Over our usual utterly English, cholesterol-laden but oh-so-delicious Sunday breakfast, The Center of My Universe and I got to discussing what would happen if we Couldn’t Lie.

Seen the movie ‘Liar, Liar’?
Well, like that.
Any attempt at an untruth would be stifled with a gagging, chocking action as the words lodged in your throat. It wouldn’t matter if it was a little white fib (“I’m fine, thanks”) or a great big whopper (“I was hiking the Appalachian trail …”), anything less than true would be literally unmentionable.

Now just imagine what could happen …

You could go into every prison and ask each inmate – “Are you guilty of the crime for which you’re incarcerated?”. If he/she says yes – that’s it then. No parole, no years on Death Row. No appeal court or lawyers needed. (Of course, if they say no, you could always hedge your bets and ask if they’ve committed a crime for which they Should have been imprisoned – just to be safe!)

And as a side note – I’ve got dibs on asking OJ first!

You could ask your spouse/significant other – “Do you love me?”. If the answer is yes, you can quit nagging/worrying already!

Could you imagine the complete and utter havoc/change/upheaval this one little distinction would create in our political arena??

Ooh so delicious to think about?

“President Bush, did you Know that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but went ahead with the war anyway?”

“Members of the FDA, do you take money from lobbyists at the expense of the national health? What cures are you withholding because of the possible losses that would be suffered by big drug companies?”

“Does anyone know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa?”

“Raise your hand if you’ve taken steroids….”

Of course, all this truthfulness would also have some not so pleasant repercussions …

“Mommy, is Santa coming?” “No, darling, because he doesn’t really exist.”
“Do I look fat in this?” “Ummm….”

OK, so maybe absolute honesty all day, every day, would be a little hard to swallow, but imagine if we could have Just One Day where nobody could lie.

We could call it WORLD TRUTH DAY and we could prepare the questions we want answered.

We could even call a United Nations summit on that day and get some international subterfuge cleared up for good. “Hands up if you have nuclear weapons ….”

Just think how everyone, from Presidents, to illegal immigrants, to tax preparers, to your delinquent teenager, would have to clean up their act all year round, because they’d Know that they would have to answer some awkward questions on Truth Day!

So while polishing off the remains of my toast and marmalade, I got to pondering the kind of questions I’d like to ask and who I’d like to have answer them.

Of course it would be really cool if you could call back the dead guys and get some of the major planetary mysteries cleared up. Not just the historically fascinating ones – like who built the pyramids and whether Churchill and Roosevelt did in fact have advance warning of the attack on Pearl Harbour – although that would be awesome and would probably put a whole bevy of historians behind the drive-thru line at McDonalds.

But I’m thinking more of the kind of questions that people Believe they KNOW the answers to, and will maim, destroy and kill to defend their right to be right.

Questions like “Was Jesus real?”; “Did Mohamed really condone killing of non-believers?”; “Whose version of God is correct?”.

Perhaps we would find out at the end of the day, that none of the answers would really matter if everyone just told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

And as I savoured my last mouthful of toast and marmalade, and began clearing the dishes, I was left with two final questions:-

“What questions would YOU ask?”
and
“Why can’t we live like that any?”

The Goddess did a headstand today in her yoga class.
Now I do understand that readers under the age of say… 25 … won’t find this at all earth-shattering, but nonetheless I can hear the applause and gasps of admiration from anyone within a half-decade of my 40+ years.

Especially if you haven’t attempted said stunt since … oh, I don’t know …. fifth grade?!

However, as with so many of the asanas (poses) one does in yoga, the Physical aspect is seldom as life altering as what goes on in your head.

As we all knelt down facing the wall, blankets folded to protect unsuspecting shoulders and necks, I could hear the sharp intake of breath as the instructor outlined what we were about to attempt.

