Magpie Girl (Rachelle Mee-Chapman) » Train with Magpie Girl

*8Things: The Art of Noticing, Old Things:New Eyes

Rachelle — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:58:53 +0000

The Art of Noticing series is about practicing presence in accessible, everyday ways. Tired of feeling like life is just whipping past you? Want to feel what you are feeling now, rather than having it sneak up on you later? Eager to find the sacred in your everyday? Join my mailing list to get info on The Art of Noticing: A Practice Group starting May 1st. Thank you for being here!

The Art of Noticing: Old Things, New Eyes

LaLa’s sun, courtesy of Leanna Ramsey-Corrales, Which Way is Home Again.

Yesterday my yoga instructor asked me to “contemplate the characteristic of Surya, the Sun…” She always asks me this. She never forgets. Why? She’s on a on a DVD, so there is no variation to this routine. I have heard it so often I have become numb to the instructions.

But not this time. This time I actually thought about the Sun and her characteristics. Living in northern climes as I do, I am usually desperate for the sun. For Light. For heat. So much so that these are the only characteristics I remember about the her. But yesterday as I looked at the sun — well, at the watery hint of her existence, there, behind the clouds — I came to notice stunning things about her.

*8Things: Characteristics of the Sun

1. The sun warms whatever she touches.
2. The sun grows things — with the help of others. (rain, oxygen, earthworms…)
3. The sun has no fear of running out of energy in this lifetime.
4. The sun is universally loved.
5. The sun goes on burning, even when no one is noticing it.
6. The sun is egoless.
7. The sun, while needed by all living things, is not strained by her necessity.
7. While the sun may appear to grow stronger or weaker, that comes from viewing her from a fixed perspective. At her core, she is consistently energized and un-depleted.
8. The sun does the work of her life without effort or strain, but simply by be-ing

Is there something omnipresent in your life that you need too direct your gaze to once again? Can you see something old anew? We’d love to know what you are re-discovering today. What is your list of *8Things: Old Things: New Eyes? Grab a button and play along. If you put your list on your blog, give us the permalink(not your homepage address) in the Mr. Linky below. Thanks for playing!

30 Stories: How can I find time for my personal goals?

Rachelle — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:02:07 +0000

30Stories started as an impulsive birthday project in which I offered to answer 30 questions from my blog readers in 30days. The 30days part proved to be too ambitious, but I adored all the questions so I’m continuing to work my way through the list.

This is story number 22, and it comes from Becky Knight of Living Sexuality who asks:

Q: “How do you balance “spreading your wings” with tending to your “nest.” As someone who works full-time outside the home and has three kids, I don’t sit down until 9pm every night. I have very little time or energy to put into the things I want to do for myself professionally. Do you have advice or suggestions on how to balancing the obligations I have to myself with the obligations I have to others?”

A: I work with a lot of solopreneurs, and believe me, you are not alone in this challenge. We could write a whole unit on each of the three categories you’ve mentioned here: home, work, and self. But for now, let’s focus on how to find time to do what you want to do professionally, while still keeping the home fires burning.

Let go of being houseproud. When I was a newlywed in 1992, I read a modern British housekeeping book that encouraged scrubbing the toilets and sinks every day. What?! This in not the 60′s and you are not on the cast of Mad Men. Put down the vacuum cleaner and let the dust accumulate on the mantle piece. Martha Stewart is not coming to dinner and those who love you are not going to look under the bed. It’s amazing how little housework you can do — and still have a safe and relatively tidy home. Here are some things I can think of right now that will release you’re time: ignore the cobwebs; be okay with “assembled” dinners; let the junk drawer stay junky, don’t clean bits of the “guest” bath that never get used until right before a guest comes; don’t by stuff you have to iron (you’re never gonna wear it anyway.) There. I bet you feel better already.

Enlist Your Family. America, we are coddling our children. Preschoolers can serve themselves dinner from a common serving dish, kindergartners can sort the laundry, grade schoolers can take out the trash. Why are you doing it all? Here’s are my number one and two tips for releasing your time by enlisting your family. 1. Teach everyone to load the dishwasher. 2. Sort the clean laundry into a basket, one for each family member. Holler at the family members to come take their basket upstairs. Viola. You are done.

Don’t Over-Program Your Kids. The fewer soccer/ballet/fencing/potter classes you run around to, the more time you’ll have for your own personal development. We are designed to be life-long learners. That means Mom’s get to learn and develop themselves too. Period.

