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

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

And life ....

What day is this?  The calendar reads April 24, 2015.  But what day is this on my 1000 day journey?  I haven't the foggiest idea.  My last post was in August 2014 that was 8 months ago.  Roughly today would be around day 582.  My thousand days is not yet complete.  And so I rejoin the ever moving days and jump back in.

   Part of me says you failed.  Another part wants to forget my 1000 day journey.  But in reality no matter what I do the 1000 days will continue one day at a time.  And so I jump back in on day 582.  

   What have I been doing for the past 340 days?  It seems life was busier that it had ever been.  Business, family, cooking, cleaning, working, watching TV, traveling.....I don't really know!!!

   Does busy mean giving up a journey?  This morning I went for a walk.  The morning is filled with new beginnings, spring flowers, lilacs to smell, un-planted bulbs growing under trees with unknown flowers shooting up, sweet smells fill the air, new cedar chips, the smell of lawns being mowed.

When I last wrote about this journey it was in August. Since then we have lost all our leaves, days got short and dark, then they started getting longer and lighter.  Life continues, my journey continues as long as I breathe.

   Writing makes my brain look at life differently.  I have a natural and wonderful feeling of curiosity and wonder.  My creativity comes alive.  Yes my days are busy but does it mean giving up this?  Oh I hope not and so today I write again, I figure out what day I'm on and after my beautiful spring walk I coming back inside and I let let my spirit go for a much needed walk of words and wonder.

   For those of you who have joined me, thank you.  And if you were disappointed in my absence I understand, I was too.

   Happy spring and day 582 to you.

        Denise

I'm no longer a Farmer!

Day number 342

Can you believe it?  Almost a year has passed since I started this 1000 day journey.  I feel inspired to begin each day and to begin a new season.  There is something about the energy of Autumn that fires up my intuition and passion for life.  I love all the seasons but Autumn changes all the rules.

This week, my mom put up two bushels of corn, canned both peaches and pickles. Last night, my step mom picked 5 gallon of tomatoes.  The world is ripe and maybe that is how I feel- ripe.  Ripe for the picking, my year's growth is ready to be harvested.

Autumn is the season of harvest, of change and of the last burst of energy before winter's hibernation. The grass is golden, the bins are bursting with food, our planting is done!  Now we pack up for winter and celebrate.  This is how I feel- like celebrating the year's abundance.

How do you feel this time of year?  Some of my friends dread the coming of autumn because it also means our days will be shorter, darker and up here in the NW- much wetter.  I used to dread August until I realized there was nothing to dread.

  I come from a family of farmers, August was exhausting. August meant going to the fair, getting ready for school, finishing up anything that needed done from the year this month.  It was also when all the crops in the field and garden were ready to harvest.   My grandma dreaded August, My mom dreaded August and so I dreaded August until one day when I realized I was no longer a farmer. I live in the city. In Seattle, August is full of sunshine, warm weather and dry ground.  August is the driest month of the year!  It is wonderful Month.  It only took 40 some years to figure this out!

Maybe a more important question for us all is not how do you feel but why?  Dig deeper and you might just discover you too are no longer a farmer!!

Happy travels to you, may your path be filled with beauty and unexpected joys,
         Denise

Spring and planting

day 601

It is raining outside. Dallas is playing golf this afternoon. He is going to be soaked!!! This afternoon, I'm calling family, writing/blogging, sorting seeds and planning my garden.

For the first 580 days I wrote in my journal most everyday. Most days, it was more like making a list of what I wanted my life to look like more than just living my life. After my trip to AZ that visual of boxes and boxes of thoughts just kept nagging at me. I find myself wanting to get up in the morning and get going. I don't want my life to be boxes and boxes of unused thoughts.

My garden is taking on a new life. I'm experimenting with lasagna gardening, worm composting and a bigger garden. Local eating, organic, heirloom, running, writing, my master home environmentalist program plus soo much more.

Spring seems a time to do, not sit around an ponder or start the day too relaxed. It is an active time. Does this feeling of planting, soil and spring passion come from me or a combo of my genes and family history of farming?

I wonder, next winter, will I once again want to start the day quiet, reflective and slowly? Is this a.m. movement a seasonal thing or a shift in my life? Only time can tell, but right now in this season, it feels good.

To reflect, not force hair down a slow drain

Day 470 of 1000 days,

Today is also the 54th day of autumn. As this year starts to close, I get closer to my 44th birthday. For me it is the time of year to look deep within and decide what will be my focus for the next year. The popular time for reflection and resolutions is January 1st but for me the time is on my birthday. I start one month before my birthday and carry it to 1 month beyond. I don't want to rush or feel rushed, I want to discover this next years path not force it like a big clump of hair down a slow drain.

In a month, I will also be a little over half way down my 1000 day journey. Exactly 30 days from today will by my halfway mark. Have I learned anything during the past 470 days? Sometimes I wonder and other times it seems like the whole world has shifted. I don't spend too much time pondering the changes for the very reason I wanted the journey to be long. There would be no pressure, if all the changes come on day 1000 or on day 1052 or even if they already shifted on day 32 I don't care I have faith this journey is life enhancing. This is a journey of meandering and discovery.

By now you would think the journey is crystal clear, on the contrary, it is a living practice. Each day I write, in my composting journal, what day I'm on just to keep me focused. I ponder and question all the time. As of this day I'm practicing learning to notice, to be aware, to cherish each day. I practice listening to my heart, my joys, my passions, my anger and my fears. Each emotion seems to come with a message from my heart. Most of the time I forget to listen or cherish, hence, the 1000 days to practice.

The fact I'm writing to you is a big leap for me. A hidden desire to write has been burning for years. Not to write the great novel, nor travel promoting my new book, but to just write what I see, what I feel, what comes to me. This blog and my blogs gives me the medium to explore life and to record what I discover. Maybe I would have been writing without the 1000 day journey.
Or maybe instead of writing I would have been creating a recipes or reading a book. It's hard to say when you chose a path if this path is better or worse than another path or no path at all. The answer to this questions is why I spend 30 days mulling over what the focus of my 44th year should be. A good sail requires a little bit of wind and little bit of luck- it also doesn't hurt to be stearing.

Happy travels,
Denise