courage

There is no perfect.
There is only here and now.
Instead of asking why,
it's time to ask how

You've studied with gurus
masters and chiefs.
Take off the blinders
it's time to see

what God put you here for.
What is your gift?
What are your talents?
What would you miss?

You know what you need.
You know what to do.
It's time to move and
let courage guide you.

Webcamming It

I used to be a techno-phobe, but now I feel like I'm in the 21st century. I still don't twitter or tweet, and I'm a terrible Facebooker, but! I'm loving the webcam. Here's a coupla pix of Brother D playing around:

SpongeBob Squarehead

I don't have pix of my first webcam adventure, but pictured above is me calling XM Radio Guy. So he wasn't answering so I called his phone. Hahahaha The whole point of me learning to webcam it was so I could have a personal training session with T-Tapper Lani Muelrath. AWESOME! Once I was out of my magic-of-webcam trance, I was still just grateful to have this technology. Lani was able to demonstrate the exercises and give me correction in real time. It was so cool! And I learned so much--I feel much more confident in my exercises. Here's what I love about this work: it takes no special equipment or even a lot of space. I can do it at home and traveling. It works as many muscle groups as possible AND it's not just working the muscles. You're improving posture, wringing out the lymphatics, enhancing your overall health. THANK YOU, Lani! This is the best thing since yoga!

All this exercise talk reminds me of something my chiro-friend Catherine said many years ago:

You know the BEST exercise? The one you'll do.

P.S. I'm traveling this week, so may not be posting daily. Today I'll be at our John Morgan Seminar in Cumberland, MD. Then tomorrow I'm going to NYC to see my GSF Vicky. And then! we're going to see Jerry Stocking, author of How to Win by Quitting, on Friday! Woo-hoo! BTW, if you're in NYC, the lecture is free on Fri. from 7-10p at the Meta Center, 214 W. 29th St. 16th Fl. Vicky has never met Jerry so this will be FUN. :-) H.

On The Fence

The above quote is from today's Grasshopper Note. Here's the thing about fence-sitting: I'm pretty good at it. I can balance. I know that the grass is as green on either side. I can see lots of possibilities. Am I waiting for a wind to come and knock me down to make a decision for me?

There really is a part of me--and everyone else--that knows. It's the rest of us that gets in the way. To quote that great contemporary philosopher John Reznik, Truth is a whisper. It's not the noise of society, but the stillness of your soul. Do you stay true to your authentic self, or do you care too much about what others think? Do you risk offending someone or do you play it safe? In the past, I've mostly played it safe. I bite my tongue when I could have spoken up. Or I've waited until I can't tolerate a situation and then I'm a spitting cat. Or so the metaphor was used in a convo this a.m. What's in between? Stupid fence.

The truth is this: my ass is getting tired. It takes a lot of energy to stay up on the fence in this balancing act. And I have work to do. I was walking my labyrinth earlier meditating on this whole fence pattern, with the intention of getting more energized to do the things I need to do.

You're waiting for more energy to DO something when if you just begin doing it, you will get more energy.

*sigh* Truth in a whisper. Well. Time to get off the fence.

Day of Rest

A coupla years ago, Mum helped me clean up my basement to create an art space. I didn't use it for v. long because I ended up moving a few months after. Pictured above is Remi saying hi to Mum. Yes, you're very sweet. Now go away, she used to say with a gingerly pat on the head. Hahahaha Happy Sunday. :-) H.

Quote of the Day

. . . and you can have what you want, or your reasons why not.

HAPPY Anniversary, Peter!

Today is the one year anniversary of HARO, Help A Reporter Out. This is a free service that links up reporters from all media genres to sources (e.g. y-o-u). Queries come 3 times a day and if you qualify as an expert, you answer them. There are different categories: business, travel, lifestyle, etc. I just recently answered one about labyrinths. And here's an article on dreaming pets that features a picture of Barkley! I've FW'd different queries to friends & fam as they apply. Everyone's an expert at something! Some queries will be specific: e.g. looking only to talk with doctors & acupuncturists. Others are asking for experiences from regular people. The pet dreaming article references both.

HARO was created by Peter Shankman, PR Guy & author of Can We Do That? AWESOME book, BTW. If you are a writer, entrepreneur, or have an expertise in something, become a HARO member & sign up here. Query emails are easy to whip through and Peter keeps them v. entertaining. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, PETER! :-) H.

Risk

I got an email from a friend yesterday about some family drama and I had a choice. Because we always have a choice. I could let it sit and hope the storm would blow over like last time, or I could write a Hallmark card with a "times-are-tough" vibe. Or I could tell the truth of how I see it and risk offending her. Guess which option I went for?

