Day 11 -- love, luck, purpose and experiencing everything

“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day."
Rainer Maria Rilke

This quote (found on a friend's Facebook page) really spoke to me today. This has been the most productive, I dare say most inspired, January I've had in years. I felt focused, energized, ready.
Being between consulting projects and having the time to focus on all of my goals and projects has certainly helped. I've done Love*Luck*Purpose like it's my job! I've loved it.

February is really going to be a time for me to take it to the next level -- time to face the music, go to the gym and stop eating junk. I've been caffeine free and dairy free and that's great. I'm eating better but I still have more tweaks. I'm feeling inspired though -- focused, energized, ready.

I'm going to love the questions themselves and experience everything. I might be a grumpier me when the sugar gets taken away but I'll come out the other end a stronger, happier, and healthier me.

How are you doing so far this year? How does it feel to be living the questions and experiencing everything?

Chances

"There was once a chance I didn't take."    No one really ever wants to start a story with this phrase. Wouldn't you rather say "I took this chance once and..."?

Chances, they are a funny thing. Chances pass us by so often... but is it because we don't grab hold of the opportunity or because we just aren't aware? Are there days when we just don't see those opportunities? Or do we see them and too afraid to risk it? 

In my life, I have tried to take a lot of chances. Let's not confuse that with risk, I like to play things pretty safe.  But most of the time, I won't let a chance to smile, love or create pass me by. I am human though and there are days we just get caught up in life (not the fun parts) and almost blindly go through our day. Recently, a few friends mentioned their mottos for the year: Say YES to life! and Why Not?   The days I doubt, want to slump or just stay in my cave of comfort, I remember these little tidbits.

Taking chances leaves you with no regret. You won't have to ask What if? if you know you have embraced it.  There will be failed moments, times you just don't feel like walking through that open door and like all the world is against you. It will get sloppy, full of tears and irrational thoughts.
        But, shoot, wouldn't you always be wondering if you just took that chance?

Risk it, gamble it, make yourself luckier but don't think that things fall into your lap by chance.  Open those eyes and do it.

Grab hold of every chance you get. Jump at the chance to express your emotions. Dance at the chance to sway and laugh hysterically every chance you get.

I know I've danced without abandon, giggled until my tummy aches and shown more emotion than most people are comfortable with.  If I continue this, I am happy knowing that I gave life my all, and am still prepared to do so.

Share with us: How are you saying yes to life, getting messy and taking that chance to discover something new?

Day 10: Promise Me

"I need you to be happy...I need you to follow your dreams. Promise me." -- Keiko Sanders, On Writing

This is what Keiko's grandmother told her on her death bed. Sad as that moment must have been, this message should resonate with all of us.

What is stopping us from following our dreams? Why are we waiting to be happy?
Life is way too short and uncertain to wait on anything.

Writing has been something I've always said I was going to do, but never did.

This blog is just me dipping my toe in the pool. There is so much more to do, I'm just waiting to fully jump in. I need to promise myself that I will keep going, that I will use the blog as the start of something bigger and deeper.

Maybe writing is not what you've been waiting to do -- but we all have something we have been putting off.

What will you promise to do, to explore, to become?

Share here -- and let's use the blog as a support for our promises.

Day 9: Stay Drunk

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. -- Ray Bradbury

 

 

Certainly, none of us could stay "drunk" for long for fear of losing our jobs and destroying our lives.

This Bradbury quote intrigued me though -- the idea of "staying drunk", being fully and totally immersed into something, drowning in it.

 

There are so many things we throw ourselves into -- our jobs, our relationships, our families.

We are some times so "drunk" with these things that we can keep reality at bay.  We make those things our total reality.

 

There is nothing wrong with creating your own reality and living in it -- I do it regularly.

 

I'm just curious about the staying "drunk" part.  Is it good to escape reality by being too involved in things?  Or should we sober up every now and then and peek our heads out into reality?

 

For me, "reality", life unfolding around me (good, bad, and eveything else) is what fuels those "drunk" moments -- what helps me write, what helps me have compassion and depth and insight.

