by Heather Plett | May 11, 2012 | random, Uncategorized
These days, with a few transitions going on (ending my teaching for the season and starting a few new contracts) I’m having a hard time focusing on writing a blog post. Yesterday I remembered how much I used to love to write random posts. Brain dumps, I suppose they are.
So here you go… a few random things on my mind… and a bonus picture.
1. I wish the season of flowering trees weren’t so fleeting.
2. There’s a deer who seems to have made her home in the small piece of woods a block from my house, but I’m afraid she may be injured. Each time I wander through those woods I see her, and the last time she seemed to be walking with pain.
3. Speaking of those woods, I will cry if someone ever arrives to bulldoze them down.
4. I am happy to be immersed in the world of non-profits, sustainable living, and international development once again with my new contract work.
5. Yes, I have new work and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Plus it’s work that excites me.
6. I need a healthier routine for my mornings.
7. I need a healthier life in general. I’ve gotten lazy lately, in more ways than one.
8. The downside of walking 100 km last fall is that for about a month afterwards, my feet hurt too much for regular exercise, and then I got out of the habit again.
9. I think I will get off this computer shortly and go to the woods to see if I can find the deer again. I like to sit quietly and stare at it while it stares back at me.
10. I have had some lovely emails from students lately, and most of them say something to the effect of “You did so much more than teach us to be better writers. You taught us how to live.” That makes me very happy.
11. One of my students posted a photo of me and him on Instagram, with the caption “Favourite teacher of all time.” Smile.
12.Speaking of Instagram, I love it.
13. It’s like peeking through little windows into people’s lives.
14. My kids tease me that my iPhone isn’t really a phone, it’s a camera.
15. They’re right.
16. I taught grade 5 and 6 students how to make mandalas yesterday. It was great fun.
17. Right around grade 6, I’m afraid, we begin to develop our self-consciousness around whether our art is “good”.
18. Around that same time, we start losing some of our natural tendency for play.
19. We need to re-learn it, because play is transformative.
20. I think I may have found the perfect venue for a day of play time with grown-ups. A big comfy room with a huge wall of windows that looks out into the woods. Stay tuned.
21. I am working on a new website, combining this one with what I have at heatherplett.com.
22. The new website really represents a new business focus. I think I’ve finally found something that focuses me but still leaves wide open space for exploration and creativity.
23. As you can tell, focus is not my strong suit.
24. Squirrel!
25. That was a reference from the movie “Up”, in case you missed it.
26. What are you doing in August? I hope you’ll join me here.
27. I need to find some nearby office space for the summer. I won’t get much done in the house when my family is here every day. Any ideas?
28. I am aching for an overseas trip.
29. Really, REALLY aching. When I look at pictures from my trips to India or Africa, or someone tells me a story from some place interesting, the longing shows up in an instant clench in my stomach.
30. I have been incredibly lucky to travel to interesting places in my life.
31. I will be lucky again, I’m sure of it.
32. I hope I can take my kids on an overseas trip some day, before they start moving into lives more separate from mine.
33. I am not very good at blogging for business purposes.
34. I’m much better at just having conversations.
35. It’s the same way I teach – I prefer conversations to lectures.
36. I need to get off this computer now, go walk in the woods for a little while, and then dive into my work.
37. Today’s focus will be figuring out how I can help this amazing organization promote this incredible sustainable building apprenticeship program and this one. Know anyone who’d be interested?
38. I like you. Thanks for reading.
39. What’s happening in your life?
40. I don’t like ending lists on uneven numbers.
by Heather Plett | May 3, 2012 | journey
This morning was hard. I was letting the monsters win.
I was struggling with the usual not-good-enough-itis. You know the drill.
I decided it was time to go for a walk. When the monsters start winning, it’s usually a sure sign that I need to get my body moving and I need to be in nature for awhile.
Unfortunately, the moment I left the house, I got a phone call that made matters worse. It was one of those “bad news – you owe more money than you thought” kind of phone calls, and it plunged me even deeper into the monsters’ lair. The tears started flowing as I walked. And then it started raining, which seemed fitting. I kept walking. Oddly enough, walking in the rain often helps my mood.
As I walked down my favourite woodland path, I started beating myself up with old stories. “Why aren’t you better with money? Why couldn’t you have been satisfied with those well paid, upwardly mobile jobs you’ve had in the past? Why aren’t you more successful at this self-employment thing?”
