Magical potential

And then there was day 678... drum roll please.....

Day 678 and counting.
   Should there be a marching band or a parade on day 678? What about a party, celebrating with all my friends and family?  A national holiday?  No such thing.  Today I bought a new microwave, ours went kaput.  My hubby turns 50 and my dog tried to eat a baby bunny.  The sun is shinning.  I got my office caught up.  I gathered pine cones in my back yard so I could mow.  And now where is the band??

   Day 678 is special and completely ordinary.  What makes a day special and why do I think any day could be ordinary?  Do you ever feel like you have it- you know the answer to all your questions- you are on fire?  And then the very next day or minute or even second that feeling has escaped you and you are back to looking around wondering.

  It guess it is life,  Day 1- Day 678- Day 1000 they are all special and they are all ordinary.  Each day is made up of 1,440 minutes.  Do they all have to be earth shattering?  Isn't the best minutes the ones that sneak up on you.  You walk around the corner and the sunset makes you pause in awe?  Those are the minutes that bring your breath to a halt and then fill you will wonder.  The whole day was mundane- whatever that means- but that one second- spectacular.

And that is why we should celebrate each day.  Not because there is a huge party but because each minute has magical potential.  Our expectations get in the way of magical moments.

Wishing you a good journey,
         Dneise

Summer 6 week challenge

Hi all,
    Today is day number 665!  I missed the actual mid point of summer- August 1st, but today is pretty close.

  That means 6 wonderful weeks of summer still remain.  In my clutter clearing classes I have been thinking in terms of block of time and or task.  Bringing big projects into bite sized pieces can keep you moving.  Before you know it the mountain has become a little piece of cake.

   Six weeks that give us six beautiful blocks of summer to play with.  What do we want to do with those 6 lovely weeks?  The first thing that comes to mind is to write a blog a week.    I actually have 4 active blogs going, none of which have been updated lately.  I know this seems crazy given my 1000 day journey write- run - smile.

   And this is what I also love about a journey- the freedom to explore the path along the way.  But the winding road of life can take you off path and over hills, swamps, through corn fields and into a big old pit of self doubt and inner frustration, if you aren't very careful.

    And so this is what I propose to me and you...if you want to join in.  To pick three tasks that you want to do, have been meaning to do, really want to get done anything that would make your heart and soul lighter and brighter.  For the next 6 weeks do those 3 tasks each week.

Here is my own list...
   1.  Write a blog/week- more is great but 1 is perfectly acceptable
   2.  Go on an LSD/week (LSD for me is Long Slow Distance running/walking!!)
   3.  Deep clean  or clean out one item per week.

     I will be keeping track of this challenge in a notebook.  Week1, week2, week3 and so on until week 6.  Here I get to write down my goals and all my wonderful progress. Plus I can give myself notes and ideas and even wisdom.  I find putting my challenges and journeys on paper gives them power and sustainability!

  Wishing you a wonderful 4th Day of August and inspired 6 week challenge!!
         Denise

Clutter clearing is soul's work

Hi all,
    I'm taking a break from mowing and composting my lawn - I was out driving Dale- my power push lawnmower.  Normally, I'm wheeling Michaelangelo my reel mower but today I need power to grind up my beautifully richly composted bale of straw.

    When I clean, when I mow, when I run and when I dig in dirt my creative brain comes out to play.  Today it is hot as fire outside.  I'm taking a break to recharge my batteries, cool off and drink some fresh pinnaple green drink- so refreshing.

    In two day's, I'll be teaching a class for the City of Auburn.  Simplify your life - clear your clutter!  As I mow, compost my talk.  Nobody hears me but the birds and my dog Sally.  But let me tell you I can talk up a storm while playing in my yard.

    I think it is high time I share with you my life's calling.  We had quiet a talk before I came in from the sun but the inspiration to share made me pause in my mow.

   My life's calling is to nourish, discover and live my creative authentic path and then help others do the same!

   That's it!  How did I come about this discover of my life's path.  Well I can tell you it wasn't easy.  It only took 49 and a half years for this clarity!!!  But it has been evolving, composting and growing roots my entire life.   I few weeks ago I did some clutter clearing on my own.  I spent an afternoon with my memorabilia drawer.  Shortly there after I was asked the question again: "what is my life's calling?"     walla... my clarity appeared.  The discoveries and insights I made going deep and backwards help me see clearly and move forwards.

  And so do I think clutter clearing is important?  I think it is souls work.  I think clutter clearing helps you find your soul's path.  It helps you discover what you love, what gives you energy, what is yours and what is someone else's.  It helps you know your spirit and your passions.  It gives you feedback on what depletes you and what makes your eye's sparkle and step quicken.  When you dig out from the schmutz of life, when you get clear, when you connect to your heart then your own path starts to appear.

  I want this for you!

Because....My life's calling is to nourish, discover and live my creative authentic path and then help others do the same.  And I will do this with great joy.  Maybe my creative path will show up in my writing, talks, while walking with friends or mowing with Michelangelo.  It might be strongest when I dig with the dirt and worms or when I'm blending up wild green puddings that no-one but me will eat.  I don't care, when I'm doing my heart and soul's work my spirit thrives and I know I'm on track.

