I am about twenty-percent through Martha Beck's Finding Your Way in a Wild New World. In chapter 1, she provides exercises and tips for entering a state of consciousness beyond language. Words and verbal language are too limited to explain experiences. In fact, they inhibit more than they help. Truth is dualistic. In all wisdom traditions, way-finders access a higher (and connected) consciousness through wordlessness.
We were asked to write our top 10 beliefs, those truths we know deep in our core. This is what I have learned thus far in life.
Family is where the heart finds its home. There are no rules, no box that defines who can or cannot be your family. Families come in all forms. I feel extremely blessed tonight to have been invited to Thanksgiving dinner with a tight-knit group of kind-hearted humans that happen to be blood-related to each other (and not me).
Thanks to my amazing clients, who have so graciously been open to playing with me and the tools, today marks 75 hours of coaching. With three and a half months remaining in training, I've completed the first requirement for Martha Beck Life Coach certification. This feels light and airy like I could dance on the clouds.
Two weeks ago, I was in a car accident. Our insurance has determined that repairing the damages to the Honda will cost more than the value of it. While my insurance company battles with the insurance company of the guy who ran the red light and hit me, we are pretty much playing a waiting game. This means I'm carless for the first time since I was 18-years old.
It's interesting what your environment can do for your mental state. I often coach clients around their living space and what they want to change about it. Doing the work on myself, I realized that the bonus room as it was made me anxious. As such, I stared out the windows rather than look at the helter-skelter pile of boxes and random items on plastic shelves. Being committed to coaching and holding an emotional space for my clients also means committing to my own peaceful environmental space.
It's been almost a year since we moved into our fixer-upper home. The day after we were handed our keys, we had painters turn what was all peachy-pink walls into shades of blue, sea-foam green, and grey to support our ocean themed decor. After fresh paint, a small team came through to install ceramic tile flooring in our entry, vinyl wood in the office, and grey shag carpet in our living room, stairs and bedrooms. We left the original flooring in the kitchen, dining and third bedroom with plans to update at a later date. That time is now...
Last week, I was in a car accident. While I'm grateful I walked away from it, dazed but otherwise in one piece, a day later I noticed my right shoulder was numb. I was out of town and figured I'd just see if it went away on its own. By Monday, it hadn't, so I made an appointment with my acupuncturist on Tuesday.
It's serendipitous that my coaching homework assignment due today, my 38th birthday, was to write my story. My life's timeline of milestone events and people have all played a part in shaping who I am right now. My values and guiding principles have been molded by each interaction and action that have compounded to create me in all my uniqueness.
Over the past few months, I have reached out a few times to the Orange County SPCA about volunteering without a single reply. Today, I happened to drive past the Seal Beach Animal Care Center and noticed a sign stating that the shelter is extremely overcrowded and would not be accepting any additional animal surrenders. This tugged at my heart and I immediately made a U-turn and pulled into their parking lot. I walked in without knowing whether I was there to adopt a dog (Surprise Husby!) or to offer my help.
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