Last Day of the Year

It's been a year!! Most years are like that I suppose. When you look back over them, well... there's a lot that happened. I look back over this past year and find it amazing all the things that happened, all the experiences that I had, everything that I accomplished. It seems like forever since January 1. So, although the year seems to have sped away quickly, it also seems to be inordinately long! Which is a paradox... It goes faster but seems longer??? Weird!

What is this new year going to hold?? Who knows... I know that whatever declaration I make into this new year, I will have ample opportunities to fulfill it, to create it, to bring it into being. The old adage comes to mind "be careful what you wish for... you might just get it"... So, what do I want to create in 2011??? Maybe it's time for a new blog?? Time to take a look and see what I am up for... what do I want to create in my future...

They say to dream big... to dream audacious... to imagine something huge... and then to trust that it will come to be.... our role is to dream and imagine and to request... and the universe/God will provide...

Kijiji

So, out here in Alberta, Kijiji is the on-line classified of choice, as opposed to Craig's List. The other month, I thought I'd finally get around to posting some things on Kijiji... excess furniture, camping gear, etc. I posted about 10 things, and over the course of about a month, I've sold four of them... which is pretty darn good! These are things that are too good/expensive to go to Value Village or to flog at a garage sale. So, why not try and sell them on-line... So far, it's working pretty good for me. Plus, it has the added bonus of decluttering our basement space and creating space for other things.

I know I talk a lot about decluttering but... maybe I'm just a minimalist or something... but as I get older, I find that all these things around me drain my energy. Too much to look at, too much to dust, too much to pack during a move... Things from the past that weight me down. Things that I'm no longer attached to... I find that as I create more physical space around me by decluttering, my spiritual/mental space clears out as well... Which means there's more room for the things that I love... the things that mean something to me... And if someone else has a use for the things I'm getting rid of... all the better!!

Perhaps we should make December a spring-cleaning month?? I know, I know... it's a Christmas month, when we add all sorts of things to our space but really... when you think about it. As we approach the end of one year, wouldn't it make sense to pitch out the old and make room for the new? And not by buying something new for Christmas... But just creating space and letting the universe surprise us with something else.... Just a thought...

End of the Year

It's getting to be that time of year when we start thinking about New Year resolutions and stuff like that. We review our year, take note of where we fell down in our plans and make promises to ourselves that things will be different in the new year... I don't know about you... but New Year's resolutions don't always seem to work out for a lot of people... me included...

Part of it I think is that we make a whole bunch of resolutions all at once. We're going to eat right, drink lots of water, exercise 5 times a week, play with the kids, take more me time and... whatever else we can come up with. That seems like the conditions for failure. Too much stuff and our brain is going to shut down and try to maintain the status quo... Better to tackle one thing at a time!

So then, we say "I'm going to be more patient this year"... or something like that... Maybe that's a bit too broad... How about narrowing it down a bit, again making it a bit smaller and more manageable... I'll be more patient in line-ups at the grocery store. Who knows... if I can do that, it might overflow into the rest of my life as well...

Write it down. Put it somewhere prominent. Put it in your car, in your office, in your wallet... wherever you might see it over and over again. Remember, this is something that you are putting out there... writing it down gives it weight and power.

Declare it... Tell yourself that you are letting go if impatience in the grocery store and are in development with patience in the grocery store... And then see what happens. Odds are you'll have a lot of opportunities present themselves for patience!! That's great...

And remember, if you screw up once or twice, it doesn't mean the end of the world or the end of your resolution has come. Be kind to yourself and step up again...

Keep your word... to yourself... That's key...

People Who Have it Together

I found this article on oprah.com kind of interesting. It resonated with me because I can see some of these habits in myself. Although I often see myself as a perfectionist, I am also comfortable with a certain amount of flex in things. I know people who are even more serious sticklers for perfection that I am so... there is hope...
10 Habits of Highly Organized People

1. Walk away from Bargains - I sometimes have trouble with this one... hence we end up with 64 rolls of toilet paper in the house... It was too good of a deal to pass up! Mind you... this can also lead to cluttered/disorganized closets...

