Travels to India to Become a Yoga Instructor

Every year my mom puts together this really adorable, captioned photo montage to send to everyone in the phone book with her Christmas cards. She does a really nice job with it and includes pictures of all the kids, grandkids and disgustingly happy pictures of her and her husband. I know I'm not the only one who loves getting them.

I received mine in the mail today and started at the top with photos of all five grandkids belonging to my brother and step brothers. They’re all so smiley and sweet, it hurts I miss them so much. There are great snaps of their growing families and new houses, family members visiting mom out in Utah and of her husband's softball team. There are captions with all the photos: 

“Martin and family hiking the Provo River.”

“Jan's dad visits in Utah.”

“Mike still playing softball.”

“Bruno and Beth's new home.”

I get to my own year in review which takes up the real estate at the bottom left corner with a photo of Cape Kiwanda in Oregon and a caption that says:

“Seaside, OR.”

There’s also a stunning (if I do say so) photo of me taken by my photographer friend Camilla and a picture of me meditating by an ocean in India. My caption reads: 

“Kristin moves to Seaside, Oregon and travels to India to become a yoga instructor." 

Aside from the photo of Cape Kiwanda, a very accurate caption.

"Moves to Seaside, Oregon and travels to India to become a yoga instructor."

I posted the montage on the refrigerator and kept catching myself sneaking glances at my corner while I made dinner.

“Moves to Seaside, Oregon and travels to India to become a yoga instructor."

Grandpa will be so proud. Although completely true, in my mind, the caption is going a little more like this,

“Gives up a successful, lucrative, decade long career in LA, sells her car, her home and most of her worldly possessions, moves to a small town in the middle of nowhere, bartends at the beach, works at Rite Aid, quits Rite Aid, takes an assistant job at a (very) local magazine and spends more time on the bar stool at the local pub than on her couch. Oh, and went to India for a few weeks to learn to be a yoga teacher.” 

I guess my mom would have made a great editor. This is also why I don't send Christmas card letters.

So I stood there in the kitchen contemplating my caption as I stirred and stirred my cream of wild rice and mushroom soup. I’d had a wonderful morning yoga class full of inspiring students, a fantastic few days at the magazine, was making an awesome dinner, listening to my favorite music and feeling all-around content and happy with my life. Meanwhile, I kept repeating the caption over and over again in my head. Not in a judgmental way, just listening to how it sounded, this description of my new life; the way all my mom's friends and our family will see it on the bottom left corner.

“Kristin moves to Seaside, Oregon and travels to India to become a yoga instructor."

And actually, I'm quite proud. I'm satisfied that's the way I'll come off to them this year. Because I worked damn hard to get here; it's been the hardest and most rewarding thing I've ever done to be here on the Oregon coast, passing my days and making my meager living as a writer and yoga teacher. In fact, maybe I'll hire my mom as my editor....

My Big Thanksgiving Get

I performed my sun salutations this Thanksgiving morning to a radiant sun beaming in through the skylights in my loft. My loft is a space I have designated for my writing and yoga and I adore that room. I had a beautiful two hour yoga practice, worked on my business plan, did some writing and then went for a walk on the beach. The wild winter waves came to my feet and I breathed the cool air deep into my lungs. It was early and my holiday, in this moment and the ones since I'd woken up, was all about me. I felt nothing but gratitude and freedom.

As the minutes ticked away though, so did that sense of freedom. I allowed myself that freedom all the way up to the wire when I threw together some food, grated my finger instead of a carrot and began to melt down. My happy tank was full until I remembered it was not a day off, it was Thanksgiving. I had places to be and people expecting me. Because Thanksgiving is about being around family and friends and eating too much food right? That's what I was about to do, so why was I dreading it? What is wrong with me? I JUST WANT TO STAY HOME AND CONTINUE TO BE HAPPY! Ugh, I'm such a grinch.

I'm getting pretty good at seeing when I'm not being true to myself. In yoga, they call this right knowledge versus wrong knowledge. I've begun to know when I should say, "no, that beer is the one past my limit" or "no, I can't come today because I need some alone time". I can actually hear my inner witness and she is on point. What I haven't learned to do, is listen. I hear that voice very clearly, but I'm not listening to it. I'm not allowing it to be the command center. I'm still letting ego mind keep his job even though inner knowing is obviously the better hire. I hear it say, "that beer is one too many" and drink it anyway. Today, I heard it say, "you're having such a great day owning your freedom, stick with it and don't go to the party" and I went anyway. I suppose with this realization it's time to fire the ego from day to day operations. It's time to let the infinitely smarter wisdom lead.

It took me 33 years to realize Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday. It's not unrealistic then, that it's taken me that long to hear this powerful voice inside. I'm thankful today because I am aware and conscious of it now and it won't take me another 33 years to listen and live from that center. And next year, maybe I'll go go to the islands for Thanksgiving and have a yoga party. Who's with me?!

Starting Over 10 Years Later

This morning I had a random thought of myself on a set 10 years ago. I had just found my footing among a group of production assistants and was finally starting to earn my keep at the bottom of the ladder. There was a moment, coiling cables for the electric department, when I suddenly felt happy and proud and content. I was learning and I was appreciated and I knew and was told I was doing a great job. A few months later I would be running a 10 million dollar show. I would have tripled my income. And I would continue to rise and make more money and have more and more success. But in that moment, on the side of that house for the show "Who Wants to Marry my Dad", I KNEW I was on the path. I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Exactly 10 years later, here I am at the bottom of a different ladder, making exactly the same salary as I was on that day on the side of that house coiling cable with the electrics. I'm at the beginning, but I know and am told consistently that I am doing a good job. I am building a resume and a body of work. Perhaps in a few months, I will have tripled my salary and made a significant career move, but this time, in a field I am passionate about. There will be even more room for growth and abundance this time, because it is a path paved in purpose and passion. I'm doing something I am innately good at and love doing instead of something I have fallen into by accident because of my ability to achieve.

Here I go, with the realization and the knowing from experience that it can happen. That things can change overnight and with one phone call or one email or one boss having a thought that leads to one decision. There is infinite potential in every single moment for abundance and for success.

