The Best of All Possible Worlds

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Relax. No resolution suggestions will be shared here. I am a Resolution Free Zone. I just don’t make them. And I've come to accept that I cannot convert everyone to my way of thinking. Make your New Year resolutions. And have fun.

And if you still have some inspiration left over from the new leaf we all turned when January 1 came around the bend, here are some ideas that are not really resolutions at all. Take only one, or one a day, or one a week, or one a month, or create your own. It’s your choice. The question is:

What can I do or who can I become, this year, that will help make this the best of all possible worlds?

101 Suggestions:

1. Be happy
2. Love openly
3. Plant something
4. Meditate
5. Talk about the things you love
6. Pass on conversations about the things you dislike
7. Pamper someone you know
8. Pamper a stranger
9. Turn off the TV
10. Turn off the computer
11. Reuse more and dispose of fewer things
12. Use freecycle
13. Give away some books
14. Give away some clothes
15. Give away some food
16. Give away some time and energy
17. Play in nature
18. Support something you know is right
19. Stop supporting something you know is wrong
20. Help change something bigger than you
21. Think before you buy
22. Share an insight
23. Share this list
24. Make more of the things you use and eat
25. Take a nap
26. Take your time
27. Take a trip
28. Take the train
29. Support another’s dream
30. Add a splash of color
31. Laugh
32. Help an acre, or a few thousand acres, of earth be free and wild again
33. Help a person, or a few thousand people, be independent again
34. Help a needy animal, or a few thousand animals, be safe
35. Give of yourself
36. Gift to yourself
37. Downsize your home
38. Become curious
39. Stop tolerating junk mail
40. Learn something
41. Then become good
42. Then become a master
43. Then teach it
44. Then break the rules
45. Speak up
46. Write about something important to you
47. Thank everyone
48. Become patient with someone
49. Become patient with yourself
50. Smile at friends
51. Smile at yourself
52. Smile at strangers
53. Follow your heart
54. Give your heart
55. Make something for someone
56. Create some wacky solutions to your dilemmas
57. Allow others to do as they please
58. Ask for a better reason than “Everybody’s doing it.”
59. Clear your clutter
60. Use the things you love
61. Fix that which needs fixing
62. Create some freedom in your day, week, year
63. Create some freedom for someone else
64. Understand that which you fear
65. Be silent
66. Become conscious
67. Bake something for someone
68. Aspire to the TED Prize
69. Climb to the top of something
70. Climb to the bottom of something
71. Take naps
72. Move naturally
73. Live and work in a walkable community
74. De-convenience your home
75. Meditate
76. Share a meal
77. Create your own Blue Zone
78. Focus on what's important for YOU each day and let your legacy take care of itself
79. Learn a language
80. Send a stranger some silent love
81. Visit someone you know and admire whom you've never met in person
82. Write a letter or appreciation to your favorite author
83. Write a letter or appreciation to a politician who has supported something important to you
84. Write a letter of appreciation to yourself
85. Write a letter of appreciation to someone who has supported you
86. Write a letter of appreciation to a stranger
87. Grow something
88. Raise something
89. Notice the amount of disposable plastic you buy
90. Throw a party
91. Know what's in the food you eat
92. Be aware of your food miles
93. Kiss the ones you love
94. Kiss the cat
95. Kiss the dog
96. Kiss a fish
97. Kiss a stranger
98. Take a risk
99. Take a break
100. Call your Dad and by all means...
101. 101. Call your Mom!

"I don't like that man. I must get to know him better." ~Abraham Lincoln

"If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity." ~John F. Kennedy

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." ~Albert Einstein

The List Coaching
If you find value in this list and would like to experience some group coaching around this list and additional items we come up with as a group, zip me an email or give me a call at 231-879-4178.

I would be happy to provide 9 sessions (55 minutes each) of group coaching via teleconference for only $150 per person. Calls will be recorded should you miss one.

We will explore in depth many of the items on this list, create some of our own, and support every person in the group to create their personalized list and focus for 2012. If 2012 is the year you want to help make this the best of all possible worlds, consider joining us.

I need a minimum of 5 participants and a maximum of 15. Days and times will be determined once we have our group.

Happy Halloween!

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.
~Author Unknown

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls. ~George Carlin

Backward, turn backward,
O Time, in your flight
make me a child again
just for to-night!
~Elizabeth Akers Allen

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright
Of soft and golden hue
Pierce through the future’s veil and show
What fate now holds for you.
~Author Unknown

Eat, Drink and be Scary. 

Love, Deb

Keeping The Campfires Burning

At the top of my love list of all things Fall are warm campfires, an illuminating centerpiece for all my backyard gatherings. At the end of a cold and damp day, whether cutting firewood or playing with my hunting and fishing friends, I gravitate to the fire with the enthusiasm of old dog in need of comforting warmth. No amount of clothing, no matter how adequate and appropriate for this season, can compete with the radiating heat of my campfire. On crisp evenings, I hold my feet in front of the flames, the warmth spreading up to my glowing face. Once my jaw is adequately lubricated by an appropriate amount of both drink and campfire heat, I find my words coming effortlessly, maybe too much so. So, I rotate and turn my back to the fire, enjoying the inhale of brisk air and the immediate silence that comes with facing the darkness and a brilliantly star-lit sky.

