beauty and joy...continued

There's something poetic about a power outage on New Year's Eve. 

And there's something magical watching the sunset on the hills 

from my deck on the first day of 2013. 

And there's absolutely something extraordinary when music is shared with good friends! 

May beauty and joy accompany you too, in the year ahead!

Love and Big Breath's, 

Linda

Exploring Fear of Success

Today someone wrote to me with this question:

I was wondering if you have any insights and/or resources on my fear of being successful?

Here's my response to her.

Ahhhh so you've found that particular bugaboo now...fear of success. 

The insights are inside you my dear...keep pondering, reflecting, asking yourself questions about your experience with success in the past. Here are a few entry questions to play with:

• When have you enjoyed and embraced success? When have you hidden, discounted, or felt uncomfortable? 
• Play with a mind-map perhaps. Use lots of colours...see what emerges.
• Think about influential people in your life and how they handle or handled success...what did you absorb from that? What do you want to keep, what do you want to let go of? 
• What would you want to teach your daughter about being successful?
  
• Imagine the future...what do you see happening as you become successful, as you continue to live successfully? What does this say about your beliefs? What might you want to consider re-framing, adjusting? What might be simply something to accept and enjoy...even look forward to watching unfold?
  

Let me know how it goes. 

Is this a fear you've ever experienced?  What would you have suggested...any insights and/or resources to share with us?

Breathe Big!

Linda

Another New Beginning

Wishes. Ideas. Decisions. Plans. Unknowns. Uncertainty. Possibility.

First steps. Deep breaths.

I begin again. Back on the path of what I love to do: Write. Coach. Facilitate.

When I read back on the journey I've been on these past few years ... I am inspired by what I've learned. I want to reap more as the journey continues. I want to witness and savour it through this process of reflecting and writing. 

So I re-establish this blog, accepting the gaps. It will continue to be a place to share my perspective on change and transition and uncertainty … LIFE really! Insights and tools pondered and gleaned from the work I co-create with others, from the resources I find along the way, and from reflections of my own experiences. I hope you'll be inspired to add your own voice here too.

I dedicate these musings to anyone who is in the midst of a change or a transition themselves...

     be it a coming together or a coming apart; 
     be it with a job, a community or a person; 
     be it a fear faced or a dream realized; 
     be it a time of learning or unlearning or rediscovering.  

     Let's figure out more about how to be with whatever is.

Let's Live Aligned with curiosity, wonder and purpose!

Breathe Big!

Linda

the money tree - part 2

So did you look at the Money Tree video from last week? Did you guess what would happen?

I was totally surprised. 

For me this experiment is an interesting take on our state of mindfulness...especially around what we are tell ourselves we want more of. 

Given all the information and stimulation out there, I don't expect myself to notice everything. Impossible. I would however have thought that something different - and something I want more of (like art, like money hanging from a tree) - would grab my attention. And maybe it would, I don't know.

But this video has made me wonder:  what have I walked past this week, totally unaware?

         A magnificent work opportunity?
                          Feeling a sense of belonging in my community?
                    Creative inspiration? 
                                                      Love?

Am I spending more time on the wishing and wanting (potentially augmenting my sense of lack) and not enough on the appreciating and celebrating what already is (potentially augmenting a feeling of trust and wellness)?

Are you?

the money tree - part I

If you walked by a money tree ... what would you do?

Amy decided to find out. She hung bills in a small city tree along a busy sidewalk...and then filmed what transpired.

What do you think happened?

Myself...I imagined people would respond with delight, maybe call their friends to come see, take a few (perhaps take a lot). But really, in my heart of hearts, I thought what would happen is that some people would end up adding their own money to the tree and a recurring cycle would begin.

I did not expect what actually happened...and it has really piqued my curiosity about how we're living today. Check it out:

The Money Tree 

home sweet home

I know, I know it's been way too long between posts.  Not sure why... I certainly haven't forgotten.

All I can suggest is that the past two months have taken way more out of me than I'd acknowledged to myself.  Or because I'm trying too hard to write the 'perfect' post that aligns with what has been going on for me. Maybe too much has been going on.

The past few months have been a real life experience of rolling with the punches (change, the unexpected, disappointments) while simultaneously appreciating what was making it possible for me to move forward.  Last week in yoga class the teacher spoke about how falling was inevitable - whether from a balance posture or as an aspect of life. The important thing was how we fell and how we got back up again.

old floor and frame out - starting from zero again

Here are a few more images of the journey these past few months.

mike and andrew leveling the floor

Learning that 'pouring' the concrete actually involved several guys and wheel barrows and fast attention to detail. Concrete hardens fast.

voila - the new floor

Though the floor was supposed to be 'driftwood brown' the terracotta acid wash' look was one of those unexpected but happy surprises. 

                                       

 

Friends, resourcefulness, thoughtful surprises, attitude, fresh air, sleep, good food, music, writing, healthy choices. These are what kept me on track...one moment at a time.

couldn't have done it without these  friends 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

Merci mes ami(e)s!




Sacred Settling In?

For the last couple of weeks I feel like I got swallowed up into a kind of cocoon.  Once the construction was complete, the walls painted, the furniture moved in...the rest of the process of moving back in has almost been a sacred experience.  I wanted and needed time to be alone to putter, try out, make the subtle adjustments as I lived in the space. Now I crave witnesses, people to come and share in my joy. Like my friend in her seventh month of pregnancy, I too felt that this creation process asks for a mixture of community and solitude  The trick is to get the timing right.

I am thankful to be getting back up relatively gracefully as I once again feel settled and grounded. I'm already turning my attention to what comes next:  the focus being creating an abundance of inspirational connections as I meet folks and brainstorm ways to offer my services during these challenging social - economic times. Stay tuned:  I'm convinced that new opportunities are coming my way. Maybe they include you! 
 

Rafiki - as happy to be finally home as Linda!

 PS  Can you believe that I'm already dreaming of how the loft might be converted into an open and inspiring space for conversations and maybe a dorm? Yup...and this space below can then become the art studio-playroom I've always envisioned! Three cheers for dreams and the courage to make them reality, no matter what the odds!  
 

simple pleasures

Creativity to the rescue.

A few weeks ago, in a spontaneous moment, I started a game with my 9 year old friend.  I am staying with her and her Mom while I am temporarily ousted from my home. (Nice friends eh!?)

With a number of women in this household an abundance of toilet paper rolls and tissue boxes tends to accumulate. I decided to do a spontaneous sculpture one day with these items. A few days later my young friend re-arranged things to create her own work of art. And we've been playing back and forth ever since.

Here is today's creation. I almost used tape and decided that nope, the idea was to be able to simply use the materials that were present. It was fun to see where my imagination went by honouring that boundary. 

Simple pleasures like these helps to remind me that there is more to life than renovations. I can feel the chaos fade to background.

Thank goodness for 9 year olds to remind and inspire me!