Because it’s Friday AGAIN. And because traditions are important. In which I cover the good stuff and the hard stuff in my week, trying for the non-preachy, non-annoying side of self-reflection.
And you get to join in if you feel like it.
A year of chickens! A year of chickens!*
I know I said last week I wouldn’t remember, but I did.
To be honest, of all the various little series-type things that I’ve done on the blog, like the Item! posts or the blogging therapy series or my Very Personal Ads … the chickens seemed like the stupidest idea of them all.
But somehow, despite my being convinced that the Friday Chickens are boring, excessively self-indulgent (yes, even for blogging) and kind of ridiculous, they’re still here.
And the reason for that is a. I’m completely addicted to doing them and b. it is so completely inspiring to read about everyone else’s week in the comments. To commiserate over the hard and jump around about the good.
It’s like, we’re in it together, and getting to be present for everyone else’s is helping me be more present with my own stuff. So thanks, guys. Chickens! Whooo. Chickens!
*Remember the first one? Remember when it stopped being a round-up? Oh, the nostalgia!
The hard stuff
Feeling nervous about a whole entire week of retreating.
That kind of sums it up.
My nervousness turned out to be entirely unjustified, but you know how it is.
The bit of good in that hard was that I was not even slightly nervous about teaching two classes each day, which is a nice improvement from a few years ago when it would have been highly stressful.
The busy. Oy, the busy.
So between planning and teaching two classes a day at Jennifer Louden’s Writer’s Retreat and talking to people and sitting in on Jen’s classes and working on my Shiva Nata manual …
Pretty exhausted.
I would fall into bed each night wondering how on earth the time had manage to whiz by so impressively since six in the morning.
I missed my Angel Refueling Station in my office where I can sneak off to meditate. I missed my gentleman friend. I missed Hoppy House. And I didn’t even have time to miss any of it.
Not wanting to catch up on any of the work that’s piled up since I’ve been gone.
Ugh.
I am just not in the mood.
That is all.
The good stuff
Retreat! Retreeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaat!
I freaking love being on Retreat.
I love having designated writing time each day. I love sitting in the circle with this group of bright, thoughtful, sweet-hearted women.
Being away from routine. Having a place to create rituals and dissolve stucknesses. It’s bliss.
Plus, Jen’s classes are phenomenal, and I have many happy notes and scribblings.
Teaching!
First of all, getting to teach Shiva Nata every single day was the coolest thing ever.
Plus I got to teach about so many of my favorite destuckification-related topics. And then I also taught a super-gentle yoga class every day (what I call Old Turkish Lady Yoga), which was yummy.
So. Much. Fun.
The people? Oh my god.
I genuinely liked every single woman from the Retreat. Which kind of surprised me.
But it was just amazing this group that came together.
I got to share a room with Lisa Pijuan-Nomura, who is my new Favoritest Person Ever. I got to hang out for hours and hours with my beloved fellow-goofball Molly Gordon.
And then several of my Kitchen Table program participants were there and getting to spend time with them in person was so much fun I can’t even tell you.
I got to have dinner with Gail (you might remember her from an Item! post a few weeks ago), and to spend lovely, lovely time with Josiane and Wendy and Shannon.
Ooh! And I got to finally meet Marissa, my wonderful First Mate on the Fluent Self pirate ship. I’ve been wanting to give her a hug for oh, a year? And yay!
Taos is so gorgeous I can hardly stand it.
The sky! The clouds! The air! The light!
I could marry this place.
It’s just breathtakingly lovely. And the food is ridiculously great. And the place we Retreat-ed in has a pebbled labyrinth to walk.
And I don’t want to leave.
I finally realized that yes, I am a writer.
It took a while, but it sunk in.
It just occurred to me a few days into the Retreat that of course I am a writer.
I’ve written three full-length ebooks and a number of smaller ones. Over 400 posts for this blog and there’s the Shivanaut blog too.
Oh, and I rejoice in getting a two-hour chunk to write in. And if I don’t write I go crazy. I think that covers it. Nice.
Also, I am so close to finishing my new and greatly improved version of the Shivanaut Manual that I want to jump around and dance dance dance dance dance!
Wendy’s Green Chili Stew!
I could stay in New Mexico forever. Just saying.
Young! Lady!
“This way, young lady!” sang out the guy at the Portland airport, unknowingly making my day.
I have been ma’am-ed far too often in the past few months. Really starting to get to me.
It may have been the sunglasses obscuring the bags under my eyes but I don’t care. Young lady = me. Ha!
And … new at the meme beach house!
Yes, that’s a Stuism too.
My brother and I have this thing where we come up with ridiculous band names and then say in this really pretentious, knowing tone, “Oh, well, you know, it’s just one guy.”
So this week, I bring you:
The Udnish Initiative
It’s … just one guy.
And … STUISMS of the week.
Stu is my paranoid McCarthy-ist voice-to-text software who delights in torturing me misunderstanding me. I can’t stand him.
Stu had an awesome a Harry Potter moment this week:
to beat our house elves and our habits to death with venomous stakes instead of “to beat ourselves and our habits to death with enormous sticks”
Obviously house elves = genius, but it also cracked me up that I just could not get him to say enormous. Venomous was his favorite, but he also came up with anonymous and animus … weird.
Okay, here are the rest.
