by Heather Plett | Oct 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
My friend Christine invited me to join Graciel’s blog challenge to go out and find/make signs that reflect what we need in our lives. Since I wanted to wander back into the woods to find my enchanted purple-leaf-hideaway anyway, I grabbed my camera, a Sharpie, and some paper, and set off into the sunshine.
It turned out to be a much more meaningful exercise than I expected. (And… oh my! What fun I had with my camera!)
Here’s the evidence:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxjUSJbCHSc]
(with music from Hot House Flowers)
by Heather Plett | Oct 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
“Hello, my name is Heather Plett and I am an accomplishment-aholic.” Cringe.
It’s true. I’m addicted to accomplishments. I NEED to see results or I start to get twitchy.
Even though I’ve been determined to not be too driven this month and to spend some time in sabbatical letting ideas percolate, there’s a piece of me that is TOTALLY STRESSING OUT about it all.
This morning, I started feeling that familiar ball of anxiety in my belly, reminding me that I’ve already been off work for a week and I have so little to show for it.
As always, my well developed Mennonite work ethic was whispering in my ear “Thou shalt not fritter away the day!”
And then there were all the other voices that chimed in… “if you’re so determined NOT to build your business too quickly and instead spend time in the neutral zone between the old and the new letting creative ideas take shape, well then shouldn’t you at least be keeping the house clean? Or shouldn’t you be making amazing delicious meals for your family to enjoy? Or shouldn’t you have at least painted something, or redecorated the house, or read a dozen books, or… SOMETHING?”
I know what you’re thinking… I’ve been known to write about and teach people that “you have to give the creative muse space to breathe” and “transitions shouldn’t be rushed” and “sometimes when it seems like nothing’s happening, the most important things are brewing under the surface”. I KNOW THOSE THINGS! But sometimes they’re easier said than done.
This morning, after a healthy dialogue, I told those pesky voices to shut up for awhile, grabbed my iPod and my running shoes, and went outside to enjoy this glorious Fall morning. After all, isn’t that what you’re SUPPOSED to do on Thanksgiving – just hang out being thankful?
I wish I could tell you that I stepped into the sunshine and that ball of anxiety just magically vanished. But it didn’t. It came with me – stubborn, annoying thing that it is.
Feeling a little bored with my surroundings and not fully enjoying myself because of that ugly ball, I wandered into a different part of my neighbourhood than I usually do. There’s a large undisturbed stand of trees that I’d been meaning to explore. I crunched my way down leaf-covered trails and found a log to sit on. There I sat, trying to let the trees and the birds and the squirrels ease the mood I was in.
I closed my eyes and tried to examine just what that ball felt like and in which part of my body it sat. It was large, resting in the pit of my stomach, but pushing up into my lungs so that a deep breath was difficult.
I whispered a little prayer, “God/Goddess, take this ball and make it into something beautiful.”
And then I pictured Sophia (the feminine wisdom of God/Goddess) reaching inside me taking hold of this large clay ball, pulling it toward herself, and shaping it lovingly in her hands. It was beautiful watching her, the sunlight dancing in her hair. But she’s too slow for my accomplishment-aholic mind, and I got impatient when I couldn’t see the results. “What is it going to BE?!” I demanded, but she just smiled and winked. And kept shaping.
Not totally satisfied and too restless to sit, I got up and walked away. Sophia frustrates me sometimes.
I wandered further into the woods where there were no paths. The smell of rotting leaves reached my nose. “See how I create these woods?” Sophia whispered. “It takes years and years and many cycles of the seasons – birth, death, rot, rest, re-birth – to grow them into this lovely place where you can wander. The winter ahead is a long one, but the trees will wait through it. Have patience my child.”
Patience, schmatience! I’m not a tree – I have to make a living after all!
And then I spotted them – purple leaves! In just one tiny section of the woods, vines were drooping from the trees and all of their leaves were the most lovely shade of purple. Few other leaves were left on the other trees or plants in the same area, so the sun shone through, illuminating just the purple leaves in an enchanted corner of the woods. It looked like a special little place where fairies would gather to dance in the twilight, wrapping garlands of purple leaves around their necks as they giggled and danced.
I don’t know why, but those purple leaves finally shifted my mood. Maybe it was the knowledge that these vines that I’d never noticed before grow in this one little corner of the woods completely un-noticed and un-appreciated by anyone all summer long. But when it comes their time to shine – when all the other plants have released their leaves – they burst forth in magical purple, oblivious to whether or not anyone is paying attention.
I want to be a purple-leafed vine.
- I want to shine in all my uniqueness, even when few people notice.
- I want to offer the magic that somebody stumbles upon the moment she most needs it.
- I want to be prepared to give up those purple leaves at the end of the season when it’s time for rest and rejuvenation.
- I want to offer up what the world needs – even if it means surrender and (gulp) death – for growth and re-birth.
- I want to be ready for my own new growth when that season has arrived.
How’s that for a business plan?
(I didn’t have my camera with me in the woods, but I brought a few leaves home with me.)
