My Pink Roadmap

1. Ask yourself this question. “If you knew you were going to die in a year, would you still be living the life you’re living?” If the answer is no, you might want to rethink things.
2. Identify your desire. If you don’t know which risk you’re dying to take, it’s hard to pleap. Be very specific about what you desire. If you can’t figure out what you do want, get clear on what you DON’T want. That will guide you.
3. Don’t obsess about the Hows. Figure out the Whats and leave the rest to the Universe.
4. Recognize and honor what’s holding you back. Assess your fears to determine whether they’re genuine fears meant to protect you (if I jump off this cliff, I might hit the rocks and die) or irrational fears that are merely holding you back (I might lose everything and people will think I’m crazy).  It’s okay to feel the fear. Just don’t let it rule your decision-making.
5. Think things through to their worst possible outcome. What’s the absolute worst thing that would happen if you took this Pleap? Follow it through in your mind. Most of the time, the nameless, nonspecific fear is greater than the actual worst case scenario. While it sounds pessimistic, doing this can set you free when you realize that the worst possible outcome- while icky- isn’t bad enough to keep you paralyzed.
6. Ignore what everyone else thinks. This is about you and YOUR dreams. If you poll your family, friends, colleagues, and partner, you’re likely to get talked out of your dream.
7. Pray for guidance, then watch for Signs from the Universe. You don’t have to do this alone. Surrender.
8. If you’re not sure whether it’s time to Pleap, wait. When the time is right, it will be evident. You will feel it in your gut.  You will no longer be satisfied with standing on the ledge. If someone pushes you over the edge against your will, spread your wings. FLY.
9. Practice radical self-care while you’re considering Pleaping. Nurture your body, rest your mind, feed your spirit. Pleaping is hard work.
10. Believe in YOU. You can create whatever you desire.  You are powerful beyond measure. If you live in love and act from your heart with pure intention, you will never fall flat on the rocks.

I am a painter.  I am a crafter.  I am a dog lover.  I am a concert-going, album-release-date-following, band-shirt-wearing music junkie.   One thing I was not: a videographer.  Several months ago, on a whim, I signed up for a digital video class while in pursuit of my graduate degree.  Though I was a bit apprehensive, knowing nothing about video and rarely going to see a movie, I figured I would do the coursework, throw together a video, and wham-bam-A+!  Little did I know, there was something much bigger in store.

It was early November and our final project deadlines were looming.  A friend invited me to a Monday night screening of a German cycling film at a local tavern; sensing adventure, I accepted the offer and set off with her to the screening.  Walking up to the tavern, the sidewalk was inundated with bicycles.  Bicycles?  In Dallas?  It’s no secret that Dallas is no Portland when it comes to being bicycle-friendly.  In fact, it was a rare occasion I saw a bicycle on the road at all, yet there they were, 20-or-so strong, glistening in streetlight.  We meandered our way through the maze and into the Tavern.   I struck up a conversation with a guy with one pant leg rolled up, a messenger bag slung across his shoulder, and a tight-fitting cap.  Apparently, this cyclist gathering is a weekly thing.  “It’s just the Monday Night Mash,” he said. 

Monday Night Mash?  I wondered about it for several days.  I consider myself to be fairly in-the-know with regard to goings-on in Dallas, so how is this such a surprise to me?  Do they all know each other?  Where did they meet?  How do they contact each other?  Who organizes this?  And maybe most importantly, why do they do it?  And thus, my class film project was born.

About a week later, after contacting a few cyclists on twitter to find out where they would be gathering that Monday night, I showed up at the designated spot, with me school-issued camera equipment in tow.  I knew no one there, and no one there had ever seen me, yet there I was.  I got surprisingly few strange looks and several cyclists approached me to inquire as to what I was filming for.  I didn’t even own a bike, yet everyone was so friendly!  The event organizer pointed me to several FaceBook and twitter profiles so I could follow what was happening and film more rides.  More rides?

Monday Night Mash.  Tits Tuesday.  Zip code rides.  Critical Mass.  Holiday rides.  The list went on and on.  It turns out every ride was organized by a different person or group of people - all through social media.  Very few of them know each other from anywhere other than the rides or had each other’s cell phone numbers, yet nearly every night, people gather for no apparent purpose other than to ride their bikes and be a part of this temporal community of cyclists there for the same reason.  Single speed, fixed-gear, geared, tandem, cruiser, road bike, unicycle – everyone is welcome who loves to ride.  Then, after the ride and possibly a drink or two, they all go home and back to their separate lives.  It’s there, then it’s gone.  Fascinating.

I threw together a video with my extremely limited video editing skills in 48 hours with no sleep and made my deadline.  Nervous and sleep-deprived, I got up to present to the class.  They loved it.  I put the videos up on YouTube as a thank you to the cyclists who had helped me along the way, and before I knew it, the video was up on 10+ cycling websites, got local online news coverage, and received over 800 hits on YouTube.  I feel like I need to show this to the world, afterall, everyone wants to be a part of something.  The fact that things like this exist is nothing short of inspirational, in my eyes.  I am currently editing it down more to submit to film festivals. 

