13 Days of Meditation- Day 3 – You Are Enough

You are enough. You are empowered.

You are everything you need to move forward, to step forward to the next path.

You are enough for me. 

Have courage, you can not see ahead, but you see the next step, so take the step. 

Even if you feel this low-grade depression, you can’t get up in the morning, you can’t move forward…you are enough. You are enough to keep going. It is all in you, seek the courage that is within you. Seek truth from something bigger, something higher, something you can not see. 

We live not by sight, but by faith. When others shrink, we choose to run. When others are scared of the economy, of their health, of their lives, we choose to be brave. We choose to give when others hoard, we choose to build our spirit, rather than tear our spirit down with junk.

We seek beauty when there seems to be so much ugliness.

You are enough to stand up for justice, even when most choose to silence their souls and their mouths. 

Our lives are not only about our careers or advancing our careers, our lives is a holistic growth which sings for depth. Without this realization, we will continue to feel empty. My job each day is to ask myself questions and to be aware of my spirit. 

How can you be courageous today and do something you need to do or have been wanting to do?

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Wealth In Your Soul

I think it’s important to dissect and evaluate our values, our perspective on wealth.

My friend had some really great points during our discussion on our lives.

What is wealth? And why do we value it. Wealth is usually associated with money, but think about the following:

1. What if you had all the best clothes, but had no friends to go out with to wear your nice clothes?

2. What if you had all the money in the world, but had no mental health to even walk outside and work, function?

3. What if you had no health, and isn’t health part of our wealth?

4. What about spirituality? Having a focal point, a vision, a stability in our spirit?

All human beings desire to be loved, to be valued, but it is so easy to get caught up with what the media and popular culture values. Living alone has helped me to see the importance of true friendships, genuine people who care for you, it has also shown me the deception of the world and the false faces that people put on to get what they want from you. It is most unfortunate. Essentially, humans are flawed. Knowing this, we can move forward and create our destiny.

I have learned throughout my 24 years…that few things matter without stability in YOUR SOUL (not in your circumstances), relationships are the only thing you have if you have nothing else, and that the NOISE of the world destroys identity. 

All the noise (busy-ness for nothing, random obligations that we care not for, grasping of air)- is the one thing that distracts us from reflecting on why we do anything. Is it for others, for others to think well of us, seeking of approval? Is it because we are hurt and refuse to deal with the hurt?

Silence Mind

30 Rock

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This blog post is titled 30 Rock, because I have been watching episodes of 30rock almost every single night.

I know, it sounds a little depressing, but it really isn’t. While I watch awesome episodes of 30 Rock, I write holiday cards, put jewelry together, print fliers, I multi-task.

Recently I have been thinking about the condition of America, mostly people like Liz Lemon (fictionally but also literally, or physically). Women who achieve academically and in their career, but are unable to find the love of their lives. At the same time, I think about those that are truly happy about their career, but also deep down want to be loved.

Then I think about men in our society, and what that even means for men to be men. WE have many expectations to fill, yet- few of us actually FOLLOW our hearts’ desire. The other question is, what is our hearts’ desire?

My heart’s desire, as mushy as this is going to sound, is to know that I am loved and lovable. This probably won’t come from fame, or even a nice husband. I have to ultimately KNOW that I am loved, to love myself.

To love myself…is to WASH my dishes after 3 days.

To love myself….is to drink enough water so I am not having heat flashes from dehydration.

To love myself….means to go to the bathroom instead of holding my pee when I need to pee and I’m watching 30rock.

To love myself….is to stop touching the pimples on my face.

To love myself….is to write and be happy with my voice.

To love myself….is to promise that ONE DAY I will meet Oprah.

To love myself….is to follow my heart’s desires, instead of suppressing them.

It is to trust that the universe has ME in mind and that My dreams…are aligned with many peoples’ desires.

What does it mean to YOU to love yourself?

