Happy You Day!!!

Well, it's royal wedding Friday and as I was sitting and watching the amazing event and the throngs of people who had turned out to show their support I realized that all of those people had essentially taken part in their very own holiday. Oh sure, it was for the furture King and Queen of England, but it sure did feel like a national holiday from where I was sitting. After my second cup of coffee it occurred to me that why shouldn't you and I deserve a holiday of our very own?
We may not be royalty or achieved anything of historical worthiness, but sometimes doesn't just getting through the day feel like a grand accomplishment in and of itself? So why shouldn't we celebrate ourselves? I realize that birthdays are kind of like our own sort of holiday (at least I like to look at it that way anyway), but what if we picked one day....not just annually, but maybe seasonally and made that day our own? What if we took a day off from work smack dab in the middle of the week, stayed in our pajamas and gave ourselves one entire day to do nothing but the things we wanted to do for ourselves? We deserve at LEAST that much, don't we? Of course we do!
You work hard...probably a heck of a lot harder than you give yourself credit for! Maybe you have a demanding job, children that you have put your heart and soul into raising well (one of the MOST demanding jobs) or maybe you just work tirelessly every single day to make ends meet. Whatever your days are like, I am betting that you could use a break! I'm not talking about one of those days where you consider a trip to the mall to run an errand a break, I mean a truly authentic, it's-all-about-me sort of a break!
Between checking email 40 times a day, coordinating schedules, running around like crazy people and trying to keep one thousand balls in the air, we just do not take enough quality time for ourselves! So today I propose a very rewarding sort of a challenge...and you might think it's silly, but I think that if you give it some thought, you will recognize that it is essential! Today I want you to committ....absolutely committ to claiming a holiday for yourself! One full day where you hand off all responsibilities, put the email on auto-response, set the phone to voice mail and do ONLY what YOU want to do! Naturally something this grand can not be planned spur of the moment, but no good holiday ever is! Think about all of the effort you put into planning the perfect Christmas dinner, or birthday party for your kids! Do you ever put that much time planning something fabulous for yourself? You deserve to! You need to!
If you're thinking that it sounds selfish, then look at it this way...how much more productive would you be if you just gave yourself one full day of down time every so often? Think of it as an investment in your quality of life, and you know that when you're feeling good, it is far easier to put that good back into the world, right? So today, how about if we just take a look at the calendar and plot our very own holiday? Give yourself some time to do a little advance planning so that you are truly committed to doing this and make a promise to yourself that it WILL happen! Once you have chosen your day, I would challenge you to share it here as a comment....put it on your calendar IN INK and let everybody know that whatever date you have chosen, it is etched in stone! Then do a little planning to make it special! Will you get a manicure? A massage? Will you gather your girlfriends together and invite them out for a lavish dinner to help celebrate your holiday?? What will you call your special day? Will you brew a fabulous pot of coffee and just stay in bed for a few hours? Treat yourself to some decadent chocolates? Let your imagine out to play for a while....it's your day and it can look like anything you want!

You, sweet friend, deserve a holiday, and as of this moment it is of utmost importance to your well-being that you give yourself permission to pause, exhale, and take whatever steps are necessary to make that holiday happen!!!

I can't wait to hear what you come up with! Happy You Day is just on the horizon! Get out those date books and start planning!
Happiest of Fridays to you!!
Heather

Look What Happens When You Keep Watering the Seeds!

The Fine Art Of Patience and Hope

I woke up yesterday morning filled with anticipation. I had an interview scheduled with a potential client that I was genuinely looking forward to, an optimistic to-do list, and it was Monday....another opportunity for a week of endless possibility. But sometimes, no matter how optimistic we are, the Universe seems to have other plans. My appointment never showed up, and the phone calls and emails I was expecting never happened, add to that a misunderstanding with a potential client and by the end of the day I was ready to push the pause button on the week and get back into bed for a month. Yes, it was one of those days. The sort of day where you feel like no matter what you do you are just running in place while wearing painful stilettoes. Those are the days where if you are paying attention, and when you least expect it, the Universe will serve you up a life lesson on a glistening silver platter. My lesson came from a tiny little packet of seeds.


