Wednesday's Walk - Believe in yourself! Believe in your dream!

 

 

 

"How does one become a butterfly?" she asked pensively.  "You must want to fly so much that your are willing to give up being a caterpillar."  Trina Paulus, Writer

Is there something you have always wanted to do?  Are you ready to spread your wings and fly but something is holding you back?  Maybe it's that nagging voice in the back of your head  telling you that you don't have time or that you are not ready or that your idea  has been done before. But deep down inside you know that it is a good idea, that you can make the time, and that you are ready. You know that it is  time to open your wings and fly.  It's time to take that next step, to share your idea, and to let go of what is standing in your way of moving forward.  It's time to stop being a caterpillar and to become the beautiful butterfly that you were meant to be. 

The beautiful thing is that we all are meant to be a butterfly.  We all have something unique and special to share.  I would love to build a community where people feel free to share their ideas with one another.  A place where women of all ages can come to share their talents and their dreams with others who understand what it is like to be passionate about something yet a little scared of taking that next step.  I hope that you will help me to build this community.  Sharing your dreams and hopes with the world is scary.  It's normal to feel that way.  But the more we talk about who we are, what we do, and what we believe in, the easier it becomes to put yourself out in the world and say, "Look at me.  I am ready to fly  I worked hard, I didn't give up, and here I am in all of my splendor.  I believe in me!  I believe in my idea!  I believe in my talent!  I believe in my dreams! 

Today's coaching tip is to believe in yourself.  Believe in your ideas, your talents, and your dreams.  We all have those negative little gremlins who show up from time to time.  Shoo them away and don't let them steal your dreams.  Become the beautiful butterfly you were meant to be.  Spread your wings and fly!

                            What dream would you like to share with the world today?

Remember:  When you share your dreams and talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!

Sunday's Quote and Reflection

Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don't see it yourself."  Edmund Lee

Each week another Kaizen-Muse Creativity coach and I take an hour to coach each other.  Why would a creativity coach need a creativity coach you might ask?  Becuase as the quote above says we all need to surround ourselves with people who support us, who are there to ask the questions that help us find the answers to move forward with our dreams and who believe that we can do anything we set our minds to do because we can.  Can we do it alone?  I am sure most of the time we can.  But it is so much more fun to share what excites us with others who feel the same and who are there to support us  . 

This week I am going to a pastel workshop.  I am excited to be able to be in a room with people who love working with pastels as I do.  I am excited to see what they are doing and to share what I have learned. Several years ago I participated in Jamie Ridler's Circe Circle.  It was a wonderful experience.  Each week I shared my goals with seven women I had never met and we supported each other.  We talked, we laughed, we shared ideas, and most of all we listened.  Several years later we still support each other although we still have never met.  There have been books published, businesses started, moves made, and dreams fulfilled.  It is wonderful to know that there is always a group of women across the country and world cheering for your success. 

I am excited to be starting Circle of Dreams in September.  When I was consulting I did something similiar for teachers but now I want to reach out to women all over the world to help them make their dreams come true as someone else did for me.  When I saw the quote above I knew it is exactly what I hope to do.  I want to bring together a group of women who are dreamers and believers, who are both thinkers and doers.  I want everyone in the group to know that there are times when we can move forward with our plans at a rapid pace and there are times when we have to slow down and regroup.  There will be times when everything falls in place just as it should and times when nothing goes right.  There will be times to celebrate and times to take a deep breath and wait a little before taking the next tiny step forward.  Life is filled with all different experiences and having a group that believes in you and what you are trying to accomplish makes those experiences even more exciting.  It is amazing how talking on the phone with people you have never met for one hour a week can help what may be a fuzzy idea in your head become a reality.  It can help you to move forward on a dream or help you to realize that your ideas have changed and it is really a new dream that needs to unfold.

Circle of Dreams will begin the last week in September. There is a Circle of Dreams page which should answer most of your questions.  If you have any other questions or would like to chat about the circle or anything else for that matter, please email me at ginny.lennox@comcast.net.  I would love to talk to you. 

