A new take on self-sufficiency

On this day I want to talk about self-sufficiency - something which has such a strong mainstream meaning (I think) and conjures images of kitchen benches laden with homegrown produce and busy farmlets or backyards full of animals, fruit trees and vegetable gardens.

This has been my basic concept of self-sufficiency for many years, and one that I still aspire to, however a couple of days ago I was flipping through a magazine at my part-time job and read a sentence which was along the lines of 'what is sufficient for me?' and really did one of those double-takes you see in cheesy movies. It completely opened up a whole new meaning for me - does it do that for you too?

Here's my take on sufficiency, based on some serious heartstorming and discussion with my bakery co-workers after reading said quote:

Are we truly self-sufficient, no matter what we've put in place in our lives, if we're wanting more than we authentically need?

You see, the way I understand this, sufficiency is not about thinking small, playing conservative or keeping yourself in the same place in order to 'save yourself for something better'. These actions serve only your ego, and as such do not provide enough for your whole being - they are not sufficient.

When you aim as high as you can imagine there's no room for ego - its only you - your heart and soul. When you play small, its your ego that speaks up, telling you you're not enough.

Sufficiency is about clarifying and honing down on those things that are most important - your soul's callings, your purpose in this life, your highest passions.

These are the structures within which all other decisions can be made. Taking action upon these needs leads to a life of self-sufficiency - nothing more, nothing less. And in this way sufficiency can feel both big and small. But its authentically yours - your voice, your angle, your experiences, your dreams, your successes.

And that's all we can be right? Authentically ourselves creating our own self-sufficiency.

Wishing you a beautiful day filled with opportunities to feel that this life is sufficient for you.

Homegrown Rhubarb Crumble

A Winter delight that brings warmth and colour to my home and nurtures my family.

Thanks to my popular IG photo of rhubarb in the garden, here's a recipe with old-fashioned flair and lots of love:

You'll need about 1kg of rhubarb from your garden. Trim the leaves and keep the rich red stems.

Base:

1 kg rhubarb stems cut straight from the garden

2 apples, peeled and sliced with love

1/4 cup of water

A good handful of soft brown sugar

Wash and slice rhubarb, marvel at this luscious growth that's taken place just outside your door. Place in a saucepan with the water and apple slices, then let the soft, browny sugar crystals gently slip from your hands on to the top.

Place the lid on and gently simmer until soft, pungent and a soft pinky-red colour (like a beautiful sunset).

Crumble:

1 cup self-raising flour

150g cold butter (the real, full-fat stuff)

1/2 cup more soft brown sugar (oh, you luscious delight!)

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Place all ingredients into your favourite special bowl and massage that butter baby! Right into the silky dryness of that flour until it's just right and crumbly.

Now don't skimp here! The beauty of slowly bringing this dish into being is such a blessing.

Be mindful. Cook with intention and love. Nurture the sh*t out of it so it brings light and joy to your home tonight.

Sprinkle generously over your rhubarb base and bake for about 25 mins in an oven set to 180*C

Viola! An amazing, old-fashioned, seasonal delight created with love and intention. 

It's something that keeps life simpler, more on purpose and in our house this evening it's hitting the mark perfectly. Xx

Tucking my vegetables into their Winter bed

My garden hasn't had much attention of late, with our recent trip around Australia.

And at this time of year, with frost fairies hard at work and short amounts of sunshine, the best thing I can do for my garden is give it a bit of a weed and a lovely warm covering of mulch.

I picked many handfuls of rocket and made the most delicious pesto.

I loaded up our car with big bales of pea straw.

And I tucked the existing carrots, kale, parsley and the rest of the rocket into their beds for the rest of this cold time of year - ready for Spring planting when the time comes.

I love that my little garden babies have their roots kept warm and snug, but this Winter garden task has a greater purpose also.

I'm a big fan of permaculture as both an ideal and a common sense practice. Permaculture teaches us that everything is connected and to work smarter and with heart, rather than harder. A good philosophy for life is it not?

