The Art of Connection.

Welcome. I appreciate your visit and curiosity. If you don’t mind a dirty, little secret: I struggle with what to write here. What to share. It’s ironic, I guess, that my “expertise” is in creating connections for organizations and individuals by uncovering (and sometimes recovering) alignment that we then develop into the authentic messaging and stories. And yet I struggle to find the right words for myself. Then again, maybe that’s the very thing that makes me good at what I do. Maybe we’ll find out.

I believe in the power and importance of connections. Connections between humans and other humans, humans and the(ir) environments, and/or humans and themselves create alignment and action. They create movement and motion. Motion that becomes ripples. Ripples that create changes.

Changes in perspective.
Changes in behavior.
Changes in experience.

Changes that when practiced become even deeper connections, and return us to our truest, move fundamental foundations. Together, we use these foundations to build awareness. And we use this awareness to do the work.

Thank you, again, for showing up — not only here, but wherever you are. I hope we have the opportunity to connect. – Todd Lieman

Leonard Markidan, Podia Chief Operating Officer

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A friend of mine texted me this morning. In the midst of it, she said she kept trying to type “sacred” and it kept autocorrecting to “scared.” And isn’t that just the truth? We do the same thing, don’t we? We autocorrect to scared when we are being called to something that’s truly aligned and sacred? Like honoring our gifts and calling? The doubt of what we know is sacred for ourselves spoils with fear and we become scared instead. I get that. I’ve lived in it for a long effing time. I suspect I’m not the only one. But when we find our way to honoring our sacred — wow. Just wow. It just lands different doesn’t it? When we stop autocorrecting and trust our alignment? Wow. Just wow. It takes a ton of practice. But is possible to train our programming to stop this kind of autocorrect. Happy Sunday. #adaywelllived Do you subscribe to the email? I’ve gotten pretty consistent about sending it weekly (typically Saturday or Sunday mornings). Next one goes out tomorrow. Please give it a go. Link in bio. (You know the drill.) Thanks in advance! #adaywelllived I was thinking about this idea of “I’m not good at (whatever).” The stories we tell ourselves and of which we convince ourselves. It was in response to a podcast and the guest described something and said, “I’m really good at that…” and I immediately thought in response, “Oh, I’m not.” But I caught myself in the moment and started to unwind why I felt that way. Why did I think this way? And I instantly remembered a client telling me I wasn’t good at this particular thing. She went on to further box me in by telling me what she thought I was good at. So I owned it. But it’s bullshit, frankly. I formally reject this story. I relinquish my ownership of it. And now I’m thinking about the other things I can relinquish. What other bullshit constructs and “I’m not good at beliefs” can I stop carrying? There are plenty. Sure, I may not like doing something or may not want to do something, but to craft a belief that I’m not good at it — is altogether different. Or at the very least — if it’s true that I’m not good at something, I must own it from a position of truth and not defeat. I’m not a great cook, for example, but I’m good with that. It doesn’t keep me from making the things I am good at, etc. It’s the things I might be good at, but have convinced myself I’m not…it’s those stories that need to go. #adaywelllived I’ve recently come to grips with the idea that Awareness and Awareness of Awareness is the Universal Key to Being. At least for me. Intentional and Conscious Awareness of my thoughts and surroundings and and and, allows me to maintain presence in my immediate experience. It allows me to experience it for whatever it is and avoid attaching myself to whatever emotions come of it. Of course, it’s a practice like anything else. And I’m certainly not the first to come to this conclusion. It goes back to the very beginning of existence. It’s a “well, no shit” kind of obvious. And yet—you can’t know it until you do. Still, as I look at this—I AM AWARE—I see what happens when I’m not being fully AWARE. What if I’m only partially AWARE? It’s right there in front of me: I AM A WAR. #adaywelllived Mirror, mirror on the wall… #adaywelllived From today’s meditation: More Play. Play. It’s easy to forget to let it all go and just Play. We worry about looking silly. About “doing it wrong.” About so many things. We have all these responsibilities and places we need to be and things we’re supposed to do and we forget to Play. We don’t prioritize it. And sometimes even our Play is work, as it gets competitive. Our run wasn’t fast enough. Or drive not long enough. We don’t just Play. For the fun of it. Play for the sake of Play. Not for some ROI or KPI. Not to post on socials. Just Play. I know I don’t have enough Play. Too much thinking. Too much thinking. More Play. #adaywelllived Back to basics. Spoke to a friend this morning on my morning walk. Was out a little later than normal. But this friend told me about the heart attack (his second) and stroke (his first) he had in February. In a little more than 24 hours. He would be the first to admit that he wasn’t taking care of himself. That he wasn’t prioritizing the right things—or maybe anything. He wasn’t aware. Wasn’t paying attention. He’s lucky. Because he can now. And he is now. While I wasn’t necessarily in need of a wake up call, I can see where some fine tuning is required. So back the basics. Love. Art. Health. Everything falls into these buckets. And the buckets fall into themselves. Where can I get more intentional? How can I show up more authentically? In greater Truth? I know. Time to tighten the screws a bit. Back to basics. #adaywelllived Straight from the pages of my journal today “Open Space: It’s both a command and a location. In Open Space, you’re free. You can old your hands wide and spin. Bonus points for doing it in the rain. When you Open Space, you release yourself from confinement. And when you’re in Open Space, you are no longer confined. To Open Space requires Vulnerability and Truth. To stand Bare and Raw in Open Space requires the same. A state of mind. A state of being. A state of play. To be an Open Space. To have an Open Space. To be in an Open Space. More often than not, I have felt confined and have accepted it. Only recently have I had the courage to Open Space and then invite myself into it. To see a version of myself I’ve never accepted, but always wanted to know…” and it continues. This is a profound thought for me. Maybe just me. And that’s okay. More than okay. #adaywelllived Last week, a brilliant longtime friend of mine showed me how I express Fear in a way I had never before noticed. It was a profound Truth that punched me right in the throat. So, as I do, I have been noticing Fear (hiding) in lots of places. In words. In actions. And it’s good. Fear is not something to, well, Fear after all. It’s something to See and Approach. It’s something with which to Engage. Fear gets Lonely and wants to be Seen. Just like the rest of us. But we often run from it without Thought, so it has learned to hide and be a little sneaky. If we can Identify it, tho, and make Peace with it…It becomes something entirely new: Truth. Fear is on a Hero’s Journey to Truth. That’s why I always call it a Guide. (As others call it a Liar, which only serves to Shame it/Shame ourselves for Feeling it.) Fear is trying to Teach us. So, Hello, Fear. I See You. Thanks for being here. #adaywelllived

Giving Back

Our work together helps support a variety of mental health organizations by donating a percentage of proceeds from my work. I look forward to sharing more about this as we grow.

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