2. Make Peace with Imperfection - this makes perfect sense to me!! There needs to be a certain amount of flex in anything... the room for things to just be as they are... and to be able to say "good enough"

3. Never Label Anything "Miscellaneous" - ooh yes, this is a dangerous one... it becomes a grab bag for anything and everything... whether it is paper files or electronic files... Misc is a bad label

4. Schedule Regular Decluttering Sessions - these seem to come naturally to me. Every once in a while, I'll get the decluttering urge and will tackle some closet or cupboard or drawer... just to create some space, both physical and psychological...

5. Stick with What Works - if something works... then why keep looking for something that might be better or more perfect... That just leads to a bunch of confusion....

6. Create a Dump Zone - a place near the door where you can place anything and everything comes into the house or that needs to go out of the house... And if you hang your keys by the door, you'll never need to look for them again...

7. Ask for Help - Always a good thing... Ask for help with making dinner or with picking up groceries. Why waste your time running out on an errand, when the person coming home from work can easily stop and pick up missing ingredients...

8. Separate Emotions from Possessions - Ooh... this is a good one... We aren't attached to things, we are attached to our emotions about things... But if you're hanging onto something out of a sense of guilt or anxiety or any other uncomfortable emotion... maybe it's time to let it go and free you up...

9. Foresee and Avoid Problems - look ahead a little bit... See what needs doing before it needs doing... Get a bit of far sight and you'll see what needs to be done... and you'll either do it, or assemble the things you'll need to get the task done.

10. Know Where to Donate - whether it's a charity or a friend or a neighbour's child... Take a look and see how many donation opportunities are around you.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

You know those days... where nothing seems to go according to plan. Where there are way more things coming into your in-box than are leaving your out-box. You seem to be spinning your wheels and going nowhere quickly. I don't know about you, but those are the days where I end up feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. People are making too many demands on me!! They should just lay off! Ah yes... It's not them... it's me... I find that the times I get most overwhelmed is when I feel like I have too many things to do and not enough time. And the more I think that, the more frantic I get, and the less time there seems to be! Time just seems to race by and I fall farther and farther behind. Because I am feeling so overwhelmed and frustrated, I end up spending an inordinate amount of time stuck and in a very unproductive mode, pushing papers around my desk, grumbling under my breath, and losing time like a leaky sieve...

I've found that all it requires from me is a shift in my thinking.. a shift in my attitude. As long as I look at everything that I have to do as a huge mountain, I remain stuck. As soon as I can see everything as individual little pieces, I can start tackling them one at a time, creating a bit of space and then a bit more space... and then a bit more space... I also need to consciously shift my thinking about time... There is more than enough time... more than enough time... And the time does appear and I can accomplish more than I would have dreamed possible. Partly because I'm not spinning my wheels, not stuck in a rut, lamenting the lack of time... It's all in my perception... and how I hold things...

Amber Alert

The other day, I was working at the computer, listening to the radio, and the "beep-beep-beep" that precedes that Alberta Emergency Warning System came on over the radio. I was surprised because it's not tornado season! But no... they were using the system to issue an amber alert for a missing 12 year old boy who hadn't come home from school and was apparently "abducted" by his mother. It really is a great system... To think that everyone listening to the radio or to the television is instantly informed of the make and model of the car with the license plate... All of a sudden there are millions of vigilant eyes in the province looking for exactly the same thing... Definitely a valuable tool for the RCMP and other police forces... Eventually, I could see that being extended so that an alert text would be sent to all cell phone holders in the province... Talk about wide-spread coverage...

Christmas

It is the time of year to give and receive gifts. But more than that... it is the time of year to appreciate and acknowledge the gifts of those around us... and the gifts within ourselves. It is the time of year to express love and appreciation to all those who have touched our lives in the past year. To all those who have brought some joy, some ease, some comfort, some compassion, some love into our lives. We don't have to just think of those who are close to us. It could be anyone. It could even be the Starbucks barista who remembers us from one moment to the next. It could be the service station attendant who is always so friendly with a big grin on his face. It could be the Safeway person who shows an inordinate amount of patience with us... or with someone else. We just have to look around us and we'll see the gifts of those around us. So, who can you appreciate and express gratitude to this season?

