by Heather Plett | Sep 6, 2014 | Community, connection, Wisdom
Earlier today, I posted this on Facebook:
Let’s pretend we’re setting off on a long, leisurely walk together. Just you and I. We’re walking along the shore, an eagle is flying overhead, there’s just the right kind of gentle breeze on our faces. We dip our toes in the water now and then. Now, tell me… what would you like to talk about if you had all the time in the world for a conversation?
A little while later, after people had shared what they’d love to talk about, and several said they’d like to simply walk in silence, I said this:
The sun is shining. There’s nothing urgent I need to do. I’m going out for a real walk. I’ll pretend I’m taking you all with me.
On a whim, while I was walking, I started sharing photos from my walk, with the hashtag #ifyouwereherewithme. Here’s the sequence. Imagine we were on that walk together.
If you were here with me, I’d take you to my favourite place to wander, where deer often greet me and butterflies flit among the milkweed.
If you were here with me, we’d sit for a spell when the conversation got so juicy we’d need to look into each other’s eyes.
If you were here with me, I’d introduce you to the tree I call the Dancing Goddess Tree because of the way she reaches her thick limbs to the sky in praise.
If you were here with me, I’d tell you about the Spring I sat on the stone bench among the birch trees and wept because I realized I’d lived through a whole season without my mom.
If you were here with me, I’d invite you to leave the beaten path and step into the wild with me.
If you were here with me, we’d stop to stare in awe at the eagle circling above our heads.
If you were here with me, I’d tell you how I dream of living by water, and how the Red River near my house has to suffice for now.
If you were here with me, I’d tell you about the time I broke my foot and felt such a strong hunger for this place, I had my husband drop me off at the gate so I could limp part way in on crutches.
If you were here with me, I’d pour you a glass of iced tea and invite you to sit awhile when our wandering was done.
Thanks for coming for a walk with me!
by Heather Plett | Aug 18, 2014 | connection, Creativity, journey, writing
In honour of the release of Fall Reflections: A mindfulness journal, I’m sharing these ten tips. For some who are just beginning a journal writing practice, they may offer a place to start. For others they may offer enhancement to an ongoing practice.
1. Start with the facts, then move to the feelings. Begin by describing the details of your day. What did you do, who did you see? As you write, consider how you responded emotionally to whatever happened.
2. Try a stream-of-consciousness style of writing. Just write the next thing that comes to mind. If you’re writing about the conversation you had with your mom, for example, a question might suddenly come to mind about something your mom said. Write it down. Don’t censor. Just write.
3. Keep it simple and don’t edit. Your journal is not a place to prove you should be the next poet laureate. It’s about the process, not the product. Use simple language, and write what comes to mind rather than over-thinking what words to use.
4. Keep the “shoulds” out of it. Your journal is a place to be honest with yourself, not a place to try to reform yourself into what you think you should be. Simply write how you feel and what you think rather than filtering it with what you think you SHOULD think or feel. There’s enough of that self-filtering when you talk to others and it doesn’t belong in a journal that’s meant for your eyes only.
5. When you’re trying to work through internal conflict, try writing a dialogue with yourself. If, for example, there’s part of you that wants to go on a trip and another part of you that thinks it’s a bad idea, write as though those are two separate people having a conversation back and forth.
6. If the blank page scares you, use journal prompts to help you get started. Fall Reflections or Summer Lovin’ might be a good place to start. Or you could choose to start each day’s entry with the same simple journal prompt such as “My wish for today is…” or “Five words to describe this day are…” or “The things I want to remember about this day are…”
7. Try keeping a list every day. It could be a list of ten things you’re grateful for each day. Or five ways that you were kind to others. Or three ways that you stood up for yourself. Consider what would help you in your personal growth (gratitude, confidence, courage) and create a list prompt around that theme.
8. Find a routine that works for you. Some people write morning pages (filling 3 pages with stream-of-consciousness) every day. Others set aside half an hour each day for journal-writing. Sometimes I suggest to my coaching clients that they simply sit with a pen in their hand for ten minutes each day and see what emerges. (If it’s just doodling some days, that’s perfectly fine!) You have to find what works best for you, or you won’t sustain it.