The above quote is from Jerry Stocking in the first workshop I attended with him last summer. I think I am ready to stop editing myself. Whenever you have to edit what you say for fear of a person's reaction, it limits the level of the relationship. How deep can you go? Not very. It limits what you can talk about. It limits your experiences with that person.

Why do I edit myself? I do it because I don't want to hurt someone's feelings. But does that really serve the relationship? Does that really help the person in the long run? If I just tell them what they want to hear, then they stay stuck where they are. Do you really want my help? It might not come in the way you want, but I promise that it's the best I can do from an open heart.

Emotional Math

If you loved yourself half as much as I do, it would be twice as much as you do.

This phrase came to me as I was thinking of a conversation with a friend. She'd given herself a good flogging for behaviour she didn't like in herself. Behaviour that seemed innocuous to me--perhaps because I do it too?

Do you beat yourself up so others won't beat you to the punch?

Part of changing a behaviour is just noticing it. Then what? Once it's brought to conscious awareness you get to choose. One thing I'm asking myself these days is:

Are you enjoying yourself?

If you are, accept it and revel in it. Eat the bowl of ice-cream without the guilt. It tastes better. If you're not, then the question is:

What do you want instead?

Guilt & shame add a layer of emotional frosting that keep the patterned behaviour in place. It guarantees that we'll be eating that cake in the future because what we feel shame about, we try to hide. Sometimes we hide it so well that we're not aware of it ourselves. That's denial.

We keep secrets because we think others will think less of us. The truth is that you are worthy of love just because you are.

Off to bed

So tired, but am slapping up a post because I don't think I'll get to it tomorrow. And my Dr. Lee Report will have to wait. So today . . .

XM Radio Guy taught me how to activate my webcam & I had my first webcam chat. It was lots of fun because SIL & M were with me. XM Radio Guy has a thing where he can have a sock puppet talk instead of his picture. So he did that for a while & then switched to a jowly dog. M was thrilled!

After the kiddliewinks were in bed, Brother D & I played with the webcam--and this is where I'm disappointed--I took pictures of us but left the cable at home so I can't upload to my laptop. But it's been super-fun & can't wait to post the pix.

So the reason I'm onto the webcam thing is that I have my first personal training session on Wednesday, and I need to learn how to use it for that. I'm on a quest to get healthy and strong. I'm at the age now where gravity will win if I don't DO something. Consistently. I was looking for a book to read before bed and this jumped off my shelf:

I know I've had several this-book-will-change-your-life book reports recently. And now I'm adding this one to The List. These exercises go beyond losing weight and getting strong. They really focus on health. There are compelling before & after photos, but there are also some amazing stories of people going off blood pressure meds, regulating their menstrual cycles, and getting a handle on diabetes. The exercises are simple and don't require any extra equipment or a tremendous amount of time.

I was really inspired by this book and wanted to start exercising right away. But I also want to make sure I'm doing the exercises correctly. I looked for local T-Tapp classes. Nothing. But I did find Lani Muelrath, who does training online. Enter the webcam. So I'm looking FW to learning the routine. I'll have a full report of course. In the meantime, really . . . Zzzzzzzz . . . nite-nite.

I forgot until I remembered . . .

to write a post. I'm at a seminar this weekend with Dr. David Lee & was out of the house v. early this a.m. So here's a post that's doubling for Sat./Sun. Here's a Dr. Lee quote:

Spread the good news so there's no room for the bad.

Amen! Back on Monday!

Really?

I had to call XM Radio to cancel my subscription. No Bill Hutton, no me. They automatically renewed it, but thankfully didn't have my credit card, so they billed me. Hehhhh . . . so I called and waited. And waited. 25 minutes and then I had to hang up for a phone conference, after which I called again. Have you heard the lame music they play? Remember elevator muzak? Yeah, that. In between are promos for baseball, Nascar & Howard Stern. At minute 23, Gail King comes on and says to hang on, some one will be with me.

Really? You're expecting your customers to wait so long that you've gotten Gail King to cajole us to hang on? BTW, I got to the Gail King marker both times. And this is the same number you call to sign up for service. Call us but we don't really want to talk to you.

I got a v. nice gal on the phone who was completely ineffective. There was no supervisor for me to talk to. According to XM I have a balance that I have to pay for the subscription renewal that THEY did. XM Gal offered to take a payment over the phone. AS IF. As if I'm giving my credit card for them to "automatically renew" my subscription. After all this, she told me that I would have to call back to make sure my cancellation went through. So I call to cancel, but then I have to call AGAIN to make sure I'm cancelled?

