Goodnight beautiful day.

Nightly Blessing: Goodnight beautiful day.

Removed the polish. Toes almost 38 years of age.
Stripped the dress off my humid skin and climbed into the jammies. Body that is starting to feel beautiful again.
Sat, still and present in the evening.
Felt the softness. In-spite of and at the same time against the hot cement.
Looked down to feel the ground support me.
Looked up to feel the moon tug at me.

"I see the moon, moon sees me. Moon sees somebody I wanna see. So God bless the moon. God bless me. God bless the somebody, I wanna see." ~Jim Brickman

Catching Prayers

I had a couple of tough days, focused on the negatives that were showing up in the tiniest of ways while the positive joy was like a light show around me. All I could feel was the weight of the tiny, because that is where my focus was.

I sent out a prayer for calm, for love, for presence.

In that prayer I pulled all of those things into my reality, I shifted. I stepped back into the flow, I sat down and enjoyed the light show.

And while that sounds beautiful, it is hard as hell to do sometimes. That is why we journey. We practice.

We show up for each other, to catch our prayers in love and blow them out as blessings into the wind together.

***

A few requests to join the journey each day, so I've kept the registration open for a bit. If you sign up now, you'll have links to each of the previous days letters in your morning letter. Take your time, go at your own pace, dig into the soulwork.

When your daughter has a panic attack

She can't breathe, having trouble finding her next breath. But she can breathe, I know she can. Panic attacks go to my heart, they go to her breath.

It is her second one. She felt nauseous, in that moment she thought she would throw up, the panic snuck in. I am amazed as a mother how calm I am when I am called to be the one who knows, who understands. My otherwise frantic and impatient mind finds gentleness and stillness. That is why I coach, I take pictures, I write. I like it there.

I promise her that she can breathe, that her body is tricking her a little bit. We talk about what she was thinking about. She says, "I always try to think about good things before I go to sleep." If only we all could do that.

She knows that dairy makes her naseous but is still in that place of deciding how much to eat, how bad to feel. As a mother I could enforce it more strongly, this would just create more resistance to letting it go. I let her decide. As adults I know how hard the battle is to feel good.

Her panic is short. I love that. I love how quickly my voice and presence can relax her, within minutes she is asleep. I don't curse the genetic line of panic attacks, I embrace that we can move through them, we can find our peace.

The last week I have had two panic attacks. One while driving a van full of kids home from the beach, the whole time promising myself that I was not having a heart attack and dying, the other part of me planning how I would stop the van safely while I was having the heart attack. It lasted about 30 minutes as the kids slowly all fell to sleep.

Humidity seems to make my anxiety swell. Grains seem to make my anxiety swell. I've already let go of caffeine.

The truth is that I have high anxiety.

We all have truth.

And choice.

Being fully inside of my highly sensitive nature means that I feel a whole hell of a lot.

When your daughter has a panic attack, you talk to her. Sit with her. Promise her with your whole heart that she can breathe.

With each breath you remember how you want to feel.

And find a way to feel it.

Beautiful Faces. Magical Places.

I am eager for the lists that make their way out on sleepy Friday mornings. Today I am a starting again because the first start was too hard, lots of sorting to come and a trip to the dog park while dreaming of how I might get a nap today kind of mama.

These are my pay-it-forward lists. Today I'm sharing a post from the online homes of each of the guests in The Joy Up, A 30 Day Journey so you can know them more. Prep week is happening now and we will dive into our weekly soulwork starting on Sunday. There is still time to join this beautiful tribe.

Loving this series that Britta has started, going inside of the process and behind the scenes a bit!

A soul's purpose.

I have never been to camp, but this is the one I want to go to!

Following her crumbs is pure joy and heart opening.

A reminder to be present, grounded, here.

***

A huge outpouring of love for this interview with Bernardo this week. The most amazing thing is when people say, "I see myself in you." That is why our story is so important to tell.

What will you choose?

Joy is a sparkle inside. It tickles, it tingles, it plays. It is like the breeze blowing through your hair, and the sun shining down on you. It is dancing or a calm breath.