And the head-chatter starts …
“Headstand?”
“Is he insane?”
“Has he seen how much extra weight I’m carrying?”
“I could crumple my neck like an accordian, never to stand upright again.”
“Ok, head in hands, legs walking toward wall … don’t think my knees have ever been this close to my nose … breathe … and Push!”
“Wow, look at that! I’m up!”
“Thank god for the wall but still, I’m UPSIDE DOWN!”
“I think every ounce of blood in my body is now in my head!”
“What does he mean … Breathe?”
“In this position?”
“Breathe in … Breathe out … Breathe in …. Breathe out … hey, this is not so bad.”
“Breathe in … Breathe out … you know what?”
“I think I could try this again tomorrow.”
“And maybe, in time, move a little further from the wall?”

And as I dropped my legs back down to earth and settled to recover in Child’s pose, I began thinking about what else I might not be trying because it looked to scary … seemed too hard …. or threatened to turn my world upside down.

Things not yoga related.

Things like leading webseminars, and writing ebooks, and picking up the phone to talk to strangers.

Things as adventurous as sky-diving and as mundane as new recipes.

Things that, for some deeply hidden reason, I’ve already decided I’m not good at – could not be good at – without ever having given myself a chance to prove otherwise.

Do you have things like that?

Well, I’m going to challenge you to pick one of those things – just one – and do it.
Make a commitment here in the comment box, and then come back and announce it to the world.
The cheers we give you will be deafening!

And don’t you dare listen to the chatter in your head – it’s just there to protect you.

And you don’t want to be protected.
You want to be brave, and audacious, and deliciously daring.
You want to feel the exhilaration of blood rushing to your head and the thrill of heights conquered and demons crushed.

I know you do, because I do too.
I worked it out while I was upside down.

Bliss and blessings, dear ones.
The Goddess known as Jacqui

When I was little, my mom was very fond of saying things like “I know you want that, but don’t get your hopes up.”

I know it was because she loved me, because she wanted to protect me from the pain of disappointment and unrealized dreams.

But now I know ~ my mother was wrong.

Because when you have little dreams, even if you achieve them, you don’t amount to much.

Nobody creates anything Huge and Earth-shattering by having small thoughts. Wanting something that’s just outside of your current reality won’t stretch you very far – and more often than not, you won’t [...] Continue Reading…

The Goddess was an Actress before she was a Blogger ~ who would think that the Theatre could be so applicable online?

As most of you know, this Goddess is deliciously social in the Virtual Cocktail Party that is FaceBook. I am also a stickler for Good Manners, common courtesy and a sucker for all things Shakesperean.

With this in mind, I decided to re-post a note I published and add insights gleaned from the animated conversation that ensued.

(The original note is in plain script with the comments in italics)

With sincere apologies to immortal Bard …

The Goddess has been pondering the question of Tagging on FB notes and videos.

Had Hamlet been not only the Prince of Procrastinators but also a Star of [...] Continue Reading…

A little bird taught me a very big lesson about trust, building relationships and indirectly, leadership.

Music has enormous power to move the human soul
and when linked with insightful lyrics, the effect can be nothing short of miraculous.
Having been a singer almost before I could talk and blessed with a spectacular memory for lyrics, I have amassed a vast repertoire of songs that I use on a daily basis to inspire, comfort, and energize myself.

There’s no secret to this but so few people use it deliberately.

Just think of the theme from Rocky,
Queen’s ‘We will Rock You’
and the ubiquitous trumpet theme ‘Ta-da-da da-da-da-da …Charge!’
and how they’re used to incite and energize a crowd of sports fans.

Think [...] Continue Reading…

I’ve always used FaceBook for my videos, but thanks to Santa, I got an HD Flip camcorder. It took me ages but I finally managed to upload it to YouTube.The message is – don’t let imagined limitations hold you back!

If you’ve been wondering about the whole ‘Goddess’ thing ~ this will explain it!

I saw this Red Had lady at the Mall the other day.She ordered her coffee, graciously left a tip and then settled at one of the tables to watch the world go by.And she got me thinking about the whole Red Hat thing.You’ve probably read the poem by Jenny Joseph ~”When I am an old woman I shall wear purpleWith a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me….”And I wondered,why do we feel we need to wait until we’re old to do something “out of the norm”?Why do we need permission to do things that make us [...] Continue Reading…