Simplifying my journey

Hi friends,

   Have you ever looked around and thought life is way more complicated than it needs to be?  Well I'm so with you.  As I pondered life and wrote about what inspired me, I ended up starting many blogs.  Today, I'm de-cluttering my blogs.  I will be writing from my original blog. 

 Please click here

and continue joining me in learning how to live residue free- one glorious day at a time.

               Thank you,

                         Denise

The secret to happiness

I'm almost done with my 1000 day journey.  Do you know what I have discovered in this 1000 day practice?  It isn't the length of the journey that matters most.  It is staying connected to the moments in that journey that count.  As day 1 turns to day 32... 445, ... 768 and then to today - 958, the specific number mean less and less.

Staying fresh in the practice becomes the greatest challenge.  Just is it is with life.  How do you stay fresh on day 18,250?  Now that is a good question.

Life is a series of moments and events.  Refreshing, rebooting, re-creating, resetting your life again and again become our practice in staying fresh and alive.

If we don't connect to this precious day, we end up getting caught up in a merry go round of days.  Life becomes like the movie Ground Hog Day.  And just like the movie, until we get "it", we will keep living the say old day over and over again.

Today, I cleaned off my desk, cleaned out my pens, posted notes and stamp drawer and then emptied and cleaned my bookcase.  I'm washing my office curtains as I type.  This morning, instead of doing my morning "normal" quiet/yoga/meditation time, I slept in and then jumped right into the day.  I didn't not start in a panic, I was not late, I was different.

Life is your habits.  Your habits can uplift you and they can deplete you.  Even seemingly healthy and positive habits can be come stale.  Maybe the secret in this life is not perfection but being connected, trying new days, new patterns and new paths on for size.  And every once in a while to hit the refresh button.

Play catch on day 922

Day 922

The power of play is as important as the value of work.  To play is to be loose, curious, joyful, guard down, Joy up.  I will never be able to work from a place of joy if I can't learn to take time to play.

Tonight after what started out as an emotional evening.  Self doubt, frustration, exhaustion, poured out of me.  After a nap, good walk and self talking to and a creative edamame pudding creation.  I played catch with my hubby.  Tossing the football back and forth.  No expectations, not schedules, no criticism, I chased more than caught, it was light hearted.

And isn't that what we are hear for, to love?  To love with a since of lightness and joy.  No expectations just throw the ball and catch the ball.  Give love and receive love.  It is as simple as that.

Take time to play.  I say that to myself as much as anyone who is reading tonight.  There is a time for everything.  Play and work are parts of the whole.  Hopefully they show up at the same time but when they don't there needs to be time opened up for both.  Play and work.  Throw and catch.  Love given and love received.

Sweet dreams tonight and as you are scheduling your work tomorrow make sure to block off a bit of play TLC.
       Denise

Dive into the Day!

What day is today?  I don't know.  The sun is shining.  Spring is springing up everywhere.  Flowers bloom.  The air is fresh.  I just finished working with a lovely lady, a new client.  I'm sitting at a little cafe, eating a scone and drinking a cup of tea as I write.  I don't care what day this is because it doesn't matter.  I'm enjoying this day.

And maybe that is the point of the past 800 and some days.  A path is only a series of moments strung together.  If you focus on the moment- the precious, wild moment why trouble your brain over the whole path?

We don't know what is around the bend.  Life is complex and simple- forever shifting.  Last Tuesday, I was visiting my dad. It was raining cats and dogs.  Today, I'm in West Seattle and the sun is shining.  Which day was better?  Life is un-judgeable.

In 1995 I had a dream.  An actual, wake up out of my sleep dream.  It was May.  In my dream were all four of my grandparents.  At the time they were all in their 90's.  Each year as their bodies and minds were aging, they lost more and more freedoms.  The freedom of a a great memory.  The freedom of driving.  The freedom of a nimble body.  The freedom of spirit that comes from new beginnings.