By mulching my beds at this time of year I'm providing a layer which will prevent the majority of Spring weeds coming through - a time saving measure. And I'm giving my soil protection from our frosts, and since I used pea straw - more nitrogen when it breaks down.

In short, I'm building productive energy in my soil (and in my soul too), ready to be released once the turning point comes and growth takes off.

One of my favourite books, Permaculture: Principles and Pathways beyond Sustainability is sitting on my kitchen table at the moment. A quick look reminds me that this mulching I'm doing is part of principle number two - 'catch and store energy' - a wise move to be making in this Winter lull.

Have you mulched your Winter beds? Are they ready for that turning point in Spring? How does your garden (and heart) grow at this time of year?

Are you hooked on stereotypes?

I do this a lot - so subliminally I barely recognise it sometimes...

I make assumptions about what I can and can't do based on stereotypical images in my head.

I'm no expert here, but I think we all do this right? 

Our ego loves a definite proposition and stereotypes and pigeonholing can be very appealing, even necessary sometimes.

Except when it stops us from moving forward.

We hold our stereotypes up to the light, mount them on a pedestal and bow down to their stories of suffering and mishap. 

It's amazing how a good story can have a greater allure than following your heart even when that story is holding you back.

My regulars at the moment are romantic images of total self-sufficiency in the 70s (a la 'The Good Life') and the stereotype of the warm motherly figure baking bread and homeschooling her children 24/7. Lovely stories and images that feed my ego but I somehow always fall short of.

How do I know these are constructs of my ego and not my soul gold?

Firstly, they're extreme. I hear myself saying things like 'I'm doing x so I should be doing y aswell' or 'I can't have that AND that - they don't go together'. 

I also know because, when I slow down enough, I can feel myself pulled off centre. Trying to be something other than myself.

And that's not cool.

So what do I do?

Firstly, I gently remind myself that I don't need to throw the baby out with the bath water (a favourite saying in my family). In other words, there's still merit in the images in my head, they just need some adjusting.

Then, when all is calm again, I (gently) visualise myself unhooking the parts of said stereotype. I take my image of total self-sufficiency (for example) and see that it's made up of lots of actionable parts and I imagine unhooking them from one another, so that I may more easily choose the parts that feel right for me, and be okay with letting the other parts go.

Then I feel ease return, and I can step forward once again with a real picture of myself.

Which stereotypes/images in the media/identities are you commonly drawn to? Are you hooked up with them?

12 souls who inspire me online

Image via Lori Portka

 

 

I have some regular inspiration that I turn to, and I thought I'd share. 'Cause sharing is caring and these souls are amazing - they rock my world regularly, shift the way I see things and help me live with passion and purpose.

1. Tara Bliss at Such Different Skies - an amazing lady I have so much love for. She's been my mentor for a while now and her website is my first port of call when I need pulling out of a hole.

2. Sarah Wilson - A Sweeter Life - the creator and author of the I Quit Sugar program and books, but more importantly I think, a thought leader. I love this way this lady thinks outside the square and discusses stuff we're all thinking about, but not talking about.

3. Claire Baker at This is Lifeblood - a beautiful soul expressing radiance, nurturing her readers and giving me the impetus to love myself more through food. I definitely have more to learn from this lady.

4. The Universe - sign up for these notes to your inbox lovelies and you'll be blown away with his wisdom. These notes often cause me to gasp with surprise, insight and amazement.

5. Danielle LaPorte - perhaps an obvious one for a list such as this, but I truly admire this lady's heart and soul. She gets to the deeper parts of me and pulls them out to the light, and I love her for that.

6. Amy Taylor-Kabbaz at Seek Act Love - another Mama out there helping the world. Her Happy Mama cards sit on my kitchen windowsill and inspire me everyday.

7. Soulemama - how can you not love this Mama and her homestead? Her images, words and home never fail to inspire me to live a life of gratitude, simplicity and homemade joy. Many a time after reading her blog I've turned straight to my knitting and got on with it.

8. Wellness Mama - a smart lady with some very sensible health habits she happily and informatively shares with the world. I love the organic simplicity of her approach to caring for herself and her family.

