You could buy a book or two, if you were so inclined, and that was it.

We made a lot of jokes, however, about “soon it will be time for our platinum diamond encrusted upsell” because the night before, over Hunnies at Pok-Pok (heaven!), we shared a “thank god you feel that way, too” conversation about how exhausted we are by the high pressure over-the-top sell sell sell! that has high jacked too much of the on-line world and live events.

I told Susan and Patti I’m so tired of it, I want to quit. Do something else entirely.

Here’s why:

When I lead a retreat, I create sacred space.That is what I do best. That space is what heals, opens, reveals.

To use that space, that openness of heart, that shared love, to sell, is a violation of my soul, an abuse of my deepest values.

Let me be very clear: I’m not against sales.

I’m against using the soul to make a buck.

To make more information available about what I do, of course.

To make it easy for you to continue to work with me, sure, that is being of service.

But manipulating mood, manufacturing love, to slam people into spending tens of thousands, before midnight tonight? That, in my universe, is wrong.

Wrong.

If you want to sell that way, do it honestly, transparently. Do not wrap it in spiritual terms and do not tie it to self-love. As in,“if you don’t sign up for my triple titanium garnet studded program, you are not investing in yourself and that means you don’t love yourself.”

Can you hear me screaming?

Self-love is the practice of opening your heart to the oneness of life. It’s THE practice that can help save us the world (read this post by Susan- she says it much better than I ever could).

Do. Not. Use. It. To. Sell. To. Me.

Ever.

I know these sales techniques are as old as humanity.  But people, we are the leaders.

We are the ones who can actually save the world, turn the tide, free a girl from slavery, and if we are spending our time playing these games with each other, if we are letting ourselves be in sucked into these sales pitches and giving away our power, who is minding the store?

Who is attending to the real issues?

Business and personal development are essential, of course. I’m not saying don’t get help!  I’m not saying don’t charge well for your services.

I am asking: when is enough enough?

P.S. In case it seems like I’m getting a Mother Theresa complex, I  have worked for huge corporations doing spokesperson work, some of which made me a little queasy. I have written sales pages I later wondered if I over-promised. I have bought services from consultants, hoping to be told “do it this way and all will be perfect” and gotten zippo. I’m just trying to do better.

Life is here, offering itself to you.

Are you going to take it up on its offer?

I am. I will forget I said that in just a moment, because fear will kidnap my heart and ride away with my desires.

Until I remember again.

I do so love remembering.

It seems to me, this morning, that the remembering is so very simple:

The only thing to do is to love it all insanely.

The only difference between those that do and those that don’t (love, create, show up, connect), is those that do don’t believe the mean voices. They have those voices too and they simply don’t believe them.

You only have to let yourself love all of it, to die again and again to love.

Die as in break open your heart and let go of you.

Oh, only that.

You may think you have to have to change this or that about yourself first but that, that is a distraction right up there with Farmville and your i-Precious. That is a lie, another version of “yes, yes, I want to break myself open to love, but first…”

There is no first.

No conditions.

No earning, proving, or finishing.

Nothing stands between you and all you want – to be seen, to be loved, to see, to love, and to offer that without bounds.

I get it now, what Rumi meant, what all those poets were going on and on about.

Quick, before fear kidnaps you, go love the world.

P.S. I’m meditating this morning and writing and listening so I can be a good steward of your learning in Portland this Saturday. Today’s the last day to sign up. Please come love writing and creating and being alive with us.

I was stretching my back this morning – kettle ball class last night – and had a thought about beginnings and threads of creative projects  – here’s a quick me on-the-floor offered for your chortling pleasure.

(Don’t see a video in  your email? Click here.)

Untitled from jennifer louden on Vimeo.

If you want to learn more about conditions of enoughness, read this. We’ll talk about how to use COE’s in Portland, and it’ll be so fun and so life changing and so so so so! Really so!

And learn about writing!

Discovery Draft from jennifer louden on Vimeo.

Well, I just did, didn’t I? hee, hee

I just keep interviewing and learning and wow. Words fail.

I just got off the phone with Sharon Salzberg. I did a lot of deep breathing before talking to her – nervous! – as she is such a she-ro to me – her book Faith is one of my top twenty spiritual influences.

Yesterday, I talked to my wise friend Susan Piver. How did she get so smart? She is so smart!

Michele talked to Cheri Huber. Cher blew her away! Whoosh….

My first Teach Now interview was with my mentor Christina Baldwin. Oh my. My oh my. That woman is hot.

If you are teaching or want to teach, what a gift this class is.

As my save the world action of today, here are three (3!!) excerpts from the interview series.

Just sharing the good, baby, sharing the good.

You can still get the entire first call for free- you can download it near the bottom of the page.

Yumsters!

Without further ado, the audios!

Sharon on not needing to know it all – thank god!

SharonSalzbergExcerpt

And you should hear what she said about imperfection of our own teachers. Thank you!

Christina on her first teaching experience

ChristinaBaldwinExcerpt

Susan on trusting yourself

SusanPiverConnect

Register for Teach now ends Sunday at midnight. For real. Please don’t email me asking to squeak in. Thanks!

Links: Christina Baldwin, Susan Piver, Sharon Salzberg, my favorite book Faith.