I invite you friends to please come along on my new journey in blogging.
I have moved to a self hosted site, hired a technical virtual assistant and am preparing to publish my first monthly newsletter.
I will no longer be showing up in your reader so if you would like to continue this journey with me, please visit me at my new website and follow me there.
This morning I posted on The Art of Stillness, and how practicing it can save your from burnout.
I have loved this community and all of the support it has offered me in my blogging; thank you for all of your encouragement, friendship and inspiration.
Once upon a time we lived in a world where inspiration was a force of nature, both unpredictable and separate from us. Inspiration was accepted as something that came to you as mysteriously as it vanished.
Mere mortals were celebrated for having been visited by this amazing creative force so much and for so long that along the way mankind’s trusty egos convinced us to take credit for that inspiration, to take ownership of it.
Why not? It was Rodin’s hands that sculpted his masterpieces and Michelangelo’s to paint the Cistine Chapel. Why not indeed?
I recently read Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic and it has left me thinking about creativity and writing and work and responsibility.
I love that she made a deal with herself when she was just a teenager to write every day of her life but not to put the pressure of providing an income on her writing; that the writing was to be something that fulfilled her soul and not to provide a steady pay cheque.
I can see how this oath has allowed her writing to be honest and free of obligation. I can see clearly how when we include the purpose of writing for more followers, more subscribers, more Likes or a higher conversion rate, that we often appeal to less people instead of more.
In trying to connect with so many for the purpose of commerce you lose the ability to truly connect at all.
Establish what you care about, what the people you work with care about and what the people you want to work with care about and write about that in your work. Be specific. Be courageous. Be vulnerable.
Be a curious observer. Realize that your are not responsible for inspiration. That to be a success you must observe your surroundings and proceed with curiosity and keep going each and every day.
Some days this curiosity will be in baby steps and other days it will provide tremendous leaps. Both move you forward, which is the direction you want go.
One theme that she wrote about that has stayed with me is the deeply entrenched cultural belief that if we suffer enough we are doing a good job; that we are worthy.
Who the f*^k decided that was a good idea? Plenty of people suffer each and every day all over the world and their suffering only leads to…..more suffering.
There will always be many days you won’t feel the inspiration; keep moving forward anyway. It is not your fault that inspiration didn’t show up. One day you will find that your curiosity has been dancing with inspiration behind closed doors and they are, at long last, ready to come out of the closet. In the end, inspiration was waiting for you to be ready!
I think it is so brilliant to acknowledge that when we sit inspiration down for a serious talking to, and proceed to tell it to work like a rented mule for our personal prosperity, it is likely to just go take a really long siesta in a land far, far away.
It makes we want to squeeze the people I love. To hold them closer than I did yesterday; to feel the warmth of their breath on my skin and smell the sweetness of their hair.
I feel called to connect in a way that opens my heart a little wider.
Fear is spreading around the planet, causing hearts to close. I ask you not to let yours be one of them.
I am not so naive to think this is a simple matter. Not at all. But I do know that every war started with a single disagreement. If we can find peace in our own heart, it will make a difference. It is the only thing that ever has.
As we wrap ourselves into cozy blankets, trade our sandals in for rain boots and say goodbye to refreshing sips of lemonade as steamy mugs of hot tea warm our hands, I feel a strong pull to explore my inner sunshine.
Inner sunshine?
Known as that large area in your tummy where you get butterflies when you feel nervous or that area referred to by the cringe inducing word “core” used by pilates, yoga and fitness instructors around the world. Inner sunshine comes from here.
When you are connected to your core, you are confident, courageous, living with grit and in harmony with your vision for a life that you love.
Our energy centres, also known as chakras, are located throughout our body, but we typically work with seven main ones. Chakra comes from the Sanskrit word for wheel, as healthy chakras are clear and bright as they spin in a clockwise direction.
When your energy centres are unclear, dull or muddy in colour, you can feel it. You don’t feel your usual vibrant self. Depending where the imbalances are, you can be filled with varying degrees of doubts, fears, frustration and even anger.
Back to the inner sunshine.
Bright yellow is the colour of our power centre, the solar plexus chakra. When you say or think the words,
“I choose…..”
“I decide…..”
“I believe….”
The words that follow these affirming statements shape your experience in a powerful and life altering way. Of all the conversations you have, 85% of them are with yourself!
My Top Tip For More Inner Sunshine
Spend your day making choices that will have you smiling when you reflect back on who you spoke to, what you spoke about, how you conversed with them and why you said what you said.
You have the power to lift yourself up or tear yourself down, to be your own soft place to fall or your own worst critic. Thanks to our monkey minds, you can be all of these things in the span of a few minutes. Perhaps you have never thought of it as talking to yourself, but you do it….all day long. This inner world creates your outer world. This inner dialogue lays the foundation for your conversations with everyone else in your life.
