Life

Humans Are Adorable

The human experience is quite an adventure. There are mountains to climb, valleys to journey through, and challenges to conquer. We get lost, stumble, and occasionally hurt, only to pick ourselves back up and grow stronger.

We laugh, we cry… and sometimes we do both at the same time.

We love so big that we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, open our hearts to stress, and sacrifice without hesitation. We often take life too seriously, grow up too quickly, and forget that life’s greatest secret is that the joy we seek is found within.

When I need to return to my center, I often step back and try to see the situation from a larger, more distant view. It reminds me of how endearing this human experience can be and how small our individual circumstances are when looking through the lens of time and space. 

Our planet is only a speck in a galaxy spinning through the infinity of space and time.

The beauty of the human experience is that despite the insignificance of our size in relation to the vastness of the universe, the power of living our lives in a single moment is colossal. It’s our everything, the very reason we came to this blue and green ball.

I saw a post shared on Facebook years ago from a Tumblr user called teaboot that perfectly illustrates just how amazing this human experience is. This writer shares the perspective that “humans are adorable.”

Like every good writer, teaboot shares this perspective with clever supporting evidence. It’s almost as if this writer is sharing the diary of an alien observer who is trying to explain who these human beings really are. It’s a post I revisit often when I need to step back and see the bigger picture.

It’s just a really charming post that made my heart smile the first time I read it. I hope you enjoy it too (thanks for writing this teaboot):

Humans are adorable.

Supporting evidence:

1. Humans say “ow,” even if they haven’t actually been hurt. It’s just a thing they say when they think they might have been hurt, but aren’t sure yet.

2. Humans collect shiny things and decorate their bodies and nests with them. The shinier the better, although each individual has a unique taste for style and colouring.

3. Humans are not an aquatic or even amphibious species, but they flock to bodies of water simply to play in it. They can’t even hold their breath all that long; they just love to splash!

4. When night falls and the sky goes dark, humans become drowsy and begin to cocoon themselves in soft, fluffy bedding.

5. Some humans spend time in each other’s nests! Just for fun! It’s not their nest; they’re just visiting each other.

6. Some humans use pigments and dyes to make their bodies flashy and colourful! They even attach shiny dangly bits to their cartalidgous membranes!

7. Humans are very clever, and sometimes adopt creatures from other species into their family units. They don’t seem to notice the obvious differences, and often raise them alongside their own young!

8. If a human sees another creature in distress, they can commonly be observed trying to help! Even at their own risk, most humans are deeply compassionate creatures!

9. If a human hears a particularity catchy sound or tune, it will often mimic it, even to the point of annoying themselves!

10. Sneezes are entirely involuntary, and completely adorable. Especially when the human in question becomes frustrated.

11. Humans love treats!!! Some more than others. Many humans will save these treats specifically for a later date when they are in need of comfort or reassurance. IE, pickles, pop tarts, popsicles, etc.

12. They’re learning to travel in space!!! They can’t get very far, but they’re trying!!! So far, they’ve made it to the end of their yard, and have found rocks.

January 29, 2023 by
balanced stones on a beach
Life

The Power of a Single Word

“The single most important tool to being in balance is knowing that you and you alone are responsible for the imbalance between what you dream your life is meant to be, and the daily habits that drain life from that dream.” – Wayne Dyer

I was first introduced to the concept of setting a one word intention for the new year at that end of 2016. It was through a project my new company was doing with Chris Pan, founder of MyIntent.

The concept is really simple, choose a short, one word intention that can serve as “a daily reminder representing a quality or principle that guides you toward how you want to live or how you hope to feel as your best self.”

Beautiful and simple.

It’s been a few years since I’ve tuned in and chosen a single word to serve as a beacon for my new year. This year, I decided to do it again.

My word for 2023 is BALANCE.

This past year I faced a few health scares that really shook me to my core. As scary as it was (everything is fine now), I’m quite grateful for the lessons and insight that resulted from the entire experience.

One of the biggest lessons was the non-negotiable need for balance.

Metaphysical teachers like Louise Hay and Dr. Joe Dispenza have written and spoken extensively about how stress manifests as physical symptoms in the body. This is exactly what was happening. The mix of taking too much on at work and home and not playing or relaxing nearly enough was starting to show physically in my body.

