Dang, that’s funny.

I have a private blog I started when first diagnosed with cancer, when family and a few friends knew but otherwise I was keeping quiet. I called it “Laughably Do-Able.” It was going to be my place to notice the ‘good stuff’ to keep my spirits lifted. Well, facebook ended up being that place and the Laughably Do-Able blog evolved to have a by-line: “Kind of a whatever sort of blog, it turns out. Never will be public.” Some serious rants happened. BUT, tonight (July 2013) when I happened to have a look at what I’d written, there’s a few posts that had me laughing, and I decided to add the following one to this blog… backdated/posted when it was actually written. Cuz sometimes I’m a linear thinker. Who knew?

~~~~~

March 28 2012

I’m going for laughter. Bigger and better, laugh til tears of joy run down our faces, or heck, I might even pee my pants, laughing. Laughing that is more noticeable than ever!

Laughter I’ve noticed:

The uproarious laugh of my ‘housemate’ who calls out from her room: “My health nurse friend offered to do a workshop for my ESL students called “Ten Reasons why the Dong is Wrong.”

I noticed how I laughed when my brother called to invite me to a movie and said, “Isn’t it great how when one gets cancer you get more phone calls?”

At a pre-op ‘learn about your surgery’ session at the hospital: When they were gathering my family contact information, the nurse said, “Shall we put Leona down?” And I said, “No, I like her a lot.. it’s not time to put her down.” And the whole room laughed.

Also at pre-op, as I sat beside another patient who will also be having breast surgery, I cracked up laughing when the nurse called down to physio, saying, “I’m sending you two breasts.” Now there are those in this world who might have taken offense, but they need to lighten up. In this case when one person in the room starts laughing, and I did, so does everyone else.

And I’m noticing every giggle and laugh of my little granddaughters and my daughters.. oh, that joyful energy is just good for me.

I have a rather severe reaction to fluorescent lights.. but lately it seems to be actually improving. This is no minor thing.. I throw up in fluorescents and that is rather limiting on where and how I do workshops, events I can go to.. etc. Since I’ve done a billion things to help this, it really is amazing it’s improving. In pre-op for a few hours, the lights didn’t bother me. First in 30+ years. Now the reason this little blurb is here is because I told my daughter the lights didn’t bother me. She answered: “hmmm, maybe cancer is good for something.”

I LOVE that she could have that humour with me!

What if you live magically today?

Kabing!

You landed in the magical sharing spot!  (For those of you who didn’t arrive via flight or rainbow, then you probably didn’t find this through my newsletter)

Sooo, what if you lived magically today?

What would ‘magically’ mean for you?

I’d adore beyond imaginings if you share.

Why? Because I know one person’s ‘magical’ might be a trigger for another person’s ‘aha.’  And another person’s ‘magical’ might be another person’s “oh, I’m not crazy after all – there’s others like me!”

And because sharing is caring. ~smile~ (okay that’s a grama nana statement coming out) and sharing is a way that kindred spirits can inspire and support each other.  THAT always evolve into more magical things happening.

Thanks for being here! And a joyous and happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!

Cars: But if it keeps on ticking….

This week I get to drive my daughter’s 92 Honda Civic. She’s borrowed my car for a trip because..well, it’s possible hers isn’t as dependable.  Driving her car brings me back to a little issue I have about ‘stuff.’

A few years ago I traded in my 91 Honda Civic for my nice Toyota Matrix.  But I resisted doing this so much!

“Why would I get rid of it? It’s still running! And the rusty fender isn’t going to fall off anytime soon,” I would say to my other daughter, who would respond:  “Mother. You have a business. Your car cannot be a beat up piece of crap.”

She was right of course. And I do love my Matrix.  I had to justify the change because I really did need more room for grandbabies and for camping gear, and not because it wasn’t suitable for a woman running a business.  There’s a rebel in me who really dislikes doing things for ‘social acceptableness.’  There’s a rebel in me who is horrified by the waste that is so often based simply on making sure our ‘status symbols’ are current.   Not so many years ago, we knew those old traded-in cars just kept on ticking in someone else’s hands. Not true anymore. How many old cars do you see around these days?

And really… there’s a lot ot be said for old Honda’s.

1. Megan’s car still has better gas mileage than most nowadays. When I traded mine off, there was an offer from the government to give money back for trading to a more fuel efficient vehicle.  As it turned out, NO car I looked at was more fuel efficient than my 91 Honda. Seriously? 20 years later and none in my ‘range’ are better? (No, I wasn’t looking at the very expensive hybrid cars, it’s true.)

2. You stop worrying about .. oh, things like “mom backed into my car and wrote “oops sorry” on the dent.”  (It’s still there.. a bit hard to see in the picture)  You stop worrying about those things because really, is it worth a lot of repairs when it’s this old and may not last? But it has kept on lasting. And maybe I should get it fixed for her.

3. You can say to some young new driver who is horrified that he backed into your car and took out the side mirror, “That’s okay. Just get the mirror fixed. The crunch is fine.”   You can imagine how much he loves her.

Besides it gives the car symmetry and balance.  One crunch on each side.

