Living within Your Means

Projection, with social networking and persistent connecting we project ourselves into the world. Usually in our better light, our shining moments. We create the picture of how we want our lives to be and be viewed by others. Roses and butterflies. But I wonder is this real? Is it honest? I know that I am guilty of this. I enjoy sharing my most inspirational thoughts and beautiful pictures of the world around me. I want to share this positivity with everyone else, for them to touch it, feel it, and want some of their own. Are their challenges in my life? Is there struggle? Of course there is, do I need to broadcast that to the world? In all honesty, not all of my posts have been rainbows. I have dealt with many thoughts and struggles right here on this blog the last year. They are not all pretty and they are not all fun and triumph. But I do share the darker side of my life and past. When I’m struggling with my thoughts. With being good. When I’m trying to discover who I am. When I know I

Strings Attached

 

Stuff, I have written about my own before, but recent events have my the thoughts of uncluttering fresh in my mind. My parents are going to lose their house. As Dad and I prepare to leave for Colorado and mom settles into her temporary home with her mother, we have to get rid of all their stuff. We had to prepare everything for the auctioneers to take tomorrow. Now I’ve already been uncluttering my life, so when people ask if I am ready to go, I respond that it is easy to leave when you’re a nomad with no real material attachment. Throw some clothes, a few books, my bow and my gun and I’m ready to take off anytime. My parents, however, have had 30 plus years together to accumulate an impressive collection of junk. Only once you start to sort through things do you realize how much you actually have. Digging up more and more, that has been out of sight and mind. There is no longer a purpose for most of it, so why do we keep it? Why are we so resistant to get rid of it? Does this stuff define us in some manner? As I stare at a once collectible sewing machine of my great-grandmother’s, that was once valuable but has thus been somewhat destroyed (and therefore devalued) I have a new revelation. Does this sewing machine embody my great-grandmother? Is it her? It’s not being used, but merely taking up space. We put so much into our things: we want the chic and trendy clothes, the house and the car to show who we are. Living to one-up

Shed Confessional

After living in my shed after a year I have finally finished adding my Brittany touches and making it my own. With all my spiritual training, I am aware that home can be created wherever you, but I can’t help feeling for the first time in a while that this home. Growing up our house wasn’t extravagant or large (it was a manufactured home), but it always had the homey quality. Not some over the top home with rooms not for sitting or movie theaters, it was us, it read Paulin all over. When I moved out at 21 to live in a one-bedroom apartment with two of my greatest friends, it felt like I was visiting. I slept on a couch in the front room and only paid the electric bill. It was immensely fun, but it never felt like mine as Tab’s dad let us live there. Two summers ago, Doug flipped a three-bedroom house in a stunner, with new cabinets and appliances. It was nice. Even though this time I was paying equally for rent, it still never felt like mine. All the niceness radiated Tab, and that was okay, but it again I felt like a hotel guest. Tab did her best to make me feel at home, but I withdrew further and further. Cue in Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life. It may be cliche, but this

Loving What You Have

How can you want more if you don’t appreciate what you have? I feel enlightened lately-blissful, electric with life and love, genuinely happy, energetic; like I now see with new eyes where everything is vibrant and beautiful. I almost feel overwhelmed with how grateful I am of my life and the people in it. I want to tell everyone (and I’ve actually written several letters to friends and family expressing this). How often do we get caught up in things and feel we need to complain about how ‘bad’ we have it. I got a flat, I hate my job or I lost my job, I broke up with my boyfriend, I’ve gained weight, my life is so routine. Dr Dyer got on stage a few weeks ago, diagnosed with leukemia, coming from a less than glamorous background and foster care, and all he talked about was how great life is. A flat is an opportunity to meet a kind stranger, job problems are an opportunity to go after that passion you have (work towards the business of your dreams) or go back to school, a break up is a chance to rediscover yourself or find someone more compatible, weight gain is a opportuinity for a new journey to reharmonize your body, and feelings of boredom could be a symptom that you need a break (a little bit of an adventure, I’m always a big fan of taking off and exploring) or switch things up (change your route home or start a new hobby or learn a new skill). My brother-in-law and some of my friends have been going through some tough times, but like Dr. Dyer says, they’ve got to look at the positive and find the good that can come out of these situations (its often the darkest hours where we can find our brightest stars, you just have to be aware that it’s there and SEE it). Like I’ve told them, look at all the good