As my friend Desiree said the other day (and I think she was quoting Pam Slim), I was doing some serious “story-fondling”.
Things got worse. I started ranting at God. “Why did you have to choose this particular path for me? Why did you make me so restless that I keep looking for the next journey I need to take? Why did I get stuck with a journey that takes me through so many hard places? Why didn’t you make me an accountant so I wouldn’t have to worry about money? Why didn’t you make me more like those friends who are still content in the perfectly good jobs I left years ago? Why do I have to experience so much brokenness?”
Oh yeah, the monsters were having a party.
And then I spotted something on the woodland path. A small fish. Perfectly placed in the middle of the path, looking like he had climbed out of the river, slithered along the ground for about 200 feet and stopped to catch a breath on the path, only to find that he could no longer breathe. There was a look of surprise in his eyes.
You see the metaphor here, don’t you?
A fish out of water.
Exactly what I would be if I had chosen the path of accountant, or stayed on the path of government management.
Dead on a path that wasn’t mine. Unable to breathe because I was meant for other things.
Fish need water. Birds need the sky. Worms need the soil. Rabbits need the earth.
Artists need to paint. Dancers need to dance. Accountants need spreadsheets. Scientists need test tubes.
Take a path that’s not meant for you, and you can never be fully alive.
And with that, the monsters began to retreat. All I needed was a dead fish on the path to remind me not to listen to them.
A little further on the path, I found a small pink pillow hanging from a tree. On it were the words “The Princess is In”. Hmmmm… do you think I should find a metaphor in that too? Smile.
An interesting side note: I’m in the process of creating a new website that offers a little more clarity and focus for my work, and, even before this morning’s wandering, I’d settled on language that relates to serving as “your guide along the path through chaos to creativity”. If you’re having trouble finding your path and would like a guide, check out my services, and contact me.
by Heather Plett | Apr 27, 2012 | Uncategorized
My hotel room smelled like cheap disinfectant. It wasn’t the ugliest room I’ve ever slept in (at least it had a functional toilet and properly-wired light switches), but it was close.
I knew I couldn’t spend the whole evening there. I needed green space. I needed fresh air. I needed some mindful wandering to help me process all of the wonderful things that had happened on my trip before returning home early the next morning.
So I did what I often do – I opened Google maps and looked for the nearest green patch on the map. About a quarter mile away, past the industrial wasteland, across a freeway, and at the edge of the suburbs, there was a strip of green along what looked like a tiny creek. Hmmm… it looked promising.
What a delightful surprise I found when I crossed that freeway and climbed the embankment! There was a protected greenbelt running along the creek, with a beautiful walking/biking path that stretched out for seemingly miles.
I’m happy for groomed trails when I’m on my bike, but when I’m walking, I always look for the “path less traveled”. Sure enough, closer to the creek was a rugged path made for adventurers like me. Everyone else took the easy path – I climbed through the underbrush to find the one closer to nature.
For the next two hours, I wandered wherever my curiosity would take me. I climbed under bridges, I knelt on the damp ground to get closer to the violets, I scampered after bunnies, and tried (unsuccessfully) to take pictures of an elusive red bird. I scratched myself on low-hanging branches, and I nearly got stuck in the mud.
I was my 10 year old self again, finding secret hideaways in the woods on our farm.
It was heavenly. It was like a deep exhale after an exciting but full and intense week.
Wandering is my meditation, my therapy, my brainstorming session, my stress-reliever, my playtime, and my teacher. It fills me up in a way that few other activities do.
What about you? Do you love to wander? Or perhaps you haven’t discovered the beauty of wandering yet. Check out my e-book on the topic. It’s full of goodness, including interviews with a dozen other people who know the power of wandering.
by Heather Plett | Apr 26, 2012 | Uncategorized
I am Kensington Market.
I am colourful, bold, and a little disorganized.
I love being in the centre of multi-cultural conversations that stretch us all.
I honour the messes in life and don’t try to hide them behind polished facades.
I value eccentricity, uniqueness, creativity, play, and spirituality.
I provide safe spaces for people to play and explore and become more fully themselves.
I foster art, music and creative expression of every kind.
I’m curious… which neighbourhood (or park, city, mountain, place, etc.) are you?
Note: To learn more about why I’ve adopted Kensington Market as part of my personal brand, sign up for my newsletter (over there in that box on the right) and read the full article.
