February 29th, 2008, by Shelley Riutta
This is a picture of my dog Niyo this past summer at my parents cottage. He is looking up at me and barking because he wants me to throw this thing called a flying squirrel (it is like a canvas frisbee) into the lake so he can swim out and get it. He LOVES doing this and could do it until my arm fell off from throwing it! Dogs are good teachers for us because they gravitate towards what is fun and then do it till their hearts content (or until their owners arm falls off:) It is so simple for them to follow what they love. We too did this when we were children.
I saw a perfect example of this when I was visiting Duke Botanical Gardens in North Carolina last May. I was sitting on a hill watching some kids running around and playing at the bottom of the hill. (I actually have a picture of these kids by my article “Are You Having Fun Yet?”) They were having so much fun and I had fun just watching them. Nearby where I was sitting there was a group of teachers and kids sitting on the grass–it was fairly quiet and the kids looked quite bored. I could see the kids looking longingly at the kids playing at the bottom of the hill. One of the kids couldn’t stand it anymore and started slinking away from their group to move towards the playing kids. As he moved away one of the teachers started calling his name “Jimmy, you get back to the group.” Jimmy conveniently didn’t hear the teacher and kept moving towards the playing kids. The teacher yelled louder “Jimmy, get back here now!” Just as she said that he broke away and began running towards the kids. Inside I was saying “Go Jimmy Go!”
The teacher didn’t realize that he wasn’t doing anything wrong he was just going to where the fun was. Kids are innately drawn to what is fun, to what brings them Joy. But you can see the dynamic of him being punished for following this will have an impact on him as he grows up. Instead of following what he loves he will instead try to please those around him with what he thinks they want him to do. Can you see how people can get sidetracked from this innate mechanism of following what you love. It could be messages from parents or teachers that communicate that following what you love takes you away from what they think you are supposed to be doing.
Notice if this is a dynamic inside of you. You may have had so many years of not following what you love that you forgot what those things even are. Or you know what you love but you don’t give yourself permission to do these things more often. See if you can reconnect with what you love to do give yourself permission (like Niyo does) to do these things to your hearts content! What do you love to do? I would love to hear from you! I love to DANCE, SING, LAUGH, WRITE, CUDDLE…………………………………………..
February 27th, 2008, by Shelley Riutta
It has been a week since the start of my decluttering project titled “Massive Action for 2008″ (it makes me laugh every time I write it–reminds me of a title of an Anthony Robbins program:). This is my project to declutter my home to clear the way for easy manifestation of my 2008 goals and intentions. I had Shawna and her crew come clean my home last Weds. and Tammy Southards, a professional organizer come on Friday—-and on Saturday I had a consultation with Dawn Spangenberg an interior designer and feng shui practitioner!
On this past Monday my home felt like a totally different space. I felt clear, focused and very excited. It was much easier to stay focused on my intentions and where I wanted to channel my energy, instead of than getting distracted by external clutter. I still have some decluttering to do and have another session scheduled with Tammy Southards to do this. There were some suggestions Dawn Spangenberg made to move furniture in different rooms and add a few mirrors throughout the house.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Feng Shui is a chinese practice of enhancing the energy flow in your home or office. The idea is that we are influenced by the energy flow around us and if the energy is flowing freely and clearly, we will be supported in a positive way—and in contrast if the energy flow is stagnant from clutter or improper placement of furniture and other objects, we will be be affected by this stuck energy. So freeing up the energy in your home and office will have a positive effect on your own energy–helping you to feel more energized as well as supporting the intentions you have for your life. If your not clear about your intentions for your life, decluttering is a fabulous way to get clear—the more you clear away the old, stagnant energy you can get in touch with your true, authentic desires.
One of the main things I am doing now is maintaining my clutter free state. This can be a challenge for people. When Tammy and I were talking on Friday she mentioned people that she helps declutter their homes—and she comes back a few months later and it is back to being cluttered again. This is due to many reasons. One is there can be unresolved issues that make having clutter around a buffer or comfort to painful feelings that they haven’t faced. In order for the clutter issue to be addressed the underlying emotional issues need to be addressed for permanent change to be achieved. They other reason can be just a comfort and familiar feeling in having things in disarray–it is just what they are used to. In this case it is acclimating to the feeling of being in a decluttered state–and getting used to the feeling. The other reason can be entrenched habits that keep the clutter coming back. The person needs to learn new habits of maintaining a clutter free environment.
Here are some tips that I am using to keep my area decluttered:
1. Make sure your objects have a home and then keep them in their home.
2. At the end of the day empty your pockets, purse and bags of items and papers from the day. Put these things in their designated place and imagine that you are doing closure on your day. You are completing things that you have been involved in during that day–closing the energy on these meetings, on work, on interactions you had with people—rather than keeping the energy open. You want to be complete with your day so you can rest peacefully and start the next day fresh.