In this dream, which seemed more like a message, my grandparents showed me a gift.  They showed me, if they were given one day back of their life what would they do?  As it turned out, they wouldn't have traveled the world but would take back one ordinary average day.  Maybe a day where the sun was shining and the spring flowers were blooming.  A day like today.

They would dive into that day.  Love that day.  Love who they were with.  They would play, create, fish, paint, work, watch baby calves in the back pasture kick up their hooves, and lift giant milk jugs while milking cows.  They would treasure the little moments of this one wild and precious life.

I pause in my writing to ask for a splash more soy in my tea.  The tall, cheerful barista was in between customers.  She looked up and apologized for being lost in her flash cards.  Upon inquiry, she is studying for anatomy course.  A requirement to get her masters degree.  I'm glad I asked.  Now I feel a little closer to her.  I wonder about her path and class.

I'm happy I paused today after meeting with my client.  I enjoyed every moment of my work with her.  Now I'm happy to be sitting in a cute cafe and pretending I'm a writer.  I love this moment.

Wishing you all happy moments, connected moments and moments that speak to your heart.
      Denise

How to create a masterpiece - day 866

Day 866

"Say yes - Embrace Uncertainty - Surrender to the Mystery - Live the Question"  Alison Berryman

This afternoon I was pondering over my blog sites.  I have 4 blogs.  They have different headings, some for business, this one for pure pleasure.  As I read my own postings I realize my voice is the same no matter where I am.  I am who I am. I'm kind like Popeye the Sailor Man.

I talk about the day.  I'm so exciting.

As I was searching with no real agenda, I noticed a slight oversite on my part.  I was looking to savor and discover the gift of everyday.  Not bad but could it be better?  I believe so.

A few years ago my sister in law and I played with a one week experiment.  We would follow our intuition and no matter where it leads us, we would know we were brilliant!  I remember playing this game. Was I brilliant all week?  Yes! Did I remember to realize I was brilliant all week?  Probably not.  Did it light me up from the inside out?  You bet.  

I am not a wild woman.  I'm not a loud, crazy.  I'm not a partying kind of gal.  I can try but I am who I am.  But, there is room for movement here.  This is what I'm thinking...

What if instead of looking to savor and appreciate each day I set out to explore, create and play; To ask for and applaud the miracles each day; To say YES and know that this day has at least one nugget of gold; At least one gift of Divine abundance; One moment of breath taking beauty; To notice the serendipity in action, the happy coincidences and the synergy of Divine Blessings.  To look, no, hunt out those moments of clear heart to heart connections.  To actually say thank you, not because I have to but because I'm so appreciative of the day I have no choice than to affirm and bow to its glory.  

What if instead of writing and running and smiling. I created from my heart.  I moved with such cat like grace that it looked like I was running.  And what if my goal of the day was not to smile myself but to help someone else smile????? Now we are getting somewhere!!

Let me pause here and smile.  It cracks me up how many days it took for me to notice this small over site on my part.  Don't you just love the mystery of life???  I do- even if I am Popeye.

OK, as I was saying.  In the course of becoming a life coach we get asked to dive into our own Popeye selves.  In the last class, we worked on manifesting.  We need to set our intent.  We need to ask for assistance and then we need to let go.  

My intent wasn't big enough!  I was OK just being content with a savored, grateful day.  This is a great day- please don't miss understand.  But like Mary Oliver asked "What will you do with your one wild and precious life?"  Will you settle for really good?  Or will you ASK the Universe to Co-create with you?  This seems a pretty good partnership.  Don't you think??

On day 866 I think I'll shift from Popeye to Bugs Bunny or maybe I'll be as spectacular as my spirit knows me to be.

I wish you a brilliantly lit journey. One that you didn't just happen upon, but helped create!!

               Denise

Pushing the pause button

#861
Today I was going to be in sunny AZ with my mom, sunshine and 4 heavenly days of vacation.  Instead, my trip was rescheduled for May - rescheduled around life.  After a weekend emerced in my life coach training and 6 months of selling a business today I'm done. Done! Done!

