Busy!

Between yoga teacher training, writing and work (yes, work!) I am pretty swamped right now.  Still, couldn't be happier.  I've had some travel writing stuff take me away from my book this week and though I feel a little frustrated about it this work is awesome and I'm truly grateful for it!  On that note, here's a link to two stories that published in two publications I haven't written for before.  These two are travel agent pieces, one for TravelAge West, the other for Family Getaways (a sister pub of TravelAge West).  Still some great Hawaii info if you're interested!

TravelAge West Story

Family Getaways Story

Have a a great weekend folks!

Exposed

This week has been a lot of things for me.  I've fully dug into the second book in my series.  I've been thrown in (thrown is definitely the right verb here) to my yoga teacher training.  And it was also my 31st birthday on Monday — the beginning of a new year for me.  Putting all these things together there have been some high points and not so hight points as well.

Also, the culmination of these things signifies further change in my life.  Good change: getting older, the freedom of writing a first draft from the heart to page, the excitement of beginning a learning process I have wanted to start for quite some time.  The not so good things: getting older, the terror of pulling a story out of thin air while ignoring the voice in my head telling me my storytelling sucks, and lastly, dealing with a fear of public speaking in my teacher training where I must put my true self out there for all to see.  Exposing myself.

We all have those moments of feeling exposed, don't we?  Where we feel sliced open at the heart.  Where we feel more naked than being naked.  For some reason, at this point in my life, that's what it feels like for me to stand up in front of people to speak.

So you might be asking yourself: then why the hell are you taking a yoga teacher's training? Well, because I love yoga.  Because the idea of teaching seems amazing to me.  Because I don't want fear to stop me from doing something I love.

This week my Mom sent me these videos to help me deal with the fear of putting my true self out there, of being vulnerable.  Brené Brown has also just published a book on this subject, if you're interested. I downloaded it to my Kindle just before I began this post.

If there's something you're feeling vulnerable about, you might want to take some time out of your life and watch these videos.  And, if you watch the second video you'll learn if you never feel vulnerable about anything then chances are you're a sociopath....so, in other words, there is something in these TED Talks for you.  Brené Brown is really funny too!  This first video came out in 2010:



Here's the second video, which you'll understand better if you've watched the first. This one came out in March 2012.

Hope you enjoy!  Here's to being vulnerable, to not shying away from shame, to being flawed right out in the open.

Zadie and eVerest

I don't have much to say at the moment and today happens to be my hubby's birthday so I thought I'd post one of my favourite songs of his for all of you to enjoy.  Happy Birthday Toomie! Love you more than I could ever say in words.  Keep making great music!

It's also someone else's birthday today who is equally as special to me: my Zadie.  He is seriously one of the most amazing, happy, joyful people I know and today turns 88!  He served Canada in World War II and is featured in something called the Memory Project.  Click the name or this to hear his voice and learn some of his World War II story.  Love you Zadie!