Why am I writing this blog?

What a good question... and my first answer is because I feel compelled. I can't NOT write it. Spirit has been tapping me on the shoulder for the last several months, with an increasing sense of persistence and urgency.

So far, I understand two aspects of Her directive:

• "It's time for you to find and articulate your voice in the world, Nancy. Write about your experience. Document it for yourself, and share it with the world. You have so much to say -- and I have so much to say through you. Your voice will be a gift to the world -- OUR gift to the world. Speak your truth, Nancy, and tell your story."
• "Find your tribe, Nancy. Gather a community of like-minded souls who join together in living Universal spiritual principles. Claim the leader, convener, facilitator you were born to be. You have embodied these principles enough to attract those who want to share in putting them into practice in community and in their daily lives. And together, you transform the world."

I set an intent at the beginning of this year to say a resounding "Yes!" to whatever Spirit asks of me. So I'm setting aside my anxiety about going so public with what feels like a very intimate and personal process. I'm setting aside my doubts that many people will find what I have to say helpful or interesting enough to want to "join in community." I'm setting aside the voice in my head that asks, "Who do you think you are to be so bold?" And I'm saying that resounding "Yes, sweet Spirit. I trust that anything You ask is for the good of all, and that You provide all that's needed. And here I am, stepping out on faith, starting a blog."

So this is an experiment... and an invitation to engage in a communal dialog exploring Universal spiritual principles and creating transformation in our lives and the world. I will share my story over the last 10 months, how it's shaped who I am now, and my exploration of what's next in my life. It's my hope that you will feel drawn to respond and to share your own stories/truths -- and that we'll end up with a stimulating and insightful dialog.

I have no idea how often I'll post, or any of the other logistical details -- they are all to be revealed. I'm not promising that there will be a neat linear order from one post to the next -- or any logical sequence. Please feel the same freedom to participate and comment however feels right to you. I may choose to create a business based in what comes out of the dialog at some point, but I have no promotional or commercial intent at this point. I promise to make a clear and clean transition if I choose to make this an income-generating vehicle at some point, and I will not ever use an individual's comments for any purpose without explicit permission.

There are a few agreements I want to propose for how we interact. This is a place to practice:

• speaking our truth -- with gentleness and compassion
• revealing our true selves, allowing ourselves to be seen and heard
• being affirmative -- focusing first on what we like, what works for us, what's intriguing about the conversations unfolding here
• expressing differences of opinion with respect
• taking risks and being bold.

I agree to abide by these guidelines, and hope you will too. If there are others you'd like to add, please leave them in a comment. 

How to comment is not intuitively obvious here... if you look for the "# comments" link below and click on it, it'll open a page where you'll see others' comments and can add your own.

Let's jump in!