So this year, I’m focusing on finding balance.

It’s a new concept to for me… one that I’ve always strived for, but never carved out the time to focus on.

The first step I’m taking on this journey to find balance is to slow down.

Literally…

This month’s focus is to establish a daily meditation and yoga practice. Meditation to hit the pause button and yoga to hone in the physical skill of balance.

I’d love to know, what’s YOUR WORD for 2023?

January 8, 2023 by
Life

Make Room in Your Schedule for You

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
— Stephen Covey

I recently heard a quote that shook me in the best of ways.

It came from Kyle Gray, an international speaker and bestselling author, during his recent appearance on the Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler.

The conversation was about spiritual practices and how to develop a routine that serves your highest good.

Kyle said, “I used to fit my practice around my life, now I fit my life around my practice.”

As soon as I heard these words, the lights in the room began to flash, bells started ringing, and the ground started to shake.

Okay… none of that actually happened, but I was stopped in my tracks.

For years, I’ve been trying to work a spiritual, creative, and physical practices into my day-to-day schedule. I’ve tried early mornings, but I end up falling back asleep. I’ve tried evenings, but work and evening family activities often get in the way. I’ve tried to figure out a time in the middle of the day, but I never seem to find a break in the day.

Time after time, I come to the conclusion that I’m just too busy. Then I quickly convince myself that I just haven’t found the right practices to work yet. So I try something new. When it doesn’t work, I inevitably start beating myself up.

When I heard Kyle say this, suddenly the cycle made sense.

“Of course!” I said to myself as I backed up the podcast recording and listened to him say it again.

“I used to fit my practice around my life, now I fit my life around my practice.”

Trying to fit a practice into my day isn’t working, because the practice itself isn’t a true priority. If I want to really grow spiritually, mentally, or physically, I need to make those practices my top priority. I need to lead my life with practices that serve my highest good and set a clear boundary to make those practices non-negotiable.

Life needs to fit around the practice.

But how? Is setting the intention really going to be enough?

This is what I’m trying to figure out now. Tell me, what has helped make your practices a priority?

September 18, 2022 by
Life

The Type of World We Live In

“The way we choose to see the world creates the world we see.” – Barry Neil Kaufman

Long before I learned about the law of attraction, I understood that the world becomes what you expect it to be.

My understanding began when I was working as a journalist in the breaking news and police beats. I spent my days covering crime, accidents, natural disasters, and all around bad news. After less than a year in this position, I woke up each morning believing the world was a pretty terrible place.

In hindsight, it’s not surprising. I was immersed in the pain and suffering happening around me. It was all darkness. I questioned the point of it all. Did I really want to be in a world like this?

Something had to change and quickly. I could see the dark road I was heading down. So, I decided to challenge myself: find three good stories for every one bad that I had to cover. It was tough at first, but before long I was reminded of the brightness filling this world.

Recently, I’ve found myself checking in on the daily news cycle more than usual. It doesn’t take long before the undercurrent of the negative news ocean begins to drag you down. There’s some heavy stuff happening in the world…

But there’s a whole lot of amazing happening too.

It’s time to focus on the AMAZING with the very first installment of…

[insert drumroll here]

The Type World We Live In!

In this series, I will answer the question — “What type of world do we live in?”

Let’s get started!

We live in the type of world where our furriest companions show us, through their example, that the power of love brings us all together… even when it seems we have nothing in common.

Just one example of why dog is GOD spelled backward. 💖

May 14, 2022 by
Creativity

The One Where Ivy Pretends To Be a Poet

“Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.”
— Carl Sandburg

I often look for quotes to use as inspiration, especially when I’m getting into my writing space. The quote above, by American poet Carl Sandburg, instantly caught my attention.

I couldn’t wait to share it. But as I typed the words, I started to question if it was smart to quote a real poet in a blog post where I’m pretending to be one.

But the words were too hauntingly beautiful to not share.

That’s the power of good poetry, isn’t it?

As you can probably guess from today’s title, I attempted to write a poem for one of my creative practices. It’s definitely not a Carl Sandburg quality poem, so turn down the expectations a lot.

