July 15,2008

Four other coach-type critters and I formed a "brain trust" a few years ago. We have a discussion forum online where we post our goals and priorities on a monthly basis. We check in more or less daily.

Today I decided to do a mid-month check in to see whether what I'd been doing bears any resemblance to the priorities I set on the first of the month. I made notes under each priority reflecting current status.

I know that planning and implementation are challenging for a lot of folks, and I thought you might be interested in this birds-eye view of my current process....

June 19,2008

Last year, when I began sending newsletter subscribers occasional messages promoting a class, book, or program, a few readers complained. One asked if it were possible to receive the newsletters but not the reminders.

As I read that, my heart speeded up, the bubble machine in my chest started manufacturing tiny spheres of free-floating anxiety, and my mind raced in self-defense, justification, and fear.

In principle, I know that any feedback is valuable and that when someone takes the time to write they are giving me a gift. So why did I go on red alert?

Because I was coming out of the closet and it was scary.
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April 30,2008

The Luscious Bodhisattva
What's not to love about this question?

February 20,2008

Networking. Ugh.

Can I just say that, from the age of 5, I’ve generally felt that socializing – not to mention networking - was something inferior beings (also known as popular people) turned to for lack of better things to do with their time?

But then career coach Heather Mundell [insert link] invited me to join her network at Biznik.

From the first I felt that Biznik was different. For one thing, you gotta love the tagline, “Business networking that doesn’t suck.” Then there is the way the site is organized. I could actually see at a glance what they had to offer. And it doesn’t hurt that they are using one of my favorite greens in the logo.

Now I'd love to hear from you. What do you like and dislike about business and social networking in general and Biznik in particular?

January 24,2008

I just deleted my Plaxo account. Having Plaxo integrated into Apple Mail and Address Book was nice, but it started to feel a bit too exposed.

January 17,2008

What this blog needs is a category named, "Surprise!" (Note to self: make it so. When you have time. And wipe that silly look off your face. Are you laughing at me?)

Ah, the thrills and chills of being an accidental entrepreneur. Today the books finally arrived. I discovered this at 5:10 pm when I logged into UPS.com to find out where the heck they were. According to the Web site, the books had been delivered at 2:27 this afternoon.

Who knew? After a week of watching every truck that passed my house, somehow I missed this one. And the driver must have been a newbie, because my usual guy would surely have knocked on the door. Instead, this one unloaded nine boxes of books in the carport, where I discovered them a few minutes ago.

The good news? They are here. The bad news? Oh, don't get me started. At first I couldn't find any. Then I noticed that the illustrations were about half the size that they were when they left my computer. The font for the title is too small. The cover illustration is placed to high. The bottom margins are too deep. It's nice to know that a week training as a Certified Facilitator in The Work of Byron Katie™ hasn't crippled my critical faculties.

One of the unexpected extras is that every book is individually wrapped. So picture me listening to a mystery on my iPhone as I slit open 380 wrappers so I can sign the books for the patient souls who have been waiting since September to get what they paid for.

You know, it really is perfect. I love listening to audio books, and apart from gardening and the gym, I rarely have such a good excuse. And since I'm getting over a cold and probably don't belong at the gym tonight anyway, color me grateful.

December 28,2007

My faithful Oxford Dictionary of the American Language defines doldrums thusly:

doldrums |ˈdōldrəmz; ˈdäl-; ˈdôl-|
plural noun ( the doldrums)
low spirits; a feeling of boredom or depression : color catalogs will rid you of February doldrums.
• a period of inactivity or a state of stagnation : the mortgage market has been in the doldrums for three years.
• an equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean with calms, sudden storms, and light unpredictable winds.

I'm not bored or depressed, but the second definition works for me. After completing The Book, I caught up on the most pressing business before taking a break for the holiday. Today I learned that, due to a communication hiccup between my most excellent VA, Debbie, and the printer caused a delay and the blinking Book did not get to the printer until yesterday.

Sigh.

