The Greatest Love

I have known such great love in this lifetime.  So much and in so many ways I can barely count.

There is the love I have as a mother for my beautiful daughters and precious grandchildren.

Incredible romantic love with many – from the very first to the one who has my heart forever.

Deep love of music and dancing from a family who taught me to have fun.

Eternal love of learning and growing.

True love and appreciation to have seen so many amazing places in this world.

The love I found in expressing myself in words.

Love of the beauty I see in kind people.

The greatest of all is at last, feeling true self love.

How I Went from Downsizing to Minimalism

I began my downsizing journey many years ago.  I found that it is more of an ongoing process than an event.  Even though there were many events within the process, it was always focused around the removal of things.  All of those cherished possessions that were taking up all of my time and space.

Each time I moved, I got rid of as many unwanted and unneeded things as possible.  But always, within a short amount of time, they would creep back in.  Gifts from family, purchases that I really didn’t need, items I thought were too sentimental to part with, etc.  All of it, just stuff.

Very little of it actually enhanced my life or well-being. 

Most of these things were relics of a life that I no longer live.  Their purpose has been served and yet I still hang on.  Somehow there is an anxiety about letting go of these things that feels like a loss.  That is when I started thinking about what that means in my life today.  Am I willing to stay shackled to the past because I refuse to release these things?

I started reading more about minimalism and how it is much more of a mindset than a physical activity.  Decluttering and organizing are ways to manage your belongings but it doesn’t help to improve your inner environment.

For me, looking at a clean, sparsely decorated room feels peaceful.  Now it was time to take this to a new level.  I wanted that feeling in all areas of my life, not just my home.  I wanted to feel that way with work, my relationships, social interactions – everything.

Downsizing:  To reduce or decrease in size.
Minimalism:  A style or technique that is characterized by simplicity.

When I looked at the definitions of downsizing and minimalism, the word that jumped out at me was Simplicity.  That is what I am after.  It doesn’t have to be small; it just has to be simple.

I have been slowly inching toward being more deliberate in how I live my life.  Evaluating what brings purpose and joy to me right now and what does not.  

I’ve had to reassess what I truly value and what the cost is to keep it. 

Henry David Thoreau said - "the price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it".

Now, in my 60s, life is more precious than ever and I want to make the most out of this amazing time in my life.

As with most new things, I am starting small and taking it easy.  I don’t need to rush; I want to be thoughtful about this new lifestyle.

I am noticing that the more changes I make the better I feel and the better I feel the more changes I’m ready to make.  I love how it all works together.

Something as simple as turning off the notifications on my email feels like a victory.

Every day I am on the lookout for another area to simplify.  Is it a plant that needs repotting or a shelf that has gotten too cluttered?  Whatever it is, I just take care of it.

All the little things add up to the big things in your life.  It doesn’t matter how much you have as long as you have room for what really matters.
 
Have you downsized but still feel there is more to be done?  Is Minimalism something you would try?  Share your stories and join the conversation.

Published on Sixty and Me

Creative Writing for Fun and Healing

I have loved words and written in one form or another most of my life.  What felt like a small, isolated world became rich and full of grand adventures on the page.

My early experiences were in making up stories for the lives of my dolls and the make-believe places that they lived.  I would take inspiration from the books I read and create an entirely new story.

Somehow, putting those words down on paper made them feel more real. 

The Beginning

I was in Junior High when my English teacher asked if I wanted to write a short article for our school newspaper.  Even though I was writing in my diary almost daily, it never occurred to me to write something that someone else would read.  The thought terrified me.

With a lot of help and encouragement I wrote about some of the civil rights events that were going on at the time.  What I realized was that writing it down and sharing it helped me release some of the anxiety I was feeling.

True Expression

Over the years I continued to write – diaries, journals, short stories and even the beginning of what I thought might turn into a book someday.  I didn’t want to share any of that, those were my deepest thoughts and feelings.

Writing gave me the confidence to express my true self without worrying about criticism or praise.  I was able to let my feelings flow from the pen to the paper and it always felt like a relief to let it out.

Over time, I found that writing had become my pleasure as well as my personal therapy.  Everything I was feeling – happy or sad, went on the page.  Sometimes it was just a scribbled note while I was sitting at the doctor’s office.  Anything to just get it out of my head.

Do it for yourself

As I began to share some of my writing with my family and friends, I received a mixed response.  Some offered support and others were very critical.  Neither felt satisfying.  Going through that made me think about why I was really doing this.  Did I want acceptance and acknowledgement or did I just want the outlet? 