Joy can live inside of you, at all times. It is your option. Joy draws others to you, they are attracted to your sparkle. Joy does not mean you do not feel sadness or fear or pain or disappointment. Joy means that you feel extra, joy cushions you through the tough times.
It's time. For whatever you want. How are you going to get there?

By choosing joy.

The Universe is responding, but it takes doing the work and feeling the stuff and moving into the joy. I want you to set an intention. Saying I want more joy is beautiful, but we need to be specific.

We need to tell the Universe we know exactly what we are going for.

***

First email went out this morning, you can continue to sign up throughout the week and then we will be closing up the sign ups. All previous emails will be archived and available to you.

The tribe gathered is beyond my wildest expectations of women to have the honor of guiding.

What will you choose?

Beautiful Faces. Magical Places.

I am eager for the lists that make their way out on sleepy Friday mornings. Today I am a wasting time online to avoid doing, dreaming of the salt air to heal my sensitive openings, frizzy haired in the humidity, heart -expanding for the joy up (as it always does) and drinking decaf black this morning 'cause we are out of coconut milk kind of mama.

These are my pay-it-forward lists. (I am in creation mode, so having read very little this week, will need you to leave some of your favorites in the comments)

This story from Andrea is divine.

I love great ideas. This is one and well, I don't have a MAC just yet, just yet.

I am so this girl.

I do joy/ making space, she does food/mood. Together we mamacoach. Gorgeously matched.

Totally get hating yourself for those moments. And the love.

She wrote us a blessing for the joy up. She wrote me a blessing when I was healing my bladder. I love this woman.

These interviews always heal my spirit. So needing this in my PMS today.

Behind the Scenes of Not Knowing

Munching cookies and strawberries the other night with this beauty I found myself talking about the importance of not knowing. Not knowing that kale is not just a garnish on the side of a plate, you can eat it. Not knowing how to re-size a picture or publish a post.

Not knowing how to use your voice, stuck.

Not knowing how to take your dreams and turn them into a business. That jittery, exciting time full of fear and magical potential.

And remembering all the things that once we didn't know.

The women of The Joy Up Tribe Alumni Group are making my heart soar right now. They are offering to sponsor other women in the tribe who don't have $45 to join the program. I'll tell you more about this as I tell you about not knowing and then knowing, really knowing.

A year ago the joy up was born. It was an idea that over a few months went from simply a name into a program that would bring over 200 women together. While it wasn't for everyone, it was available to any woman. I was positioning my business to go from Health Coaching into Holistic Life and Business Coaching and I wanted to grow my tribe.

Big dreams are great, but if you don't take the actions to support them, you still only have dreams.

I found it really hard to tag a price on a program about joy. The fears too, maybe no one will resonate with it, maybe this is a silly idea.

In my heart, I knew that not knowing was where I needed to be. Just like learning to move kale from garnish to salad, a world was opening up to me. A large community of women, taking my programs from 30 or so into the hundreds. I was ready to do the work.

The Joy Up started as 10 days, pay-what-you-can. A core group of women formed around the soulwork and my life hit crazy. I had no idea what holding the energy of that many women would be like. I was not prepared for emails telling me that their lives had changed because of 10 days. I knew I could explain joy and why we must choose it, even in the face of sadness or lack, but I had no idea.

I couldn't eat. I cried a lot. (I did this in quiet mostly because while you can share this a year later once you've learned to hold that kind of energy, you can't talk about it while you are in it.)

We think that those little tastes of growth and success will taste sweet, but usually they are more like unsweetened dark chocolate. You know somewhere inside of it all you like the taste, but don't know how to get to it. My husband and I had the 'opportunity' in all of the emotion to work on our stuff.

Each time The Joy Up program ran after that, I followed my intuition. I kept it pay-what-feels-good, built my tribe even more and the emails from the tribe became more intense. From making decisions to leave abusive marriages to pursuing a new career. All on the basis of 'Joy is a Choice.'

