“Where ever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.”

Seneca Quotes

April was a wild and whacky, wonderful spring month. Life has been tied up in the end of the semester at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne where I teach while also being involved in the community and getting ready for an artists’ studio tour. Kindnesses were a necessary gift in helping my students and in others helping me stay in balance. I appreciate the idea of chronicling kindnesses. It helps me to think back over the month and share some good things that I have been doing for people in my life and those that others have done for me. I would like to celebrate the joy that we bring into others’ lives and that they bring into mine!

Some kindnesses given and received~

I offered an Amnesty Day was given to my students to help them catch up on any assignments they may have missed, or wanted to redo, for this semester. Many of us need a second chance when life gets in the way.

I gave an art piece to a local charity for a fundraiser and silent auction.

Volunteers donate their time to help with the audio and cameras for my cable access show        Wide Open, which is very much a kindness. To let them know how much I appreciate them, I bake cookies to thank them and the crew for their help.

One of my students started the class for me when a dentist appointment threatened to make me late to class.

Kindnesses come in all shapes and sizes. My last day of class another student waited to talk with me. When I asked how I could help him, he asked if he could give me a hug. It was lovely !

When one of my nieces heard that I was overwhelmed and getting ready for the Artists’ Studio Tour, she called asking how she could help. Even though I did not need her help, the offer was very much appreciated!

I am currently knitting a pair of cute little red socks for a  nephew’s new baby. I love it!

As a computer assignment, my students were given an opportunity to write their own Kindness Chronicles. The following are a few of the comments:

• Kindnesses while helping on a mission trip
• A fellow student coming to pick her up when her car would not start.
• Taking a home cooked meal to her grandmother in a nursing home.
• A Chinese student in my class talked about the grace of holding a door for someone else being ingrained in Chinese people, but not necessarily so here in the U.S.
• A young woman talked about playing a special song on the piano for her grandmother.
• Another talking about the very simple kindness of having someone smile at them and saying hello or good morning.

Want to see more about Kindness Chronicles? Visit Jane LaFazio at http://janeville.blogspot.com/2012/03/kindness-chronicles.html.

Kindnesses are catching. Let’s pass them along.

Kindness is all around us. Too often, we are just not paying attention.  Kindness comes in all shapes and sizes. It can be some larger gesture, or something as simple as a smile.

1. Stopping by a colleague’s office just to say hello and give her a hug.

2. ‘Trading’ professional services when a long time client can no longer pay.

3. Recently in one of my classes, a female student was laughing at herself and mentioned that she would probably run out of gas on her way home and how her dad would have to come to the rescue. Her car was on ‘E’ and she left her purse at home. Before I could get to her,  two students offered her money. Even after she declined their money, one insisted saying he did not want her breaking down on the side of the road.

4. Being conscious of the need for me to be kind to myself too. It is easy for me to take on more than what is good for me. Kindness to me — one recent example: after several social engagements, I said ‘no’ to an afternoon with my women friends to spend restful creative time in my studio.

Kindness is a choice, whether to others or to ourselves. Pass it on!

Want to see more about the Kindness Chronicles check out Jane LaFazio’s site at  http://janeville.blogspot.com/2012/03/kindness-chronicles.html.

During a recent class, one of my students laughed how she would probably run out of gas on the way home and her dad coming to the rescue — her gas tank was really low and she forgot her purse at home. Before I could get to her and offer her gas money, two students approached, one insisting she take the money, not wanting her stranded on the way home.
2.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Winter is here and the darkness is all around us. Personally, I love the long nights and yes the lights of the holiday season. The long nights encourage me to slow down and really take care of myself. It is one of the real gifts of the holiday season — the time to relax, to read, to sleep in, to sit and knit . . . all of which nourishes the light from within, that glow. I am curious: how we can we live both, the fun, sparkles and playfulness combined with the glow of joy and fulfillment. Like the fireworks of New Years Eve some things that shine and sparkle so bright are gone in a flash.  Do you wonder too how to maintain the joy, the sparkle and the glow from within?

My grandmother, who took care of me a good deal, used to tell me that I was so happy as a baby that I sparkled and shined, like there was a light within me that glowed bright. It has been a long time since I was that baby, but my friends tell me that I still sparkle and glow. The truth is: when I am nourished and truly happy, like right now, I can feel the sparkle. It is almost like a happiness high, that natural high that we joked about in the 60′s and 70′s !