If you enjoyed this post, please stop by my website and follow my blog www.kristindaemon.com.

Thanks for your support!

Being Single: The Real Deal

Being single means carrying heavy boxes upstairs by yourself. It means mounting your kids' bikes to the back of your Jetta alone. It means doing really hard stuff by yourself that would be so much easier with a back up set of muscles and moral support. Being a single parent means duking out math homework with your kid by yourself and handing her off to her dad for fun and games on the weekends. It means using your waitressing tips for dental visits and letting awful creeps at the bar buy you an emergency shot of tequila before you go home to comb the fleas off your dog. Being single means ciphering through the losers and fending off unwanted advances but allowing your heart to be open to something promising when it does come along. It's using your best judgement but knowing when and how to throw caution to the wind when the wind blows the right direction.

Being single affords proud moments when you drag the vacuum upstairs and manage to mount hooks to the bathroom door with power tools. It's power in knowing how to fight the battles with your own swords and it's pride and determination figuring out the math and learning to start your own bonfire. It's a major sense of accomplishment handing your kid off for the weekend knowing you've been mom and dad and a universe to a well rounded and whole little person. It's drinking wine alone next to the fire you built and staying up late to write and enjoy the peace and cry over the loneliness.

Being single is hard and liberating and lonely and distinct. The ups and downs and round abouts give you pause and strength and freedom and grounding as a human being capable of anything and everything life throws at you with only the tools you've got in the box.

I give it up to you, myself and my amazing girlfriends who power through life with grace and beauty using our only two hands and a heart full of willpower and strength. Here's to us for not settling or allowing a man to define us. 

Choosing Simplicity

As published in the August 2013 issue of Soulwoman eMagazine www.soulwomansanctuary.com

When you create the opportunity to turn your life upside down and shake everything out, what you’re left with isn’t emptiness. What you’re left with are the parts of you that can’t be separated from who you are on a soul level. What’s left are your truth and authenticity. 

Two years ago I considered myself to be content. I was living in my half million dollar Los Angeles condo, driving my fancy convertible, working a glamorous job and earning a six figure salary. I was so preoccupied with collecting labels, money, men, material possessions, status and power that I never stopped to consider what it was I was passionate about or ask myself if my lifestyle would continue to make me happy into the future as I got to be 40, 50, 60, 70 years old. I just lived in a state of ego driven contentment with the status quo. Fortunately, two years and some life-altering lessons, teachers, mentors and adventures later, all of that has changed.

My transformation began with an overwhelming urge to start purging my belongings. I started making weekly trips to goodwill with years and years worth of things I’d accumulated. I began distancing myself from the myriad of superficial attachments to lackluster relationships, designer purses, sunglasses, beautiful clothes and painful high heeled shoes.  Thanks to some very special people, over time, I traded these attachments for ones to travel, genuine relationships and new kinds of conversations. I became acquainted with my latent dreams and passions; things I’d never paid much attention to before. I began to realize I’d never felt a sense of true fulfillment and I started to see the glimmer of importance in that and seek it out for the first time. I started turning down fancy dinners and professional obligations for camping and kayaking on beautiful lakes. I cancelled plans to spend more time at home in quiet reflection and contemplation. I was in the process of simplifying as a means to…what end?  I didn’t know at the time. I didn’t know, but before that point, I’d never even asked myself that kind of question…to what end?  Isn’t that funny?  Isn’t that interesting that I never once thought, well, where is this all going? Where do I max out? With that question, I finally came to the conclusion that I needed a big change.

It took me two years of downsizing and simplifying to uproot and get to the beginning of my new life. I have finally landed in a place where I get to live for my passions and work every day toward fulfilling my dreams. It has been the most challenging and emotional thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding. I have created freedom, new life and new opportunities for myself and my existence has become so simple. I live in a small town in Oregon, three blocks from the beach and my rent is dirt cheap. My bike is my only means of transportation and it is liberating! I wait tables at an oceanfront restaurant where I look at the water all day and come home to write. I am LOVING my life in a way I never even thought was possible until fate intervened two years ago. These days I am light and free, creative and spontaneous.

Finding simplicity takes cutting through layers of accumulation and nonsense. It begins with clearing away the literal and figurative clutter that surrounds you. Maybe it’s so hard because, in order to enjoy a simple life, you have to really be happy with who you are as a person and make peace with all the hard stuff. But I’m here telling you it’s worth it; that there is a lot to be said for ease. In fact, I’ve learned that flexibility and freedom are where I find real power. In flexibility and freedom, in simplicity and ease, we can catch glimpses of ourselves in a natural state. It’s like looking in the mirror first thing in the morning when your face is bare, without the makeup and worries of the day. It’s the same looking at our lives in those moments of time where there are no commitments, distractions or bookends.

The more I de-clutter my life, the more beauty and joy I find in the simple things. Instead of wandering the mall buying clothes and makeup and purses, I wander along the beach or along the street admiring the water, gardens and sunshine. I find beauty in the rain and the moon where I just didn’t see it before.  I no longer rest my happiness in things or superficial relationships. I have become someone focused on the value and beauty of the things right in front of me; things I already possess. I’m happy and truly content here and now and in this moment, regardless of the things that surround me or take up space in my orb.  

Dealing With Doubt

It's rare that I feel fear.  I've always been a person to kind of, work backwards.  I pick a goal or make a decision and commit to it, usually before I take time to analyze the logistics.  Pardon the cliche, but acting in this way is like taking a leap of faith.  It doesn't matter how big or grand or important your ideas are, if you never act on them or put them into motion, they remain nothing more than great ideas.  And are we ever really ready to jump into the unknown?  You can stand at the end of a diving board for 3 days, or you can just jump.  The longer you stand there analyzing the act, the more time fear has to build and the more opportunity your ego has to talk you right back down the ladder.