I guess that qualifies as a sudden, if minor, storm in the midst of the light unpredictable winds of doing business.

I also notice that my buddies in this line of work got their newsletters out as usual this week. I did not. They also sent end-of-the-year offers to their lists. I haven't done that either. And it's not that I'm less interested in marketing and sales, I'm just tired. And so I escaped to San Juan Island on Monday where we spent three days with our son, Aaron, his wife, Lis, and the amazing grandkids, Ellie and Dillon.

Tiredness happens, and that's not a bad thing. Still, it's something to consider when we work for ourselves. I notice that, while I do schedule down time and off time and vacation time, there's work to be done on the transitions. Otherwise I tend to work until it's time to play, and then I disappear rather abruptly. It's just not the nicest way to play.

I think what will help with the transitions is working on structures - routines, procedures, and the like. Maggie is a big help with this. For one thing, just having here around makes my thinking more orderly. For another, she is a detail person par excellence. Details were never my long suit, and now that midlife has wrought its changes on my brain and body, I wouldn't know a detail if it sat on my lap.

But I digress.

Another thing that will help is a way to show up in the betwixt-and-between times. As I was lounging around on San Juan Island, where we spent Christmas with kids and grandkids, it occurred to me that blogging more often might be the ticket. I can scribble a blog entry whatever my state of mind - at least, that's the theory. I can show up, warts and all, and keep the connection between us open, even when I'm confused about growing my own business, let alone yours.

(Actually, it's generally easier to see how to grow someone else's business. Have you noticed?)

I feel I'm babbling a bit, and that's okay. What struck me on that lazy afternoon up north was that I want a way to not go away when my brain turns to much.

[No need to click "Continue Reading" - this is the whole thing.]

December 6,2007

We left San Miguel around 7 central time on Saturday morning and landed in Seattle during a wet snowfal 12 hours later. On Sunday, it snowed some more, knocking out power from about 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. I made a little nest in our bedroom with Bolivia the wonder cat, listening to an audiobook and solving puzzles on my Palm Pilot.

November 29,2007

Interesting article on the relationship between consumerism and depression. What do you think?...
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This is our last evening in San Miguel. No more drum and bugle corps practicing their parade form on the street below. No more fresh tortillas. Sigh.

And it will be great to see our grandkids, to have clearer telephone connections, and to sleep with Bolivia, the wonder cat on my belly.

November 24,2007

A quick photo post before leaving the computer for the night. Our Lady of Guadalupe has long held a special place in my heart and mind. She is one of my favorite things about Mexico. Click on the image for a larger view.

November 23,2007

Is shopping self-care?

Do you evaluate your wellbeing based on your "disposable" income?

Today, which in the US is the biggest shopping day of the year, we might do well to pause before we shop - and also before we judge those who do.

Are you an over-shopper or an under-shopper?

Thoughts from The Happiness Project

When is having a client worse than not having a client? When serving the client costs more than it benefits.

This cuts two ways. Yes, it's important for you to preserve your sanity and plus energy leaks. But it's also important to get out of the way so the client who drives you nuts can find the right person to work with.

Impossible? Maybe. But that's none of our business.

For more insight on when to drop a client, read this excellent article by Leo Babautua, a blogger I discovered only today. Thanks, Leo!

November 22,2007

Caution: This post reveals my geeky side. If you aren't one of those people who open every menu item and dialogue box in a new program just to see what it does, if you don't while away hours setting up email filters or bookmarking handy css and html resources, you probably don't want to read this. If you detest Plaxo, Linked-in, and the very term "social networking," you really don't want to read this.

But if, like me, you are sometimes seized with fascination about all things online, read on. And please, come back and let me know your thoughts about social networking, etc.

November 21,2007

Photo taken on our hike last Sunday.

November 20,2007

From our hike on Sunday.

We ran into these guys on our way up the hill. That's TCP behind them.

November 17,2007

November 16,2007

My workspace this week.