Appreciation

Having been tucked into bed with a nasty chest cold the last 4 days has really made me appreciate good health!!! There's nothing like being sick to make one appreciate being not sick... being healthy and full of energy and life. I've been dragging myself around the house the last few days, coughing and stuffed up, with the energy of wet dish rag, and it's no fun! One day, I even sat at my desk, but couldn't even get enough energy up to focus or concentrate on what was there. Amazing how a bit of sinus congestion and chest congestion can screw up our synapses... Today, I woke up feeling significantly better. I've still got a bit of a rattle in the chest and my sinuses are still draining (lovely!) but I have more pep and energy and am actually feeling more like my normal self. I'm actually out at Starbucks this morning!!

And maybe that this true for life in general. We don't really appreciate something until it isn't there anymore. We don't appreciate good weather until we have bad weather. We don't appreciate our parents until they aren't there anymore... We don't appreciate freedom until we lose it. It's a good reminder to us to appreciate the people/things/gifts that we do have. Because we never know when they might disappear for a while... or for good...

Very Under the Weather

Yes, my cold has come full throttle. My head feels like it is stuffed with cotton, my sinuses are clogged, I have a headache, and I feel a titch feverish at times. It's time to just stop and slow down... or maybe slow down and stop! I was getting some purr therapy earlier from one of the cats but... It's hard for me to just sit and do nothing!! I am trying to be nice to myself and just take it easy... but that is sometimes easier said than done... It's challenging to just stop and allow myself to be sick... There's probably a learning in there somewhere!!

Which Came First...

The chicken or the egg? The feeling or the thought? Now, that's an interesting question... which does come first? The feeling... or the thought?? I was reading a book the other week (Slowing Down to the Speed of Life) and they might actually have an indicator of solution. So... I want you to get really angry, yup, super-duper angry... How are you going to do it?? Well, odds are, you're going to think about something that makes you really angry... and then you'll be angry... So, which came first? The feeling or the thought?

Even in the moment that something happens to us... when things are very raw and very fresh... which comes first? The embarassment? Or the thought that "this is embarassing"... Good question... The point that the authors make in this book is this... Our feelings are like a red-flag for us, they are an indicator of where our thoughts are. If we are feeling uncomfortable thoughts... odds are that our thoughts are behind it all. They say that there are only two groups of feelings... comfortable and uncomfortable. But if we become aware of our thoughts... just that awareness allows us to step back, recognize the craziness of our thinking and shift into something else...

The basic idea is that there are two types of thoughts... processing/analytical and free-flow... When we are in the processing/analytical (which is favoured by our education system), we can spin our wheels and create a very big hole, going nowhere... Those endless circular thougths that get us nowhere. Free-flow thinking is different... it takes us beyond what we have known into some other space...

What to know more... read the book!!

Under the Weather

Well, it is the season for colds apparently!! I have the first indicator... a sore throat... And I know what that is going to metamorphose into for me... A full-blown cold. I guess I wasn't taking enough grapefruit seed extract last week when I felt the first tiny indicators that a cold was coming. Yes, grapefruit seed extract... it tastes absolutely atrocious but it makes a huge difference! Whenever I get on a plane or feel a tiny little cold feeling coming on, I take this stuff and the cold either doesn't materialize... or it isn't as horrible as it could be.

So, the moral of the story for me is this... I need to pay more attention to what is going on in the moment! Pay more attention to what is present in my space. Me ignoring itty-bitty cold systems is going to come back and bite me in the butt... Sigh... yet again!

E-Readers

I know I've written about this before but... things always change so... I've been reading up on e-book readers and for us here in Canada, the two best options at this point seem to be the Chapters/Indigo Kobo E-book reader or the Amazon Kindle E-book reader. Both have wireless capability. And the Kindle just broke into the Canadian market this past summer. So... what to do??? E-books cost about $10 on average... So they aren't all that much cheaper than a real book... But, E-books are a lot lighter to pack around. When I think of all the books I've bought and packed and lugged around in my lifetime... Well, there is something really comforting to think that this e-book reader could hold them all... Mind you... if I lost them!! Or lost the e-book reader!!! But, Kindle has thought of that and you have a backup storage space on their website where all your books sit and wait for you in case something goes horribly awry. And both the Kobo ($149) and the Kindle 3G ($189) are quite reasonably priced... What to do... what to do...

