Human Awesomeness Living Intentionally

Unlike Cows

February 24, 2016

Unlike cows, we can change what we like and what we do everyday. If grass doesn’t cut it anymore, we can eat nuts, fruit, or chicken instead. If making milk isn’t resonating, we can choose woodworking, writing, or music making.

We also get to choose our thoughts, and our thoughts shape our entire life.

I think the most encouraging part of being human IS this unending ability choose. We can basically move in any direction we decide. It makes the spectrum of our lives limitless!

We get up every morning and CHOOSE, CHOOSE, choose all through the day. And by choosing we are also creating.

It’s like in the cartoons when the character steps and the road rolls out before them with each step. We choose, we create.

Human Awesomeness Living Intentionally

People Gates

February 22, 2016

 

Something I’ve observed as of late:

We like to put up gates and limitations on what our spouses or kids should try.

“That’s just what you need, another project.”

“Finish what you started.”

“You already tried something like that and it didn’t work.”

“Just keep your head down and stay where you are.” 

We like to say these things because not trying stuff feels safe and predictable.

Here is the dilemma:

We want our spouses/kids to be engaged and present, have shining eyes, energy and excitement for life, but we also want to control the risk, the time they invest, the outcome of the things they try.

This doesn’t work.

It doesn’t work because as humans we can’t figure out what works for us until we try stuff. And trying stuff doesn’t always work (in fact it shouldn’t always work). BUT trying and failing doesn’t mean FAILING at life. It just means that try didn’t work. Trying (and failing) is how we learn, grow, change, expand, and come to life!

I believe all things work for our good in life if we are willing to learn, grow and change from all circumstances.

We must be allowed to try. We must also be allowed to fail. Trying is life! Trying gives us hope, new doors to walk through… it allows us to dream and change.

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Living Intentionally

Awake #2

February 20, 2016

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Yesterday I talked about living fully awake. What does that look like for you?

Here are a few things that make me feel fully awake to life. They seem to SLOW time for me, and make my heart burst with warmth, energy, and excitement.

Nature: I love, no NEED to be outside… A LOT. The limitless-ness of no walls and no ceiling has a magical effect on my perspective and my mood. It’s like drinking an elixir of possibility! And my very curious, busy mind finally fills from jaw the dropping AWE of nature.

I’ve also had my favorite conversations with people outside. Outside talk just can’t compare to inside talk. Early morning walks changed my marriage!

Taking pictures: When I pick up a camera and focus on something it feels like I am truly seeing all of what I’m seeing…. my eye sees it, my heart sees it. I can extend a moment and see the light rays and eye crinkles. Moments move fast, never stopping. Pictures capture moments and let me look again.

Writing: Writing allows me to brush out the tangles in my head. I’ve heard pen and paper have eyes into the soul, and I have found this to be true. Writing has been the safest place to unravel, unwind, and name what I am actually facing. When you can name it, you can face it.

Reading/listening to podcasts: New information sets my mind on fire! I LOVE learning! Giving my mind new things to munch and crunch on during a day is invaluable for me! It has gotten me out of countless bad moods and discouraging thinking patterns, and the results are immediate! It’s like my brain literally lights up when it is given a new idea! Reading has completely changed my life.

Any form of Generosity: When I give (without strings attached) I feel ALIVE!!! There is hardly a better feeling in the world! God created us this way!

Adventures: I LOVE adventuring/seeing new anything! Seeing new places, new faces, new roads puts me out of my comfort zone and helps me think in new directions.

Creating/projects: When I sit down to paint, or sew, or draw, or re-arrange a room I feel my skin tingle with excitement. When I have a creative project going I absolutely thrive!

How about you? What makes you feel fully awake to life?

Human Awesomeness Living Intentionally

Sleepy Living for Years

February 19, 2016

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I heard this phrase in a video (about one of my favorite books) I watched two days ago… and it immediately grabbed me and held on. Now I can’t stop thinking about it, rumbling it around in my mind like marbles in a hand – over and over, over and over.

Staying FULLY awake to life – what a concept! Wide pools of eyes fascinated by, and FULL of life!

So, what lullaby-s us into sleepy living in the first place, and why on earth do we stand for it!? Why do we let ourselves sleepy live for years, or entire lifetimes?

Eyes glazed over – lifeless and dull, hopeless chatter flowing, boredom tugging, detached – shallow laughter, sluggish moving and absolutely no skipping, no, skipping would be much too awake.

