Being Human - Cherie Ray & Company

“Life-giving” in Taos, NM

by Cherie Ray | Jun 29, 2022 | Being Human, Inspiration

How are you? Are you busy with graduations, weddings, or other big life events? I hope this email finds you well and smiling with new hope for what’s ahead.

I just returned from Taos, New Mexico where a group of incredible human beings took a giant leap exploring their creative process. During the 9 days we spent together, I was very inspired by their courage for moving into the unknown and their desire to be free from their limiting mental restrictions.

As is always the case, the brightness of their eyes starts to shine when they grant themselves permission to paint what comes naturally. The bright eyes are also fueled by the surprise of what happens when they get out of our own way.

Isn’t that true for all of us? When we get out of our own way, we connect to a vibrant aliveness that resides inside us. Who doesn’t want to experience that more? Nothing is impossible from that connection.

My intention for the workshop was for it to be “Life-Giving.” At the end of the workshop, each person was shining in their own brilliance. When I see this happen, I know the problems this world faces will be solved by people, just like these.

Thank you to everyone!

Sending smiles,

Cherie Ray

Capacity, Resilience, Potential: You’re not tapped out!

by Cherie Ray | Mar 16, 2020 | Being Human, Inspiration

Does your mind subtlety suggest to you that you have limits to your capacity, your resilience, your potential? I find it fascinating that our minds are so convincing about what’s available to us in our lives. What’s equally fascinating is the reality that our bodies get flooded with emotion matched with what looks real in our minds. A feeling of stuckness, defeat, disappointment, why bother? It runs the gambit. Where our minds go, our emotions follow. I also chuckle that there is this part of me, my thinking mind, which dwells in the past or the future, rarely present in the moment, offers me convincing input on how life works in real time.

This comes to mind because I saw Willie Nelson and his sister, Bobbie, perform at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this week. My mind subtlety projected into the future and filled me in on how the concert would be. Well once again my mind was wrong, way wrong.

As I watched Willie play tunes, he’s played a zillion times before with passion, presence, and energy, I was struck by what I was seeing. Here’s a person 87 years of age, performing in front of 70,000 people and having a blast. On one song his sister Bobbie was featured. She was banging those piano keys at the speed of Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis. I was so taken by her performance that I looked her up and saw that she’s 89 years of age!

I wanted to share this story because I found so much inspiration around what’s TRUE and what we perceived to be true around our capacity, our resilience, and our potential. Too often we believe what we think without question. It’s helpful to see we have the option to align with our perceptions or we can align with what’s TRUE about life. Anything is possible for us. If we have a heartbeat, it’s a sure sign that pure potential is present.

Sending smiles, Cherie

Express Yourself! Why Bother?

by Cherie Ray | Feb 24, 2020 | Being Human

Express yourself! Express Yourself? Why bother? What’s the value to your life to express yourself? I’m happy to be the messenger on this topic.

Since your arrival on the scene of life, you’ve been told how to be, how to act, what’s right, what’s wrong, how to be, been told you’re too much, not enough, you name it, and you’ve been subtlety or not so subtlety influenced by all of these ‘add-ons.’ All well meaning but it does tend to influence how we show up in the world as well as question, “Who am I under all of this influence and what’s authentic to me?”

That’s why it’s so valuable to your life to express yourself. When you express yourself, with absolute freedom and permission, you get the opportunity to shed layers upon layers of ‘add-ons’ to see just who is under all those judgements. Under all those concepts of can and can’t, right and wrong, you will discover YOU. Yes, that’s right. YOU and what’s unique to you. Not only does it feel great, you get the opportunity to discover more of who you truly are. This newly discovered peaceful freedom shows up in every area of your life.