The Death of the Book

So, I was reading the news the other day, and there's a tech guru (Nicholas Negroponte) who figures that the conventional paper book will cease to exist in 5 years. He says that getting cheap laptops to children in developing countries is a far more efficient way of increasing literacy. E-readers, the iPad, laptops, etc... All of these will supplant the actual physical paper book. Or will it??

A few years back... they told us that computers would create a paperless society... Uh-huh, right... sure... That didn't happen!! And while cds are on their last legs apparently, vinyl records are making a comeback... So who knows... I do see the argument against paper books. They use a lot of trees... Mind you, so do newspapers... Books are heavy to ship, costly to manufacture, etc. They take up a lot of warehouse space... Could we actually get to the point where our e-readers are as familiar to us as a book. There is something to be said for curling up with a good book on a cold winter's night... But curling up with an e-book reader? Mind you... I was on a trip recently and, from experience, took 4 books with me, 3 of which I finished and 1 of which I started... All for a week away from home. With an e-book reader, my bags could be so much lighter!

So, is this guy an accurate prophet?? Some books might hold onto life... large-scale photo books... cookbooks... etc... Sort of like with film... medium & large scale film is still around... but 35 mm has bit the dust...

Flowers can Speak

I'm not sure where I was the other day, or if I was listening to the radio but... they mentioned the language of flowers. Apparently, during the Victorian era, there was a whole language and symbology associated with flowers. This all depended on the type of flower, how it was held, whether it was given with your right hand or your left hand, how it was grouped with other flowers, etc. Apparrently, the Victorians had lots of fun composing secret messages using flowers! So, I did a bit of researc and sure enough, the Victorians had actual dictionaries that would tell you what each flower meant... That would be kind of fun... to compose and to interpret... as long as both people had the same flower dictionary!!

We don't really seem to have that today... Well, we do have remnants of it. Red roses are for love. Yellow roses are for friendship. White flowers symbolize purity. Chrysanthemums are for funerals, etc. But on the whole, we've lost the language of flowers... just another one of those dying dialects! It's kind of sad actually... We don't seem to speak in symbols that much anymore... They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and so is a symbol. A bouquet of flowers could say a few thousand words! We've become much more attached to the direct meaning of words, rather than their poetry.
http://www.victorianbazaar.com/meanings.html

In the Moment

So, would you believe that slowing down to the speed of life means we need to live in the present more?? Surprise?? Not!! Living in the present moment... being present to what is around us. Instead of being present to the past or to the future... Just fully enjoying and experiencing each moment. The authors of the book say that anything that keeps us focussed and present to what we are doing, is living in the moment. They make a link with rock climbing. When you are rock climbing, you can't let your thoughts wander to something else!! You need to be fully present in the moment... no wonder rock climbers get such a rush! Actually, it's anything that we do that keeps us present in the moment... It could be knitting... it could be biking... it could be photography... it could be writing. Whatever it is that keeps us focussed in the now... That intense focus and presence keep our minds from  wandering all over the place... keep our thoughts from hijacking our consciousness... And in that space, we encounter peace and joy...

Slowing Down

Reading a book right now (surprise!) called “Slowing Down to the Speed of Life” by Richard Carlson and Joe Bailey. Their primary premise is that our thoughts are what create stress and frantic-ness in our lifes. It is our thoughts that make us think we need to do things faster and more efficiently. It’s our thoughts that keep us stuck. They also say that our emotions are created by our thoughts. That it is our thoughts that create our emotions... So if we are experiencing “uncomfortable” emotions, like anger or irritation or impatience... or whatever, we need to take a look at our thoughts and alter them. They say that we have two types of thinking... analytical/processing thinking (sort of left-brain) which gets us certain things in life. It helps us figure out things when we know all the variables. But when we don’t know all the variables, analytical thinking just keeps us stuck, keeps us going around in circles with no solution, and actually spirals us deeper into a thought attack. The other type of thinking is free-flow thinking (sort of right-brain), in which we experience something different. It’s the type of thinking where we allow something to sit on the backburner and the answer will just pop up for us. We don’t analyze it, we let it go free-flow. This is a place of wisdom and creativity and opportunities and possibilities. We see things differently in this type of thinking. We can come to an answer without having all the variables, because something other than analyzing is at work...