But isn't that what we're taught as spiritual seekers?  To set our intentions with the universe and let a higher power figure out the when and the how?  Sometimes when I talk to others about my plans or what I'm trying to do with my life, I am met with skepticism.  I'm met with doubt and I want to shake them and say...."do you see what I've done?! Do you know me at all?  How can you be doubting me?"  Unfortunately, no matter how much confidence I have in myself, after conversations like this I'm left with their contagious sense of doubt.  It takes me days sometimes to come back to my center of confidence, put the doubt and fear down, and get on with it.

There is a lot I want out of this life.  There is so much I want to do and contribute and learn.  In order to grow we need to challenge ourselves and take risks...even fail.  Don't let anyone snuff the spark of a crazy new idea or an ambitious or lofty goal.  Take their concern, evaluate it, and if it goes against your own inner knowing, simply let it go.  It's hard.  We're always looking for validation, support, and praise from others.  Dealing with the doubt and skepticism we receive instead feels bad.  For me, I just try to remember that that fear they're expressing belongs to them.  It's not mine.  It's not even about me.  The truth is, they just can't see themselves on my path, and that's ok.  This is my path, my progress, and my potential for great success.  

My Question to Buddha

I’d like to expand on the idea that there is freedom in letting go.  Freedom from attachment I suppose, means freedom from the potential for pain and of suffering.  But my question to Buddha would be, what is a life free from the highs and lows of attachment?  What is a life free of emotion?  How can one experience overwhelming joy without first experiencing the throes of despair?  That is life.  That is the living part; the feelings and the pain and the peace.  It is the awesome and the awful that we all keep coming back for time after time.  Loss after loss, we crave that rush of possibility and ride that euphoric wave as long as we can before it inevitably drowns back down into the sea and we wait for another to build and carry us home.  It’s a continuous cycle of reinvention; of living many lives within one lifetime.  The presence of any being, no matter how temporary, who brings us through a cycle of life is a beautiful manifestation and gift.  Perhaps in gratitude for this we can put away the pain of loss.  To have the opportunity to know these kinds of connections broadens the scope of what’s possible.  

Finding Freedom

When we are committed up to our eyeballs and working long hours or seven days a week, the word freedom sounds like a punch-line to a poorly timed joke.  Most days, freedom, that celebrated feeling of having time and choices and the opportunity to be spontaneous seems like an antidote just out of reach.  But does it have to? 

Recently I was forced to take a step back and really look at the people and things I have been attaching myself and my happiness to.  I’ve latched on to certain things with a white knuckle grip and, ironically, the tighter I hold on, the more that grip seems to slip.  When it comes to people, if we hold on this way, it becomes inevitable that we will overwhelm them.  When we rest all of our happiness in one person, we become heavy to them and no matter how much they care about us, they will only be able to hold our weight for so long before the relationship crumbles.

For me personally, I had to take a breath and realize that this thick sludge of work and fear and transition was a choice.  I made it this heavy.  That meant, I could also choose freedom. 

We are our own captors.  There is no one out there working to put limitations on us or physically tying our hands behind our backs.  We do that all by ourselves.  We become what we show to others that we are and have the ability to show ourselves to others in so many ways. We are diverse, eclectic creatures who have the astounding ability to reinvent ourselves over and over and over again.

Buddha preached detachment.  He believed that attachment was the root of all suffering and that detachment meant freedom and peace.  It makes sense from this perspective, that the more we allow things, people, and circumstances to flow in and out of our lives instead of forcing them into place, the more room we create for spontaneity and freedom.

We choose how we let others affect us.  We choose to advance toward change and take risks to better our circumstances.  We choose to stay put in a set of old circumstances.  We are not victims, unless we are victims of our own shortsightedness.  We can choose to be happy and to let go of the baggage and the notions holding us back from the light.  OR we can choose to dwell in the past or in regret.  We can choose to hang out in the pain cave or we can choose to haul a lawn chair out into the sunlight.

Let it go.  Let yourself have the freedom to enjoy this moment and all the possibilities it holds.  Do something with it...or use it to regroup.  Use it to breathe one last breath of life into the sadness and then let it die.  Grow out of that depressed ground into something solid, strong, and free.

Constancy and Change

The river is flowing a different direction today.  It’s funny how quickly something seemingly so constant can just.....change.  It's made me realize, that there is no such thing as constancy or predictability and nothing should be taken for granted in its present state.  In reality, change is its own constant state, isn't it?  Our bodies change, our relationships change, our surroundings change.  We resist the audacity of change, but sometimes we fail to see that things become stagnant if they stay the same for too long.  To avoid stagnation, we must constantly reinvent ourselves and our circumstances.  Renewal is what keeps us evolving and alive.  

Adversity through change offers a unique opportunity for learning.  When we get too comfortable with something or with someone, we feel a sense of mastery and we get bored.  Life becomes dull and, sometimes without realizing it, we being to reach for something new and better.  The universe pays attention to these cues and sends us in new directions.  It sends us new people and new experiences to give us fresh perspective, knowledge, and wisdom.  I feel we are duty bound to use this wisdom to contribute to, encourage, and inspire others along the way.  You see, those of us strong enough to do so, must press forward through the bullshit and the pain.  We must be a guiding light to others and lead them out of the darkness.  When they see, they will believe, that there is a way out.  When they witness the broken trail and see that we've come through, they will be more likely to begin their own journey knowing there is greatness and life on the other side.

Being forced into change is like being pushed, fully clothed, into the water.  That moment of lost control is scary and it takes seemingly long, certainly agonizing moments to rise to the surface and get our bearings.  But as humans, we are built to survive.  We may even find the ground beneath our feet once we have time to take some deep breaths and assess the situation.  Next thing you know, you're having a lovely swim on a sunny day and forgotten you had no intention of going into the water.  Your view of the world and, of your surroundings, has changed and evolved and now, you’re a swimmer.  In the river.  That is flowing a different direction today.

Building My Foundation

It's adversity, obstacles, and challenges that help us discover what we're made of.  Some of us need to challenge ourselves hard to get close enough to touch that inner essence of who we are.  I'm one of those people and the challenge I've set for myself here has brought me closer that I've ever been.  The emotion that comes up for me regularly these days, is a result of being so tuned in, so close to that raw center of self.  Nothing I've ever done has challenged me in this way and it's so important, crucial even, that I don't contract away in fear from the temporary pain of transition.