Letters would come in the mail with feathers falling out of them, I have now had about 6 or 7 of these. These women who knew how much I loved feathers were forming a community based on joy and love and support.

During one of the program runs I received $100 from a woman in the tribe. I sent her an email that told her she took my breath away, and asked if she meant to send that? She replied, "Now you know how I feel each morning with your Joy Up emails."

A sweet online friend sent $200 as her contribution to the program and my work. Knowing.

The year of building this community was beyond amazing. The first Joy Up was shared over 600 times on social media. It was humbling and intense.

The Joy Up continues after the (now) 30 days. A private community on FB allows women to stay connected and I pop in and out as I need to. A true community inside of a somewhat crazy online world.

After a year I wasn't sure what to do with this program. Do I turn it into an ebook, offer something new and different, keep going? Could I keep creating new material or do I re-purpose? I let my intuition play around and talking with husband he said, "I just don't think it is over yet."

While I agreed I knew that I would need to allow it to evolve.

I needed to finally price it, close the tribe a bit in numbers while increasing its value, and still allow women who wanted access a way to do so regardless of their financial situation. There have been times in my life when $45 meant feeding my family or buying gas. I also really wanted women to value this work they were doing and invest in themselves. The Joy Up is about changing your life, sparkling with the butterflies and stepping into abundance.

We have watched women who started the program go from broke to abundant. Who are now sponsoring other women to join.

The program this time is priced with an option to join with a soul-sister. Many women are inviting their best friends or sisters to journey with them.

I wrote a little note on the tribe's alumni page. There are scholarships available if you are not able to afford the program but wish to continue on the journey with us.

From then on women in the tribe have been asking me about sponsoring a soul-sister on the journey. The outpouring has been incredible. We have had about 10 women sponsored and more sponsors waiting to help.

There is all sorts of magic inside the not knowing if we trust enough to allow ourselves to know.

***

We start August 1st. Join us.

Beautiful Faces. Magical Places.

I am eager for the lists that make their way out on sleepy Friday mornings. Today I am a rethinking some choices, feeling oh-so much, packing for a camping trip with my mom squad families -without Patrick (yikes), post panic attack chilling, bacon for breakfast and grateful for summer camp for two out of the three of the kiddos kind of mama.

These are my pay-it-forward lists.

This is the World Domination Summit version. My final post on an amazing weekend in Portland. I share so much of this with you because I am consumed with thinking about how we must create our own communities. We did that with Mamacoach Circle and I strive to do that here on Mama Space. But I want more. I have big dreams for inviting what I want to be surrounded by into my life. I want you to dream this way. Create what you long for. Thank you for being here and part of this community. My heart is so happy you are here.

I take terrible notes, luckily some people take beautiful ones. By the way Kate is actually more gorgeous in real life than online. Just so you know.

Look at those beautiful faces. In magical places. Right?

Being with people who make us feel loved, whole and beautiful is kind of exactly what I'm going for in this life of mine.

The post is awesome, but the way her site is looking is giving me so much inspiration for how we keep evolving. Liz, it is gorgeous.

This moment. Yes.

The most amazing thing is that we all have our own experience and I want to honor that it is different for each of us.

The hardest part of this conference for me was saying the name to other people who don't know what it is about. What she said.

Um, hell yes.

My dinner partner for many nights, she is filled with inspiration for all of us.

A highlight of my trip, finally got my Chris hug. So much of where I am I owe to this man.

And from the man where all of this came from, in his own words.

There were so many posts from the weekend, please share a link if you have one for all of us! xo

Those First Moments

The first moments alone I cried.

I needed to process the being alone part. In a gorgeous hotel, that I paid for from my business, allowing me to travel, dine, flow around at my will.

I feel different. For the last two years I've been trying to integrate that difference into how I feel when I'm at home, in my small space with noise levels that only three kids can make.

I stood up at my very first business/change your life conference two years ago, with tears in my eyes, and asked, "How do we integrate who we are in our work with who we are at home, because they feel like two very different people who are always mad at the other one."

