Have you ever looked at an elite athlete and asked, “Why can’t I do that?”
Or seen a master chess player and thought, “How come they are so smart?”
Or maybe you studied a brilliant sculpture and said, “I’m not creative like that!”
Don’t worry. You need just 10,000 hours, and you can do any of those things.
Read MoreEver experience that eerie “I’ve been here before” feeling?
I just had a déjà vu visiting Yellowstone National Park.
I was last there in 1969. We drove from northern California in a station wagon and trailer—we have a few photos as evidence. I’m the baby in my mother’s arms.
Read MoreI have a new friend: Disturbance.
Disturbance is not exactly my type—this is not a kid I would choose from a classroom to hang out with. I prefer Order. Peace. Harmony.
But just like when you crave approval from the playground bully, I wanted to sidle up to Disturbance. To get into its head. To understand what makes it tick.
Read MoreFor the last several years of my father’s life, just about every weekend, I would make a 45-minute drive toward the White Mountains to visit him at his nursing home.
I would stop at the front desk to sign the official log—my name and his, date and time—and the volunteer would stop reading their dog-eared book long enough to give me a “VISITOR” sticker for my shirt.
Have you ever become completely paralyzed?
Bumped up against a tough situation and for a moment, you had no idea what your next step was, and so you froze?
I had a moment like that this week. I was leading an exercise for three other people, and I got stuck. Right in the middle of it, I lost my way. I didn’t know how to move forward.
I’m getting ready for my first business trip this week.
This comes with a fair amount of trepidation. Not because of COVID or public health reasons, but because I haven’t traveled for work in almost a year and a half. I am not sure I know what to wear. I don’t even remember what shoes I have in my closet that match clothes that still fit me. And I’m not sure I will even like traveling again.
I got an email from Todoist today.
Kellie’s Task(s): 6 due, 18 overdue.
The teaser says, “Start the day feeling calm and in control.”
Ha!
Every day they send an email with this same mantra. My count could be 473 due, 2,457 overdue, and it would still say the same thing.
The phlox is blooming in our front yard.
Vibrant fuchsia and lavender flowers on the rock wall are winking, saying, “Hey, sleepy one, get out of hibernation—it’s spring!”
Read MoreIt was Saturday night, 10 pm, when I saw the day’s mail. There was an official-looking letter from the Department of Safety to my son.
Inquiring mothers want to know. So, I texted him.
My son texted me back right away—which isn’t always the case—and said it was from an unpaid speeding violation. He also said let’s talk about it tomorrow, he will take care of it, and that he loves me.
Pablo Picasso was known for leaving a trail of devastated women behind him. He once told Francois Gilot that there are only two types of women: goddesses or doormats. And somehow, Gilot was able to extricate herself from her dysfunctional relationship with him—she chose goddess over doormat.
Read MoreI bought myself some tulips.
Why?
I could wait and see if my son or my partner or a BFF thought, “Kellie needs some tulips!” and install them on my kitchen counter.
Or I could just manifest them on my own.
Read MoreI was healed once by an Abenaki medicine man.
It was at a weekend workshop at a conference center where the maintenance man was Abenaki. And although crystal healing is not an Abenaki practice—it's more of an ancient practice with roots in Asian cultures and religions—Bruce had been trained by his guru and so he passed it on.
You know that moment when you encounter someone in a supermarket aisle, in an elevator, or walking down the street, and your eyes meet?
That beautiful yet awkward moment of: Here we are, two humans seeing one another. Are we going to acknowledge that we’re in this space together, or aren’t we?
Read MoreI want to introduce you to my dear friend, 4:00 am.
Not so sure what is so magical about this wee hour, but lately, it has been huddling up. Tapping me on the shoulder as I’m trying to dream. Showing up when I don’t want it. Relentlessly.
Read MoreI have been practicing being a free spirit.
It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?
I was in a 3-day training recently where we were instructed to think, “What is a quality you are NOT that you want to be more of?” We then worked with that quality for the duration of the sessions.
Read MoreIt was such a good January.
A 30-day cleanse: no sugar, caffeine, potatoes or white rice, no dairy, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, Diet Coke, or alcohol. For a month, I eliminated everything that is fun.
Read MoreI once performed a dance routine to "The Pink Panther” in a gym show. My sister and I had matching pink leotards and tails sewn onto the back of our shorts. Our hair was pulled into two tiny buns on the tops of our heads, with pink ears bobby-pinned in front of each.
Read MoreDo you know that feeling of great forward momentum, when you’re making excellent progress in life or work, but then something happens to take you five steps back?
It’s that feeling of running on all six cylinders, then suddenly something happens and you’re in retreat.
Read MoreSome of my most memorable experiences have been Me vs. A Brick Wall. The brick wall simply doing its bricky thing, and me slamming my fists against it.
It's easy to flail against courses of brick and mortar like there is no tomorrow: wanting someone to be different than they are, staying in a dysfunctional relationship, tolerating a toxic work environment. Or trying to get blood from a stone—and everyone knows rocks have the wrong kind of veins for that.
Does His Holiness The Dalai Lama have a small, jagged rock hidden in a tiny corner of his robe?
I mean, he must have one flaw in those maroon folds. It it truly possible to hold unconditional positive regard for everyone—all the time?
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