Category Archives: Intentionality

Adventure, Hope, Intentionality, Positivity, Spring, Travel, Writing

Re-Re-Re: Number 5

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What comes to mind when you hear the word “renew”?

If I’m being honest, when the word “renew” is uttered I cringe a little. Because “renew” makes me think of things I have to do. Things like renewing my driver’s license, car insurance, tabs on our truck. And library books (check out this cool article I read a few weeks ago about an artist who uses old library check out cards for her pieces). The things we do, perhaps begrudgingly, as responsible adults.

Not very “pollyana-ish” of me, is it?

Time for me to shake off the cringiness and consider alternate applications of the word “renew”. I mean, it’s springtime after all, and isn’t this season all about renewal anyway?

The ground beneath our feet is in it’s renewal era at the moment. Here in Minnesconsin, the multiple inches of snow we got earlier this month has melted entirely. The ground is soaking up that moisture as we speak , beginning a state of renewal. Soon, our yard and gardens will come alive with new growth. I anticipate my interest in spending time outdoors and doing the work required to nourish this new growth will be renewed.

What does renewal look like to you? What does it feel like?

Maybe you’re feeling that you want to renew your sense of adventure. Try things altogether new. Visit places you’ve never been. I’m doing this by obtaining my very first passport, ASAP. It’s not going to happen for a while, but Mr. NOA and I will be traveling to Canada. My hope is to meet and learn more about my dad’s side of the family from Quebec. The DNA sample I sent in to an ancestry website earlier this year ought to be processed soon, and I’m looking forward to the adventure of discovering who is all in my family tree.

What steps might you take to renew your sense of adventure?

Perhaps you’d like to renew your sense of hope. Hope for your future and your people’s future. Hope for humanity. I would wager that we can, if we are intentional about it, find glimmers of that hope stuff. It’s so easy these days for our attention to stay with all of the awfulness happening in our world. While I think it’s important to keep oneself aware of what is transpiring within our governments, locating bits of hope here and there helps to balance things out a little and makes things feel less bleak.

A quick google search led me to this article about youth in California banning together to advocate for reducing the amount of pickleballs and tennis balls going into landfills. That is just one little bit of positivity happening here in the U.S. amidst the mayhem our government seems hellbent on creating. There are still people doing what they can to make things better in this country. We musn’t lose sight of that.

What renews your sense of hope?

I’ll leave you with a song I’ve always found to be breathtakingly beautiful. It wasn’t until I was 30-something that it occurred to me that this song originated as a hymn sung in church.

May you seek the renewal that your heart desires.

Arts and Crafts, Creativity, Intentionality, Mental Health, Mindset, Positivity, Words, Writing

Re-Re-Re: Post Number 4 on St. Patrick’s Day

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The word I’m feeling right now that begins with my favorite prefix, “re”, is “reframe”. It means a couple of different things to me. One is that it’s a mental health trick that I’ve used to my benefit over the years. It’s when you hear yourself lamenting about something, (which is perfectly human and normal and acceptable), but you know you don’t want to get stuck in it. It’s a way to readjust your attitude.

An example could be if you’re thinking “I don’t wanna work, I wanna play on the drums all day“. You turn that off and allow yourself a deep breath and then do a little reframe. Like, perhaps, “I get to go to work. I get to see other people who I care about and have conversations and make a little money to spend when I’m not working”.

This trick ‘o mine (hey it is St. Patrick’s Day today after all. I might even share an original limerick at the end of this post) may seem oversimplistic. It might be, but it helps me when I am stressing or feeling crummy towards whatever the thing is that I don’t want to but must face that day. You should give it a try!

The other meaning of the word “reframe” for me is about pictures and art. Repurposing things I see and putting them in frames is the most recent creative instinct pulling at me. I even bought picture frames at Goodwill the other day. One is for a specific person that I will pick just the right photo for as a gift for an upcoming summer holiday. The other frames-well, I’m choosing to trust that the universe will point my eyes towards the images that belong inside of them. It wouldn’t hurt to revisit (ha ha but seriously I’m by no means done with revisiting things) the old gray plastic tub ‘o photos in the basement laundry room space I just finished reorganizing.

