"I would like to be know
as an INTELLIGENT woman,
a COURAGEOUS woman,
a LOVING woman,
a woman who teaches by being." -_Maya Angelou

A friend gave me a card on my last birthday that had this quote on the front. I felt so honored to receive it. I also know that I love playing with the concept of being versus doing as you all may know by now.

How do we show our love, courage and intelligence?
How do we pay attention to our being in the midst of all the doing?

In part it is learning how to bring your inner voice up a notch and to decrease the volume on the outer voice.

For instance, I don't read the paper or listen to the news on a daily basis, my TV is in the closet. I stay informed by reading an alternative paper, by checking news via NPR a couple times a week. I have found that to listen all the time pulled me to far out of myself, I took it too seriously and wasn't able to stay focused and present with what was right in front of me. This is my way of decreasing the volume of the outer or cultural voice and I am sure there are other ways.

How about you?