9. Find the right pen and journal combination that works for you. I love sturdy, attractive journals, and so I give myself permission to splurge a little each time I buy a new one. I also love to write in colour (and change colours on a whim) so I write with fine tip Sharpie markers. You, on the other hand, may love expensive pens but are content with the kind of notebook you used in elementary school. Experiment until you find what makes you happy.
10. Take your journal with you. You never know when you’ll want to write things down, so it’s a good idea to carry it with you on the bus, to the coffee shop, on a trip – wherever you go. If your journal is too big, consider having a smaller secondary notebook in your purse or backpack.
Finally, just be yourself and write what you want to write. There is no wrong way to do this! Just start wherever you are, write in your very own style, and don’t do it to please anyone else but yourself.
p.s. For only $10, you can download Fall Reflections and you’ll have 60 journal prompts to get you started. If you want to go even deeper with your writing, my next Openhearted Writing Circle will be October 4, 2014.
by Heather Plett | Jul 22, 2014 | circle, connection, Uncategorized
gathering around the fire at Create & Connect retreat
In the near future, I’ll spend my evenings gathered around a campfire with my three daughters and husband. We’re heading out on a road trip that involves a few days of camping before we reach our final destination.
At the end of the day, when we’ve wandered enough, seen enough, eaten enough, shopped enough, and driven enough, we’ll light a fire, pour our drinks, gather what we need to make s’mores, and we’ll make ourselves comfortable. Once there, we’ll re-tell the stories of the funny or embarrassing moments of the trip so far, we’ll talk about other trips and other campfires, and someone will probably throw something into the fire just to see how long it takes to burn. We’ll speak in code, using the words and phrases that have worked their way into our vernacular over our years together and can only be understood by members of the tribe. We’ll tease each other, but never to the point of causing pain. We may even argue a little, but before we go to bed we’ll have worked our way back to peace.
I’ve been longing for just this kind of time with my family. It will be so very good.
Though we all still live in the same house, it’s not often that we gather with intention anymore. Both of the older daughters have part-time jobs, and there are sporting events, swimming lessons, social gatherings, etc., which means we’re rarely all in the same room at the same time. And when we are in the same room, there are far too often electronic devices in front of some (if not all) of our faces.
That’s what I love about family trips – the intentionality of it. The slowing down of it. The getting away of it. I don’t need a fancy resort – I just need a campfire.
When we get away from the distractions of everyday life, we sit together, we eat together, we listen with less distraction – we are present for each other.
There’s a bigger lesson in this – a lesson that applies to almost all the work that I do.
We have to be intentional about this work of connection. We can’t expect it to happen simply by accident.
We have to find time when we pause from the daily distractions in order to dive deeper into our own soul work.
We have to be intentional about sitting in circle with people so that we can look into their eyes and listen with focus and kindness.
We have to guard carefully our time for spiritual practice in order to connect with the sacred within us.
We have to walk into the woods now and then or at least sit with a tree in order to understand the earth and let it impact us in a deeper way.
In my circle hosting work, we are intentional about using specific practices and principles to help give the conversation a strong container in which to flourish. Sometimes people question that, wondering why we need the centre, why it specifically has to be a circle we gather in, and what use the talking piece serves. Though I try to explain it to them, most people don’t get in until they are actually in a circle and they experience the shift in the conversation to a deeper, more intentional place.
In the same way, mandala work helps us be intentional of entering deeper soul work. And labyrinth walking helps us connect with the sacred whisperings we don’t hear otherwise.
These things matter. They are not meaningless gestures we engage in just because. They shift our energy, they quiet the distractions, and they help us focus on that which we seek.
Just like the campfire after a long day of driving and sightseeing gives my family a chance to bond, laugh, and grow our repertoire of favourite family phrases, circles, labyrinths, mandalas, journaling, and other practices help us step away and focus with intention and purpose.
Deeper connection comes with greater intention.
