Tag: Bobbye Middendorf

Creator’s Vision Quest By Train

Are you being called to create some space in your life this summer to move a dream forward? Is it time to create, to give yourself permission to explore what is longing to be born through your creative self? I’d like to invite you into the year’s Creator’s Vision Quest by Train!

 

Some of the wisdom teachers who will accompany us ...
Some of the wisdom teachers who will accompany us …

 

 

Do you remember the spell of possibility every time you connected up with track nine-and-three-quarters? It was the Hogwarts Express, and magic was afoot. This summer, step into your own magical, liminal creative space.

 

In summer 2014, I did a workshop for creators in transition, getting all of us started on Creating What Matters. This year, we are taking to the rails to continue and grow those dreams of creation.

 

On Sunday, August 2, I am leading an intrepid group of bold creators on a 25-hour creative deep dive on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, traveling from Chicago to Albuquerque.

 

For me, it’s a long-time dream, to lead a group of dreamers, creators, truth-tellers on a train journey — an intensive immersion into dreams, creativity, and bringing forth the purposeful great work inside you. Do you feel called?

 

 

At Wolf Prairie, Cook County Forest Preserve, just outside Chicago. Connect to the sacred land as we travel through it.
At Wolf Prairie, Cook County Forest Preserve, just outside Chicago. Connect to the sacred land as we travel through it.

We will consider both landscape and dreamtime, though they are not separate. We’ll connect with the inner child who loves adventures. We’ll examine what gets in the way and how to consciously partner with blocks, obstacles, and stuckness. There will be a pre-journey playbook, time for 1-on-1 conferences about where you’re stuck or where you want to take your next body of work, opening and closing ceremonies, playing the Lightning Dreamwork game, and much more.

 

You’ll experience a spacious and regenerative deep dive into the heart of your own creations. It’s a chance to jump-start your creative process and get traction on a project: new body of work, course, workshop, or book. You might even decide to shape your life and its next phase as a work of art!

 

Here’s the invitation: Allow yourself to surrender into a creative dream world with the gentle click and motion of the train. We’re adding movement to the sacred container for generating a palpable momentum, infusing your creations with new energy. 25 hours (If the train’s on time…)

 

The investment is $225.00 for the immersive workshop (Train fare not included). Please email me at jasbjm(at)earthlink(dot)net to set up a phone conversation to see if this is the best step for you. OR text me at 773-263-7914 for more details.

 

A few words from your guide, Bobbye Middendorf:

I journey with sage-hearted collaborators, evolutionaries, messengers, visionaries, and change-agents as a powerful voice and advocate for the practical results they get through deep dives.

 

We walk together through the chaos of reinvention to co-create their evolving core messages, giving voice to the vision of their purposeful Great Work while revealing their wisdom in words they didn’t know they knew.

Bobbye Middendorf, Poet of Pure Potentiality, is your visionary (yet grounded) guide, a combination sounding-board and wordsmith.
Bobbye Middendorf, Poet of Pure Potentiality, is your visionary (yet grounded) guide, a combination sounding-board and wordsmith.

Vision Clarity

If “Be the change” really resonates with you…

and yet you wonder what that change might look like as we co-create a world that  works for everyone, then you are invited to give your change-maker muscles a workout.

My colleague, founder of the True Purpose Institute, Tim Kelley,  will be sharing his proven vision-clarity process for the first time to a group. It’s all about bringing change-makers and collaborators (like us) into a position to truly “Be the change” we are called to be and create the new paradigms that our society is calling for.  I hope you are able to be my guest on the call. (Or, if you can’t join live, please go ahead and sign up, and you will get the recording.)

It seems especially timely for the state our world is in. We are being called to our highest expression — together!

 

Because, you see, creating a new vision is a radical act ….

of change agents and change makers. It is far easier to complain about the old paradigm than to create a new one. What currently exists has served to bring us to this point, and it must continue to operate until the new paradigm is sufficiently developed to perform all the necessary functions of society. Making current reality wrong hinders transformation. What is needed is a crystal clear, detailed picture of the transformed world you are working to create.

