One Word That Changed Things For Me And It's Not What You Think
We spent a beautiful Thanksgiving at the beach and at the beginning of the trip I asked for amessage of guidance. The next morning I woke up with the memory of one word:
Satisfied.
I was fascinated - why did this one word feel so good?
What if I went through the rest of the vacation allowing myself to feel satisfied in each moment? I had so much goodness around me - could I be satisfied? All weekend I kept repeating the word in my head. Satisfied. Satisfied. Satisfied. It felt so "just right" - not wanting or seeking, not overloaded with too much. Satisfied.
We are surrounded by so many messages, especially at this time of year, encouraging us that there's something more we need. Under no circumstances should we feel satisfied, ever. There's always more possibility, more potential, something bigger and better up ahead.
Our brains are actively scanning for the next thing. On our phones, on our computers, as we're driving or shopping. No sense of closure. No spot to mentally rest. So many demands on our attention and so many possible solutions to our dissatisfaction.
Have you noticed this too?
I've been continuing to play with the word "satisfied" now that I'm back home, and seeing how I can apply it to my actions, my state of being, my experiences.
What I'm describing sounds similar to a gratitude practice, but for me right now the word "satisfied" feels even more powerful than "grateful". We can be grateful about the absence of bad things. Satisfied implies that all is well.
It doesn't imply that there is no change coming - we can be satisfied with our approach to a problem, or satisfied with our desire for a change. It's different than contentment as well - we can be satisfied with our discontent, without needing to jump right away. Satisfied feels like a place to breathe.
I do have plans, things to be done, the tree is up but un-decorated, and there is much going on in my life as I'm sure there is in yours. I'm still making space, physically and mentally, for what I'd like to create in 2016.
But in the midst of the planning and the doing, wow - what a lovely thing to be satisfied with myself and where I am in the process of my life. To be satisfied with my efforts, with my approach - with what I get done and don't get done each day. To wake up satisfied, to go to sleep satisfied, to be satisfied with the arc of my experience- that just feels like peace.
If this feels intriguing to you, I encourage you to try it. Spend the rest of today and tomorrow feeling satisfied. See how that shifts your energy.
White horses and the power of intention
I just returned from a sublime week in California, wrapping up my Master Coach training with Martha Beck herself. It was beyond special. I've had difficulty figuring out how to describe the experience with words. There was a convergence of beauty and energy of place, people, horses and nature. There was a collective intention to learn, love and share. I am beyond honored to be called a Master Coach, and of course I'm still learning and always will be. While I was working on my application for the Master Coach program back in March, I created a super-quick vision board one morning. It looked like this:
My favorite part of it was this woman draped in filmy orange fabric, a beautiful white horse behind her, its eyes peacefully closed. This was my intention for the horse coaching that I knew would come at the end of our training. At that point I just wanted to survive the horse coaching. I didn't know too much about it except that you couldn't hide anything from a horse. I had a crazy idea that the horses would gaze deep into my soul, find me wanting, and ignore me or run away. So this image , which I gazed at for many months leading up to my horse experience, well, it was there to comfort me. Maybe I would be like gauzy-dress-woman and a white horse would follow me. Peaceful. (I ignored the reality that the horse was probably blinking from the wind machine that had the model's hair going all crazy like that.)
So, the months went on. I completed myriad assignments. I received helpful feedback. I cried some. I hid some. I stepped out some. I tried all kinds of crazy ideas. I took some risks. I did my best to be present and to show up. And finally, the time came to show up in person at Martha's ranch.
I arrived just a little bit early with Erin, a fellow Master-Coach-to-be who was familiar with the ranch and the horses, as she's an expert Equus coach. (Thank you, Universe, for making those arrangements!) We had time to go see the beautiful labyrinth, which meant walking through a fenced area with horses. Two white horses!
So there I was. Me and a white horse. No boundaries between us. Plenty of room for it to ignore me and stay far away, disappointed with my lack-luster soul.
Ah, but that's not what happened. No. This horse came right up to me. Snuffled my face with his sweet velvety nose. Exhaled his grassy breath onto my cheek. (How had I never had that incredible experience before?) We took a selfie together. Erin said it appeared that he was very agreeably posing with me.
Wow. We hadn't even gotten to the horse coaching day and my vision had come true, minus orange see-through dress and wind machine.
Now I see white horses everywhere. I saw this beautiful one yesterday.
I bet he dresses up like a unicorn for Halloween!
