Discovery

Last week when I came home late from a meeting, I stopped in my tracks as soon as I walked in.  You know how it feels when day-after-day you’re doing the same thing, not noticing, and then one day – Kaboom – you see it differently?  Well, this was one of those days.

I always take my shoes off at the front door.  When I was growing up, my mother would complain about tripping over my shoes,  It didn’t stop me, I just tucked them around the corner, clear of her feet and admonishment.  The routine is still with me; and now, the shoes I wear most frequently tend to hang out in a row – by the front door, ready for their next adventure.

This particular evening, my eyes were drawn to the shoes – 2 pairs.  The running shoes I wear almost every day – when I walk; and the western boots I wear at least once a week – when I volunteer at C2 It with horses and special needs kiddos.   The running shoes were bright white and purple, brand new, while the boots were dusty, worn, broken-in perfectly.

As I took off my heels, I smiled.  A year ago, the shoes at my front door were different – they were mostly work, dress shoes.  My, how life has changed in such a short period of time – my “go to” shoes are no longer for an office, but for being outside.  I drew a breath and felt my smile from the inside-out.  It wasn’t a shift I had consciously made, it happened effortlessly – life evolving into a new flow – shoes telling the story.

Then I realized the line of footwear was reminding me of a broader cadence of life.  The running shoes were new.  They have a cycle of use: over time, they give me all the support they are designed for, until the day when they no longer can.  Then, it’s time to head to the running shoe store and replace them, with the “newer” version.

The boots on the other hand, get better with age.  The more I wear them, the more comfy they become – stretching perfectly at the right places for each of my feet, feeling great whether I’m wearing them for an hour or ten.   It’s not just me.  I’m smiling, thinking about my daughter’s favorite pair of boots – she’s been wearing them since 2006 and worked as a wrangler in them for three years.  Still comfy.  Still wearable.

Our life – jobs, homes, people, routines – are like our shoes.  Are they running shoes?  Part of our daily routine, until they have given us all they can?  Are they boots – getting better each day, looking great with dust?

Sometimes, it’s hard to tell at first when we  say “yes” and go.  All I have to do is remember how many times I thought a relationship was going to be like my boots – easy, comfy, better over time; only to discover that it was more like my running shoes, wonderful and with a shorter life span.  And, then I remember the relationships that deepened over time, like the boots, naturally evolving, comfortably.

Yes, there’s the saying that sometimes friends and loved ones are in our life for an hour, day, year of a lifetime.  It’s a good saying.  Somehow, the shoes and boots at my front door brought the saying home – in a personal way, one that I could understand and feel.

Now, every time I come home,  I see the line of shoes and am grateful for every moment and every person that have been part of my life.  And, I smile, remembering, that these shoes and boots are made for walking into the new moments to come – each with their gifts.

Thank you for reading.

Kathleen

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”  (Abraham Lincoln)

In the flurry of activity, most days seem to ask for and even require our full attention.   This past week, in addition to the hours working on my book, life has had its own cadence.

Grocery shopping……Drinks with friends…….. Facebook……Street party with the Atlanta entrepreneurial community ……Impromptu sidewalk conversations with neighbors ……An afternoon celebrating the life of a friend’s mother……. Guest appearance on a radio show……Laundry…..Chipper, the cat, missing for 2 days…….An evening with Garrison Keillor at his Atlanta live broadcast performance..….Wonderful conversations with Sarah.

I relish being totally submerged in the days, living fully in the moment.  And, it reminds me of life’s tapestry:  the experience of the day – whatever the days brings; the gift of the moment – life flowing through us; and, the beauty of our essence – sharing ourselves with others.

It was  fun being a guest on Steve Gross’s radio show, “Gross Reality”.  Steve is the founding organizer and now Founder Emeritus of HLB Gross Collins P.C.  We first met when I was directing the Business Plan competition at Georgia Tech – HLB Gross Collins is a long time sponsor.    Steve’s show shares perspectives, tools and insights to help businesses thrive and grow.

Our conversation focused on leadership, working with diverse groups of people, communication, and the power of experience.  It reminded me of the range of perspectives we each bring; and it was a gift to share my experience and insights.  Plus, I got to talk about my book; and, he asked the question many are asking these days “What is it like, writing a book?”  Here’s the link to the show if you’d like to check it out.

Then, one of my good friends forwarded an email that was inspiring.  A woman wrote about wisdom of weeds in her garden bringing her abundance.  It reminded me of how poignant every moment is and of being attentive to see all the possibilities presenting themselves.

Finally, Chipper.  Last Sunday I came home from yoga and Chipper went out.  It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that he returned – he was sitting on the front step, nonchalantly, I might add, when I got back from a walk.   Truth be told, it was the 2 days he was gone that reminded me to feel the goodness in every moment and like water flowing downstream, life cannot be held onto – it can only be cherished – in every moment.

Reminder to self:  love the world, love the day, love the moment.

Thanks for reading and cherishing this moment with me.

