The Importance of Doing Nothing

I’ve been told that I do nothing better than anyone else. I usually have a very full schedule. My lunches and evenings are filled with need-to-do-this or need-to-meet-them. I’ve lots of interests outside of my day job and I’m admittedly, very social. I never turn down a meal or a glass of wine with friends. My brain is always whirling and my sweetie has come to dread the phrase…”I’ve been thinking” because it usually involves some task for him.

But I also know that I need quiet time to counter that. The quiet meditative time, when I still the monkey mind chatter. I also know that my sweetie and I need quiet time together. As a couple, we need time to just be.

I’ve written about my friend’s camp before.  That special Zen oasis she calls the Flying Alligator, less than an hour from my home.  It’s perched on a quiet bluff overlooking a mighty river. The Atchafalaya River is one of the deepest rivers in the world and from her pier; I can sit and watch it’s fast moving current flow by for hours. It’s too fast for waterskiers or even fishermen, so only occasionally does a boat go by. You don’t see other homes or people from that pier. You can only see the mighty ancient trees that line it’s banks. It’s a real connection to the past as we quietly sit and listen to the sounds of nature surrounding us.

This is how this spot has looked for eons. We watch the eagles and the hawks and the rosy-headed spoonbills soaring high in the sky, as well as the tiny chickadee hopping on the branch that shades the pier. We’re in the middle of the Atchafalaya Basin  which is the largest swamp in the country and it still feels primal. I’ve seen migratory geese flying over so high in the sky they looked like hundreds of shimmering ribbons that undulated with wind currents; those ribbons appearing and disappearing depending on the wings catching the glow of the sun on their journey.

We watch the frogs and the lizards and the snakes and see the occasional fish jump out of the river.  We see a bird dive into the water to catch its dinner. I feel connected to the world as I watch how nature has been since the beginning of time.

I’m still connected to technology and it feels appropriate that I see the words of the Dalia Lama being posted by friends.  He’s only a short ways away—as the bird flies—in New Orleans, his first visit to my favorite city. (I hope he eats well while he’s there). I read Tamyra Bourgeois post about his Holiness, “the recipe for happiness is pretty simple, sleep well, eat well, meditate and connect with people who value your opinion.”

I know I’m where I’m meant to be in this moment of time. Feeling connected to the larger world. Sitting in happy silence with my love, occasionally touching hands and yes, a glass of wine in the other hand.

Part of my doing nothing is reading the book “My Stroke of Insight” from a powerful TED talk. This neuroscientist talks of recovering from a stroke and how important sleep and quiet and the kindness of others were to her healing and recovery. Her words and the Dalai Lama’s, being content and happy in the presence of love and being connected to nature, have all resonated with me this weekend.

I’ve come to believe that I’m meant to help people connect to their creativity. I’m still working on exactly how to get that message out. But maybe it’s by showing someone how to do nothing—something I’m very good at. It sure has connected me to the glorious, creative world today.

If you like My Creative Journey, I’d love for you to follow me. My posts will then arrive in your email and I promise no spam.

I’m proud to be a GenFab blogger!

Being Colorful

I’ve recently made my sweetie join the business-networking group, BNI  for our brand new business, Greenview Designs.  I have a day job and he’s semi-retired and this group has mandatory weekly meetings, so I don’t have the flexibility that he has. It is, however, against his nature. I’m the social one; the love-to-talk-to-everyone person and Steve is …well…not. He’s the doer. Need a bookcase, he’ll build it, need a video, he’ll film it. Who does my daughter call when she discovers her car is flooded? You guessed it, and he shows up and fixes it.

He’s at the networking social getting to know the group and I join him after work. He doesn’t even have his business cards with him, so I’m handing out mine. He’s way more interested in the game that’s on in the bar while I’m happily doing the meet and greet and enjoying the conversations I’m having with everyone.

When we get home that evening, I immediately email a few people in relation to the conversations I just had. (This has more to do with the fact that I won’t remember the conversations if I don’t respond immediately, than me being that on top of it.)

It is as soon as I send the last email that I think about how diverse these conversations were. I laugh at myself thinking I was probably the only one at that meet and greet that could have had these separate conversations in one evening.

1. There was the techie guy with his web business. He was full of the latest lingo and anachronisms. I’m a marketer so I at least know what SEO and ROI means. We talk for a long time about business. I talk about the book “Tribal Leadership” how this book impacted me as a leader. I send him the TED talk link  and the free download and I just blogged about it, so I sent him that link too. 