After a week of gentleness and flow, I am in full, sparkling glow. I would like to pass this marvelous energy on to you as you read this. Breathe it in and relax into sparkling glow. For 2011, may you find ongoing joy and delight, peace and prosperity and love beyond measure. May your own ‘sparkle-self’ glow with all that you desire!

Blessings and love!

Albert Einstein

Would you believe that ‘once upon a time’ may not be so long ago? We live in a five-sense world, and sometimes things happen that just don’t quite fit within our seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting. Yes, we often had/have a sense that there were faeries about. The thing is we are logical people, well educated and considered quite sensible; and still, things just seem to happen around our home. For example, things seem to disappear, then rea-appear sometime later. One of our first clear instances happened with a favorite garden shears. I brought in from the garden and before I got it back into the closet it disappeared. We looked everywhere; it was nowhere to be found. About a week later it turned up in plain sight on the counter. (There are only two of us living here and neither put it there.)

A more recent tale: our faeries love sparkly things. We have learned to careful with our diamond rings. Several years ago the whole crown broke off a diamond ring so we are carefull with them. We began to leave our rings safe on the jewelry chest while out gardening. Then, a ring disappeared from this safe and secure spot, obviously not so safe and secure. Fairly recently, we were putting in a new flower bed and there it was –  sticking up from a clump of dirt, just like a jeweler’s box, was the ’lost’ diamond ring.    

Is all of life logical and scientific with precise cause and effect or maybe there is just a bit of magic going on. We cannot see a link to cause and effect, nor can we see these marvelous creatures. Maybe sometimes we just need to expand our  minds and our expectations beyond the five senses, science and logic. What do you think?

“I believe in everything until it’s disproved.  So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons.  It all exists, even if it’s in your mind.  Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?”

  ~John Lennon

What happens when the faeries live in, and around, your house? Once upon a time, almost 15 years ago, we were looking to buy a home on a lake that was close to town. We spotted ‘the one’: older, in need of some loving care and on a small lake. From the very beginning, there was something a bit magical about the place, nothing we could put our finger on exactly, but it was there. It is like there is an unmistakable force.  When family or friends visit, they often comment on how it feels here – fun, playful, energetic, gentle, safe, boundless, sparkling, loving  .  .  .   

When first working with the landscape architect, we asked her for a feeling of sanctuary and refuge for us, for the animals and for the faeries. Since that time, we include the faeries when we talk with service people and visitors. They may think we are talking ‘tongue in cheek’; but then again, are we?

Faerie Tales is a remembering of our adventures with the faeries, including some faerie lore I have picked up along the way. Join us for Faerie Tales as our adventure unfolds.

“We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.”

Marilyn Monroe

 After another wonderful birthday, I am still basking in the afterglow. From my perspective, birthdays are to be totally enjoyed and celebrated. It is a day all about me — what a treat! This is a relatively new perspective and I love it!!! Growing up, ‘all about me’ was selfish, or self-centered. Not anymore, now, it is a great thing especially on my birthday; a day to have fun, to play and to relish in exactly what I want to do, to eat and who I want to share it all with. Life is so good!

One of my favorite cards reads something like “Cheryl is willing to accept that she creates her own reality . . . except for some of the parts where she can’t help but wonder what the hell she was thinking.”   As I grow older, we all grow older really, I am becoming more and more aware that I really want to live fully, wide open actually. Yes, it is about creating our own reality, taking some risk, making some goofy decisions, learning along the way and still going for it the next time. 

That same old box has sprung wide open. This next year is bound to be a doozy, filled with fun, laughter, lots of joy, connecting with people and sharing the positive life while moving into even greater personal and professional success. what a gift life is.  Come on in and enjoy the fun!

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.”

Have you ever thought about the power of ‘play”? I sure have! Whether you know me as an artist, a life coach, a professor, a reiki practitioner or very simply as a friend, you probably know that I am basically a positive, fun-loving, playful woman.  My art is expressive, that is I have more of a focus on the process than on the product.  I love to create whimsical pieces of clothing, wall hangings, pieces for the garden, jewelry . . .

Most recently my studio time  has been focused on costumes for The King’s Curse, a Fort Wayne Dance Collective performance in which I am a sorceress, and focused on items for a summer garden art show. I noticed that I was beginning to lose steam and to become bored; it was not fun anymore but I was not sure why. Well . . . I just realized that somewhere in the process my studio playtime turned into work.

