Given the opportunity, we respond well to deep exploration of who we are. However, we are more accustomed to inquiries about our professions and accomplishments and sometimes discover that we are initially less open to sharing the more personal landscapes within ourselves.

This past weekend a group of women and I gathered at “Serenity On The Mountain” in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland to delve into our individual and collective voices using both the written and spoken word. Our outer world persona is so dominant that we do not always recognize and acknowledge the inner part of ourselves. Too often, we hide, squash, ignore or simply take our true expressions and feelings for granted.

It takes some quiet time…away from it all…to face what is real. How often do we ask ourselves probing questions and then take the time actually answering them as openly and honestly as we can? How often do we share these findings with others?

It is time to look deeply into your own eyes and celebrate the stories there!

Spring…a time of rebirth and rejuvenation…a time to share!

Warmly,
Mozella

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi
Motivational StoryTeller™

"Once upon a time" – these four words are immediately relaxing, as like magic they encourage us to settle in for story time.

I celebrate the fantasies of fairy tales, knights, castles, princes and magical potions – they allow our minds to step into expansive adventure. Our imagination is like a treasure chest: lots of goodies inside if you just keep digging.

My next book is entitled "Once Upon A Time" and invites us to explore the value and depth of "story".  The expression of our own voices in creative form liberates us from the mundane. The more we let go, the more we have to give.

There is an artist in each of us. Choose your 'canvas' and express yourself on it, in it, around and through it.

Oh, and by the way…do you see that old man in the tree?

and the story never ends
mozella

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi
Motivational StoryTeller™

Our winter season has strong metaphorical parallels to the transition time we call death.

Outer life often seems stripped away, leaving us cold, naked and feeling vulnerable. We hibernate – drawn toward the quiet and serenity of inner sanctuaries.

Most of our trees appear devoid of all vitality, though their trunks and branches reach out like untouched souls. With the promise of rebirth and new life just around the corner, they will return adorned and celebrated in a brand new set of clothes.

Many of us have friends and family who have already journeyed to "the other side of winter's tomorrow". Trusting deeply in The Great Cycle of Life, I believe the more we talk about life's seasons and transitions; the easier it 'may' be to witness the leaves slowly drop away. Sometimes, Nature uproots an entire tree in a sudden swirl of events … the seeds take flight and land softly, taking root in the unknown land of our tomorrow.

We water our memories, nurture our present moments – and spring will come back again! A line from my poem "Another Horizon" expresses it this way:

Grateful for these present moments,
Mozella

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi
Motivational StoryTeller ™

Big changes! If we do not get that message anywhere else, "Gaia" continues to tell us so. Knock, knock, are you there? Are we listening?

Sometimes we become mute or lack understanding as to what Mother Earth is telling us. Being receptive and having an expanded consciousness are both a desire and a choice, not an accident. Yet, some wait for that "accident" to happen.

Adjusting our dials to the right frequencies allows us to hear and perceive better, like fine-tuning a radio.

Everything, each thing is talking to us – especially through nature. There are messages we label 'good', ones we consider 'bad' and communications our "radios" have yet to pick up.

There is so much clamor and fast-paced movement as we interact in our world… and then we are forced to slow down. Sometimes it's our health, sometimes the weather. Gaia is creating many shifts – many of them stopping us in our tracks – so that we may hear the volumes of stored information, wisdom and instruction pouring forth from stillness.

I really like the phrase "it is what it is" and although what is can have major inconveniences for us, we can choose to use any downtime that comes our way to listen.

Stay tuned…
mozella

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi
Motivational Storyteller™

I have flown through many skies and deeply enjoyed 'the 35,000 feet perspective'. Flying has allowed me some rich experiences. My poem "Flight" shares profound thoughts that flowed through me during one of many journeys between Europe and Africa.

This past September, on my way back from the mystical land of Peru, I took the above picture – hard to see, I know, the best my little camera could do. I was both awed and delighted by what I saw. I often stare out the plane's window, seeing loads of beautiful and unusual landscapes – often imagining and daydreaming about what lies below.

Never had I seen the airplane within which I was traveling, reflected in the clouds, with a colored ring around it. Oh my gosh, look! Click, click. I did not care what the scientific explanation was — I just felt a tingling sense of protection and privilege to witness this sight: like a mystical message…or something!