About a week ago I decided that this year I was going to grow my own flowers and vegetables from scratch. I purchased a handful of various types of seeds, planted them all in those little eco-friendly cups and waited. Like a little girl on Christmas morning I have been bouncing down the stairs every day in anticipation of seeing some sort of indication that my little seeds were coming to life. Day after day, I was greeted by the same thing; dirt in a cup. I'm admittedly not the most patient girl in the world so after about four days of watering dirt and waiting for something to happen, all hope for my beautiful garden was essentially gone and my patience had officially run out. After all, I had done my part with the very best of intentions....I planted the seeds, talked to those little cups of dirt, given them plenty of water and light and in return they did nothing.


But then suddenly and without warning, on the fifth day, those little cups magically came to life. Where there was once only dirt and frustration just one day prior, was now an array of tiny little stems barely popping their little heads out above the soil. Hope was restored!! Hour after hour, those amazing little stems seemed to almost double in size and within about three days there were actually little tiny leaves. I am happy to tell you that today, almost every seed seems to have burst wide open and my little cup garden is just a few weeks away from its new home in our yard.


Being the sort of woman who believes that the Universe is always sending me little signs and messages, I looked at those seeds like a great life lesson. Here I was making all of these plans, doing the work, planting the "seeds" and no matter what I did, it felt like nothing was happening. Things were not progressing as quickly as I had hoped and my patience was wearing thin. But if I give up and just throw in the towel, how will I ever know what "could" have happened? How would I ever find out what those seeds might have become if I just stopped watering them?


There are days when it feels as though nothing is happening. The orders are not coming as fast you had hoped they would, people are not calling back, nobody is lining up to show their support for what you have worked so hard to create and life feels as though it is at a stand-still. Those are the days when you have to push yourself the hardest because in the blink of an eye it can all change. The fact of the matter is that although we create timelines and deadlines for ourselves sometimes the Universe is just running on a different schedule. That doesn't mean we give up and it certainly doesn't mean that something fabulous isn't on the way. It might just be that all those little seeds you have been planting are slowly working their way towards the surface, and just because you can't see them growing today, well tomorrow you just never know what can happen! So, the moral of the story is simple.....plant your seeds with the best of intentions, water them daily, nurture them with care, and most importantly, stay patient and hopeful because one day when you least expect it, those little seeds are going to burst wide open and where there was once only dirt will magically be a bright and beautiful flower!


Wishing you a day filled with patience and hope!

Heather

Girl Seeks Good News....