Like anything else, I needed to try some things on to see what felt right.  For me, writing was a very personal expression and I learned that if I would just do what made me happy, that was all I needed.

I didn’t want to write for a living, or be a famous novelist – I just wanted to write whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Start Small

Ten years ago, my daughter suggested that I start a blog.  It sounded interesting but I had a lot of apprehension about sharing anything publicly on the internet.

I was such a private person that I wasn’t even using social media yet.  After giving it some thought, I decided to dip my toes in to see what it felt like.

Blogger offered a free, easy way to get started, so I decided to give it a try.  If I didn’t like it, I could just stop and take the blog down.

At first, I published very short, generic thoughts and comments.  I had always written long-hand so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this new electronic format. 

I liked that I could see what posts people were reading and where they were from.  It fascinated me that I could connect with people all over the world through my simple blog.

New Avenues

As I became more comfortable with this new medium, I explored some of the avenues that were available.  I could write reviews of products and services, articles for magazines, even eBooks if I wanted to.  The internet provided so many resources, the options were endless.   

Then I saw a post asking for guest bloggers with Sixty and Me.  I wondered if this was something I could do.  It was an opportunity for me to write about issues that mattered to me and share it with a community of people my own age.

I appreciated the different topics and viewpoints on the website and decided this was something I wanted to do.  That was 6 years ago and it has been such a wonderful experience. 

Have Fun

What was important to me was to continue to stay true to myself.  I found my voice in the world and now it’s all about enjoying the journey.
 
Do you like to write?  What is your favorite medium?  Do you want to be published or are you happy just doing it for yourself?  Share your stories and join the conversation.

Published on Sixty and Me

Untangling the Bones

Many years ago, I took a sabbatical from work to focus on myself. I had been a busy single mother raising my 2 daughters and had taken care of my mother before she passed away.

I was searching for meaning and purpose in my own life. It was that year that 3 separate people gave me a copy of Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Not exactly a subtle message from the universe. 

One of the most memorable stories was about the Skeleton Woman. It is an old myth about a fisherman who pulls her bones out of the water and gently untangles her from his net. With the warmth and care of this man, she comes back to life and then nourishing herself with his tears, his loneliness is relieved, and his heart is whole again.

This story resonated deeply with me and reminded me of the beauty of the eternal cycle of life that exists in everything and how love can replenish even the most desolate life.

Keep Your Vibration High and Your Head Low

 New eBook available on Amazon.

Keep Your Vibration High and Your Head Low

Life Lessons and the Joy of Aging

 New eBook available on Amazon.

Life Lessons and the Joy of Aging

Fate or Faith

 I’m always surprised and delighted at how the universe delivers exactly what I want in a way that I would never have expected.  Any attempt I make to manipulate or coerce how it will happen, only results in a less than satisfactory outcome and a lot of struggle along the way.

Whereas, if I can release control or resistance, even slightly, I can begin to see the beauty of how everything fits together. 

Synergy – that perfect cooperation of things coming together to become greater than the sum of the individual components.

Perhaps, that is where the concept of fate or destiny comes from.  When that thing that you’ve always wanted seems to magically appear in your experience and you’re sure that you did not have the power to create it.

What you did have, is the power to allow it.  

By letting go of trying to make something happen, you open yourself up to all possibilities.  Things you could never have planned or even imagined will show up and contribute to the unfolding. 

The more faith you have that all is well and working out exactly as it needs to will increase the momentum of what is in the process of becoming.

By simply giving something the time and space to grow, it will become the best version of itself.

What I Learned While Looking for Dolphins

Several years ago, when I was living in Florida, I rented a beautiful condo on the river.  The lanai overlooked the water, where I could see boats, kayaks and all sorts of wildlife.

My neighbors told me to watch for the dolphins that come around the pier in the morning.  I was so excited, I couldn't imagine seeing them right from my own home.
 
Let Go of Trying too Hard

Almost every day, I sat out on the balcony to have my coffee, I loved watching the birds and even saw flying/jumping fish, but no dolphins.  Every time I saw even the slightest movement in the water, I would look a little harder, hoping to see them.

As time went on, I became discouraged, but I was determined to not give up.  My lease was almost over and I really wanted to see them before I left.  
 
Find a New Way of Looking at it

Just a few weeks before my move, I was feeling sad that I had not seen, even one dolphin anywhere.  My mind went back to something I had heard at a Law of Attraction workshop.  That you need to focus on what you want, not what you don't want.  
 
