From Dragonflies to Dream Houses

July 8, 2012 by ·

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?

Filed Under: Happy things, Hello, Inspiration · Tagged With: , ,

Away

May 1, 2012 by ·

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.

Filed Under: Happy things, Photos · Tagged With: , , , , ,

New Life

March 14, 2012 by ·

When I chose my one word for 2012 – VIBRANT – I had a moment where I wondered if perhaps it might come to mean more than just joyously living life. It was wishful thinking at the time – a what if and not a when.

Now it’s a when.

Somewhat to my surprise (but certainly not unwelcome) I’m pregnant.

<insert joyous hooray>

My reaction to this, and the roller coaster of emotion over the last several weeks, could potentially fill this blog from now to my due date. (But don’t worry – I won’t subject you to quite that much navel gazing.) I will share one story about a reaction that was most unexpected given that this is something wanted and hoped for, but mostly I’m hoping to move on in a much more positive frame of mind than I’ve been in of late.

If you read my post yesterday, you’ll probably wonder what on earth had me so worked up. I wonder that a bit myself, actually, as I knew I would once I got past that milestone. You see, I started a new job in the middle of December, which puts me not quite at the three-month mark. Total newbie. And I’m replacing someone who was away on mat leave for a year and then returned, on a part-time basis, only to resign a couple of months later to stay at home with her son. The team I’m leading has had a rough time with having a manager over the last couple of years (or not having one, as the case may be).

I know, this is more important. And people will understand. And what are you going to do, anyway?

I know all that.

But somehow over the last six weeks I’ve managed to work myself up into a state of guilt and unbridled angst over this. “Screw you” is not a life philosophy I subscribe to. (Not that anyone who leaves a job for any amount of time due to pregnancy or parenting does…) I’m not even past my probation period – not that I had any concern about being fired as a result of this announcement, but it’s all just so…new.

So instead of continuing to add to my already ever-present nausea with a stomach in knots, I decided to come clean. Better to have it in the open than stuck in my head, I figure. And besides, given how fast I’m already expanding it wouldn’t have been a secret for long.

In any case, it went well. I’ve told them and now I’ve told you.

And now, joyously, all those words that have been walled up inside me can be set free.

 

Coming on or around October 13, 2012 to a blog near you.

baby-feet

Image credit: SanShoot on Flickr

 

Filed Under: Happy things, Pregnancy · Tagged With: , , , ,

Blissdom Bound

February 22, 2012 by ·

I’m all set. Packed. As ready as I’m ever going to be. (Which is not very, but I’m all about winging things these days.)

A few months ago I bought a ticket to Blissdom. This is a conference I’ve known of for a while and I always thought it sounded like a fun one to go to, especially because of the name. Bliss? Count me in.

But then I realized a bunch of my blog friends—some I have already met and love dearly and some I’m dying to hug—will be there, and I jumped. A big motivating factor is that Natalie (aka Mama Track) is going to be there with her new baby girl (aka Baby Track). And Jessica and Angela are trying to fight me for who gets to hold Baby Track first. (I’m going to win.) And Kimberly and her pregnant belly are going to be there. And there are so many others.

So I bought a ticket and hoped it would work out. And then of course we moved and I got a new job and I started to wonder if perhaps it wasn’t meant to be. But my new boss is great and doesn’t seem to care that the newest member of the team is taking a couple of days off and my husband doesn’t seem to mind that I’m ditching him, so here I go.

This feels much different than when I was leaving for BlogHer last year. I’m still excited, but less nervous. It feels less life-altering, though it could be equally so. Mostly I’m just tired and dreading the travel, just a little bit.

But I’m going anyway, for how else to pursue the life I want than to take the opportunities that come my way? I just ask that if you spot a sleeping blogger in the Phoenix airport that you give her a nudge and send her on her way to Nashville.

I'm Going, Y'all! - Blissdom

While I’m travelling on Thursday, I leave you with a post at Just.Be.Enough. It’s about being a working mom with a stay-at-home-dad husband, an arrangement I’m grateful for, but one that has included some unexpected perspective on what that means for my own mom identity. Please come and visit! 