 

I'm not sure if I want to write to escape reality, to not let it "destroy" me as Bradbury said.

 

Perhaps it's those "sober" non-writing moments that can be what we "drink" to fuel us and our writing?

 

Discuss....(glass of wine as you type is optional)



Keep calm & carry on: day 8

Let me tell you a little about my day.

I think it was the no caffeine and no dairy talking but I seriously wanted to order a bacon cheeseburger at the vegan restaurant I went to for lunch -- both for the sad irony and for the simple fact that it sounded amazingly delicious -- even though I became a vegetarian in May.

Then a guy who cut me off flipped me off when 5 blocks later he stopped in the middle of the street and I lightly tapped (ok, laid on) my horn.

Annoyed might be a good word to describe today.

Then I remembered the sign I had seen in the street before arriving at said vegan restaurant (no irony in its name: Loving Hut) and was flipped off by the crappy driver -- CALM DOWN.

Today the words "keep calm and carry on" became more than a slightly overused and many times over ripped off British poster.

Today I needed those words -- CALM DOWN, KEEP GOING. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.

Not sure if it's the lack of Diet Coke and ice cream or the hormones or what but I was in dire need of a sign like that today.

Ironically, in order to calm down I might normally have drank coffee or eaten chocolate -- no such coping mechanism today. I had to just breathe, acknowledge how annoyed I was feeling (for no reason at all), and just keep on.

It wasn't easy and I can't say it won't happen again -- but I can return to my mantra and relax.

We all have days like this. What do you do to "keep calm and carry on"?

Good enough

It's not that I didn't like today's prompts -- I've just had a "rant" on my mind for a while and it was triggered by a picture I saw on Pinterest (attached below).

It's a picture of "tooth fairy money" -- cash sprayed with glitter.

I'm not sure it's actually a bad idea -- creative for sure.

But it brought this to mind, my "rant" of sorts. When is good enough, good enough?
Why can't we keep things simple? Does life need to be about bigger, better, more?

Progress, not perfection.

Let's give ourselves a break and just be -- good enough.

It's not things, it's not projects, it's not our jobs -- we are good enough. You are enough.

What are the ways we can relax, simplify and make it so we are good enough?

Day 5 & 6 combined -- a word for 2013

What's your word for 2013? As you know, we chose 3 -- love, luck, and purpose. But there is another one that I've really been focused on this year -- GENEROUS.

Giving, loving, open, caring, generous.

I think generosity is something we really need -- with our time, our talents, and our resources if we are able.

Our giving should not diminish us, it should fill us.

What can you give -- today? This year?

What's your word? Share it here.....

Day 5 & 6 combined -- Living in the real world....

Last night I got in bed, iPad in hand, ready to write for day 5. Matt seemed tired so it thought it was a good time to get to work. I was totally ignoring him, reading the writing prompt and thinking about some ideas. Then he asked me a question and I was shaken back to reality.

I put my iPad aside and focused on him. It made me realize -- how much have I missed out on always having an electronic device attached to my body at all times? How many important conversations have we never had because he just didn't bother to "interrupt" me?

I made a promise at that moment to be more engaged, more present to him so I don't miss out on those moments. If you know me, you know my love for technology and social media. That's not going to go away. But the love I have for connection and relationship needs to be rooted in the real, not the virtual, world.

Let's do this together -- what are the ways you can live "on purpose", intentionally focusing on those around you? How can you better pay attention and focus on the ones you love?

Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way. - Ray Bradbury

There must be some truth to the idea (I hate to call it a fact) that I am ADHD, heavy on the H.
My husband says so, my mom says so, but no doctor has confirmed this. Fact is, there is no point of being diagnosed. I just call it an active mind and an ability to multi-task.

Maybe that's why I want to be a writer. That way, all of the ideas swirling in my head could find their way out.

My intuition is telling me that there is quite a bit that I want to write about, maybe even things that I should write about as a form of therapy or catharsis or closure.

Fact is, I just need to calm my mind, make a list of topics , and let my intuition, my inner voice, do the rest.

