Pitch Perfect

I’m not perfect but there are a couple pitches I’ve been working on. One is my book, Love vs Fear so I’m telling more people about it and every time they ask what it’s about my response gets refined. It’s making more and more sense why I’m working on this book and why I want to share it with the world with every interaction. 

The other pitch is vocal, we had a rehearsal for the upcoming show today. I love making music but what I love more is the singing and dancing that goes along with it. It was so much fun to harmonize with everyone and I’m so excited to perform again on Friday. I want to do more of this and get better at it. Practice makes perfect and what’s better than practicing things you love to do? Ah, life, such a strangely beautiful thing. 

BE in the Show

Bellingham’s got talent is a theme that was continued today. The Dance Studio presented it’s 3rd annual show at the Mount Baker Theatre. Anyone could audition to BE in the Show. It was quite impressive the amount and variety of dancers and musicians not to mention the trapeze artist and the led juggling. For $5 a ticket it was a fun show to watch Indeed. I love it that so many people chose to share some of what they love on stage for all of us to watch. It’s been an unusual but great of weekend getting out on the town. 

Playtime

Mark and I went to the Bellingham Theatre Guild tonight to see “My Three Angels” and we were pleasantly entertained. It was kind of on a whim for us to go out anyway and it happened to be opening night for the play. The set was lovely, the people acting were talented and the plot was humorous. I was a little reluctant to go back to the theatre after the last experience over a year ago but now I’m looking forward to going again. Bellingham’s got talent! Even more reasons to Love my hometown. 

Extraterrestrial?

This high mountain Grasshopper appears to me as if it's from some other world. Exquisitely  foreign yet oddly familiar these fascinating insects are quite common. This reminds me once again how it's important not to judge something by the way it appears. It's so easy to become fearful and jump to conclusions however in that moment we must remember to trust our intuition. We must choose to help love win by acting from that expansive place within our heart as often as we possibly can. 

Roots and Foots

Can you see the roots for the trees, the feet below my knees, the sky so high, the rain so wet, I bet you can almost smell, the moss laden forest, the ferns drenched in rain, hear the creek as it rushes over the stones.

Forest Bathing today was was lovely as my Momma and I wandered along the Evergreen Trail in Rockport State Park. I have to be honest, if it weren't for her I probably would have been extremely lazy today after getting my ass kicked in another Barre3 Class yesterday.

It felt good to get out and walk in the woods in the rain. I made sure to breathe deeply and mindfully. I even brought my sturdy purple hoop which came in a handy for support a couple times navigating over logs with my sore muscles. It also helped keep me warm as the hooping motion on wide sections of the trail ignited my core fire. 

The forest in this park is quite magical as it is rich with diverse life beneath the giant trees. It sits below Sauk Mountain which is another one of my favorite hikes to do in the summertime. It was fun to explore today and the discovery center was kinda cool too.

Taxidermy is one of those subjects I have mixed feelings about. I have to admit that seeing a real preserved Wolverine up close and personal today was awe-inspiring. It was certainly something to appreciate since almost no one ever sees them alive out in the wild. They are beautiful and elusive as well as apparently bad-ass animals. It was worth a quick look before hopping in the car to head home. I'm sure the Ranger was happy to have a couple visitors on such a rainy day too even if it was very brief.

I'm so Thankful I was able to get out today and explore. There are so many cool places that are really easy to just drive by and never check out.  There are also so many times when I'm tempted to be lazy and I'm so thankful that I not only push past it but that I have good friends and motivators to help me get outside.

Western Pasqueflower

I'm still dreaming about hiking and the views... on my 76th day in a row writing a blog post and practicing French. By now this whole streak attempt has become a habit and with all the stuff on my to do list I wonder what else I can attempt to turn into a habit by challenging myself to do it every single day. By keeping track as a streak at least I remember to do it everyday. If I chip away a little every singe day on some of these long term projects I have then eventually they'll get finished too. I guess that means its time for me to start another list.

Organizing the insane amount of photographs I have taken is on that list. Finishing the 4 books I have halfway completed is another. I need to prioritize and get these things done. Especially the photography part, there's always going to be more photos I want to take especially when hiking season is here again so I must make the most of these cold rainy days. It's okay to daydream for while and then back to work. It's motivation to get thru the dirty tasks so I can focus on the fun that's to come when it's all done. And when the weather is better for being outside.

Art Critic

I love art in all of it's many forms and I love to create it too. I think I've finally figured out how to ignore my inner critic that says it's not good enough and share my creations anyway.