Now the very cool evolution I see happening amongst some people is this: Less waste, more simple. Simple lifestyles. Small homes. Cabins on land shared with others. (I’m in for this one.. anyone else?) Old cars and old furniture are okay.

And what is starting to evolve is that others see people making these moves as brave and innovative.. and perhaps a move like that is going to become the new status symbol, instead of the bigger homes, fancier cars, etc.

I heard someone say the other day, “Did you hear that so and so is moving out into a cabin for $200 a month? Sold their big home and simplifying!” And they said it with admiration instead of what we might have heard in the past.. scoffing judgementalism.

I think we’re going to see more of that:  approving attitudes.

But I don’t think we are at the point where I wouldn’t be judged as to the success of my business if I were driving my old rusty Honda. I don’t think I’ll hang a “Musings and Mud Coaching Studio” sign on Meg’s car this week.

Megan, on the other hand, can be the beacon of a changing world by hanging onto her little civic until it decides it’s time, or until it is no longer safe to drive.

Really, it all comes down to making choices based on what’s right for you and your lifestyle and your dreams, and taking care that those aren’t being determined by external factors like media, consumerism, and society’s expectations of what you should be doing.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting a new car.  There is something wrong if you want a new car only because others think you should get one.  Thank goodness I could justify my new car for camping and grandbabies.  ~smile~

Thoughts, anyone?

“Pay Now, Feel like you Failed Later”- Choosing the newsletters to unsubscribe from.

Written the end of December.. yet- not posted, because I’m imperfect and likely just forgot to press ‘publish.’   It’s good to be okay with imperfect. If I let my perfectionism rule the show, I suppose I might never get anything ‘out there!”  

“Oy!” I think, as one newsletter after another pop into my inbox these last days of 2011.   They promise to have me write a best selling book in 30 days, lose weight in a week, exercise one hour a day for 90 days,  find my soul mate any minute, etc.  Kind of a “Pay Now, Feel like you Failed Later” sort of thing.

Of course, I subscribe to a variety of newsletters because it is important for me to keep up with what’s out there influencing people in self-development, writing, creativity, business, arts, parenting, spirit, life and such.

This is always the time of year when I get to unsubscribe from many.  The new year’s newsletters are so ‘telling’.  I ask, “Does this empower the individual or subtly set them up for failure?”

And how can I tell? Here’s clues I watch for…

The about-to-be-unsubscribed newsletters offer:

Explosive get extraordinary things done now if you follow their advice step by step (by step, by step, by step, by step… oh? What do you mean you have other things you need to be doing? And seriously..just try to get your money back on that guarantee of success.)

Their ‘program’ or ‘course’ or ‘service’ does not even hint at the option (written, talking and being heard, or other format of discovery) of finding your own inner answers and individual way of ‘getting there.’ (Ya, like you’re exactly like everyone else in the world, with the exact same backgrounds, minds, emotions, beliefs, limiting beliefs, responsibilities.  uh huh.) (Also, assumes you have no answers)

Implies that something is wrong with you, and they can fix you. (Sadly this is still an unfortunate ‘rule of thumb’ for most marketing campaigns.)

Says their way works for everyone. (Oh won’t you feel crappy when it fails for you?)

etc, etc. yada yada yada.

The thing is, this sort of campaigning must work to get customers.. it’s the norm.  Knock the person flat and feed their inner critic’s insistance that they are not okay, then offer a quick ‘fix’ program so they feel like they are doing something that will make them more of a worthwhile person.  Yuc. yuc. yuc. yuc.

and yuc.

I AM noticing advertising that is changing to include far more empowering statements.  That’s refreshing, don’t you think?

This quote fell out of my typing fingertips one day and I like it:

Question anything that has you thinking you are anything less than awesome.

You are amazing.. you might have moments of doubt.  Heck, we’ve been trained to doubt ourselves. But if a newsletter has you feeling like a failure… what if you just give yourself permission to unsubscribe. Kabing! Gone!

The Creative Muse Meter – where are you?

Ps.

If you are anywhere between 2 and 6, you already know you are a creative person.

If you are a 1: Bet you are busy creating your life, but perhaps showing up to ‘creativity’ (process or product) isn’t calling to you. And that’s cool.  But then,  I suspect not too many 1’s have landed on this page, anyway. And if they have, they probably are wondering how they got ‘dragged’ here.

But for the rest of you, want to scooch a little closer to the 6?

1. Awareness alone is a good start! So.. look, you’ve already taken a step!

2. Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to show up to our creativity. To do that, you might want to find ways to truly appreciate how important the creative process is in your life:

a. External ways to find value: Do a little research, watch the Happy Movie, read or watch or listen to works by Sir Ken Robinson or Jill Badonsky.

b.Internal ways to find value: Thnk about the times you are creative.. creative thinking, creative doing, aha creative moments in conversations, etc. and ask yourself “How is that important for me?”

Yes, that creative process..it’s not just a fun little past time, my friends. It may well be your “soul feeding, finding answers, calm your stress, life is good, meditative, and oh, life is fun, too” process. How ’bout that.

