Smitten, Stunned, Stymied and Stoked

Smitten...

~ by the beauty of Prince Edward County, Ontario, on a sunny summer day.

~ by an evening walk through a meditative labyrinth with D.,

where I connected with this winged messenger:

~ by weeping willows, roadside lilies and sky-reaching hollyhocks.

~ by the beauty of Lake Ontario.

~ by D. hauling two Polaroid cameras around his neck, pulling off to the roadside when the scenery spoke to him, playing with composition and light.

~ by the road less traveled and hidden gems like this:

D. walking along the beach with his Polaroids

We had the entire beach to ourselves!

~ by art galleries and studios housed in restored houses, barns and straw bale structures.

~ by business people who care about local food, creativity and learning.

~ by artists who love what they do and take time to share it with us.

Stunned...

~ by how many places, ideas and individuals encountered on a two-day getaway were physical manifestations of specific concepts and ideas that came up in either dreams or stream-of-consciousness writing during the past ten years.

Stymied...

~ by jumbled thoughts, emotions, hopes and dreams.

Stoked...

~ by possibility.

On Being Online...

Cassie's snoozing in the shade, oblivious to any online shenanigans

An online hiatus of only a few days thrust me into reflection on how I spend my time here with you - with my self.

By far the most thought-provoking occurrence during my short break was my withdrawal from Facebook. It was a LOT harder than I thought it would be.

And that's why I knew I needed to do it.

This online world has its benefits, I've experienced many and still do.

Among other things it's a perfect tool for nurturing existing friendships and creating new ones across the miles, for accessing and sharing resources, and for exchanging inspiration and support. It has tremendous potential to be of service to both individual and collective growth.

It can also, however, be fodder for dissatisfaction, information overload, and lead to an excessive need for external validation.

There's surely a healthy balance. The trick is to recognize when that balance has tipped too far in one direction and know what needs to be done to restore it.

For me, this time 'round, it was powering down the PC for a few days and thinking about why I turn it on in the first place.

~~~

What tools, mantras or practices have you found to manage your time online? How do you know when it's time for a break, and how do you know when it's time to get back on?

Gathering My Own Strength (A Different Approach to Goals and Action)

slow & steady in the sun, Mud Lake, May 2009

"We are vulnerable and exquisite creatures, complex mechanisms intended to move at a human and humane pace. We elect that pace every time we slow down to gather - and feel - our strength."

~ Julia Cameron, Walking in this World

The last six months of 2010 were crazy and exhilarating. I set hard, fast goals and I met them, gaining satisfaction and a new confidence in my ability to execute along the way. Then I set more big goals and worked hard at figuring out how I'd meet those.

Then I got tired of striving. So I stepped back.

For the past four months I've been experimenting with a different pace. For the first time in a while I've allowed Big Important Goals (BIGs) related to Life's Big Questions (LBQs) to sit on the back-burner. They're still there, they're just a little more fluid and a little less prominent.

Instead of setting a specific goal into the future and working backwards to see what I need to do to achieve it, I'm choosing to leave the goal in the background and take small intuitive actions in the right direction.

I set micro-goals that stem from insights that come up in my journaling (I like Matisse, I should dedicate a month to learning all about him, like a school project. I could report back on my blog!); I make micro-decisions based on gut feel (Which way do I feel like walking tonight? Which book is calling out to me today?). Then I trust that I'm doing the right thing.

Center stage shifts from goals and deadlines to intuition and the next right action.

This is a different way of working for me and frankly it makes the left-brain project planner in me cringe. But after four months it still seems to be working, at least enough for me to continue experimenting and see where it will lead me.

And I still feel like I'm moving forward, though I'm not always sure towards what. I'm learning how to "live more gracefully with ambiguity" (thank you Ms Cameron for wording it so beautifully).

Or maybe I'm just taking the time I need to gather - and feel - my own strength.