On Going Gently

Sometimes “getting in shape” means getting off the couch and out the door three times a week to go for a walk. No distance sought, no pace tracked. Success is getting out the door, period.

Sometimes “eating healthier” means adding one serving of fruit to your day that wasn’t there before - maybe two.

Sometimes “creating more” means taking your art supplies out of storage, or sitting at your keyboard and typing whatever comes to mind for five minutes - no judgement, no editing.

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Sometimes “starting a meditation practice” means taking five minutes during your day to be still, for the next five days, and seeing how that feels.

Sometimes “getting the finances in order” means logging on to look at your bank statement, or downloading the money app you’ve been meaning to download for the last three weeks – the one that has the tracking feature.

Sometimes “being more social” means giving some thought to what that would look like and coming up with one next action to move towards your vision.

Sometimes “getting through the to-do list” means taking one small specific action a day – or one a week – towards getting things done, steadfastly, instead of plowing through your list in one shot.

Sometimes our productivity pace is fast and furious, sometimes it’s slow and steady.

Sometimes we have the energy to tackle it all, sometimes going gently is where it’s at.

I am going gently these days.

How about you?

Work Transition Checkpoint + The Importance of Shedding Light On All That We Do

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Despite having an extremely full and busy first four months of the year, I can't help but feel that I haven't been productive in my quest to create meaningful work.

I must often remind myself that compared to last year, three full days are now spent working outside of the home at my part-time office job. That's three days less to create, market, write, dream, plan, set up, ship out, paint, manage, and move forward on projects in waiting.

It's reasonable for my output to shift.

On the flip side, I've created and launched this new website and written posts from a place of integrity and truth on a regular basis - including my celebratory and resource-filled Four Weeks of 40, of which I am proud.

I've submitted regular contributions to ScoutieGirl.com, sent out regular updates to my mailing list, and I painted. I took an online class to solidify my workshop design skills, produced an outline for a one-hour workshop that's almost ready to go and the visual material to go with it.

I worked hard at my office job, bought a house, and on Sunday I leave for my first trip overseas.

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I'm not writing this to brag or boast (though I do think my PowerPoint presentation for that one-hour workshop is pretty sweet!), I'm writing this to shed light on just how much has taken place in a mere four months. Not just trivial stuff either, BIG stuff like buying a house and building up the nerves to get on a plane for the first time in 10 years.

And you know what? I bet anything YOU've been doing a lot too!

Just for fun, why don't you pull out a pen and write down what you've been up to? I bet you it's more than you think.

So when you're feeling kinda crappy and down on yourself, remember that there's usually a lot more going on than meets the eye and that sometimes, keeping things running smoothly is hard work.

Then give yourself a pat on the back because YOU are doing a fabulous job.