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

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

Your natural rhythm on and off sugar

# 196 of 1000

     After 196 days on this journey, it seems what I have let go of has been more important than what I have added.  One of my most significant reductions has been sugar.  The sweetness in life, turns out has a counterpart, an unruly distant cousin called sugar.

   I have a natural sweet tooth but I am learning to embrace my more savory side.  My sweet tooth has seen me through the ups and downs in life.  Or so I thought but what my sweet tooth has done was create those ungrounded ups and madding and often tearful downs.  This sugar induced rhythm isn't the natural rhythm I'm looking to discover on my 1000 journey.

  Before bed, I had a little bowl of petite baby peas lightly steams and tossed in garlic ghee.  It was pretty sweet the label gives it 4 grams of sugar.  The label also shows it also has 4 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber.  It was both comforting and yummy.  I have been craving peas lately.  They are a good spring food for my spirit.  My skin seems to soak up its spring green color- chlorophyl and as funny as it sounds they make me happy.

   As I write this blog, it is the wee morning hours on a Friday.  Last night I went to sleep quickly but not instantly, there were a few minutes I could breathe in deeply and completely relax- 21 breaths.  And then this is the good part, I slept without any waking pauses until one minute before my alarm went off this morning.  I woke up to spring birds singing.  It almost sounds like a fairy tail.  But it was a real tail.  I reflected back on what I did last night that created such a lovely sleep and I remembered the peas!

4 grams of sugar is the equivalent of 1 teaspoon of sugar.  So if a label says it's product has 12 grams of sugar then this means you are consuming 3 teaspoons of sugars.  Labels are tricky little guys.  If you look on the ingredient list, sugar may not even be one of the top ingredients.  (You do read your labels right???)  But if you look a little deeper you may find sugar listed in a variety of ways.  Brown sugar, turbinado sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup.....  this is a big list I believe there are something like 56 different sugars commonly listed.   Label reading has almost become a course in chemistry.  Keep it simple.

By keeping it simple, your life is not only greatly enhanced but also so so so much easier.  Like last night the ingredients in my little bowl of baby peas were three:  Peas, garlic-ghee.  And yes it did have 4 grams of sugar but those 4 grams are naturally occurring and surrounded by protein and fiber.  I am not a chemist nor a nutritionist but I can tell you this- 8 hours of uninterrupted, restful and delicious sleep, waking up before my alarm to birds singing and then being inspired to write is better than any sugar laden product out of a bag or box!

Giving up sugar is not easy, I understand this from the crumbs at the bottom of my cookie jar.  But and this is a huge BUT, the benefits to your spirit, your energy, your skin, your bright eyes, your deep restful sleep, your productivity, your immune system, your natural rhythm, your life are soooo worth the couple of days of cravings.

From my own experience, I can tell you this...giving up sugar is not a destination but a journey.  Some days will be like waking up after eating peas and some days will be trying to avoid the land mines of a family gathering.  Do not be hard on yourself, be kind on this journey.  Celebrate your successes, notice how your body, mind and spirit feel on and off sugar and then let your body tell you what to do.  This life of ours is a long journey.  Consider the impact of what sugar can do over a course of a lifetime.  And then consider what your life would be like following its natural rhythm and getting off the roller coaster of the sugar ride.

I wish you great joy on your journey.  And if you find yourself at a crossroad on your journey, try eating a little bowl of peas before bed!
        Denise