Emergency Toolkit

Dear Meg,

We've noticed that you've been a bit...off-colour lately.  In spite of all your attempts to stay positive, you've had a really cranky couple of days.  We're here to help.  Here's a compilation of things to try next time you feel homicidal:

1. Smudge.  Get out your incense, get out a lighter, and smudge that house!  If you have no incense, try strategically placed candles.

2. Separate Heaven and Earth.  Do all that lovely energy medicine stuff.  It'll help.

3. Take a couple of deep breaths before you, say, slam that door or throw your son's crayons across the room (what the heck was that all about anyway?  What are you, 2?)

4. Put on some music and DANCE, for crying out loud.

5. Wash your hair.  You can do this in the sink even with a toddler underfoot!

6.  Stop trying to multitask and commit to actually PLAYING for 20 minutes.  Little Bear will be happier and YOU will be happier because you won't be trying to get other stuff done.

7. Check your caffeine levels.  When was your last mug of tea?

8. Take a nap with Little Bear.

9.  Bundle yourselves up and go for a walk.

10.  Turn on the TV.  This is why you avoid it most of the time...so it's available guilt-free when you really REALLY need it.

See...that wasn't so bad, was it?  Keep in mind you can also call your mom or your friends and vent if you need to.  You are not alone.

Wishcasting Wednesday: Permission slip

Whew!  I almost didn't make it!  I have been sick as a dog since Saturday night.  This is the worst cold I've had in years.  I read somewhere recently that we get colds when we need a break from our routine or when we need to make a shift in our lives.  And I totally believe it now.  Things are shifting all over the place right now, and I feel like this cold has hung on for this long because I needed to make space for change in my life.  Well, consider the space made.  My mind is bursting with new ideas.  And tonight I renewed my business name registration...something I had no intention of doing (or at least no desire to think about) at any point leading up to this illness.  I guess everything does happen for a reason.

Anyway,  I'll post more about it when I feel ready...at this point I'm trying not to overanalyze or overthink...I don't have a plan, I'm just playing.  And playing is good.

This week's Wishcasting prompt comes in the form of a permission slip.  And here's my filled-in slip:

I, Meg G, wish to give myself permission to bound gleefully after joyful dreams.

Catching up...

I've fallen a little behind with my regularly scheduled blog posts, and here is one big SCHLUMP of an update!

I haven't felt like writing before.  I had some kind of block and I just didn't feel like I was ready to share anything that was going on.  I see now that the cold I just got is part of the process of moving that block, because now I'm feeling A-OK about sharing again!

To start with, here are my various and sundry assignments from last week:

Creative Adventure Sunday:

Last week our assignment was to work with an affirmation meditation designed to help us see our dreams come true.  Now, I'll admit something: I'm not very good at working with other people's meditations...I think because I generally can't get them to say EXACTLY what I feel like I need.  I'm an English major at heart and my critical voice, my "that's not quite the way I would say it" can get pretty distracting.  Not that the meditation wasn't good...it was!  I just had trouble getting into it.  I wanted to write it myself (and for some reason the thought that I COULD do one myself...didn't...occur...to...me..until...now...oops!)  Also, I can't really meditate except at bedtime...and that's just as difficult as you can imagine.

I loved the idea of this, but it didn't work for me.  I couldn't picture a specific dream come true...I just sort of sat with the idea of "a dream come true" as opposed to something specific...if that makes sense.  Clearly there was some sort of resistance there for me.  Ah well.  Like I said, good in theory.  Something to think about.

Joy Rebel Mission Monday:
Last week's Joy Rebel Mission was to make spirituality fun.  In Brandi's own words, "to embrace the rebellion and fun and joy and love of your particular spiritual path IN YOUR WAY."  What a great mission!

One of Brandi's suggestions for Spiritually Rebelling was to research a spiritual path that interested me.  This one really spoke to me, probably because I was reading Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg at the time.  I just finished it today, actually, just in time to return it to the library.  However, it was so perfect for me that I've ordered my own copy.

The best part of the book was that it helped me understand more about Buddhism and key concepts like attachment (I know I'm not the only one who thought that letting go of attachment meant not letting yourself love anything or anyone...yup...got that one wrong).  It took all of the stuff that I just didn't "get" and put it into a context I TOTALLY "get"...even karma and reincarnation! 

