March 20, 2007
March 20, 2007 Issue #38
Welcome to the newsletter where playing more and stressing less is taken seriously. It's written with the intention to support you in living a life with more passion and play and less worry and work.IN THIS ISSUE...
Stop Playing Small
Daily Monster
The Book of Awakening
Tales of Hawaii
The book has begun!
Snowplow Surprise
Ways to Play Today:
Use Your Non-Dominant Hand
Go on a Media Fast
Something to Ponder:
How BIG do you want to play?
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~Mark Twain
My Playground
The article, the message, the thing to make you go hmmm...
~Stop Playing Small~
Twenty years from now I'll be 58. I'll admit that fact has me a bit freaked out. It's not the age so much that makes me stare off into space and shiver in my shoes. It's not even the thought of knowing how quickly twenty years will pass that scares me. What gives me the creepy crawlies is wondering if I will have played life safe. Will I have been bold enough and risked enough to follow my dreams and do the things I wanted to do? Will I have let my fears dictate my fate or will I have sailed the stormy seas of self-doubt and hesitancy and discovered that the further I sailed out from the harbor, the closer I got to the sweet island of success? Where will you have sailed twenty years from now?
For me, success isn't defined by the amount of dollars in my bank account or by how many friends I have in my address book. It doesn't consist of a list of achievements or a roster of awards. Simply put, success is saying what I'll do and then following through and doing what I say. I fall prey to procrastination and playing the comparison game way too often and I let other people's definitions of success cloud my own. Slowly, ever so slowly, I'm beginning to see that my success is determined by what I say it is and is achieved to the degree in which I get out of my comfort zone. I strongly suspect all of us know when we're playing it safe and playing small. We know when we're hiding out and when we're stepping out. Life doesn't care whether you pursue your dreams or not. But you do. And the disappointment Mark Twain speaks of is yours and yours alone. I don't know about you, but the place of regrets isn't a place I want to play in.
Artrageous Camp in Hawaii was a very fun place to play.
I want to play in places of possibility. Places where being open and vulnerable with others are a given rather than an anomaly. Places where mistakes will be made and failure is an option. Places where ideas come from the heart and are brought into the world out of one's passion and love. Places where people come together and support one another to make dreams real and make a difference. Places where safety lies in making connections with others who want to sail as far away from the shore as I do. Places where disappointment fosters growth, deep understanding and bigger dreams. Where do you want to play?
Five Ways to Know It's Time to Take a Risk
1) You're comfortable.
You've grown accustomed to a regular routine and you want to shake things up. You want to experience something new and exciting.
2) You're bored.
You want some stimulation. You're looking for inspiration
3) You're stuck.
You want something different than what you have right now. You want to move forward and move on.
4) You're procrastinating.
You're putting off pursuing a dream and making excuses for not having it.
5) You're (fill in any not-so-nice emotion).
You're tired of feeling the way you do and you want to experience life differently.
Eleven days ago, as I sat having breakfast with my husband in Maui, I got very clear on where in my life I have been playing it safe. It could have been a disappointing moment, but turns out, it was one of the greatest slaps upside the head I've ever received. I'm about to embark on a journey that I suspect will have me sailing well beyond a shoreline I can see. I'm looking forward to exploring waters I've never swam in. I suspect the swimming lessons I had as a child will come in handy as I've no doubt there will be times when I'll be tossed overboard. I've been sailing for awhile, but this time it's going to be different. I'm not going to tread water anymore. I'm going to swim for that island. Sail on, I say!
Personal Recommendations for books, music, websites and all resources fun!
Daily Monster
I love this site and I promise you will too. Stefan Bucher is a brilliant freelance illustrator who has taken his love of drawing and graphic design and turned it into an entertaining and interactive art form on the net. He's been drawing a picture a day since November of last year and posting it on his site where you not only get to see the creation coming to life via a video, but you can read the stories people have written about the monsters he's drawn. He's turning his daily monsters (there are 100 drawings/videos in total) into a book and will soon be creating an online store with products showcasing his curious creatures. To view a video or two or three (they're delightfully addicting), click on the Monster 1 or Monster 100 tab and you'll be led to the magical world of ink and imagination. Time-lapse photography/film-making and story-telling doesn't get much better than this.
The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo
I just picked up this sweet book this past weekend. It's written by a man who is a spiritual writer, an accomplished poet and a survivor of cancer. I've only read a few entries so far as there are readings and meditations for every day of the year. He includes quotes from various authors each day as well as a meditation. Here's a taste...this is an excerpt from today's reading entitled 'Weakness': "After breaking many things in my life – hearts, heirlooms, robins' eggs – I am humbled to admit that the only difference I see on Earth between being strong or weak is the honesty with which we face ourselves, accept ourselves, and share ourselves, blemishes and all." It's been a lovely way to start the last two mornings.