When I turned on the computer this morning and clicked over to the internet I was instantly bombarded with glaring headlines of all the bad things happening in the world. Celebrities gone mad, gas prices rising, somebody was killed, somebody is angry, and the list goes on and on......and on. I found myself literally searching for good news in the midst of all that chaos and I have to tell you, it wasn't easy to find. It felt almost as if the entire planet was collectively in a bad mood and had nothing worth celebrating. But I know that just can't be true! SO, since I am one of those people who actually enjoys hearing good news, I decided to share some of my own and I hope that if anybody ever actually finds this blog that maybe a few more of us will contribute something positive. My good news is that I finally launched a brand new Network that I have been dreaming about in one form or another since the early nineties; it has evolved and changed a bit in my mind over the years, but the concept has always been the same.....empower, inspire and celebrate women. I think I carried this idea around with me for so long because it is so idealistic in theory that I had this fear that if I ever really took the steps to make it a reality, and somehow it wasn't well received, I would be destroyed. That's the funny thing about dreams....I think we protect the ones that really matter because the risk of the outcome not being what we had hoped is sometimes more than we can bear. But for me, well, I got tired of worrying about something that may or may not happen, so I finally said "to heck with it," and jumped. I am happy to tell you that so far things are going exactly the way I had hoped, and really, I am only scratching the tip of the iceberg..... The network I have created is intentionally designed to be positive, inpspiring, informative, and ultimately to celebrate female business owners and to encourage women to actively support them. The most amazing thing about this endeavor up to this moment has been the women I have met. Sadly, I sometimes think that women get a back rap, and this goes back to the whole GOOD NEWS topic again. We hear so much negative buzzing around that we forget all about the really good and selfless women who are living unconditionally good lives and selflessly out there making the world a better place. Well I am proud to tell you that the ladies involved in my new network are frankly, quite extraordinary and living examples of just what this world needs more of. They are doing what they love, they are happy, and it comes through loud and clear each time I speak to them...they don't talk about money, they don't tell you if business is good or bad, they just radiate light and can't wait to tell you why they created their companies.. They are an example of what it looks like when you take ownership of your life and come what may, you make a conscious effort to be nothing but positive...reagardless of what circumstances might be like! They are a collective group of the "good news" that this world needs and I am proud to know and support each and every one of them. Each and every day, you and I have a choice. Do we perpertuate the bad news, the gossip and the negative, or do we take matters into our own hands and be the woman who stands up a little taller and uses our voice to share good news? When I told friends and family that I was going to create an entire network of women dedicated to being positive and supportive of each other, a lot of them told me I was a dreamer.....and that it would never happen. But I know in my heart....without a shadow of a doubt that at our core, each of us just wants to be happy....and I believe that if we actively pursue whatever our version of happiness is, and choose to loudly support the people who are in the midst of their own bliss instead of resenting them, then there will never be a shortage of good news. There will be suddenly be a shift in the what we notice around us, and instead of stopping to look at the 'train wreck,' and tell our friends about it, we will instead pause when we learn about someONE or someTHING fabulous and use our voices to celebrate the good news! I'm not so naive as to think that bad things don't happen, because I know first hand that not every day is filled with people handing me chocolate and fabulous shoes.....but how we choose to process the not-so-wonderful events, and what we CHOOSE to put back into the world is ultimately up to us! Though I will admit that it's not always easy, I have to tell you that I choose the good STUFF! In my experience, it is far more fun, and infinetely more exciting to have an intentionally GREAT day versus hiding under the covers waiting for the other shoe to drop. So, today and every day.....I truly hope that you will take extra time to see the good things happening around you.....to celebrate happiness and to consciously decide to have a really good day! The good news is that you absolutely deserve it! Wishing you an exceptionally fabulous day! Heather PS....you can check out my new Tell A Girlfriend Network by visiting www.tellagirlfriendnetwork.com!

Live an EXTRA-ordinary life.....

Sometimes we make the word EXTRAORDINARY into something bigger than it has to be. We believe that in order for things to truly BE extraordinary, then they have to be some enormous something or other....a grand gesture, a big difference.....a monumental change. But maybe extra-ordinary is as simple as it sounds; something a bit more than the ordinary we are used to. So, today....today is a great day to step outside of your realm of ordinary, and make a move towards something different, something a little outside of your comfort zone.....something you have been putting off doing! If life is truly comprised of a bunch of tiny little moments, then WOW....that means we each have the potential for a million little opportunities to lay the ground work for what can only wind up being a truly EXTRA-ordinary life! The choice is yours.....more of the same or something gob-smackingly fabulous! I choose extra-ordinary with a side of amazing!

If you Want it Badly Enough.....Find a Way to go Get It!

Reality Check

Every once in a while I allow myself to get caught up in what is NOT working in my life.....I take a look around and think about what I would like to be different, what I am frustrated about and what I am doing wrong.....which naturally leads me to throw my hands up in air and plead to the unseen forces of the Universe; "why me?" Once the meltdown is over, I normally sit back and force myself to step out of denial and ask myself what my role in all of this is...but this whole 'own your life' thing didn't come easily because my name is Heather and I am a recovering finger pointer.

