At an early point in my life, my father called me Sarah Bernhardt. Miss Bernhardt was the premier actress of her day. She was especially well known for her overemotional histrionics. Each Sunday morning I put on an incredible show. My Mother would go to church and leave me home with Dad. I would howl and cry and throw myself on the floor in horror and as soon as she was out the driveway? I moved on to something else. In rapid speed I went from crying, lamenting and wailing to smiling, laughing and exploring the world without Mom. I imagine church was the one time my mother got away without one or more kids in tow. She gave birth to the first five of us (I was number 4) in seven years. I can now imagine Mom reveling in leaving the house each Sunday morning. And I can imagine myself, giving it my all to either bring her back or coax her into taking me along. When my daughter Katherine was in the crawling stage, Dad was witness to a very familiar scene. Kathie did as I had done thirty years earlier. It was then that he told me my Sarah Bernhardt tale. He laughed to see I gave birth to a natural performer as well. Sarah Bernhardt said, "Life gets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich." Even before I could speak I was practicing becoming passionately rich. Even before Katherine could speak she was practicing becoming passionately rich. Society's usual timeline is this: sometime between crawling and junior high school, we forget how to naturally spend ourselves. Instead, we adapt to spend ourselves in what we decide is a more acceptable way. In a way that we believe we will thrive. In a way that we will be accepted and nurtured and loved, even if we have to wear a mask to receive love. As we live, we have the opportunity to return to our practice of passionate richness. That does not mean I crawl around my house crying and wailing each time someone I love leaves me! What it means for me is I am able to be truly myself in each moment. I can be very emotional and upset AND let that show through my face, my actions, my movements, my demeanor. It does not mean I hurt anyone else, instead with it I purely express what I am feeling. And then in the next moment, I can choose to move from that lamenting to fully enjoying that moment, and seeing what energy I can create within that context. It does not mean that either demonstration is phoney or incomplete or not true. Instead it means that in simply being me that I become rich. Another legend from drama is William Shakespeare who said this: "All the world's a stage, and the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many ' parts." As we play each part, as we joyfully create our lives, may we remember to spend it freely. May we loosen ourselves from the strong holds fear, doubt and previous prescriptions which have kept us away from our truth. Choose to love and live with prosperity, abundance and passionate riches. Passion Activator: In what ways do you enter "the stage" as you truly are? When you interact with those around you, do they ever mention times when there is an obvious spark that appears in your words and actions? Ask three of your trusted friends about a "Spark Time" they have observed in you in the past month. Review those experiences in your mind's eye. Glean the experience for Passionate Riches. Make a choice to build more of those experiences into your everyday experiences. As you do that one simple step, you will get closer and closer to spending your life exactly as your heart and soul desires. Activate Your Passion!