What's Up at Playful Spirit?
What a month it's been! Two weeks in Hawaii was oh-so good for my body and my soul. I spent the first week on an intentional community in a lush tropical paradise outside of Hilo. The Artrageous Camp Retreat I participated in was awesome and pushed me out of my comfort zone a wee bit, but it was living without my creature comforts for awhile that really woke me up to how much I take for granted. I'll be sharing more of my experiences on my blog, Life of Play, in the coming days and I can assure you the hilarious tales and insightful musings on what it was like to live on a perma-culture community are stories you won't want to miss. I'll take you on a road trip to Hana and share the beauty of hearing whale songs for the first time. I'll explain why bananas are yellow and why it's important to keep your mouth closed when body-surfing.
The Truth Line is up and running and if you or someone you know wants a safe and anonymous place in which to share your secrets or stories, you can share your thoughts with me on this toll-free number. Whatever is on your mind, whatever is in your heart, this is a place to give voice to your own truths without fear or judgment. Call 1-866-Y B TRUTH (1-866-928-8774) and you can listen to the message from me and leave one of your own. You can share your story or answer the week's new question. Of course, you can also just listen to the message and hang up, but I encourage you to share something of you. It may be a one-sided conversation, but sometimes that's exactly what we need...someone to just listen to our story. I'll listen to yours.
Here's a truth of mine...last week Carla and I cancelled our 'Women at Rest and Play' retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs. Due to some unforeseen life circumstances and a low registration number, we felt it best to let it go. Talk about a growing edge. All kinds of stuff came up for both Carla and I. My sense of worth, of what I have to offer others, the very nature of my work...all of it was questioned and put to the test.
I've been trying to reframe what I would deem a disappointment into the very thing I desired. And here's what I've discovered so far...I needed a reminder of what it's like to fail. I needed to take a closer look at how I deal with my expectations and those I have of others. I've been given an incredible opportunity to explore my feelings around marketing myself, dealing with rejection and discovering what I really want to put out into the world. These are challenging lessons to learn, but I know they are serving me well. They'll make the next retreat I plan that much sweeter.
Last, but not least, that big whack upside the head I referred to in this month's article is...I've begun writing my book. I already have a summer of activities planned and so I've pretty much cleared my calendar for the next three months so I can finally do what I've been saying I'll do for a very long time. This is one of the biggest risks I've taken in my life and for sure, one of the scariest things I've ever done AND I'm ready to sail big. I'd love for you to join me in my book-writing journey. You can read what I'm up to and share your thoughts on my blog, The Ultimate Yes.
Giggles & Guffaws
An amusing story, joke, anecdote or picture to tickle your funnybone
And you think your job is full of surprises. Check out this video and try to not to feel too bad about this weather forecaster's surprise while you're laughing your head off. Check out: Sneaky Snowplow
Ways to Play Today
Why not...use your non-dominant hand for a day?
An easy and fun (not to mention funny) way of getting out of your comfort zone is to do things with the hand you normally don't do them with. Wear your watch on your other wrist. Give brushing your teeth or applying make-up a try with your non-dominant hand. It's likely you'll feel awkward eating your meals, signing your name and maybe even answering your phone. The point to get is how much you might take for granted all the things you can do easily and quickly with one hand that you have a more challenging, slower time doing with the other one. If you're already ambidextrous, try using a foot instead. You never know when multi-talented limbs will come in handy. Pun intended.
Why not...go on a media fast?
Anywhere you go to get your news, give it up for a week. Let go of your need to know and turn off the radio and television. Give up newspaper and magazine reading. Unplug and unwind from the daily deluge of what is usually disappointing, discouraging and downright depressing news. For a week, lose yourself in a book rather than advertisements. Spend time with your friends rather than a couple hours of sit-coms. Become aware of how much time you spend being entertained by a source of media. Be amazed by the kind of entertainment you can create on your own and with others.
Something to Ponder
Questions designed to stimulate your thinking AND encourage you to take action towards what you want.
How are you currently playing small in your life?
What does that prevent you from doing?
Care to share what these questions stir up in you?
Send me an e-mail.
I welcome your thoughts and will respond to all e-mails received.
If you want to find out more about the work I do as a facilitator, writer and inspirational speaker check out Playful Spirit. Make sure you come back and visit every so often as you never know what kind of resources and fun stuff I'll be playing around with and adding to the website.
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. May you take a closer look within and see where in your life you'd like to stop playing small. Consider what new waters you'll be sailing to.
See you on April 16th!
Lisa
~Playful Spirit's mission is to inspire people to show up, be real and play big in life.~
lisa@playful-spirit.com www.playful-spirit.com