Getting Lost Will Help You Find Yourself

The word is: question mark?From the age of 18-23 I had my fair share of fun. I went to all the cool events with open bar, got drunk, got free food and free swag bags, dressed up, and felt like I was on top of the world. These days, the glamour has faded a little. I still love dressing up, and perhaps a part of me is waiting for the right thing to go to, yet, finding that everyone has their own life.Sometimes I can relate to Liz Lemon from 30Rock, eating my cheetos, drinking wine or choice beer and watching reruns for 5-6 hours. Of course, I’m packaging goods to mail out as I’m relaxing. Your image of businesswoman as a bachelorette.

The life looks like this, getting my eyebrows waxed, remembering to call a potential client, swerving to the curb to not get caught by police (phone and driving). Today, biking to and partly around Rose Bowl, pondering way too deeply about life and the meaning of it all. I can probably philosophize the meaning of life to death. After a regretted downhill, riding back up and shouting to myself “Don’t GIVE UP!” After an hour of biking and really feeling lightheaded, realizing that I really need to drink more water…

I suppose I’m not the only one.

The 20s are the greatest years, some say.

I have seem to already have done my fair share of traveling, I have lived in 3 different countries, traveled to a few continents, and danced at too many to count shows of dubstep, house, jazz, moshpits, 80s, indie, the glitz makes me want to throw up now. The fashion world is all fake teeth and smiles, gets old too quickly too.

I guess you can call it self-discovery.
Though it can get a little stressful, this whole self- discovery thing.

Perhaps I’m done waiting and wanting the next chapter to open up. Like I kind of want to meet more people that are more interesting, willing to take risks, are really against the norm of society…perhaps I’m done talking about the things that normal people can’t stop talking about (and seriously bore me to death). There’s a whole new world I am just anticipating to enter into. Perhaps I’m just too smart and intelligent, yet have not become an addict yet, and am trying to find a healthier alternative to stop my brain from overthinking.

It’s time for some new experiences, besides biking and discovering different bits of the city- I’m looking for some new adventures.

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The following is a message I got from my close friend: I think that we all feel this at some point in our lives, whether it’s us not being true to ourselves, us not following our heart, us not listening to our true passion, or us suppressing the life that wants to live and be fully YOU.
“I get the feeling sometimes I’m living a lie. A feeling I’m holding back, suppressing, and knowingly ignoring something. Dis-easing…I am neglecting my divine purpose the way an inadequate mother chooses to abandon her child. My spirit soul is mourning, denouncing further catalytic deferment. Pleading for attention, it beckons my inner artist and creator to proclaim emancipation from any extension of prosaic jaded existence. Sadness, confusion, estrangement swirl in a muddled slurry of unsolicited discomforting fears. Something is seeking rest; seeking peace of mind, closure having thus been forsaken. I am artistically, creatively, purposefully deprived…constipated from lack of fibrous inspiration…and my entire body/essence knows it. I’m angry at myself yet outwardly annoyed by everything and inconsiderately rude. I get the feeling, often, that I am pathetically concerned with being misunderstood an rightfully anti-social. I get the feeling I couldn’t be anymore overdramatic…and for a split day I feel under the weather..until I remember, I’m not alone in feeling this way. I am not less different or less awesome than any other influential awesome misunderstood artist. I am on the verge of greatness 😛:P. I am surrounded by awesome like-hearted, mountain moving friends like you 🙂:)
I am glad that I am called a mountain moving friend. I am so blessed to be a MOUNTAIN MOVER.
Another news is that, I felt in my spirit that my book needed some rest, that the more I was pushing, the less I was creating GREAT work. Sometimes like people, a book, a project needs space. 
Sometimes you need to get lost to find yourself.
I stare at this everyday now. It reminds me of 3 seasons:
1. CAGE STAGE– Being nurtured, structured, programmed, learning, in community and being in the cage to be fed and to rest.
2. BRANCH STAGE– a bird learns to observe her surrounding, starts walking, crawling towards their very fear or biggest challenges, it starts to be okay with itself, learns to accept SELF.
3. FLYING STAGE– a bird flies and soars, feeling utmost freedom, flourishing, creating and discovering.
Our lives are like cycles of returning to the cage, walking on the branch and flying. We need to realize that our lives are not always filled with successes, but sometimes we need to re-evaluate who we are, our goals, and rest when it’s time to nurture our souls.

Stopping To Breathe

Stopping to breathe, perhaps it is the most important thing we can do during our day.

