I spent 5 minutes last Sunday painting this tiny picture of my future rows of calendula at Moonstone Farm (from memories of last year).

This was fun- took 5 minutes with a water color set from the super market.

I enjoyed the freedom of knowing it was a creative exploration- not a destination.   There was no plan or concern that someone might judge my art.

Just fun.

Sometimes that's enough.

Abundance can happen in a 5 minute playful session- coloring outside the lines and creating from that no-pressure zone.

I've noticed a theme with some of my clients that its hard to figure out what is "fun" or would feel like abundance as a responsible adult.  

In my experience, the answer is in nature.  In watching dogs and squirrels and trees blowing in the wind.  Its in watching teenagers lose hours at the skatepark.  Its driving with the music blaring and the windows down.  Those images all spark pictures of abundance.

Joy, pleasure and play are meant to...

Money is one of those topics that has no shortage of experts with frameworks for how to___ and what to___ and where to___ and you should___(you can fill in the blanks).  The hard focus on money can actually lead to feeling more overwhelmed and stressed, rather than empowered.

Our feelings about and behaviors with money typically are formed by the stories and experiences from our childhood or the key influencers in our lives.  Many of us have trauma and fear around money and not having enough or losing what we have.  This inherently makes money serious business....and it can be hard to move beyond the constraints of what we perceive to be true about money.

Broadening to more of a soft focus on the "why" of money can be a playful approach toward a more productive and abundant  relationship with currency.  Maybe you want more freedom, security, or feelings of peace.    Playing with the idea that money is just one of many ways to...

Surrender

I just finished reading the book Do Less, by Kate Northrup for our February book club in Pathfinder Posse.

The premise of the book is a new approach to time and energy management specifically for ambitious women.    The bulk of the text is a series of experiments to cultivate a new relationship with time and productivity (perfect for our February them of Creating Sacred Time).

I found her experiment on surrender a good reminder in what we can control and what we cannot.  Essentially, we can control how we think, how we feel, how we act, how we respond, our intentions, where we put our attention.  What we can't control is everything and everyone else.  

Pretty sure this is one of those life lessons we never fully learn, but keep having the opportunity to....am I right?

I loved the questions she asked in this chapter to help hone in on where we can surrender control. 

I'll offer them here:

what am I trying to control...

We sat down last week to watch the movie Secretariat.   It has been awhile since I've seen it and we thought it would be fun to introduce  to our exchange student after visiting our horses last week.

Secretariat is the great-grandfather of our horse Barbie Slew (pictured here- her grandfather is Seattle Slew!).  Clearly she comes from strong racing lines and although she had a stint on the track, it didn't last too long.  I don't really know the long and winding road of her story before she and I found each-other, but alas we did.  

Anyway, back to the movie...

If you haven't seen it, I'm going to spoil it for you (because its also written in history :), but Secretariat wins the triple crown against all odds. 

In the story, the heroine (the owner) also gets to the triple crown against all odds including navigating endless sexism and blatant misogyny.  What drives her against these odds is her intuition that he...

Creating sacred time means that  we embrace our time as our most precious resource and we spend it on what matters most. 

How we choose to spend our time and who we choose to spend it with (or focused on) becomes our most crucial decision as we navigate multiple priorities, passions or projects (or external demands).

Before you dive into your weekend, whether you are working or off,   I invite you to take 5 minutes to set intention for creating sacred time.  Here are three quick steps to help you on your way:

1.  Think about how you want to feel about your weekend and what experiences you want to reflect on when you go to bed on Sunday. What is your desired state?

• Do you want to feel prepared for the week?
• Do you want to feel rested?
• Do you want to feel like you enjoyed friendships or activities? 
• Do you want to feel accomplished that you finished reading that book?
• Do you want to feel spaciousness- like you truly unplugged?
• Or maybe like you...

I can't think of a better mantra for this year or this weekend, backed up by this turtle and Michael Franti (inspiring singer songwriter - see link to song below).

Turtles have an amazing way of showing us how to stay the course with longevity, while moving tiny steps forward and taking breaks to bask in the sun.

This week, as I launched back into working with clients and trying to get technology and my body to agree with my big ideas, I was faced with the fact that things are going to move slower than I wanted them to (insert mini-temper tantrum).

Call it Mercury or Mars or Uranus (or all three) in retrograde- whatever it is, the message has been consistent to slow down to go fast.

It amazes me how easy I can forget...

I know I can trust that things always fall into alignment just in the right timeframe as long as I'm taking intentional action and taking care of myself.

Do you also have evidence for this?

When I push too hard, my body shuts down (or my computer). When I...

Several years ago, I created a framework called the "Joy Harvest" model.   It was born from a desire to celebrate the end of the growing season in the fall and the beginning of the end of the year.

The premise is...  to cultivate joy, we must recognize a cycle of completion and create space for celebration. 

Essentially taking a breather from all the doing, creating, pleasing, judging, etc. 

I borrowed from the phrase- "you reap what you sow" and created an intentional reaping process to harvest the joy. 

Here is the simple framework:

R- Rest and Restore:
E- Explore & Energize
A- Appreciate & Align
P- Play with Purpose

What does all of that mean to you?

For me, it means being intentional about my daily routines, not getting caught up in external hype, saying no if something doesn't sound fun and saying yes if it does.  It means deciding on purpose what rituals matter to me and asking for what I want/need (without...

The other day, I was in the pasture with my horses and decided I would catch our gelding, Wizard, to spend some time with him.

He is a willing partner, always curious about what we might do together.  He doesn't hesitate to let me halter him, unless of course something spooks him.

I always take it easy, its not an abrupt or demanding process.  I invite him to participate and he lowers his head and I halter him up.  We breathe together and stand for a minute.

As we begin to walk, our mare (Barbie Slew), starts to get ahead of us and blocks our path.  I pivot and try to move around her and she pivots too.  It becomes a game of how far I can get around her before she blocks me again.  I can feel the frustration boiling up.

I'm definitely focusing on the "obstacle" and how to move around it.  I'm thinking about why she is blocking me.  Is it because she doesn't want me to take him?   Does she wish I was taking her?  WHAT is...