Know Your Purpose. I’m taking a course with Gary Barnes right now, and his big premise is that the results you are getting are on purpose. If you are getting results you don’t want, stop and make sure you have the right purpose. What do you want to do for yourself — professionally or personally? Write your purpose statements down, post them, make them your priority. This will take a lot of trust. You’ll need to trust that it’s okay for the the stuff that falls away to go away. You might end up living a simpler life — a life that looks much different that your neighbors and peers. But you will be living according to your passionate purpose. And that will be totally worth it!

Build a Support Group. If you are trying to develop something professionally for yourself “on the side” — either in addition to your regular work, and/or in addition to your family life, you’re gonna need a team. Find just two other people who are also setting on-purpose professional goals. You can meet with them in person, or on the phone with free conference calling websites. Set quarterly goals and check in with each other once a month to see how things are going. Brain storm through your stuck spots, and offer each other tips. You’ll be amazed how much this helps!

Reconsider your Finances. Your time is valuable, and the time you invest now on meeting your professional goals will pay off in funds later. That means you might have to invest some funds now in services to help you reach those work goals. Some counter-intuitive ways to make more money is to hire a once-a-month housekeeper, pay for an after-school babysitter, or even get a virtual assistant to help you with some of the grunt work. Even in a tight budget, making time for your personal business project by investing in home-life help can bring in a big bang for you buck when your business is up and running.

Use What You’ve Got. If you’ve been working on a professional project for awhile, you probably have more resources than you think. That flier you wrote would be the good basis for a class at the community center. Those blog posts could turn into a for-pay ecourse or ebook without much effort. Those lectures you presented at your professional association could be re-presented in front of a webcam and turned into a video series. I’ll tell you a little secret…shhh…not everyone has seen your work yet. Take a hard, creative look at the materials you’ve already amassed and package them for re-sale.

Acknowledge the Small Steps. Chances are, you are spending a lot more time on your professional development that you think you are. Writing one blog post, sending out one resume, making contact with one potential client — these are all big achievements when your world also happens to consist of a full time job and parenting a couple of offspring. Keep an achievement scroll handy and write down every small step you take. Don’t fall into the trap that you can’t get anything done unless you have a big block of time. Winnowing away at a larger project ten minutes a day will get you to the same place that spending 3 hours on it in one day will. Maybe not as quickly, but what’s the important part? Getting there quickly, or getting there at all. Accept your small opportunities and watch the build into a big dream. Or keep resisting the small options, wait for the big break, and be right where you are this time next year.

Accept the Seasons. Toddlerhood. Health Crises. Moving. Job Loss. There are times in life when it’s just all hands on deck for the homelife. It’s okay. Seasons come and seasons go. Winnow things down to the basics, don’t take on more than you need to, and trust God and The Universe that things with turn, turn, turn.

What about you? What are your tips for finding time for your personal projects? How have you made space for professional development when time and money is tight? And how do you balance being a parent and being a person. Give us all your best tips and stories in the comments below. We need you! Because “there ain’t no place to go, but together.”

Much Warmth,

Rachelle

30 Stories : 30Days – The Collection

Story 1: What is the intersect between work and play and how can I find it?
Story 2: How has your spirituality shaped your sexuality?
Story 3: IRL and Online Friendships: same? different? balanced.
Story 4: How can I connect with my neighborhood?
Story 5: What do I do if my partner and I have different faiths?
Story 6: What are you doing to make a difference in this world?
7tory 7: What is your highest high and what can you learn from it?
Story 8: What role has massage played in your life?
Story 9: How can I make administrative tasks a creative/spiritual practice?
Story 10: What has it meant to you to have your birthday so near Halloween?
Story 11: How can I manage resistance around my art?
Story 12: I want to establish some kind of spiritual practice. Where do I start?
Story 13: What is your primary spiritual practice?
Story 14: Do you prefer living in Europe or in the U.S.?
Stroy 15: How does nature affect your spirituality, and why do you say you have a soft spot for Pagans?
Story 16: As your spirituality expands, does God stay personal?
Story 17: How can I pursue my dreams, do the have-to’s, and not burn out?
Story 18 How can I create a spiritual community?
Story 19: What has it been like returning to the U.S. after living abroad?
Story 20: How can you create balance in your on-line life?
Story 21: How can I start a soultribe?

