Amp It Up!

The Possibility of Hearing After Being Deaf All Your Life

2008-05-09T01:53:13Z

I just watched a documentary about a long-married couple, who, having both been deaf since birth, decided to get cochlear implants at the age of 65.

Talk about amplifying possibility into reality.

The husband adapted more readily than the wife, primarily because he was less attached to the outcome. He thought, what have a I got to lose? I can always go back to being deaf.

His wife had higher expectations. She wanted to understand everything she heard right away. She thought if she turned up her implant all the way, somehow the sounds she was hearing would make sense to her.

Instead, they just gave her a headache.

A year after having the implants, both of them had figured out the role they wanted sound to play in their lives. They had unraveled some of its mysteries, and they had discarded some of its features.

But mostly, they had learned how to support each other through the process. They paced each other so that neither would get left behind.

Ultimately, these are the lessons we learn when we try something new. And our attachment or detachment from the end result will make the process easier or harder for us.

What I learned from watching this documentary is that if you want to make significant change in your life--if you want the possibility of hearing after being deaf your whole life--then you must take a risk; you must accept and weather it's consequences; and you must let go of your expectations and let the universe do its work.

And it doesn't hurt to have someone who loves you nearby.

Love and possibility! --Kim

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Overcoming Challenges: Band & Bar Brings Folks to Shabbat

2008-03-25T02:33:25Z

I am not Jewish, and perhaps that's why I was amazed to find an article in my Easter paper about a local temple adding a few not-particularly-religious incentives to their Friday ritual: a band and a bar. They call it Schmooz'N Shabbat, and it happens once a month. This Friday, there's an extra hour of partying they're calling Kegs & Kahillah.

If you've ever attended a Christian church, this will probably seem very foreign to you. YET. This temple has figured out a way to encourage young Jews to attend services and then congregate, which is what the temple is all about. Since attendance by a younger audience had been declining, the temple came up with this strategy. Their answer is a bit out of the ordinary, but has been effective, with about 150 people attending both the services and the Schmooz portion of the evening.

Here's what the temple figured out: if you do the same thing over and over again, you're likely to create the same results.

Let's say that you have a challenge facing you right now. Could you spend 15 minutes imagining wacky answers to the problem, things that you wouldn't "normally" do? And then....if one of those answers appealed to you...could you do it?

When you compare the risk of doing the same old thing over and over again—that is, that you'll end up in the same place you are now—versus the risk of trying something completely new and different—which risk has more downside? Just asking.....

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Opening the Kimono on Self Expression

2008-01-23T20:56:46Z

When I was 12, I lived in a commune. One of our housemates was a woman who held a black belt in karate and gave us self-defense lessons. Back then her name was Pat, but she later changed it to Banshee and appeared on the cover of Ms. Magazine in her role as a bodyguard for a sheik.

She once took me to a karate demonstration at a local university. Students, or karatekas, from several different schools were performing their particular styles of karate. One school, or dojo, had a woman as a member of their otherwise all-male dojo. They worked through their first kata, or routine, and I couldn't take my eyes off this woman. She was very slight in contrast to her much larger classmates. Her movements matched those of the men perfectly. At the end of the routine, she came to the front of the group and spoke to the audience.

"I am the only woman in this dojo. When I first began to practice here, the men would take off their uwagis, the top part of the karate uniform, and work the katas barechested. Because I am a woman, I have never been allowed to do this in the dojo. Today, outside of the dojo, our roles will be reversed."

So saying, she stripped off her top, laid it aside, and barechested, went back to her position among the fully clothed men. Together, they performed the next kata flawlessly.

I watched with my mouth hanging open. I was awed by her courage. I was awed by the statement she was making on behalf of all women. I wanted to be as free and confident in myself as she was.

All these years later, the telling of this story still brings tears to my eyes. It is my goal to be as brave as that woman was in every moment of my life.

Are you expressing yourself fully in this moment? In this life? If not, when will you start?

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The SkyJump Video

2007-09-30T05:28:06Z

Okay, guys, here it is: the live video of jumping off the tallest building in New Zealand. The ride down is at about 85 mph. BIG fun. :)

Skyjump

This jump was a risk that I opted to take, and that my boyfriend Michael opted out of. Most everyone else has said they wouldn't dream of doing it. Why did I? Comfort zone expansion.

When we think of changing things in our lives or businesses, of going to the next level, and then actually do something which commits us, we often get that uncomfortable feeling inside. "Oh, NO! What have I done??" Kind of like the feeing I had when I leapt off that platform. Sometimes, that feeling alone will force us to turn back from our goals, and prevent us from living our dreams.

The key to breaking that cycle is to learn to tolerate that feeling, and eventually embrace it. Feeling uncomfortable is a good sign. It means you're pushing through the membrane of the universe you've already created into the universe you want to create. Being on that edge feels funny, but it won't kill you. By taking unrelated risks such as this jump and stepping out of your comfort zone, you can practice having that feeling and going forward anyway.

You might label this uncomfortable feeling as panic or nervousness. What if you called it a membrane tremor instead? "Oh! I just felt a membrane tremor!" you can say. If you're with someone when it happens, you can look at the person with a smile and say, "Did you feel it, too?"