3. Work on one project at a time. When you complete your time working on a project, put it away.
4. Have a Focus. Have a plan for how you will be spending your time rather than just letting yourself unconsciously surf the internet, start a project, talk on the phone with someone who calls. Consciously direct your energy throughout the day in a way you want to direct it. Ask yourself does this activity support my intentions—is this really how I want to spend my time right now?
5. Plan time during the day to declutter. Make sure you have a routine for managing clutter. Examples could be: 1. Returning all emails from that day by the end of the day so they don’t start to become clutter 2. Handle your mail right away—throwing away junk mail right when you get it–filing mail that needs to be file–putting bills in a designated place. A favorite thing I like to do with magazines, or store catalogs or anything else I am unsure about keeping is I file it in the recycle bag. If I don’t look at it before the recycling comes than it must not have been important and then goes out to be recycled! 3. At the end of the day put things that you have out back in their home.
What are your favorite ways to manage clutter? I would love to hear from you!
February 23rd, 2008, by Shelley Riutta
This morning I had quite a laugh. I had placed an ad in a local newspaper for my upcoming Workshop–“All the Joy You Can Stand”. I went and got a copy of the newspaper to see how the ad looked. It was not in the section that it was supposed to be in–which was an insert called Living Well–which appeals to the kind of readers that would also be interested in my work. I searched through the paper to find the ad and it was on the back page of the community section – I took one look at the ad and it looked very out of place. I put in the call to the person in advertising that there was a mistake and the ad was in the wrong section.
After I left the message I looked closer at what was around my ad and it was the obituary section and the area for advertisements for funeral homes! I burst out laughing at how funny it was that my ad for the “All Joy You Can Stand Workshop” (which by the way was a color ad–so it stood out even more!) was in the obituary section of all places. I was laughing with my neighbor as I shared what happened and she said “You know there are a lot of people that read the obituary section.” Yes I know that is true–but my ad was such a contrast to the whole tone of the page. I left another message for the advertising person—this time laughing–letting her know it was definitely not in the right section–but that for people who have a good sense of humor it might brighten their day.
Speaking of Laughter–some friends and I went to see a local play titled “One-Act Theatre Festival” Friday night. It was a play of 14 original one act play written by local writers and performed by local actors. The play was directed by Mike Eserkaln who is owner of Comedy City–a local improv here in Green Bay. I have been a huge fan of Comedy City for years—they are group of very talented improv comedians that have built a very successful comedy club in De Pere , WI. Whenever I want to laugh so hard till I am crying I go to one of their shows. An offshoot of the club is Venture theatre–which produces plays that are written by local writers and star local actors. The show on Friday was a Venture Theatre event. It was my first time going to one of the Venture Theatre productions and it was wonderful—very creative, funny and poignant at times. My favorite act was Prom Date—where a Father (played by Mike Eserkaln) is coaching his daughter on various techniques to get a date for Prom–it was hilarious!!
Here is the link to Comedy City for more information http://www.comedycityonline.com/
What will you do to laugh today? Find something funny in something that goes wrong or intentionally set out for some good laughs at your local comedy club!
February 22nd, 2008, by Shelley Riutta
I am on day two of my Massive Action project of deluttering my home to remove any blocks to manifesting all of my intentions for 2008! Shawna and her cleaning crew came on Weds. morning and did an amazing job cleaning–Mom you would be proud (my Mom reads my blog). She brought 4 young women with her and they went right to work. It was amazing to walk into my home and feel how different it already feels! Today Tammy Southwards from Peaceful Home Solutions, a professional organizer, will be coming to help me organize my business paperwork—actually she will be here in a few minutes–so I will give you an update later today!
The above is a picture of one area we will be deluttering
What needs to be decluttered in your life?
Progress Report: I had a very productive time time with Tammy this a.m. I always get so much done when I work with someone else. It was funny–I caught myself doing this very sneaky strategy–and that was when Tammy would handle me a pile to go through–we would start talking about something and I would just set the pile in another place! Do you ever do this? Moving piles around to different places, thinking you are being productive? I was able to catch myself when I started to do this and stay focused on the pile we were working on and to get through everything in it.
The insight that I had as we were working on the files in my file cabinet was that I had a lot of space taken up with files that were no longer an area of focus for me. So I was able to see that clearly and move those files out to make more space for the different presentations and workshops I am developing. It was great to see this open space in my file cabinet–I felt like I had breathing room to grow and create.
Look at what occupies your space whether it is in your file cabinet or in other areas of your home–is this where you want your energy going or do you want to make space for your current interests or for something new? I would love to hear what your insights and about any of your declutter plans!
Here is another picture of the area we worked on today. Most of what we accomplished was on the files inside–but we did do some clearing of the top of the file cabinet–we still have a ways to go.