I’d love to support you in exploring and discovering! Here’s a few tips to support you in saying YES when you want to express yourself, at work, at play, in your relationships, in your manner of dress, in following your inspirations, etcetera:

1. Set aside some time to create with no goal in mind. Explore. Be adventurous.

2. Respond to what occurs to you. Don’t negate the smallest nudge.

3. Give yourself permission to follow the smallest nudge.

4. Give up control and learn to let go of any expectations.

5. Give up meaning and whys. Put your attention on the freedom and potential in life.

6. 100% Freedom is your birthright. Enjoy it!

The energy of creativity is benevolent. It supports you in living authentically and in harmony with yourself.

Now go out there and make your_____________________.

Sending smiles,

Cherie

Love Love Love

by Cherie Ray | Feb 10, 2020 | Being Human, Love

In day-to-day life, loving, doesn’t seem like the easiest ride at the amusement park. In real life, there appears to be legitimate reasons to break connection. The connection breaker can be validated and commiserated. We can make differences the problem and build a life from them.

If we look at the universal nature of human beings, we are all in the same boat together!

1. They have their ‘what matters most to me list’. You have your ‘what matters most to me list’. The content rarely matches.

2. What’s obvious to them is not obvious to you. What’s obvious to you is not obvious to them. The content rarely matches.

3. Where their mind goes, their life follows. Where your mind goes, your life follows. The content rarely matches.

4. They see life uniquely through their eyes. You see life uniquely through your eyes. The content rarely matches.

5. People do what makes sense to them in the moment. You do what makes sense to you in the moment. The content rarely matches.

Hopefully, by gaining understanding on how we’re all doing the same things in different ways, we can gain some spaciousness around times when differences look like deal breakers. Since we all possess the ability for fresh ideas, curiosity can replace reactivity and we find fresh places to connect. And we all want to feel connected.

Love, love, love……

It’s not always easy, but it’s the best game in town.

Sending smiles,

Cherie

PS. I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Let’s connect.

Following Quirky Inspiration

by Cherie Ray | Oct 31, 2019 | Being Human, Thought

Taos. This is one word that evokes movement inside anyone who has visited or has longed to visit this unique place. It’s a place filled with real-time postcard images that seem to have been enhanced by Photoshop, but they haven’t.

For many years, I’ve had the good fortune to facilitate Intuitive Painting workshops at Mabel Dodge Luhan House (www.mabeldodgeluhan.com) in Taos, New Mexico. This puts me in Taos twice a year for almost two weeks in the spring and two weeks in the fall. With every visit, I learn more about this unique town and the people who were attracted to it. Two immensely creative people who’ve been attracted to Taos were Mabel Dodge Luhan and Dennis Hopper. Why would this pair be on my mind? Mabel created the retreat center 80 plus years ago and Dennis Hopper owned it at one time. The energy of supporting creatives is imbued in the walls.

I find an individual’s creative process fascinating and I wanted to learn more about Dennis Hopper’s, so I started listening to every interview I could find. One of the most interesting comments I remember him saying was, he felt his most creative once he was clear of his addictions. This rang the Truth Bell for me. Why? Because we are naturally immensely creative. We can be awed by this fact once we align with what’s creating vs what we’re creating or the common thought-theme, ‘I’m not creative.’

When I was in Taos this September, on my way back to Mabel’s from the post office, I got an inspiration to visit Dennis Hopper’s resting place. Since I’m here in Taos to support spontaneity, freedom, and following inspiration, with a clear conscience, I couldn’t say no. But you should have heard the sh..t-show of thoughts that flooded my mind about following this inspiration. OMG! The thoughts ranged from reverence to heresy.

As will happen with inspiration, the next step showed up. I went to YouTube and there it was, a driving video to where I was inspired to go. When I arrived, I circled the location a couple of times because I didn’t want to impose on a person who was having a chat with another resident of the cemetery. When the other visitor left, I drove in. What I found was a homage to Mr. Hopper.