I'm building a foundation here.  Too many times I have moved into a center that didn't quite fit.  Either the place or the setting or the experience wasn't right.  This time I am building the experience from the roots, exactly as I want it to be.  It's back breaking work, but in the end I will be able to wipe away the blood, sweat, and tears and admire the stuff I'm made of and the dream life I've created.  It will have been built by me, for me, with purpose and passion.  Wherever I live after this home within me has been built, will be my true home and I can live in it wherever I choose.

I must remind myself in my weakest moments, that I am strong and supported, determined and capable.  This is my choice.  This is my calling.

Settling In

The sun is shining this morning and I woke up in my own bed.  I can't imagine a better start to my day after spending three weeks in an empty apartment on an air mattress, walking a mile to work every day in the rain.  My bike is here, my bed is here, all my things (though not all in one piece) are here and the trauma caused by my movers yesterday is now in the past.  Most of my life is still in boxes and my apartment looks like a tornado came through, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where I'm settled and back to some semblance of routine.

In retrospect, I can see it was part of the master plan that I have three weeks in my empty apartment to settle into a work schedule and be forced out and about making new friends.  If I had been able to come home after my long days of standing at Rite Aid or in the restaurant, I may have spent my evenings hibernating in my bed putting my feet up.  As it was, being "home" in an empty apartment, furnished only with an air mattress was just too depressing.  So I was at the cafe seeing new friends in the mornings an out at the pub having dinner and introducing myself around my little neighborhood (and signing karaoke at the American Legion) after work.  During that time, I met the people who comforted me yesterday after the aforementioned movers had gone...people I consider friends.

Now that I have a home full of my creature comforts (somewhere), I can get back to my normal cooking and writing schedule and the prospect of that feels really good.  Most importantly, my feet and legs have acclimated from a decade of desk jobs to standing for 8 hours a day and I'm ready to settle into my new jobs and my new life.

Keeping the Dream Alive

I'm trying not to beat myself up too much for not finding time to write the last couple of weeks.  I try to make peace with it by telling myself there will be times, lulls in my life for writing, and times to be fully living.  After all, what would I write about if not for this time dedicated to experience?  I do have to remind myself, however, when I feel I'm getting caught up in the microcosms of daily life, that I'm not here to wait tables or be the best cashier Rite Aid ever had.  These jobs are a means to an end and I need to keep that end in perspective.

I have come here to extract myself from the material world; to build a life that can be led from anywhere.  I have come here to gain further insight into my purpose and my dreams.  This place and the growing pains of this transition are temporary.  This platform I'm building is a starting ground, a launching point for the great things I'm meant to accomplish.  I need to keep my priorities in line and make sure I continue to reach for the right goals.  I need to reserve energy for my passions; the ones that will propel me toward my dream life.  I've got to keep that vision up front in my mind and access it every single day.

Catching Waves

No experience in my life has made me feel more alone than yesterday, when I opened the door to my new, empty apartment in a town where I know no one.  Fresh off the boat from LA, my first day in Seaside was surreal and filled with"what the hell am I doing?" moments.  Scarlett was freaked out (I found her wide-eyed, hiding in the loft on a shelf) and her discomfort added to my own.

I picked up a few creature comforts and smudged the new place with sage but, still feeling angsty, I went down to the water and watched the ocean for a while.  Tears welled as I announced my presence to her and told her about my hopes and dreams and asked that she watch over me and keep me safe and happy and inspired.  It's truly amazing the powerful affect the ocean and nature have on my psyche and emotional well being these days.  I walked away from my new view feeling connected and centered, having approached it anxious, lonely, and afraid.

This morning, I picked up a peppermint tea in an adorable cafe around the corner from my new apartment.  The girl behind the counter asked where I was visiting from and I told her I'd just moved in a couple blocks away and that I was from Los Angeles.  Everyone's eyes get wide when I tell them I've relocated from LA and they mumble something about culture shock.  I sat down to sip my tea and a couple with a baby next to me welcomed me to town.  Aurora and Lucas had moved from the Los Angeles area eight years before to an even smaller Oregon coastal town before moving here to Seaside two years ago.  Judging from their son Rorick's stature, maybe just before he was born.

"It was tough getting used to the idea that this is not like other coastal areas."  Aurora said with a smirk.

It was my turn to speak, but I wasn't sure what she meant by that.  Did she mean it was a terrible place to live?  Was she telling me I'd made a huge mistake?

Glancing out the window I said hopefully, "You mean the weather?"

"Yeah."  Lucas nodded.

I realized I had been holding my breath until he answered.  I let it go, relieved.  It's May and it was cold and drizzling outside.

"I don't mind this weather so much."  I replied.

I did wonder though, how long it will take me to miss the beating California sun.  I was wearing a heavy fleece and stocking cap.  Two days before I had worn sunscreen and a tank top.

I exchanged parting pleasantries with Lucas and Aurora and walked down to the water.  The rolling waves had made me feel so much better the evening prior and I needed to fill my happy tank before moving on to my day of errands.  As I walked along the water, the rain spit harder and harder.  Instead of racing home, I continued down the sand and then moved up to the boardwalk, sipping my mint tea and taking in my new surroundings.  The walk was cathartic and I felt as if the rain was at work cleansing me of the past.

My life in LA is feeling farther and farther away with each adjustment I make to small town beach life.  I feel inspired and, this morning, I actually did begin walking faster, though it wasn't to get out of the rain.  I was anxious to get home and catch a new wave of creativity.

Lost and Looking for Wisdom

I could feel the emotion welling up inside as I packed up the last of my condo for the movers who will arrive in the morning.  My first thought was, "it's about time".  I've been trying to tune into the emotional part of this process for days and, for whatever reason, haven't been able to access it.  Now, it was time to gently force the issue.

I put down the box and moved to the couch to let the tears stream down my face.  I took a couple of deep breaths, closed my eyes, and turned a question within.

"What's wrong?"

Silence.

