by Miriam | Oct 28, 2014 | Uncategorized
I had a great idea for today's post – it was to be thought-provoking and overall, fairly brilliant. However, I did not write it down on a sticky note, to return to sometime later in the day, and, alas …
It fell out of my brain.
I hate it when that happens.
But what is one to do, when they have a Swiss-Cheese Brain?
I have a dream of a working space that has multiple whiteboards to sketch ideas and flows of thought and Miriam-sized post-it notes where my brain can safely reside, knowing the super sticky will keep those thoughts captive. Someday.
What do you do when you've got nothin'? When you're blank or done?
You admit it.
You let people laugh with you, even at you, and you move on.
It happens to us all – even you.
🙂
by Miriam | Oct 27, 2014 | Uncategorized
It week EIGHT of the non-stop constuction in front of our house. They had steamrolled endlessly, creating a pavable surface and then the next day had the backhoes out there digging 5 foot deep holes in front of each house on the block. Not sure if this was an oversight, or is that just how it's done?
Today, they steamrolled in ernest. Ginormous 18-wheelers full of gravel and sand that shake the house to the point that I wondered if things would fall off shelves … back and forth, starting at dawn and now just ending as dusk …
I feel this tiny glimmer of hope.
Like the bit of sunshine that bursts through the dark clouds and illuminates the fall leaves … this little bit of cautious optimism has lightened my day. It is entirely possible that they will pave this sucker by the end of the week, and I will be able to park in my own driveway once more.
One can only hope.
by Miriam | Oct 26, 2014 | Uncategorized
I wanted to share a link to a company that I have found very useful – it's called "Skillshare."
Here's the deal: you know something I don't know. You create a few short videos to teach me. I pay a nominal fee (like $7) … I learn, you share, we both profit.
This site is brilliant.
It has classes on photography, lettering, knitting, writing, marketing, creating your own business… yadda, yadda, yadda.
Someday, I'm going to create a class on something. Intentionality perhaps? : ) Or boundaries. Or dog training. The sky is the limit.
I am in awe of someone (who is probably bringing home the bank now) who thought of this fantastic idea. I don't have to leave my home … I can sit in my pajamas and eat pretzels and m & m's (my latest vice) and GROW. They have ton's of free classes too. I just watched one on desiging a book jacket and then one on sign lettering. Yesterday, I watched part of the class on marketing by my favorite marketer – yes, Seth Godin. Some of the teachers are no names; some are big names. Some classes are hugely valuable and some are not-so-much. But the thing that impacts me is that those people did the work and got something out there. I'm going to do it too … it's just a matter of when and what.
In the meantime, I'm learning like crazy.
by Miriam | Oct 25, 2014 | Uncategorized
A neighbor gave us tons of tomatoes; I decided to make salsa, which I have never done before.
I didn't want to go to the trouble of canning it, so I froze a bunch of it …
… which I have never heard of anyone doing.
Will it work?
I don't know.
It might taste terrible. (Or it might be awesome).
But, if you don't ever try something new and unknown how do you grow?
by Miriam | Oct 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
It's not an event, its a process.
This came from a podcast I was listening to regarding becoming a published author … they were talking about how you really don't get to that place where "you've arrived" by an event, i.e. getting your book published (or even finished!), but rather, there were lots of steps along the way; it is a process.
I was reflecting on this and thought about how much of life is truly the same. When I was in college – a naive 18 or 19-year-old, I remember having a lively discussion with God (really, I was yelling at Him) about how this hard thing was SO DIFFICULT (it was probably something like an o-chem test) and When was I ever going to get a break? I remember that He kind of chuckled and asked me what I thought adult life was?
It was in that moment that I realized that real life, adult life, is a series of challenges that you overcome. Like an assembly line, they come one after another – but in the process, you become (hopefully) strong, compassionate, empathetic, creative; and the pie'ce de re'sistance ... wise.
It's like this with everything.
You don't become a mother just because you have a baby. You grow into it.
Fathers earn the right to speak into their children's lives.
Proficiency in a job comes not just through time, but evaluation, feedback, mistakes, failures.
When you say, "I do" you don't become "one" – that takes three or four decades of listening, struggling, playing, crying, working at it.
Embrace the process, because fighting it causes you to forfeit the benefits (and its exhausting).
by Miriam | Oct 23, 2014 | Uncategorized
I have returned from my trip (which was awesome) and have resumed writing!
And back to a horrifying 144 emails. For much of my trip, I was either in an internet vacuum, or I was on an e-mail fast, so they stacked up pretty quickly (although, I did connect mid-way and deleted as many non-important messages as possible, which is why this large number feels so overwhelming).
When I finally had time to sit down and look at all the little messages crying for my attention, I felt somewhat panicked. I don't randomly subscribe to stuff – if its coming into my in box, it is because I WANT it to … which means that each post had value and therefore, requires TIME.
Part of the problem is that I have 4 people who regularly post on different, but related subjects. I was trying to go through the e mails sequentially, from oldest to newest, and it just wasn't working for me, I think because I was switching topics between these four authors. It felt like a kid during a birthday party where he gets 20 gifts and is pressured to open them all, one right after another. There's no time to actually absorb the information or even appreciate it.
What I decided to do (that immediately made me feel better) was to create a couple of folders to hold these ideas and to schedule three different time periods to give them each individual attention. So right now, I am scanning each message to see if it is relevant to where I am currently (or will be in the near future) and I am either tossing them, or filing them, with the caveat that I will go through them within the next week and give them the attention they deserve.
The issue / realization on my end is that I cannot THINK when there is too much – in my house, in my in box, in my mind. To do well and move forward, I simply MUST declutter somehow.
My guess is that you are not all that different. What is one thing in your life that you can streamline today, with minimal effort? Do it. I guarantee you will feel lighter and more motivated to live well.