I can't wait to get my own copy and start a)highlighting and b)trying the meditations.  I would LOVE to incorporate metta meditations into my daily life.  It fits in perfectly with my "choose joy" philosophy and my efforts at mindfulness and appreciation.  I think I will be adding parts of these practices to my "spiritual buffet."  So, thanks Brandi!  You've got me thinking about my spirituality, which is good.  I feel like it's shifting around this month...expanding in new ways and feeling more life-encompassing...just as it should.

Wishcasting Wednesday: Where do you wish to make a difference?

I love how my various missions often seem to fit together!
When I think about where I would like to make a difference my immediate thought is "somewhere cozy."  Does that make sense?  I don't think of myself as ever making a difference in a "save the whales" "end world hunger" kind of way (although those are both wonderful goals, and I'll be sure to donate some money to charities doing that work).  I want to bring joy to people's lives, to help them gain insight and understanding and inspiration.  But I want to see the results -I want to know the people I'm helping.

One of the most fulfilling things I've ever done was teach a class called Kripalu DansKinetics.  My favourite thing in the world was to take a group of people who had never tried the class before, sit them all in a circle, and say to them, "You cannot do this wrong.  There is no such thing as a mistake or a "bad dancer"...whatever you do in this space is perfect, even if you just feel like sitting in a corner for the entire class.  And if you don't want to do anything I tell you to do you don't have to." I loved watching their faces light up as they learned that they couldn't get it wrong.  And then I loved watching their faces glow with joy as they let go and DANCED.  And week by week I loved getting to know their dancer-selves.  So wonderful.

Anyway, once I got really super-pregnant I stopped teaching, and until recently I felt like my journey with dance was done.  Now I'm not so sure.  I'm not ready to hang out my shingle and start teaching yet, but I'm moving through the blockages I'd built up when it came to dance...for a while there I couldn't move at all, and now I'm starting to.  I don't want to send out a specific wish about dance classes, but I do wish to make a difference in the same sort of way: bringing joy and radiance to the community around me.  That would be tremendous.

For now, I send this wish out into the universe, trusting that answers will come in their own time and their own way.

 I have a feeling you'll be hearing more from me shortly!
Hope you're having a fantabulous weekend!

Wishcasting Wednesday: Where do you wish to travel?

Today's Wishcasting Wednesday comes at a very interesting time for me.  In fact, I almost decided to skip this entry because I'm currently experimenting with not-being-online more, and this...well, this is online, obviously.  But then I realized that, really, the purpose of my experiment is to cut my net time down to the things that are meaningful and give me joy and connect me.  And this is one of those things.  So there.

Where do I wish to travel?
I know this is totally because I just finished (!!) all of (the latest seasons of) Doctor Who, but I REALLY want to  go back to the UK.  Like really really.  Like for more than just a week or two.  I don't know if that will ever happen, but it's been sneaking into my consciousness over the past few weeks.  I'd also like to see the rest of Europe, since I haven't yet.  And, finally, to round things out, I'd like to take the train across Canada again.  I did that in 2002, and it was a life changing experience.

I send these wishes out into the universe, trusting that they are heard and will return to me in their own time.

Creative Adventure Sunday: Celebrate!

This week's Creative Adventure Sunday assignment was to celebrate ourselves and the dreams that we dare to dream (because they really do come true...get it?  Wizard of...oh nevermind). 

I have to admit that I put this one off so far that I technically didn't do it in the week it was assigned!  I did it today.  I went to the mall...and I bought nothing but bath stuff and chocolate!  It felt so decadent!

I went to Lush and got a couple of bath bombs and a sugar scrub, and Papa Bear and I have made a pact that he'll give me a chance to have a nice, soaky bath every weekend (incidentally, this fulfills one of the things on my "to-do" list).  I will also not save the bath bombs for "a special occasion"...nope!  I'm going to use them ASAP...they smell AMAZING!  I also got some satsuma body butter from the Body Shop, so I shall smell DELICIOUS.  And I have cocoa butter lip balm for my poor, chapped lips.  AND I got two champagne truffles and two French mints from Laura Secord and ate them on the way home.  It was blissful.  Happy celebration to me! 

How did you celebrate yourself and YOUR dreams?  (or, if you didn't know you were supposed to, how do you PLAN to celebrate?)

Happy Sunday!

What You're Doing Matters.

Playing around online tonight, searching for (and finding) magic.  

Here.
And here.
And here.