 

One of the leading visionaries in the business of transforming  business is my mentor and colleague, Tim Kelley, founder of The True Purpose Institute.  While vision is a best practice in organization development, it’s not always done well. Vision is also of critical importance to change  agents:

One of the key problems in how we are going about the process of changing the world is the lack of a clear vision of what that changed world will look like. Join us at the September Gathering call when we welcome back Tim Kelley to lead us in discussing this crucial topic.

Tim is an acclaimed speaker and author of True Purpose: 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Make. He has inspired audiences worldwide with his message of hope and empowerment. Tim has helped many leaders clarify their vision, including international corporations like ING and individual leaders in business and government who are working to transform society. He has transformed entire organizations by working with their executive teams to bring passion and inspiration throughout the work force. Tim has never spoken to public groups before about this vision clarity process.  You won’t want to miss it!

Things you will learn:

  • The two different types of visions that are applicable to change agents and change-oriented organizations
  • Specific methods for creating powerful visions
  • Best practices for wording vision statements
  • What to do with vision statements (they usually just sit on a shelf and gather dust)

The things you will learn on this call will be applicable to your work on yourself as a change agent, your work with individual clients, and work you do with teams and organizations.  Even if you already do work professionally with vision statements, we guarantee that you will learn something new on this call!

Here are the details to sign up  to join our call:  http://Tinyurl.com/bjmTPIGathering

 

Just fill in your contact and email address in the fields on the right-hand side of the page. You will receive the call-in details as well as a post-call link to listen again, or if you can’t make the call live.

 

In shared vision for a world that works for everyone,

 

Bobbye
Bobbye Middendorf
Poet of Pure Potentiality
“Shine your light in words.”


P.S. I’ve been an active collaborator with teams that make up The True Purpose Institute for two years. This is a fresh and exciting process that Tim has only used within private client interactions.

P.P.S.  This call series does not have a cost attached, although there is a way to “pay it forward,” if you choose.  If you use the link included in this email, and choose later to purchase a course or training from The True Purpose Institute, I may receive a small thank-you referral  fee.

Shine Your Divine Light

Earlier this week, in the throes of the negative nastiness and polarities now at play on our national stage, I felt called to create a message to hold a different perspective. As you have a chance, I’d love it if you feel called to watch, like, and share it.  http://youtu.be/9bumpiUg_8o

 

Love and Light,

Bobbye
Bobbye Middendorf
Poet of Pure Potentiality

P.S. It’s your choice to
explore how YOUR Divine Light
does make a difference so you
can shine brighter!
I’d love it if you feel called
to like and share.

http://youtu.be/9bumpiUg_8o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your ONE Thing

“Your ONE Thing” downloaded itself as a poem that urgently needed to make its way into the world. I hold my heart open, willing to hear how it lands inside you. Please speak. Is your ONE thing urging you forward? Are you yearning for a safe space for this ONE thing to make its appearance, to become explicit instead of invisible?

ONE Thing

What is your ONE Thing…
The gift not yet given,
and its ache of hidden yearnings?
What longs to be expressed,
What you fear to reveal
for so many reasons?

What is this ONE thing,
the voicing of which makes ALL the difference?

What is the ONE thing,
the being-witnessed-for-which ignites new neural pathways
and opens up undiscovered fields in your heart?

What is your ONE thing,
that,  expressed in words, shatters the wall of glass you’ve been simmering under?
Yes, marinating under that glass for lifetimes.

What is that ONE thing,
for you, when taken into the public sphere,
shifts the cosmos on its axis?

What is the ONE thing you dare not release into the world?
Its fragility, its beauty, its preciousness living so close to your bones for so long that to expose it risks exposing everything. Everything!

What is your ONE thing
(indeed it is your greatest gift, invisible still)
hiding its brilliance where you dare not look?

For under the wound
in the most painful place
where you will never, ever go (you vowed it)
what if your ONE thing resides there?
What if you look there
only to discover your light
shining all this time —
white hot fiery cascades on a scale immeasurable
illuminating a shadowy storeroom
its door sealed by the accretions of time and metavows of protections.

This ONE thing
the awakening to,
the saying of which,
renders all else null.

The void beckons and black holes are star nurseries
Embracing darkness as womb of creation.
Your ONE thing invites you home here.