The Art of Noticing: Receiving Love

Rachelle — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:13:43 +0000

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to receive a compliment? We deflect. We defer. We downplay our own participation, or efforts, or skills. We say “Oh, it was nothing.”

My brother-in-law, Jamie, is from the deep south. He told me a story once about how, as a young man, an older lady gave him a compliment. He mumbled and stumbled, trying to figure out how to respond. Finally, the lady said, “Son, just say ‘Thank you Ma’am.’”

It strikes me that the same thing happens often with gifts of love. We hem and haw. We don’t know what to say. We blush and deflect and let it slide right by.

Don’t do that today. Today, notice instead.

Notice when someone says something kind to you. Notice when someone sends an act of love — be it large or small — in your direction. Notice the litle ways love is throwing itself at you, begging to be let in. Love is winging it’s way to you. Pay attention.

And then….

Just say, “Thank You.”

What acts of love have come your way today or in recent days? What would have gone by unheeded and unwelcomed had you not been paying attention? We’d love to be inspired by the things you notice.

More Love to Receive from Magpie Girl:

The Art of Noticing is an small series dedicated to practicing presence in accessible, everyday ways. To train further in the Art of Noticing, join my mailing list . I’ll let you know when my private tutoring group is available. (Coming this April.) For more topical ways to learn along with me, try my Train with Magpie Girl Collection. Thank you for being here today!

30 Stories: One Tip for Starting a Soultribe

Rachelle — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:14:00 +0000

This is story number 21, and it comes from Polly of Pixie Mama who asks:

Q: “What is your one tip for starting to create your own tribe.”

A:As you know, Soultribes are kinda my thing. I build them on a regular basis. I have lots of tips on how get them started, but here is my number one piece of advice: Assume Impermanance.

Every since the era of self-help, having “a family of choice” has been part of our psycho-speak. We can have the family we are born into, and a family we choose to gather around us. This concept helps us stand in our own power, and create the life we need and long for. The challenge in this modern-day lingo is that “family” is such a loaded word. “Family is Forever.” “Blood is Thicker than Water.” These slogans feed the idea that whatever group you gather around you must go on ad infinitum.

This, my friends, is not likely to be so. People move. Lifestyles change. You — you, your very growing self — you evolve, and so do the people around you. Is it any wonder that the college group that played together is not the same tribe you need now?

Assume that whatever soultribe you are forming now, or next, will be impermanent. The composition will shift. What you do together will change. People will come and go. It might even end all together. And that is okay. Natural even. Your tribe is a living thing that is emerging organically from the life you have right now. So enjoy it, right now, in it’s current incarnation. And don’t worry so much about making it last until death do us part.

So here are my tips for creating a soultribe from a place of assumed impermanence.

Start with and End Date.When you invite people over to a book group, or Sunday brunch, or to cook together, or whatever, make it short term. One afternoon, 3 Tuesdays, the first weekend of the month for 3 months. This lets people commit lightly until you figure out if you are gelling enough to keep going — and it lets you back out if you decide hosting a tribe is not your thing.

Hold it Loosely. I know mission-statements are all the rage, but don’t write one for your group. Not yet. Don’t over-define what you will be about or what you will do together right away. Try this. Try that. See what feels best.

Don’t Bring a Moving Van to the First Date.When you start playing around with the idea of a soultribe, gather people in little clusters and see what you think. Have drinks. Make dinner together. Take a walk around the lake. While you spend time together, look for things you have in common. But don’t just look for similarities. That’s boring! Keep an eye open for interests your potential tribe-mates have that aren’t your interests, but which intrigue you. If after a few dates things start to gel and you decided to do something together on a regular basis, keep in mind that RDT (relational definition talks) are part of the process. You’ll need to chat from time to time to figure out if what you are doing together is working. And remember, if you don’t like them you aren’t obligated to go out with them again — even if they did buy you dinner. :-)

What questions do you have about forming a soultribe? What tribes have you been a part of which nurtured you? How did they form? We’d love to hear your ideas and stories, because there ain’t nowhere to go but together.

You might also like:

Flock: Soulcare with Magpie Girl – an online soultribe for spiritual misfits.
(Get on our wait-list here.)
Magpie Girl’s Guide: SoulRetreats: how to host a tribe with art and soul
How to build a Dreamboard circle
Soultribe Interview: The Knittas
Soultribe Interview: Third Saturday
Soultribe Interview: Tribes for Deep Support

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30 Stories : 30Days – The Collection

30 Stories : Slow and Sweet, Stateside

Rachelle — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:18:58 +0000

Today at 30Stories fellow ex-pat Molly McGregor asks:

Q: What has it been like returning stateside after life abroad?