What I didn't realize then was that this would become such a huge part of my work. My talks and emails with clients talking about how we often feel like fakes, as though what we talk and write about is off from how we live. Usually those of us with families, children or a whole lot of overwhelm.

Teach what you are learning, passionate about, heart soaring excited for.

I feel the most like myself when I'm writing, sitting and listening to someone, snuggled up with Patrick or reading quietly to one of my kids. I feel at peace and calm on the beach alone or with all the kids running loose. In the car driving, long and far, I connect to me. Skyping with a client or on the other end of Instagram. Cooking anything in a clean kitchen. Alone in my home. In the sun. My feet dirty in the garden. Here, writing. Surrounded by my favorite women.

I feel in the truth of how I need to be.

When I write, I forget about all else, I just let my feelings integrate onto paper. As close as I can figure, this is when I feel safe and calm.

But I get angry. I fight with Patrick, lose my patience 134 times a day with my kids, hold old baggage with family and friends that I'm learning to accept as simply part of being human.  I question if marriages really can last, if I'll ever be 130 pounds again or if anyone really likes me. My feelings get hurt and I have a hard time releasing it and moving back into a space where it feels safe to be there.

I get panicked when I think how much more I could be doing and all that I am doing. Those moments of not being present leading us into sabotage. I forget to tag my posts, have no clue about SEO and feel a deep desire to rebrand all of me.

I also look at all I'm doing and think, holy crap, look at all I'm doing. But not laundry.

Telling the truth is fucking hard. I rarely swear when I write but my three old uses the word damnit perfectly.

Walking into new places is one of my highest anxiety points and I'm afraid of how much I miss out on when I don't do because of it. Part of my beautiful work is learning ways to find the softness inside of that truth. Find a way to embrace the fear.

 And be so proud of all of this.

This beautiful woman whispered words into my ear that I'll keep in my heart, but remember always as why we take a chance on those first moments. For the connection, the deep gaze into someone's eyes, the way their hug feels, the door we walk through that changes our lives.

Those first moments, the kiss, the dance, the walk, the run, the breath, the song.

Those first moments: can I tell you what is in my heart? Those first moments: of truth. Those first moments: we need this.

WDS Magic - Images

* This bed was my most delightful friend. I was beyond proud of myself that my business paid for my trip and hosted me in this gorgeous room on a pillow that felt like a cloud must feel to the angels. That bed was my healing, my softness, my joy.

* Surrounded by a thousand people who already know you and believe in you is magic. This is community, tribe, joy.

* I was really nervous to show up by myself and was wrapped in the arms of Portland and women who let me be me. Completely. Nerves and all. They let me see my own magic in a fresh way.

* Andrea asked us about our superpowers. One of mine is that I get shit done. Our story is just beginning and I adore the time I spent in her energy. Her workshop started a little dream of what I might be able to bring to WDS in years ahead.

* From the balloon hat and ukelele you can see this wasn't just any old conference. Michelle's story is heart-centered magic. Do you know what my degree is in? Theatre Arts. In my heart I love being on stage and also watching those who stand before me. Shining.

* Love this woman. Time with Rachel was so on my to-do list.

* Green juice under the bamboo. How I started and how I ended my time in Portland. If you go, have the Melody juice and anything in a bowl.

 * The first gathering of the weekend brought me this gal, Tiffany. We had on our heart shaped name tags and our connection was instant magic.

* A thousand people up and singing with Brené and Chris. And dancing. And tears.

* I was all nerves as I headed to an intimate gathering that I was honored to be invited to. As I started out these hearts met my feet. Thank you Universe. When I showed up at Kelly's studio I understood why I was there and how my purpose was deepening. Kelly slipped right into my heart and I feel as if we've been together before. Sometimes it is that easy. Magic.

Magic. And damn how I love heart-centered business.

Highly Sensitive Unpacking

I return with vintage cowgirl boots, memories of hugs and laughter, magical moments in auditoriums and holding a glass of wine, chipped nail polish, frizzy hair and the deep desire to start something brand new.