My mind is still buzzing with excitement but my body and spirit need TLC. Some days I run, some days I explore and smile.  But on this day my spirit is gently guiding me back to bed.  Start again little one.  Start again.  Some days I need to breathe and have no agenda.  Some days are like this one.

I don't know what  today will bring past my next step of napping.  Part of me says push through, get to work, go play hard, live wildly and with passion.  My inner soul is kind but firm.  Today, I will start my day by stopping.

Wishing you all thoughtful pauses on your life's path,
      Denise

When compost is done - day 861

Day 861

As it turns out, I was never off my path.  Early in my life I had an inner knowing I would be a late bloomer.  I knew I would live a while before I did in fact bloom.  Some people need more composting than others and I am one of those people.  But my compost is done.  I am ready.

For 25 years as the owner of a restoration cleaning company, I was learning, honing my craft, exploring, watching, testing, wondering, working and well...composting.

Last night I put our company of cleaning to bed.  Literally.  Through the transition of selling the cleaning part of our company, I had gathered up supporting material, training material, contracts, notes, meetings - a lot of thinking.  As it turns out, selling a company does take a lot of time, energy and work.  But last night I shredded what I no longer needed.  I organized and then filed in my archive box the rest.  I put the cleaning business to bed.  I de-cluttered my own thoughts.

For 25 years I was not a owner of a cleaning company but a coach, writer, teacher who was learning her trade by being the owner and operator of a restoration cleaning company.

As we sold our business, conversations led to a discovery of how many other people and business owners are feeling stuck or lost.  As we let go of this path, I saw a lot of wishing going on.   People wishing they were going with us.  They wanted to let go of thier now.  It wasn't just us that was ready to shift directions.  Our world is full of people who are done composting and are now feeling the pain of stagnation.

We are all created to continue evolving throughout our lives.  When this composting process stops it feels bad.  When we stop growing and evolving our spirits will start complaining.  This is why clutter is so depleting and diminishing of spirit.  It is because we are created to keep creating life, to flow to evolve, to move.  Nature is never stagnate and neither should we.

Tonight starts another weekend in my coaching certification training program.  My compost is ready to be spread.  Inside my inner race horse is chopping at the bit.  But tonight I will go with beginner's mind.  My intent is to be present, to listen, to be open to pay attention.  What I know for sure is: I do not know what I do not know.

As I continue on this 1000 day practice, it is becoming crystal clear to me that this 1000 day practice of running, writing and smiling is right on course.  I'm exactly where I am suppose to be today.

I thank you for giving me a place to churn and heat up ideas.   Over the few months I will be recreating our new business.  Re-naming, starting an new blog, hooking up to our community, clarifying my intent and digging in the rich compost.  I will be playing with creating a new business and new life.  A life that has been churning a long time.  As I create, I will keep space for all those kindred spirits whose compost is also done. I will be keeping a inquiry space for you too.  How can I and my journey can assist you in yours.

Yesterday, I went for a run.  The early spring flowers were starting to bloom.  Nature knows.  It always evolves.  It knows when and how.  All we have to do is pay attention and then put one foot in front of the other.

Wishing you great joy on your life's journey,
       Denise

Day # 854 Carving Time Out of the Day

Carving out Sacred Space

   As I transition in my life and career I find my greatest fear is that I will waste this precious time.  Before I know it winter will be here and I'll still be scrambling to catch up.  I've heard it said that the Universe abhors a void in space.  It does feel that way.  My schedule desperately wants to fill up.  But fill put with what?  Are these time consuming tasks part of the greater pan or merely life clutter?

   Today, I woke up with great joy.  I knew part of this day was going include time to write and explore.  Before I leave to go write, I'll just finish up a few things in the office.  At 1:30 I started to leave the house.  Instead of 1 hour of work, I ended up doing 3.5 hours.  Changes in our family schedule, turned into little extra to-do's for me.  And then conversations- although vibrant - also took a bit of time.  E-mails to check, phone calls to return, updates on brochures, companies to call on and on and on it goes.