No talking yourself out of adventure or opportunity today. When you reach the end of today, knowing that there isn’t an undo/redo button, how will you remember it?
Whatever you choose, I want it to be with a smile and some pride. Acknowledging your triumphs and your courage for all that went well while letting the other stuff be a lesson not a thorn in your side.
Adventure can simply be breaking a tried and true routine, habit or familiar route by doing something a little bit different. It doesn’t have to be worthy of a National Geographic spread
Make a decision so strong and so committed that you can’t not carry it forward into your day of planting seeds of love, generosity and wonder. I want you to observe how when you smile at the people around you how that energy comes back to brighten up your world.
If you can’t see any sunshine out there to warm up your day, why not make some of your own? Choose your next thought on purpose.
Is trying to figure out how to live more in the present moment just another arm grabbing at your attention and time, pulling you in a million directions?
We may read less in the traditional sense, like enjoying an educational work of non-fiction or a historical yet salacious page turning thriller, but we aren’t actually reading any less.
Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, blogs, newsletters, general web surfing, emails and texts, you are inundated with thousands of micro messages each day. No wonder you feel pulled in a million directions all the time. I haven’t even included the demand of actual breathing, warm blooded human beings of the leg-hugging or full grown variety. Another arm pulling you away from what you were just attempting to do, to get you to do what they want instead.
Clutter comes in many forms and from many influences yet it is a symptom that it is covering up something you really don’t want to address. To implement positive and long lasting change, being clear on why you have this clutter, paves the way down your yellow brick road.
How did this journey of being pulled apart by the demands of life and stuff begin? Where did you want to go when you started taking on all of this work, all of these belongings, all of this baggage?
Your mind needs space to roam.
You life requires time to play.
I invite you to clarify your intentions for your life. How do you want to live? Understand your own power in the equation of how you spend your time at work and home and how those choices can create more abundance and happiness in your life.
I also invite you to love your life enough to spend a little time thinking about why you have the clutter that you do have. Some examples are digital files, physical relics of days gone by, clothing, negative thoughts patterns, collectables, and on and on it goes. Why has it shown up and what is it hiding?
If this answer eludes you, try spending some time with these items and in your mind ask it why it is here in your life then get quiet and pay attention to the thoughts that enter your mind. This answer may not come in what I call made for tv time, so be patient. If you have been hanging onto this clutter for a long time or it feels especially hard to let it go, this answer may need some encouragement and time to come to the surface.
Clutter makes me think of Buddhist monks and their spectacular sand mandalas. Training for years to perform this ritual, monks spend countless hours over many days creating these amazing works of art, only to destroy them afterwards as a symbol of the impermanence of life.
The art of non-attachment serves us all well. True joy can not be found in a cash register.
I congratulate you for making the wise decision to value your happiness more than your clutter. Of choosing to release that which no longer serves you for a brighter, clearer more energetically charged future.
Perhaps you have been enjoying this series from the first post or perhaps you have just discovered it here. Here are the quick links to read the other posts in this series.
Tip #1 on re-kindling you creativity and profits Tip #2 to free up hours of time each week at virtually no cost Tip #3 on how to get started when you are ready to take the plunge into organizing your physical and digital worlds Tip #4 on how to lose what you don’t love. Tip #5 on the importance of sprucing up the view in your nest Tip #6 on the one tip that will keep you from drowning in clutter ever again
We are all different and require different starting points. Some items are easy to purge while others cling onto you like a leach in the amazon. Be strong and if you don’t love it, lose it.
You have come a long way baby. You have been working so hard. But hey, isn’t getting organized supposed to make things easier? It really hasn’t felt that way has it?
You have been filing, cleaning, sorting, purging, donating, organizing, shopping, renovating and who knows what else.
And I would put money on it that you would consider going on a food strike to avoid having to go through it all again.
This week’s tip is a tried and true method for keeping the clutter away. Something in, something out.If you can follow this simple rule, you will keep the contents of your space under control as the good energy flows. An added bonus to following this rule is it often keeps you from making impulse buys. Only the most fabulous of the fabulous is allowed.
It is easier said than done of course; with the constant flow of mail, shopping, clothing, toiletries, project files, photographs, children’s art projects, new shoes, seasonal items….you get the idea.
Something in, something out. It will change your life forever.
Today’s post is tip six of a seven part series. You can read the previous articles:
Tip #1 on re-kindling you creativity and profits Tip #2 to free up hours of time each week at virtually no cost Tip #3 on how to get started when you are ready to take the plunge into organizing your physical and digital worlds Tip #4 on how to lose what you don’t love. Tip #5 on the importance of sprucing up the view in your nest
Thank you for sharing your precious time with me today. Live life in full bloom.
