From Dragonflies to Dream Houses

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to do something to tackle my lingering dissatisfaction and doubt about my current path. My professional path, mostly, but life is about more than just one thing, and wouldn’t it be grand if the puzzle actually all came together?

So I created a vision board, and this is how it turned out.

vision board

 

There are things on there that I want to have the courage to do and things I want to cultivate in myself.

There are images that represent my role as a mother and a parent and what I want to encourage in my children.

There are images that represent things I like to do and want to do more of.

And there is chocolate.

In my late teens/early 20s I had journals I decorated with pictures and words cut out of magazines. Words, mostly,  because despite being a visual person words are what speak to me most. I have book after book after book, all of which rest quietly in my hope chest, too much a part of me to let go.

This board, obviously, is mostly pictures, and I haven’t yet decided if this is the approach that works for me. (The collection of words in the middle near the bottom are what came out when I posted on Facebook about creating a vision board and asked for inspiration. Those words appeared, rapid-fire, from many different friends, and reminded me just how much inspiration there is in our lives if only we look for it.)

I also haven’t decided what to do with this. Print it out and put it somewhere I can see it every day, probably. That seems like the natural thing to do. For what is a vision board if not something to look at, and, in looking at it, letting it come to life?

I’ll let you know how I get on.

 

With thanks to Tonya and Tracie for sharing their boards with me for extra inspiration. 

Do you have a vision board and has it made a difference in your life?

Happy Hearts

Water-park

 

Today was a good day. Summer party at work. End of year preschool picnic (which I missed, but that’s another story about my complete lack of navigational skills). Play at the water park.

We noticed that the water park in our community was up and running the other day, and of course Connor wanted to go. So we agreed that we’d go after his picnic. I actually thought he’d last all of three minutes since it’s not blistering hot here, but he loved it.

He played and I sat and watched.

He made footprints on the pavement and I smiled.

He borrowed another boy’s truck and I realized this could be a perfect activity for us to do together. He gets to play and be active and I can jump in there if I want (when I’m not wearing jeans) but otherwise I can just sit in the shade and appreciate my boy being four and enjoying summer.

I sense we’ll be making many memories there in the next couple of months.

 

Linked up with Memories Captured.

10 Things I Couldn’t Be Enough Without

This week on Just.Be.Enough the Be Enough Me prompt is “10 things I couldn’t be enough without.” I’m interested to see where people take this – Elena is hosting on the blog today and she did something totally different with the post than what I’ve done. More intellectual and reflective, I’d say, but this list is what came to mind for me.

So — trusting that you know that family and friends and health and all that are part of my essentials — here’s a list of what keeps me sane and makes me who I am.

1. Alone time – I need some every day. I go nuts without it.

reading-nook

Image credit: Jake Bouma on Flickr

 

2. Chapstick – Totally addicted. For life it seems. I just hate having dry lips (and hands, for that matter).

dew-on-flower-petal

Image credit: ecstaticist on Flickr

 
3. Two litres of water a day  – I’ve been a huge water drinker for years. I down at least two litres a day, often more. I do not feel at all myself without it.

water-dropping-into-glass

Image credit: The Ilr on Flickr

 
4. Perspective – In any form. A new point of view or a change of scenery does wonders for my state of mind, which is one reason I love to travel. Nothing challenges my world view like being somewhere else.

view-over-land-and-water

Image credit: eschipul on Flickr

 
5. Chocolate ice cream – Because, duh.

chocolate-ice-cream-scoop

Image credit: Joyosity on Flickr

 
6. Sunshine – Another thing that can make all the difference. That’s one of the things I’ve loved about having moved – we had way more sun this winter than we used to get.

flowers-in-sunshine

Image credit: mendhak on Flickr

 
7. Cheerios – This is likely (hopefully) not going to be a life-long thing, but right now I need something I can eat first thing in the morning so I don’t give up and go back to bed. (19 weeks and I still need them. How am I going to make it through five more months of this?!)

