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It’s still my favorite place for wordlessness.
Wordless Wednesdays – sunset and moonrise swamp
07 Wednesday Nov 2012
Posted in nature, the moon, walks, wordlessness
Manifesting Madonna
03 Saturday Nov 2012
Have you ever heard of a vision board? It’s like a collage – a visual representation of what you’d like to have happen in the future. It’s a fun way to articulate your goals or dreams, and strangely, once you put it out there in words and pictures, circumstances begin to align to allow your dreams to actually happen!
Some people might call it magic, or harnessing the energy of the universe or angels – but it’s really quite practical. It’s just like when you learn a new vocabulary word – one you never even knew existed, and then you see it everywhere. You won’t notice something until you put your attention toward it.
I like to play with vision boards. I like thinking about what I want and then finding the words and images to go with my vision. So about six months ago, I made a vision board about my business. And one of the images I put on it was Madonna. She was in dark glasses and red lipstick. She looked confident and composed. She’s Madonna, after all! I put her on the board because I wanted to channel Madonna’s fearless energy, her willingness to push boundaries, her total comfort in her own skin. Madonna is a badass. And I admire her for that.
A couple of days after I made the vision board I read somewhere that Madonna was coming to New Orleans in October. And I thought, “Huh. Maybe I can manifest some Madonna tickets too. Wouldn’t that be cool if I end up at the Madonna concert in October? Then I’ll really believe in this vision boarding stuff!” And then I looked up the prices and thought, “No way.” And I forgot about it for the summer.
October came. And nothing. Oh well. Then the night before the concert, I was having cocktails with a dear friend and she mentioned a friend of hers was trying to get rid of Madonna tickets. My ears perked right up – Madonna tickets? Say more! Did my friend want to ask about them? Did she want to go? Yes and yes. So she texted and asked if the tickets were still available. We continued to sip cocktails and snack and chat while we waited about 45 minutes to hear back.
Yes – they were ours! I thought, “Why not?” I never, ever, ever buy big arena concert tickets – the last arena show I saw was the Grateful Dead in 1990 or so and before that maybe Peter Gabriel in 1987. Seemed it was time to go ahead and go for it. I told my friend my cool vision boarding story. How I’d manifested Madonna.
She said, “That’s not manifesting. You still have to pay for the tickets!” And I said, “Hmm, that’s true.” And then I checked my phone. And about ten minutes after she had asked for the tickets from her friend, I’d received a PayPal payment for a class that had already begun the night before, from someone I’d never heard of – exactly enough to cover the tickets and a drink and food too! This felt like free money because the class was already going, new person or not . I thought, “Wow – the universe really is sending me a wink!”
It gets crazier. Unusual circumstances led to my friend not being able to go to the concert. So now – should I go alone? Hmmm. I went ahead and went. And I ended up sitting next to an old friend who I hadn’t seen ages! What are the chances of our tickets being near each other? And because Madonna didn’t come on stage until about 10:30 p.m. when the tickets said 8 p.m., it was good that my original friend wasn’t able to come – she would not have been happy waiting around for 2.5 hours! Somehow we heard through the grapevine that Madonna would be coming on very late, so we just settled in, relaxed, and people-watched.
Then, finally, Madonna. She still has it. She’s still pushing the envelope. We sometimes forget when we’re recalling the lace and the perky songs about stars and holidays that she’s always done some pretty edgy stuff and stretched her audiences past their comfort zone. This show was no exception. There was so much to see, so much to process – it was quite a spectacle! She’s definitely still a badass.
You can call this whole set of circumstances coincidence or luck or whatever. I know that. But I love this story, and I love my vision board, and I love that I manifested Madonna! And I love that I can be open to great fun and amazing possibilities every day.
How about you? What do you dream of? Let me know what’s on your vision board, and if you have a great “manifesting” story, please share it in the comments! And enjoy the slide show of the concert and the fabulous outfits people wore to celebrate!
Wordless Wednesdays – Ponies on the Appalachian Trail
17 Wednesday Oct 2012
Posted in hiking, wordlessness
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Appalachian Trail, Appalachian Trail coaching, Appalachian Trail courses, ponies, wordless wednesdays, wordlessness
I was away over the weekend in Virginia and West Virginia for a hiking conference and a quick trip to the AT. I had to go visit the ponies at Grayson Highlands State Park on my way home!
This video isn’t quite wordless, because I say, “Hi, Pretty!” at one point – but the ponies sure are fuzzy and cute! I’m not feeding the pony in this video – I’m just holding out my hand and getting licked – but I will confess I shared part of my apple with two of the ponies!
Enjoy, and if you’re planning to hike the Appalachian Trail any time soon or even just dreaming about it, my Wild and White Blazing program for women planning an AT hike begins next week! Check it out and sign up to find out more!
Why go out in the rain?
01 Monday Oct 2012
Posted in nature, oneness, walks, wordlessness
You plan a walk or a hike and then it rains. So you stay inside and postpone the walk until the weather’s better.
I’ve done it plenty – I’ve stayed inside because of rain. I like dry weather and blue skies and long views. But I’ve also learned to like fog and mist and rain and even a downpour here and there. I’ve learned to love raindrops dripping from flowers and leaves all shiny and wet.