That deep belly, tear inducing, stomach hurting laughter is one of the best feelings on earth. So is dancing with a freedom and rhythm that pulses in the depth of your soul.
Even more important, is the ability to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “Hey gorgeous! It’s nice to see you. Today is going to be our best day yet. I’ve got your back, so go out there and rock it.”
The road to success, happiness and abundance is different for everyone, yet it starts in the same way for each of us. The first step is a good hard look in the mirror where you recognize the amazing, intelligent and fabulous soul that you are. This inner dialogue is the landscape where you can paint any reality you choose with some well placed thoughts and a personally crafted action plan.The future is created in the present moment. It is all we have to work with.
I strongly believe that we stand in our own way more than any person or circumstance out there. Being able to harness your power, rather than outsourcing it to others is the key to your success.
I focus my work around unleashing individual’s barriers to living a life that you (freakin’) love. Like the famous quote goes, “Whether you think you can or think you cannot, you are right.” It is only once you have stopped trying that you have actually failed.
I taught a new workshop to clients of Dress For Success, Vancouverin October 2015. There were 26 courageous women who participated in my half day workshop, Conversations for Success. Each lady, in her own beautiful way, brought her courage and slapped her vulnerability onto the table while she worked, engaged and connected.
I asked one of the clients when she last said, “I love you” to herself. She answered, “Never.” I changed that in a hurry.
A few take aways from the day include:
Everyone has a story underneath that bullet proof smile, be kind whenever you can. You always can.
When you smile at someone else they smile back; you attract back what you put forth just like a boomerang. Smiling and making eye contact is also a confidence building habit that leads to being more open and connecting with new happier people.
Change is really really hard. You need a plan, repetition, purpose, support, courage, grit, gratitude and forgiveness in order to make big or small changes in your life. Do all these things and hit repeat. Then repeat again each and every day.
You can 100% count on the world to be harsh and beat you up; be your own super hero. You can always count on you.
You are the only person who has been there for every step and every breath of your life. Appreciate yourself and all that you do. You have the most influence over your life and you are the most important person in your life, period.
Fear doesn’t belong in the driver’s seat, that is your job. Take your fears out for a drive, acknowledge what they are warning you about, then kick them into the backseat where they belong. Perhaps even into the trunk. They are your constant companion, so reduce your fears to a back seat driver. Unless of course you see a grizzly bear, then toss those keys back to fear and let it drive the get away car.
Your thoughts make up 85% of the conversations in your life. Your thoughts become words, conversations, habits and eventually a part of your personality. Be about the good thing. When you find yourself in old thought patterns, take notice and choose the next thought on purpose.
Get comfortable with the uncomfortable. If you truly want to create a new cycle for your health, family, work, finances, you name it, then be prepared to feel uncomfortable once you start taking action on your plans for a life that you love. Recognize feelings of discomfort as a good sign that you are on your way to something bigger and better.
If you don’t take care of yourself, you aren’t in any position to care for others. Self care is not selfish. Self care allows you to be rested, mindful, passionate, to live with purpose and grace as you create that life that you love.
Conversations For Success, fosters confidence, joy, purpose and passion. It creates an opportunity for you to honour your accomplishments, your strengths and to harness your power to create a life that you love. On purpose.
I am excited to teach this workshop in the months and years ahead; to spark flames of purpose and watch them light up is a job I am honoured and grateful to have. Lucky lucky Lisa.
I will be announcing dates for online and in-person events soon.
A big thank you to Dress For Success, Vancouver for inviting me to speak to their clients and for inviting me back in the spring to do it again!
Thank you for sharing your precious time with me today. Live life in full bloom.
We discussed having supplies and tools that you love already, but what about the bigger picture? How your space feels is a key element in your ability to create abundance in your life; this includes money, happiness, opportunities and so much more.
With all of the time that you spend at your keyboard, doesn’t it just make sense to be in an environment that fosters your well being?
You have been busy clearing away your old files, jeans and collectibles. You have been organizing your computer’s hard drive and desktop. You have been saying hello to lost treasure and good bye to your junk. You are awesome!
Now it is time to take a seat in the spot you like to work (yes, go there and sit down). Do this both at home and at the office, and get quiet in your mind and body. What do you see? What would you like to see? Colours, textures, scents and feelings all play into your ability to focus, be creative and to get things done.
Could you use some aromatherapy, fresh flowers, a new piece of art that reflects an adventure you have on your bucket list or maybe a new colour of paint?