   It is 3 pm as I write to you today.  Today felt like a test.  Denise how much do you really want to get out there and write today?  We- the forces of all creative endeavors- will put little road blocks and attention shifting detours in your path, just to see what you do.  How serious are you to take time to go somewhere and write? How serious are you to take time to play?  How serious are you to take time to discover?

    On the way here I was calculating in my head.  If I write for 30 minutes I'll still have time to get my groceries purchased, get home and go for a run with Sally- our flop eared smiler before dark.  Then we will have company and Oh did you know there was a very important meeting at City Hall tonight- don't you think you should go?

   But as I sit here and snack on my pickled beets and warm lentil patty, I know every step I took was sooo worth the trouble. I no longer feel rushed or tugged.

    So many opportunities are opening up for me.  I have many plans and hopes.  Improving my skills with a life coaching certification program.  Upping my energy work tools and practices with EmoTrance certification.  Recreating a new business.  Working for other companies as a consultant.  Training, presenting, blogging, closing up the old company and the old year....should we also remodel the house???  Of course!

    But let's get clear - crystal clear.  Giving myself sacred space to breathe, play, discover, to sit and watch the clouds go by is essential.  Recreating our income stream is essential.  And as motivating as fear can be, it should not be my guiding force.

    So maybe making it this space so I could pause, write and give myself a little TLC may not seem like much to you.  I know deep in my soul, that this - moment - was the most important thing I accomplished today.  I could have written at home today. I could have put it off.  But I'm so glad I didn't.

Day # 854- Carving time out to play

On this journey called life- I wish for you little pauses each day to play, to create, to discover and to breathe.
    Denise

If only time would slow down

And life marches on....day 848.  In life there is one given we can count on:  Life will continue to move forward.   There is no such thing as stopping in nature or life.  The idea of hitting life's pause button on any given day would be so helpful.  Heavy sigh.....  Stopping time is a little like giving a toddle everything they want.  They think they want the hot pan to play with or the bag of candy.  Inside their little spirits is wishing and even demanding with passion.  And yet as an adult we knowingly and hopefully distract the little one's laser focus towards something less harmful.  The higher powers that watch us on earth are probably smiling as we throwing our adult tantrums and passionately wish with all our might for time would stop or at least slow down.

Thank heavens we don't always get what we ask for.  Time is meant to flow. Life is not stagnating, nor stuck.  Would you rather drink water out of a stinky, stagnate, murky pond or from a vibrant creek that dances down the mountain?  A tree will die when nutrients stop flowing through its trunk.  We need our bodies to flow.  We need our spirits to flow.  We need our days to keep moving. Plunk, plunk, plunk

Life is like time.  Our job is to keep flowing.  Become connected with the natural rhythms of the seasons, of the world and our own essence.  In my ever moving path of 1000 days I'm on day 848.  What happened to all those days??  Where did they go?  Each had 24 hours or 1440 minutes.  As I get older it seems time is speeding up.  My father in law is 80, he says "Denise time gets faster and faster the older you get".   Maybe this feeling of speedy days is also part of the natural flow of life.  Our days become more precious with time.

Time moves, this is a fact.  What can we do? Fretting about past is wasted energy because you are trying to stop the natural flow of life.  Worrying over tomorrow depletes our today. Today, instead of pondering what I did with the other 848 days or becoming anxious over the remaining 152 days, my "job" today is to savor, play, discover, enjoy, and dance with the wonders this day: day 848.

I ask Mary Oliver’s question:  "What will you do with your one wild and precious life?"  Or maybe the question should be:  What will you do with your one wild and precious day?"  It is not a matter of slowing down or speeding up time but of jumping right in.

 I wish you a delightful journey discovering this one wild and precious day.