Before I share the poem, how about an update? This will put a little space between the mastery of words shared above and my juvenile attempt below.

I’m happy to report that I’m 10 days into my creativity challenge, and I have not missed a single day. Carving out time to be creative is getting easier. I’m starting to look forward to this time. I’m also starting to see increased creative flow during my 9-to-5 job.

Today’s attempt at poetry… please enjoy.

Butterfly

Do you know the beauty that we see
when you spread your wings and fly from the tree?
The colors you wear, they sparkle and gleam,
But did you notice when you woke from your chrysalis dream?

From the mess and muck, you broke through and now live,
A new version of you to the world you now give.

Did you know you’d fly when you were stuck in the ooze,
Or did you think this is it, I surrender, I lose.
When you woke and saw walls, did you want to give in,
Or was there just enough light to know how to begin?

How long did it take to push and breakthrough,
and finally realize you’re a new version of you?

Can you see all the elegance, the style, and the grace
that now lives because of the mess you embraced?
The power, the triumph, the story you tell
is one of true beauty arising from hell.

You shattered, broke down, became a puddle of goo,
then rose and made your whole life brand new.

What a lesson you teach to all those who will hear,
even the darkest moment is nothing to fear.
For without the mess, your wings wouldn’t unwind,
so you could be you and learn to fly high.

February 11, 2022 by
Creativity

Channeled Writing, Uke Lessons, and Expansion

“The qualities of creativity and genius are within you, awaiting your decision to match up with the power of intention.”

Dr. Wayne Dyer wrote this in his book “The Power of Intention.” I found this quote while looking for something to create on the first day of my 90-Day Creativity Challenge. As a long-time student of Dr. Dyer’s, I instantly looked for the source of this quote and then purchased the audiobook.

Dr. Dyer always seems to show up unprompted when I’m on the verge of a breakthrough. So it’s not surprising that this book sums up my deepest desire for this challenge — to open the floodgates and feel, for the first time in my adult life, fully connected to the energy of creativity.

I’ve spent these last few days exploring this idea presented by Dr. Dyer. I started with a guided Japa meditation that focused on the idea of expanding the mind about what’s possible (spoiler: literally anything you want).

This encouraged me to further tune into this idea during a channeled writing session, also commonly known as automatic writing.

Automatic/Channeled Writing is a journaling practice where you focus on a topic, idea, energy, your higher self, etc., and write what comes through. No judgment, just write. It’s a practice I learned from Sara Landon last year. It’s been a very grounding and inspirational practice that I don’t do nearly enough.

After the push from Dr. Dyer, I decided to tune into the energy of creativity. I was really taken back by the message that came through:

Jump, dive, indulge. Soak in the energy that is surrounding you. Sink further, for the enjoyment you seek is far below the surface, where there are no rules or expectations. Dive deep with free form exploration. Paint with no sketch. Dance with no reason. Make up your own music. Just do. Be the reason, the practice. Let the energy flow fully and allow yourself to be surprised. You don’t need to know how. Just do. You’ll learn that you already knew the way, the method, the purpose, the technique.

When the surprises start to reveal themselves, you’ll plunge deeper into being, deeper into intuition, and deeper into your very soul. Create without looking, start with no plan. The plan will be revealed as you take motion.

As with every automatic writing session, I was shook with the words on the page. To be honest, I’m still wrapping my head around it all.

Today, I decided to get out of my head and dive into a learning space as I picked up my ukulele for the first time in months. I played a little freestyle and then felt called to take part in a Masterclass session with Jake Shimabukuro, one of the world’s most phenomenal ukulele musicians.

Within an hour, my heart was dancing and I learned a few new things. Playing the ukulele always brings me to a place of pure joy. It’s a total win to now have some advanced techniques to build on as I get back in touch with this passion.

That’s about it for the challenge update. Five days down, 85 to go.

February 6, 2022 by
Creativity

Guardian Angel Pup (1/90)

For the first day of the challenge, I started with a fun memory of my guardian angel pup. I love you, my dear Rocket. Thank you for being my side, my dear Rocket, and reminding me to have more fun.