I think the commonality between these two things, reframing art and reframing our thoughts, is that they change the way we see things. They are about vision and forward motion through an intentional lens.

Now I told you all that I was going to share an original limerick in this blog post and in the process of google-searching all about limericks, I learned that May 12 is National Limerick Day. That’s because the person who invented limericks, Edward Lear, was born on that day. Bet you didn’t know that!

Here goes nothing:

There was an old crone who called herself Polly

who tried to always keep things jolly

One day she wrote her first limerick

and hoped with her readers it would stick

and delight with her in that folly

What might you endeavor to reframe in your life? Maybe something simple like a picture, or an attitude towards someone or something?

Now, as a lifelong fan of the Beatles, I can’t pick a favorite. I resist any silly quizzes online that demand I do so. But, I can say for certain that Ringo is in my top 4. Ha ha! Here’s a tune from Ringo (who just turned 85 and actually released a new album if you can believe it) that I’ve always found to be such a bittersweet, yet catchy, little ditty.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Creativity, Grandparenting, Humor, Intentionality, Lifestyle, Reading, Self Improvement, Time

Re-Re-Re: Post Number Three

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Historically, I’ve been more of an anti-revisiting stuff type of person. My time and energy are valuable. On many fronts, I’m just not interested in rehashing what was. Most of the time, I’m interested in moving on to the next right thing in my life. While of course doing my best to remain present in the present.

How about you?

There are exceptions, however. Some things, experiences, and places are worth a revisit now and again.

Maybe for you it’s an old sweater from your college days, or your 8th grade journals. Or an album you loved that you played on repeat in your room while deeply appreciating the artwork or lyrics on that album’s cover.

Maybe it was a food you used to love making when you came home from that soul-depleting job you had when you were 31. Mine was elbow macaroni swimming in a sea of melted Velveeta and chopped up hot dogs(in my defense, I did have small kids at the time). Maybe it’s a place, like that dive bar you and your sister went to on your first night in Wichita or that one shady little spot on your favorite lake that used to be full of walleye.

What sorts of things or experiences would you want to revisit in your life? For personal growth, or even just for fun?

When it comes to things I find value in revisiting, I instantly think of books.

As I’m currently at the tail end of a breath-of-fresh-air, collaborative, and inspirational self-help/memoir, The Book of Alchemy, by Suleika Jaouad, I’ve started to consider what to read next.

It’s probably going to be this:

Yet, as I donated a trash bag full of books to our local thrift store last week (and there’s more where that came from), it occurred to me that taking stock of the books left behind is not an unwise use of my time.

Some of the books I own are bona fide keepers. These are the ones I’m compelled to return to when I’m feeling uninspired or bothered by something. The ones that contain wisdom and inspire me as a woman and a creative being. The books that I can pick up and learn something new from every time, or at the very least, remind myself of a passage that struck me on the first (or even second or third) pass.

Like this bunch of mine:

Top to bottom: Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, Atomic Habits, by James Clear, The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall, You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero, Atlas of the Heart, by Brene Brown, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, and When We Were Invincible by Becky Kliss. A host of reasons why these are such keepers.

I’m curious: do you have books like that? Ones you can’t bear to part with because you know you’ll revisit them someday?

One experience I would like to revisit is making pottery. I recently did this for the first time, as an “experience” gift for Christmas from and with my SIL. This was a prime example of me embracing trying something new that I might suck at. I absolutely did both the embracing and the sucking. But…I enjoyed the experience. I created one potentially usable small bowl that day. Usable for what remains to be seen, but we’ll see when we go back in another few weeks for the painting portion of this experience. It turns out that one can rent the potter’s wheel. I’m thinking without any strangers around for me to compare myself to, I could eventually improve my form and create a cool, absolutely usable piece.

What experience might you want to revisit? Is there something that you’d like to have another go at?