It’s a very strange way, sleepy living, especially when we only live each moment once, each day once, each lifetime once. But it must be a human struggle if we find ourselves lulled into it so often.

………………..

Living fully awake – are we there? What would it look like for you to live fully awake?

I’m working on this myself. I’ll share some of my own strategies for waking up to life tomorrow!

creativity Human Awesomeness

Ideas!

January 24, 2016

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We often forget that ideas ACTUALLY shape our life. We live and move based on the cumulation of ideas we currently have bouncing and rambling about in our heads.

Some ideas are helpful, some are not. Some have taken you this far in life but are no longer helpful and like expired food, need to be replaced.

For instance, what are your ideas about writing, work, creativity, how you function in relationships, and how you think and act? How about your ideas on possibility, change, and dreams?

New ideas have changed my life. I now collect them like… well, like something you collect A LOT of!!!

Books, podcasts, friendships, pictures, places, and words all usher in new ideas. The IDEA (see what I did there ;)) is to surround yourself with ideas that help you move forward and help you become the healthy, proactive, vibrant human you want to to be! The brave, generous, and fulfilled one!

…………………

Need a few NEW ideas?

This mom created a creative home business that she loves

This video blew my mind about the size of our solar system – and perspective

This children’s movie was fascinating in it’s simplicity and complexity. Rhyming works!

This guy has a podcast and tons of books focused on creating work a work and life you love

I love this short video on the ecstasy of curiosity

I find this guy’s writing wednesday series interesting

This Ted Radio hour podcast on courage was a fun listen

This woman has a blog series called Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins for Your Weekend that I always find encouraging/fun

This book changed my perspective on creativity

This Ted talk on vulnerability is awesome

If you like to color – I made this

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Awe Human Awesomeness Poetry

I Like You

January 18, 2016

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I like you and I know why. I like you because you are so easy to like!

You are like-able.

I like you because when I tell you something that is important to me, you fold it up somewhere deep inside you and never whisper a word of it to anyone. Later, you ask me about the thing I told you. You remember what I said and you remember to ask. You feel safe.

I like you because when you look at me your eyes look TWINKLY and fun and your mouth smiles without trying. I don’t think you even know you are smiling when you look at me, but YOU ARE!

I like you because you wave your hands when you tell stories, which is the best way to tell a story!

You do lots of waving.

I like you because you are kind. The kind of kind that doesn’t remember whose turn it is to be kind. Your kindness feels warm like morning light and feels cozy like pink and orange sunsets.

IT’S BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

I like you because you try things! You have ideas. You think you have good ideas, and I think you have good ideas. We think I have good ideas too! We have good ideas!

Even when I am upset I like you, because you get upset with me. We are like a team of upsets! And then we stop being upset because it feels better to be happy anyway. We’ve decided it’s true.

You and me, we like messes, and colors, and pictures of things that make us smile. Lots of things make us smile and we say that smiling makes us feel full all the way to our toes, so we do lots of smiling.

AND…

I like you because you GIGGLE when I do, and I GIGGLE when you do. I GIGGLE, you GIGGLE. I GIGGLE more, and you GIGGLE more. GIGGLE is a silly word anyway isn’t it? We agree. HAH-HA!

I like you because you call to say, “hi, how are you?” and that’s all. You don’t talk about the stuff that is bothering you while we talk about the stuff that is bothering me. There is space for both of us to share. The space feels wonderful.

I like you because you like you, and because you like you, it makes it easy for me to like you too!

I like you because you dream about BIG things, things that haven’t been made yet, and you dream about making them. You say that I can make big things too. And we do! We make big things!

I like the things you talk about. You talk about WONDERFUL things. Books, and movement, and wild stories of us doing brave things. You are really interesting and talking to you makes me feel like jumping, and skipping, and doing cart wheels, and hollering under hollow bridges to hear the echo. ECHO-ECHO-ECHO!

I didn’t know words could do that till I met you. That’s why I like you!

You twirl words like HULA-HOOPS and we laugh. You say if we know the words the world is made of, we can make it whatever we wish. How did you know that!?

I like you summer, winter, spring and fall. I like you when we go out and when we stay in. I like you when we walk, and ride, when we spin, and even when we hang upside down. I like you. I like you.