It’s a very good book, very readable and it makes so much sense to me. This link between emotions and thoughts... They say that uncomfortable emotions are like a warning sign, a red alert that our thinking is probably on the wrong frequency... on the wrong channel. We are stuck in our analytical thinking... and it is that thinking which gets us stuck in those nasty emotions... So, alter our thinking... alter that conversation that we are having in our heads...

A Job a Week

So, I’m reading this book by Sean Aikin, about getting a job a week for 52 weeks. He’s still on the search, on the hunt, for what makes a career, or any job fulfilling. Many people are giving him advice... Do something that you believe is fulfilling, that makes a difference in the world. Be passionate about what you do. Working with people that you enjoy being around. Being good at what you do... So the key is finding that something that you love to do, that you are good at, that brings you a sense of fulfillment/mission/accomplishment... and go for it... That doesn’t seem too hard, does it??


Maybe the key is deciding on what it is that we are good at??? Is that part of our conundrum. We go through school and learn all sorts of things, and we get clear on those courses that we enjoy, and we get clear on where our highest marks are... but are those the things we are good at? What about being organized or self-disciplined or... Any of those other nebulous things that we aren’t tested for in highschool... What am I good at? What do I excel at? And what happens if you are good at a lot of things! That makes it even more challenging... Because we can mistake the things we are good at, for the things that we like. If I am good at things, and they come easy to me, then I might be tempted to think that I enjoy doing those things, because I get a sense of success and accomplishment out of it... But is that really what I’m looking for?

Interesting to think that there might be a perfect “something” out there for me... that I just need to step into creating... Because maybe the perfect career doesn’t even exist for us and what we really need to do is create it... create that job that we would be good at, and enjoy and have a sense of fulfillment with... Maybe that’s the key... But how do you know what it will be... if you have to create it... You have to think imaginatively... creatively...

Travelling

There was a movie a few months back, maybe even last year, called Up in the Air, with George Clooney. He played a "firing expert" who flew around the US to companies that were downsizing. It was his job to deliver the bad news to employees who were being let go. With all of his travelling, he spent most of his time in the air or at airports, and hardly any time at home. He had travelling down to a fine art and felt most at home in an airport.

While I'm not quite that bad... I do spend quite a bit of time travelling, compared with what I used to do! Usually I'm away at least 1 week a month, and sometimes 2 weeks. So, I've got the travelling thing down to a fine art as well. I know how to pack quickly the night before. I know that the window seats have the most leg room and under the seat storage space. I know that the back of the plane fills up last, so the odds of having someone in the middle seat are less. I know how to go through security quickly and efficiently. I know how to have a small, manageable carry-on...

And I know how to make the best use of time waiting for planes and for transferring. Always have 2 books in your carry-on. You never know when planes will be delayed. Most airports have free publis wi-fi access, so with a laptop computer, you can stay connected via emails or blogs. Most airports also have a Starbucks and/or a Tim Horton's in behind security, so you can always enjoy a hot chocolate.

Try to avoid a rush... I find that when I get to the airport with plenty of time, I don't feel that sense of rush and hurry, and can just relax and enjoy the experience. Some people resist being at the airport, resist having to wait between flights... but it's all in how you hold the experience... It's all in how you relate to it... Relate to it from a place of opportunity and possibilities, and you'll be surprised at how many will show up for you...

Empty Flight

I was on a flight from Calgary to Vancouver the other week, an early morning (7 am) West Jet flight on Sunday. We had a grand total of 7 passengers on the plane!! Smallest complement I've ever seen! It was interesting, as I was sitting in the back half of the plane, the only one behind row 12... so the flight attendant at Row 13 was doing his safety demonstration just for me!!! I tried to pay attention, or at least look interested, so he didn't feel so silly! But, I have to admit, I lost interest in the French-instruction section...

I imagine later flights would have been more full... But still...

One Week Job Project

So, this book caught my eye in Chapters and it looked like a good read, so I got it from the library.... The One-Week Job Project. It's about this young man from Port Moody, BC who graduates from university with an MBA and has no idea what he wants to do with his life. So he sets out to try 52 one-week jobs in the course of a year. He figures he can try the jobs to see if he like them, or not, and get clearer on what sort of job he would like.

