BlissChick

Bliss Board (a.k.a. Vision Board)

At the beginning of the year I was invited to join a group of friends to put a vision board together.  I know it is a very coachy and common for go getters and the goal oriented.  This was my first and it was fun and now I am kind of hooked.  I have to say when I put it together I wasn't thinking of what I wanted to get really... but where I wanted to be and how I wanted to feel.  Putting it together felt like a ritual like planting a seed, the ingredients to a delicious recipe, or mapping out uncharted territory.  It felt good and as if something had been set in motion.

                                                                                                                                                                                         

I had been saving a file with pictures in it for quite some time and in fact since I put this one together in January I have filled a folder and could probably wall paper my room :0).  A file full of feel good you could say.

The great thing about doing this with a group of people was the feeling that we were all working on something very special and unique for each of us.  Different color backgrounds with different meanings, different pictures and arrangements.  You could feel this was a ritual for everyone and what started as nervous excitement and adventures in cutting and gluing became quiet, focused and powerful.  Because seeing it and pasting it permanently to the paper made it real.  Seeing it everyday makes it real and makes you feel.

I am not sure I could describe what this means to me, I just know it feels like me and it feels good, not just the pictures but this feeling and design like a tree was meaningful for me, with strong roots that run deep, and limbs that bear fruit.  I also noticed some themes that have always been important to me in my life playing a major role on my board, like travel, sailing, water (big portion of my board) my mom always said I was a fish.  The word a million came up many times on my board and it surprised me... initially I will admit a million bucks sounds pretty good and I fully intend to create that over and over throughout my life time, it took on new meaning as I built the tree that if I were to touch a million lives the rest would be taken care of. It seemed to evolve on it's own which was why it was so fun and it is always great to be able to surprise yourself.

So I look at it everyday and it makes me feel good, it reminds of the ritual of creating and that is how I imagine vision boards as being powerful tools of manifestation and in my words creation.  It's fun, call your friends and start to create, it might surprise you what gets glued and what gets left behind, or a major theme or shape appears seemingly out of nowhere and into creation.

Stay tuned for Bliss Board #2, becoming a new art form for me!

Wendi

A Conversation with Howard

Late in the week I knew I was due for a day to myself and today was the day.  I woke up feeling that I should do the laundry, get the house cleaned up and various other could be priorities… but the beach was calling so I drove north and landed in Laguna Beach.

I still felt distracted even as I headed out feeling that I should do some other things on the way but next thing I knew I was parked and headed to my favorite store Art for the Soul, then a tasty Carmel Apple and to a vacant bench on an otherwise crowded beach with my latest read.

I had the bench to myself and for a cool February day the sun was straight overhead it was warm and toasty and had me forgetting it was still winter… only in California :0)

I was savoring my last slice of Carmel apple when a man walked up and asked if he could share the bench to which my reply was “of course….” There were many people around coming and going taking up residence on the bench next to us as I started to read.  I looked over and commented to the man sharing the bench with me what a beautiful day it was and he agreed saying “ah yes paradise” and our conversation began.

He started to tell me how he was always here, that this was his spot and that amazing things always seem to happen here.   He also shared that tomorrow is his 83^rd birthday and that he had experienced a pretty great life.  Highs and lows he said but it was in this place on the bench that he said his life was at it’s greatest.  Where he ponders on how grateful he is for his health although he said his mind got fuzzy every now and then, to live in paradise and have the experiences he had, he shared he couldn’t ask for anything more.  I imagined that was true from this place.

He started to share ideas and experiences in his life and I realized this was no accident me sharing this bench with Howard. We were immediate friends and he was saying the very things I had been thinking right then… even capturing the subtitle of a book I hadn’t gotten out of my bag yet in our conversation.  Which by the was “While designing your lifestyle, remember to live…” 

He shared that in his 83 years he had seen a lot, made some tough but authentic choices, had a battle with alcohol but now rather than dancing on bar tables he could just enjoy this bench, watching people, feeling the water on his feet for his afternoon walks.  More people started to come by and sit closer, you could tell they were listening in as I am sure Howard and I looked like an odd pair.   They wanted to know what was going on and what we were talking about so they listened in and it was fine... one woman sat on the edge of the bench next to us leaning in and heard him say my name and said “my name is Wendi too”.  Another couple walked up with a video camera and wanted to interview Howard for his You Tube talk Show –  I was starting to think Howard had earned a reputation I was unaware of. Howard seemed as surprised as I and replied “ I don’t know what they want with me, I don’t know them, I am just me, here on my bench.”

He had said it was a special day, to have this conversation and connection and I agreed... I was grateful.  He said some very touching things, telling me to use my gift, to not hide my light as if he knew what that was and was ever  re-assuring about my direction, he seemed surprised that I was so receptive and understood where he was coming from.

