Sabbath

(Kauai Church: photo by Wanda Tucker)

I am starting a new practice. Because filling my weekends with chores and 'have to-s' is so easy and rest is not, and because Mondays come too soon sometimes, in my household we are creating a Sabbath experience.

No, I am not Jewish; and while I do have a well-grounded and well-rounded spiritual life, our Sabbath is not purely for religious reasons (and there is not necessarily a church involved--I just happen to like visiting churches in my travels and I take lots of pictures of them).

"On the seventh day God rested." Seems like a good role model doesn't it? In my search for a balanced life, building in a "down day" makes a huge difference for me.

I don't have a lot of rules about Sabbath. The bottom line is, I don't do what I don't want to do. If I feel like doing something, I do it. I hang out with friends. I sleep in. I spend time recreating. I spend time in communion. (graceonline asks some great questions about how to build this time in an earlier post.)

The rhythm of "sundown to sundown" works well for me, too. In the past, I have tried to do Sabbath from the time I get up in the morning until I get up the next morning. I am not sure why the evening to evening works better, but it does.

I am amazed at how setting aside a day like this allows me to let down and really relax.

Find a rhythm of your own. Try it...you'll like it.

Wanda Tucker
Coach

Blackbird singing in the dead of night...

...take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
take these sunken eyes and learn to see.
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free.

(lyrics by Paul McCartney)

I know--this isn't really a blackbird, but we call it that because when you walk by, in your peripheral vision, it looks like a big black bird sitting in the garden.

I love this plant. I chose it at the nursery. In spite of my childhood dream to be a farmer, I have no capacity for gardening. I enjoy a beautiful garden yet every plant I have tried to grow has gone on to the great Garden of Eden in the sky.

For the last week, we have been enjoying beautiful sunny weather here in the Northwest. For convertible owners, it has been top down weather--as long as the heater works. Tonight they say it will be 23 degrees...Fahrenheit. Tomorrow night, 18 degrees. For dormant plants that have been thinking it might be time to wake up, the temperature drop could be death.

After work today, I loaded the wheelbarrow with bark dust and piled it on the place where my blackbird sleeps. I took a waxed cardboard box that hadn't made it to recycling yet and turned it upside down on the mound.

I feel kind of like my blackbird. I'm ready to come out of dormancy and am not quite sure of the timing. Is it too early? Will I freeze up?

Sometimes pulling the covers over my head and going back to sleep is the right thing to do. Every once in a while I will stick my toe out and check the temperature, but as long as it is freezing, I think I will stay under cover.

How about you?

Wanda Tucker, Coach

Happy Valentine's Day!

(a flower in Kauai at Aunty Angeline's spa where I enjoyed wonderful lomilomi massage)

It is a day for lovers of all kinds. Whether you have a special sweetheart or not, be a lover today.

Be kind...
be thoughtful...
be gentle...
be courteous...
smile...
look others in the eye...
show up as your best self wherever you are.

Love is in the air and the stars today, but we must each do our own part to bring it down to earth where we all live. You matter. I matter. Let's make love manifest today.

I hope you know that you are love and loved.

Wanda Tucker
Coach

Monday, Monday...

...can't trust that day.

I love The Mamas and the Papas. Mondays I am not so sure about.

I had a great weekend with Sabbath and time with friends. I even accomplished some things that have been on my list for a very long time.

So what is it about Mondays? Maybe it is changing gears that is so hard. Weekends are cruise control. Monday is a fast downshift to climb the hill. Tuesday--second gear. By Wednesday I hit the top of the hill and am ready to coast down the other side at cruising speed. (Good grief--from The Mamas and the Papas to the Beach Boys!)

This morning, so far, I have folded five loads of laundry while listening to Joan Baez, and now Nora Jones. Bob Marley should be on by the time I finish my ablutions and start to pack up to go out the door. Movement, music, productivity.

Break the suction.

Inertia: An object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.

Who would have thought that piles of laundry would be a motivation? And music...ah, sweet music. Thank you God.

Chop wood; carry water.

What do you do to break the suction? I'd love to hear.

Have a great Monday--
Wanda Tucker
Coach

Passion vs. Success

All I would tell people is to hold onto what was individual about themselves, not to allow their ambition for success to cause them to try to imitate the success of others. You've got to find it on your own terms.

~ Harrison Ford

Lately I have been struggling with my writing: "What should I be writing about? What do I have to say? Who cares? Look at what she is doing--I can't write like that." So, I end up not writing at all. Sigh.

Maybe I am letting my "ambition for success" get in the way of my passion. I need to write because...well, I need to write. Truth is, some of it will never be read by anyone but me and that's okay. Mostly I need to write because the words roll around in my head and I get mentally constipated if I don't.

So, I am breaking the suction. Right here. Right now.

What is your passion? What are you avoiding that would make you happier if you did it? Who are you comparing yourself to in a way that makes you smaller?

Sometimes no one else matters. What is it that you need to do for you?

Wanda Tucker
Coach