Sean wants to follow his passion, but he's not quite clear what that is. As he goes through his one-week jobs, he meets a lot of people, many of whom are passionate about what they do... whether it is working in a brewery or an office or a store or installing windows. People who do what they love to do, love to go to work... And Sean doesn't want to land in a job where he dreads going to work on Monday morning...

At this point, I'm half way through the book and it's touching a cord with me... Sean makes quite the case for following your passion, whatever that might be. The advice he receives could easily be advice for me... or for all of us. Even if you're in your 40s or 50s... and you're not happy with what you are doing... shift... switch to something that is your passion. One man, a 40-something year old from England, moved to Canada with his wife, and got a job as a snow-shoe instructor... which he absolutely loves. He earns a lot less than he did back at his old job... but he is happy... and that is the difference... To do what you love to do...

Another man had a million dollar catering business... but was just living to work... so he sold it all and became a scuba instructor, and later openned a yoga studio...

Following your passion... but first you need to figure out what your passion is... What are you most happy doing?? What gives you energy? What do you wake up wanting to do in the morning? Find it and follow it... The rest will fall into place.

You Hear What You Eat

You know the old saying... "you are what you eat"... Well, now scientists say what you hear, affects how you taste your food, so "you hear what you eat"! Scientists did a study that looked at how sounds affect the way in which we taste our food. We've all complained about the bland food on airplanes and it might not be the food's fault, but the "white noise" of the airplane engines. Eating food while listening to white noises diminishes our capacity to taste saltiness and sweetness. But can make foods feel more crunchy.

Scientists also discovered that if we listen to music that we like, we tend to enjoy our food more. So... be prepared for music tailored to your tastes being played in restaurants, where it will influence what you taste!! They're going to do more studies to see what styles of music affect our eating the most... God help us all if they discover that Heavy Metal music makes us eat more! Or maybe it will be classical music? Or Country & Western?... Hmmm... all sorts of possibilities there... They could have restaurants with different seating areas that play different backgrounds music. So the first question the maitre'd would ask you is "what's your favourite music"... and then seat you accordingly. Now, if it's a family of 4 and they all like different music... well... that could be interesting. Of course, I've heard that they can have very specific speakers that beam the sound to a specific area... so maybe each person would hear their own favourite background music?? That takes marketing to a whole new level...

Also makes me wonder, if those times I haven't enjoyed my meal as much, it's not the meal's fault... but the music's!!

Interesting... Music that suites our tastes... really does affect our taste!

Multiculturalism

I read an article the other week on the news. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, has admitted that multiculturalism in Germany is dead, a wash-out, hasn't worked. They have all these foreign workers and they haven't really integrated... and regular Germans are getting intolerant and impatient with them.


And I thought... how is it that multiculturalism has worked relatively well in Canada and in the US... while being a flop in Germany? What comes to me immediately is the stuff leading up to World War II and the Holocaust... Pointing the finger at other ethnic or cultural groups and blaming them for the way things are. What with France kicking out the Roma... Who is Germany going to kick out? And what does it mean for a nation that already went through the Holocaust? Kind of scary actually...

Sweet Pea Hunter

This past summer and fall, I discovered the delightful pursuit of the sweet pea!! These are pretty cute little flowers, and while we didn't grow any this year, other people in our neighbourhood did!

Some people grow them far into their yards, and they're pretty unaccessible, except to the eye. Some people though, grow them along their backyard fence, along the back alley, or even along the front yard fence, right next to the sidewalk! These sweet peas, as far as I am concerned, are fair game!! They are hanging into public turf... and nobody else seems to pick them!! This fall, many of them became little seedpods... So, I decided to embrace the sweet pea and in the dark of early mornings, would surreptiously sneak up on the unsuspecting sweet peas as they slumbered away. I didn't take a lot... just a few stalks... and their aroma is to die for... no wonder they are called "sweet" peas!!! Beautiful!!!

And their colours!!! There is the dark royal purple... the tender lavender and violet... A deep dark pink... a paler, lighter pink... and of course white. Some almost verge on red as well... Beautiful jewel tones!! Bundled together, they are quite beautiful... and in water, they can last almost a week! Great little flowers... and very cheery as well...