- Anne fallen to the Mayor instead of “and fall into the mirror”
- that too can suddenly before instead of “that two can suddenly be four”
- challenging her patter is good for the prey instead of “challenging our patterns is good for the brain”
- a cup for coffee in the moors instead of “a cup of coffee in the morning”
- an inertia ass instead of “and nourish us”
That’s it for me …
And yes yes yes, of course you can join in my Friday ritual right here in the comments bit if you feel like it.
Yeah? Anything hard and/or good happen in your week?
And, as always, have a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious weekend. And a happy week to come.
Follow
An inertia ass! THAT’s what’s wrong with me, I have an inertia ass! Thanks Stu, it’s so good to have a new understanding of my problem. *laughs*
Hard: Nothing! Let’s get to the good!
Oh, OK. Hard: Feeling like a failure and like I should just quit, even though everything is going really well. Feeling weepy and grief-stricken for NO REASON. …
that I am willing to acknowledge. Moving on.
Good: I have a THING! A little e-book type download thing! It’s called Being Creative, it’s colourful and funny, and even has some good advice (says my friend, no one else has read it yet). I haven’t even announced it on Twitter or anything yet, but now I’m telling YOU, sweet Havi people! Click on my name, you don’t even have to sign up or anything, it’s just a pdf.
I’m slowly getting around to thinking about maybe trying that Shiva Nata thing everyone’s going on about. Yay for Shivanaut manual! I’m excited about it even though I still don’t even know what this dance is supposed to look like! Why don’t I get the DVD already? I don’t know! Exclamation mark!
My book is listed on Amazon.co.uk as “in stock”. Many people have bought it (well, OK, 5. That’s still a lot.) I am happy, even though it means the book may soon be honestly out of stock if this keeps up. *aaagh! panic!*
I can haz yoga every day! Wheee! It’s eaten into the time I used to do things like uploading e-books and blogging and stuff but it’s worth it. Yup. Starting to really love the swan. Are you allowed to have favourites in yoga?
.-= Willie Hewes´s last post … If you register your site for free at =-.
Whoa, “house elves … venomous stakes” is AWESOME. I rather like the idea of beating *something* to death with venomous stakes. ‘Cause venomous snakes would be too floppy.
Retreats are also AWESOME. Love retreats. I even loved a silent retreat I did a few years ago, and you may have intuited that “silent” isn’t so much my thing.
And yay for the new Shivanauts’ Manual! Looking forward to *that*, Ah’ll tell yew whut!!
And there’s the thing for me that’s hard ‘n’ good – I’m flying back to Texas tonight to spend four days with my family. Houston. In August. As you can see, I love my family, but it’s been a long time since we’ve spent four whole days together. The occasion is my dad’s triple bypass – so things will be a little intense, I’m sure. So I’m looking forward to it and dreading it, both.
Other hard – no TIME this week! I have blog posts in my head that remain unwritten, knitting that remains unknit, design ideas that remain fantasy. Sleep deprivation is becoming the norm. I’ve missed more Shiva Nata than I’ve done this week (and I notice I do miss it). I haven’t wanted to give up any of the stuff I’ve done, but I hate giving up my blogging and knitting and Shiva Nata and stuff.
Also, I seem to be getting generally grouchier and shorter tempered. Could be related to the sleep deprivation thing. Probably is.
Good – Spent some good quality time with DH. DH and I are really enjoying each other right now.
Got to go to Steamboat Springs and hang with good folks last weekend, plus soak in hot springs and watch my beautiful husband spin fire.
Took the kidlets to the Dragon Boat Festival and had fun with them.
Things at work are less frantic now that the big sale thing is over.
Rolfing has been good. Talking to my Rolfer about continuing into a structure plus movement series now that we’re at the end of the initial ten.
.-= Anna-Liza´s last post … Pollyanna Puts The Fun Back in Her Bedroom =-.
I have had “an inertia ass” this week in some things. LOL So glad you had fun at Taos, it sounded wonderful!
The hard:
Forgetting that one of the stitch and bitchers is from out of the country and doesn’t always get our nuances and idioms. Answering her blunt question there instead of telling her I would email her privately (I had had four hours sleep and had vertigo all week so was not on my best behavior). Feeling like a bitch for doing so.
Having vertigo all week. 🙁
The good:
Dye party with my friends on Monday and the wonderful follow up fabric I made on Tuesday.
Having an inquiry about a sale from my show at Casa.
Finding out the award at the Ohio State Fair is a cash award 😀
Realizing that the biggest part of that voice in my head that says this art making isn’t a “real job” has been ME! Being gentle with that part and working on changing my thoughts/patterns.
Ben received a laptop and printer from his grandparents as an early birthday present. The look on his face when he read the letter was priceless. 😀
Forgiving myself for the event at stitch and bitch.
And happy Chicken birthday and many happy returns. I’m so happy I found this wonderful space where we can all support each other. Have a great weekend and happy August tomorrow! 😀
.-= Andi´s last post … Dye Party =-.
Maybe I need to beat my inertia ass with venomous stakes…
OK! The hard:
I kinda have been obsessing on one of my stucknesses (in college, my entire circle of friends did study abroad while I was stuck in my hometown *without* my *entire* circle of friends) and spiraling a little (I need to make up for missed opportunities! No, that’s both impossible and a waste of time! I need to focus on not missing upcoming opportunities! But there aren’t any! and so on…).