       Denise

Pay yourself first

Today is Saturday.  Saturday's are the day to get your work done!  These are not days for being frivolous but for getting your to-do list finished.  For cleaning out the dust bunnies and accomplishing those big projects that weigh heavily on your soul.  This is precisely why I'm sitting at Starbucks, with a toasted bagel, cream cheese, a cup of joy tea and my iPad.

Shouldn't I be cleaning house, or doing yard work, shopping or anything else that sit on my task list??  Let me ask you this:  "What will you do with your one wild and precious life"?  (Mary Oliver)

Last post I was pondering our future after cleaning.  Was I on the right path or did I need to go off road and discover a new path?  It has been a week since I wrote that post.  I dug into my question and here is what I discovered:  I need to stay on my path and I need to go off road.  It is as simple as that.

Today, I am doing the most important thing on my life's to do list.  I am listening to my spirit and soul and doing the things I would normally put off so my dust bunnies and in-box are clean and clear.  But why in the world would I put my life's joyful, exploration and heart's desires behind my dust bunnies????

My grandpa always said "pay yourself first". This wise advise isn't just for finances but for your life.  We take time to schedule our mundane, have to's, our must do's and our should do's but do we schedule our joys, our curiosities, our explorations, life's to dos?? I think life's to-do's get pushed back and squashed into a corner to make room for being busy.

Getting back to last post's question.  As it turns out I was never off my life's path.  I meandered around with a 25 year old cleaning company.  This was my training ground in creating, my Doctorate in residue free living and my master's degree in marketing, sales, finance and operations.  This January when we sold the cleaning part of our company - we also graduated!

Today, I took the early morning hours to be quiet and reflect on this past month.  What did I do?  What did I want to do?  How do I feel about this month?  What do I need to do?  I wrote down my major accomplishments, my good ones and my personal recommendations to myself.  And then I decided this Saturday is golden.   As Mary Oliver asks "What will you do with your one wild and precious day."  Will I live, explore, play and do what my spirit asks?  Or will I be a good girl and work on my inbox?  I ran in the sunshine with Sally.  I'm at a cafe writing and every ounce of my spirit is smiling!  I decided since I have graduated. I will go back on my path, my souls path and I will take my to-do list seriously.  My life's to do list that is!

So here is the question of the day:  What is on your to-do list today? And which list are you looking at?
  As always, I wish you a joyful journey,
           Denise

Old shoes on a well traveled path

Today I was asked the question "If you had an ideal client archetype which makes your heart sing... Who would that be?  What type of services would you envision providing them?"

Today is day 834 of my 1000 day journey

My husband and I have been given a rare gift.  After 25 years of owning a cleaning/restoration company we were gifted a new option.  Our company is now in the hands of a cleaning company with 55 more years experience than even we had.  This company of ours wanted to grow and thrive.  For us it felt too tight, it had a ceiling and walls; it was getting heavier by the year.  Now it is free to thrive and thrive it will- what was too tight for two people is now a source of growth and expansion for many people.

And such is life... If the shoe doesn't fit, you will get blisters.

Back to my question.  I am now free to either continue the work I have started or maybe, just maybe, that work no longer fits my feet.  Frankly, I don't know.  My brain knows what it knows, but I don't know what I don't know.  The highways in my mind are full of well traveled paths.  It is time to clear a new path.

After 834 days of running, writing and smiling, I'm stepping off my well traveled path.

My new friend who asked these questions of me.  These simple, straight forward questions might as well of asked me:
    "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
                                       A question Mary Oliver asks in her famous poem The Summer Day

I can answer his questions with thousands of words, ideas, politically correct answers, possibilities, strategies, goals, ponderings, realities, years of soul searching and yet here I am frozen in time and space just staring at those questions....

    "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Isn't this a wonderful dilemma???  To get to ask those questions and know I don't know the answer but I have the freedom to wonder?

Life is a journey not a destination.  Pause and rest, but then move along.
   I thank you for the questions.  And I thank this gift of not knowing the answer.

For all my friends who also travel on paths- new paths and paths that are old friends.  I wish for you a good pair of shoes- shoes that fit just right.
        Denise