by Sarah | Apr 14, 2019 | All About Me, All of Us, Blogging Life, Gratitude, Redefining Perfect
As part of my Oola journey, I’m making an effort to be more grateful. My daily planner has a place specifically labeled for Gratitude. I’d like to spread some of that love here, too.
I am grateful for –
Evening walks.
Free hugs.
La-Z-Boy knitting.
Hawk medicine.
Screening calls.
Cat snuggles.
Interviews scheduled.
Giraffe medicine.
Reminiscing.
2 poofs down.
Quick to fall asleep.
Blog posts written.
Will power.
Yasso.
Earth reading.
Amazon treats.
Big hugs.
House to myself for a weekend.
Friendly cat.
Recommended.
95% done.
Tackled to-do list.
Happy mail.
Sharing the oola.
Conversations with adult children.
Empty closets.
Vision boards.
Meditation.
by Sarah | Apr 12, 2019 | 50 before 50, All About Me, All of Us, Blogging Life, Bucket List, Gratitude, Oola, Pagan Me Happy, Personal, Pour Your Heart Out, Redefining Perfect
I have this friend that every time we talk, something profound comes out of it. Even if I tackle her with an inane conversation, or I just message to give her a boost or vice versa. Maybe it’s that she’s a shaman, or maybe it’s that sometimes I need to chatter my face off to find a message sometimes, who knows?
Over the course of several months she’d been having a rough time. Between living in the middle of a desert, the government shutdown affecting them, and missing Christmas, she was…stressed.
However, for the same amount of months she’d been talking about the biggest message she’d been receiving in all of her studies, card readings, spirit messages…it was always SURRENDER.
We were discussing the difficulties she was having, the tension she felt, everything all in a nutshell. I was letting her vent, really….when I made the offhand comment:
It’s hard to surrender when you’re holding your breath.
We both kind of stopped right there. It was a big “Whoa” moment for us as we read and re-read the words I’d just typed.
Apparently as much as she needed to hear them, I did as well…because I realized that I’d been doing the same thing, for MONTHS. With the hope and anticipation and this sense of NEEDING to go home to Florida, I’d built up so many levels of tension in all of it. Some days I couldn’t breathe for all of it.
BREATHE.
Do you know how important it is to breathe? Not just for the fact that it keeps you alive…I’m not talking about that breath, really. I’m talking about holding our soul’s breath.
Waiting…
Anticipation…
Fear…
Doubt…
Excitement…
It holds our souls captive. It locks them in a cage and hides them away from what could well be the next miracle around the corner.
BREATHE.
Right now.
Stop. Whatever it is you’re doing, stop.
Release the tension you’re carrying in your shoulders, your jaw, your neck, your heart.
Breathe out long and slow in release.
Explore what’s causing that tension.
Where are you going? What are you doing? What’s the biggest anxiety in your brain?
Surrender it.
Turn it over to whatever God, Goddess, Nothingness you wish. Give it over to the universe.
Nope. It’s not easy.
It’ll come back to haunt you. To put those knots back in your shoulders.
BREATHE.
To hold your brain hostage.
BREATHE.
To nag at your sense of peace.
BREATHE.
But when it does, you have a weapon.
You let it go.
You breathe.
You release.
You surrender.
Stop holding your breath.
by Sarah | Apr 9, 2019 | All About Me, All of Us, Blogging Life, Redefining Perfect
Once upon a time, when I wrote my first post in, oh 2006?
*runs to check dates….make that 2007*
Blogging was HOT. I came in late on the trend, for sure…mostly because I’m always late to the party. However, I was still early enough to be on the fringe of some of those bloggers that went on to become hot names. Pioneer Woman (I won my KitchenAid stand mixer from her), The Bloggess, Brittany Herself, and the like. They, and many others, paved the way for smaller bloggers.
Over time, blogging became oversaturated. Facebook killed blogging in many ways (shorter, faster, gotta get their short attention spans!!). Some bloggers kept plugging away for years (Like the Bloggess, Brittany, and Burgh Baby), and years, and years. They never once stopped. Some of us (like myself) would pop in with a series of blog posts on occasion, only to stop again…but our blogs remained there. A testament to the good times. Others blogs were shuttered for good. Closed down, just…gone.
Our lives went on. We kept chattering on FB. Friends found in blogging divorced, got married, had more kids, emptied their nests, turned into raging misogynistic lunatics, we lost too many good ones (even one is too many, isn’t it?).
We mourned, laughed, cried, hid away, screamed and complained in Facebook snippets.
