Time To Lighten Up!

 

Hi!

Winter feels....heavy. It's dark, it's cold, it seems endless. Hell, even the eggs becoming pancakes look like they've hit their limit!

The world, over the past several years, has felt heavy. I mean, a world-altering Pandemic, the way different countries responded very differently. Hell, different regions of countries couldn't even get on the same page as each other on how to handle things. 

Everybody became pissed. Over everything. Too many rules, not enough rules, the chaos that misinformation threw into an already volatile situation. The curtain of humanity was pulled back revealing an ugliness we always feared lurked in the shadows.

Blatant disregard for the feelings of others. Things like empathy and sympathy were suddenly looked at as weaknesses instead of the strengths they are.

So, I, for one think it's time.

Time to lighten up!

We are social animals and have been separated by necessity and anxiety long enough. We can get the best of our humanity back. We can make replacing karenicity with kindness the new trend. We can remind ourselves about just how far the tiniest bit of common courtesy can go. 

We've been isolated for far too long. Yes, it's been a while since we've had to physically be as separate from one another as we were during the worst of it, but we are definitely still feeling the aftershocks.

There were babies born that are only now getting any real taste of life out in the world, where more than just a few people congregate. They are finally experiencing faces outside of their families, and they aren't on a screen!

There were toddlers about to start preschool that weren't able to dip those tiny, adorable toes in the social pool like they otherwise would have. 

There are teenagers who missed precious months developing incredibly important social skills. Interacting with peers, and teachers in real life, instead of over zoom. Learning how to read a room, understanding social cues, the importance of making appropriate eye contact, how to greet people with confidence but not arrogance. You know, life skills. 

Yes, it's been a beat since we've had to physically isolate, but as far as I can tell, we are far from recovering from the emotional isolation. 

So, let's give each other some slack, shall we?

From toddlers to teenagers to the rest of us. So many of us are very likely still feeling weird in crowded spaces, and that's okay. Lots are likely fine with it, and that's okay too. Some may choose to continue to wear masks, which, but the way, needs no response from anyone... really, it doesn't. Some may feel uneasy as they head back into their "normal" work routine, while others have simply chosen different ways to make a living.

For some, the past few years was simply a chaotic blip. To others, it has been life-altering, in horrific ways. 

You know the saying, 'we are all in the same boat'? Well, we weren't. In the same storm, yes, but we all weathered it in vastly different boats. Some had yachts while others had nothing more than a floating door, and, still others, didn't even have that. 

So, slack, compassion, whatever you feel comfortable calling, it's time to get it trending.

Let's flood the planet with kindness!

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May all things that bring you joy come to you in abundance. You deserve it. 

Let's Talk... Again... Still... Always...

 

Hi!

Frost tickles, then clings to the branches. Fog ushers in the change in temperature, warmer now, with the promise, or more accurately, threat, of colder days to come.

The beauty is thrust upon us, a cocoon that happens when the clouds kiss the ground, a diamond mist, at once, gorgeous and deadly, for what hugs you, also hinders your sight.

A sparkling blindfold adding danger, limiting vision, deadening sound. A stunning blanket bringing comfort and anxiety in almost equal measure.

Thankfully there is an inevitable break. The sun pierces, once again welcomed by the horizon, its light lifting what once seemed too heavy to move.

We don't control the mist, nor the light. We can only accept, adjust, take the care needed to keep us safe until the light returns.

And it does return. Always. 

This week, the 25th will mark a day in Canada. Let's Talk.

It's all about bringing forth the importance of mental health and the how the stigma attached needs to be demolished.

It's about having the conversations. They can be difficult for the speaker and listener alike. They can be difficult. No, they are difficult. It's never easy to hear, and I mean really hear, our loved ones describe the darkness they struggle with. It's hard to listen to the fight it takes to simply not get swallowed up, imprisoned, and paralyzed by it. 

It's hard feeling helpless.

We can't always know the right thing to say or do. 

All we know is we love you. You matter. You are worth every and all conversations. We need you here. It would break us if you weren't. We want to help, even if all that means, is listening.

The sun will once again come through, kissing your cheeks, lifting your soul.

The heavy blanket, deceitfully beautiful, disguised as comfort, will once again become the carpet of diamonds on which your tread.

Give us your burden, for it was never meant for you to carry alone. 

Let's Talk... Again...Still...Always.

There is no conversation too hard, too obscure, too late at night, too dark, or too much. 

You matter. 

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May you find a gentle shoulder upon which to share your burden. 

Different Roads, Different Days, At Different Times, In Different Directions...

Hi!