I let the tears continue to roll, waiting patiently for the answer.  My inner knowing finally answered.

"I'm afraid."

I let the dialogue continue.

"What are you afraid of?"

Again, silence.

I coaxed my inner knowing into an answer by handing it a pen and paper.  She wrote:

"I'm afraid of being alone.  I'm afraid of leaving the safety of the place I know for the unknown.  I'm afraid of failure."

My inner wisdom began a furious scribble and replied with this:

"Do you realize what you've done, the risks you've taken, and the success you've had in your life?  You've succeeded in some of the most competitive markets in the world.  You have the capacity to not only succeed in this change, but to build something powerful and amazing.  You are leaving the safety of a place and a situation that has become too small for you.  You are not just going to succeed, you are going to thrive and grow and expand.  You are setting yourself up for the success of your lifetime.  You are creating room in your life for the things you've come to dream about.  You are enough.  You are more than enough.  You are love, hope, and passion.  You are ambition, talent, and creativity.  You're going to be great."

The tears streamed faster after that.  They were tears of relief and release in realizing my inner wisdom was right.  This move will change me.  It will catapult me into my purpose and give me room to grow into a person with the capacity for great things; successes I can't even fathom yet.

This dialogue helped me realize that we're all meant for greatness.  People in our lives or unfortunate circumstances can deter us from the path of finding our true selves and purpose, but we can always find a way back.  Our inner wisdom knows what this purpose is and that we are capable of achieving it.  We can hear it and access our own wisdom by giving it silence and stillness.  We must acknowledge this part of ourselves by asking the right questions when we feel lost and honor it by letting it answer.

Moving Day Cometh

I picked up the phone and started pulling triggers.  I signed the contract with the movers, locked in a date to pick up the keys, then bought a one way ticket for me and Scarlett, my opinionated ginger tabby.

"You're going to be a beach cat!"  I told her.

She squawked in opposition then turned and flipped me the tail on her way out to the patio.

I can't say I blame her.  Scarlett went through 2 moves during the year she lived with my mom in Kansas while I traveled around the world making TV shows.  She didn't like the idea of being a snow cat either and she doesn't like change.  She started acting nervous when the furniture started disappearing, and seems to be in a state of pre-trauma now that the boxes are piling up.  She hides under the bed when the tape dispenser starts screeching.

Moving sucks.  I want to hide under the bed too.  There is always so much more stuff than I anticipate.  I've already made 2 additional trips to the hardware store for boxes and it looks like I'll have to make yet another before the movers show up on Tuesday.  I really thought when I bought this place, that I'd have it indefinitely, maybe rent it out and make some money off of it once I got married or moved away.  I always knew Los Angeles wasn't my forever place, but I didn't think I'd be cutting tail 6 years in.  27 year old me was so naive.  33 year old me knows that life is unpredictable, much like the modern housing market.

I'm excited about the new landing spot, though.  It's a beautiful place I picked out on a map and, when I visited, found an immediate connection with it.  I'll be living three blocks from the sea in the Pacific Northwest in a little town called Seaside, population 6,500.  It couldn't be more different from LA, population gazillion, where community is a word you have to look up in the dictionary.

It occurred to me today, that I don't actually know how to be a member of a real community.  In fact, this morning I heard the new baby crying from the condo next door and realized I'd never even thought to bring them a casserole or offer any kind of help like a neighbor in a real community would do.  I wished the zombies congratulations when I saw them in the elevator a week ago, but aren't neighbors supposed to support one another and be the village it takes to help raise each other's kids?  Maybe if I had my own kids I'd have been more tuned in, but as it stands, I'm just another reason Los Angeles lacks a sense of community.

It will be interesting being a big city girl gone "new community member" in a small town.  During my most recent visit to find an apartment, I got back to the inn where I was staying and told Don, the old property manager,

"Don!  I found a place!"

"I heard!" he shouted back.

Wha...?  He heard?  I had put down the deposit two hours ago.  Maybe at 33 I'm still a bit naive.

The Plan

I decided to finally write about the details of The Plan.  I chose today because a stressed out, down in the dumps feeling met me at home after yoga this morning.  After spending some time with it (and feeding it), I realized it was here because of the pending move.  D-day is inching closer and closer and I'm feeling a little unsettled.  I'm hoping that writing about The Plan will chase away today's blues with a surge of motivation and excitement.

I'm leaving LA.  For good this time.  In December of 2011, after a month long, solo, soul-searching trip to Bali, I decided to uproot and move to New York.  I did it and it was wonderful.  I loved New York City and my nine months there were inspiring and interesting and NYC helped me recover from my break up with LA.  Then, an opportunity presented itself, and I left New York last August to travel around the world for a show I was working on.  I ended up back in SoCal after it was over in December.  That's when me and LA accidentally got back together.  Not on purpose and, not really to give it another try, but because it was easy and comfortable.  We just kind of, fell into the old routine.  In January, my tenants moved out of my condo and I moved back in.

As nice as it was being back in my own home, it didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that enough was enough.  For months, I had been contemplating selling my place and decided now was the perfect time to move forward with the sale and break up with LA for real this time.  My time in New York, though I loved living there, made me realize that I needed to ease out of the TV industry and pursue my writing career full time if I wanted to be truly happy.  Sadly, happiness for me is giving up a 6 figure salary for that of a novice writer.  I don't know what a novice writer's salary is yet, because I haven't had any paying work.  Yet.  But I did get commissioned for my first real article and my deadline is Tuesday.  It is not six figures, but it's a start.  Unfortunately, this small salary, hopefully in my near future, means no more New York City.

That's the basic back-story (if you want the nitty gritty, go back for some of my older posts).  Now for The Plan.

In a few weeks, I will hire movers and have them schlep the belongings I haven't sold from Los Angeles to a little town in Oregon called Seaside.  I have rented an apartment three tiny blocks from a beautiful beach in a town of 6,500 people.  The air improves, the view improves, and the people are nicer.  Oh, and my monthly expenses decrease by at least $2,500 a month.  I will be living more life on less $$.  My life will be simple and centered around a real community for the first time in my adult life.  I will hold a minimum wage job and spend most of my time writing, clamming, riding my beach cruiser through town, and walking the beach.  I will have no car, no condo, no fancy dinner or drinks obligations, no friends, no family...New York was a dress rehearsal.  This is the real deal fresh start.  All the positive and scary things about a fresh start.

