The Soulful Decluttering Experience
So, what’s the Soulful Decluttering experience like? You’d have to ask someone who’s taken the course. Fortunately, Karen Caterson (aka Square-Peg Karen) talked to me about her experience in the course last summer. Here’s what she had to say: Karen, why did you decide to sign up for Soulful Decluttering? I saw the class mentioned in a KaleidoSoul newsletter and it sounded just right for me. I’d noticed that clutter held me back (in a number of areas), and I’d been working on decluttering and organizing for...
read moreDigging Out
Just over a year ago, I got new carpet. This was an idea that terrified me for several years before I finally bit the bullet. Why? Because I live in a two-bedroom condo, no attic or basement, and every time I thought about getting new carpet, I was overcome with an image of me drowning in all my stuff. The good news? It was a great excuse to get rid of a lot of stuff, and expunge I did. The bad news? I spent way too long on it and burned out really, really badly in the process. What does clutter burnout look like? For me, it’s about...
read moreCreator and Creation
A really cool animated video turned up on Facebook the other day. Take a look. When I watch this video, I’m intrigued by the battle. First, there’s the fascinating juxtaposition of 3D vs. 2D. Then there’s the amount of work that had to go into the animation, and the imagination to have thought of it in the first place. The thing that intrigues me the most, however, is the way this video illustrates the creative process. I remember being in high school and reading, for the first time, an author’s comments about how...
read moreChallenge Yourself
Well, this is it: the last day of the April Ultimate Blog Challenge. This is my 30th post in as many days. (Wow!) I can’t believe the month has gone by so quickly, and in many ways I also can’t believe I made it. I took on this challenge for the same reason a lot of us do things that are out of out comfort zones: just to see if I could. I was a bit overwhelmed by the mere idea at the beginning and I thought I must be crazy to sign up. I frequently have struggled to come up with something to talk about once a week, so to try to post...
read moreUnused Creativity
I finally watched the second part of Brené Brown’s Super Soul Sunday appearance this evening. I posted about her a few weeks ago and I can’t deny she’s one of my heroes. She made a comment pretty early on in the episode that really struck me. The quote reminds me of the Maya Angelou quote on my home page, which says, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Both quotes pretty well speak for themselves, so I’ll only say this: I’ve talked here before about how...
read moreEncouragement
There’s a lot of power in encouragement, whether it takes the form of a compliment, a helping hand, or just a smile. If you don’t believe me, check out this video about one student’s efforts to counteract cyberbullying (and, I’d say, bullying of all kinds): Jeremiah Anthony is, as he says in the comments on this video, making the world “a better place one tweet at a time.” What could be simpler than that? We need to remember that bullying is, alas, not just for kids. It happens frequently among adults,...
read morePermission to Succeed
I really can’t believe this is the last Saturday of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, which means that this is, potentially, the last of the “Permission” series I’ve been doing. I’ve saved one of the most interesting forms of permission for last. A lot of people roll their eyes at the idea of anyone needing permission to succeed, but the fact is that fear of success is right up there next to fear of failure on the list of top fears. And it can be just as crippling. Some people see only positive sides to success, but...
read moreSmall Steps
Diane asked about dealing with the overwhelm and anxiety she’s facing when she considers writing a guest blog post for someone else’s site. Yesterday, we looked at perfectionism and how insidious it can be. Today, we’re going to break it down—literally. Meet Your Inner Lizard A lot of anxiety, procrastination, and perfectionism all boils down to fear. Fear that we won’t be good enough. Fear that someone else has already done it. Fear of being seen. Fear of receiving. Fear of failure. Fear of success. And that fear...
read moreThe Enemy of the Good
I asked for questions yesterday, if anyone had them, and Diane bravely asked, “I would love to do a guest post on other peoples blogs, but I get shy and nervous. I always feel that my writing isn’t good enough, or that my topic wont be interesting enough. I would love to read more about overcoming anxiety, and trusting in yourself!” This is such a good question. There are several causes of this sort of anxiety (and a fair bit of the time, they gang up on us), so I’m going to break things down into a few posts, each focusing...
read moreQuestion Time
As we approach the end of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, which has found me seeking out blog ideas every day for the month of April, I’m hearing from several of you that you’re finding my posts helpful and even inspiring. I’m very gratified to hear that, because when you put these things out in the world it’s often difficult to know if you’re being as clear and/or helpful as you’re hoping to be. I’m hoping, then, that you’ll help me plan where to go from here. I did this challenge because I...
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