Hello Friends!!
The seasons, they are a changin'! This picture was from my last trip to Cannon Beach a few weeks ago (see my last post for more talk about that); we're headed back to Cannon Beach this weekend for some yummy food with friends and I'm expecting the view to look much cloudier.
Portland received rain for the first time in over six weeks (read, since before we started living in the van) and it brought with it the realization that our sweet van isn't completely sealed. An evening of scrambling, some wet towels, and then a few days of troubleshooting brought resolution and some new problem solving techniques to my repertoire. One of the things I've been excited about in planning for this whole crazy new living situation is stuff like this: stuff I haven't planned for, stuff we're not prepared for, stuff that sometimes kind of sucks but teaches me things about the situation and myself, and that makes me feel stronger and more competent when I come out the other side. I'd say we're off to a good start!
Let's jump into some reading, shall we?
8 ways you can survive and thrive in midlife: I posted this on Facebook this time last year and when it popped up on my "On This Day" feed this week I laughed out loud. I'd say I've got 3, 4, and 7 going pretty strongly right now; what are you working on from this list?
Another feel good from NPR, this little girl was living her truth out loud and was bullied because of it. Three cheers for the awesome community that came together and encouraged her curiosity and passion.
How I learned to stop being a "chill girl" and started being me: The cultural expectations on women to not be Too ____ (too loud, too fat, too bossy, too thin, too needy...) are everywhere and hard to miss. "So today and the days to come, I wish for a speedy death to the chill girl within all of us, a kiss of death to the malleable shell of ourselves surviving only on our socialized compulsion to people please. And a long and fruitful life to the woman who has patiently been waiting underneath." Amen, Amen, forever and ever.
The two hour rule: I made a similar request on my Facebook page a few days ago, asking people to be silent for an hour and I've asked my clients to do this as homework as well. The initial reaction I get is normally one close to sheer terror at the prospect. What about you? Will you try it?
Speaking of taking some quiet time: "Within 15 minutes of entering a forest, you are a better person". Intuitively, I've known this for years and actually wrote about it earlier this year. Can you feel the difference after some time under a canopy of trees?
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”: Oh how I love me some Rumi. Big love is waiting, we just need to get out of our own way.
HONY knocked it outta the park with this episode on relationships. Take a 20 minute break and get all into your feels with this one.
That's all for now, friends. It's the Autumn Equinox today so you'll find me digging my toes into the dirt, breathing this crisp air deep into my lungs, and meditating on this:
“When you recognize that there is a voice in your head that pretends to be you and never stops speaking, you are awakening out of your unconscious identification with your stream of thinking. When you notice that voice, then you realize that who you are is not the voice, the thinker, but the one who is aware of it. Knowing yourself as the awareness behind the voice is freedom.
~Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks”
Have fun, be safe, and love on each other.
Alix