Filed Under: Happy things, Hello, Inspiration · Tagged With: , , , , ,

11 Questions

February 2, 2012 by ·

Jamie from I Look Good Today tagged me in a getting-to-know-you post, which is great because it’s exactly what my brain can handle writing right now. Plus, I love the questions she asked. (If you don’t know Jamie, check out her blog. She’s happy and sassy and her “From where I sit” series about what it’s like to be in a wheelchair is open and honest and totally enlightened.)

eleven

Image credit: fr1zz on Flickr

Here are the 11 questions she asked and my answers:

1. What is your motto in life?

Live the life you’re meant to. 😉

2. Are you a morning or night person?

Neither, really. More a morning person, although that has taken a swift kick in the ass since Connor was born. Is there such thing as a 9 a.m. person? Because that would be me.

3. Favorite childhood story?

A while ago my mom pulled a whole bunch of our childhood books out of storage to read with Connor. I’ve loved the nostalgia that comes with seeing those books again, but I don’t know which is my favourite. The one that jumps out at me is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle, which is having its 50th anniversary this year. I really want to read that again, although I’m afraid I won’t like it as much as I remember.

4. What is the farthest road trip you have ever taken?

Right after my husband and I got together we travelled together in Australia. At the end of that trip we spent 30 hours (straight) on a bus getting from Cairns to Surfer’s Paradise. I think that will always hold the title for longest road trip, even if I drive farther, because 30 hours on a bus is just a ridiculous amount of time. Thankfully we didn’t want to kill each other at the end of it or that might have been it for our relationship.

5. What collection do you have right now?

Not surprisingly, I’m unintentionally collecting a variety of bird-related stuff. My sister got me an awesome wall hanging/candle holder for Christmas – I’d show it to you but it’s still packed. Ahem.

6. Coke or Pepsi?

Coke, no contest.

7. What is your favorite table or board game?

I like Monopoly, although I don’t play much. My husband and I have a tradition of playing Scattergories with a friend, but I think I like it more for the fun we have and less for the game itself. In other words, I suck at Scattergories and they’re quite ruthless good.

8. Do you have any piercings/tattoos?

Just ear piercings – one on the left and two on the right. I did once piece my ear on the middle of the outer edge (if that makes any sense). It was not a good experience. Just ask my dad, who had the pleasure of ripping the earring out when I couldn’t take the pain anymore.

I don’t have a tattoo…yet. I figured I was past the point where I was likely to get one, but I want one to commemorate my life-changing PPD experience. Here’s my current batch of tattoo inspiration. (Got any other ideas?)

9. Favorite smell?

The smell of clean laundry when it’s in the dryer, except we don’t use dryer sheets anymore so I have to content myself with walking underneath other people’s dryer vents.

10. How do you feel most loved?

This is a total tired-mom answer, but when someone does something to give me a break without me having to ask. In the blog world, those random comments, hellos, and compliments are totally soul-enriching.

11. When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Lately, almost every day. It’s exhausting. 😉 I actually do things (both significant and not) for the first time all the time. I take it for granted now, but it’s a great way to live.

Now it’s my turn to tag 11 others and give them 11 questions to answer. But first…

The rules:

  1. You must post these rules.
  2. Each person must post 11 things about herself on his/her blog.
  3. Answer the questions the “tagger” listed for you in her post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
  4. You must choose 11 people to tag and link to them in the post.
  5. Go to each blogger’s page and mention that you have tagged him/her.

I’m tagging:

My 11 questions for them to answer are:

  1. What’s your superpower?
  2. What blog do you never miss? (And you can’t say mine because (a) that would be BS and (b) this is not me fishing for compliments.)
  3. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
  4. Do you consider yourself a “blogger” or a “writer”?
  5. What was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?
  6. What’s the most embarrassing song in your collection?
  7. Are you shy?
  8. How do you prioritize yourself in your own life?
  9. Where do you stand on chocolate?
  10. What’s your biggest source of inspiration (other than your family, etc.)?
  11. What do you hope to do this year that you’re really excited about?

Tag, you’re it!

Filed Under: Randomness · Tagged With: ,
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