As far as places to revisit, for me it’s Washington, D.C. This should come as no surprise to any readers of this blog who’ve been around for awhile. The thing about revisiting our nation’s capital is that there is such a vast array of things to do, see, and experience there. Only when I do revisit Washington, D.C., it’ll (hopefully) be with a grandson or two in tow. That way, I can revisit it with at least one extra pair of new, curious eyes.

I’m going to cap this blog post off with a song from The Little River Band’s Greatest Hits album, an album I played frequently as a teen in the 80’s. An album I’ll be hunting for next time I’m in a thrift store. It’s worth a revisit.

Ambition, Home Improvement, Intentionality, Lifestyle, Mindset, Positivity, Wisdom

Rewards Can Come From Slow Progress

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Before I launch into a regular routine of dancing in my rec room, as I mentioned in a recent blog post, I’ve decided to work on a project in the space adjacent to my basement rec room: organizing my laundry/storage room.

The madness of the Christmas season had its way with this space, and it became quite the hot mess. Christmas decor strewn about, haphazardly tucked into plastic bins, many of which had no lids. I bought several very large bins with lids last fall, as I anticipated this moment of reckoning would come.

So, for the last week I’ve been piece-mealing my way towards having a clean and organized space down there. There was a time in my adult life where it would have driven me nuts to just do a small portion of a task such as this, leaving more to be done another day. I would have obsessed over it in my head and said unkind things to myself about my work ethic.

However, as a result of age and the wisdom that sometimes accompanies it, now I’m embracing the practice of moving forward without judging how much progress I make each day. It’s a great mind trick that I highly recommend. I figure that at the end of this project, when everything is neat and organized in that space, I can celebrate with a solo dance party.

What struck me as I was doing this is that there’s this little, unexpected reward that comes out of this endeavor: uncovering things I forgot I had. Things I actually still like and have use for. That’s along with things I knew I had but didn’t know where. Like the three pieces of Valentine’s Day home decor I found two days ago. Perfect timing.

The sweet, unexpected reward for doing an organizing project like this is that it naturally evolves into a treasure hunt!

And I do love a good treasure hunt. How about you?

Given a list, or making up a list, of things to search for is exciting to me. It gets me moving and puts me in a forward-thinking state of mind. It’s motivating and playful. Like when I go thrift store shopping (one of my most favorite hobbies) with a little list tucked into my purse. It gives me a little hit of dopamine whenever I find just what I was looking for.

Dopamine is a thing to appreciate in these times, don’t you think?

The difference between that type of treasure hunt and the treasure hunt I’m doing now in my basement is that in my own space, there is no list. It’s primarily just surprise after surprise, which makes the whole thing fun to me. And it motivates me to keep going. It just goes to show that there are rewards, even simple ones like finding lost treasures, to be had from consistently moving forward, regardless of your pace.

Adventure, Creative Pursuits, Creative Writing, Creativity, Dance, Imagination, Intentionality, Overthinking, Personal Growth, Positivity

New Year, New Project? Perhaps.

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Have you ever heard of this thing called the “100-day project”?

I hadn’t either, until recently. It was an idea sprung from Yale graphics design professor, Michael Bierut, who randomly decided to embark on a quest to draw one thing each day inspired by a photo in the New York Times. I believe he ended up doing it for a year. As a result, he decided to task his students with doing one personally fulfilling, creative project every day. To pick just one thing and take maybe 10 minutes every day to work on it for 100 consecutive days. His students by and large embraced it and during the Covid-19 pandemic it became quite the phenomenon (one which apparently passed me by).

Ever since learning about this, I’ve been toying with doing it myself. I’m non-commital about the whole endeavor, but I do think it’s a fun idea to play with, don’t you?

My first 100-day project idea: find every single intact greeting card (including envelopes) in this house. This can include postcards. Write and send one every single day for 100 days. Figure out a way to make it happen. Answer the following question: what’s my response to a potential time within these 100 days in which major obstacles could arrive, unbidden? Do I have the option of doubling or tripling up the next day? So it “averages out” to be 100 times? But is that not killing the spirit of this thing? To do it daily? I think I’d have to be quite stringent about this. Unless I’m totally incapacitated, I’d do it every single day. To address the possibility that I could become totally incapacitated once I started this project, I could write extra letters ahead of time, so I’ve got a stash ready to go for someone in my life who understands they need to be mailed every day.