~~~~~

How amazing are you, anyway?

 I’m curious….what would it take for you to scooch your butt a little more to the right, a little more often? (Hint: a little thought shifting may be all that’s required)

Today I put the damper on genius…

I feel like a big corporate entity.. the difference is that I do care, but still, I put the damper on genius because I’m bigger and I could, and the safety of my home and the cost of running my home mattered more.

Brilliant little Swallow once again decided that my clothes dryer vent would be the best place for her nest. Really.. it is brilliant:  Safe from anything that can climb or leap or otherwise harm her eggs.  And warm. Imagine.. so cozy and warm when the dryer is running that she probably can go out and play, knowing her little eggs are incubating, while other moms-to-be just squat for hours on end.

Even more brilliant.. the fuller she fills the vent with twigs and string and nesty things.. the longer my dryer runs to dry my clothes and warm her babies.

Yup. And I wired it off. Chased her right out of there and attached a wire screen. We’ve been through this before. .. If I don’t realize she’s there until the nest is built, and the eggs are laid,  I leave it.  My clothes take forever to dry.  I stop running the dryer if I’m not home, just in case I’ve created some sort of fire hazard.

But this year, I heard her as she began the nest.  And big mean me told her ‘Go build a nest like a normal bird.”  That was the moment I realized I was playing the role of the ‘systems’.. corporate, government, religious, etc… that stomps on the genius of those who think differently because  1. they aren’t doing things ‘normally’ and 2. they are interefering with what matters to the organizations.

So, little bird, I am sorry. I hope you don’t get discouraged, and shut down that innovative thinking of yours. I hope you find another way to be a mommy AND get to play more often. I hope you don’t run into more people like me in the process.

Oh jeez… now I’ve written this, am I going to go take the screen off?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

There’s genius in everyone.
Find your way.
And don’t let the likes of ‘me’ (today’s me, not my everyday me!) stop you.