It was evident by the adornments to his resting place that he had been impactful to the lives of many. My ‘shame on you thoughts’ for visiting the grave of someone I’d never met changed. A rich feeling of gratitude replaced the spaces in my mind where shame had lived. There was now an abiding respect for all who have followed their inspirations and colored outside the box. I said a prayer of appreciation for all his earthly contributions and how he continues to inspire from where he lives right now.

I would also like to thank all of the creatives who followed their inspiration to come to the Taos September workshop. From the first gathering in the garden to the very last day, this group was filled with fun, collaboration, bursts of creative insights, and truly wonderful people.

Sending smiles,

Cherie

If I Can See It, You Can See It!

by Cherie Ray | Oct 17, 2019 | Being Human, Offering

Just this week I was asked to share what I do, exactly, with my clients. This question offered me the opportunity to step back and see what matters most to me in my commitment to who I work with; so, I thought I’d share it with you.

In my work, I support clients to:

Understand and discover their True self.
See how all human beings fundamentally operate and to understand the spiritual nature of life.
Understand where their experience comes from.
Understand that every person possesses innate well-being and wholeness. No one is broken.
See how state-of-mind dictates experience and behaviors.
Orient to the nature of life which is infinite in potential and possibilities.
See where burn-out comes from and how resilience can take its place.
Learn via insight instead of struggling to figure things out. The answer will never be found in striving.
Understand that peace and harmony are never attached to the circumstances of life.
Learn how to live easily, naturally, and creatively.
Learn how to live fully expressed, seeing opportunities, and saying YES to life.

In this moment of reflection, to state the inspiration that moves me in my work, I would say to live peacefully and harmoniously in this great mystery, called life. I certainly didn’t always see that we (me included in this we), are designed and equipped for whatever this mystery brings us, but I do now. What a difference that makes! This is what I want every client to see for themselves.

I feel very fortunate to support executives, teams, individuals, groups, couples, teens, and families in living more connected, inspired, and peaceful lives.

Sending smiles,

Cherie

Otis Wisdom

by Cherie Ray | Oct 3, 2019 | Being Human, Wisdom

One day on a break between clients, I was sitting at my computer and noticed my neighbor’s dog, Otis, loose on the street. I immediately went out to the street and put him back inside his fenced yard. I returned to my computer to finish what I’d been working on. Out of the corner of my eye I see movement outside my window. When I looked up to see what was going on, I noticed Otis jumping again and again. When I looked closer he was slapping at the gate handle and he was attempting to open the gate! Just as the gate opens, he proceeds to go back out on the street.

I cracked up as I jumped up to put him back inside the gate. When I got to the gate I noticed the opener on the gate was a lever not a knob. I put Otis back in his yard again, saw the plastic newspaper bag, and tied his gate shut.

Otis had made my day. Something inside me relaxed. In my laughter, I realized I was observing universal intelligence at play. I was seeing Wisdom in action. This Wisdom was informing Otis how to get beyond the borders of his containment.

I relaxed because the evidence was screamingly clear, if universal intelligence was in service to Otis, it also had to be in service to me. It was one of those, ‘Jesus take the wheel!’ moments! I don’t know where that phrase originated (my friend says it must be a southern thing) but in this moment, there was yet another validation that a higher, wiser intelligence, besides my individual intellect, is offering support, if I’d just relax and listen.

Thank you very much for reading this. I love hearing from you.

Sending smiles,

Cherie

Learning Through Living: Insights from a Colonoscopy

by Cherie Ray | Aug 15, 2019 | Being Human, Inspiration, Thought

Seeing something fresh and new is not special. Human beings are designed to receive insights, fresh thinking, aha moments, whatever you want to call them. It’s built into each of us and you don’t have to do anything special for it to happen. With that said, it’s possible to see life’s truths, simply by living. By doing what’s in front of you to do, in this moment. Recently, two insights about being human occurred to me and I wanted to share them with you.

It was my turn to have a colonoscopy. I’m a huge proponent of this procedure because it helped several people very near and dear to my heart catch diseases that would have otherwise gone undetected.