How’s this for ironic? As I was writing the above, the song that randomly came on was “Please Read the Letter I Wrote” from what I consider to be my all-time favorite album: Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Allison Krause. Is this perhaps a sign from the universe? Also ironically, just the other night I read something on Facebook about a country singer who was famous back in the late 80’s, before I really started paying attention to popular country music (that was a distinct era for me in the early 90’s). His name was Keith Whitley and he died when he was only 34 of acute alcohol poisoning. I did a little googling and learned he was a great songwriter as well. He wrote and was the first to perform the song “Nothing at all”, which I had assumed was originally done by Allison Krause, because that’s the version that came into my songbrain when I read the song’s title and the first couple of lines.

More than likely, I’ll be putting a pin in doing this 100-day project for now, but that doesn’t mean coming up with ideas for it and then overthinking each one of them ad naseum as I did in this post won’t be happening.

It’s possible, actually, as I read in an article about this project, that the 100 days could be spent coming up with and then writing down ideas for this project. And then, apparently, never picking just one idea and doing it. I think I’m too neurotic to actively come up with ideas for this project with no intention of following through with any of them as my actual project. It’s also true that as I hung in for 78 days total doing The Artist’s Way course last fall, I likely have the bandwidth for a 100-day project. I think the caveat for me would be to keep it to myself, not writing about it here or anywhere else, until the 100 days have passed. No sense in jinxing myself!

Time will tell, I suppose.

If you were to commit to a 100-day project of your own, what would it look like? I would love to know. Or, if you have done a 100-day project, how did that go for you? What did it consist of? I would also love to know that.

Here’s a video I found on YouTube of a young man, Ely Kim, who chose dance as his creative medium for his 100-day project. I love that he shared it on social media. So much joy!

    Aging, America, Creativity, Dogs, Grandparenting, Home, Intentionality, Self-Reflection

    8 Lessons from 2025

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    Well, here we are, at the end of another year. And what a year it was. It was chaotic, tumultuous, disappointing, and challenging. It was also inspiring, delightful, meaningful, and full of great lessons.

    Here are my top 8 insights from 2025:

    This is truly going to be a mish-mash, so bear with me, my friends.

    1. There’s nothing like the birth of a new baby to bring unbridled joy and hope into a family. The birth of our latest grandson in June was the highlight of my year.
    2. I have the right to invest in myself as a creative. In fact, I’ve learned (thanks to The Artist’s Way) that it is my duty. Yours too, by the way.
    3. I learned this year that America as a whole has the unfortunate ability to become severely morally injured. This, of course, is due to the rot in American politics and governance, which surely began decades ago. It is in 2025 that the cancer began to fully reveal its gory self to the masses. God help us.
    4. Adopting a second dog was an unexpected but wonderful development. Yes, it’s doubled the work for us, but more than doubled our daily joy factor. Worth it.
    5. Aging is a trip. It’s rough and humbling. Note to self: get that referral for a hearing test, STAT! My eyes are already going to hell, and I don’t want my hearing to follow. I know, I know, I know (and you might too if you read that post), I published an essay on this blog about how aging is RAD back in 2024. But suffice it to say, 2025 has altered my opinion on the matter (though from an emotional well-being standpoint, aging is indeed still RAD).
    6. 2025 readied me for moving from being intentional on an intellectual level to being intentional also on a physical level (see above: aging combined with being perhaps a wee bit exercise-averse has caught up with me).
    7. I am home. A quick Google search led me to this quote that enchants me, from T.S. Eliot: “Home is where one starts from”. What a gem.
    8. Going from 2025 to 2026, there are reasons to be hopeful, and there are reasons to freak out. Life is a continuous ebb and flow between unpleasantness/misfortune/disappointment and joy/connection/love. There are times when your cup is overflowing and times when it’s dry as a bone. If we could all get more comfortable with that reality and aim to be thoughtful with our responses to both the good and the bad, I think we might just come out ok on the other side.

