General

Inspiration

1. Q: What does inspiration mean to you?

SHARON: Inspiration means encouragement, motivation and stimulation. Inspiration moves me out of the habitual narrow confines of who I thought I was and into the unknown. Inspiration pushes me out of my tight intellectual comfort zone and into humility, the wonderous state of not knowing. From this place of zero, limitless possibilities seem to arise.

2. Q: What inspires you generally?

SHARON: My own insecurities and incompetence.

3. Q: What inspired you to do what you do? Why do you do what you do?

SHARON: I want my presence to enhance the lives of others and the world. I don’t want to just be a taker—I want to try to contribute to creating a happier world.

4. Q: What habits have you formed over the years that are key to your inspired living?

SHARON: I try to never forget that every situation I find myself in and every person I meet has come from how I have treated others in my past. Through the practice of seeing myself in others, I don’t allow myself to become a victim. I am able to work on staying free of negative emotions like anger, fear, resentment, jealousy etc. How can I be angry at a person who is only a phantom from my own past karmas? When I see a person who is doing something that I don’t like, I try to remember to react by saying, “Wow, I’ve got to stop treating others like that.”

Our real enemies are in our own minds—our own negative emotions. We create the reality we live in. If we really do want to create a better world, a kinder world, a more loving and caring world, we must go to the root cause of all of the cruelty and suffering in the world—we must dissolve the negative emotions in our own mind that give rise to cruel people and all of the many varied ways that suffering manifests in the world. God is love and I want to fall into this eternal love. I try to remain in the presence of God through two daily practices: japa (chanting God’s name) and karuna (compassion).

5. Q. What’s a day in the life of Sharon and David like?

SHARON: Full of opportunities to become a kinder person.