Another travel season down... so I bought a plane ticket. And went to Qoya.

The nice part about writing things down, is that you can remember where your mind was and and mark progress of how far you've come...or at least a reminder that everything does, in fact, work itself out over time.

I wish I had written more in the last two months. I had plenty of thoughts, just never took time to write them down. I love traveling, but this stint of 7 weeks on the road was not my favorite. So many things that I find energy are community based, and I was missing things left and right in Minneapolis. I went through a lot of funks...nothing serious, just didn't seem quite right.

Despite traveling for 7 weeks, I got home on Saturday and immediately felt the need to buy a plane ticket. My life is a series of contradictions, and I'm ok with that. So I emailed my friend Bev and started making plans to visit her in Oaxaca before the end of the year and cleared the vacation time at work. Hooray!

I had a meeting postponed tonight, which was perfect, because Tuesday is also Qoya night and I hadn't been in a long time. I know self-care is important, but per usual, it had been low priority. Qoya is the perfect cure, because it helps me focus on physical, spiritual, emotional, and social wellness all in one class - through a series of dancing, yoga, reflecting/writing, and sharing in 90 minutes. Qoya is based on the idea that through movement, we remember.We remember our essence is wise, wild and free.

Class starts by drawing a goddess card - I coincidentally pulled Vesta | Home from the pile, with the quote, "Your household situation is improving, either through a move or a healthy change in the occupants." Living alone, this bodes well for me. And also helped me acknowledge that the soul searching I did over my career, purpose, goals, and next steps this weekend may be leading me toward healthy change.

We dance and set intentions on remembered dreams. I share about my remembered dream of traveling internationally annually, hoping to visit the six livable continents by age 30. More committed to the former than the latter. I've doubled up on Africa and North America this year.

We shake and do some yoga, before starting a story writing activity. Story writing hasn't been a part of any class before, but I went with it. I drew three cards and started writing a story as instructed, about the cards I drew - Let Yourself Shine, Aphrodite, and New Roots. The prompt was, "Once there was a goddess who remembered a dream." After reading it through once, we changed out "she" and "her" to "I" and "my" ... I needed this message. I needed to remember. So glad I went to class.

Once there was a goddess who remembered a dream. 

She I let hermyself shine. Never wavering in confidence. She I shared her my gifts with the world, and the world and people everywhere shared their gifts with her me. Everywhere she I went, she I was her my authentic, beautiful, genuine self.

The best gift she I had to share was love. Love of hermyself, not in a selfish or narcissistic way, just knowing that she is I am enough. She is I am worthy of love, and treat everyone she I meet with the same spirit and belief.  

When things were complacent or her my dream was out of focus, the goddess established new roots. She I never forgot where she I came from, but never let the world pass her me by. She I shared her my beauty, gifts, and love with everyone as she I explored the world and made her my impact on people everywhere. Living her my remembered dream.

First the career dilemma/doubts in my head, then the lack of self care, then the need to travel. It was all in the cards, I just had to write my story...and live my remembered dreams.

I'm back everyone. I don't even think MN winter can bring me down at this point.

2014 Goals: October Update

I'm not managing my life very well right now. My default when things get off balance is to increase the number of waking or productive hours in a day so that I can do more until I figure out how to bring things back into a sustainable pace. I maintain that I'd rather have this problem, than have to search for meaningful ways to fill my time.

I've been feeling stretched since August, if I don't reconfigure soon, I'm going to fail big somewhere. It'd probably be a good lesson to learn, although not a fun one. Trying to sort through the clutter and identify what really matters. 

Thankful for the people who hold me accountable and help make sense of things when I need to talk through life. I'm confident things will calm down (by choice or not) sooner rather than later, stay tuned.

Adventures for 2014

• Trying new forms of moving and exercising
• I spent a delightful Sunday adventuring by foot in Old San Juan.
• Looking forward to Qoya once I'm around more regularly.
• Cooking for one (beyond pasta and eggs)
• Still haven't gone grocery shopping BUT I made a pretty good tater tot hotdish with my mom this weekend
• I think I've decided to surrender on this one...my lifestyle isn't very conducive to cooking real meals. Need to come up with a different way to balance budget, variety, and healthy meal options.

• Practicing self-care
• New morning routine - deep breaths, intentions, and stretching
• Trying to keep Saturdays free from work, and at least one week night.

• Mixing different friend groups/life circles
• Visited Global Shapers on a work trip
• Both at church and a bonfire, I found friends of friends that were also friends of other friends. Confusing to explain, but Minneapolis is a small world. 
• Using paid time off
• Doing good for 2014, nothing big at this moment.

• Enjoying performance arts
• I went to an outdoor Latin Jazz concert in San Juan
• Achieving airline status 
• 2 upgrades since getting Silver status. I'm a fan.

• Activating human drives
• I'm in overdrive right now... better than complacent I suppose?
• Keeping plants alive
• Super plant lives on. Might be time to up my game.

• Listening to music instead of watching TV
• I think the too much TV has been broken, feeling ok about this one.

• Thinking critically for fun
• GMAT books still not opened... need to either commit or let go on this
• Still trying to figure out how authentic leadership and genuine engagement fit within corporate structures. I'm committed to figuring it out.

• Living values through time allocation
• Despite a lot of work, I made time to see my sister in Fargo this weekend. When in town, I attend weddings, social gatherings, and try to make some time for reflection despite having a ridiculous to-do list.