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

"Thou Art"

I sit watching a live concert through a webcast as I type this and I am amazed by the talent and art I see and feel… I have always loved music and many different types.  Tonight I watch Muse do their thing at the 2007 KROQ Acoustic Christmas and they do “their thing” really really well.

Art: (ahrt)

1. The quality, production, expression, or realm according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or more than ordinary significance.

Hmmm, there is something about that I like… it is all good but when I came to the part about more than ordinary significance… something in me said yes..  it is what I am here for.  Did you say yes too? 

So what is it that will give you this feeling of being significant, being extraordinary?  I say it lies in your art and how you express it to the world.  While all of us aren’t cut out to be Rockstars... all of us rock in our own way. 

When I found coaching 6 years ago I didn’t know if it would be my art.  I had hoped it would be, but to be honest it felt like it was something I was trying on, something I was hoping would be my “thing” a lofty aspiration for sure.  It all started when I went away for a weekend to a coacing conference and came home signed up for coaching school and inspired… when you feel this way you want to tell everyone and anyone that will listen. “I am going to be a coach” I said, to which the replies included… “that’s great, what sport” " or “huh?”  which then lead to some comical explanations by me. "You know life coaching"... I would say but still I left some of my supporters glazed and confused.  I had to admit this was the first time trying this all on was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable.  After all if I couldn't explain it and people didn't know what it was, how could it possibly work? My ever helpful mind continued with  “Who do you think you are anyway?”  The best news is I didn’t have a good answer for who I thought I was... but coaching still seemed like the right place to find out.

In learning the art of coaching I did find answers… and I found my art.  I’m not sure I believed I would ever say it though.  But there it is I said it..  It is my “thing” it is “my art”. I wonder what got me to this place from doing coaching to being a coach?  In looking back I see there were a lot of things and it included "doing" coaching and school and trainings even though it seemed there was always more to learn. I have hired some fantastic coaches over the years too, their example and insight... truly priceless.  Oh and there was that memorable day when someone paid me to be their coach, that made it kind of official and I still have the check posted in my office.  This was all part of it but in the end, the real turning point was the privilege of allowing myself the experience.  Deciding "I want this no matter what" and welcoming the mild discomfort to sheer panic and fear that accompanied me along the way of not knowing if I would ever succeed but doing it anyway because for me everything else felt ordinary and insignificant.

You have an extraordinary significance here… Believe it ~

Wendi

P.S. It all starts with feeling good… check out the inspiration or “Muse” I should say for this article in the entry below.