Here's a few topics I've been considering (other than the bros, hos and who knows idea with Vince):

1) infertility -- the funny side and the painful one
2) being a "child free" 40 year old women and my take on the world
3) fashion/makeovers
4) the idea of "locals" and how they are going away -- inspired by growing up in Point Loma and being known as Steve Goebel's daughter
5) a book called "If I said what I really thought, I'd have no friends" -- self explanatory
6) a collection of short stories about running errands

Anyone else have other good ideas?

These are what my intuition tells me to write about -- I just need to find a sugar daddy to support me so I can do it full time.

What do you want to write about? Share here.....

Don't lose steam today!

Today's writing challenge had our suggested prompt, a quote and a daily message. The daily message was: "Don't lose steam today.  Affirm:  Today I will write no matter what happens.  Today I am a writer."

                                  All I read was Don't Lose Steam Today!  

Then the daily message continued on to ask questions geared toward helping us fine tune who we are as writers.  I'd like to read this message as fine tuning myself. The following tips & questions are there for us... to help us make ourselves better. To dare to push out of our rut, or not get into one for that matter.  

As I have dared to begin writing again, I have found that I am reflecting on myself and emotions in each daily writing. That tells me, it's time to bulldoze through these walls that have popped up in the past months.   Even as I browsed through my pile of empty journals, I picked the tiny one that had the word believe scrawled on the front. I think I am noticing a theme. 

It's time for a: G.U.T. Check 

 

Good Care of your body
Up the commitment
Tune out Inner Critic

The G.U.T check was a suggestion today to check ourselves as writers.  Let's take that further into our own personal lives. I think it's the perfect time to check ourselves, before we wreck ourselves. Anyone remember that catchy tune? 

Am I taking good care of my body? 
      I like to take good care of my body, lately I haven't made the time for it.  Injury free and recovered from a recent car accident, I can get back to a little exercise routine.  My life doesn't feel normal without my mental and physical strength builder.  

                                             How are you taking care of your body?

Am I eating healthy foods and getting enough sleep?       

      Yes! I absolutely love fresh, nutrient rich foods. Even with my lack of exercise motivation, I am still filling my body with a lot of sleep and good fuel.  

What routines do you put in place to make sure you are establishing healthy habits?           
      

Where am I at with commitment to writing?       

     Funny, I have fallen off my personal blog wagon too. But it's coming back with time. I needed a moment for my train to derail before I could get back on track. This challenge is a good way to get me back into something I truly love.   Even weirder...my love of writing came from Margaret, Miss Madge, when she was my high school Creative Writing teacher. Interesting how things come full circle, eh?             

            Are any other of our readers reflecting occasinally through writing?                                 

How loud is my inner critic? 
      I think my inner critic found my old high school cheerleading megaphone and is shouting in my ear every moment. Where did this come from?  Criticism soap box, go away!  Time to say "bye-bye" and pass the megaphone back to my ol' pal, Miss Pocket Full of Sunshine. 

How often do you find yourself saying a personal compliment?  
 Try and do it two more times each day.

From now on....  Full steam ahead!    With a few occasional pit stops to pick up the things that make me smile, getting off to stretch my legs and taking that train one station at a time.

Write the kind of story you'd like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you're not writing something you like, no one else will like it either. -- Meg Cabot

Day Three of the 21 Day Writing Challenge.
Day One of what I'm calling "Operation Caffeine Free".

Both will be challenging, both will be good for me.

I spent today shopping with my dear friend Vince. Not for me, not for him, but for his alter ego, drag queen Tori Heart.

When you are leaving Charlotte Russe, boy-sized corset in hand with the store manager asking to come to your drag performance, you know it's been a successful day.

For a while now, Vince and I have been wanting to write a book or launch a TV show. Pie in the sky dreams but we think our lives are entertaining. Problem is -- would anyone read it or watch it?

I guess there is no point in writing it or putting it on film if it will go nowhere. Or is there?

We think it's funny, we are amused by it -- shouldn't we write about it if we like it?

The stories we can tell are the kind of stories we'd like to read so I guess we should move forward -- potential readers and viewers be damned -- and, if for no other reason, write it for ourselves.