I also had an earache, which was manageable except yesterday when I made the stupid mistake of taking a decongestant right before lunch, and then drinking a soda with lunch, not even thinking that it Never Ends Well when I mix decongestants with caffiene… Fortunately, I realized what was making me hyper before it turned into full-on anxiety, so that helped, but: Not Fun.
The Good:
Dance lessons! The finace and I are taking dance lessons for the wedding, and it’s pretty much only the second form of exercise I’ve found in adulthood that Ia cutally enjoy (and the first that doesn’t involve expensive equipment and a large body of water). Now I just need to stop being self-conscious (thanks a lot, Childhood Dance Lessons) and we can hit the town!
Showers! The MIL shower I was half-dreading wasn’t as bad as I feared (not as good as I hoped, either, but I saw that coming!), and both moms approved of our flower arrangment for the wedding. *Both* moms!
And then yesterday some co-workers threw me and another member of our team a joint shower (with lots of disclaimers so no one thought we were amrrying each other!). And they got me what was unanimously decreed to be the Nicest Toilet Brush Ever!
And! I have my hometown shower tomorrow, and by all accounts it’s what I wish the MIL shower had been. But I will let you know next week if that was Good or Hard (or both-ish).
.-= Laura G´s last post … Help us pick our wedding song — Round 4 =-.
Sounds like you had a delicious week retreating and writing and I loved your “I am a ______” post – thank you for sharing your deep seated heartyness with us all. It certainly touches me and loves me and I love it and while I’m getting into your blog and your style I have to say I love you 🙂
To share my week with you….. phew, here goes…
The hard: I plucked up all my courage to go to the principal at the local school and ask for a job as the preschool teacher. The school really needs it… I mean really, really needs it and I’m a perfect fit it is a win/win solution – I’ve studied teaching, my heart soars when I’m working with kids, the kids learn, my heart soars some more and the school excels and makes more learning available to more kids…as you guessed… my heart soares… and, she said NO (not because of money)…. I crumbled! Instead I work part time at the school as the cleaner… when I could be giving so much more and learning so much more and seriously having an impact and the answer is NO… very sad 🙁
The good: that silly cliche of the good that comes out of the bad.. the phoenix and the flame blah blah – yes the good… I had an epiphany that may just revolutionise education and more specifically the availability of education to young children on the planet… This is part of my thing in working with children, I think it can work and I’ll have to give it a go. I’ll give it a go and I’m excited and terrified at the prospect… and I think it can work. At least I’ll have something to think about while I clean… a new form of meditation for me yes!?!
The other good, I had a nap with my baby girl today – it was delicious!!
Have a great weekend you all xxx
.-= Marilyn´s last post … Just for FUN =-.
Fought inertia myself this week. And it wasn’t a week I’d planned for that. (Oh! The best laid plans…..right? ha)
The hard: Old stuff coming up and coming back
The awesome: Amazing friends who reminded me I knew what to do – and helped me do it. And the gratitude that hit in a massive way.
All the best!
deb
.-= Deb Owen´s last post … practicing creativity leads to creating the life you choose =-.
Don’t think I’ve ever participated in the Chicken, but when better to jump than on an anniversary, non?
The Hard:
GFF and I were like two emotional ships passing in the night much of this week. We didn’t spend as much refueling time together as usual because I was in training this weekend, and it really through us off our normal supportive-and-loving-and-present game.
A large number of very close friends are going to move away from here forever in the next few weeks, and that really hit me this week. I’m mad and I’m scared of feeling lonely. Yuck.
I had performance-review-related anxiety all week and generally hated-hated-hated my day job. Can’t seem to motivate myself to get anything done at all.
The Good:
Training! Training! I spent the weekend in training to become a labor support doula and it was fantastic, amazing, incredibly empowering (cliche, but there is no other good word for this part of it). I actually left each day with the certainty that the world is a benign place to live, and I don’t always feel that way. So ready to start doing this work.
Finally set up an herbal/nutritional consultation and went to that this week. Felt good to have some of my health troubles really listened to, and for someone to have ideas on how I can work with myself to feel better.
Yoga. Not that I’ve really done any of it, but my herbalist asked me if maybe I can commit to 1-2 classes per week? And it was like being given permission. I realized that I often feel like spending money on yoga classes is fripperous frivolous nonsense. Whoa!
GFF and I are still supportive, loving, present even when we feel like two emotional ships passing in the night. I’m really proud of our ability to recognize what was going on all week.
Thanks for sharing your weekly check-in with us Havi! This was awesome.
I got “young lady-ied” this week too, and at my age, made my frickin’ day!! I owe it all to yoga and healthy living, which is a lot of work but sometimes when you’re mistaken for someone oh-so-much-younger=totally worth it!
The BAD:
Pain flareup this week caught me by surprise, and it took two days to regain my handle on the body in pain.
Work stress puts me in the middle of a turf war.
The GOOD:
My bad days are still better than they used to be, and I can move a lot more on those days than I used to.
The GREAT:
Signing up for a Wildmind meditation course.
Don’t think I’ve ever participated in the Chicken, but when better to jump than on an anniversary, non?
Agreed!
Hard
B, being silly as always, said no to me the entire week, for anything I asked. UGH. Extra hard for me because when he or anyone does something bad on purpose it triggers my bad memories of being in the house terrified of my dad wanting to hurt me on purpose.
Yeah, I know “not going to see the movie I want” is way different than beating me up till I’m all bruised, but tell that to my inner child :/ Sigh… I think I managed to stop over reacting to B’s crankiness by Thursday. Boy what a week! We were both a wreck last night.
