Day 32

Charlie with one of his "finds", a plastic bow that he happily carried with him on his walk, tossing it into the air and catching it, and then bringing it up with him to the condo.  He is such a HAPPY CAMPER!  Charlie greets me in the morning by "knocking" on my bedroom door, to see if I am awake, and then he SLATHERS me with kisses when I sit down with him and my cup of coffee in the AM.  Charlie is a charmer!

Day 31

Just had am AMAZING adventure at the Seacrest Wolf Preserve in Florida.  Above is a photo of the wolf named Spirit who's story brought tears to my eyes as well as many of the other visitors who came to the center to learn about wolves.  These wolves are not wild in that they are imprinted to humans.  They do live in a pack environment, in large, natural fenced areas.  There is only one strain of wolves that is "native" to the Florida area, the Red Wolf.  There are no pure Red Wolfs left, according to our tour guild, as they cross bred with Coyotes as their population dwindled.  This was a great trip and a unique opportunity to get to know more about this beautiful species.

Day 30

Today dawned cooler in Panama Beach.  That being said, a cold day in Florida is better than winter in Wisconsin!  Today gave me some much needed time to work on my web page.  I am ALMOST ready to publish it, and I am really excited to move into the next stage of developing my path towards realizing my DREAMS!!!  Sometimes you have to let go of things in order to grab hold of the future, and that is where I am headed. 

Day 29



Listening to the Earth Breath  When I left Wisconsin, on my Florida adventure, I was at a pretty low point.  The weather has been challenging with snow, after snow, after snow.  My frustration with my leadership team was palpable.  I may have, inadvertently traded one rut for another.  Saying that I was DEPRESSED would be pretty accurate.  Sooooooooooooo, here I sit, listening to the sounds of the ocean, and the wind; in my shorts, barefoot, JUST BEING.  I'm in the process of healing from a number of gut punches I have taken lately and thinking about what a life that TRULY HONORS, my gifts and talents without COSTING me, might feel and look like. 

Day 28

Sitting on the balcony porch of the condo, listening to the earth breath.  In...Out...In...Out...
Nice!!!!

Day 27

 

One of my BESTEST FRIENDS, Sally, crashed on her chair with her dog Charlie after a hectic day of beach, and shopping, and catching up.  We'll start again tomorrow with a walk on the beach, some time in the pool and a GREAT Sunday meal!!!  This is the life!!!

Day 26

This photo was taken just north of Birmingham, Alabama, at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant/Store.  There is something about flower beds densely planted, profuse in color, that make me HAPPY!  I get happier, and happier, the further south I go.  It's the BEST to be driving this 18 hours and seeing the change in the landscape.

Day 25

Started my road trip to Florida Thursday night after class.  I managed to time it so I hit a "clear" window between snow storms and storms that are traversing the central part of the country.  I left Wisconsin under winter conditions, but with clear roads.  I stayed over night in Lafayette, Indiana and continued on my way Friday morning.  I didn't see signs of other than winter conditions until I crossed into Tennessee.  This is a photo through  the front windshield, of trees in bloom in someones front yard.  It was around the time I was in Tennessee that I started to see that green fog of new leaves on the trees that whispers of spring, and rebirth, and life's renewal.  It wasn't until Alabama that I started to see truly green grass.  I soooooooooooooo needed this "fix" of spring and new life; of beach and sea and sand.  I started grinning ear to ear the moment I turned off of Hwy 65 and headed across Alabama to Florida.  And when I hit the Florida State line, I rolled down my window and shouted to the world, "YES!!!  HELLO FLORIDA!!!"

Day 24

Leaving in two days for Florida.  Leaving the snow, ice, winter, and gray of Wisconsin behind and going to white sand beaches, walks to St. Andrew Park, swimming in the Gulf and listening to the earth breath.  It doesn't get better than that.  I have a week and a half to soak it all up.

Day 23

Sometimes, when it's 21 degrees outside and snowing like there's no tomorrow; when your day starts and ends with shoveling the never ending white mantel that is the stuff of winter wonderlands; when the wind is howling and winter's icy fingers seem to have a fast grip on the world; one finds it necessary to go to that lush place in one's mind that is forever green, and stunningly beautiful; that sings of promise and reflects the soul; that is a respite from winters desolate vastness.  Life will burst forth, eventually, from this frozen tundra, and once again the birds will sing their songs to the dawn, and the day will bloom eternal.

