I caught up with someone I haven’t talked to in months this morning. After our conversation about how hard and mean humans are sometimes, he sent me this phone screenshot:
I laughed and thought…isn’t this the truth.
Be nice, people. It’s so much easier.
#DontBeADick #NiceAlwaysWins #LessMeanMoreLoveHappyLife
It’s Sunday morning. I’m sipping coffee in bed on this humid end of August day with a fan on me. All windows open, balcony door too. Love the heat and that it feels like summer is still here in full force and going to be for a while.
I’m reading this book:
On Monday morning this week I helped a client with some money organization and in just a little over an hour I saved her thousands of dollars on 2 credit cards. (Interest, fees, etc.) Whoop! Freedom from debt! At the end of our session, she handed me this book. We’ve talked a lot about working for yourself, having a full plate, business, life feeling busy, etc.
It sure is hard to get anywhere if you’re an octopus on roller skates. Been there, done that, and finally conquering taking that 6th skate off for good to leave myself with just two to whirl around in. How about you? How many skates are you wearing?
The very first page of this book made me gasp. (In a good, happy way.) It immediately launches into describing this scene from the movie City Slickers:
…which happens to be my favorite movie ever.
In 1991 when City Slickers came out in theaters and I watched it for the first time, I was a mere 13 years old and in 7th grade. 25 years ago I don’t think I knew shit from Shinola as “they” say. I don’t think I yet thought about the meaning of life, or that “One Thing,” and I certainly don’t think I really understood what this movie was all about, but there was just something that always connected with me.
As I sit here now just after my 38th birthday thumbing the pages of this book and finding gems like these couple sentences:
…I completely get why I have always loved the movie City Slickers and I’m glad that I’ve stuck with something that matters so much to me; this crazy Blue Lollipop Road.
Somehow within the layers of life; the loss, heartbreak, chaos, madness, exhaustion and everything else that makes us so often feel wiped by days end, if we continue to stick to that The One Thing each day that means so much to us or do just One Thing each day that helps keep us organized, we will always be getting somewhere.
Keep crackin’, baby!
#NeverQuitting #StickToIt #OrganizationNotDeprivation
During a circus week of client moving madness, this book caught my eye yesterday before it got thrown in the donation bin:
(I mean, who doesn’t love the word yay?)
I scooped it up and here I sit on the floor of my apartment reading it. Wild and crazy over here working some more and paying bills on a Friday night.
In the quiet moments after a go go go exhausting week, I love things like this sweet little kids book, that make all the sense in the world and bring an inspirational moment of calm.
There are so many choices. The world is immense. Take a good look around and…
Go for it.
How will you choose to start your tomorrow?
#HopToIt #TodayIsTheDay #GoSeeBeDo
Hello Friends & Followers!
It’s been a whirlwind of some very busy client work getting some good people downsized, packed up, and moving on to their next life adventures, I’m about to hit the road for my big annual road trip, and BLR Play It Forward 2016 kicks off just ONE week from today!
Phew! Days fly by, I start to write here, drafts of posts pile up, ideas constantly swirl, I get interrupted to take care of business elsewhere- and poof, a week or two later my sweet blog is left hanging. Sigh.
Funny how I help people simplify their lives and minimize their madness, and I find myself falling asleep at 11pm still with 10 things on my own to-do list. (Life of an entrepreneur! I would’t change a thing:)
As I pack up now close to midnight, I daydream about the morning when I start off on yet another big adventure of my own, windows will be down in the car, it will be nice and warm outside, and I will be the happiest camper (literally!) around on the way to green mountains first west, then north. I’m ready for some fresh air and a few s’mores (made with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups), sipping coffee on quiet porches, a few Blue Benn breakfast times, and seeing some of my absolute favorite people.
The road always inspires me to write, and it is where I feel the most free and alive…especially when I’m en route to do something good like host Play It Forward, so I’m hoping to share a bunch of awesome things with you here over the next couple weeks. I hope you will share some of your adventures with me, too.