You hear lots of stories about the prep for this procedure. To prepare, I began reading all the instructions over and over because I didn’t want to miss any details. I knew for certain that I only wanted to do this dance once, so following the directions to the letter was imperative.

On the day before the procedure, I wasn’t allowed to have any solid foods, only clear liquids. For me this consisted of chicken broth and popsicles (no red or purple flavors allowed). What I found so interesting was, when I took food off my mind, such as, what I’m going to eat, getting the right food, and when to eat, I realized there was a huge open gap of space in my mind. It really surprised me how much ‘food thought’ fills my head daily! When that topic was taken off the table, WOW, my mind felt so spacious. Less on my mind felt great! Change is interesting.

The second part of the story, which I found so clever, was how my mind was trying to tempt me to break the fast! I bought a fruit bar as one of my popsicle options and when I went to eat it, I noticed it had chunks of pineapple. My mind is saying you’re hungry, eat it, it won’t matter, it’s not that chunky, etc.

The clarity in me said, no way! I’m not about to blow this process by eating something solid. With the vigilance of a D.C. lobbyist my mind wasn’t letting up. I was amazed how my mind was operating on its own agenda while the clarity in me didn’t budge. It saw the cost and said no way!

This mental tug-a-war brought a simple but significant insight. It showed me that as human beings, if we REALLY understood the cost to our experience or sense of wellbeing, we would not indulge our thinking. The clarity in us would stop us from languishing in events that have passed or made-up future events. If we found ourselves in the weeds of those two topics, we’d come back to the present moment.

What I know for sure is, I’m going to feel whatever I’m thinking about. If it scares me, I’m feeling scared. If I have thoughts of regret, I feel rotten.

Engaging with life brings insights. Since I’m a girl who likes bullets, I’m going to make it simple.

To me, this looks universally true for human beings:

1. If our minds are freed up from habits of thinking or anything else that consumes space in our heads, we have an invitation to see what else is on offer from life. When minds are less burdened, life feels lighter, more hopeful, more promising.

2. Understanding the TRUE cost of indulging our thinking, supports us in exercising free will. If we want to feel better more of the time, we can’t afford the mental indulgence. By indulging our thinking, we leave the present moment and live life through the story being created in the mind. If we’re playing it out in our heads, we’re not present to life. We’re not in touch with what’s alive, life, we’re in touch with our story.

This timeless video clip continues to bring me smiles every time I catch myself in my humanness!

https://youtu.be/Ow0lr63y4Mw

I want to share my deep appreciation to all of you who commented on my last blog. It was wonderful to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to say hello!

Sending smiles,

Cherie

Saying “YES!”

by Cherie Ray | Aug 1, 2019 | Being Human, Transitions

For the last 10 years, I’ve been consistently surprised by what life offers me and what my mind makes of these offers. When I speak of ‘offers’ I’m referring to invitations and inspirations that reach me through other people or fresh ideas that come into my mind. You know the ones that kind of shake your reality? The ones that you immediately say NO to, in your mind but then they don’t leave you alone. Those are the taps on the shoulder from the source of all life saying, want to play a bigger game?

Recently, I’ve received a few of these big-ass taps on the shoulder and watched how my mind quickly determined what was possible for me. And just as quickly, I believed what popped into my mind as a GO/can’t GO. As if the TRUTH police or Judge Judy made a determination. More times than not, my mind says NO, nope, nada, it can’t work, not possible, etc.

I can trace this conditioned NO response to an upbringing that embedded in me the answer to every invitation to do something ‘unnecessary’ came back with a NO. I laugh out loud when I think of my dear father’s response to me asking if I could spend the night with my best friend. His response was, “no, you have a bed”. Seeing the cause of this historical NO habit doesn’t help. It still looks and feels true.

It’s at this point of the self-talk conversation where I would live with the answer NO and move on. Now, after the initial NO response, a whispering curiosity comes on the scene, “Could I do that?”