I can feel your membrane tremors from here. And I can't wait to see the new universe you're creating.

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630 Feet Above New Zealand, and 300 Feet Below

2007-09-29T00:52:25Z

Our last adventure in New Zealand was spelunking! Which is caving. We abseiled (rappelled) 300 feet down into the Lost World caves of Waitomo. Here we are at the top of the abseil:

LostWorldAbseil

That's my fabulous boyfriend Michael on the right. As you can see, they pipe dry ice fog into the crevasse for effect.

Ha! Just kidding. That's naturally occurring mysterious mist. A portion of the roof of this cave, which is primarily limestone, collapsed thousands of years ago, leaving this opening. There are other openings to the cave system as well, much smaller. One is called the Window, and the other, the Chimney. These caves are below a sheep pasture. Probably only one sheep had to fall in to convince his buddies to stay away!

Here I am at the bottom:

Lost World 2

I can tell you that this sort of adventure would never occur in the United States. We had one guide for four people, Gavin. Gavin drove us to the site, taught us what to do, did our safety checks, even took the pictures. The four of us were completely in his hands. If any of us had been hurt, there was no witness to back Gavin up in saying that we had not followed the rules. There was no official representative at the back of the line, just Gavin at the front. To exit the caves, each of us had to climb a 100-foot ladder into the gloom. Gavin went first, leaving the rest of us in the bowels of the earth alone. Michael was trained to attach each climber to the safety line, Gavin asked us if we each trusted him, and then he left. (!!) Does that sound like a lawsuit waiting to happen?? To us Americans it did. But, as I was informed at some point during our stay, "We don't have those down here." Which made for much more exciting, authentic experiences.

If you haven't been out of the States, please go. You can live without lawyers out there....

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630-Foot Base Jump By Wire

2007-09-28T03:52:36Z

I wanted to post info about my jump right after I did it. Well, as might be expected, in the little coastal surfer town of Raglan, NZ, there wasn't any Internet access. But there WERE beautiful views:

Raglanporchview

RaglanPointView

SO. Here's a picture of me prior to jumping off the tallest building in New Zealand, the SkyTower:

SkyJumpPreJump

Now as you can see, it's pretty damn high. We're looking down on the tops of skyscrapers here, folks. The SkyTower is the tallest building in NEW ZEALAND.

Okay. So on the platform, I'm good. If you could see the video (which I left in our beautiful seaside rental in Raglan), you would see that I'm calm and excited, as this picture pretty much shows. I'm even good jumping off the platform.

Then it happens. I jump, and there's nothing holding me. There's a wire attached to the harness I'm wearing, but it's slack. I leap out over the tops of buildings, the bay, and the very hard and unforgiving pavement below.

For a split second, my entire body says WHAT THE F%$#????? WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW???? YOU JUMPED OFF A BUILDING!!!!! THIS IS NOT ON THE PROGRAM!!! And I can feel my little arms and legs beginning to twitch because they want to do that big, rotating "I'M FALLING OFF A BUILDING!!!" routine, like you see in the movies. But the SkyJump folks do have me on a wire, so I abruptly stop falling. Which, you might think, is better, EXCEPT--now I'm hanging 600 feet in the AIR over the hard and unforgiving pavement.

And I dangle. And I dangle. And I'm admiring the view. The very, very high view of Auckland. Which I would have paid much more for if I'd hired a helicopter, but couldn't possibly improve on by being in such a vehicle.

And then I hear my trusty companion, whats-his-name, shouting at me from the platform: "Kim! Need a photo! Photo opp!"

So, I obligingly comply:

SkyJumpPhoto

Now, some people say I look better with my hair down than up. I say, you jump off of a 630-foot building, and we'll talk about my hairstyle.

I'm back on solid ground in Miami, Florida, and I'm taking a few new coaching clients. If you want to take your personal or business life to places it's never been before, call me: 305-439-9326. Or email me, kim@kimmarcille.com.

Together, with you as the master creator and me as your guide through the realm of possibility, amazing things will happen.

Don't waste a moment! In this moment, your dreams could begin to come true.

Wishing you every possibility!

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From Auckland, New Zealand: Risk Taking Down Under

2007-09-19T05:01:22Z

Auckland

Hello my friends, from Down Under! Visiting the beautiful country of New Zealand again, and absolutely adoring it.

Here's a picture from last year at dinner at the SkyTower, the southern hemisphere's tallest building at 1076 feet:

Skytowernewzealand

Pictured are my honey Michael, me, and our friends Connie Ling and David Hogben, who were engaged the night this picture was taken. They are now very happily married, and we were delighted to attend their wedding in Aruba. More on that later!

So as I was saying, the SkyTower is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere at 1076 feet tall. As you know, I like to take calculated risks in order to expand my comfort zone (check out my bio here, where you'll find a picture of me about to race a stock car), so I thought I might jump off this building.

They call it a SkyJump, check it out: http://www.skyjump.co.nz/. It's a 630 foot jump at about 75 miles an hour. Should I do it???

Send me a comment and give me your vote! Planning on it tomorrow. I await your decision!

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