    So, cheers to 2025 and a big, hearty welcome to 2026!!!

    The song I’m sharing today is a beautiful and bittersweet one that came out this year from an artist Mr. NOA and I will be seeing live this year.

    *Featured image from brainyquote.com*

    Celebration, family, Grandparenting, Holidays, Hospitality, Intentionality, Joy, Life, Lifestyle, marriage

    Christmas Has Arrived in Minnesconsin

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    Last week, I attended our grandson’s 6th grade band and choir concert. Our new grandbaby sat on mom’s lap and enjoyed the show, nodding off towards the end. Our 6th grader looked handsome with his festive tie and white button-down. It struck me that 6th grade is the specific time when kids are all wildly different sizes and heights. Our grandson is no longer the tallest one. In fact, we couldn’t even see him standing on the bleachers, as he was behind a tall blonde headed girl with glasses.

    It must be such a trip to teach kids this age.

    Mr. NOA was in DC for work last week. I couldn’t help but wish I’d been able to tag along this time. DC this time of year is a little extra special and I’ve always enjoyed being there during the holiday season. However, with him gone, I had more time to do my own thing. Like creating a new Christmas craft out of old Christmas cards while listening to Bing Crosby and friends belting out the merriest of tunes. So that was nice. The cookies all got sent out, and the shopping mostly wrapped up.

    1 of 17, perhaps?

    Speaking of Christmas cards, this marks year the second year in a row we’ve chosen to not send them out. I feel a little shitty about that, in particular when we receive one in the mail from a faraway friend. I always thought I should be one of those people who pen a yearly Christmas newsletter informing all of what went on in our orbit over the previous year and wishing them all good things for their holiday seasons. Alas, I have yet to attempt this. I chalk it up to being preoccupied with all the other Christmas-associated tasks, such as shopping, decorating, and cookie baking, which renders my bandwidth too meager for such an extra task.

    Maybe after all these years, I’ve learned to stop biting off more than I can chew?

    Speaking of biting (and chewing), here’s a silly little pic I took the other day of a freshly sliced dough of a Santa’s Whiskers cookie that, to me, appears to be in the shape of a heart. This was just a result of not quite getting a Martha Stewart-worthy circle-shaped log rolled before it chilled in the fridge for a bit.

    One thing that is really standing out during Christmastime 2025 for me, is the simple joy of staying put. I’m surprised to hear myself say/write this. One of the most true things I can tell you, in my current era, is that the time and space between when Mr. NOA, Radar, and I moved out of the Denver metro and into Minnesconsin in 2022 has resulted in me becoming more in tune with my introverted side, more relaxed and grounded, but also much more of a homebody. Now, I can’t say this is a 100% good turn of events per se, but it’s true. Suffice it to say that I’m not terribly disappointed to not have gone to DC last week with my man.

    The clear upside of becoming a homebody is that it allows me time to plan for and host company. Employing my hospitality skills is such a joyful experience for me. I team up with Mr. NOA, and together we get this joint spic-and-span. I plan whatever food and drink we will be serving, using the “keep it simple, sister” method always. I prepare said food and drink, futz around a little with the Christmas decor and whatnot, and we are good to go.

    As a matter of fact, on Sunday we hosted my daughter and her fiance, two of the three grandsons, my SIL, and 5 of fiance’s family members for a wedding planning brunch. An agenda was followed, items were checked off and lists were made, phone numbers exchanged, and wedding decor, along with food and drink options were discussed.

    What a beautiful thing it is when romantic love between two souls joins together two entire families. The *chef’s kiss* is when it’s abundantly clear that every person involved in this affair is thrilled it is happening and eager to support it in all the ways that they can.

    Now, to get those presents wrapped, take in a Christmas movie or two, and proceed with making some appetizers and other goodies to nosh on with our family throughout this week, and it appears that this is going to be a sweet little Christmas.