Traveling light was not learned this trip, though now I know you really don't need heels in Oregon. Weird to this East Coast girl being at a conference with the most casual footwear ever. I eventually ended up in my walking shoes. Doing lots of walking. Only one blister.

The conference was one where I could tweet, cried my way through the conference, and have people tweet back, me too - there should be a HSP section in the seating to share kleenex. This is where we connect. Every now and then you need to be in a place where you don't once have to explain yourself or your work because 1,000 people know and get you. Just because you are standing in that hallway with them.

I am unpacking thoughts and inspiration of how to create more of this in my work. More community, unity, that sense that you are understood just by showing up.

Brené Brown will do her part to make the tears roll down. If you think she is awesome, she is actually a million times more awesome than that. Her story telling is where I will spend time studying because it is magic.

Sitting in a room next to Michelle Ward and Rachel Cole we listened to Danielle LaPorte do a Q&A session. She talked about how standing on stage was her persona, how her writing and her work were all part of that. In her kitchen she is different. I needed to hear this. You need to hear this.

Our online world is persona no matter how hard we strive for transparency or truth. The people who have been at the birth of one of my children or the neighbors who hear me lose my cool when the dog tears up my meditation garden know this. Persona is part of our gifts. Use it beautifully.

As Chris Brogan said on stage, we all poop, there is a book to prove it.

I was humbled by the people who came up to me, excited for my hug. I was there for them, how did I step into bizzaro land? I will never forget how incredibly gorgeous it feels to be noticed, admired and loved.

My travel wings have spread. After years and years of having babies and nursing, years that hold so much love and nurture and whole lot of exhaustion, I am flying off into a new world. One where I know how to spend time with myself. Where I acknowledge that I am allowed to because it makes me better.

To make my way on 5 modes of transportation in one day from coast to coast. Dream of the retreats I will someday guide. Feel space in new ways.

Each year I feel like a better person, growing more into how I want to show up. (This is where I get to insert that I got carded in Oregon for a glass of wine. Yep. Love that place.)

I am unpacking the lights, story and joy from my conference. I'm feeling the growing pains of re-entry after having been gone for more than a week. I'm planning outfits around my boots.

Yes, I rearranged the living room when I got back, Patrick patiently helped me, knowing that this was how I process, how I unpack, how I rejoin the pack.

Thank you Oregon for your beauty and grace. I can't wait to meet you again.

***

To all my new friends - thank you for the honor of knowing you, squeezing you and sharing time with you. Thank you for how much you truly wanted to be with me.

The conference was The World Domination Summit, in its second year, sold out each year with thousands on the waiting list. I am blessed to have attended.

Photo credit on second photo: Armosa Studios

A 30 Day Journey

Learn more about the journey here...

Highly Sensitive Packing

I am going to a conference on the other side of this gorgeous country of ours. I will be gone for 8 days. (Eli, my 7 year old will come with me and for 4 of the days will be at my father's house, while I conference.)

I have been dreaming about this time away, or as I'm guessing it will feel like, in deep connection.

With my self. My spirit. My fears. My growth. My desires. My tribe. My thoughts. My space.

Even before children I was never alone. Not really. Alone was scary. It still is.

Not alone in my home, that is divine, that is when I am with myself, but alone in a new space, adventuring, traveling.

A community I have found myself inside of full of introverted, highly sensitive, gorgeous beings will be there. I will not be alone.

I will be with.

Leaving the tantrums and fights of the last few weeks, I will not sugar coat it, will be a breath of fresh air that I need so badly.

Moms need that space to remember who they are.

I have visions of sitting in a coffee shop, working on my first chapter, once the conference is over.

I will more divinely know women who have come into my life for reasons yet understood, but completely felt inside my heart.

The chance to miss my man and the other two kiddos is a blessing. That feeling of knowing that you are so meant to be together when you are apart.

I will be stepping into a light that has been carried inside of me since I can remember, and even further back.

Jumping out of a plane or bunging jumping is not how I get my high. It comes from following my path, to going where I am called.