We have claimed a blog address and when there is anything for you to read, we will let you know.

I guess we should stop worrying about it and just write it. Stay tuned.....

Thought for today: Don't just dream it, do it.

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work. - Stephen King, On Writing

Today was an interesting mix of inspiration and frustration, of gut feelings and second guessing.
I was anxious to get today's prompt and "force" myself to write again, but it did not come.
By 4:15pm, I had to leave for my painting class so I figured I'd just check my e-mail again when I got home. I was preparing to be creative by painting so that was enough for the moment.

Painting class was typical me at first -- jump in, have fun, get your hands dirty. Don't think too much. It does not have to be perfect. I must have said "this is fun" 10 times in the first 20 minutes.
"Go with your gut" has been one of my mottos in life, why not in "art" (if you can call it that)?

Four circles in to the 12 Kandinsky circles that we were supposed to be modeling, I was already a little antsy about following the rules and listening to the teacher. Even though I have never painted before, I felt like going rogue. 1/3rd of the way through and I already wanted to do my own thing. Typical me.

What's funny is -- I should have just gotten up and done the work at the start. The inspiration hit me too late though. Hearts instead of circles -- why did I not think of that four circles ago? Too late now.

I finished the painting but (ironically) didn't love it, even though the word love and a big heart were right in the center of it. Problem is, the true inspiration came a little too late. I had charged ahead, unaware of the fact that I am still an amateur and could have benefitted from the waiting part.

Just get up and get to work. That approach usually works for me. Action is truth, doing is knowing. With painting, not so much. To create a better picture, I should have waited for the bigger picture to surface in my mind.

But I didn't and I can't go back now -- or can I?

I drove home feeling a little uncreative and a little frustrated that I had not taken more time or had a little more vision before I charged into the assignment. Lesson learned next one there is a canvas in font of me. Think big picture -- literally. But guess what came to me while I drove?
What is the heart of the picture? Literally -- the heart. I love the heart I painted so I cut it out and I'm going to frame it.

It's not that the rest of the picture is that crappy, it's just not me. It's not the heart of my creative ability. I am not going to pretend the rest of the painting never existed, but I am going to accentuate the positive. Without the rest, the heart would not be there.

The rest of us just get up and go to work and that's what I did today.
Painting is not my thing, but writing about it is. Thanks Stephen King for the inspiration.

Faith is taking the first step when you don't see the whole staircase - MLK

Today is the first day of a 21 day writing challenge that I just signed up for a few hours ago.
It seemed like a great idea at the time, in the middle of the gym.
"Hey!" -- I said to myself while sweating on the stationary bike -- "this post on Facebook is totally cool. I should totally do this! It will keep me motivated to blog every day!"
I just got day one's assignment in my inbox 15 minutes ago.
Want to know what my first thought was?
"Damn, I actually have to do this now. I signed up and now it's real."
I closed my email, thinking -- "I'll just do it later, can't really think right now."
5 minutes passed.
I opened the e-mail again. I was not too fired up about the writing prompt. Almost closed the e-mail again.
"Hey, wait!" I said to myself (am I the only one who says Hey! to myself?)
"There's another option, a quote of the day. Wait, that's one of the many MLK quotes I put on my Facebook page today. I should be able to write about that!"

Faith is taking the first step when you don't see the whole staircase. - MLK

Without knowing this was an MLK quote, I actually used these words back in October to announce to my FB friends that I had left Nordstrom after 8 years to do something totally new and different. Definitely a first step with no staircase in sight.
Creating a new list to guide me (and our growing 13x13 group) and deciding to blog about it with Michelle -- first step.
Signing up for a 21 day writing challenge -- first step.

The day I turned 40, I decided it would be best to live this new decade one day at a time. It's a phrase I have repeated over and over to myself since 9/6/2012 (which is also the day I started my new job) and you know what -- it works.

Each day, each step -- enjoying it, being present to it, living it fully. It's hard not to want to know what's around the next corner, what's coming next. Believe me, I worry and I wonder. I then have to remind myself -- one day at a time.

