The Dancing Blooms - April 3, 2020

This dance of the blossoms was captured May 2018 in Portland, Oregon. If I'm not mistaken I taped this during a walk near my former employer's location. Those rhody’s are something else, aren't they? 

We are now having more rainy days and warmer weather in Providence, Rhode Island and many things are blooming. I spotted the first signs of cherry blossoms around the corner. Many daffodils have poked through and I'm sure the tulips are close behind. 

The springtime energy is contagious. I don't know about you, but I've been experiencing all kinds of creative energy during the past couple of weeks. I suppose with my brain that loves to problem-solve, this situation has put it into high speed. I've come up with a number of ideas that I will reveal  later but I'm wondering who else is enjoying this creative growth spurt? 

I consider these days quite the adventure. One of my favorite thought leaders is Mark Nepo. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years back and he has written one of my favorite books called The Book of Awakening. It is filled with short but very deep reflections and I'm always learning something each day that I read it even though I've been reading it for six years. My copy is falling apart because I've been reading it so much but I don't dare replace it with a new one since I have tabbed and highlighted sections that caught my heart. Today's reflection has this quote: The river is now in me. The reflection is about how we are all connected and how we're all in this together glad to be sharing this “adventure” with all of you.

Let's Make Lemonade

One of my favorite summertime drinks is lemonade.  You take something that is awfully sour and turn it into something sweet.  You can even jazz it up with some ingredients like lavender or liquor.  What a beautifully versatile drink.

I think lemonade and life have a lot in common:  You can change it up depending on what you add to it or keep it just as it is.  I am the type of gal who likes to mix it up, I've come to learn.  But with anything out of the familiar, it is a risk, and risk-taking can provide some big wins or big losses.

When I was younger, I wasn't as cautious about a lot of things.  I think that is the case for many of us.  We learn to be fearful as we grow older and I lost my optimism and throw-caution-to-the-wind attitude over the years.  Many people who know me would gasp at such a reflection but I struggled for many years trying to regain an inner sense of my can-do attitude.  

It took a lot of work over a period of time, but I got my groove back.  It is how I moved across the country to a city I've never been to; how I followed my passion to produce a podcast about the arts and find some funding to help support it; it is how I committed to writing a book for women over 40 who think the world can go eff itself for thinking it can pretend we don't exist or matter.  

One of my always present intentions is to make choices that make me proud but also my daughter proud.  A lesson or nugget of wisdom I hope to share with her is to dream big and go for it.

Over the past year or so, I have made it a point to welcome failure as one of the realities to embrace.  No one I know likes that "F" word.  With baby steps, I have been pausing to look at what didn't work and find the wisdom I can carry forward from the experience. And it is due to that shift in perspective that has led me to pursue something I have wanted to do for eons but lacked the confidence to do it: launch my own business!

After years in the nonprofit sector, I've learned a thing or two, and the knowledge applies in any part of the country.  I am taking my two decades plus of across-the-board experience and offering it to organizations who want to raise the bar on getting their message out into the world.  All nonprofits want to do that but lack the capacity to do it.  My role is focusing support for those who lack the resources.

More to come later!  I have a plethora of skills that came out of success and failure.  I remind myself that we have to fail in order to learn.

I'm failing my way to happiness.