Posts by Pat:
Fall as a new beginning?
Summer is over. Fall is here! School is underway. Halloween decorations are everywhere.
Fall is a fun, new beginning for me. I love it’s fresh energy, the “clean slate” feeling. And I love checking things off my “to do” lists.
I hate having tired goals, unfinished goals; so I redo them to make me feel good. Though my sister may say I’m compulsive, I think I’m just organized! After all, I’m the oldest and have to be the responsible one.
So, here’s to new beginnings. Want to join me? After all our coasting and relaxing from this summer, it’s time to regroup and get focused. If we want to be in a better place next year, then fall is the perfect time to set ourselves up for it.
Let’s consider what one thing we most want to accomplish this fall. Here are some things we might want to think about:
- starting a new creative project,
- finishing a project we’ve been working on,
- getting into good shape, emotionally or physically.
Why pick one? The season is only three months long and one focus is plenty. We can always build on it or pick a new one for winter.
Why even do this at all? Well, if we don’t make a conscious choice, we could coast our way into the new year, then into spring, into summer, and…Ack! another year will have gone by.
I like what Emerson said:
For me, this fall means finishing my two current knitting projects and only then shall I start one of those tantalizing ones waiting in my yarn room!
Now it’s your turn. Your task, if you choose to complete it, is to…
- choose your one goal,
- let yourself feel what it will feel like when it’s done, and
- decided the first step, however tiny, and take it!
I often eat dessert first!
(My sister and I were smart enough never to hire the applicant who said “I’d give anything to work in a chocoate store!” for we knew we couldn’t affort the loss of inventory!) We’ve all been overwhelmed with the messages to take pleasure when and where we can: Don’t worry-BE HAPPY! ENJOY LIFE NOW-this is […]
The rights of the reader!
This French author has quite the list! Let me know which of these resonate with you and/or if you have found others. The right to read anywhere! And the right to reread! Plus these too… We can skip pages if we want. And don’t forget the right to not have to defend our taste! No […]
Do less?!
Matthew McConaughey had shut down his production company and his music label because as he said…”I was making B’s in five things. I want to make A’s in three things.” (Those three things were his family, his foundation, his acting career.) Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius would say that doing less “brings a double satisfaction.” We […]
Letting go and creating new!
We seem to like the idea of new beginnings. I’m letting go of some this season to prepare for my clean slate for fall. Here’s some mantras I’ve been using! For my clean slate, I’m considering these for my fall thoughts: In some areas of life, value is unlocked by starting. Even a five-minute exercise […]
September as a new January!
“September” is such an invigorating idea! It’s back to school and new projects! It’s unofficially the beginning of fall and plenty of time to look at the “clean slate” that it provides. We can choose to stop “doing” for a moment and reflect on what it is that we really want… to be, to do, […]
Need a Plan B?
We usually have a pretty good Plan A. But as we well know, life doesn’t always go according to our best laid plans. Stuff happens! With all life’s twists and turns, it might be a good idea to have a contingency plan (i.e. a Plan B.) The days of working an entire career in the […]
“Yes, but…”
The feeling and the message can be so different when we consciously change that “but” to “and.” It’s more inviting, inclusive, collaborative, cooperative to respond to someone with a “Yes, and…” rather than a “Yes, but…” A “Yes, and” in conversation builds upon the thoughts of the person with whom we are speaking while a […]
is it love or just like?
I love what this drawing reminds me of…that there’s a significant difference between liking and loving. Every relationship we have with another person in our life is like a flowering plant. If the relationship is strong, the plant grows strong and offers lots of flowers to both of us. And I believe that love is […]
Are these ‘seriously funny’?
Ever wonder why some of our ‘normal’ sayings don’t seem to really make sense? Or how about… a plastic glass, a definite maybe, or military intelligence! Each of these is called an oxymoron. A dictionary defines them as “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words.” Still another dictionary defines an oxymoron as a “wittily paradoxical […]