When we lose track, when we lose hope, when we feel exhausted with our own thoughts. When we need a break from the voices that seek to tear our relationships apart.

Breathe. And feel yourself be present. May I feel peace, now. My I feel peace because I live in the now, not in the future where I’m anxious, not in the past, where I am depressed. I only know that I am present, when I feel myself inhale and exhale.

When I can watch the tide come in and let myself be washed, clean and feel the purity of the wind.

I love this video, reminds us that the most important thing in our lives is “time and relationships”.

As I’m heading to Norcal tomorrow- I’ve written a list, may you find your own list as you breathe.

Things to Be and Do In Norcal-
1. Relaxe, like crazy. Relaxe like I have never relaxed in my life.
2. Unplug. Do this in a crazy way too. Only bring notebook, ipod, phone and pen.
3. Read. Read and study, study everything I’m teaching (Mandarin, sewing, art, music even, read books about how to teach these subjects).
4. Sell art, jewelry, accessories from my portable store.
5. Relaxe, again….
6. Write, a lot. Write in my journal, write like facebook never existed. Finish my book, if it is possible….that would be freaken amazing!!!
7. Celebrate my year of self-employment. Reward myself, say and write to myself everything I could have imagined a boss saying to me. “OMG, Rebekka you are so amazing, these are the things you accomplished even though you were broke! Now, you’ve really found yourself eh?”
8. Take control of my finances. Like for real. Stop buying coffee…make my own delicious and cheaply!
9. Be adventurous and have fun, like a young 24 year old should. Pretend I’m 21 and I never had to go through the stress of being an entrepreneur.
10. Breathe like never before.

Manifesting Reality With Your Mind

(A flower that my friend gave me, it was a confirmation from God that it’s a season of getting pampered!)

Whatever you focus on, whatever you spend your energy on- that is what will manifest.

If you watch Law and Order or CSI, you’ll hear the word “pre-meditation”. If you have a lot of anger towards someone, if you are not careful, you may go to prison. I know I’m being a bit drastic, but it is important to know the POWER OF YOUR MIND. Likewise, if you think positive thoughts, positive outcomes will manifest.

It Is ALL About FAITH

What do I mean by that? Did you ever hear someone say “I have faith in you” and didn’t that spur you on to do great things, to accomplish things you never thought you could?

There were many times I wanted to give up “self-employment”. I am currently 24 years old, after working full time for 9 months and suffering from backache, I decided to let go of security. The last year I have probably gone through the most dramatic times of my life. I’ll be celebrating my one year anniversary of liberation in July.

However, it was NOT easy. Probably the most SCARY things happened when I let go of security. Days before my bills were due, I still had no idea where the money was going to come from. BUT SOMEONE, MANY PEOPLE had faith in me. 

Faith isn’t this empty, abstract idea. Faith is believing in someone, in yourself, in your friends, it’s believing that YOUR mind is powerful, that if you allow your mind and heart to believe something will come true, it mostly likely will. Of course, it’s not believing in empty air. It is believing that SINCE you have seen miracles happen before, that it will also continue to happen.

Faith is believing in the good in people, thus attracting the good out of you as well. You DON’T have to be a victim to your circumstances, you can BELIEVE and manifest a good life.

What are some things that you have manifested in your life just by believing? And what are some things that you hope to manifest in the next month?

Comment below & I would be so appreciative if you could share this with your friends (repost through Facebook, email, twitter)! 

Guilt Binds, Love Sets Free

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes do this thing where I guilt-trip people in such a subtle way that I don’t even realize it myself. And vice versa, and don’t we just hate it!

“Oh well fine, go hang out with her instead of me”- person says.

“you treat me like the devil, you run away from me whenever you can”- says parent.

And so on. But yesterday, as I was sleeping, I had another dream…this dream showed me how GUILT BINDS, BUT LOVE SETS FREE.

As imperfect human beings, WE ALL HAVE certain EXPECTATIONS of what certain people should do for us, or be to us. Well, our parents should do this and that, they didn’t love us this or that way…our friends should ALWAYS be there for us, our boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t DO this or that…the complaints continue and as we complain, our view of that person continues to dilapidate into shreds.