I think that a lot of us spend an unrealistic amount of time pointing fingers and blaming everybody around us for what we don't like about our lives. Rather than doing the work that it takes to change our current situations, we sit back and wait for things to get better, or we tell ourselves that is isn't our fault; we make ourselves into unnecessary victims. It feels like a relief to find somebody other than ourselves to hold responsible when things are not going well, because it somehow makes it a bit easier to tolerate a less than perfect life when we can tell ourselves that it is somebody else's fault. Regardless of what horrible things have happened in your life or who did them to you, the trick is what you do afterwards!
The whole blame game works for a while until you wake up one day and realize that there is nobody left to blame. You've played the bad parent card, beaten the bad x-husband role to death....even blamed pets, siblings and teachers for your sour lot in life. Yet in the end, we are the only one sitting there on the end of the bed sobbing into our Cheerios and wondering where it all went wrong. The parents have gotten on with their lives, the x-husband is out playing a round of golf with the guys and happily remarried and the teachers are all on beaches somewhere after taking an early retirement. So now my friend....there is just us.....and it's time to put on the big girl pants we've been hiding under the pile of dirty laundry we've let take over the bedroom and snap the heck out of it.
I have a woman in my life who has literally been angry for 15 years, and I mean really angry...and if you are not careful, in the first few minutes of meeting her, she is happy to tell you why! She is unhappy, bitter, and resentful and can't find her way through it to let go. Frankly, I think she has become so comfortable being mad that it's just part of the norm for her now. I keep thinking that one day she will wake up and realize that by holding on to all of this blame and anger, she is preventing herself from knowing true happiness, but I'm beginning to lose hope. It breaks my heart when I run into people like this because not only are they suffering, but their toxic aura somehow bleeds its way into the lives of everybody around them. The saddest thing is that it really serves no purpose. There is no benefit to just being the crazy angry lady all the time.....it's not good for your skin, it doesn't help you lose weight.....it doesn't win you any popularity contests or get you a fatter paycheck....in fact, it literally does nothing positive for you at all, except in your own mind. We think we are punishing the people we are angry at or blaming, when in fact, they have already moved on to far greener pastures. I actually think that a lot of us hold on to anger as long as we do because we secretly know that if we let all the bad feelings go, then we are either going to have to, at some point ask ourselves the big fat ugly question..."is part of this somehow my doing?" Or even worse....we will have nothing to complain about! Would it be so terrible to actually wake up happy? Maybe for some us who have just become comfortable with the whole misery thing, it would, but for those you that just want life to feel good....well, hallelujah and OH MY GOSH, welcome to the club!
I would like to hand you a big task today....a potentially life changing task....take a good long look in the mirror and ask yourself what if any grudges or anger you might be holding on to and how that anger has served you. There is a pretty good chance that if you are honest with yourself you are going to find that nothing good has come of all these bad feelings, and maybe it's just time to let them go. A very wise person once told me that the only person who is hurt by you holding on to anger is you. Seems kind of pointless when you look at it that way, doesn't it? You can't imagine how much lighter the world feels when are not carrying around all that negativity! The moment you can let it go amazing thing begin to happen....the sky suddenly looks bluer....little birds seem to be winking at you....the faint sound of music is constantly in the air, and everything tastes REALLY REALLY GOOD! Okay....well maybe all of those things don't happen, but what does happen is you get control of your life back! You take back your power! You stand up a little taller, set your course towards bliss and head off into a peaceful sunset! As soon as you are ready to own your life again, I promise you that amazing feelings begin to show up.....feelings you forgot you ever had; like happiness, contentment, love, joy, and a laundry list of others! Why on earth would you ever want to miss out on all of that just so you could be p-oed and resentful for a bit longer??? We each only have so many days left on this planet! I suggest you get yourself an icecream cone and spend yours being happy!!!

Having a Happy Birthday.....

Okay.....I will admit it, once I hit the big 40 something in my brain freaked out just a bit.....and then I realized that maybe I was looking at this whole birthday thing the wrong way! There was nothing to be sad about, nothing to melt down over, there was just another year ahead of me, and oh-my-gosh, the possibilities were endless! I know a lot of people that hide from their age or tend to try and ignore their birthdays.....and I have never really understood that thinking...anybody who knows me can expect to be alerted of my pending birthday about a month in advance.
As far as I am concerned every additional year we are here is like a gift! One more opportunity to celebrate ourselves (yes, you should absolutely celebrate yourself daily)....raise our glasses to life, and get excited about what is yet to come! Even if you are not where you would like to be, that just means you get more time to get it all together....you get another opportunity to figure it all out and make your life into the dream you have always envisioned for yourself! What could possibly be bad about that when you think of the alternative???
With each grey hair and wrinkle that has moved in over here at Heatherland it has certainly become a little more daunting, but at the end of the day, if I never aged, if my appearance never changed.....well what the heck would I have to complain about?? So, this year, no matter how old you are.....make your birthday an active celebration of your life!~~

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!!!! I love you!

