October 17, 2005 Issue #20

IN THIS ISSUE...

1) Welcome!
2) My Playground
3) Check it Out
4) Giggles & Guffaws
5) Ways to Play Today!
6) Random Musings
7) Something to ponder
8) Shameless Promotional Plug

A playful welcome to my new subscribers!
This *free* monthly newsletter is written with the intention to help you live life with more passion and purpose and less stress and worry. With informative articles, humorous insights and great resources, "Lighten Up!" is guaranteed to provide you a motivational kick in the butt while giving you a giggle or two along the way.

"There's no place like home" ~Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz

I've known for the past two weeks what I wanted to write about in this month's newsletter. However, it was just two days ago that I got really clear about my reasons for choosing the topic that follows. My partner, James and I have been doing a bit of traveling recently and whenever you leave on vacation, there's usually a return trip back to where your travels initially began. Unless of course you've decided during your vacation to permanently relocate to the place you're visiting and have no desire to go back to where you came from. I strongly considered this idea once when I visited the island of Kauai a few years ago.

While roaming the East Coast seaboard, I not only noticed how different the landscape was (as compared to the Pacific Northwest beaches I frequent), but how I felt about the places I was visiting. I'm pretty much an ocean freak so if you place me near a large body of water that stretches to infinity, I'm a happy and contented gal. So why didn't I want to pack up my bags and move to beautiful places like Camden, Maine or Martha's Vineyard? One might think a lovely, little sea village or an island off Massachusetts would be the perfect place to call home. I would think the people who live in those places feel that way. For me, there was something missing. So in this issue, I'll be exploring the idea of what home may be and why it's important for most people to feel like they have one. Read on to discover what home may be for you.

My Playground
The article, the message, the thing to make you go hmmm...

~Home IS Where Your Heart Is~

Even though Dorothy was a bit of a ditz and she hung around some odd characters, she really knew what she was talking about whenever there was a conversation about home. For Dorothy, Kansas and her loved ones represented what meant more to her than anything else. For many of us, we're just like her; the places we live in and the people who surround us we consider our home. I think there are also a lot of people who are still looking for where and what home is for them. I believe having a home is akin to knowing what's important to your heart. Your journey can be just as spectacular and surprising as Dorothy's walk down the Yellow Brick Road was if you have an idea of what you're looking for.

When I moved away from home to go to college, little did I know that it would take me fourteen years to find it again. Since I left the house I grew up in, I've lived in twenty-three different places, co-habited with a number of roommates and had five significant romances over the course of seventeen years. That tires me out just writing that stuff down. Anyway, I was living my life happily for the most part, but deep-down inside I knew I was looking for something I hadn't experienced in a long time. There were definitely times when I felt like Dorothy must have when she was dealing with all those flying monkeys.

A BIG part of my home; James and the beach.

The point I'm trying to make is this; the searching we all do to discover what is important to us is not for naught. We may feel at times like we're spinning our wheels and getting nowhere close to what we want, but the truth is...all of our wondering and wandering does lead us home eventually. Take heart that if home for you is still a mystery, you are already engaged in the things that will provide you the answers you're seeking even if you're not aware of them yet. I'm deliberately not defining what home is because I think that's for each and every one of us to discover on our own. However, here are a few ideas to consider where your home may be found.

5 Expressions of Home

1) Physical Places
Whether you're a globe-trotting warrior or a familiarity fanatic, your experience of home is connected to the space in which you live or spend significant time in. That space could be the house you reside in, your neighborhood, city or state or maybe there's a place in nature or an element of it that really speaks to you. Home may be a beach or a forest or maybe it's not that specific and it's wherever water or trees are.

2) Sentimental Stuff
A friend of mine who is a painter recently told me that home for him was his easel. A specific object represents much more than just the thing itself. Consider what an old stuffed teddy bear or a wedding ring means to you or someone you know.

3) Particular People
There are certain people who you love and are loved by that you can't imagine not being a part of your life. Whenever you spend time with these folk, you innately know you're home.

4) Fabulous Feelings
For you, home is experienced when an overwhelming emotion washes over you. It may appear in the form of uncontrollable laughter or sudden tears and your feelings may be indescribable.

5) The Unexplainable
Things like faith, the after-life, synchronicity and déjà vu resonate with you. There's a spiritual element to what you call home.

Home isn't limited to just one expression. I suspect for many people it's a combination of things that provides them the surest sense of what home is for them. For me, the greatest experience of home would be dancing on the beach in Cannon Beach with the love of my life, James and having all my family and friends there. Until that particular moment happens, I am deliriously happy and grateful each and every day when some aspect of what I know as home pays me a visit. If you're still unsure of where or what your home is, ask your heart and then listen closely. It's ready to tell you.

Check it Out
Personal Recommendations for books, music, websites and all resources fun!

