Day 1 prompt: Why are you doing the Your Turn Challenge?
#40 on my Something Good list today was the Your Turn Challenge. I wasn’t planning on doing it, but then my friend and fellow blogger Kirsten Akens said she was going to do it, and I changed my mind. Maybe it’s a case of FOMO (fear of missing out), but I love a good blog challenge. In fact, this blog was initially built on the commitment to an ongoing practice motivated by various 30 day challenges.
The 30 day challenges I’ve completed: Blogtober (twice), August Break (three times), Reverb (three times), January Mindful Writing Challenge, Small Stones (twice), August Moon, and NaBloPoMo. There may have been even more, but those are the ones I remember. Making that commitment to posting every day, no matter what, finding the time and figuring out something to say whether you felt inspired or not helped me develop a sort of determination and focus I’m not sure I could have any other way.
Blogging has been some of the best writing practice I could give myself. Writing knowing that people will read it is very compelling, both thrilling and terrifying. Blogging regularly has helped me find my voice, helped me figure out what I had to say. Being consistent and involved in a larger community has gifted me a group of kind and gentle readers, gives my writing a feeling of being in conversation, being part of a collective that shares a common goal. The way I see and show up in the world has shifted because of this practice. I notice and engage with things differently.
I’ve actually been accused of blogging too often. Friends who are also readers are frustrated because they can’t keep up. I understand, and yet I can’t stop myself. There are just too many days when there’s something I need to write about, and it feels like if I need to write it, maybe someone “out there” needs to hear it. In that sense, it would feel wrong not to share, not to publish, not to ship.
The reason to take part in this challenge, the one under the fear of missing out, is that I feel a shift attempting to happen. I’ve been meeting myself with a lot of resistance, engaging in what seems like unnecessary struggle. In yoga class this morning, my teacher focused on the notion of surrender. Not to mean “giving up,” but rather finding the places where you’ve created an obstacle and softening, relaxing your grip, letting go, allowing things to go as they will go rather than fighting reality or forcing your own agenda. “Flow with the go,” as I heard someone say recently. So the plan is to attempt to write myself through the resistance, to practice in an effort to relax, to surrender my agenda, and as always to show up with an open heart.
1. The Daily Dharma Gathering from the Open Heart Project. Susan says, “Together with Buddhist teacher and awesome guy Lodro Rinzler, I’m pleased to announce a new program: three months of live meditation sessions Tuesdays – Sundays with some of the most accomplished and wise dharma teachers in the world.”
2. A Beautiful (and Budget-Friendly!) Laundry Room Makeover. As a person who keeps myself too busy, and an introvert who doesn’t have many people over to my house, most of my spaces look more like the before picture. What I like so much about this though is that it makes it so clear that if you put forth just a little effort, you can have a beautiful space. I’d like to be better about that.
3. The Struggle Is Real from Baby Weigel. I’m not a mom, but I love what Aubrey has to say here about the difficult choices we have to make sometimes about the things we love and what we do, how we spend our time. May she have an easy transition back.
8. cArtographies – Crystal Pite, a beautiful, inspiring video which led me to a similarly beautiful and inspiring project, “BC filmmaker and visual artist Brian Johnson profiles 19 BC-based artists, from a variety of disciplines, who are both inspired and challenged by their geographic surroundings.” Too bad the full video can only be watched if you are in Canada — lucky Canadians. You’ve got all the good stuff.
26. Wisdom from Chögyam Trungpa, on how meditation leads to wisdom,
Out of that precision and refinement comes gentleness. You are not just paying attention, but you are also aware of your own pain and pleasure, and you develop sympathy and friendship for yourself. From that you are able to understand, or at least see, the pain and suffering of others, and you begin to develop a tremendous sense of sympathy for others. At the same time, such sympathy helps the mindfulness-awareness process develop further. Basically, you become a gentle person. You begin to realize that you are good: totally good and totally wholesome. You have a sense of trust in yourself and in the world. There is something to grip on to, and the quality of path or journey emerges out of that. You feel you want to do something for others and something for yourself. There is a sense of universal kindness, goodness, and genuineness.
27. 23andMe is a DNA analysis service providing information and tools for individuals to learn about and explore their DNA, ancestry-related genetic reports. I kinda wanna do it.
The editor had already reached out to another coach about being the author, but she already had a book in the works and couldn’t take another one on. She recommended me.
That’s it.
Someone recommended me. I’m not close to this person, we’ve never met in person. We’ve exchanged some complimentary words on Twitter. That’s the extent of our relationship. She just thought I’d be a good fit for the book.
And I had almost four years of writing samples on my blog to speak for me. And had released two ebooks on my own. And built a decent social media presence. Of course, there’s that. Let’s not discount all of that work. If luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, then I had done my side of the equation.
So that’s my accidental book deal. The book that showed up when I was just minding my own business, doing the work, and being visible.
37. Blink Now. “The BlinkNow Foundation’s mission is to provide an education and a loving, caring home for orphaned, impoverished and at-risk children.” This organization was founded by a single teenager, who is now Mom to 50+ children she’s adopted. Kinda makes you want to get off your ass, doesn’t it?
49. The Reason You Make Unhealthy Choices. Spoiler alert: “Self-compassion — accepting yourself without judgment when times get tough — is linked to better health behaviors.”
Day 1 prompt: Why are you doing the Your Turn Challenge?
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 