What is your ONE thing,
the knowing of which
will set you free?

copyright (C) Bobbye Middendorf
9 August 2012

Shero’s Container

Image by Bobbye Middendorf

 

Shero’s Container

With thanks, acknowledgment, love to Jennifer Louden, her Shero’s Journey class, and my gorgeous sister-sheroes!

It is safe
finally
lifetimes later

To be seen with
Eyes of Soul

To be heard within the
echoing chambers of the Heart

Accepting you
Acknowledging you
Appreciating you
magnified
amplified

Illumined by a believing mirror
Reflecting the depths and heights
of your brilliance (truly)

Listening to bring forth
Your deep truths
And miracles

Now!

Yes!

Experience your magnificence
heretofore unimagined
contained in an embrace
of Divine Light.

 

10 July 2012

Bobbye Middendorf

 

Ready for a Book Breakthrough? (Summer Camp 1.2)

Summer (Author) Camp Preview!

Can you sense it? The tastes of summer
coming alive, the smells, the yearning to
step fully into yourself as Conscious Creator
…and yet your hesitancy to reveal the
sweet and juicy heart of your message and to
become visible around what is at your core.

As you are planning your upcoming week,
I don’t want you to miss out on this special
Summer Camp preview opportunity for creators —
especially if you are a writer, author, messenger.

Summer brings out those creator-longings,
and the times urgently call us to reflect on–
and then dive into — ideas and projects
from the heart. There’s a spaciousness that
summer allows and invites — for you to go
after what you care about most and feel
called to share with the world.

In fact, I know that many of you have been
thinking about taking that big leap to start
(or finish) a book and feeling increasing
urgency to make your mark with your work.
(And if you know my story, you realize
I am on a similar path, even as I guide
others to do this!)

Now, with some time to breathe, maybe your
excitement about deciding to “go for it”
may be accompanied by some anxiety and
a few (or several) questions:

. Is it really the right time to publish?
. Can I truly be successful with my
message and book?
. Where do I begin?
. Can I believe the stories and advice I
hear on what works — and what doesn’t?

From inside the publishing industry, things
are shape-shifting at warp speed, much like
all the other changes we are facing.

Then there’s all the hype, conflicting advice,
and the pressure to “publish, publish publish!”
All this can make it confusing and difficult
to find the best path for YOUR message and book
in today’s noisy and competitive market.

And, without that clarity, it’s easy to waste
creative energy, time, and money only to realize
that you might be following a path that doesn’t
align with your timing, budget and goals.

If you’re thinking about writing, publishing, and
figuring out the best next steps for your ideas,
message and work, I invite you to take advantage
of a fantastic no-cost call from my colleagues
and friends, Janet Goldstein and Elizabeth Marshall.

Clear your calendar for
Wednesday, June 27 at 3:00 pm EDT on
the “5 New Rules for the Right Time to Publish.”

Janet and Elizabeth are the real deal, with years of
experience in traditional and self-publishing worlds,
and they understand how to help “real people” like us
to develop and share their work with the widest
possible audiences.

I’ve been a fan of Janet and Elizabeth for several years.
I have already booked this call onto my calendar!
Publishing is just moving too fast for any one person
to stay on top of all the details. I attended
Elizabeth’s and Janet’s very first Book Breakthrough
when it was a single day, live in Dallas. So I highly
recommend their work.

On this all-new content-rich call,
you will discover how to:

• Find your “right thing” to publish
and promote right now

• Pick the RIGHT MODEL for your book or project —
and why the “start from scratch” approach
doesn’t work today

• Leverage the Big 3 Ingredients that you need to
successfully develop and launch your book or message

• Uncover your real WHY for publishing —
and how the answer makes every step of the
process more successful and more fun

https://lizmarshall.infusionsoft.com/go/rules/bobbye/

On the call, they’ll include examples of current clients
and they’ll sprinkle in stories from their work with
bestselling authors you know and love, including
David Allen, Harriet Lerner, Barbara Kingsolver,
Howard Behar, Michael Port, Seth Godin, Keith
Ferrazzi, and Carol Roth.

Don’t put off your publishing dreams a moment longer.
Register today for The 5 New Rules —
a content-rich, no-cost call
with Janet and Elizabeth:

June 27 at 3:00 pm EDT (12:00 pm PDT).

