Skip to main content

Embrace the glorious mess!

This past week I was able to listen to an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert, the author best known for  "Eat, Pray, Love" and now "The Signature of All Things."  
She shared of herself with ease, admitting that she wasn't a guru, but with insights that only come from someone who is wise to the ways of the world.  Someone who has taken the time to observe and reflect on her own life and the spinning of the world around her.

I needed to be at the interview and I needed to hear what she had to share!
Something that might not seem profound to the person down the row from me, hit my soul.  Buried into my heart.

She talked about the word balance and it's impact on women.  She said the word was a "weapon against women."  That sounded harsh, but I hung in with her, and what I took from her explanation was the idea that women are trying to have it all, striving toward something that isn't achievable.  We juggle and cope, work and caretake, always striving toward this pinnacle that isn't possible.  
Instead she called, "Embrace the glorious mess that you are!"

"Embrace the glorious mess!"

Life isn't going to be perfect.  Life is going to take energy.  Some days are going to kick my butt.  Some days I am going to feel the lightness and some days will feel dark.  Can I embrace both?  Can I get to the end of the day and know that I embraced the perceived "good and bad."

At this point, all I can do is continue to keep my list of values-the unwavering goals that call from my heart-in the forefront as my day evolves.  When things get harried, I can take a step back and see if I am willing to embrace it or tweak it to fit my values.  I want to stay in the midst without beating myself up because I might be "out of balance."

I have had this magnet on my fridge for a while now.  I need it's quiet reassurance.


How do you embrace the messiness of life?  Can you still be kind to yourself in the midst of it all?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Letting go & holding on- how you can do both at the same time

Everyday I am thinking about letting go.  My days are spent in sessions with clients, or reading about decluttering tips, or writing blog posts, all in an effort to support clients as they let go of clutter and unwanted habits.  Letting go is something that I have made into my life's work, but never is it more "in my face" than when I sit with my grandma at the nursing home.  My grandma has Dementia/Alzheimers.  I don't even know what or which or why or how, but I do know that it seems we have lost her to the disease and letting go & holding on are happening all at once. As I sit and watch her sleep, I can stroke her hand and feel the many memories of playing Go to the Dump or Crazy Eight on my days off of Kindergarten, getting a home perm in her kitchen in elementary school, and painting my nails at her kitchen nook in H.S.  I remember learning how to snap a dish towel with my cousins as we cleaned up from holiday gatherings & singing and dancing...

Creativity

This summer has been a journey in the pursuit of my creative person!  It started with the desire to seek a new path, to try on some new ways of thinking, and to shift a bit from the usual patterns.  My soul was yearning to make more time for creativity, so I have been using the past two months to honor that spirit in me. I thought that I would start from the very beginning-try putting myself through an elementary art class.  That meant going through a step-by-step process of learning how to draw, watercolor, use oil pastels, paint, etc.  I got started with a kid's art book from the library and a trip to The Sketchy Artist.  I bought a few supplies and sat down to start my lessons. The lessons didn't last.  I am completely interested in playing around with all of the supplies and trying out techniques, but I found a rigid plan to "be creative" isn't what I need. What I am coming to understand is that creativity is more than an art class.  Creativity ...

Knowing

After thinking about all of those old worn out tapes of my saboteur, I decided to take some time to find the cheerleader in me.  Unfortunately, it took some uncovering. For quite awhile, I tried hard to hear a voice that might shout "You can do it!  Believe in yourself! Yes, you are on the right track!"  But, no-I couldn't hear anything like that. I tried to locate where the voice was in my body.  Was it in my gut? Everyone always says, "listen to your gut," but mine wasn't telling me anything.  Not literally.  And what I thought I needed to look for was a voice that would whisper words to me.  I thought there must be something wrong since my little cheerleader, fairy godmother, voice of God, wasn't giving me any verbal reassurance. I needed to rethink this.  Maybe the old "trust your gut" advice is just meant to remind you that it's not your head that will guide you, but your body or heart? So, what are the cues my body gives me when ...