Meanwhile, we become negative, we carry negative energy, we complain all the time and only see the negative aspects in our lives.

GUILT derives from a deep-gutted feeling that “wow I didn’t do what was expected of me”.  I hear this a lot “I felt bad, so I…”. Then later, we complain because we didn’t want to do something in the first place, we put the blame on the other person.

But when we live in guilt, we live in bitterness, not an unconditional, freeing love. We live in a way where we are attempting to PLEASE people, not LOVE them. If we really love someone, we would be TRUTHFUL to ourselves and to them. The truth really does set us free (said right, not in a critical demeaning way).

A SIMPLE SOLUTION, too easy to say, yet so hard to do: LET GO

Sweet surrender they call it. It means letting go of HOW, WHEN, WHAT, WHERE even WHO. It means letting go of logic and trusting God to guide you to your destiny. It means saying “I’m a daughter/son of the universe and a higher being will take care of me”.

Letting go means relaxing, enjoying life and letting go of things you couldn’t control in the first place. Though the modern world likes to shove the idea that everything attained is strived for, I like to prove otherwise.

YOU cannot force someone to do things for you, to love you, to romance or even care for you. NO ONE is responsible for taking care of you. What does that mean? Parents take care of us because they love us, not because they have to. No one is responsible for your well being except God.

Lastly, accept all things as GIFTS, not expected actions of love. 

Love, my friend, is a gift. If you let go of expectations, YOU will become more grateful, more thankful, more loving, more alive. You will complain less and count your blessings more.

When we allow people to be themselves, we allow them to give to society the gift that they are. Maybe you do see flaws in someone and want to change them for the better- trust me,  something WILL happen when the time is right, that something will wake them up to make the appropriate changes (you are not god, YOU only need to be the unconditionally loving YOU that you are). How people are should not affect your own happiness; for happiness comes from within.

Please comment! I super appreciate it! Tell me how love has set you free in your life?? 

Reclaiming Our Feminine Energy, The Forgotten Beauty

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In honor of International Women’s Day on Thursday!! Feminine Energy- The Forgotten Beauty.

After almost half a year of turmoil, success, defeat, disappointment and essentially paving a NEW PATH, I have come to a few IMPORTANT life lessons. I quit my full time job to pursue my dreams. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Quitting was easy, but the journey of starting a new path was difficult. I lost all sense of being, but reclaimed it with even more meaning, identity and beauty! 

  • What is Feminine Energy?

In my definition, Feminine Energy is everything that is compassionate, loving and nurturing. Feminine energy exudes grace and mercy. I think of Mother Teresa and her undying faithfulness to care for the poor. Her feet were mangled because she gave the best shoes to other people.

In the 50s, women started working and had to put on this “masculine energy” to fight for equality. They had to be the productive, rational, goal-oriented, American go getters. I believe that all of us need a balance of the two. I believe as human beings, we must be in touch with our emotions because our emotions are the KEY to directing our paths in life. 

What does that mean? Why do we do things we hate? Our inner being tells us to “I’m NOT NURTURED by this work”, we get stressed out and pop pills in order to “get through things” or “get over things”. What happened to listening to how we feel? I know that our rational mind (thanks to the Puritans) help us get things done, accomplish goals, but we have gone too far.

It’s time to nurture our inner child. 

