Today someone came to my Living Tao Book Club Meetup, and afterward, I realized that I needed an opening spiel—words I can say in the beginning to new people to explain what we’re about and what we’re trying to accomplish. So here goes . . .

This is a space and time in which we can explore the deeper things in life—the questions we don’t usually have the opportunity to discuss in our everyday lives. We use books as the catalyst and framework for our conversation. Beyond that, we help and encourage each other to live out the realizations we have.

I don’t pretend to know all the answers, and I encourage everyone to share their unfiltered thoughts and opinions in a respectful and kind way. I can only share my experiences and the awareness and consciousness I have so far. In the process, I think we can go beyond where it is possible to go on our own and can explore new avenues we may not yet have known were possible.

This group is a safe space where I have met amazing and wonderful people who give me hope for the world.

I don’t actually talk to myself . . . out loud, but lately it feels like I am. I wonder if this is how my 70-something-year-old father feels when he is home alone all the time.

But do you ever feel like words are coming out of your mouth, and either no one is paying attention, or, even if it reaches their ears, they don’t really understand what you’re saying? This has been happening to me frequently lately. It’s not just that the reach on our company Facebook page is so small or that no one goes to our website. Even the people closest to me, who are next to me all the time, who supposedly like me, seem to be on a completely different wavelength.

My usual response would be to try to match their wavelength and try to find the gaps in communication and bridge them. But, right now, I’m really not in the mood to do that. Maybe I actually like talking to myself alone, and don’t have any real desire to reach out, but feel like I should? (This blog is perfect for that, hehe.)

I’ve received several messages lately, over and over, to use my voice to spread the kind of brightness and love all the people around me, including Ilchi Lee, are trying to increase on the earth. I’ve accepted that I need to do it, but I’ve only budged a few inches in that direction. In my current state, the energy I would produce is not the right energy; I need to increase my own brightness first.

I’ve realized from all of this that my mindset is not, “what can I give and create for the benefit of others.” If I’m just sitting by myself, doing my own thing, why do other people need to pay attention? If this is the case and this is what I want, then I should just do my thing, and not expect people to flock to me. That is the energy that I’m putting out there, so that’s what I’m getting in return. Energy is always honest.

If I increase my brightness and switch my focus to helping others, perhaps people will come to our website, my book club, our social media pages, etc., and want what we are trying to provide. Maybe if my conviction in this content genuinely benefitting their lives shows through in all the things I do, people will be able to receive what we are offering. Now is the moment to open the straightjacket that feels secure and not withhold what I need to give, for my own sake as well as that of others.

Connection with nature, connection with yourself, connection with your life purpose is a quest that spans a lifetime. Quests and goals are not only for the young with many years ahead of them. They can begin even after retiring. In fact, argues New York Times bestselling author Ilchi Lee, retirement can be the perfect time to begin goals you didn’t have time to pay attention to while you were busy with career and family. The types of goals he recommends are those that are less tangible than the material success we pursue in our youth. Greater wisdom and compassion can be developed and passed down to the next generations in what could be our golden years he writes in his latest book, I’ve Decided to Live 120 Years: The Ancient Secret to Longevity, Vitality, and Life Transformation.

Quite frankly, I’d like to start my golden years before “retirement.” Thinking and living with the energy and consciousness of love 100 percent of the time is the best goal I can think of. I think this new book has some of that energy and more, which is why I keep promoting it.

What I learned from having a cold this week and hibernating in my bed for long hours, which I haven’t had the right or privilege or balls to do for years, is that inherently inside myself, I’m ok. When I give myself a chance to rest and follow my own rhythm, then my natural vitality, cheerfulness, and love for myself comes out. I want to dance and sing and think I’m so beautiful. I love everything! All it took was a lot of rest, lol! I just did what I wanted. It really felt magical.

Now I know that when feeling that way is hard, I need more rest time and some time to focus on myself. Once again, I realized that instead of trying hard, surrendering to my natural resources seems to work best. I really didn’t want to surrender, though. I wanted to fight and say, “I’m not going to be sick.” But by feeling my body, I realized that wasn’t going to work. I just needed to accept that I was sick, listen to my body, and choose to get better without fighting it.

I’m not always so astute about knowing when to stop and rest, however. According to Human Design, my type, a Manifesting Generator, especially one without their spleen center filled in (because people with open spleen centers don’t have built-in instincts for self-care), should rest before they are tired or burnt out. Pure Generators should rest when they use up their energy, but Manifesting Generators and Manifestors need to stop before then, although I’m not sure why yet. However, this information seems to be true for my life, so I’m going to try to remember it, however much I want to stay up late . . . which I love.

But the most important thing I’m going to remember is: I’m ok, regardless of the circumstances!

I’m exploring this idea these days. I’m involved with an organization called the Earth Citizens Organization, or ECO, which promotes the concept of Earth Citizenship as constructed by Ilchi Lee. According to him, an Earth Citizen is a steward of the earth who actively does what is good for the planet and the life on it, in addition to themselves.

I’m all on board with this concept, but it is a BIG IDEA. So what does that look like in my daily life? One more obvious thing that I’ve thought of is what the environmentalists say: reduce my impact on the earth. How can I use only what I need to ensure my vitality while respecting other life? The small things I’ve done is switch to cloth pads, try to remember to bring my own bags to the store and my own cup to the coffee shop, and try not to waste food. Sometimes I remember to eat only what I really need and to eat beef only when my body really craves it, but that doesn’t always go so well. I turn off lights and avoid air conditioning when possible. But, honestly, between my computer and my phone, I’m plugged into electricity all day, every day, so I don’t really know what good I’m doing.

