The song before you is, "The Sun is Shining Down", by Jj Grey and Mofro.

I’m crushing out on this song big time, it’s on my vibin' playlist for workouts, it’s playing in the car, and it’s hummed while shower water runs. Have a listen yourself to see if it stirs anything for you. For me, there is a soulful grit mixed with an exposed tenderness that speaks to lived experience + lived loss. Its truth weaving…with an achingly honest love, commitment and tribute that soaks into the heart and helps me feel the beauty in this up + down thing called life.

Honor this song, honor yourself, turn off all flashing-beeping-messenger-apparatuses and give yourself 10 minutes to let this song sink in.

Let it sink WAY in.

Feel what’s going down here.

Notice what it sparks in you.

Then flex your reflective music moxie:

• What little things make your life worth living?
• What expectations might be getting in the way? (self expectations or expectations you hold on others or life).
• When and where and with whom do you feel most alive? How can you use that knowledge to build aliveness and resonant action in other areas of your work/life?

Want to go really deep? The beauty of this song was inspired by Jj Grey’s grandmothers’ story of driving her husband to the hospital when he died on route. Think about that.

• How are loss, love and aliveness connected?

Watch near the end of the videoclip when Jj Grey walks off stage. There is a flash moment where he places his hand over his heart and he lets something in (or maybe out, or both);

• What is something that touches you deeply and could use a little “heart pat” acknowledgement?
• What could you let in? let go? send up?

Feel it, express it, and let the sun shine down. Mofro style! 

Caravan on,
​Tammy Rose
p.s. Let;s chat...share your music sparks below.

​ Identify it...then you are ready to do something about it!

The Inner Caravan was inspired by two very simple quotes;

 "The only journey is the journey within." - Rainer Maria Rilke
"All serious daring starts from within." - Eudora Welty

The inner journey is so awesomely important...AND at times, it can feel a little lonely or overwhelming. Sometimes, we need to get out of our spinning heads, take a siesta from solo self-discovery and need to be in relationship about what is going on in our lives and what we want to create more of.

Hence, the Inner Caravan was born, a place where we connect in partnership to travel through the journey of life (bumps and all). It's the commitment and practice to SHARED reflection that can make significant shifts in our world.  It's tuning in. It's turning off. It's leaning in. It's leaning out. It's giving your personal well-being a collaborator who believes that it's damn important to do "the work" (but in ways that it doesn't always feel like "work").

While I have been influenced by some of the great reflective thinkers like David Kolb, Donald Schon and others, I also like to think far beyond common cognitive models of what reflection means. 

My invitation to you is to create a reflective practice on your own terms and find ways to share it (whether that's with a coach, a friend, a stranger) and to RE-DEFINE what it means..

 Re-defining  Reflection

• Reflection is not always quiet; it is listening to what our head, heart, senses and gut say. (That stuff can get loud, and it can simmer low). 
• It is not necessarily a solo activity; solo thought only takes us so far. We all need a mirror.
• It is not twiddling our thumbs or wasting time; It is a lively way to foster more mindfulness, innovation and expression in life and work.
• It is not beating ourselves up with an endless goal sheet that holds little meaning. It is infusing our goals + work/life practices from a reflectively open, honest and curious place, leading to deeply resonant + informed action. 
• It is not boring evaluation; in fact, it can be quite disruptive to shake up beliefs, stories & patterns
• It is not selfish or self centered, rather it is centering self and standing for self- expansion in order to be other-oriented and to solidify our connections
• It is not one dimensional, and does not always mean journaling. It is incorporating multiple intelligence's and  finding different approaches to document your thinking + dreams + truths + growth  (hence playing around with music, metaphors, imagery in this blog)
• No matter how it looks, it is a way to intentionally integrate meaning + learning into our personal + professional life. Reflection IS creating the conditions to observe and connect to our inner and outer worlds!  Reflection IS action.

Reflective practice works best when you define what it is and how it works for you! 

How will you define reflection? How will you share it?

Caravan On! 
Tammy Rose