Guess what? I just turned 100!

Just kidding.

But I have written 100 blog posts since beginning my blogging journey. It all started back in January with a restless yearning, something in me seeking expression, which became my blogging commitment and hence my contract with Spirit, my commitment to the Divine partnership of co-creation.

And so I set off on my blogging journey, and soon into the trail I realized I was weighted down, my pack back was just way too heavy.  I got to chuck out a bunch of stuff I hadn’t even realized I was carrying around: Perfectionism, Procrastination, Judgment, Worry….. ever run into those?

Whew, that felt better! But you know what? They were back again the very next morning! Hence the humbling realization that these mindsets require daily vigilance lest they creep back in. This sparked my re-commitment to my daily meditation practice. I find that it really is the pause that refreshes, the space that allows something Beyond to find its way into my consciousness, the opening for Spirit to make Itself known in my life.

Along the trail, I got to learn a lot about the fear of failure, and how tempting it can be to use it as an excuse not to go forward. I also learned that those gremlin voices in my head (perfectionism, procrastination, judgment and worry) are probably never going to go away for good. The trick is to just know that, accept it, acknowledge their presence, and carry on anyway.

Looking back over these 100 posts I realize I’ve covered a lot of ground. Ups and downs, twists and turns, epiphanies and insights, explorations into productivity, parenting your elderly parent, what it means to be a spiritual being on a human journey, the daily ins and outs of our lives…

The best parts?  The strength and self confidence that comes from staying true to my commitment. Choosing to get back on the trail when I slip. Realizing I am surrounded by a loving community of readers who are journeying with me. Feeling my connection with all of you, dear readers. So thank you, thank you for being a part of my journey, thank you for hanging in there with me, thank you for your comments and likes and shares.

Can’t wait to see where we go from here!  Ready for the next 100?

A pause for reflection along the blogging trail

“I sense a change in you,” says a good friend.  

“You’re happier,” answers my hubby when I asked him if he had noticed any changes in me since I started my blogging commitment  2 months ago.

Well, 36 blog posts later, it seems like a good time to pull off my backpack, pull out my bag of paleo trail mix and sit a while and reflect on my blogging journey. Like any journey, it’s had its surprises, challenges, discoveries and joys. 

Having set off without a map, I’ve been guided by the compass of my inner voice, supported by my partnership with the Divine, doing my best to get out of my own way and allow That which seeks expression to have its way through me.

So here are some lessons I’ve learned along the way. I’m sharing them in the hopes that they may inspire you on your own journey to greater self-expression, whatever form that may take.

• It’s not necessary to be perfect in order to out yourself out there.
• It’s actually perfectly OK not to be perfect in order to put yourself out there.
• People appreciate vulnerability.
• You have no idea where your words will go, and whose heart they will touch.
• There is a deep sense of satisfaction that comes from bridging the gap between “I want to do it” and “I am doing it.”
• Sometimes you get to a river and you have no idea how to ford it. That’s when you trust and jump in and find it wasn’t as deep as you thought, or a log comes floating by you can hang on to.
• Sometimes there is a fork in the road and you’re not sure which way to go. It turns out there are really no wrong turns, only different choices.
• You never know who is going to reach out and lend you a helping hand.
• You can keep going even when you think you can’t. You just take the next step.
• The world is waiting for that which only you can give.

 What is waiting to be born through you, dearest reader?

PS In case you missed the beginning of my blogging journey, and would like to see how it all started, you can catch up here:

 Making the Unknown Known – Day 1 of my new blogging journey

Into the Wild – Day 2 on the Blogging Trail

Lightening my load - a daily practice

Summiting my Capitan – Day 4 on the blogging trail

Summiting my Capitan – Day 4 on the blogging trail

"This is not an effort to 'conquer,'" Jorgeson said Tuesday on Twitter, from 2,000 feet (610 meters) up the side of El Capitan. "It's about realizing a dream."

Since I seem to have set off on a hiking metaphor on my blogging journey, I thought it fitting to pay homage to Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, who captivated the attention of the world this week by making the first free ascent of the Dawn Wall to the summit of the 3,000-foot rock known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

I caught a snippet of an interview with Caldwell and Jorgeson on NPR yesterday, in which the interviewer was asking Jorgeson what was going through his mind during that time period when he climbed and fell 11 times, before finally managing to scale one particularly difficult section.  You know what he said? “Resolve and determination.”  

Holy wow!  How many of us have that kind of persistence, determination and the courage to persist in and believe in the manifestation of our dreams when faced with repeated “failures”?  How many times do we give up on our dreams when the first obstacle rears its head, let alone the 11^th?  How easily do we pack it in when things don’t go as expected?

I’ll tell you something. Next time I am tempted to use “failure” as an excuse not to go forward, next time my foot slips and I go tumbling into space, next time I look ahead and don’t see the way up…. I’m going to remember those words, and those moments on the face of El Capitan, and take my cues from Kevin Jorgeson.

President Obama tweeted,  “ So proud of @TommyCaldwell1 and @KJorgeson for conquering El Capitan. You remind us that anything is possible.”

So remember beloved reader, anything is possible!

Lightening my load – a daily practice

It sure did feel good to leave behind that tiresome quartet of perfectionism, procrastination, judgment and worry by the wayside yesterday….. but you know what I realized this morning?  Those tricky mindsets have a way of sneaking back in while you are sleeping… ever notice that?

My conclusion? Sadly, it’s not a once and for all mental/emotional/psychological de-cluttering job. Just like that stuff keeps creeping back into our homes, cars, closets, desks….. you know the stuff I mean; well, so too does the mental junk.

The solution?

For me, it’s the daily practice of meditation. While I have noticed increased value from at least a half hour daily, even 5 or 15 minutes can be incredibly beneficial. And even though sometimes it seems like all that is happening is that my mind is chattering away like crazy, flitting from list making to what if scenarios to planning frenzies to "I’m hungry" like some hummingbird with ADD, the reality is that I’m a different person when I get up from my meditation cushion (actually, my living room couch). 

There is more room somehow, for that which is beyond me to make known its presence.  For that space between all those thoughts to open up, so I can feel the presence of Spirit. Space for Reality to reveal itself. For the holy to override the mundane.

And the other beautiful thing about meditating that I have noticed? I’m calmer, happier, kinder; more easily able to switch off the voices of worry, fear, whatever, and remind myself of my true nature, my unbounded, limitless, joyful Self.

And you dear reader, will you join me on the cushion?