Discover Your Bliss

Silly String in the Mountains

I find it fascinating how little I know - or at least - what I'm aware of in the world.  Just like the saying goes - The more you learn, the less you know. 

What prompted this?  Silly String in the mountains. 

Well, that's not exactly true.  I think it looks like silly string, yet it has many different identities. 

Sometimes called witch's hair or pumpkin guts - Dodder is a parasite. 

What makes this particular parasite different from other plant parasites (like mistletoe)?  Dodder doesn't have the ability to make chlorophyll - so it's all about the carbs.  It's a carb junkie.  It literally sucks the life out of the plants it covers. 

Why is this blissful?  I learned something new.  I saw something, asked about it and learned. 

Why is this so cool?  Two days after I learned about dodder, I was hiking in a different area and saw some.  I remembered the name and instantly recalled the new knowledge. 

Learning new stuff is fun - even if it looks like pumpkin guts. 

How does learning something new serve you?  What would it look like to celebrate your newly-learned knowledge? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries. 

One of Four Out of 428 - Yipee!

Every once in a while, I peruse my "stats" on my blog to see how many "hits" I'm receiving. 

I noticed a bit of a "surge" on May 21st.  When I clicked to find out where it was coming from, I found that I'd been mentioned on another blog!

When I wrote about A Life 4 Sale, the man mentioned me on his blog as one of the more unusual entries.  Only 4 blogs were mentioned out of 428! 

Yippee!  Happy dance!  I'm so excited to have my blog mentioned on another person's site! 

What gives you a "surge?"  How can you celebrate with your version of a happy dance today?  Remember size does not matter.

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries. 

One Horse at a Time

Saw this sign hiking the other day.  Thought it was funny. 

Ever Want to Kiss Yourself?

No, not in a romantic way - in a "I'm so happy I did that" way.

Have you ever done something and thought, I could just kick myself for not...(fill in the blank)? 

Well, I have.  I could just kick myself for not leaving earlier, packing the night before, bringing a blanket, making a snack, doing laundry, etc. 

How often do you beat yourself up in the present for a past event?  How does beating yourself up support you? 

My computer recently bit the dust. I knew that it wasn't a hard drive issue or something that is typical for computers.  I had a hunch it was electrical.

After borrowing another person's laptop, I searched computer forums to figure out what was the matter and what to do with it. 

Step two:  I called Toshiba to find out what to do and made an amazing discovery.  I had purchased the extended warranty and my computer was covered until February of 2009.  What bliss!

In that moment, I wanted to kiss myself for planning ahead.  I did a little celebration happy dance. 

Even though I didn't need to send it to the shop to be repaired (it just needed a new AC adapter), I still celebrated.  What a gift I had given myself!

So the next time you catch yourself thinking, I could just kick myself (or another version), please pause.  Take a deep breath and ask yourself - What's going right in this moment? 

How can looking at "what's going right in the moment" support your ability to live in bliss?  What would it look like to flip the kick to kiss?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries! 

Tuesday Quote to Ponder

"Life is not a dress rehearsal.  Stop practicing what you're going to do and just go do it.  In one bold stroke you can transform today."  -- Marilyn Grey, psychologist and stress-management speaker

Memorial Day - Who Willl You Remember?

Besides getting the day off of work (for many), who will you remember this Memorial Day?

Memorial Day was originally created and recognized to honor the memory of those that have died in our nation's service. 

Don't know anyone that has died in our nation's service?  That's okay.  You can honor the memory their memory by pausing, closing your eyes and concentrating on gratitude.  Send that gratitude out to those that have died in our nation's service.  Send it to anyone that has lost a loved one.  Send it to yourself.

Even though the main focus of Memorial Day concentrates on those in service to our country, please remember that anyone can be in service of our country. 

The postal worker, the garbage collector, the mom, the teacher - you name it.  If a person is human, then he/she has the opportunity to be in service to our country (and the world for that matter).

Think you have to do something directly "in service of our country?"  Think again.  The simple act of smiling at the grocery store clerk, opening the door for another person and thinking of another person - all provides a service to our country (and more importantly, the world).   

Just like any holiday, Memorial Day is the "official" day to remember others.  Don't forget that we have the opportunity to remember others any day of the week, month or year.