I saw a spotted white and tan horse today, but didn't take a picture. I'm seeing them everywhere, in catalogs, in paintings. Nearly every day, a white horse. For now, they're talismans of what's possible, just like it said in the appropriately orange words I glued across gauzy-girl's waist. "Think what's possible." So much is possible. Me. A master coach. Hanging out for a weekend with Martha, Koelle, Jennifer, Bridgette. And my wonderful Master Coach cohort. Learning. Teaching. Sharing. Being.
So much is possible.
Vision boards help me with my intentions. They provide images for me to connect with, perhaps even on a subconscious level. And they are so much fun! If you're in the New Orleans area and love vision boards and wigs and dancing, it's still not too late to sign up for WIGS and WIGS this Thursday, November 14. Who knows what you might put on your board that may come true in the best way? Intention is a powerful tool.
And if you see a white horse, please say hello for me!
Are you missing the three-leafed clovers?
I've had a really sick cat. (But he might be getting better.) And I'm not beyond being a little superstitious, even when it's a bit silly. So today, when we got home from the vet, he went out to rest in the grass and I decided to join him as I often do. Grass time is always important. And while I was sitting there, amidst the clover, I thought I'd search for a four-leafed clover. They're not as uncommon as you might think, and I thought finding one could be a sign. Something to comfort me. To convince me that everything would be ok, and that Buster isn't on his ninth life just quite yet. One like this one I found in about two minutes a month or so ago.
So I ruffled through the leaves, gazed past all the three-leafed clovers, looking for my prize. And then something happened. I got caught up in how pretty the raindrops looked on the leaves. I ruminated about the cycle of life, right there before me, in fresh clover flowers and ones that had already browned and gone to seed. I noticed how many shades of green there are, just in clover leaves.
And I realized I didn't need to find a four-leafed clover today. I already had my prize.
How often in life do we skip over all the beautiful everyday moments - the three-leafed clovers- while we're waiting and searching, anticipating our prize - a big event, a vacation, something major to look forward to? It's fascinating, isn't it?
How would life be different if we did a better job of noticing three-leafed clovers? All the small miracles - all the beauty and magic that surrounds us. How many millions of three-leafed clover moments are there - ready to be savored and appreciated?
What three-leafed clover moments have you noticed lately? I would love to hear about them. Share yours in the comments, if you like.
P. S. As I wrap up this post much later in the evening, I'm happy to report that the sweet cat has indeed revived, yet again. And I am savoring every 3-leafed moment with him.
Manifesting Madonna
Have you ever heard of a vision board? It’s like a collage – a visual representation of what you’d like to have happen in the future. It’s a fun way to articulate your goals or dreams, and strangely, once you put it out there in words and pictures, circumstances begin to align to allow your dreams to actually happen!
Some people might call it magic, or harnessing the energy of the universe or angels – but it’s really quite practical. It’s just like when you learn a new vocabulary word – one you never even knew existed, and then you see it everywhere. You won’t notice something until you put your attention toward it.
I like to play with vision boards. I like thinking about what I want and then finding the words and images to go with my vision. So about six months ago, I made a vision board about my business. And one of the images I put on it was Madonna. She was in dark glasses and red lipstick. She looked confident and composed. She’s Madonna, after all! I put her on the board because I wanted to channel Madonna’s fearless energy, her willingness to push boundaries, her total comfort in her own skin. Madonna is a badass. And I admire her for that.
A couple of days after I made the vision board I read somewhere that Madonna was coming to New Orleans in October. And I thought, “Huh. Maybe I can manifest some Madonna tickets too. Wouldn’t that be cool if I end up at the Madonna concert in October? Then I’ll really believe in this vision boarding stuff!” And then I looked up the prices and thought, “No way.” And I forgot about it for the summer.
October came. And nothing. Oh well. Then the night before the concert, I was having cocktails with a dear friend and she mentioned a friend of hers was trying to get rid of Madonna tickets. My ears perked right up – Madonna tickets? Say more! Did my friend want to ask about them? Did she want to go? Yes and yes. So she texted and asked if the tickets were still available. We continued to sip cocktails and snack and chat while we waited about 45 minutes to hear back.
Yes – they were ours! I thought, “Why not?” I never, ever, ever buy big arena concert tickets – the last arena show I saw was the Grateful Dead in 1990 or so and before that maybe Peter Gabriel in 1987. Seemed it was time to go ahead and go for it. I told my friend my cool vision boarding story. How I’d manifested Madonna.
She said, “That’s not manifesting. You still have to pay for the tickets!” And I said, “Hmm, that’s true.” And then I checked my phone. And about ten minutes after she had asked for the tickets from her friend, I’d received a PayPal payment for a class that had already begun the night before, from someone I’d never heard of – exactly enough to cover the tickets and a drink and food too! This felt like free money because the class was already going, new person or not . I thought, “Wow – the universe really is sending me a wink!”
