A weekly series ~ Share YOUR Truth. Giving all of you a chance to share your truth, celebrate it, embrace it and proudly be who you really are…

When I did ask, I even said “I’m asking too much!  I don’t know what I need, I don’t know who I think I am asking for help.”

It was the truth of one friend who said, “It’s up to US decide how we can help, you just need to sit back and receive it.”

And I did.

And now the truth is, I am the luckiest- the LUCKIEST girl in the world because I got the gift of love, the gift of support and kindness and permission to let go and fall back and trust that things would be taken care of.  I got to know perfect strangers more. I still can’t wait for them to meet the “real” me- the one without all the sadness swirling around my heart.  There have been more moments of laughter and clarity, despite the pain and unrest of the situation.  There have been far less things for me to worry about because they took care of some of the worries.  There have been more opportunities for me to NOT put that “self-care” off, because they’ve made sure to handle what it took for me to find the time.

The truth is, I could have tried to do this on my own, grief would have been so long, and so painful and lonely and I may have made terrible choices because my judgment wouldn’t have had the same amazing sounding board that I have with all these loving and patient people to give me the feedback I need… but I’m glad I DIDN’T have to do this alone.

The truth is that I could let my anger, my sadness, my fear, my heartbreak consume me but the cheerleaders in my life fill me up with love and support so that there is not a heck of a lot of room to let any of those things settle in for long.

I owe so much of the success that I’ve gone this far and continue to walk with my head up to all those gifts in my life that I call my friends and my family.

I thank them all… I thank them all for their love, I will always ALWAYS appreciate everything they have done for me.  I wish everyone experiencing difficulties in their lives have what I was given.

The truth is that I can never thank them enough.  But  someday, when they need me- I will be so ready and willing to return the many kindnesses bestowed upon me by all of them.

Thank you.

I am trying to create a vision of what I do in the next minute, the next hour, the next day, week, month, year… the next lifetime.  My vision includes dancing my heiny off with Sage and Iris- my beautiful children, singing along- really really loudly to the radio, dreaming of living in a little house by the sea, laughing. a lot. creating art, creating dinner, creating friendships, creating a happy little mess with paint and paper. and creating a life full of love and kindness- spreading it as far as I can to as many people as I can.

My mission, from my blog (www.thereluctantmermaid.blogspot.com):

My mission is to see art, children, family, crafts, words and love as a growth opportunity by reaching out to those who inspire and to be brave and true wile I do it.  I am enough.  I am enough.  I am more than enough…and I need to start believing that.

Want to share your own truth?  You can share a photograph, a poem, an essay, a video.  However YOU would speak your truth.

We love hearing from you, so please, don’t be shy.

Details here.

A weekly feature, where I double dog dare you to do something bold, something creative, something courageous.
So that you can more fully become who you really are…

Ask Yourself This Question ~ What do you stand for?

Do you know the answer to this question?  Like, do you REALLY know?  In the depths of your soul ~ what is it that most matters to you, that you won’t settle for no matter what?   What is it that wakes you up from just going through the motions?  What motivates you to make things happen?  What will you not be silent about?

What do you stand for?

This week’s challenge is to get yourself clear.  Really, really clear.  What do you stand for?  What moves you?  What inspires you?  What do you line your life up to fulfill?  What will you not take no as an answer for.

Write it out.  Draw it.  Photograph.  Articulate it.

Share it.

Let the world know who you are what your life is about.

A stand is a powerful force.  You can’t mess with it.  It propels you, it pulls you, it demands of you to live your life in the most truest way.  If you think of someone like Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ that was a man with a stand.  There was no questioning it.  No running from it.  No hiding from it.  No ignoring it.  Who he was and what he was here on this earth for was loud and clear.

Do you have a stand?  Something that you are unafraid to shout out loud from the highest mountain.  Something that moves you, all the way to your bones.  If not, it’s time.  Time to take a stand.  Time to claim what you are on this earth to fulfill.