"You don't need diamonds to make your light shine brighter and brighter.  It comes from knowing who you are, what you love to do, and sharing your dreams and yourself with the world.  Then it is easy to sparkle."  Ginny 

Friday's Special Moment of Gratitude

Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.”                                                     ― John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business,Life

For some reason it seems like the next few weeks are going to be really busy and could get complicated.  So I have decided to set an intention to simplify things for the month of August.  As a young girl I used to love to sit on the front porch and read during the summer.  The days were long and it seemed like everything slowed down.  Now, things still move at a fast pace if I let them. So this month I am going to slow down and let go of anything that is not necessary.  I am going to enjoy the sounds of the crickets and watch for lightening bugs. I am going to spend time with family and friends, enjoy my grandchildren, and paint a simple picture each day.  Before I add an activity to my day I am going to stop and ask myself, "Is this meaningful?  Will it make me laugh"  "Does it help someone else?"  "Will it make a difference in my life or the life of someone else?   "Does it sound like fun?"  If I can't answer yes to most or all of the questions, I not sure why I would need to add the activity to my day.  It should be interesting to see how the month goes when I take the time to analyze exactly how I spend my time.

Just closing my eyes and picturing a calm summer month filled with beautiful flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, and cool evening breezes sounds perfect.  I know that life can't always be perfect but I do believe that I can continue to take tiny steps each day to create a life that is filled with simple but beautiful experiences.  I invite you to join me in creating and experiencing an old fashioned summer!

One thing that I will not change is my practice of sharing what I am grateful for each week. It is so easy to overlook all of the wonderful things that happen each day and this practice helps me not to do that.  My husband has a chronic lung disorder which he handles very well.  This week we went to a dinner for people who have Pulmonary Hypertension which is a rare disease. The room was filled with people of all ages who are fighting this disease and the complications that come with it.  The doctors came to discuss the disease and there was a patient who spoke about her experience.  Not that I am expert but most of what they said I have heard before.  But the thing that stands out in my mind was the wonderful attitude of everyone who was there. They laughed, they shared ideas as well as their personal strategies to make life easier.  They supported each other with their smiles, their stories and most of all their laughter.  It was a wonderful uplifting meeting and for that I am very grateful.

                     Each Friday I join the many artists at Paint Party Friday.  It is a perfect way to start the weekend.

                 When you share your talent and your dreams with the world magic happens.  Let the magic begin!

Friday's Special Moment of Gratitude - Recognizing A New Best Friend

The most adventurous journey to embark on; is the journey to yourself, the most exciting thing to discover; is who you really are, the most treasured pieces that you can find; are all the pieces of you, the most special portrait you can recognize; is the portrait of your soul.”                                                                                                                                         . JoyBell C.

I was reading a blog post just now about being your own teacher and having all of the answers inside of you.  I do believe that as we get to know ourselves better and better we will find the answers to the questions we have, if we give ourselves permission to be still and to be quiet. 

When I read the words be your own teacher for some reason the phrase "Be you own best friend" popped into my head.  Some days I do think I am my own best friend.  I try to take care of myself and make decisions that are best for me while not hurting anyone else.  It took a long long time to come to this point in life. But important things are worth waiting for and yes I should have listened to my mother who gave me this advice many years ago when I was a teenager. 

 What does being my own best friend mean to me?  It means really listening to what I need. It means living a life that is calm and peaceful. It is saying "yes" to things that are interesting and challenging and "no" to things that don't make sense to me now.  It is accepting that writing and painting are an important part of my life and making sure that I create time to do both each day.  It is remembering that exercise makes me feel not only stronger but gives me energy.  It is not being hard on myself when I reread something that I have written and published and then three days later finding not one but two or three or four mistakes.  I would tell my best friend it didn't matter, now I say those same words to me and really mean them.

 Being my own best friend means being there for me. It means taking care of me the same way I would take care of someone else.  It means having fun, laughing, and taking a deep breath when things get stressful.  It is reminding myself that life is filled with ups and downs and to learn from both. Most of all its recognizing that I'm not perfect and noone expects me to be.  I think I am going to like being my own best friend.  How about you - what does being your own best friend mean to you?

Each Friday I share something that I am grateful for.  This week I am grateful for the quiet moments which give me the time to reflect upon the kind of life I want to continue to create.  Each day is different and offers new opportunities and I am so grateful that I have slowed down enough to notice and appreciate them.

 Remember:  When you share your talents and gifts with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin.
I hope that you will take a minute to visit the artists at Paint Party Friday.  They are such a wonderful supportive group of people who I look forward to visiting each week.

Wednesday's Walk - First Steps

 

 

 

"Take the first step in faith.  You don't have to see the whole staircase.  Just take the first step.

                                                                                                                       Martin Luther King Jr.