Recently, I received an invitation to attend an event 2400 miles from home. Immediately my mind said NO! My internal monologue continued with a litany of, What? Go all that way for one night? Ridiculous! Get a plane ticket, rent a car, secure a hotel room and what to wear? The idea really did look absurd to some part of me but another part was answering, why not?

This time I said YES! With YES, the ball began to roll and the adventure began to unfold. By saying YES, a rich sense filled me! I was delighted and amused by staring absurdity in the face.

Within moments the entire adventure was planned. It was simple and easy. Who knew this was possible? Not me! I marked my calendar and boarded the plane.

The gifts for me in saying YES to the concept of ABSURD:

While deplaning upon arrival, my phone alerted me to check-in for my flight to Houston the following day. LOL!
Participating in an event that was filled with joy and celebration.
Connecting with people that I don’t usually get the chance to have lengthy, rich conversations with.
Experiencing fields of tulips and daffodils! A vision that compares to Holland and Belgium in magnificent beauty, I’m told.
Standing solo in the tulip fields at sunrise. The vibrancy and vitality from Mother Nature was palpable.
Seeing I really do love an idea that engages a, ‘what the hell’ response!
By saying YES, so many concepts of limitation fall away.
Having the opportunity to see that NO is a habit, not life informing me of what’s TRUE.

Looking back with immense gratitude for this learning opportunity, I see how much I would have missed by living in my habitual NO. I see that by following feelings of delight, inspiration follows.

I encourage you to face absurdity head-on and to partner with delight. Your experience of life will grow as naturally as the tulips!

Connection: We All Want It

by Cherie Ray | Jul 19, 2019 | Being Human, Coaching

Listening for Understanding

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A desire for connection seems to be something we all share. People want to feel more connection in their lives, loves, families, and friends. Another form of connection, often discussed in coaching conversations, is a desire to feel more connection to potential and possibility.

This is a natural feeling of hopefulness, in the core of our being, that anything is available to us in life: new LOVE, new health, new inspirations both personally and professionally, new opportunities, and new invitations to explore life.

Connection and what separates us from feeling connected is in my wheelhouse. This is where I like to play. The kryptonite to connection is the same for everyone! I find that truth amazing. That’s why I’m so excited about this Saturday’s workshop being offered at The Jung Center of Houston, “Listening for Understanding.”

This workshop offers a fresh way of connecting while teaching you how to have more productive conversations. Stop having the same base conversation again and again, never making progress or gaining resolution. By learning to listen in a new way, with a desire to understand, connection is possible in the most challenging situations, in both your personal and professional lives. What if how you listen is more essential than how you speak?

When we gain understanding, our natural ability to connect organically happens. From this point potential and possibility are present and obvious to us where it was once invisible.

>> Please join us if this interests you!

Wishing you much rich connection in your life,
Cherie

“Pay It Forward”.

by Cherie Ray | Jan 22, 2019 | Being Human, Inspiration

“Forget the past and the future, and just be, and you will surely be rewarded by living in the now.” Sydney Banks

by Cherie Ray | Jan 3, 2019 | Being Human, Thought

“Forget the past and the future, and just be, and you will surely be rewarded by living in the now.” Sydney Banks

