New Beginnings

I am on the brink of completing my transition. I still have my doubts and fears. I am still some what sad at the loss of my former business. My new business is Helping History Happen and it is already creating some excellent conversations for me. I am excited to see myself grow as I persue this new direction.

Ah how much I have learned, the above paragraph was written a while ago. Transition is some what a constant state. I am ever evolving as we all are, it’s a difficult thing to convince our minds of though. I think it’s easier for us to process a static state of mind so we think that way most of the time. There are so many things in life we wish would never change but always do. This creates conflict in our lives and our minds. Letting it go is a hard thing to do.

I am working on trying things and observing my own opinions of each thing I try. How can I know what I am good at doing if i do not try to do them. I am also working to change my habits which is a challenge because some of them are a shift in my nature.

All in all new beginnings are scary but they also bring joy and new discoveries. Moving past the fear of change is the hardest part. But I’m working on it and getting better at it. Thanks for reading!

Stretching the Focus muscle

Maintaining focus is difficult. For me it is a constant battle to keep my mind on one thing at a time. I am constantly getting distracted by laundry, dishes, sorting kids clothes, etc. It is part of what I love about living in a community, you can rely on other people to help you with your basic needs. This gives you the time to be more focused on the work you need to do. But it also costs you the time it takes to do your part in the community as well.

And there I go again off on another tangent, each one is related and just a few degrees off topic of course. Focus allows us to be productive and to be more in touch with our life. It is essential for a good work life blend. I also belive that we must focus on being positive as well in our daily lives. The more we focus on how negative we feel about our job, life, relationships etc. the more we degrade our own lives. People love to claim that they are being realistic when they have a negative view. What they don’t realise is that they are creating their own reality with negative thoughts. Each one of us is in control of how we perceive and react to the world around us, we must strive and focus on using a good lens.

Focus is not just about controlling what your mind is doing in the moment, it is also about controling the priorities your mind views things with. Having clear priorities allows you to say ‘Yes’ to the things you want and need to be doing and say ‘No’ to the things that will not serve your life. I struggle with saying No to things, I love to help people and making people happy. But I have lost the closeness with friends because I said yes to customers more often than I said yes to my friends. It is an error I am working on correcting but one that will take time and effort to fix. Effort focusing on the positive and what will be positive in my life.

Focus is a practice like meditation or a martial art. We cannot get better at it unless we do it daily and work to improve. For me that is part of why I am writing here. I am working on my focus and on my personal growth. My goals are large and ambitious especially because I do not wish to sacrifice my social life for them.

Striving for Simplicity

Simplicity is a beautiful thing. But it has also always been a very difficult thing to achieve. Today I was working on cleaning and purging my home. As I worked I thought about how dependant we are on our stuff. We rely on it not only for happiness but also for memory. And stuff requires us to care for it as well.

Throughout history there have been many wise people who have advocated for simplicity. We are seeing a growing trend towards simplicity right now. Tiny houses are popping up all over. People are working at using less for the benefit of experiencing more. We are starting to realise what a wonderful change we can make.

I am working on simplifying my life one step at a time. I’m getting rid of things we no longer need or use. I’m also letting go of a career that only was seeming to complicate life. I hope that my family can get used to living in less space. Not only will this shift allow us to enjoy our lives more but it will also prepare us for long trips together.

Simplicity is hard work but well worth the effort. We idealize simplicity because we think it must be simple. But as with most things that make us happy they do not come without our participation.

Choosing Adventure

Today I took the time to go on a walk with my family down to the river behind our house. If I am by myself I can get down there and back in about 35 min, we took over an hour for our walk today. Our forest is a mature pine forest so we had many mushrooms to stop and admire along the way as well as other interesting things we found. It was a delightful break from our normal weekday routine to get out and go for that walk. Because my kids are 3 and 1 it is not somewhere I can take them without another adult. The river was very tame today because it has been so dry here this summer but normally I worry about them falling in and being swept away.

I love being out in nature and enjoying the simple beauty of it. To me that is one of the saddest parts of how the main stream of modern society lives now. We used to be connected enough with the natural world that we could simply glance at the sun or the stars and be able to know what time it was. Most of us have lost that rhythm. So how do we work towards regaining our integration with our natural world. How do we let go of societies obsession with being young, perfect and rich and instead celebrate the changes and seasons of our lives as they come.