The hugs, smiles, wine toasts, listening with all of me, feeling present is how I soar.

Packing my soft shirts, dansko heels, anxiety drops and tinctures and tonics.

Pulling my hair up into a scarf, bag full of notebooks to capture the freedom of words that will flow once I start to fly.

Knowing that not only will I be stepping out, giddy with pleasure to wrap my arms around these women who are joy to me, but that they are waiting for me.

Packing that red suitcase full of wonder to be standing on the coast that I hold so dear in my heart.

Standing on her soil, remembering her warmly, like the days of the embrace of your first love.

I'm packing.

*** *** ***

I will be attending the World Domination Summit this year, a huge, huge thank you to my friend and tech support knight, Michael Marinelli, for introducing me to the man behind the conference which forever changes the way I see myself in this world.

Huge thank you to Patrick for taking a week off of work so that I can journey to pursue my dreams more deeply and return home rested and joyful.

Thank you to myself for taking a huge chance and pressing the buy now button on my ticket.

Let others believe in you fiercely and then join in.

*** *** ***

While I'm away registration is happening for The Joy Up, A 30 Day Journey. It is going to be beautiful.

And They Say {10 Quotes for my Kind of Joy}

Coming Soon...

"You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings."

- Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

"Each day I do the dirty work, the effort that attracts no notice but my own, and in this very place I find the ordinary ingredients for genuine fulfillment. It starts the moment my eyes open, as I rise with the sun to sort and stack the dishes, appreciating this simple task as the essential start to a healthy day."

- Karen Maezen Miller (Hand Wash Cold)

“I do it for the joy it brings, cause I'm a joyful girl. 'Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world.”

- Ani Defranco (Joyful Girl)

"When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness ...  all the good things."

- Maya Angelou

"I looked a hundred times and all I saw was dust. The sun broke through and flecks of gold filled the air."

- Mark Nepo (The Book of Awakening)

"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves."

- Guatama Buddha

"Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

"Joy is a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace - a connection to what matters."

- Oprah

"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, grow."

-Talmud

"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures."

- Lao Tzu

Beautiful Faces. Magical Places.

I am eager for the lists that make their way out on sleepy Friday mornings. Today I am a loving the no pressure-ness of Friday mornings, watching the kids ride bikes and then run inside from the rain and somehow between frozen blueberries, cereal, mangoes and granola bars didn't make one single breakfast kind of mama. I'm also blown away from all the love that has come my way this week. I must be doing something right.

These are my pay-it-forward lists.

This is what I mean when I say 'your voice' and it moved me to tears.

I love a good confession.

Well now I don't have to write this.

Finally got my hug from this woman. And she inspired me to new places I didn't know I was searching for.

Gorgeous from gorgeous.

I am heading to this conference on Thursday, and already have my HSPP (highly sensitive person plan) in action.

I'm reading this and it is all me.

I have the black short sleeve and this on its way. Never have I ever worn anything more comfortable.

And drumroll...here is a tease! Will be released soon...

He Marks Time

Eli turned 7. I started to blog when he turned 3.

I had intentions to write about it, share pictures of the day, I saw it all.

The day was rough, edges and middles. I asked for help. He ended the day saying it was one of the best birthdays ever.

And so he marks time for me. For the transition into the woman I am becoming, am, was.

I watch him grow, feel his need for my love above all else.

And I am simply struck by the passage of time. And where I stand. And what I see.

Instead of birthday candle pictures taken with me behind the camera saying, "get off the table, stop sticking out your tongue" and all the other things exhausted moms say, instead I made you a little gift.

To mark your time with simplicity, ritual and the joy of making space.

What matters most, is how we feel when we lay our heads down at the end of the day.

As I read the boys to sleep tonight, both snuggled up in one bed together, feet to feet, I knew that to be true.

Beautiful Faces. Magical Places.