What inspires you to feel good and do good?
#LessStuffMoreTravelHappyLife #GreenSpace #LifeOnTheBlueLollipopRoad
A huge reason why you should always take a few minutes to stop, and look up:
When I sit in silence with scenes like this, I think heck yeah! Let’s do this, life!
Endless possibilities there are, just out there for the taking…
What will you go get this week?
#Sunset #Summer #DoIt
8:17pm, Thursday June 9th. I walk in and this is what I see:
No filters, no adjustments, just a quick shot from my old iPhone. Pretty awesome.
There’s something about a sunrise and a sunset that just feels…ahhh…
The best part is that It’s getting better as I sit here on my balcony, take it in, and type.
What makes you feel peaceful?
#Sunsets #SummerNights #LessStuffMoreMomentsHappyLife
What happens at Play It Forward, you ask?
All awesome things like friends, families, and neighbors, coming together (new and old), lots of socializing fun, honoring people we love who are no longer with us, and gifting scholarship dollars to deserving high school students to help support their travel goals. Doing good and p(L)aying forward to give back, makes everyone smile:
We are all hands in for our community kind of gals! So what’s in the hopper for this year? Well check out our event poster:
…and mark your calendars to join us!
If you can’t join us in some way for this great weekend in Vermont, maybe think about what really matters to you, and make your own community give back wherever you are. Our Play It Forward theme; Remember. Celebrate. Live:
*Remember where you came from
*Celebrate the memories you have
*Live like today is the day
Pretty good rules to live by, right?
Let’s all go and put some more love into the world by being Strong Mojo Warriors. Here we go, year 5!
#RemembercelebrateLive #PlayForwardGiveBack #Community
*(A shout out and huge thanks here to Nicole Sauer for her great photos from our 2015 event, and Tracy Bushee-Boudreau for her continued fabulous logo and poster designs each year!)*
I like to wander by myself. I love people and connection and sharing for sure, but contrary to popular belief, I spend a lot of time alone and always have. If you have just started following here to give you an idea, I drove to Alaska from Wilmington, NC alone- and with no music a few years back; that kind of alone. Some think It’s weird. I think It’s awesome to go solo, sometimes.
Last weekend, as I wandered around the streets of Chicago alone (yes! – scored a super cheap non-stop round trip plane ticket for Memorial Day Weekend!), I observed a zillion people with shopping bags galore weighing them down. Knowing that one of the biggest reasons I could actually afford go to Chicago for some guilt-free good exploring, eating, and meeting up with old friends was the fact that I don’t ever weigh myself down with shopping bags galore, I had one of those aha moments:
DO stuff, people! Don’t BUY so much stuff! (“Stuff” here to me, means an over abundance of material CRAP that you simply do not use or do not need.)
If you’re offended by the word crap, please try not to be. I’ve been told a hundred times over that I/we should not call other people’s stuff “crap” but if we are being realistic, the extra (note I said, extra!) stuff piled in your closets and drawers that you forgot you even had, is kind of all just a bunch of crap. Wouldn’t you agree? If if makes you feel any better, I call my own stuff crap, too even though I have very little of it. I think a lot about what I would do if the small amount of stuff I own vanished. (I’ve actually lost it all before, and when I realized the people who took it all didn’t shoot me, I seriously felt relieved and lucky.) I can say with 100% confidence, that if all my stuff (crap) disappeared, but I had my health, people who loved me, and could sip a glass of wine, eat a block of cheese, and back that all up with a quality piece of chocolate, I’d be happier than a pig in you know what.
I’m thinking you might be right there with me.
And now we are off and running here on this Blue Lollipop Road with a little series moving forward I will theme; The Do’s & Don’ts of stuff.
It’s all about priorities, really. Me, I find value and prioritize people, time, and experiences more than stuff. Some may not- but I think I can help encourage a little more prioritizing the important “stuff” here, so hope you jump on the train of less stuff = more freedom = happy life with me.