Instead of the wide-screen movies of our lives, we watched it all happen in Polaroid moments scattered across an increasingly commercial ad-ridden timeline where businesses with big bucks got top billing over our friendships we’d established long before we liked a companies page. Much like blogging went the way of commercial (so.many.blogs.hawking.product.O.M.G.), Facebook has taken the same turn, but even more aggressively.
*~*
Two years ago I heard the first rumbling of bloggers coming back to life. A post by Ali over at Cheaper Than Therapy caught my attention, and sparked my own post on how we needed each other still, if not more so now. I made it through a few months then, bug once again ceased blogging for no good reason for a while. And even then, when Ali posted that…it was mere rumblings. A person here, a person there…
Now, I dare say I think the rumblings are turning into more. A few months after I’ve started really feeling driven to post with some regularity again, I’m finding others are blogging it up again. My friend Karl (who I’m sure I met because he was a friend of a friend) has resurrected his blog from the ashes…and in doing so has reached out to find out who is still blogging. I’m finding new blogs, rediscovering old ones.
There is a resurgence of the O.G. blog crowd to get back to what brought us together. REAL stories, REAL connections, ACTUAL comments.
Rebuilding friendships out of the ashes of sound bites into real, true threads of discourse.
One common thread I’m seeing is people ditching “persona” for true self. Another is all of us that blogged b/c we had wee ones are now facing teens (crazy common threads woven through so many blogs). I also see a lot about US now. Since the kids are older, if we ever blogged about them we have to blog about ourselves now because our kids can say we aren’t allowed to talk about it.
Also…maybe call it a mid-life crisis, but I get a sense of evolution from most of the blogs I’m reading. People searching for what defines THEM now, becoming better people, treating ourselves better.
It’s fantastic!
I love seeing the community stir back to life, reaching out to support each other again.
Of course, that means I need to clean up a bit around here.
Make up one of those new-old-fangled Blogroll things.
Who wants in on my Blogroll? It’s gonna be the latest thing. Come on down!
No, seriously. Give me your blog. I may already have it on my list, but share it anyway for those that don’t know.
It’s time to get back to where it all began. Everything old is new again!
by Sarah | Apr 8, 2019 | All About Me, All of Us, Blogging Life, Pagan Me Happy, Personal, Redefining Perfect
Once a month I’ll be posting a new Spirit Animal. This is both for me to study and learn, but also to help inspire each month.
This month the animal made itself known to me in many ways. Not just because of April the giraffe having another baby popping up in my feed everywhere, but in many other ways. A tag clip at work with a baby giraffe on it, a random screensaver on the computer facing me that featured a giraffe, an internet search for something unrelated popped up an image of a giraffe.
I didn’t balk, I took the message and began to search.
The giraffe had so many messages that spoke to me this month. I hardly know where to begin.
The giraffe is a stately animal, but powerful. With one swift kick it can kill a predator. That’s how it protects its calves. The giraffe is also seen as very spiritual, for the way she kneels to sleep it appears as though she’s meditating or in prayer. The time they are most vulnerable is when they lower their head to drink water. Because of this, they can last for up to a month without water. Though her tongue spans over 20″, she rarely makes a noise we can hear — rather the giraffe communicates with body language.
Her messages were many, and so clear and strong. The ones that speak most to me are:
- The power of silence. Quieting our spirit and centering.
- Seeing the “big picture”.
- Remain grounded without losing that higher perspective. (oh, this one is tough right now)
- When your life is chaotic, keep your head up and avoid getting entangled in needless argument.
- Fully appreciate what you have, and give freely without expectation.
Some of these messages mean even more than I can divulge at the moment…but I’m holding all the lessons close to my heart and spirit.
What animal is speaking to you this month? Do they have lessons for you?
by Sarah | Apr 6, 2019 | All of Us, Blogging Life, BlogRollin', Redefining Perfect
I’ve found a few new blogs this month, so there’s a wee bit more variety of posts. Rather than ramble on…on with the posts!!
*~*
First off there’s my friend Karl – who I met years ago basically I think it was a FB recommendation of ‘friend of friends’ as we were both in the OG blogging circuit. He closed his blog years ago…but now he’s back and this post on Social Anxiety is all of the things. In some ways his is different than mine, but it’s a pretty good description of the affliction all around. I related to the post in much ways.
Brittany finally got her hysterectomy. She’s still in the depths of recovery, so her posts are few and far between, but this post about Love & Hysterectomies hit me in all the feels. I remember my hubby doting on me after mine. It’s interesting when they realize you’re not unbreakable.
Lindsay over at Surburban Turmoil wrote a post about how to handle your summer…and I’m all about it. This Summer Give Your Kids the Gift of Boredom. YES.