Today my creative practice was playing around on Canva. I made this image, created another of Miss Daisy (to be shared later) and designed some quote memes to share during the challenge. ❤️

(1/90)

February 2, 2022 by
Creativity

Challenge Accepted

Last year I gave myself a personal challenge — 90 days of intentional creativity. The idea was to force myself to be creative, every day, for 90 days in an attempt to break through the creative road blocks I had built around myself.

I wanted something extreme. A challenge that would force me to step up and take control of my creative aspirations. I was only using my creative skills for others, never truly enjoying the process of being creative.

The result…

Yep… I blew it. After a week, I just stopped.

I’ve spent much of my free time in the months since then dissecting the challenge. What went wrong? What I could have done to prevent it all going wrong? You name it, I overthought it.

My biggest takeaway was that I had set myself up for failure by putting a lot of weight into the motivation that created the challenge. My “why” was strong enough to create the challenge, but not strong enough to push through the inevitable adversity that I would face.

After lots of self-reflection and consulting with my creative community, I’m ready to re-launch this challenge with the structure, definition, and truth that was needed the first time around.

STEP 1: Define the Challenge

The challenge is to spend 90 days being creative, just to be creative. The purpose of this challenge is to celebrate, engage, and approach creativity in intentional ways.

STEP 2: Rules/Guidelines*

  1. Spend at least 15 minutes a day being creative, even if it feels forced (which it will sometimes… and that’s okay!) Really commit for 15 minutes and be intentional. It’s only 15 minutes, you can do it.
  2. No judgment of the process or end results. Enjoying the daily creative practice is always the goal, but sometimes “pushing” may be required.  Just start, do, and don’t judge.
  3. The creative practice for the day is anything that intentionally engages creative energy including arts, crafts, music, writing, creative problem solving, cooking, baking, playing, photography, dancing, etc.
  4. It’s okay if the creative act leads no where. Creating something that can be shared is awesome, but this doesn’t have to be the goal every day. Just get creative. It’s only failure if you don’t try.
  5. Doodles count! The bar of the creative act needs to be low, because the purpose is not to create an award-winning piece of art. The purpose is to just be creative, period. No expectations. Just be creative.
  6. Try new things! There are 90 days in this challenge. That is a lot of opportunity to try out some new skills.
  7. If you don’t feel like being creative, then make something “ugly” on purpose. Channel any negative feelings into something creative. Use creativity as therapy.
  8. Use material on creativity as motivation. Find books, YouTube channels, blogs, etc., on creativity that inspire you.
  9. Rewards are important! Set small goals and reward the effort.
  10. Take on a few fun, bigger projects that may take a few days to complete. If you fail at them, who cares. No judgment. Slap some glitter on it, call it a beautiful mess, and blog about it.

If any of these guidelines aren’t working, then throw them out and replace them! This is supposed to be fun and creativity sometimes needs adjustments to work.

STEP 3: Share Expectations

The ultimate expectation is to show myself that I can do this, especially after failing the first attempt, but I also hope a few additional things come from this challenge…

I hope the floodgates of my creativity burst open. Creativity is a practice. I think intentionally committing to tapping into creative energy will cause the door I’ve felt has been blocked to break open. I want to feel my creative energy fully flowing and be able to tap into it in a moment’s notice.

I expect that creativity in all areas of my life will benefit from this challenge, including creative tasks for my 9-to-5 job and creative day-to-day problem solving.

I want my inner creative child to feel seen and heard. I’ve always been creative, and lately I’ve felt my inner child screaming at me to play with her. My hope is that at the end of this challenge, she’s proud of me.

I hope to have fun and learn a few new things. Hopefully, I’ll also discover some new skills that I excel at and enjoy.

STEP 4: Set a Start Date and Go!

The challenge begins February 1st. Let’s do this!

January 30, 2022 by
Creativity

It’s Only Failure When You Stop Trying

“It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.”
— Zig Ziglar

If you’ve been following the blog, you’ve probably noticed my absence. Unlike the star of one of my favorite movies, I haven’t been using my absence to enjoy much-needed time off.

I’m okay… I just let “life” get in the way.

I write it as “life,” because our time is what we decide it will be. I’ve let my days be filled with work and have been burning the midnight oil for so long that my intention for the creativity challenge was put on the back burner.