Here is my story, “told live without notes“, about how we are living differently in the States after nearly 3 years in Copenhagen.

30 Stories : 30Days – The Collection

ONE PLACE LEFT to ask a question for 30Stories! Email me your question along with the link to your blog, and I’ll book you a date on my 30Stories whirlwind. (Ooooo…I do so love getting behind the mic to answer your questions!)

30Stories: How can I create a spiritual community?

Rachelle — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:36:55 +0000

Today at 30Stories in 30 Days, Lori Lynn at The Dream Life asks:

Q: What advice would you give to someone who would like to create a spiritual community?

To read my answer just CLICK HERE.

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ONE PLACE LEFT to ask a question for 30 Stories in 30Days! Email me your question along with the link to your blog, and I’ll book you a date on my 30Stories whirlwind. (Ooooo…I do so love getting behind the mic to answer your questions!)

30 Stories : 30Days – The Collection

Day 1: What is the intersect between work and play and how can I find it?
Day 2: How has your spirituality shaped your sexuality?
Day 3: IRL and Online Friendships: same? different? balanced.
Day 4: How can I connect with my neighborhood?
Day 5: What do I do if my partner and I have different faiths?
Day 6: What are you doing to make a difference in this world?
Day 7: What is your highest high and what can you learn from it?
Day 8: What role has massage played in your life?
Day 9: How can I make administrative tasks a creative/spiritual practice?
Day 10: What has it meant to you to have your birthday so near Halloween?
Day 11: How can I manage resistance around my art?
Day 12: I want to establish some kind of spiritual practice. Where do I start?
Day 13: What is your primary spiritual practice?
Day 14: Do you prefer living in Europe or in the U.S.?
Day 15: How does nature affect your spirituality, and why do you say you have a soft spot for Pagans?
Day 16: As your spirituality expands, does God stay personal?
Day 17: How can I pursue my dreams, do the have-to’s, and not burn out?

30Stories: How do I make space to pursue my dreams?

Rachelle — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:29:24 +0000

Oh, this is a really common questions amongst the Magpies. I am so glad Sara Dryer of Fearlessly Phobic asked it!

Q: How do you chase your dreams while still having to do the have-to’s without burning out?

The language of your question is revealing in and of itself. Did you notice your verb? Chase. It’s quite driven isn’t it? Not just compelled but also propelled.

Many of us feel that our life is like this – pushed around by forces that are not within our control. It can be maddening to try to figure out how to make space for one’s creative dreams, while still doing the work, chores, and child-rearing of everyday life. Here are some tips and techniques I’ve found helpful.

Adjust to right-fit expectations. Notice I didn’t say “lower” your expectations. This is not about setting your sights low, it’s about healthy function. Be realistic about the amount of time and space you have for your dreams, and trust that this is enough. (And it will be.)
Work in small snippets. Sometimes we don’t work on our dream because we want a big chunk of time in which we can do it all at once. Even ten-minute increments will add up to a finished project eventually. Do what you can when you can.
Do Less.One of the issues I see in my coaching practice is that people are not willing to do less to make space for their dreams. Your kids might not be able to be in two sports. You might not be able to be in your book any more. Dinners might have to get a lot simpler. Society tells us a lot of “shoulds,” but really very few of them are essential. You can to Do Less to Live More.
Rest. You cannot pursue your dreams when you are drop-dead tired. Get sleep. Practice Sabbath. Take a day off. You have to fill-up to create something new. Even a little rest can shore you up for a new burst of creativity.
Make a Pact. When you are spinning a dream, having a withmate can be a big help. Together, you can help each other focus, set right-fit goals, and break each other out of stuck points. What might a creative partnership look like for you?

What about you? What are your tips and techniques for getting your chore list done and pursuing your dreams? We’d love to hear what works for you, because “there ain’t nowhere to go but together.”

You might also like:
7 Ways to Find Time For Creativity (Video)

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ONE PLACE LEFT to ask a question for 30 Stories in 30Days! Email me your question along with the link to your blog, and I’ll book you a date on my 30Stories whirlwind. (Ooooo…I do so love getting behind the mic to answer your questions!)