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

I am guilty of getting caught up in work and the fast hectic pace of life. I know that it is costing me so much. I lose time with my kids, the physical health of my body, the health of my mental state, the quality and depth of my friendships. All for what, for profit, fame, so I can finally have free time, so I can help the poor people of the world, so I can build a wonderous place. Some of these are noble goals some less so; but we cannot pour from an empty cup. In the end we only have so much time and time is precious. We must choose how we live. That comes out in how we care for ourselves and others.

 

 

“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

 

 

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 8. This challenge has been wonderful for me to work on my mental state and how I am going to re-structure my life so I can live the life I am meant to live. I will make time for more walks be they family time or alone time. These adventures be they big or small are precious because they are time well spent.

All actions are Imperfect

One of the biggest challenges we all face is procrastination and feeling overwhelmed with a large goal. I am no exception. Some of it comes from my own self doubt, some from what I have absorbed from those around me. When you tell people ‘My life goal is to build a castle with a historical town for people to live in’ they all think your nuts. The best response I get is ‘How are you going to do that?’ It is a question I have pondered for a very long time. But I have seen the amazing things that people can do when they work together and I believe that it is possible. But where and how to start…

I don’t know if where I am starting will actually work or not, but I must start somewhere. I have minimal experience with events, but I have experienced a wide variety. The bottom line is I must act in some way. I can not wait for it to be the perfect action, even a professional level athlete can never know if their next action will be perfect or not there are to many factors that can affect the result. How often do our paths change or do we look back at our younger self only to say ‘I wanted to be what?’ Planning is good as long as you keep your mind open to change and commit to adapting to your current situation.

The imperfect action I am going to commit to is to writing and/or recording every day to move myself closer to a successful on-line business. I am a perfectionist because of my fears of failure and my desire to deliver a quality product. However I also try to balance perfection with practicality and acknowledge when I have done enough to act. The fact that I am here writing right now is amazing to me as a tiny step in the right direction.

This imperfect action aiming in the right direction each day will allow me to grow my confidence and start practicing for the work I have planned ahead. By practicing the main things I will hopefully be doing for the next few years I will be able to accelerate my success. After doing this one simple action and hopefully adding a couple more over the next 30 days I will establish good habits for my future.

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 7 I have been so grateful and inspired by doing this challenge. It is amazing to me how well Natalie crafts her prompts to get you thinking and moving in the right direction. I am looking forward to my life each day with excitement which hasn’t happened in a long time and it is so energizing. Thank you!

Finding my Tribe

I have been part of many tribes over the short course of my life so far. In high school I was part of the nerd tribe and the odd outcast tribe. In college I was a theater techy and also a history nerd. After college I happily signed up for the rennie tribe (folks who work at, attend often, and love renaissance faires). I also joined the entrepreneur tribe at the same time as I started my business. Currently I am working on joining the reenactor tribe and joining the event planning tribe. Each different aspect of our lives could be defined as a different tribe if we chose.

I prefer to think of my tribe as the do-ers I know, they are the ones I feel the most kin-ship with, that is the common theme in each tribe I listed above once I hit college. I love planning and organizing and simply being an energized bunny some days. At the same time not everyone I know fully understands what being a do-er means. Each phase of my life has moved me closer to the right tribe of people.

At the end of this summer I was fortunate to be able to work at Sandy Island for two weeks. Sandy Island is a family camp run by the Boston YMCA. Many families come back to the same week year after year, my family is one of the families that goes every summer. I grew up knowing that Sandy was a magical place. From my experience with events and theater I knew the staff was the key to making Sandy the wonderful place it is. This summer I got to experience being part of the team that helps make Sandy such a happy and peaceful place.

The team of Sandy Island is united by a love of Sandy not only as a place but also as an experience and they know that their work helps not only the guests but also the staff enjoy their time at Sandy. The beauty of a good team is trust that every job will get done and that every member of the team will be cared for. My final weekend there the director of the camp was sick with a fever and her assistant had left for the season. The whole staff worked together and made sure every job was taken care of.

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 6. Our challenge for today is to write about someone who is living the life you want to live. For many years I have admired Kate. Kate was the director of Sandy and now is the executive director of three YMCA camps including Sandy. Kate also is a mother of two cute boys and a wife to a loving and supportive husband. Kate finds time be with her family and has days that are crazy busy, and yes I somehow know that is what I want. I want to have a fantastic team, a place that is a joy for people to visit and live at, and new challenges to solve each day.

If I only had one question that I was able to ask Kate I would ask her ‘What is the best way to care for your staff?’ In any customer service industry ensuring that your staff is ready and able to serve your customers is critical. I have heard Kate comment before that she takes care of her people so that they take care of the campers. This is the sign of a leader who leads from the front with action in a manner that her subordinates know that they can trust her to have their back if needed. I can only endeavour to be that effective.