Your ever-aging wife, Heather

Find Your Own Voice

Never be afraid to let your freak flag fly and just be you!

All But a Memory

It was a big pain in the butt while it lasted, but now that all of the snow has melted, I look at the photos we took on our own self-proclaimed snow days and can't help but almost be able to "see" the silence! There was so much snow that it actually made everything look like a black and white photo! Pretty while it lasted, and if I know the Midwest like I think I do, there will be more of it before we know it! But for now I am happy to just enjoy the memory of it.

Thank you ART people.....

I'm trying to discipline myself and only post once a day.....because I'm a chatty sort of girl and need to muzzle the mouth/hands sometimes....but what the heck...when something inspires you, I say run with it!
I've been spending a bit of time clicking through the seemingly never-ending artsy-inspiring-magical blogs out there in web land and I have to see that it's been truly eye opening. If you're a creative person then you will understand when I tell you that at any moment of any day, I seem to have a swirling buzz of colors flying around in my head.....and every once in a while words and phrases pop into the chaos and it can feel like if I don't find a way to flip the "off" switch then my head might explode. But as I am reading through all of these other blogs I am slowly learning that I am not alone in this colorful and creative chaos. For a while I thought it was a curse and really wished that I could just function on a normal level and in some sort of an organized fashion, but now I just feel like.....well, I feel like it's all going to be okay! So, I just wanted to briefly send out a little "thank you" to all of you creative types who have poured your hearts out via your work and your words! You are an inspiration and have given me the permission slip I have been searching for that has freed me up and allowed me to see 'art' and it's never ending possibility for manifestation as a gift! and I am forever grateful!!!
Wishing you a day with eyes wide open!
Heather

The older I get, the more I realize that optimism is a choice. Since I firmly believe that what you focus on follows you, no matter what is happening in my life, I do my best to consciously find the silver lining. Some days, when nothing seems to make sense and I feel like I am living in an upside-down world, it's a bit more challenging to be a glass-half-full kind of girl, but the alternative can quickly become a permanent state of brooding if I'm not careful!
I've run into a lot of people in my life that walk around with a permanent "why me?" cloud hanging over their heads ( you'll know them when you meet them because they never smile). They are quick to expect the worst and then wonder why bad things keep finding them. It's so easy to make a habit out of waiting for the bad news that we neglect all of the good things happening around us. It's even more challenging to be a in a permanent state of positive thinking when we are surrounded by people who are constantly negative themselves. But......it's no mistake that if you are a negative person, then you will unconsciously draw the same sort of people towards you. There would be no reason for the phrase "misery loves company" if on some level it wasn't true! So today, I pose a challenge.....a teeny tiny challenge that could potentially hold the key to changing your mind and the expectations you have about your life.....
It's a little thing I like to call "The BLISS LIST."
Grab yourself a piece of paper and some colorful markers or even crayons (everything is so much more fun when you do it in big, bold color) and put together a BLISS LIST for yourself! You don't have to make yourself crazy trying to come up with something profound, just very quickly jot down the top things happening in your life RIGHT NOW that fill you with a feeling of bliss! Take nothing for granted....not the air you breathe on your own, not your eyes, not the smell of a delicious pot of coffee brewing on a cold winter morning! There are 1000 little things happening around you right now that need to be recognized for the blessings that they are! So find ten of them, write them down and then post that list somewhere you will be certain to see it every single day before you leave the house!
My experience is that when we focus our energy on all of the good things in our lives, then we take the power away from all that other "yucky stuff." So, no matter how busy you are right now, stop what you're doing and write up your bliss list! If you're feeling really adventurous and optimistic, try to make a new list every couple of days and get yourself into the habit of seeking out all of the amazing things that you DO have versus complaining about what you think is missing! I promise you that once you get used to seeing the good, you will at some point begin to wear your optimism like a magnet and before you know it, all the wonderful blessings available to you on a daily basis will suddenly be knocking at your door!
Today I wish you the ability to send out a conscious invitation to the Universe asking it to shower you with abundant clarity and the vision you need in order to create your own Bliss List!
Have a magical day!
Heather

Ah-Ha Moments....