Moving to Seaside is a huge leap of faith.  I have faith in myself that I can make it as a writer and that Seaside will be the perfect venue for my new-found entrepreneurial spirit.  I have big plans for myself and, to be fair, they are not so much about the place.  It didn't matter where I chose to move, just that I picked a place with a low cost of living that was also inspiring and offered a sense of community.  I found Seaside on a map, bought a flight, rented a car, and found my new home.

This helped.  I'm back to feeling excited and inspired and anxious to spend thousands of dollars on movers to get home.

What's My Story?

Sometimes I'd like to flip to the last page of my book and know my story. I want to know that it all works out and that I find love and home and happiness and success.  I've relaxed into an enjoyment of the journey over the past year and I don't want to miss out on any part of my experience.  But it wouldn't hurt, during the tough times, to know that it all turns out ok...even awesome, in the end.  I want to know that, down the line, I'm settled past the transitions and the logistics into the awesome part.  It's all the living part, it's all the journey, it's all the learning.  But there are some things I know I want to experience that haven't happened yet and sometimes that period of questioning, of not knowing, and of making tough decisions is painful.  At those moments I just want to see through to the other side and know I'm making the right calls.

Human Thing

It's tough to prepare when I have no idea when or where the down days will hit.  The worst timing, is when they fall between the roller coaster high days, because then I'm completely blindsided.  Somehow, today turned into a particularly empty day.  My down spiral may have been set off by my guilty fall from the no-sugar wagon or by that damned depressing song that wormed its way into the iPod song shuffle.  Whatever it was, this sadness has been lingering all afternoon and each time I put down my highly distracting historical fiction novel, there it is again.  But sadness isn't the word; not really.  Loneliness?  Maybe.  Disconnected?  Yep,  there it is again.  That feeling of being so disconnected from the people in my life and from my life in this weird state of flux.  Initiating this life transition has been like melting a candle down to liquid and waiting for the wax to harden into a solid sense of form again so I can relight it.  That's where my life is; it's in a liquid state.

I know I keep coming back to this, but I know I'm doing the right thing.  I don't even question whether I'm on the right path.  The things I'm doing and the projects I'm undertaking are so fulfilling and make me so incredibly happy. I grow more comfortable with my choices every day.  I have moments when I'm elated at what I'm creating for myself and those moments lead to those roller coaster high days.  But I'm not in a solid state right now and when you try to light a candle in liquid form, it's going to overflow and fall apart.  That's what I did today, I fell apart a little.  And then I tried to put myself back together.  By myself.  With sugar.  No wonder it's not working!

The way I'm living while in transition, sequestered most days without much interaction, has left even me, someone quite adept at being a hermit, lonely.  Even when I'm around people lately I have a hard time really connecting and that's not like me.  I'm losing all sense of community and reverting back to the old me who had very few real connections with people.  Hopefully, now that I'm recognizing it I can do something about it.

Maybe today's breakdown was a test meant to make me realize that I do need people.  I've always had a lot of pride in my independence and self sufficiency and my ability to get through  most things without help.  Maybe this strong independence that I've always been so proud of and that has made me feel secure is being tested.  Maybe it's time I tried to let go of that.  Guess what?  Turns out, I need people.  There, I said it.  I need friendship and support and help.  I need someone to cry to and to tell when I'm scared and lost and confused and lonely.  It seems I've spent too much time alone lately and it may be time to seek out a sense of community.  Maybe it's time I simply started reaching out to my friends regularly and especially when I need to see a friendly face or have a connected conversation.  What a novel idea.  It's so....human.

Human Thing by The Be Good Tanyas.    Check it out.

The Path to Transformation

As published in the March 2013 issue of Soulwoman eMagazine, which can be found at:

www.soulwomansanctuary.com

It’s easy to talk about the positive aspects and outcomes of transformation.  It’s easy to look at the before and after pictures of our lives and recap for others what steps we took to get from point A to point B.  What is difficult to understand, especially while it’s happening in our own lives, is that although deeply gratifying, the path to transformation can be a long and arduous one.   Transforming, which, by definition means changing form, is painful and it’s easy to become lost, lonely, and afraid along the way. 

Whether you have chosen to take on a life altering transformation, experienced some catalyst that has landed you in the midst of it, or you are being led to contemplate the journey, my biggest advice is to tune into your heart.  Turn off the noise and fear being generated in your mind by the ego and close your eyes.  Focus regularly on your breath and on the peace and silence that lies within your heart.  The capacity of the heart far outweighs that of the ego.  You hold in your heart all the courage you need to move your life forward and listen to the quiet rumblings of your spirit.  Once you have awakened to the voice of your spirit, you will develop a natural desire to grow and expand.  You will begin to realize how unfulfilled you have become by the control, power, and material possessions that define our Western society’s idea of success.  Begin to answer the callings of the spirit by paying attention to the things and people in your life who allow you to be creative, vulnerable, compassionate, and embody the true essence of your being.  With this new perspective, acknowledge and accept the emotional attachments you hold to people and things in your past that you are ready to release and welcome new, more gratifying relationships and experiences into your future. 

With the realization that what you have in the present isn’t enough, comes the fun part of brainstorming and playing with ideas about what you do want in your life and where and how you want to do it.   Think Big.  Maybe you’re being called to move to a new city, try a new career, or kindle the flame of an artistic talent.  Maybe it means calling in a new system of spiritual support, developing deeper friendships, or pursuing a relationship with someone who sees and respects the authentic person you are becoming.  This fun and crucial part of the transformation process is about creating this ever-evolving vision that will become the reward for your efforts.   Transformation is about bringing change and renewal to your entire being and way of life and purposefully molding it into something more beautiful, fulfilling and honest.  This new vision for your life will be your constant motivation.  If you become uninspired by your vision at any point along the way, it’s okay, even important, to evolve that vision in to something even bigger, better, and more beautiful.