9. Leonie Dawson - a loving soul out there giving everything she has to the world with joy and love. I have her annual life planner and love her approach to planning with the universe with soul.

10. Jess Ainscough at The Wellness Warrior - one tough lady with a helluva lot of knowledge about what makes a healthy lifestyle.

11. Rhonda Hetzel at Down to Earth - an amazing online space where this special soul shares all manner of authentic skills, techniques and experiences to create a simple life living within your means and experiencing joy in the everyday. To me this is mindfulness at its most practical.

12. Carolyn Franzke at A Life Transformed - well, me actually. A mama giving everything she has to share with the world, thinking outside the square, giving mamas with depression a chance to understand themselves better and move forward. A beautiful soul creating an authentic, organic online space for big-hearted mamas.

There you have it lovelies, you have my full endorsement for all these gorgeous souls and their online presence. May they inspire you as they do me.

Xx

Let the full moon re-align you

It was a full moon last night and exactly 6 months since that first full moon in January when intentions and resolutions were being set by your heart.

How are you feeling about those intentions now? Are your vibrations just as high? Your motivation just as peaked?

This time of year is often a low for me and I can find it difficult to feel positive about those dreams that have not yet manifested.

And so if this description suits you also (I get it), I have some advice, and some good news...

"You can never miss so long as you're still aiming" - the universe

If your goals and dreams for the year have not yet manifested, keep aiming at them.

If you're not where you wanted to be, keep taking action.

Aiming and action are all you need to focus on, the universe will take care of the rest. 

And so, this 6th full moon of the year is the perfect time to review those intentions, to cement them in your sights, and to make 2014 The Year You Actually Did It.

Need some more inspiration? 

Here are some quotes to get you going:

"A year from now you will wish you started today" - I've seen this written in various forms where motivation is required. Have you seen it too?

"Start before you're ready" - Tara Bliss

"The secret to success is constancy of purpose" - Benjamin Disraeli

I hope by now you're starting to feel pumped up and ready to get back in the saddle. I'm certainly looking forward with great enthusiasm to the next 6 moons and the amazing opportunities that are coming my way.

And don't forget, my Mid-Year Metamorphosis Coaching Program opened three weeks ago. Details are here beautiful souls, I can't wait to work with you xxx

Facing the death of a loved one

"Everything is connected, everything continues" - Thich Nhat Hanh

This is the week my Nan passed away. She was a gentle soul, a stable love in my life and had the most graceful smile I've ever experienced.

To say I miss her is an understatement and my heart is most certainly broken open with a despair that I'm trying hard to contain.

It feels murky here in these depths - a grey void of difficulty where my ego desperately wants things to stay the same and my heart knows she needed to move on. That I need to move on too.

I'm no expert on the death of loved ones and to be very raw and vulnerable with you - I avoid thinking about it and go out of my way to avoid the fear of my own death.

Nan's passing has made me panicky and afraid - of depression returning and of my own coming end one day.

I need to be super kind with myself right now and thought you'd like to know how I've been giving to myself in this time of turmoil:

1. I'm letting myself cry. Perhaps an obvious one but very important all the same.

2. I'm admitting to myself that this heartache is necessary for my spiritual growth. Heartache is good. It opens us up and let's us give more.

3. I'm choosing to believe that Nan continues on in us all, in my whole family, in the very fibre of our physical beings. Her love and strength now falls upon our shoulders to be carried forward.

As I said, I'm no expert on this, but I'm working on grounding myself through these actions.

I'm also thinking logically that there are joys to be had from every moment of our lives - otherwise why are we here? 

And so as I feel that grief and ache in my heart I also recognise that I'm so, so privileged to have had Nan's unconditional love, her gentleness and her care. The force of my grief is a testament to that. And with that knowledge I have a great strength to love and live with joy.

When we transmute and transform our pain, 

when we let it change us, 

we let the sun shine again.

A quote to leave with you...