On December 22nd, 2010 I woke up expecting an exact repeat of the day before....kind of like my own personal version of the movie Ground Hog Day! Each morning prior to that I had been falling out of bed, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting quietly waiting for inspiration to strike. I had recently closed my store and made the decision to stop creating and selling the mineral makeup I had been producing for over 10 years. To say that I was at a bit of a loss would be a grand understatement. So every morning while scribbling in my journal I asked one question of the Universe....show me a sign and give me some sort of an answer as to what is supposed to be next for me; and each morning there was nothing but silence.
December 22nd anxiety sat heavily on my shoulders dressed up as the weight of the world and I needed a momentary distraction, so I did what I always do, I checked my email. The very first item sitting in my "inbox" was an email with the following words typed into the subject line; "Heather, the answers will find you." I didn't even need to open the email because in that moment it was literally like lightening had struck. On any other day, I probably would have completely overlooked that simple line, but on THAT day, and in THAT moment when I was so desperate for some sort of a sign, well I was pretty darned certain that however crazy it seemed, I had just received it.
I'm not a religious person, but I do consider myself to be quite grounded in my faith that God is paying attention, he's just a really busy 'guy' and most of the time we just need to take matters into our hands. I believe that if we pay attention, we will find that we are given little cues from above that are meant to quietly help us along on our journey, but most of the time, we are so worried and caught up in our own lives that we tend to not notice the things that are right in front of us.
I'm not so narcissistic as to tell you that I believe God, with everything he has on his plate, took the time out of his day to tell me that he was listening....but what if he did? That little question is what changed everything for me...it was my personal ah-ha moment. It was the notion that I mattered....little ole crazy me who hadn't really done anything exceptional to warrant the attention of the Universe just might matter in the grander scheme of things, and maybe it might not feel like it right now, but that knowing meant that I was going to be okay. So that morning, it got me thinking that if somebody like me could possibly hold such relevance in the world, than that means that we ALL do, and that each and every one of us brings our own version of something SO important to this human tapestry. It means that no matter where you are, how much money you make.....how you look, what your history has been....no matter what, you matter!! When you allow that thought to wash over you, it can be life changing!
It frees you up from not competing with the neighbors, or being self conscious and worrying that you are not enough, it stops you from comparing yourself to every single person that you pass on the street. It gives you wings! It enables you to know that in the midst of everything happening in the world, YOU are an incredibly relevant part of all of it!!!! If we all just knew unconditionally how amazing we are can you imagine what that would feel like, what YOU would feel like?
I think a lot of us don't believe that we stack up. One million different circumstance could have lead us to a place where we just don't feel like we fit in or belong anywhere. But that can end right now. You owe it to yourself to unconditionally, at every moment of every single day, know that you, YES YOU are a MIRACLE!!! The moment you took your first breathe, you made a difference in this world. You might have days when you don't feel as though you're anything particularly special, but I promise you that you are! The minute you showed up on this planet, you were something special, and that has NEVER changed, not for one single second!
Maybe God doesn't a have big ole computer that drops little encouraging notes into our 'inboxes;' maybe that little note I got was nothing more than me so desperately searching for the answers that I somehow manifested those six little words to show up when they did. Whatever the case may be, the most important thing is that it made me stop to remember just what a gift it is to be here and that yes, some days might not go as planned, but that's just going to have to be okay! You and I, well we bring something special to the table every single day; we bring ourselves. And no matter what else is going on around us, if we can allow ourselves to really know that, then we are going to be just fine!
My wish for you is that today, regardless of what your circumstance are, or what you have been told, today you give yourself the gift of knowing unconditionally that you....fabulous you, are a miracle!
Heather

Making it Happen....