Good
Managed to stop over reacting to B’s need to say no to me. Hopefully we can get a more “normal” time together this weekend.
Got lots done at work. Kids doing great. Sunny beautiful days.
Happy anniversary, Friday Chicken!
Havi, I’m so happy to hear about all the deliciousness of your retreat. Teaching every day! And you finally get that you’re a writer! Yay!
My hard this week:
The heat. Seriously. I can’t function, or think, or sleep when it’s so hot. Which is hilarious for someone who grew up in Bombay. My brain melted into a Giant Puddle this week, and it’s all I could do to mop myself off the floor.
My good this week:
Air conditioning! In my bedroom! Yippeee! 🙂
A 3-day visit from my #1 son
Sunday Poem #2 on my blog
An invitation from a publisher to write a series of children’s books
Lovely client had big breakthrough around a long-standing, tough situation
It’s cooler this morning
.-= Hiro Boga´s last post … Good Morning: Surfing the Heat Wave! =-.
Happy, happy anniversary to all of us!
Hard: It’s so HOT. Tired of thinking about stuff. Is it not written, “If you keep picking at it, it’ll never heal”? Laptop going wonky.
Good: Frozen juice pops. Son’s first trumpet lesson. Ceiling fans. Audiobooks.
.-= Melynda´s last post … Orderly Transition of Power Salad–with homemade chutney! =-.
Yeah, happy birthday Chicken!
I’m honouring it by not being chicken myself and posting my Chicken thingies. 🙂
Have to work on the whole brevity thing. :p
The Hard:
My job: Oh, my horrible terrible awful dread-inducing job, that could’ve been so great! The way these people work is all wrong for me, but I can’t do anything about it because of . . .
The fear: That it’s just all ME, that wherever I go it’ll always be this afwul. That I’m stupid and broken and hopeless. That I’ll regret it forever if I leave this (admittedly incredibly cool) project. That there’s a scientific career in the offering, and if I could only be NOT-ME and not want to brainstorm and not want to be clear on what I’m doing and why and not be discouraged if people order me around without at least telling me WHY something needs to be done, then all would be well. That if I were smarter, I wouldn’t need all that.
The shame: That I know full-well everything I typed above is not rational. I’m not going to become a great scientist if I don’t learn how to analyse things. I’m not broken for wanting to do something that’s actually useful. I’m smart, dammit, even certifiably so! I have worked successfully in projects before, with a different kind of team spirit. But still, all this irrational stuff is awfully awfully hard.
The anger: Now my mother, a dear soul who has her own burdens to bear and probably means really well, suddenly e-mails me ‘choose with your heart,’ after spending my entire childhood making sure I always did what other people told me to do, and not what I wanted to do, to the point where she would even tell me “No, you’re not tired. No, that your stomach hurts doesn’t mean that you’re sick, it means that you’re nervous.” I’ve ALWAYS, my whole life, felt nervousness in my sternum, not my stomach. Where does she get off systematically dismantling my entire innate ‘trust-in-yourself’ system for 16 years, and then suddenly telling me to trust in myself? Aargh! And of course she’s my mother and I love her, which makes it feel double icky to be angry with her.
The Good:
A body, I haz one! And I’ve been using it. Swimming three times a week, some bodyweight exercises three times a week, Shiva Nata three times a week, some sort of meditation (Mark Silver’s Remembrance, mostly) every day. And it’s great.
Gentleman friend iz a gentleman! The boy and I have been going through some tough times lately, but it’s going pretty well now. I’ve told him three things I was afraid of telling him, and he responded beautifully and with oodles of support. He even supported me through my angry-at-mom phase, whereas a scant half year ago he would respond to any bad moods on my part – regardless the reason – with anger and bad moods himself. It’s great!
The sun is shining, without it being hot, and I get to meet with my mastermind group tonight! And they’re going to cook for me, and we’re going to eat it on a balcony overlooking actual plants.
Happy Chicken Anniversary!
b. it is so completely inspiring to read about everyone else’s week in the comments. To commiserate over the hard and jump around about the good.
This – totally!
And also because the Chicken is the one routine I’ve managed to hang onto for more than a couple of weeks.
This week in review, the hard:
– Changed meds to another blood thinner because the two I’ve already tried had insufferable side effects. *fingers crossed* that the new one has the magic to keep me safe from the traitor in my head.
– So, so tired. Get up, go to work, work all day, go home, eat, and back to bed. Missing the hippie hubby lots.
The good:
– Having a paying job, even though it’s just a temporary one, in a place not infested with evil spiders. One of the joys of being a contractor is that no one is threatened by my presence.
– Having a computer at said job so I can Chicken in the morning! Yay – work slack! (Though I do end up staying longer because I try to make up for the slacking.)
– Picked up “The Mindbody Prescription” (book) from the library. I’m eager to start reading this weekend. (I got this book recommendation from a comment on this blog, so I’m sure it’s going to be helpful.)
Have a wonderful week, everyone!
Happy Anniversary!
The Hard:
– Continuation of the completely overwhelming workload.
– The person who is supposed to co-teach with me in the fall (actually take the LEAD role), telling me that he is worried about passing his exit exams. And I believe he should be worried as he just isn’t stepping up to the plate like some of the other students. And getting confirmation from another instructor that my impressions of the situation are warranted.
