Fluent Self Item!A somewhat goofy mini-collection of stuff I’ve been reading, stuff I’ve been thinking about and oh, some completely random crap.

Basically the stuff that never gets mentioned here because I’m not the kind of person who can just make some teeny little point. Not into the whole brevity thing, as the Dude would say.

Actually, I’m under the strict compulsion to write ten pages about anything on my mind. So this is me. Practicing brevity.

Brevity. Right.

This post was about a hundred items (Items!) long and I had to toss a bunch.

Shall we?

Item! Post No. 30 in a series that has yet to do anything to actually justify its existence.

Item! An itinerary for doing nothing!

It’s no secret that I’m madly in love with Kelly Parkinson (aka Copylicious Kelly) for all sorts of reasons.

But this post about just how profitable doing nothing can be is totally brilliant.

Even though she blames me for all sorts of ridiculous things.

“There are dealmakers who eat soup at their desks and work 15-hour days.

And then there are creators who take walks in the middle of the day, who dare to sleep a full 8 hours, who do absolutely nothing–strategically …

Because sometimes the best thinking happens after I haven’t thought about anything at all.”

Genius.

She’s @copylicious on Twitter.

Item! Painting is food for words!

Beautiful post (and a beautiful painting) from Christine Martell.

She talks about the connection between visual art and writing and how hard it is (even when we know that connection exists) to justify doing the thing that feeds us.

It’s a great post.

“Painting is food for my writing

Writing is hard. Paint flows.

Yet I find myself spending most of my days writing (or trying to), and not giving myself the space to paint or do other visually creative things.

I still fight the inner demons that judge the visual work as not really working, or just playing … I still battle the inner demons, the messages from other times, people, and places.”

She’s @cmartell on Twitter.

Item! Lagniappe!

Interesting post about why it’s silly to convince people (through your advertising and marketing) that they’ll be treated “fairly”.

“If the most your customer can say when he walks out your door is, “I was treated fairly,” your business is pitifully stale and you have virtually nothing to advertise…”

It’s really just worth reading though for the description of Fat Charlie and the delight he takes in making sure people get a little extra.

“Order ten pounds of potatoes and Charlie will happily toss potatoes onto the scale until it reads 10″ then he’ll find a particularly nice potato and place it on the top of the pile with a beaming smile and an exclamation of, ‘Lagniappe!'”

Lagniappe!

(I can’t even say that without being transported back to my favorite cafe in Vancouver where every day is a glorrrrrrrious day!)

Thanks to Ankesh who is @ankeshk on Twitter for pointing me this way.

Item! More stuff about retreating …

The lovely Amara Ann Bertorelli (whom I met at Jennifer Louden’s fabulous Writer’s Retreat) has been writing some sweet, thoughtful pieces about the retreat-ing.

And about some of the cool stuff she’s been processing.

Since this is something I’ve been meaning to do, it was super interesting to read.

Also, there is a lovely picture of all of us (I’m the 3rd from the left in the top row, sans Selma, and Amara is at the far right of that row).

“And in the midst of that, it hit me. If I can surrender to getting it totally wrong and not really knowing or caring what’s next during the dance, then I can probably do that in my life as well. Down with perfectionism! Down with uber-planning! Up with whatever!”

The woman can write!

And she’s @EdgyAngel on Twitter.

Item! Eating. Lunch. Alone. Together.

I loved this piece called Eating lunch alone together from Japandra (Sandra in Japan).
She’s just neat. Her blog is sweet and always interesting. And I just really enjoyed the feel of this. And the pictures.

“This is one of my favorite lunch places. I just realized I had no idea what it’s called – I just think of it as “the place with the yellow flags out front near the office.”

She’s @sandrajapandra on Twitter.

Item! Finding your Right People: the clinic.

Yes, we love Right People.

Because having them (and them having you) means that you don’t have to have a “target market” (ew ew ew ew) or be all weirdly promotional or anything.

Anyway, people have been asking about this. A lot.

And I have ridiculously strong opinions and all sorts of advice to give on this.

So Selma and I are doing a clinic. A figuring-out-who-your-Right-People-are-and-how-to-talk-to-them clinic.

It’s tiny. It’s cozy.

Fun will be had.

So I should give you a link, right? You can read more stuff about the Right People clinic here.

I imagine it will fill up insanely fast. Which is why I’m not promoting it. So that you guys (hello, my Right People) can find it first. Sneakified me!*

(Also you should read it because I am funny. And because there are some good resources at the end).

* EDIT: sorry, the clinic sold out within twenty-four hours. Apparently I wasn’t sneakified enough! Next time.

Item! Update from the land of the Peculiar & Hilarious Shivanauts!

The “peculiar and hilarious” thing comes from Melynda’s sweet bit about Butterfly Wishes.

So Sandy (brand-new Shivanaut) had two or three epiphanies just from reading the first part of the first ebook. She blogged about them too.

She wrote:

While I am all about the epiphanies (I think… frankly, I’m a little shaken up and stunned!), you should put a warning label on this stuff. If I get 2 epiphanies just after reading part of the first ebook, what will happen when I actually start to learn this stuff? Will my head explode with wisdom and understanding?

And that just made me laugh.

I also posted on the Shivanaut’s blog about whether or not Shiva Nata has anything to do with avodah zarah (worshipping false gods), and about how I need your help with a title for my Shiva Nata manual.

And about some of the cool things that happened in Taos.

Quite a week, in short.

Item! Comments!

It was very cool the other week when I got to work on my practice of how I ask for stuff and you guys gave me the best recommendations ever!

Here’s what I want:

  • Things you’re thinking about.
  • A fun word that gets even better when you say it over and over and over again.

My commitment.

I am committed to giving time and thought to the things that people say, and to interacting with their ideas and with my own stuff as compassionately and honestly as is possible for me.

Even though asking for what I want still feels awkward for me, I’m just going to remind myself that this is a thing I’m practicing.

That is all.

Happy reading.

And happy Blustery Windsday. See you tomorrow. And maybe at the Right People clinic? Because that would be the bomb.

EDIT: sorry, sorry, sorry, the clinic filled up within the first twenty-four hours — no more seats.

The Fluent Self