Do I stay on dry land where it is safe and boring, or do I throw on some water wings and jump right on in to the deep end? I say jump! For the last ten years, I have been in a bit of a cocoon.....creating and selling mineral makeup, and quite frankly, I did quite well. But in the back of my mind, I knew that I had bigger and more creative plans....I knew that I couldn't squeeze myself into one tiny box and be satisfied. Maybe it's some sort of a genetic mutation, but up until recently, I couldn't figure out how to channel all of the creative energy into something other than scribbling in a journal and making list after list of all the things that I would LIKE to do when the time was right. But it occurs to me that there really is no 'right' time, there is only what sits directly in front of us.

1000 Wednesdays is this vision I had of merging the real world with the imagination and seeing what showed up on the other side. It is drawings, and cards, random thoughts and finally understanding that all we really have is RIGHT NOW and to spend one more minute lost in a sea of worry or self-preservation just doesn't seem to make sense anymore. We spend so much time worrying about how we look on the outside.....but maybe that reflection in the mirror would be much comfortable if we paid a little more attention to what is happening on the INSIDE!!!

I invite you to sit back and think about what you would like your life to look like.....what sort of dreams you have dancing on the surface of your heart that you keep putting off until later. If you are happy where you are, then embrace it completely and celebrate! But if you have a little itch that you have been dying to scratch, then I say you throw off the mittens and SCRATCH IT!!!

I am currently putting together my new web site....1000 Wednesdays.....it will be a little creative play house full of inspiration, color and heART... I may not be Picasso, though maybe he had his doubts too.....wishing he could be more like Renoir, but he didn't let it stop him, right? If every one of us looked the same, did the same work, and tried to be like the person sitting next to us then imagine how devoid of color the world would be! The new web site is coming soon, but that site and the work that I will be sharing is a part of MY dream....so if I can do it, so can you! Grab your life by the tail today and do whatever you need to in order to breathe new life into it! The only thing standing in your way is you!!!
I wish you a day dripping with all of the self confidence and motivation you need to take the first step!!!
Heather

Aventure ahead....

It started out like any other day....until the squirrel somehow managed to fall down into the fireplace shaft and land in the basement....though at the time we had no idea that was what had happened. I knew I heard a loud noise in the fireplace, and I knew I heard something scratching a few minutes later. It was a strange morning to say the least. Ironically enough, each time my husband came into the room the scratching stopped, so I'm pretty sure that although he was too kind to say anything, he thought I was losing my mind..... All week long the scratching and other odd noises continued. We took the entire fireplace apart looking for whatever had landed in there and we found nothing. It was a mystery and it was driving me nuts. Being the devout animal lover that I am, I simply couldn't live with the idea that maybe an innocent little bird was trapped in there and there was essentially nothing we could do.
So, here comes Friday, another day with nothing special on the horizon. I am in the basement working at the computer when suddenly a strange noise behind me.....I turn slowly to try and find the source of the noise and there, perched on top of a shelving unit is a squirrel.....staring right at me. Maybe he wasn't nervous because we had been feeding him and his friends right outside our window for so long..... Maybe he thought that if he freaked out he would no longer be welcome in his new home. Whatever the case may be, that squirrel never flinched, he just sat there staring at me like he belonged there. I of course went flying out of the basement to find my husband. Mystery animal solved. Now the question became how did he get it, and more importantly, how do we get him out?
Hubby came downstairs, but of course Mr. Squirrel was nowhere to be found so we searched for the point of entry. Sure enough, right next to the furnace below the fireplace was a little hole where you could clean out things that had fallen underneath the firebox.....another mystery solved. Off to rent a cruely free trap in the hope of being able to return Mr. Squirrel to his outdoor haven where he belonged. Pita bread and peanut butter nealty placed in the cage and we wait.....24 hours and nothing. Smartest squirrel ever, but hubby was smarter.....he found the clean out box outside, popped the door open and we prayed the squirrel would hop his way to freedom. Sometime late yesterday our prayers were answered and Mr. Squirrel showed up outside the family room window in search of food.....but I'm pretty sure that this time instead of just staring at me, there was a friendly little wink and a wave because after all, we had been roommates all week, so the least he could do was show a little gratitude, right?
Never underestimate what sort of adventure may show up on a seemingly normal day! A big thank you to Mr. Squirrel for shaking things up a bit, and for not tormenting our cats or dog in the process!
Have a fabulous day and don't forget to feed the squirrels!
Heather