I learned the hard way that it's best to do things sheerly for the love of doing them. I'm creating art because I feel driven to create and I'm sharing my creations with the hope that it will inspire other people to be able to do the same no matter what their inner Art critic may have to say.

Why is it that so many of us are so critical of ourselves?

It's time to turn off that voice in our heads that talks down to us. There is so much beauty in the world and the beauty is in the imperfections. Nobody is perfect in the sense that most of us think of the word. We are all works in progress and that is part of the reason why we are alive. To experience the process of creation in a myriad of ways.

We are imperfectly perfect, consistently inconsistent human beings who are here to express ourselves from our hearts. We are here to learn about love and connection in a seemingly disconnected environment. Art connects us across time and space, just like dance which is a movement art, there are no boundaries or language barriers, its pure perception, creation and expression.  Free yourself from that voice that has been hindering you and create whatever it is that your heart desires.

Do it for the love of it, do it for yourself and you may learn to love yourself more in the process. You are beautiful and unique, there is no one else out there like you. So celebrate your gifts however they may express themselves through you and share them with the world.

World Record

I was looking for inspiration for tonights blog post and found this photo reminder.

Did I mention I'm going to break the record for the world's biggest hula hoop?

Yes, I'm not quite sure how to make it all happen yet but I submitted the application for this year with the Guinness Book of World Records and I'm waiting for a response.

I'm planning to make a hoop (with help) out of carbon fiber which will be much lighter and stiffer than the tubing that was used for the attempt pictured here. I would love to break the record and get some publicity for my hoop love coaching program and for when my book is released.

I have so many ideas I just need some cool thing like this to get me a bigger to platform to stand on and fast. I want to bring more joy to the world and I love how hooping makes people happy. Also, breaking records just helps to prove the fact that anything we believe we can achieve.

If at first you don't succeed, try again and I will.

High Times

Take me to the mountains, I want to get high. I started 2018 by watching the super moon rise while standing in Columbia boots strapped into my trusty snowshoes up at Artist point. January 1st wasn't that long ago but it feels like it's been too long for some reason. There is something special about the energy up there, about the feeling one feels when standing high on a mountain out in the wilderness. It's a natural high that is good medicine for the soul.

The mountains are calling but it's cold and windy and dark outside right now.

Soon, one way or another, I will get my fix of high mountain air.

I think some skiing may be on the menu in my near future.

Free Flowing

Free to go with the flow... that's how I want to be. Those rigid schedules just don't suit me. How do I make this work to my advantage when it's complicated for others who like routine to understand how I function this way. I get a lot done but not so much in an organized manner, creativity flows when I feel free to express without constriction. I was writing late last night and working on my website, somehow inspired to do so at almost midnight. I've been on a strange schedule lately and tomorrow I will attempt to change that.

My alarm is set for 9am and the March starts tomorrow at 10am which I plan to run or/and take photos of. Sunday I signed up for a Booch and Flow at Kombucha town so it will be another early (for me) morning too. I'm going to use these two days to attempt to get back to a "normal" schedule instead of my recent night owl tendencies. However, I wish it were easier to keep it free flowing and not worry so much about how it's perceived. I'm afraid I'm just not there yet but I do love sleeping in and have convinced myself to feel good about it regardless. Sleep is important.

Back Up

When I went to see if I could store some photos from my Mac on an external hard drive tonight I discovered some pictures from my old PC. I wasn't able to do what I'd hoped with the data transfer and will have to find a better way later. Part of which means being better about photo editing and organizing on a regular basis. Anyway I thought I would share this picture of me that I found to be quite disturbing in a lot of ways. 

First I'll point out that it was taken in July of 2011, almost 7 years ago. Second, I have to mention that I'm embarrassed about the fact that at that point I weighed almost 200 pounds. As you could guess by the beer in my hand I had been drinking. I was drinking a lot at that time, it went really well with the whole sailing scene and was a key ingredient in my marriage. Needless to say the beer didn't help with my weight.

Looking back at where I was then from where I am now gives me quite the perspective.

I have come a long way.

I haven't had a drop of alcohol in over two years, I stopped drinking shortly after I decided a divorce was the only way out. I had lost weight when started exercising more and also when I went gluten-free (and switched to wine) four years ago but it was hard to maintain the whole time. I now have stayed around 155 pounds since I pushed the reset button of my life. It was scary to let go of the life I had created for myself and I had a lot of doubts at the time but I knew I had to do something and fast.

It's hard to imagine how I felt then versus how I feel now. So much has changed and I know that I am much healthier, physically, mentally and emotionally. 

I wonder what I'll be like in another 7 years?