Day 22

In working through the details of my WHY I continue to connect with people, places, and ideas that move me towards my living my dreams.  I am soooo grateful for all that is coming to me in help of what I am dreaming into being.

Day 21

As I'm purposefully building my web site I am required to distill my intent down to it's purest essence.  It is an interesting and self revealing process.  I find myself peeling back the layers of survival strategies that I have created to manage life challenges and really examining the essence of my WHY.  It's about continuing the work that was begun in Canada.

Day 20

Soooo.  I am becoming more purposeful in how this journey is unfolding.  For me, right now, the devil is in the details.  I find that I NEED to slow down and process what I am doing, and that I have to let go of the sense of a "need for speed".  My work on my web site design is symptomatic of this process approach.  It is a labor of immersion, and then relaxing, moving away from, reflecting, emptying, re-approaching, immersion,... and it continues as the site takes shape.  It is an interesting process and one that I find myself counseling myself on to be patient and enjoy the ride.  I have to let go of "get ér done".  It's an interesting revelation and one that I'm still working to feel in sync with...meanwhile the work continues.

Day 19

I'm revisiting a photo, today that is near and dear to me.  I made a purposeful choice to put my daughter above all else and I have held to that promise for 21 years.  This past year I made a purposeful commitment to change, and reclaim the life I have had on hold.  I have been conceptualizing WHAT I want to do, and my first actual self focused step towards giving that dream legs was attending an AMAZING Write Yourelf Into Motion session with Alexandra Franzen and the "Athabasca 19".  I am still running on the "charge" I received through the guidance, Love, Celebration, and support that was packaged into an insightful and life changing experience.  I am eternally grateful for the "push" these DYNAMIC women have given me, and the encouragement they continue to give.  Ladies, I salute you and honor your journeys.  Thank you for helping me breath life into my future.  Love to you all!

Day 18

Putting my feet up, have my PJs on, having a beer and some YUMMY hummus and multi-grained crackers with sea salt as I KICK BACK after a day of facilitating Culture of Service, day 2.  It's all good!  It was an AMAZING morning of conversations around a service mind set and how to be ready to seize every opportunity to serve and to make a difference in the lives of those you touch.  Yeah!  I am so humbled by the level of engagement of this class.

Day 17

I have a wagon wheel in my room, which by the way, is a very nice room.  The Culture of Service class, today, was great.  As I'm working through this material, I find myself challenged to step up my own game in engaging in the act of service in ever increasing purposeful and meaningful ways.  Each day is ripe with opportunities to move life towards what I envision:

I want to live in a world where service to each other is like breathing.  Where we DO understand that the world IS round - and that what goes around comes around, and we INTENTIONALLY plant the seeds of service KNOWING that, like the pebble in the pond, our actions will send ripples out, reverberating through our world, and around the world.  I'm so tired of people who are fearful:  fearful of being taken advantage of, fearful of being made a fool of, fearful of ending up on the short end of the stick, or being "found out" in some way.  I want you to connect with others in meaningful ways and to come to understand how AMAZINGLY important you are; how IRREPLACEABLE you are in the lives of those you touch, even though, for many of those lives, you will never know the impact you have made, and I want you to know how important THEY are to you, the shoulders upon which you stand today are those who CHOSE to serve you.  So, I facilitate this class with the intention of being a part of this EXTRAORDINARY opportunity to help you help us.  It's about caring and moving us, collectively towards a heart of service that truly honors our humanity and enriches the interdependent world THAT LIES AT THE HEART of what we have built, as individuals, as families, as communities, as cultures, as HUMANITY.  For you, it all begins with the realization that ANYONE becomes your customer the moment you have the opportunity to serve, and that SERVICE is meeting the needs of someone else.  You can change lives through your opportunities to serve - you have the potential for GREATNESS.

Day 16

A day spent in practicing and getting set up for class, starting tomorrow.  It was a good day.  I was able to work with the team back at the home office to put the final details in place for a Communications Skills class, even as I was working to finalize the details for the Culture of Service class I'm facilitating starting tomorrow.  This is what makes this job worthwhile.

Day 15

I drove up north Sunday for four hours.  It's good that I traveled on Sunday, as a foot of snow fell and I awoke to small drifts piled outside of the french door to my quarters.  I am about to teach the Culture of Service to a group of associates who work at one of our sister divisions.  It's a great offering and I'm excited to be here and able to exercise this opportunity to connect, yet again, with those who are exploring the potential of choosing to be more positively impactful within their circle of influence, and beyond.

