Sometimes you think one thing is going to happen, and then...

Sometimes you think you are going to be gone from a place in late September and you find yourself 4 weeks later typing away from your apartment, which feels like a new apartment because it is so empty and yet so full at the same time. And sometimes you think you will be leaving tomorrow because it is November 1st and your lease is up and you get a call saying you can stay a bit longer if you need. So instead of rushing through a day trying to get everything done you get to do it with ease and grace. You get to do another run through of your clothes and release more, you get to talk with a sacred friend who stops by to help you instead of rushing through that visit, you get to clink waterford glasses with a wee bit of whiskey to celebrate friendship and love, you get to cry in front of other friends who encircle you in a warm embrace and remind you how brave you are and how loved. You get to gift books, clothes, pillowcases, jewelry to friends instead of dropping them off at goodwill and so you get to see them on your friends and feel like you are playing dress up, you get to hear about your friends new ideas and creations because you aren't rushing to get everything done. You speak openly about being survivors and how part of the collective pattern we are shifting is in speaking out, speaking our truth and what a gift that is to each of us- to release the burden, pain and heaviness of carrying it all and a gift to others to know they are not alone, you speak how you thought you were taking care of yourself first but really you were still putting others first and how that is a pattern too and it takes practice and courage to change long entrenched patterns. You speak of complete forgiveness and understanding and a desire to speak up simply to break the silence so we can collectively share the experience, own it and heal together and shift it. You move boxes that have been in your kitchen nook to a storage unit so there is even less in this divine apartment and it finally feels a bit spacious and not so cluttered.

And you dance a few songs, cry a few tears, smile a big smile as Nina Simone sings her soul. You honor that you did your best to heal, that your timing is divine. And at 5pm you throw on some red lipstick, a black corset over a blank turtleneck and leather tights, and deem yourself a super hero of sorts as a halloween costume and you get to spend the night trick-or-treating with Toothless and Hiccup from How to Train a Dragon, you get to delight in halloween karaoke, you get to receive a glass of wine from a friend, a meal cooked for you, and you have conversations about the rise of the feminine, about honoring our sacred wisdom in corporate america! (as in speakers coming in and talking about this in corporate America). About how when women get used to hearing 'No" and we stop crumbling and stand in our knowing, we truly reclaim our power, our truth, our sacred knowing and THAT is when the change happens. That is when balance is restored. When a mother says no to a playdate because her body restricts. When she asks for a raise at work. When we take a day off because we get our moon flow (aka period but what the hell is that?) and our bodies need a day to rest. When we don't overwork and over give in anticipation of the parade that will be thrown for us some day in honor of how much we have given. And realizing there is no parade, only the parade we throw ourselves. And you realize that this change is happening because these books are being published by the Global Ambassador for Women who works for Obama and she is talking about energy. and she is talking about intuition, and she is talking about the feminine.

And this makes your heart happy and your spirit soar as this awakening is truly happening. And not only that, but you have done your work, this intense, hard as shit, scary as hell work, you have recommitted again and again to coming back to you body, your knowing, your truth that made you feel crazy, alone and oh so wrong at times. Then Toothless shares some halloween candy with you, even offering you the full size bag! And then Theo's chocolate is brought in! Giggles are shared over Ellen Degeneres Haunted House video and you return home, light some candles, drink some newly gifted cider tea and settle into this sweet life, this sweet bed still in the middle of a former living room with so much more space and filling more filled up than ever before.

Magic at the Apple Store...

I just had the most FUN! Was at the Apple store (amber blinking light issue not resolved but back-up is happening for those following my exciting adventures) and I am there 2 hours after i arrived because the back up issue took a long to troubleshoot and because it took me awhile to purchase a new phone. I decided to only transfer my contacts over- no apps, no texts etc. fresh start, fresh phone!!!! very exhilarating. I'm bonding with the people in the store, talking with Ed about his trip to Cambodia and telling him about one of my favorite trips- Nepal.

anywho- there I am wrapping up my delightful new phone set up and i hear someone say my name and it's my wonderful friend Daniel (who knew about my amber blinking light issue via Facebook) Danny and I were trip mates 8 years ago TO THE DAY! on an REI Adventures trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. And he had just told a story earlier in the day about the woman who, when we were all sick with Himalayan Dysentery, drank some tang while trekking and proceeded to vomit orange over the mountain with a sherpa holding on to her so she didn't fall to her death and then started skipping and walking with fresh enthusiasm post vomit. That woman was me! so fun to share sick stories, nepal stories, Danny offering me his music while I was in my tent on day 4 of being ill. So fun to be reminded of the joy of adventure and travel when a part of me is a bit freaked out about releasing my home base in Seattle.

So exciting to reminisce, remember the beauty and magic of Nepal. How that trip brought me into my body, heart and soul in a way I had never experienced. How it brought me in communion with nature, with spirit, with the power of the divine. How that trip forever changed me, how that trip, being sick especially taught me how powerful I was physically, mentally and emotionally and just how long I could keep up my good spirits and caring for others. It taught me the power and joy of strangers coming together with a common goal- to experience trekking in Nepal. we had helicopter evacuations, HAPE evacuations, vomiting, diarrhea and I wouldn't change a moment of it.

It renewed my sense of joy for what is next, the unknown. Being in my body more and more. Being in nature more and more. I am humbled, I am grateful for this chance to explore the world. And I am grateful the universe brought me Danny tonight to remind me that the worst moments make the best stories, that it won't be perfect but it will be divine, to surrender and just say yes to the destination and let the rest fall in to place, to get out of my mind and into my body, to be with good people, and to always always have oral rehydration salts and music nearby.