"I am not afraid of dying because I see myself in...you. You have come to learn with me and there is a lot of me within you. I am giving myself to you. If you have received some understanding, some compassion, and some awakening from me then I am continued in you. Later on, if someone wants to look for me, they just come to you and they see me". Thich Nhat Hanh

The power of vintage arts for raising your vibrations

Here's what my evenings have been looking like lately, once our girls are safely tucked up in bed.

A bit of chocolate, some peppermint tea, a good number of stitches on my needles and I'm a happy mama.

There's something so comforting about knitting, particularly in our colder months - the warmth of the wool, the brightness of the colours in our sometimes drab weather and the sheer meditative simplicity of one stitch after another. Something we can all benefit from, am I right?

This is the Milo vest, which I first discovered through Soulemama and have knitted several times before. This time for a fast growing Bethany in orange, claret and turquoise stripes.

As I write I'm sitting here enjoying the quiet of late eveningtime with the welcome company of my unencumbered thoughts and the rhythm of my knitting. 

It's blissful and creative. A joyful vintage meditation. And I think it's something we all aspire to. Handmade fun. Sleek simplicity. Transformed goodness.

You don't need expensive self-help books or years of lengthy self-analysis or even time to formally meditate each day to feel calm and grounded - sometimes you just need to get back to basics, like they did in the past naturally. A bit of knitting each day, some hand stitching, a homemade birthday card or tightening up the waistband on those too-big pants for your daughter - all are grounding, creative and simple in their intent. 

This is what we need. This is what transforms us organically. One stitch at a time.

So get into it Mamas, and manifest that simplicity you desire through good, old-fashioned handcrafts. My best wishes for simple days to you with love. Xx

Wide open wings

Nan passed away this week.

Such a kind and loving soul, she is one of the most pivotal people in my life. 

She taught me unconditional love through her actions, she protected me right up to her physical end and she and I made the most wonderful memories together.

I miss her strong hugs, her graceful smile and her boundless love for me.

I'm cracked open. Raw. Fragile. And I need care today as I grieve and heal.

I have a wound where I was holding on tight to Nan, and now she's gone it's raw and exposed.

But I want to air it out. I want to let my wound breathe and heal and form a scar. And in doing so remind me of that precious grandmotherly love, so that I may soar in this world with wide open wings.

For Nan and I.

Forget habits, build rituals

Habits are so yesterday. Rituals are the new present.

I've been pondering on this lately because it seems that rituals are becoming a new buzzword - in the self-help field at least - but more and more in broader media circles. It might just be me that feels this, but either way it's a hot topic I'd love to start a juicy conversation with you right now.

So what's the deal? How are they different?

Glad you asked. Here's what I think...

Habits can be consciously built, but are mind-numbing once in place - we forget about them and they just happen, unexamined. They stem, it feels to me, from an ego-centred mindset, where behaviours and choices are placed on automatic pilot, left there to be the same forever - safe and predictable.

Rituals are so much more about love and intention and presence. They begin with intention and flow on throughout your day. Essentially, they're a mindful mama's best friend.

Just a short post for you today my friends. Enjoy these colder, inner times by building in some rituals to anchor your days to the divine.

Xx

Let your heart speak through your hands

So often our hearts don't get a chance to be heard over the loud voices in our heads.

For me, my journal is my regular everyday ritual where this magic gets to happen.

Journalling is about connecting with your soul. About being totally, mindfully present with yourself in the now.

And I feel called today to tell you that this is another day of potential journalling for you lovely.

I know you've written in a journal before. I know you've started and stopped, and started and stopped again.

I know this resistance, this illusion that inspiration must come before writing has held you up.

And I'm here today to say that you can change that. You can freaking rock that journal. Everyday.

Here's my confession...

I stopped writing in my journal these past few days. It just didn't happen, and today almost didn't either, as lots of excuses and a general malaise trundled in.

Now it's late in the day and I'm tired, but I can't let resistance beat me another day. I need to journal.

I need that communion with soul and spirit that happens so easily when I show up to my journal.

And you do too.

You need that chance to get it out, sort it out, ask for help, ask for guidance, be.here.now.

So what did I do?