What supports you to connect to others?  How can remembering another not only honor another, but also yourself?

I'd love to hear your comments and insights. 

Bathroom Still Under Repair...And Loving It

Well, I'm not exactly loving that my bathroom is still under repair, yet I've found many silver linings to this cloud.

The challenge of where to put everything in my bathroom and how do I carry my "must haves" back and forth during this whole process has been full of struggle and daunt in the past.  Now, I'm finding new and creative ways to approach this formerly despised task.

I found an old triangle-shaped colander that my grandma gave me in the back cabinets of my kitchen.  The colander provided just the right amount of space, functioning and fun that flipped this dread into fun and function.

How can you flip a "not-so-exciting" task to fun?  What does it look like to infuse ease and grace into areas of resistance? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.    

It's Just a Snap

Almost two months ago, something tragic happened. 

Are you sitting down?  The decorative snap came off of Jon's new Paul Frank shirt.  Tragedy.

I promised to fix the snap, yet I never made it to the fabric store to purchase a repair kit.

The shirt just hung there looking all sad and neglected. 

Last night I decided to explore my second box of "goodies" from the garage sale.  Oh, what a treat. 

When I opened the box, guess what was staring back at me?  A Dritz Gripper Plier Kit. 

What's so special about this particular pair of pliers?   They re-attach snaps! 

Out came the neglected and unworn shirt and together with the newly-found pliers, I had a match made in snap heaven.

The snap easily re-attached and the shirt emerged from the shame of the "to repair" pile. 

Pure bliss. 

How does synchronicity play into your bliss?  What would it look like to keep a synchronicity journal? 

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!   

They're Destroying My Bathroom - Yipee!

For some reason, my bathroom has been the constant "trouble spot" in my apartment. 

It all started with my sink filling up and overflowing every time my upstairs neighbors ran water and continued with a variety of challenges that are too numerous to mention (this is a blog, not a novel). 

I have two men working in my bathroom (no, it's not kinky) tearing down the walls and ceiling.  Since my ceiling decided to fall down on its own, my landlord thought it might need a bit more help. 

Long story short - they're replacing the sheet rock in my bathroom (both walls and ceiling) since previous "repairs" and "events" weren't exactly completed in a "correct" manner.

You might ask why I'm excited they're ripping up my walls, right?  It's all about the opportunity.

Before I allow anyone into my bathroom for repair work, I always clean it out (remove all of the stuff).  What's the opportunity you might ask?  Moving all of my stuff.

When I move all of my stuff, it gives me the opportunity to sort and organize.  Old stuff gets pitched and stuff I no longer use gets put in thrift store bags.  I always feel more "streamlined" after I've taken everything out of my bathroom and start "anew."

Where can you find "opportunity" in the middle of the "not-so-fun?"  How can looking for opportunity in any situation support you to discover your bliss?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries! 

Faith and Flowers

My high school history teacher always said, "Those that do not study history are doomed to repeat it." 

I sometimes study "history" a bit too much or at least I might look at "history" to predict future events.

Take my second African Daisy for instance - I assumed that it would follow the same fate as my first plant (rest in peace) and bite the bucket.  I figured that African Daisies were terrible plants to have on my porch.

My second African Daisy started looking a bit scrawny and I thought, Here we go again!

A funny thing happened as a result of my "studying history" a bit too literally.  I stopped watering the plant. 

I didn't declare - I am going to stop watering this plant right this instant - it just happened. 

I'd give it a bit of water here and there, yet I figured - what's the point. 

Then one day, compassion came knocking at my door and I decided to pull off all of the dead leaves and give the plant one last chance.  After the dead leaves were pulled, the plant didn't look too hot, yet it did look a lot better. 

I humored myself and watered it more frequently, then one day a strange thing happened - a bud emerged.  Stranger than that - the bud bloomed into a single purple flower. 

Well, that flower had me at "hello" and I started jumping for joy (okay, so I did a plant dance).  That single bud seeded the faith I needed to wrap the plant in compassion and hug it with hope. 

A few weeks later, the plant is looking better than ever - green leaves, a thicker "body," and more consistent buds and blooms.  Yippee! 

How can a drop of faith spark your forward movement?  What does it look like to wrap every moment in compassion?

I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.