My stand is that all moms get to fully express their passions and live their dreams – full on, no settling, no waiting for someday.  That is what my life is for.  That is the life I am living.

So, what is your life for?

Comments: What is your stand?

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Imagine A Mother by Patricia Lynn Reilly

Imagine a mother who believes she belongs in the world.
A mother who celebrates her own life.
Who is glad to be alive.

Imagine a mother who celebrates the birth of her daughters.
A mother who believes in the goodness of her daughters.
Who nurtures their wisdom. Who cultivates their power.

Imagine a mother who celebrates the birth of her sons.
A mother who believes in the goodness of her sons.
Who nurtures their kindness. Who honors their tears.

Imagine a mother who turns toward herself with interest.
A mother who acknowledges her own feelings and thoughts.
Whose capacity to be available to her family deepens as she is available to herself.

Imagine a mother who is aware of her own needs and desires.
A mother who meets them with tenderness and grace.
Who enlists the support of respectful friends and chosen family.

Imagine a mother who lives in harmony with her heart.
A mother who trusts her impulses to expand and contract.
Who knows that everything changes in the fullness of time.

Imagine a mother who embodies her spirituality.
A mother who honors her body as the sacred temple of the spirit of life.

Who breathes deeply as a prayer of gratitude for life itself.

Imagine a mother who values the women in her life.
A mother who finds comfort in the company of women.
Who sets aside time to replenish her woman-spirit.

Imagine yourself as this mother.

You ARE this mother!  Thank you for taking the time to visit these pages, to read what I write.  Thank you for dreaming, for wishing, for living true.  I feel so blessed to be a part of your life and that you are a part of mine.

Have a great weekend.    xo~Lisa

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My truth: I chose to become a mother late in life and now I am living my dream as a 47 year old artist/mother of a spritely 5 year old son…and all the joy, frustration, exhilaration, exhaustion, beauty and messes that encompasses motherhood. I did not choose to be an artist. Creating is something I have always done as far back as I can remember and I have learned to accept it as a way of life. If I don’t do something creative every day, I feel out of balance, like I can’t breathe. It is not a hobby, it is a physical need. That said, sometimes just the act of making a book for my son is enough to fill me.  (click to see a slide show of the book – beautiful!)

Still, when I feel compelled to make art for artsake or to take on a larger project, I schedule the time I need to work on it with my family. The biggest shift that took place for me in becoming a mother was the realization that time was no longer my own, but shared with my family to whom I am heartfully committed. In the past I would virtually disappear, unplug the phone and work feverishly until I was finished. I had to find a new way of being which I now liken to a slow simmer.

Before I became a mother, my art was my life, but now it is the other way around…my life is my art. For this I am grateful.

It may sound like a trite altruism, but living artfully is very much like making paintings: it’s messy, invigorating, exhausting, you step back to gain perspective to see what works and what doesn’t, you make mistakes, mend them if possible, try to learn from them or learn to live with them.  It’s soulful work, or call it what you will, devotion, dedication, passion.

As a mother I would like to see art retreats that nurture the whole family. I feel more inspired and joyful with my family present, than I would feel if I were to attend without them. And I believe it’s powerful mojo for our families to experience that side of us and be part of it. The creative process has many layers and can be particularly healing and transformative on levels that we never imagined possible.

Even so, the Arts are taking the biggest hit by school’s counter-intuitive budget constraints. Our society needs more opportunities for creative gatherings. Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” Imagination opens us to limitless possibilities and it is vital that we nurture this. That said, it is our duty to do what Sabrina Ward Harrison suggests, “create what we most need to find”.

Her words have become one of my many mantras and I have applied it to all aspects of my life.