While I’ve never been a fan of hiking in the mud- in fact walking in mud for fourteen miles on my first day on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont made me cry – I realize that a walk in the rain can often be lovely. It shifts the perspective closer- to the moss on the trail side, or a bark-darkened tree, or a puddle adorned with fallen leaves. Rain puts up a curtain around the long views so you notice what’s right in front of you. Sometimes its a box turtle in the trail. Or a squirrel fixing up a nest for the evening.
Last night I hosted a wordless walk – it was supposed to be to enjoy the sunset and moonrise, but clouds and rain all day made visibility of the sunset unlikely. So people who’d planned to attend the walk mostly stayed away – rain tends to do that.
I learned from six months hiking the Appalachian Trail that if I only hiked when it wasn’t raining, I would never finish the journey. It rains a lot in the eastern woodlands. Yesterday I had nowhere I needed to be and I could have easily stayed home and canceled the walk, knowing that people understand that you don’t go out walking in the rain.
But I’d been inside too much this week. So I went. And I’m so glad I did. The quality of light as day shifted to night was magical.
The rain was only a sprinkle here and there. I really did watch a squirrel prepare its nighttime cozy spot.
And the moon peeked out from the clouds for a moment!
The breeze was the absolute perfect temperature, and I got what I’d come out for – stillness for my soul.
Here’s one more wordless video for you – raindrops on the bayou. Watch the ripples. So calming.
So what are your thoughts? Will you go walking in the rain? What do you love about rain?
Rainy day musings, plus nine reasons why Cake Boss is my new life coach
28 Friday Sep 2012
Posted in being present, creativity, gratitude, savoring
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Connecting and announcing. Announcing and connecting. Seems like I’ve been doing a whole lot of that lately. That’s been because there’s been a whole lot to connect about and a whole lot to announce! There’s Wild and White Blazing, WIGS and WIGS, a wordless walk tomorrow and I just returned from hosting a beautiful retreat. There are loose ends to wrap up and new projects beginning.
But somewhere in there I need to keep living my wild and precious life. And I am, interspersed with a lot of emailing! Today I sat on the porch with the cats in the rain. Here’s a little wordless rain once it was raining a bit harder and we’d come in.
At one point when the rain had let up and the sun was peeking through, I looked out the window at just the right moment and saw a hummingbird visiting the purple Mexican petunias. And I felt that little catch in my heart – that little infusion of pure joy- knowing that being present and being alive is enough.
I have a new indulgence. Cake Boss. I try to limit it to one episode (22 minutes) per day, but sometimes I need one more dose. We don’t have cable so until we got Netflix streaming a few weeks ago, I could only watch shows like Cake Boss if I happened to be staying at a hotel. I actually discovered Buddy Valastro and his wacky but lovable family all working together at Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, NJ while I was hiking the AT. When I’d stop in town to resupply, I would purchase large quantities of food to eat on my day off, climb into bed, pop open a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and watch TV shows about cake. Perfect.
The shows are all so similar – why do I love them so much? I think a lot of it has to do with the charisma of Buddy, the main character.
I love his outlook on life, and while I know I’m watching a heavily edited television show, not unadulterated real life, I think if we all lived a little more like Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss, the world would be a better place. Here’s why.
1. He works hard. He doesn’t expect that cakes are just going to appear. Every episode there’s tons of mixing, icing, sculpting – actual doing. And he does it every day. He doesn’t create something one day and then take two days off.
2. He loves what he does. You can see it in his eyes whether he’s consulting with a new customer or presenting a cake to an adoring audience.
3. He has a positive outlook on life, but when he’s upset, he expresses his feelings. Almost every episode there’s at least one point where Buddy gets frustrated about something and yells a little. But then it passes and all goes back to normal. He doesn’t stuff his emotions down – he lets them fly – and within reason, that’s pretty healthy!
4. He doesn’t think he has to do everything himself. He’s assembled a talented team around him to make his creative visions manifest themselves.
5. He’s willing to try something new and go out on a limb creatively, while also hanging on to what’s worked in the past. It seems that almost every episode includes Buddy and his team trying to construct a cake in a way they’ve never done before. But there’s also a heavy dose of tradition, from recipes that date back generations like those incredible cannoli! Gosh, I love cannoli.
6. He’s not afraid to look silly. I love the episode where he and his buddies go out and play golf for the first time – it doesn’t matter to him that he doesn’t know what he’s doing – he just laughs a lot and tries it.
7. He embraces fun. While everyone at that bakery works hard all day, there are always a couple of pranks where someone gets a cake in the face or flour dumped on their head or contests where the loser has to dress up in a bunny suit or a grass skirt and hand out cupcakes.
8. He values relationships. I love the scenes with Buddy and his giant Italian family – they work together and they celebrate together. There’s plenty of food, laughter, hugs, and toasts. Salud!
9. He dreams big. People don’t end up with their bakeries on successful TV shows just like that – someone has to picture the possibilities. And I have a hunch that Buddy doesn’t let negative thinking get in his way when he dreams. He has a vision, then he makes it happen, and that’s pretty cool.
What do you think? Are you a fan of Cake Boss? Are there any of Buddy’s personality traits you’d like to emulate more?