greetings from a coffee shoppe in the big apple! it’s crazy cold here – same with dc. brrrr. i’m happy to share with you some exciting insights and a VERY proud moment. here it is: i did not send an e-mail for an entire 24-hour period. this is a FIRST in many, many years. if i have access (as i do here in ny while sipping mint tea), i’m online, baby. SO, i feel like this is a BIG step. basically friday was packed from the start to my last call at 9:30pm so i checked e-mails quickly that evening and did little to no responding. trying to remember that life is not an emergency. really? i checked quickly saturday morning out of habit and don’t think i responded to any. next time i was online was sunday afternoon out of guilt and a need to make sure the world wasn’t falling apart around me and guess what – still standing! thus, i went on with my day – organizing, yoga, meditation, teacher training graduation – and didn’t sit down to work until sunday night. so liberating and truly the first time that i took time for myself like this is YEARS. what’s come over me? well, i’ve been meditating daily, i’m realizing that i don’t have the energy i used to (is it age, wisdom, or exhaustion? time will tell . . . ), and trying to operate with more tranquility and simplicity.

friday i picked out shower and floor tiles for the new space dressing rooms along with two studio’s flooring with my contractor – cork for one and bamboo for the other. the top studio is being built out with reused wood from a barn in west virginia! decisions, decisions, decisions. they are taxing! saturday beau and i hit ikea to purchase sinks and chandeliers for the new space, along with a fold-out couch for our home living room. beau couldn’t take the loft bed anymore – poor thing couldn’t even sit up in it. not good for someone who doesn’t like tight spaces! anyway, this rearranging got us on a HUGE organizing spree that had me proclaiming, “don’t ever let me buy another thing!” it’s amazing and scary what we accumulate! out to the alley with furniture we didn’t use, an old monet print from a beau many beaus ago, and two white chairs that were now grey. most of the items were gone within hours as it’s amazing what treats one can find in an alley! i also spent hours going through my bookshelves and have three bags of self-help, inspirational, and old women’s studies books ready to go to the studio’s book exchange. wow, this whole process was very liberating. i can now see my desk, the house is rearranged (always good for feng shui), and i even have some blank space – what a treat for 2 peeps, 3 animals, and TranquiliT living in one small space!

must dash as my evening workshop starts in a few minutes. i just had to share that meditation is AMAZING medicine. making it a habit is key. some days i sit 2 minutes, others 30 minutes. i’m finding it to be very, very powerful. try it, you’ll like it!