Different roads, different days, at different times, in different directions. 

You never have to look too far to witness nature's scenescape simply, and beautifully proving how, though things seem to remain stagnant, they are really changing at lightning speed. 

We tend to fall into the hamster wheel willingly, almost craving its monotony. It's safe, it's familiar, we understand it, we recognize it on many different levels. It's home, whether we are aware of it consciously or not. 

Time passes whether we are paying attention or not. Seconds become minutes, become hours, become days, become weeks, become months, become years, become decades...

Then, we sit and ponder where the time went. Consistently surprised by the speed at which it passes. 

We all do it.

For me, it begs the question... why?

Why does it seem to be our nature to become a spectator in our own lives only to lament about being a spectator in our own lives? And somehow surprised that it happened?

It seems like a fixable problem, if it actually qualifies as a problem. 

If it does, in fact, qualify as a problem some solutions might be...

Go somewhere you've never been at least once a year. (It doesn't need to require a plane... or a vehicle of any kind, really)

Do something you've never done before at least once a month.

Try a new food at least once a week.

Do things that scare you on some level, in some way, even if, or maybe especially if you are unsure of why it scares you. The scare needn't be huge, it just needs to be enough to speed o]up your heart rate a bit, and just maybe a bit of flop-sweat. 

Different roads, different days, at different times, in different directions. 

Take them all. 

With the wonder and confidence of a toddler in a superhero costume and new light-up runners, embrace, chase, and face all of them. 

The view from the hamster wheel is so small, so limited, so void of the vibrancy that comes from stepping off. The view from the hamster wheel can become too comfortable, limiting us, pulling us from the field of play, and seating us in the nosebleed section. 

Who decided that life shouldn't be filled with silliness, laughter, empathy, and joy?

I don't have any proof... but it was probably the hamster. 

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May you find the want to, to try new things.

May you feel free to paint, to sculpt, to write, to sing.

May you go places you never thought you would.

May to experience and explore like you never thought you could. 

May you discover the value of stepping away from the wheel.

May you embrace the lightness it will inevitably make you feel. 

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Just Because You Always Have, Doesn't Mean You Always Have To...

 

Hi!

So, here we are. Just past the beginning. Stepped to, and ready to dive from the precipice. The first few strides through the threshold have been taken, the first few words of the new chapter written.

Now what?

What will you be diving into? Where will your strides take you? What kind of story will you write?

The beauty of it is you get to choose. You.

So many of the things that tend to hold us back, that stop us short, that keep us from... whatever it is, are self-inflicted. Self-imposed imaginary rules tethering us, keeping us from taking full flight.

We, as humans, are creatures of habit. We tend to do things because we've always done them, or that's how they've always been done. 

We tend to do what's expected.

It's comfortable. Life can be hard, and sometimes doing what's comfortable works for us.

But what if it stops working? What if what's expected, what if the way we've always done things doesn't feel right anymore?

Does that mean we have to start over? Completely flip our worlds upside down? 

Personally, I don't think so. I think small changes can make big differences.

Something as small as a new haircut can be enough. Something as big as moving to a new country might be what's necessary. Most likely it will be something in between.

As this new chapter gets underway, it's time to reread the previous one, and decide what direction this next one might take. Will it be a chapter of action and adventure, will it be quiet and healing, or will it be so funny it makes you pee a little? 

The things that didn't contribute to your happiness last year will need adjustment or elimination. If not the whole thing, the pieces that are draining your joy, for sure. 

Just because you always have, doesn't mean you always have to.

The things that boosted you, made you smile, brought you joy, keep those, for sure, just make them bigger. 

We convince ourselves of things all the time, both good and bad. We convince ourselves that success has a very narrow definition. We convince ourselves that the path to that narrow definition is narrower yet. We convince ourselves that a stamp of approval from family, friends, and even strangers has merit of some kind. We convince ourselves that we don't really deserve peace, joy, and ease. We convince ourselves that life is somehow supposed to be hard and that's just the way it is. 

Let's convince ourselves that being happy and peaceful IS success, that we deserve it, that it doesn't require permission or approval. Let's convince ourselves that the paths we wouldn't dare travel are exactly the paths others are meant to take. 

Let's not only think outside the box. Let's just get rid of the boxes altogether, shall we? 

Boxes are traps. Period. Walk free. Sing free. Write free. Be free. 

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May every step you take into this next chapter have within it, a little skip.

May we all move forward with intention, with purpose, little steps, or an entire flip.

May your actions march you ever closer to the life you truly, deeply crave.

May you find the strength to make the changes you need to to be happy, be brave.

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