible. The lion in me won’t have it any other way. Ultimately Spirit is my judge, not my creditors, not the IRS, and not you. Those who criticize me are looking at a snapshot of my life while Spirit sees the trajectory and created me capable of achieving my destiny.

As a lion-becoming-a-child I see that The Fashioner loves diversity — the world wouldn’t exist without it. I was created as I am to live my unique life in service to a greater Cause.  Thanks for walking that path with me, dear Readers. Here’s to an enlightened 2011.

Namaste.

Prompt: This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?

• The emotional support of those who said, “YOU CAN!”
• The financial support of those who said, “I’LL FUND YOU!”
• BMW’s Performance Center team, who said, “WE’LL TRAIN YOU.”
• The travel support of those who said, “I’LL RIDE WITH YOU.”
• The spiritual support of those who PRAYED FOR ME.

God bless you, every one.

Prompt: Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.

Ha! Most of the blog so far is about the series of events that led up to Kickstands UP and Kickstands DOWN. Here’s a series of videos describing my life in the flow, from learning how to ride, getting a BMW motorcycle, traveling cross country and championing a cause.

I envisioned a cross-country motorcycle trip but had to cross three barriers: no motorcycle experience, no motorcycle and no money to buy one. How’d I do it? Here’s the beginning of the tale.

I believe in a life of service, so I looked for a cause to align with during my road trip. I found Conga — a group of Canadian and US motorcyclists who formed conga lines from their homes to the rally point in Cheyenne, WY and raised money for breast cancer research along the way. What I didn’t realize was the folks who would inspire me to live a better, more intentional life. You’ll meet some of them here.

In this segment I talk about some of my adventures on the road. Wearing a pink bra across the front of my motorcycle made me quite the road attraction.

People everywhere wanted their picture with the bike and wanted to tell me stories of their battle with cancer or a sister, or mother’s brush with the disease. I sometimes wonder if the bra wasn’t a good luck charm…

The fourth installment is here. It talks about the 2011 trip and a conversation I had with an oncologist about breast cancer research’s role in curing other forms of cncer. Too many videos bogs a page down so I didn’t include it here.

Prompt:  What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.

I’m a writer-for-hire. Clients need something, I produce it, they pay me.

I love my work, which means I’m most fortunate; so many people hate their jobs — I used to be one of them.

This year I want most to produce a book that people want to BUY. This differs from work-for-hire. People buying my book will reward me for my CREATIVITY as well as my craft.  I often write about the role that my spiritual beliefs play in my life. One that Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way drove home to me is that God loves creatives because God is the Great Creator.

My religion has so much to say about the arts and the role that they play in transforming the world into a spiritual society.

O people of Baha! The source of crafts, sciences and arts is the power of reflection. Make ye every effort that out of this ideal mine there may gleam forth such pearls of wisdom and utterance as will promote the well-being and harmony of all the kindreds of the earth.  ~Baha’u'llah

Books in my brain

Writing this on New Year’s Eve 2010 I have seven more days to finish three chapters and the book proposal for Tradeoffs.

This summer, during my road trip, I’ll be interviewing subjects for another book I’m writing with Flo Fuhr. That book will profile women motorcyclists who are living with cancer or have survived it. We will collaborate with the breast cancer foundations of the US and Canada to share proceeds of the sales.

For some time I’ve been gestating a novel based on my experience as an industrial cleaning contractor — it will be a business thriller featuring a woman who buys an industrial cleaning business from the estate of its founder only to realize the business was a front for criminal activity.  I also have in mind a collection of short stories with the working title “Turds That Won’t Flush.” It might be that the short stories prelude the book.

Feelings…so many feelings

How I’ll feel when I finish Tradeoffs? Mostly RELIEVED, I think. My spouse is a marathon runner so we’ll have to compare notes of how I feel with how he feels after a grueling race.  I’ll also feel greatly SATISFIED with myself, no doubt.

How I’ll feel when I sell my book?  ELATED! There are several “sales” if I go with a publisher. First, I have to sell the book to an agent, who sells it to a publisher. The publisher sells it to distributors and retailers and I’ll of course sell it myself. Whew.  I have a streak of impatience in me, so I’ll be posting excerpts from the book on my blog and engaging people in there.

How will I feel when I see that first stranger holding my book? OVERJOYED! I might just kiss that person.

As for the rest of the prompt, I can feel all those feelings any day, yes, and often do.  Again, I am most fortunate.

On another note

I’ve been writing about my resolve to shed un-necessary pounds. In the process of writing this post I remembered Julia Cameron wrote this book, The Writing Diet. I’ll take it up immediately.