I am eager for the lists that make their way out on sleepy Friday mornings. Today I am a stuck in the chaos of a technical world I can't control but have two programs depending on, feeling the lack of sleep of the new mama variety yet without a baby, making eggs for supper but I'll be damned if I don't get this post done before midnight kind of mama. There may have been a decaf in there somewhere.

These are my pay-it-forward lists.

She is magic.

Andrea posted this link on Facebook and the theme of I Am Enough is one I work with my clients on all the time. This was my first introduction to Vivienne. (I totally just did 3 links in one, how do you like that?)

I have no idea what Britta is talking about. ;) You are going to love her as much as I do. And she is only just warming up.

Every word of this became more exciting and touching. Totally moved.

Julie asked if I was an Erotic Visionary. I answered, "I so want to be one!" How about you?

From Connie, this melted my heart.

I've been thinking about courage these last few nights, I love that it is on Jen's list to heal the hurt. I think that is where my path is going...

Full of so much joy to see Stacy bring this nakedness to the world.

You are so going to want to splash around in yellow and make these.

The day the exact post shows up and sings to you. Karen often sings to me.

Chloe is part of this and Leah has offered all of my beautiful community a little discount. Use the code JOY.

I am highly sensitive with a belly and jeans have never been comfortable. Until now. They feel like leggings. I will need every color.

Don't forget Bootcamp of the soulful spiritual kind starts July 1st. Free to all circle members. Love our circle.

In stillness (A peek into The Making Space Cleanse)

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."- Hermann Hesse

Today during Summer Solstice we dance and play and welcome this night full of light and joy. At lunch time today I am going to play music and have the kids grab an instrument and dance and play in the yard.

After the dance and play I always crave stillness. I like to lie inside of soft space and feel, observe, be present.

As part of The Making Space Cleanse we will take our first day to observe stillness. To be present to our homes.

I'm sharing a piece of day 1 with you. My solstice gift to you.

After the dance and the celebration of light, allow yourself to start the preparation into cleansing your home, hearts and minds for the summer.

The days for those who join us on this journey will also include soulwork, videos, recipes and books that I love.

The video is a peek into our soulwork for Day 1.

Registration ends tomorrow, and there is a very special summer price this round. Check it all out over here...

Making Space Soulwork 1 from Hannah Marcotti on Vimeo.

The most important part of making more space in our life is to spend time in stillness. Meditation, soft space (time spent doing nothing but being) and daydreaming are ways of being still. For today I’d like for you to sit in stillness and observe. Look at the walls and windows of your home. Spend 5 minutes looking at the books on a book shelf that you see every day, without ever really seeing them at all. Watch a plant in its stillness as you sit and see the way the light shines off of it. Notice the textures of a pillow or the patterns on a rug.

Be still in your space in a new way. Sit somewhere new. Pull up a chair to a spot you’ve never spent time sitting and be still.

Tomorrow’s work will be based around what you observed today, so make some time to be still.

What are your first thoughts when I ask you to sit in stillness?

Does it sound too easy, or sound silly, or does stillness feel a bit scary or impossible to get to?

Be still.
Look at what you have chosen (or perhaps not) to be around in your space.
Just notice.
And really look.
Take the time to be present to lights, sounds, textures, colors.
Stillness.

Beautiful Faces. Magical Places.

I am eager for the lists that make their way out on sleepy Friday mornings. Today I am a scheduling this post on Thursday night because the big kids' first day of summer vacation is tomorrow and I'm kinda freaking out and I'm out of decaf for the morning bumming, but we are going strawberry picking with a picnic and I'll just do more work at night now and go find a coffee drive thru kind of mama.

These are my pay-it-forward lists.

My pleasure to announce to you that Jenn Gibson's Self- Love Warriors E-Course opens today. Today! I am proud to be a guide, but that is not why I want you to go check it out. This is heart centered work that will fill your soul, ease your fight and show you how loving up yourself will turn your whole life around. I adore this woman and her work with women that is life changing, no exaggeration.

Currently there are 118 comments on this post. Because telling the truth is so freaking beautiful and craved by our souls. Also, because Andrea is just that beautiful and loved.