I ask you to love the view from the seat where you create, work and thrive. Trust me on this, it really will improve every aspect of your life. By putting some fresh new personal touches on it, you will want to be in that spacemore, which in itself will increase your productivity and profits.
You will be happier, feel motivated, more inspired; creativity will flow and so will the abundance.
So whether you work in a cubicle or a corner office with a rock star view, whether you are planning a full renovation or just a few tweaks; loving the view from where you sit can make all the difference.
Pinterest is an excellent resource for decorating if you haven’t already checked it out. You can set your search parameters around your exact needs and create a board for My New Office and starting pinning!
Today’s post is tip five of a seven part series. You can read the previous articles:
Tip #1 on re-kindling you creativity and profits Tip #2 to free up hours of time each week at virtually no cost Tip #3 on how to get started when you are ready to take the plunge into organizing your physical and digital worlds Tip #4 on how to lose what you don’t love.
Thank you for sharing your precious time with me today. Live life in full bloom.
Here we are for week four of my series on living a life that you love.
If you missed the first three tips, click here for Tip #1on re-kindling you creativity and profits, here for Tip #2 to free up hours of time each week at virtually no cost and here for Tip #3 on getting started when you are ready to take the plunge into organizing your physical and digital worlds.
I don’t know about you, but I love, love love to throw things out. Ever since I had kids and the stuff that came along with them bombarded my living space, I have truly embraced the bliss of exposing my inner hoarder.
I have been to the pulpit and made a full confession, as the guilty party who brought all that stuff into our home. Amen and hallelujah! I take accountability for my behaviour, and have taken a vow to change my ways. And meanwhile, other areas of my life became cluttered and disorganized including what is commonly referred to as mommy brain. Feng shui, innovative organization, enhanced productivity, call it whatever term moves you deep within your soul. Just throw out that dusty old relic! Donate those fat pants you haven’t worn in years! Pay forward all those amazing books you know you will never read again!
When we put our energy into the good thing, we create more of it. Like attracts like. They key is to visualize your work and your life exactly as you wish it were. When you visualize your desires, it draws more energy into the desire and momentum builds. Your creativity is ignited and your intention become crystal clear.
This process make it easier to clear out your space and really gut your dusty old belongings. There is no room for sentimentalism here. I have personally had to release old family heirlooms that I inherited that sat in a storage room, year after year with absolutely no chance of ever coming out to see the light of day. As you lose what you don’t love, you create space for something better. Much, much better.
As you go through your belongings, you will find treasures from days gone by; let them spark your imagination. Why did you buy that dusty guitar all those years ago? Perhaps it is time to sign up for some lessons. What about that old squash racket? Find a new partner and get back on the court.
Our old belongings can remind us that we have forgotten about essential pieces of ourselves as we got busy making a name for ourselves in life and love.
So surround yourself with the best of the best; this goes for decor, furniture and people. Let your desire for a life that you love guide you as you love it or lose it.
Thank you for sharing your precious time with me today. Live life in full bloom.
Whether it is shoes, throw pillows, years of files or manly collectibles, we all have our weak spot for stuff.
I mean we love our stuff, but we can’t let commercialism drive our cars so to speak (pun intended). If the urge to “have stuff” navigates our route, we are in for big trouble both financially and spiritually and let’s be honest, environmentally. Sorry mother nature for all the abuse to this amazing wonderland you supplied us with, just doesn’t seem quite adequate does it?
Clearly she is mad. Very mad. Volatile and epic storms, dying polar bears due to no summer sea ice and ubiquitous algal blooms and exploding jellyfish populations have been noted.
We all need to take back the keys to the ignition and turn up the music of our favourite playlist to drown out the requests for more, more, more. I promise you, if you do a major gutting you will reap the benefits personally, professionally, healthfully and financially.Make the space for a big heap of your stuff that is coming out of your desk, closets, cupboards and shelves and set aside the time to gather everything up before you start. Not only will you be two-feet in and fully committed, you can realistically assess how much time you will need to:
donate
recycle
chuck
re-organize
pay forward
launder
re-joice in re-discovering
wonder what the heck you were thinking when you bought it?
…all of your digital and physical creations.
We will take this to the next level next week, but for now, feel no shame as you stock pile your dusty and outdated files and flared jeans.
If you missed the first two tips, click here for Tip #1on re-kindling you creativity and profits and here for Tip #2 to free up hours of time each week at virtually no cost.
Thank you for sharing your time with me today. Live life in full bloom.
I have moved to a self hosted site, hired a technical virtual assistant and am preparing to publish my first monthly newsletter.
I have loved this community and all of the support it has offered me in my blogging; thank you for all of your encouragement, friendship and inspiration.
Bloom Lisa Coaching 