What does renewal look and feel like to a four year old?
Days in the sandbox, walks with Papa, stories at bedtime…what a reminder! The little things… the connecting moments, a fresh perspective, the getting messy also bring renewal…not only the new jobs, birthdays and radical leaps. Who is teaching you a fresh approach to renewal these days?
It’s easy for me to get so preoccupied with what I call the daily-ness of life, that I lose sight of what I am loving in the present moment. When I find myself pausing–while in my meditation space, journaling, writing a blog post, or reflecting on my past week with my coach or peers–I can begin to take notice of what is amazing and energizing in my life.
What am I loving right now? I love:
We are off to Indiana this weekend to visit with family and friends for the holiday. Have a love-filled weekend everyone!
This morning, I opened Janet Quinn’s I Am a Woman Finding My Voice to the message “I Am a Woman Accepting Help.” What most resonated with me was this passage:
In my heart of hearts, I need. I need to be part of a larger whole. I need human touch and voice and connection. I need other people to share the journey with, in all its pain and beauty and wonder and mystery. I cannot grow in a vacuum, alone and isolated. More important, I no longer want to. I am strong enough now, wise enough, healed enough to stop resisting help and to say simply thank you. I am a woman accepting help.
And what incredible help I have around me these days…
My intention is to stay open to the helping…to offer help in return…and to feel the gratitude of the love around me! What does help look like for you right now?
We have been blessed with nearly a month of Saturdays devoted to family time as Joe takes a break from his MBA classes. It has been so delicious to have time together…just being.
Although we moved into our new home in late January, I still feel like I am getting oriented to the space and feel of the space. Our second abode in the last year was a 3,000 sq. ft. condo that while big on space was small on personality. Now, we are taking our time in arranging and designing live-able space in this 1,800 sq. ft. home. Talk about shape-shifting! And while pictures are beginning to be posted and flowers planted, I had yet to claim some space just for me. Until today.
I had been eyeing a cedar closet in our basement as a cozy, meditative “Tisha” spot for a few months. But I felt almost embarrassed sharing with friends that my spot–my “room of one’s own”–was in the dark, musty basement. It felt a bit like I was putting myself and my dreams and my visions quite literally down below and hidden out of sight. Seemed to be a poor message to be putting out the Universe. After saying once again to my coach, Lerae, this week how I was longing for space and wanted a special spot for my vision board, we began to poke a bit at the idea of this cedar closet. Lerae gently stated that the basement could be a metaphor for me going inward, spiraling into myself and my thoughts. It could be my cocoon, of sorts. A protected space. And that finally resonated. I checked out some meanings/stories/beliefs of cedar today online and found out that cedar trees historically are known as protected bark to keep away bad energies and spirits. Ahem.
I’m beginning to create this space…of renewal, of new visions, of peace. Where are you claiming your space?
This morning, I enjoyed hosting an exhibit booth at the Women’s Health Fair sponsored by Family Scholar House here in Louisville. I had so much fun creating a booth of information and–hopefully–inspiration.
Visitors especially loved the books Soul Support by Deb Koffman, Succulent Wild Woman by SARK, and The Creative Family by Amanda Soule. My friend and colleague Laura from the University of Louisville Counseling Center asked if all life coaches are trained to clap their hands in excitement. I just couldn’t help myself when someone would pull one of my renewal cards and the message would be just perfect. Divine, I tell you! Here’s a picture of the mini cards I created on renewal:
And here’s Laura at her booth:
For me, it was nice to simply be out and about, as well as meet up with like-minded women. Spending most days on my phone or computer in my home office, this was quite a treat to engage with others live and to have some fun. I actually posted the words “Not Alone Anymore” on my business plan collage so here I go living into that!
What else will be renewing today?
What about you?
Happy Day to all the Mama’s out there! We just returned from a slow walk down to the park to throw rocks in the creek, play at the playground, and enjoy a few snacks of cheese and crackers, juice and raspberry tea. While the boys play frisbee in the backyard, I’m taking a break to share with you these words I clipped from a newspaper several years ago.