Thanks Universe. Thanks Danny. Thanks Apple Store for an awesome Friday night.

Destroying the past versus honoring it

There is a very big difference, I've learned in this magic art of tidying up process, between destroying the past and honoring it. There is a way to release the report cards, the journals, the art work, the creative writing that honors it. That thanks my 7 year-old for her creativity, her expression and we keep a few pieces of art, of writing- rather than destroy all of it. We keep a few to cherish that time, that energy, her goodness, her love, her creativity . I realize that in my haste to leave Seattle I took a more destructive element towards a few things. I honored my ancestors while packing up my grandma’s china for storage. I honored and thanked my parents while saving the letters they've written me, my former husband, dear friends whose letters I sent to them for their enjoyment.

The person I forgot to honor was me.

I forgot to appreciate my blow-through the straw art from 1st grade. I forgot to read the poems. I forgot to take in who I was at the time I was writing that report on Austria. I forgot to take the time to look at those pictures of me when I was 5,6,7,8 and look in those eyes and connect and say thank you for being you. For being so loving, so good, so kind, so special. So YOU. And of course you are coming with me. I wouldn’t take this next step without your precious spirit as part of it. You won’t be driving the bus anymore, but you will be on it. So the other night I honored myself. I took some time to look at those freckles, those amber eyes, those smiles with lost teeth, with no teeth, with Dorothy Hamill hair, with self-cut crooked bangs, with adorableness and love. And I cried sweet tears for the spirit of goodness that I saw in these pictures.

All that this girl did and created was in service of and for love.

This girl knows how to love big, without hesitation. She knows how to draw outside the lines, laugh and giggle. She knows how to hug. She knows how to hold a friends hand. How to make fun Halloween costumes. She knows how to play. She has a wisdom, a depth and beauty to her and it would abide me to slow down, tune in and honor her.

There is nothing I regret releasing. I just wish with those things from that younger time I had been more honoring of the girl who created it while I did it. Celebrated her and her creations more. Math Champion? AWESOME! (and we know how you felt about Math!) This report on Coatis? Love the drawing! This finger painting, so fun!

Because she is so worth some time and love after all the love she gave me and the world. I mean look at her! Hello. Yes to this sweetness and love!


My sovereign self

On with reclaiming my wild. My sovereign self. Rejoicing in who I am and how I create my life. For so long I looked at the options presented to me as if they were the only ones...when there are so many more delicious and juicy and wild ways to live. I was complicit in keeping my wild at bay. Complicit in saying yes to only what I perceived to be possible.

Now I know I can create wild days anywhere at any time.

It's intention, surrender and knowing what turns me on. And how more and more that is being in my body. Yesterday I wanted to celebrate and my brain went to wine, chocolate, going out to dinner...

My body knew it was all about swimming in Lake Washington taking in views of Mt Rainier and guided me there. Now that felt like TRUE celebration of myself in that moment. Exactly what I needed and something that was so not on my check list of "ways to celebrate." Duly added and excited to discover more ways to live, celebrate and be that the universe and my body are hatching for me.

Here's to wild living everywhere.



Out of the box and into the world

One of the most fascinating parts of this "What do I want to keep Process. What sparks joy?" that I started sharing on Facebook a few weeks back, is going through everything and seeing what it brings up. What's still undone. What needs some time and attention. Some love. Some Healing. Some space.

And as I go through these steps I realize I become complete with more items. Books from a certain time. Report cards. A sweater. A piece of jewelry.

These items represent places in me that still needed some loving up before I leave Seattle. So I slowed down my process, got in flow with the universe's plan and keep cycling through so I can close any energy loops before I leave. Sovereign. Wild. Embodied. Who I am and who I am Only. Composting the old, the adaptations, the emotions here in Seattle.

The last few days have been full of that! (see previous posts on tender heartedness). There was one yearbook I kept from my sophomore year of high school. It was in the recycling bin and I was called to go get it out. I knew there was something from that time in my life that needed healing. And that was yesterday- that 16 year old girl/woman who needed to know her wild heart was precious. That it was okay to like boys, to like hot tub jets, to feel turned on in her body. That there was no shame in this. In facts its one of the most sacred parts of being alive. That she doesn't need to be the friend or take care of everyone to be loved. And that her being loved, her feeling good in relationships is so important. It's crucial. And not only that she gets to be valued, worshipped, adored! She gets to be a woman with an appetite in all parts of her life. She gets to have curves, desires. She gets to receive attention and have boundaries. She gets to be powerful and vulnerable. She needed some time to sort those pieces out.

And today? Well when I held that yearbook, it was time to go. Which was such a celebration! healing up stuff with men, with my body, my turn on, my heart. YES YES YES. So I threw on some red lipstick and went for a drive. I ended up at one of my favorite spots on Lake Washington, took my shoes off and walked down the grass to the lake, put my feet in the water and moved my body, letting all that stuck emotion move. And there was a man there, swimming naked. And as I moved my body I felt its longing to be in the water, my mermaid wanting to get her groove on. And so I did. I stripped down to my underwear and went into that Lake, which while that first mermaid dive took my breath away, was not so freezingly cold. I kept swimming. And then Mt Rainier came into view. WHAT??? So here I am swimming in Lake Washington on October 8th, taking in the view of Mt Rainier and I couldn't be happier.

JOY.

This is what I keep. Being alive in my body in joyous, wild ways amongst the insane beauty of Seattle. Giggling, mermaid swimming joy that I can take with me and tap into at any moment. It's not stuck in a box. It's alive in me. In my precious wild body that has simply been wanting to be let out of the box and out into the world.