My eyes 'could have been' closed, or I could have been distracted by the entertainment offered during long flights. Our gifts are often on the other side of a window, or door, waiting for us to notice, waiting for our laughter and joy, waiting to be captured…

Keep your eyes open,

Click, click!
mozella

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi ,
Motivational Storyteller™

Melissa, now in her 30s, wrote this note to her Mom (Nancy) when she was five or six years old. The now framed, pencil written original hangs in my friend Nancy's kitchen. We couldn't get a clear enough picture of it, so just imagine these words in a child's handwriting.

Could Melissa have been any clearer? In essence, she said: Mom, what you want is not what I'm interested in…here's what's important to me and I want to know if I can have it…now! Her loudly spoken "I Want to Know" took up most of the page.

When I first saw this message, from a clearly precocious child, I laughed at her verve. Then I smiled as I absorbed her open and insistent honesty.

What do you really want to know – and when did you last express it? Imagine, for a minute that you write a letter to your boss or a significant person in your life and tell them exactly where you stand and what you want (okay, so perhaps you should not mail it!) However, wouldn't it feel just wonderful to open up and let all your feelings and thoughts just flow?

Click here to hear the jazz poetry version of my poem "I Want to Know." It was my response to David Whyte's poem, Self-Portrait. Take either poem, a beautiful blank piece of paper, and, you guessed it –write! Now, it's your turn!

Thank you Melissa!
Mozella

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi,
Motivational Storyteller™

On New Year's Day, I left early in the morning with my husband and his best friend to attend an evening marriage celebration in New Jersey –a very different start to my new year.

The Mehndi Ceremony…a Pakistani wedding tradition… took seven hours (no exaggeration). I watched and enjoyed many beautiful dances and performances. There was much exuberance and joy; some were barefooted, laughing and cheering with reckless abandon! Several family members asked me to join them on the dance floor. I turned each of them down with one excuse after another.

Having attended weddings and baby ceremonies in Karachi many years ago, I have the cultural sensitivity to understand that I was not truly in the celebration until I was actively involved in their dancing. I finally said "yes" close to 12:30 a.m. Though tired and ready to turn in, I entered their space…and…participated. What took me so long? Was I that weary that I couldn't show them I was truly there to join in their special day?

Merely showing up is sometimes the easiest part. Life calls and invites us to participate fully in what we are doing, wherever we may find ourselves. Sometimes what comes before us is ordinary, sometimes exotic and extraordinary.

If we are going to be in it, then we really need to BE in it!

Immersing in the moment,
mozella

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi,
Motivational Storyteller™

And, it's not the statute of a black horse with a lampshade on its head (though I was rather fascinated when I saw it)

I am talking about a far better and even more intriguing gift than that. Yes, I am talking about You!

Our quality time and attention is the best gift we can give to just about anyone.

Think of this a moment: what does a teen who's acting out, a spouse delivering the silent treatment for no apparent reason and a screaming toddler all have in common? They all want at least one thing – the attention of somebody important to them. Many of us do not feel we get enough of this precious commodity from the people closest to us. We, in turn, may not be giving enough of our own time away either.

This afternoon, after Christmas dinner, I am gathering the seven or so of our young people and giving them a few minutes from my life experiences. I am sharing with them some of the gems I received at 18 years of age – a foundation that continues to light my path. Perhaps it will go in one ear and out the other – after all, it is Christmas day! However, it is not very often we have our closest family and friends around us. We can make sharing ourselves part of our gifts to them.

Don’t wait for challenges to slow you or them down. Typically, things go 'wrong' and then everyone begins to scramble – wishing they had been a little more patient and available.

There really is no time like now.

Merry Christmas,
mozella

Have you ever been so right that you couldn't be wrong? It happened to me recently, one of many uncomfortable moments! It is so easy to see only one perspective, our own.

It can be a challenge to look in another direction and recognize that left might be the answer, not right. More often than not, when family and friends come together, there comes a time when opinions are flying and what started out as fun, friendly conversation now becomes a roaring, heated debate. Backing down is just not an option and we find ourselves competing for the final word.

Then we stop and think, what was that all about? Was it worth the frenzy to be right, when there is no right? Looking both ways makes us aware that 'it' can come from any direction. That what shows up might be an answer or might hurt if we are blindsided.

Sure, stand in your story… and… allow others to stand in theirs.

It is a useful safety and social precaution — it just makes much more sense to look both ways.

working on it,
mozella