Day 14

Started Tai Chi on Friday.  Tai Chi in combination with working out with my daughter is my personal commitment to taking care of ME, physically.  I am working to master the whole package.  It feels like learning Tai Chi: I find myself slightly off balance; have to keep reminding myself to stay grounded; I do my best work when I am focusing on the basics; and I'm inherently impatient, which doesn't serve me well most of the time.  It's all good.

Day 13

This Blog of 7,300 Moments in the Life of Betsy McDowell is an AMAZING work of mindfulness.  I am, after 13 days, PAINFULLY aware of my lack of mindfulness during my day.  I get to the end of my day and INEVITABLY say, "SHIT! I forgot to take a photo - except for the day that I went to lunch with Bailey. 

When I say, "this is how I roll." That's exaclty what happens, I roll...I don't pause...I don't reflect regularly...I don't act purposefully or mindfully, I just react.  I am a master of survival but not of purposeful living. 

WOW!  OK, so now that I have owned my challenge, I'm going to find a way to MOVE, INTENTIONALLY AND MINDFULLY in the direction I intend to go.  As I'm thinking...(see below)  I have this great watch that is a reminder of what I am committed to doing with my life...the watch has an alarm...it can be set to beep at intervals in the day...I'm going to set it to an interval beeping and I am OBLIGATED to take a picture when it beeps...let's see how that works.  Now, yes, I know that it's random, and not my ultimate goal, but in the the spirit of "What about Bob" (the movie) sometimes it's about baby steps.

Day 12

I am pulling together the parts of my Web Site, and I really liked this font.  It reminds me of the doodles I used to do when I was playing with caligraphy in art school.  It also reminds me of a poem that I wrote a long, long, long time ago that spoke to "the garden of the mind".  To awake to my dreams is to realize the richness and textural depth that life has to offer. The garden of possibilities is furtilized by my realizations.

Day 11

As I plan and formulate what the Awake to Your Dreams offering is about.  I am finding that reaching out and asking for help is a big part of working through the details and the "appeal" of the offering.  Bailey is someone I truly admire for her enthusiasm, positiveness, and strong faith.  I am honored that she has agreed to be part of my Beta group in working through the material and shaping my message and offering.  Today, I also realized that asking for help includes engaging those around me to help with the daily photos that chronicle 7, 300 Moments in the Life of Betsy McDowell.  This is the most I have asked for help in a long time!

Day 10

Wake Up to Your Dreams - that's the heart of my WHY,  I am on a quest to wake up to MY dreams.  I will be truly awake to my dreams when I am by the ocean, when I am with those who love me unconditionally, and when I am with those who are as THRILLED with what I am doing as I am with doing it.  I will be truly awake to my dreams when my heart song has voice, and rings clear, resonating with all that leads to highest good in myself and in others.

Day 9

Sometimes life is like sitting at the wheel of a fast car.  You can get so wrapped up in the way that it looks and handles, that you forget that the whole purpose, in the first place, was that you were actually GOING somewhere.  This is me at the wheel of a fast car (a friend let me borrow his car this summer to take one of my "peeps" to lunch in).  It's a great memory!

Day 8

What a LOVELY space at the Deer Park Meditation Center, in Madison, and what a GREAT way to start an AMAZING day!  The chanting was beautiful and, at times, haunting.  It was the most tranquil, unpressured, fully present, in the moment, 2 1/2 hours that I have spent in a long time.  The lesson was spot on.  In the end I didn't want to leave.  The calm and focus of the practice was an inviting respite.  The ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I felt is still with me.

Day 7

Getting ready for our mother/daughter adventure to Deer Park Meditation Center in Madison  DAY TRIP!!  We've been getting those late winter crazys from being snow bound so we're going to spend a morning with the Llama, then lunch on State Street,, take in a couple of art galleries and some State Street shopping, a stop at Trader Joes, do some people watching and then back home.  What will the day bring! ADVENTURE!

Day 6

PJ Wake Up Call Party - Planning

Planning my very first of many PJ Wake UP Call Parties!  Very exciting!!  Went to the Astor House B&B and picked out the PERFECT space for a great group of women to gather in their PJs and care and share and journal as they Wake UP to their dreams - sooooooooooooooooooooo COOL!!