Wishing you moments of clarity and discoveries of what you love on your own journeys.
       Day 624ish,
            Denise

Schmutz:  this is a techinical term my hubby and I use to discribe residue's left behind

Simplicity in a bouquet

 

My neighbor brought me a freshly picked, right out of her garden, thank you bouquet of daisies.  When I was little, daisies were my favorite flower- so simple, fresh, happy.  Apparently, they still do.  In this journey of 1000 days, I have taken a few detours along the way but being true to my authentic spirit- keeps bringing back to my practice.  

    And practicing is really what I'm doing on this journey.  Someday's my practice is spectacular- other days it is humbling.  But everyday it is part of my life.

    My creativity got a shot in the arm when I went back home to Colorado a month ago.  I traveled back home to family and for helping my mom host her Holyoke book club.  She was born in Holyoke.  Much of our family lived there and I was a frequent visitor growing up.  For book club we read American the Beautiful by Ben Carson.  This was not a book I would normally read but since there would be a discussion at the end- I read it cover to cover.  Along the way, something interesting happened.  I got out of a rut.  

    The definition of insanity, or so I've heard, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  Reading the same type of books over and over again and hoping to find a major shift or understanding is unlikely.  But expanding and something new freshens your brain, your spirit and your mind.  

    When I read book club book, traveled to a new/old town and shifted my daily activities my desire to nurture and nourish my own creativity got awakened.

    Sometimes when you or I want to find something new we must go back to simplicity.  This is where we have room to breathe and create.  What do you truly love?  What makes you happy?  

    I'm discovering on this 1000 journey that if I become a public writer or stay writing in blog and journals doesn't matter as much as honoring the fact that I am a writer.  When I think of myself as a writer, I feel more creative. I like how my brain functions as a writer.  I start to look at life a bit differently.  Finding inspiration for my creativity is essential.  As is creating a space and environment in which to flourish.

   For me enjoying a canning jar full of daisies lifts my spirits.  Taking a picture of my bouquet of daisy's and then writing about it is priceless.

   Wishing you all lifted spirits and creative 

          Denise

Pausing to be

Day 599
   Tomorrow will be the first day of June.  It will also be my 600 day.  I love a good coincidence.  But today is still day 599.  Staying where you are is indeed a practice.  I have a tendency to look toward tomorrow.  Today I need to accomplish x,y and z. This week I need to go here, there and over yonder.
This month my Master task list is long and tedious..  And so it goes.  I'm not present.  I'm contemplating and fretting about the future.  What do I miss as I'm lost in tomorrow?

Why is day 600 more interesting than today day 599?  It isn't.

  The clock on my I-pad reads: 8:47 pm.  It's Sunday night.  I'm writing to you and to myself.  I sit at the kitchen table.  My husband is working on his art and playing music in the pool room.  Q-tip our black and white kitty sits by the back slider and watches.  The oven vent still runs over the kitchen stove.  Our pantry door is open and the light is on.  It isn't quite dark outside but the living room is getting there.

How much of each day do I miss by putting myself into the future?  A future that may or may not ever happen.  Right now, at this very moment, day 599 it is real.  This is all that matters.  Being here and awake is the gift.

     Wishing you this moment,
           Denise

37 items in your closet

Day 586 and counting.....

    If you want to live with passion- be passionate.  Of course, why didn't I think of that.  For a week my girlfriend and I are doing a little experiment.  The next 7 days we are accepting our intuition as nothing less than brilliant.  

    How many clothes do you have in your closet?  How many do you wear each week?  How many of the clothes you own never get worn in a season or year?  Why do we keep what we don't like?  

     Today I was in a doctor's waiting room, waiting for a friend.  As I sat I watched families coming and going.  What we wear and how we carry ourselves does in fact impact our days.  I'm not a great shopper.  When I shop it is more like an item on my to-do list than an enjoyable outitting.  I only shop when I need something and by the time I think I need something my wardrobe in desperate need of attention.  But still I'm sure I have more than 37 items in my wardwarb.  

    My co-intuitive experimenting friend sent me a blog site she found this afternoon:  http:dallas.citymomsblog.com  the blog was wardrobe capsule.  This mom shed her excess clothes and shoes down to only 37 items for each season.  Simplying all the way to perfection.  Instead of having too many clothes in your closet, you engage your creative spirit - mixing and matching 37 hand selected fully loved items.  37 greats is better than 150 so-sos.

    I like it!  In clutter clearing letting go of what you don't love and getting rid of the stuff that delutes your life is a cornerstone principle.  So why not take a 37 clothes item challenge and take your overstuffed, outdated, medocore pile of clothes and shoes and turn it into a place of beauty and joy? 

    First things first,  before buying anything we have to clean out completely!  Empty out our closets and sort item by item until we are only left with what we truly love and wear.  From here we can build a 37 item capsule of our creative - authentic- sassy style!

  Be passionate -  be creative have nothing in your life that isn't brilliant!