So, back to the original question: have you ever thought about the power of play? What happens when we play? If we think back to when we were young and out with our friends on the playground, we might start first with the swings, then move to the slide, then to the monkey bars and maybe on to the merry-go-round. With each change we were excited at the new movent, a new thrill in our playtime adventure. All the while we were talking and laughing and teasing each other. This play was fun! When I am in my studio playing, all sorts of possibilities open up. It is an adventure!  There is no right or wrong. If something does not work just the way I hoped, I try something else.

The idea of play can, and maybe must (?), be used in our professional lives as well. Play can excite us; the whole idea of ‘no right or wrong’  can open doors to creative ways to solve problems and address challenges. There is an excitement in playing with possibilities and that excitement is sure to draw in all sorts of new opportunities. When working with a graphic designer friend, I loved watching her work! Yes, she was working, but she was excited and playful - like she was playing with her computer and what she could make it do.

What do you think? Can there be playful productivity? That is my current exploration. Life is meant to be good and fun and filled with joy. It is often a choice. I am off to play first in my kitchen, then in my studio. May you too find a way to play in your day!

]]> http://quantumheartcoaching.com/2010/06/16/the-power-of-play/feed/ 0 Cheryl learning tool1 http://quantumheartcoaching.com/2010/02/10/professional-joy/ http://quantumheartcoaching.com/2010/02/10/professional-joy/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:07:15 +0000 Cheryl http://quantumheartcoaching.wordpress.com/?p=147 ]]>  

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a method of traveling. 

 Margaret Lee Runbeck

Quite some time ago, on my first job ever, I was a cashier at a neighborhood grocery. In addition to ringing through the various items, I was bright, happy and chatty with the customers – maybe too much so, but I was 16 after all. My parents came through one evening and my father told me that I was having too much fun, that work is not supposed to be fun. With the cheekiness of a teenager, I told him that life is about having fun and if I couldn’t have fun at one place, I would find another place to work. This comment irritated Dad for quite some time. 

Basically, I believe this even today, although now I would say that it is more about experiencing  joy in what we do rather than having fun. How do you find joy in your work day? Is it about job satisfaction; or creativity and innovation or maybe it is just about receiving the check at the end of the week?

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor at Harvard’s Business School,  wrote about the top ten ways to find joy at work. It seems to me that it is about bringing the real you fully into the workplace. Know your purpose, bring your ideas, share them with others, own a part of the company you work for, even if it is just one project that is your own. Maybe above all it is in being fully present, communicating with others and staying positive. Encouraging joy in the workplace instills a greater commitment from the employees, greater motivation and  co-operation as well as reducing stress and lowering the frequency of work related illness

There is real power in the positive. In Dr. Christiane Northrup’s CD The Power of Joy, she talks about the benefits of chosing joy – to help optimize emotional and physical health, to increase life satisfaction and to just plain have fun.

When working with my coaching clients on both personal and professional issues, I encourage them to be aware of what brings them joy. This is also true when making a difficult decision. When thinking through your options, feel into them. The choice that brings the energizing feeling of joy, will often be the ONE. Chosing joy energizes our lives: the choice is yours.

“Breath is a bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

What happens when consciousness takes us over some rather rough terrain — we build a bridge.

I am turning 60 the end of this year. Cultural norms suggest that I look at aging from a negative perspective. I am choosing to build a bridge over these cultural norms to create my own reality in aging.

Realities vary from person to person depending on our past experiences, on what we have been told and on what we believe. A few years ago when I talked with a friend about not knowing how to feel about turning 60, she suggested that I look on it as a positive experience. She was 64 at the time and said that her 60′s had been the best decade of her life. Since then, she stopped smoking, joined a gym, is eating better and she bought herself a two seated, convertible sports car. I am into it, let’s celebrate!

My conscious path is creating a reality for aging that includes keeping my body, mind,  emotions and spirit strong, healthy, flexible and pain free. My path of aging is way above preconceived notions of aging. I am using a conscious path to create a reality that bridges who I am now to who I want to become. My vision of my future self, my intentions, my behavior and my beliefs all support this strong, healthy, graceful and sparkling older woman. Stay tuned and see where I am going while creating your own vision of where you want to go. Let’s build a Bridge! What do you think?

More about the bridge pictured: The Millau Viaduct is part of an expressway between Paris and Barcellona. It is the tallest bridge ever built, almost a quarter of a mile high, taller than the Eiffel Tower. The roadway itself is almost 800 feet off the ground!