Enjoy this tribute to all strong women from Jennifer Lapin today:
I have known strong women in my lifetime
Women who have shown so much courage and grace
Women who have held everything together under all the pressures of life,
And who did so beautifully,
Women who have sacrificed so much for the happiness of others
Women who have given so much, tirelessly and without complaint
Women who have raised their children all on their own
Women who have put their dreams on hold to help their children achieve theirs first
Women who have battled their own addictions and won the fight
Women who have beaten the odds when they were told there was not hope
Women who have broken the abusive cycle and lived to tell others how to do the same
Women who have fought bravely and given their lives for our freedom
Women who have taught children simply because they want a better future for them
Women who have given up a child in the hopes that they will have a better life with someone else
Women who have worked hard all their lives and never taken no for an answer
I am amazed by strong women every day
I am proud to be the daughter, daughter-in-law, niece, sister, cousin, granddaughter and friend of incredibly strong women
I hope to one day be as strong as they are
Love as strong as they do
And live up to the legacy that all strong women have left behind them
And pass it on to the next generation of strong women.
Here, Here! Hope y’all have a fabulous day!
This morning, I was blessed to begin my day with two lovely surprises. I happened to visit two blogs that often offer an inspiring kick-start to my day and both posts absolutely rocked, I tell you! As in, wanting to give high-fives, dancing in my seat, and even–I’ll admit!–getting a bit teary. Check out today’s posts from Soule Mama and Christine Kane. They are truly expressions of why we are here on this earth…one in words and one in song.
We are here to live–and love–outloud, aren’t we? Indeed!
So. We had high hopes for our Saturday. It was the first weekend in weeks when Joe, my husband, was off from school. We actually had an entire weekend for family time, at home, together. We had romantic notions of a lazy morning in pajamas sipping coffee and reading the newspaper (a Stephens’ family ritual, I might add!), of strolling to the farmer’s market up the street, of exploring the library and hitting baseballs in the backyard. It was going to be grand. And renewing.
I quickly realized about 8:00am after a morning meltdown that it might just be a day of finding renewal in unlikely ways. Instead of what I thought it would be, Saturday became what it needed to be: a day of being heard, of reconnecting with one another, of loving, of Plan Bs, of letting go and being surprised.
Renewal became an afternoon of bowling (Harper’s first!), planting pumpkin seed starters (oh my! what are we getting ourselves into?), dancing to “Imagination Movers” music and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a leisurely dinner for us after Harper was in bed, and yes, even a bit of baseball in the backyard. And so the learning–and living–continues!
During the throes of transition in the last two years, I noticed myself saying “this is going to be hard…I’m struggling with fill-in-the-blank…this is difficult.” While many moments were indeed tough, somewhere along the way I began to ponder “hard.” Was it true that fill-in-the-blank was actually hard? Did it have to be? Was it possible for it to be easy instead?
In Words of Wisdom for Women, Rachel Snyder writes,
“Ease. Instead of thrusting your way out into the world, ease into it. Ease into a new job; you don’t have to knock their socks off on the first day. Ease into a new relationship; you don’t have to take your socks off on the first date. Get out of your own way and let things take their natural course. Ease your mind. Make the phone call, drop by to check in, go home and make sure you turned off the stove. There’s no dishonor in taking the path of least resistance. Ease into a new rhythm. When you head off in a new direction, ease into it. Take things as they come and everything will be easier. When you see a woman struggling, offer to ease up on yourself. If you’re starting to lose control, ease up on the pedal and ease yourself back into the driver’s seat.”
Shifting from hard to easy continues to be one of my daily intentions. Can you relate? Right now, I know it is part of what is necessary for me to renew my heart and soul. To revive my life. What about you?
P.S. Check out more of Rachel’s words and her books at her blog, Just Say Yes Now! (www.justsayyesnow.wordpress.com).
Tisha Pletcher 