Stories : 30Days – The Collection

30Stories: As your spirituality expands, does God stay personal?

Rachelle — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:57:23 +0000

This 30 Stories in 30 Days query comes from Bethany Basset, mom, writer and American ex-pat in Italy. Bethany and I met online, and then IRL when I boldly (rudely?) invited myself to her house as a part of my 40th birthday celebration. We rendezvoused for a Paolo Nutini concert in Rome, and then spent a few days with her adorable family in another part of Italy. If you’re at all intrigued by ex-pat living, Italy, or other European adventures, you really MUST head over to Coffee-Stained Clarity and read all about Bethany’s fascinating life.

Today Bethany asks:

Q: As your spiritual horizons expand and you move into uncharted religious territory, how do you keep your connection with God personal?

In a lot of ways my connection with God is far less personal. The longer I live outside of institutionalized religion, the less God feels like someone I must constantly talk to and cajole. More and more often God is less personalized to me and more ambiguous – like a Force or Energy. I still feel and believe that there is something beyond myself—beyond this mortal coil. But I’m less convinced that that Something is an anthropomorphic be-ing who is invested I my every step or misstep. I feel more like my spiritual work is to align myself with a positive creative Force, the Source of creation. (Which, actually, is a very Genesis type of thing, as the first thing we know about God is that “In the beginning, God created…)

This shift from a personalized, highly-involved God to something wider and less humanoid can be unsettling for a lot of people. I often get questions around the idea of: “Well, if God is not personally in charge or me or personally involved with my life, what does that mean!??!” It’s a big shift, and not everyone makes it, or even needs to make it. The important thing is that you follow your gut and try-out different constructs around who God is and how God interacts with the world. Keep in mind that even within your own religious institution there has been any number of ways to understand this throughout history and across denominations. Ask an Orthodox Jew and a Reformed Jew how they interact with The Divine and you will get two very different answers. Ask a Christian Mystic and a Christian Apologetic the same question and there will be a great deal of variation in their answers. It is a normal part of spiritual development to test out different ways of understanding and relating to The Divine.

For myself there was a period during my transition from conservative evangelicalism to post-modern interfaith practice where I did feel quite detached from God as I knew him/her. It was a nerve wracking period. One thing that helped me get through was that friend often asked me “Can you go back?” And my answer was always intuitively and powerfully, “No.” That strong reaction propelled me into new exploration and discovery.

Once I got some distance from my former ways of interacting with God, and gave myself permission to test out different practices and constructs, things improved. I now feel more strongly connected and guided by God/The Universe/The Divine. Jesus has shifted from Cosmic Confidant to Wise Teacher. God has become more a Universal guiding energy, rather than the sometimes grumpy Grandfather-in-the-Sky. And I now recognize the Holy Spirit as The Muse. Renaming the Spirit has allowed me to tap more strongly into the Feminine Divine – an aspect of God which has been suppressed in the church by centuries of patriarchal power-plays. Freed from the bounds of patriarchal dictums about how God communicates and what God communicates, I am more likely to hear The Divine through my intuition, through the serendipitous moments of my day, and in the voice and hearts of others whom I know to be attentive to holy moments.

What about you? Do you have a “personal” relationship with God? What does that look like for you? Has your understanding about God shifted over the years? Has that made God more or less relational and interactive to you? We’d love to know, “cuz there ain’t no place to go but together.”

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Do you need support in your evolving spiritual journey? We’d like to invite you to join our online soulcare community, Flock. We are dedicated to “finding a spirituality that fits.” You can read posts and watch Flock videos here, or click here for more information. Join us before the end of the year and you’ll have our introductory price for-evah. Let us know if we can help.

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Stories : 30Days – The Collection

30Stories: nature, and spirit, and pagans – oh my!

Rachelle — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:07:19 +0000

Today’s 30 Stories in 30 Days question comes from Kimberly McGill, Flock member, blogger and teacher of a unique online Spanish learning course, Dreaming in Spanish (so cool.) Today Kimberly asks:

Q: How does nature fit into your spiritual perspective and why do you say you have a soft spot for pagans.

As children, my cousins and I used to joke that we were the prototypes for the story of Country Mouse City Mouse. They lived in the Sierra Nevada’s and were happiest when they were on a mountain top, on the river, or climbing some impossible height. We lived in the city and were well-fed on the museums, performance halls, and amongst re-known architecture. As adults, my cousin’s spirituality is deep steeped in the natural world, while and mine feeds off of art.

