My Valentines to You, Love Julie

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Julie Tallard Johnson

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Accidents She said, “There are no accidents.” I didn’t know how this could be true. how can everything hold meaning? dark accidents made beneath shadows, discovery of a dead chickadee under the apple tree, red-blooded accidents of visitors from the past, wine spilling, i didn’t mean to say that, in that way, it was just an accident, golden accidents of passion, down by the horse barn out of sight, a secret is discovered, the timing of your visit, what filled the emptiness when you were gone, the rippling accident of water splashing over the edges of the bowl that I carry to put out the fire. … Continue reading →

Are You A Tiger or a Fox?

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Julie Tallard Johnson

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“The modern dogma is comfort at any cost.” -Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac There are eleven pithy slogans that can be used as practice points and reminders of living the zero point agreement, which is to live life from your side; to live life from the inside-out. These are not exhaustive or to be used as clubs. They are simply pointers, references to help in being the cause rather than the effect of our life. Each of these are brought out throughout the book, The Zero Point Agreement but can be more quickly referenced here. Pithy intentions, slogans, and principles can redirect the mind, in the … Continue reading →

Here, Take This Gift

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Julie Tallard Johnson

Everything gets down to choice. We live a storied life. Be in the moment. Forgive. Trust is fundamental to forward movement. Living an intentional life brings happiness and fulfillment. Rely on spiritual principles. Remember life is precious and short; therefore, consider what is truly meaningful. Everything points to your belonging. Offer your gifts to the world without need for recognition. We transform the outer world from within ourselves. Live life from your side. (Take responsibility for your life). Know what you are in agreement with. Spend time in nature. Learn to let go. These are fundamental principles that most of … Continue reading →

Feel Haunted by Your Past? Here’s How to Free Yourself

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Julie Tallard Johnson

Our life is a storied life. Basically, we are either living “reruns” of old stories or creating and living the story of now. I can only answer the question “What am I to do?” if I can answer the question “Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?” –Alasdair Macintyre, Scotish philosopher We are haunted by our past until we consciously choose to give up an old story of ourself and live in the story of now. Eckhart Tolle refers to this as the “power of now,” I understand it as the STORY OF NOW. The power of now is about … Continue reading →

Join The Noise

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Julie Tallard Johnson

There is a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street, and being the noise. Rumi, “A Community of The Spirit” Join the noise. Plant your lotuses in the noise and fire of your daily life. Give up the questing and searching for meaning and make meaning through your writing and living. Give voice to things bound by experience. As meaning makers we create and manifest meaning as we walk, as we write, where we live. We discover who or what we are within our families and communities, within the “noisy street” … Continue reading →

The Way It Is

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Julie Tallard Johnson

A Ritual to Read to Each Other If you don’t know the kind of person I am and you don’t know the kind of person you are a pattern that others made may prevail in the world and following the wrong god home we may miss our star. For there is many a small betrayal in the mind, a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood storming out to play through the broken dyke. And as elephants parade holding each elephant’s tail, but if one wanders the circus won’t … Continue reading →

Writing Prompts for You

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Julie Tallard Johnson

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” –Albert Einstein Two blogs ago I promised to give you ways to create your own writing prompts. Here are three I routinely rely on to get the words onto the page. Most important to the writer is to keep writing! You can use these techniques to ignite creativity and writing. They are designed to awaken and stir your innate story telling and reveal to you subjects hidden in your subconscious. They are designed to help you move through different states of resistance. All the prompts will uncover riches that … Continue reading →

Living With Difficulty in Meaningful Ways

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Julie Tallard Johnson

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If we can learn how to live with difficulty in meaningful ways, our lives will move forward in a purposeful way. Since the only thing we have any control over is our own experience, the more we understand how to live creatively with whatever arises, the happier we will be. Worry and anger won’t change the outcome, and possessiveness doesn’t make anything permanent. Unfortunately, we have been trained to worry about the future, to fight with difficulty, and to try and manipulate outside circumstances. We are sold on the big lie that outside circumstances and “results” determine our happiness. When … Continue reading →

We Are Made of Stories

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Julie Tallard Johnson

“Among animals, it’s eat or be eaten. Among humans, it’s define or be defined.” –Thomas Szasz We are made of stories. As David R. Loy writes, “We make stories and those stories make us human.” It’s not so much our consciousness that sets us apart from other sentient beings, such as the animals, but the stories we hold, write and live. (To order Loy’s book click on the above cover). Most of the stories we live have been passed down to us. The story our parents, or church, or childhood friends have of us may no longer be true. In … Continue reading →

Write the Truth

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Julie Tallard Johnson

In the old television show Dragnet, Sergeant Joe Friday’s catchphrase was, “Just the facts, ma’am.” But what he got was some version of the truth. Don’t even try to write “just” facts. Facts by themselves are boring. The sky was blue. That is a fact. She shot him in the head. That is a fact. Boring to read. No story. No truth. Write the truth. And in writing the truth you write a story. In every form of writing it gets down to telling a good story. Good stories are full of relative and universal truths. The sky wasn’t blue … Continue reading →