My favourite line?  "Every life matters.  You matter.  What are you waiting for?"
Well, that, and the text of the entire first video (this is from a novel?  I must find and read said novel.)
ETA: Ah, no it's not...THIS is from her novel.  My sentiment still applies.

OK, bedtime! Stay tuned for Creative Adventure Sunday...where I celebrate dreaming with...a blog post about dreaming!  Woohoo!

Six-Word Saturday!

Fighting off a cold WITH DETERMINATION!

Hanging out with a toddler -WHEEE!

MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW BOOK! (Little Bear's contribution)

A coincidence! I love coincidences!

So, yesterday I wrote about stories...and today I got this in my Atrraction Parenting newsletter:


:: The Power of Story (Part 1) ::

Children love stories for their power to evoke
creation:  Stories told with conviction inspire
imaginary worlds that feel real and shape one's
sense of truth.

Anytime you talk *about* anything, you are in essence
telling a story that "in-forms" your world...

 * You tell a story when someone asks you,
    "How've you been?"
  
 * You tell a story whenever you chat with
    your friends about how difficult or easy
    it is to parent your child.
  
 * You tell yourself stories when you recall
    good or bad memories, worry about tomorrow,
    anticipate fun, etc.

Whatever story or theme you repeat most often becomes
the story of your life. That means you can change your
life by changing your story!


Things are falling into place :-)

Wishcasting Wednesday...on Thursday!

So, yesterday was Wednesday...and I didn't post anything.  Know why?  Little Bear is going through a MAJOR "I am almost 18 months old and I am learning how to talk" milestone right now, and he barely napped....and when he WAS napping he needed my boob.  *Sigh*  I try to remember that one day nursing will be a fond memory...but when I'm stuck in the bedroom and can't get out and don't have my glasses on...it becomes challenging.

ANYWAY.    There was a point to this...and the point is that it feeds into my answer to yesterday's Wishcasting Wednesday question: "What story do you wish to live or let go of?"

I wish to live a story of infinite possibility.

I often feel like I'm stuck in recurring patterns of reaction.  You know how it is, "I had a bad night, therefore I'm cranky and will have a bad day" or "Little Bear isn't sleeping today therefore I will barely keep it together and will freak out at Papa Bear tonight."  It all feels very heavy and out of control and BAD.  But the thing I've realized this week is that IT DOESN'T HAVE TO.  No one says that just because I had a crappy night's sleep I HAVE to be cranky.  No one says that not having a break means I HAVE to lose it (losing it NEVER makes me feel better...I have come to the firm belief that that whole "anger catharsis" thing is crap).  All it takes is a shift in perception, some mindful breathing, some positive rephrasing, and (sometimes) a well-timed mug of tea or piece of dark chocolate and the possibilities open right up!  It happened the other day when I wrote about my gratitude practice, it happened last night when Little Bear woke up at 3am and started practicing his words, and Dear LORD did it ever happen yesterday when he wouldn't nap!  I took some deep breaths, I reminded myself that, while I can't control what happens I have the Inner Freedom to control how I handle it, and I handled it better than I could have imagined (OK, OK, I still snapped at Papa Bear when he came home last night.  I'm only human, and this is all new to me!). 

So, this is my (belated) wish: to live a story where I don't mentally skip straight to the worst possible ending and then manifest it.  I wish to live a story where I am able to enjoy (or at least appreciate) every single moment for what it is, to find the silver lining, and to creatively handle any obstacle.  Just writing that makes me feel more free. 

As an added thought, I've been reading about the way Buddhists handle anger and thinking about (and feeling) the difference between repressing anger and admitting, feeling, and releasing anger.  It really is tangible -the hard, tight, out of control feeling of repressing (and ultimately exploding), vs the soft, accepting feeling of breathing deeply, thinking "I'm angry...it's OK to be angry...", allowing myself to feel anger and then mindfully choosing to re-centre myself.  When I pick Option #2 I inevitably end up feeling better faster.  Interesting stuff.

Proof that gratitude practices are completely worthwhile:

...After a less-than-stellar night's sleep my Little Bear woke up an hour early.  And instead of griping to myself and making things worse the first thing I thought was "OK, so what's good about today?  What am I going to put in my gratitude post on Facebook?"  And I immediately felt better.

If I'd known the practice of writing one sentence every morning would transform my life so completely I would have started years ago. It's true: you can change your life without "Changing Your Life."

:-)