On Being “Fabulous”…

Like some 11 million or so other women, I went to the premier of Sex and the City this past Friday. My friend Kathy and I went to the mid-afternoon showing and dressed for the occasion, of course. She in black pallatso pants and raspberry tunic, with strappy black sandals, and me in my favorite black pencil dress and hot pink 3/4-sleeve cardigan, with black linen peep-toe wedges, both in “Diva” shades. We looked and felt fabulous.

The movie was everything we could have hoped it to be. Afterward, riding on a “girl power” high, I went shopping. I had an air of confidence about me, with a spring in my step and a smile that told every one I was a woman in love with her life.

As I watched a disproportionate number of women wearing bright pink this week and walking around town as if they were keeping some juicy secret, I started thinking about this SATC phenomenon:

Did we need this movie as a reminder to claim our feminine power?

It seems we connect with these women on some core level and seeing them on the big screen somehow allowed us to channel our inner Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. Each character is a fictional extreme and yet, we harbor facets of each of them in our personalities.

Carrie is the face of our insecurities. She tries to find fulfillment as the eternal seeker - of love, of truth, of passion and attempts to fill the emptiness with shoes.

Samantha is our animal instinct incarnate. She fully embraces her physicality, speaks her mind and gets what she wants.

Charlotte is our heart center. She is fully in touch with her emotions and will follow them wherever they may lead.

Miranda is our ego mind personified. She thinks, therefore she is. Her head will always second guess her heart.

We are, by nature a balance of these four seemingly disparate women. We tend to associate more with one or the other at various times in our lives and even sadly, deny ourselves the others as being too bold.

So today, put on your “Diva” shades and embrace whichever of these women you have closeted away to see your world through her eyes. I think you might be suprised at how empowering it is to shift your usual perspective, if even for the day.

And remember to love each of those selves, as together they make us Fabulous!

Livin’ In the Hot Pink,

Lynn

May Dreams

The beginning of May (Beltaine as the ancient Celts called it), is the true beginning of the growing season.

Winter’s long slumber has nurtured seeds and readied them for the warm days to come. Early Spring brought those seeds to the light to begin germinating, and now…

Now is the time for us to allow them to grow. We will feed them and weed out what tries to stifle their growth. We will give them space, and light, and love so that we might later enjoy the fruits of our labors.

So to have our hopes and dreams lain sleeping during the long dark winter and as the Spring sun warms them and calls to them, they now long to stretch out and grow.

What seeds have you been nurturing that are now ready to sprout into life? Are you finally ready to grow your dreams into the life you were meant to live?

A Time to Rest…

Last Thursday was the first day of the Celtic New Year.

Traditionally observed as the beginning of a time for resting after the final harvests of the growing season. The Great Mother Earth has given Her bounty and is now able to replentish Her resources during Winter’s slumber. Taking thier cue from the land, the people also retreated inside to rest and heal. This is how it was for many centuries.

Lately, we have fallen out of sync with the rhythm of nature and mindlessly try to add more activities into our already busy lives. We take no time to rest and ignore our own bodies needs as we ignore the needs of our overburdened planet.

Guess what??? This is NOT living our lives in balance!

We’re all guilty of it to some extent. Even I have found myself trying to fit in “just one more…” Occasionally taking on extra duties or responsibilities so that you can benefit from it at another time is one thing, however when “another time” never comes and the extra are now the norm, something’s gotta give!

Unfortunately, that something is oftentimes US - our bodies, our minds, our spirits. In our quest to cram more “living” into our lives we end up just existing, rushing from caffeine fix to caffeine fix, drive-thru meal to drive-thru meal. Never stopping to appreciate our surroundings, the people we interact with on a daily basis, or ourselves for that matter.

I challenge you today to stop, just for a moment. Go outside and take a deep breath of the cool autumn air. Allow your senses to become aware of the external changing season and your own internal changing season, as your body desires rest and comfort.

It is this awareness and honoring of the seasons of our lives that will help us stay balanced as we navigate through the chaos of the modern world, so we can truly live.

Deep peace to you,

Lynn

Balance Day Has Arrived!

The Autumnal Equinox - the day of perfect balance between day and night, before we slip into the dark time of the year, the time of rest and reflection. The perfect day for me to launch my new website www.dragonflylifeinbalance.com a site devoted to helping to find balance in our energy and our lives.

The thing about preparing to launch this site devoted to finding balance, is that my life was quite out of balance for the couple of weeks before launch day. I found myself rushing home right after a full day of work to hop on the computer and staying up til the wee small hours every night/morning as I put together the finishing touches.

That’s the thing about balance - it’s the point between the extreme swings of the pendulum. It is something we have to seek out, or we will miss it for watching those extremes.

So now I find myself there again. Finally able to rest, to reflect and to spend time with my ever-patient loved ones.

Wishing you balance and joy,

Lynn

Welcome to the Balance Blog!

As I put the finishing touches on my new website www.dragonflylifeinbalance.com, I decided to create a blog to go along with it.

Here I’ll be addressing the issues I face in keeping my life in balance.

Recently I’ve been working with one of my coaches on adding more relaxation to my life. With growing my practice, building my website and working on my coaching certification I have found myself with precious little free time.  That good old puritan work ethic makes me feel as if I have to fill that space with more work!

Well, we all know that ain’t right.

So, I’ve very deliberately added “down-time” to my schedule.  I am making time to practice yoga, I’m getting massages on a regular basis and I’m being mindful of being fully present when I spend quality time with Ray.  I can’t express enough how very important that is.  Life is far too short to waste the time we spend with our loved ones thinking about the other things we have going on.

I’m not saying it’s been an easy transition for me.  It has, however been incredibly rewarding.  The time I spend tending to my self-care needs and to my relationship have been rewarding in their own right.  I am also enjoying the ripple effect of refreshing and renewing my energy and my spirit.  So when I do concentrate on work I’m not “running on empty”.

I’ll let you know how this is evolving and any other balance challenges that come up in future postings.

Namaste,

Lynn