The Dark Side of Selflessness
Posted on April 19, 2017 1 Comment
It’s my nature to take others’ needs into account. A big part of Life, after all, isn’t about me, it’s about what I can contribute. How we can make the world a better place for ourselves and for those around us. There are many similarly-minded folks out there, and reading this you are likely one of them.
Sometimes this shows up for us as hosting the family gathering. Other times it’s picking up the tab. Could be it’s dog sitting for the weekend. Maybe it’s quietly changing plans in order to enjoy the surprise company. No matter what the form of the outcome is, our first response is Yes, I’d Be Happy To Do That. And, we truly mean it. It really is at no personal detriment, and it actually makes us happy to help others feel good.
Hang on there Vader, there is a dark side to our selflessness.
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Self-Improvement Is A Farce
Posted on April 12, 2017 1 Comment
For a long time now, I have seriously appreciated self-improvement books, courses, and materials. Sometimes I wonder if I single-handedly power this global economic industry… For example, I’m currently practicing how to improve my relationships (with friends, loved ones, money, myself) through clearing myself.
And then I had an Aha Moment. The kind that made me sit down with my disequilibrium while the world reset itself on its new axis.
Self-improvement is unnecessary.
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Do This One Action to Instantly Rebalance
Posted on April 5, 2017 Leave a Comment
I’ve been spending a lot of time on a creative project. When I’m not working directly on it, I’m mulling it over in my head. I even continue working on it in my sleep, considering next moves and possible results regularly in my dreams. It’s the kind of immersion where I figure I’ll cook tomorrow, I’ll save housecleaning for the weekend, and suddenly it’s two (okay, three!) weeks later with neither having occurred.
As great as my project is going and as much as I love working on it, being this focused also has it’s shadow. As an empty-nester, lapses in domestic upkeep have actually been liberating — but diminished eye contact and lack of regular connection with my husband does not make me feel fabulous.
Also, in being so deeply attuned to only one glorious aspect of myself I have discovered that I actually miss — the rest of me.
Have you experienced this?
There is a remedy, and it also works as a prevention:
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Get Your Creativity On
Posted on March 29, 2017 Leave a Comment
I got lost in the grocery store the other day.
I’d love to be able to say that it wasn’t my regular store, or that it was a really large building. Or even that something had changed in the layout that threw me off. Nope, none of the above. What was different was me.
I had been playing online with new recipes, and my grocery list was full of items that I wasn’t sure how to pronounce and didn’t know on which shelves they lived. I was completely thrown out of my routine and felt like I was on a great adventure. I wandered, backtracked, found myself in aisles I never even knew existed, and totally lost track of time.
It was great!
I was already enjoying these new recipes, and I wasn’t even in the kitchen yet.
Have you ever been caught up in a project that makes you feel like you’re wearing a full-body perma-grin? That is our creative state expressing through us.
Whether you consider yourself to be creative or not, you are. It’s simply inherent to being. Don’t be fooled into limiting the forms of creativity that show up in your life: you may not use a hot glue gun, but perhaps you set a beautiful table. Maybe you don’t sew, but you have a knack for dressing with style. Could be that you can’t keep a plant alive, but you have the perfect, subtle decorative touch that makes all the difference.
The thing is, we need to nurture and cultivate our inherent creativity in order to be balanced human beings. We celebrate ourselves by expressing it. We stifle ourselves when we don’t.
Look at it this way: we are the bottle, our creative nature is the effervescence. Regular life is what shakes us up. Letting out our creativity celebrates our flavor (and keeps us from exploding!). Not attending to it either keeps us bottled up or makes us go flat (either way, it’s wasted).
We all have a need to express ourselves creatively. In what ways are you a creative being? In the comments below, share three things you did last week that lit you up — they could be sneaky forms of creativity! For me, I’ll say learning to collect and cook maple sap at a friend’s house, clapping along and laughing at an Acapella concert, and writing this post.
Cheers to YOU!
The Time Is Now
Posted on March 22, 2017 2 Comments
Do you have an idea, a project, or an endeavor that you’ve been hibernating with?
Maybe you’re thinking about starting PiYo. Could be you’re looking at a particular job posting. Perhaps you’ve toyed with learning how to play the violin. How about your desire for a more homestead-style living? And what about that book you’d like to write, or that business idea you have…?
For me, I’ve considered going to Therapy Dog and Reading Canines training with my sweet Riley.
Good girl
And perhaps, like me, you’ve been in the infinity loop of “considering” for some time now…
Now is the time to begin.
Start before you’re ready.
Wait no longer for permission. Better yet, grant yourself permission: Permission to begin doing. Permission to be good enough. Permission to become that which you already are.
Don’t wait until you’re confident to begin — it’s by beginning that you gain confidence.
Stop waiting. Own your life.
Progress, not perfection.
And remember: you SO got this!
Own it in the comments below: what has been hibernating within you?
gina drellack 