More on Chicago soon (I always pull that “soon” card, don’t I? I’ve got to keep you coming back:), until then today’s post is meant to share about today. My Sunday Funday and how I love the summer, the heat, and the colors of it all. During some client appointments today, I ran into a sweet little farmers market on a road I never go down, far from the city:
I stocked up for some good grilling.
Windows down, music blaring, then back to the house to sit outside and type here, one of my most favorite things to do:
EAT good stuff that you’ll really enjoy with good company, don’t BUY a bunch of (material) stuff you don’t really need.
Spend some time alone, prioritize, and live that life you want.
#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #DoStuffDontBuyStuff #Summer
And I don’t usually punch things, any things…especially in the face.
I felt abnormally blah all day yesterday, just yucky, even though I kicked off a brand-new (and very exciting) BLR collaborative project that’s a big deal. (More on that in an upcoming post.)
I couldn’t shake the funk, so at the end of the work day I came home and laid right down on the wood floors in my apartment on my back and closed my eyes in hopes to exorcise my funk demons. My arms and legs were right out straight as if I was trying to make a snow (ahem- dust angel.) After a few minutes of lying there I knew I needed to get outside, so I got up, strapped on my sneakers, and went for a 2 hour walk:
…doing my best to hide behind sunglasses and a hat, and just disappear.
Being in nature in the quiet is a wonderful magical medicine.
After sharing about my funk with a friend this morning who knows all too well, the hell that life can bring sometimes, I got this in my inbox:
“There are three things you can do when life sends a wave at you. You can run from it, but then it’s going to catch up and knock you down. You can also fall back on your ego and try to stand your ground, but then it’s still going to clobber you. Or you can use it as an opportunity to go deep, and transform yourself to match the circumstances. And that’s how you get through the wave.”
~ Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs
What I learned on my walk last night and from that friend today:
1.) Exercise has saved my life, mentally and physically- and more times than once. I could never advocate enough for moving your body in any way, shape, or form. Every. Day.
2.) I am increasingly thankful for love and support around me. Being loved and feeling loved is pretty awesome. Feeling lonely is awful.
3.) I feel incredibly lucky to have a healthy body and legs that can walk for two hours, even though the past year or so has been by far the most challenging one of my life, and often left me feeling paralyzed head to toe.
4.) No matter how broken I ever feel, I will always believe that this world is one big party train full of possibility, and we all have the choice to hop on anytime we want to.
Life is always unfinished. Look up, and just keep walking…
#GetUp #GoDeep #AlwaysKeepLookingUp
Actually, just 1:
Because It’s fun.
I went to the BOB Awards tonight. It was a blast. I went with a crew, one of whom at one point (on the dance floor) said; “This makes me want to take off my boots!…and then he did. It was awesome, we laughed and strangers took photos.
We “snuck” (no one was paying attention to any one or any thing- so why not), into the VIP lounge a few times to get cocktails and treats from the s’mores bar. (Hello dripping, melty chocolate fountain!) We were the group that started the dance party. I personally never need an invitation to get the floor moving and was glad I was with a group that didn’t either.
It’s close to midnight on a Saturday night, and as I type in silence smiling from a great time after my party has ended for the night, I’m hoping everyone is out there in this big world living a little bit of eff-it! – just letting go and having fun. Whether you stayed in or went out, and whether you got wild or stayed calm, remember, there are no rules. What you do with your life is YOUR CHOICE. We should care a lot less about what other people think, we should get that dance floor moving even when (especially when), we’re sober, we should laugh loud enough that our face hurts, and we should sneak into the VIP lounge (ahem…in everyone situation), like we own it. Take initiative, don’t ask for permission, and…
…dance my friends, just dance.
#GetYourGrooveOn #WhenInDoubtBeyonceItOut #Fearless
Bonus fun if you strike a pose with a friend on the way out the door and see how long you can hold your Blue Steel face without cracking up.