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? – Matthew 6:28-30
by Heather Plett | Oct 10, 2010 | Uncategorized
crunchy leaves underfoot
conversations that comfort and challenge
epiphanies in coffee shops
my new macbook
my husband, who sold his boat to buy me a macbook
the new ipod touch that came free with the macbook
the amazing wisdom from teachnow that is soaking into my heart
fall weather so beautiful it’s difficult to stay inside
sophia and all that she is birthing in me
birthday breakfast with my mother-in-law who looks finally at peace
potatoes baking in the oven for tonight’s thanksgiving meal
extended family that I’ll share tonight’s meal with
daughters treating each other with respect (at least at this moment)
wandering in the sunshine on a Friday afternoon
new business cards, on order, complete with my own photography
upcoming inspiration
these words, shaping me… “I am a teacher”
these other words, long alive in me… “I am a writer”
running past a bird-song-filled pond while a hot air balloon is rising with the sun
comfortable running shoes
a new water bottle & ipod holster that makes the running even more pleasant
three new books waiting to be savoured
watching my oldest daughter play volleyball passionately after a difficult year of no sports
my camera
the peace of knowing I’ve taken the right step
by Heather Plett | Oct 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
It’s official – I have become one of those obnoxious people who rave about the joys of running while chatting with friends at cocktail parties. I know – I usually want to shoot those people when I see them, so I understand your sentiments. (Please don’t shoot me.)
Bear with me for awhile… (or run off to another blog and come back when I’m talking about things that don’t annoy you).
On Wednesday, just after I’d finished a vigorous 7 kilometre run and came home sweaty and red-faced like you see in the picture below, I opened my friend Desiree’s post, and she had done her Wednesday Wisdom video about the power and impact of sweat. She quoted Rev. Jesse Jackson… “Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. While tears will get you sympathy, sweat will get you change.” I burst out laughing at her impeccable timing. Little did she know I was at that moment leaning my head away from the computer so I didn’t drip all over the keyboard. I sweat A LOT. Just ask my children, who like to laugh at me after I run.
Seriously though, it feels SO GOOD to sweat. If you don’t have a regular activity that brings out the sweat in you, maybe it’s time.
Here are a few of the benefits of my morning running routine (and almost any sweat-inducing exercise regime.)
- Energy. I rarely get that mid-afternoon energy slump when I’ve been running.
- Change. My body is changing – for the better. No, I haven’t lost much weight, but it feels healthy and strong and my posture is better (which is also partly due to my breast reduction surgery).
- Epiphanies! My brain does wonderful things when I run, and often my best ideas show up during this time.
- Alone time. When you’ve got as many people making demands on your time as I do, you certainly appreciate 45 blessed minutes when not one expectation is waiting to be met and not one person is interrupting your thoughts.
- Community. Although I love to run alone, it’s quite lovely meeting other runners and doing the smile and nod that says “hey – we’re in this together!”
- Music. I don’t often spend 45 minutes of uninterrupted time listening to good music, but when I run I do.
- Neighbourhood. You get to see more of your neighbourhood streets and notice more of the interesting details than you ever do in a car.
- Meditation. The repetitive movement of your footsteps on pavement really does magical meditative things to your mind.
- Sunrise. And mist on the river. And early birds getting the worms. And all that is beautiful in the early hours when the world is waking up.
- Something to talk about at cocktail parties. Ha!
Have I convinced you yet? Or do you still want to shoot me?
p.s. I just discovered that my friend Julie Daley wrote a great post about the joy and pride of being “women who sweat“.
by Heather Plett | Oct 7, 2010 | Uncategorized
There’s something BIG bubbling on the internet. Can you feel it?
It’s bubbling in the comments of my last post. It’s bubbling over at Jen’s site and Tara’s site and Rachelle’s site, and in conversations with wise people like Lianne and Desiree.
It’s not just me feeling the nudges of Sophia to get out there and DO SOMETHING. Lots of women are stepping up and saying “Hey! That’s enough! We are tired of seeing youth commit suicide because of discrimination. We’ve had enough of young girls getting taken into sex slavery or being forced to marry at the age of twelve. We are FED UP with the number of women getting raped in conflict situations.”
Those of us coming of age in the post-feminist era have spent a couple of decades figuring out just how to be fully alive, spiritually awakened, and in love with ourselves. We’ve been to the spiritual retreats, we’ve spent hours on yoga mats and meditation cushions… and that’s all good stuff. (Sophia loves it when we retreat and get groovy with her.) But now it’s time to get OFF THE MAT and shake this world up with a real live revolution!
I don’t mean we should leave our spirituality and self-discovery behind – I mean that we should take it with us and PUT IT TO USE! (This is not your father’s revolution, after all.)
This much I know… Sophia is a major pest and she won’t let us live with ourselves until we live what we preach.
So here’s what I’m going to do for starters…
I pledge to trust my feminine wisdom to help me make a difference in the world for the young women on this list (pictured below) who have been taken into slavery and are actively being searched for by a wonderful, home-grown organization I spent time with in India. (Read more about that here.)
I’m working on some plans to give a portion of the proceeds of whatever money comes in from Sophia Leadership to this organization. When I visited two years ago, they were building a new facility where the young women who they’d rescued could live and be rehabilitated and trained for some occupation (we met women who were learning to sew, for example). I don’t know if the building is complete, but I’m going to get in touch with them and find out what kind of project we can help them support.
It’s time, people. Time to start imagining what can change if ALL of us (women AND men) learn to trust our feminine wisdom, learn to act out of compassion instead of just the bottom line, learn to honour the beauty in everyone, learn to trust the spiritual core in each of us that longs to reach out to the spiritual core in others, learn to use our yoga, our meditation, our writing, our voices, our wisdom, and all of the things we’ve been gifted with to CHANGE THE WORLD!
Are you ready for a revolution?
If my post hasn’t managed to fire you up, maybe this video will. (Thanks to Kind Over Matter for the link.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8xgF0JtVg&feature=player_embedded]