That being said, even this city girl is guided by the nature. The turning of the seasons is of great import to me spiritually, and each one is celebrated in our home. The Fall Equinox(Mabon) finds us expressing gratitude and embracing abundance as we host an annual party where we feast as our guests fill our family shrine with nuts, leaves, and other examples of Autumnal goodness. Winter Solstice (Yule) means costumed finery, communal art projects, and an all-volunteer feast organized by our local arts council. If you peek into our backyard on the Spring Equinox (Ostara) you’ll find the girls and I doing Yoga poses for Mama Earth. And Summer Solstice (Midsummer) finds us dancing down the street in the local Solstice Parade.

When I was serving as a traditional pastor at a conservative evangelical church, I joined the Fremont Arts Councilas an “outreach” opportunity. I quickly discovered that the artist and the neo-pagans in that community were more Christ-like than many so-called Christians. The “pagans” – who in my paradigm at the time were going to hell—were loving, generous, eager to understand the other, forgiving, and deeply accepting of “the least, the last, and an the lost.” I was deeply inspired by the testimony of their lives. Much to my religious friend’s chagrin, I was often found wearing an “I ♥ Pagans” tee-shirt. (So much for evangelism! Who convert who?)

Life with the artful pagans led me to study the pagan roots of the Christian traditions. I was energized and inspired by the deep historic connections – many of which honor more feminine ways of knowing, and free Christianity from patriarchal manipulation. The pagan roots of Christianity (seen even more easily in Jewish traditions, as Judaism is the older, parent-tradition to Christianity) are fascinating to me and inspire me to new ways of expressing my faith.

Now, years later, in my own right-fit spirituality, the teachings of Jesus are still bedrock to my beliefs and to my way of living. But we also celebrate home-based Jewish traditions, and “lite” versions of some neo-pagan and Wiccan rites—especially around the natural year. I call this eclectic mix “The High Holy Days” and teach all the seasonal holidays in our online community Flock, where each member adapts my suggestions based on their own spiritual hybrid. I believe God dances in ten-thousand places, and I’d like to celebrate any and all of them.

What about you? How does nature affect your spirituality? Are your (pagan) roots showing? We’d love to hear all about it, “’cuz there ain’t no place to go but together.”

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30 Stories : 30Days – The Collection

30Stories: Do you prefer living in Europe or the U.S.?

Rachelle — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:12:10 +0000

Just a few examples of our charmed European life….

Long-term Magpie Girl readers might know that I’ve recently returned to Seattle after nearly 3 years of living abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. Today at 30Stories, Kym of Bliss Artworks ask:

Q: Do you prefer living in the Europe or the US?

Click here to read all about it!

Are you totally determined to know everything you can about my expat adventure? Click to read all my Immigrant Diary posts, or check out our lacksadasical family blog, Life Abroad.

Thanks for being here!

30 Stories in 30Days: I love getting behind the mic. So for my birthday month I’m answering questions and telling stories every single day. Email me your question along with the link to your blog, and I’ll book you a date on my 30Stories whirlwind.

30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Stories: What is your primary spiritual practice?

Rachelle — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:09:57 +0000

What are your practices? Are there things in your life that anchor and sustain you?

Today at 30 Stories in 30 Days, Meghan O’Rourke LeCates of With Practice asks:

Q: What is your primary spiritual practice? How does it function for you? What have you learned from it?

My answer might surprise you….click here to find out.

30Stories 30Days: The Collection

Day 1: What is the intersect between work and play and how can I find it?
Day 2: How has your spirituality shaped your sexuality?
Day 3: IRL and Online Friendships: same? different? balanced.
Day 4: How can I connect with my neighborhood?
Day 5: What do I do if my partner and I have different faiths?
Day 6: What are you doing to make a difference in this world?
Day 7: What is your highest high and what can you learn from it?
Day 8: What role has massage played in your life?
Day 9: How can I make administrative tasks a creative/spiritual practice?
Day 10: What has it meant to you to have your birthday so near Halloween?
Day 11: How can I manage resistance around my art?
Day 12: I want to establish some kind of spiritual practice. Where do I start?

30Stories: I need a new spiritual practice. Where do I start?

Rachelle — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:19:37 +0000

Today’s question for 30 Stories in 30Days is one I hear often in my online soulcare community and in my coaching practice. So I’m especially thrilled to offer my answer to Magpie Girl readers today. Kim Switzer at Words and Pictures asks:

Q: If someone is looking for a spiritual practice but does not know where to start, what one thing would you recommend that they add to their day or their week?