    I wish each of you the merriest of holidays! I hope you enjoy the pairing of these two epically talented chanteuses performing a lovely version of the sweetest Christmas song I can think of.

    Blogging, Grandparenting, Holidays, Intentionality, Life, Lifestyle, Minnesconsin, Self-Reflection

    Intentionality, Illness, the Holidays, and Me

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    Hey there! I am officially done with my self-imposed blogging sabbatical. I’ve missed doing this. I’ve missed exchanging thoughts with you all, and I’ve missed reading your blogs. I hope you are all doing well and your Thanksgiving tables were filled with the company of those you love the most, good conversations, and delicious eats.

    Now that I’m back to blogging, it feels like an update is in order.

    Intentionality

    In case you don’t recall, my WOTY (Word of the Year for any non-bloggers reading this) for 2025 was “Intentionality”. I doubt I’ll pick a new word for 2026, which is going to be here before we know it. That’s because it’s such a BIG word. I’m very committed to it still, but I see now that it mustn’t be a commitment limited to merely one calendar year. It’s for life. It requires dedication and lots of practice to even sort of feel like I’m getting it right. More than anything, it’s about being present and in tune with my five senses. It’s also very much about being choosier about where I’m expending my energy, especially the mental variety. That’s why I backed off from blogging for as long as I did. I needed to step away and do some personal excavating to re-engage my creative spirit.

    Illness

    As a person who has been known to exclaim such things as”I never get sick” and “I take my Emergen-C every morning so my immune system rocks”, coming down with this years version of the flu (yes, I had gotten both my flu and pneumonia shots in October) really threw me for a loop. Mr. NOA caught it first and then gifted it to me overnight. I missed three consecutive days of work as a result, which was truly adding insult to injury, as it just so happened to be my beloved boss’s last week of employment at our non-profit. So, big, huge, fat bummer. Together, Mr. NOA nursed ourselves slowly back to health while binge-watching The American Revolution series by Ken Burns on PBS, along with “The Beast in Me” (What. A. Tale.) on Netflix. I highly recommend them both.

    Holidays

    It’s December 1st, so Christmas plans are getting underway here in Minnesconsin. As always, I’m looking forward this season. As always, I’m aiming to keep things as simple as possible and to focus on the joy in the preparations. Wish me luck in avoiding the holiday “overwhelm”. Having a new baby in our midst surely adds a magical touch. Our newest grandson will be 6 months old at Christmas, and I’m certain that seeing his reaction to the lights, music, smells, and tastes (he will likely be starting to eat little bits of regular food by then) of the season will be the biggest highlight for me.

    And now, for a song. I’m going to pick one that I’ve only recently come to realize that I absolutely adore. It’s uplifting and just so lovely. It really aligns with my spirit at this moment. Enjoy-and see you soon, friends!

    Art, Arts and Crafts, Blogging, Creative Writing, GenX, Humor, Imagination, Intentionality, Mindset, Time

    Do You Need Time?

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    This was the question posed by the WordPress wizards in a recent daily prompt that I didn’t respond to.

    I resisted the urge, until now, to provide my response to this question.

    Which, of course, was “Duh!”

    This, folks, could be looked at as a dumb question or it can be looked at as a question which was in dire need of context. Or, it’s a question that stoners ask each other when their high is ratcheting up and they’re lying in the grass next to each other, waxing philosophical about it.

    The argument I make here is that it’s a foregone conclusion that I, along with every other human being on Planet Earth, needs time. I think the far more pressing question for us all, is if we had the time we wanted to have, what would we do with it?

    True confession from the era in which I was working full-time and raising two young kids with Mr. NOA: I would sometimes fantasize as I was driving to and fro during my workday that I’d get in an accident. Ironically, I struggle with driving anxiety, but when it was just me and the open road, the fantasy would come through, completely unbidden. The car accident I’d have would not be a major one, mind you. Just enough to put me out of commission for say, a week. A week to recover. To physically and mentally rest. To not be a responsible adult for a bit. To read books and flip through magazines. To give myself a manicure. Stuff like that. To re-charge and return back to my normal routine refreshed. As this was a fantasy, I didn’t have to consider that I might be in pain or completely immobile and unable to care for myself physically.

