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?

How to juggle multiple roles without going nuts

I’m of that generation that so many of us baby boomers find ourselves in – sandwiched between our roles as spouses, parents, grandparents and increasingly, caretakers for our own elderly parents, all while still actively pursuing our careers.

On some days, it can be crazy making. Not that my adult kids, thank goodness, need any parenting at this stage, as I am blessed that they are all self sufficient and independent, though unfortunately that is not the case for many of us, and wasn’t always that way for me.

It seems to me that the crazy making is not so much born of others’ demands on my time and attention, but rather on my own relationship to it all.  It’s about my own rather unrealistic and demanding desire to be there 100% for everyone in my life 100% of the time, and the reality is that there is more to attend to than there are available hours to do it in.

What to do then? I’m thinking back to Rory Vaden’s decision-making options – ignore, prioritize, delegate, postpone…. When you are a first-born and suffer from the Responsibility syndrome, (you know the one I mean?) it’s easy to get caught up in the compelling feeling that you have to do everything for everyone, perfectly, all the time. So it’s been really helpful to put these strategies that I usually apply to business decisions, to my personal life.

Ahh, just stepping back enough to realize I have choices brings relief. Asking myself these questions helps me to feel a sense of control over my life.

–      What can I scratch off my list?

–      What are my priorities?

–      What can I delegate to someone else? 

–      What can I postpone to a better time?

And let’s certainly not forget self-care. It’s all so easy to neglect when you are feeling pressured to take care of so many things, but it is so vital to make your own well-being a priority. Taking that hike. Having dinner with a girlfriend. Going to bed early. Meditating.

Are you in the sandwich generation dear reader? I’d love to hear your tricks for staying sane!

Can we really change our life experience?

“How you look at it is pretty much how you'll see it”

― Rasheed Ogunlaru

You are probably familiar with the expression that hindsight is 20/20, meaning it’s a lot easier to make sense of things after they have happened.

I had the pleasure of listening to businessman, author and speaker Joel Fotinos on Sunday, and he had an interesting take on hindsight, and its corollary, foresight.

Turns out hindsight is actually a useful spiritual tool to look back at significant life events with fresh eyes, and hopefully see the benefit of something that seemed not so good, or even terrible, at the time. It’s not exactly reinventing history, but rather taking the time to reflect on your life’s circumstances and events, and find new meaning, or opportunities for growth, in those events, once time has passed and the emotions associated with them have cooled down. 

Musings on the creative process: How to get out of your own way

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

Well, there is no lack of internal chaos here.  Reassuring words, as I’ve been grappling with the creative process these days.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far about the process of creating – in this case a public TED style talk, but it could be anything - an article, a blog post, a lecture, a poem, even a painting I imagine, although I am not an artist.

You have an idea. Or rather, an idea comes to you. Inspiration is a fascinating phenomenon. It can come from anywhere. A dream, a conversation, a street sign, a line in a book, the shape of a cloud, a picture.

Something that wasn’t present before suddenly is. Sometimes its’ a trickle, a whisper, a faint notion. Other times, it’s a veritable high speed download of ideas stacked one on top of each other, neatly arranged like a deck of cards. Other times, it’s a chaotic influx of impressions, thoughts, and half formed notions.

So then, the question becomes… what to do with all that. How and where to start?

This first step can be rather daunting. You are not quite sure where to put your foot down, what is solid ground. Or where you might sink into quicksand. You never know.

The best way to find out?

Simply start. Anywhere. It’s not until I actually put words to paper that any sense starts to emerge. So I just go with it and see what comes.

What was a jumble in my head, start to makes sense on paper. Or maybe not. Then I delete and start all over again.

It’s about being willing to just go with it and trust that the creative flow itself will lead me to that dancing star.  The temptation is to control the flow, to dictate its meanderings and course, to take the straight and narrow path to some perceived destination. But the truth is, the creative process seems to have a life of its own, and my job seems to be as much to get out of its way, or rather to let it flow though me, than to try and control its nuances.

So dear reader, don’t be afraid of your internal chaos, it might just led you to that dancing star if you allow it to lead you!

It’s never too late

Well, at least not as long as you are still above ground… and even then, who knows, really?

I’ve been pondering the chain of events that have been unfolding in the past months since I took up my blogging journey in earnest, and realizing how many marvelous new opportunities have been presenting themselves to me along the way.

These new opportunities for business and personal expansion are seemingly unrelated to my blog, but as we know, life works in mysterious and imperceptible ways, and one thing always leads to another….

My point?

When you say Yes to one opportunity, one commitment, one change in your life, it unleashes a whole chain reaction of previously unimaginable openings. It’s like you put your foot in the door, and before you know it the momentum of life and your own openness and willingness to respond opens it all the way.

And then?  Why then, anything is possible.

So remember dear reader, as long as you are still breathing, it's never too late to say Yes to something new!

Trusting your heart's "Yes"

My life has taken more twists and turns in the last 24 hours than the winding road from San Cristobal Las Casas to San Andrés Larránzair, where I have been volunteering as an interpreter for the last week for the amazing Mammoth Medical Missions team.

So... plan A.  Monday through Saturday: Interpret for teaching week and Mass Disaster Conference. All wonderful, amazing experiences, worked my tushy off and loved every minute of it. Sunday: Meet my beloved friends from Guatemala, spend 2 days catching up on the past 32 years and sightseeing in San Cristobal. Tuesday: Fly back home.

That's when life threw me a curve ball. After weeks of planning and anticipation, and traveling all night, my friends got turned back by Immigration because of a missing stamp on a travel document- arrgh! 

Mother’s Day: What had promised to be a joyous get-together turned into a very teary series of FB phone chats, as we came to terms with the new reality: our longed for reunion was not to be this time.

Plan B: Now that you're not busy, it would be great if you could join us for triage day of surgery week on Monday, says David Page, our Mammoth Medical Missions fearless leader. So that was an immediate Yes. How could I not? The opportunity to meet the rest of the surgical team flying in from Mammoth, the prospect tof being able to be a part of the big day of sorting and evaluating patients waiting for a variety of much needed surgeries, the golden blessing of being able to work with our amazing Tzotzil indigenous interpreters as part of a relay interpreting team.  Ok, wonderful. I’ll just taxi buzz back up the winding climb to San Andrés, put in a great day’s work, and fly back home to my hubby and kitty on Tuesday morning as planned.

Plan C: Can I convince you to stay for surgery week?  We could really use your help, says Fru, the irrestistibly charming surgeon I am interpreting for. Long story short, a texting frenzy back and forth with my dear supportive hubby who not only gives me his blessing to stay on but changes my airline ticket for me, and I am here for surgery week and won't be heading back home until Saturday. Back up the mountain, ready to pitch my tent and who knows what will be around the next bend?

This past week has been kind of like navigating rapids (not that I’ve ever been brave enough to do it!) - you just have go with the flow, lean into life’s curve balls, and make the most of those rapids…. and trust that your heart’s Yeses will carry you safely home, with some wild and wonderful thrills along the way.

Here’s to a big Yes to la vida!

Blast off!

Wow, after weeks of anticipation, planning, translating, preparing and packing the day is finally here!  Chiapas Medical Mission 2015, here I come, ready or not.

My fellow interpreter on this mission, Katherine Allen, had to talk me down of my self-imposed last minute melt down. My back pack is too stuffed, I’ll never close it again (You have to understand, I am not a light packer in the best of times, and I am not a camper so putting everything I will need for 10 days, including sleeping bag and mat, into a carry on back pack is not something I do!   I’ll never learn all the terminology in time for the simultaneous lectures to the local doctors. Even though I’ve been madly translating all the lectures all week, there are still a lot of new WORDS to learn, big ones!  I’m too old for this!  What am I getting myself into?!

Okay, deep breaths. Enough of that silliness!  Everything is going to be OK. My adventure begins.  Back to Mexico, the land of my childhood, which I have not set foot in for about 40 years. I wonder if the jacarandas will still be in bloom?

So if you don’t hear too much from me, dear readers, it’s because we may have sporadic or unreliable internet access in San Andrés Larráinzar where we will be, up in the mountains of Chiapas.  Stay tuned and blessings on your adventures, whatever they may be!