It gets crazier. Unusual circumstances led to my friend not being able to go to the concert. So now – should I go alone? Hmmm. I went ahead and went. And I ended up sitting next to an old friend who I hadn’t seen ages! What are the chances of our tickets being near each other? And because Madonna didn’t come on stage until about 10:30 p.m. when the tickets said 8 p.m., it was good that my original friend wasn’t able to come – she would not have been happy waiting around for 2.5 hours! Somehow we heard through the grapevine that Madonna would be coming on very late, so we just settled in, relaxed, and people-watched.
Then, finally, Madonna. She still has it. She’s still pushing the envelope. We sometimes forget when we’re recalling the lace and the perky songs about stars and holidays that she’s always done some pretty edgy stuff and stretched her audiences past their comfort zone. This show was no exception. There was so much to see, so much to process – it was quite a spectacle! She's definitely still a badass.
You can call this whole set of circumstances coincidence or luck or whatever. I know that. But I love this story, and I love my vision board, and I love that I manifested Madonna! And I love that I can be open to great fun and amazing possibilities every day.
How about you? What do you dream of? Let me know what’s on your vision board, and if you have a great “manifesting” story, please share it in the comments! And enjoy the slide show of the concert and the fabulous outfits people wore to celebrate!
[slideshow]
The power of story, and an intervention by angels...
Within the first couple hours of our road trip to Colorado earlier this month, we lost a wallet. Not fun, right? Here's what happened. We stopped at a convenience store just over an hour away from home to grab some soda and juice. My sweetheart started to give me his wallet to pay, and I said, no - it's ok - I have mine.
We kept driving. To Alexandria, Louisiana. Now about four and a half hours from home. And we got to the hotel, and my sweetheart said, "Honey, what did you do with my wallet?" Oh. No. My stomach dropped. Had he handed me his wallet while he went to the bathroom? What did I do with it? Did I leave it on the counter? We searched high and low. In every possible nook and cranny in the car. We didn't find it. It was 10 p.m.
Ok, so I asked myself, what's perfect about this? (Very hard in a situation like this, believe me.) I always start with, "We're ok." Then, "There wasn't that much money in it.", Then, "Only one credit card to cancel." We got on the phone and took care of that.
Then there was the matter of the driver's license. And here the angels intervened. 1. We were still in Louisiana. 2. We had internet and a laptop to easily search for Motor Vehicle offices. 3. The office in Alexandria was literally less than a five-minute drive from our hotel! Can't you hear the angelic choirs singing??
We went there the next day, first thing. And there wasn't much of a wait. (Go, angels!) And they renewed my sweetheart's license so he won't have to wait in line in a couple of months in New Orleans. And then it was done and we were on our way.
"Ok", you say. "I get it. Angels intervened. But what about the power of story? Why is that in the title?" Well, a couple of reasons. We could have used a lot of energy telling a really different story about this. About how awful it was. About how we couldn't believe that no one had turned in the wallet (we did call the convenience store - amazing that we were able to remember which one and find its number online!) About all the money we'd lost. About the hassle of changing online accounts to new credit card numbers. About how stupid I was for leaving the wallet on the counter, or wherever I'd left it. We could have seen it as a "bad omen" for our whole trip.
But we didn't. We had a fantastic trip. We didn't even think about it much except that my sweetie had to ask me for my credit card when we'd stop for gas.
And then we came home. And you will never guess what was on my sweetheart's desk. Did you guess? You're right! His wallet. Because he'd never brought it in the first place. He'd only offered to pay. He had never actually handed me his wallet! We'd completely fabricated that part of the story!
And here's where the angels actually intervened. What if we had realized we didn't have the wallet at the convenience store- one hour away from home? We would have probably driven back to get it, which would have taken more than twice as long as what we ended up doing. And it would have been a very un-fun two hours. In traffic.
I make up stories all the time - I create motives, fabricate background information, and selectively remember facts. And I just finished a book, a rather dark book, but an incredible story that illustrates this so well. It's called The Sense of An Ending, by Julian Barnes. It's a short, engaging novel that so clearly illustrates the power of story to affect real lives. You'll think you know what's happening right up until the end - I won't spoil it.
So, what stories are you telling yourself these days about the circumstances around you? Do you have a good example of how you turned around what seemed like crummy circumstances into a better story? Are you noticing the intervention of angels/the universe/luck, or whatever you want to call it, in your life? I'd love to hear! Email me at carla@livingwildandprecious.com or share your story in the comments below.