– A dietetic intern who needed more prodding than normal. Intelligent, but high-maintenance. I really didn’t need more on my plate to do this week.
The Good:
– Bike riding 70 miles with my friend on Sunday. A new distance record for her and the longest I have ridden in over 3 years!
– A fabulous department head who when I shared my worries about the fall class (which I’m feeling like I’m going to have to completely run after all), gave me several options of ways I can get support for management of the class.
– Ordering the “Shiva” DVD!
– Our old kitty who was pretty content and eating most of this week. Still on borrowed time, but didn’t have to be reminded of it constantly this week.
Have a great week!
The Hard:
– Confronting old, painful feelings over seeing my family. Being reminded of loss of parents.
– Feeling a bit of despair when I realized I have applied for 25 jobs since March, with no tangible prospects in sight.
The Good:
– Seeing old friends and family, and having my boyfriend experience my hometown and important people in my life.
– Eating healthy and working out. Meeting those goals this week.
– Letting myself take a long nap and read fiction on my day off – instead of the usual marathon dissertation session.
– Working on the conclusion to the dissertation! Seeing things come together.
– Getting a call from a recruiter who liked my resume.
Happy Chickversary the the Chicken. And more thumbs up for Inertia Ass.
Hard:
–Being in Los Angeles. Really not my kind of town. Smog bothering my sinuses. Not finding good places to go outside and walk. Hotel room ran out of hot water. Hotel room is too noisy. And it feels like LA is more expensive than San Fransicso, which I didn’t think was possible. This is really more “whining” than hard.
–Thinking I was going to get more work done on my itty biz while on vacation. Finding that’s not true because we spend so much time driving in traffic. And that being in LA all day wears me out so that at the end of the day I don’t have much energy for the reading and listening to audio stuff that I planned.
Good:
–Having some wonderful in person reunions with people I haven’t seen in a very long time. My college roommate. Three classmates from grad school. A dear friend from elementary school. So lovely to reconnect, all thanks to Facebook.
–Getting perspective on how much I absolutely love living in Northern California and definitely having a huge sense of home about it. Missing it. Missing the clean ocean air.
Cheers to all for the week ahead.
Anna-Liza: “‘Cause venomous snakes would be too floppy.”
I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read that!
Willie Hewes: “An inertia ass! ”
Exactly. That is my problem too! (Havi, Stu may be annoying, but occasionally he is wise, too!)
The Hard:
– Too many of my projects right now involve “other people bottlenecks”. I just can’t get those other people off the dime. Which leads me to…
– A huge amount of frustration with crappy customer service. Seriously, what is wrong with people. They say they will respond and then they don’t. Is there something in the water this summer that is making people unable to respond in a timely fashion? (And then when they do respond after I wait for more than two weeks, the response is useless. Gee, thanks. Glad I waited for that. Losers!)
– Damn scale didn’t move this week, despite sticking to my diet and exercise regime. Obviously it is broken.
The Good:
– Worked on some marketing copy for a sale I’m going to promote next month. First time I’ve ever tried something like this. Should be interesting.
– Successful personal ad! I posted a personal ad here recently for a new customer, and a few days later I got a call from a prospect. Probably not a long term client, but it was cool to see something work. Now I just need to refine my ad a bit.
– Tomatoes have finally come to the farmer’s market! Thank goodness! I love tomatoes that aren’t ripened in a truck.
.-= Avonelle Lovhaug´s last post … The life and times of a software detective =-.
Happy chickenversary, Havi!
Here’s my week in review:
The hard:
-Watching my dad get frailer rather than better because of the pain as he recovers from his most recent surgery. Getting so very *angry* at his HMO for letting the infection from his last surgery get so bad that he had to have part of his sternum removed.
-Had to give a written warning to one of the people I manage at the day job.
The good:
-Interview! I was interviewed by Inc. magazine for an article about small scale on-demand manufacturing and how it’s changing design. And the reporter really likes my work!
-Shiva Nata. Got my kit this week and started playing with it. Passed on some info to a work-mate who’s now intrigued as well, so I may have a shivanaut buddy soon.
-Joined Pace & Kyeli’s Freak Revolution Cofeehouse. Super excited about the awesome group of people I’m finding…
-Making, and making, and making some more. Took 2 afternoons away from the day job to work on getting more product ready for this weekend’s craft show. Really enjoyed that time balance, and got a ton done.
-Spirograph! I’ve been working for months revising designs for a bracelet and necklace set that work like a spirograph, and I finally got it all to come together. I have a dozen or so sets ready for the show this weekend. Yay for fun jewelry!
-Air Conditioning. So hot in Portland this week, and I didn’t have to be sleepless and sluggish and miserable – I got to enjoy the sunny beautifulness, and then get sleep in a cool bedroom.
.-= Shannon Henry´s last post … Diatom bowl featured =-.
Happy anniversary to the Chicken! Yay!
Hard:
– My great tutoring client disappeared. Wah!
– Feeling low because I’m not producing enough.
Good:
– Had a GREAT opening reception at the art gallery. Everyone loved my work. Happy me!
– Ventura Farmers Market! Yummy!
– Ran my usual 3 miles at a faster pace than ever before. Progress!
.-= Barbara J Carter´s last post … Good times at the gallery =-.
Hooray for a year of Chickens! I hope to be around next year to help you celebrate 2 years.