Kathleen

Young leaves bursting in spring, yellow greens………..Hibernating daffodils and tulips emerging, testing the spring breeze………..Azaleas singing in choruses…..Spring breezes……Gentle and thunderous spring rains……Spring fairs…….Neighbors walking……Longer days……Birds singing and playing. 

All of this AND more!  

Spring is the season for Georgia Tech student entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas and companies into two showcases and competitions:  Business Plan Competition and Ideas 2 Serve Competition.

Undergraduate, MBA, and graduate students from across campus seed their ideas, creativity, and passion  by figuring out how to transform the ideas into reality.   All of the ideas have names, logos and teams.   Some ideas and their plans still exist on paper, others have prototypes, still others have beta test sites.  In the business plan competition, there are full business plans, complete with financials, and 15-minute presentations. 

The Idea 2 Serve Competition challenges the students to develop unique solutions that serve others.  These teams create a 1-minute video, a two-page summary plan and present their ideas to the community at a showcase event.  The best teams move on to the finals, where the teams give a 3-minute presentation to an auditorium packed room where the audience, mostly students, votes for their favorite in the “People’s Choice Award”.

Oh yes, each year, community participation and support grows.  I’m not I’m not sure of the exact count over all of the events, competitions, showcases and teams, but I imagine the total count of mentor and judges is close to 200.  Amazing!!

If you are not inspired yet – check out the teams and the ideas.  The winner of the Business Plan Competition, MAID, is an undergraduate team  which created a magnetic assisted intubation device.  The 2^nd place winner, TUNGO, developed a tongue-guided wheel chair, and the 3^rd place team was Mekong Green Tech – which also won the Ideas 2 Serve competition. Their technology helps solve pollution problems related to brick-making techniques in rural Vietnam through the use of simple, low-cost gasifiers.   They  have test sites in Vietnam – as I write, 3 of the students are in Vietnam working with the villages and their technology. 

Check-out the website links.  I promise, you will be inspired by all ofthe students’ creativity and impact.

And, of course – Smile – it’s spring.  Whether it is one beautiful spring flower, a tingling song from a bird, or a student believing in their capacity to impact others – remember the Power of One.  Celebrate your gifts, nurture your creativity and be bold taking you to the world!

Thanks for reading!

Kathleen

The last time I sat to write for the blog was the first week in March – now seemingly light years away.   It is interesting to read my meanderings.  At the time, life was quiet and I was re-beginning my book.  I had written 5 chapters and although I liked what I had done, and there were plenty of stories, it felt as if I had lost my way.  Newness has a sense about it, when it appears unexpected and uninvited in the midst of executing a plan – the activity grinds to a halt and quiet emerges.

Accustom as I have been to the hustle-bustle of the business world where there are always too many things to do, voices calling, and deadlines to meet, the creative quiet in which I found myself felt devoid of guideposts.  So, I created some.

Note to Self:  Remember Patience.  Everything happens in its own time and way. 

Patience is not what we learn in school or the business world – where results are created on a calendared schedule – semesters, school years, quarters, fiscal years.   Yet, the underlying cadence of life is always a dance between action, quiet, regeneration, and perfect timing.   It is easier to see results through action.  The power of quiet requires trust.

Note to Self:  Honor the Quiet and Listen. 

I didn’t realize until things got quiet how much of my life had been driven by my to-do list and the frenetic energy in the business world.  I don’t miss the seeming infinite number of emails that had been arriving in my inbox each day.  Where does all the activity go when it gets quiet?

Well, I realized how much chatter there is in my head.  Although the outside activity calmed down, the internal “to-do list program” was still in high gear – complete with deadlines.    How interesting it was to realize that it was often easier to ignore the emails, than it was diverting attention from my mindful chatter.   This came as a surprise to me -watching the chatter find channels around my meditation and yoga practices.  Amazing.

As is often said, awareness is the first step – the major key – to any change.  This was true for me.  As I honored the chatter for what it was, I also turned my attention to the “Sounds of Silence” around me.  Birds singing.  Chipper, the cat, quietly walking across the room.  Trees moving in the breeze.  Children playing.  Me, breathing.   I began to create space for the newness to be heard.

It took no time at all for newness to appear.  I found places to begin again for the book – each one exciting, full of information and the writing naturally flowed in a new way.  The chatter was still there – assessing the work I had done and was doing.  The difference now was that I had a new vocabulary to get through the chatter and to consciously find trust for the creative space.

I was happy, and felt content as the new plans emerged.  Then, with John Lennon’s lyrics dancing in my head … “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans”…. new adventures appeared.  For the first time ever, a simple jury summons turned into me actually getting put on a jury – for a week.  Book writing, on hold, I met a whole new group of people.  It was amazing how easily and quickly everyone connected.  We will likely never see each other again, and yet, it is expansive to feel how we touched each other’s lives.

Then, like a thunderstorm rolling in, my body got hit with an unscheduled de-tox program, compliments of a viral infection.  It was another interesting week and reminded me of what it feels like to completely surrender.  It’s not as if I had a choice in the matter, I was too tired to even have mind-chatter.   This time, I re-discovered the gift of our bodies’ amazing ability to heal.  Writing this – feeling good has never felt so good.