They made the mistake of sending me a customer service survey. Nice lady, stupid company. I told them I was writing about this on my blog. So here you go. My kvetching for Friday.

Email from XM Radio Guy

Guess what I'm doing today. I'm guest starring on today's episode of The Bill Hutton Show. YAY, me! We had tentative plans for lunch this week or next, and I got this email this a.m. Back tomorrow . . . .

P.S. Does it make it less of a hairwash day if I slap things into Publisher? Yuh-huh!

Important

I've taken a bit of ribbing for yesterday's post. The IMPORTANT BOX has become a concept unto itself. I was on the phone talking about my phone with John. He was telling me that you can disengage call waiting. "Do you have the manual that came with the phone?"

"Yes."

"Is it in your UNimportant box?"

Hahahahaha Seriously, I kid. What if we sorted our lives like that? Important. Unimportant. We might not be so quick to lose our temper the next time someone cuts us off in traffic. What's in your Important Box?

Ta Da!

Have you ever read one of those books where you see yourself and have a great transformation? I'm not talking Eckhart Tolle, I'm talking something a bit closer to home. Literally. I've just read a book that has changed my life. Yes, I know--another one. But this. This!

One of the themes running thru recent blog posts-- and come to think of it, my life-- has been clutter & (dis)organization. It's been a lifelong struggle. I get organized and then natural entropy takes over. Then I just close the door. The women-folk in my fam are all uber-organized. It's inconthevable to Mum just how I can spread out as much as I do. But she also marvels at my artistic abilities. So there's that.

I've always chalked it up to being left-handed, because I really am one of those right-brained dominant people--creative, big picture-oriented, AND I totally lose track of time. The mundane deadens my soul. That last sentence just spilled out, so it must be true.

Enter Lanna Nakone with 4 organizing styles based on a brainy questionaire:

Prioritizing: Frontal left part of brain. Adept at analyzing data, delegating king or queen.
Maintaining: Posterior left part of brain. Routines & traditional organizing methods. (Prolly wrote many of those books sitting on my shelf).
Harmonizing: Posterior right part of brain. All about people & relationships. Needs a peaceful environment. I bet Oprah is a Harmonizing type.
Innovating: Frontal right part of brain. Artistic & creative. Has a unique stacking system that no one else understands. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Perhaps I just needed validation & understanding. But it's rare to find myself on the pages of an organization book. This time I'll file everything. A place for everything & everything has its place. Blah. Blah. Blah. And then entropy wins.

"Studies by Dr. Richard Haier...demonstrate that the brain works up to one hundred times harder when trying to perform activities utilizing functions that don't match our innate talents. This increased energy expenditure can lead to a variety of problems, including diminished success and health."


Working with the brain makes so much sense, doesn't it? Whether it's in education or marketing, understanding how the brain works--and how your brain works, is the foundation for success. So this is what made me fall in love with Lanna: "Sorry to keep bringing this up, but let's get this out in the open. It is your worst issue. No one understands your relationship with paper but you." Hahahahaha So you know how some people have everything colour-coded and filed? Here's my new filing system blessed by Lanna: Put all important papers in a box labeled "Important Papers." Done. Enough to drive a Maintaining type crazy. But it works for me.

This book is about organizing, but so much more. How you sort not just stuff, but information. She goes into Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic preferences, as well. I would hazard a guess that this book could possibly save marriages & other co-habitators. THANK YOU, Lanna!

P.S. This is not an excuse to say "this is the way I am" and continue to be a slob. Rather, it helps to identify your particular style and work with your strengths to create harmony in your household. It not only identifies your strengths & weaknesses, but shows you the way out of your disorganization. BRILLIANT.

Spring!

I know it's not official until the equinox knocks, but! Spring is here. The season of open windows and fresh air and laundry on the line. Birds are singing and my daffodil bulbs are bulbing. YAY! Gone is the B & W photo collage blog header, and in its place, a BEAUTIFUL shot of my road. To quote Epicurius:

Not what we have,
but what we enJOY,
constitutes our abunDANCE.

Day of Rest

This is another one of those cute pix that comes in a FW. I've been waiting to use it for a Day of Rest post. So sweet. So . . . tweet. Oh, yes I did just say that. ;-) Have a sweet day.

P.S. If you're on the East Coast, I prolly don't need to remind you to change your clocks today.

P.P.S. And apparently if you live elsewhere on the continent, you need to as well, except for random states like AZ.