No-cost Preview call sign-up:
https://lizmarshall.infusionsoft.com/go/rules/bobbye/

You’ll be glad you did! I look forward to joining
you on the call.

Love, Light & Laughter,

Bobbye

P.S. This call is a preview of what Janet and
Elizabeth will be teaching as part of their
Book Breakthrough Virtual Master Class this summer.
(Yes, it’s summer camp for authors affordably available
right from the comfort of your own home!)
Based on their incredibly successful live event,
this 4-week online program is an affordable way to
help you break through with your idea, book and
business — and sooner than you ever thought possible!

https://lizmarshall.infusionsoft.com/go/bbtnycmc/bobbye/

P.P.S.  I so believe in the value of their
work that I’m committed to spreading the word.
Using my links means I receive
a referral fee — only if you decide to purchase.

Summer Camps for Conscious Creators–Part 1

A shout-out to you, Conscious Creator: A lifetime feeling like a misfit, aching for the joy and refreshment of being replenished from deep within, longing to make the connection with like-hearted others… Make this summer your time to shine your light. Solstice, called Midsummer, is the start of summer, so DECIDE that this is your summer to create momentum and connect with your tribe. Here’s a start-of-summer listing of summer camps for Conscious Creators. En-JOY!

For Conscious Creators -- Summer Camp Creations
A believing mirror for Conscious Creators; Image by Bobbye Middendorf

What will YOU make of this remarkable summer?
Ask yourself if it’s time for your own Summer
Camp. If you are a Conscious Creator, this is
YOUR time. Replenishment and creative play are
key to your health, wealth, and personal growth.

Take time to look into one or more of these
supportive communities/classes. You’ll play with like-
hearted others and build your impetus and
momentum with the wealth of information,
inspiration, and guidance to move along
the Dreams of Your Heart’s Desires!

Lots of rich and delicious opportunities to
create your future — starting THIS weekend!

It’s no secret that time seems to be moving at
warp speed and everything is changing almost
before it’s born.

That said, you’ll discover a
spacious creativity available when you step
into the Kairos time of the Conscious Creator…

The eternal present remains uncluttered and
focused, a place where you can step into
your fertile phase of BEE-ing!

1. Saturday June 23:
Bring Your Inner Vision — Out!
Virtual Vision Boarding with Sherry Murry

This event is the first of several fantastic outlets
for energizing your vision, purpose, projects, and
conscious connections over this summer 2012!

Get started here with my friend Sherry Murry’s
virtual workshop to sharpen up your Vision for the
rest of 2012 by creating your very own tailor-made
Summer 2012 Vision Board.
Details at:
http://visionwithin.eventbrite.com/

(Tell Sherry that Bobbye sent you!
It’s a soul-replenishing process from the
Songstress of Soul!)

2. Sunday June 24:
Live and in person in Chicagoland!
Gathering Chicago’s Change Agents:
Cultural Creatives Unite at
Chicago IONS.

This is an event for you if you’ve always felt
like you never quite fit in. You may be on a
path of Change Agent, Thought Leader, or Messenger.

Even if you don’t call yourself that (yet),
Paul Ray gave us a name: Cultural Creatives.

On Sunday, Adam Shames of Kreativity Network
updates the community with the latest
research based on his interview with Paul Ray.
Most important of all: It’s a
gathering of the Cultural Creative Tribe on 6-24.
(and you can connect with me live if you are able to
come out for it.) I’ll be scribing our community
town-hall findings, discoveries, and conclusions
on the flip chart.

If one-people-one-planet resonates for you,
we would love you to join us. Details:
http://chicagoions.org/programs.html

3. Monday June 25 at 5pm Eastern Time is the LAST
DAY and MOMENT for you to sign up
for Web Site Camp — where you get the hands-on
know-how to bypass a webmaster and go live with your
WordPress website.

Just Imagine how you feel.. fall is in the air,
the kids are back at school…
and you are confidently posting new content and
programs and updates on your OWN WordPress website !
What a relief!
How long have you been waiting?
Wait no longer!

If this is the summer that — no matter what —
your website goes live — then my colleague and
mentor Christina Hills is the best person to hold
your hand and show you the inner workings for
your own D-I-Y WordPress website.

Get comfortable with the basics.
You’ll soon fearlessly go under the hood,
see the Dashboard as a friend, and you’ll
get your web site up — finally!