When I get caught up in my usual perfectionist ways, I have learned that I tend to over-think, over-analyze, and over-complicate......over and over again. So, in an effort to get out of my own way I have made a quiet little promise to myself to try and be more aware of old habits that show up when I am trying to get from point A to point B..... I think sometimes I make things harder than they have to be just so I don't have to finish anything. But last week instead of sitting for hours and thinking about what I wanted to do, I stopped and I just did it! At first it felt a bit unnatural and messy, but the more I forced myself to just stay present and go with it, the more comfortable I got. Miraculously I got things done.....let my imagination go without worrying about what other people would think and just let 'it' happen! The result is loads of new drawings, a bottomless (for now) well of creativity, and a whole new direction for myself! Who would have thought that a simple decision to keep things simple would hold such magical powers?

Get out of your own way and keep it simple today sweetheart!

Heather

Do NOT Lists....

We spend a great deal of our time making endless TO DO lists.....when maybe we should be focusing a little more energy on

DO NOT LISTS................

-do not compare myself to others

-do not settle for anything less than bliss

-do not forget to pamper myself

-do not forget to laugh

-do not forget to say thank you

-do not forget to eat chocolate

-do not forget to smile at stangers

-do not ignore beauty and the many forms it comes in

-do not get lemon juice in my eyes because it really burns

-do not forget the power that one little random act of kindness can hold

-do not live unconsciously

-do not take life too seriously........................

Today, instead of sitting down to write out YOUR to-do list, maybe you could instead try your own version of a DO NOT LIST!!! I promise all of those tasks you couldn't wait to scribble down will be still be there!

Have a magical day!

Heather

It all Started With a Unicorn....

I was just 13 years old when my parents decided that it might be fun to send me to overnight camp for 4 weeks....and needless to say, I was not a happy girl. I had never been away from home for that long, and the idea of sleeping in a cabin with 9 other girls was enough to make me want to pack up and run away from home. But mom and dad thought it would be a great experience, and a fabulous way to spend the summer.
From the moment I arrived at that camp I cried....(yup, I was THAT kid) and I didn't stop crying until the first letter from my father arrived. I ripped open the envelope hoping to read that my parents missed me so much that they were coming to pick me up. No such luck. Instead I was greeted by page after page of my dad's scribblings about Unicorns living in our backyard and hot air balloon ride adventures that he was enjoying with the monkey that had moved into my bedroom. At first, I didn't get it, and thought that maybe my dad had taken a nose dive right off the deep end.
But the longer I read that letter, the more I realized that no, my dad was not crazy, he was just using his imagination in order to prompt me to use my imagination, and until the day he died, I don't ever think he really knew what sort of gift he had given me with those letters. Each time a new letter showed up I was magically transported to a place away from all of those campers, and though I hadn't noticed it, I was not crying anymore. Before long, the four weeks had passed and my parents finally came to pick me up. I'm pretty sure that those letters (and my amazing counselor Zoe) are the reason I survived that wretched experience. (to this day when anybody even mentions the idea of going camping I have an overwhelming urge to cry)
The amazing thing about those letters is that they didn't stop showing up just because camp was over; each time my dad and I were either separated by miles, or I was having a particularly bad day, those letters magically showed up always filled with the most amazingly fantastic stories.
Today, the memories of those letters always reminds me to step outside of reality and let my mind wander a bit. They remind me to color outside of the lines and live life way outside of the box. But most important, they taught me how to use my imagination, and that is a gift I have carried with me my entire life.
My dad was an unconventional and wonderful man who for better or worse had the unwavering ability to see things a bit differently than the rest of us. He never figured out how to use that magic mind of his to change the world, but for one 13 year old girl with an imagination as far-fetched as her father, well that colorful wisdom continues to be life changing! So daddy wherever you are, I hope there is plenty of chocolate and you have not forgotten to feed the tap-dancing sea horses!
Heather