Now, from the safety of your caterpillar body, you can see in your mind’s vision the beautiful butterfly you were meant to become.  You see the potential that lies inside of you and are ready for the season of transformation it will take to get there.  You begin to build up the bravery and energy it will take to fuel this evolution and there is no denying the amount of dedicated work, effort, and courage it will take. 

This is when the real work begins.  Throughout the course of your life, you put down roots with every decision you make, with every relationship you engage in, and with every task you take on.  Transformation requires the laborious work of digging up these roots and making sure they are replanted in a way and in a place you really want to live.  During the process of uprooting, you will be severing ties that no longer serve you.  It will be difficult and emotional, but from it, you will gain freedom from a life that is suffocating your soul.  During your transformation, you are growing in your capacity for love and acceptance.  You are welcoming the adventure of new and exciting prospects that you have created room for and which will shape the beautiful being you are becoming.  Fortunately, along the way you will begin to build the muscles for this work and it will become easier to see clearly what you want to draw into your life.  With small successes, you will become even more motivated to find happiness and fulfillment.  Though you will still experience highs and lows, anxiety and fear, eventually you will become lighter and less attached to the previous state.  It will become easier to make new kinds of decisions, take new kinds of risks, and give yourself more time to gain new perspective through travel, conversation, and ideas. 

At some point, you will come to the realization that the things you’ve drawn into your life are things you can’t believe you ever lived without.  You’ll realize that in the past you were coasting along, just getting by in a world where existence was meant to be so much more. 

So during your season of transformation, when you are feeling lonely and confused or like a ship lost at sea, it’s important to dig deep and keep working to get yourself to the other shore.  There is no going back for there is no room in your previous existence for the expanded, enlightened being you have become.  When you are feeling anxious and afraid, tune into the heart’s peace and listen for the wisdom you need to continue along this new path.   Take time to reflect on how far you’ve come; from the old cave of despair and angst to an outlook of passion, excitement, and clarity at the future you are creating.

Sweet Peace

Today I stopped to smell the roses.  I went for a leisurely walk to the market to pick up some produce and saw that now all the flowers are blooming and the leaves are back on the trees.  The breeze is fragrant and there are bees everywhere.  I stopped every time I saw a pretty bunch of flowers or a rose bush hanging out into the sidewalk.  It made me realize how happy I am inside.  It made me realize how much work I've done uprooting and replanting to get where I am and how much I love the life I'm living.  I am completely free to put together a new vision for my life and to pursue my writing career every single day.  I ride my bike to and from yoga in the mornings and then I read and write all day long.  I'm still in a state of flux and transitioning to a different place, a different career, and into a different person really, but I've never been this happy in my life.

This sense of peace and happiness comes upon me suddenly and frequently lately and every time I sit and reflect on it with gratitude in my heart and a big grin on my face. I think about how proud of myself I am for taking the risk to begin this journey and stick with it when every thought from my ego said (and still says) it was unsafe and ridiculous.

I'm still at the beginning of this journey, though I think I've overcome a lot of the hardest obstacles over the last two years.  It's springtime and I like the idea of comparing life and my own season to spring and bloom and change and renewal.  I'd like my energy to grow with that of the sun on its way into summer and become stronger and stronger as I progress on this path.

A Home and a Life in Transition

I listened to a Deepak Chopra meditation today about how our outer worlds reflect our inner worlds. Looking around at my own outer world I had to laugh.  It's dead on.  It is a home in transition.  I am a woman in transition.  It is a perfect match.  Well said Deepak.

My artwork has all been taken off the walls, neatly packed, and is resting on the dining room table.  The curtain rods are leaning against the kitchen wall, their hardware in baggies taped to the sides.  The curtains themselves have been washed and folded and are also on the dining table waiting to be boxed up.  There are two big piles on the floor, one of things to give away and one of things to take with me.  There is a bookshelf disassembled on the floor in the living room waiting to be picked up and taken to its new home.  There are about 20 wine glasses on the counter from my 30th birthday party in wine country that, though sentimental, won't justify the real estate in the downsized cupboards of my future.

Looking around my home today, I realized I'm not sad or scared anymore.  The grace and ease of this transition have replaced the fear and sadness with a sense of calm, peace, and  patience.  As soon as the timing is right I'll be free to move on from here and onto a simpler life with less stuff and fewer ties.

Yes, I am a woman in transition and this is a home in transition.  It's not clutter, it's not chaos, it's simply me and my home transitioning; me to a new home and it toward a new occupant.  My mind is clear, my intentions are set, and with each piece of furniture I sell I feel better, lighter, freer.  It's thrilling really.  It means I'm getting closer and closer to my new life and to new experiences.  I'm coming to the end of one chapter and anxiously anticipating the next.

Disconnected

A few interactions lately have left me feeling completely disconnected from the people in my life.  It seems the further along I travel on the path to my true purpose, the fewer people on the old path can relate to me or understand what I'm trying to do or where I'm trying to go.  This goes back to the previous post when I talked about being a new person in an old set of circumstances.  I'm surrounded by people who only knew how to connect with the person I was when my ego controlled my identity.  Sadly, I'm realizing that they were more comfortable with me then.  Now they look at me like I've gone off the deep end when I talk to them about my life.  These interactions create all kinds of self doubt and I begin wondering how I became so far removed from the desires and reality of the general populace.  When I have these conversations, my ego subtly creeps into my consciousness and starts asking me scary questions like, "What's wrong with you that you all the sudden don't want the same things in life as everyone else?"  The whole experience exhausts me emotionally and I end up in a downward spiral, questioning myself and my motivations and the plans I've made for an unsure future.

Fortunately, I have a few long time friends who are on paths like mine, seeking their own purpose and a greater sense of fulfillment in life.  Going through this together, though each at a different pace and with very different aspirations, allows us to relate to each other in new ways that are richer, more meaningful, and more supportive. These special friendships are growing deeper and the foundation stronger as our lives move forward and we manifest a new kind of reality.