2. The next was a friend who I enjoyed catching up with, our kids even went to Bonnaroo together. She has a side business teaching what I call gentle yoga. It’s for people who have some type of physical issue like MS (multiple sclerosis). I immediately thought of a blogger friend who I know from my Generation Fabulous blogging group, I know she’s a health advocate for MS as well as a woman who is living with it. I think that these two great women should at least know each other and may be able to share resources even though they live at different ends of the country. So I send them an email introduction to each other.

3. I even got into a conversation about auras. I realize that this is not normal business conversation, but this is really the types of conversations I get into all the time. I’m open to many possibilities. I’ve never seen an aura, but I have people near and dear to me who have. So I believe the validity of this energy that we all have. I also know for many this is a little “WOO WOO” out there. I discover my new BFF reads auras. Just days before I had a conversation with a woman who wanted her aura read while she meditated. So naturally I introduced them via email.

We are a sum of our life’s experiences. I can go from tribes to Bonnaroo to auras without skipping a beat. This is what networking means to me, simply sharing my life experiences and trying to connect people who should know each other. The term networking seems so formal and not me, I like to think of myself as connector of colorful friends.

 I wonder what color my aura is right now.

If you like My Creative Journey, I’d love for you to follow me. My posts will then arrive in your email and I promise no spam.

Mother’s Day

I am Connie Lee, daughter of Jimmie Dee, daughter of Jimmie Coreine, daughter of Minnie May, mother of Jade Lei-Mei.

Today I celebrate my female lineage.

My grandmother holding my mom.

May’s Generation Fabulous bloghop was about our mothers. If you missed my post here it is. The bloghop link to the 50+ other stories can be found at the end.

Wild Woman

If you like my blog, I’d love for you to follow me. My posts will then arrive in your email and I promise no spam.

Happy Mother’s Day, Connie

The Artist’s Way at Work

I started a group in January based on the book “The Artist’s Way at Work”. I posted last week about the tribes in my life. This week I realize a new tribe has been created.

The Artist’s Way at Work is a 12-week process book that is divided into methodical steps to self-discovery. There are two keys to the book, one is to get up every morning and to hand write three pages of stream of consciousness. The other is to, every week; bring yourself on an artist date, to do something fun, just what you want to do. Take yourself to an art opening or to a movie or wander in a used bookstore, whatever interests you. Someone described the group as a creative Weight Watchers, that by committing to meeting as a group, we hold ourselves more accountable to reaching our goals.

The book focuses on your work life, but once in the process you’ll discover that your creative life is not limited to just your job, but to every aspect of your life. There is real truth to the sentiment that if you do what you love, then you’ll never work a day in your life. That journey, however, to learning what it is that you love is the road that most of us find ourselves on. The other reality is that we still have to pay our bills while we are on this road.

We realized no one wanted this group to end, as we met for our last official meeting and wrap party. A very real bond has been formed among the new tribe. Several have had big life events happen to them in the few months since the group formed—divorce, job changes and job challenges. This group has been there to support each other for our large and small, ups and downs.

We came together with some of us knowing others in the group, but no one knowing everyone. We formed because we all had a void in our work life that left our creative life unfulfilled.

We discovered that we could find our answers within, if we allow quiet time in our life. That we have to nurture ourselves if we want our spirit to thrive. That sounds so simple, but as we live busy lives, those simple things are easy things to let go of. We learned that we all have self-doubt, but that we can control that doubt. And we learned that when we look at ourselves and see our flaws, others look at us and see our beauty and strength shining through.

It is in these morning writings and doing something our heart desires that serendipitous things happen. Getting out by ourselves has led to meeting people and making connections that take our lives into new discoveries and often to new jobs and careers.

This Artist’s Way at Work group has officially ended, but it feels like a beginning for me. I know there will be future groups that I will facilitate. I envision this group of new and old friends staying in each other’s lives, with others joining us. I have learned over the course of this program that our creative journey is our own to forge and that we have the skills within us to find our way. But to have the support of others is truly having the wind at your back as we move forward on our creative journey.

If you enjoy my blog, I’d love for you to click the follow button. You’ll get a email update when I post a new story.

I’m proud to be a GenFab blogger!

Tribes

“By understanding our shared tribal tendencies, we can help lead each other to become better individuals,” explains Dave Logan in a powerful TED talk.

Click here to view TED video

Logan’s book Tribal Leadership (click here for a free audiobook) is a tool that transcends being just a book about business. It is a book that helps to understand the world and the tribal cultures that inhabit it.  He and his team have come up with five different tribes that each have their own world view.