I am now fairly well recognized within the Dallas urban cyclist community, and I daresay I’ve made some good friends in the process.  An everyday encounter followed by a series of chances and risks have caused my entire life to change; this has snowballed into something much, much bigger than any class project.  I have since been approached to do some activist cycling videos to help change city policy and most recently, to document SXSFixed 2010.  I welcome you to join me on my most recent project beginning Saturday 3/13/2010 in following 16 fixed-gear cyclists on their bike ride from Dallas to Austin in a span of three days, just in time for South by SouthWest.  Crazy?  Absolutely!  Follow us on twitter (@SXSFixed) and check out our website (www.SXSFixed.com), where I will be updating the map with photos, video, and interesting tidbits every step of the way from the back of a pickup truck on the road to Austin.  The resulting film will be screened at a local bike shop.  Who knows?  Maybe I can inspire someone else to take a leap of faith.

Lacy Mahone
@LaceofBase
www.LaceofBase.com

I am starting my days different. I have recently made some big changes in my life for the benefit of following my “North Star.” They weren’t easy changes; it involved leaving someone very near and dear to my heart. However, I am clear that through me leaving, we will both come out stronger, happier and clearer on our intentions for this life in the end. I do not know if my departure is permanent, but I know in my soul, my heart and spirit that I am following the right path.

This morning I began my day with some orange juice, meditation and short read from Eckart Tolle’s book, A New Earth. I decided that I needed to start my day off with writing and meditation in order to create a clearer understanding of my purpose in this life. I have always found enlightenment and clarity through my writing. As I was reading, I stumbled upon this quote:

 “Can they defy the gravitational pull of materialism and materiality and rise above the identification with form that keeps the ego in the place and condemns them into imprisonment within their own personality?”

 I ask that you live the rest of your day with the above quote in mind. Are you present to the fact that you are here for a greater purpose than things, money and the trivial emotions that burden us on a daily basis? It IS true. There is a higher purpose for all of and each and every one of you has the tools to learn what that is and get the most out of life.

You might be thinking, “but I can’t give up me THINGS?! They make me so happy for the most part and isn’t that why I work? So I can buy THINGS?!” My answer to you is this; could you imagine stumbling upon something so brilliant, something so beautiful that every time it crossed you mind or you found more evidence of it existing, you were brought to tears by its beauty? Imagine living a life for something that made you THAT happy.

For as back far as I can remember, I was always searching for something. I looked for ‘it’ everywhere: boyfriends, churches, books, family, friends, conversations, new cities, new places, writing.  I never knew what it was that I was looking for and I most certainly had no idea that I was searching for it. I moved to Austin when I was 19 to venture out on my own. I left with little to no money, a few of my personal items and my boyfriend at the time. I just knew I had to get away from where I was or I would never leave, I would never get anywhere. I had always had this incredible urge to just ‘go,’ which led me to running away from a lot of things. After I was in Austin for a month or so, I received a card (one of many) from my Dad that said, ‘I love you and hope you are doing well. I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for.’ This was a realization to me; everyone else can see that I am searching for something.

When I got Austin I became employed with Crystal Mountain Animal Hospital, a fabulous holistic animal clinic with an extraordinary team of animal lovers. Through my boss, Charles Vandermause I was introduced to The Landmark Forum which allowed me understand me and others on an entirely new level. I was able to forgive, release anger and get down to the basics of love. My search ended after that first course. I learned that everything I needed was inside of me all along. We are all born with what we need to develop and find our purpose, after-all everything exists only in our mind, who knew?! This was a valuable lesson for me at 19 years old. Charles Vandermause has been a ‘God’ to me ever sense.

I sit here, trying to think of a particular moment that changed my life. Though taking the Landmark Forum was definitely one of the moments, I don’t feel that it is the explanation for who I am today and why I have come so far along on this spiritual journey.  When you get down to the nitty gritty of things, ever ‘aha moment’ we encounter is what compiles to create who we are today. For me, giving credit to just one instance would not do my life justice.

Austin, Landmark, Charles Vandermause was where my journey really started. It was the first step in what got me where I am today, but between then and now- oh Lordy. It’s only been 4 years- wow. It definitely feels like a lifetime. In conclusion, writing this ‘aha moment’ post for me is in itself, a moment. It is easy to dismiss the circumstances we go through as insignificant because we are waiting for that one big moment when all of our dreams are coming true. But the fact is, all of the little things along the way are the true miracles getting to where we need be, to snowball into that one BIG thing.

If you take the time to notice all of the minor miracles along the way and stand in awe what is taking place, when you finally get to that BIG dream of yours, it won’t seem so unbelievable, so scary and big. Looking back at all of the things you already overcame and accomplished will give you the courage you need to get there and own it.

After all, ‘It’s not the destination, but the journey that gets you there.’