I knew I had been intently focused on not being able to see them for months.  So, just for fun, I decided to play a game.  I gave up looking for dolphins in the river and asked myself - how many ways are there for me to see dolphins?

Be Open to the Possibilities

Within 24 hours, I saw dolphins everywhere.  People sent me cute dolphin emojis on messages and emails, I saw pictures of beautiful dolphins swimming on the internet. 
 
There were books, magazines and posters with gorgeous images, there was even a woman dressed up in dolphin costume on a program I was watching.  
 
I laughed out loud and felt delighted by how the universe had responded to my simple question.  It no longer mattered that I hadn't seen them in the water but saw so many everywhere else and in ways I would never have expected, it made me very happy.

Enjoy the Unfolding
 
The next day, as I was talking to my daughter on the phone, I suddenly caught a glimpse of a ripple in the water near the pier.  I couldn't believe my eyes, there were 2 beautiful dolphins swimming together in the river right in front of me.
 
I was astounded, I was sure I would not see them and then there they were.  Swimming back and forth, peacefully, staying in view for the longest time, it was a fantastic experience.
 
Look for a Deeper Meaning

It was also a great reminder that I can't control things, but if I can relax and let go, everything will come to me in the perfect way and at the perfect time. 

I play this little game whenever I am feeling shortage of any kind and I am still surprised and delighted at how quickly it manifests. 
 
The biggest lesson for me was that there are many ways for what I want to come into my life, I just need to be easy about it and trust the process.
 
What experiences have you had with learning something in an unexpected way? Do you find it difficult to let go? How has your experience changed after 60? Share your stories and join the conversation!

Finding Joy in Isolation

When the pandemic first hit the U.S. in 2020, like so many others, I wondered how I would cope.  Would this be a devastating hardship or could it be an opportunity to look at life in a different way?

There were so many unknowns that business as usual didn’t seem realistic or even possible.  I started to think about ways that I could be comfortable and still stay safe with so much fear and confusion going on around me.

As I spoke with family and friends, I could see that everyone had a unique approach to this unprecedented situation.  Some were trying to work around the virus to maintain as much of their normal day to day lives as possible and others wanted to ignore that it was even happening. 

Very quickly, I realized that how I dealt with this was entirely up to me.  So, I went into planning mode.  I wanted to find a way to transition to a new normal and maybe even find some joy.

First, I needed to assess what I would require for extended periods of lockdown.  As I did my inventory, I realized that I had very little in the way of food on hand and an excessive amount of travel supplies.  After so much traveling, I had enough shampoo and toothpaste to last 6 months.

Since it was still winter in Colorado, I thought of it as getting ready for a big storm.  I didn’t want or need to hoard supplies but I did need to have food in the cupboard.

It reminded me of when I was a girl and mom could make a few pantry staples and one piece of meat stretch for several meals.  How well she managed really inspired me.  This was a great chance to get creative and do some things differently. 

 I never enjoyed grocery shopping, or any shopping to be honest, and now it was much worse.  I started checking into delivery options and found that I could get everything I needed delivered to my door, it felt like a real luxury.  That is something I will continue long after the crisis has passed.

Also, there was an unexpected surprise in having someone else doing my shopping.  As supplies fluctuated, I would sometimes get substitutions for items that I would not have tried otherwise. 

I started to appreciate how well I was able to navigate through this strange time.  Feeling very secure with my home and food supply my attention turned inward.  I began thinking of how I would spend my time. 

Previously, I would have been traveling all over the world for work and pleasure but that was not going to be possible, at least for the time being.  That was a big concern for me.  How would I adapt if I was confined to one place, not able to jump on a plane whenever I wanted? 

I began thinking of all of the wonderful trips I had taken and trying to remember details of each adventure.  I had moved so quickly from one place to another, now was a good time to reflect on those journeys and what they really meant to me.

Being in one place for an extended period of time was growing on me.  It was nice to wake up in my own bed every day and not have to worry about check-out time or flight schedules. 

I was cooking more and even started sourdough baking which is something I used to do when my children were young.  I discovered a lot of the simple pleasures that I didn’t have time for before the pandemic. 

For me, staying in was a relief, I didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything that I didn’t truly want or need to do.  I’ve never liked crowds, so not being able to attend events felt like pure freedom.  I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. 

Little by little I started experimenting with this new way of life and found so many hidden gems that I would never have thought would be possible.  I have loved slowing down and really taking time to look after myself.  What I discovered is that you can find joy even in isolation.

How have you coped during the pandemic?  Were there any unexpected benefits from a change in your lifestyle?  Share your story and join the conversation.