But the best part about being the creator of your own life is that you can dust yourself off and start all over again.

 

Dale Carnegie once wrote, “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”

In the past few months, I have certainly felt both discouragement and failure over my creative journey. Discouragement that I couldn’t find the time to enjoy being creative, and failure knowing that the only way to “find” time is to create it.

It seems a little ironic, doesn’t it? Here are I was failing at my 90-day creativity challenge because I wasn’t creating the time to fit it into my schedule.

As the law of attraction shows us, focusing on my feelings of lacking in my schedule was simply creating more lack. I was inviting the busyness of life to overwhelm me.

 

I think when you “know better,” the lesson hits even harder. Cue the guilt trip. Cue the self-bullying. Cue the internal lecture.

Eventually… like an hour ago… I decided to work through the emotions, stop working on a weekend, and write about my experience on this blog.

Finally… a step in the right direction!

Now that I’m traveling in the right direction, it’s time to re-start the challenge with new insight and lessons under my belt. Cheers to a NEW BEGINNING!

August 29, 2021 by
Zen Sunrise
Creativity

Creative Help for Breaking Through

“Creativity involves breaking out of expected patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
— Edward de Bono

These last two weeks have been a bit of a ying and yang in the area of creativity. At times, usually when I’m at work, I’ve felt the creative flow moving into my path. Beyond work hours, it’s been a struggle to get in the creative zone.

I mentioned this challenge to a dear friend and neighbor who offered a creative and unexpected solution to my block — EMDR Therapy.

My neighbor, Eric, is a certified therapist. He’s shared his thoughts on EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) with me for a couple of years. Most recently I’ve read about Prince Harry sharing his experience with EMDR. Eric uses EMDR Therapy to help his patients heal trauma, overcome fear, and move past blocks to unlock their true potential. My son was one of his patients. EMDR helped him heal and overcome the extreme bullying that he was experiencing in school.

When he mentioned that he wanted to do an EMDR session with me to help me overcome my creative block, I jumped at the opportunity. I saw firsthand how much this helped my son, so I wanted to experience it for myself so I could gain a better understanding about it. During this challenge, I said I wanted to experiment. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to stand up to this goal.

Before I share some details, let me back up and tell you a little more about this type of therapy. According to pyscom.net, “EMDR therapy is a phased, focused approach to treating traumatic and other symptoms by reconnecting the client in a safe and measured way to the images, self-thoughts, emotions, and body sensations associated with the trauma, and allowing the natural healing powers of the brain to move toward adaptive resolution.”

I’ve never worked with a therapist prior to meeting with Eric for this EMDR session, so I really didn’t know what to expect. After having a conversation to help identify the root of the thoughts contributing to the block, we dove into the EMDR part of the session. Using a combination of sound, vibrations, eye movements, and visualization, Eric walked me back to an event in my past that we had identified as the sole contributor to my limiting beliefs.

We unpacked a lot during the session… a lot more than I expected.

He helped me identify not only what my limiting beliefs were, but also the reasons these limited beliefs had such a strong hold over me. Through the session, I learned how much trauma I was holding onto and was able to release it and begin healing. I also learned more about how trauma is stored in our subconscious. The event we identified was something I thought I had moved past, but I learned there’s a big difference between moving beyond trauma and healing trauma.

Eric described EMDR to me as “defragging the computer.” This is a really good description, because it felt like the frayed connections between the left and right sides of my brain were fixed and the hidden, temporary files (the ones that often slow down a computer) were removed.

I walked into the session not really knowing what to expect, but ready to feel more inspired. I left the session with a deeper understanding of myself and feeling a renewed sense of freedom. That relaxed, lighter feeling instantly led me to feel more creative.

In the days following the EMDR session, I continued to feel lighter and healed. I decided to do a follow-up session to help concrete the progress made, and all I can say is WOW. This follow-up session was filled with ah-has, confirmations, and feeling like I had mentally upped my game. I went into the days that followed with clarity and a closer connection to myself.

I don’t know if EMDR works for everyone, but I suspect it would help in some way. I was really blown away by the experience. As I start this next week of the challenge, let’s see what unfolds.

June 20, 2021 by