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My New Year's Wish for Each of You...

original artwork by the incredible Christine Mason Miller (a.k.a. Swirly Girl)

This message arrived in my email last year on December 31st...  it was truly a gift then, as it remains today...  and I wanted to share it with all of you on this, the close of 2009.  May t2010 bring you all the love, health, wealth, passion, happiness and fun that you so very much deserve.

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Ancient legend foretold of a sacred time of renewal of the human spirit. The Muses of Inspiration granted a blessing on earth and created a window of time when human beings can create a fresh start. During this phase, all the mistakes, regrets, missed opportunities and errors in judgment are purged from the human memory in the primordial fires. It is a time when all fear of failure is transformed into strength of character and clarity of purpose. With proper preparation and humility we are told the human soul can make a request of the universe and our inner being: to transmute the flame of regret into the torch of dreams fulfilled and ignite the fire of burning desire in the heart of the seeker.

The legend was concealed to prevent its power from being used for less than honorable purposes and was hidden in the heart of each new being born on the earth. Each new baby is born with the spark of truth and the germ of their life's purpose on earth. If the human pursued their heart's desire, the spark would begin to glow and take hold and lead the seeker to success. If the human took the path of least resistance and settled for a less than glorious life, the ember would grow cold and life would be empty, no matter the achievements. There was only one magical time of year when all sparks could be renewed and unite into a glorious blaze of triumph, at the birth of the New Year.

The Legend of the Sleeping Giants

As each year of human existence passed, the flames of truth buried in the hearts of humanity grew dimmer and dimmer. The nine sister Muses, the guardians of inspiration for the human race, were saddened. Did the humans not know that their lives were meant to be a blessing, full of love and abundance? Why did they live like insects, small and insignificant; did they not remember they were Giants, with the power to manifest wonders? Could they not see how beautiful and glorious they are? Why did they choose suffering over joy? How could they create poverty over wealth? Why did they choose anger over love? Did they not know that they had the power within them to create a magical world of joy?

It was as if a veil of sleep had fallen on earth and humans became the victims of life instead of the original intention, which was to be the Victor. All a human had to do was follow their heart's desire, protect their thoughts from negativity and focus on love.

The nine sister Muses being of one mind declared a moratorium on Strife and set out to create a remedy to aid the sleeping human race. They called upon the qualities of the Ancient Ones to restore balance on earth:

• They besieged Mnemosyn (Memory) to free the minds of humans from the past. With a blank slate each spirit could start anew. The Muses requested the following gifts to be bestowed on humankind.

• Eros (Love) fills the heart with compassion, first for self, and with that peace comes unconditional love which flows to others.

• Himerus (Desire), who lives in delight, breathes new life on the spark of truth in each heart and renews the passion for life.

Father Time granted a window in which humans could purge the past. By the stroke of midnight on December 31st each year, the past must be completed and all issues must be burned in the fires of regret for the rebirth of spirit to occur.

The Muses called on the collective strengths, wisdom and powers of the ancient Gods and Goddesses to support the humans in facing their fears, making amends and forgiving themselves.

• Zelus (Emulation) granted humans the ability to recognize their gifts and qualities in others and the vision to find their mentors.

• Cratos (Strength) fortified the human will with courage to face the things that must be faced for the human spirit to grow.

• Eos (Dawn) promised a new beginning every 24 hours and Helious (Sun) gave warmth and encouragement. Soliel (Moon) promised rest and recuperation of the body.

• Eunomia (Order) reminds humans of the first law of abundance, order in all things, for as within our hearts and mind, so is our outside world revealed.

• Dike (Justice) reminds humans to forgive all debts, right all wrongs and release those who have hurt us. For as we forgive are we forgiven.

• Eirene (Peace) provides the silent mind in which we can hear our inner voice guide us to our unique truth.

• Charities (Graces) endows the human spirit with gentleness, so that we tread lightly on this earth and bless those we encounter.

And when the sister Muses saw the stage was set for a glorious rebirth of humanity, they made this decree:

"Every human who accepts these gifts, lets go of the past and blesses each other with forgiveness and grace will be released from the pain of their past errors. They will be granted the guidance and protection of Metis (Thought) and receive the gifts of Nike (Victory) in the year to come."

The Muses cautioned humankind to guard their dreams from the effects of negative people and events.

"Tell only one who will hold your vision as dearly as you hold it when you are nurturing the seeds of possibility. Build a fortress around your mind so only positive thoughts are entertained. The laws of the Universe govern the results. Whatever thoughts you plant will reap a harvest. Be vigilant to plant thoughts of love and positive energy to reap a harvest of abundance."

And so Calliope, the chiefest of all the Muses sent this blessing to earth:

"Children of the Universe, the time of renewal is upon you. By the  stroke of midnight on December 31st you must complete the cycle of the past, forgive yourself and your brothers and sisters, be thankful for your blessings and stake your claim on your future."

And with this gift received and acted upon, the embers in the hearts of humankind started to glow and burn brightly. The Muses and the heavens saw our lights burn brighter and brighter as we reached out and touched the lives of all around us. We traded our weapons for plowshares to feed each other, we shared our gifts with those less fortunate and with each life that was renewed with love, the gifts of abundance and joy filled the lives of all humankind.

This was my best Christmas gift idea ever!

I will admit, I was more than a little apprehensive about my decision to do something completely different this year for my Christmas gift giving.  I chose to follow my heart, and it was the best decision I could have made.  If any of you who read this blog are considering an "alternative" Christmas gift (or any gift!) idea, I encourage you to be true to whatever that little voice inside you says is right for you to do.  Nothing feels better than following your heart!  For those who are curious as to how I "delivered" this gift, I wanted to share this...

Christmas, 2009

To My Dear Friends and Family,

This Christmas, I have decided to do something different – and hopefully something that will be as meaningful to you as it is to me – as my Christmas gift to each of you.

As some of you may know, I have been doing a little bit of volunteer work this year for an amazing dog rescue group out of Nashville, TN, called A Place to Bark.  I first discovered A Place to Bark several years ago through what at the time seemed an unlikely chain of people connections.  Six degrees of separation in real life – in a way that has changed my life.

A Place to Bark is run by my friend, Bernie Berlin who works in hand in hand (or paw in paw) with the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society to provide the CACS with happy, healthy, adoptable pets.  A Place to Bark is, for all intents and purposes, a triage unit – a place where dogs (and a few cats) are rescued and rehabilitated until they are healthy enough (both physically and emotionally) to be adopted. 

The success rate of this model beta program has been nothing short of phenomenal.  The vast majority of the dogs and cats that come to the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society from A Place to Bark are adopted out within a week.  This year, the lives of over 600 dogs will have been not only saved, but enriched beyond measure, because of the efforts of Bernie and A Place to Bark.

This year, I wanted my Christmas gift to you to be really meaningful.  Truth be told, I am so disenchanted with all of the commercialism and hype that has come to surround the Christmas season, that I wanted to give something that would bring us all back to thinking about the real meaning of Christmas. 
 
I wanted my gifts to the people I love most in this world to reflect the essence of what Jesus’ birth meant to the world.  To me, there is nothing that more profoundly reflects the message of His love and forgiveness than that shown by a dog to its human companions – especially after some of the unfathomable abuse and cruelty that so many have suffered at the hand of man.

So this year, I have decided to forego traditional Christmas gifts, and instead, I have made what I hope will be a meaningful donation to A Place to Bark, in the names of my family and dear friends.  It is my hope that you will get as much joy from receiving this gift as I have gotten from giving it.

As a part of this season’s fundraising efforts, I made a short video for A Place to Bark that shows you first hand how important these rescue efforts are – and gives a little information about the organization, if you’re interested in learning more.  That video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5cH0oAJJbU

I wish you great love this season and always,

Lynne

the sum of my holiday baking this year...

Well, the good news is that my holiday baking efforts are not going to result in any excess poundage... at least not on my rear end...  on that of a few puppies, maybe.

As I've continued through my lame attempts at various Christmas preparations, I have to admit that the whole cookie baking thing hit the complete bottom of the priority list.  Except, that is, for the baking of treats for all of our doggie friends.  And oddly enough, this is the one thing that I've actually been able to work up a little enthusiasm for this year (yes, I am pathetic.). 

The other night I made 8 dozen doggie treats (fire hydrants and dog bones... you know, because the dogs pay attention to stuff like that), which doesn't sound like much, until you realize that these things take about 3 times as long as normal cookies to bake, since they need to be pretty dried out in the baking process.  So at 1:30 am. the other night, as I was taking the last batch out of the oven, I vowed that the next batches (we have a LOT of doggie friends!) would be started much earlier in the day.

I'm proud to admit that's exactly what happened.  And here I am, 8:00 p.m., and the last batch of the final 8 dozen treats is in the oven.  Go me!

For anyone out there who wants to try making them, they're pretty simple, and seem to be a hit with the dogs (not that mine are terribly picky eaters, but my friend Karen's dog, Phoebe, is a total treat snob, and she loved them!).  Here's the recipe (it's from allrecipes.com)...  you can substitute any kind of meat for the ground pork, and you can substitude meat drippings or bacon drippings for the shortening:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour 1/2 cup dry milk powder 1 cube beef bouillon, crumbled 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup cooked ground pork

1 cup grated carrot 6 tablespoons shortening 1 egg 1/2 cup cold water

Directions:

1.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil two cookie sheets.
2.	In a medium bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, milk powder, beef bouillon, and salt. Add the ground pork, carrot, shortening and egg; mix in to the flour mixture while gradually adding water to form a stiff ball of dough.
3.	On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters, and reroll scraps until no dough is left. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4.	Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms of the cookies are browned. Allow cookies to set for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

angels among us

Every once in a while, somebody does something so incredibly thoughtful and meaningful and nice that you are gently reminded that there truly are angels who walk among us.  Thank you for that...  from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

i love seth godin... and now i do even more

I love Seth Godin. Love his clarity and his wisdom and his way of honing directly into the most meaningful part of anything. Today on his blog he posted a free e-book that is SO SO SO very much worth the read...  Here's the PDF of the e-book...  you will want to download it and forward this on to everyone you know. It's that good.

Enjoy!

Download What-matters-now-1

meltdown

Yesterday was not one of my finer moments. Not by a long shot. In fact, by mid-day I had gone from blue funk to complete meltdown mode.  Tears, headache, stomach in knots... it was ugly.

Truth be told, I've been teetering on the edge of this little meltdown for months.  Too much work and not enough play (let me rephrase that: not any play) has left me exhausted and feeling both shattered and so, so isolated and deflated.

And all of this, JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

I had wanted this Christmas to be different than all the years past when I seemed to barely be able to cram in all the decorating and gift buying and other preparations because work was taking up such a huge part of my life.

This year, I had wanted to make sure that I took the time to enjoy the season. Even if I didn't put up a tree (just asking for trouble with 1-year old Scout on the loose), I wanted to put up the garland and wreaths and candles and all the other little holiday touches that make the house sparkle.

I wanted to entertain - to actually have some friends over and enjoy the company of the people who are most important to me.

I wanted to take the time to put up lights outside and drive through the neighborhoods looking at the decorations that others have done.

I wanted to plan a caroling party - complete with Christmas cookies and hot chocolate and voices raised in celebration of the season.

I wanted to spend the evenings sipping hot cider and curling up with a good book.

Instead, I am spending the evenings sucking down pots of coffee, with laptop and calculator at the ready, trying to complete all of the work assignments that I have, and not knowing how on earth it's all going to get done. There are no decorations put up; no lights hung or garlands gracing my door frames or railings. There will be no Christmas cards sent this year. No cookies will be baked. No caroling party planned. There is just not enough time that I can eek together away from that which I spend working, to make any of those things happen this year.

The house looks like a tornado hit it: piles of paper everywhere that I haven't had the time or the inclination to sort through; laundry piled in the baskets - folded, but not put away (why is it that I do that?); refrigerator empty - leaving me with some truly ridiculous concoctions for dinner (not any of which are even remotely healthy, that I can pretty much guarantee you); a list of chores a million miles long that makes me want to cry when I look at it.

The thing is, this isn't new. I've been here before... to this place of anxiety, resentment and dispair. I'm just not very good at making lasting changes for moving through it.

Every time I get to this place of utter hopelessness and overwhelm, I swear that I will make the changes that need to be made so that I don't have to go through this again. In the past, I've put these changes in terms of what I need to BE (more organized, more disciplined) or DO (get up at 4:30 a.m. so that I have a few extra hours in the day to accomplish what needs to get done) so that my life will change.

I have always operated from the position that whatever I was being or doing was not enough. I feel like a hampster on a wheel to nowhere - running really, really fast, and not making any progress.

I divide my time between doing my interior design work, and freelance consulting work - and for quite some time now, the consulting work has taken up the vast majority of my time. I will be the first to admit that I am relying on the consulting work to pull me through the economic downturn. 

While I am trying very hard not to participate in the recession, it would be a lie to say that my life and mindset have not been affected by it.  Although I've been relatively successful at not letting the fear overtake my life, it lurks in the background,a constant companion.

Yesterday, while talking with Lisa (yea for coaches!), she helped me come to the realization that the way that I am charging for my time (or not charging for it, as the case may be), is creating a lot of resentment and stress. I know that I need to go into 2010 with a much clearer commitment to what I will charge, what I will do, how and where I will do it, for the consulting work.

The same is true for the design work.

I need to stop thinking of myself as an employee, and start thinking of myself as the CEO of my businesses, and my life. The only problem is, I'm not exactly sure how to make that happen.

I would love to have your help with any suggestions that you may have for how to work through this so that I can make some of the lasting changes that I need to make. Certainly it starts with mindsets. I know that. I'm just finding myself terribly stuck with how to execute against a mindset change in a way that is permanent.

Any any "getting things done" tips for the completely overwhelmed are more than welcomed, too!

Thanks all... you're the best!

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas are donations to A Place to Bark.  Think we can work together to make that happen?

Thanks & Love,

Lynne

31 days...

 

There are 31 days left in 2009.

31 days left in a year that nearly consumed me (but didn't).

31 days left in a year to which I will be more than happy to say goodbye. 

What is astounding to me is that I will be saying goodbye with gratitude, rather than with self-doubt, anger or resentment.  More gratitude, in fact, than I ever thought possible.

As they say, what doesn't kill you will make you stronger -- and I will be entering 2010 much, much stronger than I left 2009.  Stronger and wiser and infinitely more clear about my priorities, direction and intentions.  And for that, I am profoundly grateful.