And you know, I don’t think of them as terribly self-indulgent, because after all this blog is about you, and this lets us feel closer to you, both by reading about your challenges and successes, but also in sharing the moments of our days with you.
The Hard:
– Still stumbling off-rhythm with the money thing.
– Procrastinating on a project that’s going to be easy and is all ready to be finished up, and not sure why.
– Procrastinating on an art thing that’s got me totally intimidated, and I’m pretty sure why but meh anyway.
– Having a few fumbling incompetent-feeling moments with communication, reminders that it’s definitely not my strong suit.
The Good:
+ Productive! Crazy productive, with the list-finishing every day from Sun-Weds. Yesterday not so much, see above re: procrastination.
+ Asks! I have asked and am receiving and it’s kind of awesome.
+ Made a bunch of brainstorming progress on a stuck story and got about 1000 words done.
+ Long Standing Client seems to be sticking around through the end of the year, which gives me time to gain some momentum otherwise.
+ Ordered tea, one of my giant self-indulgences, and also coffee for my Dad. Supporting the luxury beverage industry, one sip at a time!
+ Cats are, as always, awesome. And extra cuddly this week! I’m getting a balance between working and playing with the kitten, too, which is good for him.
+ Had an old friend contact me through FB that I actually wanted to hear from, and in recapping “what’s going on in my life” got to realize that I really am pretty content with the direction it’s moving in. Contentment! Awesome!
.-= Amy Crook´s last post … Features, Benefits, and the eternal Why =-.
I was not planning on participating today, but it is the anniversary after all, so here I go.
“I rather like the idea of beating *something* to death with venomous stakes. ‘Cause venomous snakes would be too floppy.”
Anna-Liza I swear I totally thought the same thing! hahaha
The hard:
stuck stuck stuck not making art,or drawing my comic, or sculpting.. even after all that great momentum and encouragement from the recently completed sculpture. weekends are good for me to get that momentum back,so YEA Friday!
As I’m becoming more self aware I’ve discovered there are a lot of things about my relationship with my gentleman friend that are bothering me. I need to speak up and talk to him, but I’m afraid. We don’t ever have ‘talks’. (one of the things that bothers me)
realizing that I need to stop waiting around for my gentleman friend to join me to go out and do things and enjoy Portland like I used to. I miss this great city and I live right in the middle of it!I feel like time is slipping by wasted and that is not good.
I was listening to the Habits Detective call last night and started making my list of things that are helpful in the stuck times. As it turns out, I have stopped doing most of those things because a lot of them seem like something nice/fun for my GF and I to do together. If he doesn’t feel like it then I feel guilty for going ahead with out him, so I compromise what I really do need and sit at home on the internet or watch a movie/tv with him. blech.
the GOOOOD! yay!
I sketched in my sketchbook last night and had a good time doing it.
I have successfully resisted turning to a cozy, meaty meal for comfort this week even though I’ve been a little down. Just being mindful of why I want meat has been great and successful. yay veggies!
my patterns are revealing themselves and I have clear things to work on/mull over/talk through. It is hard work, but good to have what feels like clarity. I am learning that I do know what I want, I’ve just been hiding from it or afraid of it or something… its a little fuzzy still, but good! 🙂
I hope everyone has a fabulous, restful, satisfying weekend! xoxo
.-= ilikered´s last post … here we go =-.
I love Stu; if he were a person, I’d invite him over for dinner every week.
The hard this week:
What if you gave a workshop and nobody came? I found out this morning. The good news is that I gave my presentation anyway, and my husband filmed it, and so now I can offer it for download.
I’m looking for a job. I’ve written a personal ad for it, but I’m still looking for it. That’s just hard.
The good:
Did my Heart of Money meditation just now, and apparently what I need in my life is a visit to the water park. Time to start planning one!
.-= Catherine Cantieri, Sorted´s last post … Last day to register for the Paper Ninja Workshop! =-.
Yea, chickens! Friday chickens especially!
“Venomous Stakes” is a great name for a band. Of course, it’s just …
I got silly hardness and ooey gooey goodness!
The Hard:
Didn’t get much house cleaning done this week, which sounds lame but I am woefully behind and it’s weighing on me. Next week will be better.
The Good:
The Snake Charmers didn’t win the Houston Press Music Award for “Best Blues” but thank you THANK YOU, Havi and everyone who voted for us. Really, it meant so much to me; I can’t fully express it.
Just participating was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot about what I want to accomplish in the coming year (like becoming a better musician and producing new music).
Yea, Friday! Yea, chickens! Yea, Havi! Yea!
Happy anniversary, chicken!!!
I wish I could have been in Taos this week, too. I could have used time to write, time to dance, time for Shiva Nata…
The hard: No sleep. Still insomniac.
Got some high-fructose corn syrup by accident at snack time at dance rehearsal and it killed me the next day. Sick sick sick. Including a sinus migraine and lots of misery. Yuckness.
Still working on Hard around money, but it’s getting better.
The Good: Finding out some of my thoughts about work in my office aren’t as insane as I’ve been told they are… others are in the same boat, and while I don’t wish it on anyone, it’s nice to know I’m not alone, and I’m not crazy.
Playing tabletop role playing games with my friends. I’d forgotten, after 10 years of break from it how much I actually ENJOY a good game of D&D or Vampire. (Insert venomous stake joke here…)
Furlough day today!!! OK. so the income goes down when they make me take unpaid time off… but… time off! to blog! to design! to stitch!!! YAY FURLOUGH! (I actually wish today wasn’t the “last” one… maybe they’ll decide they can’t afford us and make us take at least one a month… heehee)
Got my shivanata dvd and started working with it… had a Bing almost immediately about a problem at work which led to me talking to another writer and finding out I’m not crazy (and solving the problem I called about, too!)
