Beauty in Nature

One of my favorite things to do is capture nature in photographs.  It’s easier than ever with my iphone since I am never without a camera.  I wanted to share some of the photos I’ve taken recently in my yard and gardens/parks in my community:

Tree in Hemlock Bluffs, Cary

Strawberry picking in Apex

Rose from my garden

I am in awe of the colors, textures and shapes in nature.    When I see the incredible beauty, it often takes my breath away.    The beauty in nature inspires me to paint and create, it fills me up!

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Creative Journaling

Most of you know that I love painting – you may have seen some of them in the Journal of Possibility I created.

This creative journaling is something different for me.  You see, when I painted, I would always paint a picture, sometimes watercolor, sometimes acrylic.  I always wondered what to do with all of of the small paintings I made.  There are only so many I can put on the wall and I didn’t want to put them away, I like looking at them.

I had never experimented with creative journaling until a few months ago.  I started as a way to prompt me to write my thoughts and emotions, gain clarity about an issue, and a place to capture beautiful quotes or passages from books that move me.  Writing on white paper is not inspiring to me, so I began using watercolor to paint the pages of a blank journal I bought.   This brought the pages to life and made them inviting to write on.

I then started adding some of my paintings to the journal, adding more creative touches and backgrounds.  Now I am finding images from magazines that move me and adding them as a collage.

Having a journal (or now several) that I am working on inspires me to paint or create almost every day.  Here is a picture of my workspace.  I leave everything out or within arms reach.

How do you journal?

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Simplifying

It has been quite a while since I have written a blog post.  These last few months have been a sort of “time out” for me.  I stayed focused on my clients and some other business matters, but have taken some time off to focus on my own wellness.

At first it was uncomfortable to take so much time off.  I worried about my business and my clients, wondering how I could manage everything.  But you know what, it all worked out!

I took some days off, lightened my schedule other days, and had some full days as well.  This balance allowed me to reflect, to create, to breathe and to focus on what mattered most, my health.

Did everything fall apart because I said no to some things?  No it didn’t. Were there problems in my business because I moved some appointments further forward than I prefer?  No there weren’t.

What did this experience teach me?  That it is OK to pace myself differently. That it is more than OK to take time to breathe and reflect and renew.  That  it is OK to just simplify sometimes!

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Favorite Moments

There are so many favorite moments I experience each day and each week.  I’ve been reflecting on them and realizing that moments like these are what brings a spring to my step and joy to my life.

Some of these moments are consistent, some fleeting, some very small and brief, others lingering.   How long or how large does not matter, it’s allowing myself to fully enjoy and experience the moment that does.

Some of my favorite moments?

• The drive home from the gym in the morning.  I bask in the energy I feel having worked out and enjoy the quiet drive as the sun is coming up
• Breakfast.  Every day of the week I give myself enough time to fully enjoy preparing and eating a healthy breakfast.
• Snack time.  Is there a food pattern here?  Throughout my day I enjoy several (healthy) snacks.  They taste good and the experience of stepping away from my desk to stretch renews my energy.
• Sunday mornings.  Something about a Sunday morning that feels extra special to me.

What are some of your favorite moments?

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What do we want out of life?

My father is 81 and has alzheimers so he is not always very clear these days.  He does still have his moments of clarity and some great wisdom though.  The other night while visiting him, he said a few things that really made me think so I wanted to share them here.

First he asked “what do you want out of life?”  I thought he was asking me that question but as I was preparing to answer him, I realized he was asking himself that question.  His answer was “I don’t know”.  As many do with alzheimers, he kept repeating the same question and answer over and over again.  In between though, he would look up at me and tell me how much he loves me.  I think that was his answer.  What he wants out of life is love and family.

Something else he said also make me think “We used to have nothing, now we have too much”.   Since he often lives in the very distant past he remembers clearly how little he and his family had growing up in the 1930’s and 40’s.   Though I am not sure what he meant by that statement, it made me think about how much we do have now and how distracting and sometimes overwhelming that can feel.

What would it be like if we all asked ourselves

What do I want out of life?

What would it be like if we stopped to think about just how much we do have, where there is perhaps excess that we don’t really need at all and how that excess may distract us from what we truly do want out of life.

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Tranquility at the lake

My husband and I spent a tranquil and relaxing few days at this wonderful boathouse in Lake Norman.  The owners, Brenda and Rusty Covington have created a wonderful space for couples to experience peace and quiet – they even made us breakfast, brought right to our door!

 

For me, letting go of my need-to-do list is not easy.  But the moment I brought that float onto the lake, all of my to-do’s vanished from my thoughts. 

When not floating on the lake, we cooked some delicious dinners, explored a bit and I spent some time capturing the scenery with my watercolor pencils.

What a wonderful experience!

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Music

Some of you will be suprised to hear that until recently I worked in pure silence (when I’m not on the phone with clients that is).  Even though I work from home and can listen to anything I choose, I chose quiet. 

I believed that quiet made me feel peaceful and allowed me to focus when I was working on all of the administrative tasks of my business.  While I was accomplishing my work, I began noticing that my energy was lower than I wanted it to be.  So I tried an experiment.  I began listening to instrumental music – what a difference!

The serene, beautiful melodies fill me up, bring up my energy and completely shift my mood.  I am actually more focused and productive than I was before when answering email, working on new topics for my articles and seminars and all the other administrative tasks of the day.

Sometimes a small shift in action can make a big difference in perspective and attitude!

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Dis-order

I crave order in my life.  It brings me a deep sense of peace when my desk is clear, house is clutter free and my schedule is planned.   Even though order plays a starring role in my life and has allowed me to achieve much of what I have, I know that dis-order needs to play a bigger supporting role as well.

Dis-order, for me, represents being more spontaneous, deviating from my schedule and plan, even playing hookie from work occasionally.  For me, dis-order means having more time for play, for just sitting and contemplating life, for experiencing something new and different.

What are your definitions of order and dis-order?  How does each play a role in your life?

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Play

When we are kids, play is a regular part of our lives (and our vocabulary).  As we get older, and have more responsibility play seems to get put on the back burner, or disappears altogether.

During my childhood, one of my fondest memories is getting my new light blue “boys” ten speed bike for my 11th birthday.  I would ride that bike every day for hours – no agenda, no time constraints, no purpose other than feeling the wind in my hair and strength in my legs.  It was fun, it was play!

When do I play now?  Not often enough I realize.  Yes, I have fun and feel excitment in my work, with friends and my husband.  Though true play – the no agenda, exhilirating, giddy feeling of fun I had as an 11 year old is itching to come out more often. 

This summer I am going to do just that!

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Knowing Why

 

“Knowing why you want what you want is fuel that keeps you inspired and on your path.”

This is one of the images and messages that appear in my new Journal of Possibility.  What does it mean to “know why”?

Most of my clients initially come to me seeking happiness, fulfillment and purpose.  I ask them to define what each of those things mean to them.  Some are able to do that immediatley, but for many it takes time and introspection to clarify not only what they truly want, but why they want it.

Why might you want something?  Happiness is not an answer, it is too elusive, too big.   You will want to dig deeper to discover what makes you feel the sense of happiness.  Then dig deeper still to why those things make you happy – until you hit on the powerful why, the one that will keep you inspired to stay on your path!

 

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