Do a Little.... A Lot

The Space Between Work

I don't have two kids. No husband. No full term of school and a night job. But yes, I'm freaking swamped right now. The day starts at 4:30am Mon-Fri/Sat and runs until I go crazy and need dinner. Or I find my way to the gym for a meek 30min workout before slowly driving home in the cold darkness to a shower and my bed. What's YOUR version of this circle???

As my new gig has ramped up, I've realized that I may not have a FULL day of doing whatever I want for a long, long time. I refuse to let this stop me - the days of my life are not limitless, and instead of throwing a pity party (and some of my parties are LEGENDARY), I'm purposing to fill whatever space my day leaves me after work to produce some work on what I'm passionate about. 

 What I am coming to see, is that the best "livers" fill their lives with their passion activities inbetween whatever constraints they are currently living under. That sounds SO much better then waiting for "tomorrow" or exhausting myself further with whiny self-talk! :)

What do YOU wish you were doing that you aren't? Encourage me with your project or dream that you are dedicating small nooks and crannies of time to rather then waiting for "the perfect moment." Life seldom leaves you gobs of time. At least not until you are dead.

How to Deconstruct Shoes from Goodwill

Lol - typing that heading feels so funny! As if you are all dying to shred shoes too! ;) Gonna share anyway!

This is (one) of my "passion projects." Designing the sandals I see clear and glowing visions of when I close my eyes.

Basically, I'm too impatient to wait for the leather shoe prototype shop here in Portland to finish their current orders, I've started out on my own. A visit to Goodwill at the end of summer actually yielded some decent sandals with great bases similar to the basic shape of my shoes.

I set the hand-me-down shoes out near my kitchen to constantly bug me with their silent, judging presence until I had the guts to start pulling them apart. After a few weeks, I sat down with several razor blades, scissors, pliers, a hairdryer, and some muscle and courageously began ripping the cloth uppers off of the shoes. Personally, I dislike hand work involving troubleshooting and technical skill with tools (other then sketching pencils or a drafting table). What I accomplished makes me glow with pride.....

I started with an enclosed peep-toe wedge and finished with this:

Note the unglued sole over the wedges

Really love the tapered, sexy shape of these soles. Feminine.

Later, I will reglue the soles after I've added my NEW uppers!

Pretty nifty, huh? I cut off all of the fabric I could while still leaving enough material to pull on to get the sole to separate from the wedge. Some hardcore glue held some of the uppers in place so I softened it with a hair drier, although the best way to get them apart was controlled yanking. :) I know, really technical. Up around the toes, I just trimmed the fabric (which was softer) close to the sole and very neatly, so you don't notice the leftovers. 

Voila! Now I am ready to cobble together the macrame uppers with the beads and gems. Can't WAIT to actually get some of my new work onto these! Baby steps.....just going to keep plugging away every day until I've got some rockin' new kicks. 

This is fall in my hometown.

View on my Sunday afternoon run. Hilly - calves still sore on Tuesday! 

How to Experience Fall in Portland

My First Bowl of Salsa

Gotta admit, the fall version of my local farmer's market is INSANE. Warm leaves, fun folk tunes, juicy apples, handmade pasta, gourds of all colors. No two weeks are the same - the seasons bring fresh stuff for me to discover every Saturday morning!

This week, I grabbed a cool "salsa bag" full of all ingredients (except chips) to make some farm fresh salsa. Sold!!!! The next day, I eagerly diced and sliced the produce up according to the following enclosed recipe:

     5-7 tomatoes

     1/2 sweet white onion

     1 clove of garlic

     a bunch of cilantro

     1 squeezed lime

     7 assorted spicy peppers 

     1 bell pepper

The flavor was refreshing, the texture was somewhat course, and the heat was almost too hot. Just hot enough to be racy and exciting without terrifying my taste buds. The longer I leave it in the fridge, the more garlic seeps out. I'm throwing it on gluten free chips and in rice bowls like a BOSS. 

Now that I know how easy it is to mix up salsa, I plan to grab my own ingredients next time. Experience is sure empowering, isn't it? :)

Try this combo out and let me know YOUR favorite salsa recipe! Heck....that could be a blog all it's own.

The Solitude of a Cemetery 

Who hear frequents grave yards? Any tombstone buffs out there? Perhaps you could better explain the macabre allure of gazing at weathered stone with the names of the long-dead deceased consumed with moss. Perhaps it's the artistry - so seldom do we carve anything into stone. The link to the past is another thought....somehow history still lives within these relics. Could it be our morbid fascination with the edge of our existence? We hope, dream, fear, anticipate the afterlife and these stone sentinels are the last link to those who've crossed over before.

I went for the leaves. 

And fell for the spell of the grave stones. 

Sleepy Hollow is in the air.

Perhaps Nathaniel Hawthorn's haunting tale calls to the reader every October. Who knows! A little spooky does the soul good. 

Granite and fading leaves

Who does this belong to?

Field of Souls.  

Missing the Moment

Breakfast provides me a few precious moments to allow my mind and spirit to fully wake up. After that, life strikes. So I've gotten religious: I eat a little hot rice cereal and flip through a The Buddha Walks Into a Bar at the kitchen table. I read only a few pages each day, but the content is rich.

On Chapter 19....

Here's the latest lesson I'm working on absorbing...not missing...

 "The Moment"

I'm so good at this. EXPERT level! Chapter 19 spoke to me - "Bringing a Spacious Mind to Subtle Acts."
An example the author brings is about "going out" on a Friday or Saturday night to a bar.

When you keep an open mind instead of trying to zero in on having a perfect night, you often end up having a fun experience. Not because you manipulated it in any way, or planned it to be so, but because you relaxed and went with whatever opportunities came up. In fact, when you try to manufacture fun, your evening will never live up to your expectations. It is only through truly relaxing with what comes your way that you will be able to enjoy yourself. 

 I'll set myself up allll week for an incredible date or night out. I'll have picked out the mood, environment, circumstances, and company. My mental table is SET. Then the real situation appears and I'm so busy looking for my "Barbie doll date" that I completely blow the good time that was waiting there for me. If only I'd gone into the scenario expecting nothing other then simply an amazing experience.

Don't try to have a great time, just let yourself have a great time....We don't have to plan every minute of the day. we can go with the flow of our life, and relax into freedom.

Visioning and planning are crucial. But don't let your anticipation of reality prevent you from loving Your Moment.:):):)

Commit to relaxing with me? :)