The Bloggess always has enough great ones it’s hard to choose…but two really stood out to me. First off, in the realm of typical Bloggess style…she tells a FABULOUS ghost story.
However, my absolute loved post of the month is this one called Reaching Out. A beautiful invitation to give and receive love and support among her many, many readers. I finally started sending out my cards today, and I’ve received about 10 so far. It’s snippets of joy that are so welcome in the chaos and bustle of every day life.
I just ‘met’ Kyra through our mutual friend Karl, and she also just re-started a blog like so many of us. This post on trolls and their possible motives, Silenced, is a great reminder to always look deeper, have compassion, and think before you react.
**
That’s it for now. I’m keeping my eye out for more.
If you think I missed YOURS, let me know in a comment here! I’d love to find some new feeds for my reader!
by Sarah | Apr 4, 2019 | All About Family, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, DisneyTips, Redefining Perfect, Universal
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
I’ve done it with crazy intensity, and in a casual jaunt.
I’ve done Disneyland (finally), and Disney World.
I’ve picked up a few tips along the way. And while there are blogs across the web, I wanted to hand out my own Disney advice I’ve learned along the way, and tips I’ll be learning as I begin to go more frequently.
This months tip is best for longer trips rather than shorter ones, you get more bang for your buck, as it were.
Use Photopass so you can live your memories instead of watching them.
We were blessed on our first couple of family trips to have free photopass with a free memory maker CD, thanks to Make-A-Wish. I didn’t realize what an asset it was at first, but over the course of the 5 days I really got a handle on it. Since on the first year we didn’t have it at Universal (though it showed up for year 2) it was even more clear.
First off, with photopass you can take advantage off all the photographers at the prime spots. In front of the castle, character meet & greets, and those pictures on the rides. If you have your magic bands, those are the easy way to do it, they just scan your band and your picture is added. You can also use a photopass card, your ticket (park or annual), or a memory maker card. That way all the pictures are linked together for easy viewing at the end of your trip.
*side note: I’ve seen it said that sometimes those ride pictures or some pictures in general get lost. I, personally, have not had this happen, but it is a possibility. In this case I’d contact the photopass customer service. In some cases, they may be able to locate those pictures.
You can easily locate the photopass locations using the MyDisney app (which I HIGHLY recommend for so many reasons…another post for another time).
Another fun thing with photopass is the special Magic Shots. In these they have you pose in a certain way and by the time you can say “bippity boppity boo” there are magical enhancements to be viewed in your photos.
Like this shot of my girls holding Tinkerbell in their hands. Ignore Molly’s expression. It was day 2 of our trip, first time in the Magic Kingdom. We had some total sensory overload going on here.
(To be fair…this is much better than the other picture when the photographer told them to look surprised. I’ll post that one another time. It’s HI-LAR-I-OUS)
Those magic shots are some of my favorite.
Now there aren’t photographers in every nook and cranny following you around to get every single perfect vacation shot. You’ll still have to carry a camera (I suggest a great point & shoot, not like ours, which was horrible), but you get to spend a lot more time enjoying the trip instead of seeing it through a view-finder.
Afterwards, you can view the pictures online. You can purchase photos and photo groups. If you’re only going a day or two, you can stop right here…using the photopass service is probably your best option.
However, if you’re going longer than a day or two, photopass is only half the magic. It isn’t complete without…
Memory Maker.
Memory maker isn’t a service, it’s a product. If you buy it up to 3 days before you go, it’s only $169 (if you wait until you arrive and decide you want it, purchasing it at the parks bumps the price to $199. If you pay the advance price, nothing in those first three days will be saved…so buy in advance to save the cash!).
*side note: if you have an annual pass at the level of Passport, Platinum, or Gold – memory maker is included with your annual pass. Score!
With memory maker, you get unlimited downloads of not just yours, but up to 25 friends and family images from their/your trip! This is especially handy when you have a family with older kids that get separated during the trip and don’t get all your pictures on the same magic bands. The one downside is you have to be quick to hop onto the site after your trip, because they’re only available for 45 days.
Trust me, for those saying “That’s over a month!”…after a big trip like this, that first month passes quick as a wink when you’re trying to reacclimate to real life.
Personally, if I’m going to be taking a longer trip, I totally plan for the Memory Maker because I like to put aside my technology as much as possible when in the house of mouse…so this lets me enjoy the day and still capture many priceless memories. I’ll usually take along my point & shoot for things that really need capturing if there’s no photopass photographer around…but for the most part, I let the magic of Disney do its work. I like to live in the memories rather than seeing them through my camera.
As part of my Oola journey, I’m making an effort to be more grateful. My daily planner has a place specifically labeled for Gratitude. I’d like to spread some of that love here, too.