Havi – I know the horizontal arms from bellydance as “Hands of Kali” Hmmm. Another goddess of destruction/construction! Interesting synchronicity.
.-= Romilly´s last post … My not-quite-a-UFO pile – Cats by Kelly =-.
Happy Chickaversary!
I think enough of your readers resonated with the ‘inertia ass’ to declare that Stu might be on to something. And no exception here.
The Good and the Hard (which for some reason, for me, always seem to be the same thing..)
Made a commitment to take on another shiatsu office in a place I’m in love with. (And, Havi, *when* you come visit me, you will love it too.. I’ll work on you, and we’ll drink tea, and, and..)
Taking this step means paying an actual monthly rent, which means making an actual income, and asking my husband to stay home with kids, and acting like a grown-up. And all this means facing fears about whether I can hold up my end without chance of bail-out, in the face of past patterns, unstable economy, looming swine flu freak-out, and other harbingers of doom that should be red lights to me taking on such a commitment.
See? Hard. And good.
.-= Gina´s last post … It’s the Thought That Counts =-.
ice cream shop. mmm ice cream.
With work – the universe has just shifted my clients to the days I am working. YAY! In fact I got inspired and wrote a bunch extra this week. I think working less will mean getting more done. Who knew?
The new workshop went great. I got all sorts of love and appreciation from those who attended. People signed up on the spot for next month! Even the unstructured part went well.
Wow.
This is really cathartic,
see you next Friday.
Andrew
.-= AndrewMcGregor´s last post … The Wandering Path and the Road to Evolution – Part 1 =-.
ohhh it cut out all the hard stuff… how funny.
Here is the first part again.
Lisa is great! I have known her for years. My wife used to dance at her events. What a small world.
Well the hard was:
Work/Life balance was not going so well. Missed my family too much.
Started working less to fix the balance which brought many fears. You know the kind – how will i pay rent, eat etc.
Taught an unstructured workshop on getting better at reading Tarotto folks who have been reading since I was in public school. Unstructred? seemed like a good idea but as it came around evoked a lot of fear.
The good:
More time with my family. Extra trips to the playground and ice cream shop. mmm ice cream.
With work – the universe has just shifted my clients to the days I am working. YAY! In fact I got inspired and wrote a bunch extra this week. I think working less will mean getting more done. Who knew?
The new workshop went great. I got all sorts of love and appreciation from those who attended. People signed up on the spot for next month! Even the unstructured part went well.
Wow.
This is really cathartic,
see you next Friday.
Andrew
.-= AndrewMcGregor´s last post … The Wandering Path and the Road to Evolution – Part 1 =-.
INERTIA ASS?! Oh my god – he’s got it. That is at the root of all my problems. Srsly. Stu, all is forgiven. (Sorry, Havi, I know I don’t really get to forgive your voice-to-text software. It’s rhetorical.)
I haven’t chickened before, but I will tonight, because I’ve just written my first “here’s what I’ve been at” post on my new blog, and it’s the Chicken’s anniversary, and … it’s fitting.
Hard: Snuffly cold. Horrible weather. Wakeful sons. Chaotic and filthy house. Big gaping sense of fear and self-loathing when I clicked Publish on Wednesday’s post.
Good: Extension works almost finished. Explosion of lovely comments on Wednesday’s blog post. (Eight! Can you imagine?) Happy proof-reading client, who is going to pay me actual cash money. Meditation. Four-year-old maths and one-year-old language. And the thirty-four-year-old who helps me through the hard stuff.
.-= Lean Ni Chuilleanain´s last post … The Story So Far =-.
Hi Havi,
I’ve lurked here since May or so, and have learned so much that I knew it was time to come out and thank you. All of your insightful posts and the sharing of your own personal working-on-stuff have really encouraged me in a not-so-scary way to finally work on my own.
In fact, from the first moment I stumbled here by accident and read the word ‘stuckness’ – I knew I was meant to learn something from you. I was stuck both professionally and personally without even truly realizing it, and have since begun working through it thanks to YOUR WORDS. Good thing you’re a WRITER! 🙂
Worked with my social anxiety and took the plunge as an organizer for a local vegetarian group who needed a leader. I’d been tripping over that one for several years & it finally hit the right part of my head. 🙂
Much goodness (and a little hard) so far with that!
This week’s hard led to the good.
Worked gently with my phone phobia to arrange a simple tea with really cool person. We kept missing each other’s call, so I was forced to use the phone repeatedly until finally setting a schedule. Once we met up, it was like instant friendship & potential work-help, easygoing interaction that I thought I was no longer capable of outside my comfort zone.
Everything’s a process, of course, and the Fluent Self has played an integral part so far for me. Things are falling into place all around me, and it’s all just pretty groovy.
I admire your style & look forward to more insights from you & Selma! My curiosity is extremely piqued with the Dance of Shiva, too.
Happy chickeniversary from me too!
Hard:
Work assignment kicking up major anxiety stuff so that all week I wake up too early and in pain. Sooo sick of this pattern and it’s so hard to allow it to be there.