But, they didn't last much past the middle of October... We had a -4C frost one Friday night, and the next morning, the sweet peas were frozen... There frozen stalks turned to mush in my warm hands, and their frozen petals wilted in the light of day... Next year, I will begin my hunt for the elusive sweet pea earlier!!

Declutter Bug

Every once in a while I get bitten by the decluttering bug! I just get the urge to go around and declutter things, to clear some physical and some mental space. I have been noticing that as things get completed on my to-do list, it creates some space... space for something else to show up. Which is a great feeling... To feel that tehre is some space, rather than feeling enclosed by everything and anything. Space to move... space to create...

For me though, I still struggle with wanting to complete everything on my to-do list quicly and completely... like now! I am trying to get used to the idea that I can complete one piece of a project and don't need to do the whole project all today... These are month-long or year-long projects, so they do need some time... But to just do it a piece at a time... that makes it manageable...

The same for decluttering. Sometimes I'll just tackle one closet or one cupboard or one bookshelf or one room. I don't need to go around decluttering everything... I still have that box of nic-nacs that never got unpacked after the move... so maybe it's time to tackle that one box... to create some space. To really look at each nic-nac and ask myself... "what is the story that this nic-nac has... that I am attached to?".. What is that story... What is that emotional hold that it has on me... or that I have on it...

Some things remind me of good times... some things remind me of bad times... some things no longer have a hold of me... and I can let them go...

Time

Yep, back to the issue of time again... So, how about this... time expands and contracts depending on our level of panic and our feeling of not having enough time and our feeling of being overwhelmed... So, the more frantic I feel, the more time contracts or shrinks and the less time I seem to have. But, if I consciously acknowledge that while I have a lot to get done, there is more than enough time for all of it... then time magically expands and opens up in front of me...

Is time a subjective thing... speeding up and slowing down differently for different people? Speeding up and slowing down differently for us depending on our state of mind and our relationship with time?

Some would say that time is not the issue.... it's how we relate to time that is the issue. If we feel chronically time-crunched, then we are going to experience time as something that is lacking... when in fact we are creating that lack ourselves... in the way we are holding time...

If we see time as something that there is an abundance of... then time expands to fill our space, to give us more than enough time to achieve all that we want to achieve...

It's all about how we hold it... how we relate to it...

Windows

So, we've got 32 year old windows in our place... and they leak cold air all winter long... Time to get new windows, perhaps??? We asked two window companies to come in and give us estimates... The first guy gave us a $12,000 estimate (AH!!!). The second guy gave us a $7800 estimate with a $500 rebate... (EH!!!??) The second guy represents a well-established window manufacturer in Edmonton that has CSA approved windows and Energy Star certification, and the whole nine-yards... So what's the difference??? Well, the first guy represents a company that installs windows, but doesn't manufacture them... so they are sort of middle-men... Interesting...

Just goes to show you that it's best to go straight to the source if you can... To a place that manufactures and installs what they make... At least it gets rid of one level of price-raising!! It should be interesting to see how the installation goes... We'll have to lock the cats in a windowless room which would be... the basement or the bathroom... poor little guys!! Hopefully no squirrels manage to sneak in....

Winter

Winter usually sneaks up on me... Every year, I am away or busy and I procrastinate on puttin on my winter tires until... you guessed it... the first snowfall!! And then everybody and their dog wants their tires done and I have to wait a few days and well... it's not pretty!!

This year though... it worked differently!!! It was mid-October, I was going to be away for a week, and I thought... hmmm... I bet it'll snow while I'm gone and then I'll really be hooped!! So, I went to the tire shop and got my tires put on... The next day, the very next day, it snowed! Yup... Was I a ever a happy camper!! I was doing a little happy dance and smiling at the snow outside, knowing that this year I had beaten the snow by a day!

Mind you, our tomatoes outside were not doing a little happy dance! They've been tucked in at night, but during the day, it was quite warm... but that was it for the little guys! They did their best and it was time to say good bye to them...

Drawing a Blank

Sometimes I sit here staring at this blank screen and I can convince myself that I have nothing to write about! That there is nothing to communicate, and I might as well just minimize this screen and turn to something different. That's a subtle form of procrastination, isn't it?? Of course it's a load of crap that I have nothing to write about!! Of course it's a load of crap that I am drawing a blank! That's just a game my mind likes to play with me... And I believe it sometimes which drives me nuts!!