Imagine building your website with WordPress–
and loving the process! It IS possible. Christina
helped me with my WordPress website.
And this short course is a great value.

Christina’s Summer Program covers the fundamentals
of WordPress for non-techie people who want
to build a website without a webmaster.

It happens live for 4 weeks, but then all
the materials stay online
for you to go through at your own pace.
Full details:
http://tinyurl.com/Websitecamp

Bonus:
If you sign up for Websitecamp through
my affiliate link,
http://tinyurl.com/Websitecamp

…then email me a copy of your receipt,
we’ll get you and your site onto
my schedule for a complimentary
“Inspire Your Message” copy review
(a $197 value) once the construction
dust settles.

4. Talk to me!
Leave a comment below (or send me an email
or use the contact form) and tell me how these events
land with you. Are you up for a summer
of letting your creative juices flow?

Let me know what’s up in your life, work,
and heart. How are you faring in refining
and polishing your message, regularly
sharing your great content, and connecting
with your perfect people for
building your tribe? Is it smooth sailing —
or have you hit some potholes?

How may I be of service to you in your
busy life and business?  (Sometimes a
believing mirror can help you see things
that are invisible to you.)

5…Watch for more news, events, and
inspired connections coming soon.

(Save the dates: July 23-August 16 for
a juicy new Write Synergies Circle gathering!)

Happy Summer 2012!
Happy Solstice!

May this dark of the moon
be the seed-starter for the
Dreams of Your Heart’s Desire.
And keep on shining your light — in words!

Love, Light & Laughter,
Bobbye

P.S.
And be sure to check out the
new 2012 Summer Solstice poem at
WriteSynergies.com:
http://tinyurl.com/JuneSolstice

P.P.S.
I’m just an email/phone call/Skype
session away if you’d love a dose of
creative support and inspiration for
your messages.

Summer Solstice in the Garden

In the Garden —
Summer Solstice 2012

The longest day fades imperceptibly
drop by drop
Delineated by air conditioner fans,
wild cry of kestrel, hovering midair
Unexpected voice in urban landscape
What is rare, wild, beautiful
Not like crow’s testy commentary

Getting the balance back
personal polarities attended to
nutrition for spirit
daily practices that infuse the soul.

Olmsted-the-elder’s layers of green on green
live here under our canopy
safe and leafy havens for fireflies of early summer
beginning their nightly morse code
winking messages of light into
twilight’s tribal rising

Mother Earth gathers skirts of green
plump swaths and celebrations of newly minted leaves
emerging fully into ponderous and lush maturity

MidSummer sings her solstice reflection
in wading pool
brilliant mirror for sky, elm, candle flame

I crane my neck to catch
the final glimmers of sun-soaked leaves
at the top of ailanthus-tree-of-heaven
scooping a breeze onto the page

Blessing the kingdoms of
air and mineral,
flora and fauna,
visible and invisible,
fire and water.
Polarities in name only
That pole is  just the Axis Mundi
whirling our seeming reality on a stick
spinning so fast our eyes
catch the merest glimpse
of fictional characters
hiding under hollyhock leaves

Summer’s verdant blossoming
sweet and heavy
gardenia’s flower perfumes the dusk
in currents hot and cold
across a makeshift desk in Shangri-la
Trees shed dead branches
ice melts in the tea mug
and I await the mellowed and belated darkness
Light leaching from holly and boxwoods first
then from the yellow-y green quince foliage

Dappled illumination shimmers at the bottom of the pool
Reflecting human ingenuity to light the night
And brightly colored strands bedizen a
solitary
celebratory
garden.
Shangri-la indeed.

Who are we kidding?
Celebrating the cycles of Mother Earth
rarely gets a second thought
much less holds a place in (some) human hearts

And so I close the book,
hope warring with despair
(as usual).
A fragment of the light remains
Night’s full closure not yet fully descended.

20 June 2012
Bobbye Middendorf

Winter Solstice 2011 Poem

The lights from many traditions twinkle together at the Winter Solstice. This poem honors the 2011 Winter Solstice and festivals of Light while acknowledging what we share in common.