 I kept trying. I brought my attention back to my journal again and again. I let myself feel bad that I hadn't written - I welcomed those feelings with love. Then I got my journal out and sat down.

So here's my advice for you....

- just get that journal out

- just leave it on the kitchen table

- just open it to the right page

- just write one word

- just keep going

- just do it again tomorrow

When we take these little steps by themselves we take the size out of the monster. We move past that resistance. 

We give our hearts a chance to speak to our hands without our heads getting in the way.

Best of luck beautiful xx

Could superquestions improve your spiritual nutrition?

I'm back in Melbourne after 11 weeks of travelling around Australia and it feels warm and comforting to be back in the fold of family at this time, despite the cold and miserable weather outside.

It's been challenging at times, this travel and transition, and I thought you'd like to know how I've kept myself grounded and focused.

I've been through quite a fast transition as I've returned to the South - and oh my resistance feels stronger when change is happening fast!

I've felt lethargic, vague, unclear. I know you know that feeling too.

And yet sneaking past resistance is the most grounding thing I can do amongst this change. It keeps me stepping forward and anchored in my spiritual reality rather than tied to my changing physical reality.

So how have I done this, I hear you asking?

Well primarily I've fallen back on some special Superquestions to kick my spiritual nutrition up a notch in these changing times. Much like Superfoods, these are the ones that have great nutrient-density, that add to my health and raise my vibrations - especially when change and overwhelm are afoot.

The how?

It's based on the premise that when we ask a question, our brains love to find answers to it - so why not asksuper-questions?

My favourites?

How can I be kind to myself today?

How soon can I experience greater abundance?

How soon can I write something wildly awesome (create an amazing poem/artwork/sculpture)?

How can I step up today?

Which habits can I add today to improve my vitality?

You get the drift I'm sure - any question that empowers, that raises those vibes, that expands from the heart is a gem for sneaking past that resistance and stepping up.

Get into lovelies and feel that shift.

Xxxx

Fancy a Mid-Year Metamorphosis?

How are you feeling (for real) at this time of year, as the days are short and cold?

Stuck? Resistant? Seized up? Frozen?

Well, he he he.....let me tell you a story....

Mid-year is traditionally a low time for me - anxiety, uncontrollable boredom and resistance and the onset of post-natal

depression for the second time - have all fallen at this time of year. It's a time I look out for and put strategies in place.

And so I'm offering a new coaching program this Winter - to help with those mid-year blues.

Coaching in Personal Transformation and Wellbeing has been on my radar for a while now. I live and breathe all things metaphysical, spiritual, soul-full - learning, growth, success, passion, purpose, authenticity.

And it seems that those I've worked with like my approach too.

"Having a coaching session with Carolyn helped me to unravel my chaotic thoughts and see my 'problems' from a whole new perspective" - Rhonda

"I feel great after this session. Thanks...for your time and insightful wisdom" - Megan.

On top of all this I have that divine sense that this is one of the things I'm here for. It's one of my callings in life.

And so...

I'm opening up a new school of thought - a Mid-Year Metamorphosis Coaching Program.

Available from the Winter Solstice, I'll help you to transform, grow and step forward as the days lengthen and the energy builds this year.

Here are the deets for you lovely friends:

$100 for two one-on-one coaching sessions via Skype or regular ol' phone and I can help you with:

- identifying your passions via the Passion Test

- strategies for stepping up and moving forward

- working through resistance and coming unstuck

- facing fears and embracing vulnerability

- gaining clarity and insight

- grounding dreams into reality

- shifting your perspective and seeing the big picture

If this is ringing your bell shoot me an email and we'll be off in the sunset together babe, I would love to hear from you:

carolynfranzke@gmail.com

Much love,

Carolyn xxxxx

Got your spiritual enzymes working?

Have you been struggling lately with feeling stuck? 

Have you, like me, had trouble dealing with change at times? 

Has the ugly head of resistance reared itself on more than one occasion and held you firm, stuck in that rut?

It's been like that for me on and off on this journey around the country I'm on. Sometimes I've flowed easily with the changing terrain and been productive and creative, then other times have felt difficult, threatening, seized up.