I have to accessible you-can-start-right-now suggestions for you over at Kim’s place. Click here to read all about it!

30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Days: Overcoming Resistance

Rachelle — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:41:43 +0000

We’re still about 3 days behind the 30 Days deadline goal. Nonetheless, free advice is rolling out here at 30Stories in 30 Days as fast as I can type, record, and film it! Today’s offering comes from Freelance Unconventional Nun who asks:

Q: How do you overcome resistance in your art?

Ironically, I’ve been staring at this blank page for two hours now. I checked Twitter. I renewed my driver’s license. Paid a few bills. But have I written this post? No. No I have not.

Resistance is the artist greatest enemy. Full stop. And it comes from within.

Yeah, it bites.

Here are some tips and techniques for dealing with resistance:

Set Yourself Up
The number-one thing I do to break through resistance is to set myself forced deadlines. My son-adopted-by-affection is a big fan of self-directed education. He was unschooled in high school and spent his first year post-graduation self-educating. That works for some people. But others, like ..ehm…me…need a deadline if anything is ever going to get done. So set yourself a deadline, and make sure others know about it. Sell seats in a class before all the materials are done. Set a hard date that the next project will be available by. Tell someone you are going to write 30Stories in 30Days. Jolie Guillebeau promised 100 Paintings in 100 Days. Julie Powell pledged to cook through Julia Child’s entire French cookbook in a year. Sure, it would be nice if you were more mature and could get it done without someone breathing down your neck. But if deadlines are your thing, you might as well roll with it. Why fight functionality?

Know Your Cycle
At what point in your creative cycles is resistance most likely to strike? Make a note of it. You may not know how to keep resistance from striking. But if you know when it’s most likely to occur, then you can tell yourself “this too shall pass.” Think of it like your period. Sure you feel little nuts for a few days. But you level out eventually. If you aren’t aware of the stages of the creative cycle, or where yours gets all resistance-y, this might help.

Set the Timer
Get a kitchen timer and just start working. Put paint on the canvas, write words on a page. It doesn’t have to be a part of your finished product. You just need to get started. I usually set mine for 20 minutes. In 10 minutes I might not be in the groove. But if I set it for 20 and just start working, by the time the bell sounds I’m usually on a roll and don’t want to quit.

Personalize Your Gremlins
Resistance is definitely a gremlin. You might as well name it. (Mine is called Pinkerton.) When resistance raises its annoying little head, follow these tips. Pinkerton would also like to give you this. (He’s being a very good boy now.)

Become Pavlov’s Dog
I said this before about getting through administrative tasks, and it also applies to breaking through resistance around making your art. This technique works regardless of your art form. It involves picking a favorite “working song” or set of songs and playing it every time you sit down to work. Eventually you pattern your brain to twig into working as soon as you hear the familiar refrains. I still use a disc of trip hop that a friend made me eight years ago. When resistance is at its strongest, I break out those tunes and the muscle memory of typing takes over.

Show up at the Page
Any number of writers will tell you that the key to their success was to show up consistently to the page (or the easel, or the blow torch…you get the idea.) Most of them advocate for showing up at the same time every day. That’s nice if you are a full time artist. But for the rest of us, it’s more catch when catch can. If you can pick just one day/time of the week that is your time to make art, and hit it every week for 10 weeks, you will have gone a long way to establishing a working ritual for yourself. When you pick your time slot, keep functionality in mind. It would be lovely if you could write every morning at 5am, but will that work for you? I spent a lot of time feeling wimpy for the fact that I cannot write before noon. Finally I stopped resisting, planned my day around the fact that I would get the bulk of my work done between 12-3, and went with it. What’s your most functional time? Save some of it for your art if you can.

Read This Book
If you do nothing else for your art, read this: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield. Ignore the unrelentingly male warmonger-y title and just buy it. Your art is worth fighting for.

P.s. After two hours of resistance to this post, I wrote the whole thing in three songs. You can do it. Be a resistance fighter.

More on Resistance from Magpie Girl:
Writing and Resistance
Mantras for Writers

30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Stories: What happens when a Christian kid is born near Halloween.

Rachelle — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:36:52 +0000

I love questions that really spark a story, and this one from Heidi Gardner of Magic Lantern Arts reminded me of a few funny tales from my childhood.

