A week of new ideas

Sunshine and some playtime began the week with a whole new photographic style for me – it’s becoming more abstract and I think even stronger.  Now I’m looking for new venues for this aspect – maybe those modern galleries downtown aren’t so far out of reach after all…;-)

Beyond that it’s  been a long week with ‘progress’ meaning I got the basics done – and sometimes that is progress.  I think it’s human nature to think that mountain climbing means summiting a peak on a daily basis. The reality is that mountain climbing is really about putting one foot in front of the other when it’s most challenging.  My challenge this week has been keeping my emotional distance -something I’m really bad at, so bad that I occasionally even consider it a positive trait! But getting dragged into drama with family and work where my input doesn’t de-escalate the situation and doesn’t move me forward (or anyone else for that matter.)  I like to get things that are unsettled settled so I can forget about them – which is where patience comes in.  Sometimes you just have to let things go and be prepared to deal with them when they come back at you.

I’ve been working on my travel essay instead. And deciding that a simple feng shui solutions book will be my first e-book.  It’s a popular topic, I have several illustrations ready and I won’t get hung up in editing the text forever because it’s going to be simple lists.  I’m looking forward to getting started but it will have to wait another week, I think. The U.S. government is claiming my attention this weekend with the looming tax date – might as well just get it done.

Technorati Tags: baby steps, creativity, letting go

What are baby steps, anyway?

I’ve been reading This Year I Will…: over the weekend and finding even more things to think about then the last time I read it. One thing in particular that stood out for me was the chapter on making changes by taking baby steps – only these were minuscule steps. For example if you wanted to be more consistent about flossing your teeth, starting with just one tooth and then working your way up.  I’ve been used to hearing about people that worked their way up to marathons by running one block and then one mile etc but not by running past one house and then two! Possibly I need to dial down my efforts a bit and they just might stick better.

The question I’m now wrestling with though is what are these minuscule steps if the topic is neither flossing nor running?  If the goal is widening your social circle to include both friends and potential dates, does that mean simply varying your routine by going to a different Starbucks?  Or doing one web search for local lectures? Or something else entirely?  It’s a puzzle, but one worth figuring out.  The alternative path would be do jump into yet another online dating site or speed dating etc.  That might seem like baby steps, I would have categorized it that way before, yet clearly that’s bigger than what we’re talking about here. No wonder the success rate of those things is so low; people are overwhelmed.

I’m also wondering if I could start running if I did just try it house by house – whee, I’m up to running past three houses!?  It might be an interesting experiment. Who cares how long something takes if you reach the goal?

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, baby steps

First steps

Moss on a rock is certainly not a new thing. Did you ever stop to think how it got started? Where did the first green appear?  Everything had to start somewhere. What first step did you take today? What have you carried forward just that much farther from the day before?

Wallace Falls State Park, Juliet Chase, all  rights reserved

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, baby steps, meditation images, minute meditation, Online Meditation, online relaxation

Celebrate the Vernal Equinox

Spring comes to the northern hemisphere this weekend (March 20th).  For those of you that don’t keep track, the equinox is when there is an equal amount of daylight and darkness.  From the equinox to the summer solstice (June 21st) the days will get longer and longer, by just a handful of seconds each day.

It’s Nature’s perfect example of making great strides in small steps.  So pick something that you really want to do more of like reading to your kids, walking in the neighborhood, or emailing your friends and follow the sun. Add just a tiny bit each day; one more paragraph, one more page, one more house on the next block.  In just three months you may not recognize how far you’ve come until you compare it against where you started… and then it will be Summer.

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, baby steps, relationships, routine, setting goals, time management