Today is the first day all week that I didn't start writing right after - or even during - my breakfast of fresh tortillas and local honey. Instead, I headed off to run a few errands that I've been putting off all week in favor of finishing The Book. Now it is just after 2 pm and this is my last detour before writing. That's why I didn't take time to adjust the lighting in this snapshot of the space I've been working from for the past several days - the kitchen counter.

I snapped the photo last night after a day of writing. The clouds at sunset were simply spectacular.

That's all for today, folks. Time to put one word in front of another.

Sent off the whole thing - The Book - to the editor last night, so took the time today to improve the work station photo.

November 15,2007

The sky behind the marquee for Fantasy on Ice made a stunning picture, but by the time I got my camera out, the drama had passed. Still, it serves to anchor my report that TCP and I attended two big top events in the past two weeks. First, a week ago Saturday, Fantasy on Ice. A Disney-esque, lip-synched musical synopsis of Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, etc., on ice skates. We had ring-side seats because we didn't know any better that to pay the top price.

A week later, we went to El Circo Mas Grande y Famoso. This time we were in the luneta, more or less the equivalent of the loges in a theater or opera house. The aerial and gymnastic work was terrific.

As of today, we have 15 days remaining in San Miguel. We've been fantasizing about buying a house down here. Stranger things have happened...

All that remains of the altars and banners marking Dio de los Muertos are the flags. The trees, by the way, are Ficus benjamina, those finicky specimens that drop all their leaves if you move them from one room of your house to another. They don't look so finicky here, do they? Of course, it also looks like they haven't been moved in ages...

Blue and white flags float over the intersection where Calle Hermanos de Aldama becomes Prolongacion de Aldama. Flags are everywhere in San Miguel, especially, but not only, on feast days. Actually, it's always someone's feast day.

November 12,2007

That's TCP and me on the upper patio at Casa Caracol. It's a posed shot -- we sent a press release to various newspapers and magazines about our office-away-from-the-office and wanted a snapshot to go with it. Miles usually works inside, though I do often work at this very table.

November 7,2007

From a conversation in Shaboom County about the creative life. The first part is reprinted by permission from the person who posted it and asked to remain anonymous.

This fall I've sometimes not worked until 6PM or later--spending the day doing quotidian things like grocery shopping, gym, or even sitting around drinking coffee watching the light move across the room, feeling helpless to even open a book. Needless to say it gets kind of scary, especially when you don't talk to anyone or see friends or are away from your spouse, as I have been.

But, it becomes so clear the process of allowing isn't always comfortable! ...

I always knew that my friend Melissa Gayle West was special, but that didn't mean I planned to read her newsletter, One Minute for Pleasure. I mean, I am so not needing that.

Right.

Here's what I wrote Melissa today after reading her newsletter for the second week in a row. If it rings a bell, bop on over to her Web site, The Luscious Bhodisattva, and subscribe.

Your newsletter today - luscious again.

You know, I thought I didn't need any luscious bhodisattva-ing until - for God knows what reason (and I truly believe She does) - I opened it last week. So today when it arrived I thought, "What the hell. If it doesn't have anything for me I don't have to keep reading it.

And now, perhaps 4 minutes later, I have a pleasure name, Gigi, and I have discovered that Gig turns a compulsory shoulder roll/arm stretch into a sultry, sensual exploration of her own delicious self. And she flirts with hummingbirds and makes eyes at the hills!

I had no idea...

Love,

Molly

November 2,2007

Last night TCP and I walked down to the cemetery - the Panteon de la Senora de Guadalupe - and strolled among the graves and columbaria. Scores of families were washing, painting, weeding, and decorating the graves of their loved ones. It was an amazing scene. I had my camera, but I couldn't bring myself to take photos - it felt like scavenging. I do plan to walk through again on Saturday or Sunday, post-festivities, when taking photos may not feel so intrusive.

I love the celebration of death in life here. Life is more vivid (pun intended) when death is present and accounted for.

How lucky are we to be in this beautiful place today?