If that weren’t enough, also a mini-identity crisis brought on by all this change and post-breakup stuff. Somebody in there whispering: “You’re all alone and you’re spending all your time online and turning into a mushy e-hippie. Your answer to work stress is to download a 40-minute singing-bowl recording? Who ARE you?? What happened to the ex-scientist ex-New Yorker with the pushups-Guinness-and-Nirvana routine?”
Good:
Even if it makes me an e-hippie I *totally dig* the shrines I made for the “divine decluttering” e-class.
I also realized I need some Comfort Clutter and that’s why I haven’t been cleaning. So last night I took down my art-postcard-clothesline and changed it into a clutter-clothesline instead, a colorful garland of messy papers and scraps. Love it.
People at the Kitchen Table reminding me (when I couldn’t remind myself) that I can allow the anxiety to be there without having it define me. Phewwww. Easier.
Asked my ex for reassurance that I have not lost personality and he totally came through. Gentle inquiries about singing bowls revealed that ex-scientist me likes to imagine the interacting waveforms. 🙂
Ah, in my household we have a chickening session every now and then (fortnightly at the moment) which we call “Leastests and Mostests”. Roughly based on something ol’ St Ignatius did with his mates, the daily examen. Pretty much what you’ve been doing with your weekly sizing up of how things are in your world – fantastic!
Re: “young lady” tremendousness – ain’t it grand? Sometimes I have a bus driver who is seriously the most cheery driver in the land. He needs a medal. He’ll greet every passenger with a hearty “Good morning, young lady” or “How are you today, young fella?”. Then as people alight from the bus, he calls out, “have a GREAT day!” There is pure sunshine in his voice, not a hint of insincerity. For those who take his kindness in, the response is visibly evident – the inner glow shines, and it certainly lightens the atmosphere on the journey into town, particularly on cold winter-struck mornings.
Once I told him that he must be the happiest bus driver I’ve ever met, and he said something about life being too short not to try to make others happy.
So although I haven’t seen this bus driver for a few weeks, reading your post reminded me of his generousity, and I just wanted to share it with you.
peace and glee,
Becca
Sorry – bit late with this but would like to start participating.
Hard:
~ after a gazillion years of running my own business still having worries about invoice payments arriving on time so I don’t run out of cash.
~ making sure I still get three blog posts and an update email sent out when I’m teaching classes in Hong Kong (and not feeling like a useless person for not coming up with them in advance)
~ walking 40 minutes in the wrong direction to find a bookshop in Hong Kong (damn you Google maps)
Grrrrreat:
~ getting my fire back teaching the (presentation skills) class, risking changing what we’ve put together to react to the people in front of us
~ having invoices be paid
~ having possible work in Australia
~ Langham Place Hotel buffet.
That is all.
Happy Chicken birthday.
.-= Andrew Lightheart @alightheart´s last post … Using a microphone in presentations =-.
The phone is ringing! The phone is ringing! OMG, I am so happy and grateful and joyous that: The phone is ringing!!!!
Did NOT even care that we had not only the hottest day of the year in Seattle, but the hottest day EVER RECORDED in Seattle since they started keeping records. Because thank you Jesus, Buddah, Allah and Maneki Neko in our office with one arm raised into the air in a gesture of good luck, THE PHONE IS RINGING!
Why did I choose a business so closely tied to the real estate market? Oh yeah, following my bliss and all that…! So no inertia ass for me this week. (Had enough of that all spring!)
Happy chicken b-day!–I gotta go answer the phone and help people–WOOT!
Laurie Lamoureux
http://www.WeKnowWhereToStart.com
ohhhhh..
hello andrew!!
What a small world!
hard
dealing with demons.
finding sadness.
missing the dave man.
wonder – bar
hanging with wonder havi and brilliant women
making friends with klaus and java and all the animals at mabel dodge luhan
realizing my power
and now taking it home with me!
thanks havi, my lovely, i think that i just might be so connected.
.-= Lisa Pijuan-Nomura´s last post … Writer’s Retreat =-.
The hard…
The skunk
The writing deadlines
The writing of one particular piece that I hope is honest but unsentimental… yet absolutely could not be because it has to deal with my infertility issues.
The hubs having work issues at the same time I am having hurt soul issues.
The waiting to hear some important news
The good…
Luau tomorrow. Yay!
Sleeping.
An afternoon with my grandmother
Seeing IMMENSE improvement to one of my client’s dogs.
.-= melissa´s last post … Skunk! =-.
Luv u, Havi, and thanks for writing the way you do. You’ve given me more than you know. This particular post will illustrate an upcoming post of mine on how to write a good post. Luved being with you in Taos. Carry the magic with you throughout your week, months…
.-= Patsi Krakoff aka The Blog Squad´s last post … How to Write Some Serious Stuff… =-.
Oh, Havi, it was so sweet to spend that lovely, lovely time with you! I hope we get to do it again soon (for the Shiva Nata teacher training? hint, hint! That would be awesome! And Wendy would be there too!)
Shiva-ing it up with you was an amazing experience, and so was learning what I’ve learned about my body through your yoga classes. And then, being told that you’d come to my class when I teach Dance of Shiva? Wow! (now that you know how easily my eyes tear up, you can imagine what state I am in right now…)
Thank you for what you did for me during that week; it truly means a lot. Thank you for your patience, kindness, and love. You’re the most wonderful young lady there is!
.-= Josiane´s last post … Retreating to write – and being treated to so much more =-.