Free the Pigs

My Bureau clutter

Step 1 in my process to address 'Whassup?' is to free up energetic space for myself so that I have more space to 'maneuver' as I seek to understand what it going on.  For me, that means a physical as well as a mental & spiritual cleansing process.  In my physical space I start with the environment around me at home, work and in my community.  I like to start with the easy ones first like my bureau at home...

Book shelf maxxed

                    ...my bookshelf...

Old files for the Shredder

                                                                    ...filing cabinet...

Clothes and Shoes (Free the Piggies) for Donation

                                                                                                                 ....and wardrobe.

As I perform this physical environment cleansing, I am careful to not rush the process and to give myself the time and space to experience the energy of 'letting-go', paying careful attention to any signs of distress or resistance.  This is not an exercise to throw the 'baby out with the bathwater but a selective pruning of my environment to free up a few more inches of space on the bureau, bookshelf, file cabinet and wardrobe.

In addition to letting-go I am looking for clues along the way or perhaps something that was hidden beneath the clutter or buried under a pile.  These items I record in my journal to continue with the process of mental and spiritual review.

New Journal, starting fresh

All the Best,
Whitney
© 2015 All rights reserved, Whitney Merrill

Whassup?

Happy Fishing Boy - Pillar Point Pier, El Granda, CA

Ok, that was the correct thing to do in this situation fer sure.  Got out in Nature with my son in the present Autumn (note fog in background, Half Moon Bay style) and did some fishing.  We had a great time and caught a bunch of crabs including a pretty big rock crab that we named 'Mac Daddy'.

Also got to play with the new walkie-talkies that my wife got for us.  In our family she is affectionately and lovingly called Mai and we had a fun time calling her at home from the dock to share the news of fishing in real-time.  We had some good laughs and great fun - my son and I are still G2G (in case that was the issue here).

We caught 15 crabs and no fish but had a fun time feeding mackerel and chicken bait to the seagulls and sea lions.  That was a wonderful morning but as we returned home and I put the rods and crab net away I saw the surfcasting rods that we use for Summer fishing.  It made me think of my father in-law who brought his rod to Cape Cod from New Jersey this Summer to show my son how to surf-cast…and I found myself drifting again from the present and thinking of the Summer.  You see how this works, don't you?

Ok, so here is my process:  If I do something that I LOVE to do (you can read my many prior posts on this topic but fishing with my son in Nature is up there big-time) to ground and presence myself and it does not bring me back into balance...then I know that I have some WORK TO DO to find out 'Whassup?'  My next posts will discuss this process in detail but what I will comment on now is that I have dedicated years of my life to finding true peace, joy and energy for myself.  I treat it as a gift and also something that is earned and must be assiduously cared for - it is not arbitrarily given and if left unaided can drift away into a fog.

Bottom Line:  When the space robot gives me a warning...I am ON IT.  More to come, I am now IN ACTION. :)

All the Best,
Whitney
© 2015 All rights reserved, Whitney Merrill

Where are You?

Cape Cod - Eastham, MA at low tide

I had a really good summer.  It was the kind of summer that you never want to have end…but the sun sets on everything and it did.  Chock-full of joy and fun, cool projects and adventures at work at home and on the road with family and friends.  And now it's Autumn and already beginning to get colder and darker with the days getting shorter and shorter.  Soon it will be winter - and then it will be colder and even darker.  And we're thinking we may have El Nino in California this winter so it could be rainy, and colder and darker.

However, when I look at this picture I am instantly transported back to the warmth of the evening summer sun and can feel the water on my feet as I wade through the tide pools with my son looking for treasures in the sand.  My body is here in the Autumn going to winter but my mind and spirit are living in the past of Summer.  I am in two places at once, split in time and not really in either one.  I can feel myself not fully engaged in my Autumn and longing for what seems just a picture away…'Danger Will Robinson!!'

Source:  Lost in Space, 60's TV Show

I know that I'm dating myself here a bit from that TV show from the 60's (Lost in Space) but nothing makes an emphasis point more than a space robot so I had to go for it.  :)

The reason that the space robot alert is needed here is because getting caught in the in-between space between the present and the past is a sure-fire way to have you end up permanently in the past…which severely limits your future.  You end up moving forward in life trying to re-create or re-hash or re-work or re-omptimize or re-emphasize or re-live the past…and you never really can.  It burns up tons of energy, takes your focus away from enjoying the present and keeps you eternally frustrated and sad for what it just out of reach.

Oh sure, you can try (BTW, I'm already planning our next summer vacation in Cape Cod with my family) but it will never, never be the same last last summer.  For one thing, my son will be 8 instead of 7 and as I have found, he's growing up quick and I can barely keep up with how fast he is becoming a young man vs. a little child.  Who knows, he could be quoting me from Lost in Space next year after watching it on YouTube now that I've posted this BLOG.  It just will not be exactly the same…no matter what I do or how hard I try.

So, where does that leave me?  Do I frame the picture, put in on my desk, and look at it during every free minute at work so that it keeps me warm during the cold winter months?  I'm hearing the caution from the space robot again so I'm going to hold on that…maybe just a screensaver?  How about we go on a winter vacation to somewhere tropical…will that do the trick?  Never seems to quite do the trick but could be worth a try?

What I do know is that I must find a way to get fully back to the present…and fast.  My present is spinning past me and I'm not fully here.  My son wants to go fishing with me right now (it's 6am) and I'm here on the computer writing a BLOG vs. being with him as he grows into a young man.  Signing off now, will continue this on the next post!

All the Best,
Whitney
© 2015 All rights reserved, Whitney Merrill