But I've been working through these challenges as they arise - accepting, surrendering, sneaking past - and thought you like to know how I've kept myself on track and true to my passions.

It's no secret, just a bit of everyday magic....

I use catalysts for transformation - spiritual enzymes if you like.

An enzyme is a molecule found in living organisms that assists the transformation of another molecule into a new shape. The enzyme itself then finds another molecule and changes that.....

Soooo, how can we use spiritual enzymes in our everyday to assist in our transformation to a passionate, purposeful life?

It might help to take a look at what a spiritual enzyme might be so here are some I use everyday to precipitate the changes I want in my life....

- I ask myself empowering questions to step up my vibrational energy and look outward with optimism.

- I maintain a daily yoga practice that keeps me in touch with my physical body and it's needs.

- I write. Everyday. Whatever needs to be asked and answered.

- I face whatever fears are in my heart by tapping. Daily.

- I overcome my resistance to stepping forward on this spiritual journey of life and do at least one task outside my comfort zone each day.

These are the enzymes, the catalysts I rely upon at the moment. They transform me, daily, and help me to move towards my soul projects.

Many of them I have as reminders in my phone to bring them to my attention each day or week and I encourage you to do the same.

This is important, life-changing stuff lovelies - so get yourself on board with these questions:

1. Which enzymes can you use daily to step up to that soul project/life transformation of yours?

2. Where can you put reminders for these catalysts? Fridge? Phone? Mirror? Desktop? Car?

Lots of love your way

xxxxxx

RAW - a poem

I've felt called to write poetry this day. Perhaps it's the big skies we're experiencing on this trip around out country, perhaps it's the sunsets and sunrises we're privy to each day.

Mother Nature is surely the ultimate poet and the writer of our inner-most desires.

One of my core desired feelings (thanks to Danielle LaPorte) is raw. Here is my ode to that delicious feeling:

RAW

A poem

What do you look like,

Beneath these layers you carry?

Are you weak?

Are you broken?

Are you whole?

What can be loved,

Beneath these layers you carry?

Is it hope?

Is it strength?

Is it awoken?

What do you feel,

As you take these layers away?

Are you proud?

Are you certain?

Are you raw?

Slow travel, increase change

We've been on the road for 2 months now, travelling in our van with our two girls, camper trailer in tow. Our 100 days around Australia is more than halfway done and we've seen and done a lot.

Lately it's been hot weather, gorges and swimming holes as we've journeyed through the North West parts of our country - Broome, the Kimberley, Katherine Gorge, Darwin and Kakadu.

Some pretty photos for you below:

The girls at Town Beach, Broome

View of the Eastern Kimberley region, El Questro Station

Scarlet Gums glowing in the setting sun, Nitmiluk National Park

Rosie twirling batons at Mindil Beach Sunset Market, Darwin.

And as we've travelled I've been thinking (as those of you who know me will attest - I think A LOT!) about how the act of travelling is like an ongoing experience of rebirth. 

Stay with me here...

Each place we stay awakens new parts of ourselves - some positive, some less so - but either way it shifts us.

Each time we move we allow ourselves into something slightly different. So in a way we are reborn each we enter a new place - it's a new world for us to explore.

I believe this is one of the greater benefits of slow travel - we can increase the rate of change we allow in our lives.

We automatically stretch our comfort zones when we travel, we make more decisions, we move ourselves - literally with kilometres beneath our feet, but soulfully too as we expand our vision of our place in the world.

Xx

The Write Time

What happens when we allow our writing to be transformed?

You know those days when when it feels like a drag - not the 'write' time. When we wait for inspiration to come, when we decide it's just a hobby anyway, that we'll only do it for fun?

But deeper inside we know we want more than that.

We feel it in our heart - 'this is what I want' it whispers. 'This is rightfully yours - always has been, always will be'.

And so we feel the call to move our hobby beyond its amateur characteristics - to see how and where it extends.

One word in front of another, one day, one page at a time.

