Deadlines | OwningPink

Posts Tagged ‘deadlines’

Pat Yourself On The Back For a Job Well Done

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

I just met two deadlines for two books in one week. The manuscript for What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend was due December 1, and the edits on the galleys for my other book Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax was due December 3. And I did it, Pinkies! I almost ignored my family over Thanksgiving in order to meet my deadline, but that didn’t seem Pink at all, so I put it off and then worked my tail off to catch up. But I did it!

That night, I went out with my girls to celebrate me and my accomplishments! We ate sushi, watched the full moon from the hot tub, and celebrated. Not only did I meet my deadline, but Dr. Christiane Northrup agreed to write the foreword for my gynecology book. WOO HOO! (A dream come true for me, Pinkies!) I am still reeling- and feeling the relief spread all through my body.

How often do you celebrate YOU? Think back though all of your accomplishments. How often have you taken the time to honor yourself and celebrate your success with those you love? Why is it that we readily share our worries, troubles, and woes while we squirrel away our successes as though they’re reasons to feel ashamed? What if we brought accomplishments out the closet and let the light of glory shine down upon them? What if we could honor them here, rather than hiding them?

I’ve often felt shy about my successes. While you’re sure to get girlfriend support when you’re in the midst of a divorce, who do you tell when four publishers are fighting over your book? Success may trigger people’s own insecurities. It’s not that they’re not happy for you, but your success may shine the light on what they consider their failures. Instead of jumping for joy, you may find that others try to diminish you. They simply can’t handle the light you radiate.

I used to feel hurt by this. Why should I dim my own light just to be accepted? Not that I want to be arrogant, but why can’t I celebrate my successes as vibrantly as I share my frustrations, fears, and failures? I’ve learned to keep quiet, to tone down my dial, and to make an effort to make others feel better.

But why? Why do we do this to each other? Why can’t we be expansive enough to feel another Pinkie’s joy without taking it personally? If you have good news, I want to hear it, Pinkies! I want you to write about how you’ve fallen in love, how you’ve found your dream job, how you’ve been selected for the top notch art show, how you found a literary agent, how your kid just wrote you a love letter, or how your boss just wrote a glowing review about you. Why are we so hesitant to share the good? I promise, I won’t see it as self-promoting or arrogant. I will see it as a well-deserved revelry for the value that lies within you.

I am trying to keep this in mind as I face certain successes lately. I’m tempted to hide my good news, for fear that it will make you resent me (this is my wound in life, so I’m sensitive about it). But Owning Pink is all about telling the truth, being authentic, and spreading love throughout our community and sharing what’s real- the bad AND the good. Let’s set an example. Let’s make it okay to tell the truth, whatever the truth holds.

Let’s shake up the Pink Posse forum and invite all of us to not just share our trials, but to celebrate our triumphs. Let’s light fireworks and do a little dance when any one of us has a breakthrough.

But first, it all comes back to YOU. Do you honor yourself when good things happen? Do you throw your arms in the air and spin in circles while whooping it up with glee? Do you believe that your good news is OUR good news? I do…

Believing and dying to dance in your light,

Lissa

Tags: author, Christiane Northrup, deadlines, encaustic art, fully moon, girlfriends, good news, gynecologist, ob/gyn, painting with wax, success, telling the truth, thanksgiving, what's up down there, writing, writing a book
Posted in Owning Joy, Owning Success, Personal Empowerment | 6 Comments »

Taking Time To Tune Out

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Hiya Pinkies,

I just wanted to let you know that I’m heading to Big Sur this weekend for an internet-free, kid-free holiday weekend. Pink Goddesses Joy and Megan will be running the Pink show for me while I’m gone, and I know the rest of you will maintain the sacred space, as you always do.

It got me thinking. I have been so remiss at taking time for myself while I’ve been writing my book. That December 1 deadline looms ever-large, so it’s tempting to stick my nose to the grindstone and plug away endlessly. After all, if I keep doing and efforting, more will get done, right?

My husband thinks differently. When we lived in Monterey, he used to prescribe a day at Esalen in Big Sur at least once a month. The day would come unplanned, and he would tell me, “It’s time.” I never quite knew if that was a sign that I had become cranky, or if he was secretly asking for some time to himself. But I always took his advice. He swears that I always returned from those days to myself more grounded, more creative, more patient, more invigorated. In essence, a day to myself made me, paradoxically, more efficient, as well as more joyful. It’s as if unplugging recharged me.

But I have been remiss of late. With my book deadline fast approaching, I could fall into a state of anxious inattention. I could pull all-nighters and burn the midnight oil. I could ruminate in self-doubt, sleepless nights, and sheer terror at how much I’m going to be putting myself out there with this book (seriously, Pinkies- you will know more about me and my coochie than you may ever wish to know).

But no. I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to turn off for three days and let Big Sur nurture me. I will sit among the redwoods, gaze at the fog creeping in between the ocean cliffs, and watch the condors circling overhead. I will make love with my honey, sip wine on a park bench at sunset, and soak my body in the warm natural hot springs of Mama Earth at Esalen. I will write, only if the spirit calls, and I will meditate. I will laugh with old friends and commune with old trees. I will pray for guidance from the Universe. I will seek answers but live the question. I will rest.

Monday, when I return, I will tackle my manuscript with renewed vigor, bringing to it all that bubbles up for me this weekend. My book will flow more freely as a result of the break I will take. The work that awaits me ain’t going nowhere. It will be right here, waiting for me, when I return, refreshed.