I'll live 2013 that way and approach the writing challenge that way -- one step, one day at a time with faith that all is well.

Thanks for being on this love.luck.purpose journey with me, with us!

Live Life on Purpose

The attached article really got my attention -- the MYTH of purpose.  I immediately worried that the writer might be saying that there is no such thing as a life calling, a vocation, a purpose.
Quite the opposite.

Please take time to read the article and share your thoughts with us.  I loved it and learned so much!

We encourage you to love yourself and others, create luck, and seek purpose.
M and M

http://www.positivelypositive.com/2013/01/07/the-myth-of-finding-your-purpose/

Never Stop Loving

Love is the answer.

I put this on my Facebook page right before and right after the 2012 election. Even though I voted for the winner, there was far too much negativity on social media for my comfort level.

This simple statement felt true to me so I posted it.

At some point, a Facebook friend responded "too soon".

I was incredulous, but challenged.

To me, it's never too soon to love. In fact, when had I stopped loving? And if I had, shame on me and time to start again.

Never stop loving.

Others, yourself, the earth, your life.

Never stop loving.

It's never too soon -- and good news, it's never too late.

Luck

“I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. 

Be more active. Show up more often."

 - Brian Tracy

Does luck exist?

I've always questioned luck. Where does it come from? Do some people have better luck than others? What makes us feel lucky?

The idea of luck is defined as success or failure brought by chance rather than through one's own actions.

 But if that is the case, then why do others have more luck?

Maybe how lucky we are is defined by our actions, outlook and happiness. Maybe we all have the same amount of luck, but if we open ourselves up to more opportunities - more luck will come along.

I think luck does exist. The more life you live, the more luck you will have.  The more you stop to look at your own life, you will see just how lucky you are. 

I challenge you to to recognize two positive things in your life every time you want to think negative. There may be days of bad luck, or unfortunate happenings. But conquer those days, do not dwell on them. Stop the complaining and put in effort.  Fate & chance can not happen if you will not let it.

Your luck is in your own hands.  Choose to realize the blessings & luck you have. Choose to explore more of what life has to offer, and chance meetings and opportunities will unfold.

Choose to be lucky.

Whatever you may call it; fortune, chance, happiness or fate.  It is around us. 

How will you bring luck upon your own life?

Why LLP?

Michelle and I (otherwise known for our 30by30 and 40by40 lists prior to this endeavor) will be delving into the three words behind our blog -- Love, Luck, & Purpose -- as 2013 unfolds. To start, I wanted to give you a quick overview of the why behind our choice of LLP.

Love -- the foundation of all of our thoughts and actions. Love is the answer.

Luck -- some call it blessed, I call it lucky. We feel lucky to be able to live and love and change each day.

Purpose -- I love the quote: "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." Purpose means the reason for our lives, the imprint we will make on those around us, our contribution to and our intention in the universe.

The new year brings us another chance to give ourselves and others LOVE, wish for and recognize our LUCK, and find the true and deeper PURPOSE of our lives.

We wish you #loveluckpurpose and we are so glad you are on this journey with us!

2013: one lucky, love and purpose filled day at a time

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. -- Dean Acheson

Happy 2013 to all of you.
This blog will be a new adventure for me and my co-creators. More on that to come....
For today, this quote is the theme of my post.
Let's enjoy this new year, one day at a time.

Today -- it's all about dreaming, hoping, planning, making room for the new and better.
Let's live in this day, these moments as we step into a new year.

Our intentions are all the same -- be better, do better, think better, eat better, make it a better world.

Let's do better together -- one day at a time. 
Let's support each other on the journey as we "resolve" to be our best selves.
2013, chapter one of 365.

More chapters to come, but let's enjoy this one, the first one, today.
The others will come and all will unfold as it should.

Wishing you love, luck and a renewed sense of purpose in 2013!

PS:  Later on, look for us on Twitter and Instagram.  We also have a Facebook group "Lucky '13" where many of us are posting our list of 13 things to accomplish this year. Please let me know if you'd like to be invited to join and please create a list of your own.

#loveluckpurpose
#Lucky13