I am also fortunate that there are new people in my life who know me only for who I've become since my transformation began.  Now, when I meet people, I am connecting on a deeper level and in a new way.  They see me and know me for who I am behind the cloud of my ego because my authenticity is shining through brighter than ever. I am drawing in like minded people who understand the importance of living in personal integrity; who know what it takes to make themselves happy and thrive.  This energy is contagious and the more of these people I surround myself with, the stronger I feel.  The more of us who come together, the more powerful and widespread this new way of living and thinking becomes and that excites me.  I feel a little like we are a group of pioneers in a time when people around the world are coming into deeper consciousness and beginning to understand themselves and their dreams like never before.  People like us are going out to test the waters and test the boundaries of this kind of life and are happy and thrilled to do it...because once we succeed, there will be more.  People in our lives will see our success and our lives full of passion and follow in our footsteps.

This is my process.  My evolution into a more authentic, conscious individual involves many ups and downs.  For all the lost connections, I have gained many astounding teachers and a confidence in my convictions.  Among many things, I have learned how to turn inward for solace and answers to my ego's scary questions.  My own depth of wisdom increases with this kind of growth and, although I know I will never stop having doubts, I also know I will never again be blind to my true aspirations and all the possibilities that life has to offer.

Running in Place

In January, my tenants moved out and I found myself back in my home in Los Angeles to facilitate its sale and plan for the next chapter of my life.  Being here in the place I started when I began my transition feels a lot like running in place.  I know this is a necessary part of my process, which calls for me to fully let go of my home in order to make room for and move on with my new life, but it feels like a step backwards.  The most frustrating part of it has been the tendency to fall back into old routines and  feeling drawn to those old wants, needs, and desires that, in reality, I no longer identify with.  It has been difficult being a changed person in an old, familiar set of circumstances; ones I thought I'd left behind.

Relinquishing my home has been a surprisingly emotional process. It is a place I used to see a future for myself and an investment that represented safety and security.  Because I no longer see my future or security here, I am no longer able to connect to the home that I love.  It's like breaking up with someone you will always hold a place in your heart for, maybe even love, but who you know is not the right fit for you.  It's the right choice, but ending it is no less painful.

It helps me to look at the freedom on the other side of the break up.  I am formulating a plan that feels more solid every day, a plan that's different from anything I've ever done before.  As excited as I am about my plan though, it's equally daunting and scary.  I have days when I look at my beautiful home and the beautiful things I've accumulated and ask myself,  "why I am giving up all of this for the unknown? What if I fail?  What am I doing with my life?!"  At these moments I have to take a deep breath and a step back and remember some advice I got recently.  "Remember, you are choosing this."  This is a choice.  I am choosing freedom over the safety of the home and career I have built over the last decade.  I am choosing my dreams over a career I have developed to pay the mortgage.  I am choosing beauty, trees, and the sea over a condo in a desirable neighborhood with a low crime rate in a good school district.  I am choosing to really live my life and not settling for an existence and future I know.

This risk I'm taking going into the unknown may lead to failure.  There is a chance though, that it leads to success and that is what drives me.  Success met overcoming the challenges I will face will be even sweeter than any I have achieved to this point.  I know what the rewards look like behind the door of the known.  I have reaped them and I am unfulfilled.  "If you really, really want to change and try something new, you need to actually try something new." he said.

I try to remember that in truth, there is nothing for me to lose in pursuing the dream that is pulling at me so strongly.  Money comes and goes, the things I posses are just things.  I have worked so hard to get to this place of freedom and I am so close.  In taking these steps backwards, I realize just how far I've come. Transformation is not easy or everyone would choose it.  It is a long, sometimes painful, but immensely gratifying process and it must be done from a place in the heart where dreams and passion are held.  I will continue to trust the guidance I receive from that place and keep moving forward, even if for now it feels like I'm running in place.

A Time for Reflection & Growth

Today is my birthday.  I feel fortunate that my birthday comes along with the fresh start of every New Year.  As an adult, I have come to appreciate this and take advantage of that opportunity to check in with myself and look at how far I’ve come, not only in the scope of a new year, but also in the greater scope of my own life.  

Our lives stack up so quickly and so densely that it’s necessary for us to look back at intervals after time has made sense of our experiences and removed us from the emotion and fog of it all.  Every year we take on new responsibility and obligations.  We meet new people and have new relationships; we also mourn the loss of people and relationships, and alternately welcome and resist change.  As beings in constant motion, experiencing things on both physical and emotional levels, it’s rare that we take time to sit still and reflect and recognize our process and acknowledge our progress.  When we do take time to do this at the beginning of each year, it’s important to look at these experiences objectively and not to judge anything we did as a mistake or a misstep.  Everything positive and negative we go through leads to a bigger bank of knowledge about ourselves and the world and helps us evolve and make better and better choices moving forward. 

It helps to consider that we often don’t notice the little changes a thing takes to grow, be it a child, or a pet, or a plant.  But to an outsider looking in who only sees that progress intermittently, the small changes along the way contribute to a great body of change over a period of months or years.  Our lives and our personal progress work like that too.  When I think about all the little changes I made over the course of this year that stacked up to put me here in this time and place under an entirely different set of circumstances than the year before, the progress I made, though it didn’t feel like it along the way, was quite significant. 

Like most people, I think, I tend to get wrapped up in the discomfort of a moment or a series of moments and it’s hard to see the big picture and see that the moments of discomfort I’m feeling during this period of great change are actually baby steps in the right direction; a direction that will take me to my end goal, a life where I get to live my dreams and my passions.  So instead of looking at the discomfort in these moments as obstacles or challenges and dwelling on the sense of unease they create, I need to start looking at them as growing pains.  Instead of feeling down or sad or impatient that I’m not exactly where I want to be right now, I need to appreciate that these moments are exactly what I need to be going through in order to experience expansion.

So now, I set my intentions for a year full of surprises and gifts, challenges and knowledge.  I will leave behind my fear, anxiety, stress, and worry over the unknown and choose to embrace it instead.  I will leave behind my unhealthy attachments and create a life of freedom, choices, and adventure. 

Happy New Year!