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Doing Something Just for Me

For me, this week was all about doing something just for me. It started with my first Airbnb experience and ended with my first attempt at clarity cards. In between I listened to my intuition and discovered some truths about myself.

Unique Mountain Farm

Solitude, comfort, amenities; it’s all right here just outside Hendersonville, North Carolina at the Unique Mountain Farm.

As I was planning my trip, I knew exactly what I wanted to do each day. In contrast, after I arrived at my destination, my relaxation allowed the days to flow more naturally, surrendering to a calmer frame of mind.

Listen to Your Intuition

I checked the weather and found my first full day was the sunniest. As I arrived on Monday afternoon, Waze, my favorite mapping app, sent me down winding roads, right past the Carl Sandburg Home National Park Service Historic Site. I knew a visit was meant to be.

It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in gathering forest and to ask of himself, “Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?” – Carl Sandburg

This quote sums up what my heart told me I needed when I planned my getaway. So much emotion and stress had lain heavy on my shoulders the past nine months. Consequently, while walking the grounds of Carl Sandburg’s home, I suddenly burst into tears, multiple times.

Conversely, I also had several lively conversations with dogs and their owners. One of those conversations ended with this confession from one owner.

“You just made my day.”

With my emotions now stabilized, I felt only joy. As I turned to continue down the hill, this scene lay before me.

It’s Worthwhile to Go the Extra Mile

My lifelong friend, Pat, lives in Western North Carolina, three hours from my stay near Hendersonville. Certainly that is much closer than the nine hours from my Florida home. Last week, I called Pat up and we arranged my visit for the middle of my retreat.

Once again, my intuition was spot on. Our short time together helped me see who I am and where I am going. It was the perfect segue for my final day in North Carolina.

It’s All About Clarity

Time for the hard work came on my rainy last day. I began Dan Blank’s Clarity Cards process. This was the primary reason for my alone time, to gain clarity.

At first, the cards looked more like a list of things I do, rather than what I want to create. Slowly, a theme emerged.

Becoming an integrative nutrition health coach is the framework that will allow me to help others change their lives. Each time I interacted directly with people this week, whether strangers or dear friends, I felt more alive, more connected to the positive energy all around me.

Above all, helping others amplified because I am doing something just for me.

A Harvest of Ideas

As we conclude the first official week of autumn, I extend my wish for your own harvest of ideas gleaned from doing something special just for you.

Warmly,
Dawn

Three Tips for Finding Value in Yourself

These three tips for finding value in yourself need repeating. Furthermore, no matter how much we grow as individuals, finding our self-worth will elude us at times.

Are You Devaluing Yourself?

Sometimes it’s easier to consider the opposite of a positive characteristic, because it is more familiar to us.

Maybe these are some ways we show a lack of value in ourselves.

  1. Saying ‘Yes’, when we mean ‘No’
  2. Difficulty asking for help
  3. Placing higher value on other people, pets, or things

How to Start Valuing Yourself

Here are three small steps to help you change your behavior. Does one speak to you more than the others? Start there. Then add a second step the next week or sooner if you feel ready. Above all, be kind to yourself.

  1. Start writing Morning Pages
  2. Look at a situation from a different point of view
  3. Do something special just for you

Delving Deeper

Point of view has several meanings. Consequently, I want to make it clear I’m using this definition:

  • the position from which something or someone is observed

In life, we tend to use the same point of view all the time. Most noteworthy, our direct observance is clouded by all the thoughts in our mind drawn from a lifetime of judgement and beliefs.

An Exercise in Point of View

Imagine this scene. A man is walking down a sidewalk with a hedge of plants to his left, listening to music on his iPod. Suddenly, a masked man steps out of the bushes behind him with a shovel in his right hand. He hits the man on the back of the head with the shovel. The man falls to the ground, bleeding from the back of his head.

Chances are, in your default point of view, you placed yourself across the street and observed this attack in horror.

In contrast, let’s try using a different point of view. Pretend there are two birds perched twenty feet up in a tree just on the other side of the hedge. I’ll name them Heckle and Jeckle. Perhaps they observe the same scene this way.

