What is the difference between someone who makes it through life and someone who sails through life? One is a creative person because it takes creativity to make it in these days, and one is a creator, not just being creative but creating their own reality into what they desire.
What's that got to do with freedom and family? What if you were to take your dreams and create them in the real world? How would that affect your family? Would you like to have those dreams come true? We aren't Cinderellas to have a Prince Charming come sweep us off our feet. If you're looking for a hero, the best one for you, look in the mirror. There's no one better!
How many seeds of ideas rattle about in your brain and heart? How many would you like to plant and nurture this year? It doesn't matter how small or large the seed or harvest is. What matters is the action and the will of doing it.
My goal this year is to plant a few of those seeds myself. I've made a list of what is reasonable and easy (because it's better when it's easy!). The easier it is to complete, the sooner the next seed can be planted. The more seeds I plant, the more successes I have. The more successes I have, the more confidence I gain and the more momentum I carry forward with. It's not about motivation...it's all about momentum!
How do we get through each day whether we will or no? Momentum. We get up, have our coffee, get our food, out the door to work/school/shopping...whatever is the requirement of the day. How do we do that when we really just want to go back to bed on a cold rainy day and sleep? Momentum. The impetus that pushes us forward on autopilot. Some say autopilot is a bad thing. I say it's a tool and everyone should use it. If we get up enough momentum, we can be like a freight train. If you've set the tracks on the goal you desire and the path you wish to take, why not blaze through if the terrain is just not pretty enough to warrant looking around? Once you've got the momentum, you can feel free to look around you. It's easy to regain when you have that many successes to build on.
Here's some of what I'm doing:
1) Organizing my home. We have spent several years moving about finding the balance between affordable housing, work/school and appropriate community. This means that before we got to finish unpacking in one place, we were often packing again. Also, since affordable housing in this day and age is hard to come by, we've downsized our space a lot. By not fully unpacking, there's lots that hasn't been sorted thoroughly. We've now been in this place for over a year and it's working out at the moment. It's time to really sort through these last bits and get the pile of boxes organized and gone. This will mean some reorganization, some recycling and some creative sorting and placement. We might need more shelves since li'l miss (who's 17 months) thinks anything small enough to fit in her hand should be on the floor. I want to really declutter.
2) Balcony garden. I've had a desire to grow my own food, certainly this is possible. There are tons of sites showing the balcony gardens supplementing food and flavour for families all over. I've a friend who has been composting and growing his own veggies in his backyard for years, so we've made a deal. I take him my compostables and he gives me back composting as I need it. He's also helped me with some ideas of how to organize the planters for maximum efficiency. Which means remembering to plant the perenials in something that is relatively permanent...he's made me promise not to bring in the oregano, thyme and chives again...oops! As for planters, I'm not going to buy those expensive planters. See, part of the reason for the home clearing is to empty the totes. They'll make perfect planters! And then I can't use them for storage of unnecessary stuff. I'm also going to buy a huge garbage can and grow potatoes. My friend got me on to this idea. If you plant a couple seed potatoes into such a bin with only 6-8" of dirt, as the sprouts comes up, you pile more dirt around them. Keep doing this until it comes closer to the top and then let them leaf and flower. The root system will have grown all through the can to create a huge bunch of potatoes! We also have metal railings for training up beans and peas. I'll have the greenest balcony in the building! This should be fun and show the kids how to grow our own food. Our goal in the long term is to get a hobby farm, so this is a nice lead in.
These seem like really big tasks and big changes. But these are dreams of mine I have put off over and over. It is time to put action and will to words. It is time to make it happen. Not only do the kids need a routine, but so do I. If I make sure of at least one area getting a once over each day, I'll have it done in no time. I will give myself time to rest and have fun, but I will also make myself work for it. I did this for my eating habits so I know I can do this for my time management. If I want to have a sit down at the computer, I must complete one major task for health and home first. Same for my eating habits. If I want a piece of cake, I have to eat a healthy meal first. I have that momentum going now. Now I'll build on it.
I will go from merely creative to creator, day by day, step by step. You try it!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Change: Good or bad?
Change is stressful. It takes time to adjust and energy to make it a part of your life. Whether it's a change forced upon you (being downsized out of employment), or a change you chose (eating healthier), it's a lot of work. How you approach the change makes a large difference of how quickly you adjust...if you adjust at all.