Q: What has having a birthday so close to Halloween/Samhaim/All Saints/Dia de lose Muertos meant to you over the years?

Click here to watch the video answer. (5 minutes)

30 Stories in 30Days: I love getting behind the mic. So for my birthday month I’m answering questions and telling stories every single day. Email me your question along with the link to your blog, and I’ll book you a date on my 30Stories whirlwind. Watch for daily YBH (yes, but how) posts on friendly blogs, along with bi-weekly storied-podcasts at Magpie Girl.

30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Stories: How to turn administrative task into a spiritual/creative practice.

Rachelle — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:42:44 +0000

I really dig today’s question for 30 Stories in 30 Days. It comes from Carine MacDonald at Third Hand Works. Carine specializes in helping people get their systems in place for more effective, right-fit work flow. She asks:

Q:How do you bring your spirituality and/or your creativity to the administrative side of your business?

My answer? May it a creative spiritual practice. Like yoga. Don’t believe it’s possible. Click here to read my answer.

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30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Stories: Recovering from Chronic Illness

Rachelle — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:27:06 +0000

Today at 30Stories in 30Days, I talk about suriving and recovering from chronic illness when my long-time friend and massage therapist Susan Young asks:

Q: What role has massage played in your life?

Click here to ready my answer. (And to find a great massage therapist if you live in Pasadena!)

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30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Stories: What is Your Highest High?

Rachelle — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:13:14 +0000

Today at 30 Stories in 30 Days, Kate Kimble of A Nerd and Her Words ask:

Q: What moment/s in your life have brought you to your Highest High? Picking one is probably an unfair expectation (especially since you have more than one child, and I imagine their births probably rank at the top). So feel free to do a few or group them into categories. I’ll leave that up to you. I just want to know about the happiest moments of your life.

I was on a vlogging roll, so I decided to answer Kate’s question as a video post. My answer harkens back to yesterday’s post about Making A Difference, which of course is connected to all kinds of kismet things that are happen amongst my coaching friends at the moment. I hope you enjoy the video. Thanks for watching!

What about You? What’s one of your highest highs? And what can you mine from it to help direct you to your next great moment?

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30Stories 30Days: The Collection

Oct 1: What is the intersect between work and play and how can I find it?
Oct 2: How has your spirituality shaped your sexuality?
Oct 3: IRL and Online Friendships: same? different? balanced.
Oct 4: How can I connect with my neighborhood?
Oct 5: What do I do if my partner and I have different faiths?
Oct 6: What are you doing to make a difference in this world?

30Stories: Making a Difference

Rachelle — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:01:43 +0000

Today at 30Stories in 30Days Jamie Habermass of M.A.D. in this World asks:

Q: What are you doing to make a difference in this world?

You know, that’s a question I would love to hear YOUR take on. What do you see me doing that makes a difference in this world? I would love to see it through your eye. My comments (and my heart) are open.

In the meantime, here’s my written answer at Jamie’s Place, and my slightly different podcasted answer:

Seeking: Where Soulcare Meet Worldcare

Also on the same wavelength:

Jennifer Louden with You are Called
Tara Sophia Mohr with You Can Stand
Heather Plett with About Sophia

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30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Stories: One Couple, Two Different Faiths

Rachelle — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:58:01 +0000

On day 5 of 30Stories 30Day Gail of My Life’s Journey asks:

Q: How does faith, your faith walk, fit in to your marriage? Does it? What would you say to someone who is on a radically different faith walk than her husband?

Click here to read my answer, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

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30Stories 30Days: The Collection

30Stories: How to Build a Neighborhood

Rachelle — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:39:18 +0000

On Day Four of 30Stories 30Days, Jill Scripps of Fireflies Art asks:

Q: How do you participate in your local community? Not the big city nearby…but right where you live. I am trying to do more locally instead of heading to the nearest big city in order to feel connected.

Click here to o read my YBH (yes, but how) post on how to do such a thing (and a wonderful thing it is!)

To hear my slightly-dreamier and not quite as how-to version, listen below.

How We Built a Neighborhood

(Oh I do so hope you will do both!)

Much Warmth,
Rachelle

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30Stories 30Days: The Collection

Oct 1: What is the intersect between work and play and how can I find it?
Oct 2: How has your spirituality shaped your sexuality?
Oct 3: IRL and Online Friendships: same? different? balanced.