5. Life is great
4. We’re great
3. I’m great
2. My life sucks
1. Life sucks

A tribe is made up of 20 to 150 people. Your tribe is who fills your phone contacts, your texts, your emails; it’s whom you spend your time with. I have several tribes in my life; my work tribe, my advertising tribe, my church tribe and my blogging tribe. While my different tribes are unique, they are all similar in that they all want to make the world a better place, which according to Tribal Leadership is a sign of a well functioning tribe. Being a member of these tribes makes me feel connected to my community and to the world. It makes me feel connected to something larger than myself.  While these tribes are filled with unique and diverse voices, we are all striving toward a common good.

Gangs and terrorist cells inhabit the tribes that believe “life sucks”.

All of this makes me wonder about those two young brothers in Boston who apparently murdered innocent people and maimed many others. I wonder if they were part of a tribe that didn’t see the world as a beautiful, diverse place filled with people striving to make it better. Or were they alone with no tribe to council them. Or were they sucked into thinking hate-filled strangers hiding in the dark crannies of the Internet were their tribe. If one believes “life sucks”, then does one believe life has little value and therefore makes it easy to take someone else’s life?

No one knows why these brothers terrorized a city that from all accounts had embraced them. I hope for justice, but not vengeance. I pray for compassion and wisdom for all involved. I hope their act doesn’t fuel the fear of others into thinking that all Muslims or immigrants are all part of terrorist tribes.

I pray that someday we will all see the interconnectivity of all our tribes. As Spring wraps its warmth and beauty around the world; as runners jog down our streets; as parents push their babies in strollers in flower-filled neighborhoods; I hope that we all see Spring as a time to heal and as a time of new beginnings. A time for all tribes to see we all need to strive to make the world a better place. May we all believe “life is great.”

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Stand Tall and Hold Hands

I love Sunday mornings. I lazily watch TV with a cup or two of dark, rich coffee from my cozy bed. A story on Jackie Robinson and the upcoming movie about him made me reflect on my own life. The reality of hatred and racism seems so distant from the comfort and safety of my comfortable Sunday morning. It is unfortunately still an ugly reality. And it has touched me and shaped me into the person I am today.

I was in second grade the first time two brave little African-American girls showed up in my all white classroom. One of my white classmates told her mother, “Momma, we had two little maids in class today.” I can only imagine what those two little girls told their parents when they went home that day.  While I have no memory of any overt racism, I know that I’m looking back through the lens of white privilege. They were probably teased or bullied or taunted because of their skin color. Or they were simply left out; they are not in any of my pictures of birthday parties or Girl Scout meetings. I have no memories of running and giggling with them at recess.

Fast forward a few decades and I marry a man who was Chinese. He actually still is Chinese, but he is no longer my husband. He left his home in Malaysia to create a new life for himself in America. He was (and still is) a talented man and he received some local recognition for the paper sculpture illustrations that he created. The day after a newspaper article appeared about him, I started receiving phone calls at work and at home. The voice angrily said, “Why did you marry that Chink?! Move out of our white neighborhood, “ and then the voice would slam the phone down.

It was frightening, scary and it made me very angry. It was the symbolic brick in the back of the head. It made us consider moving away from our family and friends. It made us question whether we should ever have children. We never thought to contact the police; this was a time before caller ID. We felt very alone and on our own and vulnerable. The calls happened randomly and after six months they stopped as abruptly as they began.

While the calls did end, that brick in the back of the head feeling never entirely went away. Those hate-filled calls taught me a real life lesson in compassion for those who are victimised by hatred.  I do know that I am lucky and for countless others, their victimization does not go away after six months.  I know that hatred and prejudice can fester and literally kill, be it because of race or religion or gender orientation.

I can’t go back to the second grade and hold the hands of those scared little girls and ask them to run and skip and jump rope with me. Today I know that my gay and lesbian friends must be scared that they may never be able to marry the ones they love.

I want to hug them and hold their hands and tell them that the world is changing. I was born into a world where people with different colored skin could not marry. The world slowly changed and that seems a distant and long ago time. I have a beautiful multi-ethnic daughter who has friends of all races, religions, gay and straight. This upcoming generation doesn’t see the difference that others saw a generation ago. The world continues to slowly, oh so slowly, change. As Jackie Robinson’s widow said on this morning’s interview, “We stand on the shoulders of those who come before us.“  May we all stand tall and hold hands.

My beautiful daughter and me

If you enjoyed my post, I’d love for you to share my story or click the follow button.

I’m proud to be a GenFab blogger!