Writing as exploration, as discovery, as art form, as duty to God, as profession. It's a shift in perception we experience.

From ego-fulfilling to open co-creation with the universe.

And so our hand that writes becomes wholly. It's the top of the iceberg - the visible, physical part that transmits nature's messages and the signs of the spirit.

Writing, as a whole, becomes our job, our work, our spiritual practice. We fit it in, commit to it - multiple times each day, in between interruptions from our children and distraction from others.

What becomes important is that we return to it, again and again, until we've had our say for the day.

This is our job - and by hand, by thumb, by fingers - we are transformed by our writing.

Are you hiding behind your books?

I'm exploring a new way of writing, which is really a new way of creating, a new way of living.

Bear with me as I paint a picture for you...

I've been writing from my soul much more lately, with as much flow as I'm given. I write what feels personally important, what's calling me, without question. I just get it out there.

And a funny thing's been happening.

You know I used to read a lot - self help books, personal transformation books, cutting edge thoughts, programs etc - to ingest others' ideas in order to get through a problem and move forward. 

But the last few years have brought a shift - I'm reading less and writing more.

I'm looking inwards for answers and giving them to the world, rather than looking to others for answers and assimilating them within.

It's a subtle and profound shift.

It seems that there's a time for learning from others before you, and a time for pushing forward, over the edge and into new territory, carving a path where none previously existed.

A path based on faith and trust - a co-created way forward for all.

So, some questions and thoughts for you - Transformed Mamas, Teachers and Lovelies....

Are you hiding behind your books?

Are they, in fact, holding back your creativity?

What would happen if you put the self help books away and trusted yourself instead? What if you embraced the wobbly emptiness of that void and stepped up anyway?

Bluffing

I have to do it. I have to write something creative. I have to be amazing . I have to be something.

This voice is Resistance at work. It's the edge beyond which I extend myself, beyond which I stretch my comfort zone.

You got that Lovely? You got resistance in your life too?

Resistance doesn't want us to go there. It loves when we fail, in fact it's job is to stop us from changing and moving into success.

And this is the tricky part you see, for it uses our enthusiasm against us. It takes the motivation we have for being creative and changes it to obligation.

It knows that our will can't handle that. It knows that we'll give up pretty soon if it feels like hard work.

And then it's won. It's convinced us that we need motivation in order to write (or study, or make that birthday cake or phone call, or do that job), that we need inspiration in order to move forward.

Then we're at the mercy of the next bout of inspiration - our power given away, dis-ease sinking in yet again.

So how do we turn this around? How can we trade up our thoughts to outwit Resistance at its sly game?

We bluff.

We say to our Resistance I don't have to write much, just one sentence. I don't have to write anything amazing or perfect, just a few words. 

That's all - a small, subtle gesture in the right direction that sneaks under the nose of Resistance.

If that isn't enough then we try something smaller - I just need to sit down with a pen and some paper, I just need to pick up that pencil ...

I don't let it beat me. I get stubborn. 

How can you get stubborn and sneak under the nose of Resistance?

Empowering Geometry

I write. I teach. I Mother. I adventure.

These are the four pillars upon which I build and create. My foundations. My strengths. My whole.

There's comfort in that clear structure for me. I like that it's four pillars - somehow it feels like a stronger structure - with four sides, four corners - a diamond or a rectangle.

For me, it's not to much and not too little - it's juuuuusssst right.

And, you know, many structures come in fours:

- our seasons

- phases of the moon

- points of the compass

- eastern elements (water, fire, earth, metal)

There's am elements of strong simplicity in a group of four - it feels sleek and sure to me.

If I we're to draw a picture of my structure it would look like this:

Every element connects to the others. There are relationships between them all. Interconnectedness is highlighted.

For me, this structure, this image, provides direction, focus and clarity.

What shape would your structure be? - is there a shape that resonates with you? That stands out in pictures or diagrams? Do you choose fabrics or clothing with particular geometric patterns (e.g. A-line skirts, square cut necklines etc...)?

How many corners does your shape have? How many pillars support your life?

How does this foundation structure support your life?