“That man is walking with white strings coming out the sides of his head.”

“Now a second man comes out of the bushes behind him, with a black covering over his face. He holds a big twig with a shiny flat part on the end.”

“The second man moved the shiny part and came in contact with the back of the first man’s head, who falls on the ground.”

“There is red liquid coming out of the man on the ground.”

Different Points of View

This point of view from Heckle and Jeckle is detached, without judgement, a bird’s-eye view observation. Two more possible points of view are the characters in the scene; the man with the iPod, the masked man. And don’t forget the “just the facts” view.

By looking at this fictional scene in different ways, you are practicing changing your point of view.

Do you want to take it one step further? Use different points of view to dissect a scenario from your own life. Extra points if you have strong feelings about this personal circumstance.

Final Thoughts

Don’t forget the third way to start valuing yourself – doing something special, just for you.

Are you doing something special, just for you today? Take a moment to brainstorm one thing you can do for yourself this weekend.

I’d enjoy readIng your ideas in the comments.

Sending love from my heart to yours,
Dawn

I’ve Got to Stop There Someday

How many times have you driven by a business that called out to you, and you answered, “I’ve got to stop there someday!”

Taking Time for Yourself

Yesterday was my ‘someday’. Inglenook Antiques was the business. I consider it to be this week’s Artist Date with myself. This concept goes hand-in-hand with writing my Morning Pages. An Artist Date is something you do that gives you joy. According to author, Julia Cameron, the originator, there are just two rules:

  • You must go alone
  • Do it once a week, every week

Antique Shops are a Weakness for Me

I’ve never spent large sums of money in them, but I usually leave with something in hand.

Yesterday’s visit was an example of following my intuition. After all, it wasn’t convenient to stop. I had mozzarella and chicken breasts from a grocery stop after my morning walk at Bok Tower Gardens. But the parking was shaded and my groceries were kept cool in my everpresent cooler.

Before I reached the front door of the cozy, historic house, Robin, the owner, cracked open the door as if to say, “Yes, we’re open.“

Synchronicity Abounds

Synchronicity – the simultaneous occurrence of events, which appear significantly related, but have no discernible casual connection. This definition of synchronicity encompasses my visit to Inglenook Antiques.

Blue Ridge Southern PotteriesI walked through the door and turned right, where a small room was my first find – a wall filled with Blue Ridge Southern Potteries dinnerware. This is the largest collection I’ve ever seen. My personal connection is from my grandmother. She collected these plates during the 1940’s for ten cents each from the local Woolworth Five and Dime store. I loved the beautiful flowers on the hand-painted plates when I would visit her for a traditional Swedish afternoon coffee and sweet. She would fill a coffee cup half full of evaporated milk and pour some coffee and sugar in it for me. She always had homemade Pepparkakor, Swedish ginger cookies, stashed in the freezer to accompany the coffee.

As I wandered through, I was drawn to talk to Robin about her collection of Blue Ridge dinnerware. She told the story of her grandmother’s one plate used to soothe her when she was home sick. The beautiful, hand-painted petunia on a plate, placed with the love of her mother on a tray, filled with comforting morsels of food to settle her tummy.

Every new subject that came up in our conversation brought more similarities; commonality to Wasilla, Alaska, the Czech Republic, family with the same first name, studying biology in college. The list seemed endless.

A Few More Finds

During our conversation, I mentioned that I like white plates too. Robin pulled out two different styles. Now I have three Wedgwood Cream on Cream dinner plates with an embossed grape design and two Czech salad plates, also with a grape leaf design.

Finally, she led me to a large assortment of wooden boxes. I chose a miniature Lane cedar chest. Robin told me they were given to high school graduates by the local furniture store, Badcock, during the 70’s. It must have been after 1971, because I missed receiving one. Perhaps, it was waiting for me to find it at Inglenook Antiques.

Choose to Listen

The next time you hear the voice in your head say, “I’ve got to stop there someday,” choose to listen and act on it. Perhaps you will make a new friend, find the perfect gift, or experience the simple joy of synchronicity.

I’d love to hear from you, in the comments or signup for my newsletter and we can have a weekly conversation.

Warmly,
Dawn