The shifts in thinking and tools for an abndant life in the book 30 Perfect Days are not new, but they work. Writing is an extension of the spoken word, as Alexandra Johnson expressed in her book Leaving a Trace, a way of having a narrative life that has more layers. In her sequel to The Artist’s Way, Walking in this World, Cameron stresses walking for spiritual sustenance and warding off bad thoughts. Yoga, like journaling and walking, clears the mind and brings consciousness to the present; it also reminds us that we are enough. The beach glass in my pocket, like a necklace, a rabbit’s foot, or a verse, reminds me of where I want to go. Writing down a list of absolutes, rules to live by, help us stay on the right path for living our best life. And when I attended a yoga retreat soon after my book was done, I created a vision board where the journey ended with these words:: “With optimism and visionary ideas, inventors, activists and yoga practitioners are reimaging the future of life on Earth—and making it happen.” The vision board was yet another tool for an excellent, if not perfect, life. Your challenge, if you choose it, is to ask, as Mary Oliver asks in her most famous poem, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This is THE question we need to ask as we work with the tools and adjust our attitudes about Life.
Tag Archives | authenticity
Log Post 24, Week 24: Tuning in to Possibility
On Day 24, I quoted Golda Meir who said we need to trust ourselves and create the kind of self we would be happy with the rest of our lives. Wow. Are you doing that. I think it’s difficult to appreciate ourselves, and for that reason, we can’t trust ourselves. Maybe it’s time to inventory our gifts, positive traits, and accomplishments so we can objectively begin to rework ourselves. The concept of recreating myself seems counter-intuitive to being authentic and letting go. I love the metaphor of a river, and how we move along in the current of life, sometimes hitting the bank or getting stuck on a rock, of being pushed down into the depths and rising to the surface, of flowing along in a meandering way, with our lives being transformed by trusting the journey. Creating ourselves but being authentic can be welded into this: accept what life has to offer and respond from a place within us that is fine with change. We don’t have to actively force a change but shift our attitude ever so slightly, hardly making a ripple on the surface of the water, but deepening what’s in the depths.
30 Perfect Days Log Post 17, Learning to Fly
If I believed I could fly when I let go of the branch, life would be so much easier. If you’ve read 30 Perfect Days, Finding Abundance in Ordinary Life, you know that every chapter begins with a quote. For Day 17, I chose this one by C. JoyBell C.: “You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.” Even though my head thinks I should fly, my heart is afraid to go into the unknown. But if I allowed myself to go into the unknown, to follow an unfettered heart, with spread wings, miracles could happen. People who work in private on their art, their writing, their gardening, doing it for the love of it, yes, they should be celebrated, and watched. They are oblivious to the score because they’re in love with life and living authentically. They’re flying. Escape is okay. It reminds me I’m alive. Why aren’t we allowing ourselves to fly?