Tag Archives: practice

Noticing the Good Stuff: A Life’s Practice

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good stuff

I’ve recently gone through my archives for a project I’ve been working on and noticed that, by and large, my posts are positive snapshots of my life and about people and things that inspire me.

For some of you, the people who have known me for a long time, may be wondering who I have become – if I’ve swallowed some sort of yoga kool aid. For those of you that are new to me or only know me through this blog,  I want to be clear this is, in no way, to be taken as an accurate picture of my day-to-day life.

Lest you get the wrong impression about me and my life – everything isn’t always swell and great and easy. It is not. In fact, August was one of my most emotionally draining months ever.

But….

I’m just not interested in airing my dirty laundry on the internet or putting my still-in-progress troubles out there for the world to see. It’s not how I roll. I’m more of a work things out by myself/with a close friends/counselor kind of person.

In this space, I choose to highlight the awesome things I do every month because if I didn’t, these amazing things would go unnoticed and unappreciated. Mostly by me.

My natural tendency is to see what is wrong in a situation – to find the pieces that don’t fit and to make commentary on those (sometimes in a really funny way, if I do say so myself)- leaving my brain filled with the impression nothing in life is quite right.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this part of myself. Both for the observational humor as well as the I like to fix things part. But here’s the thing, my brain sometimes gets stuck in seeing what is wrong in life and I’m raising a kid now and I don’t want to nit pick life in front of her. Or nit pick her.

So pointing out what is going well – however small it may be – helps me notice the awesome things in my life.

Much to my surprise, I’ve also figured out that I like seeing the beauty in the smallest things. It really does fill me with a sense of wonder and gratitude (I know, I may also have thrown up in my mouth a little bit too).

Noticing the good stuff, my friends, is a practice for me. Much like yoga and meditation are things I have to practice – do a little each day in the best possible world – in hopes that some day it becomes an actual habit or something that comes more naturally.

Do you take time to notice the good stuff in life? Do you share your life online? How do you deal with this issue?

Summer of Intentionality Progress Report: To Learn

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Oh friends, this Summer of Intentionality list is proving to be the most difficult. Learning new things is challenging my brain in ways I hadn’t expected. Please send me your tips and advice!

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To Learn: The whole list

Status update:

Weightlifting 101 – my friend and I have a standing date for the gym every week day of this summer. I’ve only taken one day away {first day of my tiny cold}.

Success!

So far we’ve concentrated on the basics: actually going to the gym {make that 2 days away – our first day we ended up at the Fox and Goose for breakfast, so don’t think the getting there is too small a detail}, using the standard weight machines that run the perimeter of the room and this week even venturing into the middle of the room where the more complicated weight machines live.

What I’m learning from this weight room experience is a) I love how it feels to push myself physically b) I’m totally intimidated to be down in that manly space without my girlfriend c) In order to maintain the results and benefits from this I’m going to have to do this every damn day of my life {thanks for the reminder, Amy!}.

The good news is I have a partner in crime who has the same fitness goals and I’ve already started to brain storm ways to keep this daily physical practice going once I return to work. I’m toying with the idea of before work training sessions. Maybe not every day, but who knows?

Any advice on building fitness into your daily schedule?

Status Update:

Knitting Lesson #1

I met with my lovely knitting teacher at Temple and she patiently showed me the ropes and even made a video our lesson. Benefit of working with a technology teacher? I’m thinking so.

What I am learning:  The hard parts of actually remembering to knit a little each day (tie a piece of yarn around my finger?), not totally freaking out about what to do when I mess up and scheduling a follow-up lesson. Lessons a plenty here. Keeping the inner critics chilled out is an exercise in and of itself.

Any ideas on how to get myself to remember to practice? Have I ever mentioned how much I need to practice practicing?

Status Update:

Skype Lesson #1

A webcam has been procured and Skype been added to my computer.

What I am learning: I am so not a fan of learning. I am a fan of already being good at stuff or faking it behind the scenes until I am able to confidently fake it in front of others. Hello, perfectionist monsters!

I think making a connection or two with close friends needs to happen so I can feel more comfortable using the new setup.

Any tips for getting more comfortable with technology? Care to share your embarrassing technology stories to help me feel better?

Status Update:

Photo Editing Lesson #1

Another lesson. Can you tell I’ve been crazy busy lately?

What I am learning: Again with the hard part: practice. It looks like I might have to bust out a daily 15 minute schedule on myself. I didn’t want it to have to come to that, but stuff isn’t getting done without it. Why am I so much like my 3rd graders in this way?

Status Update:

Backyard Traveling – definitely my favorite {most comfortable} part. I’ll be posting later in a little Teacher Travels series.

What I’m learning: I really love going bye-bye. Day trips, museums, visits to the ocean? Love them all. Oh and Northern California looks a lot like Europe this time a year.

What is your favorite Northern California destination?

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The biggest lesson for me in this process is I really, really like starting new projects and I still have trouble with the small doses every day part of practicing new skills. It would seem I really enjoy the grand gesture, big picture, the newness of things and have a seriously underdeveloped practice muscle. Still I have weeks left to go before I return to work, so there are still many opportunities for learning.

Please leave me tips, advice or a progress report about what you’re learning this summer.