My mind tells me certain things through thoughts... and I believe them... I believe that what I am thinking is the truth or is real or reflects reality, or is accurate... But who says??? Somebody else might be thinking the exact opposite about something and they believe that they are right... or what they are thinking is true or real... But who says??? Well, we each do... We each believe that what we are thinking is the truth or is real... but is it?? We don't often think about what we are thinking... or how we are thinking... or the process of thinking. We just accept that our thougths reflect reality...

We have been hijacked by our minds and are asleep most of the time to what is really going on... We just blindly accept our thoughts at face value without any question... It's easier for us that way.... we don't have to challenge ourselves which can sometimes be uncomfortable... and we don't like discomfort at all!! So, we avoid it...

Did you know that 95% of the thougths you have today, you also had yesterday and the day before that and the day before that?? Wow... not a lot of room in there for creativity and something new to show up! We are like a broken record, replaying the same thoughts over and over again.... ick!!!

Writing

Well, didn't I have a full day of writing yesterday! A plethora of newsletter writing to keep me busy... RTS and the community association. I know I said I was a writer... but... when all these writing opportunities show up... you just know that the universe is out there conspiring to support me in writing!

Mind you, I had my own hurdles to overcome... namely... here it is again... procrastination! Yup, that nasty little puppy raises its head yet again and bites me in the butt... or tries to. I have to admit, I was able to challenge myself over and over again to "just do it"... I would sit there and start the conversation that I don't know what to write or how to start and maybe I should wait a bit for inspiration to strike me... Well, you know where that usually leads!! Anyhow, I just did it... I just started writing and the things all worked out fine... Better than fine in fact... So, that just goes to show me that procrastination is really just an excuse for not writing. Whenever I am postponing things, I can be pretty sure that what I really need to do is just tackle whatever it is head-on... I keep trying to do the two-step around it, but when I do that too much... I find that I end up doing the two-step around 10 things and getting myself completely tangled up...

The other thing I've discovered is that when I just do things, when I complete the things that are in my space... I create a little bit of space into which I can then complete a few more things, creating bigger space... and it snowballs that way... Very nice!!!

The Unknown

There are a couple of things that happen to me when faced with the unknown... excitement and sheer terror! If I'm honest... the terror often seems to get the stronger hand! Heading off into the unknown, jumping off the cliff, soaring into the sunset... call it what you will... There is an uncertainty in that... not knowing what is coming. Not knowing how I will handle things. Wondering if I actually CAN handle things... There's also an excitement... the quest of the explorer... heading off into new, uncharted territory... Excitement for the new... excitement for something beyond what I've known. Wondering what's around the next corner... wondering what amazing, new things will be discovered...

The difference between excitement and fear is huge... and paper thin... It's huge because where each of them takes me is... well... totally different places! Fear takes me to one place... Excitement takes me to a totally different place... And the end point difference is huge... The difference between fear and excitement is also paper thin... because at the beginning, I can make the choice to shift from one to the other... and very quickly and very easily... Catch it at the pass... and it's a snap to shift from fear to excitement... And move forward from there.

But again, I have to make the choice to shift. And the shifting occurs in my thoughts, in my conversation, in how I hold the experience or the event. My choice... I can see it as exciting or terrifying... I can shift from one to the other... Or choose to wallow in fear!!

Distracted Driving

Alberta is supposed to introduce distracted driving legislation this fall... And it can't come soon enough in my opinion!!! There is nothing more anxiety inducing than being in heavy traffic and being tail-gated by someone on their cell-phone... someone who is distracted by the conversation... someone who isn't paying attention to traffic ahead of them or around them...

The other day, I was standing on a busy street corner of a 6 lane thoroughfare through Calgary, and I counted 12 vehicles and 5 of the drivers were on cell phones. That's almost 50% which is kind of scary!

But it's not just cell phones... I've seen people using both hands to shove a hamburger in their mouth while they steer with their knees. I've seen people adjusting their hair with both hands while steering with... knees? And these are just the things that can be seen from outside the vehicle! Imagine what's going on in the cars... Kind of scary...

We drive one tonne vehicles around the streets with consummate confidence... but not always a high level of skill... Don't even talk to me about people not signalling lane changes!!! Bane of my existence...