Mother & Artist, Wendy Cook has been exhibiting her work since 1986. She has been published in the US, Canada and the UK. Her work has been sold at charity events such as the “Postcards From the Edge” benefit for Visual AIDS of NYC; Northern Virginia Family Service; and The Fund for Women Artists.

her life – motherrising.blogspot.com
her art – www.wendycook.com
her mission - mightygirlart.blogspot.com

Want to share your own truth?  You can share a photograph, a poem, an essay, a video.  However YOU would speak your truth.

We love hearing from you, so please, don’t be shy.

Details here.

A weekly feature, where I double dog dare you to do something bold, something creative, something courageous.
So that you can more fully become who you really are…

Take A Courageous Step Forward

18 years ago I dropped out of college.

I was a math major who decided that what I really wanted to do was be a film maker.  So I quit in search of a film school.  Then one thing led to another, and I never went.

Probably 7 years or so later, I was working for a company, working too hard and dreaming of something else, something more creative and artistic.  I boldly decided to quit my job and go to art school ~  to study photography.

Which, never happened.  I ended up staying with the company, living in Europe and doing lots of other really cool, amazing things.

But, no film.  No photography.

Then, I became a mother and this photography passion started to bloom again.  As well as a new interest in graphic design, making websites, that kind of thing.

But, going back to school?  Or pursuing my passions full time?  Yeah, not going to happen.

I’m a mom and I had other obligations taking care of my family, running our household, etc.  I didn’t have the time or the money to spend on exploring my passions.  My family needed me and taking huge chunks of time for something just for me, well, that would just be unthinkable.

Sound familiar?

Well, then the unthinkable happened and our family broke up.  As I started to confront my life and what I was going to do, those old artist dreams bubbled back up to the surface.

Putting one foot in front of the other, doing tons of research, I found myself applying to school – to a multi media program that will teach me so much about all these things that I have dreamed of over the years – film, photography, graphic design.

School started today.

And I am so happy.  Like seriously on the verge of happy tears all day happy.  Why?  Because a deeply buried dream is here right now.  It’s happening.  NOW. It is no longer a forgotten, never going to happen wish, or a someday, but not now dream.  My being an artist dream is here right now in THIS moment.

Sitting in class today, being totally blown away by all that I am about to learn, feeling so confident in who I am, in my dreams, in what I want for my life, these are the thoughts that kept floating in my mind ~ “I am an artist.  A real artist.  Learning, exploring, discovering.   I am doing it.  This is who I am. I belong here.”

My dream went from dream to reality.  I have a huge, long list of art supplies that I need, things I don’t even know what they are.  But I get to go buy them.  I fiddled around with a super sexy macinosh computer fully loaded with all the latest and greatest.  And I have some amazing people lined up to show me how to use those art supplies and what to do with all the latest and greatest.

The dream is here. I’m doing it.  It’s real.  It’s happening.

And, what an amazing feeling that is!  To realize something that my heart has been longing for, aching for really.  For it to be transformed from a wish to reality.  I feel so fulfilled, so confident, so inspired, so full.

So, this is your dare for the week:
Take a courageous step forward ~ toward your dreams.  Do something that brings whatever it is you want for YOUR life that much closer to actually happening.  It doesn’t have to be a big, huge step, but is does have to be courageous.  A leap of faith.  Moving your life directly into the space you want it to go without knowing just how amazing it will feel when you get yourself there.  Without being sure just how happy you will be when you discover that you made something happen that you really, really wanted.

Trust me, today is proof.  You will be happy and you will feel amazing.

Drop the excuses and the reasons why you can’t.  Don’t wait for something totally sucky to happen that forces you to take some action.  Give yourself permission.  Someday is not going to happen unless you act today.

What is that deep, buried dream that you still really, really want?

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Sometimes, I see her spring forth from my own shadow on the wall.  The image of her escapes from my own outer lines of existence, and she is me and I am her.  Her hair is wild, her eyes fierce, and her presence gentle and knowing.
Other times, she whispers to me in the soft breath of my sleeping children.  In and out, in and out, inhaling and exhaling.  It is a deep knowing of gathering close and letting go.
She is there in the complete fullness and orgasmic contentment that comes from smelling the earth after a good rain.  She is the leap in my heart upon hearing thunderous waves meet the shore with intensity and drive.  She is the instinctual knowing and accepting of the water’s retreat back to wholeness.  She is what lures me to cover my warm flesh in the life of the earth’s soil in effort to feel my pulse and keep my senses tingling.
She is the desire in my rotating hips as I dance and make love and birth life into our realm.  She is the opening of my soul, the potency of my dreams, the deepest knowing of self.
She is the unrelenting urge to create and the demonic drive of knowing that I must carve out time for solitude.  She is the lonely road of self work, self realization, and self love.  She is both the calm in a glass of dry red wine and the burning rise in the chest during passionate debate.  She is comfortable holding space for it all, as it is, with no need to turn away from what is seen.
She is the vibration that enables my voice to be heard.

She is the potential of the highest peak and the unrivaled certainty of the valley low.

She is the instinctual wisdom in season, the gravitational pull of the moon, the beauty in discovering and accepting that which shifts and changes.

She is my sight in the dark tunnels of life.
She is the untamed love that keeps me trusting.
She is the reckless abandon from what dreams are made of.
She is ancient stories carrying the wings of the soul.
The heartbeat of humanity runs through her deeply ground roots.
She walks with ease, treading lightly, but brewing storms when the message is not heard.
She is the vehicle which takes me to the heights of integrity.  She insists on living in harmony with my inner knowing.
She is the art of letting go…the wisdom of embracing what is…and the courage to let it all be.

I see her when I stare at my naked reflection in the mirror and open my eyes to understanding and love.

I hear her in the crackle of fire, the softness of a breeze blowing through my hair and the emptiness of a desert night.

I smell her in coiled dreads, in the scent of fresh picked herbs and in the afterbirth of my children.

I taste her in the divinity of chocolate, in the orchestration of a lover’s kiss, in the wild tang of a summer berry.

I know her when I know me.

My truth is simple.  My truth is whatever brings me closer to her breath.

Jessamyn Turgesen is a truth seeker living in the mystical desert of the SW.  She feeds her life energy through imperfect photography, writing, conscious parenting, and exploring the extraordinary in the every day.

You can find Jessamyn on her blog~ woman wander, or her photography website.

Want to share YOUR truth in this space?  We would love to hear from you.. .details right here. xo

Week Eight of the FREE e-course “8 Weeks to Feeling Like You Have More Time”

You can join in anytime:

Week One ~ Setting Your Intentions and Recommendations to Get the Most Out of the Course

Week Two ~ Freeing Up Your Mind ~ The Big Brain Dump and Tracking Your Time

Week Three ~ What is Your Attention on and Perceptions

Week Four ~ Find 2 Hours For Your Dreams

Week Five ~ When Was The Last Time You Asked For Help?

Week Six ~ What Are You Grateful For?

Week Seven ~ Making Changes That Become Habits

It’s All In Your Mind ~ A Little Pep Talk

It is, really.  Whatever you think or feel about time ~ not enough of it, wish you had more of it, can’t get stuff done because of it, it’s flying by too fast.  Well, guess what?  It’s just not true.

It’s just how you have come to regard time.   Your perceptions shape your experience.  Your habits govern your actions.  What you spend time worrying and obsessing about impacts how you feel.  Trying to do everything on your own weakens your ability to accomplish your goals.  Procrastinating and putting things off for another day just postpones you living your dreams.

And all of this stuff, the thoughts, actions, perceptions are not going anywhere!!  They are who you are and what makes you be the person that we all love and adore.  However, you do have the power to shift your perceptions, change you habits, think empowering thoughts, ask for help and get your butt into action.

You can make changes in your life if you want to.

The key is wanting to.  Having something that is so important to you, that so matters, that totally rocks your world.  Having something like that, that makes you willing to turn off the TV, get some support and start working on your dreams.   That is what will make the difference here.

I know that sounds easy.  Easier said than done.  But, if your dream is worth it to you ~ really worth it ~  you will find a way.  You will make it happen.   And, you don’t have to do it alone. That is what we are here for, this community of moms that want more out of life than just being a mom.

We’ve got your back.     Don’t forget that.  As you go through life, know that there are other people, other moms ~ just like you ~ that have big dreams, that have wishes and ideas and their own personal brand of awesomeness.  We are here, and we are cheering YOU on!

I hope that taking part in this e-course has made a difference for you.  I hope it motivates you to slow life down, enjoy it more and spend more time working on your dreams.  I hope being a part of this community empowers and nurtures you to live your most amazing, most inspiring life possible.

xo~Lisa

I’d love to hear from you ~ what have you learned?
What did you get our of this e-course?

If you enjoyed this series and want a little more one on one support to help you fulfill your dreams, be sure to check out the other e-courses that I offer.  Also, the brand new Visionary Mom Teams are an amazing way to make sure you are not working on your dreams alone.

A weekly feature, where I double dog dare you to do something bold, something creative, something courageous.
So that you can more fully become who you really are…

Ignore Your To-Do List

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Yup, you heard me right.  Your dare this week is to pick a day and totally ~ GUILT FREE ~ ignore your to do list.

When was the last time you just had fun, went with the flow, saw what you saw, did what you did, and did it without feeling an ounce of guilt?

The dishes will still be there tomorrow, dinner can be a sandwich, the laundry can pile for another day and no one is going to freak out if you don’t return their email right this second.

Take a day to do whatever you (and your family) feels like doing right in that moment.  Wake up with no agenda, no plans, nowhere you HAVE to be.  Open yourself up to great discoveries, silly laughter and relaxing into the delightful space of just being.

Give yourself permission to do nothing.  Then come back and let us know what you discovered about yourself.

What did you learn about yourself by taking a day off?

I must admit that when asked by Lisa to share my “truth”, I was a bit intimidated! I’m not exactly June Cleaver! *smile* What I’ve discovered recently is that as mothers we try our hardest and when we try our hardest, it is enough. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be “the best”, when all our children really care about is having some fun and lots of love in their lives.

I’ve learned that the kids don’t care if the house is clean or the laundry is put away (obviously). Those are not the things they’re going to remember when they’re adults living away from home and doing their own thing. They’re going to remember that you stopped what you were doing in the kitchen to have an impromptu dance party or that you stopped working or watching that reality show on tv to play a game with them. Those are the moments that I want to treasure and that I want to be treasured by my children.

I’ve learned that waking up 5 times a night or hearing “Mom!!! Can you come wipe my butt???” every day is definitely not my favorite thing. But it makes up for it when you get that tight hug and the “I love you, Mommy!” or when you hear your children telling their friends about something fun that you all did together.

I’ve learned that when the day is done, the things that truly matter are my children, my husband, my family. It’s the little, everyday things that make life sweet. Laughter truly is the best medicine, especially laughing together.

I’m sure I could go on but those are my most recent truths and the things that I’m remembering during this day-to-day journey called life.

Jamie is a 30-something wife to Brian and mom to 3 boys, ages 5, 10 & 11. She spends her days working in a law office and her nights with all her guys. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in January, 2009 and spends every day raising MS awareness, creating adventure and living inspired. You can follow along with her life journey at inspiredmess.blogspot.com.

I am really loving these truth stories from all of you!!  Keep ‘em coming!  Click here for details on how to share YOUR truth.

First a little apology for this being posted so late this week!  Ack!  I’ll just say that my son started kindergarten and I have been totally off my game.  Why didn’t anyone warn me that this transition would be so dang emotional?   Anyway. here I am playing catch up…

Week Seven of the FREE e-course “8 Weeks to Feeling Like You Have More Time”

You can join in anytime ~

Week One ~ Setting Your Intentions and Recommendations to Get the Most Out of the Course

Week Two ~ Freeing Up Your Mind ~ The Big Brain Dump and Tracking Your Time

Week Three ~ What is Your Attention on and Perceptions

Week Four ~ Find 2 Hours For Your Dreams

Week Five ~ When Was The Last Time You Asked For Help?

Week Six ~ What Are You Grateful For?

Week Eight ~ It’s All In Your Mind, A Little Pep Talk

Making Changes That Become Habits

I think one of mistakes people do when they are working on themselves, is they try to do too much, too soon and too fast.  Making real, life long changes take time.   But we are so busy trying to make everything perfect overnight and that will just leave you frustrated.

Because changes don’t happen over night.

How many times have you decided that tomorrow you are going to do something, life will be different.  And tomorrow happens and maybe you do the new thing, but very often even the first day is a big fat failure.  Or you do a day, maybe even a few, but then the old ways creep in and you are left talking to yourself about what a looser you are.

Yup.  I’ve done this.  I DO this ~ all the time!!  Deciding to make a change overnight just doesn’t work.  Maybe sometimes, but not usually.

Why?   Because the more you focus on something and how much you need to change it, the more energy you give that thing.  The more real that habit becomes.   When you focus, focus, focus on what it is you want  to change, the more that thing lives, carries weight and has power in your life.

Don’t believe me?  What is one thing in your life that you have been trying to change or fix for a long time, for years?  And it Just.Won’t.Go.Away.  How much time do you spend focusing on and paying attention to that thing, wanting it to change, wishing you just had the will power, wanting it to just stop being a problem.  My guess would be that this thing hangs out in your thoughts quite a bit.   It has become a “thing” and you are giving it lots of energy to grow.

Think about the habits you have that waste time and suck your energy.  The things you do (or don’t do) that if you could just change them, you would feel like you had TONS more time.

Some examples:

• Letting the house get massively trashed so that it takes a whole day (or longer) to get cleaned up.
• Compulsively checking your email/facebook/twitter throughout the day.
• Hanging out on the computer “doing research” for hours instead of writing or making art or actually producing something.
• Watching TV (a little is okay, but hours and hours and hours of watching and then talking to yourself about how you should be doing something else = creativity killer)
• Making a big, huge to-do list and then avoiding it.

What are the habits you have that make you feel stressed, worried and like you just don’t have enough time?

Here is how to make a difference with those habits vs. trying to change them overnight.

1. Pick just one thing to start working on.  Don’t try to tackle all your bad habits overnight.
2. Give yourself time to work on this ONE habit.. it could take years.  Yup, I just said years.  But then if you get the new habit in, really IN, then you will never have to think about it again.   So be patient and kind with yourself about it.
3. Get really clear about the habit.. the mechanics of it, the automatic triggers, write it out so you can see how you operate.
4. Love the habit.  Don’t make it out to be this big evil thing.  It is just how you operate and there is NOTHING wrong with how you operate.  It has you gotten you this far, hasn’t it?  Ok, maybe loving is a bit of a strong word, perhaps you could come to accept this habit.  Stop beating yourself up about it!  Fighting it and using it as ammunition for how rotten you are will not give you the space to go to work on turning this habit into something useful.
5. Create what you want to be doing instead.  Write it out, get really clear what life looks like when you do something else with your time.
6. Then start bringing this new habit into your life.  Start slow, take your time.  Allow yourself to fail.  Practice, practice, practice.

I know this sound easy and simple.  I also know that it’s not.  So give yourself a break and don’t use this to invalidate yourself, okay?  When you successfully bring one new, super power habit into your life, then you know you can do it.  And that knowledge will propel you forward.

Your assignment this week:

Pick ONE habit of yours that you want to change and get to work on it.

Leave a comment below:
What is one habit you really want to change?

Want to officially join in the course?  You can sign up here: