What to do?

"What do you want to do with this your one wild and precious life?" -Mary Oliver

What do you want to do and are you doing it?

If so congratulations if not where are you stuck?

What beliefs or choices are you making that are keeping you from living your best life?

Individuals who are willing to reflect and ponder, to pause and identify who take the time to do the inner work, who are accountable for all of their choices ...those are the people in love with their life.

What will it take to get you to ask yourself questions, challenge old beliefs and develop trust in your innate wisdom?


I can support you to live this one precious life with greater joy and balance.

Call 541-389-0831 for a complimentary coaching session. Its never too late to have a life you love.

Life Coaching for connection, balance and health.

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Play

Play, is it underrated as a way to meet needs in your life?

We learned to play ultimate frisbee this weekend with my sisters and their families and came home with a lot of enthusiasm for the game. Last night we rounded up 9 of our neighbors ranging in age from eight to forty-eight and had a rousing, funfilled hour of play. It met my need for connection, fun, community, physical health and joy.

Joy at how the simple things in life have so much meaning and fulless, joy from watching the intensity and the laughter, accidental physical contact, being out of breath, delight in a glass of cold water, watching the youngest Martin and Kate catch, miss and throw with abandon, playing with adults, high fives all around...

Aahh...the simple joys of summer play!

What can you do for play today? Do you dare?

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"You may find the worst enemy or best friend within yourself." English Proverb

How often are you your own best friend? For me it takes awareness and conscious choice to shift into friendly internal dialog. It takes remembering empathy.

I had a disagreement with my husband last night and in the moment I lost all of my compassionate communication skills. I watched myself go down my old path of blaming him and them blaming myself... As I was doing that I recognized the pain for what it was and shifted to self empathy.

I began saying you're okay, you did the best you could, I'm feeling sad and disappointed... and during that time I went and played frisbee with my son (met a need for fun, play and connection) and then watched a movie(met a need for ease and laughter).

It took paying really close attention to what I was saying to gently turn things around. Beating myself up, blaming him...was not going to make the situation get any better. Once triggered I need to care for myself, get some perspective and then either talk about it or let it go completely.

One way to be your own best friend is to learn to be compassionate with yourself. True, beautiful change and healing can emerge from there.

Notice your thoughts today and if the need arises practice some empathy!

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Balance is not a final destination it is something we have the opportunity to practice throughout our lives. It's a choice and it takes a commitment to be more present in the moment; to pause, connect and reflect before you take action. Consider it being a part of your journey.

There are a multitude of different options to practice balance in your life, one simple way is through eating. Since eating is a part of our daily life we practice the art of balance without adding something to our to do list.

How do you balance your intake so that you feel satisfied, energized, content...?
Pausing as you stand in front of the refrigerator and asking yourself; What am I feeling? Am I physically hungry? Emotionally? Will this support me to feel great after I eat it? Can I enjoy every bite? Would I be willing to sit quietly and pay attention to what I am eating? What needs will be met by eating this?...

Food as nourishment to your soul as well as your body...want to explore that?


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The moments

I went to the laundromat this weekend to wash a down comforter. It's been awhile since I spent anytime there. It was a Saturday and many people were in and out. I was reading andafter some time went by noticed a beautiful young girl glancing my way. I could have ignored her and gone on reading but she captured my attention and I took the opportunity to connect and be present with something alive in front of me.

We did a dance of smiles, a bit of talk and a lot of flirting...I got my needs for play, spontaneity, and joy met. I'm imagining she had some needs met as well.

I am sharing this story as a reminder to each of you and to myself to be ready at any moment to see beauty and joy in front of you.

What's in front of you now?


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Nutty Brown Rice

This dish goes great with some lightly sauted greens or a big green salad, its good cold for lunch as well.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup each sliced almonds and sunflower seeds
2 tablesppons sesame seeds
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1 small onion diced
1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. butter
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 tbsp. snipped fresh parsley or fresh snipped basil
Tamari, or braggs liquid amino


Saute onions in butter over medium high heat until translucent. Add almonds, sunflowers, sesame seeds, carots and pepper flacks and cook until almonds are lightly browned. Add cooked rice and parsley or basil; stir through until heated. Add tamari or braggs to taste.
Enjoy!

Transitions

This time of year, for many families, is a time of transition from the structure of school to the potential space that summer can allow.

This year it is also a big leaving for us. My son is graduating from 5th grade and moving on to a new school. We have been with this small magnet school for eleven years and it has been a community connection for our whole family. It has supported us to meet needs for deep connection, safety, authenticity, love...the list goes on.

I feel such deep gratitude mixed in with layers of grief as we leave a place that has supported so many of our values. Holding joy and gratitude together with grief and being fully present for it all is my intention. I am more conscious of subtle changes as I become more present and connected. In the past I have not been as present as I will be today. I will notice what I am letting go of as I hold the door open to what will arise in the next moment. And I will hold that space for Jack as best I can. Embracing transition with all of the feelings that surface, allowing them all to be.

As we move on, I know in my heart, the seeds that have been planted during our time at Amity Creek will continue to blossom as we journey on...in that way Amity is with us always.

How will you transition into Summer?

What do you want to be most present for?

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Community connection

Early this morning a bunch of hot air balloons were floating over Bend. As we watched them out the window one got quite low and very close and ended up landing half a block from our home. It was a beautiful multicolor striped balloon.

We walked over to have a look and many other people did the same. There we were many in bathrobes and pajamas chatting and taking photos, smiling, talking...connecting at 7:30 in the morning.

It was so interesting and fun to note when something unusual occurs it brings out an openness that doesn't often happen in our everyday lives.

I really enjoyed having my day start in such an unusual and connecting way. And I recognize I want more of that in my life. Spontaneous moments of connection with other humans.

Consider taking the opportunity today to connect with someone in a spontaneous way. Notice how you feel and what needs were met or not met doing this.

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Observing

"To observe without evaluation is the highest form or human intelligence"- J. Kirshnamurti

And I know for me after years and years of training in evaluating simply observing is a skill that takes practice. The way I have been taught to observe without judgment or evaluation is imagine you are seeing or hearing what is happening while looking through the lens of a video camera. Instead of saying "this house is a mess" You would describe what you see; "When I see dirty dishes in the sink, two cups on the floor and three pairs of socks on the couch..." or instead of reacting to a statement such as "You're so mean" you share the specific words someone used "when you said dinner is awful..."

What shifted in you as you read each of those?

Can you imagine what might happen in your relationships if evaluations and judgments diminished. This is one step in the process of learning compassionate communication. If this peeked your interest you can go to the NVC website to gain more information.

It's a new way of being for me and I appreciate the clarity and kindness it brings into my world.

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Garage Purge

We cleaned out our garage this weekend after seven years. We got rid of a lot of stuff we weren’t using, or was too small, broken…It felt good as we were doing it. Then we got in the truck to take some of the items to goodwill and the others to the dump.
Goodwill was packed, the woman who assisted us said they were full to the brim, she didn’t understand how people could have so much to give away when she couldn’t afford to buy most of it. I felt a bit disheartened and was able to empathize with her, then moved onto the dump.

The dump was quite an experience for me. I had never been…I wonder how many other people have never seen where their garbage ends up. I felt a bit disoriented and confused when my husband said just throw the stuff on the ground…I looked around and saw piles of stuff being covered by backhoes full of dirt…Our beautiful earth was being loaded down with our garbage, junk, plastic… As we left the dump the women said on Saturdays there are usually 500 loads dropped. That’s just Saturday! I left feeling dismayed, sad and confused.

After a couple of days processing and getting some support I sense a deeper awareness of how I want to be in regards to mindfulness to reduce, reuse, recycle and simplify and at the same time feel compassion for my need to buy for beauty, choice, play, adventure…

My intention is to be more aware of how I buy keeping in mind the whole earthly cost of what I do and perhaps most importantly forgive myself when I choose something that may not fit. If we each were willing to consider this I wonder what would shift…

What if anything would you consider doing differently? Today…

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