What about you, Pinkies? Do you trust that you can do more by giving yourself a chance to do less from time to time? Can you have faith in the gentle process that invites you to check in with yourself, even when life gets busy? Can you turn off to turn on? I know you can.

Until Monday, Pinkies, ta ta! I love you!

Pushing the reset button with love,

Lissa

Tags: author, big sur, book, coochie, creativity, deadlines, doing, esalen, goddesses, hot springs, mama earth, manuscript, meditate, nose to the grindstone, nurturing, plugging away, refresh, retreat, self doubt, sleepless nights, unplugging
Posted in Lissa's personal yada yada yada, Mama Earth stuff, Owning Balance, Owning Health, Owning Love, Owning Spirituality, Owning Surrender, Personal Empowerment | 5 Comments »

Owning Balance: Are You Setting Boundaries & Achieving Balance?

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Are you familiar with cairns, those stacks of balanced stones you often see on the beaches in California? These stone sculptures, used to mark paths, burial sites, energy vortices, or simply as a mark of reverence, have always fascinated me. How do they get those stones to stand on top of each other in such precarious ways? How do you achieve something grounded and stable with such tenuous connections? I can’t help think about balance, when I see them. They remind me that balance is a tenuous thing, indeed, and in order to maintain it in our lives, we must be mindful about how we stack our stones. Seeing these cairns on a beach recently inspired this post, since I’m pretty sure the quest for a balance is a nearly universal struggle for us modern Pinkies.

Balance in my own life is becoming more and more precarious, especially when it comes to setting boundaries. I have a tendency to live with my heart and life wide open, a free-for-all invitation for all beings to walk right in, take a seat on the comfy sofa of my soul, and settle in for a while. Even Caroline saw this during my Pink Intuitive Reading, where my aura was crowded with the auras of many other people. Apparently, the 300 year old spinster from my past life, who was blessed with many gifts but never got to share them, creeps up still into my psyche.

Figuring Out My Place In the World

Lately, lots of people write to me, reach out wanting to schedule phone dates, or ask me to do lunch. The 300 year old spinster within is delighted, of course, because many of these people are people with whom I can share my gifts and make a difference. My calendar is so overscheduled lately that I have 4-5 meetings each day, all with incredibly lovely strangers who want to meet me, who think we might be able to co-create, who wish to hear my story. All of these individuals touch my heart with their desire to do good in the world, their struggle to follow their dreams, and their frustration with not knowing how to get their message out there. Each day, I feel blessed that I am attracting these awesome people. Who could ask for more than a life filled with gifted healers surrounding me at every turn?

Trouble is, I simply can’t keep up. I’m looking at my overbooked calendar and realizing that I have one book deadline October 1 and a second book deadline December 1. And I have a solo art show in January 2010, and then another one in March. I have a growing medical practice demanding more of my time, and Owning Pink blossoms more every day with new possibility. A traveling art tour and nationwide book tour loom in the future. These are all incredible blessings. Every one of them is something about which I could have only dreamed a few years back. I feel like a schmuck for engaging in any dialogue that might sound like whining. I am filled with gratitude every day for the blessings in my life, the manifestations of my dreams coming true.

When It Rains, It Pours

But you know the cliché “When it rains, it pours?” That’s me. Standing in the pouring rain, shivering, sopping wet, and try to figure out how to keep dry. If I’m not careful, my 3 year old daughter will quit begging to interrupt me from my work and will have simply accepted that Mommy is not available anymore. My husband will accommodate to going to sleep alone every night, while I stay up and work. My mother will no longer miss the nightly phone calls we used to enjoy. My best friend will find another best friend.
Not to mention that my body will buckle under the toll, my spirit will get caked with the mud of my daily schedule, and my heart will shut down from spending so much time wide open. The Signs From the Universe may quit coming, or I’ll be so overworked that I will quit noticing. If I fail to slow down and take time for myself and those I love, I may grow bitter…I may lose my mojo, stop Owning Pink. I see how it could be possible.

Are You Struggling With Balance in Your Life?

I know I am not alone in my struggle. How many of you Pinkies are trying to balance a family life with following your dreams? How many have trouble saying NO? Are you a workaholic, filling every moment of every day with busyness, until you plop into bed late at night, without a single moment of restful mindfulness during the day? Do you work your ass off, only to beat yourself up because you failed to be everything to everyone? I hear you, Pinkies. Me too, lately.

Finding Time To Just BE

But I resolve to change all that. I must meet my book deadlines, and art must be made. But I love writing and painting! This does not drag me down- rather it lifts me up! What drags me down is the level of overcommitment I’ve been agreeing to. This must change. From now on, I’m going to have to start saying NO to all those lovely people who want just an hour of my time, who want me to speak at their luncheons, who want me to coach them on how to be a writer/artist/doctor/entrepreneur. I need to set boundaries (Yikes! This is SO hard for me. Shut up 300 year old spinster! It must happen!). I need to protect my personal time, so there’s something left of me to share with my family and closest friends. I need to hunker down in the little walled kingdom my life needs to be for a while, so I can find balance. I must forgive myself for feeling like I am being selfish when I tell someone I can’t have lunch or attend their event. I must leave room in my life for space, for possibility, for imagination, for the voice of the Universe. I have to achieve more balance. I must make room to BE.

Are you with me, Pinkies? Are you committed to finding more balance in your life? Are you willing and able to set boundaries? Can you understand how important it is to leave space in your life, to stop overcommitting? Can you stop making excuses for why you haven’t done it already? Can you OWN your right to have balance, to set boundaries, to say no? Will you make time to just BE? It’s time. Let’s do this together. Let’s support each other in setting healthy boundaries and finding balance.