Humanness & Insecurity

by Cherie Ray | Jan 1, 2019 | Being Human

We’re on the cusp of a New Year! This February marks the 12th birthday of True You Creativity Studio. At the conception of this inspiration, I could never have imagined how many wonderful people I would get to know. I also had no idea how my life would take shape by taking the next ‘unknown’ steps in the direction of this inspiration. I often shake my head in disbelief and gratitude for the intelligence behind life that moved me, even with all of my humanness (insecurity, doubt, you name it!) sounding so credible. This morning I received an email from someone who is curious and looking for support. I felt it was the perfect conversation for welcoming a new year. While the start of a new year often brings reflection, I see where the sentiments of what was shared can be a consistent undertone in our day to day lives. “Like many people – I have a tendency to let my fear of failure, criticism, and rejection holds me back. I desperately need to work on developing creative outlets for myself but am lacking the confidence and guidance.” Somehow along the way we lose our innate understanding that we’ve got this. We lose site that we are enough, just the way we are, to do this thing called LIFE; to thrive, to try, to move, to create, to take a chance, and to respond to inspiration. The good news is that this type of questioning is just a lack of understanding not a lack of ability.I stand in these same shoes every time life offers something fresh or unexpected. 2018 has been a year filled with ‘Oh, I couldn’t do that’ to ‘Oh yes you did.’ I understand more and more that the insecurities I feel when moving in life are not the voices of wisdom, just the voice of my humanness. I know the innate ability to do life is there, even when I can’t see it. As I look back, I’m grateful beyond belief that there is another way to experience life. I would love to connect with you. Coaching and workshops are for the sole purpose of seeing and experiencing life with more freedom. Your natural state of being is relaxed, creative, confident, and rich with potential. Everything we do here clears what separates you from living naturally with a confident understanding of ‘I got this’. I feel very blessed and grateful that I have the good fortune to have you in my life. Thank you for your friendship. Smiles, Cherie

A Great Gift: “Getting Over Yourself”

by Cherie Ray | Dec 13, 2018 | Being Human, Thought

I love the fact that all human beings have the ability to receive new information via insight. Insight is the effortless, natural ability to see something fresh. Insight seems to pop into our minds from out-of-the-blue. Something that was once invisible to us becomes obvious… that’s insight.

This happened to me recently when I caught myself dreading and dragging to get something done that I needed to do. I spun around my house doing everything except what needed to be done the most. It was similar to being in college and thinking cleaning my dorm room was a better idea than studying for my exams. Crazy!

As I was spinning around avoiding the obvious, an insight in the form of a question popped into my mind, “What would you do if you could just get over yourself?” Almost immediately, I hear a response to this question, “Oh, I’d just do it.” Just do it? That’s an option? Who knew that was possible or even existed? And surprisingly, I did just that. I got over myself and completed the task with incredible efficiency, spaciousness, and enjoyment. This was a brand new experience for me.

As I continue with this inquiry of ‘getting over myself’ I’m finding that life gets simpler and simpler with more opportunities than I could imagine for practicing this fresh insight. LOL! I find this inquiry especially helpful when I’ve taken something personally. Yes, even when I take something personally, the sooner I ‘get over myself’ the more I find myself enjoying what life has to offer and the people that surround me.

With the holidays upon us, I felt like sharing this insight with you to support you in having a better overall experience in the coming weeks. With the many expectations we put on ourselves, others, and the holidays, if we could get in the habit of ‘getting over ourselves’ we could get on with the things we want the most, connection with the aliveness of life and connecting with the ones we love.

I hope you’ll give yourself this gift. It’s been a real eye opener for living with greater peace and possibilities.

Sending smiles,
Cherie

Insight is the effortless, natural ability to see something fresh…

by Cherie Ray | Nov 5, 2018 | Being Human, Thought

Insight is the effortless, natural ability to see something fresh.

Invisible-then-Obvious = Insight.

“Life-giving” in Taos, NM

Cherie Ray

Capacity, Resilience, Potential: You’re not tapped out!

Express Yourself! Why Bother?

Love Love Love

Following Quirky Inspiration

If I Can See It, You Can See It!

Otis Wisdom

Learning Through Living: Insights from a Colonoscopy

Saying “YES!”

Connection: We All Want It

Listening for Understanding

“Pay It Forward”.

“Forget the past and the future, and just be, and you will surely be rewarded by living in the now.” Sydney Banks

Humanness & Insecurity

A Great Gift: “Getting Over Yourself”

Insight is the effortless, natural ability to see something fresh…

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