Be Your Own Dog

I'm a blessed woman. I get to live in the SUPER cool town of Paso Robles, and when I do overnight pet-sitting, I live in other groovy places like Morro Bay, Cayucos, Los Osos, and San Luis Obispo.

Having completed my latest San Luis Obispo pet-sit for two dogs (Nikki and Max) and one cat (Gabbi), I've come to the frightening realization that I take care of animals better than I do myself.

Here's what I mean: when I live alone and have to commute to work, I barely have time to guzzle a cup of caffeine and scribble Morning Pages. I often rush in to work late with my hair soaking wet, no make-up and an uninspired outfit.

Max

However, when I pet-sit 3 animals, I somehow have time before work to carry Max up the stairs to the back patio so he can take a pee-walk down the planters to the kitchen; let Nikki out the front door so she can race around the driveway, then saunter through the bushes in search of the perfect place for Number Two before racing to the back door to meet Max. While they are eating I find Gabbi, give her brushes, coos and fresh water, change into walking clothes then  head back out the door with Nikki for a hike up a hill so she can do a second Number Two in the bushes and not on the living room floor.  I even manage to write Morning Pages, eat breakfast and pack a lunch while the dogs are eating.

Nikki

Granted, my commute is a half-hour shorter, but why do I take care of myself better when I'm pet-sitting than when I'm alone?

I think it's cause I've left all my busy-ness at home.  But now I am making the commitment to being my own dog.

Being my own dog means I write Morning Pages, and then decide what kind of body movement I have time for. Sometimes it's a walk. Sometimes its a few yoga poses. Moving definitely feels a lot better than reading emails, or opening mail.

Yes, I still love getting things done, but the day flows more joyfully when I take the time to take care of my self first.

Gabbi

Our Allowance Receiver Meter

I recently lived a manifestation of my new collage. And it relates to what Esther Hicks, the popular speaker of the Abraham talks, calls The Art of Allowing.

I was in a Dodge Dart rental. Driving home after work on Highway 46 was an act of spontaneity. While driving, I realized I was inside the image of the car pictured on my collage. That is, I was in a squeaky clean new car, driving through rolling hills...listening to an Esther Hicks CD.

The next day, I decided to write to the image using the Dominant Hand/Non-dominant method. This method used both hemispheres of the brain to let our heart speak. Basically, we have a conversation with the image by asking questions with our dominant hand and answering with our non-dominant hand.

I intended to write to the entire image of the car, but became interested in the little diamond shaped antennae above the back windshield.

DH: Dear Diamond on Car, who are you in my collage?

NDH: I am your allowance receiver meter.
DH: How do you feel?
NDH: Like I am flying along ready to continue the journey!
DH: Why do you feel that way?
NDH: Because you are open to listening to your Self in a way that you never had before.
DH: How can you tell?
NDH: How excited, content and satisfied are you?
DH: Why, I feel the best and most excited in a grounded way, than I ever had before.

To take this understanding even further, antenna's are how we perceive our environment. That is, when you encounter someone in a bad mood, do you take it personally? If you aren't able to complete a project on your own, do you seek help or just give up? Do you allow yourself to enjoy a vision for your future, or do you habitually cut the dream off as soon as it appears because you can't imagine how it will happen?

Allowing ourselves to perceive through our heart, feel our joy, practice visioning and use right-brain journal techniques, keep life's magic alive.

What are you visioning for yourself today?  

Happy New Vision Board

Last week I created a vision board for the year. The best thing about the workshop was having the facilitator hold the creative space so I could listen to my to heart. I was able to relax and let go of my everyday life.

Vision Board January 2015

The first step was to find a Creative Self symbol. The reason is that we want to listen to our intuitive guidance about our desire. Marianne Williamson says it best. "What do I want? Now what do I really want?" Creating a vision board is about wanting something so we can have a state of being, rather than a goal to strive after. After all, we set goals because we think it will make us happier.

I chose the image of a woman wearing glasses as my Creative Self. After placing this image in the center of the page, I meditated for a few moments and let my non-dominant hand (to access the right brain) write "I want to be a published author."

Creative Self image

This is not surprising.

I've been a blogging, songwriting, magazine-published journalist for years. But I want to publish the books that I am creating. Not self-publish, although that is a wonderful start. I want my books to be published by a publishing house: small press, big press, online, off-line, down the line. Those details don't matter. What matters is that when it comes to desiring, then pasting that desire to a board for ourselves to see, well, the devil really IS in the details.

I'm talking inviting the Critic to join me for the ride.

First off, the reason for calling this negative rant in our minds the Critic is to distance ourselves from this voice. The Critic is really a negative thought pattern running loose in our mind. After the process of selecting, sorting and arranging the images that depicted my focus phrase, I allowed the Critic to speak. The reason is that I wanted a chance to talk back. But I can't do that until I journal the rant. Using the dominant hand for the Critic voice externalizes the thought. Using the non-dominant hand to answer back allows the inner child to stand up to this scary voice.

DH.

Critic voice using dominant hand

You just read that the publishing industry is dead. So maybe you can be a self-published author with your cute little books, but that's it.

NDH:

You don't have the capacity to do anything but complain. You're not my guide. You're not even on my team. I'm following my Creative Self.

Inner Child voice using non-dominant hand

After this 10-minute exercise, I was ready to glue the images to the page.

Now, here's what the Creative Self had to say. (I use the dominant hand so I can be a left-brained interviewer. The Creative Self answers with the non-dominant hand.)

DH: Dear Creative Self, tell me about yourself.

NDH: I love wanting to be a published author. It launches a fun creative play list that flows seamlessly into my wonderful life. Delight and joy and trust and love in the journey to published author starts with me. 

Delight and joy? I say YES!

Next month...the first image manifests.

Learn more about this journaling process with my book My Body, My Car: How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Accidents. Part memoir,I wrote this self-guided workshop so you can blast through the blocks that stand between you and your dream.It even includes a music CD.  For more information, visit WriteInside.com 

Sanctuary at Work

My work territory has expanded recently.

The office moved from a cube environment to open space. Instead of working in a corner with a nice cubicle wall next to me, I am now in the middle of a large room. If I sat down I'd have cubicle walls, but it's more comfortable to work at a stand-up desk.

So what's a cubby-hugging woman to do? 
How do I create a comfortable place to work within an open space?

At first I tried resisting the change. I thought of ways to keep people out of my cube. I relived memories of my last open space environment job. But after struggling for a couple of weeks, I gave up.

During this time I kept stress at bay with non-dominant hand drawings and writings. The pictures were generally of someone inside a square with chaos happening all around.

One night, after most everyone went home two co-workers and I raided the meeting room and swiped one of the tables.  This was set up perpendicular at the left side of my desk. Now I had an L-shape space, or a square that is open on two sides. 

This small act of rebellion has reaped huge rewards.Yes, I am still in the middle of creative chaos. But taking the time to build myself a sanctuary allows me to focus on the task at hand. Adding an iPod Shuffle packed with my fav tunes also helps me feel good. 

Now when I'm hanging with my work people, I love it. Sometimes it's a quiet riot, with the roomful of us focused on our computers. And sometimes it's just riotous, with nerf footballs flying and folks scooting down the main aisle on lime green scooters. I've even threatened my co-workers with a Tarzan call ala Carol Burnett. Regardless of the co-worker weather, taking the time to set up my personal square lets me enjoy the co-worker chaos from the comfort of my almost cube.

How do you take care of yourself at work?

Hitting the Reset Button

Sunday morning when I tried to complete a simple task, everything went wrong. All I wanted to do was upload a workshop CD into iTunes using my laptop. First iTunes wouldn't open. When I went to connect to Internet so the CD info would load in automatically, the Internet was connected, but my browser wouldn't connect.

I actually had a workshop selfie in mind. I'd been frustrated and stressed about some changes at work at work and being Sunday, I wanted to get the energy out of me before Monday came rolling back around. I ended up frustrated and stressed about the workshop!

While I was waiting for the Internet to reset, I got a phone call. One of the owners of the ranch was coming onto the property to work for a while. He was meeting someone who also worked at the ranch. Since my room butts up against the wall of the shop and garage, it is not quiet. Oftentimes the smell of the hauler, or tractor, or leaf blower wafts into my small space. Workshops are a lot less effective if I'm being gassed by farm equipment.

By the afternoon, I had unpacked my new printer and set it on a rolling table that was brought in from the house. I rearranged my room to accommodate the printer table. I talked to Grace, the other ranch owner on the phone, and learned how to fill up the yellow jacket trap that is hanging in the tree outside my room. (Wait until the evening cool when the yellow jackets are dormant.) I pressed the computer, Internet and my own internal reset buttons countless times in order to move into the next unquiet task.

Sometimes, when I try to plan my day, instead of following the day, I have to reset my acceptance dial all day long. Although it is hard to let go of my plans, when I do, I allow myself the benefit of wonderful surprises such as bags of lemons and oranges at my front step, an day of catching up with friends and a newly arranged room.

 

Magical Spontaneity

Here's what I miss most about working full-time: magical spontaneity. Intending to create more magic into my day, the universe conspired to give me a boost.

Early this month I found myself doing a double wait. One wait was for my car to pass a smog inspection, the other was to cross busy Higuera to browse the thrift store. After a few moments I realized the house that I was standing in front of had a PSYCHIC HEALER sign posted in the front window.

I pretended to walk past, searching for an easier place to cross the street, but then I immediately retraced my steps, thinking 'what the hell?' and walked in.

I stood in a glassed-in porch that ran along the front of an old blue wood framed home. The first thing I noticed was the stack of "$15.00 Dollar Special" flyers with a phone number. Since no one came through the door that led to the house, I called the number on my cell. 10 minutes later I bypassed the Special for an in depth tarot reading from Kimberley. 

 

My personal history of tarot is: I studied tarot, practiced tarot, read tarot for others, was freaked out by tarot and stopped reading tarot. The reason I freaked was because after reading for several strangers, I realized that it was actually easier to read the person. That is, the cards were merely a place for the client to focus their energy.

Practicing the art of tarot taught me that when I pay attention to my intuitive energy, stay in touch with, accept and move through my emotions in a regular, conscious practice, then becoming an energetic reader of others is simple. But, I have to admit, reading for others was kind of exhausting. After all, I'm mostly interested in myself!

Having Kimberley read for me was a treat. Although I was given a hint of a positive future prediction, and I wasn't told anything I didn't already know, somehow I felt relieved, affirmed, and stronger.

Rediscovering magical, spontaneity means being aware of the roadsigns throughout our day: even if it means staying on the same side of the street.

Music Up Your Life

My March and April weekends have been filled with the final days of a weekend job, and spring cleaning. And now that I had free time, I intended to spend last weekend on To Do List tasks in between sitting on the fabulous patio.

l

5/26/13: the fun patio with fabulous friends

Turns out my weekend worker warrior attitude was project schmoject. I did enjoy the view, but in between lounging, I found myself sorting through my music CDs instead.

CDs. You remember, those round discs that replaced cassettes last century.

Because I have an older car, I still have a CD player. While I'm all for iPods, iTunes, and Spotify there's nothing like a good old-fashioned CD. I like setting up the compartment in between the front seats with plastic envelopes that hold two CDs. I keep about a dozen favorite musicians, inspirational talks and my own latest music project to accompany me on my 1/2 hour drive to work. It's being on a mini-vacay, twice a day.

Recently, I browsed music at Boo Boo Records in downtown San Luis Obispo to replenish my commute collection. It reminded me of the weekends when I was a teenager, hanging at the record store with friends, searching for albums and okay, 45's. Afterwards at home, I'd read the album cover and lyrics while listening to my new find.

While it was lovely to browse and dig through all of the music possibilities, as it turns out, I was taking care of my spirit in more ways than one.

According to Huffington Post columnist Kate Bratskeir, "people who simply listened to music had the same decreased anxiety symptoms as those who got 10 hour-long massages. Choosing the right tunes could be an important factor, however, as a happy or sad song can also affect the way we perceive the world." 

(Full article at The Daily Good)

Though it's only Tuesday, I'm already excited for my weekend. In between lounging on the patio, I'm going to make a new playlist for my iPod.