Of all things in life, there is only one thing that is assured: change. Taxes are not an absolute depending on your investments and income, and death is a kind of change; from life to afterwards. In life we experience all sorts of mini-deaths as things end and new things begin. Once that idea is embraced, life becomes a series of changes, small and large, and we are able to view life in a much different perspective. Life boils down to a choice of having changes happen to us (as victims), or chosing the changes and thus guiding our lives to a chosen goal. It's all about the journey and never about the final result, for there is never a final of anything.
As we look to the stars, we can watch the pattern of the universe unfold before us and apply that pattern to our own lives. Planets and stars all condense and harden, becoming less and less maleable and flowing. They become less able to change with what is happening around them. As comets and debris fly into their space, they are less able to allow it all to just flow past or embrace it. Eventually, such obstacles hit....hard. As planets and stars become even more solid, instead of absorbing the impact or allowing it to flow through, they crack and pieces break off. Such is a huge change that can be quite traumatic.
Something about forced change vs. chosen change is that when it's forced on us, we can't chose what we "lose". We must accept what we are given and live our lives getting battered about and always being swayed one way then another. We are tossed about with no control of where we are going and thus never get to where we want to be or get the things we want to get. When we chose the change, we are able to let go of what we really don't need, that which no longer serves us, and make room for something better. If we don't make room for good stuff, how can we accept it into our lives? If our plate, or cup or port is full, how can we get more? I tell my daughter, if you want new clothes, you have to make room for them by donating that which is too small, or not loved as much. That works for us all.
What is the lesson? The more maleable we remain, the better we are able to go with the flow. We are able to pick and choose our battles and guide our changes to create what we want. That is the magick and control we have as thinking entities. We are not objects. We have the power to choose. Looking far enough ahead, we are able to change ourselves so that we don't need to suffer a traumatic hit. We are able to embrace it, accept it and become more...or different.
When life sends us a change, we can either mourn what we've "lost" and miss whatever opportunity or growth is coming, or we can embrace it and make room for the neat stuff on it's way. We can get excited for change, for the growth and opportunities that are available to us. Do we really need to carry around the excess baggage anyways?
So really, is change all that bad? It's all in your perspective.
Of all things in life, there is only one thing that is assured: change. Taxes are not an absolute depending on your investments and income, and death is a kind of change; from life to afterwards. In life we experience all sorts of mini-deaths as things end and new things begin. Once that idea is embraced, life becomes a series of changes, small and large, and we are able to view life in a much different perspective. Life boils down to a choice of having changes happen to us (as victims), or chosing the changes and thus guiding our lives to a chosen goal. It's all about the journey and never about the final result, for there is never a final of anything.
As we look to the stars, we can watch the pattern of the universe unfold before us and apply that pattern to our own lives. Planets and stars all condense and harden, becoming less and less maleable and flowing. They become less able to change with what is happening around them. As comets and debris fly into their space, they are less able to allow it all to just flow past or embrace it. Eventually, such obstacles hit....hard. As planets and stars become even more solid, instead of absorbing the impact or allowing it to flow through, they crack and pieces break off. Such is a huge change that can be quite traumatic.
Something about forced change vs. chosen change is that when it's forced on us, we can't chose what we "lose". We must accept what we are given and live our lives getting battered about and always being swayed one way then another. We are tossed about with no control of where we are going and thus never get to where we want to be or get the things we want to get. When we chose the change, we are able to let go of what we really don't need, that which no longer serves us, and make room for something better. If we don't make room for good stuff, how can we accept it into our lives? If our plate, or cup or port is full, how can we get more? I tell my daughter, if you want new clothes, you have to make room for them by donating that which is too small, or not loved as much. That works for us all.
What is the lesson? The more maleable we remain, the better we are able to go with the flow. We are able to pick and choose our battles and guide our changes to create what we want. That is the magick and control we have as thinking entities. We are not objects. We have the power to choose. Looking far enough ahead, we are able to change ourselves so that we don't need to suffer a traumatic hit. We are able to embrace it, accept it and become more...or different.
When life sends us a change, we can either mourn what we've "lost" and miss whatever opportunity or growth is coming, or we can embrace it and make room for the neat stuff on it's way. We can get excited for change, for the growth and opportunities that are available to us. Do we really need to carry around the excess baggage anyways?
So really, is change all that bad? It's all in your perspective.
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