  • Nature Reflects Feminine Energy
Have you heard of mother nature/earth? Well, lately after moments of just being, waiting and relaxing…(after much discipline, because our practical minds tell us to keep doing), I realize that WE ARE just like nature.
We need time and space to grow. Our inner being is like a beautiful rose that needs the nurture and care to be healthy and fruitful. Everything we DO comes out of WHO WE ARE.
If we keep pushing ourselves to be productive, we will reach the ends of ourselves. We will not even understand WHY we are doing what we do.
  • Exercises FOR YOU To Nourish Your Being!
+ Sit in a park or in nature- close your eyes and breathe. Silence all voices in your head and let the smell, the senses, the sounds wash over you.
+ Ask yourself questions- “Why am I stressed?” Don’t stop there. Keep asking until you hear the very truth. You will most likely ALWAYS answer honestly to yourself. “What’s tensing up my muscles?”, “Why am I angry?”…etc.
+ REPLACE LIES with TRUTH– When negative voices tell you “you’re not worthy, you’re nothing, etc”-SAY OUT LOUD to yourself “I am beautiful, I am worthy, I am lovable, I am someone important”. Write a list of positive truths that you can read each day. What you say into the atmosphere will become real.
Our minds create our reality. If you feed your soul with toxic lies, you will live those lies out. However, if you feed your soul with nurture and care, you will become a beautiful person.
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Germany. Follow what’s beautiful and your wings will be shaped in hearts. 🙂
On a more personal note: 
I have been receiving the message that I am CALLED to greatness. I know I will be someday internationally known, because I am paving a new path. As a Taiwanese woman, I have decided to move out (without being married), quit my secure job, and become a Renaissance woman. In the arts/fashion/entertainment industry, there are A LOT of games to be played. There are people that will screw you over, take advantage of you, not pay you for your work, etc – but take heart (I’ve gone before you).
I have talked to a lot of young people, collegiates, high schoolers recently.
The common themes I see? Fear of the unknown.
Don’t worry, Rebekka has gone before you! I am here to support you, whether you are going against your parents wishes and want to become a struggling artist or whether you are wanting to do something NEW, something different, SOMETHING RARE. I’ve already gone. I’ve already experienced ramen noodles, finding coins on the street, not having toilet paper, I’ve gone to the extreme to go before you and pave the way. And f*** I’m ASIAN! FOR GODSAKE!
So take heart. Because this movement is NOT about accomplishing big things, it’s about BECOMING GREAT people who do big things.

Your Pioneer,

Rebekka Lien

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Check out my latest article as seen in VISION MAGAZINE (MARCH 2012) – Change Is Our Only Consistency 

The Great American Hunger- The Epidemic of Never Having Enough

Okay, this is not one of those guilt-tripping, showing you starving children picture, make you give money to Africa kind of blog post. However, it is a blog post to wake up Americans, and well, any other wealthy nation. 

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North Korea- the Human market. There’s such a lack of food that people are selling human flesh. It’s inhumane, yet what do WE do to fill OUR hunger? 

Nowadays, debt has become a normal thing. IF you don’t have enough, then go into debt to get what you want. It’s very easy to do. This morning I woke up and these words popped into my head “the great American hunger”. 

The Great American Hunger

What does that really mean? Well, it’s an insatiable consumeristic hunger that, I believe, encourages selfish living and isolation. Think about the kids that play in dirt in poorer countries, they enjoy community and are thankful for the little they have (okay, this is not always true….but perhaps looking at this we can learn something). 

If you notice, Americans aim to go to an Ivy League, then get their masters, perhaps become a doctor or lawyer (please don’t be offended the very occupation is not what I’m trying to get at), so they can buy a really big ass house with a shiny car, maybe get married and have 10 kids. The more we accumulate, the more our stuff serves to isolate ourselves. The bigger our house is the less we have to go out our front door and see people or strangers. Our lives are ours so we drive ourselves to work, drive ourselves home, live in a big house with our own family.

However, because OUR house is so big, we all have OUR own room, so no one feels the need to interact. 

The MORE we spend, the more we want. I believe growing up in America, one cannot say that they have not been brainwashed to think that THE LIFE is “about having more”. Are we not brainwashed to think that “the better technology we have”- the better our lives are? I mean I love technology, but you know EXACTLY what I’m trying to get at. 

The GREAT AMERICAN HUNGER is in our soul. It’s not in our pocketbook, in our wallet, in how much we have or how much we are lacking material wise. 

It is asking ourselves core questions about who we are, where we get our identity from, what is important to us (success, people, money?), and living with intention instead of letting our society brainwash us into a RAT RACE so we can sit on our wheelchair when we are 80 and attempt to go on our vacations that we’ve been working for for the former times of our lives. 

So what are we actually hungry for?

Love, acceptance, the need for other people to tell us “good job and well done” when we’ve made 6 figures? What are YOU hungry for?

(besides all the superficial things that our soul has no desire for).