There are so many reasons why I like you.

I like you a lot.

I LIKE YOU!!!!

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Living Intentionally Personal Growth

The I’ms

January 15, 2016

Something I have found fascinating for a while is this: we believe whatever we say about ourselves on a regular basis. And when we believe it, we also act it out.

For example, if I’m constantly declaring myself to be shy, “I’m shy,” I must act shy in all circumstances (even ones where I would rather not act shy) because I have labeled myself shy and I must act consistent to how I perceive myself to be.

Interesting, and often unhelpful for this simple reason: many I’ms we adopt simply do not help us in our journey.

I’m not good at remembering names, 

I’m not good at making money,

I’m not a morning person,

I’m not creative,

I’m unorganized,

I’m lazy,

I’m not good with words,

Many of our I’ms are ideas we picked up along with way, perhaps from childhood, or because we simply decided to adopt them for various reasons.

Some I’ms may even feel positive until we evaluate whether they are actually helping or hindering us.

I’m the one that always takes care of everyone else

Either way, it’s worth taking a second look at the I’ms you have adopted. Are they helping you to move forward in life, helping you change and try new things? Or are they keeping you small and stuck?

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Personal Growth

Logistics

January 11, 2016

I get asked by a lot of moms about balance. “How do you balance all the things?” “I don’t have the time to write, or blog, or paint like you do because of the kids and our schedule.”

The truth is, I don’t either.

The logistics of pursuing anything else other than wife, mother and co-running a business with my husband are complicated, to say the least. And balance is at best elusive (and I think we wast a lot of energy trying to find it).

I’ve found that time isn’t ACTUALLY the real issue, clarity is. What DO you want?

If you know what you want, then you find the time to pursue it. Period. Find clarity and you find time.

Life is painful when we don’t keep our dreams and passions alive. Thriving quickly fades into surviving when we are just doing the next thing and we take no time to pursue our dreams and talents. They make us authentically ALIVE and are vastly important!

It might not look like spending 20 or 30 hours a week pursuing things we enjoy, for me it looks like 30 minutes here and there through my day, or a few hours a week. I do this not because I have “time,” but because it fills me, I love it, and because I am ME when I do it.

It also looks like sharing responsibilities. Michael and I both pitch in and do all the things. We talk a LOT about our priorities and spend a lot of time getting clarity and setting goals for where we want to go in life.

And lastly, I have my own space. I have an office (and we live in a very small house)! I know very few moms with young children who have ANY space to themselves, let alone a whole room! You need a space to think and DREAM!

I decided to stop waiting for the logistics to line up, they don’t. Rather, I decided to make being the most ALIVE, WHOLE, PASSIONATE, ENERGETIC person I can be the MOST important rather than the least important.

I’d love to hear your thoughts here. What do You do to find space to dream?

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Living Intentionally Personal Growth

If You Wanted To…

January 1, 2016

If you wanted to be brave, what would you stop doing and what would you start doing?

If you wanted to be awe-filled, what would you notice, and what would you take time for?

If you wanted to be encouraged, what would you decide to think about and dwell on?

If you wanted to be generous, how would you view money and time?

If you wanted to be wise, who would you spend your time with and what would you read?

If you wanted to be loving, how would you talk about people and what would you do with them?

If you wanted to be resilient, how would you view failure and what would you move on from?

If you wanted to be inspiring, what kinds of things would you be doing and what stuff would you be talking about?

 

It helps to start at the finish and work our way back. Sometimes we forget that there are steps to be taken between who we currently are and who we mean to be.

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Living Intentionally

Super Powers

December 9, 2015

While watching a documentary called Life with my son, I became fascinated by the superpowers animals seem to have.

For instance, I found my mouth gaping open watching a pebble toad literally bounce down the wall of a stone cliff to escape a tarantula attack, it’s body ricochetting off of rocks like a pebble!

Or watching the Jesus Christ lizard literally run across water to escape an attack (that that would be a cool power!)

Or, a baby duck leaping from it’s nest at the top of a ginormous tree, using the leaves below as a trampoline.

Amazing stuff!

It made me ponder what superpowers we have as humans. No, we wouldn’t survive if we tried to tumble down a rock cliff, our super powers are slightly different. But sometimes our thinking head gets in our way and we forget that we have any superpowers at all. Most humans tend think of themselves as neither super nor powerful, which is a not one bit true.