Parched

I can't give credit to the photo--one of those Isn't this cute FW's I got. And yes it is. As we all know, it's important to stay irrigated. . . er . . . hydrated. Yeah, that's it. Happy Saturday!

Another message about clutter

I woke up at 3:30 a.m. so I pulled Your Heart's Desire off the shelf. I turned to this quote:

Chaos, sloppiness, unfinished business, and clutter are energy bandits, stealing away your time! ...Is your house in order? Is it stuffed with unnecessary junk? Are you hanging onto something simply . . . because it's there? Clear the decks. Donate. Recycle. Share. Have a yard sale. Make room for new energy and life force to flow into your life.

I have boxes in the basement that I still have not unpacked. It's been almost 2 years. I'm thinking they're not that important. Guess what I'm doing this weekend?!

Joke from Mum

A gynecologist had become fed up with malpractice insurance and HMO paperwork and was burned out. Hoping to try another career where skillful hands would be beneficial, he decided to become a mechanic. He went to the local technical college, signed up for evening classes, attended diligently, and learned all he could. When the time for the practical exam approached, the gynecologist prepared carefully for weeks and completed the exam with tremendous skill. When the results came back, he was surprised to find that he had obtained a score of 150%.

Fearing an error, he called the instructor, saying, "I don't want to appear ungrateful for such an outstanding result, but I wonder if there is an error in the grade."

The instructor said, "During the exam, you took the engine apart perfectly, which was worth 50% of the total mark. You put the engine back together again perfectly, which is also worth 50% of the mark."

After a pause, the instructor added, "I gave you an extra 50% because you did it all through the muffler, which I've never seen done in my entire career."

This joke is in doubley, tho. She sent it to my brother first. Not Brother D, my composer brother. She makes that mistake every so often. Didn't you get my email? she asks. And then I see an FW from Composer Brother, with a Hehhhhhh...Mum sent me your email again. Hahahahaha

Changing Lives: Mum's Trip

Have tools, will travel. Photo above of Mum's friend Charlie who invited her to the Dominican Republic and then didn't go! Come on, Anne. All the COOL people are going. Apparently not! ;-)

This is the house they build. 750 square feet, with electricity & cold running water! It takes 4 1/2 days to build. Mum said she's never worked so hard in her life--which if you know Mum, means something! The whole community comes together to build these houses. The family that moved into Mum's build came from 250 square feet of no plumbing or electric. They have nothing and they have everything, says Mum. No daycare centers, no nursing homes, and everyone dances.


This is the finished house. It costs $8000 to build. Cambiando Vidas translates to "Changing Lives." WOW. Mum is already planning a trip back in November & has invited me along. Time to learn me some Spanish & pump some iron.

Quote-of-the-day: Sarah Ban Breathnach

P.S. Her name is pronounced Bon Brannock. :-) Back tomorrow with tales of Mum's adventures!

Spring Cleaning

The above quote comes from Kathryn L. Robyn via Sarah Ban Breathnach's Moving On. I'm reading it for the 4th time. The theme for this month and in my life and in this season seems to be about clutter. And getting rid of it. Not that you would know from the snow that fell last night, but we were starting to have spring around here. Starting. Still, a good time to stay indoors, warm and cozy & go thru some boxes. Which I would do if I were in my little river house. As it is, I'm still at Mum's, and Mum is still in Santa Domingo because her flight was cancelled due to snow in Atlanta. Lousy Smarch weather. Oh well. Tea, anyone? Have a cozy day.

Day of Rest: Welcome Home

I'm picking up Mum from the airport v. late tonight. She's returning from her trip to the Dominican Republic & I'm looking FW to hearing all her adventures of pouring concrete and juggling cinder blocks. I hadn't heard from her until yesterday when I got a rather cryptic email telling me that yes, indeed she had arrived & that everything was on schedule for her flight back to the States.
In our fam we grew up with Bird's custard--far superior to vanilla pudding! You cahn't make a PROPER trifle without it! Recently I found a resource for PG Tips, the BEST tea. British Delights also has all foods British--because you know, that's what the Brits are known for. Hahahaha So I ordered the custard as well and it came in these econo-canisters. But look what it says on the side:

See? PROPER.

So as I was editing this post again, Mum called! She's at the Santa Domingo airport and her flight is delayed due to snow in Atlanta. She said they built a 2-bedroom house in 4 1/2 days & that she's never worked so hard in her life. If you know Mum, that is beyond superhero proportions. She said that when she sent her email, there were all these keys that she had no idea how to work on the computer. "I recognized about 10," she said. Hahahaha See you soon, Mum!

LOVE YOU