Sunlight through the trees in New Zealand, the land where Ilchi Lee is building an Earth Village.

Another aspect is holistic health: how can we respect our bodies as part of nature—an entity with a natural tendency toward balance and harmony? Our bodies have amazing self-healing and self-regeneration abilities, and there are things we can do to maximize them. Being able to feel our bodies and learn what they want to ingest and release and how they need to move is an important skill and awareness to develop for maximizing our bodies’ healing power. I learned this skill, although I’m still honing it, through Brain Education practice. From this practice I also learned other body-mind-spirit healing techniques based on traditional Asian medicine, and there is so much more to learn.

Through my experience with these practices, I’ve come to confirm that real healing comes from the soul. No matter what we try to do for another person, their real healing comes from their soul, and all we can do is help them access that and make it stronger. Living from and for your soul is another aspect of Brain Education and being an Earth Citizen—to me, the most important part. When all people do this, we will fully realize that there is no true distinction between you and me, the trees and the animals, the people or the earth, or from divine energy. Then we’ll naturally make decisions that fit Earth Citizen values.

But how do we spread this idea and lifestyle? That is the burning question. What is compelling about the Earth Citizen concept, and how can we make it easier to live as an Earth Citizen? What more do I need to live as an Earth Citizen?

To be continued . . .

When I graduated from eighth grade, my math teacher wrote in my autograph book that I should remember to stop and smell the roses. Sometimes I recall his advice.

I was reminded of it when we saw beautiful roses in bloom on a recent trip to San Diego. It was new information for me that roses could bloom in December, at least in some places of the world. Although we were already on vacation and seeing new and exciting things, these roses really stood out as special because they were especially unexpected and fully bloomed in a variety of shapes and colors.

They were too beautiful to keep to myself, so here is a short picture break for you.

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Helping others is important to me, but in doing it, I often look beyond my own personality, ego, and desires so that I can see what they really need without those filters and so that I can fully embody what another person needs in that moment and help them in a pure way.

Also important to me is expressing myself, meaning my true self, from my heart. Sometimes expressing my true self means helping others, but other times it means making my own music by myself, as with this blog. I have something that wants to stream out of me, untouched by others.

From what I’ve learned so far in my life, I believe that balance is essential. Both means of expressing my true self are important for making my heart energy flow. If I emphasize one more than another, instead of healthy heart energy flow, life feels too empty or frustrating.

I think that’s the main theme that has developed for this diary-like blog, which began without much of a theme.

This is my first attempt to record the Chun Bu Kyung, which is an ancient text from Asia made up of 81 characters. This text communicates the energy of the origin of everything. It also carries the energy of the evolution of everything. By listening to the sound of the chanting of the Chun Bu Kyung, you can feel your own essence and the essential essence of the universe.

Image from Dahnhak Healing Arts Blog

That’s why I wanted to record and share my own chanting of the Chun Bu Kyung. I want to spread that kind of energy in the world to help heal all of the darkness. My own chanting can become brighter and prettier with practice, but I don’t want to wait for that to share it. As I get better, I will upload those versions in the future. For better chanting, you can use the Power of the Chun Bu Kyung CD by Ilchi Lee.

Click here to listen to the audio file.

I like watching music competitions shows like The Voice in the United States and Show Me the Money in South Korea. I don’t really care about the competition part, because so many people who get eliminated are actually good. These shows are not the final arbiters of good music. However, the competition aspect provides a forum for opinions on different artists, and these opinions help me learn about music, performing, and human nature.

These shows are themselves necessarily collaborative, and some of them offer some kind of record deal or contract with a label as part of the spoils. The process of making an album with producers, other writers, and other composers and having it approved by management is also collaborative. There’s a necessarily process of collaborative creation.

However, not everyone wants that. Many times you don’t hear about the winners after the show unless you make an effort to personally follow them. I did that with Season 8 Voice winner Sawyer Fredericks. I follow him on social media, and I’m still listening to his music. I even went to his concert when he came to town.

Sawyer had written, produced and performed his music on his own before the show, but while he was on The Voice, he discovered the joy of being with and learning from other musicians. Sawyer is one of the Voice winners who put out an album with the record label that was part of the prize (not all did), and I remember him saying that it was an interesting process for him to write songs with other people. After the first album, he and the record label parted ways amicably he said, and in one concert video I saw, he happily noted that his upcoming album was completely written and composed by himself. He sounded quite happy about that, and he isn’t the first winner of The Voice to go out on their own.

I also work in a collaborative creative environment in which the content I produce always has to go through edits and approval by others. I also have to review and comment on other people’s work. Sometimes, we brainstorm together. This process is great for learning and making better content. However, sometimes it doesn’t satisfy my desire to express myself, especially my true self. Sometimes I want what I make to go out into the world exactly as it is. Hence, this blog. Unedited. Uncensored. I think that’s why I don’t mind that this blog is also unnoticed. If people actually read it, could I be so free?

I would like to be, regardless of who is looking. That is the next step for my growth—to put myself out there in a vulnerable way and stand up for what I have to say, even if it may be wrong two seconds later. I don’t agree with President Trump’s philosophies or policies, and I think consideration for others is important, but one thing I don’t mind about him is that he freely says what he thinks without fear, even if it brings him constant criticism. I think a happy balance between consideration and candor would be best, and I know people who are able to do this.

Now, back to making things that are hopefully marketable, approved by others, and, if I have a miracle, popular.