A gratitude practice, leveled-up.
Posted on March 2, 2022 2 Comments
Home.
The short story is, my spouse and I have moved and are currently in-between homes. We don’t feel homeless, we actually feel like we have returned home. Be that as it may, all our stuff is in long-term storage and I am learning a lot about what it is that I really need. The longer story about this is here.
Something that has been helping me greatly with this time of extended transition and change (some would call it upheaval, chaos, but I prefer adventure…?) is appreciation. Not simply as a concept, but as an actual physical practice.
I have in the past kept a gratitude journal, and you are likely familiar with the concept. But somewhere along the way I stopped the writing-down. (This happened waaaay before packing up everything for storage, by the way.)
Funny thing, I have discovered that it’s easy to forget to be appreciative when I’m not specifically tending to it…
So I am back to a daily gratitude journal practice of actually writing it down. BUT — with a leveled-up twist that I recently learned. One that is making a huge difference in my practice, and therefore my life.
Read MoreWhat is it we really desire?
Posted on February 23, 2022 3 Comments
Our possessions don’t define us. We know this, but there’s nothing like letting go of stuff to really feel it.
Sometimes we choose to release our things: having a yard sale, donating to thrift stores, giving to friends in need. (Yay!) Other times our items are taken from us: lost or misplaced pieces, our home is broken into, the basement floods. (Yikes!)
I am learning a lot about possessions, stuff, and what I think I really need. What if that is part of the purpose of extended transition? A hidden gift within the process?
Read MoreWhen you’re at war with yourself and you win, who loses?
Posted on February 16, 2022 Leave a Comment
Whoa. Now that’s a mind-blower for me, for sure. I first heard this as I was listening to a free series of conversations about transformations, from NLP Marin.
I was unfamiliar with NLP, and since I can’t seem to stop learning stuff I checked out their website (maybe you are wondering what it is, like I was):
“What is NLP?
NLP = Neuro-Linguistic Programming
NLP is the study of the structure of human experience. It is a communication toolkit that provides the ability to discover, utilize, and change our programmed thoughts and behaviors, assisting us in having new experiences in life that are more satisfying, fulfilling, and enjoyable.”
Ooo! Self-awareness, and choosing how to navigate through the world, so that we can have better experiences? Sure, I’m open to that!
But for now, I will sit with that first thought that I shared. I don’t consider myself warring with myself, and yet… Might that simply be another way to describe my patterns of self-help, self-improvement, self-growth? All of my “learning stuff?” When I try to overcome, improve, change my response, isn’t that just another way of saying I fight my Old Story as I work to create a New Story?
Read MoreShe. Let. Go.
Posted on February 9, 2022 Leave a Comment
Just when I thought I had been regularly trusting and surrendering, I discover this poem.
Holy wow, to be so simultaneously consumed yet emptied. I did not realize how much I was still carrying…
Read MoreWhat’s good? revisited
Posted on February 2, 2022 Leave a Comment
I caught a national TV commercial the other day, where the greeting “What’s good?” was used. Casually, like it’s always been the social greeting.
I came out of my chair whooping and hollering with a dance of joy — because this is a simple yet significant signal that the world has begun changing. Or maybe is even already changed, and I’m just catching up to that now. Either way, it’s how I want my days, my life, to trend.
Here’s to automatically putting the focus on what’s going well. Now that’s a fabulous social default.
So, what’s good with you today?
gina drellack 