Miss Bliss The above link will bring you to the debut of my blog. Last month, I mentioned I would be sharing with you some exciting changes I'm in the process of making regarding my business. Well, Miss Bliss is one of them. Writing is no longer a monthly option for me. It's a daily one. After reading all about how to create a blog, I finally figured it out with plenty of assistance from Typepad's HELP button and a friend of mine who's been blogging away for a few months. Unlike this newsletter that's published monthly, Miss Bliss will be a place where I'll be writing on a more frequent basis. What does that mean for you? Well, in addition to being privy to additional information and inspiration on how to live life with more passion and purpose, you'll become motivated to start a blog of your own and THAT is a very cool thing. If you already have one, please let me know what it is and perhaps we can promote each other's musings. If you want to comment on any of my entries, you can do it right on the blog. Respond away I say!

"How to Live at the Beach" by Sandy Gingras
I picked up this sweet, little book while I was on Martha's Vineyard and have enjoyed being reminded of why I live at the beach. Sandy's colorful, lively drawings accompany her wise words that speak of simplicity, playfulness and gratitude. She'll inspire you to live more beach-like even if you don't live by the sea.

Giggles & Guffaws
An amusing story, joke, anecdote or picture to tickle your funnybone

Shop owners in Maine take their car-parking seriously funny.

Ways to Play Today!

Why not...share your thoughts with the world?
Yes, this is a plug for Typepad technology, but it's also a great way to play. Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, you have a story to tell and creating a blog is a fun and interactive way to share your words with a ton of people. You don't need to have years of computer training to figure out how to set it up and you can personalize your page to your heart's content. Your learning curve doesn't need to be as steep as mine was because I'm here to help you if you have any questions. Remember when you signed up for your first email account and you either sent or received your first email? It's likely you'll experience the same rush of seeing your words and others' online when you start hanging out in the Land o' Blogs. It's web-based communication and art at its best and it's all yours for the creating.

Why not...celebrate your age instead of complaining about it?
One of my girlfriends is turning forty soon and she's throwing herself a big bash to celebrate her special day. Despite the fears she's had about aging and the disappointment in there not being another number after 39 that's not 40, she's chosen to celebrate the fact that she's getting older. I hope she knows deep down inside that even though she's going to get a little ribbing from all of us, her celebration will give those who love her an opportunity to acknowledge what an amazing woman she is at age forty. She shared with me a quote she's had a strong connection with of late. "You're only young once, but you can be immature forever." I wholeheartedly agree! I won't deny that forty is an age where many people take stock of their lives and decide to make some big changes, but the meaning that number (or any number for that matter) has gets to be decided by each person. And while I can hardly wait for my girlfriend's party this weekend, I am quite content in knowing it won't be my turn to celebrate that number for another three years.

Random Musings
Miscellaneous thoughts of mine with hints of truth and wisdom

No matter how bad the margarita tastes, it's a must-have with chips and salsa.

Loneliness and boredom are places I no longer play in. There's just not enough time to give either one of them consideration.

My final thought about home...I will take it with me wherever I go next.

Something to Ponder
Questions designed to stimulate your thinking AND encourage you to take action towards what you want.

What does home mean for you?
If you haven't found your home yet, why is it important that you do?

Care to share what these questions stir up in you? Need some support around discovering what home is for you?
Send me an e-mail. I welcome your thoughts and will respond to all e-mails received.

Shameless Promotional Plug

The year 2006 may seem like a long time from now, but when it comes to planning a beach retreat it's not that far away. That's right...I said BEACH RETREAT!. I'm crafting an amazing and affordable weekend for 15 creative and curious women that will be an unforgettable experience in a beautiful place. Details about the event are still being finalized and I'll have an announcement in next month's newsletter, but I suspect the information will appear sooner in that blog of mine I mentioned you check out above. If you're ready to sip a lot more this upcoming year other than that glass of champagne and the same ol' resolutions, you should consider being one of those fifteen women. After having a conversation with my mom, who happens to be a creative and curious woman herself (guess who I want to see at the retreat?), I'm reconsidering the idea of changing my business name. Playful Spirit is going to stick around until something else speaks louder than that name does now. However, I've chosen a domain name for a new website I'll be creating in the next month and as promised last month, I'm unveiling the name of it here now. Stay tuned for VERY COOL HAPPENINGS from www.bringitonsalon.com Until next month, stay curious.

If you want to find out more about the work I do as a coach, facilitator and writer check out Playful Spirit Make sure you come back and visit again as more resources and fun stuff will be added to the website every month.

Thanks for reading this issue of Lighten Up! If you enjoyed it, please pass it along to your friends, your family, your co-workers...You get the idea. See you on November 21st! Until that time, be well, be happy and play more.

May you spend time discovering or reflecting on what home is for you. If you happen to forget or get lost along the way, just do what Dorothy did and tap your heels three times. Don't forget to put on the red slippers!

Lisa

A Martha's Vineyard Morning