Cheerios

Image credit: Nebraska Becky on Flickr

 
8. A shower – Cannot.function.without.

old-fashioned-shower-handle

Image credit: PhotoAtelier on Flickr

 
9. Sleep – I knew this about myself before I had a baby so there wasn’t really any need to reinforce it, but one thing is certain: I need sleep to stay sane. Probably now more than ever.

sleeping-girl

Image credit: Casey David on Flickr

 

10. This blog – It has shaped my identity in ways I never imagined. Thank you for being here with me.

 

Self-Care Giveaway for Yummy Mummies

I saw a new counsellor yesterday and one of the questions she asked me was how much time I get for myself every week. I wasn’t sure how to answer that – is the time I spend blogging while sitting (on the floor) outside Connor’s room at night waiting for him to go to sleep “me” time? Not really. Lately time for myself involves lying down for a few minutes so I can get through the evening without falling over. (Whoever said the 2nd trimester was supposed to be good was clearly just trying to give pregnant women in the 1st trimester some hope.)

I’m not really good at self-care (is anyone?) but I do know how important it is. So I’m going to help one of you get some more of it.

I am happy to share two opportunities you won’t want to miss. Just write your favorite self-care activity in the comment section below for a chance to win a Yummy Mummy Self-Care Package from me and Renee Trudeau. I’ll draw a name randomly on Mother’s Day and the winner will receive:

mothers-guide-to-self-renewal-cover

Bonus! Anyone can enter to win the mega Yummy Mummy Year-of-Self-Care by visiting the Live Inside Out Facebook page and sharing a reply to this question: “What does self-care mean to me?”

Enter my giveaway below. And make sure you take some time for yourself today.

[Read more…]

Away

We (the collective we) do this all the time, don’t we? We say, “We should go away for the weekend.” Or, “I need a vacation.” We look wistfully at pictures of serene (or exciting) places and reminisce about the last time we had a proper vacation. And then we sigh and carry on.

I’m horrible about doing this. I work for an airline and the only time I used my flight benefits in the last four months was to go to Blissdom (which was handy, to be sure). People I work with go to Vegas for the weekend or to the next province for the afternoon. Or to Amsterdam for 3 days.

I’m not quite that ambitious, but we have talked about going to San Diego for a weekend. I’d like to go back home and see friends and family. I’d really like to book myself a tropical vacation but it might be a while before that happens. (Although… baby-moon? Maybe.)

As we were coming up to Easter I started to muse aloud about going away for the weekend. Just an hour from here, into the mountains. We needed a change of scenery.

So we went.

frozen-river

Frozen, but not for long.

 

As is typical, it was a last-minute decision. My mom had come to visit and my brother had gone to Australia (for two days – on flight benefits. See what I mean?) and my pregnant-with-twins sister-in-law was here on her own. So we decided to take them with us.

coal-bridge

Somewhere in there, they're fly fishing under the coal bridge.

 

It took me a while to find a place that (a) had a vacancy and (b) would be able to sleep our odd assortment of family. But I found one, we shipped the dog to my mother-in-law’s and went.

We didn’t even do a lot – none of the adventurous things I had been pondering. We went for dinner. We went for lunch. We hid Easter eggs. And we walked.

tracks-in-the-snow

A ha! O ho! Tracks in the snow. Whose are these tracks and where do they go?*

 

Out there in the silence, with occasional sounds of crunching snow, it’s easy to feel like a mere speck in the universe. Other things fade away and life’s most basic things are what feel important. Like sunshine and flowing water. Like tracks of animals who came before and who worry less about work-life balance and more about the balance of existence.

 

rattling-stick-on-bridge

Every kid has to rattle a stick on a bridge once in his life.

 

And like the first time a small boy rattles a stick on a metal bridge.

worn-wooden-bench

Who was Daisy? And did she find peace in the mountains?

 

This environment suggests quiet and observation. It makes me stop and think. And it leaves me with a feeling I can’t describe.

 

heart-graffiti

No words necessary.

 

Which is fine, because sometimes no words are necessary.

 

*For bonus points, name that (very good) children’s book.