It was the simple things he said… that what happened here on this bench is what it is really all about.. not all the nice cars driving up and down main street as we spoke or the glitz and the glamour as he put so well.  You could tell this man really lived all the days of his life… maybe some fame, maybe some fortune, certainly some challenges and yet he said the best stuff wasn’t flashy it was just about connecting like this and being receptive.  He pointed out that people always come around when you’re having fun… connecting, they want to know how, they want to be a part of it and sure enough the people kept coming joining in, listening in.

I looked around and took in the things he saw from this bench .. there was a beautiful girl from Europe asking passerby’s to take her picture as she posed seductively, there was a girl who had this awe and wonder about her bouncing and laughing from dog to child… Howard told me that someone lets her loose and she is not all there… he worries for her.  There were couples on the grass behind us and thinkers on the benches beside us.  The things and people he must of met and connected with over the years… and today was my day.  He made it seem as if I was the only one but my hunch is that he has touched many lives in this very spot... pointing out their gifts, encouraging people to use them and setting a mighty fine example by sharing his.

I knew my parking meter would be expiring shortly and I gave Howard a kiss on the cheek and told him I would see him here again.   He told me where his favorite spots were and he said please do this again, sit by him and start a conversation even if he didn’t remember me.  I smiled and walked away feeling like I had given and received a gift all at the same time.  Much better than the laundry that awaited me at home.

Happy Birthday Howard!  You are a gift!

Wendi

"Expect the Unexpected"

I like surprises… not the kind where people pop out of cakes, or dark alleys but the kind where you know you are alive because something or someone has reached out and connected… touched your life or maybe you them.

Do you know what I mean?   You get the chills, goose bumps, butterflies or an exciting little rush.  It feels like a magical moment that really when you slice and dice it… is always sooo simple but seemingly elusive.

I remember being at a restaurant one time and our waitress was fantastic; I mean she really stood out.   I can’t put my finger on what she did that was so special but it was memorable and I think the tip we left her was too.  They don’t call Disneyland the happiest place on earth for nothing. The people there surprise you with their kindness and attention to detail.  My grandmother who worked there for 35 years might disagree but to visit they accomplish their goal and it feels a bit magical.  It’s like the rush I get when I pay for the person coffee behind me in the Starbucks drive-thru or turn up the nice with the most difficult of people.  It’s doing the unexpected... shaking things up a bit.  The only thing I am curious about is why it is unexpected… what is expected is often mediocre and quite frankly boring.

I realize this question applies to me too and here’s what happens in that moment where I can choose the unexpected or settle for mediocrity. Maybe you can relate to the tapes that play… “the appointments, meetings, don’t have the extra time, don’t have the extra money, what if they don’t like it or me, and today I am just sooo tired, what if I am embarrassed or a little over the top, or the classic nobody goes out of their way any more, they’ll think I’m a freak ????

By then the opportunity has passed you by or has been quickly squashed like a bug…. 

Then there is the issue of supply and demand… after all if you give all your love, laughter, compassion, creativity and genius away, what will you be left with? So many reasons and yet last time I checked the last few listed here like love and laughter come in an endless supply and are probably the most renewable resource on the planet and the others, the excuses, they don’t hold a candle to the goose bumps!

 

As elusive as they may be, everyday I wish and intend to be pleasantly surprised.  I want to witness something special, generous, bold, truthful, vulnerable and all out unexpected.  Life is just more fun and meaningful when people and days are not as we could predict them to be.  So while wishing and intending are a fabulous start… the real AHA for me and I hope for you, is the unexpected and the new starts with us. I choose to look at this desire to be surprised as an invitation to be the unexpected in each day and accept the challenge to risk enough everyday to feel truly alive. 

Here's to something pleasantly surprising ~

Wendi

Scarlett Picks Obama as her Valentine Candidate

Imagine my surprise today when I received a call from Scarlett Johannson declaring her love and support for Obama one day before "Super Tuesday".  It was a pre-recorded kick in the pants to get me and I am sure millions of others out and vote.

There are so many things to consider... issues, life experience, integrity just to name a few.  You can catch the debates, as it appears more numbers than ever have this year. You can read up on blogs, check out the political analyst, watch progressive cable shows and get a taste of what feels like a very different Presidential Race.  People seem excited and passionate about the candidates and what is at stake.  It's refreshing!

Contagious even....  catching the debates between Spongebob and dinner, being begged to change the channel or suffer the consequences of a 7 year old dance and taunt in front of the TV screen or the classic tug o' war over the remote.  Even with the distractions there was still something  happening for me,  I was seeing faces, hearing words and getting bits and pieces and I was feeling something.  Connected or disconnected, engaged or confused, inspired or bored... it is not just in the content of what is being said but the energy behind it.  The smiles, the ease, the tension, the sweat, the blunders, the pokes, the avoiding, the confronting, the sense of humor and comraderie, the looks, the same ole', or something new.... again some refreshing some not so much...

While I don't plan to get into a debate myself about politics, there is very clear distinction in this race for me as to what feels good and what does not.  That along with information, issues, integrity and experience are all ingredients in making a choice and being once again inspired to vote!  Ahhh refreshing!

Wendi