Each week I share a Kaizen-Muse coaching tip.  Over and over again I write about the importance of taking small steps but when I read this quote I realized that they are all important but it is often that very first small step that makes the biggest difference. It is the step that begins it all.  It is the first word of a story that turns into a book.  It is the first painting that is the beginning of a series of paintings.  It is the first cookie baked, the first song sung, the first time you put on your ballet slippers, or pick up a guitar that begins a journey that sometimes you cannot even imagine.

Today I am celebrating a friend who's book is being published soon.  She started this book many years ago and wrote and rewrote her wonderful story.  I was lucky enough to share part of the journey with her.  I am sure the first step was hard and I know that all of the many many times she took two steps forward only to take one step back were not always easy.  But I also know that she enjoyed the process and is incredibly excited about each first step she is taking now.  She is kind enough to share what is happening and the excitement in her voice and emails are so much fun to hear. 

Is there something that you have been thinking about doing?  Do you know what the first step might be?  What would happen if you took it?  Can you close your eyes and visualize how it would feel to take that step?  I'd love to hear about what first step you are dreaming of.

On another note this the last week of the Summer of Color challenge.  The colors this week are sepia and sage.  I started my landscape with these two colors and I found them to be very soothing.  I am sure they will find their way on to my canvas again.  I want to thank Kristin for hosting this challenge.  It was fun, it took me out of my comfort zone, and it was another first step.  I look forward to being part of this wonderful group again next summer.  Thank you again, Kristin.

  When you share your dreams and talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin. 

Circle of Dreams will begin in September.  It is eight weeks of sharing your dreams, your ideas, and yourself with other women. I would love to have you join us.

Sunday's Reflection - Celebrate Who You Are

How often do you take the time to celebrate you?   Do you ever take the time to celebrate the unique qualities that make you, you?  We are all so wonderfully different and it is that uniqueness that makes each and every one of us so special.  I believe that it is so important to know who you are and what you love.  It's important to recognize and celebrate your own gifts and talents.  It's important to share those gifts we with the world!  None of us are perfect and that is the way it should be.  We are all beginners each and every day, learning something new.  It's that curiosity and the willingness to share what we know that encourages others to also share what they are learning and doing. 

Today I encourage you to celebrate who you are.  Celebrate the gifts that you have been given, the talents that you are enjoying, and the life that you are creating.  Celebrate! 

            "You don't need diamonds to make your light shine brighter and brighter.  It comes from knowing who you are, what you love to do, and sharing your dreams and yourself with the world.  Then it is easy to sparkle.   Ginny

                                         What would you like to celebrate today?

Sunday's Quote and Reflection

                        The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. 
                                                                                                           Eleanor Roosevelt.

I like to start the week with a quote that will inspire me in some way. I might need to create more, worry less, relax a little, or just take a deep breathe and breathe.  Some weeks I let the quote give me a gentle nudge and lead the way; while other times I look for a specific quote that reflects how I feel.  Today the quote above gave me a gentle nudge. 

I hope that you can tell from what I write each week that I love coaching.  It gives me the opportunity to connect with people all over the world.  It gives me the opportunity to learn what other people are thinking, and feeling, and doing, while at the same time I can share some of the things that I have learned over the years.  I have been so fortunate to meet women who have wonderful dreams.  They may just be starting on a new journey, rethinking how they are doing things, or just want an accountability partner to be there to listen.  The one thing they all have in common is a dream which they are beginning to turn into reality.  They believe in their dream and want to see it come true. And come true it can.  It takes a lot of faith, a lot of hard work, and of course time.  We live in a world where we tend to want things instantly, so sometimes giving ourself time to realize our dream is the hardest thing we have to do.

My dream is to reignite Circle of Dreams.  It will begin the first week of September.  My vision is to have four to eight women in the Circle.  We will talk once a week for eight weeks on a free conference call.  We will share our dreams, our visions, and the steps we are taking to make those dreams come true.  Some of the topics we will discuss are the importance of self-care, the Aha-moments we all have, thinking out of the box, the need to step back, or when it is time to say to yourself, "Just do it."  Being creative is non-linear.  You don't go from point A to point Z very often.  But I believe that if you stay true to your vision and believe in yourself and your dreams, dreams can become reality. 

If Circle of Dreams is something you think you might be interested in, contact me at ginny.lennox@comcast.net.  I would love to talk to you and answer any questions you might have! 
Remember:  When you share your dreams with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                                         Ginny