    Cleaning out your closet to only the essentials is a perfect exercise in listening to our inutition.  As I contimplate this idea, I'm still sitting on my couch but I have a very good feeling about this move.  Intuitively it feels just right- it is brilliant!

      Happy travels to you on this Monday,

             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

Day 252 to thine own self be true

   Did I mention I was going to Scotland?  Well I did and I'm back home.  Today, I'm feeling the stress and wear from a trip overseas.  I plan to spend a day with gentle work, light cleaning and lots of tender loving care.

   I truly appreciate the wild and wonderful women I met on this journey to Iona Scotland.  I was inspired and in awe of their independence, confidence and presence.  Strong women who travel the world, creating waves in the sea.  Part of me wishes I was such a woman but in reality I'm most comfortable with the daily practice of loving each day.  I chose to explore the universe in a single atom, others explore the universe itself.  There is no right or wrong answer just lots of questions.  Which for me are best answered when I am rested, strong, healthy and grounded.

    It is good to get out of your comfort zone and as I heard in Scotland- take a gap from your normal life.  But no matter where you travel - or don't travel - it is still essential to stay within your own being, trusting the inner guidance of your essence.  Celebrate each other and yourself.

       To all my sisters I met amd traveled with on this journey- I wish you a happy, safe and inspired re-entry.

                 Denise

   

 

Wowed by the gift of everyday

Day 215 of 1000 days

  When you start realizing each day is truly a gift.  Something interesting starts to happen.  Each moment starts to be more valuable.  My days are feeling more like treasure hunts than a never ending treadmill of days blending into each other.  I have found the time I used to spend watching TV has almost become extinct.  Over the years, minimizing TV was often a goal.  Plans like, no more than 7 hours a week were my norm.  It was about giving up something- not adding something else.  Now I don't even think about TV I'm not even interested I'm busy living.

  As I start adding wonder and appreciation for each day, I find myself moving further and further away from things that were really just killing time.  If I'm tired I pause and sit down, or take a nap.  Sometimes I'm thirsty and that is why I'm tired, other times I'm hungry.  Filling my tired with mindless TV only further depletes my energy.  

Yesterday, I took a long nap in the afternoon.  Before my nap, I found myself wondering from project to project with no focus.  I hated to waste time by taking a nap....... After my nap, I was happier, had more energy and ended up spending most of the rest of the day outside in the yard.  The power of rest is a good healer.

My original plan on this 1000 day journey was to smile, write and run everyday.  As it turns out what I needed was to learn to listen to my inner voice, my mind, spirit, emotions and body.  I needed to learn to discover myself and discover the day as it unfolds in expected and unexpected bends and turns.

  Each day is truly a unique treasure that will never be duplicated.  At night I try to pause and think what my favorite blessings or moments of the day were. Yesterday it was:  Mowing my neighbors lawn,  making homemade chocolate( or maybe eating it was my favorite), and chatting with a friend on a morning walk.

  Maybe these feeling of gratitude and wonder are just a phase or part of the spring season but I truly hope that what I'm experiencing from this journey is how life really can be because it is amazing.

Wishing you great joy in discovering your own journey of each day!

       Denise

Composting life

Day 198 of 1000

What inspired me today?  What made me smile?  What kindness did I offer?  Did I say thank you?  Did I listen?  Was I heard?  Was my breath deep or was it shallow?  Did I savor this day or will it fall into the compost pile of days gone by?  I don't know.

With spring comes new life, beginnings and swift change.  I set new plans and goals.  Ideas spin webs of design though my head.  I eat peas and asparagus with grass fed hot dogs and an egg for dinner.  I watch a movie about food and then look at my writings from Aprils gone by.  Do you ever feel like you know all the answers?  And then do you feel like you know no answer to any question?  The second is how I feel tonight.

It's not that I'm without inspiration and creativity, it is more of a wondering question.  Am I on my right path, do these little ponderings and practices make a difference- in the long run or even today?  It is like the universe is within us, each of us.  At the same time it is like we are only a particle of dust within the universe.

I read a quote from Mother Theresa once and I'm not sure of the exact wording but it went something like this:
   We are only drops in the ocean, but the ocean would be so much less without those individual drops.

It is true an ocean is a collections of drops.  We all matter.  And yet we are all one ocean.  Maybe my contribution to this world matters more than I realize, maybe there are days I'm essential and other days I'm part of the compost pile.  Even a blade of grass in the compost pile matters. Without each ingredient there would be no black gold, no foundation of rich soil.

And so as I ramble on before heading off to bed this Saturday night, I pause and say thank you.  I don't know what matters most.  Before my grandma Ella passed away, she taught me a wise lesson.  All her life she took care of her belongings and did the right things.  But in the end what mattered most were her relationships.  Maybe it is our relationships that do matter most.

Tonight, I'm thankful for food, spring, books, family and friends.  I'm thankful for the wise women who have come before to clear our path.  I'm thankful for the little rain drops sitting on the leaf tonight as Sally and I went for a walk.  I'm thankful that I get to keep on trying, exploring and smiling.  And at the end of the day, I'm so very thankful that I have a warm and safe bed to sleep off the day and life compost.

Wishing you a beautiful journey,
        Denise