    It’s been years and years since this fantasy has made an appearance.

    Yet, I have a rather long list of things I want to do rattling around in my head if I had more time. We all do, right? I think the trick is to accept that there literally isn’t enough time in the world to do every last one of these things. To find peace with it. I believe it’s really a matter of making time for doing the things that light us up the most. The things that bring us joy and positive energy. To be intentional about it.

    Writing is that thing for me. Well, the biggest one anyway. I’ve been doing a lot more of it via The Artist’s Way workbook, though not for this blog. The blog has fallen by the wayside, but that’s ok. After 8 years doing this, I’m still into it, but I know that taking a sabbatical from it was most certainly not the end of the world.

    Back to what I’d do if a magic “Time Fairy” granted me a boatload of time?

    A short list:

    • Learn how to play my ukulele
    • Crafting (you would not believe how many Facebook reels I have saved of various creatives showing me how to make the cutest holiday crafts)
    • Treasure hunts at local thrift stores
    • Join a book club

    How about you? What would you do if time was more plentiful in your life?

    Now for a song by the spectacular Cindy Lauper, who just so happened to be inducted (about time LOL!) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last weekend. This makes my Gen X heart so happy!

    Art, Blogging, Creative Pursuits, Gratitude, Intentionality, Self Improvement

    Unplugging and Opening Up

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    I unplugged last week, for the entire week. I rejected the chatter outside of myself by not checking the news on my laptop in the mornings and throughout the day on my phone. By not scrolling social media during commercial breaks on the t.v. By not reading my latest book of choice at night before bed. And it was revelatory. I found a sense of peace and calm within myself that led me to be more present in my life.

    The reason for this “unplugging”, my friends, is that it was “reading deprivation” week for the Artist’s Way course I started earlier this month.

    I apologize to any of you who have not yet done Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way”, as I recognize that I just shared a spoiler. So just get it out of your head if you can while I wax on for a bit more about this experience I am having.

    I’d been quasi-familiar with “The Artist’s Way”, thinking to myself that “someday” I’d actually do it. Well, it just so happened that one day last month, I saw an upcoming “Artist’s Way” online course, hosted by a blogger/creative I’ve followed and admired for several years. In one impulsive moment, I signed myself up for it, and promptly ordered the book online.

    I’m hesitant to get into the details of my experience thus far with this creative project, because I, for better or worse, am wary of jinxing myself. I prefer the notion, shared with me by a former co-worker, which is “under-promise but over-deliver”. Writing this out loud, in the open, feels scary to me. But it’s the truth, Ruth.

    I can say for certain that I will be repeating “The Artists Way” again, and possibly again, and again and again, in the future. It’s given me the permission I didn’t realize I needed to hyperfocus on my creative spirit. As I work through each chapter and the accompanying exercises, I gain more clarity and focus. It’s lit a fire within me and I’m grateful for that.

    This is why I’m keeping this blog post short and sweet. I just want you all to know that I’m still here, still in the “game” of blogging, but making way for my creative spirit to more fully blossom via “The Artists Way”. It’s simply a bigger priority for me right now, and for that reason, the frequency of my blog posts will likely continue to be relatively low.

    But you never know. My arms are wide open to the creative spirit now, so I may surprise you (and myself) by jumping on here and sharing, lamenting, and/or pontificating more frequently.

    Big Important Question for you all:

    Have you participated in “The Artists Way”? If so, what were your lasting impressions of the experience? Your takeaways?

    Please enjoy this beautiful ballad by Sarah McClachlan, the woman behind “Lillith Fair”, which I attended with my bestie and our two husbands in 1998 (or 1999?). I recently watched the documentary about “Lillith Fair” on Netflix and this song hasn’t escaped my brain since.

    But first, a pic of the event that I just found: