shelves full of blank journals beckoning your penned dreams
during my time at the world domination summit (#wds2012), i took heaps of notes, enjoyed sessions with inspiration powerhouses such brene brown, scott harrison (charity:water founder), danielle laporte, scott belsky, and susannah conway, and emerged feeling a bit, well, untapped.
what do i mean by untapped? that sinking feeling that your ship has sailed, other {younger} people are doing amazing things (i mean, come on, charity water rocks), and you’re in a state of stand still. nothing feels more uncomfortable to me than stand still. clearly something i want to and continue to work on. mindfulness, here i continue to come.
this feeling began after hearing scott’s amazing story and thinking of my own big dreams for activist efforts. sadly, the feeling continued through the entire summit. the summit ended with the summit founder, chris guillebeau, giving us each a $100 bill as we exited and challenging us to “start a project, surprise someone, or do something entirely different.” geniusly aligned with his awesome book, $100 startup.
my $100 – promise to share what happens to it
even yesterday while chatting with fellow participant sweet liz lamoreux at susannah conway’s book event, it was clear that many of us were processing so much from the weekend. ideas, inspiration, next steps, and ways to be. however, i haven’t been able to quite shake that nagging feeling of being untapped. and i was frustrated with myself for not having an action plan yet. i mean, it had been nearly 24 hours since i left the summit! hmmm, patience *is* a virtue.
it’s the first time in awhile that i haven’t been in the midst of launching something new or filled with a plan. instead, i only have my life planned through may 2013 when i finish social work grad school and am contemplating {insert drum roll} spending next summer in france writing and being. ok, so that takes me through august 2013, then what?
after further reflection (and there is still lots of it to do), i believe the untapped feeling comes with being in this odd state of “in between.” in alignment with the summit’s theme, i’m eager to live a remarkable life in a conventional world and questioning the how. how do i take all my weekend notes and infuse them into my daily life? how do i live a remarkable life in a conventional world? how do i live more mindfully? how do i know i’m doing enough? how to i make a difference for the animals? how do i . . . on and on and on.
all smiles with sweet susannah
ever have these feelings and moments of questioning? having devoted the past 13 years to the birth and growth of my baby, tranquil space, plus various offspring (TranquiliT, tranquility du jour, tranquil space foundation), i’m slowly transitioning. to what? i don’t know. definitely don’t plan to send my babies off to college as i’m too attached. yet i have this longing feeling to connect, sink deeper within, and slow down. time will tell. in the interim, i need to battle my own untapped feelings and remember that i am enough. we are enough. you are enough.
while standing in the journal section of powell’s last night (top image), i smiled in recognition of all the dreams, hopes, and fears that will soon be penned into these beautiful beings. now, take a moment and answer this question: how will you live a remarkable life in a conventional world? here are my off the cuff thoughts:
simplify
seek beauty
give freely
sprinkle sunshine
bask in being different
embrace change
leave a small eco footprint
leave a big “heartprint” (oui, i made that word up – a bad habit)
et toi? it’s a big question worthy of big journaling.
oh, and a gentle reminder, you. are. enough.
bisous. x