For my castle dream I am sure I will need more mentors, guides and tribe members. I still have work to do and more people to meet on my journey. I trust that I will recognize my tribe when I find them. Their passions will sing to mine.

A plan for Success with kids

Life with kids is totally unpredictable. Above is my kids dumping the salt and pepper shakers all over our dinning room table. It was hard to explain why they were in trouble when I stopped laughing. Life for kids and adults is better when scheduled. A consistent schedule is a valuable tool for maintaining sanity. Yes it is possible to over schedule your life, and you run the risk of getting to buried in your schedule with no time for spontaneous choices. As with anything balance is best, but you must find your definition of balance.

I am starting new ventures that are in some ways simpler than my previous work (WAY less Stuff required) and in other ways more complex (I will have to work each day and meet with people on their schedule). At the same time this life shift is giving me the chance to work on many of my other habits as well. My goal is to work one day at a time and one change at a time to not only achieve my goals but to also achieve my ideal life at the same time. For me success isn’t only about building my community and castle, it is also about enjoying my family, friends and the process along the way.

My daily plan for success is to get up between 4:30 and 5:00 am each day so that I have that time to do my mourning rituals and mentally prepare for the day. This will allow me to get my quiet time activities and my exercise in before my kids get up. I will set my three main goals for the day with at least one of them being a task to move me towards success. I am totally a fan of To Do lists, so I check on my lists at least once a week to keep them in my mind and keep them accurate to my accomplishments. Keeping my To Do lists present in my mind is great for when I get unexpected time to work. Today my daughter napped early but she is fantastic at playing on her own so I am able to write this post while she plays on her own. The beauty of this for me is I can work and watch her learn and explore while still being present to kiss a boo boo if needed.

I feel so accomplished and have had a great start to my day when I get up early and take care of myself so I can care for my family and my goals. Success with kids is possible it simply requires patience and planning. I am so grateful that I have found so much free advice and encouragement on-line to give me the confidence to move forward.

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 5

Wait, that’s a Super Power

 

Who knew that cutting out a skirt was a super power, but apparently it is one of mine. Fabric and I get along. I want fabric to do something and it listens. It is great when your making clothes or grabbing curtains at a theater. Or when your friend calls you up because they need help with a show they are working on cause it starts in two weeks. Beyond that there isn’t too much you can use it for. But man when you need a bustle dress for steam punk, it is totally a super power!

 

Lucky for me I do have other super powers as well! I spoke about my auditory processing disorder here all in all I don’t consider my disorder a bad thing anymore. Because I had it I was given extra training on remembering directions, asking for clarification, time management, and self advocacy. Most kids get a five-minute tutorial around 5th or 6th grade on how to write down homework assignments and they are left to figure it out on their own. For me now these kinds of things come naturally because they were trained into me at an early age.

So Super Powers? Yeah I totally have the super power of Clear communication. Yes it may seem odd to consider communication a super power but how many times do we wish that we had simply understood what someone actually wanted of us. In college I was the kid everyone checked with for what the exact assignment was because I was the one who double checked with the professor. All of us struggle at some point, often daily, to clearly communicate what we want, have, see, etc. My son is so good at saying ‘what is that?’ to which I always tell him ‘I don’t know what that you are talking about you need to be more specific.’ We are working on it, he is almost 4. If someone says they want a red dress that has thousands of options, but if they want a red velvet dress that is almost black that narrows it down quite a bit. There is a reason on-line retailers put so much effort into their search tools, it allows their customers to communicate more clearly their wants and needs. Clear communication is super power because it allows every aspect of life to happen more smoothly; whether it’s work, relationships, recreational groups, etc. it’s all better with great communication.

Beyond communication my other super power is being a Leader. For me being a leader is a natural skill but also one I think about quite often. I started organizing my friends in high school for camping trips, with flyers sent home and everything. I have the ability to listen and understand many things and many needs that people have. These skills all support being a leader because leading is not about doing something well. Leading is about finding the people who can do something and making sure they have what they need to accomplish the goals. For me leadership is about facilitation. When I have had a large enough team to set up for a faire in my previous business I quite often wouldn’t be working on one task because I was giving directions or moving supplies so that the team could continue to work efficiently. I have found I am good at bringing the right group of people together to get the job done and helping them to work together smoothly.

 

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 4 I loved writing this post here and thinking about my skills and strengths as super powers. Quite often we forget how amazing we truly are. We humans are amazing in our strengths and our weaknesses. Thanks for reading and I will be back with more tomorrow!