For me, campfires are:

• Peace: As I start to warm from the outside in, I feel a sense of peace. I slow down. I breathe deeply. My campfire is a place to just be.

• Great Conversations: When I have the pleasure of sharing a warm campfire with friends, and sometimes even strangers, the conversations always seem a little more provocative, open, entertaining and free.

• Stories: Oh, yes, the conversations are wonderful. And the stories we tell around a campfire are even better. Even the weakest storyteller among us is able to weave a tale worthy of attention while the heat glows on his or her face and only the little ring of fire keeps the dark and the cold at bay.

• Reflection: As the firelight and heat reflect off everything in the presence of a campfire, one warms to the opportunity to go inward and reflect about those things most important to us as well as the little things that seemed trivial minutia during the day.

• Food: Campfires mean the concoctions never end. Eating begins as soon as the fire is started and can last well into the night. Everything has its own cooking time and while some dishes need a quick hot flame, others do better buried deep in hot coals. This time of year it's spice cider, baked potatoes, wild game, mulled wine, warm garlic bread, a big pot of chili or stew or chowder, spoon bread, bread pudding... no hurry, we have more than 14 hours of darkness this time of year and it's increasing every minute.

• Morning Coffee: If I've banked my campfire just right, I've got good hot coals with which to enjoy my morning coffee.

Come on over any time. I'd love to share a fire and hear about what keeps you warm. Bring your flashlight.




"To poke a wood fire is more solid enjoyment than almost anything else in the world" ~Charles Dudley Warner

"The most tangible of all visible mysteries - Fire." ~Leigh Hunt

"One can enjoy a wood fire worthily only when he warms this thoughts by it as well as his hands and feet." ~Odell Shepard

"Fire is the most tolerable third party." ~Henry David Thoreau

A Fish Tale

A remote Northern Ontario lake
Alone in the boat
Alone on the lake
I cast
Drat!
My lure hits a beaver!
Splash! Slap!
My line screams out
And out
And out
Do I cut the line?
I hang on
Little line left on my reel
But, wait!
I'm reeling in
I breathe
I reel in
My line screams out
I reel in
I am hopeful...
...to help that beaver
...to recover my lure
...to keep the boat upright
Will I be lucky?
Will this be a disaster?
My line screams out
I reel in
Dare I play this out or cut line?
Do I want that beaver near the boat?
He won't be passive
I ponder inconsiderate acts of fishermen
I'm tired
I reel in
A stiff drink and the warm camp, more than an hour away
I reel in
Big and heavy, under the boat
The water swirls
Can I recover my lure?
Can I rescue that beaver?
Can I save myself?
Wait!
A fish head at the end of my line?
Wait!
A fish tail on the other side of the boat?
Yes!
Drat! No net
Drat! No camera
I release the Northern monster
Drifting back down
Out of sight now
70 feet of water shrouds the giant
An hour back to camp
A warm campfire
A stiff drink
A clear night sky
The wolves are howling
And I feel alive!

"Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after" ~Henry David Thoreau

"I love fishing. You put your line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there." ~Robert Altman

Over The Top

With March, we have more light. The sun increasingly rises above the tree tops around my home. Critters are sticking their noses out of burrows, dens, holes, brush piles and woodpiles and taking good long sniffs of the air.

Winter is hanging on this year with another 12 inches of snow just last weekend. Yet gone are the dreary days as we celebrate the light that now holds some tints of color and a warmth around midday that makes promises of more to come.

My furry and feathered friends and I are happy. How about you?

There is still a couple of feet of snow around my home. I’m not complaining. We need the moisture.

But since December I have lived by the path. The path, that is, to the compost pile and the woodpile, the bird feeder, the fire pit, and my well-worn path along the creek. The paths have become beautiful as the March wind carves striking lines and shapes in the snow. The banks, and the paths, and the piles have flowing and crisp edges.

The pin oaks are finally giving up the leaves they have held on to all winter. I beg them to drop their leaves in the fall, making cleanup needed only once each year. But they ignore me. My paths are full of leaves. The wind blows them down the paths and they huddle together in the dips and curves as though they were little brown creatures scurrying to get out of my way.

And now comes the fleeting warm ups when the temperatures rise just a little above freezing for short spurts during the day. It’s perfect Maple Syrup weather when moisture locks up tight on cold nights and then flows freely for even just a few hours during midday.

For months now, the way of the path was my limited walking world. But I have become flighty with the new freedom the contrasting warm and cold temperatures have given me on my morning walks. As the snow warms up each day and then freezes hard each night, a crust is created that can support me. If I rise and get out early enough, I’m free to go anywhere I please. Just this month, I've hiked over bushes that would grab at my clothing and snarl me up any other time of year. I've walked on water over the creek. I've run down slopes that, in the summer, have so much dead fall I’d surly break a limb on my way down. And I've walked over the marshes and swamps, knowing there are all kinds of critters underneath my steps waiting for Spring.

What a contrast to my path routine. I’m free, unconfined, and able to move quickly. March is warm sun on my face and cold wind at my back, serious enough to freeze my toes and frivolous enough to encourage me to take myself over the top.

"Spring is when you feel like whistling, even with a shoe full of slush." ~Doug Larson