Final Note to Self:  Live, Laugh, Love.

In the busyness, in the quiet, in the planned, and in the newness of every day.

Happy Day To You!

Kathleen

How wonderful it is for this to be Valentine’s Day.

I am grateful, in particular because I have been writing the “Power of Love” chapter in Awakening Awareness .  I must confess that the chapter was, and still is, a good idea  – even when I sit with all my notes, journals and still have a blank screen.  I wonder how I can put all that I know and feel about love into words.

Words, many times, aren’t really necessary.  For example, I love to open the door in the morning and feel the freshness of the day and the new breath.  This, I know as love.

When I sit at my computer and know its power of connecting, this, I know as love.

Yesterday, a friend and I met for a late lunch and cake.  We sat for hours talking, eating, sharing life and its experiences.  This, I know as love.

There are days when all of this is very clear – where the connection between life and me radiates love.  However, there are the days when the connection gets fuzzy coming through all that is going on in my mind.  For those days, I keep a book in reach Hidden Messages in Water.  Through Masaru Emoto’s science and photographic mastery, he recorded emotions as told through frozen water crystals.

The sweetness of the book is the crystals remind us what we already know.  Love, joy and peace feel good; anger and frustration, however emoted, don’t.  Water that sits in a loving room has beautiful crystals.  Water sitting in a polluted lake or in an angry room has distorted, muddied crystals.  Check out the youtube video.  Amazing, simply amazing.

The crystals are a great reminder that whether I am the only one in the room, writing, cooking, emailing – it is always a loving choice to choose love.  And, given that the primary element in our physical bodies is water – choosing love and knowing the crystal beauty of the water that is me is, as they say, priceless and healthy.

Happy Valentine’s Day.  Drink lots of water!  Enjoy the love that is you and that is with you, today and every day.

Kathleen

I don’t know about you, but I have no idea where January went.  Time certainly feels to be moving fast and furious.  The weather, here in Atlanta, mirrors this – January thunderstorms and rains that feel like spring.

One of the reasons why January flew by for me is that I dove into writing my first book, “Awakening Awareness”.  Wow!  Every day is new as I move between my mind and my creative spirit – creating outlines and discovering that writing has a flow and spirit of its own, beyond the outline.  I’m amazed at how quickly the days move and how full they feel in the quiet of home and the click of the computer keys.

As I was sharing this with a friend, he asked “How many words are you writing each day?”   I chuckled and responded with a question “Are you asking about the number of words I write or the ones I keep?”  (I think back about the earlier blog – “Where’s the Eraser” – and all the lines I draw before I get to the drawing’s final line.)  I was grateful for this question because it was as if my own mind, trained to live in the world of planning and goal setting, planted the question.

I had to answer that I had no idea – some days many words appear on the screen; other days those words transform into different words or are relegated to the earlier draft.  Still other days, words appear on outlines, as note cards for chapters not yet started.  And then, there are the moments when words appear as pictures, poems, and quotes.

It is comforting to see my creative spirit in charge at this point and watching her and my mind open a new channel of creating together.  How can I tell?  Simple.  By looking at my dining room table – full of books, journals, outlines, small and large pieces of paper, water glass, cup (coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon), a candle, and 2 day-at-a-glance calendars (one with the daily cat and one of Zen sayings).

There is an office upstairs – open, full of light.  For now, it feels separate – the seeming chaos of the dining room table has a cadence of beauty and connection.  Often I find myself fixing dinner or emptying the dishwasher and an idea – new or a synthesis of what I have just written – appears.  I rush to the computer or my journal to record what just came in and then, it feels like Christmas all over again as I’m eager to see what the new idea is all about and where it fits.  Whoosh.  Hours – gone.  Happily.

Just so you know, my extroverted spirit is getting plenty of opportunity to participate in the world.  Last Sunday, I led a leadership retreat for a student organization at Georgia Tech.  I’m on the Advisory Board of this one-year old group called Enterprise 2 Empower (En2Em).  They are phenomenal in what they are doing to open students to the possibilities of social entrepreneurship.  There are 12 students on the leadership team and their stable of ideas could fuel the organization for the next 20 years.  With their founder and leader graduating in the spring, they wanted to create focus for their vision.

The dining room table was my inspiration to begin – not to create chaos particularly – rather to open the spaces of their imagination in a flowing, creative exercise.  When the students came into the room, opening their computers, I asked them to put the computers away.  Whew – goodness – eyes beaming heresy until they saw drawing paper, hundreds of colored pencils and pencil sharpeners on the table.

Through drawing, they opened their imaginations to En2Em’s possibilities and through that, we found an operating version of their vision.  We then moved into a modified “World Café” format to share, discuss, and create a common understanding of how to bring the vision into an operational plan.

Three and a half-hours later – 3 pizzas, pretzels, chips, cookies, popcorn, some soda and plenty of water – they had a plan.  And they remembered how much they enjoy coloring and feeling forward movement as they went to get ice cream.

I trust that 2012 is off to a great beginning for you.  And, as always, I am grateful that we are connected.

Kathleen