I am an interview junkie. Amanda kindly fed my addiction.

From my sweet girl Rachel. And this simply gorgeous interview and words shared from both of them.

Moo Cards is having a free special on FB cards! I just connected my account and boom, the gorgeous timeline Michelle made is now part of my pocket cards for my conference!

Super cool, my sister has predicted this will be my next project...somewhere.

I will be seeing this in July in Portland, and they only have a small amount left to raise, crowd funding, community building...yes, yes, yes!

These two men are among my favorites and together, such shining! Bernardo's smile lights the screen.

So cute is my favorite, we also have honey fox that Lucas and I are sporting on our toes right now (pictured above both colors). But oh my, look at stoned! That is my new favorite!!!

I don't knit, thankfully Etsy people do. And my favorite color is gray! And mocha. I would like to knit someday.

The Making Space Cleanse starts June 21st, summer encore special price. Soulwork and recipes, making space in the body, mind and spirit!

Right Now Your Future

I have this well earned ability to compare myself to others down to the way they organize their Pinterest boards. Clever titles and things all neatly grouped. Mine are just a big jumble of beauty and inspiration. I finally pulled out all of my tattoo pins and made a board just for them. That felt like an achievement. No type A in this body, completely none. I'm like Z or Q or X.

I run with this mixture of wanting to be a stand out for my uniqueness and expressions and longing to blend into the pack just a bit more. I can lose site of my special in the world. Deep core needs created as a child blur the scene.

The magic is the deep core belief I also held as a child that I was going to serve and heal and make sure others knew how special they were.

Slightly frightening integrating all of this when creating a heart centered business, marketing inside of this New Economy we are reading about. Stand out, blend in, market with a formula, buck the system.

The very first program I created led to 1 and 1/2 (discount offered) people paying me. I asked a few others to join for free. I had a group. I had a program. I had a place to practice what I wanted to build. Those 1 and 1/2 people had enough faith in me to support my vision and want to be guided by me. And yes, things have grown.

They are the reason I kept going. That small amount of faith, those first 'yeses' were momentum and joy.

Your tiny numbers that get you down are actually your future about to stretch out before you if you let them. They are faith from the Universe that you can do this. Your now is creating your future.

Thank them. Honor them. Adore them.

Adore yourself while you are there.

I woke up with a fire in my belly this morning (hello FB status of the day!) wanting to call bullshit on labeling how people price their products and services. Pricing is an exploration, a practice. How many times I was told I was undervaluing myself when all I was doing was simply exploring, practicing, playing, creating.

There are plenty of ways to undervalue ourselves, it isn't just with money. And my prices don't tell you how I'm valuing myself, my actions do. The way I show up in the world.

My business has doubled in earnings every year since I started. As a mom who has been home with all three of my kids, currently still hanging out daily with the three year old, I am crazy proud of what I'm building. I love that my clients can email me when they are nursing their babies to sleep and I can email back when Lucas is watching a show or playing with cars and power rangers. I've raised and lowered my prices. I give a lot of it away for free. (I fully intend to free my husband from a job he hates.)

I connect, because that is one of my mad-hot qualities.

Our businesses need breathing room to grow. They also require us to tap into, fully, our gorgeous selves. The more I honor and talk about my sensitive constitution the more my business and life expand.

Today's email with a highly-sensitive client was all about her hair. How she could find someone to honor the natural flow of her hair and cut it in a way that felt good to her and was less of a fuss to style. The Joy Up Tribe chat was all about unruly, or what I love to call wildly gorgeous hair, for days. Pictures were taken, hair was left natural and we loved each other up.

My client hired me to coach her business. We talk about hair. And the flow of being sensitive. There are more ways to undervalue ourselves than just money.

I know you want, you want it. You can see it, taste it, you dream about it with tears in your eyes.

It is now.
Not in 5 years.
Now.
Those 1 and 1/2 clients.
The two words in your Ebook.
The kiss on the lips of the man you've loved for 14 years.
Wearing your stunning heels.

It is now. Prayers for tomorrow are created today.