 

 

 

 

 

 Honoring Winter Solstice 2011

Dusk starts folding in shortly after lunch.
Sun’s Southerly arc
Creates spaciousness in early twilight sky.
A single planet arises above Eastern horizon.
Brightness blooms before darkness descends.

From under a welter of initiatives and mountains of missives
Day’s end and cavernous silence
Swiftly inserted as our salvation
Inviting imagination to play.

Ungainly illusions and expectations knock about
Loud as bumper cars on a fenced track.
Seasonality shored up by carnival barkers spitting
Holiday spirit on sale tags increasingly shrill, urgent, alarming.

Breathe the early night air and embrace
freedom in the dark thrill of silence.
Let peace descend as night laps at the edge of Earth’s carpet.
And when all is darkest night
Consider your mission is simple: to shine.
Other dots illuminate the landscape.
Holidays of Light from every tradition mingle —
Uncertain how far that goodwill extends.
And yet the common foundation for the billions of brilliances —
an underscore, an uncommon heritage of souls.

We are the ones called, called to Light, called to illuminate.
We are the ones answering the call.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
We are the voices at hand to speak up.
We are the bowl vibrating with resonant waves of love on the wind.
We are the candle shimmering to brighten the darkest corner.
We are the book — the sacred tomes — and each soul a story,
And each story, a connection,
And each connection reverberating…

“We are the ones!”

Launching spots to multi-
Dimensions.

We are the ones.

Shine, my friends.
Shine on, blessed
Illuminati of the Divine Heart Center.

 

Bobbye Middendorf
18 December 2011
Photo courtesy Middendorf-Salovaara

Honor Your Dream. Give It Words.

Yes, there it is: Honor Your Dream. How long has it been in hiding? How long have you maintained the silence? How long have you felt “on the verge” of expressing it, yet always pull back at the last minute?

So here sits your challenge: Give It Words.

Does that feel threatening? Scary? Exhilarating? I acknowledge you for even considering that it may be time to open the closet door and dust off the dreams so you can clothe them in words to bring them forth. 

One of the hardest tasks in the world is to tell your own story.

 

Especially for those of us called to make a difference in the world — to transform, to do something that hasn’t been done, to create anew — bringing forth our message is a doubly challenging endeavor.  The typical models just don’t fit.  It’s discouraging.

 

Maybe you’ve spent a lot of time trying to create your messages, to shape your marketing, to put together web sites or speaker sheets or articles,  blogs or books. You long for your words to reflect the truth of the potentials and possibilities that are bubbling up inside you.

 

And yet, you haven’t captured the essence in spite of giving it your best effort. Your words are falling short of saying what you really want to say.

 

  • But how to put it into words?
  • How to articulate the ineffable?!
  • How to say it so the most perfect people “get it?”

 

How can you express what you do with authenticity and put it out there in words so that your most perfect people hear your message? There’s the rub.

 

Even as an experienced writer/marketer, I’ve faced the challenge of saying what I do so that people “get it.”  And when they don’t,  that hurts, especially when you’ve put your heart into saying what you do and it just doesn’t connect.

 

And it’s not only the message. It’s your WHO: your people, tribe, community. Once the message is ready to be shared, you face  the challenge of putting it in front of your most perfect clients, so they will be able to say, “Yes! That’s me. I want some of that!”

 

For those of you sharing messages of transformation, take a minute to feel into what it might be like to have a partner, a believing mirror, someone who “gets it” and can help you put words around that vision  you’ve been hiding for so long.

 

As writer, creation coach, and vision midwife, I help visionaries with the words and writing that bring forth the stories, wrap your gifts in words, and give shape and substance to your visions and dreams.

 

Especially if you are a woman in the best half of life — whose true gifts have been hidden or are only now coming forth — really take in the possibility that you might be able to express your stories and still feel safe. Feel heard. Feel embraced with understanding…Be held in a sacred container of conversation, content, and creation.

 

What would it feel like if you experienced your visions and messages coming to life in words?

Wouldn’t that change everything?

To open a conversation that just might change everything for you, please send me an email at bjmiddendorf(at)gmail(dot)com.  Give me the 100-word synopsis of your story and dream to make sure this is the most appropriate fit for you and bringing forth your dreams.

Everyone who responds will receive my BEEing Presence Plan Kit for Messengers.